What do you do
When your dreams are not your own?
Does that make them more true?
Even though your own dreams
Fall apart?
 
The news turned my heart heavy
What I must do was plain,
my dreams scorched by anger and pain.
Yet, although my heart was heavy,
it was not cold.
 
And then a strange dream
And I let it all be
And now here I am…
With them at my bedside,
His hand in mine.
 
We recall the days he´d watch me work
Not dignified, but gave dignity
And daily bread.
And he had so many questions that
I´d wonder how could it be that
He be He.
Questions about life;
Who am I to be giving answers?
 
A simple life I sought,
thus was my dream.
Or so I thought.
And now here I am so
far from what I dreamt.
My dreams interrupted by
dreams I did not dream.
 
Now, as I lay, knowing these are my last,
He tells me I will be remembered
For humbling obliging my Lord in the past.

And I am taken back to when we fled
When I was told to put aside fear and dread

Though I do not understand
I will do the best that I can…
I will trust
You, Lord.
I must, Oh Lord.
For these dreams are not mine
By faith I will trust
Until the day that I die,

I said, Oh Lord.
Then and until the end,
Oh Lord.
 
And now, here am I, Oh Lord.
 
My little man,
holding my hand,
only now can I understand:
 
My dreams have come true.



Image: St. Joseph and Baby Jesus by Jason Jenicke. jasonjenicke.com

 

 

It was early morning, and I was riding in the truck with my father to go to work in some of his landscaping jobs. We were heading east to start the day at the clients on the North Shore in Milwaukee.  The sun was just coming up, and even though I was still half asleep, I could appreciate that it was a particularly beautiful sunrise. My dad noticed, too.  “Oh, would you look at that,” he said.  “It’s times like these that make me just want to say a ‘Glory Be.’” And knowing my dad, I’m sure he said one out loud, right then and there.
 
Maybe I joined him, I honestly don’t recall. I was a young teenager then, and like I said, I was half asleep. But the concept stuck with me: that prayer, even rote prayer, can be spontaneous, and related to the present moment, and not limited to specific times or places. I came to learn of my father’s appreciation for nature, and how it was a key part of his spirituality. Indeed, “through the greatness and the beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker,” (Wis 13:5).[i] I now call such experiences, that is, feeling God’s presence in the present moment and feeling called to somehow respond, as “Glory Be moments.”
 
I became aware of how important Glory Be moments are in my spiritual life shortly after starting in my first parish less than a month after my ordination. As one would expect of a parish priest, I began to have people come to speak with me regarding prayer and their broader relationship with God. And they expected me to have something to say! I found myself returning to my personal basics for my relationship to God, and so began to share with them this concept of Glory Be moments.
 
Now, as I write this, I’m hardly a seasoned priest (just over 5.5 years ordained).  But I have worked in three different parishes in three different countries.  And having these types of conversations with people from different places, income and education levels, cultures, and languages, I still find myself returning to this basic practice of “Glory Be moments.”  I don’t think it is out of laziness; rather, I have been somewhat surprised by how many people lack a basic sense of an ongoing connectedness with God, of seeing his presence as something constant and active in their lives.  I imagine Paul’s words seem to many as distant as they must have sounded to the people of Athens: “he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’” (Acts 17:27-28). 
 
I have thus found reflecting on Glory Be moments to be an effective tool for helping someone through a difficult time when God feels far away, or at the beginning of a more in-depth period of spiritual directions. It helps us to focus on basic tenets of spirituality (Christian or otherwise) such as to call attention to the present moment and God’s presence in that present moment. And this sort of “awareness is a powerful tool in the initial stage of spiritual transformation.”[ii]
 
In the beginning of the process, I usually invite people to implement the simple exercise of saying three Glory Be’s throughout the day. The trick is to say one after experiencing something that is beautiful, good or loving, right away, in the moment. I say to not shoot high but rather that it can be as basic as a delicious slice of pizza, a sunset, or a hug from a grandchild. To some, this may seem simple, but I have found for others (like for me), it has been a game changer regarding one’s relationship with God. It is an intentional exercise that then becomes a habit and hopefully leads one to fulfill the instruction of Meister Eckhart, the great medieval theologian and mystic: “Be in all things a God-seeker and at all time a God-finder, among all kinds of people and in all kinds of circumstances.”[iii]
 
After years of reflection on my experience with this concept of Glory Be moments in my personal prayer life and in guiding others, I now find it to be an exercise worth exploring and promoting.  Though a future series of reflections here in the Agora XXI Blog, I aim to reflect on this exercise in order to both explain it as well as to offer how it has the potential to lead to a deep relationship with God. I believe this simple exercise, turned into a habit, can have dramatic results in our lives as people of Christian faith. For, like many things related to God, what first seems simple oftentimes has the most profundity.
 
In future reflections, I will discuss how maintaining a habitual openness to Glory Be moments and responding immediately to them establishes a regular communication that is fundamental in our relationship with God (like any lasting relationship). Furthermore, it makes us aware of God’s presence to help us through difficult times; it develops into an attitude of gratitude that creates true humility; it drives us to face our sinfulness and strive for justice. In this way, over time, this simple exercise can lead to conversion of heart, and from there, to joy and mission. 
 
I know this sounds a lot to expect from the shortest of the basic rote prayers, but what I propose is a tool, not an end in itself. As a tool it can help to train us to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). It is walking by faith, then, that we become aware of how “the Lord speaks to us in a variety of ways, at work, through others and at every moment.”[iv]  To which I say: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  
 
In each reflection in this series, I will invite you to participate in a simple exercise. It should come as no surprise that with this introduction I invite you to:
 

[i] Translation as found in Pope Francis, Laudato Si, no.12.
[ii] Haase, Albert (OFM). 2014. Catching Fire, Becoming Flame: A guide for spiritual transformation. Brewster, Massachusetts. Paraclete Press.  p. 21.  Albert Haase is a Franciscan friar who has written much on Christian spirituality.
[iii] Talks of Instruction, 22. As cited in Haase, p. 77.
[iv] Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate, no. 171.

 

 

I currently live and work with Fr. Martí Colom (fellow member of the CSP and pastor) in La Resurrección Parish in Bogotá, Colombia.  The parish covers three “working-poor” neighborhoods in the south of the capital city.  Of the six socio-economic strata that Bogotá is separated into, our area is Stratus 2, “Low.”[1]
 
When I first arrived in October of last year, Martí told me that many of the parishioners had been hit hard financially by the pandemic, and that it was hard to see so many new people coming to ask for help with food who had never done so before.
 
Martí’s observation was recently confirmed by data published by the Colombian government. The National Administrative Department of Statistics (henceforth “DANE” for its name in Spanish) published a striking, and distressing, report on the growth of poverty in the country during 2020.[2]  It focuses on what it calls “Monetary Poverty,” based on household income.  While this is only one metric, that data does serve to show how to show how the dire situation regarding poverty in Bogotá was made much, much worse during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially regarding those who went from “poor” to “extremely poor.”
 
The basic measure establishing the lines of poverty and extreme poverty are calculated with monetary values using the household income, per capita, and the cost of a “basic basket of food.”[3] The definition for the line of extreme poverty is focused on the estimation of the cost for maintaining a basic daily caloric intake of 2100 calories per person.  And the value set for the line of poverty includes the estimation of some other basic needs and services. Both values are adjusted for the cost of living in the different areas of the country. 
 
For the country as a whole, the DANE Poverty Report calculated the poverty line at about $90 USD, per person, per month.[4]  It is important to remember that this is per capita, meaning that it is the sum of the total income of a household, divided by the number of persons living there. For example, in a household of five where both parents work and each make $200 per month, totaling $400, the per capita income of the home is $80 and therefore that household falls below the poverty line.  Because of the higher cost of living in the capital city, the amount for the poverty line was set in Bogotá at $123 USD per person, which is just over $492 USD for a family of four, per month.[5]
 
The DANE Report defines extreme poverty those living in Bogotá at $48 USD per person, or $192 USD for a family of four, per month.[6] For context, the legal minimum wage set by the government in 2020 was $237 per month.[7] That means that in a household of two persons in Bogotá, with one working and making a minimum wage, that family already falls under the poverty line. And in the case of a household of five, with one person making minimum wage, they are considered extremely poor.
 
Knowing how the lines are defined by DANE, let us now look at how many more people were identified as poor and extremely poor by the government in 2020, compared to 2019.
 
Comparing 2020 to 2019, per the April DANE report on poverty, there was an increase of 6.8% more of the population under the poverty line (up to 42.5% from 35.7%).  Regarding extreme poverty, 5.5% more of the population fell below the line (15.1% from 9.6%).   That means that nationally, comparing 2020 to 2019, there were 3.5 million MORE people who fell beneath of poverty line, and 2.8 million MORE who entered into extreme poverty. Per these numbers, in 2020 over 21 million people in Colombia were defined as poor, and of these, over 7.5 million were extremely poor, meaning they have just enough to eat. 
 
Of the increase in the number of the country’s poor in 2020, almost one third was in Bogotá (31.3%).  According to DANE there were 2,246,851 persons living under the poverty line in Bogotá in 2019, and in 2020 there was an increase of 1,110,734 more. That represents an increase of 49.4% in just one year!  Population growth in the city cannot account for such a large increase.
 
It is more dramatic when we look at the population that falls under the line for extreme poverty.  Keep in mind, this is defined for Bogotá as those living off of $48 USD or less per person, per month. According to DANE, in 2019 there were 344,591 persons in Bogotá living in extreme poverty. In 2020, there were 1,108,836.  That is an increase of 764,245 more persons, or 222%!  Using the estimated 2020 population of the city of 10,978,000, this means that over 10% of the people living in Bogotá that are defined as extremely poor.[8]
 
Much of the increase in those identified as extremely poor are surely (but not necessarily), those who have gone from “poor” to “extremely poor.”  The DANE report identifies anecdotal evidence of many households that went from having limited income, to no income as all.  This is representative of many of the families in La Resurrección Parish.  They were “poor” before but are now struggling to have enough to eat. 
 
In fact, if we compare the increase of those considered extremely poor in Bogotá to the nation as a whole, we see that Bogotanos have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic. Bogotá accounts for 27.5% of the increase in those considered extremely in the country. But what is particularly telling is to see how the increase in Bogotá compares to increase in the country. Nationwide, the total number of those considered extremely poor increased by 59.3%, a data point that is mind-boggling and heart-breaking. However, when compared to the 222% increase of those considered extremely poor in Bogotá, it shows that the lower-level income families of the capital city have been affected especially hard by the economic fallout of the pandemic. 
 
Overall, this increase in poverty has led to an increase in inequality within Colombia.  One of the measures of inequality within a population is to also look at income.  The international standard used for this is an index referred to as the Gini coefficient. A Gini coefficient of 0% represents the hypothetical, perfect income equality within a population.  Anything above that represents how far off a population is from this income equality.  DANE reports that the Gini coefficient for Colombia was 54.4% in 2020, a significant one year jump up from 52.6%.[9] This possibly puts it at likely the highest in Latin America and is certainly one of the highest in the world.[10] For context, we can compare it to the World Bank estimates for the USA in 2018 with a coefficient of 41.4%, the Dominican Republic in 2019 with a coefficient of 41.9% or Spain with 34.7% in 2018.
 
In sum, the official data from the Colombian government confirms what we have seen and heard from our parishioners regarding their economic struggles as a result of the pandemic, especially in Bogotá. It also gives some background to the current situation of a country, that has now had two weeks of protests, demanding a vast array of reforms. Some of these numbers in the DANE report are men, women and children that we know by name. They are families who come to our door to ask for food, and who offer intentions in our Masses for dignified employment. Through the parish and the CSP programs, we do what we can to help and to provide a spirit of hope in these trying times. And we join our parishioners in their prayers for employment and more opportunities to break the cycles of poverty. While Colombia surely has a long road ahead for economic recovery, may it be the path towards a more just and peaceful future.
 

[1] colombia.as.com. The government uses the terms "estratos socioeconómicos", and the terms used are for 1 -bajo bajo, 2 – bajo and 6 – alto.
[2] DANE. 29 abril de 2021.  Pobreza Monetaria en Colombia: Resultados 2020.  https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2020/Presentacion-pobreza-monetaria_2020.pdf. See also the Comunidado de prensa on the same report, published April 29, 2021.  https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/condiciones_vida/pobreza/2020/Comunicado-pobreza-monetaria_2020.pdf. Last accessed 11 May 2021.
[3] The concept of “basic basket of food” to sustain a family is a measure commonly used, including in the USA. This means of defining the poverty line comes from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL, in the Spanish).
[4] $331,688 Colombian pesos (COP) per capita. I use here in this analysis a rough average exchange rate during the 2020 year of 3,700 COP to 1 USD.
[5] $455,030 COP per month, per person.
[6] $178,607 COP, per person.
[7]$877,803 COP. I do not include the extra amount required for the travel costs of the employee, if applicable, because the presumption is that that amount is spent in transportation by the employee to and from work. In fact, oftentimes, the cost is significantly more. From Decreto No. 2360 del 2019.
[8] There is another 20% of the city is that is “poor”, with a total of almost 31% of its population that falls under the poverty line.
[9] According to the World Bank, in terms of the Gini coefficient, Colombia had a high of 58.7% in 2000 and low of 49.7% in 2017.  The World Bank also put the 2019 in Colombia at 51.3%, which would mean an even higher jump from 2020.
[10] Using the most recent data from the World Bank, which would not show the effects of the pandemic. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI.  Last accessed 11 May 2021.

 

In the middle of last October Fr. Michael Wolfe moved from the Dominican Republic—where he finished his work as pastor of La Sagrada Familia, in Sabana Yegua—to Bogotá, Colombia. Mike, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and a member of the Community of Saint Paul, arrives in Bogotá to work in La Resurrección parish, in the south of the Colombian capital, together with Fr. Martí Colom. The CSP has been present in La Resurrección since 2016.
 
Now, with Mike’s arrival, the presence of two priests will help to better develop the pastoral and human promotion tasks that we have been carrying out in the three neighborhoods that make up the parish territory. They include the celebration of the sacraments in the parish’s three centers of worship, the organization of the various pastoral ministries and also the social projects that are carried out at “Casa Garavito”, the CSP’s community development center located in El Pesebre neighborhood.

 

 

On September 5, the new Pastor of La Sagrada Familia parish, Fr. Javier Guativa, and the new Associate Pastor, Father Thomas Naidu, were installed by Bishop José Grullón, of San Juan de la Maguana. At the same time, Fr. Michael Wolfe, who has been in charge of the parish since June 2019, said goodbye to the community.
 
Javier and Mike belong to the Community of Saint Paul, and soon Mike will travel to Colombia, where he will team up with Martí Colom at La Resurrección Parish, located in the south of Bogotá. Javier, for his part, has worked nine years as a priest in different parish assignments in Milwaukee before going to La Sagrada Familia. Father Thomas Naidu, originally from India and ordained 16 years ago, has carried out his pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for the last four years. Javier and Thomas will work as a team with the group of lay members of the Community of Saint Paul that has been present for many years in Sabana Yegua and its surrounding communities.
 
This past weekend the parish community gave a warm welcome to the two new priests and thanked Fr. Mike for his service there, wishing him many blessings in his new endeavors.

 

 

In an article published in the April edition of Vida Nueva, a Catholic magazine in Spain, Pope Francis wrote of the need and urgency of creating a “Plan for Resurrection.” Making reference to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary encountering the empty tomb, with the large stone rolled aside, the pope says that we find ourselves in a situation where we may be asking ourselves the same question that the women asked when they were on their way to the tomb: “Who will roll the stone from the tomb,” for us? (Mk 16:3). Francis reflects that “the heaviness of the stone in front of the tomb that seems to impose itself before the future, and that threatens, with its call to realism, to entomb all hope.” But the women “in the face of doubts, suffering, perplexity before the situation, and even fear ... were able to move forward and not be paralyzed by what was happening.”
 
Thus, they arrive at the tomb “in the midst of their occupations and worries,” and they do not realize that "the stone had already been rolled over." “Only a shocking news was able to break the circle that impeded them from seeing that the stone had already been rolled away”: He is not here. He is risen.
 
Pope Francis proposes that the international crises presented by the novo corona virus is a “favorable time” to have new creativity regarding the possibilities within our social structures and organizations. Illumined by the Gospel and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can see in this historic moment the importance of “uniting the whole of the human family in the search of a sustainable integral development,” (citing himself in Laudato Sí, n. 13). Something we have learned in this pandemic is that, “no one is saved alone.” While this is reflected in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the Church, we are living it out in a direct way today, with the need for communal efforts in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
 
It is precisely in this time of coming to terms with a “new-normal” that Francis sees the opportunity for us to be intentional with regard to how we relate to one another and how to build a world economy and society that overcomes what Francis deems the “globalization of indifference.” This is to say, we can be intentional about what the “new-normal is,” and instead of simply going back to what was, to rather have a socio-economic network that is based on social and religious values that protect the dignity of the human person, instead of seeing a person as something to be exploited as a laborer, or even, consumer.
 
Jesus gives clear guidance of how to build up such a society in the values presented in the Beatitudes. In May, Pablo Cirujeda, priest of the CSP working in Nuestra Señora del Rosario Parish in Mexico City, reflected in this blog on the Beatitudes as “a Roadmap in Times of the Pandemic.” He said there: “The Beatitudes do not contain an empty promise of future comfort, nor an invitation to resignation in the face of present suffering. Rather, they are an active invitation to work to remedy the causes of human suffering.”
 
International news has covered how the pandemic has hit Mexico very hard, especially in the capital. Members of the CSP present there (Pablo, Sarah and Angels) have been busy aiding families in the parish and in our San José Center.
 
An uplifting and beautiful addition to these efforts is the mural based on the Beatitudes that the parish has had painted on one of its walls. “I had actually been planning on the mural project since September,” said Pablo. “But the artist I was working with fell through. I was just now able to find a good fit for the project, and I think it was perfect timing, to have this done in the midst of the crisis.”
 
We have a once in a lifetime, perhaps even once in a century, opportunity to rebuild, to resurrect as a stronger, more just society after the pandemic. The roadmap is, as it always has been, the values of hope and justice presented in the Beatitudes. “I hope,” said Pope Francis of our current moment, “that we discover ourselves with the necessary antibodies of justice, charity (love) and solidarity.”
 
You can see a video of the painting of the mural in Mexico here: https://youtu.be/-aarTHImiLM. If you’d like to support the work on the CSP in our efforts related to the pandemic, see https://www.csp-covid19.com.
 

 

Holy Week 2020 is my first Holy Week as pastor.  While I had wonderful experiences in the parish on the southside of Milwaukee where I served as Associate Pastor for three years, there just seemed to be something special about Holy Week as a pastor.  For one, being in the Dominican Republic, I was toying with the idea of riding a donkey on Palm Sunday.  But what was most on my mind and in my prayer was the foot washing on Holy Thursday.  I’d even get emotional thinking about offering that powerful sign of servant leadership for the communities of La Sagrada Familia and also the men in the catechesis program preparing for baptism in the local jail.  
 
But, no donkey. And no foot washing.  The former, is of course a bit silly.  Still, in terms of a Holy Thursday without foot washing, I have found myself forced to reflect on its deeper meaning and on the “why” of this sign.   As such this unsought shaking-up and unique opportunity can serve for a more profound experience of the meaning of this particular sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John that we re-experience every Holy Thursday, except this one.
 
To begin, I think we all generally agree that service is important not just in terms discipleship, but also just being a decent human being.  In all circles, we use the language of “giving back.” Service hours are important for getting college, for scholarships, for jobs, and even as a means of restitution in minor crimes. Parents speak of wanting their children to do some sort of service to “appreciate what they have.”   Nevertheless, this Holy Thursday we must ask ourselves the question: What is Jesus referring to when he says to his disciples after washing their feet, “For I have set for you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (Jn 13:15)?  How is this different than a general sense of service being a good thing to do?
 
First, Jesus wants to demonstrate in the foot washing that a true master serves. He is willing to “lower” himself in order to serve those who follow him. This idea is a reflection of Jesus’ ministry on Earth in the Gospel of John, as the Word or Son who was sent to unite those who “believe” in him in the love of the Father (cf. Jn 15:9-10, 17:21).  Therefore, those who believe in Jesus and truly follow him are called to serve, but as a result and expression of love.   The commandment that Jesus gives shortly after washing the feet is not to serve for the sake of service, but “Just as I have loved you, you should love one another” (Jn 13:34). 
 
The foundation of this sign is the love the is shared between the Father and Son, and which Jesus was sent in order to share with the world (cf. Jn 3:16). As described by Jesus within the Gospel of John, this is a love that is faithful, loyal and of service “to the end,” (Jn 13:1). Such a sense of fidelity out of love reflects the love of the Father towards the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son… God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” (Jn 3:16-17).  Jesus, who is in the Father, loves as the Father, and his commandment is thus that those who follow him (“his own”) love in this way (cf. Jn 15:9).[i]
 
This sense of fidelity out of love is made clear in John 15 where Jesus connects the word remaining (or abiding, from the Greek μένω) with love. “…[R]emain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” (Jn 15:9-10).   And true dedication (remaining) in love that has no end is demonstrated in the full gift of self without limit. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).   As such, tomorrow on Good Friday, we will see that Jesus makes good on his own message and is faithful to the Father and his promise to us.[ii]  
 
Jesus makes clear that the disciples will show they have learned from and believe in him by being faithful to his commandment to “love one another” (cf. Jn 14:15). They are to follow Jesus’ example, not only of humbly serving as demonstrated in the foot washing, but also as the Word who became flesh and lived within the “world” (Jn 1:14) and loved until the end.  And in doing so, the disciples are united in Jesus’ relationship with the Father, who in turn are faithful in their love to the disciples, sending the Advocate to be with them forever (Jn 15-17).  In this way, those who believe and are thus moved to follow Jesus are “saved,” (cf. Jn 1:12-13; 20:31).
 
Sometimes it is necessary to go down to the foundation in order to build something new, or to strengthen what is already there.  That is an opportunity that has been given us during this unique Holy Week and it can bear much fruit if we take advantage of it.   While most of us cannot celebrate the beautiful sign of the foot washing this Holy Thursday, the current situation does afford the opportunity to find new ways to apply the message contained within it: that of a love that is faithful to the end, to full completion, and based on humble service and complete self-gift, such that others be lifted up. It is service in a way to allow others to see their importance to God and be so moved by it that they respond to that love. 
 
Then, the question for all of us is: How can I serve in the way Jesus taught, now?  I do not pretend have an answer here.  However, I would like to provide some guidance.  It seems to me that what is of upmost importance in Christian service, founded in self-giving love, is its authenticity.  We of course can use the different social sciences and models to be efficient and effective. However, if we are calculating to the point of being cold, what we may do is still service, but it is not Christian service.   Christian service is one based on relationships – and not so much about the size.
 
So, on this special holy day in this unique Holy Week, without donkeys or foot washing, let us reflect especially on the small ways that we can live out the central message of the Triduum.  Authentic giving of self is how we unite in the love of Jesus, and in doing so, we are united in the love of the Father.  It seems to me that the importance of relationships is something that we are coming to appreciate more and more these days; how much more so when in the light of the Easter Candle.   
 

[i] As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. (Jn 15:9)
 
[ii] There is in fact a deeper connection in the narration of Jesus “loving to the end” (Jn 13:1) to his last words on the cross than the English translations reflect.  Before perishing, Jesus says “it is finished,” (NRSV, NAS, KJV, INT).  The root of “end” in 13:1 and “it is finished” in 19:30 is the same, τἐλος, (where the prefix “tele” comes from in telescope or telephone).   I simply point it out here because John makes it very clear what is meant by loving “to the end.”

 

This past Sunday, the last one of Ordinary Time right before Ash Wednesday, we heard a three-pronged message from Jesus regarding the integrity of those who strive to be his disciples. Such integrity is founded on humility and introspection, such as recognizing one’s own blindness, or removing the wooden beam from one’s eye before focusing on the splinter in the brother’s eye. And just as the roots of a fruit tree may need healing in order to bear healthy, good fruit, so may our hearts.
 
We will be known by the fruit we bear, rooted in our hearts. Anyone who has been a parent of a teenager knows that the approach of “do as I say, not as I do,” carries little weight and inspires not. And this is of course not just with teens. In that sense, if we take seriously that we are called to be disciples of Jesus, to be those who learn from the master and then are sent out to share the Gospel with others; we must first begin with working on ourselves. We must first turn inward; and this begins with true humility.
 
Lent is a special time that we are given each year to re-order our priorities and to renew our focus on the Gospel of Jesus. We begin it by an act of humbling ourselves, by receiving ashes. The Roman Missal offers two options for the words to be said while the minister places the ashes on the forehead of the faithful. The first is very direct: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return.” This option directly connects the symbol with the root origin of the words humility and humble, from the Latin “humus,” meaning “earth.” At its root sense, to be humble then means to literally lower oneself to the ground. The second likewise invites the faithful to humility by recognizing one’s own limitations and faults, and makes a connection with discipleship: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
 
This lowering ourselves to the ground is not an act of making ourselves feel worthless. This would not make sense, as we do so with our eyes towards salvation and the Resurrection. Jesus did not come to save garbage! The austerity and humility of Lent cannot be separated from the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. The latter is of course the center of the Gospel of Jesus, which shows us the power of humble love.
 
Ultimately, humility is central to discipleship because it is in being humble that we can learn from the Master and become like him (as mentioned also in last Sunday’s Gospel). We repent not to stay on the ground, but to be lifted up by the Master, learn from him, and realize our true value in the eyes of God. By believing in the Gospel, we are made strong to go out and announce the Good News, and our words and actions carry more weight as those who practice what they preach. There is something special about those who live the Gospel like they believe it in their core.
 
Thus, humility is the beginning of true change in our hearts, and in the world around us. True humility takes true strength (that wooden beam sounds quite heavy!). And by going to our core (“heart”) we are able to be made so much stronger. We do this by getting our egos out of the way and letting God’s grace in, such that he can use us as his instruments, oftentimes in ways we never would have imagined.
 
May the receiving of ashes today be the impetus of our humbling ourselves and turning our hearts more to the hope of the Gospel. If we go down deep, and accept the challenges of this season in prayer, fasting and almsgiving, it will bear good fruit not only in our lives, but in also those around us.

 

 In the United States we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany this Sunday, in other parts they do it on the actual day, January 6. This is a beautiful celebration, not just because it’s a time for presents in many cultures, but also because of the profound theological message behind it.  The Magi, coming from afar, gentile nations, search out and encounter Jesus, the Messiah.  The relationship between the encounter of peoples and their encounter with God and salvation, is at the center of who we are as the Catholic Church.
 
I began to see the importance of the Church being a place of encounter during my years of formation with the Community of Saint Paul in the Dominican Republic. I became involved in our work with the Haitian immigrant community living within the territory of La Sagrada Familia Parish.  Many of those reading this know that the relationship between the two countries is far from cordial.  Over time, we developed a Haitian Ministry program, becoming one of the few parishes in the region to have one.  Then we began to have more opportunities and events aiming at bringing the two different groups together in prayer and community. And I am very proud that the Community of Saint Paul continues to develop more opportunities for this to happen.
 
Now I am serving in my first assignment as a priest in St. John Paul II Parish on the Southside of Milwaukee.  We have a good-sized English-speaking community, with a large and growing Spanish-speaking community.  And the diversity goes beyond language, as we have several different countries of origin within the Hispanic population, and our parish is the merger of what was once three separate neighbor parishes in a part of the city that was very neighborhood-based.  Inspired in part by my experiences in the Dominican Republic, I am involved with a group in the parish that focuses on building unity in St. John Paul II from within this diversity.
 
The parish setting should always be a place of encounter and unity, with one another and with God. This is so central to who we are that every Sunday we profess it in Mass.  Unity is the first of the four marks of the Church within the Creed: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.  And there is of course a direct relationship with “one” and “catholic,” meaning “universal.” It is in this sense that the Second Vatican Council taught that the Church exists in Christ as the “light of humanity,” as a “sign and instrument” of communion with God and unity among all humanity.^[1]
 
The inherent connection between the unity of peoples and the unity of humanity with God is not new.  Rather, it has deep roots in Judeo-Christian theology.  For example, one of the main oral traditions in ancient Judaism regarding the culmination of Salvation History uses the image of all nations (think “peoples”) gathering on God’s mountain and recognizing Him as God. We can see this captured, for example, throughout Isaiah^[2].  In this way, the unity of peoples takes on an eschatological importance, pointing to the end of time.
 
As those rooted in this tradition, it is not surprising that the early Christian communities would see in Jesus the beginning of the unity of all peoples with the fullness of God’s salvation. We even have an example of this in our reading last Sunday from the Gospel of Luke for the Feast of the Holy Family. Simeon sees in the child Jesus that his “eyes have seen [God’s] salvation which [he] prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”^[3] Part of the fulfillment of God’s promise is the aforementioned connection of the unity of all peoples, and the fulfillment of salvation.
 
With this in mind, we can turn to today’s Gospel reading on the Feast of the Epiphany. Matthew, of all the evangelists, has a particularly “strong knowledge of and attachment to Jewish Scripture, tradition and belief.”^[4]  Most scholars believe that Matthew was writing for a Jewish-Christian community that was struggling with the diversity it was experiencing as more Gentile-Christians were joining them.  Accepting this thesis, it makes sense that especially Matthew would strive to show how Jesus is the fulfillment of what was promised by God in “the scriptures,” of the Torah and the prophets.^[5]  This is the “epiphany” of this Feast day. Coming from “the East,” the Magi represent Gentile nations who come to Jesus to pay homage to “the king of the Jews.”
 
This is reflected throughout Matthew’s Gospel, from the beginning, with the visit from the Magi, to its end where the resurrected Jesus commands to his disciples to go out and to “baptize all nations.”^[6] For Matthew, the connection between the unity of peoples and the fulfilment is not just a theoretical discourse, but points to the importance of the practical reality his community was facing and with which they struggled.  The Magi “prefigure those Gentiles who are part of Matthew’s community.”^[7]  Writing for catechetical purposes, Matthew reminds his community, and us, that striving for unity is of utmost importance in the long tradition of its eschatological significance: the unity of peoples is linked to the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven.^[8]
 
There may have been times when we have taken for granted the importance of unity within diversity, as it became a common catch-phrase throughout our schools, universities, workplaces and social outreach programs. It is perhaps in part for that reason that it seems many societies are sadly moving away from it.  But this should never happen within the Church.  We can never lose sight of this ancient and profound spiritual principle of the unity of peoples being linked to the fullness of God’s Kingdom.  While it is something “nice,” building unity is so much more to who we are as a people of faith, especially as disciples of Jesus.  
 
As we celebrate the Magi, let us be renewed in our evangelical fervor to reach out to and unite all peoples.  Times of sharing, like cooking classes, pot-luck dinners and bilingual-liturgies may not be easy, but they are an essential step in who we are, called to be one, holy, universal and apostolic Church.
 

[1] Lumen Gentium 1
[2] See for example Is 28:6, 43:9, 56:6
[3] Lk 2:30-32.
[4] Gale, Aaron M. 2011. “Introduction to the Gospel According to Matthew” in Jewish Annotated New Testament. Oxford University Press. p. 1.
[5] Ibid
[6] Mt 28:19.
[7] Harrington, Daniel J. 1991. The Gospel of Matthew.  In Sacra Pagina commentaries. Liturgical Press. p.49.
[8] John Nolland argues that the Gospel may have been written as a sort of Catechetical manual for discipleship, which is directed toward the eschaton. He writes that the author’s self-understanding many be reflected in Mt 13:53, in being “disciple [to be] a scribe for the kingdom of heaven.” Nolland, John. 2005. The Gospel of Matthew.  In The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 20.


 

On May 19^th, just two days before the priestly ordination of Michael Wolfe—a member of the Community of Saint Paul, whose ordination we celebrated in this blog a few days ago—the “Catholic Herald” published a story on his path to the priesthood.

The “Catholic Herald” is Milwaukee’s weekly archdiocesan newspaper. Here is the link to the article:

http://catholicherald.org/news/local/deacon-wolfes-indirect-path-led-priesthood/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit the Church of the Nativity.  And it is certainly a powerful experience to kneel down and kiss the site that tradition has held as the place where Jesus was born for at least 1700 years.  But what struck me most when I was there was when I walked out of the church and looked out at the modern city of Bethlehem.  Social conflict is prevalent and obvious throughout the city, and is most captured by the gigantic military wall that runs withinit.  Regardless of one’s thoughts on the wall, it stands as a clear demonstration of the level of conflict that exists in the region between different cultures, societies and peoples. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pope Francis structured his address around four important figures from the history of the United States as a country and society.  He first used the figure of Abraham Lincoln to discuss the importance of true liberty, free of “unjust structures and actions.”  Then, he referred to Martin Luther King, Jr. in order to enter into an extension of that liberty to all in a non-exclusive way.  Next, he presented Dorothy Day to then show that liberty must lead to working for social justice and the rights of all persons, freeing them from the cycles of poverty.  Finally, he closed with Thomas Merton, as an example of the capacity for dialogue, a reaching out to others in a spirit of openness to God.

The pope’s  use of these important American figures – one who was ambiguous with regard to religion, another who was a non-Catholic Christian, and then two converts to Catholicism – shows in many ways how important it is to be able to appreciate the Good found wherever it may be and to call it forth.  Furthermore, as we see as through these figures, by entering into dialogue with others in whom there is some good found, not only can it be further promoted, but an openness to that Good can be amplified.

Yet, in many areas of our life, we can easily fall into what Pope Francis called a “simplistic reductionism,”[2] a black and white view of the world.  In terms of community and relationships, this dangerous outlook takes the shape of “us vs. them.”  This is what seems to happen to John in our Gospel reading from this past Sunday, as he complains to Jesus that there is a man driving out demons who “does not follow us” (Mk 9:38).  Indeed, he and others had gone so far as to try to stop the man in question.

What is curious about John’s concern is that he specifies that the outsider does not follow “us” – he has become so concerned with his inside group that he has confused the source of their power to heal and to drive out demons.  As we know, Jesus instructs John not to stop man, and assures him (and us today) that what good is done in his name, is worthy of reward.  Indeed, he lays out a basic starting point for an appreciation of the work done by those outside the inner group: “whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk 9:40).  Such a standard seems to open many doors for the appreciation of good being done by others.

 

The beginning point of this building of bridges is an appreciation of the good that is being done, regardless of the person or group.  Furthermore, if we truly believe that God is the source of all that is Good and is he who is Love, then it must follow that we see him in all that is good and done out of love, even if others do not.  Thus we can then help that seedling of God’s grace in the world grow and grow; if we set up walls, falling into the temptation of a jealous protection of what is “ours” we not only fail to tend bridges, but can heed the growth of that seedling.

 

 

This leads us, finally, into the discussion as to where we are to begin, you and I as followers of Jesus?  This transformative attitude of true liberty for all, fighting for those most in need, in a spirit of dialogue and openness to God’s work within the world is not only for great figures, nor only the institutions of our Church or communities. It begins with each and every one of us and how we live out lives, especially as members of the Body of Christ.

This transformative attitude begins with avoiding jealousies that lead to dismissing others and what they do, as John did, simply because they are not one of “us,” not of “my group,” or perhaps worse yet, “not me.”  This includes avoiding cynicisms that so quickly break the fragile connections that may have just begun to be established.   By entering into real dialogue with others, we can thus tend bridges based on the goodwill that we may share in common.  This is ultimately not just a matter of “being nice,” but a matter of true justice, of giving God and our neighbor their due, recognizing God’s works of grace wherever they may be.
 

True evangelization and true change in the world begins with each and every one of us – with how we live our lives and how interact with others. Some people or groups may challenge us, make us uncomfortable, or even hold views with which we fundamentally disagree.  Yet as the followers of Jesus, we are called not to build up walls, but to build bridges, actively “restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples.  We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.”[7]

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