A Martyr's Last Homily

According to an Italian newspaper, the Vatican's commission on sainthood voted unanimously to recognize the 1980 assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero as martyrdom. This is a bit step towards being proclaimed a saint someday.

He was the archbishop of San Salvador at the start of El Salvador's 1979-1992 civil war. He continually called upon the country's military government to stop their crackdown of their leftist opponents. This was his last homily:

You have just heard in Christ’s gospel that one must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us, and that those who try to fend off the danger will lose their lives, while those who out of love for Christ give themselves to the service of others, will live, live like the grain of wheat that dies, but only apparently. If it did not die, it would remain alone. The harvest comes about only because it dies, allowing itself to be sacrificed in the earth and destroyed. Only by undoing itself does it produce the harvest....

This is the hope that inspires us as Christians. We know that every effort to better society, especially when justice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us.... Of course, we must try to purify these ideals, Christianize them, clothe them with the hope of what lies beyond. That makes them stronger, because it gives us the assurance that all that we cultivate on earth, if we nourish it with Christian hope, will never be a failure. We will find it in a purer form in that kingdom where our merit will be found in the labor that we have done here on earth....

Dear brothers and sisters, let us all view these matters at this historic moment with that hope, that spirit of giving and of sacrifice. Let us all do what we can. We can all do something, at least have a sense of understanding and sympathy....

[I]t is worthwhile to labor, because all those longings for justice, peace, and well-being that we experience on earth become realized for us if we enlighten them with Christian hope. We know that no one can go on forever, but those who have put into their work a sense of very great faith, of love of God, of hope among human beings, find it all results in the splendors of a crown that is the sure reward of those who labor thus, cultivating truth, justice, love, and goodness on earth. Such labor does not remain here below but, purified by God’s Spirit, is harvested for our reward. 

The holy Mass, now, this Eucharist, is just such an act of faith. To Christian faith at this moment the voice of diatribe appears changed for the body of the Lord, who offered himself for the redemption of the world, and in this chalice the wine is transformed into the blood that was the price of salvation. May this body immolated and this blood sacrificed for humans nourish us also, so that we may give our body and our blood to suffering and to pain --- like Christ, not for self, but to bring about justice and peace for our people.
Let us join together, then, intimately in faith and hope at this moment of prayer....

A postscript reads: "a shot rang out in the chapel and Archbishop Romero fell mortally wounded. He died within minutes, on arriving at a nearby hospital emergency room."

Saying Yes

In Advent, while anticipating Christmas, part of the 8th grade program on the Advent Wreath was singing. Sunday will be the last day of the Christmas Season, but we still say yes.

Special Snowflakes

"Special snowflakes."

I’ve heard that term used in derision, to mock people for thinking they might be special or deserving of special consideration.

I laughed a little when I first heard the name because it was admittedly clever. But then I thought about it more and was reminded of the 1995 movie (and 1905 novel), “A Little Princess.”

The movie – which pits a girl, Sara, against her cruel caretaker, Miss Minchin – culminates with this exchange:

Miss Minchin: “Don't tell me you still fancy yourself a princess? Child, look around you! Or better yet, look in the mirror.”

Sara Crewe: “I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren't pretty, or smart or young. They're still princesses. All of us. Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?”

The point, of course: All of us are special, and no one can take that away from us.

This notion is especially important in our Catholic faith, that we have extraordinary worth as God’s unique creations and as His children (thus princes and princesses.) And snowflakes, as beautiful and one-of-a-kind as they are, pale in comparison to us, made in God’s image and likeness.

The church recognizes our inherent dignity and works to protect it. Those in the pro-life movement in particular go into full gear each January to remind us of the value of every human life, from conception to natural death.

Yet I don’t think we’ll ever fully grasp how special we truly are.

Author C.S. Lewis attempted to explain in “The Weight of Glory.”

"There are no ordinary people,” he wrote. “You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit. . . . Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

So I will happily acknowledge that I am a “special snowflake,” along with every human every created.

And like the “Little Princess,” Sara, I’ll recognize that we’re all princes and princesses. Our Father did tell us that.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

Front Page

Some of the sixth grade students from St. Columbkille Catholic School are on the front page of the Papillion Times today. It mentions the service our sixth and third grade students did just before the Christmas break.

Convert from Islam

After lunch yesterday, Dr. Mark Christian spoke to the Happy Club about growing up a Muslim in Egypt (his birth name was Mohamed), how he left Islam and how he ended up a Christian in Omaha.

Although Muslims are not required to fast during Ramadan until they reach puberty, at the age of 5 Mark decided to fast. When his father discovered this, he lavished attention on Mark who had always felt ignored by his father before. Mark became the constant companion and confidante of his father, a doctor, soldier and devout Imam, as well as an adviser for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

For the next 16 years, Mark grew in his Sunni Muslim faith as a firm believer. As he grew as a young adult he began to have serious questions about his faith. He wanted the answers so he could defend his faith. Due to his family connections, he was able to ask these questions of some of the top Islamic leaders. He was told, "Don't ask questions."

Feeling a lack of foundation for the faith, Mark left Islam. For about 5 years, as he was in medical school, he tried to be an atheist or an agnostic. He said, "To look at DNA and not believe in God is crazy, but I was crazy."

It was in 2003 that Mark wanted to become a Christian. He would go to churches as and ask, "Can you tell me about Jesus and give me a Bible?" But due to the Islamic rules against conversion and the possible backlash, no one would help.

Mark said, "I didn't convert to Christianity because I wanted to drink a beer, but because I wanted to go to heaven." Although he did joke that "bacon changed my life."

In 2005, Mark and his wife flew to Chicago then came to Omaha because "no one in Egypt knows about Omaha." He considers it a miracle that both he and his wife converted as it is very rare for a Sunni Muslim to convert in the first place, and unheard of for a couple to convert. He was baptized at St. Cecilla's Cathedral in Omaha.

For seven years Mark and his family hid in Omaha, but he is hiding no longer. He is part of the Global Faith Institute. While he was initially angry, he has come to realize that "Muslims are the first victims of Islam."

"I was bitter towards my family for many years," he said, "Now I am not." He wishes to build bridges to Islam.His father and brother have put a price on his head, but he is not afraid.

Among the things he spoke about is Islam:

• Muslim is more political than a religion. It is it is about ruling. One does not evangelize in Islam;
• It is blasphemy in Islam to say that God loves me. There is no sense of a personal relationship with God;
• Mohamed is considered a champion of women because he ruled that when men beat their wives they should not hit them in the face or break any bones - so he made their lives better.

The first Monday of every month the Happy Club gathers for a potluck meal and stimulating conversions.

2015 Epiphany Proclamation

There is an ancient tradition that, as part of the celebration of Epiphany, all of the moveable feasts for the year be proclaimed after the Gospel reading on Epiphany. Fr. Vogel did that for us today.

Leaders of the School

The 8th graders at St. Columbkille Catholic School are expected to be leaders of the school. With that in mind they did a program for the rest fo the school just before the Christmas break.

 They told of the ancestors or Jesus,

 explained a symbol for each ...

 ... and how each is a part of the Jesse Tree.

Wedding Gift

Miss Borcyk's 5th grade class gave her this picture as a gift as she become Mrs. Wildman later today.

Congratulations!

Building Gingerbread Houses

At St. Columbkille Catholic School, Kindergarten and 7th grade students are matched as "Mass Buddies." This not only means they sit together at the all-school Mass each Thursday, but they also participate in some other activities together each year.

In one of those activities, the 7th graders help their buddy build a gingerbread house.

It's fun working together!

2015 Will Be Exciting

"Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that the newness of the Nativity in the flesh

of Your Only Begotten Son may set us free,

for ancient servitude holds us bound

beneath the yoke of sin."

2015 will be an exciting year.

That's not a prediction, but my New Year's resolution, based on the prayer above, the Collect from the Mass for Dec. 30.

"God does not like boredom," I heard a priest say, reflecting on the prayer. "He is eternally new."

It's sin that's old and boring, he said. At first, our sins might seem exciting and new. But after a while, as we become ensnared, we realize our sins are just old and predictable. How many of us go to Confession and repent of the same sins again and again?

But we are not to give up on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In fact, we need God's grace to break free. He's always there for us, wanting to set us free from our bondage, the priest said.

That is why God sent His Son to us.

So my resolution for 2015 is to go to Reconciliation as often as I can.

I'm bored with sin. I'm ready for the excitement Jesus offers, His eternal newness and happiness that we can experience in its fullness in Heaven.

Good riddance sin. Happy New Year!

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.