Tuesday, December 29, 2009

St. Anysius and geese

No major saint today, the sixth day of Christmas, but a minor one who is also significant for Church-state relations, as well as Early Christian World Pilgrimage lore: St. Anysius was bishop of Thessalonica in 390 when Emperor Theodosius massacred 7,000 men, women and children in retaliation for a relatively minor disturbance in which a governor was killed. Theodosius was also the emperor who made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. (Contrary to popular belief it wasn't Constantine, who merely recognized its legitimacy, and was baptized only at the end of his life.) Theodosius must have thought he was de facto head of the Church (anticipating Henry VIII by 1,200 years!), but Ambrose of Milan forced him to do penance. Ambrose was the first bishop who actually succeeded in exercising control over a Roman emperor. Compared with the fascinating history of our Catholic heritage, who cares about a gaggle of geese? (Although their eggs might be tasty with bacon. I've never eaten one. Has any reader of this ever had a goose egg?)

I couldn't find much on St. Anysius on the web, so I'm sharing a photo I took of the entry in the new edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints. Interesting little tangent for ECW Pilgrims and others interested.

As I commented on Facebook: Theodosius wasn't a madman, in fact he justly has the title of "Great." What he did was not all that unusual even for the best of rulers (of all ages including today). What was unusual was that, in the battle of wills over his repentance, Ambrose won. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosius_I. It's a sign of greatness you can admit your wrongdoing, and a sign of small-mindedness when you have to twist reality to justify it.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Reflection on the Holy Innocents

The new edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints notes that Matthew's telling of this story in chapter 2 of his Gospel "is not purely a record of events. He is concerned to show a parallel between the infancy of Jesus and the infancy of Moses, the fate of the Innocents resembling that of the Hebrew children killed on Pharaoh's orders when Moses was born (Exodus 1:13-22)."

We don't know how many slaughtered Innocents there were. Traditional counts from several centuries later (the Byzantine liturgy speaks of 14,000, and Syrian calendars say 64,000) are exaggerated beyond any reasonable estimate of the population of Bethlehem at the time. Most modern day estimates say there couldn't have been more than a dozen or so children under two in a small village such as Bethlehem and its surrounding countryside.

Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC, was the one who built the Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 70 AD. He was also a murderous madman, who even killed members of his own family. (There was a Roman quip that it was safer to be Herod's dog than his son!) So this massacre of infants was not out of character.

Christian tradition has venerated the Innocents as martyrs, "who died not only in witness to Christ but actually instead of Christ." In England the feast used to be "Childermas."

I have always pictured the escape of Joseph, Mary and Jesus into Egypt sort of like refugees alone in a strange and alien land. Actually, that wasn't quite the case. Alexandria, Egypt, at that time had one of the largest Jewish populations of any city in the world outside of Jerusalem, possibly several hundred thousand, and it was a flourishing center of learning and culture. It's very possible they found a warm and protective welcome among the Jewish diaspora community for the time they had to spend there.

60-Minutes on Patriarch Bartholomew

Just today I was informed of last week's segment on CBS's 60-Minutes on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople/Istanbul. It is good background for the Early Christian World Pilgrimage, and gives a strikingly realistic (and pessimistic) view of the plight of the Orthodox Christians in present-day Turkey. (Too bad one has to put up with the offensive Viagra ad!)

Regarding the re-opening of the Halki Seminary, which Bob Simon visited with the Patriarch, Considerable international pressure has been put on Turkey, and President Obama in his speech to the Turkish Parliament on April 6, 2008 (video), also focused specifically on the issue. Obama again brought up the issue as recently as last month, when the Patriarch visited him in the USA. But so far nothing has come from the government except talk and unfulfilled promises.

There are, however, some over-simplifications and historical inaccuracies in the 60-Minutes piece, in particular regarding Cappadocia. The carved churches there date from the later medieval times (11th-13th centuries), not from the very origins of Christianity as erroneously stated by the guide.

They are correct, in my opinion, though, about calling Turkey "the other Holy Land," and locating the "origins" of Christianity there. It was in Antioch (present-day Antakya) ;where the disciples of Jesus were first called "Christians" (Acts 11:26). And from there (not from Jerusalem) most of the Apostles went for the bring the Gospel to the then-known world. On our Early Christian World Pilgrimage, we will spend a full day (two nights) in this ancient city, and celebrate Mass in a present-day "house church" reminiscent of the kind of place where these first Christians gathered for the Eucharist.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

The Holy Family's relevance for today

Here are my Sunday Bulletin reflections for December 27:

The last Sunday of 2009 and the Feast of the Holy Family today. I have two thoughts that I believe are worth sharing and considering. They are different, but related.

The first is that we usually consider the "holy family" to be Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, living quiet, holy lives in humble surroundings, with Jesus being raised as an ever-obedient only child, while Mary is the ever-patient mother doing her household chores and Joseph in his workshop making furniture for the village. That's a nice thought, but totally unreal. All small-town households of that time and culture were large, bustling, dynamic, and messy aggregations of all sorts of relatives living in close proximity. Even if Mary remained a life-long virgin, as Catholic tradition has always maintained, Jesus had "brother and sisters," either cousins living the same household or, more likely I think, Joseph's children from a previous marriage. Or both; very likely along with some of Joseph's or Mary's siblings. Joseph's widowed situation would not have been uncommon because the mortality rate in childbirth was high.

The point is that Jesus was raised experiencing all the beautiful and challenging messiness of family life, with many related individuals living together, whether by choice or necessity. To put it another way, Jesus experienced life not too much different in essence from our own.

The second, and related, point is that families are in trouble today mostly, I believe, because of isolation. Traditional marriage has always depended on a wide-ranging and complex network of family relationship, committed to mutual support. Now, at best, "traditional family" boils down to two people, and perhaps 2.5 children, facing the challenge of making it on their own. The wider network of family relationships no longer are part of the substance of family living, but are relegated to occasional (hopefully) friendly and festive gathering. Unlike in the past, the situations that give rise to conflicts are "nobody else's business," except of course when the media feeds on celebrities' troubles. When a couple experiences difficulty, they can't claim much support from a wider family network. All too often, there is no one willing to embrace them both and provide a context within which they can rebuild their relationship with each other.

One of the points I frequently make in my wedding homilies is that everyone who cares enough to come to witness the life-long commitment of this newly married couple, is also signifying their own commitment to support the couple in times of the inevitable trials that will come, so that their relationship may truly be for-life as they pledge on the wedding day.

As we pray for families today, please embody that prayer in your own loving support for the families of your own extended family and community. Blessings and peace of the New Year for all of you and those you love. I love you.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Swaddling bands and feeding trough

Christmas bulletin greeting:

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

What I'm most grateful for this Christmas is that I am celebrating the Eucharist with you, the people of God of Good Shepherd Parish Community.

We all know that beyond the sights, sounds and smells of the season, beyond the exhilaration of family and friends together, is the fact of what we are celebrating: God has so loved us that he sent his only Son to be our Savior.

For two thousand years, our Catholic faith has been centered on the Eucharist, the enduring sign and reality of the presence of God, through Jesus His Son, in our midst. As the beginning of St. John's Gosel reminds us, the eternal Word of God has taken on our human flesh -- our human nature fully -- and has made his dwelling with us.

One of my favorite images of the nativity dates back to the earliest centuries of the Church. It's a relief carving in marble that was unearthed on the Greek Island of Naxos, and dates to about 390 A.D. To me it speaks more eloquently than any other "nativity scene" of the reality and meaning of Christ's coming.


In the very center is the manger, in reality the trough from which the animals feed. Lying alone in the straw (you can even see its texture in the 1600-year-old weathered marble) is a little bundle with only a head showing. The infant's body is tightly wrapped in bands -- that's the meaning of "swaddling cloths." An ox and a donkey and two trees, a highly stylized palm and fig tree, are the only other figures.

The animals and trees represent all of creation, worshiping the bound-up Lord of the Universe, who bound himself by taking on the imperfection of our human nature. He has become one of us, so that we can become one with Him. And the feed-trough is not just a practical necessity of being born in a stable. It's an unmistakable sign of his relationship to us. In the Eucharist, he is our food, our nourishment , our sustenance.

As we celebrate today, let us not lose sight that all our gifts take their meaning from the One Great Gift, the gift of Jesus Himself.

May God continue to bless in abundance all those you love. Merry Christmas.

Fr. Tom Welbers

P.S. If you'd like a better, higher resolution copy of the picture, just sent me an email at thomas.welbers@gmail.com.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Peace and the Environment

Here is the text of my "Pasotr's Reflections" for the Good Shepherd Bulletin for Sunday January 3:

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In 1968, the year I was ordained, Pope Paul VI issued the first World Day of Peace message on January 1. Every year since then in unbroken succession, each pope has continued the tradition, sending strong and thoughtful reflections to all people of good will for the benefit of humankind.

It was Pope Paul VI who first made the statement, "If you want peace, work for justice." After 9/11 with so much fear and retaliation in the air, Pope John Paul II added an important phrase: "There will be no peace without justice, and there will be no justice without forgiveness."

Pope Benedict XVI has, year-by-year, explored the ramifications of the theme of peace, touching many elements of spirituality and human life, as you can see from the list of titles of his past messages: 2006, "In Truth, Peace"; 2007, "The Human Person, the Heart of Peace"; 2008, "The Human Family, a Community of Peace"; 2009, "Fighting Poverty to Build Peace"

Although previous popes began to weave concern for the environment of our world into their reflections, the strongest voice for developing a consistent Christian approach to ecology has been Benedict XVI. His newly issued message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation," develops the theme that he has stated many times: protecting our environment, and working to reverse the degradation of our planet that we humans have already brought about through exploitation and waste is an urgent Christian imperative.

All too often, the biblical command to have dominion over all creation (Genesis 1:28) has been interpreted as mastery without restraint. Whatever we do to profit from the exploitation of earth's resources, in this view, is legitimized and even seen as God's will. Dominion is seen to mean domination. Nothing could be further from the real plan of God, as seen even in the Old Testament, but certainly in its fulfillment in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Dominion really means that we are living in an environment, a world, that in truth belongs not to us but to the Creator. We are stewards not possessors. God has set us over creation as caretakers, not as owners.

You may want to read Pope Benedict's 2010 message, along with his previous ones. You can find them on the Vatican website at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/index_en.htm.

May this New Year bring many graces to you and all those you love. I love you.

Fr. Tom Welbers

Note that John Allen has an excellent article on the reaction to Pope Benedict's World Day of Peace Message, "Revolutionaries, Pastors, and Skeptic in Catholic Ecology."

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Homily for December 20, Fourth Sunday of Advent

There's an old saying I often repeat: "Be careful what you pray for, you might get it." That sounds kind of trite and silly, until we actually take seriously what we pray about. The implications of our prayer, if we are sincere, should give us pause for thought: Do I really mean what I just prayed?

An example is today's refrain of the Responsorial Psalm:

Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see your face and we shall be saved.

Think about it. If we say "Lord, make us turn to you," we are implying not only that we are not turned to God, but even that we cannot of ourselves turn to Him. God's the one who has to do that.

The second implication of that line is that we are open to God turning us around in His way, not ours. If we are busy about all kinds of other things, that process of turning might be painful because it involves letting God remove the obstacles that stand in His way. And some of those obstacles might be things we really like, maybe even depend on – and irt very well might hurt to have them moved out of the way so God can get closer.

All that, only in the first line. What about the second line?

Well, two questions arise there. Do we really want to see His face? And do we really want to be saved?

Have you ever had to face somebody who loves you deeply, but whom you have offended, perhaps by thoughtless neglect? It's difficult, isn't it. The person you've offended may very badly want you to look at them, but your inclination is to turn away in guilty embarrassment. It takes a strong person to face the One who loves us more than we love Him. A person strong enough to put aside ego. A person strong enough to look at our own unlovableness, and to let ourselves receive the gift of love we know we don't deserve and even can't deserve.

And what is salvation anyway? That's especially difficult when many of the needs that past ages looked to God for are now supplied by modern culture and technology. We can only get in touch with our real needs and the meaning of salvation when we painfully come to terms with our limits, and that God is beyond them. When our resources are exhausted, then we can acknowledge that we are not ultimately self-sufficient. That's when salvation becomes meaningful, but that's usually painful too.

All too often, when we have to face the things in our lives that God gives us to realize our dependence on Him, we are inclined to ask, "Why me?" when perhaps we should find ways of saying "Thank you."

What does this mean practically for you and for me? How we live depends a lot on how we pray. Can I put more thought into how I pray, and what I pray for. Do I pray that God will do such and so for me, that God will make everything turn out the way I want or think I need? Or do I pray that God will use me as in instrument of his will? Is the bottom line of my prayer, “thy will be done”?

It's a hard but necessary question: ultimately, is God the center of my prayer . . . or am I?


(Note: this holimyis a slightly revised and expanded vbersion of what I wrote for today's bulletin, below.)


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Praying at Christmas?

Bulletin reflection for December 20

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

There's an old saying I often repeat: "Be careful what you pray for, you might get it." That sounds kind fo trite and silly, until we actually take seriously what we pray about. The implications of our prayer, if we really mean them, should give us pause for thought: Do I really mean what I just prayed?

An example is today's refrain of the Responsorial Psalm:

Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see your face and we shall be saved.


If we say "Lord, make us turn to you," we are implying not only that we are not turned to God, but that we cannot of ourselves turn to Him. God's the one who has to do that.

The second implication of that line is that we are open to God turning us around in His way, not ours. If we are busy about all kinds of other things, that process might be painful because it involves letting God remove the obstacles that stand in His way. And some of those obstacles might be things we really like.

All that, only in the first line. What about the second line?

Well, two questions arise there. Do we really want to see His face? And do we really want to be saved?

Have you ever had to face somebody who loves you deeply, but whom you have offended, perhaps by thoughtless neglect? It's difficult, isn't it. The person you've offended may very badly want you to look at them, but your inclination is to turn away in guilty embarrassment. It takes a strong person to face the One who loves us more than we love Him. A person strong enough to put aside ego.

And what is salvation anyway? That's especially difficult when many of the needs that past ages looked to God for are now suppllied by modern culture and technology. We can only get in touch with our real needs and the meaning of salvation when we painfully come to terms with our limits, and that God is beyond them. When our resources are exhausted, then we can acknowledge that we are not ultimately self-sufficient. That's when salvation becomes meaningful, but that's usually painful too.

All too often, when we have to face the things in our lives that God gives us to realize our dependence on Him, we are inclined to ask, "Why me?" when perhaps we should find ways of saying "Thank you."

May these last days of preparation for celebrating the coming of the Messiah into our world help you to welcome Him into your life.

May God bless you and all those you love. I love you.

Fr.Tom Welbers

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Martha and Mary at Christmas?


Bulletin Reflection for December 13:


Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Making room.

Are you the kind of person for everything has to be "just right"? If so, this season is really hard on you, isn't it?

I know. I used to be that kind of person. Still am in many ways, but I think I tamed that perfectionism at least a bit.

There's so much to do, so many obligations to meet, such an investment of time and energy in making everything just right for everybody.

I sometimes wonder if if it would be a good idea for the Church to give us the Gospel reading of Mary and Martha during these last days of Christmas preparation. (It's Luke 10:36-42; hey, why not read it now?) Certainly we would hear Jesus challenging all the hustle and bustle of our perfectionist preparations.

More than ever, I think it's important during this time to step aside from it all, even if only for a few minutes. Catch our breath. And let Jesus speak

Even our prayer tends to be busy. As Catholics, many of us have grown up in a tradition that told us "praying" meant "saying prayers." And if you prayed simply by saying prayers, the more time you could give was automatically meritorious, and the faster you could say them -- the more prayers you could squeeze in a given length of time -- the better you prayed. I remember doing that. If you are old enough to have any gray hairs, you probably do too.

Between now and Christmas, try to step aside, for at least a few minutes a day, from the burdens of trying to get everything right. As Jesus so often said to his followers, "Come apart and rest a while." Rest was important for him. The openness and emptiness that are part of true rest are also important, because that gives God something to do. God can't fill us with the gift of himself if we are already full with all kinds of other things.

These last two weeks before Christmas the most important thing you can do is to make room . . .for Him.

I pray that this season of preparation may be one of great grace for you and all those you love. I love you.

Fr. Tom Welbers