Archives
March 2008
3/26/08
3/22/08
HAPPY EASTER SEASON!
3/16/08
3/14/08
3/12/08
3/12/08
3/12/08
Saturday, March 22, 2008
7:50:00 PM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Handel's Messiah
Just a few more hours and we can say/SING the "A" word. I remember as a kid, Lent officially ended on Holy Saturday with the ringing of the church bell for the Angelus at noon. My brothers and I would stop from yard work, jump up and down in a boyhood spirit of real joy, yelling "Lent is OVER!"
Don't know why all the fuss, since we were not into flagellation or anything really difficult--just normal '50s kind of Catholic things. In fact, that morning already at 6:30 AM, we had already celebrated the "Resurrection Mass"! Present in church for that long Latin liturgy was the pastor presiding, my two brothers and I serving, and a very few other people including always Mrs. Hammond--an elderly lady who was the "Anna of the Temple."
We few were about all the "full active participation" there was from our parish in those days, and I'll bet our parish was on the high end of attendance for that Easter service on the day before. The pastor sang the "Twelve Prophecies" that were the scripture readings which on this occasion--by exception--included some selections from the Hebrew Scriptures. Before each, Father Curran (later "Monsignor")would make a dedication of a particular reading to someone present, e.g. "This one is for Mrs. Hammond." It all seems so long ago and far away, and so it was. It certainly was the right move for P. Pius XII during the mid '50s to begin liturgical renovation, in anticipation of Vatican II, with the restoration of the Easter VIGIL!
However, my musings today are not mere nostalgia. My heart today is full of hope. It is not just that I am at a beautifully landscaped center where religious women are making their annual retreat. It is not only that spring has sprung, and that I hear birds chirping joyfully, feel a gentle breez blowing, and the sun is shining in a cloudless sky on a warm day. There is something else.
It feels life half a century ago to me at this moment--when all was right with the world, or so it felt in a secure home and school environment in which love did reign. I remember my ordination to priesthood--forty-four years ago at the end of next month--and recall the joyful anticipation of fulfilling a ministry to which I felt called. At the time we had a pope who did not give way to the dire predictions of the "prophets of doom" who surrounded him, but lifted our hearts with a call to prayer for "a new Pentecost in our times." He convinced and challenged us to action, doing our part to help fulfill God's plan for the "renewal of the face of the earth"-- beginning with the church itself.
We had a president who set our collective eyes on the moon, and inspired "a new generation" to ask what they could do for their country, and to help people as a corps of volunteers for peace in poor countries throughout the world.
I feel something like that is in the air again. Our young people are being stirred to critical consciousness and a sense of ecological responsibility to save the planet from the pollutions of corporate greed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ almost 2000 years ago was a real victory over darkness, evil, sin and death. The grace of baptism invites and challenges us to be agents of change in a sinful world so that we may consecrate this fallen but redeemed world, and return every dimension of it to the Father.
My intution tells me--a great sense of HOPE--that we are on the verge of what John Henry Cardinal Newman in the 19th century called a "Second Spring." Our sagging world and disheartened spirits need it. MAY THAT SECOND SPRING COME SOON, AND BEGIN NOW!
"This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.!" ALLELUIA!
Written by juanrvi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
7:50:00 PM EDT
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Handel's Messiah
HAPPY EASTER SEASON!
Just a few more hours and we can say/SING the "A" word. I remember as a kid, Lent officially ended on Holy Saturday with the ringing of the church bell for the Angelus at noon. My brothers and I would stop from yard work, jump up and down in a boyhood spirit of real joy, yelling "Lent is OVER!"
Don't know why all the fuss, since we were not into flagellation or anything really difficult--just normal '50s kind of Catholic things. In fact, that morning already at 6:30 AM, we had already celebrated the "Resurrection Mass"! Present in church for that long Latin liturgy was the pastor presiding, my two brothers and I serving, and a very few other people including always Mrs. Hammond--an elderly lady who was the "Anna of the Temple."
We few were about all the "full active participation" there was from our parish in those days, and I'll bet our parish was on the high end of attendance for that Easter service on the day before. The pastor sang the "Twelve Prophecies" that were the scripture readings which on this occasion--by exception--included some selections from the Hebrew Scriptures. Before each, Father Curran (later "Monsignor")would make a dedication of a particular reading to someone present, e.g. "This one is for Mrs. Hammond." It all seems so long ago and far away, and so it was. It certainly was the right move for P. Pius XII during the mid '50s to begin liturgical renovation, in anticipation of Vatican II, with the restoration of the Easter VIGIL!
However, my musings today are not mere nostalgia. My heart today is full of hope. It is not just that I am at a beautifully landscaped center where religious women are making their annual retreat. It is not only that spring has sprung, and that I hear birds chirping joyfully, feel a gentle breez blowing, and the sun is shining in a cloudless sky on a warm day. There is something else.
It feels life half a century ago to me at this moment--when all was right with the world, or so it felt in a secure home and school environment in which love did reign. I remember my ordination to priesthood--forty-four years ago at the end of next month--and recall the joyful anticipation of fulfilling a ministry to which I felt called. At the time we had a pope who did not give way to the dire predictions of the "prophets of doom" who surrounded him, but lifted our hearts with a call to prayer for "a new Pentecost in our times." He convinced and challenged us to action, doing our part to help fulfill God's plan for the "renewal of the face of the earth"-- beginning with the church itself.
We had a president who set our collective eyes on the moon, and inspired "a new generation" to ask what they could do for their country, and to help people as a corps of volunteers for peace in poor countries throughout the world.
I feel something like that is in the air again. Our young people are being stirred to critical consciousness and a sense of ecological responsibility to save the planet from the pollutions of corporate greed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ almost 2000 years ago was a real victory over darkness, evil, sin and death. The grace of baptism invites and challenges us to be agents of change in a sinful world so that we may consecrate this fallen but redeemed world, and return every dimension of it to the Father.
My intution tells me--a great sense of HOPE--that we are on the verge of what John Henry Cardinal Newman in the 19th century called a "Second Spring." Our sagging world and disheartened spirits need it. MAY THAT SECOND SPRING COME SOON, AND BEGIN NOW!
"This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.!" ALLELUIA!
Written by juanrvi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
