"One simple thing is all we really need"

With a few exceptions, it has been very difficult to post a Friday traditio the past several months. Yesterday it happened again that I was busy from dawn to sunset. This is okay because life trumps blogging. For some reason, like the fact that I've heard this song on the radio several times this past week, Stabilizers singing "One Simple Thing" is our late traditio for the first week of June.

I am used to time seeming to speed up as I grow older, but at the pace 2017 seems to be going, I will 80 the day-after-tomorrow. It's easy to see that Einstein was correct without doing any math.

"One Simple Thing" is one of those wonderful 80s songs the meaning of which remains slightly ambiguous. It seems to be about love between two people who want to just be together, excluding everything else, by building a wall "no one else can see." There is a lot of talk these days about "safe spaces." Desiring a "safe space," despite the harsh words of some, is a very understandable reaction to reality. In the past, we used to call this place home. But with the advent and widespread availability of the internet and various kinds of social media, I don't think home feels as safe as it once did for most people. For many, home is not a place where you can keep the world at bay.

Love both is and is not a safe space, so to speak. It is not a safe space because loving another always requires you to take a risk. But once love, if it merits the name, is experienced, it becomes something with a reliable degree of certainty, making it it highly desirable in an uncertain world.

Erecting and then living behind an invisible wall with one's beloved is, it seems to me, if in perhaps an overly philosophized way, expressive of the desire to inhabit eternity within time. Love between two finite beings can't be anything other finite, despite the longing for eternity love brings forth from within us, exposing the need that constitutes us as human beings made in the divine image. Hence, eternity often remains elusive. The passage of time, as noted above, stops for nothing and nobody. As the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus noted: "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." These assertions are, of course, as subsequent philosophical discourse amply demonstrates, disputable. But the intuition that only love is eternal strikes me as beautiful and, hence, true.

If the "one simple thing" is love, even if restricted to the love of two people for one another, it bears noting that few things are more complex than the love between two people. On the other hand, nothing is more simple than what God has revealed about God, namely "God is love" (1 John 4:8.16). Moreover, "In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Being what it is (i.e., the very basis of reality), love does not build walls, or put up and maintain barriers, but removes them. The best evidence of this is creation and the Incarnation of the Son of God. Concisely, then, love is profuse, which means, according to the dictionary, "exuberantly plentiful; abundant." It is God, who is love, who enables us to inhabit eternity within time.

We would be wise to "give back all the things we had but one." In fact, in the end, that is what we'll be asked to do. Whether or not we can bring ourselves to do it will perhaps be the determining factor in how we live, or whether we, in fact, go on living. You see, to live is to love.

Sundown this evening marks the beginning of the Pentecost. After Easter, Pentecost is the most important observance of the liturgical year. Yes, it even trumps Christmas. Today I am privileged to accompany 6 adults from my parish, who I have been preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation over the past few months, to The Cathedral of Madeleine to be confirmed by our bishop, Oscar Solis. I am excited. At least as I learned them, the spiritual fruit of the Third Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the Descent of the Holy Spirit - is God's love for us. The Holy Spirit is Christ's resurrection presence in us, among us, and through us until he returns in glory.

One simple thing: ἀγάπη, agápē, love.

Thanksgiving, mercy, and the Advent of the Lord

It was my plan to post something yesterday for Thanksgiving Day. Instead, I wound up spending the day in a much better way. I prayed Morning Prayer, read from the little book The Crusade of Fàtima (the centenary of the apparitions is next year), served at Mass, came home and cleaned the kitchen, helped prepare our Thanksgiving meal, cleaned up again, fixed a pretty healthy relish tray for snacking (olives, carrots, hummus, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, ham, pita bread), took a breather, during which I read out loud to my wife about Nathan Hale from Eric Metaxas' book If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty, went for a long walk (after the snowstorm Wednesday evening, it was a beautiful day here along the Wasatch Front) with my wife, during which we prayed the Rosary together, played with my boys in the snow for a few minutes at the end of our walk, came in and played board games with my boys, ate, took on the task of cleaning the kitchen, had pie, cleaned again, prayed Evening Prayer, then watched a couple of episodes of the old British television show 'Allo, 'Allo, which is even racier than I remember, but in a sly, certainly not subtle, way.

In his homily yesterday our pastor referenced Common Preface IV of the Eucharistic Prayer;

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation
always and everywhere to give you thanks
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.

For, although you have no need of our praise,
yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift,
since our praises add nothing to your greatness
but profit us for salvation,
through Christ our Lord

Even our ability to give thanks to God is a gift from God, a grace. Our Thanksgiving feast is not turkey, but Jesus Christ. He is our Eucharist. I am glad the United States of America dedicates a day once a year to giving thanks to God for the abundant blessings we enjoy. This should not puff us up. It should humble us. Our humility should focus us on our need to perfect our national unity as well as on being a blessing to other nations.

As we were coming to the end our walk, I told my wife that I am glad I've somehow maintained the tradition that was handed on to me growing up, which is to observe Thanksgiving as mainly a religious day, like a Sunday. It is not a boast on my part, but a humble acknowledgement, made with gratitude, to my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I long for a return to the days when practically all businesses are closed on Thanksgiving. It's not likely to happen, but that doesn't have to impact how I observe the day. I very much like being counter-cultural in this way.

KBYU FM- Classical 89 had what I can only describe as magnificent programming on Thanksgiving Day. It's what we listened to and, at times, talked and worked over, as we cleaned, cooked, cleaned, cooked, and then cleaned. In inverse order here are the programs: Giving Thanks to Music, A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns, A Feast for the Ears, and Giving Thanks: A Celebration of Fall, Food, and Gratitude. I particularly enjoyed Giving Thanks: A Celebration... (you can still listen here). In the second hour of Giving Thanks between music by Mendelssohn and a choral arrangement of "We Gather Together," in succession, were readings from Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, Chartres Cathedral story; Psalm 104 — read by Charles Laughton.

St Olaf Parish (my parish), Bountiful, UT, getting ready for the ... getting ready (Advent)

It's hard to believe we are at the threshold of another Year of Grace. Most of the current liturgical year consisted of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which concluded last Sunday. Inaugurated by Pope Francis, it began on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which struck me then as it does now as wholly fitting.

This week I read Pope Francis' Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera, which he promulgated to conclude the Extraordinary Jubilee. It is a remarkable document, one that every Catholic as well as Christians of good will should read. The title is a phrase taken from Tractate XXXIII, Chapter 5 of St Augustine's On the Gospel of John. The great bishop of Hippo Regius penned the phrase while commenting on the episode in which Jesus encounters the woman taken in adultery. As the Holy Father wrote: "It would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful or apt way of expressing the mystery of God’s love when it touches the sinner: 'the two of them alone remained: mercy with misery'" (par 1). Our prayer should always include some variation of the Jesus Prayer: "Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner."

My lovely wife serves as music director at our parish. When I awoke this morning she was in the kitchen planning music for the First Sunday of Advent, which is this Sunday. She was contemplating a new take on an old hymn: "The King Shall Come," by Trevor Thomson. I don't mind saying that hearing this song was a nice way to begin my day. Because it was nice for me, I want to hand it on to you. Hence, it will be our traditio for this final Friday of the current liturgical year:

In my mind, Advent is best understood and observed as a season of hope. Hope is the flower of faith and its fruit is caritas, charity, or, if you prefer, love.

"Singing a song, In search of Eldorado"

My Grandma Dodge lived for poetry, not because she was an educated woman (she never graduated high school and worked as hospital cleaning woman), but because it spoke to her heart and helped her see the beauty of the world and of each person. She never travelled anywhere, but stayed in Ogden pretty much her whole life. She never even had a driver's license. She imparted this love to her children, stepchildren and to her many grandchildren. I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with her, especially when I was very young. She's been gone for a long time now.

Last night, lying in his hospital bed, as I was leaving, my Dad took my hand and recited this poem to me, which is why this Friday's traditio is Eldorado, by Edgar Allan Poe:

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"

"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied-
"If you seek for Eldorado!"

Edgar Allan Poe

Catechetical Sunday

Today we observe Catechetical Sunday, a day that the church in the United States sets aside each year in the early fall when parish religious education begins anew to recognize those who perform the vital ministry of catechesis. Apart from the liturgy and serving the poor, there is nothing that takes place in our parish that is more important than catechesis. Besides, it is only through catechesis that we learn about the necessary connection, made so emphatic by the prophet Amos in our first reading today, between worshipping God and serving the poor, the sick, the widow, and the prisoner. Today, when there are so many things competing for the attention of young people, much of it toxic, in no aspect of our faith do we need to be more shrewd that in passing the faith to the next generation, using all the various means at our disposal, especially those of mass media, like the internet, to proclaim the Good News that is Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the best way to translate word catechesis into contemporary English is to say that catechesis means to resound. What we re-sound, or give new voice to, is the Gospel, which we ourselves received from others dedicated to this same ministry. The catechist is the one commissioned by the community to give voice to the Gospel.

As one who has dedicated a large portion of my adult life to catechesis, I reflect often on these words from St. Paul to the Romans: "'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (the) good news'" (10:13-15). As the steward for catechesis at The Cathedral of the Madeleine, I am very grateful for those who labor with me in this corner of the Lord’s vineyard. It is only fitting that today we send them, that is, commission them, for this life-giving work to which they are called and with gratitude for their heeding the Lord’s call.

The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine

Just in time for our centennial, Dr. Gary Topping and photographer Ann Torrence have published an updated book on our lovely lady: The Cathedral of the Madeleine. The book made its public debut on St. Mary Magdalene's feast yesterday. I think Gary and Ann sold all the copies they had on hand. It is a well done book all the way around.

The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine is published by Sagebrush Press of Salt Lake City and costs $16.95.

Bishop Wester, who wrote the forward to this great book, sums up our beautiful cathedral well:

"The Cathedral of the Madeleine has earned its place in the life of the people of Utah and is cherished by those of all faiths, cultures and traditions. It makes God mercifully immanent and at the same time awesomely transcendent as no other building can do. In this sense, the Cathedral is a revolving door through which heaven bound pilgrims can find rest, nourishment and peace along the way."

A Meditation on the Passion

For anyone who is interested, I will be presiding at The Cathedral of the Madeleine's Seven Last Words devotion on Good Friday. These meditations, which constitute a celebration of the Word, begin shortly after the conclusion of the Celebration of the Lord's Passion, which commences at Noon and concludes shortly before 3:00 PM, when the Choristers from The Madeleine Choir School will sing Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, a choral meditation on the Passion.

The service consists of seven Gospel passages that constitute what Scripture records as our Lord's words spoken from the Cross, a short commentary on the reading, a homily, then several minutes of kneeling in silence. We do all this before the Cross of Veneration, which contains a relic of the True Cross.

Lent ends with Evening Prayer this evening. The Mass of the Lord's Supper, which begins after sundown, starts the Triduum. This Mass, along with the Celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil, really constitute one liturgy. There is no dismissal (i.e., "The mass in ended . . .") until the end of the Vigil

(Picture is the 12th Station from the Stations of the Cross in Lodwar, Kenya Cathedral, taken from Australian EJournal of Theology)

Making the connection

My last post dealt with the necessity for us, as Christ's disciples, not put ourselves first, but to live sacrificially for others. It is easy, as re-reading yesterday's post shows me clearly, to remain very abstract about what this means for our lives. This morning, as I was composing a post for our parish blog, a very strong and concrete connection was cemented in my mind between believing that we should live for others and specific actions we can take that make this belief, this conviction, a reality.

At the beginning of our Centenary kick-off at The Cathedral of the Madeleine we are undertaking a three-year program which so far includes a Stewardship campaign and a pastoral plan with the theme Furthering Our Legacy of Faith, Hope and Love. Both of these undertakings call upon us, even if you're not a Cathedral parishioner, to live selflessly by giving of our time, our talents, and our treasure to serving God, to the realization of His Kingdom. In short, our baptismal vocation as God's priestly people calls upon us to live sacrificially; putting others before ourselves.

The People of St. Mary Magdalene

Today marks the launch of yet another new project, the weblog of The Cathedral of the Madeleine, entitled The People of St. Mary Magdalene. The new blog is a collaborative effort of the pastoral staff of the Cathedral. Your scribe has spent the better part of the afternoon designing and laying out the page. A link is already provided off this blog and will soon be provided on the main Cathedral website.

RCIA Blog

You may have noticed that I deleted a post from this blog. It has not disappeared. I re-posted it on The Cathedral of the Madeleine RCIA Blog. So, with no further adieu, I direct you that spot. It just began today, but will soon be buzzing with activities from our team of posters.

St. Mary Magdalene

Here is a link to the article in our local Catholic newspaper, The Intermountian Catholic, on the lecture I gave almost two weeks ago: "St. Mary Magdalene celebrated in music and word." Again, a lot to say and write the Apostle to the Apostles. I will try to get my notes together and publish some of what I said.

St. Mary Magdalene- Madeleine- Myrrophore-Isapostole

I just returned from giving a tag-team lecture on St. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of our cathedral and of our diocese- Salt Lake City. Hers is such a fascinating story. At first glance the scriptural evidence of her seems slim. First, there is Luke chapter 8 verses 2-3, which reads: "1 and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.." This is the only passage that refers to her apart from the passion and resurrection narratives found in all four canonical Gospels. Two samples are found in Mark's Gospel, both in chapter 16.

Since chapter 16 of Mark's Gospel was added onto, only one of these is found in the original- chapter 16 (verses 1-8) which reads: "1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Then, the addition, which appears to be a variant taken from St. Luke's Gospel because it refers to the casting of seven demons: "9 Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them." Of course, there are the parallel passages in the three other Gospels that attest to her being the first witness of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What is clear from this is that Mary of Magdala, a town near Tiberius, was the first witness of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As such, she has rightly been designated "apostle to the Apostles." Her story has been conflated with a couple of other stories in the Gospels (Luke 7,36-50 and John 12,1-3). Because of these conflations, which began among the Latin Fathers and culminated with the preaching of St Gergory the Great, Mary Magdalen, the only one of Jesus' women disciples not named with reference to a man, but to her city, gets confused with Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the sinful woman, likely a prostitute, who enters the house of Simon the Pharisee and anoints Jesus' head with oil and washes his feet with her tears.

Of course there are the different "traditions," which amount to legends about St. Mary Magdalene from the East and the West that she went to Rome, preached to the emperor Tiberius and, as a result, Pontius Pilate was exiled to Gaul where he committed suicide. Or, that, along with St, John the Evangelist and Mary, the Mother of God, she went to Ephesus. Or, in the Western tradition, sticking with the conflations, she, along with Martha and Lazarus and other companions, went to Provence, landing in what is today Marsellies, not a bad place if you're going to France.

As in all things, there is the gnostic Mary kissed by Jesus and in the breath exchanged in a kiss, Christ imparting to her knowledge - . The Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary, not, as misnamed on the link "The Gospel According to St. Mary Magdalene." But the gnostics are just as untrue to the historical witness of her and subsequent tradition, both East and West.

She is truly the myrrh-bearer and isapostole (equal-to-the apostles). A follower and supporter of the earthly ministry of Jesus. We celebrate her solemenity this Sunday. we implore her assistance.