Ubi Petrus

When I first started this blog I thought I’d like to post reflections on the Sunday readings. Not so much homilies since, well, I’m not ordained (although, yes, that Diaconate bell rings louder with the passing of time, but that’s another story) but simply reflections. Hard as it may seem to believe, I didn’t start this blog as an attempt to foist my insufficiently considered opinions on matters nearer the edge of my grasp than the center on anyone, even though it seems that’s what I’ve spent more of my column-inches on.

Doing this is more than just a little unnerving because it opens me up to the realization of just how shallow my theological grounding is. But hey, these are just reflections, so take them for what they’re worth. I’ll start with the readings for this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter – Acts 2:42-47; Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Pt 1:3-9; Jn 20:19-31.

First, let me ask – how many of us realize that this is the “Second Sunday” of Easter? When I entered the Church it amazed me how many people did not realize that Easter wasn’t just Easter Sunday. You could see lights clicking on in peoples’ heads as it was explained to them that, akin to how our Triduum is in fact one great event, the significance and the joy of Easter cannot be contained in just one Sunday. For some the concept of the liturgical season of Easter is familiar, but an entire eight days – Sunday to Sunday – comprising a great feast, the octave of Easter comes as a revelation to many. As we say each Sunday is a “mini-Easter” so the one great Easter celebration needs to break out beyond just the one twenty-four hour period and stands at the center of our year proclaiming the joy of all joys, that Christ is risen!

Of all the themes we see running through the readings today it is joy that is paramount:

They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. — Acts 2:46-47a

and

My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior. The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just. — Ps 118:13-15

and again

Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. — 1 Pt 1:8-9

and finally

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. — Jn 20:20b

Indeed there is great joy in all of these readings – it is simply bursting out of all the seams. And it is for good reason too! Just as the ancient Israelites rejoiced greatly at their exodus from slavery in Egypt these readings speak to us of the great joy of our ancient Church at our exodus from heretofore unbroken bondage of sin, those chains broken by our Risen Lord. That joy breaks forth ten and a hundred and a thousand times more than even the joy at the first exodus for this was a far greater enemy – the Egyptians could harm and destroy the body, but sin damages and corrodes the soul; the former in its form is temporary, the latter is forever. This was a freeing that I would venture to guess very few ever saw coming.

As we stand in church this Sunday, doing as we always do, let us remember that great joy that is ours if we reach for it – the great joy of God breaking into our world, taking on humanity including all its trials, sufferings and heartaches, dying – dying – and rising again all because He loves us so much He wants to offer us the one thing that will truly make us happy, life with Him. This joy is ours, offered to us every day in the Eucharist and indeed in all the sacraments of the Church, a joy unlike anything the world could ever offer. We rejoice because, well, how else can you respond to such a tremendous gift? We rejoice because Jesus’ words we heard a week ago, “Do not be afraid” now make sense – how could we be afraid? Jesus, the Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God, Our Savior has defeated death and offered to us the remission of our sins. We stand every day at the threshold of a life so new, so full, so pure it boggles the mind to even contemplate. Jesus stands before us, beckoning us on; He will come to us in the Eucharist in a form wholly unlike any other offering to make His home in us if we will make our home in Him.

When you go forth to receive Communion, remember Jesus’ words to Thomas: “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Let our response be as Thomas’ – joy so overwhelming it transcends speeches and reduces the Apostle to one of the most beautiful statements in the whole Bible: “My Lord and my God!” Be not afraid, brethren. Our God is good. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Carolina Canonball just posted this picture of the beautiful sanctuary at St. Agnes’ church in St. Paul, MN:

My first reaction… “Would we even have the guts to build something so … in-your-face Catholic these days?” Aside from the work of the likes of Duncan Stroik, even those new churches we are building which pass the muster of beautiful I question whether we have the courage to transcend beauty at a generic level to bring out the fullness open only to the Catholic (and yes, the Orthodox share in that fullness but truly in their own unique way) faith.

I’m not suggesting that every new church or every retrofit need go for the high Baroque but simply fully, truly, totally Catholic. If you were to walk into the above-pictured church you would immediately know it’s Catholic, you would immediately know you were in the domus Dei. But it takes a certain self-assuredness – not triumphalism – to build something which says, “we have built here of the best we have to offer to God, we have emptied our warehouse in our desire to honor and praise Him”. When you’re not really sure of yourself, of your methods of expression, you naturally hold back that which is so clearly identifying and trend towards the middle.

So I ask – do we have the courage to be, not just Catholic, but fully Catholic in all the ways that shows itself? I think that in some areas that willingness is starting to peek out again. Jesus did not choose a half-measure or even a ninety-percent solution in our salvation – he emptied himself completely, draining himself to the last measure. Should that not be our guide in everything we do in worship and praise?

Sometimes breaking a record just isn’t worth it…

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The calendar may say that it’s spring, but that didn’t stop Mother Nature from dumping more snow on the Granite State.

New Hampshire broke the record for most snowfall in one season in the last 100 years around 8 a.m. News 9 Meteorologist Josh Judge said even more snow is on the way.

Being a person who neither skis nor particularly enjoys being cold, I find no great joy in this record. My neighbor, on the other hand, is glad that he’s finally not barely breaking even on his season lift passes as compared to recent years. Time to go remove the foot or so of snow at the end of my driveway… *sigh*

There’s an old saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. Indeed:

DETROIT, March 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of an investigation that discovered bodies of unborn babies and private medical records in an abortion clinic dumpster has been billed by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the removal of the evidence. In the meantime, the abortionist has himself escaped without any significant punishment. Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, has been billed $1,100 by the DEQ for the removal of evidence against the Lathrup Village Woman Care clinic, operated by abortionist Alberto Hodari. The evidence, discovered in dumpsters behind the clinic and videotaped by Miller, consists of the recognizable remains of at least 18 aborted children, numerous records with personal and detailed information of Hodari’s patients, as well as other bio-hazardous waste material.

…

“That Michigan authorities did not have the courage to bring the maximum penalty the law can afford against this abortionist sends a terrible signal to the abortion industry,” said Brown. “Now that they have gotten away with it once, we can, unfortunately, be sure they will feel more emboldened in their grisly acts of violence against preborn babies.”

It is a dangerous and difficult thing to stand up to evil. And now we can add “expensive” to that list. I so desperately want to be surprised, but it just isn’t happening. How long, O Lord, how long?

In our Gospel reading from the Easter vigil, we see the angel rolled back the stone from the tomb and then “sat upon it”. My question to you: What kind of pose do you think the angel struck when sitting upon the stone? Duke it out in the combox if you’re so inclined.

Me, I think he put his chin on his hand and serenely watched the guards lose any sense of composure. I have to think that angels, made by a good and generous God, are blessed with a sense of humor. That I even thought of this question at all shows how quirky a sense of humor I have been blessed with as well.

I’m taking the Triduum off from blogging. I haven’t had enough time to pray and that’s just not good enough. May you all have blessed Triduum and a happy and holy Easter! I leave you with these thoughts from the Catecheses of St. John Chrysostom from today’s Office of Readings:

If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to the ancient account of its prefiguration in Egypt. Sacrifice a lamb without blemish, commanded Moses, and sprinkle is blood on your doors. If we were to ask him what he meant, and how the blood of an irrational beast could possibly save men endowed with reason, his answer would be that the saving power lies not in the blood itself, but in the fact that it is a sign of the Lord’s blood. In those days, when the destroying angel saw the blood on the doors he did not dare to enter, so how much less will the devil approach now when he sees, not that figurative blood on the doors, but the true blood on the lips of believers, the doors of the temple of Christ.

If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced his side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood, of the holy eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it.

There flowed from his side water and blood. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam. Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh! As God then took a rib from Adam’s side to fashion a woman, so Christ has given us blood and water from his side to fashion the Church. God took the rib when Adam was in a deep sleep, and in the same way Christ gave us the blood and water after his won death.

Do you understand, then, how Christ has united his bride to himself and what food he gives us all to eat? By one and the same food we are both brought into being and nourished. As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.

Please do sneak in a prayer for the four candidates in our RCIA program who will enter into full communion with the Catholic Church tomorrow night at the Easter Vigil. May they receive bountiful graces at this most holy time of the year and grow in grace and truth as they enter ever deeper in the Faith passed on from the Apostles.

Matthew Alderman, in particular, has been posting a series of photos and schedules of Holy Week liturgies from around the world at The New Liturgical Movement. They are as a whole, in a word, stunning. It is a welcome reminder that, as good as things are getting, there is still a whole lot of area in which we can improve across the board. The good, the true and the beautiful, indeed.

Once a few years ago I heard Father John Corapi mention blessed salt in one of his talks; among other things he talked about how it could be used to great effect in cooking. Then I learned about the old rite of Baptism and how salt was placed on the tongue of the baptized. I never really knew much about blessed salt though until I read the article posted at La Salette Journey, Why Blessed Salt?

There is a renewed interest today in the ancient sacramental of blessed salt, especially by charismatics, in healing and deliverance situations. To understand its proper use and its efficacy, it is helpful to review the Scriptural symbolism and its history, since Vatican II urges us to participate “intelligently and actively” in the use of sacramentals, just as in the use of Sacraments.

Paul (at LSJ) also reminds us that if we can’t easily find blessed salt, Cukierski Family Sacramentals* sends a package of blessed salt with all their orders. You can also order a larger quantity in a Chi Ro case as well. Either way, whether you bring salt to your priest for his blessing or get it through the Cukierskis it does seem that now is a time when we need such sacramentals. Wisdom and purity seem to be in short supply these days – they need all the kick start they can get.

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*No, I’m not affiliated with the Cukierski family or their website in any way. Just wanted to make sure that’s clear.

From the Yet Another Resource (aka YAR) files, Catholic Mom lets us know the Diocese of Arlington has made available an online library of its Theology on Tap presentations. Covering from April 2006 to February 2008 and including two Bishops and countless Directors and Founders in its list it certainly looks to be a good resource for anyone looking for some quality audio instruction.

One of the beauties of the Internet is that it has found a new way to bridge the barrier between “particular churches” such that I, in the Diocese of Manchester, now have easy access to resources from the Diocese of Arlington, among others. That we can do this, and do this without any kind of cross-charge, is yet another reminder that catholic equals universal. There’s not a lot left that generates excitement in me in high-tech these days (living in the bowels of the beast for this many years has that effect on one) but this is something I just can’t complain about. Now…should I start with Bishop Loverde or Bishop O’Brien?

The doctor thinks my son should likely be fine since he’s been asymptomatic for so long. Of course, that went with the warning to “keep an eye on him” in case anything should flare up in the following several days. That naturally intersects perfectly with the truism that “it’s impossible to prove the non-existence of any given thing” (think about it) which thus means we’re not quite as relieved as we’d like to be. Ain’t kids grand?