Lieberman Socks

Check out this funny sock puppet video of Senator Joe Lieberman holding health care hostage for his list of personal demands.

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787 Dreamliner – First flight video

The very first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner! Thank God for the human mind and spirit that can create such a plane. It’s supposed to be revolutionary from the point of view of energy saving and also, especially, a more pleasant and healthy flight experience for people. I can’t wait to fly the 787.

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More clerical child porn

There’s an article in this morning’s National Post about the sad case of a priest in Newfoundland accused of possession of child pornography. Sound familiar? Are you unfazed by the thought of a priest being accused of such a crime? Expecting the diatribe about those Catholic celibates; who aren’t so celibate?

In this case, though, the priest is Anglican, was married and has three children! Now he claims to be gay. I feel terribly sad for him, for his family and of course for the children who are exploited in that pornography.  It also perpetuates the connection between this crime and homosexuality.  A study by New York’s John Jay School of Criminology has a preliminary report which debunks this connection.

Either way, the issue is not celibacy or homosexuality or even sex at all.  The root of child sexual abuse or any abuse for that matter is about power. We need to look at this as a society. In my experience as a pastor, I can tell you that there are many forms of abuse and it always hurts. We need to have resources available to help people when they are deeply hurt so that they don’t pass that pain on to others.  We need to move, as the Canadian Bishops wrote: From Pain to Hope.  It’s an appropriate reflection during this season of Advent, when we wait in Hope for the One who brings healing and consolation to our wounded world.

Woman standing by us

St. Anne & her daughter the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the feastday of my “province” within the Franciscan Order, we’re the Province of the Immaculate Conception in the Americas! For the entire Order it is an important day as we celebrate an aspect of Mary that was highly promoted by the early scholars of the the Franciscan Order. Today, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (her conception in St. Anne’s womb) speaks to us of the power of Christ’s redemption through all time and space. Through the effects of the sacrifice of her son, Mary is preserved from the effects of original sin and is made the holy tabernacle of the most high.

Mary stands by us in our daily lives, inspiring us to the glory which is the destiny of the human. Mary first disciple of Christ, Mother of the Church, stand by us and pray for us.

Standing by women

As I get ready for bed I can’t help but think of those women who were killed in Montreal 20 years ago, already! I remember when I heard the news. I was living in Maryland. All I could think of was of my sister who was a university student at the time. I had not yet heard where the shooting was, and was obviously very worried. My relief that my sister was fine turned to disbelief at the magnitude of the crime.

Remembering the 14 women is not just about sad memories, but about commitment to working for women’s rights. It’s about fighting every kind of oppression of women… be it large or in the small  and petty jokes, whether it is at work, in our homes, and yes even at church.

We need to stand by the women in our lives. Enough of violence against women!

Caring for homeless women: St. Clare Inn

As some of you may know I am on the board of St Clare Inn – a home for women 35-60 who are homeless and have had mental health issues. Our website has a live auction which is updated daily. If you are looking for some unique gifts this Christmas, check out the site. You will be shopping for a wonderful item and giving 100% back to charity. If you can pass the link on to family and friends I would appreciate the exposure for the shopping items and what St Clare Inn is all about. In Toronto we have about 5000 people that are homeless. 25% are females with over half having mental health issues, in addition to many physical ailments such as arthritis and heart health. Many of these women have suffered physical abuse and try to live on less than $2400.00 a year. They also have no access to medical care without a fixed address. Women seem to have a need to find a home and Julie’s story which is on the site depicts the story of this invisible minority. Friar Tom, the Friends of Saint Francis (our sponsoring Board), and the St. Bonaventure Parish have been instrumental in keeping the Inn going. St Clare Inn provides a very supportive environment for these women to get off the street and transition back into life. It was initially sponsored by the Franciscan Friars. Our friars were also the creators of Covenant House in New York, a wonderful success story and also closer to home Tobias House which provides housing and independent living to people with physical disabilities. St Clare Inn does not receive government funding and is generously supported by community based fund raising efforts and the Friars.

Here is the link!   Also, if you know any one that would like to donate to the auction and have exposure to over 3000+ households let me know.

Enjoy the Advent Season!

Sacraments for C & E Catholics?

Sometimes you hear priests struggling with the idea of celebrating sacraments with families who do not practice the faith as much as they should; C & E Catholics… those who only come at Christmas and Easter… if that. Do we withhold baptism if the parents do not come to church often? Do we do the same with marriage? Some priests require couples to attend mass for at least three months before proceeding with marriage preparation. It seems that this mechanical approach… counting masses… backfires. Couples do the minimum that is required and then leave. My experience is that it is better to invite couples, parents, families to experience the richness of our community’s life, the power of the liturgy, the inspiration of the preaching. If you build it they will come!  Here are some thoughts from Sandro Magister, a journalist from Rome on the efforts of the Church in Argentina as expressed by Cardinal Bergoglio and also the ideas expressed by Pope Benedict XVI.

by Sandro Magister

Cardinal Bergoglio has explained the meaning of all this in an interview with the international magazine “30 Days”:

“The child has no responsibility for the condition of his parents’ marriage. The baptism of children can, on the contrary, become a new beginning for the parents. A while ago, I baptized the seven children of one woman, a poor widow who works as a maid and had her children by two different men. I met her on the feast of Saint Cajetan. She said to me, ‘Father, I am in mortal sin, I have seven children and have never had them baptized, I don’t have the money for the godparents and for the party… I saw her again and after a little catechesis I baptized them in the chapel of the archepiscopal residence. The woman said to me, ‘Father, I can’t believe it, you make me feel important’. I said to her, ‘But madam, what do I have to do with it? It’s Jesus who makes you important.”
….

“The conference in Aparecida urged us to proclaim the Gospel by going to meet the people, not by waiting for the people to come to us. Missionary fervor does not require extraordinary events. It is in ordinary life that mission work is done. And baptism, in this, is paradigmatic. The sacraments are for the life of men and women as they are. They may not make big speeches, but their ’sensus fidei’ grasps the reality of the sacraments with more clarity than many specialists do.”

What reemerges here is the ancient and still unresolved dispute between a Church of the elite, a pure, minority Church, and a Church of the masses, populated also by that immense sea of humanity for whom Christianity is made up of a few simple things.

In Italy, for example, the dispute came up again during the last major national conference of the Church, held in Verona in October of 2006. On that occasion, one position held by the “rigorists” was precisely that of withholding baptism and the other sacraments from those believed to be unfit because they are not practicing.

It is a dilemma that Joseph Ratzinger himself experienced personally as a young man, and finally resolved in the same direction indicated by Cardinal Bergoglio. This is what, as pope, Ratzinger himself said in replying to the question from a priest of Bressanone, in a public question-and-answer session with the clergy of the diocese on August 6, 2008.

The priest, named Paolo Rizzi, a pastor and professor of theology, asked Benedict XVI a question about baptism, confirmation, and first communion:

“Holy Father, 35 years ago I thought that we were beginning to be a little flock, a minority community, more or less everywhere in Europe; that we should therefore administer the sacraments only to those who are truly committed to Christian life. Then, partly because of the style of John Paul II’s Pontificate, I thought things through again. If it is possible to make predictions for the future, what do you think? What pastoral approaches can you suggest to us?”.

Pope Ratzinger responded:

“I must say that I took a similar route to yours. When I was younger I was rather severe. I said: the sacraments are sacraments of faith, and where faith does not exist, where the practice of faith does not exist, the Sacrament cannot be conferred either. And then I always used to talk to my parish priest when I was Archbishop of Munich: here too there were two factions, one severe and one broad-minded. Then I too, with time, came to realize that we must follow, rather, the example of the Lord, who was very open even with people on the margins of Israel of that time. He was a Lord of mercy, too open – according to many official authorities – with sinners, welcoming them or letting them invite him to their dinners, drawing them to him in his communion.

“Therefore I would say substantially that the sacraments are naturally sacraments of faith: when there is no element of faith, when First Communion is no more than a great lunch with beautiful clothes and beautiful gifts, it can no longer be a sacrament of faith. Yet, on the other hand, if we can still see a little flame of desire for communion in the faith, a desire even in these children who want to enter into communion with Jesus, it seems to me that it is right to be rather broad-minded.
…
“I would say that this is definitely an inadequate answer, but the pedagogy of faith is always a journey and we must accept today’s situations. Yet, we must also open them more to each person, so that the result is not only an external memory of things that endures but that their hearts that have truly been touched. The moment when we are convinced the heart is touched – it has felt a little of Jesus’ love, it has felt a little the desire to move along these lines and in this direction, that is the moment when, it seems to me, we can say that we have made a true catechesis. The proper meaning of catechesis, in fact, must be this: to bring the flame of Jesus’ love, even if it is a small one, to the hearts of children, and through the children to their parents, thus reopening the places of faith of our time.”

Pope Prays for End to HIV/AIDS

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is praying for an end to the AIDS epidemic.

The Pope affirmed this today before praying the Angelus at midday with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, noting that World AIDS Day will be observed Thursday.

“My thoughts and my prayers go to all persons affected by this sickness, in particular children, to the poorest and to those who are rejected,” he said.

“The Church does not cease to combat AIDS, through her institutions and the personnel dedicated to it,” the Holy Father noted. “I exhort everyone to make their own contribution with prayer and care, so that those who are affected by the HIV virus will feel the presence of the Lord who gives support and hope.

“Finally, I hope that, by multiplying and coordinating efforts, this sickness will be halted and eradicated.”

According to the 2009 UNAIDS report, some 2 million people died of HIV/AIDS in 2008 (280,000 of those were children).

Furthermore, it estimates that 33.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS (2.1 of whom are children), and that in 2008 there were at least 2.7 million new cases.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981. Africa has over 14 million AIDS orphans.

The Truth about Priests

Maclean’s December 7th 2009 issue has a cover story entitled: The Truth About Priests. It’s probably one of the best articles on priests and the sexual abuse scandal in Canada. It takes up some of the past scandals and the present situation with Bishop Lahey, but it makes the point quite clearly that these cases are not the norm among Catholic priests. Quite the contrary the article states that one of the safest places for a child is a Catholic environment.  The heaviest criticism is directed at church leadership that seemed to avoid dealing with the issue. Although the bishops’ perspective is fairly presented whereby many bishops thought of this problem as a moral lapse. Priests were reprimanded and told to stop. Today, that’s clearly not the way to go. It doesn’t work. It’s interesting to read this article in light of the government report on abuse in Dublin.

This issue of Macleans is especially worth reading!

50th Anniversary – Abbey of the Genesee.

Happy Anniversary to the monks at Genesee. A special shout out to Br. Paul and Fr. Jerome. We count on your prayers and remember you in ours as you celebrate the establishment of your monastery.

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