Catholic Life Ministries

By Lori and Robert Fontana

Let’s start a national campaign to promote a path towards citizenship for migrants and refugees. Mass deportations are not the answer. Migrants and refugees, by and large, are hard-working, family oriented, and law-abiding members of our communities. Some are professional people, others carpenters, electricians, and owners of small stores. But many are the laborers doing the physical work of caring for our elderly, cleaning our homes and businesses, driving taxis, working at airports and slaughterhouses, and picking our crops.

Write the Republican lawmakers from your state and insist that they find the moral courage to give these good people a path to citizenship as did Ronald Reagan, one of our most conservative presidents, did when he signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986!

What you can do to promote a pathway to citizenship for migrants and refugees:

1. Get informed. Fact check any information you learn about undocumented migrants and refugees. One argument for deporting migrants is that they are “all rapists, murderers, and criminals!” The majority of undocumented migrants and refugees are good people seeking to build a new life in the U.S.. But do they commit more crime than native born citizens? The data says “no.” Although there are not good national statistics on this issue, looking at state arrest records shows that undocumented persons are as much as 40% less likely to commit crime than native-born   citizens (see: https://www.factcheck.org/2018/06/is-illegal-immigration-linked-to-more-or-less-crime/)

2. Learn about the real contributions of undocumented persons and refugees to U.S. society: “…There are currently an estimated 11 million individuals living in the United States without legal status, the vast majority of whom are working, paying taxes, and contributing in both economic and non-economic ways to their community, often starting their own businesses, and playing integral roles in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and other industries that are essential to the U.S. economy.” (see: https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/issues/undocumented-immigrants/)

3. Learn what the Bible actually says about how one should treat foreigners: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:34. “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” – Proverbs 14:31 “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was….a stranger and you welcomed me.’” Matthew 25:35

4. Get organized. Meet with your friends and neighbors, especially those who are politically conservative. Have a conversation about the above. Remind folks that both the Biblical view of migration and Catholic social teaching state that people have a right to leave their   homeland in search of a better life. And yes, Catholic social teaching also holds that governments have a responsibility to manage their country’s borders. The southern border is closed. Now is the time to advocate, in the spirit of Ronald Reagan (and guided by the Holy Spirit), for a path towards citizenship for migrants and refugees.

a. Meet with the congressional and senatorial representatives from your state, both parties. They have offices in the districts they represent. Talk with them and/or their staffs. Listen to their ideas; advocate for an end to mass deportations and urge them to create a path towards citizenship!

b.   Organize a peaceful rally in front of their offices.

c.   Write your newspaper; keep it up week after week.

5. Pray for the success of this campaign.

by Fr. Sam Fontana

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the Cardinal electors gathered in Rome and kindle in them the fire of your love. Fill them with your manifold gifts and make them docile to your promptings.

Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, purify and sanctify their minds, that they may listen and speak in truth.

Come, O Spirit of Peace, bind them together in charity and make them one in mind and heart.

Come, O Holy Paraclete, make known to them the man you have chosen, who will lead the Church in holiness and fidelity to the  Gospel.

Heavenly Father, in union with the whole, Church, we humbly and confidently beg you, with your Son, to send the Holy Spirit upon the Cardinals of the Church. Through the power and inspiration of the Spirit, may your will be perfectly accomplished through them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 By Robert Fontana

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope following the retirement of Benedict XVI (formerly Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). I was surprised, like most people, by the words and behaviors of the new pope. He was very different from his two predecessors. He…

¨ chose the name Francis and as the new pope, asked us to pray for him.

¨ moved into an apartment to live alongside others.

¨ ate in a communal dining room.

¨ for his first papal trip, visited migrants on an island near Italy.

¨ washed the feet of Muslim and Christian inmates at a prison at Good Friday services.

¨ visited the wall in Ciudad Juarez adjacent to El Paso advocating for the rights and dignity of migrants.

¨ wrote an encyclical urgently challenging us all to care for the earth, our common home.

¨ instructed the clergy to leave the confines of the parish to mix with the people, saying a pastor should “smell like his sheep.” And…the church must be a “field hospital” more concerned with healing the wounds of suffering people than with defending its own interests.  And…the Eucharist is “not a prize for the perfect but a generous medicine and food for the weak.”

¨ advocated for peace and justice for refugees everywhere, especially those living in Gaza.

¨ called a Catholic parish in Gaza daily to express his love and learn how the people were surviving.

¨ spoke with and welcomed individuals and groups formerly marginalized by the church (divorced and remarried, gay and lesbian).

¨ apologized for the sins of the church against children and youth through clergy sex abuse and destruction of native culture through boarding schools.

¨ initiated a new way of being church through the synodal process in which clergy and laity alike pray through and discuss issues of church life to discern guidance of the Holy Spirit.

¨ appointed most of the world’s cardinals, making the college of cardinals a truly international body.

I am grateful for the above. Pope Francis loved Jesus and sought to be a pastor rather than a king. Remember the first words out of his mouth when he referred to himself not as pope but as bishop:

Brothers and sisters, good evening. You all know that the duty of the Conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone almost to the ends of the earth to get him… but here we are.

He demonstrated that the church is a communion of disciples of Jesus, not a monarchy, corporation, or fund-raising apparatus. He showed us how to advocate and work for the common good, for what is life-giving for all people, not just Catholics. That is a witness sorely needed today.

However, there are areas of Francis’ ministry that were disappointing.

Clergy sex abuse: He had a lackluster approach to protecting minors and vulnerable adults from sexual predators in the church. His encouragement to whistleblowers who seek to expose sexual predators and bishops who protect these criminals was weak. Survivors of clergy sex abuse want a clear and unambiguous change to canon law that will suspend a cleric from ministry permanently for even one offense against a minor or vulnerable adult. (I would add to that to suspend any bishop or church leader who protected the offending cleric.)

Clericalism: I wish Francis had done more to ask the Catholic people how we experience clericalism in the church and what we think ought to be done about it. Lori and I have worked with many good, kind, compassionate, and competent priests. And we have worked with many who were simply bullies. They were bullies to sacristans and altar servers, bullies to their staff, and even bullies when visiting the sick and dying.

I think the problem goes back to their formation in   seminary with the notion that the priest is an “alter-Cristo.” He is the sacramental sign of Christ, head of the church. At Mass he is the last one to enter the church like a king entering court. He gives himself communion. And when Mass concludes, he blesses the rest of us, leaving himself out of the blessing. This is overstated and needs to change if the pastor is to “smell like the sheep.”

Women: Where would the Catholic Church be without the women who do most of the work in Catholic parishes, Catholic schools, Catholic dioceses, and social services? Yet women cannot preach, baptize, witness weddings, anoint the sick sacramentally, or preside at the burying of the dead. It is way past time that women be welcomed to the Sacrament of Holy Orders as deacons.

Celibacy: Pope Francis listened to pleas from South American bishops for a married clergy but caved to the backlash that came from traditionalists who demanded that he maintain celibacy for priests. This is silly and   sinful. We have married clergy in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and we allow married men who were pastors of Protestant churches and converted to Catholicism to be ordained priests. The bishops of Amazonia wanted to make the Eucharist and other Sacraments readily available to people who may only see a priest once a year. Pope Francis said “NO!” I guess celibacy is still more important to church leaders than is the Eucharist. Otherwise we would dispense of that discipline for the priesthood and ordain married men so that the Eucharist and other Sacraments can be readily available to all no matter where they live.

I am most grateful for the life and ministry of Pope  Francis, Bishop of Rome. He gave us the leadership that we needed at this time in history. I trust that the Holy Spirit will find a worthy successor whom I hope will take up some of the above issues. 

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and may perpetual light shine upon him!

By Chris Koehler, Director of Missions & Immigrant Affairs, Archdiocese of Seattle

What does it mean for me to be a person of hope?

Hope is not a belief that things will turn out well or the expectation of some specific good thing. For me, hope is the belief in the intrinsic good or doing good. In that sense, “hope” is an action verb: the act of doing something good is in itself The Good, and I believe that good always comes from doing good. Even when it is surrounded by a multitude of bad things, they do not detract from or diminish the good.

Hope is an act of creation. I have hope because I because I act in hope, and I witness others acting in hope

Hope is not about achieving some far-off goal. Our actions matter in and of themselves, regardless of what effect comes from them, because those acts build the world. They build a world of hope. Even when done in seemingly small ways – alleviating someone’s pain for just a moment, say – it has profound effects.

Hope is not a way of ignoring problems or pretending like everything is great when it’s not. It’s a way of facing challenges head on and saying, “Well, things are not great right now, but I can do good now and other good will come of that. I may never see what good comes of it, but I have faith that it will.”

What is a Scripture text that speaks to you of the hope you have in God?

Let’s think about the Good Samaritan for a moment

 “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

Our God is a God of love and compassion.

Put yourself in this story for a moment.

First, take the place of the man left for dead. Beaten. Robbed. Stripped of your clothes. Left lying in a ditch. Two men cross the road to avoid you; men who are expected to be of deep moral character. You are too weak to call out. Then a different man stops; a man from a hated group. He tends to your wounds and bandages them. He takes you to an inn and pays for your stay and food and to be taken care of.

How was your hope affected? Did you lose hope? Did you regain hope? What were you feeling – anger, surprise, relief? If your sense of hope changed, why was that? What triggered that change?

Now, take the place of the Samaritan. You have found someone half-dead. You clothe him and tend to his wounds and take him to an inn. You use your own money to ensure he has the care he needs.

As you leave the inn, what are you thinking and feeling? Are you certain he will survive? What is your hope grounded in?

I meet Good Samaritans every day. They fill the world with hope. None of us know how things will turn out, and things often don’t turn out as we expected. But that does not diminish the hope that was nurtured by their actions.

How do you nurture hope and where do you see signs of hope?

I sympathize with people who are shutting out the news. There is so much that is hurtful and saddening and depressing. And much else that is sensationalistic, negative depictions of what’s happening in the world. It feels bad, but it is not the whole story. I want to stay informed because to do so otherwise is to shut out the reality of our lives. It results in isolation. I don’t want to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the man in the roadside ditch. I want to know what people are doing to make things better, to be inspired and to be challenged as well. I want to be in community with others, both those who are suffering and those who are helping.

I subscribe to Facebook accounts about positive and fun things. I watch shows that have stories about people helping each other. These are everywhere. I watch Finding Your Roots, a show where celebrities discover and recover the stories of their family who came before them. Every episode raises up the stories of courageous and hopeful people who overcome some form of adversity. They never do it alone. Those stories are hard to hear, but they are full of hope.

I practice “positive gossip”—sharing stories about human goodness. That’s helps to assuage other people’s cynicism, as well as my own. Some people have remarked how positive I am, which is funny because I am a naturally pessimistic person…but I choose positivity. I choose to see the good that is often clouded by the bad that is happening.

I see the incredible hopefulness of younger generations. The ones I know are the most globally informed and concerned generation I’ve ever known. They can be full of anxiety and fear and frustration, but they are focused on what they can do to make things better and they expect our leaders to do the same. 

On a more personal and somewhat silly note, I watch horror movies by myself. Late at night with the lights off. After everyone else has gone to bed. I love a good scare…not a jump scare or gore, but a slowly creeping dread. Why do I mention that here? Because the horror movies I like always have hope deeply embedded in the story. There’s a group of people trying to help each other get through. There’s often an unlooked-for stroke of luck (or blessing?). There’s often someone who starts out bad but is changed in the face of someone else’s suffering and does the right thing in the end.

 What is a piece of wisdom that you would like to share? 

Hope is about community.

There’s lots of science and solid research that’s been done about hope. One thing that has been shown over and over is that when we look at what people are really like, they do good things all the time, and they do extraordinarily good things a lot of the time.

We are all weak at times. We can despair. We can give up. We can curse the weight of the responsibilities we carry, and we can fail to live up to those responsibilities. We can lose hope. If we are alone, that is dangerous.

But when we are in community, we can rely on the strength of others. They nurture us when we despair. They forgive us when we cannot forgive ourselves. They help us to uncover the hope we thought we had lost. They show us the grace of God. And we can do the same others in turn.

So let me close by extolling the value and the fundamental importance of growing, nurturing, and maintaining a healthy community. On full of both joy and hope. Do that and all else will fall into place.

by Robert Fontana

“O God, you have been our refuge from all generations. Before the sun was born, before the galaxies came forth, and the Great Beginning, you are God from eternity and forever.” (Adapted from Psalm 90:1)

I remember the first time I saw photos from the Hubble telescope. THEY WERE STUNNING! Hubble captured images of stars, galaxies, nebulas and so much more, thousands of light years from Earth.

Hubble scientists focused its lens on a dark section of space and saw an astounding 50,000 galaxies. THAT’S GALAXIES NOT JUST STARS! Our own Milky Way Galaxy has an estimated 100-400 billion stars. EGADS! Our sun is a star. Imagine 400 billion of them times 50,000 that makes…wait let me ask one of my grands… “Ty, compute this for me!” There are unimaginable numbers of stars in the universe which is incomprehensibly vast.

Scientists estimate the universe to be 13.79 billion years old and Earth to be about 4.55 billion years old, give or take a few hundred million years.

Keep in mind that the “stuff” that makes up the stars and the planets, including Earth and all the creatures that inhabit the Earth, have a common origin in the beginning of the universe. Fr. Thomas Berry, who described himself as Geologian (Geologist + Theologian), wrote,

“To tell the full story of a single particle we must tell the story of the universe, for each particle is in some way intimately present to every other particle in the universe.” (The Universe Story – https://thomasberry.org/quotes/)

And…

“It takes a universe to bring human beings into being.” (Evening Thoughts – https://thomasberry.org/quotes/)

We humans emerged on earth only about 300,000 years ago. We are latecomers to life on the planet. According to Astronomy Workshop, if one could compress “the time the Universe existed into the span of a single day, with the Big Bang occurring at the stroke of midnight…humans crash the party at 11:59:56 pm, just four seconds before the end of the day.” (See https://janus.astro.umd.edu/front/pages/links/Time1.html)

In universe time, Jesus lived and died a nano-second ago.

As I marvel at the vastness of the universe story, I feel a tension between science and the Easter story, the Paschal Mystery: that God’s beloved son died for our sins, rose from the dead, was seen by a handful of his companions, ascended into heaven, and will come again at the end of time. All who are faithful to Jesus will live forever in paradise, and the unfaithful, well…

WHOA! It’s a story that sounds too good to be true. Too neat, too convenient. Why do only the followers of Jesus get to see the Risen Jesus? Why does he not show himself risen to all people? Can we really trust their story? No one can see him now, but don’t worry, he’s coming back. And when he does, he is going to wield a sword to strike down all the ungodly and bring everlasting life to his faithful followers. In the meanwhile, we try to live lives guided by the Holy Spirit as we wait for Jesus to come again.

AND HOW DOES ALL THAT MESH WITH THE EVIDENCE FROM SCIENCE ON HOW THE UNIVERSE BEGAN, THE GALAXIES CAME FORTH, THE EARTH WAS FORMED AND HUMANS EMERGED?

I can just hear my agnostic college roommate saying, “With the evidence you have from science about the age and formation of the universe, do you believe this S**T?”

And, YES, I do believe, but it is not without some doubt and uncertainty.

Why do I believe the Easter story as presented in the Scriptures, proclaimed by the Christian community, and embraced by the saints? I think the primary reason is that I have experienced God’s love and forgiveness through my faith long before I began to grapple with the evidence from science. Initially, when I first saw the images of deep space taken by Hubble, I felt really scared.  How could the story of Jesus and the story of the universe both by true? I felt like Moses when he was confronted by God in the burning bush. Do I throw water on the bush? Do I run away? Or do I follow God’s command to Moses: “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) I chose the Moses route. And, yes, it was, and still is, a choice.

I also take my doubts to St. Paul. Reading his description of the appearances of Jesus gives me great comfort. Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians some 25 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is the earliest written account that we have of the resurrection appearances, 15-20 years earlier than the written Gospels:

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. (1 Cor 15:3-9)

Paul’s summary of the appearances of Jesus is remarkable. Do I trust what he says? Do I trust what the Christian community has continued to say about Jesus for the past 2000 years even if Jesus’ life on Earth is just a nanosecond in universe time? YES!

During this Easter season I hold onto both remarkable stories as true: the story of the unfolding universe on which the human story is radically dependent, and the story of the saving work of Jesus through his life, death, resurrection, and sending of the Holy Spirit, on which the Christian story is radically dependent.

Alleluia! Happy, holy Easter!

By Robert Fontana

No, no, no! Jesus was the perfect child. He was naturally obedient to his parents, at least except for his little escape to the temple without telling Joseph and Mary, when they were in a tizzy not knowing where he was. Then how would he have needed to learn obedience to God through what he suffered?

Our faith teaches us that Jesus suffered for our sins through his death on the cross. As St. Paul writes:

We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Cor 1:23-24

Indeed, the entire sacramental life of the Catholic church is based on this conviction that we participate in the meaning of Christ’s death whenever we celebrate any of the Sacraments, but especially the sacraments of Eucharist and Baptism:

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 1 Cor 11:26

…are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.  Rom 6:3-5

The New Testament writers understood that Jesus is the Suffering Servant written about by Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12):

But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.

The letter to the Hebrews teaches us that suffering for Jesus had a purpose, to teach him to obey God’s will for his life. This didn’t happen just in the garden of Gethsemane when he prayed that the suffering that lay before him be taken away. No, Jesus was being trained from childhood to bear a variety of different forms of painful events that enabled him to literally take up his cross at Calvary. The ancient Christian hymn cited by St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians underscores this very point:

…though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8

How did Jesus during his lifetime learn obedience through suffering? This is what I think.

(1) Jesus learned to say “yes” to God by saying “no” to temptation.  Jesus was not just tempted when he encountered the Devil during his 40-day fast in the wilderness.  He was tempted throughout his entire life with real temptations, as we all face. We have a glimpse of how Jesus was tempted when we read how he struggled in the garden to face the suffering and death that were coming: “Abba, Father, take this cup from me.”  Mark 14:36

Did Jesus struggle in a similar way with other temptations? Why not? He was fully human in all ways but sin. He must have had to wrestle with the seven deadly sins – pride, anger, greed, envy, gluttony, lust, and laziness – as we all do. 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

(2) Jesus learned obedience to God by saying “no” to family expectations. His family and relatives from Nazareth were good Jews. They were just as offended by Jesus’ behavior as were the religious leaders, so much so that family members tried to remove Jesus from circulation, and the synagogue leaders of Nazareth had him expelled:

When his relatives heard of this, they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”  Mark 3:21

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. Luke 4:16-29

I don’t think we can overstate how difficult this was for him in a kinship culture in which family relationships dominated Jewish life. Loyalty is expected, even demanded. Yet Jesus must break through family expectations to truly listen to his Father’s will for his life.

(3) Jesus learned obedience to God’s will by suffering through opposition from Jewish religious leaders. These leaders watched what Jesus was doing and were outraged by it: breaking Sabbath regulations; eating and drinking with tax collectors and prostitutes (sinners); including women as his disciples; healing servants of the hated Romans; and insisting that God’s love was breaking into the world through him. Their only explanation for such scandalous behavior was that Jesus must be possessed:

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”  Mark 3:22

(4) Jesus learned obedience to God by suffering through the departure of many of his disciples who lost confidence in him. This loss of confidence began before the great betrayal of Jesus by his disciples on the night he was betrayed. John records that after Jesus finished a series of teachings, many of his disciples found what he said was so hard to take; and they left him. It got so bad that Jesus turned to the Twelve and said, “Do you also want to leave?”  John 6:67-71  The Twelve, led by Peter, decided to stay.

(5) Jesus learned obedience to God as he confronted the reality that the “Good News” he was preaching will get him killed. As Jesus set his eyes on Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), it became clear to him that his Gospel message of the Kingdom of God would not find a home among his Jewish listeners. This clarified things for him. He knew that if he continued doing what he was doing, his future path was one of suffering and death. He was ready for it. He had been training for this moment his entire life. This is echoed in the letter to the Hebrews:

In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. Hebrews 5:7-9

Jesus’ suffering as the “Suffering Servant” did not begin with Good Friday. He was being trained for his passion and death, for his Good Friday, throughout his entire life, as he learned to obey God’s will for him despite temptations, the opposition of religious leaders, the rejection by family and relatives from Nazareth, and the abandonment by some of his disciples and friends.

Perhaps the same is true for us. We too learn to do what is right, to do God’s will for our life, through our struggles with temptations, bad religion, and inadequate expectations from family and friends. The “Serenity Prayer” has a line that reads, “Suffering is the pathway to peace.” Jesus shows us the truth of that wisdom. He learned obedience through suffering; so do we.

By Robert Fontana

I was raised in a conventional Catholic family. Faith in God was tied to being part of a community of people that shared a culture based on specific practices: Mass on Sunday and holy days; praying the rosary, abstaining from meat on Fridays, etc. We were raised like the comedian Kathleen Madigan, who remembers how the nuns taught her,

“DON’T BOTHER JESUS! You have a guardian angel who’s with you 24/7; go to your him if you have a problem. You can turn to one of the saints; there’s one responsible for every facet of life. You can try Jesus’ mother – ask her for help. But DON’T BOTHER JESUS.”

Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.

We had a family Bible but never read it. Our only family review of Scripture was while praying the “mysteries” of the rosary which focused on Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. His life and teachings were assumed, I suppose, to be part of cultural Catholicism.

That all changed for my parents when, after 20 years of marriage, they weren’t getting along. Rather than going to a divorce court, they went to a Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting. Their lives were turned upside down. They met Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a surprising and beautiful way. They discovered God’s love for them and God’s will for them: to love one another. Their transformation became my transformation.

Throughout high school I struggled with all the things teenagers struggle with but what helped me to cope was daily Bible readings, prayer, and a desire to do God’s will. By the time I was a high school senior, I started hearing an inner voice that said, “Why don’t you become a priest?” I remember fighting it. “NO! I DON’T WANT THAT! I want to go to college, to watch football games, to date girls.”  

God won that argument. I went to a college seminary situated on acres of pine woods north of New Orleans. It was my first experience of being in such a quiet environment with all boys and with NO GIRLS! I hated it.

It took me a good month to transition to the rhythm of life offered by the Benedictine monks at St. Joseph Seminary. That life began with sung prayer of the Psalms at 6:15 in the morning, class beginning at 8:30 or 9 am, Mass at 11:15, more class, free time, and work study in the afternoon, evening prayer with the monks at 5:30 pm and night prayer with the seminarians at 9:30. I was being disciplined into a new way of being a Catholic follower of Jesus.

During a fall day of prayer, the retreat director, Fr. Ambrose, said something that seems simple and “duh” now, but at the time was very new to me. He suggested that we spend a lot of time outdoors and listen to “nature.” Many of my classmates laughed at his suggestion. Fr. Ambrose was a man who would not swat a mosquito sucking blood out of his arm because he wanted to learn something from the insect. Yet, for me, what he said struck me as truth.

I tried to tune in to nature during the day. The beautiful, natural surroundings touched me, had a calming effect on me. I would occasionally get up early before morning prayer and spend time alone at the nearby river.

When Lent came around the following Spring, Fr. Ambrose again gave us students a recommendation that I took to heart. He suggested that during these 40 days we remove one item from our room as an outward sign of removing an attachment in our heart that might be keeping us from loving God and loving my neighbor. That very night I resolved for Lent I would remove one item each day from my room, and I would begin each day with a half hour of silence at the river before morning prayer.

Something very profound began to happen to me. I became aware of the beauty, peace, and healing balm that nature had to offer me. By the time Holy Week came, my room was completely emptied of all items on my wall, bed, and bookshelf. My heart had become still, quieted by nature’s touch. I felt so close to God, at peace with myself and the world around me.

I learned from that Lenten journey what Moses, the prophets from the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus, and the saints all knew from their life with God: nature is a primary place of encounter between God and humans.

In Catholic language, nature is a “Sacrament.” It is an “outward sign, something one can experience through the senses – seen, touched, and heard – instituted by God, that gives grace.” In fact, it is the original “Sacrament” upon which all other Sacraments are built. Without nature, there is no “burning bush” before Moses, no “cloud by day” leading the Hebrews from Egypt, and no Word of God becoming “flesh” in baby Jesus.

Once while praying in a nearby park whose trees and shrubs were left to grow wild and free, I felt like I was in the womb of love. I wrote a poem about my relationship with the Sacrament of Nature inspired by the words of St. Augustine and an old Catholic hymn. I share it with you below. May you take time this Lent to cultivate a deeper life with God by allowing nature that you have access to – from your garden or nearby park to a mountain stream or the vast ocean – quiet your soul and draw you into a beautiful encounter with God.

“How late have I loved thee, O Nature, ever ancient and ever new.

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, how late have I reverenced you, bowed before your beauty, knelt before your mystery like Moses before the burning bush.

You give life and death. You water, plant seeds, grow forests, birth creatures, including me, and receive us in death.

I played in your fields, ate from your fruits, stole from your treasures, always thinking you and I are different, separate. I had forgotten that I came from you, and I will return to you. As the Scriptures write, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:19) Clearly, I am nature too.

Forgive me, O sacred friend, forgive me for loving you too late, way too late, and having caused you so much harm. Late have I loved thee, O Beauty ever ancient and ever new, but it is not too late for me to change.

By Robert Fontana

During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross.  We walk with the Messiah who had to suffer for our sake and our salvation; and we join in his work of redemptive suffering.  We do penance and acts of self-denial, which train us to bear suffering for the love of God.  And if we are going through a time of actual suffering because of difficult life circumstances, such as illness or confronting real evil and injustice in society, we carry the cross of that suffering because it too can become life-giving and redemptive through Christ.

Let us especially carry in our hearts the suffering people in the Ukraine, the suffering people in Gaza and Israel, the suffering people escaping violence and migrating for a safer life, the suffering people who live on our streets, the suffering people in difficult marriages and unhealthy relationships, the suffering women and couples and their unborn child in a crisis pregnancy, and…(you add your list).

Such a somber and serious season needs a party, one last “hurrah,” to help us enter into it properly.  Thus in Catholic countries all over the world the season of “Carnival” and “Mardi Gras” is celebrated before Lent.  A very appropriate way to bring closure to Carnival and Ordinary Time and transition into the penitential season of Lent is literally to bury the word “Alleluia.”  That word, usually sung before the reading of the Gospels at Mass, is not sung during Lent.  It will not be heard again until the Easter vigil when the Church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, who is God’s “Alleluia” to the world.

So, sometime this weekend, gather with your family and friends to transition into the Lenten season and bury the “Alleluia” using the following prayer service, or something similar.

Bury the Alleluia in Preparation for Lent  – A prayer service to help you and your family, prayer group, office, and/or parish prepare for Lent. You can do this any day during the week of Ash Wednesday to the first Sunday in Lent.

Materials: Take a legal size sheet of paper and, using a marker, write in large print “Alleluia.”  Have other markers of different colors available.  You will also need a shovel.

Leader  Lent is upon us.  It is the time we remember when God’s “Alleluia,” Jesus, took away the sins of the world through his death on the cross.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Leader  The word “Alleluia” is a Hebrew word which means “Praise the Lord.”  It is appropriate to call Jesus “God’s Alleluia” because his entire life was an act of praise and worship of God.

 R1   Jesus is the word of God who is fully human and fully God.

 All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R2   Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph, and from them he learned to do his Father’s will.

 All   Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R3    Jesus preached the Kingdom of God.  He invited women and men to repent and believe in the good news of God’s immense love breaking into human history.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R4  Jesus gathered together a community of disciples, women and men, and taught them the Beatitudes.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

All Our Father…

By Robert Fontana

I do love Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday (March 5), but I resist it as well. Lent invites me to consider what is at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus – love of God and neighbor, especially those who are poor, marginalized, and scapegoated. I resist because, well, I don’t always want to be challenged to correct a fault or engage an issue that might take time, energy, and money.

I have also come to suspect the surface piety of Lent – adding fast days, praying the rosary every day or attending daily Mass – when it doesn’t also reach down to one’s heart. We become complicit in the sins of the culture when we just reinforce a cultural Catholicism that keeps us focused on our personal salvation (and that of our family members) but ignores the suffering of “my neighbor” in society.

Christian on the outside, but opposite on the inside. This is not new to Catholicism specifically or to Christianity in general. I’m reading the biography of the abolitionist and formerly enslaved Frederick Douglas. He writes bitingly against the slaveholders from the South who got on their knees at night in prayer, read the Scriptures daily, and faithfully attended church on Sunday. Yet these same men and women enslaved human beings, fed them starvation diets, beat them on a whim, raped the women, ignored their own children born from rape, and worked all the enslaved people, children to old people, from dawn to dusk.

Douglas writes, “I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the…boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never was there a clearer case of ‘stealing the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in.’ I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me.”[1]

Among these Christian slaveholders were many Catholics including Jesuits who enslaved hundreds of men, women, and children on their farms in Maryland.[2]

One of the critiques of the Catholic Church in Europe following World War II was that it was more concerned with self-preservation than about the general welfare of the people being persecuted by the Nazis, especially the Jews, but also communists, Protestant intellectuals, Roma people, and homosexuals.[3] In a sobering response to the failure of the Catholic Church to respond to the social crisis created by the Nazis, the bishops at the 2^nd Vatican Council, in a deliberate effort to be faithful to the Gospel, committed the church to advocate for and stand in solidarity with suffering humanity:

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.[4]

Five outstanding Nazi opponents from within Germany were university students : Hans and Sophie Scholl (brother and sister), Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, and Christoph Probst, led by their philosophy professor, Kurt Huber. They formed an anti-Hitler group called The White Rose, a reference to all that was beautiful, good, and Christian about their Germany before the Nazi takeover. (see https://jetsettimes.com/countries/germany/munich/the-white-rose-movement/}

“The group wrote, printed and initially distributed their pamphlets in the greater Munich region. Later on, secret carriers brought copies to other cities, mostly in the southern parts of Germany. In July, 1943, Allied planes dropped their sixth and final leaflet over Germany with the headline “The Manifesto of the Students of Munich”…They denounced the Nazi regime’s crimes and oppression, and called for resistance…they openly denounced the persecution and mass murder of the Jews.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White Rose)

They were captured in 1943, humiliated at a public trial, and three were sentenced to death by guillotine: Hans and Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst. What courage! 

That brings me to these “Troubled Times.” Chaos reigns from the White House. Federal workers are being fired on a whim. Federal agencies that serve the American people, from its national parks, to disease prevention, education and even Medicaid, are being undermined. Our closest neighbor nations are being threatened, American allies are being bullied, and dictators are being embraced. And tragically, men, women, and children, fleeing their home countries because of poverty and violence are scapegoated as rapists and murderers who need to be rounded up and deported. (At least the Catholic bishops have gained a spine to speak out against this travesty.)

Every Christian, Catholic and Protestant, shaped by the ethics of the prophets from the Hebrew Scriptures and by the example and teachings of Jesus, cannot help but be outraged at the injustices coming from the White House. This is not a partisan issue. Conservatives like former vice-president Mike Pence, Liz Cheney, and Adam Kinzinger, all fully committed to the president’s agenda in his first term, are severe critics in his second.

Ask yourself, is this the path that I want the United States of America to travel? Consider the courage of the Munich martyrs when they did their part to stand up to Hitler. What will you and I do to confront the areas of darkness unfolding before us now?

During this Lent I pray that you and I will take moments to meditate on the Scriptures especially the writings of the prophets and the four Gospels. One passage that stands out for me is Micah 6:8:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (New International Version)

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[1]  Douglas, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. p. 107-108, Modern Library, NY, NY © 2000.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Jesuit_slave_sale

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichskonkordat

[4] Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, Article 1

By Robert Fontana

St. Brigid is one of three patron saints of Ireland along with St. Patrick and St. Columban. Her feast day, February 1, also marks the first day of Spring in Ireland. A person could go all his or her life without having fun with a spring cleaning on St. Brigid’s Day, as we outline below, and still be a very fine Christian. Obviously the same is true for another unique event for Catholics coming up on March 5, Ash Wednesday. These events have some hands-on gestures and rituals that may seem odd to the casual observer. On Ash Wednesday we receive a cross of ashes on our foreheads. On the eve of St. Brigid’s Day (February 1), we use a kerchief to literally swipe our homes clean and symbolically remove it of “sin and selfishness.” Then we tie the cloth to a tree, where the spirit of St. Brigid and the Holy Spirit, come to take the sins away. These faith-based rituals can be somber, as in receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, or fun as on St. Brigid’s Day. What they do is help us sanctify the day, making it special by allowing our entire body to participate in the meaning of the day. The actions and gestures of these events are an outward sign, a symbolic gesture, of our belief as disciples of Jesus, yet they are not essential to discipleship.

What are the essentials of being a disciple of Jesus anyway? Here are a few that come to mind:  belonging to a community of faith that follows Jesus; encountering Jesus in a personal way and making a conscious decision to follow him by living out the Beatitudes; opening one’s life to the Holy Spirit; belonging to a small group where one is personally loved and held accountable as a disciple; participating in public worship and community rites; maintaining a consistent prayer life that involves the praying/studying of Scripture; engaging one’s faith within daily life; caring for the sick, elderly, poor, and for children.

These “essentials” are the “meat and potatoes” of following Jesus but, to continue the food analogy, without much seasoning or dessert. I think that it’s the addition of the non-essentials that adds spice and fun to one’s faith. For example, the liturgical year that divides up secular time into sacred seasons of Advent/Christmas, Lent, Easter/Pentecost, and Ordinary Times, is certainly not an essential feature of being a Christian. Some deeply Christian denominations function perfectly fine without a “liturgical year.” Yet we Catholics, joined by the Orthodox and mainline Protestants, find it extremely useful to organize the year around the major themes of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In doing so, we think we are better able to tell the story of Jesus’ life and integrate His message in our lives today.

The “Sign of the Cross” is another non-essential and arbitrary practice that Christians do that has helped shape an identity that is deeply Christian and Catholic.  In that one action, we remind ourselves of the saving work of Jesus through his death on the cross, and of our dependence on the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Can a person be a good Christian and never make the “sign of the cross”? Most certainly. Some Christians bow their heads when they begin a prayer. Catholics (and Orthodox) make the “Sign of the Cross.” It summons us to quiet ourselves, and be attentive to what God is doing in the moment, whether it be followed by the blessing of a meal or the committal of a beloved family member to the grave.

I think a relationship with Mary, the mother of Jesus, especially manifested through the practice of praying the rosary, is a non-essential practice of Christian discipleship. One could go his or her entire life without ever praying to Mary, much less saying the rosary, and still be a deeply committed follower of Jesus. St. Paul makes no mention of Jesus’ mother except in one obscure text in Galatians (4:4). Certainly Paul never prayed to Mary and never thought that what she brought to the life of a disciple was important enough to write about. Protestants, taking their cue from Paul, also do not pray to Mary (or the saints) and yet are still following Jesus as committed disciples. Mary and the rosary are non-essentials to Christian discipleship. But I believe a devotion to Mary, so deeply imbedded in Catholic culture, is a wonderful gift from God that deepens faith, hope, and love.

Of course, there are many other non-essentials such as observing the feast days of saints, praying to St. Anthony for lost items, blessing pets on the feast of St. Francis, wearing religious medals and scapulars, lighting candles as a prayer offering, fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, and “burying the Alleluia” on Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. None of these practices is essential to Christian discipleship and, if done these are done apart from the essentials, they have little meaning. But when these rituals are done in conjunction with being an active follower of Jesus, they have the capacity to shape a Catholic Christian identity that gives a person deeper roots and brings joy and fun to the Christian life.

So add some spice to your faith life. On St. Brigid’s Day (Feb. 1), wipe your home clean of sin, and on Mardi Gras (Mar 4) bury the Alleluia (see rituals below). Then on Ash Wednesday (Mar 5), the very next day, go to the nearest Catholic Church and get your ashes.

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St. Brigid’s Day “Spring Cleaning” (February 1)
Prayer:  Saint Brigid, daughter of Ireland and lover of Jesus, draw us by your prayers into the living flame of God’s love.  Help us to clean our hearts and homes of all that is selfish and self-centered.  We forgive all who have hurt us and ask God to forgive our sins as well.

Pray for us, St. Brigid, that we will be attentive to the poor and spiritually abandoned, that we will practice the Beatitudes in good times and bad, and that the warmth of God’s love will animate all that we say and do.

Activity:  Each member of the home takes a kerchief or handkerchief in hand and walks through the house dusting the furniture and books, and lamps, etc. singing “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

When the house has been thoroughly dusted, all go outside and tie the kerchiefs on the branches of a tree. The myth is that, on the eve of her feast day, St. Brigid, in the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, travels through the land with her prayers to remove the dust and sin, and even ailments, from our lives.

Closing Prayer:  St. Brigid, come this day, to our home and hearts, come by the power of God, and be our guest. And help us, dear Brigid, to wipe away the dust of “me, my, and mine” that we might love others with a selfless heart. Amen.

Our Father…

Leave the kerchiefs and handkerchiefs on the tree for a week or until Ash Wednesday.

BURY THE ALLELUIA on “Mardi Gras (Mar 4)” the day before Ash Wednesday (Mar 5)

All               Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Leader             For the 40 days of Lent the Church “buries the Alleluia” by refraining from singing this sacred word in our liturgy.  We do so to remember the Lord Jesus, God’s alleluia, the Lamb of God, who took the sins of the world with him to the grave so as to rob them of their power to destroy life.

What are the sins of the world today that destroy life?  Say them aloud as you write them on a sheet of paper bearing the word “Alleluia.”

[After all have done so the “Alleluia” is placed in the ground and buried with dirt in the same way that Jesus who died for the sins of the world was placed in a tomb following his death.]

All                   Gracious God and Father, your beloved Son Jesus suffered death to give us life.  Help us during this Lenten season to deny ourselves and serve others in imitation of Him who lives with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen!