Dignity in Dying

Posted by on

People are living longer.  At the same time, many people face great suffering from illness (physical and mental) and aging.  Seeing other people dying or facing death themselves has led many people to argue for the right to die at the time of their choosing.  Often death is caused by the use of lethal drugs obtained through a doctor.  The term used by many for this is physician assisted suicide.

There are many ethical questions that come up.  Does a person ever have a right to choose to end their life?  Under what conditions?  Do they need to do it themselves or can someone do it for them?  Would you allow it under at any time or only for those who are dying? 

Some say each individual person should have the freedom to choose when to die.  The problem with such a “freedom” is that we can wonder if a person truly chooses death as a “free choice” or because they feel they have to for various reasons such as not burdening their family with the costs of medical care if they continue to live.  They may choose to die not out of freedom but rather out of fear; fear of how they might suffer if they continue to live.  And what about the freedom of someone to make the choice who suffers from mental illness?  Can they make a rational choice or does their mental illness cloud their freedom?  What about the freedom of someone who can either not make the decision for themselves or are unable to express their own desire?

The Catholic Church makes an important distinction for those who are dying.  Life is a gift from God and we should never reject the gift (even when it doesn’t seem like a gift).  Thus, the teaching of the Catholic Church is clear that we should never act in a way to cause a death.  For example, the use of drugs that will be the direct cause of death is never permissible. 

However, the Catholic Church is also clear that we can make a decision to “let nature take its course.”  When a person is dying, they do not need to continue treatment when there is little or no hope of recovery. 

These are very complicated issues and cannot be adequately dwelt with here.  I write today to help people realize what the church’s position truly is on the “right to die.”  Each of us may face such decisions for ourselves or others in our lifetime.  The best time to begin to understand the Church’s teaching on euthanasia is not when we are facing such a grave decision but before we ever become sick. 

In recognition of the importance of this issue, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)  today (June 16, 2011) approved a statement called “To Live Each Day With Dignity: A Statement on Physican Assisted Suicide.”  I encourage you to take a look at it (it is just seven pages) and to check out some other resources from the Catholic Church on the topic.

USCCB page on resources concerning assisted suicide.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

For further reading you might also wish to check out some of the following articles on http://www.renewaloffaith.org.

or

USCCB, Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Fourth Edition. 2001.

Back From Retreat

Posted by on

I just returned from a five day retreat at Bethany Retreat Center.  While not everyone can take five days, I encourage everyone to think about taking an annual retreat.  For those who work, many retreat centers offer weekend retreats.

What is a retreat?  In military terms, a retreat is withdrawing from the front lines, generally when the one retreating is losing the battle.  It may be done to avoid casualties or it may be done to regroup.  The latter more fits the Christian idea of a retreat.  For Christians, making a retreat is to take time strengthen our focus on God.  It isn’t just for people who have lost their awareness of God.  Even if we still are very much aware of God in our lives, a retreat can be a time to help us deepen our relationship with Jesus by removing us from the distractions of the world.

There are three types of retreats, preached, directed, and private.  Any retreat would generally include daily Mass, prayer, and rest.  During a preached retreat there is a presenter(s) who gives talks on scripture and what it means to live our faith.  The number of talks can vary but would generally be one to three talks a day.  A preached retreat may or may not include periods of silence.

A directed retreat generally does not include any presentations (the homilies at daily Mass may reflect a theme for the retreat).  Once a day, you meet with a retreat director to talk about where God is at in your life.  For the rest of the day, the director may give you something to read or think about to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus.

A private retreat has no presentations or director.  Some might then think you could do it from home but I would always encourage you to go to a retreat center even for a private retreat to step away from the distractions of the world.  During a private retreat, time is spent in quiet reflection on issues you know you are facing in your relationship with Jesus.  You might bring some reading material on the spiritual challenges you are facing in your life.

For any retreat, rest is an essential retreat.  We don’t have to spend every waking moment reading or reflecting.  Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to take time to rest to open ourselves to God..  For me, sometimes one of the most refreshing things is to simply take a walk in the woods, finding God in the beauty of creation. 

What do you need to do to deepen your relationship with Jesus?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Render Unto Caesar

Posted by on

I recently finished reading Render Unto Caesar by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput (Doubleday: New York, 2008.)  The subtitle “Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life” really speaks to his point, ‘we must stand up for what we believe in.’

Render unto Caesar is, of course, a biblical reference to Matthew 22:16-22 where the Pharisees ask about paying the tax to Caesar.  Jesus’ reply is to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

Many people today believe separation of church and state means church and state have no relationship to each other and so our “church views” should have nothing to do with our political views.  The Church does not seek to tell the state what to do.  What the Church does seek is to stand up for what we believe in. Chaput writes

If we really love this country, and if we really treasure our faith, living our Catholic beliefs without excuses or apologies, and advancing them in the public square, are the best expressions of patriotism we can give to the nation (219).

What we believe in is not determined by a majority vote. 

Pope Liberius, of the first bishops of Rome to be hauled before a hostile emperor, said it best, “The truth of the faith is not lessened bythe fact that I stand alone” (Chaput, 197).

What we are to believe in is determined by Christ’s teaching to us.

Unfortunately many people today don’t really understand Church teaching on many issues such as gay marriage, birth control, or abortion.  They say they simply follow their conscience.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says we must follow our conscience but that we have a duty to a well-formed conscience (paragraph 1785), meaning it is not enough to know what the Church teaches on a particular issue.  We must study why the Church has the teaching so we can make an informed decision.

Only when we understand Church teaching ourselves can we stand up for what we believe in.  We live in a pluralistic society and trying to be tolerant can lead to complacency.  Christ was never complacent.  He stood up for what he believed in.  Do you?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

For Further Reading

From www.renewaloffaith.org – “Do We Listen to Our Conscience?”

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life.”  Doubleday: New York, 2008.

Trust

Posted by on

Who do you trust?  Why do you trust them?

I place my trust in God, or, at least that is always my goal.  I willingly put my trust in God because I know he won’t deceive me.  I know God won’t do anything to hurt me.  I believe God knows what is best for us.  God never acts in his own self-interest.

People do deceive us.  People do hurt us.  People sometimes put themselves first.  At other times, we read into other people’s actions.  We might interpret their actions in a way that was never meant.  So, I say I put my trust in God before people. 

Yet, just recently somebody said to me that it is easier to trust in people than God.  I was surprised by the comment because of what I said above.  The conversation continued for the person to explain their comment.  I realized that when they said “trust” they were referring to the fact that as we get to know people, we can predict how they might react (good or bad).  With God, we might struggle to know what he is going to do.  We know what we might like God to do but we don’t always get what we want. 

Our own vision of a situation can be limited.  The same is true for any human being.  So, in similar situations we tend to make similar decisions.  God sees everything and makes much better decisions.

So, I don’t know that it is easier to trust in humans but we might be better able to predict what humans might do.  To better understand how God might respond is a life-long goal.  We read the scriptures, we listen to homilies, we strive to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit so we do God’s will.

Who do you put your trust in?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

The Benefits of Hard Work

Posted by on

Last night, our parish school in Penn Yan (St. Michael’s School) held its spring concert.  The first third of the concert was the band playing instrucmental pieces.  The rest of the concert was all the children singing as one large group and by class.  Everything went well.  It showed that the children had practiced and knew their parts.

This morning I joined the school children for their regular morning prayer.  Mr. Paddock, the principal, began by congratulating the children on a concert well done.  I took a few minutes at the end of the prayers to offer my own congratulations to the children.  Then, I used their different parts in the concert playing different instruments and singing as a analogy to how God has given us differrent gifts.  There were several different instruments (trumpet, clarinet, etc.) and singing.  Most people can’t play all the instruments.  Just like in life, we each have different gifts, the band plays together to complete the music.  It won’t be the same if all the band members played the same instrument.  We are called to use the different gifts God has given us to make the world a better place together.

Then, I asked them if they had practiced.  Of course, the answer was yes.  Then, I asked them if they had practiced once, twice, three times, …  Of course, they had practiced several times.  I complimented them on their hard work and practice and encouraged them to keep up the hard work because it is worth it.

Are you willing to put in the hard work or do you rush into stuff without preparing?  We might often be tempted to seek the easy path but a little hard work can go a long way to make the world a better place.

Follow the example of the school children preparing for their concert.  Prepare and practice in all things so you may offer your best to God and the world.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Wondering

Posted by on

Tonight I am wondering what to write about.  Sometimes, I might write two to four times a week with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  I start writing tonight not because I know what I want to say.  I’m writing because I haven’t writing in a few days. 

Normally, I write based on some ministry I have been involved in.  Yet, I haven’t received any inspiration to write this week.  It’s not that I haven’t been busy this week.  Monday was Parish Council.  Tuesday I was at our final Presbyteral Council meeting of the year followed by the last Executive Committee meeting.  Wednesday evening was the Care of the Community meeting at St. Patrick’s.  On Thursday I met with a parishioner about becoming a Minister of the Communion to the homebound.  I also had a dentist appointment for some fillings in the afternoon.  Today I visited the parish school to join them for morning prayer and then met with a prospective candidate who would like to join the Catholic Church.  (oh – there was also a virus on my office computer today.)  Of course, I also said daily Masses, worked on the Sunday homily, scheduled some baptisms, and wrote some bulletin articles.

I certainly have been busy this week.  I think I have done some important ministry this week yet, in some way, it all seems routine, leaving me without a topic to write about.

How often do you feel like you are very busy, realize you are doing important work, yet when someone asks you how your week has been, you don’t have much to say?  It doesn’t mean you haven’t done some wonderful things.  In my case, I believe I have done what Jesus has asked of me.  Life isn’t about doing good things to make us look special.  It’s about doing what Jesus wants.

What does Jesus want you to do?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

P.S. Let me know if you have any questions that I might use for topics to write about.

Stewardship

Posted by on

Yesterday was the 7th Annual Stewardship Day in the Diocese of Rochester.  Representatives from parishes throughout the diocese gathered to listen to speakers about stewardship.  The main speaker was Susan Erschen of the diocese of St. Louis where she is the Director of Stewardship Education.

She defined stewardship as recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God, that we are grateful for the gift, and that we have something to share from our time, talent and treasure.  She presented a model of successful stewardship in two components, teaching stewardship and practicing development.  Some parishes will teach Stewardship but don’t put it into practice while other parishes may have people who generous stewards giving of their time, talent, and treasure but never talk about why we should be stewards.  A vision of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is never developed.

Stewardship is a way of life.  It is about developing our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Another way she stressed stewardship vs. development is that development is about what we do while stewardship is about who we are.  We can easily do something for the sake of doing it without it having a deeper meaning.

We are not called to give of our time, talent, and treasure just because it sounds good.  We are called to be stewards in Jesus’ commandment to love one another.  God has given each of us gifts, not simply for our own good but to work together to make the world a better place.

What gifts do you have that God is calling you to use to help make his love known and so that the world may be a better place?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Convocation

Posted by on

Each year the priests and administrators of our Rochester Diocese gather for a convocation with a featured speaker.  Below follows an article I just wrote about the convocation for an upcoming parish bulletin.

Continuing Education
There is a saying, “We learn something new everyday.”  We learn at school but we also look at work and with our family and friends.  Many fields, such doctors, and nurses require “continuing education.”  Priests can be counted among those who are called to ‘continually’ learn.  As part of our continuing education, our priests and pastoral administrators gather once each year for our annual convocation.    There are times of prayer.  Bishop Clark always has addresses the group..  The majority of the time is taken by a featured speaker on a selected topic.

As we gathered earlier this month the speaker was Fr. Paul Turner.  He is a well respected author on liturgy and spoke to us on the upcoming new English translation of the Mass.  We began introducing the translations to you with bulletin articles in January.  You might also remember the homilies in February on the parts of the Mass.

Fr. Turner’s presentations were to help us better understand the new translations of the Mass so that in turn we can help you better appreciate the new translations.  For now, I offer a couple of highlights.

One of the common questions people tend to ask when they hear of the new translation is why do we need it?  The answer I have always given is that it is not that there was anything wrong with the previous translations but that we seek to always make our words better.  In March, I spoke to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at our parish school.  I made the comparison that when we write something, we don’t write it through once and hand it in.  We proofread.  Another example is that for my web site, I reread articles I wrote a few years ago and make changes, having learned something new or found a better way to say it.

The translation of the Mass is no different.  We have been using the same translation since 1985.  I first heard about the coming translation when I started in seminary in 2000.  What I never realized until hearing Fr. Turner was that as soon as the current translation was approved in 1985, they began working on a new translation because they knew it wasn’t perfect.  They worked on it till 1998 and then sent it to the Vatican for approval but it never received approval because in 2000, the Pope introduced an updated Latin text which started a new translation.  My point being that we always knew a better translation could be done.

One of the oddities in the new translation that puzzled me is right after the consecration.  Currently, the priest says, “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.”  In the new translation, it is shortened to “the mystery of faith.”  I have been thinking nobody says a sentence like that.  Fr. Turner made the perfect comparison.  When the lector finishes readings, they say “The Word of the Lord.”  The people respond ‘Thanks be to God.’  When the priest or deacon finishes the gospel, they say “The Gospel of the Lord” and the people respond ‘Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.”  Those responses are to God’s Word having been proclaimed.  The words “The Mystery of Faith’ follow the consecration when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood, that is the mystery of faith.  We don’t need a complete sentence.  ‘The Mystery of Faith’ says what needs to be said.

Watch for more on the changes.

Peace, Fr. Jeff

P.S. If you missed the previous bulletin cover articles on the new translations or the inserts on the parts of the Mass you can find them on our parish web site at http://www.ourladyofthelakescc.org/understandingmass/understanding.html.

Easter is a Time of New Life

Posted by on

On Good Friday, Jesus died for us.  On Easter, he rose to new life and he promises a share in the new life in his Father’s kingdom to all who believe in him.  We enter into that new life in baptism.  For most of us as Catholics, we are baptized as little children but in the early church baptism of adults was common practice as people converted to the “new” Christian faith.  Over time, whole families were baptized and slowly the baptism of children become the normal practice to ensure the little ones would share in the new life Christ has won for us.

Even today, we still receive adults into the church.  At our Easter Vigil last night, our pastor baptized one man into our Catholic faith and received another man baptized in another Christian denomination into our Catholic faith.  I have had the pleasure of working with the second man this year to help him learn about what our faith teaches and believes.  So, it was with joy that I watched as he was received into our Catholic faith.

We need faith in our world today.  We live in our world where faith of any sort is on the decline.  Without faith, how can we have hope? 

Why are people turning away from faith?  I think there are at least two reasons.  One, some think science explains everything and that any notion of God is outdated.  To them, God was a human invention to explain what they did not understand.  This does not mean all people of science do not believe.  I have a background in engineering and I know several engineers who are very active in their faith.  I have also read books by Rev. John Polkinghorne who is an Anglican priest but spent 25 years as a quantum physicst before his ordination.  He says the science of quantum physics actually pointed him to God.

The second reason I think people are turning away from faith is that they want to be able to do whatever they want.  I opened saying Jesus offers eternal life in his Father’ s kingdom to all who believe in him.  If we believe in him, then we will strive to live as he calls us.  Is it easy?  No, at times we fail in sin.  That’s why Jesus died for us!

We have hope because we know that Jesus died and rose for us.

Happy Easter.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

The Triduum is Upon Us

Posted by on

This is the holiest time of the year.  Last night (Thursday), we celebrated the Institution of the Eucharist and the Washing of the Feet.  Today is Good Friday, the day which we celebrate the Crucifixion of Jesus.  Yes, we celebrate the Crucifixion.  Crucifixion is a terrible way to die used for terrible criminals.  Jesus was innocent yet he was willing to die for our sins.  We celebrate what Jesus has done for us out of love.

Our Triduum is spread over three days so we tend to look at the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection as three separate events.  They are not three separate events but one transformative event foundational to who we are as Christians.

The transformative and foundational event for the Jewish people was the Passover, recognizing God’s action in setting his people free from the Egyptians so they might head to the promised land.  Jesus took the Passover event from being a celebration of freedom from the Egyptians to celebrating our freedom from sin.

Jesus instituted the Eucharist when he said ‘Take this and eat it, this is body’ and ‘Take and drink, this is my blood.’  The blood is a sign of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  The bread we receive is the bread of life.  It is also the lamb that takes away our sins.

Recognizing that the Triduum as one event is crucial to our understanding of our celebration of the Eucharist as a sacrifice.  The Jewish celebration of the Passover included the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb.  Jesus is the unblemished lamb (without sin).  When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are not celebrating a new sacrifice.  It is the one sacrifice that Christ made on the Cross for us. 

Some say that Catholics re-enact the sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist.  We do not.  Because, unlike God, we are bound by time,  I don’t think there is a good word in English to describe how our celebration of the Eucharist is the same sacrifice that Jesus offered at the Last Supper and in his Crucifixion.

The Last Supper and the Crucifixion are one event.  But it does not end there.  To fully understand how the Triduum is one foundational event for us we have to wait for the Resurrection for without the Resurrection, the Crucifixion might only be a pointless death.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff