Moments that warm a Pastor's heart
YES! I have one!

This past Friday something simple happened that turned out to be most helpful for this weekend's homily. As I was walking to my office Friday morning a fairly good sized weed caught my attention, growing right near the back entrance to the Parish Office. You couldn't have missed this weed. It was about 1 1/2 feet tall, it had several blossoms on top, it had several branches and a thick stalk. I pulled the weed up, and being a lazy man, I threw it in the yard, rather than walk a few extra steps to the trash can! Guess what folks? That weed that looked so strong before, that was flourishing, whose presence you couldn't have missed while it was still planted in the ground -- you could walk past it now and never know it was there. You would have to search in the grass to see it. And it is still there. Why is it so hard to see? Because it has shriveled up to about four inches long and looks more like a dead twig now than a strong stalk.

The Gospel of St. John today gave us Jesus' words: "I am the vine, you are the branches." I used the weed story in my homily, telling people that the weed was still there. I told them they could check it out for themselves. And I went on to tell them of the need to stay firmly attached, intimately close to Jesus, lest we become like that weed I pulled up: dried up, shriveled, not even noticeable. Just moments ago, I finished leading the Rosary this afternoon in the church. As I was putting things away in the sacristy, I noticed through the window a family who had been present at the Rosary. They were in the backyard of the Parish Office building, seeming to be looking for something. Then I realized what they were doing. They and their children were looking to see that weed. And they eventually found it as I watched from my sacristy view. And a little prayer went up for them from their Pastor. I guess that sight was just a tidbit of a confirmation that my efforts at preaching, by God's grace, are worth it. May it bear much fruit!

Theater of Cultural Battle
Fr. Tharp's zealous work to form people in knowledge of the faith, especially as a confrontation of the claims of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, has worn off on me. This weekend I included a two page insert in the bulletin about the code, taken from the resources offered on www.davincihoax.com. My weekly Pastor's Column also focused largely on the opening of the movie version of the book. I also spoke on the matter for about ten minutes at the end of all the Masses. I am going to share with blog readers what I said to my people. These remarks are a bit long, but, I guess if you are interested, it may be worth it.

As you may know the Da Vinci Code movie is set to open this week on May 19th. To my knowledge, the movie theatre in Kingfisher does not have plans to carry it this week, which I think is great. But I know there will be much interest in seeing it. I invite you to read my bulletin column, to read the bulletin insert, and to make use of resources and web sites I have placed in the bulletin to help gain good information about the problems of this book and movie.

All Christians, especially we Catholics, should be concerned about the ramifications of this book: its claims that Jesus was not God, but was later called so to enhance the political power of the Roman Emperor; that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children with her; that the Catholic Church, especially an insecure, power hungry, male hierarchy has hidden this information; and that Christianity is really just warmed over paganism – these claims ought to disturb us and we ought to recognize them for what they are: at their core they are slanders against Jesus, the Son of God, and his Bride the Church which he established.

I don’t say any of these things out of anger or fear. I think the success of the Da Vinci Code and the confusion it stirs up, is actually a great opportunity for us, who are followers of Jesus, to realize the urgent need to know our faith well and to share the authentic faith with others in the world. We need to be able to confront the claims made in the book and movie and therefore, we need to be interested in learning more about our faith. What we learn in preparation for receiving a Sacrament is not enough. In practice, many Catholic people check out of learning their faith after Confirmation, as if they have no more need of learning, or growth in the living faith placed in them. If such an attitude is going to change, it must start with us adults, who lead the way for the younger generations. We need to avail ourselves of opportunities on the parish and diocesan levels to learn more about our faith as Catholic Christians. There are real challenges in the world that need to be confronted by people of faith. But if our own “well” is dry and empty, we won’t have the hope of responding to blasphemous and false claims, such as those made in the Da Vinci Code. [Here I announced some upcoming opportunities to learn more, one of which is a presentation at my parish to be given by Fr. Tharp.]

I just finished a good and reader friendly book entitled the Da Vinci Deception. I would highly recommend it. That book made a point I want to share with you: Think of what would have happened had the book and movie been about Judaism instead of Christianity. What if someone wrote a book about the “real” Moses and the hidden origins of Judaism, claiming that the Jewish faith was based on lies? What if such a book claimed that Moses really believed in many gods, that he did not lead the people out of Egypt, that he did not give the Ten Commandments, performed no miracles and gave no moral rules? Suppose the book claimed that centuries later, power hungry followers of Moses “upgraded” his status, turning him into a prophet who saw and spoke with the one true God, who defeated Pharaoh, who was a divinely appointed moral leader, and who established a covenant with God. What if the book claimed that Moses’ followers gave him this upgrade to secure their own status so that they would be recognized as divinely appointed leaders of the people just like Moses? So, in the end, core Jewish beliefs are really based on lies and people have been duped into believing the “legend of Moses” ever since. Such a book would be widely condemned as being anti-Semitic and a direct attack against Judaism. Why is it that such claims are okay when they are directed against Christianity? When Christians complain, about the Da Vinci Code, we are told, “Oh, it’s just a story.” In my mind, we need to be much more up in arms about the way the media and various segments of our culture view Christianity and our Catholic faith. A response can only begin with each of us taking responsibility to be educated and ready to defend the faith. We cannot wait for someone else to do this for us. Each of us must take personal responsibility to learn, know, and share the truth of our Catholic faith. And I think the present moment is a wonderful opportunity, even a blessing, if we respond in faith.

My suggestion for us all is that we engage in a unique boycott of the movie. Opening weekends are critically important for measuring a movie’s success. So, on this upcoming weekend, go to the movies and simply see a different movie. If you must see the Code, make yourself wait a couple of weeks to see it – it is bound to be around for quite a while. And, if you will spend the time and the money to see the movie, then also commit yourself to spending the time and the money to buy, read, and study a book exposing the errors of the Code.

After one of the Masses, a lady told me: "Father, thank you for waking me up from my apathy as a Catholic. Those words you spoke were directed right at me. I'm going to check into these resources and learn more." I thanked her and went on to assure her that my own words were really directed at me, since I think I have waited too long to do anything about this. But the theater of battle is up and running now. And there will be more to come.

The day the squirrel went berserk...
Yesterday was the end of the formal "Teacher Appreciation Week" at our parish school. To cap it all off, we had an after school teacher party in the rectory backyard with some snacks and drinks. It was a pleasant afternoon to be sitting in the backyard at patio tables and enjoying the nice day. At one point, a baby squirrel crawled down a tree and stepped onto the rock-lined ledge of the backyard garden pond. We were all watching it. I don't know what happened, but something must have startled the little thing because it suddenly jumped up in the air and sort of twisted its body and landed right into the pond with a big splash. We all howled with laughter. Luckily I didn't have to fish it out because it came to the surface and crawled back onto the rock ledge, and then scurried back up the tree. It gave us all a good laugh. And who knows, maybe the little thing likes to take a swim and it jumped in not due to being startled.

A Point About the Gnostic Gospels

Let me ask you a question. Who could write a better biography about the man, Abraham Lincoln: me or his wife? His wife would certainly have the asset of knowing him personally, of sharing his life with him, and perhaps even knowing his deepest fears and concerns. What do I have? I know something of him, Abraham Lincoln, but it is all second hand. At best, I might get my hands on a diary or journal and hopefully I could glean something more from this. At the end however, I really don't know him as well as a contemporary of Lincoln's would actually know him.

What does this have to do with the Gnostic Gospels? The Gnostic Gospels are a series of writing proporting to tell the real story of Christianity, re-cast as a Gnostic cult. These are the works the DVC would like us to take seriously as competitors to the Canonical Gospels. Small problem, there, however: the earliest Gnostic Gospel dates from a hundred or more (give or take a decade) from the time of events it tries to describe. It would be like my writing a biography of Lincoln and claim that mine is more authoritative that the ones who knew and worked with the man. The time frame is about the same. I am as distant from Lincoln's time (about 140 years) as the Christian Gnostic was from Christ and the Apostles. Why would I find their material more credible?

Would Someone Please Page Alanis Morissette? I found something truly ironic

Mr. Hanks doesn't get it. Dialogue is about communication. Would anyone accept a romping treasure hunt movie that proved that slavery was never really abolished and that this was all a lie perpetrated to destroy caucasian culture? What would we say if Indiana Jones showed up to tell us that everything you know about Orthodox Jewry was about power and suppressing the sacred feminine of Zipporah? Regards of what the genre of the movie, you must take responsibility for what is said and communicated.

This is where the irony hits home for me. As I understand it, Mr. Hanks is Greek Orthodox. A few days back the Greek Orthodox patriarch made a fairly loud public statement calling for a boycott. I guess Mr. Hanks will have something to dialogue with his parish priest about come this Sunday.

And just how do you suggest we do that?

Referencing back to a comment left in the boxes under the post on the impending RCIA summit, a reader mentioned the need for instructing catechumen and candidates on the role devotional prayer plays in the Catholic Life. I would agree with the observation; while devotions were mentioned, there wasn't anything done to help integrate them into my formation. Why I think that happened is neither here nor there, and resolutely remains, not the point.

The comment led me back to a basic question I have had as pastor: how do you teach devotion and piety to a parish? Given that devotion to a particular saint or practice is intensely personal, a priest must be cautious not to communicate the message, "if you don't like the devotions I do, you are a bad Catholic." I think there are some devotional prayers, however, which transcend that issue, e.g. The Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, lectio divina. The question remains however, how do you form people in this aspect of prayer so that it become a consistent part of their daily life of Faith.

So, that's the question I want you to answer. Put yourself in my shoes and then come up with some ideas about how do you teach devotion to those who are planning on entering the Church.

What say you?
I would like to hear some ideas and feedback to assist me as a Pastor dealing with a pastoral challenge. Regardless of state in life, I'm sure many of you have some gems to share. Perhaps our married readers -- here is an enormous and slow pitch to the guys at Sirach 40:20 (knock it out of the park, boys!) -- could particularly share their thoughts in response to this post.

As a priest I encounter Catholics who, for whatever reasons, have married outside of the Church. I wonder how to best instruct and catechize such folk about understanding the real and experienced difference between a civil marriage versus a marriage lived as a Sacrament. Please understand these rather narrow parameters and respond to these parameters in the comment box and not other issues. IN PARTICULAR, what sort of instruction and explanation would you give to couples who have been married outside of the church for a number of years, say a decade or more, and who finally get around to having the marriage "blessed" in the Church? How do we best explain how their marriage will be different after the blessing as compared to before? Notice, in my mind, the question seems particularly apt for couples married for a number of years outside of the Church versus couples married only briefly before they seek to regularize the marriage in the Church. Let me hear your responses.

Blogrolling
We have really opened up a jar of sea monkeys, so to speak, with the recent post on being linked in CRM's blogroll. Many of you have commented that you have tried in the past and are currently promoting yourself in the hopes of making the blogroll. It is my intention to honor those requests. No, fear of shameless self-promotion. If you requested a link in the past, please don't feel as if you "didn't make the cut". More often than not, a failed attempt to link is simply due to lack of time and attention on our part -- things can tend to distract us away from blogging.

Fun at the Ministerial Alliance meeting
Perhaps you have read previous posts referring to the Ministerial Alliance. For those unaware, (and I don't know if this exists outside of Oklahoma or not; I suspect it does) the various ministers and/or Pastors of the ecclesial communities of a given locality gather together to support community wide projects and ministry done in the name of all the ecclesial communities of the town. The meetings of my town's Ministerial Alliance are monthly over lunch and we coordinate activities ranging from food drives, assistance to the poor (we all share the same voucher system for the needy), Lenten prayer services, etc. The various Pastors seem to be kind men and genuinely dedicated to our town, following Christ, and the mission of Christ. Not all Pastors attend the meetings. Often, other duties prevent one or more of us from attendance and some Pastors don't come at all. I'm not sure why some choose not to come, but that is the reality. Anyway, today's meeting was full of plenty of laughter and some pointed remarks delivered with some humor. Remember the humor as you read my account. None of what transpired was said or done with hate or a critical tone.

Here is a brief dialogue I found humorous and which I share with readers. All names are anonymous with the exception of mine:

At one point, discussing things the Alliance could do together, things that bring us together, Pastor A said: "While there is denominationalism, there is a lot more that brings us together. We are united on many beliefs. We all believe that Jesus is God. We ... We ... Uh ... And we all believe a couple of other things."

Pastor B (turning to me): "We all believe in the Apostles' Creed."

Me: "Well, sort of, but I'm not sure we would all agree on that."

Pastor C: "Well, now, we don't have a creed. Our denomination was explicitly founded to be non-creedal. [At this point, I am desperately biting my tongue, wanting to say, "Uh, but that would be a creed, too." I resisted.] I mean, locally I say for my congregation: We believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and we seek to serve him in the world. But that isn't the denomination, that's just us locally."

Pastor B: "Okay, fine. But that's a creed," he added with laughter. [At this point I wanted to cheer: "Hallelujah! You've got it brother! Keep going! It's starting to make sense!" But I resisted.] He went on, "What I am trying to say is that whether we call them creeds or not, we do all believe the truth communicated by the words of the creed." Pointing to himself he said, "This Christian believes the Apostles' Creed." Then pointing to me he said, "That Christian believes."

Me (raising my shoulders and nodding): "Well, of course, it's our Creed."

Pastor B: "No, it's ours. We did change the part where you say ... uh, ... 'holy, apostolic...'"

Me: "Yes, 'one, holy, catholic, and apostolic'."

Pastor B: "Yes, that part. We changed 'catholic' to 'universal' because people didn't want to think we were saying we are Catholic."

The exchange was all done with some humor, no one left offended or hurt, but it does expose some rather telling gaps and conundrums, doesn't it?

RCIA Summit: Summer 2006
Even if you have not been a CRM follower for very long, you know a few things about this blog and about the bloggers. For instance, you know:
(1) The blog is thoroughly Catholic and it is not motivated by anger toward the Church, despite the name, which sometimes pulls into readership those with anti-Catholic agendas or those with axes to grind;
(2) The bloggers are Catholic priests in Oklahoma;
(3) The blog maintains as a fundamental tenet its voracious desire to take over the Internet; and,
(4) Fr. Tharp has a more voracious desire still to take over catechetical formation on just about every level, especially reminding readers that his adult formation series, The Borromeo Project, seems to be well on its way to being published (hopefully by next year).

Ooops, did I just let that out of the bag!?

Anyway, Fr. Tharp and I have decided that this summer we are going to brainstorm in what we are calling an RCIA Summit. We are going to try to come up with a plan of how to best and systematically approach RCIA, which texts to use, the number of class sessions and the topics upon which to focus. Hopefully we can then each implement a re-vamped RCIA program in our parishes with already developed curricula and session topics. And, no, nobody teaches RCIA for us in our rural parishes; it is generally left up to the Pastor. We each have found that given the pace of life and the demands on our time, we are rushing into RCIA and scrambling to have some sort of a lesson plan for each session. Hopefully, a better developed plan, complete with PowerPoint presentations, will help us keep on topic and cover the necessary material in a limited time. We shall see!

If you see a large mushroom cloud blossoming somewhere over west/central Oklahoma this summer, don't worry, it is just the CRM bloggers' RCIA take over being set in motion!

Convergence: it's what's for Adult Formation

The observations that these Cardinals have made sound much like the same things I have been saying for the last several months. Essentially, parish formation opportunities have to start from scratch, thus providing a new foundation for the life of Faith. Of course, saying this reminds me that I have editing to do on my book so that I can throw my weight behind this effort to evangelize and form Catholics all over the country.

Did I Miss Anyone?

I am finally get around to updating the blogroll and adding the newest of the new blogs who link to us. Thus far, thanks to Technorati, I have added these folks:

Speculative Catholic
My Catholic Blog
Boinkie's Blog
A View from the Sacristy
The Roamin' Roman
50 Days After
The petrina7 MicroUniverse
The Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz Fan Club
A Gentle Fuss
Song of the Suburbs

A Timely Instruction Given This Time of Year

Fang cleaning
Well, today was my semi-annual visit to have my teeth cleaned at the dentist. All went well. I always like the feel and look of the fangs when they have been recently cleaned. I am happy that there are no major dental events to report. As I was lying in the dentist chair, the hygienist busily scraping away, I began to wonder about what you might call Dental Hygienist Etiquette.

I never know whether I am supposed to try to carry on a conversation with the hygienist as she works or not. It is just all sort of strange. You are there in this person's presence for close to an hour and, if you are like me, you say precious little to her. My take on it is, well, my mouth is wide open and the hygienist has tools and hands shoved in there, how am I supposed to talk? I have always found it curious when a hygienist is working and then proceeds to ask several questions that require a response with words, not just a grunting response to questions such as "Do you need water," or "Is that okay." But I can't get over this feeling that, if I don't say much or try to carry on a conversation, the hygienist may think me rude or anti-social.

I suppose in the future, as the dentist's chair is tilted back at the beginning my session I should simply announce to the hygienist, "I don't really know you well and you are about to spend the next hour with your hands in my mouth, thus precluding conversation, so allow me to say at the get go: I'm glad to see you. I'm thankful for your service and I appreciate having my teeth cleaned. I'm doing fine. There are no major health developments since my last visit to which I should alert you. I hope you and yours are all doing well. My silence for the next hour should not be taken as lack of interest in your well-being or personhood. I will probably be rather still with my eyes closed as you work. If something should cause me pain I will wince and grunt. Now, let's have at it!"

A Whole New Take on "A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down" Routine

New Blog Shout out: Sirach 40:20
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! A good friend and the brother of a priest-friend of mine has started his own blog along with another contributor. They consulted CRM for some blogging advice (happily given) and then humbly requested consideration for a plug. I have been lax in a response to that request. It is well worth your time to see what these two young and recently married Catholic men have to say about life and faith in our challenging times. I look forward to their personal stories of how they seek to live faith in the midst of daily life in the world. Take some time and visit their blog. You won't be sorry. Here's to you Jason and Stephen over at Sirach 40:20!

Ragemonkeys: NOT your next Food Network Star!
Last night after I finished teaching RCIA I came home and decided I would use some bell peppers in a recipe, before they turned rotten. I roasted the bell peppers and then proceeded to chop up some garlic to add to olive oil as a sauce for the roasted and sliced peppers. Well, maybe I was too tired or too careless or some combination of both, because I chopped my thumb instead. I basically cut off the very tip of my thumb. It will grow back, but it will take some time. And it was a gusher. I ended up going to the emergency room for some medical assistance. Lydocaine was injected into the wound (not fun -- the rumor I had always heard that before getting stitches they stick a needle into the very source of the problem, is apparently true) and then a hospital grade superglue was put on the wound instead of a stitch. To top it off, and much to my surprise, I had to get a tetanus shot. So, folks, at least one of your ragemonkeys has been recently vaccinated!

Immigrant March
I should probably be more politically informed, but so many pastoral duties don't leave a whole lot of time for much else. And, really, if it means I miss politics, then that's okay by me. However, allow me to weigh in on the Immigrant March or the Day Without Immigrants, whichever it is being called.

I don't support totally fluid or open borders. I think that is a bad idea. We need border controls and precautions. Totally open borders would be very dangerous and we simply can't handle the potential influx of people should the border have no guard or control whatsoever. Immigration is good and it should be allowed within legal parameters.

However, I also don't support deporting those illegal immigrants. I don't think that would be feasible and, quite frankly, if someone is here, albeit illegally, but is leading a good and productive life, supporting the economy, and leading a generally good life -- that is the sort of person we want mixing into our melting pot. In other words, I think more compassion and amnesty needs to be shown those who are of good moral character, even if the one obvious flaw is their illegal presence in this country. So, I say, we need better border control but we also need greater compassion for those immigrants here trying to make a better life for themselves, their families, and their new-found communities.

On Monday, Fr. Tharp and I met up in another Oklahoma town (not our towns of assignment) to spend our day off. We visited that town's "Welcome Center" to pick up pamphlets and see what the town could offer. As we were looking at pamphlets, the elderly volunteer running the welcome desk asked us if we were "Patronizing local businesses and buying gas." I guess we displayed a confused look because she then offered the explanation that someone, in response to the immigrant walk-out, had decided that "real Americans" should buy gas that day to make our presence felt. We basically conceded that we were spending money, but tried to steer clear of the immigrant discussion. I thought to myself: Oh, there was a brilliant idea! Let's all make a statement on the immigrant march day by buying gas and feeding that out of control price market! Why didn't we all decide to have landscaping and roofing done that day or to patronize fast food chains. OH, oops, I guess that's because no one was doing that sort of work that day because immigrants predominantly work in that field! But I digress...

Then this elderly lady proceeded to offer more of her thoughts: "I just think they all need to go home until they learn English. I mean, I think we need to send them all back and tell them "go on to your own country", until they learn how to speak our language. That's all I am saying. That's the only problem I have with them." Her frantic tone seemed to betray that the language barrier was not the real issue at hand in her heart and mind. As she noted that the language issue was her only "problem" with them, I added, "It sort of sounds like it might be more than just language." I don't think she really understood my indictment of her. Fr. Tharp and I both left commenting that we got a clear indication from the Welcome Center just who is welcome in that town.

Proving, once again, G.K. is a modern prophet and visionary

Pardon me if I get the quote wrong, but G.K.C. said something like, "Evil is boring and repititious; the good is always new and alive." Case in point, the action of these religious sisters. I would never have thought of doing that sort of outreach in that context. Granted I would have been cheering for the U.S. or G.B. in the midst of the action.

At any rate, bravo to those who would end the exploitation of women.

I'm anxious to see how this pans out.

Of course it means putting a kitchen timer on my desk so that I can break away from the action occasionally.