Fr. Steve’s Reflections

During Fr. Steve Adrian’s break from active ministry, we will look back at his previous reflections. Below is his reflection from the May 1, 2022 bulletin. I was ordained a priest on December 8, 1968. Two days later, Thomas Merton, author and spiritual master from the Trappist Monastery of Gethsemane, died. He was participating in an international meeting of monks from various religious traditions in Bangkok. He was electrocuted when he touched a badly wired electric fan. I was introduced to him in the reading of his memoir, The Seven Storey Mountain. Then, through my college and … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – April 14, 2024

Adults often ask a child, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Aunts, uncles, neighbors, etc. asked that of me when I was very young. I didn’t have much to say, I hadn’t thought about it. Monday is the Feast of the Annunciation. The proper day for the feast is March 25th—nine months before Christmas. However, this year the day fell in Holy Week and the feast had to be relocated. I am not sure that Mary had any thought about what she wanted to be. Yet, there was a plan for her from all eternity, and the same is true for you and me. Mary came to know the plan through the message of an … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – April 7, 2024

(I intended this to be my homily at the beginning of Lent. This did not happen, for obvious reasons. I offer the outline of that homily now.) The Gospel according to Mark is the oldest, and used as reference by both Matthew and Luke. Mark’s Gospel story is the story of Jesus seeking to enlighten his followers about his identity and the destiny that is his. No one understands. The only character in the Gospel who witnesses to Jesus’ divinity is the Centurion at the foot of the cross: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” The oldest form of Mark’s Gospel ends in Chapter 16:1- 8. Later on, a … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – March 31, 2024

In the week of March 11, after x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, biopsies and many blood draws, I received word that I have cancer. I am beginning to work with radiation and oncology as well as compassionate care. I don’t know much else. Now, the important stuff: For forty-six years, I have been privileged to be an active member of our parish and also play a role in the civic life of the West Side. For this I am so grateful. You have allowed me to be with you at some of the most intimate moments in life. You have been an occasion of grace for me. I have been fortunate to have young people as part of … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – March 24, 2024

This week we enter the final stage of the Season of Lent, a season called Passiontide. In the Scripture readings, the stage is set, the lines are drawn, there is no going back. Jesus will die! If you have not been involved in Lent thus far, it is not too late to make a new beginning. You might take some quiet time and read the story of the Passion and Death of Jesus according to the Gospel of Saint Mark. This is the Passion story that will be read next Sunday, Palm Sunday. The devotion of the Stations of the Cross is an ancient way of reflecting on the suffering and death of Jesus. The … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – March 17, 2024

This weekend we hear the story of “The Man Born Blind.” The early Church often called the journey to faith an “enlightenment.” The image is the casting off of the darkness of disbelief and the putting on the light of faith. The coming to faith is indeed a journey and people make that journey at differing times and in different ways in their life’s journey. Often the journey involves some twists and turns; taking one step backward and two steps forward. This Gospel is a story about enlightenment, a story about the journey of faith, a story about the gradual coming to know Jesus. Jesus … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – March 10, 2024

On this weekend and the weekends of March 10 and 17, the Gospel texts are taken from the Gospel according to John. The three texts are unique in that, along with the passion story, they are narratives - they have a plot and the plot develops. There is character development and there is a style unique to John in that he seeks to draw the reader into the story. In each story, Jesus lays out a teaching in symbolic image and language - water, light, and resurrection. The main character is slow to understand Jesus’ message - this person keeps going off track. Some have suggested that the staging … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – March 3, 2024

In part, the Preface of the Mass during the Season of Lent includes: Lord, each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the Easter mystery with mind and heart renewed. You give us a spirit of loving reverence for you, our Father, and of willing service to our neighbor. It is in the prayer of the Church that we find the mystery of the Christian life revealed. Here, in this Lenten Preface, the meaning of Lent is succinctly stated. Lent is a time for the whole person to be renewed, and this renewal finds its source in the love of God and the service to our … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – February 25, 2024

Since I was in third grade, the Season of Lent has played a part in my life. This annual observance was marked by special meals, special devotions, practices of mortification and the expectation of Easter. Prior to Ash Wednesday, my father would drive out to Rice Street to the Pioneer Sausage Company and there he would buy a foot long hard salami. This salami was hung from the light fixture in the kitchen and served as an olfactory announcement that Lent was a time to abstain. At noon on Holy Saturday (in those days Lent ended at noon on Holy Saturday), he would climb on a kitchen chair with … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – February 18, 2024

Wednesday, February 14th is Ash Wednesday. Even though it is also Valentine’s Day, it is a day of fast and abstinence this year. I would encourage you to schedule your Valentine events for either Tuesday, February 13th or Thursday, February 15th. The scripture readings for Lenten Masses are some of the most ancient texts of the Church, many of them dating for their use to the second century. In particular, the Gospel readings for the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent are particularly significant. They are taken from the Gospel according to John and are directly connected to the … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – February 11, 2024

February 4th is Scout Sunday; a day to recognize and celebrate the gift scouting brings to a nation. All my years as a parish pastor, I was privileged to serve a congregation that sponsored a Scout troop. Scouting provides young people with skill development, an experience and understanding of collaboration and teamwork. Scouting seeks to build character. Ultimately, scouting is about leadership. I especially cherish the chance I had to work with dozens of young people as they worked toward and achieved “The Eagle”, the pinnacle achievement of Scouting. As part of the work involved in … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – February 4, 2024

As a young priest, I was assigned to a parish in South Minneapolis. At the end of the block was the Braecount House. Lavina Braecount, the lady of the house, was a gregarious and hospitable person. Her ancestry was Eastern European and she held firmly to the conviction that the Christmas Season runs far beyond the “Twelve Days” of the West. For her, the Season came to an end on the evening of February 2nd. She hosted a Christmas gathering on that evening for the neighbors. She provided fine foods and drink. Neighbors looked forward to the annual event. At the end of the evening, … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – January 28, 2024

This Thursday, January 25th, is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul — the patron saint of our local church and of our capital city. This date also marks the last day of the annual observance of prayer for Christian unity. The great scandal of the church is the disunity within the body of Christ. The unity of the church is to call all people to faith in Jesus Christ. “I pray that they all be one, as you Father are in me and I am in you, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Christian unity is not found in words, but in deeds. The partnership of … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – January 21, 2024

Monday, January 15 is a national holiday, the observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National holidays are meant to call us to reflect and act on what we celebrate. Dr. King was the conscience of the nation. He reminded us of our best selves and the need to recommit ourselves to the proposition “that all are created equal with certain inalienable rights.” In our day, once again, the cancer of “white supremacy” is strong, vibrant and determined to deny human dignity and value to citizens of color. Our nation experiences the movement to deny the vote to people of color, the … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – January 14, 2024

Pope Francis tells us that the way the Church works must change from a top-down model to a bottom up model. The first model is the pyramid model—the Pope at the top, next the bishops of the Church, then the pastors and at the bottom of the pyramid is everyone else. Those at the top are the “teachers” and those at the bottom are “learners”. The assumption is that those at the top have a special type of holiness. Pope Francis says that the pyramid must be turned the other way around. The base now becomes the top; and the top represents the whole People of God—clergy and laity, all the baptized. … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – January 7, 2024

On this New Year I was reminded it is nearly impossible to remember that, from Moscow to Jerusalem, there was once a time of promise. Between 1989 and 1995, the following happened: the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of Eastern and Central Europe; the collapse of Soviet Communism and the seeming end of the Cold War; the brief appearance of a pro-democracy movement in Beijing and other Chinese cities; the end of South African apartheid; and the signing of the Oslo Accords by the Israeli leadership and the Palestine Liberation Organization. In many nations people, who had endured so … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – December 31, 2023

December 25, 1878 as recounted in the local paper: Christmas! The day of all days in the calendar! The one day of the three hundred and sixty-five observed by all, religious and worldly, Christian and pagan; and so it was observed yesterday in Saint Paul. As there were people of many minds, the day was observed in variety of ways, each following the bent of one’s inclination. When the somber toll of the bell warned that the Day of Days was about to dawn, people of all ranks and conditions hastened from their homes and out into the piercing cold air hied them to houses of prayer—they … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – December 24, 2023

As appeared in the Pioneer Press in 1951: “The good city of St. Paul became the Christmas City of the nation. Christmas is not just a “day” in St. Paul. Nor is it merely a week or the traditional twelve days. Early in November, store windows begin to display Christmas ‘suggestions’. Christmas tree ornaments appear on the counters of ‘dime’ stores. The familiar tinkle of the Salvation Army bells is heard on the street corners downtown. About the tenth of November, Santa Claus arrives in St. Paul and is paraded through the loop by the Mayor and other city officials, attended by Boy Scouts and … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – December 17, 2023

In many homes, the festive decorating for Christmas is underway. A tree festooned with lights, baubles and tinsel bathes the living room in soft magical light. As a child, I delighted in falling asleep in the light of the tree. It is time to prepare the Christmas crèche. The crèche invites us to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became one of us to encounter every woman and man. The crèche depicts this mystery of His great love for us so that we might become one with Him. Coming into the world, the Son of God was laid in the place where animals feed. Hay … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – December 10, 2023

The earliest record we have of the observance of Advent comes from the 5th century. Just as the season of Lent was the preparation for the Easter Feast, so the season of Advent was the preparation time for the Feast of Christmas. In both Old Testament times and in the history of the Church, more often than not, agricultural civic events were taken over and imbued with a religious significance. In northern Europe, the season of Advent began on the feast of Saint Martin of Tours, November 11th. The harvest was in, and weather was turning cold. It was time to take the livestock to slaughter. … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – December 3, 2023

Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is that yearly opportunity to prepare for the remembrance of the birth of the Savior. The birth of the Child of Nazareth, the Son of David, and Son of God, stands at the very center of human history. It is this Jesus who makes visible the merciful face of God. Advent is a time to celebrate beginnings, which are also endings. T. S. Eliot: in the last of The Four Quartets, written in the early part of World War II in London: “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – November 26, 2023

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. This a “civic holy day” in which we remember with gratitude all that we have received. Nothing is so ennobling in a person as a life of gratitude, the ability to say and think “thank you”. Cicero, the Roman philosopher-politician, declared gratitude as the parent of all virtues. He used examples to defend his belief and posed questions as relevant today as when he asked them 2,000 years ago. “Do we really love our parents if we are not grateful to them for what they have given us? Are we good citizens if we don’t recollect the kindness received from our … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – November 19, 2023

The Psalms are the prayer book both for Jews and Christians. Praying with the psalms has been a part of my daily life for more than sixty years. Some psalms are prayers for forgiveness, some are praise of God, some are the lament of one in trouble or conflict. As I pray some of those psalms, I am united in spirit with people suffering the ravages of war. An example: Psalm 37 I If you trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grant your heart's desire. Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – November 12, 2023

There is no such thing as a good war. War, by its very nature, is a testimony to human failure to resolve differences. More often than not innocent people, what we call non-combatants, are who pay the price of war —displacement, separation of families, torture, hunger, etc. To date, more than 1,500 Israeli and over 6,000 Palestinians have been killed — many of them elderly and children. A first step in resolving the conflicts in Israel and Gaza, as well as Ukraine and Russia, is a cease-fire. This allows for humanitarian aid to come to civilians caught in the middle of the conflict. Both … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – November 5, 2023

The current Roman Synod strives to enshrine and apply the classical medieval principle: what affects everyone must be discussed and approved by everyone. This principle demands a process and an open and civil atmosphere. The process is a reciprocal listening in which everyone has something to learn. Each one listening to others and all listening to the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth,” in order to know what the Spirit is saying to the Church. This process demands a listening, not only through traditional ways – the Scripture, prayer, meditation, etc.— but also, and above all, through a … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – October 29, 2023

Advancing the call of the Second Vatican Council to “reform” the Church, Pope Francis has made clear that “Christ calls the pilgrim church to perennial reform”. The Church always needs to be renewed because its members are all sinners and in need of conversion; and any permanent reform of the Church calls for the conversion of the “whole Church.” In reflecting on the unhealthy elements of the Church that cry out for reform, Pope Francis lists: excessive planning and functionalism, loss of community among the members of the Church, a clergy enmeshed in extravagant garments, honors, careerism … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – October 22, 2023

The synod that has convened in Rome is undertaken by Pope Francis to address the unfinished work of the Second Vatican Council. He is proposing a renewed model of Church—a Church that listens – a listening that is more than simply hearing. In this model, listening characterizes the entire way of interacting and connecting that occurs among the whole “People of God”—bishops, pastor and all the baptized. This model of Church proposes that bishops and pastors must be at the service of the rest of the faithful, being and acting as one of the faithful within the whole People of God. In the … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – October 15, 2023

Wednesday of this week, October 11th is the 61st anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. I was a seminary student at the time, a college junior. I had just arrived at the Saint Paul Seminary in September of that year. I was just getting acclimated to a new campus and new classmates and teachers. Yet, there was no doubt about it, everyone’s attention was drawn to the opening of the Council. Classes were suspended for the day and students huddled around the black and white TV sets in the lounge of each of the residences. The high drama of 2,500 bishops processing into the … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – October 8, 2023

Within a few days Pope Francis will convene the Synod on Synodality in Rome. A Synod is a gathering in which reflection and discussion takes place concerning issues of immediate concern to the life of the Church. In the aftermath of Vatican II, the practice of the pope calling a synod on a regular basis began. Bishops from around the world were asked to send representatives to participate in the synod. The synod normally lasted about three weeks and concluded with recommendations to the Pope. Some time after the end of the Synod, the Pope would issue a teaching on the theme of the … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – October 1, 2023

Today, Sunday, September 24, is the holiest day of the year for our Jewish neighbors. The time of repentance, begun on September 15 culminates today, the Feast of Yom Kippur, beginning at sundown on Sunday evening. On the day before Yom Kippur, a special and bountiful meal is enjoyed with candle lighting at the end of the meal. Many people remember those who have gone before them. Some Jewish people visit cemeteries on this day before Yom Kippur. Jewish congregations spend the eve of Yom Kippur and the entire day in prayer and meditation. Friends also ask and accept forgiveness from one … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – September 24, 2023

We are immersed in a culture that is individualistic and happiness is seen as immediate self-gratification. Often the current philosophy is: “In this culture there is no such thing as justice or equality; there is no God-reality, the earth is there for me to use and enjoy as I wish. There is only the present moment and nothing more. Truth is what I want it to be; the only reality is the reality I see and experience; meaning is what I desire. I am not my brother’s keeper. I stand alone, I do as I choose — and then it is over.” Occasionally I find Harvey Mackay’s weekly column in the Tribune … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – September 17, 2023

We stand on the threshold of a new school year. As a priest, each year of my life’s work has been an involvement in Tomorrow, September 4th is Labor Day – the last day of the State Fair, the beginning of meteorological Fall, the last day of summer vacation for tomorrow it is back to school. In some ways Labor Day is another New Year’s Day. Those with lake homes bring in the dock and prepare the place for the coming winter season. As a child I remember this time of the year as being the time for the fall house cleaning – time to put the summer clothes away and get the fall clothes out, time … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – September 3, 2023

We stand on the threshold of a new school year. As a priest, each year of my life’s work has been an involvement in school. Schools are, among other things, academies for citizen development. In a free society, that depends on the involvement of the citizenry, an educated, a schooled people are essential. Both private and public education has this as part of its mission. A literate people, able to calculate, able to participate in discussion and debate, and able to reason – these are indispensable tools for democratic life; they are necessary to participate responsibly in civic life. A … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – August 27, 2023

During the summer months I have written about the spirituality of aging. Some have asked for suggestions of further reading and/or the books I have used in reflecting on “growing older”. On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old, Parker J. Palmer The Word as it Should Be, Gregory F. A. Pierce [I first got to know Greg when he was a community organizer for the Industrial Area Foundation, established by Saul Alinsky.] Uncommon Gratitude, Joan Chittister and Rowan Williams How to Age, Anne Karrf A Time To Die, Monks on the Threshold of Eternal Life, Nicolas Diat Rules for … [Read more...] about Reflection from Father Steve – August 20, 2023