Monastery of Christ the Good Shepherd

Last Wednesday, (that would have been April 25), I was able to go pay a visit to the Benedictine Monastery of the Good Shepherd where the Starr County Benedictine Sisters live. The Monastery is on the edge of Rio Grande City in beautiful Starr County. I always enjoy going there. Many in the Diocese of Brownsville are familiar with the grounds because of the frequent retreats and days of recollection that take place there. With the help of God's grace, the Sisters have done a marvelous work in building up the grounds of the monastery.

And, as many of you know, the grounds are a little austere, in that mesquite tree, cactus plants and colored-reptiles-in-the-brush sort of way. There are also a lot of road-runners in the brush, and they tend to keep the colored-reptiles in check. I am sure the intrepid birds get a bit of help from Saint Benedict himself when it comes to the reptiles. I feel very much at home in the terrain of the monastery, both the physical and the spiritual terrain, that is. Perfect for recollection and prayer.

The Sisters are always very hospitable, and on this occasion we were joined by the Benedictine Oblates associated to the community. The OSB oblates share in the spiritual and temporal works of the community. We spent some time praying the rosary in the chapel. We were joined by a television crew who taped the recitation for regular broadcast on the Valley Catholic Network. I hope you can join in when it is placed on the air. We all owe much gratitude to the Sisters for providing and promoting a solid sense of Benedictine spirituality in our midst. And, we are all grateful for their great hospitality in hosting retreats and spiritual conferences. And, I am particularly, and personally grateful--as I am sure we all are in the Diocese-- that so much of the spiritual strength that sustains the pro-life movement in the Diocese of Brownsville owes its vigor to the prayers and works of the community,and to that of the many oblates and spiritual friends of the Starr County Benedictines.

I truly enjoyed my visit with the Sisters and the Benedictine oblates, particularly taping the rosary and the time we spent afterwards enjoying a simple meal, and having a few laughs. If you would like more information about the Monastery of the Good Shepherd and the Starr County Benedictines, you might want to visit their web-site at http://www.starrcountybenedictines.org/ .

Calico Joe

Sitting off to the lower right of my active reading table, is a book I picked up fairly recently. By John Grisham, the book is entitled "Calico Joe,” a graciously told baseball story. I like baseball books. Some of the most enjoyable novels I have read have had a baseball backdrop. Something about the sport lends itself like no other to a rhythmic narrative that punctuates the pace of life. Like the game itself, novels set in the context of baseball games fall naturally into a pattern of action, followed by leisurely interludes of memory, observation, and commentary.

“Calico Joe” is fitted into a fictionally reconfigured 1973 baseball season. It is about a man named Paul, whose father was a major league pitcher and whose hero, Calico Joe, was a rookie-phenomenon in 1973. It is also about the boy Paul who grows up to become the man, and who tells the story. Now, I was about the age of the boy Paul during the baseball season of 1973, and the story’s accents about that time, seen through the eyes of an 11 year old, turned my eye to a part of the memory I had not visited in a while. To me, that fact alone was worth the price of admission to the story. But there is much more.

Baseball is beautiful to watch, with its manicured fields, its clean, chalked lines stretching out, in principle, to infinity to define and embrace time and space, all providing a paradise-like field on which to play a free and fair game (tip of the hat to Bart Giamatti, may he rest in peace). But, as in all things human, there is pain and sorrow between the chalked lines, just as there is grace and beauty. “Calico Joe” has to do with a boy who must make peace as a man with the smashed hopes, the sorrow and the pain that enveloped his childhood. He must re-visit the troubling memory of his father’s self-absorption, and his child-like admiration of a player, Calico Joe, who in addition to being a figure of heroic proportions, was not his father.

There are pitches in the game, and there are pitches in life. Some seem uniquely aimed to ruin things forever, and some can make it possible to get to a better place. You need a special kind of eye to see either kind of pitch coming. The theme is simple, perennial, human: in the end, which pitch prevails?

I recommend the book because it is gently and elegantly told, spare in its use of literary ornament, yet capable of pulling you into a serious reflection about what it means to forgive someone. The story-teller does not provide you with a light-hearted path to this reflection on forgiveness, but he does show you what is humanly possible when the truth is brought to light. You cannot re-write the past, nor can you bury it, really; neither of these opens life to a curative path. You can, though, have the courage to face things as they are, and —like a kid who still remembers how to hope for a good pitch—you can take a chance that anger and resentment can give way to something better.

And because baseball is always a graceful game, whenever a story explores what is humanly possible in the environs of a baseball park, it explores, even if clandestinely, what is at the same time gracefully possible.

Texas Catholic Conference

I spent Monday making a quick trip to Austin, to attend a meeting of the bishops of Texas. We meet a couple of times a year to discuss matters related to the Texas Catholic Conference. What is the Texas Catholic Conference, you ask? Well, under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops of Texas, the TCC works to help coordinate matters of state-wide concern to the Church. The TCC has departments involving Catholic Schools, Religious Education, Charity and Justice, Family Life, and Tribunal Affairs. Persons who work in these areas in their local dioceses meet periodically to coordinate strategies and to discuss matters of ongoing concern to the Church.

Pictured above at yesterdays meeting (they were sitting across from me, and hence easy target for the picture), left to right, Bishop James Tamayo of Laredo, Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, Bishop Mark Seitz, Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio, and Jennifer Carr Allmon, Associate Director of the TCC.

The TCC is also the principal way the Bishops of Texas express our common perspective on matters of public policy in the State of Texas. This is an expression of our responsibility to promote the common good of all people in our communities, state-wide. Thus, the bishops work to articulate the position of the Church on matters of before the Texas Legislature. In fact we spent a good amount of our time yesterday discussing the upcoming agenda of the Texas Legislature.

It is worthwhile to check on the TCC website periodically, (http://www.txcatholic.org/index.php) especially for information and action alerts on public-policy issues being discussed in Texas. It is a good way to keep informed about our concerns as Catholics in Texas for the protection of human life and dignity, justice for immigrants, matters involving our criminal justice system in Texas, as well as family life issues, education issues, health and human services, and of course our ever-present concern as Catholics for the poor and forgotten in our society.

We all have a responsibility to stay informed about what is happening in public policy in our State, and in our nation, to work to promote policies that build up the good in the areas I just mentioned. The TCC is a valuable resource for all Catholics in the State to help us all do just that, build up the good.

Why "En Pocas Palabras"?

The title of this blog is En Pocas Palabras, or, if you like, In a few words. I mean this in an ironic sort of way, since I am not particularly good at saying things, or writing things, briefly. Most anyone who has heard me preach or has read what I occasionally put on paper will tell you this is true.

I guess you could say the title is also a goal or challenge I am reminded of every time I write something. A word is a sign present to the speaker by which something is understood, and which is then used to express and communicate this understanding to another. A preacher or a writer tries to configure the signs in such a way as to most effectively help the hearer or reader capture what is understood and intended. I have always thought that too many words obscure the message. Hence the challenge faced by anyone who works with words.

God the Father, after all, has only One Word, and this Word perfectly expresses everything that is in the Father. This Word became flesh. He came to us and spoke in simple yet strangely profound ways. The Fathers of the Church (Cyprian of Carthage comes to mind) would sometimes refer to the Lord Jesus as the Verbum Abreviatum of the Father, or, the brief Word. What He says to us is always short and to the point, and as we struggle to understand it, it calls us to an inexhaustible depth of truth about God his Father, and about our human situation. His Sacred person-- from which flow his words, deeds and sufferings-- is the full expression of the Goodness of God. And his words, deeds and sufferings, in turn lead us back to the mystery of his Sacred Person.

Our lives, our words, should aim to be simple yet meaningful expressions of the truth about God and about our human situation in relation to God. The challenge to preach, to write and to live is the same challenge: To draw closer to the simplicity and goodness of God as fully revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. We are the complicated ones; He is quite simple. It is a challenge to seek his simplicity in thought and action. But we keep trying to move in that direction, by the grace of his coming, and we do not lose heart. In the meantime, I can happily accept the irony of the title of this blog enterprise.

Misericordia y Resurreccíón

La misericordia de Dios se muestra de una manera penetrante, eficaz y maravillosa durante la procesión dramática de la obra redentora. Penetrante, porque efectivamente la gracia expone a la luz la verdadera miseria del ser humano. Cristo acepta nuestra condición de seres asombrosamente capacitados, pero a la vez radicalmente sometidos a poderes aun más fuertes: el espíritu de envidia y de celos, por ejemplo. Más todavía: durante la Pasión del Señor se revela las sutiles manipulaciones del diablo, buscando como incitar a los hombres a un odio inexplicable contra lo bueno, lo noble y lo sano en la vida humana. Existen poderes dañosos en el mundo y en nuestro interior, que superan nuestras fuerzas para remediar.

Eficaz, porque al quedar expuesta la miseria, el doliente recibe la gracia de saberse necesitado. El panorama del Misterio Pascual expone nuestra debilidad. Es una gracia poder ver las cosas tal como son. El pecado oscurece nuestras percepciones; vemos, pero no vemos. La Pasión aclara que somos capaces de distinguir entre el bien y el mal, pero en los momentos más decisivos de la vida, fallamos de voluntad.  Pedro derramó lágrimas por haber visto las cosas tal como son.

Maravilloso es la misericordia porque al saberse uno necesitado, encuentra la gracia de poder invocar la misericordia de Dios. ¡Ayuda me, Señor, sin ti no tengo esperanzas! Jamás ha negado el Señor la oración pidiendo misericordia. Tenemos los ejemplos de las lágrimas de Pedro, el del ladrón arrepentido (crucificado al lado de Jesús), y el ejemplo de la confesión del soldado confesando que Cristo era el inocente. La gracia opera dentro del ser humano por medio de los movimientos interiores: una luz penetrando la consciencia, un impulso incitando la voluntad, un alivio dando paz al alma.

La maravilla de la misericordia llega a su cumplimiento al pedirle al Señor la gracia de un corazón nuevo, renovado, y capaz de ver y de poner en práctica el compromiso con Dios y con la realidad humana. La resurrección de Jesucristo contiene también la nuestra. Resurrección prometida en el juicio final—cierto-- pero implica a la vez nuestra resurrección como realidad vivida hoy, una sanación de la herida que más nos aflige en esta vida. Permítanme elaborar.

El filosofo Nietzsche, progenitor de la corriente cultural moderna que promueve la bandera de  la auto-suficiencia humana, castigaba a los cristianos por estar invocando cada rato la ayuda de un poder fuera de sí mismos.  Le daba asco pensar que el hombre dependiese de algo fuera de sus propias fuerzas. El filósofo alemán se enfocaba en la necesidad humana como seña de debilidad. Tal perspectiva considera la relación con otros como algo insignificante. Pero nosotros, los creyentes, no nos enfocamos en la miseria como seña de debilidad, sino en la debilidad como seña del camino verdadero hacia el redescubrimiento de nuestra identidad como criaturas establecidas en relación con otros. La herida del ser humano es precisamente la tendencia de creernos auto-suficientes. El poder que tenemos como seres humanos florece en contexto de relación amistosa con otras personas, y en relación con Dios.  Al otro lado del camino hacia el encuentro con la misericordia de Jesucristo, nos sabemos relacionados con Él, y por medio de Él, relacionados con el Padre celestial. Y si somos relacionados con el Padre de Jesucristo, nos encontramos vinculados con todos quienes el Hijo ha intentado hermanar por su santa Cruz y Resurrección.

La resurrección vivida hoy por los cristianos consiste precisamente en esta renovación de relaciones. Esta es la caridad, entendida como don para vivir honradamente el compromiso de amor con Dios y con nuestros prójimos. Este don surge en el corazón al contemplar el Cristo crucificado y traspasado por la espada. La manifestación de su compromiso con nosotros es una gracia que nos invita y nos capacita para vivir el nuevo compromiso con Él.

En realidad existen solo dos posibilidades para el ser mano: O somos aislados y no tenemos remedio fuera de nosotros mismos; O somos invitados a relacionarnos de nuevo con el Dios que quiere ser conocido y invocado como Padre. En la primera opción, somos huérfanos en este mundo: cada uno por su lado. En el segundo camino, somos hijos e hijas de un Dios en quien podemos confiar. La primera opción nos lleva por caminos de la tiranía del poder (los poderosos del mundo dominan sin fijarse en las condiciones de los más débiles). El otro camino, el camino de Cristo-- el que nos muestra la cara del Padre-- nos impulsa a buscar las nuevas relaciones de comunión con Dios, y de compromiso eficaz con nuestros hermanos y hermanas.

El que conoce a Cristo, ama al Padre que lo envió. Fue enviado, se hizo nuestro hermano, para remediar las condiciones de todos nosotros. Vino a socorrernos con su misericordia, invitándonos a recibir el don de nuevas relaciones y de más valiosos compromisos. Es preciso vivir esta resurrección. Ámen.

Divine Mercy Sunday and Parish

I spent Divine Mercy Sunday at Divine Mercy Parish in Brownsville, Texas, with the added joy of confirming some 65 candidates for the Sacrament. Divine Mercy is the newest of 12 parishes in the City, and is currently in temporary facilities. Soon the first building on the Church property located on the east side of Alton Gloor Street will be complete, and I look forward to blessing it so that Mass can be celebrated there. Moving into the new facility will be a great day for the parish community.

A view from the Altar, with the Confirmation class in front.

To the right.

To the left.

Lots of people, as you can see, and a fitting example of the joy and peace the Church contemplates on Divine Mercy Sunday. This joy comes from knowing that the Lord has appeared to his disciples and He has breathed his Spirit upon them. The victory over sin and death which He won for us by his Cross and Resurrection is now shared with us by an outpouring of his risen life into us. Baptism initiates this sharing, Holy Communion nourishes it, and Confirmation strengthens it into a share in the Lord's mission to the world. As I am fond of saying to our Confirmation candidates throughout the diocese, the gift is given so that we can go out the Church doors confident in the final victory that is ours in Christ Jesus. The victory is not so much ours personally-- it is that of course-- but it is also a victory for the human family, a vindication of goodness and grace over the multiple manifestations of sin that scar our world. The reading of the Passion should still be fresh in our minds, and with it, a vivid sense that evil and sin are agressive, and seek to destroy all that is good and noble in the human creature. But of all the pernicious effects of evil and sin, the most deadly is the power it has to discourage us from doing good, and being good. Another thing I tend to repeat at Confirmations: If it were easy to be good, everybody would be that way. But it is not so easy, it requires the gift of God that comes to us through the sacraments, and especially Confirmation. The ferocity we saw in the Passion is not unknown to us in our time. Evil continues to try to knock down goodness, crucify it and bury it, so as to keep it down forever. The victory of Jesus Christ over the tomb is thus for us the sure sign that in the end, the Goodness of God cannot be kept down. In Christ Jesus, goodness wins, mercy wins. And thus when we are made sharers in his Spirit we are offered a share in his victory.

This is so important to our young people, who are so often discourged in the pursuit of goodness and virtue. Thus the gift of the strength and power of the Holy Spirit is for them, and for us, a remedy to our tendency to give up the good fight for what is innocent, honorable, beautiful and noble in life. If we don't believe that in the end goodness triumphs, how could we have the courage to make the sacrifices needed to live a good and honorable life? Discouragement leads to despair. This is our greatest suffering as men and women. And the gift of the Spirit is the remedy offered to us by the Risen Christ, solidifying in us the confidence we need to get up whenever sin and evil succeed in knowcking us down. We believe in Christ Crucified and Risen; We believe in the victory of goodness over sin, and so we live in the deep and abiding hope that, as S. Teresa of Avila said, "All will be well." This is the mercy that is the remedy for our fatigue and temptations to despair. In a world where there is increasing shadow, where so many simply throw up their hands in the face of the aggressiveness of evil, and say "what's the use?", we say the mercy of God has appeared, and has come to dwell within us by his Spirit. And armed with the very goodness of Jesus, we can have the courage to be good, too. In the end, this is what our communities most need, couragous men and women, young and old, with the confidence rooted in faith that renews a light of hope in the world. For, al fin y al cabo, what do we hope for? We hope for the victory of life over death, joy over sadness, mercy over recrimination, and justice over injustice. All this we believe in, because Christ is risen. And because Christ is risen, we believe that-- despite the power of death, sadness, recrimination and injustice-- goodness wins. Call upon the Mercy of God in times of trial and sorrow. The Spirit will strengthen you, help you to a better day, and confirm you in the courage simply to remain firm in goodness.

Books

I like to read. And I like to talk about books. I am not, though, a very disciplined reader. Some people flip television channels impatiently when a commercial comes on, I pick up a new book, depending on my frame of mind. This used to drive my spiritual director in the seminary crazy. He always told me I would read more efficiently if I focused on one at a time. (I was not willfully disobedient to him, just woefully lacking in will with regard to this point.)

I also think one of the most important gifts we can give to our children in the community is a love of books, and of reading. It is a way of traveling through time and place without ever having to get on an airplane. Believe me, I get on enough airplanes as it is, anytime I can go somewhere without having to go somewhere, I am like a kid at Christmas. There are of course good books, and bad books; disappointing books and surprisingly good books. Some books are good for the soul, some are not. Some books ornament the soul with a richer sense of the wonder of things. Some drag you down into a not very happy sense of the pain in things. I hesitate to recommend books unless I know a person fairly well. Why? Because a book is a world you enter into, but it is also a world that enters into you. Once it is in your memory, it is near impossible to erase at least its residual effects. The books by the Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón (La sombra del viento, El juego del angel, El prisionero del cielo) sort of poke around that particular power in books. I am not sure if I fully agree with what his poking around this topic implies, but then, I am not sure I fully grasp what his books imply. I do know I enjoyed reading them. But my point is that we should be careful when we introduce something like a book into the memory of another; strive to make it something that builds up the goodness of a person, and not pull out the worst in people. You sort of have to know someone at least somewhat to know whether it will be worth their while to read a particular book. Everybody should read the Confessions of Saint Augustine at least once in their life.

People do ask me from time to time what I have read recently, and I usually list a few I have either just finished or just started, or that are still lingering in my mind even though I finished them a while back. Because of my lack of discipline, after a while, I do get confused about when I read a particular book and what I was thinking when I read it. The different books I read at any given time usually complement each other. That is not necessarily by design, it just sort of happens.  This blog, I thought, might provide me with a little discipline, in that every once in a while I can describe what I am reading, and invite anyone to comment if they want to.

I just finished the fifth book in the Las aventuras del Capitán Alatriste series by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It is entitled El caballero del jubón amarillo. The whole series is widely translated into many languages, and the English is easily available. If you like adventure stories, set in historically detailed 17^th Century Spain, during the reign of Felipe IV, this one is for you. But, be warned, the author methodically moves you to appreciate the paradox of a man, at once heroic and loyal, yet profoundly sad to not to be able to hope anymore in the final triumph of what is noble and heroic. The tired hero knows what he is supposed to do, he is just not sure anymore why he should be doing it. A personal sense of honor moves him, but even that powerful motive seems to be losing its efficacy. Set in olden days, the themes of the books are contemporary, if you take as a contemporary cultural preoccupation (as I do) the struggle to live honorably in a world where people think nothing can be trusted anymore. The stories have their brutal moments. Me parece que el autor sigue en la línea de sus otras obras, investigando las expresiones del heroísmo, y sus raíces, mientras muestra la figura de un héroe cansado. Este cansancio heroico es tema contemporáneo en el sentido que nuestra cultura todavía siente el impulso para grandes sacrificios para el bien, pero falta de confianza en las instituciones que tradicionalmente inspiran los sacrificios. Obviously, I enjoy this series, otherwise why am I about to start the sixth book in it?

I am almost done with Charles Taylor’s Modern Social Imaginaries. It is a finely instructive book. When I am done, I might say more about why this book, and others by Charles Taylor are important to know about.

More on these sorts of topics as time allows. In the meantime, read when you can!

Religous Liberty

As you know, the Catholic Church in the United States-- together with many other religious bodies in the United States-- objects strenuously to recent governmental efforts to sharply curtail the exercise of religious liberty in this country. The issues involved range from the recent HHS mandate to efforts to limit the Church's freedom to minister to the immigrant community. In order to focus on these kinds of issues, not long ago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops formed an ad hoc committee on Religious Liberty. I am happy to serve on that ad hoc committee. Under the auspices of the National Conference of Bishops, the ad hoc committee has prepared a document entitled Our First, Most Cherished Liberty. It is a thoughtful document and places the issue of religious freedom in the broader context of American history, Catholic tradition, and contemporary challenges. I encourage you to read it carefully, and give its content serious and thoughtful reflection.

The document may be found in English at the USCCB web-site, at the following link.

http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/our-first-most-cherished-liberty.cfm

El documento se encuentra en Español en la pagina de web del USCCB, en el siguiente enlace.

http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/la-primera-y-mas-preciada-de-nuestras-libertades.cfm

I am sure I will have more to say about these issues as time progresses. In the meantime ¡Ánimo!

Outdoor Stations at the Basilica

The Outdoor Stations of the Cross celebrated at the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle on Good Friday is one of the great events of the year in the Rio Grande Valley. It is deeply moving to see so many people walk the Way of the Cross together, young and old, rich and poor,... all of us seeking the grace to accompany the Lord on his road of sorrow. If you were not able to participate this year, I encourage you to make plans for next year.

You might also want to check out this link to The Monitor, whose photographer, Gabe Hernandez, took some beautiful pictures of this year's Stations of the Cross at the Basilica Shrine.

http://m.themonitor.com/Slideshows?id=13452052

Good Friday to Easter

Here are a few nice pictures that capture some of the ceremonies at Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Good Friday and at the Easter Vigil. Special thanks to all the altar servers and musicians who helped make the Triduum such a beautiful celebration.
 

The unveiling of the Cross.

The Veneration of the Cross

Opening monition as we prepare the Pascal Fire.

Preparing the Candle. (You have no idea how close I came to catching this vernerable vestment on fire!)

Twelve were baptized, confirmed and received their first Holy Communion at the Vigil at IC Cathedral in Brownsville.

¡Felicidades a todos los recien bautizados, confirmados, comulgados en todas nuestras parroquias, y a todos los padrinos y a todas las familias!

Carta Pascual, 2012

Mis queridos hermanos y hermanos en el Señor Jesucristo,

¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡En verdad ha resucitado! Con estas palabras de dialogo amistoso, muchos cristianos de todas partes del mundo se saludan hoy y durante estos días. Siguen la costumbre antigua de la iglesia. El saludo funciona de la misma manera que el saludo de la mañana: ¿Como amaneció? Bien, gracias. ¿Usted? El saludo siempre invita una respuesta.

La formula da expresión practica al sentido comunitario del triunfo de Jesucristo Nuestro Señor sobre la muerte. El Señor no sufrió la cruz, ni mató el dragón de la muerte solo para mí, ni--perdóneme usted-- para ti. Consumó la obra redentora para nosotros, o sea, para todos los seres humanos. Vivimos en un mundo contemporáneo donde el individualismo parece infiltrar hasta la iglesia. Por eso es preciso recordar que el anuncio que Cristo ha resucitado implica un júbilo compartido. Así como María Magdalena y Simón Pedro y los demás discípulos se saludaron con la noticia de la resurrección aquel domingo de gloria, así nosotros nos saludamos para compartir nuestra alegría en común. La iglesia encuentra algo de su propia identidad con vivir este deseo espontaneo de compartir la buena nueva dentro de la comunidad de creyentes.

La alegría de la iglesia se experimenta como un consuelo que nos anima a vivir con nuevas esperanzas. El Cristo, justo y misericordioso, que en su condenación recibió ni justicia ni misericordia, ha manifestado el triunfo de la vida sobre los poderes del mundo. Ha resucitado, y nos damos cuenta al oír la noticia que este mundo cerrado ha sido visitado por el amor poderoso de Dios. La luz del cielo ha penetrado hasta nosotros, alcanzando a lo más oscuro del recinto humano. Creer en la resurrección de Jesucristo causa florecer nuevas esperanzas sobre el destino final de la historia, de todos los acontecimientos humanos, y de nuestras vidas particulares. ¿Quién lo hubiera pensado, qué la muerte, enfurecida, iba buscar como tragar el autor de la vida en la batalla del Calvario? ¿Quién lo hubiera imaginado, que la vida iba tragar la muerte en aquella lucha que se llevó a cabo en la Cruz?

Pero el Saludo Pascual nos invita a pensar de nuevo sobre nuestra responsabilidad de compartir la buena nueva. En otras palabras, nos señala la necesidad de prepararnos a ser agentes activos en la nueva evangelización del mundo. ¿Qué sucede, por ejemplo, si saludamos a una persona sin fe en Cristo con el saludo de alegría Cristo ha resucitado? Quizá el no-creyente nos responde con una pregunta: ¿De veras? ¿Cómo lo sabe usted? ¿Qué testimonio personal podemos dar a tal persona, pidiendo alguna razón, para aceptar el anuncio? Es preciso preguntarnos nosotros mismos como manifestar creíblemente que la realidad de Cristo resucitado aun se muestra en la vida. Sin fe en la resurrección de Cristo, el mundo se cae en una tristeza inexorable. De la  herida de la tristeza sale el demonio de la desesperación; y la desesperación es la raíz de muchos males en el mundo.

La alegría de la fe nos conmueve a ofrecer el saludo de esperanza: ¡Cristo ha resucitado! La compasión y la misericordia, mirando tantos males en este mundo, nos urgen a buscar como invitar a todo el mundo a dar la respuesta apropiada: ¡En verdad ha resucitado!

Que la luz del Cristo resucitado engendra en ustedes, sus familias y sus días, la nueva e inextinguible esperanza en el triunfo completo de la vida sobre la muerte. 

¡Cristo ha resucitado!

¡En verdad ha resucitado!

Amén.

+++

Easter Message

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Christ is risen!” There is an ancient Christian custom called the Paschal Greeting.  This custom is preserved in many parts of the world.  It is like saying “good morning” to someone. Like all greetings, it is meant to elicit a friendly response. A person first says, “Christ is risen,” then the other responds by saying: “He is risen, indeed.” There are variations on the wording of the greeting and response, but you get the idea.

 The greeting tells us something about the way Christians, both ancient and modern, understood and appreciated the significance of the Paschal Victory of Christ over death. The Easter event is first of all the joyful news that is exchanged gratefully by the assembly of believers. This is a news that cannot be fully experienced alone. Believers share the news with each other, just like the first disciples of the Lord shared the news when they first heard it.  Christ did not suffer the Cross and die, and then rise again just for me, or just you. He did it for each one, and when we profess this truth in a greeting, our very dialogue is a profession of faith in the reality of the Church as the assembly of those who live in the unity of faith in the redemptive work of the Savior. The dialogue that is the Paschal Greeting witnesses to the fact that the “you and I” of daily experience are suddenly a “we” in the light of Christ Risen.

At the Easter Vigil, and during the Masses of Easter Sunday, the news is announced, and the faithful respond joyfully. As in the days of Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, the news consoles and uplifts. The Lord whom we know was Just and Merciful, and who was unjustly and mercilessly condemned to death on the Cross, is risen. Death has not defeated Him, and the path to life He preached and exemplified is fully vindicated. This news fortifies our hope that the love of God we have experienced in the person and message of the Lord truly breaks through the circled orb of the world. The light of eternity shines onto us as a manifestation of the triumph of truth and goodness and beauty. What we had often grown tired of hoping could be truly possible for our lives, is shown to be transcendently real.  This is the grace of faith and hope, crowned by the gift of charity generated in the hearts of believers.

But this ancient greeting, so simple yet so profound, signals for us also that this news cannot be contained only within the confines of the Church. It must be announced to the world. Here, the point is that believers must look beyond their own pews, into the wider world, in order to make known that hope is truly reborn in the rising of Christ from the dead. So, if we say “Christ is risen,” to someone who does not belong to any religion, or who finds him or herself agnostic before the issue of God’s existence and goodness, we invite a response. It may not be the same response initially that we get in Church. Maybe someone will say: “Really? How do you know?” Although, for politeness, most non-believers might just say “that’s nice.” And in recognizing the many different kinds of responses we might get outside the Church to our greeting, we come face to face with our task in the New Evangelization. How do we respond to an uncertain response? How do we show and say that the experience of the risen Christ is marvelously real, and that it is possible for us to hope again in the goodness of human life, and in its final destiny in the goodness and mercy of God? The world is a sad place without this news, and without this conviction that in the end, by God’s grace, life triumphs over death. It is up to us to renew the springs of hope that course through our culture.

In a world where death seems so often to reign unchallenged, may the light of the Risen One fill your days, your families, and your loved ones with new hope in the unstoppable triumph of life and mercy.

“Christ is risen!”

“He is risen, indeed!”

Amen.

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Good Friday

Human history is a procession, a movement through time and space. Like a river, it has carried us along for millennia. Well maybe not; perhaps it is not so much a procession but is rather more like a wandering, a dispersal. A procession is a deliberate, public movement; a wandering is a scattered, private, and not very purposeful movement. A lack of true deliberateness has marked the human move through time. Ordinary men and kings have all tried to bend the wandering to a purpose, sometimes noble, sometimes cruel, sometimes just trivial. Where are we supposed to be going? Are we there yet? Freedom, so basically misunderstood all this time as merely a power to bend the movement of life to our immediate aims, wants and strivings. We decide where to go and when we have arrived, fearing deep inside ourselves that there really is nowhere to go, and we can never really get there.

The redemption, though, is surely a procession, a deliberate movement through place and time that is at the same time a display, a making known. People get lost in a wandering; people find themselves in a procession. We end Holy Thursday with a procession of the Eucharistic specie from the Altar which has just served as a backdrop for the Washing of the Feet, and which immediately after offered its flattened surface for the sacrificial supper. The procession went to the Altar of Repose, where the disciples wait and pray a while with the Lord. Some might have fallen asleep. Where is He going? And are we there yet?

Salió a la noche acompañado

por los que se habían alimentado,

(y pronto se durmieron los sustentados

hasta la venida de los soldados).

Con un beso traicionado,

Él ya se había regalado,

con su cuerpo al toque dado;

antes que el manto se lo hayan arrancado,

Él mismo libremente se lo había quitado

en sangre-seña de amor licuado.

But the procession resumes on Good Friday with the Passion itself. The Lord moves deliberately; his disciples, start to wander. The Stations of the Cross are also a deliberate movement. Their public nature displays to the eye what the mind and heart is invited to take in. Some people follow Jesus in the procession, others wait for him at particular points on the road. As we follow step by step, we enter more deeply into the identity and mission of this One. Pontius Pilate stops the procession in order to show Him to the people: Behold the Man. Yes, a man, like all men, beaten and bloodied by a cruelty both anonymous and clearly authored. Everyone and no one has mocked this man. Everyone and no one has judged him. The procession moves on. Again Pilate takes him out to show him to the people: Behold your king. The same One, only more humiliated, laughed at and rejected than ever. The display is more intensely revealing because it is meant so sarcastically; a mockery turns into an announcement. Every man is a king, and a king shows himself a man, when he is sovereign over his decisions and acts. When the procession stops, Jesus utters the words: It is finished.

Con su último aliento dado,

enardeció la tierra por cada lado,

engendrando en ella un gran temblor.

Noche fecunda de pasión vaciada,

ofrenda entera que no preserva nada,

riega la tierra desde el monte sagrado,

corre torrente desde su costado.

The Fathers of the Church and Saint Thomas all linger over the deliberateness with which the Lord gives himself over to death. No one takes my life from me, I give it freely. This much of the divine prerogative the Word made Flesh retained in Himself, the power to hold death at bay until He decides to let it take Him. And if this prerogative found a suitable expression in the human nature of the Son, than we learn in this procession that we too can retain sovereignty, be men and kings, even when the jaws of the lion approach. He retains sovereignty throughout, even at the moment of death, so that we can recover sovereignty at every moment of life. He has bent the movement through time and place to a different way. Our freedom is not so much about making life subject to our power, as it is a gift by which we donate ourselves to the Maker of life.

And when it is finished, the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, He was heard because of his reverence. Heard by whom? The Father hears the giving over, and receives the gift. The procession will take up again, but like all things that touch the human, it will take a little time. If death is a dead-end of rubble that blocks our way further through the procession of life, and if history is a chronicle of our race’s vain efforts to either knock through it or pretend it is not there, then the Cross is the battering ram that confronts its balrog-ferocity and opens the passage-way to the Father’s House. Didn’t you know that was where we were going? We are almost there. We can wait here until the third day.

The freedom of God, and the freedom of men: We are kings and queens in the sovereignty of Christ. We know this, because God the Son has entered the human wandering and changed its direction forever; He has turned into a procession.  Amen.

The Altars of Repose

After Holy Thursday Mass, The Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession to a place set aside for silent adoration until midnight. Our Churches in the Valley devote much time and effort in preparing the Altar of Reposition, so that it can be a place of great beauty and dignity. Here are a few that I was able to visit on Holy Thursday night.

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Holy Family Church in Brownsville

Good Shepherd Church in Brownsville

Saint Luke in Brownsville

Unfortunately, not all of my pictures came out so good. I need to work on the picture taking thing. As I moved around the city during the later evening, I met many people who were taking part in the traditional "Visit to the Seven Churches". This is a meaningful devotion on Holy Thursday night, as families go to visit the Blessed Sacrament in seven different churches, in order to honor the Lord, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father.

I think that what is most beautiful about the Altars of Repose is the numbers of faithful who spend time with the Lord during the late evening. It is a way of trying to accompany the Lord as He moves from the quiet dignity of the Last Supper to his prayer in the Garden of Olives. The scene shifts, and the Church knows, the time of the Passion has begun.

Holy Thursday

Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Holy Thursday Night.

The humility of the Son of God dramatically displayed on Holy Thursday night is a free and prodigal extension of that primordial self-pouring that originates in the out-flowing of the Son from the Father. The Eucharistic gift and the gift of the Cross-- each mirrored in the act of washing the feet-- is the willed consequence of his original desire to become flesh. The Triduum begins (las tres medidas de la sabana). The astonishing removal of his teacher’s cloak, as He took on the work of a common servant, signals for us the prior setting aside of his divine prerogatives. He emptied Himself, Saint Paul says, referring to the Incarnation. And He took the form of a slave, he adds, referring to the condition of his human estate. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, Saint Paul continues, referring to the mysteries initiated this night.

En la noche en que iba a ser entregado,

el Señor se quitó el manto,

y empezó a lavar los pies de sus discípulos.

Voluntariamente se despojó de su vestidura,

señalando con un solo gesto

todo lo que de Él procedió y procedía,

las tres medidas de la sábana,

que Él mismo extendió y extendía.

Siendo hijo estallado,

por la noche engendrado

en el amor increado,

torrente pulcro de efusión,

albor derramando puro ardor.

Se despojó de su categoría,

y tomó condición de siervo;

tal rebaje hubiera demasiado sido,

el serse hombre por creados medido,

a no ser que el amor paterno

mayor cosa le habría pedido.

Así sucedió, según el dicho

que nos cuenta la voz

de un buen testigo.

He freely gave up his outward expression of dignity, his cloak, unveiling the mystery of the divine presence in the act of a servant. His divine power unveils itself more clearly, with a new kind of glory, in this act; much as the Eucharist is revealed more clearly when the veil is removed and the food from heaven is given to a people who hunger for the holiness of God. This servant’s gift is an act that renders more noble the one receiving. So the Eucharist. Rude disciples, made clean by an act most courteous displayed in rudest form. So the Cross.

Real men have feet that need washing, so a real washer shows by his act the what and the why of both Eucharist and Cross. If you would have life, you must be poured out, like water in a basin; but before you can pour out, you must be poured into. This gift is his Body and Blood, it is his humble act of of washing clean,  his food for the truthful hungry, and his sacrifice that holds nothing in reserve. The Body of Christ. Amen.

 

Renunció la túnica de alta postura,

la muestra ligera de su maestría;

cedió el manto decoroso

que su cuerpo majestoso

en misterio cubría.

Quitado velo, rebajado cuerpo,

lentamente por rendimiento

su poder divino se divulgó;

el hijo único a tierra dado,

su indumento abandonó.

Aquel momento irradiaba,

y el tiempo estrenaba,

el alto toque de su gran fervor.

Bañó los pies de sus compañeros,

hombres reales, humildes- tercos,

que por ser tales tipos

merecieron su más cortés favor.

Con su cuerpo así expuesto,

se mostró bien honesto,

al trabajo ágil-presto,

seña-acto del buen maestro.

Tomó tarea de corriente esclavo

para que los de mente torpe

se dieran cuenta en otro tiempo

que cuando se presentó en sangre-cuerpo,

no por fuerza ni sin gasto

dio su ser en sacramento,

pasto de hombre de verdad hambriento.