February 2004

February 27, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I seldom go to the movies and so I don’t have any background to recommend me as a film critic. But this week I did see The Passion of the Christ and I want to offer you my reflections as a pastor. My first reaction was disappointment: what a wonderful movie this might have been! With the financial backing and artistic support The Passion enjoyed, this effort might have brought to the screen an unsurpassed rendering of the gospel message and might have done so in a forum with an audience as wide as the world. But The Passion offers us only 12 hours of Christ’s life and although that half day is so eminently significant in Christian faith and human history, the suffering and death of Jesus cannot be divorced from the larger story of his life among us as the Word of God become flesh. The movie does flash back to other moments in Jesus’ story and in doing so offers some relief from the relentless savagery. Still, The Passion reduces the life of Christ to Good Friday and his message to snippets of scriptural verse - and “verses” from the screenwriter’s imagination! There is too much graphic violence in The Passion - and too little of the whole gospel story. If The Passion is anyone’s first brush with Christian belief and life, then he or she will wonder indeed how and why so many people claim this faith as their own. There has to be more than The Passion gives us - and there is!

I was a teenager when Vatican Council II changed the face, and in many ways the heart, of Catholic life. I can remember folks saying in the 1960’s that the Council had helped us Catholics “rediscover” Easter, that we had somehow “stalled” at Good Friday. This, of course, was a caricature but even a caricature portrays something of the reality. It is perhaps then not surprising that Mel Gibson aligns himself with those who reject the teachings of Vatican II and who pine for the piety of a former age. The Passion begins and (almost) ends with the suffering and death of Jesus. A brief nod to the risen Christ seems almost an afterthought after the screen goes blank. A woman near me in the theater turned to her friend at this point and asked, “Is that the end?” No, certainly, it is not.

The pre-release reports of the film’s violence were not overstated. On account of the graphic violence, I would not advise bringing children to this movie: it will leave unnecessarily gruesome images in their minds. This kind of brutality and carnage would be too much in any film. Our children’s familiarity with the crucifix in church or at home should suffice for introducing them to the suffering of Jesus. I’m a person who often fast-forwards through through gory scenes and while viewing The Passion I wished I had my trusty remote in hand. In fact, I often found myself looking to the side of the screen when the camera lingered, as it often did and for too long, on the increasingly wounded body of Jesus. Not for a moment would I ever minimize the depths of Christ’s horrific pain, but neither do I find staring at his torn flesh the point of his suffering. There was, I thought, something almost voyeuristic in the camera’s eye: the crowds on the screen were lined up to watch the unwatchable, not unlike the way we might be drawn to slow down and eyeball a terrible accident on the highway. So intense was the suffering depicted in The Passion that it made me wonder if any human being could have possibly sustained such attacks and survive to be crucified. The suffering Jesus endured was precisely in his humanity and it would be incorrect to think that somehow he “borrowed” from his divine strength in order to suffer more. I say that not to impugn or diminish the suffering Christ endured for us but rather to raise the question of whether the cinematic violence was overdone.

But shouldn’t we meditate more on the suffering of Jesus for us? Certainly this is a question that will be asked of those who are critical of The Passion. It’s an important question and one that deserves particular attention in our age which works so hard at avoiding suffering and our culture which fails to understand how suffering might be redemptive, how it might have value. Yes, to prayerfully remember with what selflessness and sacrifice Jesus surrendered his life for us is certainly a valuable and worthy spiritual exercise. But that exercise for Catholic Christians needs to draw, as does our whole spiritual life, on two crucial sources: the scriptures and the church’s sacramental life.

The gospel accounts of the suffering and death of Jesus are helpful here. In the fourth gospel (the Passion narrative we hear every year on Good Friday) St. John describes the physical harm done to Jesus in these words: “The band of soldiers... seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first... Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.” (John 18:12, 24) “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head... So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull... There they crucified him... when they saw that Jesus was already dead, one soldier thrust a lance in his side...” (John 19: 1, 17-18, 33-34) Such economy of language! The suffering of Jesus is described in phrases of 7 verses and the only descriptive, qualifying word in these seven verses occurs when John writes that Jesus carried the cross “himself.” Was John not aware of the suffering of Jesus? Of course he was! Was John indifferent to the suffering of Jesus? Of course he was not! How then explain the stark vocabulary here? John’s purpose was larger than that of The Passion. John’s purpose was to give testimony in faith of his belief in the risen Jesus, whom John proclaimed to be “the light of the human race; a light which shines in the darkness, a light the darkness has not overcome.” (John 1:4-5) The suffering of Jesus is not the end of the story for John, but rather the penultimate powerful step before Jesus rises to share in his Father’s glory. If The Passion invite us to pity Jesus, it invites us to something Jesus never asked of us. The imagery of The Passion outdistances the scriptures - gratuitously.

It is, however, the sacramental life of the Catholic faith that most clearly indicates how the suffering of Jesus might be a proper subject of our piety and prayer. And here, Jesus himself, on the eve of his suffering and death, pointed us in the right direction. You already know this part by heart, but please take the time to read the following lines: Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted, he took bread and gave you thanks, He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take this, all of you, and eat it; this is my body which will be given up for you.” When the supper was ended, he took the cup. Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it; this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”

It is Jesus himself who instructs us, clearly, on how we are to remember his sacrifice as the Lamb of God, the one slain so that our sins might be forgiven. It was precisely the mind of Jesus that we recall his suffering and death in an unbloody sacrifice, the sacrifice of praise which is the eucharist. Am I suggesting here that one has no right to visualize the suffering of Jesus in print, in art, on film? No. But what Jesus did and bequeathed to us at his last supper should caution us believers about representations that may be partially faithful to the texts but theologically off the mark. Our belief in the eucharist as the supreme memorial of our redemption is key here. I will wager that on this count, The Passion will be most warmly endorsed by those Christian denominations for whom the celebration of eucharist is rare while those churches who celebrate the eucharist often or even weekly will be more critical of this film’s piety.

Is The Passion anti-Semitic? Readers of the New Testament who find no anti-Semitism in its pages will probably find none in this movie. Anti-Semitism in the scriptures? Not one verse of scripture was written in a cultural vacuum. Although it is clear to us that some Jewish leaders and some Roman officials and soldiers played a particular historical role in the suffering and death of Jesus, we also understand that not all Jews and Romans (then and/or now) bear full responsibility for Christ’s death. Rather, our church teaches that Jesus died for the sins of all: past, present and future. Still, when St. John in his gospel wants to speak of “the bad guys” in the story of Jesus’ suffering, he refers to them as “the Jews.” John’s church community was engaged in a struggle with the synagogue community of his day (circa 85 A.D.) and John’s gospel reflects this. Such texts combined with the sinful ugliness of prejudice have, for centuries, been the stuff out of which Christians have attacked Jews. We Christians easily forget that Jesus was a Jew! The Passion does little to show us that the Jewish priests and temple guards share a religious and ethnic heritage in common with Jesus. The scriptural accounts of the suffering of Jesus are easily open to misinterpretation of the role of Jews in the suffering and death of Jesus. While I hope that my readers here come to the story of Christ’s death with no anti-Semitic spirit, those who view this film with prejudiced hearts might, I think, be easily confirmed in their ignorance and the danger exists that the least enlightened could be incited to violence. Passion plays have a history of doing just this. I pray that I am very wrong in this matter.

I spend all this time looking at the bloody violence in The Passion because I believe it’s this that will most powerfully compel viewers. When we proclaim the passion narrative of Luke on Palm Sunday this year and read John’s version on Good Friday, the minds of many will be swimming with words and images scriptural and “Gibsonal.” (There are 34 non-scriptural elements inserted by the director from other sources.) Our celebration of Good Friday centers around a cross, not a crucifix with a corpus. The church asks us to use a cross because what we celebrate on that day is the saving love of Jesus and the Cross which becomes the sign of his victory over death. Perhaps once The Passion is out in video or on a DVD there will be Christian churches which will play this movie as part of their Good Friday services. This would be seriously counter to the spirituality and liturgical piety of Catholicism. In our prayer we do not play-act the passion nor try to reproduce it art form. Rather, we are bold enough to eat Christ’s body and to drink Christ’s blood in the eucharist - precisely as he commanded us to do. As we so often pray: “In memory of his death and resurrection, we offer you, Father, this life-giving bread, this saving cup. We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.”

If you go to the movies to see The Passion of Christ and expect to find the scriptures on the big screen, you will be at least partially disappointed. As my friend, Fr. McCarthy from Acton put it, “Before you see them movie - read the book!” He’s right. If you see the movie read at least one of the passion narratives before you go - and read it again when you come home. As they say, “The book is always better...”

Sincerely,
Fr. Fleming

February 13, 2004

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

This letter is the first of several in which I will address the reconfiguration of parishes in the archdiocese and how that relates to Our Lady Help of Christians Parish.

As you know, Archbishop O’Malley has begun a process for reconfiguring the parish ministries of the archdiocese of Boston and that this reconfiguration will involve the closing of some parishes. How did we get here and how does this relate to our parish?

You know that the parishes of the archdiocese are divided into groups called clusters. Each weekend we pray for the parishes of the Concord Cluster: St. Bernard (Concord), St. Irene (Carlisle), St. Joseph (Lincoln), St. Michael (Bedford) and Our Lady Help of Christians (Concord). The Cluster plan was initiated by Cardinal Law who asked clusters to work collaboratively in sharing personnel and resources for the mission of the church in particular areas of the archdiocese. One task assigned to the clusters was the work of developing a plan for that time when there would not be a sufficient number of priests to assign a priest to each parish. In response to this, the Concord Cluster developed a plan for the time when there might be only three priests available to serve the 5 parishes in the cluster. The plan our cluster developed was partially accepted by Bishop Allue, our regional bishop, but not totally because parts of the plan were not in accord with certain canon laws. For example, while the plan called for a sharing of financial resources, canon law requires standing parishes to have a certain amount of fiscal autonomy. By and large, around the archdiocese, cluster meetings have not been held since the break of the news of sexual abuse by clergy. Indeed, it has been some two years since the Concord Cluster has met - until this past week.

Archbishop O’Malley has now called for a reconfiguration of parishes in the archdiocese for several reasons, (to read the complete text of the archbishop’s recent remarks on these issues, go to www.rcab.org):
1) dramatic changes in the the demographics of the archdiocese: shifts in populations, a decline in historically familiar language groups and the introduction of new language groups in the life of the archdiocese;
2) decline in the number of clergy: since 1988, there has been a loss of 341 diocesan priests, a decline of over 37%; the median age of priests in the Archdiocese is 59 and the number of active priests over seventy is 132. In the next 10 years the number of active priests will be drastically reduced by death and retirement.
3) the serious struggle of many parishes to remain financially solvent;
4) the current poor state of many archdiocesan properties; for example: a recent review of all parish property in the city of Boston, comprising roughly 1/7 of all the buildings in the archdiocese, determined that to bring these buildings up to an acceptable standard of usability would cost approximately $104 million. This does not include making unnecessary repairs or renovations or even bringing them up to code, but simply making them safe and suitable for use by the parishes and schools.

The process for reconfiguration is on a short and tight schedule. The first step was a meeting of the clergy by vicariates with their regional bishops. FYI: Our vicariate includes the parishes of our cluster plus the parishes of Stow, Acton-Boxborough, Littleton, Maynard, and Burlington. Bishop Emilio Allue is our regional bishop, Fr. Mark Sheehan of Bedford is our Vicar, and our parish is in the Merrimac region of the archdiocese.) At this meeting, Bishop Allue stated that he did not expect many of the parishes in the Merrimac region to close. (There are currently 357 parishes in the archdiocese. Although the archbishop has not designated a particular number of parishes to be closed, word on the “clerical street” guesses that between 40 and 80 parishes in the archdiocese might be closed.

The question the clusters faced 3-5 years ago was to determine how the cluster would carry on the church’s mission with fewer clergy. While some clusters (particularly in urban centers) envisioned the merging and closing of parishes, the Concord Cluster’s response presumed that all 5 of its parishes would remain open while deploying fewer clergy in significantly different ways. The questions Archbishop O’Malley has asked us to answer are considerably different. After the vicariate meeting, the clusters are to meet and respond to the following in order to make a recommendation to the vicar and regional bishop and ultimately to the archbishop. Those questions are:
1) If the archbishop needs to close a parish in your cluster for the greater good of the archdiocese, how would you recommend that your cluster of parishes be reconfigured and why?
2) If the archbishop needs to close more than one parish in your cluster, how many parishes would you recommend for closure and how would you recommend that your cluster be reconfigured and why?

Each cluster is expected to answer these questions and make a recommendation no later than March 8, 2004.

If this all sounds disturbingly like the premise of “survivor” reality shows where a small group votes some of its members off the island -then you think like I do. I can also assure you that the parish representatives to our cluster also find the process to be faulty on a host of levels. It is important to note, however, that the cluster’s report is only a recommendation to the archbishop. While each cluster is required to ask and answer the questions, in many instances no parishes will be closed at all. Bishop Allue told the pastors at our vicariate meeting that a cluster might recommend that no parishes be closed at all, but that very substantial supporting information would need to accompany the recommendation. In other words, clusters cannot simply hand the decision back to the archbishop.

The Concord Cluster had its first reconfiguration meeting this past Tuesday night. Each parish is asked to send representatives from the parish staff, parish finance council and parish pastoral council. Representing OLHC are Sheila Spooner, Gary Lorenz, Diane Krause, Jane Audrey-Neuhauser and yours truly. At this meeting we exchanged parish data and information and civil representatives from the cluster towns reported to us on town demographics. Anita Tekle, our Town Clerk and OLHC parishioner, did a very fine piece of work in presenting figures for Concord. At the next meeting each parish will present a parish profile and at the third meeting the cluster will write its recommendation to the archbishop. Although I have no inside information or crystal ball, I remain confident that Our Lady Help of Christians Parish is not in jeopardy. As this hasty process proceeds, I will keep you up to date.

I had planned to address in this week’s letter some questions about our parish religious education program, but the schedule for the reconfiguration process has taken precedence. I will continue to report on the reconfiguration process next week and will begin to address concerns about our religious education program. A great opportunity for training for those who are -or who want to become- catechists (teachers) in our program will run on the 5 Mondays of March and continue on April 6, 27 and May 4. More on this next week, but a registration form for this program appears in today’s bulletin. If you have immediate questions about this series, please call the parish center.
Sincerely,
Fr. Fleming

February 6, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Several weeks ago I mentioned in my letter that I would be giving you a preview of some of our Lenten activities. Although a more formal and complete schedule will be distributed just before Ash Wednesday, I want to bring the following to your attention so that you might begin now to plan to be with us.

We spend time and money writing a will to insure that our properties and financial holdings are handed on to our heirs. But what about the less tangible possessions we would like to leave to our family and friends? On Saturday, February 28 (8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) we will offer a retreat day here at Our Lady Parish. The day will be focused on the creation of a personal “Spiritual Will” to capture the values, beliefs, significant life lessons, stores and requests to be shared with those who follow us in life. Over the course of the day, participants will be guided in the creation of a “spiritual life map” and develop a written spiritual will. There will be opportunities for personal reflection and writing, and opportunities to share with other participants. Are their special values, beliefs, hopes and dreams you want to hand on to others? This is the day for you! The leaders for this retreat day will be Joe and Louise Colletti, friends of mine from Connecticut, who have worked with groups and the creation of spiritual wills. I’m pleased that they have invited me to lead the day’s prayer and song. A registration fee of $15 will include lunch and materials. A registration form will be in next Sunday’s bulletin.

Does any of the following describe you? You wish you had more time for prayer. You want to find God in the “here and now” of your life. You would like your “work life” and your “prayer life” to come together. You could use some help in growing in your spiritual life. Your circumstances don’t allow you to go away to a retreat center for a directed retreat but you think that’s something you could benefit from. Do you find yourself somewhere in that description?
How about an At-Home Directed Retreat? This opportunity enables participants to experience a directed retreat without leaving their daily life. The retreat, which is done at home, will begin with a group meeting and continue with 3 one-to-one daily sessions. The only requirements are your commitment to pray for about a half hour each day of the retreat and openness to talk about your prayer and experience of God with your retreat director. The individual sessions will be held at the Parish Center during the day or in the evening, at your convenience. Your director will listen, respond to your sharing, and suggest material for your ongoing prayer. The retreat will be offered February 27-March 1 -and- March 31-April 2. There will be a group meeting for all participants on Sunday, February 22 from 7:30-8:30 p.m., after which you may choose which dates are best for you. The cost of the retreat is $60 which includes the general meeting and the three retreat days. (Some “retreat scholarships” are available - speak to Fr. Fleming) Our Retreat Director will be Sr. Joan McCarthy, CSJ. To register, you may contact Sr. Joan online at JMCCSJ@aol.com or by mail at 597 Gallivan Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02124-5419. Please register at your earliest convenience: registration is limited!

While you were getting ready for Christmas, our parish offered a four part series with Dr. Bernie Swain. Bernie surveyed for us the history, meaning and future of Vatican Council II in the life of the Catholic church. About 75 people came each week at a very busy time of the year - a testimony to the quality of Bernie’s presentations. I’m happy to announce that Bernie will be with us again in Lent - on the 5 Mondays of March. This series will look at some of the pressing issues in today’s news and probe Catholic teaching in response to them. It’s not too early to set aside the 5 Mondays of March!
Sincerely,
Fr. Fleming

Remember: Please do NOT park at Junction Square!