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Columns/Letters
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Remembering Father John Brennen |
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Written by DEACON GREG KIRK, Galion St. Joseph
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Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 |
Father John Brennen, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Galion died last month after a long and courageous struggle with many health challenges. Finding that I have a half hour to spare between the Sunday Masses I’m preaching, I’m drawn to John’s office to sit and reflect.
Father John Brennen, a priest of the Diocese of Toledo, died Feb. 11 at the age of 44. (Chronicle file photo)
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John’s leather jacket is draped on the sofa, Pope Benedict’s book on the priesthood is leaning against the base of the desk chair, the walls are dotted with crosses and Irish blessings, and a medical tube protrudes from the stack of paper on the desk. A lump forms in my throat; my eyes well with tears. Tears for the suffering and loss of Fr. John Brennen. Tears for the loss of “John” my friend. The minutes tick by, and I close my eyes and lose myself in remembrance.
I remember the young priest who loved children, the priest who placed a high priority on spending time in the parish school. I remember how children and young people loved him, how they sensed his genuine interest in their lives. I remember John involving them in the liturgy. A smile creases my face as I remember the many times John invited children to help bear the Eucharistic gifts to the altar or light the Sunday Advent candles.
I remember a John who swayed and danced, vestments flowing, to both traditional hymns and contemporary religious songs. John and music, how he loved it. And what a musical contradiction he was! A priest who loved the heavy metal music of Creed and Van Halen, the 80s music of Blondie and Eddie Money, a priest who cherished music from Masses dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to St. Francis of Assisi.
I also reflect on the John Brennen who placed such a high priority on “family, faith, and friends.” Life was not complicated for John. For him, a simple list of priorities that even a child could remember were what mattered most.
The people of St. Joseph routinely and consistently described Fr. John as outgoing, warm, friendly, hospitable, genuine, positive and upbeat. John was all of these things. I also remember a John that others often didn’t see, the John who suffered from diabetes, the confinement of kidney dialysis and lingering injuries from a car accident. That John was often weak and in pain. He was a John who even when having a hard time standing was still determined to celebrate a baptism or the Mass.
So many memories flood my mind and heart. The John who loved American history, especially military history. The John who loved crazy hats. The John who loved sports and supported our young athletes with his encouragement and frequent game attendance.
The John Brennen I remember best is the man who strove to be a good priest while dealing with tremendous health challenges, a man who met his challenges with a simple yet pervasive belief: Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. From John, I learned that to live with “courage” doesn’t mean to be free from fear and anxiety, it means to live with trust that despite anything that happens, God is with us, in everything.
I open my eyes, look at the time and ready myself to return to church and the next service. Before I leave John’s office I remember the many times I’ve been asked, “How long did Fr. Brennen serve your parish?” I have consistently responded “nearly two years.” A more fitting response would be “long enough to be deeply loved.”
Requiescat in pace. May you rest in peace, Fr. John Brennen, enjoying the love and embrace of the Jesus you loved and served so well in this life. The people of St. Joseph are grateful for all that you gave to them. Along with you, we will remember to be grateful for what God has given us — salvation, in Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Editor’s Note: Two memorial Masses are planned for Fr. Brennen: On March 6, Mass begins at 6 p.m. at Galion St. Joseph. Another Mass is to be held March 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Mansfield St. Peter, where Fr. Brennan was an associate pastor.
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Last Updated on Friday, 05 March 2010 00:00 |
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The robotic girlfriend and the new Manichaeism |
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Written by CHRISTOPHER WEST
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Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
A friend who knows I like to stay informed about disturbing trends in society recently sent me an article announcing the world’s first life-size sex robot complete with artificial intelligence and “flesh like” skin.
Douglas Hines, its creator, explains that she’s more than a sexual play-thing: “She’s a companion … She hears you. She listens to you. She speaks. She feels your touch …. We are trying to replicate a personality.”
 Those willing to pay $7,000-$9,000 (depending on options) can detail their preferences in a mate at the company Web site, much like online dating. When Roxy the Robot arrives in the mail, she’s programmed to suit. “She knows exactly what you like,” says Mr. Hines. “If you like Porsches, she likes Porsches. If you like soccer, she likes soccer.”
Despite Mr. Hines’ attempt to “personify” these robots, what we see here, of course, is the epitome of the modern depersonalization of the body and sexuality. It’s the sad result of a new outbreak of an ancient and deadly disease: Manichaeism — that tenacious heresy that ruptures body and soul, the physical and the spiritual.
In his 1994 Letter to Families, Pope John Paul II diagnosed the problem as follows: “[T]he human family is facing the challenge of a new Manichaeism, in which body and spirit are put in radical opposition. … Man thus ceases to live as a person and a subject. Regardless of all intentions and declarations to the contrary, he becomes merely an object.” It is precisely this “objectification” of the human body that allows one even to conceive of the idea of a robotic “girlfriend.”
John Paul continues: “This neo-Manichaean culture has led, for example, to human sexuality being regarded more as an area for manipulation and exploitation than as the basis of that primordial wonder which led Adam on the morning of creation to exclaim before Eve: ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh’ (Gen 2:23). This same wonder is echoed in the words of the Song of Songs: ‘You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes’ (Song 4:9).”
All one needs to do to see how far we have fallen from Eden is contrast Adam’s delight in Eve on the day of creation with the neurotic “excitement” of desperate-Joe as he pulls his pre-programmed robotic doll from the cardboard and bubble-wrap on the day of her UPS delivery. As John Paul II exclaims: “How far removed are some modern ideas from the profound understanding of masculinity and femininity found in divine revelation!” Ain’t it the truth …
Contrary to this modern depersonalization of sexuality, divine revelation “leads us to discover in human sexuality a treasure proper to the person, who finds true fulfillment in [marriage and] the family but who can likewise express his profound calling in virginity and in celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of God” (Letter to Families 19). Both vocations — marriage and celibacy for the kingdom — flow from the same truth of our creation as male and female: the call to live the sincere gift of self, that is, the call to love in the image of God.
Obviously, only persons can love in the divine image. Robots that “replicate personality” are not persons. They are replicas. And as I write this, I find it difficult to fathom that such a point even needs to be made. Robots aren’t persons: Isn’t that just common sense? Then again, in an age when teams of highly skilled technicians spend their careers engineering sex robots, we can conclude that common sense isn’t so common.
The whole enterprise is yet another indication that, as John Paul observed, we live in “a society which is sick and is creating profound distortions in man. Why is this happening? The reason,” he concluded, “is that our society has broken away from the full truth about … what man and woman really are as persons. Thus it cannot adequately comprehend the real meaning of the gift of persons in marriage, responsible love at the service of fatherhood and motherhood, and the true grandeur of procreation” (Letter to Families 20).
If civilization is to survive, it is absolutely critical that we recover the “great mystery” of God’s glorious plan for human sexuality (see Eph 5:31-32). John Paul II’s stupendous Theology of the Body unfolds it for us. Take it up. Study it. Live it. Share it with everyone you know and we will not fall short of renewing the face of the earth (learn more at theologyofthebody.com).
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Christopher West is a fellow of the Theology of the Body Institute in West Chester, Pa., and lectures worldwide on the subject. His books and other information are available at www.christopherwest.com. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
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Excuses In athletics |
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Written by JEFF MIELCAREK, Director of CYO Athletics
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Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
Have you ever stopped to think how many different excuses all of us seem to use in athletics? Coaches use excuses for their team not winning a game. Players use excuses for not performing the way that they would have liked. Parents use excuses for behaving the way they did at a sporting event. These are just a few examples and I’m sure that you can come up with many others.
Why do we all use excuses in athletics? That’s a question that I believe may have one easy answer: Excuses become “crutches” for our behavior and/or performance. Rather then look at a situation with an open mind and open eyes, it is easier to blame someone else for our behavior and/or poor performance.
 I often hear from coaches, players and parents about technical fouls in basketball games. Very seldom do they say, “I’m sorry for my poor behavior in the game. I lost my cool and I deserved the technical foul. It won’t happen again.” Rather, most of the time I hear something like, “The players on the other team were acting very unsportsmanlike and the referees were not doing anything to control the game, so I finally had enough and pushed a player after the whistle and then I was whistled for a technical foul.” This is the short version of what usually comes to me from the coach, player or parent in the CYO program.
We all stumble in life’s journey, and in the Catholic church we are given the great gift of the sacrament of reconciliation. My guess is that most people don’t make excuses when they enter the confessional and meet with the priest. Why, then, do so many people think that in the athletic arena things are different?
Athletics is a great way for all of us to exercise our bodies and take part in friendly competition using the gifts that God has blessed us with. We all want to win and perform at our highest level, but sometimes this doesn’t happen, and other times we face a superior opponent. Then what? Does that make it OK to use excuses? The answer is simple: No.
In the CYO program I see many examples of people who “get it” and try very hard to keep athletics in proper perspective and not make excuses for everything that goes wrong. Unfortunately, there are many others who walk into the gym looking for people to blame all the time.
Athletics can be a challenge to each and every one of us, but it can also be such a great experience if we allow it to be. How will you handle the athletic experience? Will you let it control you or will you remain in control of it? It’s a choice each of us has to make. Good luck with your decision. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
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The living desert |
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Written by FATHER HERB WEBER
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Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
Back when I was a child, I watched a Disney movie called, “The Living Desert.” It was, and still is, a fascinating documentary on various types of mammal, reptile, bird, insect and plant life found in the desert. Fifty years later, in January of this year, I finally had the chance to see life in the desert first hand when I spent several days in the Sonora Desert of southern Arizona.
When most people hear the word “desert,” they think of the Sahara with shifting sands and pyramids. Yet the same word can describe any land that is basically dry and resistant to cultivation. The desert that Jesus entered, the area where He spent 40 days at the beginning of his adult ministry (Luke 4:1-2), was a barren land. But, like the Sonora Desert, it was also full of life.
 It is often said that our 40 days of Lent have to be our desert experience. Like the living desert that I discovered in the American southwest, the Lenten desert is also full of life even as it appears desolate and lacking in comfort.
In the Sonora, I witnessed birds of great variation, including roadrunners and various jays. I saw several gila woodpeckers drilling into a large saguaro cactus. One afternoon, I stopped and listened to coyotes. Thankfully it was not the right season to see many snakes, but I did see some small lizards. I saw only one scorpion.
Most of all, however, I noticed plant life. The lone palo verde on the hill became a compass point for me as I hiked. Cacti, in more varieties than I knew, were matched by ocotillo, creosote and ironwood bushes. The teddy bear cholla, looking almost fuzzy — but do not touch — especially got my attention.
In short, the fullness of life in the desert impressed this Ohio boy. Much was strange; almost all of it was new. Yet walking through the desert was as life-yielding as a Sunday stroll in Oak Openings or Mohican parks in our diocese.
Spending time in a Lenten desert must also be about life. It is a journey that gives life to the community even as it challenges and causes people to search and discover new examples of life.
The great paradox is that life can be most appreciated when it is less evident. On first glance, a desert experience seems to mean going without or struggling with absence of the essentials of life like water and nutrition. When these are found, however, they are more appreciated.
In Lent we deliberately separate ourselves from plentiful food, extravagant entertainment and personal luxuries. Fish fries may be popular during Lent as people avoid meat, but they rarely define self-denial!
When real fasting or active efforts at self-denial are involved, there may be an experience of entering the wilderness. But precisely because of these sacrifices, the human body can be more disposed to the refreshing presence of God. The same is true for the person who sets aside time for reflective prayer. Like a walk in the desert, the openness of the setting provides space to listen to God.
Lent is not simply about the quantity of prayer, sacrifices and almsgiving that someone engages in. Those practices mentioned in the Ash Wednesday liturgy are not ends in themselves but opportunities for serious Lenten journeyers to step away from daily activities or business as usual.
As Jesus went into the desert to pray, he removed Himself from His neighbors and family as well as His work and familiar neighborhood. He gave Himself time in a hostile environment to commune with the Father and to embrace His adult ministry that was about to begin. His desert experience probably gave Him strength to endure many trials in the days that lay ahead.
Lent provides us with a desert experience, even when we are many miles from any actual desert. By moving away from the comfortable we enter a world where what seems to be desolate will yield much life for our souls.
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Father Weber is pastor of Perrysburg Blessed John XXIII. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 27 February 2010 00:00 |
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Witnesses at Catholic weddings |
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Written by FATHER CHARLES SINGLER
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Monday, 15 February 2010 17:01 |
One of the important features of the Catholic sacraments is the fact that no one ever celebrates them alone. The communal dynamic is essential to every sacramental act.
The Rite of Marriage is no exception. While the underlying theological perspective expresses the fact that the man and woman to be married are, in fact, the ministers of the sacrament of marriage through the consent they freely exchange to one another in the presence of the delegated representative (priest or deacon), church law also requires that two witnesses are to be physically present in observing the consent given by the bride and groom.
 Some additional requirements for the two witnesses include the fact that they must have the use of reason and possess a sufficient discretion to know, understand and be capable of testifying about what they observe at the time of the consent they have been asked to witness. In most wedding Masses or liturgies outside Mass currently celebrated in Catholic parishes, the task of witnessing is entrusted to the persons designated as “best man” and “maid or matron of honor,” however, any member of the bridal party or in attendance at the service can be designated as a “witness” to the consent.
One question often asked during the course of marriage preparation is whether the witnesses chosen are to be Roman Catholic. The answer is no. The important consideration in choosing witnesses is the account needed should there be a question or doubt that the consent was ever given.
The Marriage Registry in every parish church records the names of the two witnesses, along with other pertinent information about the couple being married so that the ecclesiastical (canon law) requirements are fulfilled properly.
Unlike the choice of a godparent at baptism, or a sponsor at confirmation — roles requiring an active participative membership in the Catholic faith — the two witnesses at Catholic weddings serve in testifying that, in fact, consent was publicly expressed. They need not be married themselves, nor married to one another. Both witnesses may be male or female.
While the invited guests and family members attending a wedding ceremony all witness the consent of the couple standing before them, church law only requires the inscription of two “official” witnesses. The names of these two designated persons only are inscribed in the marriage registry and on any subsequent certificate issued by the parish when it is requested.
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Father Charles E. Singler, D. Min., is director of worship for the Diocese of Toledo. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 15 February 2010 17:01 |
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