Whenever we witness mass human suffering such as our brothers and sisters in Haiti are experiencing right now, we find ourselves – even the most faith-filled of us – asking, “Why, God? Why did you permit this terrible thing to happen to your children?”

The comments made by Pat Robertson do not, in my view, deserve the dignity of a response. Let me offer instead an apostolic letter written by Pope John Paul II in 1984, just a few years after he was nearly killed by an assassin. This man understood suffering. He saw and lived with it most of his life.

Addressed to “the bishops, to the priests, to the religious families and to the faithful of the Catholic Church,” Pope John Paul writes about the Christian meaning of human suffering.

The letter’s Latin name is Salvifici doloris. It is a lengthy letter, not surprising since it is impossible to write about suffering in just a few pithy words. It does not attempt to provide a neat explanation for disasters such as earthquakes or floods or acts of terrorism, but points instead to the deeper meaning to found in suffering. It places each member of the human family in solidarity with Christ the innocent victim. Take the time to read it. It may help you to comfort others.

You will find Pope John Paul’s letter here.

The birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when Truth sprang from the earth and Day from Day was born into our day, has dawned once more. The anniversary has returned for us to celebrate today: Let us rejoice and be glad in it. The faith of Christians knows what the humility of such greatness has given us, while it remains far from the hearts of the godless, because God has hidden these things from the wise and the prudent, and revealed them to the little ones. So let the humble hold fast to the humility of God, so that, assisted by this means – as a vehicle for their weakness – they may arrive at the heights of God.
– St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 184, 1

For many families this Christmas, a space in the pew at Church and a chair at the family feast will be empty this year. A family member has gone home to God during the past year. Of course, it is sad when this is a elderly person, but when it is someone in the prime of life – a child, a teen, a young spouse or parent or someone serving overseas in the military – it is especially tragic. We feel the loss not only of that person, but also of a future we thought we would have with them.

For children, Christmas sadness can be confusing and maybe a little frightening. Here it is Jesus’ birthday, everyone is singing “Joy to the World” and yet all the grown-ups are crying. So, it is important to be able to commemorate our departed loved ones without putting a pall on the celebration of the birth of Christ and on the children’s happiness. Here are a couple of ideas. You might have more. Feel free to share.

Don’t pretend nothing has happened.
Do talk about your loved one, especially to the children, Remind everyone that the person is with Jesus and, at the same time, very near to us. We all hope to be reunited one day, never to be separated again.

Don’t try to avoid tears. They’re going to fall. Let them.
Do have a happy memory ready to share in order to dry those tears. One great family story will trigger more great stories and help lift the mood.

Don’t forget to mention your departed loved ones’ names aloud in your family prayers.
Do call out their names when you say grace at Christmas dinner.

Don’t consign the deceased family member to the past.
Do begin an annual tradition of performing a Christmas good deed as a family in memory of that person. Helping the living in need is one of the finest tributes you can pay. As a family you might donate food, clothing and toys or give money (it doesn’t have to be a lot) to a charity in his or her memory. Perhaps you could choose your good deed by talking together about your loved one and discerning what he or she would have liked you to do.

In our own catechetical ministry here in the New York archdiocese, we have said a temporary good-bye to husbands, wives, children, sisters, brothers and many wonderful people who have given so much of themselves to handing on the faith to Catholics of all ages. It would be nice if you remember them in your prayers as we in the Catechetical Office will remember your family.

A Blessed Christmas.

It seems to me that Advent doesn’t always get its just due. Many of us spend the entire 26-day season trying to get out the Christmas cards, get in the right gifts, buy a tree that actually fits the stand (I myself have an impressive collection of Christmas tree stands), clean the house, and more and more…all this while managing our jobs. Some of us actually wind up putting the lights on the shrubbery in front of the house in the middle of the night and driving to the 24-hour pharmacy for batteries and extension cords.

Mind you, no one actually sets out to let Advent get away. But somehow, sometimes it happens.

How can we give Advent (from the Latin word adventus or coming) its due when we are so rushed in getting ready for Christmas? Well, it’s the quality of time spent in watchful waiting for the Nativity that counts, not the quantity, so here are some ways of keeping Advent that take just a few – and I mean just a few – minutes a day. I hope you find them helpful and that you will share them.

Jim Connell, the webmaster of the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office website www.nyfaithformation.org has created a space where you may come to renew your own longing for our Savior and call upon him as you prepare for Christmas. Each day you can meditate upon a title for Jesus based on the prophetic readings. In addition being inspired by the words of the prophets, you can share in reflections and prayers of the men and women who direct or coordinate parish catechetical programs all over the archdiocese. Just click in the little Advent wreath at the top of the Catechetical Office homepage.

Another idea: some years ago, Bishop Ken Untener of the Diocese of Saginaw created Little Books for Advent and Lent. These contain readings from Scripture and meditations that will take about six minutes from your day. Think of each as a mini-Lectio Divina, a very old tradition of prayer that helps us to take a Scripture passage and lets God speak through it. You can order the Little Books from the Diocese of Saginaw at www.littlebooks.org Each Advent and Lent, Sr. Joan Curtin, CND, director of the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office, gives Little Books to us on the staff. We treasure them and look forward to receiving them.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a beautiful Advent and Christmas site this year at www.usccb.org/advent It combines Scripture and prayer with catechesis, explaining the meaning of Advent and helping us to observe it more prayerfully. The bishops are asking us to make Scripture a more integral part of our daily lives and they provide the readings of each day. What a wonderful use of modern technology this is, putting all these wonderful resources literally at our fingertips.

Of course, the greatest prayer of all is the Eucharist. If you can find a way to begin or end your day at Mass, that would be a wonderful way to make the most of this season.

May Advent 2009 be a prayerful, blessed and, hopefully, not too hectic season of watchful waiting for you. You deserve it.

This week’s Catholic New York reports on more than 600 seventh and eighth graders who, with their chaperones, attended their own special Catholic Youth Ministry Congress on Nov. 7 at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie. The Archdiocesan Catechetical Office sponsored the event and Archbishop Dolan celebrated Mass to cap a very exciting day. Kudos to Kathleen Alonzo, director of Catholic Youth Ministry in the Catechetical Office, to the Catechetical Office staff, and to a superb committee of youth leaders. You can check out CNY for the whole story.

In November, with the just-past feasts of All Saints and All Souls, our thoughts might turn to heaven, hell and purgatory. Today’s terrible news about the massacre at Fort Hood army base in Texas forces us all to confront the reality of sudden death.

Of course, none of us really is capable of picturing the reality of heaven, most of us don’t like to dwell too long on the subject of hell and, sometimes, we don’t just “get” purgatory at all. Perhaps it’s because we don’t care to think about the fact that death is the prelude to all three. Or maybe we really haven’t given them much serious consideration since our childhood religion classes.

Earlier in the week, I came across an article on heaven, hell and purgatory. It was written by Jesuit theologian Joseph Giménez and posted on Thinking Faith, the online journal of the British Jesuits. You might find it very interesting. Or nervous-making. Actually, after you read what Father Giménez has to say about hell, you may never again tell anyone to go there. As for purgatory, you may want more than ever to pray, especially this month, for those souls who are still journeying toward full possession of salvation.

www.thinkingfaith.org

Being Christian in Catholic communications

Catholic News Service reports that this week, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, chaired a meeting of cardinals, bishops and Catholic media professionals to talk about possible new pastoral guidelines for communications. Not surprisingly, the issue of civility in the blogosphere among those who identify themselves as Catholics came up. Check it out here.

Personally, I like getting responses. Just keep them clean and keep them civil.

Each of us really is unique. The Bible – and Gallop – tell us so.

Next Saturday, Nov. 7, the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office will host its first-ever congress for seventh and eighth graders. Its theme is “Fingerprint of God – there’s no one like me” and it will take place at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie. Archbishop Dolan will celebrate Mass.

The neat thing about this congress is that every student and chaperone who registers gets to take a on-line strength assessment. This assessment is the work of Dr. Donald Clifton of the Gallup Organization, and is based on the giftedness of each individual. By completing this assessment, each youth will discover his or her three major strengths (out of nine possible strengths). The adult version yields that individual’s top five strengths out of a total of 34. The chances of any two people having the exact same strengths in the same order are just about infinitesimal, hence the theme of the congress. The activities at the congress will be structured so that the students can learn how to make the most of their gifts and strengths, then put them to God’s use.

It does make you stop and think again about the uniqueness of every individual. And, at the same time, every one of us is made in God’s image and likeness.

For more about this congress, visit www.nyfaithformation.org

Go Yankees!

This past Sunday in the church where I attended Mass, the Prayer of the Faithful made reference to the fact that 47 years ago on October 11, 1962, Blessed John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in Rome.

However, the opening of Vatican II wasn’t only the historic event happening that week. On October 14, a U2 reconnaissance plane photographed incontrovertible evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba, just 90 miles off the Florida Keys. Those missiles were capable of delivering nuclear warheads anywhere in the U.S. within minutes.

As the first session of the council proceeded, President John F. Kennedy was meeting with the Joint Chiefs and his cabinet. He heard advice that included, among other things, a recommendation for an air strike on Cuba. He opted for a blockade of Cuba instead and informed the American people in an Oct. 22 television address. We were as close as we have ever come to nuclear war during that October of 1962. If you have ever wondered why we baby boomers are little crazy, that’s your answer.

Most of us probably did not grasp the cosmic significance of Vatican, only that Pope John, whom we all loved, was calling on our Church to open its windows to the world. At the same time, however, our parents and older siblings looked very frightened and the air raid drills at school became more urgent. Somehow, hiding under our desks or following those “Fallout Shelter” signs to the basement was not so funny anymore. All those science fiction movies about atomic war that we had seen on Saturday afternoons were starting to look not so fictitious after all. We were scared to death.

In all the excitement, Pope John’s inaugural address at Vatican II got a bit lost. Perhaps his opening words especially seemed inappropriate to what was going on outside the Vatican. “Mother Church rejoices,” he said. But they were prophetic, as you might agree if you read Pope John’s entire address these 47 years later, especially his gentle chiding of pessimists. I couldn’t find an English translation on the Vatican website. Try this link instead.

Happy Anniversary, Vatican II, as you continue to unfold. And a thousand thanks to the wise heads in the White House, who prevailed during those frightening days of October 1962. We’re still here!

Father Damien’s posthumous encounter with Alcatraz

Also on Sunday, Pope Benedict canonized Father Damien of Molokai, whose life many of us discovered in the 1960s. The Sept. 28 issue of America Magazine has a fascinating article by Daniel J. Demers on how the great saint got “held up” by some of the most notorious criminals in the United States.

King Leopold of the Belgians, having been informed by Pope Pius XII that Belgian-born Father Damien was being considered for sainthood, asked for the assistance of President Franklin Roosevelt in removing the priest’s remains from his grave in Molokai in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii and returning them to his native country. (Imagine the outcry of secularists if such a request were made of President Obama today.)

Anyway, Roosevelt complied, had Father Damien’s coffin disinterred, and placed it in the hold of a troop ship headed for San Francisco. There, the ship and Father Damien’s remains got tangled up with a prison riot at Alcatraz, which was hosting such criminals as Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone.

Unfortunately, this amazing story is on the “subscribers only” section of American’s website, but it’s worth a trip to the library to read this fascinating footnote to the story of St. Damien of Molokai.