Tag / Roman Catholic Church

by Frank Maduri

The Transfiguration

I was reflecting today on this warm Thursday afternoon about a number of writing assignments in my queue, some on short turn-around times, and I was wondering how I was going to get it all done between now and Monday of next week. In those times of great stress and feelings of being overwhelmed I did today what I usually do: I stopped to pray.

 

In my prayer break I began to contemplate the fact that today is the Feast of the Transfiguration in the Roman Catholic Liturgical calendar. My thoughts shifted then to that event that is captured so poignantly in the Gospels, in the New Testament contributions of Saint Peter, and as one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

 

In this miracle in the New Testament, for those who are unfamiliar, Jesus takes three of his disciples: Peter, James, and John up to the top of a mountain to pray. While they were there Jesus is transformed before them and his clothes turn dazzling white and his appearance is transfigured or metamorphosed before them. A voice from the heavens proclaims that this is “My Son” and that we should “listen to Him”.

 

This is a powerful event and a poignant image to ponder. In the Gospel of Luke and his account of this event, Jesus is speaking to the disciples about exodus, which he will achieve in a few short days because they had stopped at this mountain shortly after the Lazarus miracle and shortly before they were going to arrive on Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

 

A priest once told me when I asked about the importance of the Transfiguration that it is a symbol of hope. Jesus was providing the disciples, and by extension, all of us with a sign that even though He was going to suffer and die a horrible death on Good Friday He would overcome it all. Jesus was displaying that He would be with them and with all of us forever. That is a hopeful message indeed!

 

At the same time during the course of my own day today, I learned that I was accepted as a contributing writer to a financial news website. I was very happy about this development and when I went to check the headlines in the financial news I saw the summary of the report on job layoffs at a four year high.

 

This made me think about all those people who were just laid off and those who might know that they will be laid off imminently (this afternoon McDonald’s announced a couple of hundred job layoffs). The retail as well as the financial sector looked to be some of the most heavily impacted segments in the report and those two areas are a very big part of the economy here in my home state of New Jersey. I said a prayer for all of those people and asked that they be comforted in this time of despair.

 

I know the pain of job loss and the desperation it can cause in the human psyche, I also know the impact it can have on families, and that financial burdens are a problem for most people (the whole 90% movement comes to mind) and I know others who are disabled and cannot work right now. In all of those situations we all need a reminder, myself included, that we can get worried about all the stuff of the world but as Jesus taught us to be not afraid because He overcame the world.

 

The Transfiguration of Our Lord reminds us of that as Jesus displayed His glory in a powerful display on the top of a mountain. He showed to us all that He is the Way to Eternal Life. Furthermore, this account links to another miracle involving Jesus (which I have written an article about for Catholic365.com) The Baptism of Jesus where Our Savior rises from the waters of the Jordan River and a voice from above proclaims “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”. In both of these accounts a voice from above can be heard and reaffirms Jesus as the Son of God. This is very powerful and hope-filled messaging which we can take solace within when the pressures of society leave us feeling unfairly burdened.

 

The Transfiguration is a reminder that when all else fails, we can turn to Jesus and ask for help because He has overcome all of the mental, physical, and emotional anguish of the human condition. His transformation on the top of that mountain serves as demonstration that Jesus unites Earth and Heaven and His sacrifice on Calvary paid our sin debt so that we can be free.

 

So when the news is too hard to watch, the bills are piling up, the car needs a costly repair, or you do not know when the next pay check is coming in – turn to Our Lord – remember His message of hope in the Gospel. It is in those times where He longs for us to turn to Him and say: “Jesus I Trust In You”.

 

May the Lord Jesus bless all of you and your families.

 

(Frank J. Maduri is a freelance writer and journalist with publishing credits for numerous websites, local newspapers, and large news organizations. His commentary writing on Catholic doctrine is well regarded and resulted in thousands of link shares on social media. He attributes all of his success to his strong Catholic faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.)

 

by Frank Maduri

Connections Surround Us

The Diocese of Trenton held their annual seminarian retreat for those men in the process of discerning the call to the priesthood at Stella Maris Retreat Center in Elberon, NJ from July 20 – July 24. The Monitor which is the newspaper for the diocese was invited to some of the events on July 23, and I was blessed to receive the assignment to represent them as a correspondent at this event.

 

The Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, David O’Connell was scheduled to celebrate Mass and spend the day with the seminarians on Thursday, and Wednesday night the news of his mother’s passing at the age of 89 was released. I was unsure of what to expect when I arrived at Stella Maris in the morning, and those working there shared that sentiment in telling me that the Bishop may not attend.

 

A short time later, we learned that the Bishop would be making the trip Stella Maris to spend the day with the men preparing for the priesthood. It was this dedication by the Bishop coupled with the fact that he had relationships with many of the seminarians that began my thinking about connections.

 

Father Michael Whalen, the retreat master, or as he told me he rather be known as the “retreat facilitator”, went to the seminary at the same time as Bishop O’Connell and the two were roommates at one point in the process. That connection has lasted over thirty years.

 

The connections between the seminarians was evident as well especially in the down time between the activities and particularly with the men who have been in the process for several years. Several of them spoke of that bond as one of “brotherhood” or “comradery” and referred to the importance of spending time with men who “will be fellow priests in the Diocese of Trenton together for the rest of their lives”. It is that type of commitment which is under scrutiny by our secular society a commitment to anything for a lifetime, as evidenced by the societal view of marriage.

 

I spoke about that with Father Whalen and he agreed, “Our culture is mired in secularism so the commitment to God and to celibacy are challenging for these men because our culture is cynical about that and cynical overall”. We also spoke about the connection of the Bishop and the seminarians, “He’s unique. Ideally that should be the role of the Bishop. Your Bishop is very hands on”.

 

Father Whalen and I spoke about the connection between the seminarians and the local parishes, he said: “These men are more involved in parish life than my generation. They’re much more plugged in than we were.” He made a good point about how they will be better prepared when they become priests because of that experience on the parish level during their formation.

 

Bishop O’Connell spoke about the connection between preparation and being ready to succeed at a particular job. The Bishop referenced a doctor without the proper medical training, a lawyer without background in the Constitution, or a dentist without the proper schooling all being negative for society. In the same way he was encouraging the seminarians that all of the years of preparation have a purpose and will provide them with the proper preparation to serve God and God’s people.

 

I made a connection with a seminarian, Jim Smith, who is about halfway through his formation journey to being a priest. We spoke for a while about the elements of the workshops at the retreat. I then mentioned that I had recently received some opportunities that changed the course of where I thought certain things in my life were going in the short term. He then said something wonderful, “God has a plan for our lives, its amazing the difference between our plans, the way we think our life should go, and God’s plan” that ties into my most recent commentary piece about Hurricane Sandy recovery in Union Beach.

 

In that piece, I wrote about the importance of discerning God’s plan for our lives, and my attempt to connect with that message by going to Union Beach and gaining a new perspective on my own life.

 

In the days prior to my assignment, I was given some background on the retreat and I learned that the group contained four men in their first year of the seminary. One of those four newcomers, Ray Patsky, made a connection with me in that he saw during a break in between sessions that I was looking to speak with one of the members to gain information for my feature article. Ray is a local guy to the area where I grew up, so we had a lot in common. I asked how he got on the path to the priestly vocation and he explained that it was through a program at his parish.

 

His parish participated in the Spiritual Adoption of the Unborn Child and Ray got involved with setting it up and organizing members of his parish around this effort. Those who are unfamiliar can gain valuable further information at www.godslittlelamb.org and it was during this process where he gained the insight that he was being called to the priestly vocation. It was “part of his journey” as he put it and he went through a discernment period which lasts nine months. In that program he visited a new parish each month for nine months. Ray was very interested in how diverse the Diocese of Trenton was from the cultural perspective as well as the differences in the land area. It includes rural, urban, mountain and beach areas which present new and unique challenges in each circumstance for the parishes in the diocese. He was very outgoing and personable I could see God’s talents at work within him.

 

I made another connection while walking down a hallway with Jim Smith at the Stella Maris center, I noticed a plaque on the wall to Saint Katherine Drexel. The house and the grounds were, at one time, the summer home of the Drexel family and it is there where Saint Katherine was thought to have discerned the decision to become a nun, and the rest is history. My connection is that my family prayed to Saint Katherine Drexel while my mother battled with cancer for four years. My mom was being treated in Philadelphia, where Saint Katherine and the Drexel family kept their primary residence. I was not aware that Stella Maris was formerly the summer home for the second American saint. I shared the story with Jim Smith, who showed me some rooms saying this “would have been the foyer” where the Drexel family would have greeted guests. It was an amazingly unexpected connection to make.

 

After the celebration of Mass, Bishop O’Connell approached me and provided me with the text of his homily to the seminarians for use in my article. I thanked him and also offered my condolences on the loss of his mother, explaining that I had lost my mother years ago. I could see that he was suffering and he replied, “You understand what I am going through”. He went on to explain that while others have expressed sorrow and he appreciated that, he knew that I understood what he was feeling. We made a connection over a shared experience. We also talked about my parish and the priests there and what a truly blessed place the parish community is at Saint Mary Mother of God parish.

 

It was time for lunch and I made connections with several of the seminarians. Some knew my pastor from their time at other parishes, some knew a newly ordained priest who came from my home parish, and others knew people from St. Catherine’s, which is another local church my wife and I attend at points as well. One of the seminarians, Roy, mentioned that he was going to be staying at St. Catherine’s rather than going home for a few weeks. We connected over the shared experience of knowing certain people which helped my interviews with them for the feature story I submitted on the event.

 

I had some time in between a session they were in privately, and I was waiting in a room with some windows overlooking the beach. I began talking to a lady who was there because she worked with the diocese and Father Thomas Vala came walking through, and immediately came over to see me and say hello. Father Thomas was assigned to a parish my wife and I were a part of when we lived on the beach before Hurricane Sandy. He helped us get through some challenging times in dealing with being displaced from our home and with trying to determine where God wanted us to be in our lives. Father Thomas got transferred to a parish close to Trenton, and it ends up that was the parish this lady I was speaking with attended, so we all had a common connection.

 

It just so happened that Father Thomas had to preside over a funeral in the area near the retreat house, and he decided to drop by and see someone there before heading to my former parish where he was going to say hello to some former co-workers. I believe that our paths were supposed to cross that day, and it was great to see him again.

 

Then, this past Saturday evening, my wife and I were talking about my assignment covering the retreat and the progress I was making on the feature article (which was due on Monday) and we decided to go to St. Catherine’s for the Vigil Mass because we were at a local park nearby. We sat down and just as Mass was starting, in comes the seminarian I mentioned before, Roy, he sat two rows in front of my wife and I. During the handshake of peace, he saw me and remembered my name and gave me a big smile, we had made a connection. After Mass, we spoke with the pastor there and Roy and he was able to meet my wife and we talked about the retreat and his plans for the time he would be staying there.

 

In life there are no coincidences, and that is what I thought about again that evening as my wife and I drove home, the lasting connections that we make through seemingly every day routine situations. It is important that we make and keep these connections, it will serve as a reminder of how truly blessed we are for each day we are given in this life.

 

 

by Frank Maduri

Pope Francis and His Advent Message

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, made comments last week to a group of Swiss Bishops which I found especially insightful and profound. The Pontiff essentially stated, and I am paraphrasing, that the Roman Catholic Church should be about Christ and spreading the Good News rather than operating like just another NGO. The Pope continued by adding that the Church should not bend “to the whims of men”.

 

These comments should not be taken as a slight to the important work done by NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) throughout the world. On the contrary, the comments serve as a reminder that the work of the Church in feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and providing health services to the sick is important work but the ultimate mission of the Catholic Church is to spread the message of Christ to the world. It is in this way, by knowing Christ’s message, that the rest of the world will truly understand the importance of serving others, especially the poor, to the overall benefit of mankind.

 

In addition, the reminder that the spreading of the Good News is of paramount importance is central to the future outlook of the Church as well. The messages that Jesus left to us came with an added responsibility that we represent Him and spread His teachings throughout the world. It is incumbent upon the clergy and the members of the body of the Church to represent Christ to the world, but not in a confrontational manner or a judgmental way. It is important that we represent the core values of Christ’s teachings by being humble and loving one another in spite of any differences between us.

 

The last component of this message serves as a reinforcement that too often the Church, similar to other institutions, gets caught up in conforming to the ways of society instead of the ways of God. Each one of us, myself included, can be prone to the same patterns in our own lives. It is representative of a constant struggle between the messages of what society says is important versus what the Bible and the teachings of Christ teaches as being truly important. It requires a great deal of self-discipline for us to conform to the ways of the Bible, even the Bishops and others in religious life apparently struggle with it, based on the Pope’s comments.

 

The Pope is stressing the imperative focus of helping the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the disenfranchised with humility and with grace. The Advent season serves as a preparation period for the coming of the Messiah to save the world. The Church teaches us to spend time quietly with that purpose in mind as well as thinking of others ahead of yourself.

 

The central issue that arises when we “bend to the whims of men” is that we all tend to think of ourselves ahead of everyone else. We start to prioritize what society feels is important, and not what our faith tells us is truly important. In that scenario, if we bend to the pressures of society, we will be selfish and reserved instead of selfless and open to the needs of others.

 

Humble Prayer

 

Pope Francis had a separate message delivered around that same time to a different audience which I thought was interesting. He was speaking about the season of Advent and the preparation for Catholics for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. In this message, the Holy Father describes theology degrees and knowledge of the faith or sacred Scripture as essentially being meaningless.

 

The Pontiff’s message was that the only way to truly know God is through humble prayer like a child. We see that referenced in the Bible when Jesus basically tells us to humble ourselves and to become like children when we pray. In fact, it was Jesus who preached such a radical concept of calling God the Almighty by the name “Abba” which translates to “Daddy”. That was a radical concept in that time period, and still is for people of other faiths to comprehend. Jesus described the relationship between God and all of us in humanity as that type of closeness that the love of God is like the love of your Daddy. What wonderful news indeed!

 

The concept of humble prayer can become a challenge, and the Pope has discussed that in past homilies and addresses as well. The ways of society and the world can relentlessly beat us down in our adult lives. Some of us also may approach prayer in a very intellectual manner. It is important for us to heed the message of the Pope and from Our Lord in the Gospels, and to embrace that child-like humility in our prayer time.

 

It is also refreshing to know that advanced theological degrees and intensive Biblical study is not necessarily the best way to know God. I would imagine that those elements still certainly play a role in understanding our faith and informing our prayer life through “Lectio Divina”. However the Pope is saying that it is more important to grow your relationship with God through humble and contrite prayer.

 

Advent Call to Action

 

Pope Francis addressed all Catholics with what amounted to an Advent call to action by saying that during this time of waiting and preparation we should: “call to the Lord to ask him to fulfill His plan though us”. This is an intense message and one in which serves as reinforcement for the fact that God has a plan for each one of us. The Pope is reminding us that it is important for us to consistently reach out to the Lord to ensure that we are still on the right path toward the fulfillment of that plan He has for our lives.

 

I think it is human nature that we tend to look for bold, dynamic signs from God, but God acts humbly and usually provides very discreet signs that are smaller in scale. It is critical to remain open to those signs, and that is a definite part of our Advent journey with God. The Pope reminds us that we have all been chosen by God to live a life of holiness and devotion, free of sin.

 

Pope Francis, in his homily at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, spoke about the tendency that many of us possess that compels us to try to do it all, to do too much. Instead, the Holy Father points us in the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and not try to do it all, but “simply be loved by God and transformed by His love” as Our Holy Mother lived.

 

He continued in that same homily to implore us all as we wait and prepare this Advent season to allow ourselves to be receptive to the “embrace of Jesus which gives us faith, hope, and peace”.

 

Now as we approach the last week of Advent and the days before Christmas are quickly dwindling away, the compulsion to “bend to the whims of men” will be very powerful. Our society will prioritize the shopping, gift wrapping, and decorating of trees as being critically important. However, I hope and pray that we all, myself included, take time to prioritize the messages that Pope Francis provided during Advent; that we listen for the call of the Lord. It is my hope that we can hear that call and have the courage and faith to accept His plan for our lives whatever it may hold for us today and in the future.

 

(Frank J. Maduri is a freelance writer with numerous publishing credits across a variety of websites and news organizations. He has previously published articles on the Catholic faith and doctrine. He currently has poetry on the Divine Mercy published in the Advent edition of a national Catholic newsletter.)