From the Desk of the Parish Administrator -- Fr. Tom Noesen
Feb. 15, 2004 Botthof Thank You, Introduction
Feb. 29, 2004 Mel Gibson's Passion
March 7, 2004 Wanted: A Pastor
March 28, 2004 Easter Triduum
April 4, 2004 Agony in the Garden, Fr. Ron Rollheiser
April 11, 2004 Easter Blessings
April 18, 2004 Easter PeopleApril 2004 Administrator's Report
Dear Parish Family,
First and foremost THANK YOU to Fr. Bob Botthof for his 10 years of shepherding here at St. Vincent Ferrer. He has blessed your parish family well and those blessings will live for generations. We name that space so it may live on in us. The face of Jesus in his ministry is most appreciated. Make certain you let him know that with a note if you have not had the opportunity as yet. Pray for his health.
My name is Fr. Tom Noesen (Na’sen). I am NOT your new pastor. I am an administrator. This is a holy time of transition for St. Vincent. Until the summer 2004, I am with you while a new pastor is to be named. This period for the parish will name the strengths of Christ in the community and where we can become more Christ like. Below is my bio and my job description from the Archdiocese. This is a blessing for me to be here with you. May the transition cause us all to be more filled in grace.
In Christ,
Fr. Tom
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FR. THOMAS D. NOESEN, O.P.
I was born into a mixed marriage (my father a farmer and my mother from the city) in 1945 in lovely Dubuque, Iowa. My priesthood began in 1976 as a secular priest with the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado. After ten years in Diocesan Priesthood, I joined the Dominicans (The Order of Preachers). In my nearly 30 years of priesthood I have ministered as pastor, dean, tribunal judge, and military chaplain.I have graduate degrees in both theology and pastoral care. My publications are in spiritual development, holistic spirituality, and addictions. A sabbatical in Sydney, Australia, focused on spirituality in the areas of wellness, holistic health, and the deeper hungers of the soul.
Before the priesthood, I taught high school in Mason City, Iowa; and worked on juvenile rehabilitation with Hope Haven in New Orleans, Louisiana. I also have a background in retail with Stewart’s of Baltimore, Maryland. Under the AFL — CIO of Flexsteel Industries (Dubuque, Iowa), I was a crane operator .
In 1992, I began preaching ministry. I have traveled nationwide and abroad presenting missions, conferences, and conventions. In the summer 2004, I will return to the itinerant preaching.
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ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
GUIDELINES FOR TEMPORARY ADMINISTRATOR
The general law of the Church imposes the same obligations and grants the same rights as a Pastor to the Administrator, unless restricted by the Diocesan Bishop. These guidelines are to be considered such qualifications.
1) The parish should be run in accord with the established pattern, whenever possible, and in consultation with the parish council.
2) There should be no major changes or innovations.
3) Non-budgeted or non-contracted expenditures over $2500 should be made only in consultation with the Vicar or Dean.
4) Major decisions (such as hiring or firing employees, finalizing budgets, setting tuition rates, etc.) should be postponed if at all possible. If they cannot, they should be handled through the normal shared decision making process of the parish and in keeping with the general philosophy of the parish. It may be well to consult with the Vicar or Dean about these matters as they develop.
5) As the end of the period of administration draws near, the priest should prepare a summary report of decisions, activities, expenditures, etc. for the returning pastor or the newly appointed pastor.
Your willingness to accept this office is deeply appreciated. These guidelines are not meant to be an added burden of your generosity, but to assist you during this interim and to be of help to the new pastor.
Mel Gibson’s PASSION certainly is in the news. It is nice to see Jesus getting so much publicity. In the 13th century St. Francis of Assisi ( statue in church with skull at feet) did the same thing as Gibson. People were into the glorified Jesus; had lost his “true man” identity. Francis gave us the crib (human birth) and the stations (human death) to teach us Christian reality in our humanity.
The stations (i.e. the way of the cross) in every church is a meditation of his suffering for us. Artistically we make them so sweet we forget that this is a capital punishment execution.
Our comfort culture has no room for suffering. As a matter of fact we see ourselves entitled to health; we are entitled to comfort; we are entitled to confidential information; we are entitled to our way and our wants; we are entitled not to die. JESUS GIVES MEANING TO SUFFERING. He does not and cannot eliminate suffering. Talk about passion!
This is the introduction of the anointing of the sick:
Sickness and pain have always been a heavy burden for humanity and an enigma to our understanding. Christian suffer sickness and pain as do all others; yet our faith helps us to understand better the mystery of suffering and to bear our suffering with courage. From Christ’s word we know that sickness and suffering has meaning and value for our own salvation and that of the world; we also know Christ loved the sick and during his life he often looked upon the sick and healed themLent is the season to meditate on the passion of Jesus Christ. For 40 days we plunge into our suffering—– and even cause some (inconveniences) with prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Use the Gibson film, use other films on Christ, but please use the Stations of the Cross.
See page 5 for the schedule, and page 7 for a candid statement from Cardinal George on Gibson’s Passion in this issue. If Christ’s passion doesn’t lead us to compassion, we still don’t get it.
Fr. Tom, O.P
WANTED: A PASTOR
Your input is needed to aid in the process of naming a successor to Fr. Botthof. In preaching at all the masses February 14/15 , I invited you to share your insights, reflections and dreams with appropriate boards and councils. As printed in my ministry description, I need to submit a report. You will be the source for that information. Here is the outline:
What are the Questions:
A.) How is Christian life obviously present at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish? What needs to be done to continue to make Christ present and kept alive and well?
B.) How can Christ become more present? Where do we fail to reflect the gospel of Jesus Christ as we should?
To Whom do you talk? Use your staff, council, boards, committees, etc. Those in leadership already have been asked to listen to responses to these questions and pass on the information. While you are welcome to talk to me directly, use of your staff and boards would be more efficient due to the limited time (only 30 days) that I have to complete this report.What’s the time line?
Now to April 1 Receive information
April 1 to April 15 Write the report
Post April 15 Submit report to the province.My report will not be private. Anyone wanting to read it will be welcome to do so. It will be available at the rectory.
As you pray and reflect on this request and enter more deeply into this holy transition of the parish, give us your response “at-a-glance”. We want a big picture; not a detailed or microscopic view.
This information will be the preface of the structure of the parish report. Thanks in advance for your cooperation and affection for your parish.
Fr. Tom, O.P.
A NOTE FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR
Triduum
Lent ends on Wed. of Holy Week; then begins the Triduum fast. No funeral masses are allowed during the Triduum. N.B. Holy Week & Spring Break are the same week; ergo, there are sign up sheets in sacristy for ministries. Easter is a lunar feast set by the full moon of the vernal (spring) equinox. Orthodox Easter date is the same but waits for Jewish Passover to conclude. This is one of the years we have Easter on the same Sunday.Holy Thursday 7:30 PM
Only one mass of the Lord’s Supper is to be said. ALL extraordinary ministers are invited to join the procession of transference to the Altar of repose. Altar of repose should be in a space separate from the Church proper. We’ll use the Adoration chapel. Extraordinary Ministers of Communion are encouraged to dress in black & white. After communion they’ll enter from the sanctuary area and follow the acolytes in procession. Adoration will continue until midnight.Good Friday
NOON Children’s Liturgy
3PM The Good Friday Services
+ Liturgy of the Word
+ General Intercessions
+ Adoration of the Cross
+ Distribution of Holy Communion
7:30PM Stations of the CrossHoly Saturday Solemn Easter Vigil
8PM (Sun sets at 7:27CST. This rite must be after dark. No other Masses are allowed on Holy Saturday.
The Four Rites:
Rite of Fire & Darkness
The darkened tomb
Liturgy of the Word (readings)
Our roots; our story
Sacraments of Initiation
Unfortunately St.Vincent Ferrer Parish has no one being initiated this nite. These rites will be the blessing of the Easter Water & renewal of the baptized.
Easter EucharistThese are the holiest days of the Roman Catholic calendar. They do not carry “obligation”. These rites are only once a year. Whether you’ve had a penitential Lent or not, inconvenience yourself in the services. Easter is the “big bang” that makes us who we are. Resurrection from darkness of sin is the happy ending already available in sacramental life near you. If that sounded like a commercial, it was a call to pray the Triduum.
FROM THE DESK OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
AGONY IN THE GARDEN – PLACE OF SPECIAL LONELINESSThese days are profoundly reflective. The following is Fr. Rolheiser’s article on this week before us:
We tend to misunderstand “the passion of Jesus”. Spontaneously we think of it as the pain of the physical sufferings he endured on the road to his death. Partly that misses the point. Jesus’ passion should be understood precisely as “passio”, passivity, a certain submissive helplessness he had to undergo in counter-distinction to his power and activity. The passion of Jesus refers to the helplessness he had to endure during the last hours of his life, a helplessness extremely fruitful for him and for us.
And the first component in that helplessness begins in the Garden of Gethsemane, immediately after he has celebrated the last supper. The scriptures tell us that he went out into the Garden with his disciples to pray for the strength he needed to face the ordeal that was now imminent.
It’s significant that this agony should take place in a Garden. In archetypal literature (and scripture, among other things, is this kind of literature), a garden is not a place to pick cucumbers and onions. Archetypally, a garden is the place of delight, the place of love, the place to drink wine, the place where lovers meet in the moonlight, the place of intimacy. The garden is paradise. That’s why Adam and Eve in their paradisiacal state are described as being in a garden.
So it’s no accident that Jesus ends up having to sweat blood in a garden. And it’s precisely as a lover that he’s in agony there. The Jesus who sweats blood in the garden of Gethsemane is not the great King, full of pain because the sheep will not heed the shepherd; nor is it the great Magus, full of sorrow because nobody wants to pick up on the truth he’s revealed; nor is it the great warrior, frustrated in his efforts to defeat the powers of sin, death, and darkness. These pains and frustrations mostly take place elsewhere, among the crowds, in the temple, in the desert. The garden is for lovers, not for kings, magi, and warriors.
It’s Jesus, the lover, the one who calls us to intimacy and delight with him, who sweats blood in the garden. That’s why in describing his suffering during his passion, the evangelists focus little on his physical sufferings (which must have been horrific). Indeed, Mark puts it all in a single line: “They led him away and crucified him.” What the gospel writers focus on is not the scourging, the whips, the ropes, the nails, the physical pain, none of that.
They emphasize rather that, in all of this, Jesus is alone, misunderstood, lonely, isolated, without support, unanimity-minus-one.
What’s emphasized is his suffering as a lover; the agony of a heart that’s ultra-sensitive, gentle, loving, understanding, warm, inviting, hungry to embrace everyone but which instead finds itself misunderstood, alone, isolated, hated, brutalized, facing murder.
That’s the point that has been too often missed in both spirituality and popular devotion. I remember as a young boy, being instructed by a wonderful nun who told us that Jesus sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane because, in his divine nature, he was saddened because he already foresaw that many people would not accept the sacrifice of his death. That’s a wonderfully pious thought, but it misses the point of what happened in Gethsemane.In Gethsemane, we see Jesus suffering as a lover. His agony is not that of the son of God, frustrated because many people will not accept his sacrifice, nor even is his agony, the all-too-understandable fear of the physical pain that awaits him. No, his real pain is that of the lover who’s been misunderstood and rejected in a way that is mortal and humiliating. What Jesus is undergoing it Gethsemane might aptly be paralleled to what a good, faithful, loving, very sensitive, and deeply respectful man or woman would feel if he or she were falsely accused of pedophilia, publicly judged as guilty, and now made to stand powerless, isolated, misunderstood, and falsely judged before the world, family, friends, and loved ones. Such a person, too, would surely pray: “ If it is possible, let this cup pass from me!”
The agony in the Garden is many things, but, first of all, it’s Jesus’ entry into the darkest hole of human existence, the black hole of bitter misunderstanding, rejection, aloneness, loneliness, humiliation, and the helplessness to do anything about it. The agony in the Garden is the black hole of sensitivity brutalized by callousness, love brutalized by hatred, goodness brutalized by misunderstanding, innocence brutalized by wrong judgment, forgiveness brutalized by murder, and heaven brutalized by hell. This is deepest, black hole of loneliness and it brings the lover inside us to the ground in agony begging for release.
But, whenever our mouths are pushed into the dust of misunderstanding and loneliness inside that black hole, it’s helpful to know that Jesus was there before us, tasting just our kind of loneliness.
Rev. Ron Rolheiser
February 22, 2004
Aix, France
Http://www.Ronrolheiser.com/
Easter Blessings to all of you!
This is our Feast of Feasts. This is the sneak preview of coming attractions. Until our hearts experience an inner Easter, we are the walking dead. Many folks are dead long before their funerals.Realized resurrection is that daily trip of being pulled out of the tomb of boredom, rage, depression, enjoyed victimhood, impatience, etc. We ALL know that dark place. None of us have the spiritual muscle to roll away the stone. God made resurrection possible for Jesus and for us.
This is a great day for Dominicans (The Order of Preachers) because of the patron of preachers: Mary Magdalene. She preached the best and shortest of all preachings: “He is Risen!” Wow! An experience she had before her death. Until our final and full resurrection we keep living the daily risings.
These 50 days of Easter to Pentecost are tough. If you think prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are tough, try rising through fear, forgiveness and shame to enjoy life. Experience the happiness of being an Easter people. Not easy. Yeh, maybe a good hair day or a nice flash of happiness —— but, 50 days of Easter joy! This is Christian work.
What about the grumbling and gossip we’ve fed on? God has rewritten the script. Realized Resurrection.
Alleluia!Who knows, after 50 days of this Easter joy it could become a habit of a lifetime with us. Again: Easter Blessings to all!
Fr. Tom, O.P.
FROM THE DESK OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
Finally we are out of the darkness of Lent and the tomb into 50 days of Easter.
Alleluia!Thanks to all who made Easter celebrations move so prayerfully: music ministers, servers, sacristans, EMC’s, the ordained, the guest clergy, the art of environment committee. (Lots of climbing and muscle work.) Even the “foot” donors were appreciated. Many of you asked about the young man who was master of ceremonies for the Triduum. Brad Smith is a junior at Fenwick High School who rescued us at the last minute. He is from St. Celestine’s. To all: Gratitude! Good liturgy doesn’t just happen— it is planned. Thanks!
So what’s an Easter people? It is a people— not a person— of virtue. We often get into minimalism of what do I have to do to be religious or spiritual. The usual answer is legal — commandments, obligations, don’t sin. THE ABSENCE OF SIN IS NOT THE PRESENCE OF VIRTUE. The presence of virtue is premeditated.
An Easter people premeditates virtue. They (we) cause virtue. About 500 years ago there was a drift from virtue in Christianity to the legal model. This dates to the Reformation period historically. Most movements today are for virtue both in and out of the church. Books showed even up in government and secular circles on virtue. The 12 steps is a virtue process and program.
Our Sacraments of Easter are all on the baptized life gone dormant. Annually God does spring cleaning of the soul. Water and fire are signs of the Spirit. Sacraments OF INITIATION refreshen us as a people. Baptisms, 1st Communion and Confirmations are now the rites of spring. No sacrament is ever private property. Virtue is for the common good. Once we were no people at all; now we are the enfleshment of virtue.
Many people live daily virtues with angel cards. This is a tiny deck of virtues listed one to a card. The deck is 50 some. There is a larger deck of about 250 virtues. Making one of these decks and simply drawing one per day is great inner discipline of the Easter experience. Rising thru the clouds of that day to the virtue drawn is a most holy journey. It keeps our soul focused.
Being an Easter people is not just being nice. It is daily coming from the tomb (shell) or dark hole into Christ. It’s courage to not be in the peer group of sin; understanding when impatience would be easier. It’s Christian wisdom amid cultural foolishness. We are an Easter People! Alleluia.
Fr. Tom, O.P.