Many of you probably do not know the Papal Artifacts curator has been a columnist for the Duluth, MN diocesan paper, Northern Cross, since its inception in 2005. For all this time he has written Apologetics columns which contain many subjects apropos to his website.
Apologetics deals with answering critics who oppose or question the revelation of God in Christ and the Bible. It touches on the key issues of our Christian faith
We often cull the years he’s written to find commentaries from him on a wide variety of topics often including the papacy, the Vatican, relics and saints.
We hope you enjoy the information presented today.
A Word about the Featured Image Shown Here.
An Italian Vintage 1940’s Microphone with an Inscription to Pope Pius XII on the Face
The microphone with stand was made in Milan, Italy, type 2642, 66A F.A.C.E.
It most probably was used by Pope Pius XII as it is inscribed on the face with the following:
AL SANTO PADRE PIO XII
L’ ASSOCIAZIONE SCAUTISTICA CATTOLICA ITALIANA
Translation:
TO THE HOLY FATHER, PIUS XII
THE ITALIAN CATHOLIC SCOUTING ASSOCIATION
Pope Pius was involved with the Italian Catholic Scouts at times, and, as shown in the 1940’s photograph, he is using three microphones like this one.
It has an unusual connector and has not been tested but appears to be in good condition.
The silk cover on the front has a tear in it, and the outside shows some surface wear.
The case is solid copper and weighs 2.6 pounds without the stand.
The diameter at the front is 3-1/4 inches.
Father Richard Kunst
I am very happy to have obtained this. I have never seen anything like it hit the market.
Pius XII was famous for his radio messages, so this is such a great association with that part of his papacy.
This is a great find!
Preaching to be Popular
Father Richard Kunst
I readily admit that I am not very good at giving praise to people. It is very important to affirm a job well done, especially if you are in a position of management. If any of my parish or school staff read this column, they would probably concur; I need to work on that a little more, because people should be affirmed when the job is indeed well done.
We priests probably know this better than most, because we tend to desire affirmation more. Priests are always giving talks, teaching classes, and preaching homilies, so our work is very public. By the very nature of our vocation, a lot of people see our work, so getting affirmation is a good thing when it is warranted. In saying this, I also have to admit to the pitfalls of priests actually seeking praise and adulation. Priests can have an inordinate desire for affirmation, and that is not good either.
Everyone wants to be liked; there is nothing wrong with that. But it should never dictate how we preach and teach or what we preach and teach. I am convinced that the No. 1 reason priests hesitate about preaching tough and controversial subjects is that they do not want to upset people who like them, and that is a problem.
“The disease to please” is always a problem, but when we priests do it, it is worse. When homilies are focused on getting praise rather than teaching hard truths, the priest shifts focus from God and replaces it with ever-changing human opinions. This, of course, is tied to fear of rejection and not being liked. If in our homilies we become people-pleasers, we become motivated by fear rather than love.
Preaching the tough and unpopular subjects, the issues on which the church is at odds with culture, takes courage and fortitude, but if it is done in charity, it is always an act of love.
Now, in saying this, it is also an error for priests to think that they always have to preach the tough and unpopular subjects. There are some priests who, in the not so distant past, became famous online for always harping on the difficult subjects of our culture. It is just as wrong to preach on those subjects every week as it is to never address them at all.
As always, Jesus is the perfect example here. In the Gospel of John, as Jesus is speaking to the Jews who did not believe in him, he said, “I do not accept human praise” (John 5:41), and a bit later he says, “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?” (44). Woe to the priest, deacon, or bishop who preaches to appease humans rather than preach the truth of Christ! We have to preach the tough subjects, it is actually a sign that we love our people that we do not shy away from difficult topics.
But in saying all of this I realize that I am focusing too much on the ordained, because the fact of the matter is we can all fall into the “disease to please,” whether that be at work, school, among friends, or at home with family. If we shy away from controversial topics in our conversations because we don’t want to be in the minority, that’s a problem. If we are at work and a coworker starts to criticize the church, and we don’t speak up out of fear, that is a problem.
In my column back in February, I wrote about the temptation to live too much in other people’s heads, that the desire to be “liked” on social media could be an extension of our adolescence. This topic is a close cousin to that one, because when we do things to obtain praise, we are giving way too much attention to what other people think than to the Truth which we all should serve. It just happens to be more obvious when a priest does it.
You may remember the parable Jesus tells in Matthew’s Gospel about the man who went on a journey and entrusted three of his servants with money. The first two servants invested the money and doubled the investment. The third disciple, out of fear, buried the money, and as a result received scorn from his master. What the master said to his first two servants is what our goal in this life should be. He said, “Well done my faithful servant …. Come and share your master’s joy” (Matthew 25:21). That is the only approval that we should have as our goal.
And in case you’re wondering about the column to which he refers above? Here it is!
Thank you, Father Kunst for the myriad hours spent in creating columns for the Northern Cross!
Living “In Other People’s Heads”
Father Richard Kunst
There’s a real freedom when you get to the point in life where you do not care about what other people think. I feel especially bad for teenagers, because they tend to be the ones most influenced by peer pressure; many teenagers are consumed with the thoughts of what other people think, and that is a real form of slavery, because it actually contributes to how they behave and what they wear as well as a whole host of other behaviors. As unfortunate as it is, it is a typical stage of life that most all of us go through.
Generally speaking, we tend to think that it is the elderly who have come to the point in life where they don’t care what they say or what others think. And it is true that I have been embarrassed several times by elderly loved ones for things they have said or done in public.
But I kind of feel like I am there already. Obviously in my role as priest and pastor I have to be pretty conscious of what and how I say things, in particular when I am preaching or teaching some class, but in general I am happy to say that I don’t really live in other people’s heads. I don’t really care what they think of me based on what I say or do. Now, I am not going to go around and say things just to shock people or make a fool of myself, at least not deliberately, but I do feel a sense of freedom in not being overly concerned about what people think of me.
I am not on any form of social media, which I am grateful for. Social media can be good, but it also can extend some people’s adolescence. On Facebook, for example I know it is a big deal to some people to get a lot of “likes” on their posts. Now, I am not trying to cast stones here, but is that not a continuation of peer pressure and living in other people’s heads? Is that not too much concern for what other people think of us?
I understand the desire, because my parish has a Facebook page, and from time to time I check it out and see how many comments and likes certain things are getting. I can see how easy it would be to get sucked into that.
There is a scene in the Old Testament that illustrates pretty clearly the drawback of all of this and why we should not be preoccupied about what other people think. It happens right after the famous scene where the young David, a sheep farmer, takes on the experienced warrior giant Goliath in a battle.
Of course we all know how it ends — the inexperienced shepherd kills the warrior with a rock and a sling leading Israel to victory over their enemies the Philistines. As King Saul and David were returning from battle, the first book of Samuel says, “The women played and sang: ‘Saul has killed his thousands, / and David his ten thousands’” (1 Samuel 18:7). To put it in modern terms, they “liked” what David posted over what Saul posted.
The passage goes on to say, “Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: ‘They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.’ And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.” (18:8-9) If you know the rest of the story, you know that from that point on, Saul tries to kill David because of the jealousy.
Saul cared too much for what the women thought of him, especially in relation to David, and as a result it did not go well for him. After this, Saul becomes a tragic figure for the rest of the story. There is a pretty good lesson here: Caring too much what other people think of us is almost always unhealthy, and it can get us to act stupidly, like it did to Saul. It only matters what God thinks of us. He alone is the one we should try to please, because how God sees us is how we really are.
Imagine what the world would look like if what God thinks of us is what we were all most conscious of! If we posted things on our social media sites based on how God would like it. If we wore things based on how we thought God would approve, and said only the things God would want us to say.
If we lived our lives that way — and we should — then our whole life would be better for it. Living in other people’s heads is almost always a bad place to live.
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