Jimmer!

This morning I found myself in a church where I had been precisely once before–in 1994. Back then I was a 24-year-old nitwit, as opposed to the 40-year-old nitwit I am now.

Being back in this place, I realized: By the grace of God, I managed to spend most of my twenties praying. Then I realized: Dude, you pretty much spent your thirties praying, too.

So I may be a nitwit. But at least I have this going for me.

AND I know God loves me, because: Last year the Hoyas beat Duke. This year the Hoyas don’t even play Duke (except maybe in the NCAA tournament). But this year, the Hokies beat Duke!

Tech beating the little blueys was not the victory of the day yesterday, however. The victory of the day was Brigham Young marching into southern California, confronting an arena full of losers dressed-up as Mormon missionaries in mockery, and proceeding to whup San Diego State’s butt.

…Listen, I don’t mean to pester you. But we really have to deal with the metaphysics of morality. We have not begun to scratch the surface.

So far we have: the existence of God and religion. There is a moral law revealed by God, the Ten Commandments. We will face judgment and will either be punished or pitied. Faith is the foundation of morals.

But this is clearly not the whole story. There are non-believers with impeccable morals. Also, the Ten Commandments do not apply themselves to particular cases. One person may have a duty to act in one way, and another person in a different way, under identical circumstances.

And there is more: Don’t we perceive our options according to our habits? The question of whether or not to spend $2.50 for a cup of coffee is an altogether different question for someone who does so regularly versus someone who does not.

If we are going to be judged–and we are–then what are we going to be judged ON? Understanding how the Olympic judges score gymnastic routines is hard enough. What exactly are their criteria? But what about the all-knowing divine Judge? What are HIS?

Chime in, people.

Armor

For years, I have been telling my brother priests: The best protection against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune is…

…a fiddleback chasuble. Obviously, our Holy Father agrees…

Bad: Duke winning the national championship.

Good: Jason Campbell replaced by Donovan McNabb…

…According to the Old Covenant, a levite was to blow a trumpet from the top of the Temple wall to call the people to a holy feast.

The trumpet of the New Covenant is the sermon of St. Peter, also delivered at the Temple wall:

God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. –Acts 2:36

Seventeen Proud Years

The Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall on their right and their left.

Where your unworthy servant was baptized

We Christians are marching to the holy mountain, where it is always springtime.

To outfit us to march forward, the Lord initiates us through the sacraments. We must be washed, anointed, and fed.

Easter is a good time for us to recall and thank God for the sacraments that have made us Christians.

On October 18, 1970, I was baptized by a well-meaning non-Catholic, non-priest at New York Avenue Presbyterian church. My parents were kind enough to carry me to the font, and they saw to it that I was in church every Sunday for the next 17 ½ years. I am grateful.

But there was still some unfinished business. On Holy Saturday night, 1993, I was confirmed and given Holy Communion for the first time by Father Ed Ingebretsen in Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University.

Seventeen years ago this morning, I woke up washed, anointed, and fed for the first time in my life.

It is good to be Catholic.

No one—not the Washington Post or the New York Times, not CBS News or CNN, not Geraldo Rivera or Sinead O’Connor—no one is going to tell me that it is not good to be Catholic on Easter Sunday.

We Catholics hate it when people do evil. We hate it that priests have done great evil and hurt innocent young people. We hate it that some bishops have failed to discipline their clergy like they should have.

But we know this, too: The world needs the mercy of God that comes to us through His Church.

As Norman MacLean put it in “A River Runs through It,”

When you pick up a fly rod, you will soon find it factually and theologically true that man by nature is a damn mess.

We need God. We need Christ. We need the Church. We need the sacraments. We need to be washed, anointed, and fed, so that we can march toward the goal.

Where your unworthy servant was Confirmed a Catholic

…How badly do I want Butler to beat Duke?

I wanted the Giants to beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. But not this much. I wanted N.C. State to beat Houston in 1983. But not this much. I wanted Delpo to beat Federer, but not this much.

Incomprehensible

Incomprehension at Verizon Center

How could the Hoyas beat up on Duke on Saturday and lose to South Florida on Wednesday?

Incomprehensible.

But if you want really incomprehensible, try: Almighty God.

You are quite unable to think of such a thing [as God]. Such ignorance is more religious and devout than any presumption of knowledge…

We are talking about God, so why be surprised if you cannot grasp it? I mean, if you can grasp it, it isn’t God.

Let us rather make a devout confession of ignorance, instead of a brash profession of knowledge. (St. Augustine)

…Perhaps you have been wondering two things:

1. Why haven’t we heard anything from Fr. White since Saturday?

2. Why doesn’t Fr. White ever write anything about the world-famous “Year of the Priest?”

I have been basking in the mystery of what happened 40 days after Christmas, when the most pure Virgin went to the Temple to be purified, and she and St. Joseph redeemed the Redeemer with the sacrifice of a some birds.

Why was the Temple built? Only at this moment did the reason become fully clear. The Temple was built for the Son of God to enter it, and then offer Himself to the Father.

The Blessed Mother carried Him in, so that He could make this offering from His little Sacred Heart.

So we see that there are two priesthoods.

1. Some of us men perform the ministerial priesthood. It is a sublime mystery. The Lord uses us to make Himself present, so that He can be the Church’s offering to the Father.

2. All of us Christians perform the baptismal priesthood. We offer the Son to the Father, and ourselves along with Him.

The ministerial priesthood is God giving Himself to us. The baptismal priesthood is us giving God back to Himself, and giving ourselves to Him at the same time.

May we all exercise our priestly office every day, with fidelity and generosity.

…Please say a prayer for the repose of Fr. Levester Jones.

We have lost an excellent priest at a young age. May he rest in peace. May the Lord console all of us who love him.

Interesting Weekend

Ralph McInerny, 1929-2010

Ralph McInerny was a bright light.

He patiently shone the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas into the darkness of post-Vatican-II American Catholic life.

I had the privilege of taking Dr. McInerny to dinner when he visited Catholic University at my invitation in 2001.

His death is a great loss.  May he rest in peace.

…Federer won his Australian Open semifinal in straight sets. He did not face a single break point.

Can Andy Murray beat him in the Final–at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow on ESPN2?

Does the full moon sometimes appear twice in a month? Yes, but…(Next blue moon: August 31, 2012.)

Speaking of Blue: Do I want the Hoyas to beat Duke real bad? Do I want it never to snow again in the history of the world?

Do bees buzz? Does Spock beam up?

…If you are young, and want to learn how to find God’s will for you, check out this website and this Facebook group.

“Playing in the N.I.T. is not an embarrassment.”

–Seth Greenberg, coah of Virginia Tech.
No one is surprised that the Georgetown Hoyas are nowhere to be found in the NCAA brackets.

It is interesting to note that the Hoyas actually beat three of the top twelve seeds in the NCAA tournament (UConn, Memphis, and Syracuse).

On the other hand, three Big East teams that handily defeated Georgetown were not even invited to the N.I.T. (St. John’s, Seton Hall, Cincinnati).

If I were a St. John’s fan, I would be incensed that the Hoyas are in the N.I.T. and the Red Storm are not. After all, St. John’s beat Georgetown twice in eight days, and that was six days ago.

I searched St. John’s fan-blogs to find the justifiable rage. But the ragtag lot of Red Storm fans are resigned to their fate. Their team is going to the College Basketball Invitational.

At the N.I.T., the following could happen, and it would make life livable again:

The Hoyas beat Baylor, then Virginia Teach, then another team, then Davidson, then Notre Dame!

This dream scenario involves delightful re-matches.* It is also highly improbable.

(* Notre Dame beat us on New Year’s Eve. Davidson knocked us out of the NCAA tournament last Easter. Also, a Georgetown-Virginia Tech game would be great.)

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt has an excellent short speech. Benvolio protests that he has drawn his sword only to keep the peace, and the truculent Prince of Cats replies:

What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. 1.1.67-68

Well, let me say that I hate the phrase “March Madness.”

The phrase is a crass neologism. It is imprecise. It is inaccurate.

I hate the phrase, like I hate hell, all euphemisms, and Duke.

Baylor almost won the Big 12 Championship

Most Annoying

This morning I was meditating on the parable of the prodigal son.

Goodbye, Blues

Now that Guest Bests have arrived, the Blue Edition below is finally retired.

Two Shampoos and a Good Book

Right now, Duke is beating poor Maryland by 40+ points.

Playing at Duke is rough.

Please forgive me for making a boo-boo in my last post. I lamented that the Hoyas have a losing record in the Big East. In fact, the record stands at 3-3. I forgot that we had beaten Providence College. Tomorrow afternoon we play Seton Hall at 2:00. The game will be broadcast on MASN and AM 980.

Today is the feast day of the gentle bishop, St. Francis de Sales. If you would like to have a spiritual life, and you are looking for a good, straightforward book to teach you how to do it, look no further.

St. Paul will Guide Us through the Week

Gerald Henderson smoked us.

Please bear with me.

There are few things more painful to your preacher than watching Duke beat Georgetown. I would rather be beaten up by deranged Mormon missionaries.

For about ten minutes during the first half, it looked like Georgetown could actually win the game. Then things fell apart.

Monroe got in foul trouble, including a mysterious technical foul. Gerald Henderson scored three points every time he touched the ball. Summers played a great game but could not make his free throws. And poor Jessie Sapp was joined by Chris Wright on some planet in another solar system where no one ever scores any points.

Anyway, enough bellyaching. God is good, no matter what happens. Here is today’s homily…

Brothers and sisters, we have an eventful week ahead of us. On Tuesday, our 44th President will be inaugurated. Before, that—tomorrow—we will observe the 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King lived and died to vindicate the human rights of the weak and oppressed. That is why we keep a national holiday in honor of his birth.

Our eventful week will continue on Thursday with the March for Life. We will march for the same cause that Dr. King fought for—the rights of the weakest and most defenseless people.

But there is more. Next Sunday, we will keep one of the main feasts of the Year of St. Paul. January 25 is the feast of the Apostle’s conversion to Christ.