The Charcoal Fire

Response to HHS Decision by Cardinal-Designate Dolan and the Foreboding Text of the Pope's Address to U.S. Bishops on Thursday

2012-01-21T05:58:00.000-08:00

More on the Obama Administration's violation of freedom of religion...

Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan on HHS Conscience Regulation from Rocco Palmo on Vimeo.

...and how is this for the prophetic charism of the Holy Father?

Address of Pope Benedict to U.S. Bishops on their 'Ad Limina' VisitDear Brother Bishops,I greet all of you with fraternal affection and I pray that this pilgrimage of spiritual renewal and deepened communion will confirm you in faith and commitment to your task as Pastors of the Church in the United States of America. As you know, it is my intention in the course of this year to reflect with you on some of the spiritual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization.One of the most memorable aspects of my Pastoral Visit to the United States was the opportunity it afforded me to reflect on America’s historical experience of religious freedom, and specifically the relationship between religion and culture. At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God. When a culture attempts to suppress the dimension of ultimate mystery, and to close the doors to transcendent truth, it inevitably becomes impoverished and falls prey, as the late Pope John Paul II so clearly saw, to reductionist and totalitarian readings of the human person and the nature of society.With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. Our tradition does not speak from blind faith, but from a rational perspective which links our commitment to building an authentically just, humane and prosperous society to our ultimate assurance that the cosmos is possessed of an inner logic accessible to human reasoning. The Church’s defense of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a “language” which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world. She thus proposes her moral teaching as a message not of constraint but of liberation, and as the basis for building a secure future.The Church’s witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.In the light of these considerations, it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society. The preparation of committed lay leaders and the presentation of a convincing articulation of the Christian vision of man and society remain a primary task of the Church in your country; as essential components of the new evangelization, these concerns must shape the vision and goals of catechetical programs at every level.In this regard, I would mention with appreciation your efforts to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and to help them understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith, especially with regard to the great moral issues of our time: respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights. As the Council noted, and I wished to reiterate during my Pastoral Visit, respect for the just autonomy of the secular sphere must also take into consideration the truth that there is no realm of worldly affairs which can be withdrawn from the Creator and his dominion (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 36). There can be no doubt that a more consistent witness on the part of America’s Catholics to their deepest convictions would make a major contribution to the renewal of society as a whole.Dear Brother Bishops, in these brief remarks I have wished to touch upon some of the pressing issues which you face in your service to the Gospel and their significance for the evangelization of American culture. No one who looks at these issues realistically can ignore the genuine difficulties which the Church encounters at the present moment. Yet in faith we can take heart from the growing awareness of the need to preserve a civil order clearly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as from the promise offered by a new generation of Catholics whose experience and convictions will have a decisive role in renewing the Church’s presence and witness in American society. The hope which these “signs of the times” give us is itself a reason to renew our efforts to mobilize the intellectual and moral resources of the entire Catholic community in the service of the evangelization of American culture and the building of the civilization of love. With great affection I commend all of you, and the flock entrusted to your care, to the prayers of Mary, Mother of Hope, and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord.

And this from the Cardinal Newman Society on Belmont Abbey College

For a positive, hope-filled perspective, here's an excellent post from my former colleague at Franciscan University, Emily Stimpson.

Alert - Rights Violation in U.S. - Obama Admin Decides to Require Religious Institutions to Cover Free Contraception (CatholicVote.org)

2012-01-20T12:21:00.000-08:00

(Includes new updates below...) Apparently, Pope Benedict has good sources of U.S. intelligence, as reported in this story yesterday. This news in from Thomas Peters of the CatholicVote.org blog: Obama Admin Decides to Require Religious Institutions to Cover Free Contraception. I hope this one gets overturned by the courts in a hurry, especially after the last High Court decision.

Let there be no voter apathy in November, we must not underestimate the task ahead of us, for this is no ordinary election, but one which places in the balance our American ideals and human freedom itself. We cannot allow our rights to be continued to be stripped away by this lawless administration. I, for my part, will take the greatest delight in firing every one of these perfidious malefactors on election day this November! I hope you will, too!

Almighty Father, by the Passion of your Son who purchased our freedom by the price of his most Precious Blood, send the grace of your Holy Spirit upon us to strengthen us in our trial as a people and as a nation, and let every bishop and diocese and parish, every Catholic charity and hospital, every university, high school, middle school, and elementary school--nay, every Catholic employer--issue a statement of total noncompliance with such a "law"! Grant us to be fearless in the face of grave injustice, recalling the wisdom of St. Augustine, this "law" is no law at all!

Update: For the reaction of the U.S. Bishops, read here. Notable quote:

“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences ... To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable. It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty” ~Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Fr. Robert Barron on the Modern Martyrs (and a NCR twist--two days in a row!)

2012-01-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

Fr. Robert Barron, Christian martyrdom, and his inspiration for this video...

Vatican Closes up the Religious Sisters Visitation, and a Couple of Predictions

2012-01-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here's the link from EWTN: Vatican receives final report on US women religious

I have two predictions, one positive, one negative, but both as inevitable as the sunrise tomorrow:

The National Catholic Reporter (which we who know better affectionately call the "Distorter") is going to go preemptively ballistic ahead of this report's final release and find a religious sister or two, perhaps even Church officials, to talk about what a violation of their dignity this has all been.

But I predict something else, too: this report is only going to bring forward shining examples of the glorious joy that is religious life for all who live it completely and ardently. I think that--despite the efforts of the naysayers--this apostolic visitation is going to help bring about a great renewal for religious sisters and a boon for vocations. Perhaps I am exceedingly optimistic, having worked with two delightful Carmelites today, but then again, I have felt this way for a while now. I am looking forward to reading the Vatican's observations!

"Extraordinary" Ministers of Holy Communion Doesn't Mean "Just Plain Awesome" Ministers of Holy Communion

2012-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

After posting the Weigel article the other day, I stumbled upon this link, posted by one of the folks commenting on his article. This is from a 1997 Vatican document with commentary by Fr. Zuhlsdorf over at the WDTPRS blog: Ecclesia de mysterio…. Ever heard of it?

Sometimes Masses are very large and do need such "extra-ordinary" ministers, but it is quite confusing to see them so often behind the altar during the Ecce Agnus Dei. Indeed, it is regrettable to see so often the priest during a small Mass have numerous extraordinary ministers when he alone could distribute Communion at the cost of no more than a minute or two extra. Also, if the extra-ordinary ministers would stop giving the blessings, that would be a most welcome change. There is essentially no liturgical act within the blessing (the Mass is full of priestly blessings which derive their power from the authority of his office); so a great deal of confusion could be avoided if only priests gave blessings. As a result, many who did not intend on receiving anyway would remain in their seats, pondering (without confusion) the great mystery before their eyes.

It's a great time for liturgical renewal in the Church. I hope that the liturgical awakening leads to continued reform and progress. In the meanwhile, let's keep our eyes on Fr. Z's great blog!

George Weigel on Breaking Bad Liturgical Habits (First Things)

2012-01-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

This is a good one. One of my great pet peeves is the extraordinary ministers who will practically knock me over after giving me holy communion to "bless" my sweet daughters. Weigel's article: Breaking Bad Liturgical Habits II

Also worth mentioning is that this is the second part; he wrote the first back in November. Follow the link.

Starting off 2012 Rightly! Great News of Reunion for Followers of Christ (courtesy Rocco Palmo)

2012-01-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

This is from the Whispers in the Loggia blog. The New Evangelization is bearing fruit! I am excited for 2012.Upon This "Rock," An Ordinariate Is BornTwenty-six months since Anglicanorum coetibus laid the groundwork for groups of Anglicans to cross the Tiber whilst maintaining elements of their liturgical, spiritual, theological and canonical patrimony, the top-shelf papal project has taken a sizable leap this New Year's morning, with as the establishment of the venture's Stateside jurisdiction by the Holy See.In an unprecedented Sunday announcement -- a significant sign of Rome's degree of seriousness about the effort -- the Vatican's press bulletin gave official word of the erection of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, encompassing the territory of the United States. The national quasi-diocese for the entering groups is the second of its kind, following England's Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which was launched a year ago this month.Fr Jeffrey Steenson, 59, the former Episcopal bishop of Rio Grande ordained a priest of the archdiocese of Santa Fe in 2009, has been named the founding Ordinary. A married father of three and Oxford-trained patristics scholar who's been serving until now as a professor at Houston's St Mary's Seminary and University of St Thomas, Steenson's appointment is effective immediately.

Read the rest on Palmo's blog.

Here is the link to the CDF document establishing the ordinate, and here is the link to the ordinate itself. We will likely not know until the final resurrection just how much Pope Benedict has done for the Church in our time, but his legacy continues to grow. Here's a brief quote from a 2010 article I wrote for Zenit.

The Pope’s earlier thought is useful in illustrating his navigation of the Barque of Peter. He writes in "Church, Ecumenism, & Politics: New Endeavors of Ecclesiology" (Ignatius, 2008, originally published in Communio in 1983), “The actual goal of all ecumenical endeavors must naturally remain the transformation of the plurality of the separate denominational churches into the plurality of local Churches, which, in reality, form one Church despite their many and varied characteristics” (p. 119).The idea is essentially the same -- the ordinariates are as local churches, preserving the characteristics of the Anglican communion while achieving the koinonia in the Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church.

Vocation to the Priesthood? Consider the Norbertines

2011-12-31T15:23:00.000-08:00

Enjoy this video from these holy priests. God has blessed us with them here in Southern California! I am blessed to attend regular Masses said by these priests. That's Fr. Charbel at the 11-second mark, Bella star Eduardo Verastegui at the 2:20 mark, Fr. Damien leading the crew at 6:38, and Fr. Sebastian Walsh on the right at 7:21 (who is perhaps the most convicting preacher I have ever heard).

Cardinal Ratzinger on Christianity and the Spirit of the Times: TCF Quoteboard

2011-12-29T22:15:00.000-08:00

I ran across this gem from Cardinal Ratzinger, initially published in the German in 1982. There's such a range of opinion in ministry about how to reach those who are plugged into the world. The approach is often, 'Be like them, that way they can be who they are and still become us.' That may be quite oversimplified, but the manifestations of such efforts are plainly obvious. For those who identify with that model, the following words of the man who would become Pope Benedict offer his perspective on this question:

"That all-too-guileless progressivism of the first postconciliar years [i.e., the years after Vatican II of the early 1960s], which happily proclaimed its solidarity with everything modern, to demonstrate the loyalty of Christians to the trends of contemporary life—that progressivism has today come under suspicion of being merely the apotheosis of the late-capitalistic bourgeoisie, on which, instead of attacking it critically, it sheds a kind of religious glow. … A Christianity that believes it has no other function than to be completely in tune with the spirit of the times has nothing to say and no meaning to offer. It can abdicate without more ado. Those who live vigilantly in the world of today, who recognize its contradictions and its destructive tendencies—from the self destruction of technology by the destruction of the environment to the self-destruction of society by radical and class struggles—such people do not look to Christianity for approbation but for the prophetic salt that burns, consumes, accuses and changes. Nevertheless, a basic aspect of metanoia [conversion] comes into view—for it demands that a man change if he is to be saved. It is not the ideology of adaptation that will rescue Christianity, … nothing can rescue it but the prophetic courage to make its voice heard decisively and unmistakably at this very hour."

Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology,
Ignatius Press, 1987, pp. 56-57
(emphasis mine)

EWTN.com - Kateri Tekakwitha: First Native North American Saint

2011-12-21T22:42:00.000-08:00

We're very excited for our first North American-born saint. My wife and I were officially engaged on her feast day in 2006, and this year we named our second daughter Agnes Kateri. So we feel like this saint is ours in a special way, or should we say we are hers? Ever since I saw Blessed Kateri in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, I have been drawn to her intercession. I hope you all find her as well. This is from Vatican Information Service, via EWTN.com.

Kateri Tekakwitha: First Native North American SaintVATICAN CITY, 20 DEC 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (four women and three men) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new blesseds is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars.Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, U.S.A.). Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Roman Catholic Algonquian who had been educated by French missionaries. At the age of four she lost her family in a smallpox epidemic which also left her disfigured and with poor eyesight. Adopted by a relative, the chief of neighbouring clan, she continued to nurture an interest in Christianity and was baptised at the age of 20.The members of her tribe did not understand her new religious affiliation and she was marginalised, practising physical mortification as a path of sanctity and praying for the conversion of her relatives. Having suffered persecutions which put her life at risk, she was forced to flee to a native American Christian community in Kahnawake, Quebec where she made a vow of chastity and lived a life dedicated to prayer, penance, and care for the sick and elderly. She died in 1680 at the age of 24. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you". According to tradition, Kateri's scars disappeared after her death to reveal a woman of great beauty, and numerous sick people who participated in her funeral were miraculously healed.The process of canonisation began in 1884. She was declared venerable by Pius XII in 1943 and beatified by John Paul II in 1980. As the first native North American to be beatified she occupies a special place in the devotion of her people. Her feast day falls on 14 July.
EWTN.com - Kateri Tekakwitha: First Native North American Saint

Correction from the Jester, who observed that St. Juan Diego was native born North American. There are other saints of Mexico as well. I think the above should read "Native American saint."

The Stickbug: Pro-Evolution or Pro-Design?

2011-11-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

I saw a stickbug on the side mirror of my car recently. Amazing! It looked just like a stick (just like in the pictures, but it's another thing altogether to see it in person).

It dawned on me as I was looking at this little creature just how unintelligible the theory of evolution is. Everything about it, from the way it looks to the way it moves, cries out, "Creature!"

It is absurd that such a creature could self-direct its genetic process over time to eventually look like a stick. Even to suggest that God made it in some other form and then guided its development to the point where now it looks like a stick, even that is a stretch. I think it's more rational simply to say, "God made him."

The stickbug looks like a stick because God made it so, in order that, on the one hand, it may exist successfully in the world, and, on the other, we may praise God's glorious wisdom seen in created things.

The Pope's Words to Africa -- Much to Say, Much to Read, in New Apostolic Exhortation

2011-11-19T09:52:00.000-08:00

During his trip to Africa, the Pope has released Africae Munus, a new Apostolic Exhortation specifically on the Church in Africa. At 177 paragraphs, AM is quite a hefty Apostolic Exhortation and calls upon all the peoples of the world to consider it thoroughly with much deep thought and study.

Many in the secular media will only see the following quote, and of course render it to the general public through their hermeneutic of suspicion:

The problem of AIDS, in particular, clearly calls for a medical and pharmaceutical response. This is not enough, however: the problem goes deeper. Above all, it is an ethical problem. The change of behaviour that it requires – for example, sexual abstinence, rejection of sexual promiscuity, fidelity within marriage – ultimately involves the question of integral development, which demands a global approach and a global response from the Church. For if it is to be effective, the prevention of AIDS must be based on a sex education that is itself grounded in an anthropology anchored in the natural law and enlightened by the word of God and the Church’s teaching (AM, 72).

In other words, the condom is not the answer; Africans deserve better! The more I read this quote, the more I see the beauty and fullness of the Church's teaching on sexual morality in this quote.

His comments on Voodoo and Islam (AM, 93-94) will draw close scrutiny as well: the comments on Voodoo reflect a mini-treatise on the essence of inculturation; the comments on Islam will likely receive a warm reception from Christians living in dangerous conditions and from peaceful Muslims, but scorn from radical Muslims and from liberals. Ah, but there is much, much more to read here! Pope Benedict keeps writing faster than I can read!

Homosexual Agenda Drives Catholics Out of Adoption Business in Illinois

2011-11-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Just think about it: The primary adoption providers in the history of our nation are being forced out of business because of an agenda that makes ethical adoption impossible, for ethical adoption necessarily involves the autonomy to say "no" to people who should not adopt children in order to say "yes" to the rights and dignity of the child.

When the homosexual agenda trumps the rights of children and the rights of religious people to adhere to their consciences, we are all less free. The major losers here are the children.

Homosexual Agenda Drives Illinois Catholic Charities Out of Business

Nearly a half century of foster care services provided by Catholic Charities in Illinois has come to an end as the dioceses fighting a civil union law requiring them to allow unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt decided to drop their lawsuit.The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that the bishops in three Illinois dioceses announced yesterday that they have dropped their lawsuit against the state and will shut down their adoption and foster care programs, after a civil union law required them to provide their services to same-sex couples.“The decision not to pursue further appeals was reached with great reluctance, but was necessitated by the fact that the State of Illinois has made it financially impossible for our agencies to continue to provide these services,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville, and Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet.“Since we now need to close offices and lay off employees, further appeals would be moot,” the bishops said.Catholic Charities branches from four dioceses filed a lawsuit in June shortly after passage of the 2011 Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act which established legal privileges for both same-sex and opposite sex couples in civil unions. Because Catholic Charities does not allow unmarried couples to adopt children, the state opted to end their state contracts, which effectively drove them out of business.Peter Breen, an attorney with the Thomas More Society, which represented the charities in their lawsuit against the state, called the news “tragic.”In a Nov. 14 statement, Breen said the situation “stands as a stark lesson to the rest of the nation that legislators promising ‘religious protection’ in same sex marriage and civil union laws may not be able to deliver on those promises.”In their remarks, the bishops said “the losers will be the children, foster care families and adoptive parents who will no longer have the option of Catholic, faith-based services.”They also lamented the loss of so many dedicated employees who served the Church so faithfully over the years. “We are grateful to them and reluctantly bid them farewell with our prayers and best wishes.”Bishop Paprocki said that in spite of the loss of foster care and adoption services in his diocese, their Catholic Charities will continue to serve the poor in central Illinois in other ways.“The silver lining of this decision is that our Catholic Charities going forward will be able to focus on being more Catholic and more charitable,” he said, “while less dependent on government funding and less encumbered by intrusive state policies.”

The Duggars' Hard Saying for Many: Love as Self-Gift

2011-11-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

Fever-stricken today. Thus, I got to thinking--what else am I going to do? In dialoguing with young folks about the nature of love and living generously in society, I notice that there seems to be this mental road block, an error in thought, that suggests that a person who continually gives will be eventually exhausted. This is evidenced by the reaction of so many folks to the Duggars' joyful announcement. Now, I have a tenth of the progeny that the Duggars have been blessed with, but I am not at all troubled by their joy, for at the arrival of my second child, I had no less love for the first than before, no less whatsoever! I would imagine this phenomenon continues into the 20s and beyond.

Then I realized today while thinking that love is kind of like this (probably unoriginal thought):

Love is like a flame, which burns for a little while. In giving itself to another source, it spreads its own nature without losing any of itself. The oil of divine grace sustains its life while it shines. In fact, the only way for the flame to be destroyed is not to share of itself. Then the flame will consume its source until there is nothing left, at which point the wick remains utterly exhausted and desolate, and cools in a short time, being rendered incapable of sustaining flame again.

It is no wonder, then, that God is love. God is immutable, incapable of change, incapable of losing his power or his being, yet is the source of all being and is giving-of-himself by his very essence. Yet he is not one spark diminished!

In my home, there are four flames, in the Duggars', 22. We would not be lacking in love at the arrival of another--on the contrary, the more flames, the more light

The same goes for society. We can share the flame and light all the lamps there are to light, or we can keep our individual flames to ourselves. This is what it means to live charity in truth, to love all as Christ loves. For he said, "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" (Lk 12:49

Latest article: ZENIT: Pope Calls Christians to Live Year of Faith With Hearts and Lips

2011-11-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

(to go to the article on ZENIT's page, click here)

Pope Calls Christians to Live Year of Faith With Hearts and Lips

By Kevin M. Clarke

SAN DIEGO, California, NOV. 10, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Well, we knew after his encyclicals on love and on hope -- "Deus Caritas Est" and "Spe Salvi" -- that something was coming with regard to faith. But who could have foreseen that we would be given a whole year? And that's exactly what Catholics throughout the world will have, says Benedict XVI in "Porta Fidei." The "year" itself will begin Oct. 11, 2012, and continue until Nov. 24, 2013. A 13.5-month year! Is it not great to be Catholic?

The Year of Faith and the Second Vatican Council

The dates bookending the year of faith are significant in themselves -- the first marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, the second, the feast of Christ the King, the "pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (PF, 13, cf. Hebrews 12:2). The Pope has also convoked for next October a General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be focused on "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith" (cf. PF, 4).

As the Pope points out, this is not the first "Year of Faith" in recent memory. Pope Paul VI declared a year of faith in 1967 to commemorate the witness of Sts. Peter and Paul, but also as a "consequence and a necessity of the postconciliar period" (General Audience, June 14, 1967).

Pope Benedict sees the coming year of faith in continuity with that of Paul VI; indeed, in putting it forward, he is affirming the continued relevance of the Second Vatican Council. Renewal through the new evangelization involves Vatican II and its right interpretation. He writes:

"I would also like to emphasize strongly what I had occasion to say concerning the Council a few months after my election as Successor of Peter: 'if we interpret and implement it guided by a right hermeneutic, it can be and can become increasingly powerful for the ever necessary renewal of the Church'" (PF, 5; cf. Address to Roman Curia, Dec. 22, 2005).

What is faith? Involving the heart and the lips

The Pope hopes that the year of faith will bring a rediscovery of the riches of the Creed. In the early Church, he states, believers had to not only memorize the Creed, but be so imbued with it that they "watch over it" even while sleeping! (PF, 9)

In the letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes, "Man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved" (Romans 10:10). Belief transforms a person and changes him deep in his heart, the Pope explains. But belief is not merely boxed off into the private realm, as confession with the lips follows the transformation of heart. St. Paul here "indicates in turn that faith implies public testimony and commitment" (PF, 10).

Heart? Lips? Sounds like a love story. It is. The mutual love of Christ and Christian. But the love story also involves the Christian and his fellow man. In fact, the love of Christ in the heart "impels us to evangelize" (PF, 7).

In his third encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," Pope Benedict established the integral link between charity and truth. In the motu proprio, he establishes the one between charity and faith. Without charity, faith would be fruitless; without faith, charity would be "a sentiment constantly at the mercy of doubt" (PF, 14). He synthesizes much of Paul's thought on the union of faith and love when he writes, "'Faith working through love' (Galatians 5:6) becomes a new criterion of understanding and action that changes the whole of man's life" (PF, 6; cf. Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:9-10; Ephesians 4:20-29; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The role of the Catechism in the Year of Faith

The starting of the year of faith also commemorates the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict calls the Catechism itself "a precious and indispensable tool" for knowledge of the faith, and "one of the most important fruits" of Vatican II. He echoes Blessed John Paul II who called the Catechism a "sure norm" for passing on the faith.

Many aids to the Catechism have been published since its release -- commentaries, the Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and most recently the Youcat. But it is the Catechism itself that the Pope puts forward in "Porta Fidei": "the Year of Faith will have to see a concerted effort to rediscover and study the fundamental content of the faith that receives its systematic and organic synthesis in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. … In its very structure, the Catechism of the Catholic Church follows the development of the faith right up to the great themes of daily life. On page after page, we find that what is presented here is no theory, but an encounter with a Person who lives within the Church" (PF, 11).

The Pope also has asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith "to draw up a Note" to give Christians "some guidelines on how to live this Year of Faith in the most effective and appropriate ways, at the service of belief and evangelization" (PF, 12). Thus, it seems that one more document on faith and living the Year of Faith is coming by next October.

By faith: plugging today's Christians into his story of salvation

The Pope is continuing to foster the growth of the new evangelization, asking for "stronger ecclesial commitment … in order to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith" (PF, 7). New evangelization is a frequent topic for this Pontiff, particularly since the establishment of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

As the moral climate of the West is becoming increasingly hostile to the creed and witness of Christians, as the persecutions in the East threaten religious freedom, and as global conditions grow volatile over dissatisfaction with the state of the economy, the prophetic charism of the Pope's office challenges the reader of "Porta Fidei." It is apparent that the Holy Spirit, who gives strength to bear witness and prepares believers for mission (cf. PF, 10), is preparing the faithful for giving testimony in various ways all throughout the world. In the document, the Pope invited the bishops of the world to join him in seeking to bear fruit during this year, saying, "Reflection on the faith will have to be intensified, so as to help all believers in Christ to acquire a more conscious and vigorous adherence to the Gospel, especially at a time of profound change such as humanity is currently experiencing" (PF, 8).

What specific challenges does the Pope envision for the Christians of this present age? That question is difficult to answer. But it is clear in this document that the bishops are being called to play a strong role in readying their flocks. In preparing the bishops to prepare the people, the Pontiff hopes to guide Christians of modern times into the story of faith history.

He demonstrates this as he closes the motu proprio with a wonderful allusion to the Letter to the Hebrews. In fact, the Pope uses the same anaphora that the sacred author used, "By faith." In Hebrews 11, it is written, "By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice … By faith Noah, … By faith Abraham …" and so on (cf. Hebrews 11:1-40).

And so Pope Benedict writes, "By faith, Mary accepted the Angel's word and believed … By faith, the Apostles … By faith, the disciples … By faith, the martyrs … By faith, we too live …"

The similarity with the style in Hebrews shows the great continuity in all of history, between those figures of the Old Covenant and those of the New. The men and women of the former covenant were those "of whom the world was not worthy!" But God has foreseen something better for the saints of the New Covenant (cf. Hebrews 11:38-40).

And so Christians are never bystanders in the story of salvation history. In fact, "retracing the history of our faith" will be "of decisive importance" in this year (PF, 13).

"Porta Fidei" is Pope Benedict's invitation to the faithful of our time to enter into that "great cloud of witnesses" with "our gaze fixed upon Jesus Christ, the 'pioneer and perfecter of our faith'" (PF, 13; cf. Hebrews 12:1-2).

It should be a very good year, a great 13.5 months to be Catholic.

* * *

Kevin M. Clarke is an adjunct professor at John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego, California, and a teacher at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano. He is the author of a chapter on Benedict XVI's Mariology in "De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People" (University Press of America, 2009), and is a recent contributor to the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

The Injustice of "Fairness" and the Fairness of Justice

2011-11-01T10:11:00.002-07:00

People are rather un-metaphysical these days. This is evinced by the modern notion of fairness.

Why has an altered definition of "fairness" crept uncritically into the American cultural values system, supplanting justice? The notion is something to the effect of equal application of punishment and reward in similar circumstances. But if fairness were such a good thing, why is it that when someone is calling for it or decrying its violation such a protest is marked by whining, frowning, and pouting?

Fairness, in fact, everyone knows, is an "old fashioned" way of saying something or someone is beautiful. Whereas nowadays lads say something to the effect of, "Dang, she is hot!", they used to say, as lads know from their literature classes, "She is fair indeed!" But fairness in that sense is really something deeper. So if our notion of fairness is good, it's worth fighting for. After all, I hardly think that to transgress the truly beautiful merits pouts and whines indistinct from out-of-tune strings: "That's not fay-uhr!" No, the beautiful begs our defense with zealous passion!

But these people frown not because they know fairness. They frown because they don't know justice. They thirst for something great, but they can't stop drinking that syrupy, nuanced notion of fairness. All sugar but no substance leaves them worse off than before.

I submit: justice is better. What's more, justice is a stumbling block for the frowning. Justice seeks to render the good owed.

Let's look at an "unfair" but just hypothetical situation. Two employees, Jones and Scott, are chronically late for work, Jones because he is lazy, Scott because his father is dying and his children are into drugs. Jones is reprimanded and his hours are scaled back; Scott whose difficulties are known only to management continues to arrive late to work from time to time.

Now, in the eyes of Jones, his buddies, and all "fairness"-oriented observers, the actions of the company are "unfair." Seriously, they say among themselves, look at this outrageous situation and preferential treatment for Scott. (They say this, it must be added, knowing that Jones is lazy and that something seems to be going on with Scott.) If, however, all were fixated upon the concept of justice, none would be so vexed, for there would be quiet joy over the opportunity for Jones to right himself.

Another example is the so-called "fairness doctrine"--equal media time and coverage to all political opinions. Right, that's going to work. So when is my 20 second TV spot on MSNBC? Can I say something right after Olbermann? Oh, wait! Wouldn't that mean that Olbermann and I would have the same amount of time?

Enticing. But keep fairness, give me justice any day. Why? Let's take the concepts to their extremes.

Can the modern notion of fairness be absolutized without doing violence to reality? No way. Absolute equality in all times and by all measures? Try living in such a world. Think about it. Such a system could only become communism or anarchy. There has to be hierarchy in order.

Can the notion of justice be absolutized as an ultimate good without doing violence to reality? It already has been, a priori. What if justice were granted in all things? Ah, now that would be the world to live in! But it cannot be accomplished in this life, for the injustice done to all those who have died before us cries out for redemption.

So we start our ascent as philosophy begins waxing metaphysical. In a sense, our thirst for and tendency toward justice is a proof of God's existence, for only if there were an afterlife of some sort where past wrongs were righted could an all-good and perfectly just God dwell and therein restore what is right. And so man is left searching for an answer that only Christian theology can give, and so it does in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Not only are all injustices remedied in the light of perfect justice, but as injustice was distributed bodily so justice is restored bodily in the condemnation of the damned and in the resurrection of the saints.

I could go on, but I think I will just let the sacred author speak for me of the Lord our God, the holy one, the just one, when he says:

"You are all fair, my love; there is no flaw in you" (Song of Solomon, 4:7).

A most solemn and blessed feast of All Saints Day to each of you! May they intercede for us mightily that we all be counted among the redeemed in the final resurrection.

Index of Catholic Idioms: "Storm heaven"

2011-08-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Catholic idiom: "Storm heaven."

In other words, "Please pray fervently for my very special intention, that insert special intention here."

This phrase is an emphatic form of the simple "pray for me" and should be used in times of great need. Metaphorically, the sense is that the prayers offered up for the known or unknown intention should be as a storm in heaven.

Difficulty understanding the various sayings you hear your Catholic friends stating? Have a phrase you hear Catholics say often but don't know what it means? Share your thoughts via email at thecharcoalfire(at)gmail.com.

LET US WALK TOGETHER: thoughts of a Catholic Bishop: Why I Didn't Go to Confession Today.

2011-08-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Interesting reflections by Bishop Coyne, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis. I wonder if he was vacationing in California? Sadly, there are so many places like this all around the country that he could have been anywhere. LET US WALK TOGETHER: thoughts of a Catholic Bishop: Why I Didn't Go to Confession Today.:

This morning I attended Mass rather than concelebrated Mass. Earlier in the week I was unable to find a Saturday morning Mass anywhere in the area so I was pretty much going to have to miss Mass today. But late last night on the internet I found a church abut a half an hour away that had an 8:00 AM Mass. This was doubly good for me because I wanted to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation if the priest had time after Mass since it and been a few weeks since my last confession. But it was a little late to make any arrangement for concelebration.I left around 7:15 AM and got there in plenty of time to spend some time preparing for Mass and, hopefully, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When Mass began, the priest, a guy about my age, came out and said, "Hello," and then proceeded with the Mass. The only problem was he had forgotten the Sign of the Cross. Well, maybe he was just a little distracted. I think we did the penetential rite but I'm not sure. There was no "Gloria" so I was beginning to think we weren't going to be celebrating the Feast of the Transfiguration since it hadn't been mentioned yet but eventually we got there when he "prayed" a spontaneous opening prayer that did mention the Transfiguration.Things kind of went downhill from there. I'll spare you the details. I will say I'm pretty sure it was still a valid Mass even though he changed the words of the Eucharistic institution - a lot, not just a few. There is a theological practice of the Church called "Ecclesia supplet" ("the Church provides") where if a priest inadvertently forgets some of the words of the ritual form or changes them, the "Church" recognizes the good faith of those gathered and their right to valid celebration of the sacraments and provides sacramental validity in the case of a human error or priestly malpractice. This is done for the sake of the people of God and not as an excuse for the sloppy or 'creative' celebration of the priest or bishop. Even though the priest went way over the the line in terms of his 'creativity' this morning, I think the intention of those us who came to Mass was to celebrate the Eucharist as the Church intends and so it was.As "Mass" progressed I was both disappointed and annoyed. I wasn't angry. I learned the trick long ago of moving into emotional "cruise control" when this stuff starts to happen. I also began to wonder if I should say something to the priest afterwards. I mean, I was just there as a visitor not as his bishop or vicar general. I was also on vacation so ... Nevertheless, I didn't let it go. What I did or did not do, I will leave between me and the priest. I hope it was helpful.I do know one thing. I certainly wasn't going to ask him to hear my Confession. If he changed the words of the Institution Narrative, there's no telling what he might do with the words of Absolution. I suppose I could have asked him before we began the sacrament if he would be so kind as to use the Church's rite and not his own but then that opens a whole can of worms. So I didn't go to Confession. I'll try and make an appointment with a priest and go Monday. But isn't it a shame that I couldn't go to Confession?Every time people ask my why some in the Church have a desire for the "extraordinary rite," the traditional Latin Mass, I guess I can give them at least one good reason. Masses like this. When one attends the Mass according to the Tridentine Rite, you know what you are going to get. There is no one being 'creative,' no one making up their own prayers or rite, and no question of validity. I am a chid of Vatican II. From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening at Mass, it has been the Mass of Pope Paul VI. I have been formed in it. I have studied it. I love it. Out of it, I have been ordained a deacon, a priest, and a bishop to celebrate it for the people of God. I have no desire to celebrate the Tridentine Rite but any time I hear people criticize those who want the "traditional" Mass, I am more inclined to understand why they want this form of the Mass. Perhaps if each priest were committed to the correct celebration of the present Mass of Paul VI - the Church's rites and not the rite of Fr. X - then maybe there would be less clamor for the "traditional" rite. Just a thought.

On Christian Fashion and Inculturation in General

2011-08-01T13:41:00.004-07:00

I have been reflecting often that too many in ministry attempt too heartily to blend the Gospel message into the culture of the day.

One obvious example comes to my mind. Driving around out here in Southern California, I have seen the sticker NOTW on cars everywhere. When I first saw it, I wondered what it meant, and after some searching came up on the Web site, "Not of This World", marketing Christian apparel. Let me say before saying anything else that I have no doubt of the good intentions of the proprietors of the NOTW brand. Yet there is great irony in the brand name "Not of This World"--indeed, who would guess it? Looks rather "of this world" to me (and to everyone else). The brand trumpets "an alternative lifestyle brand that goes beyond the norm." And their apparel does feature many, many good messages. But there is something missing, and it is difficult at first glance to perceive.

While I can understand the desire to wear one's faith, there is very little of the transforming, countercultural power of the Gospel to be found in the NOTW line, which is barely distinguishable from the modern secular "emo" fashion, the conformist countercultural movement du jour.

The same kind of cultural phenomenon happens at churches, Catholic and Protestant, across the country--modern rock or rap music, even metal, with Christian lyrics. The message to the young is both clear and false: You can keep the dark music and the dark fashion, as long as it says, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."

On the contrary! The power of the Gospel is transforming, penetrating the light and casting out the darkness. Those who walk in the darkness, as the Lord said, do not know where they are going. This world is passing away, and its ruler is cast out, along with all its darkness, which is overcome with the dawn of the Resurrection. We must emerge from the darkness with Christ. I know that fundamentally this is what NOTW and others like them are attempting: to bring kids out of darkness. And God must be pleased with them for trying. But Christian ministry of any sort does no one any service by selling a version of Christianity that tries to embrace both the Gospel and the darkness. The two are antithetical and such an embrace can only cause confusion.

So what does the Church say about inculturation? There are a couple of key ideas: Christ must be the center of any movement toward inculturation; and the Gospel message enters into cultures where good is to be found but rejects that which is contrary to the Gospel.

In other words, one cannot be both a gladiator and a Christian; only one set of armor can be worn at once.

This from the General Directory for Catechesis:

'Inculturation' of the faith, whereby in a wonderful exchange are comprised, "all the riches of the nations which have been given to Christ as an inheritance", it is a profound and global process and a slow journey. It is not simply an external adaptation designed to make the Christian message more attractive or superficially decorative. On the contrary, it means the penetration of the deepest strata of persons and peoples by the Gospel which touches them deeply, "going to the very centre and roots" of their cultures."In this work of inculturation, however, the Christian community must discern, on the one hand, which riches to "take" up as compatible with the faith; on the other, it must seek to "purify" and "transform" those criteria, modes of thought and lifestyles which are contrary to the Kingdom of God. Such discernment is governed by two basic principles: "compatibility with the Gospel and communion with the universal Church". All of the people of God must be involved in this process which "...needs to take place gradually, in such a way that it really is an expression of the community's Christian experience" (GDC, 109).

There really is a fine balance to be struck. On the one hand, believers must discern what are the riches of the culture and how to bring these riches to the Lord for the sake of evangelization, for the sake of bringing souls to Christ. Yet, believers must perceive what is theologically and metaphysically incompatible with the Gospel message and fear not to renounce it entirely. This is really one of the major fronts for Western Christianity in the coming years, for if the followers of Christ embrace the world too tightly, what will they do when the world more actively rejects Christ and his Church?

Spanish cardinal recommends that Catholics receive Communion on the tongue

2011-07-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

Receive on the tongue, while kneeling, and if one receives while standing, only after making a genuflection or profound bow: These are the recommendations of the Vatican's prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The days of the true liturgical renewal envisioned by Vatican II approacheth.

Spanish Cardinal Canizares Llovera Recommends that Catholics Receive Communion on the Tongue (CNA)

Blogkeeping

2011-07-28T22:11:00.002-07:00

Just did a little blogkeeping recently, exploring some new blogger features and what not. I hope you like the little bar at the top. I have included a couple of links and have used the top bar to get rid of some of the sidebars. Hope it makes the blog more user friendly.

Thanks for hanging in there, subscribers, and God bless!

St. Agnes - About the Saint after Whom We Named Our Daughter

2011-07-26T22:23:00.002-07:00

Here’s a post I ran on St. Agnes, a virgin and martyr of the 3rd or 4th century. Because of this wonderful saint and her example, we’ve chosen to name our second daughter, who was born earlier this month, after her. The world needs to know this saint, named often in the Church's liturgy. St. Agnes was only 12 or 13 when she was killed. She was a beautiful young girl, who was desired for marriage, but she had promised herself to Christ as His bride.

Her name in the Greek means “purity” or “chastity,” and in the Latin means “lamb.” She is the patron saint of rape victims, engaged couples, purity, chastity, virgins, girls, (and gardeners, too, among other things, as is our lovely tradition). So no matter your state in life St. Agnes loves you and will come to your assistance.

I have felt the power of this saint’s influence in my life for a good while now. Purity is a beautiful thing, and St. Agnes is a beacon of it. Her beauty is different from the “beauty” of the world.

Such beauty is deeper than mere external appearance, but rather is a beauty that radiates from the inmost center of a person. As such, it is imperceptible to those who see only bodies; it is imperceptible to those who only want their bodies to be seen. Agnes’s (grammatically correct, by the way) beauty is the love story that is unknown to the world.

She has a lot to teach America, particularly about the glory of purity. St. Thérèse of Lisieux had a strong devotion to her, as have many of the saints. Without further adieu, I offer St. Ambrose’s 4th-century telling of the story of her life:

St. Ambrose: On Virgins
Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of 12. The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness.

There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she could rise superior to it. Girls of her age cannot bear even their parents’ frowns and, pricked by a needle, weep as for a serious wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. She stands undaunted by heavy, clanking chains. She offers her whole body to be put to the sword by fierce soldiers. She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. Dragged against her will to the altars, she stretches out her hands to the Lord in the midst of the flames, making the triumphant sign of Christ the victor on the altars of sacrilege. She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs.

A new kind of martyrdom! Too young to be punished, yet old enough for a martyr’s crown; unfitted for the contest, yet effortless in victory, she shows herself a master in valor despite the handicap of youth. As a bride she would not be hastening to join her husband with the same joy she shows as a virgin on her way to punishment, crowned not with flowers but with holiness of life, adorned not with braided hair but with Christ himself.

In the midst of tears, she sheds no tears herself. The crowds marvel at her recklessness in throwing away her life untasted, as if she had already lived life to the full. All are amazed that one not yet of legal age can give her testimony to God. So she succeeds in convincing others of her testimony about God, though her testimony in human affairs could not yet be accepted. What is beyond the power of nature, they argue, must come from its creator.

What menaces there were from the executioner, to frighten her; what promises made, to win her over; what influential people desired her in marriage! She answered: “To hope that any other will please me does wrong to my Spouse. I will be his who first chose me for himself. Executioner, why do you delay? If eyes that I do not want can desire this body, then let it perish”. She stood still, she prayed, she offered her neck.

You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned; his right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl’s peril, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom, to modesty and to religion; Agnes preserved her virginity, and gained a martyr’s crown.

Continuing to Blow the Whistle on Planned Parenthood's Long History of Racism

2011-07-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of powerful videos from the National Black Pro-Life coalition. Ever pause to marvel at how abortion clinics are usually in the black neigborhoods? One should. More food for thought below:

Bishops' Pro-Life Chair Strongly Opposes Recommended Mandate for Birth Control, Sterilization in Private Health Plans

2011-07-20T08:28:00.003-07:00

This from the USCCB, regarding the government's plan to require private employers (obviously including--nay, targeting--Catholic ones), to provide full medical coverage for that which we know to be immoral: artificial contraception (including those "contraceptives" which are better labeled "abortifacients"), sterilization, and "education and counseling" (i.e., propaganda and indoctrination).

Cardinal DiNardo rightly points out, "Without sufficient legal protection for rights of conscience, such a mandate would force all men, women and children to carry health coverage that violates the deeply-held moral and religious convictions of many."

Once again, the atheistic establishment is trying to legislate its religion upon the whole.

Sorry, but if reproductive "education and counseling" is one's priority, there are many secular employers. This is what it is: An attack by government leaders and lobbyists upon Catholic employers. Here is the press release from the USCCB:

WASHINGTON -- Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, strongly opposed the recommendation of the Institute of Medicine that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate coverage of surgical sterilization and all FDA-approved birth control in private health insurance plans nationwide.The full text of the statement follows:I strongly oppose the Institute of Medicine's recommendation today that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate coverage of three particular practices in almost all private health plans: surgical sterilization; all FDA-approved birth control (including the IUD, "morning-after" pills, and the abortion-inducing drug Ella); and "education and counseling" promoting these among all "women of reproductive capacity." Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible. The IOM report claims it would have good reason to recommend mandatory coverage for surgical abortions as well, if such a mandate were not prevented by law. But most Americans surely see that abortion is not healthy or therapeutic for unborn children, and has physical and mental health risks for women which can be extremely serious. I can only conclude that there is an ideology at work in these recommendations that goes beyond any objective assessment of the health needs of women and children.The single largest abortion provider in the United States, Planned Parenthood, is celebrating the IOM's report. If the HHS does likewise and implements its recommendations, these controversial practices will be mandated for all insurance plans – public and private – without co-pay from anyone receiving them. The considerable cost of these practices will be paid by all who participate in health coverage, employers and employees alike, including those who conscientiously object to Planned Parenthood's agenda. Without sufficient legal protection for rights of conscience, such a mandate would force all men, women and children to carry health coverage that violates the deeply-held moral and religious convictions of many. This new threat to conscience makes it especially critical for Congress to pass the "Respect for Rights of Conscience Act" introduced by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Dan Boren (HR 1179). I am writing to all members of Congress to urge their co-sponsorship.The IOM missed an opportunity to promote better health care for women that is life-affirming and truly compassionate. I once again urge the Department of Health and Human Services to focus on the need of all Americans, including immigrants and the poor, for basic life-saving health coverage – not on mandating controversial elective practices in ways that undermine the good of women and children, the consciences of employers, employees and health plan providers, and the common good.

SOURCE: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities

In Memoriam: Christendom College Founder Dr. Warren H. Carroll Dies at 79

2011-07-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Someone needs to write a "History of Dr. Warren H. Carroll." This is a life story worth retelling again and again. May 10,000 more like him arise to fill the void left by his passing. Resquiescat in pace.

Christendom College Founder Dr. Warren H. Carroll Dies at 79

On Source Criticism and the High School Sacred Scripture Class

2011-07-15T00:44:00.005-07:00

After having taught Sacred Scripture in high school for a little while, I recently took a close look at the USCCB framework for high school Sacred Scripture. I see for the most part a good framework for presenting the Biblical narrative to high school students. (As a result of the framework itself, I believe that much improvement will come to religious education in America.)

From the perspective of a Scripture teacher, however, there seems to me to be several problems, one major.

1. Ascension – the mystery of the Ascension of Christ is part of the mystery of redemption. It is an essential element of the Paschal Mystery. Without the ascension of Christ, there is no descent of the Holy Spirit. It’s explicitly emphasized again and again in his ministry and in his words of consolation to the Apostles. It’s unfortunate that this is not mentioned in the framework, as it is often omitted by publishers.

2. Sacraments? Granted, a semester class on the sacraments is part of the USCCB core curriculum, and the framework for that class is clearly rooted deeply in Scripture. Yet the connection between the time of Christ, of the Apostles, and the life of the Church should be connected explicitly in the Scripture class as well, otherwise there may be a disconnect for the students. Not only that, a class on Sacred Scripture should be likewise be oriented toward the sacramental nature of the Bible and of the Church. What about students who transfer in? Needn’t they know that the sacramental life of the Church is anchored in Scripture?

3. and then there’s Wellhausen – Oh, man. Why? I want to bang my head on a wall on this one. Wellhausen, more commonly associated with the letters J, E, D, and P, questions whether Moses is the true source of the Pentateuch. Merits (or the lack thereof) of such theories aside, I do not understand the insistence upon teaching source criticism to high schoolers. There are several problems here.

a. Hermeneutic of suspicion – outside of the life of faith, source criticism can be the gateway drug to a positivist approach to the Bible, that is, an approach that attributes miracles, theophanies, and prophecy to later redactors or excises such phenomena from the Bible altogether. This is not spiritually healthy for high schoolers trying to understand the Bible, who may not want their peers to notice that they are trying to have an encounter with Jesus Christ. What’s worse is that this talk of source criticism comes with the study of the Pentateuch, i.e., early in the term. It is not good to plant these seeds of doubt and suspicion so early on.

b. Displaced priorities – Wellhausen, being a scholarly theory, requires time to explain and support (and hopefully to refute). It’s a pedagogical nightmare. There is never enough time in a Scripture class. Why do JEDP when you show the beauty of the poetry in the Psalms? Why teach JEDP when you can teach the Liturgy of the Hours? Why explain JEDP when you can teach the development of Moses’ faith from call scene to his speech in Deuteronomy? It’s a waste of high school class time (sure, it’s worth studying, but not in high school).

This opens a door for another type of source criticism, that of “Q,” or the so-called “sayings of Jesus.” This is the alleged source of much of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. (The problem with Q is that the high school doors are then opened to the heretical gnostic texts, such as the Gospel of Thomas. Furthermore, much confusion results about the nature of Scripture itself.) Cardinal Ratzinger framed this problem well in a lecture in 1983:

“…a mother in Germany once told me that her son was becoming well acquainted in grade school with the Christology of Q [the supposed source of the sayings of Jesus], even though he had not yet heard a thing about the seven sacraments or the articles of the creed. …” (Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief, p. 20).

c. Misplaced trust – I would not trust anyone to teach source criticism to my children—sorry. Placing such theories in the framework seems to be throwing a bone to those dissenting religious faculty employed at Catholic schools across the nation.

When the question comes up in class, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, the answer is simple, not complex, one, not four: Moses. Moses indeed wrote them. Moses, Moses, Moses. That is what a high schooler needs to know. Did Moses write every word of the Pentateuch with his own hand? Perhaps not. Did he write them with his hand or by word of his own mouth? Most certainly.

These are simple answers to simple questions. Yet, JEDP is a complicated scholarly theory. Are the religion teachers of America across-the-board qualified enough in religious studies to teach JEDP? No. Many are dissenting, and that is an unfortunate reality since 1968. There are many, many good religion teachers in America, but no. A teacher who dissents from the Catholic faith could do much damage upon a youth's faith by teaching source criticism.

More important, are high schoolers really mature enough to be indulging doubts regarding Biblical authorship without being scandalized? Maybe some are mature enough, maybe most, but let me ask this instead: If one student in the classroom may be confused or scandalized by sowing such seed, should we? No.

Leave JEDP for college and open up the meaning of another parable for the high schoolers. Trust me, I know and can testify, they’ll enjoy it much, much more.

Index of Catholic Idioms: "Leave Room for the Holy Spirit"

2011-07-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Catholic idiom: "Leave Room for the Holy Spirit."

In other words, "I think your parents would agree that you teenagers are dancing too closely for the exercise of the virtue of Christian purity. Consider your future spouse, who may or may not be the person with whom you are dancing. Subordinate the will to the passions, please."

This phrase--along with "Have you discerned your vocation?"--is essential for the high school event chaperone.

Index of Catholic Idioms: "Offer It Up"

2011-07-07T11:30:00.001-07:00

Catholic idiom: "Offer It Up."

In other words, a.) "Your sufferings are valuable when accepted as gift from the Most High God, who draws his beloved ones into the Passion of his Son and allows them to enter into his redemption, by acquiring graces for souls in need. Be mindful that this is an opportunity for you to bring grace to others." b.) "Do you lack the inner constitution to cope with this small matter? Deal with it, kiddo, and be mindful that this is an opportunity for you to bring grace to others"

The theological meaning behind "offer it up" is significant; Catholics know that personal suffering takes on a sacrificial and priestly character when offered to God on behalf of others. For maximal spiritual effect of "offer it up," it is best to entrust the thing offered directly to the hands of Our Lady that she may direct the grace to whom she wishes. Possible recipients of the grace that comes from this disposition of the heart: the souls in purgatory, a suffering family member, obnoxious kid brothers, the guy who cut me off on the highway, Lady Gaga, and really anyone.

"Offer it up" also has a wide range of usage. It can also be substituted for such secular phrases as "be a man!" or "tough it out!" Depending on the emotional state of the one receiving the comment, caution is urged.

Index of Catholic Idioms: "It's Friday"

2011-06-30T20:05:00.003-07:00

Catholic idiom: "It's Friday."

In other words, "Take heart. If we are suffering a little bit, it has greater purpose because the Lord also died on Friday and we are to regularly mortify our flesh in accordance with Canon 1250."

Often "It's Friday" is stated in subdued tone as a self-directed comment to help one remember to "offer it up" or to be content to eat something a little less flavorful.

"The most important moment of my life - Sixty years ago, 29 June 1951, Joseph Ratzinger was ordained a priest"

2011-06-29T12:09:00.003-07:00

Congratulations to Pope Benedict XVI on the 60th(!) anniversary of his becoming a priest! God bless you, Papa Benedetto! Also, this is from the new news.va Vatican News Service. Here is the link: The most important moment of my life - Sixty years ago, 29 June 1951, Joseph Ratzinger was ordained a priest

"Flash Mob" Exposition and Benediction: Radical Catholicism At It Again

2011-06-26T23:42:00.005-07:00

What an wondrous and beautiful witness to the faith in the U.K.! This is what the radical response to persecution looks like when it comes from Catholics. (I must add, this is also a great piece of writing and oratory.)

Hat tip to Tim Drake at the NCR, who transcribed this.

“Jesus Christ is in every book of the Bible.

In Genesis, Jesus is the Seed of the Woman.
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus, He is the Priest, the Altar, and the Lamb of Sacrifice.
In Numbers, He is a Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by Night.
In Deuteronomy, Jesus is the Prophet, like Moses.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Joshua, Jesus is the Captain of Our Salvation.
In Judges, He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our kinsman Redeemer.
In 1 and 2 Samuel, He is our Trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our Reigning King.
In Ezra, He is the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
Come and kneel before Him now.
In Nehemiah, Jesus is our Restorer.
In Tobit, He is the Messenger of New Life.
In Judith, He is Weakness Turned into Victory.
In Esther, He is our Advocate.
In 1 and 2 Maccabees, He is the Leader who dies for God’s law.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Job, Jesus is our Everliving Redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our Shepherd.
In Proverbs, He is our Wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes, He is our Hope of Resurrection.
In the Song of Songs, He is our Loving Bridegroom.
In Wisdom, He is the emanation of God’s thought.
In Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Jesus is our security.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Isaiah, Jesus is the Suffering Servant.
In Jeremiah, He is the Righteous Branch.
In Lamentations, He is our Weeping Prophet.
In Baruch, He is the Mercy from the Eternal One.
In Ezekiel, He is the One with the Right to Rule.
In Daniel, Jesus is the Fourth Man in the fiery furnace.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Hosea, Jesus is the Faithful Husband forever married to the sinner.
In Joel, He is the One who Baptizes with the Holy Spirit of Fire.
In Amos, He is the Restorer of Justice.
In Obadiah, He is Mighty to Save.
In Jonah, He is our great foreign missionary.
In Micah, He is the feet of one who brings Good News.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Nahum, Jesus is our stronghold in the day of trouble.
In Habakkuk, He is God my Savior.
In Zephaniah, He is the King of Israel.
In Haggai, He is the signet ring.
In Zechariah, He is our Humble King riding on a colt.
In Malachi, Jesus is the Son of Righteousness.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Matthew, Jesus is God with us.
In Mark, He is the Son of God.
In Luke, He is the Son of Mary, feeling what you feel.
In John, He is the Bread of Life.
In Acts, Jesus is the Savior of the World.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Romans, Jesus is the Righteousness of God.
In 1 Corinthians, He is the Resurrection.
In 2 Corinthians, He is the God of all comfort.
In Galatians, He is your liberty. He sets you free.
In Ephesians, Jesus is the Head of the Church.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Philippians, Jesus is your Joy.
In Colossians, He is your Completeness.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He is your Hope.
In 1 Timothy, He is your Faith.
In 2 Timothy, Jesus is your Stability.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In Titus, Jesus is Truth.
In Philemon, He is your Benefactor.
In Hebrews, He is your Perfection.
In James, He is the Power behind your Faith.
In 1 Peter, He is your Example.
In 2 Peter, Jesus is your Purity.
Come and kneel before Him now.

In 1 John, Jesus is your Life.
In 2 John, He is your Pattern.
In 3 John, He is your Motivation.
In Jude, He is the Foundation of your Faith.

In Revelation, Jesus is your Coming King.

He is:
The First and the Last.
The Beginning and the End.
He is the Keeper of Creation and the Creator of All.
He is the Architect of the Universe and the Manager of All Time.
He Always Was, He Always Is, and He Always Will Be Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and Never Undone.

He was bruised and brought healing.
He was pierced and eased pain.
He was persecuted and brought freedom.
He was dead and brought life.
He is risen and brings power.
He reigns and brings peace.

The world can’t understand Him.
The armys can’t defeat Him.
Schools can’t explain Him and the leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him.
The people couldn’t hold him. [This is where the clapping begins]
Nero couldn’t crush Him.
Hitler couldn’t silence Him.
The New Age can’t replace Him.
And Oprah can’t explain Him away.

He is Life, Love, Longevity, and Lord.
He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful, and Pure.
His Ways are Right, His Words Eternal, His Rules Unchanging, and His Mind is on me.
He is My Redeemer, He is My Savior, He is My God, He is My Priest, He is My Joy, He is My Comfort, He is My Lord, and He rules my life.”

ZENIT - That I May See You: A Look at Benedict XVI's Catecheses on Christian Prayer

2011-06-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest article, folks.

ZENIT - That I May See You:
A Look at Benedict XVI's Catecheses on Christian Prayer

By Kevin M. Clarke

SAN DIEGO, California, JUNE 22, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Reading Benedict XVI's recent cycle of catecheses on the Fathers of the Church, one can only imagine what it would have been like to study Church history under Joseph Ratzinger, the professor at Tübingen. Now with the latest series of catecheses, this German Pope takes the faithful on a new course -- his school of prayer.

"Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). Under this theme the Pontiff introduces his next series of catecheses. More than a month into his audiences, the Holy Father appears to be approaching the topic of prayer from salvation history, working from the Old Testament toward the New, and likely from there into the rich history of Christian mysticism.

Thus far in his reflections, he has worked his way up through the prophet Elijah. Like his catechetical series on the Church Fathers, the Pope is using salvation history as the channel through which the theology develops. Even though the course of the reflections is only up to the time of Elijah, the Pope has nonetheless given the Church very much.

The praying pagan

Even apart from Israel -- the Chosen People -- man has always prayed. And so the Pope began his series on prayer with a historical survey of prayer in ancient pagan cultures. Human beings from the beginning of civilization have recognized the dependence they have had upon "Another" and have reached out in supplication to the Almighty.

The Pope characterized these ancient religions as "an invocation, which from the earth awaits a word from Heaven." These cries to the unknown One, however, receive an answer that is spoken. They find their fulfillment in divine revelation, which offers to the praying one a chance at a relationship with the one God who is also a Father (General Audience, May 4, 2011).

"Man is religious by nature," and has been so throughout the entire history of civilization, the Pope said in his general audience on May 11. The same basic metaphysical questions confront men of all times -- why am I here? Why is there suffering and death? What will happen to me after this life? (cf. Second Vatican Council, "Nostra Aetate," No. 1) -- but by his own limitations, man is unable to render an answer.

The praying man kneels before the Almighty -- not in slavery, but in a gesture of recognition of his weakness and limitation. But the praying man prays because he is attracted to God, according to St. Thomas Aquinas. This God-given attraction "is the soul of prayer, that then takes on a great many forms, in accordance with the history, the time, the moment, the grace and even the sin of every person praying."

Abraham's "New Idea of Justice"

Benedict XVI continued his reflections by turning to salvation history and the figure of Abraham -- specifically, his intercession for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. In this well-known story, Abraham negotiated with the Lord for the sake of the cities, to the point where God said that for 10 righteous, he would spare the whole city.

Of course, there were fewer still than 10 actually dwelling therein. But the main observation the Pope makes is that Abraham's prayer is one for "a new idea of justice" -- one of abundant mercy that spares the guilty for the sake of the innocent. Justice in its "superior" form offers mercy and salvation, because if the wicked repent, they too may become righteous.

This theme of mercy for the sake of the few appears again in the day of the prophet Jeremiah, who searches Jerusalem for one righteous person, for whom the whole city may be spared. And as in the case with Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem fell for want of righteous inhabitants.

Thus, the Lord sends his Son, the Pope says, to be that one for us:

"It was to be necessary for God himself to become that one righteous person. And this is the mystery of the Incarnation: to guarantee a just person he himself becomes man. There will always be one righteous person because it is he. However, God himself must become that just man. The infinite and surprising divine love was to be fully manifest when the Son of God was to become man, the definitive Righteous One, the perfect Innocent who would bring salvation to the whole world by dying on the Cross, forgiving and interceding for those who ‘know not what they do' (Lk 23:34). Therefore the prayer of each one will find its answer, therefore our every intercession will be fully heard" (General Audience, May 18, 2011).

Moses the Mediator

In his general audience on June 1, the Pope offered a lengthy reflection on the value of Moses' fasting, on his role in the wilderness as mediator for the Israelites before God, and on how Moses' prefigures Christ and reveals God's mercy through his intercession on the mountain.

When Moses went up the mountain to receive the law, he fasted -- showing that God's law would give the people their nourishment. The law and entering into a covenant would be a "source of life" for the people. Yet, they sought to mold gods matching their own plans.

Though God asked Moses to leave him alone that his wrath may "burn hot" against the Israelites, God's words were an invitation to Moses to enter into the role of mediator between the people and God. These words, the Pope says, "were spoken so that Moses might intervene and ask God not to do it, thereby revealing that what God always wants is salvation."

Moses does this in two ways: He reminds the Lord of the Lord's own name. After all, what would the Egyptians say about the Lord, who led them out only to have them all perish in the desert? And what about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the covenant the Lord had sworn? Because of Moses' intercession, the people are spared.

Yet, after destroying the golden calf, the reality of their sin remains; so this "friend" of God ascends the mountain to seek forgiveness for the people or that Moses himself be blotted out of the book of life (cf. Exodus 32:32). In this, the Pope said, "the Fathers of the Church saw a prefiguration of Christ who from the very top of the Cross was truly before God, not only as a friend but as Son." There, Christ offered himself to be blotted out that the sin of the people be forgiven.

"I think we should meditate upon this reality. Christ stands before God and is praying for me. His prayer on the Cross is contemporary with all human beings, contemporary with me. He prays for me, he suffered and suffers for me, he identified himself with me, taking our body and the human soul. And he asks us to enter this identity of his, making ourselves one body, one spirit with him because from the summit of the Cross he brought not new laws, tablets of stone, but himself, his Body and his Blood, as the New Covenant. Thus he brings us kinship with him, he makes us one body with him, identifies us with him. He invites us to enter into this identification, to be united with him in our wish to be one body, one spirit with him. Let us pray the Lord that this identification may transform and renew us, because forgiveness is renewal and transformation" (General Audience, June 1).

Elijah the Intercessor

On June 15, the Pope offered a brief but thoughtful reflection about the prophet Elijah, "a model of intercessory prayer." In a famous episode from First Kings, Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a test of the gods. Which one would answer the prayers to consume a sacrifice -- Baal or the Lord God? Of course, the false god Baal gave no answer, despite Elijah's rather clever mockery (cf. 1 Kings 18:27).

But as Elijah prepared to offer the sacrifice, he said to the people, "Come near to me" (1 Kings 18:30). In saying this, Elijah invites the people to join in his prayer that the nation repent from its idolatry. Benedict XVI commented: "In response to Elijah's prayer, God reveals his fidelity, mercy and saving power through the consuming fire sent down from heaven. He also enables the people to turn back to him and to reaffirm the covenant made with their fathers" (General Audience, June 15, 2011).

"That I may see you" -- while this is "the essence" of the prayer of the blind man in Ancient Egypt (General Audience, May 4), the faithful, too, wish to see the Lord through prayer. This picture should be made clearer in the coming months and more as the Pope continues his catecheses on prayer.

There are many directions the Holy Spirit may lead him in his reflections, perhaps through the Psalms, or through the intercessions of the prophets, or through the prayer of the Exiles, certainly through the life and prayer of Christ and the Virgin, as well as the development of the prayer life of the Church. Regardless of the path, the nature of the reflections themselves invites the faithful to join the Holy Father and the Church in the communion of prayer to the Father -- to join the Pope in his school of prayer.

* * *

Kevin M. Clarke is an adjunct professor at John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego, California. He is the author of a chapter on Benedict XVI's Mariology in "De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People" (University Press of America, 2009), and is a recent contributor to the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

St. Thomas More, commentary by Fr. Barron

2011-06-22T04:58:00.004-07:00

Happy feast day, St. Thomas More! Pray for us!

Watching A Man for All Seasons is a must today!

Cristiada - This is Going to be Good!

2011-04-03T09:49:00.003-07:00

Viva Cristo Rey! I wonder who is going to play Bl. Miguel Pro? St. Raphael Guizar y Valencia? I know that Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, and Eduardo Verastegui are in this movie. Should be great. Here is the Web site. Here is the trailer:

Quoteboard: St. Josemaria Escriva's Advice to a Jewish Girl

2011-03-19T09:55:00.003-07:00

St. Josemaria responds to a question from a Jewish minor who wishes to convert to Catholicism. He answers beautifully in this video.

My Review of the Pope's "Jesus of Nazareth" (Zenit)

2011-03-10T22:00:00.003-08:00

Here is the latest article, direct link may be found here.

Finding Christ in Pope's "Jesus of Nazareth": Book Speaks of Second Coming, Eating Salt, Space-Traveling Hearts

By Kevin M. Clarke

SAN MARCOS, California, MARCH 10, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Those who find themselves before the Holy Father's new book will find much more than another book on Jesus; they will find Jesus himself.

How is that so? The Holy Father has combined a faith hermeneutic with a historical hermeneutic; in other words, through a faith interpretation of mysteries actualized in history, Benedict XVI has found the historical Jesus, and in doing so has given the definitive model for all future searches.

There is something remarkably new about "Jesus of Nazareth Part II: Holy Week -- From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection." Benedict XVI has gathered much of the "essential fruits" of historical-critical scholarship and delivered it in the interpretation of the faith. In his pastoral excellence he has written this book in language for the whole flock, and so the novice as well as the scholar will glean much through a reflective reading of this text.

Though the Holy Father is often cast as inaccessible by some members of the media -- and those who regularly follow the Pope know the contrary to be true -- "Jesus of Nazareth, Part II" is open access to anyone who read this text in the light of faith.

The text follows a chronological order from Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, through the Last Supper, the agony, the trial and crucifixion, through his Resurrection, ending with an epilogue focusing upon the mystery of the Ascension and the Second Coming (and even a "middle coming").

Ignatius Press has produced a remarkably useful text -- complete with bibliographic sources for further study, an excellent glossary with in-depth explanations of key terms and figures, and 32 pages of indexing (10 of Scripture verses, 22 of authors and subjects). It seems apparent from the manner of the Pope's writing throughout that he intended this manuscript to be read with another text open -- the sacred Scriptures.

For the Church

Like any masterful writer, Benedict XVI has considered his audience well. And it is clear that the Pope has produced a multipurpose volume. To whom has he written?

Part II is for the exegete -- in fact, he mentions three by name in the opening paragraph of the foreword. These exegetes had deemed the coming of Part II "an important contribution that should be brought to fruition." The Pope has drawn from the most influential Biblical scholarship of recent eras in order to refute, modify, qualify, highlight, and elevate that which others have written.

Perhaps some of the strongest words may be found in the foreword: "One thing is clear to me: in 200 years of exegetical work, historical-critical exegesis has already yielded its essential fruit" (xiv). Benedict XVI proposes a solution that would keep theology from slipping into irrelevance: The combination of a faith hermeneutic with a historical hermeneutic, a step that the Holy Father has taken in his book (xv). Many exegetes will follow in his footsteps.

Part II is also for interreligious conversation. This carefully written text will advance dialogue with Jewish leaders throughout the world. The action of Jesus in union with the Jewish feasts is a constant theme throughout the text. Benedict XVI also cites the work of numerous Protestant theologians. Many discussions in ecumenical circles will follow this book.

Clearly, Part II has been penned for the shepherds and for the flock. The Pope's words are spiritually enriching and bring the reader into a deeper encounter of the Lord of all history. This text stands as a permanent gift to the Church; for long after we all have been laid in our own tombs, priests will be writing homilies based upon this text.

And because this book is for the Church, "Jesus of Nazareth" is for all, because Jesus of Nazareth exists for all.

What follows will be a sampling of three sections I found to be spiritually powerful and enriching -- the mystery of the two wills of Christ, the resurrection of the Lord, and the ascension into heaven.

From sin to synergy

The question of the wills is one of the least-understood truths of Christology, even among catechists. So what is the relation between Jesus' will and that of the Father? Upon this topic, Benedict XVI launched into one of the theologically richest sections of the book, culminating with the last great Christological controversy.

St. Maximus the Confessor answered the question of the wills of Christ in the seventh century: Christ has a divine will and a human will -- not one, but two wills. Does this make Christ a schizophrenic subject? Not in the thought of St. Maximus, because in the agony of Gethsemane the human will and the divine will are restored once again to synergy -- working together. Wills that were brought into opposition through original sin are transformed from resistance to unity (157 ff).

So does the Father hear the prayer of Jesus? The author of Hebrews would seem to think so: "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear" (5:7). Adolf von Harnack and Rudolf Bultmann argued that the word "not" must have been left out, because Christ died. But the Pope pointed out that transforming a text into its opposite is not really exegesis.

Benedict XVI offers an interpretation more immersed in the mystery of Christ's whole life. The answering of the prayer comes through the deliverance from death in resurrection not only of Christ, but of all believers (165). Christ lives in a state of "being-for" others, the Pope says, in other words, pro-existence. This thought is also related to Christ's self-gift in the Eucharist: "If we are able to grasp this, then we have truly come close to the mystery of Jesus, and we have understood what discipleship is" (134).

A historical moment

Scholars discuss many proofs for the resurrection: the testimony of the women (if made up, why not attribute testimony to men?), the transformation of the Apostles, the rapid spread of the faith. But for Benedict XVI, one "proof" stands apart: The transfer of worship from the Sabbath to the Lord's Day -- the first day of the week, Sunday.

"For me," he writes, "the celebration of the Lord's day, which was a characteristic part of the Christian community from the outset, is one of the most convincing proofs that something extraordinary happened that day -- the discovery of the empty tomb and the encounter with the risen Lord" (259).

One of the most interesting points in the Pope's reflections he points to the beginning of the book of Acts, showing how over the 40 days after the resurrection that Jesus had been "eating salt with them" -- a scriptural sign indicating the establishment of a covenant (271).

The Pope draws three key conclusions about the encounters with the risen Lord, based on the experience and witness of the disciples: 1) Jesus did not rise in his mortal body the way Lazarus did; 2) Jesus is not a "ghost" appearing to the living while remaining among the dead the way Samuel did; and 3) the encounters are very different from mystical experiences in which the state of human consciousness is altered (273).

Similarly, the Resurrection is in itself a historical moment, but it is also a transcendent one that breaks history open and inaugurates in the eschatological age. "Jesus' Resurrection points beyond history but has left a footprint within history. Therefore it can be attested by witnesses as an event of an entirely new kind." (275).

The risen body of Jesus is at once physical and transcendent. On the one hand the evangelists go to great lengths to demonstrate the physicality of Jesus, but on the other, they only recognize Jesus in the light of faith. Thus, the Pope concludes that there is something truly new and transcendent about the risen Lord.

God's dominion

Perhaps the most beautifully crafted and convicting words in the text present themselves in the epilogue, so do not stop reading after the account of the Resurrection.

The Pope's words on the mystery of the Ascension of Christ answer many questions that Catholics have about Jesus: Why were the disciples not sad at his departure? Where did he go? Was he still with them somehow? At the same time, the Pope addresses the skeptics' questions as well: Where in outer space is Jesus now? On what planet how many light years away? Part II has the answers.

Christ's ascension into heaven seems to present a problem -- Jesus is raised from the dead, but now he goes away. What is everyone so happy about? The Pope, however, shows that in the act of ascending, Jesus remains profoundly close and even truly present among believers. Here are some key points in this section.

Jesus' ascension does not lead him to some faraway galaxy light years away. In the exaltation of Christ, Jesus remains close to believers as he is seated at the right hand of the Father. Well, where is that seat? "It does not refer to some distant cosmic space, where God has, as it were, set up his throne and given Jesus a place beside the throne. God is not in one space alongside other spaces. God is God -- he is the premise and the ground of all the space there is, but he himself is not part of it. God stands in relation to all spaces as Lord and Creator. His presence is not spatial, but divine. 'Sitting at God's right hand' means participating in this divine dominion over space" (282-283).

In the Ascension, because of his entrance into God's dominion over space itself, Jesus' going away is also a coming, as he had prophesied in the farewell discourse in John (cf. 14:28). If we wish to touch him, as Mary Magdalene did, we ourselves must ascend, the Pope says. But Christians must remember that Jesus is gloried upon his throne when he ascends upon the Cross. When we go up on high to touch him, "this path is not a matter of space travel of a cosmic-geographical nature: it is the 'space travel' of the heart" (286).

Finally, in his eschatological teachings, the Pope refers to not two, but three different "comings" -- the coming of Jesus through Mary, the Second Coming, and a "middle coming" ('adventus medius'). The middle coming is based upon St. Bernard's interpretation of John 14:23. Jesus states, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." This coming of the Father and the Son is the basis for St. Bernard's understanding of the "adventus medius," which gives meaning to the time between the two comings of Christ.

Wait. Did he say "'space travel' of the heart"? Yes. That's perhaps as unforgettable as "Jesus was not Spartacus" in "Spe Salvi." Whoever is accusing Benedict XVI of being inaccessible clearly is not reading.

While previous quests for the historical Jesus had fallen short, in a truly unprecedented way Benedict XVI has brought the true Jesus of history -- who transcends history and who has left his footprint in it -- to readers everywhere. This Christ's vicar has seen to it that those who seek in this age will certainly find

* * *

Kevin M. Clarke has a master's degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and teaches religion at St. Joseph Academy in San Marcos, California. He is the author of a chapter on Benedict XVI's Mariology in "De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People" (University Press of America, 2009), and is a recent contributor to the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

Jesus of Nazareth II Being Released Today

2011-03-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing book, but not just an amazing book, a historical book in biblical scholarship, in theology, and in the history of the papacy. If you haven't placed an order, do so right away. You know that if a book has a trailer, it must be an event! Have a look:

Who is this one who is coming (ho erchomenos) into the world?

2011-02-20T23:30:00.006-08:00

I noticed something reading through the Gospel of John this weekend. In John 6, after Jesus performs the miraculous multiplication of the fish and the loaves, the crowd is thrown into a messianic fervor. Upon realizing that he had performed a great miracle, they proclaimed,

“Truly this is the prophet who is coming into the world!” [Houtos estin alēthōs ho prophētēs ho erchomenos eis ton kosmon] (Jn 6:14)

Jesus realizes they want to take him by force to make him king and slips away.

This reminds me of another seemingly similar (but very different) confession in John. After the death of Lazarus, Martha comes to Jesus to speak with him. Here is their dialogue:

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:21-26)

And Martha’s response is what I thought of when I read the words of the crowd. She says,

"Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." [Nai, Kurie, egō pepisteuka hoti su ei ho Christos ho huios tou theou ho eis ton kosmon erchomenos] (11:27)

Both the similarities and the differences are interesting. Both the crowd and Martha say that Jesus is “coming into the world” (crowd: ho erchomenos eis ton kosmon; Martha: ho eis ton kosmon erchomenos). This is a prevalent theme in John (cf. 1:9; 3:17, 19; 10:36; 12:46; 16:28; 17:18; 18:37).

But the differences between the crowd and Martha stand in sharp contrast.

First of all, in the verses themselves, the crowd identifies Jesus as “the prophet” whereas Martha identifies Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God.” We need a book to unpack the differences between those two. And, while Jesus is priest, prophet, and king, the title of “the prophet” is not a sufficient designation, as we see in Matthew 16:13-16 (note that Peter there confesses the same words that Martha does here in John).

Secondly, the confession of the crowd comes after the sign of the multiplication of the loaves while Martha’s confession precedes the resurrection of Lazarus.

But the sharpest contrast can be seen in the faith of the crowd and the faith of Martha. Jesus had escaped the messianic fervor of the crowd and crossed the sea with the disciples (I think you had just better read this story in John 6). The crowd wants its fleshly passions satisfied (cf. 6:26). Jesus then invites them to something greater:

Do not labor [ergazesthe mē] for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."
Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works [ergazōmetha ta erga] of God?"
Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."
So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? [ti ergaze] (6:27-30).

What does Jesus want here? The work of faith—yet they first want him to do another work. They want the earthly bread but he wants to give them the Bread of Life—his flesh and blood. When he will not and speaks to them about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, many of them go their own way. They do not have the faith, the work that Christ wants from them and so they scatter.

But some do not. When asked if the disciples also “take offense [skandalizei],” Peter answers, “… we have believed [pepisteukamen], and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." Similarly did Martha answer before Lazarus was raised: “I have believed [egō pepisteuka] …” But the Apostles and Martha do not believe in order to get something out of the Lord, but because of the endurance of their faith having begun in the past and continuing to the present moment, as you will notice the perfect tenses of the verb “I believe” (present: pisteuō). Peter and Martha both have the type of perfected faith that does not fly away with the painful moment.

So this is what the one who is coming into the world is looking for. He comes to do the will of the Father and return to the Father. And when he comes again, will he find faith on earth (Luke 18:8)? Or will his disciples be scandalized when things get tough? He will find it if he comes when we are still around, so let us say with Peter and Martha, pepisteukamen!

ZENIT - Benedict XVI's Call to "Intellectual Charity"

2011-02-11T22:22:00.002-08:00

Here's the latest article, folks. ZENIT - Benedict XVI's Call to "Intellectual Charity"

Benedict XVI's Call to "Intellectual Charity"
Will Catholic Universities Respond?

By Kevin M. Clarke

SAN MARCOS, California, FEB. 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- In April 2008, Benedict XVI summed up the task ahead for the reform of Catholic higher education in America with two words: "intellectual charity."

During his apostolic visit to the United States, Benedict XVI issued a strong call to the heads of Catholic institutions in America. In his diagnosis of the crises facing Catholic religious education in America, the Pope made it abundantly clear that failing to orient the whole curriculum toward Christ, and indeed the whole life of the university, "weakens Catholic identity" and "inevitably leads to confusion." He spoke compassionately, kindly; he spoke with authority.

His words certainly will be reexamined this fall by America's Catholic colleges and universities as they question the place of Catholic mission and identity on their campuses this year. What is worth noting here is how well these two words -- "intellectual charity" -- encapsulate the fullness of the Pontiff's teaching on the nature of Catholic education, especially considering charity's intrinsic link with truth in the Holy Father's magisterium.

So will universities respond with the type of charity for which Benedict XVI has called? That question may actually be more complex than at first sight.

Two conceptions of academic freedom
In addition to the Pope's words to educators, Catholic higher education officials will also revisit two Church documents of the past century -- one originating in the United States, and one issued by the Vatican. And yet one more document, which seems to have become established as authoritative itself, looms in the background.

In 1967, many leaders in Catholic higher education gathered in Wisconsin to speak on the notion of the modern Catholic university. What followed was the Land O'Lakes Statement on the Nature of the Contemporary Catholic University, signed by 26 presidents, theologians, and other higher education officials.

In word, the Land O'Lakes document may not have seemed an outright rejection of the role of the Church in academia, but many have observed that in action the statement has become a veritable carte blanche for academic license. The Land O'Lakes authors wrote, "To perform its teaching and research functions effectively, the Catholic university must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself."

And so, indeed, a great chasm has opened between Catholic theology and the type of theology, or religious studies, at today's Catholic colleges and universities. The transference of Catholic schools' authority to governing boards, many of whom are comprised of non-Catholics, may further hinder progress toward a renewal of Catholic academia.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II signed off on the apostolic constitution "Ex Corde Ecclesiae." In the constitution, the exercise of academic freedom was linked inextricably with the quest for truth (cf. "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," 1, 4). The themes of truth and fidelity to the Church -- absent from Land O'Lakes -- weave throughout the Papal text, describing not only the need for the university's institutional commitment to truth itself, but also its courageous zeal to "speak uncomfortable truths" ("Ex Corde Ecclesiae," 32).

Moreover, many Catholic colleges and universities have for years neglected to implement the canonical norms called for in "Ex Corde Ecclesiae." What had become apparent to the Church in the decades following the 1960s was that the severance of educational inquiry from apostolic authority had distanced academia from its primary task: that of uniting "two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth" ("Ex Corde Ecclesiae," 1).

In 2001, a document from the U.S. bishops, "The Application of 'Ex Corde Ecclesiae' for the United States," went into effect for Catholic colleges and universities in the United States. The document was meant to implement "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," but many question the eagerness of academia to embrace these documents.

In a Washington Times article last May, Msgr. David O'Connell, the outgoing president of the Catholic University of America, expressed frustration that so many Catholic institutions were clinging to Land O'Lakes as "an alternative" to "Ex Corde Ecclesiae." He stated that Land O'Lakes had "introduced confusion into the Catholic higher education community."

The respective impacts these three documents -- the Land O'Lakes Statement, "Ex Corde Ecclesiae," and "The Application of 'Ex Corde Ecclesiae' for the United States" -- will have on the future of Catholic education will determine whether Catholic institutions turn toward a renewal of catholicity or continue on a path of increased secularization.

A Justification, a Betrayal
Benedict XVI told Catholic educators, in an address at the Catholic University of America during his 2008 visit to the United States, that "any appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission; a mission at the heart of the Church's 'munus docendi' [task of teaching] and not somehow autonomous or independent of it."

Many academics invoke "academic freedom" over and against questions of Church Tradition and even Christian ethics. On the other hand, the words above give insight into the Pope's thought on the nature of the Catholic university. He taught that "intellectual charity" illumines instruction and helps maintain the unity of knowledge, avoiding the "fragmentation" that occurs within the disciplines when reason and the drive for truth depart from the same course.

In the academic world filled with all its research grants, distinguishing titles, honors and glory, what is often lost is the dignity of the student and his or her right to be led not to what is merely novel or popular but to truth in all things. Through intellectual charity the young can experience the "deep satisfaction" of freedom lived in relation to truth.

In a September 2009 address to educators in Prague, the Pontiff spoke again of many similar themes. The fragmentation of knowledge leads reason far from truth, he explained. "The relativism that ensues provides a dense camouflage behind which new threats to the autonomy of academic institutions can lurk." Ironically, the very "freedoms" for which many academics clamor are the very means by which freedom is lost.

This thought is not something new for the Pontiff. In "Nature and Mission of Theology" (Ignatius, 1995), he treated the topic of academic freedom: "'Academic' freedom is freedom for the truth, and its justification is simply to exist for the sake of the truth, without having to look back toward the objectives it has reached" (37). Freedom is united with truth, which then leads to reverence of truth, or worship.

Many Catholic institutions have made the case that in order to keep with the times and compete with secular and other private institutions they must remain unchecked by ecclesiastical authorities and Church Tradition. Academic inquiry and the vast possibilities of the student life must be up to speed with the competition, after all.

Yet before becoming Pope he wrote that the choice of modern times is between freedom of production and freedom of the truth: "But the freedom to produce, unchecked by truth, means the dictatorship of ends in a world devoid of truth and thus enslaves man while appearing to set him free. Only when truth has value in itself and a glimpse of it outweighs every success, only then are we free; and this is why the only authentic freedom is the freedom of the truth" (Nature and Mission, 37).

He echoed these words in his address to educators at the Catholic University of America: "A university or school's Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students. It is a question of conviction -- do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear? (cf. "Gaudium et Spes," No. 22) Are we ready to commit our entire self -- intellect and will, mind and heart -- to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools?"

Identity Crisis and Wisdom
These questions present a real examination of conscience for the nation's Catholic institutions. Controversies have been no less common since the Pope's apostolic visit. The renewal of Catholic higher education has yet to be fully actualized as shown by a somewhat slowing stream of pro-abortion lecturers, honorees, and commencement speakers across the nation; the federal government's January finding that Manhattan College (a New York Catholic institution) has a secular, nonreligious purpose; and the presence of institution-approved student groups contrary to the Catholic faith at many schools.
The above can hardly be pinned upon those well-intentioned authors of the Land O'Lakes Statement. Nevertheless, Land O'Lakes is a necessary cause for much of the distress afflicting many Catholic institutions today. In other words, although Land O'Lakes does not necessarily lead to anti-Catholic theatrical productions such as "The Vagina Monologues" at Catholic institutions, there would be no such performances at Catholic institutions without a Land O'Lakes.

And so each of the nation's Catholic colleges and universities faces a question by which its very identity is inextricably bound: Land O'Lakes or "Ex Corde Ecclesiae"? Because of the inner disharmony between the two, to choose one is to reject the other. Furthermore, will the institutions themselves cleave to Land O'Lakes and its notion of academic freedom, or will they find the pearl of great price that is the Pope's April 2008 address?

There may be those in the academic community who -- "in the face of authority of whatever kind" -- will resist the Pope's words as "external." But would they not in professional deference consider words from an eminently accomplished academic? He is, after all, "the theologian pope," an academic through and through.

No one should forget that these words "intellectual charity" come from one who has himself been a lifelong professor. For this expert member of the academic community, intellectual charity is the very exercise of academic freedom.

* * *

Kevin M. Clarke has a master's degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and teaches religion at St. Joseph Academy in San Marcos, California. He is the author of a chapter on Benedict XVI's Mariology in "De Maria Numquam Satis: The Significance of the Catholic Doctrines on the Blessed Virgin Mary for All People" (University Press of America, 2009), and is a recent contributor to the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

Cross on Mount Soledad "Unconstitutional"

2011-01-06T22:23:00.004-08:00

I am no longer surprised by stories like these, especially when the lawless 9th Circuit is involved. Jesus, too, was considered bad for his nation (cf. Jn 11:49-50).

I commend those of heroic courage who have kept up the legal fight to preserve the Mount Soledad cross in La Jolla from foes of religious freedom. If the cross comes down this time, the eyes of many people who live here in San Diego will be opened.

Here's the story.

Well, they can take down all the crosses off all the mountains in all the world, but they'll never take down the one off Mount Zion, for the one on that mount is the eternal sacrifice from which flows the most precious blood that redeems all mankind.

Papal Christmas Messages, and the Latest Article

2010-12-25T19:10:00.005-08:00

Here are some significant moments from the Pope's Christmas messages. Also, I have a new article.

The infinite distance between God and man is overcome. God has not only bent down, as we read in the Psalms; he has truly “come down”, he has come into the world, he has become one of us, in order to draw all of us to himself. This child is truly Emmanuel – God-with-us. His kingdom truly stretches to the ends of the earth. He has truly built islands of peace in the world-encompassing breadth of the holy Eucharist. Wherever it is celebrated, an island of peace arises, of God’s own peace. This child has ignited the light of goodness in men and has given them strength to overcome the tyranny of might. This child builds his kingdom in every generation from within, from the heart.

~Pope Benedict XVI, Midnight Mass Homily,
for the whole homily, click here

Here is his annual message to the world:

“Verbum caro factum est” – “The Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). ... This message is ever new, ever surprising, for it surpasses even our most daring hope. First of all, because it is not merely a proclamation: it is an event, a happening, which credible witnesses saw, heard and touched in the person of Jesus of Nazareth! Being in his presence, observing his works and hearing his words, they recognized in Jesus the Messiah; and seeing him risen, after his crucifixion, they were certain that he was true man and true God, the only-begotten Son come from the Father, full of grace and truth (cf. Jn 1:14).

~Pope Benedict XVI, Urbi et Orbi Message,
for the whole message, click here

And for my Vatican year in review Zenit article, click here.

Don't forget to leave those lights up and to keep wishing folks a "Merry Christmas" for another 12 days. Live Catholic! It is still the Christmas season until Epiphany (Jan. 6).

Merry Christmas to all!

CDF Steps In to Bring Clarity to Pope's Comments on Condoms

2010-12-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

This should help bring clarity and finality to the question of condoms and male prostitution.

(Big "way to go" to L'Osservatore Romano for helping ignite a controversy, as if we needed another.)

Note From The Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith (via EWTN.com)

Conversation with Carl

2010-12-22T14:06:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the one who occasioned me to write the following response/blog by bringing to my attention this quote from Carl Sagan, agnostic astronomer who died in 1996.

“The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying … it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity” (Carl Sagan).

I wish he were alive today, because this is interesting on a couple of levels and worth conversation.

First of all, let us consider the idea of “an oversized white male” in the sky. Materialism is the rule of the day in the scientific community, but materialism was not an error of the time during the painting of such images of God the Father in the heavens. St. John writes, “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (1:18). God, we see, is immaterial. And so artists throughout history have attempted to give expression to the ineffable. Is He really a large, gray-haired Caucasian male in the sky? Of course not. His size is an artistic attempt to express His majesty; His white hair, traditionally a sign of wisdom, his omniscience. So, watch out for the snares of the materialists, who betray the intent of Christian artists.

Not only is God immaterial, but so are his angels—not to be mistaken for little rosy-cheeked cherubic cupids of Roman myth. We confess in Christianity even prior to the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) that he created “the seen things (Gk: oratōn) and the unseen things (Gk: aoratōn).” Thus, there exists the world of immaterial substances, and certainly Sacred Scripture bears witness to this.

Secondly, I never cease to be awestruck by the non sequiturs that effuse from the lips of scientists who attempt to wax metaphysical. It does not follow that to believe in an Orderer of the universe is “to pray to the law of gravity.” No Christian engages in such nonsense; the law of gravity clearly is not God nor does it follow that believe in an Orderer implies worship of his laws. Rather, we adhere to His laws (some of which are harder to break than others).

However, it would be hasty to altogether dismiss the intent of the point—that the idea of an Unsourced Source of all things does not inspire belief, gratitude, trust, love. Such an exclusively Aristotelian notion of God is quite uninspiring indeed. What then?

The reality goes back to that verse quoted above, that “the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father … has made him known.” Yes, God did order the universe and all its elements. Yes, God holds all things (oratōn kai aoratōn) in existence. Yes, God is the Unsourced Source, the Font of all Being. But the Son has made known that He is Father, that He is almighty, that He is justice, that He is mercy, that He is love.

And so only such a God who tallies the fall of every sparrow is worthy of mankind’s trust, for how much more costly are those made in his image and likeness? Only such a God who has care over and knowledge about all his creatures as to number the hairs on their heads (Mt 10:30) deserves their hopes. Only such a God who sees man’s suffering and sin and becomes man to share our condition, deliver us and feed us by his body, and sanctify us by His Holy Spirit may make us worthy to offer him eternal love and devotion. Only such a God who adopts us as one family under His Most Holy Mother can know the depths of our needs.

Only such a God who greets us in the manger at Bethlehem merits more wonder than the sum of what we give the countless stars He set in motion. For each one, He maintains their course, as for us.

To all who read this, may your hearts in these last couple days of Advent continue to be prepared for the coming of the Lord, and I wish the best of Christmas blessings!

The Great Thing about Teaching Writing at a Catholic school...

2010-12-12T07:42:00.001-08:00

Every now and then, I get to write something fun, too!

Anadiplosis is a scheme in writing in which the last word or phrase in one clause becomes the first word or phrase in the next clause ... and so on and so forth.

Here is one from St. Paul (color-coded so you can see what I mean):

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
And those whom he predestined he also called;
and those whom he called he also justified;
and those whom he justified he also glorified" (Rom 8:29-30).

In Greek (you don't need to know the language to see the parallels, but if you do, feel free to geek out a bit):

ὅτι οὓς προέγνω, καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς·
οὓς δὲ προώρισεν, τούτους καὶ ἐκάλεσεν·
καὶ οὓς ἐκάλεσεν, τούτους καὶ ἐδικαίωσεν·
and οὓς δὲ ἐδικαίωσεν, τούτους καὶ ἐδόξασεν.

To write one, just think of one thing in a sequence that leads to another. You may like Yoda's better ("Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering"), but here is a sample, by me.

Again I have color-coded it for you in case you want to try at home.

From Fiat to Scepter
The joy of her fiat awaits the sorrows of Calvary,
the sorrows of Calvary merit the triumph of Easter,
the triumph of Easter precedes the glory of Ascension,
the glory of Ascension acquires the scepter of Queenship.

Fr. Barron on Whether to Leave the Catholic Church

2010-12-10T17:49:00.005-08:00

All equal paths to one God? Why not leave the Church?

This is why ...

Santa Claus - Icon of Intolerance

2010-12-05T23:33:00.002-08:00

Editorial note: I'm re-running this blog post in honor of St. Nicholas on his feast day. Time to ring in the Advent spirit with a little holiday zeal!

St. Nicholas lived from 270 to 343 A.D. in modern-day Turkey. He lived in an era of great Christian persecution and trial. Most people have heard the following story about St. Nicholas:

A poor man had three young daughters whose dowries he could not afford. Because of this, they faced a future dark with poverty and prostitution. St. Nicholas is said to have heard of the plight of the poor father. He knew such a future was no future at all. One night under cover of darkness, he filled a bag of coins and "dropped them down the chimney" of the poor man's house (in reality, he probably threw them in the window) to cover the eldest daughter's dowry. The next night, he dropped another bag of coins down the chimney. The father, now realizing someone had heard of his plight knew that the "Good Samaritan" would be returning a third night in his generosity to cover the youngest daughter's dowry. Though it is unknown whether the father prepared M&M cookies and milk, he stayed awake to discover the identity of the humble benefactor. It was Nicholas. Had the father not stayed awake, no one would have ever known it was him.

This is a very lovely story indeed! Nicholas did many very wonderful things, some of which follow.

Many might consider the following events of Nicholas' life acts of intolerance. To get to what is relevant for our purposes, we have to know more about the man beyond the legend. Nicholas one night had a vision of the Lord Jesus in glory holding the jewel-adorned Gospels and standing beside Nicholas. On Nicholas' other side was the Blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, holding a bishop's stole. Shortly after his vision, the Church named Nicholas bishop of Myra. Nicholas served as bishop during a difficult, but profoundly fruitful, time for Christianity. As bishop, he was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned during the oppressive Roman persecutions (much as Catholic bishops are being treated in the same manner in China at this very moment). However, when Emperor Constantine converted, he released many imprisoned bishops, including Nicholas, who returned to his people. Christianity was now legal throughout the Roman Empire.

Intolerant Santa alert! Many pagan worship practices were still observed throughout Nicholas' diocese. Many people in Asia Minor continued to worship the Greek fertility goddess Artemis, daughter of Zeus. Nicholas knew that as bishop, he had to care for the souls of his flock, who might flock back to what he knew to be a demon-inspired fertility cult. He set out to destroy the shrines and expel the demons from the land. And so it was: through Nicholas' life-long efforts, the once-magnificent temple of Artemis in Myra and several other temples were razed to the ground.

Meanwhile, a strange new difficulty arose for the Church as it became the official religion of the empire - the state sought to get involved in disputes over Church teachings. (Nobody ever talks about the exceedingly lengthy history of state-church interference!)

One of the great controversies of the early Church had to do with the nature of Jesus Christ. Who was this man? One wayward priest, Arius of Alexandria (Egypt), felt he had the answer. Arius alleged that Jesus was not God, but was only a man. Arius in 319 challenged the Church's teaching that the Son of God was equal to God the Father and that as Son. Arius, ignoring the Sacred Gospels, erroneously taught that there was once a time when the Son of God did not exist. Arius' Jesus was no Christ at all, but only a man, and not divine. As the months and years went on, Arius gathered quite a following, a following which grew even after he was excommunicated from the Church in 321. The peace of the Church was in jeopardy. Meanwhile in his diocese, Nicholas had defended the truth about Christ with great vigor, and as St. Methodious writes, "thanks to the teaching of St. Nicholas the metropolis of Myra alone was untouched by the filth of the Arian heresy, which it firmly rejected as death-dealing poison." As division grew between Christians and this new sect, the Emperor Constantine called a council in 325 - the Council of Nicaea.

Intolerant Santa alert! At the council, Arius alleged that Jesus was only "like" God. Nicholas could bear no more. Filled with zealous love for the true Jesus, he rose to his feet and boxed the ears of the arch-heretic Arius, who fell to the ground (some accounts allege that he clobbered Arius with a magical sack of toys). The other bishops (desiring to condemn such behavior) banned Nicholas from the Council, imprisoned him, and removed him from the episcopacy. Later, several other bishops received the same vision of Nicholas surrounded by the Lord and his Mother. They soon restored Nicholas as bishop.

Arius was defeated at the Council of Nicaea thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit through holy and zealous priests like St. Nicholas and St. Athanasius (for whom it is certain that I will some day write a blog). The Nicene Creed, which affirms that Jesus is "eternally begotten of the Father: God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in being [consubstantial] with the Father..." Arianism would be wounded at the Council, and was definitively defeated by the late 4th century.

Indeed, the real "Santa Claus" was a very intolerant man - intolerant of idolatry and blasphemy - that's part of the reason he is a saint. I would not want to be on St. Nicholas' "naughty list." This sure puts "Santa Claus is coming to town" in a whole new perspective.

God bless St. Nicholas! May similar instances of intolerance abound throughout the world! It will be a better place, I guarantee it.

The Hokey Pokey: A Devilish Dance?

2010-11-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

One of my students informed me about this not too long ago. I knew the phrase "hocus pocus" originated to mock Catholicism (before transubstantiation in the Latin Mass, the priest says, "Hoc est enim corpus meum." The phrase is meant to mock the Mass! The hokey pokey was designed to mock the movements of the priest during the Mass). I don't know why I didn't make the connection with the Hokey Pokey, too!

Here's a link from Canterbury Tales: The Hokey Pokey is Anti-Catholic!

The Badger Catholic: Bp Morlino's letter to Platteville Catholic parishes

2010-11-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! This is a must-read. Have a good priest? Write your bishop and tell him so, because the enemy can be quite prolific!
The Badger Catholic: Bishop Morlino's letter to Platteville Catholic Parishes

ZENIT - Bridging the Anglican-Catholic Gap

2010-09-27T16:09:00.001-07:00

Here's the latest article, posted on Zenit:

ZENIT - Bridging the Anglican-Catholic Gap: The Ecumenical Impact of Benedict XVI's UK Trip.

By Kevin M. Clarke

SAN MARCOS, California, SEPT. 27, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Five years into his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI marked a new papal first -- celebrating a beatification.

This beatification occurred in the homeland of the one raised to the altars, as has been the Vatican’s trend. But the papal voyage for a beatification was unique. Then again, 19th-century former Anglican and Catholic convert John Henry Cardinal Newman is no ordinary beatus.

Pope Benedict stated on the flight on the way to the United Kingdom that Newman is a man of “exceptional stature for our time” and a “bridge” to unity between Anglicans and Catholics. He even stated that he is “like a Doctor of the Church for us and for all.”

So, the now Blessed Newman may also become the 34th of the Church’s doctors -- an act that may accompany his future canonization. And why not? Consider the many spheres of Catholic theology in which Blessed Newman extended his influence -- development of doctrine, ecumenism, the nature of Catholic education.

And while the Pope stressed Blessed Newman’s impact over each, in addition to Newman’s spirituality and holiness, the United Kingdom visit and the surrounding events bear the greatest impact upon the future of the ecumenical movement.

The Pope and the ecumenical meetings

Among his Friday stops was Lambeth Palace, where the Pope met with the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. While the Pope did not dwell heavily upon the present state of ecumenism in his address, he offered insights that no doubt will bear heavily upon the future of the Anglican-Catholic dialogue.

The Pope even managed to eloquently raise the often ecumenically complicated question of conversion. He did this by elevating the witness given by Blessed Newman, who “was moved to follow his conscience, even at great personal cost.” That movement, of course, was his historic acceptance of the Catholic faith.

But the Holy Father pointed to a second dimension to Blessed Newman’s ecumenical witness is his continued companionship with members of the Anglican community. This “led him to explore with them, in a truly eirenical spirit, the questions on which they differed, driven by a deep longing for unity in faith.” The Pope extended his desire toward Williams to continue in that same spirit.

The graceful mention of Newman’s fidelity to his conscience is an important one. All too often one hears personal conversion stories in which pastors from other communities desiring full communion with Rome were encouraged -- in some cases even by Catholics themselves -- to remain separate from the Catholic Church to achieve the greatest possible unity. But what is lost in such an approach is the pastor’s duty himself to follow his conscience.

And this, of course, is why Blessed Newman’s example is so vital. Newman’s ecumenical witness brilliantly illumines the true path to union -- one in which followers of Christ achieve the real unity for which our Lord prays (cf. John 17) by following their consciences, and dialogue and friendship continue in charity and in truth.

During an ecumenical celebration at Westminster Abbey, the Pope marked the centenary year of the modern ecumenical movement by accentuating the progress that has been made from the beginning. He drew attention to the common theological beliefs shared by Anglicans and Catholics, but also addressed the many challenges, both on the path to Christian unity and with regard to the proclamation of Christ in the modern age.

Offering the following “word of encouragement,” he stated: “Fidelity to the word of God, precisely because it is a true word, demands of us an obedience which leads us together to a deeper understanding of the Lord’s will, an obedience which must be free of intellectual conformism or facile accommodation to the spirit of the age.”

"Anglicanorum Coetibus" making inroads

Before looking to the future canonization of a St. Newman -- however many years away that may be -- looking to the past year will shed light on the present of Vatican-Anglican relations.

Less than a week after the beatification, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced that Washington Archbishop Daniel Wuerl, by appointment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will head the U.S. body in charge of implementing the Pope’s apostolic constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus." Archbishop Wuerl’s job will be twofold: to implement the apostolic constitution and to gauge interest. No doubt his duty will also entail the assuaging of fears -- on the part of both Anglicans and Catholics -- concerning the many challenges of the change.

The Vatican is in the process of setting up the structures for reception of Anglicans who according to the constitution have requested “repeatedly and insistently” to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. The document, given last November, looks to create “ordinariates” for Anglicans desiring full communion.

The ordinariates may be compared with particular churches, as provisions guarantee that much of the Anglican liturgical identity will be preserved, while establishing full doctrinal communion within Sacred Tradition (with the Catechism of the Catholic Church as its authoritative expression). The constitution also elucidates the acceptance of Anglican clergy into Holy Orders.

The idea is essentially the same -- the ordinariates are as local churches, preserving the characteristics of the Anglican communion while achieving the koinonia in the Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church.

A unified future?

Forget the protesters and the embittered anti-Catholic reports that characterize much of the secular media, lest the true face of the papal image be overlooked: that of progressing healing of centuries-old divisions. Anglicans and Catholics -- servants of the same Lord, together “seeking a deeper understanding of the Lord’s will” -- both share in the glorious triumph of the recent papal visit.

And if Blessed Newman becomes St. Newman and in St. Peter's Square -- perhaps sooner rather than later -- many will make the physical journey from the U.K. to Rome, a journey symbolic of the increasing spiritual union that is a gift of the “bridge” to which the Pope had referred -- Newman himself.

* * *

Quoteboard: The Cost of Witnessing to the Gospel

2010-09-18T21:53:00.003-07:00

A quote worthy of much contemplation, from Pope Benedict in Hyde Park on the vigil of the canonization of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman. So very true, especially for a nation in which his Holiness is attacked by so many:

In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society.

~Pope Benedict XVI,
Prayer Vigil on the Eve of the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman

St. John Bosco and Education

2010-08-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Wanted to pass along this interesting dream of St. John Bosco to my fellow teachers around and about. Convicting reading.

An Exhortation to Educators
Letter from St. John Bosco to his Salesians, from Rome, May 10, 1884 outlining the place of friendship, relationship and recreation in his 'preventative' approach.
Bosco, Don (1884) 'An exhortation to educators', Rome, May 10, 1884. Accessed through the informal education archives.

Dear sons in Jesus Christ,

Near or far, I am always thinking of you. My only desire is to see you happy both in this world and the next. That is why I am writing this letter to you. My absence from you weighs heavily on me, and not being able to see and hear you hurts me more than you can imagine. Indeed, I wanted to write to you a week ago but was prevented from doing so by endless business. It will not be all that long now before I am back among you, nevertheless I want to anticipate my return by means of a letter since I am unable to come in person. I am speaking as one who loves you tenderly in Christ Jesus and who feels it his duty to speak to you with the freedom of a father. You’ll allow me that, won’t you? And you will listen to me carefully and do what I tell you.

As I said, you are the sole object of my thoughts. Well then, I went up to my room a few nights ago and began to say the prayers my good mother taught me, before getting into bed, and whether I was simply overcome by sleep or carried away by a distraction I don’t really know, but it seemed that two of the former pupils of the Oratory were standing there before me.

One of them came forward and greeted me affectionately, saying “Don Bosco! Do you know me?” “Of course, I do,” I replied. “And do you remember me?” he went on. “Yes, not only you, but the others too. You’re Valfre and you were at the Oratory before 1870.”

“Tell me,” he added, “would you like to see the boys who were at the Oratory in my time?” “Oh, yes, let me see them.” I replied, “I would be delighted.”

Valfre then showed me the boys just as they were at that time, the same features, height and so on. It seemed to me that I was in recreation in the Oratory of those days. Everywhere I looked there was life, movement and joy; some were running, some jumping, some skipping. Some were playing leap-frog, some tag, some with a ball; in one corner was a huddle of boys hanging on the words of one of the priests as he told them a story; in another corner a cleric was playing with a group of lads. There were songs and laughter on all sides, Brothers and Priests everywhere and the joyful cries of the boys around them. It was perfectly clear that the greatest cordiality and confidence existed between the boys and their superiors. I was overjoyed by the sight and Valfre said to me: “As you can see familiarity breeds affection and affection breeds confidence. This is what opens hearts; the boys can open up without fear to their teachers, assistants and superiors. They become frank both inside and outside the confessional and in general they show great docility to the commands of those of whose love they are sure.”

At that moment the other past pupil, who had a pure white beard, now came forward and said: “Don Bosco, would you like now to know and see the boys who are at the Oratory today?” It was Joseph Buzzetti who spoke.

“Yes,” I replied, “For it is more than a month since I last saw them.”

So he showed me them. I saw the Oratory and everyone of you in recreation. But the cries of joy and the songs I no longer heard, nor was there the lively activity of the previous scene. Instead boredom, weariness and ill-humour could be seen in the actions and on the faces of many of the lads, together with a lack of trust which made me sore at heart. There were many, it is true, who were moving and running about in a spirit of carefree joy. But I saw others, and their number was anything but small, standing by themselves, leaning against the pillars where they were a prey to disturbing fantasies, or standing on the steps or in the corridors or on the garden terraces, trying to get away from the common recreation. Some were strolling about in groups, talking in subdued voices and casting suspicious and furtive glances in every direction; they would smile from time to time but the glances that accompanied their smiles made it plain that St. Aloysius would have blushed had he been in their company. Even among those who ran around there were some who put so little heart into what they were about that it was quite clear they had no real taste for their games.

“Have you seen your boys?” said my past pupil.

“I can see them.” I said, sadly. “How different they are from what we used to be,” went on my good past-pupil. “Alas! What a lack of interest in the recreation!”

“Here you have the reason why they approach the sacraments so coldly, why they neglect their practices of piety in the church and elsewhere, why they stay so unwillingly in a place where Divine Providence endues them with every blessing for body, soul and mind; this is why many do not correspond with their vocation, why superiors meet with ingratitude, why you get secret groups forming, with grumbling and all the other deplorable consequences.”

“I see; I understand,” I replied. “But how am I to put fresh life into my dear boys that they may be as active, joyful and expansive as before?”

“With charity!”

“With charity? Are my boys not loved enough? Surely you know that I love them. You know how much I have suffered and put up with for their sake for 40 years and more, and how much I still endure and suffer for them. The weariness, humiliations, opposition, persecutions, to find them bread and board, and teachers, but above all to help them to save their souls. I have done all I could for their sakes, for they are the object of all my affections.”

“I’m not talking about you!”

“Whom are you talking about then? About those who take my place? The Rectors, prefects, teachers and assistants? Surely you see that they are martyrs to work and study and that they wear out their young lives for those whom Providence has confided to them?”

“I can see that and I am well aware of it, but it’s not enough; the best thing is missing.”

“What is lacking then?”

“That the boys should not only be loved, but realize that they are loved.”

“But have they not got eyes in their heads? Have they no intelligence? Can’t they see how much is being done for them out of love?”

“No. I repeat, that’s not enough.”

“Well then, what is needed?”

“That they be loved in the things which they themselves like by a sharing in their youthful interests; in this way they will learn to see your love in matters which naturally speaking are not very pleasing to them, as is the case with study, discipline, and self-denial: in this way they will learn to do these things also with love.”

“Could you clarify that a little?”

“Just look at your boys in recreation.”

I looked and then replied: “Well, what’s special about it?”

“Don’t you understand after all these years in the education of the young? Have a better look. Where are the Salesians?”

As I looked I saw that there were very few priests and clerics mixing with the boys and fewer still taking part in their games: the superiors were no longer the heart and soul of the recreation; most of them were walking up and down by themselves conversing together and paying little attention to what the boys were doing; others were looking on at the recreation but with no real concern for the boys; others watched from a distance with never a word to those at fault; some did warn the boys but rarely and when they did so it was in a threatening manner. There were some Salesians who did want to mix with the boys only to discover that the latter wanted earnestly to get away from the masters and the superiors.

It was then that my friend went on: “In the old days at the Oratory you were always among the boys, weren’t you, especially during the recreation? Do you remember those marvellous years? It was a foretaste of heaven, years that we always remember with love for in those days it was affection that took the place of rule and from you we had no secrets.”

“Yes, indeed, in those days everything was a joy to me, with the boys rushing to gather around me, glad to listen to me, anxious to hear my advice and act on it. But you see how I am kept from them today with endless visits, increasing business and ill-health.”

“True, but if you cannot do it, why don’t your Salesians do so? Why don’t you insist that they treat the boys as you did?”

“But I do. I talk until I’m hoarse but alas, there are many who feel that they just couldn’t stand up to the strains of the past.”

“And so neglecting the less, they lose the more, the ‘more’ being their labours. Let them like what the boys like, and the boys will come to like what the superiors like. This will make the work easy. The reason for the present change in the Oratory is the lack of confidence in their superiors on the part of many boys. In the past hearts were wide open to the superiors, for the boys loved them and obeyed them promptly. Today however, the superiors are seen precisely as superiors and not at all as fathers, brothers and friends. That’s why the boys are afraid of them and don’t love them. If you want to see everyone of one heart and one mind again, then, for the love of God, you must break down the fatal barrier of distrust and put a happy spirit of confidence in its place. Then, just as a mother guides her child, so obedience will guide the boys, and there will be peace and joy at the Oratory once again, as in the days gone by.”

“How are we to go about breaking down this barrier?”

“By a friendly relationship with the boys, especially in recreation. Affection can’t be shown without this friendly relationship, and unless affection is seen there can be no confidence. He who wants to be loved must first show his own love. Our Lord made himself little with the little ones and bore our infirmities. He is our Master in this matter of the friendly approach. A master who is only seen in the master’s chair is just a master and nothing more, but if he goes into recreation with the boys he becomes their brother.

If someone is only seen preaching from the pulpit, it will be said that he does his duty, neither more nor less, whereas if he whispers a little word in recreation, this is seen as the word of a friend. How many conversions were brought about by those few words which you whispered suddenly in a boy’s ear, in the thick of the game! When a person knows he is loved, he will love in return, and when a person is loved he can get anything, especially from boys. This confidence sets up an electric current between boys and superiors. Hearts are opened, needs and weaknesses made known. This love enables superiors to bear with weariness, annoyance, ingratitude, or the troubles, failings and neglect of the boys. Our Lord did not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. He is your model. In this way, no one will be seen working out of vainglory or dealing out punishment out of wounded self-love, no one will be seen withdrawing from the work of assisting through jealous fear of another’s popularity, nor criticising the others in the hope of winning the boys love and esteem for himself to the exclusion of the others, gaining nothing in fact but contempt and hypocritical flattery. No one will lose his heart to some creature and, through paying court to him, forget about the rest of the boys. No one will neglect his bounden duty of assisting through a love of ease and comfort; no one will ever be seen refraining from correction, where correction is due, through human respect. With this true love only the glory of God and the good of souls will be sought. It is when there is a cooling off in such love that things go badly. Why let charity yield to cold legislation? Why are superiors moving away from the educational directives given them by Don Bosco? Why the steady replacement of loving and watchful prevention by a system which consists in framing laws? This is certainly less trying and a lot more convenient for the superior, but laws which are enforced by punishments stir up hatred and give rise to bitterness, whilst laws which are not enforced at all arouse only contempt for the superiors and cause serious disorders.

This is sure to happen where there is no friendly relationship. If then you want the Oratory to return to the happiness of former days, then let the system of those days flourish again. Let the superior be all things to everyone, ready to listen to the troubles or complaints of the boys, watching over their conduct with a father’s care, whole-hearted in his efforts for the spiritual and temporal welfare of those whom Providence has entrusted to him.

In this way hearts will no longer be closed and those furtive, fatal cliques will disappear. Let superiors be inexorable only in cases of scandal. It is better to run the risk of sending an innocent boy away then of keeping one who is the cause of scandal. Assistants should make it a strict obligation of conscience to refer to the superior whatever they know to be an offence against God.”

I then put this question to him: “What is the best way of bringing about this friendly relationship and this love and this confidence?”

“The exact observance of the rules of the house.”

“Is that all?”

“The best dish at dinner is a cheerful face.”

As my old friend finished speaking and I looked on sadly at the recreation, a feeling of weariness crept over me. It got stronger all the time. It became so overpowering that I could no longer bear it: I shook myself and came to.

I found I was standing by my bed. My legs were so swollen and painful that I could no longer keep on my feet. As it was very late I went to bed, resolved however to write these lines to my dear sons.

I wish I didn’t have these dreams, they leave me so exhausted. I was exhausted the next day, and thought the night would never come, so much did I want to get to bed. Yet I was hardly in bed when the dream began all over again. There was the yard before me, the present generation of Oratory boys and the same past pupil. I began to question him.

“I’ll tell my Salesians what you told me, but what should I say to the boys of the Oratory?” “Tell them,” he replied, “that they should try to realize how much their masters and assistants love them since they work so hard and zealously for them; that if they weren’t doing this for the good of the boys, they would never accept so many sacrifices. Remind them that humility is the source of all peace and that they should learn to put up with the failings of others since there is no perfection in this world but only in the next. Tell them to put an end to criticism which makes the heart grow cold, and most of all, tell them to make every effort to live in the holy grace of God. If we are not at peace with God, we are not at peace with ourselves nor with one another.”

“Are you telling me that some of my boys are not at peace with God?”

“This is the first cause of bad spirit, among other things which you know well enough without my mentioning them, and which you must remedy. Indeed the only person who shows distrust is one who has secrets to guard, who is afraid they may become known and cause him unhappiness and shame. At the same time, if his heart is not at peace with God, he will be a prey to restless anxiety, intolerant of obedience and will get upset for nothing at all. He will feel that everything is going against him and because he is without love himself, he will think the superiors have none in his regard either.”

“But surely, my good friend, you can see for yourself how regularly the sacraments of confession and communion are received in the Oratory!”

“That is so; many do go to confession but what is basically lacking in the confessions of so many young people, is a firm purpose of amendment. They confess all right but the faults are always the same, the same acts of disobedience and the same neglect of duty. So it goes on for months and months, for years and years and right up to the top form. Such confessions are worth little or nothing, they bring no peace and if a young man were called before the tribunal of God in such a state, it would be a serious matter indeed.”

“Are there many boys like that in the Oratory?”

“No. Considering the large number of boys in the house, they are few.” So saying he let me see them.

I looked and saw each of these boys in turn. There were not many but what I saw in them made me very sad at heart. I won’t say in my letter what I saw, but as soon as I get back I intend to have a word with each of the boys in question. For the moment I shall simply say that it is time for prayer and firm resolutions: to show by deeds and not just by words that the Comollos, the Dominic Savios, the Besuccos and Saccardis are still among us.

I put a final question to my friend: “Have you anything else to tell me?”

“Tell them all, both young and old, not to forget Mary's help of Christians. Tell them that she has brought them together to protect them from the dangers of the world, so that they may love one another as brothers and give glory to God and to her by their good conduct. Tell them that it is Our Lady who sends them bread and the means to study, by a constant flow of favours and marvels. Remind them that they are on the threshold of their holy Mother’s feast, with whose help there must come down the barrier of distrust which the devil has so cunningly erected between the superiors and the boys, which he exploits for the ruination of certain souls.”

“Shall we succeed in breaking down this barrier?”

“Certainly you will, provided that both young and old alike are willing to perform some little mortification in honour of Our Lady, and if they put into practice what I have told you.”

Meanwhile I kept my eyes on the boys but the sight of those whom I saw heading for eternal ruin hurt my heart so much that I woke up.

There is a whole host of things, all important, that I should like to tell you about, but I have neither time nor opportunity now.

I must finish off. Do you know what this old man who has spent his life for his dear boys, wants from you? One thing only, that, due allowances being made, the happy days of the Oratory may return; the days of affection and Christian confidence between the boys and superiors; the days of affability and mutual forbearance for the love of Jesus Christ; the days when hearts were open in all simplicity and candour, the days of charity and true happiness for all. I need the consolation of your promise that you will do all I ask of you for the good of your souls. You do not realize sufficiently how fortunate you are in being given shelter at the Oratory. I can tell you before God, that it is enough for a boy to enter a Salesian house for our blessed Lady to take him immediately under her special protection. Let us all be at one in this: let the charity of those who are in authority and the charity of those who have to obey cause the spirit of St. Francis de Sales to reign among us.

Oh, my dear boys, the time is drawing near when I shall have to leave you and depart for eternity. [Secretary ‘s note: At this point Don Bosco broke off the dictation; his eyes filled with tears, not of sorrow but because of the ineffable tenderness that was evident from his looks and words; after a few moments he went on.] That is why, O my dear Fathers and Brothers and dearest boys, I want to leave you on the road which the Lord himself would have you.

To this end the Holy Father whom I saw on May 9th, sends you his blessing with all his heart. On the feast of Mary Help of Christians I shall be back with you before the statue of our loving mother. I want this great feast to be celebrated with the maximum solemnity and I would like Don Lazzero and Don Marchisio to see to it that you enjoy yourselves in the refectory as well. The feast of Mary Help of Christians must be the prelude to the neverending feast that we must celebrate later when we are all united in Paradise.

Affectionately in Christ,

Father John Bosco

Rome, May 10, 1884

Expanding the Liturgical Vocabulary

2010-08-20T22:21:00.001-07:00

With the new translation of the liturgy on the horizon (Advent 2011), I am reminded of one of the more annoying stories to come out of 2009. Bishop Trautman of Erie, Penn., slammed the new translation of the liturgy as “slavishly literal.” In particular, His Excellency identified nine words that he said would be inaccessible to the Catholic faithful.

God bless him! I know his heart must be in the right place. However, this is quite obnoxious because such a row could have easily been avoided if higher esteem were given to the eagerness of the faithful to learn our common Tradition. One should not underestimate the English-speaking Catholics. Indeed, all over the country Catholics are asked to make sense of overly ambiguous pastorally sensitive homilies on a weekly basis. Hence, the task of learning only nine liturgical vocabulary words should be much less daunting.

And so here are those words, complete with definitions, His Excellency had identified. None of these are that complicated. Should these be unfamiliar, I have highlighted in red for you the parts to put upon flash cards, should you feel so moved.

Consubstantial – (adj.) of the same substance. This refers to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit sharing the one divine nature. In the Nicene Creed, this was previously translated as “one in being.” But this does not really do justice to the original Greek, homoousios, better translated by consubstantial. Interestingly, only the Latin-based word does justice to our rich Greek heritage, because “one in being” is not as specific as “of the same substance.” If one knows Conciliar history, this battle for the truth about Christ was, as the kids say, “um, kinda a big deal.” 1Ignominy – (n.) humiliation, shame, disgrace. Maybe this is the most unfamiliar of the nine. But if you’ve prayed the Ligourian stations of the Cross, St. Alphonsus uses the phrase “ignominious death on the Cross.” In other words, the crucifixion was humiliating, shameful. For Jews, to die hung to a tree was the most shameful way to die. This goes back to Deuteronomy.Incarnate – (adj.) en-fleshment, into the flesh. Look at the roots here. We all know what a carnivore is, right? A creature who eats flesh. In means into. The Second Person of the Trinity took on our flesh. This is known as the mystery of the Incarnation.Ineffable – (adj.) incapable of description. Sentence: When Joe saw Laura from afar, he was rendered silent by her ineffable beauty. God Himself is ineffable – one really is at a loss for words to describe the great mystery that is He is.Inviolate – (adj.) spotless, pure, without violation. This is probably in reference to one of two things, or both—the Immaculate (unblemished) Virgin, who is kept pure from the stain of sin, or the holy and unblemished flesh of Christ, which, of course, he took from the Immaculate Virgin.Oblation – (n.) a sacrifice offered to God; gifts brought to God. The Eucharist is an oblation, because it the gifts of bread and wine are offered as a sacrifice to God, and in a marvelous exchange of gifts, He gives us His Son.Precursor – (n.) something or someone that goes before another. John the Baptist was the precursor to Jesus.Suffused – (v.) bathed or immersed. There’s a sense of pouring forth. Think of something that has been “suffused with light.”Unvanquished – (adj.) a state of never having been overcome or conquered. Christ is unvanquished by sin and death (and, of course, so is Mary now, and so will all the elect be in the rising from the dead).

So there, you see, it’s not as bad as the fear and resistance would indicate. After all, if English-speakers can disambiguate words like diversity, tolerance, and other common words in modern parlance, why not expand the liturgical vocabulary?

Notes
1. So, metaphysically speaking, what is a substance? It is that which is itself and not another. For example, a mountain range is not a substance, as it is part of the land. Also, my arm is not a substance. Each person is a substance. I am myself and not another. God is also a substance. But while the Persons of the Trinity are each distinct persons (i.e., the Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit), there is only one nature (divinity) that they each wholly possess in its entirety. Thus we can see that a great deal of disambiguation occurs as we move from the phrase “one in being” to the term “consubstantial.”

"I Find the Dinner Tolerable"

2010-08-06T13:04:00.004-07:00

I do not suppose I would get very far in my marriage if I made the above statement often. I am blessed with a wonderful, loving wife, who happens to be a most amazing cook. She made this last night, and it will not soon be forgotten.

Sorry fellas, she's taken.

And though I have not had the occasion to do so, supposin' I were to say to her, "Honey, I find this lentil soup tolerable" or "Sweetie, this meal as a whole--while subpar--is quite tolerable"? I do think I might find myself soon acquainted with the couch, because such comments are no less than intolerable. Would you not agree?

So I find myself pondering why this backwards culture of ours demands tolerance. Even etymologically--tolerare: to endure, put up with--the word as a disposition leaves something to be desired. It leaves quite a lot to be desired.

How much greater is love! A loving spouse will eat the other's cooking with even greater delight when he or she falls short because then love can triumph through mortification. If a good friend were ever to hear me say, "I find the dinner tolerable," he would pull me aside later and say, "I find your words intolerable! You have been uncharitable." He would be a good friend. That would be a true expression of love. Such a person does not fear rejection; such love casts out fear.

Tolerance, contrary to the thought that this is a culturally worthy virtue, is a loveless and fear-driven word. Catholics, it is said, must be tolerant of moral views contrary to their own. But where is the love? Who would find human sacrifice worthy of tolerance? Who would say, "While I myself would not practice pederasty, I must be tolerant and will not condemn such actions"? Or, on a more culturally acceptable scale, who would say, "I find the idea of rampant teenage fornication tolerable"?

I don't know about you, but I find views that destroy lives intolerable. This is why we do not tolerate abortion. Abortion destroys human beings and their mothers. We do not tolerate fornication. Fornication destroys the youth. We do not tolerate homosexuality. Homosexuality destroys lives.

A loving person will not tolerate such actions. A loving person speaks up to express intolerance toward that which destroys. Do "religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians," as Judge Vaughn Walker has matter-of-factly stated? No. Those relationships themselves are the very things that harm such persons.

Man is called to union with God, not to pursue the morally neutral passions of this life. Immorality destroys man because he is called to be a Temple of the Holy Spirit. Man is called to glorify God in his body. To tolerate that which is intolerable to God is to affirm our brothers and sisters in a path that leads only to self-destruction.

The world fears Christians, because of the violent expressions of the few who have failed to live the witness of love. Such people are intolerant of persons. Intolerance of sin is another matter altogether--it keeps the greater good of the person in perspective. Of course, intolerance of persons has been the way of people in all faiths, as well as atheists, too. But this is often forgotten. I digress.

And so in the world, we will have trouble. The world will continue to hate us for being intolerant. The world will continue to hate us because it believes we have no love. But let us continue to speak our love, because Jesus Christ has conquered the world.

Rather than tolerate destructive actions, let us love our brothers and sisters. While the law seems to have left our countrymen to ruin, let us continue to speak the good news of true Love, Who has taken on our flesh to deliver us from the slavery of the fleshly passions. We know of a freedom that the world does not know, and we have a duty to share it.

Do not be afraid to be lovingly intolerant. May the peace and freedom of Christ, through the intercession of the all-pure and ever-Virgin Mary, transform our world.

Are All Arguments Against Same-Sex "Marriage" Religious in Nature?

2010-08-06T05:37:00.003-07:00

In the wake of another manifestation of judicial despotism, the issue has again been raised that there are only religious objections against same-sex marriage, that there exists no rational non-religious objection.

Au contraire. Same-sex marriage proponents are simply not looking hard enough. Here is an article from Dr. Patrick Lee on the very topic and its impact upon public policy.

(By the way, since all sexual immorality is related, herein also lies a very convincing non-religious philosophical dig on fornication as well. Sex is for marriage and for marriage alone.)

My New Article: ZENIT - A Look at Benedict XVI's Words on Faith

2010-07-30T19:42:00.001-07:00

ZENIT - A Look at Benedict XVI's Words on Faith

Just wanted to pass along this article published by Zenit News Agency. The link is above. Below is the text:

SAN MARCOS, California, JULY 30, 2010 (Zenit.org).- In recent weeks, Benedict XVI has been "resting" at Castel Gandolfo and, according to media reports, working on a third volume of Jesus of Nazareth and a new encyclical on faith. Many thought that the third encyclical would be on the topic of faith, but the Pope as pastor of the Church believed a more needed letter was "Caritas in Veritate." Thus, the arrival of a faith encyclical may be more anticipated than at first glance.

The goal of this article is not to anticipate the work of the Holy Spirit or the words of the Holy Father, but to look at what the Pontiff has already spoken concerning faith in his previous encyclicals. And indeed there is much to focus upon as we look back. What better way to get into a "faith-ful" state of mind for the coming encyclical?

"Deus Caritas Est"

A common thread throughout "Deus Caritas Est" and "Spe Salvi" is the interconnectedness between all the theological virtues. Faith gives certain hope that God has given himself in love to us.

He writes in "Deus Caritas Est": "Faith tells us that God has given his Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love! It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in his hands and that, as the dramatic imagery of the end of the Book of Revelation points out, in spite of all darkness he ultimately triumphs in glory. Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love" (No. 39).

He also wrote that faith, which is an encounter with the living God in itself, opens "new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason" but also purifies reason of any blindness. Thus "faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly" (No. 28).

"Spe Salvi"

Now would be a great time for a close rereading of "Spe Salvi," for of his three encyclicals none is as focused on faith as this one. The reason lies in the profound unity in the New Testament between the concepts of faith and hope. Faith is hope's "substance" which leads to eternal life (cf. No. 10).

Commenting upon the Letter to the Hebrews, Benedict XVI explains the nature of faith: "Faith is not merely a personal reaching out towards things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something. It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for, and this present reality constitutes for us a 'proof' of the things that are still unseen. Faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a 'not yet'" (No. 7).

In the present time, the Holy Father identified a faith-hope crisis, which he traced from the time of Francis Bacon to the present day: faith in progress is an attempt to build the kingdom of man. But faith in progress has failed man, showing itself to be a "threat" that betrays man's dignity and freedom (No. 17-23).

Later in the encyclical, he developed an eschatological theme of faith -- looking "forward" in trust to the coming resurrection of the body and judgment as the path to definitive justice. God is the one who brings justice; faith gives the certainty that death is not the end and that God will do so. In this certainty we also have certainty in eternal life (cf. Nos. 41-44). He wrote, "Only in connection with the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word does the necessity for Christ's return and for new life become fully convincing" (No. 43).

"Caritas in Veritate"

The Holy Father wrote in "Caritas in Veritate" that it is the truth that in charity reflects the twofold dimension of faith, one that is both personal and public (No. 3). Furthermore, the Church's social doctrine is an "instrument and an indispensable setting" for faith's formation (No. 15).

Echoing Pope Paul VI, Benedict XVI pointed out that while reason can grasp the equality of peoples, it cannot establish brotherhood without faith. Only faith in Divine Revelation enables us to perceive that we are one family under the Father (No. 19). He also emphasized the need for dialogue between faith and reason in human authentic human development (Nos. 56-57).

Many false forms of faith threaten development -- faith in human progress, faith in institutions, faith in political structures, faith in technology. But without faith in God, all of these "faiths" use, reduce or destroy man. Faith in God's presence in the mission of development gives purpose and hope to those who face such a great amount of work.

Can a faithless humanism work for the greater good of man in development? To this question, the Holy Father gave a striking answer: "A humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism" (No. 78). True development does not neglect man's spiritual dimension. Thus only development that is open to God is true to man. The Holy Father concluded his encyclical with the essential truth that development needs prayer (No. 79).

Imitating Mary's Faith

The need for a full development of the essence of faith is a need for the Church and the world. I hesitate to say what Benedict XVI will say in his coming encyclical, but I can say is that he will give us a rich theology of faith. Of that we can be certain.

But surely in his encyclical he will bring to the forefront, as he has often done, a model for faith. She is Mary, to whom the Pope has typically devoted the final paragraph of each encyclical.

The Holy Father often has commented upon Mary's faith, a model for the Christian confession and response to God's call. At the close of the Year for Priests, Benedict XVI called Mary the "great woman of faith and love who has become in every generation a wellspring of faith, love and life" (Homily, June 11, 2010).

He has often emphasized her assent to God's plan in the Annunciation, her journey of faith to share the good news with her cousin Elizabeth, her unwavering presence at the foot of the Cross, and her hope throughout the darkness of Holy Saturday awaiting the dawn of the fulfillment of the promises of her Son.

In "Spe Salvi" he asked, "Could it have ended before it began? No, at the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus' own word, you became the mother of believers. In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning" (No. 50).

No matter what, we will come to a deeper understanding how to live "the faith" in the virtue of faith following the faith of the Virgin Mother, of whom Elizabeth said, "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).

It certainly is a tall task for a papal retreat to compose a third volume of Jesus of Nazareth and an encyclical -- all the while being sure to work in some well-deserved piano time. But if there is any man who can pull it off, have faith that he is none other than our Holy Father.

An Interview with ZENIT

2010-07-12T16:13:00.005-07:00

A bit of an update: Here is the link to an interview Zenit conducted with me. Kudos to Karna Swanson for a well-captured introduction and especially to the students who engaged so well in the class. Click to read the article, Encyclicals Aren't Just for Theologians: High School Seniors Challenged With "Caritas in Veritate".

Tuesday update: The interview was also picked up by the Catholic Educational Resource Center and Catholic.net and now Carl Olson from Ignatius Insight. This is exciting! I just hope it makes a difference and helps give kids something other than overly secular sociology in the high school classroom!

Irish, Catholic and Dangerous: Manuscript Evidence and the Pauline Authorship of Hebrews

2010-07-07T08:31:00.002-07:00

Ever wonder who is the "author" of the Letter to the Hebrews? Follow this link for an answer. Irish, Catholic and Dangerous: Manuscript Evidence and the Pauline Authorship of Hebrews.

CC Campbell with Excellent Piece ahead of St. Louis-Bound "Bodies"

2010-07-05T06:56:00.003-07:00

For all their vaunted educational value, these exhibits resemble "Survivor" reruns more than the Sistine Chapel in their appeal to our voyeuristic instincts. It's no coincidence that China, a nation with one of the worst human rights records on earth, is the source of the cadavers in the "Bodies" exhibit. The way we treat bodies reflects the way we think about human dignity. And respect for human rights necessarily begins with respect for the most outward expression of our humanity: our bodies.

This is going to continue to circle the country until Christians and men of good will vote with their wallets and say "no more." Read the whole piece here (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

"Always Forward, Never Back" -- Bl. Junipero Serra, Pray for California!

2010-07-01T16:01:00.007-07:00

I hope this great missionary, Bl. Junipero Serra, will be canonized soon. It would be a great day for America! This year I look forward to the possibility of visiting some of the missions he established (such as the one on the bottom right, San Juan Capistrano [photo from GoCaliforniaMissions.com]). As a teacher at a fine Catholic school in California, I rely heavily upon the intercession of Bl. Junipero.

But never more than today has our nation been in such need of his missionary work. Never more than today have we needed the transforming power of the Gospel and the prayer and contemplative life to be established in our hearts.

For more on this great saint's life, see the biography from American Catholic's Saint of the Day, Bl. Junipero Serra.

Caritas in Veritate – a Resource for Fellow Catholic High School Teachers

2010-06-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to pass along news of a successful program that I implemented this year to teach true Catholic social justice. Caritas in Veritate is that resource. It really is that simple – read it together and discuss it as a class. It will provide for a rich and deep discussion among high school students upon issues in which they are already interested.

Released one year ago today, the Pope’s social encyclical covers anything and everything better than your own textbook (and I would gladly accept a challenge of comparison if you don’t believe me)! In fact, many social justice texts and programs, as well intended as they may be, approach dangerously the realm of liberation theology (or even cross into that realm).

The initial reaction may be, if you have not read the encyclical, “Gosh, I hear it was really dense and difficult to understand – there’s no way my high schoolers could handle it.” I can tell you that they can, because mine have. I implemented it in my own classroom this past year and the kids performed marvelously. But I think that most people who have read it would agree that it is quite understandable.

I am working on a curriculum supplement that may prove more useful for you in the near future, but in the meantime, teach the encyclical and watch the engaging discussions that the kids will have in the classroom. I will share more details as the project advances.

There are a couple of key reasons that I think that this encyclical is invaluable in the classroom.

First of all, everyone knows that Catholic students have an advantage in the world because of the superior education our schools typically provide. So we really are forming the world’s future business leaders to operate under principles of love and truth.

Secondly, they will understand the evolution of economic problems since the mid-20th century.

Thirdly, they will better be able to recognize the many modern threats to man.

The Pope distinguishes authentic human development from its phony counterpart that parades itself as true development. The kids will be able to see through the illusions of these social programs. Included in this are the programs that strive for solidarity without men but neglect the principle of subsidiarity (and vice versa).

I think this is a big one in our modern cultural climate (pun intended): students will understand true human ecology. Where is man’s place in the environment? What does true Catholic “environmentalism” (i.e., stewardship for creation) look like? They will understand that man is at the center of creation and how he treats himself reflects how he treats the environment—for example, no culture that kills its children can have a right perspective on the right treatment and use of the environment (as has been most aptly illustrated lately).

Sixthly, the students will be able to articulate why technology is not an end in itself but must be directed toward man’s end.

Finally, they will understand that the spiritual development of man is essential to authentic human development. For example, establishment of the atheistic state is contrary to man’s development.

Talk it over with your principal or religion department head and give it a try. If your administrators need a little more convincing beyond the above reasons, what better way to reach our youth than to bring them the teachings from the man who has been called “the ‘green’ pope”? One organization in particular—the Catholic Honor Society of the Acton Institute—is honoring superior Catholic schools. One of their standards of measurement is use of papal encyclicals in the religion curriculum. Also, following a long night, the dawn of orthodoxy is becoming “in” these days in more and more Catholic schools. Time to get with the times!

But if any of you were wondering, ‘How can I bring this encyclical to my classroom?’ it’s easy: Just do it! If you understand it and the students are motivated to do the work, then the classroom will thrive. There are challenging concepts to be discussed, but if we do not rise to the challenge as educators, then the danger is that the youth will fall victims to the very institutions the Pope warns of in Caritas in Veritate.

The youth as the future business leaders of the world desperately need these principles for their formation. It’s no overestimation to say that the fate of the world really is at stake.

Follow Up on Previous UFC/MMA Post

2010-06-29T00:34:00.004-07:00

Update: Sadly, not long after the post last week about the need to wipe from the earth the bloodsport of mixed martial arts, the death of a fighter, Michael Kirkham, 30, is being reported. Here is the link from the American Free Press.

Let us all pray for the repose of his soul, for the consolation of his family, and for an end to this madness.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Christ and the Ultimate Fighting Championship -- Do You See Him When You Watch the UFC?

2010-06-20T12:40:00.014-07:00

So I am going to have to beg your pardon if this post is a bit more hard-hitting than normal, but it needs to be said in light of the rise of this cultural epiphenomenon accompanying the near-collapse of professional boxing. This is a parade that very much needs to be rained upon, because souls are being lost to bloodlust.

According to The New York Times, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the nation’s leading pay-per-view attraction. I am not surprised, considering that in a recent family trip to a previously reputable sports bar with my wife and daughter, I found myself surrounded by 360 degrees of brutality—at 5 p.m. in the afternoon no less. Baseball, soccer, and UFC. I gave my 2-year-old the seat with the least prominent view of the fighting; meanwhile my wife and I guarded our eyes with great vigilance. Needless to say, I will not be returning to dine in.

Sadly, I now am realizing that this “sport” has become increasingly mainstream. We should all be disturbed by this.

I have this word to the men (and women) out there who may stumble across this site who may be a “fan” of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC): Repent! And you—yes, you, the individual whose eyes read these words—if you delight in this sort of mess, you yourself bring ruin upon culture and upon lives. Do you on the one hand lay scorn upon Michael Vick for his felonious dog-fighting ring and on the other cheer on a human being who beats another into a stupor for entertainment purposes? This is far worse, for dogs are not made in God’s image and likeness.

The rationalizations of those who watch UFC are probably much like those who view pornography. I do imagine that they think something to the effect of:

‘What does it matter if I watch this?’
‘I am not paying for it.’ (Or: ‘Even though I’m paying for it, what’s my few dollars?’)
‘I am not bludgeoning this person. I am a spectator; I would never do that.’
‘Plus, I admire their strength. These men are amazing dedicated fighters.’
‘They have imposed all sorts of more rules; plus, there are more deaths in football or cheerleading.’

Do you realize that in so reasoning you have granted your acceptance of this in our society? As in pornography, there are real victims, such as Sam Vasquez (left), who died in 2007 following from injuries sustained in UFC competition.

Now for a long while during my youth, I was a fan of boxing. Sure it is a bloody sport, but the padding on the gloves is there to protect the fighters. But then I heard a philosophical argument to the effect of severe cerebral damage results from a career of boxing. I am not convinced that it’s a good thing anymore. The boxing authorities know this, but do fighters wear the “protective” headgear? While individual sports can serve a great good, I do not think that boxing is compatible with our confession of faith (but at the very least it is a sport in great need of reform). Judge the tree by its fruits. The sport of boxing had all but been destroyed by one man’s bite. This KO of boxing was for our good, though perhaps I myself did not realize it at the time. But a fruit has grown from the rotten tree of professional boxing, and that is the UFC—filling in the gap left from our nation’s desire to see one man pummel another.

If you are still unconvinced that this is inherently evil, ask yourself what would happen if the crowd were given the option of rushing the ring to take their shots at the loser—how many would remain in their seats? Or would it be that a great of a change to the dynamic of the “sport” if the victor were given the option of decapitating the loser? Would the crowd react with disgust and displeasure?

You may laugh, but this type of violence is not categorically different from murder. It is one in the same; when you watch, you may as well be seated in the Colosseum. For it is written, “Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15).

This “sport” is the work of the one who is “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Sure there have not been many deaths in this young “sport,” but they will come. Will you change the channel then?

[GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING BELOW]

I am not one to post on my blog these types of images, such as this one from The NYT, because violence is impure and the work of the evil one. Violence attacks the senses, which are made for Christ. But if this “sport” is your cup of tea you need to think about something.

Look at this man on the bottom, lying in a pool of his own blood. Who is he? and what has brought him to the depths of humanity? Does he know of the blessed love of Christ as he lies there, bleeding, receiving blow upon blow? Does he hear the sweet words of the Gospel above the roar of the crowd and the fierceness of his aggressor? And who is the recipient of these blows but Christ himself, who has so loved man so as to die for him?

Now look at the man on top, so covered in his brother’s blood as to be a picture of Cain himself. Is he living the new law of love given us by our Savior? Do you think that this is the kind of human interaction God intends for these men?

But about that man on top, who is he? Do you not realize that when you watch, when you enjoy this viciousness, you are he? Repent from this madness lest you bear the curse of your delights.

Remember well these words of Our Lord:

“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’
Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt. 25:41-46).

Do you recognize the face of the Lord through the blood? I pray you will. Much depends upon it.

May our Blessed Mother, mother of all peoples, who feels the pain of each of her children, through her intercession bring an end to this blood-sport. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

No Ascension of Christ, No Salvation for Man

2010-05-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8).

Fellow Christians: without Our Blessed Lord’s Ascension, our salvation is incomplete!

Praised be to God that he did in fact ascend and that we have salvation—for if he did not we would not!

But, one might object, Christ’s Passion and death are the ultimate victory over the devil. Yes, it is true: because of his death, we are saved from the power of the devil. And, one might continue, Christ’s Resurrection definitively conquered the grave. Indeed, it is true; because of his glorious Resurrection, we are saved from death’s clutches.

So how can I say that our salvation is incomplete? Because in the Death and Resurrection we are being “saved from” something. In Christ’s glorious Ascension, we are now being saved to something. It would be easy to think that salvation means that we are spared the eternal hellfire that we so deserve. But salvation is not just being spared ruin, but to be delivered safely to our destination. It is not enough to save the ship from the storm, but to bring it victoriously into port. We are being saved to the port of heaven.

The Paschal Mystery, that of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, begins in the upper room on Holy Thursday. It continues in Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross. The mystery of the sacrifice continues into Easter Sunday in the triumphant Resurrection of the Lord. But the Paschal Sacrifice is not yet complete until Christ’s glorious Ascension. Otherwise, why would he say after his Resurrection to Mary Magdalene, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (Jn 20:17). The Ascension completes the mystery. It is not a different mystery, or a competing mystery, but one in the same, the work of redemption.

When the fire was placed on the sacrifice at the Temple, the smoke would ascend into heaven as a sweet-smelling oblation to the Lord. Christ is the sacrifice, the fire of divine love descended into the depths of the Cross consuming the most pure Victim and from the lightless and lifeless tomb the radiant ascent began—first ascent from the grave, then ascent from the earth itself.

Wouldn’t we all like Mary Magdalene want Jesus to remain with us here on this earth? What’s the problem with that? The answer is “this earth.” We have a heavenly terrain in which we will dwell. Unless Christ ascends into heaven, we have our deliverance from the devil and from death, but we have no abode in the eternal Promised Land.

But now he has ascended above the heavens, taking his seat at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ, true God and true man, sits at the right hand of the Father. Human nature, friends, has entered heaven forever; true man you will find therein. Praised be the glorious Ascension of Christ forever!

This feast we remember on Ascension Thursday, today. Why a Thursday? Because it is the day of the week that falls 40 days after Easter Sunday. Christ was on the earth for 40 days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3). The number 40 in Sacred Scripture means trial and preparation – 40 years in the desert for the Israelites, 40 days and nights of fasting for Jesus in the desert, 40 days between Resurrection and Ascension. What is he preparing? The Apostles to lead the Church on earth after his ascent. Then what happens? They pray for nine days after that and Christ sends down the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost—50 days after the Resurrection.

“I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7).

Without the Ascension of Christ, who enters the heavens as our great high priest to offer his blood for our redemption (Heb 7:25-9:12), we do not receive the Holy Spirit. As you can see, I am not making this up. Christ’s place in heaven at the right hand of the Father makes the life in the Holy Spirit possible. And without the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation!

See, friends, how the Paschal Mystery is not a compilation of several mysteries, but one whole, the parts of which are all necessary for our salvation? I have only scratched the surface as to why the Ascension of Christ gives us glories beyond compare. This mystery has many ramifications for us and for how we worship, which leads me to an important point.

Many of you may at this point be thinking, if this was such an important feast, why didn’t I have to go to Church today. An excellent question with a very sad answer. One of the great tragedies of the post-Vatican II pastoral initiative within the Church has been what one could call the “wussification” of Catholic life (perhaps it’s a bit of a pandemic, as I recall having heard a fellow speak about such a wussification of the U.S.). Catholic culture has become watered down for the sake of being pastoral, for the sake of not offending anyone.

For example, before this pastoral movement: Confession before every Mass. Now: Well, how about just once a year? Before: Father’s authority over his own parish. Now: The almighty parish council. Before: Doctrine. Now: Dissent. Oh, and we cannot now possibly expect the people to have to attend church on days other than Sundays anymore, so we’ll knock it down to bare bones—get rid of all those Holy Days of Obligation or move them if possible. So, while the feast of the Ascension is a “Holy Day of Obligation,” it just gets bumped it back from Thursday to Sunday, because, really, when did three days ever make a difference? What’s the difference if more people will show up?

All the difference in the world! In our worship, we remember the mysteries of faith—not an empty remembrance like remembering that last item on the grocery list that was left in the car, but a remembrance that actually calls to reality the mysteries that are being remembered. The events of the mystery are actually being made present. So the 40 days, not 43, is a sign of the work of Christ up until his Ascension. We live and worship in imitation of Him who so taught us. He chose 40, let us choose 40, too.

Please write your bishop and tell him that we are tired of being wimpy Catholics, that we want to go to Mass not only on the Sunday before Pentecost but on Ascension Thursday as well, that we are ready to pick up our crosses and follow our Lord, even to the heavens.

Second Coming Nears! Jesus of Nazareth (Part II) Due in Bookstores in a Few Months

2010-05-10T22:42:00.003-07:00

Zenit reports that the second part of the Pope's book Jesus of Nazareth is now complete and in the hands of publishers for translation from the German. It will be on the Passion and Resurrection. I have been looking forward to this coming out since I finished the last one. I'll keep you posted.

Here is the article from Zenit.

Possible for a Catholic to "Dissent" from Doctrine of All-Male Priesthood?

2010-04-29T16:56:00.005-07:00

In teaching about the all-male priesthood and the beauty of this doctrine (not only for men but for women as well), we read the Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (it takes 5 minutes - the link is here). Every Catholic should take the time to read it (but if you don't read the whole thing, at least read paragraph 4).

I also came across the following responsum from Cardinal Ratzinger following up with some dissenters, answering the question whether this is something that is infallible Church doctrine. In other words, can it ever be changed? His answer is below:

SACERDOTALIS RESPONSUM AD DUBIUMCongregation for the Doctrine of the FaithOctober 28, 1995Dubium: Whether the teaching that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, which is presented in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis to be held definitively, is to be understood as belonging to the deposit of faith.Responsum: In the affirmative.This teaching requires definitive assent, since, founded on the written Word of God, and from the beginning constantly preserved and applied in the Tradition of the Church, it has been set forth infallibly by the ordinary and universal Magisterium (cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium 25, 2). Thus, in the present circumstances, the Roman Pontiff, exercising his proper office of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32), has handed on this same teaching by a formal declaration, explicitly stating what is to be held always, everywhere, and by all, as belonging to the deposit of the faith.The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, approved this Reply, adopted in the ordinary session of this Congregation, and ordered it to be published.Rome, from the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on the Feast of the Apostles SS. Simon and Jude, October 28, 1995.Joseph Card. Ratzinger
PrefectTarcisio Bertone
Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli

So the infallibility of the all-male priesthood doctrine comes in this case not from an ex cathedra statement, but from "the ordinary and universal Magisterium," in other words, the constant and unwavering teaching office of the Church over the ages. In light of this, rejection of this teaching is altogether impossible for a Catholic. This practice of the Church has never, can never, and will never change, because it is so much more than practice, but doctrine itself.

If you want to understand why it's a beautiful thing, I suggest the reading of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, paragraphs 1-3.

Bishop Slattery's Homily - A Rhetorical Masterpiece

2010-04-25T23:02:00.002-07:00

This homily was given at the National Shrine on the anniversary of Pope Benedict's elevation to the pontificate. Truly amazing for all present. Did you watch it live on EWTN? or were you there? What a great preacher! Courtesy of Fr. Z's blog: read it here below or follow the link to Fr. Z's site to listen to it in full (What Does the Prayer Really Say?)

Homily of Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Okla., on Occasion of 5-Year Anniversary of Election of Pope Benedict XVIWe have much to discuss – you and I …… much to speak of on this glorious occasion when we gather together in the glare of the world’s scrutiny to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the ascension of Joseph Ratzinger to the throne of Peter.We must come to understand how it is that suffering can reveal the mercy of God and make manifest among us the consoling presence of Jesus Christ, crucified and now risen from the dead.We must speak of this mystery today, first of all because it is one of the great mysteries of revelation, spoken of in the New Testament and attested to by every saint in the Church’s long history, by the martyrs with their blood, by the confessors with their constancy, by the virgins with their purity and by the lay faithful of Christ’s body by their resolute courage under fire.But we must also speak clearly of this mystery because of the enormous suffering which is all around us and which does so much to determine the culture of our modern age.From the enormous suffering of His Holiness these past months to the suffering of the Church’s most recent martyrs in India and Africa, welling up from the suffering of the poor and the dispossessed and the undocumented, and gathering tears from the victims of abuse and neglect, from women who have been deceived into believing that abortion was a simple medical procedure and thus have lost part of their soul to the greed of the abortionist, and now flowing with the heartache of those who suffer from cancer, diabetes, AIDS, or the emotional diseases of our age, it is the sufferings of our people that defines the culture of our modern secular age.This enormous suffering which can take on so many varied physical, mental, and emotional forms will reduce us to fear and trembling – if we do not remember that Christ – our Pasch – has been raised from the dead. Our pain and anguish could dehumanize us, for it has the power to close us in upon ourselves such that we would live always in chaos and confusion – if we do not remember that Christ – our hope – has been raised for our sakes. Jesus is our Pasch, our hope and our light.He makes himself most present in the suffering of his people and this is the mystery of which we must speak today, for when we speak of His saving presence and proclaim His infinite love in the midst of our suffering, when we seek His light and refuse to surrender to the darkness, we receive that light which is the life of men; that light which, as Saint John reminds us in the prologue to his Gospel, can never be overcome by the darkness, no matter how thick, no matter how choking.Our suffering is thus transformed by His presence. It no longer has the power to alienate or isolate us. Neither can it dehumanize us nor destroy us. Suffering, however long and terrible it may be, has only the power to reveal Christ among us, and He is the mercy and the forgiveness of God.The mystery then, of which we speak, is the light that shines in the darkness, Christ Our Lord, Who reveals Himself most wondrously to those who suffer so that suffering and death can do nothing more than bring us to the mercy of the Father.But the point which we must clarify is that Christ reveals Himself to those who suffer in Christ, to those who humbly accept their pain as a personal sharing in His Passion and who are thus obedient to Christ’s command that we take up our cross and follow Him. Suffering by itself is simply the promise that death will claim these mortal bodies of ours, but suffering in Christ is the promise that we will be raised with Christ, when our mortality will be remade in his immortality and all that in our lives which is broken because it is perishable and finite will be made imperishable and incorrupt.This is the meaning of Peter’s claim that he is a witness to the sufferings of Christ and thus one who has a share in the glory yet to be revealed. Once Peter grasped the overwhelming truth of this mystery, his life was changed. The world held nothing for Peter. For him, there was only Christ.This is, as you know, quite a dramatic shift for the man who three times denied Our Lord, the man to whom Jesus said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”Christ’s declaration to Peter that he would be the rock, the impregnable foundation, the mountain of Zion upon which the new Jerusalem would be constructed, follows in Matthew’s Gospel Saint Peter’s dramatic profession of faith, when the Lord asks the Twelve, “Who do people say that I am?” and Peter, impulsive as always, responds “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”Only later – much later – would Peter come to understand the full implication of this first Profession of Faith. Peter would still have to learn that to follow Christ, to truly be His disciple, one must let go of everything which the world considers valuable and necessary, and become powerless. This is the mystery which confounds independent Peter. It is the mystery which still confounds us: to follow Christ, one must surrender everything and become obedient with the obedience of Christ, for no one gains access to the Kingdom of the Father, unless he enter through the humility and the obedience of Jesus.Peter had no idea that eventually he would find himself fully accepting this obedience, joyfully accepting his share in the Passion and Death of Christ. But Peter loved Our Lord and love was the way by which Peter learned how to obey. “Lord, you know that I love thee,” Peter affirms three times with tears; and three times Christ commands him to tend to the flock that gathers at the foot of Calvary – and that is where we are now.Peter knew that Jesus was the true Shepherd, the one Master and the only teacher; the rest of us are learners and the lesson we must learn is obedience, obedience unto death. Nothing less than this, for only when we are willing to be obedient with the very obedience of Christ will we come to recognize Christ’s presence among us.Obedience is thus the heart of the life of the disciple and the key to suffering in Christ and with Christ. This obedience, is must be said, is quite different from obedience the way it is spoken of and dismissed in the world.For those in the world, obedience is a burden and an imposition. It is the way by which the powerful force the powerless to do obeisance. Simply juridical and always external, obedience is the bending that breaks, but a breaking which is still less painful than the punishment meted out for disobedience. Thus for those in the world obedience is a punishment which must be avoided; but for Christians, obedience is always personal, because it is centered on Christ. It is a surrender to Jesus Whom we love.For those whose lives are centered in Christ, obedience is that movement which the heart makes when it leaps in joy having once discovered the truth.Let us consider, then, that Christ has given us both the image of his obedience and the action by which we are made obedient.The image of Christ’s obedience is His Sacred Heart. That Heart, exposed and wounded must give us pause, for man’s heart it generally hidden and secret. In the silence of his own heart, each of us discovers the truth of who we are, the truth of why we are silent when we should speak, or bothersome and quarrelsome when we should be silent. In our hidden recesses of the heart, we come to know the impulses behind our deeds and the reasons why we act so often as cowards and fools.But while man’s heart is generally silent and secret, the Heart of the God-Man is fully visible and accessible. It too reveals the motives behind our Lord’s self-surrender. It was obedience to the Father’s will that mankind be reconciled and our many sins forgiven us. “Son though he was,” the Apostle reminds us, “Jesus learned obedience through what He sufferered.” Obedient unto death, death on a cross, Jesus asks his Father to forgive us that God might reveal the full depth of his mercy and love. “Father, forgive them,” he prayed, “for they know not what they do.”Christ’s Sacred Heart is the image of the obedience which Christ showed by his sacrificial love on Calvary. The Sacrifice of Calvary is also for us the means by which we are made obedient and this is a point which you must never forget: at Mass, we offer ourselves to the Father in union with Christ, who offers Himself in perfect obedience to the Father. We make this offering in obedience to Christ who commanded us to “Do this in memory of me” and our obediential offering is perfected in the love with which the Father receives the gift of His Son.Do not be surprised then that here at Mass, our bloodless offering of the bloody sacrifice of Calvary is a triple act of obedience. First, Christ is obedient to the Father, and offers Himself as a sacrifice of reconciliation. Secondly, we are obedient to Christ and offer ourselves to the Father with Jesus the Son; and thirdly, in sharing Christ’s obedience to the Father, we are made obedient to a new order of reality, in which love is supreme and life reigns eternal, in which suffering and death have been defeated by becoming for us the means by which Christ’s final victory, his future coming, is made manifest and real today.Suffering then, yours, mine, the Pontiffs, is at the heart of personal holiness, because it is our sharing in the obedience of Jesus which reveals his glory. It is the means by which we are made witnesses of his suffering and sharers in the glory to come.Do not be dismayed that there many in the Church have not yet grasped this point, and fewer still in the world will even consider it. You know this to be true and ten men who whisper the truth speak louder than a hundred million who lie.If then someone asks of what we spoke today, tell them we spoke of the truth. If someone asks why it is you came to this Mass, say that it was so that you could be obedient with Christ. If someone asks about the homily, tell them it was about a mystery and if someone asks what I said of the present situation, tell them only that we must – all of us – become saints through what we suffer.

Truth Continues to Vindicate Cardinal Ratzinger's Work in CDF

2010-04-11T17:53:00.002-07:00

Setting the record straight on the sex-abuse scandals and the effectiveness with which the Church has combatted them ... The Fifth Column: Is the Times a-changing?

Please join me in this novena for our Holy Father, courtesy of Bishop Lori and the Knights of Columbus.

Lies, Damned Lies, and the New York Times

2010-03-30T06:47:00.003-07:00

Apologies to all Charcoal Fire followers for not having blogged in quite some time. I'm coming back this summer. But this is too important not to respond. Since the New York Times has "gone U.K." in terms of the quality of its sensational journalism, in their attempt to be the new Napoleon and take down the papacy (who of course failed), many have brought the truth to light.

My purpose is to share three must read articles with you:

From the presiding judge over the church trial in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee: Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence MurphyAn exposure of the Times errors in method and fact by Fr. Raymond De Souza: A Response to the New York TimesA profound statement putting this whole thing into perspective by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, courtesy of Whispers in the LoggiaMake no mistake, an attack upon our beloved Pontiff is an attack upon our faith, an attack upon our way of life, and an attack upon the very kingdom of God, for Jesus himself built the kingdom up this rock (Mt. 16:16-19). It is no wonder, then, that the devil keeps renewing his assault throughout the ages.

More from the Realm of "Don't Believe All You Read about the Catholic Church"

2009-11-29T20:27:00.003-08:00

Pardon me momentarily as I indulge a bit of zeal for Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Church he has founded, which continues to be attacked by so-called progressives.

Readers beware: the National Catholic Reporter (the L.A. Times of "Catholic" journalism) and its dissident staff has several agenda-driven points of doctrinal contention with the Vatican: abortion, women's ordination, incorporation of Eastern spirituality into Catholic practice, gay marriage, and so on, and on, and on. The staff, peppered with longtime dissenters of Humanae Vitae (the prophetic encyclical by Pope Paul VI on the evils of artificial contraception), are bent on attacking any bastion of orthodoxy; they gladly use any group of schismatic American religious (sadly, there are many), to attack the authority of Peter.

Here is a quote from the story:

The vast majority of U.S. women religious are not complying with a Vatican request to answer questions in a document of inquiry that is part of a three-year study of the congregations. Leaders of congregations, instead, are leaving questions unanswered or sending in letters or copies of their communities' constitutions.

"There's been almost universal resistance," said one women religious familiar with the responses compiled by the congregation leaders. "We are saying 'enough!' In my 40 years in religious life I have never seen such unanimity."

What a conveniently unnamed source! Having read accounts from both ends of the spectrum, there is no such unanimity. Don't believe all you read about the Catholic Church, especially if it is written by embittered dissident Catholics.

For a critical analysis of the NCR article, check out Fr. Philip Neri Powell's post. Also, weigh in on this issue in the comment board and be sure to vote in the poll in the left column.

Vatican Inquiry into American Religious Life Unjustified?

2009-10-24T12:56:00.004-07:00

Oh, it is most justified. But let me know what you think in my poll in the left column. Here is further proof. Many, many prayers are needed for religious sisters in America. There are so many good ones, but the scandal of the few proves particularly diabolical. This nun, for example, wears a different habit ...

Here is the article from LifeSite News.

CNS: Pope Establishes Structure for Anglicans Uniting with Rome

2009-10-20T21:06:00.003-07:00

This ecumenical news from Vatican Information Service (via CNS) is very hopeful. I hope this will begin to have a large impact in healing Christian unity. At some point, we all have to come back into one fold. Christ groaned to the Father in His agony "that they may be one" (Jn 17:21-23). Looking forward to the Apostolic Constitution to which this refers ...

Pope establishes structure for Anglicans uniting with Rome

... and for the original news out of VIS, click here.

13th Day -- Don't Miss This Movie

2009-10-19T22:34:00.003-07:00

OK, so this has to be playing somewhere in Southern California soon! Check out the preview.

TCF Quoteboard: The Pope on Music

2009-10-18T20:44:00.002-07:00

More on the nature of music to come in (hopefully) the not-too-distant future:

"Music, great music, gives the spirit repose, awakens profound sentiments and almost naturally invites us to lift up our mind and heart to God in every situation, whether joyous or sad, of human existence. Music can become prayer."

Pope Benedict XVI
--following a concert offered in his honor in Paul VI Hall
by the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale di Imola

Public Schools or Indoctrination Camps? Every Day a Stronger Case for Homeschooling

2009-10-14T19:32:00.004-07:00

No doubt, most of you have seen this clip of these kids, but if not check out this creepy video.

Life Update: Article Published in a Book

2009-10-11T14:08:00.006-07:00

Hello all! Just wanted to pass along some news. I have an article being published in a book by University Press of America about Pope Benedict's Mariology (teaching on the Virgin Mary), called "Divinely Given 'Into Our Reality': Mary's Maternal Mediation According to Pope Benedict XVI." It will be available by next month. The whole book is pretty amazing (I have read all eight articles thoroughly, and mine is the least of them all. Get this one for Dr. Miravalle's article). If anyone is interested, it's available on Amazon. Here is the link: De Maria Numquam Satis (Latin for "About Mary Never Enough"). It is also available here at BarnesandNoble.com for less, it appears, particularly if you have a membership.

Here is a link to the ToC from the publisher's site.

Contributors
Foreword by His Excellency, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh
Mark Miravalle
Robert Fastiggi
Judith Gentle
Margaret Schatkin
Fr. Edward Ondrako
Fr. Nicholas Gregoris
Fr. Paul Haffner

Suscipe of St. Ignatius - Quickly Becoming a Favorite Prayer

2009-09-29T20:15:00.001-07:00

Suscipe of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatsoever I have or possess Thou hast bestowed upon me; I give it all back to Thee and surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy Will. Give me love for Thee alone along with Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.

Latin: Suscipe, Domine, universam meam libertatem. Accipe memoriam, intellectum, atque voluntatem omnem. Quidquid habeo vel possideo mihi largitus es; id tibi totum restituo, ac tuae prorsus voluntati trado gubernandum. Amorem tui solum cum gratia tua mihi dones, et dives sum satis, hec aliud quidquam ultra posco.

Funds Not Solving Abuse Victims' Problems

2009-09-26T19:02:00.005-07:00

A follow-up on the clergy abuse scandals. This is a tragic story on so many different levels:

for the true victims, who were betrayed first by their pastors, second by a litigious culture that believes money can heal all wounds;
for the lawyers, the untold story of this tragedy, most of whom no doubt took their usual percentage (yet, this time, from the collection basket);
for the churchgoers, whose faith was scandalized when their tithes were redirected from parish funds to litigious rewards;
for the faithful who blamed God or the Church founded by His Son rather than blaming the weeds among the wheat, of whom Jesus himself spoke (see Matthew 13:24-30 ... weeds and wheat "grow together" in the kingdom, the Church, until the harvest).

Sadly, this story is tragically unsurprising. Litigation will never be the road to peace, nor will legal compensation relieve the suffering soul. Neither compensatory nor punitive damages heal deep wounds, but only the forgiveness and grace which comes from God through the sacramental mysteries.

May these suffering souls find their peace and healing when they return to Christ and his sacraments and forgive those who have wounded them.

Our Immaculate and Sorrowful Heavenly Mother

2009-09-15T18:57:00.002-07:00

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us! Our Immaculate and Sorrowful Heavenly Mother

Posted using ShareThis

Pope Benedict: Correcting Adam Smith's Pantheistic Economics

2009-09-13T13:34:00.002-07:00

Nice analysis article here out of First Things for those of you who have read or plan to read Pope Benedict's encyclical Caritas in Veritate in the near future. I strongly encourage it! It's very enlightening.

A Return to Augustinian Economics
By John D. Mueller
DIVINE ECONOMY
First Things
Publication Date: August 19, 2009Despite belonging to an organization that recently celebrated its founder's two thousandth birthday, some American Catholics exhibit the attention span of fruit flies when their faith impinges on their politics. Recent responses to Benedict XVI's Caritas in Vertitate ("Charity in Truth") closely parallel those that greeted the last economic encyclicals: John Paul II's Sollicitudo rei socialis ("The Church's Social Concern") and Centesimus Annus ("On the Hundredth Anniversary" [of Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum]). Caritas in Veritate was originally intended for 2007, the fortieth anniversary of Paul VI's 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio ("The Development of Peoples"), which first noted that "the social question has become worldwide" (PP, 3). John Paul II promulgated Sollicitudo rei socialis in 1987, the twentieth anniversary of PP. Partisan contention about John Paul's encyclical crystallized around a single paragraph: "The Church's social doctrine is not a 'third way' between liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism nor even a possible alternative to other solutions less radically opposed to one another: Rather, it constitutes a category of its own" (SRS, 41). Catholics on both the left and the right have analyzed Benedict XVI's latest encyclical with the same dichotomous logic they applied to SRS: The Church says there is no Third Way. If not, we must choose between the First Way of Adam Smith and the Second Way of Karl Marx. But, by emphasizing in his new encyclical the central role of gifts in the divine economy of creation and salvation, as well as in personal, domestic, and political economy, Benedict XVI (like John Paul II before him) poses a very different choice.Following that neglected economic realist St. Augustine (whom the pope has called "my great master") and Augustine's contemporaries the Cappadocian Fathers, Benedict XVI says the choice is among the same three world views that confronted one another in the marketplace of Athens when the Apostle Paul (probably in A.D. 51) prefaced his proclamation of the gospel with a biblically orthodox adaptation of Greco-Roman natural law and "some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers argued with him" (Acts 17:18). As Benedict XVI succinctly summarizes, "For believers, the world derives neither from blind chance, nor from strict necessity, but from God's plan . . . living as a family under the Creator's watchful eye" (CV, 57). The First Way of biblically orthodox natural law is irreconcilable with the Second Way of pantheist Stoic necessity and the Third Way of Epicurean "matter and chance" because the latter two exclude Creation. Yet this natural-theological difference also has important economic consequences, because the three worldviews are expressed in scholastic, classical, and neoclassical economics, respectively.In both his earlier Deus caritas est ("God is Love") and Caritas in Veritate, Benedict XVI employs scholastic economic theory, following the pattern set by Leo XIII. In scholastic natural law, economics is a theory of rational providence that describes how creatures who are "rational," "matrimonial," and "political" animals choose both persons as "ends" (expressed by our personal and collective gifts) and scarce means that are used (consumed) by or for those persons, which we make real through production and exchange. Thomas Aquinas was the first to integrate these four key elements of scholastic economic theory: Aristotle's theories of production and justice-in-exchange, Augustine's theory of utility (which describes consumption), and the scholastic theory of distribution (which comprises Augustine's theory of personal distribution-gifts and their opposite, crimes-and Aristotle's theory of domestic and political distributive justice).By emphasizing the last element, therefore, Benedict isn't inventing something new. Scholastic economics was taught at the highest university level for more than five centuries before Adam Smith effectively dismantled it. Its adherents included all major Catholic and (after the Reformation) Protestant thinkers, notably the Lutheran Samuel Pufendorf. It was Pufendorf's Protestant version that was taught to Smith, widely circulated in the American colonies, and recommended by Alexander Hamilton, who penned two-thirds of The Federalist. Smith "de-Augustinized" economics by dropping both distribution and utility, launching classical economics with production and exchange alone. In effect, Smith was reverting to Stoic pantheism, which views the universe "to be itself a Divinity, an Animal" (as Smith put it in an early but posthumously published essay) and conceives of God as the immanent World Soul, manipulating humans as puppets who choose neither their ends nor means rationally, since "every individual . . . intends only his own gain . . . and is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention." Liberal capitalism as described by Smith and Marx's communism are thus obverse sides of Stoic pantheism. The main difference is that Smith tries to reduce all justice to justice-in-exchange while Marx tries to reduce it to political distributive justice.Neoclassical economics superseded classical economics by reinventing Augustine's theory of utility in the early 1870s. But by stopping there it expressed the Epicurean materialism that claims humans evolved by chance in an uncreated world as semi-rational or merely clever animals, highly adept at calculating means but having no choice of ends but self-gratification, since "reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions," as Smith's friend David Hume put it. Because Augustine placed the fact of scarcity squarely at the center of moral decision-making, Catholic claims from the left (and fears from the right) that Caritas in Veritate portends some utopian global political scheme or endorsement of President Obama's economic policies are likely to prove equally unfounded. In the American context, the issue most likely to quiet those claims and fears is the combined impact of legal abortion and vastly expanded social benefits, which has been the recipe for "demographic winter" throughout Europe and Asia, but now advocated by President Barack Obama for this country.In Latin bene dictus means "well spoken" and benedictus,"a blessing." Especially if it helps America avoid its own "demographic winter," Benedict XVI's Augustinian "Charity in Truth" will prove to be both.John D. Mueller is director of the Economics and Ethics Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and president of LBMC LLC, an economic and financial market forecasting firm, both in Washington, DC.

Second Part of "Jesus of Nazareth" Coming This Spring

2009-09-12T18:03:00.003-07:00

Don't misread me into thinking that the Second Coming is this spring. Rather, the second part of Jesus of Nazareth is coming! Been waiting for this one since the first one came out! ... Here is the video report.

Persecution Watch: Eye on Wisconsin

2009-08-23T06:16:00.001-07:00

Here is some disturbing news out of Wisconsin, courtesy of Catholic News Agency. There are a great number of our brothers and sisters suffering in the Midwest because some lawmakers have a confused notion of freedom and personal rights. If you are Catholic and contracepting, for the health of your soul, there is no better day to “quit” than today. Do it for the health of your marriage and for the health of your immortal soul.

Wisconsin requiring Catholic institutions to provide contraceptives coverageMadison, Wis., Aug 23, 2009 (CNA)—The bishops of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) have issued a statement to the state’s Catholic faithful expressing their “deep concern” about a state provision that requires providers of health insurance include contraceptive services. The rule will force Catholic dioceses and other agencies to pay for a “gravely immoral” service, the conference says.A provision in the new state budget mandates the coverage as a “benefit.”Signatories of the August 20 WCC letter were Bishop of Green Bay David L. Ricken, Bishop of Madison Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of La Crosse Jerome E. Listecki, Bishop of Superior Peter F. Christensen and Bishop William P. Callahan, the Administrator for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.“This mandate will compel Catholic dioceses, parishes, and other agencies that buy health insurance to pay for a medical service that Catholic teaching holds to be gravely immoral,” the Wisconsin bishops explained. “Contraception prevents the full and reciprocal self-giving that is essential to Christian marriage and diminishes the role of God, the giver of life, within marriage.”The statement explained that only dioceses or agencies that are self-insured, such as the dioceses of La Crosse and Superior, will not be covered by the mandate.“As Catholic teachers and pastors, we strongly object to this blatant insensitivity to our moral values and legal rights,” the bishops continued, noting that most other states provide accommodations for those whose religious or moral values are compromised by such mandates.The bishops charged that the state government’s mandate violates constitutional rights as well as religious values, citing the right of conscience established in the Wisconsin Constitution. Religious freedom also includes the ability to publicly witness to one’s values in what one does and in what one declines to do, they explained.“Nowhere does the Constitution say that the right of conscience is protected except in matters related to human reproduction,” their statement said. “Whatever course we pursue in this matter, we want all Catholics in Wisconsin to know that we will also continue to affirm and communicate the teachings of our faith.”The bishops of the WCC also objected that the mandate was not a matter of open debate and “due deliberation.”Acknowledging that many Catholics find Catholic teaching on contraception “difficult to accept or live out in practice,” the bishops emphasized that the immorality of artificial contraception is not a “Catholic issue.”“Rather, the prohibition of artificial contraception is a principle of the natural moral law, which is inscribed in the mind and heart of all human beings,” the statement said. “The bond between husband and wife, in their inseparable love-making and life creating Vocation, is evident to human reason itself – another powerful consideration which should lead our legislators to take very seriously our conviction.”The WCC statement suggested that this truth is not recognized because the “fashionable proposition” that there is no objective truth renders human reason “directionless.”“We commit ourselves to continue listening to your objections and to explaining the Church’s understanding of human sexuality in such a manner that you may discover a greater understanding and appreciation of this teaching and the reasons for it,” the Wisconsin bishops pledged. They added that Catholic teaching only seems overly restrictive of human freedom and in reality serves a “greater freedom” for both individuals and society.“Our faith always challenges us,” the bishops said in conclusion. “We are measured by how we respond to those challenges. We ask for your support and prayers as we respond to this one.”

Human Life Issues and a Preferential Option for the Poor: TCF Quoteboard

2009-08-18T23:30:00.003-07:00

Here is something from Caritas in Veritate that the mainstream media probably won’t pass along: the connection between the human life issues and the issue of world development and poverty. Many folks often trumpet their liberality on social issues (pro-abortion, pro-ESCR, pro-euthanasia, etc.) and then talk about fighting world poverty. But only one who understands what it means to be human is prepared to take up the cause of development, and one who is pro-all-those-things-above-etc does not understand what it means to be human. And this increasingly is all of Western culture, particularly as conservative leaders forget the importance of human life issues.

I cannot in recent memory recall a paragraph in an encyclical that levied a more frightening appraisal of our culture and what lies ahead (both in terms of eugenics, euthanasia, and an inability to help the poor). Here are Pope Benedict’s prophetic words:

… we need to affirm today that the social question has become a radically anthropological question, in the sense that it concerns not just how life is conceived but also how it is manipulated, as bio-technology places it increasingly under man's control. In vitro fertilization, embryo research, the possibility of manufacturing clones and human hybrids: all this is now emerging and being promoted in today's highly disillusioned culture, which believes it has mastered every mystery, because the origin of life is now within our grasp. Here we see the clearest expression of technology's supremacy. In this type of culture, the conscience is simply invited to take note of technological possibilities. Yet we must not underestimate the disturbing scenarios that threaten our future, or the powerful new instruments that the “culture of death” has at its disposal. To the tragic and widespread scourge of abortion we may well have to add in the future — indeed it is already surreptiously present — the systematic eugenic programming of births. At the other end of the spectrum, a pro-euthanasia mindset is making inroads as an equally damaging assertion of control over life that under certain circumstances is deemed no longer worth living. Underlying these scenarios are cultural viewpoints that deny human dignity. These practices in turn foster a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of human life. Who could measure the negative effects of this kind of mentality for development? How can we be surprised by the indifference shown towards situations of human degradation, when such indifference extends even to our attitude towards what is and is not human? What is astonishing is the arbitrary and selective determination of what to put forward today as worthy of respect. Insignificant matters are considered shocking, yet unprecedented injustices seem to be widely tolerated. While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human. God reveals man to himself; reason and faith work hand in hand to demonstrate to us what is good, provided we want to see it; the natural law, in which creative Reason shines forth, reveals our greatness, but also our wretchedness insofar as we fail to recognize the call to moral truth.

—Pope Benedict XVI,
Caritas in Veritate, n. 75

TCF Quoteboard: Aristotle on Wealth

2009-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here, another gem from Aristotle, who helps to shed light upon just how impoverished we are here in the Western world. (I can see why St. Thomas Aquinas so loved this guy.)

All in all, wealth consists more in use than in possession; for the actualization of the potentialities of such things and their use is wealth.

Aristotle
—On Rhetoric,
trans. George Kennedy (Oxford, 1991)

Answering Non-Catholic Objections on Mary

2009-07-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Many of our non-Catholic brothers and sisters object to Catholic beliefs about Our Lady, often strongly. But what many of our them do not know is just what the founders of their own denominations believed about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

One could ask them, “Do you know what your spiritual founders say about Mary?” She was not just an ordinary Jewish girl randomly chosen by God to give birth to His Son, but a woman of singular dignity, and the first Protestants would agree to this. Here are a few interesting quotes.

Catholics often hear the objection, “How can you call Mary the Mother of God? That would mean that she existed before God.” Martin Luther himself could help us respond to this objection:

Martin Luther: "In this work whereby she was made the Mother of God, so many and such good things were given her that no one can grasp them …. Not only was Mary the mother of Him who is born [in Bethlehem], but of Him who, before the world, was eternally born of the Father, from a Mother in time and at the same time man and God" (Weimer, The Works of Luther, English transl. by Pelikan Concordia, St. Louis, v. 7, p. 572).

Protestant reformer John Calvin answers this beautifully as well:

John Calvin: "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of His Son, granted her the highest honor …. Elizabeth calls Mary Mother of the Lord, because the unity of the person in the two natures of Christ was such that she could have said that the mortal man engendered in the womb of Mary was at the same time the eternal God" (Calvini Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Braunschweig-Berlin, 1863-1900, v. 45, p. 348, 35).

OK, OK … but what about the perpetual virginity? That must be an invention of Catholics that Protestants rejected from the time of the Reformation, right? Not so fast. Here is what Ulrich Zwingli says about that:

Ulrich Zwingli: "I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin" (Zwingli Opera, v. 1, p. 424).

and Martin Luther:

Martin Luther: "It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin …. Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact" (Works of Luther, v. 11, pp. 319-320; v. 6, p. 510).

But doesn’t Matthew 1:25 disprove the idea of perpetual virginity? Again, Calvin, spiritual founder of Presbyterianism, offers us a suitable answer:

John Calvin: "There have been certain folk who have wished to suggest from this passage that the Virgin Mary had other children than the Son of God, and that Joseph had then dwelt with her later; but what folly this is! For the gospel writer did not wish to record what happened afterwards; he simply wished to make clear Joseph's obedience and to show also that Joseph had been well and truly assured that it was God who had sent His angel to Mary. He had therefore never dwelt with her nor had he shared her company …. And besides this Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the first-born. This is not because there was a second or a third, but because the gospel writer is paying regard to the precedence. Scripture speaks thus of naming the first-born whether or no there was any question of the second" (Sermon on Matthew 1:22-25, published 1562).

These quotes could easily be spoken by a Catholic, yet these are the very beliefs about Mary in the hearts of the Reformers. If in the minds of the Protestant Reformers, Mary was not such a great obstacle, why should she continue to be a problem for non-Catholics today? For this and more information on Marian apologetics, see Beginning Apologetics 1: How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith by Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham (San Juan Catholic Seminars, 1998).

TCF Quoteboard: Aristotle on the Weakening of Democracy

2009-07-12T18:40:00.001-07:00

The wisdom of the ancients is ever-relevant here at The Charcoal Fire. Here, we turn to Aristotle, who shows two threats to democracy – we have encountered both, I think.

… democracy not only becomes weaker when [its principle of equality is] relaxed so that finally it leads to oligarchy but also the principle is too rigidly applied.

Aristotle
—On Rhetoric, trans. George Kennedy
(Oxford, 1991)

Caritas in Veritate: Text of the Pope's New Encyclical

2009-07-07T05:40:00.001-07:00

Here it is, the text of the new encyclical! I reiterate the need to read it for its own merits before reading anyone's interpretation of it. I will be keeping my finger on the media pulse for the usual absurdity and misinterpretation.

Happy reading!

Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)

Pope’s New Encyclical Signed, To Be Released July 7

2009-07-02T16:17:00.003-07:00

Just wanted to give my readers an update: Pope Benedict will release his third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (or “Love in Truth”), on Tuesday. It will return to social themes contained in Populorum Progressio by Pope Paul VI (1967). I understand it will treat economics as well.

To make a pertinent observation: The release of Caritas in Veritate has been pushed back about 9 months from its original date. That means two things: 1.) Great care has been given to its crafting; 2.) It will be “controversial” and seized upon by the media. (No doubt we'll see quite a display of cynicism from the British media, as they are wont to do concerning all things Catholic.) It is our responsibility to read it and not let the media mediate its own interpretation of what the Pope has to say to you and me.

Keep an eye out. I will be linking to it. I ask something of you: Be sure to read it! (Fortunately for you, you do not have much banter to catch up on from me. You must be starved for good content.) Seriously though, read it. It’s a letter written by our beloved Holy Father to us and for love of us.

In the meanwhile, please keep a special intention in prayer for me!

Friday Update...

Good article from Rev. Siricio on the National Review Online on this topic...

"Each time, with previous encyclicals, we have been told that the pope is preparing to lambaste capitalism and call for state measures to heavily regulate it with an eye to redistributing wealth, cleaning up the environment, controlling consumption, etc. Each time, the final text has demonstrated that the pope's conversion to progressivist causes has been greatly exaggerated. Invariably, his arguments have been highly sophisticated and have defied easy political categorization.

"In advance of Caritas in Veritate, Catholic “progressives” are working themselves into a frenzy of predictions, recommendations, and anathemas — and not one of them, to my knowledge, has seen even an early draft of the encyclical which has been two years in the making."

A “Hard Saying” for GOP-Leaning Catholics?

2009-06-19T10:19:00.004-07:00

Pardon my negligence in posting on The Charcoal Fire. I have been extremely busy. Updates to come in the near future. Hopefully normal posting will resume at that point.

Meanwhile, here is an interesting but important news story coming out of San Antonio. Catholics who are faithful to the Church’s teachings often find themselves leaning towards the GOP. But on the terms of this issue being addressed by the U.S. bishops presently, much of the GOP leadership does not take the most compassionate and Catholic approach to immigration. At this point there arises a conflict for the believer – party line or Church teaching?

In my opinion, there are two not-so-good tendencies for right-leaning Catholics here: taking the party line on this issue or agreeing with the bishops but without making an effort towards intra-party political reform. Either option is particularly un-Catholic and gives unnecessary ammo to pro-choice Catholics, who likewise cling to party affiliations or refuse to advance reform on issues with which they disagree.

Brothers and sisters, let’s take up the call of the bishops and help to bring about the reform which they advocate. Many are suffering. Here is the story from CNA:

U.S. Bishops Call on Obama
for Immigration Reform to End Migrants’ SufferingSan Antonio, Texas, Jun 18, 2009 / 05:19 pm (CNA)—Cardinal Francis George, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), speaking at the conference’s annual spring meeting, called on President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to enact “comprehensive” immigration reform.“It has been clear for years that the United States immigration system requires repair and that reform legislation should not be delayed,” Cardinal George said, speaking on behalf of the bishops. Stating that the bishops urge “respect and observance of all just laws,” he added that they do not “approve or encourage” illegal entry into the United States.“From a humanitarian perspective,” he said, “our fellow human beings, who migrate to support their families, continue to suffer at the hands of immigration policies that separate them from family members and drive them into remote parts of the American desert, sometimes to their deaths. This suffering should not continue.”Cardinal George said society should stop tolerating a status quo that perpetuates a “permanent underclass” and benefits from its members’ labor “without offering them legal protections.”“As a moral matter, we must resolve the legal status of those who are here without proper documentation so that they can fully contribute their talents to our nation’s economic, social and spiritual well being.“Only through comprehensive reform can we restore the rule of law to our nation’s immigration system.”He encouraged the U.S. president and congressional leaders to draft comprehensive immigration reform legislation with the goal of enacting it by the end of 2009.“The Catholic bishops of our country stand ready to assist in this effort,” he pledged.

Pope Benedict on the Most Holy Trinity: Quoteboard

2009-06-08T05:28:00.004-07:00

"Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is love and only love, most pure, infinite and eternal love. The Trinity does not live in a splendid solitude, but is rather inexhaustible font of life that unceasingly gives itself and communicates itself. ... The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: only love makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and be loved."

— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Message, June 7, 2009

Free Online Marian Conference Tomorrow (5/31), 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

2009-05-30T19:59:00.003-07:00

You really do not want to miss these amazing guests - Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, exorcist Fr. Tom Euteneuer, Mark Miravalle, Raymond de Souza, Pablo Straub, Irish singer Dana Scallon, and others at the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.

The conference may be viewed through the live feed on Airmaria.com.

Why should you watch 9 hours of a Marian conference? Because these speakers are amazing! I wish I could be there! I think the Friars sold copies of the DVD from two years ago, so they will probably be producing one again if you miss it.

New Vatican Ambassador? Obama must not have gotten the memo...

2009-05-28T10:05:00.005-07:00

Um, contrary to liberal belief, the Pope is not only concerned with abortion. There is this little thing called heresy that would also render a candidate unworthy of an ambassadorship. In this case, the U.S. president has picked an advocate of liberation theology, a particularly insidious error contrary to Catholicism that is attacking belief in Africa and Latin and South America, a topic on which this present Pontiff has written extensively (see his excellent work, Truth and Tolerance, Ignatius Press). Of course, speaking at a University of Notre Dame commencement doesn't necessarily mean that one knows the first thing about Catholicism. So this little news bit probably comes thanks in large part to the counsel of Obama's "Catholic" advisers (ahem, Kmiec).

I don't know whether Rome will reject this appointment, but this aggressive (even hostile) move on Washington's part will not be conducive to improved relations between the U.S. and the Holy See. Here is the story:

Obama picks Cuban Liberation theologian
as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy SeeWashington D.C., May 28, 2009 / 01:35 am (CNA).- In a surprising move, President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday evening that Miguel H. Diaz, Ph.D., a 45 year old lay Liberation theologian born in Havana (Cuba) is his pick to become the United States Ambassador to the Holy See.An associate professor of theology at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota, Diaz, a strong Obama supporter and father of four, earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla., and his master’s and doctorate in theology from the University of Notre Dame at Notre Dame, Ind.He taught previously at Barry University, Miami Shores, Fla.; St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, Fla.; University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio; and the University of Notre Dame. He also served as the academic dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary and is fluent in Italian, Spanish and French.Diaz serves on the board of the Catholic Theological Society of America, is past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, and is a past member of the steering committee of the Karl Rahner Society.He is also a theological consultant to the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics and was appointed to the task force overseeing the review and revisions of the accrediting standards for the Association of Theological Schools.Diaz is author of the book "On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives" (Orbis Books, 2001); Co-Editor of "From the Heart of Our People: Explorations in Catholic Systematic Theology" (Orbis Books, 1999;) and author of numerous articles and book chapters inspired in the Latino and Black liberation theology, such as the forthcoming “The Life-Giving Reality of God from Black, Latin-American, and U.S. Hispanic Theological Perspectives,” “Otherness in Black Catholic and Latino/a Catholic Theologies and the Otherness of God,” and “Outside the Survival of Community there is no Salvation,” in Building Bridges, Doing Justice: Constructing a Latino/a Ecumenical Theology (Orbis Press, 2009.)Diaz is currently working on two future books: "Cuban-American Catholics" (Paulist Press) and “Migrating Across Theological Borders: The Essentials of Theology from U.S. Hispanic Theological Perspectives" (Orbis Books.)His body of work, which includes some controvesial positions on “inclusivity,” has gained him significant praise from the Catholic left, and his nomination was immediately hailed by pro-Obama Catholics such as “Catholics United” and “Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good,” as well as Prof. Douglas Kmiec.Diaz's election seems to be the first return that Catholics who have unconditionally supported Obama's policies and appointments have received for their investment in the ticket. Diaz, in fact, is listed as a member of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, although he explains his relationship with the pro-Obama group founded by Democratic activist Alexia Kelley as “a response to an invitation to become a theological advisor.”In a brief statement, Diaz said that “I wish to be a diplomatic bridge between our nation and the Holy See, and if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I will continue the work of my predecessors and build on 25 years of excellent relations with the Holy See.”Miguel Diaz served in 2008 on the Obama campaign’s Catholic advisory board. Also in 2008, he donated $1,000 to the Obama Victory Fund.Although he claims to be a “defender of life in all of it stages,” Diaz was among 26 Catholic leaders and scholars who signed a statement supporting the nomination of staunch pro abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services Secretary. “The College of Saint Benedict is enormously proud that Miguel has been nominated by President Obama for this important post,” said MaryAnn Baenninger, president of the College of Saint Benedict. “Miguel is a highly-respected theologian and scholar, and an excellent teacher. Most importantly, he has a deep commitment to Catholic social justice and to inclusiveness in the Catholic Church. He truly lives a life of faith. He is the ideal candidate for this post.”He and his wife, Dr. Marian K. Diaz, are the founders of "Companions on a Journey" at the College of Saint Benedict, an organization aimed at promoting the involvement of young Catholics in public life and social justice activities.

Article: Is Mary the `Coredemptrix’ of humanity?

2009-05-26T15:52:00.002-07:00

Interesting article about something very close to my heart (and my work!) from Religion News Service. Great article by Francis X. Rocca:

Is Mary the `Coredemptrix’ of humanity?
By Francis X. RoccaVATICAN CITY—When Pope Benedict XVI told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square in April that the Virgin Mary “silently followed her son Jesus to Calvary, taking part with great suffering in his sacrifice, thus cooperating in the mystery of redemption and becoming mother of all believers,” most listeners probably heard nothing remarkable in the statement.After all, devotion to Mary is a pervasive element of the Catholic faith, and one of the features that most clearly distinguishes it from Protestantism.Yet for one group of devotees, Benedict’s statement was a milestone—a sign that he had moved one step closer to granting their wish for a new dogma on Mary’s contribution to human salvation.At least 7 million Catholics from more than 170 countries, including hundreds of bishops and cardinals, have reportedly signed petitions urging the pope to proclaim Mary “the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the coredemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race.”In other words, the Virgin Mary—though always subordinate to and dependent on the will of Christ—plays an active, unique and irreplaceable role in helping her son deliver mankind from sin and death.Proponents say that such a statement would represent the culmination of the church’s traditional teaching on Jesus’ mother, and bring the world untold spiritual and material benefits.But critics of the proposed dogma say it would exaggerate Mary’s true importance and undermine efforts toward unity with other Christian denominations.The idea of Mary as Christ’s collaborator in the redemption of humanity is deeply rooted in Catholic tradition, said Monsignor Arthur B. Calkins, an American priest working at the Vatican who has written extensively on the subject.“The church has been meditating on this role for two millennia,” Calkins said in an interview, “and so the Holy Spirit continues to draw forth what is there already in seed.”According to Mark Miravalle, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, the new dogma would mean the “climax of the `Age of Mary’,” a period that began in 1830 with apparitions of the Virgin in France, and witnessed papal proclamations of her Immaculate Conception (1854) and bodily Assumption into heaven (1950).Supporters of the dogma of Mary Coredemptrix began petitioning the Holy See in the 1920s, Miravalle said, but it was in the 1990s that the movement drew millions of supporters and its goal began to appear within reach.Pope John Paul II publicly used the term “Coredemptrix” at least six times in his pontificate, and at one point Miravalle predicted that he would proclaim the dogma before the millennial year of 2000.The professor now believes that John Paul was persuaded not to act by advisers who feared that the new dogma would pose an obstacle to ecumenical dialogue.At least one non-Catholic participant in that dialogue says such fears were well-founded.“Anglicans require that any dogma be provable from Scripture,” said the Rev. William Franklin, academic fellow at the Anglican Centre in Rome and a visiting professor at the Vatican’s Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.Anglican ecumenists are still struggling to reconcile their beliefs with the papal dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, Franklin said. “Making a new Marian dogma would complicate the journey toward full communion between our two churches,” he said.Proponents of the dogma insist that it would actually promote ecumenism by dispelling any ambiguities about Catholic doctrine.“This would bring new clarity that Catholics do not adore Mary as a goddess,” Miravalle said. “It would underscore what Catholics do believe—that she is your spiritual mother—but at the same time that she is not the fourth person of the Blessed Trinity.”By far the most significant criticism, if only on account of its source, has been that of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict.Ratzinger told a German interviewer in 2000 that the “formula `Co-redemptrix’ departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the (church) Fathers and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings,” threatening to “obscure” the status of Christ as the source of all redemption.“I do not think there will be any compliance with this demand (for papal proclamation of the dogma) within the foreseeable future,” he said at the time.But Benedict has shown increasing openness to the dogma in the years since, proponents say, even though he has never used the word “Coredemptrix” as pope.“Joseph Ratzinger has never been more Marian than since he became Benedict XVI,” Miravalle said.Calkins, who carefully tracks the pope’s statements on “Mary’s role in the work of our redemption,” said Benedict’s words on the subject already fill up 25 pages.Most of the church’s academic experts on Mary continue to oppose the dogma, however, deeming it unnecessary to encourage a proper devotion to Christ’s mother.“To give Mary honor, I would institute a new feast, or a special title,” said the Rev. Johann G. Roten, director of the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio, and a member of a Vatican panel that unanimously advised against the new dogma in 1996.Yet Miravalle says papal recognition of Mary as Coredemptrix would be more than a formality; it would lead to an “outpouring of grace,” helping to dispel a range of contemporary problems, including abortion, terrorism and natural disasters.“To the extent that we acknowledge Our Lady’s roles, to that extent God allows her to fully exercise those roles,” he said. “And we can use some extra grace at this time.”

A Much-Needed Corrective for Popular but Problematic Catholic Author

2009-05-21T08:56:00.006-07:00

My first reaction to Catholic author Christopher West's take on John Paul II's Theology of the Body was, "Wow, this is great!" My reaction to John Paul II's Theology of the Body when I read it was "Wow, there is so much more to this! This is what this world needs!" But there are some problems with Christopher West, who, as this author points out, "would throw himself in front of a bus for the Church."

Perhaps some of you, my good readers, may have seen West discussing on Nightline comparisons between John Paul II and Hugh Heffner's approach toward sexuality (they can be seen on Youtube). His comments were not only inappropriate, they were erroneous. Having read a great deal of "the ink" of John Paul II's catecheses known as "theology of the body," West places a too heavy emphasis on sexuality and ignores concupiscence. In reality, sexuality is a dimension of the Pope's audiences, but the essence of the teaching is man in his bodily nature that he shares with Christ.

Without further adieu, here is the necessary (but pastorally kind) corrective of Christopher West from David Schindler of the Catholic University of America (courtesy Headline Bistro):

Christopher West's Theology of the Body
David L. Schindler
Regarding his interview on Nightline, Christopher West says that his remarks were taken out of context. In some sense, this is surely true. However, the comments as aired are the latest in a long list of statements and actions not inconsistent with the context set by the Nightline editors.Though occasioned by West’s Nightline appearance, the present statement addresses his theology as a whole.Let me stress that I agree with those who vigorously defend West’s intention of fidelity to the Church. Certainly he has had positive results in drawing many Catholics into a deeper understanding of their faith. As for myself, I do not initiate anything about West in my classes, but only respond when asked a question. Then I begin by emphasizing West’s intention of orthodoxy. As I have often put it, "he would throw himself in front of a bus for the Church." It is important to understand, however, that good will is not synonymous with sound thought; and I must say, not without reluctance, that West’s work seems to me to misrepresent in significant ways the thought of John Paul II.The following examples have been verified by persons directly involved or by things written by West himself (and I regret the necessary adoption of West’s own language).West’s work has involved suggesting that a man and woman bless their genitals before making love; blessing the ovaries of women in his classes; advising young men in college and the seminary to look at their naked bodies in the mirror daily in order to overcome shame; using phallic symbolism to describe the Easter candle; criticizing “flat-chested” images of Mary in art while encouraging Catholics to “rediscover Mary’s ... abundant breasts” (Crisis, March 2002); referring to the “bloodied membrane” of the placenta as a "tabernacle" (Colorado Catholic Herald, 12/22/06); stating that, while “there are some important health and aesthetic considerations that can’t be overlooked,” “there's nothing inherently wrong with anal penetration as foreplay to normal intercourse," (Good News About Sex and Marriage, 1st ed., emphasis in original), though qualifying this in the revised edition and stressing the subjective dangers of lust in such activity; and, on Nightline, praising Hugh Hefner for helping rescue sex from prudish Victorian attitudes, saying that there are “very profound historical connections between Hefner and John Paul II,” while emphasizing that John Paul II took the sexual revolution further and in the right direction.I offer these examples not merely because they are vulgar and in bad taste, not to mention sometimes bordering on the just plain silly, but because they indicate a disordered approach to human sexuality. An objective distortion in approaching sexuality does not cease to be such simply because it is theologized. West to be sure will point toward the “orthodox” intentions and context of the examples, but my criticism bears on the substance of his preoccupation as reflected in the examples. (As a Thomist friend of mine used to say: pay attention to a man's subjects, not his predicates.)What, then, are the objections to West’s theology?First, West misconstrues the meaning of concupiscence, stressing purity of intention one-sidedly when talking about problems of lust.When I first pointed this problem out to him several years ago, his response was that he refused to limit the power of Christ to transform us. My response is that concupiscence dwells "objectively" in the body, and continues its "objective" presence in the body throughout the course of our infralapsarian existence; and that we should expect holiness to "trump" temptations or disordered tendencies in the area of sexuality exactly as often as we should expect holiness to "trump" the reality of having to undergo death.Second, West has an inadequate notion of analogy. He conceives love in a reductive bodily-sexual sense, then reads the Christian mysteries as though they were somehow ever-greater and more perfect realizations of what he emphasizes as key in our own experience, namely, sex.But sex is not even the most important part of human love, let alone the key to the Christian mysteries–the Eucharist, for example. Missing in West’s work is an adequate idea of the radical discontinuity (maior dissimilitudo ) between the divine love revealed by God–and indeed the (supernatural) love to which we are called–and sexual love or intercourse. To be sure, the spousal love between man and woman is central in man’s imaging of God, and the gendered body and sexual relations are an integral sign and expression of spousal love, which also includes what John Paul II calls all the other manifestations of affection. However, as Joseph Ratzinger says, it is only because man has a capacity for God that he also has a capacity for another human being. The former indicates the “content,” the latter the “consequence,” of man’s likeness to God.In the end, West, in his disproportionate emphasis on sex, promotes a pansexualist tendency that ties all important human and indeed supernatural activity back to sex without the necessary dissimilitudo.Third, West's treatment of shame and reverence is marred by a too-male vision of things–not only too much maleness but distorted maleness. If we could just get over our prudishness and sin-induced guilt, he seems to think, we would be ready simply to dispense with clothes and look at others in their nakedness. He has no discernible sense of the difference between what might be a feminine as distinct from masculine sense of unveiling. He (thus) lacks a reverence for the body entailing a modesty not reducible simply to shame, or again a patient reverence presupposing the “veiledness” proper to what essentially contains mystery. His work is preoccupied with what is external to the detriment of the interiority proper to persons. In this context, we can say that West's theology ultimately lacks a Marian dimension: not in the sense that he fails to make references to Mary, but because his work is not adequately formed, in method or content, in Mary’s archetypal feminine-human sensibility.Fourth, a style of preaching is not merely a matter of "style"–a difference in personality or taste. It is always-also a matter of theology itself. West often tends to treat resistance to the content of his lectures, for example during the question periods, as matters of resistance to the Holy Spirit (to the Spirit now speaking in and through West's “charism”), urging questioners to pray to overcome the fear induced in them by their bad theological-spiritual formation. Well-balanced persons have spoken of how West makes them feel a sense of guilt, of resistance to the Holy Spirit, if they experience uneasiness about what he is saying.Pope Benedict XVI’s sacramental “style,” integrated within the objectivity of a larger truth that always first calls ourselves into question even as we preach to others, provides a helpful lesson here.Regarding Hefner: West fails to see that Hefner at root does not correct but misconceives and then only continues the error of America’s Puritan Protestantism. For both Puritanism and Hefner, the body is merely a tool, though to be manipulated differently: by the former exclusively for reproducing children and by Hefner for pleasure. It is not only Puritanism but also Hefner that fails to understand properly the body and bodily desires in their natural meaning as good.In sum, West's work provides a paradigm of what is most often criticized today in connection with John Paul II’s theology of the body–and rightly criticized, insofar as that theology is identified with West’s interpretation: namely, that it is too much about sex and too romantic.West presents a problem for the Church, not because he lacks orthodox intentions, but because his unquestionably orthodox intentions render his theology, a priori, all the more credible. His work often deflects people from the beauty and depth of what is the authentic meaning of John Paul II's anthropology of love, and thus of what was wrought in and through the Second Vatican Council. It is scarcely the first time in the history of the Church that abundant good will did not suffice to make one's theology and vision of reality altogether true.West has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Church. However, if his work is to bear the Catholic fruit he so ardently desires, he needs to subject basic aspects of his theology to renewed reflection.David L. Schindler
Provost/Dean and Gagnon Professor of Fundamental Theology
Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.

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