So, this is what 48 feels like. . .

Thanks to all who have sent greetings and good wishes on my feast day and birthday!

After Mass this morning, I was serenaded by a group of folks with "Happy Birthday."

Strange.  I don't feel 48 yrs. old.

God bless, Fr. Philip Neri, OP
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He ain't done yet. . .and neither are we!

St. Philip Neri
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

John tells us that if he were write down everything that Jesus said and did “the whole world would [not] contain the books that would be written.” Does it trouble you that Jesus said and did many things that are not written in the gospels? If it does, it shouldn't. The gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry convey to us the essentials of the New Covenant, everything necessary for the salvation of the world. We are given relevant historical facts (names, dates, places) so that we know that the events described happened in the real world and not the fabled world of “once upon a time.” Details of these events are meant to reveal God's grace working in the lives of the men and women who witnessed them. Testimony from witnesses tells us how God's grace transforms the fallen human heart and mind into a beacon of beckoning light. Jesus' words and deeds are living events, even now they are on-going, continuing to make known his saving presence among us. John cannot write down everything that Jesus says and does b/c our Lord is still speaking, still doing all that he has to say and do. And we—his brothers and sisters—are his tongue and his hands. 

Imagine that you have 60 or 70 containers of varying shapes and sizes—a small glass vase, a 64oz plastic cup, a three gallon clay flower pot, a 500 gallon steel drum, etc. You also have a pump submerged in Lake Pontchartrain attached to a hose. You fill each container to its capacity. You now have 60 or 70 containers of varying shapes and sizes filled with water. Since water is fluid, it takes on the shape and size of its container and though the water takes on the shape and size of its container, it is still water, still fluid. When Jesus spoke his Word 2,000 years ago, he began to pump out into the world the living water of his Holy Spirit, filling every human vessel willing to be container. His Word took on the shape and size of each person who opened himself to receive a drink from his fountain of truth. And though shaped and sized according to the receiver, the Word remained the Word—unchanging, perfect. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, the Son sent the Holy Spirit among us, to pour out the living water of truth, and he continues to pour, continues to fill every human heart willing to serve as a container. He acts and speaks in us and through us still. This is why John could not write down everything that Jesus said and did: Christ is not done speaking nor is he finished doing. 

Luke tells us in Acts that Paul remained a prisoner in Rome for two years, and “. . .with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” As a filled-to-the-brim vessel of the Lord's Holy Spirit, Paul, even from a prison cell, proclaimed the Kingdom and preached Christ crucified. Chains and iron bars cannot contain the Holy Spirit. Unjust laws and public ridicule cannot contain the Holy Spirit. Violence and death cannot contain the Holy Spirit. Only the human heart and mind, set free from the slavery of sin and urged on by the Church can hold the cleansing light, the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of shape or size or color or material construction, any human heart and mind willing to receive the living waters of the Holy Spirit can and will be filled to the brim and overflowing. What will you do today that can be written down in the book of Christ's deeds? What will you say that can be recorded in his book of wisdom? You contain the word of life. How will you speak it? You are an act of salvation. What redeeming deed will you accomplish? 

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Love, feed, tend. . .in that order.

7th Week of Easter 

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP 

St. Dominic Church, NOLA 

With all these references to eating, we might suspect that Jesus is a secret Southerner, maybe even a true son of 'Yat Catholicism. Alas, we can end this speculation forthwith. John begins, “After Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and eaten breakfast with them. . .” No true Southerner—much less a native born 'Yat—would do any serious revealing of anything before breakfast! If there's anything at all serious to be discussed, it must be discussed after the second cup of coffee and the third beignet. Despite this appalling lack of good manners, Jesus manages to salvage a bit of his honor by redeeming Peter's betrayal in the Garden and working into his redemption several references to eating. Instinctively, Southerners and Catholic 'Yats understand the intimate relationship btw food and love. Apparently, so do Jewish carpenters. How best to show that you love someone? Feed them. And not only feed them, but tend to them as well. Jesus says to Peter (paraphrasing): if you love me, love my sheep; feed them and tend to them. As shepherds, how do we love and feed and tend to the Lord's sheep? 

Some might balk at being referred to as sheep. Sheep are stupid, dirty, and kinda loud. But what if we expanded the metaphor a bit and said that each of us—in relationship to one another—is called to be both shepherd and sheep? In other words, you are a sheep to the shepherding of your pastor but a shepherd in tending to your children. Your pastor is a sheep to the shepherding of his bishop and the bishop is a sheep to the shepherding of the Holy Father and so on. This means that all at once, each of us must cultivate the skills and attitudes that allow us to be the best possible shepherds and the best possible sheep. What are those skills and attitudes? More importantly, in what do we ground these skills and attitudes? What is it that—when properly employed—allows us to acquire and hone the skills and attitudes required to be simultaneously good shepherds and good sheep? Before Jesus tells Peter to tend his sheep, he tells him to feed his sheep. This implies that there is more to tending sheep and simply feeding them. Anyone can throw food at sheep; anyone can toss a burger at you or throw some cash your way for a po-boy. The difference that makes the difference btw feeding and tending is love. 

The order that Jesus asks his questions and gives his commands is no accident. First, love; next, feed; then, tend. (And then to make sure that we Southerners are paying attention, he adds a second feeding!) Jesus is speaking both literally and metaphorically here. He really does mean “love my people, give them food to eat, and take care of them.” He also means “love my people, give them spiritual food, and take care of their souls.” The two references to feeding the sheep mean “feed their bodies” and “feed their souls.” I assume that you all know to feed the body. How do you love, feed, and tend to the souls you shepherd? To love, you want the Good for others and you do the Good for others. To feed, you make yourself into a tasty example of holiness and do so abundantly, gladly, even extravagantly. To tend, you watch and listen for the wolves of this world and protect the souls in your care from the ravenous appetites of those who long to recruit comrades in their self-destruction. To be a good sheep? Receive the love you are freely given. Follow examples of holiness with the same zeal that they are made. And be ready to be taught right from wrong, good from evil. Whether you are the shepherd or the sheep at any given moment, love. All worthwhile food and all worthwhile care comes from the one source of Love: Love Himself. 

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We now resume our regularly scheduled programming. . .

Aaaaaannnnddddd. . .we're back! 

Arrived in Nawlins' last night.  All is well.  The assembly was a success.  Good company, good food, prayer, and naps!

I always grouch and whine about going to assembly, and I always come away glad that I went.  

This year we had a stellar retreat leader, Sr. Anne Willits, OP. 

The most important event of the assembly:  the solemn profession of fra. Peter Damien Harris, OP (below in cappa).  fra. Peter Damien is a subject of Her Britannic Majesty and a citizen of Jamaica.  He is a convert from Anglicanism.  Pray for him!

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Off to Texas!

See y'all on Friday morning. . .

Fr. Philip Neri, OP
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