The NY Times Covers NE Portland

The New York Times today has an article discussing the changing racial make-up of my section of Portland.  Although I live four blocks from the intersection of Rosa Parks Way and Martin Luther King Blvd., names which presume a certain racial demographic, the neighborhood has been changing for quite some time, and gentrification is evident everywhere. I have definitely been able to see the changes this article talks about over my four years of affiliation with Holy Redeemer, and I can only imagine what this area will look like in five or ten years.

Week of Jim

Not that Jim Gallagher needed a bigger head . . . no, seriously, Jim has a really immense cranium . . . but all of his Portland buddies are feting him this week as we prepare to (reluctantly) send him off to his new assignment as Associate Vocations Director for the Indiana Province.

Just back from two weeks in Nicaragua and about to head off to Le Mans, France for another two weeks (I know, and you though I was the galavanter!) before he moves to South Bend in early July, this was the only full week we had to celebrate Jim in style.

Last night Ken Hallenius and Tommy Stofel hosted a bocce game on the UP campus, and this weekend we will be having a farewell dinner at the Rhinelander German restaurant and beers at the Moon and Sixpence pub.

Oh, and there are t-shirts! Here's the logo designed by Josh Noem and Fr. Nate Wills, CSC. It's pretty awesome, isn't it? They did a great job.

Brush with Greatness

Met fan though I am, great ball-players are great ball-players. 

As I was leaving the Westin on Sunday morning to meet Dave Reidy for breakfast, I saw these two gentlemen standing near the Starbuck's in the lobby:

They were waiting for their Dodger players to board the team bus. I recognized them immediately but walked past them at first. Then, in a split second I heard the voices of several people screaming at me for not taking the chance to greet these legends: my brother Matthew, the renegade Yankee fan in the family; Josh Noem, perhaps the most faithful fan of the American pastime I have ever known; and most of all Kevin Haley, the consummate star-gazer.

So I turned around, and walked right up to them. I shook Don Mattingly's hand and said that as I native New Yorker I couldn't miss the opportunity to greet them - and then I thanked Joe Torre for all the championships he brought to New York.

Joe seemed a little bit taken aback by the whole thing, but I was kind of impressed with how genuinely grateful Don Mattingly seemed to be. After all those years of debating Yankee fans about how much better Keith Hernandez was as a first baseman, I now have a sort of soft spot in my heart for old Donnie Baseball.

My Kind of Town

This weekend I traveled to the Windy City to preside at the wedding of Garett and Kori Skiba.

I left Portland on Friday morning and arrived at O'Hare by lunchtime. In a first for me, I was greeted at the airport by a car service and shuttled to the Westin on Michigan Avenue.

After a little bit of lunch at the world famous Geno's East, I got ready for the rehearsal. The wedding was held at St. Vincent de Paul parish at the De Paul University campus in Lincoln Park. The church is absolutely gorgeous after a massive restoration a few years ago. And the pastor, Fr. Pat Harrity, was a most gracious host.

After the rehearsal the wedding party retired to the Palm for a wonderful steak dinner, and then joined other out-of- town guests at the Rockbottom Brewery for drinks.

Since the wedding wasn't until Saturday afternoon, I was able to enjoy a late morning on Saturday and then spend some time walking the Magnificent Mile window shopping and people watching. Then at 2:30 pm we gathered back at St. Vincent's for the nuptials.

The wedding reception was held at Cafe Brauer and was a lovely affair. More than anything else I enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with many fellow Domers. Garett was one of the sophomores in my section of Siegfried Hall when I was an R.A. - and though they weren't dating at the time, Kori lived next door in Pasquerilla West. So there were quite a few Siegfried guys at the wedding, many of whom I haven't seen since they graduated in 2000 or 20001. Many are now married, and some are starting families - and oh yeah, I've been ordained - so there was plenty to talk about.

The party went well into the early hours of Sunday - helped along nicely by the very fine band, Maggie Speaks. Then it was an early morning for the Sunday brunch held back at the Westin. Thankfully I had some time on Sunday afternoon to relax.

That evening, Greg Haake and Vince Kuna joined me in the city for dinner and drinks at Luxbar. It was great to see them both and to have the chance to catch up and relax with them. Greg is heading to Paris for graduate studies and Vince will profess final vows and serve as a deacon in Colorado Springs - so exciting changes are ahead for both of them.

Finally, on Monday morning I had the chance to have breakfast with my friend and Notre Dame classmate Dave Reidy. Besides being one of the nicest, smartest and funniest guys you could ever want to meet, Dave is already a prize-winning author. One day soon I'll have the pleasure of alerting you all to the publication of one of his novels or short story collections. Hopefully he won't forget about us little people.

From start to finish it was a heck of a weekend. Lot's of reconnecting with friends, enjoying good food and drink and celebrating. 

Wedding Weekend

I have been in Chicago since Friday for the wedding of Garett and Kori Skiba. It's been a great weekend. Look for more posts on the whole trip once I return to Portland on Monday. Enjoy the long weekend!

Peanut Goodfellas

I'm normally very reverent in my devotion to Charles Schulz's characters . . . but this is hilarious!!

Iron Chef!

After saying the Saturday Vigil Mass at Holy Redeemer, I headed over to the University of Portland at the invitation of Brenda Greiner and Kristina Houck. They had a few open spots at a UP table for the Children's Relief Nursery annual auction and dinner. Only this wasn't your typical auction dinner. The evening also included Portland's own . . . 

. . . Iron Chef competition! But I'll get to that in a minute.

Each year at the Children's Relief Nursery auction a group of four Portland chefs are invited to prepare appetizers for the crowd of approximately 200 diners. The diners are then invited to select their favorite appetizer, and the chef who created it is slated to be in the Iron Chef competition for next year.

Brenda, Kristina and I were joined by Any Noethe, Dan Adams, Fr. Jim Lies, CSC and others.

We began the evening with good Oregon wine and beer, and then made the rounds sampling the appetizers for the competition. The first was a cold cucumber soup made by Jack Yoss of Ten 01 restaurant here in Portland's pearl District. While we enjoyed the cucumber taste, we all thought it off-putting to be drinking something with cucumber taste. 

The last appetizer of the night was a fried wonton with a piece of stir fried duck balanced on top. It was the creation of Nelie Serapion of Pinocchio. Although its flavors were pleasant, the duck was chewy and the overall composition completely unwieldy for an appetizer.

The middle two appetizers of the evening were the best. My favorite was made by Gregory Smith of Noble Rot. I'm not sure I can even remember precisely what his delectable morsel was called, but I will simply describe it as a patte like substance on a crostini. It was delicious.  

My compatriots, however, sided with the eventual winner: Adam Sappington of the Country Cat Dinnerhouse. His very simple smoked salmon appetizer, though delicious, was a little common for my tastes. Everyone else seemed to like the fact that he kept things simple and direct. 

After the appetizers we all sat down to a lovely Asian inspired meal prepared by the fine men and women of Bon Appetite. The salad course was a large vegetable spring roll with several lovely Asian dipping sauces. This was followed by an entree of Asian pork chop and rice - and the pork was cooked to absolute perfection which is a minor miracle considering how many people they were serving at once. The only disappointment was the desert - a pistachio (we think - because it was kinda green) cheese cake that was still frozen in the middle - oops!

While we were all enjoying good food, good drink, and good friends, the wealthier attendees were bidding on fabulous trips and other auction items. Thankfully a great deal of money was raised for this good cause.

But really the action was just beginning to heat up. When the auction finished everyone's attention turned to Kitchen Stadium where last year's appetizer champion, John Newmann of Newmans at 988 in Canon Beach, OR faced off against David Anderson of Vindalho here in Portland.

From the outset, I was pulling for David Anderson because I had read a lovely little article about him and his identical twin brother, who is also a chef, in the Oregonian not that long ago. As the competition got going, I was only confirmed in my loyalty. John was a bit too eager to be a comedian rather than a chef, and David, assisted by his twin, worked with Zen-like focus (or at least that's how the evening's MC described it . . . I could just tell he was intense).  

David also made much better use of the secret ingredient: lamb parts, including kidney and liver along with steaks. Whereas John didn't use kidney or liver at all, and paired a steak with a piece of halibut, David used chopped kidney to flavor the rice dish that his lamb steak was served on. I gave him big points for going all out on the secret ingredient and not hiding anything by adding another "meat."

Only the judges got to taste the finished products, but apparently they agreed with me: David Anderson was declared the seventh Iron Chef of Portland! 

Although my descriptions don't do it justice, it was a really great concept for an auction event and we had a blast. I can only hope I'm invited again next year!

Mambo Italiano!

Holy Redeemer Parish held its Third Annual Italian Dinner this Sunday.  In the past, the food was provided by the wonderful chefs of Bon Appetite at the University of Portland. But as wonderful as those guys are, we all know there is nothing better than homemade Italian food. So this year, Marc Battilega, his son Stephen, and a whole bunch of other family members did the sauce and pasta preparations. Other parishioners pitched in by baking desserts, serving and cleaning up . . . 

I can't say how well the event did as a fundraiser, but it was certainly a great meal and alot of fun for everyone who attended. Grazie, to everyone involved.

"When You See Love, You See the Trinity" - Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (A)

Like all feasts of the Church, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity tells us something about God’s nature and His relationship to humanity – and in turn tells us something about ourselves as well.

The doctrine on the Trinity, which today’s feast celebrates reminds us that God has revealed His innermost secret: at His most basic level of being, though God is one, He is a community of persons.

God is a dynamic relationship. We say ‘God is Love,’ and rightly so, for that is what He is, but we don’t mean that He is the concept or the idea of love; we mean that He is in fact, in essence, love in action: an exchange of love.

The Trinity is God’s self-revelation that He is the Father who gazes upon the Son, the Son who beholds the Father, and the Spirit, the love that emanates from and unites them.

Today’s feast also tells us that by virtue of God being this exchange of love, God relates to His people through a sharing of this love. In the first reading, God describes himself to Moses, saying: “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.”

And in the Gospel, St. John explains that God’s love for the world was so great “that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

Our belief in the Trinity, and our celebration of that belief today, affirms that “it belongs to God’s very nature to be committed to humanity - that God’s covenant with us is irreversible - that God’s face is unchangingly turned towards us in love, and that God’s presence in our lives is utterly reliable and constant.”

These are all things that today’s celebration of the Trinity tells us about God. But in telling us these things about God the doctrine of the Trinity explains the truth of human nature as well.

If we believe, as we do, that humans are created in the image and likeness of God, and God is in essence a communion, a relationship of love, then we must recognize that God has destined us to share in the exchange of love that defines His very existence.

God’s self-revelation of His Triune nature is a revelation about true human nature as well: we are meant for communion, with God and with one another.

This runs counter to one of the deepest and most pervasive errors of our time: the error of radical individualism. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, and perhaps in our modern American culture more than in any other culture, we live as if we are islands unto ourselves.

We have taken the truth of our individuality, and the truth of our human freedom and so exaggerated them that we delude ourselves into thinking that we are autonomous – the independent centers of our own little universes.

We create our own realities, our own definitions of right and wrong. We are not willing to give in on our wants and needs and only enter into relationship when we think it’s to our advantage. Even in the crisis of marriage, and the crisis of vocations to religious life, we can see proof of an individualism that is unable to subordinate one’s own needs and wants to the demands of living in communion with the other. To a frightening degree, we are forgetting how to live for others and how to strive for unity with ‘the other.’

The great sadness of all this is that while the shelves at the bookstore fill with more and more books about how to fulfill the self, our belief in the Trinity provides us with the real answer we are searching for.

The more that we are in touch with who we are at the deepest level of our being – that is, a beloved child of God, made in the image and likeness of the Triune God – then the more we realize the necessity of opening ourselves to others the way God Himself has done.

When we open ourselves in this way, the ‘I’ and ‘me’ of individualism is united with the ‘thou’ of another person in such a way that the encounter creates a whole new reality: the ‘we’ that can only exist in a unity of persons.

Think of great friendships, and communities – think of successful sports teams . . . you know the old expression: there’s no ‘I” in ‘TEAM’. . . think especially of holy marriages, in which the ‘I’ of the ego is subordinated to the ‘we’ of faithful relationship in such a way that the couple becomes what they are called to be: an icon of the Triune God.

“The more we are able to enter into different kinds of deeply personal relationships, the more we will be able to encounter God who Has revealed Himself as a community of relationships.” Thus St. Augustine has said “if you see love, you see the Trinity.”

That’s why in today’s second reading St. Paul instructs the Christian community in Corinth to “encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace.” Our belief in the Trinity is not just about who we believe God to be. It is about who we are, and how we are meant to live. The Trinity calls us out of individualism into a solidarity with others that can only grow out of the type of self-giving that God shows us by giving us His only Son, and which Jesus shows us by His trusting submission to the Father.

We pray to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, in order that we might be drawn out of ourselves into deeper communion with Him and with one another, and so become who were created to be from the beginning.

"Well Done Good and Faithful Servant"

A few years ago Pat Cary, a Holy Redeemer parishioner and former parish nurse, began a wonderful pro-life apostolate here in Portland.

In part, Martha & Mary Ministries was founded in response to Oregon's decision to allow physician assisted suicide. Pat and other Catholics from the medical fields founded Martha & Mary Ministries to educate people about end of life issues, and in particular to provide dignity for those who are dying and their families. Among other things, volunteers from Martha & Mary Ministries take turns sitting vigil with dying persons who do not have family members nearby so that they are not alone at that holy moment of death. Currently a great deal of effort is being placed in building a Catholic hospice house here in North Portland to facilitate this kind of physical and spiritual care.

Last night Martha & Mary Ministries held a fund-raising dinner at which Ken Hallenius served as Master of Ceremonies. I was only able to attend for a brief bit of the cocktail hour as I had Confessions and Benediction back at Holy Redeemer - but all reports are that Ken did a wonderful job and that the evening was a great success. Congratulations to Pat and many thanks to Ken (I was the one who gave Ken's name to Pat) - and let us all keep this wonderful ministry in our prayers!

A Lovely Day

With the Holy Cross community at the University of Portland on retreat this week at Mt. Angel Benedictine Abbey, Josh and Stacey Noem invited me to celebrate Mass at the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. I said the University's usual 12 Noon Mass. 

Immediately afterwards, a whole bunch of fun people at the University got together for a picnic lunch. The group included the characters seen below: Kristina Houck, Ken Hallenius, Dan Adams and Stacey Noem. What a great way to enjoy today's SPECTACULAR weather!

Summer on the Way?

People around here are taking a "we'll believe it when we see it" attitude, but here's the forecast for the next few days in Portland. If this actually comes to pass, I will be one happy camper!

Once a Sacristan . . .

Holy Redeemer Catholic School is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and a number of events have been planned throughout the year to celebrate.  Today, in association with the Archdiocese of Portland, the University of Portland's School of Education, and the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame, Holy Redeemer School hosted a Symposium on Catholic Education.  

All of the Catholic school teachers in the Archdiocese, as well as many pastors, school board members and parishioners gathered at the University of Portland for this event.  The day began with the keynote address by Fr. Edward "Monk" Molloy, C.S.C. the president-emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. Later in the day, the participants attending two of nearly twenty "break-out" sessions on topics ranging from classroom management to building better school boards.

But for me, the day revolved around the Symposium Mass celebrated by Archbishop Vlazny of the Archdiocese of Portland. Although I had no role in planning for the Liturgy, I had been asked to be around to offer assistance with hosting the Archbishop and organizing the concelebrants. However, things were a little bit un-organized and I found myself falling back into my old role as a university sacristan. 

Thank God, Stacey Noem was the contact person assigned to the Mass from the Office of Campus Ministry at the University of Portland, and the Archbishop brought his wonderful Master of Ceremonies Todd Cooper. Between the three of us we pulled it all together in the nick of time and the majority of participants would never have guessed how frantic everything was right up to the moment we began. I guess its once a sacristan always a sacristan!

The Upside of the Hilltop

This week Holy Cross religious from across the United States who are involved in ministry to Hispanic Catholics gathered here in Portland for a series of meetings dubbed "The Hilltop" (don't ask me why they're called that, I haven't a clue). 

Now I was not, and never have been involved in these meetings - so I can't say this for certain . . . but we've all been at things of the sort . . . and when you throw aging religious into the mix, I'm fairly confident that these meetings were something akin to Chinese water torture.

As I say, I got to avoid the meetings in the first place - but there was, none the less, a definite upside of the meetings being here in Portland: newly ordained Fr. Drew Gawrych, CSC was asked to attend the meetings and so he spent the week with us here in Portland.

You'll remember I was in South Bend in March for Fr. Drew's ordination and I enjoyed this chance to spend time catching up with Drew, hearing stories of his first month as a priest, and showing him around the Rose City.

As you can see, we had lovely weather on Friday and Fr. Drew and I enjoyed a walk down along the Willamette River. We also sated ourselves on giant Twilight Room burgers . . . Mmmmm. Hopefully, we were able to provide an upside to "The Hilltop" even for Fr. Drew. 

Thanks for visiting Fr. Drew, and come again soon!

A Decade of the Noems

On Friday I was thrilled to help celebrate a decade of Noems. 

And, no, we were not celebrating ten little garden elves. 

Friday was the tenth wedding anniversary of Josh and Stacey Noem - dear friends, ND MDiv. classmates, parishioners, colleagues, parents of three wonderful kids, including my god-daughter Lucy . . . the list goes on and on.

Ten years ago Josh and Stacey married at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart just one week before graduating from Notre Dame. Then they spent their honeymoon on the Oregon coast.  

Little did they know they would one day settle their little family in Portland, and have the chance to spend their 10th anniversary in the very same place they honeymooned!

Just before they blew out of town in their rented Mustang convertible (so jealous!) they stopped by the parish and Fr. Drew snapped this picture for us. Happy Anniversary dear Josh and Stacey!!

"God in the Mode of Gift" - Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost (A)

During the last fifty days, since we celebrated Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday, the Church had been reading the Scriptural accounts of Jesus’ appearances to His disciples.
But then, just last week, we celebrated the Feast of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven and, in turn, the Church changed its focus slightly, preparing for today’s feast by praying the Scripture passages in which Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples.

I said last week, that although we might be tempted to think of Jesus’ Ascension as His going away from us, our Lord Himself explained that He is with us until the end of the age and that it is for our advantage that He ascended into Heaven – so that He might send us “another Advocate,” the Holy Spirit. And so today’s Feast of Pentecost celebrates the fulfillment of that promise: the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Mary gathered in the Cenacle, or the Upper Room.

Although we are all, undoubtedly, familiar with the meaning of this great feast, and although we invoke the name of the Holy Spirit every time we make the sign of the Cross, I think it’s fair to say that many of us don’t really know much about the Holy Spirit – and as a result, we often shy away from talking about Him. We might think it best to leave talk of the Holy Spirit to charismatic Catholics, or to our Protestant brothers and sisters in Pentecostal movements.

And yet, the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Holy Trinity is God Himself, and so we certainly must come to know the person of the Holy Spirit in our lives and develop a deeper relationship with Him.

But how are we to go about doing this? Even the Scripture accounts of the Holy Spirit highlight how mysterious and intangible His presence is. The Holy Spirit is described as a wind – and as we know well, wind cannot be seen or touched. Or the Holy Spirit is described as tongues of flame – and flame too cannot be grasped and held. How then can we get a hold on the Holy Spirit in our lives.

I think these Scriptural images, while they make clear how intangible, how incorporeal the Holy Spirit is, they also give us some indication of how we come to know the presence of the Holy Spirit: a Spirit is not present in the sense of taking up space – a Spirit is present wherever it causes an effect.

Just as one knows and experiences the wind by feeling its movement on our face, or seeing its effects in the rustling leaves – and just as one feels and comprehends flame by experiencing its warmth and illumination – so too, one comes to know and experience the Holy Spirit by the effects He produces, by the gifts He brings.

Indeed, Pope John Paul II said that “through the Holy Spirit God exists in the mode of gift.” Isn’t that an amazing way to understand the third person of the Trinity. In the person of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son completes His giving of Himself – which is itself the Father’s gift of reconciling love and eternal life through His beloved Son.

Today’s Scriptural accounts of Pentecost certainly indicate that the Holy Spirit is experienced as a gift, and best understood through the effects that it produces. After the rush of wind and flames of fire descend on the Apostles, what happens?: they are filled with such understanding and courage that they bravely and energetically proclaim the Good News to the large crowds gathered in Jerusalem. And thanks to the power of the Spirit, these Jews from “every nation under heaven” “heard the Apostles speaking in their own language” and some three thousand people joined the Church that day.

But the age of the Spirit was just beginning the life of the Church that Pentecost day. There are endless other manifestations of the Spirit’s gifts all around us if we just take the time to see them.

The Holy Spirit is known and experienced in the Sacred Scripture and Tradition that He inspired – and so every time we read and pray with Scripture we are listening to the whisper of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is known and experienced in the sacraments and liturgy of the Church, through which He bestows God’s grace and restores us to the divine likeness. Indeed, whenever we pray, the Holy Spirit is in our minds, or hearts, and on our lips, because, as St. Paul says in today’s Letter to the Corinthians, no one is able to profess faith, or proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, unless the Holy Spirit gives them that gift.

The Holy Spirit is known and experienced in the Magisterium, which is the teaching authority of the bishops as successors of the Apostles. Through this gift, the Spirit gives His essential gifts of unity and truth to the Church, and is Himself responsible for the Church’s mission of evangelization.

Finally, in the lives of the saints, the Holy Spirit makes Himself known as the wellspring of all holiness, and shows us all a path to that holiness.

But perhaps, it is fair to say that as wonderful and important as these manifestations of the Spirit are, and as much as they are and should be crucial parts of our daily lives, perhaps the Spirit is still somewhat remote if it is only experienced in these ways. Perhaps we need to think of even more personal, individual, daily instances in which we can see the gifts and effects of the Holy Spirit and thus come to know Him better.

The Church has always spoken, therefore, of the gifts that the Spirit pours into each and everyone of us through the grace of Baptism and Confirmation – which is our personal sharing in the mystery of Pentecost. There are seven of these traditional gifts of the Spirit. They are:

The gift of WISDOM: Wisdom is the gift of the Spirit that allows us to see things clearly – the way God sees them. Wisdom helps us focus on the big picture when that is called for – like when we are tempted to explode in anger over some little inconvenience. And it helps us focus on the little things when that is called for – like when we offer someone a small kindness instead of just ignoring them in the hallway at work. When we are given the gift to know things truly, as they really are, then we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

The gifts of KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING: We are often mysteries to ourselves, and to others. God, and “the meaning of life” can also be mysterious to us. But we know that God wants us to know Him because of the ways He has revealed Himself – in Scripture and especially in Jesus Christ. The gifts of knowledge and understanding help us break open the meaning of Scripture and they help us with the big questions of life, like the nature of suffering and death. Whenever we come to know ourselves, other people, God, or the “mystery of life” just a little bit better, we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

The gift of RIGHT JUDGMENT: We all know very well our own weakness and sinfulness. The gift of right judgment helps us to properly use the gift of free will and to make good choices in life. Whenever we are capable of avoiding evil, or choosing to do some good for our own spiritual lives, or for the needs of a brother or sister, we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

The gift of COURAGE: Though fear is a healthy thing when it keeps us from reckless and dangerous choices, fear is also one of the most dangerous realities in the spiritual life. We all know that fear, especially fear of what others think of us, can paralyze us at times. Courage is the gift that allows us to overcome this kind of fear. Whenever we have the strength to make a difficult but correct choice, to stand up for what is right, to forgive when we have been wronged – then we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

The gift of AWE IN GOD’S PRESENCE: We have all at some point in our life, held a newborn baby, seen a rainbow, watched a spider spin a web, looked out over the Grand Canyon and been awed by the wonder of creation. This gift of the Spirit allows us to appreciate God’s awesome power and the love He has shown us in creating these amazing things. Whenever we glory in God’s creation, or wonder in amazement that He also knit us in love in our mother’s wombs, then we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

Finally, the gift of REVERENCE: Reverence is the gift of the Spirit that helps us respect ourselves and others. It helps us see and treat ourselves and others the way God sees us – as beloved children of God. It also teaches us to show God the respect and honor He deserves by worshipping Him and acting as He would have us act. Whenever we are moved to prayer or find it within ourselves to love another person, we have experienced the Holy Spirit.

Friends, in all of these ways, and in many, many others the Holy Spirit can be known by the effects, the fruits of His gifts in our daily lives. As St. Paul says, wherever there is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control" the Holy Spirit can be known in the effects He is having in our lives.

And so it remains only for us to answer: will we open our hearts and minds to correctly recognize the gifts of the Spirit. Will we commit ourselves to praying for the outpouring of His gifts on us and thank Him for His constant presence in our lives? How are we going to allow the Holy Spirit’s gifts to bear fruit in our lives? How are we, like the Apostles, going to allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to so burn within us that God’s message of love is brought to all the peoples of the world?

Brothers and sisters, even now a new Pentecost is pouring the fruits of the Holy Spirit upon us, making us a new creation, and sending us on mission to proclaim the Good News. May all the world be able to see in our lives the effects and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and thus may people of every nation come to know, love and serve the Lord.

Theology On Tap

This Thursday evening I was invited to speak at the Archdiocese of Portland's Theology on Tap.  This is a national program aimed at young adults . . . since they're no longer in college, being served by campus ministry, and they may not yet have married and had kids, twenty and thirty somethings can be a tough age group for the Church to get at and serve their needs well. 

Theology on Tap was created as a way for these young people to meet and support one another, have some fun over pizza and beer, and be nourished in their faith in some way - usually through a presentation on a faith topic and a discussion.

I was invited to speak to the group and immediately said yes - theology and beer?! I'd be a fool to say no! But then I had to decide what to talk about. In conversation with Brian Miskimins, the young layman who helps organize these evenings, we decided that since I was just in NY for the Holy Father's visit I should talk about what the Pope's visit and message might mean for the Church in the US, and especially in the lives of young people. 

It was a great evening. There was a good crowd and people seemed genuinely interested in the topic, especially when it came time for the Q&A: there were some really great questions.  And on top of that, the Lucky Lab Brewing Company has a great Golden Ale. What could be better!

I owe special thanks to my friend Dan Adams, a 2000 ND grad and employee of the University of Portland. We decided to car-pool to the event, and boy was I glad we did . . . I was planning on going to the WRONG Lucky Lab location!! Thankfully, Dan had read the email more attentively, and had been to one of these before. Thanks Dan, and thank you Holy Spirit!

Finally!!

Winter in Portland is rarely severe and this year was no exception. We had no measurable snow at all, and we even avoided the ice-storm that usually comes our way once or twice a winter. But what this winter lacked in strength it made up for in duration. Even native Portlanders have been complaining that the cool, gray, wet weather has held steady much, much longer than usual this year. So, when the temperatures climbed into the seventies yesterday AND today people breathed a sigh of relief. Spring, it seems, is finally here.

Since Monday is my day off, I took the chance to get out and about in the good weather. After running a few errands around town, I went down to Tom McCall State Park along the Willamette River in the heart of downtown Portland. With the good weather, and Portland's Cinco de Mayo Festival bringing people to the waterfront it was a great afternoon for soaking in the sun and people watching.

Graduation Celebration

This Sunday was Graduation Day at the University of Portland. Although I wasn't able to go because of obligations here at Holy Redeemer, I heard that my classmate, Fr. Jim Gallagher gave the Invocation and did such a good job that Archbishop Vlazny mentioned him twice in his own remarks! Peggy Noonan gave the Commencement Address and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was given an honorary degree. But the real reason for celebration was that our good friend Brenda Greiner graduated with her Masters Degree in Pastoral Ministry. (Here's Brenda and me on St. Patrick's Day at the big celebrations at Kell's Irish Pub.)

In the midst of getting ready for my last teen Confirmation class Sunday evening, I was glad to be able to sneak out and attend a lovely graduation party that Ken and Julie Hallenius threw for Brenda. Miraculously, the weather cooperated perfectly and it was just a lovely afternoon all around. Congratulations to Brenda and all the Pilot graduates!!

Power Made Perfect in Weakness - Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension (A)

Over the past few weeks, since the end of our Holy Father’s visit to the United States, some of the stories from the ‘behind-the-scenes moments’ have slowly been leaking out. Of course, we first heard of the Holy Father’s private visit with victims of sexual abuse. Then, those of us who follow these things, got word of the menu the Holy Father enjoyed during his stay from the chef who prepared his meals.

Then just this week another story from a private encounter was told publicly for the first time. Right before Pope Benedict visited with the youth and seminarians of the nation at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, he made a visit to the Jesuit infirmary at Fordham University. He went to see the only American Cardinal who is not a bishop: Avery Cardinal Dulles, of the Society of Jesus.

Cardinal Dulles is almost 90 years old. He was born in 1918, the great-grandson and son of US Secretaries of State – in fact, Dulles Airport in Washington DC is named for his father. Born a Presbyterian, Avery Dulles entered the Catholic Church in 1940, and after serving in the Navy during World War II he entered the Jesuits and was ordained a priest in 1956.

Dulles became one of the most brilliant and prolific theologians in the history of the Catholic Church in America. And in honor of his important contributions to theological studies, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 2001.

Sadly, this brilliant and remarkable scholar and teacher is now suffering from the effects of post-polio syndrome. Though his mind is as active and brilliant as it ever was, his muscles continue to atrophy: he is no longer able to walk, and now is unable even to speak.

As a result, Cardinal Dulles was not able to attend the Papal events with the other Cardinals. But as a sign of esteem and affection, the Holy Father himself decided to go to the Cardinal’s infirmary for a private visit. While he was there, a Jesuit priest read a brief statement that Cardinal Dulles had written for the Pope. Within it, Cardinal Dulles had this to say about his own condition:

“Suffering and diminishment are not the greatest of evils, but are normal ingredients in life, especially in old age. They are to be accepted as elements of a full human existence. As I become increasingly paralyzed and unable to speak, I can identify with the many paralytics and mute persons in the Gospels, grateful for the loving and skillful care I receive and for the hope of everlasting life in Christ. If the Lord now calls me to a period of weakness, I know that His power can be made perfect in infirmity. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I couldn’t help but be struck by this story and this quote, not just because it is such a remarkable and heartwarming story, but also because what Cardinal Dulles had to say was focused on his body and on power – and, in a certain sense, today’s feast of the Ascension is about these very two things: our bodies, and power.

The Ascension is about our bodies, because forty days after His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven in His body!

We have spent the past forty days listening to the stories of Jesus’ Resurrection appearances, and all of them in some way make clear that this Risen Jesus is the same Jesus who the disciples had known in Galilee – the same Jesus who had been crucified and buried. Jesus shows the Apostles his wounds, and he eats fish in front of them, and Mary Magdalene grabs his feet. The Incarnation is real, and Jesus, the Word made flesh is risen in His body!!

And now, on the feast of the Ascension, Jesus ascends into Heaven in His body. So that just as the Resurrection of Jesus gives us the hope of life after death, so too His Ascension gives us the hope of bodily life in Heaven. Where Jesus has gone, we too will follow: with a resurrected, glorified body we will reign with Him in Heaven.

Do we think about our bodies in this way? Do we glory in the miracle of our bodily existence, and do we respect our own bodies in a way that reflects our belief in the Resurrection of the body?

If we’re honest, I think we’re more often dissatisfied or frustrated by our bodies. We often experience our bodies as a limitation or as a constant source of wants, needs, even temptations. For example, we can be dissatisfied with our physical appearance. Or, as we age, or injure ourselves in some way, we can be frustrated by our loss of mobility. Especially when we are sick, we can feel trapped by our flesh and bones. And when we are hungry or tired we think of our bodies as merely one more thing on our list of things to worry about.

But the Ascension makes us think differently about our bodies – and I think it does so by making us think differently about power.

Power isn’t a particularly strong theme in the Christian Scriptures, and yet it appears in all three of our readings today. In the Gospel, Jesus Himself tells His Apostles that “all power in Heaven and earth has been given to Him.” Appropriately enough, in today’s Psalm we sang a hymn of praise to God as He mounts His throne of power in Heaven. And then in the second reading, St. Paul tells the Ephesians that God has put all powers and authority beneath Jesus’ feet, and has made Him head over all things.

But just as the Resurrection and Ascension don’t just happen to Jesus, they happen to us, so too, Jesus’ power isn’t just for Him. Jesus Himself tells the Apostles, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” St. Paul, too, prays for the Ephesians that the “eyes of their hearts be enlightened, that they may know the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe.”

So, do you feel powerful?! Well, hopefully sometimes. But as I said, I think most of the time we feel the weakness of our bodies, and even more the weakness of our sins. How, then, do we reconcile what we so often feel about ourselves with the truth of Christ’s promise to give us His power?

I think Cardinal Dulles had it right. He said, paraphrasing St. Paul: “If the Lord now calls me to a period of weakness, I know that His power can be made perfect in infirmity.” Power is made perfect in weakness.

You see, the power of Christ is not the power of this world. The power that raised Christ from the dead, and seated Him at God’s right hand in Heaven, and put all things under His feet is not the power of armies, or weapons, or violence, or muscles.

The power of Christ is that, “though He was in the form of God, He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at; rather He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave and accepting even death, death on a Cross.”

Friends, the power we receive through Christ is a power made perfect in weakness. It is a power that proves its strength by emptying itself in self-sacrificing love. That, is the power that propelled the Apostles to every corner of the world, proclaiming the Gospel, giving even their blood for the growth of the Faith.

That is the power that drove Mother Theresa into the slums of Calcutta, reverencing the bodies of even the most destitute, disfigured and forgotten. That is the power that let Pope John Paul II, and now Cardinal Dulles, see even in their infirmity and death an opportunity to praise and proclaim Jesus Christ.

Today we celebrate the fact that at the Ascension our human flesh, our human nature, rose with Christ to a dignity above all heavenly creatures: to the glorious throne of God.
And we are reminded that this glory and power we possess as members of His Body, could only have been made perfect in weakness.

The Pope Recalls His Visit

Apparently my favorite moment of the Papal Visit was a particular highlight for the Holy Father as well.  In his weekly audience this Wednesday he recapped his visit to America, and had the following to say about the end of the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral 

Other moments of my stay in New York have remained firmly etched in my spirit. In St. Patrick's Cathedral, in the heart of Manhattan, truly a "house of prayer for all peoples," I celebrated holy Mass for the priests and consecrated persons who had come from all parts of the country. I will never forget the warmth with which they congratulated me for the third anniversary of my election to the See of Peter. It was a moving moment, in which I experienced in a tangible way all of the support of the Church for my ministry.

Feast-Day-Bingo!

This winter the pastor of our neighboring parish, The Madeleine Parish, became unexpectedly and severely ill. Fr. Joe and I filled in on an emergency basis for several weekends right around Christmas. Well, the pastor is in much, much better health - so much so, he is on vacation this week!  So I took the Madeleine School Mass this morning.  Unlike a few stout-hearted diocese in the East, the Archdiocese of Portland follows the greater number of American diocese in transferring the Feast of the Ascension to the following Sunday. Boo hiss! Thankfully, in terms of homily prep, the Madeleine uses the coming Sunday's readings for their school Mass - so I got to preach the Ascension anyway! . . . and then I used the prayers for May 1st, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, just to thoroughly confuse them!!  Like our kids here, the kids at the Madeleine are remarkably well-behaved at Mass, and participated in my Harry Potter homily quite enthusiastically!