Passover Seder and the Eucharist

The celebration of Passover by the Jewish community today has its roots in biblical tradition. However, it is not the same celebration as was conducted by Jews at the time of the Roman occupation and the beginnings of Christianity. It reflects more of a Medieval influence.

Nevertheless, the Haggadah (Hebrew -- story) is the same, namely, God delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egyptian bondage and formed them as his Chosen People in the Sinai Desert and gave them the Torah (Hebrew -- law) through the hands of Moses at Mount Sinai.

The celebration of the the Passover is conducted as a supper and there is a seder (Hebrew -- order) to the meal and all that occurs. It is a home liturgy. The basic contents of the celebration are the meal and the story. This is accompanied by the praying of Psalms, especially Psalms 118, 135 and 136 which render thanks to God for his enduring mercy and recount Israel's liberation from slavery.

The Haggadah text on the right (Hebrew letters for Haggadah), and because Hebrew is written from right to left, the book begins from the right end rather than the left.

The traditional principal foods at the time of Jesus would have been the Passover lamb as cental, the unleavened bread, or matzoh and grape wine. The lamb was likely made into a stew to accommodate as many people as possible for the feast.

The Passover lambs were slaughtered by the priests in the Temple in Jerusalem on the day before the feast began, according to custom, and had to be completed before nightfall. In Hebrew usage, the following day begins at sunset.

By the Middle Ages, perhaps before, the Jewish community ceased using lamb for the Passover meal because in the year AD 70, to quell the Jewish Revolt, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and razed the Temple. The current edifice, the Dome of the Rock -- or Noble Sanctuary -- the third holiest shrine in Islam, is situated on the grounds where the Jewish Temples were once located.

The Old City of Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives with the Dome o f the Rock (or Noble Sanctuary) to the right, where the ancient Jewish Temples once stood. The Russian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mary Magdelene in in the foreground.

The Jewish Passover now uses a chicken in lieu of the lamb -- there is no Temple at which to sacrifice the lambs and there are no priests to conduct the ritual slaughters. It is a tribute of sacred -- and sad -- memory on behalf of the Jewish community to honor these events in such a manner. They maintain the ancient biblical mandate to keep the Passover, but historical realities have caused a reinterpretation by the rabbis as to how it is to be celebrated.

However, the shank bone of the lamb, in honor of the ancient past, is kept on the seder plate as a reminder of how the celebration was once done and is also a reminder of the hope for a renewed celebration of Pesach in the holy city of Jerusalem. Toward the end of the meal the participants cry out, Lashanah haba b'Yerushalayim! Next year in Jersualem!

Jesus, being Jewish and a rabbi, along with his Apostles, disciples and family would have been very famliar with the customs of his day, including the annual ritual slaughter of the Passover lambs in the Temple just prior to the celebration.

Compare the two separate traditions we have in the Gospels -- the Synoptic tradition (Mark, Matthew and Luke) have the Last Supper as their Passover meal while the Johannine tradition has Jesus die on the very day that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, just before Passover actually begins.

The differences between the traditions are theological. They do not contradict the foundations of Jesus' Passion, death and resurrecton on the Third Day, nor do they deny the Holy Eucharist. John's tradition places this teaching within the Bread of Life discourse in chapter 6 while the Synoptists place it at the Last Supper on the night before Jesus' death.

Byzanitne icon of "The Mystical Supper" of Jesus with the Apostles on Holy Thursday

For us Christians the Eucharist is the New Passover, the universal Passover. What God instituted through Moses for Israel to commemorate annually the great events of the Exodus foreshadowed the deliverance God would accomplish for all humanity through Jesus Christ who was obedient to death, even death on a Cross (cf. Phil. 2:6-11).

The Mass or Divine Liturgy, then, is our seder meal; the Eucharist is our celebration -- not just annually but weekly on Sundays and even daily -- of the saving events that have brought about the gift of salvation for the whole human race. Our haggadah is the institution narrative we hear at every Celebration of the Eucharist when we believe that the simple bread and wine is transformed by the power of God's Spirit through our recounting of the event and words of the Lord Jesus into the very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Savior.

Jesus himself is our Passover; he is the Paschal Lamb! He is our Pesach. Is this not what we hear in the Roman Rite before approaching the altar for Holy Communion? The priest, addressing the assembly, cries out, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world . . ." to which we respond, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed!"

We properly honor our "elder brothers (and sisters)" as Pope John Paul II was wont to call the Jewish community in their annual celebration of God's great saving event in the formation of the House of Israel -- the Exodus. That is part of our heritage as Christians. Let us remember our Jewish brothers and sisters, then, as we celebrate the seder and recount the haggadah of our salvation in Christ this Holy Week and especially the Sacred Triduum, the Great Passover of the Son of the God of Israel.

Remembering Pesach (Passover) this Holy Week

Pope John Paul II, who served as Bishop of Rome and Pope from October 1978 until April 2005

Pope John Paul II ushered in a new era of warm relationship with the Jewish community. From the Second Vatican Council's phenomenal delaration of respect for people of other religious faiths, especially for Jews in the hailed document, Nostra Aetate (Latin for "Our Age"), there has been a gradually growing trust between the Catholic Church and the wider Jewish community.

The late Holy Father referred to Jews as "our elder brothers (and I would add, sisters)". He even took the uprecedented step of publicly acknowledging the failure of Christians in the past to respect Jews and to apologize for the wrongdoing committed in innumerable atrocities through the centuries, especially in Europe, culminating in the Holocaust rendered by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jewish children at Auschwitz in Nazi-occumpied Poland during the Holocaust of the Jews during the 1940s

This year 2009 we Catholics and other Christians who follow the Gregorian Calendar who are celebrating Holy Week happily coincide with the Jewish Passover (Pesach).

Pesach is the root word for what becomes translated into Greek as "Pascha" and later into Latin as "Pasch". Thus, Jesus Christ as the Paschal Lamb is the Passover Lamb for us Christians. He is the fulfillment of the Law of Moses and the Prophets. He himself is the Paschal Mystery, that great event of salvation which we solemnly celebrate annually during the Sacred Triduum (three days) leading us to Easter -- the Passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.


Pesach means "passing over", as the Book of Exodus relates when the Angel of Death, the Tenth Plague, comes upon Egypt at God's command to slay the first-born of human and beast alike. And among the humans, anyone who does not have the lintels and doorposts marked with the blood of the lamb will lose their first-born, male or female, to the Angel of Death!


Observant (i.e. religious) Jews celebrate the annual commemoration of God delivering Israel from Egyptian slavery -- the Passover meal, the plagues, the flight out of Egypt, the deliverance at the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah, the manna and quail, the water from the rock in the desert, all leading to the entry at the end of forty years into the Promised Land.

Jesus and his Apostles celebrating the Last Supper meal, which the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) portray as the Passover

For us Christians, Jesus is the fulfillment and every Eucharist is our celebration of the Passover of the Lord Jesus from death into resurrection, and our participation in that Paschal Mystery by entering into the Word of God and finally partaking of the Holy Mysteries of the Lord Jesus' Body and Blood at Holy Communion.

We've Got to do Something! But What?

Seems like old times, doesn't it? Democrats and Republicans wrangling (again!) about the economy. So much for "change;" at least so far.

Sen. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Harry Reid (D-NV) at a press conference advocating the Decomcrats' nearly $800,000,000,000.00 (that's approaching $1 trillion!) Stimulus Package.

Democrats are touting this as necessary, although imperfect, to get the economy going again. Republicans tend to disparage it as inconsequential and a huge waste of government funds.

One very practical question, of course, is where is the money coming from? Our government is already in deep debt to China. And the rest of this economic business becomes foggier and foggier to figure out. We rely on "experts" of economy, who don't necessarily agree with one another. Depends to which Party one subscribes and promotes, I suppose.

Nevertheless, any Stimulus Package, any antidote to a toxic economy that is malfunctioning must always take into consideration the effects on human lives. In a very real way, at least for people of an ethical conscience, be they believers or others, the economy is meant to serve humanity, not humanity at the service of the economy.

Regardless of one's economic theory(ies) or school(s) of thought, it must never be forgotten nor forsaken that so many human beings' lives have been adversely affected -- loss of employment, loss of livelihood, loss of homes, loss of credit, loss of savings, loss of retirement, loss of businesses -- all these add up to people, especially those who are older and therefore more vulnerable, suffering through the ignominy and grief of loss.

As Franciscan friars, we stand in solidarity with all those who are struggling and who are suffering the weight of grief. Our charism, a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, and to the world, mediated through the person of St. Francis of Assisi, is to accompany those who are being cast aside through this economic downturn of the last half year or so.

Beginning with property speculations and the bubble that burst and all its subsidiary effects, we have seen the reality of human greed. It's seamy and it's ugly. Greed has no concern for the other, for human life. It respects no one; it is completely self-centered.

Generosity, on the other hand, is life-giving, as its root suggests. St. Francis, inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, wanted to be generative and so became generous. He wanted to live completely for the Lord Jesus.

Greed seduces us into the lull of self satisfaction. Generosity leads us beyond ourselves, away from the pit of self preoccupation into communion. This is what the late Pope John Paul II wrote and again what the current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI teaches.

Bro. Andy Brophy, OFM at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Greenwood, MS with parishioners.

Simply put, it's Gospel! And that is life. Perhaps coming through the murkiness of this current economic situation we can learn to be generous and to advocate those values for the economy that are virtuous; those values which respect human life and the goodness of being human. remembering that the economy serves humanity, not the other way around.

The Wonder of Lights -- A Blessed Hanukkah!

As Christians are bustling preparing for the annual celebration of the Messiah's birth in just a few days, our "elder brothers (and sisters)", as the late Pope John Paul II referred to the Jewish community, are celebrating the annual festival of lights called Hanukkah.

This commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple after the Maccabean revolt about two hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The Seleucid Syrian Greeks under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes had taken over the region of Palestine after the time of Alexander the Great. The king sought to impose Greek customs upon all his subjects in the Middle East, including the Jews.

This included the gymnasium (in which participants played athletic games in the nude, according to the Greek custom), which was rendered abominable to Jewish sensibilities. Furthermore, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, considering himself divine, sought to force the Jews to abandon monotheism and support the Greek polytheistic tradition by placing a statue of Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem!

Many Jews agreed to accommodate to "keep the peace" and some had the mark of circumcision covered, a very painful process that resulted in hiding a man's distinctive Jewish character. The Seleucid Hellenized Syrians also sought to have Jews abandon other practices of the Law of Moses, including the refusal to eat pork.

Eleazar, an old man, became a martyr for staunchly refusing to give into the pagan demands that he violate the Law which God had given Israel (cf. 2 Maccabees 6:18031). There is also the famous story of the seven brothers who were slaughtered in front of their mother for also refusing to surrender to the demands of the Gentiles, the mother being the last to be murdered (cf. 2 Maccabees 7:1-42).

Surprisingly, the Maccabean revolt succeeded in driving out the Seleucid Greeks and re-establishing a Jewish entity. They purified the Temple by ritually cleansing it of idolatrous defilement and rededicating it. There are two variations to the story (cf. 1 Maccabees 4:52059; 2 Maccabees 10:1-9), both recalling God's faithfulness to the Jewish armies and to rededicate the Second Temple for its holy and noble purpose, celebrating for eight days and this to be commemorated for perpetuity.



The celebration begins, then, on the twenty-fifth day of Chislev, according to the narrative. Since the Jewish calendar is lunar and not solar the dates change.



Tonight marks the beginning of the Third Day of Hanukkah (see above) with the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah (eight branched candle specifically for this feast). It is not only a feast for the children (and the accompanying gift-giving and playing with the dreidle [a traditional top for games]) but a feast for all the Jewish people to remember once again God's faithfulness.


God delivered Israel from the slavery of Pharoah; God delivered the Israelites from their many enemies; God raised up King David and the Prophets; God brought back the exiles from Babylon to the Holy Land; God gave us Jesus, his only-begotten Son (cf. John 3:16) from among Israel in the flesh (cf. Romans 1:2-3; Matthew 1:1-17).



This feast, by the way, is recounted in the Gospel of John (cf. 10:22). As Christians we believe that Jesus has fulfilled the Law of Moses and the Prophets and that he himself is the fulfillment of all the Jewish feasts. In fact, Jesus Christ is the Light of the world! (cf. John 8:12).

Eleven Friars Make Solemn Vow Retreat

From Bro. Jason Welle, OFM

From June 27th to July 27th, I was blessed to spend a month in the mountains of Colorado on retreat with ten other Franciscan friars preparing to make their solemn vows. Our group was a snapshot of the Church around the world, with friars hailing from Vietnam, Mexico, Syria, and Palestine, as well as the United States. All of these friars had discerned a permanent commitment to the Franciscan way of life, and sharing prayer, input, recreation, and fraternity together, for thirty days enabled us all to deepen this commitment.

Road to Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Forest

Our group resided at St. Malo’s Retreat Center an hour and a half north of Denver. When John Paul II came to Denver for World Youth Day, he took some personal time for hiking and prayer at St. Malo’s and we were very conscious of his presence among us; we spent many hours hiking the trail now named for the Holy Father, in addition to many other trails in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Amid this breathtaking scenery, Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM, and the rest of the retreat committee organized several complementary components to help us explore the meaning and gift of our Franciscan vocation. Fr. Tom Hartle, OFM, the guardian of the retreat, provided a stable and supportive presence for the month, which began with Fr. Bill Beaudin, OFM, preaching a week of conferences on the prayers and writings of St. Francis.

The second week, facilitated by Fr. Jerry Bleem, OFM, focused on Christianity and the Arts. Fr. Jerry led us in both imaginative activities like sketching and painting and repetitive activities like calligraphy and crochet.

These helped us touch our more creative sides, opening channels for the week-long directed retreat with Fr. Tom and Sr. Doris Gerke, OSC. These directors met with each retreatant for an individual conference each day, with the rest of each day free for silent prayer and reflection.

St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, St. MaloRretreat Center

Three special wisdom figures provided the input for the final week. Fr. Nicholas Lohkamp, OFM, reflected on his life as a moral theologian; Fr. Daniel Barica, OFM, on his ministry as pastor of California parishes and missions; and Fr. Mark Soehner, OFM, on his work in psychology and parish ministry.

Listening to these three very different friars comment on the blessings and challenges of their Franciscan vocations and their hopes for the community’s future rounded out our thirty days of prayer and growth in fraternity.

When the retreat ended, we scattered to return to our home provinces, conscious that even though we would profess our solemn vows in different places this fall, we are deeply united in our common vocation to the Order of Friars Minor.

Bro. Jason Welle, OFM, on his way to his Solemn Vows at Assumption BVM Church in Pulaski, WI!

Yesterday -- Earth Day -- Everyday Earth Day!

"Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs."

from the "Canticle of the Creatures" by St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)



Yesterday as I perused the comic section of the newspaper (and I do enjoy the comics!) I noticed that many of the strips referred to Earth Day yesterday, Tuesday 22 April 2008. The characters were planting trees or recycling or some other "green" activity that promoted respect for the planet we call home, with either an overtone or undertone of humor for good measure.



Such reminders are good, and even necessary, for us poor frail humans who are prone to forget (amnesia!). Sadly, Earth Day can be relegated to a one-day affair -- as though care for the planet were limited to a single day or series of events.



St. Francis of Assisi's "Canticle of the Creatures" (sometimes called "Canticle of the Sun" or "Canticle of Brother Sun") echoes Psalm 148 and the Canticle of the Three Youths found in the Book of Daniel, chapter 3 (Septuagint -- in Catholic and Orthodox versions of the Holy Bible). Here, the founder of our Order is not extolling creation for creation's sake. Rather, he praises God for all of creation. God is the author of all life, of all that exists. Hence, to God belongs all praise, glory, honor and worship.



As members of the Franciscan family, we periodically sing the popular hymn, "All Creatures of our God and King", which is an English rendition of St. Francis' Canticle. There have been some others, but none with such endurance (e.g. Marty Haugen's "Canticle of the Creatures"). But care for the earth is not an "option"; it is a necessity. Not being alarmist, but this is our home, a gift from the Creator of all, entrusted to humanity which, as Genesis 1 states, is created in the image and likeness of God. What a tremendous gift we have received! What an awesome responsibility with which we are entrusted!



Many major Christian leaders, including the late Pope John Paul II and the current Pope Benedict XVI have encouraged and exhorted and admonished governments and individuals to foster respect for our earth. Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Orthodox Churches is also a leading advocate of care for the earth.



Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople at the Phanar in Istanbul, Turkey (Constantinople) in 2006


As Christians, following Holy Tradition from Scripture and many Saints, to respect the Earth and care for our planet is genuinely an act of worship. Like the Psalms and Canticles of the Bible and like St. Francis, we praise God for creation and with creation. In doing so we fulfill the great commandments to love God with our whole being and to live our neighbor as ourselves!


In fact, the vocation of humanity is to give conscious and reasonable voice on behalf of creation to the glory of God -- it is a "priestly" act!

Papal Visit Upcoming -- "Wilkommen!"

One of the expectations for the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States of America will be to animate the faith of the Catholic community in this country. Can he do it?

Well, he certainly can try! Something I have noticed in reading and observing -- reading the Holy Father's encyclicals on love (Deus Caritas Est) and hope (Spe Salvi) as well as other speeches and documents, is that Benedict is the quintessential teacher. Having been a seminary professor in his native Germany prior to being ordained bishop in the late 1970s, he is methodical in his explanations and in his praxis.

Pope Benedict XVI apparently sees himself very much in line with his predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, whom he has declared to be "Servant of God", a title given to one who is seriously being considered for the processes of beatification and canonization. And the current pope seems to consider himself very much in tune with the spirit and original direction of Vatican Council II, begun by Bd. John XXIII and continued and concluded by his other predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI.

Without being intentially contentious (he seemed to be genuinely surprised by the violent reactions by some Muslims worldwide to his professorial presentation at the University of Ravensburg in Germany in September 2006), the Holy Father attempts to methodically present his perspective and his teaching in a rational and deliberate manner.

Yet, as the February 2008 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has noted, Catholics in the U.S, as well as other practitioners of religion (or no religion, for that matter!) are rather fluid in their self-identification. Many Catholics eschew the notion of the Catholic Church as having an exclusive claim on being the "one true Church" and, likely from living in such a pluralistic society as ours, many have abandoned exclusive teachings by the Church.

This is especially visible among Catholics and their choices regarding sexual practice (e.g. artificial contraception and pre-marital sexual relationships). And, of course, divorce among Catholics has continued, even with pre-marital preparation (e.g. Pre-Cana courses).

A relatively small cadre of practicing Catholic young people seem intent, perhaps militantly so, on their identity as Catholic. They participate in all sorts of Catholic-oriented activities, and they number in the thousands, for sure. But, quite frankly, are they the majority of Catholic youth? It would seem not. Just look at the pews in the average Catholic parish on Sunday morning!

Allegiance to the Catholic Church as an institution in the U.S.A. has been suffering for several decades; none of this is new. It does seem to have hastened, however. Perhaps some of this can be traced to the sexual abuse crisis in the American Church which blew up in spring 2002. (By the way, the U.S. Church is not the only one to be struggling with these very issues.)

Thus, Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to arrive in our country to animate Catholics -- by promoting active practice of the Catholic Faith , especially among youth, I am sure. He is emphasizing the necessity of promoting the Culture of Life, as espoused by the Servant of God John Paul II. He will likely encourage the member nations of the U.N. and our U.S. government to work toward an end to the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, speak on behalf of persecuted Christians, seek to promote human rights, and to defend human life, especially the most vulnerable (the pre-born, the aged and the disabled).

And Pope Benedict will likely speak to Catholics to promote a Culture of Vocations among Catholic youth, as proposed by the Intercontinental Congress of Catholic Youth in Canada in 2003. Let's see how this plays out -- especially how our Catholic people here in the United States respond to his messages.

World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

Tomorrow, Sunday 3 February 2008, is the annual World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. This usually falls on the Sunday closes to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (which is today, Saturday 2 Feburary). And, tomrrow happily coincides with the (optional) memorial of the Armenian holy bishop Blase of Sebaste -- the traditional blessing of throats!

Contemporary image of Saints Clare and Francis of Assisi surrounded by men and women Franciscans and Sisters Moon and the Stars and Brother Sun, from Francis' Canticle of the Creatures

All Christians are "consecrated" to the Lord through the Sacrament of Baptism, so what does this mean, "consecrated life"?

The term "consecrated life" became a popular term for religious life during the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, when he wrote a treatise called Vita Consecrata (consecrated life in Latin) in the early 1990s.

Yes, all Christians are consecrated to the Lord in baptism -- the various passages in the New Testament (especially the letters of St. Paul the Apostle) testify to this truth. We are told we are a "temple of the Holy Spirit", "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ", "born again", "a new creation", "a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people which belongs uniquely to the Lord" and "the People of God".

But since the very beginning centuries of the Church, particularly in the Christian East, there has been a continual movement of certain men and women who discerned they were called by the Lord to a different sense of "vocation" than their peers. We have some evidence of this prior to the fourth century, but the two classical personages of this movement were St. Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony of the Desert (also called "the Abbot" and "the Great") of Egypt.

Originally they went into the desert to "escape the world". This meant that they wanted to consecrate their entire lives to the Lord through prayer, silence, mortifications, penances and work. They believed that living "in the world" was a great distraction and so they wanted to be free of all distractions, following the example of the Lord Jesus who, after his baptism, went into the desert for forty days and nights.

Many did so for the purpose of leading a penitential life. Perhaps they had committed grevious sins and determined that their only hope for salvation in the Lord was to avoid all possible contact with their former lives and begin an entirely new life away from the world. Others simply wanted to live for the Lord Jesus alone -- in prayer and with work.

The movement would eventualy spread throughout the Christian world -- Persia, Greece, Italy, Ireland. Great saints emerge from this movement, countless saints. Over the course of centuries, Western monasticism would develop into what we know as religiious life in our day and age. Rather than stay in monasteries, many men and women discerned their vocation to serve among the poor, to educate, to assist the sick and the dying, to preach, to go among non-believers as missionaries or to preach among the baptized, calling them to deeper relationshiop with the Lord and to conversion.

Our own Franciscan movement, begun with Sts. Francis and Clare in the early 13th century helped change religious life from the monastery to the city and beyond. All of these are examples of "consecrated life."

Bro. Mario Nagy, OFM, of the Assumption BVM Province, on mission in Siberia, Russia, receiving the first (simple) profession of a Russian Franciscan novice

Quite simply, it is discerning the Lord's call in our lives to deepen our baptismal consecration. This disceernment into religious life includes looking critically at our world (not to be negative but to see it as it really is, from the Lord's perspective, through prayer and familiarity with Holy Tradition [including Sacred Scripture]).

The Vita Consecrata takes many forms in the Catholic Church. As Franciscan friars, we seek to serve the Lord and his Church by striving to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ like St. Francis of Assisi, our founder, and his early band of "Penitents of Assisi". These he would name, "friars minor", or lesser brothers.

By responding to the Lord's call in faith, that is, a Franciscan vocation, we trust the God is calling us to live in fraternity as brothers, to pray together according to the norms of the Catholic Church (Roman and Byzantine [Ruthenian] Rites), to grow in our relationship with the Lord through personal prayer, days of recollection, spiritual direction and retreats and to become appropriately educated and trained so that we may adequately serve in various capacities. All of this is encompassed with the desire to identify with the Lord Jesus who "became poor for our sake so that we could become rich in the mercy of God". This is what both Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi desired with all their hearts.

They listened to the Gospels and responded to them, even imperfectly, because of their love for Jesus and his People, the Church. That is what imples us, like St. Paul wrote the Galatian Christians in the New Testament. The love of Jesus Christ impels us to seek him as our greatest good in consecrated life as vowed religious. This we believe is fulfilling our baptismal vows and consecration to the Lord -- to God's glory and for the life of his People.

35 Years of Roe v. Wade, 22 January 1973 -- 22 January 2008 Part II

While we must continue the struggle to defend the rights of the unborn, we must also engage the so-called “pro-choice” side with their issues. And several of these issues are not unreasonable – health care for pregnant mothers, child care for neglected, abandoned and abused children, protection for pregnant mothers who are in abusive relationships and the like. The strident call for privacy and freedom of “choice” to have an abortion really does miss the mark. But so does the violence of unchecked speech and attitude toward these people.

And, as the late Pope John Paul II and our current Holy Father, Benedict XVI, as well as the US Bishops have stated, we must cultivate a “Culture of Life” – in its entire spectrum. As Catholic Christians we must do so consistently lest we lose whatever credibility we may have.

These issues of life include the abolition of the death penalty, an end to military and government sanctioned torture of prisoners of war, peace-making in foreign affairs (please recall that the late Pope John Paul II condemned the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the US Bishops called upon our nation's Administration for military restraint), just and living wages for workers, justice for the elderly, adequate medical care for all people, and concern for the immigrant, whether legal or undocumented.

These are all part of what the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago called the “seamless garment” of pro-life issues. He was referring to the Lord Jesus’ garment mentioned in the Gospels that was gambled for at his crucifixion. First of all, the “seamless garment” is entirely consistent with the New Testament ethic we find in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 & 6). It is also very much a Franciscan approach – to announce and bring the Good News of God’s reconciling love in Jesus Christ. To announce God's infinite mercy. By the way, Cardinal Bernardin was an honorary Franciscan friar.

I think that it is befitting on this anniversary to recall that a few years ago "Ms. Roe" underwent a powerful conversion experience to the Lord Jesus and subsequently became a fully initated and reconciled Catholic Christian woman in her home State of Texas.

So, after 35 years, we have work to do. While there is politicking on both sides of the issue, the real issue, it seems to me, is human life. In all its stages. Beginning in the womb.

St. Juan Diego (Cuauhtlatoatzin)

This Sunday, 9 December, is the Second Sunday in Advent. We continue our preparation to celebrate the Lord’s birth in human history even as we anticipate his return in glory.

This date is also important, because it is the memorial (outside of Sunday, of course!) of Juan Diego, the Aztec peasant whom the Blessed Mother of God chose to carry her message to the Spanish bishop of Mexico.

St. Juan Diego, official image from his canonization

She appeared in 1531 to Juan Diego, and spoke to him in his native Nahuatl language. He is the first indigenous Saint of the Americas canonized by the Catholic Church. He was canonized in 2002 by the late Pope John Paul II who had a special fondness for the Mother of God under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe and for the Mexican people.

The Mother of God spoke tenderly to Juan Diego, whose Nahuatl name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, which could be translated as "One who talks like an eagle". The irony in this is that Juan Diego was a poor peasant of the recently conquered Aztec people and he was no public speaker.

The native peoples were often enslaved by their Spanish overlords. Some had converted to Catholic Christianity, but not very many. These were a proud people who, though broken militarily and even in spirit, would not succumb to the new religion and customs of the conquistadores. Cuauhtlatoatzin, however, did embrace the Lord Jesus and the Catholic Faith brought to his land by the Spanish missionaries; he was baptized Juan Diego.

While Juan Diego was no orator, the Blessed Mother called upon him to speak to the Spanish Bishop-elect, Juan de Zumárraga, OFM, a Franciscan friar and priest, now Bishop of Mexico, a rather prestigious position. When the first Franciscans arrived in Mexico in 1524 they sought to evangelize the native peoples. They had little success at first, but they also sought to protect them from their Spanish overlords. One of the bishop’s titles was “Protector of the Indians”.

According to the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bishop Juan de Zumárraga was not inclined to pay much attention to this peasant native nor certainly to abide by his directives to build the Mother of God a chapel as Juan Diego indicated, according to the message Juan Diego received from the Lady. He hardly felt like "one who talks like an eagle!"

Nevertheless, as the story goes, the Lord prevailed by providing Juan Diego with roses and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his tunic, or tilma (the original tilma, made of biodegradable cactus fiber, with image still hangs in the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City).

St. Juan Diego holding his tilma with the roses and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

In conformity to the Scriptures and to Franciscan spirituality, God chooses the poor and despised (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29) for his own purposes. This is the value of what St. Francis of Assisi would call “minority.” Hence, he called his brothers “friars minor”, or “lesser brothers.” And in doing so, God chose to eventually raise his servant, Juan Diego, Cuauhtlatoatzin, to the altars of the Church by his canonization over 450 years after his death in 1548.

St. Juan Diego is a powerful example to us of how God chooses the lowly and exalts them and confounds those who are considered great in the eyes of this world, just as Mary’s Magnificat proclaims (Luke 1:46-55).