Say What?

Now a days we are all experts - we join Facebook and LinkedIn and become experts on anything - no matter how well educated we are or are not - we start blogs - and profess knowledge of specialized subjects - valuable and otherwise. We get to say what we want - when we want - how we want. The other day I ran across one of those "experts" who had done a minor project involving tracking financial donors - his newest claim to fame since that project - he is now calling himself a financial services expert.  In his mind -maybe - to the rest of the world - ?  - I can avoid judgement - he has his reasons.  For those of us who write blogs about our faith and faith journeys - we are held to a higher standard. We profess what we have experienced in our personal lives - we preach the Good News from both a head and heart perspective. We do not profess to be experts or specialists - we are not infallible or without sin - we are ordinary people doing the best we can to share the Faith that we have received.

As Roman Catholics - we are bound to the Truth - which is Jesus Christ - we profess the Creed in the way we live our lives - we share the teachings of the Church Fathers - We believe what we read - we teach what we believe - we practice what we teach. No more - no less.

Deacon Dale 

9-11

Today we pause - we put on hold - we hesitate - and use those few spare minutes to remember and reflect on September 11, 2001 when this nation was attacked by terrorists and thousands of innocent perished in a reckless act of violence.  Nothing was proved that day - no battle won - no victory for any groups - aside from taking innocent people and in one swift action terminated their lives. To be able to brag about the taking of life - is nothing to brag about - to take a life of an unarmed innocent person - is nothing to brag about - and yet - it happens day in and day out.  Around the world there is always one individual or another who places no value on human life - life that is so precious - that it should be protected and preserved - not terminated. Even in our own country there are those who do not respect life - life of the unborn - the terminally ill - the aged.  Respect comes from within - respect is natural for most - respect is universal - crossing all barriers.  Only those who do not respect their own lives are able to perform deeds such as this.

Jesus told his disciples and followers "I have come that you may have life and live it to the fullest" (John 10:10)  Jesus offers us hope when there is no hope - Jesus offers us love when there is no love - Jesus offers us life when there is no life.  He does not force it on you - He stands at the door - waiting for you to knock - to ask - that He may give you all that He has promised. Chose life - Chose Jesus.

Deacon Dale 

Tradition

Most of us have traditions that we observe - ethnic - cultural - historical - spiritual. In my family we have a blend of traditions incorporating both mine and my wife's family.  Some center around specific times of the year - such as Easter and Christmas.  Others - such as anniversaries and birthdays - follow the calendar and still others - such as family reunions - were based strictly on how and why and when the tradition began.  For example - in regards to our annual family reunion - selecting a time of year when the majority of the aunts, uncles and cousins were available took some developing but eventually we settled on Labor Day weekend. It works for most but not all - but the majority are able to participate. Thus the tradition of meeting yearly over Labor Day weekend has become one of our traditions. Because one or both of our parents were descendants from Italy - we honor the Italian traditions of our ancestors by serving an all Italian menu and playing Bocce - a favorite Italian game.  Other things have been incorporated and made apart of the annual reunion so that after 17 years the family reunion has become "tradition'.

The Catholic Church is based on two pillars - Scripture and Tradition. Just as in our own families - the Church has developed traditions often not found in Holy Scripture. Some people have a problem with this since it is not referred to in Holy Scripture - and thus deny the authenticity of that particular tradition. Any intelligent person will immediately recognize that the authors of the different books of the Bible did not record every single event - thought or action of Jesus.  That would have been impossible - since NOBODY knows the mind of God. To think otherwise would be almost blasphemous - making yourself more knowledgeable than God. From our Church family we celebrate and rejoice in the beautiful traditions that have been been incorporated into our understanding of God and in our Worship.

Deacon Dale 

Pierogi

Pierogi are dumplings made from unleavened dough filled with a variety of foods - meats - potato - cheese - fruits. Pierogi are popular among the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, The West Slavic Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks, as well as the East Slavic Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians and Rusyns, and the Baltic Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians. Depending on the peoples -the name may be different but they all boil down to a dumpling. While in Poland earlier this year - I was traveling with my wife and another deacon couple. Although the food in Poland is varied as in most cultures - the only thing my deacon brother wanted to eat was pierogi. That and potato pancakes - placki ziemniaczane. I tried my hardest to have him try the other Polish dishes - but pierogi was it.  He ate pierogi from Krakow to Warsaw to Gdansk where we found a restaurant that served 21 different types of pierogi. Those with sweet cheese were among the most popular. He nicknamed that restaurant the "Pierogi Palace" alternatively the "Pierogi King".  Last Christmas - my wife and I made about 700 pierogi to be shared with our family - a task we do not repeat that often.

When we first come to Jesus - we are starving for His Word - the Words of Life that build us up - that edify us - that strengthens us - that fills us. As we grow in our relationship and learn about the Liturgy of the Church we learn about Eucharist and how important it is to Catholics. In the Eucharist we receive Jesus - the Bread of Life and once you connect with Him in this special sacrament - nothing else will ever fill you in the way that Eucharist does. You begin longing for it - searching it out - at home and in your travels - because you have found in the Eucharist the Truth that is Life - the Truth that is Christ - the Truth that is God.  Nothing - not even pierogi - will ever fill your soul the way Jesus does!

Deacon Dale 

Family

Saturday my wife and I hosted the annual family reunion.  This is the family from my mother's side - so since her maiden name was Bonvini - we call it BonviniFest.  It is always a great time reconnecting with our cousins - the games - the food - the stories - the new babies - it is one constant party from start to finish.  Although the morning started with rain - it quickly stopped - partially because of the rosaries Arlene hung outside - partially because of all  the prayers we said asking for some dry time. This is our yearly time to celebrate our Italian heritage - to discuss our travel plans to Italy and to share stories about the family still in Italy. Of course we play games - bean bags for one and definitely the annual family bocce tournament. This year I was able to show off the bocce court I constructed in the back yard - all 80 feet of it with its 58 thousand pounds of rock used to construct it. The cousins were impressed to say the least and everyone wanted a turn on the court.  At the end of the day it is all about family - staying connected.

When we gather at church on the weekend for Holy Mass that is exactly what we are celebrating - family - the Family of God - the family of unrelated individuals who share a common bond as people of God. We may not be playing games - but still - we share in the actions of Holy Mass - calling Jesus our Savior and God our Father as our priests and deacons lead us through the Sunday worship.  At the end of the day - it is all about family - staying connected to the One who loves us - the Author of life!

Deacon Dale 

Pebbles

This summer I have been wearing sandals a lot more than I normally would. Being almost barefoot has its benefits. I know some people like to wear socks with their sandals - I prefer the barefoot experience - I do not like the pebble experience.  You know - how every so often from out of nowhere a pebble decides to jump inside your sandal - usually under the ball of your foot - does not feel very good - frequently actually painful - thankfully it is a simple procedure to stop and remove the offending stone.  While I was in Israel - I wore sandals all the time - frequently I picked up a pebble - here in the Mid-west or Israel did not make one difference.  

I am sure that Jesus and his disciples had to contend with the same issue of pebbles in their sandals - it had to be a normal part of life - wearing sandals and walking in the desert with sand and pebbles.  When I think of pebbles my thoughts automatically go towards rocks - that brings me to Saint Peter - the Rock upon which Jesus promised to build his church.  Even though Peter was not perfect - put his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion - it gives me hope - it gives you hope - that God will be as gentle with us as He was with Peter.

Deacon Dale 

Water Works

I have a koi pond - actually it is mostly a goldfish pond - although I did introduce two koi back into the pond last fall.  Earlier in the summer I noticed that it was steadily losing water - so the decision was made to tear the pond apart and rebuild.  It has taken a lot longer than I originally thought.  A simple re-do turned into a major project and just when it was almost completed a friend asked where my skimmer was.  Skimmer?  Needless to say - I started the project over from scratch.  Just the other day I filled it with water - success - or so I thought - until I noticed a drop in the water level - a leak!  Yes I found it - yes I fixed it.  Finally it is completed and new landscaping can be done.  The fish?  Yes the fish found a temporary home in the hot tub - not a bad place to be - as long as it was turned off.  Nice -quiet - boring.  They must have been happy to be back in the pond - complete with a nice new waterfall - they swim with renewed gusto.

Fish Enjoying New Pond

When we first come to Jesus - we feel like fish out of water - we try to grasp and comprehend all the new things in our life - the new words - they new gestures - the new life that we experience as a disciple of Christ. Thank God that we adapt quickly to this newness - and soon become like fish in a pond - swimming with the current that is the Holy Spirit - rejoicing in the presence of God that flows around us like water.

Deacon Dale 

Holy Land Pilgrimage Epilogue

The 2012 Holy Land Pilgrimage is over now - it has been almost 4 weeks since our return.  Life has returned to normal - with jobs - commitments - back to the old routine.  But we are a changed people - we will never be able to put into words exactly what happened to each and every one of us. We experienced the same and yet different things - in the exact same place. We felt the hand of God on us - we saw Jesus in the eyes - the doorways to our hearts - in each other -  we laughed - we cried - we sat in awesome wonder of the space that we shared with the people of Israel.  We talked with each other and locals - we ate their food and drank their wine - we walked in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior - and already we long to repeat the experience.

Bar Mitzvah Celebration at Western Wall

Our God is an Awesome God!  He provides for us and call us to discipleship.  Just as the original twelve disciples - the 36 pilgrims - all of us - are called to spread the Gospel of Jesus to everyone we meet.

Deacon Dale 

Holy Land Report #11

Day 7 - Our final day of pilgrimage. Today we headed to Ein Karem where we visited the Church of St. John - a short walk later we arrived at the Church of the Visitation where we celebrated Holy Mass, Then we went to Yad Vashem - the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and finally ended our pilgrimage at Emmaus - a fitting place as we walk this journey seeking a better understanding of Jesus and the road that God calls us to walk as modern day disciples.

Arriving in Ein Karem it was a short uphill walk to the Church of St.John. 

Gated Entrance

St John Church

St. John Interior

Grotto of John's Birth

Just as we saw in Bethlehem and at Calvary - the place where St John was born is marked with a metallic star anchored to the ground under an altar.

Reverencing the Star

Moving on from the Church of St John we then began our journey up the side of the mountain to the Church of the Visitation. 

Ein Karem

Deacons Walking to Church of Visitation

Pilgrims On Way To Church of Visitation

Church of the Visitation

Outside the Church

Lower Church

Lower Church

The Upper Church

This was possibly the most challenging walk of the pilgrimage. It is up a mountain side and a bit lengthy. On the way one pilgrim asked who could make such a walk - they were feeling challenged - another replied - a pregnant girl - upon which another person asked - who?  Saint Mary came the reply - as yes - but she was only 15 years old!  Once inside we celebrated Holy Mass.

Deacon Jerry Homily

 Deacon Dale - Father Matt - Deacon Jerry

 Chaplain Arlene with Fransciscan Monk

Next stop - Emmaus - approximately 7 miles northwest of present Jerusalem. How we felt as we too journeyed towards Emmaus - were our hearts not burning inside us?

Road To Emmaus

 Emmaus - Abu Ghosh, near Kiryat Yearim

 Inside Abu Ghosh - Emmaus

 Abu Ghoush - Emmaus

 Abu Ghoush Benedictine Monastary - Emmaus

The last stop of our final day was a visit to Yad Vashem - the Jewish Holocaust Memorial - the second most visited site in Jerusalem after the Western Wall.  What can one say about Yad Vashem - or Auschweitz - or Birkenau?  Not much - I have visited all three sites multiple times each and the inhumanity represented in each place is incomprehensible - maybe one day all crime against fellow humans will cease - we can only pray that it does.

 Yad Vashem Entrance

 Yad Vashem

 Yad Vashem

Preparing to return home - we checked our luggage and in the very early hours of that last morning we celebrated Holy Mass - one last time in Israel at our hotel before boarding our bus for our ride to Tel Aviv and home.

Deacon Jerry - Father Matt - Deacon Dale

This was a fantastic pilgrimage - for most a once in a lifetime experience - for myself & my wife - for Deacon Jerry & his wife - for Father Matt - we all hope and pray that we can do it again in 2014 and beyond.

Deacon Dale

Holy Land Report #10

Following is the remainder of the sites visited on Day #6 of our pilgrimage. I had departed the group - they continued an visited the following: Southern Wall Excavations, the Teaching Steps, The Cardo, the Pool of Bethesda, Church of St. Anne, and the Antonia Fortress. 

The Southern Wall is a wall at the southern end of the Temple Mount and the former southern side of the  Second Temple in Jerusalem built during King Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount platform.

Southern Wall Excavations

These steps - known as the Teaching Steps - were the entrance to the city from the area of the Old City of David below. It was on these steps that Jesus did most of his teaching and preaching.

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The Teaching Steps

The Cardo was the main street in most Roman cities normally orientated North - South and the main street of city life. Today only the ruins remain in Jerusalem

Remains of the Cardo

The Pool of Bethesda is a pool of water in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem. on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley. The Gospel of John describes such a pool in Jerusalem - near the Sheep Gate - which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. It is associated with healing i.e. when Jesus told the blind man to wash his eyes. Until the 19th century there was no evidence outside of John’s Gospel for the existence of this pool -scholars argued that the gospel was written later - probably by someone without first-hand knowledge of the city of Jerusalem - and that the ‘pool’ had only a metaphorical - rather than historical - significance. However in the 19th century - archaeologists discovered the remains of a pool fitting the description in John’s Gospel. 

Remains of Pools of Bethesda

The next stop was a visit to the Church of St Anne which was built by the Crusaders over a grotto believed to be the birthplace of St Anne - the mother of St Mary. The church has awesome acoustics and each group visiting is encouraged to sing a song while inside.

Church of St Anne

The journey continued to the Antonio Fortress - a military barracks built by Herod the Great around 19 BC - named after Herod's patron Mark Anthony. It is at the eastern end of the great wall of the city on the northeastern side of the city near the Temple Mount and the Pool of Bethesda.

Remains of Antonio Fortress

Thus ended this day of pilgrimage. Before I leave this post I would like to show a significant non-Christian site that is very obvious in the Temple Mount. From the farthest areas the large golden dome is very visible. It sits atop an octagonal structure which was constructed by Moslems in the 7th century. Conquering Crusaders reconsecrated the building as a Christian church but soon reverted back to Islam with their defeat. Often referred to as the Dome of the Rock - this place is sacred to three of the world's major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The site was first consecrated by the Israelites of Exodus. Later, according to Jewish tradition, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac upon a rock that protruded from the center of the platform. Later still, upon the same platform, Solomon erected his temple.  After the destruction of the temple the Dome was built. The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque - but a Muslim shrine. Like the Ka'ba in Mecca, it is built over a sacred stone. This stone is believed to be the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven during his Night Journey to heaven. A picture pales in comparison of the structure - you have to see it to understand its significance.

Dome of the Rock

As people of  faith it is not unusual to share in this awesome history of God and his relationship to all men and women.

Deacon Dale