The sun refuses to shine on our nation and our Church. 

Were you there when the sun refused to shine?  Were you there when the sun refused to shine? Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

A dark cloud hangs over the Catholic Church and the United States of America. Our leaders have betrayed us and the atmosphere has been poisoned by anger, hatred and the most vile and vicious name-calling and character assasination. God forgive us. We are in a bad way. 

In such an atmosphere, the sun refuses to shine, and our only recourse is to tremble with shame, tremble with sadness and tremble with fear for the future our our nation and our Church. 

Angels serve as God’s messengers, protectors

The feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, who were God’s messengers as recorded in sacred scripture, reminds us that we are never alone. We have advocates (guardian angels) who stand with us and bring healing, reconciliation and the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ. (Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin)

Saturday, September 29, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, three angels named in Sacred Scripture and associated with important moments in the history of our salvation. At this time in the Church’s life, when there is so much confusion, anger, anxiety and doubt, it’s good to step back a little and reflect on some of the more mysterious—and comforting—elements of our Catholic belief and practice. Church teaching on angels certainly fits in this category.

Reruns of the popular television program, Life is Worth Living, which featured Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the first and some would say greatest Catholic television evangelist, often addressed the topic of angels. Bishop Sheen did this with humor. (He said it was an angel who erased his blackboard when it was off camera.) But he was also deadly serious in the way he discussed the existence of angels and their influence on our daily lives. 

Noting that the word “angel” comes from the Greek word for messenger, Bishop Sheen explained the angels are God’s emissaries and that they exercise two fundamental responsibilities in their interaction with us human beings: First, as messengers they help to illuminate our understanding of God’s will for us. Certainly that was the role played by the angel Gabriel in his appearances to Mary and Joseph. Following Gabriel’s disclosures, Mary understood (and accepted) her unique role in God’s plan for our redemption and Joseph assumed his rightful place as the guardian and protector of Mary and her divine son.

The second role that angels play in human affairs is that of protection and healing. St. Michael the Archangel and St. Raphael stand for the advocacy and the healing power of God’s grace. They testify to the fact that, when necessary, angels can be warlike in their defense of God’s truth and justice, but they are often equally kind and merciful in their dealings with those who are suffering any kind of hardship or abuse.

Everyone of us has a guardian angel. We don’t hear nearly enough about them these days. Even in the 1950s, when Life is Worth Living, was at the peak of its popularity on American television, Bishop Sheen had a hard time convincing his audiences that the doctrine of angels was more than just a pious, sentimental teaching. Why? Bishop Sheen’s explanation was the influence of materialism and secularism. After all, if you only believe what you can see and touch or place under a microscope, there’s not much room for beings who have a mind and will but no body.

And yet, Christians have always believed that what is invisible is in some ways more real than what is visible. When God took on human flesh, he forever united the spiritual world with the material world. He showed us the true miracle of human life is that we are much more than we appear to be. We are each made in the image and likeness of God which means that we are spirit and flesh incarnate.

Bishop Sheen speculated that the reason some angels turned away from God is because they could not abide the scandal of the Incarnation. It was too much for them to accept that God’s only son would so humiliate himself as to take on human flesh—not just the holographic appearance of humanity but the actual, messy, bloody reality. Certainly, it’s quite possible that the reason Lucifer and his companions fell from grace was because they were too proud to pay homage to one who was beneath them in the order of being, a man like us human beings in all things but sin. 

Pope Francis has repeatedly called our attention to the role played by the Evil One, a fallen angel, in the scandals that are shaking the foundations of our Church today. The sins of some priests and bishops and their further degradation by “hypocrites” who use the media (especially social media) to destroy reputations and enflame the legitimate hurt and anger of others.

Saints Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, and all holy angels, pray for us. We need your inspiration, healing and protection now more than ever! May your ministry as angels of mercy and guardian angels guide us, protect us and keep us from all evil. Now and forever. Amen.

Silence can speak louder than words

Express how you feel and then be quiet. Because the truth is humble, the truth is silent, the truth isn't noisy. It's not easy, what Jesus did; but the dignity of the Christian is anchored in the power of God. With people lacking good will, with people who only seek scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within the family: silence, prayer. (Pope Francis, homily, September 3, 2018)

Pope Francis surprised many people when he refused to discuss allegations that he knowingly ignored—even covered up—abusive behavior by resigned cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick. When journalists asked him to comment on the allegations made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former nuncio to the United States, the Holy Father said, “I will not say a single word on this.” He then invited journalists to use their investigative skills to determine for themselves whether or not the allegations are truthful.

We are so accustomed to public figures giving strong and often detailed statements in responses to allegations of every kind, that it’s jarring to have someone refuse to say a single word in his own defense. Why has Pope Francis chosen this approach? What does he hope to communicate with his silence?

It’s clear from remarks during a homily by the pope at his Santa Marta residence on September 3, that Pope Francis believes that the former nuncio’s allegations are intended to cause grave harm to the Church. “With people lacking good will,” the pope said, “with people who only seek scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within the family: silence, prayer” are the only appropriate responses.

Is Archbishop Viganò someone who only seeks scandal or division? Without more information it’s impossible to know for sure. And, yet, Pope Francis prefers to treat what are grave charges against the pope and many other Church officials both in the U. S. and in the Vatican as the worst kind of scandal-mongering and, therefore, unworthy of comment.

To gain an insight into the pope’s thinking here, it’s helpful to read his public statement for the 2018 World Day of Communications. In it, the Holy Father said:

To discern the truth, we need to discern everything that encourages communion and promotes goodness from whatever instead tends to isolate, divide, and oppose. Truth, therefore, is not really grasped when it is imposed from without as something impersonal, but only when it flows from free relationships between persons, from listening to one another. Nor can we ever stop seeking the truth, because falsehood can always creep in, even when we state things that are true. An impeccable argument can indeed rest on undeniable facts, but if it is used to hurt another and to discredit that person in the eyes of others, however correct it may appear, it is not truthful. We can recognize the truth of statements from their fruits: whether they provoke quarrels, foment division, encourage resignation; or, on the other hand, they promote informed and mature reflection leading to constructive dialogue and fruitful results.

In other words, Pope Francis believes that intentions or motivation play an important role in determining the truth or falsehood of an accusation made against someone.

What Pope Francis is telling journalists (and all of us) in his 2018 World Day of Communications message is that both the intentions and the effects of our messaging can help us discern whether or not we are transmitting or receiving the truth. “Falsehood can always creep in,” the Holy Father says, “even when we state things that are true.” So, if our communication is factually accurate but intended to discredit another or cause harm to individuals or communities, we may well be guilty of spreading fake news. This is doubly true when the information being shared is not accurate or when it is a distortion of the truth.

Time will tell whether Pope Francis has made the right decision here—responding to serious charges of cover-up with silence and prayer. In the same homily, the pope prayed:

May the Lord give us the grace to discern when we should speak and when we should stay silent. This applies to every part of life: to work, at home, in society…. Thus we will be closer imitators of Jesus.”

May the Lord also give Pope Francis the grace to confront the scandals that are doing so much damage to our Church and lead us all to a renewed sense of what it truly means to be the one, holy and apostolic Church.

A time to say thank you to bishops who serve the Church with humility and genuine pastoral care. 

For nearly 40 years, I have had the privilege of working with and for Roman Catholic bishops. I have witnessed first hand both their humanity and their holiness. I know them to be sinners like all of us, but I also know most if not all of them to be good, honest, hard working “every day saints.”

Our bishops are taking a beating these days. Some have sinned grievously. Others have neglected their pastoral duty to protect the innocent and ensure a just punishment for clergy and other Church personnel who have committed serious crimes. And all bishops suffer by association with a hierarchy that is deeply flawed.

I don’t deny any of this. Still my heart goes out to the bishops I have worked with during the past four decades. I don’t believe they deserve to be treated the way some are treating them—especially on social media. Look at any bishop’s social media account (or at the pope’s for that matter) and you’ll find the most vile, vicious, hateful, subhuman comments directed at a fundamentally good man. It’s beyond tragic. It’s the work of the devil who delights in the degradation of priests and bishops.

I’m not defending any of the sins, errors in judgment or mismanagement of bishops I know (or the majority who I don’t know). That is not my responsibility. I will leave judging others—including our bishops—to the God who on the last day will require all of us to render an account. I have my owns sins to account for. That leaves no room for judging others.

But I do have an overwhelming desire to say thank you to these men for the good things I have either witnessed first hand or personally experienced. And I plan to express my profound gratitude here and now.

Here in no particular order are the cardinals, archbishops and bishops that I want to thank—most sincerely from my heart:

Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI (deceased)
Cardinal Joseph Bernadin (deceased)
Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, OSB (deceased)
Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, OP (deceased)
Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy (deceased)
Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara (deceased)
Bishop Charles Maloney (deceased)
Bishop Anthony O’Connell (deceased)
Bishop Frank Shea (deceased)

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R
Cardinal Blasé Cupich
Cardinal Timothy Dolan
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke
Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archbishop Charles C. Thompson
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop J. Peter Sartain
Archbishop George Lucas
Archbishop Joseph Naumann
Archbishop James. P. Keleher
Archbishop Gregory Aymond
Archbishop Robert Carlson
Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk
Archbishop Dennis Schnurr
Archbishop Thomas Wenski
Archbishop Paul Etienne
Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger
Bishop Sylvester Ryan
Bishop Michael Sheridan
Bishop David Ricken
Bishop William Medley
Bishop William L. Higi
Bishop Paul J. Bradley
Bishop Joseph Binzer
Bishop Christopher Coyne
Bishop Martin D. Holley
Bishop Richard Stika
Bishop J. Mark Spalding
Bishop Edward Kmiec
Bishop Donald Trautman
Bishop Robert Hermann
Bishop Mark Rivotuso
Bishop Robert Morneau
Bishop Donald Hanchon

These are all good men in spite of their faults, weaknesses and sins. They deserve our thanks and they need our prayers.

We should be grateful believers—now more than ever

In the early 2000s, when the sex abuse scandal first shocked the Church in the United States, Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk (now retired), initiated a program he called “Grateful Believers.” He dedicated his weekly column in the archdiocesan newspaper to reminiscences about people and things for which he was grateful, and he invited all clergy and lay people in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to call to mind similar experiences of gratitude.

Archbishop Pilarczyk’s insight was that if we focus only on the negative, on the sins and scandals, we risk losing sight of the fundamental beauty and goodness of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Yes, some Church’s leaders have sinned. Yes, we are right to be embarrassed, angry and hurt. But is that all there is? No.

Think back to the experiences for which you are grateful:  For the gift of Jesus Christ freely given in the Eucharist and all the sacraments; for the Word of God generously shared in the scriptures; for the ministry of good priests, deacons and bishops; for the holy women and men in religious orders, and  countless lay people, who have given their lives to proclaim the Gospel, to teach our children and to serve the poor and vulnerable among us. We should be grateful to them—now more than ever—because they did not give up on the wounded Church they served so faithfully.

Are you mad at the pope and the bishops for their failures to protect our children and punish those who committed horrible crimes? Fair enough. There is plenty to be mad about. But is that all there is? No.

There are more than a few reasons to be grateful for the ministry of recent popes, for the leadership of bishops past and present, and for the good priests who have served parishes throughout the United States so faithfully. Name a few of the people you are grateful for. Recall their kindness to you in times of trouble, or their ministry to the sick and elderly members of your family. Thank God for all that they shared with you in homilies or faith sharing sessions. Remember the people who cared unselfishly for the needs of God’s people, and say thank you.

Gratitude is the best cure for anger and depression. It lifts our spirits and calls attention to the blessings we have received—undeservedly and with no strings attached. When we say thank you to God or to another human being, we acknowledge that we are not autonomous, self-sufficient beings but members of God’s family called to love and serve one another.

Grateful believers are not naïve. They do not sweep bad news under the carpet or maintain that no evil has been done by sinful men and women in positions of authority in the Church. Grateful believers are thankful that painful truths are now being told; that Church leaders are cooperating with civil authorities and being accountable for, and transparent about, abuses dating back several generations. Grateful believers are sad and angry, but they refuse to let these emotions paralyze them or cause them to give up on the Church.

Grateful believers know that the work of Christ must continue—now more than ever. The Gospel must be preached; the faith must be handed on to future generations; and the poor and vulnerable must be served. Whatever evil may have been committed by individual Church leaders, there is still no greater force for good in the United States than the Catholic Church. No institution or community does a better job of resettling refugees, of helping children and families break the cycle of poverty, of caring for the healthcare needs of the indigent poor, of inspiring young people to live lives of generous service, and much more.

Now more than ever, we should give thanks for the sacraments, for the intercession of Mary and all the saints, and for the good work being done every day by lay people, religious, deacons, priests and bishops. Now more than ever, we should be proud of our Church which in spite of its weakness and sin carries on the work of Jesus Christ here and now.

Is it too much to ask that each of us say “thank you” at least once a day for the gifts we have received in and through the Catholic Church? Surely gratitude is better than bitter resentment when it comes to a healthy spiritual life.

Thank you, Pope Francis, cardinals, archbishops and bishops, and all you holy priests and deacons, religious women and men, and lay people who serve the Church in our country. We are grateful believers who—in spite of everything—appreciate your ministry now more than ever.

Daniel Conway
   

God encounters us in a human way. To be truly human is to embrace the transformation of what is merely biological into something that is also deeply spiritual. 

The sacrament in its universal form in the history of religion is therefore at first simply the expression of the experience that God encounters man in a human way: in the signs of common humanity and in the change of the merely biological into the human, which when accomplished in the context of religion undergoes a transformation into a third dimension—the authentication of the divine in the human.(from "Joseph Ratzinger Collected Works: Theology of the Liturgy" by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger)

Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) is a masterful teacher. He takes the most profound concepts of philosophy and theology and makes them understandable. He doesn’t “water things down.” He clarifies and simplifies by emphasizing basic truths and by illustrating them in simple language. 

God reaches out to us, speaking our language, touching our minds and hearts with divine truths that show us who we are as children of God, Brothers and sisters to each other. 

As the psalmist prays, “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” Listen to the voice of the Lord and learn who you are and what it means to be fully human. 

Are you mad at the pope and the bishops for their failures to protect our children and punish those who committed horrible crimes? Fair enough. There is plenty to be mad about. But is that all there is? No.

The Good Steward
September 2018



We should be grateful believers—now more than ever

In the early 2000s, when the sex abuse scandal first shocked the Church in the United States, Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk (now retired), initiated a program he called “Grateful Believers.” He dedicated his weekly column in the archdiocesan newspaper to reminiscences about people and things for which he was grateful, and he invited all clergy and lay people in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to call to mind similar experiences of gratitude.

Archbishop Pilarczyk’s insight was that if we focus only on the negative, on the sins and scandals, we risk losing sight of the fundamental beauty and goodness of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Yes, some Church’s leaders have sinned. Yes, we are right to be embarrassed, angry and hurt. But is that all there is? No.

Think back to the experiences for which you are grateful:  For the gift of Jesus Christ freely given in the Eucharist and all the sacraments; for the Word of God generously shared in the scriptures; for the ministry of good priests, deacons and bishops; for the holy women and men in religious orders, and  countless lay people, who have given their lives to proclaim the Gospel, to teach our children and to serve the poor and vulnerable among us. We should be grateful to them—now more than ever—because they did not give up on the wounded Church they served so faithfully.

Are you mad at the pope and the bishops for their failures to protect our children and punish those who committed horrible crimes? Fair enough. There is plenty to be mad about. But is that all there is? No.

There are more than a few reasons to be grateful for the ministry of recent popes, for the leadership of bishops past and present, and for the good priests who have served parishes throughout the United States so faithfully. Name a few of the people you are grateful for. Recall their kindness to you in times of trouble, or their ministry to the sick and elderly members of your family. Thank God for all that they shared with you in homilies or faith sharing sessions. Remember the people who cared unselfishly for the needs of God’s people, and say thank you.

Gratitude is the best cure for anger and depression. It lifts our spirits and calls attention to the blessings we have received—undeservedly and with no strings attached. When we say thank you to God or to another human being, we acknowledge that we are not autonomous, self-sufficient beings but members of God’s family called to love and serve one another.

Grateful believers are not naïve. They do not sweep bad news under the carpet or maintain that no evil has been done by sinful men and women in positions of authority in the Church. Grateful believers are thankful that painful truths are now being told; that Church leaders are cooperating with civil authorities and being accountable for, and transparent about, abuses dating back several generations. Grateful believers are sad and angry, but they refuse to let these emotions paralyze them or cause them to give up on the Church.

Grateful believers know that the work of Christ must continue—now more than ever. The Gospel must be preached; the faith must be handed on to future generations; and the poor and vulnerable must be served. Whatever evil may have been committed by individual Church leaders, there is still no greater force for good in the United States than the Catholic Church. No institution or community does a better job of resettling refugees, of helping children and families break the cycle of poverty, of caring for the healthcare needs of the indigent poor, of inspiring young people to live lives of generous service, and much more.

Now more than ever, we should give thanks for the sacraments, for the intercession of Mary and all the saints, and for the good work being done every day by lay people, religious, deacons, priests and bishops. Now more than ever, we should be proud of our Church which in spite of its weakness and sin carries on the work of Jesus Christ here and now.

Is it too much to ask that each of us say “thank you” at least once a day for the gifts we have received in and through the Catholic Church? Surely gratitude is better than bitter resentment when it comes to a healthy spiritual life.

Thank you, Pope Francis, cardinals, archbishops and bishops, and all you holy priests and deacons, religious women and men, and lay people who serve the Church in our country. We are grateful believers who—in spite of everything—appreciate your ministry now more than ever.

Daniel Conway