I woke up yesterday a bit early with a line in my head--it was nothing remarkable in itself:
"At my best, I come to You with eyes that are open."
A little later in the morning I added a second line:
"Morning has called me up and Your will has spoken."
I have a young high school daughter with the voice of an angel who is a developing musician. She has written a couple of songs and recently joined the adult choir at church. I thought right away that I should write the line down and expand it into a full set of lyrics to which my daughter can write music.
I wrote three stanzas yesterday and although it is still very rough, I gave it to my daughter and she is working on the music already. We'll see what we come up with.
I got this morning's Bible verse email a short time ago. (you know you can sign up with a number of organizations that send you a daily verse -- kind of nice use of technology!). The verse I received was this:
"I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
Psalm 16:8
The beauty of these scripture messages is that many times they seem relevant and so helpful with what you are doing or going through. The Bible is like that regardless, it is so rich and so encouraging.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Feeling a Little Blue in the Pew
I was in church a while back just saying a few Hail Marys before Mass. I was feeling like I sometimes do, a little sad and out of place at weekday Mass with all the saintly people who attend. I feel a little unworthy at times.
After a few prayers I sat down and looked around. The walls of the church had a line of construction paper sheets running on both sides of the church displaying the artwork of the kids who were receiving their First Communion. Much of it was very nice -- images of the host, chalices, bread, burst of light, and dozens of little phrases and prayers. Each of the renderings expressed the Sacrament or perhaps the Communicant's new relationship with God in some way. A small breeze was somehow running through our church--every few seconds. There are no windows--so it must have been either through the vestibule in back or perhaps an air conditioning vent. Any way, you could see the sheets moving ever so slightly as the breeze would come in and then die down. One sheet was flapping about quite vigorously however directly on my left, perhaps one of the closest sheets to my location in the pew.
Of course being Irish and always open to supernatural communications, I kept glancing over at the one sheet that was practically flying off the wall. I thought the good Lord, knowing that I am not a subtle person, was going to make sure that I got His message loud and clear. I inched over a bit so I could read the message on the sheet. In a child's handwriting, the message stated simply: "God Loves You."
As I got to my feet for the Priest's entrance, I stopped worrying about being out of place and just concerned myself with loving Him back.
After a few prayers I sat down and looked around. The walls of the church had a line of construction paper sheets running on both sides of the church displaying the artwork of the kids who were receiving their First Communion. Much of it was very nice -- images of the host, chalices, bread, burst of light, and dozens of little phrases and prayers. Each of the renderings expressed the Sacrament or perhaps the Communicant's new relationship with God in some way. A small breeze was somehow running through our church--every few seconds. There are no windows--so it must have been either through the vestibule in back or perhaps an air conditioning vent. Any way, you could see the sheets moving ever so slightly as the breeze would come in and then die down. One sheet was flapping about quite vigorously however directly on my left, perhaps one of the closest sheets to my location in the pew.
Of course being Irish and always open to supernatural communications, I kept glancing over at the one sheet that was practically flying off the wall. I thought the good Lord, knowing that I am not a subtle person, was going to make sure that I got His message loud and clear. I inched over a bit so I could read the message on the sheet. In a child's handwriting, the message stated simply: "God Loves You."
As I got to my feet for the Priest's entrance, I stopped worrying about being out of place and just concerned myself with loving Him back.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Catholic America Today
This post sets out to make a point, which may be so self evident to many, folks may wonder why I bother, but here goes.
In the United States, many Catholics have expressed some concern about the church being too political. "Let the church stick to the sacred and stay out of politics they say."
Well, I am sure it can be annoying for people of faith to hear from their fellow church members espousing political ideas, especially when those ideas may not agree with their own politics, but let's take a look at things very briefly, very clearly.
Frankly, I am pretty well grounded in my own beliefs and convictions at my age. What goes on around me in the media and in society doesn't sway me so much--at least not without me checking sources. My views are based on my life, my faith and a good amount of solid Irish Catholic upbringing -- great parents and excellent teachers--mostly nuns. But my kids, well that's a different story.
In my opinion, many Catholics (including myself) are not very good at passing the faith onto their children. I hate to say it, but frankly, my generation of boomers were spoiled because we had so many wonderful nuns who spent several hours a day indoctrinating us in the faith. As we became parents ourselves, we had our parents example, and that may have been a great example of living, but perhaps not so great at teaching. While my father was devout, he spent little time at home because he worked several jobs. He believed we were in good hands with the Sisters. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the generations of Catholics who were educated by the Sisters were the best educated Catholics of all time--what we did with it is another matter. But when the Sisters numbers were decimated and Catholic schools declined--people moved to the suburbs etc., the burden of educating the faith quietly passed on to parents who just were not prepared for it if in fact they even recognize the responsibility. In reality, the burden of educating faithful Christians is always a parental responsibility, but let's just say when someone gives you a hand, you get used to not having to lift so much weight.
At the same time, often the hours that parents must put into their jobs is just as long as their parents did if not longer--and both parents are working. So just like latchkey kids have had the TV to keep them company in their parents absence, kids learn about morality, philosophy and God from the TV, movies, and other media. Our Public Schools often do a good job of teaching about diversity, prejudice and the like, but they certainly aren't going to touch on God much.
Everyday, TV and movies have a strong impact on our kids development. I don't think it takes a genius to understand that a moral or amoral message sent, in say a vampire movie, that might be watched by a kid a dozen times, may have a stronger influence on a kid than say an hour and half religious ed session twice a month. I think it's all about "touches' as they say in marketing circles. If our kids get more messages that sell them on selfish non-Christian behavior than they get Christian messages, they will be influenced accordingly.
In this way, I don't think we can have much confidence that somehow kids are not going to be swayed by negative false messages when they get so many of them compared to positive ones. As adults, many of us like to think that something like the Da Vinci Code should not be taken seriously because it is after all, a fictional movie. But unfortunately, for the uninitiated, it might have been the one most powerful message they have ever seen on Catholicism. How many more messages do kids get today about being sexy than say being chaste, about being rich than being kind, being fulfilled than being of service. In this way, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that we really do need to change society because society has a strong influence on our children if not ourselves. It's unrealistic to think that somehow we can teach our children one way all the while they are immersed in a society that is saying something completely different. Certainly, some have been very successful at it, but I don't think most of us are doing that well.
So I take the view that our general ethical principles based on our faith need to be promoted in society. We do not need to legislate the Christian religion, but there is a whole litany of things that need addressing. We need to vote our conscience and try to clean up the world in which we and our children live. We've let things go to far.
In the United States, many Catholics have expressed some concern about the church being too political. "Let the church stick to the sacred and stay out of politics they say."
Well, I am sure it can be annoying for people of faith to hear from their fellow church members espousing political ideas, especially when those ideas may not agree with their own politics, but let's take a look at things very briefly, very clearly.
Frankly, I am pretty well grounded in my own beliefs and convictions at my age. What goes on around me in the media and in society doesn't sway me so much--at least not without me checking sources. My views are based on my life, my faith and a good amount of solid Irish Catholic upbringing -- great parents and excellent teachers--mostly nuns. But my kids, well that's a different story.
In my opinion, many Catholics (including myself) are not very good at passing the faith onto their children. I hate to say it, but frankly, my generation of boomers were spoiled because we had so many wonderful nuns who spent several hours a day indoctrinating us in the faith. As we became parents ourselves, we had our parents example, and that may have been a great example of living, but perhaps not so great at teaching. While my father was devout, he spent little time at home because he worked several jobs. He believed we were in good hands with the Sisters. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the generations of Catholics who were educated by the Sisters were the best educated Catholics of all time--what we did with it is another matter. But when the Sisters numbers were decimated and Catholic schools declined--people moved to the suburbs etc., the burden of educating the faith quietly passed on to parents who just were not prepared for it if in fact they even recognize the responsibility. In reality, the burden of educating faithful Christians is always a parental responsibility, but let's just say when someone gives you a hand, you get used to not having to lift so much weight.
At the same time, often the hours that parents must put into their jobs is just as long as their parents did if not longer--and both parents are working. So just like latchkey kids have had the TV to keep them company in their parents absence, kids learn about morality, philosophy and God from the TV, movies, and other media. Our Public Schools often do a good job of teaching about diversity, prejudice and the like, but they certainly aren't going to touch on God much.
Everyday, TV and movies have a strong impact on our kids development. I don't think it takes a genius to understand that a moral or amoral message sent, in say a vampire movie, that might be watched by a kid a dozen times, may have a stronger influence on a kid than say an hour and half religious ed session twice a month. I think it's all about "touches' as they say in marketing circles. If our kids get more messages that sell them on selfish non-Christian behavior than they get Christian messages, they will be influenced accordingly.
In this way, I don't think we can have much confidence that somehow kids are not going to be swayed by negative false messages when they get so many of them compared to positive ones. As adults, many of us like to think that something like the Da Vinci Code should not be taken seriously because it is after all, a fictional movie. But unfortunately, for the uninitiated, it might have been the one most powerful message they have ever seen on Catholicism. How many more messages do kids get today about being sexy than say being chaste, about being rich than being kind, being fulfilled than being of service. In this way, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that we really do need to change society because society has a strong influence on our children if not ourselves. It's unrealistic to think that somehow we can teach our children one way all the while they are immersed in a society that is saying something completely different. Certainly, some have been very successful at it, but I don't think most of us are doing that well.
So I take the view that our general ethical principles based on our faith need to be promoted in society. We do not need to legislate the Christian religion, but there is a whole litany of things that need addressing. We need to vote our conscience and try to clean up the world in which we and our children live. We've let things go to far.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saint Patrick's Day Quiz
Here are questions a good Irish American should be able to answer. See if you have the right stuff for this St. Patrick's Day. To make it easy on you, these are true or false questions:
1. ___Saint Patrick was kidnapped from Britain.
2. ___Saint Patrick's Breastplate is a coat of arms with a shamrock.
3. ___Trinity College is one of the oldest Catholic Universities in the world.
4. ___The Book of Kells is a beautifully decorated book of poetry.
5. ___Frank McCourt was born in Limerick.
6. ___The potato famine occurred in the late 1800s.
7. ___The Commitments is a famous movie about Irish Folk Music.
8. ___Saint Brigid was known for her generosity.
9. ___William Butler Yeats is a famous Irish Catholic poet.
10. ___Peat was burned to heat homes in Ireland.
11. ___Joseph Kennedy served as Ambassador to Ireland.
12. ___Jean Kennedy Smith served as Ambassador to Ireland.
13. ___The native tongue of Ireland is English.
14. ___The Hebrides are Irish islands.
15. ___There are no Mosques in Belfast.
16. ___The largest Christian Church in Northern Ireland is the Catholic Church.
17. ___Bing Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way.
18. ___St. Columba waged a battle that killed thousands over a literary dispute.
19. ___In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift suggested that the poor Irish might sell their children as food for the rich.
20. ___An estimated 1 million Irish died from the potato famine and another 1 million emigrated.
Answers below:1. T--Saint Patrick was kidnapped from Britain.
2. F--Saint Patrick's Breastplate is a coat of arms with a shamrock. It's a prayer.
3. F--Trinity College is one of the oldest Catholic Universities in the world. It was established by the English queen as a Protestant institution.
4. F--The Book of Kells is a beautifully decorated book of poetry. Reproduces the Gospels.
5. F--Frank McCourt was born in Limerick. McCourt was born in NY, but his Irish parents returned to their native land and McCourt grew up in Limerick.
6. F--The potato famine occurred in the late 1800s. 1845-1849.
7. F--The Commitments is a famous movie about Irish Folk Music. Movie is about soul music song by an Irish band.
8. T--Saint Brigid was known for her generosity.
9. F--William Butler Yeats is a famous Irish Catholic poet. Yeats was a Protestant who became a Nationalist--loved by almost all Irish.
10. T--Peat was burned to heat homes in Ireland.
11. F--Joseph Kennedy served as Ambassador to England. Ambassador to the UK, Roosevelt wanted him to take the less-sensitive Irish job at the time just before WWII.
12. T--Jean Kennedy Smith served as Ambassador to Ireland.
13. F--The native tongue of Ireland is English. Irish or Irish Gaelic.
14. F--The Hebrides are Irish islands. Scotland.
15. F--There are no Mosques in Belfast.
16. T--The largest Christian Church in Northern Ireland is the Catholic Church. True--there are more Protestants, but those are from different churches.
17. T--Bing Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Going My Way.
18. T--St. Columba waged a battle that killed thousands over a literary dispute. Columba copied a manuscript containing Psalms without permission of its owner Saint Finian. When Columba lost the legal battle for his copy, he put together an army to retaliate. The loss of life was horrific and it brought shame and remorse to Columba who was essentially exiled from Ireland. The Irish loss was the Scots gain -- Columba became a great missionary to Scotland and established great monasteries there.
19. T--In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift suggested that the poor Irish might sell their children as food for the rich. He was being sarcastic, but seriously mocking some of the days thinkers.
20. T--An estimated 1 million Irish died from the potato famine and another 1 million emigrated. There are different estimates, but the losses were huge.
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Friday, March 11, 2011
Choose Life
I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorite teacher, the late Sister Faith Schuster pictured here. She was one of the most positive people I ever knew and although she knew suffering, pain, and tragedy--she always saw them in the context of faith, beauty and love. She never veered from that track.
I am most impressed by people who smile through life and remain positive. They are able to focus on the good and somehow see God's hand in everything. Sometimes the world seems so off-track, but those like Sister Faith can smell the flowers and smile in the sunshine regardless. Life is messy and it always will be, but it seems clear that God does not want us to walk around depressed.
Sister Faith had simple wisdom in a complex time.
This week I was privileged to make mass and this quote from Deuteronomy Chapter 30: 19-20 jumped out at me:
Photo of Sister Faith is from the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Saint Scholastica home page.
I am most impressed by people who smile through life and remain positive. They are able to focus on the good and somehow see God's hand in everything. Sometimes the world seems so off-track, but those like Sister Faith can smell the flowers and smile in the sunshine regardless. Life is messy and it always will be, but it seems clear that God does not want us to walk around depressed.
Sister Faith had simple wisdom in a complex time.
This week I was privileged to make mass and this quote from Deuteronomy Chapter 30: 19-20 jumped out at me:
Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
Photo of Sister Faith is from the Benedictine Sisters of Mount Saint Scholastica home page.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Irish Prayer
May those that love us, love us.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.
Source unknown.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.
Source unknown.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Grandmother Kit McCaskey and the Little Flower
In Patrick McCaskey's book, Sports and Faith: Stories of the Devoted and the Devout, he relays a few brief stories that his father passed down about his grandmother Kit. The McCaskeys were Scots going way back, but had mixed in with Irish, which was good thing in the opinion of Patrick's father Edward. According to the book, Kit was Irish through and through. Kit alone ran a household of many children and three adult men. Only God knows the number of others Kit reached out to help from her household in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but she was known for her kindness.
Kit had a deep faith and her answer to any problems was "that was a sign." Like many of the Irish, Kit believed that God's hand was an active one in our lives. According to the author, when Ed and Tom McCaskey came home from Caddying one day, their father told them that their mother was in the hospital. Kit had miscarried twins. Edward ran off to see his mother at St. Joseph's hospital. When he got to his mother's bedside, she said, "I'm all right Edward, the Little Flower sent me a shower of roses."
Saint Therese, the Little Flower, had lived a short life. Famous for her childlike trust in God, she didn't see death as the end of her work for God. She looked forward to working after death in God's name and she had said, "After my death, I will let forth a shower of roses, I will spend my heaven doing good upon the earth." Saint Therese's "Little Way" was her belief that God is everywhere--in every situation and every person--and in the ordinary, simple details in life.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Rutter Requiem and Ghosts Past
When I was in grade school at Cajetan School on the Southwest side of Chicago, a very wonderful thing happened. A choir master from Ireland came to live in our parish and created a boys choir to sing sacred music. They often sang at Mass. Although I was not a participant in the choir as my voice was not quite right for it, it was special to have our own boys choir in the parish and they sung beautifully. My cousin Pat sang in the choir and although I under-appreciated the Mass at the time, the choir helped develop my appreciation of all things Catholic.
I am not sure if anyone other an Irishman could have convinced the young boys of the parish that to sing in the choir was a privilege. As I recall, there were some who didn't make the cut. But we did have three classrooms of fifth grade students with about 55 kids to a class--ditto for sixth grade. Thus the school had perhaps 150 or so boys who were the right age for a boys choir. At least that's how I remember it.
When I was in College, my appreciation of music increased, but still I was not a great singer. However, I did join the Concert Chorale at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I can remember singing the Mozart Requiem--perhaps one of the most beautiful sacred works of all time. When we sang the Requiem for an actual Mass, it was something special.
Of my children, my second youngest is a devoted singer. There is nothing that child enjoys more than to sing and she loves to do it whether she is in front of people or by herself in her bedroom. And she loves the straight-up stuff -- the Celtic Women kind of stuff. This year is her first year in High School and she is lucky to be at a school where they have many choirs and a choir master who is very ambitious. His winter concert was an eclectic mix of fascinatingly brilliant stuff--his program wove western sacred and commercial Christmas music in with Asian and African songs.
Although, the school my daughter attends is a public school, they are working on John Rutter's Requiem for the spring. Performing sacred music at a public school is no surprise to music majors and musicians who understand that sacred music is part and parcel of choral music and musicians of all faiths sing, play and even compose sacred music regardless of their creed. A choir that does not tackle sacred music is like an orchestra that stays away from symphonies. I remember listening with great fondness to Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
Rutter is English and his Requiem was written in honor of his father. In part it follows the Catholic Mass, in part it goes it own way at times. Rutter explains his approach and reasoning very nicely on YouTube.
Rutter's Requiem is an exciting piece of music--and extremely popular. Rutter says it was performed over 500 times in the United States in the first six months of publication (1985). I think it deserves it. I am not a musician or music scholar--I am just an average fan who has a daughter who loves to sing. This piece knocks my socks off. Give it a listen if you haven't discovered it. It's reassuring when someone like Rutter comes along and writes something so beautiful, because it helps us understand that the Lord is still out there for us inspiring people like Rutter, helping us fight the good fight. When our kids can be involved in the work, it's an added bonus.
Image is All Soul's Chapel of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery as found at http://rochesterianseminarian.blogspot.com
For what I am doing with myself these days, see Sporting Chance Press.
I am not sure if anyone other an Irishman could have convinced the young boys of the parish that to sing in the choir was a privilege. As I recall, there were some who didn't make the cut. But we did have three classrooms of fifth grade students with about 55 kids to a class--ditto for sixth grade. Thus the school had perhaps 150 or so boys who were the right age for a boys choir. At least that's how I remember it.
When I was in College, my appreciation of music increased, but still I was not a great singer. However, I did join the Concert Chorale at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. I can remember singing the Mozart Requiem--perhaps one of the most beautiful sacred works of all time. When we sang the Requiem for an actual Mass, it was something special.
Of my children, my second youngest is a devoted singer. There is nothing that child enjoys more than to sing and she loves to do it whether she is in front of people or by herself in her bedroom. And she loves the straight-up stuff -- the Celtic Women kind of stuff. This year is her first year in High School and she is lucky to be at a school where they have many choirs and a choir master who is very ambitious. His winter concert was an eclectic mix of fascinatingly brilliant stuff--his program wove western sacred and commercial Christmas music in with Asian and African songs.
Although, the school my daughter attends is a public school, they are working on John Rutter's Requiem for the spring. Performing sacred music at a public school is no surprise to music majors and musicians who understand that sacred music is part and parcel of choral music and musicians of all faiths sing, play and even compose sacred music regardless of their creed. A choir that does not tackle sacred music is like an orchestra that stays away from symphonies. I remember listening with great fondness to Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
Rutter is English and his Requiem was written in honor of his father. In part it follows the Catholic Mass, in part it goes it own way at times. Rutter explains his approach and reasoning very nicely on YouTube.
Rutter's Requiem is an exciting piece of music--and extremely popular. Rutter says it was performed over 500 times in the United States in the first six months of publication (1985). I think it deserves it. I am not a musician or music scholar--I am just an average fan who has a daughter who loves to sing. This piece knocks my socks off. Give it a listen if you haven't discovered it. It's reassuring when someone like Rutter comes along and writes something so beautiful, because it helps us understand that the Lord is still out there for us inspiring people like Rutter, helping us fight the good fight. When our kids can be involved in the work, it's an added bonus.
Image is All Soul's Chapel of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery as found at http://rochesterianseminarian.blogspot.com
For what I am doing with myself these days, see Sporting Chance Press.
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