St. Jerome

The Thunderer
by Phyllis McGinley

God’s angry man, His crotchety scholar,
Was Saint Jerome,
The great name-caller,
Who cared not a dime
For the laws of libel
And in his spare time
Translated the Bible.

Quick to disparage
All joys but learning,
Jerome thought marriage
Better than burning;
But didn’t like woman’s
Painted cheeks;
Didn’t like Romans,
Didn’t like Greeks,
Hated Pagans
For their Pagan ways,
Yet doted on Cicero all his days.

A born reformer, cross and gifted
He scolded mankind
Sterner than Swift did;
Worked to save
The world from the Heathen;
Fled to a cave
For peace to breathe in,
Promptly wherewith
For miles around
He filled the air with
Fury and sound.

In mighty prose
For almighty ends,
He thrust at his foes,
Quarreled with his friends,
And served his Master,
Though with complaint.
He wasn’t a plaster
Sort of saint.

But he swelled men’s minds
With a Christian leaven.
It takes all kinds
To make a heaven.

Why I'm Still Catholic In Spite of It All

At first, I thought I couldn't write a post about why I'm still Catholic because my reason is only one word--Eucharist.  It's one word; not even a sentence; certainly not a post.  But I meditated for a few days and came up with lots of reasons.  Let me count the reasons:

1.  Eucharist.  I believe Jesus said what He means.  I don't think He was kidding.  I don't think He was speaking symbolically because He turned a lot of people off.  They left because what He was saying was disgusting.

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  John 6:53-56

and a few verses later His disciples said: This saying is hard; who can accept it?    John 6: 60

As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.  Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"  Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?  You have the words to eternal life.  John 6: 66-68

2.  Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church is universal and as such reminds me of a mother.  Within the church are conservatives, liberals, those who like Latin Masses, those who like liturgical dance, African music at Mass, quiet Eucharist Adoration, etc.  A mother may have children who are unschooled, well educated, talented, sick, healthy, in prison, exalted, etc.  A mother loves all her children.  Mother Church embraces us all.

3.  History.  The history of the Church is a history of civilization.  It is debatable whether history shaped the church or vice versa.  But it's fascinating, both the good and the bad.

4.  Catholic social teaching.  The Catholic Church educates, treats the sick, and offers more relief services than any other religion or social organization.

5.  Mass.  I love our liturgical ceremonies.

6-7-8-9-10-....sacraments, Mary, saints, traditions, art, architecture, music, poetry, beauty...

Where else could I go?    

The Power of Love

When the power of love

expresses the love of power

the world will know peace.

Poignant Readings 11-16 23-31

Today is Monday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time and the Office of Readings just seem to hit the nail on the head. 

They're long so I won't copy and paste them, but look them up: Ezekiel 34: 1-6, 11-16, 23-31 and the Second Reading was a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine: Sermo 46, 14-15: CCL 41, 541-542.

Ezekiel prophesizes against the shepherds of Israel, who "pasture themselves", "feed off their sheep", take and take but not pasturing their flocks.  They don't help the weak but prey on them.  The sheep scattered.

Augustine tells pastors to
seek the lost, whether they want saving or not.  And not to neglect anyone.

Do you think our shepherds are listening?  How do some of them rationalize their behavior?

A Fictional Memoir

Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World

I didn't know if this story were true or not. I was riveted. When I finished I read the forward, prologue, notes, and learned that it's called a fictional memoir.  Good description.

It's a story about the painter, Andrew Wyeth's picture "Christina's World."  The girl in the story has a sad and lonely life and the author of "A Piece of the World," has depicted that very well.  The author Christina Baker Kline, knows her characters.  She obviously did her homework.  The setting, the  dialogue, the characters all fit together.  Her choice of telling the story from two different time periods was the best way to do it, I think.  

Eyes to See

Another Padre Vaillant quote from Death Comes to the Archbishop: "One might almost say that an apparition is human vision corrected by divine love."

He was speaking about the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  But it would be true of anything.  The eyes of Faith have us see differently, especially people.  Ordinary people become special when see through the eyes of Faith.  In fact,  Bishop Latour explains

deeper, "I do not see you as you really are, Joseph (Padre Vaillant); I see you through my affection for you.  The Miracles of the Church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always."

Amen to that.

Doctrine versus Miracle

Padre Vaillant comes out with some good ones:

Doctrine is well enough for the wise, Jean; but the miracle is something we can hold in our hands and love.

Father Joseph Vaillant in Willa Cather's Death Comes to the Archbishop is talking about the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Jean is the bishop.  I think this quote is a meditation.  I changed it to suit my thoughts and feelings: "Doctrine is well enough for the scholarly, but the miracle is something to hold in your heart."  

Vatican

Congratulate me.  I just finished reading Malachi Martin's Vatican.  It's a tome!

 I admit that I skimmed some paragraphs and descriptions because I found them too detailed.  But informative!! I learned much.  I understand better.  I will pray for our church and priests more.

The temptations are so insidious.  The higher up in ranks you go, the more temptations you meet.

Tell your sons to be monks. There's too much evil out there.

The story revolves around Richard Lansing.  He is a priest from the USA who is sent to Rome. His assignments and movements up the ranks allow the reader to appreciate the inner workings of the politics of the church.  We meet good and bad guys.  We see parallels in these fictional popes to the real popes.

My interest really picked up when the latest scandals and information on Cardinal McCarrick came out.  I can easily see it happening in this book.

Yes,
I recommend the book, especially as a long, leisurely read.  That's when it will be enjoyed.  It is not a fast read.  But it is a good one.

Nothing is New

It's nothing new that we're all connected.  We drive cars and wear clothes made by people who live on the other side of the world.  Our food comes from all over.

But this is nothing new.  I'm reading Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather and it mentions that the Bishop woke to the sound of the Angelus bells.  These bells came from Spain. They were crafted by Spanish silversmiths who learned their trade from the Moors.  The bells were made to be sent to a church in Mexico and ended up in New Mexico.

The bell's inscription date was 1356!

Thank God for Cor Unum

A neighbor looks at a home burned in a series of gas explosions in Lawrence, Sept 14. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

"I think it's a great thing that, across the community here, from the governor to a person in a backyard, people know that it's the Catholic Church in South Lawrence to whom they can turn for their basic needs. That's a very beautiful thing in the midst of a really terrible crisis," Father O'Brien said.

Father O'Brien is the pastor of St. Patrick's Church in South Lawrence where apocalyptic gas explosions took place.  The parish also operates a soup kitchen Cor Unum which serves three meals a day, ye.ar round.  I am proud to say that I have volunteered at Cor Unum, a few times.  It is a wonderful operation.  In fact, it's Catholic operations like Cor Unum that make me proud to be Catholic.

The Antidote to Hate

A few days ago, I blogged about hate.  Here's the rest of that essay.

Hate is a choice.  You have to choose to stop feeding it.  You need to choose to free yourself from your own mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

It certainly isn’t easy to stop hating someone.  Rarely, is it instantaneous.  There is some truth to the axiom, “Time heals all wounds.”  I said some truth.  The hurt may be dulled but not forgotten.  But hurt shouldn’t be forgotten; it’s part of the process of discernment.  It could be a lesson in life.

How to stop hating depends on what or who is the cause.

 I posit that “forgiveness” is the path to heal the hatred one harbors in their heart.  Forgiveness has nothing to do with apologies.  It has nothing to do with reconciliation.  It is not about justice.  There is no true justice in this world.  Forgiveness is about healing yourself.  It is taking control of your feelings and not letting your feelings of “hate” control you, change you, make you into a negative, stressed and depressed person.  It is a conscious choice!

Forgiveness is the resolution.  It’s a choice to want to end negative thoughts and feelings of hate and to seek a personal peace of mind.  It’s a choice to be a better version of you.  It is wanting to heal your life and make yourself mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy.  It is choosing to be healthy and not sick.

Hate is destructive only to you.  It causes you to suffer, no one else.  The object of your hate could be oblivious to what you feel about them.  They could care less.  They are not worth wasting any emotional energy on them.  The internal physiological effects of anger and hate only hurt you.  Hate makes you a prisoner to anger, resentment and pain.  And only you have the key to free yourself.

The key to free your heart from the emotional prison of anger, resentment, and hate is forgiveness. Forgiveness is for you.  Give yourself permission to forgive.  After all, when you think about it, the person who hurt you could have apologized immediately and you weren’t ready to accept it so you didn’t.  You chose anger, resentment, and hate.  They could have apologized many times and you could have ignored all attempts at reconciliation.  It was easier to hate.  You weren’t ready to forgive because you enjoyed nurturing your hurt.

Stop it.  You are hurting only you—only you! 

Don’t feed the evil wolf.

Archbishop Desmond  Tutu taught the South African people who were victims of apartheid and genocide, that they had no future unless they forgave.

Jesus forgave from the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The Lord ’s Prayer asks that we forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others.

Let’s hang hate so that it can’t be heard.  You can kill the word.  Take it out of your vocabulary. 

Take it out of your heart.

If I Might Interject: Reflections for the Struggling

If I Might Interject: Reflections for the Struggling: There are a certain set of Catholics who began by supporting Pope Francis but reached a point where certain news had them stop.  David Wanat, the author of this reflection ask you to stop and think deeper than knee jerk tweets and headlines.

Hate

Country singer, Eric Church wrote and sings “…I’d hang hate so that it can’t be heard.  If I could only kill a word.”  The lyrics to “Kill a Word” attempt to show all the words and actions that exemplify “hate.”

Hate is all around us.  It’s part of human nature.  It’s one of the earliest emotions children feel.  And hate is prevalent in all cultures.  It’s popular in literature, TV and movies.  In fact, the media promotes hate to sell its products.

How come?  It doesn’t make us feel good—the opposite, in fact.

But it’s a lie.  Don’t believe it.  Hate will destroy you.  It cause you to suffer, no one else.  The internal physiological effects of anger and hate actually put you into an emotional prison.  You are locked into a personal cell of rage—plotting revenge and thinking  it justice.  Counting slights and offenses that you have personally internalized.

No one knows what you are thinking and feeling.  Hate is your personal response to something you see as an egregious offense.  You have chosen to keep and nurture this harmful emotion.  In a perverse way, you enjoy it.  An old Indian tale explains my thoughts:

A Cherokee grandfather was teaching his grandson about life:

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.  One is evil—he is anger, envy, hurt and hate.”  Grandfather continued, “The other is good—he is forgiveness, peace, love, serenity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, and compassion.
     The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute.  Then he asked, “Which wolf will win?”

Grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Hate is a choice.  You have to choose to stop feeding it.  You need to choose to free yourself from your own mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Clear response to abuse crisis is urgently needed, cardinal O'Malley says

Clear response to abuse crisis is urgently needed, cardinal O'Malley says: VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Responding quickly and appropriately to the problem of abuse must be a priority for the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)

I defend the Pope.  But the cries for something to be said have got to me.  At least the Pope could say I will address everyone's concerns in a letter, exhortation, or an encyclical, etc. 

Eyes and Ears of Faith

Lectio:

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 128

Reading 1IS 35:4-7A

Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,  
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Studium:

The previous chapter depicted the destruction of God's enemies.  Now Isaiah brings hope.  Sufferings will be followed by salvation.  Jerusalem will be restored.  God will replicate the great deeds to the exodus generation and open the road to Zion.  Later, Jesus' miracles will bring to mind this prophecy.  

Meditatio:

Don't we all hope for such transformations as Isaiah describes.  We need to be cured.  Our entire world needs to be fixed.

Oratio:

What choice do I have but to trust in You, my God?  You offer hope.  I pray to see, hear, walk and speak like You.  I want to do Your will.  Help me, Lord.

Contemplatio:

Lord, help me to see and hear with eyes and ears of faith.

Not Yours

Today one of my "cloistered brothers" told me a curious story.  He came into the room to look for a book and mumbling that it drives him crazy when people don't return things they borrow.  I suggested that he put his name on the cover so the borrower will see that it's not his book.  He replied that he doesn't want his stuff all over the prison.  Some people will see his name and maybe scribble all over his book or do some other damage to his property.  So he does something else and he told me this story.

One time he brought a bowl into the chow hall to use for a second helping.  While in line, he put the bowl on the top of a cupboard, then he went through the chow line.  Sitting down and eating, he kept an eye on the chow line.  He was watching for the line to end.  His plan was to get up and get back in line with his bowl, for a second helping.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone pick up his bowl.  They looked inside.  They looked on the bottom.  They turned the bowl all around and then kept the bowl.

Since then, my "cloistered brother" writes "NOT YOURS," on property that he wants to keep.  That's it; that's all.

Obituary: Father James W. DeAdder, former seminary professor and rector

This is the priest my prayer group adopted.  May he rest in peace.

Obituary: Father James W. DeAdder, former seminary professor and rector:

One of the four children of the late James and Alice (Browne) DeAdder, Father James W. DeAdder was born June 30, 1927 in Lawrence and grew up next door in North Andover, a son of the town's only parish, St. Michael.

He attended local schools and on graduation from high school in 1944 he entered the United States Army. During his military service, he attended both the University of Maine and Norwich University in Vermont. Returning to civilian life he completed his collegiate undergraduate career at Boston College with a B.S.B.A. degree and entered St. John Seminary. He was sent to complete theological studies in Rome, living at the Pontifical North American College. He was granted a license in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The rector of PNAC, the Most Rev. Martin J. O'Connor, ordained him to the priesthood in the seminary chapel on Dec. 17, 1955. Father DeAdder returned to the archdiocese and was appointed an assistant at St. Margaret of Scotland, Beverly. He returned to the Eternal City for further studies in 1957 and was granted both a Ph.D. and S.T.D., doctoral degrees respectively in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas -- the Angelicum.

Returning again to the archdiocese he was appointed an assistant at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston; then at St. Mary of the Annunciation, Cambridge and what would be his last parish assignment at Sacred Heart, East Boston.

In July 1964 he was appointed to the faculty of the newly created Pope John XXIII Seminary for Delayed Vocations; now Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston. He would serve at the seminary for a record 33 years, as a faculty member and as the seminary's third rector (1973-1981). In his spare time he also obtained a law degree, J.D., from Suffolk University and was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association. On June 30, 1997 he was granted senior priest/retirement status by Cardinal Bernard Law.

He retired, initially to the family home in North Andover, and subsequently in 1999 to Regina Cleri Residence in Boston. Although retired he assisted in archdiocesan parishes among them, St. Barbara, Woburn.

Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, OFM Cap. was to be the principal celebrant of Father DeAdder's Funeral Mass at St. Michael Church, North Andover on July 27. Msgr. Dennis F. Sheehan, Father DeAdder's successor as rector of Pope St. John Seminary and fellow faculty member with him there was to be the homilist of the Mass.

Father DeAdder's survivors include his younger siblings, all residents of North Andover, his sister, Nancy Barry and brothers Robert and Donald.

Father DeAdder was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, North Andover.