Category Archives: Columnists

We must struggle to love our neighbor

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
“The most damaging idolatry is not the golden calf but enmity against the other.” The renowned anthropologist, Rene Girard, wrote that and its truth is not easily admitted.  Most of us like to believe that we are mature and big-hearted and that we do love our neighbors and are free of enmity towards others. But is this so?
In our more honest — more accurately perhaps, in our more humble moments — I think that all of us admit that we don’t really love others in the way that Jesus asked. We don’t turn the other cheek. We don’t really love our enemies. We don’t wish good to those who wish us harm. We don’t bless those who curse us.
And we don’t genuinely forgive those who murder our loved ones. We are decent, good-hearted persons, but persons whose heaven is still too-predicated on needing an emotional vindication in the face of anyone or anything that opposes us. We can be fair, we can be just, but we don’t yet love the way Jesus asked us to; that is, so that our love goes out to both those who love us and to those who hate us. We still struggle, mightily, mostly unsuccessfully, to wish our enemies well.
But for most of us who like to believe ourselves mature that battle remains hidden, mostly from ourselves. We tend to feel that we are loving and forgiving because, essentially, we are well-intentioned, sincere, and able to believe and say all the right things; but there’s another part of us that isn’t nearly so noble.
The Irish Jesuit, Michael Paul Gallagher, (who died recently and will be dearly missed) puts this well when he writes (In Extra Time): “You probably don’t hate anyone, but you can be paralyzed by daily negatives. Mini-prejudices and knee-jerk judgements can produce a mood of undeclared war. Across barbed wire fences, invisible bullets fly.”  Loving the other as oneself, he submits, is for most of us an impossible uphill climb.
So where does that leave us? Serving out a life-sentence of mediocrity and hypocrisy? Professing to loving our enemies but not doing it? How can we profess to be Christians when, if we are honest, we have to admit that we are not measuring up to the litmus-test of Christian discipleship, namely, loving and forgiving our enemies?
Perhaps we are not as bad as we think we are. If we are still struggling, we are still healthy.  In making us, it seems, God factored in human complexity, human weakness and how growing into deeper love is a life-long journey. What can look like hypocrisy from the outside can in fact be a pilgrimage, a Camino walk, when seen within a fuller light of patience and understanding.
Thomas Aquinas, in speaking about union and intimacy, makes this important distinction. He distinguishes between being in union with something or somebody in actuality and being in union with that someone or something through desire.
This has many applications but, applied in this case; it means that sometimes the heart can only go somewhere through desire rather than in actuality. We can believe in the right things and want the right things and still not be able to bring our hearts onside.
One example of this is what the old catechisms (in their unique wisdom) used to call “imperfect contrition,” that is, the notion that if you have done something wrong that you know is wrong and that you know that you should feel sorry for, but you can’t in fact feel sorry for, then if you can wish that you could feel sorry, that’s contrition enough — not perfect, but enough.
It’s the best you can do and it puts you at the right place at the level of desire, not a perfect place, but one better than its alternative.
And that “imperfect” place does more for us than simply providing the minimal standard of contrition needed for forgiveness. More importantly it accords rightful dignity to whom and to what we have hurt.
Reflecting on our inability to genuinely love our neighbor, Marilynne Robinson submits that, even in our failure to live up to what Jesus asks of us, if we are struggling honestly, there is some virtue.
She argues this way: Freud said that we cannot love our neighbor as ourselves, and no doubt this is true. But since we accept the reality that lies behind the commandment, that our neighbor is as worthy of love as ourselves, then in our very attempt to act on Jesus’ demand we are acknowledging that our neighbor is worthy of love, even if at this point in our lives we are too weak to provide it.
And that’s the crucial point: In continuing to struggle, despite our failures, to live up to Jesus’ great commandment of love, we acknowledge the dignity inherent in our enemies, acknowledge that they are worthy of love, and acknowledge our own shortcoming. That’s “imperfect” of course, but, I suspect, Thomas Aquinas would say it’s a start!
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Historia de la iglesia llena de diáconos ejemplares

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Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Esta es la homilia que ofreció el Obispo Joseph Kopacz durante la misa de ordenación de los diáconos.
La Diócesis de Jackson por primera vez en una generación celebró la ordenación al diaconado permanente de seis hombres, que con sus esposas, han estado en formación durante los últimos cinco años. Los diáconos: Jeff, Rich, Denzel, John, John y Ted ya han comenzado a servir en sus parroquias. El texto que sigue es una parte de la homilía proporcionada por la Iglesia durante la liturgia de la ordenación y a continuación, un resumen conciso de seis destacados diáconos en la tradición de la Iglesia que nos ofrecen una comprensión más profunda de esta antigua orden, ahora siempre nueva.
Queridos hermanos y hermanas: ya que estos nuestros hijos, que son sus parientes y amigos, van a ser avanzados a la orden de los diáconos, consideren cuidadosamente la naturaleza de la jerarquía de la iglesia a la que están a punto de ser elevados.
Fortalecidos por el don del Espíritu Santo ayudarán al obispo y a sus sacerdotes en el ministerio de la palabra, del altar y de la caridad, mostrándose ser siervos de todos. Como ministros del altar, proclamarán el Evangelio, prepararán el sacrificio, y distribuirán el Cuerpo y la Sangre del Señor a los fieles.
Además, será su deber, bajo la dirección del obispo, exhortar a los creyentes y no creyentes e instruirlos en la sagrada doctrina. Ellos presidirán la oración pública, administrarán el bautismo, asistirán y bendecirán los matrimonios, llevarán el viático a los moribundos y presidirán los ritos funerarios.
Consagrados por la imposición de manos que llega hasta nosotros desde los Apóstoles y vinculados más estrechamente al servicio del altar, realizarán obras de caridad en nombre del obispo o del pastor. Con la ayuda de Dios realizarán todas estas funciones de manera tal que serán reconocidos como discípulos de aquel que no vino a ser servido sino a servir.
Ahora, queridos hijos, van a ser elevados al orden del diaconado. El Señor ha dado un ejemplo que así como él mismo lo ha hecho, ustedes también deberían hacerlo.
Como diáconos, es decir, como ministros de Jesucristo, que vino entre sus discípulos como uno que sirve, hagan la voluntad de Dios desde el corazón: sirvan a la gente con amor y alegría como lo harían al Señor. Puesto que nadie puede servir a dos amos, miren a la deshonra y la avaricia como sirviendo a dioses falsos.

Diáconos del Nuevo Testamento
De los siete originales, dos aparecen en el Nuevo Testamento: Esteban y Felipe que encontramos en los Hechos de los Apóstoles, no sirviendo en la mesa sino sirviendo en la Mesa de la Palabra. Esta realidad nos revela que san Lucas en los Hechos de los Apóstoles ve la diaconía como obra de evangelización, predicando y edificando la Iglesia.
Esteban:
Esteban fue un profeta, un hombre lleno de fe y también lleno de gracia y de poder. Su valiente predicación lo condujo a su martirio por lapidación, y como el Señor, encomendó su espíritu a Dios, pidiendo perdón por los que lo estaban matando, para que ellos pudieran encontrar paz como la había encontrado él en Cristo Jesús. San Esteban es el patrono de los diáconos y el protomártir.
Felipe:
Fue el primero en anunciar el Evangelio en Samaria, y dos de sus notables conversos fueron Simón el Mago y el etíope Eunuch cuyo Chariot corrió a lo largo del lateral, y después lo bautizó en un charco de agua. Como el Señor, Felipe predicó la Palabra, expulsó demonios, y se acercó a los marginados. Fue dirigido por el Espíritu Santo hacia la gente en necesidad y así siguió siendo diácono de diáconos a través de la predicación y el cuidado de los marginados.
Período Patrístico – San Lorenzo 200-258
Más de 200 años más tarde San Lorenzo fue uno de los siete diáconos de Roma, quien también sufrió el martirio. Ningún otro santo, salvo en el caso de Pedro y Pablo, fue más honrado por el pueblo de Roma que San Lorenzo. San Ambrosio elogia a Lorenzo como un ejemplo a su clero que recuerda que el prefecto de Roma le pidió a Lorenzo revelar el paradero de los tesoros de la Iglesia, porque los diáconos eran confiados con recursos para atender a los pobres. Así que Lorenzo reunió a los pobres y a los enfermos y se los presentó al prefecto diciendo, “Estos son los tesoros de la Iglesia”. Esto le costó su cabeza, pero revela el corazón y la mente del ministerio del diácono como alguien que conoce bien a los pobres y los cuida. En su ministerio de caridad Lorenzo es un diácono de diáconos.
Efrén de Nisibi 306-373
Se convirtió en un Doctor de la Iglesia y escribió teología en forma de poesía en un dialecto del arameo. Efrén veía la teología no tanto como “la fe en busca de entendimiento” sino como “la fe adorando el misterio” ya que él estaba muy consciente de las limitaciones del entendimiento humano.
Un pedacito de la poesía de Efrén dice, “Si alguien busca tu oculta naturaleza, mirad, está en el cielo en el gran seno de la divinidad. Y si alguien busca tu cuerpo, mirad descansa y se asoma desde el pequeño seno de María”. Efrén le enseña a los diáconos modernos la importancia y la belleza de las palabras y las imágenes, especialmente en la homilía. En su ministerio de la Palabra, Efrén es un diácono de diáconos.

Edad Media –
Alcuin de York: 735-804
Colaboró estrechamente con el emperador Carlomagno para lograr una reforma integral en la Iglesia alrededor de los años 800 D.C. Fue un maestro por excelencia. Instruyó a sus alumnos en las escrituras, actualizando  la Vulgata en latín de san Jerónimo, en la literatura antigua, la lógica, la gramática y la astronomía. Y aún más interesante, estuvo a la vanguardia de la reforma litúrgica cuyo fervor se manifiesta en las siguientes palabras: “examinen a los sacerdotes (y obispos) en cuanto a su manera de bautizar y celebrar la Misa para ver que mantienen la verdadera fe, para averiguar si entienden las oraciones de la misa bien, si cantan los salmos devotamente, si ellos mismos entienden la oración del Señor y se la explican a todos para que todos puedan entender lo que le están pidiendo a Dios”.
Alcuin le enseña a los diáconos modernos la importancia y belleza de servir bien en la Liturgia, y como un verdadero administrador de los misterios de Dios, Alcuin es un diácono de diáconos.
San Francisco de Asís, 1181-1226
Fue ordenado diácono y permaneció así hasta el final de su vida. Era una persona sin educación formal de inteligencia media, pero un visionario que vio toda la creación llena de vida divina. Después de él miramos con ojos diferentes la naturaleza, los animales y a las personas.
Su amor por la creación de Dios y su compartir de aquel amor con personas que tienen ojos para ver y oídos para oír, revela la armonía de la iglesia en el mundo. La simpleza espiritual de Francisco por Cristo, su sentido de libertad interior, y su fervor evangélico y misionero (se cansó de convertir al sultán de Egipto durante la Quinta Cruzada) revelan el corazón de un diácono. Al recibir las estigmas, él nos inspira a abrazar la lucha, el sacrificio y el sufrimiento en el poder de la cruz y al hacerlo es un diácono de diáconos.
A través de su intercesión y la intercesión de todos los santos que Dios, que ha comenzado la buena obra en nuestros recién ordenados diáconos, lo lleve a cumplimiento en el día de Cristo Jesús.

Catholic education keeps eye on eternal

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Forming our future
By Jeannie Roberts
The significant role of catechists, teachers and staff in a Catholic school setting is to shape and mold children for eternity. Our walk, our talk and our sharing of our own faith in our daily lives, as well as our personal journey, all help a child to grow to love Jesus.
Our journeys are all different – some filled early with much sadness as well as much joy. Jesus walks with us daily as a teacher and guides us to be the light in the darkness, the joy in the sorrow, the calmness in the storm and the compassion and hope to the downtrodden.
Jesus lives in us and we live in him. Our mission is not only to educate with knowledge, but to fill the hearts of children with spiritual qualities that help them to grow as disciples of Jesus. As the 12 apostles were chosen, we teachers have also been chosen and we are answering the call to know, love and serve the Lord through the children we teach. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
At St. Elizabeth School we try to make our students aware of the poor and less fortunate. We minister to them throughout the year by collecting food and taking it weekly to church at our school Masses. Students sometimes help store, sack and pass out the food when the needy come to receive it. This ministry is organized by Michael and Jackie Jacob of our parish along with teacher Sue Craig.
Eternity involves more than feeding the bodies of the less fortunate. Students write letters to shut-ins, nursing home patients and the elderly of our parish, to let them know they are thought of and are being remembered in prayer. Throughout Lent, classes send a “footnote” to parishioners of their choice, relatives or friends. Small notes in the shape of a foot have a greeting on the front and a short note written by each student on the back.
Students also serve and lead the singing at our Masses, all while learning what their faith is about. Many non-Catholics are being exposed to the loving community of believers; some families sometimes even join the church when their children start attending the school. Evangelization is at its best when a parent tells you how their heart has been touched by their child’s praying and that the family desires to join the church.
Students are also encouraged daily to act the way Jesus would act in each and every situation. They have a morning devotional read on the intercom and then recite the school’s pledge, “Eagle Endeavors,” created by Jane Rutz and Georgette Sabbatini. The pledge is as follows:
E – Embrace the teachings of the Holy Bible;
A – Act generously to those in need;
G – Grow academically;
L – Love sincerely;
E – Entrust my family, my school and myself to God’s care;
S – Strive for kindness with every thought, word and action.
At the end of each month we take one of the “Eagle Endeavors” and the teachers vote on a class who has exemplified that chosen endeavor. The Advisory Council then treats the winning class. The prize may be a free dress day, pizza, ice cream party, picnic etc.
Students from first-sixth grades lead the Stations of the Cross each Friday during Lent, discuss Lenten practices and write on a cross in the rotunda what they will do for someone or what they might give up for Lent. All students participate.
As a student body, they gather weekly to pray for the needs of the parish, the sick and their own personal needs. We often say a decade of the rosary for the seriously ill and suffering parishioners. The sixth grade students will hold the hands of the younger children and walk them to their cars in the pickup lines.
We as teachers try to listen and respond to the problems our children may have in their worlds. Many children need a friend to help them through the struggles in their lives. We refer serious problems to the counseling program offered in the Delta through our diocese. Father Scott Thomas, our pastor, meets and talks to students about their problems, or he will talk to a class on how to treat fellow classmates if the need arises.
Some students have had experiences that we as adults have not had to face yet – be it the death of a sibling, parent, or grandparent – and just need a compassionate person to help them through a difficult journey in their life. Our teachers and school can be the calm in the storm. We will never know our influence on our students.
God has called us by name and we follow the call to know, love and serve Him through our role as teachers which covers more than grade level books and different teaching techniques. Our vocations touch the heart and soul of each and every child we teach. We thank God for calling us on this special journey to be light in the darkness, joy in the sorrow, calm in the storm, company to the lonely and compassion and hope to the downtrodden.
(Jeannie Roberts is the principal of Clarksdale St. Elizabeth School.)

One way or another

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Reflections on Life
By Father Jerome LeDoux, S.V.D.
If you don’t spend time pondering what it means to be a saint and what one must do to become a saint, you had better hop to it, because you will not get to heaven unless you become a saint. What is not holy cannot abide God’s presence. So, if you die short of sainthood, something drastic has to happen between you and God before you are ushered permanently into the all-holy presence of God in heaven.
You may not believe in purgatory, but that is irrelevant. Whether you believe in purgatory or not, if you are not holy enough when you die, God will somehow cleanse you – purge you – so that you are sanctified, holy and fit to enter into God’s heaven and remain there in rapture forever. The alternative is unacceptable, quite unthinkable and in every way and by all means to be avoided, for the alternative is to be without God forever, and forever is infinitely beyond a quadrillion years.
Those who try to evade that uncomfortable conundrum are consigned to do as one inconsolable man did for his close friend who had died. Fearing that the soul of his friend might be lost because his friend, though a good man, had serious faults, he finally wrote an epitaph and put it on his friend’s grave in bold letters: “Too bad for heaven, too good for hell; where he went I cannot tell.” I dare say, innumerable people, both known and unknown to us, fit that description in uncanny fashion.
Since we must all become saints if we are to be with God forever, what are the makings of a saint? Perhaps we can begin with a pivotal pearl of wisdom shared in James 3:2, “If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body also.” None of us have any illusions about just how difficult it is to master our thoughts and the resulting words that spill out through our lips. The wellspring of discipline and control of our lives resides in our thoughts and words, being never judgmental, always forgiving, ever inclusive, supportive and loving.
Must a saint do spectacular things? A few, such as Joan of Arc, do. However, by far most saints live ordinary lives highlighted by laser focus on the transforming grace of God. That leads us to puzzle over the difference between Thérèse of Lisieux and her fellow nuns. All of them did the same, daily things together, but with results as markedly different as humdrum, everyday nuns and the sanctified life of Thérèse.
A good example is Thérèse’s comment on being ecstatic, “I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.” So that laser focus on the good intention, on God’s mercy and grace made all the difference.
“I mean to try to find a lift by which I may be raised unto God, for I am too tiny to climb the steep stairway of perfection. Your arms, then, O Jesus, are the lift that must raise me up even unto Heaven. To get there I need not grow; on the contrary, I must remain little, I must become still less.”
Inspired by and driven by the Holy Spirit, Thérèse of Lisieux reveals in her autobiography, “Story of a Soul,” a spirituality manual that is at once a primer, a primary textbook, an undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate textbook. The proof of the relevance and truth of “her little way” of childlike trust in and love of God lies in the fact that the work was inhaled hurriedly by nuns around the world.
On Oct. 20, 1898, Mother Agnes of Jesus and Mother Marie de Gonzague, published an exceptionally long, 476-page obituary to be sent to all the Carmels in France. The 2,000 surplus copies were sold off at 4 francs each.
To everyone’s surprise, a second 4,000-copy edition was required six months later, and soon a third. In explosive fashion, by 1956 there were 40 editions, let alone translations that began in 1901. More than 50 translations were listed, with figures always being exceeded and uncontrollable as the pirate editions multiplied.
From 1969, a team continued the critical edition of 266 known letters, 54 poems (1979), 8 plays (1985), 21 prayers (1988) and the Final Conversations (1971).
Already begun during her life, conversions and cures exploded with her memoirs.
The whole work was gathered into one volume –Completed Works – running to 1,600 pages of Bible paper. The collection was presented to John Paul II and then Cardinal Ratzinger on Feb. 18, 1993. Numerous tomes written by brilliant theologians fall short of the simple biography, “Story of a Soul.” Thérèse’s work and her life moved Pope John Paul II on Oct. 19, 1997, to declare her the 33rd. Doctor of the Church, the youngest and, at the time, only the third woman.
As I pen these words, I am smiling constantly as I think of this great heroine.   –
“God is love, and all who abide in love abide in God and God in them.”   (1 John 4:16)
(Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD, lives at Sacred Heart Residence in Pass Christian. He has written “Reflections on Life “since 1969.)

Overcoming fear of death

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
“A common soldier dies without fear, yet Jesus died afraid.” Iris Murdoch wrote this and that truth can be somewhat disconcerting. Why? If someone dies with deep faith, shouldn’t he or she die with a certain calm and trust drawn from that faith? Wouldn’t the opposite seem more logical, that is, if someone dies without faith shouldn’t he or she die with more fear? And perhaps the most confusing of all: Why did Jesus, the paragon of faith, die afraid, crying out in a pain that can seem like a loss of faith?
The problem lies in our understanding. Sometimes we can be very naïve about faith and its dynamics, thinking that faith in God is a ticket to earthly peace and joy. But faith isn’t a path to easy calm, nor does it assure us that we will exit this life in calm, and that can be pretty unsettling and perplexing at times. Here’s an example:
The renowned spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, in a book entitled, “In Memoriam,” shares this story around his mother’s death: Nouwen, a native of the Netherlands, was teaching in the U.S. when he received a call that his mother was dying back home in the Netherlands.
On his flight home from New York to Amsterdam he reflected on his mother’s faith and virtue and concluded that she was the most Christian woman he had ever known. With that as a wonderfully consoling thought, he fantasized about how she would die, how her last hours would be filled with faith and calm, and how that faith and calm would be her final, faith-filled witness to her family.
But that’s not the way it played out. Far from being calm and unafraid, his mother, in the final hours leading up to her death, was seemingly in the grip of some inexplicable darkness, of some deep inner disquiet, and of something that looked like the antithesis of faith. For Nouwen this was very disconcerting. Why? Why would his mother be undergoing this disquiet when for all her life she had been a woman of such strong faith?
Initially this unsettled him deeply, until a deeper understanding of faith broke through. His mother had been a woman who every day of her adult life had prayed to Jesus, asking him to empower her to live as he lived and to die as he died. Well, seemingly, her prayer was heard. She did die like Jesus who, though having a rock-solid faith, sweated blood while contemplating his own death and then cried out on the cross, anguished with the feeling that God had forsaken him.
In brief, her prayer had been answered. She had asked Jesus to let her die as he did and, given her openness to it, her prayer was granted, to the confusion of her family and friends who had expected a very different scene. That is also true for the manner of Jesus’ death and the reaction of his family and disciples. This isn’t the way anyone naturally fantasizes the death of a faith-filled person.
But a deeper understanding of faith reverses that logic: Looking at the death of Henri Nouwen’s mother, the question is not, how could this happen to her? The question is rather: Why wouldn’t this happen to her? It’s what she asked for and, being a spiritual athlete who asked God to send her the ultimate test, why wouldn’t God oblige?
There’s a certain parallel to this in the seeming doubts suffered by Mother Teresa. When her diaries were published and revealed her dark night of the soul, many people were shocked and asked: How could this happen to her? A deeper understanding of faith would, I believe, ask instead: Why wouldn’t this happen to her, given her faith and her openness to enter into Jesus’ full experience?
But, this has still a further complication: Sometimes for persons of deep faith it doesn’t happen this way and instead he or she dies calm and unafraid, buoyed up by faith like a safe ship on stormy waters. Why does this happen to some and not to others? We have no answer. Faith doesn’t put us all on the same conveyor-belt where one dynamic fits all.  Sometimes people with deep faith die, as Jesus did, in darkness and fear; and sometimes people with deep faith they die in calm and peace.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross submits that each of us goes through five clear stages in dying, namely, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  Kathleen Dowling Singh suggests that what Kubler-Ross defines as acceptance needs some further nuance.
According to Singh, the toughest part of that acceptance is full surrender and, prior to that surrender, some people, though not everyone, will undergo a deep interior darkness that, on the surface, can look like despair. Only after that, do they experience joy and ecstasy.
All of us need to learn the lesson that Nouwen learned at his mother’s deathbed:  Faith, like love, admits of various modalities and may not be judged simplistically from the outside.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Los diáconos son llamados a una vida de servicio

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Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Esta es la homilia que ofreció el Obispo Joseph Kopacz durante al misa de ordenación de los diáconos.
La Diócesis de Jackson por primera vez en una generación celebró la ordenación al diaconado permanente de seis hombres, que con sus esposas, han estado en formación durante los últimos cinco años. Los diáconos: Jeff, Rich, Denzel, John, John y Ted ya han comenzado a servir en sus parroquias. El texto que sigue es una parte de la homilía proporcionada por la Iglesia durante la liturgia de la ordenación y a continuación, un resumen conciso de seis destacados diáconos en la tradición de la Iglesia que nos ofrecen una comprensión más profunda de esta antigua orden, ahora siempre nueva.
Queridos hermanos y hermanas: ya que estos nuestros hijos, que son sus parientes y amigos, van a ser avanzados a la orden de los diáconos, consideren cuidadosamente la naturaleza de la jerarquía de la iglesia a la que están a punto de ser elevados.
Fortalecidos por el don del Espíritu Santo ayudarán al obispo y a sus sacerdotes en el ministerio de la palabra, del altar y de la caridad, mostrándose ser siervos de todos. Como ministros del altar, proclamarán el Evangelio, prepararán el sacrificio, y distribuirán el Cuerpo y la Sangre del Señor a los fieles.
Además, será su deber, bajo la dirección del obispo, exhortar a los creyentes y no creyentes e instruirlos en la sagrada doctrina. Ellos presidirán la oración pública, administrarán el bautismo, asistirán y bendecirán los matrimonios, llevarán el viático a los moribundos y presidirán los ritos funerarios.
Consagrados por la imposición de manos que llega hasta nosotros desde los Apóstoles y vinculados más estrechamente al servicio del altar, realizarán obras de caridad en nombre del obispo o del pastor. Con la ayuda de Dios realizarán todas estas funciones de manera tal que serán reconocidos como discípulos de aquel que no vino a ser servido sino a servir.
Ahora, queridos hijos, van a ser elevados al orden del diaconado. El Señor ha dado un ejemplo que así como él mismo lo ha hecho, ustedes también deberían hacerlo.
Como diáconos, es decir, como ministros de Jesucristo, que vino entre sus discípulos como uno que sirve, hagan la voluntad de Dios desde el corazón: sirvan a la gente con amor y alegría como lo harían al Señor. Puesto que nadie puede servir a dos amos, miren a la deshonra y la avaricia como sirviendo a dioses falsos.

Diáconos del Nuevo Testamento
De los siete originales, dos aparecen en el Nuevo Testamento: Esteban y Felipe que encontramos en los Hechos de los Apóstoles, no sirviendo en la mesa sino sirviendo en la Mesa de la Palabra. Esta realidad nos revela que san Lucas en los Hechos de los Apóstoles ve la diaconía como obra de evangelización, predicando y edificando la Iglesia.
Esteban:
Esteban fue un profeta, un hombre lleno de fe y también lleno de gracia y de poder. Su valiente predicación lo condujo a su martirio por lapidación, y como el Señor, encomendó su espíritu a Dios, pidiendo perdón por los que lo estaban matando, para que ellos pudieran encontrar paz como la había encontrado él en Cristo Jesús. San Esteban es el patrono de los diáconos y el protomártir.
Felipe:
Fue el primero en anunciar el Evangelio en Samaria, y dos de sus notables conversos fueron Simón el Mago y el etíope Eunuch cuyo Chariot corrió a lo largo del lateral, y después lo bautizó en un charco de agua. Como el Señor, Felipe predicó la Palabra, expulsó demonios, y se acercó a los marginados. Fue dirigido por el Espíritu Santo hacia la gente en necesidad y así siguió siendo diácono de diáconos a través de la predicación y el cuidado de los marginados.

Período Patrístico – San Lorenzo 200-258
Más de 200 años más tarde San Lorenzo fue uno de los siete diáconos de Roma, quien también sufrió el martirio. Ningún otro santo, salvo en el caso de Pedro y Pablo, fue más honrado por el pueblo de Roma que San Lorenzo. San Ambrosio elogia a Lorenzo como un ejemplo a su clero que recuerda que el prefecto de Roma le pidió a Lorenzo revelar el paradero de los tesoros de la Iglesia, porque los diáconos eran confiados con recursos para atender a los pobres. Así que Lorenzo reunió a los pobres y a los enfermos y se los presentó al prefecto diciendo, “Estos son los tesoros de la Iglesia”. Esto le costó su cabeza, pero revela el corazón y la mente del ministerio del diácono como alguien que conoce bien a los pobres y los cuida. En su ministerio de caridad Lorenzo es un diácono de diáconos.
Efrén de Nisibi 306-373
Se convirtió en un Doctor de la Iglesia y escribió teología en forma de poesía en un dialecto del arameo. Efrén veía la teología no tanto como “la fe en busca de entendimiento” sino como “la fe adorando el misterio” ya que él estaba muy consciente de las limitaciones del entendimiento humano.
Un pedacito de la poesía de Efrén dice, “Si alguien busca tu oculta naturaleza, mirad, está en el cielo en el gran seno de la divinidad. Y si alguien busca tu cuerpo, mirad descansa y se asoma desde el pequeño seno de María”. Efrén le enseña a los diáconos modernos la importancia y la belleza de las palabras y las imágenes, especialmente en la homilía. En su ministerio de la Palabra, Efrén es un diácono de diáconos.

Edad Media –
Alcuin de York: 735-804
Colaboró estrechamente con el emperador Carlomagno para lograr una reforma integral en la Iglesia alrededor de los años 800 D.C. Fue un maestro por excelencia. Instruyó a sus alumnos en las escrituras, actualizando  la Vulgata en latín de san Jerónimo, en la literatura antigua, la lógica, la gramática y la astronomía. Y aún más interesante, estuvo a la vanguardia de la reforma litúrgica cuyo fervor se manifiesta en las siguientes palabras: “examinen a los sacerdotes (y obispos) en cuanto a su manera de bautizar y celebrar la Misa para ver que mantienen la verdadera fe, para averiguar si entienden las oraciones de la misa bien, si cantan los salmos devotamente, si ellos mismos entienden la oración del Señor y se la explican a todos para que todos puedan entender lo que le están pidiendo a Dios”.
Alcuin le enseña a los diáconos modernos la importancia y belleza de servir bien en la Liturgia, y como un verdadero administrador de los misterios de Dios, Alcuin es un diácono de diáconos.

San Francisco de Asís, 1181-1226
Fue ordenado diácono y permaneció así hasta el final de su vida. Era una persona sin educación formal de inteligencia media, pero un visionario que vio toda la creación llena de vida divina. Después de él miramos con ojos diferentes la naturaleza, los animales y a las personas.
Su amor por la creación de Dios y su compartir de aquel amor con personas que tienen ojos para ver y oídos para oír, revela la armonía de la iglesia en el mundo. La simpleza espiritual de Francisco por Cristo, su sentido de libertad interior, y su fervor evangélico y misionero (se cansó de convertir al sultán de Egipto durante la Quinta Cruzada) revelan el corazón de un diácono. Al recibir las estigmas, él nos inspira a abrazar la lucha, el sacrificio y el sufrimiento en el poder de la cruz y al hacerlo es un diácono de diáconos.
A través de su intercesión y la intercesión de todos los santos que Dios, que ha comenzado la buena obra en nuestros recién ordenados diáconos, lo lleve a cumplimiento en el día de Cristo Jesús.

Deacons called to life of service

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By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The Diocese of Jackson for the first time in a generation celebrated the ordination to the Permanent Diaconate of six men, who with their wives, have been in formation for the past five years. Deacons Jeff, Rich, Denzil, John, John and Ted have already begun to serve in their home parishes throughout the diocese. What follows is a portion of the homily provided by the church for the ordination liturgy, and then a concise summary of six outstanding deacons in the church’s tradition who offer us a deeper understanding of this ancient order, now ever new.
Beloved brothers and sisters: since these our sons who are your relatives and friends are now to be advanced to the Order of Deacons, consider carefully the nature of the rank in the church to which they are about to be raised.
Strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, they will help the bishop and his priests in the ministry of the word, of the altar, and of charity, showing themselves to be servants to all. As ministers of the altar, they will proclaim the Gospel, prepare the sacrifice, and distribute the Lord’s Body and Blood to the faithful.
Furthermore, it will be their duty, at the bishop’s direction, to exhort believers and unbelievers alike and to instruct them in holy doctrine. They will preside over public prayer, administer baptism, assist at and bless marriages, bring viaticum to the dying, and conduct funeral rites. Consecrated by the laying on of hands that comes down to us from the Apostles and bound more closely to the service of the altar, they will perform works of charity in the name of the bishop or the pastor. With the help of God, they are to go about all these duties in such a way that you will recognize them as disciples of him who came not to be served, but to serve.
Now, dear sons, you are to be raised to the Order of the diaconate. The Lord has set an example that just as he himself has done, you also should do.
As deacons, that is, as ministers of Jesus Christ, who came among his disciples as one who served, do the will of God from the heart: serve the people in love and joy as you would the Lord. Since no one can serve two masters, look upon all defilement and avarice as serving false gods.
New Testament Deacons
From the original seven, two are featured in the New Testament: Stephen and Philip who we find in the Acts of the Apostles not serving at table but serving at the Table of the Word. This reality reveals to us that St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles sees Diakonia as the work of evangelization, preaching and building up the church.
St. Stephen:
Stephen was a prophet and a man full of faith, and also full of grace and power. His courageous preaching led to his martyrdom by stoning, and like the Lord he commended his spirit to God, asking for forgiveness for those were killing him, that they may find peace as he had in Jesus Christ. Saint Stephen is the patron saint of deacons, and the protomartyr.
St. Philip:
He was th e first to proclaim the gospel in Samaria, and two of his notable converts were Simon the Magician and the Ethiopian Eunuch whose Chariot he ran along side of, and afterwards baptized him in a convenient pool of water. Like the Lord himself Philip preached the Word, drove out demons and reached out to the marginalized. He was led by the Holy Spirit to people in need, and so remains a deacon for deacons through preaching and care for the marginalized.

The Patristic Period
St. Lawrence:  200-258
More than 200 years later St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome who also suffered martyrdom. No other saint, except for Peter and Paul was more honored by the people of Rome than St. Lawrence. Saint Ambrose commends Lawrence as an example to his clergy who recalls that the Prefect of Rome asked Lawrence to reveal the whereabouts of the treasures of the church because deacons were entrusted with resources to care for the poor. So Lawrence brought together the poor and the sick and told the Prefect, “these are the treasures of the church.” This cost him his head, but reveals the heart and mind of the ministry of the deacon as one who knows the poor well and who looked after them. In his ministry of charity Lawrence is a deacon for deacons.
Ephrem of Nisibis:  306-373
He became a Doctor the Church and wrote theology in the form of poetry in a dialect of Aramaic. Ephrem views theology not so much as “Faith seeking understanding” as he was all too aware of the limits of human understanding, but rather “faith adoring the mystery.” From a sliver of Ephrem’s poetry. “If anyone seeks your hidden nature, behold it is in heaven in the great womb of divinity. And if anyone seeks your body, behold it rests and looks out from the small womb of Mary.” Ephrem teaches modern deacons the importance and beauty of words and images especially in the homily. In his ministry of the Word, Ephrem is a deacon for deacons.
The Middle Ages
Alcuin of York:  735-804
Alcuin worked closely with the Emperor Charlemagne to bring about comprehensive reform in the church around 800 A.D. He was a teacher par excellence. He instructed his pupils in the scriptures, upgrading the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome, along with ancient literature, logic, grammar and astronomy.
And even more outstanding he was at the forefront of liturgical reform whose zeal is apparent in the following words: “Examine the priests (and bishops) regarding their way of baptizing and celebrating Mass that they may hold to the true faith, to find out if they understand the Mass prayers well, if they chant the psalms devoutly, if they themselves understand the Lord’s prayer and impart an explanation of it to all so that all may understand what they are asking of God.” Alcuin teaches modern deacons the importance and beauty of serving well at Liturgy, and as a true steward of the mysteries of God Alcuin is a deacon for deacons.
Saint Francis of Assisi:  1181-1226
He was ordained a deacon, and remained so until the end of his life. He was an uneducated person of average intelligence, but a visionary who saw all creation filled with divine life. After him we looked with different eyes at nature, animals and people. His love of God’s creation, and his sharing of that love with people who have eyes to see and ears to hear, reveals the harmony of the church in the world.
Francis’ spiritual foolishness for Christ, his sense of inner freedom and his evangelical and missionary zeal (he tired to convert the Sultan of Egypt during the fifth Crusade) reveal the heart of a deacon. By receiving the stigmata, he inspires us to embrace, struggle, sacrifice and suffer in the power of the cross and in so doing is a deacon for deacons.
Through their intercession and the intercession of all the saints may God, who has begun the good work in our newly ordained deacons, bring it to fulfillment on the day of Christ Jesus.

Confirmation letters inspire bishop

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By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
Over the past month-and-a-half I have celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation on 20 occasions, representing approximately 35 parishes in the Diocese of Jackson. An essential function of the office of Bishop is to strengthen his diocese through pastoral visits, and Confirmation is one of the essential opportunities to do so. In their desire for Confirmation the young members of our families and parishes are witnessing to their growing faith in God through their words and actions.
In this column I want to share with you their inspired sentiments, wisdom, struggles, and dreams as the Holy Spirit stirs in their hearts and minds. The following quotes are a representative cluster from the letters they write to me requesting the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Early on, one Candidate asked: Confirmation, what’s that? I just saw it as another chance to get dressed up for Church and do something that felt important. But throughout the process of preparation many were transformed, including the one who asked the question.
God has put me on this journey for a reason and I couldn’t be happier about it.

This process has been fun and special and the memories we have made will stay with me the rest of my life.

  • I made new friends and met knew people
  • I became more open to others, and I realize that I was missing my Lord.
  • We all need someone to encourage us. We all think that we know the answers to everything, but in reality we don’t which leads us into problems.
  • I am thankful for all the things and people he has put into my life to help me.
  • The retreat was a great experience because I had the chance to see other Catholics and meet them.  It made me feel that it was like a big family celebration.
  • I have learned that God really does love us and that is why he died on the Cross for us.
  • My favorite part of the Confirmation process and becoming closer to Christ is finding true joy in Him.
  • I have had a lot of fun learning about my faith, and I am ready to be an adult in faith.
  • Time has flown and I am happy that I have taken this step and made new friends.
  • I can say that I have felt the Holy Spirit, and I have seen God do His works in my life, and have learned to thank Him everyday.
  • I now believe that everyone deserves my love and respect, even if they are different from me.
  • Because of my faith in God, I never feel alone, and I know no matter what, I am always loved by someone.
  • I have myself been ashamed of my faith. Through knowledge and understanding I gained a new confidence and was able to answer others who questioned my faith, and prove wrong false accusations with facts and evidence of my faith.
  • His love for me goes beyond what I have endured or what I will endure.
  • His forgiveness allows me to live out his word and share with others his light in my life.
  • I have seen the goodness, love and grace of God in my life, and that’s not something that I can just turn away from and forget.
    A developing relationship with the Church, locally and universally, is apparent.
  • The Church does so much work for social justice and issues. It makes me proud to be Catholic
  • The Catholic traditions are the best and I am very passionate about being able to spread the Word with joy.
  • The Church has a long history and a lot of culture, and I find that fascinating.
  • I love being Catholic. It may take a bit of work, but it’s all worth it in my opinion.
  • With Confirmation I will have more courage to share my faith and more knowledge about it.
  • I am very proud to be Catholic, but It can be difficult to be Catholic because it can be very rare down here.
    The gift of family life, the domestic church at work
  • I am reminded on a daily basis of God’s grace and love surrounded by family members that help me to recognize all the many blessings God has give me.
  • By example from my parents I have learned to value reaching out to others outside of my family.
    The gift you have received; give as a gift.
  • As the Catholic faith has been passed on to me, so I have taught younger children and in so doing I have learned much more about my faith.
  • I want to be a prime example to younger kids in the Church, and especially after I am confirmed.
  • I want to encourage my younger siblings to commit their lives to Jesus.
  • I want to live a full life glorifying the Lord and raising my children to do the same.
  • I know in my heart that Jesus loves the little children.
    The blessings from the reception of Confirmation.
  • The grace of God is imparted upon our very being, and that is an amazing gift.
  • The Gift of the Holy Spirit would be greater than any material gift I could receive.
  • I am looking forward to fully accepting the Holy Spirit into my life to continue to do the works of Jesus in the world, and to perform the works of love in the name of God.
  • I will continue serving, not only God, but others, and not putting myself first.
  • The spiritual awakening that will give me many gifts from the Holy Spirit.
  • Getting out of my comfort zone.
  • I have other dreams in life, but serving God will be the most wonderful thing.
  • Letting the Holy Spirit work through me so that I can discern God’s call in my life.
  • Spending one hour with the Lord at Mass on Sunday is something that I want to do faithfully in the years ahead.
  • The spiritual seal to consecrate a connection with God through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
  • As you can see I have chosen to let Christ guide me through my journey in life.
  • As a young adult entering college, I will face temptations and adversity. I will confront those things with a Christ like attitude.
  • I know that God had a reason to put me on this earth and I want to discover that reason.
  • My spiritual life is a race. I still have questions and hope to continue learning along the way, but feel that this step in my race will further my faith.
  • To stand on my own two feet without my Mom or my Dad telling me what to do.
  • I want to understand my faith and be able to have a conversation about it which is a good thing if I want to represent my faith.

We fall regularly in life, but it is necessary to just take a leap of faith and continue toward the light who, of course, is Jesus.
May the Lord bless our Confirmandi and those still awaiting the Sacrament of Confirmation this year. May the Holy Spirit transform each of us as we heard in the words of Saint Paul during last week’s celebration of Trinity Sunday.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5,5)

Who are today’s youth?

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
A seminarian I know recently went to a party on a Friday evening at a local university campus. The group was a crowd of young, college students and when he was introduced as a seminarian, as someone who was trying to become a priest and who had taken a vow of celibacy, the mention of celibacy evoked some giggles in the room, some banter, and a number of jokes about how much he must be missing out on in life. Poor, naïve fellow!
Initially, within this group of millennials, his religious beliefs and what this had led to in his life was regarded as something between amusing and pitiful. But, before the evening was out, several young women had come, cried on his shoulder, and shared about their frustration with their boyfriends’ inability to commit fully to their relationship.
This incident might serve as a parable describing today’s young people in our secularized world. They exhibit what might aptly be called a bi-polar character about faith, church, family, sexual ethos, and many other things that are important to them.
They present an inconsistent picture: On the one hand, by and large, they are not going to church, at least with any regularity; they are not following the Christian ethos on sexuality; they seem indifferent to and even sometimes hostile to many cherished religious traditions; and they can appear unbelievably shallow in their addiction and enslavement to what’s trending in the world of entertainment, fashion, and information technology. Looked at from one perspective, our kids today can appear irreligious, morally blasé, and on a heavy diet of the kind of superficiality that characterizes reality television and video games.  More seriously still, they can also appear myopic, greedy, pampered and excessively self-interested. Not a pretty picture.
But this isn’t exactly the picture. Beneath that surface, in most cases, you will find someone who is very likeable, sincere, soft, good-hearted, gracious, moral, warm, generous and searching for all the right things (without much help from a culture that lacks clear moral guidance and is fraught with over-choice). The good news is that most young people, at the level of their real desires, are not at odds at all with God, faith, church and family. For the most part, youth today are still very good people and want all the right things.
But, that isn’t always so evident. Sometimes their surface seems to trump their depth so that who they really are and what they really want is not so evident. We see the surface and, seen there, our youth can appear more self-interested than generous, more shallow than deep, more blasé than morally sensitive, and more religiously indifferent than faith-filled. They can also manifest a smugness and self-sufficiency that suggests little vulnerability and no need for guidance from anyone beyond themselves.
Hence their bi-polarity: Mostly they want all the right things, but, too often, because of a lack of genuine guidance and their addiction to the culture, they aren’t making the kinds of choices that will bring them what they more-deeply desire. Sexuality is a prime example here: Studies done on millennials indicate that most of them want, at the end of the day, to be inside a monogamous, faithful marriage. The problem is that they also believe that they can first allow themselves 10 to 15 years of sexual promiscuity, without having to accept that practicing 10 to 15 years of infidelity is not a good preparation for the kind of fidelity needed to a sustain marriage and family. In this, as in many other things, they are caught between their cultural ethos and their own fragile securities. The culture trumpets a certain ethos, liberation from the timidities of the past, complete with a smugness that belittles whatever questions it. But much of that smugness is actually whistling in the dark. Deep down, our youth are pretty insecure and, happily, this keeps them vulnerable and likeable.
Maybe Louis Dupre, the retired philosopher who taught for some many years at Yale, captures it best when he says that today’s young people are not bad, they’re just not finished.  That’s a simple insight that captures a lot. Someone can be wonderful and very likeable, but still immature. Moreover, if you’re young enough, that can even be attractive, the very definition of cool. The reverse is also, often times, true: More than a few of us, adults, suffer from our own bi-polarity: we are mature, but far from wonderful and likeable. This makes for some strange, paradoxical binaries.
So who is the actual young person of today? Is it the person who is wrapped up in his or her own world, obsessive about physical appearance, addicted to social media, living outside marriage with his or her partner, smug in his or her own non-traditional moral and religious views? That, I believe, is the surface appearance. The actual young person of today is warm, good-hearted, generous and waiting – waiting consciously for love and affirmation, and waiting unconsciously for God’s embrace.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Ordinations inspire renewal

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complete the circle
By George Evans
Last weekend I was fortunate, even blessed, to attend and participate in the ordination and first Mass of Father Jason Johnston. He and Father Joseph Le were both ordained by Bishop Joseph Kopacz in the Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, May 14 and each celebrated his first Mass the next day, May 15.
Fr. Johnston celebrated in his home parish, Vicksburg St. Paul and Father Le in Greenville St. Joseph, where he had previously spent some time in ministry. I urge you to not miss the next chance to attend an ordination and first Mass, particularly when you know the ordinandi.
I met Jason before he entered seminary at the 7a.m. daily Mass at St. Richard where I was on staff at the time. I was from Vicksburg and our families had known each other so there was an immediate connection. A short while later my wife and I invited him to participate in our St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Richard which had been established a short time earlier.
He agreed and became one of the earliest members after those of us who had started it. He was a great addition. He was young, an accounting graduate from Mississippi State who had been working for the Mississippi Department of Revenue for a couple of years, loved the Lord and was inclined to prayer and to service of the poor and marginalized.
Not surprisingly he was a great member open to every challenge of a fledging undertaking. About five months later, Saint Vincent de Paul hosted a farewell party for Jason at the home of our president, Jon Fairbank and his wife, Sue. We got to meet Jason’s wonderful mother and father and the rest of his great family. Jason was off to the seminary at St. Ben’s for two years and then Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans for four years culminating in becoming Father Jason Johnston six years later.
The power of the ordination liturgy is profound. The ordinandi is vouched for as to education and character by a priest involved in formation, makes his wish for ordination known to all, promises obedience to the bishop, receives the grace of the Litany of the Saints prayed by all present, is ordained by the laying on of hands by the bishop followed by his now brother priests, invested with stole and chasuble, has hands anointed by the bishop and is again welcomed by brother priests with a fraternal kiss of peace.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist follows and after what has just transpired is as rich and compelling as can be. I can’t imagine anyone present not being profoundly affected. I certainly was.
I went to Vicksburg with Carol for Father Johnston’s first Mass because we had known him more than six years and had just met Father Le although the beauty of his Vietnamese family and the dresses of the Vietnamese ladies was compelling. St. Paul’s outdid itself. I was so proud to say it’s where I grew up. Father Tom Lalor’s greeting and welcome were perfect. Father Jason had not one flaw in his Mass celebration.
As was the case at the ordination, the music and choir was exciting and the myriad seminarians carried out their tasks with attention and liturgical sense and touch. The homily by Father James Wehner, rector of Notre Dame Seminary, was superb in both content and delivery. It would be great if copies could be available. It was that good.
I can only contrast the power of the ordination on Saturday and the beauty and grace of the first Mass on Sunday with the pettiness, cynicism and silliness of our materialistic world and particularly our bankrupt politics. As Father Wehner and the psalmist pointed out in the homily and scripture, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”
If ever the Holy Spirit is needed, it is now. If ever we are called to renew the face of the earth, it is now. Only if we as lay people understand and accept that this task is ours as well as that of Bishop Kopacz, our priests and consecrated religious will we be able to renew the face of the earth.
As Father Wehner so eloquently preached, with the new beginnings of Father Jason Johnston and Father Joseph Le and the new influx of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, maybe, just maybe, we can all pull together and renew the face of the earth.
(George Evans is a retired pastoral minister who lives at St. Catherine’s Village and is a member of Jackson St. Richard Parish.)