FATHER PAUL'S ESSAYS

A Few Essays From Past Weeks When I was growing up there were two irritating things I had to deal with because of my Catholic faith. One was the occasional gibe using a vulgar term in reference to the Church's name or sacred rites. For instance, I can't tell you how many times I heard us referred to as "cat lickers." That may seem funny to some perverted souls, but for the ears of pious Catholics that is worse than hearing their family names corrupted in an insulting manner. I always believed the guys who taunted us in this manner, for the most part, were not mean spirited; they simply had warped senses of humor. The other irritation was accusing us of believing things and doing things that simply were not true. For example, we were often accused of sinning from Monday through Friday, going to confession on Saturday night, attending Mass on Sunday, then starting all over on the next Monday. Actually, among the conditions for being able to receive absolution from sins has always been true sorrow and the firm purpose of amendment–the determination to sin no more. I trust most people who say such things have their tongues in their cheeks; otherwise, they accuse us of insincerity in the practice of our faith. Recently I heard a religious radio talk show host field a question from a call-in listener who pointed out that she could not find any reference in the Bible to the mother of Jesus being resurrected and taken into heaven. The radio minister responded that she was correct and then went on to assert that the doctrine in question was an attempt of a "major church" to deify Mary. Further he referred to the wedding feast at Cana where Jesus called His mother "woman" and indicated that was a sign Jesus evidently did not hold her in high esteem. To counterpoint, I cite Luke 1:48 where Mary pr Before I get to the heart of this column, I want to confess, honestly, if you please, that I am a musical dunce. I can't sing; I can't play any musical instrument. Long ago, around thirty-five years, I spent a year taking organ lessons. To this day I can't play the organ. But I do like to hear good music and I like good singing. I keep my car radio tuned to a classical music station. I have attended many symphony orchestra performances. I love to hear the congregation sing the religious hymns at our church. On Sunday, September 10, 2000, I attended a concert given by the 14-year-old Welch soprano, Charlotte Church. I had heard of her when she was a 12-years-old and I purchased her first CD, "The Voice of an Angel." While I enjoyed her songs, I was not greatly impressed. She definitely showed promise and I was sure she would get better. The next year I purchased her second album, labeled simply, "Charlotte Church." She had improved a great deal. Her voice was stronger and her control was excellent. I wanted to hear more. When I heard she was going to sing publicly in the Nashville Performing Arts Center (TPAC), accompanied by the Nashville Symphony, assuming that another year had improved her remarkable talent even more, I had to go hear her in person. It would be putting it mildly to say I was not disappointed. She was great. I made up my mind after Charlotte's encore that I would write a column about this prodigy's marvelous talent. Since the concert, someone sent me a newspaper clipping of a column written by a music critic which moved me to change my approach to my own column. The critic in question, while slightly paying praise to Charlotte's talent, spent most of his column reading between the lines, so to speak, of her appearance and performance to criticize her attire and the content of her repertoire. Frankly, I was amazed at what he wrote. After all, I didn't get the impression he did. The full house at TPAC seemed not to either. There were at least three standing ovations: one after each of the three segments of her performance. And then, there was the encore. I believe there are enough explicit sex and near-nudity in other forms of entertainment without digging beneath the surface to find it in shows as wholesome as Charlotte's. What I saw and heard, and would prefer to emphasize, was the extraordinary God-given talent of a 14-year-old girl who recognizes the gift and her desire to share it with those who appreciate it. Everyone has some kind of talent from God. Some have greater gifts than others, but we all have been blessed with some talent. There is plenty of evidence in the New Testament that we must make good use of our talents, making them grow and not hiding them under a bushel. On Tuesday, September 5, 2000, I lost one of my best friends when Mrs. William P. "Bessie" Jabaley died. I had known her since August 1958, when I first started coming to Copperhill from Cleveland, Tennessee on weekends to serve the local Catholic community. There was no rectory for the priest at that time and Bessie and her family welcomed me into their home for meals and to spend the night whenever I was in town. It was a new experience for me. I had never been made to feel so welcome outside the homes of my own blood relatives. Bessie and her family soon made me feel quite at home with them and often even characterized me as "one of our family." I watched how Bessie reared her six children, Norma, John, Pat, Margaret, Howard, and Paul, with loving care so that they became a credit to her and her husband, as well as the joy of her life. For the benefit of newcomers and those who may not remember, William Jabaley, Bessie's husband, is the son of the late John Jabaley, Sr., founder of John Jabaley and Sons, the merchandise store that paralleled the river between the concrete bridge and the iron bridge for many years, until the flood in 1990. From time to time Bessie, along with other members of the family, worked in the store where she met and befriended hundreds of people. All those people will understand and appreciate it when I tell you, Bessie was one of those wonderful individuals who, once they befriended you, would never let you down. It is not my place to canonize saints; that is the prerogative of one much higher up the clerical ladder, but I do have a right to point out the salient good points of someone whom I knew well. Let me begin by pointing out that Bessie was a truly unique individual. She was not a person who simply fell in line with the crowd or did things just because everybody else did them. In my mind that is a prerequisite of saintliness. I have already spoken of her hospitableness. It went beyond opening her house to people whom she knew; she opened her arms to strangers by supporting community services in various ways, such as making bandages for the Red Cross and preparing meals for those suffering in times of crises. Saints are always for others. Bessie loved God and the Church through which she served and adored Him. You can't be a saint without fulfilling those conditions. Much more could be said, but space is limited. I will just conclude by adding: With it all, Bessie had her faults, and those of us who were close to her knew one or another of them, but we still loved her. We will greatly miss her and long for the day we will see her again in the kingdom God has prepared for us. Today is Mothers Day. It is not a liturgical celebration; therefore it does not have a place in the Mass. What we can do, should do, and will do is to pray for all our mothers, living and deceased, during the General Intercessions. In these times when so much of our culture militates against the family and family values – prevalence of divorce, sex outside marriage, widespread acceptance of contraception, horror of abortion, tolerance of homosexual and lesbian lifestyles, and the acceptance and the glorification of such abnormalities in the entertainment media, to name some of the outstanding evils – it is time to reflect on the way it was meant to be. When God created the human race, He made them male and female, and commanded them to multiply and fill the earth. The basic unit of society was to be a father, a mother and their children. Evil entered the world when the man and the woman sinned by disobeying God. The fact that what they did affected their children is seen in the act of one son killing his brother. Jesus came into the world to set things straight. He ratified the commandments and insisted they had to be obeyed. Indeed, He put a new emphasis on the commandments by summing them up as acts of love: "If you love me, keep my commandments." ". . . The greatest of these [commandments] is to love God . . . the second is to love your neighbor . . . ." XVIIIth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Today's Mass readings are very exciting. They teach us about God's love for us and all He wishes to do for us to demonstrate His love. It begins with God inviting us to participate in His heavenly banquet where our basic needs will be satisfied. He will satisfy our hunger and thirst. In the gospel Jesus picks up on that theme by showing how concerned He is for our needs and by working the miracle of the multiplication of food to feed the hungry crowd. Just so, He can fulfill all our other needs and satisfy all the requirements to make us happy. Saint Paul, the one who had been given a peek into the wonders of heaven, assures all who wish to be joined with Christ and participate in His heavenly banquet that there is not anything––absolutely nothing––that can separate us from Him against our will. This, of course, is the problem. Most of us are like spoiled children who are so accustomed to having things their own way they come to believe that there is no other way. How sad. Men's faults do seldom to themselves appear—Shakespeare. TODAY IS FATHER'S DAY. The Bard had it right, you know, men do seldom recognize their faults. But they are not the only ones. Children, except perhaps for teenagers, think their fathers are perfect. If we are astute, however, we all realize that not even our fathers are perfect. The only father who is perfect is God our Father in heaven who created us, loves us, and takes care of us. That brings us to the point of this dissertation Our earthly fathers, imperfect as they are, are chosen by God to cooperate with Him in giving us life. What power! What a privilege! What a responsibility! How terrible it is when a man abuses God's gift by using it for any purpose calculated to frustrate God's plan and purpose. Any man who does such things should be warned: in the end he will have to answer to God for his actions. Thank God our fathers have taken their responsibilities seriously. Most fathers love their children even more than they love themselves, and they care for and protect them without regard for their own welfare. Happy Father's Day to them all. TRINITY SUNDAY - We believe in one God, the Father . . . We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God . . . We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. With the Father and the Son he [the Spirit] is worshiped and glorified. The foregoing was taken from the Nicene Creed, a profession of faith adopted by the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and which is used both in the East (since the 4th century) and in the West (since the 8th century) as an official formula that expresses the Christian Church's understanding of God as a trinity of persons in one being. Strictly speaking, the Trinity is not a biblical concept. There is no explicit reference to the three persons as distinct persons in the Godhead in either the Old or the New Testaments. While it is true that in the New Testament we have references to the Father and to the Son and to the Spirit, they are not referred to in philosophical terms, such as nature, person, and substance. It was left to the Church, in combating errors that arose about the reality and the nature of God, to glean the truth from what is revealed in Scripture and which can be elucidated by philosophical analysis and explanation. We Catholics profess our faith in the Trinity at least on all Sundays and Holy Days. PENTECOST - During the past week, the weekday liturgy readings from the Acts of the Apostles have been focusing on the missionary labors of the Apostle Paul and the hardships he had to endure to persevere in the work. One of the clever ways he approached his persecutors and his hearers, both the Jews and the Gentiles, was in proclaiming the resurrection of the body. This stirred up the Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection of the body, and the Sadducees, who did not, against each other. The controversy brought about a reluctance of the Romans to put him on trial because they viewed the accusations against him as purely religious and out of their jurisdiction. If we think it is strange that the Jews were divided in their beliefs, what about the hundreds of Christian denominations that differ in their understanding of the teachings of Jesus? Furthermore, while the Romans were reluctant to get involved in religious doctrinal wrangling, the civil courts in the United States do not hesitate to legalize abortion and other immoral practices, not only contrary to the beliefs of most Christians, but also contrary to the Natural Law and the sensibilities of most thinking people. Today being Pentecost, let us pray to the Spirit of truth to enlighten all men to know the truth, to understand it, and to make wise decisions about it. a solution - "God will bring people and events into our lives and whatever we may think about them, they are designed for the evolution of his life in us." —Father Thomas Keating in Heart of the World. There is enough packed into that one sentence to keep a person busy for years trying to understand it and then making good use of it. It is divided into three parts: God brings people and events into our lives. It doesn't matter what we think about them. They are brought into our lives to help us become like Him. Here in a nutshell is the solution to all the world's problems. Tomatoes and potatoes, and Parables - What do these have in common? The edible part of tomatoes grows above ground. The edible part of potatoes grows under ground. With parables, in a sense, it is a little bit of both. A parable is usually a good story which is interesting to read. Take the parable of the Prodigal in the Bible. It begins as the tragic story of a young man who claims his inheritance, leaves home, wastes his inheritance, and winds up slopping pigs for somebody else and wishing he could eat some of the husks he throws to them. The story has a happy ending, however, when he returns to his father's house and is received back royally—all forgiven. That much is like tomatoes—all above ground and easily understood. The reason Jesus tells the story, however, is to teach a lesson: when we have sinned, thus leaving God our Father's house, and wasted our baptismal inheritance, if we repent and come back to seek forgiveness, we will find our Father waiting with open arms. A great story, but, like potatoes, you have to dig for it. Blessed Mother Teresa? Not a farfetched idea. Pope John Paul II has given permission, December 12, 1998, for the archbishop of Calcutta to begin the process of beatification of Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bejaxhiu) of Calcutta (1910-1997. This is thrilling news for the multi-millions, if not billions, of admires of the petite nun who, personally, and through the other nuns of the Missionaries of Charity which she founded, perhaps did more than any one in her lifetime to promote the realization of the dignity and value of each and every human life from the moment of conception to death by natural causes. Her example inspired hundreds to join her in self-sacrificing and loving dedication to the care of those poor and helpless people who otherwise would have been completely abandoned by a seemingly heartless world society. By law, the step taken by the Holy Father would not have occurred until five or more years after the person's death. His Holiness, by his supreme authority, dispensed from that law and is allowing the first step toward possible beatification and canonization to begin only a year after Mother Teresa's death on September 10, 1997. This unusual step is due in no small measure to Mother Teresa's worldwide reputation for holiness even before her death. It, of course, remains to be seen just how far her cause will proceed in the lifetime of anyone living today, but millions of Catholics the world over will praying that the day, and soon. Attitude - The word attitude, like many words we use, has more than one meaning. Here it is used to denote one's disposition, opinion, or mental set concerning a particular subject. One can have a good attitude or a bad one. It is also possible to be indifferent. When it comes to our relations with others our attitude should be such that it would be plain that we at least have respect for the rights and dignity of the other person. That would be a good attitude. A bad attitude would be just the opposite. To be indifferent towards another would be the same as saying "I couldn't care less about you." Obviously, our attitude towards God should always be the very best. It may not be so obvious, but our attitude towards others should also be the very best. God demands it. Love one another. CHARACTER COUNTS? - For many months now there has been much in the news questioning how important character is in civil servants and whether or not they should be held to higher standards of morality than the average citizen. Opinions vary, but most people seem to be ambivalent in their attitude. On one hand they say character and morality are very important, but on the other hand they say it doesn't matter as long as the person in question is fulfilling his or her official responsibilities well. There seems to be an element of selfishness involved in that the citizenry is evidently willing to overlook bad behavior as long as the economy is healthy. When it comes to our church leaders — bishops, priests, and deacons — most Catholics look for a higher standard of behavior than they require of themselves. Like our civil servants, however, church leaders are human beings and we should not be scandalized when we learn that one has not lived up to the standard; rather it should be a reminder to pray for all our leaders— civil and religious DEATH PENALTY When Pope John Paul II was in St. Louis last Tuesday and Wednesday he spoke out strongly and made an urgent and eloquent plea for an end to the destruction of human life— even (specifically) the lives of those on death row in our prisons. His plea touched the heart of the Governor of Missouri who, as a result, commuted the sentence of a man scheduled to be executed in just a few days to life in prison. Many Catholics (according to a subsequent poll, fifty-six percent) disagree with the Holy Father on this sensitive issue. Can they do that and remain good Catholics? Yes, but just how good is a debatable question. In view of Tradition which supports the right of the state to execute violent criminals, and lacking any definitive statement by the Church as yet, one cannot be said to be "outside" the Church who still opts for the death penalty. There are other considerations, however, and they must not be neglected. No one, especially a Christian, may hate another human being. Love your enemies, the Master said. How can you love him and want to kill him? Jesus taught that we will be treated as we treat others. How many of us are anxious to be treated to the maximum punishment for our sins? Are we really ready to cut off a person's chance to repent (it often takes a long time) by executing him? And for Catholics there is at least one other consideration. We are bound to accept the ordinary teaching of our Holy Father; otherwise we live dangerously. INHERITANCE - Occasionally, while driving along the interstate highways, one sees an RV or some type of "home on wheels" with a bumper sticker which says, "Spending Our Children's Inheritance." There is some humor in that, but, in as much as it implies that all of value the gray-haired couple rolling merrily along America's highways and byways had accumulated, which they could leave to their children after their long and arduous lives, is money or material things, it is very sad. What else is there? Well, at the outset, let's put material things in their proper place in the order of importance. They come last. First comes life itself. There is a bumper sticker now which says, "Thank God your mother didn't believe in abortion." True, God is the creator and the One who gives us life, but He chose to give it though our parents. If they had not cooperated, there would be no question whatever of our inheritance. Next came the loving care and affection they showered on us in providing shelter, nourishment, clothing — the necessities of life. Now consider the more important things: the moral and spiritual values. Our parents are the ones who taught us how to live as decent human beings. If they didn't do that, they could leave us fabulously wealthy but we still wouldn't be worth a dime. More important than anything else, however, is our spiritual inheritance — our faith, our belief in God and eternal life. Parents who don't leave their children faith leave them impoverished. Maybe there ought to be a bumper sticker that says, "Living Our Inheritance." TIME - Time and eternity are two concepts that rank among the greatest mysteries. Like most mysteries, there are some things about each one that can be understood—at least a little bit. We know, for example, that eternity had no beginning and will never end. This does not mean that God who is eternal and eternity are one. It simply means that since God who always was and always will be is eternal, the state of His existence is called eternity. In the same way, those things which God created—things which had a beginning and which can come to an end—are said to existence not in eternity but in time. It is important to realize however that God created human beings with a spiritual and immortal soul. Man who had a beginning and is not eternal is nevertheless destined to live forever. In that sense he is destined to live in eternity. The Bible seems to support this understanding. We are told. "In the beginning God created . . . ." Note that God existed before the beginning; everything else had a beginning. The problem with humans is not that they may not live in eternity for they will, but what that existence will be like. Some, those who obey God's will, will enjoy eternal happiness. Those who die in the state of grave sin will not. BAPTISM OF THE LORD - In the liturgy of the Church, today ends the Christmas season. There is something significant about the Christmas season beginning with the celebration of the birth of Christ and ending with the celebration of His baptism. The reason the Father sent His Son into the world united to human nature was twofold. First, so that He could be human without ceasing to be God. Second, so that man could be divine without ceasing to be man. In this union of the two natures He could act as both God and man in His salvific works. In the same way, He who came into the world to save it was not baptized because He needed it — which He didn't — but to sanctify the water so that those who would later receive the sacrament of Baptism would indeed be saved. After His baptism the God-Man would go about preaching that it was necessary to be born again of water and the Spirit to be saved and, furthermore, commanded His disciples to gather people into the Kingdom by teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is baptism that gives us new life, the divine life that unites us to God. In the Incarnation God becomes human. In baptism man shares in the divine life. Christmas and the Baptism of Christ are indeed significant. THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT - Our first parents were created in the state of grace and destined for eternal happiness (heaven). They sinned and thereby lost grace and the right to heaven; as a consequence, all their descendants come into this world in a state of sin and deprived of the right to heaven. In His loving mercy, God promised Adam and Eve He would send a redeemer, someone who would pay the debt for sin and restore the right to eternal life in heaven. The first Advent was the time from the promise of a redeemer to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. It was a time of great longing and anticipation. It was the role of the prophets to keep the promise alive and to warn the people when their lives betrayed their lack of faith and militated against redemption by their sinful deeds. By His life, death, and resurrection Jesus (Savior) Christ (God's Anointed) saved the world from sin and death, but—and this is very important—it is necessary for each one who wishes to have the merits of Jesus Christ applied to him or her to repent of their sins, reform their lives, keep the commandments, follow the Way of Jesus, remain faithful, and die in the state of grace. The second Advent is the time from Jesus' ascension into heaven, with the promise to return again, until He actually returns. It should be a time of great longing and anticipation. It is the role of the Church to keep the promise alive and to warn the people when, by their actions, they betray their lack of faith and militate against salvation by their sinful deeds. Satan tempted Eve. She tempted Adam. Be careful. Today the world, the flesh and the devil tempt all of us. We must not allow the world to abolish God's laws. We must not allow the flesh to dominate reason. We must not allow the devil to guide us in the place of the One who came and will come again. I've had many friends in my life. When I started to school, I quickly formed a special friendship with another boy in my class, Douglas. I think it was precipitated by the fact that our fathers were longtime friends. We shared fantasies about how great our dads were. We imagined they were kings and we were princes riding about on big white horses to the admiration of everyone. We remained friends through elementary school and then, somehow, we lost touch and I didn't see Douglas again until a couple of years ago at a class reunion. It was great to see him again and to be able to reminisce with him about a few things, but it was not the same. Another friend I had as a kid was one who moved across the street from us. He was from up north and talked kinda funny (he had a Yankee accent). We were together so much that it wasn't long before people noticed I was beginning to talk Yankee too. After two or three years he moved away and I soon got over my Yankee accent. It was a good thing too, because my brothers and other family members and friends, all Southerners, didn't much appreciate it. There was a great guy, Joe, who attended the same high school and after school frequently delivered packages in our neighborhood. He would often stop in front of our house and spend a little time goofing off with us. One time I borrowed ten dollars from him. It took me more than twenty years to pay him back; in the meantime, he never asked me for it and yet remained a friend. He died a few years ago. I'm sure God has abundantly rewarded Joe for his kind ways. A classic friendship, a model for all, was the closeness of Jonathan, son of King Saul, and David. Jonathan loved David so much he preferred him to succeed Saul rather than himself. Moreover, he was always ready to lay down his life for David. Jesus would come along centuries later and make that a sign of true love in friendship. "Greater love than this no man has than he lay down his life for his friend." Jesus was one who practiced what He preached. To show us how much He loved us, and to prove the depth of His friendship with us, He laid down His life for us. The more true friends we have, the greater our lives. But we will never have any friends unless we are also willing to be friends. To do that, all we have to do is to imitate Jesus and see the good in everybody. Have a good week.

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