05 May 2014

Non-demonizing Homilies (per request)

A commenter (using a fake name, of course)* asks: "Do you ever preach a homily where you don't demonize someone?" 

Odd question. But the answer is Yes! 

I found these in about 45 seconds.
There are many more. . .but I have lots of things to do today. 

* I didn't approve the comment for posting b/c it was less than charitable in tone and content.  This is just the gist of it. . .
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04 May 2014

OP Laity Retreat Essay & A Homily

Here's the primary text we used this weekend at the OP Laity retreat:

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, On the New Evangelization, 2000.

I also gave them this 2008 homily for reflection. It covered some of the themes we explored using this Sunday's gospel reading. 

Octave of Easter (W): Acts 3.1-10 and Luke 24.13-35
Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP
St Albert the Great Priory


After nearly twenty decades of exile in the woodshed for barbaric acts against humanity and a slow rehabilitation on the continent with French and German philosophers, I am happy to report that Belief is once again welcomed among us as an acceptable weapon against the encroaching hordes of nihilism. With those hordes shaking the ground right outside our gates, some in the civilized world line up for defense behind the utopian promises of secular scientism; some behind the ever more suicidal versions of Christless Christianity; some behind the absurd absolutes of religious fundamentalism; and some have even come to understand the wisdom of the West’s Catholic heritage and have, as a result, embraced the power of basic belief as the first best step in the dangerous project of shining a bright beacon into the darkness. Luke’s gospel story of meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus greatly clarifies this last option: if our eyes are to be opened, we must first believe and only then will the need for sight disappear.

As the disciples walk to Emmaus, Jesus joins them. Since “their eyes were prevented from recognizing him,” the disciples confess their deepest doubts about the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday: “…we were hoping that [Jesus] would be the one to redeem Israel…” The disciples tell Jesus about his execution, his burial, and the discovery of his empty tomb by the women. They report: “…some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” Jesus’ reaction to their doubt is telling. He doesn’t accuse them of being blind or stupid or deluded. He says to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!” Their inability to understand the events of Easter Sunday is rooted in an unwillingness to believe. They went to the tomb to see, but they did not take with them their eyes of faith.

Jesus patiently teaches them—again!—the heart and soul of the prophetic tradition: God will come to His people in the person of a savior. This is a promise fulfilled in their hearing. But it is not until Jesus blesses, breaks, and gives them the bread at table that their eyes are opened and they see. The instant they recognize him for who he is, “he vanishe[s] from their sight.” They believe, they recognize. They see him. And seeing is no longer necessary. Remember just last week or so that Jesus stood before an angry crowd busy gathering stones to throw at him. He urges the crowd to believe in his good works so that they may come to “realize and understand” that he is the Christ sent by the Father. The evidence he offers is only good as evidence if we first believe. This is basic. Comes first. Primary.

Belief is fashionable again b/c we have exhausted the modernist project of scientific absolutes, and we have discovered along the way that for all its usefulness science is a story we tell about the world. Like most stories, it has characters, plots, settings, action. Unlike most stories, it does an excellent job of explaining what we think we see and hear and taste and touch. What it cannot do as a story is tell us about how to live in wonder at creation, how to thrive in love with the very fact of just being-here. Scientism demands that we place our faith in a investigative method. Christless Christianity demands that we place our faith in the bastard children of the hard sciences: sociology, psychology, economics, history. Fundamentalism demands that we place our faith in the infallible genius of the individual’s zeal for absolutes. What does Christ demand? How do those hearts so slow to believe catch fire? As Jesus and the disciples approached Emmaus, Jesus “gave the impression that he was going on farther. But [the disciples] urged him, ‘Stay with us…’ So he went in to stay with them.”
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Retreat Almost-debacle

Besides churning out seminarian evals all last week, I also spent some time preparing for my conferences for the OP laity retreat on Saturday. 

Late Thursday I got an email from the retreat coordinator inviting me to a late lunch with the retreatants on Friday afternoon.

When I read the email -- dazed, confused from eval-writing -- I saw Saturday afternoon and responded that I could make the lunch. . .

Friday night I was checking back over the emails from the retreat coordinator to refresh my memory about how many conferences I was to give. . .

Then -- like a five gallon pickle bucket of crushed ice -- it hit me. DOH! The retreat started that afternoon. . .that Friday afternoon.

Since I usually keep my cell phone off when I'm working, I reached for it to check if I'd received any messages from the retreat folks. . .it was no where to be found. I'd left it in my office.

Found my phone. No messages. Then I got an email from one of the retreatants asking me for an ETA at the retreat center. 

We finally connected on the phone and I blurted out my perfectly reasonable explanation for confusing the dates: Early On-set Senioritis. 

Made it to the retreat on Saturday morning and we had a great time!

At least, I think I remeber having a great time. . .
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30 April 2014

Reality: preaching outside the modern fantasy

Excellent article from Dr. Jeff Mirus, The Challenge of Preaching:

An excerpt:

We moderns are adept at concealing our own hopelessness even from ourselves, but this message can awaken us to our misery and give birth to love. Nonetheless, there is a danger. This encouragement can become empty if it goes too far without introducing its corresponding challenge. Preachers must not forget that we need to learn how to respond to Christ’s love. Preachers must identify and explain, in a very practical way, the false attachments and misconceptions which drag us down and hold us back. Here I beg preachers to avoid those alleged clarion calls from the pulpit which “challenge” the faithful to stand up for whatever moral value the whole world is accidentally already standing up for.

What is needed is a deliberate focus on the characteristic evils of our age, the evils that most people take for granted to be goods. This means, among other things, [1] that preachers must be willing and able to explain God’s plan for the body and for our sexuality, which He built into nature, in all its life-giving and love-engendering splendor, so that we can begin to understand what is wrong with pornography, solitary sex, sex outside of marriage, contraception, serial monogamy, and same-sex liaisons. It means preachers [2] must be willing and able to explain the sanctity of human life and our call to generosity and love. It means they must help us to recognize our own attachments to material things, the dangers of our high standard of living, and the many substitutions we make for God and His love. [3] And it means talking about real personal sin, not politics.
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28 April 2014

My week & A difficult awakening

Blogging will be a bit light this week.

EVERYTHING is due by Friday! (Is there a Panic Emoticon?)

-- Annual Evals for my formation advisees (16 of them)
-- Four syllabi for fall classes
-- Rec letter for an entering novice
-- 20 or so questions for the NDS entrance exam
-- Grade final homilies/teaching plans 
-- Prepare retreat for OP Laity on Saturday
-- Etc., etc.
 
No worries though. . .I have years of practice as a Licensed Procrastinator. And a couple of really spiffy trophies to prove it.

After lunch yesterday here at the priory, I walked down the cloister hallway toward my room. Before entering my room, I said to no one in particular, "Geez, it smells like an old man up here." Then I opened my door and realized: that Old Man Smell was coming from my room!

Thus, I am renewing my demand that Renuzit produce and sell an air freshener called, "Sunday Afternoon at the Bookstore." Makes your home smell like fresh coffee, new books, and leather.
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25 April 2014

Coffee Cup Browsing

I know clergy (including me) who struggle to understand the Church's byzantine regs on marriage. . .so, yea. . .I seriously doubt this

Yea, I thought so. . .so, NO, there's nothing new from the Pope about "re-marriage" and communion.

To wit: "Catholic doctrines are not altered by phone calls."

Ah, behold the cool, rational behavior of a secularist.

Justice is served

On the necessity of silencing Christians: "tolerance" tolerates no opposition.

U.N. gives Iran a seat on its women's rights commission. . .good thing that the U.N. is an entirely useless entity.

"Defective fathers" deeply influence atheists

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23 April 2014

Back to school

Back to school today. . .

One more week of classes, then exams, and then graduation on May 8th.

I can't even look at the stack of stuff to be done before then. 

BUT. . .I did enjoy my Easter break reading novels and other non-NDS related books.  

:-)

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22 April 2014

Promises, gratitude

As promised, I remembered all my Book Benefactors at the Easter Mass.

My gratitude for your generosity is immeasurable!

I recently rec'd a copy of The Metaphysical Foundation of Modern Science from an anonymous benefactor. Mille grazie.

I know summer is arriving soon. . .my travel nerves are already jangling. Three out-of-state trips. Oy.
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Coffee Cup Browsing

What atheism can't explain. . . 

Infinitely malleable, undemanding metaphors are more powerful than the apostolic faith. . .

In related news: Left-liberal Christianity fails in the U.K.

This is what the West has become. . .getting an abortion to become famous

Well, maybe we aren't hopelessly circling the bowl just yet.

The original suggestion for a purge was satirical. . .but some are taking it seriously. 

Now you can spend even more time on Youtube! British Pathé puts thousands of hours of archived video on-line.

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20 April 2014

Why didn't you distribute communion, Father?

I hope you were able to watch the 8.00am Easter Mass from St Dominic's this morning. . .

A couple of HA readers have written to ask why I chose to sit down during communion rather than distribute the hosts as usual. . .

It was not a liturgical gesture or any sort of statement.

Simply put, my knee was hurting, and I didn't think I could stand that long. 

Ever since my knee went wild on me two months ago -- putting me face down on a short flight of stairs -- I've been nervous about distributing communion. I can just see my knee going out again and the hosts flying across the few first pews!

Yikes.

So, no worries about me going soft on the rubrics. . .just going soft in the knees. Harharhar. . .
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Where have you put Christ?

Easter Sunday (2014)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

No one sees him rise. The grave stone is rolled away. His tomb is empty. The burial shroud neatly folded and left behind. Our Lord is nowhere to be found. Mary Magdala finds all this, evidence of theft, evidence of sacrilege and runs to Simon Peter, reporting, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” Mary did not see him rise. Neither did Simon Peter nor John the beloved disciple. No one sees him rise. No one who visits the tomb that morning knows what happened. Why? Because “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” He had to rise from the dead. And because he emptied his tomb that morning, rising to new life with the Father, we too are raised to new life. His resurrection from an ignominious death gathers us all up and treats us to the possibility, the promise of deathless lives lived in the unfiltered presence of God the Father Himself. And so, Paul declares, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above. . .Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” Seek what is above, and ask yourself: where have I put Christ?

Where is Christ? Mary finds the tomb empty. Peter and John find the tomb empty. Their Lord's body is missing, and they do not know where the grave robbers have taken him. These three disciples believe that Jesus' body has been stolen b/c they do no understand – yet – that he had to rise from the dead. Do we understand this any better? We do, but then we have a 2,000 year advantage: centuries of personal testimony, libraries jammed with theological treatises, the sanctifying assistance of the Holy Spirit, the magisterium of the Church. We certainly understand the resurrection better than Mary, Peter, and John did back then. But understanding is not believing. Understanding is not trusting. When we believe in someone, trust someone that someone becomes for us the measure and means of how we live. Not just the center but the very foundation, the whole structure of our being. Knowing this, Paul writes, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above. . .” If you truly seek what is above, then you can answer the question: where have you put Christ? Where is he in your life? Have you set him aside as a decoration? An observer? Have you placed him on a shelf to be seen but not heard? If we believe in, trust in the Risen Lord, he must be more than a necklace charm, more than a dashboard saint. He must be the Lord of our lives. The means and measure of our everyday thoughts, words, and deeds. Everything we have and are is his and his alone.

What does all this mean? The resurrection is all about new life, new beginnings, a fresh start in an old world eaten through with corruption and bitter disobedience. The resurrection is all about leaving behind our old ways and taking up The Way in Christ, following after him toward the perfection of holiness. Yes, all of that. But more. Much, much more. You see, if you believe in, trust in the Risen Lord; if you give everything you are and everything you have back to him for his use in bringing the Kingdom to fruition; if you follow him, sacrificing for love of him and giving that love a body and soul in this world; then, you become Christ. Not just a follower. Not just an attendee. You fulfill your baptismal vows and become Christ. Paul says it, “For you have died [in baptism], and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” To hide your life in the life of Christ means that you have placed Christ above you, over you, hiding within his life so that yours is indistinguishable from his. The resurrection makes it possible for us to hide in Christ. Our human nature is made new in the resurrection. We have joined him in death, now we can join him in life eternal.

That promise – eternal life – is our Easter promise. We hide our lives in Christ so that his work is our work, his mind is our mind, his body is our body. In faith, we are bound to him. So much so that Paul says, “When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” But to be bound to him takes more than understanding. It takes much more than just knowing the story of the resurrection, knowing the details of the tale. The resurrection gives us the authority and the power to act, to speak, to think with the heart and mind of our Risen Lord. Until he comes again, we are his Body. Until he comes again, we are his hands and feet. We are not Pilate, fidgeting over politics, making carefully crafted decisions with an eye on our reputations. We are not the crowd in Jerusalem, frothing for blood and easy victory. We are not the Roman soldiers at Golgotha, just obeying lawful orders. And neither are we Mary, Peter, or John, despairing at the loss of Christ b/c we do not yet understand. We know what has happened. We know what is happening. Christ is risen. With the Father, he lives. In his Church, he lives. And if we hide ourselves in his risen life, he lives in this world. No one sees him rise. But everyone is watching to see if his Church will rise. Show the world the Risen Christ. In your words and deeds, show them Christ!
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19 April 2014

What do you and Pontius Pilate have in common?


Because he's just like us: postmodernist wienies

Pilate is not bloodthirsty.  Nor is he indifferent to justice.  If given the choice, he would prefer that the innocent not die, but neither truth nor justice are his highest priorities.  He is more concerned with keeping the peace and keeping his job.  Pilate fears the passions of the crowd and the opinions of his superiors.  He is a canny enough politician to know that it is best to stay the middle course.

This is an apt description of many of us: pastors, bishops, religious superiors, school principals, professors, just plain ole ordinary Catholics. . .

Easter is all about NOT being Pilate. 

Hmmmm. . .I feel an Easter homily theme coming on!
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Abysmal ignorance into execrable prose. . .

David Bentley Hart -- one of the best Christian writers alive today -- shreds a silly post from some nobody secularist. . .fun, fun, fun.

Journalism is the art of translating abysmal ignorance into execrable prose. At least, that is its purest and most minimal essence. There are, of course, practitioners of the trade who possess talents of a higher order—the rare ability, say, to produce complex sentences and coherent paragraphs—and they tend to occupy the more elevated caste of “intellectual journalists.” These, however, are rather like “whores with hearts of gold”: more misty figments of tender fantasy than concrete objects of empirical experience. Most journalism of ideas is little more than a form of empty garrulousness, incessant gossip about half-heard rumors and half-formed opinions, an intense specialization in diffuse generalizations. It is something we all do at social gatherings—creating ephemeral connections with strangers by chattering vacuously about things of which we know nothing—miraculously transformed into a vocation.

[. . .]
 
Which brings me to Adam Gopnik, and specifically his New Yorker article of February 17, “Bigger Than Phil”—the immediate occasion of all the rude remarks that went coursing through my mind and spilling out onto the page overhead. Ostensibly a survey of recently published books on (vaguely speaking) theism and atheism, it is actually an almost perfect distillation of everything most depressingly vapid about the cogitatively indolent secularism of late modern society. This is no particular reflection on Gopnik’s intelligence—he is bright enough, surely—but only on that atmosphere of complacent ignorance that seems to be the native element of so many of today’s cultured unbelievers. The article is intellectually trivial, but perhaps culturally portentous.

Simply said, we have reached a moment in Western history when, despite all appearances, no meaningful public debate over belief and unbelief is possible. Not only do convinced secularists no longer understand what the issue is; they are incapable of even suspecting that they do not understand, or of caring whether they do. The logical and imaginative grammars of belief, which still informed the thinking of earlier generations of atheists and skeptics, are no longer there. In their place, there is now—where questions of the divine, the supernatural, or the religious are concerned—only a kind of habitual intellectual listlessness.

Give yourself an Easter gift. . .read the whole thing!
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