Quo Vadis?

Unfortunately it’s not a joke. An atheist group – a group by the way that doesn’t even live there – successfully sued the city of Steubenville to remove an image, which is nothing more than a vague silhouette, of the chapel at Franciscan University. You can see for yourself that it’s only a small part of the landscape in the logo.  It surely doesn’t dominate the scene. But for this group of atheists it’s too much. It seems to me emblematic of the growing intolerance of religion in the U.S. Founded in 1946 Franciscan University has been a vital part of the Steubenville community for over 60 years. Steubenville is a small city – only 18,440 residents. The university is a significant member of the community contributing not only to the economic vitality of the city, but also to its social and moral assets. Franciscan University is good for the community.  The lawsuit is just one more example of the war against people of faith being waged by radical secularists.  And bit by bit, the secularists are winning.  The suit represents the view that people of faith are second class citizens who are prohibited from entering the public square unless they hide their faith. The atheists may have won the lawsuit and had the image of the chapel with its cross removed from the city logo, but that doesn’t change the reality. Franciscan University is still a ‘shining city on hill’ whose light cannot be hidden, no matter what the court says and no matter what the atheists try to do.  God bless Franciscan University! Viva Cristo Rey!

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/steubenville-axes-catholic-chapel-from-logo-after-legal-threat/

Yesterday was quite a day for us here in Denver. Archbishop Sam Aquila from Fargo was installed as the 5th Archbishop of Denver, succeeding Archbishop Charles Chaput who was transferred to Philadelphia in September.  The installation Mass was, needless to say, spectacular – nearly three hours long with over 400 clergy attending, in addition to the 400+ other people.  I’m sure that ten times that number would have attended had the cathedral been able to accommodate them.

A few things stand out. First was the procession. It took a full half-hour to seat all the clergy before the Archbishop’s procession could begin. Second was the reading of the Apostolic Letter of Appointment from Pope Benedict XVI by the Papal Nuncio: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó. It really made you feel connected to the universal Church.

The first reading from Acts 1 described how the disciples were together in the upper room awaiting the Holy Spirit. Gathered around Mary the mother of Jesus, the disciples prayed and waited.  The message was clear: Prayer precedes mission and Mary has always been central to the Church’s faith and life. In the second reading from second  Corinthians Paul talked about his ministry.  ”But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels” he says.  He’s talking about how the life and teachings of Christ, the Son of God, have been entrusted to weak and imperfect men such as himself. It’s an astounding paradox.  That paradox was evident in the Mass itself, which was, as I said, spectacular – a truly transcendent event. But it was carried out by ordinary people.   It’s only by the presence of the Holy Spirit that two seemingly irreconcilable things – man and God – could be so intertwined.

The gospel was from Luke 1 – the Annunciation.  Mary, the new Archbishop said, is the perfect disciple. She’s the one who listens attentively to the Word of God, readily accepting his will for her. Archbishop Aquila’s motto is taken from John 2: “Do whatever he tells you” – the last words spoken by Mary in the New Testament. Like her, we must listen closely to God and be ready to do whatever he tells us. Christ is everything and we must be willing to follow him, no matter how difficult it might be.  Archbishop Aquila reminded us, as if we needed reminding, that it could get very difficult very soon if were not careful.

It was a long day, especially for Archbishop Aquila.  A new chapter has begun in the Archdiocese of Denver and we have a lot of work in front of us.  We’re all very excited to get going!

I was a cradle Episcopalian and a priest in that church for 17 years. I became Catholic in 2005. This week the Episcopal Church is holding its Triennial convention in Indianapolis.  One of the most, er . . . interesting resolutions to pass was the formal authorization to create rites for same-sex ‘marriage.’ Oops, excuse me. I mean, “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Life-long Covenant.”  It passed in the House of Bishop by a wide margin, 111-41 and is expected to pass in the House of Deputies also by a wide margin. It’s been coming for a long, long time but it took the exodus of enough orthodox believers, most of whom joined some other Protestant sect, for the passage of the resolution to pass with barely any resistance. They took the wrong path.

Episcopal Church Approves Same-gender “marriage”

I thought of the Episcopal Church this morning during lauds where I read an excerpt from St. Augustine’s “Discourse on the Psalms.”  In it he said,

“We entreat you, brothers, as earnestly as we are able, to have charity, not only for one another, but also for those who are outside the Church. Of these some are still pagans, who have not yet made an act of faith in Christ. Others are separated, insofar as they are joined with us in professing faith in Christ, our head, but are yet divided from the unity of his body. “

I feel sorry for the Episcopal Church. A once venerable institution has become a cartoon. What distresses me though is how many remain in that church even though they hate what’s happened. They don’t believe a lot of what the EC believes and teaches, and yet they remain, thinking that they can somehow make things better. Or that the actions at General Convention don’t really affect them. God bless ‘em.   I look at them the way Augustine looked at those Christians of the 5th century who were separated from the body.  Episcopalians believe they’re part of the catholic (small ‘c’) Church.  But come on, seriously? The EC is Protestant to its core. Always has been, always will be, despite what they say about being part of the ‘catholic’ church. “We’re just not Roman catholic” they say (with a slight sneer).

For those Catholics who think that the Catholic Church should ordain women, approve contraception, support abortion rights and endorse same-sex ‘marriage’ all I can say is, look at the Episcopal Church. Is that what you want to become?  You shall know a tree by its fruit, and the EC has been barren now for decades.  I wish that those who are distressed about the EC could overcome their fears and prejudices and ‘come home’ to the “one, true fold of Christ” (Newman’s favorite description of the Catholic Church).  I wish they could see what I see. I pity them, yes.  Which prompts me to pray for them that God would help them see the Catholic Church as the bride of Christ, the city of God, the kingdom of heaven on earth, the true vine and sheepfold of Christ. Again, St. Augustine:

“For it is time now for us to show them great love and abundant compassion by praying to God for them. May he one day give them a clear mind to repent and to realise that they have nothing now but the sickness of their hatred, and the stronger they think they are, the weaker they become.”

Caroline’s in Rome and I haven’t been sleeping well. I like my solitude, but something’s just not right when you have to experience solitude all by yourself.  Solitude is meant to be shared! Rome is eight hours and 5600 miles away from Denver. That’s a long ways away. And yet I feel close to Caroline through the Church. At Mass on Sunday the beautiful music, which she loves, made me feel very close to her. She traveled to Assisi that day and I could imagine her at the Basilica of St. Francis attending Mass herself. And even though the time difference was substantial, I could visualize her there at Mass experiencing probably very different music, but experiencing the same Mass. After all, the liturgy of heaven is going on all the time, so no matter when we “tap” into the divine liturgy through our feeble attempts here on earth, we’re tapping into the same liturgy no matter where we are or when we’re celebrating the Mass.  It’s strange how we can be connected to someone so far away through worship and prayer. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. After all, we believe, and often actually experience, a sense of connectedness to those around us at church. Even perfect strangers suddenly become close acquaintances at Mass.  Whether that person is across the room or 5000 miles away seems to make little difference. It always amazes me how people yearn for peace and solidarity in the world and yet the last place they’d ever want to visit is a Catholic Mass.  Too bad. They’re really missing out.