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 This blog is devoted to life at the seminary. The seminarians of Sioux City reflect on the activities, events and overall life in the seminary.
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This is more or less the homily that I preached this weekend. Obviously, what is written and what is spoken can be two different things, but I have heard enough feedback on it, that I thought it might be beneficial to post it online.
Blessings,
Deacon Pat Behm
Brothers and sisters in Christ, almost 2,000 years ago, St. Polycarp, an early bishop in the Church was faced with the unenviable choice between blaspheming Christ Jesus, his Lord, or being executed. He chose execution, uttering the famous line, “Eighty years I have served my Lord, how can I now abandon him?” Let us keep St. Polycarp and his witness in mind as we reflect today on one the great demons in our midst. We hear in the Gospel today about how our Lord, as one with authority, cast a demon out of a man. Let’s go a little bit deeper into this story. Christ is in a synagogue. A synagogue was a place where teaching took place. Christ is teaching as one with authority. Clearly, someone did not like his teaching, namely, the demon in the unnamed man.
Make no mistake about it brothers and sisters, we have demons among us today, and just like in today’s Gospel, they don’t much like it when Christ teaches with authority, because it threatens their authority. So, who are these demons? Simply put, these demons are anyone or anything who threatens truth. You see, our Lord called Himself the Truth. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He also calls Satan the father of lies, and this makes sense, because a lie fights against the truth, and the enemy of our Lord is the Evil One. Those who spread these lies fear the authority of Christ, and even more than that, they fear the authority He has given to His Church. Christ isn’t here today to speak to us, obviously. Instead, He speaks through the Scriptures and through the Church
In our first reading today, we hear Moses promise that a prophet like him will come. Throughout the Old Testament, God continues to call his prophets to proclaim the truth in season and out of season, and he is harsh with them when they fail to do so. Later on in the New Testament, Paul says the same thing, “woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel,” and I say the same to you today, “Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel.” When I was ordained a deacon, and in a few months when I am ordained a priest, I will make a promise to proclaim the Gospel, when it's popular and when it's unpopular, in season and out of season. Today is one of those days when I must proclaim the Gospel when it is unpopular and out of season. Why?
This last week, sadly, a great threat was leveled against the Gospel, and the truth of Jesus Christ. As I prayed and reflected this week, I realized that as an ordained cleric, I have a responsibility before God to speak out against this. In fact, I feel that I would be guilty of sin, perhaps even mortal sin, were I to just pass over today as though nothing happened this week. So, what, exactly am I talking about? If you haven’t heard yet, the Obama Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services has issued a policy requiring private insurers to cover abortion, sterilization, and contraception without any cost to the individual policy holder. In other words, the cost gets handed on to everyone, including you and me. There is a small exception for some Churches, but, according to Cardinal Daniel Dinardo that exception is so small, even Jesus Himself would not qualify for it. The rest of us have been given a “year to adapt.”
In response, our own administrator, Bishop James Conley, said this, “Secretary Sebellius is wrong; this is not a year to ‘adapt.’ The Catholic Church will not adapt by violating fundamental elements of our faith. Instead of adapting, this is a year to unify, and to fight injustice and flagrant disregard for the institutional protection of our religious practice.”
Other bishops have also spoken out against this. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York said, “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.” The bishop of my own diocese, Walker Nickless said this, “We object to this mandate, not only because it is violence against the Church’s religious liberty, not only because it clearly violates the Constitution and undermines the rule of law, but also because contraception, sterilization, and abortion are very grave moral evils that are bad for women and bad for families.” Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz wrote the following, “I am happy to join my voice and efforts to these Successors of the Apostles and to protest most strongly against a mandate, not even a duly passed law, issued by the Obama Administration that requires all Catholics in the United States to violate their consciences and support abortion, abortion-causing drugs, contraception, and sterilization.”
Now, obviously, this brings up a whole different discussion regarding the morality of contraception and abortion, but that is for a different homily and a different day. Suffice it to say for right now, that both have been linked to health problems in women. If you’re curious, check out www.abortionbreastcancer.com. You might be surprised at what you find.
For now, the problem is clear. Our right to freely practice our faith and to follow the teachings of Christ as they have been handed down to us through the Scriptures, the Tradition of the Church, and the teachings of the Magisterium, is under attack. So, what’s the solution?
First, let’s not mince words. This mandate flies in the face of Christ and the truth of His teachings. It is, without qualification, demonic. So, once again, what is the solution? On one level, the solution is to take action, and I certainly invite you to do so. Call your senators and representatives. Call the White House. Tell them that you are not happy with this. But, on a deeper level, the solution is spiritual, and that solution is to turn to the Gospel. It is Christ who casts out the demon from the man in today’s Gospel and it is only Christ who can cast out this demon as well. Later on in Mark’s Gospel, we are told that some can only be cast out by prayer and fasting. With that in mind, I invite you to join me this week in praying and fasting for an end to abortion, contraception, and sterilization in our country, for the conversion of our president and all who oppose the culture of life, and for the rescinding of this mandate.
What does that mean? I want to encourage you for the next week to pray and fast everyday for these intentions and I’ll be doing it right along with you. That prayer could be an hour spent in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It could be attending Mass every day. It could be praying the Rosary in the car on your way to work. Fasting could entail skipping a meal, or abstaining from meat or candy. It could mean turning off the radio as you drive, or working out without your iPod. It could mean greatly reducing the time spent online or watching television. It could be any number of things, but I invite and encourage you to do something, everyday, for the next week. And, as I said, I will be joining with you.
Brothers and sisters, this situation is grave. Some of you might be objecting, and thinking, you know, gee deacon, this is a very political homily. Yeah, it sure is. And that is because moral truth has political consequences. I would preach the same homily today regardless of whether it was a Republican or a Democrat or any other party in the White House. What matters here is recognizing the existence of moral truth and the reality that our First Amendment rights are being seriously threatened. I invite you to join me in peaceably speaking out against this, but more than that, please join me in praying and fasting that the demons of relativism and immorality are cast out of our world.
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Fatherhood vs. Priesthood? |
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Warm Greetings,
Many people today believe that the idea that a celibate, that is a man pursuing the priesthood, can write a blog post on fatherhood is a contradiction. Well… I would grant that it is unusual and that in my celibate life I may not experience all the things more traditional "Fathers" experience, but I would challenge that I have nothing of value to say! I was once told, “If you want to be really great at being married and a great father to children, you must first understand what it means to be celibate. AND, if you want to be celibate then you must understand and appreciate the gift of marriage.”
The past semester I've been thinking quite a bit about the beauty of being a father and a husband. Both celibacy and marriage are great gifts and each come with many great blessings, but they both have their struggles and difficulties as well. I think about what a great role model my Dad has been for me and how he has given me so much. I love my Dad dearly and that is part of the reason why as I grew up I wanted to follow in his footsteps. He has taught me so much about life and how to be a virtuous man. I can only dream of being a "father" to others like he has been for me, by passing on the faith and life skills.
Recently, while ice-skating with a couple of my seminary friends, I saw a father teaching his son how skate and play hockey. Honestly, my heart melted to see a father teaching his son more than just how to move on the ice, but live and give and experience happiness, it was incredibly powerful to witness. I know that my experience with my father is not identical to the experience that everyone has, but our Heavenly Father loves us so much more, just as Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Prodigal Son.
My dad and me in Colorado last year during parents weekend
If I had a dime for ever time someone asked me, “So what about that celibacy thing” or, “I would be a priest but I want to have a family” I would be a very rich man. Don't get me wrong fatherhood is a beautiful gift. The problem with these statements is that they do not see celibacy as a gift. That's right, I said, “CELIBACY IS A GIFT!” Every man is called to give himself as a gift, whether to his children and wife, or to Christ through each person in his parish or school. A man is to lay himself down for his family financially, emotionally, and physically. This is the responsibility of a father, but also a priest. In college seminary I was on a retreat given by Father Tiffany, from St Paul, MN. The talks he gave during the retreat were full of practical advice on the priesthood. He shared of his life and told many stories about his priesthood and how he gave so much of himself to his spiritual children and in return he received fruit much greater than that which he had given. The point that really stuck with me was not that how much we receive in return, but that the priest is really a father, and must be an example to other fathers. A priest shares the birth of the child in baptism, and rejoices with his spiritual children in the sacraments, through the Eucharist, and God’s infinite mercy through confession. The priest witnesses the marriage, and in a very way suffers with the family as he prepares a soul for death. A priest is there for a couple when they are encountering struggles in their marriage, and also when they are celebrating may years of joyful marriage. In a very real way a priest is with a family in the most intimate moments of life. A priest is a father through all life’s journeys in a single day. As one of the priests in the video Fishers of Men said, "What a family goes through in a lifetime, a priest can experience in a day. In the morning a priest can baptize a child, in the afternoon celebrate a marriage, and in the evening he can be preparing a soul for death."
In a world full of absent fathers, whether though divorce, work, or other reasons, perhaps more then ever a priest must be a father willing to give of himself, and be an example to world of what authentic fatherhood looks like and is lived. The more I have prayed about my own desire to be a father, the more I have realized that the fatherhood that I desire is not in contrast with the priesthood, but is compatible. The love that a priest pours out upon his people will bear much fruit if it is poured out in imitation of what the Heavenly Father has done.
The melting of my heart at the sight of the father teaching the son to ice-skating is not in contrast with the priesthood either, because the priest is called in the same way to pass on his knowledge to the next generation, his children. A priest may not spend his time teaching his children to skate, but there is really nothing wrong with this image. What the priest must teach his children is how to pray and show them that religion is not just about following a bunch of rules and going to Mass on Sunday, but the faith that we profess is about a personal relationship with a loving God who wants us to be filled with joy and peace. This is by far more important in the long run, but the small acts of fatherhood that are played out on a daily basis can by no means be excluded, because if there is no relationship, the child will not follow the father. In a world full of absent fathers, the priest must rise up and be the father, and lead the way to God the Father.
Men in Christ, Men of the Church, Men for others
Aaron Pohlen |
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(Picture: H:\pictures\sun storm.htm WordlessTech)
Hello, my name is Brian Feller and I am in seminary at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado.
The weather in Denver is not like it is at home in Iowa. Here the winters are fairly mild and the summers are rarely humid.
So far this winter we have had a few major snow falls, but the snow usually doesn’t last long, and never stays the whole winter.
Sometimes it will snow in the morning, and by afternoon it is all gone because the temperature has risen to 50-60 degrees.
Like Iowa, the weather changes every day. Some days are clear and sunny, others are cloudy. Often, if the day starts clear,
it ends cloudy and if it begins cloudy it usually ends with a clear starry sky.
These weather changes are like my life, and maybe yours too. Yes, I experience changes between consolations and desolations,
successes and failures, and everything else, just like the weather changes from cold to hot or from clear to cloudy. No matter
what changes in the weather I may experience, the sun always shines upon the earth and gives me what I need to biologically
live and thrive. And so too, no matter what my life is like, or how difficult or easy things are, God is always shining down on me,
keeping me alive and giving me exactly what I need to live and thrive at each particular moment. Again, just as I am kept alive
by the sun’s heat (even when I can’t see it), so too with God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love me, keep me alive, and help
me thrive even when my life is a bit messy or I don’t clearly perceive God’s presence. God is greater than the storms of my life
and his love for you and me cannot be stopped.
Thank God, for whether in light or darkness, joy or anxiety, His love for me is my hope and gives me the courage to walk with Him
into the unknown. I pray that you feel this same hope.
God bless you and keep you.
Brian
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Advent Greetings,
As I was thinking back on my entries this semester, I realized I had not written much about what I have been doing in the seminary recently. If you could not guess, a large part of seminary life is devoted to prayer. The main form of communal prayer is the Mass, and the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic faith. If you have been to a Catholic Mass recently it is hard to miss the many liturgical changes that took place the first Sunday of Advent. I was home over Thanksgiving and I had several relatives come up to me and ask why we had to learn a bunch of new responses for the Mass, and what was the problem with the Mass and the responses they had been using and were familiar with, responses set since the 1970's. I explained why to my family over Thanksgiving, but since then I have to tell you how much I have enjoyed the beauty of the new translations. At this time I do not want to talk about the reasons why the new translation of the Roman Missal was promulgated (instituted), but if you are interested in this topic, there are many authors that have written about why the Mass has changed, such as Father Brent Lingle's articles in our Diocesan Newspaper, the "Catholic Globe". Also at this time I do not want to talk about the theology behind the changes, and once again there are many authors who address this such as Dr. Edward Sri's book A Biblical Walk Through the Mass.
The changes in the Mass have truly changed the way I think about the liturgy, and pray, and participate in the Mass. Before the new translation came out I, like so many other Catholics, said the response "and also with you" and the many other responses, without ever really contemplating what I was saying. I think that was so because it was so familiar and thus I responded from memory rather than in prayer, or thinking about the very words we say. I have been to Mass every day since the translation came out and every time I go now I have to stop and focus upon what is coming out of my mouth (mostly so that I do not say, "and also with your spirit," instead of "and with your spirit"). As a child growing up I never questioned what the priest said, I just assumed that whatever a priest said was what he was supposed to say, no questions asked. Now, even though I had attended several lectures on the reasons for the new translation of the Roman Missal, since the first time I heard the new translation there have been several spots where I have had to stop and think about why the priest used a certain word, such as chalice instead of cup. We drink water and other ordinary beverages out of a cup. When I thought about the word chalice I thought of something that has a greater dignity and holds something of greater worth than in ordinary cup or glass. The new translation for me has been a opportunity for great grace and growth in my understanding of the Mass and the teachings of the Catholic faith. The next time you are attending Mass, I encourage you really listen to the words and find the spots where the words have changed, and pray about them, and see if you can figure out why they were changed and what the changes mean. And if you cannot, then take the opportunity to consult a source that will enlighten you to the richness and depth that have been added with the new words and restored prayers. I know it will enrich you as much as it has me.
Elsewhere in my life I have taken up snowboarding for the second season now that the mountains are covered with snow. Every time I am out in nature I remember God's great love for us. He created nature in all its beauty for us to see and use.
I've been spending a lot of time recently preparing for the end of the semester. I have four finals I'm preparing for and I have two papers I need to finish before the end of the semester. If you would, please keep me and all my brother seminarians in your prayers.
Men in Christ, Men of the Church, Men for Others
In Christ,
Aaron Pohlen |
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Solemnity of Christ the King |
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Greetings,
As the Liturgical Year draws to a close, our souls begin to think about the end and the beginning, the Alpha and Omega, who is Christ the High King. This Sunday marks the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year and next Sunday is the start of Advent where we begin to think about Christ's birth and second coming. Today while I was serving mass for the great Solemnity of Christ the King I was convicted to write this blog. Bishop Conley, apostolic administrator of Denver, celebrated Mass for the seminary and in his homily he talked about kingship and religious freedom. I would like to share with you a few of Bishop Conley's comments and a few of my reflections on today's celebration.
Christ is High King over all other kings. Pope Pius XI writes in his encyclical Quas Primas on Christ the King, “His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only bapt
ized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.” What does this mean? It means that we must be in the service of the King, and we must always do the Lord's will. Christ is our savior both as individuals and as a society. By the very nature of the word servant, we must get up and be ready to serve in whatever way we can, and are asked to serve. The very nature of the word service invokes activity rather than passivity.
Around the world over the past 50 to 100 years there have been many instances where religious freedom has been taken away, as evidence in the Soviet Union and China. Even in more recent times the Church has been persecuted, rejected, and forbidden by law. We can see examples of this in the formation of the European Union. During the writing of the official documents that formed the EU they took all mention of Catholicism's involvement in the formation of Europe out of its history. If you know anything about Europe's history you will know the crucial part that Catholicism played in the formation of Europe, and that you can not talk about one with out the other. In our own beloved country, where we have the first amendment that is supposed to guarantee religious freedom, religion is being suppressed and penalized for not conforming to the will of the government. This is not a democratic or republican issue but it is OUR PROBLEM. As Catholics our desire for serving all of God's children and creation goes back 2000 years to Christ himself who is our model. When we serve others, we do not force Christianity or Catholicism on anyone, but we share God's love with them. Before we serve anyone, we do not ask for records of their faith, but we serve everyone according to their need without discrimination. As Catholics we have worked to defend the dignity of all without counting the cost. The Church's work has traditionally included serving the poor, providing healthcare, working with children who have no home, and in education just to name a few of the ways the Catholic Church has helped America become what it is today.
Today in America the Church is being persecuted, and her efforts are being hampered and suppressed on the global level because she will not provide or promote contraception or abortion, along with the many other good and noble services that she provides to tho
se who are most in need. On a national level, hospitals and Catholic healthcare agencies are under great pressure because they defend life and protect the sanctity of marriage. Catholic schools and universities are being penalized for not offering insurance plans that cover immoral practices. Licenses are being revoked because Catholic adoption agencies will not allow same-sex couples to adopt a child. In Alabama their immigration policy will not allow any agency to provide food, clothing, or a shelter to illegal immigrants.
Christ is our King, and we must not back away from this fact! We must not be afraid to proclaim the truth with love in our work, schools, and wherever else we may be. As Catholics we are not called to sit around and wait for the times to change, but we are called to proclaim the truth in the public square, however God calls us.
Our faith is being attacked and suppressed because our King is not of this world. He is not going to attack the way earthly kings do, with guns, tanks, and bombs. Our King is disliked and hated because he is the one truth King, over all earthly kings and rulers, and they do not want to follow anyone’s rule, thus they make themselves liable to no one, and make themselves demigods. Our King also proclaims and heralds truths contrary to those of most earthly rulers. Christ himself died because he heralded the heavenly kingdom, the kingdom that is not of this world. Let us today stand up for this kingdom, for this is our true home and father land.
As young men discerning God's call, we must first pray that Christ reigns supreme in our hearts. Second, we must listen intently to what the Lord is telling us deep in the silence of our hearts. We need young men to stand up in the public square and to proclaim the truth, and to defend life and morality. In order for these politicians, educators, doctors, and leaders in all walks of life to be strong and ethically rooted they need someone to feed, catechize, and love them so that they may spread the Good News of Christ the high King, who reigns lovingly and mercifully in this life, and in the Kingdom to come.
May Christ sit enthroned in our hearts and reign supreme in our lives.
Men in Christ, Men of the Church, Men for Others
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come!
Aaron Pohlen |
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