Loving enemies

There wouldn't seem to be too many ways you could correlate today's first reading (about a church collection!) with the Gospel on loving enemies. When I first read them for my meditation, it seemed to me that I needed to make a choice about which text to focus on. And I have to admit, I was also extremely distracted by an image I had seen last night on Facebook. (I have the kind of mind that never lets go of an image, so I am pretty careful about what crosses my retinas; last night I hit the "hide" button too late.) The item was one of those "old news" bits that always seems to be current news, dated by the last time someone posted or shared it. The actual news item was from December. It was authentic. (I had to check.)

Last December in Syria, a Christian man (a taxi-driver and soon-to-be father) was beheaded because his brother was overheard complaining that the rebels [the anti-Assad side, fractious as it is] were acting like bandits. For this, the complainer's brother was murdered and his body fed to dogs.

That, then, is what kept running through my mind as I read the first reading (St Paul's exhortation that the Corinthians follow the good example of the people in Philippi -- and ultimately of Christ himself) and the Gospel ("love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you....be perfect as the Heavenly Father").

Paul pointing to Christ's example.

According to my favorite Pauline scholar, Michael Gorman, the first reading contains, in nugget form, the heart of the Gospel as Paul preached it: "Being rich, Christ became poor for your sake, so that you might become rich by his poverty." You might be more familiar with the way he expressed the same pivotal reality in his letter to the generous Philippians (whom he was exhorting to a new kind of generosity): "Have among yourselves the same mind that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God...emptied himself and took the form of a slave." Paul wanted the Corinthians, and us, to model ourselves on that "form of God," the God who "makes his sun shine on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."

In the light of the atrocity I was exposed to (and how many that do not reach our ears or eyes?), this command is all the more timely. These are not vague, namby-pamby enemies we're talking about here; not petty injustices or subtle forms of social exclusion. These are "to the death" enemies; the very definition of the word "enemy". And Jesus tells us to "love them, pray for them"; empty yourself and take the form of a slave for them; die for them. Pope Francis is recalling each of us to this central Christian "ethos" which is both a mindset ("have this mind among you which is yours in Christ Jesus") and a way of life; a way of seeing as well as a way of behaving.

Jesus wants his followers to manifest God's indiscriminate goodness precisely in the situations that most mask and distort his presence; to transubstantiate the situation [this is our priesthood] and make it a place where, though "sin abounded, grace abounds all the more." That's just what happened on Calvary.

And "you know the gracious act of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

TOB Tuesday: John Paul II's "different" concept of human love

Getting into controversial terrain here by suggesting that a Pope offered a "different" vision than his forebears. What does Matthew Kuhner mean? And what is so "different" about John Paul's understanding of human love? What was that something "new" he offered the world in his Theology of the Body?

That Extra Mile

Even if St. Paul never read today's Gospel (the written text we have dates after Paul's own writings), he gives a clear example of how the early Christians followed Jesus' command to "turn the other cheek": "When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently" (1 Cor 4: 12-13).

Paul resisting a sarcastic response to
those senseless Galatians.

Yesterday I was reading the maxims of a Serbian Orthodox monk, the Elder Thaddeus. This wise man, steeped in the ancient traditions handed down from the Desert Fathers, observed that if Christians began to live these words of the Sermon on the Mount--starting with their own thoughts, replacing angry thoughts with charitable thoughts; vengeful thoughts with kind--we would undo the work of the Adversary, which is marked by anger and confusion.

For me, the lesson hit home when I stepped into St Peter's for Mass. A couple of the Friars tend to put their own fingerprints all over the liturgy, and it drives me nuts. Today's Gospel challenged me to lighten up. No, those exaggerations and idiosyncrasies do not belong in the liturgy (which is the work of the people), but my own irritation is not exactly godly, either. And if I can "bless...endure...respond gently" (in other words, go that extra mile in bearing the burden imposed on me by the celebrant), I am contributing something positive; being a peacemaker rather than cultivating aggravation in my own heart.

Turning the other cheek, going the extra mile: it starts with our own thoughts. This way of going the extra mile hardly characterizes Internet debate, but maybe it should. Can it start with us? Is this how we transform the world--or our own corner of it?

Happy Birthday to us!

Teresa Merlo would take the name
"Thecla" after Paul's premier
woman disciple.

98 years ago today, according to our community's oral tradition, 21-year-old Teresa Merlo met for a few minutes with seminary professor Father James Alberione (nicknamed "The Theologian") in the sacristy of the Church of Sts. Cosmos and Damien in Alba, Italy. Merlo's mother waited somewhat
anxiously in the nave.

Teresa had tried to enter religious life already, but the local communities didn't think she had the health. Did Alberione know of yet another order? Or did his tiny printing school need Teresa's expertise (and access to her fine sewing machine, a gift her parents had made upon her successful completion of the program in far-off Turin), to make clothing for the boy printers?

When Teresa reappeared, her mother wanted to know everything. What did The Theologian have to say? It turns out he had spoken of a new community of sisters, women who for now could only do piecework with their sewing needles, but who would one day run printing presses to spread the Gospel. They would live in community, and make the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And one day, they would be all over the world. He asked me to take part in this.

"Well?" Mother Merlo asked, prying at the bottom line.

"I said yes."

Years later (in 1950), Mother Thecla made her movie debut (second from
 left),  appearing as the prophetess Anna in the full-length motion picture,
 "Mater Dei." (This Pauline film was the first color film in Italy.)

From glory to glory in the Mass readings

Today's Mass readings work together in a pretty amazing way, even though they were not specifically intended to. In the first reading (2 Cor 3:15-4:1-3, 6), Paul uses an image from the book of Exodus to explain that, as magnificent as the Covenant of Sinai was, it can't compare to the glory that Jesus ushered in. In the Gospel, Jesus refers back to the prescriptions of the Sinai Law, too. In the Sermon on the Mount, he tells his followers that they have to go beyond the basic demands of the Law ("You shall not kill") to an even more godlike way of living ("whoever is angry with his brother...is liable to judgment").

Both Jesus and Paul hint that the "new" was already present in the "old"; all they are doing is "taking away the veil" so we can see clearly what God had in mind all along. We're moving, Paul says, "from one degree of glory to another."

Book reports

In the interest of summer reading (and summer readers), here are some recent Pauline titles that seem worth highlighting:

The Locket's Secret: great for girls! At least this blogging Mama thinks so... (click on the image and you'll find a link where you can sample the first chapter).

For children who need to turn in book reports when school starts up again, our Encounter the Saints series has had a few new additions (editions) this year. These are novelized lives of saints and meet the usual criteria for chapter book--plus there are enough of them in the series to keep kids in reading matter all summer log!

For Dads: Man to Man, Dad to Dad: Catholic Faith and Fatherhood is a great gift for a new father.  The editor (Brian Caulfield, editor of the Knights of Columbus' "Fathers for Good" website) gathered the insights of 12 other dads on issues related to marriage, sexuality, theology of the body (yes!), the meaning of manhood, the role of discipline, the place of sports, the disastrous effect of porn. It really is "man to man."

Read more from the USCCB "For your Marriage" website and on Stuart Dunn's blog (he gives it 5 stars).

He and I is a spiritual classic, now available in a one-volume edition (as well as in e-book). At age 62, this French nurse and playwright began to recognize the voice of Jesus in her heart, and for almost fifteen years she kept a journal of those conversations with the Lord. What is noteworthy about these intimate colloquys is that they were not about noteworthy matters, but about the most ordinary aspects of Gabrielle's life and experience. (One passage I read 20 years ago that still has an impact on me concerned grace before meals.) You can find some reviews of the older edition on GoodReads as well as on Amazon.com (where a number of the reviewers say something to the effect of "life-changing").

Coming SOON (not soon enough for summer reading, but you can order now and get a special discount), is a new series for young readers, Gospel Time Trekkers, about three contemporary children transported right into key events in the New Testament. (This series is the labor of love of our Sister Maria Grace.)

Death with (real) Dignity

The culture of death just keeps 'em coming! A friend of mine in New Jersey posted this on FB:

NJ Democratic Legislature set to vote on Physician Assisted Suicide: Despite the fact that suicide or assisting in it is illegal in NJ, A-3328 -- a bill authorizing assisted suicide -- has been released by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee. S-2259, an identical bill, has been referred to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Services Committee. These bills would allow a person who has a "terminal disease" to request a prescription from a physician for lethal drugs that would end their life. "Terminal disease" is defined as "an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in a patient's death." The New Jersey Catholic Conference invites us to oppose A-3328/S-2259.

About two weeks ago,  the Wall Street Journal had published an opinion piece on the recently enacted Vermont law, "passed by the state legislature...without consulting the electorate." The author of the piece is the former psychiatrist in chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital, responding to the most popular arguments in favor of assisted suicide. Noting the consistent appeal to "death with dignity," he hits the nail on the head when he observes, "Surely, what we want is 'life with dignity.' "

In regard to patients with painful cancers, "suicide is mentioned only by those patients with serious but treatable depressive illness, or by those who are overwhelmed by confusion about matters such as their burden on loved ones and their therapeutic options. These patients are relieved when their doctors attend to the sources of their psychological distress and correct them." It is precisely this kind of listening to the patient's needs that gets bypassed once assisted suicide is on the books. In Oregon "the law does not demand a psychiatric assessment before they take the fatal step. Yet all efforts by psychiatrists anxious to read the medical charts of these patients after their deaths have been thwarted by the champions of their suicides, who have shrouded the patients' mental states in secrecy by raising the 'privacy privilege.' I believe that these doctors are killing patients of the sort that I help every day."

Read the whole thing here, and share it on your social networks.

TOB Tuesday: Comedy Central Meets TOB

Last week's Washington Post featured an interview piece about comedian Jim Gaffigan. In time for Father's Day, the Catholic comic (father of five and author of Dad Is Fat) offers this beautiful "TOB-from-a-Dad's-perspective" on family life (every reporter finds a way to ask him about those five kids):

Well, why not? I guess the reasons against having more children always seemed uninspiring and superficial. What exactly am I missing out on? Money? A few more hours of sleep? A more peaceful meal? More hair? These are nothing compared to what I get from these five monsters who rule my life … each one of them has been a pump of light into my shriveled black heart.

Read the rest here!

Blessed are the meek...

A little something I read last night, by Blessed Alberione. It goes well with today's Gospel of the Beatitudes!

"Humility and faith are the two elements that essentially constitute prayer, the two feet on which prayer stands. The proud person does not pray well; a proud person does not think of his needs; is not convinced of being needy. The humble person is like the Blessed Virgin, omnipotent. It is a "pleading omnipotence," prayerful. Those who are truly humble are powerful, because their admitted weakness makes them powerful with the heart of God. And this God will bend down and will raise them up and make their life bear fruit."

New!

In view of my upcoming trip to Rome, I received the gift of a new tool for our mission: a light-field camera, which I hope to make very good use of. Once I learn how to use it, that is! Here is the first photo I took with it. (Click into the image to change the focus.) Tomorrow, God willing (and weather permitting), I will take it to Millennium Park for a real first test.

The relic of Blessed James which Sr Helena is holding came my way in 2003 or 2004, shortly after his beatification (which I attended). At the time, our two screenwriting nuns (Sr Helena and Sr Marie Paul) had major projects that they had asked me to pray for, so I put it on Father Alberione's to-do list, where it remains. After all, we have a ways to go before the cinema apostolate is on its feet!

I think Alberione is delighted at having a first-hand role in introducing a new form of technology into the Pauline mission! One of the women just accepted into our postulancy is a fine-arts photographer; I am sure she will have many ideas about how to communicate the Gospel visually with this new kind of camera.

Final Vows for Sr Maria Kim

Our Sister Maria Kim returned last week from almost a year in Italy where she was in a program with 30+ other young sisters from around the world who were preparing to make their final vows (we usually say "perpetual profession"). Sister Maria Kim's perpetual profession will be held in her home parish in Tempe, AZ, but she won't be the only Daughter of St. Paul present--not by a long shot! Sister Helena from here in Chicago is also part of the team. In fact, Our Lady of Mt Carmel parish will be hosting a week of evangelizing activity in the days leading up to June 30, when Sister Maria Kim will make those vows of chastity, poverty and obedience "for all my life."

Sister Helena will be offering some Theology of the Body presentations for different groups (different talks geared toward men, women and families); sisters will be available to visit the homes to pray with the families; there will be a special book table where people can sponsor books for others. Every day there will be talks offered on different aspects of spirituality. Plus there will be a discernment retreat for young adult women, a Saturday morning retreat for parishioners, and an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration for the whole parish to round everything out! It's also nice that the two postulants who will be entering novitiate in a few months will also be able to participate in everything, getting a look ahead at the life they are starting out on.

If you are in the Tempe area, please share this information widely! If you know a young woman (14-30) who might "make a good nun," let her know about the June 29-30 discernment retreat. Speaking of vocations, there will be a film crew on hand from SpiritJuice Studios (the same group we are working with for the documentary on our Founder). They'll get everything on camera and then (with the grace of God) put out a short vocation-oriented video that can help other young women like Sister Maria Kim recognize if God is calling them to the Pauline life. We just started an online fundraiser for this project; if we get in $500/day from now until Sister Maria Kim's vow day, we can cover the cost of filming everything. Take a look at the "perks" for the different donation levels! They were mostly my idea. Sister Frances' came up with the sweetest one.

You can also download and print the whole program flyer!

Dispelling the Myth of the Dark Ages

According to Professo Esolen, if the "Dark Ages" are dark to us, it's because we forgot to turn the lights on from our side. Those centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire were actually brilliant. Here are the highlights, in 5 fascinating minutes.

TOB Tuesday: My Body is Me, and it matters

For TOB Tuesday, another video from a student at the John Paul II Institute for Studies of Marriage and the Family. This one has the provocative title "Who I do in My Body Matters."