Today...

...is the anniversary of my baptism.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 6:58 PM link

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Retrouvaille

It is time to pack the bags again for another missionary endeavor. I will be back to blogging on Monday when I head back to Chicago. For this weekend I will be on a Retrouvaille Weekend in Pleasanton, CA.

Retrouvaille is an international ministry for troubled marriages. I have been working Retrouvaille weekends since 1992 and have found the experience to be quite beneficial. I would recommend it for any married couple, especially for those couples whose communication has become difficult or perfunctory. In a world devoted to communication and information, too often, couples limit their communication to facts and data, event, opinions and sometimes judgments. Retrouvaille is based on Catholic Principles of learning to live the Paschal Mystery, of learning to live a life of self gift.

Here is a simple test: Have you ever said to your spouse, “you should not feel that way.”?

That is a pretty good indication that you do not yet know how to receive your spouse for who he or she is, and you have yet to learn how to identify with your spouse’s experience even if it is different from yours. How is it possible to give yourself in the sacrament to another if you are unable to receive them as they are? Too often, though, we do not even have the language that helps us to describe ourselves and so the conversation disintegrates into a conflict of ideas, needs and values.

That is what Retrouvaille is. It is a new way of communication that takes marriage seriously as a Sacrament. It is a way of communication that is foreign in many ways to the age of information, the atmosphere that we experience every day in this culture.

Here is the way our website describes it:

Retrouvaille is a live-in weekend and post weekend program for married couples. The emphasis is on a new technique of communication between a husband and wife. During the weekend, a series of in-depth presentations are given to you and other couples like yourselves. Each presentation, given by one of three married couples and a priest, focuses on a specific area of a marriage relationship. After each presentation, you will have a chance to reflect on it by yourself, then discuss it with your spouse in complete privacy. The weekend is not a spiritual retreat, not a sensitivity group, not a seminar, nor is it a social gathering. You will, however be encouraged, to put the past behind you and start 'rediscovering' one another again. The weekend is not a 'miracle cure', therefore, post-weekend sessions have been designed to continue the marriage renewal begun on the weekend. These follow-ups review earlier concepts in greater depth, present new ones and help you apply these concepts to your own marriage.

More information and telephone numbers can be found here.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 1:44 PM link

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Blogger has been nothing but a pain. I am trying hard to post but it won't let me. Here let me try again. How many times? Five or six for each post, and blogger never lets me know if it has been fixed. ARRGGGHHHHH!

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:48 PM link

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Authoritative?

George Weigel in “The Courage to Be Catholic”, pg.42, has a great section on the difference between authoritative and authoritarian. When I say the Bishops have made an authoritative statement I do not imply that we must get in line, lock step and simply parrot their words. No, I simply mean they are the teachers, they have an obligation to teach in the name of Christ. We have an obligation to listen, to discern, and to search the truth. Some may think the word “authoritative” is over-stating it, but I am inclined to stick with that word.

Yes, I believe a few bishops have really failed us recently. But no one has taken their place, and we have no right to dismiss them out of hand. We are still obliged to listen when they teach, as we would listen to Jesus himself.

Wait a minute. That letter was not even addressed to us! You are right. It is not a papal encyclical and is a lot less authoritative that the Gospel of John. Still, this was not an editorial from the National Review. It was from the Bishops. We have an obligation to listen, to discern and to search the truth. It is more authoritative than Newsweek. The New York Times or any other Journal is not authoritative for a Catholic, even if we read them daily. A letter from the Bishops is authoritative.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 2:04 PM link

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Just War Requirements

The Bishops have made an authoritative statement that war in Iraq does not yet fulfill the requirements from the just war theory as it is outlined in the Catechism.

Here is the Zenit press report on the letter of the American Bishops to President Bush.

Here is the actual text of the letter.

We are going to have to pay attention to all the pundits in the press again these days. They seem to have used the recent scandals to poke appropriate retribution at the Bishops but have also used it to avoid anything in the way of authoritative teaching. One correspondent here even said it was simply the pope’s “opinion” and we could reasonably ignore it.

Another writer had the gall to suggest that Catholic priests had gone “wobbly” and even believed in “appeasement.” I am still convinced of his fundamental ignorance and basic parochialism when it comes to Catholic thought and practice. I am going back to paying daily attention to this one writer and see what kind of “respect” he has for the magisterium. I am sure people will again misunderstand this. The writer has a right to his opinion, and I will not criticize him if he disagrees, only if he is disrespectful or says the bishops have no right to say this. One can question the Church’s stance on this. But this writer has no right to go call us wobbly, call us “Euroweenie surrender monkeys,” say we believe in appeasement, or make other unfounded charges. In private emails he has called me naïve, and said that I value feeling over thinking.

Questioning the Church’s stance means we enter into a discussion of the just war requirements outlined in the catechism, not by making useless charges, or telling people to stop feeling.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 12:03 AM link

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Forgiveness II

The last few days have been spent in “cluster.” The Cluster is a gathering of Precious Blood Missionaries here in the Province of the Pacific. We studiously try to avoid anything that looks like work, yet it is not a retreat. It is an opportunity to spend some time together, to pray together, and to talk about the things are important to us.

With the recent Sunday readings, and with the world so unhappy with John Paul’s prayer of mercy for the perpetrators of 9/11, we decided to speak to one another about forgiveness, what it is, what it is not, and how we receive it, and how we share it.

Forgiveness is not denial, or dismissal. To say I must forgive someone is not to say I should not be angry or that I should not feel that way. Forgiveness is not an easy thing. It is not a feeling. It is a decision. It is a decision to come to healing for myself, and to accept God’s Mercy and love for me even if the world still strives to live in violence. Forgiveness does not happen in one action. It happens over time.

When John Paul II very gently offered a prayer of mercy for the violent ones in our world, he was not condoning violence, or letting them off the hook. (One correspondent even charged him with preaching cheap grace.) His prayer was first of all a prayer for my heart, that I not be consumed by anger, hatred and bitterness. He was praying that we not become hardened by this tragedy in our nation, but that we might remain the loving and gentle people God desired.

St. Gaspar has said that we ministers of the sanctuary must make known the mercy of God. That is precisely what John Paul II is doing. That is precisely what we must do as well.

Being angry and unforgiving is a mask. It is a defense that enables us to avoid our own broken and wounded heart. That is where we should go, because that is the only place where we will find healing and peace.

St. Gaspar:

My listeners, should one of you be in need of a notable forgiveness, before Magdalene leaves those adorable feet, and though not prostrate at those feet, go to her and with your own soul enter with her into that sacred side and there you will find the heart of the crucified Lord still replete with his blessings. Likewise, listeners, realize that he has the Father’s love and concern. So, what do you have to fear? Draw close, approach him trustingly and no longer put it off.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:34 AM link

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Forgiveness

I do not know enough about Yom Kippur. I wish I did, but this seems to be an opportunity for me to do some more study.

A Boston Globe editorial explains how Pope John Paul's recent prayer is "an affront."

Here is my Letter to the editorial's author:

Dear Mr. Jacoby

Thanks for bringing up the Jonah story. Reading Jonah again we see how Jonah thought God's forgiving them was something to be sad about. Apparently we humans do not change. We apparently are still sad at God's overwhelming generosity.

You say Forgiveness must be earned.

I say, the Gospel says, God says forgiveness cannot be earned. It can only be given. And it is given freely for those who trust in God's mercy.

God does not force his mercy on anyone, and anyone who refuses or does not repent is obviously not going to receive God's mercy.

You have a right to your opinion, but please do not call the Gospel an affront. That offends more than the pope, but all who trust in God's mercy.

I have no idea if you are Christian or Jewish. If you are Christian I would say that you have more to learn about the Gospel. If you are Jewish, I do not wish to be defensive or angry, but again I wish you could know more about the roots of why we would want to pray such a prayer.

The Pope was not quick to offer this prayer. He condemned the actions in the strongest of language. He waited a whole year. He did not force the prayer on to anyone, or demand that we be emotionally ready to pray it. It was done in the most gentle of manners.

The Holy Father is to be praised for this. He does not want us to be injured further by our anger and bitterness, but to pray for mercy and to leave it in God's hands. Only God would know whether these horrible people would even be receptive to this mercy.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 12:59 AM link

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I am Swamped with Work

I found the following passage one of the most comforting things I have ever read in St. Gaspar's letters:

I am swamped with work, and taking care of temporal things tends to give one grey hair. On the desk, things assume one look, in practice they are otherwise. But that in no one’s fault; for pious works are born amid thorns.. A great deal of good work is being done and that is indescribable. Believe me, God is being glorified.

from St. Gaspar's Letter No. 516 to Fr. Luigi Gonnelli, December 21, 1821

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 1:08 PM link

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The Nature of Opinion

I remember very clearly a professor’s lesson on perspective. On internet exchanges recently I have noticed a great deal of negative energy being spent on the New Cathedral in Los Angeles. I was refreshed to see that there has been some positive press as well. Like Peter Nixon over at Sursum Corda I will actually save my opinion until I actually walk in the new Cathedral.

In re-reading the posts I had archived I went looking for a quality of respect. Even in disagreement, did the correspondent try to understand what the artist was doing? I also wondered if the writers had even walked in the space they were trying to critique.

Look through the archives of the National Review correspondents and you will see a whole list of Churches that the writers classify as ugly. It was here that Rod Dreher pointed out Michael Rose’s opinion on the New LA Cathedral. Peter Nixon made known the positive commentary here and pointed us in the direction of Architectural critic John King.

It does not sound as if they were talking about the same building, but only one of them appeared to have actually visited the site.

It is a dangerous thing to condemn modern art and architecture so vehemently. I remember once a musician telling me that there was not such thing as Sacred Music after Brahms. Funny thing, I shared his taste in music but wondered aloud if such a statement was akin to saying that the Holy Spirit could not work in modern music.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 12:52 PM link

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Greetings from California

I had to unpack my bag this morning so I could pack for this afternoon’s trip south to Santa Cruz for our CPPS cluster meeting. On Wednesday when I come back, I will have to do the same, unpack my bag so I can pack for the weekend Retrouvaille. It seems to be the way of life for traveling missionaries.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 12:47 PM link

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