The Catholic Virginian

October 22, 2007 | Volume 82, Number 26

ABOUT US

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, Oct. 14, 2007

by Genevieve McQuade

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves (Ps 34:19).

Being “crushed in spirit” is like having a limp balloon! It cannot show its “balloon-ness” until it is filled. The balloon must be stretched by an unseen force. Like that collapsed balloon, we need the invisible breath of God’s Holy Spirit to revive us, to make us fully what we were created to be.

This week, our example is St. Paul (2 Tm 4:6–8, 16–18). His life was no longer his but the Lord’s. He had purpose. Filled with the breath of God, Paul depended on the Lord through all his trials. He was poor in spirit; he was enabled to “run the race.”

Isn’t it ironic that even though Paul poured out his life he didn’t become a used-up nobody? Rather, because he overflowed with the Holy Spirit, Paul grew into his full identity, his “Paul-ness”! Yet, he wasn’t inflated like some impressive hot-air balloon.

With us, don’t we find ourselves reluctantly stretched when things don’t go the way we expect? We may run out of options and, in desperation, turn to God at last.

A peculiar thing happens. It’s as if our prayer takes flight. Sirach stirs our hope proclaiming that our prayer “pierces the clouds”! The “prayer of the lowly…does not rest” (imagine that!) “till it reaches its goal” (Sir 35:17). Our prayer endures all the way to God. We connect immediately by this incomparable communication. It has a power it didn’t have before when we relied solely on ourselves.

Sirach is not finished yet. He reassures us that God isn’t deaf. Finally, our prayer “does not withdraw till the Most High responds” (Sir 35:18). Our prayer is answered although beyond our limited understanding. We can’t see or hear or feel it. We think nothing is happening, but the truth is that our prayer is noted.

However, this prayer comes from the one “crushed in spirit.” This is the person who has not much self-will remaining, but who is primed to be filled with the Spirit of God for real hope. We often don’t think of our need for the breath of God’s Spirit. Are we willing to take the chance and simply ask for the Holy Spirit in our suffering?

Jesus warns us in Luke’s gospel (Lu 18:9–14), that it is dangerous for us to be self-sufficient with self-righteousness. Prayer swelled with human pride loses its spiritual clout for good and for salvation, deprived of answered prayer in God’s will.

What does this have to do with deflated balloons and Paul? Like Paul, we can receive God’s strength, be stretched with the unseen Holy Spirit. We, too, who are called by name, can fulfill our baptismal identity in Christ when we are poor in spirit. We, too, can have answered prayer, for the Lord hears the cry of the poor. We, too, can be saved, as we acknowledge who God is and that we’re not in charge after all. Having poverty of spirit is a grace to see ourselves for who we are in our relationship with God. Do we perceive it that way?

Beware the certitude of that Pharisee’s self-praise! Does our desperation lead us to pray as did the tax collector, “O God, be merciful to me — a sinner” (Lu 18:13)?

Blessed experiences with children

by Mary Hood Hart

I’ve become accustomed to the freedom of an almost-empty nest.

Outside of work and some domestic duties, with only one teenager now at home, few demands are placed on my time. And, at 52, I don’t long to return to those days and nights when I was needed by my children almost all the time.

“To everything there is a season,” and that busy season in my life has passed.

While I have no desire to return to the busy years of raising four children, there are some pieces of my former life that I miss, and these are pieces that, at the time, I didn’t fully appreciate.

For example, reading to my children. While I thought I was reading them books for their own benefit, I realize how much I personally benefited from our daily reading time.

I now realize, too, how extraordinary so many children’s books are, and how blessed we are by the amazing talents of their authors and illustrators. Children’s books are not just for children; they add richness to the lives of the adults who find themselves fortunate enough to read them.

Even when my children were old enough to read alone, I continued reading aloud to them, and I have wonderful memories of those times when, even past their bedtime, we kept reading because we (all of us!) were so enthralled.

Another aspect of my earlier life that leaves me with such pleasant memories was our prayer time. Yes, there were too many evenings when prayer was rushed because other duties called.

Too many evenings, my irritation and frustration seeped into what I had hoped to be a peaceful conclusion to a busy day.

But there were also occasions when prayer time with my children was a grace-filled experience. This was not something I could contrive; it just happened, often in spite of me.

There’s no doubt in my mind that children are deeply spiritual and have the capacity for insights that elude many adults. They get to the heart of the matter, in every sense of that phrase.

Not long ago I found myself with some time on a Sunday afternoon, so I drove to a park not far from home and took a long walk. This park is located on the Intracoastal Waterway and it contains a mix of woodlands and coastal marshes.

As I walked, I remembered the times I had brought the children there. Taking nature walks with my children was almost always a blessed time, especially when they were all old enough to walk without growing tired and young enough to find the natural world a source of endless fascination.

Those are blessed years, say, between the ages of 5 and 12, when children are old enough to keep up and young enough to be awed by something as ordinary as a toad.

Reflecting on these experiences, I was heartened by the prospect of one day becoming a grandmother. Indeed, all three of these times — reading, praying, and taking nature walks with children — are potentially in my future.

While I am not close to becoming a grandmother yet, if, God willing, I become one, I will relish the opportunities to experience these blessed moments once again.

Saints and saints

by Barbara Hughes

I confess to being somewhat of a closet cheesehead. No, I don’t own one of those funny cheese hats but, the sight of the Packers on a football field is enough to bring my finger to a halt when channel surfing.

Being born and raised in Wisconsin probably has something to do with it, but even non-Wisconsonites like my husband admit there’s a mystique that surrounds the Green Bay Packers.

Packer fans are known for their undying loyalty in good times and bad. Year after year they fill the stands at Lambeau Field, even when the thermometer registers 15 degrees below zero. It’s enough to make a person wonder what the Packers have that no other team has been able to match.

Some might say it began with Coach Vince Lombardi whose integrity and devotion made him an icon. Vince was a devout Catholic, who, by the way, attended daily Mass. Although he never wore his religion on his sleeve, he made no secret of the fact that God was an important part of his life.

Today his legendary status as icon seems to have been passed on to quarterback Brett Favre, who also happens to be a devoted family man and a Catholic. In recent months, as one sports hero after another has failed to withstand the scrutiny of personal and professional watchdogs, it’s refreshing to see someone whose integrity hasn’t been blinded by the spotlight.

Regardless of whether the Packers win or lose, the 38-year-old quarterback continues to rise to the top like cream — and I don’t think it’s because he plays football in the dairy state.

Anyone who has followed Brett Favre on or off the field knows that the past two years have been anything but sterling years for Brett or the Packers. Still, he decided to keep playing in order to help a very young and inexperienced football team grow.

The losses were part of the price that goes with nurturing those with less experience but Favre’s tutelage has paid off. If they keep playing the way they began the year, they just might be heading to the Super Bowl.

This year the quarterback has broken several NFL records. When he was asked how it felt to break the record for the most touchdown passes, he responded in a post game interview as if he never heard the question. He talked only about the team and how well they had done.

Early in the season when Favre was asked why he decided to play this year - after all he’s no youngster - he replied, “People told me to come back and beat the record, but no one ever said come back and have fun. There’s something wrong with that.”

Anyone who has tracked Brett Favre’s career knows that playing football is not about him. He loves the sport and he’s a team player.

His lack of concern for the spotlight may have even contributed to his success. But whether or not that’s the case, it’s nice to see a sports figure that we can still hold up for our children and grandchildren to emulate.

Brett Favre is proof that it’s possible to be famous and still not lose sight of what’s important; that the gifts we’re given are to be shared. The fact that some excel more than others doesn’t mean they’re better; it simply means they have more to give.

In an interview with Brett Favre’s wife, Deanna, she related that the reason she loved her husband so much was because he was kind. She recalled that when they were in high school, he would sit next to a boy on the bus who was often taunted by his classmates.

But as long as Brett sat next to him, no one dared make fun of the boy who happened to be mentally challenged. Now that’s the story of a real hero.

In my last article I wrote about Mother Teresa. With the Feast of All Saints Day just around the corner, I decided to write about someone who would hardly be in the same category with Mother Teresa. She was known for practicing heroic virtue and was the founder of a religious community. But not many can aspire to that level of greatness.

Nevertheless, we are all called to be saints. We are called to be kind, to care about the people we rub shoulders with every day, be they family members, co-workers, team-mates or neighbors and then do the best we can to share our gifts with others.

There’s little doubt that Mother Teresa will be canonized a saint one day. But, saints come in all sizes, shapes, and from all professions.

If we look around, there are plenty of people to inspire us. We have no excuse not to join the ranks of the saints. On All Saints Day we celebrate the lives of big and little saints alike; those who have gone before us, those who are still with us and yes, even ourselves. That’s not pride. It’s simply recognizing the fact that we are all on a journey to sainthood but it’s impossible to make the journey alone.

I guess you could say it’s about being a good team player, using our gifts to help our team-mates and last but not least it’s about enjoying the game.

The following interview with Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo by Steve Neill took place in Richmond on October 4, 2007.

In your dialogue with the deacons at the recent Deacons Convocation you encouraged the deacons to be involved in ministry that would reach young adults age 18–30 who may not be part of the institutional church. Why is that age group particularly important?

What we’re noticing through the eyes of religious sociologists is that there are a number in this age range who are less bound into the institutional dimensions of a church. There is also an attitude that they want to do away with “the middle man” and don’t always feel a need for a church. They profess that they happen to be spiritual, but not necessarily religious in the sense of a strong dedication to a denominational experience.

The second thing we’re noticing about this age range is that religious authority has less influence on them than on their parents.

Those two factors mean that we should be making more steady outreach to this age range and continue to invite and exhort them to be part of the church in which they have been baptized.

Bishop DiLorenzo, at this point is there any concrete plan as to how this would be achieved?

We believe there are at least three areas we have to be working on. For us to be investing in our future — our youth — we also obviously have to take into account the adults in our population. But it’s clear to me that we as the Catholic Church in this particular diocese are really challenged by what we understand to be the numbers as reported to us through our annual reporting system.

We have over 50,000 young people in our diocese from grades K to 12. Approximately 8,000 go to Catholic schools and about 20,000 are in parish religious education programs. That leaves a substantial number of young people who are Catholic, but not receiving any religious education or formation.

In doing my parish visitations I find that almost everywhere I go people are asking ‘What are we as a church doing for young people?’ In effect, they are challenging me as a bishop and saying ‘we have to invest in our future — the children, and our young people.’

We intend to do it by continuing what we have been doing in general, namely bolstering Catholic schools, bolstering the religious education programs and obviously bolstering and working on our campus ministry program for our college students, and making sure that continuing formation and education of parents and other adults is also going on.

With those goals in mind, are people willing to come forward and help in this?

I think they are, but quite often the good intentions don’t move much beyond pious hopes.

For the first time, the various segments of our diocese are coming up with concrete suggestions on how to bolster Catholic schools, religious education and continuing education and formation of adults. What we have noticed is that Catholic schools are seen as worthwhile, but have been priced out of existence. Tuition for many is just too expensive.

So to make Catholic schools more affordable we have to work on a strategy to take an asset that has worked well for us and make it affordable. To that end we have a proposal now to be considered by the people of the diocese as to how we can underwrite and bring more financial resources to Catholic schools. That program is being unveiled as we speak. That part of the program would be asking the parishes to slightly increase the offertory collection. The increase itself which is seen as 15 or 20 percent — not the bulk of the collections — would have half the increase go to support Catholic schools for tuition assistance, continuing education for teachers, and programs.

The other half of the increase would be retained in the parishes and be used toward improving religious education programs. Religious education professionals have told us time and again that the potential use for additional monies could be for education, formation and training of parish leaders, and salaries for the parish religious education staff, for resources and materials and use of technology.

With the proposal for an increased offertory program, who would be handling this and would there be a separate campaign?

First of all, we have signed a contract with Steward Consulting, a divisor of the Moran Company based in Great Falls, which will handle the campaign. In effect, there should be a guaranteed increase of 20 percent or even more perhaps. The company will do the administrative work. The pastor will be required to write a letter in support of the program. The parish will experience little or no inconvenience, and does not need volunteers to get involved. The expense of the campaign will be paid for by the diocese, not the parishes.

In line with this proposal for the increased offertory, is there a particular strategy?

We believe the next stage should be to come up with a strategy asking people to review all of this and give their comments. We’re looking to get as many positive and constructive suggestions as possible. I definitely need to push this forward because the situation of reaching our youth and young people is so critical. Catholic schools are an asset but they are reaching only 8,000 Catholic young people. Of the 8,000 students in our Catholic schools, 2,000 are from other denominations. I have responsibility for 50,000 young people and religious education takes care of only 20,000. That leaves a substantial portion of young Catholics who receive little or no religious education. We have to upgrade the quality of our religious education programs which requires an investment. We will continue to work with Campus Ministry to broaden its scope.

As Catholics throughout the diocese meet at three separate Vicariate meetings to discuss a five-year pastoral plan for parishes, what do you feel should be their primary focus?

Obviously, the good of the diocese means that we need to have the Word of God continually preached in an authentic and competent way to each of our parishes. We need the quality of worship to continue. We need the quality of community life to be enriched as a result of this planning process.

We also have a responsibility to the poor and those who have disabilities. Finally, we have to be able to identify and form new lay ministers in our church. This is accompanied by an active program inviting men to study for the priesthood and the permanent diaconate.

With the continued shortage of priests, is it possible that some parishes may be closed?

I believe the Pastoral Planning Commission asked if there are any things on the table or off the table for discussion. I said there is nothing off the table. Whatever is on the table should be prudently looked at. The emphasis so far has been less on closure, and more on the proper distribution of pastoral services to a slowly increasing population of Catholics in our diocese.

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