Christmas’ Redemption

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

ImageAhhhhh. It’s finally finished.  The wars have ended.  Famine is now an ancient word that future generations will ask, “What was that like back then?”  Unemployment, fare wage, healthcare will have solved themselves because of this historic and faith-filled day.

Wow.  That was close.  We thought that this was about to go on forever but thanks to Christmas, we don’t have to worry any longer.  Who made this all happen?  Was it Batman?  Superman?  Spider man?  No, it couldn’t have been them in their disguises.  We want to see who our heroes are.  We don’t want masks or capes or fast cars.  We want Bruce Willis in his Christmas movies where through each one he overcomes all obstacles, every villain (known and unknown), with every new twist and turn where we predict his certain death but he continues until the final two hours is complete, complete with wife in his arms.  (And always with a short quip or a sense of humor throughout his ordeal.)

That’s who we want to thank for this historic transformation of our world.  Oh wait?  I don’t think it’s Bruce Willis, I think it’s Clint Eastwood who just shoots everyone before him until he’s the last person standing and the closing credits roll.  That’s the solution to the problems before us.

No, it’s not Bruce or Clint as much as we would hope.  The problem is that the problem lies within us.  Our hero is that darn guy who told us that if we live within him then the solutions will unfold themselves and then solutions will be, well, solved.

Damn it all.  We wanted someone else to do it.  We wanted to rely on someone else so that if it failed we could blame him or her.  We wanted someone else to do what we were created to do.

Jesus Christ puts the worldly blame upon us and Jesus Christ puts the world’s responsibility upon us.  Upon each of us.

We eat him up each time we gather in prayer.  We eat him up for our salvation or is it for the salvation of the world?  We eat him up so that we feel better or is it for the betterment of our world?  We eat him up so that our hurts ease a little or is it to ease our hurtful world?

“Justice and mercy shall kiss,” is one of my favorite biblical passages.  Kissing is such an intimate exchange.  Is is possible that the NRA can kiss a mother who lost her daughter to a gun?  Is it possible that political egos can somehow merge and even kiss to forge a future for us together?

Is it possible for me to reduce myself at times to allow you to increase?  Even if it’s temporary, let me get smaller so you may be enlarge, at a least for a moment.

Jesus Christ tricked us.  The ultimate “trick or treat” happened upon us.  Jesus, the hero, tricked us by telling and showing us that we are the treat.  We have him living and breathing within us.

Of Bruce, Clint or Jesus; which would we choose?  Unfortunately, we’d choose either of the first two because then we’re not involved, we only need to observe.

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Where Is Eucharist Celebrated?

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

ImageMy priest friend and I were finishing a hiking tour in Austria and spent our last days in London.  We saw a Broadway show on Saturday night and then Sunday morning arrived. 

We walked to St. Martin in the Fields square complete with pigeons, a coffee shop and an old Episcopal Church.  We enjoy our morning coffee and he tells me that he looked online for Catholic Churches in the area and found one nearby whose Mass would begin in thirty minutes.  I look at him as if to say, “And your point is?”  He said that I was welcome to join him but that he was going.  I said, “Just look where you are and you want to go to church?”  Well, he left for his church and I was alone; or was I?

10:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, St. Martins in the Field (where Neville Marriner has recorded more classical music than Andrew Greely characters), the pigeons fly and flop around the fountain as more people gather, I’m holding the London Times and a cup of coffee along with a nearby ashtray.  It slowly begins a misty rain (the Irish call it a “soft rain”) and I wonder if I should go inside.  I think to myself, “I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; I’m not going anywhere!”

The rain moistens my newly unread newspaper but soon leaves as softly as it arrived.  The people continue to gather, the pigeons do what pigeons do and I’m on the steps of an ancient Episcopal Church with my coffee and a cigarette pondering the meaning of life that I’ve pondered for decades now with little comforting results. 

The pondering stops and I think to myself, “Wow.”  Just that.  It reads the same backwards as forward.  I just think, “Wow.” 

My priest friend returns after fulfilling his Catholic obligation and told me that the sermon was long and boring.

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The Beheading of John the Baptist

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Image“Boy, it’s noisy up there, I wonder what’s going on.  The guard told me that King Herod was having a big party and here I am, stuck down here.  Accused of nothing, I’ve been told, but still stuck, and for how long?

I would think he’d be here by now to get me out of here.  He knows that I’m here.  After all, we are cousins. And we’ve done so much together.  Surely he doesn’t want me to stay here and rot.

It’s funny but I remember my mom telling me that I leaped in her womb when he was still in his mother’s womb.  Talk about symbiosis!  You don’t get connections closer than that.  Growing up, I often wondered what I wanted to do in my life.  Not too many clues for me.  I thought of being a dentist until I observed their teeth; I thought I’d be poor in no time. An athletic career interested me for a time until I figured out that my parents were older than my friend’s grandparents!  (Playing ball with my dad was never a consideration.)  I then began to work on some thoughts about what happens to us after we die.  It just seemed important to me to announce to people that there was something more than this.

So I would stand on street corners and try my best; I thought I was pretty good but something inside me always thought that something or someone was missing but I didn’t know what or who it was.  I wondered if I was just not cut out for this “street preaching” stuff or was it that I missing the message?  I’m not sure.  He kinda helped me along a little with his talk about a “kingdom” beyond and how we should treat each other here and now but it all seemed so vague to me until that time I spent in the desert.  Did you just hear that?  I hear footsteps.  He’s coming down to get me out of this mess.  I can’t wait.

You know, I expected him to come and get me out a couple of weeks ago but something must have held him up.  He certainly doesn’t want me to stay down here.  That noise up there is getting louder.  I remember when he was younger, he would ask me all kinds of questions.  I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know the answers since I was the older one.  Boy, the good talks we had together and the sports we played were all wonderful times.  Wait, I think those footsteps are getting closer.  Great.  He’s finally coming for me; it’s high time.  But you know like I was saying, I always thought he was holding something back.  I couldn’t put my finger on it but it was like there was something more that neither of us were sure of.  God, why he’s not here now helping me out is beyond me.

You may not know this but awhile ago I sent a messenger, a good friend of mine, to ask him if he was the One or if we should be waiting for someone else.  I thought a trick question like that might have reminded him that I’m still stuck down here.  Well anyway, my friend comes back and tells me how my cousin is healing leprosy and making blind people see and restoring hearing to the deaf.  Speaking of hearing, I hear those footsteps again, I think that it’s him to unstuck me from this stuck place.  So anyway, I start thinking to myself if he’s doing all that good stuff for them, you know, people he doesn’t know and I’m family and all, then why am I buried down here in this dank place with that music roaring above me?

Doesn’t he think I’m worth it to be released?  Does he think that I committed a crime and deserves this?  How long is that noisy party up there going to last?

I thought I knew what was going on when I did my desert stint awhile back.  Wow, you talk about roughing it.  I was alone eating only locusts and wild honey.  Have you ever eaten locusts and wild honey?  (And what’s so wild about “honey?”)  Trust me, you do not want to eat locusts without some honey.  And wearing the camel’s hair – in the desert?  What part didn’t you hear?  Camel-Hair-Desert.  I don’t think I need to say more on the subject, do you?  But I really felt that what I was doing there was worth it.  I mean, when I left the desert people came from all over just to listen and talk to me and all I was saying was, “A voice is calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”  I don’t know what prompted me to say those things, they just kinda sounded right and naturally came out.  I meant what I said.  Oh good, I hear those footsteps again, this just has to be him to get me out of this.  Who else could it be?

I hate to get picky but just guess who it was who baptized him?  Moi.  That’s right.  I know that I told the folks around us that he’d be doing this himself in the future but also with fire and the Holy Spirit but still!  Put it together: Jordan river-Jesus-Me-Voice from Above. You put it together and what do you come up with?  You’d think that, at least, he’d remember that much.  I think that would be enough to get me out of here.  I know that I mentioned that ‘not touching his sandals’ part but it was only for effect.  There were a lot of people there watching and listening to me.  And don’t even start about the heavenly voice claiming this man was his son along with a dove to make it really official.  If all that is true then I’d be God’s nephew! Wow.  Uncle God! I must really be a part of this family!

That party’s getting louder up there.  They must be dancing or something going on while I’m down here.  I hear those same footsteps getting closer now too.  Since we were older I felt like I was just the front guy who everybody likes until the real show begins.  I guess it wasn’t me to take the stage after all but to get the stage ready for somebody else.  Like a relative of mine?  Like someone I know well and trusted enough to introduce to the world.  Somebody with a message that would be greater than mine.  I think I get it.  You know, looking back I think I did a pretty good job of getting the folks ready to hear his message.  I guess you could say that I got them excited and ready to hear something important and special, and he gave it to them.

Go figure, as soon as I begin to give up on him he decides to come along and get me out of this mess.  What a cool surprise.  Just when I thought he’d forgotten me.  The footsteps stopped.  I know it’s him.”

 

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Angel & Wings

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

ImageAngel wings have three prominent feathers on each wing.  Don’t ask me how I know this, just trust me.  Each feather represents an important aspect in life for the angel.  To lose a feather would be catastrophic; to keep all six intact is a completeness and wholeness that makes an angel, well, an angel.

One feather on the right wing (no, it’s not republican!) is joy.  Not happiness but joy.  The joy of silence and the joy of another friend.  The next feather is hope.  Not wishful thinking for a winter cruise but an abiding hope that upends any difficulty or hardship we may be facing.  The third right wing feather is peace.  A singular word with such a powerful meaning and presence for us.

The left wing also has three feathers on it.  The first feather is homework.  We were forced to do it growing up but now we do it because it needs to be done.  The second feather is disposition.  Feelings are fleeting but our disposition is a composite of our lives that is as transparent to others as it is elusive to us.  The final left wing feather is today.  The today is today.  It’s that simple; not tomorrow or yesterday but the time that faces us this day.

If you noticed you will see that the right wing has qualities given to us by God.  The feathers of the left wing are the disciplines that we bring about it our personal lives.

When this balance and wholeness is experienced, we are able to gracefully fly through all that life gives us and through all the wild winds that life also brings.  Without the right wing “God qualities,” we could not achieve our left wing’s “personal disciplines.”  What worth is there in our “left” personal disciplines without the “right” God qualities?

If an angel is to make flight and stay up there – balance (and a good back wind) is surely needed.

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Third Sunday of Advent, “Rejoice & Suffering”

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

ImageI love words beginning with the letters “re” because those letters begin a word that push us to something more, something greater and sometimes just to something.

Even the word REtirement begins with those two delicious letters.

Ahhhh.  REtirement, the “Golden Years.”  Finally a life of relaxing, recollecting, reading, reexamining, reawakening, rest and refreshments.  Excellent “re” words that fill your days for the rest of your lives.  (Notice the “re” in rest!?)

Then there are the Church’s two “RE” words.  Advent has “rejoice” and Lent has “repent.”  The former is welcomed but the latter…well, that’s months away.  In other words, let’s rejoice first and then repent later.  (In terms of weather, isn’t it interesting that we “rejoice” in winter and “repent” in the spring?  What’s wrong with that ecclesial picture?)

“Rejoice,” is to experience joy.  Can you feel joy?  I don’t mean happiness but joy, a must deeper feeling and much more enduring.  You can only rejoice if you’ve known some suffering, disappointment or struggle in your life.

We “rejoice” because we anticipate the “renewal” (another very important “re” word) of the incarnation which destroyed our exiled and joined us to the ranks of God’s daughters and sons.  Because of the life and death of Christ our lives now has meaning – each of us to determine through our prayer what Christ’s life meant to us.

Is pink my color?  (The Third Sunday’s vestment is the color pink.)  Today pink is everybody’s color.  “Rejoice.”  Today we rejoice – pretty in pink.  Don’t we say, “I’m in the pink,” to our friends when success has finally come our way and satisfaction is reached?  If red means broke and broken then pink means joy.  “Rejoice.”

And who bought this pink vestment for me to wear this day?  It was a man whose pink was called ALS, that debilitating muscle disease dreaded by all because while the body breaks down the mind remains clear and crisp.  Watching your body stop functioning while your mind and most importantly your spirit says, “I’m in the pink.”  That’s the rejoicing this third Sunday of Advent provides.

The exile is over, there is only now a union with God witnessed by a caring mom and achieved through her son who lived among us as long as he could.

There is pain but that is always in human terms.  When it is suffering then it has the meaning of fully recognizing the limits of Jeff’s life and the treasure that each moment held for Jeff.  That’s rejoicing.

This bears repeating: There is no exile, there is only a union with God witnessed by a mom and achieved through her son.  (The Blessed Mother witnessed and her Son, Jesus Christ achieved it.)

Can we rejoice today, this day, in a community where people are struggling, hard of hearing, failing eyesight, wobbly legs, shaky hands and more aches and pains than there are scooters and walkers.

Can we “still” (Wait.  Never say “still” – a vibrant 20 year old has no idea what rejoice means; only that Christmas is two weeks ago) rejoice in its full and beautiful meanings?

Can we “now” rejoice on this Third Sunday of Advent when anticipation, wonder, imagination and hope are the key words leading to “rejoice?”

Advent is all about anticipation and knowing that the dream has happened.  We are fully awake now to the dreamer’s dream.  It’s a “dream come true” every time there is a smile in the midst of pain, a shoulder touched when words are useless, a stupid joke just to break the awkward silence of someone dying.

Jesus lives among us.  Jesus breathes within us.  Jesus walks between us.  Jesus walks behind and in front also.  Let us rejoice and be glad because the “RE” word of this season in our lives is “rejoice.”

Do you think that I said “rejoice” enough?

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“Adopt An Apostle” Salvatorian Vocation Campaign

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

The Salvatorians, a Catholic religious order of priests and brothers, has a “blessed problem.” We have too many men studying in formation.
Watch this video to learn more and to consider how you may help us out with this “blessed problem.”
http://www.AdoptAnApostle.org

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Things I wish I had said to my father.

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Excellent topic for all of us to consider.

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“Adopt An Apostle” Catholic Religious Vocation Campaign

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

822643p13732EDNMain132041027Salvatorians_822As a nuclear medicine technologist, Michael Johnson has had some difficulty adjusting to religious life. In his second year of formation for the U.S. province of the international Salvatorian religious community, he’s quiet a lot, spending hours in prayer and discernment for his future.

“It’s hard for me to just sit,” Johnson told Our Sunday Visitor in a recent interview. “I’m used to doing things, I’m used to producing. That’s our society here in America.”  Now, though, he is quiet. And he is relying on the prayers —and financial support — of others as he spends this time discerning God’s call for him.

“I have a lot of time for prayer and contemplation,” he said. “It’s a real gift to have the space and the time to really focus on God and see where God’s calling me. I wish everyone in the world could have a year like I have right now where they can just spend time going deeper inside themselves and seeing God inside themselves and inside others.”

‘Blessed problem’
Johnson’s story is not unique. The Salvatorians, who are based in Milwaukee, currently are bursting with vocations — something Father Joe Rodrigues, vocations director and U.S. provincial, called a “blessed problem.”

To learn more about the Salvatorians’ Adopt an Apostle campaign

“Here it is we have men who are choosing to respond to the call,” he said. “The irony is how we are going to sustain them.”

With the high cost of education, housing and formation “it was amazing how [the bills] added up,” Father Rodrigues said. To meet the needs of his growing community, Father Rodrigues recently launched the Adopt an Apostle campaign — a program matching those in formation with financial and spiritual supporters. The seminarians are termed “apostles,” because part of the Salvatorian charism says that all those baptized are to be called apostles.

As the idea for the fundraising effort continued to develop, Father Rodrigues knew he wanted an easy, appealing and personal avenue.  “People like more of a concrete focus when it comes to contributing,” he said. “It’s about relationship. It’s not this theoretical thing they are contributing to.”

Through the Adopt an Apostle initiative, Father Rodrigues said supporters are able to contribute completely to the lives of men in formation. They can pay for them. They can pray for them. They can visit them.

It’s Father Rodrigues’ hope that there is a demographic of faithful Catholics looking for a way to help support the Church as it continues to provide sacraments and ministry within a Catholic context. He sees each measure of support as an investment in the future of the Church and as a way for people to express their faith.

“Each of these men will touch thousands of people throughout their lives,” he said. “By investing in these men and helping sponsor them, they can be a part of that.”

Filling a need
In order to develop the relationship between those in formation and their adopted “parents,” Father Rodrigues encourages the seminarians to write to their sponsors. The Salvatorians update social media so the sponsors will be able to “see the faces” of the men and “be familiar with them and how they are doing.”

Anne Ramsey met Father Rodrigues in 2007 at Most Holy Trinity Parish in Tucson, Ariz., where she was “blown away” by his homilies and his ability to bring the Gospel to life. She began receiving the Salvatorian newsletter, reading the vocations stories and was impressed with the commitment of the men who were considering priesthood and religious life.

“After the passing of my beloved husband I felt alone and lost,” Ramsey said. “Daily I kept praying and asking, ‘What do you want me to do now, Lord? Use me as your instrument. Where can I help?’”

When another issue of the newsletter arrived, Ramsey read about the Adopt an Apostle program and knew she had found her answer. She began to contribute financially every month, while continuing her prayers for the men in formation.

“They will be sent out to continue the Church’s mission to spread truth,” she said. “It will be an uphill battle.”

As a lay Salvatorian, JoAnn Kuphaldt, from Fair Oaks, Calif., also recently started supporting the community through the Adopt an Apostle program. She feels a connection with the community, she said, and attends conferences and visits the men in Milwaukee when she can.

“It just seemed to me that they were in need, so when Father Joe got up and said we’re starting this program, I thought, ‘that’s a really good thing to do,’” Kuphaldt said.

Laying claim to future
Johnson, who grew up in Woodbury, Minn., knows that without the support of those like Ramsey and Kuphaldt, he wouldn’t be able to make it through this year of discernment on his own.

“We’re just indebted to the people who are supporting us,” he said. “It’s something we don’t have to worry about. It’s something that’s not hanging over our heads. We can focus all of our attention on our volunteering and our studies.”  And prayers, he said, are even more important than any financial assistance.

“[The discernment process] is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I could never have done this without the spiritual support of friends and family.”  As the Adopt an Apostle campaign continues to take form, Father Rodrigues hopes it will be a model that will pay dividends.

It’s an opportunity, he said, for people to “lay claim on the future of the Church” — and to continue to pray for those in formation as they “give witness in this way to serve the people of God.”
To learn more about the Salvatorians’ Adopt an Apostle campaign

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Second Sunday of Advent, “Monkey See…” (Isaiah 11)

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Image“Is it because the sandbox is too small for us or that you just will not give me a little more room.”

Isaiah 11 tells us that the bud is blossoming and that animals of all kinds will be neighbors and that kids will be playing with snakes.  (What’s he smoking?)

Cue Jiminey Cricket and “When You Wish Upon A Star…”  (all verses)

2014 is coming soon and I hope that things have changed if you’re reading this a few years from now.  Divisiveness, separation, smugness and separation is the flavor of the day in politics.  (Is it because he’s black?  No, that’s a liberal position and I can’t say that.)  We define ourselves by labels (either self imposed or given to us) that set us where we need to be during any debate.  It’s not only politics but religion as well.  (Liberal, Conservative in the Catholic Church?  Why are we comfortable with those dividing labels?)

We get narrower and more narrower in our divisions and labels.  “Gay Republicans?”  I’m sure there’s four at best of those guys.  “Compassionate Conservative?”  I have no idea what that means.  At work I’m called not only a liberal but a “psycho-liberal.”  I’m not sure which corner to house myself.  And my favorite of all is “Jews for Jesus.”  (Jees, just get a life!)

“Monkey see as monkey do,” goes the adage and we seem to have a lot of that these days.  I’ve not be one to be down on the media but during these days they’ve presented to us a divided country with divided views and we seem to adapt well to this confusion.  Between MSNBC and Fox News, the conversation is anything but conversing.  The anchors ask a question to a “paid consultant” guest who pauses a moment and then says, “I agree with you.”  (I’d agree with you too since you’re name is on the check.)  This is passing for news, informational and formational news.

I looked up “cynic” and it says someone interested in self interest and independence while another source says, “without knowledge of the why” something is so.  So my conversation with someone begins with, “You’re against unions.” “Yes,” followed by my “Why” question.  “I heard on the radio” or “I heard on TV that,” which doesn’t answer my simple inquiry.  He/she will never admit to me that a personal or informed opinion is not forthcoming.  It’s just a popular statement heard over and over that this and that is wrong.  No information or formation.  We hear the 10 second bite in the media that he/she bit the other night and now re-bites to me.  (This is called “a thoughtful exchange of ideas.”)

I think of those 18-20 years old who are coming of age and will replace us.  Is their mentality cynicism or sarcasm.  I love sarcasm because it presents conflicting views in a humorous way for reflection.  Cynicism only leads to isolation because of self interest and misses the community and those less fortunate.  Cynicism does not breed or endorse hope because it is closed in on itself.  Happily, I’m very sarcastic but never cynical.  There is too much hope in ourselves rooted in this season of hope and anticipation, Advent.

These young folks are subjected to divisiveness and actually enjoying being angry at someone for his/her opinions.  (That’s the smugness.)  They missed the days of Walter Cronkite or Huntley/Brinkley or Eric Sevareid.  In 60 seconds Eric gave us a clear picture of the problem along with opposing arguments and his sensible resolution while looking douringly (not a real adverb) into the camera.  He (and they) made us think, ponder, consider and resolve with always the greater good in mind.

The monkey can see and enjoy the divisive comedy that passes for news each night but the monkey can think for him/herself.  That’s also self interest and independence with a mind toward the community.

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St. Mary’s Birthday (September 8)

Posted on December 7, 2013 by Rev. Joe Jagodensky, SDS.

Image“In the beginning” begins the beginning of our beginnings.  Today we honor the birthday of Jesus’ mom, Mary.  (So she was the beginning of our beginnings!)  Well, yes and no.

Why September 8, I’m not sure.  I’m sure the Catholic Church has some planetary reason why Mary was born today, I just hope that it wasn’t based on Pluto.

In such a male dominated church as the Catholic Church is, it only seems right that a woman creep her way into its hallowed, linear structures. (Can women creep?)  I think that we have more Mary honored days in the Catholic Church than for Jesus. That’s hardly “creeping.”  I mentioned that to a priest friend who wisely told me, “But every Mass day is a Jesus day.”

I like the emphasis to this day to be on beginnings.  How better to do it except through the mother.  Through, not because of.  Through, sometimes in spite of.  Through, but sometimes to her credit.  A friend of mine is pregnant with breast cancer and needs to forgo extensive cancer treatment until her baby is born.  Is that love?  Is that something you know not now but somehow find the trust to endure?

The beginning of something is always the end of something else.  One television program that you immensely love is cancelled and a new show begins that you now immensely love.  The life of Jesus gives us the realization of our hopes and promises.  His life ended the drudgery of always drudging up our failings and weaknesses.  The birth of Mary ended the waiting and anticipation of salvation history.

Jesus needed a beginning to begin his beginning.  Through the Holy Spirit, Mary gave it to him.  (Happy birthday Mary and keep jabbing us Catholic to not be afraid of the other gender.)

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