The Language of Love with Fr. Tim Kitzke

Fr. Tim Kitzke at Roses for Our Lady's May Crowning

On May 20th, his 26th anniversary to the priesthood, Fr. Tim Kitzke, the pastor of four parishes (including 7 churches), spiritual advisor for many groups within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and newly appointed Vicar General of the City of Milwaukee, a role in which he hopes to bring peace and hope to the city which has been beleaguered by violence, came to speak to the de Chantal Society at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary.   The de Chantal Society is led by Susan McNeil of the Nazareth Project and Lisa Brielmaier of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, and their mission is to "spiritually form and inspire Catholic women who, like St. Jane de Chantal, are integral to families, vocations and the Catholic Church."  Following thirty minutes of silent Eucharistic adoration, Fr. Tim's talk was lively and inspiring and within it he gave us three challenges for the spiritual life.

The Language of Love by Fr. Tim Kitzke

Fr. Tim said that whenever he's preparing a homily or a talk, the Lord gives him little signs to help him in his preparation, and recently these signs came through a little girl, Magdalena, or Lena, for short, who accompanies her mother  when she meets Fr. Tim for spiritual direction.  

Peacemakers

Fr. Tim said that his office is not child-friendly, and in it he has a large portrait of Our Mother of Perpetual Help that is on the floor leaning against the wall.  When Madgalena was a toddler and was learning how to crawl she used that picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help to hold onto as she was learning to stand.  Fr. Tim, feeling nervous about the picture, told himself, "Tim, it's just a thing, let it go."  And the next thing he saw was little Lena looking at the image on the painting, and then she took her pacifier out of her mouth and tried to put it into baby Jesus' mouth!  He said this was a great symbol!  We're supposed to be pacifiers if we're living the language of love.

When Jesus ascends to heaven it's not to leave us as orphans, but so that we can take our proper role.   If Jesus were still here living in the world and walking among us, we wouldn't want to be listening to Fr. Tim, he wouldn't have a job. We'd be sitting at the feet of Christ, hanging on to His every word. But because Jesus ascended, we have to become peacemakers.  It's our first challenge. 

If you say that you love Jesus Christ, then you have to find peace in your heart before that peace can go out to others.  We have so much to worry about-the world, the Church, our children-but Jesus wants us to pray first of all for real peace to begin in our own hearts.  We have to find peace so that we can be peace and then we can find ways to pacify the world.

Open Doors

source

After Lena tired of sharing her pacifier with Jesus, she went to every door and tried to push it open.  That's our second challenge.  We're to open doors for others, and whatever door you open, open it wide.  We have a tendency, like the disciples, to stay behind locked and closed doors for fear.  But we need to engage, to open up our hearts to possibility.  Fear is paralyzing.  It closes our heart off.  There's an old Portuguese Proverb that says:  "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived."

Our demons come and they wake us up in the middle of the night causing us to lose sleep.  You have to cast out fear and get rid of whatever is demonic in your life.   Name your demons.  Give them a name  For example, there's the demon of self-loathing. Ask him to please leave.  And then pray to St. Michael the Archangel for his help.  Think about our baptismal promises.  Do you reject Satan?  The demonic powers have personal power.  They know the chinks in our armor and they know what will set us off into tailspins of fear.  We have to open the doors of our house to grace and peace.

Think of Jesus facing the demon in the desert, and in death, and when he descended into hell.  Why did Jesus have to go to hell?  One thought is that he had to face the devil in his own territory as an example to the disciples.  Another thought is that he went to hell because he was looking for Adam and Eve.  He had to go to the lowest part of hell to find them because they started this mess.  And there he found Adam with apple juice caked on his chin and Eve with tears crusted over her bereft eyes.  He tells them, "You weren't created for this.  Come with Me now."

When you wake up in the middle of the night tormented by demons, go to the medicine cabinet, and after you get over the shock of seeing yourself in the mirror, tell yourself, "You weren't created for this."

Use the Keys

After Lena found that pushing on the doors wasn't going to open them, she dumped out her mother's purse, found the keys and took them to the doors and tried to use them to unlock the doors.  Like Lena, we have the keys, it's the Church.  The Lord said to Peter, you are the rock and upon you I will build my Church.  We are challenged to use the keys of the Church to open and release fear, doubt, and anxiety.

Read holy scripture, pray the rosary or other devotions, spend quiet time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, go to Mass twenty minutes early or stay twenty minutes after Mass to pray.  Spiritual reading and coming to the de Chantal Society are also keys that will help us to live a spiritual life.  These are the keys that will help us to face the devil in battle.

Facing Failure

When Lena found that the doors were still locked and that her mother's keys didn't open them, she threw them down and jumped into her mother's lap.  Like Lena, we're going to face failure in the spiritual life.  We're going to obsess and face difficulties.  But the spiritual life is not a matter of success.  It's a matter of fidelity.  Half of life is just showing up!  So sometimes we just have to jump into our Mother's lap-into the arms of the Church and our Mother Mary's arms.  Yes, sometimes you will fail, but learn the language of "I kept trying." Sometimes you have to just let go and trust.  Faith is often a walk in the dark.

Fr. Tim said that after 26 years of the priesthood he's discovered that the more you let go, the better it is.  Somehow God works things out.  That's why we call it the mystery of grace. God will write straight with the crooked lines of our lives.

Realize that there have been people who have gone before you that know the way.  The saints give us an example and encouragement.  Aren't we lucky as Roman Catholics to have the saints?  We have a body of witnesses to walk with us.  They have a ladder of love that will take us to heaven.  

What the World Needs Now

Fr. Tim shared a story about his mother and how, in her last years on earth, he and his three siblings would all go to take care of her in her home.  They would clean her house, do the laundry and cook for her.  Fr. Tim went every Monday but one week his sister filled in for him.  The next week he asked his mom who cleaned better and his mom told him that he did.  So he called his sister to brag and she said, "That's odd because mom told me that I clean better!"  So Fr. Tim went back to his mom and asked her why she told both of them that they clean the best and she replied, "Oh Timmy, I only tell you what you need to hear!"

We all need to hear that we are loved unconditionally and irreplaceably.  As  St. Augustine says, God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us and He wants to help you.  Bask in the love of God.

If we take this seriously we can learn a new language, the language of love.  Or, as Fr. Tim has been frequently saying in his homilies and talks, what this world needs now is love, sweet love.

The next de Chantal Society meets on November 18th and 19th, 2015 at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, 3257 S. Lake Drive in Milwaukee, with Bishop Richard Sklba.  The hour of adoration, benediction and spiritual formation is always followed by a wine and cheese or coffee and cake social.  It's a wonderful time for women to be uplifted and to visit with old friends, as well as to make new friends.  Visit their website here for more information.

Good Samaritan Dad

"How do we change the world?  One single Act of Random Kindness at a time." 
~From the movie Evan Almighty

“On the parable of the Good Samaritan: "I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

"And he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed.  I cannot get up to give you anything.'  I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence."   ~Luke 11:5-8

Paul and Mary

It was 9:45 on a Saturday night and  the whole family had all gone to bed when someone started ringing the doorbell and banging on the door. I was afraid to answer it. We sure weren't expecting anyone at 9:45 at night!  In the twenty-three years that we have lived in our home we've witnessed lots of questionable and illegal activity right outside our windows like drunk drivers crashing through the fence at the dead-end, tumbling down onto the railroad tracks, SWAT teams entering the candy store across the street for a drug search, graffiti sprayed in the alley and on our garage, bikes stolen from our back yard, our car tires slashed, and teenagers smoking pot in their cars right in front of our house.  And just last week the kids and I witnessed a robbery at a neighborhood dog grooming store resulting in a violent display right on the sidewalk as we were driving to the grocery store.  So I felt justified in my fear thinking that anyone who's ringing doorbells late at night can't be up to any good.

But Paul, who is always much braver and kinder than I am, went to the door and found these two young, teenage boys who asked to use our phone.  They said that they had been playing basketball all day at the nearby playground and their ride didn't come to pick them up and they didn't know how to get home. They said that they came to our house because they knew that Mary lived here. 

Paul realized that one of the boys was Mary's friend from school.  When Mary first transferred from our Catholic parish school to the neighborhood public school, she used to complain about this boy frequently because he  bullied her so much.  It was such a problem, in fact, that I had involved the principal for help in addressing how he treated my daughter.  But over time, Mary and this boy came to be good friends.  In fact, Mary shares so many stories of him during family dinner each night, that the older brothers have all taken to teasing her about him.  

One of the things that Mary has shared with us about her friend is that his family had been evicted from their home and have recently moved to the inner city and he has to take a city bus all the way across town to school each day.  As Mary often says, there are a lot of poor kids at her school.

So Paul told the boys that he'd get dressed and take them home.  We woke Mary up and asked her if she'd like to ride along and she quickly got up and, although bleary-eyed from sleep, joyfully accompanied her father and her friend on the ride across town.  

 I feel so grateful for all of the blessings that God has showered upon my family, and my  heart aches for that young boy and his family who endure so many hardships the likes of which I have never known.  I pray that this one small act of kindness that Paul showed to these boys will long inspire them to show kindness to others; that this will be a pay-it-forward experience that brings goodness to this small part of our world in many small but loving ways.

St. Lucy

St. Lucy relic, photo courtesy Kurt Keidl, OFS

St. Lucy relic, photo courtesy of Kurt Keidl, OFS

I work with a beautiful young woman who is always energetic and enthusiastic.  In the past year since she began working in my office I have only ever known her to be upbeat and positive, forever smiling and laughing, even about her mistakes...even about my mistakes.  She is a joy!

Late last fall she was suffering from a lot of headaches, and, thinking it was from her contact lenses, went to the eye doctor and was told that she had a detached retina and needed immediate surgery.  She was out of work for six weeks during which time she had to lay down face down in a special chair the entire time.  Can you imagine laying face down, unable to move, for six weeks?

When she came back to work she was right back to her cheerful self without a single complaint about what she had been through.  She still had many follow-up doctor appointments to attend and last month at one of her appointments she was told that she might need a surgery on the other eye and that it was likely that she could never have children because the strain of pushing a baby during childbirth could permanently damage her vision.  She's newly married and she and her husband have just purchased their first house so the hope of starting a family is something that she has been looking forward to.

When she shared this news with us at work it was the first time that I saw her visibly upset about all that she was going through and she asked me to pray for her.  I told her that I would pray to St. Lucy, the patron saint of eye troubles, and I shared the story of St. Lucy and a novena prayer with her and another co-worker, and we all agreed to pray it together even though neither of my co-workers are Catholic.  We began the prayer immediately.

The next morning she was to have a follow-up doctor appointment where she would learn more about the next eye surgery.  While she was at the appointment, I decided to share the novena with the rest of my co-workers (there are only 12 of us.)  I wasn't sure how it would go since only a few of my co-workers are Catholics and I don't really know how everyone else feels about prayer and God.  But I did know that most of them are devout Christians and also that everyone is very fond of our friend with the eye ailment and would like to see her suffering end.  So I took a big breath, whispered a silent prayer to St. Lucy, and shared copies of the novena prayer with everyone in my office, asking them to pray with me.  I was met with great interest in St. Lucy and  overwhelming support for the prayer.

I had just finished sharing the St. Lucy novena with everyone when our friend came in from her doctor appointment and announced that she was perfectly fine, that the only surgery she might need in the future would be for possible cataracts.  And, she further shared with us the great news that her doctor told her that she could go ahead and have children and resume all of her old activities.

It was a miracle, I'm sure!  Our girl St. Lucy is one powerful saint!  Thanks be to God!

St. Lucy's incorruptible body, photo courtesy of Kurt Keidl, OFS

St. Lucy's incorruptible body, photo courtesy of Kurt Keidl, OFS

Prayer to Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy,

Whose beautiful name signifies 'LIGHT'

by the light of faith which God bestowed upon you

increase and preserve His light in my soul

so that I may avoid evil,

Be zealous in the performance of good works

and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and

the darkness of evil and sin.

Obtain for me, by your intercession with God

Perfect vision for my bodily eyes

and the grace to use them for God’s greater honour and glory

and the salvation of souls.

St. Lucy, virgin and martyr

hear my prayers and obtain my petitions.

Amen.

Visit this link for the story of St. Lucy's life.

Loyola Art Museum

On a recent visit to the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, my family and I made a quick visit to the Loyola University Museum of Art.  Free admission on Tuesday was definitely a bonus.  The museum was very small, consisting of only two floors.  The first floor showcased a Shaker Art display which was beautiful in its simplicity.  The second floor held a display of sacred art from the Renaissance period, my very favorite!  I just have a few snapshots to share of the pieces that moved my heart, without the accompanying descriptions, unfortunately, but the art truly does speak for itself.  For more information about the Loyola University Museum of Art, visit here.  For more on the Martin D'arcy, S.J. Collection, from which all of the images below were taken, visit here.  Martin D'Arcy, SJ, was a Jesuit priest who lived in England from 1888-1976.  This collection is named in his honor.

The head of John the Baptist.  The accompanying description mentioned that those who suffered from headaches and ailments of the head would place their hat upon the face of  St. John to receive healing.

Mother and Child

Nativity Triptych

crucifix and vessels

The Queen of Heaven with four Jesuit saints from left to right:  St. Stanislaus Kostka,SJ,  St. Ignatius Loyola, SJ,
St. Francis Xavier, SJ and St. Aloysius Gonzaga, SJ

Ecce Homo (description here)

Crucifixion  Polyptych 

The angel standing below the crucifix is capturing the Precious Blood of Christ in a chalice.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish/the Sanctuary of The Divine Mercy, Chicago

"Along the frenetic Kennedy Expressway, in the heart of Chicago, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church/the Sanctuary of The Divine Mercy, stands as a sign of contradiction, a light to the world, an oasis of life-giving water calling all of God's people to find peace by turning with trust to The Divine Mercy."  ~Fr. Anthony Bus, C. R., pastor

My family and I were blessed to pay a visit St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish/the Sanctuary of The Divine Mercy and home of the world's largest monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign-Ark of Mercy in Chicago.  It was a gorgeous, gorgeous church!  We were greeted at the door by a woman who was mopping the floor.  She was so friendly and welcoming and invited us to come back anytime.  The church is open 24/7 for Eucharistic Adoration.  We will be sure to take her up on her kind offer the next time we are in Chicago.

For more information on St. Stanislaus Kostka parish, visit this link.

greeted by Our Lady in the church vestibule

The confessional looks so welcoming with the open doors!

beautiful stations!

The breathtaking frescoes look like they need some care as the paint is showing signs of peeling.

Isn't the altar magnificent?

altar details

Of course, pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the church.

Adoration is in a side chapel within the main church.

Here I am praying for your intentions.

The image of the Divine Mercy can be seen just beyond the monstrance.  Jesus, I trust in you!

An Honor to be Catholic (or Here Comes Everybody)

Old St. Mary's sanctuary (photo source)

I've been feeling a bit out of sorts in my faith of late.  I've always been very turned off by Catholics who publicly push their agenda for married or women priests or anything that is outside of the official teaching of the Church upon the rest of us Catholics.  And lately, I've begun to feel equally turned off by Catholics who publicly criticize the Pope and who push for only Latin Mass and only male altar servers, and a smaller, purer Church etc.  It's a big Church and we all belong, liberal, conservative and everyone in-between, and yet, it seems to me that we can't seem to stand each other.  Where is the love, I wonder?  Why can't we stop being so pushy?  Why can't we stop being so mean-spirited and small-minded?  Is this what Catholicism is really all about?  Must we constantly fight and criticize and trample upon each other in our efforts to be right and to prove everyone who doesn't agree with us to be wrong?

This dilemma, the constant clash between liberal and conservative Catholics, and people who label themselves as such, instead of simply calling themselves Catholic, and acting in a loving manner toward all, has made for a difficult Lent for me and there were many times when I found myself wondering whether I really belong anywhere in this Church, not really feeling particularly liberal or conservative myself but just loving God with all my heart and desperately wanting to draw closer and closer to Him each and every day.

And then the glorious day of the Easter Vigil arrived.  I had been asked to substitute for a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at this Mass.  I have been a lector for many years and feel quite comfortable proclaiming God's Word, but I've only served as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist on a few occasions and I have never felt comfortable or worthy enough to offer the very Flesh and Blood of the Lord to others.  But, always wanting to model myself after the Blessed Mother, I said "yes" despite my reservations.

I was so nervous on the day of the Vigil that I actually had asked two different people to take my place and was tempted to ask two others, as well, in an attempt to back out of my promise to help.  NOT like the Blessed Mother at all!  Can you imagine her saying, "Uh, God?  I changed my mind about this whole Mother of Christ thing.  I'm too nervous and unworthy to go through with it.  Can you find someone else?"  Thank God she is so much stronger and braver than I!  But, God's plan for me was clearly to have me follow through on my promise, as those I had actually asked to take my place weren't able to accommodate me.

In the end, offering the Precious Blood of our Lord to the communicants at the Easter Vigil was one of the most beautiful and wonderful things I could have done to have enhanced and strengthened my wavering faith.  As an Oblate of the Precious Blood, affiliated with the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, offering all of my prayers for priests, I felt especially moved and overwhelmed as I stood near the altar and Fr. Mike handed the Blood of Christ to me.  I carefully moved down the steps and waited for the communion procession to begin.

First in line was the woman who was just baptized at the Easter Vigil, followed by the four adults who were received into the Church.  To offer the Blood of Christ to them for their very First Holy Communion, was incredibly touching!  Later, my own family members each bowed to the Lord's Blood and then uttered their "Amen's" as I offered them His Blood to drink.  This was an Easter I will never forget!  This was an Easter where I felt exceptionally proud and honored and moved to be Catholic!

Later, as I spoke with two of the newly received, a married couple, they shared a bit of their story with me about how they had long considered Catholicism and studied it from an intellectual viewpoint before finally committing to it.  Through their story, I realized that even though our Church may look ugly and dismal to those on the inside from time to time, to those on the outside looking in, we are a beautiful Church full of mystery and goodness and the Love of God, sinful and messy and full of complainers though we are.  I feel more blessed and proud than ever to call myself a Catholic and I wouldn't give up the beautiful gift of my Catholic faith for anything in the world!

St. Mary's of the Pines

The Salzmann Library at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee is the home to many antique treasures including an 1882 copy of Poems written by Bernard Durward, founder of Durward's Glen Retreat and Conference Center near Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Bernard Isaac Durward, a native of Scotland, arrived in Milwaukee in 1845 with his family where he worked as an artist.  His painting included portraits of Milwaukee's founding fathers and Archbishop Henni, Milwaukee's first Archbishop.  After painting the Archbishop, Durward converted to Catholicism and became a professor of English literature at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary until 1862 when he bought the beautiful land known as Durward's Glen.  Two of his sons became priests and the property remains a destination for religious retreats and prayerful nature walks.

Portrait of Archbishop John Henni painted by Bernard Isaac Durward

The state of Wisconsin and the Catholic Church have been greatly blessed by the legacy of this artist, poet, teacher and naturalist. If you are ever given the opportunity to visit Durward's Glen, you will find a most peaceful and prayerful setting which was the home of Bernard Durward and his family. This poem of his describes it perfectly!

St. Mary's of the Pines by Bernard Durward-

Dear retreat for mortal wearied
With turmoil,
Take me to your sheltering bosom!
Soothe my brain with nature's gladness,
Pour the balm and wine and oil!
Dull routine my life has wounded
Nigh to sadness;
Give me in you wildernesses
Change of toil!

And ye springs that gush and sparkle
As your pour
From your never failing fountains,
From your dark, mysterious prison,
Swelling still the streamlet's store,
Laughing to the light of morning
Newly risen-
Let me join with your sweet murmurs
One voice more.

From the unseen came I also.
By the might
Of the Eternal Fount of Being,
Through the darksome ways of error,
Far more dismal than the night
Of your hidden stony barriers;
From that terror
By the hand of mercy lifted
Into light.

Streamlet-daughter of a thousand
Limpid springs!
On thou speedest like an angel
With a healing benediction
Folded underneath his wings;
Warbling sweetest as thou meetest
Contradiction
From rude stones on which the lichen
Feeds and clings-

Oh, that I could scatter blessing
Like to thee!
That my soul could mirror beauty
As thy bosom's liquid crystal!
That my songs might be as free,
Varied, lasting as thy singing!
Then should list all
Mortals to my strain-a minstrel
I should be.

Pines, that heal the air with perfume,
Towering high,
Decked with cones for jewels, pendant
In your green immortal vesture,
Though your heads are in the sky,
Yet, like mortal man beneath you,
You must rest your
Feet upon the solid fabric,
Or must die.

Lend my verse the balsam odor
Of your tears!
And the color of your needles,
And the heavenward direction
Of your stems, which rise like spears,
That my song may still point upward
From dejection
And the basis of the earthly
To the spheres!

Rocks, that Time has worn to grandeur
With his breath!
Steadfast as a righteous canon,
High above the vanished ages,
Moveless 'mid surrounding death;
How your silence and your shadows
Shame my pages!
Doomed to crumble, as the leaves
My feet beneath.

Little chapel, rude and lonely
To the eye,
How thy white cross in the sunlight
Gleams and prompts a prayer in whispers!
Shall my mouldering ashes lie
Blest and near thee, though unheeding
Song of Vespers,
Or the Kyrie Eleison's
Plaintive cry?

Gorge of beauty, sweetly nestled
'Mong the hills;
Far removed from sordid traffic,
Filled with springs forever weeping
Through the rocks in mossy rills-
Shall my lowly memory linger
In thy keeping,
When this heart which now is throbbing
Silence fills?

Yes; a little while my footsteps
May be known;
And the hearts that I have cherished
Will remember me in yonder
Sacred symbol in the stone!
They will say "His hand engraved it!"
And with fonder
Accents of affection whisper,
"He is gone!"

"Gone! above this transient vision
Of a day;
Upward springing through the azure,
Upward to the Source of Beauty,
From the strife of sin and clay,
Soared his spirit to our Savior,
As the levin
Through the clouds of storm and darkness
Cleaves its way."

A fascinating biography of Bernard Durward can be found here.