Pope's Social Encyclical Talks: Parts One and Two

In the recent past, I intended to give a commentary on the Pope's recent encyclical on the social teaching of the Church, "Charity in Truth" (Caritas in Veritate, in Latin). I will fulfill that goal by making available to you links to the outlines of the first two of three talks I am giving on the encyclical. Here are the links:

Outline to Talk One;

Outline to Talk Two.

I will post the final outline in the near future.

You can use the outline by going to its page references matching the printed copy of the encyclical published in pamphlet form by Pauline Books & Media. I have also added the paragraph numbers in the original encyclical itself (after the Pauline Media page numbers and clearly labeled) for those who do not have that particular pamphlet and simply wish to use the web version at the Vatican website or some other published version of the encyclical to follow the logic of the outline.

The Details for Anglicans: Promptly Announced

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS AND COMPLEMENTARY NORMS

[Emphasis added]

VATICAN CITY, 9 NOV 2009 (VIS) - The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith today published the Apostolic Constitution "Anglicanorum coetibus", which provides for personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, and someComplementary Norms for the same Apostolic Constitution.

Both documents are dated 4 November, feast of St. Charles Borromeo, and are signed by Cardinal William Joseph Levada and Archbishop Luis F. Ladaria S.J., respectively prefect and secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

An English-language communique released by the congregation recalls how on 20 October, Cardina Levada "announced a new provision responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church.

"The Apostolic Constitution 'Anglicanorum coetibus' which is published today introduces a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing personal ordinariates, which will allow the above mentioned groups to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. At the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is publishing a set of Complementary Norms which will guide the implementation of this provision.

"This Apostolic Constitution opens a new avenue for the promotion of Christian unity while, at the same time, granting legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith. It represents not an initiative on the part of the Holy See, but a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups. The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church.

"The possibility envisioned by the Apostolic Constitution for some married clergy within the personal ordinariates does not signify any change in the Church's discipline of clerical celibacy. According to the Vatican Council II, priestly celibacy is a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charityand radiantly proclaims the reign of God".

The Apostolic Constitution contains thirteen sections which concern, among other things: the formation of the new ordinariates which possess, according to paragraph 3 of section 1, "public juridic personality by the law itself (ipso iure)" and are "juridically comparable to a diocese"; the power of the ordinary, "to be exercised jointly with that of the local diocesan bishop in those cases provided for in the Complementary Norms"; candidates for Holy Orders; erection, with the approval of the Holy See, of new Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; the "ad limina" visit of the ordinary, etc.

The Complementary Norms concern the jurisdiction of the Holy See; relations with episcopal conferences and diocesan bishops; the ordinary; the faithful of the ordinariate; the clergy; former Anglican bishops; the governing council; the pastoral council, and personal parishes.

Blogger Comment:

Two points strike me as important: 1.) the embrace of legitimate liturgical diversity in the Roman Rite, as opposed to neo-Tridentine uniformity; and 2.) married clergy among the new Catholics, which we can term "clerical diversity." Both points emphasize that the "Benedictine" model of this Pope does not match that of the supertraditionalists.

Here is the Vatican website link for those who like the canonical details. What struck me was how generous are the provisions in favor of former Anglican bishops who will be able to exercise jurisdictional authority if appointed as "ordinaries" even though they are not Catholic bishops. As I understand the norms, former Anglican bishops can even participate in the appropriate Catholic bishops' conferences as if they were retired Catholic bishops and may even keep the episcopal insignia they used as Anglican bishops. That is a very generous and shrewd move, given that Anglican bishops will play a crucial role in determining if their flocks will join the Catholic Church. See Article 11 of the norms and the accompanying canonical commentary.

The Decision to Admit to Ordination Is Not Infallible

That should be obvious to anyone familiar with any portion of the Church's very long history. I am aware of at least one case where, in my strong opinion, I find it amazing that the individual was ever ordained in spite of clear signals of trouble. I am sure many others with a wider circle of experience can testify to the same. And, so, I reproduce here the recent comments of Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto on this very painful and distressing matter, as originally posted at the Whispers in the Loggia blog:

Anyone who has participated in the awesome rites of ordination is conscious of the majesty of the priesthood of Christ, which He has chosen to share with frail humans, "vessels of clay" as St. Paul calls them, so that He might work through them in a sacramental way. I celebrate several ordinations each year, and every time I am filled with awe. When I place my hands upon the head of the candidate at the moment of ordination, I silently pray in my heart: "Lord, may this man be a faithful and holy priest all the days of his life."

To me, as a bishop, the pain of any priestly scandal is a sharp personal reminder that I need to do all that I can to be sure that those who are ordained, for all their inescapable human frailty, are living their vocation with integrity.

In our seminaries, over the long period of preparation for the priesthood, we continually strive to improve our procedures for solid human, intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual formation, so that only those candidates who are suited for the priesthood will proceed to ordination.

As for the choice of bishops, the process is extremely thorough, with detailed letters of reference from dozens of men and women. A thorough process, but not perfect. If no one in that extensive reference net is aware of a problem, it will be missed.

Those entrusted with discerning who should be ordained as priest or bishop need to be diligent, and to pray for wisdom, always aware that they might fail to spot an unsuitable candidate, especially if the problem is deep seated and hidden from everyone behind a splendid exterior.

As for improper behaviour by those already ordained, I and all of us who exercise authority in the Church have a solemn obligation to God and to the people we serve, especially to the most vulnerable, to act clearly and effectively if a problem is discovered, although also with great care that injustice not be done to an innocent person, whose name and life can be destroyed be a false accusation.

The basic reality is that in the sacrament of Holy Orders God works through frail humans, and always has done so, and always will. In the twelve apostles we see the whole range of raw material from the beloved disciple to Judas. As long as the human heart is susceptible to iniquity, we will face scandals among the apostles.

Source link (emphasis added).

It seems to me that the charism of discernment should be a prime requirement for those involved in the spiritual and academic formation of seminarians--and I mean "charism" in the supernatural sense, not just the natural ability to write out evaluations as in the corporate world. There is always more than we can see. Hence, we need the discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit to supplement our natural reasoning and evaluations. Moreover, the same requirement for supernatural discernment certainly applies to the selection of lay people to various parish and diocesan ministries. The need for the charism of discernment is urgent because, let's face it, plenty of people with emotional and personality disorders are precisely those most attracted to the perceived status, prestige, acclaim, and attention that can come with being a priest or a lay leader in ministry.

We Won (So far)

The pro-life Democrats forced the Speaker to include restrictions against abortion in the health care reform bill. Here is the story link (thanks for an early tip from Rhode Island). I sent in my email to my local Congressman on Friday. You should still send in yours because this wrangle is not over by any means. The matter now goes to the Senate. Go to this Bishops' Conference link and email your congressional people in the House and the Senate. The link gives you suggested, updated language to use in your message. You can also look up the names of your local representative and Senators at a "Contact Your Congressperson" link at the top. Many thanks for the strong leadership on this issue from our bishops.

Ancient of Days

In a recent biblical Aramaic class, we translated this famous passage from the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament:

The Ancient of Days Reigns

9 “As I looked,

thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
10 A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

11 “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Source: English Standard Version at this link.

It is a thrill for a believer to translate these words from the original language.

It reinforces the thrill of exuberant praise as seen in this YouTube video that I recommend you enjoy with generous clapping:

No Guidance

That's been the experience of many young people in their teens, twenties, and early thirties as they try to satisfy the wonderful and awesome human yearning for finding true love. The problem is that the cultural pathways, taboos, and wisdom that guided generations before them on this exciting but perilous journey--a process almost like threading a needle--has been absent for many young Americans for at least the last 40 or so years. We now have people in their fifties who are casualties of that vacuum of courtship wisdom.

Even David Brooks, a token conservative columnist for the N.Y. Times, sees this reality (note that, to my knowledge, Brooks is not a Christian and may even not be religious at all, although I do not know what his exact beliefs are). Here is an excerpt from his column in today's N.Y. Times (link):

Once upon a time — in what we might think of as the “Happy Days” era — courtship was governed by a set of guardrails. Potential partners generally met within the context of larger social institutions: neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and families. There were certain accepted social scripts. The purpose of these scripts — dating, going steady, delaying sex — was to guide young people on the path from short-term desire to long-term commitment.

Over the past few decades, these social scripts became obsolete. They didn’t fit the post-feminist era. So the search was on for more enlightened courtship rules. You would expect a dynamic society to come up with appropriate scripts. But technology has made this extremely difficult. Etiquette is all about obstacles and restraint. But technology, especially cellphone and texting technology, dissolves obstacles. Suitors now contact each other in an instantaneous, frictionless sphere separated from larger social institutions and commitments.

People are thus thrown back on themselves. They are free agents in a competitive arena marked by ambiguous relationships. Social life comes to resemble economics, with people enmeshed in blizzards of supply and demand signals amidst a universe of potential partners.

Source link above (emphasis added).

In his column, Brooks makes much of how modern social networking technology has added to the chaos of the great human adventure of coupling. But, in my view, that is a side issue. The real issue is that, well before the current advent of cellphones, texting, email, and Facebook, we already had the chaos of ambiguous relationships. And the problem is that ambiguity does not breed loyalty or authentic love. You do not sacrifice or delay sensual gratification for the sake of haziness. Moreover, in the climate of the last forty years, there is an added desperate competition--you may, for example, as a male pursue a female not so much because she is the right one but rather because you know with absolute certainty that if you delay she will end up in someone else's apartment. I presume the same would hold from a woman's perspective: yield everything sought by this particular male because he will just move on to someone more cooperative. Desperate competition and rivalry unrelated to the personal character of the person you are considering lead to terrible choices and couplings.

I think many do not like to think deeply about these issues because they make us question the foundational assumptions of our lifestyles and social expectations. Thanks to David Brooks who dared to raise these matters in a secular setting so that others can see that the question here is one of logic and reason, not necessarily one of divine revelation or following the teachings of an allegedly authoritarian or tyrannical church. The casualties have been many in the last four decades. Many have become, simply, unspousable. That is not a happy ending.

Kierkegaard for a Rainy Friday

At least, rainy where I am. Here is the link to the N.Y. Times column exploring the theme of spiritual despair in contrast to clinical depression. The distinction made by the Dane (using this reference avoids my having to spell out his surname again!) is, of course, quintessentially Christian: in the power of the Holy Spirit, our outward circumstances are deprived of the supreme power of determining our spiritual state. Hence, you can be quite joyful and exuberant, even if your outward, objective circumstances are not what you might desire. On the other side of the coin, the outwardly beaming may in fact be deep in despair--I think this phenomenon may be possibly more common among women who tend to smile a lot even when everything is deeply wrong.

Notice how many children react. When they are truly happy, they do not hide it, no matter where they are or what they are doing. When they are unhappy, they also do not hide it, as parents know very well. Children can be happy in many circumstances--they are not yet burdened with the adult delusion that happiness requires an imagined perfection. Like Paul, they can be content with a lot or with a little. Children also are not hypocrites by nature and do not hide their unhappiness for fear of admitting failure before others.

Here is an excerpt from the column:

The man who did not become Caesar [who wanted that or nothing], the applicant refused by medical school, all experience profound disappointment. But the spiritual travails only begin when that chagrin consumes the awareness that we are something more than our emotions and projects.

Source link above.

That something more than our mistakes, imperfections, and disappointments is our spirit strengthened and empowered with the reality of the personal, inalienable love of Jesus so that we can do all things through him.

The Crowd Enjoyed It

The Gospel reading from last Monday (Luke 13:10-17) ends with a line that always brings a smile to my heart:

The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”

When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

NAB Bible (lectionary reading quoted in part; emphasis added).

1. The reaction of the crowd is not the somber one of too many of today's devout: when they heard God, they rejoiced. We hear God today at every Mass when we hear the readings. Why should we not rejoice? Shouldn't we rejoice?

2. "All his adversaries were humiliated." Even God had to pay a price for humbling the arrogant. I recall a list of sayings that proposed a series of good but risky or costly actions and then commented: "Do it anyway" (or words to that effect). Many splendid things we just have to do anyway, even when we know that there will be a price to pay. Free people do that.

The last line of the quoted reading captures, for me, what must have been the ambience and atmosphere around Jesus: it was exciting, splendid, wonderful. Don't forget that the same experience is still at the heart of authentic Christianity. If you have not experienced it, keep looking. There is more beyond what our mediocrity assumes is enough or possible or permissible.

African Cardinal: Hebrew, Scripture Scholar & Evangelist

So you know that I, like many others, will keep a close eye on him as a potential future pope. Here is the link to the recommended Whispers in the Loggia blog where you get some eye-popping, well overdue analysis by Peter Cardinal Turkson of Ghana (in West Africa) on the unfortunate reversal of priorities in too many Catholic settings: teaching faith data and forgetting about personal conversion. Here is an excerpt of an analysis that applies to too many places who fail to challenge people with personal conversion:

"The early years of the church were all based on evangelization," he added. "When the structures began to evolve and develop it became catechetical, notional -- you teach people certain things, they can repeat them, then you baptize them.

"The emphasis on the thrust of evangelization -- provoking conversion in people -- and helping people find a real relationship with a personal God -- that gradually was missed out."

Source link above (emphasis added by me).

Too many on the traditionalist end of the spectrum simply want more of the "notional" approach criticized by the Cardinal. Such an approach is a dead-end.

By the way, the Ghana Cardinal has just been named to the top Vatican post on social justice and has played a key role in the soon to be concluded Synod on Africa held in Rome, as also recently reported at the same blog (see link). Let's keep our eye on his future.

The Irony of Inertia

Yesterday's Gospel reading for Mass is, not surprisingly, quite provocative and subversive of our common complacency and inertia:

Lk 12:54-59 [emphasis added]:

Jesus said to the crowds,
“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny.”

Several points come to mind.

1. Again, we see the great irony--also pointed out by the great prophets of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament--between our assiduous attention to so many relatively unimportant matters and our indifference to what is most fundamental and important. This ironic thread runs through the Hebrew Bible and right through the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. We see the irony today as much as it was seen back then: we fuss over our diet and over our physical health and appearance only to end up degrading the very same bodies in licentiousness; we worry ferociously about money and tax deductions, but we fail to grasp the great destiny for which our souls were created; we obsess about how we may impress others with our "success" and markers of social status, but we fail to be human. The ironies go on and on. And so, the great Teacher is asking: you take great care in observing the weather and predicting it, but you do not see the course of your own lives? Yes, I have seen highly (formally) educated people who, in reality, were pure imbeciles when it came to what counts in life: honor, justice, character, selflessness.

2. He asks, "Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?" Take a moment to savor that indictment. Christianity is not asking you to stop thinking for yourself, but rather to start thinking seriously, maybe for the first time, about what is right, what is really important in life. It is a call to the examined life, as also proposed by Socrates. It is a call for initiative of the mind and of reason to get to the bottom of what we are about in life.

3. "Make an effort to settle on the way": Yes, wake up and do something because something must be done. The Gospel calls for action, not for smug self-satisfaction or inertia or for blind habit and custom. "Make an effort": try to change the course of your life after judging for yourself what is right. Dare to judge what is right. Dare to look closely at what everyone else may overlook or simply acquiesce in with fatalistic resignation. Dare to be subversive.

Benedict is a Liturgical Pluralist

Finally, I get to see the analysis that matches my own personal intuition about Pope Benedict XVI the liturgical pluralist, not the advocate of neo-Tridentine uniformity. Thanks to our Rhode Island source for this Wall Street Journal link. There are many who have completely misunderstood the mind of the Pope as favoring a neo-traditional uniformity (some of them are my personal friends). Francis Rocca's article today in the Wall Street Journal is a welcome illumination for them.

Here is an excerpt:

An emphasis on uniformity of worship is a relatively recent development in Catholicism, Ms. Rowland [a scholar of Benedict's thought] notes. The 16th-century Council of Trent, which imposed a number of reforms on the whole church to fend off the rising challenge of Protestantism, prescribed the form of the Latin Mass that Catholics used almost exclusively for more than four centuries thereafter. By sanctioning the current trend toward liturgical diversity, Benedict is leading his church forward in the spirit of its oldest traditions.

. . . .

Millions of Charismatic Catholics today, most commonly in Latin America but also in Africa and the Philippines, regularly attend spectacular Masses featuring Pentecostal-style faith healing, speaking in tongues and preaching that echoes the upwardly mobile aspirations of the Prosperity Gospel.

See source link above (emphasis added).

As you can see from the preceding excerpt, Rocca also recognizes the vibrant Charismatic reality in the Catholic Church today, especially in the developing world (also called by some the "Two-Thirds World" because it represents such a large chunk of our planet).

My fuller personal reaction to the full article follows:


Spectacular analysis. It reflects my own intuition about this development. You see the difference between Benedict and the neo-Tridentine uniformists.

The columnist Francis Rocca notes what I also thought about recently: the Anglican use of the ordinary form is a Protestant liturgical development that the Pope has just validated, true to Catholic teaching that the Holy Spirit is active among Protestants (a teaching which some neo-Tridentines hate to admit or even reject outright)--thus, the Pope's move is authentically ecumenical, contrary to some earlier press comments. I am also glad to see the recognition of the charismatic reality of the Church in the column and how obviously traditional the charismatics are. The only quibble I have is that, even with some minor requested changes and adjustments, the Pope did approve the distinctive nature of the way the Neo-Catechumenal Way celebrates Mass in its gatherings. The neo-Tridentines were, in my opinion, taken aback by the Vatican's final approval of the Neo-Catechumenal Way's statutes as an approved Catholic entity, an approval which does not match the neo-Tridentine monomania for liturgical uniformity.

Big Step for Anglicans Seeking to Return Home

NOTE ON ANGLICANS WISHING TO ENTER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
[Blogger emphasis added]

VATICAN CITY, 20 OCT 2009 (VIS) - In a meeting with journalists held this morning in the Holy See Press Office Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia O.P., secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, presented a note on a new measure concerning "Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church".

Commenting on the English-language note, which has been published by his dicastery, Cardinal Levada explained how, "with the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion.

"In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

"The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a worldwide phenomenon, by offering a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or an unmarried bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony".

"The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The initiative has come from a number of different groups of Anglicans" who, said Cardinal Levada, "have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion".

The cardinal further indicated that "it is the hope of the Holy Father Benedict XVI that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith. Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: 'There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism'.

"Our communion", the cardinal added in conclusion, "is therefore strengthened by such legitimate diversity, and so we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith".

[This biblical view is definitely not the neo-Tridentine model of or aspiration for one uniform liturgy for all Catholics in the West (the Roman Rite). It seems to me that this approach will eventually create an Anglo-Catholic form of the Roman Rite, in addition to the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite (or, more likely, a subcategory under the ordinary form of the Roman Rite). I look forward to attending one of these Catholic-Anglican liturgies one day. The old Book of Common Prayer from the Anglican tradition is a treasure of the English language, on a par with the language of the King James Version of the Bible. So, if you have problems with English translations in the ordinary form, you are getting another option, in addition to the new missal translation in the works. Ah, yes, the model of Pentecost is unity out of legitimate diversity, as all heard them praising God, each in his own language. If you want to understand Benedict XVI, look to the Bible.]

In a joint declaration on the same subject, Catholic Archbishop Vincent Gerard Nichols of Westminster and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury affirm that the announcement of the Apostolic Constitution "brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church. It will now be up to those who have made requests to the Holy See to respond to the Apostolic Constitution", which is a "consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

"The on-going official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion provides the basis for our continuing co-operation", the declaration adds. "The Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) agreements make clear the path we will follow together.

"With God's grace and prayer we are determined that our on-going mutual commitment and consultation on these and other matters should continue to be strengthened. Locally, in the spirit of IARCCUM, we look forward to building on the pattern of shared meetings between the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales and the Church of England's House of Bishops with a focus on our common mission".

Fear Not

Often, the meditations from PresentationMinistries.com have striking effect. I quote from today's because fear is always an issue with us mortals:

As little children, we overcame some fears by simply holding our parents' hands. Even when our parents were not nearby, their assuring words often kept us from yielding to fear. We overcome all fears in a similar way, keeping our hands in the nail-scarred hand of Jesus. Although we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil, for He is with us (Ps 23:4). We fearlessly undertake the fearsome task of making disciples of all nations because He promised to be with us always, even "until the end of the world" (Mt 28:20).

"The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's Refuge; of whom should I be afraid?" (Ps 27:1) "Fear nothing, then" (Lk 12:7).

Source link.

Later, the meditation mentions how one saint found the courage to lead an abundant life with many demanding roles in life. We are called to the same. The pay-off from escaping fear is empowerment to live a truly abundant life in many roles beyond what we think we are able or can (and, surely, on our own steam, we are indeed right to think that we cannot carry out so many roles).

Recovery

We often hear the headlined word when it comes to physical recovery from injury or trauma or cardiac arrest. There is also the common use of "recovery" to refer to healing from some sort of substance abuse addiction. Moving further along the continuum of uses of the same term, there is also an even more emotional, psychological, spiritual aspect, as when we recover from great grief or shock, disappointment or disillusionment, humiliation or injustice. All the aspects along this continuum of usage are relevant, obviously, to our very vulnerable human condition.

In Tolkein's Return of the King, we read the following words by Aragorn who finally emerges as the prophesied king whose hands heal, as Aragorn makes his way among the wounded attempting recovery after the great battle in the "houses of healing." He comes to one of the hobbits who was severely wounded and sickened after daring to slay the very, very powerful Black Rider and Lord of the Nazgul (the Nazgul are the terrible flying monsters sent into battle by Sauron, the Dark Lord). Here is Aragorn, the healing King, speaking when he comes to the wounded hobbit in the houses of healing:

'Do not be afraid,' said Aragorn. 'I came in time, and I have called him back. He is weary now, and grieved, and he has taken a hurt like the Lady Eowyn [she is the one who actually killed the flying Nazgul monster in the previous battle], daring to smite that deadly thing [the hobbit killed the Black Rider of the flying Nazgul monster]. But these evils can be amended, so strong and gay a spirit is in him. His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.'

Tolkien, The Return of the King, Ch. VIII (pp. 850-51 in the most recent one-volume Lord of the Rings edition from Houghton-Mifflin publishers; bold emphasis added).

Notice the words highlighted in the quotation as annotated below.

1. "Daring to smite that deadly thing": When we dare to face great evil, rather than ignoring it or running from it, we will suffer some serious wounds. We do it anyway.

2. "These evils can be amended, so strong and gay [joyous] a spirit is in him": Do not underestimate the powers of resistance and recovery of a healthy human soul.

3. "It will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom": Out of severe wounds, comes wisdom that cannot shatter the heart of the truly healthy soul.

How do we get that healthy soul in the face of such great shocks in life? Some have a good dose of it from a fortunate upbringing. Yet, whether or not you had the good fortune of such a good upbringing, all of us need some steady, extra doses of power to truly resist, overcome, and abundantly conquer the evils we inevitably face in life.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV here and below): 28 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."


Philippians 4:3: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Romans 8:37 (emphasis added): No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

[In the original Greek in Romans 8:37 above, we "hypernikomen"--you know that "hyper" means to an excessive degree; you also can easily surmise that "nike" (as in the famous name brand) refers to victory or conquest. Hence, we "hypernike," to coin a new term: we "hyper-conquer." Thanks to a priest friend for pointing this out to me.]

Benedict XVI on Another Church Father

UNITE LOVE FOR GOD WITH LOVE FOR NEIGHBOUR
[Emphasis added]

VATICAN CITY, 14 OCT 2009 (VIS) - In his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke about Peter the Venerable, whom he described as "an admirable example of a man rigorously ascetic with himself yet understanding towards others".

Peter the Venerable, the Holy Father explained, was born around the year 1094. In 1122 he "was elected as abbot of Cluny", and died in 1156. "He cultivated friendship, particularly that of his monks, who were wont to confide in him sure of being accepted and understood".

"This holy abbot is an example for monks and other Christians in our own time, with its frenetic pace of life in which episodes of intolerance and lack of communication, of division and conflict, are not infrequent", said the Pope. "His witness invites us to unite our love for God with love for neighbour, and never to cease creating bonds of fraternity and reconciliation".

Benedict XVI highlighted how Peter the Venerable, "with profound ecclesial sensibility, affirmed that the vicissitudes of the Christian people must be felt 'in the depths of the heart' by everyone who considers themselves to be 'members of the Body of Christ'. And he added: 'they are not nourished by the Spirit of Christ who do not feel the wounds of the Body of Christ' wherever they may occur".

[And, since Jesus identifies especially with the most needy, in every sense of the term "needy," the wounds are all around us.]

The Pope went on to explain how Peter "also showed great concern and solicitude for people outside the Church, particularly Jews and Muslims. In order to favour understanding with Muslims, he commissioned a translation of the Koran".

The Pope also emphasised the abbot's "love for the Eucharist and his devotion to the Virgin Mary", as well as his "predilection for literary activities, for which he had a talent".

"Although he was not a systematic theologian, he was nonetheless a great investigator of the mystery of God. His theology had its roots in prayer, especially liturgical prayer. Among the mysteries of Christ he preferred that of the Transfiguration, which prefigures the Resurrection. It was, in fact, he who introduced this feast to Cluny" with the aim of favouring "contemplation of the glorious face of Christ".

For Peter the Venerable the ideal for monks to follow "consists in 'tenacious adherence to Christ' through ... silent contemplation and constant praise of God".

"If this lifestyle, associated with daily work represents ... the ideal for monks, it can, to a large extent, also represent an ideal for all Christians who wish to become true disciples of Christ, characterised by their own tenacious adherence to Him through humility, hard work and a capacity for forgiveness and peace".

God Is Not a Perfectionist

But, yes, many of us are; and, as an ancient Greek said (as I recall) and as others, including I think the philosopher Feuerbach (readers, verify this last historical reference), have repeated throughout history, we tend to create God in our own image. This thought came to me as I considered the Catholic teaching on the state of purgatory: God assigns us ultimately to his presence in heaven even thought we are still materially flawed and in great need of purification or purgation. He mercifully uses what an old calculus teacher of mine called "the fudge factor" to eventually let many of us into his presence. Certainly, we read in the Gospel that the Father calls us to be perfect as He is perfect--yet, as a Catholic, I know that this call to perfection includes His provision of the state (notice I did not say "place") of purgatory. If God were a perfectionist, there would be no assigning to heaven of those in need of purgatory--they would be too imperfect at the moment of death for the ticket into his presence.

So, if you meet someone preaching a very perfectionist, angry, compulsive, legalistic God, take a look at the messenger--he or she may be simply preaching himself rather than the deity. Yet, notice that, while God is not perfectionist in the sense of necessarily jettisoning the materially flawed, He still insists on purification. He is not a perfectionist in the sense of automatically excluding the materially flawed, but He is a perfectionist of sorts in arranging for purification and purgation. Yes, He is much more subtle than many of our disordered personalities, personalities both very secular and very religious and which include every combination in between these two types.

The Eucharistic Life Lived

It seems quite plausible to me that many who receive the Eucharist frequently do not really live the Eucharistic life at all. The Eucharistic life means, in the particular sense I am using it today, living in a state of thanksgiving (as many know, the Greek word that gives us the term "eucharist" means to give thanks). If you do not live in a detectable state of thanksgiving, then something is blocking the power of the Eucharist in your life. And part of living in a state of thanksgiving is to concretely manifest that attitude of gratitude toward Adonai and toward others. It still puzzles me how so many people I have encountered in life simply fail the elementary test of basic, rock-bottom etiquette: saying thank you for a favor or a gift. Yes, often it is just a matter of forgetting (I plead guilty here, at least once in a while) ; but it seems that not a few do not know how to react to a gift or a favor with simple, expressed gratitude. There is a problem there.

In his book Called to Life, retreat master Fr. Jacques Phillipe (see the category under his name in the blog sidebar for more posts about him) makes a point of calling each of us to remain in a state of thanksgiving, which he calls "a fundamental attitude of heart, a disposition of life, a way of orienting one's entire life" (p. 82). Now, don't tell me or others that you have nothing to be grateful for--all of us face ongoing challenges, uncertainties, worries, and looming problems, many of them quite serious, yet the fact is that many of us do live in a state of thanksgiving expressed in vibrant praise of the Giver of all good gifts. Many poor people living in the worst areas of the United States are known to give thanks and praise daily, often with tattered or well-worn Bibles in hand. Just drive around your local inner city and be observant. In sharp contrast, how funny that many of the most affluent or otherwise privileged really do not have an attitude of thanksgiving at all but rather an attitude of constant carping that they have not received the deference or attention that they claim to deserve from others.

Thanksgiving erupts in praise--sometimes a level of praise that even surprises me. That is why the charismatic renewal is so healing and so life-changing for so many of us--we first experienced in the renewal a level of exuberant praise that no one ever told us about for years or that we never before saw manifested:

Praise expresses the confidence that love is stronger than hate, light stronger than darkness, and the end of history will not be the triumph of evil but the victory of the good. Jesus said to the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich: "Sin is inevitable, but all will end up well!''

Fr. Philippe, p. 83.

It is not just a matter of the victory of good at the end of world history (although that is surely true) but also of the victory of good at the end of our personal history on earth. We praise God because he will bring our personal lives to a good end. (In many ways, I am often puzzled and surprised by the amount of attention religious people devote to speculating about the end of the world--my friends, your personal world is guaranteed to end very, very soon. We call it death. The mortality statistics can give us a pretty good time range for our personal eschatology, assuming that most things go well in the meantime.)

A life marked by fundamental gratefulness to Adonai and to others opens our eyes to reality. It is not a flight from reality but a deeper entry into reality. It is in fact our cynicism, disillusionment, and despair that cover up reality. Reality is shock full of the good and many goods if we open our eyes to look and discover. Living eucharistically, in a state of thanksgiving, is the way to see what is most real around us. Such gratefulness will issue in praise:

As Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the [Catholic charismatic] preacher of the pontifical household, says, "Praise immolates and destroys man's pride; he who praises God makes a sacrifice of something that is all-pleasing to God: mankind's self-praise. The extraordinary purifying power of prayer resides in this. Humility is hidden in praise.

Fr. Philippe, p. 85.

All the great terms of the equation are connected: gratitude opens our eyes to the ever-present Good and His goods (whether such goods are other people or nature in general or things in nature). This gratitude will have a flavor of our not meriting such goodness and so leads to a sincerely felt humility. On the way to this grateful humility, as a by-product, our pride diminishes. As I like to say, we can start putting our pride, ego, and vanity in our back pockets and increasingly forget about their neurotic demands. Then comes the great pay-off of authentic freedom and joy that no longer depend on feeding the monster called ego.

Humility Equals Freedom

In the last post, I spoke about two types of obstacles: the ones that say "turn around" and the ones that say "keep going." To recognize those obstacles that tell us to turn around, we need humility, the recognition that we are quite obtuse by nature because of our inherent human limitations. By acknowledging those very real limits on our knowledge, intuition, and natural discernment, we are open to turning around when that is necessary. (Notice how pride so often leads to a refusal to turn around--we plow forward because we refuse to admit error, often because admitting error would require wrenching personal change, change that is also known as conversion.) In addition, because of humility, we can turn around without first needing to fully and thoroughly understand or identify the reasons why we need to turn around (compare this last point to my most recent post on Fr. Philippe's book).

This insight is one potential way to understand the biblical aphorism that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The "fear of the Lord" contains an aspect of realizing that we are woefully limited in our capacity to understand when compared to that of the Creator. We recognize the gigantic difference between our comprehension and His. In this sense, we seriously respect the Lord as being profoundly wiser than we are; and so we are ready to turn around even if we do not comprehend all the reasons for such a course of action.

In addition, recognizing our limits enables us to see and be grateful for the mercy and kindness of the Lord--he rescues us from many terrible mistakes even if "we don't get it" at the time, just as a parent will rescue a small, oblivious child from crossing a busy and dangerous city street. In these ways, humility is a key to wisdom, to docility ("teachability"), to "fear of the Lord," and to thankfulness for his kindness. In the end, humility leads to great freedom because we are not enslaved or manipulated by what can harm us or possess us, just as the sheep who follow the shepherd are "free" to flourish when compared to the sheep that run off into predatory danger. Moreover, with humility, we are free to take risks that often our pride stubbornly refuses to take simply because of the paralyzing fear of public failure or embarrassment. The humble person is truly free from those constraints.

Ask yourself in how many ways pride constrains us. Then imagine living free of those constraints, in humility.

Obstacles, Obstacles

In studying the Hebrew text of Jonah and how the fearful sailors were throwing off cargo in order to lighten the ship in danger of sinking in the great storm-- as Jonah sought to flee by ship from Adonai's command to prophesy to Nineveh, I was reminded of another story of a ship also caught in another great storm in which fearful sailors were also throwing things overboard in an attempt to survive. That story is found in Acts 27 when Paul is on his way to trial in Rome as a prisoner and is caught in a great storm at sea as Jonah was.

Jonah was eventually thrown off the ship and into the belly of a great fish. You are familiar with the rest of the story: the Jonah who initially ran away from Adonai's call to prophesy to the great city of Nineveh, the great power center of the Assyrian empire, ended up on dry land again, out of the belly of the fish in three days, and eventually obeyed Adonai's call to prophesy to the people of the great city of Nineveh.

In contrast, Paul did not undertake his sea voyage to run away from God's assignment. Paul was on the ship heading to Rome as God wanted him to do, so that Paul could testify to the "Nineveh" of Paul's day--the great and powerful imperial city of Rome.

Jonah was fleeing from God on board the ship. Paul was obeying God on board the ship. Yet, both encountered a great storm. Jonah ended up in the belly of the fish. Paul ended up shipwrecked on Malta. Each eventually got to where they needed to go.

How interesting that Adonai sent a great storm in both situations--to the disobedient, reluctant prophet Jonah and also to the obedient, zealous prophet Paul. Our God sends or permits obstacles to arise even when we are obeying him (I credit a teacher for that insight). Remember that next time you face an obstacle. Ask for the discernment to know if you are in the Jonah situation or the Pauline situation, to know if you need to turn around or stay on track. Obstacles in and of themselves do not necessarily mean that you must give up. As in Paul's sea voyage to Rome, obstacles may just be an occasion to demonstrate the power of God even when we are already on the right track.

A Catholic Personality: Teresa of Jesus

I quote from the Penguin Classics introduction by J.M. Cohen:

Teresa was no cold intellectual, but quickly became involved in the life and problems of anyone with whom she came into touch. We see her compelling a priest who was living in sin to throw away the amulet with which his mistress had 'enchanted' him, and to set about mending his ways. We learn, too, later in the book, of the alarm with which various other priests viewed her when they began to hear her confessions. They were very much afraid that she might become attached to them in the worldly sense: a suspicion which she found quite absurd. Yet many passages in her works and letters testify to the warmth of her affections, and right at the end of her life she was not ashamed to confess her deep disappointment when an old friend failed to accompany her on a journey. 'I must confess to you, Father,' she wrote to him, 'that the flesh is weak, and it has felt this more than I should have wished--in fact a great deal.'

Introduction to The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, pp. 12-13.

We see the same passionate warmth of personality in Paul of Tarsus:

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (ESV) 11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

Of course, it all goes back to the Psalmist (by the way, Teresa was also of Jewish background):

Psalm 119:32 (KJV) 32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Such warmth is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is present in the lives of many other saints, known and unknown. We must ask ourselves if our piety is not missing something crucial that was manifestly and noticeably present in them.

Anselm of Canterbury

ANSELM: THEOLOGIAN AND DEFENDER OF CHURCH FREEDOM
[emphasis added]

VATICAN CITY, 23 SEP 2009 VIS - St. Anselm, one of the most outstanding figures of the Middle Ages, was the subject of the Holy Father's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

St. Anselm of Canterbury, also known as Anselm of Aosta and Anselm of Bec, was born in the Italian town of Aosta in 1033. The eldest child of a noble family, his mother gave him a careful human and Christian education. During his youth he went through a period of moral dissipation and excess during which he abandoned his studies. He then travelled to France in search of new experiences and eventually reached the abbey of Bec, drawn there by the fame of its prior, Lanfranco of Pavia. There, at the age of 27, he embraced the monastic life.

Three years later Lanfranco was appointed as abbot of Caen and Anselm became the prior of Bec. In his new role he "revealed gifts as a sophisticated teacher. He did not care for authoritarian methods and, likening young people to saplings which develop best if not closed in a greenhouse, he granted then a 'healthy' measure of freedom. He was very demanding with himself and others in monastic observance, but rather than imposing discipline he sought to make people follow it by persuasion", the Pope explained.

When Lanfranco of Pavia was appointed as archbishop of Canterbury, England, he asked Anselm to help him in educating the monks and in dealings with the ecclesial community, which was facing difficult circumstances in the wake of the Norman invasions. On Lanfranco's death in 1093, Anselm succeeded him as archbishop immediately entering "into an energetic struggle for the freedom of the Church and courageously supporting the independence of spiritual from temporal power. He defended the Church from undue interference by the political authorities, especially King William Rufus and Henry I". His faithfulness to the Pope caused him to be exiled in 1103.

Anselm died on 21 April 1109 having dedicated the last years of his life "to the moral formation of the clergy and intellectual research into theological questions", whence Christian tradition has bestowed upon him the title of "Doctor Magnificus", said the Holy Father. He went on: "The clarity and logical rigour of Anselm's ideas always sought 'to raise the mind to the contemplation of God'. He made it clear that anyone who intends to study theology must not rely only upon his own intelligence but must also cultivate a profound experience of faith".

"In St. Anselm's view, then, a theologian's work is divided into threes stages: faith, God's gratuitous gift to be welcomed with humility; experience, which consists in incarnating the Word of God into daily life; and true knowledge, which is never the fruit of sterile reasoning but of contemplative intuition".

"May the love for truth and the constant thirst for God which characterized St. Anselm's life be a stimulus for all Christians tirelessly to seek an ever more intimate union with Christ", said the Pope, and he concluded: "May the courageous zeal which distinguished his pastoral work and which sometimes brought misunderstandings, bitterness and even exile, be an encouragement for pastors, consecrated people and all the faithful to love the Church of Christ, ... never abandoning or betraying her".

When a Door Closes, Another Opens

One of the great tools of discernment is one that we do not usually like very much: a closed door. The shutting of doors is a gift from God: it is unequivocal direction from God. Even Emerson was able to see that when "the half gods go, the gods arrive" (my possibly inexact quote from memory). Often, we need to know when our particular mission has been accomplished--a shut door can do that. Sometimes, we need a radical change of direction because his thoughts are so far above our schemes and plans--a shut door can do that also.

So next time you face a shut door because someone or some institution or some plan is not cooperating or is not open to what is good, do not take the pagan route of despair or even sadness. But rather, give thanks. Be eucharistic. He has better things in mind for you, even if you do not yet have them in your own mind. The really tragic thing is that too often we fail to see the doors that have just opened because we are so mesmerized by the closed door. In this way, we see again the value of keeping one's eyes on Jesus, as we walk through choppy waters.

Receptive to the Calling

In pages 73-82, Fr. Jacques Philippe in the book Called to Life explores the attitudes that make us receptive to the calling from God. I cannot touch on all of them. But I single out two that make a big difference to me and, maybe, might make a difference to you.

1. "Walking in faith also means consenting to a kind of obscurity, learning to live with questions we cannot answer. . . . Sometimes our condition for turning the page is that everything be made clear to us--and that can't happen. Then the only way to move ahead is by abandoning ourselves to God and his wisdom in showing us what he wishes to show when he wishes to show it. This letting-go is hard, but healthy" (pp. 76-77; original emphasis).

No great enterprise has ever begun with knowing beforehand all the ups and downs, twists and turns, of the adventure. Each of our lives is called to be such a great enterprise that also has to begin with large patches of uncertainty and ignorance of future events and turns. As Josemaria Escriva once said, we cannot let "prudence" become a synonym for cowardice.

2. "[L]iving in the present moment" allows us to follow God's calls because if "we are locked into our plans, we are in danger of missing God's calls" (78). The author quotes a nun who said that: "I am always ready to do, in the next five minutes, just the opposite of what I had planned" (78). Seize the moment. Carpe diem.

Yes, I have included two short points; but they are enough if taken seriously for they enlarge our freedom, our boundaries, our territory, our lives.

A Catholic Self-Critique

To be more exact, this self-critique is probably appropriate for a certain subset of Catholics only: conservative, orthodox Catholics. The problem just does not apply to nominal Catholics or very loose Catholics, although the problem may, in some cases, have contributed to such people's distancing themselves from Catholic teaching.

The problem is this: the brooding, legalistic conscience (better known as scrupulosity in traditional language). The problem within the problem is this: according to Catholic teaching, the conscience is the voice of God. We get into trouble when that voice is replaced with our own, let me be frank, neuroses and anxieties. Again, surprise of surprises, we see the need for the biblically revealed charism of discernment of spirits: when is the voice that I may think is my true conscience (the voice of God) instead a false conscience (the voice of my own defect-filled personality and assumptions).

This type of false conscience not only burdens the person bearing it, but it ends up burdening others and, as noted before, scaring people away from the Catholic faith. If you find someone who is too hard on others and thus pushes them away from the faith, you are more than likely to find someone who is just too hard on himself or herself. Being open to the unconditional love of the Trinity is a prerequisite to releasing that same love to others. If we are closed to receiving that love for ourselves, then we will not be to open to granting it to others.

Often, false conscience is seen when we mistake conventional, bourgeois values for Christian values. If we measure Jesus' life and sayings by bourgeois values, he certainly comes short. For example, he urges people to put God before family relations. That would not go down so well with many conservative Christians, both Catholic and non-Catholic. He also is deeply suspicious of those who like to flaunt their piety in the way they dress and act in public. That critical view of outward, showy piety would not go down so well with many who seem overly interested in the latest clerical garb and frills. He is also not fearful of ignoring socially accepted boundaries when it means helping the other. He speaks alone to the woman at the well to the scandal of his own disciples. He associates with those viewed as collaborators with the Roman (enemy) occupation. He associates with the worst, public sinners in order to change them. He multiplies food for the crowds even though he knows and says that some will then just follow him to get the physical food and not the spiritual food. He takes risks.

That personality--open, daring, full of life--is the opposite of the brooding, legalistic personality for whom God is, for all practical purposes, a neurotic with an obsessive compulsive disorder. Yes, we tend to create God in our own image, rather than letting the Gospels reveal Him to us. He is very different from many of us. He is just not uptight. He created all the marvels of the universe and sustains them in continuous existence. He is not intimidated or bound by the little things we magnify into a false importance simply because we are full of fear, self-doubt, and even self-hatred.

When the Good Causes Scandal

There are two types of scandal. The first kind is the type we usually think of: bad or evil acts that disillusion others who placed their trust in a person (it might be a pastor or a friend or a spouse or a teacher). The second type is one not usually discussed: when objectively good acts "scandalize" others who do not understand such acts or whose worldview cannot absorb such objectively good acts. When the young Francis of Assisi or Thomas Aquinas decided to abandon all the trappings of family wealth and ambition, their decisions scandalized their powerful families. I am sure that is still happening today. Mother Teresa of Calcutta caused scandal among some who derided her person-to-person care of the poor as a useless and even harmful distraction in the face of massive, structural poverty. When we come to the Gospels themselves, we see Jesus himself causing scandal: by healing on the Sabbath, by talking to the woman at the well, by intimately healing the sick and disabled, and by associating with the wrong kind of people.

When the jailed John the Baptist sends his disciples to consult Jesus, to ask Jesus if Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus replies by pointing to his healings, to his raising of the dead, and to his proclamation of the good news and ends his listing of all these works with these perceptive (they always are, of course) words:

"and blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of falling" (Matthew 11:6; New Jerusalem Bible).

In other words, blessed is he who is not scandalized in me; or as the RSV puts it: "And blessed is he who takes no offense at me."

Here is the second type of scandal noted above: scandal over the good, even the radically good.

We see it today when the charisms are exercised. The little charism of praising God in tongues causes great offense among many because it is "too much" even for some who are very pious and devout. The charism of healing causes scandal because some either do not believe such things are even possible today (or ever were) or because of the risk that some will not get healed and thus be disappointed. Or some are scandalized when a baptized, confirmed lay Catholic in a state of grace--who by those very sacraments is a temple of the Holy Spirit--delivers a prophetic message, as if only the writings of dead canonized mystics can deliver such messages. We see offense taken even toward the charism of generosity when people--admittedly, understandably so in our ego-driven, manipulative world--cannot imagine that gifts are granted with no strings attached or with no hidden agenda and not seeking any payback. All of these things seem very "imprudent" to those who do not look further.

Happy are those who take no offense when the good goes beyond the little boxes with which we and our very fallen world are comfortable and to which we are accustomed. The new heaven and the new earth will be the places where the little boxes will no longer exist. That experience of freedom can begin to emerge in some form, even now.

Practicing Detachment

The writings of the late Jesuit priest from India, Fr. Anthony de Mello (d. 1987), veered away from Catholic teaching in several significant, major, and fundamental areas, as explained by a warning to the faithful authorized by Pope John Paul II in 1998 (see this EWTN link). Yet, even the official warning acknowledged some nuggets of value in his reflections:

His works, which almost always take the form of brief stories, contain some valid elements of oriental wisdom. These can be helpful in achieving self-mastery, in breaking the bonds and feelings that keep us from being free, and in approaching with serenity the various vicissitudes of life.

Source link (emphasis added).

Having given the above necessary caveat, let me focus on one of the nuggets of wisdom that does not in any way conflict with Catholic teaching:

Another false belief: If all your desires are fulfilled you will be happy. Not true. In fact it is these very desires and attachments that make you tense, frustrated, nervous, insecure and fearful. Make a list of all your attachments and desires and to each of them say these words: "Deep down in my heart I know that even after I have got you I will not get happiness." And ponder on the truth of those words. The fulfillment of desire can, at the most, bring flashes of pleasure and excitement. Don't mistake that for happiness.

de Mello, The Way to Love (Image Books, 1995), p. 9 (published with imprimatur dated Mar. 18, 1991, about seven years before the Vatican warning noted above).

Now, the Buddhist approach to suffering, as I understand it, is to kill all desire. In contrast, the Christian approach is to channel desire to God, who is the only one who can fulfill the great fundamental, restless desire to be loved and to love that He implanted in each of us. Not surprisingly, the Psalmist captures this simple but profound biblical idea:

Psalm 37:4 (ESV) "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

The "desires of the heart" are, in my interpretation, the deep, fundamental, basic desires whose fulfillment will indeed give us happiness. They are not the desires that conflict with the God who is self-sacrificial love or agape.

The rest of the Bible and the great tradition, including St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, also point to the desire for God as resolving our restlessness in the world. In this Judeo-Christian sense and context, de Mello's nugget of wisdom quoted above can be of great help to many of us. As noted in his little book, from which I take the above quote, our Western society keeps urging us to acquire various things from academic degrees to relationships as ways to become happy and fulfilled. The failure rate in these pursuits is astronomical when we look around us with penetrating, honest eyes. It is a failure that transpires even if many or most or all of the things our society points to as sources of happiness are in fact successfully acquired. Too often, as the Gospel says, we gain the world but lose our souls and thus our happiness, even if we get all the toys (including relationships) celebrated and marketed by our culture.

The quote from de Mello also reminds me of the noble, ancient Stoic philosophy which has had some influence on the Christian tradition. The Stoics sought relief from suffering through detachment--at times, through a sort of dehumanized, impersonal detachment. In contrast, the Gospel proposes radical love as the key to liberation from detachment to persons and things that leave us unfulfilled. This radical love is robustly passionate and never icily impersonal or inhuman.

The bottom line is that it can be very good to examine our attachments and free ourselves of illusions and delusions about their power to make us happy and flourishing. The result is freedom.

Symeon the New Theologian

SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: DIVINE LOVE OPENS US TO OTHERS
[Added emphasis]

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2009 (VIS) - In today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope focused his attention on Symeon the New Theologian, "an Eastern monk from Asia Minor whose writings exercised an important influence on theology and spirituality in the East, especially as regards the experience of mystical union with God".

The Holy Father explained how Symeon was born in Galatai, Asia Minor. He began a civilian career in the imperial service but abandoned it in order "to follow the path of union with God" under the guidance of Symeon the Pious in a monastery in Constantinople. He died in the year 1022.

"Symeon focused his reflections on the presence of the Holy Spirit in the baptised and on the awareness they must have of this spiritual truth. Christian life, he insists, is intimate and personal communion with God. ... True knowledge of God ... stems from a journey of inner purification". This journey must pass through "profound penitence and sincere suffering for ones sins in order to achieve union with Christ, the source of joy and peace".

"This saintly Oriental monk reminds everyone to pay great attention to spiritual life. If, in fact, we are rightly concerned with tending to our physical, human and intellectual development, it is even more important not to overlook our inner development which consists in knowledge of God and communion with Him, so as to experience His help at all times and in all circumstances".

Symeon the New Theologian "had certain proof that the source of Christ's presence and action in a person's soul is love", said Benedict XVI. "The love of God grows within us if we remain united to Him through prayer and listening to His Word. Only divine love makes us open our hearts to others and renders us sensitive to their needs, bringing us to consider everyone as our brothers and sisters and inviting us to respond to hatred with love and to offence with forgiveness".

Recalling then how, as a young man, Symeon "found a spiritual director who helped him greatly and for whom he always maintained great respect", the Pope told his audience: "This remains valid even today, as everyone - priests, consecrated persons, lay people and especially the young - is invited to seek the counsel of a good spiritual father, one capable of accompanying each individual in a profound knowledge of self and leading him or her to intimate union with the Lord, that their lives may be increasingly moulded to the Gospel".

"To advance towards the Lord we always have need of a guide, of some form of dialogue; we cannot do it just with our own reflections. And finding this guide is part of the ecclesial nature of our faith".

Fr. Philippe on the Three Axes of Love

Continuing the Called to Life book series, I now turn to the author's treatment of love. The three axes of love are love of God, of neighbor, and of self. What is healthy self-love? It is "the grace to live in peace with one's self, consent to be what one is, with one's talents and limitations" (p. 69). Notice that such self-love produces humility, rather than pride. If one accepts one's unique talents and limitations, one does not need to compete by crushing or diminishing others or by obtaining constant self-affirmation by displaying oneself as somehow more intelligent or better than others. As St. Francis De Sales said, "Be who you are and be that well." Below are some other points from this part of Chapter 4:

1. Being at peace with oneself makes for peace with others: "Many conflicts with others are projections of conflicts with ourselves: I refuse to put up with the failings of others because I do not accept my own. If I am not at peace with myself, I make others pay for my unhappiness" (70). That is a good working definition of a personality disorder, of which there are plenty even among very outwardly pious and devout individuals, even clergy.

2. By loving others, we discover ourselves: "If one is unbending and hard toward others, one's own misery will shortly be disclosed, whereas one's forgetfulness of self in order to love others leads to self-discovery" (71). That is why some rigid, traditionalist types can never have their personalities healed.

3. To accept God's love for me, I must get rid of certain obstacles to healthy self-love: pride, perfectionism, and fear of rejection (71).

4. "Rejecting God leads to self-hatred" (71). I have seen cases where this may not be applicable, but I think that those are especially the cases of persons blessed with very good upbringings with parents who did not themselves reject God. Yet, the case remains that to experience the unconditional love of the Father is the "surest path" to self-acceptance and self-esteem, although some get there without believing in God (and, even in such cases, I believe that they do so by the grace of God, even if unaware of his role).

5. "The core of one's personality, the ground of that intimate security everyone needs, resides upon the dual certainty of being loved and being able to love. . . . Only God can guarantee this double certainty: only he loves us with an entirely unconditional love and only he assures us that, despite our limits, his grace can create in our hearts a true aptitude for loving, for being able to receive and being eager to give" (73). Only God can provide that certainty. Other humans cannot. This dual certainty makes our joy possible and makes it possible to give joy to others, even in the face of rejection and lack of gratitude.

On Cardinal O'Malley and the Kennedy Funeral

I read the Boston Cardinal's defense of his prominent participation in the funeral of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy at the fine Whispers in the Loggia blog at this link. By the way, if you want a, or rather additional (smiling and tongue in cheek) balanced, sane blog on Catholic events, that is a good one to visit. (I recommend avoiding many of the ritually obsessed, traditionalist blogs, especially to those blog readers who tend to scrupulosity.)

My three points about the Kennedy matter:

1. I do not believe there was any need for the Boston Cardinal's presence. It was unnecessary. In my opinion, he should not have gone out of his way to attend. I think that the same holds true for the former D.C. Cardinal-Archbishop Theodore McCarrick's presiding over the Kennedy burial at Arlington. It was just not needed and sent the wrong message at the worst possible time.

2. Having said that, I am certainly not in, or even close to, the throes of anger at either prelate. I just strongly disagree with their decisions to go out of their way to do what was neither necessary nor required.

3. But there is good that emerged. These lines from the Boston Cardinal's blog defending his actions struck me as very true and necessary and should probably be posted on the masthead of many right-leaning Catholic blogs and should be taken to heart by many pro-life activists:

At times, even in the Church, zeal can lead people to issue harsh judgments and impute the worst motives to one another. These attitudes and practices do irreparable damage to the communion of the Church. If any cause is motivated by judgment, anger or vindictiveness, it will be doomed to marginalization and failure.

Cardinal O'Malley, source link (emphasis added).

I, for one, do not feel harsh or angry toward either cardinal; and, of course, I do not impute any bad motives to either. I am sure they are far better men than I am. I am simply strongly convinced that they, more than likely, let the emotional, nostalgic sentimentality of celebrity-driven hoopla propel them to an imprudent and unnecessary level of participation in these very public rites. A simple statement of sympathy to the family would have sufficed without participation in either the funeral or the burial. But at least I got a good, useful, and wise quote out of the Boston Cardinal's blog.

True and False Responses

In Chapter 4 of Called to Life, Fr. Philippe turns to how to respond to the events and situations of life. The first point that he makes is that the true response is not ready-made prior to the existence of a particular situation. Life is, of course, full of surprises that we cannot even imagine. God may surprise us in a way that changes all our usual responses and assumptions. He usually gives us a hope and gifts, including courage and fortitude, that we never imagined, a fact that is proven by how many of our fears and anxieties ultimately prove to be baseless. Recall the prophet's words:

Isaiah 55:8-9 (RSV) "8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

How do we throw away our habitual responses and reach for the true and appropriate response to a new situation?

1. "[O]ne must know one's self and listen to others who often see things more clearly" (p. 64). And, of course, read the Word and pray, activities which are the ways that we begin to know ourselves better.

2. What are the wrong paths?

It may be one's habit to blame oneself for life's problems. Or to blame others. Or to think that one must be heroic in a way that God doesn't ask. A person may have a fear of weakness, believing that he or she must always be strong. Some of us are in denial; some are always taking flight. These are paths that lead to rigidity, worry, and tension.

Philippe, p. 64.

What are some examples of such false paths? An individual may not see, because of an inferiority complex or because of false humility, that the problem may lie in the dysfunction of others and not in oneself. Individuals who are too submissive to authority may always excuse abuses of authority in order to avoid confrontation or any painful conflicts. Or a person may feel that God is asking for sacrifice to the point of irrationality--God does not ask for what is impossible for us. Either it is naturally possible, or He grants the grace to make the task possible for us. Human beings need tangible love and affection, human beings need to be respected, human beings need to maintain their dignity and privacy. If such God-implanted needs are not being met by a situation or relationship, then it is time to change the situation or relationship in positive ways. God wants us to flourish, not to wither on the vine. His will is our flourishing. Others take flight when faced with the challenge of making big decisions and commitments. They keep running away, instead of facing reality. In effect, their lives never really begin at all because of the constant state of flight from decision and commitment, sometimes waiting for a dramatic private revelation that never comes in the form they stipulate but which may have already come in a quiet, nondramatic, and very natural way. Recall the small quiet voice heard by the prophet Elijah:

1 Kings 19:11-12 (RSV) 11 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

3. The difference that the Holy Spirit makes:

"The responses that come from the Spirit . . . . have the flavor of evangelical sweetness, of humility and peace, a note of simplicity and realism," not false, irrational heroism (64). Such responses "lead us out of our repetitious scenarios [such as fleeing commitment], and produce true changes" (64-65).

4. Fr. Philippe gives the example of St. Therese of Lisieux as a teenager, when, instead of bursting into tears at the exasperation of her father concerning her childish behavior, she responded to God's call in this situation and reacted with cheerfulness and boldness, instead of hypersensitivity (65). It is a small event in her life but with great ramifications for her future. We too react in repetitive ways to challenges, ways that do not lead to growth or flourishing. Too often, for example, we allow the opinions and expectations of others to determine our options and choices. By doing that, we are following the call of the crowd which really does not know us (and really does not care to know us) instead of the call of the God who knows us better than we know ourselves:

Psalm 139:1-6 (RSV) O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me! 2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar. 3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou dost beset me behind and before, and layest thy hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.