Vatican II at 50 - Ascension and Mother's Day

Very few of us still wear a corsage on Mother’s Day.  When I was a kid I remember going to church on this day with my red corsage and seeing a myriad of women and children wearing either a red or white flower.  Red meant your mother was still living.  White meant she had passed.  It has now been many years since my mother passed away.  But, I still feel her presence whenever I follow in her footsteps and do what she would do:  cook one of her recipes, go places that she and I frequented together, spend time with other family members, send thank-you notes, or plant flowers in the spring.  Ironically, I can sense my mother’s spirit now more than when she was alive.

In the same fashion we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.  Jesus is no longer physically with us, but his Spirit is always with us, and we can feel his presence whenever we follow in his footsteps and do what he would do:  spend time in prayer, feed the hungry, befriend the outcast, stand up for justice and spread the news of God’s love. 

Today’s Gospel sends us on a mission to bear Christ’s love to the world.  The final act in each liturgy does the same.  Prior to the Second Vatican Council when the Mass was in Latin, the parting words were Ite, Missa est, meaning “Go, you are sent.”  Today’s dismissals are a little more specific:  “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”  They echo the Vatican II document Ad Gentes, the Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, which calls all lay persons to participate in the missionary work of the church:

Their main duty, whether they are men or women, is the witness which they are bound to bear to Christ by their life and works in the home, in their social milieu, and in their own professional circle. #21

If we take this to heart we, like all mothers, will bear new life to the world.  Amen!

 

 

Vatican II at 50 - The Prayer of the Faithful

“Pray for me.”  How often we hear these words or see them in emails or on facebook.   Though we see or hear these words all the time, it is significant that others ask us to pray for them.  It means they trust that God will hear us. When we pray for someone, we exercise the power of our baptism. For through baptism, we are made priest, prophet and king.  Praying for others means sharing in the priesthood of Christ, who intercedes for us at God’s right hand.  In the liturgy, this is most fully expressed in the General Intercessions, which were restored by the Second Vatican Council:

Especially on Sundays and feasts of obligation there is to be restored, after the Gospel and the homily, "the common prayer" or "the prayer of the faithful." By this prayer, in which the people are to take part, intercession will be made for holy Church, for the civil authorities, for those oppressed by various needs, for all mankind, and for the salvation of the entire world. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #53

Though the Church tells us for whom to pray, it doesn’t get into specifics.  We are to pray “for,” not necessarily “that.”  The Church prays first for itself, recognizing its need for God’s presence.  We pray for those charged with the responsibilities of civic leadership.  We pray for those who long to be liberated from various burdens such as those suffering from illness, addictions or poverty.  We pray for the unity and peace of the entire human race.  Praying in such a broad way makes us aware of persons we might not otherwise think about.  It’s another way the Church embraces the world with God’s love.  Though we don’t pray specifically for your Aunt Mary who is ill, she is included in the prayer for all the sick.
It is no accident that the Prayer of the Faithful takes place in the middle of the liturgy.  Empowered by God’s word, we await God’s response to our prayers as we anticipate God’s reconciling love in the Eucharist.  Ultimately, praying these prayers reminds us and the world of our radical dependence on God’s grace.  Amen!

Vatican II at 50 - Symbolically Speaking

The landscape at Toomer’s Corner on the campus of Auburn University looks a little different now.  Two famous oak trees were cut down last week after being poisoned by a fan from rival Alabama two years ago.  For decades, Tiger fans have gathered to celebrate football victories by rolling the trees with toilet paper.  Besides providing shade and rest for weary college students, the trees have served as hosts to parties celebrating everything from graduations to marriage proposals.  Thus, the trees have been icons of relationships.   Standing at the corner where the campus meets downtown Auburn, the trees have become a symbol to the community of the spirit of Auburn.  As athletic director David Housel said, "These oak trees are but an outward visible symbol of the Auburn heart.” 

Like the oak trees,  liturgical symbols are outward signs.  They  help us to better understand our faith.  We can easily relate to liturgical symbols because they are derived from ordinary life.  For example,  we understand the cleansing and renewing power of baptism because we know the cleansing and renewing power of water.  We can appreciate the healing and strengthening oil used in the Anointing of the Sick because we have experienced the healing and strengthening that comes with rubbing  lotions and salves on our rough or wounded skin. 

Vatican II called for abundance in the use of our symbols.   An often quoted quip used to reflect on liturgical symbols is, “If this symbol could speak, what would it say?”  The bigger the symbols, the better they teach.  Symbols express what is inexpressible by words alone.   Perhaps the strongest symbol,  according to the Council is the community itself.  Vatican II says the presence of Christ is found in the gathered community.   Like the Auburn Oaks, we too stand at a corner—the corner where the Spirit meets the marketplace.   May we, like the oak trees, be icons of memory and merrymaking.  Rooted in Christ, may we offer shade to the weary and gather others into relationship with divine love.  Amen.

 

Vatican II at 50 - Those Habit-Forming Nuns

I recently received a note on facebook from a former elementary school teacher.  Sister Vivian was not only instrumental in helping me learn to read and write, but also in shaping my view of the world.  Like many sisters, Vivian experienced the changes brought on by the Second Vatican Council.  For most nuns that meant turning from a life that was predictable and orderly to embrace a world that was anything but.  Not all sisters embraced the newfound freedoms inherent in Vatican II.  In fact, many left.  But many chose to stay, some of whom surrendered their habits--making a habit out of social justice.  The rationale for this can be found in a Vatican II document called Perfectae Caritatis, or the “Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life.”
 

The missionary spirit must under all circumstances be preserved in religious communities. It should be adapted, accordingly, as the nature of each community permits, to modern conditions so that the preaching of the Gospel may be carried out more effectively in every nation. #20

The journey of nuns in the aftermath of Vatican II is the subject of a new documentary film called “Band of Sisters.”  “Band of Sisters” profiles the current-day life of more than a dozen nuns from different congregations around the United States who work as organic farmers, environmental attorneys, peace activists, holistic health care practitioners, and more.  The film shows how the nuns continue their mission, despite great obstacles.
 
American nuns have gotten a bad rap lately, between the Vatican’s apostolic visitation of communities of nuns in the U.S. and the subsequent discipline on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.  Still, they keep going--much like the early apostles we are hearing about in this Easter season, who carried on despite hardships and hurdles.  The nuns resemble the women at the empty tomb, unafraid to ‘run with the news’ of hope and resurrection.  They are on a mission of love, and nothing can stop them.  Amen!

Vatican II at 50 - Mystagogy

The foreheads of those who were baptized and confirmed with Sacred Chrism at Easter may be dry but our newly initiated Catholics continue to glisten in Easter’s splendor.  Helping them to bask in the afterglow is something called mystagogy.  Mystagogy is a Greek word that means savoring the mystery.   By remembering and reflecting on the sacred mysteries they celebrated, our newest Catholics are discovering the deeper meanings of the faith they now profess.

Mystagogy isn’t only for the newly initiated.  It is a powerful tool for everyone that can help us  understand our faith in new ways.  All it takes is a little time and a few probing questions. Try it yourself or with others the next time you go to Mass.  Here are a few questions to get you started:  What did you see, feel or hear?  What one thing, word or phrase captured your attention? What did you remember most?  What symbol spoke to you and why?  What did it mean to you?  What did it say to you about God, the Church, yourself?  How did it change or challenge your perspective?

For example, a recent visitor to our parish engaged in mystagogy without knowing it.  He noticed that we prayed for those on death row.  He was a lawyer who was all too familiar with criminal punishment.  He was deeply moved by the prayer.  It spoke to him about the abundance of God’s love and motivated him to seek a deeper understanding of our beliefs on capital punishment.  His perspective about who Catholics are and what we believe was challenged and changed.

Mystagogy shows us how the liturgy teaches, reinforcing a key concept in Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:

 Although the liturgy is above all things the worship of the divine majesty, it likewise contains rich instruction for the faithful. #33

 The liturgy teaches us a lot about our faith, but it requires that we come to Mass with eyes and ears wide open, with attentiveness and presence, ready to be amazed, challenged and changed.  Amen!