The Work of Human Hands

Recently I was having a conversation with a friend about someone we both knew that had some kind of appointment scheduled for a Sunday. And my friend remarked that it seemed ‘weird’ because it just wasn’t the kind of thing you heard of being scheduled on a Sunday. Which was true. And I said it was because as a culture we had lost what it meant to observe Sundays as holy days of rest. Certainly, many of us retain that sense of Sunday being a day set aside for communing with God and taking a break. An opportunity, if you will to recharge our batteries for the week ahead. An opportunity to gather with family and friends to celebrate our bonds and our faith. An opportunity to do the things we love – whether it’s gardening, hiking, watching a football game, puttering around the house. An opportunity to tend to our soul rather than have our labor tend to the workings of the world. And I know often many of us have to work on Sundays. It can’t be avoided due to the nature of our careers. And many of us that do work on Sundays do the things that help others enjoy the sabbath. Whether it’s police officers or the newspaperman on the corner or television workers or store merchants all our lives are made simpler, safer, and more enjoyable by the work of others.

Because of our cultural shift away from the concept of a sabbath day of rest it may be difficult for many of us to grasp why Jesus incurred such wrath from the Pharisees when he healed the man with the withered hand. On the sabbath. In the synagogue, no less. In that culture in that time the sabbath was strictly observed in conformity with Mosaic law. As a faithful Jew you did nothing that could be construed as defiance – no matter how unintentional – of the law. And Jesus was a faithful Jew. And yet despite everything that said “no” Christ healed. It wasn’t reckless disregard and it wasn’t a way to thumb his nose at the Pharisees and embarrass them in their synagogue. Christ demonstrated that there is a moral imperative to do good that transcends law.

You may have seen stories in the news recently about St. Vincent de Paul parish in downtown Baltimore and their conflict with city officials because they were allowing homeless people to squat on their property. And I would guess that if the homeless people were hidden away there would have been little if any resistance. But these poor were living on a piece of property not only in full view but at an extremely busy city intersection. Not easily ignored. A place where many commuters and workers every day were confronted with the reality of homelessness in Baltimore. And it made people uncomfortable. It upset them. They began looking for ways to use the law against the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church. And I know the pastor, Fr. Dick Lawrence. And I know for him this is a moral imperative. To be like Christ, serving the needs of the poor transcends the law. Serving the homeless – to heal – is more important than concern about whether or not a commuter feels compelled to look away from something they don’t want to see or acknowledge exists. A compromise was reached, which surprised me to some extent because Fr. Dick is not the type of person to compromise when it comes to serving the least among us. And the compromise? The homeless must vacate the property every day between the hours of 7am and 9am. Presumably so that the structures they use to protect themselves from the weather do not become permanent. Interestingly, between 7am and 9am – morning commuter rush hour – when the greatest number of people would be reminded and confronted with our moral obligation to serve the needy.

Christ’s action in the synagogue is not about justifying work on the sabbath. And while it can be assumed that it was part of the plan that set in motion events that led to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, I don’t believe that is the lesson we should come away with. The lesson of the healing of the man with the withered hand is that the moral imperative to do good and serve the needs of the least among us transcends law. And I’m not advocating that we all go out and start breaking the laws of the land to do good. But there are laws, dictates, conventional wisdom that is unjust. This nation was founded by people seeking relief from unjust persecution of their faith. This is a nation of people that has risen and stood against injustice here and in our world. Whether it’s been on the beaches of Normandy or the jungles of Asia or the streets of Mississippi Americans have stood up against evils both great and veiled for justice in our world. In the late 19th century when the industrial revolution was in full swing the Catholic Church stood up for the rights of the working class. In his wonderful encyclical Rerum Novarum Pope Leo XIII laid the foundation for what has become more than a century of Catholic thought on social justice in our world. Social teachings most recently addressed by Pope Benedict just a couple months ago in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate or Charity in Truth. In that encyclical Pope Benedict reminds us "While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human."

We have a moral imperative to do as Jesus did. To listen, to serve, to heal. To reach out to those in need. To rise above our discomfort and stand against injustice in our world.

Trading Our Sorrows

Some years ago a book was released titled “In the Belly of the Beast.” It consisted of letters written by a man in prison, and detailed his own time in hell in the prison system. The book was quite popular when released, and it gave new meaning to many about what it meant to be in the belly of the beast.

In Matthew’s gospel Christ alludes to his own descent into hell and draws a connection to Jonah’s own time spent in the belly of the beast. (Matthew 12:38-42) Yet Christ wasn’t just preparing himself for a three-day trip to hell – he was preparing himself for taking on the weight of the world’s sins. Sins that you and I and all humanity helped lay upon his shoulders.

I guess that is why when I was growing up most images of Christ that I saw were that of the suffering Christ, the somber Christ, a Christ that was joyless. There was a rather well-known painting of Christ by Warner Sallman, which was painted in dark hues and pictured him looking off sadly in the distance. And there were films like “King of Kings” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” films that seemed to demonstrate that Christ walked about quietly and somberly, forceful yet morose. The weight of the world’s sins were surely great. But where was the joy?

Last week I was with a program sponsored by the Archdiocese of Baltimore called Justice Action Week. It’s what we call an “immersion” program, designed to gather young people from all over the diocese and introduce them to Baltimore – it’s people, it’s poor and suffering, and the agencies and organizations that serve “the least among us.” It’s a prayerful experience – rooted in Catholic social teaching – that I’m sure for some opens the door for a peak into the personal hell suffered by many in our midst every day.

And yet, again and again I saw joy. Our participants had the opportunity to be present to those suffering from AIDS at the Don Miller House or serve the homeless and hungry at Our Daily Bread. We heard of the horrors of human trafficking at YANA House and the struggles of refugees to find new homes through the International Rescue Committee. And at each one of these and many other places our Justice Action Week participants not only demonstrated great compassion for suffering, they brought their joy in God along in great abundance.

A number of times throughout the week the youth sang, and one of the most popular songs was titled “Trading My Sorrows.” The verse went like this:

I'm trading my sorrow, I'm trading my shame
I'm trading my sickness, I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord
I'm pressed but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning
And we say “Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, Amen!”

I sang this song along with a group of youth at the Missionaries of Charity House of Hope in East Baltimore. We prayed the rosary with a group of men suffering and dying with HIV/AIDS and then sang with them. And in the midst of hopelessness I saw these men come up out of their own personal hell if just for a few moments and brought to the light through these young people to see again the joy of our Lord. Even Monroe – ailing, losing his sight, in the last days of his earthly life – smiled with happiness at the exuberance, joyfulness and love of God shared with him by the young people. And in those moments I saw the young people also transformed as that love of God reflected back to them.


Christ suffered greatly for us, and there is great suffering in the world today. But I cannot imagine that Christ didn’t also feel the joy of God and shared that joy with those around him. And if we are to be like Christ we are also called at times to journey to the belly of the beast and share our joy with those that feel cut off from the world. And cut off from God. The poor, the homeless, the refugees, the hungry, the suffering and the dying. These are the people that Christ himself would have reached out to. These are the people Christ would have taken the time to be present with. These are the people that more than anything need us to help them to come to the light, come out of the belly of the beast, come to see the joy of the Lord. Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, Amen!

BASE Camp 2009 - Reflection

This past week our young people participated in our annual BASE Camp experience. When Kate Kleintank and myself first starting forming plans for a joint project for youth from St. Mark and St. William of York parish I don't think we quite envisioned what BASE Camp has become. Originally it was to be a workcamp, an opportunity for a group of young people from the two parishes to come together and get to know each other better while putting their faith into action through community service. Certainly a laudable goal in and of itself. However, BASE Camp has evolved into something much more than that, with much of the credit going to Mercy Sr. Katherine Nueslein, or "Sr. Kitty" as we affectionately call her. And that transition began when we stopped calling this a "workcamp" and began calling it BASE Camp, the letters "B," "A," "S" and "E" standing for Baltimore - Act, Serve, Evangelize.

Through many conversations between Sr. Kitty and myself and trying new things we've come to the conclusion that as important as the work is, it is just as important (if not more so) for our young people to experience something that goes well beyond doing a "good deed for the day." We want our young people to feel the pulse of the city, to form relationships with its residents, to hear their stories and understand that reaching out and helping is much more than cutting grass or cleaning up trash. We want our young people to see that there is much healing that needs to happen in our city, and that they have the power to make that healing happen as disciples of Christ. Today, BASE Camp is less about the service and more about the EXPERIENCE. It's about putting your faith into action not just in a physical way but in a way that encourages advocacy for peace and justice. And through that advocacy we can be healers.


Each day of our BASE Camp experience featured a different theme. Day One was "Solidarity," and we prayed on that theme throughout the day as we discovered what it truly means to stand in solidarity with our less fortunate sisters and brothers. The theme of Day Two was "Care of God's Creation," and much of our time was spent working on a park that serves as a small oasis of peace in one of Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods. Day Three was "Witness," and we witnessed to our faith through our actions, and were amazed and gratified by the large number of people that pitched in to help or merely stopped by to say 'Thank You' for all we were doing to try and restore pride in community in the southwest district. Our Day Four theme was "Discipleship," and we heard profound testimony all week of what it means to be a disciple from the clients at Hezekiah House, who told us that through the darkest hours of our lives we had to continue to seek God's light. And we heard from the residents of Jonah House, who explored with us the pervasive and suffocating violence that permeates our world. And finally, our Day Five theme was "Go Forth," with the idea being that our last day of BASE Camp is not an ending but a continuation of what it means to go forth and shout to all nations the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Each day of our BASE Camp experience our youth prayed together in our Mary garden before we left for the worksite, and in the evening assessed each day with reflection, prayer, meditation and the writing of our prayer intentions on our BASE Camp prayer cloth. And our prayer intentions went well beyond just praying for the people of Baltimore and those we met through our work. We prayed for the grandmother of one of our youth that passed away this past week. For the mother of another participant that was hospitalized during our week. For Vincent Woodward from Resurrection parish in Ellicott City - where Kate Kleintank now works - who was tragically killed in an automobile accident. For our families that were missing us and for our friends and acquaintances in pain and suffering. For Sr. Kitty and each person we met during BASE Camp. And of course, for one another. For strength, for safety, for continued blessings on the work of our hands and for peace and justice to come to the city of Baltimore, and throughout the world.


It was particularly gratifying for me to see not only the way our young people work and reach out to southwest Baltimore, but to see how they reach out and support and comfort one another. Our new participants were welcomed with open arms and quickly became part of our BASE Camp family. And a group of our older participants stepped into the role of "Young Adult Leader" with maturity and grace.

In many readings from the Gospels the theme is healing. Christ demonstrated to his disciples the power of healing and that all who believe in him will be healed. This week at BASE Camp, despite a different theme each day, it was all about one thing - healing. We healed through our work and we healed through our prayers. We healed by being the answer to someone else's prayer… the person too sick to clean up their own property; the person caught up in addiction; the poor and the hungry and those just struggling each day to get by. And of course, the prayers of each other. Solidarity, care, witness, discipleship and mission. They all add up to one thing: healing. Jesus said "…as you have believed, let it be done for you." (Matthew 8:13) Our young people are believers, our young people are disciples. Our young people stand ready to go forth and be healers in our world.

BASE Camp - Day Two+

The theme for today's BASE Camp experience was care for God's creation. We returned to Stockton Street to help our friend Steve with a community park he has built and we have returned to year after year to assist with landscaping, dredging of the pond, painting, and general cleanup of the area. Steve has built a little oasis of peace in the middle of one of Baltimore's poorer neighborhoods, but it's a sizable task to maintain the property. There is a pond, which includes a masonry structure topped by a cross and water fountain, many, many trees and bushes and open space. But it's a quiet, peaceful place nestled just a stone's throw away from the bustle of Pratt Street. This is our fourth year working this property and it's something our group has taken a sense of pride and ownership about. Even our "newbs" jumped into the project with gusto, and were rewarded with a walking tour of the area which included a visit to Hollins Market and then snowballs from a streetside vendor on the way back (featuring four - count 'em, FOUR - delicious flavors to choose from... grape, strawberry, banana and egg custard). Tommy noted the providential nature of our snowball stand visit - after a discussion of snowballs and sausages at Hollins Market we bought snowballs from a vendor that was using a sausage machine to grind the ice. God has a sense of humor as well as tying things up neatly with a bow.

As always our youth dove in with enthusiasm, clearing and trimming shrubs, repairing masonry and painting walls that have been damaged by graffiti. Steve feels it important to share God's Word with all who visit the park, and the nearby walls are another way of getting that Word out. The artists in our group loved re-painting the walls and adding new verses to those we've painted in the past. They even were able to demonstrate their creative side on one of the walls. We also finished our work on Poppleton Street, and look forward to tomorrow when we'll tackle the big lot at the corners of Pratt and Mount Streets.

We met many, many new people today, and the one thing that has been particularly exciting to see is the boundless enthusiasm of our young people. They have worked hard while maintaining a good humor, have gone out of their way to meet and greet the local residents of the community, and displayed humility in accepting the "Thank Yous" for the fine work they've done. One of our young people was told today by a resident that they are so grateful to have us come there and help them once again have a community they can feel proud of.

Our young people have been models of prayer, justice and love in all they have done these first two days. As we chanted "Veni Sancte Spiritus" to open our evening prayer I couldn't help but be moved by their young voices singing as one, asking for the Holy Spirit to be with us this day and throughout BASE Camp. Their youth is a gift. Not just to the community of South Baltimore where we do our work, but to all of us. They ARE Christ present among us, and like Christ they are (in the words of Walter Brueggemann, from our closing prayer) "giving gladly... giving in abundance... giving in joy... giving as he gave himself up for us all."

BASE Camp - Day One+

We've just finished prayer to close out Day One+ of our 2009 BASE Camp experience. The "+" because we really started yesterday with Mass, orientation, and some time getting to know one another. But today was our first on-site day. The exciting thing for me was to hear how the "newbs" were touched by today's many happenings in such a positive way, despite a somewhat ominous start (a drug bust in progress on Monroe Street as we were driving down at 8:45am).

It was great as always to see Sr. Kitty and to see her excitement at having a large group of BASE Camp young people to be at her service throughout this week. I know this sort of thing energizes her a great deal and I know it gives her hope for the future - a future where understanding will help to break down the barriers that separate people from one another.

There were a number of interesting moments today, but one struck me especially as the epitome of how small gestures can reap great rewards. Early in the day as we were preparing to move off in different directions we were scrambling a bit with deciding which tools to send where because we had a tool shortage. The shortage being that all of Sr. Kitty's tools had recently been stolen out of her back yard. But we worked it out and divided up our groups and began the work. At the Poppleton St. site where we had groups weeding and picking up trash I noticed a pile of trash laying in the middle of one of the alleys. As I walked closer I could see that this small pile of trash was the end of a trail that ran behind a house where there were literally hundreds of books, papers, articles of clothing and a wide variety of "knick-knacks" strewn about. When I reached the pile in the middle of the alley I realized that laying there amongst the trash were about a dozen bottles of prescription medications. Since there were small children about I immediately called over two of our young people - Megan and Joey - and asked them to clean up the trash in the street and especially dispose of the medications.

A few minutes later I was approached by a man - Tom - who asked me if I had seen who dumped the trash. He was very upset because he owned the house where all this trash was. As Tom later surmised, he had renters that had left recently and their idea of cleaning out the house was to dump everything out the back windows and into the yard. He left, and when I related the story to our youth they immediately took it upon themselves to clean up the man's yard. It took a while, and yielded about a dozen large bags of trash. When Tom returned a few hours later he was blown away that we had done the work. He tried to give me money, to buy the youth "pizzas or something." When I refused it he asked if he could make some kind of donation. I suggested he walk down the street to the Hezekiah House (a substance abuse rehabilitation center and our base of operations) a make a donation there, which he promptly did. When he returned he again thanked us and was getting ready to load all the trash in his truck when our youth again pitched in and loaded it for him. He came to me again and asked if he could buy us something - maybe tools. I told him about Sr. Kitty and how all her tools were recently stolen. At that moment she came out the front door of her house. Tom rushed across the street and offered to replace her stolen tools.

Answered prayers. In his homily Sunday morning Fr. Marty Demek talked of how this week these young people were going to be the answer to someone's prayers. And we saw it today, a ripple effect that began with picking up some prescription drugs in the middle of the street. Perhaps a mother whose prayer was her child never get started in the drug trade had her prayer answered when we removed that temptation from the middle of the alley. And perhaps Tom's prayer was answered for a relief from the stress and anxiety he was feeling because of what happened to his property. And perhaps Sr. Kitty's prayers to have her tools replaced was also answered.

Ripples... answered prayers... we all have the opportunity to be someone's answer to prayer. I saw it tangibly today, at BASE Camp - Day One+.

Welcome...

Welcome to my little blog on the Internet - a place to come apart, rest awhile (Mark 6:31) and enjoy conversation, sharing, spirituality and more. This is the new location of a blog I had previously published at LiveJournal. Many of the posts are reflections I have given at communion services at St. William of York Church, the parish where I work.

I want this to be a place that is non-confrontational, a place where people can share what's in their hearts, look for help, and feel safe. I love exploring the things that touch us spiritually. Not just scripture, and liturgy, which are wonderful. But also books and movies and television and music and the Internet and all the things we encounter every day.

I am a youth minister by vocation, but spent nearly 25 years working in the film and television industry. I am a convert to Catholicism, grew up in a home that promoted Protestant fundamentalist values (not necessarily a bad thing) and currently work very closely with pastoral leaders of many faith practices through an ecumenical clergy collegium. My brother is a Baptist minister, and my father often preaches and helps lead services in the Methodist church I grew up in. I have a rich faith tradition in my life and many experiences across the board in areas of spirituality, conflict resolution, ecumenism, social justice, and crisis intervention (among others). I am always willing to share, and always feel I have much to learn from others.

So again, welcome. Put up your feet, relax, and I hope you find something here that speaks to you...