Who is the Catholic Church?

Last week a justice of the appellate court in Illinois, Sheila O'Brien, opined in the Chicago Tribune that she wanted to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, essentially because of the asserted corruption of its leaders, as evidenced by sexual scandals in Europe, the Vatican's asserted less than forthright response to them, and the Vatican's simultaneous announcement that those who ordained women as Catholic priests would be excommunicated.

Yesterday an appropriate response was filed as a letter to the editor by a Max Douglas Brown of River Forest, in which he said that he, as a convert, thinks mostly of parishioners as comprising the church.

He said he sits in the back of the church at St. Luke's in River Forest. "From this vantage point, I have a panoramic view of the church and as I look around, I behold such a variety of people -- all shapes, all types, all races, young and old. These people are the church that O'Brien would leave behind."

I can only say, "Well said, fellow Catholic!"

Civilizational values

… there are certain identifiable human values, not peculiarly Christian, which nevertheless flourish only in a Christian setting, and tend to wither away when Christian influences are withdrawn. With the removal of Christianity, men lose their religion, but also in a measure their humanity. We should be the last to exaggerate the value and importance of the civilizing aspects of Christianity, especially in comparison with its essential other-worldly significance. And we are satisfied that non-Christian civilizations have their own values, which are not to be depreciated. But when we consider the universal constant work of civilization, which is the defense of mankind against necessity, or fate, we remain convinced that civilization’s most reliable ally is Christianity, though the essential purpose of Christianity is something entirely different. -- Jean Danielou, S.J.

Prayer, Words and Silence

Deacon Dave said in his homily last week that there are four types of prayer: Petition, Contrition, Praise, and Thanksgiving. I wonder, is there a priority in these types? It seems the order I gave is the priority. We first ask for our needs, but upon deeper reflection confess our shortcomings. Our penance provokes praise for God's forgiveness, and thanksgiving for his love.

Another way to look at prayer is as a progress from using words to being present to God in silence. Someone asked Mother Teresa what she did when she prayed. She said, "I listen." They asked, what does God do? She replied, "He listens."

Turn the Other Cheek

It struck me recently what turning the other cheek means. It is to be pro-active in seeking to resolve conflicts and violence. It is not to be passive, to play the punching bag. It is rather to blunt the normal mimetic escalation of violence by lowering the fists, the sword, the gun, by quieting the angry words. This is not passive but extremely active and challenging. I am real good at escalation; not very good at all at deceleration.

Two Great Commandments

I read in Henri Nouen's Here and Now about his visit to Mother Theresa during a time of some spiritual tribulation for him.  After speaking to Mother Theresa about his spiritual problems for some minutes, she responded, "There are are only two things you need to do.  First, spend an hour each day in adoration of God.  Second, never do anything you know to be wrong.  Then you will be fine."

Sounds like a good paraphrase of the two great commandments, don't you think?

Charisma = Possession

Charisma, according to Philip Rieff, is "a possession -- more precisely, a particular condition of being possessed or compelled. Possession 'from above' raises the possibility of being possessed 'from below'." Charisma, p.86.

Therese of Lisieux is a good example of possession "from above." She had an irresistable charm -- a charisma -- arising from possession of -- a being possessed by -- in her own words: an extraordinary love of God. Where did this possession come from? A quirk of personality? An out of place gene? No, Therese allowed herself to be possessed completely by her "spouse," Christ.

Rieff remarks also that possession is a "particular condition of being compelled." Possession from above is compulsion to shut down our transgressive desires, the drives of our lower nature -- to lower our eyes, to quiet our tongues, to beat our breasts while giving God praise for His mercy over our transgressiveness. When God is in possession He can act through us. Those who have eyes to see notice the charisma.

Charisma anyone?

3D Glasses

Wearing 3D glasses in the movie Avatar reminded me that the world we see "in real life" is also (happily) multi-dimensional.  For the Christian, the super-natural is one of the dimensions. What we see before us we see "in the light of" faith, hope and charity.

This principle is important for our experience of the world, which is not ideal, to say the least. As von Balthasar puts it, Engagement With God (p. 85-86), an ideal world would be a resurrected world, which it is not.  In reality the world is resurrected only in spe, in the dimension of hope.  

This has an important implication for Christian action.  ". . . [T]o think that the Christian, by his efforts, is able so radically to change the structures [of the world] is mere chiliastic fantasy or the hope of an unrealistic enthusiast."  In other words, our 3D glasses of "faith, hope and charity" do not re-create the world into a utopian pipe-dream.  Rather, they help us see the world as it "is," that is, as it is, as it should be, as it could be, and as it eventually will be, in God's time and plan.

"This again does not mean that the Christian must simply resign himself to the world as it is now and ever shall be.  The Christian's task is so far as he is able to fill the structures of the world with the boundless spirit of love and reconciliation, despite the fact that he will always encounter opposition to his efforts toward this end."

Are you wearing your "3D" glasses?