Benedict Multiplying the Loaves and Fishes

Signing his latest encyclical
before fracturing his right wrist

Benedict Multiplying the Loaves and Fishes

July 26, 2009, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 4:42-44 Ephesians 4:1-6 John 6:1-15

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]

First reading from 2 Kings

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the first-fruits, and fresh grain in the ear. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat. For thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because He himself knew what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes, but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, He said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry Him off to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain alone.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
A liturgical cadence & a babble of numbers

On the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time (cycle b) Jesus looked with compassion upon the listless crowds who looked like “sheep without a shepherd.” On this 17th Sunday, Jesus looks again with compassion upon the hungry crowds and multiplies five barley loaves and two fishes to feed them. Because that event was frequently recounted in the Eucharistic liturgy of the early church, it came to be recorded in all four gospels. (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6: 30-44; Lk: 9:10-17; Jn 6: 1-15) No other miracle of Jesus is recorded in all four gospels.

One can detect a liturgical cadence in the account of the loaves and fishes; it sounds so much like the priest’s words at the consecration of the Mass: “He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said….” What’s more, by the time the story of the loaves and fishes was written down in the second half of the first century, it had acquired a kind of babble of numbers. In Matthew there are 7 loaves, 2 fishes, 4,000 hungry people and 7 baskets of leftovers. In Mark, Luke and John there are 5 loaves, 2 fishes, 5,000 hungry people and 12 baskets of leftovers. In the telling and retelling of this story in the early church, it lost trivial mathematical accuracy, if it ever had any to begin with.

Jesus and compassion

In the world of politics compassion is an unmentionable emotion and a dirty word. It conjures up all the horrors of the welfare system which does for others what they should be challenged to do for themselves. But compassion was not an unmentionable emotion for Jesus; He was moved by the listless crowds who looked “like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34) He felt sorry for the hungry masses, and multiplied loaves and fishes to feed them.

Nor was compassion a dirty word for Jesus. When the Pharisees criticized Him for eating with sinners, He cried out, “Oh, if you only knew the meaning of the scripture that says, `It is compassion I want from you people, and not your animal sacrifices.'" Jesus was quoting the prophet Hosea 6:6. (Mt 9:13) When the religious leaders were again criticizing Him and his hungry disciples for violating the Sabbath by picking grain, He again quoted Hosea, “Oh, if you only knew the meaning of the scripture that says, `It is compassion I want from you people, and not your animal sacrifices.'" (Mt 12:7)

Cuomo and compassion

Compassion wasn’t an unmentionable emotion or dirty word for Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York State. In his memorable address to the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, July 16, 1984 Cuomo courageously used the C-word. “President Reagan,” he said, “told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. `Government can’t do everything.’” In that city named after St. Francis of Assisi, Cuomo said, “We would rather have laws written by the patron of this great city, the man called the `world’s most sincere Democrat,’ St. Francis of Assisi, than laws written by Darwin.” Then he unabashedly declared, “We want a government which is not ashamed but is courageous enough to use the words love and compassion.”

Benedict's latest encyclical[3]

We also want a church which is not ashamed but is courageous enough to use the words love and compassion. And we have such a church! Last week, Pope Benedict published his third encyclical Caritas in Veritate, (Charity in Truth).

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

CARITAS IN VERITATE

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

BENEDICT XVI

TO THE BISHOPS

PRIESTS AND DEACONS

MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS

THE LAY FAITHFUL

AND ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL

ON INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

IN CHARITY AND TRUTH

Dated June 29 (Feast of St. Peter and Paul) and released at the Vatican on July 7, Charity in Truth follows a line of encyclicals on Catholic social thought.[4] The encyclical had been in the works for several years but was much delayed to permit Benedict to formulate a response to the current economic crisis. While insisting that the Church has no “technical solutions to offer,” Benedict is not reluctant to offer an analysis of the world economic situation that invites a rethinking of how economic life is organized.

Though Benedict’s encyclical is in deep continuity with previous Catholic social teaching, it is also fresh with new ideas and proposals. Benedict’s first encyclical was written entirely by himself, as was also the first half of his second encyclical. In Caritas in Veritate, however, there are many minds and many hands at work. It is a lengthy and substantial reflection of 30,468 words. It has an introduction, six chapters, a conclusion and 159 footnotes.

Its content

The encyclical is not anti-capitalistic, but it does, indeed, condemn greedy and unbridled capitalism. The key theme of Caritas in Veritate is that the human being must remain as the center of our free-market system. No Christian can take issue when Benedict says that “the market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak.” Nor can a Christian take issue when he says that food and water are “universal rights of all human beings.” Anyone with the slightest streak of compassion and humanity can get behind Charity in Truth. It makes a particularly profound observation: alongside of “contractual logic” (that we give in order to receive) and “legal logic” (that we give because we are obliged to give) there must also be the “logic of sheer gratuity:” we give simply because it is good to give.

The encyclical is, indeed, a written expression of Benedict’s wish to multiply the loaves and fishes for the whole of the human family.

Negative and positive reactions

Within hours of its release, however, there was a negative reaction to the encyclical. Some bristled at any suggestion that business should be ethical and that the free-market system calls for reform and regulation. Within hours of its release, there was also a positive reaction. Both House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) issued the following joint statement regarding the new encyclical:

Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, is neither an indictment of capitalism nor an endorsement of any political or economic agenda, and ideologues and politicos hoping to spin it as either are destined to be unsuccessful.” [Their combined statement added that Benedict’s] message is clearly distinct from efforts to “remake”’ government into a soul-crushing centralized welfare state in which independent citizens are remade into dependent servants. In the encyclical, the Pope stresses that the human being must remain as the center of our free-market system.

Everyone can benefit from reading the encyclical, but it runs for some 30,468 words and is written in the technical language of the marketplace. One commentator suggests that they should read the encyclical who have not yet caught the drift of the church’s social teaching, and who still simplistically dichotomize her social teaching as either “left” and “right.” The church, he says, has her own unique and divinely inspired perspective on the subject.

An exchange of gifts

After attending the G8 economic summit, President Barack Obama paid a visit to Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, July 10. The two exchanged gifts. Obama gave Benedict a stole that had lain on the enshrined body of St. John Neumann, a 19th century bishop of Philadelphia, founder of the diocesan school system and the first male naturalized U.S. citizen to become a saint. Benedict, in return, gave the President a mosaic of St. Peter's Basilica and a leather-bound autographed copy of his latest encyclical[5]

Conclusion
Sheer gratuity

In Charity in Truth Benedict proclaims that “the market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak.”

In Charity in Truth Benedict is not against capitalism but is utterly for the human being who must remain as the center of the free-market system.

In Charity in Truth Benedict, like Jesus, has compassion upon the hungry human family and wants to multiply the loaves and fishes for all God’s people.

In Charity in Truth Benedict says yes, indeed, we give because we want to receive and also because we are obliged to give. But to that must be added sheer gratuity: we give simply because it is good to give.

[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left.

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:2

[3] An encyclical is the highest form of papal teaching.

[4] That line of encyclicals includes Rerum Novarum subtitled "On Capital and Labor “ (the magna carta of Catholic social doctrine) by Leo XIII in 1891; Popolorum Progressio (The Development of Peoples) by Paul VI in 1967; Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (The Social Concern) by John Paul II 1987

[5] The Pope also slipped in a copy of "Dignitas Personae" a statement of Catholic teaching on bioethics, which Benedict's personal secretary said would help Obama "better understand" why church positions are at odds with the president's stem-cell research and abortion. Obama, on the other hand, reassured the Pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church.

Like Sheep Without a Shepherd

Life Without a Shepherd

July 19, 2009, Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 23:1-6 Ephesians 2:13-18 Mark 6:30-34

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]

First Reading from Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice."

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 6:30-34

Glory to you, Lord.

The apostles now returned to Jesus from their tour and reported all they had done and told the people. Then Jesus suggested, ”Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.” For people were coming and going in great numbers, and they hardly had any time to eat something. So they went off in a boat by themselves to a deserted place. But many saw them leaving and ran on ahead along the shore and met them as they landed. When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowds, his heart was moved with compassion for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------
Introduction
Sheep without shepherds in Jesus’ day

Twice, once in the gospel of Mark and once in the gospel of Matthew, the New Testament typifies the crowds as “sheep without a shepherd.” Mark’s gospel today relates that when Jesus and his disciples tried to go by boat to a secluded place, the crowds caught up to them. And when Jesus saw them waiting for Him, “He was filled with compassion for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mk 6: 34)

Matthew’s gospel relates that Jesus visited towns and villages, preaching and healing people suffering from all kinds of maladies, and as He looked out upon the crowds, “His heart was filled with compassion, because they looked weary and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” Then Jesus tells the disciples, “There’s a large harvest out there to be gathered in, but the workers are few. So beg the one in charge of the harvesting to recruit more workers to harvest his fields.” (Mt 9: 36-38)

Sheep without shepherds today

Some of us senior sheep remember the days when the church abounded with shepherds; every sizeable parish had a pastor with at least one or two assistant priests. That has changed dramatically in our lifetime. Because of the priest-shortage parishes have had to unite into clusters. In Milwaukee St. Rita, St. Hedwig and Holy Rosary had to unite and form a consortium with a strange name like “Church of the Three Holy Women.” And now some poor pastor, like a circuit judge of early frontier days, has to pony-back from one parish to another to click off one Sunday Mass after another. The poor man is going to burn himself out before his time. We, the church, have a crisis on our hands, and no band-aid measure will fix it. With what compassion would Jesus look upon us Catholics today who are like sheep without shepherds.

One winter I was helping out in a little country parish deep in the heart of Texas where I was escaping the blasts of a Wisconsin winter. I was taking the place of a sickly pastor who, I was told, actually said Sunday Mass sitting on a high chair in front of the altar. And here I, almost an octogenarian, was stepping in (or limping in) to help the poor man out! The next winter before heading south again, I called the Vicar General of the Houston-Galveston Archdiocese to ask whether I could be of some assistance in a parish down there. I can still hear the surprise and delight in his voice. He exclaimed, “Oh, you’re an answer to our prayers! One of our priests has just now suddenly died and isn’t even buried yet. We do, indeed, need your help.” He was speaking about a beloved and relatively young pastor of a parish in a little blue-collar town. Again, I, octogenarian, was limping in to help a flock of sheep without a shepherd. We, the church, have a crisis on our hands, and no band-aid measure will fix it. With what compassion would Jesus look upon us Catholics today who are like sheep without shepherds.

Fr. Hans Küng fixing our priest-shortage

Our priest-shortage crisis is a good forty-five years old. Crises should not be left to die of old age; they should be fixed. Importing an octogenarian is only a band-aid; it doesn’t fix the problem. Importing priests from other countries (whose homilies the faithful can’t understand because of their broken English, and whose cultures ring differently from ours) again is a band-aid; it doesn’t fix the problem.

Fr. Hans Küng, a Swiss German Catholic theologian, aims at something better than band-aids to fix our priest-shortage crisis. In his little volume, Why I Am Still a Christian, he writes, “I cannot believe that he who said, `I have compassion on the crowds [who were like sheep without a shepherd],’ would have increasingly deprived congregations of their pastors and allowed a system of pastoral care [which provided sufficient shepherds for the faithful] built up over a period of a thousand years to collapse.“

In the same volume, Küng writes, “I cannot believe that he who was constantly accompanied by women (who provided for his keep), and whose apostles, except for Paul, were all married and remained so, would today have forbidden marriage to all ordained men, and ordination to all women.”

Archbishop Rembert Weakland fixing our priest-shortage

Former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, OSB, (a figure of both infamous and beloved memory) also aims at something better than band-aids to fix our priest-shortage crisis. In his recently published book A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church, Weakland relates that he sent a pastoral letter to the people of his archdiocese, saying that, “If it became evident that no resident priest would be available for a parish, and that there was no prospect of getting one in the near future, I would be willing to help the community surface a qualified candidate for ordain priesthood – even if a married man - and without raising false expectations or unfounded hope for him or the community, present such a candidate to the Pastor [Shepherd]of the Universal Church [the Pope] for light and guidance.” (P. 340 in A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church) Weakland was heeding Jesus’ injunction to the disciples that when the sheep are without a shepherd they should “beg the lord of the harvest [the Pope]to recruit more workers to harvest his fields.” (Mt 9:38)

Rome’s response to Weakland was unambiguous. When the archbishop went to Rome in 1993 for his obligatory ad limina[3] visit to the Pope a letter was hand-delivered to him from Cardinal Bernadine Gantin, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. The letter made it clear to Weakland that “Among the requirements of Catholic unity there is the need [for you Rembert Weakland] to accept the tradition of the Church. According to ecclesial practice, reinforced by a Synod of Bishops, it is not [italics our] possible to present married men for ordination to the priesthood.”

The letter also made it clear to Weakland that concerning, “The question of the ordination of women, your position is perceived to be in opposition to the teaching of the Church. Moreover, the charge of ‘intransigency’ – a word used by your Excellency – on the part of the Church in this matter, can seriously damage Church authority and Church government.” And so this “wayward son” from Milwaukee was dismissed with dispatch.

As a closing shot to the whole affair, the Archbishop writes,

When historians, decades from now, talk about the lack of vocations to the priesthood in the Catholic Church at the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century, or when they try to analyze the reasons for the falling off of active church participation, I hope they do not forget to include as a contributing factor this silent group that left the Church – or at least stood by the sidelines – not because of the sexual abuse by 4 percent of its priests, but because of closing the discussion on the inclusion of women at all levels. From generation to generation, women have always been the most significant bearers of the Church’s life and tradition; to lose them was
tantamount to losing the future.

Presbyterians fixing their minister-shortage

Margaret Butter was a pioneer CEO, philanthropist and patron of the arts, especially of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. When she died, her daughter-in-law, the Rev. Sarah Sarchet Butter (an ordained Presbyterian minister) and I (a Catholic priest) officiated at Margaret’s funeral. It took place in a cemetery chapel. Rev. Sarah did the first reading from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 31, which sings the praises of a woman who is a good mother, wife, and manager of her household. Rev. Sarah read with wonderful expression and feeling. At the final commendation she invited the crowd in the cemetery to draw near to the casket kissed by a setting sun on a day filled with the fine feel of fall. She pulled everyone into a heartfelt final good-bye. As I observed her and a very attentive crowd, I found myself quietly exclaiming, “See how innovative and courageous these Presbyterians are! See how they resist the temptation to have recourse to “a long unbroken tradition” of ordaining only men! See how they solve their crisis of sheep without shepherds!

A holy conversation about the priest shortage

Before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, Richard Gailardetz, a husband, father and theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, expressed the hope that the new pope would invite the church to “a holy conversation” about all the great issues that exercise the church, like divorce and remarriage, birth control, homosexuality, clerical celibacy, the priest-shortage crisis and the ordination of women. A holy conversation, he said, is one in which all are allowed to speak and all are allowed to be heard. A holy conversation, he said, is one which “resists the temptation to control or direct the discussion toward predetermined conclusions.”

In the present priest-shortage crisis, a holy conversation is abruptly ended (even before it gets started) by having recourse to nebulous expressions like “the sacred tradition of the Church” or “the ecclesial practice reinforced by a Synod of Bishops” of ordaining only celibates or only men. We Americans remind ourselves that we had a long “sacred tradition” of slavery in this country, and we are now, indeed, grateful that we’ve broken it.

Conclusion
Everyone wins in a holy conversation

An injunction to the church to hold a holy conversation is an injunction to all of us. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters hold a holy conversation with each other. Allow each other to speak, and allow yourself to hear what the other is really saying. In a holy conversation everyone wins.

In a holy conversation about our priest-shortage crisis, healthy young men, who want to minister but who also want to marry, will win. Women, too, who can do just as good a job of ministering to God’s people as men can (and also just as bad a job) will also win. The faithful, too, will win; they will get back their own individual parishes with their own individual patron saints, and they all will have pastors aplenty to shepherd them. And even octogenarians will win; they’ll be able to retire to green pastures before they’re ninety.


[1] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!

[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24

[3] Limen is a Latin word meaning `threshold’ Every five years the bishops of the world must go to Rome, to the threshold of St. Peter’s, and have a conference with the pope.

Homily Break

Fr. Alexis Luzi, OFM, Cap is taking a short break for personal reflection and renewal. Homilies will resume when he returns.

Welcoming Your Prophet

“He unrolled the scroll of Isaiah and read.”
Luke 4:17

Welcoming Your Prophet

July 5, 2009, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 2:2-5 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Luke 4:14-30

First reading

As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me and set me on my feet,and I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day. Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD! And whether they heed or resist—for they are a rebellious house—they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Glory to you, Lord.

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was His custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All were impressed with Him and marveled at the beautiful words that fell from His lips.

But some exclaimed, “How can this be! Isn’t this Joseph’s son?" Jesus responded to their wonderment, saying, “I’m sure you’d like to quote to me the proverb, `Doctor, heal yourself.’ I’m sure you’d also like to say to me, `Do here in your own hometown the same things we’re told you’ve done in Capernaum.’ I tell you, a prophet is never welcomed in his own hometown. For example, remember how Elijah the prophet performed a miracle to help the widow of Zarephath, a Gentile from the land of Sidon. There were many Jewish widows needing help in those day of famine, for there had been no rain for three and one-half years, and hunger stalked the land; yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. Or remember also how Elisha healed Naaman, a Gentile leper from Syria, instead of healing Jewish lepers, of which there were many in those days.”

When the congregants of the synagogue heard this, they were infuriated. They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, led him to the edge of the cliff on which their town was built, and were going to hurl him off it. But He slipped away on them.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
The prophet Jesus’ hometown debut

When Jesus made His debut in his hometown synagogue, it didn’t go well. It began with the crowds “marveling at the beautiful words that fell from Jesus’ mouth” but ended moments later with the crowds infuriated and wanting to hurl Him over a cliff. He had just told the congregation that prophets are never well received in their own hometowns, and they proved that to be true on the occasion of His hometown debut.

A long list of prophets.

Jesus is right: prophets never do well in their hometown. Some years ago Seattle's Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen (b.1921-), who moved out of the episcopal mansion into an ordinary house in town and who was a great advocate for the poor and ignored, spoke out about some controversial issues in the church like artificial contraception and homosexuality. In a letter he publicly defended the rights of gays and lesbians. That infuriated Rome. Rome didn’t hurl him over a cliff (we don’t do that nowadays) but it did strip him of some of his episcopal authority, because “his lack of clarity about homosexuality had confused the faithful.”

The year 1993 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae vitae (1968), which reaffirmed the Church's stand against artificial birth control. For twenty-five years Humanae vitae had been a litmus test of Catholic loyalty. Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw (1937- 2004) invited the church to use the occasion to start a new, honest and open discussion on birth control. The invitation infuriated Rome. Rome didn’t hurl Untener over a cliff (we don’t do that nowadays) but it did foreclose any possibility of Untener climbing higher on the ecclesiastical ladder.

Some years ago, the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland (b. 1927-) sat down with pro-choice people to hear what they had to say. In his report after the sessions, he unequivocally upheld Catholic teaching that abortion is immoral. He warned, however, that the anti-abortion movement is counterproductive when its focus is narrow, its tactics aggressive, and its rhetoric ugly and demeaning. The Archbishop also observed that some very conscientious women do not resonate with the church's teaching prohibiting birth control.

That infuriated some people in the Milwaukee Archdiocese and in Rome. Rome did not hurl Weakland over a cliff (we don’t do that nowadays) but it did cancel an honorary degree which the University of Fribourg wanted to confer upon Weakland in recognition of the good work he had done on the US Bishops' pastoral letter concerning economics. What was the reason offered for the denial of the honorary degree? “He has confused the faithful on the issue of abortion.” On another occasion Weakland had “confused the faithful” when he told his Archdiocese that he was ready to ask the Pope for permission to ordain married men to the priesthood, if the problem of priestly vocations became unbearably acute. With a bit of humor he later remarked to another prelate how interesting it was that he should get his name in the New York Times twice in one year, both times for doing nothing: first for not talking but just simply listening to pro-choice women, and then for not receiving an honorary degree.

Retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Thomas John Gumbleton (b. 1930), has a long history of social justice and is the founding president of Pax Christi USA ( the US branch of the international Catholic peace movement). He is also former president of Bread for the World (an interfaith organization that fights world hunger). In a letter to America magazine (Nov. 20, 1963,) he wrote, "I can vouch for the fact that very many bishops share the same conviction (that not every contraceptive act is intrinsically evil). However, sadly enough, fewer and fewer are willing to say this publicly.” And though Pope John Paul II spoke definitively against the ordination of women, Gumbleton said, “Priestesses will inevitably come. Already, female parochial administrators are proving their competency and laying the groundwork for the ordination of women.” Those positions infuriated Rome. Rome did not hurl Bishop Gumbleton over a cliff (we don’t do that nowadays), but when he (still in good health) petitioned Rome for permission to stay on as bishop beyond his 75th year, the canonical age for retirement (but which is often waived for a good reason) his petition was refused with e-mail speed.

It’s fear

It’s fear that makes us want to hurl people over a cliff. In his hometown synagogue Jesus spoke critically of his fellow Jews and highly of Gentiles like the widow from Zarephath and the leper Naaman from Syria. His words presaged a new order of things which struck fear in the congregants of the synagogue who considered themselves as God’s only chosen people. So they wanted to hurl Jesus over a cliff.

When Archbishop Hunthausen publicly defended the rights of gays and lesbians, that struck fear in the hearts of homophobics, and they want to hurl him over a cliff. When Bishop Untener asked the church to reconsider Humanae vitae (which restated the church’s traditional stand on artificial birth control), that struck fear in those who believe that an “infallible” church never has to revisit its teachings. So they wanted to hurl him over a cliff.

And when the Archbishop Rembert Weakland sat down to hear pro-choice women out, that struck fear in those who believe that the church only teaches and has no need to be taught. So they wanted to hurl him over a cliff. And when auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton predicted that there will be priestesses, the struck fear in macho members of the church. So they wanted to hurl him over a cliff.

Conclusion
Welcoming your prophet

Whenever you become infuriated at someone and want to hurl him over a cliff, give pause. The fury might be fear. He might be a prophet who has something to tell you which you don’t want to hear. Give more heed to what you don’t want to hear than to what you do want to hear. Don’t throw the prophet sent you over a cliff. Don’t stone him. (Lk 13:34) Give your prophet welcome. Listen to him. It’s a priceless service when someone tells you what you need to hear, especially when he does it out of love and not out of rant and rage. And while it takes great courage to be a prophet, it also takes great courage to receive the prophet God has sent you. What a different picture it would have been had the congregants given the prophet Jesus welcome the day He made his debut in his hometown synagogue.