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Are We a Christian Friend?

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Father Joe

There are friends and then there are friends. What do I mean? The fair weather friend hangs near when days are happy and life is easy; but when troubles come and life is hard, he or she is nowhere to be found. Look at how Christ’s apostles ran away and Peter denied him. Fortunately, they would know remorse and the spirit of the Risen Christ would heal their betrayal and give them courage in the days ahead to follow in his footsteps, even embracing exile and martyrdom. What kind of friend are we to others and to Jesus? Are we a Christian only when it is convenient? Do we make sacrifices for others and to witness the truth of the Gospel? Some collect and deliver clothing and food to the poor. Believers work in soup kitchens and shelters. They visit the sick and elderly in hospitals, nursing homes and among the shut-ins. They tutor young people and assist with those having learning challenges. They volunteer for the Special Olympics and summer camps for the physically challenged. They march for the unborn. They try to make a difference.

Filed under: Catholic, Discipleship | Leave a comment »

Responding to the Call to Worship

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Father Joe

When I look at the depth of Catholic faith, I wonder why anyone would ever look anywhere else. Everything we need for spiritual meaning and salvation is here. Nevertheless, some inquirers dismiss the Church and others walk away. Speaking for myself, I would not want to forfeit the Eucharistic sacrifice or presence for anything. Why is it then that so many abandon or refuse to come home to the Catholic Church? I think the answer has to do with people wanting to feel wanted and the consolation that comes with close fellowship and the acceptance of others. Catholicism is a ritualistic church. Like the Jews before us, we have our traditions, priesthood, cultic oblation, and authority. We have formulas for everything. We dip our fingers into the water fount, we genuflect, we sit quietly, we cross ourselves, we pound our chests, we touch our foreheads, lips and hearts, we say, “Amen,” “And with your Spirit,” and offer a hand with the words, “Peace be with you.” There is no unnecessary talking in church. We do our duty, try not to snore during the homily, are careful not to drop the wafer and then head out the door. The first one to get to his or her car and start the engine wins. At least, this is what we imply by our mad race to the door.

Filed under: Catholic, Discipleship, Liturgy, Mass | 1 Comment »

Responding to Lies Told by the Darkness

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Father Joe

The demonic will lie to us, offering a feigned friendship and understanding. Evil is all about seduction, not about well-being and advancement. What is the darkness really saying behind the duplicity and rhetoric?

The Darkness

You are no good.

You are stupid.

You are fat and ugly.

No one loves you.

You are worthless.

You are hopeless.

You can’t do anything right.

No one wants to be around you.

No one cares about you.

We would all be better off with you gone.

You are bad and beyond forgiveness.

You deserve every bad thing that happens to you.

Everyone hates you.

You would be better off dead.

A Response

Enough! Everything that God creates is good. You have value in God’s eyes. Indeed you are precious and irreplaceable. Your worth is immeasurable.

Some are smart about the things of the world but ignorant about the truths of eternity. We know that God loves us and has called us to a relationship with his Son. We should all be, as St. Paul taught, fools for Christ.

God calls us marvelous to behold, no matter what the standard of beauty in the world might be. Nothing else matters.

God loves us and his Church does, too. We must never buy the deceit that we are not lovable.

We have value because God gives us worth. People might not recognize it, but everyone is important. There are no disposable people. Everyone matters.

Our hope is in the Lord. Despair is from the evil one and is poison to faith. There is no Christianity without hope. It is one of the three things that last: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE.

We might make mistakes and fail, but the good Lord will give us strength. Jesus, himself, was judged a failed prophet by the world, a criminal handed over by his own people to be put to death. But the world was wrong. We can share in Christ’s victory.

God wants you near him and the Church wants you, too. She invites you to worship with the community and to know fellowship with other believers. You are not alone.

Jesus cared so much for you that he laid down his life and died for you. Yes, by name, he shed his blood that you might know him and his saving mercy. The Church also cares, from the moment you were conceived in the womb, she was the advocate for your life.

We would be diminished by your loss. You need the Church and we want you. Christ wants you as a friend in his service. We are all family.

We are all sinners but the mercy of God is infinite. All that is required is a contrite heart and a disposition for faith and conversion. God wants to pour his life into us.

It is not a matter of what we deserve but rather the generosity of God. He gives us his gifts freely. No one merits salvation; grace is a gratuity from the Lord.

God loves you. The Church and the saints love you. There are probably many who love you in this world but you do not always see it. You are surrounded by love.

Life is God’s gift. He alone is the one to number our days. We need to respect this gift in us and others. We know that when our time in this world grows short, we have an eternity with the Lord waiting for us. The saving work of Jesus is a testimony that love is stronger than death.

Filed under: Catholic, Discipleship, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Jesus, Reflection, Religion | 2 Comments »

Same-Sex Legislation Passes in MD

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Father Joe

Archdiocese of Washington statement on the passage of same-sex marriage legislation in Maryland:

“The Maryland Senate altered the state’s longstanding definition of marriage as the union between one man and one woman in a vote today. Throughout the expedited hearings Maryland House and Senate members held in consideration of the same-sex marriage bill, Catholics and individuals across Maryland encouraged the lawmakers to protect the longstanding and proper definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Regrettably, this did not happen as the House passed legislation last week, and the Senate followed this evening.

“The Archdiocese of Washington opposes the redefinition of marriage based on the clear understanding that the complementarity of man and woman is intrinsic to the meaning of marriage. The word marriage describes the exclusive and lifelong union of one man and one woman with the possibility of generating and nurturing children. Other unions exist, but they are not marriage.

“The Archdiocese of Washington will continue to strongly advocate for the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Furthermore, the archdiocese supports efforts undertaken by those who uphold the traditional meaning of marriage to bring this issue to the people of Maryland for a vote.”

Filed under: Archdiocese, Homosexuality, Marriage, Sexuality, Sin | 1 Comment »

Fallen Heroes, But Still Trust in Jesus

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Father Joe

Going back to our childhood, there were people to whom we looked up. Our heroes inspired and move us. We hoped to be like them. We trusted them and they had a significant impact upon our lives. Unfortunately, heroes also frequently fall from the pedestals upon which we place them. Indeed, we often exaggerate their qualities and achievements, making their falls from grace all the more devastating. The truth is not always well served in hero worship. Men and women are bound to fail us. A boy might think that his father is the strongest man in the world; as he grows up, he is forced to realize that even the best of fathers are still mortal men dealing with sinfulness and weakness. The same can be said about our spiritual fathers or priests. It is only Christ who will never fail us.

The rector of my college seminary joined the Episcopal church and got married and the priest who ran the CCD program in my parish when I was a boy was excused from ministry because of allegations of misconduct with a youth. Priests in the media who meant a lot to me like Fr. Ken Roberts and Fr. John Bertolucci were dismissed for credible allegations. It was all quite devastating to me. These were men who inspired me to be a priest. Indeed, I modeled many elements of my life upon them. When facing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and elders, Jesus told his friends to do as they say but not as they do. I guess those words still find application in the Christian leadership. When our heroes disappoint us, we become angry and some might even feel duped. Of course, my confidence was ultimately in the Lord. I pray every day that I will be faithful to my promises and charge as a Christian and as a priest. No human relationship or role model can ever come close to the friendship and witness of Christ. The other pieces of the puzzle only fit in place when Jesus is planted in the middle. Instead of wanting to strike out, I pray daily for my fallen heroes and for those whom they wounded, that they might know the mercy and healing of God. I also ask for guidance and strength, that I might be all that I purport and struggle to be.

Filed under: Discipleship, Priests, Sin | 1 Comment »

Sometimes There is No Happy Ending

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Father Joe

Years ago I knew a young man who battled drugs and alcohol. After getting into some trouble and a car accident, he entered a treatment program. He met a nice girl and he seemed to vastly improve. However, he had merely transferred his dependency from dangerous substances to her. An immature personality, he was unable to postpone the objects of his desires and pleasures. He could not save money and moved too quickly with the romantic relationship. Within short order they were having sexual intimacy and he was urging her to cohabitate with him. The girl became increasingly resentful of his dependence upon her and lack of self- control. While she was fond of him, it was questionable what he brought to the table of their relationship. Everything revolved around what he wanted and his needs. He isolated her from family and friends, being intensely jealous. His possessiveness was threatening to suffocate her. They became engaged and she was at odds as to what to do. She felt responsible for him. His relationship with her had become his chief source of security and what gave his life meaning. His sense of being grounded was attached to her and he acted as if he owned her, sometimes speaking and acting violently when he did not get his way. She tried to bear the situation but matters grew worse. Every time things seemed to get better there would be a relapse. His immediate family and friends would take his side and became enablers for his irresponsibility and problems. They regarded his girlfriend as a means to keep him in check, regardless of what it might personally cost the young woman. When she tried to exert herself, he would become moody and depressed. Eventually matters reached a breaking point and she terminated the engagement. It was probably the most loving thing she could do. He was not ready for what they might have together. He had to face his issues instead of using their relationship to compensate for them.

I wish I could say that things turned out well for the young man I talked about. But he resisted God’s grace in his life. He had a hard time believing that he was lovable, no matter how many times we told him. I moved on to another parish. One day I received a phone call that he had committed suicide. I came back to bury him. The church was filled with his family and friends. The crowd demonstrated the love many had for him but which he refused to see.

Filed under: Discipleship, Sexuality, Sin | 2 Comments »

A Priest Echoing the Voice of Jesus

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Father Joe

Reflecting upon my own formation, we had opportunities for clinical pastoral care but were offered little in the way of understanding human psychology. Priests can certainly become proficient counselors over time but rarely just out of the seminary. The priest learns a great deal over the years as he undergoes his trial by fire. He becomes a master on the human condition, both good and bad. Of course, few clergy are professional psychologists or social workers. We are ministers of the Gospel and priests of the altar. We speak the language of faith in a world that has an increasingly difficult time with translation. We want to save marriages and better people’s lives, but always in terms of the redemptive work of Christ. We desire for people to find healing in a personal and corporate relationship with the Lord.

When a priest or teacher begins to talk about Jesus and religion, some people turn us off. Young people often do this and have not yet mastered masking their distraction. They know from their primary catechism that Jesus loves us but have rarely reflected upon what this really means. The full sacrificial dimension of this love has yet to seep deep into their soul and personality. They can recite the theme but do not feel its significance. If they truly appreciated the depth of Christ’s love, they would be brought to tears and would eagerly try to expunge sin from their lives. Jesus loved us so much that he died for us, to forgive our sins. This was no stoic act, but one filled with conviction and emotion. God would have us receive and return this love in kind. I would pointedly ask each listener, “Jesus loves YOU, what does this mean to YOU?” Jesus dies for them by name. He knows them better than they know themselves. He knows the problems they face and is ready to shower his grace upon them. Jesus can help and he wants to help. But have we truly invited Jesus into our life? Is he real for us or just a name we hear in church and read in the Bible? Jesus had to deal with feelings of abandonment and fear as well. The agony in the garden resonates with our own fears and sense of loneliness. You may have cried in your pillow but he wept at the death of his friend Lazarus and again when he sweated blood on the Cross. Jesus had his own relationship troubles. The leadership of his own people sought his life and his beloved apostle Judas betrayed him. His family thought that he was out of his mind. His friends often failed him. He knew, first hand, what we all go through. Maybe we have sought compensation in material things? Maybe we have raised the value of money and things over the needy and faith? Maybe the desires of the flesh have supplanted a true love of persons and God? Maybe our response has been to turn inward instead of outward? Jesus tells us to look to him. The answer is not to be found in the distractions of the world. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life.

There are many voices in the world that would lie to us. They tell us that happiness can be found in a bottle, drugs or sex. They are traps set by the evil one and his minions. Such paths are dead-end roads that will leave us with a sense of nowhere out. Too many who get lost listening to these voices are tempted to destroy themselves, wrongly thinking that it is one way out of the cage of a painful and meaningless existence. But this is the final lie on the road to hell. Instead, we listen to the voice of Jesus. He knows what you are facing and he wants to help you. Jesus is himself the medicine for the soul. He wants us to share his life and love. He will give his Spirit to any who ask. It does not matter what we have done. God is gracious and merciful.

Filed under: Conscience, Discipleship, Faith, Forgiveness, Priests, Sin | Leave a comment »

Trying to Save the Souls of Teens

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Father Joe

There has been an issue the past few years with young people preparing for Confirmation. A cynical joke is shared that Confirmation is the sacrament one receives before leaving the Church. They disappear from Sunday Mass and sometimes even their parents go with them. Sacraments are treated as a list to check off instead of as transitions to new ways of living and conversion. When we talk to young people a few are really attentive, some seek to humor us and others do not even attempt to show interest in faith. Trying to reach them, I once invited each of the youth in the Confirmation class to share five of their favorite pieces of music. My plan was to listen to the music so as to extract themes for their retreat. The music was so violent and pornographic that it made me sick and my DRE became worried for me. Part of me became angry and I was tempted to withhold Confirmation altogether. I challenged them about the tragic disconnect between such filth and their faith in Jesus Christ. Did it make a difference? I can only hope.

Every year is such a struggle. They neglect parish service projects, community service and their required classes. Assignments are not turned in and there seems to be a general apathy. Instead of helping, a few parents paint the situation as adversarial, exaggerating the preparedness of their teens. Over the years I have had wonderful volunteers and my current DRE is the best I have ever known; but what can we do if there is no partnership from the parents in the home?

As much as their indifference wounds me, I would give them chance upon chance, to come to their senses and turn around. The challenges we face from a secular and hedonistic culture and media seems to overwhelm our few minutes of formation. Christian faith and values must be taught in the home. Living our faith should come, arm-in-arm, with knowing and loving our faith. We must also exert a strong effort against negative influences. Peers should not include bad companions. Foul visual and audio media should be thrown away. We need to be selective as to what we watch and listen. Another element is dress and posture. Young teens should neither date nor dress in provocative clothing. One critic has lamented that clothing styles for children and teens are illustrative of a pedophile and pederast culture. We are allowing our children to be poisoned and then expect a short weekly religion class, to which they come late, to somehow counteract the deadly effects.

We keep trying because we care. We don’t want to throw anyone out because of the likely concern that they will never come back. This year I am personally offering make-up classes for those who have missed required Confirmation classes. They are good young people and I see a level of hope. We have to keep hope alive.

Filed under: Evangelization, Youth | 1 Comment »

Out of My House! Ever in My Heart!

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Father Joe

Many, if not most people, struggle with a sense of inadequacy. I am no exception. We had a visiting priest at my home parish who preached in harsh and very pointed tones. He was right that we were unworthy of a Savior like Christ. A problem is that the most egregious sinners view such indictments as referencing everyone but themselves while those truly struggling to follow Christ place all the guilt and blame upon themselves. The themes in the homilies bothered me and precipitated a type of nightmare. I dreamed that during one of his sermons, the priest began to stare at me and, in front of everyone, demanded that I get out of God’s house! I was overwhelmed with shame. Then I woke up. Years later, when I was accepted for the seminary, I dreamed that I was being vested in the body of the church. The green chasuble was enormous. When I put it on, it literally buried me. Like a blanket, I was lost in its folds. Again I awoke with a deep sense of shame and unworthiness.

During my first assignment as a priest, I was placed in charge of youth ministry. I visited the school classes and ran both a junior high and high school teen group. As a priest, I was assigned to the parish where I had served as a deacon. The children used their crayons to draw me cards of congratulation over my ordination. One of those efforts was by a boy in the fourth grade. He and his sister were wonderful kids. But, as children grow up, they sometimes move in dangerous directions. As a high-schooler, [name deleted] and another boy were coming to teen meetings high on alcohol. I tried to intervene. Nevertheless, I could not expose the other teens to their intoxication and the accompanying vulgarity. When he interrupted a meeting of the CYO leadership in the gym (he wanted to play basketball), he became belligerent when I told him to leave. He charged me with favoritism and then accused a boy and girl on a recent youth retreat of sinning together right under my nose. Again, he was either on alcohol, drugs or both. I told him that until he cleaned his act, he would not be welcomed back. He cried, over and over, “Don’t say that Father Jenkins, don’t tell me that I can’t come back!” The confrontation became loud. He was led out. Maybe a more experience priest could have reached him? Did I try hard enough to save him? I guess I will second-guess myself forever. I never saw the young man again. No, that it is strictly true. I did see his body in a casket. One evening we got word that he and his friend had gotten into a shootout with police. They attempted to rob a convenience store. His friend had a wounded arm. [Name deleted] got hit in the side and it punctured his liver. The alcohol in his system poisoned him. He died. A few of the teens came with me to the funeral. His parents had broken up and he had abandoned the Catholic Church for a Baptist community of faith. The minister offered an hour of praise, but not a word about the demons in his life. I am sure his parents took solace but the sad truth was not satisfied. A few faulted me for not doing more. But I had forty kids to worry about. I thought I did my best. None of this mattered. The experience still haunts me. The years go by and still I regularly bring him to mind in prayer. Did I fail to be as gracious and forgiving to him as God had been with me?

The faces of many young people are replayed before my imagination. Some have passed away, like [name deleted], one fell off the rocks into the water at Great Falls and another committed suicide. A few have stayed with the Church, but a vast number of them have defected from the faith and live lives far removed from the moral mandates of the Gospel. I pray and hope that they will return to the fold. Like parents who sometimes wonder where they went wrong, many priests also feel culpable for not better inspiring their youth to love the Lord and his Church. We rehearse in our minds all the things we did wrong or speculate what we might have done differently. We keep them in our hearts with a priestly and fatherly love, yes, even when there are long periods of silence and detachment.

Filed under: Conscience, Discipleship, Youth | Leave a comment »

How Catholic are You?

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Father Joe

We can test to see how badly infected our people are with doubt and faithlessness. Here are some sample questions:

1. Do you believe that deliberately missing Sunday Mass is a mortal sin, as detailed in the precepts of the Church?

2. Do you believe that premarital sex and/or cohabitation is a mortal sin?

3. Do you believe that a Catholic can get married validly outside the Church and how can this be if it is a sacrament?

4. Are you for or against the legal choice for abortion even though the Church calls it the murder of ensouled human beings?

5. Do you believe that the marital act must always be that type of act that is open to mutual self-giving and the generation of new human life or do you favor the use of artificial contraception?

6. The Church teaches that same-sex attraction is a disorder and that its pursuit is a violation of the natural law and is seriously sinful. Do you believe this?

7. Is the Eucharist a symbolic presence using bread and wine, a nostalgic remembrance or the actual Risen Christ (divinity and humanity, body and blood)?

8. Do you ever go to Confession? Do you believe that the priest has the power to forgive sins? Do we really need the priest for this at all?

9. Is the Mass a real sacrifice just as the death and oblation of Jesus on the Cross?

10. Does it really matter what one believes as long as he or she is a good person? Is one Church pretty much as good as another? Is it intolerant to insist that the Catholic Church is the one true Church established directly by Christ?

11. Do you believe that the Pope as Vicar of Christ has universal jurisdiction and is given the gift of infallibility in teaching about faith and morals?

12. Do you pray daily and if so how do you pray? Do you really think someone is listening? Do you remember the various types of prayer?

Filed under: Anti-Catholicism, Catholic, Church, Commandments, Contraception, Discipleship, Magisterium, Mass, Morality, Pope, Pro-Life, Questions, Sexuality, Sin | 2 Comments »