On following a crazy person. . .

St. Agnes
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

So, Jesus' family thinks he's crazy, “out of his mind.” We can see why they might think that. He running around the country doing things that only a prophet can claim to do: healing people, casting out demons, forgiving sins. He argues with respectable religious folks, claiming to have the authority to re-interpret scripture. He's got this gang of twelve hanging around with him, his disciples, men who once had decent jobs and families. And occasionally he runs off into the desert to be alone with God. Add all these to the fact that everywhere he goes a mob follows along, clamoring for his attention, and we can see why a normal, working family might think that Jesus is out of his mind. Of course, if they knew that he planned to reveal himself in the not too distant future as the Son of God, the Messiah, they might've decided to lock him up for good! If Jesus' relatives think that he's crazy, what must they think of those who follow him? How crazy do you have to be to follow a crazy man? Given what we know about Jesus' promises to his followers, you'd have to be pretty crazy. Well, brothers and sisters, dear followers of Christ, welcome to the looney bin! Do you feel like you're “out of your mind”? Do you think you're crazy for following a man who claims to be the Son of God, the savior of all creation? 

Let's review the promises made by Christ to those crazy enough to follow him. He promises us persecution at the hands of our family and friends. He promises trial and imprisonment by governors and princes. He promises ridicule, opposition, and outright violence for his name's sake. He tells us that his Way is straight but exceedingly narrow, difficult to navigate at times but clearly plotted and mapped out. Along the Way, he promises us battle after battle in a war he has already won. We have before us a long, hard struggle against an Enemy who cheats, steals, lies and has no moral qualms about using whatever he needs to ensnare us. Finally, he tells us that to follow him with our whole hearts and minds and bodies, we must follow him all the way to the Cross and the Tomb. That's a promise too. Given all these promises, we would have to be out of our minds to even think of crowding around this guy and begging him for his help.

And yet, here we are. Why? Why are we here this morning? Why do we follow around a man whose own family thought he was out of his mind? All those promises of pain, loss, tribulation were not made to warn us off, to keep us away. They aren't predictions or punishments. Jesus' promises to us are the consequences of living in the world while not being of the world. IF you follow me, THEN you will be persecuted. It must happen b/c the world cannot abide its own imperfection and those seeking perfection in Christ are irritating reminders that there are more and better ways of being human, more and better means of being perfect. The world accuses: how dare you point out my diseases and disabilities by seeking a way to have your own healed? There's nothing wrong with me, do not tempt me to believe otherwise by pointing out your own faults and how you've come to have them mended! For all the suffering we are promised as a consequence of following Christ, there is one promise that balances the scales: we will be made perfect in the Father's love. In fact, even as we seek that perfection now, we abide in His love. We may be out of our minds for following a crazy man, but we follow him into an audience with the Father to see him face-to-face. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

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Authenticating the Truth

2nd Week OT (F)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

It seems that for the last 40 years or so Americans and especially Catholic Americans have had a Love-Hate relationship with the concept of authority. We love having authority on our side when we think we are right, and we hate having it oppose us when. . .well, when we think we are right. In other words, authority is vitally important to discovering and defending the truth so long as whoever wields that authority agrees with me. The bad news here is that this particular way of treating authority actually leaves those in authority without much real power to discover or defend much of anything at all. The good news is that the truth isn't touched one way or another by whether or not we choose to accept or reject it. The truth is the truth and always will be. The authority of, say, a president or a scientist or a pope cannot create truth out of nothing. At most, legitimate authority has the power to authenticate some expression of the truth, or to point out that we are giving credibility to a falsehood. This distinction—btw creating truth and merely certifying an expression of the truth—is essential to our progress in holiness b/c we need to know whether or not we are holding on to and following the authentic teachings of Christ. Teachings don't save us—Christ does that—but like the apostles we are sent out to tell the truth about Christ and his Good News.

To ensure that his authentic message is spread, Jesus calls The Twelve together and then sends them out with the authority to preach and teach the gospel. They are not given the freedom to invent a wholly new gospel, or to spin the Good News for easier consumption, or to blend Jesus' teachings with the more exotic and interesting bits from fairy tale and legend. As eyewitnesses to his public ministry and the direct beneficiaries of his personal instruction, The Twelve are sent out to preach and teach what Jesus himself preached and taught. And they do exactly that. We know that they did exactly that b/c to this day—2,000 years later—the Church still teaches and preaches the apostolic faith of The Twelve. Resting on the building blocks of the martyred apostles, the Church has authenticated again and again the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ and will continue to do so until he returns. We're not bragging. That's not a boast. It's a promise from Christ himself, the wellspring of the Church's power to define and defend the truth of our Lord's message of God's mercy to sinners.

Americans in general and Catholic Americans in particular have had a hard struggle these last few decades with the notion of authority. Our nation is rooted in rebellion against the alleged divine right of King George III to rule us as colonists. Since we declared our independence, we've been a tad shy of anyone claiming to hold authority over us as individuals or as a nation. But as Catholics we must be extraordinarily careful not to confuse the secular authority of the state (derived from the consent of the governed) with the authority of the Church (derived from Christ through his apostles). The truth of the Gospel is not subject to a referendum; we do not elect our bishops or pastors by popular vote; we cannot alter the apostolic faith b/c polls tell us to. This isn't a matter of ecclesial stubbornness or institutional authoritarianism. There is a Way, a Truth, and a Life beyond the grubby politics of the human passions and that way/truth/life is Christ Jesus—the way, truth, and life given to the apostles by Christ and given to us by them in turn. The Way is straight and narrow. The Truth never changes. And the Life we reap is eternal.

 ___________________

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He's not a celebrity. . .he's the Son of God!

2nd Week OT (Th)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (5.30 Mass)

While studying in Rome, I met several “church celebrities”: Cardinal Cottier (JPII's personal theologian) and Fr. Giertych (BXVI's), both Dominicans; Archbishops Burke and Rigali; and while teaching in Dallas, I served as tour guide and emcee for Cardinal Arinze during one of his visits. Though I've never met a pope, I did get to stand directly behind Pope Benedict during a Good Friday liturgy at St. Peter's. That's about it for my brushes with fame! And that's perfectly fine with me. I'm a bad fan, meaning I'm not one to get all crazy over an actor or a politician or even a pope. So, today's gospel provoked a question for me: Philip, you would be in that crowd chasing down Jesus, clamoring for his attention? I don't know. Ask anyone who visits St Peter's when the Holy Father is celebrating Mass and they will tell you that the most dangerous place to be at that moment is between the Pope and a little Italian nun! I'm 6'1” and 300+ lbs., standing there in full habit and le sorelle plow over me like a Roman taxi driver late for his nap! Clamoring for the attention of a celebrity is undignified; it's demeaning and. . .well, it's vulgar. But what if that celebrity is Christ? And you were blind or suffered from leprosy or were possessed by an unclean spirit? How about then? Well, now, that's a different story altogether, isn't it. . .? He is, after all, the Son of God.

Would you be among those chasing Jesus around the countryside? I mean, if you weren't sick or disabled or possessed? Would you follow him around just to watch him heal others or hear him preach? Maybe you've heard of him and just want to see for yourself what all the fuss is about? Is this guy for real? Too good to be true? You know that celebrities inevitable disappoint us, right? Athletes lose games. Actors make bad movies. Even popes sometimes fail to live up to the ideals they profess. The most apparently perfect celeb is still only human, only a man or a woman whose celebrity hides their many imperfections. Just like us regular folks they crack under pressure, succumb to temptation, and fall short of the glory of God. That's to be expected: they aren't God, and neither are we. When the pedestal we've put them on starts to wobble, we might groan and weep but can we really be surprised? What supernatural feats have any of them accomplished? Have any of them taught a truth so profound that we were astonished by their authority? Who among them serves as the foundation stone for an institution begun more than 2,000 years ago? Let their pedestal tumble. But don't mourn their fall. It's the Christ we celebrate; it's Jesus we here to hear!

Jesus' celebrity in his native land is easy to understand. He brings healing to those who would otherwise suffer and die from their afflictions. Medical science at the time was little more than folklore and herbalism. He cleans the uncleanable and brings back into the life of the community those thought forever cast out. He frees those held in slavery by unclean spirits, restoring their freedom and giving them back their dignity. He adds purpose to their lives, gives direction and strength, and he grants the one virtue most had probably never practiced: hope. He did all this then, and he does all this now. Instead of chasing him around the hill country like a rock star, we gather in his name. Instead of seeing him in the distance or hearing him as an echo, we sit at his feet and we listen. Instead of fighting over the chance to touch his tunic, we eat at his table. And we do all this by his invitation, by his grace. The Christ came to save us with his body and blood not wow us with his celebrity. We honor him when we make known that the invitation to his table is always open and the feast is always free.

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Coffee Cup Browsing

Guns! Guns! Guns!  As gun ownership skyrockets murder rates. . .drop?  Yup.  Homicide is no longer one of the top 15 causes of death in the U.S.

Φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν!  Flee fornication!  On the weak translation served up in the NAB.  Heroes gotta have standards. . .otherwise, we will melt into the pablum mess of utilitarianism.

For example. . .

"I'm spiritual but not religious."  And I'm on a diet but eat whatever I want when I want.  Get it?  It's a "diet" b/c I've defined "diet" to mean whatever I want it to mean.

That half sunken cruise ship as a metaphor for the Church in Italy. . .and Italy herself.  Apt, indeed.

Thoughts on the heresy of feminism.

The gods must be tasty. . .or at least cavity-causing.

Just in case you've forgotten:  it's coming.

This would be me at the National Museum, or something.

___________________

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Say NO to SOPA!

You may have noticed that both Google and Wikipedia are acting a little funny today. . .

They've been "blacked out" in order to draw public opposition to a power-grab piece of legislation pending in Congress, the so-called Stop On-line Piracy Act (SOPA).

Like most gobbledygook coming out of D.C. these days, SOPA is a front for the Nanny State.  Plain and simple.  Yes, intellectual property theft is a real problem; and Yes, the internet has only served to worsen an already bad situation.  

But how would the gov't use its power to shut down domain sites and confiscate domain names in the future?  Written to prevent copyright infringement, SOPA (like RICO) is easily morphed into a political tool by a creative prosecutor or judge.  Crying "copyright infringement" is already used by political parties, corporations, and various interest groups to silence their opponents.  Youtube, Hulu, and other internet sites quickly remove vids for no other reason than that the unflattering content of those vids offend someone with a point-of-view.

Make no mistake.  Our Nanny State Betters would love more than to have legal recourse to shutting out their opponents.  Pro-life Christians?  Out.  Defenders of marriage?  Out.  Anti-public union activists?  Out.  Catholic bishops teaching the faith and "offending" delicate feelings?  Out.  Post a video of a politician saying something stupid?  Out.  Right-wing talk radio annoying you, Senator?  No worries.  You get the picture.  Just about anything can become a dispute over intellectual property with the right politician writing the definitions. 

The basic question for me is:  when has giving gov't bureaucrats more power to define and regulate our lives been a good thing?  The internet is one of the last arenas of truly free discourse in the U.S. 

Let's keep it that way!

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Coffee: it's what's for breakfast. . .and lunch and dinner!

Can I get an AMEN!

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Repairing a ruin with love

2nd Week OT (W)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (8.30 Mass)

We read this morning about two battles. The first is a contest between a Jewish boy and a Philistine warrior and is fought with a slingshot and a rock. The second is a battle between ruin and repair, and it is fought with the mercy of God and the rock of the human heart. Faced with an army of Philistines, King Saul agrees to send David against the enemy's best warrior, a giant with sword and shield, in a one on one fight to decide the war. Calling on the Lord's protection, David announces to the enemy, “All this multitude. . .shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves.” He slings a rock, kills the giant, and wins the war. In the synagogue, Jesus too faces a hostile force: a crowd of Pharisees whose hearts have been hardened by the Law. A man with a ruined hand is called before Jesus and the Pharisees wait to see if Jesus will violate the Law by repairing his hand on the Sabbath. Jesus asks, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” His question is met with silence. He grows angry at the Pharisees and “grieves at their hardness of heart.” Jesus repairs the man's ruined hand and the Lord's enemies conspire to have him executed not realizing that he has already won this war. The Lord's mercy repairs the ruin of this world despite our opposition, despite our hardened hearts. We can benefit by stepping forward to help him, or we can suffer by testing his strength as a foe.

Though the Pharisees think that they are testing Jesus in the synagogue, it is actually Jesus who is testing them. They wait to see if he will violate the Law and heal on the Sabbath. Jesus waits to see if they will obey the Law and extend mercy to the disabled man. When the Pharisees fail his test, Jesus grieves for their hardened hearts. Why does he grieve? We grieve over the death of a loved one. We mourn their passing. Seeing into their hearts, Jesus knows that the Pharisees live with dead hearts. They cannot/will not see that under the Law they serve there is the Law of Love. Every commandment, each rule and regulation enacts, embodies the Lord's will that we seek out and make real the Good for ourselves and one another. Think back to David's announcement to the Philistine army, “All. . .shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.” Indeed. He saves by willing that our ruin be repaired in His love. The Law the Pharisees worship is the Lord's plan for our repair, but the Law is not itself our repair. 

Jesus grows angry with the Pharisees and grieves over their dead hearts. As the keepers of the Law, they should be the first to recognize that repairing a ruined hand is vastly more important to the fulfillment of the Law than obeying the rules against healing on the Sabbath. Their failure sets them against the Lord and blinds them to his already accomplished victory. As Jesus' brothers and sisters, we are vowed to battle against the hardened hearts of this world, and, more importantly, to battle against any temptation to hardened our own hearts when given the chance to show mercy. Lest we misunderstand, mercy does not create lawlessness. We are not called to abandon truth in order to be loving. No repair, no healing can come from a lie. When we speak the truth, we heal. And that healing will not always be comfortable. Sometimes, often repairing a ruin requires demolition. But no repair of another should begin before we have demolished and repaired our own ruin. First, we receive God's mercy for ourselves; then, we give it to others. This is the only path to victory.

___________________

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+ 2 Monday

Almost forgot the Fat Report again!

+2 for a total of 333 lbs.  I think last week's -7 was a fluke.

Keep praying, please! 

___________________

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Freshly cured and newly sewn together

2nd Week OT (M)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (8.30 Mass)

Like many converts to the Church, it took me a few years to toss out some of my religious, philosophical, and cultural baggage. I grew up a largely unchurched Baptist-Methodist. Was baptized an Episcopalian in college. Dabbled in various neo-pagan practices. Thought of myself as a Buddhist for a while. Returned to Anglicanism as an atheist-leaning agnostic. And eventually settled into that most American of religions: eclectic spirituality w/o a church. When I finally got around to swimming the Tiber, I packed up all my baggage and dragged it along with me, joining the Catholic Church as a fire-breathing progressive bent on reshaping this medieval museum of ours into a body worthy of having me as a member. Elected bishops, female priests, inclusive language bibles, and term limits for the pope were all good starts on reform. As I started seminary training, the possibilities for revolution were legion! It took one semester for me to feel the weight, the beauty of our 2,000 year old tradition and another year for me to realize the dangers of trying to cobble together a spirituality from both old and new pieces of my religious history. When the seams of my self-made cloak started to burst, I was left with two choices: continue on completely naked, making the same mistakes and suffering the same consequences; or wrap myself in the whole cloth of our centuries-old story of faith. When Samuel tells King Saul, “Obedience is better than sacrifice,” he was speaking to me as well.

So, why does Samuel berate his king? While Saul more or less complies with the Lord's commands, he does not obey; that is, he acts as God has ordered (more or less), but he does not listen, he doesn't “take in” the heart of the Lord's will and follow Him. In the imagery of Jesus' teaching from Mark, Saul sews the old patches of his willfulness onto the new cloak of the Lord's will. He pours the new wine of God's orders into the old wineskin of his habitual disobedience. Predictably, the seams of both the cloak and the wineskin tear apart, leaving Saul to clean up his own mess. His first attempt at cleaning up—excusing himself in virtue of his sacrifice—fails miserably. Samuel sets him straight right away, “Obedience is better than sacrifice!” Not just compliance, not just doing what you're told to do w/o question or doubt, but obedience, hearing and listening and taking in the heart of God's will and following Him. 

Samuel—with a rough tongue—sorts out Saul's disobedience and Saul eventually repents of his sin. This is probably a familiar pattern to all of us. Old habits left over from a Life Before Christ intrude into our Life With Christ, and we find ourselves in disobedience and in need of repentance. Sometimes it takes a brother or sister in Christ to play the role of Samuel to our Saul. Sometimes circumstances are prophetic enough to turn us around. Sickness, accident, disaster. When confronted with our disobedience to God's Word, we do well to remember the conclusion of Jesus' teaching: “. . .new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” The Spirit of God is the new wine and we are the new wineskins, if we will be. Freshly cured, newly sewn together, and lovingly washed and oiled, we are the brand spanking new containers of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in our pasts left to mar us, nothing remaining to pollute the new wine of the Spirit; there is nothing for us to carry around but our willingness to follow Christ. No baggage, no sad habits, no sin. Obedience—listening to and then doing God's will—is better than sacrifice, better than dotting religious “i's” and crossing ritual “t's.” It is better to wrap ourselves in the new cloak of Christ than it is to go naked and alone into the cold darkness of error and sin. 

___________________

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Dominican Interactive

The friars of the Irish Province have started up a new venture on their Dominicans Interactive site:

Ears to Hear:  Introduction to St Catherine of Siena.

Check out the whole site. . .articles, videos, pics, etc.
___________

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HancAquam programming note. . .

No Sunday homily from me this weekend. . .the pastor assigns our deacons to preach the Sunday Masses once a month.

You can hear them at our mp3 links here.

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Questions for an Ordinary Friday

1st Week OT (F)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Traditionally, in the Church, Fridays are penitential days, days for fasting and seeking God's forgiveness. We mark Christ's Good Friday suffering and death on the Cross with abstinence and prayer. Though the day is almost over, let's spend these next four minutes asking ourselves a few tough questions. Not to beat ourselves up, or to heap up useless guilt, not to cause ourselves anxiety. Rather, let's ask these questions with the full knowledge that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the truth about ourselves, our relationship with God, and with one another. The truth will always, always, always set us free. Self-delusion is the subtle work of the Enemy. Our best weapon against this attack is the bright, shining light of God's truth. We will use our gospel narrative this evening as a guide:

First, am I paralyzed spiritually? Have I been struck lame when it comes to doing God's good work? Is my prayer life crippled? Am I limping along in loving God and my neighbor? What (if any) element of my relationship with God is feeble and in need of healing?

Second, how faithful am I to my baptismal vows? Do I believe in God's promises? Do I truly enjoy being in God's presence, rejoicing in the knowledge that He is always with me? Do other see me as someone brimming over with faith, exuding trust in God and behaving in a way that makes that faith contagious?

Third, do I hear the Lord speak to me through family, friends, neighbors, co-workers? Can I hear the Lord in scripture addressing my doubt, confusion, and despair? Whom do I trust to bring me closer to Christ? When the Lord says to the paralytic man, “I say to you. . .,” do I hear him speaking to me? When Mark writes that Jesus sees the faith of the man's friends, do I hear him reporting my own faith? Am I a friend of the paralyzed man? 

Fourth, When I read that the Lord heals the leper, the man born blind, the hemorrhagic woman, and casts out demons by his authority as the Christ, do I believe that he can make me clean, relieve me of my blindnesses, my infirmities, and my demons? Do I live my life in the knowledge that the condition of my soul influences the condition of my body? That spiritual health contributes to physical health and vice versa? Do I understand that sin invites sickness?

Fifth, when I witness others prospering in the Lord's blessings, do I rejoice with them and give Him thanks? Or do I follow the example of the scribes and react bitterly; seeking fault, wallowing in envy and blame? Am I quick to accuse others of sin w/o first asking the Spirit to reveal my own faults, w/o first repenting of my own sins? Do I harden my heart to the joy others feel in Christ, and close my mind to the evidence of faith?

Finally, am I astounded at all that God has done for me and mine? Am I flabbergasted, gobsmacked, and thunderstruck at His kindness and generosity in providing me with all I need to come to Him in the perfection of Christ? Do I regularly say “Thank You, Lord” and report my abundant blessings to others? Those who see the paralyzed man healed at the word of Jesus glorify God. What do I do to give God glory? 

The truth will set you free, let you loose; it will unbind you and rush you out into the world to shout the Good News. Nothing about the truth is scary. Stare the Lie in the face and speak a Word of Truth.

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Coffee Cup Browsing

Aggie Catholic's Top 20 Catholic Blogs. . .great list!

Fr. Everyone: "Athletes, intellectuals, bon vivants, wet blankets, firebrands, gourmands, shysters, flirts, gentlemen, ascetics, exorcists, prophets, jokers, and weirdos."

Excellent post on the papacy from the indomitable John Zmirak.

What to do when you hear a bad homily. . .I agree with these suggestions. . .just don't throw a missal!

SupCrt unanimously shuts down B.O.'s attempt to use employment discrimination law to intrude into church business.  This is the case that had Catholic Progs drooling b/c they wanted B.O. to sue the Church and force the "ordination" of women as "priests."

Wow. . .if you think our bishops can produce some obscure prose, try deciphering these babble-packed sequences of letters from the Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA.

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Be made clean!

1st Week OT (Th)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (5.30 Mass)

As far back as the 4th and 5th century B.C., Greek philosophers and physicians practiced an art called “physiognomy,” which roughly means “judging character by physical attributes.” Physiognomy seeped into the western world and flourished in the medieval period, especially in literature and popular plays. Think of the way Chaucer described the physical features of his pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales as a way of letting us know that this pilgrim is sneaky and that one is lazy. But even before the ancient Greeks and medieval Europeans discovered the dubious value of physiognomy, we find in scripture a closely related notion: our sins are written on our flesh; that is, one's sins are translated onto one's body as an ailment or deformity or disability. A man born blind was assumed to have committed some blinding sin. A woman suffering from hemorrhages probably suffered so because she or a relative in her past had sinned against purity. Thus, the Mosiac Law incorporated a strict set of purity laws for those with diseases, disabilities, and deformities. The equation of sin and sickness was nearly absolute. This is why our gospel account this afternoon is so extraordinary. Jesus breaks the Law of Moses in order to obey the Law of Love. He—a rabbi—touches a leper in order to heal him. 

The conversation between Jesus and leper is telling. Notice in the story how fluently the two conflate health and cleanliness. The leper begs at Jesus' feet, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus says, “Be made clean.” And the leper is relieved of his disease. If we didn't know that physical disease and spiritual impurity were equated in first century Judea, we might think that Jesus is scrubbing the poor guy with a stout lye soap and a tire brush! And in one sense, that's exactly what he's doing. He's scrubbing the leper's soul. By healing his leprosy, Jesus is making the man ritually clean, fit to be presented to the temple priests for a declaration of cleanliness. After healing/cleansing the man, Jesus tells him to go to the priests for just such a declaration and offer the prescribed sacrifice. This order seems out of place b/c Jesus is telling him to obey the Law (by going to the temple) while Jesus himself is breaking it (by touching someone unclean)! This oddball order is accompanied by another oddball order from Jesus, “See that you tell no one anything. . .” The poor guy is ordered to the temple to show that he is no longer a leper, but he's not allowed to tell anyone how he was healed. Of course, he disobeys this last bit and shouts the news of his miracle all through the streets. Apparently, good news won't be silenced.

Though we have a much more nuanced understanding of the relationship between spiritual disobedience and physical disease than did our first century ancestors in the faith, we can still point to the fact that persons and not just bodies get sick. This is what is at the root of the conversation between Jesus and the leper. The leper is looking for more than just relief from a fatal skin disease; he's longing to be readmitted into his family, his community. Leprosy got him declared “unclean” and cast out. Healing got him declared “clean” and brought back in. When we sin, we separate ourselves from the community. To be brought back in, we must be made clean, healed of our spiritual disease. Our Lord accomplishes this through the ministry of his Church, the sacrament of reconciliation. Like the leper, we drop to our knees and say, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” The Lord says, “I do will it. Be made clean.” Now, do we follow the leper's example and spread this good news abroad?

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Nannies lose. . .BIG Time!

Yesterday's Supreme Court 9-0 smack-down of B.O.'s power grab over Churches is being hailed as truly historic.   And it is. . .as these things go in the world of jurisprudence and among us Legal Fan Boys. 

The case itself is fairly straightforward, nothing bizarre or particularly historic.  What is bizarre and truly historic is the argument brought by B.O.'s Justice Department.  From the NYT:  "The administration had told the justices that their analysis of Ms. Perich’s case should be essentially the same whether she had been employed by a church, a labor union, a social club or any other group with free-association rights under the First Amendment."  In other words, this administration hoped to convince the Justices that the Free Association Clause of the 1st Amendment trumps the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause.  Given the social engineering ideology and impulses of B.O.'s nanny state mindset, I think we can see where this is going:  governmental control of religious institutions.  The NYT notes that the administration's argument came under "withering criticism" from the Justices, including B.O.'s two liberal appointees.

The gist of the unanimous opinion: “The Establishment Clause prevents the government from appointing ministers. . .and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own.”

So, why is this decision considered a landmark?

1).  This is the first time the SC has recognized the "ministerial exception" to the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on X, Y, Z, ad.nau.  For years, lower courts have dismissed employment discrimination lawsuits brought against religious organizations by their "ministers." These courts concluded that the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the 1st Amendment prohibit the gov't from meddling in the hiring/firing of ministers.   Imagine the chaos if priests who have been laicized by the Church could sue under federal law for discrimination.  Imagine the kind of ministers that judicial nannies would impose on churches!

2).  In the unanimous decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “We cannot accept the remarkable view that the religion clauses have nothing to say about a religious organization’s freedom to select its own ministers.”  Why did the Chief note that this view of employment discrimination is remarkable?  Because B.O.'s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and his Justice Department argued that religious institutions do not have the constitutional right to decide who their ministers will be.  You read that correctly.  Remarkable, indeed.

3).  So remarkable, in fact, is B.O.'s view of the Establishment & Free Exercise Clauses that a stalwart conservative (Alito) and a stalwart liberal and B.O. appointee (Kagan) issued a concurring opinion denouncing B.O.'s view!  And there's more. . .this historic concurring opinion goes on to opine that all employees of religious institutions (not just the clergy) should be exempted from gov't meddling.

4).  When this case first reached the Court, it was widely noted that a decision against the church involved in the case could force the Catholic Church to defend her all-male priesthood against discrimination lawsuits.  Some in the NCR/LCWR crowd were chomping at the bit for the Court to open that can of worms.  Deo gratis. . .they didn't.  In fact, they pretty much welded the can shut and tossed it into the abyss.

Despite this victory for the 1st Amendment and religious institutions in the U.S., I am confident that the nannies will continue their tireless efforts to monitor and control our relationships with God.  And I'm confident that there will be those in the Church who cheer on these control freaks. They just can't help themselves.

The Court's decision can be found here.

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His purpose is our command

1st Week OT (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (5.30 Mass)

After healing Simon's mother-in-law and curing a town's worth of sick folks and exorcising a host of demons, Jesus takes a well-deserved prayer break out in the desert. When his friends find him there, they say to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” Given the gifts our Lord has demonstrated, it's no wonder everyone is seeking him out! Jesus—ever the enigmatic one—replies, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Without saying so explicitly, Jesus indicates that though he is happy to preach and heal and exorcise in this village, his larger purpose is to preach to and heal and exorcise the larger world. Mark writes, “So he went. . . preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.” The Lord makes it absolutely clear that his purpose in coming among us is to preach the Good News. That's why he is here. Simon tells Jesus that everyone is looking for him. The villagers respond to him b/c they recognize his power. They acknowledge his authority to heal the sick and drive out demons by seeking him out for help. Even the demons know who he is and obey his word. How do we respond to Jesus and his stated purpose? When the Lord preaches, do we feel his power? Do we recognize his authority as the Son of God?

It would be strange for any of us to answer this question in the negative. Yes, I'm sitting here at Mass, taking communion, praying to God, but I don't acknowledge Jesus' authority. I don't recognize him as the Son of God. That would be more than just strange, it would be a form of self-condemnation, a public lie. So, we can safely say that those of us here at least understand Jesus to be who and what he says he is. But is that acknowledgment enough to lead us to holiness? It's a good start, that's for sure! But more is needed. When God calls Samuel to serve, Samuel confuses God's voice with his boss, Eli. Finally, after being awakened a couple of times by an eager Samuel, Eli tells the boy to answer the next call, saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel hears the Lord's voice again and answers obediently. Because of this obedience, the Lord makes Samuel a prophet, never allowing him to speak a false word. When the Lord calls us to attention and gives us a task, our response, if we believe that he is who he says he is, can only be, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Jesus tells his friends that the purpose of his coming among them is to preach the Good News of his Father's forgiveness to the sinner. He does this—he preaches—by healing the sick, exorcising demons, feeding the hungry, and teaching the truth for salvation. He does all this in the company of his friends, his students, those whom he will eventually name apostles, “the ones sent out.” Each of these men heard the Lord call his name and each of them responded, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” What did the Lord say to them? He said, “Follow me.” Do as I do, preach what I preach, teach what I teach. And I will be with you always, guarding your words against error and blessing your work by multiplying the fruit you produce. These men heard his voice and urged him to speak to them. This is our response as well. The Lord has called us, is calling us right now to serve him by serving his Church and the world we live in. His purpose was to preach the Good News. We follow him; therefore, our purpose is to preach that same Good News. Samuel said, “Here I am. . .here I am. . .here I am. I'm listening, Lord. . .just say the Word. Your servant is ready!”

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Do you believe that it is free?

The Baptism of the Lord

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (5.30 Mass)

“Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water!” The water is given. . .but we must go to the water. If we are thirsty, we drink. The water is given, but we must choose to drink. “You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat. . .” The grain is given. . .but we must go to the grain. If we are hungry, we eat. The grain is given, but we must choose to eat. As it is with God's gifts of water and grain, so it is with God's mercy, so it is with His forgiveness. If we are repentant, we confess. Forgiveness is given, but we must choose to receive that forgiveness. Who starves to death, or dies of thirst when grain and water are freely given? How many of us remain in sin when absolution is a gift just waiting to be unwrapped? One of the themes of Christmas, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord is our unworthiness to be given the gift of eternal life. Truly, we do not deserve this prize. However, we are made worthy, we are made to deserve this gift by the birth, the baptism, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord. Having been handed—without cost to us, without any work from us—the keys to our Father's Kingdom, why would we hesitate, why would we balk at stepping up to and stepping into a life of holiness with Him? “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near!”

Our Lord is never nearer to us than He is right now. His call to us is never clearer than it is right now. His gift of eternal life is never more ready to be received than it is right now. The urgency that Isiah puts into his prophecy isn't simply rhetorical; in other words, he's not just being dramatic for the sake of being dramatic. The Lord says to Isiah that His Word will go forth from His mouth and it “shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” That Word, the Word sent out to do God's will, is the Christ, the Son made flesh and he will not return to the Father until the job he was sent to do is done. Since the Christ has returned to the Father, we know that the job he was sent to do has been done. That job is our salvation. The offer of mercy in flesh and blood has been made—once, for all; to Jew and Gentile alike—and now it's our turn. Do we receive His mercy? Do you take all that has been given to you and put it all to work for the greater glory of God?If not, then you condemn yourself to starve and die of thirst within sight of grain and water. 

Christ's baptism in the Jordan by John's hand is the baptism of the world. Every creature, every made thing is washed clean, made holy, and brought into a new creation. God's human creatures are given the freedom to follow Christ's example in baptism, or to continue as natural creatures until death. But b/c each of us is gifted with an immortal soul, the decision to continue on as a natural creature has consequences beyond death. Without God's mercy, without receiving His forgiveness, we perish by being forever separated from Him. Baptism brings us into the life of Christ and sets us on the narrow way toward our destined freedom in His love. Baptism makes possible every other means of receiving God's gifts. Baptism is the first but not the only invitation we get to come and enjoy the blessings of God's generosity. Why would we choose to remain natural creatures when our supernatural end is provided free of charge? Why would we remain in sin when our freedom from sin is already paid for, already purchased? Receive all that you have been given! Feast and drink on the bounty of the Lord!

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A note on the Mass mp3's

Fr. Michael told me this morning that you can fast forward the mp3 files of our Masses to about the six minute mark and get the gospel and homily. 

Try it out and let me know!

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-7 Monday

Monday Fat Report. . .

Must've done something right last week: 331 lbs.!!!

This is probably a fluke. . .but I'll take it.

Thanks for the prayers and good wishes.

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To reveal, to manifest, to unveil

The Epiphany of the Lord
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

Listen Here (5.30 Mass)

I've spent many hours, days, and years in the classroom teaching college students to read and enjoy the mysteries of poetry. Most of my students—usually pre-law, pre-med, engineers—resisted reading poetry as anything other than some sort of perverse secret code used to punish non-liberal arts majors for choosing low-brow professions. But even the flaky liberal arts majors tended to read poetry as if there were a hidden message to be found, a profound moral to uncover. To combat this poetical heresy, I used a variety of ingenious techniques stolen from literary history, colleagues, and Nazi interrogation manuals (!) One of the most popular was something I called the “Ah-Ha Reading.” I would have a poem read aloud by several different students. While each student read, the others would note moments in the poem when they learned something they didn't know. No matter how insignificant, no matter how trivial, jot it down! Then each student would then share his/her “ah-ha moment” and tell us about how the poet revealed this new insight, the fresh bit of knowledge. What word, sound, image showed you this novel idea? Without telling them what I was doing, I had covertly introduced my future doctors, lawyers, and engineers to the art of reading poetry epiphanically; that is, reading for the epiphany, waiting to be suddenly gifted with a beautiful truth. Today we rejoice in the Epiphany of the Lord! The Son of God revealed to us in the flesh—the gift of everlasting life.

Our celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord is packed with references to the notion of revelation. The Lord is revealed to the Magi. He himself reveals once obscured truths. Even now, we—altogether—are revealing God to one another. We also hear “manifest,” “unveil,” and the phrases, “make known” and “made evident.” Something, someone once hidden is now manifest; the veiled is unveiled, the darkness is lit. What starts as a word from Mary and a shadow manifests as a child, a child revealed to be the Messiah. His coming is made known in scripture: Bethlehem, “from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.” His arrival is marked, “the star that [the Magi] had seen at its rising preceded them. . .and stopped over the place where the child was.” And his nature and purpose is made known, “[The Magi] prostrated themselves and did him homage.” With these revelations, these beautiful truths in mind, listen again to Isiah, “Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. . .upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. . .you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow. . .” Every nation shall come to adore him!

Though we call today's celebration “The Epiphany of the Lord,” it also goes by another name, an older, more specific name, “The Manifestation of the Christ to the Gentiles.” The long-awaited Messiah is promised to the Jews. His arrival is the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. He is born into the royal line of King David of Israel through Mary, his mother. He is presented at the temple, circumcised, and raised to read and understand the Hebrew scriptures. If this is true, then why do pagan priests, Gentile holy men travel from the east to give him gifts and do him homage as a king? The former Pharisee, Paul, writing to the Ephesians, answers this question for us, “. . .the mystery was made known to me by revelation. . .the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The Christ is promised to the Jews as their Messiah. And we—Gentiles—are made coheirs, co-partners in the fulfillment of that divine promise. The Magi visit the Christ-child b/c it has been revealed to them that this Child is the king of glory, the king before whom all nations will bend a knee and do homage. The Christ is made manifest to the Gentiles, shown to be the Savior of whole world. 

With the manifestation of the Christ to Jews and Gentiles alike comes an astonishing cascade of revelations. The Law of Moses, written on stone, is revealed to be the Law of Love written on the heart. The worship of God in the temple is revealed to be service to others with the temple of the body. The bread and wine of the Passover feast is revealed to be his Body and Blood, broken and poured out for our sakes. The sacrifices of lambs on the altar is revealed to be the one sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the altar of the Cross. Our Lord uncovers sight for the blind; hearing for the deaf; speech for the muted. He manifests health for the sick; mobility for the lame; and freedom for the possessed. He unveils bread for the hungry; consolation for those who mourn; riches for the poor. And, most importantly, he makes known the mercy of God for the sinner. He is God's mercy for the sinner, forgiveness given flesh and bone. And when he is resurrected on Easter morning he reveals to us our end, our goal: everlasting life, perfection as God the Father is perfect. That tiny child, worshiped by the Magi, accomplishes all these things b/c he is the Son of God become man; living among us, dying as one of us, and revealing to us the freely given gift of eternal life.

On occasion, in the classroom, one or two of my students would look up from a poem and give me an “ah-ha” look. That look that says, “I get it! I get it!” It's that look that every teacher worth his pay longs to see. Coming to love poetry for its epiphanies takes practice; it's a habit formed from repetition and patience. The life of holiness is no different. There's nothing hidden in verse. There's no secret code to break or arcane symbols to decipher. There's the text and the reader. In the work of holiness, there's the human soul and the Holy Spirit. Everything we need to start, maintain, and finish a holy life has been revealed. It's all there, waiting for the patient, determined soul to begin. Start each day by giving God thanks for His gift of Christ. Maintain by celebrating his sacraments and doing good works for his glory. Finish each day receiving his forgiveness and forgiving those who sinned against you. Repeat, repeat, repeat. “Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow [and] the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.”

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