Sunday, September 21, 2008
In the Parish
I went to watch the Jordan Mustangs play football in Medicine Lake on Saturday. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. It's only about 200 miles away. I did ride with one of the parents so I did not have to worry about falling asleep.
Today I should be back to my normal Mass schedule. It will be good to see all of the people again. I have a baptism in Jordan this weekend and I understand I'll have one in Circle in a couple of weeks. New life is always great.
While I may be home, I'm still on orders with the Air Force and am doing some reconstitution time and will be taking some leave. I will be in the parish on weekends, but may be doing some other traveling and visiting during the week so don't expect a lot of posting on my blog just yet.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Back in Montana
I am back at Malmstrom and am preparing to do my processing so I can really go home. I can't wait to see what has happened while I've been away. I hope to be able to post a little more frequently now that I am back in the US. :)
Peace and Prayers
Serving Those Who Serve (Part IV)
As I prepare to head home I’d like to reflect upon the place where I think the people of Manas Air Base have made their greatest contribution – volunteering in the local communities. The airmen here have two private organizations that they may join to assist the locals build better lives for themselves. The Manas Service Organization (MS0) pairs volunteers from various units at the base with local communities. These volunteers go out to the local villages and help improve their schools, playgrounds and way of life. One village this summer received a new well to help provide clean running water for cooking and drinking.
The other organization that does outreach is the Manas Air Base Outreach Society (MABOS). I did most of my work with MABOS as I was the chairman. MABOS worked with several orphanages, a children’s cancer center, a children’s heart surgery center, and a few other outreach projects. It truly was a rewarding experience.
I had the opportunity to brief several distinguished visitors on the work of MABOS. As I was being introduced to one such visitor, the person introducing me commented how great it was to see the young airmen and women taking part in these opportunities as opposed to visiting the bars and strip joints. Of course, I quickly explained that we could not visit bars and strip joints from the base. However, it is good to follow up on the true meaning of his comments. So many times in life we get distracted by a desire to direct our love, not towards others, but towards ourselves. It is times like this that we are likely to desire to visit “bars and strip joints”.
When we focus our attention beyond ourselves, such as when the airmen and women participated in MSO or MABOS, we learn a greater meaning of love. For those who are not deployed to Manas Air Base, there are still plenty of opportunities for us to volunteer and pass some of that love and concern on to others. We can volunteer to assist in our own parishes for a multitude of ministries that exist. I know that I can always find project that can be passed on to qualified volunteers. We also have opportunities in the larger community. When I am back at home, volunteer with the local ambulance services and serve with the wildland fire fighting crew in Garfield County. Volunteers are needed to assist with blood drives. I mentioned the work of MABOS with orphanages. In some of our communities we have children who are almost like orphans. They could use a quality after school program to include mentors to be role models to form these young children to see value of volunteer service and outreach to others.
Find ways in your communities to reach out and share God’s love for you with others. You will truly make a difference. May God bless you, our troops around the world, and the USA.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Serving Those Who Serve (Part III)
In the course of my discussion with the priest, through our driver/translator, and later looking up Kyrgyzstan on Catholic-Hierarchy.org, I found out a little about the local Catholic community. Kyrgyzstan is actually considered a Apostolic Administration, which means it is not really a diocese, but has a bishop who administers the territory. The bishop has 5 priests to help him cover the 76,477 square mile country. Sometimes, we in Montana think we have a lot of area to cover. If the priests were evenly divided around the country, the average parish would still be about twice the size of my parish in area.
On the other hand, there are only about 500 Catholics listed for the country. That means the priest to parishioner ratio is much better than Montana. This is due primarily to the efforts of missionary priests coming into the country to serve the small Catholic population.
The priest and I spoke a little about the ministry of the sisters. We spoke about the English Mass for the coming weekend which would be said by the bishop who may not even know much English. The most important thing on my list was to find out where they purchase altar wine and communion hosts locally. I found out that the hosts have to be ordered from Poland. Our interpreters at the base are always encouraging us to buy locally, but we can't do that in this case. We sent the order back to the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri. We could find some suitable altar wine on that is produced locally.
Later in the day, thinking about the number of priests in Kyrgyzstan, I could not help but think of the priest shortage in the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. Rural areas, or places with small Catholic populations, experience the priest shortage in a different way than larger, more urban dioceses. Our priests are not normally serving thousands of people each, but are covering thousands of square miles to accomplish their ministry. In many ways, this affects the interaction between the priest and his parishioners. Whether it be large congregations, or large areas to cover, priests have a lot of expectations put upon them.
Oftentimes, we wonder what we can do to help out the priests. I would like to offer a few of my suggestions:
First, pray for them every day. Pray not only for the priests of your own parish by name, but for all priests of your diocese and of the world.
Second and third, pray for vocations and encourage young men who may be called to priesthood to respond to the call. These two ideas go together. If there are more young men ordained, it takes the burden off the priests who are currently serving.
Fourth, support your parish priest. Let your priest know that you appreciate what he is doing for you and your community. Invite him to dinner or lunch once in a while. Find out if there is something special that he enjoys and help him participate in that activity (skiing, card playing, hunting, a nice bottle of scotch or wine, watching a ball game with another person).
Fifth, pray for your priests and for an increase in vocations. I know, you've heard that one already, but it is important to keep those prayers going. (While you are praying throw in a couple of prayers for those called to religious life, and those who are married. Married couples are the source of priests, and religious sisters and brothers can be an inspiration for one discerning a vocation.)
Vocations need to be nourished, not just while they are being formed, but as they are being lived out.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
What will happen?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Serving those who serve (Part II)
Many times, as we face things in life that are inconvenient or difficult, we are quick to complain. Man life is sometimes rough. Over here at Manas, we are sleeping in 8 x 12 rooms. If you are a junior enlisted, you get to share your room. We have to walk down the hall to the latrine or showers. The food at the Dining Facility is not like it is off the stove at home, and we have to walk a couple of blocks to get there. Our TV selection is limited. We get some variety from the Armed Forces Network (AFN). On the "news" channel we get a mish-mash of news programing from the various networks throughout the day -- CNN for a bit then FOX then MSNBC. You get the idea. It is easy to think that this is roughing it. Oh, the cross that we bear. For a lot of you reading this, all of a sudden what you are facing at home does not seem so bad.
When the troops come through on their way from Afghanistan to head home, things are put even more into perspective. Many of them are sleeping in tents, or spend some nights without any shelter as they are out on patrol. Showers? Try keeping yourself clean with baby wipes. They are eating MRE's (meals, ready to eat) which may or may not be hot, depending upon time and if they have the small heaters to heat the meals. If they are lucky, someone has a radio and they can listen to the AFN radio programing, mostly hip hop type music. All of a sudden, what we are facing at Manas seems almost like paradise.
As you face the challenges for living life, it is important to remember those who are in greater need. Jesus reminded his disciples that they would have to pick up their cross daily to follow him. Those crosses seem heavy at times. I'm willing to bet that most of us, if we were to attempt to change our cross for a lighter one, would find that our cross is not so heavy. We need to pray for the courage to carry our own crosses in life. We need to pray for those who have a heavy load to bear. When our cross seems heavy, we need to remember that Jesus said for us to take his yoke upon our shoulders and he would give us rest. It's all a matter of perspective.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Serving those who serve (Part I)
As the only Catholic priest serving the international force gathered at Manas Air Base here in Kyrgyzstan I've had to put my communication skills to the test. The Spanish contingent here has a group which attends Mass regularly, including one member who attends Mass daily. While many of the Spaniards speak and understand some English, this daily communicant does not. I may have to practice my Spanish enough to allow me to say Mass in Spanish once a week or so. I've already been invited over to visit the Spanish crew for a dish they call "Paella" which is made in a skillet that is about four or five feet in diameter. This meal, made with rice as the main ingredient, and chicken and sea food added was a real experience.
My first Saturday evening, just before Mass, a group of soldiers from Poland were milling about outside of the chapel. I tried to invite them to Mass, but they had a difficult time understanding me. A different group from Poland stopped by for daily Mass one evening just after that. They understand and speak English much better than I could ever speak Polish. The only Polish word I could think of was "Pierogi" which is something like a pasty from Butte. I could not even work that word into the conversation.
I've seen military members here from Poland, Spain, France, Lithuania, and Kyrgyzstan. By the time I leave I'm sure I'll see even more. The languages, the food and cultures are much different than Eastern Montana. I've heard people back home comment from time to time that they stopped going to Mass when "Father So-and-so" was there because they could not understand him. I think some of these Catholics have missed the real point of our Eucharistic celebrations. We gather for Mass. We unite to offer the greatest prayer possible. These military members from these other countries who stop by to attend Mass have that deeper understanding. They know the prayer. They have it so ingrained into them that they hear it beyond the difficulties that may exist from lack of a common language, or a strange accent. Some people say going back to Latin is the answer. Others want all Masses celebrated in English with an eastern Montana accent. Neither is likely to happen everywhere throughout the diocese, but if we really appreciate the sacrifice of Calvary, we'll make our own sacrifices to be a part of Mass each Sunday, no matter which language is used for the celebration, or how hard the celebrant is to understand.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Another touch of history
Monday, May 12, 2008
Archbishop asks Kansas governor to refrain from Communion for abortion support, awaits response
Kansas City, May 12, 2008 / 06:07 pm (CNA).- Saying her support for legal abortion conveys the erroneous message that the Church’s teaching on abortion is optional, Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph F. Naumann has publicly admonished Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for her veto of an abortion law reform bill passed by the Kansas legislature.
Sebelius, a Catholic, is considered a possible vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. Her campaign has reportedly accepted donations from Dr. George Tiller, an abortionist who performs late-term abortions and is the subject of a Kansas Supreme Court case for allegedly violating the state’s laws on late-term abortions.
Writing in the May 9 issue of The Leaven, the Archdiocese of Kansas City’s newspaper, Archbishop Naumann said that because of the governor’s support for legalized abortion, he had asked her to refrain from receiving Holy Communion until she makes a worthy confession and publicly repudiates her stand on abortion.
The archbishop said that the Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act had been passed by “significant majorities” in both chambers of the Kansas legislature.
Check out the whole article at the Catholic News Agency
Monday, May 5, 2008
ROSARY IS NOT A PIOUS PRACTICE RELEGATED TO THE PAST
VATICAN CITY, 3 MAY 2008 (VIS) - This evening Benedict XVI presided at the praying of the Rosary in the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major, "Marian temple par excellence" in which, as the Holy Father recalled, the image of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" is venerated.
"In the experience of my generation", he said, "May evenings evoke pleasant memories of vespertine appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary. ... Today we together confirm that the holy Rosary is not some pious practice relegated to the past, a prayer of distant times to be thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the Rosary is experiencing what is almost a new springtime".
"In the modern world which is so dispersive, this prayer helps us to place Christ at the centre, as did the Virgin who meditated upon everything that was said about her Son and upon what He Himself did and said. When we recite the Rosary we relive important monuments of the history of salvation, we again go over the various stages of Christ's mission. With Mary we turn our hearts to the mystery of Jesus".
"May Mary help us to welcome within ourselves the grace that emanates from these mysteries, so that through us this grace can 'irrigate' society, starting with our everyday relationships, purifying it from many negative forces and opening it to the novelty of God.
"The Rosary", the Pope added, "when it is prayed in an authentic manner - not mechanically and superficially, but profoundly - brings peace and reconciliation. It contains the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the heart of each Hail Mary".
Benedict XVI then called on those present to ensure they remained united to Mary during these days leading up to Pentecost, "invoking a renewed effusion of the Holy Spirit for the Church". He also entrusted them with "the most urgent intentions" of his ministry: "the needs of the Church, the great problems of humanity, peace in the world, the unity of Christians, and dialogue between cultures", as well as the pastoral objectives of the diocese of Rome, and the "solidary development" of Italy.
BXVI-ROSARY/.../ST. MARY MAJOR VIS 080505 (370)