A CW Interview

Besides reading the National Catholic Reporter regularly, I also "subscribe" to several feeds. Just this past week, the NCR started a new column called "Conversations with Sr. Camille." The opening article was an interview of Julia Occhiogrosso, 50 years old and long-time member of the Catholic Worker. It was an inspiration to read; and if this article is an indication of things to come, it'll be an ongoing hit.

A few years after we were married, Joan and I lived in the Seattle Catholic Worker community for five years, years which were often very hectic and stressful. However, those years also contain some of my fondest memories. Julia's life in the Worker reminded me of my own; I often think I would like to reunite with those roots. Perhaps someday...

As Julia recounts, it was her parents' values, and then her sister's early influence that drew her to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, and things took off from there. Some excerpts...

Did some particular experience strengthen your resolve? "I remember tagging along with Mary Smith, a nurse in the community. We went door to door in the run-down Skid Row hotels. Mary spoke Spanish, informing the families about a summer project for children. We walked tenuously through darkened hallways, avoiding broken glass. The air reeked of urine. Peeking out from behind their moms were little children with dazed eyes. They seemed to wonder, 'What can you do for me?' My heart knew in those moments that I was being invited to be with the poor."

After four years with the LACW, Julia was "commissioned" to open a sister house in Las Vegas.
"For the first five years, different people came for six months to a few years. The lack of a consistent, long-term community was taking a toll on me. Just as I thought I needed a break, Gary Cavalier, whom I'd known at the LACW, joined me. We shared similar values. Gary brought insight, energy and creativity to the LVCW. His background in printing and publishing helped improve our newsletter, Manna. We were married in 1994."

How did that change your life? "Because I wanted a family, we adopted two boys. We moved out of the hospitality house with Gary commuting to run the projects. When the boys started school, I was able to spend more time at the Worker. We soon were running a grassroots interfaith program for homeless families, along with the Catholic Worker house."

Julia, you've taken on some large challenges. Has any particular Scripture passage sustained you?
"Different passages speak to me differently in different moments. The parable of loaves and fishes and Matthew 25, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these you do unto me,' have special meaning for me. The paradoxes and metaphors found in Scripture show up often in my thoughts and they influence my writing."

What is your image of God? "I envision God incarnated in the dynamic of human relationships. I embrace my image of God when I'm able to revere both the wounds and sacredness in myself and others. In human relationships, we're given the privilege to engage in the give-and-take of a love that endures suffering, sacrifice and commitment, as well as a love that comforts, rejoices and hopes."

What about your faith is most meaningful to you? "Faithfulness to Jesus' message of radical love and forgiveness provides infinite possibilities toward personal and social transformation."

There's a lot more. I might drop Julia a note... And I think I'll follow this column.

Benedict's World Day of Peace letter

As I've noted before, I often get behind in my reading. It doesn't mean I'm not reading; actually, I read all the time. However, it's not always professional reading, or spiritual reading, or educational reading; I might be reading about current events, or I might be engaged in reading/writing, i.e., correspondence.

But...I've digressed. To come right to the point, I haven't been following the Pope lately. Now, I don't know whether the most common reaction to that admission would be disdain, puzzled confusion, or laughter; but in all honesty, I enjoy following the Pope, especially Benedict. Among the assortment of Catholic periodicals I receive, I regularly make time to read the NCR, US Catholic, America, and Commonweal, as well as our own Archdiocesan Progress, all of whom follow the Pope in varying frequencies and from varied perspectives. I'm open to still other perspectives too, as I come across them. I try to understand him.

Now, there are a LOT of Catholics, as well as their non-Catholic friends, who say privately that the pope embodies their worst notions of Church; that he is conservative, patriarchal, and that he seeks to return the Church to the "latin era." To these, he's "Pope Ratzinger," not Benedict. I think the sentiment is so very persistent because he was indeed so strong a personality under John Paul II.

However, I've tried to see Pope Benedict on his own record, apart from his previous role. He certainly seems to have made some remarkable gaffes, and I still have my questions about his (non-)actions in regard to priestly sexual abuse during his term as Archbishop of Munich, that he as Pope could have answered, but chose not to. However, his writing is surperb, and his subject-choice for his encyclicals is excellent. And in addition to these, he speaks to the culture of our times as directly as his predecessor did.

I just finished reading his 2012 message for the World Day of Peace. What he chose for his theme was "Educating Young People in Justice and Peace." What a surprising, uplifting point of view! I'm scheduled to give the homily next weekend (New Years Day), and will do my best to incorporate that perspective. Early in the letter he offers this delightful note:

"Education is the most interesting and difficult adventure in life" What a great way to start a subject! He continues, ... "Today more than ever we need authentic witnesses, and not simply people who parcel out rules and facts; we need witnesses capable of seeing farther than others because their life is much broader. A witness is someone who first lives the life that he proposes to others." A great challenge to teachers AND pastors.

He goes on, to talk about education: "It is the task of education to form people in authentic freedom. This is not the absence of constraint or the supremacy of free will, it is not the absolutism of the self. When man believes himself to be absolute, to depend on nothing and no one, to be able to do anything he wants, he ends up contradicting the truth of his own being and forfeiting his freedom."

And of course, he addresses young people directly: "To the young, who have such a strong attachment to ideals, I extend a particular invitation to be patient and persevering in seeking justice and peace, in cultivating the taste for what is just and true, even when it involves sacrifice and swimming against the tide." ...

I also caught up on Benedict's trip to Africa, as I have a strong personal interest there; however, that will wait for another post!

Saying YES

I have always had a special place in my heart for Mary. When I learned that we celebrate her birthday on September 8th, that was a special treat for me, since that's my birthday also. I usually wind up with the happy task of giving the homily on the 4th Sunday of Advent, because the pastor almost always has the homily on Christmas. Well, that 4th Sunday of Advent is always about Mary... hence, the following. Enjoy.


4th Sunday of Advent (B), 2011

By the time we get to the fourth Sunday of Advent, one week before Christmas, there’s something of a convergence between our cultural celebration of Christmas and our religious celebration. We’ve been waiting and preparing now for a few weeks, and we’re almost ready. Oh, for our cultural celebration, we may have cards still to get out, or some shopping to do. And for our religious celebration, we may not yet have found the quiet peace of heart that we know we need, in order to really be focused. We still have one more week, to get to the post office or store. We still have one more week to come for Sacramental Reconciliation on Tuesday or our Advent Reflection series this Wednesday, or simply to set aside time to better prepare our hearts. But probably all of us are at least ready for this preparation and waiting time to be over.

And as always, our fourth Sunday of Advent introduces us to the final Advent figure, a young virgin named of Mary of Nazareth. Today the time of waiting is replaced with a time of wonder; the call to repentance we heard in the words of John last week is replaced with a promise of fulfillment in the words of the angel Gabriel. Today our coming Christmas begins to become real – today we can take real delight and find tender joy at Mary’s simple, faithful response to God’s call.

In today’s reading we see at last the nature of God’s strategy with our human race. God’s answer to our broken world … is to come among us; to walk with us, to become one of us, to bridge the gap between heaven and earth by becoming totally, completely human. God comes to us not in God’s own grandeur, but in our own form, our own human frailty, becoming a human child of humble birth, an utterly dependent newborn baby, just as all of us once were.

And today we see how it first begins. God places everything in the hands of a simple young Jewish woman, hardly more than a girl, really. One named Mary, from a small village called Nazareth, in the hill country of Galilee.

Most probably Mary already had plans for her future. She was engaged to Joseph, and must have believed that they would marry, raise a family, and do their best to follow the Mosaic Law, as had their ancestors in faith for many generations. But then, literally in one moment, Mary’s whole life changed. Without a warning, Mary was asked to make a life-changing decision. And though she could hardly have understood all that the angel’s invitation and her acceptance would mean – and some of those things were frightening, and terrible -- Mary had the faith and trust to respond without hesitation, “I am the servant of the Lord; let it happen as you say.” Mary did not question her worthiness; she didn’t challenge the invitation of the angel. She didn’t ask to know the details or examine all the fine print. Her faith was so simple and so direct that she just went forward from there, regardless of any uncertainties that she might have felt. It was just right for her to trust God, to be open to God, to believe that whatever was going to happen after that would just work out.

I keep using that word “simple” about Mary’s faith, but I should really use the word profound. And not only is it profound, it’s also so very wonderful! Because Mary was open to God, it meant that everything human became open to God through Mary; for through her son Jesus, there is no forgotten place that God does not enter, to bring love and light, healing and forgiveness. Jesus heals the sick, lifts up the poor, forgives those broken in life, brings the outcast back into the community. And Jesus shows us how to live a life totally open to God, and shows us how to love with God’s love, so that his healing, uplifting, forgiving presence can continue through us today.

And God let all this begin with Mary’s simply profound Yes. And because of that yes, there is also so much joy. You see it immediately in the scriptures, as Mary leaves Nazareth at once to visit Elizabeth, and when they each share their news, Mary bursts forth in song “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior” and the two of them dance together for joy. Well, in doesn’t say in the scriptures that they danced … but they must have.

You know, the real kicker in this gospel is that God’s strategy is pretty much the same with the human race today. God still calls to the world. God calls to each one of us. We all know this; we have all heard the sound of God’s voice, and it’s not usually an overpowering, commanding voice, but a small whisper that leaves it up to us. Sometimes we get too busy to listen -- I know, I get that way too. Sometimes we’re afraid of what it might mean; sometimes we just don’t feel worthy of what it might mean; sometimes we feel we need to know all the details before we can let go and answer the call. I know, because I have felt all those things too.

But God’s still there, calling; God still depends on a Yes from us. Is God pointing you to service to the poor, or a ministry in the Church, or to make a generous financial contribution to the work of the Kingdom? Is God calling you to stand up against injustice on an issue that will be costly for you? There are countless daily yeses that God looks for, and there are life-changing yeses too. They are unique to who we are, and they can come at any moment. The fact is that our all-powerful God won’t overpower us; God waits for our “Yes.” And in this way, God depends on us – and on our care, our nurturing, our teaching – our love for one another, our love for those who are most vulnerable and weak. God depended on Mary to give birth to Jesus – and Jesus depends on us now to become his hands and heart.

Be aware -- your “yes” will cost you. You might have to trade in some or all of your smaller plans for the great plan God dreams for you. But I can tell you, and so could Mary, that trade is a good deal indeed. And it will bring you MUCH JOY.

Deacon Denny Duffell
December 18, 2011

Shorter Than Usual

I was asked to cut this week's homily short, because we were celebrating Confirmation at the last Sunday Mass, and so our pastor wanted the earlier Mass to be shorter. Add to that the fact that there was a need at the end to highlight our Advent programs. So, here's what we have. My wife Joan was right: nobody ever complains about a short homily.

Second Sunday of Advent (B), 2011

One of the things that happens to you when you’ve been part of a faith community for a good length of time is that certain things that the community does become familiar traditions. One of our traditional Advent decorations is that banner back there. How many of you remember Phyllis Kirkman? Phyllis died several years ago, but she was one of the founding members of St. Bridget, with many talents that she freely offered to our community. One of those talents was that she was a gifted religious artist, and that banner at the back is one of her creations. The figure on the top is the prophet Isaiah, whom we heard from in our first reading today, and that little thing you see by his mouth is a burning coal that one of the seraphim angels brought from the altar of the Holy of Holies, to be placed on his mouth, to prepare him to announce the word of God. And as we know, Isaiah did have many fiery words of doom and condemnation for Israel. Underneath Isaiah is the austere figure of John the Baptist, dressed in his camel’s hair garment. Certainly we all remember that John’s words could act like a whip: “You brood of vipers!”

Both Isaiah and John could be full of fire, and if you are like I am, that may be the Advent message that you’ve generally taken from these two prophets. I know that’s what I often focus on; after all, our gospel even says that John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And in fact, if you add in our second reading from the letters of St. Peter, which talks about the day of the Lord coming like a thief, after which the heavens will pass away with a roar and everything will be dissolved in fire, it’s easy to get a frightful eschatological message, a grim reminder of the end time. That sober message IS there in the scripture.

However… Alongside those words are other words, and I think they’re much more important words.

I spent time with a young mom this week. She has a teenage daughter who has been through an accident, and her mother is with her day and night, doing two things. The first thing is to care for her daughter. There is a schedule posted on the wall, and every two hours, day and night, she gets up and cares for her daughter. She rotates braces on her daughter’s arms and legs, feeds her daughter her meals, changes her position on the bed from one side to another, or up into a hoist and down into a wheelchair. She sometimes changes her, and she talks to her, though her daughter is unable to answer. The other thing she does, is pray. She prays all the time. She prays for a miracle. I prayed with her, and I’ll pray for her again today. I really wish I had the power to grant miracles. And the words of our scriptures today are for them.

That mother and daughter are suffering, but they’re not alone. In a few minutes, after our creed but before we take up our offering, we’ll offer prayers as a community. During those intentions we’ll remember others who are in need, many of them we’ve been holding in prayer for a long time – pay special attention to those intentions today. For the words of our scriptures today are especially for those people we pray for.

My friends, the most compelling message in our scriptures today is not what we would expect from two fiery prophets. The most important message is the very first word of the first reading: “Comfort.” That’s not a noun, that’s a verb; that’s an order God is giving to his prophet! “Comfort ye my people, says your God!” And God says, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, tell everyone that their time of exile, their time of suffering is over. Go up on the high mountain; be a herald of glad tidings. Cry out at the top of your voice, be a herald of good news. Fear not to cry out, ‘Here is our God!’ Because I the Lord God WILL gather my people in my arms, like a shepherd, with tenderness, with care; I will carry you in my bosom, right next to my heart.”

Have any of you here today ever felt that you needed that comfort from your God?

This is such sweet good news! Why would we ever hesitate to prepare the way of the Lord?! In our personal desert places, in our wastelands … however high or low, or rugged and rough, no matter how difficult we’ve made the pathway to our true heart, let’s turn that pathway into a highway for our God.

Some of us may have some work to do in opening our heart to God. I invite everyone here to take some time for that work – we have three good weeks left in Advent. In fact, on the coming three Wednesday evenings we have set aside a special prayer & reflection time; so please join us this Wednesday. And then a few days before Christmas, we will also offer, as we usually do, an evening for sacramental Reconciliation. Those aren’t the only things that we’ve put together to assist in preparing our hearts for Christmas – please take a copy of this flier at the table in the back, or check our parish web site.

Because…. because we know, don’t we – preparing our heart for God’s coming is THE most important preparation for Christmas.

Deacon Denny Duffell December 3/4, 2011