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Four North American Martyrs
“I made my first trip to El Salvador in December of 1979 to visit my friend, Dorothy Kazel, and there I met her newlyarrived missionary companion Jean Donovan. It was a journey that transformed the way that I read the Word of God and understand the Church.” I wrote these words 25 years ago – just a few days after the martyrdoms of Jean and Dorothy – as the introduction to a reflection, entitled "Beatitude Women". It described how Dorothy and Jean lived the Works of Mercy in the spirit of the Beatitudes and how their compassionate actions of caring for the needs of refugees, training leaders, and teaching basic literacy skills were seen as “subversive,” not only by the Salvadoran military who assassinated them on Dec. 2, 1980, (along with Ita Ford and Maura Clark, Maryknoll sisters from New York), but also by highranking officials in the USA.
This reflection spoke too of the parents of Jean and Dorothy who sacrificed their only daughters and were the “blessed ones who mourn and know God’s consolations.” It also noted that we, those left behind, are challenged by our martyrs’ lives and heroic deaths “to hunger and thirst for justice.” We keep their memories alive as holy women who witnessed to meekness, mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking as they cared for the oppressed and victimized, seeking justice for the campesinos of El Salvador.
Twentyfive years later this same challenge, “to live the Works of Mercy in the spirit of the Beatitudes,” continues to call us to faithfulness. We honor our beloved martyrs, as well as the many thousands more throughout the world, all those who have poured forth their hearts in love, freely choosing to minister in dangerous places, thus being willing to suffer the “same fate as the poor” – to be disappeared and assassinated.
As I reflect on my own journey of the past 25 years, I am deeply grateful for the privilege of having been introduced to the Central American people and mission life by my friend Dorothy Kazel. During the two weeks of sharing in her ministry there, many times the story of the Good Samaritan came alive before my very eyes. I felt like I was walking around in Gospel times. I wept at the airport, not wanting to return to the lifestyle of the USA. Dorothy lovingly cared for God’s crucified ones, expressed deep respect for the faith of her people, and told me of how she found herself continually evangelized by her beloved campesinos, people living on the edge of survival. She embraced Monsignor Romero’s wisdom and witness: “The people are my prophets.”
The ABCs of Discernment
At this time of the year, we of course attempt to make our New Year’s resolutions. We think about what needs to be corrected in our life from the past year. This process of reevaluation, of course, is not a new approach to life. It’s natural to want to become better and to take the necessary steps to make that happen. In ordinary parlance, we call this decision-making or simply reflection. In the area of faith, this is called “discernment.”
Almost forty years ago, I was just beginning my ministry as a Catholic priest and I went to a workshop on vocation ministry. I soon met a young man who played music for our Masses. One morning after Mass he approached and asked to talk with me. We sat outside on a bench under a large tree, surrounded by the beauty of nature – a truly peaceful place. With some urgency he told me his story. He has always been a very religious man and was married a few years ago and now has two little children. He spoke to me about his being led by God to become married. He seemed to be a prayerful person but he was, on that day, very troubled.
A Winter’s Tale
For those of us from northern climates, the onset of Winter often finds us staying in as snow, ice and slush hamper our daily travel. This can heighten those wintertime feelings of sadness or simply make us more reflective. So winter is often a time when we search for someone to talk to, for one with whom we can share our story.
Storytelling — that imaginative way we try to express the excitement, confusion and commonness of our experiences — is as old as humanity. We are by nature storytellers as we seek out a way in life to explain,
explore and communicate with each other, to understand and cope with ourselves and our world. From the age-old bedtime stories that lulled us to sleep to the great works of fiction that have captured our imagination, we are a people who have traded and enjoyed tales of hope, tragedy and victory, so that we might grow in understanding of the true meaning and purpose of life.
Good storytelling is an art but personal storytelling—when we share our life's struggles and hopes with others — can also be a source of healing and wholeness. Faith-sharing of this kind is not new—for we have at our disposal a treasure of stories that have been told for centuries and did make a difference. This unique library of memorable tales is saved for us in the Sacred Scriptures, the tales of God’s life with his people.
Gratitude: Good for Body and Soul
In this special season of Thanksgiving and the fast-approaching Hanukkah and Christmas seasons, many of us need to be reminded of how necessary the “attitude of gratitude” is for each of us. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once recounted a true story which deeply impressed her:
“One night, a man came to our house to tell me that a Hindu family, a family of eight children, had not eaten anything for days. They had nothing to eat. I took enough rice for a meal and went to their house. I could see the hungry faces, the children with their bulging eyes. The sight could not have been more dramatic! The mother took the rice from my hands, divided it in half and went out.
“When she came back a little l ater, I asked her: ‘Where did you go? What did you do?’ She answered, ‘They also are hungry.’ ‘They’ were the people next door, a Muslim family with the same number of children to feed and who did not have any food either. ?That mother was aware of the situation.
“She had the courage and the love to share her meager portion of rice with others. In spite of her circumstances, I think she felt very happy to share with her neighbors the little I had taken her. In order not to take away her happiness, I did not take her any more rice that night. I took her some more the following day.”
Urgent Need to Educate Laity in Church Social Doctrine
The Pope has sent a message to Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to mark that body's plenary assembly which is currently being held in Rome. The assembly is focusing on how the encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, has been received in various communities.
“Only with charity, supported by hope and illuminated by the light of faith and reason, is it possible to achieve the goals of the integral liberation of humanity and universal justice”, the Holy Father writes.
Referring to the “fundamental problems affecting the destiny of peoples and of world institutions, as well as of the human family,” which are examined in “Caritas in veritate,” Benedict XVI points out that social and national inequalities “have by no means disappeared. ... Co-ordination among States – which is often inadequate because, rather than aiming to achieve solidarity, it aims only at a balance of power – leaves the field open to renewed inequalities, to the danger of the predominance of economic and financial groups which dictate – and intend to continue to do so – the political agenda at the expense of the universal common good.”
Read more Urgent Need to Educate Laity in Church Social Doctrine
Our Heroes Don’t Have to Be Perfect
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), humanitarian and advocate for poor and helpless.
As a Catholic priest for almost 40 years, I have celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with thousands of people. When I was working at our La Salette Shrine in Ipswich, MA, many years ago, we used to gather monthly with leaders from other faiths, as our Shrine personnel do here in Attleboro as well.
One day at our meeting I was surprised when our table discussion suddenly shifted to religious leaders and the need to talk with their congregation about forgiveness. The Methodist minister popped out with “You know, I wish we had a Sacrament of Reconciliation like you Catholics. We all need to discuss forgiveness and realize that God forgives us generously.”
Any of us who have family and friends around us realize quickly that perfection is not a quality any of us will ever attain in this world. Thankfully God doesn’t ask us to attain it in this life—just seek after it. In other words, we are called to get better as we get older and accept that we are loved by God but will always be needy and imperfect.
We Will Never Be The Same: 9/11
As we get older, hopefully we get smarter too. Recently I learned the meaning of the phrase, “paradigm shift”. It is a major change in a certain thought-pattern — a radical change which replaces a former way of thinking or organizing with something radically different. The events of 9/11/2001 are, for most people, a true paradigm shift. We will truly never be the same.
I was on vacation for two weeks in Paris, France, and I had just celebrated my birthday, Sept. 4th, with some friends who happened also to be in Paris at the time. Since I am a museum person, I took time to visit many of the major museums and churches in Paris and its environs. My two weeks in the beautiful City of Lights ended too soon and I was on the plane back home to Orlando, Florida or so I thought. It was an 8:30AM flight to Atlanta on 9/11.
About three hours out over the Atlantic, the pilot suddenly made an announcement. “There has been a terrorist attack and we have been diverted back to Paris.” Being a seasoned traveler, I took the announcement in stride. When we got back to the airport, I got off the plane and went immediately to the information counter. As I stood in line, I saw the television in the bar was showing some kind of explosion involving a building. I asked a policeman nearby what had happened. He said, “Terrorists have flown a plane into the World Trade Center in New York City.” I was stunned.
As I got to the front of the line, I simply asked the attendant when our flight would reboard for the U.S. She said she didn’t know at this point. I asked her for a Hotel voucher and she said they were not offering any. I asked what the airline procedures were for such a case and she said, “Sir, there are no procedures for the closing of all airports in the U.S. This has never happened before.” At that moment I thought to myself, “From today on, nothing will ever be the same.” I was right.
I couldn’t believe it. I felt very alone, like an abandoned child. After several hours, I managed to make my way back to my “priest hotel” where I had stayed for the last two weeks and pleaded for a room—at least for the night. All the hotels in Paris were filled with other tourists whose planes had been diverted. Miraculously it was arranged for me to stay five days at most.
Heart Speaks Unto Heart: John Henry Cardinal Newman
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| Cardinal Newman painted by W. W. Ouless in 1879 |
In preparation for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI (Sept. 16-19, 2010) and his Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, Care Ward, an advisor to the Home Mission (Evangelization) Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, wrote her reflections on what we can learn and do, based on Cardinal Newman’s life and faith. We have several La Salette parishes in England, cared for by members of the Province of Poland.
During his twenties, my brother was a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and would spend hours sitting with an elderly housebound man listening to music and talking to him. When our family used to see this old man at Sunday Mass, he communicated his gratitude for my brother’s ti me through his handshake, tears and smile. It made for a powerful encounter of heart speaking to heart.
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a similar phrase, in Latin: cor ad cor loquitur, as the theme for his visit to the United Kingdom, inviting everyone to consider afresh how they can receive and reach out to others with the love of Christ.
Read more Heart Speaks Unto Heart: John Henry Cardinal Newman
Spiritual Direction and Reconciliation
Once Upon a Time
Fr. Fernand Cassista, M.S.In 1993 I was granted the gift of a nine month sabbatical by our Provincial Superior. After 28 years or so of active ministry, in a variety of fulfilling and grace-filled ministries, I felt the need to take time for myself for much needed reading and study, rest and a thirty-day Ignatian retreat, often called the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a retreat which I had eagerly anticipated for some time. And so in early September of 1993 I went to Loyola House in Guelph, Ontario, staffed by the Jesuits and other spiritual directors trained in Ignatian Spirituality and spiritual direction.
I must candidly confess that one of my reasons for making the thirty-day retreat was to decided my future. I had become disenchanted with religious life and parish ministry where I felt more like a diocesan priest than a religious, having to deal with diocesan meetings and regulations, all the while having to participate in community gatherings and responding to community obligations. I felt weighed down by rules, regulations and finances with little energy and enthusiasm to do the pastoral ministry effectively.
I also found it difficult to pray well. I needed an extended period of time of retreat to deepen my spirituality and to make a decision about the future. I had been faithful to daily prayer but it was not as fruitful as it had been in the past. I had been seeing a spiritual director regularly and that was helpful, but even my spiritual director confirmed that maybe I was ready for a thirty-day retreat.
Virtual Tours of Papal Basilicas Now Available
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| Michelangelo’s Pieta |
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| Main aisle of St. Peter’s |
At the bottom of the new section of the Vatican website is the following: “Special thanks to Villanova University in Pennsylvania (USA) for its contribution to the realization of the Virtual Reality Tour of the Basilica of Saint Peter.” Yes, there is hope for this new generation of “computer nerds.” These students from this Catholic University based in Pennsylvania donated countless hours working on these projects and it was well worth their effort!
The site for St. Peter’s Basilica listed below offers several 360 degree views in spectacular detail. In fact, it offers views of six places within the basilica: the Apse (behind main altar), the Altar (beneath Benini’s baldacchino), the North Transept (to right of main altar), South Transept (to left of main altar), the Nave (near front entrance), the Choir Chapel (off left aisle), the Pieta (right aisle near front entrance). The last option to choose is St. Peter’s at Night, which is a view from the center of the Piazza of St. Peter’s.