Blessed Sacrament. January 31 , 2013

Praying before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. His Presence is one that draws us into divine Love. In this moment of contemplative prayers, Jesus speaks to the human heart, a voice that "lures us into the desert." We stand before Jesus "naked" in our brokenness and sinfulness and in this desert he gazes at us and into the center of our beings. Like the father in the parable, he wraps us with the arms of grace dissolving all that separates us from his love.

When taking a walk to St. Peter's piazza , I take the short cut through a parking garage and underground. Through this long "tube" one can't help but encounter all the "least ones" of the kingdom...the poor. They know that at the end of the tube stand the massive columns forming the architectural masterpiece of the colonnade that circle the square. One almost feels them embracing all of humanity.

The poor are the "blessed sacrament " ...the very Presence of Jesus. And they embrace us with their cries and pleas Yes, they repel us and lure us at the same time
They prick the conscious which wounds our heart, opening them to see ones self in these rejected ones. A glance of love can change the hardest of hearts.

In this beautiful Eternal City stands the mother of all churches, a mother that wants to nourish humanity with God's Presence and Love. This wonderful church beckons us to become just a bit more uncomfortable in our privileged worlds. The purpose of a beautiful church is to make us more Christlike. And in gazing at Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament give God the permission to wound our hearts so that may "see"with His eyes.

The church teaches that Jesus in the Eucharist is "food for the journey (camino)." We feed on Christ's Body so that we will do what the colonnade and basilica do: we open wide our arms to embrace the least ones and in this embrace , we , too, become a least one. Buen camino. Padre

Ruth. January 28, 2013

I received the email which informed us of Ruth's passing from this world into the Kingdom. I read the news just after I arrived in Rome from Chicago. My very first venture this morning was to St. Peter's in memory of Ruth. Upon entering the basilica , to my right , is the famous statue of Michelangelo's , the Pieta, depicting a grieving Mary holding the lifeless body of her Son.
I couldn't help but think of Fred who, like Mary , is so grieving the loss of his beloved.
This journey of life is a beautiful one but one that not only embraces life, but must let go of life. The grieving is what truly binds us all for in the grieving is a vulnerability we share. Every one of us must let go of precious loved ones to be left with emptiness....an emptiness that can only be filled with Love.

As Mary held the body of Jesus she instinctively knew that something more was to come..,that death was not the final answer. She was the gathering force that united the apostles as they waited for thd outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With Fred and all those grieving, we wait for that sd Spirit to pull us out of grief and into expectant waiting. We wait, holding their lifeless bodies...handing them over to theOne who ROSE from the dead... Out of Mary's arms and into transformation.

We pray for those grieving like Fred. Our grief and theirs unite as we wait to be welcomed through the gateway of death by by all those who have made this ultimate camino or journey. One more will be there to welcome us, give as a bag of food. And a smile. Her name is Ruth.
Buen camino. Padre

Airport. January 26, 2013

I love the airport. Here I sit with over four hours until my flight leaves for Madrid and then Rome. I love snow and the winter....and I love airports. Here I sit with two very heavy suitcases and a Starbucks in hand watching....observing.
Perhaps it is all the energy ; maybe it is the huge diversity of humanity passing by. Right next to me are sitting people from Japan, India and America. Everyone is going somewhere....

As we are waiting to leave, thousands are arriving from countless destinations, perhaps to come home; maybe a visit; or maybe a business meeting awaits. Comings and goings. Arrivals and departures. Life.

Human beings are always arriving, entering the circle of life. Their lives are just beginning, with countless destinations waiting to unfold. But others are leaving this great circle to complete the greatest of life's journey. Our beloved Ruth is on this threshold to a transformed life where she will watch over the love of her life, Fred, and will continue to be a spark of love at our food distribution.

The sadness and grief is what ultimately units us and binds us together. As the reading from Hebrews at today 's mass says, he poured out his Blood, his very life, so that he could prepare the way for each one of us. We enter heaven, the kingdom, only because Christ had made it possible through his pouring out of his life. Heaven had been opened for ALL people through the greatest sacrifice of all. This is the sacrifice that is made present at every mass celebrated. Every Eucharist is an experience of the moment of Calvary? Of passion, sacrifice , and resurrection. And Christ had given us HIS very Body and Blood for the journey. For the many departures and arrivals....
The sadness in letting go of the people we love, like Ruth, is met with the joy that we will see our loved one again when our moment comes to depart this world. Joy kisses sadness, and life is reborn. Buen camino. Padre

Blanket of Snow. January 25, 2013

We finally did it! We received one full inch of snow, something that hasn't happened all winter. Being one who loves winter, I saw the falling snow and couldn't help but smile. It created a fluffy white blanket that covered the land. This blanket had a way of being a grand equalizer. Outside of the size of buildings, you can't really tell one neighborhood from the next; the rich from the poor.

James Joyce evoked the image of the falling snow at the end of his story, "The Dead," to remind us that the snow falls on all: "It had begun to snow...the snow general all over Ireland...It was falling on every part of the dark central plain; on the treeless hills... further westward softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves...it was falling , too, upon every churchyard on the hill...it lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones...the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling like the descent of their last end, upon the living and the dead."

These beautiful and poetic words written by an author whose writings freed him to see and experience the God beyond the constraints of culture, custom and even religion. The snow blankets ALL creating a beautiful unity where there is neither "gentile or Jew , slave or free, male or female. " Standing outside I can become a part of this blanket uniting me within every human being and together with all of creation.

On this feast of the Conversion of St. Paul we tap into the same Spirit that blinded Paul only to have his eyes opened wider than ever, "seeing" the plan if God uniting all people of all times in the Person of Christ. This is a gentle "blanket" of Grace that immerses us into the Kingdom so that we unite with each other,,,seeing the Christ in every human being. We create a "blanket " of human love and solidarity.
No wonder why I love snow so much. Buen camino. Padre

The Healing Baths of Lourdes. January 16, 2013

The morning stared out cold, bleak and pouring rain. Rain has been a constant these nearly three days in the village of Bernadette. I went to Confession to a marvelous priest from South Africa, a man who exuded joy and compassion. My experience with him led me to the baths, which I have heard and read so much about.

People from every country come to these waters searching for healing; aren't we all? The entire area is built to make any with a physical disability comfortable and able to attend all services and processions. Talk about inclusivity. But these cold, wet days of January bring few pilgrims. No processions and no lines if waiting people. In a vast courtyard that can hold ten thousand people, I stood with at most six people.

The baths are right next to the famous grotto in which Bernadette experienced 28 apparitions. There are two section: one for the women and one for the men. Since I was practically the only one wanting to enter the baths, I felt intensely vulnerable and alone. I was asked to strip down to my boxers in a changing room , enter an area divided by a curtain where 5 men awaited me. One kind man discreetly held a towel that he stretched out from hand to hand and asked me to take off the underwear. All of the 5heads were turned away giving me privacy and dignity.
He wrapped to towel around my naked body and made sure that I was covered. In this room is a large sunken in rectangular bath filled to the brim with freezing waters from the river. Two of the men help me down one of the steps into the cold water and they pray. I walk down a second step and they pray. Then I sort of plunged which they didn't want me to do. They slowly lowered me down so that I basically knelt down,the waters coming to the middle of my chest. One of the men pouts water over my head and gives me water from a pitcher and asks me to drink the water as he pours it into my cupped hands. We pray to Mary. And they lead me out.

You simply put your clothes back on your very wet and cold body. When they learned I was a priest they asked for a blessing. The five men come from different parts of the world to give a certain amount of time to volunteering in the baths. One young man from Italy was giving one entire year in thanksgiving to God. Remarkable.

I felt called to entire these baths remembering dozens and dozens of names that surfaced lady night as I prayed. Names from st Teresa, and every other parish ; names from family and friends; anonymous people who need some form of healing. The experience was much like the one I had after the camino went I went down into the waters of the Atlantic. Baptism. Death and new life. The pascal rhythm of our lives.

But Lourdes was different for me. Becoming naked after all the surgeries I had and just being self conscious made the experience very difficult but ultimately freeing.
Naked we come into this world and naked we must leave it. We all stand naked in spirit before the God who is absolute and unconditional Love. We need not hide. In today's gospel the evil spirits couldn't bear with the authority of the presence and voice of Jesus. They needed to hide... to go away.
We don't have to hide our vulnerability; we can TRUST in The Lord to embrace is and care for us. The waters of the Atlantic, the waters of Lourdes , the waters that fall from the earth in rain and snow that soak the earth returning a yield of harvest.

The greatest harvest is humanity, with Mary being the one whose witness and love have allowed her to experience the fullness of the Resurrection of her Son. My experience at Lourdes has been a deeply healing one. This is a special place that speaks of God's Presence and I can online imagine what it is like on a typical summer day to see tens of thousands of people suffering from any number of physical or psychological illnesses searching for healing.

It is perhaps easy to dismiss the part of the experience that includes the apparitions. I believe something happened here to a young woman who was obscure and had a difficult time in her studies. In her innocence and childlike faith, she confounded the religious leaders, the theologians, the doctors. No one could prevent God from acting within this humble, unlikely soul. Her experience is like a parable: the Klingon of heaven is like a seemingly ignorant young girl who turns the world of the learned and clever upside down. God's ways are not ours. Buen camino.

The Story of a Soul. January 14, 2013

This is the title of st Therese's autobiography, a book I highly recommend. As I mentioned previously, her story is not the sweet and sentimental one we have been fed for so many years. She struggled like us all. In the end she trusted in the midst of living in a dark desert of the Spirit. She trusted that God loved her and was present to her even though she had no felt experience of his presence.
It's that old "leap of faith" we keep hearing about, which is another way of saying that we have to trust in God 's live and care even when our senses tell us nothing is there.

Sometimes, oftentimes , happiness is so fleeting and superficial. But JOY...is deep ANC beyond the illusion of feeling and the uncertainty of emotion. It is intuition, a guy level experience that all is well of will be well. Joy is a gift of the Spirit, a Grace that penetrates into the heart of out souls.

We ALL have a story of the soul...our souls...waiting to be told. Write...journal...reflect.,,pray...seek a spiritual director...,the story of your soul needs to find expression in some fashion, most likely just for you. Knowing God's hidden Presence in your life and the ways that he has woven your life together with moments of grace is a Treasure beyond cost. This knowledge of the ways of God in your life is the very foundation of joy

I write this in the early morning hours just after arriving in Lourdes. Bernadette, herself, was posed by our Blessed Mother that she could not promise her happiness in this world but certainly in the next. We are made for joy, our destiny is to forever livd in joy. But this life is just the prologue, giving us a hint if what is to come in the main act of life which is the life waiting for us all when we pass through the gateway of death. In this time of the prologue, we journey and slowly "camino" our way through the uncertainties and sufferings that this pilgrim life brings out way. But we are not to be pilgrims forever but are destined to be permanent dwellers in the kingdom where the road we travel is called Joy. Buen camino. Padre

Baptism of The Lord. January 13, 2013

John became a human instrument of Divine intervention : through john, Jesus entered the waters of our sin and woundedness and the Father's voice introduced to the world for the first time , our God is One of relationship. The first hint of Trinitarian Love occurs in these murky waters. Jesus rises out of them to begin his public ministry , a ministry of re-creating the world, slowly transforming the earth into a garden.

Each one of us is an instrument of God's, no different than John. Through each one of us we are making the world a better place. Yes, we are co-creators, unearthing the world, planting seeds of the kingdom.

For so many years our dear friend Ruth has been planting seeds of this kingdom in her work with our food pantry. Even in her illness, she continues to work the pantry, tolling the soil, so to speak and helping to grow a corner of God's garden in our Parish Center. We are all praying for you Ruth, grateful for all that you do to "till the soil." "That which you do to my least ones...you do to ME." Yes, Ruth, are helping us to welcome our guests in this garden of the kingdom.

Each one of us is called to "baptize" The Lord by immersing out lives in the wounds and sins of the world. We are instruments of the Lord's , all unfit to untie the strings if his sandals. And yet we splash the waters of rebirth on a world so desperate to come alive once again. We pour these waters every time we open the doors of the Parish Center; every act of kindness and compassion ; when we forgive; reaching out in peace; visiting someone who is lonely. In pouring out these waters we pour out the Spirit and the voice is heard: This is My Beloved Son. WE are now forever a part of the mystery of this Divine Community of Love.

The waters of Baptism make us all brothers and sisters. These waters are soaking the world into a new creation and we are all gardeners. Hang in there Ruth, one of God's beautiful gardeners who makes Matthew 25 a living reality for all to see. Buen camino. Padre

The Shell. January 12, 2013

In one of the shops in Chartres , I found a shell made out of clay. Of course, I immediately thought of the Camino. I purchased the shell to be hung on a wall in one of my rooms. I thought that every shell is a half shell, meaning it is not complete. Its match is " somewhere" in this world.

We are all like every shell on the seashore; we are incomplete always looking for the other half to complete us. There is an emptiness within the human heart that yearns to be filled so that our lives feel whole and complete. The journey is to find the other half ...to fill the void...to be complete. And so we journey and move through life in relationships, marriages, careers, vocations , entertainment, possessions, looking for these realities to complete our humanities. In the end we feel much like an empty shell. Nothing and no one can truly complete us. The strongest of marriages know this painful truth.

We are searching for God, the only One who can complete us. God is our other half and when we discover this mystery , the pearl of great price is hiding within the embrace of these two shells naturally made for each other. Jesus called it Kingdom, the realm of God in which every human being transfigured becomes our other half. Christ made peace with his blood and passion , making whole and complete what had previously been torn asunder. Buen camino. Padre

To Be A Disciple. January 12, 2013

I am in the village of Lisiuex the place where st Therese grew up. She is known as the Little Flower an image that can hide get true character. I must admit that I have never been much attracted to Therese because I saw her to be remote in sentimentality and piety. I have learned that like so many of the saints, their life stories have been "doctored up" to show the world an idealized portrait of the person , an endeavor that prevents people from really getting to know the saint and to be encouraged to follow Christ. The whole point of the saints is to point us to Christ and help us to follow him.

It seems that Therese 's seminal work, "story of a soul" was altered by one of her sisters, a fellow Carmelite. She changed to passages that she deemed were too harsh or negative. She wanted the image of her saintly sister to be perfect and sweet. We now have the original autobiography complete in Therese's original words. I discovered something else during this visit to Lisiuex : most of her few years in the Carmel were ones of struggle and darkness. Until she saw a vision at the point of her death, she lived in much inner turmoil not believing she was loved by God. She was a tough young WOMAN, not a little girl. Her doctrine on the "little way" is simple and gospel : everything that you do...do it in LOVE. She means EVERYTHING , from the most menial tasks to those that are packed with meaning. Her vocation is to dimly be LOVE in the heart of the church. Early in her life she felt sorry for a criminal condemned to be executed. She prayed that this hardened man would convert before he was executed. She prayed before a crucifix for this to happen and it did. The man confessed his love for God and sorrow for sin. Therese is a powerful intercession for all us disciples teaching us the little way if love , a way that leads us into the heart of Christ. Food for the journey. Buen camino. Padre

Subway. January 10, 2013

I have actually learned how to use the extensive subway system in Paris, which is remarkable given that I have trouble using the system in Chicago. On the surface is all hustle and bustle of a typical city. Yes, much of Paris is typical. It had its magnificence and beauty like every city.
I was most disappointed by the Champs Eysees, which had a reputation from film and literature as being THE place to be: a place of elegant upscale shopping and dining while soaking in the ambience. I think that's a French word; I know so few. Yes it is upscale but it is crass and loud in its appearance and decorum.
I much rather prefer the streets away from the maddening crowd ...there's a novel in there somewhere. Like the Rue Clare, an open air bizarre.

But the subway...underneath the surface of the city is this network of tubes and tunnels streaming with life. As one walks the streets above there is so much life underneath, beyond human sight.
Each human being had z built in subway called the subconscious teeming with life. A network of hidden and seemingly forgotten memories; a place of mystery that surfaces in dreams and prayed. As Christ descended into hell, as the Apostles Creed states , he descends into the subway of the human mind. He wants to free us from the memories if pain we choose to forget or push down. He descends to awaken the memories that we have forgotten but shouldn't since they have contributed to out transformation. In this inner subway is the key to the treasure it contains: the kingdom.
But we must descend there in prayer and reflection and by listening to dreams. Christ our Healer wants us to move along into his kingdom which is the destination. If every "artery" in the subway. Too many of us get caught in the Champs Elysees of our own lives. The realities on the surface that keep us from riding in our own inner subways, a sometimes frightening journey, but a beautiful one that can free us to traveling to new places leading to life. Buen camino. Padre

Jesus leaves home

The gospel today is a logical choice after feast of the epiphany : Jesus leaves the comforts of home and enters galilee and decapolis. He wants to bring his message and his presence to all people. The church must continually move into every part of the world to bring Christ to every human being.
We are, at heart, missionary religion in that we are always being sent. Our religion and places of worship do not exist to make us comfortable and cozy. We are called to bring what we have received into the world in which we live. The first words out of Jesus are " repent" meaning "turn around" and live for God in Christ. To repent means to change one's heart which is never a comfortable experience.

At times our religion and church seem burdened by law and custom. I am in a country, France, that had a mass attendance of less than five percent. The church is not solely to blame for this situation which is spreading in America. A culture such as ours that worships the individual at the expense of forming community makes Christianity difficult if not impossible.
But the face of the church's leadership is male and senior. As I see the television screens display images of older celebrate men defending the sanctity of marriage I simply have to wonder. Shouldn't women and men who are married be a part of the witness? If the teachings of the church are to be defended we need a larger voice than what we are giving the world.

Christ, the gospel, the sacraments need to be proclaimed publicly by a much wider representation of the human race. Sooner or later the governance of our church must be expanded if we are to continue to bring the gospel into the galilee of today: secular society. As baptized disciples , we all must take responsibility for the mission of the church. Vatican II rightfully made baptism the foundation for its vision and teaching, rather than holy orders. We are ALL called to holiness and we all have a responsibility to witness to the gospel.

As we look to renovate our church, may the placement of the baptismal font truly speak the vision of Vatican II. As long as the font is off to the side and has little relationship with the altar, the power of this sacrament will continue to be diminished. We are a church of the baptized not the ordained. Buen camino. Padre

Sacra coure: sacred heart

I sit in this beautiful basilica dedicated to the sacred heart of Jesus. The banner hanging above the portal reads in English and French : "open wide the doors to Christ." On the cross he stretched out his arms to embrace all of humanity in every age. WE are in that embrace. The cross is made up of two beams, vertical and horizontal , and at the intersection is the Heart of Christ.
When we open the doors of our hearts to Christ's heart, the joining of the two hearts creates an explosion of love that transfigures us. The great mystery of Christianity is that we become divine as God becomes human; we become "divinized." The God Jesus came to reveal is One who wants us to share in his divine nature, recreating the world in love. The vocation of every follower of Christ is to not just love but become love for the transformation of the world.
Each one reading this has a sacred heart, a place where God dwells; our hearts and Christ's heart are fused together. This unbelievable mystery can't be explained...it can only be experienced. Buen camino. Padre

January 7, 2013

Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany which celebrates the gospel spreading to all cultures and nations: the love of Christ knows NO boundaries. Actually, the Epiphany points to three moments in the life of Christ that "manifested" his divinity: the arrival of the Magi, the baptism of the Lord by John and the transformation of the water into wine at Cana.
In his baptism Christ makes holy all the waters of baptism. The transformation of the water into wine prefigured the Eucharist and Christ pouring out his heart in love.
Each one of us is like a receptacle that is empty of worry and self centeredness only to be filled with the Presence of God. When this pouring of love occurs within the heart we shine, creating a living, human Epiphany. We manifest the divinity of Christ in our humanity. Christ emptied himself only that we might be filled. Buen camino. Padre

Language Barrier. January 5, 2013

I can't seem to get the French language. The pronunciation is awkward and the way I hear the language causes me to have this blank look on my face. But this language barrier is overcome by my love of the people and culture which are both very new to me.
Oh how I wish I had someone from our French community with me showing the way. But despite feeling lost, the people have been wonderful and very friendly. There is no barrier in a smile or comical hand gestures. There is no barrier to just wanting to help even if the message can't be communicated in so many words.

The French are friendly and warm people. They have gone out of their way to welcome me, from the information people at the airport to the taxi driver and store clerk who took the time to make sure I was ok.
Yes, I found a Starbucks and out of habit ordered a tall double cup coffee. The young lady proceeded to pour me two separate cups of coffee. When I tried to explain what I meant we both just smiled and laughed. I said "Au voir" and she said "goodbye," with a nice smile.
No barrier when people care. Buen camino. Padre.

Back on a plane

Five weeks spent in Chicago visiting and retreating. Last week saw three movies, a record for me since I might see one movie per year. How I loved Les Miserables. But before it started, I had my doubts. Three teens sat right next to me, one with a "hoodie " on and the other with jeans just barely on his waist. Both were texting friends to tell them where they were sitting. I was feeling very uneasy given the fact that the movie is two and a half hours long with constant singing about pain and suffering. Not a typical movie for teens.

I was amazed. From the beginning until the end they were silent and still. The story is a compelling one if you give it a chance. Love triumphs over all and the poorest of the poor, the "Miserables" are are forever transformed by God's Love.

The reaction of these teens meant more to me then the film, which was fantastic. Good movies can move the human spirit, lifting it to new heights of hope and meaning. The last line that Jean Valjesn sings is, "to love another person is to see the face of God," tells the whole story...our story. When we love we triumph. Love is the doorway into the Kingdom.

I saw the movie on Christmas night and was given an unlikely and surprising gift by three teens who taught me to stop judging people by their age or clothing.
What a wonderful Christmas gift. Buen camino. Padre




Bbb.
e