Transfer

In July, I will be joining the faculty of Cathedral Preparatory School in Erie while simultaneously beginning studies at Gannon University in secondary education and school administration. I'm sorry to be leaving my current assignment, but I think my new assignment is a great opportunity to share my gifts with the people of God. I'm thinking I'd like to put a little more time into this blog, so I figure with all the changes in my own life, Pope Benedict's visit to the United States, and the election of a new President should give me plenty of things to discuss.

Ask a Priest - Eucharistic Elements

kmerian writes:

Father, I do have kind of an odd question. I was recently asked by a Protestant friend, "How long does Jesus remain in the Eucharist". Well, I responded by pointing out Catechism 1377. He then asked me, "Well, who decides when the species has deteriorated?" I told him "The Priest". He then asked, "How does he know?"

He stumped me here, can you help? Thanks.

Paragraph 1377 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist." In other words, Christ remains sacramentally present in the Eucharistic bread and wine as long as they remain substantially bread and wine. If a consecrated host were to be placed in a dish of water, it would dissolve. Once dissolved, Christ would no longer be sacramentally present because the bread no longer has substantial integrity. Similarly, if the Precious Blood were to be exposed to air long enough to turn to vinegar, Christ would no longer be substantially present. As far as who decides at what point the species has deteriorated in essence and how that person knows? I don't think "border cases" in which the issue is seriously in doubt are common enough to warrant serious concern over mistaken judgment, nor do I think people (whether clergy or lay) have too difficult a time telling the difference between "bread" and "not bread."

For your name's sake, O Lord.

USCCB - (NAB) - February 26, 2008

What does the mercy of God look like from the middle of a fiery execution? Azariah cries out to God to save him, like we humans do so often when we find ourselves in desperate moments. His appeal is different though. He doesn't promise anything special; he doesn't promise to do something of extraordinary goodness or stop doing something evil. He doesn't ask God to save him because of how much he loves God, or even because of how much God loves him. It's almost as if Azariah asks for mercy and salvation by reminding God of his own nature. Azariah could have said: "God, your name is mercy...be yourself and save me." What's more, even in the midst of the furnace, Azariah prays for the people of God. He's not asking to be delivered from the furnace; he's asking God to deliver his child Israel from the bondage of Babylon! What spectacular insight to see mercy in the very core of God's being, then to implore God to save US and not just ME. The New York Times recently presented this article relating to the recently published U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The article seems to suggest, perhaps correctly, that Americans are moving away from impersonal "us" religions to more personal "me" religions. Azariah's plea yanks us right back to the fundamental concern authentic Christians have for the redemption of peoples, not just persons.

Priests Stealing Homilies?

CNS STORY: Polish priest: Young priests plagiarize homilies from Internet

My homiletics teachers gave me a lot of strategies for preparing well to preach to the people of God. They told me it was a fair idea to have a look at what other preachers say in their homilies, using the Internet as one mechanism. It only makes sense; it's far more likely I will read a homily someone wrote than it is I will be present for the delivery. I don't get to hear other preachers very often. My teachers said it was a fair idea though, not necessarily a good one. Why? To avoid the temptation to use them without thought or prayer. I have a stack of binders on my shelf filled with homilies for every day of the year. They're fine suggestions, but I don't find they make good homilies. The authors don't know me. They don't know my personal style, what I'm likely to do or not to do. They don't know my community and what my people might want or need. Without thought or prayer, a canned homily won't touch people. It won't nourish the soul. It won't be Christ speaking, no matter how brilliant the exegesis might be, how vivid the preacher might be, or how apropos the imagery might be. Besides, using a canned homily overlooks the most important part of homiletic preparation: prayer. How can anyone be expected to proclaim the Gospel when they know not the Word? Only by time spent with the Lord can we proclaim his faith with any authenticity...and that can never be found for download.

David and Absalom

The story of Absalom is a mystery to me. On a superficial level, Absalom's story is one of rebellion; he convinces himself that he should be king in place of his father David, but meets an undignified death. I think I see something different in the story. The episode with Tamar, his sister, and Amnon, his half-brother (2 Sam. 13:1-22) sparked something within him. It might have been anger of the kind demanding satisfaction. When nobody punished Amnon for his crime (including David), Absalom's anger had no release valve. His anger sat in his heart for some time, until he concocted the scheme to kill Amnon; he completes his plan and has Amnon killed, but by then, it was too late. Righteous anger is still anger, and it still twists the heart. Absalom's anger destroyed his soul and ultimately led to his final alienation from his father and to his own death. His story is a fairly eloquent description of the effects of anger and invites us to let go of whatever anger we might allow to twist our own hearts.

Don Bosco: Father and Teacher of Youth

The Wikipedia entry on John Bosco speaks of his "Preventive System" of education. He believed children must be loved and know they are loved if they are to learn. Once the children know love, they can engage a proper education built on these three pillars: reason, religion, and kindness. It seems to me that Don Bosco articulates very clearly the core principles of authentically Catholic education. We have to predicate the program of education for our children on the basis of love, above all the love Christ has for us. Absent that, there can be no true education. Notice too how reason is central to his project. We live in a world where we have great difficulty knowing love and as much integrating the facets of our lives in a productive way. Maybe we who have responsibility for the education of children should consider what Don Bosco brings to the table.

Catholic Schools Week

I learned two lessons in my preaching classes. Lesson One: if you don’t believe in what you’re saying, you’re people won’t believe it either. Lesson Two: take without shame any good idea you see, read, or hear and use it. It’s a simple recipe for success. Believe in what you say and imitate excellence. I thought I would try to imitate excellence for this homily, so I turned to the Internet and went to the National Catholic Educational Association’s website to find some good materials to tie into a homily. I discovered, much to my delight, that the NCEA prepares a Catholic Schools Week planning kit complete with liturgical tips and homiletic notes. I was absolutely elated. I kept reading, and found that the planning kit is available for mail order purchase for $20. Perfect. Short of driving to Washington, D.C. and stopping in the NCEA offices, I guess I’m on my own.

I suspect many Catholic Schools Week homilies focus on two questions: “Why is Catholic school better than public school?” and “Why Catholic parents should choose to send their children to Catholic schools?” Frankly, I don’t find those questions useful at all because they’re audience-specific. I propose a new question that touches every single member of this parish: “Why do we invest ourselves in Catholic schools?”

It’s not secure buildings, state-of-the-art computers, top-notch academics, strict discipline, holistic physical wellness, or competitive athletics. None of those things demand our investment because all of them are possible in non-Catholic schools. Here it is: Catholic schools enable us to form ourselves and our children to be authentically Eucharistic from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to sleep.

What do I mean when I say Eucharistic? I mean we can be people who bring hope and nourishment to the people around us. Our lives can be offerings of praise before our Father in heaven. We can be filled and changed by the Holy Spirit. We can be Eucharistic just like Jesus because we are part of the Body of Christ. That’s what I think it means to be Eucharistic.

While I was poking around on the NCEA website, I found the “Top Ten Ways for Parents to Observe Catholic Schools Week.” I was horrified to discover the word “Eucharist didn’t appear anywhere in it.” In fact, you could just take out every occurrence of the word “Catholic” and the list would have been just as good. I’m not going to give you a list of 10 ways to do anything. Dedication to Catholic education is too important, so I’m going to reduce the list to one simple thing every one of us, starting right here, can do to pour our hearts into Catholic education.

Take a good hard look in the mirror of the heart. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that does not conform to a truly Eucharistic lifestyle needs to go. Everything that is part of the Eucharistic life needs to come in, especially weekly participation in the Eucharist. Catholic education, whether in a day school or CCD format, depends on this: Catholic people living Eucharistic lifestyles whether individually or in Eucharistic families, all of whom understand that Catholic education is only successful when we live what we teach: that Christ is the Wisdom we learn, the Lord we accept and the brother we embrace; that the Eucharist is our true food; that the altar is our most important desk; that the church is our most important classroom; and that the people around us are both our companion students and our most effective teachers.