Today is the Feast of St. Andrew, St. Peter's brother. A great feast of an extraordinary apostle who is said to have brought the Gospel to Asia Minor and in Scythia, along the Black Sea as far as the Volga and Kiev in present day Ukraine. He was martyred by crucifixion. The Patriarchal See of Constantinople (aka Istanbul), which is reverenced as second in order of primacy after the See of Rome, is said to have been founded by St. Andrew. Patriarch Bartholomew I claims the title of the 271st successor of St. Andrew, just as Pope Benedict claims to be the 265th successor of St. Peter. Every year on this day, the Roman Pope sends special greetings to the Patriarch as a "brother in the Lord."
Friday is the feast of St Francis Xavier, a most remarkable and unique member of the communion of saints. Along with St. Patrick, he stands out among Christian missionaries as a master of planting the seeds of the Gospel in a way that allows the Faith to truly grow from within a culture. In his case, that included India, Japan, China and other far east lands. I highly recommend making this documentary of his life part of your sacra media collection. You can preview it in this trailer.
If he were alive today, he would be evangelizing the Digital Continent with unparalleled passion.
Oh, and in the marvelous tradition of edgy Catholic culture, Xavier's body is reverenced in radical rawness.
Advent has also begun. A season of longing, and desire; of anticipation and of waiting. Unlike Lent's preparation for Christ's dying and rising, it is not for Roman Catholics a season of penance and sorrow. Rather, it is a season of preparation for the superabundant joy flowing from God's gentle, hidden birth. It is the season that calls all Christians to become "spiritual Semites" with Hebrew hearts that long for the Messiah's coming. Hence, our spiritual practices during Advent should be geared toward carving out in our lives a capacity to long in hope for the God who is coming to save us.
How do you plan to carve your soul? Carve out time to long. Carve out silence to listen. Carve out busy-ness to watch and wait. Carve out possessions and wealth to sate others' most basic needs.
Of late we also have seen in the news media a frenzy of commentary over Pope Benedict's new book. More specifically, over a brief comment made by the Pope on the role of condoms in stopping the spread of AIDS. They provoked a firestorm of critical chatter, and gave witness to an extra-ordinary fact: the Pope still retains the capacity to stir the global conscience. Much of the debate over his comments on the provisional use of condoms in certain circumstances has actually not manifested real interest in the intricacies of his actual ethical argument, but rather has sought to expose a fissure in the Church's rejection of artificial contraception as a morally permissible means of avoiding pregnancy or spreading STDs. Such headlines read: "Pope's comments: Game Changer."
I won't take time to elaborate the arguments on all sides, but rather I wish to point out a few useful web resources I have found that think faithfully and intelligently.
A bit on the book.
Bits of the conversation itself.
A bit of the background music.
A bit of the tangled web of lesser evils.
A bit of analogy to understand the issue.
A bit of word Smith.
A bit of outsider-speak.
A bit of Times opine.
I think this is enough text for a day. A blessed Advent. O Come, O Come Emmanuel!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
A poem I wrote for the Feast of Christ the King.
Christ the King
God fell from his splendorous Throne
where angel-fires hymn ceaseless praise;
allured, drawn down by our plaintive tone:
Hopeless Flesh, choked by sin’s toxic haze.
He Tented, strolled among us in desert breeze
with words of life, mercy and boundless grace,
permitting us to treat him as we freely please;
setting before us, made-fragile, his gentle Face.
But we, I shudder to tell, in haste fashioned a throne,
and tore at him as beasts raging o’er a fallen lamb;
we marred that Face in violence, no-mercy shown;
Love spurned, crushed, cursed among the damned.
But His vantage – Otherwise! – bore us brightest hope,
for our savage mutiny, born of a base and fallen past
was to him a fertile sign, new-hymn, angelic Trope:
“His Love, stronger than death; His mercies, countless-vast.”
Let us rejoice on this feast of Christ's reign from the Tree of Life!
Alleluia!
God fell from his splendorous Throne
where angel-fires hymn ceaseless praise;
allured, drawn down by our plaintive tone:
Hopeless Flesh, choked by sin’s toxic haze.
He Tented, strolled among us in desert breeze
with words of life, mercy and boundless grace,
permitting us to treat him as we freely please;
setting before us, made-fragile, his gentle Face.
But we, I shudder to tell, in haste fashioned a throne,
and tore at him as beasts raging o’er a fallen lamb;
we marred that Face in violence, no-mercy shown;
Love spurned, crushed, cursed among the damned.
But His vantage – Otherwise! – bore us brightest hope,
for our savage mutiny, born of a base and fallen past
was to him a fertile sign, new-hymn, angelic Trope:
“His Love, stronger than death; His mercies, countless-vast.”
Let us rejoice on this feast of Christ's reign from the Tree of Life!
Alleluia!
A week of fascinating and electric events; though I only name a few.
New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been elected president of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. Following on the steady, erudite and simply Catholic Francis Cardinal George, Dolan bears what John Allen calls an "affirmative orthodoxy" - that is, the capacity to wed thinking-with-the-Church and bridge-building skills. Ironically, the choice of a bridge builder meant breaking with the time-honored tradition among the bishops of elevating the vice-prez of the Conference to presidential status. Dolan was chosen over former-VP, Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, AZ.
A victory for la derecha?
Predictable use of the right-left paradigms for interpreting this choice - "Dolan: a move to the right" - not only import categories alien to the Church's life, but they also seem to miss the deeper significance of the choice of Dolan the bridge-builder: addressing the fractious condition of the Church in America. We need healing that leads to a new, deeper and more dynamic unity rooted in the Church's living faith in Christ; a unity that demonstrates that Catholic Truth can be a joyful common ground of communion within the Church, and a leaven of unity outside the Church in our culturally anemic society. Watch a bit of Dolan to catch this sense.
Something like that.
Then Fr. John Riccardo came to Des Moines this week to offer a reflection on the nature of diabolical temptation. Essentially, he said, the trademark of Evil is to divide, to create separations of mistrust and suspicion and fear between God and humanity, and among human beings. The only path to healing is, he said, the reconciling work of Christ in the Spirit, which heals the wounds of sin and division; and restores childlike trust in the merciful love of God the Father.
It was delivered with great skill and conviction - he is a natural teacher. ~1300 people attended. Extraordinary. What draws such large numbers of people? No doubt, we could list a profusion of cogent reasons. But let me suggest the one that stood out most to me. Fr. John exudes joy and serene confidence in what he proclaims. This is, I would argue, what people hunger for in their Church: leaders who exude joy and confidence in their Faith. Maybe one could say that these two qualities stand out in a culture increasingly dominated by skepticism and a joyless addiction to quick-fix pleasure.
God bless your day.
New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been elected president of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. Following on the steady, erudite and simply Catholic Francis Cardinal George, Dolan bears what John Allen calls an "affirmative orthodoxy" - that is, the capacity to wed thinking-with-the-Church and bridge-building skills. Ironically, the choice of a bridge builder meant breaking with the time-honored tradition among the bishops of elevating the vice-prez of the Conference to presidential status. Dolan was chosen over former-VP, Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, AZ.
A victory for la derecha?
Predictable use of the right-left paradigms for interpreting this choice - "Dolan: a move to the right" - not only import categories alien to the Church's life, but they also seem to miss the deeper significance of the choice of Dolan the bridge-builder: addressing the fractious condition of the Church in America. We need healing that leads to a new, deeper and more dynamic unity rooted in the Church's living faith in Christ; a unity that demonstrates that Catholic Truth can be a joyful common ground of communion within the Church, and a leaven of unity outside the Church in our culturally anemic society. Watch a bit of Dolan to catch this sense.
Something like that.
Then Fr. John Riccardo came to Des Moines this week to offer a reflection on the nature of diabolical temptation. Essentially, he said, the trademark of Evil is to divide, to create separations of mistrust and suspicion and fear between God and humanity, and among human beings. The only path to healing is, he said, the reconciling work of Christ in the Spirit, which heals the wounds of sin and division; and restores childlike trust in the merciful love of God the Father.
It was delivered with great skill and conviction - he is a natural teacher. ~1300 people attended. Extraordinary. What draws such large numbers of people? No doubt, we could list a profusion of cogent reasons. But let me suggest the one that stood out most to me. Fr. John exudes joy and serene confidence in what he proclaims. This is, I would argue, what people hunger for in their Church: leaders who exude joy and confidence in their Faith. Maybe one could say that these two qualities stand out in a culture increasingly dominated by skepticism and a joyless addiction to quick-fix pleasure.
God bless your day.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
It's slipping deeper into the heart of November.
Liturgically, we are plunging into the heart of all-things-Extreme: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. The four dimensions of our absolute-future where God will bring to definitive judgment every nanosecond of human and angelic - cosmic! - history. In other words, November reminds us to always keep the Big Picture before us.
St. Jerome loved to quote the Proverbs text, 'Keep death ever before you, and do not sin.' Morbid? No. Realistic? Yes. The Gift of Knowledge that we receive in the sacrament of Conformation imparts to us an intuitive grasp of this vantage, helping us see each moment of life (and each choice of each moment) as decisive: "Would I be proud to have this moment be my last as I enter the presence of Christ?"
You might say this transforms the 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die' into, 'Eat, Drink, and be merciful for tomorrow we die'.
November also calls us to pray with exceptional fervor for the souls in Purgatory. Purgatory is all-too-often sidelined in our devotional life, which is a tragic wound in the communion of saints that is Christ's Body. Indeed, it is no charity toward our departed neighbors to assume they do not need our prayers. Such is a form of forgetfulness, which is a rejection of the Christian virtue of remembrance. Remembrance can include periodically honoring the burial sites of our beloved dead, telling the good of their life-story to inspire others and sustain communion with them, or praying for them (especially in the celebration of the Eucharist) that God will complete their healing and purifying and speed them to the full vision of His glory.
Love is stronger than death.
November is the time we begin to re-stir our yearning for Christ's coming again in glory, and so is also a preparation for Advent's intensive yearning.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.
Liturgically, we are plunging into the heart of all-things-Extreme: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. The four dimensions of our absolute-future where God will bring to definitive judgment every nanosecond of human and angelic - cosmic! - history. In other words, November reminds us to always keep the Big Picture before us.
St. Jerome loved to quote the Proverbs text, 'Keep death ever before you, and do not sin.' Morbid? No. Realistic? Yes. The Gift of Knowledge that we receive in the sacrament of Conformation imparts to us an intuitive grasp of this vantage, helping us see each moment of life (and each choice of each moment) as decisive: "Would I be proud to have this moment be my last as I enter the presence of Christ?"
You might say this transforms the 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die' into, 'Eat, Drink, and be merciful for tomorrow we die'.
November also calls us to pray with exceptional fervor for the souls in Purgatory. Purgatory is all-too-often sidelined in our devotional life, which is a tragic wound in the communion of saints that is Christ's Body. Indeed, it is no charity toward our departed neighbors to assume they do not need our prayers. Such is a form of forgetfulness, which is a rejection of the Christian virtue of remembrance. Remembrance can include periodically honoring the burial sites of our beloved dead, telling the good of their life-story to inspire others and sustain communion with them, or praying for them (especially in the celebration of the Eucharist) that God will complete their healing and purifying and speed them to the full vision of His glory.
Love is stronger than death.
November is the time we begin to re-stir our yearning for Christ's coming again in glory, and so is also a preparation for Advent's intensive yearning.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Iraq
I just had to give voice to my dismay over the horrific violence vented against Christians in Baghdad on October 31st.
This violence comes so soon after the recently concluded mid-east Synod in Rome, and the exquisitely beautiful plea of the Synod Bishops from Iraq, et alia for a new era of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
Those Syrian Christians who were targeted have a long history of endurance as an oppressed minority in that region. True martyrs of the faith whose costly witness to Christ should call us to deeper conversion. The martyrdom of two priests in 06 & 08 especially symbolized this cost for Iraqi Christians. But see this extraordinary Muslim's response to the senseless violence.
But there are signs of hope even in such tragedy.
The US Bishops have made a statement in solidarity with the Iraqi Christians, with a call to action.
I encourage all to respond in support of our brothers and sisters in Christ with prayer and advocacy.
This violence comes so soon after the recently concluded mid-east Synod in Rome, and the exquisitely beautiful plea of the Synod Bishops from Iraq, et alia for a new era of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
Those Syrian Christians who were targeted have a long history of endurance as an oppressed minority in that region. True martyrs of the faith whose costly witness to Christ should call us to deeper conversion. The martyrdom of two priests in 06 & 08 especially symbolized this cost for Iraqi Christians. But see this extraordinary Muslim's response to the senseless violence.
But there are signs of hope even in such tragedy.
The US Bishops have made a statement in solidarity with the Iraqi Christians, with a call to action.
I encourage all to respond in support of our brothers and sisters in Christ with prayer and advocacy.
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