Daily Postings

To preserve our form of government, it is necessary that we place the common good before personal good.  When a time comes that the ideal turns the other way and we place personal good before the common good. that will mark the beginning of the downfall of our way of life. The government does not exist to give the people what they want, but to decide what is good for country, even when the people do not agree.  An honorable legislator will have the wisdom and courage to struggle for the common good rather than cater to dishonorable demands of a citizenry that has lost its concern for the common good.  No one likes taxes, but when legislators run scared to increase taxes when the common good demands it, they are not deserving of their office.

Tomorrow we celebrate another mystery in the saga of our civilization.  The earth spins and wobbles on its orbit, and life plays out its ever-rotating drama of comedy and tragedy, and for some unfathomable reason, we place out hope in politicians to save us from chaos and annihilation.

The feast we have been preparing for this past week and which we celebrate tomorrow is the feast of Pentecost, the anniversary of God’s Holy Spirit entering the lives of the apostles, and not just the apostles, but the life of the human family.  Jesus had promised to send Him down upon the apostles as their teacher and guide for the future of the Church, yes, but also to play a critical role in the transformation of the world.  God never intended to place the future of the human race in the hands of politicians, a task for which they will never be competent. 

Only the Divine Spirit can touch the hearts of world leaders and inspire them as to how they must think and what they must do.  If the Church had the trust in God it should have, it would reach out to world leaders, not by entering the political fray, as we so often do, but by humbly reaching out to world leaders and offering to be a mediator and facilitator of good will and understanding of the problems and fears of each nation and its leaders.  The Church has the spiritual and philosophical resources, and historical memory, to propose high ideals and transcendent principles necessary to work through the tangled muddle of international conflicts.  Politicians may be able to work deals, but more than deals are necessary to inspire leaders of nations to act heroically to further the good of their own people and save a slowly despairing humanity.

Our world’s problems are too complex and too vast for human minds alone to comprehend, and much less resolve.  Only God can work through the maze issues that confront us, and all God is waiting for is humility on our part, humility to admit to Him our helplessness and ask for his guidance.  Today, it seems all we give is lip service to God, because it is easier for us to trust in wars and sanctions and mutual retaliation, to force solutions.  Maybe if we really believed in God, and had the humility to try solutions His way, and look upon others as having the same fears and anxieties and frustrations that are common to all, we might stop looking on others as competitors and enemies, but as just human beings like ourselves struggling over the same common concerns.  We arouse fears in our people over actions of others much less powerful than we are.  Does it ever occur to us their dread and much greater fear of us who are the most powerful nation on earth, with the nuclear capability to destroy the whole planet?  Humility, respect, and trust in God can go a long way in addressing the common problems of  the familiy of nations.  

Before He died, Jesus made the remark on the Cross, “It is finished,” speaking about the work of redemption his Father had committed to him.  He told the apostles he would turn the Church over to the Holy Spirit, who would from then on be their teacher.  “He will bring back to your minds all that I have taught you, and He will be with you until end of time.”

It has been the role of the Holy Spirit to guide the Church into an ever deepening understanding of Jesus and his message, and the role of the Christian community in the broader society.  The question then is, “Is there any evidence that the Holy Spirit has performed the function given to him by Jesus.” 

That role fundamentally was to make the Church the catalyst for changing society. Has that happened?  In scanning western history since the fall of Rome, we witness the whole western world inundated with barbarians from the fourth to the seventh century.  By the eighth century the Church had Christianized those barbaric hoards, and had spread the message of Jesus as far west as the British Isles.  Monasteries were flourishing all over Europe and had built huge farms which provided land for the poor peasants make a living.  The science of agriculture was first developed on these farms, as well as the science of breeding animals.  The pipe organ was invented in those so-called Dark Ages.  Monks invented eye glasses so they could work on manuscripts.  Musical notation was invented so music could be written down, and read and played by others who had never heard the melodies.  Polyphonic music was developed during those Dark Ages, and two dimension painting was created, giving a sense of depth to flat drawings. Artistic masterpieces were produced, all scenes based upon the artists’ intimate understanding of the Bible. Monks invented machines made out of wood and iron, and built huge reservoirs at the top of mountains to provide water power to run the machines on the farms below. An economic system was developed by the monks to process the complex marketing generated by manufactured products.  By the year 800 we see Charlemagne, a converted barbarian, being crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and in conjunction with the Church, establishing a network of schools all across the empire.

By the tenth century we see magnificent cathedrals being constructed, based upon the knowledge of engineering principles developed over the previous centuries, and cathedral schools established by bishops to provide higher learning to students, regardless of social status.  By the tenth century there were 37,000 Benedictine monasteries alone that provided livelihood for the poor all across Europe and in the British Isles, and where peasants could learn to read and wirte.  By the 12^th century, the Church has constructed a network of Universities all throughout Europe where people of every social class could learn philosophy, Greek, Arabic, mathematics, the Greek and Roman classics, the natural sciences, and the laws of nature, which was just being understood by scientific observation rather than by conclusions based on unproven theories.   Law was a specialty in some universities.  The concept of human rights based upon the dignity of the human being as a creature of God, was formulated into law, and its observance was mandatory upon all, even kings.  Everyone from then on had a right to a trial, which had to be based on proven evidence, rather than trial by ordeal, like being thrown into a river, and if you survived you were innocent and if you died you were guilty.

Jesus once remarked that the Church should be the yeast in society, causing the whole society to rise to new and higher levels because of its presence in the world.  The work of the Holy Spirit is clear when we look over the past 1500 years and see how that part of the world where the Church thrived has developed in a magnificent civilization that had changed the future for the human race.  And the Holy Spirit is still working in the Church, quietly, imperceptively, changing attitudes, customs, and fashioning a wholly different kind of Church, still faithful to Jesus’ message, but a Church that will have to deal with highly sophisticated technological problems which were never discussed in the Scriptures.  This is why Jesus told the apostles that the Holy Spirit would be their Guide and be their Teacher until the end of time. bringing back to their minds all the things that Jesus taught.  

As I was offering Mass this morning, the thought crossed my mind, “We come into this world alone with God, and we leave this world alone with God.  All the events and people in between are episodes in the drama of life.  Through it all God wants only to be our Partner and our Friend. Intimacy with Him is a source of joy and peace, and comfort and strength in tragedy.  When we find ourselves alone with Him at the end, the only thing that will matter is what He has meant to us along the way?”

What does one say to a mother and father who have just lost their newly-born baby, and see that beautiful infant lying there motionless?  We are so stunned by the reality of what has happened we are unable to think of anything that might make sense, and we immediately realize that we have come face to face with a mystery, a mystery that makes any attempt to comprehend seem devoid of feeling and without any real sense. It is one of those tragic occasions where we see only a jumble of apparently disconnected threads on the back of a tapestry and all we can say is, “This doesn’t make sense.”

And we try to think, “Where is God in all this hopeless tragedy?  He must know what has happened.  It is his child.  He loaned him to us.  Why did he take him back before he even had a chance to take his first breathe?  Doesn’t He care about our pain, our devastating anguish?  What kind of a God is He?”

And God answers quietly, when you think you are asleep, “Do not doubt my love for you.  It was not your fault that this happened, and I did not bring this about.  Your body was not strong enough to continue carrying that precious child, and I felt your pain and your concern.  I alone know the future and the future would not have been what you had hoped.  I have taken our child home with me.  He is alive, very much alive, and he is here waiting for you.  And he is not far away.  Heaven is where I am and I am everywhere, all around you, just in another dimension.  If you could reach out through that veil, you could hold your baby’s hand, and know that he is near.  And he is not a baby anymore.  He is a beautiful young man full of life and joy with all the excitement that happens in my home.  He knows you and he loves you and he will be pestering me every day that I will continue to bless your lives so you can find your peace and look forward to new life in the future as you grow stronger.  So, do not think that I have abandoned you.  I am always with you, I do nothing out of cruelty and without reason.  I act only out of love, and it is because I care for you that I protect you from many things that are unknown to you.  So, trust my love for you. There is no one who is more concerned about your happiness.  And know that I love you and will always love you and watch over you.”

Yesterday we prayed for those who protect our country and we prayed for peace. But, it was not only yesterday that we prayed for peace.  Every Sunday in all our churches and places of worship we pray for peace.  We say so piously that God is God of peace.  We storm heaven with a constant barrage of prayers that God will grant peace to our troubled world, and many get angry with God because He does not listen to our prayers or if He does, He refuses to grant what we so desperately pray for.  So, there are some who conclude that it’s God’s fault that we don’t have peace.

One day I started thinking about peace which we call a gift from God, and I realized that we ask in vain for peace, because it is really out of God’s hands to give us peace, and for a very simple reason, and it is that we make it impossible for God to give us that gift.  Why?  Because peace is something we have to earn, something we have to dispose ourselves for before God can grant our request, otherwise we make a fool out of God.  He will give us peace only if we are willing to work with Him, by preparing ourselves and working on the conditions required for peace, whether it be peace within ourselves or peace with others or peace throughout the world.  God is not a fool.

Peace within ourselves comes from harmony between our feelings, and our moral decisions and our consciences  When there is harmony in these areas of our lives, we have peace.  But, if we choose to live in ways that we know are not right, we cannot expect God to give us peace when we are doing things that make inner peace a contradiction.  God is no fool.

And peace with others is the same way.  If there are people in our lives whether they be family or friends or strangers who are hateful enemies, we can’t just ask God for peace.  We have to first ask ourselves why there is such hostility.  Usually we blame the problem on the other person, because we are always innocent.  Until we make the decision to be civil to that person and open channels for forgiveness and reach out with genuine concern, no matter who is at fault, and stop badmouthing that person, peace will never be possible, because we are unwilling to take even the slightest steps to promote reconciliation.  To ask God to grant healing and peace is ridiculous.  God is no fool.

And when it comes to peace among nations, the same conditions apply.  We can either reach out to them and extend our good will, or decide beforehand that certain countries are going to be enemies and from the start treat them accordingly, and immediately inspire them to the same hostile attitude towards us.  That breeds daily accusations from both sides, and generates suspicions and dangerous fantasies about evils each side is plotting, and heats up hostilities  to the point where war seems the only logical alternative.  With such paranoid attitudes it is laughable to pray for peace, because our contrived hatred and paranoia makes peace impossible.  And God is no fool.

Decades ago we thought peace was impossible with the Communist empire.  They had taken over and enslaved half the world.  War seemed inevitable, and not just war, but seemingly the ultimate war where the whole human race could possibly be annihilated.  Everyone was terrified as to who was going to be the first the drop an atomic bomb on the other country.  During all that time of fear, one brave and saintly Polish bishop whom people universally loved and respected, lead his people continually in prayers for peace.  And under his careful guidance he gathered his nation together in a common cause, to work for peace.  He guided the powerful labor unions to stay united and strong and conscious that God had created them to be free. And when that Polish bishop became pope, he taught his people that in their struggle for freedom there must not be one gun fired and not one drop of blood shed.  Peace must come through prayer and unity.  And at the right time when all was prepared, the labor unions went on strike all throughout the country.  The government collapsed, the Russians knew the strong Polish army would never attack their own people, so they did not invade the country, and Poland was free, and in just a matter of months the vast Communist empire disintegrated.  And God made a fool out of Stalin who had ridiculed the powerlessness of the pope to oppose him, when he remarked, “How many divisions does the pope have?”  This proved forever that we do not need wars to solve problems, but faith in God and good will and respect for the fears and needs of other nations.

Today we remember all our brave troops who died in all our wars, but in offering my Mass this morning I prayed not only for those who have died, but also for the living dead, those brave men and women whose lives will be lived out with excruciating pain from crippling injuries, and the 300,000 who have suffered serious brain damage, (Pentagon’s Rand report) and the million veterans who are homeless.  My heart goes out also to the families of those veterans who are caring for their damaged heroes who have finally come home in such heartbreaking condition.  They are the heroic men and women whom we have not been able to protect from the enemy, and who make us wonder if the horrendous aftermath of war justifies it as a reasonable way to resolve international disputes.  Twenty or thirty World Trade Center calamities would not equal the damage done to our troops and their families, as well as to all the other innocent victims of war.

As I grow older and see the plight of little children today, I become more anxious about the future of our children, because from observing how children are growing up, and how so many children are exposed to daily trauma, emotionally, physically and psychologically, I can see the damage being done to them   I am beginning to get the feeling that many parents are ignorant of the activity that goes on in a child’s mind and feelings.  The other day in a store, I watched a parent push his little son out the way, with the words, “C’mon, get the hell out of my way.”  The boy who was only about two or three lost his balance and almost fell.”  The mother said rather calmly, “Don’t treat him like that.”  And the father’s response was an angry outburst. “You mind you own damn business. I’ll treat my kid the way I like.”  I have seen that kind of bullying so many times in stores it’s hard for me to keep my mouth shut, but my heart breaks for the millions of children who must be treated like that daily.  It is impossible for them not to be scarred when it happens on a regular basis.  Children’s feelings are so tender and so sensitive to love and anger and the whole range of emotions that parents demonstrate continually.  All these displays of emotions are molding their children’s personalities and are forming in their sensitive souls their attitudes towards people later on.  I cringe when I see how rude adults are to children.  I have never forgotten a memory of an argument my mother and father had when I was only about a year old.  I was in my crib, and I heard their loud words, and remember my father leaving the house with his German shepherd.  My mother was afraid to have a dog in the same house with a little baby.  I couldn’t sleep that night, and though I probably couldn’t talk, I remember pulling myself up so I could stand in the crib and looked out into the kitchen. My mother came in and must have understood what I was feeling because I remember her saying, “Don’t worry, Joseph.  Your daddy will be home, so you go to sleep now.”  She hugged me and laid me down and covered me.  I eventually fell asleep.  But that one disagreement between my parents had such an effect on me, it is still vivid after all these years. I just thank God it was not a daily occurrence or I know I would be much different that I am today.

When I think of that, a whole train of thoughts cross my mind about children who suffer not just a little disagreement like that, but daily angry battles in the house and mean treatment from one or both of their parents.  And we wonder why children have problems in school, and have difficult relationships later on, and have no respect for authority, when the first authority they knew and experienced was brutal to them through their childhood.

I know this is far from universal, but it is so prevalent that it has to affect our whole country in so many tragic ways.  Children are sacred.  They are the living masterpieces of God’s creation, and are more sensitive than any human experts could begin to understand, and they must grow up in an atmosphere of love and acceptance and encouragement and with gentle, firm discipline, but always with the knowledge that they are loved.  And it is critically important that they are taught to love God at a very tender age so they can develop the strength and courage that comes from knowing that they are cared for by a loving God.  it is psychologically healthy, and a strong protection again an empty, lonely spiritual void later on.

A priest was walking with a group of college students through a rundown area with drunks lying all along the street.  As the students walked along, some of the students just stepped over the bodies as if they were trash.  As the priest walked past he stopped for the briefest moment to say hello, and a simple kind word to each one.  To one he said, “Son, you have a beautiful future ahead of you  Start dreaming again and have hope.” He then caught up with the students.

Many years passed, and the college students as well as the priest remembered nothing of that day.  One day when the priest was opening his mail, he found an invitation to a graduation.  He didn’t recognize the name.  He thought it probably one of the students he had taught during his long career.  The invitation was to the graduation at a medical college.  Since the young man was kind enough to send the invitation, the priest felt he should go, since it might possibly be one of his relatives. 

When he arrived at the university for the ceremony, he showed the invitation to an usher, who promptly conducted the priest up to the first row, the only empty seat in that row.  When the ceremony began and the first speakers finished, the valedictorian then was introduced and he walked to the podium and began to speak.  This is what he said, “I am here today by a miracle of God’s grace.  Many years ago, I was a drunk, and lived any place I could with a bunch of other drunks like myself.  One day, a group of college students was walking down the street where a bunch of us drunks were lying around on the sidewalk.  The students just stepped over us.  A priest with them stopped and said a few words to each of us lying there.  He said to me, ‘Son, you have a beautiful future waiting for you.  Start dreaming again, and have hope.’  Then he walked on.  I spent the rest of the day crying my heart out, and that night for the first time in years, I prayed.  That night I slept in a shelter, and after searching, I found where my family lived, and I called them and asked if I could please come back home.  At first they were reluctant to help me, but they finally relented and let me come home.  After a few weeks I finally found a job, and because I was good worker, after a short time I was promoted and given a raise.  After working for a year and saving practically every penny I made, I applied for a grant to college and finished where I had left off years before, then eventually came here to medical school on a scholarship.  Today I am receiving my degree, as a medical doctor.  I owe all this to the grace of God that flowed through that kind priest’s words that lonely day many years ago.  I did not know him them, and I do not know him now, and I had a very difficult time tracking him down, but remembering the name of the college on the students’ sweaters, I was able to locate him, and I see that he is in sitting in the front row right now which I had reserved for the person with a coded note on his invitation.  Father, will you please come up here so I can give you a hug, in case I can’t find you after the ceremony.”

Kind words can change lives by inspring us to dream again and to have hope.

A friend came to talk with me the other day and shared the difficulties she had been having in her last job. She was the manager of an estate for a very wealthy family, and over time it had become a devastating experience. The husband and his wife treated her as if she was just chattel, just existed to take care of their estate. My friend had to hire staff for various tasks that had to be done around the estate, and she treated them with dignity, but felt sorry the way the owners treated them, as if they were just slaves, and that even the children treated the help like slaves. The couple showed no compassion when they were sick, had no interest whatsoever in the lives of these people. They treated their animals with more humanity. When I asked my friend what the owners were like, and what kind of work they did, she told me they didn’t have to work; they had enough money, so they just went from social event to social event, and had endless parties at the house. They just enjoyed life.

When I asked her if she had many conversations with the people, she told me it was hard talking with them because they would only talk about their rich friends and the wonderful times they have flying on their private jets wherever they wanted to go. “When I tried to talk to them about serious things, because I needed to have someone to talk to about things other than work, it was almost impossible, because they didn’t seem to know much about anything, and I would end up doing the talking. One day while the people were away, I fell and fractured my cranium and had to go to the hospital. When the couple came home and found out about it, they just laughed; thought it was funny, and told me I would have to pay my own expenses as they did not have insurance on me.”

I just listened to my friend and I could not help but feel bad for her, because her life was not easy. She had struggled for years to reach a stable position in her life. But, in the process grew into a beautiful young lady with a depth of understanding of life and people and her own relationship with God, that it was not hard to see the difference between this servant on an estate and the people she worked for. It called to mind something my father said many years ago when I was a child, “Nobility is not in titles or in the amount of money you have, or the kind of job you have, or your position in society. It is in nobility of soul, integrity , depth of character, and compassion for others, inspired by your love of God. You find it often among the poor.”