RevRobJack.com

     Today I had the opportunity to be at WKRC studios in MT Aubirn to tape  channel 12 NEWSMAKERS, a current events television show on Sunday mornings at 11:00am. The topic was The Bodies: An Exhibition. The show is moderated by Dan Hurley, who is a reporter for channel 12 as well as Vice-President of the Cincinnati Historical societ at Union Terminal. The two other guests were a Rabbi from Wise Temple (who is on the Union Terminal exhibit ethics board) and a gentleman who works for a pro-life embryology group. I was the only person there who was against the nature of the exhibit. (For the record, Channel 12 and the Cincinnati Enquirer are both sponsors of the exhibit).

     The big concern of the day was why the Archbishop did not allow diocesan schools to attend the exhibit. They showed a news clip of an interview with Fr. Michael Seger, the Moral Theologian here at the Seminary. My response was simple. As the chief teacher, it is the duty of the bishop to inform the faithful on the nature of the exhibit and he believed it to be inappropriate, as I do.  One person commented that he thought the displays of the “specimens” were tasteful and inspiring and it helped people to be more in touch with their humanity. The pro-life gentleman also praised the display of the “fetuses” as a beautiful way of seeing fetal development. It seems to me upon reflection that they saw this as a kind of human “art exhibit.” Everyting was artful and tasteful and EDUCATIONAL. I reminded the group that these were human persons who had possessed souls and that this demeaned human dignity. It got nowhere. I should have added that it is not good to treat human corpses as artistic objects, and that the ends do not justify the means- but I can’t think of everything so fast.

     Then Mr. Hurley mentioned that the diocese of Pittsburgh is actually encouraging its students to attend the shows in Pittsburgh, and that pamphlets on the show were being inserted into parish bulletins. I pointed out that the Pittsburgh statement (which luckily I had looked at in advance-this might have been Mr. Hurley’s attempt to ask me a “hard question”) had several flaws in it. Namely it only addressed the question of the source of the bodies, and not the nature of the process that turned human corpses into rubberized plastic models. (Probably with a 5000 year life span, though I am not sure). Again, when asked why two dioceses could have such different views, I mentioned that they (Pittsburgh) were missing the real issue of the nature of the body. No one commented further.

     Finally at the end, I was able to present the position of the Church on the human body in nature to the Incarnation (I used small words) so that the Catholic position could be clearer, but by this time I was simply “spitting in the ocean.” As I was the only one who had not personally seen the exhibit, I was aksed if I was going to go see it. I said that I had seen parts of it on the internet, and concluded by saying I might. I realize that this was also a stupid thing to say. I should have said not only no, but HELL NO.

     This is the gist of the show. The biggest problem was that there was only 18 MINUTES to have this discussion, which is no time at all to really get into it with three people and a moderator. As I said, the deck was stacked and with only four responses, I did very little to help the cause of helping people to see that this exhibit is not a good thing. For me, the biggest problem is that the people seemed blind to the reality and they think they are providing a real service to the community by bringing these cut up, rubberized dead human persons and charging 23.00 a person to see it.  It only proves to me that right is now wrong, and wrong is now right

     Then, when I was watching the 5:00pm and 5:30 news on Channel 12, the anchors spoke of a type of “showdown this Sunday on 12 newsmakers.” But it is a load of you know what. News is more hype than fact anymore. If you want to see it, I believe it will be on this Sunday at 11:00am on channel 12. I hope if there is a next time for me, I will do better.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support SACRED HEART RADIO.

     This weekend about 35 Knights of Columbus with their wives are doing a retreat at the Jesuit spiritual center in Milford. Please say some extra prayers for them becuase I will be their director. The topic is a combination of SPE SALVI and St. Paul. The title is Hope does not disappoint us: reclaiming true Christian Hope. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio

      Compare St. Augustine’s view with that of Fr. LaCordaire:

     To live in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasures; to be a member of each family, yet belonging to none; to share all sufferings; to penetrate all secrets; to heal all wounds; to go from man to God and offer Him their prayers; to return from God to men to bring pardon and hope; to have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity; to teach and to pardon, console and bless always. My God, what a life! And it is yours, O Priest of Jesus Christ!

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     As I am rereading SPE SALVI, I am struck by the Pope’s quotation of St. Augustine’s daily itinerary:

     The turbulent have to be corrected, the faint-hearted cheered up, the weak supported, the Gospel’s opponents need to be refuted, its insidious enemies need to be guarded against; the unlearned need to be taught, the indolent stirred up, the argumentative checked; the proud must be put in their place, the desperate set on their feet, those engaged in quarrels reconciled; the needy have to be helped, the oppressed to be liberated, the good to be encouraged, the bad to be tolerated; all must be loved.

     This is an terrifying job descrption for any priest and bishop. I don’t know if Fr. Kyle would want to use it to promote vocations, but it definitely presents the pastoral life of a priest as an unending adventure. It is similar to a quote from LaCordaire, which I hope to find later. It kind of reminds me of what my daily tasks as a hospital chaplain were.  Say a prayer that we will be able to do these things well and for the honor and glory of God.

      This year, as last, a generous benefactor stepped forward and offered to pay airfare and lodging for any seminarian who wished to go to the March for Life. Over half of the Seminarians went and are now in Washington. I hope the weather is a little warmer and drier than it is here. They will all come back this evening and tomorrow will be business as usual, whatever that means.

      It is always a humbling experience to experience the generosity of another, and I hope that it does for the Seminarians what the generosity of others does for me- namely to make me more generous in serving others and to work harder that the gifts I have received will not be wasted.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio

     Today is the Feast of St. Agnes and a special ceremony occurs at the Vatican on this day. Pope Benedict will bless two sheep, and the wool from these sheep will be used to make the pallia or the circular bands given to new Archbishops on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Pope Benedict wears a very large one with red crosses on it. Archbishops wear smaller ones with black crosses on them. They wear this over their shoulders as a sign that they must carry their flock on their shoulders, just as Christ the good Shepherd carries the Church.

      I suppose that the Feast of St. Agnes is chosen as the day for this blessing becuase of the similarity of her name to the Latin word for Lamb, “Agnus.” She is the little ewe lamb who in obedience to Christ her spouse, gave her life as an offering as a sign of her love for him. Both St. Augustine and St. Ambrose write that she was 12 years old when she was martyred. She reminds us that the Christian life has at its center obedience and sacrifice, two things that are not viewed too highly today.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

       I received the latest issue of Glibert Magazine from the American Chesterton Society. There are always a lot of good articles and quotes from Chesterton that make it good reading. There is one quote I have found so far that would be good for us to take to heart in this election year:

          Even a political democracy would . . . be a little more practical if people prepared for the general Election  as they did for the Eucharistic Congress, with prayer and penance rather than publicity and lies.

       There is another wonderful quote that it is equally true today from his book Christendom in Dublin:

               Lenin said that religion is the opium of the people . . . But it is only by believing in God that we can ever criticize the government. Once abolish God and the Government becomes God. That fact is written all across human history, but it is written most plainly across the recent history of Russia, which was created by Lenin. . . Lenin only fell into a slight error: he only got it the wrong way around. The truth is that irreligion is the opium of the people. Wherever people do not believe in something beyond the world, they will worship the world.

      It appears that this attitude is what Pope Benedict is addressing in Spe Salvi. The more we ignore history, the more we repeat it. The more we will lose hope and  fall into despair.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio

     This date in 1499, John was born in Almovodar del Campo in Spain. He died in 1569 and was canonized in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. His life as a diocesan priest and itinerant preacher was seen as such an example that Pope VI named him the Patron for priests to go to if they have an identity crisis. In 1954. Pope Pius XII named his the Patron of the Diocesan clergy of Spain.

    San Juan de Avila is not well known in this country. His feast day in Spain is May 11. I am very well acquainted with him because my STL thesis (about 520 pages including the sermons) was on San Juan’s Marian homilies, commonly known as The Book of the Virgin. He is a powerful preacher, but most of his works are still in Spanish. The only English translations are his Marian homilies, which I have done, and his spiritual work AUDI FILIA, translated by Sr. Joan Gormley  who teaches at the other Mt. St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg. Her translation is published in the CLASSICS OF WESTERN SPIRITUALITY SERIES from Paulist Press. Maybe one day I will be able to publish my translations of his Marian works. Also, maybe one day I will be able to finish my doctorate on St. John’s mariology. Also, maybe one day pigs will fly! Time will tell.

San Juan de Avila, ruega por nosotros!!

       While Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, I have an intersting doument you might want to look up. About five years ago, the Holy See was to publish a set of guidelines on popular piety and devotion. While they have not to my knowledge published the document in book form, it is on the Vatican website. This is really a great document. It is about 186 pages, but it covers every aspect of Catholic piety from Intercession to the Dead, shrines and pilgrimages, Mary and the devotion to the Saints. It is something that I believe every serious catechist should have in his or her arsenal.

      It is called  DIRECTORY ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY: PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES.  you can find it in curia/congregations section, specifically: Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship (April 2002).

     Also, don’t forget, the SONRISE MORNING SHOW adds another hour starting tomorrow. It will now be on from 6:00-9:00am.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio

      While today is the Feast of the Holy Family, I would not be a good uncle if I did not remember my nephew Connor McAdams, who is 11 years old today. He has actually been in a television commercial and have every video gaming system known to man, except the PS3. He is an Apple computer whiz who gets good grades, and is very funny. He has inherited nothing from his uncle, which is a good thing. He just tolerates me from time to time. ;) Hopefully when he grows up he will become a millionaire so he can support his poor parents in their old age! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR! I am avery proud of you!