"Unhappy is the land that has no heroes...
Unhappy is the land that needs a hero."
(Galileo, a play by Bertold Brecht)

The first reading in today's Eucharistic Liturgy brings us to consider one of the heroes of the Jewish faith in the time before Jesus was born. This is the story about Mattathias and his five sons. Distraught because enemies had taken over Jerusalem. Sacrileges abounded in the city and in the most sacred of places, the Temple in Jerusalem. "Her temple has become like a man disgraced ... we see our sanctuary and our beauty and our glory laid waste" (vv 8-13).

The story today took place around the year 167 BC. Because Mattathias loved his Jewish faith, he moved his sons out of the Jerusalem area to settle in Modein. There he could continue to worship as he believed ... until the king's officers moved into Modein to "organize the sacrifices" to different gods and idols. In the chosen selection of the Book of Maccabees for today, we read of the efforts to get Mattathias and his sons to give up their faith.

Today there are so many different challenges to Roman Catholics especially in our American homeland. In the city of Washington, DC, Catholics are faced with a decision by Church leaders (authorities). The City Council of the nation's capital city are debating a resolution to approve same-sex marriages. The Catholic Archbishops and a number of other faith leaders, especially in prominent African-American churches have spoken out against the possible affirmative decision of City Council. In response to the possibility, the Catholic Church leaders have made public that such an action would result in the ending of many relationships with the city. These relationships basically are those city contracts with the Archdiocese where social services are provided for many of the city's poor and elderly are assisted. As one would expect in today's society, the fabric is one of many colors, like Joseph's coat. Several Pastors, in conversations yesterday, said that they have been pummeled with calls by and meetings with parishioners. Some are angry with the Church, some threatening to hold back fulfilling pledges to a major capital campaign of several years ago, some saying this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back requiring a move to another faith and, of course, those who see themselves as champions of the faith.

Being a Catholic today is not easy for everyone who says "I am a Catholic." Those who maintain a very strong position supporting the Archdiocese's actions as well as those who challenge fighting the city on the backs of the poor and needy each see leaders in their particular stance at this time.

For a Catholic in our city these days, there is a genuine need for much prayer and reflection. For our leaders both Church and civil, there is great need for dialog and prayer as well. For all of us from Washington, DC or elsewhere, it is a time for reflection and prayer.

The photo above is that of the smallest National Cemetery in the United States. It is the burial ground for those Union soldiers who died at the battle of Ball's Bluff, located in Leesburg, VA. The cemetery overlooks the Potomac River. There at the site, just outside the walls surrounding the 50 some entombed loyalists is a marker in memory of the first and only US Senator to have died in battle but who is buried in the Presidio, in San Francisco. The following is from the U.S. Senate Records:

Senator Killed in Battle
October 21, 1861
Senator Edward Dickinson Baker, veteran of the Mexican war, well-known lawyer and orator, and confidante of President Abraham Lincoln, answered his country's call to battle in 1861. Leaving the Senate Chamber behind, Baker led his troops into the Battle of Ball's Bluff and became the Senate's first and only sitting member to die in battle.

So today being a Catholic in the city of Washington demands extraordinary strength. Are we unhappy because we have no heroes or unhappy because we need a hero?

Wednesday: The Awesome Human Creation

Today, I strongly encourage the reading from the II Maccabees book from the Old Testament used in today's liturgy. It was composed around the end of the second century before Christ. So it is significantly ancient! This particular "story" should impact every adult human being that ever asks, "Where did I come from?"

The particular account reports admirably about an unnamed mother who "saw her seven sons perish in one day" (v. 20). The words ascribed to the mother whose heart was "fill with a noble spirit" (v. 21), present a courageous mother who encouraged her sons to remain true to "the law given to our fathers through Moses" (v. 30) -- i. e. not to eat pork. The king, Antiochus, had ordered the arrest of the seven sons and mother because they refused to break the law, to eat pork. It was the kings way of attempting to break down the Jewish religious practice.

This particular section of the OT writing also prsents an extraordinary account of a seven-times mother's understanding of the truly almost unbelievable experience of pregnancy. As one Benedictine monk, Wilfred Theisen, himself a physicist, wrote "In fact, when we reflect on all of the miracles that Jesus worked, even raising Lazarus from the dead, we must conclude that pregnancy is a greater wonder than any of our Lord's miracles."

The mother's words, you would suspect, were composed by someone in whom there was embedded a genuine spiritual cosmology. The mother's words present a woman's view of the creation of a child in a mother's womb: "nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed" (v. 22). Further, she adds, "... it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man's beginning ... " (v.23).

In short, then, the words should bring any reader to pause in wonder adn genuine awe at his or her own very being. How did I get here? How was it that two of the smallest biological elements came together and made me, made you? This brave mother's words "... it was not I who gave you the breath of live ..." (v. 22) should strengthen our own respect for every pregnant woman. She is not simply another woman with a protruding stomach. Within her very body, the expecting mother makes ready, with the power of God, to give the world not simply a biological wonder but indeed a human being created by God. A pregnant woman is a sacred being: she is truly a very special temple, carrying within her "a greater wonder than any of our Lord's miracles."

And the newborn pictured above? Let the proud uncle share with you my nephew Joey's firstborn just minutes after arriving among us in August.

Friday: Embarrassment of Holiness??

During a recent conversation two people were talking about others not present at the table. It was a most unusual conversation. All that was shared was the goodness that filled the lives of people they were discussing. Again it was a most unusual conversation. I tried to imagine the reaction of those not present had they been present to hear the praise and admiration being heaped upon them.

How enjoyable is it to hear someone praise work that you may have recently done? It would be satisfying at the least. What further satisfaction there would be within your heart if someone comments privately to you that your efforts for a recent project made all the difference in the world. Likewise, how good you would feel if someone told you, a single parent, that your teen-aged children were genuine models to younger children. There could be similar examples of your successes.

Most people, it seems, find adulation and even genuine thanksgiving difficult to accept. There seems to be a true embarrassment, perhaps true humility, in such moments but down deep there is a good feeling. Read through the Psalms and you will find God praising good works.

But how often does being told you have a genuine holiness in your character happen? How often do we speak about others and their holiness? These circumstances seem to be a challenge to most people. Why?

Holiness is a personal status. When is the last time you asked yourself, "Am I holy? Am I striving to be a holy man, a holy woman"? An openness to holiness in life might be a help to others. How many fathers take the time to share with a teen-aged sons their own personal struggles with growing in holiness? I would imagine these young people would think their dads had lost it if they heard them say something like, "You know criticizing you comes easily at times. But I want you to know this about your dad. Each day I struggle with being holy. Each day I have to bring a close to another 24 hours asking myself how good I have been to your mom, to you and your siblings and to the boss in my office. That kind of "examination" each evening as I sit in 'my chair' is a test to see if I am being holy ... as I promised when your mother and I were married. Let me tell you what I imagine my journey to holiness is. Junior might likely want to run away. Today's readings from the liturgy reflect models of holiness.

For Monday: The Graces of Happenstance!

Happenstances can alter your life ... if you are wise enough to take the opportunities these events offer. Today's gospel records such an event. True happenstance = being in the right place and at the right time. Surely the blind man sitting along the Jericho road found out what happenstance could become in his lifetime. Image the reaction of those who refused to help him get to meet Jesus and those who did get him close to Jesus when Jesus said your faith has brought you healing. Surely there has to be mixed emotions.

Now think back into your life: how many happenstances have been put on a platter before you but were rejected because "I am too busy"? Bishops and Pastors take note!! Or how many happenstance instances were there when you felt no desire to try an help the person seeking assistance." These were rejections to people who needed your help, your guidance, your willingness just to be the ear that refused to shut down when there is an uncomfortable feeling. These turned out to be moments when the happenstance was rejected and a brighter day, a sense of relief, an inner joy was blocked by your response.

Probably more often than not we reject happenstances that could possibly lead others to Jesus Christ himself. Perhaps there would have been a moment when Jesus would have said to that person ... your faith has saved you. Would you want to meet God who would ask you why you didn't reach out to the person who had great need?

No doubt that happenstance can easily be judged as God helping you discover his plan for you at this particular time, in these particular circumstances.

And remember this: happenstance demands a very definitive boldness and vulnerability. Are you strong enough to recall at the end of each day how you house have been set up so that you can respond affirmatively to the happenstance moment!

Weekend Reflection: Boldness of Hope

Readings for Sunday

As priest, I have personally as well as in the lives of others experienced the need to see through the eyes of hope solutions to moments of suffering and collapse. These are the moments when my spiritual life is challenged by laziness or succumbing to distractions; moments when God's care is questioned; moments when a personal kingdom has collapsed.

Where do we turn? Some turn to alcohol, tobacco. Others get hooked on narcotics. There are those who turn to bitterness or anger. Unfortunately some just give up. Yet, there are countless expressions and examples in both the Old and New Testaments that provide the way to relief, the escape from the heavy cross of frustration. The message is both simple and, at the same time, so terribly demanding: trust in God! If you turn away from this answer, you might be admitting it truly is "terribly demanding."

Throughout the same Scriptures there are many descriptions of pain and anguish. Often times the pangs of giving birth are used by Jesus, the Evangelists and others who have authored Letters or Books in the Bible. Whether we turn to these authors, only a portion of the world has ever experienced giving birth to a child ... the wonderful mothers among us. My paternal grandmother in the course of her life, delivered two children whose heads were crushed during the delivery process. One boy was 18 pounds and another delivery, a girl, was 17 pounds. You mothers surely grimaced when you read those weights! Nonetheless, the birth of a child with all of its preliminary pregnancy discomforts as well as the serious pain during delivery becomes insignificant as soon as a nurse or doctor place the newborn in the loving cradle of Mom's arm.

From every experience of collapse or pain, we are given a gift It is a new beginning, a new horizon. It is the promise and experience of such an advent that reassures us that God is present for us. This is why we hope. This is why we are called to believe that there are times when we cannot resolve the collapse, the anguish, the loss without trust in God.

For human nature to hope beyond all else is truly boldness. Int he very act of hope, I surrender. There is in the profession of hope a surrendering to a power greater than the self. To hope in moments of economic loss, during days of conflict and battle or within the painful anguish of personal failure, to hope in these moments is a genuinely audacious act. There should not be surprise in finding hope always incorporated with two other virtues, faith and love. Why? To stand before the act of believing, the act of loving, the act of hoping we are standing at the threshold of surrender! We are brought before the God who created in need of his care. Is this not the reason we light a candle when there is need in any kind of darkness?

"Lord ... you it is who hold fast my lot."
(Psalm 16:5)