The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

As I was praying the Divine Office today I was struck by the importance of this feast. It reminds us that even the greatest sinners can become even greater saints. It reminds us that the way we treat others is the way we treat Jesus. It reminds us that God wants us for His own and is willing to stop at nothing to have us, if only we open ourselves to Him. In order to help us appreciate this day you will find below a section from a homily by St. John Chrysostom.

Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really is, and in what our nobility consists, and of what virtue this particular animal is capable. Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardour and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him. He summed up his attitude in the words: I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead. When he saw death imminent, he bade others share his joy: Rejoice and be glad with me! And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution. These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them.

Thus, amid the traps set for him by his enemies, with exultant heart he turned their every attack into a victory for himself; constantly beaten, abused and cursed, he boasted of it as though he were celebrating a triumphal procession and taking trophies home, and offered thanks to God for it all: Thanks be to God who is always victorious in us! This is why he was far more eager for the shameful abuse that his zeal in preaching brought upon him than we are for the most pleasing honours, more eager for death than we are for life, for poverty than we are for wealth; he yearned for toil far more than others yearn for rest after toil. The one thing he feared, indeed dreaded, was to offend God; nothing else could sway him. Therefore, the only thing he really wanted was always to please God.

The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he knew himself to be loved by Christ. Enjoying this love, he considered himself happier than anyone else; were he without it, it would be no satisfaction to be the friend of principalities and powers. He preferred to be thus loved and be the least of all, or even to be among the damned, than to be without that love and be among the great and honoured. To be separated from that love was, in his eyes, the greatest and most extraordinary of torments; the pain of that loss would alone have been hell, and endless, unbearable torture.

So too, in being loved by Christ he thought of himself as possessing life, the world, the angels, present and future, the kingdom, the promise and countless blessings. Apart from that love nothing saddened or delighted him; for nothing earthly did he regard as bitter or sweet. Paul set no store by the things that fill our visible world, any more than a man sets value on the withered grass of the field. As for tyrannical rulers or the people enraged against him, he paid them no more heed than gnats. Death itself and pain and whatever torments might come were but child’s play to him, provided that thereby he might bear some burden for the sake of Christ.

Persecution

This past week we celebrated the Memorial of St. Sebastian, and early martyr of the Church. In the Office of Readings for the day St. Ambrose speaks of this great saint. He says

Take the example of the martyr Sebastian, whose birthday in glory we celebrate today. He was a native of Milan. At a time when persecution either had ceased or had not yet begun or was of a milder kind, he realized that there was only slight, if any, opportunity for suffering. He set out for Rome, where bitter persecutions were raging because of the fervor of the Christians. There he endured suffering; there he gained his crown. He went to the city as a stranger and there established a home of undying glory. If there had been only one persecutor, he would not have gained the martyr's crown.

The persecutors who are visible are not the only ones. There are also invisible persecutors, much greater in number. This is more serious. Like a king bent on persecution, sending orders to persecute to his many agents, and establishing different persecutors in each city or province, the devil directs his many servants in their work of persecution, whether in public or in the souls of individuals. Of this kind of persecution Scripture says: All who wish to live a holy life in Christ Jesus suffer persecution. "All" suffer persecution; there is no exception. Who can claim exemption if the Lord Himself endured the testing of persecution? How many there are today who are secret martyrs for Christ, giving testimony to Jesus as Lord!

I find the second paragraph to be very enlightening. We are all persecuted by the evil one, so, like St. Sebastian, let us put our trust in the Lord and rely upon Him so that we might endure with faith and courage the persecution that comes our way.

Eucharistic Adoration

The most recent issue of the Adoremus Bulletin arrived the other day, and so I have been reading through it over the past few days. One of the articles, entitled Eucharistic Adoration and Political Responsibility: Looking at the World through Eyes That Adore the Blessed Sacrament, by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, OP, the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is particularly good. Early on in the article there is a paragraph which I think is quite beautiful and worth sharing. He says:

During Eucharistic adoration, it is not only we who behold Christ, but it is also He who beholds us. When we adore the Blessed Sacrament, we are not just gazing at a beautiful but inert object. The conteplative mode of prayer that we learn during adoration presupposes that Christ returns our gaze.

What an amazing reality! Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, gazes at us when we come before Him in adoration! Who in their right mind would not want to be in the gaze of God?

Adoration is one of the things that I miss here. I am sad to say it, but even the campus of a Catholic Seminary, there is rarely Adoration. The seminary I attended (Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis) had Adoration every day, but here, no such thing. If I want to go to go to Expostition or Benediction I have to go to Marytown, or some other parish that offers it. But it is worth the effort. To find myself in the gaze of the Son of God is very worth it. So if you live near a parish that had Adoration, go. Allow yourself the opportunity to sit in the presence of Jesus and recieve the love He desires to pour out into your heart.

St. Athanasius on the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus

For one of my classes we are reading St. Athanasius' treatise On The Incarnation. In this text he is seeking to demonstrate that Jesus was indeed fully man, as well as being fully divine. At one point he is trying to defending the resurrection of Jesus. I found it to be a good meditation on how Jesus, who lives today - in the here and now - is active in the world and in our lives. Here is what he said:

Dead men cannot take effective action; their power of influence on others lasts only till the grave. Deeds and actions that energise others belong only to the living. Well then, look at the facts in this case. The Savior is working mightily among men, every day. He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world, both within and beyond the Greek-speaking world, to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching. Can anyone, in face of this, still doubt that He has risen and lives, or rather that He is Himself the Life? Does a dead man prick the consciences of men, so that they throw all the traditions of their fathers to the winds and bow down before the teaching of Christ? If He is no longer active in the world, as He must needs be if He is dead, how is it that He makes the living to cease from their activities, the adulterer from his adultery, the murderer from murdering, the unjust from avarice, while the profane and godless man becomes religious? If He did not rise, but is still dead, how is it that He routs and persecutes and overthrows the false gods, who unbelievers think to be alive, and the evil spirits whom they worship? For where Christ is named, idolatry is destroyed and the fraud of evil spirits is exposed; indeed, no such spirit can endure that Name, Who lives, not of one dead; and, more than that, it is the work of God. It would be absurd to say that the evil spirits who He drives out and the idols which He destroys are alive, but that He Who drives out and destroys, and Whom they themselves acknowledge to be Son of God, is dead.

Jumping in With Both Feet...Into a Snowbank That is...

After a wonderful, snow filled (see photo above of the front of my parent's house), Christmas break classes begin again. While home I had a rare experience: celebrating Christmas Mass at my home Parish. This is something most priests do not have the privilege to do since they are in the parishes to which they are assigned, so I was very grateful to have the opportunity. Those who came (which were myriad) to Mass on Christmas Eve got the full liturgical experience. All the liturgical things I love were present: gold Vestments, an alb with lace, a biretta atop my head, incense, chanted Gospel, and a chanted Eucharistic prayer. It was a liturgical feast to be sure.

But now, after the long drive back to Chicago, I once again have my nose in the books. Over the next days and weeks I hope to be sharings some of the things I am learning, and as always, if you have a liturgical question e-mail them to me (padredana at gmail dot com), and I will try to answer them.

Back in the Saddle

After an eventful break (more on those events in a moment) I am back in the academic saddle. I arrived back at the Liturgical Institute on Sunday night and classes began promptly on Monday morning. This quarter (yes, the dreaded quarter system!) I am taking three classes for a total of 12 credit hours. The classes, are as follows: History of Christian Thought II, Sacramental Thought and Practice in the 20th Century, and Sacramentals, Blessings and Devotions. Maybe in a subsequent post I will give a brief overview of what each of the classes will cover.

Also, Fr. S. (who writes a lovely blog) is visiting, which makes for alot of fun times and good food (yeah, just what I need - more food).

My time home was very eventful. There seem to be two higlights which overshadowed my entire time back home - one happy, and one very sad. The happy event was a visit to St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD. This would not have been so exciting were it not being restored. I climbed the scaffold all the way to the ceiling to see the work that the artisans are doing. It will be truly magnificent when it is finished. You can find more information, complete with drawings, photos, and videos here.

The sad event was the death of a very dear friend in a horrible car accident. Jerry was 34 years old and would have been married 4 years only a few days after he died. He had a beautiful wife and two small children. Jerry was a very faithful, prayerful and virtuous man who will be missed by many, many people. I concelebrated his funeral along with five other priests. The Church, chapel, and part of the gym were packed for the funeral (nearly 700 people), which is a testament to the people he had influenced during his short life on earth. May he rest in peace.

But now, I am back, saddling up the old academic horse for round two in an eight round adventure.

The Road

“The road to success is always under construction”

-Lily Tomlin

Apparently, so is the road to South Dakota.

Exams and Papers

As most of you know, I am currently studying at the Liturgical Institute. Today marks the end of my first quarter and the day when papers are due and exams are taken. So, as you read this, I am probably feeling a bit ragged. So please pray for this poor priest.

Confession: Letting the Lord Draw Us Close

. . . Like the 72 disciples sent out by the Lord, he [the Bishop] must be one who brings healing, who helps to heal man's inner wound, a person's distance from God. The first and essential good which man needs is closeness to God himself. The Kingdom of God of which the Gospel passage speaks today is not something "next to" God, not some worldly condition: it is simply the presence of God himself, which is the truly healing force.

Here the Holy Father, in his homily for the Ordination of Bishops, reminds us of something that is essential to every person’s spiritual health – our closeness to God. Pope Benedict says that it is closeness to God that is our first and essential good. In other words, it’s what’s best for us. To be near God, in fact to be taken up into the great mystery of the Holy Trinity in heaven is the goal of our lives. Yet we are wounded with the wound of sin which distances us from God. It is the Bishop, and the priests who are extensions of his ministry, who bring healing to this wound and restore closeness with God.

This is why the Sacrament of Penance is so important. In that Sacrament the wounds of sin are healed and we once again, like the prodigal son, find ourselves in the house of our loving Father. How long has it been since your last confession? A month? A year? Five years? However long it has been, the Lord is calling to you…He desires to heal your wounds, He desires to draw you close.

New Widget

I just added a new widget on the right hand side near the bottom. It will show where the most recent vistors to White Around the Collar are from. Check it out.

Bearers of the Good News

Continuing our commentary on the Holy Father’s homily at the Ordination of Bishops we now move on to another sentence that is pregnant with meaning. He says that the Bishop, and by extension the priest, and even every lay person

“must bring to the poor the Good News, the true freedom and hope that gives
life to human beings, and heal them. “

How do we define the poor? Is the Holy Father speaking here only of those who are materially poor? It seems to me that included in the word “poor” are all those who suffer from want of any kind – material social, spiritual, moral, and psychological want, to name a few. It is to all of these that we are called to bring the Good News.

And what is this Good News? In this context it is the Good News that Jesus has come, and still comes in the Sacraments, to bring us true freedom – the freedom that comes from choosing Christ and His teachings – and hope – the hope that allows us to see beyond our current situation to joy that awaits us in heaven.

Not only are we to bring them the Good News of true freedom and hope, but also we are to bring them healing. This applies in a special way to bishops and priests who are spiritual physicians – doctors of the soul. They are men who are given the particular gift of being instruments of divine healing in the Sacrament of Penance and in the Anointing of the Sick.

What a great call we have been given. Whether we are a bishop, priest, or layperson we are called to be ambassadors for Christ, bringing His Good News to all around us, and that, my friends, is no small thing.

Living on the Holy Spirit

On September 12, 2009 our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, ordained five new Bishops in St. Peter’s Basilica. Recently I was reading the homily that he gave on the occasion and found it to be a wonderful reflection upon the ministry of Bishops, and by extension, the ministry of priests. We who are priests are co-workers with the Bishops, and so what is said of the ministry of Bishops in many ways can also apply to the ministry of priests, and sometimes, it even carries over to the lives of all God’s people, to all who in virtue of their Baptism are part of the priesthood of all believers (which, I might add, is essentially different than the ministerial priesthood). That being the case, I thought it might be good to share some quotations from the Holy Father’s homily and make some comments on it. The Holy Father said:

"The man consecrated must be filled with and live on the Spirit of God."

In Baptism, you and I were consecrated to God. And as the Holy Father says, those who are consecrated must be filled with the Spirit of God. We must live on His Holy Spirit. I think we can all agree that this is a nice statement that rings true, but more than just being a nice statement, it is a challenge for our lives. This short sentence makes me a few question of myself. Am I filled with the Spirit of God? How do I know if I am filled with the Spirit of God? Do I live on the Spirit of God?

Jesus said that we would know a tree by its fruit. We also read in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians that the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” We know that we are filled with the Holy Spirit to the extent that these fruits are active in our lives. I can only speak for myself, and when I look at that list and compare it to my life . . . well . . . I think I need to spend a little more time opening myself to the Holy Spirit in prayer.

Pope Benedict also says that we must “live on the Spirit of God.” In other words, the Spirit of God must be what sustains us. It must we what makes us strong. Again, I look at my life and see so much weakness, so many times where I fall, so many times that I do not persevere. Could it be that I am not living on the Holy Spirit? Could it be that I am living on things which do not strengthen me. Could it be that I am living on spiritual junk food? Could it be that I am not taking the time to receive the food that will strengthen me (The Holy Spirit) in prayer? Another challenge – another place to grow in my call as someone consecrated to God in Baptism and, in my case, in Ordination.

It’s amazing that just one sentence from the Holy Father can lead us to reflect upon our situations and challenge us to grow. We will continue with the Holy Father’s homily soon. Until then, let us pray for one another.