Today is the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul. Before I entered seminary at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA, I never delved into the life of this famous saint. There was an active chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in my hometown of Green Bay; we occasionally dropped off bags of clothing when my mother went on a closet-cleaning binge, but the significance of the holy man who inspired Bl. Frederic Ozanam to found the societies was lost on me. I did, at least, associate St. Vincent de Paul with the virtue of charity.
When I first went to St. Vincent Seminary in the foothills of the Alleghenies, I wondered why the first Benedictine monastery in North America - including a basilica, parish, liberal arts college and seminary - would be named for a saint who had no discernible connections to the Benedictine order. Of course, the reason was that the parish pre-dated the founding of the monastery by fifty-plus years, and had been served, among others, by a priest from Belgium. (Side note: it's amazing how many Belgian priests were missionaries in the U.S. One runs across them everywhere. That country must have been a veritable priest factory.) The Benedictines made St. Vincent de Paul the patron for everything they built on the hilltop near Latrobe. Since part of the original vision was to establish a seminary to train priests for what was then the American frontier, St. Vincent was an excellent patron for priestly formation. I loved my time there, and as a diocesan priest felt like I received the full benefits of the Benedictine sense of stewardship along with the pastoral zeal and charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
It's worth taking the time to learn more about St. Vincent de Paul and his example of holiness. There are a number of great films of his life, excellent books and novels, and best of all, the countless men and women who have been inspired to serve the poor by his example and teaching. We all need to be challenged to interact more with the poor. There are people who are poor because of their own bad choices in life, there are people who are poor because they are oppressed, there are people who are poor because they are simply unlucky in life. This doesn't even touch on the spiritual and moral poverty so rampant even in wealthy countries. But does it matter why a person is poor? We do what we can for them, and in so doing we fan that flame of charity in our heart. Once you start serving your neighbor, especially in the poor among us, you simply can't stop, and you don't want to. St. Vincent de Paul discovered this path of holiness in his own life, and invites us to walk it with him in the service of Jesus, who was the poorest of all.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
A Few Thoughts on Popes
As with most other people in the world, I didn't know what to make of Jose Mario Bergoglio when he stepped out on the balcony of St. Peter's as Pope Francis. (Oddly enough, I had a premonition that morning when I woke up that whoever was elected pope was going to take the name Francis. I'm not sure why I thought that; perhaps it seemed overdue considering the tremendous spiritual influence the great saint of Assisi has had over the last eight hundred years.) Pope Francis has made waves in the first several months of his papacy, but they are good waves, in my opinion. He believes in simple, direct gestures that manifest the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would agree with George Weigel that these waves represent the rising tide of evangelical Catholicism. However, it's not a tidal wave that has come out of nowhere. It has been building for some time.
Over the last one hundred and fifty years or so, we've been blessed with exemplary popes, in my opinion. They've all been holy men, but still men with faults and shortcomings. The College of Cardinals chooses the successor of St. Peter under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and I trust that the man who is selected and answers the call provides something that is necessary to the challenges the Church faces in that moment of history.
I spent my childhood, my youth, and my young adulthood under the pontificate of the soon-to-be Pope St. John Paul II. I wept for an hour when I received the news that he died. With the force and charisma of his personality, he brought order out of the chaos of the 1960s and 70s and articulated a bold, fearless vision for the Catholic Church as we entered a new millennium.
Pope Benedict XVI's election surprised me, only because he had been so clear about not wanting the job. After years of service to his predecessor, he only wanted to retire to a monastery, pray and write. And that was in 2005, at the age of seventy-eight. Yet the "humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord" still answered the call and spent almost eight years filling the Fisherman's Shoes. Pope Benedict was very different in personal character to Pope John Paul II, but he was a kind and gentle shepherd to the Church. I think his greatest contributions have been his insistence on the hermeneutic of continuity in understanding the Church's past, present and future, and his wonderful emphasis on appreciating art, beauty, the sacred liturgy, and our interior life of prayer. I believe he surprised many people (and disappointed media vultures) by his gentleness and pastoral concern.
No one really knew what to expect from Pope Francis, since he was a bit of an unknown on the world stage, even in ecclesiastical circles. Over the last several months, we've witnessed many people, especially in the media, attempt to draw their own picture on the blank slate. Without doubt, however, Pope Francis will shape his own papacy. He strikes me as a man of very firm character. Journalism these days seems to be all about narrative and less about truth, but Pope Francis doesn't have any illusions about this. I predict those who seek to use him for their own narrative are going to get quite frustrated. He truly seeks to practice what Christ teaches.
The things I value most so far about Pope Francis - and I speak from my perspective as a priest - are his pastoral zeal and simplicity. In the now-famous Jesuit interview I was struck by a comment that I haven't seen reported in any media other than the full text of the interview itself: the Holy Father decided not to live in the Apostolic Palace because it was too isolated, not because it was too large or luxurious. After his election, he entered the papal apartments and felt like it was a bubble; access was too restricted. So he refused to live in the bubble.
What a great lesson there is for all of us in that. How often do we choose the safety, the solitude, and the certainty of the bubble rather than the rough and tumble of the messy world? As Christians, our lives rest on a solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. Why be afraid to take that faith into the world, to bring light to others, and to bind up their wounds by showing them the path that leads toward holiness? Whatever their lives have been up to that point, there is an opportunity to know the Lord and what life in him offers. This is what Pope Francis tries to live personally and what he encourages us to do, and I believe great things will be born of it. Once again, the Holy Spirit has given the Church exactly what she needs in the present moment. Funny how that works.
Over the last one hundred and fifty years or so, we've been blessed with exemplary popes, in my opinion. They've all been holy men, but still men with faults and shortcomings. The College of Cardinals chooses the successor of St. Peter under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and I trust that the man who is selected and answers the call provides something that is necessary to the challenges the Church faces in that moment of history.
I spent my childhood, my youth, and my young adulthood under the pontificate of the soon-to-be Pope St. John Paul II. I wept for an hour when I received the news that he died. With the force and charisma of his personality, he brought order out of the chaos of the 1960s and 70s and articulated a bold, fearless vision for the Catholic Church as we entered a new millennium.
Pope Benedict XVI's election surprised me, only because he had been so clear about not wanting the job. After years of service to his predecessor, he only wanted to retire to a monastery, pray and write. And that was in 2005, at the age of seventy-eight. Yet the "humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord" still answered the call and spent almost eight years filling the Fisherman's Shoes. Pope Benedict was very different in personal character to Pope John Paul II, but he was a kind and gentle shepherd to the Church. I think his greatest contributions have been his insistence on the hermeneutic of continuity in understanding the Church's past, present and future, and his wonderful emphasis on appreciating art, beauty, the sacred liturgy, and our interior life of prayer. I believe he surprised many people (and disappointed media vultures) by his gentleness and pastoral concern.
No one really knew what to expect from Pope Francis, since he was a bit of an unknown on the world stage, even in ecclesiastical circles. Over the last several months, we've witnessed many people, especially in the media, attempt to draw their own picture on the blank slate. Without doubt, however, Pope Francis will shape his own papacy. He strikes me as a man of very firm character. Journalism these days seems to be all about narrative and less about truth, but Pope Francis doesn't have any illusions about this. I predict those who seek to use him for their own narrative are going to get quite frustrated. He truly seeks to practice what Christ teaches.
The things I value most so far about Pope Francis - and I speak from my perspective as a priest - are his pastoral zeal and simplicity. In the now-famous Jesuit interview I was struck by a comment that I haven't seen reported in any media other than the full text of the interview itself: the Holy Father decided not to live in the Apostolic Palace because it was too isolated, not because it was too large or luxurious. After his election, he entered the papal apartments and felt like it was a bubble; access was too restricted. So he refused to live in the bubble.
What a great lesson there is for all of us in that. How often do we choose the safety, the solitude, and the certainty of the bubble rather than the rough and tumble of the messy world? As Christians, our lives rest on a solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. Why be afraid to take that faith into the world, to bring light to others, and to bind up their wounds by showing them the path that leads toward holiness? Whatever their lives have been up to that point, there is an opportunity to know the Lord and what life in him offers. This is what Pope Francis tries to live personally and what he encourages us to do, and I believe great things will be born of it. Once again, the Holy Spirit has given the Church exactly what she needs in the present moment. Funny how that works.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Why a blog?
I think a lot. I have many hobbies and interests, but my favorite pastime is to sit and think. Contemplate might be a better word, as much of my personal prayer time is spent mulling the mysteries of the universe. I'm constantly being fed by the books I read, the people I meet, current events, and even the blogs I read (I don't actually follow many, but I'm constantly checking out the links to particular blog posts my friends recommend).
I enjoy writing immensely, too. I like to choose words carefully, to articulate a thought so that it means precisely what I want it to mean. Everyday conversation isn't a great medium in which to practice, although we'd probably all benefit from considering and shaping more carefully the things we say with our tongues. I don't know that the things I write on this blog will be particularly valuable or profound, or even well-said; there are far more erudite and brilliant writers in the blogosphere than I. Like Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve, though, I find it helpful to get some thoughts out of my head from time to time, and it would be interesting to me to see what others make of them.
The title of my blog is quite consciously a reference to Georges Bernanos' classic French novel, Diary of a Country Priest, published in 1937. It is a story of a humble country priest enduring intense spiritual and physical challenges, weighed down by the darkness and pessimism of a world that has strayed from the path of salvation. He dies of stomach cancer in the end, murmuring the words, "All is grace!" A good lady of my acquaintance was surprised I liked this novel so much, as I'm of a sunnier disposition than the tormented, struggling priest of the story. She thought it all horribly depressing. Yet I find the nameless priest of the story to be a tremendous inspiration in my own priesthood. He is gradually conformed to the Cross, descending into the darkness. The wickedness of the world tears at him body and soul in ways subtle and not-so-subtle, the devil rages, but in the end there is the triumph of the Cross, and that marvelous cri de coeur, "All is grace!"
A great deal of my ministry as a priest has been among college students at the University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State University. I owe a lot of my sunny disposition to them, because they strengthen the virtue of hope in me. I'm curious to see what fruit this blog will bear for me, for others... so let's see what comes out of my ol' noggin. I don't promise gems and pearls, but if something makes you think more deeply, I'll consider it worth the time to have written it down.
I enjoy writing immensely, too. I like to choose words carefully, to articulate a thought so that it means precisely what I want it to mean. Everyday conversation isn't a great medium in which to practice, although we'd probably all benefit from considering and shaping more carefully the things we say with our tongues. I don't know that the things I write on this blog will be particularly valuable or profound, or even well-said; there are far more erudite and brilliant writers in the blogosphere than I. Like Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve, though, I find it helpful to get some thoughts out of my head from time to time, and it would be interesting to me to see what others make of them.
The title of my blog is quite consciously a reference to Georges Bernanos' classic French novel, Diary of a Country Priest, published in 1937. It is a story of a humble country priest enduring intense spiritual and physical challenges, weighed down by the darkness and pessimism of a world that has strayed from the path of salvation. He dies of stomach cancer in the end, murmuring the words, "All is grace!" A good lady of my acquaintance was surprised I liked this novel so much, as I'm of a sunnier disposition than the tormented, struggling priest of the story. She thought it all horribly depressing. Yet I find the nameless priest of the story to be a tremendous inspiration in my own priesthood. He is gradually conformed to the Cross, descending into the darkness. The wickedness of the world tears at him body and soul in ways subtle and not-so-subtle, the devil rages, but in the end there is the triumph of the Cross, and that marvelous cri de coeur, "All is grace!"
A great deal of my ministry as a priest has been among college students at the University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State University. I owe a lot of my sunny disposition to them, because they strengthen the virtue of hope in me. I'm curious to see what fruit this blog will bear for me, for others... so let's see what comes out of my ol' noggin. I don't promise gems and pearls, but if something makes you think more deeply, I'll consider it worth the time to have written it down.
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