Daily Postings

A man walked down the street in a little village.  His pants were wrinkled, his shirt not pressed, just a cotton button-down sport shirt, his shoes were old and dirty.  He had a kind face, but an untrimmed, cruddy-looking beard.  His hair was not combed and not recently cut.  He was clearly a homeless man, who had not washed in a while.  Little kids were standing around watching him.  He talked to them, and tousled the hair on the head of a boy not more then five years old.  The boy’s mother, standing off at a distance talking to a friend, saw the man touch her son and ran over, grabbed the boy and yelled at  him, “How many times have I told you not to go near strangers.

The man talked to the child in a way they had never heard.  “Do you know that God loves you?”

“I don’t know God,” one boy answered.

“God made the whole world and all the beautiful things in it,” the man said.

“And did he make me, too?” a little girl asked.

“Yes, and he is with you all day and all night.  He watches over you.”

“Then why is our family poor?” a boy asked.

“Because God doesn’t care about money.  When people have too much money they often forget about God.”

A man standing nearby came over and grabbed one of the boys.

“Come on, we’re going home.  You got to learn to keep away from those crazy people. You don’t know what they’re up to.”

That was what people saw when Jesus came walking down the street.  Would you be attracted to him?

I learned much the past few days about faith, about redemption, about dedication to family, about true patriotism and dedication to the humble and vulnerable.  I had not been particularly fond of Senator Kennedy because of so many negative things I had heard and read, but I found my mind changing as I watched television the past few days, and listened to the sincere, unsolicited testimonies from not only family and friends, but more impressive, from political foes, senators and congressmen and women and the remarkable stories they told one after another about the thoughtfully kind gestures of Senator Kennedy towards people who were of little account, and the heroic deeds done so often and for so many, and that he had spearheaded the passage of 300 bills into law that affect every single human being in this country and helped pass 1000 others bills that affect all of our lives.  The beauty of his personal life was relayed by political foes and the gestures of kindness he spontaneously performed for each one of them and for members of their families. Even though they were political foes he reached out with love for each of them.  How grand and how beautiful in the spirit of Jesus!

Having been an enlisted man in the army and suffered the grief of losing a brother in war, he was noted by fellow senators for his dedication to the troops and when informed that they had no body armor, he immediately pushed through a bill whiich provided in record time for body armor for all our troups in Iraq, and was deeply concerned about the care of wounded, and the handicapped troops.  He personally contacted the 171 families of troops  from Massachusetts who died during the war, and every year on the anniversary, he called them up to see how they were doing and was their anything he could do for them

And some humorously remembered the young Ted Kennedy of the past when he lived so carelessly and, but also when he lived through the death of his four brothers and a sister, and then the death of his mother and father.  He then became the father of his brothers’ children and the patriarch of a vast family which he guided and cared for with extraordinary dedicated love and solicitude. 

His whole later adult life was a life lived in redemption of the frailty and weakness of his past.  It was said over and over, and not only by friends, how his life touched more lives than anyone could ever count, and he will go down in history as the greatest Senator and congressman not only of our time, but as one of the greatest of all time.   And this was said by some of his senate foes. 

And I was deeply moved by the Pope’s beautiful letter sent to Senator Kennedy in response to the Senator’s letter.  Cardinal McCarrick read the Vatican letter at the grave site. 

When witnessing all these testimonies, I could help recall the many things said of him by lesser men, mean-spirited commentaries that demonized him and trashed his work as of little import and destructive of our way of life.  And what is most troubling is that so many decent people believe and nurture these destructive comments of such a dedicated and caring human being.

May this frail and weak human being whose life was a grand testimony to his redemption by total dedication of his life to the needs of the lowly, the poor, the stranger, the starving and desperate of our nation, may his life be an inspiration to all of us, who also hope for God’s mercy and redemption.

If I seem overly concerned about situations in our country, it is not from an interest in politics, but from a deep concern that what is happening among politicians, and their fanatical followers in both parties, is destroying our country.  And the news media are no help, because they thrive financially on keeping petty controversies alive and are to a great extent responsible for nothing being accomplished for the good of all of us.  I think it’s time for fanaticism in politics to stop and for concerned people to speak out.  I am so sick of all the hatred in the handling of critically important issues that are of extreme importance to all of us.

When it comes to war, I am opposed to war because I see more evil than good coming out of war.  And the hatred generated by war merely lights the fuse for the next explosive situation.   But, if we must go to war, then we should put our every effort in it to win. Unfortunately, every time we go to war, the news media whips up a national controversy and incites endless debates as to whether we should or should not be involved in the war.  This to me is borderline treason because it poisons the atmosphere, and confuses people, and in the endless debates, most politicians who are like weathervanes to start out with, begin wavering in their support of the war effort and go along with the polls.  This kind of insidious incitement on the part of the media which they do with such hypocritical innocence, undermines the morale of the troops, and is the most disloyal kind of activity we can indulge in during such critical periods in our national life.  No war will ever be fought to victory with this kind of diabolical destruction of support.  And the media is to blame.

And another thing that is disgusting is how parties do everything they can to destroy the ability of the opposite party to accomplish anything worthwhile for the common good for fear they will get credit for it.  Have we no patriots anymore who are concerned about all the hurting people in our country and in the world?  We all know that something has to be done to improve our health system. Think of 46,000,000 people, 20,000,000 of them with an average IQ of between 65 and 70 who are expected to fend for themselves in this world. This is totally callous to let so many millions of people struggle on their own. And to make sure that healthcare reform fails is not only unpatriotic, but also heartless insensitivity to the fragile and the helpless.  Any attempt at reform is bound to have flaws, but they can be worked out later.  To determine to prevent any change whatever is criminal.  It seems obvious that there are some who are totally opposed to any change.  They could care less about the helpless and the fragile.  They would probably feel relieved if they would all die, and would no longer be a financial burden to taxpayers.

It is easy to see when 85% of the people are happy with their health insurance that many of them are opposed to any reform for fear it may affect them, but what about the millions of helpless.  Don’t we care about them?  And those of us on Medicare, why are they trying to scare us as if we are going to be deprived of what we have?  No one is going to do anything that will undermine our coverage.  We can rest assured of that.

And they talk about deficits.  The real reason we have deficits is because nobody wants to pay taxes anymore, and no politician will dare raise taxes.  Face it, none of us pay much in taxes.  It’s a farce.  At one time my taxes were $250,000, sometimes more, sometimes less.  At other times my taxes were far less. When the IRS reported last month that 44,000,000 working Americans did not pay taxes, and the Government Accounting Office reported a few months ago that 62% of top American corporations have not paid taxes in five years I was stunned.  So when people talk about deficits, it’s laughable and hypocritical.  The reason is simple.  People no longer want to sacrifice for what our country offers us.  And they piously wear American flag lapel pins.

 Please make your vote count the next time you vote.  Don’t vote for a politician, no matter what party he or she belongs to, if he or she functions only out of fanatical loyalty to party. Make politicians prove they are interested in the good of the community and the country if they want your vote.  And then check and see how they voted on issues.  You can find it on the internet.  It’s time we started to take a concerned interest in pushing our country ahead and not leting it fade into oblivion, like other great societies, from lack of love and unwillingness to sacrifice.

I think that to really enjoy our lives as we mingle with all kinds of people in society, we can do that best if we take the trouble to rid ourselves of all the prejudices and negative attitudes we may have picked up since childhood, and accept everyone with an open mind.  Only then can we understand them and appreciate them as they really are, whether good or bad, or whatever else they may be.  Only then can we fairly decide whether we can enjoy their friendship, or should keep our distance.

It is not easy being a Christian.  And at times I wonder how many Christians are really Christian.  To be a Christian means to accept and believe all that Jesus taught us.  So many of us believe only what makes us feel comfortable. Every night our news programs are filled with stories of nice people demanding retribution and revenge.  They call it justice so they can feel righteous, but, let’s be honest, it is thinly disguised vengeance.  And I am sure than many of them receive the Eucharist piously feeling as if they are saintly Christians. 

And then there is the Eucharist itself.  How many really believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Whole denominations of Christians believe that Communion is merely a symbol, but not the real presence of Jesus.  Yet, Jesus three times emphasized when he promised to give us his flesh and blood to eat and drink, that his flesh was real food, and his blood was real drink.  Three times.  Their response was in our way of thinking, “Yuk, that’s a hard saying and who can accept it?”  The only thing that was missing in what Jesus said was that he did not tell them how he could give them his flesh and blood that would be reasonable.  And at the Last Supper he took the bread and wine, and in some godly way created a new kind of presence so he could be with us in our lives.  And so the earliest Christians, when they gathered, they gathered, not for bible readings, but for Eucharist, the Breaking of Bread, and were taught by the apostles that that was the presence of the living Jesus.

There are so many churches today where what you believe doesn’t really matter.  Belief is not often discussed because the number of members is what counts, and not loyalty to all that Jesus taught that was so sacred to him.

And then, Jesus also taught that we should all contribute to making society better.  How many Christians can we really think of whom we would want to imitate in the way they conduct their businesses, or their professions, or in the way they, as local and national legislators, try to improve the way things are done in our country?  How many are noted for their dedication to true idealism and real patriotism, and not just interested in preserving and increasing their own and others’ personal possessions?  It troubles me that there are over a million war veterans wandering our streets homeless.  Nobody can convince me that our politicians are not aware of this.  It is only too comfortable for them to be blind, otherwise these patriotic politicians with their American flag lapel pins would be continually doing something for them.  But, unfortunately their patriotism shows itself in more mean-spirited undertakings.  And when it comes to elections, how beautifully Christian politicians gleefully set out to destroy the reputations of their opponents and their families by often downright lies, as if the Commandments do not apply to politics.

I am so sick of hearing people demonizing the poor, as if they are poor through their own fault.  I guess we don’t realize that there are literally 30,000,00 people, genuine Americans, who have an IQ below 80 and many below 57, who are incapable of functioning in society, and holding jobs.  What is it that so many patriotic Christians really wish would happen to them?  To so many, these people are just a waste of taxpayers’ money, and they are forever cutting budgets for programs that help them.  I dread to think what might be the solution somewhere down the line, when such good patriotic Christians feel that they really shouldn’t exist, because they are too much of a burden to taxpayers.

Too many times I have been told in parishes, “Stick to religion, priest, and keep out of politics and business!”  What they are really saying is “Don’t dare bring God into politics and business!  Keep God out of politics! God and his law and his ideals are not welcome there.”

When I once tried to warn GE union officials at Mass one day that if they were not careful they could precipitate a real crisis that everyone would regret.  They were furious with me.  The reason I gave them the warning was because former priests whom I got jobs for at GE, were shocked that union representatives told them to produce one third of the work they had been doing.  They were making things look bad by producing so much.  The priests quit because it bothered their consciences.   A few years later, GE pulled out of Schenectady and now the whole area in complaining about their impossible rise in property taxes.  Again, the same issue, “Keep God out of our business!”

And how many clergy look upon their ministry as just a nice way to make a living.  It is easy to tell whether clergy are real Christians by the way they treat people. How often are they accessible to people.  Do people feel like they are approaching Jesus or God when they deal with a priest or a minister or a rabbi?  Or are they often treated shabbily and walk away unhealed, or hurting even more?

Yes, it is difficult being a Christian.  And we all have to take serious stock of how we look upon what our relationship with Jesus really means.

I met two new people within the past two weeks.  One, a man forty years old, who was dying of cancer that had spread throughout his whole body, and was told he could die at any time.  What struck me about him was his attitude.  He seemed so peaceful. I was impressed, so I asked him if he was as peaceful as he looked.  “Yes, Father, I am at peace.   I have a good family.  They feel bad but seeing me at peace helps them too. I am not afraid.  I look forward to seeing God, if I am worthy.”

The other person was standing nearby as I was shopping.  She was talking to a friend, and was bent all out of shape because the doctor couldn’t do anything to improve her skin, “Some of my friends’ skin is so soft and smooth, mine’s like leather.”  

The sooner we develop the undeveloped countries, so they can care for themselves and enter the trading markets, the sooner we will stop the massive flow of desperate people into our country.  Our international corporations have not done us a service by entering poor countries and taking what they want, then leave the people poorer than ever.  This only drives the desperate eventually to our doors for a living.  There are hundreds of thousands of new Iraqi immigrants in our country trying desperately to make a living, and can’t find jobs.   

Jesus once remarked to the Pharisees that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”  The same applies to the Law.  God doesn’t issue arbitrary laws to make people miserable.  God gives the Law to protect us from ourselves and from the evil of others.  Jesus reduced the massive code of laws in the Hebrew Bible to only one law, the Law of Love, “Love the Lord your God with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two is based the whole law and the prophets.”

Jesus’ Law that we should love one another is binding on us not only as individuals but as all of us individuals gathered together as a nation.  We still have the obligation to love and to care for those in need, no matter who they are.  God makes no distinction between male or female, citizen or alien, documented or undocumented, legal and illegal, deserving or undeserving. We make those distinctions.  God’s “sun shines upon the just and the unjust.”  Each and everyone of us, gathered together as a nation, has the same obligation before God to care for the needy and the desperate, and no law that we pass can void that law of God without making ourselves liable to God for closing our hearts to the starving and the unwanted.  It is certainly strange that those very Christians who look upon themselves as the righteous ones, and are so pro-life, can be so callous and blind to this critical aspect of God’s Commandment to Love.

As a matter of self-respect, don’t fall for all the negative hate ads on the television and radio about any kind of proposed legislation. We have to be honestly concerned about issues that are important for our country.  Out of respect for your own intelligence do your own research of the computer. If you have a question about an issue, ask the question on the internet and search for the answer and make sure the source is reputable.  Don’t believe what hate groups or negative ads say.  They make fools out of people as if they think people are gullible enough to believe them. I guess some people are.  Friends forward so much of that garbage to me every day and I feel insulted, as if they think I’m naïve enough to believe it.  When I look up for the facts on an issue I find out how misleading the ads really are. 

Today’s news reporting the tragic story of 42 children murdered in the past month in Chicago is horrendous.  We will never know all the reasons driving young people to murder other children, but my own experience in teaching for many years showed me very clearly that many young people have talents that are not being developed.  About half of our young people are not college material, some because their IQ is below 80 and many of that group with an IQ below 57.  Yet in school they are most often given the same subjects as the students who are going to end up in college.  This does untold damage to the slower students, both emotionally and psychologically.  Yet, I found out that many of those students have incredible ability, and remarkable talents.  They are often wonderful artists, musicians, sculpters, woodcarvers, designers.  OIhers have mechanical abilities, or landscaping talent, or abilities in any number of crafts, like carpentry and plumbing and electrical work, and working with machines.  These children need to be taught and trained in these areas from their very young years, and they will love school.  I had classes with those students and I was able to get them to produce remarkable things by allowing them to be themselves and do what they enjoyed working at.  Even though the principal was upset with me, I didn’t care.  The students had a wonderful experience which taught me how they enjoyed seeing their talents being developed.

if we don’t help them to develop their talents and abilities, what hope do they have of getting jobs?   We tell bright kids without a college degree it will be difficult to get a job.  What do we tell kids who don’t have academic abliity. Their only option is to roam the streets with other kids who have no hope of a future.  Cynics may say such stupid things like, “They can work if they want.”

But, I ask them “If grown-ups have a hard time finding work, where are these millions of kids without any training going to find jobs.?  If they have been trained in a trade or have other developed talents, they have hope.  What have we done to develop those abilities, to prepare them for life?  We are the ones who are deliqquent, because we have abandoned them, so we can ill-afford to be so self-righteous in condemning them.