Interview With Chaldean Catholic Pastor

I recently had the privilege to interview, and worship with, Fr. Fawaz Kako. He's a priest of a Chaldean Catholic parish here in the Chicago suburbs. As a native of Iraq, he has experienced first hand how Christians have been treated in the Middle East. To learn more about our Chaldean Catholic brothers and sisters, how they worship, and what they have endured, check out my interview with him over at Catholic World Report. You can find a preview of the article below:

"To be honest with you, the problem is not only with ISIS. The problem is that there is a systematic persecution against Christians. Not only Christians, but anyone who is different, or if, to be honest with you, if you are not Muslim. You are always looked at as a second-class citizen.  So the problem is not only with ISIS. For example, my name, Fawaz, is not a Christian name. It is an Arabic name. According to the law in Iraq, my parents were not allowed to give me a Christian name. I was given one at baptism, but my legal name has always been Fawaz. To give someone a Christian name was illegal."

The full interview can be found here.

St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Troy, MI

On Parishes Becoming "Sacrament Factories"

There's a term I've heard bandied about in some Catholic circles. The term is "sacrament factory" or "Mass factory". It has a negative connotation, that's used by priests and laity alike, and it refers to something like this: people show up for Mass on Sunday, maybe holy days, and they might go to confession once in a while. They'll baptize and confirm their kids as well, if they have any. There is no other involvement in parish life. Priests who use this term say they feel like they're just used for the sacraments and all they do is pump them out. One gets the image of a cow who continually pumps out milk until they're dry.

We need to stop this to get people more active in the parish, they say. We need to copy what our Protestant brethren are doing, they point out, because they are drawing people in who are joyful and "on fire". Here's the problem I have with this phrase, though.

Priest Resigns After Implementing Traditional Changes: Why Is "Restoration" a Negative Thing?

A couple of days ago, a local news story out of Charlotte broke regarding a Catholic priest. Apparently, after being pastor at a small parish for nearly three years, Fr. Christopher Riehl resigned after several of his parishioners expressed their displeasure with his more traditional directives that were implemented. A rift had risen in the parish, with those who were complaining about his leadership splintering off to hear Mass at a dentist's office in "exile", as some described it. From The Charlotte Observer:

The pastor of a Catholic church in the N.C. mountains whose conservative leadership style split the congregation and drew national media attention has resigned. 

In a Facebook post, the Rev. Christopher Riehl of St. John the Evangelist parish in Waynesville wrote that he was “worn out or burned out” and for his own well-being needed to take a sabbatical. 

He did not mention the rancor at the parish, where he’s been pastor for nearly three years, or the petition by more than 100 members to have him removed. It was sent to Bishop Peter Jugis, who leads the 46-county Catholic Diocese of Charlotte.
The National Catholic Reporter published a January article on the clash between Riehl and many parishioners in the church of about 250 families. Some of those members have left St. John’s. 

The article cast the divide as one of a new pastor who preferred traditionalist approaches to the liturgy and church governance versus parishioners who cherished what had been St. John’s post-Vatican II style of a greater role for the laity and more modern worship and music. 

Vatican II refers to the Second Vatican Council of the early- to mid-1960s, when the Roman Catholic Church, for example, permitted the use of local languages for a Mass that had traditionally been celebrated all over the world in Latin. 

According to the National Catholic Reporter article, Riehl threw out popular hymns and replaced them with the ancient Gregorian chant. When the music director was relieved of her duties, the article said, most of the choir resigned. 

A group calling itself Appalachian Catholics in the Smoky Mountain Region said in a statement earlier this year that Riehl and some other conservative priests assigned by Jugis to small parishes in the mountains “seem to be more intent on taking the church back to pre-Vatican ll days rather than minister to the people. They seem to be steeped in doctrine and theology, but are unwilling to participate in ecumenical activities, and are lacking in compassion, love and mercy. They are doing the job of the theologian, but not the job of the pastor. This is directly opposed to what Pope Francis and Vatican II are teaching us.”...

In his June 4 Facebook post to members of his “parish family,” Riehl wrote that his leaving was not prompted by anything other than his own need to take some time away from parish ministry. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I have decided, of my own free will and my own instigation, to resign my position here at St. John’s,” he wrote. “I have found that I am worn out or burned out and for my own well being need to take a sabbatical. There was no incident or event, just a feeling that I need some time away from full parish ministry. I have absolutely no questions or doubts about my vocation to the Priesthood of Christ.”

A very sad state of affairs, indeed. NCR (more aptly called the Fishwrap or National Catholic Distorter, by others), also ripped Fr. Riehl over a year and a half ago in an earlier article, which I will quote more below. One commenter on the recent developments in this story said the following:

This new trend is disturbing to me - out with faith, hope and love ... in with appearances of reverence. I am glad these parishioners fought back against this movement of clerical snobbery. I get the sense that some of these younger priests just want to say Mass in what they perceive to be a reverent, or legal, style, without parishioners. It seems like they are removing the communion part of the faith. I hope priests like this can see that their approach is deeply flawed.  

I am now starting to understand why our Holy Father talks so much about clericalism, rigidity and legalism in the Church.

The only trend that is disturbing is the trend of disobedience and the trend that wants to see the Latin Rite purged of all it's legitimate traditions. This whole episode leads me to compare and contrast the Latin and Byzantine Rites a bit. But more on that in a bit.

St. Gregory the Great- Jusepe de Ribera

Chrism Mass

This past Monday, I was lucky enough to attend my diocese's Chrism Mass at the cathedral. I was honored to be invited to such an important Mass, and I'm thankful to my priest who invited everyone on the parish pastoral council to go. Apparently, only about 5 or 6 tickets were given out to each parish in the diocese. The cathedral itself was packed, and I wasn't totally sure what to expect. At the Chrism Mass (which typically takes place on Holy Thursday, but may be moved to a day earlier in Holy Week if necessary), the holy oils and chrism that will be used for the sacraments of Baptism, Anointing of the Sick, and Confirmation are blessed by the bishop, and then are distributed to all the priests to bring back to their parishes to use for the year, starting with the Easter Vigil when the catechumens receive their sacraments.

What really shocked me was how many priests and deacons were around for this great liturgy. Priests from all over the diocese were in attendance, as were deacons and seminarians. I also couldn't get over the amount of young people who were among the ordained priests. It made me hopeful for the future, along with the many young faces I saw among the seminarians. I am truly thankful for these men choosing to do God's will and truly thankful for their priestly vocation. It was truly awe-inspiring to see all the priests surround the altar, well over 150 of them total, and it was transcendent to hear them all chant the Per Ipsum together in a chorus.

Another interesting part was seeing the bishop pour the basalm, that is, the liquid that produces the fragrant aroma we smell in chrism, into the oil, and mix it on the altar before baptizing it. It was just so interesting to see all this happen, something I really didn't know about until my pastor invited me a couple weeks ago. I love how our Catholic faith is so rich, and there are so many different things to behold and learn about. For instance, the next day, I went to the local Byzantine Catholic church for the Liturgy of the Presanctified, and joined everyone in full body prostrations to our Lord at several points through the liturgy. Maybe I'm just a Catholic nerd, but I love this! The traditions and the styles of worship in our Catholic Church are simply amazing. Below are some pictures from the Chrism Mass. You'll see for yourself just how many priests were in attendance!

Fr. Paul Saclia and a Lesson on Excellent Homiletics

Last Saturday, I was flipping around when I noticed that the funeral Mass for Chief Justice Antonin Scalia was being televised nationally. I had heard one of Justice Scalia's nine children was saying the Mass, and I was honestly curious to see what the homily would be like. By now, many of you have heard about it, and I was going to write up something earlier on the subject, but soon saw how it had spread and went viral. However, I came across an awesome article over at Crisis Magazine yesterday that I really wanted to share, you can read it here 

I too was awestruck by this homily. I did some research on Fr. Scalia after watching this Mass, and learned that he often celebrates Mass in the Extraordinary Form, and has some really good writings posted on some other prominent Catholic websites. I think that this is a good example of how homilies should turn out at funerals. I can only think of one better homily I heard at a funeral, and that was from a young Polish priest at my wife's grandfather's Mass. And I only say it was better because he explicitly mentioned purgatory. Fr. Scalia got the point across pretty well on why we need to pray for the dead, and that we're not all perfect Christians, as Donald Trump would have you think. No, we're definitely in need of God's forgiveness. No one alive on this Earth is sinless. And Fr. Scalia did a great job of reminding us of that, and turning our focus towards Christ instead of turning the liturgy into a canonization. I'd like to reiterate the thoughts of many people across the blogosphere: make this holy priest a bishop!

AXIOS! Two More Men Are Ordained into the Priesthood of Christ

This past weekend, I had the honor of attending my cousin's ordination to the priesthood. Having never been to an ordination before, I have to say, the entire liturgy was VERY beautiful, and I was glad I could make the trip with my family to see it. I should preface this with saying that although I am Roman Catholic, many on my maternal grandmother's side of the family is Ukrainian-Greek Catholic of the Byzantine Rite. My cousin was ordained a deacon in the Ukrainian-Greek Catholic Church a few years ago, and finally, after a lot of discerning between he and his wife, he was ordained to the priesthood this past Thursday in the Eparchy of Parma at St. Josaphat's Cathedral.

St. Josaphat Ukrainian-Greek Catholic cathedral, Parma, OH

As I said, the liturgy was beautiful. The choir was magnificent, there were scores of priests present, including four bishops from the Ukrainian, Romanian and Roman Catholic Churches. Hearing the cries of "AXIOS!" (he is worthy!) ring throughout the church after both priests were ordained was truly a sight to behold. Below are some pictures from this awesome Divine Liturgy.

The following Sunday, my family as well as the newly ordained Father Alexander traveled to Pittsburgh where we would see our new priest say his first liturgy, This was yet another beautiful experience, as my cousin's father, who is also a priest, helped father Alexander con-celebrate his first Divine Liturgy. Father Alexander had also been known as a great preacher while he was a deacon; here are some excerpts from his fine homily during the liturgy:

“I want to leave you with three things you can do that will help your hearts flourish.

“…Number two: Go to Confession! Do not sacrifice or let [one put] aside the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Go to Confession, I would say, at least once a month. The Church’s minimum asking us to go once a year before Easter is a minimum requirement. But if you know anything about St. John Paul the Great, he confessed daily. If the Pope needs to confess daily, then my brothers and sisters, we should avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation much more than just once a year. In our [missals], we have a wonderful examination of conscience, and in the Western Church, you have wonderful examinations of conscience. Reflect on those maybe just once a month before Confession. That’s in a sense pulling out the weeds of sin in your heart. Trust me, if you read those and meditate on them you will find something you need to confess, because we’re not angels.

“And finally… if you pray daily, and you go to Confession once a month, always, always, ALWAYS receive the Eucharist every single day. Because our Lord God and Savior will find in you, a suitable dwelling place where he can reside in your heart and he can work… He can work. He can give you the grace you need to do the things that you need to do; to be filled with the virtues of faith, hope and love. Courage, kindness, generosity, patience and sacrifice…”

How wonderful that this new priest says things that I rarely hear in my own parish (save my former parish with a very orthodox and traditional priest)! He also added that:

“this is a joyous time… but I was in tears [earlier in the liturgy], and it’s good, I like facing the other way (East towards the altar) because you can’t see me! And I was just trying to hold them back.

“…But this, in many ways, is Palm Sunday. Every day after, I have to put this Cross on my neck. The Church doesn’t give me a birthday cake; they’re hanging this on my neck. It’s given me a cross, and I need to climb that Cross, because if I’m to be THIS image to the faithful, and I can’t climb my cross, how will you ever have the courage to carry yours? And so I ask you to pray for me.”

This was the first time I was able to hear my cousin preach after years of seeing him serve as deacon, and I think he spoke very well. I ask you all to please pray for my cousin as he embarks on this journey. For the parishioners of the two parishes he’s been entrusted to. And I ask you to also pray for his wife and three young children, as he will be sacrificing more of his time now to the service of God and others. Please pray that he will always serve God well. St. John Vianney, pray for us!