September 28-30, 2018
Faithful Companions of Jesus
RETREAT AND CONFERENCE CENTER
in
CALGARY
Deacon John and Melody Walsh were my contact deacon couple for planning.
Father Julian and two of the deacon couples having Sunday brunch after the closing.
Calgary
Deacons Sunday Mass
September
30, 2018
Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in
your name,
and we tried to stop him because he does not
follow us.
Mark 9:38-43
What we
have here is a message about pettiness and jealousy in ministry that has been
around since the beginning.
Jealousy and competitiveness have
been the dark side of clerical culture for a very long time and is alive and
well today. When the apostles, James and John, were caught making a move to
grab the best seats in Jesus’ new kingdom, they had to face the jealous indignation
of the other ten apostles as well as a stern reprimand from Jesus. Today we
have the story about John trying to put a stop to someone who was driving out
demons in the name of Jesus because he was not “a member of the inner circle.”
Then there is the story about Joshua doing pretty much the same when he
complained to Moses that Medad and Eldad were prophesying even though they had
not been “in the tent” with the others when the spirit came to rest on the
other prophets. Snubbed by some
Samaritans while on their way to Jerusalem, James and John asked Jesus if it
would be OK to call down fire from heaven and burn them up!
The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops’ Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests
dedicates quite a bit of space to the subject of clerical envy and competition.
Whether you like his work or not, the late Father Andrew Greeley made a similar
point in one of his books. He talks about the leveling that goes on in
presbyterates, whereby priests are reluctant to applaud the work of other
priests for fear that it will take away something from themselves. Deacons
probably have a similar problem.
He says that, in the clerical
culture, “to be a member of good standing, a priest must try not to be too good
at anything or to express unusual views or criticize accepted practices or even
to read too much. Some ideas are all right, but too many ideas are dangerous.”
“When a layman mentions that Father X is a good preacher, the leveler priest’s
response might likely be, ‘Yes, he preaches well, but he doesn’t get along with
kids.’” Or, “He’s really good, but all he does during the week is prepare his
sermon.” Or, “everyone says that, and it’s probably true, but he’s not an easy
man to live with.” One famous Protestant
minister once said, “The meanest, most contemptible form of praise is to first
speak well of a man and then end it with a “but.”
When I was teaching in the seminary,
in my August transition class with the deacons, I always end with a class on
the spiritual practice of blessing people. Blessing people is not about waving
crosses over them. It’s about looking for goodness in them to affirm. For some
reason, this does not seem to come naturally to ordained ministers. It is a
spiritual discipline that must be intentionally cultivated.
A couple of years ago, I came across
my notes for former student, Jorge Gomez, of the class of 2011. As you may know
Fr. Jorge (from Mexico) and his diocesan brother, Stanley (from Kenya), were
killed in a car wreck a few weeks after his ordination. Here are the last words
I said to Deacon Jorge to bless him on his way out of the seminary. “You have
not forgotten that you do not have a vocation to the seminary, but to serve the
People of God. You have a deep love and respect for your country, your family,
your people and your community. You are very dedicated to “the people.” You
seem to know instinctively that, as priests, we are “called from the people, to
live among the people, to serve the people.” I also told them which saint they
reminded me of. For him I selected St. Luke, whose heroes are always the
underdog, the foreigner, the disaffected and the left out. I am very happy I took the time to bless him
with these words while he was still alive! Jorge would have loved Pope Francis’
homily a couple of years ago. “A priest who is not in service of his community
does no good. He is wrong!”
Brothers and sisters, our sin may not
be so much about “what we have done,” the mean and nasty things we say about each
other, but “what we have failed to do,” our withholding of clear and
unconditional compliments
St. Cyprian, in the Office of
Readings for the feast of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, put it this way. His
words could be applied to deacons, religious Sisters/Brothers and lay ministers
as well. “Why should a priest not take
pride in the praise given to a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood fails to rejoice in the
happenings of its brothers wherever they are?”
Again, one famous American Protestant
preacher described our sin best when he said, “The meanest, most contemptible
form of praise is to first speak well of a man and then end it with a “but!”
Jesus was right in his response to
John in today’s gospel. "Do not prevent him.
"There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my
name who can at the same time speak ill
of me. For whoever is not against us is
for us.”
The Bow River flows through Calgary. Below some of the flowering Fall trees.
