With the death last night of Sen Edward Kennedy, fellow Catholic and longtime proponent of universal health care, it might be a good time to check out a fine article about the Catholic response to the current debate in Congress over at Busted Halo, a Catholic young adult site sponsored by the Paulists.
Stump the priest
A suggestion from some of the students at UofL is that I open the floor for questions. Always a great idea. When I teach a class I always tell people to interrupt me with questions or I'll just go on and on and on. So feel free to leave questions or topics to explore in the comments section below.
Nothing greater can be conceived
well. School's back in and I figured it's probably time to start writing again. Looking around for a topic I was surprised to find that one of the most emailed articles in yesterday's New York Times was a meditation on St Anselm of Canterbury's ontological proof for the existence of God. In tracking down the author, Nathan Schneider, (gots to love the google) I found out he's a 20-something who (among other things) edits an online magazine called "Killing the Buddha," which is for "people embarrassed to be caught in the 'spirituality' section of a bookstore." There I found an earlier article he'd written about his own proof of God, his search for meaning in life, his baptism as a Catholic when he was a senior in high school, and his continued search for faith in college. They are both worth reading. And "Killing the Buddha" has some interesting things as well. One quote from Schneider's "Proof Enough for Me":
A very Catholic way of looking at it I think.
The proofs people make for their gods, whether those of great philosophers or of the unwashed internet, arise in eminently social ways-argument, love, politics, or even boredom and loneliness. They are not objects of some pure logic, as philosophers often treat them, but come mingled in flesh, desire, and experience.
A very Catholic way of looking at it I think.
The US bishops and health care reform
At church this past Sunday I promised links to statements from the United States Bishops' Conference on health care. So here they are:
One of the most comprehensive statements is A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Protecting Human Life, Promoting Human Dignity, Pursuing the Common Good, which contains the following passage:
The bishops' action alert on health care issued on June 2nd can be found in a pdf file here.
One of the most comprehensive statements is A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Protecting Human Life, Promoting Human Dignity, Pursuing the Common Good, which contains the following passage:
Our approach to health care is shaped by a simple but fundamental principle: "Every person has a right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God." Health care is more than a commodity; it is a basic human right, an essential safeguard of human life and dignity. We believe our people's health care should not depend on where they work, how much their parents earn, or where they live. Our constant teaching that each human life must be protected and human dignity promoted leads us to insist that all people have a right to health care.
The bishops' action alert on health care issued on June 2nd can be found in a pdf file here.
Undivided unity
I keep getting requests for copies of the homily I preached on Trinity Sunday. Difficult to fulfill because I never write down anything for my homilies. So I decided I would give a try at blogging it instead. The readings for that Sunday can be found here.
It all starts with a New Albany high school teacher, Edwin Hubble. The name may sound familiar. That's because NASA's orbiting telescope is named for him. He went on from teaching high school Spanish in greater Louisville to become an astronomer at the Mount Wilson observatory in Southern California. At the time (1919) it had the largest telescope in the world. It allowed Hubble to see something no human being had ever seen, at least knowingly: the Andromeda galaxy.
Strange as it may seem, before Hubble human beings saw the universe as limited to the stars we see in the night sky. After Hubble the size of the universe expanded incredibly. Hubble went on to catalogue numbers of galaxies. He also was able to find something by measuring the shift in the spectrum of light they emitted. It's the same technique used today to track storms with Doppler radar. He discovered that all of the galaxies were moving away from us, that the universe is expanding. And strangely enough the farther away a galaxy was, the faster it was moving.
It was a Belgian priest (and fellow alum of the University of Leuven), Georges Lemaître, who realized that if you track all of those galaxies back along their paths at their measured speeds, you end up with all of them in the same place at the same time. It was a fellow physicist who ridiculed his theory of a "primeval atom" as a "big bang." That was the name that stuck.
"Ask now of the days of old," Moses says, "Ask from one end of the sky to the other. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire?"
13.5 billion years. Give or take a few hundred million. That's how long ago it was. That moment of the primeval atom. And it was only in the first instants as the universe itself exploded into existance that the conditions were right for the creation of the basic elements: hydrogen, oxygen. The heavier elements came later. Forged in the hearts of the first stars.
"Ask now of the days of old," Moses says, "Ask from one end of the sky to the other. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire?"
13.5 billion years. Give or take a few hundred million. That's how old you are. Or at least 75% of you. All of the hydrogen and oxygen your body is composed of was made in those first instants 13.5 billion years ago. They will only make up you for a very very short time. Imagine all of the places and times that these elements that make up you and I have seen.
We ask from the days of old. We ask from one end of the sky to the other. We listen for the voice of God from the midst of the fire. And we trust that God speaks from the heart of his creation.
Our faith tells us that God is Trinity and Unity. Just as it is hard to wrap our minds around the universe in its vastness, so it is with God. Yet faith says that God - before the beginning of time itself and larger than the very limits of all things - is at the core community.
Our faith tells us that we are made in God's very image and likeness. We must be at our very core community as well. The call to unity, to connectedness with one another comes from the preaching of Jesus, but it comes first from our very selves. It is written into the very stuff of which our bones are made.
And it is a call to unity that reaches far wider than our families and friends, far wider than the human community, far wider than this planet on which we live.
The voice of God sings to us from the ends of the skies, it calls to us from the depths of time, it echoes from the very fires of creation,
"We are one."
Strange as it may seem, before Hubble human beings saw the universe as limited to the stars we see in the night sky. After Hubble the size of the universe expanded incredibly. Hubble went on to catalogue numbers of galaxies. He also was able to find something by measuring the shift in the spectrum of light they emitted. It's the same technique used today to track storms with Doppler radar. He discovered that all of the galaxies were moving away from us, that the universe is expanding. And strangely enough the farther away a galaxy was, the faster it was moving.
It was a Belgian priest (and fellow alum of the University of Leuven), Georges Lemaître, who realized that if you track all of those galaxies back along their paths at their measured speeds, you end up with all of them in the same place at the same time. It was a fellow physicist who ridiculed his theory of a "primeval atom" as a "big bang." That was the name that stuck.
"Ask now of the days of old," Moses says, "Ask from one end of the sky to the other. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire?"
13.5 billion years. Give or take a few hundred million. That's how long ago it was. That moment of the primeval atom. And it was only in the first instants as the universe itself exploded into existance that the conditions were right for the creation of the basic elements: hydrogen, oxygen. The heavier elements came later. Forged in the hearts of the first stars.
"Ask now of the days of old," Moses says, "Ask from one end of the sky to the other. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire?"
13.5 billion years. Give or take a few hundred million. That's how old you are. Or at least 75% of you. All of the hydrogen and oxygen your body is composed of was made in those first instants 13.5 billion years ago. They will only make up you for a very very short time. Imagine all of the places and times that these elements that make up you and I have seen.
We ask from the days of old. We ask from one end of the sky to the other. We listen for the voice of God from the midst of the fire. And we trust that God speaks from the heart of his creation.
Our faith tells us that God is Trinity and Unity. Just as it is hard to wrap our minds around the universe in its vastness, so it is with God. Yet faith says that God - before the beginning of time itself and larger than the very limits of all things - is at the core community.
Our faith tells us that we are made in God's very image and likeness. We must be at our very core community as well. The call to unity, to connectedness with one another comes from the preaching of Jesus, but it comes first from our very selves. It is written into the very stuff of which our bones are made.
And it is a call to unity that reaches far wider than our families and friends, far wider than the human community, far wider than this planet on which we live.
The voice of God sings to us from the ends of the skies, it calls to us from the depths of time, it echoes from the very fires of creation,
"We are one."
. . . and I feel fine
Meanwhile in today's New York Times, Mark C Taylor, chair of religion at Columbia has his own idea of a university in an article titled, "End of the University As We Know It." It's a good read to see how someone is rethinking academia in the light of world changes. Something we could use in the area of religion.
One of my favorite quotes echoes my own thinking about parish life, "The division-of-labor model of separate departments is obsolete and must be replaced with a curriculum structured like a web or complex adaptive network." Replace "departments" with "committees" and "curriculum" with "parish." You get the idea.
I'm convinced that the web is helping us to see the world as it is, a place of interconnections and networks. A web. Duh.
And the faster we learn to minister from this reality, the better we will serve one another. And God.
My other favorite quote from the piece is Taylor quoting himself,
Wise words. You'll probably hear them from me someday.
One of my favorite quotes echoes my own thinking about parish life, "The division-of-labor model of separate departments is obsolete and must be replaced with a curriculum structured like a web or complex adaptive network." Replace "departments" with "committees" and "curriculum" with "parish." You get the idea.
I'm convinced that the web is helping us to see the world as it is, a place of interconnections and networks. A web. Duh.
And the faster we learn to minister from this reality, the better we will serve one another. And God.
My other favorite quote from the piece is Taylor quoting himself,
For many years, I have told students, “Do not do what I do; rather, take whatever I have to offer and do with it what I could never imagine doing and then come back and tell me about it.”
Wise words. You'll probably hear them from me someday.
Newman squared
For those of us Catholics who go to church at a public university in the United States, an important day is coming, although the date isn't set yet. All the preparation is in place for Pope Benedict to declare John Henry Newman Blessed. This is the last step before he could officially be declared a saint. Word is that Benedict is anxious to make this happen.
Newman was an Anglican priest and professor at Oxford University when he converted to Roman Catholicism. A voluminous writer (one of the problems with declaring Newman a saint has been that all of his writings have to be thoroughly reviewed and he wrote A LOT) one of his works is The Idea of a University. Early in the last century the movement of campus ministry at public universities in the US named itself for Newman. Often the campus ministry at a public university is referred to as a Newman Center.
The campus ministry at UofL joined the Newman movement back in the 1930's. There's an official signed certificate attesting to that in Sarah's office. But so far as we can tell the UofL Newman Center never adopted a saint as a patron. So maybe if we wait a few months we could adopt Blessed John Newman as our patron, and officially become the Blessed John Henry Newman Newman Center. After all it makes sense. In 1879 the pope made Newman a Cardinal.
Newman was an Anglican priest and professor at Oxford University when he converted to Roman Catholicism. A voluminous writer (one of the problems with declaring Newman a saint has been that all of his writings have to be thoroughly reviewed and he wrote A LOT) one of his works is The Idea of a University. Early in the last century the movement of campus ministry at public universities in the US named itself for Newman. Often the campus ministry at a public university is referred to as a Newman Center.
The campus ministry at UofL joined the Newman movement back in the 1930's. There's an official signed certificate attesting to that in Sarah's office. But so far as we can tell the UofL Newman Center never adopted a saint as a patron. So maybe if we wait a few months we could adopt Blessed John Newman as our patron, and officially become the Blessed John Henry Newman Newman Center. After all it makes sense. In 1879 the pope made Newman a Cardinal.
"Our Father, who art in heaven" 4 minutes ago from Tweetie
Over at Whispers in the Loggia Rocco Palmo writes about the centennial of the birth of Fr Patrick Peyton. If you've ever heard the saying, "The family that prays together stays together," then you've heard something of Fr Peyton. He was a pioneer in using the media of his day, mostly television, to spread his message of prayer.
At a mass in Peyton's home parish in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady urged us to continue his tradition,
A beginning of a way to use new media in the faith.
At a mass in Peyton's home parish in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady urged us to continue his tradition,
In the name of Fr Peyton I would like to make an appeal to every Christian in Ireland today who sends texts, twitters or uses e-mail. I appeal to you to think about setting up groups of prayer between you and your friends using these modern means of communication. I ask young people in particular to think of sending their friends and family an occasional twitter or text to say that you have prayed for them. Make someone the gift of a prayer through text, twitter or e-mail every day. Such a sea of prayer is sure to strengthen our sense of solidarity with one another and remind us those who receive them that others really do care.
A beginning of a way to use new media in the faith.
"I'm on top of the world" 4 minutes ago from Tweetie
A few weeks ago while helping to lead a wilderness retreat in the Red River Gorge, one of the other leaders and I kept complaining about the poor cell phone coverage. The weather radar was taking forever to load. Well in another example of how the US is lagging in technology, I heard this morning that as of this summer, you won't have that problem at the top of Mount Everest! This June Nepal Telecom is expanding coverage to perhaps the most iconic of the remote corners of the planet.
Faster and faster humanity is being knit together in ways undreamed of a generation ago. Continue dreaming what it means for us in the world of faith.
Faster and faster humanity is being knit together in ways undreamed of a generation ago. Continue dreaming what it means for us in the world of faith.
Next to godliness
My mom never got a dishwasher. That's because when we were kids she kept up with us by forcing us to wash dishes with her after dinner. That's how I taught her how to study scripture.In Catholic grade school and on into my first year of high school I was learning about how the Bible isn't literally true, about how there are different kinds of literature in it, about how there wasn't really an Adam and Eve, etc. And over drying dishes mom wasn't buying it. Not the way the nuns taught her, apparently. Not that it mattered that my teacher was a priest. Apparently we can be heretics just as easily as anyone else. But I didn't give up on her and eventually she came around. She thanks me for it now.
Well apparently there are Muslim scholars that are applying the same type of tools to the Qur'ān that we Christians apply to the Bible. They held an annual conference this week at the University of Notre Dame. Nicholas Kristof writes about it in today's New York Times:
At Notre Dame, scholars analyzed ancient texts of the Koran that show signs of writing that was erased and rewritten. Other scholars challenged traditional interpretations of the Koran such as the notion that some other person (perhaps Judas or Peter) was transformed to look like Jesus and crucified in his place, while Jesus himself escaped to heaven. One scholar at the Notre Dame conference, who uses the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg for safety, has raised eyebrows and hackles by suggesting that the “houri” promised to martyrs when they reach Heaven doesn’t actually mean “virgin” after all. He argues that instead it means “grapes,” and since conceptions of paradise involved bounteous fruit, that might make sense. But suicide bombers presumably would be in for a disappointment if they reached the pearly gates and were presented 72 grapes.
I have a feeling that suicide bombers aren't the only ones who might have problems with these scholars' work. They are having to have their conference at a Catholic university after all. They might find their audience even less receptive than my mom. Here's hoping they don't give up though. The hardest part is convincing people that scholarship doesn't take God or inspiration out of scripture.
And it's not like we Christians have had an easy time with it either. That creation museum in Northern Kentucky is still pretty new. And I hear of the occasional priest who still preaches a seven day creation. Maybe my mom was right about us priests after all.
Living in exponential times
In my never-ending quest to ponder the fast pace of change and what it's doing to the world, and therefore what it's doing to us as Christians, and how we'd better start dealing with it and quick, here's a video to ponder:
Jesus defies Vatican directive
I don't know why it seems to have just come into my awareness in the last month or so, given that it was issued in August, but the Vatican has issued a directive prohibiting the use of the name of God in the Liturgy. This doesn't change anything in the official prayers or texts, because the tetragrammaton, as it is known, has never been used in them. The words of Jesus, on the other hand, are a different matter.
He did it again in today's gospel passage. And in the TEMPLE no less.
"Before Abraham came to be, I AM," he says, puncturing orthodox Jewish silence on an afterlife, claiming preexistence for himself, and blaspheming by pronouncing the name of God (I AM) all in one sentence. And then while the crowd is busy trying to find the biggest, nicest stones to crush him with, he slips away.
As we enter the celebration of Holy Week (and our Jewish brothers and sisters enter the celebration of Pesach) It's not a bad idea to spend some time remembering the deep Jewish roots of our faith, and the respect that we should have for them. Having been working at the Interfaith Center for more years than I care to count, I long ago got out of the habit (common among some Christians) of using YHWH in prayer or conversation. But it's also great to know (as we learned at the model Seder on Monday) that the cup of wine drunk "when supper was ended" is known as the "cup of redemption."
These are also days when we have a tendency to ponder what it might have been like to have "been there." Personally I get uncomfortable with that one. As somebody who's chosen a life that is in large part about preserving religious tradition, I can too easily imagine who's side I would probably have been on. At least I wouldn't have needed a fake beard.
He did it again in today's gospel passage. And in the TEMPLE no less.
"Before Abraham came to be, I AM," he says, puncturing orthodox Jewish silence on an afterlife, claiming preexistence for himself, and blaspheming by pronouncing the name of God (I AM) all in one sentence. And then while the crowd is busy trying to find the biggest, nicest stones to crush him with, he slips away.
As we enter the celebration of Holy Week (and our Jewish brothers and sisters enter the celebration of Pesach) It's not a bad idea to spend some time remembering the deep Jewish roots of our faith, and the respect that we should have for them. Having been working at the Interfaith Center for more years than I care to count, I long ago got out of the habit (common among some Christians) of using YHWH in prayer or conversation. But it's also great to know (as we learned at the model Seder on Monday) that the cup of wine drunk "when supper was ended" is known as the "cup of redemption."
These are also days when we have a tendency to ponder what it might have been like to have "been there." Personally I get uncomfortable with that one. As somebody who's chosen a life that is in large part about preserving religious tradition, I can too easily imagine who's side I would probably have been on. At least I wouldn't have needed a fake beard.
1,000's of degrees
The University of Notre Dame hands out thousands of degrees every spring, but there's one they're planning on this May that has landed them in hot water. Barack Obama is the slated commencement speaker this year, and a number of bishops are quite upset. Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend is skipping the graduation ceremony for the first time in his 25 years as bishop there, based on Obama's support of abortion and stem cell research. Students, on the other hand, seem to be supportive of the choice of the president, arguing, as university officials do, that awarding an honorary degree does not endorse all of his policies.
Notre Dame has a tradition of inviting newly-elected presidents to speak at the first commencement after their inauguration. Most recently, George W. Bush drew protests in 2001, also over life issues. This time for his support of the death penalty.
Notre Dame has a tradition of inviting newly-elected presidents to speak at the first commencement after their inauguration. Most recently, George W. Bush drew protests in 2001, also over life issues. This time for his support of the death penalty.
take a spring break
Been away from blogging for awhile and trying to catch up today before Holy Week hits. For those who would like to read about the Interfaith Center's Alternative Spring Break and the famed "raising of the grotto" that I preached about last week, you can find the blog at http://ulifcasb.wordpress.com/
It's great to be able to get mileage out of a week of work that I didn't even have to do ;-)
C'mon people, it's just an optional memorial
Though widely revered and even more widely celebrated, Patrick of Ireland doesn't even rate a feast in the Roman calendar. (Which is a little better than Valentine who isn't even on the Roman Calendar anymore - something to do with never having existed.) For my money the better day to party is Thursday. The Solemnity of Joseph the Husband of Mary. Solemnity means really big feast day. Same rank as Christmas. So no Lenten fasting! And Joseph is the patron of Italy. So better food! Cabbage shmabbage, bring on the osso buco!
In the interest of being even more of a killjoy, here's an article in Slate today on the real Patrick, who was Welsh, and had nothing to do with shamrocks or snakes.
That's all for now. It's time to go get a Guinness.
Papal fallibility
Last night at Pizza Theology at UofL we discussed the theology of papal infallibility, and along with that the fact that popes are human, and sometimes make mistakes. Well lo and behold wouldn't you know that this very morning the Vatican released a letter in which the pope himself makes a mea culpa.
Officially titled "LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH concerning the remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre" it addresses the international firestorm that broke out when it became known that one of the four bishops had publicly (on several occasions) denied the reality of the holocaust. Not to mention that the Society of Saint Pius X (an extremely conservative movement that broke with the Catholic Church over the Second Vatican Council), of which the four bishops are founding members, had anti-Semitic rants on its website.
In the process the pope gives a shout out to Google (although indirectly), "I have been told that consulting the information available on the internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on. I have learned the lesson that in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news."
I've said before that the pope sometimes reminds me of my theology professors in Belgium, wrapped up in what is, to most people, an arcane discipline with little understanding for how most people might perceive or understand what they do. Given that most European bishops come not from pastoral work but from theology faculties (Benedict included) this makes sense.
But that's a problem for the pope. And this isn't the first time this has happened. Remember his speech at his old university that touched off riots throughout the Muslim world?
The pope is universal teacher for the church. And being a teacher involves an awareness and understanding of how the information you're presenting is going to be received, not just presenting the information. If Benedict doesn't have a talent for that himself (and there's no reason or way he could be talented at everything) then he has a responsibility to surround himself with people who are and work with them. It's his job.
It's good to see that he seems to be realizing that. And it's HUGE for a pope to publicly admit to mistakes. (A good model for our own Lenten reflection.) He is truly a brilliant man. Let's hope he's also a quick study.
Officially titled "LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH concerning the remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre" it addresses the international firestorm that broke out when it became known that one of the four bishops had publicly (on several occasions) denied the reality of the holocaust. Not to mention that the Society of Saint Pius X (an extremely conservative movement that broke with the Catholic Church over the Second Vatican Council), of which the four bishops are founding members, had anti-Semitic rants on its website.
In the process the pope gives a shout out to Google (although indirectly), "I have been told that consulting the information available on the internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on. I have learned the lesson that in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news."
I've said before that the pope sometimes reminds me of my theology professors in Belgium, wrapped up in what is, to most people, an arcane discipline with little understanding for how most people might perceive or understand what they do. Given that most European bishops come not from pastoral work but from theology faculties (Benedict included) this makes sense.
But that's a problem for the pope. And this isn't the first time this has happened. Remember his speech at his old university that touched off riots throughout the Muslim world?
The pope is universal teacher for the church. And being a teacher involves an awareness and understanding of how the information you're presenting is going to be received, not just presenting the information. If Benedict doesn't have a talent for that himself (and there's no reason or way he could be talented at everything) then he has a responsibility to surround himself with people who are and work with them. It's his job.
It's good to see that he seems to be realizing that. And it's HUGE for a pope to publicly admit to mistakes. (A good model for our own Lenten reflection.) He is truly a brilliant man. Let's hope he's also a quick study.
The hard ways of protecting life
Earlier this week Barack Obama signed an executive order reversing a ban George W. Bush placed on using federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. Of course this was no surprise, he had said he would do this during his campaign. And all indications are that John McCain would have done the same. Most polling indicates solid support for the research, although it seems many people are fuzzy on their understanding of just what is involved in it.
Although recent discoveries might have leapfrogged the need to use embryonic stem cells, that is still a big might. And a majority of scientists remain convinced that embryonic stem cells would lead to significant treatments and cures that could not be achieved any other way.
This is not an easy issue to deal with. The potential for helping people who suffer from numbers of major and devastating illnesses is truly huge, and I don't think that it helps discussion of the issue to minimize that. I also believe that we need to respect the motives of those who support embryonic stem cell research. These are people who want to help those who are suffering. Many have loved ones who suffer from illness and they long for a way to cure that suffering.
But the question remains the very basic one of whether you can get a right from a wrong. And this is no small question. Especially so, given that Obama's order leaves open the possibility of creating new embryos for research and even conducting research on embryos themselves. And he intends to leave decisions on the ethics of these practices solely to the research communities themselves.
Given our recent, continuing and painful experience with the financial community, it should be obvious that self-regulation has its pitfalls. To put it mildly. And we should not ignore the fact that there are huge financial considerations in any research with medical possibilities. All the more reason that the ethical and moral considerations of this need to and ought to have an open and public debate.
The Catholic position continues to be that we must protect life from its very beginnings to its very end. Making the case for this is hard when embryonic stem cell research seems itself to be protecting suffering life. But as medical research continues, these kinds of dilemmas will likely increase. And we must continue our efforts to protect all who are vulnerable and cast aside.
Although recent discoveries might have leapfrogged the need to use embryonic stem cells, that is still a big might. And a majority of scientists remain convinced that embryonic stem cells would lead to significant treatments and cures that could not be achieved any other way.
This is not an easy issue to deal with. The potential for helping people who suffer from numbers of major and devastating illnesses is truly huge, and I don't think that it helps discussion of the issue to minimize that. I also believe that we need to respect the motives of those who support embryonic stem cell research. These are people who want to help those who are suffering. Many have loved ones who suffer from illness and they long for a way to cure that suffering.
But the question remains the very basic one of whether you can get a right from a wrong. And this is no small question. Especially so, given that Obama's order leaves open the possibility of creating new embryos for research and even conducting research on embryos themselves. And he intends to leave decisions on the ethics of these practices solely to the research communities themselves.
Given our recent, continuing and painful experience with the financial community, it should be obvious that self-regulation has its pitfalls. To put it mildly. And we should not ignore the fact that there are huge financial considerations in any research with medical possibilities. All the more reason that the ethical and moral considerations of this need to and ought to have an open and public debate.
The Catholic position continues to be that we must protect life from its very beginnings to its very end. Making the case for this is hard when embryonic stem cell research seems itself to be protecting suffering life. But as medical research continues, these kinds of dilemmas will likely increase. And we must continue our efforts to protect all who are vulnerable and cast aside.
The Vatican Celebrates Darwin
It's nice to see that I wasn't the only one celebrating Charles Darwin's birthday last month. On a typical Italian time schedule the Vatican celebrated last week with a scientific conference at the Gregorian University.
Noticeably absent from the discussion (and apparently feeling excluded) were proponents of intelligent design and creationism. Even though some thought, mistakenly, that the Vatican was a place where they would be warmly welcomed:
Noticeably absent from the discussion (and apparently feeling excluded) were proponents of intelligent design and creationism. Even though some thought, mistakenly, that the Vatican was a place where they would be warmly welcomed:
Organizers of the five-day conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University said Thursday that they barred intelligent design proponents because they wanted an intellectually rigorous conference on science, theology and philosophy to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."
While there are some Darwinian dissenters present, intelligent design didn't fit the bill, they said.
"We think that it's not a scientific perspective, nor a theological or philosophical one," said the Rev. Marc Leclerc, the conference director and a professor of philosophy of nature at the Gregorian.
One of those attending and commenting on the conference was Cardinal William Levada, an American who holds Pope Benedict's previous post of head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Since Doctrine of the Faith was previously known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, continuing to hold onto intelligent design could be dangerous. We all know how the Inquisition used to treat those who disagree with them:
These 44 days of Lent O Lord . . .
Well, as of yesterday Lent has begun.
But wait, you may ask. Didn't I start giving up chocolate almost a week ago? Didn't I attend a very Catholic fish fry on Friday, and not eat the t-bone steak my stomach was grumbling for?? Didn't I get ashes smeared on my forehead last Wednesday????
You may have. But not for Lent. Exactly.
Let's do the numbers. If you count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, you get 44 days. But Sundays don't count, you say. I ate a chocolate-covered steak on Sunday because they don't count! True, Roman Catholics traditionally don't fast on the Sundays of Lent because every Sunday commemorates the resurrection. But if you take out the 6 Sundays then Lent only has 38 days, and Jesus was in the desert for 40 days according to the gospels.
But what about Good Friday and Holy Saturday, you reply. That makes it 40 days. And it would. Except that Lent ends (and always has) when the Paschal Triduum begins. And the Triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday.
We do fast on Good Friday, but not because it's Lent.
Guess how many days you get if you count from the First Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday? 40. Exactly.
So why the *#$%%@ was I fasting on Ash Wednesday then, you ask.
Well, you were kind of getting ready for Lent. A long time ago, some people in the church thought we might need some practice, so once we got into Lent we would get it right. So they added some days of preparation. The official liturgical names for those days still show that. They're called the Thursday After Ash Wednesday, the Friday After Ash Wednesday, etc. The first day referred to as Lent is the First Sunday. Yesterday.
So the only two days we're required to fast (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) aren't even in Lent, exactly.
Just be glad you're not an Orthodox Catholic. Then the preparation days for Lent start the Monday before the first Sunday. And you can't even eat fish, because the fast is from all animals and animal products. And it's every day and it includes Sundays.
So be glad you're not Orthodox. Unless you are. Then be glad you are. And enjoy the beans.
You may have. But not for Lent. Exactly.
Let's do the numbers. If you count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, you get 44 days. But Sundays don't count, you say. I ate a chocolate-covered steak on Sunday because they don't count! True, Roman Catholics traditionally don't fast on the Sundays of Lent because every Sunday commemorates the resurrection. But if you take out the 6 Sundays then Lent only has 38 days, and Jesus was in the desert for 40 days according to the gospels.
But what about Good Friday and Holy Saturday, you reply. That makes it 40 days. And it would. Except that Lent ends (and always has) when the Paschal Triduum begins. And the Triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday.
We do fast on Good Friday, but not because it's Lent.
Guess how many days you get if you count from the First Sunday of Lent to Holy Thursday? 40. Exactly.
So why the *#$%%@ was I fasting on Ash Wednesday then, you ask.
Well, you were kind of getting ready for Lent. A long time ago, some people in the church thought we might need some practice, so once we got into Lent we would get it right. So they added some days of preparation. The official liturgical names for those days still show that. They're called the Thursday After Ash Wednesday, the Friday After Ash Wednesday, etc. The first day referred to as Lent is the First Sunday. Yesterday.
So the only two days we're required to fast (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) aren't even in Lent, exactly.
Just be glad you're not an Orthodox Catholic. Then the preparation days for Lent start the Monday before the first Sunday. And you can't even eat fish, because the fast is from all animals and animal products. And it's every day and it includes Sundays.
So be glad you're not Orthodox. Unless you are. Then be glad you are. And enjoy the beans.
Of Pelosi, postcards and the pope
Pope Benedict met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she was in Rome this past week. On the one hand, being third in line for the presidency, she's hard to ignore. On the other hand, being a Catholic who's an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, she's hard to ignore. As the Vatican officially (and delicately) summarized, "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics."
Given the two-party nature of American politics, it's not easy for a Catholic to navigate the political arena, because neither party fully reflects church teaching. On the one hand Democratic support in justice areas is close to Catholic teaching but support for abortion is a major problem. On the other hand Republican support for protecting the unborn is close to Catholic teaching but support for the death penalty is a problem.
Which means that the Catholic church (unlike many other churches) doesn't fit the political molds, and this confuses people. Even many Catholics. Some of whom (on both ends of the spectrum) manage to convince themselves that dearly held political views are in fact supported by their faith. On the opposite end from Ms Pelosi, I remember conservative Catholic commentator Michael Novak being sent to Rome as an emissary from George Bush to convince Pope John Paul that the Iraq war was in fact just, in spite the pope's repeated specific statements that it was not. Imagine trying to lecture the pope that he was wrong on his understanding of just war teaching. Not being third in line for the presidency, John Paul refused to see Novak, and neither changed his mind.
So whichever party is in power nationally or locally, for us the glass is half empty. Or half full. But one way or another we have a lot of work to do. After the most recent elections, our work has become harder in protecting the unborn. A lot of talk around this lately has been over the Freedom of Choice Act. Probably because Barack Obama promised during the campaign to sign it. The US bishops have been conducting a postcard campaign to ask legislators not to support the act, and to do more to protect life from conception until natural death.
There has been a bit of hysteria around the FOCA as well. Much of it apparently fed by emails warning that it would cause Catholic hospitals to close unless they performed abortions, and that it would even require women to have abortions in certain cases. The bishops and members of the Catholic Health Care Association have tried to squelch the rumors, but it hasn't entirely helped. In fact the FOCA hasn't even been introduced as legislation (not that it isn't good to be prepared if it is.) The two times it was previously introduced it never made it out of committee (even in a Democratically-controlled House.) And Catholic leaders who worked against those previous versions point out that it never included anything that would require Catholic hospitals or personnel to perform abortions. As Bishop Robert Lynch said in an article released by the Catholic News Service (a division of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops), "There's no sense of ominous danger threatening health care institutions."
All of which seems to be behind an article today in Time Magazine titled, "The Catholic Crusade Against a Mythical Abortion Bill." So if you get an email about the immanent closing of all Catholic hospitals, don't feed the hysteria. The church taking positions that lie all over the political spectrum is confusing enough for people. We don't need to make it worse by inventing craziness.
Given the two-party nature of American politics, it's not easy for a Catholic to navigate the political arena, because neither party fully reflects church teaching. On the one hand Democratic support in justice areas is close to Catholic teaching but support for abortion is a major problem. On the other hand Republican support for protecting the unborn is close to Catholic teaching but support for the death penalty is a problem.
Which means that the Catholic church (unlike many other churches) doesn't fit the political molds, and this confuses people. Even many Catholics. Some of whom (on both ends of the spectrum) manage to convince themselves that dearly held political views are in fact supported by their faith. On the opposite end from Ms Pelosi, I remember conservative Catholic commentator Michael Novak being sent to Rome as an emissary from George Bush to convince Pope John Paul that the Iraq war was in fact just, in spite the pope's repeated specific statements that it was not. Imagine trying to lecture the pope that he was wrong on his understanding of just war teaching. Not being third in line for the presidency, John Paul refused to see Novak, and neither changed his mind.
So whichever party is in power nationally or locally, for us the glass is half empty. Or half full. But one way or another we have a lot of work to do. After the most recent elections, our work has become harder in protecting the unborn. A lot of talk around this lately has been over the Freedom of Choice Act. Probably because Barack Obama promised during the campaign to sign it. The US bishops have been conducting a postcard campaign to ask legislators not to support the act, and to do more to protect life from conception until natural death.
There has been a bit of hysteria around the FOCA as well. Much of it apparently fed by emails warning that it would cause Catholic hospitals to close unless they performed abortions, and that it would even require women to have abortions in certain cases. The bishops and members of the Catholic Health Care Association have tried to squelch the rumors, but it hasn't entirely helped. In fact the FOCA hasn't even been introduced as legislation (not that it isn't good to be prepared if it is.) The two times it was previously introduced it never made it out of committee (even in a Democratically-controlled House.) And Catholic leaders who worked against those previous versions point out that it never included anything that would require Catholic hospitals or personnel to perform abortions. As Bishop Robert Lynch said in an article released by the Catholic News Service (a division of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops), "There's no sense of ominous danger threatening health care institutions."
All of which seems to be behind an article today in Time Magazine titled, "The Catholic Crusade Against a Mythical Abortion Bill." So if you get an email about the immanent closing of all Catholic hospitals, don't feed the hysteria. The church taking positions that lie all over the political spectrum is confusing enough for people. We don't need to make it worse by inventing craziness.
Last month a president, this month a saint
While the city of New York is breathlessly awaiting word from Pope Benedict of a new archbishop, his announcement of a saint for Hawaii is scheduled for Saturday. Fellow alum Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest, is also known as Damien of Molokai. In the 1870's, when diseases brought by European settlers were spreading unchecked in the Hawaiian islands, Damien volunteered to serve a leper colony on the island of Molokai. His work and his life became the stuff of legend and sanctity, inspiring countless people through the years, including Mahatma Gandhi. He eventually contracted leprosy himself, and died in the midst of his people. Although mandatory isolation ended in1969, the colony is still there, and currently 4 victims of what is now known as Hansen's disease live there. Damien meanwhile, has a statue at the US capitol, and has been unofficially adopted as the patron of those with HIV/AIDS. Maybe now the patronage can become official.I remember watching a one-man play about Damien on PBS as a kid (I grew up both pious and a geek.) Years later as a seminarian studying at the University of Leuven in Belgium (somewhat less pious, still geeky) I ran into Damien again. This time literally. He was buried in the crypt of the church around the corner from the American College where I was living. So I'll be celebrating along with Belgium and Hawaii when Damien is officially recognized as a saint this weekend.
Working in mysterious ways
We here in Kentucky are all caught up in the 200th birthday of native son Abraham Lincoln these days. But tomorrow marks the 200th birthday of another world-changing figure, Charles Darwin. And ironically the scripture texts for this week are from the second chapter of Genesis. So tomorrow, on Darwin's birthday, I get to preach God creating Eve out of Adams rib.
Only I'm pretty sure that Eve was an ape with a favorable genetic mutation. In a long line of favorable mutations going back to some primordial biological ooze.
And I'm glad I'm part of a church that takes the reality of reality seriously.
In spite of the reputation the church has gotten over the whole Galileo thing, the Vatican has had an academy of scientists for more than 400 years. And you know who the first president was? More irony. Galileo himself. Current membership includes Stephen Hawking. And past members include Max Planck, the founder of quantum theory; Werner Heisenberg, known for his uncertainty principle; and Erwin Schrödinger, who had a famous cat.
As I said, we take the reality of reality seriously. Because if God is the source of all creation, then understanding creation is going to lead us closer to God. Even when it challenges the way we may look at things.
It took us a while to get over the idea that the earth wasn't the center of God's universe. But eventually we had to accept reality. Evolution didn't take as long. In 1950, less than 100 years after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Pope Pius XII opened the door to research and discussion of "the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter" in his encyclical Humani generis.
So as a product of Catholic schools and Catholic thought, I find it incredible that 200 years later, Darwin is still controversial. Or that we're still debating evolution in our legislatures and our school boards. In the 21st century no less. TRUTH has never had anything to fear from truth.
So tomorrow I'll be celebrating Thursday of the 5th Week of Ordinary time. And the birthday of Charles Darwin. And my ancient ancestors the apes. And a God of incredible wonder and creativity and love.
Indulge me
The New York Times' most emailed article today is on the return of indulgences. I know because of the 300 people who forwarded it to me. And rather than hit reply 300 times, let me just say it here. No, I cannot sell you any indulgences.
The Times seems to think that no one under 50 would have a clue what an indulgence is. They forget that a lot of people under 50 saw the movie Dogma. However unless you're a fallen angel trying to get back into heaven by getting a plenary indulgence at the cathedral in Newark, you may not have thought much about them. But they're back. Or more properly, they never went away.
The basic concept of the indulgence is that for the wrong of sin, there must be a just punishment. For instance, you may carelessly shoot off some fireworks and burn down my brand new 34 story hotel. Afterwards you tell me you're sorry. So I forgive you. I may love you. But you still owe me a hotel.
An indulgence is a gift of grace given by the church to alleviate the just punishment that goes with sin. It helps pay for the hotel. So to speak. And just as your friends might chip in to help rebuild my hotel, we can offer our good works to help one another with the punishment due for sin. Because - and this is key - the church has faith that good is always more powerful than evil, and there is always far more good than the wrong done by sin.
There is a very good (and slightly more serious) explanation, citing the catechism among other authorities, at Wikipedia. An even more thorough, though harder to read, explanation is in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
It might be good to study up. Just in case your Lutheran friends are reading the New York Times too. And writing up a few theses to tack on your door tomorrow morning.
And the wisdom to know the difference
With Obamamania sweeping the US, you expect to see the new president's face on the cover of everything from Newsweek to Fly Fishing Weekly, but the cover of one of the most prominent and traditional Catholic magazines in the world might seem a stretch. Yet there he and the first family are, on the cover 30Giorni, which is probably read by more bishops than any other magazine. They share the space with Reinhold Niebuhr, who is a little less recognizable, unless you happen to be a student of modern theologians. Yet I bet it wouldn't take you very long at all to find someone who could quote his work from memory. Maybe you could even quote him yourself:
"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."
That famous prayer is a small window into a theological view of the world of which Niebuhr was considered a great master. His views on "realism" in the world of politics are based in St. Augustine's "City of God," and are also shared by the Vatican in it's diplomatic views, and apparently Barack Obabama.
While the church has some obvious and very deep difficulties with Obama's views (his support for abortion rights and capital punishment, to name two) there is apparently more hope for his views on international relations and the place of the United States in the world. Obama cites a number of religious writers among his deep influences, among them Dorothy Day and Reinhold Niebuhr. It is the Niebuhr connection that is the subject of the article in 30Giorni.
Lest you think I am much more well-read than I am, not to mention fluent in Italian, I picked up on this from the English-language, Vatican-watching blog www.chiesa, which ran an English translation of the article a few days ago. (The most recent English-language edition of 30Giorni is last November's. As one who perpetually runs late, I'll refrain from comments about the 3-month time lag.) It's an interesting read to get a better idea of how the church looks at the interface of politics and faith, how our new president might as well, and what that might mean for cooperation over the next few years.
So brew up some espresso and think deep thoughts.
Chow.
iPhone: sign of the Kingdom
I've become an iPhone snob. And not just because I can change it into a lightsaber for my nieces and nephews, or drink virtual beer from it. It's because I'm getting used to having the sum total of human knowledge in my pocket at any given moment. And if you have an iPhone, or even just a Blackberry, you know that's not a joke.
Which is why I've been pondering the milestone we probably crossed on January 1 without even noticing. According to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union the number of cell phone subscribers was supposed to hit the 4 billion mark then. That works out to about one cell phone for every 1.7 people on the planet. Last year there were 3 billion. Those Who Understand Such Things (i.e. the Washington Post) say that it is the fastest spreading technology in human history. Faster than fire. Or pointy sticks. Or poking a hole in the ground and dropping a seed in to grow stuff.
So what happens when virtually every human being on the planet is carrying the sum total of human knowledge in their pocket? And an instant connection to every other human being?
Seriously.
It's coming. And not even in a generation. Maybe next year. Or the year after.
This isn't about the technology anymore. It's about who we become. Try to imagine how pointy sticks changed how we thought about ourselves. Or how farming changed how we thought about the world. It's like that. Only it's happening in 5 years, not 5 thousand.
What is Christianity in a world where everyone is literally interconnected? How do we live it? How do we preach it? And I have a feeling those are just the beginnings of the questions. And maybe not even the most important.
It seems that humanity is going through a change like very few in all of human history. And we're not really paying attention. We need to do some serious pondering about this one.
Seriously.
Fr. Lou goes to Washington
My brother and I went to the National Archives today. Since George W has mostly packed and left town we joked we were going to check to make sure the Constitution was still there. But for all my Kingdom of God internationalism, I still love our history, I savored every moment of HBO's "John Adams," and I wanted to see with my own eyes the words of the oath that Barack Obama will take on the steps of the Capital on Tuesday, written by the hand that copied them from the notes of the Constitutional Convention for all posterity. The Archives guard who was managing the line was very cheerful and African American. As in he had a thick Ugandan accent. It somehow couldn't have been more appropriate.
My brother has lived in DC through both Clinton inaugurations and both of George W's. He says none of those came close to how the city feels right now. I'm sensing it goes far beyond the Washington DC metropolitan area. The NY Times/ CBS poll that came out yesterday shows a sense of optimism that crosses parties, classes and regions. With the world in the state it's in no less.
I'm wondering if maybe we haven't gotten to a place where a lot of us are realizing that we kind of like this America where the house next door to where you grew up can be a home for an Indian family with a dog named George. Even in Louisville, Kentucky. And maybe a lot more of us - especially those younger than me- are wondering why it should ever have been a big deal for a Ugandan to be guarding the Constitution. Or for a Kenyan/Kansan/Hawaiian to be president.
Maybe deep within us somewhere there's something that's realized that focusing on what separates us is exhausting. And we're tired. And maybe if that's all that's shifting right now, it will be enough. Enough reason for a party at least.
"From many, one," it says in Latin on our money.
"That they all may be one," Jesus prayed as his last prayer in the gospel of John.
Maybe, for a few days at least, what I'm hearing is a sigh from deep within this grand, glorious, sea to shining sea mess that is America, "Amen!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
