Fr. JC Maximilian

Today is the 25th anniversary of the priestly ordination of my pastor, Msgr. Thomas N. Gervasio (pictured above). The parish celebrated this wonderful event on Sunday. There was a beautiful Mass at St. Anthony’s church in the afternoon, followed by a very fun reception at a local hotel. Msgr. Gervasio asked his friend from the seminary, Fr. Robert Pasley, K.H.S. to preach at this Mass, and Fr. Pasley gave an awesome homily, affirming the value of the ministerial priesthood (very appropriate for not only a priestly ordination anniversary, but also for “Priesthood Sunday”). I am happy to reprint Fr. Pasley’s homily below.
Twenty nine years ago, in August 1978, at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, I met a seminarian from Trenton, by the name of Thomas N. Gervasio. We met just before Mass, on our second day, at the top of the hill behind the seminary near the beautiful Lourdes Grotto.

Where has the time gone?

Our responsibilities have increased and I think, so has our weight – Just a little.
Our experience has flourished while our follicles have thinned – his more than mine.
We have lived through many varied assignments – challenging, joyful and some downright crazy. We made it through the seminary without computers, the internet, and no one had a cell phone – as a matter of fact – one thing has not changed in the last 29 years – Msgr. still doesn’t have a cell phone. Getting in touch with this busy priest is no easy matter. Before this grand Jubilee, I spoke at length with Father Garrett. We both decided it was time for Monsignor to have a cell phone. But even though he is a Monsignor, and even though he was at the top of his class in the seminary, technologically, there are some difficulties. Fr. Garrett, however, came up with a solution and saved the day. We are going to buy him a Jitterbug phone – used for senior citizens. All he will have to do is push the big magenta Msgr. button and the operator will dial the number for him. A new chapter has begun.

My dear people, all humor aside, we celebrate today the priesthood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the 25 years that Msgr Gervasio has shared in the glorious gift of that priesthood. We celebrate 25 years of faithful, dedicated service to Christ and His Church. We celebrate 25 years as a shepherd and teacher. We celebrate 25 years as an alter Christus – another Christ – who brings the glorious gifts of God and the joyful message of the Holy Gospel to all who will listen. “Blessed are the feet of him who brings glad tidings.”

The last 20 years have not been kind to the priesthood; attacks from without, but even worse, defections and betrayals from within. At my Jubilee celebration in April, I told my people how truly thankful I was for having been given this great gift. I do not know of anything else I would want to do in this life, and I’m sure Monsignor would say the same. God called us – the Church confirmed the call – and it has been a life filled with
redeeming sufferings and beautiful joys. We would do it all over again without a doubt.

We, however, are halfway through our allotted time. Vocations to the priesthood are desperately needed. Doctrinal confusion, materialism, and the fact that parents no longer encourage their son’s to be priests, has caused a spiritual contraception in the Church. Where are the vocations? Without the priest, the Church and its full life of grace is severely wounded, if not destroyed. And so, on this day, when we celebrate Msgr.’s Jubilee, we are also here to celebrate the sacred priesthood. Please permit me to take this time to meditate on this essential gift of Christ to his Church.

First and foremost, the priest is a sacramental Icon of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,

“In the service of the ordained [priest], it is Christ Himself, who is present to His Church as Head of His Body, Shepherd of His Flock, High Priest of the redemptive sacrifice, and teacher of the Truth.”

The priest acts, “In Persona Christi Capitis – In the person of Christ the Head.”

The Catechism goes on to quote Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical, Mediator Dei,

“It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person His minister truly represents. Now this minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the High Priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and the place of the person of Christ himself.”

The most recent Council of the Church, in its decree on Priests, says,

“Priests of the New Testament, by their ordination, are set apart that they may be completely consecrated to the task for which God chooses them.”

These beautiful descriptions of the priesthood are made manifest and become most real – in the confessional, while anointing the sick, in pouring the water of Baptism, in witnessing marriages, and ultimately and most perfectly when he celebrates that sacrament which is the height and summit of all the sacraments – Calvary renewed, the Eternal Banquet, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb – the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
At Mass, one with the Lord sacramentally, he is the priest (The one who offers sacrifice and intercedes for the people) and the victim (the one who gives his whole life, with the Lamb to the service of the Father and the flock). He dons the sacred vestments which somewhat hide his human weakness and limitation. These vestments help teach us what he is about;

The alb, the long white robe – is a symbol that he has been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb

The cincture – the rope belt, is a symbol of his being girded with chastity – so that he can give his love exclusively to the Lord and His service

The Stole – worn around the neck – is the sign that he is an instrument of the sacred authority and power of Christ.

The Chasuble – the outer garment – is a symbol of the yoke of service that he gladly accepts.

He offers bread and wine as did the Lord, and at the moment of Consecration, he does not say, “This is His Body – This is His Blood.” NO – He says, “This is MY BODY and this is the chalice of My BLOOD. Do this in memory of me.” The priest is the frail, human instrument of Christ who effects the sacrifice of our redemption and performs a task to which angels must bow.

Second, the priest must be a prophetic voice in the world. This is so often downplayed or forgotten these days. There are those who are afraid to speak the truth because it might offend.

In the Epistle today we hear from Saint Paul who writes to Saint Timothy. Just prior to today’s passage he says to Timothy –
“I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom: Preach the word: insist on it, in season and out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labor in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry. Be sober.”

He then goes on to say in today’s reading that He is being poured out like a libation. A libation was a sacrificial offering in pagan temples – usually animal blood that was poured out of a chalice on to the altar. To be poured out like a libation was to sacrifice one’s life, to even shed ones blood, so that the Truth – Christ – no matter how inconvenient or dangerous, could be proclaimed.

As Saint Paul says, a priest must fight – and I emphasize – fight, the good fight. He must finish the race, keep the faith, and teach others to do the same. He must do everything it takes to win the merited crown and lead others in its pursuit. And he must do this even if, God forbid, everyone should abandon him. For the Lord will be his strength that the preaching task might be completed and all nations might hear the Gospel.

Third, the priest is the shepherd who must rule and guard the flock.
He administers the goods of the Church for the benefit of the flock
He gathers the lost, provides for those in need, and feeds all by providing religious education
He brings new sheep into the fold through RCIA.
He teaches, he cares for, he leads all to the green pastures of sacramental grace, doctrinal truth, and good moral living.
He teaches the flock to be just and merciful, charitable and forgiving.

Our Lord says in St. Matthew’s Gospel, “So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven…He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The shepherd must be great, he must be a light for without him the sheep would be scattered in the darkness.

Finally, the Catechism, grounding us in reality, says,

“The presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error and even sin.”

No, the priest is called to be an Icon of Christ, a prophetic teacher, and a good shepherd, but he is also sinner in need of salvation. At the beginning of every Mass, the priest, along with his people bows before God and says, I confess that I have sinned, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa – through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. It was Saint Augustine who said, “I am for you a bishop, and with you a disciple.” We are for you priests but with you disciples. A priest is a weak man who must constantly strive to become the personal friend and faithful disciple of the Lord. He cannot believe in his own self-righteousness, like our friend in the Gospel, the Pharisee, but must, with the poor tax collector, raise his eyes to heaven, strike his breast, and every day repeat; “O God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

On this beautiful day of celebration, we shout out to the all the world, our thanksgiving and appreciation for the great gift of the sacred priesthood. Monsignor Gervasio, my dear friend and brother priest, I know that you have striven, with every ounce of your being, to love the Lord and be a good priest – with consistency, faithfulness, and joy for 25 years. So many people today are afraid of making a commitment in life. Commitment to one thing means freely choosing to limit other options in life. Saying yes to one thing means saying no to many other things. But without dying to self, without living for something bigger than self, without a commitment to something important, we are tossed to and fro by every whim that presents itself, and before we know it, life quickly approaches its end. And perhaps, we have very little to show for all the years we have spent.

But on your ordination day, 25 years ago, you lay prostrate on the floor of the Cathedral and begged all the saints of heaven to intercede for you. You rose and knelt before Bishop Reiss. As he imposed hands on you, you accepted Christ’s call and gave your life to that call – and you have never turned back. You have had to die to self over and over again and by God’s grace you have a treasury of goodness to show for all the years that you have spent in the Lord’s service.

The priesthood is a wonderful life. Please pray and work for vocations! Encourage your sons and grandsons, your nephews and friends, to consider a commitment to this life. And please pray for us who continue to fight the good fight for Christ and His Church.
Monsignor Gervasio – God has given us an incredible 25 years

AD MULTOS ANNOS !

May you have many years, May our Lady watch over you and guard you, and may God Bless you in every way.

[Sermon given on Sunday, October 28, for the Silver Jubilee of The Reverend Monsignor Thomas N. Gervasio, by The Reverend Robert C. Pasley, KHs, Rector of Mater Ecclesiae Mission, Berlin, NJ]

[One of the domed ceilings in the Cathedral at Orvieto, Italy showing the Beggar of Assisi.  I took this August 2007.] 

What is the great sin of our society? I am sure we all could nominate a few: abortion, materialism, culture of death, attacking the traditional family, etc. While these are certainly prevalent evils in our modern society, I think we suffer from something more fundamental. I think that the greatest sin of our modern society is presumption.

Some may even ask what exactly presumption? Presumption is one of the two sins against the virtue of hope (the other is despair), so maybe we should first recall what we mean by the virtue of hope. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God’s love and of incurring punishment” (#2090).

The Catechism describes two different kinds of presumption. In the one, a person presumes upon their own capacities. Basically in this type of presumption we think that we can save ourselves without divine grace by just doing good works. In the second kind of presumption we presume upon God’s power and mercy, thinking we can be forgiven without conversion, or participate in God’s glory without merit. This is the type of presumption in which the person thinks that it does not matter how they live their life, that it is OK to sin – at least the “little” sins – because Jesus is their friend. In both forms of the sin of presumption the person fails to give God the honor and respect that is due to Him. They fail to fear God.

The Pharisee in today’s Gospel reading is presumptuous. He probably did the good things that he said that he does; the extra fasting, the giving to the poor. In a strictly superficial level he was virtuous. However, he robbed his virtue of any value by his way of approaching God. In pointing our all that he had done for God so to claim his reward, he was comparing himself with others instead of comparing himself with the standards of God’s law. God’s standards are always higher than our best achievements. We always have shortcomings, and can do better. The Pharisee placed his trust in his own achievement instead of trusting in God.

The tax collector in the parable, on the other hand, was very much aware that he was a sinner. During that time, the Roman officials would contract out the collecting of taxes. The way that these private tax collectors made their money was by adding a commission on the tax that each person owed. There was no rules governing how much of a commission could be added, so tax collectors were often prone to corruption; extorting money from people. The tax collector in today’s parable knew he was a sinner. He probably could tell God each person that he took an unfair commission from. He probably could tell God the so-called reasons he used to justify his sinful behavior – for example, he needed to take more money from some people because there would always be those few people who always seemed to slip away without paying their taxes, so he needed the collect extra from those he caught to make sure that both the Romans and he got his “fair share.” He knew that this was a lie he told himself to cover his greed.

Something moved this tax collector to compunction. He came to recognize his sinfulness and he knew that he could not do anything on his own to make it right. He recognized that he needed God’s grace to forgive him and to strengthen him so that he would act more justly in the future. His recognition of his own sinfulness could have led him to the other sin against the virtue of hope, namely despair. However, his experience of his own limitations and failure has led him not to despair, but to depend on God. He has remembered that there is something beyond every evil threat and the Lord will rescue him.

Dependency is not something that we tend to view as something good. We think that we should all be independent, that we should all be able to take care of ourselves on our own. Underlining such an attitude is pride. We are utterly dependent on God. The Lord has created us, and He gives us every beat of our heart and every breath we take. God gives us life, and He saves us from damnation. But in creating us He has given us a free will. We need to choose to accept the grace that He offers us. We need to have the humility to acknowledge our own limitations and sinfulness. We need to have the humility to acknowledge that we need to be forgiven, we need to be saved. Then we need to depend on God, our loving Father, by following His will.

Throughout the Old Testament we hear, as we hear in today’s first reading, that the Lord hears the cry of the oppressed, particularly the orphan, the widow, and the resident alien. In that time and culture, those were the three most vulnerable groups of people because they had no one to care for them. They relied completely on God, and to their cry “the Lord is not deaf.” They knew what it meant to depend on God.

Likewise in today’s second reading, St. Paul tells Timothy that in his trial and imprisonment he too learnt that he could only depend on God. That when no one appeared on his behalf at his defense, he realized that “The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.”

We need to turn away from presumption, and develop an attitude of utter dependence on God. Jesus has taught us that the real hero in history is not the person who is self-sufficient, rather it is the beggar: “Christ begging for the heart of man, and the heart of man begging for Christ” (L. Giussani, S. Alberto, & J. Prades, Generare tracce nella storia del mondo [Generating Traces in the History of the World]. Milan, Italy: Rizzoli, 1998, p. vii).

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!  There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!  Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father,  a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

With all the wild fires burning in California, some might be tempted to think that today’s Gospel reading is coming to fulfillment.  After all, it was in California that one of the world’s leading genetic researchers recently announced that he had created a new life form.  It was in California that the so-called “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” seems to be given unrestrained liberty to mock the Catholic Church.  It was in California that the governor signed a law that would make the mention of “husband” and “wife” illegal in public schools because those terms could be seen as anti-homosexual.

It is very tempting to say that the fires in California is nothing but Divine retribution for the arrogant mocking of Divine Law.  I am certainly not going to presume to know the mind of God, and I do think that God sometimes uses chastisement as a means for “waking us up” so that we can see our need for repentance.

I do think that today’s Gospel reading has a particular relevance to the tragic events in California, . . . but not in the way we may be tempted to say.  Why is it that California, and to be honest our society in general, seem to be not only non-Christian but anti-Christian?  Because Christians have not lived out their baptismal commitments.  The fire that Jesus speaks about casting on the earth is the fire of the Holy Spirit which should inflame the hearts of Christians with a passion to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the ends of the earth.  As Christians we must be people of fire.

Too many Christians want to keep their faith in nice, neat little boxes.  We pray only at certain times, we go to church for an hour on Sunday, but then we really do not think that our Christian faith should have much of a role in the rest of our lives.  Politicians who say things like, “I am personally opposed to (fill in the blank, e.g. abortion, capital punishment, etc.), but cannot impose my personal beliefs/faith on others,” make me sick.  We are not talking about IMPOSING, which would involve some use of force to make another person do something against their will, but rather WITNESSING to the Faith.

Our Christian Faith must transform everything in our lives.  That is the fire, the passion that we must have to truly be called Christians.  So, where are all the Christians?  Where is their witnessing to the Faith, to the Gospel?

I believe it was the Lutheran minister, Deitrich Bonnhofer, who said, “The only thing that must happen for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”  The evil that we see in our society is because most Christians are not burning with the passion of the Gospel.  They are not witnessing to the Faith.  They have not allowed their encounter with Christ Jesus to transform them into a new creation.

We must all stoke up the fire of our faith and set the world aflame with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I have posted links to the last couple of episodes of “That Catholic Show,” a wonderful video podcast by Greg and Jennifer Willits.  These brief videos are not only amusing, but they are excellent apologetics, or explanations of our Faith and Church.  In the near future I will pass on information when the DVD of the first season of “That Catholic Show” is available.

However, Greg and Jennifer’s main apostolate (after being a Catholic family) is Rosary Army, a ministry for promoting the Rosary.  As their motto puts it, “Make them, Pray them, and give them away.”  I encourage you to visit their website, www.rosaryarmy.com, and even listen to their twice a week audio podcast.

Greg is going to be giving a talk on the Rosary, and how to make them, at the Catholic Community on Macguire Air Force Base in New Jersey on October 21st, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Since it is on a military base, anyone interested in attending need to get their names on a pass list, by calling the sponsor/organizer for the event Angie Leonelli, email is 5leos@comcast.net and her phone number is 609-723-6979.  Now, you must get your name on the event registration by TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16!!!  She will give you all the details.

Unfortunately I cannot attend, as I will be participating in a discernment meeting for the Diocese (my pastor and I are hosting it), but it should be an excellent event.

[Reliquary of the blood-stained altar cloth in the Cathedral of Orvieto, Italy, when the host bleed.  I took this photo when I was in Italy in August, 2007.  Now that I have found, albeit a backwards way, of uploading my pictures to this blog, I will include more of them.]

At the end of St. John’s Gospel, he writes that he has recorded only a sample of the words and miracles of Jesus, for the entire world could not contain all the books necessary to record all that Jesus did and said.  Since this is true, we need to reflect on why each of the evangelists chose to include the particular encounters, parables, and miracles that they did for their Gospels.  Why, of all the miraculous healings that Jesus performed, did St. Luke choose to include the healing of the ten lepers that we heard in today’s Gospel?  I think it can be summed up by this one question that Jesus asks, “Where are the other nine?”

Jesus wants, in this Gospel account, to teach us the beauty of gratitude.  Jesus did not have low self-esteem and needed people to thank Him in order to feel good about Himself.  As the Son of God, Jesus had no need for our praise and thanksgiving.  No, the reason that Jesus values gratitude so much is because it is valuable for us, for the health of our souls.

First of all, gratitude keeps us grounded in the TRUTH.  We need to be grounded in the truth in order to keep our ongoing relationship with God healthy.  Not only is being ungrateful to God unjust, but it is an illusion.  We do not create ourselves!  The simple fact is that EVERYTHING we have is a gift from God:  every beat of our heart, every breath we take, every talent we have, all of our hopes and dreams, our very life.  As a simple matter of justice we need to give God His due and be thankful for all these gifts, but more than that, we constantly need God’s grace to persevere in doing what is right and good.

Secondly, gratitude is an anti-dote to sin.  As we all know, the root of all evil is PRIDE.  Sin turns us in on ourselves.  As Satan said to Adam and Eve in the Garden, “You will be like gods.”  Sin leads to self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and self-absorption.  Gratitude, on the other hand, opens us up to God and our neighbor.  A thankful heart build bridges and unites communities.

Because of the great value that Jesus placed on gratitude He left us a perfect expression of gratitude to give life to our souls.  It is the Eucharist.  The very word Eucharist comes from the Greek word that means “thanksgiving”.  The Eucharist is the perfect expression of this gratitude that gives life and health to our souls.  It keeps us grounded in the Truth, that God loves us so much that He gave us His Only Son to be our Savior, so that we can turn away from our sinful pride and live as children of God.

I am certain that all of us here could share with each other instances of just how good our Good God has been in our lives.  Times when maybe He has strengthened us through a crisis or illness.  Brought healing to the brokenness in our lives.  Gave us the most astonishing graces that brought joy to our lives.  So, look around you; “Where are the other nine?”

So with all the examples of just how good God is in our lives, why isn’t this church filled with people expressing their gratitude to God in this celebration of the Eucharist?  In the 1950s over 70% of baptized Catholics went to Mass every Sunday; today, less than 25% of baptized Catholics attend Mass weekly.  In Western Europe the numbers are even worse; some estimates indicate that only 10% of the Catholics attend Sunday Mass, so quite literally we can ask, “Where are the other nine?”

Oh, we can blame the usual suspects for the decline in Mass attendance:  boring homilies, insipid music, a lose of sacredness in the liturgy, the liturgy is boring and old-fashion, not liking some of the Church’s teachings, being too busy with activities, etc.  I think that one of the main underlining causes is a loss of a sense of obligation.  In our culture freedom, in the sense of being able to do whatever I want, is worshipped, so being told that we have an obligation to go to Mass does not play well.  The very word obligation has suffered the same fate as the word faithfulness during the time of the Prophet Jeremiah who wrote, “Faithfulness has disappeared:  the word itself is banished from their speech” (Jer. 7:28).

However, obligation is a truly noble and profoundly human concept.  The dictionary defines obligation as “something by which a person is bound to do certain things and which arises out of a sense of duty; the act of binding oneself by a promise.”  Isn’t it good to have a sense of duty, and to bind oneself to one’s promises?  In fact, obligation makes all kinds of human transactions possible:  promises, contracts, verbal and written agreements.  Without a sense of obligation, human life would simply be unbearable.

We need to have this same sense of obligation in our covenant relationship with God.  I am not referring to a heavy-handed, guilt-inducing sense of obligation.  Rather we need to view obligation as a positive, life-affirming form of Christian discipleship.

First, participation in Mass is a matter of justice, of showing our gratitude to God for all the blessings in our lives.  I fear that too many of us do not really take the time to count our blessings.  This can lead to a sense of pessimism; only seeing the negative in life.  We need to see Jesus who is present in all aspects and circumstances in our lives so that we can accept the grace that He offers us.  One of the reasons that the Third Commandment tells us “to keep holy the Sabbath Day” is to honor God for all that He has given us, and to recognize our need for Him in our lives.  While we do need to develop a personal relationship with God, throughout Sacred Scripture God has made it clear that He wants us to worship Him as part of a community.  We cannot live as Christians just by ourselves.  To miss Sunday Mass deliberately is a mortal sin, unless we have a serious reason, like we cannot attend because of a serious illness, we are not able to get to a church (not because we are too busy with other things, but because of weather or there was no church available).

Secondly, we need to recognize our desire.  We all have a spiritual hunger because we can see that everything in this world is finite yet our hearts have a capacity for infinite love, infinite truth, infinite beauty.  At Mass we encounter this Infinite Goodness, Infinite Love, Infinite Truth, and Infinite Beauty when we encounter God.  At Mass we are nourished by this Infinite God by hearing His holy word in the Scriptures, and are feed by the very Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist.  This gives us the grace and help we need to live the Christian life.

The Second Vatican Council called the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist the heart of the Church, and the “source and summit” of all the Church’s activity.  We need to foster within our selves, our families, and our neighbors a healthy sense of obligation to express our gratitude to God.  “Where are the other nine?”  Each of us need to ask ourselves that question, and see what we can do to invite some of those “nine” back to Mass, back to the Eucharist, so that they can have life, life to the full.

Beginning Day

I have mentioned on this blog that for about the past year and a half I have become involved with one of the new ecclesial movements in the Church called Communion & Liberation. Now, you may be wondering “What is Communion & Liberation, or simply, CL?” I’ll allow the National Office to provide a good description:

Communion and Liberation is an ecclesial movement whose purpose is the education to Christian maturity of its adherents and collaboration in the mission of the Church in all the spheres of contemporary life.

Communion and Liberation began in Italy in 1954 when Msgr. Luigi Giussani established a Christian presence in Berchet high school in Milan with a group called Gioventù Studentesca (Student Youth), GS for short.

The current name of the movement, Communion and Liberation (CL), appeared for the first time in 1969. It synthesizes the conviction that the Christian event, lived in communion, is the foundation of the authentic liberation of man. Communion and Liberation is present today in about seventy countries throughout the world. There is no type of membership card, but only the free participation of persons. The basic instrument for the formation of adherents is weekly catechesis, called “School of Community.” The official magazine of the Movement is the international monthly, Traces – Litterae Communionis

While the weekly School of Community, which usually involves reading from one of Msgr. Giussani’s books may lead one to think of it as a theology study group, it really isn’t. The purpose of reading from the book, a very short section each week, is to provide a provocation so that we can look at our own experience to see if what was said “fits” with my life experience. It causes the members to reflect on their own life as a Christian so that we can both support, and when needed, challenge/encourage each other to live a more dynamic, authentic Christian life. To be honest, there have been weeks when my School of Community is what has gotten me through, and has helped me “stir up the flames” of my priesthood. School of Community is to help foster a community of companions on the road with and to Christ.

The first link in this post should take you to a PDF of the flyer for this year’s “Beginning Day” in NYC. This is one of the gestures of the movement for starting the new School of Community year. It is a great opportunity to learn more about CL and just meet some terrific Christian friends. The NYC Beginning Day is October 27 from 2-5 p.m. at Holy Family Church, 15 E. 47th St., NYC. Everyone is welcome.

If you are close to Philadelphia, the CL community there will have its Beginning Day on October 20 starting at 2 p.m. at the Lemon Hill picnic ground in Fairmount Park (near Boathouse Row off Kelly Drive). In addition to spiritual witnesses there will be food and games.

Unfortunately I cannot attend either Beginning Day, since I have Altar Server Training. I do, however, encourage folks to check them out.

 If you read the Gospels regularly, one thing that you notice is that the Apostles most of the time just do not “get it.”  Most of the time they do not understand what Jesus is teaching them.  They see how good Jesus is, and all the good works that He does, and they see that they are not that good, and that they do not help people as much as Jesus does.  They had to have known that they were not very good disciples of Jesus.  It would have been very tempting for them, maybe even understandable, to just become completely discouraged and give up.

In today’s Gospel reading the disciples have been living with Jesus for about a year, hearing Him preach, watching Him perform miracles, and changing people’s lives.  Instead of becoming discouraged, however, the Apostles did the right thing.  They asked Jesus to “Increase our faith.”

While the Gospel account does not say this, I have to believe that Jesus smiled when the Apostles asked for this increase of faith.  He must have been glad that they asked for help instead of abandoning Him and the mission that He was entrusting to them.  Yet, Jesus’ response is mysterious.  He says that they do not need more faith, rather they just need to use the faith that they already have.

Faith is so basic to being a Christian, yet it is something that is so often misunderstood.  Sometimes it is equated with “wishful thinking,” so some type of problem-free philosophy.  It is when people express Faith in this superficial way that we leave ourselves open to the criticism of atheism – whether it be formally declared atheism, or the more common “practical” atheism in which people may proclaim that they believe in God, but then does not allow their belief in God to have any real impact on how they live their lives.  This is cartoon “faith” and it is not going to move anything.

It is because so many people have such a cartoon-faith that there has been such an public and media shock at the recently published letters of Blessed Mother Teresa.  For those who do not know the book that I am talking about, it was published about a month ago and is entitled, Mother Teresa:  Come Be My Light.  The book is composed mostly of letters that Mother Teresa wrote to her spiritual directors, and what has been found shocking to so many people is that for fifty years Mother Teresa struggled with an interior darkness of feeling abandoned by God.  Most people’s pictures of Mother Teresa is that of one of the happiest people in the world, and that her faith was so strong that nothing bothered her.  To read her write things such as, “The child of your Love, and now [I have] become as the most hated one, the one You have thrown away as unwanted, unloved . . . .” or “Where is my Faith?  Even deep down right in there is nothing but emptiness and darkness,” is shocking for those with a superficial, cartoon-faith.

Such statements, such a “dark night of the soul,” is not a sign that Mother Teresa lacked faith, but rather that she had a mature, strong and contagious faith – it did move mountains, and is still doing so today through her sisters.  Yet her faith did not take away her crosses.  Her faith was so strong that she fulfilled her promise never to deny God anything that He asked, not even suffering.  For her, Faith was strength with length.  It was the power to persevere through difficulties because of the power that comes from knowing that God is in charge.

One philosophical atheist defined faith as “belief in the impossible.”  In other words, believing in something that is not real.  Real Faith, however, is based on the FACT of the Resurrection, on the FACT that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  It is an act of the will.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as, “Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God.  At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed.” (#150; emphasis is in the original).

Another cartoon of faith is that it is just “positive thinking,” that if you just trust in God and obey His commands everything will be OK.  While it is true that God loves us, and we are only saved through Jesus, we are called to use the intellect that God has given us.  Reason is a gift from God, and we are called to use it.  While God could miraculously heal us from a serious illness, God usually acts through doctors and their knowledge of medicine.  This is all part of what St. Paul writes to the Philippians when he says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12).  We recognize that the gifts that we have, the talents that we have, are from God above, and with thankfulness and humility we use them in the service of others for the greater glory of God.

At our baptism, the seeds of Faith, of divine life, was planted in our souls.  Now it is up to us to exercise that Faith, so that it will grow.  This means recognizing, as the Apostles did, that we are capable of doing much more, and we are created for greater things.  It means recognizing that God gives us everything to achieve the great things for which He has made us.  That by deliberately clinging to Him, we make room for Him to work great things in us and through us.

Let us “stir into flame the gift of God,” (Tim. 1:6) namely our Faith so that will will not be ashamed of giving testimony to our Lord Jesus Christ, and in hardship let us bear everything with the strength that comes from God.