Day 2: Immaculate Conception Novena

I would like to invite you throughout these next days to join in a Novena of the Immaculate Conception. Mary is the greatest woman in history. We can find in her the Mother we are most in need of day by day.

"Sanctus Sanctorum" (Holy of Holies)
"Scala Sancta" (Holy Stairs)
Rome, Italy

Only a woman could love our Lord as much as a Mother can. What was the reason that God decided to take on a Mother? Does God heart require a Mother's Love too? How else could he have made it as a man upon this Earth if it were not for a Mother's Love?

"...my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Lk 1:47)

1 Hail Mary + Glory Be for our Moms

Day 1: Novena of the Immaculate Conception

I would like to invite you throughout these next days to join in a Novena of the Immaculate Conception. Mary is the greatest woman in history. We can find in her the Mother we are most in need of day by day.

13th Station - Seminary Chapel
Pontifical College Maria Mater Ecclesiae - Rome

I Just could not understand how people could think that God would not love Women, that if a God existed that women would be second class...I asked, "What kind of God would create himself a Mother?"

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord," (Lk 1:46)

1 Hail Mary + Glory Be for the poor and the forgotten.

14th Station - Seminary Chapel
Pontifical College Maria Mater Ecclesiae - Rome

Learning Fatherhood (7 fine): an Ode to the Prodigal Father

"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.

First there was Love

The Prodigal Father stood waiting for me, his Son, and he would have waited sunset after sunset watching as the sun fell behind the westerly hills...

Sunset view from Seminary

The Death of a son can come about in two ways, through the end of a human life and also through the breaking up of a relationship. Yet Hope can never really die. Can Hope ever really be broken? This Prodigal Son left behind everything for a pocket full of cash and a few ladies which he fancied. And he was gone. 

"Can Hope ever really be broken?"

The Father is a portrayal of both Triune Father and Triune Son. But where could the Holy Spirit have been throughout all of this? He was there when the Prodigal Son "came to his senses" or as other translations say, "came to himself" (Lk 15:17). The Holy Spirit brings us back to ourselves, to our own identities - the greatest of which is as Son or Daughter of a Father who art in Heaven. The "Love", as St. Thomas Aquinas refers to the Holy Spirit (See Summa Theo. I q37 a1), and since Love moves mountains, it moved the Prodigal Son to return to his Father with all His Heart much like the calling for the whole People of Israel. He, as many of us do, memorized by wrote his Act of Contrition: "Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you..."(Lk 15:18,21) to await the Father's reaction.

"Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart"

(Joel 2:12)

How was the Father going to react? Who knows if the debtor will pardon the debt? Is that a mystery for us? No, somewhere deep inside, with a child's intuition, perhaps contrary to our own human father's reactions, this Father always forgives. 

The Prodigal Son
Rembrandt van Rijn

Then came Forgiveness - The Reunion

If forgiveness is poured out, should it have been in vain? Would it not have to have been purchased? Couldn't we just imagine that God had always just been full of mercy? Of course he was. Nonetheless, the Father had paid for his Son's return. The 'hiddenness' of the Father's life doesn't show the part of one who had 'paid' for his Son's return. I'm sure he paid in tears.

"Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered"

(Heb 5:8)

Our Father in Heaven watched his Son offer his life for each and every one of us on a Cross, and that sacrifice he would never consider 'common'. He would consider it as 'special' or rather 'unique' - requiring great merit - and that great merit was shared with us. It is called Redemption. 

'Infinite forgiveness' is another way of saying Redemption. The Son gave his life so that every Son and Daughter would find himself welcome at his Father's home. Now comes the question with the open ending. You know that the parable never really comes to an end. The feast, the angry elder son, the Father-Son speech...What kind of an ending was that?

You give it one.

"Blessed are the Merciful for they shall be shown Mercy" (Mt 5:7)

If we ask forgiveness without learning how to forgive can I really count myself as forgiven? Could I ever really be satisfied with that?

As a future Prodigal Father and Priest I'll be honest, I don't 'tremble before the Confessional', I'm too proud for that. Yet who am I to bridge the abyss between Prodigal Father and Prodigal Son? Blessed are the Merciful for they shall be shown Mercy.

Lord, Have Mercy, I hope I can bring your prodigal sons back to life. 

The End

Learning Fatherhood (6):Eucharistify Me

"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.

I've been learning French. I don't know if I'm the only Korean (and American) living in Italy learning French. In the midst of this curious linguistic scenario one of the most peculiar prayers came to my mind in Italian:

"Eucaristificami"

"Eucharistify Me"

I can't say that I have been saying it very often but some times before the Blessed Sacrament or wherever I find myself uttering these words often, "Lord, make me more like you".

My Community in Thursday Night Eucharistic Hour
LC Center for Higher Studies - Rome, Italy

Really, what else can I say is the purpose of the Priesthood - is there any other goal to which I would like to become? Can there be anything or anyone higher to which I can anspire? Lord, to whom shall we go?

Everyday throughout the afternoon we have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and anyone who would like come down from a study period (some choose study Philosophy or Theology on their knees) to spend time with Our Lord: Way, Truth and Life

  

We discover in the words before the Consecration a formation plan for a seminarian and a religious:

Accepit panem - "He took the Bread": Each Priest is called to become an image of our Lord, Ultimate Spiritual Father and Purpose of our Lives.

Fregit - "He Broke it": In this transformation we are "broken" or sacrificed with our Lord in as much as we grow close to Him in grace seeking out our common "Death on the Cross".

Dedit - "He Gave it": The Apostolic mission imparted on us is one of "gift and mystery". We have received a mystery - Jesus Christ - beyond our human capacities which we would like to "give to many".

 "The Priest and the Sacrifice are One and the Same"

(St. Thomas Aquinas)

Finally, I found inspiring words while reading the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas.

"...also the priest carries the image of Christ in whose person and by whose power he prenounces the words for the consecration..and thus in some way the Priest is [one and] the same as the [Eucharistic] Sacrifice" (III q.83 a.1 ad 3)

 Ad tertium dicendum quod, per eandem rationem, etiam sacerdos gerit imaginem Christi, in cuius persona et virtute verba pronuntiat ad consecrandum, ut ex supra dictis patet. Et ita quodammodo idem est sacerdos et hostia.

Lord,
"Eucaristificami"



Learning Fatherhood (5): Celibacy again.

"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.

Any given Sunday...

...you can find yourself walking as a Priest alongside a homosexual couple, sexually active youth, and parents. In the diversity that you can discover in the world - What is it that a celibate Priest brings into the arena of life?

2. The Purpose of Celibacy

Beyond the question of the "Rich Young Man" we discover another very sincere question: 

"What must I do to live Chastity today?:

It takes a lot and very little. First it takes Grace. Without it there is no purpose to begin with. It was only by grace that we discovered our calling. Second comes Desire.Without a desire to live Celibacy how could it possibly take root? But Why should I desire to be celibate? 

St. Paul speaks about the need to search out the things that are above, namely that of God's will:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. (Col 3:1)

If Our Lord spoke of marriage as something pertaining only to this world (Cf. Lk 20) then it is a calling to seek that which is beyond. But what is this "beyond" if we're seek to fulfill our desires? On the other hand not everyone is called to it as Jesus says, "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Mt 19:12). Paradoxically below we discover the same Pauline admonition but the other way around in Ecclesiasticus:

Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious. (Sir 3:22)

The treasure lies deep, very deep. Celibacy is a gift and mystery - a vocation. This calling launches the called to "launch into the deep" (Lk 5) and trust completely in God's Mercy and Providence yet to launch out requires a discernment to discover the call to celibacy. 

Celibacy (as life is) is a risk taken. There is no guarantee to live it out perfectly. We can only go into "the deep" trusting in the Mercy of God and seeking to do our best. In the Christian Life there are so many instances where we can also "walk on water". The Earth does not seem to be so firm - we don't feel all that secure - who's to say that the Apostles ever felt perfect? To that Jesus shouts, "Be not Afraid!"

Spanish seminarians between classes

The Beautiful and Celibacy

"Beauty so old yet so youthful, how late I have loved you" (St. Augustine, Confessions)

We naturally seek out the beautiful. If we don't it's because something is not right with us psychologically. It means that we are 'perverse' or 'perverted'. Each and every one of us has to make an effort to embrace the beautiful which transcends the where and the when of this Earth, to embrace the Divine and all his things. This is a life journey of the "pure of heart...who shall see God" (cf. Mt 5).

So what exactly does a Celibate Priest bring to the table? A Big Pure Heart Open to God. In the case of a homosexual couple, a sexually active college student, and married couple fighting to keep their marriage afloat a Celibate Priest can be a "Father" that  is hard to find in this Fatherless world. "To whom shall we go?" (cf. Jn 6:68)

Can I be Celibate and Happy? Yes. In the end it depends on God more than on me. On the other hand God is depending on me too. How can I respond? Seek out the treasure. How can I find it? the narrow gate. 

David Henrie with seminarians

Five Thoughts on the Priestly-Celibate Life: 

1. A Grand Devotion to Mary: The First Woman of our Lives
2. Learning to have good and healthy relationships with others - especially within the Priesthood.
3. Finding the special place or identity of "Spiritual Fatherhood" in the lives of those around you.
4. Thoroughly examining the relationships in place and purifying any sort of desire: "what's in it for me?".
5. Get to know the Female Genius, insist that women conserve it to live out a rich Spiritual Motherhood as their way of bringing souls to Our Lord.

Learning Fatherhood (4): Can I be Celibate...and Happy?

"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.

Isn't Celibacy a train-wreck waiting to happen? Take a young guy - sometimes good looking - and restrict him from a life without a life companion...and the "goods" of holy matrimony?...Aren't we being a bit immature, platonic...too much wishful thinking here? Hasn't past experience shown us that celibacy is - to say it realistically,"IMPOSSIBLE" ?

My answer to the question "Can I be Celibate and Happy?" is simple

"Yes"

and this is why:

To narrow down celibacy to "not having sex" would be to narrow down marriage to "having sex". This sad 'narrowing' of celibacy is perhaps significant in one of the ways  society is paralyzed - an immense sexual immaturity.

On the otherhand to narrow down the 'celibacy' question to just a question about maturity would also be immature. What can it then be narrowed down to? Perhaps it shouldn't be 'narrowed down'. Maybe we should widen our horizons to something big, grandiose - spacious and more expansive. 

To answer this question with some depth we have to answer two more questions: 

1. What does "celibacy" mean? What is its purpose?
2. What does it mean to be Happy?

1. The Meaning of Celibacy 

"Celibacy" according to the dictionary merely comes down to us from the latin "caelibatus" for "bachelor" or "widower". Doesn't this go exactly against what Pope Francis said about the identity of Religious and Priests? Aren't they supposed to avoid being "Confirmed Bachelors"?

In a mysterious context Jesus mentions that there are three kinds of "eunuchs" (cf. Mt 19:11-12) - castrated men usually used as slave-servants so as to keep noble lines pure of any slave blood. Jesus mentions that there are those "from birth", those who have been placed at the service of men (primary definition), and finally "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake". 

Castration is ugly - really ugly. It seems like we've gone from bad to worse. Hasn't Jesus just said that in his religion there will be those "castrated"..."for the Kingdom of Heaven?"

The reading of the Gospel must be accompanied by the life of Our Lord. We infer through other readings such as the one about "plucking eyes out" (cf. Mt 5:29 which he mentions in the context of lustful glances) that despite the fact He worked copious miracles he never actually punished people (such as the 'adulterous woman' - cf. Jn 8) by "plucking out eyes" or "removing limbs". In fact, Jesus forgave, and that, uncommonly. The reading of the call to chastity by Jesus is one that is not 'literal' but 'figurative' but yet real because He lived it himself. 

Jesus was and is celibate. His Mother and Father were celibate. Voilá the first genetic mystery in the history of mankind (After Adam and Eve...how exactly they procreated the human race...let the Biologists figure it out...). This celibate Holy Family marks something - not vaguely different - but the biologically impossible. In the final analysis, we have to ask "Why did Jesus live celibacy?" (and connected to it "Why did the members of his family live celibacy?"). I think I have one answer:  

To be celibate means to live "Heavenbound".

Baptizing a new etymology - I would like to propose a grammatically incorrect etymology. "Celibate" (which comes from "caelibatus" in Latin) we could fictionally but yet meaningfully say comes from "caelum" + "batus" or "Heaven bath". It's incorrect but better suited for the intended meaning of "celibate" than caelibis meaning "Confirmed Bachelor". To be "celibate" should mean for us (the Christian sense) to be "bound for Heaven" or "Heavenbound" to be "born from above" (cf. Jn 3). To be bathed with the waters of baptism and yet transcend those same waters in and through grace. Fulton Sheen speaks about Celibacy as if it were as "travelling with a jet plane". The design of celibacy  in the Chrisitian world is the same as the one Jesus speaks of in the Next Life: "those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage" (Lk 20; Cf. also Mt 22; Mk 12). In celibacy we dare to take on the same design of life in Heaven - yet on Earth.

Priest Praying the Rosary

But it's not enough to want to get to Heaven to be celibate. Celibacy is tough. The 'Cross factor' is no doubt present (ask the writer - he can attest). Celibacy is by definition a project towards Heaven requiring great assistance. It is NOT just a Personal Effort. Jesus recommends that "those who can receive it do so" (cf. Mt 19:12). It is a particular calling and the grace to live it out is a gift - charism.

to be Continued...

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