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Month: March 2006

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Homilies

Passion Sunday

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

We all know where the narrative of the Passion is leading. We know because we are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ passion and death upon the cross. For us it is a historical and an ever present reality. Moreover, we are joined to Jesus’ passion and death by our baptism.

As St. Paul tells us, in baptism we died with Christ. We died and were buried with Him in the waters of baptism.

What we must do today, and in this Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter, is to find our place within the passion. As the famous hymn asks: Were you there?

Were you there? Indeed! While you were there, what role did you play?

Three things stand out in the Passion, three things in relation to who we are as followers of Christ.

Are we Judas?

Listen again:

—The man I shall kiss is the one;
arrest him and lead him away securely.—

Do we stand ready to betray the Lord when the Lord’s will does not fit our own? Do we place our expectations of God before the reality of God?

Each week you kiss the Lord. You take Him upon your lips when you received the Holy Eucharist. Are you kissing Him in love or in betrayal?

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to embracing the Lord’s will for your life. Set aside sinfulness and repent. Live your life at one with God.

Are we Peter?

Listen again:

He began to curse and to swear,

—I do not know this man about whom you are talking.—

You don’t have to have a rooster in your backyard to be Peter.

How often do you compromise your spiritual integrity?

Does it happen every time you walk through the doors at work, every time you enter the mall, every time you go along to get along? That rooster is crowing loud and clear.

During this Passiontide recommit yourselves to professing your faith in the Lord. Not the Lord the world wants to hear about, the Lord the world needs to hear about. Set aside weak faith and the tendency to compromise and justify. Live your life with God in the center and on the throne.

Are you the soldier beneath the cross?

Listen again:

—Truly this man was the Son of God!—

You have to listen carefully. —Truly this man WAS the Son of God!—

Well, to that soldier, and to many of us, He was. He’s dead now. He’s dead in the most real way possible, not just in terms of earthly existence, but in our hearts and minds.

We can believe that Jesus was a great guy, that He never caused anyone any problems, that He is all happy-happy, joy-joy. We can even believe that He was real. What we can’t get our minds around is that He is God. That what he taught is the truth. That as God he humiliated Himself, took on our form, and suffered and died for us. It is even harder to believe that what He said was true: That the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt in three days.

My friends,

Ask yourselves this important question this Passiontide. Who is Jesus? God or not God? Alive or dead? Awaken your faith and proclaim the truth. Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and was buried. Jesus Christ who rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ who took away the sins of the world.

Then you will be ready to see the empty tomb. You will see it clearly this Easter Sunday morning and understand its meaning.

PNCC

Passiontide

This Sunday the PNCC celebrates Passion Sunday and thus begins the Passiontide. For more information on this topic/tradition see the wiki on Passion Sunday. Our parish will also be celebrating our Lenten penitential service at the beginning of all Holy Masses.

Media

The Statistical Validity of Prayer

Statistics are valid to the extent that they measure something measurable.

Case in point is today’s report, which the media is trumping up to say, as today’s headlines say: Prayer does not heal the sick, study finds

Of course those perusing the headline will draw their conclusions from the headline itself. That’s because we assume science can provide all the answers. Certainly, good science can provide a lot of answers. However, bad science and badly designed studies prove nothing.

To wit, those who read the story will see that the study’s authors report that their study proved nothing (except for the fact that they have some money in their pocket):

But the study “did not move us forward or backward” in understanding the effects of prayer, admitted Dr Charles Bethea, one of the co-authors and a cardiologist at the Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. “Intercessory prayer under our restricted format had a neutral effect,” he said.

From a real simplistic perspective: Were all patients in the study groups equally sick with equal pre-existing lifestyles and habits? Was the prayer genuine? Does God answer prayers to meet our will or to bring about His own will? Hmmmm… gets fuzzier.

If I create a room in which an absolute temperature of zero Celsius is maintained, and I put a glass of pure water in it, it will freeze. I can control the room, the temperature, the water, and all the conditions of the study. As studies become less defined, with fewer and fewer controlled inputs, as this one is, the results become merely speculative.

God is God and faith in Him is our privilege. I continue to pray.

That the Deity is incomprehensible, and that we ought not to pry into and meddle with the things which have not been delivered to us by the holy Prophets, and Apostles, and Evangelists.

No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. The Deity, therefore, is ineffable and incomprehensible. For no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, nor the Son, save the Father. And the Holy Spirit, too, so knows the things of God as the spirit of the man knows the things that are in him. Moreover, after the first and blessed nature no one, not of men only, but even of supramundane powers, and the Cherubim, I say, and Seraphim themselves, has ever known God, save he to whom He revealed Himself.

God, however, did not leave us in absolute ignorance. For the knowledge of God’s existence has been implanted by Him in all by nature. This creation, too, and its maintenance, and its government, proclaim the majesty of the Divine nature. Moreover, by the Law and the Prophets in former times and afterwards by His Only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, He disclosed to us the knowledge of Himself as that was possible for us. All things, therefore, that have been delivered to us by Law and Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists we receive, and know, and honour, seeking for nothing beyond these. For God, being good, is the cause of all good, subject neither to envy nor to any passion. For envy is far removed from the Divine nature, which is both passionless and only good. As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition.

An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, John of Damascus, Book I, Chapter I

Saints and Martyrs

March 31 – St. Balbina (Św. Balbina)

O święta Balbino, któraś wiarę Chrystusową nie tylko ustami wyznawała, ale nadto uczynkami stwierdzała, uproś nam u Boga tę łaskę, abyśmy wiarę naszą zawsze gorąco kochali, i kiedyś z Tobą wiecznej chwały zażywać mogli. Przez Chrystusa Pana naszego. Amen

Media

Borders bans newspaper

The Buffalo News ran a story today on the local Borders Books and Music outlets and their refusal to carry a community newspaper. See: Borders bans local magazine. The flap is over that newspaper’s reprinting of the famous Danish cartoons. Here’s the key reason:

A Borders spokeswoman said the company declined to sell the Amherst-based publication this month out of concern for the safety of employees and customers.

I’m just wondering if Borders peruses all the publications it carries to assure that they do not offend anyone’s sensibilities. I imagine that Borders carries the Satanic Verses. As a matter of fact they do —“ in hardcover and paperback. I’m also pretty sure that the Western New York Border’s outlets carry a lot of stuff Christians, Jews, and others might find offensive.

If they decide to be sensitive to all I think their business model will collapse.

Then again, when you’re working from a perspective of fear, anything is allowable. Just remember, unless you’re a dhimmi anything you say and do is offensive.

Media

Church of Mandisa

Check out the post at blogs4God about Mandisa Hundley and the poor reception her performance on American Idol received last night.

Last night Mandisa sang a Christian themed top 40 song, the Mary Mary hit Shackles (Praise You). I haven’t watched American Idol, but my wife got going on it this season and … I’ve gotten pulled in.

Mandisa is a Christian and a Gospel singer. She has a fantastic voice and a presence as a performer that is just great. I hope she wins.

The interesting thing, from my perspective, is the commentary by Paula Abdul and host Ryan Seacrest. They kept bringing up the term (meant to be a positive) the ‘Church of Mandisa’

Well, what did anyone expect from these Hollywood types? The show is called ‘American Idol’. It’s all about the idolization of a person; their looks, the way they fit the media paradigm. Saying the ‘Church of Mandisa’ is their backhanded attempt at saying hey Mandisa, you’re cool, just like us. If they had said: ‘Mandisa, God gave you a wonderful gift’ the earth would have split open.

Frankly, shows like American Idol, that focus on the cult of personality, build more than churches. They build basilicas to the self.

Current Events, Media, Political

Getting closed out on adoption?

There is an interesting article in the Buffalo News today regarding the Roman Catholic Church and adoption services.

Buffalo has two venerable institutions that have provided adoption services forever, Catholic Charities and the Father Baker Homes (Baker-Victory). Just an aside, Baker-Victory was founded by Fr. Nelson Baker who has been declared venerable by the Holy See.

As you may know, the states provide some funding for adoption services and the process of adoption has changed over the years. Catholic groups who wish to provide adoption services, with government funding, must abide by state guidelines, including “non-discrimination” provisions that require them to provide adoption services to homosexuals.

The Church has clearly stated that allowing homosexuals to adopt would be “gravely immoral” and “would actually mean doing violence to these children.”

I agree.

Part of the duty of the Church is to look after and defend those who cannot speak for themselves (children, the poor, the elderly, and the unborn). It must also hold society accountable for what is right and proper according to natural law and God’s plan for humanity.

The real key is whether the Church’s cozy relationship with government must end.

Catholic institutions generally provide a better level of service and as the article states, are professional at their job. As in the business world, Catholic organizations who provide quality and professional services will make out better than organizations that do the job poorly or simply rely on a token infusions of money from the government. These institutions can well stand on their own, provide services legally, and not kowtow to immoral government regulations.

Some pertinent parts of the article Catholic agencies face dilemma are as follows:

Vatican stance against allowing same-sex couples to adopt children conflicts with state anti-bias law

A 3-year-old Vatican document that condemns the adoption of children by gay couples appears to put some area Catholic human service agencies at odds with state anti-discrimination laws.

The document characterizes the adoption of children by same-sex couples as “gravely immoral.”

Some states, including New York, prohibit discrimination against gay couples trying to adopt children.

Catholic Charities of Boston already decided to pull out of adoption services because it was unable to reconcile church teaching with Massachusetts law.

In this area, two Catholic agencies – Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker Victory Services in Lackawanna – appear to face the same dilemma.

“This is one of our seminal services. We’ve been doing it since we started,” said Dennis C. Walczyk, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of Buffalo. “If it ever came to that point with us as it had in Boston, my hope would be that there could be a reconciliation between the teachings of the church and the regulations that govern adoption.”

State law now bans Catholic agencies providing foster care adoption services from discriminating against same-sex couples, adoption and legal experts say.

State law is a law. It is not the Law. What we should be seeking is not a ‘reconciliation of teachings’ but rather an acknowledgment by the State that the Church not be coerced.

All Catholic human service agencies comply with state adoption regulations, and no statewide policy on same-sex adoptions has been discussed, said Dennis Poust, spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, the church’s lobbying arm in Albany.

But exceptions should be made, he said.

“We certainly feel the church ought to be exempt from any requirement to place children in same-sex households,” he explained.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has not commented publicly on the decision in the Archdiocese of Boston or its effect here.

Through diocesan spokesman Kevin A. Keenan, Kmiec said Catholic Charities fully complies with state guidelines on adoptions.

The adoption program, Keenan added, may be reviewed at some point.

Now?

…

“We’re not in a position to question their belief systems, but they would have to comply with the laws and regulations that the county requires,” said Pat Dietrich, adoption supervisor for the county Social Services Department. “By law, we can’t differentiate between a same-sex couple and a heterosexual couple.”

A policy prohibiting same-sex foster care adoptions “would be contrary to the law,” said Rudy Estrada, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, a national organization that handles gay and lesbian civil rights litigation.

Estrada said he wasn’t aware of any such policies at Catholic agencies in this state.

No Mr. Estrada, a law, not the Law.

Agencies lack official policies

The heads of Catholic Charities of Buffalo and Baker-Victory Services, nonetheless, expressed concerns about the fate of their foster care adoption programs, funded in part with state contract money and, therefore, subject to anti-discrimination laws.

…

“So far, this has not been an issue with us,” said James Casion, chief executive officer of Baker Victory Services. “We don’t currently have a policy [on same-sex adoptions]. It’s not come up. I guess we hadn’t really thought about it. . . . If the bishop makes a proclamation about it, it will be law then. Whatever the bishop says will be the position.”

Catholic Charities also does not have a policy on same-sex adoptions.

Casion noted that the state has made religious exemptions in other cases, and he was optimistic that a resolution could be reached.

“They don’t require that we provide birth control for people who ask us,” Casion said. “They’ve allowed us to maintain a particular posture as long as the clients’ needs are met.”

Actually, the states are trying to require Catholic institutions to provide “emergency contraception” and are reaching well above and beyond in forcing certain issues onto faith based organizations. All in the name of money.

Some professionals in the adoption field expressed concern that the Vatican teaching could lead other Catholic agencies to drop high-quality adoption programs.

“I hope that this doesn’t start some kind of sweep throughout the country,” said Judith O’Mara, director of adoption and foster care at Baker Victory Services.

Erie County handles most of its foster care adoptions in-house and contracts with several agencies for the rest.

Losing the services of Catholic Charities and Baker Victory Services “would certainly be difficult for us,” Dietrich said.

“They’re both fine agencies, and they’ve both been involved in adoption programs for many years.”

Ms. O’Mara is wrong. It should sweep through this country as fast as possible. I hope she understands that she needs to have the children’s best interests at heart. Placing a child in a, dysfunctional at its core, homosexual home is not in their best interest.

I love it when people who get their take home pay from a Catholic institution begin this process of questioning the beliefs of their employer. Suddenly they realize that unlike other employers, the bottom line is different. It’s eternal.

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