Month: March 2023

“Nah, I ain’t movin’ bro.” Rosa Parks

I was a student in Rome when the first Persian Gulf War broke out. It was an interesting time, made more so because there were quite a few men from the United States living at our college and preparing for the priesthood. In the initial few days there was talk of “evacuating” the American students. Questions arose about the possibility of the war spreading to include other Arab States and Israel. People were wondering if there would be rationing and travel restrictions. As it turned out General Norman Schwarzkopf managed to pull off a very quick victory and defeat of the Iraqi forces. One of the most interesting and somewhat humorous memories I have of those days was related to a “peace march.”

At the outset of the military buildup the Italian communists arranged a massive peace march and rally through the center of Rome. Although their country was now at war a couple of students from the North American College (NAC) thought it would be a good idea to join in the march for peace. So, they went and joined the crowd. As it turned out as soon as the Italian communists found out they were Americans they beat them up. I guess they didn’t see the irony in participating in a violent act during a peace rally.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of the last week of His life, he is greeted by a crowd that hails Him as the Messiah, the expected Saviors, the King. Within six days this same crowd will be screaming for His execution by crucifixion. They will beg, intimidate, and frighten the Roman governor into condemning an innocent man. The governor is no better than the crowd, spineless, with a weak character, political and ambitious, he allows himself to be intimidated. But it is the crowd that does the damage.

How quickly the crowd changed. Even as a crowd though, they weren’t united. When they welcomed Jesus, some saw him as a new King, the successor of King David, some saw Him as a prophet, some saw Him as an alternative to the High Priesthood, some saw Him as the Messiah, all saw Him as they wanted to see Him and not as He truly was or who He truly was. They saw what they wanted to see and not what they should have seen.

As we enter Holy Week it is a good idea to ask if we belong to a crowd and what crowd we belong to. What is our expectation of Jesus? Who do we see when we look at Him? Do we make Jesus conform to our expectations? Do we make Jesus and His teaching fit into what we want to hear, how we want to live, and what we want a Savior to be? Are we like the crowd, easily led, and willing to condemn if our expectations are not met?

It is easy to fall into the trap of following the crowd because it is hard to stand alone. Often the one who stands alone is overwhelmed, trampled, crushed, persecuted, and defeated. It can seem that their voice, presence, their stance, means nothing in the face of such a great mob and so many remain silent, fall in with the crowd, or turn a blind eye. It is hard to stand against the pressure of the mob, the crowd, and yet, unless we do so the innocent get trampled and the good are destroyed. Interestingly, when stories are written about heroes, the hero is never the mob, it’s almost always those who stood for something, the story is always about those who stood against the crowd, who raised their voice for the truth, the good, the beautiful, the innocent, the weak, and the persecuted.

I don’t know if the quote at the beginning of this column, in this form and attributed to Rosa Parks, is accurate. Mrs. Parks definitely, courageously, said “no” to giving up her seat on a bus to a white person. However, I know she said this: “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” We have one life to live, it would be a shame to spend it “giving in” to the mob when we could change so much by standing up to it. God sent us into the world to be someone and do something – don’t let the mob stop you from carrying out God’s mission.

Passion Sunday

“Nah, I ain’t movin’ bro.” Rosa Parks

I was a student in Rome when the first Persian Gulf War broke out. It was an interesting time, made more so because there were quite a few men from the United States living at our college and preparing for the priesthood. In the initial few days there was talk of “evacuating” the American students. Questions arose about the possibility of the war spreading to include other Arab States and Israel. People were wondering if there would be rationing and travel restrictions. As it turned out General Norman Schwarzkopf managed to pull off a very quick victory and defeat of the Iraqi forces. One of the most interesting and somewhat humorous memories I have of those days was related to a “peace march.”

At the outset of the military buildup the Italian communists arranged a massive peace march and rally through the center of Rome. Although their country was now at war a couple of students from the North American College (NAC) thought it would be a good idea to join in the march for peace. So, they went and joined the crowd. As it turned out as soon as the Italian communists found out they were Americans they beat them up. I guess they didn’t see the irony in participating in a violent act during a peace rally.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of the last week of His life, he is greeted by a crowd that hails Him as the Messiah, the expected Saviors, the King. Within six days this same crowd will be screaming for His execution by crucifixion. They will beg, intimidate, and frighten the Roman governor into condemning an innocent man. The governor is no better than the crowd, spineless, with a weak character, political and ambitious, he allows himself to be intimidated. But it is the crowd that does the damage.

How quickly the crowd changed. Even as a crowd though, they weren’t united. When they welcomed Jesus, some saw him as a new King, the successor of King David, some saw Him as a prophet, some saw Him as an alternative to the High Priesthood, some saw Him as the Messiah, all saw Him as they wanted to see Him and not as He truly was or who He truly was. They saw what they wanted to see and not what they should have seen.

As we enter Holy Week it is a good idea to ask if we belong to a crowd and what crowd we belong to. What is our expectation of Jesus? Who do we see when we look at Him? Do we make Jesus conform to our expectations? Do we make Jesus and His teaching fit into what we want to hear, how we want to live, and what we want a Savior to be? Are we like the crowd, easily led, and willing to condemn if our expectations are not met?

It is easy to fall into the trap of following the crowd because it is hard to stand alone. Often the one who stands alone is overwhelmed, trampled, crushed, persecuted, and defeated. It can seem that their voice, presence, their stance, means nothing in the face of such a great mob and so many remain silent, fall in with the crowd, or turn a blind eye. It is hard to stand against the pressure of the mob, the crowd, and yet, unless we do so the innocent get trampled and the good are destroyed. Interestingly, when stories are written about heroes, the hero is never the mob, it’s almost always those who stood for something, the story is always about those who stood against the crowd, who raised their voice for the truth, the good, the beautiful, the innocent, the weak, and the persecuted.

I don’t know if the quote at the beginning of this column, in this form and attributed to Rosa Parks, is accurate. Mrs. Parks definitely, courageously, said “no” to giving up her seat on a bus to a white person. However, I know she said this: “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” We have one life to live, it would be a shame to spend it “giving in” to the mob when we could change so much by standing up to it. God sent us into the world to be someone and do something – don’t let the mob stop you from carrying out God’s mission.

In the Irish city of Galway, just off Lombard High Street, you will find a little church named for St. Nicholas of Myra (known to us as Santa Claus). The church was built in 1320 and since the reformation it is part of the Anglican Communion. Oliver Cromwell’s troops desecrated the church, smashing altars and statues, and used it as a stable for their horses after the siege of Galway in 1652. However, more importantly, it is believed that Christopher Columbus prayed in this church on a visit to Galway in 1477. Columbus made his way to Galway to study a text known as the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot). This document was an account of the voyage of St. Brendan to America. Columbus studies it while he prepared for his famous voyage westward when he “rediscovered” America. St. Brendan having already discovered it sometime in the sixth century.

Archeologists tell us that human beings were navigating the seas of earth, probably using stars, as long ago as 130,000 years. One of the first written testimonies of astronavigation (navigation by stars) is Homer’s Odyssey written in the 8^th century BC. It is only in the 20^th and 21^st centuries that navigation has become reliant on computers and electronic navigation devices. And, even then, they rely on satellites which are a sort of imitation star. For most of human existence navigation, on land and sea, was dependent upon stars. This is quite something when you consider that there are four billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy and two trillion galaxies in our universe. Of all these stars six-thousand are visible to the human eye and of these only fifty-eight are useful for navigation on earth.

And yet, for most of human history, the stars guided our exploration and travel. Sailors looked into the sky and were able to plot a course, sometimes safe and sometimes perilous, across vast expanses of ocean with just the tiniest light to guide them. But that tiny light, in a universe, a galaxy, and our sky, made all the difference. The smallest light can show the way.

Interestingly, in todays Gospel, a blind man sees what the learned and the wise cannot see. They can see with their eyes, but they cannot see with the eyes of faith nor the heart of a believer. Faith, for the blind man, makes all the difference. It is because he believes that he can see his star. And what does the blind man see – he sees Jesus, the Lord, the Savior. The blind man sees what God is doing and who God has sent. The blind man sees that Jesus is sent by God to bring light into darkness, hope in despair, and God’s love into a time of violence and hatred. Even a blind man can see this star.

However, what’s the point in having sight if there is nothing to see or nowhere to go. The blind man becomes a follower, a disciple, of Jesus. Now that the blind man can see he wants to follow the one worth seeing and the one who is worth following. Jesus becomes his star, his guiding light, the way worth following.

In a figurative sense we all come into the world blind. Our minds, our hearts, our conscience, our imaginations, are blank slates, just waiting to be written upon. Our hearts are waiting to be guided, shown the way, led in a worthwhile direction. More than anyone else parents have the tremendous privilege of forming these young characters, minds, and hearts. Others will share in this responsibility along the way. Children, and all people, are longing for direction, hoping to find their way. This is true because we are created to be with God. We long to find our way to Him, not only at the end of life, but as the purpose and meaning of our life. Jesus is the star that leads to God. And yet, Jesus asks us to share in His mission to bring God to others and others to God. He asks you to be a star that shows the way, to be a light that makes a difference, to give sight to the blind. The blind, all of us, want to see, we want to find the way, we want to have something, or someone worth following. A single star can make all the difference – we are sent to be that star. When you consider how many stars God has created, surely, we can not only light up the world, assuredly we should set it on fire.

To set out into the ocean, like those ancient ancestors 130,000 years ago, Homer, St. Brendan, Columbus, takes courage, daring, and faith. Sitting safely on the shore is nice but we are made for adventure. Jesus says: “Put out into the deep.” Putting out into the deep we can discover new worlds. Being a star to guide others we can help our children build the world God wants them to inherit, to live the life God wants them to have.

“I am a drinker with a writing problem.” Brendan Behan, Irish Author from Dublin

It is one hundred and eighty-one steps from the front door of my parent’s house to the front door of the local pub. It’s a well-travelled path as my Dad made this journey almost everyday at least twice a day. The pub was not only his watering hole it was his well. Dad went from walking over under his own power, to walking with a stick, to walking with a frame, but he was a determined man. As my Da got older he was less sure in his walking, and standing, and he found it difficult to negotiate steps and small spaces. He became anxious when in crowds because he was afraid of falling. When he got older Dad didn’t go to Mass that often, not because he wasn’t religious, he was very pious, but because Mass has many moving parts, standing, sitting, kneeling, walking to Holy Communion, narrow pews and spaces, and lots of moving people. Our local parish priest, Fr. Brendan, would bring him Holy Communion every Friday and hear his confession. At the pub, on the other hand, Da could sit at the bar, secure, safe, and still be surrounded by his friends, neighbors, and family. This was his local well where he could have something to drink. Drinking in this case was not about “the drink” but about the “accompaniment,” of others. 

In the time of Jesus the well was the place of meeting, encounter, conversation and community. The women, for the most part, went in the morning to get water for the day. They went in the morning because it was cooler then. It is a sign that the Samaritan women was an outcast because she had to go to get water in the heat of the day – when there was no possibility that she would meet or encounter others. The woman who is completely alone, abandoned, without companions, is now going to have the encounter of her life. Jesus says to the Samaritan woman “give me a drink.” In this moment, in this gesture, Jesus changes her life. And she, the outcast, gives the one who is the water of life, water. 

The woman gives Jesus a drink. How beautiful is that. She gives Him a drink. 

I am very fortunate as a pastor, to see such acts of generosity every day here at our parishes, and most importantly, in the lives and homes of our parishioners. The incredible amount of generosity in time, talent and treasure is actually, staggering. All sorts of encounters that change lives.

Over the last few months, I have quietly dropped into different parish activities just to see and soak in the atmosphere. Saturday mornings, and sometime during the week, I drop by the gyms to visit with the parents and kids playing basketball, volleyball, preparing for the musical, already baseball practices is beginning and in the Fall I mingled with the football crowds, coaches, players, and parents. All energy, all enthusiastic, all engaged, all building a community. I have attended meetings at all the parishes, seen all the good work that so many people put in to making ministry happen, donating food, clothing, and resources for the poor, parishioners keeping their church and environments beautiful, and I see, every day, dedication and energy and a joy in belonging. The schools are amazing places of energy and creativity and, it seems to me, joy.

These last few weeks I have watched the children as they prepare for the musical. Their excitement, commitment, hard work, talent, dedication, is inspirational. They put in long hours at rehearsals, costume fittings, set design and building, and they do so with such joy and happiness. They are accompanied by adults, parents, grandparents, and talented parishioners who help make it all happen building, painting, making costumes, selling tickets, teaching lines, choreography, dance, music the list of work is endless. This phenomenon of engagement is not unique to the musical, it is manifested in almost everything our children are involved in. Our kids and parents are incredible.

I see the same level of enthusiasm all around our parishes. So many people willing to be at the service of others. Every day there are people cleaning churches, tending flower beds, painting walls, teaching RCIA and CCD, teaching in the schools, practicing singing, music, seasonal decorating, ministering as ushers, greeters, lectors and distributing Holy Communion, serving for the good of the Sacred Liturgy and the Worship of God, praying in Adoration, saying the rosary, coaching all kinds of sports, serving the food pantry, providing meals for the community to gather around, protecting unborn life, visiting hospitals and the homebound, fundraising, serving on committees and planning for the future. People contributing from the little they have to make sure that the mission goes forward. If this is not giving a drink to the Lord, I don’t know what is.

And it’s not only in the parishes where this happens, most important of all, I see this same attitude of generosity and charity in the lives and homes of our people. The home is the most important place in a child’s life and parents are the most important people who, through their lives, character, words, and actions teach what it means to be generous and respond to the request of the Lord “give me something to drink.” I see the quality of our kids, their good nature, lively spirit, generosity, joy, and the care they take of each other, their commitment to our parishes and schools, and it makes me aware that their parents and families are doing a great job.

My Da loved to be with his community, his wife and children, his family and friends, a kind and compassionate priest, and his pub buddies. But, equally important, they loved being with him and they provided him with a place to be and a community to belong to. He was never going to be alone, or unaccompanied. Our parishes are a well where we encounter Jesus, we encounter others, and we offer “a drink” to the thirsty and support each other with our love. Now that is a well worth visiting, that’s water worth having. Thank you to all who so generously make our parishes great communities. The Lord asks, “give me something to drink.” I don’t think He goes thirsty here.

Fr Ben is happy to announce that Julie Vaughn will take up the position of Director of Religious Education at Our Lady of Victory and overall Director of Religious Education for Mary, Queen of All Saints Family of Parishes. Julie will assume these roles at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 school year.  She will continue to teach 8th grade next school year at Our Lady of Victory.  Julie holds a BA, BS and M.Ed. She also has advanced graduate studies in Instructional Leadership. Julie has been a teacher at Our Lady of Victory since 2017. Before coming to Victory, she was the Assistant Principal, Student Services Coordinator, and taught middle school at St. William for 17 years.  Julie attended Our Lady of Victory grade school and is currently a parishioner. She has been married to George for 23 years and has 5 children. Karen Brandstetter and Beth Schumacher will remain as DRE’s at St. Dominic and St. Simon/St. Al’s.