Baptized Priesthood

Alexander Shaia at Grace Cathedral March 9

Alexander Shaia, author of Beyond the Biography of Jesus: The Journey of Quadratos will be speaking at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco this Sunday, March 9. He also will be preaching at the 11 a.m. Eucharist.

Both the forum conversation and the preaching will be webcast. Times are:

Eastern 12:30 p.m.
Central 11:30 a.m.
Mountain 10:30 a.m.
Pacific 9:30 a.m.

Daylight Savings Time begins then too, please remember to set your clock forward and hour.

I'll be listening. I was planning on being there in person, but I have a conflict so I cannot make it. Alexander is an excellent speaker and his book offers an exciting insight into the Gospels.

Lenten Activities

A lot of people give things up for Lent as part of their penitential practice. I've done that too.

The hardest thing I've ever given up was purchasing sewing and craft materials. That Lent I would go into the fabric store and just stroll through the aisles, fingering the materials, flipping through the pattern books, and steeling myself to walk away from it all without buying anything.

At the end of that Lent I had a better perspective of how I was spending my time and money, and how to channel my creativity.

Still, I prefer to take on a new discipline for Lent rather than give something up.

This year, at the suggestion of my spiritual director, it will be to pray for a deeper understanding of my grief.

The entry point is, of course, my most recent loss of my friend Peggy. But, as Elizabeth Kubler Ross wrote in her last book, On Grief and Grieving, when we grieve, we also grieve for the unfinished work of past losses as well.

I have plenty of past losses. My miscarried baby, losing my “dream job,” and my father's death are just three of them.

Lent is an opportunity to begin a journey of discovery and healing. Like any great adventure, I am both excited and nervous to begin.

So I take a deep breath and move forward in trust in the promises of our God.

May you have a blessed and healing Lenten season as well.

Alexander Shaia on Sirius Satellite Radio

Dr. Alexander Shaia, author of Quadratos: Beyond the Biography of Jesus, will reflect upon this month's Sunday gospel readings on the Sirius satellite radio show As You Think.

This is the inaugural of what will become a monthly spot on Fr. Paul Keenan's show on Channel 159: The Catholic Channel. Times are: 11 p.m. Eastern, 10 p.m. Central, 9 p.m. Mountain, and 8 p.m. Pacific.

I currently do not subscribe to Sirius but maybe I will now.

The Nature of Church

Reviewing the prayers for Christian Unity, reminded me of a piece I read in Bonhoeffer's book on January 19. It was titled “The Nature of Church,” and is about the what the “space” that is church means in the world. He wrote:

“The space of the church is not there in order to fight with the world for a piece of its territory, but precisely to testify to the world that it is still the world, namely, the world that is loved and reconciled by God. It is not true that the church intends to or must spread its space out over the space of the world. [...] The church can only defend its own space by fighting, not for space, but for the salvation of the world. Otherwise the church becomes a ”religious society“ that fights in its own interest and thus has ceased to be the church of God in the world...”

I was deeply struck by this piece of writing. Too often I have heard people--Catholics and Protestants alike--speak or act disparagingly toward other Christians merely because they belonged to a different denomination.

Because Peg and I had such an easy ecumenism in our friendship, it took me by surprise that some members of her faith community reacted in shock when I mentioned I was Catholic. What had been a genuine sharing of faith and grief shortly after her death, shifted; in some cases people literally took a step backward, as if I had suddenly grown horns (which Peg had jokingly told me once, some people in her community probably thought Catholics had!).

Because so much of my spirituality these days is noticing the paradoxes in life, I can't help but smile at how a simple word--“church”--can be both expansive and constricting. And I think we need both, or at least I do. I need to be reminded that the church I belong to is that of Jesus the Christ's, and the best articulation of that church for me is Catholicism.

Unfortunately for me right now, my home parish falls more into the “religious society” type of church, which is why I have been going to church in Davis for the last two years. But story can wait for another day.

Christian Unity Week is 100 years old

We are in the middle of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 2008, which is January 18-25 every year. The Pontifical Council fro Promoting Christian Unity posted this year's planning document for the week along with an interesting history. It was jointly prepared by the Pontifical Council and the Commission on Faith and Order for the World Council of Churches.

This year's theme is “Pray without ceasing”, from 1 Thessalonians 5:12a, 13b-18. From the joint planning document,

One of Paul’s central aims was to build up the community in its unity. Even death does not break the bonds which unite it as the one body of Christ; Christ has died and risen for all, so that at Christ’s coming both those who have already fallen asleep, and those still living “may live with him” (5: 10). This brought Paul to the imperatives in the text (1 Thessalonians 5: 13b-18), which have been chosen from a slightly longer list of exhortations to form the basis for this year’s week of prayer. The passage begins with Paul’s plea that the members of the community “be at peace among yourselves” (5: 13b) – a peace which is not simply the absence of conflict but a state of harmony in which the gifts of all within the community contribute to its thriving and growth.

Strikingly, Paul did not offer abstract theological teaching nor did he speak about emotions or feelings. Just as in the famous text on love from 1 Corinthians 13, he called rather for specific actions, actual ways of behaving, through which members of the community reveal their commitment and accountability to one another within the one body of Christ. Love is to be put into practice and made visible.

The imperatives themselves, the ‘things that make for peace’, he lists as follows: ensuring the contribution of all and encouraging the fainthearted, helping the weak, being patient with all, not repaying evil for evil but doing good to one another and to all, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances (5: 14-18a). The section chosen then concludes with the affirmation that, in doing these things, the community is living out “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (5: 18b).

The appeal to “pray without ceasing” (5: 17) is embedded within this list of imperatives. This emphasizes that life in Christian community is possible only through a life of prayer. Further, it shows that prayer is an integral part of the life of Christians precisely as they seek to manifest the unity which is given them in Christ – a unity which is not limited to doctrinal agreements and formal statements, but finds expression in the things that make for peace, in concrete actions which express and build up their unity in Christ and with one another.

Remembering Peggy

One of the ways I decided to honor and remember my friend Peg is by reading A Year With Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer, for those of you who don't know, was a Lutheran theologian who was imprisoned and executed by the Nazis for his resistance to Hitler.

I had given this book to Peg as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. It is a book with short, daily excepts of his writings to be used for reflection.

I admit, I was a bit taken aback when she returned it to me about six weeks before she died. Hindsight being 2020, I realize now she was divesting herself of earthly possessions because she knew death was much closer than any of the rest of us thought; I think subconsciously I knew that was what she was telling me when she gave me the book back, and I just didn't want to believe it.

The day after she died I began reading and reflecting upon the writings. Part of my intent is to occasionally blog about what I've read, which I intend to do.

What amazes me--it always amazes me--is how the Spirit works. This simple act of honoring and remembering a dear friend has opened a new door of prayer for me, one which I had not given much thought of previously. In the few weeks since I begun this practice, I have come to more deeply realize the necessity of praying for the dead.

It is a quite humbling realization, and one which I feel I must describe carefully. Beginning on New Year's Day, I had a series of dreams, over three nights, that were both comforting and revelatory. What I feel comfortable sharing now is my understanding that the dead do need our prayers to help them transition into their next life in God, the Beatific Vision as St. Thomas Aquinas called it. And that we need to pray for the dead as well, because it is an act of forgiveness as well as compassion that deepens and strengthens our own spiritual journey here and now.

This actually came as a bit of shock to me, because quite frankly, I hadn't given much thought to the theology of purgatory. Actually, I would inwardly roll my eyes whenever my aunts, who are quite traditional in their Catholicism, would tell me about contributing to this group of monks or nuns to pray for the souls in purgatory. Until recently, that is.

I need to pray more, reflect more, and yes, learn more (I always go for the learning more too) before I write more about this.

A final act of generosity?

Whatever your thoughts about burial versus cremation, this is an interesting idea:

A Manchester crematorium where “grieving friends and relatives have complained of the cold during services” will tackle the problem by using the “body heat” generated in the incineration process to crank up the temperature, the Telegraph reports.

Tameside Council says the energy output is enough to fire Dukinfield Crematorium's boiler and light the chapel, but admits it may prove a “sensitive” issue. The council's environment chief, Robin Monk, said: “I'm not sure how people will react, but we don't want to upset anyone. We will carry out full consultation with priests, vicars and the public before a decision is taken.”

So far, the cunning plan has met with clerical approval. Rev Tim Hayes, of St John's Church, Dukinfield, told the Telegraph he had “no problem” with it, while Rev Vernon Marshall, of Old Chapel, offered: “As a final act of generosity, it's a lovely way for the dead to provide comfort for the living at a difficult time.”

Personally, I think if someone opts for cremation, this actually sounds like a good idea. I would just hope the crematorium passes along some of the energy bill savings to the family members too. I don't know how expensive cremations are, but burials start at about $5,000 for a basic package (in California, at least).

One Month Anniversary

Peg died a month ago, actually one month and one day, but I didn't get a chance to write about the anniversary yesterday.

It is still hard for me to believe she's gone. I look for emails from her (she was a prolific emailer), or a Scrabble play, because we were online Scrabble buddies too. I miss terribly being unable to pick up the phone and call her just to chat. We loved to talk about what the priests in our respective churches had to say in their homilies. I do think about her every day, and “talk” with her, but the conversation is awfully one sided and I miss her sense of humor and her down-to-earth perspective about things.

Did I mention she was Lutheran and I was Catholic? We practiced our own brand of ecumenism, sharing our experiences and belief in Christ and our joy in being Christians and the particular expression of Christianity offered by our respective traditions.

We seriously discussed Peg becoming a co-author of this blog site, so we could share some of our views--both similar and disparate--on points about discipleship and living out our baptized priesthood. Sadly, she never quite felt healthy enough to take on this extra task.

She was, however, someone who took her discipleship to heart, even as she was dying. One of the last things we did together was “Run to Feed the Hungry,” an annual fun run and walk that raises money for the Sacramento Food Bank. Even though we knew this would be Peg's last “run” (we pushed her in a wheelchair), we had no idea that three weeks later she would be dead. We all thought we had a few more weeks or months before the final goodbye.

The photo here is one of my favorites, taken Thanksgiving Day 2007; it is one of my favorites because Peg is radiant and her smile is so wonderful. Ironically, as I snapped the photo, Peg was saying that she didn't have the heart to tell two of her friends--who came running up to her during the walk--that she wouldn't be seeing them next year as they jauntily called out as they ran ahead of her.

What love, what strength this woman had for others. She is and always will be an example for me of what it means to live fully a Christian life, regardless of its circumstances. She had such peace about her impending death too, because she had great trust and faith in God's love for us all.

Good Priest, Great Press

Holy Rosary Parish recently got a new priest--actually a newly minted priest--Fr. Uriel Ojeda. He has made quite an impression on us with his genuine love of God and of people. Fr. Uriel really is a breath of fresh air for those of us stifled by the sourness of the appointed pastor (now in his second year).

On December 30 and 31, 2007, the Sacramento Bee ran front page stories about Fr. Uriel's first few months as a newly ordained priest. Fr. Uriel is, according to the story, one of a new priests under the age of 30 (he's 28).

This was a big story in that on both days it was the lead story on the front page and the story jumped to a spread in the middle of the paper. In journalism, stories are measured in inches, and the more inches the better--this story had a lot of inches! And it had a lot of photographs.

What a delight to read a newspaper account of a “day in the life of” a priest rather than a scandal. When Robert said, “Well, Holy Rosary made the paper, again,” I groaned. The church had been robbed and vandalized after Thanksgiving weekend and I thought the worst.

Anyway, Fr. Uriel was one of the priests I saw ordained in June 2007; I know Fr. George Snyder too because we were in the same lay ministry program when he discerned his call to the priesthood. If these two men are an indication of the future of ordained priestly vocations, I can say that what we lack in quantity we are making up for in quality.

The Sacramento Bee makes it darned difficult to read their paper online, even for those of us who are subscribers to the print version. So unfortunately, I cannot supply a durable link to the article, which is too bad.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful

I'm home today because the storm in California is pretty bad. As Robert and I tried to go to work, one road was blocked by a downed tree, then we saw a bright blue flash (later we found out an electrical transformer blew), and then we heard on the radio there was an accident on Road 102, which we were heading toward. At that point, we just decided to head back home.

After being home a few hours, we heard they closed a part of Interstate 5, the main freeway in California, between Road 113 and the Sacramento Airport; this is a main part of our commute to work.

We lost a couple of branches on our redwood tree, and our street is now flooding.

It's a good day to be inside and continue my New Year's contemplation.