Women Priests

If a woman tries to become ordained she can be excommunicated.  Way harsh.  Are not there much more grave things that someone could do for excommunication?  Murder, rape, embezzlement, stealing, beating up your spouse time and again, but yet no excommunication.  Even a priest who messes with boys is not excommunicated.  There are penalties for all this but not excommunication.  If a woman has an abortion she can be excommunicated.  Abortion is not a good thing, but why excommunication?  If it is murder, then why does the one who murdered the policeman not get excommunicated?  Yet, if it were not for women, my church would crumble.  Bishops?  Please.  On the day to day, the hierarchy are not up to making things happen.

Free Annulments

Yes, Catholics, you do get a bill or statement saying how much the annulment procedure cost.  Technically, one is not charged to get the annulment.  It is not as if the annulment is held up until you send a check.  But there are costs to run these annulment offices.  The Pope wants there to be no talk of money or cost.  He also wants the process to be speeded up.  One might work against the other.  The way for some cash strapped dioceses to cut costs is to cut staff and office supplies.  This would not make annulments go faster.  The judges who look at evidence and make judgments are canon lawyers.  They are turtles when it comes to speed.  There is a place for turtles, but not if you want speed.  So I would wait and see what the American church does.  We do most of the annulments.  In other countries and cultures the priorities are different.  Stay tuned.

The Gift

I met a friend of mine from my past in Knoxville.  She brought her three year old daughter with her.  The little girl was sleepy and in her mother's arms.  This was before mass.  After mass, she was quite articulate.  All these big adults were standing around, but the child kept in the conversation. She did not back off, yet she was not offensive.  Ask her a question and you get a rather articulate answer.  She even used a three syllable word. She can read at three years of age.  The tough part for someone with such a gift is to be able to develop her potential while still trying to fit in with peers.  She could be in K grade with five year olds, but she is not emotionally five.  I think all of us need a group, a community where we can fit in, while still developing our unique talents.  We are all special in some way and yet all part of something larger than ourselves.  My spiritual search is with community but I also need solitude and freedom to pursue my interests.  Maybe this is why I am an itnerant speaker who lives in four places.  Find community but don't ask too much of them.  And don't ask too little of yourself.

Knoxville Visit

When I was in Knoxville recently, at least 6 people came up to me and said that they read my blog on a regular basis.  I am impressed.  I have been away from pastoring there for twelve years now.  Did I make more of an impression than I thought?  I talk about prayer and my foibles in life, the light and the darkness.  The honesty cleanses me, but seems to be of help to others.  Until this visit, I did not know that I was reaching some of the people who came to my talks.  It seems that if we do something that we love and believe in, we be be helping someone even if we don't know it.  So don't spend your energy on immediate gratification or recognition or results.  Just do what you love.  Then when you discover that you are helping people it will be a wonderful surprise.  So many young people do things to fit in.  That just dummies down the common denominator.  Jesus did not fit in.  I doubt the Buddha did either.  But they believed in themselves and their path.  Be you.

The Light

During one weekday mass I looked out at the congregation and saw a fellow with a long brown garment on that looked somewhere between a Franciscan and a Buddhist robe.  He had his knapsack with him.  I thought that he might be a person who slept outside last night or a bit of an eccentric.  I hoped he would not be a bother during or after mass.  A bit later I looked out again at the congregation and the sun was shining on his face, and his face alone, in the congregation.  Oops!  God had a message for narrowed-minded, judgmental, self-imploded me.  We are all loved by God.  We are all a bit of God's light.  See each one as a brother and sister in this universe.  The fellow's name is Justin.  He thinks that I am a nice priest.  Little does he know.  But I do not fool God.

Discoveries

It makes my day when I learn something new.  I borrow books from libraries, usually novels.  In Boulder, Colorado the main library is downtown, within walking distance of my house.  It is usually very crowded, and it is big.  I went on line to find a book.  The main library did not have it but two others did.  The list gives only initials for the library, so I called up to find out what the initials meant.  One was for another library I had been to.  The other was for a "Reynolds" library.  I asked what town that was in.  Right here in Boulder at the South end of town across from a supermarket where I go for pharmacy prescriptions.  I never knew this library even existed.  Off I went to find, explore and get my book.  Turns out the library is hidden on a main road.  It blends in with other buildings and the signage is apparent only if you are looking for it.  Turns out this library is quite wonderful with NYT for today on the rack and plenty of room for noisy children to be out of the way of us adults when we read our newspapers and magazines.  It made my day.  I know people who want to know nothing new.  New threatens them.  This is especially so in the religion business.  Whatever you learned in catechism class or yeshiva must be so and cannot be otherwise, regardless of new discoveries in science and technology.  If the Bible says it, so be it.  No place for metaphor or new interpretations.  The old is good.  But it might not be the final word.  Earlier today, the old truth for me was that there are three libraries in Boulder.  Now I find out there are four.  The three still exist.  But something new was discovered.  It was always there, but until today, unknown to me.  

To Judge

Francis I is coming to the USA.  Many people who live in the world of right and wrong, black and white, live by rules.  They want clear rules.  Jesus did not so much give clear rules, otherwise we would not have to spend so much time on Law.  He was more about attitude that might make us better persons.  People seem to translate "better," into "more correct."  All goes back to rules.  Francis wants people to follow Jesus.  Don't spend so much time judging people.  Let some things be.  Gay marriage would be an issue here.  I don't know that he ever said it was fine and dandy.  But he does not want to spend a lot of time judging people.  He is after bigger issues like environment, and religious intolerance and immigration.  These are life and death issues for many.  These, he does not let be.  But there are many people who would get after the gay issue but let be environmental issues.  Or just ignore them.