Anamchara

A SLANDERED POPE; A LIGHT AMIDST THE DARKNESS

This weekend, in my parishes, we began the Novena for Pope Benedict, who as the Vicar of Christ is undergoing an assault not seen for centuries in the history of the papacy.  My take on this has been written about elsewhere on this blog along with some links to excellent articles by people more knowledgable than me.  It seems that my parishioners strongly support the Pope though one parishioiner, quite concerned, said that if the Pope and the Bishops didn't know about the abuse, they should have.  The comment has bothered me all day because that's exactly the line the media is taking--the ill-informed media, the secular media that, at best, does not understand the Church, and, at worst, wishes to bring it down.  I don't blame my parishioner.  She has the right to think that the media tell the truth.  They have played a major and good role in bringing attention to the problem of sexual abuse.  But in the case of Pope Benedict, they have not only overplayed their hand, they have worked to destroy him with false information.  Don't believe me on my word alone.  Check the sober and responsible journalists who have taken the time to dig for facts.  Here's the summary:

• The Pope is absoutely, categorically, completely innocent of any wrongdoing regarding the cover-up of the sexual abuse of children.
• 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 sexual 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, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, responsiblities 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.

Pope Benedict is a light in the darkness of the evils that surround us.  He deserves support, not condemnation.  May God protect him from his enemies and the powers of evil that mount against him.

******UPDATE 4/14/10. Interesting article defending the Pope by noted Jewish defense attorney, Alan Dershowitz here

THE POPE AGGRIEVED--CHICKEN LITTLE PRESS CRIES FOUL AGAIN

 

AMAZING HUBRIS OF THE PRESS

So, this afternoon, the world was greeted not with the Grey Lady's Alzheimer-like mutterings on things religious, but with the AP (Associated Press) crying like Chicken Little that the sky is falling on Pope Benedict once again.  The smoking gun has been found, they said, in a one page document signed by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985 urging patience in the laicization of a child-abusing California priest.  You can read the screed here.  It didn't take long for Fr. Z to point out the deficiencies in the report on his blog .  And the rather courageous Damien Thompson took on his own London newspaper, The Telegraph, and shut the screaming chickens up with his take on the matter here, and quotes an entire editorial by Phillip Lawlor, an American editorialist here .  Pray for the Pope--the hounds of hell are snapping at him.  Let's be glad that as Christ told Peter, the first Pope, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church."

******UPDATE:  Superb article by Michael Sean Winters from AMERICA magazine showing the shoddy reporting of the latest accusation against the Pope.  The article also clearly demonstrates the absolute innocence of the pontiff when he was dealing with this issue.  The feeding frenzy has become character assassination.  How sad, no correct that, how evil.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER HOMILY--4/11/10--THE GIVING OF POWER

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER–4/10/10

by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READINGS: ACTS 5:12-16; REVELATION 1:9-11A,12-13,17-19; JOHN 20:19-31

I. Christ Has Changed The World

A. Have you ever done deeds of power like those talked about in the Acts of the Apostles’ today? If not, why not?

B. The problem with most Christians is they are weighed down by the oppression of the ordinary. Going to work, raising a family, studying, even socializing can become very--ordinary. Even being Christian can become very--ordinary. In our routine daily lives, Christ can seem very far away and the wonderful feeling of hope and power that the disciples had after the first Easter can seem unreal. How can we recapture the hope that these early Christians had? How can we do the same deeds they did? Is it even possible? Sure it is, but you have to believe. It constantly amazes me how much of a comic book geek I am, but I know I’m not alone. The popularity of Superman and Batman movies, Iron Man and the upcoming Green Lantern movies proves my point. I don’t know if women want power as much, but I know men do–they want abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Thus the popularity of comic book superheroes. Even when it comes to religion, too many guys here their mothers saying, "Forget about it; superpowers are just comic book stuff–it's not real." Problem is--religious superpowers are real.  How absolutely awesome is that?

C. Because of the Resurrection, all reality is changed. Just as the apostles had power over sickness and evil spirits, so can we. And we can have power over the evil that besets us, the forces that seek to crush us whether that be sickness, or sadness, or other peoples’ hatred or acts of violence. How can this be? It’s simple. Christ is not simply the Man from Galilee; he is also the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. This Lord of the Universe is the source of the apostles’ power, and the source of our power. The fantastic thing is, we don’t have to beg for this power, or shoot prayers to heaven to get this power, or do strange and bizarre things to obtain this power. We’ve already got it. Christ gave us his Spirit, so that we would constantly be in contact with him.

NOVENA FOR THE POPE--SUPPORT THE HOLY FATHER

 
 
 PRAY FOR THE POPE

On Divine Mercy Sunday, we are asked to begin a novena for Pope Benedict.  The Knights of Columbus have provided a beautiful holy card that can be ordered from them or downloaded for printing.  Check out the website for info and for a vid by Bishop Lori on the novena here. Here's the text:

PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI

Lord, source of eternal life and truth,

give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit

of courage and right judgment, a spirit

of knowledge and love. By governing

with fidelity those entrusted to his care,

may he, as successor to the Apostle

Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your

Church into a sacrament of unity, love

and peace for all the world. Amen.

V

/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.

R

/ May the Lord preserve him,

give him a long life,

make him blessed upon the earth,

and not hand him over

to the power of his enemies.

V

/ May your hand

be upon your holy servant.

R

/ And upon your son,

whom you have anointed.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

In Solidarity With Our Holy Father

 

HOMILY FOR EASTER--2010--HE IS RISEN; HE IS TRULY RISEN! ALLELUIA!

 

EASTER SUNDAY 2010

 by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READINGS: ACTS 10:34A,36-43; COLOSSIANS 3:1-4; JOHN 20:1-9

I. Joseph of Arimathea

A. There was man from Arimathea named Joseph, a good and upright man who loved Jesus, who went to Pontius Pilate and asked for the Body of our Lord.

Said Joseph to Pilate,

Said Joseph to Pilate,

"Won’t you give me that Stranger?" said he.

"Give me the man

Who has since his youth

Wandered far as a Stranger," said he.

Said Joseph to Pilate,

"Won’t you give me that Stranger,

For he is wondrous and holy?" said he.

"He has died for the world,

And is a guest of death;

Won’t you give me that Stranger?" said he.

Said Joseph to Pilate,

"Won’t you give me that Stranger,

To bury him, bury him free?"

"For he has no place,

To lay his head,

Won’t you give me the Stranger?" said he.

Said Joseph to Pilate,

"Won’t you give me the Stranger,

For his mother has cried out to me?"

"‘My Son, my Son,

My soul is wounded for you!

You are dead, You are dead!" said she.

Said Joseph to Pilate,

Said Joseph to Pilate,

"Won’t you give me that Stranger?" said he.

"For my Lord has gone to his rest for now,

But he will return," said he, said he.

"From the dead, he’ll come back!" said he.

   (adapted from ancient text by E. Barr)

B. In such words does the honorable Joseph plead with Pilate, and Pilate gives him the Body of Christ. Joseph takes the Savior's body, wraps it in linen, and lays it in a tomb. And the Stone of Earth covers the tomb with darkness.

II. The Descent into Hell (from an ancient Christian Homily)

A. But something strange is happening--there is a great silence on earth this evening, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear for the Lord is coming to release the faithful departed. B. Christ has descended into the realm of the dead, to the peoples of the past. He has gone to search for our first parents Adam and Eve and release them from their captive sorrow, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approaches them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of Christ, Adam cries out to the patriarchs and prophets, kings and judges, all the faithful of the Old Testament, "The Lord is here! The Lord be with you all!" Christ answers him, "And with your spirit!" Christ takes Adam by the hand and raises him up saying, "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and I will give you light! Out of love for you and your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place." And taking the hand of Adam, Christ leads forth our first parents and behind them Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, Moses and Joshua, King David and King Solomon, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah, all those faithful to the Lord. Christ leads them from the realm of the dead, away from darkness, to eternal light and life.

III. The Empty Tomb

A. And Christ ascends from the realm of the dead and the angels come to meet him. And so awesome is the path that Christ makes, that the earth splits and thunders with his footsteps. A mighty angel from heaven descends and throws back the Stone in front of the tomb, and sits upon it in glory, while out of the mouth of death walks the Son of Man, Jesus, newly risen--out of the tomb comes Jesus walking again in the light of the dawning day. And Mary Magdalene runs toward the tomb, sees the angel and hears the news, "Christ is risen! Christ is truly risen!" And she turns in joy, and there is Jesus! She throws her arms around him, and he is real! "Tell my disciples the news," he says, and so she does, she tells everyone she sees, "He lives! He is risen!"

IV. The Message

A. Throughout the centuries, this is the story that has been told. This is what we believe. But it is not just a story. We are a part of it. We who are baptized, walked with Christ through the night of death to new life. How can that happen? When water was poured over us, we were buried in that tomb, with the Lord. We were dead, dead to sin, dead to our old life. With Adam and Eve, patriarchs and prophets, we walked with Christ from the realm of death to new life. When we came up out of the water, the stone of sin, laid on our lives was rolled back, and we like Christ walked free. The power of our Baptism is simply this--in the sacrament we have received, we are able to live what Christ lived, to be with him as he dies and is buried, as he descends to hell, as he rises to new life. This is our story too. When you are sprinkled with water this evening/morning, holy blessed water, the waters of Baptism, remember, you have died with him and risen with him. His story is our story. Christ's Resurrection means eternal life.  Baptism means eternal life for us.  At the end of Mass, come up and take a little bottle of holy water. Take it home, use it to sign your kids to sleep at night, or yourself, but use it and remember who you are. One of the blessed who has walked with Christ this night into everlasting life. We live because he has lifted us out of the darkness of death. We live because he has been raised. We live forever. Rejoice!

A CELTIC HOLY WEEK--2010--EASTER ALLELUIA!

 a

A BLESSED CELTIC EASTER TO EVERYONE!

Here is another one of William Williams poems (d. 1791).  The great Celtic Welsh Poet just seems to capture the relief we all feel now that Easter has arrived.

DARKNESS TENDS TOWARDS LIGHT

I see the black cloud

Now about to flee,

And the wind from the north

Is veering just a little;

After a great storm, there will shortly come

Pleasant weather upon my poor soul.

Nothing will remain long

Of the black stormy night;

Long ages have not been appointed

For anyone to carry the cross;

The glad dawn that shines yonder

Says that a fine morning is on the way.

I see the sunlight

On the hills of my Father's house, 

Showing me the foundation

Of my free salvation;

That my name is up there on the books of heaven,

And that there is nothing that can blot it out.

Sweet as the honeycomb,

And nourishing and healing,

Are all heaven's chastisements

And the strokes of my Father's rod:

Each cross, each woe, each strong wind

Ripens saints for heaven.

A CELTIC HOLY WEEK--2010--HOLY SATURDAY, THE HARROWING OF HELL

 
ARGAIN IFRINN--THE PLUNDERING OF HELL

Hugely popular in Celtic imagination, Christ's descent into hell on Holy Saturday is portrayed like a triumphant Celtic Chieftan over his enemies.  It's violent, vigorous, and victorious, championing the crushing of evil under the heel of the resurrected Savior.  The Celtic phrase above testifies to that as it is translated as the plundering or the destruction of hell.  Here's a version from several centuries ago:

Then the rending, valiant, crimson-wounded Lion arose and his mettle and his high spirit swelled on seeing his blood before him; and he moved forward, proud and lively, victorious, hostile, bold, stout and enraged...hardy, pierced of skin, battle-marked, to harrow furthest hell forthwith, and it is related how he put his feet on the secure, firm heavy-valved strong door of cavernous-hot northern hell, firmly and full fiercely, forcefully and imperiously; and the wearying, noisy-screaming, shadowy-deceptive denizens of upper hell scattered with a rush, on seeing the brown-lashed, white-toothed glowing countenance of the Almighty (coming) to extirpate and swiftly scatter them...And the Savior extended that long-fingered, noble right hand to the hard iron door, and shattered and violently broke it from its rude, thick, aboriginal hinges...for that is the Red Onslaught of the King of the Stars and of the Constellations after his resurrection from death and burial.  (Celtica, 1980, 40,47, 50) 

A CELTIC HOLY WEEK--2010--GOOD FRIDAY

VICTORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST  
  

In Eden--I shall always remember this--

I lost blessings numberless as the dew;

Down fell my bright crown:

But the victory of Calvary

Won them back for me again:

I shall sing as long as I live.

Faith! yonder is the place, and yonder the tree,

On which the Prince of heaven was nailed,

Innocent, in my place;

The dragon has been crushed by the One;

As two were wounded, One has conquered,

And that One was Jesus.

by William Williams (1717-1791, the great Welsh, Celtic poet also known as Pantycelyn)
 

GOOD FRIDAY TENEBRAE HOMILY--2010--WAITING WITH ST. JOHN

 

GOOD FRIDAY 2010

SEVEN LAST WORDS/TENEBRAE

by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

　

I. The Apostle John

A. This afternoon when we left the apostle John, we left him at the foot of the cross. While Mary held the body of her son Jesus, John, the best friend of Christ stood behind Mary and held her, strengthened her. For after all one of the last words of Jesus was, "Son, behold your mother."--he gave Mary into John's care. And I want you to think about that for just a moment this evening; I want you to think about the apostle John, a very young man, probably in his early twenties and yet the faithful disciple, the one who stood at the foot of the cross with Mary.

B. When Jesus had been taken down from the cross, the time for John's strength began to slip away. Why is that? Because at a time of death it is a time for family and there were women there who came to take Mary away and comfort her and there were even famous friends there who came--Nicodemus, one of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, a famous wise man and very wealthy. They came and they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a shroud after it had been washed and cleaned, and packed it with ointments. I'm sure that John was with them then, but this young man perhaps at just twenty years of age, no longer needed to be the strong one for Mary, no longer needed to be one of the two that stood at the foot of the cross. Now he was just John, the best friend of Christ, the Christ whom he loved, who had been killed. And as he tagged along with the swiftly assembled funeral procession, as the daylight was fading, the Sabbath was coming on, he must have been thinking over the events of that day. And after the body was hastily put in the tomb and the stone sealed into it and everybody else was hurrying home for the Sabbath, I have a feeling that John went and probably sat on a little hill opposite that little tomb, sat there in the rain, in the darkening afternoon and he looked at that stone cold tomb and he must have asked himself three questions: Is it over, I wonder? What's going to happen now? Was I wrong to believe? He was a mixture of all these emotions, of all these tremendous feelings. He asked those kinds of questions and we so much want to reach back through two thousands years of history and tell this lonely young man on a hillside looking at that stone cold tomb, tell this lonely young man, John, not to worry--that things will turn out all right.

II. What can we do?

A. We know the end of this story, and yet we can't do that--not only can't we go back in time, but we are faced with the fact that those are the very same questions that we ourselves ask. Is it over? Is Christianity in our day and age over? More and more people not believing, more and more people even finding it harder to get off from work just for a Good Friday ceremony, more and more people finding that the culture is going one way and Christianity is going another. Are the glory days of Christianity over?

B. We ourselves ask the question, what's going to happen now? What's going to happen now? Will we have the strength to rise up and proclaim the message of Christ's love, will we have the strength to live as he asked us to live? And there's a nagging doubt in us, much like there's a nagging doubt in the apostle John this very evening so long ago. What's going to happen now? Can we continue? Can we strengthen our faith? Can we still make Christianity the light of the world? And then I believe that many of us ask the question: are we wrong? Are we wrong to believe in Christ? So many different faiths, so many different religions, why is our's so special? Why should our's be any different from anybody elses? Why should our's be more true? More holy? Better? Are we wrong to believe in the Christ? These are questions that trouble us here on the evening of Good Friday. They are questions that not only the apostle John had to wrestle with, but we must wrestle with in our own lives as well. As I look back, I see John the apostle, wet, tired, the night coming on. He can stay no more to look at this tomb where his friend lies dead. His strength is gone, he has waited and stood fast by the Lord and now he goes to join his frightened friends, Peter, James, Andrew, the rest of the apostles-- in an upper room, there to wait, there to wonder. And that's all right, we can let him go and we wish him well. For we are here, we are here tonight, we can wait by the tomb, we can keep watch over Christ. We can wait for the dawn.

GOOD FRIDAY PASSION HOMILY--2010--AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

 

GOOD FRIDAY 2010

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD'S PASSION

by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

I. At The Foot Of The Cross

A. She leaned her head against him and together they sank to the ground, there at the foot of the Cross, there beneath the God who died. John, the best and dearest friend of Jesus, holding Mary, the Mother of the Lord. Together, they looked up at the hope of the world. The sky was black--lightning streaked across the heavens--the very earth shook--and the rain fell. A soldier climbed up the ladder with a hammer. He pounded the back of the cross. That was when the first bloody nail fell, and John caught it.

B. He held it to his chest and wept. But Mary took her hands and touched his face, and lifted him up. "The Lord has need," she said. And the second nail fell to the ground. As the Body of Christ slumped toward the ground, John caught Jesus and held him for a moment as the soldier pounded out the nail that held his feet. As the last nail clattered to the earth, John lowered the Body of Christ and gave him to his mother. And there in the rain, she held Jesus, a wordless cry of sorrow echoing from her lips. She rocked back and forth, holding the lifeless Body of the Son she bore, saying there on the Hill of Calvary, "Who will give me back my Son, who will give my Son back to me?" And John could not look at this most private of public moments--a mother and her son, one last time. And so he looked at the ground where three nails lay, and he watched the rain wash the blood away, and he watched the rain wash the blood away.

II. We Put Him There

A. Every time I look at the Cross, I realize that it was my sins that put Jesus there--I did it just like you did it, we all continue to do it--crucify the Lord of Glory. Sometimes we don't like to think about it but we must. It was our sins he died for. If I didn't put him there, what is he saving me from? The reason why this day is so powerful is because we are forced to acknowledge that the Cross reaches through time and touches us with the fact that it was our sins Jesus died for, our infirmities he bore, he gave his life as a ransom for the many.

B. But we have spent all Lent repenting from our sins. Today, we must do something else. We must stand at the foot of the Cross like John and Mary and we must weep, we must be touched deeply, we must feel--not guilt, for we know we are guilty--but gratitude, gratitude for the fact that though guilty, we are saved by him who loves us all. When you come up to touch the Cross, to venerate it, to remember who died there and what that means, feel gratitude. He saved us. There is no sin we have committed that he has not forgiven. All we need do is accept that forgiveness. There is no suffering, no sickness, no reversal so great that we cannot overcome it for he shows us the way. He is the Man of Sorrows--on his shoulders he carries our sadness and grief, and because he did this, we have hope. We bury Christ today--and it is a sad moment. With John, we watch the rain wash the blood on the nails away. With Mary, we cradle the dead Body of our Lord.

C. There on the Hill of Calvary, with an empty Cross and a mother with grey streaked hair dripping in the rain as she holds her Son, with the young apostle John behind her holding her as well, the whole world pauses in silence. The powers of darkness have done their utmost. Satan has killed the Christ. And the world holds its collective breath. Who won, who lost? This is the stillness we feel this afternoon here in this Church. But as you come up to touch the Cross, you will have your answer. For you are here not to remember a defeat, but a victory! BEHOLD THE WOOD OF THE CROSS, ON WHICH WAS WON THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD!