Christ the savior is born:
A treasure in a jar of clay

When the old man Simeon saw the infant Jesus he cried out, “Now I can die, because my eyes have seen the light of the world.” He saw the infant only a brief moment, but his whole life was overflowing with joy. Equally joyful were the shepherd when they found, as announced by the angels, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. But how can such an infant bring joy and peace?

 “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to make it clear that his power comes from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7). The creator of the universe comes as an infant to make it clear that his power can only come from above and not from nature or society. As a vulnerable infant, he was the victim to Herod’s murderous rage which killed all the children of his age, but his life was not in the hands of the powerful of this world. This gives peace and joy to people of good will.

Mary was the jar of clay that contained the treasure of the world. She could have expected, humanly speaking, that the Son of the Most High promised by the angel would be born in a palace or a sacred place. But this infant lying in the manger was a treasure hidden from secular eyes but open to our amazement at the greatness of God.

When the Magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, Mary may have thought that her son was finally being recognized as king, but instead the family had to flee to Egypt. After the family came back from exile, thirty years passed and nothing happened. Where is the Son of the Most High?

Where is God today? He is hidden like in jars of clay. “The kingdom of God is among you,” said Jesus. It is up to us to see it—in all the jars of clay around us.

See Catholic Renewal Books (click on picture):

Finding God in the
COVID WINTER

When the sun is invisible because of the clouds, we know it is still there because there is light in the clouds. When God seems absent in days of pain, anger, and business, we know that he is still there because he is in our pain, anger, and work.

Finding God in pain. It is through the pain itself that we can find God when we relate suffering to its source. “Why did you do this to me?” This is an honest question that requires an answer. “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save me?” These are the first words of prophet Habakkuk which echo throughout his work. The Jews waited for ages, and found no answer. “We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.” (Psalm 74) We may like to receive an answer from above, but the answer can only come from within. The Psalmist continues, “The day is yours, and yours also the night. YOU established the sun and moon. It was YOU who set all the boundaries of the earth. YOU made both summer and winter.” Both happiness and suffering come from above. Peace comes from acceptance not rebellion. The pain in the dentist’s chair becomes tolerable when we accept it and relax. When the sun hides, we know it will come back.

Finding God in anger. When anger is not managed, it turns into aggression against others, but when we express it to God, we are likely to hear an answer from within. “Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? Why have you rejected us forever?” The absence of God in our suffering turns to anger at his seeming rejection, but by expressing our anger we objectify it and can reflect about it. When a child cried out, “I hate you, daddy, I hate you!” the father will take no offense but will take the child into his arms. Jeremiah expressed his anger as a rebellion, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.” This is like saying, “God, I hate you! I hate you!” But God did not take offense and answered, “Manage your anger and come back—you are still, and have always been, my prophet (or my son).”       

Finding God in our work with and for others. “What you do the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me.” During the pandemic winter we have many opportunities to do little things for others, like a telephone call or email to encourage them or simply to keep in touch. Of course, we praise the essential workers. More modestly, we care for others when we follow the COVID instructions.

When God is hidding behind the clouds, we know he is still there. 


 Lay vocations & clergy decline

Does the church have too many priests and too few lay vocations?


Too many priests? Of course not! Too few lay vocations? Certainly. Are the two related? Are there more lay vocations when there are fewer priests? Over the last 20-30 years, the Catholic population has increased worldwide but the number of priests declined. In some Latin American countries, there is one priest for 5,000 to 10,000 Catholics. In the Philippines, the ratio of priests to Catholics is approximately 1 to 8,000 and in Manila about 1 to 20,000. There are about 50,000 parishes in the world with no resident pastor. As a result, Catholics often drop out of the church, join other churches, or become non-religious.

Lay vocations can change this. The well-known example is that of Brother Mike Velarde in Manilla. He was not trained for any role in the church, but he created a movement that involves millions of followers. Do you know that the Sunday Mass he organizes in a Manilla public park attracts more people than any other Mass in the world? He preaches regularly without having gone to a seminary, as do many leaders in the charismatic movement. I have seen something like this in Latin America. In Guatemala City, there are about 1,000 lay preachers who speak in charismatic groups; about 20 of them make preaching their full-time job.

When there is only one priest for five or ten parishes as in common in Europe, parishes progressively die out unless lay volunteers come forward. When the laity gets involved, music and singing become alive. Then there is a drummer, guitars, a digital piano, a dynamic choir, and the whole assembly sings enthusiastically, including the priests and acolytes.

Here are some exceptional examples. In a small village with no pastor and no webpage, the parish became involved in helping migrants and immigrants. At their Mass, the parishioners have learned to recite the Our Father in Aramaic, the language of Jesus spoken in he Middle East. In another church during the pandemic, all parishioners learned sign-language. When the deacon invited the assembly through signs to exchange peace, the whole assembly, including children, signed peace to one another. In another small village where the church holds venerable but deteriorating frescoes, a parish association of 127 members made it its spiritual mission to restore the church to its original beauty. In another village of 700 people and no priest, the parish life remains alive thanks to the village baker who is a deacon and a retired factory worker who is a prominent member of the choir. Everyone’s vocation is simply to use the talents they have.

Too often unconsciously the clergy wants to keep control of everything and thus keeps the laity in a subordinate position. Can we say that the fewer the priests the more lay vocations? No. This is so only when the clergy strongly encourages and supports lay involvement in the church.

How different would the church be if the hierarchy supported financially and intellectually the development of lay vocations by creating seminaries for lay ministries! Fortunately, this is already the case in many parts of the world.

TESTIMONIES
From Sam H. Goyvaerts,
Tilburg University, Netherlands, S.H.Goyvaerts@tilburguniversity.edu

Although there was, and sometimes still is, a strong clerical culture in Belgium, today there are many opportunities for all believers to contribute to church life. This is the clear policy of the Belgian bishops who have appointed non-ordained baptized to their episcopal councils, chaplains to hospitals and prisons, and pastors to parishes, for funerals and prayer services, sometimes also for baptism. Investment is also made in education, training and guidance of these faithful: each diocese has its own training institute.

Some figures from the Belgian R.C. Church’s annual report confirm this. In all the Belgian dioceses together, 2.038 lay people were appointed by a bishop in addition to 1.940 priests. The growing number of lay people is also reflected in the training. In 2019 there were 64 priest students and 39 deacons in seminary training, and 297 men and women in training for pastoral work. One last important figure: of the more than 7,000 people in the R.C.C. in Belgium who bear some kind of responsibility in the church, 55 percent are women. Nevertheless, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to find committed faithful. Some faithful still believe that it is up to the priests to 'serve' them. In this sense, clericalism is not only a problem of priests and bishops, but also of some of the faithful! Nevertheless, the Belgian experience (but also in Germany, France, the Netherlands…) shows that if there is a future for the Church in the West, it is a jointly built future, with shared responsibility of ordained and non-ordained believers for the life of the church. All baptized have a vocation!

Trust in the institutional church

Trust is the glue that holds society together. To the question, “Can most people be trusted?” over 60% of the respondents said "yes" in Scandinavia and China, 38% in the US, 30% in the UK, and 3 % in the Philippines. Trust in government in the US dropped from 70% in 1958 to 20% in 2015. Trust in churches dropped from 68% to 36%, which is below the trust in the military (73%), small business (68%), and the police (53%). Can we—or should We—trust in the institutional church?

Before the Vatican II Council, people generally trusted the church and the clergy. It is in the 1960s that emerged the polarization between liberals and conservatives, in the Catholic as well as the Protestant Churches. Christians have adopted the political language of politicians. Many Catholic liberals wanted more change, and they started labeling the hierarchy “the institutional church.” A further distinction emerged among the young between non-rfeligious spirituality and institutional religion. In short, distrust in the institutional church was mainly created by the dissatisfaction of liberals about the lack of change in the church, and also by the increasing interest in non-religious spirituality. Hence the question, can or should good Catholics trust in the institutional church?

Distrust and doubt are part of adult faith. Believing in Santa Claus and in church leaders as if they were Santa Claus is naïve. Critical mindedness is a healthy attitude of faith. Yet it is trust that is the glue of churches as well as societies. Without supernatural faith the church is not much more than any social institution.

Religious faith is a theological virtue, that is, something acquired through effort and practice. It takes self-control not to say anything negative about or to a friend when we are disappointed and doubtful about his or her loyalty. It takes will power to trust in God when he seems absent. The situation about the church is even worse: we can see her weaknesses, her absence of initiatives in times of crisis—and we are rightfully critical—but it takes effort to see the positive, or at least to keep silence about the negatives, and keep faith in Christ the head of the church who has selected fallible men as his servants.

Over the last 80 years, I moved from a child’s trust in Santa Claus, to the uncritical faith of cultural religion, to a critical faith after Vatican II, to hyper-critical attitude of the culture of suspicion in the 70’s and 80’s, to a more sober faith, both critical and trusting, in recent years. There is no adult faith with some questioning, but in the long run distrust destroys both faith and the church.

Many of our contemporaries seem stuck, either is dogmatic conservatism or in hyper-critical liberalism. Both are undesirable in the long run.Where do you stand?



“All things were created through him and for him"

Reflections for times of anger, bitterness, and polarization

In God’s plan, all things come from God and return to him through Jesus Christ. The goals Christians should pursue is to reconcile all things in Christ and for him, not at the end of time, but in our everyday life (Colossians 1:16). Paul warned the Philippians: “Beware of dogs! Beware of the evil-workers.” In every society there are bad apples, bad examples that contaminate the whole body. It is not enough to condemn them because most probably we have already been contaminated and follow their bad examples of anger, bitterness, and polarization.

In times of political campaigns and elections, or just in the situation of confrontations in families, cities, and countries, we have to be beware of bad examples that contaminate all of us. In politics, most speeches are negative camplaints: they attack other candidates instead of outlining their own program. It is true that the best defense is attack. There is the negative attack of destroying others, and the positive position of offering solutions. This is also what often happens in family disputes: when attacked, we fight back rather than seek solutions. Here are some specific points.

- Limit your complaint or attack to one specific point.  Usually an argument begins with one (often minor) issue, but it quickly degenerates into a general war. This is also the war of one political party against another. In an argument we tend to bring up all out the grievances of the previous week and of the previous month and past years. No! Limit yourself to one specific point.

- Argue over specific issues, not personal traits. Specific issues in politics are economic development, health care programs, poverty and social justice, criminal punishment and rehabilitation, unequal education, taxes, etc. Instead of proposing a plan, politicians like to attack the personality and the accomplishments of opponents. In many families there are specific issues that need to be addressed: unequal contribution to family chores, gender biases, television and cell phone addiction, overspending, laziness, unwillingness to learn and change, etc. Instead of discussion these issues, we tend to attack: “Your never help!” “You’re such a lazy bump!”

- Don’t use absolutes like “Your never,” or “you always.” Be aware that “never” is never right, and “always” is always wrong. Even if such statement is actually true, the use of absolutes sabotages the discussion. What can you replay to the accusation “You always…” except to explode in anger, “And you never listen to what I have to say!” This creates a stalemate of confrontation and polarization.

- Finally, Don’t lecture. Don’t shame. Don’t blame. Don’t nag. No sarcasm, no irony, no belittling. Don’t label. Don’t interrupt. No take-it-or-leave-it. No win or lose argument. All of these are common in political debates. Why is it so? Politicians do so in public because they probably do so in private; and when we hear these politicians, we imitate them in private.
God’s plan is to reconcile all things in Christ and for him, and we have to do our part to make it happen. Paul warned “Beware of dogs!” Not in order that we bark and bite back, but in order to bring peace and reconciliation. In the words of Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon.



IN THE COMPANY OF SAINTS,
Our Friends and Guides

The saints were a major characteristic of the Catholic identity in the past. At birth, children were given the name of a saint. The anniversary of the feast of this patron saint was often celebrated more joyfully than the birthday. In a family of three or four children and quite a few cousins, one would be familiar with the name of quite a few saints. In the popular culture, the saints’ days constituted the calendar of the year, besides the major feasts of Christmas and Easter. There were special festivities at some of the saints’ days. Most of this is gone in the U.S. but these traditions are still alive and well in many places in the world.

At times there was some abuse in the past. Some saints were considered specialists  and people went to them the way we go different doctor for different needs—like to St. Anthony for lost items, St. Jude and  St. Rita for lost causes,  St. Gerard  for motherhood, St. Peregrine for cancer etc. People expected miracles, and even miracles-on-demand. Mary and the saints were often considered more powerful to answer people’s prayers than God himself. Of course, there was also much faith and trust in God.

Saints are not just intercessors. More importantly they are companions, friends, and guides for our daily lives.  In the past, the memory of saints was transmitted by the popular culture. In my province of origin, St. Odile, the daughter of the duke of Adalrich, founded a monastery on top of a mountain in the 8th century. The monastery is still in use. It is visited by lots of tourists and pilgrims. It is also a place of perpetual adoration where volunteers come to spend a week-long retreat.

My cousin’s name was Genevieve, and St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris. The city was saved through her prayer from the invasion of Attila’s Hunts in 451. As children we learned about this in history classes. We also learned about John of Arc who delivered Orleans and had Charles VII crowned as king in Reims in 1429. The 17th century priest, St. Vincent de Paul, is very popular around the world. His story was popularized in the 1947 movie, Monsieur Vincent, still available. Many movies have popularized important saints, like Óscar Romero, who opposed the oppressive military dictatorship of his country.

What are the popular saints in your parish or country?

In his talk to the U.S. Congress in 2015, Pope Francis praised “four great Americans”: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day. None is a canonized saint but all four can be seen as friends and guides in everyday life. Lincoln is of great inspiration to students of public life, Martin Luther King and Dorothy Day to social activists, and Merton to reformers of religious life. It is through the examples of such exceptional figures that we find answer to the question “What would Lincoln/King/Day/Vincent de Paul, etc.  do in my situation?”           

A Christian life without familiarity with the saints is like knowing the English language without knowledge of the English literature, or claiming to know a country without knowing its history, or marrying a person without knowing his/her past. Without knowledge of the past, there can only be a foggy future. Without the examples of saints, we walk in the dark.

Today we must rely on books to become familiar with the great followers of the gospel. Here are two introductory books: A Living Gospel by Robert Ellsberg who interacts in the book with the heroes he describes: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Charles de Foucauld. The other is My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J who describes his daily interactions with saints as friends and guides. Today, books are our best source of information about saints. Can you recommend one or two?

Are the Saints your Friends and Guides?

TESTIMONIES
From Eugene Finnegan
Calumet College of St. Joseph, efinne1540@gmail.com

          As a kid, I grew up in northeastern New Jersey in the early 1950s, along what has kindly become known as the “Chemical Coast” because of all the pollution in the waters between New Jersey and New York City. Thus, I was sick a lot because of the terrible air pollution. I went to a Catholic grade school, so that one time when I was sick, my mother got me a book about the “Little Flower.” This was the story of a little girl writing about growing up and being sick at the same time, the story of a soul. I could relate to that. There was a photograph on the cover of a young nun that was the Little Flower herself, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She was a saint, but this cover did not have a statue or painting of a saint, but a real live photograph.
          Thérèse was almost a contemporary, since she died at the age of twenty-four in 1897, the year before my father was born. Two of her sisters were still living in the 1950s. She had lived in northern Normandy, France, the place where D-Day took place. As a Carmelite nun, she had a spirituality of the “little way,” not some grand scheme. On reading this book, I realized that she got annoyed by little things, just like me. Obviously, she was famous, but for me, a twelve-year old sick kid, she was a relatable saint. I suddenly realized that saints were people too. This is something that I took with me the rest of my life. Being holy was being ordinary in all the little things in life, but with a spiritual purpose.

SALVATION BY FAITH
and nothing else?

            The topic of salvation by faith is central in St. Paul's theology and has become again a central issue during the Reformation. This is a difficult and controverted topic. Rather than present Paul’s discussion as of 2,000 years ago, I will present the issue as it stands today. There are conflictive views about salvation which can be avoided if we discuss, not the theologies, but practical dimensions of salvation. I will distinguish between salvation as 1) doctrine, 2) religious practices, and 3) theological virtues. Here is in a simplified summary of it.

1.         The Doctrines of the faith. Every Sunday we repeat our profession of faith and every year during the Easter Vigil we renew the baptism promises. We are used to the idea that salvation comes through the doctrines of the faith. Since childhood we have accepted the church teaching that through baptism and no mortal sin we go to heaven. Nothing else? No. “Salvation by faith alone” is also a belief. Moreover, Lutherans and the Catholics have come to an agreement in their Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This controversial issue seems to have been settled.

2.         Faith and the required practices. No church claims that salvation is automatic: it always involves some practices, like church attendance and financial offerings. There are also the Ten Commandments and the sacraments. Now we may believe that salvation comes through a few practices, and we may think of ourselves as good practicing Catholics.

3.         The practice of faith, hope and love. “If I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1) There is faith in submitting to the doctrines of the faith and there is faith and love in one’s religious practices, but the daily practice of faith and love is sometnhing more.

          Everybody has the opportunity to practice faith and love several times a day. Are you stuck in the traffic? Have faith in God's Providence. Are you waiting in line in the grocery store? Pray for all the people around you. Are you waiting in the doctor’s office? Close your eyes like taking a nap and find rest in God. You are sick and bed-ridden? You have the whole day to express your trust in God.

          All virtues are always practiced in the present. Courage is shown in dangerous situations not in fictitious stories. Wisdom must be shown in difficult choices, not in writing wisdom books. Practices can be planned, but virtues are in the present moment. Faith, hope, and love must be practiced in the spur of the moment when the opportunity presents itself. For that, we need God’s Spirit.  Beliefs are accepted by reason, and religious practices are performed by the power of the will, but for faith and love, reason and will are not sufficient. “Christ set us free”—free of human passions and the dominance of reason and will—because “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts.” (4:6). By being “baptized (that is, immersed) into Christ, [we] have clothed ourselves with Christ.” Therefore, Paul concludes, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” (5:26) This is what we do when we practice faith, hope, and love.

  Where do you stand?
- Is your faith that of a child's acceptance of church doctrines?
- Is your faith summarized in your religious practices?
- How do you respond to the daily circumstances of frustration (with faith?), of irritation (with forgiveness?), and human needs (with self-giving?)?
          How do you move from level one to level three?

TESTIMONIES
From Guy C. Carter,
Saint Peter’s University, drguychrcarter@gmail.com

          It seems to me that, though the vision and appreciation of my Catholic faith has expanded to include a maturing sense of both its form and content, and though I hope that my understanding of the application and implication of my faith has matured as well as I stand before God now and in the future, that the fact of my faith has not changed from the first time I asked my mother about God.  I found, as a child, that I could get more information from her on that topic if I asked about Our Lady first. I believed that my mother loved me and would never lie to me, just as I came to believe the same about the greater Church beyond her.  To learn, in the words of the Catechism, that God creates me because he loves me and has infinitely high hopes for me, that God is in fact a united Triune family of love surrounding me and the whole world, seemed and still seems wholly consistent with what my first teacher had imparted, even in the name she gave me, meaning ‘leader’ and ‘Christ-bearer.’
          My faith in the Triune God, with Christ at the center in the midst of his Church, has continued to be expressed and summarized, if not exclusively defined, by my religious practice as a Catholic, through participation in and use of both the Sacraments and the sacramentals, and especially through a consciousness of the Communion of Saints, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth and in heaven, during this dark time of isolation in which it is still far from safe for persons of my age and state of health to congregate with any group, including the assembled People of God.   Though I am grateful to be able to see and hear the Mass streamed online, that is no substitute, and somehow drives home the sadness and isolation of this pandemic. 
         Conscious of how profoundly graced I was in my first teacher, it is my joy now to be both blessed by and to in turn bless my beloved spouse as we ‘shelter in place,’ geographically separated from her blood family and mine, and physically from our parish family, but not from each other.  For each day of that blessing we may still have, with faith in God’s love and goodness through faith in each other, through patient, chaste and humble love, thanks be to God! .
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SUNDAY MASS:
Private Devotion or Community Celebration?

            Why do you go to Mass on Sundays? Which of the following applies to you?

1.         It’s the family tradition. We have done it since childhood.  It is one of the seven sacraments. The church says so, and it will never change.

2.         At church I feel close to God. At Mass I feel very devotional. I like some of the old hymns, the Gloria, the Credo, and well-known traditional songs. In the old days (and even today), people say the rosary because it makes them feel close to God.  There are many devotional times at Mass. At the beginning, it is good to kneel and pray in silence. And there is consecration and communion.   Some people stay after Mass to pray to a saint or for personal prayer.  The church often ends with a prayer to the Virgin Mary.

There are many devotions associated with the Mass. There is the practice of receiving communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months because of the promise  to St. Mary Alacoque that one will not die without having received the last sacrament. There is also the practice of perpetual adoration which has been adopted in many parishes. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament ending with the Tantum ergo has also been popular for centuries.
          If you belong to this devotional tradition, you are blessed. It will continue to inspire you. However, it is not very appealing to the younger generation that is looking for something more modern.

3.         Before Vatican II, participation in the Sunday Mass was individual and personal: one could come to church with a missal or without one, follow the Mass in Latin or pray individually, receive communion or not. Basically, it was a personal and individual practice. Now the language is to “celebrate the Eucharist” rather than “offer the Holy Sacrifice.” People want to celebrate because they see the Eucharist as community activity. This requires active participation of the faithful. The music and the songs should be modern, and the choir should involve faithful participation rather than just give a performance. The celebration must involve a spirit of dialogue, not just stereotypical answers like “Amen” or “And with your spirit,” or “Praise be to God.”

At Mass we celebrate the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but his presence has been understood and venerated differently over time.  At some time and for some people, the priest was nearly as sacred as the bread and wine since it is he who consecrates them. At other times and for other people, it is in the sacraments that we find the Lord’s presence. At other times and other people, it is in scripture. Today many people expect to find Christ in his community, in light of his promise, “When two or three are gathered in my name, I am among them.”

Today many Christians want the church to be a true community, one where people know one another, where they can share and discuss personal, family, and social problems. In our consumer self-centered society, the extended family and one’s neighborhood are not communities anymore, but the church should be one. The local church must be the body of Christ as a living reality, not just as a concept. This requires quite a different organization of the parish and quite a different role of the priest. That’s what many people expect, especially the young, or they will drop out.

4.         Many people have dropped out of regular Sunday Mass attendance. They do not really miss it, because for them the Mass has never been a strong family tradition, or for them the Mass has never been an inspiring devotion like for their parents or grandparents. Or maybe they want spirituality rather than institutional religiosity.

Where do you stand?   What do you expect your journey to be in the next 10 or 20 years? What spiritual legacy will you transmit to your children? Write A comment.

August 15, Assumption Day

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

 Devotion to the Virgin Mary has always been inspired by the love and veneration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Although there is little in the Scriptures, there is enough to justify our veneration. There are three basic texts.
          The Annunciation is the story of Mary’s vocation, and also of our own. In any vocation there is a dialogue like, “How is this possible?” – “Nothing is impossible to God.” – “Let it be done according to your word.”  Our most common vocation is to have been called to be part of the church of Jesus Christ, and we all had the opportunity, at one time or another, to doubt, question, resist, and finally say “Yes.”
          Mary followed Jesus to calvary when all the disciples fled. We all have the opportunity to be faithful when it is easier to give up and say “I just had it!” For instance, in times of serious sickness, financial disaster, family breakdown, or the death of a loved one.
          Finally, on the cross Jesus said to John, “Behold your mother,” and to Mary, “Woman, behold your son.” Jesus thus instituted Mary as the New Eve who will generate many beloved disciples like John.
          These three texts have inspired at least three types of devotions: that of the followers of Christ who also venerate his mother, that of the suffering people who turn to Mary as Mother of Sorrows, and that of disciples who ask her to help them in their imitation of Christ. Moreover, today there is also the tendency to reject all Marian devotions.

1.         The veneration of Mary has been part of the Christian faith since early Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 defined the virginal conception of Jesus, and hundred years later in 431, the Council of Ephesus in 431 officially called Mary "Mother of God" (Theotokos).  The feast of the "Memory of Mary, Mother of God" was celebrated on August 15 in Jerusalem by the year 350. Sixteen hundred years later, we still venerate Mary on August 15.
        In every country, Catholics are very attached to their national shrine: Guadalupe in Mexico,  Lourdes in France, The Black Madonna of Częstochowa in Poland, and Our Lady of Antipolo in the Philippines, etc.  Many people come to these shrines with prayers and expectations. There are numerous stories of miracles attached to each one of them. We all need a miracle in times of crisis.

2.         Another Marian tradition is that of Our Lady of Sorrow, of the Sorrowful Mother, and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. This tradition takes inspiration from the prophecy of Simeon to Mary, that a sword will pierce her heart. When Mary is seen as the Mother of compassion, people ask for comfort and support. There are many painful situations (death, sickness, and unbearable poverty) when people need emotional and spiritual support rather than a miracle.  This is a common devotion in poor countries where people have little control over their destiny. The special times of this devotion are February 2 in the Catholic Church and during the Holy Week, especially during the long and numerous passion processions.

3.         Mary is also of special inspiration to the disciples who endeavor to follow Jesus in every day life. Taking inspiration from the various traditions of religious life, they make the imitation of Christ the center of their lives; they may be lay or religious. For these disciples, Mary is their mother as Jesus is their Lord. They are not lonely religious individualists because they live in the company of Jesus and Mary, the Lord and his saints, God the Father, Jesus the Savior, and the Spirit the Sanctifier. Prayers to Mary and devotions to the saints are part of their following of Jesus.

4.         There has been a general decline of devotional practices over the last two or three generations, and the devotions to Mary have similarly been affected. Some Protestants have always objected to all devotions as not found in the bible, yet “This is your mother” is Jesus’ legacy to all future generations of Christians. Today one may sincerely feel no attraction to Marian devotions because they may appear as old-fashioned or immature. It is true that some plaster-like statues or overly emotional paintings may turn younger people off. Marian devotions have always been culture-bound, hence not appealing to outsiders of that culture. It is the vocation of artists, writers, preachers, and reformers to present us with attractive religious images of Jesus and Mary.

What is your preferred Marian devotion? How enthusiastic or skeptical are you in today’s changing church? What would you suggest to questioning young Catholics?

TESTIMONIES
From Michael Dallaire, Canada,
michael@michaeldallaire.com, www.michaeldallaire.com

          As a cradle Catholic I was imbued with a profound respect for Mary, our Holy Mother. Of course, like many of my peers who were born after WWII and lived through Vatican II and its ongoing implementation, I attended Catholic elementary schools when annual May processions to Mary were celebrated. These were important ceremonies.  But, what made the most impact upon me was the quiet witness and reverence which both my maternal grandmother, Cecilia, and paternal great-grandmother, Elise, demonstrated towards Mary. Quiet matriarchs, they practiced the recitation of the rosary as a form of personal meditation. How lucky I am to have inherited their rosaries, which I now and then pull out and use for my own meditation in times of trouble.
         Later, while studying history and then theology at university, I came to understand how Marion devotion emerged from below, from the people of God, as a counterbalance to the tendency to absolutize a patriarchal presentation of God. Over time peoples’ understanding of Mary’s significant role of accompaniment during suffering and death, tragedy and crucifixion, has found expression in devotional practices many of which help us endure the hardships of life. This is why images of Mary are so diverse and ubiquitous, from Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Black Madonna, from Rome to the home. She continues to speak to us, drawing us closer to her in times of suffering, gathering us into her warm embrace. And this is why even today Mary, our Mother, is with us just as she was at the foot of Jesus’ cross.

Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, stevensa@ptd.net
Professor Emeritus of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College

         Mary, the Mother of God, has always occupied a special place in my personal piety.  My understanding of her role in theology and Catholic praxis has been shaped by the Latino culture by which I have been shaped throughout my life.  The more historical and analytical I have become about Catholicism, the deeper has become my devotion to Mary. This experience of mine runs in reverse to many academics wherein the light of analytical reason often chases away the mystery of faith.  As a scholar whose career began after the Second Vatican Council, I was initially inclined to scorn the traditions of rosary, candles and honored images of Marian devotion in my Puerto Rican home.  However, my mature research has instead led me to a role as advocate of Marian devotion in order to preserve an indispensable religious and cultural identity.  
         Two historical characteristics have stayed with me: racial rootedness and matriarchal femininity. Racial rootedness is clearest in the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe:  the popularity of Mary in Mexico is understandable given the role of woman among the indigenous Aztec. This image of Mary links Catholicism with the original Latin American religiosity by fulfillment rather than by cancelation. while there was a tendency to destroy this non-European image of Mary. For me, on the contrary, indigenous images link local religiosity with the unfolding of Salvation history around the globe. 
         There is also the matriarchal femininity of Mary in her various Latin American devotions.  Nothing rings closer to our family experiences than a strong woman at the center of faith transmission.  To that personal experience I add the historical context of colonialism and oppression.  For most of our Puerto Rican history, we have lived in a society where men are “emasculated” by a politico-economic system that denies the human dignity of a conquered people.  Whether under Spain or the US, the limitations placed on our male leaders has created space for matriarchy. In a colonial situation, survival often depends on replacing foreign patriarchy with native matriarchy. This is Mary’s meaning to me.


CATHOLIC IDENTITY

How do you recognize a Catholic? Here are some signs.

Meatless Fridays. The custom of no meat on Fridays and fasting five days a week during Lent has been the rule for centuries until the American bishops abolished it in 1966. According to Andrew Greeley, the US bishops’ decision of 1966 was “the most unnecessary and the most devastating” implementation of Vatican II. Today, if you say you fast, people may think that you are a Muslim.  Catholic fasting has become an oxymoron.

Sunday celebration. Before Vatican II, everybody dressed up for Sunday Mass. Because few people had a car, walking to church in their Sunday best identified Catholics. Now it identifies evangelicals. Moreover, the Sunday family meal was always special. Now the family activities are fragmented according to each individual’s schedule.

The church bells. On weekdays the parish bells rang for the 7 AM Mass and at Noon for the Angelus. On Sunday they rang for the various Masses, and Vespers in the afternoon. The bells also rang at the Consecration of the 10 AM High Mass. Moreover, when the death knell rang, people knew that a Catholic had died. Today, a call to prayer from the Minaret will wake you up at 5 AM if you stay in the Arab section of Jerusalem.

Processions. In past centuries, the whole community marched processionally throughout the streets on all major celebrations—like parades today on major holidays. In pre-Vatican II days, the processions of Corpus Christi and Assumption day were well attended and took several hours. On Rogation Day (April 25) the procession went to the fields to bless the future harvest. In Guatemala City, processions last over ten hours and involve thousands of participants. Today in the U.S. there are ten times more secular parades and political marches than religious processions.

Pilgrimages and vows. Pilgrimages in Christianity were once as popular as they are today in Islam. In my village there was a yearly pilgrimage on foot to a shrine a few miles away, in response to a vow made in the distant past when the plague killed most of the inhabitants. About 100,000 pilgrims come regularly to Esquipulas in Guatemala on January 15. Many told me they have had made the vow to come in thanksgiving for a favor received.

Devotions and the rosary. In my parish a long time ago, there was rosary prayer at 5 PM right after school. The rosary was the most popular devotion; many people recited it, even during Mass. There was a crucifix in most rooms of the house, and often a home-altar decorated with fresh flowers. Some people even had a statue in their front yard.

The Mass and the Eucharist. Since Vatican II the Mass is often called the Eucharist, but not much has changed.  Mass attendance has dropped by 30 to 50 percent at each generation since the 1960s. Moreover, only 31% of Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist according to the 2019 Pew report; other measurements find slightly different percentages. Both the beliefs and the practices of Catholics have drastically changed.

Many Catholic still find their identity in the characteristics described above, and rightly so. But self-identities are constructed and achieved rather than given.        

How would you identify Catholics today?

Catholics are Christians. Christ is the center and the core of his church. In many places in the world and in the U.S., to be a Christian means to be a Protestant. We must proudly claim that we are Catholic Christians.

The message of the Sunday liturgy is always given by the gospel reading. By following the gospels (eu-angelion), we become evangelical. Many Protestant evangelicals are more biblical than evangelical when they take the stories of Moses, Joshua, and David as equally important as those of the gospels. There are many Catholics who consider themselves to be evangelical Catholics.

The Catholic Church stands for unity in diversity (but in fact she often fosters unity in conformity). Diversity includes the variety of traditions throughout the centuries, not just the Tradition of official teaching. Unity means that when one member suffers, all suffer and all must help. Works of charity are a typical and traditional Catholic characteristic. Catholic diversity includes both highly rational theologies and emotional charismatic effusions. There is no conflict between faith and reason, and between faith and emotions, and the care of the body.

The Catholic imagination is sacramental and incarnational. The Word became flesh for us to see and consume. Rituals and sacraments are visual signs of the unity and diversity of Catholic beliefs and practices. Worship is most inspiring when beauty animates its expression.

How else would you define Catholic identity?

COMMENTS
From Ana Lourdes Suárez,
Universidad Católica Argentina, analourdessuarez@gmail.com
          Catholic diversity includes both highly rational theologies and emotional charismatic effusions. As for my experience in Latin American countries—the region of the world with most Catholics, most Catholics in Latin America frame their faith in devotions, community practices, and a variety of practices (pilgrimages, novenas, attending sanctuaries, etc…) that are quite parallel to receiving the sacraments of the Church. They identify as Catholics not for attending mass, but for being able to have this emotional belonging from which they frame their identity as Catholics, and feed their spirituality.
          A missing point in Pierre´s arguments is the Vatican, the Pope. Catholics identify with this particular kind of leadership. Not that they follow the pope's teachings; they may not even know what his teachings are (particularly in what has to do with moral sexual issues, which they certainly will not follow). My point is that they have an emotional attachment to the person of the pope.

From Simon Aihiokhai,
University of Portland, aihiokhais@yahoo.co.uk
Reclaiming plurality after Trent
         The Council of Trent responded to the hemorrhage of the Protestant Reformation by enforcing uniformity: One Vision; One Leadership; and Oneness in Doctrines.  Identity, however, is not a badge. It is a way of being church in one’s relationship with Christ and in dialogue with the context of one's faith community.
         Catholic identity today is being negotiated in response to multiple forces in theology, rituals, church governance, doctrines, and even language. Catholic identity is challenged by women’s call to leadership and ordination. One thing is certain, Catholic identity in the 21st century must open to geo-political changes, as the center of power in the Church is moving away from Europe. This shift will require great imagination.

Thomas Parmar, India
I like and love to pray Seven Rosary daily; the Rosary is in my daily life. Due to the lockdown, no church is open for daily Mass. I am unable to attend the Wednesday evening Mass with Novena to our Lady of Perpetual Help, the first Friday Evening Mass with adoration of the Holy Sacrament, and the Sunday morning Mass ...

The covid winder & self-reliance

The shut-down forced all of us to be more self-reliant. When we cannot find an item at our regular store, we can go to another one. When we cannot go to the gym, we can exercise at home. And because the churches are closed or of limited access, we can find religious services online. Self-reliance is increasingly necessary.

Most of us grew up in passive acceptance of the adult world, but things have changed. Today young people do not want to be lectured; they want to be treated as active learners. In church we may still be treated as passive recipients but we must become religiously self-reliant. Faith is a flickering light that will die if we do not feed it by seeking what we need.

Become an active spiritual seeker! The internet is a good source of information besides books. There are channels of religious radio and television. Youtube is a good source of inspiration. Blogs can widen our horizon. We can also find inspiration in devotions like the rosary, evening prayer, and bible reading.

“The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27). We go to church to be nourished. If your church feels boring most of the time, it is not fulfilling its function and you need to go elsewhere. Because a church may not be able to satisfy everybody’s needs, those less satisfied must actively seek another church for the food they need.

Become more self-reliant by joining a group or a special program during Advent. People need small groups where they can share their experiences. There are more members on Facebook than in all the Christian churches combined. Parishes should have discussion groups like Facebook; join one if you can.

That covid winter drags on too much! We are tired, bored, lonely, and angry! For this long winter, we need to become more self-reliant and active. Here are some suggestions.

  • Get out of your isolation. Call friends and family members. Organize Zoom or Whatsapp conferences.
  • Express your negative feelings like anger in order to control them, and by doing so, you allow others to express and control their negative feelings.
  • Cultivate the mind through readings and educational programs: any increase in knowledge is an incdrease of selfhood.
  • Write letters or emails, or a diary, or an article or blog to be shared with others for comments.
  • Have daily exercices like prayer, bible reading, or taking a walk in the neighbohood.
  • Occasionally have a treat to make you feel good and cheer up.

 

COMMENTS
From Sam H. Goyvaerts,
Tilburg University, Netherlands, S.H.Goyvaerts@tilburguniversity.edu
          I very much agree with the fact that the corona virus urges people to be more self-reliant. From a liturgical perspective, I noticed this was very hard for many Catholics. The liturgy, being advocated as source and summit since Vatican II, was and is narrowed down for many people into celebrating Sunday Eucharist. Of course liturgy is much more, but for many catholic faithful in my country (Belgium), liturgically practicing their faith means: going to mass on Sunday. The rich array of devotional practices in Catholic Flanders prior to the 1960s has largely disappeared. Where many families used to have the habit of praying every evening (a decade or some mysteries of the Rosary) and all the faithful knew the Angelus by heart and were reminded of it three times a day with the bells of the church, is over.
          People's missals containing not only the texts of the mass but also including many house, garden and kitchen prayers, can only be found at flea markets. The liturgical, devotional life of people outside the mass has disappeared. Even before the corona-lockdown, I noticed that students and people around me didn't know how to pray anymore. The question which the apostles asked Jesus: "Lord teach us how to pray" has become extremely topical because of the corona crisis. I’m strongly convinced that church communities should indeed, as you write, work on adult education in small groups, but first and foremost help people to pray. The liturgy is indeed the source and summit of Christian life, but in order to reach that summit one can find a slowly ascending path of Christian devotional and liturgical practices that, over the past fifty years, we have not walked enough together with people, at least as far as I can see in my region. Fortunately, the corona crisis has also shown the great value of social media in view of this, as you rightly describe. Let's certainly use them as well as possible to introduce people to the rich and long-standing tradition of prayer and liturgy, which is – let us not forget - is much broader than just the Sunday Eucharist.
From Simon Aihiokhai,
University of Portland, aihiokhais@yahoo.co.uk
The current global pandemic has offered Christian churches an enviable opportunity to be more imaginative on how to understand ministry that is relevant for our times. With this understanding, one has to ask the following question: In what ways must the current ministries in our Church today be re-imagined to allow for new charisms to emerge? Remember, all ministries are at the service of the baptized, including the very ministerial one through which we are introduced into through the waters of baptism. In other words, to be a Christian is to be called to a life of service (diakonia) to all of God's people in God's world. Can we today look at the family itself as a form of ministry in the Church? It is the first place where the imaginative power of church rises up to the surface of our ecclesial consciousness as people tied together in the Spirit of fellowship (koinonia)? In what ways, then, can the Church allow home rituals carried out by family members become a way of enacting the call to holiness that baptism invites us to? How can these roles also allow for the expression of the one priesthood of Christ? In what ways can the role of healthcare workers today become a form of diaconal ministry to God's people to make possible the reconciliation and wholeness of the sacrament of anointing of the sick? Especially because we have been forced by the current pandemic to abandon our loved ones to go through the journey of dying alone?
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Bishop in El Paso kneeled for George Floyd.
Two days later, Pope Francis called

Bishop Mark Seitz's act of kneeling in prayer for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd prompted a call from Pope Francis this week. By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN.

With eyes closed, masks covering their faces, white roses in hand and handwritten signs that read "Black Lives Matter," Seitz and 12 other priests from the Diocese of El Paso knelt in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Monday.

They were praying in silence for George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police after an officer knelt on his neck for that same amount of time. "Frankly, what I did and what I have said is only a very small way to take part in what so many are doing in their peaceful protests," Seitz said.

Two days after the clergy's prayer, Seitz had just finished celebrating Mass when he got a call on his cellphone from the pontiff himself. In Spanish, Francis told Seitz how grateful he was for Seitz's response to Floyd's death. "Through me, he's expressing his unity with everyone who is willing to step out and say this needs to change," Seitz said. "This should never happen again. Wherever there is a lack of respect for human beings, where there's a judgment based on the color of their skin, this has to be rooted out. Whether it's in law enforcement, in business, in government, in any aspect of our society, this has to change. And now we know very clearly that the Holy Father is making this his prayer."



WHAT THE PANDEMIC HAS CHANGED

Life in New York is slowly returning to normal. The pandemic has changed most of us. It has changed business, education, politics, and religion. What did I miss? What did I gain?

As the above picture suggests, the basic image of the pandemic was that of masks isolating us from one another. The first weeks were most unpleasant because of separation from family and friends. I had to adjust and quickly organized Zoom conferences with many family members. WhatsApp video calls have also been very useful. Actually, the pandemic brought us closer together, as the face-to-face conversations via zoom or whatsapp are more gratifying than telephone calls.

The pandemic passed me by.  I had two sick people in my house, unable to work because of the virus, but it did not touch me. I was blessed, and am aware that there were many deaths in Long Island where I live. What about you?

Life in the distant suburbs is quite different from city life in apartments. Here there was no problem going shopping for food and other necessities. Life was practically undisrupted. The barbershop was closed. When my hair got too long, I simply cut it myself, and easy job without much damage.

The quarantine encouraged self-reliance. From what I can see, school children in my family became more responsible because they had to follow a discipline of work and fun: 40 - 50 minutes of work followed by half an hour of fun activities, every day and every week for the last three months. The schools had well-organized schedules of daily lessons, video conferences, and personal tutoring.

The shut-down forced us to be more self-reliant. The gym is closed? Then exercise at home (I did what I could). The libraries and schools are closed? I had to buy books instead of renting them. Food and house supplies? Plan ahead. The restaurants are closed? Do more home cooking. I remembered two family recipes from the 1950s which I had never tried. Generally, it was a return to home cooking. Was it so in your family?

I was somewhat disappointed by the churches around here. They did nothing, for the simple reason that they were not prepared technologically. Most churches do not have the telephone number and the e-address of their members. The senior citizen center of my town called me to inquire about my health. I would have liked my church to call me. Again, I had to become more self-reliant and find on the internet some food for thought, and I found a lot! Will you go back to church after watching services on your screen for three months?