Sorry it has been a while for me to post anything on this blog. So much has been going on, and I don't have access to my laptop until I enter vows (15 months from now). I can't write in my spare time without walking down to the computer lab.
I am doing really well here at the Abbey. There is much time for prayer and work, reading and gardening, visiting with other monks and college students. I see this as a time of formation, when the Lord is forming me in silence. I recall hearing about parishes hiring a Lifeteen director and then wonder what he or she is doing the first year, because no one really sees any youth work going on. They wonder if the parish should have even hired that director! But then, in the second year, the youth ministry works just explodes! During the first year, the minister was doing a lot of background work, laying the foundations, for youth ministry. Likewise, the Lord is laying the foundations in my heart, so that whatever I do when I am in vows will be effective and I will be more perfectly His instrument.
During this formation period, the Lord works in silence. There have been consolations, even when working outside in the garden. There have been opportunities to "offer up" in prayer and reparation, such as when my lower back gave out on me two weeks ago (getting better). There has been much rising to the surface to explore in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. There has been a reviewal of life, where I have come from, and a deepening of who I am. I have grown to love my postulant brothers deeply, and I have gotten to know many of the wonderful elderly monks that are here at the Abbey. Already there have been two funerals for monks, both of whom touched me in many ways, and I shall miss them. It felt strange to line up with the monks after the vigils and have people walk down the receiving line, offering their condolences to me! Then it hit me, I am part of the monastic family. Of course they would do that! As the junior of the monks, I light candles for 30 days at supper for the deceased monk where he used to sit. The monk is remembered by name for 30 days, and then annually on the anniversary of his death (when his life story is recounted). The community never forgets them.
Back home in Minnesota, two things have happened, good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad and offer some reflections on both topics.
A terrible scandal has shaken the Archdiocese of St Paul-Minneapolis. It involves a priest involved in child sexual abuse and allegations of mismanagement on the part of the Chancery. The unfortunate news can be read here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2013/09/clergy-abuse/ as well as related articles on MPR.
Some dear friends of mine, former parishioners, contacted me, expressing how they felt betrayed and hurt, saying that it is hard to be Catholic right now. I agreed, asking them to remember that priests feel that way too, when such things happen. I'm sure many, many people feel that way, wondering how to face this Church at a time of such scandal.
Currently, I am taking an Ecclesiology (Theology of the Church) course at Benedictine College. I believe very firmly that so many problems in the church have something to do with improper sense of what the Church really is. Church history is loaded with scandal. A case can be made that the Reformation wouldn't have happened if in the centuries prior to it revealed a better portrait of popes and the clergy. The Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism (when there were allegedly three popes) led to a great sense of disillusionment on the part of the faithful. The repercussions of scandals can be great, leading to a fragmentation of the church and the loss of souls, for decades (centuries?) afterwards. We must remember that there have been worse scandals than this in the history of the Church. We must also remember that there shouldn't be any scandals at all. Period.
As a side note, I have an enormous problem with blaming priests when they fall. One of the things people often say is that our priests should be held to a higher standard. Yes, they should. But shouldn't the same standard be applied to the speaker of the complaint? If not, then is this not an issue of hypocrisy? There shouldn't be two different set of standards for clergy and for laypeople. Sin is sin. We all need to clean up our moral lives, including priests. It baffles me that in this sexually permissive world, people who know they need to behave better criticize priests when they fall. What would things look like if the same people went up to priests and said, "Father, we love you and we want what is best for you. Let us help you, so you can help us." Priests might just cry for joy, instead of being afraid of their image before other people.
Back to my original point: the Church is bigger than these scandals. We need to keep an eye on Jesus Christ and what He has done in the Church. The Church is the kingdom of God on earth. Her holiness comes from the Head, Jesus Christ, who is holy. If every member of the Church sin (which they do), the Church is still holy because the Head is holy. This was St Augustine's point from way back. We must love the Church for who she is, rather than looking to the fallen members.
My dear friend, Fr. David Blume, wrote this in his bulletin article for his parish, The Church of St Patrick in Oak Grove, MN:
Let us keep our eyes on the great thing God has done in giving us this Church, which gave me such great life at my baptism! And remember, despair is from the Evil One, who is prowling like a lion. We are feeling his teeth marks these days.
The second piece of news is really good news: my dear friend, Fr. Andrew Cozzens, has been named Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis! I am very, very happy for the Church, for she has gotten a wonderful man as a bishop. He is a wise theologian, humble, and kind. It may be in the plans of Divine Providence that he may help this diocese recover from this scandal and receive the healing she needs. Now an enormous Cross has been placed on the shoulders of Bishop Elect Cozzens. Let us pray for him, that he may not be crushed by it but he may be God's instrument of healing and reconciliation in these difficult times.
Please pray for me as I continue my formation and know of my prayers for you!
Fr Jay Kythe
I am doing really well here at the Abbey. There is much time for prayer and work, reading and gardening, visiting with other monks and college students. I see this as a time of formation, when the Lord is forming me in silence. I recall hearing about parishes hiring a Lifeteen director and then wonder what he or she is doing the first year, because no one really sees any youth work going on. They wonder if the parish should have even hired that director! But then, in the second year, the youth ministry works just explodes! During the first year, the minister was doing a lot of background work, laying the foundations, for youth ministry. Likewise, the Lord is laying the foundations in my heart, so that whatever I do when I am in vows will be effective and I will be more perfectly His instrument.
During this formation period, the Lord works in silence. There have been consolations, even when working outside in the garden. There have been opportunities to "offer up" in prayer and reparation, such as when my lower back gave out on me two weeks ago (getting better). There has been much rising to the surface to explore in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. There has been a reviewal of life, where I have come from, and a deepening of who I am. I have grown to love my postulant brothers deeply, and I have gotten to know many of the wonderful elderly monks that are here at the Abbey. Already there have been two funerals for monks, both of whom touched me in many ways, and I shall miss them. It felt strange to line up with the monks after the vigils and have people walk down the receiving line, offering their condolences to me! Then it hit me, I am part of the monastic family. Of course they would do that! As the junior of the monks, I light candles for 30 days at supper for the deceased monk where he used to sit. The monk is remembered by name for 30 days, and then annually on the anniversary of his death (when his life story is recounted). The community never forgets them.
Back home in Minnesota, two things have happened, good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad and offer some reflections on both topics.
A terrible scandal has shaken the Archdiocese of St Paul-Minneapolis. It involves a priest involved in child sexual abuse and allegations of mismanagement on the part of the Chancery. The unfortunate news can be read here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2013/09/clergy-abuse/ as well as related articles on MPR.
Some dear friends of mine, former parishioners, contacted me, expressing how they felt betrayed and hurt, saying that it is hard to be Catholic right now. I agreed, asking them to remember that priests feel that way too, when such things happen. I'm sure many, many people feel that way, wondering how to face this Church at a time of such scandal.
Currently, I am taking an Ecclesiology (Theology of the Church) course at Benedictine College. I believe very firmly that so many problems in the church have something to do with improper sense of what the Church really is. Church history is loaded with scandal. A case can be made that the Reformation wouldn't have happened if in the centuries prior to it revealed a better portrait of popes and the clergy. The Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism (when there were allegedly three popes) led to a great sense of disillusionment on the part of the faithful. The repercussions of scandals can be great, leading to a fragmentation of the church and the loss of souls, for decades (centuries?) afterwards. We must remember that there have been worse scandals than this in the history of the Church. We must also remember that there shouldn't be any scandals at all. Period.
As a side note, I have an enormous problem with blaming priests when they fall. One of the things people often say is that our priests should be held to a higher standard. Yes, they should. But shouldn't the same standard be applied to the speaker of the complaint? If not, then is this not an issue of hypocrisy? There shouldn't be two different set of standards for clergy and for laypeople. Sin is sin. We all need to clean up our moral lives, including priests. It baffles me that in this sexually permissive world, people who know they need to behave better criticize priests when they fall. What would things look like if the same people went up to priests and said, "Father, we love you and we want what is best for you. Let us help you, so you can help us." Priests might just cry for joy, instead of being afraid of their image before other people.
Back to my original point: the Church is bigger than these scandals. We need to keep an eye on Jesus Christ and what He has done in the Church. The Church is the kingdom of God on earth. Her holiness comes from the Head, Jesus Christ, who is holy. If every member of the Church sin (which they do), the Church is still holy because the Head is holy. This was St Augustine's point from way back. We must love the Church for who she is, rather than looking to the fallen members.
My dear friend, Fr. David Blume, wrote this in his bulletin article for his parish, The Church of St Patrick in Oak Grove, MN:
The Sources of Grace
Saint John Bosco lived from 1815–1888. From the time he was nine years old he would have dreams that appeared to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some of these dreams came true and others contained a very profound message. Pope Pius IX instructed Fr. Bosco to write down the details of his dreams.
One of his dreams is about a huge ship that is tossed about during a great storm. This ship is the Church and it is commanded by the Pope. There are other smaller ships nearby that want to destroy it and they are doing everything conceivable to sink it. There are also smaller ships defending it. The large ship is maneuvering toward two large columns. On the top of one column, there is the statue of the Immaculate Virgin, from whose feet hangs a large placard with this inscription: "Help of Christians"; on the other column, which is much higher and bigger, stands a host of great size proportionate to the column and beneath is another placard with the words: “Salvation of the Faithful.” There are hooks or anchors on these columns where a ship could tie up. In the midst of a great battle the ship makes its way to these columns and ties to each of them. The storm subsides. The ships fighting against the large ship commanded by the Pope scatter. Those fighting for her come and tie up to the columns.
The actual dream is much more involved, but the message is that when we are rocked by storms, we have to be anchored to the sources of grace, to the Mother of Jesus who is the greatest intercessor we have and to the Eucharist, the source of all graces.
It is a challenging time right now in the Archdiocese with sad reports showing up in the media many days in a row. Let’s keep our sights fixed on the sources of grace and remember to pray for our Archbishop and all who are in leadership at the Chancery. God bless you all for your prayers!
Let us keep our eyes on the great thing God has done in giving us this Church, which gave me such great life at my baptism! And remember, despair is from the Evil One, who is prowling like a lion. We are feeling his teeth marks these days.
The second piece of news is really good news: my dear friend, Fr. Andrew Cozzens, has been named Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis! I am very, very happy for the Church, for she has gotten a wonderful man as a bishop. He is a wise theologian, humble, and kind. It may be in the plans of Divine Providence that he may help this diocese recover from this scandal and receive the healing she needs. Now an enormous Cross has been placed on the shoulders of Bishop Elect Cozzens. Let us pray for him, that he may not be crushed by it but he may be God's instrument of healing and reconciliation in these difficult times.
Please pray for me as I continue my formation and know of my prayers for you!
Fr Jay Kythe
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