Plotting out "Theological Drift" or Who's Drifting?

No matter how brief or elementary the account of the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, there is usually some mention of his conversion which took place during the long period of his confinement in bed while recovering from a very serious battle wound. The onetime soldier of fortune read much while convalescing. He came to identify the difference between the fruits of his reading of knightly tales of adventure and errancy and his reading of Sacred Scripture and the lives of the saints. St. Ignatius' insight was foundational to his teaching on the discernment of spirits and contributed greatly to changing him and the world around him for the good. By their fruits you shall know them.

I suppose that the kind of discernment of spirits we are talking about with Ignatius as evidenced in the life of an individual is or can be much more straightforward than when applied to an institution, specifically when it concerns weighing developments in the life of the Church. Trying to discern the path forward is never easy for individuals, let alone for an institution. In a complex reality like the ecclesial body there just have to be more variables and increased difficulty in sorting out intentions or insights.

For this reason, I find it ludicrous for a so-called theologian to accuse Pope emeritus Benedict of suffering from "theological drift". On what grounds does this guy claim to have sure knowledge of the way forward for the Church, which must ever be discerning, weighing the spirits, if you will? He gives his own or one popular interpretation of Vatican II a pass and expects us to buy his simplification to the exclusion of a process which has gone on always and everywhere in the life of the Church. It would seem that this guy has little appreciation for the struggles which accompanied centuries of debate over the issue of conciliarism and even less for what it cost at Vatican I to hammer out a definition of infallibility, to accompany sure apostolic teaching on indefectibility. Et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam...

Historically, from the period of the great ecumenical councils of the troubled but not yet divided Church of east and west, we have a rather clear cut example of a rapid course correction after a conciliar hijacking. The Second Council of Ephesus was a Christological church synod in 449 AD convened by Emperor Theodosius II under the presidency of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria. It was intended to be an ecumenical council. It was explicitly repudiated by the next council, the Council of Chalcedon of 451, and it was named the Latrocinium or "Robber Council" by Pope Leo I. 

Looking at the ecumenical councils of the second millennium, we see no such condemnations or repudiations as took place back at Chalcedon, with the exception of the repudiation of Pisa (1409) by the Council of Constance (1414-1418). After the first seven ecumenical councils, it might be fair to say that until the Council of Trent, the councils convened had a successive or progressive sort of an incremental or refining function over time. It would not be unfair to say that perhaps as one council failed to achieve its stated goals the next or a later council continued the process. Disciplinary issues were revisited again and again in an ongoing attempt or repeated effort to get it right. Much of the legislation for defining and reforming the office of bishop, including enforcing the obligation of residency in one's diocese, only came to be after centuries in the course of the implementation period after Trent. 

Occasionally, one hears that Vatican II was intended also to bring to completion the work set out for Vatican I but not achieved under the pressure of armed conflict. Would it be so terrible if the Church were to revisit Vatican II and find it wanting? From the point of view of historical precedents, I think not.

In other words, don't burden me with nonsense about "theological drift"! Pope emeritus Benedict is a lamp shining in a dark place for the sake of furthering the process of discernment. We thank God for his ongoing teaching, not the least of which are his three volumes Jesus of Nazareth. In speaking this way I am purposely understating, as my conviction would be that in the penultimate successor of St. Peter we have all that and much more.

Wherever we look in the world today, the Church is suffering from a certain malaise. Vatican II and the course of its implementation over the last half century cannot be exempted from that refinement process which has worked to keep the Church on track in the face of error and ambiguity. At no time since the Protestant Reformation have we been subjected to such an outright challenge to the Sacraments and ministerial priesthood at the center of life in the Church. Prayer as the staple of the everyday life of our people is lacking. We could use a preacher like St. Vincent Ferrer, OP, to call people back to basics. The discursive character of the reformed liturgy has all it can do to keep from banalizing divine worship, and sadly fails more often than not. Obviously a recovery of the tradition in worship is no more than the cornerstone to an edifice built of sound catechesis, personal prayer and penance, recovery of the sanctity of the celibate priesthood and the full gospel on marriage and family life.

Through the intercession of St. Ignatius of Loyola, we pray for more discerning leadership in the Church! May certain glib "theological" tongues hold their peace and permit the process of discernment to proceed unimpeded!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Militia Immaculatae - Knights of Mary Immaculate

Militia Immaculatae

Samstag, 18. Januar 2020

Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!

Es ist eine besondere Freude für mich, hier in diesem Haus heute Sie, die Militia Immaculatae, empfangen zu dürfen. Soweit ich weiss wurden im 20. Jahrhundert zwei grosse marianische „Milizen“ gegründet. Die eine, die „Legio Mariae“ durfte ich bereits in meiner Jugend kennenlernen und auch bereits mit Freuden hier in der Schweiz begegnen. Von der anderen, von eurer „Militia“ kenne ich vor allem den Gründer, den Märtyrer Maximilian Kolbe. Sein Gedenktag, der 14. August, fällt mit meinem Geburtstag zusammen und so hat dieser Heilige immer einen speziellen Platz in meinem Leben.

Die Militia Immaculatae habe ich bisher vor allem aus den Biographien des Hl. Maximilian Maria Kolbe kennengelernt. So freut es mich umso mehr, dass ich heute zum ersten Mal einer Gruppe der Militia Immaculatae begegnen darf und so diese Gemeinschaft durch euch tiefer kennenlernen kann.

Bei der Vorbereitung des Impulses für unsere heutige Begegnung habe ich ein wenig im Internet recherchiert. Dabei habe ich entdeckt, dass den Mitgliedern der Miliz der Titel „Ritter“ zugeschrieben wird. Das ist doch so, nicht wahr? Es scheint, dass diese Bezeichnung dem Willen des Hl. Maximilian selbst entspringt. Er wollte damit den Akzent auf die Ideale und Tugenden des Ritters legen. Der Gründer der Miliz brauchte den Begriff „Ritter“, um die Haltung der vorbehaltlosen Hingabe zu beschreiben, welche jedes Mitglied der Miliz der Königin Maria schuldet. Um den Kerngedanken seiner Miliz prägnant auszudrücken wählte der Heilige die lateinische Formulierung: Pro amore usque ad victimam – aus Liebe bis zur Selbsthingabe. Ihr müsst mir aber selber sagen, ob das, was ich eben gesagt habe, auch der Militia Immaculatae entspricht, welche ihr kennt und welcher ihr angehört.

200 Jahre vor dem Hl. Maximilian hat ein anderer Heiliger, der Hl. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort über wahre Verehrung der Gottesmutter Maria geschrieben und dabei von der Marienweihe, von der Totalhingabe an Maria geschrieben. In diesem Kontext kommt den meisten sofort auch das Motto des Hl. Papst Johannes Paul II. in den Sinn: Totus Tuus. Es spielt keine Rolle, ob es sich um Grignion de Montfort oder um Kolbe handelt, wenn wir von den marianischen Milizen reden, dann sprechen wir immer von tief in der katholischen Spiritualität verwurzelten Bewegungen, welche Ausdruck eines kräftigen und marianisch geprägten Glaubens sind (durch Maria zu Jesus). In seinen Schriften spricht der Hl. Maximilian vom Ritter als einer Person, welche von einem sehr hohen Ideal erfüllt ist. Der Ritter gibt sich nicht mit der Mittelmässigkeit zufrieden. Er wird es sich nie in dieser Welt gemütlich machen. Der Entscheidende Punkt bei der Weihe an Maria ist der, dass Maria in allen Bereichen des Lebens des Ritters bestimmen kann und dass der Ritter sich darum bemüht, auch die Herzen der anderen für seine Königin zu gewinnen. Es ist der Auftrag jedes einzelnen Mitgliedes der Militia Immaculatae, für die Gottesmutter zu kämpfen und die Herzen der andern für sie zu gewinnen. Mit Mut und Leidenschaft erfüllt der Ritter einen intensiven und grossen Auftrag: Aus Liebe zu den andern wendet er sich an alle, betet für alle und leidet für alle auf.

In den Vereinigten Staaten war es in jüngerer Zeit teilweise üblich, dass man sich zur Firmung einen neuen Namen wählte. Fast alle Eltern geben den Kindern bei der Taufe zwei Namen und lassen diese dann einen dritten zur Firmung wählen.

Das hat keine rechtliche Bedeutung, aber normalerweise ist die Wahl des Namens Teil der Firm Vorbereitung und die Frucht der Auseinandersetzung mit den Biographien der Heiligen. Ich selbst wurde mit 10 Jahren gefirmt und habe mir den Namen „Walter“ gewählt. Den Walter, den ich gewählt habe, war ein Ritter! Wie bei den Rittern üblich, so trug auch Walter bei den Ritterturnieren die Farben seiner Geliebten. Seine Farbe war „Blau“, weil seine Geliebte die Jungfrau Maria war. Es wird erzählt, dass Walter eines Tages auf dem Weg zu einem Ritterturnier war. Als er nahe einer Kirche vorbeiritt, hörte er die Glocken erklingen und aus frommer Gewohnheit stieg er vom Pferd und betrat die Kirche, um der Messe beizuwohnen. Als er die Kirche wieder verliess, setzte er seinen Weg fort. Doch er kam zu spät und erreichte das Turnier gerade, als sie zur Siegerehrung kamen. Zu seiner grossen Überraschung wurde er als Sieger des Wettkampfes begrüsst. Maria hatte einen Engel gesandt, um an seiner Stelle den Wettkampf zu bestreiten. Eine Fromme Legende? Vielleicht, aber sie lehrt uns den Geist, welchen der Heilige Maximilian in seinen Rittern der Immaculata sehen wollte.

Persönlich finde ich diese militärische Ausdrucksweise sehr schön und, wenigstens für Männer, auch ein bisschen romantisch im mittelalterlichen Sinn. Eine solche Wahl dürfte nicht besonders überraschen im lateinischen Bereich, also für Spanier, Portugiesen oder Italiener. Aber für Slaven, Deutsche oder Anglo-Sachsen scheint es eine nicht besonders angemessene Haltung zu sein. Oder vielleicht doch, insofern es sich um eine wirklich männliche Spiritualität handelt. Wir können dabei vor allem an unsere Väter und Grossväter denken, welche einen eigenen Rosenkranz besassen und mit Vorliebe und Treue dieses Gebet beteten. Die Zeiten sind immer dieselben. Heute macht man Werbung für Kampf-Rosenkränze – aus Metall gemacht. Etwas für echte Männer!

Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass Eure Lebenserfahrung hier in der Schweiz etwa ähnlich ist wie die meine: Nicht alle Menschen hier akzeptieren eure Entscheidung zugunsten der Militia Immaculatae. Ich spreche dabei nicht von meiner direkten Erfahrung mit der Militia, aber von der analogen, d.h. von einer vergleichbaren Situation, bei welcher über den wahren Sinn des Sakramentes der Firmung nachgedacht wird.

(Zur Erinnerung) Es gibt drei Initiationssakramente:      

- Die Taufe macht uns zu Gliedern Christi und Teilen des Mystischen Leibes Christi.     

- In der Eucharistie empfangen wir in der Hl. Kommunion Christus, den Sohn Gottes, den ganzen Christus, Leib und Blut, Seele und Gottheit. Christus lebt in uns und wir sind verwandelt in seinen Leib. 

- In der Firmung empfangen wir durch den Hl. Geist die Gnade, unsere Taufgnade wirklich inmitten der Gefährdungen, der Widersprüche und der Herausforderungen dieser Welt leben zu können. Einer Welt, die so sehr Christi bedarf, den König des Universums und den König unserer Herzen!

Nicht alle hier in der Schweiz, selbst wenn sie sich Katholiken nennen, anerkennen die Lehre der Kirche über die Sakramente. Das trifft besonders zu auf den grundlegenden Sinn des Sakramentes der Firmung. Ich habe den Eindruck dass jedes Mal die eine oder andere Grossmutter wütend mache, wenn ich bei der Feier einer Firmung in der Homilie darauf zu sprechen komme, dass die Firmung ein Sakrament ist, welches den Christen stärkt in seinem Kampf gegen den Bösen. Viele Erwachsene, besonders Frauen, lehnen die Beschreibung des christlichen Lebens als Kampf gegen den Bösen kategorisch ab. Sie wollen nichts davon hören, dass das christliche Leben ein Kampf ist, ein hinabsteigen in die Schlacht. Es tut mir Leid, aber diese Leute irren sich, sie irren sich sehr. Es täuschen sich alle jene, die meinen, dass unser Leben ohne Anstrengung, ohne Opfer, ohne Leiden und ohne Kampf bewältigen lässt. Die Optik der Miliz ist die richtige für unser Leben.

Die Tatsache, dass die Rede vom „Ritter“, die Zugehörigkeit zur Militia Immaculatae für viele eine Provokation ist, darf uns nicht überraschen oder einschüchtern. Es ist die Kirche selbst, die uns in diesem Sinne unterrichtet in Bezug auf die Natur und die Bedeutung unserer Taufberufung, d.h. auf dem Weg zur Ewigkeit Christus nachzufolgen auf dem Weg des Kreuzes.

Verstehen Sie mich richtig: Das Ziel meines Impulses heute ist, Sie zu ermutigen und zu bestärken in Ihren Überzeugungen in Bezug auf die Festigkeit, die Weisheit und das grundlegende Ziel der Militia Immaculatae. Sie haben den Weg gewählt, der empfohlen ist, um durch dieses Leben zum Himmel zu gelangen, d.h. um mit Maria als Wegbegleiterin auf den Wegen dieser Welt zu Gott selbst zu gelangen, also, um am Ende unserer Tage in die ewige Herrlichkeit mit Christus einzugehen. Durch den Apostel und Evangelisten Johannes hat uns Jesus selbst seine Mutter Maria als Begleiterin durch dieses Leben an die Hand gegeben.

Der Hl. Maximilian Kolbe empfiehlt in einer seiner Schriften (cf. Kolbe, St. Maximilian. Let Yourself Be Led by the Immaculate. Angelus Press. 2013. Kindle Edition. N. 43) den Mitgliedern der Militia die Übung von zwei Haupttugenden:

(1) den Gehorsam als der einfachste, kürzeste und sicherste Weg um die von Gott gewünschte Heiligkeit des Lebens zu erlangen. Tatsächlich ist der übernatürliche Gehorsam, d.h. Übereinstimmung unseres Willens mit dem Willen Gottes das Wesentliche der Heiligkeit und damit die vollkommene Liebe.

(2) die kindliche Liebe und Hingabe an die selige Jungfrau Maria. Sie lehrt uns den vollkommenen Übernatürlichen Gehorsam. Sie selbst hilft uns auf diesem Weg voranzuschreiten. Als wahre Mutter trägt sie uns an den schwierigsten Stellen dieses Weges auf ihren Armen und voll Liebe in ihrem unbefleckten Herzen. 

So können wir wachsen in unserer kindlichen Liebe zu unserer himmlischen Mutter. Damit wir auf diesem Weg Fortschritte machen können, das heisst damit wir in unserem Glauben wachsen im Gehorsam gegenüber den Geboten Gottes und seiner Kirche gibt es einige wichtige Mittel, welche wir regelmässig nutzen sollen:

Wir müssen Menschen des Gebetes sein. Als die Mutter Gottes Sr. Lucia von Fatima die Übung des ersten Samstags im Monat erklärt hat, hat sie ihr gesagt, dass das heisse: Eine Zeit zusammen mit ihr (der Mutter Gottes) im Gebet verbringen. Eine kleine halbe Stunde zusammen mit Maria vor Gott verbringen, das ist die Zeit, die man braucht, um einen Rosenkranz andächtig zu beten.

Wir müssen auch Kenner der Heiligen Schrift sein. Die Bibel erleuchtet unseren Verstand und führt uns näher zum Herrn. Das Studium des Katechismus ist eine Bereicherung, welche die Liebe zum Gott wachsen lässt. Ein Sprichwort sagt: Mich zu kennen heisst, mich zu lieben.

Zusätzlich zur Sonntagsmesse möchte ich euch auch ermutigen zu einer Praxis, regelmässig und oft das Sakrament der Versöhnung (die Beichte) zu empfangen. Ich weiss nicht, was Sie für Erfahrungen gemacht haben, aber oftmals ist es hier in der Schweiz nicht einfach, einen guten Beichtvater zu finden, der bereit ist, uns regelmässig die Beichte abzunehmen. Vielleicht braucht es hier im doppelten Sinne ritterlichen Mut. Einerseits ist es wegen unserem Hochmut (d.h. wegen unserer falschen Eigenliebe) schwierig, unsere Sünden ehrlich und demütig zu bekennen. Und dann ist auch noch das Problem, dass viele Priester gar nicht gerne Beichte hören oder aus menschlichen Gründen nicht in der Lage sind, den Pönitenten mit Ermutigung und gutem Rat zu helfen.

Ich könnte noch lange mit weiteren Übungen fortfahren, möchte aber vor allem eine Übung noch anfügen: Die Anbetung in der Kirche vor dem Allerheiligsten. Der Hl. Pfarrer von Ars hat einmal einen alten Bauern gefragt, was er in der Stille vor dem Tabernakel so mache. Der Mann hat ihm geantwortet: „Ich schaue auf ihn und er schaut auf mich“. Das sind einfache, aber Tiefe Worte, welche uns helfen zu verstehen, was es bedeutet, das Bewusstsein von der Gegenwart und Liebe Gottes immer tiefer zu erfassen.

Vielleicht habe ich nun zu viel oder auch zu wenig gesprochen. Wir haben daher nun Zeit, um im freien Austausch einzelne allenfalls unklare Punkte zu klären oder einfach um uns besser kennenzulernen und uns gegenseitig darin zu ermutigen, als Ritter der Immaculata zu leben.

Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Velocity: Haste as Liturgical Abuse

Among my claims to fame over the years was being the "founding father" in 1990 of the English language Mass community in Prague. We sort of played it by ear, but in no time we went from a couple founding families to a little church full every Sunday in Mala Strana. When he was in town, we even had a classy young Canadian organist to beautify our Sunday worship.

Issues were faced as they came up and I am reminded of one relatively early on related to growth and the time required to distribute Holy Communion. I was asked to approach the vicar general on the question of the appointment of an extraordinary minister so as to shorten the time. I remember very clearly discussing our situation with him and how many people were coming on a regular Sunday. He could not quite understand the problem. It was my first encounter at age 41 with the idea that maybe in the States at least we had become accustomed to rushing the Communion procession.

I am sure this experience or call to reflect helped sensitize me to what I have experienced in subsequent years as something to label: Communion Haste. Especially when it comes to elderly people or people with mobility issues, this haste cuts down to almost none the possibility of composure and hence reverence in receiving the Lord of Life. The easiest remedy is return to the altar rail, decked out with linens, for a truly solemn reception of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. And why not?

Over Christmas, I visited with friends about the issue of Communion on the tongue kneeling, as well. With the one family, I asked how they decided to prepare their children for Communion in the hand. The response was to spare the children unpleasant confrontations. I believe them and that makes me wonder what sorts of "Bolsheviks" we have administering the Sacrament.

In the other case, a friend gave up after getting too many fingers in his mouth... I believe him, too, and have decided that perhaps more than technique, we are talking about an inevitable consequence of haste. Were people allowed to settle at the altar rail, all being at a more convenient altitude and none being a moving "target", it might be possible to place the Sacred Host on people's tongue without finger contact. I can remember being aghast back in 1972, hearing of young deacons at the North American College, speaking of getting saliva and lipstick on their fingers which they proceeded to wipe on their albs between communicants. Inexperience, sure, but more than that, the sheer haste involved which could reap no other fruits.

Years ago, the pastor in my mother's parish, introduced the practice of regularly having the children at elementary school Masses kneel at the altar rail. He was rightly convinced that it helped the children focus on Who it was that they were receiving.

Even before the liturgical changes, I can remember one young priest, somewhat less than devout, who had a rapid fire method for moving down the altar rail. He did not pause at the right end and return to the left again to distribute to the next row, but challenge the skills of us altar-boys holding the Communion paten, getting us to do double time both forward and backward. He obviously skipped the proper prayer for each communicant, as well as the sign of the cross with the Host. Liken his method, not to clockwork efficiency, but to a stopwatch calculation: less than reverent, almost jaded in his rush to get done.

The merits of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue are evident to me. Let us say that nine times out of ten, it gives evidence of a recollected approach on the part of the communicant. What makes me urge a return to this traditional practice, kneeling at the altar rail, is the matter of haste. I would bet that slowing things down alone would reap better survey results on the percentage of Catholics who believe in the Real Presence.

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

P.S. I know "properantes" is translated "hastening", but you see, that is the difference between "haste" and "hastening". I am voting for slowing down the Communion procession to better dispose and in a sense hasten the communicants fruitful encounter with Christ in the Sacrament.

Recourse to Approved Authors

GERHARD CARDINAL MÜLLER 

The Power of Truth 

The Challenges of Catholic Morals 

and Doctrine Today 

IGNATIUS PRESS. Kindle Edition. 

Traveling to and from the States back at the end of November, I had time to read this collection of essays by His Eminence, with his Manifesto of Faith in appendix. If you are at all distraught these days by the ambivalence communicated by some charged with the teaching office in the Church, I can guarantee this book of Cardinal Müller will be a source of reassurance for you. It will confirm you in the faith as you know it and as it is still believed and taught. My point would be simply that in Cardinal Müller we still have good, solid folk out there.

Many of my lay friends and a lot of good, conscientious parish priests whom I know are in need of reassurance these days. The supports which they had found in recent years are often now called into question in the social media, especially as far as Catholic moral teaching goes and especially in the area of Christian anthropology. Too many Sunday homilies or too much stuff out there in the media which would pass itself off as Catholic, is anything but what it could or should be. Perhaps it goes without saying, but I would like to remind once again that the Church has always advised that we have recourse to approved authors. With that expression, of course we mean first and foremost the great fathers and doctors of the Church, but also a whole series of saintly men and women who have faithfully held to the tradition, as well as those who continue to do so in our day.

The idea of recourse to approved authors from the past and to those who faithfully adhere in their teaching and preaching to that tradition is no more than common sense, or should I say wisdom. Reserving the teaching and preaching office to those in Holy Orders was always a reminder that we live not so much from erudition or eloquence as we do from grace. I have known a lot of great priest teachers and homilists in my life, but the two men who for me have changed lives by their preaching were both somewhat bland and labored in their words. Because of the sanctity, the witness of their lives, however, they planted good seed in the hearts of those entrusted to their care and convinced of the witness of their priestly lives.

This notion of truth, here in Cardinal Müller's book referred to as "the power of truth", is indeed grounded in godliness, understood as that integrity of life which binds one to the Person of Jesus Christ. Maybe I should scold my troubled friends for their discouragement in the face of folly and simply remind that the road to perdition is broad and straight and, yes, too heavily traveled. The Church's path must be the one less traveled.

Let us then without hysterics just go our way. Robert Hugh Benson, in Dawn of All, his reply to his own pessimism in Lord of the World, does not really convince me. We do not necessarily have to expect an experience of Christianity written big, but rather encourage one another to take up our cross daily and follow Christ Who goes before us to Calvary. Approved authors can help along the way.

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Crossing a Threshold or Taking Leave?

I took time yesterday to watch a new presentation which will be shown tomorrow on Bavarian TV, entitled "Ein Besuch bei Papst Benedikt XVI. em. Klein Bayern im Vatikan". It is very nicely done, but will no doubt serve at some point in the future for a leave-taking from the Emeritus, who works much frailer than perhaps he is at the moment. Lord knows!

Indeed more interesting for me than the lovely video was the book I read over Christmas: LAST TESTAMENT In his own words Pope Benedict XVI. With Peter Seewald, translated by Jacob Phillips. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2016. Kindle Edition.  The book has been around for a couple years, but for some strange reason only now came to my attention. Never too late, I highly recommend the read for the insights it provides into the will or intention of Benedict XVI. I have confidence that the interview gives a faithful impression of the Pope Emeritus. Here things seem to me to come into proper perspective. The book includes discussions which I guess I had somehow missed or not properly weighed in the past.

For as much, however, as I perceive myself belonging to an older generation, this book has helped me see Joseph Ratzinger as an outstanding example of an even older generation than my own whose concerns just do not make book for me. What I mean by that is his generation's preoccupation with somehow getting beyond St. Thomas and Scholasticism. The so-called Ratzingerian Augustinianism with its roots in Sacred Scripture and its pretense of somehow being more existential, but yet typical of him and his three volumes on Jesus, faithfully bound to the great tradition and firmly anchored in the Person of Jesus Christ.

This book let me appreciate more fully to what extent Pope Benedict XVI stands there as a beacon and way finder. The notion "In his own words" is terribly important toward understanding how this man who is fully a man of Vatican II still manages the critical distance which may some day allow the watershed event of the Catholic Church in the 20th Century make a contribution to the work of evangelization in the 21st Century.

While that prophet or doctor of the Church may not yet have been born who will enable us to get a handle on all we have gone through in my life time, Benedict stands head and shoulders above his contemporaries in offering counsel and direction. I suggest this book should be obligatory reading for those who would carry on the essential work of sorting out the Church's recent past and getting us better on track.

tolle et lege!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI

Hail, Infant King!

The Epiphany of the Lord

5 January 2020 – Bruder Klaus

Is 60, 1-6

Eph 3, 2-3a. 5-6

Matt. 2, 1-12

Praised be Jesus Christ!

        “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?” That was the question posed by the wise men, by the magi to King Herod! Granted, they had the wrong address in going to Herod’s palace in Jerusalem, but then again they were searching. Theirs was a question posed in the fullness of time and need not be asked again. The Savior has come; history and the work of salvation is complete. Even so, the question must be asked anew in every age, because it reflects the central importance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for each one of us and for the life of the world. We too must ask as did the magi. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

Maybe more important than telling the story of the wise men’s quest would be to ask about the status of that important search in our lives for our day and time. Who is posing the magi’s question yet today? Who today has been moved, as they were, by the equivalent of something as subtle or passing as the appearance of a star? Whether from hearsay or intellectual curiosity, who today has left his home environment to seek the One, the only One, Jesus, Whose holy Name is written in the stars? Who has taken the risk? Who among Catholics today gives Jesus the first place in the order of things in this world? Who among non-Christians is drawn to Jesus in the fullness of the dignity, the kingly majesty, which is His?

The Epiphany, the word means manifestation, is often billed as the Gentile’s Christmas; it is acclaimed as Christ’s coming for the nations, for the outsiders, for us, if you will! The event as a part of the Christmas mystery is most important, but my question remains. Following the example of the wise men, who is drawn to the Church, to Christ, these days? I think it is important to say that the dynamics of the very question of the magi reflect what the Church should be all about, especially in our world today. To ask their question is a rebuff to routine and in a sense a rejection of institutional thinking.

“And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Gold, frankincense and myrrh are gifts for a king, even though he be a poor, young boy, just a baby, whose only attendants are this young couple Mary and Joseph. The King is made manifest to the nations in the very natural context of a simple, real live family. As often as people forget to give the traditional family its absolute importance, they fail gravely. It is wrong to try to redefine the Church in social terms that slight the intimacy and the beauty of ordinary family life. To every liberal-minded person out there who thinks that to carry on the work of salvation we should be into something new or different, advanced or otherwise future oriented, I say no! Let us never forget what was at the center of the magi’s search and discovery! Let us never doubt the object of this great manifestation! It was Christ, the King Who rules from the throne of His Mother Mary’s lap.

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”

Turn your back on Herod’s calculations! They led him to the massacre the Holy Innocents in hopes of snuffing out the life of an imagined rival for his miserable throne. Find freedom and salvation not in any kind of court intrigue, but rather with the wise men, bowed down at the tiny feet of this Child!

The other day I read one of those, end of the calendar year, doomsday articles about the Church here in Switzerland, with the German title “Five past Midnight!” The article said nothing about the good or bad news of who is, like the magi, or who is not eagerly posing the question, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?” No, the article only contained employment statistics, as if the Church were some sort of service agency, which to their mind has failed when it comes to recruiting all the personnel seemingly required to meet a bunch of supposed social needs and for a much less clearly defined clientele. This article “Five past Midnight!” did not seem to care in the least about whether Jesus Christ plays any significant role in the lives of 95% of the people in this country and elsewhere in a nominally Christian world, who identify as Catholic yes, but for not much more than tax purposes.

Thinking about the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ, thinking about the quest undertaken by the magi two millennia ago, we really need to examine our priorities today. We need to change our terms of discourse. To follow the star, the wise men left their homes. They showed us the way and they still do. They asked the only question really worth asking in life. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

In manger scenes, in most crèches or Christmas cribs, the magi or wise men are portrayed as kings all decked out in their royal finery. This imagery teaches us well. It makes their bowing down before Jesus all that more shocking or impressive. If you listen to their dialogue though, you can see just how unselfconscious, how humble, really, how unpretentious these truly wise men were. Just like old Simeon and the prophetess Anna in the Temple, they confessed God-Incarnate in that little child. If we were about that, then we would truly be right with the world.

Too many unhappy or discontented people, some of whom rake in big church salaries, would have us think that everything is wrong and that the solution at “Five past Midnight!” can be attained through what amounts to social engineering. Folly! Follow the magi to Bethlehem! Seek out and reaffirm genuine Catholic Christian family life!

“And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Hail, Infant King! Be moved by the star! Follow the wise men! Make their question to King Herod the one that defines your very life from this day forward!

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI