Black Friday and...where am I?

I was up before dawn on this Black Friday, but unlike many of the people I saw on State Street this morning, I was not hunting for bargains, but on my way to Mass. the 6:15 a.m. Mass at St. Peter's was a little more sparsely attended than usual (the business workers are most likely taking a long holiday weekend). Even the downtown stores were not as busy as I would have expected--though I passed a couple of people (yes, at 6:00 in the morning) walking away with enormous shopping bags from two of the State Street stores. (Here's a free tip from Nunblogger: If, after reading this blog post, you still want to go all Black Friday next year, and you live in the Chicago area, arrange to shop downtown. The people who can afford to live here are not exactly crowding the stores, so you'll have very little competition.)

Now I have to say, I like a bargain as much as the next person. I do a lot of the shopping for my community, and sometmes, if I get an expecially good price for things, I have to hold it up for the community to admire while I tell them the whole story. And sometimes, yes, I do a little victory dance. But with our lifestyle, Black Friday is completely meaningless (not to say useless!) to us.

One of the first things I notieced in Pope Francis' new document was his diagnosis of the "desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart"--a frutt, he indicates, of consumerism. It struck me that there is something about the frenzied aspects of Black Friday that make it, in a way, the poor man's version of King for a Day. Maybe on a day to day level, people can't imagine making any of those big purchaees, but on Black Friday, everything is in reach. Black Friday says you can keep putting your trust in getting, gaining, owning.

Tomorrow evening we begin Advent. (Here in New York for the beginning of our concert season, we singers say we are in our "Advent community.")  Pope Francis has basically assiogned all of us our spiritual reading for the season--something guaranteed to challenge every Catholic in some way. But that's the great call of Advent! "Repent" is meant for all of us. And it can begin (why not?) on Black Friday.

Taking that survey? Deadlines loom!

A few weeks ago, Pope Francis surprised pretty much everybody when he announced an "Extraordinary" synod of bishops, to discuss proclaiming the Gospel effectively in the face of all the challenges facing family life. In view of this, the Vatican drew up a kind of survey instrument which is impressive for the high level of familiarity with Church documents and language. Really, this "survey" is not a survey at all, but a way for the bishops themselves to organize the information the synod will need to do its work.

In Boston, Harrisburg, and other dioceses, the priests or council will take it up. But many of the bishops are inviting the faithful to respond to it, too, and soon. In Salt Lake City, the questionnaire is being handed out at Mass (great idea!).

In some dioceses, the survey was digitized, so it can be answered online. As easy as that makes things, it also opens the door to agenda-driven "survey spam." I think the Archdiocese of Chicago is pursuing a good road, even if it puts a couple of extra steps in the way. The Vatican survey/questionnaire is available online, but needs to be downloaded to be responded to (and then mailed or emailed in).  Cardinal George has pledged to read each and every response. (Personally, I think that is heroic.) The Harrisburg (PA) diocese very helpfully included a link to the Synod "Preparatory Document," to be read before any  questions are tackled.  (Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a list of links to diocese's official survey sites.) The bishops' input is due in Washington (USCCB headquarters) by the end of the year, so there's not much time for you to have your say.


There are also a few agenda-driven groups that are circulating "surveys" of their own. Since those who wish to be heard should also be willing to listen, I would suggest that informed Catholics also respond to these, aware that even the phrasing of the questions is extremely "leading" in the direction of the radical change these groups would like to see imposed:

• Here's one, by a consortium of organizations
• Another organization was really quick to put this together
• And yet another one, co-sponsored by about 10 different organizations

Here are some of the official US diocesan survey sites that I am aware of; please add others in the comments. (Dioceses and Bishops Conferences only! I will verify them all before posting the comment.)


Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Archdiocese of Baltimore
Archdiocese of Chicago  (download and mail/email in)
Archdiocese of New Orleans (download and mail/email in)
Archdiocese of Cincinnati (Deadline: Dec. 2)
Archdiocese of Kansas City
Diocese of Austin (Deadline: Dec. 9)
Diocese of Charlotte
Diocese of Juneau

Diocese of Davenport (Deadline: Dec. 1)
Diocese of St. Petersburg
Diocese of Harrisburg
Diocese of Scranton
Diocese of Oakland
Diocese of Rapid City
Diocese of Sioux City
Diocese of Raleigh
Diocese of Grand Rapids (Deadline: Dec. 13)
Diocese of Pittsburgh (Deadline: Dec. 6)
Diocese of Charleston (Deadline: Dec. 16; offers an "express" version)
Diocese of Tucson (Deadline passed; was Nov. 24)

Blessed James Alberione and "The Joy of the Gospel"

How fitting it is that on this feast of Blessed James Alberione, founder of the worldwide evangelizing network known as the Pauline Family, we receive Pope Francis' new document, "The Joy of the Gospel"! The document is the Pope's way of concluding the last Synod of Bishops (o the New Evangelization); is it also the first stage of the next assembly--the Extraordinary Synod on proclaiming the Gospel in the face of extreme challenges facing family life today?

When Father James Alberione was beatified (2003), the Paulines received this message* from then-Cardinal Bergoglio, who was well acquainted with the Paulines of Argentina:

"When I returned from Rome I joyfully received your note telling me that you were celebrating the
beatification of Father James Alberione, founder of the Pauline Family, that will take place on the 27th of this month. I warmly thank you for your kindness and I unite myself with all my heart to this significant ecclesial event. As I already told you in the audience that we had, now we count on a new model and intercessor of singular virtues who has contributed so much to announcing the Gospel with the means of communication. I avail myself on this occasion to thank you and all the members of Blessed Alberione family, for the efficient and dedicated pastoral work that you do for the good of the Church, particularly in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, Argentina."

*Translated from Spanish by Sr. Mary Stephen and Sr. Mary Thecla

Jesus Maccabaeus

Given that next Thursday is the 25th day of the month Chislev, and therefore the first day of Hanukkah,   it is interesting that today's readings focus on the rededication of the Temple.

One is the origin of Hanukkah, the reconsecration of the Temple after it was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes and his henchmen around 150 BC. The Responsorial Psalm (which isn't even from the Book of Psalms!) hearkens  back to the time before the first Temple had even been built: it is David's prayer in anticipation of the consecration of the Temple that his son Solomon would build.  (It'sworth reading the whole chapter from 1 Chronicles.)

And then in the Gospel, Jesus claims his full right of sovereignty over the Temple and casts out yet another "abomination" that had taken root in its precincts. He drives out the vendors and reclaims the entire sacred space as "a house of prayer."

I couldn't help but see Pope Francis as fulfilling this same role, albeit in a less dramatic way. He was chosen by his brother Cardinals for a work of reform, and every day he is teaching the people who are "hanging on his words" to such an extent that his is the highest ranking name in Google Search.

And lately, Pope Francis has been rather explicit about the need for each of us to "reconsecrate" the Temples that we are. That's right: Pope Francis is in the midst of a campaign for confession. He made the wry observation that people who want to bypass the sacramental confession to a priest in favor of a direct confession to God might as well confess by e-mail. He's talked about what to confess, how to confess, why to confess, how often he goes to confession.

My "liturgy haiku" of the day takes up the theme:

Cast out the vendors

restore this place to glory

as a house of prayer.

...from whom men hide their faces

Preaching the Gospel with his life. Image from News.va.

It happened again yesterday. Another man "with a disfigured face" was graciously met and embraced by the Holy Father. Honestly, I could not look at the photographs. It is just too painful even to see a degree of suffering that would deprive a person of his human features. The line from Isaiah's Suffering Servant canticles (Is 53:3) kept coming to mind: these are people "from whom men hide their faces." In biblical Greek, the words translated "person" and "face" are the same: prosopon. And Pope Francis is able to look (not stare, not look once then turn away) and see the person, even when the face itself has been taken over by wounds and scars and tumors.

There is something about all this that powerfully illustrates the ministry of Jesus; I see him, besieged by throngs in pain. But he doesn't see a sea of pain, or distorted limbs, or frenzied, depersonalized souls. He sees people, one by one; gives himself to them, one by one. Calls them each by name. Even the ones that the society of his time considered beyond the pale. Aren't people like Vinicio Riva precisely the ones whose lives would not be considered worth living? He himself experienced a lifetime of ridicule and rejection--which made the Pope's cordial and unforced welcome all the more impressive. Pope Francis is illustrating that every human person has an innate dignity that has nothing to do with health or status or condition. There have been some Catholics for whom Pope Francis is not "pro-life" enough. I think they may need to look again.

...defend us in the battle

Did you have the experience I had in high school (or maybe my first year of college) of being on the receiving end of this particular challenge: "You Catholics! If the Pope said that from now on white was black, you'd have to believe him!"

It was such an odd accusation, and so far from any semblance of reality (St Ignatius proposed just this sort of thing to himself as an extreme case*), I didn't know how to respond. What were Catholics being accused of, if not a form of relativism? The very scenario presumes that there is an objective truth that cannot reasonably be overturned, not even by the highest possible authority. Not even the Pope can redefine "white" to mean "black." It's almost diabolical to suggest otherwise.

St Michael; fresco from the Church of St. Francis, Arezzo, Italy

Yes.

So in the state capitol today, one very brave bishop is going head to head against the devil who has convinced a great many people that not just colors, but pivotal human realities can be redefined. It looks like overkill, I know. Many people will think that Bishop Paprocki is just being mean-spirited.

But what if there's something else going on? Something that most of us just don't have access to?

For years now, Sister Helena has been going around the country teaching the Theology of the Body, the spirituality behind the Church's teaching that being created "in the image of God, male and female" is a fundamental supernatural reality. In our human bodies, Pope John Paul said, we manifest the Trinity within material creation itself. Not even the angels image God by their nature, just these lowly creatures made of the dust of the earth. Well, every time that Sister Helena went to Springfield to offer her workshops and retreats on this topic, she came back with...stories. Weird things went wrong, one after the other. Usually the people who invited her were pretty blithe about it. "Oh, we get this spiritual warfare stuff all the time here," they would tell her. "Sorry we forgot to tell you ahead of time."

This being Illinois, today's redefinition of marriage is only one little bitty part of the spiritual warfare picture. The Father of Lies has a very comfortable seat here. Four of the state's last seven governors have been convicted and imprisoned for offenses related to corruption. The rights of same-sex couples even trumped the welfare of children a few years ago.

Bishop Paprocki is basing this afternoon's exorcism service on the words of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) in 2010, when his nation was signing off on the same sort of legislation we're getting in Illinois today:

At stake is the total rejection of God's law engraved in our hearts. ... Let us not be naive: it is not a simple political struggle; it is an intention [which is] destructive of the plan of God. It is not a mere legislative project (this is a mere instrument), but rather a 'move' of the father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God.

Frankly, given Sister Helena's creepy experiences in Springfield, I rather suspect that the Bishop, in citing the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, is only telling us half of the story. I have a pretty strong feeling that ever since he was installed as the Bishop of the state capitol (on the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher!), the lawyer-bishop Thomas has had personal experience of supernatural malice. I have no doubt that he has prepared himself for today's battle, probably through fasting and a vigil of prayer. I am joining my prayer to his--and in a special way, praying for his protection from bodily and spiritual harm.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6: 11-17). 

 

*For Ignatius, the point was that in really extreme matters, where our personal viewpoint or judgment differs from the supreme authority of the Church, we should defer to the magisterium rather than put so much trust in our personal, subjective conviction!

to die for

This week, we began the final roundup of weekday readings for the liturgical year. In the Year 1 cycle of things, that means two weeks of stories from the time of the Maccabees (appropriately enough, since our Jewish neighbors will also be celebrating Hanukah at the same time!). I always find these readings unsettling, especially the story of the noble old Eleazar (today) and the mind-blowing heroism of the mother who watched one son after another go to death rather than betray the Covenant. Even more unsettling to realize that people are facing choices like this even today.

On the other hand, it is a sign of the greatness of the human heart that there are some things that matter enough to stake your life on; that there are some things to which "whatever" can never be an acceptable answer.

Philippines Update

Many thanks to all who donated (so far!) to our sisters' "Give Hope" project for the Philippines. Here's an update from our sisters on the ground; I hadn't even realized there had been a massive earthquake just two weeks before...

It has been a week since super typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) hit the Philippines. It made multiple landfalls in different parts of the country, causing much destruction to lives and properties, with the massive devastation in the central part of the country, particularly in Tacloban. This super typhoon came just two weeks after a 7.2 earthquake hit Bohol, also part of the Visayas. Bohol has ceased to be in the news although it has not yet recovered from the devastation that has so traumatized the people there.

This past week, most of the attention has been focused on the massive destruction brought about by typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban that has brought with it 315 kph winds that pulverized many houses and buildings, and flooded the whole city. The devastation goes beyond Tacloban, to its neighboring provinces. Watching news updates every evening on television leaves one speechless and in tears; there is so much misery, fear, confusion, uncertainty, hunger, sadness, grief. Dead bodies are everywhere; relief goods from both private and government sectors are slow in coming so that there is so much unrest. One sees people fleeing from that place, confused as to where to go, or how to start.

We, as Daughters of St. Paul in the Philippines, also have our eyes on Tacloban because we have a community there. For many days after the typhoon, we didn't have any word from the Sisters, until finally, we received information that they were safe. The media center suffered flooding, so much so that the books were all destroyed. The equipment used for the radio and TV programs were not also spared. But what is important now is helping the typhoon victims rebuild their lives.

The Philippines has experienced many typhoons, but this one was massive – too many lives were lost and houses flattened to the ground or washed away. Those who survived are now crying for food and water, not minding too much that they have no more homes. And so, yes, we can pray for them, but we believe that we must do something more concrete to address the need of the moment.

It is this compulsion that brings the Sisters to network with and to offer their services to the different organizations that prepare relief goods for the typhoon victims, such as Caritas-Manila, a Church-based organization that reaches out to the poor and suffering, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Jesuit-run Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan among others. Many other religious Congregations troop to these centers to help, joining many other individuals and groups. We started our reach out beginning with our lay mission partners and collaborators whose families have been adversely affected. We have also been soliciting donations from friends from the different parts of the world.

There is also a massive exodus that is happening; people from Tacloban and the other neighboring provinces that have been badly affected are leaving and going someplace else. Many are walking on the streets like zombies, traumatized by the wrath of the typhoon and the loss of loved ones and livelihood. We have received and responded to an appeal from the Manila Commission on Youth for volunteers to help in stress debriefing because a huge number of survivors have reached Manila and are in dire need of it. It is very timely that we have also organized a seminar-workshop on basic skills training for crisis-trauma counseling for ourselves and for other lay people this Sunday so that after this, we can be deployed to respond to the pressing need of our brothers and sisters to overcome their trauma. The help that they need most is not merely to survive, but to rekindle once more in them the hope that gives meaning to life. We believe that together with generous and concerned people, we can respond to this need. 

  May the Lord, who can never be outdone in generosity be their reward!

A Prescription from the Pope

You gotta love Pope Francis!

The thousands who went to St. Peter's Square yesterday to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis came away with more than a blessing. The Pope recommended "spiritual medicine" for the heart, and made sure that there were volunteers on hand to give everyone a starter prescription for "Misericordina"--I suppose you could translate that "mercy pills."

Packaged in a small box, the way Italian prescription medicines are, were a rosary (the same special kind you get when you meet the Pope in person), an image of Jesus' Divine Mercy and the "important information" flyer that always comes with medication. (It included how to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet--one of the ways the rosary beads would come in handy.) According to Pope Francis, MD, this "spiritual medicine" would help everyone "to spread love, forgiveness and brotherhood."

Pauline activity in the Philippines

We just got some news and images from our sisters in the Philippines. Turns out our community in Tacloban lost more than a bookstore; they had a radio and TV ministry going, and all of their equipment was destroyed. But, first things first, and that means addressing the urgent needs of the sisters, their collaborators, and all their neighbors.

Good thing our Philippines province is numerous!  All of the sisters are pitching in to give help, from providing clean drinking water to offering crisis counseling. For more stories, and to join the sisters' efforts, visit out Philippine Aid site.

Patron Saint of Immigration Reform?

It's Mother Cabrini's feast day; here in Chicago, that's a big deal. In fact, the first American citizen saint

died about 5 miles north of where I am typing right now. And on her feast day, the bishops of the United States are calling Catholics to come together in support of "Comprehensive Immigration Reform." There's even a toll-free number to call (855-589-5698)  that can route your call right to your Congressional Representative's office so you can urge him or her to support immigration reform.

Why do we need immigration reform--and a reform that is not vindictive (as the current laws appear to be)?  For one reason, here in Chicago, we would have more young priests to serve the Church--but the candidates could not be accepted into our seminaries. They came to this country as children, grew up here, but they don't have any legal status, and there's no possibility of changing that without immigration reform.

For a more nuanced presentation on immigration concerns, one that is not bound up with partisan politics, please see the US Bishops position.

TOB Tuesday: a New Book!

Emily Stimpson "walked into a Catholic bookstore" one day in 2001. Of all the books on offer, including titles that directly spoke to the eating disorder that was controlling her life, it was John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" that ended up changing her life.

"It had the word “body” in it, and I wanted a theology of the body. I wanted to know what this Church of mine had to say about the flesh I despised."

She read the book clear through, discovering an unexpected vision of what it means to "be" (not just "have") a body--and also a new appreciation of creation itself, all of it (even food; maybe especially food).

I wish I had known about this new Theology of the Body book earlier! It is still new, but it is the kind of thing I'd want to shout from the rooftops. Because the Theology of the Body, while it has the most obvious (and perhaps universal) applications in the realm of sexuality, is not about sex, but about the mystery of the human person as the image of God. And sometimes the Theology of the Body has to start with "the" body; the body God created to express your own unique and unrepeatable essence.

Missing your comment?

I just found about 20 unpublished comments waiting patiently behind the moderation wall of my blog. I am supposed to get your comments immediately via e-mail, so I can publish them right away. There were even comments from my Mom, and she departed this life over 6 months ago!  I don't know why so many were held back, but it wasn't me; I regret the lost opportunity for the conversation.

From the NunBlog Archives

While I pursue a deadline that is looming before me, on this Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, allow me to send you back in time, to a post from the NunBlog archives: "Just Who Was St. John Lateran?"

Pesky humans and why we still need philosophy

In today's Gospel, you can almost see Jesus shaking his head over the naive virtue of the "children of light" when it is a matter of dealing with "the children of this world."  One of our sisters here in Chicago is kind of stuck in the middle of a situation of this very kind, and it is quite frustrating. The  long-term inability of the "children of light" to establish certain principles with clarity means that the highway is free and clear for those with a less positive agenda.

In the case at hand, Sister Frances is finishing up her long-delayed degree (in Interior Design and Construction, so we won't have to hire outside experts for remodeling our locations). Naturally, there are science and math requirements that have to be met, so this semester she is taking a course in Environmental Sciences. This week they got to the part about how humans have become a blight on the planet.

The professor, a mathematician, has been demonstrating how the global population remained fairly steady (at 1 billion) until about 1830, at which point it (inexplicably?) began increasing exponentially, to the point that there are now over 7 billion of us. He further demonstrated how this taxes the available resources, since all those humans tend to eat and house themselves over a lifetime: clearly a situation of unsustainable growth. Sister Frances pointed out that humans are not like the other living beings on the earth, in that they bring creative intelligence into the equation. Being an artist (and not a mathematician with access to all sorts of data), that was all she could really say, and her input was treated somewhat derisively by the professor who merely offered to "continue the debate another time."

As you can well imagine, instead of finding ways to increase the available resources (and the availability of them), from the professor's perspective the immediately evident "solution" to the "problem" of an increasing human population dependent on the same source of resources is to reduce the number of people. (Oddly, the instrument of choice is a chemical that ends up damaging the rest of the environment.)

What struck me first of all in the population professor's calculation is the same thing that Sister Frances brought up. The professor's math is missing a very significant factor: what each person's ingenuity and creativity contributes in terms of resources. Culture is a non-entity in mathematical calculations, even thought it is the distinctly human contribution to the overall ecosystem. And a healthy culture is precisely the foundation for those increasingly positive contributions people can make even to the physical resources of the planet. (As an example of this, the Golden Rice Project.) And that's not even taking into account the very real contributions of art, music and literature!

But in the end, this is not a mathematical question at all: it is a question of values. It is also the realm of philosophy, the most neglected of all forms of knowledge. Because the population professor at the Illinois Institute of Art, like so many others, is working from an unstated value. He presumes that the unquestionable priority is maintaining some sort of static relationship between the planet and the people;  an ideal "status quo." In other words, in his worldview (and that of so many others today), people exist for the earth, and not the earth for people. That is the "philosophy" behind this form of population control "science."

Without any reference to faith (this is not a matter of religious belief), the mathematicians of population control are missing a huge chunk of data concerning available resources--the resources created by the very people who inhabit this ecosystem. If the greed of corporations and political interests provokes untold damage, human creativity can also created new and unexpected resources.

But who is calculating that?



Some issues and answers on the myths of overpopulation, with infographics.

Something new in the neighborhood

"Where's Larry?"

Over the summer (while I was out of town) construction began on the building next door. They are transforming a vacant bank building (empty for 12 years!) into a boutique hotel. The project includes plans to add four more stories to the 10 that are there right now. So far, things are just at the demolition stage. Since this includes the facade, scaffolding was set up that extends all the way across our front door, effectively hiding us from the passers-by. The scaffolding also provides shelter for the street people who used to camp out in the now barricaded entryway of the old bank building.

One of those men is "front door Larry." (Until a few weeks ago we had a "back door Larry," too; after spending the summer and early autumn months living between the dumpsters in the back alley he has gone south for the winter. We miss him, not only for his friendly smile, but because he would clear away the cardboard and beer cans that people leave on our loading dock.)

Anyway, front door Larry came in yesterday, carrying a clean sheet of cardboard. He handed it to Sister Edward Marie, and then pulled out a Sharpie. "Sister, could you write John 3:16 on this for me? The whole thing--people like that." He began narrating, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son..." and Sister started writing. Truth to tell, she didn't get the full verse down, but Larry was happy, and back out onto Michigan Avenue he went with his evangelical message.

Things like this help me to remember that our center here, while it is at the service of evangelization, is really here to help others evangelize. Who's to say that Larry's single line of Scripture will not touch someone's heart in a remarkable way? And we will have been a humble part of that!

Day's "Duty" a Delight

Usually when I travel I limit the books I bring to the essential. Liturgy of the Hours? App. Community prayerbook? E-book (thanks, Sr Domenica, for formatting it!). Bible? Spiritual reading? Light reading? Kindle (I have a new-to-me used one after I left my original used Kindle on an Aer Lingus jet.) In other words, I don't travel with books unless the title is unavailable electronically and absolutely necessary for the work I am doing on the trip.

So why, when I left for Boston early in October, did I bring the mammoth (669 page) hardcover volume of Dorothy Day's diaries, published as "The Duty of Delight"? It was just too good to leave in Chicago less than half-read. Some two-pages spreads now sport five of those little sticky bookmarks: signs that I found something that I want to share with others, whether here on NunBlog, in a retreat for my sisters, or (especially) with regard to the Theology of the Body. (Alas, that means that the book joins the mountain in my office of "books I need to take notes from".)

One doesn't get into "The Duty of Delight" before having at least read Day's other autobiographical books: "From Union Square to Rome" (her conversion story) and "The Long Loneliness" to be able to "place" the events found here, from the inside, into their proper external framework. Here are her writings from jail (where she spent two weeks at age 61 after protesting an air raid drill); her indignant response to the sexual revolution and its rejection of "the power of life"; her struggles of conscience about whether or not to accept a bequest, and what to do about the taxes on it.

What struck me about Day in these personal writings from her bedside journal was the seriousness and commitment with which she undertook to live a fully spiritual life and become a saint (yes, she used that word in writing for herself, even though she is said to have warned others not to dismiss her so easily). Daily Mass, when possible, was a given. So was Eucharistic adoration, the Rosary, grace before meals, monthly (or near-monthly) retreat days for the whole Catholic Worker family. But this was not a devotionalism made up of accumulated prayers. I was amazed by Day's "studiositas": that "Dominican" virtue of feeding the mind through reflective study and worthwhile reading. The diaries mention 202 titles, not counting her own. Day seemed to be reading three books at any given time. She knew Dostoevsky's characters inside and out, and seemed to find some of them in New York City. She seems to have read all the "literary" fiction ever written: Tolstoy, Cather, Joyce, Undset, Greene...); she also enjoyed the works of Walker Percy and Chaim Potok. She read political theory (especially of the more radical stripe), desert fathers, spiritual classics (de Caussade was a favorite) and theology.

An impressive roster of authors came to the Catholic Worker on Fridays to give lectures in their area of specialization. One of these was a young Rene Voillaume (who later concretized Bl. Charles de Foucauld's vision into a religious community). I think Day would have agreed with Thomas Merton (whose books she also read, and who contributed occasionally to The Catholic Worker): "There is no sanctity which is not also intelligent" and with Blessed James Alberione: "There is no sanctity without truth--or at least love of the truth."

Reading a series of personal reflections that half of the twentieth century is a bit like watching history unfold from the perspective of a very unusual interpreter. Day remained a political radical to the day she died, and was uncomfortable with a pious patriotism that failed to be prophetic. Admired by many bishops, she could also be a thorn in their side. During the Spanish Civil War, with atrocities visited upon Church personnel by the "Republican" side (affiliated with Russia), Day did not follow the lead of other Catholic publishers in supporting Franco's coup. Her voice comes through loud and clear in this Catholic Worker editorial from the time:

And now the whole world is turning to 'force' to conquer. Fascist and Communist alike believe that only by the shedding of blood can they achieve victory. Catholics, too, believe that suffering and the shedding of blood 'must needs be,' as our Lord said....  But their teaching, their hard saying is, that they must be willing to shed every drop of their own blood, and not take the blood of their brothers. They are willing to die for their faith, believing that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church...

In fact, Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict and (already) Pope Francis each beatified about 500 of the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.

From the diaries, I learned again that "voluntary poverty [is] the most radical, revolutionary measure--resistance, transcendence in technological age. Impossible without God." This voluntary poverty made Day a kind of St. Francis for the nuclear age. In fact, for her peace and poverty seemed to go together, as they did for the man of Assisi, who insisted on his right not to possess anything ("For if we had possessions, we would need weapons to defend them"). It is touching to see that the few possessions Dorothy valued--and which were taken from her when she gave up her room for a needy visitor--were books with inscriptions to her by the author.

As this tome joins the pile on my desk, I know I will gain new insights when I tackle the note-taking stage a good book always passes through before landing on the shelf. this note-taking is one of my favorite ways to pray, although I do not indulge in it quite often enough (!). Maybe having a book this size on the stack will be an invitation from the Lord (whose tabernacle is just yards away from my office, down through the floor) to "take and read," read and pray.



Other books by/about Dorothy Day that I can recommend (living in a bookstore has its definite advantages!); naturally you'll find many, many others that I haven't gotten to yet:

All the Way to Heaven: Selected Letters
Therese: a Life of Therese of Lisieux (Dorothy was deeply devoted to the Little Flower, whom she took as a spiritual guide; there are 28 mentions of the saint in Day's diary, the first dating to New Year's 1936.)
Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal (throughout the diary there are mentions of this or that piece she was working on for this magazine; there's a lot of interest here!)
Dorothy Day: a Radical Devotion by Robert Coles (I'm a big fan of Coles; wish he had done a biography of Carryl Houselander!). Coles, like Day editor Ellsberg, knew Day personally from the 1960's.
Dorothy Day: A Biography by William D. Miller. (Day mentions Miller and his work in her private notes.)


Thanks, Taylor, for this great "International Buy a Nun a Book Day" gift!

All Souls Day and a Christian meditation on suffering and death

This touching video says so much in five minutes about the Christian meaning of suffering and death; on Mom's first "All Souls Day" on the other side, I find it very consoling because this is what we lived through with Mom six months ago.

Dia de los Muertos

Growing up in New Orleans, the only All Souls Day tradition I was familiar with was visiting the cemetery--My godmother is probably to be found at this moment in St. Louis Cemetery #2, sprucing things up a bit at the final resting place of her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. (The name inscribed on the family tomb is that of my great-great-grandfather.)

When I entered the convent, the sisters still had the custom of setting up a catafalque (a fake coffin) in the chapel, draped in cloth and surrounded by candles on tall candlesticks. We would pray an entire "rosary" using the beads to pray 50 times the prayer for the faithful departed: "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen." It was all piously somber and subdued.

As the years have gone by, I learned of only a few other All Souls Day traditions: the permission priests had to celebrate three Masses; the Italian almond cookies called "dolci dei morti" (made only for November 2); finally, the Mexican traditions for the "Dia de los Muertos."

Until three years ago, the only thing I knew about the Dia de los Muertos was that candy was shaped

Making their way to Albuquerque's Dia de los Muertos parade.

into skulls and given to the kids. Then I took one of the Chicago walking tours into the Pilsen neighborhood, where a visit to the cultural museum presented me with macabre figurines of festively dressed skeletons dancing, playing music, getting married... I began to realize that the Dia de los Muertos was a way of thumbing one's nose at death, which, after all, has already lost the final battle. And then last year I was in New Mexico at the beginning of November, and went to Mass in Old Town Albuquerque right when a Dia de los Muertos parade was about to begin.

St Paul would probably have nodded in appreciation (once he got over the cultural shock!).  As an apostle, he knew: "Death is working in us, but life in you" (2 Cor 4: 12), but that went for everyone: We were buried with Christ in baptism (Rom. 6: 4), and having died, our life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).

Obviously, there are a lot of pre-Christian customs that have been preserved in the Dia de los Muertos. I see that as a strength: the faith was able to "claim them for Christ" and put his stamp on everything.  The in-your-face celebrations of the Day of the Dead become a way of declaring with Paul: "Even though our outward self is perishing, yet the inward person is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4: 16-18). 

The Dia de los Muertos is a day of hope!

All Saints Day

In case yesterday's All Hallows' Eve festivities did not clue you in, today is All Hallows Day--and a Holy Day of Obligation. When you go to Mass, you'll be in some pretty illustrious company:

These are just twelve of the twenty-four elders in John's vision of heaven from the Book of Revelation (our first reading). (If you go to the Basilica of St. Praxedes in Rome, you can see the other twelve; my pictures did not come out very well.) Those circles they are holding are their crowns. Yes, these are the famous "casting crowns" sung about in the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty" (as well as the "Casting Crowns" of the eponymous music group).

There is a reason so many 10th century mosaics feature images and scenes from the Book of Revelation right around (or above) the altar: the two realities are one and the same, just experienced from different perspectives. Today, when you sing the Holy Holy Holy at Mass, imagine yourself offering that same prayer of adoration from the place reserved for you, up there with the elders.