July 23, 2009
I have been a little "hit and miss". Summer has given me some time to catch my breath from a mid-year transfer and...I desperately needed that. Meetings are at a minimum during these summer days (thank you JESUS) so, outside of regular routine, filling in when there are vacations and office calls, I am doing some extra reading and my much beloved hobby - biking. I am even plowing through BXVI's recent encyclical - not exactly easy summer reading. Certainly not beach reading.
Blessings come in veiled ways in our lives. I have enjoyed (and I speak for the 5 monks who live here at 5450) the presence of two seminarians who are doing apostolic work at St. Martin's for the summer months. They have brought a distinct dimension of love of God and God's People, an added dimension to our community life here in the rectory, an insight to a future priest's journey in the 21st century, a plus to our evening house prayers and much laughter. They are keeping the older among us younger in heart and spirit.
I am grateful for this opportunity to learn from these young men. It seems that they are equally anxious to learn from us. Having the seminarians with us also provides a much needed self-examen for us ordained anywhere from 3 years to 40 plus. I feel personally enriched by this opportunity. I hope our parish community is touched as well by their prayerfulness, generosity, self-sacrifice and humor. I hope that they communicate to the rest that ordinary guys like them and us are called to serve, do so, and...accomplish "blessed things" in spite of our limitations.
Both Tom and Bobby are second career seminarians having served in the work force before religious life. They have given up much for the Kingdom of God. Two priests on our staff have done the same. Two of us answered God's call very young at age 16 - in another time and age - and neither have ever looked back. What is important here is to have the courage to say "yes" when God knocks at the door.
So, the summer is going well. I hear from time to time from old friends and that is always affirming. Next week some old friends will spend the day with us providing service - they are stepping beyond their boundaries for the the Lord and, in doing so, living the Gospel.
Some vacation time away is coming soon. I will spend that with a priest-friend that I have known now for 45 years.
Blessings!!!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009
During the past two weeks the public media has given quite a lot of coverage to the late music and modern pop artist, Michael Jackson. Certainly the death of this talented singer and dancer is a tragedy. Death in and of itself is not a tragedy but the circumstances surrounding his death are tragic. As I listened more and more to the news vignettes of Michael Jackson's life and death, I couldn't help but think that if a movie or a play is ever written about him (and I am sure that will happen), a good title might be: Michael Jackson: A Tragedy in Life and Death.
I use the word "tragedy" in the classical sense. That genre of literature that is called a tragedy is thus defined: "a poem or tale that typically describes the downfall of a great man. A serious drama that describes conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (destiny) that has a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion." Mr. Webster supplied the aforementioned definition.
One might say that Michael Jackson was a great man. His greatness lay in his innate God-given talents, his creativity and his appeal on the stage. It also might be said that the tragedy of this popular entertainer could have been an inability to handle his greatness. Many great men and women have suffered from this insecurity. Greatness is a gift which can be used to bring out the God-given greatness in others (that Divine Image spoken of in Genesis).
It is said that a tragedian is an actor specializing in tragic roles. While I am not - and will never be - a devotee of Michael Jackson's music - I must admit that he was good at what he did. People loved him and the paparazzi attached themselves to his glittering, strangely tailored coat tails. But Michael, the individual, always appeared ill at ease. To say he was not comfortable in his own skin (using a popular expression) seems applicable literally and figuratively.
It is not my purpose to judge why he subjected himself to numerous surgeries that altered his appearance. But as a bystander, I have wondered why an apparently handsome and gifted person would do such a thing. The Michael Jackson of "kid fame" always seemed happy and free. The adult Michael looked tortured and agitated. Again, not a student of the modern pop music culture, I wondered why.
On one hand he appeared to have everything. But on the other he was lacking something. Whatever it was that he was lacking sought relief in the dark world of drugs (prescription or not, I cannot say). News items indicated that there were some who wanted to help him and deliver him from the abyss in which he was mired. The conflict between the individual human soul and destiny either became too much for him or the battle itself eluded him because of a blindness brought on by all the accoutrements of being a celeb.
As I watched the evening newscasts and saw the constant reruns of the highlights of his career, I became sad at the sadness before me. Fifty years young - successful in the ways of the world - wealthy today and poor tomorrow (rumors of financial troubles) - a large collection of siblings - the sorrow in the face of his mother - his final cry for what turned out to be a lethal drug - the tragedian was actively writing his own tragedy.
I was neither a fan nor a follower of Michael Jackson's music and dance. But the priest in me recognizes the pain that those closest to him, viz., his family must feel at this moment. None of them may easily articulate his tragic life. I hope that their sorrow is mitigated with the knowledge that God blessed him with wonderful gifts. Let God be the final judge of how he lived his life and used his gifts.
Pax et bonum!
During the past two weeks the public media has given quite a lot of coverage to the late music and modern pop artist, Michael Jackson. Certainly the death of this talented singer and dancer is a tragedy. Death in and of itself is not a tragedy but the circumstances surrounding his death are tragic. As I listened more and more to the news vignettes of Michael Jackson's life and death, I couldn't help but think that if a movie or a play is ever written about him (and I am sure that will happen), a good title might be: Michael Jackson: A Tragedy in Life and Death.
I use the word "tragedy" in the classical sense. That genre of literature that is called a tragedy is thus defined: "a poem or tale that typically describes the downfall of a great man. A serious drama that describes conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (destiny) that has a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion." Mr. Webster supplied the aforementioned definition.
One might say that Michael Jackson was a great man. His greatness lay in his innate God-given talents, his creativity and his appeal on the stage. It also might be said that the tragedy of this popular entertainer could have been an inability to handle his greatness. Many great men and women have suffered from this insecurity. Greatness is a gift which can be used to bring out the God-given greatness in others (that Divine Image spoken of in Genesis).
It is said that a tragedian is an actor specializing in tragic roles. While I am not - and will never be - a devotee of Michael Jackson's music - I must admit that he was good at what he did. People loved him and the paparazzi attached themselves to his glittering, strangely tailored coat tails. But Michael, the individual, always appeared ill at ease. To say he was not comfortable in his own skin (using a popular expression) seems applicable literally and figuratively.
It is not my purpose to judge why he subjected himself to numerous surgeries that altered his appearance. But as a bystander, I have wondered why an apparently handsome and gifted person would do such a thing. The Michael Jackson of "kid fame" always seemed happy and free. The adult Michael looked tortured and agitated. Again, not a student of the modern pop music culture, I wondered why.
On one hand he appeared to have everything. But on the other he was lacking something. Whatever it was that he was lacking sought relief in the dark world of drugs (prescription or not, I cannot say). News items indicated that there were some who wanted to help him and deliver him from the abyss in which he was mired. The conflict between the individual human soul and destiny either became too much for him or the battle itself eluded him because of a blindness brought on by all the accoutrements of being a celeb.
As I watched the evening newscasts and saw the constant reruns of the highlights of his career, I became sad at the sadness before me. Fifty years young - successful in the ways of the world - wealthy today and poor tomorrow (rumors of financial troubles) - a large collection of siblings - the sorrow in the face of his mother - his final cry for what turned out to be a lethal drug - the tragedian was actively writing his own tragedy.
I was neither a fan nor a follower of Michael Jackson's music and dance. But the priest in me recognizes the pain that those closest to him, viz., his family must feel at this moment. None of them may easily articulate his tragic life. I hope that their sorrow is mitigated with the knowledge that God blessed him with wonderful gifts. Let God be the final judge of how he lived his life and used his gifts.
Pax et bonum!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July 1
I am graduating this afternoon. That's right. I am concluding a two year course in Good Leaders Good Shepherds. It is a program all about being a better shepherd to God's People, being a better pastor. I hope that I will be. I hope that I have been a reasonably good priest and pastor these past 36 years. Aware of my limitations, I have tried hard. Perhaps with some new tools I can improve on the limitations, the weaknesses, the faults.
The GLGS Program has laid the foundation for a good priests' support group. I hope this develops.
In this Year of the Priest, pray for me and all priests. Just completing retreat and now GLGS coincides with this special year. Providential not coincidental!
Pax et Bonum!
I am graduating this afternoon. That's right. I am concluding a two year course in Good Leaders Good Shepherds. It is a program all about being a better shepherd to God's People, being a better pastor. I hope that I will be. I hope that I have been a reasonably good priest and pastor these past 36 years. Aware of my limitations, I have tried hard. Perhaps with some new tools I can improve on the limitations, the weaknesses, the faults.
The GLGS Program has laid the foundation for a good priests' support group. I hope this develops.
In this Year of the Priest, pray for me and all priests. Just completing retreat and now GLGS coincides with this special year. Providential not coincidental!
Pax et Bonum!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)