Another Blog

At our recent vocations meeting, it was recommended that we would create a blog that could be a joint cooperative. Because this is a little bit different format than I originally envisioned this blog, I created another at ourmib.blogspot.com. I invited our seminarians to post articles and comments on the blog. Bishop Nienstedt also suggested that he would like to post somethings, if he is able.

Fr. Kyle Schnippel's Blog

Fr. Kyle Schnippel has a vocations Blog that is worth a look. As he writes in a post on his blog, we met at the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors convention (which our Region VIII hosted.) Fr. Kyle is also a holy, dedicated priest and deserves our prayers! He is new in the Vocations ministry, and he seems to have his finger well-placed on the pulse of the web and faith. After all, he found my little site!

Reflection on Easter - He is truly Risen

The Resurrection, Benvenuto di Giovanni, c. 1491
Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! We celebrate this day, marking it for the next fifty. We remember the empty tomb and the Resurrection appearances to the first followers of Jesus Christ.

It is in the Resurrection that Christ that all vocations find their source – it is after the Resurrection that Christ gave His disciples the Great Commission “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:19-20).

Recently, there has been much hype and empty speculation of Jesus really not rising from the dead. In the attempt to minimize the ‘damage’ caused by false conclusions arise from wild assumptions and falsified data, some have suggested that it is not the empty tomb but only the experience of the risen Christ in which we place faith. This creates a false dichotomy – the Resurrection experiences are credible (and incredible) only because of the empty tomb. One can paraphrase St. Paul to say either the tomb of Jesus is empty, or our faith is. In the experience of the Risen Jesus, it was because of His Glorified Body that gave them the proof to go forth and to proclaim Him as Risen Lord. It was not a fantasy or phantom, but Jesus Himself. Jesus Christ was raised, truly raised, though he is transformed! It was truly Christ that gave them the Commission, not a mere illusion, ghost, or phantom.

It was the faith of the Apostles, their encounter with Christ, that lead them to call others in the name of Christ to follow Him and to spread the message of Jesus, of His Death and Resurrection. It was the knowledge that Christ was truly risen that gave them the faith to go to their own deaths, or at least to lay down their lives, in imitation of their Lord and Savior. That message was passed down from person to person, throughout the generations to our own time. And we have heard the story of Christ’s death and resurrection, and we too have encountered Him, especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. For us who believe, there is no option to proclaim Him, but rather our duty.

Alleluia He is risen, as he said!

Holy Saturday's Sacred Silence

In today's Office of Readings, we are given a profound reading from an ancient homily. How can I say more, on this day when it appears as all creation holds its breath:

Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Priestly Vestments

His Holiness Pope Benedict, in his homily for the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday Morning, spoke of the various liturgical vestments of the priest. Each demonstrates a deeper understanding of the priesthood.

The Holy Father then turned to the individual vestments of the priest, beginning with the amice, the white cloth which priests put on first, over their shoulders and collar.

“In the past, and in monastic orders to this day,” Pope Benedict said, “[the amice] was placed first on the head, as a sort of hood, becoming in this way a symbol of the discipline of the senses and the thoughts as necessary for the proper celebration of the Holy Mass.”

This necessity remains to this day, the Holy Father said, emphasizing that, “my thoughts must not wander through the worries and expectations of my daily life; my senses must not be distracted by those things within the Church which would casually grab my eyes and ears.”

The priest’s heart, the Pope continued, must be turned to the Lord in his midst. “If I am with the Lord, then with my listening, speaking, and acting, I will also draw the people into communion with Him.”

Turning then to the alb and stole, the Holy Father recalled that the ancient prayers connected with these vestments refer to the new clothes which are put on the prodigal son when he returns to the house of his father; and for that reason, “When we approach the liturgy to act on behalf of Christ, we all realize how far we are from Him, how much dirt exists in our life.”

It is only the blood of the lamb, as cited in the book of Revelation, that “washes our robes and makes them white.” Therefore, Benedict said to the priests present, “by wearing the alb, we should remember: He suffered for me as well. And only because His love is greater than all my sins, can I act on His behalf and be the witness of His light.”

The Holy Father also explained how the alb should recall the “vesting with love,” to which we who are called to the wedding feast are called.

For this reason, the Pope added, we should ask ourselves, “Now that we are getting closer to the celebration of Holy Mass… whether we wear this dress of love. Let’s ask the Lord to take any hostility away from our soul, to remove from us any feeling of self-sufficiency and to really dress us in the dress of love, so that we will be bright people, not people who belong to darkness.”

Pope Benedict also touched briefly on the meaning of the Chasuble, which according to his explanation, symbolizes the yoke of Christ. “Wearing the yoke of the Lord means first and foremost: learning from Him; always being willing to be taught by Him.

From Him, we must learn meekness and humbleness – God’s humbleness that becomes apparent in His being a man”.

“Sometimes we would like to say to Jesus,” the Pope confessed, “Lord, your yoke is not light at all. Actually, it is awfully heavy in this world. But then, as we look at Him who carried everything – who personally experienced obedience, weakness, pain, all the darkness, suddenly these lamentations of ours die down.”

“His yoke is to love with Him. And the more we love Him and with Him we become people who love, the lighter His seemingly heavy yoke becomes for us.”

Good Friday's Call to Sacrifice

The Triduum continues. Today, we celebrate the Lord's passion, hearing again the sacred story of his death, this day hearing St. John's account. It is in this account that we hear that Jesus himself carried the cross, that he without question took it up. There is no agony here - he freely choses to give his life, to lay it down. And, as we recall, he has the power to take it up.

He is the innocent Lamb of God, our passover lamb that is without spot or blemish. Perfect as the Son of God made man, he alone has the ability to be our offering. He is put to death as across Jerusalem in the temple area, the priests were preparing the passover lamb, sacrifice the spotless lambs as a token reminder of the freedom symbolized by their ancestors first lambs' blood on their doors and lintels. But our Lamb is more - he makes the freedom happen. He becomes our sin offering, taking upon himself our sin, our shame, our death. He puts it to death, transforms it by his sacrifice. How many times have our sins crushed him? How many times have we pounded the nails with our iniquities? How many times have we crowned him with our disobedience?

But how many times have we come back to the font of his grace? How many times have we asked to be washed clean by the blood (of the Eucharist) and the water (of Baptism and reconciliation)? How many times have we peered into his most sacred heart which has so loved us?

We celebrate our salvation, wrought for us in Christ's sacrifice. It is no accident that he died. It was not an unfortunate episode in his life. No, it was for this reason that he lived! Now, he calls us to follow him, the way, the truth, and the life. He invites us to take up our own cross, now transformed from the instrument of death into a means of grace.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with
thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish,
Which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
Was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee,
Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee
And flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish
That once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished
Their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished
The splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor,
Hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor,
Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion,
Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression
Which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee,
Wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee;
Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow
to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee.

My shepherd, now receive me;
My guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me,
O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me
With words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me
To heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee,
From Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me!
When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish
In death's cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish,
Thee in mine arms I'll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken,
Above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken
I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring
Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring,
I'd breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me
When death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me,
Forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish,
Oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish
By virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation,
My shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion
When my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
Upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee.
Who dieth thus dies well.

Holy Thursday's call to love

This evening, we begin the solemn celebration of the Triduum. We mark the first Eucharist tonight, that Christ, the night before He died, took bread and wine and gave it to his apostles. He transformed the elements His body and blood, and commanded that they do likewise in memory of Him. This 'memory' is not a simple calling to mind, though, but rather an act that makes present the thing or event being present - it is a very Jewish concept. Every Eucharist is an act that brings us into the present of the Last Supper, the passion and death of Christ, and His Resurrection (which is why we cannot celebrate Mass on Good Friday!)

Those who go to Mass tonight will note that we do not have a gospel passage on the institution of the Eucharist (we have St. Paul's account as recording in his letter to the Corinthians), but rather St. John's account of the Last Supper, when Jesus rose from the table and washed their feet. St. John does not include the institution of the Eucharist - no pun, but he passes over it to go to the fruits of the Eucharist (in the sixth chapter of John, he has the highest Eucharistic theology of all the Gospel writers) - charity and service. The Eucharist brings us into communion with Christ, to help us to imitate Him. As he washes the feet of his apostles, we too are invited to serve. Service is not optional for the Christian, but a fruit of the Eucharist.

This evening, we mark the birth of the Christian priesthood, born of the Eucharist. We pray that those whom God is calling to be priests would hear that call and respond to it.

His Holiness' Prayer Intention for April

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI released his prayer intentions for the Month. They are

...that every Christian may answer enthusiastically and faithfully the universal call to sanctity, allowing himself to be enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit.

And

That the number of priestly and religious vocations may grow in North America and the countries of the Pacific Ocean, in order to give an adequate answer to the pastoral and missionary needs of those populations.

The Vocation of Husband/Father

Domenico Bettinelli writes poignantly about his vocation as a father in a recent post. He writes of his being torn in having to go to work to provide for his family. Thanks, Dom, for sharing what a hardship it is to be away from your wife and children while trying to support them. It is a struggle that is shared by many men, and we would be well served as a church to have more fathers and husbands honestly share the struggle they have. The vocation of husband/father is one of profound happiness and sorrows, of love and sacrifice. It is proof again that all vocations have their burdens and joys!

Reflection on Palm Sunday

Jesus says, "If they [the disciples] keep silent, the stones will cry out." It is a magnificent thought, isn't it? Those that claim to follow Christ need to call out in praise, and if we don't, the stones will. What a sound that must be!

The Church teaches us that we are created in love for love. We are are created with a desire to be in relationship with our Creator and Lord. We are created to worship Him. To withhold that desire is like bottling up a shaken soda - its bound to explode out! That is the experience of the disciples as they accompany the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem, and that ought to be our experience, too. But we call to mind that their voices were silenced when those who were caught in mob mentality cried out, "Crucify Him!" How the praise must have bottled up in the hearts of those who watched as their Lord and leader was crucified!

Lest we forget, though, the stones will cry out! The stone that was rolled away screamed that the Lord has won, that He has conquered sin and death through his becoming a sin offering for us.

As we enter this Holy Week, let us worship without fear. We should cry out, asking the Lord to come again, to shatter the gates of our hearts that are closed to Him, and to wait in silence for His Resurrection and our own.

Pope Benedict On Confession

Pope Benedict recently preached on confession to young people in preparation for World Youth Day during a penitential service. He said that "The heart of all mankind ... thirsts for love". "God's love for us which began with the creation, became visible in the mystery of the Cross. ... A crucified love that does not stop at the outrage of Good Friday but culminates in the joy of the Resurrection ... and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love by which, this evening too, sins will be remitted and forgiveness and peace granted."

The Sacrament of Confession is a beautiful sacrament. It is humbling as a priest to hear confessions. With sincerity, the penitent tells of the faults and failings, their sins. They seek to be restored to the love of Christ. Whatever their sins, no matter how seemingly minor to the most extreme, they feel the separation from God. To celebrate the sacrament with them, and to speak the words of forgiveness, is to encounter Christ's love for both confessor and penitent.

Bishop Vasa's column on Vocations

Bishop Vasa of Baker, OR, recently wrote a column on vocations. He writes "I am convinced that there is no shortage of young men being called to a life of service to Christ’s Church as priests. The shortage rests not in the number being called but only in the number responding to the invitation." He speaks of the noise that fills our culture that drowns out the voice of God calling young men to the priesthood, and the need of parents to allow their children to respond to that call. Like our own Bishop Nienstedt, Bishop Vasa calls all to pray for vocations.

"... Some of the young men in this class have considered and are considering a possible vocation to the priesthood as an option for them. Whether their initial hearing of that gentle call will ultimately result in a definitive affirmative response depends upon parental support, pastoral encouragement and prayers; lots and lots of prayers. Vocations do come from families but vocations also come from Parishes. It often happens that several vocations will come from the same Parish several years in a row. It often happens that small rural Parishes produce three of four priestly vocations in a span of as many years. It often happens that a number of religious vocations will spring from the families of one Parish. It is, in part, a mystery of God’s grace but it is also a sign that, in those Parishes where vocations are prayed for, esteemed and actively encouraged young men are more likely to hear and heed the Lord’s invitation to be priests and young women are more likely to hear and heed the Lord’s invitation to serve as Religious. The promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life needs to be a routine activity of every Parish, a routine activity of every parishioner."

The Annunciation

Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation, c. 1472-75
Normally, the feast that we celebrate today, the Annunciation, is celebrated on March 25, but because the 25th is on a Sunday and the Sunday of Lent has precedence. This feast is, of course, the celebration of the announcement of the Angel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to bear the Son of the Most High. Without knowing how this was to be, she places her trust in the Lord and the message of the Angel. Her response, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me, according to your word" (Ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbus tuum in Latin.)

The Blessed Mother is the model of vocation. She places her trust, and indeed her whole life, in God. She responds, not knowing the fullness of how, the mechanics perhaps, but knowing that God's plan was good. She is willing to become a virgin mother.

We might have questions about the mechanics of what God is inviting us, but the Blessed Mother shows us that it is in responding to the will of God that we come to understand.

Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, you are full of grace.
We celebrate the message of the incarnation of your Son,
and your Fiat to the message of the angel.
Help me to respond to God's loving will as you did.
Help me to let go of the questions,
the worries that prevent me for saying yes with self-abandonment.
Be my strong advocate
as you take my intercession to know God's will
to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Reflection on the Fifth Sunday of Lent

The story of the woman caught in adultery is a powerful story on which to reflect, especially in light of vocations. The unknown woman, 'caught in the very act of adultery', is brought before Jesus for his judgment. The Pharisees and scribes are setting a trap - is Jesus going to dismiss her to continue on her way (a misguided notion of Mercy), or is he going to consent in her death (an equally misguided notion of Justice, after all, the man was also guilty).

Jesus begins writing on the ground with his finger - what he wrote no one knows, but perhaps this does not matter. He was writing just as the Father did when He inscribed the Law on the stone tablets on Sinai. Jesus was writing a new law, tempered in love. He states simply that the one without sin is the one who is to carry out the sentence. He returns to his scribbling. All walk away, leaving the woman. Jesus does not simply dismiss her, but calls her to conversion, to sin no more. He, who is all holy and sinless, could have carried out the sentence, but calls her to repentance.

Many young men, feeling the call, allow the condemnation that results from their sins to forbid them from responding. But in the same way, Jesus invites us to trust in his mercy, to seek forgiveness of our sins and the grace to go forward. As so many have said and repeated, there is no saint without a past, and no sinner without a future. Our sins are never as great as God's mercy, and if we are willing to seek forgiveness and sin no more, we can go on, to respond to God's grace freely.

Priestly Celibacy By Cardinal Hummes

Cardinal Hummes, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, recently released an article on priestly celibacy to mark the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's Sacerdotalis Caelibatus. In the article, the Cardinal summarizes the Pope's letter.

The Cardinal writes: "Celibacy is a gift that Christ offers to men called to the priesthood. This gift must be accepted with love, joy and gratitude. Thus, it will become a source of happiness and holiness. Paul VI gave three reasons for sacred celibacy: its Christological, ecclesiological and eschatological significance." It is a great summary, easy to read, and well-footnoted. Check it out.

The Necessity of Assent

Diogenes, republishes an address by C.S. Lewis to Anglican clergymen regarding the necessity for assent to Church teaching among the clergy for proper Church order. Lewis and Diogenes lead us to the edge to understanding that to attempt to be a dissenter from within the Church is to place oneself outside the Church, usually above the Church in judgment.

For this reason, the Church teaches what she believes, and requires her priests to profess it. If God is calling a man to the priesthood, the man is being called to the fullness of the truth, and to teach it to the best of his ability. This does not mean, perhaps, that the priest knows everything and understands with perfect clarity the faith, but that he gives his full assent to the faith, and willingly submits to the Church. Anything else is less, and certainly to say that one can know better than the 2000 years of Tradition is to yield to a spirit of arrogance!

Pope Benedict on Pope St. Clement of Rome

In the recent months, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has been focusing his Wednesday Audiences on the apostles and early witnesses to the Christian faith. On March 7, 2007, his audience address focused on St. Clement of Rome, the third successor of Peter. Pope Benedict states that St. Clement's letter to the Corinthians was addressing a recent controversy regarding the role of priests in the community. He wrote:

"The clear distinction between the "laymen" and the hierarchy does not mean, in any way, a contraposition but only the organic connection of a body, of an organism with different functions. In fact, the Church is not a place for confusion and anarchy, where someone can do whatever he wants at any time; each one in this organism with an articulated structure practices his ministry according to the vocation received.
As pertains to the heads of the communities, Clement specifies clearly the doctrine of apostolic succession. The laws that regulate this derive from God himself in an ultimate analysis. The Father sent Jesus Christ, who in turn sent the apostles. These then sent out the first heads of the communities, and established that they would be followed by worthy men. Therefore, all proceeds in "an orderly way, according to the will of the word of God"
With these words, with these phrases, St. Clement underlines that the Church has a sacramental structure, not a political structure. God's actions that come to us in the liturgy precede our decisions and our ideas. The Church is above all a gift of God and not a creature of ours and therefore this sacramental structure not only guarantees the common order but also the precedence of the gift of God that we all need. "

We can take at least a little comfort to know that the modern day struggles with those who think that the priesthood is outmoded due to the heightened awareness of the role of the laity is not so modern. Some men are ordained to the priesthood for the service of God and His Church. They are configured to Christ in such a way that they are in persona Christi capitis, and as such is 'ordered in his very being' to provide the sacraments. This not a slight to the laity - each and every human being has a vocation, and will be held responsible for putting that vocation to use in the Church.

Baptism requires a decision to Follow!

Diogenes, in his fine blog Off the Record linked on Catholic World News, provides commentary on a recent interview with Fr. Ron Rohlheiser by US Catholic. In the interview, Fr. Rohlheiser addresses the two 'schools' of thought in the Church today, the school of what I would call "the Church is for those who desire to follow Christ" versus "the Church is for all who hope for salvation whether they know Christ or not". By way of example, Fr. Rohlheiser references an Episcopalian parish that baptized anyone who wished to be, with numbers a "couple hundred", out of which they gained 60-70 "good Episcopalians". Such a practice is completely out of sync with the Catholic Church's understanding of Baptism. Baptism requires a conscious decision to follow Christ and to adhere to the teachings of the Church of baptism. Yes, as Catholics, we believe in infant baptism, but it is the parents who choose for the child, and stand in proxy of sorts, that this child will follow Christ. Baptism is not a magic formula that provides a free pass to heaven, but rather a Sacrament which covenants one to God and the Church. That covenant must be lived out. While this Episcopalian Church may have gained a few good members, they also gained quite a few members that perhaps have no idea of the gift and vocation they just received in being baptized! Are the newly baptized going to be invited to respond to God's will?

As we approach Easter and the great Mystery of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, we are to see this as a great time of grace to renew our commitment to Christ and the Church, to respond to God's will for our lives, and to move beyond ourselves into greater faith.

St. Joseph and Vocations

On the March 19th of every year, we mark the Solemnity of St. Joseph, foster father of the Lord. I offer for your reflection the following article. It is an excerpt taken from "Life with Joseph", by Fr. Paul J. Gorman (A priest of the New Ulm Diocese who died in 2001), published by The Leaflet Missal Company. Copies of this book may by found by contacting the Institute on Religious Life, Box 41007, Chicago, IL 60641.




The remarkable and multifaceted character of St. Joseph made it possible for him to be declared the example and patron not only of Christian families, but also of those involved in other forms of vocational or professional endeavor. Consider the following:

Totally Committed to Christ: Although a family man by divine appointment, Joseph's intimate association with Jesus and Mary during the years at Nazareth qualified him for the position of patron of those committed to Christ in the priestly and religious vocations. Who more than St. Joseph knew the meaning of poverty, chastity and obedience? Who, more than he, was totally committed to the interests of our Blessed Lord and His Immaculate Mother? Joseph was united to Our Lady by the bond of matrimony yet he, like his virginal Spouse, placed his love, life and energies at the service of the Child Jesus. At no time was there a diminishing of his gift of himself to the One who, though He was God, had accepted a position of obedience and submission to His foster-father. For Joseph, no sacrifice was too great for the fulfillment of his responsibilities toward Him whom the angel had said: "They shall call him Emmanuel, a name which means 'God is with us.'"

Like Joseph, a priest is placed in an intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As he stands at the altar, he holds in his hands the same Jesus who was born in a stable and laid in a manger. At consecration time, a priest once again envelops Jesus in the swaddling clothes of the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine. He bends his knee in adoration and allowance to the One to whom he has chosen to commit himself in a life of loving service. Like Joseph, the true priest will never compromise nor diminish his total commitment to Jesus and to His Mystical Body, the Church. Joseph should always be for the priest an attractive and a powerful intercessor in his efforts to live his sacerdotal commitment with unflagging zeal and limitless generosity.

Virtues Perfectly Practiced: What is said of the priesthood applies also in general to the religious life. The evangelical virtues of poverty, chastity and obedience were practiced perfectly in the home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Family therefore becomes the pattern for religious life in monasteries and convents. Those who seek perfection in a religious community should cultivate a special relationship to St. Joseph and Mary; he can--by his example and intercession--bring to those in religious life to an ever-deepening union with Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.

Look to Joseph: St. Joseph is a patron par excellence of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. In this period of vocational shortages everywhere, it never ceases to be a source of wonderment that bishops and religious superiors seem to be totally unaware of the value of devotion to Joseph as an effective means of finding worthy candidates to fill half-empty seminaries and novitiates. Instead of spending time in useless complaining about vocational problems, Episcopal and religious authorities would do well to direct their concerns--in urgent prayer--to a presently untapped source of unfailing and efficacious assistance, St. Joseph. He who dedicated his life to the service of God's Son will hardly show less interest in obtaining suitable candidates for the service of His Church. If the great St. Teresa of Avila, doctor of the Church and specialist in mystical and contemplative prayer, did not hesitate to enlist the intercessory power of St. Joseph in the work of spiritual reform of the Order of Carmel and in the establishment of many new monasteries under the powerful patronage of the Head of the Holy Family, should there be reluctance on the part of church leadership to use Joseph's help in solving the problem of a vocational shortage?

Reflection on the Fourth Sunday of Lent

This Sunday, we hear perhaps the most well-known parable of the New Testament - the Prodigal Son. This parable is perhaps misnamed. The word 'prodigal' means extravagant. The son was extravagant with his father's money given to him as his inheritance to the point of ending up feeding pigs and wishing for the pigs’ food (indeed, a bad situation for a Jewish man who became ritually unclean by his proximity to the swine.) But it was the Father who was truly extravagant. But justice, he was not obligated to give the son his inheritance, but he did. Further, he was not obligated to take the son back, but he does. He waited, watching for the sign of his son to return to him, and rushes to the son brought low by his reckless lifestyle. The father gives the son a ring, a robe, and sandals, all of which are symbols of status and identity. The father restores his son to his former status as a son through the extravagance of his mercy and love.

Of course, the elder son is angry, but he himself did not know who he was. In the context of the story, one could get the sense that he saw himself as only a servant. He could not share in his father’s joy, because he did not see himself as a son. In leaving the parable hanging with the son outside, Jesus is hinting that the listener is the elder son - is he going to go in and not only share his father's joy, but also 'claim' his own identity as a son? Is he going to stay bitter, and remain outside in the dark?

In our vocations, those questions are ours to ask. We may be like the younger son. We may have walked, perhaps even run, away from our Heavenly Father's love. We squandered His riches to the point of ending up alone and hungry. We are invited to return, and when we do we find that God waiting to bestow an identity on us. With that, we can submit ourselves in love to His extravagance . But perhaps even more important for most of us is to become aware that we might be the elder son – that we might not know that God loves us, but see ourselves as only servants. The invitation for us with this is to know God’s love of us as his children. Yes, God gives us our dignity and identity, and when we live it out, we know the extravagance of His love.