March 2009

The following is the introduction talk Bishop Gerald Wiesner gave at a Spiritual Development Day for Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Schools Association in Lethbridge, Alberta on March 16, 2009. The theme of the day was “Living our Baptismal Call”.

An integral part of our being as Catholic Christians is a consciousness of our baptismal call and the living out of this in our everyday lives. Our baptismal call, the living out of this call is a fundamental part of who we are. It is not something added on to us, it is not a garment we can put on and take off at random, it is quite simply who we are. Before reflecting more specifically on the Living of our Baptismal Call I would like to spend some time pondering aspects of our being, basic realities of who we are as human beings, created by God, and how these aspects permeate our entire being.

Ten “words” that make us whole

History has never been one of my fortes and I am not particularly fond of it, but recently I became aware of the Code of Hammurabi, one of the most famous of all early law codes, which both stabilized and promulgated the standards by which the king intended to order society. Until Hammurabi, law was essentially the whim of the king; laws could be created by him at any moment.

Hammurabi, king of Babylon, made a giant leap forward in the history of public jurisprudence. He bound himself and the citizens to 272 statutes, which he had inscribed on a pillar more than 14 feet high for all his kingdom to see. This Code brought order and stability to the land. For the first time, royal decree ceased to be arbitrary. For the first time, people were allowed to know the laws under which they would be governed and judged.

About four hundred years later, Moses, who had led the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt, gave the little band of wanderers another set of “laws” to live by. These laws, however, embodied the mind of God for them; they carried them into a society unique for its adherence not to the laws of Moses – subject to change by any ruler to follow – but to the law of God. They did not emerge out of human whim and fancy. They were irrevocable and unchangeable. They were to be written on the mind and in the heart of the Hebrew community for all time to come.

These laws were meant to be principles to live by rather than minutely defined prescriptions to be followed. These laws were clearly meant to shape a way of living, a lifestyle, an attitude of mind, a spirit of human community, a people.

The Ten Commandments were not made to be argued in a court of law. In fact, most of the items defined in the Ten Commandments were not legally enforceable at all. Many of them could not even be discovered in fact. How did anyone prosecute for “coveting”? How did anyone punish someone for not “remembering” to keep holy the Sabbath? How could anyone tell if, in the heart of a person, a “strange” god or two might not be lurking?

The point is that the Tend Commandments are laws of the heart, not laws of the commonwealth. They are laws that are intended to lead to the fullness of life, not simply to the well-ordered life.

Aristotle insists that the perfect life is one where we contemplate the best, most worthy things, the things of the highest merit. He argues that the perfect life commits us to dedicate ourselves to what it is that is worth thinking about. The Ten Commandments tell us what is worth thinking about in life. These are the things that last, that become spiritual ground on which our lives rest that become the path we walk on the journey to wholeness, from the smallest to the most expansive of human endeavor.

These are not so much new laws as they are a new vision of what it is to be a human community, a people of God. It is noteworthy that only once in Scripture are the Sinai Tablets called “commandments”. In fact in all other references they are referred to as the Decalogue – “the ten words”. It is these ten words, which over the years developed into ten ideas or concepts or ideals or propositions that make the twelve tribes of Israel a different kind of “people”. They are words about praise, human responsibility, justice, creation, the value of life, the nature of relationships, honesty, truth, desire and simplicity of life.

Written in the second person singular, “You shall”, and “You shall not”, the words are meant to be a whole new way of going about life for us all. We are told this time, not what the king expects, but what God expects – and we are each responsible for sculpting our lives in that mold. The Ten Commandments are, then, an adventure in human growth. We are not so much convicted by them as we are to be transformed by them. They are indicators, guidelines, lamp posts, light houses, to lead us to the fullness of life. They are invitations given to us by God to lead us to the peace, joy and happiness that God desires for us.

We need to realize that the commandments are about more than commandments. The commandments are not about restrictions; they are about things that make us whole. They are about the will of a loving God, that the love that sustains the universe should never die. Sometimes we fail to realize that the law and love are two sides of the same reality. Law teaches us how to love and so the love of the Creator demands the giving of the law. Thomas Merton wrote: “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love.”

To live life with our arms open

Realizing how in our very being we are constantly called to more we can look at what that spells out to be in our ordinary everyday life.

The human being is a creature-in-search whose eternal compass is set to the interminable question, “For what?” For what are we really searching in life? Where should we go to seek it? How will we know when we have found it?

The questions ring across time, through great literature, in popular music, behind every major work of art. Every culture, every spirituality, every wisdom figure in every arena of life concentrates on finding the answer to the secret of living, the endpoint of life. Whatever the magnet that draws them on, whatever the tradition that guides them, these seekers walk the same way, they beat a single path and eventually they come to the same conclusion.

A Chinese proverb teaches: “The meaning of life is to see”.

The ancient rule of St. Benedict instructs persons “to listen”.

The philosopher Marcel Proust writes: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”.

In other words it is not so much where we go in life that matters; it is the way we immerse ourselves in it, open ourselves to it, see beyond its trappings wherever we are that measures the quality of the journey.

We are put here to love, not for the sake of the other alone, but for our own sakes as well. To dare to love another as a person, rather than as an idea, is to turn ourselves over to be shaped and reshaped in life. The people who love us do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. They release the best in us; they shoulder us through the rough times in life; they stretch us beyond the confines of our own experiences to wider vision, to truer vistas. They show us the face of our creating, caring God on earth.

Perhaps the deepest spiritual understanding we can muster here is that human love is the only proof we have of the love of God. It is also the only arms God has with which to love us here and now, clearly and warmly, joyfully and achingly. Sometimes, alas, it is only our arms that God has to love others.

To be human it is necessary to think again about what matters in life. We must always ask why what is, is. To be human is to listen to the rest of the world with a tender heart, and learn to live life with our arms open and our souls pierced with a sense of responsibility for everything that is.

It is said that most of life is a fluke. It is not nearly as rational, as strategized, as planned as we love to think it is. As John Lennon was fond of saying, “Life is what happens while you are making other plans”. The problem is that we insist on trying to impose form and shape, plan and design on everything we do. Just letting things happen is not a comfortable skill for most people. Control is what we want. Certainty is what we like.

But there is a place in the soul for learning to leap. There is a particular virtue to darkness, to just allowing things to happen rather than wrenching them to our own specifications, for being willing to do things differently for a change, for avoiding terminal caution, for simply falling into the arms of God for a day or two instead of having to run the universe all by ourselves.

Being able to take life as it comes, to enjoy a change of plans, to break the routine, to try different things, to break out of the rut we put ourselves in so we can become the rest of ourselves, to build our wings on the way down is the spice that is missing in a routine-ized world.

As we journey in life it is interesting to see how we search for joy and despise suffering. Yet, suffering is a natural part of life with much to teach us and much to give us. Suffering gives us freedom and new opportunities. Joy gives us rest on the long road of life and an appreciation for heart-stopping beauty in the midst of the worldly. Most important of all is that suffering and joy come from the same place. Whatever is giving us the greatest happiness right now is the only thing that can really cause us great pain. Whatever is causing us suffering right now is the place beyond which we must now move in order to be able to live life joyfully again. Suffering and joy move us from end point to end point in life. They are the finger of God beckoning us to grow beyond where we are right now so that new and wonderful things can happen to us again, still, yet.

Work is the priesthood of the human race

One of the most demanding, but often overlooked, dimensions of the creation story is that when creation was finished it wasn’t really finished at all. Instead, God committed the rest of the process to us. What humans do on this earth either continues creation or obstructs it. It all depends on the way we look at life, the way we see our role in the ongoing creation of the world.

Work is our contribution to creation. It relates us to the rest of the world. It fulfills our responsibility to the future. God left us a world intact, a world with enough for everyone. The contemplative question of the time is what kind of world are we leaving to those who come after us?

If I could deviate for a moment from sharing directly on the theme of work, I would like to share a picture of the world that we are living in. If the earth’s population were a village of 100 people, there would be

• 62 Asians, 12 Europeans, 8 Africans and only 13 from the Americas.
• 70 of them would be non-white
• 67 would be non-Christian
• 14 could not read
• 21 would be undernourished
• 1 of them would have a college education
• 2 of them would own a computer
• 59 percent of the entire wealth of that village would be held by only 6 people, and all of them would be white, male and from the United States of America

The world is tilting and tipping and is terribly out of kilter. As Christians we must acknowledge that God pronounces all of creation “good”, not just some of it good, some better, some best. How are we leaving the world for those who come after us?

The contemplative sits out to shape the world in the image of God. Order, cleanliness, care of the environment brings the glory of God into the stuff of the moment, the character of the little piece of the planet for which we are responsible. The ideal state, the contemplative knows, is not to avoid work. The first thing Genesis requires of Adam and Eve is that they “till the garden and keep it”. Long before they sin they are commanded to work. In the Judeo-Christian tradition work is not punishment for sin.

Work is the mark of the conscientiously human. We do not live to outgrow work. We live to work well, to work with purpose, to work with honesty and quality and artistry. The floors the contemplative caretaker mops have never been better mopped. The class the contemplative teacher prepares brings the very best of life in the student. The computer programs the contemplative person creates make life more possible for everyone. The persons the contemplative administrator serves get all the care that God has given us.

The contemplative is overcome by the notion of tilling the garden and keeping it. Work does not distract us from God; it brings the reign of God closer than it was before we came. Work doesn’t take us away from God; it continues the work of God through us. Work is the priesthood of the human race. It turns the ordinary into the grandeur of God. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. Our work enhances that grandeur of God in the world.”

Regret is the sand trap of the soul

As we look at our performance we should never brood over past mistakes and failures as this will only fill our minds with grief, regret and depression. Regret claims to be insight. But how can it be spiritual insight to deny the good of what has been for the sake of what was not? No, regret is not insight. In fact it is the sand trap of the soul. It fails to understand that there are many ways to the fullness of life, all of them different, all of them unique.

Regret is a temptation. It entices us to lust for what never was in the past rather than to bring new energy to our changing present. It is a misuse of the aging process. One of the functions, one of the gifts, of aging is to become comfortable with the self we are, rather than to mourn what we are not. When we devalue it, we bring everything we are and were into question, into doubt. We doubt the God who made us and walks with us all the way to the end.

There are banquets in our lives

Longing, too, is part of life. The only question is, “What do we long for?” Nobody is ever completely happy, completely satisfied. That’s not because we are failures; it’s because we are built that way. We’re supposed to want more, or why would we ever want God enough to go through life with a restless eye, watching. We need to be grateful for our longings. They are what take us to the next step in life and there are many steps to be walked before we are whole, before we are finally home. Someplace along the way in life we all need to long for God, for what really counts. The hard thing, the good thing, is that life itself will teach us that.

As we journey we need to stop and thank God – consciously – for the good things of the day. We spend so much time wanting things to be better that we fail to see our real gifts. There are banquets in our life and we don’t enjoy them because we are always grasping for something more: the perfect schedule, the perfect work, the perfect friend, the perfect community. We have to realize that God’s gifts are all around us, that joy is an attitude of the mind, an awareness that my life is basically good.

The following is an exercise I would like to suggest. Try saying this silently to everyone and everything you see for 30 days and see what happens to your soul: “I wish you happiness now and whatever will bring happiness to you in the future”. If it is said to the sky, we would have to stop polluting. If we said it when we see the ponds and lakes and streams, we would have to stop using them as garbage dumps and sewers. If we said it to small children, we would have to stop abusing them, even in the name of training. If we said it to colleagues and other persons, we would have to stop stoking the fires of enmity and competition around us. Beauty and human warmth would take root in us like a clear, hot June day. We would change.

“I wish you happiness now and whatever will bring happiness to you in the future.”
Most Rev. Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.

March 2008

As we prepare to celebrate Holy Thursday and Easter, and as we continue to prepare for the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress in Canada, it is well for us to continue to reflect more deeply and intimately on our celebration of the Eucharist.

When the Gospel of John introduces the washing of the feet it does so by saying, “Having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end”.

We are “his own”; we are the ones he knows and loves. “He loved them to the end”. This means that he loved them (us) fully and completely. Jesus’ love for his own will be demonstrated in the foot washing, but it will receive its full and final expression in his gift of life, which is present in the Eucharist.

It is in our celebration of the Eucharist that we hear the Lord’s request of us, “Do this in memory of me”. As we listen to this request of Jesus in our regard, we are faced with questions:

• What are we to think was Jesus’ deepest desire in asking this of us?
• How deeply and earnestly does he want us to do this?
• Why did he want us to do this?
• What should be our disposition as we “do this in memory” of him?

One way of beginning to answer the questions is to look at what it is we do when we celebrate the Eucharist.

To begin the Eucharist involves blessing. To bless is to “say good things about”.

In every Eucharist we bless God, we say good things about God. This is our response to all that God has shared with us about God’s very self. We bless God, and this includes everything God has created.

Blessing God is acknowledging God, praising, rejoicing, glorifying, sanctifying God. Notice how we pray in the Eucharistic Prayer:

• “We come to you Father with praise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ your Son”
• “Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise”
• “God of power and might, we praise you through your Son, Jesus Christ, who comes in your name”

In all of this we bless the Father through Jesus.

When we do this in memory of Jesus, it is Jesus who prays; it is Jesus who blesses the Father for us and with us. We join Jesus in his prayer of blessing the Father. As we think of this, is it any wonder that Jesus invites us to do this in memory of him?

The Eucharist involves thanksgiving; thanksgiving for the fact that God has become our partner, thanksgiving that our God has entered into an intimate covenant with us, a bond of intimate friendship with us.

We are remembering the magnificent deeds of God, especially those done in Jesus. We also remember the deeds done in the church, in the community and in our own personal lives.

For all of this we give thanks. Again, notice some of the ways in which we pray.

“Father, calling to mind the death your Son endured for our salvation, his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet him when he comes again, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.”

Notice what we offer in thanksgiving. We pray further,

“We come to you Father, with praise and thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ your Son.”

Many of the prefaces begin,

“Father, all powerful and ever living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.”

It involves petition, begging. We ask for the Spirit to build up the church, the People of God.

We ask the Father to send the Spirit, first of all as a sign of the Father’s acceptance of us. We ask the Father to transform the gift, to transform the people who receive the gifts, and to transform them into the church, the community, the union of one heart and one soul.

The Spirit brings forgiveness, peace, the pledge of future life.

And so we pray:

• “And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by the power
  of your Spirit …”
• “Have mercy on us all; make us worthy to share eternal life with Mary, the virgin Mother of God …”
• “Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ.”
• “Lord, remember those whom we offer this sacrifice … those who take part in this offering … those who have died in the peace of Christ.”

As we pray in this way we need to remind ourselves of the true nature of this prayer.

The church teaches us that “the liturgy is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ.” In other words, all the while we are praying in this way, it is really Jesus who is praying.

In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus promise, “I will do whatever you ask in my name … if in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it”.

In our prayer we are praying with Jesus and in Jesus’ name. In our prayer Jesus is praising the Father for us and with us. Jesus is thanking the Father for all the blessings we receive, and asking the Father for all we need.

When the church speaks of us praying at Mass it says, “Offering the immaculate victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they should learn to offer themselves.” By this we are reminded that in virtue of our baptismal priesthood, we offer the immaculate victim to the Father.

We are empowered to pray along with Jesus, to offer Jesus and ourselves to the Father. Jesus makes his prayer our prayer. What does the Father do with Jesus’ prayer?

We are also reminded by the church that the very nature of the liturgy is such that it demands full participation. More than that, in virtue of our baptism we have the right, the duty to celebrate the liturgy.

It is in light of all of this that we need to ponder carefully and prayerfully.

In the Eucharist Jesus is bringing us the saving grace of his passion, death, resurrection and Spirit. Jesus is praying to the Father on our behalf and with us, offering praise, thanks and petition.

It is in the midst of all of this that Jesus says to us gently, earnestly, with deep desire and eager longing, “Do this is memory of me”.

December 2007

During the course of the past year the Canadian Church has been preparing to celebrate the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City on June 15-21, 2008. In anticipation of the international event many celebrations are being held. What this occasion provides for each of us is the opportunity to review, renew and deepen our awareness of and our faith in the Holy Eucharist.

When the Second Vatican Council speaks of how Christ continues to carry on his mission in the world, it speaks of his presence in the Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. It shares more specifically the various ways of Christ’s presence stating, “Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised ‘where two or three gather together in my name there I am in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20)” (S.C.#7).

Several documents following the Second Vatican Council affirm the same in clarified forms. In 1973 the Sacred Congregation For Divine Worship affirmed, “In the celebration of Mass the principal forms of Christ’s presence in his Church are manifested progressively. First, he is present in the assembly of the faithful gathered together in his name.”

What an understanding of this does is lead us to a greater awareness of the existence and quality of the community in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Reflection on this leads us to chapter 11 of the first letter to the Corinthians, the first written record we have of the Eucharist in the New Testament. Paul was at Ephesus at this time and he received a message from Corinth that described several problematic situations in the Church, among them was the gathering for the Eucharist.

The problem that Paul addressed was that they did not have community when they came together. There are divisions among them. Not everyone was treated equally. There are “haves” and “have nots”. The best food was served to some while others received much less.

What Paul asks is “Where is the community? Why is the Eucharist of the community even started when there is no community?” Everyone should feel welcome and should have a place. It is only when you have this kind of community that you have what you need for the Eucharist.

There was a parish that wanted to renew its appreciation and practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation; they were asking themselves about what could be done. In their reflection they came to the conclusion that before they could touch the Sacrament of Reconciliation they needed to establish a reconciling community. For one year the homilies and bulletins reflected on reconciliation. Emphasis was placed on visiting neighbors, the sick, spending time with teenagers, the divorced and remarried, the marginalized, alienated and prisoners.

After a year of this they began to look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a community. They decided to have community celebrations with individual confession. Generally they agreed that never before had they experienced such rich celebrations of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

A good community is one where there is unity. Jesus the Lord is the one who makes us one. It is a gospel person who makes us one. The good news of community is filled with the spirit of compassion. In the gospel-inspired community everyone is important; no one is unimportant.

I have to ask myself “Have I caught the message of the gospel? Do I say ‘Brother Leper,’ Sister Prostitute’?” The gospel message doesn’t mean I have to like everyone. God likes them. God loves them and so must I. In the community we are to have prolongation of the mission of Jesus. The gospel is a message of forgiveness; it tells people that they are good, accepted in their weakness. The gospel community is alive in Jesus.

When there is disunity the community is not alive in Christ. As we realize our own sinfulness we will reach out in compassion to others. It is not too difficult to see that the greater the participation is in all of this, the greater will be the community and the greater will be the meaning of the Eucharist.

Eucharistic spirituality is a spirituality of acceptance. The Lord accepts us and we are to accept one another.

Consider oneself as a Eucharistic minister. In this position one is a sacrament of Jesus. Through the Eucharistic minister the Lord is saying to people, “Here I am”. This greeting is given to the little lady with the black veil praying her rosary, to the 280-pound truck driver with his hands behind his back, taught in Grade 2 not to chew the host, to the teenager with his hair standing up, his belt low on his waist and chewing gum.

The Lord never says: “take the gum out of your mouth, put the rosary away, concentrate on prayer.” Rather the Lord says, “Good to see you; glad you are here; welcome!” What the Eucharistic minister is to show is the love of God, the compassion of God. Jesus is big enough to take care of himself and needs us only to reveal his love and goodness.

The parable of the great banquet invites us to reflect further on the community of God’s people (Luke 14:16-23). Like all gospel parables, it is a story that reveals the nature of God, as Jesus knew him. The householder is one of the elite of a small town; he prepares a banquet and invites his peers, the elite. When they refuse to come, in anger the householder sends the servants out into the streets and lanes of the town to bring in the poor, crippled, blind and lame.

The arrival of the poor and physically disabled does not fill the banquet hall. The householder is faced with the option of either calling off the banquet or inviting more people. He decides on the latter and sends the servants to bring in everyone they find on the roads and lanes. To be more specific, the tax collectors, public sinners, prostitutes, marginalized, the people nobody wants.

The banquet hall at last is filled and the householder sits down to the meal with this group of people. In the culture of first century Palestine, sharing a meal was the sign of identification with those at table. Thus, if the householder joins in the meal, he is identifying himself with the marginalized, the ones considered to be no good, the public sinners. That is why the religious authorities and even the disciples of John the Baptist were so horrified when Jesus ate with tax collectors and prostitutes. The fact that the parable makes clear is that everyone, no matter who they are, is invited to the banquet; and not only invited, but in some cases, urged to come.

In the parable the householder, the symbol of God the Father, completely joins the company. This is what God actually does in the Incarnation of his Beloved Son. In completely identifying with sinners, God becomes the opposite of who he is by divine right and dignity. God becomes a human being just as human beings are, sinners in desperate need of forgiveness and healing. Evidently God wills, at any cost, to share his inner life with us. God calls us into communion with God and with one another.

All of this shows us that the Gospel is not about earning the love of God, because we already have it. It is a matter of receiving it and of being grateful. Everyone needs God. It is not a question of being worthy or not. The issue is: will we, like those last invited to the great banquet, come in and sit down with the One who is hosting the party? Will we accept the divine hospitality and join in the banquet with God and the other guests? Will we gather as the community of God’s people, called together by God as sisters and brothers of our Lord, and together with him celebrate the mystery of the Eucharist, which makes us one?

In the Eucharist we share the Body and Blood of Christ, which makes us one. How necessary it is that we be free of all divisions, that we truly be community, since the Lord is inviting us to be one with him and with one another.

“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron … It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore” (Psalm 133:1-3).

During a retreat some time ago, one person said, “I have trouble understanding the Trinity.” I thought to myself, “You are in good company!” Then the person said, “We have the Father, we have Jesus and we have Mary.” As I write this message, we are in the season of Pentecost, the season of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the misunderstanding expressed by the person is due to the fact that often the Holy Spirit appears to be forgotten.

In an attempt to reassure and encourage his disciples, Jesus said in his farewell discourse, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth”. The Advocate is the one who exhorts, comforts, helps and appeals on our behalf. The word “another” Advocate suggests that Jesus was also an Advocate. To call the Advocate “the Spirit of truth” means that the Advocate shares in the work of Jesus, because Jesus is the truth. The work of the Advocate is to keep the truth of Jesus present to the world after Jesus’ departure.

As we remember this on the Feast of Pentecost, we need to remind ourselves that we have our own Pentecost in our baptism and confirmation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the “two principal effects of baptism are purification from sins and a new birth in the Holy Spirit”. And further, “This most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification: giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit”.

Regarding confirmation the Catechism teaches, “From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ’s will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands, the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of baptism”. It continues, “It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost”.

Pope Benedict affirms: “The sacrament of baptism, by which we were conformed to Christ, incorporated in the church and made children of God, is the portal to all the sacraments. It makes us part of the one Body of Christ, a priestly people … The gifts of the Spirit are given for the building up of Christ’s Body and for ever greater witness to the Gospel in the world”.

Jesus promised the Samaritan woman that “the water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem elaborates on why Christ called the grace of the Spirit water. He affirms that all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. While water comes down from heaven as rain and is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree another in the vine, and so on throughout all of creation. While the rain remains essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it. St. Cyril concludes: “In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each person as he wills”. The saint goes on to say that the Spirit makes one person a teacher of divine truth, enables another to interpret holy Scripture, strengthens one person’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to lead a life of asceticism, trains another for martyrdom; and we can continue the list.

In a similar way Saint Basil the Great uses the image of sunshine to explain the Spirit present everywhere and to each individual. “Like the sunshine, which permeates all the atmosphere spreading over land and sea, and yet is enjoyed by each person as though it were for him alone, so the Spirit pours forth his grace in full measure, sufficient for all, and yet is present as though exclusively to everyone who can receive him”.

When we take this into our own situation, what do we notice?

We are baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. When anointed with holy chrism in confirmation, the accompanying prayer is, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In every celebration of the Eucharist we pray: “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” And, “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.” In celebrating God’s forgiveness in reconciliation, we pray, “God, the Father of mercies … sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins … I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In celebrating the anointing of the sick and elderly we pray, “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Lest we forget, every time we begin to pray we say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

So we add, “Jesus, send us you Spirit. Holy Spirit, keep us mindful and grateful”. Amen.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As you likely know, for the first two weeks of October I was in Rome with all of the bishops of Western Canada. We were there fulfilling the responsibility of our ad limina visit. Every five years bishops are obliged to make a report on the life of their diocese and then to appear in Rome to share on the report. Part of the visit includes visits with the Holy Father, individually and as a group.

In the Holy Father’s address to us as a group he began with the parable of the Prodigal Son (Forgiving Father). In the course of the address he encouraged us to promote the Sacrament of Penance, the sacrament wherein we experience God’s passionate love for us. As the Season of Advent is a time when we invite and encourage everyone to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance, I would like to share a few thoughts on this sacrament with you.

Every sacrament in one way or another is a meeting with Christ the risen Lord. What is key in the Sacrament of Penance is that it is a meeting with the forgiving God. One of the main attributes of our God is that God is a God of mercy, compassion and forgiveness. The monk Thomas Merton said: “God is mercy, in mercy, in mercy”. St. Bernard is recorded as having said: “The measure of God’s mercy is without measure”.

In the past when we thought of the Sacrament of Penance the emphasis was on the sinner, on my sins. Not that my sinfulness is unimportant, but the emphasis needs to be put on the mercy and forgiveness of God. The reason Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son (and both boys are prodigal) is not so much to tell us about the boys, but to tell us about the Father, God our Father.

When we study the parable closely we see that the Father has been hurt by both boys. In spite of this, it is the Father who takes the initiative, who goes out to meet both boys. The younger son begins his confession and the Father interrupts. With the elder son, the Father pleads with him to come in and join the celebration. Not only does the Father take the initiative, but he is also very patient, tender and sensitive with the boys. The Psalmist reminds us of God’s mercy when he says: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love … He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities … As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Psalm 103).

This is the God whom we meet in the Sacrament of Penance. This is what is most important in the sacrament, much more important than our sinfulness.

There is something very important for us to recognize in the elder son. In him we meet someone who cannot forgive his brother. The Father tries very hard to persuade him to forgive his brother, but in the story it appears that he does not. This leads us to another very important part of the Sacrament of Penance, namely that we celebrate our forgiveness of our sisters and brothers.

Jesus is very strong in his teaching on the need for us to forgive our sisters and brothers: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). In the Sacrament of Penance we receive the help we need to reach out and forgive our sisters and brothers. This is the beauty of coming together to celebrate the sacrament. When we gather as a community to celebrate we pray for one another, we encourage and support one another on our journey to forgiveness. This is something very pleasing to God.

St. Paul reminds us that reconciliation is God’s work and that we are ambassadors of this work. In other words we are to be instruments, agents of God’s reconciling work in the community (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Paul goes further to say that we are “stewards of God’s mysteries” (1 Corinthians 4:1). The mystery of God’s reconciliation has been entrusted to us and we are to demonstrate that mystery to others. The Sacrament of Penance equips us to be instruments of that mystery.

The Sacrament of Penance is a very special form of worship, of prayer. When celebrating the sacrament we come before God in our poverty and helplessness. We take honest ownership of our situation, admit it and entrust it to God. In this we are telling God that God is God and we are we, sinful dependent persons. This is adoration, this is prayer at its best.

The Sacrament of Penance is also a sacrament of spiritual growth. Our life of faith is a love relationship with God. Someone who really loves another does not test how far they can go before hurting the other. Persons who really love each other are concerned about how they can show their love for each other more deeply. So it is in our relationship with God. By examining ourselves and taking greater ownership and responsibility for the things hindering our relationship, by handing them over and asking forgiveness for them, we take a great step towards further growth in our love relationship with our Lord.

All of this helps us to see how the Sacrament of Penance is a new beginning for us – a starting over, a beginning anew – and so it is truly a sacrament of hope. In celebrating this sacrament I realize that I am accepted as I am, healed, restored and set on the way in a renewed manner. It is interesting to note how often in the Bible individuals encounter Jesus on the roadside. Having met Jesus they are once again on the road (Matthew 10:46-52). So it is with us in celebrating the Sacrament of Penance; having been on the roadside we are once again set on the way. This sacrament is truly a sacrament of hope for us.

Looking back over the Sacrament of Penance we see what a rich blessing is being offered to us. In view of the Season of Advent that we are entering, in view of the full meaning of the Sacrament of Penance and in light of the Holy Father’s encouragement to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance, I invite and encourage each person to avail themselves of the opportunity to meet the forgiving Lord in this beautiful sacrament. Take advantage of the gift being offered to you and enjoy more deeply the true peace of Christmas. The peace of the Lord be with you!

Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
Bishop

Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
Vancouver

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14:27). These words of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse to his disciples, to us, express the goal of what God wants for God’s people: a situation of peace, a situation of non-violence. Violence of any kind destroys peace.

Jesus’ words of assurance to his disciples contain a new promise: peace. In the Old Testament peace (shalom) was a conventional leave-taking address, but Jesus is not simply saying farewell to his disciples with this promise of peace. In the context of Jesus’ death, the expression “to leave” (peace I leave with you) takes on the meaning of a bequest. Jesus had promised not to leave the disciples “orphans”, and now his promise of peace supports that earlier promise.

The disciples will not be orphans – that is, they will not be alone – because they will live in the peace of Jesus. The peace that Jesus offers is not the world’s peace – neither the false promise of security, nor the end of conflict. The peace that Jesus gives is his peace, a peace that derives from the heart of Jesus’ life. The peace of Jesus is “the all-embracing sphere of his life, his love, his joy”. The gift of peace rests at the centre of Israel’s final hopes, and is now available in Jesus.

The promise of Jesus’ peace is not an occasion for complacency, as is seen by Jesus’ repetition of the exhortation, “do not let your hearts be troubled”. This reinforces the fact that these are not sentimental comments, simply telling the disciples not to worry. Rather they call the disciples – they call us – to find strength to face this new situation, and to make the contribution we are able to assure the removal of violence in order that peace may prevail. It is in this light that we need to see the spirituality of non-violence.

When we look at violence we can examine it on different levels. We can speak of international violence, a violence that manifests itself in the area of war. We can speak of the violence of international trade, where rich countries violate poor countries by literally robbing them of raw materials or inducing a quality of slave labor.

One can speak of the violence of the social classes, the rich and the poor, the haves and the haves not. According to Worldwatch Institute (2002) the United States and Europe alone spend $18 billion dollars on cosmetics, $17 billion on pet food, $15 billion on perfumes, $14 billion on ocean cruises and $11 billion on ice cream just in Europe. That is a total of $75 billion.

But to eliminate hunger and malnutrition around the world would cost $19 billion, accessible clean water could be provided for $10 billion, universal literacy could be achieved for $5 billion, and every child in the Third World could be immunized for just over $1 billion dollars. That is a total of $35 billion dollars, less than half of the rich billion.

Over 1 billion people, 20 percent of the world’s population, lack reasonable access to safe drinking water, 40 percent of the people of the world lack basic sanitation facilities and, as drought brought on by greenhouse gasses increase, many millions die from starvation.

Indeed there is something immoral about all of this; there is violence in all of this, there is lack of peace.

One can speak of violence on the national level. Much of what has been said of violence on the international level is reflected on the national level. Further, we have cultural violence, racial violence and there is growing evidence of religious violence.

Then one can come even closer to home and speak of the violence that exists on the domestic level, the level of the home, the family, between individuals.

Viewing violence with a telescope or a good set of binoculars reveals that violence never begins on the international or national levels without it first having its beginning on the domestic level, in the heart of the human person.

When we are close to home it is domestic violence that confronts us most. Domestic violence is that which occurs in the family that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women and children. Wife abuse involves physical and sexual assault, emotional intimidation, degradation, deprivation, financial and other forms of exploitation of women. This abuse is often by their intimate partners. Some studies/surveys suggest that around the world one in every three women has been beaten, forced into sex or otherwise abused in her time.

Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, has said: “Violence against women is the most shameful human rights violation and also the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth.

The fear of violence, including harassment, is a constraint on women’s mobility and limits their access to resources and activities. Terror, depression, suicidal tendencies, severe anxiety, loss of self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness and shame are some of the effects of violence in the family.

Children who witness abusive behavior or are victims themselves are deeply affected and these scars last a lifetime. I have been told by social workers that in some of our communities 95 percent of the little girls are abused. Sexual abuse, especially, scars deeply and lastingly. The reason for this being that sexuality is much more than particular organs and specific actions. Sexuality is something that permeates our very person.

Something, which we learn from the early church, can help us understand this better. In the early years of Christianity it was judged that the best way one could give oneself to God was physical martyrdom. This involved total giving. After the age of the great persecutions it was judged that the best way one could give oneself totally to God was by a celibate way of life. The reason for this understanding was the belief that one’s sexuality was so much an integral part of one’s being that by offering it to God one was as close as one could come to the total gift of oneself in physical martyrdom.

When one closely examines the scene of violence, it is that of domestic violence which comes closest to home. In a culture where peace and justice and communion are threatened by violence, only a change of consciousness and conversion of heart produce the response to violence preached and practised by Jesus.

There practice of non-violence, the spirituality of non-violence, is not, as one might suppose, a sign of indifference or timidity. It is linked to faith and hospitality, believing in the power of God to support the innocent, and identifying with the merciful Father who forgives the aggressor and welcomes them to a new relationship. Non-violence is not the aim of the truly spiritual justice. Important as it is, non-violence remains a negative – the absence of violence. Non-violence is a step towards the gift of peace, which transforms the person in all their relationships and is the gift “the world cannot give”. Because of the gift of peace, in the presence of non-violence it becomes possible to let go of all the rationalization of violence along with the long-held grudges and resentments. Because of the gift of peace it becomes possible to be healed or at least well salved of deep scars and hurts. This does not happen overnight, but as the non-violence is emptied out it is replaced by the gift of peace, which spreads and changes our violent world little by little.

The peace of which we speak is a gift, God’s gift in Jesus. In order for a gift to be gift three things must happen: It must be received, it must be developed and it must be shared.

With the gift of peace, it needs to be received. I must recognize need for that gift in my life. I must make space, suitable space, for the gift in my life. I must welcome the gift with gratitude.

Then the gift needs to be developed. I must unwrap the gift, open the box in which it is contained. I need to examine the gift, study its nature and purpose; see how it is to be used.

Finally, the gift must be shared. The gift must be offered, given to others in their need.

As agents of the gift of peace, as instruments involved in the spirituality of non-violence, we can best learn how to be good agents, good instruments, by studying the example of the maker and distributor of the gift, our Lord himself. I would like to reflect on two scenes in the gospel from which I feel we can learn.

The first scene is Jesus raising the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11 ff).

As we listen to the description of this scene we can visualize two processions making their way to the town gate. One is a procession of death; we are burying the only son of a mother, and she is a widow. The other is a procession of life. Jesus has just healed a centurion’s servant and now his disciples and a large crowd are with him. The two processions meet.

Looking at the procession of death we see the real violence that is present there. Death is always violent. It is so shocking, sudden, complete. The mother is a widow; she has already suffered the loss of her husband.

As a widow in that society she has basically no rights and little support. The dead person is her only son. She has no other children; she is all alone. Besides, it is not normal for parents to bury their children. Parents are not wired to bury their children. As children we bury our parents. This mother is violated; she experiences severe pain; she is devastated.

From the procession of life we have a strong reaction. “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’”. Jesus had compassion for her.

The word “compassion” generally evokes positive feelings. We like to think of ourselves as compassionate people. But, if being human and being compassionate are the same, then why is humankind torn by conflict, war, hatred, oppression and abuse? This causes us to take a critical look at our understanding of compassion.

The word compassion is derived from the Latin words “pati” and “cum”, which together mean, “to suffer with”. Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable and powerless with the powerless.

In the gospel scene that we are reflecting on we meet the expression “to be moved with compassion”, an expression that appears only a few times and is used exclusively in reference to Jesus or his Father. The Greek verb that is used reveals the deep and powerful meaning of the expression, it refers to the entrails of the body, or as we might say today, the guts. They are the place where our most intimate and intense emotions are located. They are the centre from which both passionate love and passionate hate grow.

When the gospels speak about Jesus’ compassion as his being moved in the entrails, they are expressing something very deep and mysterious. The compassion that Jesus felt was obviously quite different from superficial or passing feelings of sorrow or sympathy. Rather, it extended to the most vulnerable part of his being. It is related to the Hebrew word from compassion, rachamin, which refers to the womb of God. Indeed, compassion is such a deep, central and powerful emotion in Jesus that it can be described as a movement of the womb of God. There, all the divine tenderness and gentleness lies hidden. There, God is father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter. There, all feelings, emotions and passions are one in divine love. When Jesus was moved to compassion, the source of all life trembled, the ground of all love burst open and the abyss of God’s immense, inexhaustible and unfathomable tenderness revealed itself.

The end of the scene in the gospel says, “The dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother”. This gospel scene, in its fullest meaning, shows us the real meaning of the spirituality of non-violence.

The second gospel scene that I would like to ponder is that of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Jesus has spent the night on the Mount of Olives – a favorite resting place – and probably in prayer. He has come to the Temple and is teaching. Many come to listen to him, including some scribes and Pharisees who bring a woman caught committing adultery. They are rough, brutal, cruel, insensitive, judgmental. They are certainly inconsiderate of the person (where is the man?), they are using her to catch Jesus; they want him to choose between the law and a person.

Jesus refuses to deal with the case as merely a legal matter and deals with it practically. In a capital case the witnesses against the accused were to take the initiative in carrying out the execution. Jesus asks them to think first, whether their own consciences proclaim them worthy to sit in judgment. They are aware of the effectiveness of Jesus’ answer. His answer is one that they didn’t expect, they didn’t come to hear, one they really can’t accept. Perhaps ashamed of using a woman’s humiliation to ensnare a man, they leave, one by one, beginning with the eldest.

Now Jesus is alone with the woman. This woman, too, has come to Jesus; likely not with the same motivation as the others. She has sinned; but she has remained, stayed with him. In last Sunday’s gospel the disciples of John followed Jesus; they went and saw and stayed. In this gospel scene Jesus has stayed with a disciple, a sinner perhaps, but Jesus treats her with compassion. Verbally the woman says very little, only three words: “No one, sir”. By remaining, by staying, standing there, she speaks volumes. She acknowledges, accepts and confesses her sinfulness. She professes her trust in Jesus.

In this encounter sinfulness meets sinlessness. St. Augustine said: “Two remained: the miserable and the merciful”. It seems that the crowds dispersed as well, for the text says Jesus is left alone with the woman. Only now does Jesus act directly. He treats her with the respect and compassion he has always shown those who are open to him and his message of salvation. As he has done in so many other situations, he disregards proper protocol and he speaks to this woman who is a stranger to him, a sinner, and he does this in a public place. He does not condemn her, but neither does he exonerate her. Acknowledging her obvious sinfulness, Jesus exhorts her to sin no more.

What has the woman seen? What has she experienced? An aspect of the mystery of God has come to her through the teaching of Jesus. Someone has listened to her being, her person, not just her words. Someone else has experienced her pain, her suffering, her alienation, loneliness, embarrassment. Someone else has seen that she too is “someone”, and because she is given this sense of value, of dignity and identity, she can go and live anew. This woman has experienced the mystery of God and God’s love; she has experienced the compassion of God in Jesus. Compassion and mercy have won out.

Abraham Lincoln reflected that he hoped it could be said of him that wherever he went in life he plucked a weed and planted a flower wherever he thought a flower would grow. Jesus teaches us the spirituality of non-violence by plucking weeds and planting flowers. We pluck weeds by approaching violence with compassion, the compassion of God demonstrated for us by Jesus. We plant flowers by paving the way for, and sowing the seed of, God’s peace, a peace the world cannot give.

An item that has been an issue of concern in the church is the order of the sacraments of initiation. But even before considering the order in which these sacraments are to be celebrated, there is the more basic question: which are the sacraments of initiation.

When we return to the earliest existent rituals of the church we find that people were initiated into the faith community with a ritual that included a water-bath, an imposition of hands and the reception of the Eucharist. As the majority of people initiated in the early church were adults, the actual initiation ritual followed a rather lengthy catechesis and familiarization of the Christian way of life, an apprenticeship of sorts. Evidence indicates that the ritual was presided over by the bishop.

As large numbers entered the Christian community and the church grew it was not always possible for the bishop to be present for the ritual. In these situations priests presided over initiation. In the Eastern Church the priest presided over the entire ritual; in the Western Church the imposition of hands and anointing was left for the bishop to celebrate at a later date. This marked the beginning of the separation of the rites of initiation, although the order of the celebration of the rites remained the same.

Over the centuries it is rather difficult to determine a consistent practice in the order in which the rituals were celebrated. However, the more pronounced practice appears to be that, for children, the water bath was celebrated at birth, the imposition of hands and anointing at a later date – often after the age of reason – and the reception of the Eucharist completed the initiation. At the beginning of the 20th century this took place around the age of 15.

St. Pius X, desiring that children receive the Eucharist at an earlier age, declared the age of reason was an appropriate time for children to receive the Eucharist. A direct result of this was that the imposition of hands and anointing became dislocated from the order of the reception of the rituals and was celebrated at a later age. As a consequence the imposition of hands and anointing became a ritual in search of a meaning, a theology.

In the liturgical renewal introduced by the Second Vatican Council it is stated, “The rite of confirmation is to be revised so that the intimate connection of this sacrament with the whole of the Christian initiation may more clearly appear” (S.C. #71). Based on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and subsequent teaching of the Magisterium, one is led to conclude that confirmation is a sacrament of initiation, that it is to be celebrated after baptism and in preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist.

The Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity (Ad Gentes), in reference to the catechumenate process of initiation, affirms: “Then, when the sacraments of Christian Initiation have freed them from the power of darkness, having died with Christ, been buried with Him and risen with Him (baptism), they receive the Spirit who makes them adopted sons (confirmation) and celebrate the remembrance of the Lord’s death and resurrection together with the whole People of God” (#14).

It is quite clear from the general teaching that the Official Magisterium of the Church emphasizes the initiatory character of confirmation. What needs to be singled out is the overt reference to the revised rite of confirmation, which shows the intimate connection that this rite has to the whole of Christian initiation.

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), in discussing how the priestly community is brought into operation, expresses both the initiatory character of confirmation as well as the complimentary order in which the sacraments are to be received. “Incorporated into the Church through baptism… bound more intimately to the Church by the sacrament of confirmation… (then) taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine Victim to God” (#11).

In the Apostolic Constitution On the Sacrament Of Confirmation Pope Paul VI refers often to confirmation as a sacrament of initiation. “By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist) they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity”.

Repeatedly Pope Paul VI speaks of confirmation as a sacrament of initiation and expresses its relationship to the other sacraments of initiation, namely baptism and Eucharist. “In baptism, the newly baptized receive forgiveness of sins, adoption as sons of God, and the character of Christ, by which they are made members of the Church and for the first time become sharers in the priesthood of their Savior. Through the sacrament of confirmation, those who have been born anew in baptism receive the inexpressible Gift, the Holy Spirit himself, by which they are endowed with special strength. Moreover, having received the character of this sacrament, they are bound more intimately to the Church and they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith both by word and deed as true witnesses of Christ. Finally, confirmation is so closely linked with the holy Eucharist that the faithful, after being signed by holy baptism and confirmation, are incorporated fully into the body of Christ by participation in the Eucharist”.

In the study of theology, liturgy is recognized as one of the theological sources. An examination of the Rite of Confirmation reveals a number of things. The Introduction to the Rite affirms: “those who have been baptized continue on the path of Christian initiation through the sacrament of confirmation” (#1). Paragraph three of the same introduction, in speaking of the task of parent, says, “They are to form and gradually increase a spirit of faith in their children and, with the help of catechetical institutions, prepare them for the fruitful reception of the sacraments of confirmation and Eucharist”.

When speaking of the sponsor for confirmation it is affirmed that it is desirable that if this person is present, they be the same as the godparent at baptism, as this “expresses more clearly the relationship between baptism and confirmation” (#5). Paragraph 11 of the same Introduction speaks of the identity, unity and order of the sacraments of initiation.

In this official teaching of the church one can easily single out three very clear affirmations that pertain to the scope of the question being discussed. First, confirmation is never spoken of as a sacrament of “adult” commitment to faith but always as a sacrament of initiation. Secondly, confirmation is always spoken of as a completion of baptism and a preparation for the Eucharist. Thirdly, the Eucharist is always spoken of as the climax, the completion of initiation into the Christian community.

To what has been offered thus far from the vantage point of the official teaching of the church, one can add the teaching found in the Rite of The Christian Initiation for Adults. The whole thrust of the RCIA is that initiation into the community takes place gradually, in stages, and reaches its climax in the celebration of the initiation sacraments. “The sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are the final stage in which the elect come forward and, with their sins forgiven, are admitted into the people of God, receive the adoption of sons of God, are led by the Holy Spirit into the promised fullness of time and, in the Eucharistic sacrifice and meal, to the banquet of the kingdom of God” (#198).

In paragraph #208 of the same Rite the connection of the baptism and confirmation is affirmed. The reasons given for this connection are Trinitarian reasons as well as conditions for entry into the paschal mystery. While the direct reference here is to the condition of adults, since the reasons given for the connection are deeply theological, they must also apply to children of catechetical age.

The Catechism of The Catholic Church recaptures, clarifies and summarizes the teaching on the sacraments of Christian initiation. It very clearly affirms that baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are sacraments of initiation (#1211, 1212). Confirmation is spoken of as the completion of baptismal grace (#1285, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1306, 1314, 1316). Likewise it very clearly affirms that the Eucharist completes Christian initiation; baptism and confirmation enable the individual to participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church directly addresses the issue of confirmation as the “sacrament of Christian maturity”. Repeatedly it states that confirmation is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit and not dependent on the faith-choice of the individual for its efficacy (#1302, 1303, 1316). Likewise, there is a clear distinction made between adult faith and the adult age of natural growth (#1308).

In yet one more magisterial document we find a clear and straightforward teaching on the nature, relationship and order of celebration for the sacraments of initiation. The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Church In America” of Pope John Paul II expresses clearly and in summary form the position that is expressed in this presentation:

“Communion of life in the church comes through the sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Baptism is ‘the doorway to the spiritual life; it makes us members of Christ and draws us into the body of the church’. In Confirmation, the baptized ‘are joined more completely to the church, they are enriched with special strength by the Holy Spirit and thus are more solemnly obliged to spread and defend the faith in word and deed as true witnesses of Christ’. The journey of Christian initiation comes to completion and reaches its summit in the Eucharist, which fully incorporates the baptized into the Body of Christ … The Eucharist is more than simply the culmination of Christian initiation. While Baptism and Confirmation serve as a beginning and introduction to the life of the church and cannot be repeated, the Eucharist is the living and lasting centre around which the entire community of the church gathers …” (#34 & #35).

A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
to the people of God in the Diocese of Prince George

Dear Brother Priests and Religious, Dear Sisters and Brothers!

Sunday, April 17, 2005 is the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This reminds us of many things. In particular it reminds us that in order for the Church, the Body of Christ, to live and function well, every member must carry out their role in the body. The life and growth of the body depends upon the faithful exercise of the role of each member.

As one looks more closely at the life and growth of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, it also becomes clear to everyone that some of the roles in the body are carried out by some on behalf of and in favor of the larger group. There are roles that are carried out by a few for the greater well being of the group. We see very often how married couples and families play a major role in the life of the church. Committed Catholic singles are often pillars of parish ministries and the vocation to the single life is something to be honored as a way of living out the baptismal call of holiness.

Very basic in all of this is the universal call to holiness. All the faithful of Christ are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity. The classes and duties of life are many but holiness is one that is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God.

To promote vocations requires that we cultivate the sense of being called across the spectrum of possible vocational forms and choices. We cannot promote vocations to ordained ministry and religious life without promoting the vocation of Christian marriage. Likewise we cannot support and encourage family life without promoting and nurturing other manifestations of the Spirit’s care for the Church. We cannot encourage those drawn to lead solitary lives without nurturing the call to service. We cannot animate people toward ordained ministry without celebrating the call experienced by many lay people to be spiritual directors, chaplains, catechists, retreat masters, missionaries and so on.

The notion of the “seamless garment” has been used at times to help us reflect on life and death issues. And so perhaps it could also be applied to vocations. Respect for life must take into account human life at all its stages and conditions. So too a “seamless garment” approach to vocational awareness covers the whole of Christian existence and the many different ways in which the followers of Jesus give expression to their union with the mystery of God.

The particular form a vocation takes is in the end secondary to the birth and development of the believer’s relationship with God in Christ. No one is going to start thinking about vocational forms and choices before they have had an experience of their lives both as a gift and a mystery. The more the Gospel takes over our minds and hearts, the more we are going to find ourselves desirous and excited about proclaiming and bearing witness to the wonderful truth of God’s saving, steadfast love.

It is within this “seamless garment” of vocations that one looks at the vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life. In the end vocation is not about choosing an occupation or profession for the sake of personal fulfillment and financial gain. The disciples were not simply being asked to change one occupation, whether it was fishing, collecting taxes or tent making, for another sort of gainful employment. They were really being asked to become a different kind of human being, namely people transformed by the saving love of God and, just as importantly, by a saving love for God’s people.

A vocation is not a reward for a virtuous life but does presuppose a conversion of heart and a spiritual journey that begins with repentance and a commitment to ongoing growth in the spiritual life. In baptism we are all called to holiness of life. A vocation to priesthood or consecrated life is a call to a radical form of discipleship that aspires to follow Jesus’ teaching and example ever more closely. It becomes clear that the priesthood and consecrated life are not human inventions, but gifts from God by which God continues to give himself to people throughout history.

The priesthood and consecrated life are God’s gifts to the Church for the very being and greater wellbeing of the Church, God’s people. The Church teaches that,

“The consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission since it manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling and the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her spouse … it is an integral part of the Church’s life and a much needed incentive towards ever greater fidelity to the Gospel” (Vita Consecrata#3).

The ordained priest is consecrated to make Christ present as shepherd and pastor of his flock. The priest is the “bearer of the mystery” that is the centre of our faith life. Christ has given us the Church and the gift of the priesthood to perpetuate the Eucharist, to preach the Gospel and to forgive sin.

From this it becomes very clear that vocations of priesthood and consecrated life are everyone’s business. If I am a Catholic I have a huge stake in the priesthood and consecrated life. As Catholics we need to promote vocations in the Church. It is the responsibility of the entire faith community to pray for vocations and to make every effort possible in the promotion of vocations.

In our Diocesan Pastoral Plan we say, “Church, become who you are”. In the process of becoming who we are and being more fully who we are, vocations are of the essence; we simply will not become and be who we are without vocations. A Church, becoming who it is called to be, has within itself what is necessary for this to happen. As a diocesan family we have come of age, we need to have from within our own resources what is necessary to make us who we are. It is no longer proper for us to look to the outside, to look to others to come and help us. As a diocesan family we need to take the responsibility ourselves.

The question is: Where do we put our energies? As mentioned above it is the business of everyone. Everyone!

We need to begin with our young people. Recruiting posters for the military in the United States depict Uncle Sam pointing a menacing finger while the caption reads, “Uncle Same wants you!” Many young people, in a spirit of loyalty and patriotism, respond.

In the Church the Holy Spirit plants the grace of a vocation in a person’s heart. “Christ wants you!” “The Church needs you!” “God’s people need you!” Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s prompting is very clear in a person’s mind and heart. But more often than not the Holy Spirit relies on the help of other people to encourage, guide and promote vocations. Vocations are there in the hearts of our young Catholics, vocations waiting to be nurtured and cultivated by our prayers and encouragement.

Our ideal goal must be to instill in our young Catholics such a love and appreciation for the sacraments and vocations that they will not only consider a vocation themselves, but they will also encourage their peers to be open to such an option. Too many vocations have fallen victim to peer pressure. One Vocation Director describes her positive experience this way: “I remember giving a talk to 4,000 teens in San Antonio, Texas. When I asked them to show me the hands of Christ, immediately I saw hands raised. I issued a challenge that all those who felt called to be missionaries stand, and many stood. Then I called for those who felt called to become priests or religious to stand up in front of their peers! When they stood the rest applauded.”

In his message for the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations the Holy Father says:

“Dear adolescents and young people, it is to you in a way that I renew the invitation of Christ to ‘put out into the deep’. … I come to recognize more and more how strong is the attraction in young people to the values of the Spirit and how sincere is their desire for holiness. Young people need Christ, but they also know that Christ chose to be in need of them. Dear young women and men! Trust Christ; listen attentively to his teachings, fix your eyes on his face, persevere in listening to his Word. Allow him to focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your heart”.

I make this message to young people my own.

Traditionally Catholic homes have been a privileged place for a vocation to grow and be nurtured by parents who understood the importance of priesthood and consecrated life. Today we need to appeal to parents to instill a sense of vocation in our young Catholics. Parents should not confine themselves to asking their children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They must also ask, “And what do you think God wants you to be?” We must help young people look beyond careers and professions and answer a call from God to be holy.

For most young Catholics that call is going to be to married life. We must do all we can to help them prepare for that vocation. We can also be certain that God is calling some of our young people to lives of special service in the Church, to priesthood and the consecrated life. It is particularly challenging to present the commitment of consecrated life and priestly ministry in the context of contemporary culture. Without support, these vocations will go unheeded.

Parents can do so much by praying with their children and teaching them to seek God’s will in their lives through vocational discernment. Parents need to have a sense of vocation and mission themselves to pass on to their children. Parents receive their children from God and must be willing to give them back to God for service of his people.

A recent article in Columbia Magazine stated that 60 percent of parents discourage their children from following a vocation, 20 percent are indifferent and 20 percent are supportive. In faith, parents need to understand that their children’s true happiness depends on a generous response to God’s call and that God is never outdone in generosity and love.

In the past we were able to count on the large number of religious sisters and brothers to educate our young people in the faith. Parents are now aided in this responsibility by many lay teachers and catechists who generously serve our Catholic community. I want to appeal to all our teachers in our Catholic schools and in our religious education programs, as well as to our youth ministers, to speak with our young Catholics about the call to holiness and the importance of discerning one’s personal vocation. I appeal to you as well to speak specifically about the consecrated life and the priesthood with our young Catholics. (I remember when, as a young boy in Grade 8, a 21-year-old female teacher spoke to me personally about the possibility of a priestly vocation. I still remember this very vividly.) In so sharing with young people you will be cooperating with the Holy Spirit in building up the Body of Christ. If we fail to inspire a sense of vocation in a new generation of believers we will all suffer the consequences.

My Brother Priests, we have a special responsibility to promote vocations. This is done, first of all, by “stirring up in our hearts the gift we have received with the imposition of hands”. We need to have a sense of wonder and awe in the presence of this “mystery and gift” as the Holy Father calls the priesthood. We are vessels of clay carrying treasures for God’s people. We must speak about vocations in our homilies and in our visits to schools and religious education classes. Youth ministry is also a crucial place for a serious discussion about vocations. Our sense of mission to lead people to Jesus Christ is also a powerful motivator in prompting vocations. It is essential to remind ourselves constantly that ministry is not about me, but about Christ. We too must be “inviters” who challenge young people to search their hearts and answer God’s call to serve.

Jesus did say “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Our quest for vocations in the Church is a spiritual one. We need to storm heaven with our prayers. We need to pray individually, as families and as parish communities, asking the Lord of the harvest to bless us with laborers. Asking children to pray for priests, sisters and brothers is a way to signal to the child the importance of priests and religious in our lives. At the same time it indicates to the child that priests, sisters and brothers are human and need the support and prayers of the faith community.

Already in the Old Testament we read that God dwelt in a tent (or tabernacle) that was called a “meeting tent”. God desired meeting with his people. The tabernacles in our Churches house Christ present among us so that we can have this meeting with him. May we all enter the meeting tent frequently to visit Christ and to pray the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into the harvest.

As I remind all of us of our responsibility in promoting vocations I want to thank parents, priests, sisters, brothers, teachers and youth ministers for all that they already do and urge you to redouble your efforts to encourage vocations. We must see this as a crucial part of our parish life. It is in the community of faith that the spiritual gifts are bestowed and discerned, so as to be put at the service of God’s people.

May the efforts of all of us, carried out in a true spirit of prayer, further our God-given mission: “Church, become who you are”.

INTRODUCTION

When the Church in her official teaching tries to help us understand and appreciate the Eucharist she begins with the Last Supper.

“At the Last Supper, on the night when he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of his Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”
(S.C. #47).

The context in which this happens is important. It is the Last Supper. It is in that last meal that Jesus has with His friends that He shares with them His gift. It is a farewell gift.

This gift is a memorial of His death and resurrection. It is His death and resurrection that has brought salvation to the world. Now Jesus gifts his followers with a memorial of His death and resurrection. A memorial is a “making present” of something. In this memorial entrusted to his friends Jesus makes present for all time and for all of us, the benefit of his death and resurrection. The event of his death and resurrection is made present for us every time the Eucharist is celebrated. This means that whenever the Eucharist is celebrated we are able to take part in the real event of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and are able to benefit from it in a very special way. Today, in the celebration of the Eucharist we benefit from Jesus’ dying and rising. This is why it is so important that we participate in, that we enter actively in the celebration of the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is a “sacrament of love”. In a sacrament we meet Christ our Redeemer. When the Gospel of John describes Jesus’ action at the Last Supper it says: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end”. In the Fourth Eucharist Prayer we pray: “He always loved those who were his own in the world. When the time came for him to be glorified by you, his heavenly Father, he showed the depth of his love”.

Jesus’ love for his own will be experienced in the foot washing and its completion in his death. Up until now Jesus has been the shepherd leading his flock. He has performed miracles and spoken with the power of truth. Having announced his message of love he is now going to offer himself up in humility, in weakness, in silence and in love even to death. He will go to the very end of love; he will love totally and unconditionally, giving life, giving his life. He will reveal in a new way who he is and who God is.

The Prologue of the Gospel of John shows us a descending God who becomes flesh to lead us into the womb of the Father. Now we see Jesus descending to his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. In the Jewish culture, it was a slave’s job to wash the feet of others. Never would a king kneel down in front of one of his subjects, nor a teacher before his disciples. Jesus takes on the role of a slave; Jesus serves. He serves by washing the feet of his disciples, but his service goes beyond this. He serves by giving himself up to death out of love.

When we are taught that the Eucharist is a “sacrament of love”, what we are being taught is that in the Eucharist we meet Jesus who is serving us, washing our feet and giving himself up to death in order that we may have life.

Further, we are taught that the Eucharist is a “sign of unity”. In life we admire and obey those who do great and brilliant things and we put them on a pedestal. But admiration is not love. Love implies closeness, mutuality. When people really love they need each other and are vulnerable to one another. With the incarnation the all-powerful One becomes the little, powerless one. He needed his mother to feed him, love him and be in communion with him. He needed the Samaritan woman to give him water. And we will discover that he needs each one of us. He wants to dwell in each one of us as a friend. He is knocking at the door of our hearts, begging to enter and to become our friend:

“Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”
(Revelation 3:20)

The history of humanity has changed since God has knelt humbly at our feet, begging our love.

The Eucharist is a sign of our unity with Jesus. Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” (John 15:9). In celebrating the Eucharist we celebrate that sign which makes us one with Jesus.

In addition the Eucharist is a “bond of charity”. If Jesus has washed my feet, and if Jesus has washed your feet then we have something very important in common, we have each been washed by the same Lord and Master. Once Jesus has washed their feet, he puts on his outer garment and sits down. He then entreats them to do for each other what he has just done for them. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14-15). When Jesus calls us to wash one another’s feet, it does not mean we have to actually wash everybody’s feet. What is does mean is we are being called to love, to serve and to forgive each other.

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read about Jesus at the Last Supper breaking bread, passing the cup, giving his body to eat and his blood to drink. It is a moment of intense communion through his body. To receive communion is to be in communion with Jesus. There is a deep link between the Eucharist and the washing of the feet. The washing of the feet, too, is an intense moment of communion through the body. Jesus tells the disciples that he is giving them an example; they are to do for each other what he has done for them. In the mind of John, communion at the table of the Lord cannot be separated from the communion lived in washing each other’s feet. The Eucharist as a “bond of charity” tells me that as I receive the Lord and Master in communion, I am to be a foot washer for my sisters and brothers. I am to be in communion with them.

As Jesus kneels humbly before each one and washes their feet he reveals to each one his love, which is both comforting and challenging. He sees in each one a presence of his Father whom he loves and serves. The love of Jesus reveals that we are important, that we are a presence of God and are called to stand up and do the work of God. We are called to love others as God loves them, to serve others and to wash their feet.

The teaching of the Church, to which I referred at the very beginning, also states that the Eucharist is “a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed”. In the next reflection I want to talk about the various ways that Christ is present in the Eucharist.

A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
to the people of God in the Diocese of Prince George
January 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

As we enter the New Year we are being confronted with something which is very important and which has long term and often, unforeseen consequences. This is something that is integral to our Catholic faith, namely, the understanding of and respect for marriage.

The following reflections are made out of concern for truth and with respect to all persons of varying positions.

At the heart of the issue is that we believe that marriage comes from the hand of God. Coming from the hand of the Creator marriage is understood as the lifetime commitment of one man and one woman to this indissoluble union. Jesus himself reaffirmed this understanding (Mark 10:6-9).

Marriage and the family are the stable context within which new human persons come into the world and are helped to grow to adulthood. Marriage and the family are as old as humanity. The fact that we are made male and female is obviously related to the continuance and survival of the human race.

There are many kinds of relationships in life and each has its own characteristics. Not everyone need be married and everyone, whether married or not, can become more fully human through friendship. The specific characteristic of the marriage relationship, however, is that it is the one in which a man and a woman are joined in mutual love and through that love bring forth new life. Marriage provides the setting in society in which those children are nurtured within the family and are protected by the covenant of marital fidelity. It is true, although sadly, particular marriages often fall short in many ways. This is a vitally important issue that needs to be addressed.

It is generally and traditionally understood that marriage and the family are the foundation of civil society. Marriage and family form a natural community that is more fundamental than the artificial community that is the state. To attempt to radically alter the meaning of marriage itself is to undermine that natural society of the family, which is far more basic than the state. A change in the definition of such a foundational institution as marriage cannot but have far-reaching consequences. The institution of marriage will not be simply modified; it will be irrevocably changed. A change in the definition now will produce a change in lived reality later for everyone. The state really has no authority to change a society that is more fundamental than itself.

Governments have an obligation to safeguard and strengthen marriage because of the contribution that marriage makes to the common good, the building up of society. There is compelling evidence that heterosexual families, into which most children are born, provide the best setting for their healthy formation.

Marriage deserves the protection, affirmation and respect of the state and of all society. Its distinct and essential nature does not change with culture or the passage of time. Marriage is not the effect of chance or the product of evolution of unconscious natural forces. Marriage is the wise institution of the Creator to realize in humankind the divine desire of love.

In view of this we expect our government to support the distinctiveness of marriage and family, as we have known them, for the good of its future citizens.

Although the family in its fullness involves a mother and father and children, our community of faith needs to give real, loving support as well to those who are living in single parent families – those who are facing life after the death of a spouse or separation and divorce – and couples who do not have children. We also need to welcome those who feel alienated from society and from the church because they are personally dealing with the issue of same-sex attraction. Each person, whatever their psychological disposition might be, is supernaturally worthy, loved by God and deserving of our respect.

We need to become involved in the current discussion. This means examining the question clearly and coming to terms with the real issues. We need to exercise our rights as citizens, discuss this matter among ourselves and with others, and communicate with our political leaders. Please take the time to write, e-mail or fax government leaders and your local Member of Parliament registering your objection to the proposal to reinvent the institution of marriage.

Prayer is a mighty force and we need to resort to prayer, invoking God’s help for the wisdom, courage and charity needed at this crucial time in our history.