THE BIGGEST SHORTAGE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.......

.......IS NOT PRIESTS OR MONEY, IT'S

IMAGINATION

"The biggest shortage in the Catholic Church is not priests or money, it's imagination!" I believe this so much that I have said it in innumerable homilies, various presentations and in over 140 priest retreats in 10 countries. Every time I have repeated it, I am reminded of a story in one of my favorite Harvard Business School books from 26 years ago, THE ART OF POSSIBILITY. 

"A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying, "SITUATION HOPELESS! NO ONE WEARS SHOES!" The other writes back triumphantly, "GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY! THEY HAVE NO SHOES!" 

In the situation mentioned above, for one the evidence he saw pointed to hopelessness, for the other the evidence he saw pointed to abundance and possibility.  Experiments in neuroscience have demonstrated that our understanding of the world comes into our consciousness as a construction of our own making. 

Maybe this is why some of us today turn to one of two possibilities as we look at the same reality in front of us. One group tries to go back in time to recover some former reality, while another sees shrinking the old construct to fit the new reality as the solution going forward. We see it when some see the solution to our shrinking Church in returning to the pre-Vatican II Church, while some see the solution in closing more and more parishes.  Neither see the future in terms of encouraging imaginative new solutions for passing on the non-negotiable essentials of the faith, "the great treasure inside the earthenware jar," as St. Paul put it! Both seem to fall into the idolatry of focusing more on handing on the jar that holds the treasure rather than the treasure itself!  Pope Francis frequently remarked that people who cling to certainty have created their own idol.  

I find the recent trend of nostalgia for an irretrievable past obviously fear-based with a misguided attempt to avoid fearful uncertainty. While it is true, that some of the attempts to "update" after Vatican Council II were childish and immature, they were good faith attempts without a map to go by, but their shortcomings are poor excuses for running back to some imagined "good old days." Half of my twelve year seminary training were pre-Vatican II. I lived in those days and, believe me, I certainly do not want to "go back" there! From observation, I also know that many of those who want to "go back" did not actually go through the days they want to "go back to" and many of those who want to "go back" do not always want to "go all the way back." They too have a tendency to pick and choose practices from the past actually becoming the "cafeteria Catholics" they condemn.  Besides, as an old quote puts it, “Tradition is not about preserving the ashes, but about passing on the flame.” Tradition has always been a living, developing dynamism.

I find the recent trend of simply closing parishes to keep an old church model alive just as distressing. I have noted and written about the fact that we keep producing fancy binders and suggestions on "how to close a parish," but never a pamphlet on "how to keep a parish from having to close." That trend seems to be more about how to downsize the old model to fit the priest shortage, rather than creating imaginative new models of how to expand the church's ability to "hand over" the "great treasure" inside the old jar. We ought to be growing, not shrinking, even in today's culture!

I have offered at least four ideas that have gone "nowhere" so far. (1) I suggested that we create a "diocesan missionary" program. It would be very similar to a "rescue team" whereby trained volunteer "missionaries" from a thriving parish become members of a struggling parish for a short period of time to help it "get back on it's feet." I believe it could "revive" both the struggling parish and the "volunteer missionaries." (2) I have suggested that one of the Annual Presbyteral Assemblies be designed as an "Idea Festival" where "bright ideas" on a range of subjects are presented by as many "volunteer presenters" as possible. The understanding would be that no idea would "have to be implemented," but one idea might trigger another idea that "would work." This idea could be adapted for other stake holders in the archdiocese. This would expand the "creativity pool" instead of having all the ideas having to come out of the Chancery Office (the old model). (3) I have suggested that the concept of a "Catholic Megachurch" be offered to (not forced upon) a region or area of the archdiocese that would welcome it. In a "priest-shortage," this could be led by one talented pastor and a large energetic lay staff able to offer more comprehensive programing, better music and life-long educational programs, as well as new energy efficient buildings. The Archdiocese could then, not only help it come to reality, but offer its services to help "make it work." (4) I established an Endowment at St. Meinrad Seminary to teach "Parish Revitalization" with the funds I made conducting over 140 Priest Retreats in 10 countries. I have learned the hard way that a few of these ideas were not necessarily useless and wrong-headed, they just needed some time to percolate or be presented again under somebody else's name!  

I have accepted the fact that some of my own ideas may not work, but I am convinced that there are hundreds and hundreds of unexplored ideas out there waiting to be heard! The problem may not be a "hopeless situation," but "hopeless talk and hopeless thinking!" The path forward is not 'preserving the ashes of past organizational thinking, but protecting the flame of faith for future generations' by facing the realities right in front of us with courage and imagination! 

Let me end this by saying that I am encouraged by the new Archdiocesan Parish Planning Process 2025-2026: Phase I, Phase II and Phase III. It's a sign, at least, that we recognize that we are in trouble! It's a good start, organizationally, but we need a lot more than an organizational shuffle. We need a dramatic infusion of bold, visionary and inspirational leadership that will turn us into a "missionary church" with a focus on "growing the faith" and with an ability to spark or rekindle the fire of faith in the hearts of Catholics in this diocese, not just salvaging what's left over from the past!   

IS IT THAT YOU CAN'T SEE OR YOU JUST WON'T SEE?

 

If you were blind, that would not be a sin. But since you say you can see, 

when you are actually blind, you remain in your sin.

John 9:41

So far, we have been to the desert, the mountain and the well. Next, Jesus invites us to admit that we are blind and invites us to go to the doctor for healing.

Tyler Perry is a successful African-American playwright, actor and screenwriter. Perry attributes his success to what he calls “spiritual progress,” especially the “spiritual progress” that resulted in making peace with his own father.  One of his profound insights was around learning that “parents do what they know how.” He finally realized that he could not change his history with his father, but he could change the way he wanted to remember it! “My life changed,” he said, “once things changed in me!”

I, too, had to learn how resentment can keep you stuck and how you can free yourself by going to the eye doctor and have them opened. The ability to see in a new way is like being let out of prison, having your chains cut and throwing off a heavy load. Like Tyler Perry, it was only when I chose to “see my past in a new way” that I was no longer a victim of it.

We cannot do anything about our pasts, but we can choose whether we want to be victims of it. Once I began to understand that my Dad “did what he knew how,” I was able to move from anger to compassion. I thank God that I was able to bury all that resentment, even before I buried him!

“Seeing in a new way” is exactly the conclusion Jesus came to in his search for clarity during his forty days in the desert.  Coming out of the desert, he began to preach “conversion.” “Metanoiete” means “change the way you see!” Change the way you look at things and heaven will open up to you.   Once things change in you, things around you will look very different.”  The devil tried to get Jesus to change things. Jesus resisted that temptation. Instead, Jesus called for an internal change within people, believing that if people would change inside, things outside them would also change. A new life begins with having your eyes opened!

Today we have a wonderful story about a bunch of blind people: one who can’t see and others who won’t see. All of them need Jesus in order to be able to “see.” In this wonderful story, Jesus uses the occasion of healing physical blindness to tell us something about the healing of spiritual blindness.

The man born blind, not only regains his physical sight, but step-by-step he begins to see Jesus in a new way. At first, he says he tells people he doesn’t know who this Jesus is who healed him. As the story unfolds, he calls Jesus a “prophet” and finally “Lord.”

The Pharisees and his parents can see physically, but they are spiritually blind and refuse “to see in a new way.” The Pharisees are blinded by their own rigid religious structures. They can’t see the beauty of this great healing, a blind man getting his sight. All they can see is that this healing  took place on the Sabbath day and healing was illegal on the Sabbath day. The parents are blinded by their fear of being ostracized by neighbors, friends and organized religion if they admitted to this healing.  They conveniently choose not to know and not to see. “Ask him,” they say, “he is old enough to speak for himself.” Both Pharisees and parents are afraid of “seeing in a new way” because it would mean their cozy little routines would be disrupted. It was convenient for them not to see and so remain stuck in their chosen blindness.

I am amazed when I talk to “stuck” people. I believe that most people who are stuck are basically people who are blinded by their inability to “see in a new way.” They whine and cry and wait to be rescued, but they cannot change their minds and look at their situations from a new angle. They can’t “let go” of their old way of thinking and seeing, and so remain stuck in their blindness. They are like the monkeys I read about several years ago. To catch these monkeys for the zoo, people would cut a hole in a tree, just small enough for a monkey to his hand into. Then they fill it with peanuts. When the monkey sticks his hand into the hole and grabs the peanuts, he cannot pull his hand back out. Instead of letting go of the peanuts, they howl and cry till someone comes and hauls them off to the zoo. All they had to do was to let go of the peanuts. People are a lot like that: they cannot let go of the way they see things and so remain trapped, whining and crying all the while.

Some people simply cannot “let go” of the way they see things. They clutch at beliefs like: life ought to be fair, parents ought to be perfect, spouses should not let each other down, the church ought to be perfect, things ought to make sense and people ought to respect you, love you and meet your needs. And, of course, when life isn’t fair, when parents and churches aren’t perfect, when spouses let them down, when things don’t make sense and when people do not meet their needs, they fall apart and remain stuck in their belief that if they just don’t like it enough, it will go away. All they would have to do to free themselves is to “let go” of their old beliefs and “see things in a new way.”

Jesus was right, “If you were physically blind, there is no sin in that, but when you choose to be blind, your sin remains, you keep your own suffering going.”  Tyler Perry is right, too, when he says, “My life changed once things changed in me.”

What about you? What situations do you need to “look at” in a new way? What people do you need to “look at” in a new way? Is the way you have been “looking at” these situations and people still causing you pain? If so, ask God for healing! Ask God for a new set of eyes! Once things change in you, life will change for the better for you!

CHURCH CHAT #19

"Let the little children come to me!"

Matthew 19:14

THE PASSING OF A GREAT MAN: CARDINAL POLYCARP PENGO

 

Readers of this blog might recognize this man's name. The primary school in Tanzania (Cardinal Polycarp Pengo Primary School)  that we have helped complete is named after this former first bishop of the Diocese of Tunduru-Masasi of which our friend, Bishop Filbert Mhasi, is now bishop. Even before his death, Cardinal Pengo knew that the new primary school named after him (at which he had blessed its foundation- see below) had restarted by gifts from Louisville, Kentucky.

              

We are still accepting gifts to help furnish the inside of the school so it can open soon. We are so close - just $15,750 short of finishing this project. Double desks with two seats are $200.00 each.  If you are moved to make a Lenten donation, you can write your tax-deductible checks out to: Father John Judie Ministries and send them to: Father Ronald Knott, 1271 Parkway Gardens Court, #106, Louisville, KY 40217 for deposit. 

Cardinal Pengo (retired Archbishop of Dar es Salaam) was loved and respected throughout Tanzania. Bishop Mhasi said this about his funeral, "There were a lot of people! Three Cardinals, many bishops, a lot of priests and religious! Yes, it was emotional for many who admired him, loved him. I am one of them."

Cardinal Pengo died February 19 of this year at age 81 and will be buried at the Pugu Pilgrimage Center, where the archdiocese is building a new cathedral.

Cardinal Pengo died while undergoing treatment at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiology Institute in the Tanzanian capital, hours after arriving in the country from India. The cardinal had sought treatment in the Asian country since late December, according to Church officials, but had requested he be brought back to Tanzania after his health deteriorated.

Condolences have continued to pour in for the prominent prelate, considered a leading spiritual, moral and national voice in the East African country. He spoke strongly on social justice, advocated for the marginalized, the poor, and against corruption. He also advocated for the coexistence of Christians and Muslims.

ONE OF MY HEROES FOR "CHOOSING TO STAY"

Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J.

1881-1955

BORN IN FRANCE

DIED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

There seems to be a lot of discouragement going around, not only about the leadership of our country, but also about the leadership of our Church in this country. What discourages me most is that the leadership of our Church in this country helped elect the present political leadership of our country. 

Because of their "failure to convince" people of our moral position on one issue, they have turned to our political system as a way to "force" people to accept our moral position. It seems to me that they may have been entrapped by the third temptation in the story of Jesus in the desert as he was discerning the direction of his ministry. Jesus rejected cozying up political power, but rather called for radical personal conversion! For that reason, I accept our moral position, but I simply reject their means to reach it! Consequentialism, a perennial favorite moral heresy, for anyone not fully up to speed on basic principles of Catholic moral teaching, is the belief that good ends justify evil means. Despite the fact that this notion has been condemned ever since Paul wrote Romans 3:8, some Catholics, deeply believe it anyway. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear:(#1789) "One may never do evil so that good may result from it." My only hope is that Pope Leo will be able to find more truly effective spiritual leaders, people able to convince others of our moral positions without having to cozy up to politicians who seek to use our faith for their political ends. 

Even though it is tempting some days to leave our Church and even our country, I have decided to stay with both, to the bitter end if necessary! One of my heroes, in this area of my life, is Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit and a scientist. Because of his new ideas, he was silenced by Rome in 1926. He was urged by many to leave, not only the Jesuits, but also the Church. He decided rather to "go on to the end and with a smile if possible." Why? He said, "When I took my vows I committed myself. To break them would be an offense against honor." "One must work from within," he said. "Those who leave no longer have any influence."

I am a Christian - a Catholic Christian! As a Catholic Christian, I am committed to the Catholic Church, warts and all, but I roundly reject "Christian Nationalism!" As an American Catholic, I can proudly say that "I am consciously Christian, deliberately Catholic and unapologetically ecumenical and interfaith!" As one Baptist Minister said recently, “I’m greatly concerned about uniting church and state because it has never gone well for the church. It turns faith into just a political tool and ultimately drives people away.” When will we ever learn from history? As the American philosopher George Santayana, said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!"

DO YOU HAVE A HEARSAY OR A FIRSTHAND FAITH?

 

They said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word;

for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the

savior of the world.”

John 4:42

On the first Sunday of Lent, Jesus invited us to conversion of life by going to the desert. The desert is a place devoid of distractions, a place to gain insight. On the second Sunday of Lent, Jesus invited us to go up the mountain with him.  Mountains are places where you can go to gain perspective, to get the big picture. From a mountaintop you can see into the distance – where you’ve been and where you are headed. On the third Sunday of Lent, Jesus invites us to go to the well, a place one goes to quench one’s thirst.

In many ways, people today are thirsty, restless and looking for meaning. The Prophet Haggai, about 520 years before Christ, described our culture quite well when he wrote, “You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; you have drunk, but not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; and you have earned wages for a bag with holes in it.” We “have it all” on one hand and yet we are still not satisfied on the other. We are “cravers for more!”

It has been suggested that our consumer culture has spawned a new climate of thirstiness and restlessness. The experts call it ‘churn,’ using the word to describe our short attention span and our ‘what’s next’ attitude. This restlessness is seen in a consuming lust for endless distractions and amusements. This restlessness is being fed, some believe, by the overstimulation and excessive exposure to violent movies, fast-paced videos, computers and cell-phones, loud hard-wired music and over-scheduling. All these together exacerbate agitation, restlessness and hyperactivity. 

What the world seems to be craving right now is what Jesus called “rest for one’s soul.” He said on one occasion, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus offers “rest” to those who are “worn out” in their search for “meaning.”

In this gospel, we meet a wonderful woman who is an example of all that!  Jesus meets this woman at a well. She is tired - tired to the bone. She is physically tired - tired of being thirsty and having to constantly draw water and carry it long distances. She lived a half mile away and the well was over 100 feet deep. She was emotionally tired - tired of trying to find satisfying relationships in her life. She had been “looking for love in all the wrong places,” as the country song goes. She had been married five times. She was tired of being discriminated against by others. Jews hated Samaritans like her, and women in general were considered socially inferior. She was spiritually tired – tired of a burdensome religion that was not really satisfying. At the well, she meets Jesus and pours out her heart to him and he, in turn, gives her “living water” and “rest for her soul.”

Fellow seekers, all of us are like this woman in some degree. We all have a void in our lives that we try to fill. Some of us strive frantically our whole lives to fill that void by gaining material things, gaining stature, gaining status, gaining fame, finding the perfect relationship and much more. The fact of the matter is we will never fill that void with “things or stuff” because that void was put there for a specific purpose. We have a built-in missing piece – given to us by God himself.

What is the purpose of that void? What is that missing piece? It is the place where God belongs! Only God can fill that hole. Saint Augustine of Hippo described it best when he said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you!”

It’s as if we all running around with a hole in our souls that we are desperately trying to fill. The truth of the matter is that only God can fill it, and yet we try our best to fill it with unsatisfying distractions and amusements, objects and things. Lent is a time to stop by the “well” for “living waters” and find “rest” in God.   

The best meditation for this gospel could be Francis Thompson’s “The Hound of Heaven.” “I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him…”

I have always loved the words of Celie in the movie “The Color Purple.” Celie feels a hole in her life. She is more than a bit aggravated by the feeling of God’s absence in her life – what she refers to as God “just sitting up there glorifying in being deef (deaf).” She speaks for many people today when she says, “It ain’t easy trying to do without God. Even if you know he ain’t there, trying to do without him is a strain.”   Those who experience the strain of trying to “do without God” will no doubt feel a hole in their souls, a hunger and thirst that nothing seems to satisfy. Lent is time to re-connect with God after ‘trying to do without him.”

Jesus has taken us to the desert, to the mountain and to the well so that he might lead us to conversion of life, a life that is full and satisfying.

 

 

 

 

1.   

CHURCH CHAT #18

 THE HAZARDS OF PREACHING

an interesting passage about falling asleep during a sermon from

The Acts of the Apostles 

20: 7-12

"On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight.

There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered, and a young man named Eutychus who was sitting on the window sill was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. Once overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and when he was picked up, he was dead.

Paul went down, threw himself upon him, and said as he embraced him, “Don’t be alarmed; there is life in him.”

Then he returned upstairs, broke the bread, and ate; after a long conversation that lasted until daybreak, he departed.

And they took the boy away alive and were immeasurably comforted."

THE VISION LOSS THAT COMES FROM LIVING IN A BUBBLE

"Living in a bubble" is a slang term that refers to someone who is ignorant or unaware of the outside world and its issues. It implies that the person is isolated from reality, living in their own little world, and not exposed to different opinions or perspectives.

People who "live in a bubble" are often seen as privileged or sheltered, lacking the experience and knowledge necessary to understand the struggles of others. They may be dismissive of social issues, believing that they do not affect them personally, or they may have a narrow-minded view of the world.

This term can be used to criticize people who are out of touch with reality, particularly those who hold positions of power or influence. It suggests that their decisions are based on limited information and biased perspectives, rather than a comprehensive understanding of the world around them.

The phrase "living in a bubble" can also refer to a group of people who share similar beliefs and values, and who are unwilling or unable to engage with those who hold different views. This can lead to an echo chamber effect, where people only hear opinions that reinforce their own, and are shielded from dissenting voices.

In some cases, "living in a bubble" can be a deliberate choice, such as when someone chooses to live in a gated community or only associate with people of a certain social class. However, it is often used as a criticism of those who are unaware of their privilege and the impact it has on their worldview.

Overall, the term "living in a bubble" is a powerful way to critique ignorance, insularity, and lack of empathy. It challenges us to broaden our perspectives, seek out new experiences, and engage with the world in a more meaningful way. People who "live in a bubble" can be simple minded or highly educated.

My first experience of a person "living in a bubble" was that elderly woman in eastern Kentucky that I saw interviewed on KET several years back. She had never been more than two miles from the mountain cabin she was born in. When asked why, she answered the reporter, “I just don’t believe in goin’ places!”

A few years ago, I got a clear picture of what "living in a bubble" means today. I was in the locker room of a downtown athletic club after a racquetball game. We had an abundance of young business types as members. The TV was on. Nobody looked up or paid any attention while the newscaster reported mass starvation in India, the tragic spread of Aids through Africa or the drive by shootings in Los Angeles. Then the newscaster announced that the stock market had dropped 60 points and the whole locker room gasped and sighed collectively.

Recently, during the first few days of the Iran War, I was glued to watching the news. Amid all the destruction, devastation, death and worries of escalation, the commercials were about Botox Cosmetics, Cruise Line opportunities, premium cat food and weight loss drugs! It made me almost shake with dread and embarrassment! Do we not "live in a bubble" when our attention is constantly being drawn to Caribbean cruises, face wrinkles, premium pet food and losing weight, all while the Middle East explodes as if it is going to have little affect on us?

THERE IS NO RESCUE PARTY OUT LOOKING FOR YOU!

 The Very Place I Learned the Most Important Lesson of My Life

An Old Story Worth Repeating 

It was the spring of 1966. I was standing on that fire escape grid (outside the door in the bottom left corner) with a fellow classmate, Pat Murphy from Indianapolis. Maybe we were getting some fresh air between classes and sharing our feelings about some of the expectations of "seminary culture" in which we were living. The seminary staff was expecting me to "develop my  talents." I was no doubt, sharing something about my doubts about my having any talents.  

Back then, I was not a happy person. I was hoping that the world would change so I could be happy.  I was extremely bashful. I voided meeting new people or allowing myself from getting into unfamiliar situations. I was what George Bernard Shaw called "a feverish little clod of grievances and ailments, complaining that the world would not dedicate itself to making me happy." Yes, I was waiting for "a rescue party to come and save me!" As the leadership guru, Tom Peters, put it: "Unless you walk into the unknown, the odds of making a profound difference in your life are pretty low." 

In what had to be a great moment of grace, an impulse gift from God, I suddenly blurted out, "Pat, I am so sick and tired of being bashful, backward and scared of life that I am going to do something about it even if it kills me!" I realized then that it was up to me to "grab the bull by the horns." 

I was shocked by the words that came out of my own mouth. But from that moment on, I have been standing up to the coward in me. I have been deliberately “slaying dragons” and “confronting demons,” in my head and on my path, ever since. I would not be where I am today if that particular great “moment of grace” had not happened and if I had not responded enthusiastically. I decided that day not to indulge my resistance to personal and spiritual growth anymore. That day, on that fire escape, I made my first conscious decision to enter the world of personal growth and deliberate living. How appropriate and symbolic that the decision was made on a “fire escape.” 

That day, on that fire escape, I finally learned a fundamental principle of personal and spiritual growth – fear and pain cannot be used as excuses for backing-off from life. I have come to understand that pain serves a purpose. Pain captures our attention and lets us know that change is necessary. Pain signals that it is time to move on and learn new behaviors. Unfortunately, many of us sabotage the possibility of growth by denying, numbing or backing away from such pain. 

Some may call these turning points or pivotal moments, “luck” or “an opportunity coming from nowhere,” but as a believer, I would call them “moments of grace.” "Grace" is “unmerited divine assistance given to human beings for their regeneration.” Even so, those “moments of grace” have two parts. One part has nothing to do with us personally. It is a spontaneous gift from God that shows up when it shows up. we cannot create it, capture it or force it to happen. The second part has everything to do with us personally. It has to do with our cooperation, our ability to seize the moment and step up to the plate in doing our part to see where it takes us if we follow its invitation. 

We all have “moments of grace” when unmerited divine assistance is offered to us for our growth as human persons. In sharing my “moment of grace,” let it be known that it is not unique to me. My hope is that my sharing of it with others, it will trigger an awareness of their own “moments of grace” and how they have, or have not, cooperated with them in enriching their own lives. 

My fire escape moment was most significant for me for this reason. I was raised to believe that “life is something that happens to you and all you can do is make the most of it.” I was taught to be grateful for what I had even when it was not the best life God had to offer me. Thomas Merton was right on target when he said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.” I have always wondered how my life might have unfolded if I had responded differently to that moment of grace. I realize now that I was not entirely aware of the full implications of what I was choosing in that moment. I do know, however, that I am "still working my program," a program I started with baby-steps back in 1966 and gradually took more and more courageous steps over the years!  

SEEING THE CONNECTION - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother and led them up a high

mountain by themselves.

Matthew 17:1-9

After being invited the first week of Lent to “go to the desert” for new insights into ourselves, we are invited the second week of Lent to “go to the mountain” for a new perspective! 

When Jesus came out of the desert, the first thing he called for was a radical new outlook – metanoia! On the second Sunday of Lent, Jesus invites us to go to the mountaintop, a traditional place for achieving a new perspective on life. From a mountaintop you can see in all directions. Jesus invites us to go the mountaintop because conversion of life, the real purpose of Lent, is impossible without a change of perspective, without a new way of seeing. 

It is easy to “get stuck” in the way we think. As Brooks Atkinson put it, “The most fatal illusion is the settled point of view.”  Some of us go through life living out the old joke, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!” Even scientists have trouble incorporating new information. The French Academy announced at one point that it would not accept any further reports of meteorites, since it was clearly impossible for rocks to fall out of the sky. Shortly thereafter a rain of meteorites came close to breaking the windows of the Academy. Lent is a time to take a long, loving look at reality!

Dr. Wayne Dyer teaches us that, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This is certainly true in resolving soul-eating anger and resentment toward other people. What many people fail to realize is that there is a “way out” when offending people refuse to apologize and own the hurt they have caused. What they fail to realize is that the hurt can be healed and the problem resolved with a new way of looking at the perpetrator. Lent is a time to change the way we look at others.

John Lubbock reminds us that “What we see depends mainly on what we look for!” Oscar Wilde put it humorously when he said, “The optimist sees the donut; the pessimist sees the hole.”   The more attention you shine on a particular subject, the more evidence of it will grow. Shine attention on obstacles or possibilities and they will multiply lavishly. Lent is a time to change the way we look at the world. 

Possibly the most important change we need to make this Lent in our perspective is the way we view ourselves.  No one has said it better than Marianne Williamson. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” Lent is a time to get a new perspective. Lent is a time to see the world through God’s eyes!    

Because of the “transfiguration” gospel, they are called “peak experiences” – those intense religious experiences that many of us have been lucky enough to have at least once in our lives. In fact, I believe that this is the main thing that keeps people in organized religion - at least one “peak experience.” On the other hand, it is also the main reason some people claim to be agnostic - the absence of even one “peak experience.”  

“Peak experiences” cannot be staged or created. They are simply moments of grace – spontaneous gifts from God. We can go to places where “peak experiences” have happened to other people, even places where we have personally experienced them before, but that does not mean we will have another one. They are simply unpredictable and unannounced gifts from God. 

“Peak experiences” can happen at some of the most surprising times and in some of the most unlikely places. Oddly enough, for example, during the sexual abuse storm that began in 2002 a significant number of journalists, who had been assigned to report on the crisis in various locales, ended up converting to Catholicism.  They had a “religious experience,” a “peak experience” even in the midst of that pain and sin!  Others have had these “peak experiences” during the death process of a loved one or even their own process of dying. I witnessed my mother going through one of these “peak experiences” as she was dying of cancer back in 1976.

“Peak experiences” happen most often during retreats and other religious events. For instance, many seminarians were so moved by meeting Pope John Paul II that they came back to the Church, after having been gone since childhood, and even decided that they may have a call to the priesthood. Many teenagers have their first “peak experience” during their senior retreat or an alternative spring break in places like Guatemala. Many married couples have had life changing “peak experiences” during Marriage Encounter weekends. Other Catholics have discovered a new burst of faith during a Cursillo weekend, a trip to Medjugore or Lourdes, even meeting someone with the stature of Mother Teresa.

How they happen, why they happen and when they happen cannot be predicted, staged or even understood. They all seem to be glimpses into another level of existence or little previews of coming wonderful events that God gives some people who need a reason to hang on! Those of us who have experienced them know how mind-blowing and life changing they can be! To those who cannot say they have ever had such an experience, I would say “it ain’t over till it’s over” and “your time may be right around the corner” at some unexpected and unpredictable time.

These “peak experiences” have several things in common. (1) You have to be open to them. The “transfiguration” that we read about today, happened during one of hundreds of little retreats that Jesus arranged for his disciples! Regular contact with God through prayer does not guarantee one of these experiences, but makes them more likely to happen. Your mind must to be open and you must remain in a receiving frame of mind.

There is always a temptation to want to freeze the experience, repeat the experience and make the experience permanent. This is what Peter was up to in the reading today. “Lord, it is so wonderful to be here. Why don’t we erect some tents and just stay up here forever?” Jesus tells Peter that the experience was only meant to be something to sustain the group during the painful days ahead. He tells Peter that they will have to go back down the mountain and back into real life for a while. Experiencing it “all the time” would have to wait until the resurrection after his death. One of the things that Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Medjugore, senior retreat, Lourdes and other similar experiences have it common is the desire that many have to repeat those experiences or to “be in them” full time. They are never meant to be permanent. They are only glimpses into glory. God wants us to go back to our ordinary lives, with that precious moment in the back of our minds to sustain us.             

Lastly, “peak experiences” are meant to help is “see connections” to see the connection between where we come from, where we are now and where we are destined. This is what the conversation that Jesus had with the saints - Moses and Elijah. This conversation helped Jesus realize that he was the one they saw coming in the future so many years before. They helped Jesus understand where God was taking him in the days ahead – glory on the other side of suffering and death. Just so, our “peak experiences” remind us that there is something wonderful in the invisible world that awaits us on the other side of this life.

May you experience your own “peak experience!” May God give you a “glimpse of glory!”  May you get a “sneak preview” of the world to come! May that “peak experience” sustain you in the sometimes tediousness of worldly existence and help you keep your eye on the prize!

With all the problems going on in the Church today, others ask me and I ask myself over and over again “Why stay?” The reason I stay is that I have been blessed to have had several “peak experiences” and “glimpses of glory” in my life time. It is these intense experiences that sustain me during the ordinary moments, periods of spiritual dryness and intense discouragement. As I think about all the scandal that has beset the Church, I am not worried or overcome with discouragement. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, who built his famous speech around this gospel, “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it doesn’t matter with me now because I have been to the mountaintop. God has allowed me to go up to the mountain and I’ve looked over and I have seen the promised land. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”

My friends, I am here to stay, I remain hopeful and I am committed to being faithful to the end, not because I am out of touch with the serious problems facing our Church, but because God has given me a couple of small glimpses of glory, like he did the disciples in today’s gospel. I hold on because of those “peak experiences.”    

CHURCH CHAT #17

 

AN IDEA ABOUT HOW TO ENGAGE OUR MISSING CHURCH MEMBERS

 

I get a fair amount of positive feedback from my homilies, and for that I am grateful, because I do spend a lot of time working on them. However, as I was talking to a Baptist friend the other day, he helped me realize something that I was not focusing on enough! He told me that his pastor does an excellent job on his homilies, but the people who most need to hear it are not there! His church, like ours, has seen a steep decline in church attendance especially since COVID.

When I left the Cathedral, I missed my pulpit so much that I volunteered to publish a column every week in The Record. I called it An Encouraging Word. After fifteen years of writing that column each week, I stopped and decided to start a blog also called An Encouraging Word.

Even though my preaching is deliberately based on a Isaiah 50:4 quote, "The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to answer the weary with a word that will awaken them," I realize that I may still be opening myself up to criticism and condemnation. However, I try my best to accept any criticism with humility and courage. My blog posts are deliberately called An Encouraging Word inspired by another passage from Isaiah 42:3. "A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not extinguish." In other words, I try to look for goodness to affirm, not sins to condemn. God knows there is more than enough of that from some clergy these days!

Following my Baptist friend's advice about "those who are not there" to hear my homilies, I offer blog postings every other day for the people listed below. On my blog, you will find homilies, reflections, humorous cartoons, prayers, updates on my mission projects, photos and various other useful materials.

TO ACCESS MY AN ENCOURAGING WORD BLOG GO TO:

fatherknott.com 

For those who don't go to church.

For those who have gotten out the habit of going to church.

For those who don't want to go to church.

For those who have never been to church.

For those who can't go to church. 

For those who go all the time to church.

"Let us consider how to spur one another to love and good works. Do not neglect to attend your assemblies, as some do, but rather encourage one another."

Hebrews 10:24-25

OUR EPIDEMIC OF "VICIOUS TONGUE DISEASE"

 

"Social Media" can, yes, be a great source of family news and photo sharing among family members and friends, but it also has a very dark side as well! 

Social Media does not "cause" people to develop vicious tongues, but it can encourage them to do so (as in "monkey see, monkey do") and can give them an easy outlet for doing so! People are able to access more and more information on one hand, while they have not yet developed the ability to discern what is of value or true on the other! 

I have never been tempted to "sign up" for Facebook, for that very reason. I hear from many people who do have accounts on Facebook, even relatives, about how much gossip, viciousness, rumor-mongering, grudge-sharing and cruelty is spread, sometimes anonymously, on social media sites. 

It is not the only outlet for vicious tongues. It is only one of the methods causing our "epidemic of vicious tongues" as it funnels the spread mean, angry, reputation-ruining, jealous and grudge-sharing words. Teenagers are most certainly not the only ones causing this viciousness to spread. This doesn't just happen on the latest TV episode of "Mean Girl Murders," this is now happening in the highest levels of our government! 

The hate-filled, no-boundaries "name calling" coming from Washington D.C, even from so many of our elected officials, is escalating by the day and becoming more and more fierce - even when you think it can't get any worse! TV news, news sites on the computer and newspapers are filled with anger and hate! It seems to me that our politicians are actually teaching us that it is OK, even commendable, to vomit hate for people who disagree with you or think differently from you or look different from you or believe differently from you! Revenge, even wrapped in religious excuses, has now been unleashed on our culture and is becoming normative so quickly that it makes my head spin! This needs to stop NOW!!!!! We should all stop it and we should all offer firm fraternal correction whenever we hear it! 

What can I do to help people choose another way? Fewer and fewer people are listening to "spiritual leaders" like myself, so I am less than hopeful that this blog post will change many minds, but I will keep trying regardless!  

This blog is called "An Encouraging Word." Before this, I had a weekly column in The Record for fifteen years by the same name. My "thing" in both efforts is not to look for sins to condemn, but goodness to affirm, so let me pass on a few suggestions I found on the internet. I incorporate some of them in this blog and try to follow them in my personal relationships. The bottom line in this posting is certainly not to suggest a "if you can't beat them, join them" philosophy, but rather I am happy to offer some alternatives to this super-destructive trend! To address the issue of "an epidemic of vicious tongues," consider these strategies:

1. Promote open dialogue to encourage understanding and reduce      hostility.
2. Foster empathy by sharing personal stories and experiences.
3. Encourage conflict resolution techniques in community discussions.
4. Limit exposure to negative influences, such as toxic media or gossip.
5. Advocate for kindness and respect in all forms of communication.
6. Lead by example; model positive speech and behavior in your interactions.

JESUS DISCERNS THE DIRECTION OF HIS MINISTRY

 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew 4:1-11

We know very little about Jesus’ life up to this point. Let's do a quick review. We know that an angel appeared to a young girl of Nazareth, Mary, a little over 2,000 years ago announcing that God was making a move that he had been promising for centuries – to send a Savior. He chose the young virgin, Mary of Nazareth, to be the mother of the Son of God and she was to give him the name, Jesus.

We know that when the time came for his birth, Mary and her husband Joseph, were in the town of Bethlehem to register for a Roman census. We know that at the time of his birth, there was some kind of celestial event that attracted visitors from the East who believed that it signaled the birth of a new king. It could have been a literal star or a meteor or an unusual alignment of celestial bodies. (It is worth noting that ancient Chinese astronomy records indicate there was a star-like object hovering over the Middle East for several days about the time Jesus was born.)

We know these visitors from the East triggered panic in the mind of Herod, a petty local king installed by the Roman Emperor to govern the Jews. Paranoid about losing power, Herod ordered the deaths of every infant in Bethlehem in hopes of killing the new king that the foreign visitors were looking for!

We know that that Joseph and Mary were tipped off about Herod’s monstrous plans in a dream and escaped to Egypt where they lived until news of Herod’s death. (You all remember that Jesus spent some of his early years in Egypt as a refugee, don’t you?)  After Herod was dead and the coast was clear, Mary, Joseph and Jesus moved back to Israel to spend his growing up years in Nazareth.  

We know that Mary and Joseph took the child Jesus to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Passover. On one of those trips, when Jesus was twelve years old, they got separated from one another and it was not realized until they were on their way home. Traveling in a caravan, one parent thought he was with the other. When it was obvious that he had been left behind, they went back to Jerusalem and searched frantically through the crowded city until they found him. They found him in the Temple, engaged in a discussion with the religious teachers there. After that, we know that he went home with his parents and lived there till he was about thirty years old.

We know that when he was about thirty years old, he left home having been drawn by the preaching of his cousin, John, known as the Baptizer. After hearing John preach, we know that Jesus submitted to John’s baptism. On coming up out of the water after his baptism, we know that Jesus heard a voice from heaven saying “This is my beloved Son whom I love.”

We know that this experience was life-changing for Jesus. Overwhelmed by what those words from heaven might mean, Jesus left there and went on a forty-day retreat to reflect on those words and discern what they might mean for his life. While on retreat, the devil presented several tempting options in contrast to what Jesus came to know as God’s plan for him. Having resisted the devil’s tempting options, Jesus comes out of his retreat, hears that John had been arrested and decides to launch his ministry. This is where we are on the time line in the gospel today. Sadly, the story ends with what Jesus rejected, rather than the conclusion he came to at the end of his discernment period in the desert.

Before we consider what Jesus came to understand as his mission from God, it might be a good idea to understand what he rejected – what the devil proposed to him that it might be when Jesus was discerning God’s will in the desert.  In a nutshell, the devil proposed all the solutions that he is still proposing in the world today. The devil, then and now, proposes external fixes. Jesus, then and now, proposes an internal fix. The devil says the path to happiness is through changing things, while Jesus says that the path to happiness is though people changing. Jesus was not called to change things. He was called to change people. He knew that when people change, things change!

Let me give you some examples. (1) The devil suggested to Jesus that he could get a lot of followers if he would just turn rocks into bread. Jesus said “no” because he knew that there is already enough resources to feed the poor. What is needed is not “magic bread,” but people changing their attitudes toward the poor. (2) The devil suggested to Jesus that he could get lots of followers if he would just suspend the laws of nature and jump from high buildings and land unharmed with the help of angels. Jesus said “no” because he knew if people would just open their eyes, they would see that life as it is already a miracle. We don’t need dramatic stunts and cheap miracles. All we need is for people to look at life differently. (3) The devil suggested that Jesus could get ahead if he would only worship the devil and his power, if he would just start calling evil good and good evil. Jesus said “no” because he knew that that was a trick too many people had already fallen for with disastrous results. He knew that people could see the truth if they would just open their eyes and look at reality squarely, instead of closing them in denial and telling themselves that it was the truth.

My friends, the third temptation that Jesus faced was to call evil, good. In our own day, we are severely tempted, in many clever and seductive ways, to do the same – to trick ourselves into calling obvious evil, good!  We are falling for lies in an alarming rate! We are becoming infamous around the world for falling for this third temptation, for falling for convincing lies!

Sadly, as I said before, the temptation story today ends with the direction Jesus rejected as he was discerning his ministry, not what he chose and the direction of his ministry! In short, he rejected exterior changes (changing things) and chose interior change (changing the way we think and the way we see things). In the Greek text, Jesus says, “Metanoiete!” Open your eyes and change the way you think! Open your eyes and change the way you look at things! If you do, you will see that the kingdom of God is at hand! It is not in some far- off heaven, but right here in front of us. It is indeed “at hand!”  

Change the way you think, change the way you look at things and you will see the answer! Your old way of thinking, your old way of looking at things is what is making you miserable and experience the absence of God!  I believe this with all my heart. I believe it as a teaching handed to us by Christ, certainly, but I also believe it from experience!

When I was a junior in college, I was bashful, backward and scared of life. I always thought that life was something that happened to you and all I could do was to accept whatever happened. I was miserable and I blamed everybody I could. It was only when I changed the way I was thinking and got out of the back seat of my life and got behind the wheel that my life took a dramatic turn for the better. The world did not have to change! I had to change! I had to learn, basically, that “There was no rescue party out looking for me.” Instead of looking out there for a rescue party, I had to start looking within myself for that rescue party!

Our job is not simply to change things around us - to just rearrange the furniture so to speak! Our job is much harder! Our job is to change our minds! That, my friends, is the real solution to many of our social problems – coming to a new way of thinking, a new way of seeing and acting, that results from a converted heart!  The bottom line today is this - if people would only change their thinking and their outlooks, live in truth rather than in lies, they could change our world!”  

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

    

CHURCH CHAT #16

 

MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHENOMENON OF FAITH HEALING

      

They begged Jesus that they might touch only the tassel on 

his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

Mark 6:53-56

It seems to me that I have tried to explain my belief about the faith healings of Jesus multiple times. It started with an old book from years ago. There are a few such old books still on my shelf, but I cannot get rid of this book, no matter what! It was the source of a great breakthrough in my understanding. I am talking about a book by Fr. Louis Evely that has his insight on the faith healing of Jesus.

Father Evely makes the case that the phenomenon known as a “healing miracle” is simply an abnormal acceleration of natural healing processes that are triggered by faith. A “miracle” he says, does not occur from the outside in, but from the inside out. Christ did not tell those he cured, “My power has cured you.” Instead, he said, “Your faith has cured you.”  In the previous chapter, we read about the cure of a woman with great faith, but earlier in this chapter, Mark reports that “Jesus could work no miracle there because of people’s lack of faith.”  Today, we read that people were begging to brought to the marketplaces so that they might touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak, and as many as touched it were healed. It was not, of course, a holy tassel that caused the cures in the gospel today, it was people’s faith that triggered their cures! Their faith triggered an acceleration of natural healing processes.

What about the miracles that have been recorded at places like Lourdes? Well, there have been miracles at every shrine of every religion, and most of these have been miracles of healing. Father Evely notes that the sole characteristic of a miraculous cure is the extraordinary acceleration of the natural healing process. That which cannot be healed by a natural process is not susceptible to a miraculous cure; an amputated leg or arm, he noted for example, has never been re-grown miraculously – not even a finger. So, it seems that such acceleration of the natural processes of healing can be triggered by faith. It’s not the sacred stone, the holy relic, the water from a mysterious water source or even the tassel of a Jesus’ cloak that causes the healing, but the intensity of faith of those who believe that triggers their extraordinarily rapid healing processes.

I believe in the possibility of faith healing us physically. When I was in the Home Missions, I anointed an old German man who had a deep, but simple faith. He had an ulcer on his hand that had not healed for years. He wanted it to be anointed, believing that God could heal it for him. I accommodated him without much hope on my part, but guess what? He came back a few weeks later and, sure enough, his hand ulcer was completely gone!

Even doctors will tell you that people have mysteriously gotten well when they are able to believe that getting well is possible, while they have mysteriously lost patients who gave up on their treatment.

How does healing work? How do these healers effect their cures? In a nutshell, their cures are due to the belief of the sick person that releases the healing power already resident in the subconscious mind. We know this from watching a wound heal itself without effort on our part. The belief of the sick person, encouraged by the “healer,” triggers an abnormal acceleration of a natural, God-given, healing power we all carry within us. The healer elicits belief from the sick person. That belief triggers healing power. Health is the result. This healing power was given to us when God created us. In that sense, God is certainly the source of all healing.

Faith is more powerful than we realize! It can trigger healing of the body, healing of the mind and healing of the spirit! We often say, "I will believe it when I see it!" Actually, it is the other way around. "Believe it and then you will see it!