Another Dance with Death

Greetings, God and All...

About ten days ahead of Easter, I got a phone call from one of the music coordinators whom I work with; asking my availability for an upcoming funeral service. She started her conversation with "It's funeral season..."

I almost cringed when I heard that. Ultimately, she was correct; since March 20 I have participated in six services for the departed. One of the parishes scheduled two on the same day; Catholic Church law prohibits the holding of funeral Masses over the Easter weekend, from Thursday through Sunday.

It's the most recent one that has me reaching for the keyboard, in spite of the fact that because of my declining visual acuity and tingling extremities (a consequence of type 2 diabetes with which I was diagnosed in 2022) I don't write reflections as much as I used to.

Just after Easter, a member of my extended family ended a battle with cancer at age 63. I received a call from a surviving brother that morning. I immediately offered my condolences and intentions to pray for all concerned; and placed myself at his disposal. If there was anything I could do, please let me know.

Initially it was intended to hold a full funeral Mass, but because of the Church's restrictions over Easter (see above) the venue would not be available in a suitable time frame. Because of this, and because I had the privilege of putting to rest others of my extended family over the years, I was called upon again to officiate at the visitation service at the funeral home and the final commendation at the cemetery. Leading the service meant I would give a brief homily based on one of the Gospel passages commonly associated with resurrection themes.

This wasn't going to be a large turnout. (Most funerals aren't largely attended, especially these days.) It would be an intimate gathering of family and co-workers who know the importance of paying their respects and offering consolation and prayers.

Over the years I have undergone a sort of spiritual evolution. God has provided me the means, the time, and the inspiration to go where He sends me. All that is another story for another time. It's important to mention it only because one has to reflect on what should be said and done in an effort to allow God's consolation to be sensed. Because of the number of services I'd sung in recently, I sensed I wanted to do something different. I knew my audience; I already had ideas swimming in my mind; I just needed God's help in making it flow smoothly. I decided to let the Holy Spirit direct me, rather than write it all out. In the past I would write them out only to have a stray but relevant thought cross my mind during delivery, and then ramble a bit to get back to my written text. But I also floated some ideas across a few 'outsiders' to make sure I wasn't taking a wild step off a cliff which might upset people who neither needed nor deserved it. Now, three days later, I am trying to commit what I said to writing, because it flowed so well at the time.

So, after a few short prayers, and giving the assembled mourners a chance to share a story of an event or relationship they had with the departed, I launched into a passage from chapter six of the Gospel of St. John, the part that reads "and I will raise them up on the last day" (probably because that morning I had been singing the well-known hymn "I Am the Bread of Life").

And I went on...something like this.

What is heaven like?

It's a question I don't know I can truly answer, but one I know we have contemplated at one time or another, or are contemplating now.

No doubt you've seen artists' renditions of heaven, with scores of angels too many to count gathered around magnificent thrones on which are seated God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; inspired by some verses in the book of the  Revelation to John (the last book in the Bible).

Then we have what Jesus says about His Father's house in John's Gospel, chapter 14 (a favorite citation at funeral Masses), where He says, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places (mansions)." I think the best example of that is given to us by Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, who gives us separate spaces in the hereafter for the Catholics, the Protestants, our Jewish brothers and sisters, and ultimately the 'nones' who are completely oblivious to the whole thing.

When my wife and mother left this world ten years ago, my association with heaven was that of an eternal banquet. the biggest buffet in the cosmos. That concept has just recently been challenged by a lay Catholic evangelist who reminds me that it's not about the food.

And there's the concept that God in His heaven is this infinite source of energy, none of it bad; and when we get to heaven we become one with that energy for eternity.

But these are all human interpretations.

St. John also writes in one of his letters that God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God; and God abides in them. This should indicate that there's an inexhaustible presence of intimacy, one that is expressed to us in earthly life as sacrificial and superabundant in mercy. So much so that there is no place for hatred, anger, disease, political intrigue, counter agenda of any kind. In short, a better place than the here and now. And God puts in our hearts a longing to be in that better place. When someone close to us passes into eternal life, he/she crosses the bridge built by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, under the escort of his/her guardian angel. God is present in this room right now, through the presence of the guardian angel each one of us has been given.

What we do know then, in our limited sense, is God loves us in a deeply intimate way, and longs for us to be one with Him where He dwells and is found. When we pray for our departed loved ones, we are performing what the Church calls an act of mercy. We long for them to be at peace, forever and ever. And we're curious to know how it turns out, aren't we? We long to see it play out, and to be in that better place. Let's make the most of every opportunity to make our own lives mirror, to the best of our ability, that better place. Let us be thankful for the gift of family and friends in our lives.Together, through past, present, and future, let us continue our journey to that better place.

The 'Post'/Making the Rough Places Plain: A Prayer for Holy Week

 Lord Jesus,

I thank You for the moments of inspiration that come to me when it seems I need it most. Thank You for life itself, even as challenging as it is, for...well, it should be obvious, correct?

I thank You for those saints, visionaries, and fathers of your Church, and for the rich symbolism found in our sacred rituals and Tradition. Without this, we would find ourselves foundering worse than we already are.

In Your inexhaustible mercy and superabundant love You have given us the opportunity to walk in Your footsteps. For some that might mean a geographic pilgrimage to the places in which You lived and ministered long ago. For most of us, including me, it means stepping outside of our box in space and time to unite with You through the insight given to us through Your Holy Spirit.

In this last week before Easter is observed, I pray that I (and many others) cheer and shout for joy as you make Your humble but still royal entry into the Holy City.

May we eat at Your table, partaking in the bread and wine that has become Your Body and Blood, Your Soul and Divinity.

May we follow you into our chapels, our Garden of Gethsemani, to pray, keep watch, and learn and understand the way of suffering You take in our stead.

May we understand that the stark emptiness of our church altars represent the humiliation You endured - and continue to endure - as You are stripped of Your royal dignity, and are scourged and beaten mercilessly.

May we discover in our reading of the accounts of Your Passion and Death that we, too, are confused and afraid. Some of us still turn away from the repulsive thoughts of the senseless actions of others - especially when it happens in the name of your Father in Heaven. May we find ourselves in that place and time when it was asked in the midst of a mob, Which 'son of a father' do you want released to you? That we, too, in our weaknesses so far removed from the actual event, cry out for Your crucifixion.

May we understand that your words, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, should in and of themselves have been sufficient for our ultimate salvation; but in the end, it would not satisfy our bloodlust.

May we have the courage to remain at the foot of Your Cross, alongside the Apostle John, and the Virgin Mary, your - and now our - Mother.

May we dutifully and lovingly pause at Your tomb, intended for someone else but would never be used for its original purpose.

May we keep vigil in the most profound way, recalling the history of our salvation and recognize Your rising as the Light of all lights.

May we courageously. yet humbly, witness and proclaim that You are risen and among us still.

May we keep all of this in our hearts as the celebration of the Week That Changed the World ends and life returns to 'normal'...

No - May You light the way to establish or renew or make of our lives a new and different sense of what is 'normal.' That is what You did everything for. 

May the holy angels bring this prayer before You, Lord Jesus; Who lives and reigns together with the Father and the Holy Spirit - one God, forever and ever. Amen.

The Saturday Morning Post: Requiem Eternam MMXXIII

 Welcome, God and All...

It's been some time since I allowed myself the opportunity to post a reflection. Enough has been going on, and it's getting harder to make postings quickly. 

Today, though, we once more approach the day of All Hallows; that time in the Church year when we reflect on our own mortality by recalling all who have died. It has become an annual tradition of mine to borrow from the Wikipedian almanac and offer a partial listing of the famous and infamous who were summoned into eternal life over the last twelve months. When I last checked, my name wasn't on the list...but you never know. 

October (25 – 31) 2022 

25 - Jules Bass, 87, animator and television producer (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Last Unicorn) (b. 1935) 

28 - Jerry Lee Lewis, 87, singer, ("Great Balls of Fire", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", "High School Confidential") (b. 1935) 

31 – Peter J. Rooney, 72, American Roman Catholic deacon, cancer (b. 1950) 

November 2022 

1 - Takeoff, 28, rapper (Migos) (b. 1994) 

5 - Aaron Carter, 34, singer ("Crush on You", "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)", "Leave It Up to Me") (b. 1987) 

9 - Fred Hickman, 66, broadcaster (CNN, ESPN, Black News Channel), Emmy winner (2004) (b. 1956) 

11 - Gallagher, 76, comedian (b. 1946) 

16 - Robert Clary, 96, French-born actor (Hogan's Heroes, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful) (b. 1926) 

25 - Irene Cara, 63, singer ("Flashdance... What a Feeling") and actress (Sparkle, Fame), Oscar winner (1983) (b. 1959) 

26 - Paul J. Swain, 79, Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Sioux Falls (2006–2019) (b. 1943) 

December 2022 

1 - Gaylord Perry, 84, Hall of Fame baseball player (San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres) (b. 1938) 

4 - Bob McGrath, 90, actor (Sesame Street) (b. 1932) 

5 - Kirstie Alley, 71, actress (Cheers, Veronica's Closet, Look Who's Talking) (b. 1951) 

14 - John Hughes, 92, British-born journalist (The Christian Science Monitor, Deseret News), Pulitzer Prize winner (1967) (b. 1930) 

20 - Franco Harris, 72, Hall of Fame football player (Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks) (b. 1950) 

31 - Anita Pointer, 74, singer (The Pointer Sisters) (b. 1948) 

2023 

January 

7 - Adam Rich, 54, actor (Eight Is Enough, Dungeons & Dragons, The Devil and Max Devlin) (b. 1968) 

9 - Les Brown Jr., 82, musician, actor and producer (b. 1940) 

12 - Lisa Marie Presley, 54, singer-songwriter ("Lights Out"), and daughter of Elvis Presley (b. 1968) 

13 - Robbie Knievel, 60, daredevil and stuntman (b. 1962) 

15 - Ted Savage, 86, baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers) (b. 1936) 

16 - Frank Thomas, 93, baseball player (New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies) (b. 1929) 

18 - David Crosby, 81, Hall of Fame singer (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and songwriter ("Almost Cut My Hair") (b. 1941) 

25 - Cindy Williams, 75, actress (Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, American Graffiti) (b. 1947) 

31 - Lou Campanelli, 84, basketball coach (James Madison Dukes, California Golden Bears) (b. 1938) 

February 

8 - Burt Bacharach, 94, Hall of Fame composer ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "Walk On By", "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"), six-time Grammy winner (b. 1928) 

13 - Huey "Piano" Smith, 89, R&B pianist and songwriter ("Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu") (b. 1934) 

15 - David Oreck, 99, entrepreneur (b. 1923) 

15 - Raquel Welch, 82, actress (One Million Years B.C., The Three Musketeers, Fantastic Voyage) (b. 1940) 

16 - Tim McCarver, 81, baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies) and broadcaster (Fox Sports) (b. 1941) 

March 

4 - Robert Haimer, 69, musician (Barnes & Barnes) and songwriter ("Fish Heads") (b. 1954) 

7 - Tom Love, 85, entrepreneur, founder of Love's (b. 1937) 

9 - Robert Blake, 89, actor (Baretta, In Cold Blood, Electra Glide in Blue, Lost Highway) (b. 1933) 

10 - Jesús Alou, 80, Dominican baseball player (San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics) (b. 1942) 

10 - Napoleon XIV, 84, singer ("They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!") (b. 1938) 

11 - Bud Grant, 95, basketball player (Minneapolis Lakers), Hall of Fame football player (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) and coach (Minnesota Vikings) (b. 1927) 

13 - Jim Gordon, 77, musician (Derek and the Dominos), songwriter ("Layla") and convicted murderer (b. 1945) 

13 - Eric Lloyd Wright, 93, architect (b. 1929) 

21 - Willis Reed, 80, Hall of Fame basketball player (New York Knicks) and coach (New Jersey Nets), NBA champion (1970, 1973) (b. 1942) 

22 - Len Goodman, 78, English ballroom dancer, television presenter, and coach (Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing with the Stars), bone cancer (b. 1944) 

23 - Darcelle XV, 92, drag queen (b. 1930) 

30 - Mark Russell, 90, political satirist and comedian (b. 1932) 

April 

10 - Al Jaffee, 102, cartoonist (Mad, Trump, Humbug) (b. 1921) 

19 - Otis Redding III, 59, singer (The Reddings) (b. 1963) 

27 - Jerry Springer, 79, television host (The Jerry Springer Show) and politician, mayor of Cincinnati (1977–1978) (b. 1944) 

May 

6 - Vida Blue, 73, baseball player (Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals), three-time World Series champion (1972, 1973, 1974) (b. 1949) 

9 - Edward Cullen, 90, Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Allentown (1998–2009) and auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia (1994–1998) (b. 1933) 

11 - Joe A. Garcia, 70, indigenous political activist and musician, president of the National Congress of American Indians (2006–2009) (b. 1952) 

21 - Ed Ames, 95, singer (Ames Brothers) and actor (Daniel Boone) (b. 1927) 

22 - Peggy Lee Leather, 64, professional wrestler (WWF, NWA) (b. 1959) 

22 - James Lewis, 63, singer (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) (b. 1959) 

24 - George Maharis, 94, actor (Route 66, The Most Deadly Game, Fantasy Island) (b. 1928) 

24 - Tina Turner, 83, American-born Swiss singer ("River Deep – Mountain High", "A Fool in Love") and actress (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome), eight-time Grammy winner (b. 1939) 

June 

3 - Michael Sheehan, 83, Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Lubbock (1983–1993) and archbishop of Santa Fe (1993–2015) (b. 1939) 

4 - George Winston, 73, pianist (December, Summer, Forest), Grammy winner (1996) (b. 1949) 

7 - The Iron Sheik, 81, Iranian-born Hall of Fame professional wrestler (AWA, WWF) (b. 1942) 

8 - Pat Robertson, 93, media mogul, religious broadcaster, chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network and presidential candidate (1988) (b. 1930) 

10 - Ted Kaczynski, 81, mathematician and domestic terrorist (Unabomber Manifesto) (b. 1942) 

12 - Treat Williams, 71, actor (Hair, Everwood, Once Upon a Time in America, Chicago Fire) (b. 1951) 

26 - Dick Biondi, 90, disc jockey (b. 1932) 

29 - Alan Arkin, 89, actor (The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, Edward Scissorhands, Little Miss Sunshine), Oscar winner (2006) (b. 1934) 

29 - Don Kennedy, 93, radio broadcaster (WPIC, NBC Radio, WWPW), television personality (WSB-TV), and voice actor (Space Ghost Coast to Coast) (b. 1930) 

July 

2 - Joseph John Gerry, 94, Roman Catholic prelate, bishop of Portland (1989–2004) and auxiliary bishop of Manchester (1986–1989) (b. 1928) 

3 - Vince Tobin, 79, football coach (Arizona Cardinals) (b. 1943) 

6 - Peter Nero, 89, pianist and conductor (Philly Pops), Grammy winner (1962, 1963) (b. 1934) 

15 - William O'Malley, 91, Roman Catholic priest and actor (The Exorcist) (b. 1931) 

21 - Tony Bennett, 96, jazz and traditional pop singer ("I Left My Heart in San Francisco", "Rags to Riches", "Because of You") (b. 1926) 

25 - Rocky Wirtz, 70, businessman, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks (since 2007) and president of Wirtz Corporation (since 2007) (b. 1952) 

26 - Randy Meisner, 77, Hall of Fame musician (Eagles, Poco) and songwriter ("Take It to the Limit"), Grammy winner (1976, 1978) (b. 1946) 

30 - Paul Reubens, 70, actor (Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee's Playhouse, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Blow) (b. 1952) 

August 

7 - DJ Casper, 58, DJ and songwriter ("Cha Cha Slide") (b. 1965) 

22 - Vaccine, 43, musician and record producer (b. 1979) 

23 - Terry Funk, 79, Hall of Fame professional wrestler (NWA, WWF) and actor (Paradise Alley, Over the Top, Road House) (b. 1944) 

24 - Bray Wyatt, 36, professional wrestler (WWE) (b. 1987) 

26 - Tony Roberts, 94, sportscaster (Notre Dame Fighting Irish football) (b. 1928) 

27 - Joe the Plumber, 49, conservative activist and commentator (b. 1973) 

September 

1 - Jimmy Buffett, 76, singer-songwriter ("Margaritaville", "Come Monday", "Cheeseburger in Paradise") and businessman, founder of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville (b. 1946) 

4 - Gary Wright, 80, singer-songwriter ("Dream Weaver", "Love Is Alive") and musician (Spooky Tooth) (b. 1943) 

26 - Brooks Robinson, 86, Hall of Fame baseball player (Baltimore Orioles), World Series champion (1966, 1970) (b. 1937) 

29 - Dianne Feinstein, 90, politician, member of the U.S. Senate (since 1992), mayor of San Francisco (1978–1988) and president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (1978) (b. 1933) 

October (through 10/28) 

5 - Dick Butkus, 80, Hall of Fame football player (Chicago Bears) and actor (Hang Time, Johnny Dangerously) (b. 1942) 

7 – The 14 Israeli nationals killed by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas 

14 - Piper Laurie, 91, American actress (Carrie, The Hustler, Children of a Lesser God), Emmy winner (1987) (b. 1932) 

14 - Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, American child, stabbed at his home in Plainfield Township, Illinois, in a retaliatory hate crime stemming from the Hamas attack on the 7th (b. 2017) 

15 - Suzanne Somers, 76, American actress (Three's Company, Step by Step, She's the Sheriff), breast cancer (b. 1946) 

23 - Harry Porterfield, 95, American newscaster (WBBM-TV, WLS-TV) (b. 1928) 

24 - Richard Roundtree, 81, American actor (Shaft, Se7en, Speed Racer), pancreatic cancer (b. 1942) 

26 - Richard Moll, 80, American actor (Night Court, House, Batman: The Animated Series) (b. 1943) 

28 - Matthew Perry, 54, American-Canadian actor (Friends, The Whole Nine Yards, Fallout: New Vegas) (b. 1969) 

28 – Steven Zeier, ~72, American high school educator, stroke 

...and all victims of violence throughout the world. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through Your mercy, O God, rest in peace. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Requiem Eternam MMXXII

 Welcome, God and All...

It's been some time since I allowed myself the opportunity to post a reflection. Enough has been going on, and it's getting harder to make postings quickly. I promise more on that in the near future. 

Today, though, we once more approach the day of All Hallows; that time in the Church year when we reflect on our own mortality by recalling all who have died. It has become an annual tradition of mine to borrow from the Wikipedian almanac and offer a partial listing of the famous and infamous who were summoned into eternal life over the last twelve months. When I last checked, my name wasn't on the list...but you never know...

2021

November

November 7 – Dean Stockwell, American actor (b. 1936)

November 11 - F. W. de Klerk, 7th and last State President of South Africa and Nobel laureate (b. 1936)

November 26 – Stephen Sondheim, American composer and lyricist (b. 1930)

December

December 10 – Michael Nesmith, American musician and television personality (b. 1942)

December 11 - Anne Rice, American author (b. 1941)

December 26 - Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican archbishop, activist and Nobel laureate (b. 1931)

December 31 – Betty White, American actress (b. 1922)

2022

January

January 2 - Richard Leakey, Kenyan paleoanthropologist and conservationist (b. 1944)

January 6 - Peter Bogdanovich, American film director (b. 1939)

January 6 - Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, activist and ambassador (b. 1927)

January 20 - Meat Loaf, American singer and actor (b. 1947)

February

February 7 – Douglas Trumbull, American film director, special effects supervisor and inventor (b. 1942)

February 10 - Duvall Hecht, American rower, publisher and Olympic champion (b. 1930)

February 12 – Ivan Reitman, Czechoslovak-born Canadian film director and producer (b. 1946)

March

March 13 – William Hurt, American actor (b. 1950)

March 23 – Madeleine Albright, Czechoslovak-born American politician (b. 1937)

March 25 – Taylor Hawkins, American musician (b. 1972)

April

April 9 – Jack Higgins, English author (b. 1929)

April 18 – Sir Harrison Birtwistle, English composer (b. 1934)

April 26 – Klaus Schulze, German composer and musician (b. 1947)

May

May 17 – Vangelis, Greek composer and musician (b. 1943)

May 26 - Alan White, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1949)

May 27 – Angelo Sodano, 54th Secretary of State of the Holy See (b. 1927)

June

June 6 – Valery Ryumin, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1939)

June 14 – A. B. Yehoshua, Israeli novelist, essayist and playwright (b. 1936)

June 27 – Leonardo Del Vecchio, Italian businessman (b. 1935)

July

July 8 - Shinzo Abe, 57th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1954)

July 8 - Luis Echeverría, 57th President of Mexico (b. 1922)

July 29 – Juris Hartmanis, Latvian-born American computer scientist (b. 1928)

August

August 8 – Dame Olivia Newton-John, Australian singer and actress (b. 1948)

August 12 – Wolfgang Petersen, German film director and producer (b. 1941)

August 30 - Mikhail Gorbachev, 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union and Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1931)

September

September 8 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (b. 1926)

September 15 – Saul Kripke, American philosopher and logician (b. 1940)

September 28 – Coolio, American rapper and actor (b. 1963)

October

(through October 25)

October 4 – Loretta Lynn, American country singer and songwriter (b. 1932)

October 11 – Dame Angela Lansbury, Irish-British American actress and singer (b. 1925)

October 24 – Ash Carter, American politician (b. 1954)

October 28 - Jerry Lee Lewis, 87, American Hall of Fame singer ("Great Balls of Fire", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", "High School Confidential") (b.1935)

In addition, we remember the many unnamed who died from natural disasters and pandemic illness. We also remember all who died due to acts of violence all over the world, especially in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

May all the faithful departed now rest forever in the arms of our loving Savior; and. through your superabundant mercy, O God, rest in peace.

Until we meet again, may the same God be with you...

+the Phoenix

The "Post" - A Week That Changed the World; But NOT ‘THE’ Week

 updated from the archives of The Saturday Morning Post

April 20, 2022

Welcome, God and All...

Easter should be a time where joy abounds unabated. Nature is resplendent in color as winter’s icy grip is finally released. The inner peace we so long for is within our reach…right?

If only we could let go of what still anchors us! The beauty and message of this most sacred day should lift us skyward like helium-filled balloons, and we should rejoice in the brilliance of light that surrounds us!

But…we just can’t forget.

Remember back in December, when we were all reading or watching one version or another of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? Jacob Marley’s ghost, laden down with chains? I remember reflecting that I myself had developed a set of ‘ponderous chains’ in a moment of self-deprecating humor. Lent provided the opportunity to look at the symbolic chains you and I bear. I discovered things I didn’t like to see; I’m taking a reasonable guess you probably did, too. We’ve had a chance to work on those these last six weeks. We should rejoice in any progress we might be making. And we should continue working to make ourselves better persons, and the world around us a better place.

However, King David, the writer of Psalm 51 (and others), acknowledged that we have a way of reminding ourselves of the nastier stuff we’ve done or failed to do, and that knowledge is a temptation that flaunts itself in the face of the unbounded joy we should be celebrating:

---Twenty-eight years ago, Easter came and went, and my colleagues in formation for the diaconate were thrown back unceremoniously into a type of Lent as a new bishop was named for my diocese, with the possibility that our ordination would be put off - or canceled altogether. Happily, that didn’t happen.

---The following year (1995), Easter came and went, and in that week, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by a domestic terrorist. I had been offered the opportunity to preach the following weekend on the story of ‘Doubting’ Thomas the apostle. Instead, I felt I had to shift my focus on the reminder that events like this one call us to ask once again, why does an all-loving God allow these to happen?

---Four years later (1999), Easter had already passed at the end of March. I was living unhappily with the decision to forfeit active ministry after exhausting the futile attempt to find a solution to make everyone else happy, even if it meant I might not be. But I was slapped out of that on this very date twenty years ago, when the Columbine High School incident took place. And every year since then, we have been reminded - with alarming frequency - that there is no truly safe haven in this world.

---It was eight years ago today - in 2014 it was Easter Sunday - that was the last time I could speak with my beloved Diane. It’s like I had appeared at the threshold of the gates of Hell itself. I had already been out of work three weeks; Diane would leave this world eleven days later, and my mother followed her twenty-eight hours after that.

---And we got six-plus inches of snow on an April Sunday in 2019, enough to cancel a thousand flights at Chicago’s O’Hare airport - and I had a near miss or two driving in it because at first we were of the mindset that ‘the Lord giveth and (so) the Lord taketh away’. And He did, twenty-four hours later.

---And I wept the following Monday afternoon, as I watched in shock and horror, the fire that was consuming the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France. And I prayed that God would let me perish the thought that this might not have happened accidentally. I am angered that this tragedy, too, has become part of the arsenal of thoughtlessness that divides us. 

---And if that were not enough, there's the COVID pandemic that shut out public celebration of the Lord's Resurrection in 2020 and still had some limitations on it in 2021; and its specter still hangs over us in 2022 as any gathering in large numbers threatens a surge of the latest variant - as well as arguments to the point of violence regarding vaccines and the use of face masks. My son and I have also had health scares thus far in 2022. While not COVID related, they must be dealt with. I just can't keep living 'on the edge', as it were.

---On top of this, there's the current state of affairs in the geopolitical arena, marked by the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia, and the global economic chaos that this and the pandemic has brought on (and exacerbated by the present administration - but that's another story for another time). 

The devil is still surely at work in the world. Working harder than ever, to keep us anchored and mired in our waywardness, our false sense of privilege; that we would redefine just what human rights are and aren’t, in seemingly direct defiance of God’s plan.

But I still found the opportunity to dwell on THE Week that truly Changed the World. On it I have pinned my hopes, my ultimate dreams. From the events of that one week that secular timelords would rather I forget, in lieu of all the links of chain I bear from the history I list above - as well as that I haven’t listed - that’s where God continually invests in His creation - you, and me. Had it not happened, had Jesus not come to Earth to give of himself, I don’t know where I would be. Perhaps I would not be at all. Maybe God would have had enough, and this world destroyed by being sucked into the Sun, or blasted into pieces by a comet. Perhaps we would be annihilated by aliens who are better disciples than we are; being led to their ‘promised land.’ Or maybe he would have let us destroy ourselves…

But we were never meant to walk this road alone…

No, THIS is the Day that the Lord has made. And not only today, but every day of the past and every day that is yet to come. Think about that on Monday, when the routine will start over. Are we dreading another day of this, or that, or are we rejoicing that we’ve yet one more chance to give honor and glory to God in even the smallest of ways? Because those small acts have the potential to move mountains, and call upon the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth. And it needs renewing, I think we can agree on that. The Savior of the World did not do everything he did - including the brutal and senseless suffering he endured - in vain. No way! Jesus broke the prison bars of spiritual death, and has opened Paradise to all who believe.

God my Father, please accept as the offering most pleasing to you, the sacrifice of Jesus, your Son. May the legacy he left here continue to shine brightly and dispel the darkness in our minds and hearts! And may we find our way through Him, the Morning Star that never sets, to rejoice and proclaim, now and forevermore that Christ is Risen; and sheds his peaceful light on all humanity.

Until we meet again, live in the knowledge that the Risen Lord is with you, loves you, and would do this for you even if you were the only person left on Earth. 

Peace and Blessings,

+the Phoenix

The Saturday Morning Post: A Week at 'Club Med'

 January 29, 2022

Welcome, God and All...

We are 1/12th into 2022. If the rest of the year plays out anything like the last month has, I will be looking at having a direct line to Jesus intalled in my house and my car.

I had a minor fender-bender with an overhead garage door at a local car wash. I hadn't even had the car a month, and hadn't made the first payment yet. It's covered, and the repairs will be made - but not until March, because that's how backed up the body shop is. And no, nobody was hurt. I'm truly thanjkful for that.

In the meantime, at home my son was developing congestion in his chest. Figuring it was a cold, I went about treating it as such with over the counter medication. But it wasn't getting any better. Later that week, when we headed to a local indoor track to do several laps walking, he started to complain about having to do the walking. I told him that we were not out to set any records, just to finish the course. My son is special needs and has some trouble being accurate and truthful over situations. Finally, we cut the walking short and headed home. Almost immediately, his mood improved, leading me to think he was simply acting up; only the congestion was still there. I needed to observe more to determine what to do next.

At the beginning of the following week, still not seeing any improvement in the congestion or his breathing, I called his PCP. Maybe they could prescribe something stronger to knock out the congestion. Instead, I was told to take my son to the emergency room at the hospital. With the latest COVID-19 variant on the loose, nobody wanted to take any chances. And thus began the odyssey that still isn't quite over, but has definitely proven that I make a lousy medical professional.

My son was looked at and tested and diagnosed within the first three hours of our arrival at the hospital. He was tested for COVID (current protocls mandate it); that test was negative. Other tests indicated a cloudy lung; that and his labored breathing rendered a diagnosis of pneumonia. Because of the labored breathing, it was decided to admit him. He was put on oxygen and antibiotics...and, twelve hours after arriving at the ER, was put in a hospital room.

COVID protocols are prohibiting outside visitors. While I understood this, as being developmentally disabled it would be very difficult for my son to be left alone to deal with his illness. Other patients were having to share updates on their own illnesses with spouses or family over the phone. It seems miraculous in itself that I would be able to stay with my son while he was hospitalized. However, I would sacrifice my freedom to do nearly anything, I could not leave his room. Anything I might need or want from the outside - my razor, cell phone chargers, extra clothes - were delivered to the hospital's main door by my sister, where a nurse or an aide would retrieve it and bring it to our room. They were always kind about it; but I knew it was an imposition that with each passing day made me wonder how I was going to get bills paid and conduct what little business I might have. It was a sacrifice I had to make, an act of love and mercy I would offer to the Lord. I felt like Saint Paul and Saint Thomas More, who were imprisoned for doing what they had to do. While I was definitely treated better than the two saints, I wondered how long this would play out. 

While the nurses and hospital staff were as accommodating as they could be, I knew their work load was strained. The hospital was at 75% capacity. The ICU was completely full. In the days before we went in, the ER was triaging incoming patients in hallways, according to a patient who had come in the week before us. Nurses' assignments were shifted to alleviate bottlenecks elsewhere in the hospital. Doctors, on the other hand, gave the appearance of Pontius Pilate.In the six days my son was hospitalized, the amount of time there was actually a doctor in the room with us was less than thirty minutes. Yeah, being a respiratory case they want to minimize physical contact; and given the marvels of the electronic age, chart progress can be monitored remotely. I know the doctors were not without compassion, but it's hard to see it when you don't see them.

A moment of spontaneous humor came early, whiile in the ER. It's hard to draw blood from him; a trait he got from his mother's side of the family. At one point there were four nurses in the room; one was using a ultrasound in order to find a vein to tap. I made the comment that my son was going to extremes to meet girls. That drew laughter; relief at a time when we didn't know much.

I continued to reflect that I had voluntarily become a 'prisoner' for my son. It came to me that Jesus, the Son of God, by the will of His Heavenly Father, accepted confinement in a human body for thirty-three years; knowing the outcome was going to be...well, messy. Messy enough that He even petitioned his Father to stop what was coming. But He stopped short, saying "not My will, but Yours be done." Throughout his entire life, all He knew - all He did was out of compassion and love. Ultimately I hunkered down for the duration of the storm out of a fragment of that sense of compassion. 

I asked for prayers and received them. I sent updates every morning and would pray the Rosary. My son gifted me with watching morning Mass on EWTN (the channel is in the hospital's TV feed). I did some spiritual research and discovered that St. Bernardine of Siena is the patron saint of respiratory patients. I found an intercessory prayer and prayed it. I noted that his progress sped up after making that prayer.

We have been home nearly a week, and we will turn the page into the next phase of this odyssey. There will be follow-up visits with his PCP. He's still using the oxygen, so we will have to determine how long that will continue. He has sleep apnea, something I sort of knew but now I know must be dealt with. It's a miracle in itself that i'm managing all this. But by God's grace there is a pathway, and for as long a He wills it, we will walk it together, coupled with the prayers of the many with whom we interact.

Until we meet again, may God be with you - and may God have mercy on us all...

+the Phoenix

The Saturday Morning Post: Quite Contrary, Virgin Mary

 Welcome, God and All...

In my most recent post, i pondered: If you'd told a peasant teenager 2000+ years ago that she would be more a source of misunderstanding and division to Christians, would she still say 'yes' to God?

Mary, if you knew that your baby boy would one day save the nation, would you still...?

Wait a minute.

There are some things that Mary absolutely knew ahead of their time. When the Archangel Gabriel announces that Mary is to be the mother of Jesus, he clearly states that "great will be his dignity, and he will be called Son of the Most High" (Luke 1:32ab). Further, when the infant Jesus is first brought to the Temple, Simeon prophecies that "this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34bc-35).

As also stated in my previous post, I've been watching the internet sensation The Chosen. Of great interest is how the character of Mother Mary (as opposed to Mary Magdalene) is portrayed. I am rediscovering something I set aside many years ago but is staring me (and many Catholics) in the face. You see, many of the doctrinal differences between Catholics and other Christian denominations is wrapped up in Mariology. The latter group looks at Mary being just another ordinary (and peasant) Jewish girl/woman who had an extraordinary part in salvation history; and that the birth of Jesus was not unlike any other birth in that era. Mary, already stressed out at the circumstances of having to deliver her child far from home and under far from ideal circumstances, would have experienced labor pains and would have had to clean the baby immediately after birth. And a significant number of Catholics would probably agree. But early Church fathers state that in order to preserve Mary's virginity, the holy infant miraculously emerged from her womb, with no labor pains or other discomforts of childbirth.

Trying to wrap my arms around this has not been easy. Simeon's prophecy indicated that she would know sorrow. She surely must have suffered emotional pain watching her Son dying an excruciatingly painful death. There is no reason to believe otherwise. Surely someone who suffered this kind of trauma could endure pain associated with childbirth.

Infallible teaching of the Catholic magisterium is rare. The top two are related to Mary. In 1870, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma surrounding Mary's immaculate Conception. She was spared the stain of original sin so that she would be a proper vessel to bear the Christ child. Pius IX wrote, “From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world." The second infallible teaching came eighty years later, when Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, body and soul.

It's a good thing I'm not afraid to bring up this conundrum, especially among men who are taking steps to broaden their sense of spirituality. In the course of a few brief discussions, I came to understand a new (to me) phrase. I almost want to avoid using it, because it has negative implications in today's 'cancel' culture. (Indeed, statues of Mary have been vandalized; the most recent happening at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. It is now that I can truly understand "atrocities" committed against the Virgin Mary and Jesus.)

The Blessed Virgin Mary was singularly privileged by God. One should easily see this, for when the archangel Gabriel greets her, she is called "favored" (Luke 1:28). When she visits her cousin Elizabeth, she acknowledges that "all generations will call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name" (1:48b-49).

Saint Bonaventure (1221-74) listed seven privileges of the Virgin Mary which can be read here. It's an excellent summation of how we should view the woman who followed the Lord's calling for her life. Centuries removed from this kind of teaching, I'm willing to bet that many average Catholics don't know all these particulars; or if they do, they misinterpret Mary's place in salvation history and attribute 'goddess' status to her. The Catholic Church points out that she is not, but it's not too difficult to take all that she has been to a higher level. And thus lies the source of debate - often heated - over a very special yet, to all outside appearances, otherwise ordinary young woman.

Mary was truly filled with the Holy Spirit, and the effects of this continue to this day. Otherwise, she could not have appeared in Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, or any of the other places that have experienced Our Lady's presence. It's one of the deeper mysteries of Christianity, or so I've been told. Mary has received grace upon grace. Somehow, it's much easier for me to understand this complexity than to make sense of the intricate electronic systems and programming in my SUV.

Of course Mary knew. She pondered and treasured all of this and kept it - for all eternity - in her heart. Mary, Mary, how contrary we are. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God; that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Until we meet again, May the Lord bless you and keep you...

+the Phoenix