Fifteen years a priest:
Fifteen reasons to give thanks

		Notes from the  Vicar General  Msgr. Paul J. Swain

This week we celebrate the ordination to the priesthood of three men. Ordinations always bring back memories for priests, as I suspect weddings do for married couples.

Each of the new priests is a so-called "second career" vocation. They responded to God's call later in life, after having pursued a career in the secular world.

Next week I will celebrate the 15th anniversary of my ordination. I too am a "second career" vocation, having been a civil attorney and government official.

Starting out later in life, each day as priest has special meaning. Each anniversary is worthy of a special prayer of thanksgiving.

The priesthood is a gift from God, to serve Christ's church. That comforting truth allows anniversary reflections to be ones of joy for what I have received, and trust that, despite the difficult days we experience, the future is hope-filled because it is in His hands.

On my 15th anniversary of ordination, there are at least 15 reasons to thank God:

• The Holy Eucharist. Recently many young people received their first communion at the ages of seven or eight. How excited they were. I received my first communion at the age of 38. May they, or I, never take for granted the gift of Christ himself.

• The privilege to preside at Mass. Sometimes I stand at the altar, awed by the moment. If priests are not careful and prayerful, celebration of Mass can become routine, or merely a timeslot on the busy schedule.

• The daily Mass saints. They have borne patiently a lot of priests over the years. Their deep faith, despite the burdens they bear and the history they have experienced, inspire and humble us.

• Forgiveness through the Church. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross has given you, and me, another chance, How humbling it is to personally experience forgiveness, and be present when another reconciles with God, knows that forgiveness is real, and begins anew.

• Bishops of Madison. Bishop O'Donnell took a chance on a late bloomer at a time when not all bishops would. Bishop Wirz invited me to diocesan office and always offers encouragement. Bishop Bullock, a man of prayer, has taught me so much by word and example, and honored me with diocesan office and responsibility.

• Pope John Paul II. This impressive man of great intellect, great faith, and great love continues to generate warm response, especially from the young despite his age and aches, because he is an optimist who truly believes we can become who God created us to be.

• My brother priests. We are a diverse lot, personally and theologically, yet we share the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. The support, encouragement, and patient endurance of priests over these years have lifted my spirit on days of doubt.

• Tradition. With sound bite slogans the stuff of public discourse, the Scriptural roots and writings of the Church fathers and theologians over the centuries bring perspective and reassurance in a culture that rejects, ridicules, or ignores Christian values.

• The rituals and writings of the church. The sanctioned rituals, devotions, and spiritual writings are treasures that engage our senses in worship and prayer. May my personal whim never weaken their impact or trivialize the message.

• The social teachings of the church. In a world of rapid change and emphasis on self, these teachings remind us to respect every person from conception to natural death, and of our responsibility for one another, especially the poor and vulnerable.

• The support of Catholic faithful. Their encouragement in time of shortage and scandal has been especially appreciated. Some of us have let them down, yet they continue to show us their love and respect. May we respect them by not using our position for personal gain or acclamation.

• Diocesan and parish staffs. These unsung heroes, religious and lay, are present to people in ways we priests cannot. They deserve appreciation, job protection, and just wages for responding to God's call in their lives.

• Young people and young adults. They offer hope for the future and challenge us to be sure we offer the Gospel according to Christ, not according to us.

• Volunteers. Those who selflessly give of their time and talent in so many ministries, in the midst of demands of family and work, bring renewal and life to the church.

• Our Lord Jesus Christ. As St. Paul put it, He found me worthy enough to call me into his service. Priesthood is a life that fulfills beyond my imaginings. May more of every age respond to the call of Christ to serve him as priest.

Fifteen years of priesthood, 15 notes of gratitude. May the years continue to number, and the gratitude never cease.

Theology of Mary:
Provides 'profile' of Church of discipleship

		The Catholic  Difference  George Weigel

Every year at Christmas time, the pope meets with the senior officials of the Roman Curia for a review of the year just past and a look into the year ahead; wags would say it's the closest thing the Vatican gets to an office Christmas party.

Three days before Christmas, 1987, Pope John Paul II surprised more than a few of those present by skipping the year-in-review and proposed a different way of looking at the Church than Roman ears are accustomed to hearing.

The great Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar had suggested that four biblical images of the Church, based on four great New Testament figures, shape and reshape the Church in every age.

• The Church of evangelization is formed in the image of Paul, apostle to the gentiles.

• The Church of contemplative prayer is formed in the image of the apostle John, who rested his head on the Lord's breast at the Last Supper.

• The Church of office and jurisdiction is formed in the image of Peter, to whom the Lord consigned the keys of the Kingdom.

• And then there is the Church of discipleship, formed in the image of Mary, whose "be it done unto me according to your word" was, in a sense, the very beginning of Christian discipleship.

Marian profile

Speaking to representatives of the "Petrine Church," who not infrequently think themselves the center of the Catholic world, John Paul suggested that the "Marian profile" in the Church is the most fundamental of Christian realities. Mary, the pope said, was the first disciple, whose "yes" made possible the incarnation of God's son. The incarnation was "extended" in history through the Church, which is the mystical body of Christ.

Mary's bodily assumption into heaven prefigures the glorification of all those who will be saved. Thus, John Paul taught, Mary provides a "profile" of what the Church is, of how the people of the Church should live, and of what that redeemed people's destiny is.

The pope then gave the screw another gentle twist. The "Marian profile" in the Church, the pope said, is even "more . . . fundamental" than the "Petrine profile." The two cannot be divided. But the Church formed in the image of Mary - the Church of disciples - preceded and made possible the Church formed in the image of Peter - the Church embodied by the distinguished churchmen present at the pope's address.

Indeed, the "Marian Church" made sense out of the "Petrine Church," for, as the pope insisted, office and jurisdiction in the Church exist only "to form the Church in line with the ideal of sanctity already programmed and prefigured in Mary."

The Church formed in Peter's image and the Church formed in Mary's image complement each other. But, the pope insisted, "the Marian profile is . . . pre-eminent," and is certainly richer in meaning for every Christian's vocation.

Serving sanctity

The message was unmistakable. Authority in the Church serves discipleship. The power of the keys serves sanctity. Here was a richly textured theology of Mary chipping away at some old-fashioned assumptions about the centrality of the Church-as-institution - and at the very epicenter of institutional Catholicism.

The pope concluded by quoting Hans Urs von Balthasar approvingly: "A contemporary theologian has well commented: 'Mary is "Queen of the Apostles" without any pretensions to apostolic power; she has other and greater powers.'"

Like John Paul's theology of the body, John Paul's Mariology, his theology of Mary - is a theological explosive with a long fuse. When it detonates in the Church at some point in the next few decades, the results will be, quite possibly, revolutionary.

Ecumenical key

How many of today's seemingly endless quarrels - over who's-in-charge, over the role of women in the Church, over the relationship between the ordained priesthood and the priestly gifts of all the baptized - would be put on a much different footing if the Church plumbed the depths of its "Marian profile" as described by John Paul II and Hans Urs von Balthasar?

And might such a reflection, carried out with other Christian communities, transform Mary from ecumenical roadblock to ecumenical "key," with both Protestants and Orthodox?

Points to ponder during this Marian month of May, as we reflect on Mary, first of disciples and Mother of the Church.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

War dead: Never to be forgotten

By John J. O'Brien

Editor's note: This reflection was written on March 27, 2003, seven days after the war in Iraq started.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A cold rain and driving wind blows across the Potomac River into Arlington National Cemetery.

Among the seemingly endless rows of white tablets, graves are being prepared to receive those who have died in the service of our country. We are a nation at war, and those who have given their lives in battle are being brought home to be laid to rest.

Focus on the unsung

Whatever our feelings about war, this war or any war, and regardless of whether war is just or unjust, necessary or contrived, our focus this Memorial Day needs to be on those many men and women who have offered their lives in defense of our way of life.

They, for the most part, are the unsung, the ordinary, many in their late teens or early twenties from all over America who perhaps never thought or believed they would find themselves in war, but who, when summoned to duty, went courageously. They are uppermost in our minds now and certainly in our prayers because their deaths tear at the fabric of our nation which mourns and grieves their loss.

Remember heroic acts

This year Memorial Day is tinged with the surreal apocalyptic light of a desert sandstorm, the images of columns of tanks and armor roaring on into the night, with paratroopers and missiles descending from the sky; the "shock and awe" of it all.

Contrast this wasteland thousands of miles away with pink cherry blossoms, bright yellow forsythia, grass and trees absorbing the light from the sun, their greens deepening and becoming more verdant as winter slowly and reluctantly gives way to the hope of spring.

These quiet oases, our cemeteries, all across the nation, record their great deeds and remind us of heroic acts too numerous to count, but never to be forgotten.

Show signs of respect

This Memorial Day, bring an extra flag or several and place them on the graves of the brave. Seek out a veteran, be they young or old, stop them in the street and thank them. Above all, pray to God for peace and for a safe return home when war is over.

And should your cemetery witness the funeral of one of this war's dead, offer that family the special solace that comes from our Catholic faith which speaks so eloquently of compassion, of truth, and of love.

This Memorial Day, let us stand shoulder to shoulder in spirit with those who carry on the fight. Let us tend reverently and carefully the graves of the fallen.

It is but a small measure, a little recompense for such a sacrifice. We owe them so much more than that.

John J. O'Brien is president of the National Catholic Cemetery Conference.