Father John A. Kiley
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If you were walking along the beach at Narragansett and you noticed a wristwatch in the sand, would you pick up the wristwatch and remark, “Oh, look! The wind and the sand and the waves and the shells and the sea weed and fish bones all came together at the just the right moment and produced this wristwatch!”? Or would you more likely comment, “Oh, look! Someone lost their watch!” The likelihood of a wristwatch being constructed by an accident of nature is highly unlikely. The thought is absurd. Well, if timepieces don’t result from chance neither does this glorious universe that mankind inhabits. The order in the stars, planets and heavenly bodies, the productive harmony known as the four seasons, the intricate coordination found in the human body, the unfailing resilience of humanity and nature after assorted disasters – surely these are evidence that initiating and guiding the destiny of this earth is what the Greeks called the “Nous” or the “Mind,” and what the Semitic peoples called “God” and what we Christians know as “the Father.” more
One of the first historical developments within Christianity was the movement of pious Christians away from the moral tumult of the ancient world’s Greco-Roman cities into the spiritual solitude of the Egyptian desert. St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Mary of Egypt are still venerated as early believers who put aside the wealth and pleasures of the Mediterranean world to pursue their eternal destinies in Egypt’s secluded wilderness. Although these desert fathers and mothers went to Egypt seeking isolation, they actually encountered much company. The demons and devils that plagued Jesus during his public life gave these ancient hermits no peace in their quest for a deeper spirituality. And the piety of these early solitaries not only enriched them spiritually but actually drew a good number of disciples eager to learn their Christian disciplines. The barren desert was spiritually most fruitful. more
When the angel appeared to St. Joseph to announce the birth of Jesus Christ, the heavenly emissary informed the new father that he should name his son Jesus “because he will save his people from their sins.” When the angelic hosts appeared to the shepherds on the hillside they announced that in the city of Bethlehem “a savior has been born to you who is Christ the Lord.” Even the Immaculate Virgin Mary declared in her celebrated canticle, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” The dream of Joseph, the visitation of the shepherds and the song of Mary all remind believers that being a savior, introducing salvation and saving people from sin, was the basic mission of Christ. The very name Jesus means “God saves.” more
The Holy Bible did not fall from the heavens as a complete publication ready for copying by the quill pen. Many of the 45 assorted books of the Hebrew Scriptures were most likely assembled by Jewish authorities during the Babylonian exile about five hundred years before the birth of Christ. By Jesus’ time the Hebrew Scriptures had been translated into Greek by 70 Jewish scholars becoming the Septuagint version Old Testament known today. It is very significant then that when assembling the many Biblical books during the Babylonian exile, the Jewish scholars chose to introduce the inspired Word of God by two epic sagas about family life. Genesis I recounts the familiar six days of creation culminating in the formation of the male/female unit open to new life known today as the family: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” Genesis II confirms the primacy of the family: “When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.* Clearly, the Jews understood family life to be a foundational element in God’s plan for humanity. more
Although Adam and Eve, along with Noah and his family and the revelers at Babul, are lost to history, the patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah have some historical credibility. The migration of Abraham’s family from Mesopotamia to Canaan was part of a general movement in Asia Minor dating from sometime in the first half of the second millennium before Christ. While there is no physical evidence of Abraham’s trek, his ancestral story has affinities to other late second-millennium stories and the names Abraham and Sarah fit language patterns of that era. Biblical scholars tend to acknowledge that the patriarch Abraham, the ancestor of Israel, was an actual historical person. more
Elijah, also known as Elias, was a distinctive Hebrew prophet whose exploits are recounted largely in the First and Second Books of Kings. Elijah is familiar to Christian believers through his close association with John the Baptist and through his appearance with Moses at the transfiguration of Christ. Elijah was one of those rare Old Testament figures who, like Enoch, did not die but was taken up into heaven on the fiery chariot noted in the celebrated Negro spiritual. Lack of a recorded death possibly indicates a Jewish belief in Elijah’s continued influence over Jewish history and even his eventual return into history. The Jews of Jesus’ era certainly anticipated Elijah’s return and were only too anxious to see Elijah in the person of St. John the Baptist. more
The spiritual life of the Christian is often depicted as a search for God. “Seek always His face,” the Psalmist advises. Jeremiah concurs with these words, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” His fellow prophet Isaiah certainly agrees, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” Jesus himself speaks on the need to search for God, “Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” And, even more pointedly, Jesus instructs, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added to you.” more
On October 7, 1974, Monsignor Barry R. L. Connerton and I stood on the steps of the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence. The Most Reverend Kenneth Angell had just been ordained as auxiliary bishop of Providence by Bishop Louis E. Gelineau. Monsignor Connerton, then assistant editor of the then-Providence Visitor, suggested that I should write a weekly column for the diocesan newspaper. I had written innumerable Letters to Editor to both the Providence Visitor and the Providence Journal. more
Undoubtedly, the greatest contribution that the Jewish people have made to civilization is their belief in a Creator God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the personal God known as Father to Christians, and honored for his transcendence within the Islamic world. But, while God must always be central to revelation, the Jewish community made another very significant impact on world religions by linking belief in God with the need for social justice. more
The celebration of the dutiful wife from the Old Testament Book of Proverbs is the first reading at Mass this coming Sunday. The much appreciated woman is hailed both for her spousal support as well as her practical shrewdness: “Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. more
Although St. Peter’s Basilica is by far the most famous church in Rome, the actual cathedral church for the diocese of Rome is the Lateran Basilica dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Until the Middle Ages, the bishops of Rome actually did live at the Lateral Palace adjoining the basilica. more
This weekend the Catholic world will consider two phases of the afterlife. The Solemnity of All Saints on Saturday reminds the faithful of those celebrated and sometimes uncelebrated heroes of the Christian life. The martyrs, monks, missionaries, mentors and married folk who dedicated their lives to Christ both in spirit and in deed are recalled, reverenced and now recruited as intercessors before the face of God. On Sunday, worshippers will recall their own beloved dead who perhaps have gone on to full glory or may still be in need of the Church community’s intercessory prayers to release them from the final residue of sin. Eternity, fully enjoyed by the saints and coveted by the souls in purgatory, should be an equally important part of the Gospel message for those believers still working out their ultimate destiny here on earth. more
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is more often remembered as Edith Stein, the brilliant philosopher, who was born into an observant German-Jewish family, inclined toward atheism as a young adult, eventually converted to the Roman Catholic Church and then became a Discalced Carmelite nun. Reminiscent of Loyola, reading the life of St. Teresa of Avila was instrumental in her conversion in 1922 after which she gave up university life and taught in a Catholic grammar school for ten years. Still, Edith’s academic credentials are impressive. She worked with the eminent philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. She translated Aquinas’ “On Truth” into German. She became a lecturer at the Catholic-associated Institute for Scientific Pedagogy in Munster in 1932, resigning in 1933 due to anti-Semitic legislation. At that time, Edith wrote to Pope Pius XI about Nazi abuse. more
Surely no line of Scripture is more misleadingly quoted than Jesus’ pronouncement to “…render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Not only is this quote broadly used to justify the separation of church and state, but more deviously it is being extended to endorse the separation of religion and society. Progressive politicians no longer mention freedom of religion but rather refer cleverly to freedom of worship. Religion, of course, embraces the fullness of the believer’s life: church, politics, business, family, etc. All human activity has a religious dimension. Worship on the other hand is what takes place within a church building. Worship is liturgical, ritualistic and ceremonial. The immediate focus of worship is the sacred; the broader focus of religion must include the secular. Progressive politicians have no problem with parishioners lighting candles, whiffing incense and singing hymns. That’s worship. But some government leaders do have trouble with religious persons protecting traditional marriage, shielding the unborn, defending authentic conception, preserving dignity at the end of life, limiting medical experimentation and maintaining cultural vestiges from America’s theistic roots. more
This Sunday’s Gospel account of the guests invited to the wedding feast following so closely after last Sunday’s Gospel passage on the vine grower and his inhospitable workers might seem to be a variation on the common theme of Gospel rejection. Certainly for St. Matthew, both parables share a sad tale of refusal. more
Nothing grieved Jesus more than the hostility of the religious leaders toward his message of redemption and salvation. Jesus was patient with the crowds and forbearing toward sinners, but he was quite irritated with the priests and teachers, scribes and Pharisees, rabbis and doctors of the law, who resisted his every word and ignored his calls for repentance. more
Occasionally in the Scriptures the reader will come across pre-existing hymns that were lifted, so to speak, by the sacred author and incorporated into the revealed word of God. Possibly, the first account of creation from Genesis with its very stylized first day, second day, third day, etc., arrangement was a poetic prayer read in the Jerusalem Temple. The Song of Songs was quite likely a secular love poem adapted for Temple use. St. Luke’s incorporation of songs placed on the lips of Zachariah, the Virgin Mary, the Bethlehem angels and Simeon might also represent some devotional material in use before that evangelist actually put pen to paper. more
The workers in the vineyard who received the same wage after working all day in the Palestinian heat as those late-comers who worked only the last hour as the day began to cool might seem to have a legitimate grievance. Currently, an eight-hour day’s labor at the present minimum wage of $7.25 would net a payment of $58. Rare indeed would be the worker who stood uncomplainingly in line while witnessing a fellow laborer receive fifty-eight dollars for one hour’s work only to be handed the same amount for a full day’s work. Clearly the situation is unjust. And this is precisely Jesus’ point in relating this parable, unique to St. Matthew, about the laborers in the vineyard. more
In the musical film, “The Sound of Music,” as Maria von Trapp wends her way from the cloister gate to the church altar, the camera follows her stride down a long aisle, up a good number of steps, across the sanctuary, before ascending the ornate baroque altarpiece, rising above the church roof toward twin bell towers and finally gazing off into the blue Austrian sky. The viewer’s eye is faithfully guided upward toward celestial heights. This majestic cinematic sweep, enhanced by stately wedding music, graphically and happily illustrates Pope-emeritus Benedict’s nostalgic and distinctively Bavarian appreciation of the Catholic liturgy. more
The oldest church building in the city of Woonsocket is, oddly, not a church at all. The Quaker Meeting House on Smithfield Road, just at the edge of the city line, facing Union Cemetery in North Smithfield, is intentionally just a meeting house where individual believers gather for prayer, song and Biblical inspiration. The Society of Friends, as the Quakers are officially known, shuns formal worship. more
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