"In words make the Word present" Pope Benedict today spoke of the task of the theologian. It is not to speak of God as an object but as a subject, as a Person, not a concept. Not to obfuscate with many words, but through a pure and focused gaze upon His Face, to make a way for the one Word. As theologians, our task is not to hand over dry information, but the water of Life Who is a Person, Jesus Christ. Here is Zenit's article on the sermon: "He who speaks in theology should be God himself," said the Pope. "And our speaking and thinking should only serve to have him heard, so that the world of God can find room in the world." For theologians to attain this kind of purification, he recommended "silence and contemplation," which "serve, in the dispersion of daily life, to keep a permanent union with God." The Pontiff added: "This is the objective: that union with God be always present in our soul and transform our whole being." Silence and contemplation "serve to be able to find in the dispersion of every day this profound, continuous union with God," Benedict XVI continued. Yet, "the beautiful vocation of the theologian is to speak," he added. "This is his mission: in the talkativeness of our time and of other times, in the inflation of words, to make the essential words present. In words make the Word present, the Word that proceeds from God, the Word that is God." Read article in full on Zenit.org

Sanctuary, Part 2 ...The media seems to thrive on spinning darkness like a web. How do we escape it? What is the baggage I carry even now, the images from our violent culture, the films and the shows I am drinking in, perhaps heedless of the poison they carry? We have been so bombarded by the media with images of violence, death, and terror. The very real events of war, genocide, and murder that are transpiring sporadically around the globe are selectively gathered up by the media and splashed almost instantaneously into our living rooms. It is shock and awe. Digging up death is sometimes the full time work of media personnel. But when these real events become the story lines for our "entertainment," have we crossed a line? It's this time of the year, as Halloween approaches, that more horror films are released. These "thrillers" are pounded out in teaser trailers that have so much adrenaline, gore and flashy sound bytes that it is a wonder more heart attacks aren't happening in the theaters. Violence for the sake of violence... Do we need this? Is it necessary for us to experience? Does the experience cultivate a respect for life, or does it cheapen life? The question I want to pose today is this: Where do you go for sanctuary? Where is the place you can go where there is life, peace, stillness? We must have this tonic of stillness for our bodies and our souls. We must have a sanctuary. A place that is so strong, it takes the poison of this "culture of death" right out through our pores. I believe it starts with a walk into the woods. The opening of a chapel door on a quiet afternoon. The morning coffee beside a window when the sun is slowly lifting up her head again, despite the shadows of yesterday. Then we can rise as well. It starts with an attitude of stillness and listening... the leaning of the heart's ear toward the Divine Whisper. It's been reported that some of the Amish families caught in the terror of this week's school shooting in Paradise, PA have had their community meetings. They are asking the question, on the green grass of their land, in the cool of the evening, in the stillness, what can we do for the family of the man who killed our own? How can we support his wife and children? This kind of compassion, this mind-boggling love is what is newsworthy. This kind of reaction to terror and death is heroic. It's born from a stillness and a listening to the beating of the human heart that I fear many of us have yet to hear and to recognize. I stumbled on this reflection long ago, and it still holds such beauty: Empty, yet full of power, it seems as nothing, but envelops everything. Silence, the roar of it deafens; shatters upon the soul in waves. One is not able to stand in its mystery. It scours like the ferocious whirling of the desert sand, laying waste all that lies before it. It reveals pain, loss, vulnerability, and weakness. The world tries to cover it, smother it with noise and activity. The world tries to silence the silence. But a few allow it to strip them, to let it reveal to them the beauty of its majesty. A beauty which is found in them also, deep within all, if only they would allow themselves to enter the white-hot furnace of silence. Therein much is revealed and all is made new. - Anonymous

The Barren Francis As the day that belongs to Francis closes, a couple quick thoughts: We need Francis. Because he was radical, meaning, he could see past all the fluff and the pomp and the beaucracy and see JESUS ALONE in poverty at the root. We need Francis. Because he showed us in his own flesh and blood that we can live free in God's Providence. He will provide! Through the great stripping away of our selfishness, God will cloth us even here with all that we truly need. We need Francis. To show us that success is not in numbers or programs, but in each ONE of us turning our faces to God in absolute trust.... To quote again from Fr. McNamara: "One solitary God-centered, God-intoxicated man can do more to keep God's love alive and His presence felt in the world than a thousand half-hearted, talkative busy men living frightened, fragmented "lives of quiet desperation." Dear God, please send us through your holy saints, like light through a prism, the splendor of Your Truth and Your Love! St. Francis, pray for us!

Sanctuary - Part 1 Two days ago, another school shooting took place in nearby Lancaster County, PA. This time striking at the peaceful heart of a town that virtually did not know crime. A 32 year old milk truck driver entered a quiet Amish school house and committed unspeakable acts. It appears that 10 young girls were shot execution style and 5 are confirmed dead; the others are in critical condition. It's the third school shooting to happen nationwide within a week. The Amish lead a simple life, an unplugged life. They move with the rhythm of the sun and the seasons. But for this community, the rhythm has been broken by the madness of our age. What do we do in the face of such terror? I think of the children in that school who survived, trembling in that darkness, that place of terror. Though they've survived, still, something of their childhood has been forever lost. They are wounded in a way few can understand; only grace can heal such pain. And I pray that it descends now with all tenderness and light. What has happened in the minds of such men who can do such terrible things to their fellow travelers, especially the helpless and the innocent? I don't know where we begin to stop this madness, but the lasting cure cannot rest only in legal realms or gun laws. This infection runs deeper. The heart has been poisoned, the heart of our culture has been numbed by so much senseless violence. Many of our movies glorify violence; television shows are increasingly pushing the envelope... How many times has the TV shown us stories of homicide, brutality, and torture, "entertaining" us with plot lines that delve into the minds of psychopathic killers? If this is what we drink in day after day on our couches after work, after a day of real encounters with the miracles around us, how can it not have a desensitizing effect? Soon we miss the miracle, and have left only a mass of blurred faces in our daily walk. I think we need to cry sanctuary. We need a retreat. We need the soft rain to come, and the quiet cool of the evening to still us, heart and mind. Wash our souls clean. I think we too need to be unplugged for awhile. Maybe we need to turn to the mountains again, like Francis, and empty ourselves of the baggage that our broken culture is pouring into our hearts. The media seems to thrive on spinning darkness like a web. How do we escape it? What is the baggage I carry even now, the images from our violent culture, the films and the shows I am drinking in perhaps heedless of the darkness they carry? Can I turn something off? Is there a place that I can go that is only life? That breathes life and not death? That points to the good and not always the twisted and the terrible?

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear Today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels, and what better way to honor them then with a little teaching, based in Scripture and the Church's Tradition, from Professor Peter Kreeft, teacher and author from Boston College. The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Angels 1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity. 2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you. 3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or "cool." They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors. 4. They are the real "extra-terrestrials", the real "Super-men", the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures. 5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein. 6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them. 7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real. 8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking. 9. You really do have your very own "guardian angel." Everybody does. 10. Angels often come disguised. "Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares" — that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual. 11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity. 12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster — for bodies, for souls, and for nations. __________________________________________________________ For more fantastic spiritual reading from Peter Kreeft, visit his excellent website at www.peterkreeft.com

Little Flower How can I let the day pass without a word from our little Therese? Happy Feast Day! Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity. - Saint Therese of Lisieux

Cranky Pants* Just a fair warning, I have my cranky pants on. And yes, it was this morning's homily that did it to me. OK, why complain? What right do I have to criticize a sermon by a trained teacher of the faith? I dunno, I'm just a pew potato, but I do believe we should get our money's worth! (?) After all, Father's had all week to prepare for this 10 minute teaching. And we are starving out here for a word that can stick, a word that can heal and help, a word that can be the spell with which we step out into battle against our own dragons and the dragons of the culture that will no doubt appear to try and defeat us first thing Monday morning. The readings started off strong, really strong. The Letter from James was cutting to the heart. "Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries." The gospel spoke of plucking out your eye if it offends you, cutting off your hand if it leads you to sin. Yikes! This is serious work, this transformation into Christ. No compromising, I thought to myself. And then the gospel ended with an allusion to H___! You know, "where the worm dies not and the fire is unquenchable." I thought to myself, "Self, this is it. There's no denying it. He's gonna preach on the stuff we never hear preached about! The readings have aligned themselves, it's time for an eternal equinox! He's going to talk about H-E-double hockey sticks!" Father ascends the pulpit... "The story is told in the memoirs of Carol Burnett..." Huh? Carol Burnett!? What the!? Pop..... fhizzzz .... we gotta diet caffeine free homily. Yes, it was nice (for my thoughts on nice, click here). But I thought this was a perfect time to tell us all, so comfortable in our comforts, so secure in our security and our techno-easy lives, that we need to wake up! Be vigilant, ponder the Four Last Things (anybody know what they are anymore?), carefully weigh the choices we make, consider the reality of sin, eternal justice, and stuff. Nope. Not this week. We did enter beautifully into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We have a wonderful choir. The words of the Consecration cut through our hearts and the sacrificial death of Christ was renewed, the veil peeled back again so that we living today could enter into the timeless moment when the God become Man died for us. The moment when we were, we are, we will be rescued from death. The moment that gave life to all moments, the pound of the hammer that sent shockwaves back into the Garden of Eden and forwards to the very last breath of the very last person on earth. Behold the power of our Redeemer. And the graces from Communion are always beyond imagination. Who can fathom what He does in there, in the hollow of our chest, so rich and so deep is His Love. OK.... it's over now. I did learn something about Carol Burnett today, so that was cool. And the last words of the priest today, after such cosmic love was shown to us? Yup, you guessed it... "Have a nice day." The understatement of the millenium. __________________________________________________________ * cranky pants - a state of agitation brought on by a luke-warm expression of faith in me or around me.