Last week my family and I took a short vacation to Green Bay, Wisconsin. We enjoyed the usual sites, including a visit to the National Railroad Museum (for the kids) and a tour of Lambeau Field (for my wife and me).

But the highlight of the trip was on the second day when we drove 20 minutes to Champion, Wisconsin, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. This shrine is located at the spot of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States.

In 1859 Adele Brise, a youth Belgian immigrant, saw a woman in white standing between two trees. She was frightened by the vision, which reappeared a second time the following Sunday as she was walking to Mass. She asked a priest for advice and he told her she should ask it, "In the Name of God, who are you and what do you wish of me?"

On her way home the lady appeared again and Adele did as she had been instructed. The lady replied, "I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same." Adele was also told to "gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation."

Adele dedicated the rest of her life to catechizing the children of rural Wisconsin, walking from community to community and later founding a school at the spot of the apparition. (It was closed in the 1920s and is now a sandwich shop, but some of the original blackboards are still hanging up!)

Adele Brise is a wonderful example of the humility and perseverance needed for catechists today. The Blessed Mother’s call to “teach them what they should know for salvation” remains our calling whether as parents, catechists, Catholic school teachers, youth ministers, RCIA team members, or any number of other roles we play in our lives.

I pray that, during this month of Mary, the Queen of Heaven will pray for you and all the catechists of our diocese so that we may fulfill her son’s will to make disciples in his Church.

Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us!

Prior to the Easter Vigil Saturday night, the deacon, the pastor, and I went out to where the fire would late be lit in the courtyard between the Cathedral and the school. It is a perfect space for the fire and for the congregation to gather around it, but it was rather windy at the time.

We still had just over an hour before the beginning of the mother of all holy vigils, but I wanted to be sure we could move the Paschal Candle into the Cathedral without the blessed flame being blown out by the wind. I suggested that we could have the Bishop light the Paschal Candle and then light a small votive candle that could be shielded more easily and snuck into the vestibule of the Cathedral before the Paschal Candle, just in case we should need it. My idea was nixed.

As I returned to the sacristy pondering the situation and still envisioning the sneaking of a holy flame into the Cathedral, these words ran repeatedly through my mind:

I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor.

Neither the deacon nor the pastor knew the reference, but the servers did and so did the Bishop (who enjoyed it).

The words come, of course, from Gandalf the Grey in J. R. R. Tolkien's great trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf speaks the words on the bridge of Khazad-Dûm to the Balrog. He contines, saying to the "dark figure streaming with fire," "You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."

As the lines ran through my mind again and again,I wondered ifsome connection might be made with the Easter Vigil, so I pulled out my Tolkien books to have a look.

The Secret Fire: The Flame of Anor

"Anor" is a Sindarin word for the Quenya word for "sun," coming from "Anar." The "Secret Fire" of which Gandalf speaks is the Flame of Anor, which is also called the "Flame Imperishable," the divine life-force of the world and of the universe.

In The Silmarillion, Tolkien describes the coming of the light of Anor:

Then Anar arose in glory, and the first dawn of the sun was like a great fire upon the towers of the Pelóri: the clouds of Middle-earth were kindled, and there was heard the sound of many waterfalls. Then indeed Morgoth was dismayed, and he descended into the uttermost dephs of Angband, and withdrew his servants, sending forth great reek and dark cloud to hide his land from the daystar ([New York: Ballantine Books, 2001], 112).

In Part One of The Book of Lost Tales, we learn that Melko "fared often alone into the dark places and the voids seeking the Secret Fire that giveth Life and Reality (for he had a very hot desire to bring things into being of his own)" ([Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984], 53). It is this Secret Fire that burns "at the heart of the world" (The Silmarillion, 55).

It is to this Secret Fire that the Order of the Istari (the wizards) gave their obedience and it is this Secret Fire they wield.

The Secret Fire: The Light of Christ

Tolkien was, as we know well, a devout Catholic, and his Catholic faith lies as something of a hidden foundation supporting the world of Middle-earth. Consequently, it is right for us to examine the Flame of Anor and to look for possible connections to Christianity.

During the great night of Easter, our attention focuses upon Jesus Christ, whoreferred to himself asthe "light of the world" (John 8:12) and who is symbolized by the light of the Paschal Candle.

Lit from the newly blessed fire which we pray will bestow "upon the faithful the fire of [God's] glory" and incised with the Cross, the Alpha and the Omega, and the calendrical year, and marked by grains of incense symbolic of the stigmata, it is held aloft in procession to "dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds" (Roman Missal, The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, 10-14).

As he sings the Exultet, the Deacon praises "the power of this night" that "dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocense to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty."

This night is embued with such power because it is the night during which Christ rose from the dead and salvation history is brought to its fulfillment. On this night, the Lord Jesus, whom the Exultet calls "the Morning Star who never sets," shows himself to be "the light [that] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5). Christ is the Flame Imperishable.

What is more, "all things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race" (John 1:3-4). Not only is the Flame Imperishable; Jesus also gives life and reality to the world.

When at last he came into the world and took on our human flesh, "he came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him" (John 1:11). His identity was made secret and not everyone recognized his light.

A Servant of the Secret Fire

The connections between Jesus and the Secret Fire are easy enough to make, but what of a possible connection between Gandalf - and, through him, the Order of the Istari - and priests?

Writing to the Corinthians, Saint Paul said, "Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (II Corinthians 4:5). A servant must pledge obedience to his master and a steward safeguards what is entrusted to him.

We saw above that Gandalf and the Istari pledged their obedience to the Flame of Anor; before their ordination, priests promise obedience to their Bishop and his successors. At the same time, they promise to be faithful to the teachings and discipline of the Church, which is the Body of Christ. As Saint Paul says, priests are "servants" of the Light of the World.

At the same time Gandalf serves the Secret Fire, he also wields it. The same can be said of priests.

Jesus said, "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing" (Luke 12:49)! When he wrote to Saint Timothy, Saint Paul urged him, saying,"I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands" (II Timothy 1:6). It is this flame that a priest wields, the Light of Christ himself, which is entrusted to priests at their ordination when the Holy Spirit is called down upon them, the same Spirit who descended upon the Apostles in "tongues as of fire" (Acts 2:3).

Priests wield this gift, this flame, through the Sacraments. Priests are principally ordained to celebrate the Eucharist and to hear confessions and absolve sins. These two Sacraments of Eucharist and Penance each "dispels darkness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty," as the Exultet sings of the Light of Christ.

Through his priests, his servants, Christ the Lord "shed[s] his peaceful light on humanity" (Exultet) and those who follow him "will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

It seems, then, that when the words of Gandalf came to me quite randomly - "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor" - I wasn't too far off.

The Quincy Herald-Whig has a good story today on "Austin's Army," a group of retired men in Quincy who see to the physical needs of St. Francis Solanus school in Quincy:

Austin's Army is a group of about 15 retirees who come to the school at 1720 College once a week to tackle whatever fix-it projects need to be done.

These aren't ordinary volunteers, either. In many cases, they are skilled tradesmen willing to lend their expertise at no cost to help keep one of Quincy's Catholic institutions flourishing.

"They have all kinds of skills," Principal Lee Hoffman said. "We've got plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, carpenters and others. It's phenomenal what they have done around here. They do everything."

Every Monday morning, Hoffman produces a list of projects for Austin's Army to carry out that day. The group's leader, Tom Rakers, reviews the list and assigns members to different tasks.

Then everybody gets busy [more].

In my home parish of St. John the Baptist which was about a mile or so away from St. Francis, we had a similar group of retired men who called themselves the Over the Hill Gang. Their service was invaluable!

I haven't encountered such a group outside of Quincy. Do other parishes have similar groups?

Every year in late winter my mother spends a weekend at our house helping me to paint a room. This little tradition started the first year after we moved into our house and so far we've completed the living room, the boys' room, our daughter's room, and now the hallways. It's a lot of work -- especially taping off all the windows and woodwork in an old house like ours -- but it's worth the effort for the clean, pristine walls afterward.

(Not that they stay that way with ten little hands in the house, but that's another story.)

This year as I was rolling a fresh coat over scratches and smudge marks, I thought about how painting a wall is a lot like the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. A wall, when it is first constructed, is a plain thing, not quite white, until it receives the first coat of paint; then it is clean and unblemished. But over time the wall accumulates hand prints and dirt, gouges and pencil marks. Some are due to carelessness, some are deliberate. But in the end the wall is less attractive and in need of some care. So we break out a gallon and with a fresh coat of paint the wall is healed and made new. This process can repeat itself many times over the lifetime of a house; it takes patient care and effort to ensure that the walls are kept fresh over the years.

The wall is like our souls. The first coat of paint is our baptism, through which the stain of original sin is washed away. But we fail to take care of the wall and, through sin, it is marked and beaten. But through the sacrament we can wash away the smudges of sin and heal our souls. This process repeats itself many times over a lifetime through dedication and a deliberate intention to confess our sins and receive absolution.

So this Lent, make sure you get yourself a fresh coat of paint by revisiting the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.

Mandato general de HHS se queda igual, viola los derechos de conciencia y la libertad religiosa Congreso tiene que actuar para arreglar el problema

Durante muchos años, los obispos de EE. UU. han apoyado el acceso al cuidado de la salud que afirme la vida de todos. En el curso del debate sobre la reforma al sistema de cuidados de la salud en el Congreso ustedes recibieron un número de circulares urgentes de parte de USCCB pidiendo legislación que avanzara la meta de ofrecer cuidados de la salud que verdaderamente fueran universales y afirmara la vida: defendiera políticas federales aceptadas por largo tiempo contra el financiamiento del aborto, protegiera los derechos de conciencia y no dejara a los inmigrantes en una situación peor.

El 20 de enero de 2011, el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS, sigla en inglés) reafirmó una regulación que exige que casi todos los planes de salud cubran la esterilización, los abortivos y la contracepción. La regla daba una exención a los "empleadores religiosos," pero excluía a los que dan servicio o emplean a personas que no profesan la misma religión. Esto era tan estrecho que no cubre a la gran mayoría de organizaciones religiosas, incluso hospitales, universidades y organizaciones católicas de servicio que ayudan a millones cada año.

Después de escuchar el alboroto de muchos grupos, el 10 de febrero, la Administración de Obama emitió un mandato final "sin ningún cambio". Además, la administración dio a algunas organizaciones religiosas caritativas una prórroga de un año para cumplirlo y prometió emitir más regulaciones para "acomodarlas". Sin embargo, bajo esta futura "acomodación" nuestra organizaciones caritativas, hospitales y universidades todavía serían considerados ciudadanos de segunda clase dentro de los círculos religiosos, y todavía se verían obligados a pagar cobertura que viola sus convicciones religiosas. Esto es inaceptable.

Urgentemente necesitamos legislación para corregir las amenazas del mandato a la libertad religiosa y los derechos de conciencia. La Ley de Respeto a los Derechos de Conciencia se ha introducido en el Congreso (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) para asegurar que quienes participen en la compra de seguro de la salud “retengan el derecho de proporcionar, comprar o afiliarse a una cobertura de salud que sea conforme a sus creencias religiosas y convicciones morales".

Para movilizar a los católicos para que contacten el Congreso, USCCB les ofrece el volante adjunto. Al igual que con nuestros esfuerzos pasados sobre la reforma al sistema de salud, les pedimos que lo compartan con sus parroquias y organizaciones y agencias católicas lo antes posible. Aunque la legislación cambie, el lugar para la acción que se anota en el volante puede cambiar rápidamente.

Encontrarán más información en www.usccb.org/conscience. ¡Muchas gracias por sus acciones urgentes y oraciones para este esfuerzo nacional!

On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule that virtually all private health care plans must cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception. The exemption provided for "religious employers" was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations -- including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities -- that help millions every year. Ironically, not even Jesus and his disciples would have qualified for the exemption, because it excludes those who mainly serve people of another faith. On February 10, the Obama Administration made this rule final “without change”; delayed enforcement for a year against religious nonprofits that were still not exempted (our charities, hospitals, and colleges); and promised to develop more regulations to “accommodate” them by the end of that additional year. But, as explained below, that promised “accommodation” still forces them to pay for “services” that violate their religious convictions.

The original rule that violated our religious liberty so severely has not been changed, but finalized. After touting meaningful changes in the mandate, HHS instead finalized the original rule that was first issued in August 2011 “without change.” So the offensive definition of “religious employer” -- which excludes our charities, hospitals, and colleges because they serve people of other faiths -- is still in place, and those institutions are still subject to the mandate.

HHS has promised some kind of “accommodation,” but only after the election.

HHS said it would take an additional year to develop more regulations to “accommodate” religiously-affiliated charities, schools, and hospitals that still fall outside the “religious employer” exemption. The impact of these additional rules will not be felt until after the election, the only point of public accountability for the Executive Branch. This eliminates an important incentive for HHS to provide the best protection for religious liberty

The promised “accommodation” — even at its best — would still force our institutions to violate their beliefs.

Under the proposed “accommodation,” if an employee of these religious institutions wants coverage of contraception or sterilization directly from the insurer, the objecting employer is still forced to pay for it as a part of the employer’s insurance plan. Since there is no other source, the funds to pay for that coverage must come from the premiums of the employer and fellow employees, even those who object in conscience.

There is no exemption for objecting insurers, secular employers, for-profit religious employers, or individuals.

The U.S. bishops defend religious liberty for all, and so have repeatedly identified all the stakeholders in the process whose religious freedom is threatened by the mandate -- all employers, insurers, and individuals, not just religious employers. Now, all insurers, including self-insurers, must provide the coverage to any employee who wants it. In turn, all individuals who pay premiums have no escape from subsidizing that coverage. And only employers that are both non-profit and religious may qualify for the limited “accommodation.”

We urgently need legislation to correct the mandate’s threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) to ensure that those who participate in the market for health insurance “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”

ACTION: Contact your U.S. Representative by e-mail, phone, or FAX letter:

• Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices.
• Send your email to Congress through www.usccb.org/conscience.
• Additional contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

MESSAGE: “Please co-sponsor and support the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467). The Obama administration’s decision to mandate coverage of sterilization and contraceptives, including drugs that can cause an abortion, makes passage of this measure especially urgent. Please ensure that the religious liberty and conscience rights of all participants in our nation’s health care system are respected.”

WHEN: Now is the time to build co-sponsors and support. Please act today! Thanks!

Yesterday morning the Bishops and their accompanying priests concelebrated Mass in the Basilica of Saint Peter at the altar at the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. It was a profoundly moving experience and during the Mass I prayed for my friends and family, for the many people who have asked me to remember them in my prayers here in Rome, and for you, the readers of this blog.

After the Mass we returned for breakfast and the Bishops then left for their meeting with the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.

The priests and seminarians accompanying the Bishops met up with them after their meeting to go with them to the audience with the Successor of Saint Peter, Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the states of their Dioceses and factors common among the concerns of the Bishops (the Bishops of Wisconsin will meet with the Holy Father tomorrow).

We entered the Apostolic Palace through the Cortile San Damaso. After exiting the elevator we found ourselves in a magnificent hallway leading towards the Pope's library:

We passed through several magnificent rooms, each one more splendid than the previous one and filled with beautiful furniture, paintings, tapestries and even books. Each room also had a throne for the Holy Father, but each of them were in a somewhat different style. This one is my favorite:

Before long we were instructed by the Papal Gentlemen to wait in one of the rooms until the Holy Father was ready to receive us. This room had a red damask covering the walls:

Of particular interest to me was its ceiling:

If I ever get to build a church, I'd like to incorporate colors like this into it.

As we waited, we visited with each other and some decided to take a peek out of the windows:

The window looked out toward the Porta Santa Anna and gave an excellent view of the city.

After several minutes passed, we were ushered through two additional rooms where we were given a few brief pointers on how the audience and pictures with the Holy Father would proceed.

Finally, when the Holy Father was ready to receive us, we were brought into the Papal library and were introduced to Pope Benedict XVI. After greeting the Holy Father, we posed for a picture before he gave us a rosary.

Pope Benedict XVI is a small man and his age is beginning to show. Still, his smile - which is not always captured on film - is genuine and his interest in those he meets is sincere.

Afterwards, the priests and seminarians were escorted back to the room in which we had been waiting while the Bishops of Illinois met with His Holiness for about one hour (the Bishops of Indiana met with him after the Bishops of Illinois). When the Bishops emerged from their meeting with the Pope, we returned for lunch.

Photos from the day can be viewed here. Bishop Paprocki also wrote a few observations from the day.

It was a morning I will not soon forget. Yesterday a great dream was fulfilled and I am deeply grateful.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings from Rome. Father Daren Zehnle and I arrived five hours late on Wednesday after a three hour delay at O'Hare Airport, missing two connecting flights in London, and a one hour delay for the third connecting flight which eventually got us to Rome.

Our day started today (Wednesday) by concelebrating Mass with Cardinal George and the Bishops of our region (Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana) at the tomb of Saint Peter in the lower level of Saint Peter's Basilica. I prayed there for all the clergy, consecrated religious and laity of our diocese. We then had a meeting at the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. Whereas the word "evengelization" refers to bringing non-Catholics into the Church, the term "new evangelization" refers to renewing the fervor of people who were baptized Catholics but who have grown lukewarm in their Catholicism or have abandoned the practice of the faith altogether.

Also this morning the Bishops of Illinois had our audience with Pope Benedict XVI and it went well. Each Bishop was assigned a topic to speak about and, since I am the Bishop of our state capital, I was asked to brief the Holy Father on the issues involved in our dealings with Catholic politicians. I told the Pope that it is a challenge when Catholic politicians take up positions that are contrary to the Catholic faith, such as supporting abortion and civil unions, and then invoke their conscience to defend their actions. I informed His Holiness of the action of our Catholic government officials that pushed Catholic Charities out of foster care and adoption services and I described for him the efforts we are making to continue serving the poor in other ways through Catholic Charities. I also summarized for the Holy Father the steps that we are taking to work with government officials through the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the recent meeting that we bishops had with the Governor, and our efforts to educate the public on these matters through our diocesan newspapers and other media. The Holy Father expressed his gratitude for this information and his support for our efforts.

I will continue to keep you in my prayers here in Rome and ask you to pray for our Holy Father and all the Bishops of our region.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki

This was originally posted on Father Daren Zehnle's personal blog on February 8, 2012.

Greetings from the Eternal City!

Today Bishop Paprocki and I arrived in Rome after several setbacks and delays.

As we waited yesterday in the terminal at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, we were happy to see that Their Excellencies the Most Reverend Joseph L. Imesch, Bishop Emeritus of Joliet, and the Most Reverend Dale J. Melczak, Bishop of Gary were also on our flight.

Everything seemed in order until it was announced our flight was delayed thirty minutes because of a mechanical difficulty. After the thirty minutes were up, it was announced that the plane on which we were to fly was unserviceable. We were placed on a later flight in a different terminal to make our connecting flight to Rome. However, that second flight was also delayed and we missed the first connecting flight upon landing, and the next flight, as well, because we didn't make it to the check point in time.

This did afford us a visit with a very kind man who has worked at Heathrow for some sixty years and will only retire when his wife tells him he can. Many years ago he played cricket at the Vatican against a team of priests and monsignors.

As we made our way through the airport we kept asking him which way we needed to go next. He simply repeated, "Just stick with me and you'll get there." He took us through several lines that on our own we could not have used. May the Lord bless us for his kindness!

We did finally manage to board a flight to Rome but as the plane began to taxi down the runway to take off it returned to the gate for another thirty minute delay due to a technical issue. The issue was resolved and finally we arrived in Rome, somehow only five hours later than originally planned.

Since we missed the initial overview meeting for the ad limina, we were briefed during dinner.

Tomorrow the Bishops of Illinois and Indiana will meet with the Holy Father and yours truly will be introduced to Pope Benedict XVI.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki wrote a letter to all Catholics in the Diocese of Springfield that was distributed in parish bulletins yesterday.  In the letter, which follows his latest Catholic Times column, Bishop Paprocki urges parishioners to visit the USCCB's website to learn about the Health and Human Services departments ruling that would require almost all employers, regardless of religious beliefs, to offer in their health coverage sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception.

The text of Bishop Paprocki's letter is below.