The Charcoal Fire

Kudos to South Dakota and a "Pro-Choice" Challenge

2008-07-25T05:49:00.002-06:00

Rather than trying to “operate” under a new law that would require abortionists to tell women that they are “terminating the life of a whole, separate, unique living human being,” Planned Parenthood has closed up shop in Sioux Falls, according to LifeSite News. So while abortion is still legal there, the practical result of the new law has been the eradication of abortion in the state.

It seems that the truth of the nature of abortion is more than any abortionist would want to share with a woman. And this is what I don’t get.

Here’s why: I have been in many discussions with “pro-choice” people in my day. I know that abortion takes the life of an innocent human being and is emotionally and physically harmful to women. I have found that both I and my pro-choice interlocutor believe the other’s position to be oppressive of women. At some point in the conversation, the discussion will end with the most unsatisfying proposition, “let’s agree to disagree.” No, let’s agree to disagree about whether or not we prefer coffee or tea—it is not right to agree to disagree on something we feel is oppressive to women. After all, who would be content to so quickly concede to let another person persist in an oppressive view, if that indeed is the case? I am not content.

And this is the difference I have found between pro-lifers and the “pro-choice” contingent: A person who is pro-life will talk with you until the dawn in the hopes that you will consent to change your mind, while many “pro-choice” who believe the eradication of abortion would oppress women is content to “agree to disagree.” So I am unconvinced that such “pro-choice” persons are really concerned about women in the first place. Perhaps in word they are concerned, but in actual fact, when it comes down to deed, they really are not.

So it is in South Dakota. While Planned Parenthood believes that “anti-choice zealots” want to oppress women and that abortion is a woman’s right, they are very quick to close up shop simply because the good people of South Dakota wish for women to truly have informed consent. If they really cared about women, and if they really believed that women have this fundamental “reproductive right,” they would not have closed up their clinic, no matter what they would have to say.

The “Pro-Choice” Challenge

And so here comes the challenge part: If you really are “pro-choice” and you really do care about women, would it not be good to convince me, lest I pollute the world with my pro-lifery? And indeed I will. So let’s do it the old fashioned way. Let’s talk it out in a well-reasoned and unemotional way, and not “agree to disagree” but dialogue until one of us is convinced of the other’s position. (This well-reasoned and unemotional thing is important. No profanity. No ad hominem, etc. This is necessary; after all, we are trying to convince each other of our position. So how could swearing or insults be productive?)

I am convinced that you will either change your mind, walk away, or lose your cool. Prove me wrong. Inasmuch as I have time to do so, I would love to talk about why abortion is not empowering of women, but oppressive, abusive, and ultimately destructive of women.

600 Fewer Starbucks? – Good Riddance!

2008-07-19T09:48:00.002-06:00

So finally life is tough for the Starbucks corporation. They have just announced the closing of 600 stores nationwide. While this is truly unfortunate for do-gooding baristas and coffee-lovers everywhere, I am very glad to know that profit margins are slipping. Less stores to sell coffee, less money for abortions (the company matches employee contributions to the abortion provider). A little bit less caffeine in our systems might do everyone a little bit of good—particularly the unborn, who so deserve a chance at life.

I am reminded additionally how over the years how the java juggernaut has served up some homebrew leftist agenda with their joe. Well, they could take the advice of one of their customers of London, Ontario, but it may leave them with a bitter taste in their mouths.

“Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure” (“The Way I See It,” No. 347).

And more similarly lovely thoughts…

Well, I will gladly keep petitioning my beloved “figment” that this corporation sporting a pagan goddess (the Siren seductress, whose song results in death) on its logo go belly-up. I will also remind this vile corporation of the letter I wrote two years ago saying that I would gladly purchase their coffee if they did not support institutions of child slaughter. Perhaps rethinking some of their philanthropic—er, rather, misanthropic—endeavors might make good business sense.

More on the Campus, the Eucharist, and the Body of Christ

2008-07-15T04:47:00.006-06:00

And it seems that things are not resolved at University of Central Florida after all. Taking a turn for the really bizarre, Catholic Campus Ministries is now being charged with hazing for trying to prevent the sacrilege of the Most Holy Eucharist and for serving wine to underage drinkers through communion. We shall see how the university handles this.

I mean, really…

What's next? Hazing charges for the little old cafeteria lady who compels the second graders eat their mixed vegetables against their will?

Click here for story (and links to previous developments in this story).

Well, if members of the Body of Christ face charges for the sake of the Body of Christ, all the more should we keep them in our prayers (Heb 13:3). The evil one has for several decades now claimed the college campus as his domain. And now we are seeing the fruit of his work there—sacrilege and persecution.

One thing is hazy: It is difficult to not only see how this situation of intolerance will improve, but to envision how anti-Catholicism on college campuses is fostering an environment of religious freedom.

(Communion on the tongue blog forthcoming…)

A Scriptural Foundation for Marian Consecration (Greek Peek)

2008-07-14T16:20:00.006-06:00

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (Jn 19:25-27).

Those italicized words are what I want to focus on, as they are the words the Pope points us toward in his Marian teachings. This passage, read in its present state, appears as if Jesus is setting his affairs in order before his death, making sure that someone will look after his mother. Hence the beloved disciple agrees to take her into his home from that time onward. But the RSV translation does not convey the true sense of the original Greek.

Let us first hear what the Pope says:

From the Cross, Jesus entrusted his Mother to all his disciples and at the same time entrusted all his disciples to the love of his Mother. The Evangelist John concludes the brief and evocative account with these words: "Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn 19: 27). This is the [English] translation of the Greek text “eis ta idia,” he welcomed her into his own reality, his own existence. Thus, she is part of his life and the two lives penetrate each other. And this acceptance of her (eis ta idia) in his own life is the Lord's testament. Therefore, at the supreme moment of the fulfillment of his messianic mission, Jesus bequeaths as a precious inheritance to each one of his disciples his own Mother, the Virgin Mary (General Audience, January 2, 2008).

In Marian consecration, we allow Mary into our reality (eis ta idia), as did the Beloved Disciple. She comes and makes her home in us, and we in turn become part of her life. And we do this precisely because it honors her Son most profoundly, who himself elected to give her to humanity before he gave up his spirit to the Father.

It must further be noted that elaben (“took”) could also be translated as “received,” as it often is in the New Testament, including three verses later in John 19:30. This more accurately conveys the passive role of the Apostle, who receives the gift of the Blessed Mother.

Finally, in this brief glimpse, it is worth highlighting one more significant word in the Greek: hora, or hour. In the Gospel of John, the “hora” is frequently used in reference to the hour of the Passion. For instance: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour” (Jn 12:27). We also see this in the other place in John’s Gospel in which Mary appears, the Wedding at Cana. “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). (Another unfortunate mistranslation in the RSV. Ti emoi kai soi gunai literally translates, “What is this to you and to me, woman…”) But here at the Wedding of Cana, we see Mary inquiring about something specific to Jesus’ hour, the hour of his Passion. And in this hour, we see him giving her as Mother to the disciple. “From that hour, the disciple received her into his own” (Jn 19:27). It is the Savior’s will during his saving Passion. This is the very foundation for Marian consecration.

Mary is a gift from her Son to every believer. In Marian consecration, we receive her into our own reality and she likewise receives us into her own. And so on the Cross, in giving his mother to the Church, Christ gives her to be mother of every believer who would follow her Son. And so, in the spirit of the Gospels, let us receive Mary eis ta idia.

Unbelievable Sacrilege and Bigotry in Minnesota

2008-07-11T21:10:00.004-06:00

Time to act on this story. From the Catholic League:

Paul Zachary Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, has pledged to desecrate the Eucharist. He is responding to what happened recently at the University of Central Florida when a student walked out of Mass with the Host, holding it hostage for several days. Myers was angry at the Catholic League for criticizing the student. His post can be accessed from his faculty page on the university’s website.

Here is an excerpt of his July 8 post, “It’s a Frackin’ Cracker!”:

“Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers?” Myers continued by saying, “if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I’ll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won’t be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the […], which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a [blessed be His Name] cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web.”

This is bigotry, but even worse, this is sacrilege in the worst way. Please write to the university and CC the professor. The contact information for both the professor and the president of the university can be accessed through this news story.

This professor has encouraged a movement of public sacrilege throughout the country. May no sacred host ever reach his office. Please, keep watch if you are an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. (On a most related note, it’s time for Catholics to stop complaining about the idea of receiving the Eucharist on the tongue.)

A copy of my letter to the president of the university:

Subject: Tenure or not, fire Professor Paul Zachary Myers

Dear President Bruininks,

This is hardly a matter of academic freedom, but one of religious persecution and anti-Catholic bigotry, far greater than any European editorial anti-Mohammed cartoon. That happens to us all the time, too. Were your professor to accomplish that which he intends to do would be the Catholic equivalent of going to desecrate the grave site of Mohammed. For we as Catholics know that "cracker" to actually be the person of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, Professor Myers is not only saying that he will be doing this sacrilege himself, but he has advocated others anywhere to mail him Eucharistic hosts. This is a matter of indignance for all Catholics, not only those within your university community. Such sacrilege and intolerance is not academic freedom, but is flat out bigotry.

For a better understanding of anti-Catholic bigotry, such as that which your professor is exhibiting, I strongly recommend to you a book by Penn State Dr. Philip Jenkins (a non-Catholic): "The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice."

I will pray for your guidance for the University of Minnesota Morris. May your discipline be harsh and swift so as to send a message to your entire university that religious intolerance will not be tolerated in your academic community, nor will the humiliation and ostracization of an entire religious group become an academic endeavor at your university.

Sincerely,
Kevin M. Clarke
[Personal information and such]

A 7th Proof for the Existence of God

2008-07-02T14:54:00.003-06:00

St. Anselm has his proof of God—that God is that which nothing greater can be conceived. St. Thomas has his five proofs of God—motion, causality, order, etc. But I think there exists a seventh, and even greater, proof of the reality of the divine that our modern time needs. This proof I believe to be love.

Many will certainly object: “But love does not prove the existence of God!” Au contraire! I believe it does, and here is why.

First of all, one must reject and renounce the modern notion of “love.” Love is neither sensuality nor pleasure. While the passions may accompany love, they are not intrinsic (essential) to it. Love of its essence is selflessness. The heroes in the movies who sacrifice their lives or live in an act of self-donation for another always inspire us more than the self-seekers. Deep in our nature, we know what love is—radical self-gift.

Secondly, were there no God, true self-gift would tend toward nothingness and self-destruction. Yet, far from that, it is from self-gift that life springs and it is only a for-others existence that bestows upon our lives meaning. It is clearly observable, for those of us who have done so, that the unbridled pursuit of self-interest is actually what tends towards emptiness, nothingness, self-destruction. One would expect the opposite to be true were there no God, as the atheists say.

Beings who love are clearly more perfect than loveless beings. Love, because of its nature pouring itself out totally and leaving nothing left for itself, most clearly radiates a transcendent beauty that is extrinsic (outside) to all of us. God is love and it is the nature of love to leave nothing remaining for the self, but to pour all out for the beloved.

In conclusion, love is the most perfect and sublime proof of divine existence, as an existence of total self-outpouring would quickly waste away without an infinite font of being. If there were not infinite being, self-subsistent existence that necessarily exists of itself, love would be the greatest absurdity of all—a tendency towards nothingness.

And God is that existence of total self-oblation, as Christ has shown us (cf. Phil 2:7). And we see through him clearly that love is as “strong as death … a most vehement flame” (cf. Song of Songs 8).

“Sir, why did you take such pains to hide yourself,” atheist Bertrand Russell asks God. Love most radiates beauty because of its hiddenness, because it is gift only for those willing to accept it. It is neither gaudy nor showy, flashing itself in some sort of triumphant self-validation, but is sublime, holy, inviting. No doubt that it has pained God to hide himself, but no doubt either that were he to show himself, he would be just as hated and rejected.

His hiddenness in love is a most glorious treasure for those who find him. Love, because of its inexhaustibility even in total self-donation, clearly proves the inexhaustible infinite being who substantiates it. Therefore, let us believe in God, and love him recklessly in total self-denial, as he loves us! We will see just how immense love is.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Art: Quoteboard

2008-06-26T20:33:00.005-06:00

"The complete absence of images is incompatible with faith in the Incarnation of God. God has acted in history and entered into our sensible world, so that it may become transparent to him. Images of beauty, in which the mystery of the invisible God become visible, are an essential part of Christian worship. There will always be ups and downs in the history of iconography, upsurge and decline, and therefore periods when images are somewhat sparse. But they can never be totally lacking. Iconoclasm is not a Christian option."
~Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), pp. 131-132.

The Italian Prime Minister, the Pope, and the Eucharist

2008-06-24T04:13:00.005-06:00

According to CathNews, the divorced and remarried Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi made a scene during the distribution of Communion during a Mass on Saturday ( neither the time nor the place to air gripes).

The Pope responded to such cases the next day (although the Pope’s words were likely prepared some time in advance in light of the fact that this Eucharistic conference in Canada has been in the works for more than a year) with the following words:

Despite our weakness and our sin, Christ wills to make his dwelling in us, asking him for healing. To bring this about, we must do everything that is in our power to receive him with a pure heart, ceaselessly rediscovering, through the sacrament of penance, the purity that sin has stained, "putting our soul and our voice in accord," according to the invitation of the Council (cf. "Sacrosanctum Concilium," No.11). In fact, sin, especially grave sin, is opposed to the action of Eucharistic grace in us. However, those who cannot go to communion because of their situation, will find nevertheless in a communion of desire and in participation in the Mass saving strength and efficacy.

Also worthy of noting is the Pope's statement on the nature of the Eucharistic sacrifice. A few years ago, a Jesuit from Georgetown University led a Lenten retreat in my hometown, saying that the Eucharist was only a meal and the more we treat it like a meal, the better our worship becomes. But if the Eucharist is merely a meal, why would there be any problem about those in serious sin receiving Communion.

However, the Pope, in line with the work of the Holy Spirit over the centuries, has definitively stated otherwise (and check out this beautiful quote from St. Edith Stein):

The Eucharist is not a meal among friends. It is a mystery of covenant. "The prayers and the rites of the Eucharistic sacrifice make the whole history of salvation revive ceaselessly before the eyes of our soul, in the course of the liturgical cycle, and make us penetrate ever more its significance" (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, [Edith Stein], Wege zur inneren Stille Aschaffenburg, 1987, p. 67). We are called to enter into this mystery of covenant by conforming our life increasingly every day to the gift received in the Eucharist. It has a sacred character, as Vatican Council II reminds: "Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree " ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 7). In a certain way, it is a "heavenly liturgy," anticipation of the banquet in the eternal Kingdom, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, until he comes (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26).

And also, there is always that awkwardness at Catholic weddings that petrifies priests, brides, and grooms alike regarding non-Catholics and the reception of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Here, too, the Pope has offered some very useful words:

Reception of the Eucharist, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament—by this we mean deepening our communion, preparing for it and prolonging it—is also about allowing ourselves to enter into communion with Christ, and through him with the whole of the Trinity, so as to become what we receive and to live in communion with the Church. It is by receiving the Body of Christ that we receive the strength "of unity with God and with one another" (Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Ioannis Evangelium, 11:11; cf. Saint Augustine, Sermo 577).

So receiving Jesus in Communion implies communion of belief with the Catholic Church.

These are all echoes of his beautiful teachings in his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. To learn more about the Eucharist, that is an excellent document. Here is the text of the homily that Pope Benedict XVI offered Sunday, from Zenit News Services:

Papal Homily for Quebec Eucharistic Congress

Lord Cardinals, Excellencies, dear Brothers and Sisters,

While you are gathered for the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, I am happy to join you through the medium of satellite and thus unite myself to your prayer. I would like first of all to greet the Lord Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec, and the Lord Cardinal Jozef Tomko, special envoy for the congress, as well as all the cardinals and bishops present. I also address my cordial greetings to the personalities of civil society who decided to take part in the liturgy. My affectionate thought goes to the priests, deacons and all the faithful present, as well as to all Catholics of Quebec, of the whole of Canada and of other continents. I do not forget that your country celebrates this year the 400th anniversary of its foundation. It is an occasion for each one of you to recall the values that animated the pioneers and missionaries in your country.

"The Eucharist, gift of God for the Life of the World," this is the theme chosen for this latest International Eucharistic Congress. The Eucharist is our most beautiful treasure. It is the sacrament par excellence; it introduces us early into eternal life; it contains the whole mystery of our salvation; it is the source and summit of the action and of the life of the Church, as the Second Vatican Council recalled ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 8).

It is, therefore, particularly important that pastors and faithful dedicate themselves permanently to furthering their knowledge of this great sacrament. Each one will thus be able to affirm his faith and fulfill ever better his mission in the Church and in the world, recalling that there is a fruitfulness of the Eucharist in his personal life, in the life of the Church and of the world. The Spirit of truth gives witness in your hearts; you also must give witness to Christ before men, as the antiphon states in the alleluia of this Mass. Participation in the Eucharist, then, does not distance us from our contemporaries; on the contrary, because it is the expression par excellence of the love of God, it calls us to be involved with all our brothers to address the present challenges and to make the planet a place where it is good to live.

To accomplish this, it is necessary to struggle ceaselessly so that every person will be respected from his conception until his natural death; that our rich societies welcome the poorest and allow them their dignity; that all persons be able to find nourishment and enable their families to live; that peace and justice may shine in all continents. These are some of the challenges that must mobilize all our contemporaries and for which Christians must draw their strength in the Eucharistic mystery.

"The Mystery of Faith": this is what we proclaim at every Mass. I would like everyone to make a commitment to study this great mystery, especially by revisiting and exploring, individually and in groups, the Council's text on the Liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium," so as to bear witness courageously to the mystery. In this way, each person will arrive at a better grasp of the meaning of every aspect of the Eucharist, understanding its depth and living it with greater intensity. Every sentence, every gesture has its own meaning and conceals a mystery. I sincerely hope that this Congress will serve as an appeal to all the faithful to make a similar commitment to a renewal of Eucharistic catechesis, so that they themselves will gain a genuine Eucharistic awareness and will in turn teach children and young people to recognize the central mystery of faith and build their lives around it. I urge priests especially to give due honor to the Eucharistic rite, and I ask all the faithful to respect the role of each individual, both priest and lay, in the Eucharistic action. The liturgy does not belong to us: it is the Church's treasure.

Reception of the Eucharist, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament -- by this we mean deepening our communion, preparing for it and prolonging it -- is also about allowing ourselves to enter into communion with Christ, and through him with the whole of the Trinity, so as to become what we receive and to live in communion with the Church. It is by receiving the Body of Christ that we receive the strength "of unity with God and with one another" (Saint Cyril of Alexandria, In Ioannis Evangelium, 11:11; cf. Saint Augustine, Sermo 577).

We must never forget that the Church is built around Christ and that, as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Albert the Great have all said, following Saint Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17), the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, because we all form one single body of which the Lord is the head. We must go back again and again to the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, where we were given a pledge of the mystery of our redemption on the Cross. The Last Supper is the locus of the nascent Church, the womb containing the Church of every age. In the Eucharist, Christ's sacrifice is constantly renewed, Pentecost is constantly renewed. May all of you become ever more deeply aware of the importance of the Sunday Eucharist, because Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day when we honor Christ, the day when we receive the strength to live each day the gift of God.

I would also like to invite the pastors and faithful to a renewed care in their preparation for reception of the Eucharist. Despite our weakness and our sin, Christ wills to make his dwelling in us, asking him for healing. To bring this about, we must do everything that is in our power to receive him with a pure heart, ceaselessly rediscovering, through the sacrament of penance, the purity that sin has stained, "putting our soul and our voice in accord," according to the invitation of the Council (cf. "Sacrosanctum Concilium," No.11). In fact, sin, especially grave sin, is opposed to the action of Eucharistic grace in us. However, those who cannot go to communion because of their situation, will find nevertheless in a communion of desire and in participation in the Mass saving strength and efficacy.

The Eucharist had an altogether special place in the lives of saints. Let us thank God for the history of holiness of Quebec and Canada, which contributed to the missionary life of the Church. Your country honors especially its Canadian martyrs, Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues and their companions, who were able to give up their lives for Christ, thus uniting themselves to his sacrifice on the Cross.

They belong to the generation of men and women who founded and developed the Church of Canada, with Marguerite Bourgeoys, Marguerite d'Youville, Marie of the Incarnation, Marie-Catherine of Saint Augustine, Mgr Francis of Laval, founder of the first diocese in North America, Dina Belanger and Kateri Tekakwitha. Put yourselves in their school; like them, be without fear; God accompanies you and protects you; make of each day an offering to the glory of God the Father and take your part in the building of the world, remembering with pride your religious heritage and its social and cultural brilliance, and taking care to spread around you the moral and spiritual values that come to us from the Lord.

The Eucharist is not a meal among friends. It is a mystery of covenant. "The prayers and the rites of the Eucharistic sacrifice make the whole history of salvation revive ceaselessly before the eyes of our soul, in the course of the liturgical cycle, and make us penetrate ever more its significance" (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, [Edith Stein], Wege zur inneren Stille Aschaffenburg, 1987, p. 67). We are called to enter into this mystery of covenant by conforming our life increasingly every day to the gift received in the Eucharist. It has a sacred character, as Vatican Council II reminds: "Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree " ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," No. 7). In a certain way, it is a "heavenly liturgy," anticipation of the banquet in the eternal Kingdom, proclaiming the death and resurrection of Christ, until he comes (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:26).

In order that the People of God never lack ministers to give them the Body of Christ, we must ask the Lord to make the gift of new priests to his Church. I also invite you to transmit the call to the priesthood to young men, so that they will accept with joy and without fear to respond to Christ. They will not be disappointed. May families be the primordial place and the cradle of vocations.

Before ending, it is with joy that I announce to you the meeting of the next International Eucharistic Congress. It will be held in Dublin, in Ireland, in 2012. I ask the Lord to make each one of you discover the depth and grandeur of the mystery of faith. May Christ, present in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit, invoked over the bread and wine, accompany you on your daily way and in your mission. May you, in the image of the Virgin Mary, be open to the work of God in you. Entrusting you to the intercession of Our Lady, of Saint Anne, patroness of Quebec, and of all the saints of your land, I impart to all of you an affectionate Apostolic Blessing, as well as to all the persons present, who have come from different countries of the world.

Dear friends, as this significant event in the life of the Church draws to a conclusion I invite you all to join me in praying for the success of the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2012 in the city of Dublin! I take this opportunity to greet warmly the people of Ireland, as they prepare to host this ecclesial gathering. I am confident that they, together with all the participants at the next Congress, will find it a source of lasting spiritual renewal.

[Translation of the French portions by ZENIT]

Art or Child Pornography?

2008-06-13T20:25:00.004-06:00

Apparently child pornographer Bill Henson opened an exhibit in the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery of Sydney featuring a number of pictures of nude 12- to 13-year-old girls in sexually suggestive poses. Rightly recognizing the photographing of naked children as perverse and pathological, the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described the photos “revolting.”

“Kids deserve to have the innocence of their childhood protected. I have a very deep view of this. For God's sake, let's just allow kids to be kids,” he said. Indeed.

Rightfully so, the police confiscated about 20 pieces of “art” depicting nude teenagers (all photographed with signed permission forms from the parents, of course). This is such a sad story for this poor girl, abandoned so recklessly by her parents and thrown to this wolf and a pack of pedophiles to be devoured. Imagine the permanence of any decision made when 12. At least the intervention of the law will bring some well-deserved justice for this pornographer and her parents.

However, this story does not appear to be headed towards a non-pathological ending for society.

Say It Ain’t So, Cate
Instead of a resounding and universal cry of condemnation that we may have heard a mere two decades ago had this happened then, there has arisen a cacophony of support for this type of “art.” Cate Blanchett, an Australian-born actress from Melbourne (well-loved for her roles as Galadriel in Lord of the Rings and Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator), has joined the ranks of the child pornographer’s apologists (which also include Nobel prize winning author John Coetzee and economist Saul Eslake). She co-signed a letter by a number of artists calling on Rudd to soften his earlier comments, saying that the actions by the police damaged the nation’s cultural reputation.

The letter goes on, “We should remember that an important index of social freedom, in earlier times or in repressive regimes elsewhere in the world, is how artists and art are treated by the state.” What profound truth. Let’s have a look at what the state did.

Police had intended to prosecute Henson. However, they returned the images to Henson and decided not to prosecute him after the Australia Classifications Board determined the artwork to be “mild and justified.”

How true then is the artists’ letter. Here we have a legitimate case of a deplorable manipulation of a child and the co-conspiracy of her parents and the pornographer. And yet the art and artist are exonerated by the state. What does that say about the state, and the regime of oppression there? These actions of the state are what has damaged its cultural reputation. True culture should reject child pornography rather than calling it “mild and justified.”

The “Art” Defense and the End of Child Pornography
Can there be any such thing as child pornography anymore? I suppose not as long as the pornographer has a permission slip and calls it “art.” Why not then a blanket exoneration for all the pederasts and pedophiles? As we can see, all these seemingly disturbed fellows were merely misunderstood artists.

Yes, the “artist” is above the law. The minute the “artist” breaks the law in his “art,” the “artistic” community cries out: “Censorship!” “Repression!” “Artistic freedom!” Malcolm Turnbull, an Australian politician, well illustrates this viewpoint: “I don’t believe that we should have policemen invading art galleries. I think we have a culture of great artistic freedom in this country and I don’t believe the vice squad’s role is to go into art galleries.”

There is no law in the gallery. What about in the studio of Bill Henson as he prepares the body of a girl in her early adolescence for his camera? Where is the state help for that girl, manipulated and forsaken to the unforgetting lens? No law. Remember, art breeds copycats. Do we want these types of copycats in our neighborhoods? Is it really desirable to have Bill Henson wannabes hanging around the malls sizing up preteens? That’s why we have law.

What is art?
So if the art defense can be used, what is art? What is its nature? This is an important philosophical question. Art nowadays is something intended to invade or shock the senses, to provoke a response. Is an insult any different a thing from modern art, taken in this sense? Art must be something else, something more, lest it be mistaken for insults. I myself cannot tell the difference.

No, art is something very positive. Art gives a glimpse into beauty. Beauty transcends all finite things, and as transcendental points toward the transcendent. Yes, God is beauty. Since God is also good, beauty radiates most profoundly from what is good, because there is neither goodness nor beauty outside of what is Godly.

To rightly interpret what is “art,” one must look deeper beyond the superficial to the deeper meaning, the object of the piece. Can a portrait of a nude 12- or 13-year-old girl be art – something in and of itself objectively good? While the girl herself may be beautiful, the act of photographing a girl so young is itself manipulative. Something wicked is involved in the generation of such images, violating the rights of the young who may not realize the real permanence of such images. Moreover, the consequences of such works are not unforeseen either. Plus, if it's really art, art is accessible to all. So there should be no objection, then, to sexual predators expressing themselves artistically. Such work arouses the fantasies and base passions of pedophiles, in addition to the potential of copycats. Real art beckons imitation - now that's a frightening thought.

Fortunately, these images are not art at all. Real art would not “inspire” the subjugation of the innocent. There cannot be anything good about these images, no matter how “mild and justified” classifications boards find them. The only remaining classification for such images is child pornography. Police should not so quickly fold their cards: Henson and his co-conspirators should be prosecuted in the same manner as anyone charged with producing child porn. In fact, it would seem that child pornography of Henson's sort is in reality more dangerous because of the mainstream publicity and the greater ease access of the public to these art galleries.

Oh, and lest it be lost in all this madness over “artistic freedom,” please God save this poor girl from this wolf and her foolish parents.

St. Thérèse de Lisieux: The Charcoal Fire Quoteboard

2008-06-12T12:00:00.000-06:00

If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart burning with love. And I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. Love, in fact, is the vocation which includes all others; it’s a universe of its own, comprising all time and space – it’s eternal! (St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography of a Saint, tr. Ronald Knox (London: Harvill, 1958) 235.)

A Fast Solution - The Superabundant Fruits

2008-06-09T12:00:00.001-06:00

Last week, I wrote about the practical reasons to fast. But now and more importantly, on to the spiritual benefits of fasting.

Spiritual Gain

Gratitude – As someone who struggles with gratitude from time to time, fasting makes me grateful for what I have. When going to bed hungry one night, breakfast the next morning feels like quite the gift.

A day of union with Christ – Fasting, though it can be mentally and physically challenging, is a great opportunity to spend the day with Jesus. If we fast for love of him and for the salvation of the souls whom he loves so much, he stays at the front of the mind all day long.

Remembrance of the Passion of the Lord – fasting every Friday helps us to remember the suffering of our beloved Lord. Unbeknownst to many, Catholics are supposed to either fast from meat or fast in some other way every Friday. Anyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours knows that there is a special focus on the death of our Lord every Friday. And so this is why we fast. For Christ himself said, “The days will come, when the bridegroom [Jesus] is taken away from them [his disciples], and then they will fast” (Mt 9:15).

Spiritual warfare – some of the Apostles were unable to exorcise a demon from a possessed boy in the Gospel of Mark. Upon inquiring of their inability to the Lord, he replied, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mk 9:29). To this day in the Church, priests will fast before performing exorcisms. Many people who have offered up every kind of prayer for a loved one may take solace in the power of fasting.

Detachment means more attachment to God – consumers do not readily understand the absence of God in their lives. Consumers are too busy consuming to know there is anything lacking, and when consumers feel something lacking, consumers consume more. However, what is most consuming is the blazing crucible that is the heart of our beloved God. “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29). I in the various stages of my life have woven this web of attachments between myself and God. I have marveled at how independent I thought I was, only to find out through fasting at how dependent I had been on those things to which I was attached. They can be simple. Through fasting I realized I was attached to noise while driving. Since I gave up talk radio and those same alternative and hard rock songs I heard so repetitively, driving has been a time of peace in my day. But upon taking to silence, I began to enter into communion with the Lord. Fasting is a great blessing. In every attachment I have broken, I have come to a new attachment to God. Though I am still journeying on the path toward total dependence upon God in my heart, I am fully certain that detachment through fasting is the food for this path.

Fasting with the proper disposition bears great reward – Our Lord says, “when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:17-18).

So now that we are beyond the Easter season, it is now time to take up this spiritual battle again with the devil – to go out into the wilderness with the Lord to fast and to pray. And our times – with the great suffering everywhere – desperately need it. For our economic hardship pales in comparison to the homelessness and hunger in the disaster-ridden Far East.

A Reflection on 10 Years Since High School Graduation

2008-06-05T17:36:00.004-06:00

Happy 10-year high school graduation to me! Ten years ago today I graduated from high school. As is always the case, a lot changes in a decade, both socially and personally. So perhaps for a brief entry today, I think I’ll focus on one end I vigorously pursued, much to my detriment. I was foolish to do so.

Peers – I love my friends, I always have. But my love for them was not an ordered love. For so long, I loved my friends first, family second, God third – totally backwards.

I was finally beginning to really enjoy high school and the acceptance of my peers. I truly felt well-liked for the first time, so graduation seemed to come at a rather inopportune time. But finally finding the warm acceptance of so many of my fellow SHS grads—among whom were many very wholesome young people who I expect to be some of America’s best even now—proved to be most gratifying.

However, my approach to my peers—that they were some sort of absolute good to be attained—proved to be most harmful when I got to college. SHS was well-ruled, but in the ungoverned rule-by-passions that occurred in college, I witnessed destruction on all sides—especially destruction from within.

In hindsight, I would gladly have forfeited the entirety of my acceptance of my peers for a deeper relationship with Christ and for more time with my family. How I wish I would have experienced the bitter loneliness of solitude rather than the pseudo-warmth of the crowd, always ready to abandon the one cast in a different image.

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. As this disciple was known to the high priest, he entered the court of the high priest along with Jesus, while Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the maid who kept the door, and brought Peter in. The maid who kept the door said to Peter,

“Are not you also one of this man’s disciples?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves; Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. They said to him,

“Are not you also one of his disciples?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a kinsman of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,

“Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it; and at once the cock crowed (Jn 18:15-18, 25-27).

On the anniversary of my graduation, I’d like to remember one in particular to whom we were unkind. In middle school, we all gathered in the gymnasium before the bell rang to send us to homeroom. Every morning, this one girl in my grade would come and sit among us in the bleachers. She was smelly, poor, a little overweight (though not by today’s standards). When she would sit down, everyone, no matter who, would scatter. She would get up and move to try to sit close to someone else. The kids would scatter again. I remember watching in horror with my friends. We said to each other, “that’s messed up.” She wouldn’t cry; she played tough and snapped back at those who moved. But there was a great deal of pain in her face. One morning, she came and took a seat near me and my friends, everyone dissipated in all directions, leaving a wide empty circle around her. Then she came our way. We moved, too.

We were adolescents, but we were not at all innocent. We had betrayed one of our own for the love of the crowd. Love of the crowd. Really, this is simply the love of power and is therefore no love at all. This love I pursued through the indescribable miseries of college—where I myself finally grew to experience the bitter solitude of loneliness (a great mercy). Finally in my own abandonment I would come to know the suffering of the Lord's abandonment at my hands. How I wish I would have experienced that abandonment by that girl’s side as her friend, because then I could have loved Christ. It is a pity that I did not pursue the bitter solitude of the Cross. One can count me among the many shameful and fearful servants who have abandoned the Lord.

Mercifully, my beloved has called me to a different life, preparing a charcoal fire for me as he did for Peter on the shore.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. … Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him,

“Follow me.”

The Charcoal Fire Quoteboard: Science and Theology: Pope Benedict XVI on Creation

2008-06-03T12:00:00.001-06:00

From a homily given in Germany in 1981:

“…Even today faith in creation is not unreal; even today it is reasonable; even from the perspective of the data of the natural sciences it is the 'better hypothesis,' offering a fuller and better explanation than any of the other theories. Faith is reasonable. The reasonableness of creation derives from God’s Reason, and there is no other really convincing explanation. What the pagan Aristotle said four hundred years before Christ—when he opposed those who asserted that everything has come to exist through chance, even through he said what he did without the knowledge that our faith in creation gives us—is still valid today. The reasonableness of the universe provides us with access to God’s Reason, and the Bible is and continues to be the true 'enlightenment,' which has given the world over to human reason and not to exploitation by human beings, because it opened reason to God’s truth and love. Therefore we must not in our day conceal our faith in creation.” (“In the Beginning…” A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall, pp. 17-18).

A Fast Solution for Hard Economic Times

2008-06-02T15:11:00.006-06:00

Fast. We can all stand to consume less. But setting times in which we deliberately give up all food other than nutritious bread for a day can be beneficial in many ways.

Why fast? Because it is so good for you. There are in fact many benefits, both spiritual and practical for fasting. For those who are selfless, the spiritual reasons should suffice (at this point you may wish to wait for next week's post). For those who are not as selfless, well, there are good reasons for us as well. I myself have not fasted as I should over the past couple of years, but hope to return to the practice for all of the following reasons, but primarily for the latter (which I will outline later).

Practical Gain

Save a few dollars – with food prices as they are, one could certainly save by consuming hearty bread throughout an entire day. So those of us who may be feeling a bit pinched financially might want to consider a once-a-week fast.

Detachment is liberating – in 2004, when I began a rigorous Lenten fast, after a few days of the fast I remember being astonished at how little I actually needed to get through the day. Upon fasting from foods that I liked, making myself eat more foods that I did not like, I was equally astonished to discover that those foods I thought I did not like I quickly acquired a taste for. So in fasting I gained more freedom to eat things such as green peppers, Brussels sprouts, and olives.

Fasting is good for the human community – it’s not a bad thing during a fast to try and experience a little bit of hunger. Being the kings of the Western world that we consumers are, it’s more than easy, as I’ve experienced, to grow complacent and forgetful of the plight of third-world nations. Experiencing just a couple hours of truly feeling hungry, while perhaps not the best idea medically (make sure to stay hydrated and take vitamins), can be motivating to aid our brothers and sisters in need.

Preparation for times of need – Though we are a wealthy nation, it's not out of the realm of possibility that any of us could experience hunger at some point in our lives, either due to economic collapse or some sort of disaster. Fasting now (again, being mindful not to put the body in danger through any overly rigorous self-starvation) may help us to keep our wits then, and may also help us to know well what our human needs are. If we are gluttonous, we are ill-equipped for instability.

To be continued next week.

Live Marian Conference from Amsterdam, Saturday, May 31

2008-05-30T11:30:00.008-06:00

Well, first of all, I’m quite bummed that I’m not at this thing. I had the opportunity to go, but could not afford the airfare. But instead of indulging the urge to blame greedy foreign oil tycoons and irascible Venezuelan dictators, I’ll be watching from home. I also wanted to share this opportunity with you, my loyal readers, particularly those of you who are early birds.

Airmaria.com will be live-streaming this rich Marian conference from the Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam, which will be viewable from 7:00 a.m. to noon, Eastern Standard Time, on Saturday, May 31. The conference will feature talks by great Mariologists such as Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, F.I.; Msgr. Arthur Calkins; Dr. Mark Miravalle; and Anglican theologian Dr. Judith Gentle.

Like the “Behold Your Mother” conference of this past October, this is sure to be a “don’t miss” as well.

A special thanks to the tech-savvy Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate for their many gifts, and of course to St. Maximilian Kolbe their patron, who was so joyously fulfilled in the love of God and neighbor that not even the Nazis could starve him to death.

The Charcoal Fire Quoteboard: Science and Philosophy, Jacques Maritain

2008-05-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Having combed through Jacques Maritain's Introduction to Philosophy upon the recommendation of a good friend, I can say that it may perhaps prove to be one of the most fruit-bearing books I have ever read. I pass on the recommendation (as well as a brief quote). It takes a little time to comb through, but it is well worth it for profound gems of truth like this:

"Thus all the sciences are ordered by wisdom: sapientis est ordinare. If therefore a science, or more correctly a scientist, should happen to lose sight of its true object by encroaching on the domain and rights of another science, it is the duty of philosophy to redress the disorder involved. ... It follows, further, that a period in the history of human culture in which philosophy is not allowed her rightful suzerainty over the sciences as scientia rectrix inevitably ends in a condition of intellectual chaos and a general weakening of the reasoning faculty" (An Introduction to Philosophy, Sheed and Ward, Oxford, pp. 74-75).

Resurrection of the Dead: Hope for all the Fallen in Christ

2008-05-26T07:18:00.003-06:00

On this Memorial Day, it is important to remember the lives of the fallen who have secured our freedom through the sacrifice of their lives. Though so many have gone on to their eternal reward, the living continue to endure the pains of loss. But in Christ we have our hope for our loved ones: Our Lord indeed has shown us that death is not the end.

Jesus Christ has broken the chains of death and risen triumphant from the grave. Now, death is not a returning to non-existence, but is the separation of body and soul. Jesus himself says this in Luke 20:37-38. He refers back to Exodus when God appears to Moses and says, “I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” three long since in the ground. Jesus says he is not God of the dead, but of the living.

So what is death? Some people believe that you cease to exist in death. But death isn’t a return from existence to non-existence. Death isn’t a simple dissipation of your energy into the universe, as many people believe throughout the world. Death is simply a separation. Death is the sundering of body and soul. The body is made mortal because of sin; the soul is immortal – the two must separate. The good news is that there will be an immortal body.

So many people believe that the body is a prison and in death the soul is released from the prison of the body. Others, imprisoned by the thought that there is no soul, believe that death is the end of existence. But God created man from the beginning body and soul. If man before the fall was body and soul, is it fitting that the work of the devil should have an eternal effect on God’s desire for the blessed? No. Jesus has broken the chains of death and risen triumphant from the grave.

So what is our hope? For those who have ever been to a Catholic funeral liturgy, it can be difficult to take in the words of hope the Church offers because the pain of loss is so near. Others may be preoccupied with consoling those who have lost loved ones. Listen to the prayer of the funeral Mass:

“In baptism [Kevin] received the light of Christ. Scatter darkness now and lead him over the waters of death. Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.”

Let us not forget to pray for the dead, no matter how noble their lives may have been. When I lost my grandfather in 2003, who was a WWII veteran, it was tempting to think I shouldn’t pray for him because he was such a selfless man and he went straight to heaven. But the mournful prayers of his family members, particularly those of his wife of 64 years, no doubt helped quicken his purification. I am glad I prayed for him. The poor souls in purgatory who are being purified for their entrance into the glory of God need our prayers. Scripture says it is honorable to pray for the dead because it takes into account the resurrection (2 Mac 12:45).

Let us listen to another prayer at the funeral Mass: The priest says,

“God of loving kindness,
listen favorably to our prayers:
strengthen our belief that your Son has risen from the dead
and our hope that your servant [Kevin] will also rise again.
We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.”

This is our hope. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all the dead (believers and nonbelievers) will rise again.

Sometimes, the Church will celebrate a Mass for the sick in which there will be an anointing of the sick and the celebration of the Eucharist. During the Mass, in the Eucharistic prayer, the priest says,

“In the splendor of his rising your Son conquered suffering and death and bequeathed to us his promise of a new and glorious world, where no bodily pain will afflict us and no anguish of spirit… In this supreme sacrament of your love you give us the risen body of your Son: a pattern of what we shall become when he returns again at the end of time.”

Amen! What joy must fill the souls of all the fallen who laid down their lives for their friends as they await the redemption of all the elect and the resurrection of the body. Let us be mindful of them on this day and remember that we, too, will rise again after our death, to live (or die) body and soul together forever.

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. … Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" (1 Cor 15:12-20, 51-55)

Divine-Human Synergy: A Greek Peek

2008-05-20T19:21:00.002-06:00

Sometimes in the work of evangelization, there is a temptation to think that God is the one who does all the work and we are simply his pawns that he moves across his proverbial chess board. In the other extreme, human pride can say, "wow, I really do not need the sacraments or the Church to achieve personal holiness. I can just do all the work myself by being a good person."

But neither of these are the case. Rather, the case is that God and man are co-workers in the mystery of salvation. The New Testament speaks of a sunergos, from which we derive the word synergy. The word comes from the combination of sun ("co" or "with") and ergon ("work"). This word appears in some very key places in Scripture. Let's have a brief look at some of the forms and uses of this word:

"Co-working (sunergountes) with him [Christ]" (2 Cor 6:1)
"For we are God's co-workers (sunergoi)" (1 Cor 3:9)
"Greet Prisca and Aquila, my co-workers (sunergous) in Christ Jesus" (Rom 16:3)
"You see that faith was co-working (sunergei) his [Abraham's] works" (Jas 2:22)
"And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord continuously co-working (sunergountos) and confirming the word by the signs that attended it. Amen." (Mk 16:20)

These are all very interesting Scriptures. They teach us a lot about our mission as Catholics. We are God's co-workers in the ministry of the Church. Families are co-workers with the clergy (i.e. Priscilla and Aquila, Paul's co-workers). Faith and works are co-workers, intrinsically linked.

Finally, Christ himself is active as the co-worker to the preaching of the Apostles as we see in the last verse of the Gospel of Mark, confirming the word of the eleven, even after having taken his seat at the right hand of God in heaven (cf. Mk 16:19). This could hardly be interpreted as divine manipulation, but rather is the guarantee of the work of the Lord in guiding the teaching of the Church.

Rather than the synergy of the corporate world which means interdepartmental cooperation, let's optimize our divine-human synergy, living in the sacramental life of the Church!

With the Pope in Prayer for the Chinese

2008-05-17T04:45:00.000-06:00

While the death toll continues to rise in China in the wake of the massive earthquakes there, leading to so much death and misery, let us remember our Chinese brethren in prayer. Let us also remember the countless millions of unborn children there who have also perished due to immoral government policies, as well as remembering in prayer our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ there who have suffered much—even unto death—for the faith.

Let us beseech Our Lady of Sheshan for a powerful deliverance of the Chinese people from not only the disastrous effects of the earthquakes, but also from the devastating and oppressive reality that is communism. Let us join in the following prayer composed by Pope Benedict XVI for the annual day of prayer for the Catholic Church in China to Our Lady Help of Christians, whose feast is celebrated May 24:

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title 'Help of Christians,' the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother's care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.

When you obediently said 'yes' in the house of Nazareth, you allowed God's eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously co-operated in that work, allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, Who died that we might live.

From that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in His footsteps by taking up His Cross. Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter. Grant that your children may discern at all times, even those that are darkest, the signs of God's loving presence.

Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trails, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!

Thank You, Pastor Hagee

2008-05-16T06:02:00.000-06:00

Pastor John Hagee deserves an abundance of thanks for the retraction of his anti-Catholic comments. For it is not only the retraction of the comments which deserves our profound gratitude, but the manner in which he has retracted those comments.

The following is an excerpt from a letter he sent to William Donahue, President of the Catholic League:

In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholics and Protestant relations with the Jews. In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not. Likewise, I have not sufficiently expressed my deep appreciation for the efforts of the Catholics who opposed the persecution of the Jewish people. It is important to note that there were thousands of righteous Catholics—both clergy and laymen—who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust. …

In addition, I better understand that reference to the Roman Catholic Church as the “apostate church” and the “great whore” described in the Book of Revelation is a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary … neither of these phrases can be synonymous with the Catholic Church.

The temptation of unforgiving hearts may be to question his motives as political in nature. However, such an explanation hardly accounts for the depths of his self-correction, nor does it explain the leap towards ecumenism in the letter. I do believe that he recognized that he has grieved the heart of Christ with his past anti-Catholic bigotry. It’s time to forgive and forget the multitude of mischaracterizations of our faith and move with Hagee towards Christian fellowship.

Having grown up in the Bible Belt and encountered much false belief and paranoia about Catholics, I welcome with a joyous heart the recent kind comments of the Rev. John Hagee, both his contrition and his warm words for the Pope during his April visit. I plan to contact Pastor Hagee and thank him for his sincere apology. I hope others do as well.

Rather than remembering hurtful words of the past, let us consider those honorable words concerning the Pope during his visit:

We were all inspired by Pope Benedict's visit. It is my prayer that we will now follow his example and look beyond our differences to see that when it comes to the great challenges of our times, people of faith have much in common.

Follow-Up from Saturday, Early A.M.

Well, my infant daughter decided she wanted to utilize the early morning hours to learn all that she could about the appearances of furniture rather than about the benefits of a sound night's sleep. While 3-5:30 a.m. is not normally a time I would select such an endeavor for myself, she seemed most content to do so. Now that she is asleep too "late" in the early morning for me to return to bed, I thought I would pass along this encouraging update to this story.

On the Universal Church and the Particular Churches

2008-05-12T09:19:00.000-06:00

Anyone confused as to the relation between their own diocese and that of the Church of Rome should take note of the following quote from the Pope. Unfortunately, many have been led into accepting a low ecclesiology (theology of the Church) in the name of excessive pursuits of pluralism and multiculturalism.

I don't remember where it occurred, perhaps in the journal Communio, but there did occur a debate in the past between the Jesuit Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger over the nature of the particular churches (i.e., the local churches) in relation to the Universal Church. The state of the question was whether the nature of the Catholic Church is a priori the particular churches (Rahner's position) or a priori the Universal Church (Ratzinger's position). This is hardly a trivial question. If the Church is first and foremost the local Church, then there is no Universal Church as such because the nature of the Universal Church would be to be the sum total of all her parts. The Universal Church would simply be the incorporation of particular churches, but it would have no reality in itself. Here is the Pope's teaching from Pentecost:

"The Church that is born at Pentecost is not above all a particular community—the Church of Jerusalem—but the universal Church, that speaks the language of all peoples. From her, other communities in every corner of the world will be born, particular Churches that are all and always actualizations of the one and only Church of Christ. The Catholic Church is therefore not a federation of churches, but a single reality: The universal Church has ontological priority. A community that is not catholic in this sense would not even be a Church." (my emphasis)

Rahner's position tends to essentially eliminate the Universal Church based on what I have said above, on the other hand, Ratzinger's position does no violence to the particular churches. Quite the contrary is true. Rather than dissolving the local churches, Ratzinger's position elevates their dignity for the simple fact that the Universal Church does have an ontological reality all to itself—a profound reality—to be participated in.

Analogously, it could be said that Rahner's position would be similar to each member of the Body of Christ being Christ prior to Christ's headship. Then Christ the head would be one of many equal members, since, according to this view, the Body of Christ is the sum of the members. However, this does violence to the person of Christ, essentially negating his authority. But the dignity of each member lies in the fact that he or she participates in the Christ who is the head. So it is with the dignity of the particular churches, which participate in the same outpouring of the Spirit that comes through the One Universal Church.

"The universal Church has ontological priority." In other words, the Universal Church has its being prior to particular churches. This is very important. This means that in Peter dwells the authority, and all shepherds of the Church are to unite with his authority because it is the authority that comes directly from the Holy Spirit. Each local Church is to find its repose in the pure pastures of the Church of Rome. Only in this sense may it be said, "though many, one." Praised be to God who calls all together to this unity.

Athanasius Against the World – Combatting the Threat of Arianism (Part II)

2008-05-09T13:00:00.001-06:00

This is a continuation of my tribute to St. Athanasius (pictured in icon to the right), the great Early Church defender of Christianity. His struggle is a heroic one, one in which St. Athanasius lived up to his name, which in Greek means "undying" or "immortal."

The Near-Triumph of Arianism

Constantius initially seemed to be accepting of Athanasius’ presence. But his opponents gained in strength as the Emperor increased in power, particularly after the death of Pope Julius. Pope Liberius would not support the accusations against Athanasius either. Catholic leaders throughout the Church were threatened into support of the condemnation of Athanasius. The pope wanted a new council. Constantius, who knew that no one would dare oppose him, called the Council of Milan in 355. “With this synod began a disgraceful tragedy, for which the Emperor was chiefly responsible,” Baus writes (22). Only a few of the many bishops resisted the force of the emperor. Pope Liberius was one of those bishops, defying the emperor. Constantius in a fit of power sent the resistant into exile and set up an anti-pope (23). He then ordered the arrest of Athanasius, who had become justifiably suspicious of the emperor. Soldiers attempted to arrest him once, but Athanasius’ parishioners formed a human shield around their pastor. Then, in February 356, armed soldiers stormed the church in which he was celebrating Mass, killing many people, but Athanasius, saved by his faithful clergy, miraculously escaped (24). He found refuge in the desert.

During that time, Athanasius did not fall into despair. The most hunted man in the empire wrote some of his most important letters clearing his name. He consoled his faithful and clergy with his writing and encouraged them to remain strong. He remained very elusive in the desert with the support of the desert monks as he frequently changed hiding places.

But the evil of the persecution that fell upon the people and divided him from them grieved him greatly. “My eyes ceased not from tears, nor my spirit from groaning, because we are not permitted even to see the brethren” (25).

Athanasius had survived, but Arianism seemed victorious. Over the years, however, factions had developed within the heresy. Which faction would be imposed on Christianity? Some Arians had said that the Son and the Father were of like substance (homoi-ousios); others said the Father and the Son were like each other (homoios); others said the Father and the Son were unlike each other (an-homoios). Constantius sided with the middle party (26). The vagueness of the formula, avoiding the substantiality debate, would win many adherents, proponents explained to the emperor (27).

Constantius convened his council, calling hundreds of bishops to Rimini. The bishops were not allowed to return home without signing the Arian Creed of Sirmium; all those who held to the Nicene term homoousios lost their sees (28). Many bishops retracted their signatures upon returning to their sees (29).

Athanasius did not withhold his opinion of Constantius in his writings. In History of the Arians, he compares Constantius with Saul, Ahab, and Pontius Pilate – and of the three, Consantius is the worst! “He is even more bitter than Pilate,” Athanasius writes. “For Pilate washed his hands; but this man, while he banishes the saints, gnashes his teeth against them more and more” (30).

Saved by an “Apostate” – then Exiled

Like his father, Constantius received his baptism on his deathbed. In November 361, the archnemesis of Athanasius was dead and the empire fell to a pagan emperor. The Arian crisis had climaxed and begun its recession. Julian sought to reestablish pagan worship, rebuilding the temples Constantine had destroyed. Moreover, he sought to demoralize Christianity and renew the fighting between the Arians and Catholics. With ill intentions, he recalled Athanasius and other bishops from exile.

But rather than bring division, the return of Athanasius fostered unity among frightened Arians in need of a pastor. With Julian’s plan failing, Athanasius was exiled again – a fourth exile (31). But Julian’s death would come soon; he would not reign long, nor would his successor, Jovian. The empire fell to Valentinian I in the West and Valens in the East. Valens was just as determined an Arian as was Constantius (32). Athanasius was banished in 365 along with all the other bishops who were allowed to return under Julian – a fifth exile! But since disturbances had flared in the city, Valens allowed Athanasius’ return (33). The people had had enough. They would not lose their pastor again. Valens would reign up through Athanasius’ death.

With Emperor Valens at the helm, the political state of affairs was difficult in the end of Athanasius’ life, a proper bookend to a life that began in turmoil. But he was in Alexandria with his people. He was now ready to enter into his rest. He had served the Lord well, and had passed the theological torch onto the Cappadocian Fathers, who would lead the Church to claim total victory over the Arians in the theology of the coming ecumenical councils. Athanasius died in Alexandria on May 2, 373.

Conclusion – Man of Immortal Memory

“They will lay their hands on you and persecute you … and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict” (Lk.21:12-13, 15).

As some Christians throughout the centuries have discovered, such as St. John the Evangelist, Origen, and Athanasius, much to their own surprise, to be sure, martyrdom is not for all. But the Cross of suffering comes with being a servant of the Lord. “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (Jn.15:20).

If it is true that the flight of the persecuted testifies against his persecutors, then Athanasius dealt with some of the most unsavory and malevolent men of the 4th century. “For no man flees from the gentle and the humane, but from the cruel and evil-minded” (34). It must have seemed to the Arians that Athanasius would live up to his own name, which means “man of immortality” (35). Certainly, he has become a man of immortality and of immortal memory in the mighty deeds he wrought for his Lord.

It is difficult to grasp the impact Athanasius left on the Church. He is the first in sequence on the list of the 33 doctors of the Church. He was a true guardian of the Deposit of the Faith, the great teacher of the homoousios (36), passing on right teaching at all costs. He preserved soteriology from Arian annihilation, for the separation of the divine nature from the body of Christ leads inevitably to the separation of the divine nature from the mystical body of Christ.

It is most fitting to close on the theology laid out by Athanasius himself that drove the man to endure what he did – from the desert to Nicaea to the see to exile and back again and again. Without the Incarnation and Passion of the Word made flesh, man is without hope. But because of the Incarnation and Passion, man has a promise, but not just any promise, man has God’s Word.

It was unfitting that they should perish which had once been partakers of God’s image. What then was God to do? or what was to be done save the renewing of that which was in God’s image, so that by it men might once more be able to know him? But how could this have come to pass save by the presence of the very image of God, our Lord Jesus Christ? For by men’s means it was impossible, since they are but made after an image … Whence the Word of God came in his own person, that, as he was the image of the Father, he might be able to create afresh the man after the image. But, again, it could not have taken place had not death and corruption been done away. Whence he took, in natural fitness, a mortal body, that while death might in it be once for all done away, men made after his image might once more be renewed. None other, then, was sufficient for this need, save the image of the Father (37).

Because the Son is the perfect image of the Father, he is the full revelation of the Father, revealing him without alteration or loss (38). This revelation of God in Christ unites the Father with his estranged children. Christ mediates this encounter, Athanasius teaches us. To close, in Christ’s becoming human the Son of God does not equalize himself with us. Rather, he elevates human nature to his level (39).

By offering unto death the body he himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, straightaway he put away death from all his peers … He, the incorruptible Son of God, being conjoined with all by a like nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption, by the promise of the resurrection. For the actual corruption in death has no longer holding ground against men, by reason of the Word, which by his one body has come to dwell among them (40).

Footnotes

(22) History of the Church, Vol. II, 42.
(23) History of the Church, Vol. II, 42-43.
(24) Molloy, 68-69.
(25) Molloy, 78-79.
(26) Laux, 117.
(27) History of the Church, Vol. II, 47.
(28) History of the Church, Vol. II, 48-49.
(29) Laux, 118.
(30) St. Athanasius, History of the Arians, VIII, 6.
(31) History of the Church, Vol. II, 57.
(32) Laux, 118.
(33) History of the Church, Vol. II, 62.
(34) St. Athanasius, Apology for Flight, 12. Taken from Atkinson, Miles, Tr., Historical Tracts of St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria (Oxford: James Parker & Co.; London: J.G.F. & J. Rivington, 1843).
(35) Hardy, 48.
(36) Schönborn, 14.
(37) On the Incarnation, 13.
(38) Schönborn, 13.
(39) Behr, John, Formation of Christian Theology, Volume 2: The Nicene Faith: Part 2, One of the Holy Trinity (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004), 481.
(40) On the Incarnation, 9.