Down to the Wire

Yep, I still write a lot by hand, too.

I leave for St. Paul tomorrow. That means I am frantically typing up my notes, pulling out the red pen to whip them into some kind of shape that I will be completely dissatisfied with until around 5 years down the road when, if history is any lesson, I will read through them and say, "Wow, this stuff is pretty good!"

In the meantime, though, it looks pretty bad to my editorial eye.
Good thing the chapel is just a few yards beneath my office; Jesus has fielded more than one glance from my direction as I labored over a phrase or a transition or a "does this actually make any sense at all?" today--though I admit it was kind of hard to actually separate my fingers from the keyboard to go to chapel to pray with the community when the time came for Evening Prayer.

In the midst of all this activity, a consoling thought came to me (through the floor tiles, no doubt). It isn't really all on me anyway. God can use one of my throwaway lines to draw someone where he wants to lead them.

And to confirm it all, a quote that showed up on Facebook (sometimes Zuckerberg's algorithms really do get it right):

“When I try, I fail.
When I trust, He succeeds.”
~Corrie ten Boom

the Misfits' club

It would be hard to describe my experience of Mass this evening without giving the impression that I was exaggerating. I had gone to St Peter's, the downtown Franciscan church with around-the-clock services (confessions 11 hours daily; seven Masses; adoration from 1:45 to 4:45, ending in Benediction; spiritual directors available at all hours, you get the picture: a huge service to the downtown Catholic community). Actually, I left for Mass extra early because my day had been so intense that I hadn't even made my Hour of Adoration yet, so I was counting on making at least half of my Holy Hour beforehand. That went well enough (you'd have to ask Jesus!); then it started at Benediction when the acolyte intoned the first few words of the Tantum Ergo.

I joined in, as did a strong male voice from the other side. And then at every phrase, the pause for a breath got longer, and the next verse slowed down just a bit more. The rest of us in the Church (not too many, by the sound of it) were helpless to maintain either the beat or the pitch. By the time the hymn for reposition was started, I (and those few others in the pews) just gave up and accepted the fact that it would be a very slow rendition of "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."

That's when a woman came into the pew behind me. From her voice, she seemed to be elderly. Let me tell you, she loved that hymn. Sitting directly behind me, she intoned the repeated part of the chorus (which we had already sung twice). And then she sang the entire hymn over again, in a kind of stage whisper. And then again, at a little lower pitch, and then again, until what I heard was a kind of whispered groan, "Holy God, we praise Thy Name... everlasting is Thy reign." I did my best to take the hint and try to pray with those words; if it was good enough for the book of Revelation, it's good enough for me, right?

This continued through the homily.

Then at a certain point, the little lady decided to change pews, and bolted across to the other side of the Church.

Then another woman came up the side aisle, folding up her walker and fitting it into a pew toward the front of the Church right during the consecration.

As I walked up that same side aisle for Communion, I couldn't help but admit it: It's like a Misfits Club here. I fit right in.

TOB Tuesday: Coming Soon

 Next week, Christopher West will be doing a live webcast based on his new book, "Fill These Hearts" (the book trailer I posted yesterday):
6 p.m. ET on Thurs., Feb. 7. 

Sign up here: http://www.livestream.com/imagebooks

What's new about the new evangelization? UPDATED

I'm preparing the conferences for the First Saturday retreat in St Paul; my topic deals with the "New Evangelization," so that has been the filter for much of my spiritual reading lately. Pope John Paul introduced this expression during his visit to Haiti in 1983 (the year I made final vows!), although Blessed James Alberione had kind of hinted at it back in 1926 or thereabouts when he remarked, "The world is in need of a new, prolonged and profound evangelization."

Pope John Paul listed three attributes of the New Evangelization, that second wave of effective proclamation of Jesus Christ: It is to be new in its ardor, in its methods and in its expression. I think it is age to say that just as Blessed James "incarnated" the qualities of "new, prolonged and profound" evangelization in his long life in the use of media, Pope John Paul showed us what the "new ardor, methods and expression" look like in his.

What I have noticed, though, is that any "new expression" tends to make people nervous in a way that "ardor" and "methods" do not. A new expression takes the treasure of Divine Revelation and puts it in an unexpected framework, perhaps using a different vocabulary than one might find in, say, the words used to formulate the dogma itself centuries ago. Instead of seeing the same Divine Revelation, people can fixate on the novel terminology. Wasn't the old expression good enough? And so you find efforts to tell the Good News that are hampered by technical language instead of "translating" the ever-ancient, ever-new reality into words or images that mean something to the uninitiated, or criticisms by an in-group, based not on the way a message would be perceived by someone with no background in theological language, but on how consistent the expression is with earlier, "approved" expressions. It's a pretty big risk to take on "new expressions" of the Gospel!

But the New Evangelization isn't just about words! New "expressions" in our day can especially mean giving a new visual expression to the message of Jesus. The good news about the New Evangelization is that young, ardent Catholics are naturally taking it up! You'll find it in unexpected forms--a book trailer, a "spoken word" video, a heart that knows how to sing!

The book trailer expression

The spoken word (with witness) expression

Where today's feast is meant to lead us...

Three "conversions" for today

We've reached the culmination of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on today's Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, a good reminder that the grace of Christian unity requires "conversion" of each one of us. Not a change-of-religion conversion, but that progressive change-of-heart conversion that makes all the difference in the world.

And speaking of change-of-heart conversions, today is the first time that the March for Life is being held on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. This "coincidence" hints that we will make progress in bringing about a culture of life to the extent that we live--each of us--in a continual state of conversion, always "turning again"to the Lord, letting go of false gods (which do their best work when they put on a pious mask). Perhaps the best contribution we can make to the effectiveness of today's March is to go to Confession!

You can follow the Marchers on Twitter in real time; just search for the hashtag #marchforlife.

Next week in St Paul!

On the vigil of the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, I am already looking ahead not just to tomorrow's celebration, but to a week from tomorrow, when I arrive in St. Paul (the city) to speak at St. Paul's (the Cathedral) about... no, not St. Paul, but the New Evangelization.

If you are in the Twin Cities or thereabouts, join us at the Cathedral of St. Paul for the First Saturday morning retreat, beginning with Mass at 8:00 and continuing through noon with adoration, confessions and, yes, two talks by yours truly.

Romeward bound

I returned to Chicago on Monday with an alteration to my summer plans. Instead of heading to Boston to sing in our next album, I will be going to Rome in August with our provincial superior and the two other sisters who were elected as delegates to our General Chapter. We will represent the Daughters of St. Paul of the US and English-speaking Canada. (Our sisters in Quebec have their own representation.)

St Paul awaits!

The General Chapter is along the lines of the Provincial Chapter we just concluded, only much (much) longer, and with worldwide participation. The first order of business is usually a retreat; the second: electing a new Mother General. During the time of a General Chapter, it is the highest governing body in our religious congregation. I've never participated in one as a delegate, though the last two have had an Internet presence of sorts that I contributed to (and downloaded from).

I think that the meetings themselves will take place just outside the city of Rome,  in the Alban hills near the Pope's summer residence on the rim of the ancient volcanic crater lake, Lake Albano. I made a retreat there once; you can see Castel Gandolfo (across the lake) from the yard.

Right now, with the month-long meeting a safe distance away, I am kind of excited about seeing one of my favorite cities in the world, especially during the Year of Faith and in the final "countdown" year to our Pauline centenary. Best of all, we hope to have the rough cut of the Alberione documentary and I can't imagine we wouldn't take the occasion to share it with our sisters from around the world.

If you have room in your devotions for an extra daily prayer to the Holy Spirit, now would be a good time to add it! Thanks.

40

First, a reminder that on this 40th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that gave our nation abortion on demand, Catholics are to observe a day of penance and prayer: penance in reparation for the violations of human dignity caused by abortion (55 million abortions; how many million post-abortive women and fathers?), and prayer for the legal protection of every human life. This is (significantly enough) the only communal day of penance we American Catholics are asked to take on outside of Lent.

CBS crowd shot of 2012 March for Life
(Read the story about their reluctance to post the images.)

This year's March for Life is not being held today; with the public inauguration festivities just yesterday, Washington DC and its hotels could not accommodate the additional tens (more likely hundreds*) of thousands coming in. So many of the participants are leaving for Washington today or tomorrow, to join in Thursday night's Vigil and the Friday March (appropriately enough, the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul).

And since the March for Life is traditionally the most underreported mass event of the year, our friend Ashley Collins at Peter and Paul ministries is rolling out a social-media way to get the news out from the pro-life marchers themselves. He's opening up a new Tumblr blog and welcoming submissions from the ground (send to: http://marchforlife2013.tumblr.com/submit), but also gives detailed instructions for creating a 2013 March Tumblr that a group can contribute to. And there's always Twitter. Wouldn't it be great to see

Sr Helena is involved with a documentary on the past forty years; the crew will be in DC to get final footage, but you can watch the trailer here:



*A little over a week ago, there was a massive march in Paris in which the citizens of France tried to make their voices heard on an unpopular issue. The most modest crowd estimate available was 350,000 (other estimates were upward of 1 million). The Boston Globe's headline that day? "Thousands march..."

St. Paul's Housewarming

myselPauline Faithways: St. Paul's Housewarming is actually a post by Sr Margaret Joseph about a wonderful archaeological discovery she made in Rome. It's a perfect fit for this second day in the Christian Unity week of prayer, which always falls during the novena to the feast of the Conversion of St Paul.

I am somewhat familiar with the Church which holds the amazing finds (I used to make my hour of adoration there sometimes, since I lived just blocks away), but I had never heard of its connection with St Paul! Makes me want to go there myself.

Meanwhile, here in the Boston area I am trying to avoid falling victim to the various strains of virus that have already stricken half of our assembly. So far we are ppb schedule to finish the work tomorrow!

Greetings from the meeting

I arrived in the Boston area on Saturday evening to participate in a congregational meeting called a "chapter." This is a form of government in religious life, a kind of congress, you could say. In monasteries, the "chapter" consists of al the members. The monastery will even have a special hall called a "chapter room." We just have a conference area at the retreat house that is set up with chairs and tables and a lectern, with a computer projector that was used last night for something decidedly not related to our work.

In our congregation, "chapters" are held on a regional or global level. The regional one is actually in anticipation of the global one, which is the highest level of government in the congregation. The chapter I am participating in is a "provincial" chapter, since we represent the sisters of the United States and English-speaking Canada, and this area has been established as a "province" of the Daughters of St. Paul. About one third of the chapter members (sometimes called "capitulars," but that might just be the anglicized form of the Italian word!) are "ex officio": the Provincial Superior and her council, the provincial secretary and treasurer, the novice director and the director of the temporary professed sisters. The rest of us were elected by the sisters of the province.

The chapter started with two days of retreat, led by Fr. Michael Goonan of the Society of St. Paul. (Father has been to Chicago several times this year, so I already had the privilege of meeting this true "Son of St. Paul.") Today the work begins! We haven't been assigned to our small groups or given our tasks, but among other things we will probably be hearing various reports and trying to formulate proposals both for our life here in North America and for the sisters to consider on a global level at the "General Chapter" in August. We will also have to formulate reports about the Pauline life and mission in North America and the situation of the area itself in terms of demographics, cultural trends, Church life and media (both as a culture and as technology). Then we have to elect the delegates who will attend the global meeting in our name. (The Provincial goes by default.)

It isn't all work, though. We have a three person recreation committee which already sprang into action last night, downloading and projecting the episode of "Downton Abbey" that we missed on Sunday night while on retreat. We are being treated to delicious home cooked meals by two women who come over after work to cook for us. (YUM!)

The flu epidemic has added its challenges: the provincial and one delegate are currently down, and at Mass the Sign of Peace has become a kind of ballet of pirouettes and nods to the sisters at one's side and back. Another sort of challenge is posed by the ... creatures who share the living space with us here. Last night we managed to coax a mouse to the relative security of the courtyard outside. And Sister Carmen, the novice director, offered to help me deal with the creeping things that I have the unfortunate gift of spotting in awkward places. (Note to self: check room for bugs before moving in!)

Looking for a Song to Sing...

Sister Bridge in the studio, waiting for your song nominations.

If you like music, and there's a song (or two) that you keep waiting for the Daughters of St Paul choir to record, get thee to our Facebook page (see sidebar) and suggest it.  (I'm presuming that you already "like" us...)

Once you're on Facebook, share your idea with your own friends and invite them to weigh in on the choir page. If we record your pick, you get the album free! 

I'm scheduled for that summer recording session, so I beg of you: please nominate some really good songs. You'll find the criteria and other details on the Choir's Facebook page.

(I'll be in Boston through Jan. 21 for community meetings that won't give me time for blogging. Please pray to the Holy Spirit that our work be conducted entirely under the divine guidance!)

In his own words... Obama narrates pro-life short film

I have to hand it to President Obama: nobody could have put it more clearly.

Is the Bible embarrassing?

No kidding: there are parts of the Bible that most of us would be ashamed to read out loud, never mind post in our blogs. (A certain passage from Ezekiel comes to mind. There's a reason the lectionary has an optional abridged version!) Are we guilty of Cafeteria Catholicism by not focusing on these texts, or making them foundational for theology and spirituality? Is that a kind of bowdlerization of the word of God? Are we presuming to "edit" the Bible and only highlight the nice, agreeable parts? What gives?

The fact is, there are some ways in which the Bible is like a family album. The pictures in the album tell you a lot about where the family came from, or the challenges it faced. Some of the pictures celebrate momentous events: the weddings, the baptisms, the graduations.

But not all the pictures in a family photo album belong on the wall in the front room. Some of them tell a cautionary tale, but one the family can't afford to forget. These are not necessarily the pictures that tell you who the family is today, or who the members were who set the family on its course to the present. But they are part of the family story, even if they serve to highlight the progress the clan has made since the time Uncle Zeke escaped from the County Jail and got his picture in a Most Wanted poster. (No wonder Aunt Zelda ran off with the undertaker.)

That we can laugh about Uncle Zeke's exploits now only shows that we have a different perspective. What brought that about? Not only the passage of time, but a change of outlook.

As Catholics, of course, we don't see the Bible as so many divine words, all cut from the same holy cloth, any more than we treat all the photos in a family album as equally meaningful. The really important word, the one that makes sense of all the others, is Jesus himself. Every word in the Bible points to the Incarnate Word and finds its authentic meaning (its interpretation) in him. So the One Word, Jesus, is the key to all the other words in the Bible.

Coming soon: Lenten Bible study

Just a heads-up for those in the Chicago area: we'll be hosting our usual Saturday morning bible study starting just before Lent (Feb 9) and continuing through April.  This year's topic is the Book of Psalms; the presenters are on DVD, and I'll be facilitating the on-site sessions. Call the bookstore to register, or print the linked registration form here and mail it in.

Here are the details (click for a larger image):

Sr Helena and Les Mis

Looking for insight?
Here is it:
Sister Helena's review
of "Les Mis."

On the Air

Our Lady of Prompt Succor,
Hasten to help us!

I was invited to sit in the "big chair" in the studio at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy here in Chicago as guest host of the "Winds of Change" radio show. You can listen to the archived broadcast (Episode 557, Tuesday after Epiphany).  (I like to download and archive these things myself.)

Since today was the 198th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, the unlikely outcome of which was attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, I spoke a bit about that history, and included two Marian songs in the show. (I did not mention on the air that two of my sisters were married at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Or that this was our school chapel when we attended the Ursuline Academy!)

The call-in guest was Father Scott Hurd from the one-year-old Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. He's also the author of "Forgiveness: A Catholic Approach" and of an upcoming title on faith, about which we...ran out of time to talk about.

There was a bit of complication in getting Father Hurd on the air, so I had to extemporize a little bit at one point, and then the producer ran in and hit a button on the board that I didn't know about. Oh, and I opened mic 3 when it was mic 4 that needed to be on for studio co-host Tony. And almost didn't fit in the third promo break. Still, little by little I am getting the hang of things!

Music from today's show is from the following albums:

Ave Maris Stella

The Reconciliation Song

Ave Maria/There is a Heart

St Raymond the Unborn UPDATED

Today is the feast of St Raymond of Penyafort, the Dominican patron saint of Canon Lawyers (let the law jokes commence!). On this day, I am always reminded of another St Raymond (not a Dominican but a member of the ancient Order of Mercy). This Raymond was known as  "Raymond the Unborn" (
Raymond Nonnatus) since he was delivered by an emergency procedure after the death of his mother. St Raymond (patron of the Diocese of Joliet, IL)  is, reasonably enough, invoked when medical crises arise during pregnancy. I've been praying to him and to Bl. John Paul II these days for uber-blogger Jennifer Fulwiler, who is just being released from the hospital (again) and is under continuing treatment for multiple pulmonary embolisms. She is expecting her sixth child (it's a boy!) and has had to undergo daily shots during each of her pregnancies because of a blood-clotting disorder.  So she's a candidate, if ever there was one, for St Raymond's intercession. (UPDATE: There is now a Paypal donate button if you would like to help the Fulwilers pay for Jennifer's hugely expensive injections. Part of the issue with her unusually rough time this year may be related to the fact that this year she was using a generic version of the medication; all her previous, relatively uneventful pregnancies were helped along with the name-brand medicine. I hope her insurance company has learned a lesson about cost-cutting now that they have two hospitalizations and a three month follow-up to contend with.)

Jennifer started the year, as she has for a few years now, by programming a random patron-saint generator. Spin the wheel, so to speak, and get assigned a special saint for the new year. She dialed up St. Michael, and the next day found herself in the hospital. "Defend us in battle," indeed. But that situation got me thinking. With her own well-being threatened, along with that of her unborn son, wouldn't Jennifer need to be "defended in battle," not just in a fight for health, but the fight against the temptation that surely some people in the medical profession were muttering under their breath,  "Just 'take care of it' so you can go back to your family. You already have five kids who need a mother..." Abortion seems to be the first treatment option many women are offered when a pregnancy-related complication threatens them. Isn't the health of the mother a valid reason?

The weird thing is that in first world nations where abortion is legalized or restrictions loosened, maternal survival rates worsen. Ireland, which has (up to now) extremely strict limits on abortion (it is legal, but only within carefully defined circumstances), has the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. It is #1 in terms of maternal health. You know where the US stands? Somewhere around #34, right up there with Bulgaria. When Chile outlawed abortion in 1989, their maternal mortality rate dropped so far, so fast, that their maternal survival rates are the best in Latin America.

What is going on? It is hard to avoid the conclusion that access to abortion dulls the medical community's interest in researching the real problems that threaten pregnant women and the unborn. As abortion becomes the default recommendation for difficult cases, the wisdom of earlier generations is not handed down. Less energy and resources are invested in truly understanding the underlying causes and remedies for serious issues that continue to threaten women's health, especially during pregnancy.

If that is so, today would be a good day to pray to St. Raymond "the Unborn" for medical researchers in the specialized areas of maternal health.

Jesus asks the big question

Today's Gospel brings us to the beginning of Jesus' public life. His hair is still wet from his baptism by John, who is now pointing him out as "the Lamb of God." Two of John's disciples get it. They leave John at the Jordan and follow Jesus from a (somewhat) discreet distance. But you can't hide from Jesus! He stops, turns, and looks right at them.

"What are you looking for?"

It's a question that will appear in a different form two more times in the Gospel of John (6:26 and 18:7), and it's the most important question Jesus can ask. Indeed, what are we looking for?

When I was a teenager, the answer to that question was practically a given. Everybody was presumed to be "searching for themselves." The trouble is, without a map, you can get lost (seriously lost) looking for yourself. "Who am I?" becomes "Where am I?" and even "Why am I?" and the person risks getting more and more focused on the self. (Maybe that is part of the social quandary we are in right now.)

But Vatican II had already provided an excellent roadmap to that question of finding oneself. "Man can only find himself through a sincere gift of self." It is as if God has hidden the key to each person not in their own inner being, but in other people. In offering them the "inner key" to their lives, we experience a fullness of our own being, and all without thinking of ourselves. This doesn't mean making myself a universal doormat, of course. (Even as he is being arrested, Jesus maintains his great dignity: "Whom are you looking for? I AM.") But it does tell us that the search for self is doomed if it stays within the self.

This is one of the ways that marriage and the family reveal the truth about being human. The two, who are outwardly so different as male and female, become one in mutual self-giving. The man pledges to no longer live for himself, but for his wife and any children she may bear. The woman pledges not to seek herself, but her gift is written already (and profoundly) in her receptivity to new life. Husband and wife together become a sincere gift to the children their love may bring into existence. The family is created and sealed in a sincere, no-holds-barred, gift of self. And in the family, human existence is revealed as not self-centered, but Trinitarian.

At the beginning of a new year, it is good to let ourselves be questioned by Jesus. "What are you looking for?"

Cardinal George starts new year with clarity (and a clarion call) UPDATE #2

Photo by Photobra Adam Bielawski;used
 under Creative Commons License.
(The Cardinal looks a bit like my dad in this photo!)

In case you saw the headlines, yes, Cardinal George has issued a letter in the light of  the likelihood that Illinois will be the next state to broaden the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Rather than accept the summary you find in the news, I suggest you read the Cardinal's own words. After all, he is a brilliant man who has spent a great deal of time pondering the matter and its implications for Catholics, and this is an extremely sensitive issue: not just complex, but close to the heart for many people who cannot see anything but close-mindedness and bigotry in the Church's position, which the Cardinal applies to the situation facing us in Illinois this week. 

The Cardinal also presents his deep worry about the "social engineering" aspects of legislation of this sort. "This proposed legislation will have long term consequences because laws teach; they tell us what is socially acceptable and what is not, and most people conform to the dictates of their respective society, at least in the short run." When the government asserts authority over an institution that it did not establish, it puts all members of society in its debt: people begin to see their God-given human rights as "gifts" bestowed by the government--gifts which can be "taken away" by that same government on any number of pretexts. "Human dignity and human rights are then reduced to the whims of political majorities. "

The most immediate threat to Catholics that the letter points out is actually one that is already playing out in society:  "Those who continue to distinguish between genuine marital union and same sex arrangements will be regarded in law as discriminatory, the equivalent of bigots." The next step, the Cardinal seems to say, will be legal action against behaviors, policies and possibly even teachings construed as "discriminatory" or "hate speech." This in the name of "fairness."

Personally, I don't expect the Cardinal's letter to have much impact on the political action here in Illinois, but I do hope and pray that Catholics who up to this point have been drifting along with the tide of the surrounding cultural assumptions will at least give him a hearing.

UPDATE: JAN 3
Yesterday 1700 religious leaders in Illinois issued a letter to Illinois lawmakers on the issue, expressing concern for both the natural order and for the First Amendment rights of religious believers. "If marriage is redefined in civil law, individuals and religious organizations...will be compelled to treat same-sex unions as the equivalent of marriage in their lives, ministries and operations," putting them at risk of lawsuits (as has already happened in other states), harrassment and accusations. Read the full statement by Illinois religious leaders on same-sex marriage here.

Brandon Vogt prepared a post for The National Catholic Register on the 10 most common arguments in favor of same-sex marriage; it is worth reading. I am sure you have already heard all 10, and perhaps have not known how to respond in clarity and charity.

UPDATE: JAN 5
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield IL issued a letter of his own on the legislation (which will now be presented to the new legislature, rather than the lame-duck session that just ended).