From My Mother's Womb

St. John the Baptist, pray for us!

Today's solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist got me thinking quite intensely about the notion or nature of vocations, which we firmly believe do come from God and not from personal whim. That is to say, God calls a man to priesthood, just like God called St. John to prepare the way of the Lord and from the first moment of his existence, from his mother Elizabeth's womb. I've come to the conclusion that this "spiel" about so-called mature vocations to priesthood and religious life as being somehow better is not only folly but perhaps should be attributed to the evil one. God required no previous life experience of St. John before singling him out as the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets. He doesn't require a series of adventures from a man as a prerequisite for admission to seminary.

Have you ever heard a witness from someone who came late to the priesthood who did not confess resisting or denying God's call, unless of course hardship at home stood in the way? By sending away younger people who present themselves as called by God, I feel we are stifling the Spirit. Let there be no mistake about it: over the last 20 years and more, bishops, pastors and seminary rectors have been sending young men away. How often over these same years have parents succeeded in dampening the hopes and aspirations of a son as well?

As odd-ball as those two first paragraphs of this reflection may sound and not wanting to be less than thankful to all those men who finally gave in or rebelled and accepted the grace bestowed upon them by God and became His priests, I want to insist that we need to do more to take younger people seriously and provide them with the opportunity of responding, proportionate to their age and maturity, to a call we must show that we too believe indeed comes from God.

St. Luke's Gospel for today's solemnity recounting the events on the day of John's circumcision seems to me to be incontrovertible evidence in this regard of how the world should react to God's subtle signs:

"All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. 'What will this child turn out to be?' they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel."


John's parents knew the difference between the finger of God and childish caprice; so should we. At this traditional time of year for priestly ordinations and anniversaries of ordination (35 for me this year!) the generally small or no numbers in many places cause pain but, with all due respect, not enough for hardened hearts to soften and creative minds to seek ways appropriate to our day and time to allow once again boys, yet boys, to speak an ADSUM at age 18 certainly, but perhaps even better at age 14! Maybe the Latin schools of the great monasteries and cathedral chapters should be reopened?

Forgive me for not having a pat answer to the vocation crisis! Our world has grown terribly chaotic and too many distractions compete for young hearts and minds. We grown-ups, however, cannot just stand idly by as if we were victims. We witness both cautious and bold "No's!" on the part of fellow Christians to other invasions into our rightful space as God's chosen ones. Shouldn't we also give respect to our children as they do the equivalent of what John did as he leapt for joy at the presence of his Lord, both of them still under their mothers' hearts? Elizabeth was voice for her son and for her doubting husband Zechariah. Let us help with a serious "Here am I Lord! I come to do Your Will!" for those the Lord has chosen from the womb today to feed and shepherd His flock.

The Birthday of St. John the Baptist has me worried about us who seem to be stifling the Spirit and depriving our people of the Bread of Heaven and the life-giving Word of God!

Contemplating His Wounds

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
Good Friday, 21 March 2008
Rosary Monastery, St. Ann’s

“As the crowds were appalled on seeing him – so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human – so will the crowds be astonished at him, and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before: ‘Who could believe what we have heard, and to whom has the power of the Lord been revealed?’ (Isaiah)”

“This is the wood of the cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.”

By the shedding of His precious Blood, by handing over His life in sacrifice to the Lord, Jesus won for us a happiness which will never end. He raised us up to new life with Him.

I happened upon a Psalm-prayer from the Breviary recently, which really spoke to me. I think it helps put today’s liturgy into context very nicely.

“God our Father, to show the way of salvation, you chose that the standard of the cross should go before us, and you fulfilled the ancient prophecies in Christ’s Passover from death to life. Do not let us rouse your burning indignation by sin, but rather, through the contemplation of his wounds, make us burn with zeal for the honor of your Church and with grateful love for you.”

Meditating on the Cross, contemplating Christ’s wounds, can fill us with love from the very top to the very bottom of our hearts. Choosing Christ above all is first and foremost a deliberate response to a grace given to us by God Himself. Those who here yesterday at the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper here in Rosary Monastery heard me say, that in all of this, what matters is the direction our lives take, where we are headed. Where I am headed is what counts; moving off dead center, being moved by the Spirit of God is what counts. Being moved by the Spirit of God is not “moved” as in “all stirred up”, but “moved” in the sense of “set in motion”, of being pointed and set off in a direction. What is important in life and religion is the direction: we must bring the proper spirit to our every day living and to our participation in public worship, as we progress along the road to Christ and to our eternal salvation. We seek Jesus, the Crucified, in prayer, in life and in divine worship.

Today’s worship service is unique in the Church’s yearly calendar, it being the only day with a prescribed celebration other than the Eucharist and that so that we can focus directly on the historical event of Christ’s Sacrifice once and for all upon the Cross. I think Good Friday is a good time to face both pastors’ and parents’ anxiety about wanting to make worship attractive for the people and especially, as many parents would say, for our children so as to keep them coming to church. We need to exhort or admonish all those who seem to be seized by all kinds of fears, that one thing only is necessary.

“…through the contemplation of his wounds, make us burn with zeal for the honor of your Church and with grateful love for you.”

There are times when we think that liturgical renewal, making worship speak to the people of our day and time, is the thing at the present time. You’ll hear it said: “People didn’t have so many options back then… There weren’t so many other things to do with your Sunday once upon a time… Church was the social gathering years ago… Folks have to make more of a deliberate choice today also because there isn’t the social pressure to go to Sunday Mass that there used to be…” And we could go on with similar observations all pointing to the opinion that externals are what faith practice is all about, that because the entertainment options out there are numerous and impressive, not to mention being maybe fun, that it’s harder to be a practicing Catholic today than it ever has been…

I would like to respectfully disagree with that opinion. The Cross which Jesus invites us to carry with Him has not gotten bigger over the years. Life has not changed much really, even over the centuries. Look at the Exodus story from the Old Testament! Even an earth-shaking Theophany, God coming down in a cloud with thunder and lightning, couldn’t keep the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, with Moses almost within sight up on the mountain top talking with God, not even God’s own powerful presence in the desert could keep them from forging for themselves and worshiping a golden calf. As God’s Chosen People yearned for their stew-pots and kitchen gardens despite the slavery back in Egypt, so people in our day and time often miss the bigger picture and turn their backs on the practice of their Catholic faith for some other form of entertainment. It may be true that we’ve lost out in that competition, but that is not the point because it is not the core issue. Who ever said that Sunday Mass was a cultural exercise? No matter how polished, how dynamic, how entertaining Sunday worship could be… no matter how dynamic Father’s sermon and how pertinent his message, some folks would still stay away or wander off of a Sunday. The challenge to living a Catholic life, to embracing the faith in its fullness and clinging to Christ has never played out in the matter of externals.

What is at the heart of our faith? What made grandma and grandpa or mom and dad such faithful Catholics? What was it which made the difference for them and why don’t I have any excuse for not being the same kind of committed Catholic? What animates the life of a practicing Catholic? What is the soul of religion, what can and does sustain me in my faith if it isn’t a hearty greeting of peace, a great choir or a rousing sermon? That what, I think, is something we can call essential religion.

“…but rather, through the contemplation of his wounds, make us burn with zeal for the honor of your Church and with grateful love for you.”

We use the expressions: “Being a good citizen, being a good neighbor…” People used to say “being a good Christian” in the same breath. The thought is good but it is not the whole story. Remember: essential religion! Every tendency recorded in history to move away from the fullness of Catholic faith has been a denial of the central and essential importance of the Blood of Christ. This turning away from the contemplation of his wounds has corresponded to an attempt on the part of the powers that be in the world of that time, by whomever it was who was pulling the strings, to manage folk, to get the people to toe the line, to make “good Christian” synonymous with “good citizen”. What is central to our faith, what is essential however lies elsewhere; it is necessarily a part of Good Friday.

First and foremost a good Catholic is someone who has made the experience of Good Friday the hallmark of his or her life. The good Catholic has contemplated his wounds, Jesus’ Cross, and in a sense that spectacle is enough for him or for her. In the Cross of Christ my cup is filled to overflowing. The popular old Spiritual hymn, “Were you there when the crucified my Lord?”, says the same thing in a little different manner. The role of Calvary in my life can hardly be exaggerated.

The fullness of life and truth is hidden deep within His wounds. The prophet Isaiah spoke to us in prophecy of what is called the scandal of the Cross, “the crowds were appalled on seeing him – so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human”. Leaving aside almost the spectacle of violence, the Cross signals for those who do not take time to pause and reflect something truly gratuitous, something which goes beyond the limit and doesn’t make much sense. Some people just do not seem willing to face the fundamental question: To what extremes will God really go to touch my heart, to draw me back, to draw me to Himself? “To ransom a slave you gave away your son” we’ll sing tomorrow night!

“God our Father, to show the way of salvation, you chose that the standard of the cross should go before us, and you fulfilled the ancient prophecies in Christ’s Passover from death to life. Do not let us rouse your burning indignation by sin, but rather, through the contemplation of his wounds, make us burn with zeal for the honor of your Church and with grateful love for you.”

Eyes and heart wide open, our ears filled with the powerful words of John’s Gospel account of the Passion, let us look to Jesus and let our choice of Him above all others be strong!

Start up the Hill!

The Patronal Feast
of the Parish of Santa Rosa
Arima, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,
Sunday, 26 August 2007
St. Rose of Lima
Readings from the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The Lord says this: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory.”
“And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.”
“Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.”

The primary duty of a Nuncio, my job if you will, representing our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the peoples and countries of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC), is to do what the Successor of St. Peter would do at Jesus’ command if he were here: “strengthen the brethren”. I’m supposed to be a source of encouragement and help first and foremost to Catholics in this part of the world, starting with the bishops. To be able to encourage someone you have to know and love that person. That means I need to spend more time observing and listening than I do speaking. Every once in a while I need not only to share the lessons I’ve learned, I need to build people up by saying or doing something. How’s that for a great job description? And how about a few words of challenge and encouragement for all of you on this your parish’s patronal feast, your day to celebrate St. Rose of Lima?

Truth to be told, if all of us concentrated on promoting others we’d have a much better world. Constructive criticism has its place, I suppose, but it shouldn’t be any more than that occasional course correction on a voyage propelled by words and actions giving others encouragement. I knew a priest once, when I was still a high school boy, who went around telling everyone they were great. “Tom, Bill, Martha, Cathy, you’re great?” he’d say. People liked him until they figured out that often he really didn’t even know their names, let alone who they were… (How does he know I’m great?) The old catechism’s first question, “Why did God make me?”, “He made me to know, love and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next” really says it all. If I don’t speak or act from knowledge and through knowledge from love, I’m not serving God or my neighbor. I’ll tell you you’re great, or in the case of singing God’s praises (How Great Thou Art), once I know better what I’m talking about.

What about the hidden and brief life (31 years) of the first daughter of the Americas to be proclaimed a saint? St. Rose lived simply, she did penance constantly, she prayed intensely, and she loved the Blessed Virgin Mary very much. Almost 400 years have passed since her death and she’s still a light and an example for others. Her people especially, if they are people of the Gospel, are still proud of her and can still win lessons from her, as you and I can today, too. (…)

This coming December, it’ll be three years since I first landed at Piarco. I continue to learn and be surprised by the people of this region and of Trinidad in particular, whom the Holy Father has entrusted to my special care. Lots can be said, but let’s concentrate on Jesus’ words, words which St. Rose of Lima took seriously already at the tender age of 5, words from the Gospel of St. Luke today, words which I believe hold special meaning for all of us present here:
“Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.”

One of the lessons my Mother learned as a girl growing up on the farm, she and her older brother being the 2 youngest of 8 children from the only Catholic family in their one room school house, was that when you’re outnumbered like that you shouldn’t talk either religion or politics. Some people still get heated up about politics today, but more folks than not seem to be indifferent about matters of religion – even here in Trinidad. I read in the Catholic News that only 17% of those who declare themselves Catholic go to Mass regularly on Sundays. People are not exactly hustling to “enter by the narrow door” or so it would seem. Jesus would tell us in the Gospel that needs to change. The question is: what can you and I do if our life is in order to convince other people not to put off until tomorrow entering into the sheepfold? St. Rose of Lima did her share by giving good example and that’s what I’d like to encourage you to do as well.

You see, Catholics have never been fans of standing on street corners and preaching from on top of soapboxes, and for that matter neither am I. How do you communicate to your family, to your friends and neighbors, that knowing, loving and serving God is serious business which cannot be put off until tomorrow? Remember, St. Rose got serious at age 5 and never let up until her death at age 31. Don’t underestimate the power for good in the world of your good example at home. Child, youth, aged – it makes no difference – as you eagerly seek to know, love and serve God and all those who cross your path starting right at home like she did, you’ll light lights just like St. Rose.

How does it work? You just need to try and try hard. (Isn’t there some kind of tennis or sport shoes with the slogan “Just do it”? Well just do it!) Start with the basics: never a day without prayer – morning offering, meal prayers, and examination of conscience and bed time prayers; never a Sunday without Mass; regular confession with a firm purpose to change your ways and seek to live by all of God’s commands; learn about your faith; love your neighbor – do so especially for the sake of the poor and helpless.

St. Rose was a penitential soul: imitating her example of penance, personal sacrifice, is probably the hardest one for us in our day and time. Apart from supporting evils done to us by others, not barking or snapping when things don’t go our way or when we’re crowded a bit, nudged too hard or our toes are stepped upon, I’m talking about seeking to share the Cross of Christ as St. Rose did according to her state in life and the culture of her times. You see, it’s not so much that we have life too good, but our problem is that we want to have it too good. Embrace the Cross!

As I say, just do it! There’s a children’s book entitled “The Little Engine That Could”. It’s about a tiny train with a load to haul; the little train is frightened by a hill, but he makes it up over the top, he succeeds by starting, just by starting up that hill, while repeating over and over again to himself: “I think I can, I think I can”. The lesson is clear. Just like St. Peter, stepping out of the boat to walk on the waters to Jesus, we need to just do it, that is live the faith to the full, with our eyes fixed on Jesus. We cannot let ourselves be impressed by the wind and the waves.

The longer I watch, the longer I listen, the more convinced I become that many young mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, fail today for failing to try. They fail to try to learn, to try to love and to try to understand both each other in marriage and the children given to them by God in sacred trust.

Look at today’s man! Between airports and TV, you’d be surprised at the number of grown men one sees these days who are dressed like boys. They’re not doing anything wrong but they certainly confirm the old saying that mamma’s biggest boy is her husband. Is he trying?

Watch a woman who moves through life with a measure of grace and modesty, a woman who is at once self-confident and politely attentive to those around her. I wish there were more such women around: they radiate all kinds of things you can’t bottle and which steady our world. They know what they are about. They are trying for sure, trying to enter by the narrow door.

When there is more than one teacher for a grade level of primary school parents are and always have been anxious that their son or daughter get the better of those two teachers. It went without saying (years ago anyway) that which boys and girls were in the class wasn’t so important: if they misbehaved they’d be disciplined in school and punished again at home so that they would learn that comportment is part of trying, of growing and learning. We can say what we want about the quality of schools, but how many boys and girls out there today not only fail to try in school but make life miserable for their classmates? Even children have responsibilities, even children (don’t forget that 5 year old Santa Rosa) need to do their part, need to start up that hill.

I must admit that I am shocked by how pessimistic many people are about the future of society. I know older people even who’ll say, “Father, I’m glad I won’t be around in another few years!” Personally, I don’t agree when it comes to hope for the world. Moreover, I think that the man or woman of faith who is seeking the Lord, who is trying, shares my conviction that things don’t necessarily have to go bad at home, at school, in the neighborhood or in our world.

The lesson of the saints, our faith in the power of God to save if we but cooperate with His grace, should tell us that everything is possible for those who love God. We just need to be ready to embrace the Cross of Christ if Its shadow falls on us. I know of a man who was probably the most fortunate of a less than fortunate family. He wasn’t a lottery winner or some kind of a star. His life was nothing spectacular, but he did have the basics: he had a decent wife and healthy children, he had a good job and then threw it all away because things at home and at work got tough at a certain moment. Today he blames everyone else for his misfortune including God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He blames everyone except himself. He’s turned his back on the world, claiming the world has abandoned him and so practices transcendental meditation… He was among the first in a sense and now he’s last. He needs to try again. Maybe you do too? Try to enter in by the narrow door!

St. Rose of Lima entered by the narrow door and nations of every language, from east and west, from north and south, have recognized this and followed her. Rose lived a hidden life on earth, but from heaven she shines from end to end. She belongs to Lima, she belongs to Peru and Latin America, she belongs in a special way to the native peoples of the Americas, and she belongs to you, people of Santa Rosa R.C. Church, Arima! Don’t stay behind at the bottom of the hill! Start the climb! Just do it! Be lights for the world in our day and time! Follow her example and try to enter by the narrow door!

The Good Shepherd calls His own

Fourth Sunday of Easter
“Good Shepherd Sunday” – 29 April 2007
Rosary Monastery, St. Ann’s
Port of Spain
Homily

“Paul and Barnabas urged them to remain faithful to the grace God had given them.”
“I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”
“…the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
“The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; …they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me.”

Good Shepherd Sunday, as today is called, is dedicated to prayer for vocations, especially to priesthood and the religious life. We need to beseech God for religious and priestly vocations, but we also need to know why we ask this of Him.
If he were here to defend himself, Fr. Tiernan would probably correct me if I said that in the Ireland of his boyhood, the “why” of his vocation and that of so many other boys his age and older who went to the seminary was self-evident. Maybe it wasn’t. One thing however was clear still yet when my generation was hearing about such things 20 years later at school. Earlier generations had a more realistic idea of the prerequisites for a vocation to the priesthood, for example, than boys or young men do today.
We were told in religion class or catechism that the prerequisites for a priestly vocation were a sound mind and a sound body, a little better than average intelligence, and that was it. I can remember puzzling over that, because it didn’t seem all that romantic or supernatural, but it certainly was reassuring. Even I can be a priest, if God wants me.
You see, the point is that God calls. Years ago there was a brand of canned tuna which advertised on TV with a cartoon character named “Charlie, the Tuna”, who was always trying something new to get caught by the Starkist Tuna fishing boat. Sometimes he’d dress up, sometimes he’d be reading a book or playing a violin, but whenever he made a grab for the hook, it’d get away from him and come back with a note on it reading, “Sorry, Charlie, Starkist doesn’t want tuna with good taste, it wants tuna that tastes good!” It’s the same with vocations. God knows the heart, He knows us inside out and He is the one who calls us.
I was in Bermuda last weekend for the Annual Plenary Meeting of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC). One of the big concerns which all the bishops shared was the scarcity of vocations to the priesthood here in the region. Aren’t there any? Aren’t there any young men around for the seminary? Isn’t God calling? Is He silent for some reason? The fact that we raise our prayer to God for vocations on Good Shepherd Sunday is in and of itself a partial answer to such questions. Of course there are vocations; of course God still calls and calls in sufficient numbers for the needs of the local Church and perhaps even for a mission outreach to people elsewhere; God does not leave His flock untended. He continues in our day and time to lead us to everlasting life in the community of the Church. Servants of His altar cannot be lacking. But…? But what?
In today’s Gospel we have the same thought: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; …they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me.”
The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church and one of the practical applications of that teaching is the assurance that God will call sufficient men to serve at His altars.
Lots of times people will try to tell you that priests and bishops are the key to calling forth the next generation of vocations and the crisis of identity of priests is at the heart of the vocations crisis. Needless to say, this observation has some merit, but it does not contain the whole truth. As a little boy, I think I learned my appreciation for the priests, my respect and even awe for them at home. Until I became a priest myself at 25 years of age, I can count on one hand the number of priests who visited our family at home. Back then, Father didn’t greet at the door of the church after Mass either. There wasn’t much personal contact. But before he even spoke, I knew Father was important and he had a special part to play in God’s Universe. I learned that as a small child at home and the message was confirmed for me at school. Add to that the fact that even as a ten year old I could see I was healthy and everybody told me I had a better than average intelligence, and well, God did call me and He continues to call us from our mother’s womb as it is said.
I’ve read books that recount the story of so called belated or adult vocations. They’ll always talk about how they honestly fought their vocation, not because they didn’t want to be a priest, but because they couldn’t imagine themselves that way or felt themselves unworthy. They were stopping their ears, in a sense, and refusing to listen to God’s call as it came forth ever so subtly from their hearts and was confirmed by family, friends and teachers, who didn’t necessarily push, but pointed to a real possibility in life for them.
Faithfulness/perseverance in the priesthood or in the religious life is also rooted in lessons learned at home from Mommy and Daddy. Parents and their happiness in marriage are positive input for a call to celibacy or virginity. The Sacrament of Matrimony mirrors divine love and offers most of us the only experience of the sacrificial love of Jesus that we might readily have in life as young persons.
TV, Internet, certain types of live entertainment and music tend to drown silence out of our lives and fill our heads sometimes with wrong things and too often with distractions. What to do? Pray for yourself! Lord, help me to clear my ears, eyes and head.
The other day, in the gate area of Terminal A in Miami, waiting for my flight back to Port of Spain, I looked up from my book for a moment and everyone around me was talking on a cell phone, all ages, shapes and sizes. Truth to be told, I’d wished I’d had a cell phone the day before in New York where I couldn’t find a pay phone that worked. But back to our prayer: Lord, open my ears and my heart. Lord, touch the heart of that boy in the pew in front of me! Lord, call my grandson, if it be your will!
I can remember getting a little kind of sticker, slightly bigger than a bookmark that someone gave me when I was about ten which had the prayer on it: “Oh Lord, grant that I might become a priest after Thine own Heart.” I dare any boy or man here who has not committed himself yet in life to kneel down each night before you climb into bed and see if God doesn’t take you up on your offer if you sincerely recite that prayer, all other things (sound mind and body, better than average intelligence) being equal!

Be reconciled to God

Fourth Sunday of Lent – 18 March 2007


“So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.”
(from II Reading: 2 Cor. 5: 17-21)

Jesus’ teaching in Luke’s Gospel Chapter 15, which centers around the powerful and beautiful story he told his listeners and which comes down to us through the Church is the one we popularly refer to as the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son is the younger son of two working on the farm with his father; he gets restless for some reason, demands his share of the inheritance, takes it and goes off to the big city and blows it all partying. Misery helps him come to his senses. He heads home with his confession all rehearsed: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired hands.”
It’s a very happy story for the prodigal son and the way the story goes, we have to say with St. Paul that “it’s all God’s work”. As we learn from putting the three readings from this Sunday together, God, in Jesus, is the one who gives us the fruits of the Promised Land to eat; he prepares the banquet for us through no merit of our own, in fact just the opposite. Even though we have sinned against him, he takes away our shame, as Joshua said; he dresses us up in a festal garment, puts sandals on our feet and a ring on our finger! He doesn’t even let his son finish his confession of guilt. He was lost and now he is found; he was dead (to us anyway) and now he has come back to life.
It is a fabulous story and it is truly good news for us as well. What’s the special message for this Sunday then? I think it’s simply: Make your honest and complete confession of sin and then just enjoy the way God fusses over you! “…be reconciled to God.”
Whether we interpret Paul’s words to the Corinthians and to us using the words of the Psalm, “taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” or whether we tell and retell the story of the father’s unbounded love for even his prodigal son, the bottom line is the same: “I will rise and go to my father and tell him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.” The father does the rest.
We never get happy or totally at home with confessing our sins, with admitting guilt, with taking the responsibility for something we’ve done or we’ve failed to do, causing something to go wrong. I guess that’s human nature, that’s human pride. Swallowing that pride and confessing our sins are a very grown-up, a very mature kind of thing. A good example of regular confession on the part of parents is what makes all the difference in a child’s first confession, as well as every confession after that first one. As a child, I don’t need to know what mommy and daddy confess to the priest in private, but watching them stand in line for confession and watching them kneel down to say their penance and say thank you to God after confession shows a child what he or she needs to do. Young people, especially adolescents, have an even rougher struggle with pride, just because they are still maturing. That’s the lesson of the prodigal son: he had to end up indenturing himself to somebody as a swineherd and nearly starving before he came around and put things in his life right. He ultimately did humble himself and return home, choosing to live in the right world, the good world created by his father.
How is this right world of the Church supposed to be? How is a good family supposed to be? Love and mutual respect within a family really are priceless. We can get by without a lot of creature comforts if we have each other in that good sort of way. The same is true of life in the Church: our Church “family” doesn’t have to be all that flashy. It is the spoiled child, really, who complains about things being boring. If somebody balks at going to church on Sunday, because it’s boring, I know I’m faced with a maturity issue. Parents and parish priests who anxiously try to make Sunday Mass an experience, to make church entertaining, are missing the point. Beauty in worship has its place, but pageantry and the spectacular are just for entertainment, part of that which the younger son ran off to the big city for, only to find out that the real stuff of life was what he’d left behind at home with his father.
This is the Fourth Sunday of Lent already. We’re only two weeks from Palm Sunday. Use these two weeks yet to see how things are going in your life. Has pride the upper hand in your life? When was your last good confession? Are family, church and school the center of your life? Can you distinguish between celebration and partying? Recognize your dignity and your worth! Learn the lesson the prodigal son had to learn the hard way and which the older son never did quite learn!
“So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.”