Jubilee Year of Mercy Soon to End

In three weeks on Sunday, November 20, the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King (or as it is formally titled in the Roman Missal, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe").  This day also marks the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.

How does anyone judge the "success" of a Jubilee Year?  Certainly the Vatican can point to the several international pilgrimages Pope Francis made during this year:  to Sweden, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Greece, Mexico and to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.  Literally millions of people have themselves made the pilgrimage to Rome to see and hear the Holy Father and walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter Basilica.  Untold millions have journeyed to Holy Doors of cathedrals, chapels and shrines in their own diocese.  

(The website of the Jubilee Year,  www.im.va , incredibly states that 19,246,338 persons have participated in the Jubilee in Rome, as of October 24.  How do they know this?)



Catholics are just beginning to gain insight into the love of husband and wife in the sacrament of marriage by reading the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love.  The them of "Merciful like the Father" has been tweeted and re-tweeted around the world, as the key understanding of Pope Francis's ministry of Christ-like service, and the witness of Christians everywhere.

But more importantly than these externals are the spiritual exercises known only to God conducted by Catholics and other Christians.  These include the gift of plenary indulgences offered to the faithful who received Holy Communion, made a confession, and prayed for the Holy Father and his intentions.  

How many souls were re-awakened to the challenges and joys of performing the corporal works of mercy:  

• feeding the hungry
• giving drink to the thirsty
• clothing the naked
• welcoming the stranger
• healing the sick
• visiting the imprisoned
• burying the dead.

Or how many have carrying out the spiritual works of mercy:

• counselling the doubtful
• instructing the ignorant
• admonishing sinners
• comforting the afflicted
• forgiving offenses  
• bearing those who do us ill patiently
• praying for the living and the dead.

We priests know that our dear pope's kindly persistent references to mercy allowed us to be vehicles of God's forgiveness in the sacrament of confession (reconciliation) to larger numbers of penitents in Advent, Lent and throughout the year.  In other words, like St. Peter we caught a great deal of big fish, and were blessed to bring them God's life and love.

Bishop Zubik was moved by the Jubilee Year of Mercy to waive all fees associated with the annulment process in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.  This act has opened the door for so many more persons to seek a nullity of their prior marriage, and to move toward the sacrament of matrimony and more grace-filled lives.

We in New Castle had an official pilgrimage to the Holy Doors of St. Paul Cathedral and St. Anthony Chapel.  At the end of June 52 parishioners joined me in a wonderful journey to Pittsburgh.  In two weeks I will accompany the children, chaperone parents and faculty of St. Vitus School on a similar prayer-filled and joy-filled pilgrimage to these beautiful churches.

Perhaps the Jubilee Year of Mercy brought home the many references to mercy in the bible. Here are a few:

• Psalm 136 ("For his mercy endures forever")
• Luke 15: 1-32 (parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the merciful father with two sons)
• Matthew 18:22 ("forgive 70 times seven times")
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ("Love is patient, kind, not rude")
• Ephesians 4:26 ("Do not let the sun go down on your anger")
• 1 John 4:8 ("God is love")

In every Sunday Mass we celebrate God's mercy

• in the penitential act ("May Almighty God have mercy on us")
• Gloria ("You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us")
• Creed ("I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins")
• Eucharistic Prayer III ("In your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children")
• Lord's Prayer ("Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us") 

Truly any success of this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy will be found in the days and years to come as we act upon the lessons offered and learned. 

• When families more readily forgive.
• When the unborn, children, elderly, persons with disabilities and immigrants are given full human dignity.
• When diplomats are busy building peace and soldiers can stand down from waging war.
• When we desire to grow in the wealth of humble service, not mammon.
• When our parishes are hospitals for the sick and sin-filled.
• When our common home, the earth, is treated with mercy.
• When our daily prayer is enflamed by the words of Pope Francis:  "Jesus Christ is the face of the Father's mercy.

In the few days remaining for this Jubilee Year, may we revel in the superabundance of God's mercy.  May the blessings and joy of God's ineffable mercy because of our experiences of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.  

Things I've Heard

Here are three comments I heard recently, and my responses.

"YOU PRIESTS TALK ABOUT MONEY ALL THE TIME!"  

(Sorry about the all caps. This one is usually shouted at me.)  Three years ago I heard this when the Diocese of Pittsburgh conducted Our Campaign for the Church Alive.  The goal for the entire diocese was $150 million.  Over $233 million was pledged.  Our goal for the four parishes in New Castle was $2.7 million, which we reached with the help of less than 15% of our total census population.  

I also heard this thrown at me several times in the past few weeks, as our four parishes conducted "Together in Faith, Sharing our Gifts," our gentle effort to promote Christian Stewardship and to suggest increasing Offertory donations.

I have to say, this saying hurts.  When this is thrown at me, the accuser also says I don't preach the Gospel of Christ, and implies that I (and all priests) are greedy.  Here's the fact:  Priests never ask for money for themselves.  They only ask for contributions for the church and its ministries.

Sometimes I push back by responding, "OK, when was the last time you heard the priest at Sunday Mass actually talk about money."  "Well, when I was a kid the priest always talked about money."  "How old are you?"  "76."

It's also true that Jesus talked about money--a lot--more than love, heaven and hell.  Eleven of 39 parables deal with money.  Once scholar reports that one of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke speaks of money.  In the bible as a whole, depending on your definition of money and possessions, somewhere between 800 and 2,000 verses address this subject.

I know that I (and my brother bishops, priests and deacons) do not "talk money" every Sunday.  We take our preaching topics from the biblical readings in the lectionary, or the feastday, or the saint.  If we do talk about money, however, it is to to ask the same question Jesus asks:  What is in your heart?  Money (and possessions) are means to an end, not the end itself.  How we spend and use money, whether we are generous or selfish, reveals our character and our values. Jesus asked for wholehearted devotion to the Kingdom of God.  This includes our time, talents and treasure.  We express our devotion to God's will, and our desire to help our neighbor, through our time, talents--and money.

I do talk money once a year, on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, which is the kickoff for the Parish Share Program in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.  I do this to encourage ever faithful parishioners to make a pledge or gift to PSP.  But the bigger reason I address Parish Share is to point out how our parishes in New Castle are in communion with the other 188 parishes in the diocese, and how we need each other to build up this local church. Parish Share is not just another collection.  it is a tangible expression of our spiritual communion.  

This was the answer I put in our bulletin yesterday.  But upon reflection, I have to add that I have never heard this accusation said (or shouted) at me by someone who regularly gives to the church.  Inevitably it is used by those who do not give, and do not understand the value and necessity of giving to their parish/church.  Isn't that interesting?

"I don't need to be registered to be a Catholic."

No, you don't.  But.  On the positive side, being registered and in the census of a parish is each baptized Catholic's way of saying my faith is not just about me.  It's also about us.  Each of us is connected to one another in the Body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12), and particularly, with our sisters and brothers in the parish (and thereby, by extension, in the diocese). 

Negatively, your parish doesn't know you unless you're registered (or an under 21-year-old is registered under her/his parents).  This becomes a problem when someone who is not registered in one of our parishes is asked to be a godparent for baptism, or a sponsor for Confirmation.  If you are not in our census, it makes it very difficult for the pastor to give you a "sponsor slip," an acknowledgement to another parish and pastor that you are baptized and confirmed, attending Mass, in a valid sacramental marriage (if married), and an active member of the parish. 

Folks sometimes say, "But I was baptized at St. Vitus Parish!"  Great!  But being baptized in a parish, 20 or 40 o 60 years ago does not mean you are registered in the parish, particularly if you moved at any time in your life or you do not currently live in the great New Castle area.

Parish registration is easy.  One can stop by the parish office, or call, or visit the parish website, to join.  It only takes a few minutes of filling out basic information.  If someone is in doubt whether she/he is registered,  a short phone call can clear up the mystery.  Like the old American Express commercial, "Membership has its privileges."

This question came up in the Q&A in a recent edition of Our Sunday Visitor.  The priest answering said that parish registration is a peculiarly American practice.  I didn't know that.  But if the "world" of a parish was a small village in Italy or France, and the priest had been at the parish for a long time, sponsor slips and computerized census forms would not be necessary.  He knew everyone.  All the information needed would be in the parish priest's head.  But that's not the case now, with our transient society and parishes of 10,000 souls or more.  

 "I don't believe Bishop Zubik when he says no decisions have been made in On Mission for the Church Alive."

To this remark I can only say, it is a fundamental Christian act to accept that people are telling the truth.  St. Ignatius of Loyola taught that Christian charity leads us to a "presupposition" to put a good interpretation on another's statement, rather than condemn it.  The first step in any relationship is compassion and understanding.  Time may reveal that another is lying, but our first response is to take that person at his/her word.  We have to take Bishop Zubik at his word, and accept that no decisions have been made by him or by the diocese for On Mission for the Church Alive.  These decisions will come in the first quarter of 2018.  

Charities Accountable

A couple of days ago the New York attorney general's office announced that it had ordered Donald Trump's personal charity to cease fundraising immediately.  It had determined that the Donald J. Trump Foundation was violating state law by soliciting donations without proper authorization.  The foundation had 15 days to register with the state as a charity that solicits money, as well as to provide financial audit reports for any year it had solicited money.  

James G. Sheehan, head of the charities bureau in the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, wrote that if Trump's foundation does not comply, it will be considered "a continuing fraud upon the people of New York."

The Trump Foundation has come under increasing scrutiny by reporter David A. Fahrenthold of the Washington Post, who over the past several months has tried to shed light on the Republican presidential nominee's assertion that he had given millions of dollars to charities, and to which organizations.  Among many discoveries Fahrenthold found that "The Donald" has stopped giving his own foundation any personal money in 2008.  With its founding in 1987, Trump himself was the foundation's only source of money.  Between 1987 and 2008, he donated $5.4 million to his own foundation.  Since 2008,  the foundation has received donations from a wide variety of people and organizations:  Vince and Linda McMahon (pro wrestling executives), NBC Universal, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Comedy Central, Richard Ebers (NY businessman) and others.  

In a statement the Trump campaign spokesperson said the foundation "intends to cooperate fully with the investigation."

This news story brought back a long forgotten memory.  In the winter of 1978-79, I was one of eight people in Pittsburgh who worked to open a soup kitchen in the Hill District.  The steel mills had begun to shut down, and unemployment ran high in the city.  We were determined to help people with a free meal who were on the streets or on the margins.  The Jubilee Soup Kitchen opened on November 11, 1979.  Sister Liguori Rossner, our first executive director, has recalled that at the time the soup kitchen had only $9.39 in its checking account.  

We had begun raising funds during the winter in order to open in a leased (for $1 a year) building owned by the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Pittsburgh on Wyandotte Street, off Fifth Avenue.  Over the next two years we increased our fundraising, with personal appeals to our friends and neighbors and churches, and with an annual variety show and dinner at St. Anne's Parish in Castle Shannon.  My friend, and president of our founding committee, Father Jim Garvey was associate pastor there, and with the help of my cousin Rudy Richtar, who did the cooking, and the late Jude Puhl, who directed the show, we filled the school auditorium, ran a 50/50 raffle and raised some money (how much I've forgotten).

What I haven't forgotten was one meeting of our organizing committee.  After two years it was clear Jubilee was a going concern.  Sister Liguori was our leader (and only paid employee), volunteers continued to come and help, food purveyors made donations when we begged and we were helping people.  But we were not legal.  We took in donations and paid our bills--but we were violating the commonwealth of Pennsylvania's laws regarding a "public charity."  At this meeting, one member of our founding committee vehemently opposed filing the necessary papers to become a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.  In Father Jim's words, he was an "anarchist," and wanted nothing to do with supporting corrupt government.  He only wanted to help homeless and near-homeless people by feeding them.

The rest of us wanted to do the same thing--but we didn't want to go to jail, or at least, not be arrested for violating the law.  Jubilee was beginning to get into the newspapers.  We were public and a going concern.  Getting publicity brought more offers for volunteering and donations.  We didn't want to shut down our good works, or be accused of failing our brothers and sisters who came between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for a free meal.  So our committee voted (with one nay) in favor of using a lawyer friend's pro bono offer to prepare the necessary papers to become legal.  Our anarchist friend then left the committee, which became the board of directors of Jubilee Association, Inc.

Over the years Jubilee has grown in its service to the poor.  In 1980 the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank was started on the second floor, above the soup kitchen.  Later Jubilee expanded its services to helping guests (not clients) find jobs, get health services, receive in-home delivery, and help families with day care and parent education programs.  I left the board of directors in 1993, after 14 years, when I became a pastor on the North Side and could not find the time to continue my volunteer help.  But others blessedly continue the ministry.

That decision to incorporate, with its paperwork, audits and legalization, has been vindicated in the lives helped over the decades by the Jubilee Association, Inc.  That decision also confirmed in me the understanding that public charity has to be accountable to its many audiences:  the clients served, the generous benefactors, donors and volunteers, its own mission statement and listing of values, and finally the general public.   Public charities are accountable.  I have supported that value every time I became a director of a not-for-profit organization. 

Maybe the Donald J. Trump Foundation needs to learn that lesson too.

Another Anniversary

You know all the cheap sayings:  "Time flies when you are having fun."  "Time flies, but memories last forever."  "The older you get the faster time flies."  

But they are all true.  Which leads me to say I celebrated another anniversary of my priesthood ordination, number 38.    Our Diocese of Pittsburgh class was the "no pope" class.  By dumb luck--or divine providence--my 11 classmates and I were ordained two days after the untimely and unexpected death of Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani.  Two weeks later, on October 16, 1978, Pope (and now saint) John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, was elected.  the "year of three popes" was a good year for the church, and for us.

Today I celebrated in the best way possible, by saying Mass for the children and teachers of St. Vitus School.  The kids gave me a pack of hand-drawn cards, which they know I love.  And so I asked them to join me in a photo.  

Our priesthood class will gather with family for the Eucharist and a meal this Sunday, as we do every year.  May we have a few more years of proclaiming God's love and mercy, of serving the People of God through priestly ministry, of sharing the wisdom of the Spirit.  "Jesus said, 'When you have done all you have been commanded, say, "We are useless servants, we have only done what we were obliged to do.'""  (Luke 17:10)

The Pittsburgh Ordination Class of 1978: (l-r) Fathers Dan Whalen (honorary), Tim Whalen, Bob Cedolia, Sam Esposito, Mike Decewicz, Vic Molka, Ben Vaghetto, Rich Yagesh, Frank Almade.  Sunday, October 2, 2016, in Holy Sepulcher Church.

My brother Martie joins me in Holy Sepulcher Church, Butler, Pennsylvania.  

Captain Sidney Crosby

Being a fan (short for fanatic) is fun.  You get to watch the game, root for your team, rejoice when they win, move on to the next thing on your to-do list when they lose.  At it's best, fans and sports teams get to rise up a nation (USA Olympic team, 1980; 2001 World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks post 9/11)) or city (1970s Pittsburgh by the Super Steelers in the midst of the demise of the steel industry; 2016 Cleveland by LeBron"The Promise" James and the Cavaliers).  At it's worst, being a fan is merely a waste of an hour or two.  It's easy to be a demanding, boorish fan.  It's easy to be a fan-lite.  It's not hard to be a fan of any kind.  

But we fans do not appreciate all that athletics do to get to where they are, whether high school, college, minor league, major league or Olympics.  The practices, the repetition, the training, the dieting, the demands of coaches, management, teammates, or your own inner voice.  And we don't appreciate when an athlete gets injured, has a slump, is traded halfway across the continent.  

It's so easy to appreciate Sidney Crosby from the far distance of my Amish swivel rocker in front of my 55 inch tv.  By all accounts Crosby is a winner.  Two-time Stanley Cup champion with our Pittsburgh Penguins, two-time Olympic gold metal winner, World Championship in 2015, and just the other evening up in Toronto, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, both for his native Canada.  He captained both Penguin Cup winners, both Canadian Olympic winners, and the two international championships.  As they say, he'll never have to buy a beer anywhere in Canada ever, after scoring "the Golden Goal" in overtime against the USA in the gold medal game of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.  

But I really appreciate Crosby for how he conducts himself, the reputation he has carved, the kind of person he tries to be.  Crosby is widely known for his work ethic of preparation and practice.  Since the day he played his first game in the National Hockey League, he has been the "face" of hockey, with a microphone in front of him win or lose.  He is gracious and self-deflecting in these interviews, playing up his teammates and passing over his own incredible feats.  From news accounts he wants to be "just another guy," albeit one destined for the Hockey Hall of Fame and he's not yet 30 years old.  A recent profile in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review labeled him "polite, patient, humble."  This past summer he began a youth hockey camp in his hometown of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.  In that same article he says when his playing days are over he'd like to be a philanthropist.   

It's also easy to overlook what every athlete dreds.  In the 2011 Winter Classic on New Years Day here in Pittsburgh, an outdoor game in Heinz Field no less, Crosby received a vicious hit from Washington Capital Dave Steckel.  Another hit a few days later, and Crosby's concussion became evident.  He missed the rest of the 2011 season, and most of the 2011-2012 season.  Many wondered if he could or would ever return to play from what were puzzling and painful symptoms of multiple concussions, much less compete at the world-class level of play we'd all become accustomed to see.  

He did come back, roaring back, but the team did not.  Quick departures from the playoffs over two years were disappointing to Crosby, his team and Pittsburgh fans.  By now every hockey fan knows how a year ago Crosby began the 2015-2016 season in a dreary slump.  At one time he was something like 165th in scoring in the league.  But a change of coach, and change of tactics, righted the Penguin ship, and the team roared through the rest of the season and playoffs to earn its fourth Lord Stanley Cup in June.  

It this adulation?  Yeah, I guess so.  But I appreciate all the aspects of this fine hockey player--captain, scorer, student of the game, hardest worker on the ice, fine human being off the ice.  

After the conclusion of the winning game for Canada in the World Cup of Hockey on Wednesday, ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose said Crosby earned the MVP award for the tournament.  He said, yes, he was the highest scorer in the tournament.  But better, every time Crosby stepped onto the ice, he changed the flow of the game.  "If anyone says that Sidney Crosby isn't the greatest hockey player in the world, he's crazy!"  On the ice, and off.  

May we fans in Pittsburgh and throughout North America have many, many more years of enjoying the skills and talents of Captain Sidney Crosby.  

Pittsburgh Priest Convocation Report

Every three years, since 1992, the presbyterate of the Diocese of Pittsburgh gathers for four days of prayer, fellowship and learning.  These triennial convocations have been held at the Oglebay Resort and Convention Center in Wheeling, West Virginia.  The most recent one this week was the ninth, and I would judge it another successful one.

The official title speaks to the lofty ambition of the convocation:  "Prophets of a Future Not Our Own:  Leading with Confidence in this Time of Transition."  This convocation came as On Mission for the Church Alive is moving into a more active phase of consultation.  Three weeks ago the priests and deacons of the diocese received the proposed models of parish configurations for the 21 districts of the diocese.  Next week the lay parish leadership teams will see these same models, and the following week over the following two months these same models will be shared with interested parishioners and parish staff in over 350 consultation sessions in our 192 parishes. 

Everyone acknowledges that leadership is key to the success of implementing On Mission.  The leadership will come from the lay parish leadership teams, the members of finance and pastoral councils--and from the priests and deacons of the diocese. 

It is indeed "a time of transition."  On the final day of the convocation Father Jim Conroy, S.J., shared his insights with us priests on the convocation as an invited official observer.  Using categories from a book, "Managing Transitions," he distinguished between "change" and "transition."  Change comes quickly.  We have to take significant amounts of time to deal with the transitions of change. Father Conroy said he saw much hope and courage in the conversations with priests he had over the four days.  he also admitted that he hears stories of priests being weary, tired and having difficulty absorbing the magnitude of the proposed changes.  No one denies the need for change in the Diocese of Pittsburgh--the statistics are too stark and revealing.  But how we all deal with the transition "to a future not our own" will determine in great measure whether "success" will come.

 One great blessing of the convocation were three addresses by Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B.  Father Rosica is a Scripture scholar, founder of Salt and Light Television Network in Canada, and a key adviser to the Vatican Press Office for English language media.  Father Rosica enlightened us in the unique aspects of the three year ministry of Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio).  He also 

opened up the special Gospel passages which inform Francis' vision, as well as how the 266th successor of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome is clearly in continuity with his holy predecessors--Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI, John XXIII, and Pius XII.   His talks were a crash course in "The Pope Francis effect" while calling us to "go to the periphery,"  "smell like our sheep" and draw ever closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As with the other eight convocations, the heart of our convocation was prayer.  The planning committee did its usual excellent job in preparing nourishing and holy liturgies.  Bishop Zubik repeatedly exhorted us to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, and the faith-filled adventure of the Acts of the Apostles.  We need his leadership, and his courage in convening On Mission for the Church Alive.

Another joy of the convocations has been the fellowship.  But I have to admit that the schedule was so tight that few had the energy to continue fraternal conversations in the evenings, much less into the wee hours.  This was no vacation, it was hard work with a packed schedule, yet valuable work, building up bonds among the priests.  

I myself wish that we did these convocations more often.  Either two days together on an annual basis, or maybe this same schedule every other year.  Many other dioceses manage to do this for their presbyterates.  As our numbers decline, it seems to me even more important that, in the words of Father Conroy, we care for each other as brothers.  Nevertheless, it is good to return to our various ministries with the learning, prayer and conversations of this convocation in our memories and hearts.

Here is the entire beautiful prayer from which the title of our convocation came, which was composed by the late Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan, in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romaro.

 

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church's mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Pittsburgh Priest Convocation

For the ninth time the presbyterate of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh convenes for a four day convocation at the Oglebay Resort and Hotel in Wheeling, West Virginia, this week.  We will hear talks from Father Tom Rosica, the executive director of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation in Toronto, and producer of "The Francis Effect," a documentary on the impact of our pope on the world.  We will discuss the next steps in On Mission for the Church Alive, the planning and evangelization process for the future of our local church.  We will pray together and eat together and talk with each other.  It's a good time, and probably not enough time, for us to renew acquaintances and get to know a few of the younger guys.  (My classmates and I from the class of 1978 have somehow passed from clerical "middle age" to "old fogey senior citizens" status.   A "young priest" for us now is anyone under the age of 50.)

Pray for us as we priests step aside from daily ministry for a few days of rest, study and relaxation.