St Christopher and I, The Marked Man

I've been working on the Knights of Columbus Faith Formation Home Study Course this year.  It's a free correspondence course for everyone.  You do not need to be a Knight for enrollment (though I'd encourage any man to join).  https://www.kofc.org/en/contact/correspondence-course.html

When I received my Eagle Scout award, that was the first time I heard the expression "A Marked Man".  It came during the part of the ceremony where the presenter reminds you of your duties to God, Country, Others, and Self; because as an Eagle Scout, people will expect more of you.  They'll expect you to be an ethical person, who lives life following the Scout Law.

This phrase appeared again in Lesson 6 of this series.  "The one who reads this booklet is most likely a marked man."  People expect more of godly men, and that is not an unfair burden.  It's one thing to proclaim Christ, but unless you live your life for him, your words will ring hollow to others ears.

I am a marked man, I bear a burden of responsibility to others and myself.  This is a burden upon which I'm named, Christopher, meaning the bearer of Christ.  Just as Reprobus carried Christ across a river, I carry Christ in my heart.  When the burden seems to heavy, the words of Christ in Matthew 11:28-30 reminds me:

Come to me, all of you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.  Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I Am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.  For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.

Feast Day of St Michael the Archangel

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, 

contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. 

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: 

tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, in virtute Dei, 

in infernum detrude satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, 

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo. 

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul - September 27, 2023

Reading 1

1 Cor 1:26-31

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.

Not many of you were wise by human standards,

not many were powerful,

not many were of noble birth.

Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,

and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,

and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,

those who count for nothing,

to reduce to nothing those who are something,

so that no human being might boast before God.

It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,

who became for us wisdom from God,

as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,

so that, as it is written,

Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 112:1bc-2, 3-4, 5-7, 7-8, 9

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Blessed the man who fears the LORD,

who greatly delights in his commands.

His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;

the upright generation shall be blessed.

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house;

his generosity shall endure forever.

Light shines through the darkness for the upright;

he is gracious and merciful and just.

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Well for the man who is gracious and lends,

who conducts his affairs with justice;

He shall never be moved;

the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

An evil report he shall not fear.

His heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.

His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear

till he looks down upon his foes.

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Lavishly he gives to the poor,

his generosity shall endure forever;

his horn shall be exalted in glory.

R.    Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Jn 10:14

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

R.    Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 9:35-38

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,

teaching in their synagogues,

proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,

and curing every disease and illness.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them

because they were troubled and abandoned,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples,

"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest."

The readings today touched directly upon a question in my heart.  Lord, please continue to lead and guide me where I need to be.

St Michael the Archangel Novena - Day 1

 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

St. Michael the Archangel, we honor you as a powerful protector of the Church and guardian of our souls. Inspire us with your humility, courage and strength that we may reject sin and perfect our love for our Heavenly Father.

In your strength and humility, slay the evil and pride in our hearts so that nothing will keep us from God.

St. Michael the Archangel, pray that we may be blessed by God with the zeal to live our lives in accordance with Christ’s teachings.

St. Michael the Archangel, you are the prince of angels but in your humility you recognized that God is God and you are but His servant. Unlike satan, you were not overcome with pride but were steadfast in humility. Pray that we will have this same humility.

It is in the spirit of that humility that we ask for your intercession for our petitions…

• Increase in vocations and servants of the faith
• Protection of our Church from the enemy
• Increase in faith, hope, and charity for all of mankind
• The victims of natural disasters, especially those in Libya, Hawaii, and hurricane areas
• The forgotten and those living in the margins of society
• The imprisoned
• Those struggling with addictions and illness
• Most of all for my son, whom I love with all of my heart

“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Padre Quinn song

Padre Quinn Song

In the city of Saltillo, there exists a parish

Where the parishioners are happy
Because they all believe in God
And where the parishioners are happy
Because they all believe in God.

And all thanks to one person
Whom the same God has sent to us
To teach us all the word of God 

o teach us all the word of God.

(chorus)
His name is Patrick Quinn
And everyone calls him Father Quinn
His name is Patrick Quinn
And everyone calls him Father Quinn

He teaches the whole world
Everything that he knows 

And to all the world he gives His endless smile 

And to all the world he gives His endless smile (Refrain)

To the villages he always goes
No matter how far they are
The only thing he looks for Is to spread the faith

The only thing he looks for Is to spread the faith. (Refrain)

To every place that he goes
No matter how rough the road, 
The only thing important to him Is to arrive at his destination
The only thing important to him Is to arrive at his destination (Refrain)

Spanish Lyrics
En la ciudad de Saltillo 
existe una parroquia
Donde los feligreses son felices.
Porque todos creen en Dios.
Y donde los feligreses son felices.
Porque todos creen en Dios.

Y todo gracias a una persona.
a quien el mismo Dios nos ha enviado
Para enseñarnos toda 
la palabra de Dios Para enseñarnos 
toda la palabra de Dios.

(coro)
Su nombre es Patricio Quinn.
Y todos lo llaman Padre Quinn.
Su nombre es Patricio Quinn.
Y todos lo llaman Padre Quinn.

Él enseña al mundo entero.
Todo lo que él sabe 
y a todo el mundo lo da.
Su sonrisa interminable
Y a todo el mundo le da
Su sonrisa interminable ()

A los pueblos siempre va
No importa lo lejos que estén
Lo único que busca es difundir la fe.
Lo único que busca es difundir la fe. ()

A cada lugar al que va
No importa lo difícil que sea el camino,
Lo único importante para él es llegar a su destino.
Lo único importante para él es llegar a su destino ()

Saltillo Mission - Book Review

 

In a previous post about Father Quinn, I reflected on my Saltillo trip in 1992.  Certainly this was a highly influential and spiritually enlightening trip of my youth.  I had high hopes for this book hoping it would fill in a lot of blanks on some questions that I had. Certainly it did but it exposed more than anything a catastrophic failure.

Missions are not easy task.  To properly support one, an extreme effort is undertaken for the allocation of  financial resources, manpower, political influence, and most of all it takes the heart of servant make it truly successful. Father Quinn was the intersection of all of those thing he had the servant's heart.  While initially he couldn't speak the language of the people, he more than anything learned to understand the people.  It reminds me of the quote, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

Father Quinn didn't go to Saltillo to evangelize and turn them into American Catholics. He went there to serve the Mexican people. He their language and customs, rules, and means of doing business; rather than assert a colonial approach.  This was the underpinning of his greatness, whereby he worked within those mechanisms to achieve great success.

His impact was not unnoticed and his funeral more than 20,000 people came by to pay their respects. By the grace of God, this foreign saint was allowed to be buried, not only in Mexico, but next to the altar upon which he served so many masses.  I was awestruck by his accomplishment, and while he did not produce all of the work by himself, he found the key to success that he was to empower others.  Father Quinn, such a sample for missionary, leader, ship, and tactics. So many lessons can be learned from his success.

The author, Msgr Flannery, does a fair job of providing historical and unbiased review of the events.  I enjoyed the accuracy of the narrative and his attention to detail.  Monsignor Flannery also served at the Saltillo mission and has great insight into the inner workings.

It's quite easy to look back on history when you already know the outcome.  I was especially troubled to read the interactions of then Father Law, who later became Cardinal Law.  His elements of being a "company man" and self-servitude can be traced even through this book.

In my own words after reading the book, I came to understand the significant tragedy that one man's death can hold.  Father Quinn's sudden death in 1997 sent a drastic shock through everyone, and almost overnight the gains that he had made were lost due to sheer incompetence on part of the episcopates.  The true tragedy of the Saltillo Mission is our dioceses didn't have their acts together.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who was tangentially associated with the mission insult to you. Knowing what we know now, certainly we could've done things much different to prepare for a better succession plan. More than anything this book should serve as a historical guide on what works, and what doesn't.

In all fairness, though, the root problem can be traced to the lack of vocations.

It's hard to believe that America is now the missionary ground.  We are in dire need of priests. Priests that can not only provide the sacraments, but can also provide moral leadership. Please pray for vocations.

Dios, padre todopoderoso, ten piedad de nosotros. Por tu bondad te pedimos que envíes más sacerdotes para servir a tus hijos.

Padre Quinn, Beato Stanley Rother, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, rueguen por nosotros.

There is only one race!

I really enjoy being a parishioner at St Eugene Catholic Church here in Oklahoma City.  It's the closest parish I've found here to the Catholicism of the Gulf Coast.  The parishioners here are a diverse crowd. On any given Sunday, you can be sitting next to African Catholics, Vietnamese Catholics, Hispanic Catholics, and just the good ole Okie Catholics. I love it! 

One thing that really drew me to this parish was the diversity.  In fact, the parish mission statement says, "We at Saint Eugene Catholic Church, are as a baptized as a people baptized in Christ, commanded to go out into the world and make Jesus Christ present. We are a beacon of faith, guided by the Holy Spirit, drawing diverse people to God through the rich tradition and heritage of the Catholic Church". Wow, this is not just diversity for diversity's sake, but an embodiment of the true meaning of the word Catholic.  Our truth is universal and a common faith shared among all different types of people.

I love my home at Saint Eugene. I love going to the Spanish mass and hearing the uplifting hymns, the reverence and piety of the Latin hymns sung in the English mass during  holy seasons, and the joy that beacons from our Cameroon choir.  In my zeal of the diversity, St JoseMaria Escriva reminds us, "There is only one race in the world: the race of the children of God." 

Sólo hay una raza en el mundo: la raza de los hijos de Dios.

Chỉ có một chủng tộc trên thế giới: dòng dõi con cái Thiên Chúa.

Vnum est genus in mundo, genus filiorum Dei.

Bank of Bad Habits

Jimmy Buffett, the great philosopher, has lyrics that can attune to my soul. My concupiscent nature of the human condition contrasts my greater and deeper for sainthood.  The diametrical opposition is made clear in the lyrics of "Bank of Bad Habits". 

The rumors and the stories of my past I can't deny.
I'm no St. Ignatius, but again I'm no bar fly.
The wrong thing is the right thing until you lose control,
I got this bank of bad habits in a corner of my soul.

How is it, that I can easily commit to God for a short period of time? If my desire is to abstain from a certain thing or live a certain way for a day, a week, even a Lenten season... no factor. My soul isn’t troubled or disheartened in anyway under those terms.  Because with terms, there is an expiration date whereby I can yet again delve into my own debauchery. But, as always and soon after, I find myself trapped, yet again. I get feelings of guilt and loathing. It’s a vicious cycle that I find myself in. How can I break the cycle, or rather do I really want to break the cycle?

Maybe I liken my quest for sainthood like Saint Augustine.  "Da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo (Grant me chastity and self-control but not yet)."  

Why am I like this? Why I feel so torn? Why do I feel so compelled and tempted to sin in one moment, but understand the need and have a desire for conversion?  Why do I feel restless?  Augustine had the answer for that too, "You have made us for yourself O Lord, & our heart is restless until it rests in you."

Just like Augustine, Jimmy Buffett had an answer found later in the song, "Just put away those alibis, you can’t fool that banker in the sky."

This evening, instead of withdrawing from my bank of bad habits, I'm going to make a deposit.  Tonight's rosary is for the repose of the soul of Jimmy Buffett.

The intersection of Jimmy Buffett and Catholicism

Jimmy Buffett is often associated with the laid-back, tropical "Parrothead" lifestyle. However, fewer people are aware that he comes from a Catholic background. While Buffett may not explicitly label himself as a devout Catholic in the public eye, traces of his faith can be observed in his music, in his lyrics, and even in his approach to life and artistry. This article aims to explore these intersections, drawing upon a range of Buffett's songs and quotes to present a fuller understanding of the man behind classics like "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday."

Born in Mississippi and raised in Alabama, Jimmy Buffett grew up in an environment where religion played a significant role. The Southern United States is a region deeply influenced by Christianity, and the Catholic Church holds considerable sway in many communities. Though Buffett has lived a lifestyle that seems more attuned to coastal relaxation than religious rigor, the foundations of faith laid in his early years have subtly made their way into his work.

While Buffett's lyrics predominantly focus on themes of leisure, love, and nature, occasionally, listeners can discern elements of spiritual and moral inquiry, which may be influenced by his Catholic upbringing. Songs like "A Pirate Looks at Forty" and "He Went to Paris" delve into existential questions about purpose, destiny, and the passage of time. These themes often intersect with moral choices, a concept deeply embedded in Catholic doctrine.

For instance, "He Went to Paris" tells the story of a man's journey through life's ups and downs, searching for meaning and, ultimately, finding it in simple pleasures and human connections. This mirrors the Catholic emphasis on community and living a life of purpose.

In several interviews, Buffett has touched upon his beliefs in forgiveness and redemption. Catholicism, with its focus on the power of redemption through God's grace, may well have influenced his understanding of these concepts. In his songs, Buffett often presents characters who are flawed but fundamentally good at heart. They make mistakes, but they seek forgiveness—either from others or themselves.

The sense of community that is evident among Buffett's fans, often referred to as "Parrotheads," can be likened to a religious congregation in some ways. This tightly-knit group shares values of kindness, empathy, and a deep appreciation for life's simpler pleasures. It would be speculative to say that this directly stems from Buffett’s religious background, but the parallels are noteworthy.

While Jimmy Buffett is not overtly religious in his public persona, elements of his Catholic upbringing can be discerned in his music and the community he has built. His lyrics, at times, tackle existential questions that are integral to Catholic thought, and his focus on themes of forgiveness and redemption suggest a moral framework likely influenced by his early religious education.

Whether you're a Parrothead or not, a closer look at Buffett’s music reveals layers of depth that might initially go unnoticed. And for those who share in the Catholic faith, these elements may offer a spiritual resonance that enriches the listening experience.

Thus, in the melodic strains of Buffett's music, the moral and existential questions that are foundational to Catholicism find a unique and compelling voice.