Whatever exactly happened

Try as he might, Xavier University's Fr. "Red Ken" Overberg, S.J., simply cannot mount a lectern without then casting doubt on the historicity of the events described in the New Testament:

Throughout the Easter season, we have been reading selections from the Acts of the Apostles and from John’s Gospel. In Acts, Luke presents an idyllic view of the development of the early Christian community. Whatever exactly happened, we know that people came to believe in Jesus through the preaching of the disciples.

And this process remains the same today: we hear God’s word and then proclaim it in our day-to-day lives. Indeed, this dynamic reveals our basic identity: hearers and proclaimers of the Word.

Pentecost was originally a Jewish spring harvest festival. Later, Pentecost, celebrated 50 days after Passover, memorialized the formation of the covenant through Moses at Mt Sinai. Luke, in his Acts of the Apostles (our familiar first reading), uses the feast to symbolize the formation of a new covenant community. A major theme of Acts is the work of the Holy Spirit in the growth and spread of early Christianity. This new community is the gift of God and the work of human beings.

John uses different images and time-sequences to describe the marvelous works of God. As we hear in John’s gospel, resurrection, ascension, and the coming of the Spirit all occur on the same day, Easter. These differences remind us that our Scriptures are not giving us exact historical accounts, but rather faith proclamations about the mystery of encounters with God.

Asking the Lord to speak to you today

The good people from the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, whose superb commentary on the Gospel of Mark from Mary Healy proved helpful during our couples' Bible study this evening, suggest how readers might use their resources to engage in lectio divina:

Many Catholics today are rediscovering the ancient practice of lectio divina, a way of reading Scripture prayerfully in conversation with Jesus Christ, the living Word. There are a wide variety of ways to practice lectio divina (Latin for “sacred reading”), and there is no need for special expertise or intricate methods. As many can attest, the regular practice of lectio divina is a rich source of spiritual nourishment, of rekindled faith and fervor.

Many Catholics today make it a daily practice to set aside time to prayerful read Scripture on their own. That might occur at the beginning or end of the day or over a meal or cup of coffee. It might be as brief as ten minutes or as long as an hour, depending on their schedule. It might take place in a chapel or a corner or room set aside for prayer or it might be at the kitchen table.

To use the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for individual lectio divina, begin with a prayer asking the Lord to speak to you today through his word. Then read one portion of Scripture a couple times, allowing the words to sink in and taking note of any particular words or phrases that strike you, that provoke questions, or that the Holy Spirit may be calling to your attention.

Then read the CCSS commentary on the text, including any Reflection and Application.

Finally, reread the biblical text slowly, listening to the Holy Spirit and speaking to the Lord whatever is in your heart.

If you have time to read more than one portion of Scripture and commentary, do so, following the same procedure.

Conclude with an Our Father or a Hail Mary.

Learn more about the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, including Pope Benedict's reception of Mary Healy's book, here.

A totally different experience

The Catholic Courier of Rochester marks the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of His Excellency Matthew Clark's episcopate. The first is on Vatican II. Here are some snippets from the section on the liturgy:

Among the major liturgical changes arising from the council were rotating the celebrant's position at Mass to face the faithful; translating the Mass into English and other languages; permitting lay people to serve as lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion; and distributing Communion in the hand.

"I think the liturgy as we celebrate it today is inviting," Bishop Clark said, reflecting on the effect of the changes. "It’s inclusive. I think the Scripture is much more available now as it was earlier. I think the preaching is richer and more meaningful to people. I think people feel a part of our celebration in ways they might not have before."

He noted that the hard work that went into implementing Vatican II reforms in the Diocese of Rochester was apparent at his installation.

"That liturgy was the symbol of a tremendous amount of work of study and negotiation and struggling together to put flesh on something that excited people and also was seen as a threat to other people," he recalled.
...
Bishop Clark noted that the church has changed greatly from his own pre-Vatican II upbringing.

"There was a time when I was growing up as a boy, if you went to Sunday Mass, you normally saw two or ... more servers, all of whom were boys, serving the Mass in beautiful and dignified ways, but you wouldn’t see any other laity participating that I can recall," he said. "Now if you look around our parishes, it’s a totally different experience in who participates and how."

The second article focuses on highlights and "challenges" during his tenure:

Some of Bishop Clark's memorable moments also have touched off controversies. Opponents of the $11 million cathedral project, for example, waged a vigorous though ultimately unsuccessful legal battle seeking a landmark designation that would have prevented significant changes to the structure.

Back in 1986, Bishop Clark drew national attention for his support of Father Charles Curran, a Rochester diocesan priest who was ultimately removed from his teaching position at The Catholic University of America due to his dissent from certain aspects of church teaching on contraception and other moral issues.

"That was a very important learning experience. It called me to look at my own sense of church in a new way," Bishop Clark said, adding that the Father Curran controversy factored significantly into "my ongoing development, not just as a pastoral minister but as a human being."

Emotion also ran high in 1997 when Bishop Clark presided at a Mass of healing for gays and lesbians, their families and friends. The liturgy was celebrated in a packed cathedral, with numerous opponents picketing outside.

In a highly publicized dispute at Rochester's Corpus Christi Church (now part of Our Lady of the Americas Parish) the following year, he removed the Rev. James Callan as administrator of the church after parish leaders repeatedly violated church teachings related to same-sex unions, allowed women to perform liturgical roles reserved for priests or deacons, and encouraged unbaptized people to receive the Eucharist. The conflict ended in schism, leading to formation of the Spiritus Christi Church.

"In my judgment, (the former leadership at Corpus Christi) pushed the envelope too far. It was a very painful moment for all of us and continues to be so," Bishop Clark said, adding that he still prays for Spiritus Christi members to eventually be "back in full communion" with the Roman Catholic Church.

The bishop also has removed a number of priests -- including six priests in one day in 2002 -- from duty due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors. He rates the abuse scandal of recent years as the most painful experience of his entire bishopric. And, although he said he believes the worst is over and that the Rochester Diocese has installed excellent policies to prevent future cases, "we continue to deal with it. If we forget the lessons we've learned, it's a dark tragedy," he said.

Another tough issue has been a steadily declining number of priests, leading the bishop in 1997 to embark on a pastoral-planning process that has seen numerous consolidations and church closings. Meanwhile, increasing costs and declining availability of women religious to serve as teachers resulted in the closing of dozens of diocesan schools, including 14 last year -- 13 in Monroe County alone.

Bishop Clark said he stands by all the difficult decisions he has made, yet acknowledged that "any leader, whether it's in the wider church or elsewhere, learns pretty early that a leader can be a lightning rod."

"I welcome the feedback. No one of us knows it all," he added. "Sometimes that criticism will sting, but if you don't listen to it, you're never going to improve."

The third consists of fawning praise from Catholics and non-Catholics in Rochester. Fr. William Shannon, a vocal promoter of the heterodox "Resurrection of Faith" doctrine (see this Catholic Update), offers his $.02:

"On June 26, 1979, when Bishop Clark was installed as bishop of Rochester in the War Memorial, I was privileged to be one of three persons presenting the TV broadcast of the ceremony. Many of us wondered: 'Who is Matthew Clark and what kind of bishop will he be?' For me the answer gradually growing in me came to fruition in April 1982 with the publication of his pastoral letter on women in the church, 'The Fire in the Thornbush.' It was a superb pastoral (far superior to three attempts made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, none of which was ever published). This pastoral, I believe, proved to be a conversion experience in Bishop Clark's life. Its publication was preceded by a year of monthly meetings of a committee whose task was to give input for the pastoral. I happened to be one of the few men on a committee largely made up of women. I remember Bishop Clark sitting at the sessions of this committee taking notes, but not joining in the conversation. For he was there, not to speak, but to listen.

Radio Maria

The University of Dayton's Marian Research Institute recently launched Radio Maria, which features programming revolving around Marian themes. Has anyone tuned in yet? The institute is one of the university's bright spots.

Through a new partnership, the faculty and staff of the Marian Library and International Marian Research Institute are broadcasting several shows weekly to more than 50 countries through Radio Maria, an international network of Catholic radio stations.

"It's a wonderful way to broadcast the University of Dayton's message," said the Rev. Johann Roten, S.M., director of the institute. "It allows us to have another way to spread the message of theology nationally and internationally as well as disseminate Catholic and Marianist values."

Roten and other faculty host a weekly program called "Living with Mary Today!" which explores a variety of Marian themes including Mary and ecumenism, the founding of the Society of Mary, Marian apparitions, and Mary and suffering.

"Radio Maria has a Marian orientation but until now they didn't necessarily have Marian experts," said sometimes-broadcaster Michael Duricy, information technology specialist for the library and institute.

Like most devotions

Once again the Franciscans at St. Anthony Messenger Press release a Catholic Update written by Fr. Thomas Richstatter on the subject of Confession.

And once again he displays a dismissive attitude toward the form of the sacrament most familiar to penitents.

I find that many people continue to “go to Confession” just as they did before the new ritual. They come in, kneel behind the screen, repeat the traditional formulas, recite a short list of sins, and then wait for a penance and a brief word of encouragement. They say an “Act of Contrition” and I “give absolution” (with the revised formula, in English). They say, “Thank you, Father,” and leave.

Like most devotions, part of the appeal of this ritual is its familiarity and the fact that it doesn’t change. The encounter between priest and penitent takes only a few minutes; it requires little on my part as priest except to listen patiently. The penitent goes away with that “good feeling” that we each receive from the performance of our favorite devotions.

For variations on this theme in past Catholic Updates, see Fr. Richstatter's "How to Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation Today" and "Ten Tips for Better Confessions."

The abortionist's deacon

Gene Michael at Rochester Catholic tracked down the material Deacon Anthony Sciolino contributed to an interfaith project led by a local abortionist. That he participated in such a tainted effort is bad enough; what Sciolino said about Pope Pius XII is downright repulsive:

While tens of thousands of Christians during the Holocaust acted humanely, even heroically, sadly many, many more did neither… For the most part church leaders, yes, including Pius XII, were silent and in some cases, complicit.

Jews ponder the Holocaust and rightly ask: Where was God? Christians must to do the same and, in addition, ask: Where was Church?

Despite numerous appeals, Pius refused to issue explicit denunciations of the murder of Jews or call upon the Nazis directly to stop the killing. He determinedly maintained the Vatican’s position of neutrality and declined to associate himself with Allied declarations against Nazi war crimes. The most the Pope would do was to encourage humanitarian aid by church subordinates, issue vague appeals against the oppression of unnamed racial and religious group, and try to ease the lot of Catholics of Jewish origin, caught up in Nazi persecution.

According to John Cornwell, Pacelli’s(Pius XII) role as “Hitler’s Pope” ensured that whatever Catholic resistance to Nazi fascism arose, would be isolated and impotent.

James Carrol, author of “Constantine’s Sword“, contends that Pius XII’s pact with Hitler was a “foundation stone of the Shoah.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League: For almost twenty centuries…the Church was the arch-enemy of the Jews, our most powerful and relentless oppressor and the world’s greatest force for the dissemination of anti-Semitic beliefs and the instigation of the acts of hatred. Many of the same people who operated the gas chambers worshiped in Christian churches on Sunday…The question of the complicity of the church in the murder of Jews is a living one. We must understand the truths of history.

Pius XII never excommunicated a single Nazi nor threatened to do so. He did, however, excommunicate some German Catholics who supported cremation as an alternative to burial.

Throughout this period the Church seldom opposed anti-Jewish persecution and rarely denounced governments for discriminatory practices…

Rabbi David G. Dalin sets the record straight on Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust in an essay you can access here; ditto for a similar effort Ronald Rychlak wrote for First Things magazine.

Platform flip-flops

They must have added 6" of lift, making the woman wearing them tower over her husband. Summer has arrived in Ohio.

A magnificent and fruitful missiology

May 27 is the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury, one of your anglophile host's favorites. ("Dad, you say that about every saint," respond the Leonardi kids.) Enjoy the "Saints Alive" profile written by Rochester's Fr. Robert McNamara, who went to his reward last Friday. As is typical of these brief sketches, the late historian includes nuggets of fascinating background information:

At that time, however, fearing the invasion of two other pagan Celtic peoples, the Picts (of Scotland) and the Scots (of Ireland), British King Vortigern, though himself a Christian, invited the warlike Angles, Saxons and Jutes, pagan Germanic peoples who lived in the present Netherlands and Denmark, to come to his aid. Come they did in what amounted to a permanent invasion. Thus Christian Britain was largely repaganized.

Many of the Celtic Christians took flight to Brittany in northern France. Those who stayed in Britannia fled westward to Wales and Cornwall. Did their churchmen who remained seek to preach the Gospel to these invading heathens? No. Filled with bitter hatred, they refused to have any dealings with them. As one British abbot said, "We will never, never preach the faith to this cruel race of foreigners who have so treacherously robbed us of our native soil!"

But St. Gregory the Great, then pope, could not in conscience deny the Good News of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. He decided to send to them from Rome itself a band of missionaries. He chose monks of the Roman monastery of St. Andrew, and he named as leader their monastic prior, Augustine (not to be confused with the great Augustine of Hippo in Africa).

This missionary band set out on their long westward journey in 596. Crossing the Channel, they went, according to papal instructions, to the kingdom of Kent, where ruled King Ethelbert, "chairman" of the five Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain. The monks had feared a harsh reception, but Ethelbert (whose queen was Catholic) gave them a hospitable hearing, and then gladly granted them permission to preach as they chose, although he insisted that there would be no forced conversions on his part or theirs.

A few months later he himself asked for baptism. At the outset, he had given them a church and a monastic dwelling at Canterbury. Thereafter he aided Augustine and the Pope in many ways, persuading them, for instance, to keep Canterbury as the metropolitan see, and helping them to set up its first two suffragan sees at Rochester and London in 604. Today this benefactor of the faith is venerated as a saint in his own right. His feast is on February 25.

Augustine's mission throve particularly because he followed carefully the prudent recommendations of Pope Gregory. The Pope counseled him, for instance, to approach the Anglo-Saxons gently. Don't abolish their religious sentiments, but Christianize them: make churches out of their temples; substitute saints' days for "gods' days," "baptize" their customs. This was a magnificent and fruitful missiology!

Someone ought to compile and publish his more than 300 saintly vignettes.

Abundant blessings

The Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati reports on last Saturday's ordination Mass at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral. Here's a snippet:

“This year we have an abundant harvest of priestly ordinations,” Archbishop Pilarczyk said during his homily. “It’s been a while since we have ordained seven candidates. We have invested a lot of time and care and money in these men, and today we see it coming to fruition.”

“One might ask, of course, ‘What are we going to get back from the investment we have made?’” the archbishop continued. “What can we expect from these seven new priests in whom we have invested so much?”

The archbishop told those gathered that it is appropriate to expect proper professionalism from the newly ordained priests — to have the expectation that they will be “available to the people they are sent to serve, that they will be understanding and compassionate, that they will be punctual, that they will be respectful of the gifts and charisms of those with whom they serve God’s people, that they will be pleasant in their dealings with their people, that they will be in regular contact with the Lord in prayer.”

There is also a deeper level of professional expertise that we can look for from the ministry of the priests, the archbishop added.

“For one thing, they will be agents of the holiness of God, instruments of the salvation that God has promised to His people. In their celebration of the sacraments of the church, they will make present the power and sanctity of the Lord.”

The newly ordained will also be teachers and leaders in the community of the church, Archbishop Pilarczyk noted.

“In their preaching and in their contact with the faithful, they will announce the good news of the Lord. They will the lead the people to a deeper understanding of the teaching of the church. It will not be their doctrine that they proclaim, but the doctrine of Jesus Christ,” he said.

You can watch a series of videos from the ordination here.

Avatar avoidance

(1) Keep your computer in a public place, e.g., family room or kitchen
(2) Limit the hours -- better minutes -- your children may use the Internet
(3) Use filtering software
(4) Be wary of social networking sites:

Parents need to carefully monitor their teen girls' online social lives, new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center finds.

A study by psychologist Jennie Noll, released today, found that teen girls who design provocative online "avatars" for social networking sites, and teen girls with a history of child abuse, are more likely to receive sexual advances online, and then meet in person with those individuals.

Noll's study found that 40 percent of the 173 teen girls in the study reported experiencing online sexual advances, and 26 percent reported meeting someone in person who they first met online.

Noll called the results "scary."

"The importance of parental monitoring of adolescent Internet use cannot be understated. This is particularly important given that 55 percent of adolescent Internet users have or are currently using social networking Web sites," she said.

The study looked at girls 14 to 17. Each designed her own avatar -- an online image used to represent herself -- in a research lab at the hospital. The avatars were rated for provocativeness based on clothing-to-skin ratio, bust and hip size and piercings.

Compendious

Catholic News Agency reports on a Ghana priest's effort to save young members of his flock from Pentecostal sects, using a modified compendium as a tool:

Reportedly, 8,000 copies of the Compendium have already been distributed, with another 25,000 due to go out over the next month.

Fr. Corazzin said youth go to the sects’ churches because they want entertainment.

“It is merely superficial,” he said. “That is why the Compendium will be a great help to answer the questions and doubts they have.”

The Compendium, a summary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, uses a simple question and answer format to explain the Faith. Pope Benedict XVI promulgated the Compendium in 2005.

According to ACN, in many cases those who leave the Catholic Church either return or move to another sect.

Rev. Dr. Andrew Halemba, ACN’s Africa expert, commented on the subject, saying: “The faith has been weakened terribly so they need a clear foundation and explanation of the basics facts of our faith.”

“After Vatican II there was a tendency to move away from catechisms based on ‘questions and answers’ as too formal and somehow primitive,” he explained.

“Nowadays, they have discovered that there is need for such a book and that it could play a very important role in the process of evangelization.”

Fr. Corazzin said that he expects the Compendium will help people answer questions sects raise about Catholic belief and practice.

“They are asking about Mary, about the saints, all these things,” he said, expressing appreciation for the ACN benefactors helping the effort.

While Catholic teenagers in America don't appear to be apostatizing in the same numbers as their Ghanaian peers, a modified compendium would probably do them a world a good. The compendium's language is a bit too abstract and technical for anyone below his junior and senior year in high school. It might be a worthwhile effort for a new bishop with a stated goal of improved catechesis ...

Marking the souls of His humble servants

A reader shares his impression of Saturday's ordination Mass for seven new priests at Cincinnati's St. Peter in Chains Cathedral:

After being at the Ordination on Saturday, I thought what a difference one week makes. Last weekend was the scandal of the Notre Dame tragedy, this weekend I was witness to the renewal of the Church through the ordination of seven new priests. A packed Cathedral, seeing the successors to the Apostles in the Archbishops, and the grace of God marking the souls of his humble servants, made this weekend a fitting response to the disgrace of last weekend.

If you were there, feel free to post your observations in the comment box; I did not see an account in the Enquirer.

In memoriam

We visited my father's grave this morning at Holy Sepulchre after Mass at OLV. It was beautiful outside -- "California weather," as we said when we were kids. The cemetery was filled with people planting flags and flowers in anticipation of Memorial Day; hardly a soldier's grave went unmarked. Despite the grip the culture of dissent has on this diocese, countless members of the faithful perform age-old works of mercy. Bless them.

All too common

Proving that no good deed can go unbalanced, the Democrat & Chronicle's Mark Hare ignores or brushes aside most of the salient issues in the Obama-Notre Dame scandal, e.g., the distinction between engaging in dialogue and conferring an honor, in his belated column on the subject this morning:

Both Obama and Jenkins said it is high time that we stop demonizing each other, that we look for common ground even as we remain true to our beliefs.

I am at a loss to understand why anyone would object to the ideal of acting on shared goals (of course, if there is no action, the words do not much matter).

It is true that for Catholics, abortion is not just one in a constellation of issues; it is central to the Catholic understanding of the sanctity of life — to the dignity of all persons.

Yet, living in a pluralistic society, would we not prefer fewer abortions — even if reaching that goal requires collaboration with those who see abortion from a different point of view?

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Rochester is virtually silent as the debate over homosexual marriage in New York rages on.

Update. Lee Strong penned a thoughtful response to Rochester mayor Robert Duffy's column in favor of homosexual marriage in this morning's D&C. Duffy is evidently a Catholic. The only thing I'd add to Lee's piece is that the Church's recognition of marriage, like her defense of the sanctity of human life, is rooted in the natural law. As such, one need not be Catholic to appreciate it, and it's a cop-out for Catholics to suggest, as Duffy does, that we can lay these teachings aside out of deference for religious pluralism.