Going away in order to remain and remain more powerfully

Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3.6-9; Hebrews 9:24-28.10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53

I don't want to gripe too much, but griping a bit seems appropriate. I am not a fan and never have been of transferring the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord from Thursday to the following Sunday. Rooted in scripture (see Acts 1:3), Ascension comes forty days after Easter and Pentecost ten days later. Casting this liturgical arithmetic aside strikes me as somewhat damaging.

A lot can and probably should be said about the Lord's Ascension. There are two things that strike me each year. First, Christ ascended not to distance Himself from you and not only to be closer to you but live in you (and me). Second, because we "have" Christ in us, our gaze is levelled.

Christ ascends so the Holy Spirit can descend. He goes to the Father so He can send His Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the medium through whom Christ comes to dwell in, among, and through us. This better than Him standing over there, as it were.

Of course, the most concrete sign of this is the Eucharist, especially the high point of the Eucharistic celebration: the Communion Rite. Our progression from Easter to Ascension to Pentecost to Trinty to Corpus Christi is mystagogically important and, therefore, liturgically important. This why the transfer of the Ascension matters. Also, do we celebrate Pentecost as the second most important observance after Easter? In most cases, I think not.

I love the words of the men in white who suddenly appear alongside the awe-filled apostles as they stand amazed watching the Lord ascend into heaven: "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Gaze leveled.

As Christian we are to engage in the world. We are to be salt, light, and good leaven. Our business and overriding concern is to establish, instaniate, incarnate God's kingdom, taking seriously the petition: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." It is to this end that we receive our daily bread. This circles back to Christ ascended not only to be closer to us but to be in us. Let's not forget that, according to scripture, this mystery revealed by God is nothing less than "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:24-27).

Ascension, by John Singleton Copely, 1775

Especially in the crazy times in which we live, a time when the spirit of anti-Christ seems almost regnant. This is typified by a counterfeit gospel that puts one's own concerns and comforts before all else and everyone else. An economized, that is, material, philosophy that sets up a zero sum game. On this view, someone receiving what s/he needs deprives me of what I want and think I deserve.

While it is the work of the Church (meaning that is the work of individual Christians) to incarnate God's kingdom, God's kingdom will not be realized through worldly governments. God's kingdom is not about restoring the ancient kingdom of Israel, as even the Lord's apostles supposed right up to His ascension, nor is it about the restoration of so-called Christendom.

All worldly domains are utopias in the strict sense of the word: they are nowhere or paths to nowhere. This is just to say that worldly governments are not the path to destiny. This is not to say that from a Christian perspective one form of government is not better than other forms. Clearly, forms of government that permit and foster genuine freedom, which many late modern democracies do not no matter which side holds the reins of power, are better than oppressive and repressive regimes. But the Church not only has survived but thrived under the rule of many different forms of government, even highly repressive ones.

As our reading from Hebrews (one of my favorite books in all of Sacred Scripture!) reminds us- optimism is not hope. Christ is my hope no matter the circumstances in which I find myself:

...let us approach [God' sanctuary where Christ is High Priest] with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy (Hebrews 10:22-23)

Luke and Acts are two volumes by the same inspired author. Acts picks up where Luke leaves off. As we can see from today's readings, when it comes to the Lord's ascension, there some overlap. In both Luke and Acts, the Lord promises to send His Holy Spirit upon the apostles. In Luke, He tells them to remain in Jerusalem. In Acts 1, they are in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is where they remain not only until Pentecost but until the great persecution that caused many to flee. As the stoning of Stephen seems to indicate, one Saul of Tarsus seems to have played a keen role in this persecution. But this remains only the beginning of the story, which is not yet complete. Christianity, as I often note, is a religion of paradox. One and three, human and divine, virgin and mother, etc. Ascension, too, presents a paradox: going away in order to remain, even to be present more powerfully.

Love and sex

For reasons explained in that post, in my reflection for last Sunday's readings, I focused on the first reading from Acts 15, which tells of the result of the council of Jerusalem. I focused on the canons or decrees handed on from those Christian leaders who gathered to consider the burning question as to whether Gentile converts had to be circumcised (their decision on this was no). There were four such canons or decrees.

Three of those had to do with dietary laws (i.e., what one could not eat). Since one of those three is textually suspicious and the other two were dealt with later by Paul, I zeroed in on the Greek word that the NAB(RE) translates into English with the phrase "unlawful marriage." I noted that this word (i.e., porneia) is probably better translated in that context by the phrase (used in other credible translations) "sexual immorality."

I then provided a short list of some of the things the prohbition on sexual immorality included while acknowledging this word can refer to any one of those things, some of those things, or all of them together. Unlike the dietary restritions, what constituted sexual immorality remained consistent in the New Testament and beyond.

In accordance with the matters addressed in Acts 15, ethical concerns predominated in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. At the beginning of the first chapter of his book Reading the Early Church Fathers: From the Didache to Nicea, James L. Papandera notes

Early Christian catechesis focused more on ethical concerns than on theology, and from the very beginning it was extremely important to draw the lines of distinction between Christian morals and the morals of the rest of Greco-Roman culture and society (page 7)

This surely includes sexual morals.

Since posting that I have run across two things that I think are relevant. One of them was a post made to the Facebook account of a group called "Catholic Dress Code." This is a rather conservative group run by Catholic women encouraging women to dress modestly. While I certainly have my viewpoint, I don't wade into discussions of what someone should wear or not wear.

Because of its length, I am not going to post the whole thing. You can follow the link I provided above to read it all. But I am going to repost several paragraphs that I think are the most salient:

No one told me the truth about sex before I had a lot of sex... (reposted)...

They say sex is just physical. But I’ve felt the aftershocks of a single night echo through my nervous system for months. I’ve stayed too long with men who weren’t good for me...not because I didn’t know better, but because my cells already believed we were one thing. Because oxytocin doesn’t understand red flags. Because dopamine will make a prison feel like paradise. Because orgasm isn’t just a climax, it’s a binding contract written in chemistry and signed in vulnerability....

What they don’t tell you is this: sex rewires you. It maps your memory, it softens your instincts, it makes you stay when every part of your logic is screaming “run.” And even if you tell yourself it doesn’t matter, even if you say you’re detached, your body still remembers. There is no such thing as casual when your nervous system is that involved.

And we don’t need to shame the wild. I’m not here to be shaming choices. I believe in sacred chaos. In lust that tastes like lightning. But let’s stop pretending that we can do it like animals and not feel like ghosts when it’s over.

Because sex, real sex in your soul felt sex, isn’t just about climax. It’s about collapse. It’s about letting someone inside your orbit so deeply that your whole inner world tilts. And that? That should be earned. That should be sacred.

So no, sex was never just a handshake. It’s a soul exchange. And if we remembered that, maybe we’d stop giving our bodies to people who haven’t even earned our eye contact [emboldening and italicization mine, not in the original]

One woman wrote a comment that I "Liked" because it echoed my own reaction to this: "This is the first post here i totally agree with. Dont be prudish. Read it again. Emphasis on the last paragraph [what is highlighted]. Then read it again."

A second thing I read on Monday. It is from Zena Hitz's book A Philosopher Looks at Religious Life. "Celibacy" is a section of chapter four: "The Family of Humanity."

I have been severe on sexuality, not out of prudishness, but to counter the overwhelming rhetoric on the other side. We act as if life without sex is impossible, and entertain the thought, even if less commonly nowadays than in my youth, that sex with strangers is harmless. Both cannot be true. Either sex reaches down to the core of our being, and so ought to be treated with reverence and caution, as something which might bear life's meaning for us, or it is harmless, like chewing bubble gum, and can be given up without a second thought. The fact is that the depth and significance of our sexual desires make celibacy very difficult, but it is by no means impossible (page 121)

In short, sex is not love and love is not sex. I could easily move from this to one of the progressive aspects of Pope Saint Paul VI's Humanae vitae (there is more than one!): the unitive purpose (see section 12). By the way, the Holy See's website has a makeover!

Both of these quotes, which are negative in tone (i.e., why not to), are only a starting point. One might add Saint Paul's observation that when you have sex with someone you become one in body with that person (1 Corthians 6:15-20). Of course, the apostle is writing to Christians in ancient Corinth, a port city rife withe prostitution both sacred (pagan) and profane.

In this instance, surely Paul's point transcends the context. And so, something written above becomes an affirmation: "...because my cells already believed we were one thing. Because oxytocin doesn’t understand red flags. Because dopamine will make a prison feel like paradise." Beyond that, as Irish writer John Waters noted, there has to be something after no. But no has its reasons.

Why not Howard Jones' "What Is Love?" as a Friday traditio? While we're at it, let's go with the Big, Beautiful version.

Counsels of a council: principles and canons

Reading: Acts 15:1-2.22-29

Where I live, the Solemnity Lord's Ascension is observed the Sunday following the fortieth day after Easter. Stated more clearly, instead of celebrating "Ascension Thursday," we celebrate Ascension Sunday on what is otherwise the Seventh Sunday of Easter. So, we do not observe the Seventh Sunday of Easter.

As a result, for the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter the second reading and Gospel for the Seventh Sunday of Easter may be used. This leaves the first reading from Acts 15 as the reading that cannot be replaced.

It is an important reading because it tells of the somewhat anachronistically-named "Council of Jerusalem." While what this reading conveys is something about a council not of the early the Church but the primitive Church, it is not, juridically speaking, a council in the fullblown sense of later Councils, like Nicea and Vatican II. This gathering was certainly synodal in nature.

Being a council (as opposed to a "Council"?), this meeting in Jerusalem, like Nicea and most subsequent Councils, canons or juridical decisions were promulgated. The immediate cause for this gathering was to adjudicate the claim that in order to be saved, Gentile converts to Christianity had to be circumcised. The matter was brought to Jerusalem by Paul and Barnabas.

Presiding over this proceeding was James the close relative of Jesus. He is known as James the Just. During their missionary activity among the Gentiles, among whom they were establishing the Church, so-called "Judaizers" were teaching, contra Paul and Barnabas, both the necessity of circumsision and even full-blown adherence to the Law.

After deliberating, named representatives were sent with Paul and Barnabas from Jerusalem to Antioch to deliver their judgment on this and other divisive matters pertaining to Christian praxis. Before taking up specific issues, a principle is given: not to place on anyone any burden beyond what is necessary. What did they deem necessary?

First, not to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Second, not to eat blood. Third, not to eat the meat of any animal that was strangled. Fourth, not to enter into unlawful marriages.

Now, each of the four canons or rulings are derived from Jewish law. It bears noting that the prohbition against eating the meat of strangled animals is omitted from some ancient manuscripts and sources.

The Greek word translated by the phrase "unlawful marriage" in our lectionary and in the NAB(RE) (the revision of the Revised Edition of the New American Bible consists only of a new translation of the Old Testament) is πορνεία. Transliterated, porneia- the origin of the English pornography. It is a Greek word used to refer to several specific sexual matters or all of them together, making translation very dependent on context.

In this context, I believe the best translation, as found in other versions, like the New International Version, might be "sexual immorality." The reason for this is that covers all the specific things to which the word refers: adultery, fornication, homosexuality, sex with close relatives, even sex with a divorced person, etc.

Whether one likes it or not, one of the things that made Christians stand out from the beginning in the ancient world of the Roman Emprie were strict sexual ethics. While Paul later attenuated the stricture against eating meat sacrificed to idols (i.e., don't do it if you're going to scandalize a fellow believer), he never wavered on matters pertaining to porneia.

Despite being quite easy to demonstrate, such an assertion these days strikes many as controversial. But then, we live in a time and culture that has all but reduced human personhood to sexuality. Calesco ergo sum?

Wisely, the council determined that circumcision, seemingly the most contentious issue, is not required of Christian converts. One can imagine the impact such a requirement might have on evangelization! Elsewhere, Paul takes this issue up with his characteristic directness. He emphasizes that one becomes a Christian through baptism and that baptism is open to men and women, slave and free, and to Jew and Gentile alike (see Galatians 3:27-29).

For Christians, water is thicker than blood- this, too, is a fundamental principle! This principle should be focused on all the more during Easter.

Speaking to Members of Pontifical Mission Societies, Pope Leo highlighted something that dovetails nicely with a reading concerning the intense missionary activities of Paul and Barnabas. After noting that "The promotion of apostolic zeal among the People of God remains an essential aspect of the Church’s renewal as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, and is all the more urgent in our own day," the Holy Father went on to note "the importance of fostering a spirit of missionary discipleship in all the baptized and a sense of the urgency of bringing Christ to all people."

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Program note: as I mentioned last October when I resumed blogging in earnest here, this will be my primary participation in social media. I will maintain my other accounts almost exclusively for the purpose of posting what I write here. Comments, while moderated, are open. I don't mind comments on my posts on other platforms, which I may or not get to. It is past time for me to make this change. I project one more post during May: Friday's traditio.

"I hope he don't hate us..."

It's Friday. Am I in love? A strange phrase that, "in love." What does it really mean to say "I am in love?" Perhaps, more to the point, what can it mean to say that?

What is love? This gets back to a familiar theme, namely that the English word "love" bears a lot of weight. Frankly, too much. Again, as my readers know Greek has four words to express different aspects this one word.

Of course, we have English words for those Greek words: for philia friendship; for eros, well, eros or erotic, which, in English, tends to be used synonymously for sex or sexual, for agape selflessness, for storge, familial love.

The Sower, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

As a Christian, I believe God- who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- is love.This not, however, reversible. Love is not God. Nonetheless, this is often reversed and to ill effect and bad affect.

Because God is triune, He is love, a relational, self-giving love. God is, in a word, agape.

So, yes, I am in love, always in love. It is inescapable, try as I might to evade or avoid. Evasion and avoidance, like the original people in the garden who, after eating the forbidden fruit, tried to hide. God doesn't seek me in order to punish me. God seeks me to love me. You know what? Sometimes I would prefer punishment.

I heard something recently that struck me. A brother deacon was talking about his experience of Christ during low ebbs, during sinful times in his life. He said that it was amazing to let the Lord "love me through it." He leaned into Christ instead of hiding in the shadows of guilt and shame.

It is unavoidable, you are in God's love. It is marvelous, revelatory to revel in the love of God given us in Christ, which is the work of the Holy Spirit. To live in the awareness of God's love is to live in reality.

Sometimes I don't know if it's harder to let myself be loved than it is to love others. But then, the one necessarily precedes the other. I am not sure I am capable of loving if I don't first experience being loved.

It's very much the case that sometimes I don't want to be loved. Even worse, there are times that being loved kind of upsets me. Beyond that there are times when I want to be "loved" in a manner of my own choosing, which is a stance utterly at odds with love. It's an attempt to take when love can only be received.

Because I suck at relationships I realize the miracle performed by those who keep loving me. It's amazing. I am making peace with the fact that I am not a example of loving well but only of being loved and I am not really great at that either.

Being loved is as risky as loving. In the catechesis for his first General Audience the day before yesterday, Pope Leo taught on the Parable of the Sower found in Saint Matthew's Gospel. He said this, which very much resonated with me, even more than his exposition of Van Gogh's painting of the sower:

We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.

I probably could've just posted that. It's useful for me to work through all of this. I pray there may be some value in it for you, too, dear reader.

Our Friday traditio is Pixies singing their song "The Vegas Suite" I think it kind of gets to our tendency to evade and avoid, inescapability, etc.

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Readings: Acts 14:5-8; Psalm 115:1-4.15-16; John 14:21-26

Before you can obey the Lord’s commandment you must first know what it is. In context, the commandment to be kept is Jesus’s “new commandment” as set forth in the previous chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. This “new commandment,” as we heard in our Gospel yesterday, is that, as His disciples, we love one another as He has loved us.¹ Esto es claro, ¿si?

Christ’s love, then, is the standard. The Lord’s standard clearly exceeds my ability, even on my best days and even when it comes to my closest relationships. Hence, I must recognize my need for help to love others as Christ loves me. The help God gives me to love beyond my own capacity is grace.

Too often, I am happy whenever I live a day during which I don’t say, do, or in my heart commit some gross violation of the Lord’s command to love. In other words, a day during which there is no egregious sin of commission. Indeed, we spend a lot of time discussing and agonizing over sins of commission.

As a result, we rarely mention sins of omission- those situations in which I could’ve and should’ve done something good but did not. This is reflected in the Act of Contrition that we pray in confession between confessing our sins and receiving absolution: “In choosing to wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you, whom I should love above all things.”

In saying this prayer, we recognize that our sins, all of them, are failures to love God above all things. In failing to do good, maybe it’s the case I love my comfort and seek to preserve it by not getting involved.

As Pope Francis noted in the wake of a very defective public exposition of the ordo amoris, one that sought let us off the hook far too easily:

The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan,”² that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception

This is the fundamental imperative of love: to do good and avoid evil. Focusing exclusively on avoiding evil is like playing not lose instead of playing to win. In 1 Corinthians, Saint Paul urges Christians to “Run so as to win.”³

A secret of the spiritual life, of a Spirit-driven life, is that the more you “do good” out selfless motives, the less inclined you are to “do evil.” “Above all,” scripture teaches, “let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.”⁴

As the Lord intimates, it is not the Holy Spirit’s remit to reveal new things. All that God could reveal is revealed in and through Christ. Jesus Christ is the full revelation, the final word of God to man.

It is the Holy Spirit who seeks to bring us to an ever deeper understanding of the full revelation of God in Christ. He does this by constantly reminding us of “all” Lord has told us. Chief among these is a wholehearted love of God, which results in love of neighbor.

According to the scriptures, my love for God can only be a response to God’s love for me: “In this is love” asserts the inspired author of 1 John, “not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.”⁵ Therefore, he continues: “if God so loved us, we also must love one another.”⁶

Loving as Christ loves is what it means to be holy. Becoming holy, quite literally, consists of nothing else. "God is love."⁷ This is what makes the true God different from false, pagan gods, like Hermes and Zeus.

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1 John 13:34.^↩
2 Pope Francis. Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America, 10 February 2025; Luke 10:25-37.^↩
3 1 Corinthians 9:24.^↩
4 1 Peter 4:8.^↩
5 1 John 4:10.^↩
6 1 John 4:11.^↩
7 1 John 4:8.16.^↩

Pope Leo XIV on the Pontificate- "loving as Jesus did"

In his homily for his Mass of Inauguration for his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV summed up the Petrine ministry beautifully in one short paragraph:

Peter is thus entrusted with the task of 'loving more' and giving his life for the flock. The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did

At least for me, Pope Leo, in addition to being his own man, combines wonderful characteristics of his two predecessors. He has the missionary fervor and deep concern for those on the periphery of Pope Francis. Like Pope Benedict, he speaks clearly and precisely from a deep well of love for our Lord and for His Church. At least in profile, he looks quite a bit like Pope Saint John Paul II.

Love is all you need, but what is love anyway?

Readings: Acts 14:21-27; Psalm 145:8-13; Revelation 21:1-5a; John 13:31-33a.34-35

"Love" is a used and abused word. In English, Latin, and in quite a few other languages, there is one word for love. Hence, this one word does a lot of heavy lifting.

In Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written, there are four words for love, each referring to a different kind of love. In Jesus' new commandment- that His disciples love one other as He has loved them- the word is agape. Agape is self-giving, self-sacrificing love. Jesus sets His love for us (collectively and individually) as the standard by which His disciples can be known. Hence, it is a love that requires us to transcend our own limitations.

Elsewhere in the Johaninne corpus this is laid out:

The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth (1 John 3:16-18)

To love like Christ loves is what it means to be holy, nothing else. Literally, holiness means nothing else than loving like Christ loves me (and you, thus us). Yet, it is hard, really hard, to love like Christ loves. It is so hard that to love like Christ loves requires God's grace. Grace is the means by which I am able to overcome my limitations.

"In this is love", pay attention- "not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another (1 John 4:10-11).

Adherence to the Lord's new commandment, which can never amount to stringent rule-keeping but is always a matter of the heart, of what we might call the proper interior disposition, is how the One who sits on the throne makes all things new.

La Jérusalem céleste, extraite de la Tapisserie de l'Apocalypse du Château d'Angers, France.

Salvation history begins in a garden. It culminates, however, in a city, "the holy city, a new Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2). A city is where people live together. Like a lot of people my age perhaps, when I think of a harmonius city or town, my mind goes to Richard Scary's Busytown. Granted, this is highly sentimental but it gives me a toehold. Perhaps a better and certainly a more theological starting point is Jacques Ellul's The Meaning of the City.

Loving like Christ loves or, stated another way, living out of Christ's for me, is how I am made new. As Saint Paul observed: "So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This requires me to experience Christ's love, His tender gaze, His unfailing patience, His limitless mercy. Like most people, I respond to tenderness better than I respond to confrontation.

As it turns out, in the end, The Beatles were right, "All you need is love." It bears asking, à la Howard Jones, "What Is Love?" According to the Lord, the kind of love you need requires your all, requires all of you.

Newness brought about by love, by agape, is a rich vein that runs throughout our uniquely Christian scriptures. It is also why, in the words of Paul and Barnabas taken from Acts, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). To love the way Christ loves is suffer like Christ suffers. At the end of the day, this and only this is the cost of discipleship.

I will be the first to admit, I have a long way to go. Frankly, I suck at loving others the way Christ loves me. It's so much that I fail as it is that I often outright refuse to love. I don't only do this frequently but daily, even several times a day.

"Swim out past the breakers..."

When I decided to reinvigorate this little piece of cyber space late last year I could never have predicted all the excitement 2025 would bring. What a year so far! We've experienced the good, the bad, and the very ugly. But in the face of this, there is reason for hope. Solidarity seems to be springing up tace not just the challenges but the crises we are living. As Pope Francis noted earlier this year, while speaking in his beloved basilica of Saint Mary Major, where he was laid to rest, “Today, we are not living an epoch of change so much as an epochal change.”

In my view, the first quarter of the twenty-first century has been an awful epoch, a paradigm has emerged that badly needs to be changed. Maybe the next quarter century will be better, a time when we start asking why to technology, regulating it smartly, and rejecting stifling ideologies. Maybe it's time, to quote the late Joe Strummer, "to take the humanity back to the center of the ring..."

In the same speech cited above, Pope Francis noted: “The situations that we are living today pose new challenges which, at times, are also difficult for us to understand. Our time requires us to live problems as challenges and not as obstacles.” Above all, he reminded us, “The Lord is active and at work in our world.” The seemingly hopelessness of death overcome by unexpected resurrection.

Catholic social teaching, which is built on the pillars of human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity, offers a lot in this regard, even for non-Catholics, non-Christians, and non-believers. This is why I found the Pope's choice of the name Leo so encouraging.

Speaking of need for change, Fr. Sam Sawyer, S.J., who serves as editor of America magazine, wrote what I think is a great opinion piece for The New York Times yesterday: "Pope Leo XIV May Be a Stern Teacher for American Catholics." I won't rehash Fr Sawyer's short piece. I will just encourage you to read it.

We can all rest easy, Pope Leo is on social media.

With everything going on, I have been "blogging" up a storm. With this, I have posted as many times already as I posted last year. Of course, last year was nearly the end of Καθολικός διάκονος. Hey, it's Easter- Resurrection time!

Καθολικός διάκονος remains for me a labor of love. Writing here is something I want to do, not something I feel I have to do. I re-started in earnest because I was poorer by not doing it. From the beginning, I felt this to be part of my diaconal vocation. It is my prayer that there are others who benefit from what I post, too.

This week's Friday traditio is one of those great '90s grungy kinda ballads" "Santa Monica" by Everclear. Why? In the words of "Bluto" Blutarsky, "Why not?"

Mass of Thanksgiving for the Election of Pope Leo XIV

Readings: Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 42:2-3.43:3-4; John 10:1-10

Our Gospel today continues the theme of the Good Shepherd. While this is certainly fitting for Monday after Good Shepherd Sunday, is especially fitting for our celebration of the Mass of Thanksgiving for the election of our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. It is important to bear in mind, as no doubt the Pope does, that there is only one truly Good Shepherd, that is, a shepherd who is good in and of Himself: Jesus Christ.

Hence, all the Church’s shepherds depend on Christ the Good Shepherd to carry out their pastoral ministry. This, of course, recalls Pope Francis’ exhortation to bishops and priests to smell like the sheep entrusted to their care. It is by being among the sheep that you come to smell like them.

Being a confidant and friend of Pope Francis, Pope Leo seems to have taken this to heart. “To be a good shepherd, our new Holy Father insisted, “means to be able to walk side-by-side with the People of God and to live close to them, not to be isolated.”¹ Priests are not doctrinal enforcers. Bishops are not managers. Popes are not kings. It was Pope Saint Paul VI who abolished the papal coronation ceremony and who retired the triregnum, the papal crown that indicated that the pope was governor of the world, which is unfitting for the vicar of the King whose kingdom is not of this world.

Pope Leo’s first words to the Church and to the world echo those of the risen Lord to His disciples: La pace sia con tutti voi!- “Peace be with you all!” In this same inaugural address, noting his spiritual heritage as an Augustinian, he quoted Saint Augustine, saying- “With you I am a Christian and for you a bishop.” Then, in his own words said, “In this sense, we can all walk together towards that homeland which God has prepared for us.”²

For those of us who follow these things closely, it was astounding that the Cardinals chose someone from the United States to serve as Roman Pontiff. But that they did. Since the instructions for this Mass both permit and even encourage sharing a biography of the new pope, it seems most fitting to do so.

With his two brothers, Robert Prevost grew up in a Catholic family, where his father served in their parish as a catechist, in the suburbs south of Chicago. Being from the south side, the Holy Father is a White Sox fan, as footage of him watching a 2005 World Series game wearing Sox jersey and jacket and the testimony of his brother demonstrate. I have it on good authority from several friends from Chicago that Catholics there tend to root for the Sox, not the Cubs. But the Pope's mother, who was from the northside, seems cast doubt on that!

Rather than entering seminary after attending minor seminary for high school, the Holy Father, matriculated at Villanova University in Philadelphia. There he studied mathematics and philosophy. After graduation, he taught math and physics to high schoolers. Eventually, he discerned a call to religious life in the Order of Saint Augustine.

Prevost earned his Master of Divinity, which is the seminary degree, from the Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago. A good friend of mine, Father J.T. Lane, who now serves as provincial for the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament for the United States, also attended CTU. Because he was the only member of his order in formation at the time, he spent a lot of time at the Augustinian house. He remembers Father Bob, now Pope Leo, as a kind, intelligent, and relatively quiet person.

At age 26, the young Robert Prevost was ordained a priest in Rome by Archbishop Jean Jadot, who has served as Apostolic Delegate to the United States (there was no nuncio until the U.S. formally established diplomatic relations with the Holy See under President Reagan) and who was then serving as President of Secretariat for Non-Christians. He then went on to earn both a licentiate and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He went back and forth between Chicago and Peru. By all accounts, in both places, the future Pontiff lived simply, even in an austere manner. Eventually, he was elected by his Augustinian brothers to serve as Provincial of the Augustinians in Chicago. He also taught canon law to seminarians both in the U.S. and in Peru. Upon election as their Prior General by Augustinians worldwide, he returned to Rome, where he lived from 2001- 2013.

After briefly returning to Chicago, in 2014 Pope Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. In January 2023, Pope Francis called him to Rome as Prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops and created him Cardinal in the Consistory of 30 September 2023. In his address Urbi et Orbi on the day of his election, the only words Pope Leo spoke that were not in Italian (he is now the Bishop of Rome) were words of greeting, spoken in Spanish, to members of his former diocese in Peru.

Prior to Pope Francis, the last pope who belonged to a religious order was the Camodolese monk who, in 1831, became Pope Gregory XVI. So, having two popes back-to-back from religious orders is an anomaly, especially given that only thirty-four of 267 popes have come from religious orders. But then, since the establishment of Benedictines in the fifth century and the rise of the Dominicans and Franciscans in the thirteenth, religious orders have been instrumental in reforming the Church.

In his address to the College of Cardinals last Saturday, the Holy Father explained why took the name Leo:

There are different reasons for [choosing Leo], but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour³

For those who may not know, Rerum Novarum launched the Church's modern social teaching. In this letter, Pope Leo XIII noted that "Among the many and grave duties of rulers who would do their best for the people, the first and chief is to act with strict justice- with that justice which is called distributive- toward each and every class alike."⁴ Distributive justice is concerned with the just distribution of resources, goods, and opportunity in a society. Distributive justice sees to a just and equitable distribution of wealth, one in which workers share in the profits their labor generates.

It's easy to forget that in his 1991 encyclical marking the one hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Centesimus Annus, Pope Saint John Paul II warned of the spiritual vacuity of consumerism, which like Marxism, reduces the human person "to the sphere of economics and the satisfaction of material needs."⁵ Neither must we forget Pope Saint Paul VI's still prophetic encyclical Populorum progresso in which he warned that "during troubled times some people are strongly tempted by he alluring but deceitful promises of would-be saviors. Who does not see the concomitant dangers: public upheavals, civil insurrection, the drift toward totalitarian ideologies?"⁶

Speaking to journalists earlier today, the Holy Father said that Church recognizes of the witness of journalists who take risks to tell the truth.

I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives – the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices. The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press

He the same address, he noted: "The Church must face the challenges of the times...Saint Augustine reminds us of this when he said, 'Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.'"⁷

Pope Leo's episcopal motto is In Illo uno unum- "In the One we are one." It is in the Eucharist that the Lord's prayer to the Father is realized, if not yet fully.⁸ May God strengthen, bless, and guide Pope Leo XIV as he walks in the shoes of the Galilean fisherman. May the Good Shepherd give him the grace to serve His flock in truth and love. Vive il papa!

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1 See La Croix, "Cardinal Prevost's warning in the face of polarization," 9 May 2025.^↩
2 Pope Leo XIV. Urbi et Orbi- Prima Benedictio 8 May 2025.^↩
3 Pope Leo XIV. Address to the College of Cardinals, 10 May 2025.^↩
4 Pope Leo XIII. Encyclical letter Rerum novarum (On Capital and Labor), sec. 33.^↩
5 Pope John Paul II. Encyclical letter Centesimus annus (On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum novarum), sec. 19.^↩
6 Pope Paul VI. Encyclical letter Populorum progresso (On the Development of Peoples), sec. 11.^↩
7 Pope Leo XIV. Address to Representatives of the Media, 12 May 2025.^↩
8 See John 17:20-23.^↩

Year C Fourth Sunday of Easter

Readings: Acts 13:14.43-52; Psalm 100:1-2.35; Revelation 7:9.14b-17; John 10:27-30

“The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”¹ Being filled with the joy of the Spirit is the essence of Christian discipleship because we know Jesus Christ is risen.

What an exciting week for the Church! After the death of Pope Francis, the Galilean fisherman, Peter, is succeeded by Pope Leo XIV. This, dear friends, is a symbol of resurrection and a cause for hope.

Like Jesus’ first disciples, over the course of a few short days, the Lord has turned our mourning into dancing.² Pope Leo is Christ’s Vicar on earth. Coming from the word “vicarious,” “vicar” refers to someone who stands in for another. The Vicar of Christ, therefore, stands in for the Good Shepherd in whose name he speaks and on whose authority he acts.

Today, in the Eucharistic prayer, we will pray for this Eucharist to unite us together under the leadership of Leo our pope and Oscar our bishop. Indeed, it is through our bishop that we are in communion with the Bishop of Rome and, through the Roman Pontiff with the Church throughout the world. This is the great Eucharistic mystery that shows us that far from being incidental to salvation, the Church is necessary. It is often the case today that many have a very thin ecclesiology, only a faint grasp of the profound mystery of the Church.

For me, one of the best things in watching events unfold in Saint Peter's Square after white smoke appeared was seeing the Catholicity of the Church on display in such an amazing way. The joy of the pilgrims came through screen. This excitement is or at least should be the Church: Evangelii gaudium- the joy of the Gospel, to borrow a Latin phrase. Or, as we’re reminded several times during Lent by the reading for Morning Prayer on Sunday: “Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”³

I realize that in our individualistic age to speak in terms of obligation with regard to God can seem like blasphemy to many. Far from it. Just as loving your neighbor places obligations on you, so does loving God. Assisting at Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation is the first of the Church’s five precepts. While, according to the Compendium to the Catechism, these precepts are given “to guarantee for the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer, the sacramental life, moral commitment and growth in love of God and neighbor,” they are little known today.⁴

This may seem a bit heavy-handed but all of us need grace to grow in love of God and neighbor, that is, to grow in holiness. The Eucharist, which is the source and summit of our faith, is the inexhaustible fountain of this grace, of unmerited divine assistance. This is why evangelization amounts to a beggar telling another beggar where he can find bread.

The Good Shepherd; Catacomb of Callixtus/Callisto- 3rd century

Lest you think clergy are immune, let me share a joke Father Rene once told from this ambo. It is all the dearer to me because I knew of some of his struggles. A man was lying in bed on Sunday morning. His mother came in and said, “It’s time to get up and go to Church.” He sleepily replied, “I don’t want to go.” His mother persisted, “You need to get up and go to Church.” He said, “Nobody there likes me.” Undeterred, his mom said, “You must get up and go to Church!” He said, “Why?” To which his mother replied, “You’re the pastor.”

I had a time early on after becoming Catholic, in the early years of our marriage, when attending Sunday Mass became hard for me. In talking to a trusted elderly priest (who Holly will remember, Father Maurice Prefontaine), I told him about my struggle and said that I wasn’t experiencing a crisis of faith but a crisis of practice. He lovingly took my hands in his and gently told me, “Starting Sunday, just go.” I’ve followed this simple advice ever since. If, like me then, you’ve been absent from the Sunday assembly, bring that to the Lord in confession.

From the beginning, centuries before there were daily Masses, Christians gathered on Sunday, Dies Domini, the Lord’s Day, the eighth day of eternity, the day Christ rose from the dead. In 1998, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Letter on the importance of Sunday. In his letter, entitled Dies Domini, he wrote:

It is right, therefore, to claim, in the words of a fourth century homily, that “the Lord's Day” is "the lord of days.” Those who have received the grace of faith in the Risen Lord cannot fail to grasp the significance of this day of the week with the same deep emotion which led Saint Jerome to say: “Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day.” For Christians, Sunday is “the fundamental feastday,” established not only to mark the succession of time but to reveal time's deeper meaning⁵

As the inspired author of Hebrew enjoined: “We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.”⁶ Or, as we read about primitive Church earlier in the Acts of Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.”⁷

Most of us understand grasp that far from having to go to Mass, we get to go and participate in Mass on Sunday. Many of us know through experience that it is our participation in Sunday Mass that gives meaning and purpose to the rest of our lives. It is in the Eucharist that the Risen Lord comes to meet His people in time and space. While God is surely in all of creation, there is no way in which Christ is more palpably present than in the Eucharist. This is why the Lord commanded his followers to do this and not something else.

It may be the case that going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. But a car that never goes to the garage will likely break down sooner than later. We gather to give thanks, to be healed, to help each other as we make our way through life and to be reminded of our eternal destiny and of God’s unfailing love given us in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He lavishes on us through the Eucharist.

Since the Lord is my Shepherd, as the psalmist insists, “there in nothing I shall want.” It is with the Eucharist that the Lord, my Shepherd, sets a table before me, anoints my head with oil, and makes my cup overflow.⁸ Mass is where you hear the Shepherd’s voice and where He feeds His flock. With so many voices saying so many different and contradictory things, it takes time to become familiar with our Shepherd’s voice.

Pope Leo’s episcopal motto is In Illo uno unum, meaning “In the One, we are one.” It is through the Eucharist that by the power and working of the Holy Spirit we are made one in the One, Christ Jesus the Lord.

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1 Acts 13:52.^↩
2 Psalm 30:12.^↩
3 Nehemiah 8:10b.^↩
4 Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sec. 431.^↩
5 Pope John Paul II. Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, sec 2.^↩
6 Hebrews 10:25.^↩
7 Acts 2:42.^↩
8 See Psalm 23.^↩

Urbi et Orbi- Prima Benedictio

URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
LEO XIV

First Blessing

Peace be with you all!

Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for the flock of God. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families, all people, wherever they are, all peoples, all the earth. Peace be with you!

This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarmed peace and a disarming, humble and persevering peace. It comes from God, God who loves us all unconditionally.

We still keep in our ears that weak but ever courageous voice of Pope Francis blessing Rome, the Pope who blessed Rome, gave his blessing to the world, to the entire world, that Easter morning. Allow me to follow up on that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God's hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand-in-hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward! We are disciples of Christ. Christ precedes us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as a bridge to be reached by God and his love. Let us also help each other to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, uniting us all to be one people always in peace. Thanks to Pope Francis!

I would also like to thank all my brother Cardinals who have chosen me to be the Successor of Peter and to walk together with you, as a united Church always seeking peace, justice, always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.

I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian, who said: “With you I am a Christian and for you a bishop”. In this sense we can all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.

[Translated from Spanish- the rest is translated from Italian] And if you'll allow me a word, a greeting to everyone, and in particular to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and given so much, so much, to continue being the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.

To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world: we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always tries to be close especially to those who suffer.

Today is the day of the Feast of Our Lady of Pompeii. Our Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, to be close, to help us with her intercession and her love. So I would like to pray with you. Let us pray together for this new mission, for the whole Church, for peace in the world and let us ask this special grace to Mary, our Mother: Hail Mary…

READ THE ENTIRE ADDRESS

Pope Leo XIV- Il Papa dagli Stati Uniti

It is not accurate to say that Pope Leo XIV is the "first pope from America." Born and raised in Argentina, Pope Francis was the first pope from America. At this time, I know it is more than okay for people from the U.S. to speak in that way. Catholics, especially, should not.

But quite unexpectedly, Pope Leo is the first pope from the United States. This distinction, while undoubtedly a bit pedantic, is made even more important by the fact that the Holy Father spent a lot of time in South America. Specifically, he served as bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru from 2014-2023. Prior to that, he served quite a few years in Peru as a priest, making him truly a pope from the Americas.

Leo is the second man in a row chosen to walk in the shoes of the Galilean fisherman belonging to a religious order. Pope Francis, of course, was a member of the Society of Jesus (i.e., the Jesuits). Just like the consensus was that no one from the U.S. could become the Roman Pontiff, it was previously asserted that no Jesuit could be chosen.

Pope Leo is a member of the Order of Saint Augustine (i.e., the Augustinians). Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo served his order as a Provincial. Unlike Francis, he served two terms in Rome as worldwide head of the Augustinians.

Besides growing up there, between his various tenures in Peru and Rome, Pope Leo spent time in Chicago. While Pope Francis was the first Jesuit to become Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo is the sixth Augustinian pontiff. Of Saint Peter's 267 successors, thirty-four have belonged to religious orders. Prior to Pope Francis, the last religious to be pope was Gregory XVI, a Camaldolese monk, who served from 1831-1846.

Pope Leo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Villanova University. Born in 1955, he is the first pope born after World War II. Ordained a priest in 1982 he is, after Francis, the second pope ordained a priest after the Second Vatican Council. In high school (like me) he participated in speech and debate. I wonder if he, too, earned the National Forensic League's (now the National Speech and Debate Association) double ruby award? I mention this because it is one of my proudest high school achievements!

Contrary to initial reports that he is a Cubs fan, according to his brother, John, His Holiness is a White Sox fan.

Pope Leo XIV, Getty Images used under Fair Use provision

Leo's being a pope from the Americas was highlighted by the fact that in speaking his first words as Roman Pontiff, the only language he spoke other than Italian was Spanish, which is a departure from the norm.

Breaking with custom, Pope Leo initially read prepared remarks but quickly went extemporaneous in Italian. In another break, he switched from Italian to Spanish, as noted above. He did so to greet those from his former diocese in Peru. Then, returning to Italian, the Holy Father noted that May 8 is the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii. He then led the pilgrims in praying the Hail Mary.

Making a bit of a nerdy liturgical point, I love that he donned the summer version of the papal mozetta for his first appearance. Dare I hope for a return of the red shoes? Red shoes, after all, are meant to symbolize the blood of the martyrs, not just a stylistic affectation.

If his first appearance is anything to go by, he seems comfortable in his own skin with simply being who he is. By all accounts, one from a priest friend who knew him in Chicago, he is reserved and quiet. He didn't try to be Pope Francis and seemed fine being himself. Authenticity matters.

One of the best things in watching events unfold in Saint Peter's Square after white smoke appeared, was seeing the Catholicity of the Church on display in such an amazing way. The joy of the pilgrims came through screen. This excitement is or at least should be the Church: Evangelii gaudium, to borrow a Latin phrase. The joy of the Lord is our strength!

What a great thing to see people young and old, women and men, people from all nations and many ethnicities who speak different languages, lay people, religious, clerics rejoicing together. Through the Eucharist, we are One Body. It is through the Eucharist that we have communion, through our own bishops, with the Bishop of Rome, who presides in charity over Christ's Church.

I admit to being utterly surprised by the selection of a Cardinal from the U.S. to be Bishop of Rome. Above all, I am grateful that we have a Pope. Because nothing is complete until the Lord returns, all papacies end with mixed results and all popes leave unfinished business.

For what it's worth, Pope Leo XIV is the third pope since the launch of Καθολικός διάκονος in the summer of 2005. I look forward to serving at Mass tomorrow morning and hearing "together with Leo our pope and Oscar our Bishop" in the Eucharistic Prayer.

For obvious reasons, this is a day early but in honor of His Holiness' hometown, our Friday traditio is from those two other guys from Chicago who were also on a mission from God. You got it, Jake and Elwood Blues, "Sweet Home Chicago."

Lest we forget, in 2010, The Blues Brothers was deemed by L'Osservatore Romano as a "Catholic classic." Deal with it. Besides, I already used Palestrina's "Tu es Petrus" during the interregnum.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Good Shepherd and High Priest,
we praise you and offer you our sincere gratitude
for calling Pope Leo
to serve as the shepherd of the universal church.
May he lead us as a loving shepherd
who cares for his flock and seeks out the lost sheep.
May he be for us a gentle and listening father,
a faithful teacher and a steward of your sacred mysteries.
Grant him health, strength, and wisdom.
Strengthen the bonds of unity among us
so that we may serve you as one body.
Purify us and sustain us in charity for your love for us never fails.
Grant that we may boldly answer your call to mission.
You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God forever and ever.
Amen.

Conclave curiosities

When one considers the episcopal lineages of the 133 Cardinal electors (i.e., their principal consecrator, their principal consecrator’s principal consecrator, etc.) one name stands out: Scipione Cardinal de Rebiba.

Cardinal de Rebiba lived his entire 73+ years in the sixteenth century (1504-1577). Ordained a priest at 23, he was ordained a bishop at age 37. On 20 December 1555 then-Bishop Rebiba was created a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church by Pope Paul IV.

Like 1978, 1555 was a year of three popes. Julius II, who became pope in 1550 died on 23 March. He was succeeded by Marcellus II, whose pontificate lasted less than a month- from 10 April to 1 May. On 26 May, Paul IV was selected as the 223rd Successor of Saint Peter. He reigned until 18 August 1559. Quite a tumult during the century of the Protestant Reformation and in the midst of an Ecumenical Council!

To give an idea of the times in which Cardinal de Rebiba lived, it bears noting that the Council of Trent was convened by Pope Paul III in 1545 and brought to its conclusion after twenty-five sessions by Pope Pius IV in 1563. In 1552 the Council was halted when Maurice, Elector of Saxony, triumphed over the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, resulting in the occupation of the Tirol region in the spring 1552.

After the death of Julius II and brief reign of Marcellus II, the virulently anti-Protestant Paul IV became Bishop of Rome. Due to his hostility to the Protestants, he did not see the need to continue the Council. As a result, no sessions were held in the decade 1552-1562.

Portrait of Scipione Cardinal de Rebiba

Why does Scipione Cardinal de Rebiba matter when it comes to the Conclave of 2025? Well, one hundred twenty-eight of the one hundred thirty-three Cardinal electors for this Conclave are in Rebiba’s episcopal line. Three of the five Cardinals who are not part of Rebiba’s episcopal lineage are from Eastern Catholic Churches: Mykola Bychok, C.Ss.R., from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Louis Raphaël I Sako, from the Chaldean Church, and Baselios Cleemis (Isaac) Thottunkal, from the Syro-Malabar Church.

One Cardinal, Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., is not a bishop. Therefore, he has no episcopal lineage. He is the first non-bishop Cardinal to participate in a Conclave since Pope John XXIII promulgated, motu proprio, the Apostolic Letter Cum Gravissima in 1962, the year he died. It was in 1962 that Pope Paul VI was chosen to walk in the shoes of the fisherman.

This leaves one Latin Rite Cardinal serving as a bishop who does not belong to Rebiba’s line: Sebastian Francis. Cardinal Francis is one of those members of Sacred College called by Pope Francis from the margins. He is the bishop of the Diocese of Penang, Malaysia.

It’s hard to imagine that Scipione de Rebiba could’ve imagined this.

Let's be diligent in praying for the Cardinal electors, who enter Conclave on Wednesday.

Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Readings: Acts 6:8-15; Psalm 119:23-24.26-27.29-30; John 6:22-29

Along with Philip and five others, Stephen was one of the seven men chosen to serve as what the Church, at least since the second century, considers to be her first deacons. Philip and Stephen are the only ones we hear more about after their selection by the community and their “ordination” by the Apostles, which occurs just prior to today’s reading, at the beginning of Acts 6.¹ What we hear about Stephen and Philip is that they were tireless evangelists.

It bears on the validity of the Mass that it is a deacon who proclaims the Gospel. When a priest reads the Gospel at a Mass in which there is no deacon of the Mass, he does so as a deacon. It is the practice of the Latin Church, according to the cursus honorum, for priests to first be ordained deacons.

Note that it is written of Stephen that, “filled with grace and power,” he worked “great signs and wonders among the people.”² So steeped was the Greek-speaking Jewish Christian Stephen in both the Law and the Gospel that no one was able to “withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.”³ So, they simply accused him of blasphemy and, like Christ, brought him before the Sanhedrin. Even then, Stephen’s countenance was that of an angel.⁴

Stephen before the Sanhedrin

Stephen’s stoning was likely the kick-off of the persecution of the primitive Church in Jerusalem.⁵ It was a result of that persecution that Philip relocated to Samaria, where he continued to the preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His efforts yielded an abundant harvest.⁶

In our Gospel, the masses followed Jesus not because of what He taught or even because of the signs and wonders He performed. They followed Him in hope of being fed again, of eating their fill for free. Lest we’re too hard on them, bear in mind that most of these folks were probably hungry most of the time. Nonetheless, instead of working for food that will leave them hungry yet again, the Lord exhorts them to work for the food that truly satisfies- the food He longs to give them, which is Himself.

What is this work of God, this opus Dei, they ask. "This is the work of God,” the Lord teaches them and us, “that you believe in the one he sent.”⁷ To believe in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is to have His Spirit, which is also the Spirit of the Father. As Saint Stephen, the Church’s first martyr, shows us, to have the Holy Spirit is to proclaim this Good News. It is the opus Dei to invite others to the banquet where they, too, can receive “the food that endures for eternal life,” the food of which we are here to partake.⁸

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1 See Acts 6:1-6.^↩
2 Acts 6:8.^↩
3 Acts 6:10.^↩
4 Acts 6:15.
5 See Acts 7:54-60.^↩
6 For Philip’s evangelistic exploits see Acts 8.^↩
7 John 6:29.^↩
8 John 6:27.

From phileo to agape

Gospel: John 21:1-19

Ecclesiologically, Henri de Lubac schematized the first two Christian millenia in the following way: the first millennium by the assertion that "the Eucharist makes the Church" and the second millenium by its reverse: "the Church makes the Eucharist." Perhaps in the third millenium we can work towards a genuine Catholic et/et- "the Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist." I believe this was something of the vision expressed by Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente.

It stands to reason: no Eucharist, no Church and no Church, no Eucharist. Also, no Eucharist, no Christ and no Church no Christ. This has bearing on our Gospel for this Third Sunday of Easter because, along the with last Sunday's Gospel (also taken from John), it shows that the Eucharist is the primary place to encounter the Risen Lord.

The Petrine dimension of today's Gospel highlights the necessity of the Church. It's difficult today to effectively communicate that the Church is necessary for salvation, not incidental to it.

One way of understanding today's Gospel is that by declaring his love for the Lord three times, Peter undoes, repents for, his denial of Jesus during His Passion, which, in John's Gospel unfolds in chapter 18. In John 18, Peter denies he knows Jesus twice. So, here, Peter affirms once more than he denied. While worthy of consideration, on its own this would be a shallow understanding.

It is important to point out that in this encounter Jesus uses two different words for love. The first two times, the word for love placed on the Lord's lips by the inspired author is agape. Agape is unconditional, self-sacrificing love. It is the kind of love that empowered Jesus to endure His Passion and Crucifixion. In response to Jesus' first two questions, Peter uses the word phileo. Phileo refers more to a brotherly or friendship type of love, a love less complete, less robust than agape.

Meeting Peter where he is, when asking him a third time, the Lord who uses phileo. This remains the word with which Peter replies. I believe the point here is that Jesus was seeking to stretch Peter, to move him from phileo to agape, to love like God loves, which is what it means to be holy. But Peter, as bad as he no doubt felt about his betrayal, isn't there yet. Nonetheless, the Risen Lord commands Peter to feed and tend His flock.

With what does Peter feed the Lord's flock, His lambs, His sheep, His Church, but the Eucharist?

The Lord then tells Peter:

Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go

And so, with His final words in this pericope- "Follow me"- the Lord summons Peter to the cross.

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, by Caravaggio, 1601.Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.

I know from reading Peter Hebblethwaite's outstanding biography Paul VI: The First Modern Pope that, especially in his later years as he implemented the Conciliar reforms, Pope Paul very much saw in the Lord's words to Peter in today's passage something of where he found himself in old age. This made me think, too, of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

In the case of Pope Benedict, he was elected Successor of Peter in 2005 at 78 years of age. Toward the latter part of his many years of service as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith (he served from 1981 until becoming Pope) he tried to resign on more than once. Once after being hospitalized for exhaustion. He longed to move back to Germany, to a house in the Bavarian woods that he owned with his brother, Georg, also a priest. There he wanted to pray, study, and write. But Pope John Paul II would not accept his resignation. And then, he became the Bishop of Rome. After resigning, he lived out his remaining years within the walls of Vatican City.

Pope Francis became Pope at age 76. When he arrived in Rome in the Spring of 2013, he had been serving as the archbishop of Buenos Aires more than a year past the retirement age for bishops, which is 75. He described coming to Rome for the Conclave feeling tired, worn out, and ready to retire. He, too, was led in old age where he did not want to go. I think it is impossible to imagine how lonely being pope must be at times. As I mentioned in my first post after Francis' death, he never returned to Argentina and so he never went back to the city he loved so much.

Just as the Risen Lord's question about loving Him unconditionally and totally is directed to all who would follow Him, His summons "Follow me" isn't just for Peter and his successors. It is for all of us. Like Peter, I suspect when it comes to loving Jesus Christ most of us aren't there yet- I'm certainly not. Actively participating in the Church is hard and sometimes very hard.

I admit to once in awhile, when either coming back from or heading to something ecclesial, feeling like I could never go back and be the better for it. But as Peter replies in John 6 to the Lord's question will he, too, abandon Him, to whom else would I go?

For those of us who are heavily involved in Church ministry, we've experienced things at the hands of fellow Christians that are deeply hurtful and cruelly harsh. But it is precisely experiencing and, with the Lord's help, working through these things that we learn what the Lord seeks to teach us, not only by word but through His example. He stretches us, too, from phileo to agape.

I have little doubt that by continuing to follow Jesus, Peter, if not before, then as he was being crucified in the Roman circus, having moved from phileo to agape, was able to say, "Lord, I love you." This is the inverse property of redemption: crucifixion/resurrection and resurrection/crucifixion. There is no Easter without Good Friday and without Easter Good Friday is just the terror of a Godless universe.

The Eucharist makes the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist. The Eucharist is what makes the Church Christ's Body, the universal sacrament of salvation.

On the verge of the Conclave

Today is day eight of the novendiales, the nine days of mourning observed on the death of a pope. Pope Francis' funeral Mass marked day one. On each of these days, a Cardinal celebrates a Mass for the deceased pope. Only other Cardinals may concelebrate with him. Today's Mass was celebrated in Saint Peter's Basilica with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Pro-Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as main celebrant.

The final Mass of the novendiales, which will also be in Saint Peter's Basilica, will have as the main celebrant the Protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, with the Papal Chapel group in attendance. Mamberti, who is French, will announce the new pope after his selection. He will be he second French Cardinal in a row to do this. In 2013, it was Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran who announced Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam! ("I announce to you news of great joy. We have a Pope!"). Cardinal Tauran died in 2018.

Based on previous reports, I posted that two Cardinals would not be in he upcoming Conclave, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday, 7 May. It is still true that two Cardinals eligible to vote will not participate. As previously noted, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, Spain will not be Rome due to poor health. But it appears that Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo will join the Conclave. I had previously written that he would not.

It is Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, Kenya who, along with Cardinal Cañizares, will not come to Rome for the Conclave. Both Njue and Cañizares were created Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. Cañizares (who served as Prefect for the then-Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was known in some Roman circles as "little Ratzinger") in the 2006 Consistory, Pope Benedict's first, and Njue in the Consitory of 2007. Despite the absence of two electors, this conclave will still be both the largest in terms of electors and the most international, the most catholic, in the Church's history. 133 electors from 71 countries. In the Sacred College, which includes Cardinals older than 80 who cannot participate in the Conclave, 94 countries are represented.

The Last Judgment, by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

In the Conclave there will be fifty-three European Cardinals: 19 from Italy, 6 from France, and 5 from Spain. Thirty-seven Cardinals from the Americas: 16 from North America (including 10 from the U.S.), 4 from Central America, and 17 from South America. There will be 3 Cardinals from Asia, 18 from Africa, and 4 from Oceania.

Thirty-three of the 133 electors are from 18 religious orders, including 5 Salesians, 4 Franciscans all from the Order of Friars Minor (there is a variety of Francican orders, of which the OFMs are the largest and, I believe, the oldest), Franciscans include Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is considered papabile, 4 Jesuits, the order to which Pope Francis belonged, will also participate.

The morning of the day on which the Conclave begins, the Cardinals celebrate the votive Mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice (Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff). The celebrant is the Dean of the Sacred College. In 2005, it was likely his homily at the Pro Eligendo Mass that sealed then-Cardinal Ratzinger's election as the 265th Successor of Saint Peter. At 91, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the current Deacon, will not be in the Conclave.

In the afternoon, the Cardinal electors proceed in a solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel, where the Conclave is held. Once inside the chapel, each Cardinal elector takes the oath as prescribed in paragraph 53 of Universi Dominici Gregis: Through this oath, they commit, if elected, to faithfully fulfill the Munus Petrinum as Pastor of the Universal Church. Each Cardinal also pledges to maintain absolute secrecy regarding everything related to the election of the Roman Pontiff and to refrain from supporting any attempts of external interference in the election.

After this procession, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations proclaims "Extra omnes", meaning that all individuals who are not part of the Conclave must leave the Sistine Chapel. The Master of Ceremonies and the cleric who is going to deliver the second spiritual meditation are the only people who remain that are not part of the Conclave.

The Conclave is held in the Sistine Chapel. All voting is done facing Michelangelo's mural of the Last Judgment. Talk about sub specie aeternitatis !

On his blog, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop Emeritus of Boston, who participated in the 2013 Conclave that elected Pope Francis, addressed the issue about whether the real Conclave was anything like the movie. He wrote: "My experience of being in at least one conclave was not that it was some sort of scene of political backroom plotting of how to get your candidate elected."

Rather, he insisted, being in Conclave "was an experience of a very intense retreat where there was much prayer and silence and listening to conferences on spiritual themes." Finally, "For all its artistic and entertainment value, I don’t think the movie is a good portrayal of the spiritual reality of what a conclave is." Let's pray for the Cardinals as they prepare for the Conclave and pray even more fervently once their discernment commences.

When it comes to selecting a new Roman Pontiff, I don't do preferences or predictions. Do I have a preference? Yes. There are three Cardinals who I think would be a good selection to serve as Christ's vicar. I don't mind saying that in addition to being very "pastoral" (an equivocal term if ever there was one), each would, in my view, have the much-needed doctrinal clarity and coherence, which I think is vital for the Church's unity in our present moment.

As far as predictions go however, especially given the size and catholicity of the upcoming Conclave and the concomitant fact that many of the Cardinals don't know each other very well, I think predictions are nothing more than either guesses or expressions of a preference. Whoever emerges as the next Bishop of Rome, I will take it as an expression of divine providence.

When asked directly in a 1997 Bavarian t.v. interview in 1997 if the Holy Spirit selected the pope, then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger replied:

I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope. ... I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit's role should be understood in a much more elastic sense, not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined