Journal of Phillip Lichtenwalter

Feast of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Phillip Lichtenwalter — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:14:49 +0000

Boniface, known as the apostle of the Germans, was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being elected abbot to devote his life to the conversion of the Germanic tribes. Two characteristics stand out: his Christian orthodoxy and his fidelity to the pope of Rome.How absolutely necessary this orthodoxy and fidelity were is borne out by the conditions he found on his first missionary journey in 719 at the request of Pope Gregory II. Paganism was a way of life. What Christianity he did find had either lapsed into paganism or was mixed with error. The clergy were mainly responsible for these latter conditions since they were in many instances uneducated, lax and questionably obedient to their bishops. In particular instances their very ordination was questionable.

These are the conditions that Boniface was to report in 722 on his first return visit to Rome. The Holy Father instructed him to reform the German Church. The pope sent letters of recommendation to religious and civil leaders. Boniface later admitted that his work would have been unsuccessful, from a human viewpoint, without a letter of safe-conduct from Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish ruler, grandfather of Charlemagne. Boniface was finally made a regional bishop and authorized to organize the whole German Church. He was eminently successful.

In the Frankish kingdom, he met great problems because of lay interference in bishops’ elections, the worldliness of the clergy and lack of papal control.

During a final mission to the Frisians, he and 53 companions were massacred while he was preparing converts for Confirmation.

In order to restore the Germanic Church to its fidelity to Rome and to convert the pagans, he had been guided by two principles. The first was to restore the obedience of the clergy to their bishops in union with the pope of Rome. The second was the establishment of many houses of prayer which took the form of Benedictine monasteries. A great number of Anglo-Saxon monks and nuns followed him to the continent. He introduced Benedictine nuns to the active apostolate of education.

It’s getting hot in here! hehe!

Phillip Lichtenwalter — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:03:22 +0000

Well the summer months are now upon us. Either we are cursed with floods of rain or humid hot tempatures. I personally would take the rain over heat any day. Anyway…what’s new in the life of this simple AI student?

Well this past week, I started my new position at AI as the temporary assistant to the Cohort Directors. Ms. Sharon who has had this position for several years is moving to Texas and will be greatly missed here at AI. I am looking forward to the hours and pay, not looking forward to the extra work hours. There is an up side! Sharon is extremely organized and has made it an easy transition for me. While I continue to work this job fulltime, I will remain the partime Liturgy Coordinator here at AI. I have come to really love this job. I think we have amazing liturgy and worship here.

Outside of all of this work, I continue to help out doing lawns and landscaping for several ladies throughout St. Louis. Oh yeah, also I play Organ in different parishes around St Louis and occasionally bless them with my voice. I havent’ been paid to stop singing, so I guess I am doing a good job.

As you might have heard, back in May I graduated with my first Masters of Arts in Theology from Aquinas Institute. I was able to complete that in a two year period and get all exams and thesis written in time for graduation. Now I decided to complete my Masters of Divinity. That should take me no less than 2 more years. Not sure what I plan to do with that degree, but I am half way through so I thought I shouldn’t give up. Just in case that isn’t enough work, I made the decision to complete the graduate certificate in Thomistic Studies. Well I hope with all of these degrees, someone would want to hire me! if not, I will just pursue the D. Min.

Alright enough for now, I have to get back to work. God bless!

The Power of Touch

Phillip Lichtenwalter — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:09:48 +0000

Reflection for Tuesday, Feb 5th: Feast of St. Agatha (Gospel of St. Mark 5: 21-43)When I was a young child, I was out riding my bike with several of my childhood friends. Throughout the bike ride, we each took turns trying our new and exciting bike tricks. It was my turn…I started to pick up a little speed, while going down this fairly steep gravel covered country road…started peddling harder and faster and before I knew it, I was preparing for my bike trick, I was out of control heading downhill on this gravel road. Being quick on my feet, instead of letting the bike go out of control, I quickly slammed on the breaks in hopes of stopping, BUT to my surprise I was flying over the handle bars, sliding face first into the gravel road. Once my slide finally came to a stop, I found myself with gravel nicely embedded in my hands and my face was badly scrapped up. I was quickly carried off back home where I was placed in the care of my local physician, aka MOM. She was so gentle and so calm throughout the entire situation. She wiped away my tears, cleaned my scraps, and kept re-affirming me that it was going to be okay. Once I was all bandaged up, we spent the afternoon curled up on the couch with my head in her laps, as she gently held me saying, “It’s going to be okay!” There was something about that time, that through her gentle touch, all of my life’s embarrassments, pains and tears were wiped away with her touch.In today’s gospel, we hear of two stories of the healing power of touch, the woman with hemorrhages and the little child. This woman had lived almost her entire life with this bleeding. Doctors had given up on her. She was rejected, unclean, a burden to society. The second was a little girl, with no concerns, no stresses, just a little girl, who happened to die. Yet we see in both situations how touch can drastically change lives. You see with the woman, she thought that it would be just enough if she reached the hem of Jesus’ garment. She didn’t want to reach out and touch Jesus fully. She was guarded. Why not reach out? Why not see if this thing called faith can heal me? Even when she merely touched his hem, she was healed. His power went forth from him. He couldn’t help it. He healed. So often, we are guarded and want to remain distant from Jesus. We want a relationship with our God, but only on our terms. We pray that God answers our prayers when we want, how we want, the way we want! We reach out when we want to reach out and even then, we might only reach out part way. Yet, because of the amazing power of touch, Jesus comes to us the extra mile. Even when we are guarded God is there more so, wanting for us, yearning for us to reach out. Now the young girl’s story is different. Her father was a synagogue official, a prominent public person, leader in the church, wealthy; his family probably had no worries in the world. They were comfortable, secure, and confident that their status could carry them throughout any ruff times. Yet, his daughter dies. He was desperate. His money couldn’t save her. His power couldn’t keep her from death, but he heard of this miracle worker, Jesus. And what does Jesus do, he responds to the call and reassures the family, “she isn’t dead…she is asleep.” Jesus reaches out and heals her, no questions asked. We live in a world where touch as been the cause of so many problems, so many wounds, yet this scripture reassures us that touch when used properly is an instrument of healing. Jesus uses his power NOT to hurt, injure, inflict pain…Jesus heals the outcast, the marginalized, the powerful, the arrogant, the young, the old, the wealthy, the poor, the believer, the non-believer, Jesus reaches out and heals ALL! Today we are this opportunity to consider how we use our touch. Do we reach out and embrace those who are in need of touch? Do we reach out to the marginalized, the outcast, the handicap, the discriminated, and the lonely? Do we reach out to Catholics, Protestants, non-Christian, even the Muslims? Do we strive to embrace those who don’t want embraced? The arrogant, the individuals, those better than everyone else, those who already know it all, those who can conquer any mountain on their own, the wealthy, the powerful? Do we allow our touch to heal, to comfort, to embrace OR do we use our touch to distance, to condemn, to punish, to hurt? Just as my mother gently reached out to offer me a hand of healing and comfort, will you do the same? Will you be the hands of Jesus in today’s world? Those same hands which reached out to heal, no questions asked. Will you be the one to reach out to those in need, or let someone else do it? Will you reach out and offer a healing touch, will you be the miracle? If not you, who then will be his hands…if not now, when will you offer the healing touch? Will you be his hands?