Author: mcenter

You might find this hard to believe but the following story is absolutely true. A few years ago, I was having breakfast and was joined by two people who I didn’t know but who were family of a priest friend. As the conversation went on, we began talking about Rome. I lived in Rome for three years as a seminarian, so I was pretty familiar with the city. One of the men mentioned the Basilica of Sant’Agostino. I said that this particular church was where St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, was buried and that it was in Campo Marzio not far from Piazza Navona. A conversation ensued on where the church was located and how to get there. I was pretty sure of my geography as I had been to the church many times as my mother has a deep devotion to St. Monica and often prayed for her intercession. When she came to visit me near the end of my studies we went there together. Both the father and brother of my friend said I was mistaken and that the Basilica was not at Campo Marzio and that my directions were wrong. There followed a ten minute animated and somewhat aggressive conversation between both of them as to the directions to the Basilica. They were so convinced and certain of their knowledge of the place that I presumed I must have gotten it wrong. Later that day I happened to say to my friend “your father and brother know Rome quite well.” To which he answered, “no they don’t, they’ve never been to Rome.”

I guess if you are going to give directions you should really know what you are talking about. In the Gospel Jesus assumes the mantel of prophet and teacher of Israel. It is important to realize that the words Jesus says: “you have heard it said, but I say to you,” are not simply a turn of phrase. These words are loaded with authority and in saying them Jesus is speaking not as another interpreter of the law but as a law giver. He is saying that the law says one thing, but I am now giving you a new law. Rabbi Jacob Neusner, in his outstanding book, “A Rabbi Talks With Jesus,” points out that for the Jews, The Law, contained in the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Pentateuch, are the highest authority in Judaism. At the same time, Moses, who tradition says wrote the Pentateuch, is both the greatest prophet and “The Lawgiver.” There is no greater authority in Judaism than Moses and The Law. Rabbi Neusner says that here, Jesus deliberately and intentionally, places Himself above the Law, Moses, and the prophets. If Jesus was just another teacher giving another interpretation there would be no conflict with the Pharisees and Scribes as such interpretations were the common process for Jews coming to interpret the Law. When Jesus says: “You have heard it said,” who is he talking about? He is talking about what the Law of Moses says, and what those who came before Him said about the Law. The phrase: “You have heard it said, but, I say to you,” is a statement of authority that placed Jesus as the highest teacher, above the prophets, above Moses, and above the Law. “I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.” He has come to bring it to completion.

In our time we are told that we put our mark on our own existence, we define who we are, how we live, even our own character, nature and being, our mode of existence, our gender, and our identity. As limited and dependent as we are we attempt to interpret and make real our own existence from our own personal conviction. We attempt to make creation, reality, and even God, in our own image and likeness. The world says to you; we say to ourselves; the elite say to you; those who don’t know you, don’t love you, don’t care anything about you, say to you. Jesus says: “You have heard it said,” You have heard others say, “But I say to you.” 

There are lots of voices in the world who claim to know the way and are willing to lead anyone who will listen. It seems to me that the one who knows the way is the one we should listen to and the one we should follow. Everyone else thinks they know the way, has an opinion on how to make our way, but only Jesus is “The Way.” The one who created the way is the one who knows the way best. Listen to Him, He knows what He’s talking about.

Link to the “Letter to the Faithful Regarding Beacons of Light”

For some years I lived as a member of a monastery in Ireland, and we made our living by keeping a farm. The monastery had a dairy herd, for milk, but also had a cattle herd and a large flock of sheep. The hardest work was the dairy herd as they needed to be rounded up twice a day, every day, no matter what the weather, to be milked. The cattle were the easiest to maintain as they basically simply moved from field to field eating fresh grass year-round. The sheep were the most delicate to keep as they were susceptible to all kinds of dangers including other animals, birds of prey, diseases they could pick up from the wetlands and injury due to rough or rocky terrain.

Typically, our sheep gave birth in late December or early January. The days were short, and the nights were long, wet, and very, very, cold. It was not unusual for the water to freeze in the pipes in the barn. Members of the community would spend the nights moving along the pipes with blowtorches trying to unfreeze the water so that it would flow as water was essential for cleaning during lambing. It seemed to me that our sheep only preferred to give birth after midnight. Almost all the lambs in our flock were hand delivered, born with monks as midwives. We delivered lambs by night and sang God’s praises by day with a few hours’ sleep between dawn and breakfast.

I can’t help remembering how delicate these little lambs were and how cold and inhospitable the world was into which they were being born. Yet, as soon as they were born, they had a mother to clean them, nurse them and who covered them over with her body to keep them warm and safe. They also had fifteen monks for uncles. There are lots of similarities between the delivery of lambs and the birth of Our Lord.

God sent His Son into the world for the sake of salvation. What is true for Jesus is also true for us. God, the author of all life, has sent us into the world. Like Jesus we have a mission to carry out and that mission is to build the Kingdom of God on earth. No doubt, we have our work cut out for us but Fr. these days the task falls to us. 

However, as true as that is, let’s not make the story about us! It is important that we remember that God sent His Son into the world to save us. Today we recall that God sent His Lamb into the world and, fortunately for that Lamb, He had a mother to clean Him, nurse Him, cover Him over with Her body to keep Him warm and reassure Him that He was loved. Mary loved Him first and Mary loved Him always. It is good for us to remember that this Child, this Lamb of God, is a sign of God’s love for us. Christmas is about the birth of this Child, but it also marks the beginning of our new life. Jesus came to save us, and Christmas is the beginning of that salvation.

Wishing you all a very joyful Christmas and every blessing in the New Year.

Fr. Ben

One of the major images of the Christmas story is not a person, or an event, but a star. In our solar system the sun is the most important star. It is a raging ball of fire at a distance of 92,955,807 miles (149,597,870 kilometers) from earth. It is just the right distance away so that it provides light, warmth, and gravitational stability for all life to exist on earth. Without the warmth of this star life would not exist. It is an essential star. In the Gospel story of Christmas, it is not the sun that is the important star but, rather, it is what we have come to know as the “star of Bethlehem.”

If you were fortunate enough to be at last year’s Christmas concert at Our Lady of Victory, presented by the seventh and fourth grade students, you experienced a wonderful event. The children were outstanding and so confident. What a great bunch of kids. The featured image of the fourth grades Christmas pageant was the stars, and in particular, the star that led the wise man and shepherds to Bethlehem to worship the Christ Child. Without the star no one would have found their way to Bethlehem. The star pointed the way and guided the kings and shepherds to the Baby Jesus.

As the children presented their story, I couldn’t help looking around at the audience gathered there. An audience made up of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers, and sisters. Actually, it wasn’t an audience, it was a family, it was a family of families. But that wasn’t my thought, my thought was, all these people here are the stars in the lives of these children. I wonder if they know that, and I wonder if they know how important they are. 

Children need stars to follow and the most important stars in their lives are you. Children follow where you go, you show the way. You show them how to live, how to love, how to be a good loving husband or wife, a loving mother or father, a loving son or daughter, a good person, a kind person, a courageous and compassionate person. Who you are they will become, where you lead, they will follow, what you do, say, they will copy. Children need stars to follow, and they need those stars to lead to a life worth living, values worth having, a character well formed in love. Most of all, they need to follow you, their star, to the same Child, the same God, that the original star led kings and shepherds to find in Bethlehem. They need you to lead them to God – who is life – the only life worth having and the only life worth living. 

God sent you into their lives to be a star – now, show them the way!

At my parents’ home in Dublin, we have a front room that we rarely use. We only use it when the parish priest comes to visit or for special occasions like weddings, parties, and around Christmas time. Then we light a big fire in the fireplace, put a big Christmas tree up, and we place presents under that tree. On Christmas afternoon all the family come to visit, my brothers and sisters with their children. My brother David, an idiot among idiots, in fact king of the idiots, dresses as Santa and distributes the gifts. Except for having to listen to my brother it’s really a great time and the kids love it.

A few years ago, I was able to go home for Christmas, and the first thing I did was investigate the front room. I was amazed to see that one whole side of the room was filled, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with gifts all decorated in colorful wrapping paper. I was amazed, shocked, and saddened. It was really too much. For children who have everything this was overboard. Sometimes we can be caught up in the superficial, the passing, and the illusions of this world.

 Fortunately, my nieces and nephews have great parents, they want for nothing, and they are surrounded by love and affection. They are also taught to care for each other and for others. They are generous, kind, as well as mischievous and fun loving. They are great kids. This is how they have been raised, this is who they are, because this is who their parents are, and these are their parents’ values. Now these values are true gifts. These values will be passed on to their children so they will also grow up in warm, kind, compassionate, generous, and joyful homes. That’s a gift from my parents to their children, and a gift from my brothers and sisters to their children, and it will be a gift from my nieces and nephews to their children. These are gifts worth having and they are given from fathers/mothers to their sons and daughters, from generation to generation.

During a recent school Mass, I asked the children “why do we give gifts to each other at Christmas?” Immediately one of the littlest ones said: “It reminds us that God gave us the gift of Jesus at Christmas.” What a wonderful answer from such a tiny little scholar. God gave us the gift of His own Son at Christmas. Now, with that insight reflecting what is in her heart, that little child has been given a great gift from her parents. I’m sure the same is true for all our children. Passing on the values of Jesus into the hearts of our children is a gift that is worth having and it is a gift that will bless generations to come. At Christmas be sure to pass on the most important gift of all – faith in a little Child born in a manger.

A few years ago, my brother David went with a friend to South Africa for a short visit. In fact, it was his friend’s birthday and on the spur of the moment they took off for an adventure. They were staying in a very nice and safe tourist resort. Because they were adventurous, both are very gregarious (and idiots), they wanted to get out of the resort and experience the “real” South Africa. They “broke out” of the resort and went to a local bar. While there, after, a few drinks, they took up a pool game with a couple of black South African chaps. After a while, my brother went to the bar to buy a round of drinks. While he was there a white guy sidled up to him and said: “You know, you should be careful who you hang out with here.” To which my brother replied: “We are careful who we hang out with; that’s why we are over there with those guys.”

John the Baptist was a man who could not, and would not, be silenced. No matter who the audience was he was going to speak for God. That’s what prophets do; they speak for God, in the midst of the community. John is both a defiant and a heroic figure. In fact, there is something scary about John. Like Herod, we are drawn to him and at the same time afraid that he might catch us in his eye and speak to us. As a priest, right now, I wonder, if John was standing before me, looking into my eyes, and knowing my heart, what would he say? What would his message to me say? How would he challenge me?

As an exercise for Advent, reflecting on John the Baptist, I would suggest that we do three things or ask three questions:

1. We are all called by God to be like John the Baptist, a prophet. In fact, at baptism we are anointed “prophets.” A prophet speaks for God in the world. Is that something I do or is that something I am afraid to do? Is the world any better for my presence, for my voice? Do I stand up for what is right, just, compassionate, and merciful? Or am I a silent, useless dumb bell (making no sound). Do I raise my voice, lend my support, and join in the fight for what is right, for what God wants despite the obstacles?

2. In the midst of my family and friends do I speak for God or am I afraid to be the voice crying in the wilderness because I don’t want to be in the wilderness. Am I afraid to lead my family? Or am I willing to be an inspiration for my children? If John was speaking to your heart how would he challenge you? What would he say?

3. John was a heroic figure because he did what was right even in the face of what was difficult, in the face of danger and persecution. He was willing to fight and suffer for what he believed. As a parent, am I a heroic figure for my children? Do they learn from me what is right, just, fair, and courageous? Do they see in me a heroic figure who is a leader worth following or someone they want to be like? As a father or mother am I courageous, heroic, adventurous and brave? 

The world needs heroes, our families need heroes, our country needs heroes, our Church needs heroes. Today that call is addressed to us. There is still a brood of vipers out there willing to poison every heart with their own venom. We should ask if we are one of them, or do we stand up to them!

As you all know I am an impatient priest and I hate waiting for anything. I’ve always been that way. Some years ago, it was popular to say that Advent was a time of waiting. We are waiting for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, we are waiting for Christ to come at the end of time and, of course, we are waiting for the Lord to come to each of us at the end of our life.  You would think that Advent, the season of waiting, would be my least favorite time of the Church’s year. But I love Advent. Why?

Because Advent is not a time of waiting at all, it is rather, a time of preparation. That’s why the expectant Virgin Mary, Our Lady, is the image and model of Advent. I’m the oldest of my siblings and so I can remember my mother being pregnant with my twin sisters who are five years younger than me. I can certainly recall my sisters being pregnant not to mention cousins and friends. Now, while they were expecting they weren’t passively sitting by “waiting.” Advent is like the time when we are waiting for a baby to arrive – how about that – and that’s just what we are doing in waiting for the baby Jesus at Christmas.

When my sisters were expecting they didn’t sit by passively waiting for the stork to turn up. They were very actively preparing for the arrival of their child (between them seven children actually). As well as constant doctors’ visits, prenatal checks, ultra sound photos, rooms must be made ready, cots bought, prams, bedding, feeding utensils, food, diapers, clothes, and on, and on. Names must be considered; some people already enroll their children in the schools they hope they will attend. 

Interestingly, family and friends get together and hold “showers” and provide presents in preparation for the arrival of the new child. We get ready for the coming of a child, we prepare, we are “expectant,” hopeful, we are full of energy, and we are actively waiting. This is what Advent is supposed to be like for all of us. It is a time of spiritual preparation as we wait to receive Jesus. We prepare to meet Jesus in three ways: first at Christmas when we remember He came to save us. Secondly, we turn our minds to the end of time, and we remember He will come again not as a child but as the judge, so we need to get ready. We remind ourselves to prepare for Him because soon we will face Him as our days on earth come to an end. Most of all we remember to make a place for Him in our own hearts now, we open our hearts to receive His grace, His life, His presence. All new born children change the lives of their parents as they no longer live for themselves but for their child. This Sacred Baby, Jesus, is entering our lives, maybe that should change our lives also. Advent reminds us to be ready, to prepare, because Jesus is coming to us.

The Virgin Mary was prepared to receive the Lord into Her body because she had already prepared Her heart to receive Him. That’s what Hail, Full of Grace means. If grace is God’s life in us and Mary was already full of grace, she had no room for sin. And He came to her. She was waiting for Him by preparing for Him. She gave herself to Him completely so that even His flesh is made from Her body, her blood flows through His heart. We are called to do the same. To wait for Jesus by preparing for Him. 

12/11/22: Bring your grandchildren to mass and visit the Nutcracker exhibit in the Parish Center (aka “the convent”).

2/19/23: History Photo exhibit in Wolfer Hall (aka “school library)

4/23/23: History tour of the church

8/6/23: Photo exhibit in Wolfer Hall (aka “school library)

9/9/23: Homecoming/Alumni picnic in The Hollow

10/29/23: Anniversary Mass/11:00 a.m., banquet to follow (location TBD)

The old prior of the monastery I belonged to in Ireland was fond of saying: “After all is said and done more is said than done!” Fr. Oliver was from a long line of Irish revolutionaries, and he would tell the story of the night the Black and Tans came to kill his father. The Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve was formed in 1920 by British Secretary of State Winston Churchill and was the official name for the Black & Tans. Former British soldiers were mostly recruited to join the Black & Tans to provide reinforcements to the police force called the Royal Irish Constabulary. A mix up in the shipping of their uniforms meant that they wore a mixture of kaki military and police black. They considered themselves extrajudicial, above the law (actually lawless), and they were responsible for may atrocities in Ireland. The crowns forces dispensing the king’s justice. Anyway, Fr. Oliver’s father was an Irish Volunteer, a member of the Irish Republican Army, fighting for Irish freedom. In his daily life he was a tailor. At the local pub a neighbor overheard a group of Tan’s talking: “Tonight we hit the tailor, Martin.” After being informed Mr. Martin took his family to safety and sure enough, that very night the Tan’s raided and shot up their home. Fr. Oliver always ended the story with a sad sigh as he exclaimed “and they shot the poor dog.”

In Ireland we don’t have a happy memory or experiences of kings, queens, monarchs of any type. Most came to plunder, the others were indifferent to the plight of the poor, and all came to impose a foreign rule. Much of the rest of the world have similar experiences. So, a feast like Christ the King can be jarring for us. Is it really about the kings of this world? Was Pope Pius XI bolstering a decaying and corrupt form of governance? Of course not. Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, in response to growing secularism, secular ultra-nationalism, and totalitarianism. In the face of growing calls by governments for people to give them total and unreserved obedience and unquestioned loyalty, where governments were claiming the right to make immoral, unethical, and unjust laws, the Holy Father reminded Catholics, Christians, and in fact all people, that only God can claim our total and absolute obedience. He reminded the faithful that all governments should be subject to God’s law and the peoples of the nations had the right to be protected by government (as it says in the United States Constitution, we are endowed with unalienable rights given by God, not by man, and government is subject to the people not the other way around).

For Catholics Christ is the one who is supreme, and we conform our will, our lives, and our vision according to His teaching. This is true of our lives in the world, in our relationships, our families and within our own being. A king/queen should order things according to love and justice, charity, and hope, and we are all called to make this order present everywhere. We are all to be kings of our own lives and hearts. Pope Benedict XI wrote: “The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; [if] all peoples, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all people, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire.

He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. [He] must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things and cleave to him alone. [He] must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.”

When we want to know what is right, good, just, charitable, we look to the supreme authority, the one who rules overall, Christ, our King. We have the opportunity to order our own lives, our homes, our relationships and even our society. We do this every day, in one way or another. We reign in our own hearts and lives, in our relationships and families, business, and parishes. We should ask ourselves: What kind of king/queen am I? What kind of rule do the people in my life experience?

Another interesting point about this feast is that in November 1926, Pope Pius, established the first church dedicated to Christ under the title of King. The Church of Our Lord, Christ the King, Mount Lookout, here in Cincinnati.

When I was a child growing up in Dublin, I can recall that almost every year we had a visit from Jehovah Witness missionaries. These were usually young men who were carrying out their missionary commitment which is part of their obligation as a Jehovah Witness. I guess they take the “witness” part of their belonging very seriously. It was also not unusual, when I was a child, to have the Jehovah Witnesses predict the imminent end of the world. The predictions were usually published in their newsletter “The Watchtower” and the years that the Biblical Armageddon was to happen included: 1878, 1881, 1918, 1925, 1975 and a number of years around the AD 2000 Millennium. I guess predicting the end is not a precise science. 

Of course, we don’t have to look to the Jehovah Witnesses for a preoccupation with the end times. There was a great deal of concern about the imminent end of the world, or civilization as we know it, around the year 2000 AD and the millennium. Much of the concern was around the inability of computers to compute the date 2000 resulting in the crash of the economic and banking infrastructure which had become dependent on computers. Also included in the imminent crash was such as flight?, the power grid, land ownership information, security information, government files and so forth. At the parish where I lived at the time a group of Catholic people moved into the neighboring rural areas, bought a farm, and dug a “shelter.” This shelter was filled with durable food stocks, beds, living areas, generators, fresh air supply equipment and the necessities of life. This was to be a safe shelter that would provide temporary life support in case civilization collapsed. I’m pretty sure that a number of people entered this shelter on the eve of the millennium and came out a few days later only to find that the world was as it was before. 

Further back around 1000 AD there were also concern for the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ. Many Christians expected the end of the world, and some Catholic preachers predicted the end was coming. The same was true of many protestant reformers from the sixteenth century and beyond. The truth is that almost every age and every religion have a similar fixation with the “end times.” 

We can see in the Gospel today that this same concern is present at the time of Our Lord. The people ask Him when the end will come and what will be the signs that indicate its arrival. Jesus Himself predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the persecution of His followers. They will be thrown out of the synagogues, brought up on charges, will have to face false witness, be stoned, and killed. Nevertheless, Jesus tells His disciples that even though all these things will happen, they are not to lose focus. Instead of wondering if this is the end, or the beginning of the end, His followers are to remain steadfast in living the life He has called them to live. The disciples of Jesus are not to waste their time in speculation but in carrying out His mission to bring salvation, not destruction, to the world. Their time should not be wasted on what might happen, but it is to be spentd in making things happen. And what is it they are to make happen? The building of the Kingdom of God. Anything else , falls short of our calling, our mission, and is a waste of valuable time and resources.  

Let’s face it, we all are living in the last times. I’m fifty-eight years old and have been a priest for almost thirty years. That means I have about ten to twenty years of life left, possibly longer, but more likely, shorter. I’m living in the last times as far as my life is concerned. Soon, I will face God. Soon, I will have to give an account of my mission. I have no time to spare. For me, as Saint , Pope John Paul II said: “The future starts today not tomorrow.” 

Building the Kingdom is about love, loving God, and loving our neighbor. That love will be the only thing we carry into God’s presence and that love will exist for all eternity. Love is the only treasure that will matter to God, and love will be the only treasure . we will take with us to God. Focus on building the Kingdom.  tThe rest is just something that is left behind to turn into dust.