Wake Up and Smell the Incense

Rebecca just sent me this statistic, released on Friday from the Office for Research and Planning in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia:

"There are 1,204,818 registered Catholic parishioners in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In addition, in parishes where there is a large unregistered population, Pastors estimate that there are another 87,804 unregistered parishioners. There are other unregistered Catholic people living in universities, institutions and other group settings and others who identify themselves as Catholic but are not counted in this report. The most current estimate of all Catholic people (registered and unregistered) is 1,458,642."

That's just NUTS.

1,458,642 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia alone....

Not to don those 'ole cranky pants again, but..... what difference are we making?

Why is Philadelphia slowing becoming the murder capital of the country? Why is the "City of Brotherly Love" an expression always said sarcastically these days? What's with all the getting and spending, the bitterness and the laziness and the rampant desecration of the sacrament of my neighbor? What's going on??!!

Could you imagine if all of us, all 1,458,642 of the Catholics here in Philadelphia, were on fire with faith, open to the power of the Holy Spirit, unashamed and giddy at the thought of loving Jesus and serving others as He has served us? Taking time to pray each day..... 1,458,642 souls praying all over the five counties, being still, asking the deeper questions, looking for ways to love and serve God and others... wanting and willing to be become SAINTS! No matter what the cost! I can only imagine...

Oh man, we need to wake up and smell the incense! We are called to be a light to the nations, salt of the earth, leaven in the midst of a flat and tasteless materialistic culture!


The story goes that the Devil appeared to Saint John Vianney one day, the man so renowned for his faithfulness and devotion to the confessional and to counselling others. "If there were three souls like you in the world," the Devil said, "My kingdom would fall."

What the?! Only three saintly souls, THREE open and ready to do the Master's bidding, to follow His lead into Calvary, to run a rescue mission for the lost and lonely hearts out there, and they could take out Satan?

1,458,642.....

Let's start with 1.

You Never Know...

Last night ended the series I was invited to offer at my 'ole home parish in Browns Mills, New Jersey. That.... was... fun.

And it was so humbling to come home; to see so many of the faces I knew growing up, some never knowing by name, but by their faithful presence in the pew beside me. And here was this skinny, nerdy kid, now all "growed up" and not so skinny .... sharing faith and reflecting on living the Catholic life. You never know where life will take you! So humbling.... and I'm so grateful for that invitation.

Much has changed from the old L-shaped church with the rickety old pews and creaky wood floors that I grew up in before high school. I remember the smell of the Murphy's Oil and the old missalettes stacked up in the back. I think it was built in the 1920's? Or was it the 1930's? Affectionately known as "St. Ann's in the Pines," it was where I used to kneel and pray and daydream and drift at countless masses as a child. That's where I'd steal furtive glances over to the "blond haired girl" (and she'd glance back!) as she'd walk her little sister to the back of church when I was 12. Yeah, my first crush.

And in the quiet pauses in the liturgy, when soft light streamed through weathered stained glass, in the middle of my daydreaming about a galaxy far far away, or imagining myself on an adventure like Indiana Jones, I'd get that little tug at the heart. I'd sense a Presence just close enough to notice, but waiting for me to discover, to recognize when I was ready. I'd smell the warm wax from the votive candles and hear the bells chime up in the front of church... and through a crowded sea of shoulders and heads now gone silver, I'd see Something happening, some distant and mystical action that I knew was different. Special. Holy...

God bless the parish churches that daily sound those bells and the priests that lift their hands to bless us, Sunday after Sunday and day after day. And to the old men and their meetings, their running of the Bingo and their stories of the War. To the women who are the heart of the Church, whispering their rosaries and thumbing through their yellowed prayer cards and devotional books, bound up and held by rubberbands.

All have sown seeds. All have tilled the fields and worked in some way, though they may know it not, and their ordinary lives are bringing up extraordinary life in the garden of the world. We see you and we know you believe, even in the midst of this culture that is stripping us of the Sacred and Sublime.

On this feast day of the grandparents of Jesus, St. Joachim and St. Anne.... I thank you for guiding me and my generation in unseen ways and inspiring us with unspoken words.

"For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it."

- Isaiah 55:10-11

Going Home

Well, my home parish has invited me back to lead the Triduum for St. Ann next week. The mission runs in the evenings from Monday to Wednesday (July 23-25). If you're in that neck of the woods, feel free to stop in!

I'm very excited, despite the fact that Jesus said "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place." (yikes) ... and then they tried to throw Him off of a cliff. Nah, I'm not nervous.... because South Jersey has no cliffs! Hah Ha! That's right, we're flat-landers! The Pine Barrens, where I used to wander as a youth, has to be one of the flattest, most monotonous, and deeply beautiful stretches of God's green earth I've ever seen.

What a gift and an honor to be invited home! To offer some reflections on living a life of faith, of seeing this world of wonders, and each other, as gifts as well. Not to say the talks won't challenge us too... Would it be the Gospel if it didn't stir us up, shake us from our comfort zones, expand our horizons and call us to a journey into the deep, perhaps into Mordor itself! It's all about conversion, turning around, facing His Face again, and letting Him look deeply into our hearts. Please say a prayer that I voice the sweet summons of the Gospel, and only what He wants to be spoken. May the words of St. John the Baptist become my mantra: "He must increase, I must decrease."

Anyhoo, we'll be heading over to Jersey this weekend.... back to the home turf, the 'ole stompin' grounds. I hope to visit one of my old haunts to get ready for the mission (no, not Alba's Pizza, home of the greatest Sicilian Pie ever crafted by human hands). I mean White's Bogs, that desert of pine trees and cranberry pools that formed me; the Fortress of Solitude that made my brother and I look not only up to the Creator but down to the Master Dreamer Who showed us the intricately carved beauties of His works. And in those wild and wide open vistas, in all kinds of weather, we treasured the gifts the Master Painter gave us.

I'm looking forward to the smell of the cedar water, the shrill cries of the red-winged black bird, the egret, and the laughter of the chickadee. I couldn't tell you how many hours we spent wandering those quiet places, and every season turned a new page; the tundra swans in early winter, the warblers in the spring, swimming in the clear back lake, and driving the dirt roads in the summer, laughing and singing John Cougar Mellencamp, as the sun tipped and set the heads of the white pines ablaze on the horizon, like matches to warm the cool and scented night. The bogs became a book we knew well, and we weathered every page.


So what's your story? What are the pages in the book of your life? Do you ever go back to read them from where you are today? There are lessons we can learn from our past, every moment like a stone we can hold and polish smooth with our thoughts and prayers. Were there wounds and sorrow? Thoughtful prayer can smooth them over. Is there loss and regret? Grace can fill up the deepest valley. Was there joy that has since been left untapped? Reflecting in that pool of memories can bring refreshment again. Our youth still belongs to us, and each experience is uniquely our own and belongs to no one else. So going home, like going on vacation, is a chance for reflection, growth, and gratitude. Let's seize the opportunity! In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast.... you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."


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Check out Michael Hogan's beautiful pictures of the Pine Barrens!

NOISE - This Week's Radio Show

Hello All,
Here's the skinny from tonight's radio show:

Teresa Tomeo is a talk-show host, motivational speaker, and media consultant with more than twenty years of experience as
a journalist in television, radio, and print media. Teresa hosts the nationally syndicated radio talk-show The Catholic Connection produced by the Ave Maria Radio Network and heard on 125 stations through EWTN Global Catholic Radio and Sirius Satellite.

"As parents, educators, and consumers of the media, we have to get our media usage — and that of our families — under control. Otherwise, the media will control us, if it isn’t doing so already. In her new book, NOISE, Teresa Tomeo, a veteran broadcast journalist in both the Catholic and secular markets, makes a compelling and irrefutable case about the dangers of our dominant media culture — and the adjoining liberalism and immorality that comes with it."

Buy Teresa Tomeo's book NOISE here:
www.ascensionpress.com

Resources for Balanced News:
Zenit News Agency from Rome
Catholic Exchange Web Portal
Catholic World News
FoxNews

Send in Your Questions about Harry Potter

In preparation for next Tuesday's radio show, (we'll be pre-recording this Thursday) I wanted to put out a request for any questions you might have on the Harry Potter books or movies and their impact on you or those you know. Is it dangerous, delightful, concerning, or a real quest that you or your kids have enjoyed and look forward to?

So send in any and all thoughts, questions, or concerns you'd like answered on the air to contact@missionmoment.org or simply post a comment here at the Heart of things blog! (www.missionmoment.blogspot.com)

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Here's a set of resources and articles on Harry Potter (pro and con)

Steven D. Greydanus on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Greydanus article on Gandalf and Harry Potter

No Catholic Consensus on Harry Potter

Michael O'Brien on Potter and the Pope

Jimmy Akin on Harry Potter and Pope Benedict

Book for Catholic Families on Harry Potter

Imagining Faith With Kids: Unearthing Seeds Of The Gospel In Children's Stories From Peter Rabbit To Harry Potter

Amy Welborn, Speaking of Harry, etc.

Harry Potter

And now on the lighter side....

Ah summertime, it allowed me the chance to see a movie Thursday at 1:10pm. It was me, an 80 foot screen and six other people. I made the brilliant decision to have a "kids snack pack" for only $23 instead of the adult equivalent popcorn and drink, which was about $26 dollars.

WILD ABOUT HARRY

There's been boatloads of print (real and cyberish) on the so-called blessing and curse of the Harry Potter sensation, now nearly a decade long and going strong. The 5th movie opened this Wednesday at the witching hour, midnight.

The first book in the series by J. K. Rowling "apparated" in the late 90's and took the genre of children's literature by storm. "This is unheard of," the literati exclaimed. "Children are reading on purpose! And these books have so many pages! WHA'S HAPPENIN'?!!"

The first of the films materialized, I believe, in 2001.... and the literati said "Oh no! Now they'll just wait for the movie! The renaissance of reading is over!"

But alas, the kids didn't just sit on their butts playing video games, waiting for each new novel to be cinema-ized. They lined up at midnight outside of Border's and that other bookstore and wore hip wizarding gear. And then they READ all 967 pages before dawn the next day! And then they sat on their butts and played video games.

Now, unless you've just stumbled out of the woods and discovered the "media," you know that this series about young wizards and witchs in training, who attend a School for the Magically Gifted, has become a real stumbling block for many. It's about magic, it's got spells in it, and creepy Dark Lords, and murder and ghosts and stuff.

In the Catholic Church, we find a mixed bag of believers. Some think Potter is a murky distraction from the clear path of virtue, right and wrong, good and evil. Others think that even in the murkiness there is much that kids can learn and grow from, even as Harry grows older and we hope wiser with each new installment in the series (the final chapter being released this July 21.) Harry's life and his choices help kids in the real world as they fuddle through the feelings that young muggles muddle through (that was really fun to write).

All in all, it's complicated stuff. On July 24th, we'll be talking about it in greater depth on the radio show, the Heart of Things. (Tuesdays, 5-6PM @ 800AM or www.catholicinternetradio.com)

I have to say here and now that my own perspective on Mr. Potter is changing a wee bit. Now I've only read the first book and selections of a couple of others, and I've seen the film versions. I've also read a bunch of pro and con articles on Harry. I thought the idea of Magic as this neutral power the kids could tap into to control others was a bit dangerous at first; still do in some ways. I get annoyed when Harry and Co. consistently break the rules and work it all out in the end. And maybe someone can post their thoughts here, but what is the goal of this School for Witches and Wizards? What is the mission of a wizard/witch when he/she grows up? It's not exactly a superhero thing is it; to fight for truth and justice and defend the defenseless?

Their powers seem a little too self-serving to me. Is the attraction for kids the ability to make things float, become invisible, fly around on a broomstick, and get revenge on those who pester them? If that's it, well, then I can see how that's a pretty normal desire that every kid feels at some point. When I was young, it wasn't so much that I wanted to defend the city of Metropolis from the bad guys as it was to have the powers that Superman had.

Anti-Potters say that the books stir up an interest in the occult and witchcraft. I don't think well formed, grounded kids will want to become witches, BUT this is a problem. Because although this is fiction, there are witches in this world. Wicca is a real pagan practice and a well researched study of it will draw up some disturbing discoveries. On the flip side, there are no covens for those coveting Superman's powers. There is no literature on how to master the art of leaping over buildings in a single bound, or deflecting bullets with your chest. I think that's a key distinction. Kids can dabble in witchcraft if they wanted to, on the internet and many bookstores, but you won't find many gatherings of little caped wonders trying to overcome their fear of kryptonite.

Witchcraft and wands, spells and sorcery can be confusing and misleading for kids, for we need clear lines in our symbols and mythic elements, don't we? Traditionally and scripturally, witches and sorcery have been associated with the human desire to access divine powers and control them, to know and manipulate the future. To dominate another's will. This is not our task as human beings. We've got to let go and let God.

But to get back to these novels..... I'm discovering that it's merely a tool for Rowling, and there's seems to be no clear agenda to get kids interested in witchcraft. The heart of Harry Potter is indeed about power, but the question for each character is "what do I do with that which is given to me?"

It's a great question.

I'm watching Harry grow up and into a good kid. He loves and protects his friends, he often stands up for the marginalized. He respects honesty and truth. He hates evil. And in the swirling cauldron that is this young life, deep down he really wants to be good. He really does.

I haven't quite written a review here of the movie I saw Thursday, but let it be said that there are some real Christian themes running like a ribbon through this film. I could see it again.

A spoiler for those who haven't read the book.... At the end of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry comes to realize why he's been wrestling with anger so much, and feeling so out of sorts. He has a mental connection with the Dark Lord, and indeed the Lord Voldemort is worming his way into Harry's young heart. The words of his godfather, Sirius Black (who is one cool character I have to say), come back to Harry as he wrestles with this demonic possession in the climactic final minutes of the movie:

"Harry, there's no clear set of good people and bad people in the world. There's light and dark in all of us. What matters is which one you act on."

Now that sounds like St. Paul to me, on the inner war that we all must deal with. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the "heart has become a battlefield between good and evil."

Bearing down with the weight of his malice, Voldemort whispers "You are weak, and you will lose... everything."

But Harry wins, and not with a more powerful spell or potion, but with the Deeper Magic that made the world. In a moment of clarity, and pity, Harry shuffles off the Dark Lord, who vanishes in a puff of sand, with a simple word:

"You're the weak one. And you will never know love or friendship. And I feel sorry for you."

Now that's power.

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Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

What Does the 'Kingdom of Heaven' Look Like?

We've all grown up with pictures of Heaven in our heads; white robes, floppy little wings, Clarence, fluffy clouds, a harp maybe, Warren Beatty in a running suit, big shiny gates attached to.... more fluffy clouds?

One of the daily Gospel's this week was from Matthew 10. Jesus is sending out the 12 Apostles (like the 12 tribes of a New Israel) and He tells them to pass this on: "As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

Great! It is? Where would that be? As we look around, heaven is not always clearly seen. At least, not the vision of heaven that perhaps we thought heaven was...

A SWEET TANGENT....

I'm half way through Pope Benedict's new book (it's fantastic). With nearly every page I find myself pausing and going "whoa... I never thought of that before." The Pope weaves together both Old and New Testaments like a fisherman weaving his net, and according to one article I read, he's catching some new readers. Ones who never saw this quiet scholar with the heart of a father coming. A section I recently read talks all about what this "Kingdom of God" (aka Heaven) really looks like.

Here's what it's not:

- It's not a time shrouded in the future when we imagine all the people, living life in peace... woohoo aahaahaah... (little Lennon there)

- It's not a castle in the clouds, where nobody shouts or talks too loud.... although there is a lady all in white, who holds us and sings a lullaby ;) .... (Les Mis, anyone?)

- It's not even, primarily, a place where Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims finally accept each other and we all just get along..... (...Rodney King?)

- and finally, the Kingdom of Heaven is not a palace with pillars, banners, and trumpets with the whole gaggle of humanity toting togas and sort of fanning God as He sits on a golden throne. (He likes to stoop down low and wash our feet, remember?)

The Pope says that the Kingdom of Heaven is.... a person. It's Jesus.

St. Edith Stein, that pillar of intellect and sanctity who was born Jewish, then became an atheist, then found Jesus, became a nun and was later killed in Auschwitz (what an amazing roller coaster ride that was!); she knew this truth about the Kingdom, that it's a person not a palace.

She said "In the heart of Jesus, which was pierced, the kingdom of heaven and the land of earth are bound together. Here is for us the source of life."

Our longing for love finds its home in a Sacred Heart, not gilded halls. This Kingdom has been misrepresented. I don't want golden streets as much as I want to kneel at His feet. Can I get a witness?

So let's hear this word of Jesus today as a word for us to come closer to Him, the One Whose love drove Him to take on a body for us. And a heartbeat that will never ever stop beating for us. Think about that one for a minute. Whoa.

"The kingdom of heaven is at hand" means here I am! Come and see!

Amen! Thy Kingdom come!