PART 1: THE CORE OF THE CHRISTIAN VISION
 
The beginning of this new year is a good time to look once more at the 1995 encyclical from Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae). The Vatican Press says that “the primary intention of the papal document is to proclaim the good news of the value and dignity of each human life, of its grandeur and worth, also in its temporal phase. The cause of life is in fact at the same time the cause of the Gospel and the cause of the human race, the cause entrusted to the church.”
 
The core of the Christian message is both a vision of God and a vision of humanity (a theology and an anthropology, to use the language of Pope John Paul II). God choose to become precisely human. At every Mass we say: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” The calling of every human being is to become divine, and that is why we cherish every person’s life, from the homeless woman on the street to the rich and famous. (Vat II, Dignitatis humanae 1)
 
“The Good News of God’s love for humanity, the Good News of the dignity of each human person, and the Good News of life itself are all a single and indivisible Gospel.” (Ev. Vit. 2) One thing cannot be separated from the others. This is why we preach the whole Gospel of Life, not just bits and pieces, not just one “issue”, not some isolated political agenda, but a deeply holy respect for human life from conception, through early childhood, youth, adulthood, old age and forward until natural death.

 
PART 2: THE HUMAN BEING IS MADE FOR ETERNITY
 
St. John wrote, “Beloved, we are God’s children even now. But more than this - what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like God, for we shall see God as he is.” (1 Jn 3:2) Pope John Paul II calls this verse the core foundation of his encyclical “The Gospel of Life”. The Pope wrote, “The human being is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of this earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God.” (Evang. vit. 2)
 
The Pope calls our life on earth our “temporal phase”. It’s just a phase we’re going through! As we look at big questions of life and death, of grave moral decisions and world changing policies, we must always remember that we are literally “bigger than life”. This does not mean that life on earth is unimportant. Quite the contrary. It means that our life here on earth is not fully ours! Catholic moral teaching has never recognized or accepted the idea of total private ownership, especially not of human life. Pope John Paul II wrote, “After all, life on earth is not an ultimate reality but a penultimate reality. Life on earth is a sacred reality which is entrusted to us, to be preserved with a sense of responsibility.” (ibid.)
 
The Gospel of life is the joy of the Gospel, and that joy comes from the realization that we are made for eternity. The perspective of eternity influences everything we do on earth.
 
 
PART 3: AND NOW THE BAD NEWS
 
Pope John Paul’s encyclical on the Gospel of Life is, all in all, an optimistic document. But it is also his duty to point out some problems. The Pope points out that, ever since the days of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, the human race has faced great challenges to building a culture of life. For many centuries, the “traditional” list of great threats to human life included:
 

• poverty
• hunger
• epidemics and endemic diseases
• violence and war
• economic injustice

 
Pope John Paul calls these problems “the ancient scourges”. When we as Catholics seek to counter a culture of death to build up a culture of life, we must start here, with the ancient scourges. Being pro-life means, first of all¸ that one seeks to reduce the pain of poverty, hunger, endemic diseases, violence, war and economic injustice.
 
On top of these ancient scourges, which still assail us, the contemporary world presents us with new threats, especially abortion, euthanasia, and the refusal of some countries to give up the death penalty. These new threats arise partly because of new technology, but what sets them apart is the desire of some people to make them sound like virtues. For example, says the Pope, some political leaders defend the death penalty as a good thing, even though the Church teaches that it is evil.
 
In Genesis 4:10, God said to Cain, after he had killed Abel, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the earth”. From this verse we get the traditional phrase, “the blood curdling sins” or “the sins which make blood cry out from the earth”. In the middle ages, the scholastic theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas listed these sins as: 1) the rich abusing the poor, 2) the parents abusing their children, 3) citizens abusing the earth, and 4) politicians abusing their power. Pope Paul II suggests that to this list we should add all those sins against life.
 
But now comes the good news of the Gospel!

PART 4: THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL OF LIFE
 
Last week we looked at “the bad news” and it can sometimes feel overwhelming. But good will triumph over evil! The Gospel of Life will prevail. The Gospel of Life is more than a theological reflection, more than a set of moral commandments, more than the promise of a better future. The Gospel of Life is the proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ! In Christ Jesus, the Gospel of Life is fully given, and this message is written into the being of every human being.
 
In Chapter 2 of Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II outlines this proclamation in eight statements:
 
1) Life is always good.
2) Jesus brings life’s meaning to fulfillment.
3) God’s glory shines in the face of every human being.
4) The gift of human life is the gift of eternal life.
5) We owe reverence and love to every human life.
6) We are responsible for all human life across space and time.
7) Each human life bears dignity: the unborn child, the poor, the suffering, the old – everyone.
8) The Gospel of Life is brought to fulfillment on the Cross, which moves us from the law of Mt. Sinai to life in the Holy Spirit.
 
Over the next several weeks, we will look at each of these statements.
 
 
PART 5: LIFE IS GOOD
“And God saw that it was good …” (Genesis 1:18) After God made life, He declared it to be good. This is one of our most basic convictions: life is good!
 
Pope John Paul II writes: “Why is life good? … Because God’s glory shines in the face of the human being.” (par. 34) The Pope – like all of Catholic tradition – takes an evolutionary view of life. All other life, and indeed, the existence of all non-living things, tends towards and leads up to human life. And human life tends towards union with God. The reason all the universe exists is so humanity can be together with God forever in heaven.
 
Is this arrogant of us to say? No. Heaven is the reason for earth. The Pope writes: “The life which the Son of God came to give human beings cannot be reduced to mere existence in time.” (par. 37) The dignity and goodness of human life is linked both to its beginning (we come from God) and to its destiny (we go to God). This was summed up by St. Irenaeus many centuries ago:
 
“The glory of God is the human being fully alive, and the life of the human being consists in the vision of God.”
 
 
PART 6: THE GLORY OF GOD IS HUMANITY FULLY ALIVE, AND THE LIFE OF HUMANITY COMES FROM THE VISION OF GOD
 
“The glory of God is the human being fully alive, and the life of the human being consists in the vision of God.” This motto of St. Irenaeus (from the text Adversus haereses IV,2) forms an outline of the Catholic Church’s teaching about human life. All life is sacred, but human life is a different category. When it comes to plants and animals, even bacteria and viruses, we have the right to weigh up and balance the intrinsic holiness of that created being and the needs of others. In short: we are allowed to eat things and we are allowed to fight disease by killing germs. Yes, the germs are holy, but their holiness is limited and relative.
 
Why, asks Pope John Paul II. Because on this earth only humanity was created in the likeness and image of God. The cow eats grass and commits no sin. The lion eats the cow and commits no sin. But humanity was given a free will and the ability to tell right from wrong. “The ability to attain truth and freedom are human prerogatives inasmuch as humanity is created in the image if the Creator, God, who is true and just.” (par. 34) The Pope points to Gaudium et Spes from the Second Vatican Council: “What is humanity? Some people set it up as the absolute measure of all things. Others debase humanity to the point of despair. The Church, inspired by divine revelation, takes a middle path.” (GS 12) Humanity is like a “summit and center” of the earthly things, but only because God is the real center. We are made in the image of God, but we messed up that image through sin.

 
PART 7: REVERENCE, LOVE AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR HUMAN LIFE ACROSS SPACE AND TIME
 
“Life is changed, not ended”, says one of the prayers of the funeral Mass. Pope John Paul II reminds us, that one big motivation for respecting all human life is that every human being is made to live forever. Not just a long, long time, but forever – beyond space and time. “The life which the Son of God came to give to human beings cannot be reduced to mere existence in time” (par. 37).
 
The dignity of the human person comes both from our past and from our future. In the words of the Church Fathers: at the beginning of time, God breathed us out, and now he breathes us back in, and our life on this earth takes place at the turning of God’s breath.
 
“Here the Christian truth about life becomes most sublime. The dignity of this life is linked to its beginning – to the fact that it comes from God – and to its final end – to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and love of him. This is the complete understanding of Irenæus’ famous phrase, The glory of God is the living human being, and the life of the human being consists in the vision of God.” (par. 38)
 
 
PART 8: THE DIGNITY OF EVERY HUMAN LIFE
 
“For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting, and from every human in regard to other people I will demand an accounting for every human life.” (Genesis 9:5) Should we have the freedom to do whatever we want with our life, no matter what it is? The Scriptures make it clear that human freedom finds its reality within the will of God. True freedom means becoming the person God created us to be. The dignity of human life comes from the will of god.
 
“But God does not exercise His power in some arbitrary or threatening way”, writes Pope John Paul II, “but rather as part of His care and loving concern for His creation. It is true that human life is in the hands of God – but it is equally true that those divine hands are the loving hands of a mother who accepts, nurtures and takes care of her child.” (Gospel of Life, par. 40) – And yes, Pope John Paul II, like Scripture itself, calls God Mother as well as Father. See Psalm 131, Isaiah 49 or Hosea 11.
 
How do we “give an account” to God for other people’s lives? Pope John Paul II says that it starts with reverence of and respect for other people. “Thus the deepest element of God’s commandment to protect human life is the requirement to show reverence and love for every single person” – no exceptions! (par. 41)
 
 
PART 9: THE CROSS MOVES US FROM SINAI TO THE UPPER ROOM
 
Life bears its own truth. Truth is not some “social convention” made up by a particular culture. Truth is objective, in the sense that it comes from outside the human will. It comes from the will of God. Yes, each individual and each historical culture experiences truth in a specific way and gives that objective truth a subjective description, but the underlying truth remains objective.
 
It follows, therefore, that when we stray too far from actual truth, we mess things up. We mess up not only our own lives but the lives of other people and the health of the created universe – something we see in the destruction of the environment through human sin. This is expressed in Biblical language in the Book of Deuteronomy:
 
“See, I have today set before you life and death, good, good and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am giving you today, loving the LORD, your God, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and ordinances, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:15-16)
 
The Land of Canaan is a symbol for all of the created universe. “What is at stake is not only the Land of Canaan and the prosperity of the People of Israel at one moment in history, but also the world of today and of the future, and the existence of all humanity.” (Gospel of Life, par. 48)
 
So we are called to move from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, and from there to the Hill of Calvary, and from there to the Empty Tomb, and from there to the Upper Room where the Holy Spirit fills us. “These are symbols of the great cosmic struggle between good and evil, life and death. Today the most dramatic conflict is between the culture of death and the culture of life. But the glory of the Cross overcomes the darkness and leads to resurrection.” (par. 50)

 
PART 10: THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE
 
The last several months, we have been looking at Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life, published March 25, 1995. As I wrote these snippets, I tried to concentrate, not on specific “issues” but on the broad and timeless principles offered by the saintly Pope in this prophetic teaching of his. Pope John Paul II sums up his own work this way:
 
“We are writing you this that our joy may be complete.” (1 John 1:4) The revelation of the Gospel of Life is given to us as a good to be shared with all people. Our own joy would not be complete if we failed to share this Gospel with others but kept it only for ourselves. (par. 101)
 
The Pope continues: “The Gospel of Life is for the whole of human society. To be actively pro-life is to contribute to the renewal of society through the promotion of the common good. But it is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending human life in all its forms. … Only respect for life can be the foundation and guarantee of the most precious goods of society, such as democracy and peace.” (par. 101)
 
“There can be no true democracy without a recognition of every human person’s dignity and without respect for human rights. Nor can there be true peace unless life is defended and promoted. … The People of Life rejoices in being able to share its commitment and its joy with so many others.” (par. 101)
 

This commentary on Evangelium Vitae (1995) was written by Fr. Bob Showers OFM Conv.
January 2022

The following is a rewrite of an opinion piece written by Friar Bob Showers OFM Conv. for the other Conventual Franciscan friars of Our Lady of Consolation Province, originally pubished May 2018. Friar Bob offers the piece again here because he believes it is still relevant.


In the spring of 2018, Friar Wilfrid Logsdon handed me an article from the May 14, 2018 issue of America magazine, suggesting that it was one of the more important articles he’s read this year so far. I must agree, and would suggest the article to others:

Aaron Pidel SJ, “Revisiting the Dictatorship of Relativism: Did Benedict XVI predict the rise of Trump and fake news?”, America Magazine, May 14, 2018, pp. 26f.

Link to online version: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/04/16/did-benedict-xvi-predict-rise-trump-and-fake-news

The common wisdom among Catholic commentators is that the young Joseph Ratzinger was a progressive theologian who took a hard right turn after the student riots of 1968, becoming the exemplar of authoritarian rigidity. Pidel suggests that this picture is inadequate. “Ratzinger was ‘woke’ not by the student riots of 1968 but by the Nazi riots of 1933.”

A consistent criterion for judging a theological statement can be found in Ratzinger’s writings from “Salvation Outside the Church” (1965) through “Truth and Tolerance” (2003), namely:

would a Catholic, whose faith is built on such and such a principle, be less or more able to withstand the temptation of fascist populism?
 
Pidel claims that, for Joseph Ratzinger, the magical thinking of fascist populism is the greatest temptation of the postmodern world, whether the anti-truth siren is named Nicolás Maduro or Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán or the supposedly Catholic “Radio Maria”, the absolute dictatorship of the unbridled right to buy guns or the absolute dictatorship of the unbridled right to free abortion. All of these extreme positions, whether on the right or on the left, are built on Michel Foucault’s interpretation of the Nietzschean doctrine of a human will without foundation. Foucault taught that the difference between the true and the fake rests entirely on social convention, so that the very claim that there is an objective truth is merely an attempt by the powerful to keep their power. “All distinctions are acts of violence.”

 
This thinking became anchored in U.S. law in the 1992 Supreme Court case “Planned Parenthood vs. Casey”. The court ruled that requiring spousal notification prior to an abortion posed an undue burden on the woman’s freedom. How? The court wrote, “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe”. Denial of the existence of objective truth thus became part of American law. This principle has been cited in other court cases and other pieces of legislation since.
 
Pope Benedict argued that we can come back from the abyss of relativism’s dictatorship, just as we did in 1945. We must simply embrace freedom’s need for truth. We can return to what Ratzinger calls “reality-based thinking”. “Freedom is linked to a yardstick, the yardstick of reality. Freedom to destroy oneself or to destroy another is not freedom but a diabolical parody. Human freedom is a shared freedom, freedom in a coexistence of other freedoms, which are mutually limiting and mutually supportive. Freedom must be measured according to what I am, what we are, otherwise it abolishes itself.” (p. 30)

The Jesuit professor Aaron Pidel goes through many of Jos. Ratzinger’s writings as well as a good series of American political essays of the last three years. To Pidel’s selection, I would also add one of my favorite Ratzinger books:
 
Jürgen Habermas & Joseph Ratzinger. The Dialectics of Secularization. On Reason and Religion. English version: Ignatius Press 2006.

Here is a quote:
 
“This is why it is important for every society to overcome any suspicion that is cast on the law and its regulations, for it is only in this way that arbitrariness can be excluded and freedom can be experienced as a freedom shared in common with others. Freedom without law is anarchy and, hence, the destruction of freedom.”
 
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal. The Dialectics of Secularization (Kindle Locations 372-374). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.

Here is the text of Fr. Bob's homily on the night of December 12, 2021.

Pueblo querido,
 
Me tomo la libertad de tomar prestado un sermón del Papa Francisco, porque creo que da muy buenos sermones.
 
El Papa Francisco dice que la Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe deja clara la diferencia entre la solidaridad global y el globalismo frío.
 
La solidaridad global es la creencia de que Dios creó a todos los seres humanos en todo el mundo. Por tanto, todos somos hermanos y hermanas. Debemos cuidarnos los unos a los otros, así como debemos cuidar la tierra.
 
El globalismo es una ideología de los ricos y poderosos que dice que todas las personas en la tierra deben comprar los mismos productos, usar la misma moda, pensar los mismos pensamientos y, sobre todo, adorar el dinero.
 
La solidaridad global conduce a la fertilidad.
El globalismo conduce a la esterilidad.
 

 
El Evangelio – Luc. 1:39-47, que acaba de ser proclamado – nos regala el gran cantico de María:
 

Mi alma glorifica al Señor,
 y mi espíritu se llena de júbilo en Dios mi Salvador,
porque se ha dignado fijarse en su humilde sierva.
 

Es un hermoso canto de esperanza y victoria, pero María canta este canto como respuesta a otro canto, el cantico de Isabel. Isabel canta:
 

¿Quién soy yo para que la madre de mi Señor venga a visitarme?
¿Quién soy yo?
 

El cántico de Isabel es un canto melancólico que conjuga esperanza y tristeza, fe y duda.
 
Isabel no tiene hijos. La gente le llama: “La mujer estéril.” La gente consideraba la esterilidad como un castigo divino por el pecado, por su propio pecado o el del esposo.
 
La esterilidad era un signo de vergüenza llevado en la propia carne porque hizo que Isabel se sintiera  culpable de un pecado que no cometió. La hizo sentirse como nadie, poca cosa al no estar a la altura de lo que se esperaba de ella.
 
Así podemos vislumbrarlo en el indiecito Juan Diego cuando le dice a María,
 

«yo en verdad no valgo nada,
soy mecapal,
soy cacaxtle,
soy cola,
soy ala,
sometido a hombros y a cargo ajeno,
no es mi paradero ni mi paso allá donde te dignas enviarme».
 

 
Así también este sentimiento puede estar en nuestras comunidades de hoy:

• indígenas y afroamericanas, que, en muchas ocasiones, no son tratadas con dignidad e igualdad de condiciones;
• en muchas mujeres, que son excluidas en razón de su sexo, raza o situación socioeconómica;
• en jóvenes, que reciben una educación de baja calidad y no tienen oportunidades de progresar en sus estudios ni de entrar en el mercado del trabajo para desarrollarse y constituir una familia;
• en muchos pobres, desempleados, migrantes, desplazados, campesinos sin tierra, inmigrantes sin documentos, quienes buscan sobrevivir en la economía informal;
• en niños y niñas sometidos a la prostitución infantil, ligada muchas veces al turismo sexual.

 
Pero – ahora llega la buena noticia del Evangelio:
 
Por intercesión de María, Isabel, la mujer estéril, se convierte en Isabel la mujer fecunda-asombrada.
 
Es ella la primera en reconocer y bendecir a María. Es ella la que en la vejez experimentó en su propia vida, en su carne, el cumplimiento de la promesa hecha por Dios.
 
En Santa Isabel, entendemos que el sueño de Dios no es -- ni será -- la esterilidad ni estigmatizar o llenar de vergüenza a sus hijos, sino hacer brotar en ellos y de ellos un canto de bendición.
 
Nunca es la voluntad de Dios que cualquier persona, a quien Él creó, sea rechazada por quién o qué es. Esta es la promesa de María a Isabel.

 
Y de igual manera lo vemos en Juan Diego. Fue precisamente él, y no otro, quien lleva en su tilma la imagen de la Virgen: la Virgen de piel morena y rostro mestizo, sostenida por un ángel con alas de quetzal, pelícano y guacamayo; la madre capaz de tomar los rasgos de sus hijos para hacerlos sentir parte de su bendición.
 
A esto se le llama dialéctica.
A esto se le llama elección.

La elección es entre fertilidad o esterilidad, entre bendición o maldición, entre solidaridad global o globalismo frío.

 
Queridos hermanas y hermanos, en medio de esta dialéctica miremos la riqueza y la diversidad cultural
de nuestros pueblos de América Latina.
 
El Papa Francisco dice que el pueblo hispano tiene un llamado especial para ayudar a todas las gentes del mundo a elegir sabiamente, a elegir la solidaridad global y no el globalismo estéril.
 
Somos invitados no sólo a cultivar -- sino también a defender valientemente -- de todo intento homogeneizador que termina imponiendo — bajo slogans atrayentes — una única manera de pensar, de ser, de sentir, de vivir, que termina haciendo inválido o estéril todo lo heredado de nuestros mayores; que termina haciendo sentir, especialmente a nuestros jóvenes, poca cosa por pertenecer a tal o cual cultura.

 
En definitiva, nuestra fecundidad nos exige defender a nuestros pueblos de una nueva colonización ideológica que cancela la riqueza de nuestro patrimonio cultural.
 
La Madre de Dios es figura de la Iglesia Católica y de ella queremos aprender a ser Iglesia con rostro mestizo,

• con rostro indígena,
• rostro afroamericano,
• rostro campesino,
• rostro cola, ala, cacaxtle.
• Rostro pobre,
• de desempleado,
• de niño y niña,
• anciano y joven

para que nadie se sienta estéril ni infecundo, para que nadie se sienta avergonzado o poca cosa.
 
Sino, al contrario, para que cada uno al igual que Isabel y Juan Diego pueda sentirse portador de una promesa, de una esperanza y pueda decir desde sus entrañas:
 

«¡Padre! ¡Dios mío y mi todo!»

 
desde el misterio de esa filiación que, sin cancelar los rasgos de cada uno, nos universaliza constituyéndonos pueblo.
 
¡María! Bendita eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Amén.

It's been a year and a half since Café Holy Tony was last were able to meet. Today Café Holy Tony returns. The topic for this first café evening of the year is: My favorite mistakes, or, How God works in moments of transition.

Mary Troxell, a philosophy professor at Boston College, once wrote,

"My first mistake was becoming Catholic. ... Then in college I became a Marxist atheist. ... Then the worst mistake of all - I got a job! ... They say that God draws straight with crooked lines."

To get us started, I've attached Prof. Troxell's essay, plus an essay by Fr. William Leahy SJ. If you have time, I recommend them! But whether you get them read or not, please do come to our café evening. Be ready to share some of the best mistakes in your life, and how God drew good things even out of your bad decisions.

In 1956, Pope Pius XII described the position of the Roman Catholic Church in Palestine during the Israeli-Arab "Long War" of 1948 as "totally caught in the liminal tribulations of the times". The Church as a community tried to be neither for nor against the nation of Israel, neither for nor against the Palestinians, neither for nor against the British, the French, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the United Nations, the Americans. The Catholic authorities and the Catholic people sought neither to convert Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Christians or Protestants - but at the same time to proclaim that our mission is to convert the whole world. "In the liminal spaces of Palestinian Catholicism, God reveals His simplicity and His complexity" wrote the Italian historian Maria Chiara Rioli (a footnote).

The power and the mercy of God are revealed at the margins, at the spaces in between, in the hard to define or classify.

Theologians call this idea "liminal theology". Josef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) often spoke of this "liminal condition" in connection with purgatory. For example, in the encyclical Spe salvi (2007), he wrote, 

"Very few people experience pure goodness or pure evil, but always something in between. ... Our experience of life, and our experience of judgement, is always at the intersection of God's justice and God's mercy. But no one lives alone, no one sins alone, no one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. ... So where does my purgatory end and the next person's begin?" (Spe salvi, par. 47-48)
 

 
St. Francis of Assisi (13th cent.) said it with a picture: he called this transition between God's mercy and God's judgement "the seraphic confusion - the confusion of the angels". Only when I admit that I am totally confused and cannot figure my own life out, said the saint of Assisi, do I give the Holy Spirit room to work. We have to leave our comfort zones and embrace the confusion. (here is an essay)

Already in the 10th century, St. Symeon the New Theologian - called "the Last Father of the Church" - said that the human being inhabited a world of in between, where weakness leads to strength and our crookedness becomes Gods directness. For in the beginning, God breathed out the Universe, and now He inhales the Universe back into Himself, and human life takes place at the turning of God's breath. He wrote:
 

 
O Christ, behold my affliction,
behold my faintheartedness,
behold my powerlessness,
behold my beggary,
behold my feebleness,
and have pity on me, O Logos! ...

And God said:
“Why do you expect to constrain Me with words, O children of the humans?
And why do you senselessly say that I hide my face from you?
And why do you suspect that I shut the doors and gates?
And why do you suspect that I ever separate myself from you?
And why did you say that I burn you,
and ignite you,
and beat you to a pulp?
Your words are not straight, 
your understanding is all crooked.
But rather listen to the words that I am going to say to you,
and I will make straight lines with your crooked fears. ...


Understand what I teach you!
And so I have said:
by my power I blew a soul into you,
a soul both logical and rational,
which was united to your body
and the one being appeared out of the two.

You are a rational, bodily, living being, 
a human who is double from two natures inexpressibly;
from a visible body that is without senses and irrational,
and from an invisible soul according to my image both logical and rational.
What a strange marvel!

You, o human, are between all things, between creatures.
Your existence is in essence in between.

Between what? 
Between the material and the immaterial.
 

 
St Symeon the New Theologian. Hymns of Divine Love no. 53
From: St. Symeon the New Theologian. Divine Eros (Popular Patristics Series Book 40) Yonkers NY, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2010. Pages 340-343


Well met at Café Holy Tony!
~Friar Bob Showers OFM Conv.


Café Holy Tony
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
Caruso's Restaurant, Angola
Café Holy Tony is an open discussion forum for young Catholics. Friends are welcome!

OCTOBER IS THE MONTH OF THE ROSARY - OCTOBER IS RESPECT LIFE MONTH

Our liturgies and celebrations will have a double focus in October: the rosary and building up a culture of life. Here are some of the ways we will mark the month:


A PUBLIC ROSARY AT 4:00 P.M. FROM OCTOBER 1ST THROUGH 31ST

Every day at 4:00 p.m. you are invited to gather at the Knights of Columbus Memorial Cross near the entrance of St. Anthony's to pray the rosary together. We hope to pray outdoors every day for a month rain or shine.


GIVE A ROSARY / TAKE A ROSARY

At both St. Paul's and St. Anthony's there will be a small display near the entrance with a basket of rosaries. If you need one for yourself or for anyone else, just take one! If you have a rosary to donate, just put it in the basket! Thank you.


CATECHESIS IS IN FULL SWING

There are classes and meetings for grade school children and pre-schoolers, for high school youth and college students and for young adults; the faith sharing groups are meeting again; and the group for those looking at the Catholic Church (RCIA) has started.


INTERACTIVE BULLETIN BOARD AT ST. ANTHONY'S

The Human Life and Dignity Ministry has set up a special "interactive bulletin board" in honor of Respect Life October. What does "interactive" mean?

It means you are invited to add things to the bulletin board all month. We ask parishioners to contribute items for display that illustrate how you are thankful for the gift of life in all its forms, especially human life:

• Sonogram photo of new family member
• A birth or baptism or first communion of wedding announcement
• Picture of aging grandparents
• Signs of new life around us: flowers and seeds and more
• Prayer requests
• Anything highlighting how precious life is
  

MEMORIAL CROSSES BY THE HIGHWAY

At both campuses we will set up small white crosses near the highways in memory of children lost to abortion this year. This action is in cooperation with Indiana Right to Life.


A SPEAKER ON THE WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 9-10

At all three Masses at St. Anthony's on the weekend of October 9th and 10th, Ann Freeman from the Women's Care Center of Northeastern Indiana will speak to us about how we can contribute to a culture of life.

 
For over a year, Catholics have been "dispensed" from the "obligation" to attend Sunday Mass. The Eucharist is supposed to be super sacred, but if bishops can "dispense" with it anytine they want by publishing a Tweet, are they being serious?

And now that we can go to church again, do I really want to? Why should I?

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark - formerly of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis - has written a very good letter about these and other questions. He sees going to church as an opportunity, a moment of grace, a wonderful gift from God. He talks about how hard it was not to visit his mother during the pandemic, and how he wanted to cry when he could hug here again. The Eucharist is like that. How we missed it!

Who knows? Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder and many people will appreciate communion even more after having been denied for so long.

I learned a lot from this inspiring letter, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Click on the button below to go to the website of the Archdiocese of Newark to download a free copy. Blessings on this Feast of Corpus Christi!

See you in church!
Friar Bob

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS AT ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
AS OF 29 MAY 2021 (WEEKEND OF TRINITY SUNDAY)
 
Following the recent decisions of the Indiana Bishops’ Conference and the new guidelines of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, we want to celebrate our progress, keep people safe from the lingering pandemic, and make our liturgies as inviting as possible to as many people as possible. We want to honor and respect both those faithful who long to return to a more “normal” form of liturgical celebration and those who are justifiably concerned about too much exposure to contagions too soon.
 
Our basic decision is, therefore, to create a hybrid model where there is a more restricted and a less restricted section within the main nave of the church. We ask that only people who already have been fully vaccinated should sit in the less restricted area, along with their children. Adults who have not yet been vaccinated should sit in the socially distanced area with masks.
 
These protocols will be used for about three weeks, although some things we will need to evaluate every week to see how it’s going. By about June 20 (Father’s Day) there will be a new set of protocols.

CHURCH BUILDING
 

• Pews, masks and seating: We seek to be accommodating to as many faithful as possible. The nave will be divided into two sections.
  • In the three seating sections on the west side of the nave (on the right as you enter the church) all pews are available for seating. In this area, masks are not required.
  • In the two sections on the east side of the nave (on the left as you enter the church), every other pew remains roped off. We ask that masks be worn in this area. We ask further that anyone who is not vaccinated please take a seat in this area.
  • This arrangement will be evaluated every week.
  • The choir area remains reserved only for musicians. The large plastic barrier will remain in place a few more weeks. (The smaller one can be removed.)
  • The extra chairs around the perimeter may be used, and the reconciliation room may be used as extra seating for one family. There is room for up to 40 people in the gathering area, if need be. Finally, the choir rehearsal room can be used as the last seating option.
  • Ministers in the sanctuary (celebrant, altar servers, lectors etc.) do not need to wear a mask. (Cf. below under “Mass”.)
• Capacity: By opening up pews in some areas but not in others, and factoring in the perimeter seating, our practical capacity would now be about 375.
• Holy Water:
  • There will be slightly chlorinated holy water in the two small stoups by the entrances. We will continue to wash the stoups and switch out the water twice a week all summer.
    

OTHER SACRAMENTS
 

• Until September, baptisms, weddings, First Communions, confirmations, and similar celebrations will largely be celebrated as separate liturgies and not during Sunday Mass. Exceptions can be made, especially for blessings for a wedding anniversary. With the return of the winter Mass schedule on September 11, 2021, we will also return to our practice of encouraging baptisms and other sacraments at the Sunday assembly.
• Baptism preparation for families returns in September – obligatory for baptism of the first child, optional after that.
• The quinceañera preparation class has returned. This will again be required for anyone who has not yet scheduled a quinceañera. For the four young women already scheduled, it will be optional.
• Marriage preparation continues as usual. Weddings can be celebrated with no particular restrictions.
• Confessions continue as normal. The normal placement of the chairs has been restored. Masks are optional – the priest will probably keep his mask on.
  
• First Friday Devotions and similar events continue as normal. The Eucharistic Adoration Through the Night will return in July.
• Sacrament of the Sick –
  • No group celebrations are planned at this time.
  • Individuals may arrange with any of the priests for an anointing in the church at any agreed upon time.
  • At this time, only Fr. Bob will be regularly visiting the sick in their homes or at the hospitals. Thank you for your understanding.
• Hospitals and Nursing Homes – There are now new groups of volunteers to visit the nursing homes monthly. These visits will take the place of the previous nursing home Masses.

Funerals – wakes and funerals may be celebrated without any particular restrictions. The parish hall is available for luncheons.


Friar Robert Showers OFM Conv.
May 27, 2021
 
 

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven is also our feast – the feast of our own ascension. For by His ascension, Jesus Christ elevates our human nature and creates for us a bridge which puts eternal life within our reach.
 
Jesus Christ Himself is that bridge, a bridge uniting our mortal life on this earth with our eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
 
In the readings of today’s Mass, we hear the story of the ascension twice, once from the Acts of the Apostles, and then from the Gospel of Mark.
 
In the Book of Acts we read:
 
At the moment on the ascension, as Jesus was in the midst of teaching His disciples, he began to ascend, and the clouds of heaven hid him from sight. The Apostles stood dumbfounded, staring into heaven – one can almost imagine their jaws dropped open and the drool dripping down their cheeks.
 
In the midst of their dumbfoundedness, two men dress in white – two angels, two seraphim – stood before them and said:
 
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand and gape at the sky?”

As if to say:
 
“You heard Jesus! You have your mission. You have your instructions. You have much work to do now on earth. Stop staring at the sky and start to do good!”

Then in the Gospel of St. Mark we hear Jesus say:
 
“Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!”
 
This is, explicitly, the mission of the Apostles: “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!”
 
This is also, explicitly, our mission today: “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!”
For this reason I say, today is our feast  it is the anniversary of our missioning.

St. Augustine of Hippo said it clearly as he preached about the ascension to the newly baptized. Forty days earlier, these people had received baptism during the Vigil of Easter Night, and now they were still trying to figure out what it means concretely to live as a Catholic in this world. And Bishop Augustine told them:
 
The Feast of the Ascension is also our feast because we ascend with Christ. Today we celebrate that Jesus ascended into heaven, and even now our hearts ascend with Him! We share in the mission of Christ on earth, and therefore we share in the glory of Christ in heaven.
 
St. Augustine went on to say:
 
Even if here and now, our earthly bodies do not share completely in the glory of the resurrection, yet our earthly bodies do share completely in the mission of Christ upon earth, and therefore we begin to live in the Kingdom of God even now! Because Jesus Christ is the Kingdom of God.
 
If we life in Christ, we are living in the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom of God is Jesus Christ. We sometimes spend a lot of time trying to “define” the Kingdom of God, which is a shame, because the Kingdom of God is not a place or a thing or a condition or a program – it is a person: Jesus Christ.
 

Even the Apostles fell for this temptation. In the Acts of the Apostles, the very last thing the Apostles say to Jesus here on Earth was a silly question showing that they still did not understand:
 
Is it now that you will establish the kingship again in Israel?
 
Is it now that you will intervene with divine power in our trivial worldly politics and support our political party? Will you pull the nation of Israel out of the multi-national, multi-cultural Roman Empire and make it into a sovereign nation-state with a royal government and great wealth?
 
Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical “On the Mission of the Redeemer” (1990), takes up this question of the Apostles and puts it on us, because his encyclical was also about the mission of the Church in our day. The Pope wrote:
 
“Christ not only proclaimed the kingdom, but in him the kingdom itself became present and was fulfilled. This happened not only through his words and his deeds, but above all, the kingdom is made manifest in the very person of Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who came 'to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many' (Mk 10:45)." The kingdom of God is not a concept, a doctrine, or a program subject, but it is before all else a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God.”
 
The Pope goes on to say that Catholics of every age fall prey to the same temptation as the Apostles. Perhaps because of our impatience with a Messiah we cannot see with earthly eyes and who seems to delay His coming in glory, we turn to other messiahs. We turn to some politician or to some Rockstar or to some celebrity. We seek the Kingdom of God in the world of art and entertainment, in politics and diplomacy, in science and academics, in business and wealth, even in clerical structures and church programs. But these are not the messiah! Only Jesus is!

So back to St. Augustine –
 
St. Augustine went on to tell the newly baptized that Jesus, in His ascension, united us forever with our true destiny in the Kingdom of God, if we will but accept it. He is the bridge between our mortal life on earth and our immortal life in Heaven if we will but walk the bridge. We – as Christ’s Church – are the very Body of Christ on this earth. It begins with our baptism, is nurtured by the sacraments, and finds its fulfillment in union with Christ.
 
We have our mission!
We have our instructions!
We have much work to do on this earth!
We cannot spend time staring blankly into heaven – now we must begin to do good!
 
Amen.

 
 
I have been doing all things unholy.
If God can work through me, he can work through anyone!


St. Francis of Assisi

Today the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a new statement saying that , “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”  (Emphasis added)

This leads, of course, to the question: When can we take our masks off at Mass?
 
Short answer: I don’t know. But not now.
 
As a parish community, we rely on the guidance of the diocese. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, in turn, relies heavily on the recommendations of the Working Group on Infectious Disease Protocols for Sacraments and Pastoral Care of the Thomistic Institute under the aegis of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C.

Even as I write this, these good people are busy discussing the newest CDC guidelines. When they are done discussing it, our local bishop’s workgroup will meet and discuss things further as it affects us here in northeastern Indiana. This is a lot of talking, but it is important. Throughout the pandemic, our decisions have not been spontaneous, emotion driven or “from the gut”. They have been the result of careful, thoughtful consideration by a large group of people who know what they are doing. This system is slower than “shooting from the hip”, but it is a whole lot better.

  
Whatever decision our diocese makes next, it will be based on three principles already in use:
 
1. The Church decides
 
In a blog entry of May 4, 2020 (link), I quoted Archbishop Lori:
 
“I remind Catholics that it was the Catholic bishops who suspended public liturgies, not the civil gov-ernments. In many places, Masses were suspended before there were any stay at home orders from governors. It is the bishops who will decide when public Masses will begin again. The U.S. bishops make this statement not to show their power, but because they want to make clear that no earthly power is forcing us to suspend public events, rather Catholic morality compels us. … One of the over-riding responsibilities of government is to keep people safe. This is a health and public safety issue. And this is not only a concern that the government has, it’s also a concern of the church. The Church has to take steps to ensure that we are kept safe and healthy and those steps have to be rational. We do not feel as though we have been forced into doing anything by the government. We feel like we’re doing the right thing. … This means that it is possible that, even after some local governments lift the restrictions, the Roman Catholic Church might decide to wait a little longer.”
 
For example, in our diocese, Bishop Rhoades suspended public Masses as of March 18, 2020, but Gov. Holcomb’s stay at home order was not issued until March 23. The same delay will be experienced this time as we lift the restrictions.

2. We are a Church of faith and reason
 
To quote Archbishop Lori again, the guidelines and protocols of the Catholic Church have been “emin-ently reasonable”. The science news aggregator Real Clear Science went so far as to say that the Amer-ican Catholic Church’s “evidence based guidelines for celebrating Mass safely” have proven themselves to be effective, in that “no outbreaks of COVID-19 have been linked to church attendance” at any of the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the U.S. This, a number of scientists say, is because the Catholic Church in this country has consistently applied “the three W’s” – watch your distance, wear your mask, wash your hands.
 
Social distancing, masks, frequent washing – these measures are working, so we will be slow to aban-don them.

   
 
3. We do not want to discriminate between the vaccinated
and the unvaccinated
 
This principle is less clear. On the one hand, people who are fully vaccinated really are in very little danger of getting or giving Covid-19. Those parishioners who have made it a point to get the vaccine as soon as feasible have done a great act of charity to all of society, including to the Church. This is why the Catholic Church in general has been so eager to promote the vaccine.
 
On the other hand, many people have not yet gotten the vaccine through no fault of their own. It has only been a few weeks since the vaccine was made available to younger people, and many people really are quite busy. They’ll get the vaccine, they just haven’t managed it yet. A small percentage of people have legitimate medical reasons not to get the vaccine yet.
 
Yes, there are some people who are just stubborn, or are refusing the vaccine for worldly ideological reasons. Such a refusal is a conscious decision to refuse an act of virtue, which I have described else-where as almost a form of violence. (I will admit here that my statement follows the argument of the ethicist Peter Singer q.v.) Yet even these people are our sisters and brothers, part of the parish.
 
We will not, therefore, have something like a “Mass for the vaccinated” and a “Mass for the unvaccin-ated” with different rules for each Mass. We will follow the same protocols at all Masses and other liturgies. So the sooner everyone gets the shot, the sooner we can all ditch the masks!
 
Conclusion: hurry up and get vaccinated!
  
  

A SUMMARY OF COVID-19 PROTOCOLS AT ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA IN ANGOLA
Current as of May 1, 2021
 
Nota bene: These protocols for May and June 2021 were published on the assumption that our local area will remain the same or get slowly better in regard to Covid-19. Specifically, the presume that Steuben County will be at Covid-19 level Yellow or Orange. If there are sud­den changes one way or the other, our protocols will be reconsidered. Thank you for your understanding.
 

CHURCH BUILDING

• Capacity: The church may hold up to one third of its rated capacity, or 250 people. This includes the gathering area (20-25 people). Any overflow attendees are invited to go to the annex connector and/or the parish hall.
• Pews and seating: Every other pew is roped off. The choir area is reserved only for musicians. The extra chairs around the perimeter may be used, and the reconciliation room may be used as extra seating for one family.
• Masks: Masks must still be worn while in the church.
• Holy Water: There will be (slightly chlorinated) holy water in the two small stoups by the entrances.
  • There is a jug of chlorinated holy water in the work sacristy, as well as a supply of sanitizer wipes to clean the stoups with.
  • 5:00 Mass of Saturday – before Mass begins, the sacristan should empty the holy water stoups, clean them and refill them. – Revision: Laurie Beard said that she will clean the stoups and replace the water on Fridays as part of the regular cleaning of the church. The Saturday sacristan doesn’t need to.
  • 10:00 Mass – after the last Mass, the sacristan should once again empty the stoups, clean them and refill them.
  • We will not refill the large baptismal font at this time.

 
 
 MASS

• Altar: The altar returns to the pre-Covid setup. That is, there is one big corporal in the middle of the altar.
• Credence Table (Credence Wagon): For a weekend Mass, there is usually 3 empty ciboria, 1 chalice 1 large corporal, 1 purificator and 2 extra chalice palls on the cart.
• Ushers & Greeters: You will continue to keep an attendance count, to ensure that we stay within proper guidelines. Someone should also be available at the Welcome station.
• Altar Servers: There will be two altar servers – a cross bearer and an altar master. There is no book bearer at this time. The servers will wear masks. The servers will not hold the book for the priest. They will, however, assist with the lavabo.
• Music:
  • Normally, there will be keyboard accompaniment. We will minimize use of wind instruments, and then only with safeguards.
  • There is either a cantor or a small schola of up to 8 voices. Proper distancing is observed. The cantors and schola do not wear masks but do stay behind the transparent shields.
  • We are now using the hymnbooks (Today’s Missal Seasonal and Music issue).
  • The congregation is invited to sing both the hymns and the Mass parts. The people must keep their masks on.
• Lectors:
  • At least until Pentecost, we will use only one reader for each Mass.
  • That lector reads the First and Second Readings the intercessions, and 4 explanatory announcements. At most Masses, the singers will handle the responsorial psalm.
  • At Pentecost, we will re-evaluate.
• Offertory Procession: The bread, wine and water are on the offertory table. There should be at least three people in the procession, who should wear masks. The priests and altar servers will also wear masks when they receive the gifts.
• Our Father & Sign of Peace: Please refrain from shaking hands during the Sign of Peace or holding hands during the Our Father (families excepted).
• Collection: The ushers will not take up a collection and we will not pass a basket from hand to hand. Two large baskets are set up near the door and people are encouraged to put their gifts there.
• Communion:
  • The next few weeks, we will continue to have only three communion lines. On Pentecost Sunday, God willing, we will introduce a fourth line (i.e., two up the center aisle).
  • The ushers will continue to dismiss the people row by row, starting from the back.
  • It is important for the people to maintain the 6-foot distancing in the communion line.
  • We can offer communion only in the form of the host, and only in the hand.
• After Mass:
  • We no longer need to disinfect the pews between Masses.
  • We will continue to fumigate, however, every Monday through the end of June.
  • Please see note above about the holy water stoups.

 
 
 OTHER SACRAMENTS

• At least until September, we will continue to celebrate baptisms, weddings, First Communions, confirmations, quinceañeras and similar celebrations as separate liturgies and not during Sunday Mass.
• Baptism preparation for families is suspended until September.
• Marriage preparation continues since the couples should be able to meet safely.
• At weddings, the bridal couple do not wear masks during the ceremony, nor does the priest. All other attendees are asked to keep their masks on.
• Confessions – continue as normal. The chairs have been moved 10 feet apart.
• First Friday Devotions and similar events – continue as normal, with the usual safety precautions.
• Sacrament of the Sick –
  • No group celebrations are planned at this time.
  • Individuals may arrange with any of the priests for an anointing in the church at any agreed upon time.
  • At this time, only Fr. Bob will be visiting the sick in their homes. Thank you for your understanding.
• Hospitals and Nursing Homes – we will respect any restrictions these places establish. We are organizing a new group to visit the nursing homes.
• Funerals – wakes and funerals may be celebrated using the standard safety protocols for Masses. The parish hall is available for luncheons – see below.

 
 
 MEETING GUIDELINES

• WE SEEK TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND CHARITABLE AT THE SAME TIME. Meetings in the name of the parish should take place in parish facilities. The parish cannot take responsibility for any meetings in anyone's private home.
• SMALL GROUPS –We have set up one classroom for up to 10 people, a double classroom for up to 20, plus we have St. Francis Hall. For larger groups, we will decide on a case by case basis. Remember, all meetings should be scheduled through the office director Patti Webster, patti@stanthonyangola.com, 260-665-2259.
• PROPER PHYSICAL DISTANCING is required. Arrange tables and chairs so that we can be at least 6 ft. apart.
• MASKS are required upon entering and leaving the building and during all breaks. Masks are required during the meeting itself IF anyone present is unvaccinated. (Exceptions: for the main speaker/teacher if he/she is at least 12 feet away from anyone.) If EVERYONE present has been vaccinated, we may remove our masks during the meeting itself.
• LUNCHEONS AND OTHER FUNCTIONS IN THE PARISH HALL (ST. FRANCIS HALL):
  • Current parish hall capacity: 75
  • The hall is now available for funeral luncheons, baptisms, weddings, receptions and other church related events. Contact the parish office for details.
  • Food may be served. All food handlers must wear masks and gloves, and exercise common sense caution.
  • Tables should be set up with physical distancing in mind.
  • Masks must be worn in the food line. Masks need not be worn while eating. See also above under “MASKS”.
  • If food or drinks are served, please disinfect the tables when you are done. Thank you.
• CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS. Please wash and disinfect tables, chairs, door knobs, handles and switches both before and after your meeting. Thank you!
• USE COMMON SENSE - STAY HOME IF YOU ARE NOT FEELING WELL. If you have any symptoms of any contagious disease (cough, fever, shortness of breath) be kind to the others and stay safely at home. 
  

 
 
As a parish community, we want to keep our doors open as much as possible while still pro­­tecting the health of our community. We want our small faith enrichment groups, coun­cils and other activities to continue when and where possible, while at the same time not making anybody sick. Our policies will, therefore, always represent a compromise, an at­tempt at balance. Thank you for your cooperation.
 
May the Lord bless us and keep us safe.
Fr. Robert G. Showers OFM Conv.
1 May 2021