Learning Fatherhood (3): Francis and Fatherhood

"Learning Fatherhood" are reflections on Spiritual Fatherhood. They are not mature reflections on the theme and may be considered more "experiences" and meditations through which we come to Spiritual Fatherhood in the Priesthood. As a seminarian I know that this will be the identity and challenge I am called to take on especially in these last years of priestly formation.

Each Pope has a personal ‘style’ through which He proclaims the Gospel. John Paul was, according to Navy Seal Marcus Lutrell, a.k.a. “Lone Survivor”, what could have been “the best Navy Seal” in history. Each person has an interesting viewpoint from which he sees each Pope. A Papal Photographer, once speaking to me about Pope Benedict, called him, “The Theologian Pope” (Papa Teologo). About Francis a friend from New York calls him, "Pope Squishy", since she's dying to give him a hug. Now, If Francis were to ask me:
 

“Who do you say that I am?”

I would respond:

“A Spiritual Father.”



Corpus Christi Procession in Rome - May 5, 2013.

Pope Francis decides to walk with the rest of the procession

instead of boarding the Eucharistic Pope Mobile

 

When Civiltà Cattolica interviewed (click here for PDF) Francis in August I wondered how he would respond to the question: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” He answered with a plain but forthright answer: “a sinner…”. You immediately see a man that does not give into a P.C. environment and thus will be willing to proclaim the Gospel wherever and whenever possible. The Jesuit Francis is a proud and faithful religious. He doesn’t shirk from the fact that he has a vocation within a religious order which to many eyes has become a center of confusion and disorder since Vatican II. To this exaggeration by many Catholics and Non he brings a clear response about the Jesuits - not so much to reform - but to make us think, “wait a minute there...are you sure you are judging [the Jesuits] rightly?” He is someone who is sure of himself - convinced, not because he is proud - but because his trust and discernment are humble and in the Lord. In Pope Francis' Heart is a capacity to “go into the harvest fields” sent by the “Lord of the harvest” (Cf. Mt 9:38) and bring in the marginalized, impoverished, and hurting. The Church, he says, is “a field hospital”. There are those who are hurt beyond a cold and cough, we’re here to do emergency surgery and try to save the unimaginably wrecked. This is a man with a magnanimous heart - no one is 'too little' to be loved by him. Just a month before his Interview the world watched his Fiat Punto on the streets of Rio de Janeiro get swamped by waves of pilgrims (I almost wanted to send my condolences to the security personnel). For Pope Francis World Youth Day was a “mystery”. He says:

“I am able to see single persons - one at a time -
to  personally encounter the person before me.
I’m not used to the masses...”

There are, I believe three main “Trinitarian” characteristics to his teaching and living of Spiritual Fatherhood, these are according to me:

1) A Father with a Heart of Mercy

At the heart of this Jesuit is a Heart of Mercy.In his first Angelus message he said time and time again (accidently endorsing Cardinal Kasper’s book on Mercy): “We get tired of asking for forgiveness, but God never tires of forgiving” (Angelus, 17 March 2013). The Gospel of the 30th week of Ordinary time (C) reminds us of the “two men that went up to the Temple to pray”, the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Cf. Lk 18:9-14). In today’s media saturated context perhaps all we hear is: “The Pope doesn’t care about abortion - he only cares about preaching about Christ...”. This is false. For this Father what matters is that both the unborn as well as the woman who has committed abortion are respected and loved and thus FORGIVEN through God's Mercy. For Francis, no one - NO ONE - is outside the possibility of God’s forgiveness. We just have to reach for it.

 

In this way he imitates the “Prodigal Father” in search of the “Prodigal Son” or the “Lost Sheep” - a list of souls in which he includes himself. He does not pretend to be above - just a prophet in search of bringing “sight to the blind” (Cf. Mt 11:5).

2) A Father of Youth - Shepherd of Souls

In this “faithless generation”(Cf. Mk 9:19) - thus “blind”- we need a shepherd. This is what Francis sees as his mission. In taking up the “Keys” of Peter he has decidedly become “Father of Nations” (Cf. Gn 17:5). This is what we most clearly see as “Spiritual Fatherhood”- Fathering Souls, or “Giving Birth to Souls” as a Father. This mission is pluriform and diverse in nature, and the stakes are high.

 

Above all The Jesuit requires that we - speaking of Religious - must “give fruit”. In the Interview he mentions that “the Vow of Chastity should be a life-giving vow (of fecundity)”, therefore a religious cannot become a “Confirmed Bachelor”(scapolone) or a “Spinster”(zitella). A missionary Church (and for Francis life is equal to mission) we cannot sit back and be sterile. This is what it means to Build the Kingdom of Christ!

Finally, I would like to make reference to specifically priestly aspect of Spiritual Fatherhood: The Eucharist. There is no doubt that all people are called to find their spiritual energies in Jesus Christ 'sacramented' but the specific nature of the Priest’s celebration is diverse than that of the faithful. A contemporary psychologist has said that in celebrating the Mass a Priest “Fathers” the Eucharist as does a biological Father his child. The Mass transcends the birth of a child but the effect that it can have is profound. To kneel before the “effect” (obviously Jesus is Creator), therefore become “cause” of the Creator is profound. Too profound!

 

Benediction during Corpus Christi

3) A Father of Discernment - Life in the Spirit

There is one last aspect of Pope Francis’ Spiritual Fatherhood which is particularly ‘Jesuit’, that of discernment. “Discernment” is a forgotten word because in general, ideas are already “decided”. The standards which the World and its Followers present are somewhat ‘set in stone’.The World declares “Do whatever you want” while we ask “What should I want?”. This is not a question the World can answer, because curiously to believe and love is to transcend this World.

 

At one level for Francis it is “to do the some things of each day with a big and open heart to God and others”. On the other hand it can be to govern a Church, but to “see God in all things”.

Guiding souls is tricky business. It is not, not, not easy! (Here I have imitated the Pope’s intense repetitive style). Who can discern hearts? Who can bring them to God? This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Faith guides us to hope not just be “optimist” and bring about a holy change - with patience - in time. God knows best and in prayerful discernment - not in hurried and primary decisions - we can help souls to “grow” and “bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16). This is an imperative in every person’s heart, one that cannot happen without love.

Homily during Corpus Christi

Conclusion

       Every Christian is called to a Spiritual Fatherhood and Spiritual Motherhood within the Church. EVERY CHRISTIAN. This is not just a calling from without but from within. As in birth a child may cry, thus a Christian never stops crying until he gives birth to a soul. Spiritual Fatherhood and Motherhood are true dimensions within the Universal Call to Holiness. ‘Parenting’ necessitates a desire to thrive. Failures are inevitable but thus we prove that we are always spiritual infants, in need of the Eternal Father’s Mercy.

   

    As a future priest a long to be an ever better Spiritual Father. I know my place now is in the seminary - quiet, prayerful, and studious. God knows where and when these three dimensions of spiritual fatherhood will most apply. I trust in his grace since “his grace is enough for me” (Cf. 2 Cor 12:9) .

 

 

Brother John

jchoi@legionaries.org

Learning Fatherhood (Part 2): Fr. Álvaro Corcuera LC, a Tribute in the Year of the Faith

"Learning How to become a Father" are reflections on Spiritual Fatherhood. They are not mature reflections on the theme and may be considered more "experiences" and meditations through which we come to Spiritual Fatherhood in the Priesthood. As a seminarian I know that this will be the identity and challenge I am called to take on especially in these last years of priestly formation.

(Spanish Version - 19 October 2013)

http://quovadisroma.blogspot.com/2013/10/padre-alvaro-un-tributo-en-el-ano-de-la.html)

Fr. Álvaro Corcuera LC

 

We have had the privilege of having in the past few days - someone we have simply called «Father Álvaro». It’s been almost a year since we received the sad news of his diagnosis – brain cancer – I imagine he received the news not much earlier than we did. Providentially, at the beginning of the Year of Faith (11 October 2012), he had resigned his commission as General Director due to health issues.

The Year of Faith is going by quickly and soon enough it will come to its terminus. Within this context I would like to offer a few words of thanks for this brother, friend, companion but above all, Father.

My intention is not to do a history lesson about the past years – years which in some ways have been “overcome” – but to remember this Father’s role in the midst of something we could call nothing less than a “nightmare”. I remember very clearly receiving the sad news about our Founder almost five years go. The facts are saddening and I doubt any one wants to return to them. We realized that the beautiful and great tree of the Church had grown a rotten branch and some of us grew to think that nothing from that branch could grow “good fruit…fruit that would last”. Nevertheless, seeing within it the betrayal of a “father”, another Father stood up to take up the reins and – probably without knowing it – become a victim of expiation. Fr. Álvaro.

Receiving applause in the Dining Room

Legion of Christ Center for Higher Studies – Rome

The Book of Genesis tells that Abraham was a man without a family. His wife was sterile. When God revealed to him that he would have a large family – a family so numerous that only the stars in the night sky and the grains of sand along the shore could compare – the Bible recounts that Abraham did the counterintuitive: “Abraham Believed” (Gen 15:6). In this moment the History of Salvation saw another branch appear. The People of Faith, the People of God took their first baby steps. The Bible speaks of other moments of the paradoxical nature of our faith. The faith of Moses and that of David are telling. Moses, an exiled stutterer went to encounter, Pharaoh - the King of Kings of his time – to redeem his people. David, the young shepherd “pleasing to the sight” (handsome) faced the giant Goliath with five stones. Each of these characters asked the same question “Lord, what are you going to give me?” (See Gen 15, Exodus 3, 1 Sam 17). Each of them, in their own way, asks about the recompense to be had.

The “in the beginning” of the New Testament begins this time with the faith of a woman, that of Mary. “Let it be done to me according to your Word – Fiat” (Luke 1). This was the road through whom we received the Light of the World, Jesus Christ and with him New Life. He revealed – ‘unveiled’ – a whole new panorama of God - a God merciful and loving that “thirsts” to forgive and accompany us so much so that he becomes one among us just as He is with his Father. He said, “Remain in me and I in you” (Jn 15). And those who “remain” with him live-with Him and with a hope, an absolute and indestructible trust. The grace that comes down from God is capable of making of each of us a part of the vine and the branches (Jn 15) of our Lord. There is no doubt that His “Father is the vinedresser” and prunes his vineyard, clearing off the excess – all to make it grow bigger, more healthy and more beautiful - and in this way God can take our littleness and make it Great.

It’s beautiful to speak of the spiritual life and contemplate the greatness of God – what God’s able to do with the little that we are. On the other hand, this same God that forgives (with no limits) and loves, also prunes and cleans us – so much so that his own Son learned to obey “in suffering” (Heb 5:8) - the Cross. The Dark Night through which the Regnum Christi Movement went through was our Cross. These have been, and still are mysterious times. Only God understands and can explain the happenings step-by-step and throughout this purification so as to “give more fruit” there is a communion of Fathers, Brothers, Consecrated Men and Women, and Lay People that believe in God and therefore also in his Church, the Movement and the Legion. But from this multitude one stands out. One that doesn’t pretend to be perfect but desires to be just one among many. One without whom the Legion and the Movement would have been lacking very much. His was to believe firmly that “all things come together for the good of those who love God” especially for those “that have been called according to his plan” (Rom 8:28). We could hypothesize what God’s plan is for Fr. Álvaro.

I don’t really have a judgment. Jesus and his Vicar canonize people – I do not. I don’t have any delusions that he is perfect. I have no doubts that – as all of us do – he feels guilt, shame and failure from the past. Nevertheless, if it wasn’t around many of us would feel that someone were missing in our lives. When this Father said “yes” – whether his children liked it or not – this fiat has been the paradoxical hope, “to hope against all hope”(Rom. 4:18) and because of this hope we are here. Our Lord said that having done what we committed ourselves to do that “we should call ourselves ‘useless servants’” (Luke 17). Though many may call Him “useless” judging him for the worst – I believe that it is not for history nor for anyone to judge a human person – but for God alone.

When “the Word of the Lord was rare in those days and visions were not frequent” (1 Sam 3) there was someone who believed and changed designs that seemed impossible. Today I give a tender and filial thanks on my behalf as friend, brother, and son to Father Álvaro. I know that he returns to the US for chemotherapy treatment. Let’s accompany him. He’s not alone. I know that it’s not probable that he will be present at my Priestly Ordination nevertheless, I would like to invite you, Padre Álvaro, to accompany me for my First Mass. I ask that you accompany me and guide me step-by-step as I ascend the steps of the Altar and that you firmly hold my hand.

 

Brother John
jchoi@legionaries.org
 

Learning How to become a Father (Part 1): Losing Dad on a First Friday

"Learning How to become a Father" are reflections on Spiritual Fatherhood. They are not mature reflections on the theme and may be considered more "experiences" and meditations through which we come to Spiritual Fatherhood in the Priesthood. As a seminarian I know that this will be the identity and challenge I am called to take on especially in these last years of priestly formation.

 

 

The Prodigal Son

 

 

Almost 10 years have past since my father's passing. I received the call on a First Friday, day dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord. It was my brother, Andrew. We hadn't talked in a year. The conversation was simple - we became timid as I began to intuit that something was wrong - he got to the point. For me that moment continues to stop time dead in its tracks.

"I think Dad died."



I can't remember another moment in my life where I felt my heart skip a beat - just one beat - but it skipped. Next, I got what details I could from Andrew and I promised I would be back in Atlanta as soon as I could. The pragmatic mover and shaker side of me took over and I forgot to wonder what had just happened - just, how can I make it home as soon as posible?. In prayer I searched out a meaningful passage that I had just recently read.

"...he went up on the mountain by himself to pray...During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them...[Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” (Mt 14:22-27)

I didn't sleep. I froze. I felt an immense loneliness. Morning came and I was dizzy after having had a fitful night. Opening the Bible to the passage I began my morning prayer. I read it but I didn't recognize the text. I wondered what was going on. I read it a second time and it read:

"He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him." (Mt 4:21-22)

I had been so tired I had mistaken Matthew 14 with Matthew 4. The fact dawned on me during mental prayer:


 "they left their boat and their father and followed Him"

I wept. The bells rang. I woke up. Your Father is no longer. Then a certainty came over me as a wave over the waters. You have a Father [God] in Heaven. I wept of hurt and lost love. There could be no better summing up of losing a father than what a kind Irish lady by my side had to say on the return trip:

"Losing a parent is as losing half your heart".





The next days went by in a flurry. Flights...Funeral home...Prayer...Greetings...I don't remember too much from these days but I can say that I went away different. Despite the hurt and the pain I was able to carry a smile all the while. I carried a secret in my heart: I have a Father in Heaven...and He Loves me.

I was purchasing a bottle of water at the airport when the cashier handed me my change. She looked up and stared. I didn't realize what I had been doing. It was then she paid me one of the most beautiful complements I had ever received: "You have a beautiful Smile". I reeled. I thought, "right here, right now? After everything I'm going through?" But the fact remains,

"Those who believe are never alone – neither in life nor in death."

Joseph Card. Ratzinger - Funeral Homily JPII

Lesson 1- First step of Spiritual Fatherhood is to discover that you have a Father in Heaven above and beyond the Father here on Earth. Only then can we begin understand the role we are called to as Spiritual Fathers for souls.

Padre Álvaro - Un Tributo en el Año de la Fe

Durante los últimos días hemos tenido entre nosotros alguien conocido entre nosotros simplemente como «Padre Álvaro». Hace ya casi un año recibimos juntos el diagnóstico diagnóstico grave que tenía cancro cerebral (Imagino que recibimos la noticia poco más tarde que él). El había - prácticamente - renunciado su encargo providencialmente el día del inicio del Año de la Fe, 11 de octubre de 2012.

El Año de la Fe se nos va pasando y dentro de poco terminará. En este mismo marco quisiera ofrecer palabras de agradecimiento por este hermano, amigo, compañero pero sobre todo «Padre».

Aunque mi intención no es ser histórico contando los sucesos pasados (y en algunas estancias - superados) me acuerdo hace casi cinco años el haber recibido la fea noticia sobre nuestro Fundador Marcial Maciel. Los hechos son tristes. Muy amargos y nadie quiere recordarles de cerca. Cuando figuraba la pesadilla que había un ramo podrido en el gran árbol de la Iglesia era en ese instante casi imposible para algunos imaginar que ese ramo podría producir «fruto bueno, fruto que perdura» para años y siglos. Sin embargo cuando humanamente la pesadilla no podría hacerse peor viéndose en ella las traiciones de un supuesto «padre» un otro Padre que se levantó para tomar las riendas y probablemente sin saberlo - ofrecerse como víctima expiatorio. Me refiero al P. Álvaro.

 

P. Álvaro Corcuera LC

 

Génesis narra que Abrahán era una persona sin familia. Su mujer era estéril. Al revelarle Dios que iba a tener una familia numerosa que sólo los astros de los cielos y la arena de la playa podían expresarla hizo Abrahán lo que cuenta en dos palabras la Biblia, «Abrahán Creó» (Gen 15,6). En este momento la Historia de la Salvación vio otro ramo aparecer. Comenzó un pueblo de la fe, Un Pueblo de Dios. Habla la Biblia en otros momentos de la contrariedad o realidad paradoxal de la fe. La fe de Moisés y la de David son emblemáticas. Moisés, un tartamudo exiliado fue al encontrar el Rey de reyes de ese entonces para redimir su pueblo. David, pastorcillo con nada más que cinco piedrecitas fue al encuentro con el gigante Goliat. Sin embargo los tres personajes del Antiguo Testamento hacen a un punto u otro la misma pregunta: «¿Qué me vas a dar?» (Cf. Gen. 15; Exo. 3; 1 Sam 17). Y ¿por qué no, no merecemos algo de nuestros esfuerzos?

El «En el principio» del Nuevo Testamento comienza esta vez con la fe de una mujer, la de María. «Hágase en mí según tu palabra – Fiat» (Lucas 1). Y de este modo recibimos la Luz del Mundo, Jesucristo y en él una nueva vida. Él nos reveló – como que desveló - toda una nueva panorámica de Dios. Dios misericordioso y amante que «tiene sed» de perdonar y acompañarnos, tanto es así que quiere «ser uno» con nosotros como es con Dios Padre. Misterio Insondable. «Quédate en mí y yo en tí» (Juan 15), decía El. Y los que se quedan con el conviven con la esperanza de una confianza absoluta e indestructible. La gracia que baja desde Dios es capaz de hacer de cada uno -una parte integrante de la viña del Señor. No hay duda que «el Padre poda», limpia y nos hace crecer más sin embargo, somos uno con Dios. Los grandes profetas del Antiguo Testamento se hacen chicos ante este acontecer. Ya cada uno es uno con el árbol más grande, fecundo y hermoso. Dios hace de nuestra poquedad – una grandeza.  
 

Recibe aplauso en el comedor del

Centro de Estudios Superiores en Roma 

Es hermoso hablar de vida espiritual y contemplar lo grande que es Dios (y lo grande que nos puede hacer de nuestra pequeñez). Sin embargo, el mismo Dios Padre que nos perdona y quiere, nos poda y limpia. Tanto es así que su propio hijo aprendió a obedecer «con sufrimiento» (Heb 5,8). La Cruz. La Noche Oscura por la que pasó el Movimiento durante los momentos más pesados era Nuestra Cruz. Eran y son tiempos misteriosos. Sólo Dios comprende y puede explicar los sucesos paso por paso. Y durante esta limpia donde Dios poda «para que diese más fruto» (Jn 15) hay un cuerpo de padres y hermanos que creen en Dios y consecuentemente en su Iglesia, el Movimiento y la Legión. Entre la multitud sobresale uno que no pretende ser perfecto sino uno entre muchos. Uno sin el cual seguramente la Legión y Regnum Christi hubiera faltado mucho. Lo suyo era creer firmemente que «todas las cosas interviene Dios para bien de los que le aman» especialmente para los «que han sido llamados según su designio» (Rom 8,28). Podemos hipotetizar el designio de Dios para el P. Álvaro. No tengo juicio ninguno. Jesucristo y su Vicario canonizan personas – no yo. No tengo ilusiones que es un hombre sin fallo ninguno, sin mirar hacia atrás con vergüenza alguna. Sin embargo si no fuera por El muchos de nosotros hubiéramos faltado a alguien importante en nuestras vidas. Cuando un padre nos dejaba otro dijo «Sí» quiéranlo o no sus hijos. Este sí, este fiat de parte del P. Álvaro, ha sido el esperar paradoxal – un «esperar contra toda esperanza» (Rom 4,18). Y por esta fe estamos.

Nuestro Señor hablaba de que terminando de haber hecho lo que prometimos hacer «nos debemos de llamar “siervos inútiles”» (Lucas 17). Aunque muchos lo llaman «inútil» juzgándole por lo peor creo yo que no es ni para la historia ni nadie a juzgar a una persona sino Dios.

Cuando «La palabra del Señor era rara en aquellos días, y la visión no era frecuente» (1 Sam 3) había sí alguien que creía y cambió un designio que parecía imposible. Le doy un agradecimiento cordial y filial de parte de un amigo, hermano, e hijo al Padre Álvaro. Sé que vuelve a los tratamientos de quimioterapia el lunes que viene. Le acompañaremos. No está solo. Sé que es poco posible tenerle presente para mi ordenación sacerdotal. Sin embargo le invito, P. Álvaro, a acompañarme para mi cantamisa. Le pido que me acompañe y me guíe paso a paso al ascender los grados del altar y tenerle al lado con mano firme.

 



 

Book Review: UNDAUNTED COURAGE - the case of Meriwether Lewis

William Ahrendt's Meriwether Lewis, First View of the RockiesFound in http://www.williamahrendt.com/portfolio.php

I just finished an interesting read about one of our nation's least known heros, Meriwether Lewis. The book is entitled with Thomas Jefferson's unforgettable eulogy about the explorer extraordinaire. If you think a camping trip in a state park can be rustic think about crossing North America (literally coast-to-coast) and coming back! 

But one question - Why did he end up Commiting Suicide?

If a man was capable of crossing our nation - without the help of any locomotive - and come back! why wasn't he capable of the life-after-voyage?

My two-cent perspective goes like this: 

You can't live your Life Journey thinking that Journey's End, Your Life's Purpose, is HERE on Earth. We can only pray: "Thy Will be Done...On Earth as it is in Heaven...only in heaven do we have our answer. 

Heaven is our Journey's End

and Nothing on Earth can take its place.

Stephen Ambrose, authored the book in 1996. There is no doubt that it can be considered one of his best works. To think of what virgin America would have looked like. The descriptions of Lewis and Clarks' crossing of the Rockies, their hunting expeditions, etc. If you like adventure - this book is for you (or would make a good Christmas present)

Ambrose boasts a precise account having utilized all the available resources. It is as several of his other pieces have been, a dry read. I have noted this in other works of his but in this case I think it would follow Lewis' portrayal of events since - as amply quoted in Amrose's book - Lewis also writes in a very dry. The descriptions despite their accuracy can at times be, again, dry.

Meriwether Lewis
William Peale
http://commons.wikimedia.org

I finish off with Jefferson's unforgettable eulogy. One long - Presidentially Long - Run-on sentence:

“Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, careful as a father of those committed to his charge, yet steady in the maintenance of order and discipline, intimate with the Indian character, customs, and principles; habituated to the hunting life, guarded by exact observation of the vegetables and animals of his own country against losing time in the description of objects already possessed; honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding, and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves – with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him. To fill up the measure desired, he wanted nothing but a greater familiarity with the technical language of the natural sciences, and readiness in the astronomical observations necessary for the geography of his route. To acquire these he repaired immediately to Philadelphia, and placed himself under the tutorage of the distinguished professors of that place.” 

(Thomas Jefferson)