Pope Francis: "Please Stop!"

A tragic first post on the one-hundredth anniversary of the start of hostilities in World War One. Here follows our Holy Father's message today:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Tomorrow marks the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, which caused millions of deaths and immense destruction. This conflict, which Pope Benedict XV called a "senseless slaughter", resulted, after four long years, in a most fragile peace. Tomorrow, as we remember this tragic event, I hope that the mistakes of the past won’t be repeated, but that the lessons of history be taken into account, that the demands of peace through patient and courageous dialogue are always made to prevail.

In particular, my thoughts go out to three areas of crisis: the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine. I ask that you continue to join me in prayer that the Lord may grant to the people and authorities of those areas the wisdom and strength needed to push ahead with the path of peace by addressing each dispute with the tenacity of dialogue and negotiation and with the force of reconciliation. That at the center of every decision, special interests aren’t put forward, but rather the common good and respect for every person. Let’s remember that all is lost with war, and nothing is lost with peace.

Brothers and sisters, no more war! No more war! Above all, I think of the children, those who have been denied hope of a decent life, of a future: dead children, wounded children, maimed children, orphaned children, children who have remnants of war as toys, children who don’t know how to smile. Please stop! I ask you with all my heart, it's time to stop! Stop, please!

Back to the Beach

After a very long hiatus and a only brief reappearance, the blog will be in vacation mode again until 18 July. I am going back to my roots in Grays Harbor County on the Pacific coast, enjoying the fog, cold water and dark rain forests. A few stormy walks on the beach and torrential downpours will prepare me for the year ahead!

Don't forget to follow plans for our Patronal Feast Day on Tuesday 22 July - The Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene - and the Chorister summer camp that follows shortly thereafter. I hope that you are all enjoying the summer vacation, finding time for family and friends, rest and renewal.

The Comfortable Words

We continue our reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel each Sunday this year, and this Sunday’s Gospel Reading for the Fourteenth Sunday is of particular beauty. Matthew 11:25-30 is a well-known passage of scripture, especially the text that begins at verse 28:

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

Our Anglican brothers and sisters designate the above passage as The Comfortable Words, and in their earlier prayer books this scripture passage was recited by the priest at the beginning of every celebration of the Eucharist. The text is also important to our own Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as in this passage our fully human and fully divine Lord gives us insight about the quality and character of his own heart.

Our Sunday Gospel lesson may appear to have two independent sections. The opening words of the Gospel passage record the first public prayer of Jesus, and at first glance it can appear slightly self-aggrandizing and even a little off-putting:

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

The context may explain: in the verses just before our present text, Jesus is expressing frustration with those who have witnessed his saving work and teaching but have not changed their manner of thinking, attitudes, or way of life. He had rather strong words of condemnation for those who were too high-minded, omniscient or ‘know-it-alls’, for whom an open heart and mind to the seemingly upside-down values of God’s kingdom is not possible.

In this Gospel passage, Jesus invites us to put aside our pretenses and hardened minds and open ourselves to the wisdom of God. This wisdom is not that of human cleverness but of divine revelation wherein, as one scholar has put it, “even the best of human insight that relies only on its own resources cannot penetrate…”

R. T. France writes about these paradoxical values of the kingdom when he notes that Jesus’ “…character as meek and lowly in heart reflects the values of the Beatitudes, and his ‘yoke’, traditionally a symbol of oppressive power, is in fact ‘kind’ and a source not of misery but of ‘rest’…” for those who accept the invitation.

As noted above, taking a yoke upon oneself seems like a foolish act of self-oppression. This strange advice is also found in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, where this strikingly similar passage from Sirach 51:23-26 invites the Israelite people to take the yoke of wisdom:

Come aside to me, you untutored,
and take up lodging in the house of instruction;
How long will you deprive yourself of wisdom’s food,
how long endure such bitter thirst?
I open my mouth and speak of her:
gain wisdom for yourselves at no cost.
Take her yoke upon your neck;
that your mind may receive her teaching.
For she is close to those who seek her,
and the one who is in earnest finds her.

Today our loving God reaches out to us, saying, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” The God who became small for us, coming as a helpless and vulnerable child, and who now offers himself to us in the broken bread of his body and the poured out wine of his blood, inviting us not to take only the yoke of wisdom, but that of Jesus himself, and thereby entering a lifelong process of learning the hidden ways of God.

America, who are we?

This week has been a week of very significant anniversaries for our nation. Today, the fourth of July, we celebrate Independence Day, recalling the events that marked the beginning of an armed struggle that would eventually provide the colonists of this new land the necessary liberty to adopt the Enlightenment ideals that would shape this great nation into a just and free civilization.

Earlier this week, the first through the third of July, we recalled the Battle of Gettysburg, that horrific conflict between fellow citizens in which over 45,500 men were killed, wounded or went missing in a battle that was to determine the outcome of the Civil War and eventually the character and future direction of these United States.

And on Wednesday of this week, the second of July, we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, another moment in our history that was to advance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for a large number of our nation’s residents. This legislation changed laws that caused repression, suffering and humiliation – only fifty years ago – for many of our citizens changing a horrible lack of justice and liberty in a national shame that is almost incomprehensible to our young people today.

Last fall, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez published a book entitled Immigration and the Next America. In this small book, Archbishop Gomez expressed his worry that the United States is “…losing something of our national soul.” He writes,

America is a great nation: free and prosperous, brave and generous. Throughout our history and still today, Americans have been willing to sacrifice, even to lay down our lives, for others in need. At home and abroad. In times of war, and in times of peace. Americans can be found wherever people are poor and suffering – lending a hand, saving lives, building communities, bringing people hope.

Yet this great nation finds itself reduced to addressing this major issue in our public life through name calling and discrimination, “profiling” based on race, random identity checks, commando-style raids of workplaces and homes, arbitrary detentions and deportations.

Many happenings this week have played before us events demonstrating the difficult situation faced by so many people:

Here there is an account of Tuesday’s protestors in Murrieta, California, who blocked three busses with children being transported to care facilities. Their signs read, “Return to Sender” and “America has been invaded” while they chanted "Go home!”

Here you can read a more reasoned account of why these young people are risking their lives to immigrate.

Tragically, here is a story from the Boston Herald describing the death of a 15 year-old boy from Guatemala, his decaying body found in the desert of Texas.

And finally, an article by Pablo Alvarado describing how he and his little brother escaped El Salvador because of death threats.

I started this post recalling a series of events in our nation’s, all borne of tragedy and pain, but ultimately shaping our national for the better. The Statue of Liberty, whose original title was Liberty enlightening the World, is a reminder of the nobility of our nation’s soul – the better angels of our nature as Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it - that each of these significant events call forth in us. Opening the borders is not the answer, nor should we abandon the rule of law. But we must search for an answer that is reasonable, just and resonant with our nation’s long-standing commitment to the huddled masses seeking freedom.

Emma Lazarus was invited to compose a sonnet for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. She titled the poem The New Colossus, hearkening back to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the giant statue that presided over the harbor of Rhodes. Now a different type of Colossus presides over New York’s Harbor. The text Lazarus composed says it all.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

If you want to take some action on this great day in our history go to the Catholic Bishop’s website www.justiceforimmigrants.org for ideas.

Choir School receives $100,000 grant from the LDS Church Foundation

Last week the Choir School received news that the LDS Church Foundation had awarded a $100,000 grant toward the capital campaign to restore Erbin Hall. This great news advances our fundraising in the effort to revitalize this historic structure and create a safe, functional and inspiring place for learning and formation at the Madeleine Choir School.

Bishop Wester, writing to Keith B. McMullin, the CEO/President of the Deseret Management Corporation stated, "I pray that our efforts to strengthen and improve our school will also reap a multitude of benefits for the larger community as we continue to play a part in our wonderful city and state. We look forward to many more years of providing a religious and artistic presence that enhances our local culture and the lives of many. You have given us a huge boost by your generosity and I am profoundly grateful.”

Pope Francis on the move...

The Religious News Service created this graphic which highlights the work of our Holy Father Pope Francis in recent months. We continue to uphold him in our prayer as he leads us.

Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene

July is the month we remember Mary Magdalene, the patron saint for the Cathedral and Choir School, as her feast day is celebrated throughout the world on July 22nd. Here is an overview of some of the activities planned for the celebration at the Cathedral. Please join us as you are able!

The People of St. Mary Magdalene:
Celebrating our Patronal Feast Day
20 – 22 July 2014
The Cathedral of the Madeleine & The Madeleine Choir School
Salt Lake City, Utah

Sunday 20 July ◊ 9:45 AM
Pope Francis and St. Mary Magdalene:
The Joy of the Gospel
A Community Lecture with Mr. Gregory Glenn
Adult Education Room ◊ Scanlan Hall

Monday 21 July ◊ 7:00 PM
Festival Organ Recital and Plaza Reception
Welcoming our new Cathedral Organist Dr. Gabriele Terrone

Tuesday 22 July ◊ 6:00 PM
Solemn Bilingual Mass for the Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene
With the Cathedral Choirs ◊ The Very Rev. Martin Diaz, Celebrant

Tuesday 22 July ◊ 7:15 PM
Cathedral Parish Family Dinner
On the Cathedral’s Plaza
Live Music by Marimba Veracruz and Grupo Desafio Show
Raffle Prizes and Special Treat for Children!
Individual Dinner $5.00 ◊ Family Dinner $20.00