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HECKER REFLECTION: SONSHIP

5/31/2013

FROM FATHER HECKER'S SERMON COLLECTION:

Servant of God, Father Isaac Thomas Hecker CSP is the founder of the Paulist Fathers. The following series of Hecker Reflections are primarily drawn from his sermon collection. This reflection is taken from a sermon entitled, “Filial Devotion,” that Father Hecker preached at the Paulist Mother Church in New York City, the Parish of Saint Paul the Apostle in 1863. This sermon was published in a Paulist sermon collection in 1864.

Are we aware of the high privilege of being the true children of God? Does this move us as children of the Father to serve and pray to Him? A child is at home in the house of his father. He does not wait to do as his father asks. He fulfills his father’s wishes without obligation or difficulty. For where there is love there is freedom and obligation ceases to be a burden. If guilty of a fault, it is to displease one’s parent. To lack trust in a parent’s wisdom, affection, tenderness and care, never enters the mind. Am I wrong to say that few Christians at any state of life serve and pray to God in this manner? We find souls that have long been devoted to God’s service and yet are still in doubt as to whether God loves them, whether their sins are forgiven and whether they are prepared to die? What a misunderstanding of the privilege of being a Christian.

There are others who keep God’s law, fulfilling the duties of their calling and if it were proposed to them, and they would rather choose death than be guilty of offending God. But their conscience is governed by fear and when for good reason such as illness or an act of charity or the care of a sick member of their family or a suffering neighbor, they miss SundayMass or their regular prayer, they fear as if they had sinned and lose their inner sense of peace, until they have been reassured that they have acted correctly. And while God in the fullness of His heart is stretching forth His arms of love to embrace these good Christians for their charitable acts, they are crouching in fear lest God be extending his arm to strike them.

We should not cringe or crouch like a beast of burden but be motivated by the spirit where we cry “Abba Father.” Look up to your heavenly Father. Trust in his infinite love, goodness and mercy. As Saint Paul writes, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Serve God with affection and in the freedom in which Christ has made you free.

RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP

One moment of childhood is when the training wheels come off and we successfully navigate a two wheel bicycle. It’s a big step. We learn how to balance and we are able to ride just like the big kids. Now and for the next few years a bicycle will get us around until it is time to get a driver’s license. In a similar manner Servant of God, Father Isaac Hecker encouraged people who came to him for spiritual direction to trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This means moving beyond the training wheels of rules and regulations, reward and punishment and trusting in the Holy Spirit within; to inculcate that necessary sense of spiritual balance.

In today’s reflection, Father Hecker talks about two elements that conflict with the spirit of adoption that comes to us from God in Christ Jesus - fear and scrupulosity. These can keep us from developing our spiritual balance. Father Hecker teaches that being the adopted children of the Father so we must act freely and without compulsion. God loves us with a nurturing, supportive and parental love. In this context God calls us to grow. Our response should not be caused by guilt or fear. “Fear of the Lord” is a virtue whereby we are in awe and wonder in God’s presence, not that we are afraid of God. God has adopted us. God listens to us his children and encourage us to grow.

Sadly, either we don’t always understand this gift or we fail to use it. Father Hecker uses this vivid image of God opening his arms to embrace us and we crouch in response, fearful that God will strike. Look up to your heavenly Father. Trust in his infinite love, goodness and mercy. Hecker ends by quoting Saint Paul to the Galatians, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Serve God with affection and in the freedom in which Christ has made you free.

Paulist Father Paul Robichaud, CSP is Historian of the Paulist Fathers and Postulator of the Cause of Father Hecker.

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WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO SAINTHOOD?

5/16/2013

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There are two major stages on the path to Canonization: the Diocesan Inquiry and the Roman Inquiry. Candidates for sainthood, ordinarily begin with the opening of their Cause on the diocesan level. From this point on they are called Servants of God (SoG). Father Hecker gained this title when his Cause was opened by the Archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan on January 25, 2008 at the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle in New York, the church that Father Hecker built and where he is buried.

THE DIOCESAN INQUIRY:

The Diocesan Inquiry is always opened in the diocese where the Servant of God died. Father Isaac Hecker was born, received into the Church, founded the Paulists, opened the parish of Saint Paul’s, began most of his initiatives in ministry and died in New York City. The Archdiocese of New York was his home for most of his life and is an appropriate place for his Cause to open. The Diocesan Inquiry is an extended process that involves the collection of documentation and testimony leading to a decision by the local bishop to recommend the case to Rome.

Before the formal trial starts with the bishop presiding, two theological auditors and a formal commission of historians need to examine all of the documentation to certify that it is all present, orthodox in its time and ready to be examined by the Inquiry. During the trial issues may arise that require more documentation. Since Father Hecker’s Cause was begun more than 30 years after his death, it is primarily argued through collected documentation. This does not mean that there are not witnesses. There are eight witnesses whose testimony will support the idea that Father Hecker’s life and teaching are still relevant and meaningful to many people today.

When the trial ends Cardinal Dolan, the present Archbishop of New York will decide whether to recommend the Cause to Rome. We hope that he will endorse the belief that Father Isaac Hecker led a life of heroic virtue. Along the questions that will be asked is did Father Hecker live out the virtues of faith, hope and love as well as wisdom understanding, fortitude, piety, counsel, knowledge and fear of the Lord? Did he do it in a heroic way, to a greater degree than an ordinary Catholic? The transcript of the trial together with all the documentation and testimony collected will then be sent to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

THE ROMAN INQUIRY:

The Roman Inquiry opens at the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints when the sealed documentation arrives and there is a formal ceremony of registering the Cause in Rome. There may also be a change in Postulator, as only Roman trained postulators are allowed to represent Causes in Rome. One of the first tasks of the Roman Inquiry is the writing of the “Positio” under the supervision of the Congregation. This is a spiritual biography that emphasizes the heroic virtue of the Servant of God. After the “Positio” is written, it serves as the basic text from which the Roman Inquiry is conducted, together with the evidence provided from the Diocesan Inquiry.

A positive judgment on the heroic virtue of the candidate then goes to the Committee of Cardinal and Bishop Consultors to the Congregation. Following their vote, the recommendation is then taken by the Cardinal Prefect to the Pope. If the Pope approves of the heroic virtue of the candidate they are then given the title “Venerable Servant of God. All that stands in the way of beatification is a miracle. There are presently fifteen American Venerable Servants of God. They await a Miracle in order to be beatified and called “Blessed.”

A MIRACLE:

Diocesan and Roman Inquiries are also held for the verification of a miracle attributed to the Servant of God that demonstrates heavenly intercession. John Paul reduced the number of miracles required from three to two, one for beatification and one for canonization. The second miracle must occur after the beatification and not before. This demonstrates that the potential saint is in heaven with God and since to be in God’s presence is the very definition of prayer. Because the saints are in prayer their intercession can be invoked.

The Diocesan Inquiry occurs in the diocese where the miracle is reported to have taken place. Based on the documentation and testimony collected, the local bishop decides whether in his judgments a miracle occurred and if he rules positively, he sends his recommendation together with the documentation to Rome. In Rome a special panel of medical experts reviews the findings and makes a judgment either for or against the reported miracle. A positive judgment goes to the Cardinal consultors and then the Pope. If the Pope approves, a date is set for the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God. After Beatification a second miracle successfully judged by both inquiries leads to Canonization and Sainthood.

- Fr. Paul Robichaud, Postulator for the Cause of Canonization of Father Hecker

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HECKER REFLECTION: TEMPTATION

5/16/2013

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FROM FATHER HECKER'S 1854 SPIRITUAL NOTEBOOK:

Conscience is the only safeguard against sudden temptation. People generally acknowledge when they do wrong but say they could not help it. The temptation happened so quickly. For those who are faithful to their conscience, their inner monitor, they will be faithful in these moments.

A man may be in his counting room or his office, or in his shop. Or he may be in public life or at his seat in some legislative assembly. Or he may be living in his master’s house, and by the mere stroke of a pen or a word, or the altering of a figure, or the grasp of a hand, or a nod of the head, he may have the opportunity of acquiring money dishonestly and without the fear of detection. Overreaching one’s neighbor, cheating one’s employer, bribery and corruption, swindling and embezzlement occur almost daily. I hesitate to say that if a man when put upon by temptation will not be loyal to the dictates of his conscience, unless obedience to his conscience has been his constant practice.

An occasion of sin is something that is not sinful in itself, but which commonly leads to sin. Something we find in the reading of a book; sometimes a paragraph in a newspaper, or a place of amusement, or a visit paid or received or a present given or taken, or a conversation, a phrase, a word or even a glance. You cannot enumerate them for they are different for different persons and in different circumstances. How should we avoid them? How do we even know when they are near? Conscience is given to us for this. I know no better means to secure your salvation than by using your conscience.

RESPONSE: FR. PAUL ROBICHAUD, CSP

I have been traveling recently and one of the features I appreciate is the alarm clock on my cell phone. Despite my years as a military chaplain, I never became an early morning riser. A few years back I was able rise and shine at some ungodly hour of the morning. My cell phone alarm made an awful but distinctive squeal that never failed to get me out of bed. Servant of God Isaac Hecker speaks about developing one’s conscience to keep us spiritually awake and aware, somewhat like my phone alarm. It is there to keep us honest, faithful and to assist us in living a moral life. But like the alarm on my cell phone, it is not enough to have it, you have to use it.

I was struck by Father Hecker’s simple but descriptive report of how people in his time by a word, a nod, a signature can steal, bribe or embezzle. It made me think of the news this week of how computer hacker stole some 45 million dollars from ATM machines. While the technology gets more sophisticated, human nature remains much the same. We need not only to use our conscience but to develop our conscience. To the degree we struggle to live a transparent and honest life, the more people come to trust and depend upon us.

Fr. Paul Robichaud is Postulator of the Cause for Canonization of Isaac Hecker.

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HECKER REFLECTION: SONSHIP

WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO SAINTHOOD?

HECKER REFLECTION: TEMPTATION

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