Getting ready for KAIROS

This week, I'll be walking with some students from St. John Vianney High School who will be on a KAIROS retreat in Bucks County, PA from Wednesday through Saturday. Ever since I went on my first KAIROS retreat as a priest, I've really loved the experience for myself. It's really one of those rare experiences that makes me feel very positive about being a priest and ministering to young adults. I like this image of freshly-baked bread to illustrate information about KAIROS: the students, the team, and the retreat leaders are all like these freshly-baked loaves. All who participate in the KAIROS experience become like these loaves: warm, tasty, and newly "baked" by the Holy Spirit who touches the hearts of young people and lots of us "older folks" too. I pray this week that this upcoming KAIROS retreat will be one in which the Lord touches hearts and minds, and helps all to see that we are all beloved of the Father, who sent his Son to live and die for us, so that we may have life eternal!

The Lady Lancers at the Ritacco Center!

On Saturday, the Lady Lancers will play at the Ritacco Center in Toms River. As always, I wish them the best. I just ask that they do their best, to play smart and fair, and to represent St. John Vianney H.S. with grace and class.

The Lady Lancers have worked hard all year, and this game will cap off a wonderful year. They've really grown into a wonderful team during this season, as they've come to really know each other.

I hope to be there for this great game tomorrow, and it's always a pleasure to be with the women of St. John Vianney H.S.

Let my prayers rise like incense

A byzantine-style censor (with the twelve bells representing the 12 apostles) shows the smoke of incense rising and spreading towards heaven.

I know that some people have problems with the use of incense in Latin-Rite Catholic worship. I appreciate the fact that people sometimes have breathing problems due to asthma, or allergies. I personally struggle with trying to be sensitive to the needs of the super-allergic to incense, and then dealing with the liturgical practices and rubrics of the Latin Rite.

At St. Anselm, I've taken to using Byzantine-style incense which I find to be the lightest "flavor" that I've ever found. At funerals, we're called to use incense. At Vespers, we're called to use incense. As we approach Holy Week, I'm struggling over the use of incense in our liturgies. We could use the cheap, very smoky incense that other parishes use. However, to try to satisfy the needs of the liturgy and the people with allergies, we use the best Byzantine-style incense that we can get.

Since the Byzantine Catholics use incense in their Divine Liturgies every day, they have a lot more experience with the different flavors of the incense.

I've been thinking about why we use incense sometimes in our liturgies. I've come to believe that our ancestors realized somewhere along the line that ALL of our senses need to be engaged in our liturgical practices: touch, hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling! As the Second Vatican Council asked us to "open up" all of our symbols, I believe that we're called to find the best ways to do our liturgies with lots of touch, with lots of oils, with the best bread, with the best words that we can use, etc.

Maybe we're called to use the best "holy smoke" that we can use, and use it to round out our symbolic and liturgical practices.

Take the Stone Away!!!

Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead.

This Sunday's Gospel calls us to reflect on some very important issues. The story of Jesus and Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus begs us to inspect our ideas about Jesus' humanity as the story outlines his greatest showing of his divine power.

I've always been fascinated by the details that John includes in this story that illustrate the tremendous humanity of Jesus. These include the wonderful two-word phrase that shows so poignantly the humanity of Jesus: "Jesus wept".....at the news of the death of his friend Lazarus.

Perhaps we're being called to reflect upon the ways that we incorporate both the human and divine aspects of our own lives in these last days of Lent. These last, intense days of Lent call us to reflect upon our own existence as human creatures formed in God's divine image; as sinners redeemed by our share in the baptism into Christ that redeems us all by his divine blood.

Let's pray that Jesus will raise us all beyond our various "tombs" into life with him forever.

SJV Women's Hoops trounces RBC!!!!!!

Tonight, the Lady Lancers sent the Caseys home once again. The Lady Lancers beat the Caseys at a game held in Jackson Twp, at a new high school called Jackson Liberty High School.

I thought that the refs were a tad too tolerant of the pushing and elbowing, but in the end, the Lady Lancers came through and smacked down the Caseys, despite the dirty playing.

Now onto the next game.

For the Lady Lancers who are interested in coming on the next KAIROS RETREAT, my advice is: get your permission slips in, don't worry about the $, and keep praying! If you come on the retreat, you'll never, ever forget it!

Fr. Gene

Laetare Medal, 2008 Martin Sheen

I had lateley heard rumblings about this, and today, it was announced.

The University of Notre Dame's annual Laetare Medal will be presented to Martin Sheen for his contributions to Catholic Life in the United States.

Each year, the University presents this award to an outstanding Catholic who has advanced the cause of Catholicism in our country.

Sheen has been in numerous film, and theatrical presentations in which he's portrayed Catholic characters facing modern and challenging situations.

I confess that one of my favorite scenes is from "THE WEST WING": In it, the President, Jed Bartlett (Sheen) is suddenly faced with a surprise commuting of a death sentence for an inmate faced with capital punishment. He struggles with his decision, as do his staff: Jewish, and Christian alike. He struggles with the political implications of commuting a death sentence in today's culture.

In the end, he "allows" the death sentence to go through, but not without a little Catholic guilt. He's summoned his boyhood parish priest to come report to the Oval Office. The priest, played wonderfully by Carl Mauldin, comes to comfort the President, but doesn't back down for a moment as his lasting, and most powerful conscience. It's an unforgettable scene.

I personally consider that episode to be one of my favorites of the WEST WING, and one of the best scenes ever portrayed on television in the United States.

Anyway, Sheen has been honored by numerous Catholic colleges, including King's College, my alma mater, and so I'm not surprised by this recent honor from Notre Dame, my other Alma Mater.....

Actor and human rights activist Martin Sheen has been awarded Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal for 2008. He will receive the medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the University's 163rd Commencement exercises May 18 (Sunday).
“As one of our nation’s most recognizable and accomplished screen actors, Martin Sheen has achieved a level of celebrity that few Americans enjoy,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., University president. “He has used that celebrity to draw the attention of his fellow citizens to issues that cry out for redress, such as the plight of immigrant workers and homeless people, the waging of unjust war, the killing of the unborn and capital punishment. We welcome the opportunity to lift up his example for our Church, our country, and our students.”
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Sheen was born Aug. 3, 1940, one of 10 children of a Spanish-born father and an Irish-born mother. His legal and baptismal name is Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez, but he later adopted his stage name in honor of the pioneering televangelist Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
After his graduation from Chaminade High School in Dayton, Sheen claims to have intentionally failed his entrance examination for the University of Dayton in order to pursue an acting career of which his father disapproved. Borrowing money from a priest friend, he went to New York City, working with Julian Beck’s Living Theatre and eventually landing a widely acclaimed role in the 1964 Broadway play, “The Subject Was Roses.” During this period, he became fascinated by Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement, visiting and volunteering at the Catholic Worker’s houses on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Sheen has played numerous award-winning television and film roles, most notably an amoral young murderer in the 1973 film “Badlands,” a disintegrating American soldier in the 1979 film “Apocalypse Now,” a bemused journalist in the 1982 biopic “Gandhi,” and the itinerant French co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Peter Maurin, in the 1996 film “Entertaining Angels.” From 1999 to 2006, on NBC's widely acclaimed television series "The West Wing," he played a soulful American president who was a Notre Dame graduate.
A self-described Catholic peace activist, opponent of abortion and student of Catholic social teaching, Sheen acknowledges his spiritual debts to St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Dorothy Day, Rev. Daniel Berrigan, S.J., and the late labor leader Cesar Chavez. He often has been arrested as a participant in nonviolent demonstrations against various U.S. military policies and has enthusiastically donated money, time and his celebrity to such causes as the alleviation of poverty and homelessness, human rights for migrant workers, and environmental protection.
The Laetare (pronounced Lay-tah-ray) Medal is so named because its recipient is announced each year in celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent on the Church calendar. “Laetare,” the Latin word for “rejoice,” is the first word in the entrance antiphon of the Mass that Sunday, which ritually anticipates the celebration of Easter. The medal bears the Latin inscription, “Magna est veritas et prevalebit” (“Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail.”)
Established at Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor which antedates the 11th century. The medal has been awarded annually at Notre Dame to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”
Among the 130 previous recipients of the Laetare Medal are Civil War Gen. William Rosecrans, operatic tenor John McCormack, President John F. Kennedy, Catholic Worker foundress Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, and death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean.

So Martin Sheen joins us in being "Loyal sons and daughters of Notre Dame"...... may we all join in praising the Mother of the Savior of us all!

Congratulations, Martin!

May the Lord continue the good work begun in you!

One more reflection on today's gospel, a poem by Sr. Elizabeth Michael Boyle, O.P.

The Price

To be born blind
is to be born without:
to believe without icons
to worship without idols
to reflect without mirrors
to live without "living up to"any image,
especially your own.
I had no idea of darkness
until I saw the light.
Bathing in the pool of Siloam
I didn't have the sense
to search its clear bright waters
for a glimpse of my own face.

And so it was that his kind eyes
were the first to meet my own.
"So, this is what we look like,"
And this is what it feels like to be seen.

'If only sight has stopped there.
For then I yearned to show my parents
but their eyes flinched and failed
to hide
other faces -- judging , staring, bruising
fearing him, fearing me.
I had no idea of darkness
until I saw the light.-

Elizabeth Michael Boyle, O.P.

Watch Your Language!!!!!

This just in from the Vatican!

If you, or your baby, or your grandchildren were "baptized" with the trendy formula of "I baptize you in the name of the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Holy Sanctifier...."

The Vatican says you were not validly baptized. And you have to have it redone the right way: ( I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. )

Also, if you were not validly baptized, and then proceeded to celebrate subsequent sacraments like Confirmation or Marriage or Holy Orders....they ALL have to get re-done!



This is one of those times when I'm really glad that I'm basically a liturgical conservative. I've never thought about using an alternate formula for baptisms, just to please those who might be offeded by patriarchal liturgical/scriptural language. There are times when it's appropriate to adapt the language of the liturgy, but then there are inappropriate times. We're supposed to be members of the Catholic Church, we're not Congregationalists! We don't make up our own rules. We are called to be in communion with the whole Catholic Church throughout the world. That means that our basic symbols, rituals, and practices look like those in other lands. It means that we don't make up practices or symbols or rituals to fit certain agendas. This is a hot topic, and one which we'll be hearing a lot about in the next few months. Stay tuned! And......watch your language!

Getting ready for Irish Night.....

So we're getting ready to host our annual Irish Night Celebration this coming Saturday, March 1.

Yes, officially, it's early, but it doesn't mean that we can't celebrate the Luck of the Iriish, and their contributions to Catholic Life in the USA.

Anyone who has studied anything about the Catholic Church in the USA knows the important role that the Irish have taken in the leadership of Catholic communities throughout the United States of America.

At St. Anselm, we celebrate Irish Night, but welcome ALL parishioners and FRIENDS.

We're called to welcome all peoples. Perhaps in a utopian situation, we might be called upon to welcome parishioners who might come from Iraq, Afghanisten, North Korea, Kenya, Guatemala, or other wonderful lands....

Actually, we are currently welcoming new parishioners from all sorts of new communities.

Maybe, like St. Patrick, we're being called to explore new, and more expansive ways of being church in our area today!!!!

He Healed the Darkness of my mind.....

This Sunday, we hear John's account of Jesus meeting the Man born Blind. The story, as portrayed in John's Gospel is full of mutivalent meanings and teachings.


Lent is a time to look at our own "blind-spots" and try to correct them. For me, I'm realizing that I'm being stretched in too many ways, and by too many constituencies. I need to cut back and simplify....even in the midst of increasing demands.



There are so many people vying for my time and attention: the average parishioner, the people who are sick or lonely of the parish, friends from other parts of the Diocese, people working at the Diocesan level looking for input from pastors, my young friends at St. John Vianney High School, and teachers and administrators from Catholic Schools near and far, and even Bishops from across the country looking for help from experienced and qualified liturgical scholars. And, sadly, I place my family's needs last....my Dad is having knee surgery soon, I have a niece graduating college in May, and I can't be there....there are three cousins graduating from High School this year, and I'm not sure I can even get away for an afternoon to celebrate!



I'll bet it was this way for Jesus too! So many people were approaching him with all sorts of different expectations and requests!



But in the midst of his busy-ness, this simple blind-man approaches Jesus....and both are changed, and so is salvation history!



This story illustrates so well how we humans can be really blind at times when we think that we see clearly. It also reminds us that Jesus, the Lord, can always bring light and sight to situations that we consider dark and forboding!



So many characters in this story thought that they saw clearly, but were really blind!



Lent is a time to take stock, to look honestly at our lives in the call to Fast, Pray and do Mercy, and then to evaluate how we're doing.



It's always a challenge. It's always a time to say, "Hey, I really need a retreat. I need to get back to the important stuff. I need to focus on the important things in my life." THAT'S WHAT LENT IS ALL ABOUT.



As we continue our Lenten Journey, let's pray that we'll all be a little better at the end of Lent, let's pray that we'll all be more like Jesus come Easter Sunday. That's the true goal of Lent and these days.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

Each year on this Sunday, we hear the theologically rich story of the encounter between the thirsty Jesus and the mysterious Samaritan woman at the well.

This picture, of a sculpture in front of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame, is of a wonderful sculpture by Ivan Mestrovic, a famous sculptor who did many wonderful pieces on the campus of Notre Dame.

I've always been struck by how strong the posture of the Jesus figure is, while the woman's posture is obviously ashamed....almost as if she can't wait to get away.

Listen to the Gospel story this weekend, and then imagine for yourself why these may be VERY important postures for these important Gospel teachers.

Feb. 22, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Today,

the Church celebrates

the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

We're not really sure that St. Peter ever

actually had time to sit on a specific chair during his time in Rome.

Obviously, we had no cameras in those days.

Obviously, we had no Internet in those days.

Obviously, we were not there with movie cameras in those days to record historical details.

However, we do have the testimony of history to give us some insights into this feast-day.

We have the history of the church of Rome that signalled this day as special.

We have the history of the Roman Church that sets this day apart as special.

We would be making a huge mistake if we ever thought that this is a day of unchanging tradition.

On the contrary....this feast teaches us that the Church is always in need of reformation, of reconcilitation, of renewal.

This feast day teaches us that leadership of the Catholic Church needs to be always mindful to the signs of the times in every age. The Church should always be about listening, rather than always speaking. The Church should be humble as was Peter. The Church should always be about service to the poorest of the poor.

Let's pray that in these uncertain days of the future of the traditional church, that the Holy Spirit will inspire us all with the vision of the Lord Jesus, who washed feet, who touched lepers, who spoke with known prostitutes, who dined with sinners, who loved flawed human beings.

May Jesus, the Christ, reach out to us sinners,

with compassion, love, and respect.

We pray all good things,

through the mercy of his Father and in his sustaining Spriit.

One God for ever and ever.

The February Meeting of the Deanery Study

Tonight, we had the second meeting of the Deanery Study. Each parish, represented by its pastor and two representatives, reported on self-perceptions of each one's strengths, assets, competencies, and our goals for the future.

These reports, formulated in conjunction with each parish's leadership team, showed many similarities, and also pointed out how each parish has unique charisms.

The whole process of this Deanery Study is to re-examine the mission of the Church, to examine the mission of the Church in this portion of the Church of Trenton, to look at the signs of the times in the real world of today, and then to make recommendations to Bishop Smith for the future life of the Church in this area for the future.

Many people fear the future. They hear all sorts of "bad news" about the number of available ordained ministers shrinking greatly in the next few years. They bemoan the limited pool of qualified leaders for our parishes. They cry about not having leaders to serve them in their native languages and cultures. They fear change, and departure from "the ways I'm used to."

But the Gospel calls us to hope. The Gospel calls us to realize our equality as baptized members of Christ, all called to ministry by virtue of baptism. The Gospel calls us to "think outside of the box" and imagine ministry in new, and different forms in the future. The Gospel calls us to be open to being Church in new and different ways.

The Church has faced many struggles and re-configurations in its 2000-year old history, especially in the area of ministry and leadership. For the first 1000 years, married priests were the norm! There were married bishops. There were married Popes!

There were also strong, vibrant communities led by women! During the persecutions, many times women were called upon to lead the local gatherings, because all of the men had been hauled off to prison or execution. Perhaps even back in those highly-patriarchal days, women presided at the small gatherings for the "breaking of the bread."

Reading the "signs of the times" is not always easy. Sometimes our "vision" is clouded by our history, our specific location, our local practices. But sometimes, reading the signs of the times can provide a local community with a renewed vision, a renewal of energy and a renewal of vibrancy.

Let's pray that we can all have hearts, and eyes, and minds open to the vibrant ways of living the Gospel in perhaps new ways in the future. Let's keep the mission of the Church foremost in our minds, and pray that the Lord will grace us with the strength to be open to the Gospel of Christ in the days, weeks, years, and centuries to come.

Bishop Smith's Vision of a Vibrant Parish

In a talk given to the priests of the Trenton Diocese in 1999, Bishop John M. Smith outlined criteria for a vibrant parish. This vision is helpful to keep before us as we proceed to study the needs of the Church in this area of Monmouth County.

1. The parish will have a strong sense of itself as a community of faith, called by God, united in Christ and led by the Holy Spirit.

2. Members will see themselves as called and willing to participate actively in the leadership and growth of the parish.

3. A pastor who knows the people of the parish, they know him and they are comfortable in communicating with him. The pastor is so important to the life of a good vibrant parish. He presides over the liturgy and empowers others to take part in the ministry of the church.

4. The parish must have an adequate number of well-trained staff to take care of the needs of the parish. They must have a sense of purpose in achieving the goals of the parish.

5. Parishioners will actively participate in the life of the parish, both in the liturgical life and in other functions connected with the parish.

6. The liturgy will be the point to which all else leads and flows. The people will come to experience the presence of the living God.

7. The parish must be fully committed to the religious education of children and adults.

8. Experiences the call of Christ to spread the Word of God with evangelization programs, welcoming others through faith-sharing experiences.

9. Parish must be a certain size and have enough people in their active years to keep the parish healthy. There will be a mix of people of different age, sex, and race.

10. The financial condition of the parish should be such that it is able to carry out its work without undue stress on ministry and laity. Must not be preoccupied with financial matters.

11. The facilities must be maintained in acceptable condition. Must not be too small or too big.

A Prayer for our Deanery Study

Prayer for the Monmouth County Deanery Study

Heavenly Father, you call us, the people of the Catholic Church of Trenton, to proclaim and advance the Kingdom of God in Monmouth County.

We are united by our baptism in Christ. With Jesus our Lord, with our Holy Father Benedict, and with our bishop John, we form a community to discover the realities that affect our mission.

You call us, as you called St. Peter, to look ahead, to "put out into the deep," confident that our nets will be filled and our parishes made more vibrant. Inform our dreams of a renewed church. Because our work is in the cause of the eternal Kingdom, we must set our hand to the plow. Though our history is one of pride and accomplishment, open our eyes to the reality of the present and fix our gaze toward the future. Set us on the right course as we design new ways of being Church.

Father, give us the grace to rediscover the Church as "mystery," as a people gathered together in the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit and to know that in this mystery lies the Church's holiness. Let the aroma of holiness fill us and guide our words and actions.

Lead us to a spirituality of communion. Give us the courage to go forward in hope, straining to what lies ahead, in faith that the Risen Lord accompanies us on our way. May he be a light unto our path and illumine our destiny.

We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

The Great Catholic Preacher goes "Home"

From Rocco, over at Whispers in the Loggia, some sad news:

By the multitudes, notices have come pouring in of the death yesterday at 95 of the famed Jesuit preacher Fr Walter Burghardt. A native Manhattanite and member of the Maryland Province, Burghardt died at the provincial infirmary on the campus of St Joseph's University in Philadelphia. While he'd been ill for several years and was near-blind by the end of his long journey, a friend said that he had been dictating one last book to a typist in his final months.

Numbered by many among the nation's most eminent clerics of any denominational stripe, Burghardt authored countless works long and short, served on the Holy See's International Theological Commission, taught at Woodstock, Catholic U. and, of course, Georgetown.

A 1998 documentary series on the nation's "Great Preachers" tapped Burghardt as one of two priests among the group of nine servant-masters of the pulpit -- helmed, as one would expect, by the age's first heir to George Whitefield, Billy Graham. (For the record, both Catholic contributions to the list were Jesuits.)

The successor of John Courtney Murray as editor of Theological Studies -- a post he held for 24 years -- he wrote on topics as varied as preaching in the American vernacular, man's merit of peace, the Holy Family and the proclaiming of the "just word" that became the cause of his later years. But the thread that ran through the whole of it was encapsulated in the title of a 1989 piece bearing an oft-necessary reminder in the journey: "Without Contemplation, the People Perish."

Last year, marking his 75th anniversary as a Jesuit, he wrote in the pages of America that

[T]he more remarkable of early Christian theologians were searching not only for ideas about God; they were searching for God’s very self, struggling for union with divinity. My immersion in the fathers of the church, the early Christian theologians, has appreciably aided my immersion in the center of my Jesuit spirituality, the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In the exercises there is indeed a theology: a sense of sin as sacrilege, a Christology, a theology of redemption and salvation through Christ’s crucifixion, of life after death. But the exercises are not primarily an intellectual enterprise; from beginning to end they are an experience. Ignatius asks me to walk with the Jesus of Nazareth, talk with the Jesus of Jerusalem, suffer with Jesus on the cross, rise with Jesus from death. In his final meditation, Ignatius wants me to see Jesus working within me “as a laborer,” literally a collaborator. As with the early theologians, my theology and my spirituality must converge.As he once summed it up elsewhere, "Love God above all else. Love every human being -- friend or enemy -- like another self as a child of God, especially those who are on the lower edge of society. Touch the earth, God's material creation -- nuclear energy or a blade of grass -- with respect. With reverence as a gift of God."

According to one report, the funeral liturgy is scheduled for Wednesday at the Jesuit outpost of Holy Trinity in Georgetown, where Burghardt preached and ministered through his decades in DC.

Transfiguration, the Lord's and ours!

This weekend, we hear the Gospel story of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The story, which we get in some form on this Sunday each year, is a familiar one. Even though it's very familiar, it might be worthwhile to look again at some of the details of the story, and "put ourselves into the story" in our imagination and prayer.

We might meditate on the details of how Jesus was transfigured, how his divine glory was revealed to his closest disciples, how they were dumbstruck with misunderstanding and wonder, and how Jesus quickly "comes down" to his "normal" self to continue business as usual.

However, we might better meditate on the ways in which, knowing the end of the Gospel story, this little "glimpse into heaven" should change us!

What might it mean for me to really believe that God calls each of us to be transfigured? What parts of my life need to be changed? What do I need to change to become a better disciple of Jesus?

Pretty good questions for all of Lent.

This weekend, we have Fr. Francis speaking with us about our twinning relationship with his parish in Jamaica. Let's all pray that the Lord will grace us with creative insights as to how we can all benefit from this ongoing relationship.

"Lord, change our hearts,

mold them into what YOU want.

Change our lives,

and take them from the muck of

self-centeredness and selfishness,

into the light of

living for others.

We ask this

through Christ

our Risen Lord.

Amen."

Confirmation Retreat 2008

Bishop Daniel Jenky, C.S.C. of Peoria, IL, anoints a candidate for Confirmation.

This Sunday, we'll have our annual Confirmation Retreat. As in past years, we've invited young people from the National Evangelization Team (NET) to help facilitate the retreat. The members of NET are young adults who volunteer a full year to offer these retreats for young people preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

These young people are from all over the United States, and it's always been a pleasure to offer them hospitality here at St. Anselm. They are really on fire with love for the Lord, the Church, and for young people.

We'll celebrate the actual Sacrament of Confirmation on May 11 with Bishop John M. Smith coming to confer the sacrament this year.

The Jamaica Project

This weekend, the parish of St. Anselm will welcome Fr. Francis from Jamaica. He will be speaking at all of the masses and helping us to build up our "twinning" relationship with his parish in Jamaica. Hopefully we will share ideas about the many ways that we can join in partnership with the parish in Jamaica.

We're especially looking to share ideas of how to build up the liturgical, and spiritual life of both parishes through this partnership.

So, please plan on joining us after each of the masses this weekend, and greet Fr. Francis.

Fasting in Perspective

Yolen Jenuky sells mud cookies in Cite Soleil, the poorest section of Haiti's capitol city, Port au Prince.




Thank you to A Concord Pastor Comments. This is his post - it was so moving and informative that I have posted it here in its entirety.


Fast and Abstinence In LentAll Christians are called to special prayer, fasting and caring for the poor in the season of Lent. Each person determines how he or she will personally live out these ancient Lenten exercises. In addition to personal Lenten practices, Catholics are also called to a communal practice of self-denial through fasting and abstinence.



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies. Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau. The mud has long been used by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places like Cite Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings, and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt, and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal. "When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds, 3 ounces, he weighed at birth. Though she likes their buttery, salty taste, Charlene said the cookies also give her stomach pains. "When I nurse, the baby sometimes seems colicky, too," she said.


Ash Wednesday Is a Day of Fast and AbstinenceOn Ash Wednesday, Catholics over 14 years of age are expected to abstain from eating meat on this day. Catholics 18 years of age and up to the beginning of their 60th year are expected to fast: taking only one full meal and two other light meals, eating nothing between meals.


Food prices around the world have spiked because of higher prices for oil, which is needed for fertilizer, irrigation, and transportation. Prices for basic ingredients such as corn and wheat are also up sharply, and the increasing global demand for biofuels is pressuring food markets as well. The problem is particularly dire in the Caribbean, where island nations depend on imports and food prices are up 40 percent in places… At the market in the La Saline slum, a two-cup portion of rice now sells for 60 cents, up 10 cents from December and 50 percent from a year ago. Beans, condensed milk, and fruit have gone up at a similar rate, and even the price of the edible clay has risen over the past year by almost $1.50. Dirt to make 100 cookies now costs $5, the cookie makers say. Still, at about 5 cents apiece, the cookies are a bargain compared with food staples. About 80 percent of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day and a tiny elite controls the economy.



All the Fridays of Lent Are Days of Abstinence Catholics over 14 years of age are expected to abstain from eating meat on the Fridays of Lent.


Merchants truck the dirt from the central town of Hinche to the La Saline market, a maze of tables of vegetables and meat swarming with flies. Women buy the dirt, then process it into mud cookies… Carrying buckets of dirt and water up ladders to the roof of the former prison for which Fort Dimanche is named, they strain out rocks and clumps on a sheet, and stir in shortening and salt. Then they pat the mixture into mud cookies and leave them to dry under the scorching sun. The finished cookies are carried in buckets to markets or sold on the streets. A reporter sampling a cookie found that it had a smooth consistency and sucked all the moisture out of the mouth as soon as it touched the tongue. For hours, an unpleasant taste of dirt lingered… Marie Noel, 40, sells the cookies in a market to provide for her seven children. Her family also eats them. "I'm hoping one day I'll have enough food to eat, so I can stop eating these," she said. "I know it's not good for me." (By Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press, January 31, 2008)



Good Friday Is a Day of Fast and Abstinence On Good Friday, Catholics over 14 years of age are expected to abstain from eating meat on this day. Catholics 18 years of age and up to the beginning of their 60th year are expected to fast: taking only one full meal and two other light meals, eating nothing between meals.

The real meaning of Lent

During this season, the Church is called to renew our discipleship. Jesus gives the three hallmarks of discipleship: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For centuries these have been the traditional disciplines of Lent.

At the Church of St. Anselm, we will light three large Altar-Candles to remind us of the three parts of our Lenten discipline.

Together, we remember the words of St. Peter Chrysologous:

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm,

devotion remains constant, and virtue endures.

They are prayer, fasting, and mercy.

Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives.

Prayer, mercy and fasting: thess three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the sould of prayer,

mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.

Let no one try to separate them;

they cannot be separated.

If you have only one of them or not all together,

you have nothing.

So if you pray, fast;

if you fast, show mercy;

if you want your petitions to be heard,

hear the petitions of others.

If you do not close your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others.

If you want God to know that you are hungry,

know that another is hungry.

If you hope for mercy, show mercy.

If you lookd for kindness, show kindness.

If you want to receive, give.

If you ask for yourself what you deny to others,

what you're asking for is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all when they practice mercy:

show mercy to others in the same way,

with the same generosity,

with the same promptness,

as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting

be one single plea to God on our behalf,

one speech in our defense,

a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Super Tuesday, Super Bowl, Super Lent?

With apologies to my friends from New England, here in New Jersey, we're really enjoying the Giants' win in the Super-Bowl. We're getting ready for a great ticker-tape parade in NYC tomorrow morning. There's nothing like a parade in NYC.

However, it's also Super Tuesday, and for the first time ever in New Jersey, we are a part of this Super-Primary....So, everybody vote first, then watch the parade on TV.

Tomorrow is also preparation day for the beginning of Lent. We strip our church building of flowers, extra banners, we bring out the violet vestments and hangings, and basically begin our Spring cleaning!

We'll burn the palms from last year's Palm Sunday, and then grind them down to make the ashes for Wednesday's Ashes.

Getting Ready for Ash Wednesday and Lent 2008

If your palms look something like this, take down the palms, put them into your car, and bring them with you to St. Anselm, and we'll collect them like this:

On Tuesday, we'll collect all of the blessed Palms from last year and then do this to get ready for Ash Wednesday:

So, we'll be ready to do this on Ash Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Mass, 12:00 p.m. Service, 4:30 Service, and a 7:00 p.m. Mass:

Just for the record, if you can't get to church on Wednesday, if you're sick, or homebound, you don't need to receive ashes to mark the beginning of Lent. The ashes are not a "blessing", they are not a Sacrament, they are a sacramental. If you don't get to church for ashes on Ash Wednesday, that is NOT a sin in any way. And it is not something you need to worry about in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

However, we ALL need to mark out the season of Lent as a Special Time to Pray, Fast, and Give Alms (More than we usually do in our life). See my previous posts for suggestions as to how we can do Lent in St. Anselm's.

Presentation Day

Jesus is presented in the TEMPLE.

The first-born, a special role. I happen to be the first-born of parents who would bave been married 56 years today, on Feb. 2, 2008. I happen to love Feb. 2. each year.

Not only is it for me the anniversary of my parent's wedding anniversary, it is the feast of the Presantation of the Lord, it is GROUNDHOG DAY!

Feb. 2, is such a "quiet day", but the Feast is so full of meaning, light, and grace:

THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD IS ONE OF THE MAJOR FEASTS OF LIGHT IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION. ]

Yesterday's Gospel reading is a parable about how the Kingdom of God grows like a tiny seed, slow, but surely, if nurtured, cared for and properly tended.

Recently, we had the annual talk by parishioners on their practice of Stewardship.

As you know, we use 10% of all of our collections for aiding people most in need through our Community OutReach (COR) committee. We send a lot of our money out to people who really need it to just stay in their homes, or on the meds their doctors have prescribed.

You should know that our practice of Stewardship and our use of 10% of our collections is considered quite "UNIQUE" by the folks in the Chancery (Bishop's Office) and by our neighboring clergy.

But, truth be told, I would not have it any other way!

I take a certain evil "pride" in announcing to the deanery clergy that we do not CHARGE people for Weddings, Funerals or for Masses. We do not charge for the sacraments. We are a stewardship parish. and we seek to treat parishioners with all of their baptismal dignity.

When couples call up seeking to celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage at the community of St. Anselm, they often ask, "What is the fee?" I always answer: "There is no fee. We do not charge for the celebration of the sacraments. Whatever you would like to give to help us to continue the mission of the parish is much apprectiated and valued. We want to thank you for helping us to continue to be the unique faith community that we are at St. Anselm."

I'm always amazed at the reactions of the couples....Apparently at neighboring churches there are all sorts of fees....like if the bride is late....she's fined $500....if the groom is late....it's a fine of $40......and so on.....ALL SUCH NONSENSE!

My friends the Funeral Directors also have to deal with such nonsense.

They ask me how we at St. Anselm are able to "stay afloat" without taking fees and taking up collections, or having BINGO, or doing all of the "other stuff" that "other" parishes do all of the time.

I answer: "We are a prayerful community. We pray, and we celebrate, and we do what we can when we can." We are not about making money, we are about inviting people to join us in being disciples.


Challenging times to be a Pastor in a Catholic Parish. Let's pray for each other. Give comments!

Visiting the Sick

Today, I drove my dad out to Allentown, PA to visit two of his sisters. One, my aunt Kitty, is my dad's "kid sister"...at 75. My Dad is now 81. But after docking at Aunt Kitty's home, we drove over to see "Aunt Peg....age 93" and in a very nice Nursing Home. Peg was thrilled to see her "favorite nephew and brother". I think she says that because I'm the only priest-nephew she has!

Anyway, Peg was awake, aware, and pretty sharp. She was pretty happy to have a room with a TV....she was very interested in the Presidential primaries and she was ready for Super Tuesday, and told us: I like"the young guy....Barack Obama. I think he's cute."

Truth be told, I laughed out loud and said to my Republican Dad and Aunt Kitty...."Well there you have it! The Wisdom of the Ages has Spoken!" Let's see if Aunt Peg has 'pegged' the new winner of the White House!

Lent at St. Anselm

Next Wednesday, February 6, is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

What will your Lent look like this year?

At St. Anselm, Lent will be celebrated with the following:

+Thursday evenings in Lent, Rev. Bill Bausch will lead Evenings of Recollection 7:00 p.m.

+Throughout Lent: We PRAY, FAST, and GIVE ALMS. A little bit more than usual!!!!!

+Friday evenings in Lent: Simple Suppers and Stations of the Cross

+Sundays in Lent: At each Mass, the Gospel will be solemnly proclaimed by several readers.

+Throughout Lent: Small Faith-sharing groups will be meeting, praying, and sharing.

+Throughout Lent: We'll host an online faith-sharing session. We're maybe the only parish
in our Diocese to offer this! Come be part of the discussion! Check the bulletin for info!

+In Lent: We'll host families from the Interfaith Hospitality Network (Family Promise).
Consider helping to cook, or host, or spend time with the families for a night.

+Consider a new volunteer activity just for the six weeks of Lent!
-Volunteer a few hours to help clean up the church building.
-Help us decorate the Church building for the season of Lent.
-Provide refreshments for our new Elect-catechumens for their Sunday meetings.
-Volunteer to help us clean up the grounds of the parish.
-Join one of the music groups for the season of Lent.
-Join a music group for the Liturgies of the Triduum! (Minimal practice time)
-Volunteer to help visit one of our homebound parishioners.
-Volunteer to accompany Fr. Gene on his Monday visits to Monmouth Med. Center.
-Volunteer to help "Stuff Bulletins" on a Saturday morning.
-Volunteer to help maintain the Lenten vestments for the Servers and the Priest
-Volunteer to prepare the sacristy supplies for Palm Sunday
-Volunteer to prepare the sacristy supplies for Holy Thursday
-Volunteer to bring Holy Communion to the sick on Good Friday.
-Volunteer to help decorate the church on Holy Saturday.....we need lots of help!
-Join PARISHPAY.com as your means of contributing to our Parish Stewardship.
-Come to Mass on Wednesdays, and then join Fr. Gene for a One-Hour study of the
Scriptures for the upcoming Sunday.....Coffee and goodies included!

The Gospel Choir's Coming!

This Saturday, Feb. 2 at the 5:30 p.m. Liturgy, the Gospel Choir from Blessed Sacrament Parish in Newark will sing the liturgy at the Church of St. Anselm.

If you have never experienced Catholic Liturgy in Gospel-style, you're in for a real treat! Everybody will be singing, clapping, moving and dancing...in the SPIRIT!

Just so you know, we will take up a collection at this mass, which we'll offer to the Blessed Sacrament Choir to help their parish to stay open and vital in the city of Newark.

Following Mass, we'll host the Choir to a Pot-Luck Supper in our Learning Center. I want to invite families to bring a large dish of food (enough to feed others) to the Kitchen before the Mass. Our Parish Life Committee members will help to set up, serve, and host the pot-luck dinner. I personally promise to provide my famous "Barbecue Meatballs", so let's see who can come up with the most delicious dish of the evening.

As you know, we love to party at St. Anselm. So, tell everybody about the Mass and Pot-luck dinner, and invite some friends to join us for this annual event!

A Dead Horse?

St. Wenceslause riding a dead horse!

A very good, old friend of mine, Fr. Austin Fleming of the Archdiocese of Boston has been an inspiration to me for many years. We first met 28 years ago, when he was a young priest, and I was a very, very, young seminarian. Austin and I both share a love for, and a strong intellectual passion for the Church’s liturgy and music. Despite many trials, especially in the vineyard of Boston, Austin has been a beacon of hope and light for many, many people. He has been keeping a blog, and many of his thoughts have triggered some of my own thoughts for our vineyard in New Jersey. Recently, he wrote of an encounter with some friends reflecting upon the state of affairs in the Church in Boston in the past few years. Austin, in typical fashion, took that experience, translated it into wisdom for contemporary Catholics in Boston, and put it into wonderful word-wisdom for all of us. With all respects to Austin and his sources, I’d like to translate his wisdom to our own Diocesan Study of Parishes, especially for the Diocese of Trenton!

Lakota tribal wisdom says that whenever you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in the church we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

- Buy a stronger whip.

- Change riders

- Say, "This is the way we've always ridden a dead horse."

- Declare, "No horse is too dead to beat."

- Study alternative uses for dead horses.

- Require all parishes to have a dead horse.

- Visit other parishes to see how they ride a dead horse.

- Run a workshop to increase sensitivity to dead horses.

- Provide funding to increase the performance of dead horses.

- Harness several dead horses together for increased speed.

- Appoint a diocesan committee to study dead horses.

- Cluster parishes to share the benefits of dead horses.

- Promote a dead horse to a position of authority.

An Unexpected Turn

This past Tuesday, yours truly wasn't feeling well all day, and surprisingly, was unable to eat anything all day. Those of you who know me, know how TRULY AMAZING THAT IS! After a full day of feeling "strange," I drove over to the local ER, and asked them to check me out, thinking that I might have a "stomach flu" or something.

WELL, the dedicated docs soon came back and informed me that I had appendicitis, and that they were scheduling me for an immediate appendectomy. Early on Wednesday morning, I was in surgery, and they ousted the ailing appendix.

Thanks to some wonderful "aftercare" I am now back home and taking it very easy, and shuffling around drinking lots of water, and eating very healthy, and catching up on long-overdue theological reading.

This whole experience has given me some very real, and very new insights into the plight of the sick and hospitalized, and our pastoral care of them!

I'll save the specifics for a later post. Just look for some upcoming thoughts on "Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist in Hospitals: How NOT to come into a patient's room!" I'll bet this article is never going to be posted in any of the offically approved magazines or publications, but that they'll all be pointing towards it in the coming years.

Thanks for all of the well-wishes.....I'll be back in the saddle ASAP.

Fr. Gene

Can you imagine being baptized in these waters? Talk about your "Polar Bear Club!"
This photo shows the Orthodox and Eastern-Rite practice of blessing the waters on the Feast of Theophany (our January 6 or Epiphany). While I'm told that actual baptisms are rarely celebrated on this date, it is not unheard of. They do, however, bless water on this date, and I know from experience that it takes at least one-half hour to bless the water. These Eastern-rite priests, bishops, and deacons pictured here are blessing the waters to be used in baptisms, blessings, and in other ways. This photo, more than others I've found, images the forbidding depths to which the Cross leads and yet it is on the occasion of remembering the Lord's baptism, the beginning of his public ministry, that this custom is observed.

I think of the the words of Romans 6:3-5:

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.
For if we have grown into union with him
through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him
in the resurrection.
The scene above of death dealing waters, seen through the sign of the Cross, images how we share in the death of Christ, marked and claimed by the sign of his Cross and how, through the power of the Spirit, we are lifted to new life with him through baptism.

What we call the beginning is often the end.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.

Baptism of the Lord

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Thanks to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, CA for the wonderful image of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

Tix to see the Pope

The Pope is coming to the U.S. in April....Tax day through the 20th of April. The last big public event is to be a Mass in Yankee Stadium on Sunday April 20th. Just a few days ago, our parish was notified that we would have access to 50 tickets for our parishioners. Tonight, we received an emergency fax from the Diocese of Trenton stating that the Archdiocese of New York has reconsidered its ticket allotment to other dioceses, and now each parish can only expect 5 tickets.

So, if parishioners of St. Anselm want to attend this event, please don't kill the messenger when we run out of tix. Sorry the Archdiocese of New York is so messed-up!

OK.....Spread 'em!

Interesting news from the Italian Catholic Bishop's Conference regarding cremation practices. It seems the Italian "hats" are giving the OK to spreading cremains on beaches, mountains, your favorite golf course, or wherever the deceased wants...

The previous official practice was that cremation was permitted as long as the cremains were interred in the ground or in a columbarium, or fixed places that provide a degree of respect and honor. As far as practices in America go, we'll have to wait to see what the American Bishops come up with. The Italians have come up with a whole new ritual for blessing cremains to be spread. We Americans don't have a ritual for that sort of thing yet. So, until we get a new prayer-book for this, we still abide by the old rules.

Stay tuned!

A Conversation with a Bishop...

I don't know if you've ever actually had a conversation with a Bishop. Here are excerpts from an article in the December 17, 2007 issue of America: The National Catholic Weekly. The article is written from the perspective of an imagined American bishop, seeking counsel from the people of his diocese on a concern that is common to virtually all bishops, priests and people in the United States.

How would you respond to this bishop?



I Need Your Help
- An imagined bishop asks for advice...
…Our diocese has 83 parishes to staff. Until three years ago we were able to supply a priest-pastor for each one. Since then, as a result of deaths, resignations and retirements, the number of our priests capable of active ministry has declined to 76. I need your help in figuring out how to proceed.
Prayer for Vocations
I am sure many of you will suggest that we begin by storming heaven with prayers for new vocations. And I assure you we have been doing that and we continue to do so… In the past year, however, we lost 11 men through death and retirement. The bottom line is that right now our new vocations are not achieving replacement levels… I also believe in a God who is present and acting in the realities we confront, using them to transform us and help us to grow. Is it possible that we are getting an answer by the very shortage, that God is challenging us to become a different kind of church? A person of faith once said that God is magnanimous and always gives us the resources we need—whatever those are.
And may I ask you, please, not to use our precious time together to tell me all the ways we’ve gone wrong, what brought us to this pass… We haven’t the luxury of paralysis by analysis.

The ‘Big’ Options

Some of you might propose that we begin right now to expand the pool of those eligible for ordination.
The options under that heading are easily named. Each one would involve challenging beliefs that have shaped our church’s way of ministering for centuries. Ordain married men? That would call us to rethink a longstanding commitment to a celibate priesthood. Although the practice is not a matter of faith but of church discipline and remains within the province of the pope to change, many even of our Protestant brothers and sisters caution us against assuming that you just say, “Let’s ordain married men,” rub a magic lamp three times, and—voilà!—the Parousia arrives. Ordain women? That would call us to challenge a belief that Pope John Paul II considered a matter of faith: that Jesus’ calling only male apostles constitutes a norm that binds the church forever, regardless of cultural changes across the centuries. Bring resigned priests back to active ministry? That would challenge our understanding of choices once made and raise issues of fairness, as if the priesthood were a matter of an individual’s personal sense of calling rather than a call by the church community...
I do see some kind of potential in each of these options, but I call them “the big options” for two reasons: one, they fall within the compass of the church’s universal authority, way beyond my pay grade and, two, because even if they were to be adopted it would take years to think through all their consequences and develop reasonable plans for implementing them before they would be ready to “meet the road…”
Possible Strategies
So let’s just keep those conversations going in the background, shall we? What are my options in the immediate future? And what beliefs might each of those options challenge?
Close parishes. In one sense this is the easiest option to carry out, administratively. But what does it do to our belief that once formed, a faith community is not just a branch office of the diocese, just as a diocese is not a branch office of the universal church. (How would my brother bishops react to the notion of closing a diocese?) A parish is rather a unique incarnation of the body of Christ in a particular piece of geography. How is the “easy” choice for closure to be reconciled with the dignity of such a gathering of the faithful? The parishes being considered for closure will probably be those with fewer parishioners than the rest of the parishes in the diocese, but is the mere fact of smaller or larger numbers a criterion Jesus would find apt? Closing a parish may gain me a priest who can provide sacramental services for a parish with more parishioners, but what does that say about our concept of priesthood…?
Appoint a layperson as pastoral agent of the parish. I’ve seen wonderful men and women give excellent leadership to parish communities, as effective as any ordained priest, frankly—theologically, spiritually and pastorally. But that reality doesn’t really help us with the directly sacramental needs. Liturgical presiding, absolution and sacramental anointing require an ordained priest. The number of regular weekend liturgies does not necessarily decrease, and the pastoral agent still has to call for help from a sacramental minister who comes in to the parish from elsewhere…
Import priests from other priest-rich parts of the world. Several of my brother bishops are pursuing this strategy. It does meet the goal of a quick replenishment of priest-presiders to lead the liturgies needed, but so far the results appear to be mixed at best…
Loosen the connection between a particular day of the week, Sunday, and the community’s weekly public gathering around the table of the Lord. I have recently heard of dioceses in Europe where a priest is assigned as sacramental minister to as many as six parishes. On Sunday he presides at liturgy in one of them; on Monday evening in another, on Tuesday in another and so on. The people in each of those communities view that midweek liturgy as their central act of worship for the week—fulfilling the Sunday obligation, if you will. An arrangement like that challenges our identification of Sunday with the Lord’s day. On the other hand, I have to ask myself: did our church already fracture that identification when it introduced Saturday night Mass?
Cut back the number of Masses. In some communities pastors have tried so hard to accommodate the desires of their people that too many Masses of convenience have come to be expected. Add multiple Saturday wedding Masses and, at times, many priests find themselves violating canonical prescriptions concerning the number of Masses a priest may celebrate on a weekend. I can mandate reducing the numbers, but of itself that won’t be sufficient to deal with the communities where I will need to find presiders in the coming years.
Introduce regular use of the ritual officially called Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest. Midweek. Communion services are common in many parts of the country now. The church permits and has created officially sanctioned rituals for this kind of a service. I can inform my priests that when they have a sound reason—vacation, retreat, study program or the like—to be absent from their parish over a weekend, they are not to scramble around trying to find replacements but have a trained layperson conduct such a service. Does this practice risk treating the reception of Communion as something separable from the sacrifice of the Mass? Do we want to take that risk…?
You see, whichever option I actually choose—and I must make a choice—challenges some conviction that has shaped our identity as Catholic Christians for a long time. If we aren’t willing to challenge any of them, we will just continue trying to do what we have always done, and our situation will become more and more stressful. My question to you is painful but simple: which traditional conviction do you want me to challenge this year?
-George B. Wilson, S.J., is a church organizational consultant who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio

The "Word" project for 2008

I'm setting a goal for the liturgical year 2008 for the parish of St. Anselm: I'm inviting all parishioners to grow in their appreciation of the Word of God in their lives, and especially in their appreciation of the Word in the celebration of Sunday Liturgy.

With that in mind, I'd like to invite all parishioners to read, study, and meditate upon the Sunday Word each week. Look up the readings for next Sunday's Mass. Savor the readings we'll all hear next weekend. Pray with those readings.

My biggest challenge to the parish is this: Picture the parish of St. Anselm without a resident priest-pastor. Imagine that you've been asked to offer some words of inspiration/reflection at the Sunday Communion service that will replace the Sunday Mass. Reflecting on the Lectionary readings for next Sunday, what would you say to/with/for the people of St. Anselm?

Write down your thoughts and reflections, and keep a journal this year. When we gather for our parish retreat next October, I'd like to host a session of sharing of these journals.

The Church asks us to reverence the Word of God, the first part of every Mass, as being just as important as the second part of Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Church does a great job of teaching us that the "Real Presence" of Christ is in the Eucharist, but it is also present in the Liturgy of the Word. Christ is just as present in the proclamation of the Word of God as in the Eucharist! Check out the official teaching of the Catholic Church in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, especially, the document, Sacrosanctum Concilium.

This graphic, a page from the newly published St. John's Bible, from Collegeville, MN, is one of the illuminations from this hand-calligraphed and illustrated Bible. We display the Gospel/Acts version of the St. John's Bible in our daily Mass chapel at St. Anselm.

The challenge for this year is to grow in knowledge and appreciation of God's Word in our lives. Our Protestant brothers and sisters are great at memorizing scripture. I think it's time for Catholics to appreciate the gift of God's Word in our lives.

Epiphany Plus...

Yesterday's Feast of the Epiphany was memorable in several ways. Most of all, it was memorable for the First Epiphany Choral Festival by the Trenton Chapter of NPM (National Association of Pastoral Musicians.) Hosted here at St. Anselm, the Choral Festival spotlighted several choirs from parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton.

The Festival was such a wonderful experience that we're thinking about making this an annual event. It's a wonderful way to keep the music of Christmas alive throughout the entire Christmas Season.

Diocese of Trenton Parish Study

As you know, St. Anselm parish is part of a study of the Central Monmouth parishes by the Diocese of Trenton. We took part in the extensive survey in September, and we have been sending parish representatives to diocesan meetings since October. Here's a link to the Parish Study page from our Diocesan Website to give us more information about the study, who's involved, and the process the study will take.

http://www.dioceseoftrenton.org/diocese/parishstudy_mc.asp

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wishing you and yours all of the blessings of Christmas and a Happy New Year for the Year of the Lord 2008!

This picture of a sleigh full of winter symbols is similar to the sleigh that bears the seasonal greens, flowers and candles that currently adorn our Christmastime environment at St. Anselm.

I'm personally grateful to our Art and Environment Committee of the Liturgy Committee for their wonderful dedication to the good principles for decorating contemporary liturgical spaces.

Ten Key Principles for Arranging the Worship Environment
December 29, 2007
PHIL HORRIGAN

Before those who are engaged in the ministry of arranging an environment for worship go about their tasks, it is important to reflect on essential principles of liturgy and of the liturgical environment. I have identified ten such principles:

1. All liturgy is rooted in the Paschal Mystery, the event of Jesus Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension, as it unfolds in every liturgical event in a particular time and place.

2. Liturgy is also rooted in the events of our human journey; it arises out of the intersection of those events with faith -- and all are placed in dialogue with the Paschal Mystery. Liturgy is always a celebration of praise offered to God by the Body of Christ.

3. Liturgy is the proclamation of the community about its belief in God, its conviction of who God is, and its acceptance of who God says we are. This proclamation is expressed in a variety of symbols, including words, actions, objects, music, ritual gestures and architectural forms.

4. The presence and promise of God, and the many ways that God is announced to us in liturgy, cannot be contained in one form or place. God's presence is known first in the assembly, the people gathered, the ecclesia, the Church. All other forms, made by human hands, are incomplete but necessary.

5. Since God is present in the assembly, the Church, then liturgy is properly the prayer of the community. It is public ritual: all are celebrants, engaged in full, active and conscious participation.

6. Patterns of worship will gradually and subtly shape our understanding of God. The vision of Vatican II was not simply a change in our forms of worship but in our perception of God, as well. All forms of worship are rooted in faith, and all ritual expresses faith, or at least the struggle of faith. Liturgy proclaims faith and challenges faith.

7. Liturgical symbols have the power of language that can be significant or meaningless. They affect our ritual engagement, so our attention to symbols in public prayer is important. They nurture our faith, evoke feelings and insights, and place a particular interpretation on the moments of our human journey.

8. Where two or three are gathered together, things are simple to arrange. When the number increases, things can get complicated. A group of people have different needs than one person engaged in private prayer. Those needs change because we are involved with living praying as a community. Therefore, space needs to change, to "breathe," to stay alive in order to inspire and nourish our faith and our spiritual imagination.

9. The environment in all its elements must ultimately serve the ritual action, not inhibit it. Furniture is not in charge of ritual or of the people who assemble for worship.

10. The liturgical environment makes a theological statement. It can be a metaphorical text about God, Christ, Church. Sacred architecture is not an innocent religious statement. It can "give a clue" as to what kind of community gathers within, what they care about, whom they care about, what their Christology is, what their sense of their place in the world is -- basically, what their self-identity is as a community of prayer and witness.

Rev. Phil Horrigan is the Director of the Art and Architecture Department in the Office of Divine Worship, Archdiocese of Chicago.