Simplify

Have you been in a Starbucks lately? They have brewed coffees, blended cream, iced espresso and about a million other things. An Italian coffee bar is a simple affair. It serves coffee, milk, and any combination of the two. Many don't even have menus because they all make the same things. Which brings me to a truth about America -- we tend to complicate our lives. Everyone complains about how busy we are. Is it because we have to be busy, or is it because we complicate our lives? I tend to think it is the later.

A friend of mine has a sign in her house, "Live Simply." Last time I was there, I pointed out that the sign sits on a shelf cluttered with all kinds of nick-knacks. Maybe the sign should read "Simplify." It is an ongoing process of getting down to what really matters, of focusing on the essentials. Instead of complicating your life, simplify.

New auxiliary bishop in Milwaukee

This morning the Vatican announced a new bishop for Milwaukee, Fr. Bill Callahan. Actually, the new bishop is a familiar face in the diocese, having served as pastor of the absolutely beautiful Basilica of St. Josaphat on the south side of Milwaukee. His ordination is scheduled for December 21st in Milwaukee, and here is his appointment notice from the Vatican:

- Appointed Fr. William Patrick Callahan O.F.M. Conv., spiritual director of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Milwaukee (area 12,323, population 2,271,840, Catholics 707,688, priests 703, permanent deacons 167, religious 2,856), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Chicago, U.S.A. in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1977.

Homily: Oct. 28th

TPA30 "Down is the Way Up"

Here is my homily from the weekend. Click the link above to download it. I decided to record them so I can have a record of what I said. I know people like my Dad would enjoy hearing my homily (and probably telling me what I should have said :-). As I listen to my homily, I am humbled by the realization that I could have said it much better. I did, in fact, say it better at the next Mass, but of course I didn't record that one. Kind of a priest's version of the "one that got away." -- The perfect homily, that we can't remember what we said.
By the way, "TPA" is Tempus Per Annum, Latin for Ordinary Time.

Crazy Associations

People know only one priest. He is the pastor of their local parish, and his name is "Father." Case in point:
I said Mass recently at one of the nursing homes. As I walked in the door, one of the greeters asked me,
"Father is not coming?"
"I'm 'father', and I'm here," I said, a little taken aback.
"Oh, you have the Mass. I thought Father was coming, but I guess not. I wanted to talk to Father about the anointing Mass next week."
I replied, "I'll let Father know when I see him."


I washed my car yesterday. I had not washed it since buying it in July; it was overdue for a good scrub. I even waxed it; perhaps I was feeling guilty. Then I remembered some 3-inch vinyl letters I had bought for a previous failed project. We have a great youth retreat coming up in Oshkosh, so I thought I might spread the word a little. Every time I look at my car it makes me laugh. The funniest part for me is that when I look in my rear-view mirror, I can read it correctly. Associate priests are known to be a little crazy.

Is this bus to Baghdad?

I took a bus through the center of the city. It was evening, and the bust was nearly deserted. Only a smattering of locals and tourists on a few of the seats, and a gentleman dressed as a priest. The glint of a chain across his chest made me conclude he was a bishop. After the bus pulled out, I walked over to him and started a conversation.
"Where are you from?" I asked.
"I am from Iraq, I am an auxiliary bishop from Baghdad. Where are you from?"
"From the United States," I told him, with a rueful look on my face. He wasn't thrilled to meet an American, but we had a nice conversation nonetheless. He told me that things were difficult in Baghdad since the war. He said that when he went out he didn't know if he would come back. Once he had driven through a checkpoint and the car coming through behind him blew up. Despite the difficulties of his own life, his real concern was for his people, whose lives were difficult, many of whom had fled their homeland and everything they had known to find some hope and security wherever they could. I don't think there is anything more difficult for a priest than to know his people are suffering.

Busiest Weekend Ever

You know how every once in a while things all seem to pile up? It's like a perfect calendar storm. Take this past weekend, for example. I had my second wedding, which meant a rehearsal Friday night. The parish also happened to be hosting a retreat for the CYExpeditions summer staff. No big deal; I did the rehearsal and then hung out with the retreat people. Saturday morning I joined the retreat again for breakfast. I gave a talk and heard confessions. I had intended to leave early to write my weekend homily, but then sitting in the sacristy God gave me a brilliant homily idea. I concluded he must want me to stay around a little longer and contribute more to the retreat. I skipped out at lunch time and hurried over to set up for the wedding at 1:00pm. It was only my second wedding but it went really well. After that I went straight to Confessions and the 4pm Mass. Did I mention we had a baptism at Mass -- something new we were trying. So we had no Creed, we started in the back of church, there was an extra blessing of the parents at the end... I got so confused that I stole the deacon's lines. At least the baby did not seem to notice. Then I joined the retreat crew for dinner.

Sunday was more or less the same. I had two morning Masses and the second one had three three baptisms. The Mass ran 70 minutes (hey, I'm new at this, ok?). Then I concelebrated a Spanish Mass that kicked off a local fiesta. The parish was sponsoring a Run-Walk to raise funds for the Missionaries of Charity and help support the local Latino community. It rained the whole time. The runners did not seem to mind, and neither did Our Lady. You can't quite see me in the picture above, but I am the one driving the Jeep. The runners went 5 miles, but we cut the route short and only did about 2. As we were pulling back into the parking lot, I caught the Packer victory over the radio. I kept it low so as to not disturb the people praying the rosary and singing songs to Mary. "Slower!" they kept saying. I guess I was getting excited. We concluded the celebration with nice warm Mexican food and prizes for the runners. Then it was off to the Newman Center for 7pm Mass, followed by pizza and a social. And that was my weekend. It is amazing how much energy God will give you when you are serving Him. And then you crash.

Photo above courtesy of The Oshkosh Northwestern.

Do you get to say Mass in Rome?

A friend asked me this question: Do you get to say Mass in Rome or do you have to wait until you are back in our Diocese?

A lot of people think of priesthood as a job, and if there isn't any work to be done then I don't have to celebrate Mass. Being a priest is not about what I do but about who I am. Even if I do not have a parish to serve I still offer Mass for the People of God, for my own salvation, and for the salvation of the world. Mass is not like a play that is pointless without an audience. It is the worship of God, and it is always an act that involves the whole Church, and the whole world. Once as a deacon I served a Mass at a house for priests in Spain. It was strange because the sanctuary was full but the pews were empty. I thought that somewhere in the world there must be a congregation that needs a priest, so I prayed that God would accept that Mass on behalf of the people that had none.
At our college we have more than thirty priests, so we can't all celebrate Mass each day. Instead, we "concelebrate." One priest presides and others gather in the sanctuary and recite the key prayers along with the presider. It is good to be united with my brother priests and to be in front of the seminary community, but I still look for opportunites where I can to celebrate Mass on my own and preach. Priesthood more about who I am than what I do, but it is easier to feel like a priest when I have people to serve.

Extraordinarily Ordinary

Before my ordination, I used to dream of saying the sacraments. In seminary we had to practice saying the Mass. I would imagine myself at the altar in front of a whole church full of people. Just the thought brought tears to my eyes. After my ordination, the sacraments struck me as disappointingly ordinary. I say the right words and do the actions I am supposed to do, but nothing magical seems to happen -- no sparks fly from my fingers, the host does not sparkle or bleed. And in an instant I am holding Jesus in my hands. I think there is a definite tendency within us to try and dissect the sacraments. What are the precise words and actions necessary for it to happen? Sacraments are not like magic spells. There is no combination of secret words or magic incantations that makes it happen. It just happens, like falling in love. Perhaps the hardest challenge we face is to believe in God's ability to work through us as human instruments. Even this requires an act of faith. The host may not sparkle, but sometimes I think it winks.

Three months later, I have begun to take comfort in the ordinariness. If I am away from the parish for a day or two, I begin to miss saying daily Mass. It is good, even at 7:00 am, to say, “The Lord be with you,” and to hear the response come back, “And also with you.” I am reminded that this is why I was ordained: to serve others. Sometimes the thought even brings tears to my eyes; or maybe it's just me blinking into the bright altar lights.

Seven dead in Wisconsin

It is generally not a good day when your state makes the international news on a Monday morning, especially when your state is Wisconsin, which the world does its best to ignore. I found out from a friend of mine, a Brazilian priest, that a police officer in Wisconsin had killed six people before being killed by police. The details are now all over national news. It is a pity for a little town like Crandon. I was surprised to find Crandon on the big US map downstairs since it is not a large town, but there isn't much else around it and cartographers abhor an empty space. Much like news reporters.
I notice that the news reports immediately ask why such a person was allowed to join the police force. There is a big misunderstanding in America about the nature of evil. We think that only evil or psychotic people do evil things, and if the man were evil or psychotic, he shouldn't have been on the police force. Evil has a way of creeping up on an ordinary person, lurking in bad habits and unpleasant thoughts, fed and prodded like a big dog in a cage that has never been trained. Then one day it finds the gate left open a crack. Angels and ministers of grace preserve us.

Diaconate Ordination

On Thursday the North American College ordained 21 me to the deaconate, a major step on their journey to priesthood. The ordination was celebrated in grand style at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's, with about a dozen bishops, many priests, deacons, and hundreds of friends and family in attendance. It was a beautiful and powerful service.
Thursday was also the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Few people know that Francis himself was actually a deacon. He would never have sought ordination, but members of the hieararchy insisted on it, partly because he was preaching, and they were uncomfortable with a layman preaching in the Church. Francis refused to be ordained a priest, because he did not consider himself worthy. In any case, he lived his diaconate quite well, since the character of the diaconate is one of service, both to the priest at the altar and to the people, especially to the poor. Although Francis is famous today for his love of animals, the true love of his life was someone Francis called "Lady Poverty." Because Jesus Christ had been poor, Francis embraced poverty, and in abandoning riches he discovered true spiritual freedom. The Franciscans traditionally wear a rope because Francis considered a leather belt too luxurious and found some old rope instead. In an ironic way, Francis helped the poor by being poor. In freely choosing to be poor, he proclaimed that poverty is a dignified way to live, and so offered the poor more than money every could. In this world of great riches, perhaps we need a few people who are deliberately poor.

The Gospel acccording to John-117

This year the most influential science fiction trilogy since Star Wars released its third installment to record-breaking sales. I am referring of course to Halo3, heir to the video game throne of its two predecessors. The third installment was promoted with the slogan BELIEVE, making me wonder if the game has pretensions of religious proprotions. Halo is already flavored with religious language just from its very name. It is set in a universe marked with traces of the mysterious Forerunners, full of prophets, hierarchs, and an alliance called the Covenant. Uneder the surreal surface, however, the game is nothing more than the basic American hero story. The world is threated by evil forces and only one soldier with exceptional skills and an excessive amount of firepower can save the day. In fact, the idea that violence is the best solution to the problems of the world runs not only through Halo but through most American television, video games, movies and comic books. Religious names are used to try to give the game a sense of grandeur. However, the approach to religion seems very negative. The one religious race, called the Covenant, is an alliance of alien beings fighting in blind faith to the Prophets, who proclaim a religioius hope in a future fulfilmment. Their faith is misguided and foolish, and it threatens the peace and security of known world. I notice immediately a parallel to the western view of modern Islam, as a firm but sadly misguided faith that takes refuge in senseless violence and threatens the peace and security of the world. Actually, the association with Islam is merely a concrete example of a broader modern fear. Society as a whole is afraid of any firm religious conviction, and firm beliefs are thought to be irrational, misguided and possibly dangerous. Yet at the same time, Halo3 promotes itself with the slogan BELIEVE. What is acceptable belief according to Halo? Watching the spots on YouTube, it quickly becomes apparent that what we are invited to believe in is a kind of salvation, not a supernatural salvation, but salvation offered by the Master Chief and his weaponry. He is the one who will save the game, and the world, from the evil religious empire and the pervasive Flood. This savior never reveals his face, hidden behind a golden mask, although his name is apparently John-117. Since this is a video game, however, his role is played by the gamers who tackle the game. In other words, if the games are being invited to faith, it is merely faith in themselves and their gaming abilities. What we have here is a riff on the popular refrain that you should believe in yourself, in your abilities, and in your positive thinking. Salvation lies within yourself. This might be a good idea of you are a seven foot tall, genetically engineered supersoldier who can't really die, and if your universe is custom designed for you skillset. But life isn't like that. The problem with believing in yourself is, it is easy to fail, to betray yourself to the forces of evil. Once you have been enslaved, who will come to save you?