St. John the Baptist is a saint for all seasons. Although one might say that "he was born into the faith" (being that Jesus was his cousin), he nevertheless reached great potential in bearing witness to the faith. I am always pleased to find a Confirmation candidate who takes him as "his/her saint." St. John’s vocation belongs to each of us whether priest, religious, parent or youth: we are all called to "Prepare the way of the Lord."

One of the ways we prepare for Christ is how we approach our Sunday liturgy on the weekend. Jesus never intended the Last Supper to be celebrated at McDonald’s. There is a time and place for the "in and out" of fast-food service. The Mass is not that! The Passion accounts to which we listened (i.e. entered into) during Holy Week show that Jesus took great care in preparing for the Passover meal with his apostles. By doing so, he left us an example. As Jesus did, we should do.

I am increasingly disturbed when preparing for a weekend liturgy in our parishes to hear the din of noise that floods the atmosphere, not unlike that of a sports arena. I have tried to overhear what is so important that people need to speak in church. Normally comments range from one’s view of the weather, to a recent sports event, to how old Uncle Henry is looking. None of it is essential. None of it has to be spoken at that time.

We come to church to talk with God and God speaks in silence, as the Scriptures tell us. Yes, the Mass is a community event. Yes, it is participatory prayer. But the overall meaning of the Mass is worship of God, not worship of one another! At times, we get this inverted.

Farmers know how necessary it is to prepare the field before sowing the seed. Athletes know that if they do not stretch and loosen up ahead of a game, they will likely pull a muscle. Orchestras need to "warm up" before a concert in order to make sure their instruments are properly tuned. The very same is true for us who attend Sunday Mass on a weekend: if we do not prepare ourselves prayerfully and in silence ahead of time, we will not derive any meaning from the liturgy or, if we do, it will be the superficial satisfaction of having simply been entertained.

As a parish priest, I often gave as a "penance" during Saturday confessions, a prayerful reading of one of the three Sunday readings, especially those that pertained to God’s mercy. My intention was to have the person well prepared ahead of time so that he/she might "experience" the Word when it was proclaimed. Since we are all sinners, I also recommend this practice to each one of us. I think you would be surprised as to the difference it makes. The same practice can be done for other parts of the ritual. Familiarity in this regard need not breed contempt.

As parish leaders know, there are a growing number of Catholics who do not go to Sunday liturgy on a given weekend. They presume they are good people and that may be true. In reality, however, they are not good Catholics. No doubt there are a host of excuses for their derelict of duty. But I have to think that, in some cases, they don’t go because they have stopped being fed properly by the Sunday Eucharist. They arrived empty and they left empty. They have lost sight of the fact that this action is about prayer, about worship of God, about deepening one’s relationship to the Father in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. And you know, dollars to doughnuts, if they aren’t praying in church, they aren’t praying at home either. Thus the spiritual health of the soul is very much at risk. It takes more than baptism to be a Catholic disciple. It takes more than being a "good" person to get to heaven. How do I know? Jesus tells us so. The directions are right there in the Gospels.

So, I would like to proclaim St. John the Baptist as patron saint of each of you reading this article. He prepared himself for the Lord’s coming and then he went out and prepared others. You and I are called to do no less. St. John the Baptist, pray for us!

May God love you!

June, 2006

Falta Mucho por Recorrer

Por el obispo John C. Nienstedt

Una de las maneras que nos preparamos para recibir a Cristo es cómo lo hacemos en la liturgia dominical todo fin de semana. Jesús nunca intento que la última cena fuese en McDonald. Ya que no se trata de entrar y salir rápidamente. ¡La misa no es así! La lectura de la Pasión en Semana Santa muestra como Jesús tuvo bastante cuidado al preparar la cena de Pascua con sus apóstoles. Al hacer eso, él nos dejo una demostración. Así como lo hizo Jesús, lo debemos hacer.

Nosotros vamos a la Iglesia para dialogar con Dios ya que él habla en silencio, como nos dice en las escrituras. La misa es un acontecimiento de la comunidad, es un rezo donde todos participan. ¡El significado en general de la misa es adorar a Dios, y no adorarnos los unos a los otros. A veces alteramos los dos conceptos.

Los líderes pastorales saben que hay un gran número de católicos que no asiste a la misa dominical. Ellos presumen que son buenas personas y quizás lo sean. Sin embargo, no son buenos católicos. No hay duda que hay muchas excusas por sus actos. En algunos casos, no van porque no se les ha predicado adecuadamente en la misa dominical. Vienen vacíos y se van de la misma manera. Han perdido la noción que la misa se trata de rezar, adorar a Dios, de profundizar su relación con el Padre en Jesús por el espíritu Santo. Si no rezan en la Iglesia, tampoco lo estaran haciendo en sus casas. Por consiguiente, la salud espiritual del alma esta en riesgo. Se necesita más que el bautismo para ser un discípulo católico. Se necesita ser más que una buena persona para ir al cielo. ¿Cómo lo se? Jesús nos dice que las señales lo encontramos en los evangelios.