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The USCCB and the “Safe Environment” Programs: Safe isn’t Safe Anymore by Elizabeth Schwab   www.desertvoice.org   May 23, 2006 Those who grew up in the 50s and 60s may still remember their first elementary reader about the adventures of Dick and Jane. It was a simpler world back then, and Dick and Jane were as gay as could be. Gay. They were happy, carefree. Today a quite different meaning comes to mind. Amazing, isn’t it, how that one word has changed forever. Another word undergoing a similar transformation today is the word “safe.” Suddenly there is a push for safety in all forms...

Friday September 14, 2001 Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading I (Numbers 21:4b-9) Reading II (Philippians 2:6-11) Gospel (St. John 3:13-17) Today, as we celebrate this feast of the Triumph of the Cross, Our Lord reminds us that the very purpose for which He came into the world was to save the world. And there is only one means by which the world is going to be saved: that is, the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross stands as the center point of all world history. When we consider the Cross, Saint Paul reminds us that we are to glory...

Conceived Without Sin Saturday September 8, 2001 Birth of the Virgin Mary Reading (Romans 8:28-30) Gospel (St. Matthew 1:1-23) This homily was given at a Poor Clare Monastery in Central Minnesota Today we celebrate a most beautiful feast: the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Church's calendar there are only three times in the year that we celebrate anyone's birthday; that is, the three people that were born without original sin: Jesus Himself, Saint John the Baptist, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus, of course, is God, so He had no sin. Saint John the...

When it Comes to VIRTUS, There's More Than Meets the Eye By:Elizabeth Schwab www.desertvoice.org May 14, 2006 After the recent announcement of the upcoming departure of the pastor at the Church of St. Agnes, Fr. George Welzbacher, and the transferal of the associate pastor, Fr. Robert Altier, to the position of assistant chaplain at a distant nursing home, Vicar General Fr. Kevin McDonough claimed in comments published by the St. Paul Pioneer Press that these changes should cause no concern and “there is less here than meets the eye.” (http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/14568281.htm) The fact remains that a priest with a thriving ministry...

Wednesday August 29, 2001 Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time Reading (Jeremiah 1:17-19) Gospel (St. Mark 6:17-29) Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, it strikes us, initially, as something that most people would not want to be celebrating. Yet, we recognize that this was the greatest act of witness to Christ that John the Baptist performed. Of all the things that John did in preparing the way for the Lord this was the greatest because he was willing to give complete witness of his entire life for the Lord. As he offered himself,...

Friday July 20, 2001 Feast of Elijah Reading (1 Kings 19:1-9a, 11-14a) Gospel (St. Luke 9:28b-36) Today we celebrate the feast of the prophet Elijah. Elijah is the first of the great line of prophets. He is considered the greatest of all the prophets, even though he did not write any prophetic books like Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jeremiah; nonetheless, he is the greatest of all the prophets. Consider Elijah and all the things he did: Three times he called down fire from heaven, on one occasion he raised up a little boy who had died, on another occasion he prayed...

Friday August 24, 2001 Feast of Saint Bartholomew Reading (Revelation 21:9b-14) Gospel (St. John 1:45-51) As we celebrate today the feast of Saint Bartholomew, we have to remember that Bartholomew, like many people in ancient times, had two names: Bartholomew and Nathanael. That is why we hear about Nathanael in the Gospel reading today because it really is the same person. At the very end of the Gospel reading today, Our Lord says of Nathanael that he is a true Israelite; that in him there is no guile. He was single-hearted; he was focused on the Lord. There is a...

Wednesday August 22, 2001 Queenship of Mary Reading (Isaiah 9:1-6) Gospel (St. Luke 1:26-38) As we celebrate today the queenship of Our Lady, we recognize also that we are in the octave day of the solemnity of the Assumption; the Church is making very clear the connection between Our Lord bringing His mother up to Heaven and now seating her right next to His own throne. This is something that is also in line with what they did in Israel. We read in Scripture, for instance, about Solomon and his own mother being seated next to the royal throne. When...

Wednesday August 15, 2001 Feast of the Assumption Reading I (Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab) Reading II (1 Corinthians 15:20-27) Gospel (St. Luke 1:39-56) Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is very different from the Ascension of Our Lord: Our Lord ascended, body and soul, into Heaven by His own power. Assumption means "by someone else's power." And so what we celebrate today is that our Lady was "taken" up to Heaven by the power of God, body and soul. She is not the first person to be taken body and soul from...

Tuesday July 3, 2001 Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading (Ephesians 2:19-22) Gospel (St. John 20:24-29) As we celebrate today this feast of Saint Thomas, we tend to equate Thomas with a doubter. We think of Thomas often in a negative way. Yet, we can think about how many people throughout history have been positively influenced by Saint Thomas because of this particular story. He was able to say, "My Lord and my God," when he saw Jesus. Many have been able to say the exact same thing. The reason why they can say it is because Thomas doubted and...

Wednesday July 4, 2001 Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading (Isaiah 57:15-19) Gospel (St. John 14:23-29) Today, as our country takes time to celebrate Independence Day we need to ask ourselves what this really means. For most Americans, we think of "independence" as meaning "I can do whatever I want. I am not dependent on anyone." Unfortunately, in the minds of many Americans these days that includes God. We think, somehow, that we are not dependent on God and that "freedom" means we do not have to follow any rules, we can make our own rules, and we can do...

Friday June 29, 2001 Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading I (Acts 12:1-11) Reading II ( 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18) Gospel (St. Matthew 16:13-19) As we celebrate these two great saints today, Peter and Paul, the Church gives to us these readings that make it clear that all the extraordinary things they did, the life they lived, and the preaching task was done through them by the Lord. We hear, for instance, of Saint Peter in prison and how the angel of the Lord comes to Peter and frees him from the prison so he can go out and continue...

Monday August 6, 2001 Feast of the Transfiguration Reading I (Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14) Reading II (2 Peter 1:16-19) Gospel (St. Luke 9:28b-36) We celebrate today the Feast of the Transfiguration. This was one of the most important feasts for the Fathers of the Church. They recognized this as being so important because it was a clear indication of Our Lord's divinity. Now, the amazing thing of this, of course, is that Jesus was divine from all eternity. He did not become God - He is God. And He never was not God. He is always God from all eternity and...

Archbishop Harry J. Flynn has silenced Fr. Altier, a well-known and loved priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.Fr. Altier is the assistant pastor of the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota, a parish famous the world over for itÂ’s sacred music programs, fidelity to the Christian Faith, sublime liturgical sense and architectural splendor. Fr. Altier has many credentials but the most important of them are his fidelity, humility, and holiness - an exceedingly rare combination in the Church today.The homepage of Fr. AltierÂ’s web site, DesertVoice.org, states the following: In obedient compliance with the...

Monday July 16, 2001 Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Reading I (1 Kings 18:42b-45a) Reading II (Galatians 4:4-7) Gospel (St. John 19:25-27) Today we celebrate the most wonderful feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. One might wonder why Our Blessed Lady would be named after a mountain. If we think about some of the apparitions of Our Lady, when she appears in a certain city they name her after the city. In this particular case, Carmel (which in the ancient world is always considered a holy mountain) is where the hermits lived from the time of the...

Sunday June 24, 2001 Feast of Saint John the Baptist Reading I (Isaiah 49:1-6) Reading II (Acts 13:22-26 ) Gospel (St. Luke 1:57-66, 80) Today we celebrate in the Church a wonderful event: the birth of a child. When we think about the way things operate in our own lives, the day of one's birth is a very important day. We celebrate it with great joy. We invite friends over when the kids are young, we have parties for their birthday and all the other stuff that goes along with the birthday celebration. But in the Church, the celebration of...

Saturday June 8, 2002 Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Reading (Isaiah 61:9-11) Gospel (St. Luke 2:41-51) The following homily was preached at a parish mission at St. John’s Church in St. Paul, MN In the Gospel reading today, we hear two very important statements right at the very end of the Gospel. First of all, Jesus went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them. If we just think for a moment about what that means, God Himself has made Himself obedient to His mother. God made Himself obedient to the authorities on a human level. When He...

Friday June 22, 2001 Feast of the Sacred Heart Reading I (Ezekiel 34:11-16) Reading II (Romans 5:5b-11) Gospel (St. Luke 15:3-7) One might wonder why, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, we are hearing all about a shepherd. But in order to understand the love of Our Lord which, of course, is symbolized by the heart, one has to understand the heart of a shepherd. The Lord tells us, in the first reading today, that He Himself will pasture His sheep; He will be the shepherd; He will bring them to the green pastures and the plush grazing ground....

Sunday June 17, 2001 Feast of Corpus Christi Reading I (Genesis 14:18-20) Reading II (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Gospel (St. Luke 9:11b-17) In the first reading today, we hear about a figure by the name of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is an interesting character because his name is mentioned only twice in the entire Old Testament. He comes up in the fourteenth chapter of the Book of Genesis. He seems to come out of nowhere and then we never hear of him again. He comes up also in the psalms. Psalm 110, which is what we prayed together in the Responsorial Psalm today,...

May 26, 2002 Trinity Sunday Reading I (Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9) Reading II (2 Corinthians 13:11-13) Gospel (St. John 3:16-18) As we celebrate today the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, this is something that, as Catholics, we have grown up with and take for granted; but we do not always recognize the necessity and the importance of the Trinity. We recognize that all three Persons of the Trinity are God, equal with one another. There is but one God, so all three are completely perfect. There is nothing in one that is lacking in another. All three are God. Yet...