Anamchara

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER HOMILY--5/2/10--NIGHTMARE OR HOPE?

 

5^TH SUNDAY OF EASTER–5/2/10

by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READINGS: ACTS 14:21-27; REVELATION 21:1-5; JOHN 13:31-33, 34-35

I. Nightmares And Things That Go Bump In The Night

A. Remember waking up from your last nightmare? Clammy with sweat; heart pounding; looking around wildly to see if what you dreamed had followed you into the real world. Just as individuals can have nightmares, so can humanity. And one of the greatest nightmares that seems imbedded in our collective human memory is the nightmare of the Four Horsemen.

B. St. John gave this horror flesh and bones in the Book of Revelation, but the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have always been with humanity. John pictures them riding to judgment on a world decayed by sin and deliberate rejection of God. They are Conquest, War, Famine and Death and millions fall under their sword and the pounding hooves. And they are the nightmare of the future, destined to come riding across the human landscape.

C. Even in our modern day, poets and storytellers evoke this nightmare of a future gone mad with terror and despair. William Butler Yeats, a great poet, summed up the nightmare in two lines from his poem "Second Coming": "And what rough beast, its hour come at last, Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?" Televangelists and traveling preachers keep shouting at us–"The End is coming! The world will be destroyed by conquering armies, violent warfare, famine/pestilence, and death! And looking at the events in the world, there’s just enough truth in what they say to make us fear the future.

GOOD NEWS FOR SPRING--DON'T BE AFRAID!

via www.youtube.com

Do you remember the Guess Who??  Rock band of the 70's and its lead singer was Burton Cummings.  When he went on a solo career he had a big hit called "Stand Tall" and then he had this hit called "I'm Scared."  Released in 1977, it is just too cool to forget and is so religious you wouldn't think the music business had it in them to release it.  In a world that needs God so much, when so many people are afraid--this song is a great hope enducer.  So enjoy!  And believe!

 

CATHOLICS AND IMMIGRANTS: NO PLACE FOR LIBERALS OR CONSERVATIVES

IMMIGRATION CONTROVERSY COMING!

 

WHERE SHOULD CATHOLICS STAND?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to see where the upcoming controversy over the new Arizona Immigration Law is going to lead, take a look at what Archbishop Timothy Dolan (New York) had to say on the issue here.  

Here's a conservative Catholic leader who can't stand where liberal secularists are leading us, taking a position that will make most conservatives spin on their heads.  Why?  Because he's Catholic, that's why.  And being Catholic is more than being liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican.  

Like nearly every other person, I'm concerned about the problems illegal immigration causes.  Fear is real and warranted on the borders of our country.  But we are also stuck with human values and the fact that many illegal immigrants are victims too, of their own country's horrific treatment (Mexico gets no pass on its abuse of human rights), and real discrimination here in this country.  

Here's how I'm going to approach it as a priest and as an American.  I cannot condone illegal immigration and I cannot work to promote structures that victimize illegals by providing them false passports or documentation.  Nor will I violate the laws of our land in hiring illegal immigrants.  But, as a Catholic and as a priest, and as an American, I will not turn away the stranger or refuse to feed or shelter or heal another human being, citizen or not.  In my parish, anyone is welcome and can feel safe.  It's a tightrope to walk, I understand that, but we will not solve this problem by a knee-jerk, simplistic solution.  

It is a mistake for Democrats or Republicans to make this a matter of party politics.  Common sense has to prevail and only a solution made up of a consensus by both parties will be strong enough to stem the tide of illegal immigration and protect the poor who seek to have a better life.  That's why simplistic slogans like "Let's trash the Arizona bill," or "Keep all aliens out," are not helpful.  Not everything in the Arizona bill is wrong and people have a right to expect their federal government to protect them.  But illegals, as a whole, are not of the criminal class--most are suffering humanity needing a break.  Somewhere, somehow, compromise is possible so that human dignity is preserved and the public safety is maintained.

I can't stand liberal ideology.  But even a stopped clock is right twice a day.  And those who would deny human rights to the aliens in our midst violate Scripture and basic human decency.  Christ is clear:  "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me."  Put aside politics; hear the truth; do the right thing--that's the Catholic way. 

A CELTIC BREAK FROM CRISIS: THE RAMBLES OF SPRING

via www.youtube.com

Tired of the crisis and controversy? Let's take a break with the late, great Tommy Makem and the equally late great Liam Clancy. From a 1981 concert at Bunratty Castle, one of their best songs--THE RAMBLES OF SPRING--and a timely one at that!   Tommy Makem passed in 2007 and Liam Clancy just last December.  The song was written by Makem and remained one of Makem and the Clancy Brother's most popular and best.  Get your feet tapping and your hands clapping.  Happy spring, everyone, and here's proof that the Celtic love of song can bring a smile to anyone's heart, no matter what!

POPE TO ISSUE APOLOGY--NOTHING GOOD ENOUGH FOR HELL'S BIBLE (aka New York Times)

The UK's Independent is reporting that the Pope will issue an apology for the clergy sex abuse crisis during the closing ceremonies of the Year for Priests.  Check the article  here.  More info on this will no doubt be forthcoming, but it won't matter to Hell's Bible (also known as The Grey Lady, or The New York Times).  The Pope could be drawn and quartered in St. Peter's square and the chattering classes would sniff he didn't suffer enough.  In today's issue, the ombudsman reacts to reports of unfairness by the Times to Pope Benedict.  He makes little sense since he doesn't understand how the Church works and still refuses to investigate the twisted and manipulated "facts" Ms. Goodstein used in her reporting.  The first response to his article is mine, though it is one of the few to take him to task.  Check out the article and my response here.

I'll be in Rome for the closing ceremonies of the Year for Priests as one of the representatives of the Rockford Diocese.  I'm looking forward to reporting on what will be a fascinating and important week in the life of the Catholic Church.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER HOMILY--4/25/10--HEARING THE CALL OF THE SHEPHERD

 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER–4/25/10

    by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READING: JN 10:27-30

　

I. The Shepherd Who Keeps the Gate

A. Shepherding in Palestine is not like raising beef cattle. In Palestine, the Holy Land, you raise sheep for wool, not food. Therefore, the sheep are born, grow up, grow old, and finally die. The shepherd is close to them and each one of them has a name.

B. In the Gospel today Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice: I know them, and they follow me. The sheep hear the shepherd's voice as he calls them by name..he walks in front of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They will not follow a stranger, such a one they will flee, because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus is simply telling the truth of shepherding in Palestine. The shepherd's voice is listened to and no one else has the power to direct the sheep.

C. I've used the image before, but let me use my example again. One evening, I was at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and out of the hills came this beautiful music; it was the music of pipes playing. And then a rumble of tiny hooves and from a gap in the hills streamed a herd of sheep. Behind them was the Bedouin piper, dressed in his colorful red and black clothes. As he piped the sheep trotted. When he stopped and spoke, they did as he asked. He led them to water and they drank. He spoke and they lifted up their heads. He piped and they went back into the hills to the sheepfold. There was no harsh authority there; no hint of tyranny or any idea of superiority of the human over the animal. There was a care and compassion that shown across the valley to where I sat--this was a shepherd who loved his sheep.

D. Out in open air pastures like that shepherd was, the sheep would be guided into an open air pen walled in by brush. One opening, no door, for the shepherd is the gate--he lies down in front of the opening. All this is really important to remember when we try to make sense out of this Gospel.

II. Choosing Christ Means Allowing Him To Shepherd Our Lives

A. Like the shepherd in the little story I told, Christ knows our name--he guides us. Through our troubles, through our trials, through our struggles, he guides us. A lot of times, though, we aren't as smart as the sheep are. Their ears are tuned to hear the voice of the shepherd. Ours often are not. We hear many other voices calling us to do this or do that, and sometimes we just don't hear the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd.

B. But Christ never gives up. He knows our name and he challenges us when we try to stray. When we try to leave him, like some wayward sheep in the night tries to step over the shepherd who lies across the only opening in the pen, when we try to go out into the night, Christ asks us, "Where are you going?" When we get lost, he comes after us. When evil takes hold of us and enters our lives because we have been careless or deliberately choose to leave the Good Shepherd, Christ is the strong protector who drives away all that would harm us.

TO THE POPE: HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY HOLY FATHER!

 

AND MANY MORE YEARS TO YOU!! 

LET POPE BENEDICT BE POPE BENEDICT

And now, from tiny Malta, we have an indication how the Pope is going to handle the sex abuse crisis rocking the Catholic Church.  The above picture, taken at the meeting with youth on the island, underscores the Pope's continuing appeal to people.  The trip was a magnificent success and the Pope, as he often does, rose to his most eloquent when he addressed the youth.  Check the homily here.    And, then, in an outreach to victims of clergy sex abuse on Malta, the Pope met with eight representatives who were abused.  The report on the moving meeting is here.It was out of sight of cameras because the Pope will not politicize the meeting.

Reports said the Pope  had tears in his eyes and the representative of the victims said he could now return to Church after 25 years.  The Pope is obviously moved and shamed by the reality of this crisis, but he is not going to argue the case on the pages or the airwaves or the net the secular media like to use.  This is a pastoral response and the Pope seems to have decided to let his actions, not his words, be the basis on which history will judge the effectiveness of his response. 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER HOMILY--4/18/10--MEETING THE RISEN LORD

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER–4/18/10

by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READINGS: ACTS 5:27-32, 40-42; REVELATION 5:11-14; JOHN 211-19

　

There is a sound that I remember, that is one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds I have ever heard. My brother has a cabin up in northern Wisconsin, right on a lake, and if you are not too sound a sleeper on a summer morning, this sound tells you that something magical, mystical and majestic is happening and you better get up and see it. So I get up, and I look at sunrise over the lake, with the morning mist rising from the water and giving everything an otherworldly feel to it. And there on the lake is the loon, luting its lovely, lingering song through the mist of the morning. For a timeless moment, earth and heaven meet together and you just don’t want such a beautiful experience to end. I’ve never been to the Sea of Galilee, but it must have been like that that Sunday morning a week after the Resurrection when Peter and John and the apostles went fishing. Can’t you just see the mist off the lake, the sun rising, and a voice calling–not the cry of bird, but THE Voice–one whom you remember and whom you thought you would not hear again. And the kid that’s with you–John–looks through the fog and sees a figure waving on the beach–and he has eyes, this John, and he puts a name to the voice he hears, and he tells Peter, the leader of this motely crew of fisherman, that Jesus–who once was dead–is standing on the beach, bidding them to come forward. And Peter, caught up in the moment, is not going to desert the Lord again. He jumps in the water and splashes toward the Lord, and the water washes his sins away, away; the water washes all his sins away.

I. Faith, The Task And The Cross

A. The Gospel – a fascinating story about fishermen, breakfast on the beach with the Risen Lord, and the rehabilitation of St. Peter. This chapter exists because God and the Apostle John want to make some very strong points.

B. First of all, there’s a real stress on the absolute fact of the bodily resurrection of Christ. This is no ghost, no figment of a fisherman’s imagination. This is a real, live, Risen Lord inviting the apostles to leave their boats and have breakfast on the beach. John wants to tell us that our faith is based on fact not fiction, on reality not imagination. Our faith is real, as solid as the glorified body of the Risen Christ who ate and drank with his friends on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

C. Second, this chapter talks about the task of the Christian. Notice how Jesus rehabilitates Peter? Three times Peter denied Christ on Good Friday; now three times Jesus asks Peter if Peter loves Christ. And three times Peter says yes. Jesus gives him a task–to feed his flock, to take care of the Church. The task of any Christian, not just the first Pope, is to care for people, to seek out the lost, help those in need, protect the weak, spread Christ’s love.

D. Thirdly, this chapter says that having faith in Christ and doing the task of a Christian (living the faith in action) brings a person to the Cross. We cannot escape suffering. If we want to live with Christ, we must also be willing to die with Christ. We must suffer for what we believe.

PASTOR'S LETTER SUPPORTING THE POPE

I thought I would post my 3rd Sunday of Easter bulletin letter.  As the Vicar for Clergy for the Diocese of Rockford, I encouraged all priests of the diocese to come to the defense of the Pope and this is my attempt to do so for the parishes of St. Mary/St. Patrick Catholic Church Durand, Irish Grove, Illinois.

 

 

 

FROM THE PASTOR

PRAYING FOR THE POPE

Dear Parishioners,

On April 19, 2005, our Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected by the Holy Spirit as the 265^th successor of St. Peter and took the name Benedict XVI.

I’m sure you have not escaped the onslaught of criticism from our national press on the person of Pope Benedict XVI. There is no doubt the scourge and evil of pedophilia by some priests and the inaction of some bishops are shameful and sinful. However, where the media first helped to end the atmosphere of silence, now, it has rashly jumped to horrific, false, mean-spirited and just plain poor journalism in its treatment of the Pope who has universally addressed the sinful issue in a concise, authoritative and pastoral way. Put simply:

The Pope is absolutely, categorically, and completely innocent of any wrongdoing regarding the cover-up of the sexual abuse of children. On further examination, the media’s "proof" does not hold up to scrutiny.

In fact, he is the one person who has done the most in the Church to bring the evil to light and establish policies and procedures to combat this evil.

Without his support, the US Bishops would have been unable to put in place the procedures and policies that have virtually eliminated all clergysexual abuse within the Catholic Church in the United States.

The Media has selectively analyzed documents without knowing the context, translated documents inappropriately and given Pope Benedict, whenhe was Cardinal Ratzinger, responsibilities he did not have at the time the abuse occurred.

Some in the Media are seeking to destroy the Pope and use this crisis as a vehicle for change in the Church regarding sexual issues, celibacy, and women's role in the Church.

There is no smoking gun that will tear down this Pope. He is an innocent man. But it is possible for lies, innuendo, and malicious slander to so poison people's minds that the Church will be greatly damaged and the Pope's own safety will be compromised.

If you would like to read some valuable and respectable media outlets that offer a fair, balanced, and truthful review of the issues, I would direct your attention to the following websites (also available on our parish website:

http://www.mercatornet.com/justb16/

A good website that summarizes with daily updates on the crisis

www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=2746

A new article by Michael Sean Winters on the media’s portrayal of Pope Benedict

http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?ID=632

An excellent article by Phillip Lawlor on the media’s portrayal of Pope Benedict

http://www.catholicvoteaction.org/americanpapist/index.php 

One of the best and most popular Catholic blogs

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/ Another excellent and reputable Catholic blog

Look for Articles by George Weigel, Damian Thompson (of the Telegraph of London), Ed Koch and other Jewish leaders supporting the Pope. Obviously Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is worth checking out. You may also check out my own blog at http://anamchara.blogs.com for updates and commentary.

I offer this information as we Catholics continue to encounter attempts to destroy the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict XVI. Only through our prayers and seeking the truth can we be set free and be defenders of the truth in name and in fact. Make no mistake, there is no room in the Church for the sinful acts of any priest, but to condemn the Holy Father for being the one, faithful shepherd to remove these priests and ensure the code of silence be destroyed –this, too, is a grave and terrible evil.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Msgr. Eric R. Barr Pastor