Pray for us holy father St. John Joseph of the Cross, intercede for us with the Divine Infant Jesus that we may find healing from all our ills, moral and physical, thus gaining the courage to deny ourselves and imitate your penance and devotion in the following of the same Jesus Christ crucified. Amen.
The Church as “Hospital”.
It is a question I’ve asked myself before - or once did so - and a question I’m frequently asked by others. Religion does seem to attract the misfits of society, perhaps none more so than the Catholic church. Non-religious friends often tell me they wouldn’t be caught dead in church because everyone there is so weird. (People who think they are normal amuse me.)
Whenever I attended any big city downtown Catholic church, I’ve often seen a variety of characters as well. The Mass and sacraments, along with the devotional life of the Church offers solace to troubled souls. In the Catholic religious goods store I manage, we meet people of every condition; some seem to be lost souls looking for guidance. When an employee remarks about how strange some of the people appear to be, (not you reading this!) I have an explanation at hand.
I remind them of the parable of the wedding banquet, where the king gave a banquet for his son, only to have the invited guests refuse the invitation for whatever reason. The king was furious and commanded his servants to go out into the byroads and invite anyone they happened upon - the lame and crippled, the blind and beggars, the prostitutes and tax collectors. Because it was for these that Jesus had come, the lowly and afflicted, “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and release to prisoners.” Isaiah 61. The church is a refuge for sinners, a hospital for the suffering.
I am fond of a quote from Edith Stein in her work, “Science of the Cross”; “Former pride disappears when a man no longer finds anything in himself that might cause him to look down on others.”
Sometimes I think the mentally challenged, mentally ill, the addicted alcoholic, or just anyone with something wrong with them, is sort of a mirror for those of us who think we are normal. They show us something of ourselves, or what we could be. Yet more deeply, they call to us to recognize that they are people just like ourselves, people who need love, understanding, acceptance and a sense of belonging.
My own experience.
Having said that, it seems to me that over the years I have attracted my share of people with emotional or mental problems. It is probably because my mother was bi-polar and both parents were alcoholics, which made for a rather insane childhood, albeit really kind of hilarious. Hence my view of life as one big sitcom.
While living in Boston I somehow attracted many friends with mental disorders. I guess it was due in part that I spent hours in churches with adoration, and was seen as a compassionate person or something. (Or they may have sensed something of my childhood experience that permitted my acceptance of bizarre behavior.) At first, I may have considered some of these people to be eccentric, without ever realizing they suffered from genuine mental illness.
One friend, Steven, worked for a homosexual priest who was later murdered in jail, the infamous Fr. Gagnon. Steven told me all about him and his activities, introducing me to the priest several times. He was not a pleasant fellow. I therefore concluded Steve’s constant complaining and preoccupation with revelations that foretold a corrupt Catholic clergy had been a result of the stress he encountered working for this priest.
One evening we were out for supper and Steve dramatically showed me his hands exclaiming, “I have the stigmata!” I laughed out loud, lifting up my hands and said - “So do I!” - convinced he was joking. He wasn’t. He said it was invisible. I summoned up all the mystical theology I knew to try and convince him he was mistaken. It didn’t work.
The next day at Mass I saw his friend Mark and told him what had happened. Mark explained Steve had probably stopped taking his meds, revealing that Steve was schizophrenic. Again, I laughed and thought Mark was kidding, saying, “He is not! How would you even know that?”
That was when Mark told me he and Steve met in an institution and they were both diagnosed schizophrenics, yet if they took their medication, they were fully functional. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. After recovering my shock, I continued to hang out with these guys from time to time, learning a great deal more about mental illness. They were a lot of fun too. (Tell me if I’ve told this story before.)
Jesus said those who are well do not need a doctor, sick people do. That is why there are so many weird people in church - remember that when you see me there.
Hilary’s talkin’ jive - when she spoke to an African American church congregation yesterday. (Actually, the “Drudge” headline stated she had a Southern drawl.) Bill used to do that too. Listen here. Talk about condescending and patronizing. (The speech reminded me of Beaver Cleaver’s mother, the actress Barbara Billingsley in the movie ”Airplane”.)
Now why is it a presidential candidate can make a political speech in a Church during a worship service and the IRS makes no attempt to take away the tax exempt status of that Church, yet if a priest or minister says something even remotely political, his Church is threatened?
What is it?
“A Pagan religion that started in Egypt in the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Its followers believed that its beliefs were revealed to their founder Hermes by his divine father. They taught that a person on earth is a mortal god and that God is an immortal man. It was one of the main competitors to early Christianity. Some religious historians trace certain Mormon beliefs to Hermeticism.” Web Definitions
Today it comes to light that Hans Urs von Balthasar may have been an adherent, or at best, interested in the Tarot and Christian Hermeticism. (And to think I had to plow through his dense theological treatises while he may have been something of a neo-pagan.) Mother Rose of the Lake Elmo Carmel of Our Lady of Divine Providence once explained to me why the community refused to read certain authors and their books, she said that if an author is not consistent with Catholic teaching, one cannot trust that the Holy Spirit is guiding him.
Spero News has a report that von Balthasar seems to have been more of a casual inquirer into the Tarot, apparently along with the esteemed Trappist monk, Basil Pennington, the major proponenat of Centering Prayer. Here is a snippet from the article by Susan Beckworth:
The “Esoteric Spirituality” of Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar, including his Dedication for the “New Age” book: “Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism” Hans Urs von Balthasar, was a Swiss theologian whose theological output gained him international attention, especially in Europe.
He died on the 26th of June, 1988, two days before his elevation as a cardinal. Many from the theological scene hailed him as a theologian of great stature, however; some view his writings as questionable. Our Catholic moral theology has always taught us we must not judge the state of another’s soul. But as faithful Catholics, we are called to make in a spirit of love, proper judgments of behavior and to expose dangerous views. Clearly, failure to condemn error indicates tacit agreement. Many of Balthasar’s books and writings contain heresy.
Here is an excerpt from Balthasar’s foreword for the book” Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism” (Referred to herein as “Cardinal” Balthasar).
“A thinking, praying Christian of unmistakable purity reveals to us the symbols of Christian Hermeticism in its various levels of mysticism, gnosis and magic, taking in also the Cabbala and certain elements of astrology and alchemy. These symbols are summarized in the twenty-two “Major Arcana”of the tarot cards. By way of the Major Arcana, the author seeks to lead meditatively into the deeper, all embracing wisdom of the Catholic mystery.” -Hans Urs von Balthasar - Unorthodox Theologian
Reading the report on Spero gives me the same creepy feeling I always got when I listened to Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven”:
“Theres a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
Theres a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooooooooh, it makes me wonder,
Oooooooooooooooooh, it makes me wonder.”
Yeah, it makes me wonder too!
Born on the Island of Ischia, Southern Italy, 1654; d. 5 March, 1739.
As with most saints of the Alcantarine reform, I have always had devotion for St. John Joseph of the Cross, whose feast day is today - he is shown here with the Infant Jesus, although I can’t remember the incident wherein he cradled the Bambino. (I’ll bet Don Marco knows.)
The Alcantarine reform was initiated in Spain by the great St. Peter of Alcantara, the friend and advisor of St. Teresa of Avila. These reformed Franciscans were otherwise known as discalced. Their habits were meager, with short mantles. They lived in great poverty, with much fasting and penance. Their lives were so austere, their cells resembled coffins, in as much they were very tiny and short. I believe, as in St. Peter’s life, they were often arranged so that the friar could not lay down completely in many cases.
The Italian reform was separated from the Spanish province by the Pope, and John Joseph founded, among others, the first convent of the reform in Naples. Later, the saint became Vicar Provincial of the Italian province of the order. He was an extraordinary mystic and lived into his 80’s - if my memory serves me. He was known for his tremendous compassion for the poor and charity towards sinners, renowned as a confessor. Aside from his visions and prophecy, mystical phenomena such as levitation and ecstasy was not an uncommon experience for him.
One famous incident in his life is often told. In Naples, on the feast of St. Januarius, when crowds were in the Cathedral to see the martyr’s blood liquify, St. John Joseph left his cane across the Cathedral, he called to it, and miraculously it floated above the heads of all, traveled across the Cathedral into the saint’s hands. The crowds were astonished, and St. John pretty much upstaged the miracle of St. Januarius.
I do not know the dates, but I believe the Alcantarine reform was pretty much absorbed into the OFM branch of the Franciscan order. In our day, the Capuchins were known to be the most austere reform of the Franciscans, although newer reforms have emerged from their ranks as well. The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Fr. Benedict Groeschl’s reform, perhaps being the best known.
When I lived in Italy in the early ’70’s, I stayed for a while with a group Padre Pio had encouraged to get started. It was founded by a Padre Umile, and the friars lived a very austere life, and indeed went barefoot. One of their houses was atop Capidimonte in Naples. They lived in discarded railway cars. I was very impressed with their observance, although I have never heard if they are still together.
Anyway - this is my loose history of St. John Joseph and a bit of information on the Alcantarine reform. Feel free to correct me if I got things wrong. For further information go here - Franciscan History and Franciscan Archive .
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