Hello, Goodbye

We got the news yesterday.
Not even 24 hours after our novice, Sr Emily, made her first vows and began her life of consecration, Sr. Annette fulfilled her vows and her consecrated life. She was 55.
Reflecting on this turn of events, I almost sense a certain poignancy even in the heart of Christ as he called our sister from this life. After all, from now on not even he would hear her prayers and praise and hope coming to him from the earth, from the limits of time. He would no longer be able (as he once remarked to Teresa of Avila, when she was moaning about how long this life seemed to endure when all she wanted was to go to heaven) to live the ordinary human experience of her life: the eating and sleeping and working and conversing--all things that the Lord delights in sharing with us day by day so that it is no longer we who life (or eat or sleep or work or converse) but Jesus living in us. Once our bodies can no longer offer that hospitality to Christ, he offers us the divine hospitality of heaven.
Sr Annette kept a copy of Renoir's "The Promenade" in her infirmary room, and would nod in its direction as a sign of her hope that the Lord would come in a similar way to call her apart for himself. And so he did.

Vow Day (Passing the torch)

Today is one of those days when I most feel not being at the motherhouse: one of our novices is making her first vows, lighting the lamp she hopes to be holding when the Bridegroom comes at last. And not far from the chapel where the vow ceremony is going on, another sister has her lamp trimmed and ready, though she herself is beginning to flicker like a candle. We don't know how much longer she will be with us--at fifty-five, she would have been expected to continue keeping that lamp burning two or more decades yet. But not even death puts an end to community (or to the mission!). Before I left Boston in December, I paid a visit to the infirmary to say good bye (and to give Sister a heads-up as to all the work I would be sending her way once she arrived at her eternal destination). She knows she will be kept busy during her "eternal rest."
So it is a time of special grace for our community, this passing of the torch of consecration from one generation to the next (the novice is young enough to be a daughter to the sister who is dying!).
Please pray for both of these sisters in a very special way, as well as for their families, who are experiencing such very different feelings as, for each one, a beloved sister is taking leave so definitively.

TOB camp for teens!

So glad someone is doing this: An immersion experience for high school juniors-seniors and new grads: TOB teaching integrated with teen spirituality (and loads of fun). Even better, it's in Louisiana!

For more info: facebook.com/dumboxproductions

Bonhoeffer responds to the HHS mandate

From his essay "The Visible Community":

The limits and claims of the secular calling are fixed by our membership of the visible Church of Christ, and these limits are reached when the space which the body of Christ claims and occupies in the world for its worship, its offices and the civic life of its members clashes with the world's claim for space for its own activities. 

We shall at once know when the limit has been reached, for every member of the Church will then be obliged to make a public confession of Christ, and the world will be forced to react, either by calculated restraint or open violence. Now the Christian must suffer openly. Hitherto, since the day he had died with Christ in baptism, his suffering had been in secret. Now he is openly ejected from the secular calling and enters upon a visible participation in the passion of his Lord. Now he needs more than ever all the fellowship and brotherly help the Church can give. ... 

 

The older the world grows, the more heated becomes the conflict between Christ and Antichrist, and the more thorough the efforts of the world to get rid of the Christians. 

Until now the world had always granted them a lodging-place, by allowing them to work for their own food and clothing. But a world that has become 100% anti-Christian cannot allow them even this private sphere of work for their daily bread. The Christians are now forced to deny their Lord for every crumb of bread they need. Either they must flee from the world, or go to prison; there is no other alternative. 

When the Christian community has been deprived of its last bit of space on the earth, the end will be near.

Light from Heaven

We usually conclude our evening prayer with a reading from our "Pauline calendar" for the following day: a thought from the Founder, a listing of any foundation anniversaries on that day, and a prayer for the deceased members of the Pauline Family (we actually have the names of each person listed on their anniversary of death). The feasts of St. Paul are almost always marked by an enormous list of foundations. Even here in Chicago, the first Mass celebrated in our community chapel was held on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul in 1980. (I was here for the occasion! A few of us drove over from St. Louis to help get things in order.)

The Feast of the Conversion is always a good reminder of how God can surprise us with a greater truth than we had been cherishing, and call us back to the right path when we thought we were already on it. Paul's conversion was that kind. Not a change-of-religion conversion, but a the-religion-you-believe-in-is-bigger-than-you-think conversion; even though at first there was the intellectual component to it, the information that "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the real point of that meeting on the road to Damascus was to win Paul's heart. As zealous as he was for "the Law," his ardor became love for a person, Jesus, and for every other person whom he now would see as a "brother for whom Christ died."

That conversion is probably the most urgent grace to ask for every member of the Church in these very challenging times.

Silence!

Every year, one of the Vatican's "World Day" observances comes and goes without making much of a stir. I suspect that is mostly a matter of timing, since the observance usually falls around the same time as graduations, Memorial Day and the beginning of summer vacation. This year, it may pass by even more quietly. That is because this year's theme for "World Communications Day" is precisely silence.

For years, the theme has been announced on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists (even though the event is generally held a week before Pentecost) to accommodate print journalists, especially for monthly publications. Now media cycles are so short, we get the news in January and have to burrow through our files to find it again in May! I suppose it would be better if we began to keep the message a little more in mind all the way through...

Here's the counterintuitive message about the vital place of silence in the mystery of communication:

2012
Silence and Word: path of evangelization.

The extraordinarily varied nature of the contribution of modern communications to society highlights the need for a value which, on first consideration, might seem to stand in contra-distinction to it. Silence, in fact, is the central theme for the next World Communications Day Message: Silence and Word: path of evangelization.

In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelization.

It is clearly the desire of the Holy Father to associate the theme of the next World Communications Day with the celebration of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops which will have as its own theme: The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.

The News You Won't See (updated)

So today is the March for Life in Washington. Probably the evening news will feature a small group of counter-protesters while behind them a massive crowd will continue moving through the street, all but ignored. That's the usual way it goes. Of course, there will be a handful of real loonies with their bizarre or hateful slogans who might be singled out of the crowd to represent the whole.
Outside of Washington, where the pro-lifers are doing the extreme penance of facing the elements, all Catholics are called to make this a day of prayer and of penance: prayer that every human life will be reverenced and protected, and penance for the violations of human life through abortion, neglect, abuse, euthanasia, and every other way the worth of each and every person is violated, ignored or threatened. I think all this is harder than it seems because society has become so fixated on the individual in isolation that we hesitate to get involved in another person's need or offer them alternatives when they are making a serious decision of any kind. We can pull back, thinking "Who am I to butt in like this?" or we might be honestly aware that getting involved means getting committed, and we're just not ready or able to carry through.
Here in Chicago, Father Joe at Assumption wrote a helpful presentation about what it means to be pro-life.  One thing he mentioned that I'd like to underline is that here in the US there are more than 2300 pro-life "safe houses" where women can find a place to life, social services,  parenthood and job training during pregnancy and in the first months after their child's birth. I read a few months ago that the leading cause of death among pregnant women is murder: does that mean that pregnant women "need" access to abortion, or that they need help in dealing with unhealthy relationships and domestic violence? Contrary to the slogans about women "needing" abortion when they are homeless or facing a health-challenged child, what those women (and their partners) need is a helping hand. More safe houses and services are needed, but it is contrary to truth (and an injustice in itself) to say that pro-lifers only care about the child, but dismiss the mother.
There is still more to be done; no reason for anyone to sit at home, satisfied that that carrying a sign in a march is sufficient to save a life. Today the Archdiocese of New York announced the formation of a new support network for parents whose unborn babies have been diagnosed with severe health problems. Women considering adoption need particular support for the difficulties they will face along that heroic route.
But even more than these last-minute issues when a woman's life and choices have already led her into the area of an unexpected and unprovided-for pregnancy, we need to redouble our efforts in helping men and women appreciate the unique gifts of marriage and why the intimate expression of love that leads to new life deserves to be limited to that lifelong relationship of mutual self-gift. The Church takes a lot of hits over her insistence that the marriage of one man and one woman is not just the only ideal situation for raising children, it is the most protective of women (this is borne out by many independent studies).
We could probably all start to contribute to this change of values by developing a spirituality that recognizes and appreciates having "enough" even when "enough" is not "everything that would be convenient or appealing."

Here's a picture of what you didn't see:

One Lent, One Book?

I know it feels like you just picked the last Christmas tree needles from your carpet, but with Ash Wednesday one month from yesterday, it really is time to look ahead to Lent. That anticipated preparation can help ensure that the season will be a time of transformation, and not just sporadic acts of self-discipline. Lent is not just for sacrifices, of course. It is ideal for that all-round spiritual growth that comes from spending quality time in spiritual reading, which Dorothy Day called "the oil that keeps the lamps burning."

You might consider choosing one really significant book for the whole of Lent, or take the challenge of a more intense spiritual program of a book a week. (The latter sounds almost too much, but it depends on the books you choose; if you have trouble concentrating, it may actually be the more do-able!)
So, what would I recommend?

For "One Lent/One Book," you want something with real substance, something that has the power to hold your attention on several levels at once; the kind of book that you can ruminate on. My "go to" book of this sort is Hans Urs von Balthasar's amazing "Heart of the World." It's an extended meditation on the Paschal Mystery (and so eminently suitable for Lent and for the Easter Octave and beyond). The translation is sheer poetry, but above all it is the perspective that is so awe-inspiring. The point of view seems to switch between divine omniscience and an utterly, brutally honest human take that makes the awefulness of sin that much plainer. It's a book you will never want to put down; even more, you will never want to lose track of the insights it gave you.

Now, if you didn't read it last year, Pope Benedict's "Jesus of Nazareth" (vol. 2 on Holy Week and Easter) is always an option if you are up for some seriously reflective reading; on the more conversational side (something you can take in with your morning coffee), Fr. Barron's "Catholicism" would be a good way to brush up on your overall Catholic awareness. (I'd recommend this one especially if you didn't get much in the way of solid Catholic instruction growing up.)

Back in the patristic era, Lent was not just a time of preparation for Baptism; it was also a season of public penance for those whose sins had cut them off in an external way from the life of the Church. If we get ashes ourselves, it is because those public sinners accepted being marked with ashes as an outward sign that they were committed to renewing their lives: instead of just marking out the "public" sinners, the Church eventually offered everyone that sense of "solidarity." After all (as von Balthasar pointed out in "Heart of the World"), "if there is a communion of saints, there is also a communion of sinners." So Lent can be an occasion to get to know the Church better in its members. I always appreciate a good biography. If you do, too, you might choose a biography of a convert to the faith (I'm thinking maybe Dorothy Day or Abby Johnson), or one who made the essential Lenten journey from tepidity to discipleship (even someone like Teresa of Avila). Whom else might be a good Lenten companion?


You could also go with the book I am currently reading (ever so slowly), about which I have written before. I am now on page 10. This little book, under 90 pages, may yet last me through the whole of Lent. It's that packed. Lots to reflect on and apply to life here, with great potential for spiritual transformation. And isn't that one of the goals of Lent?


And then there's the old standby approach: a book of daily reflections for the season. Here's one I contributed to (try a sample).  Each day's reflection is matched to one verse of the Gospel for the day, so you are praying in sync with the whole Church. That's sure in the spirit of Lent, when the "elect" are preparing to be brought fully in sync with the Church's life and prayer! (Come to think of it, that would make this a great pre-baptismal gift for an adult in RCIA!) You can also go with something pocket-sized, ideal for commuters (or for those who just don't have the time available for a 15-minute meditation).

Those are my suggestions for One Lent, One Book. What about your ideas for a (lighter) book a week for the six and a half weeks between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?

Minority Report: Catholics in Society (updated)

This year, the US bishops are taking turns (region by region) to visit the Pope. This is more than just a coffee clatch with guys in skullcaps: the bishops bring detailed reports (to the Holy Father and to the various Vatican offices) with statistics about the general population in their diocesan area, the Catholic population, numbers of parishes, priests, baptisms, Catholic weddings, etc. They share with the Holy Father their biggest concerns, their plans, their reasons for hope. While the local bishop is presenting his perspective, though, the Pope is hearing that in the context of the picture given him by bishops from very different territories. This allows the Pope to get a sense, from the ground up, of the whole Catholic picture around the world.
So when the Pope reflects back, in his talks to the bishops (as well as in those messages "to the city and the world" on Christmas and Easter), he is able to give more of the "big picture" than any one bishop or bishops' conference could come up with.
Just yesterday, in speaking with the bishops from the mid-Atlantic region, the Pope told them that, in view of the serious threats to religious freedom in the United States, the pastoral priority had to be on lay Catholics' being better instructed in the faith and in its implications for society, and empowered to witness to it in the public square.
The challenge here is for Catholics to "come out of the closet" of limiting their religious expression to a matter of where they go to worship on Sunday. It means being unafraid and unintimidated by accusations that they are "forcing their beliefs" on others.  In one sense, our democratic traditions tend to pressure minorities to surrender before the power of numbers, but even a minority has the right to proclaim what it holds as unfailingly true. And even though Catholics are a substantial percentage of the US population (as are fallen-away or alienated Catholics), it can be hard to recognize them in a society with such homogenizing tendencies as our consumer culture.
How can ordinary Catholics begin to awaken to the need to bring society into conformity with the whole truth about the human person?

Read the Pope's full talk here. 

Afternoon update:
In case you thought this was "yesterday's news," today's brings us back to the Health and Human Services mandate that requires employers to provide full medical insurance coverage for contraception, sterilizations and other morally repugnant services. This mandate acknowledges only the slimmest "religious exemption," one which basically only covers parish-level ministry personnel. The White House has offered Catholic institutions a generous extension of one year to get with the program. Cardinal-designate Dolan summed up the administration's position: "In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences."
Here's the rest of the story; here's the official statement from the US Bishops (confirming the Pope's observation yesterday of "grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism "); here's Cardinal-designate Dolan speaking as head of the US bishops:

Archbishop Timothy Dolan on HHS Conscience Regulation from Rocco Palmo on Vimeo.

Jesus without Religion?

The social media phenomena of the week has been a YouTube by an ardent, but poorly instructed (and biblically illiterate) young adult fundamentalist. His rap video, which is technically superb, hit such a nerve that it has been viewed almost 20,000,000 times, hitting the top of even YouTube's charts. But his belief that an individual can have a complete relationship with Jesus while avoiding the limitations and commitment of a "religion" (especially since many of his negative references to "religion" are clearly directed to the Catholic Church) led to a proliferation of rebuttals, usually in rap form, some of them also very well done.
Here's an example, put out by Spirit Juice Studios, the Chicago team that is working on our documentary project:

Naturally, it would be great if you could "like" or "+1" this video to give it higher relief, and help the fuller picture of Jesus and religion get some attention!

The Land of the Lost (Comments)

Well, I made the mistake of attempting to clean up the spammy comments in my folder here on Blogger while battling a headache. What happened was that I deleted the actual, published and most valid comments of the past month or two, instead of the several dozen "unmoderated comments" I intended to tackle.
Please don't take it personally, unless you are that spammer!

Praying with the Psalms

Maybe it's because we still have Christmas decorations up in the convent (Sr Helena got this great idea about following the Polish tradition and keeping them up until Feb. 2*), but as I have been reflecting on the daily readings, it is still with the image of the child Jesus in my mind.
That led me to a particularly beautiful appreciation of a Psalm I never really appreciated much before. Psalm 89 is David recounting the Lord's promise of a dynasty. (Some contemporary scholars say that the Psalm was a way the later kings had of enforcing their political decisions: "Hey, it was the Lord who said 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm'.") But there is a line in Psalm 89 in which God himself imagines David's future, glorious descendant praying, "You are my Father, my God, the rock, my Savior." That verse was part of the Responsorial Psalm on Tuesday, and since then, I just keep going back to it, "witnessing" the first time the child Jesus heard those words from the Scripture and realized that they precisely expressed his own inner life, "listening" to him saying them that first time and repeating them throughout his life, even to Gethsemane.
Can you imagine "the joy before the angels of God" when those inspired words first rose up to heaven from the Incarnate Word? What blessings have we on earth received because Jesus spoke those words of his ancestor David, and what blessings do we unleash when we make those confident words of prayer and praise our own?
You are my Father, my God, the rock, my Savior!



*Thanks be to God, she decided yesterday that the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time is good enough, so we are dismantling things bit by bit now!

What's wrong with SOPA? Should Catholics care?

You've seen the headlines, and probably wondered first off what SOPA meant and then once you found out it referred to a proposed law (the "Stop Online Piracy Act") wondered who could possibly object to such a goal. I found a helpful interpretation, from the standpoint of a Church musician who helps maintain a site devoted to Gregorian Chant (emphasis added):

The proposed legislation... would effectively end free information flows on the web. The sharing of content has been the key to the renaissance of sacred music in our time. ...
....There are always deep pockets ready to make a claim of ownership, whether true or not and however ambiguous the claims*. The legal tangles and possible penalties alone would have been enough to keep the entire [chant] library off line.

As an example (though not specifically about the Internet), I remember reading about a little T-shirt shop in New Orleans whose owner created a design reading "WHO DAT?" when the Saints were headed to the Super Bowl. She got a big scary "cease and desist" letter from the NFL, claiming ownership of the phrase (which my 80+ year old mother remembers as a cheer from high school sports when she was a student). No T-shirt shop owner is going to succeed in fighting the NFL. The woman took a loss on the shirts she had created. The NFL won, even though they had no real right to the phrase in question.

That's what SOPA wants to extend to the Internet. I can imagine my own blog being run through a series of algorithms that would reveal that 96% of my expressions are really not original, and that there is a copyright owner out there somewhere who said it first... leading up to a big, fat "Cease and Desist" order on Nunblog. Scary.

SOPA and its Senate twin, PIPA (Protect IP Act) seem to be ham-fisted approaches to protecting intellectual property. It's a noble goal (hey, my community runs a publishing house!), but there is too much not to like about the way that goal would be achieved. Jeffrey Tucker's point (quoted above) convinces me that the same behemoth organizations that crafted the bills would be given the virtual run of the Internet, since they are the only ones who have the funding to pursue any and every potential infraction and pretty much stifling open communication.

Let's find a better way to stop Internet piracy.