Articles by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein
Live gratefully for God and each other this Christmas
Dec 23, 2010 / 00:00 amChristmas Day is not just another day. One would have to be pretty hard of heart not to be touched with a little of “the Christmas spirit,” no matter what our circumstances may be.The long and beautiful tradition of the season, enhanced by joyful music and beautiful decorations, and the custom of sharing gifts and bountiful meals all lend a romantic air to Christmas.Yet, being hard of heart or indifferent to the feast is not out of the question for any of us. Being without faith and hope is not beyond any one of us.Indeed, Christmas is meaningless if we are without faith and hope. If viewed as a mere secular celebration, it can even be a burden. Some of our folks find the Christmas holiday a time of depression.And so we must pray because we are fragile and culpable.In an audience with young people early in his pontificate, Pope John Paul II said, “We need to admit humbly that we are poor creatures, with confused ideas. … We are fragile and in constant need of interior strength and consolation. Prayer gives us strength for great ideals, for keeping up our faith, charity, purity, generosity; prayer gives us strength to rise up from indifference and guilt, if we have had the misfortune to give in to temptation and weakness.“Prayer gives light by which to see and to judge from God’s perspective and from eternity. That is why you must not give up praying! Don’t let a day go by without praying a little! Prayer is a duty, but it is also a joy because it is a dialogue with God through Jesus Christ!” (Audience with Young People, March 14, 1979, In Conversation with God, Volume One).In fact, Christmas time should give us pause to measure the quality of our faith.Are we willing to see that the holiday tinsel decorates a spiritual meaning of Christmas? Can we trace all that we know as the Christmas celebration to the birth of Jesus? Can we genuflect to the Jesus, who is born like one of us? Do we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior? Do we understand that prayer is a conversation with the Son of God?The Christmas season gives us an opportunity for a timely boost to our faith. Is it a live flame that warms the heart or perhaps is it merely a spark?Through every liturgical season of the Church, God offers us special graces, special helps, to deepen our faith. Our challenge is to look for and to accept the gift that God offers us through the ministry of the Church. It would be unfortunate if we miss a gracious opportunity, if we ignore the inspiration that comes our way, at Christmas time.Surely the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time finds its roots in the fantastic gift that God gave the human family when he gave his only Son for our salvation from sin and death.In the spirit of God’s gift-giving, we are led to give as a sign of our love for each other. The whole evolution of the tradition of Santa Claus is rooted in a spiritual tradition of giving because of our love for each other.And God’s gift of his only Son is our model. The spiritual call of Christmas is to live gratefully for God and for each other. The spiritual gift of Christmas is the help we need to do that. In different ways, a special Christmas gift awaits each of us.We may find it in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation. Mercy is God’s greatest gift. We surely find it in the celebration of holy Mass.Wherever we are, on Christmas day and throughout this season of special love, however distant we may be from loved ones—I think of our loved ones who have recently gone home to God or loved ones who may serve the military in Iraq or Afghanistan—however separated we may feel from loved ones, we can truly meet them in Church, in the spirit of our prayer, especially at Mass and holy Communion.Let’s remind ourselves that spiritual reunion is real reunion, too. I make a special point of praying in spirit with my deceased parents and relatives. I also meet my close friends in a prayer of the heart at Christmas Midnight Mass.Know that I shall meet all of you and your loved ones in my Christmas Masses and prayer. If you like, please come and join me in the celebration of Midnight Mass at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Indianapolis.May the peace and joy of Christ be with you all! And God bless our New Year 2011! †Reprinted with permission from The Criterion.
Put the wood of the cross in the center of your heart
Oct 7, 2010 / 00:00 amI want to make the simple point that at the center of all that we are about, we need to keep our focus on Christ and the price he paid for our salvation.What distinguishes us as Christians is the centrality of Christ and participation in his redemptive triumph over sin and death. It is the substance of our call to holiness.It is important to keep in mind that the consequence of his redemptive triumph reaches into the stuff of our everyday lives. Our redemption is not simply an event that will happen at the time we pass into the fullness of the Kingdom, that is, when we go home to the House of the Father. Our call to holiness and our redemption is worked out in the ordinary events and experiences of everyday life.One time in a letter, St. Francis de Sales wrote that he noticed a curious custom of the country people where he lived. He would observe farm hands going across a farmyard to draw water at the well. Before they would lift the bucket and fill it to the top with water, they would put a piece of wood into it.One day, Francis asked a young woman: “Why do you do that? Why do you put a piece of wood into the bucket?” She looked surprised and, as if he should know the reason, she said, “Why, to keep the water from spilling and sloshing—to keep it steady while you carry it.”Writing to a friend later, the bishop told this anecdote and added: “So, when your heart is distressed and agitated, put the wood of the Cross into its center to keep it steady!”In times of busyness or stress or perhaps when we feel badly because of sin, the presence of Jesus and his love which flows from the Cross can give us peace and calm serenity. Put the wood of the Cross in the center of our hearts to keep steady and balanced. It may sound too simple, but it truly makes all the difference as we try to live our call to holiness.It does mean that we need intentionally to embrace our baptismal call to holiness, and we need intentionally to foster our relationship with Jesus. Like any other friendship, we know that we have to work at our communication with him. Friendships do not remain static or deepen if untended.What do we do to nurture our call to holiness and our love of Jesus? Every opportunity I get these days, I recall the teaching of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, about three tasks that express the essential nature of our Catholic Church and that should shape our call to holiness.Whatever the state of our life might be, we are called, first, to proclaim the Word of God and the teaching of Jesus. Second, we are to participate faithfully in the sacramental life of the Church. And third, we are to do our part in the ministry of charity.Proclaim, celebrate and serve pretty well summarize our call.Most of the time, we proclaim the Word of God by the way we live as Jesus taught us to do. Our love for the Eucharist and our faithful reception of the sacrament of penance help to keep us focused and remember why we are faithful Christians who love Jesus. And charity is the natural flowering of the love that Jesus confers on us in the holy Eucharist and the other sacraments.I often quote from a note that a priest wrote to me when I was leaving Memphis to become archbishop here in Indianapolis. He wrote: “Bishop, when you came to Memphis you told us that your first duty was to be a man of prayer. I was disappointed to hear that because I wanted an activist bishop. Now, I know—and the record shows—if we are faithful in prayer, activity flows aplenty!”In order to keep a balance as we live the threefold task that is so basic to our Christian vocation, it is wholesome to keep the wood of the Cross, the symbol of Christ’s powerful love and compassion, at the center of our lives.We do that by continually returning as friends to Jesus in prayer, sometimes at the foot of the Cross. At times, there will be dry spells in our prayer.Blessed Teresa of Calcutta anguished as she wondered if God was with her. Yet she remained faithful in her mission of charity. She is a contemporary encouragement in our call to holiness.And let’s recall that Mary, the mother of Jesus and ours, stood faithfully at the foot of his Cross.Once in awhile, we do well to join her there. †Printed with permission from The Criterion, newspaper for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis