Sept Catholic Education Foundation board meeting — Holy Cross School, Overland Park

TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME

Sept. 11 TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Ex 32: 7-11, 13-14 Ps 51: 3-4, 12-13, 17, 19 1 Tm 1: 12-17 Lk 15: 1-32

Sept. 12 The Most Holy Name of Mary 1 Cor 11: 17-26, 33 Ps 40: 7-10, 17 Lk 7: 1-10

Sept. 13 John Chrysostom, bishop, doctor of the church 1 Cor 12: 12-14, 27-31a Ps 100: 1b-5 Lk 7: 11-17

Sept. 14 THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS Nm 21: 4b-9 Ps 78: 1b-2, 34-38 Phil 2: 6-11 Jn 3: 13-17

Sept. 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Cor 15: 1-11 Ps 118: 1b-2, 16ab-17, 28 Jn 19: 25-27

Sept. 16 Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bishop, martyrs 1 Cor 15: 12-20 Ps 17: 1bcd, 6-7, 8b, 15 Lk 8: 1-3

Sept. 17 Robert Bellarmine, bishop, doctor of the church; Hildegard of Bingen, virgin, doctor of the church 1 Cor 15: 35-37, 42-49 Ps 56: 10c-14 Lk 8: 4-15

TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME

Sept. 18 TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Am 8: 4-7 Ps 113: 1-2, 4-8 1 Tm 2: 1-8 Lk 16: 1-13

Sept. 19 Januarius, bishop, martyr Prv 3: 27-34 Ps 15: 2-4b, 5 Lk 8: 16-18

Sept. 20 Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and companions, martyrs Prv 21: 1-6, 10-13 Ps 119: 1, 27, 30, 34-35, 44 Lk 8: 19-21

Sept. 21 MATTHEW, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST Eph 4: 1-7, 11-13 Ps 19: 2-5 Mt 9: 9-13

Sept. 22 Thursday Eccl 1: 2-11 Ps 90: 3-6, 12-14, 17bc Lk 9: 7-9

Sept. 23 Pius of Pietrelcina, priest Eccl 3: 1-11 Ps 144: 1b, 2abc, 3-4 Lk 9: 18-22

Sept. 24 Saturday Eccl 11:9 – 12:8 Ps 90: 3-6, 12-14, 17 Lk 9: 43b-45 The asterisk pope. I suspect that’s how most people remember him . . . if they do at all.

Sandwiched between a papacy that lasted 15 years before him and one that lasted 26 years after him, John Paul I’s papacy of merely 33 days is hardly a blip on the church’s radar.

Incredibly, I missed his whole pontificate. After finishing my first year of theology in June 1978 at the North American College in Rome, I spent the month of July exploring Europe. The rest of the summer — August and September — I attended an intensive language institute in Staufen im Breisgau, Germany.

Shortly after I’d arrived in Staufen, Pope Paul VI died. Naturally, I gobbled up all the news that followed, especially about the conclave. (Honestly, I longed to be back in Rome to witness the election of a new pope. I mean, it doesn’t happen all that often.)

Incredibly, after only 26 hours into the conclave, a new pope was elected on Aug. 26. Although I knew nothing about him, I was immediately captivated by his choice of a name and his gentle smile. He was the first pope to take a double name as a sign of his respect for his predecessors: Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.

I was touched by his words of explanation for the name: “I have neither the ‘wisdom of the heart’ of Pope John, nor the preparation and culture of Pope Paul, but I am in their place. I must seek to serve the church. I hope that you will help me with your prayers.” I could hardly wait to return to Rome to get to know him better.

When the language institute ended, I spent a few days at the Jesuit residence in Munich to experience Oktoberfest. Another seminarian was coming in from Paris to meet me there. When he arrived the morning of Sept. 29, I was shaving in the communal bathroom of the Jesuits. He came in and said, “Did you hear the pope died?”

“Of course,” I said. “Even though I followed it all in German, I know Paul VI died!”

“No, no,” he said, “I’m talking about the new pope!”

At first, I thought he was kidding but his somber expression told me otherwise. We left for Rome the next day. I recall walking past the open casket of John Paul I in front of the main altar at St. Peter’s, with Swiss Guards on duty. I attended the funeral as well, held outside on an eerie, overcast day on Oct. 4. The weather, as well as some screeching birds that flew over during the Mass, seem to mirror the sorrow and grief of the crowd.

Over the years as I’ve learned about him, I’ve grown more attached to JP I:

We’re both alumni of the Gregorian University in Rome; he also wrote a regular column in his diocesan newspaper; and he loved a good story, seen especially in one of his books, “Illustrisimi,” where he penned fictional letters to folks like Mark Twain, Pinocchio, King David and even Jesus.

Justly, he’s remembered as “the smiling pope.” And he deserves this long overdue recognition. He was just named “Blessed” by Pope Francis on Sept. 4. (See the article on page 3.)

JP I embodied these words of Mother Teresa: “Let no one come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness — kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

Blessed John Paul I, smile upon us!

JP I, we hardly knew ye

MARK MY WORDS

FATHER MARK GOLDASICH

Father Mark is the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Tonganoxie. He has been editor of The Leaven since 1989.

Moses, like us, had to decide whose interest he should serve

In one of the bestknown called-byGod stories ever, Moses hears God speaking to him from a bush that is on fire and keeps on burning.

God directs Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses raises objections and then tries to get out of the assignment. God answers the objections, promises Moses help and sends him off to do the job.

Sunday’s first reading describes a very different conversation between God and Moses.

Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt. God has been providing them with water and food in the extremely dry Sinai wilderness. As Sunday’s incident begins, Moses has been on a mountaintop for 40 days, receiving plans for how the Israelites are to worship God as they journey to the land he has promised them.

Down below, the Israelites have gotten restless and anxious. Where is Moses? Where is God? To comfort themselves, they have made a golden statue of a bull, which they take as a sign of divine power, and have begun to worship it.

Up on the mountain, God informs Moses of these shenanigans. Step aside, he tells Moses, so that I can vent my anger on the disloyal Israelites. I will get rid of them, God tells Moses, and start over: “I will make of you a great nation.”

An incredible offer! Moses will be a new Noah for the salvation of people, a new Abraham, father of a great nation.

Will Moses accept or decline?

The answer hinges on a deeper question. What does Moses really want as leader of the Israelites? Who is he in leadership for?

Moses refuses God’s offer. First, he points out to God (in verses omitted from our reading) that getting rid of the Israelites would bring God dishonor. Second, it would violate God’s promises to the Israelites’ ancestors.

His responses to God show that, when it comes down to it, he is leading the people because he wants God’s glory to be revealed and he wants God’s people to experience God’s blessings. He’s not in it for himself.

From time to time, we, too, face situations — in family or work or community or church — that confront us with the question Moses had to answer for himself. Who am I trying to serve here? Whose interests are uppermost? Is my fundamental commitment to myself or to God and other people?

KEVIN PERROTTA

Perrotta is the editor and an author of the “Six Weeks with the Bible” series, teaches part-time at Siena Heights University and leads Holy Land pilgrimages. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pope: Correct view of tradition nurtures beauty, grandeur of the liturgy

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The liturgy must be nurtured with care and never be neglected or abused, Pope Francis said.

“The liturgy is Christ’s work and the church’s, and as such, it is a living body,” he told members of Italy’s Association of Professors of Liturgy.

The liturgy “is not a monument made of marble or bronze, it’s not a museum piece. The liturgy is alive like a plant, and it must be nurtured with care” and never be “neglected or mistreated,” he said. The pope made his remarks during an audience at the Vatican Sept. 1 with members of the association, which was founded 50 years ago to promote the study and teaching of liturgy at seminaries, departments of theology and other educational institutions.

Pope Francis underlined the importance of progress being rooted in a true sense of tradition. “Progress in the understanding of, and even in the celebration of, the liturgy must also be rooted in tradition, which always advances in the way the Lord wants,” he said. Like with a tree, growth comes from the roots — from tradition, which is “the assurance of the future.”