Some people say, “The Church cannot change." No: some things change, others do not. Basic doctrine does not change, but the liturgy has changed much after Vatican II.

There are church statements that imply that nothing will ever change. Thus, we can read in Vatican I, “We teach and declare: the Church has all the marks of a true Society. It is so perfect in itself that is distinct from all human societies and stands far above them.” This council also stated that “The Church of Christ is not a community of equals, in which all the faithful have the same rights, but it is truly a society of unequals.” Some people take these statements to have universal and eternal value. In 1870, Europe was still a society of unequals governed by monarchies and nobilities. Social structures change, even if basic doctrines do not.     

The Church is also dynamic institution. Here are three examples of dynamic innovations.
1. Many parishes have created small communities which meet weekly for bible reading, mutual help, and prayer. I have visited parishes that have 50 or 100 or even 200 of them. The Sunday liturgies are lively, and attendance is high. These churches are growing numerically as well as spiritually. This is a new development since Vatican II that spread out of Latin America.

2. In some parishes the Sunday liturgy takes up to 2 hours or more, and the homily 20 to 30 minutes. There is constant interaction between the celebrant, the choir, and the assembly. Singing and dancing are enthusiastic. The spirituality is one of social justice. I have seen this exceptionally in the U.S. and more commonly in the Congo.

3. A third initiative is to trust parishes to lay volunteers under the supervision of a priest in charge of several parishes. They are in charge of the Sunday liturgy without priest, the religious education of children, and the care of the needy. When people are entrusted with responsibilities, they are transformed. The church is its people, not its clergy, nor its geographical or administrative structures.

WHAT CAN BE CHANGED AND WHAT CANNOT? Can you identify in the church some outstanding patterns of innovation that have overcome the traditional fixist framework? Some may be found in religious education, others in outreach, others in social justice, others in vibrant liturgies, others in music and art, others in small groups, others in spirituality and adult education, others in the parochial schools, others in ministries to immigrants, others in local conferences, others in bible studies, others in improved homilies, others in...( you name it).

CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES? Write a few lines.

July 11 & 18

The Church Magisterium:
checks and balances

Avery society needs an organization and a leader. The synagogues at the time of Jesus were supervised by the elders (the presbyters). The first Christians adopted this organization. St. Paul appointed supervisors (bishops) in the gentile churches he founded, because the custom of elders was unknown there. When conflict erupted about the necessity of circumcision for the gentiles, Paul went to Jerusalem for the first council. From the beginning there were checks and balances: the elders (presbyters or priests), the bishops, and the general council.

Magisterium means the authority to teach (magister in Latin means teacher).  In the Middle Ages, the Magisterium was divided into two: the theologians in the major universities took over the role of doctrinal teachers while the popes took the role of supervisors. Empirically the teaching authority today is divided into three: the pope, the bishops, and the laity. I would add a fourth body: the theologians.

Today theologians fulfill the important role of being the “think tank” (or research organization) of the church. Vatican II was prepared by intellectuals who were ahead of their time; they were even condemned before their ideas were adopted by the Council. Intellectuals provided a check and balance so that the Church continues to grow with new ideas.

Individually and collectively the bishops offer another check and balance. There are conservative bishops who are an obstacle to renewal and change, but there are also innovative and progressive bishops who lead the way to the future. The Church is like an extended family with conservative and liberal members, trying to work in unity. Synodality is a new form of collective responsibility promoted by Pope Francis.

There is also the “infallibility” of the laity. Vatican II is clear: “The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. The people of God, under the guidance of the sacred teaching authority, accepts not just the word of men but truly the word of God, and adheres to it in an indefectible way” (in Latin indefectibiliter. Lumen Gentium 12). This indefectibility of the laity is little acknowledged.

Finally, there are the checks and balance of the local churches. Each parish is a growing body that can explore new directions in its weekly liturgy, its ministries, and its involvement in the world. According to the Council “What specifically characterizes the laity is their secular nature. By their very vocation, the laity seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.”

In summary, there are in the Catholic Church many checks and balances. There are the intellectuals who respectfully critique deficiencies and outline new ways. There are innovative bishops who lead whole dioceses towards greater spiritual growth. And there are committed lay men and women involved in their parishes and the secular world.

What is special in your parish? What are you doing for a better church? Could you write a short comment?

June 27 - July 4

God writes straight with crooked lines

The bible is a good example of God writing with crocked lines. There are many books in the bible about the Jewish history that seem of little interest to us today. The prophets have written about a future Messiah, but it was not clear: there was no straight line. In what sense would he be a successor of David? As a conqueror? As a wise king? When Jesus was born in a manger in a poor family, nobody was ready for it. When Jesus performed miracles, not everybody saw them as signs from God. The church was born on Pentecost Day, but persecution followed shortly afterwards.

There are thousands of Christian churches that all claim to be the only true church. The Oriental Orthodox Churches separated after the council of Chalcedon (in 451). The Orthodox Church which accepts, like Catholics, the first seven councils, separated in the 11th century, and the Protestant in the 16th century. How do you make sense out of that?

The Catholic Church is struggling with renewal. There are conservatives who want to turn the clock back, liberals who want radical changes, and people in the middle who want things to remain the same. At the same time many people are leaving the church. What is God’s direction in all that?

Many people’s lives are made of crooked lines. A good example of that of Charles de Foucauld, a French military officer who became a hermit in the Sahara Desert. Leading a dissolute life, one day he prayed, “My God, if you exist, allow me to know you!” It took him over ten years to find his way. First, he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, joined the Trappist, and spent several years in Nazareth as a servant of the Poor Clare. Finally, in 1901 he settled as a hermit in Algeria, and lived among the Tuareg in the Sahara Desert. He was assassinated in 1916. He wanted to create a new religious community, but nobody came. It is only long after his death that a new congregation, the Little Brothers of Jesus, followed his example. God writes straight with very crooked lines.

Many of our lives are crooked lines. Mine was and probably will be so. How do you make sense out of it? Usually you can see a straight line only at the end.

Our hope is in the promise that “All things work for good for those who love God.” (Rom 8:28) This is hope. But hope is not a promise. It is not a guarantee. Hope is a dim light, just enough to go through the day. Everyday we must renew our hope in God. At the end, the crooked lines appear as straight.

Did this happen to you? Let us hear from you. Write a comment.

June 13 & 20

The sacraments:
Eucharist and Scripture 

All churches share the belief that the liturgy makes visible the invisible God. A very common understanding of the sacraments is that of Augustine who defined them as outward signs of inward grace.

How many sacraments? For Augustine, many things could be visible signs of grace; he took sacraments in the broad sense. For the Eastern Orthodox, there are seven sacraments, but other things can also be called sacraments or “mysteries.” In the Catholic Church there are six sacraments for everybody and one more for men who will be ordained. What are the basic sacraments? Most theologians would say baptism and the Eucharist, which in the Catholic Church are administered together at the baptism of adults. These two are the only two recognized by Evangelical Protestants who call them ordinances, that is, prescriptions found the New Testament. They argue that confirmation and the anointing of the sick are found in the bible but are optional and should not be imposed. In fact, many Catholics skip them.

Catholics get baptized, confirmed, and married (for most people) only once. The anointing of the sick happens mostly in old age. The sacrament of reconciliation is less and less practiced—for good or bad reasons; that’s not the point. So, for all practical purposes, the Sunday Eucharist is the only sacrament most people practice in everyday life. But to concentrate only on the Sunday Mass is to deprive oneself from the richness of God’s signs.

Traditionally, the book of nature and the book of human experience were considered natural sacraments. Nature is very much celebrated in the psalms. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” (Ps. 19). The heavens and the stars are signs or sacraments of creation. We must listen to their silent speech and learn their secret knowledge, and this happens more through prayers of praise than scientific observation. In monasteries, the first payer early in the day is Lauds when monks sing psalms of praise (which repeat the word laudate, let us praise). Many of us enjoy natural gifts for which we can be grateful.

One of the greatest gifts is Scripture, the word or sign of God, although it is not considered a sacrament. According to some theologians, if absolutely forced to choose between the Mass and reading scripture, one should select the latter. Before Vatican II, the Sunday readings and the sermon were considered optional; one could arrive at Mass late. Today Scripture is as important as the liturgy of the Eucharist.  

If you have been baptized, confirmed, married, there are two main “sacraments” for you: the Sunday Eucharist and Scripture reading. Sacraments are gifts of grace. There are many such gifts. We have to recognize them, and give thanks for them.

May 30-June 6. Know your faith.

Three dimensions of spirituality   

Spirituality for St. Paul is living by the spirit and not the flesh. Concretely there are three basic dimension

The cognitive dimension: the transformation of the intelligence. When people get involved in reading, attending lectures, etc. deep-seated attitudes and beliefs change in the process.

The devotional dimension: the development of self-reflexivity. When people spend time in prayer, bible reading, traditional devotions, retreats, silent time, etc. they become more self-reflexive.

The action dimension: the works of faith. When people get involved in works of charity, social justice, parish activities, sharing their faith with others, etc. they also deepen their faith lives.

These three dimensions have been analyzed in over 1,000 churches where people filled out a questionnaire about their faith, their spiritual practices and their works of charity. The results were combined to produce an average score for each of these three dimensions for a given church. Then the researchers found a variety of typical churches with different names: 

the complacent churches: they have low score on all three dimensions,
the introverted churches: they have a high score on on prayer but low score on action, 
the extroverted churches: they are high on works, low on prayer, 
the average churches: average scores on all three dimensions 
the self-motivated churches: people are active but receive no leadership from the pastor, 
the troubled churches: they are in a permanent conflict with the pastor, 
the vibrant church: faith is strong, and people are involved in all kinds of activities.

What is the type of your parish: complacent? or introverted, or extroverted? or troubled? or vibrant?

    Individuals can similarly define their spirituality in terms of these three dimensions.  Are you spiritually complacent? or introverted? or extroverted? or average? or self-motivated? or vibrant?

May 16-23. Know your faith.

The Real Presence

   An undergraduate student recently asked me why our textbook did not use the term transubstantiation when considering the truth of the Eucharist. Additionally, he asked me to explain “Eucharistic Miracles.” I started with the miracles. I noted that none of them are required to be believed by a Catholic. If one finds them helpful for their own faith and devotion a person is free to accept them provided, of course, that they do not contradict authentic Catholic teaching.

So, I then turned to transubstantiation. I noted that I learned how to spell the word in second grade so that I could receive my First Communion. I likewise noted that I only began to understand it when I took a philosophy course in college. I suggested that it would be easier to start with what we don’t mean by the term. We do not mean that the bread and wine turn into biological flesh and blood. We mean that the “inner reality”, the substance, changes to the body and blood of Christ while the “outer reality” remains bread and wine. I believe this, but find it hard for people to understand.

I then suggested that some personalist language or some contemporary thought regarding the nature of “symbols” might be more understandable and useful. Recall the rich experience of telling the stories of family members who have died when gathered for a special holiday meal. One can almost begin to imagine them being present at the table. Now, radicalize that to the greatest degree. Christ, raised and glorious, breaks the boundaries of time and space, making himself really present in the proclamation of God’s word and “in the breaking of the bread.”

Contemporary thought on symbols moves well beyond earlier Protestant thought that would claim the Eucharist is “only a symbol.” Current thinkers propose that symbols, like myths, have the capacity to make really present the deepest truths of human existence. Symbols can make really present the very Mystery of God. They are never “just a symbol” or “just a myth.”

As for Eucharistic miracles, I prefer a more down-to-earth approach. A teen age girl and her mother have been at odds arguing over the girl’s boyfriend, grades, clothing, hair style, and everything else that a mother a teen age girl might argue about. Attending Mass, reluctantly together, one Sunday it comes time for the sign of peace. They have heard something in the Word, and they know that Communion calls for reconciliation. At the sign of peace, they turn toward one another, look one another in the eyes, and then warmly embrace. They know that a Love greater than themselves will help them to love each other. Christ is that really present Love.

Fr. Frank Berna,
La Salle University, Philadelphia

May 2-9. Know your faith.

The liturgy as "source and summit"

      Vatican II emphasized the importance of the liturgy by declaring it "source and summit" of Christian life. Before, people often recited the rosary while attending Mass because the priest said the prayers in Latin, and most of singing (the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, etc.) were also in Latin. Now, everything is in the language of the people, and the singing is modern.

In comparison to the liturgy, according to Vatican II, private devotions are secondary. As a consequence, devotions were less emphasized and have often declined. Actually, the feasts of many saints have been eliminated from the liturgical calendar. While before Vatican II, the rosary was often recited together in the church, now it is less common. In the past, parish priests often organized processions in the streets and pilgrimages to a distant shrine, but it is less the case today. In the past, frequent confession was an important devotion for some people, and children were expected and often required to go to confession regularly. Since then confessions have sharply declined.

For most centuries, the people's piety has been nourished mainly by popular forms of devotion, and it is still the case in many places, for instance in Latin America. There, the processions of the Holy Week are still popular, and many people join a pilgrimage when one is organized—like pilgrimages to Lourdes or Fatima in Europe.

Participation in the liturgy is difficult. Of course, going to church and singing along are easy. Quite different is finding nourishment in the readings and the Eucharist; that is more difficult. As a consequence, some people stopped going to Mass. What can be done? Here some suggestions.

Today most people live in the oral culture of television and smart phones. In the mass media, what was broadcast one week ago may already be obsolete. The oral culture requires constant activation. As a consequence, today people must nourish your faith every day if possible, or it fades away.

The readings of the day are easily available on the web. You can download them to your smart phone and begin the day by reading them. Some parishes have small groups which reflect on the Sunday readings. Joining one is very rewarding.

In the past, the Latin Mass on Sundays and the rosary during the week were sufficient and balanced. Today the one-hour Sunday Mass is a rather weak source and summit; it like having only one nourishing meal per week. We must adapt our faith to the oral culture of today.

What is your balance between the written culture of the liturgy and the oral culture of the mass media? How do you balance the liturgy and private devotions in your parish and country? Write a comment!

April 18-25. Know your faith.

Christ died for our salvation Alleluia!
but what is salvation?

   On the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained to his disciples, “It was necessary that the Messiah suffer all these things according to the prophets.” And later, “Everything written in the Law of Loses and the prophets had to be fulfilled.” Now they understood.

   But some time later, someone asked a new questions, “Why did the Messiah have to suffer? Could he not have saved the world without dying on the cross?” Throughout the ages, various questions and answer have been put discussed throughout Christianity.

The first theory described Jesus’ death as a victory against Satan. Jesus struggled with Satan in the desert for forty days. He rejected all the temptations. Then the devil departed “until an opportune time.” At the Passion, Satan had entered Judas and claimed Peter but Jesus intervened. Satan triumphed when Jesus was condemned, but Jesus won forever when he rose from the dead.

Another theory is that of Redemption. The Latin word redemptio means paying back, for instance to free a slave. It is assumed that Satan had conquered the world but Jesus paid back our debt to Satan, and thus became our Redeemer.

Another theory is atonement or expiation, influenced by the Jewish tradition of offering sacrifices in the Temple. In this perspective, Jesus is the Paschal Lamb of the new covenant, as the ultimate sacrifice for all human sins. This image came to be associated with the original sin. Then the sacrifice of the Cross is seen as the obedient expiation  for the disobedience of the first parents.

The Catholic position was clarified by the Council of Tent in 1547 in its decree on Justification.  Christians are justified through the remission of sins and the infusion of grace. Through baptism they are in a state of grace which they must preserve against mortal sins.     

The Orthodox tradition sees the life and death of Jesus as the model to follow in our sanctification. Through his death, Jesus created a new social order in which sinners can be transformed into the fully human beings that the Creator intended them to be. Having been created in the image of God, they become images of Christ acquiring divine likeness. This view is the most inspiring for personal transformation.

What is your favorite image or theory of salvation or redemption?

April 4-11. Easter Sunday.

“I am with you until the end of time”

This is the happiest news the world could hope for: He is alive! He will be with us until the end of time, Alleluia! For the disciples, all the encounters with the risen Lord were moments of deep joy.

Early on the dawn of Easter Sunday, three women came to the tomb with expensive spices for the funeral anointing. Lo and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared and said, “Do not be afraid. Jesus who was crucified is not here. He is risen as he said. Go quickly and tell the disciples.” So, the women “departed quickly with fear and great joy.” Can you imagine the women running out of joy? Joy gives you wings to fly!

Mary of Magdala was weeping sorrowfully: “They have taken my Lord and I don’t know where they laid him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” The familiar sound of his voice touched her. She was moved to be called by her first name. She exploded in joy, “Rabbouni! Rabbouni!” and wanted to embrace him. “No, go and announce the good news to the disciples.” So she run. Good news always makes people run.

On the evening of that first day when the doors were locked, out of the disciples’ fear of the Jews and shame for their cowardice, Jesus stood in the midst of them saying, “Peace be with you.” The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Joy replaced fear, shame, and guilt as he said again, “Peace be with you!” There is no greater joy than the deep inner peace which submerges negative feelings with jubilation and exultation.
One week later, Jesus appeared again in the presence of Thomas. Tom’s soul was in turmoil: he had doubted the unanimous testimony that Jesus was alive. “Peace be with you, Thomas!” “Put his finger here and see my hand, and put it into my side.” Thomas was dumbfounded, amazed, and overcome with uncontrollable feelings. He did not know what to say, only, “My Lord and my God!” This is acknowledging one’s place in the universe. Nothing more needs to be said.

Weeks passed. Peter and a few others went fishing but caught noting. From the shore came a voice, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They cast their nets again and where overwhelmed by the number of fish. Coming to the shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said, “Come have breakfast.” It was unreal, something like a dream. First, the miraculous catch of fish, then the ready breakfast of broiled fish and bread. It was a return to the miraculous feeding of the crowds with bread and fish. “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed. “Lord, you know everything. You know that I betrayed you three times.”  When Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” Simon knew he was forgiven and was again Simon the Rock. For him it was like a new beginning, the birth of a new self leaving the old self behind.

“I am with you until the end of time.” Peace and joy! The happiest news the world can hope for.

See Catholic Renewal Books (click on picture):

March 28. Palm Sunday.

The Passion: a human disgrace

            The story of the Passion shows what we are capable of in our worst moments, like in genocides, extermination camps, slavery, or child labor. It shows the very nature of sin as a disgusting human disgrace.

- “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” There are traitors in most tragedies, but here the traitor is a friend eating at the same table. Disgraceful.

- “The man I shall kiss is the one.” There was no need of such disgraceful travesty of friendship because Jesus was well known. “Arrest him and lead him away.” Judas not only betrayed him but also organized his arrest. Disgraceful.

- Before the Sanhedrin, one witness testified, “Destroy this man-made temple, Jesus had said, “and I will build another not made of human hands.” What kind of accusation is this?  Disgraceful witnessing.

- “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” There had been quite a few messiahs in those days, and all were sons of Adam and sons of God. This was a disgraceful trap.

- The accusation before Pilate was not blasphemy but political threat to the Roman establishment. Now the accusation is a power game. Pilate found no grounds of condemnation but had him scourged and crucified. This is disgraceful cowardice.

- The soldiers assembled the whole cohort and gave free rein to their fury of cruelty. They placed on him a crown of thorns, striking his head with a reed and spitting on him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” This is like a mob lynching during American slavery.

- After he was crucified, those passing by said, “Save yourself by coming down from the cross.” The scribes and chief priests likewise mocked him, “He has saved others, and he cannot save himself.” Disgraceful sarcasms in the face of death throes.

During the veneration of the cross on Good Friday, the choir sings the Improperia ("My people, What have I done to you?") (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynf-2i01nqg&ab_channel=PapalMusic)

See Catholic Renewal Books (click on picture):

March 14-21. Know your faith.

Original sin & the origin of evil

We were all told the story of the original sin committed by Adam and Eve, and how they disobeyed God and were expelled from Paradise. Many people have no questions and are satisfied by the traditional way of telling the story. Other people want to reconcile it with what we know from science and a deeper understanding of the bible.

Biblical history began about 2000 BC when Abraham left Ur in Mesopotamia in a migration that took many years. It is in the course of this migration that God spoke to him. Before Abraham’s time, it is pre-history about which nothing can be said for sure.

The story of Abraham begins in chapter 12 of the book of Genesis. What is said in the first eleven chapters is not historical but etiological, mainly to explain the origin of things, of the world, humankind, and the origin of evil.

In chapter 1 of Genesis, God created all things in seven days. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God, he created them.” All things were good: “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” After this optimistic view of creation, we have a second story of creation which turns into disaster, and after that, a murder story, and later the near extermination of the human race in the Great Flood. Taken together these three disaster stories suggest that the human race seems incurable, and only a direct intervention of God can save it.

Have you ever been tricked by a clever salesman into buying something which you later regretted? It is something like this that happened to Adam and Eve. “The snake said to the woman, “When you eat from this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like gods.” This was a trick. The woman told God, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it.” The punishment was uneven: the snake was cursed but for Adam and Eve it was the death penalty at the end of life. Much more serious was the killing of Abel: it was a premeditated murder of the worst kind, a fratricide, the killing of a brother in the flesh. This time the punishment is light: feelings of guilt for the rest of Cain's life but no death penalty.

At the time of the Great Flood evil had spread all aspects of life. “God saw how great was the wickedness of human beings, and that in their hearts there was nothing but evil.” God regretted having made humankind. He understood to destroy it and start a new creation with Noah and his family.

The meaning of these pre-historical stories is clear: while God’s creation is good there was evil from the very beginning. We will never know where the evil snake came from. Adam and Eve were innocent at creation but became evil after the first sin, and we do not know why. It seems that the human heart is corrupt and unredeemable. God had to intervene. He did so with Abraham, Jesus Christ, and has been at work ever since in the hearts of all people.  

Feb 28-March 7. Know your faith .

Revelation as personal experience

We probably learned about God the first time when our parents took us to church. For a small child, a church is a strange place. Nobody is allowed to talk and walk around. You must kneel which is uncomfortable. They tell you that Jesus is in the tabernacle, and this is why a little light is always on in a special lamp.

As a small child, we learned to pray before falling asleep. We prayed to your Guardian Angel for mom and dad and the whole family. It was a time when angels were the most important part of religion. Many people reject religion all together because of this childish phase.

Where I grew up, there was religious education in all public and private schools. It consisted mainly of memorizing formulas. I knew them all; it was like reciting the ABC. Revelation was basically the doctrines of the church, and all the doctrines were given in the catechism: Creation, the original sin, the life and death of Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments, the 7 sacraments, and the daily prayers. The emphasis was mainly on the church, memorization, and obedience.

With Vatican II came the idea that God reveals himself, and that’s what revelation is. It took years for this idea to trickle down. Then came the charismatic renewal and with it a lot of talking about a personal relationship with Jesus. This often happened in a retreat. Finding personal relationship with the Son of God was a new discovery for me and many; it was truly God revealing himself.

Revelation is not just about church doctrine; it is also about everyday living. Our conscience is God’s voice about what to do in difficult situations. Many people’s conscience is muted or distorted, as in the case of corrupt public officials. God first speaks through common sense and reason; we often can learn from others who are well learned about special issues. We can also hear God’ admonitions by going over it in our minds and weigh the pros and cons.

The most important channel of revelation is the bible. It is explained every Sunday, but we should supplement this through personal reading. Scripture reading deserves to be regular, even a daily practice. Through scripture, God reveals himself in a constant flow of interaction.

Reflection question: Where to you stand? Is revelation for you basically
- the doctrines, rules, and practices of the church seen as an institution? This has the advantage of giving you a firm and unchanging foundation.
- the personal relationship with God, in a subjective encounter? This gives you a strong interpersonal faith that gives you faith and hope in difficult times.
- a personal relationship with God in the context of both scripture and the institutional church? This is harder to achieve, hence one may be tempted to give up, but we must try again and again.

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Feb 14-21. Know your faith # 4.

What is sin?

 Many people define sin as disobedience, which is the traditional definition. Breaking the Ten Commandments—not to kill, steal, or cheat in marriage— refers to well-known sins, but these do not apply to common daily events. Children learn obedience at home and school, but adult life is more than following rules like children. There used to be many rules and obligations in the Catholic Church, but most of them have faded away or are not enforced. Moreover, according to St. Paul, “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” (Romans 5:13). So, are we off the hook, so to say?

Sin has also a personal and psychological dimension: after a reprehensible behavior we feel guilt and shame. Parents and people in power can manipulate guilt to make you submit; shame has often been used in schools by forcing a student to wear a dunce cap or sitting in the corner. But there is also the genuine remorse, guilt, and shame that alert us that we did something wrong.

We are created in God’s image and semblance; hence, any behavior which disfigures God’s image is an offense to the creator. There are some things I said or did which would make me feel embarrassed or ashamed if revealed; yet I broke no common law or rule. In public life and business, there are corrupt behaviors which cannot be prosecuted because they brake no laws. Similarly, in relationships there are many unkind and even offensive words and behaviors which break no common rules. It is our conscience through guilt and shame that should tell us we did something wrong.

In this perspective we may that a sin is a disgrace to our human and divine nature. It is something we cannot be proud of as God’s creatures and Christ’s followers. It is a dis-grace, an absence of grace or graciousness which is the divine in us, by birth or salvation. Dis-graciousness is the behavior of a bully handling Chinese porcelain.

  There is a new kind of human disgrace which did not exist fifty or hundred years ago: wasting one’s time and life. In times of scarcity, everybody had to work, even children. Some had to work in factories, others were sent as apprentices to learn a trade. In today’s times of abundance, adults in the U.S. spend an average of 4 hours per day watching television, but people over 65 spend mopre than 7 hours, finding not much else to do. Adults also spend over three hours a day on mobile phones. Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) spent 5.7 hours a day.

Much can be learned by watching television selectively, and phones are a very effective means of communication, but do adults need to check their phones 58 times a day as is the case currently? Today the social media have become a major source of mis-information and national polarization. We have only one life: let us not waste it through inordinate tube-watching. Today sins of omission have become a major cause of spiritual decline, simply by doing nothing constructive. The sins of omission are the good things we did not do during the seven hours a day spent on television and the phone. Time lost cannot be regained. And so it is about one’s wasted life.

Reflection questions: What is sin to you?

• disobedience to rules learned in childhood?
• behaviors that are disgraceful to our divine nature?
• most important are sins of omission when we waste our lives?

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Jan 31-Feb 7. Know your faith # 2.

Our images of God

For Anselm of Canterbury (11th century), God is greater than anything we can imagine, but if we want to represent God for prayer, we must use our imagination. A common image is that of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, as seen above. It is quite common to imagine God as an old man (old age means wisdom), but for many people this image is inadequate.

 According to the Big Bang theory, the universe originated 13.8 billion years ago and will vanish into darkness in a very distant future. God is outside time and space, like a mathematical formula. If there is one gigantic computer formula for the whole universe, God has it and used it to create space and time. A mathematical formula for the universe would be infinitely big, but in God such a formula would be infinitely small, taking absolutely no space because God is totally out of space.

For God, “One day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day,” wrote Peter in his second letter. In God there is no past and no future, only an eternal present. It is common to ask, “If God can foresee the future, why won’t he stop evil before it happens?” In God the future and the past are one, but not for us. Our decisions in the past affect our future, but for God there is no future separate from the past. God is outside of time. It is up to us to handle evil in space and time with God’s help.

With Jesus Christ, the infinite God entered into space and time. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” In him, the visible is the image of the invisible. “In him all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell.” When we contemplate the Son of God, we need no further imagination.

We have no picture or portrait of Jesus. The shroud of Turin gives us a hint, but we need more. Throughout the centuries, Christians have created different images of God. Two or three generations ago, God was imagined as severe, austere, punishing; many people lived in fear of God, of hell, of purgatory, even in fear of the church. In those days physical punishment was common in the form of slapping, spanking, humiliating; it was used in both Catholic and public schools. It seemed as if everything was a sin. Today we may have the opposite image: God as lenient, tolerant; we tend to believe that hell is empty.

Artists have created many images and statues of Jesus and the saints. There is Gothic, baroque, and modern art. In every church there is likely to be a statue of Mary, Joseph, of the Sacred Heart, or of Saint Anthony. There may be Gregorian chant in Latin, or guitar and rock-and-roll music. What are your preferences?

Reflection questions: What are the God images you grew up with? What were the God images in your parish, then and today? Was it Gothic or modern art? Gregorian chant or contemporary rhythms? What are your favorites images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints?

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Know your faith – January 17-24

Creation: all things in God’s image

According to science, the universe began some 13.8 billion years ago. How did it happen? The most common answer is that only God could have created something out of nothing, but science cannot answer the question of creation; it can only theorize about what happened after the Big Bang.

The first chapter of the book of Genesis describes the creation in seven days, and after each day God, saw it was good. On the sixth day, “God created humans in his image; in the image of God, he created them.” At the end of creation, “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.” Whether creation took seven days or thirteen billion years is less important than the basic belief that God's creation is good.

It is the whole creation that is made at the image and semblance of God because the whole creation is infused with divine wisdom and energy. In every jar of clay, we can find the finger prints of the potter; in every work of art, we can read the spirit of its creator. Indeed, “The heavens declare the glory of Glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.”

This is only a partial view of creation. What about violence, decay, death, suffering, and moral degradation, all of which are present in the universe and our everyday experience? The second story of creation in the book of Genesis addresses this question. We all know story of Adam and Even in the garden of Eden, how they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and were expelled from the garden of eternal happiness. We must avoid two extreme interpretations of this text. Taking every word literally leads to conflict with science, and rejecting the story out of hand leaves unanswered the question of evil in the world.

In the first chapter of Genesis, we read that everything God made was good, and in the second, that after the first sin, everything was bad. The two views cannot be reconciled, because violence, death, and evil are a mystery that cannot be answered by human concepts.

“When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son the of man that you care for him?” The story of creation and the presence of evil in the world cannot be read in isolation. Because God cares for his sons and daughters he will provide over time a partial answer to our questions. In short, creation must be read in light of salvation et viceversa. For this we need a long and complex answer, to be discussed in the weeks to come.

Reflection questions: What is your favorite image of creation: a sunset on the beach? The sky in a dark night? Images of cosmos? Flowers? A child's happy smile? How do you reconcile this image with the presence of evil in the world?

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January, 2021

Like the Magi, follow your star!

“Go forth from your home and go to a place that I will show you.” This was the call to Abraham, but the Magi must have received a similar call They were sent to worship the king of the Jews but they did not know where. After consulting with Herod, the star they had seen in the East went again before them. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with joy.” The star was not just their guide but the symbol of their quest; for them it was the sign that God-Emmanuel was with them. When they found the child with Mary in their poor lodging, they fell down and worshipped him, although he had no appearance of Jewish royalty. It is only through the mysterious insights of faith that they could recognize divinity in his humanity.

Like the Magi, we must follow our star. We are not mass produced; each of us is as unique as our finger prints and our face. We are in the palm of God’s hand; he does not need face recognition.  “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your [face] is continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:16). Each of us has a mission or a role to play in God’s Kingdom.

The meaning of life is in its mission, and meaning and mission are based on faith. We embark on a career without knowing where it will lead. We fall in love and get married without knowing the end result. Jumping into the future requires some faith in the future; and for any mission we must banish fear. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10) To walk over a precipice on a suspended bridge requires faith. “Fear not. You are in the palm of my hand.”

The future is made through the repetition of the present.  Each day we must have faith in the few talents we have. It is by investing them and making them fruitful that we create our mission. It is often only at the end of life that we can read its meaning. Follow your star. It may be cloudy at times. But like the Magi, our quest will lead us to the king of kings. “Fear not. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

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Christ the savior is born:
A treasure in a jar of clay

When the old man Simeon saw the infant Jesus he cried out, “Now I can die, because my eyes have seen the light of the world.” He saw the infant only a brief moment, but his whole life was overflowing with joy. Equally joyful were the shepherd when they found, as announced by the angels, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. But how can such an infant bring joy and peace?

 “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to make it clear that his power comes from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7). The creator of the universe comes as an infant to make it clear that his power can only come from above and not from nature or society. As a vulnerable infant, he was the victim to Herod’s murderous rage which killed all the children of his age, but his life was not in the hands of the powerful of this world. This gives peace and joy to people of good will.

Mary was the jar of clay that contained the treasure of the world. She could have expected, humanly speaking, that the Son of the Most High promised by the angel would be born in a palace or a sacred place. But this infant lying in the manger was a treasure hidden from secular eyes but open to our amazement at the greatness of God.

When the Magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, Mary may have thought that her son was finally being recognized as king, but instead the family had to flee to Egypt. After the family came back from exile, thirty years passed and nothing happened. Where is the Son of the Most High?

Where is God today? He is hidden like in jars of clay. “The kingdom of God is among you,” said Jesus. It is up to us to see it—in all the jars of clay around us.

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Finding God in the
COVID WINTER

When the sun is invisible because of the clouds, we know it is still there because there is light in the clouds. When God seems absent in days of pain, anger, and business, we know that he is still there because he is in our pain, anger, and work.

Finding God in pain. It is through the pain itself that we can find God when we relate suffering to its source. “Why did you do this to me?” This is an honest question that requires an answer. “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save me?” These are the first words of prophet Habakkuk which echo throughout his work. The Jews waited for ages, and found no answer. “We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.” (Psalm 74) We may like to receive an answer from above, but the answer can only come from within. The Psalmist continues, “The day is yours, and yours also the night. YOU established the sun and moon. It was YOU who set all the boundaries of the earth. YOU made both summer and winter.” Both happiness and suffering come from above. Peace comes from acceptance not rebellion. The pain in the dentist’s chair becomes tolerable when we accept it and relax. When the sun hides, we know it will come back.

Finding God in anger. When anger is not managed, it turns into aggression against others, but when we express it to God, we are likely to hear an answer from within. “Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression? Why have you rejected us forever?” The absence of God in our suffering turns to anger at his seeming rejection, but by expressing our anger we objectify it and can reflect about it. When a child cried out, “I hate you, daddy, I hate you!” the father will take no offense but will take the child into his arms. Jeremiah expressed his anger as a rebellion, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.” This is like saying, “God, I hate you! I hate you!” But God did not take offense and answered, “Manage your anger and come back—you are still, and have always been, my prophet (or my son).”       

Finding God in our work with and for others. “What you do the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me.” During the pandemic winter we have many opportunities to do little things for others, like a telephone call or email to encourage them or simply to keep in touch. Of course, we praise the essential workers. More modestly, we care for others when we follow the COVID instructions.

When God is hidding behind the clouds, we know he is still there. 

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 Lay vocations & clergy decline

Does the church have too many priests and too few lay vocations?

Too many priests? Of course not! Too few lay vocations? Certainly. Are the two related? Are there more lay vocations when there are fewer priests? Over the last 20-30 years, the Catholic population has increased worldwide but the number of priests declined. In some Latin American countries, there is one priest for 5,000 to 10,000 Catholics. In the Philippines, the ratio of priests to Catholics is approximately 1 to 8,000 and in Manila about 1 to 20,000. There are about 50,000 parishes in the world with no resident pastor. As a result, Catholics often drop out of the church, join other churches, or become non-religious.

Lay vocations can change this. The well-known example is that of Brother Mike Velarde in Manilla. He was not trained for any role in the church, but he created a movement that involves millions of followers. Do you know that the Sunday Mass he organizes in a Manilla public park attracts more people than any other Mass in the world? He preaches regularly without having gone to a seminary, as do many leaders in the charismatic movement. I have seen something like this in Latin America. In Guatemala City, there are about 1,000 lay preachers who speak in charismatic groups; about 20 of them make preaching their full-time job.

When there is only one priest for five or ten parishes as in common in Europe, parishes progressively die out unless lay volunteers come forward. When the laity gets involved, music and singing become alive. Then there is a drummer, guitars, a digital piano, a dynamic choir, and the whole assembly sings enthusiastically, including the priests and acolytes.

Here are some exceptional examples. In a small village with no pastor and no webpage, the parish became involved in helping migrants and immigrants. At their Mass, the parishioners have learned to recite the Our Father in Aramaic, the language of Jesus spoken in he Middle East. In another church during the pandemic, all parishioners learned sign-language. When the deacon invited the assembly through signs to exchange peace, the whole assembly, including children, signed peace to one another. In another small village where the church holds venerable but deteriorating frescoes, a parish association of 127 members made it its spiritual mission to restore the church to its original beauty. In another village of 700 people and no priest, the parish life remains alive thanks to the village baker who is a deacon and a retired factory worker who is a prominent member of the choir. Everyone’s vocation is simply to use the talents they have.

Too often unconsciously the clergy wants to keep control of everything and thus keeps the laity in a subordinate position. Can we say that the fewer the priests the more lay vocations? No. This is so only when the clergy strongly encourages and supports lay involvement in the church.

How different would the church be if the hierarchy supported financially and intellectually the development of lay vocations by creating seminaries for lay ministries! Fortunately, this is already the case in many parts of the world.

TESTIMONIES

From Sam H. Goyvaerts,
Tilburg University, Netherlands, S.H.Goyvaerts@tilburguniversity.edu

Although there was, and sometimes still is, a strong clerical culture in Belgium, today there are many opportunities for all believers to contribute to church life. This is the clear policy of the Belgian bishops who have appointed non-ordained baptized to their episcopal councils, chaplains to hospitals and prisons, and pastors to parishes, for funerals and prayer services, sometimes also for baptism. Investment is also made in education, training and guidance of these faithful: each diocese has its own training institute.

Some figures from the Belgian R.C. Church’s annual report confirm this. In all the Belgian dioceses together, 2.038 lay people were appointed by a bishop in addition to 1.940 priests. The growing number of lay people is also reflected in the training. In 2019 there were 64 priest students and 39 deacons in seminary training, and 297 men and women in training for pastoral work. One last important figure: of the more than 7,000 people in the R.C.C. in Belgium who bear some kind of responsibility in the church, 55 percent are women. Nevertheless, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to find committed faithful. Some faithful still believe that it is up to the priests to 'serve' them. In this sense, clericalism is not only a problem of priests and bishops, but also of some of the faithful! Nevertheless, the Belgian experience (but also in Germany, France, the Netherlands…) shows that if there is a future for the Church in the West, it is a jointly built future, with shared responsibility of ordained and non-ordained believers for the life of the church. All baptized have a vocation!

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Trust in the institutional church

Trust is the glue that holds society together. To the question, “Can most people be trusted?” over 60% of the respondents said "yes" in Scandinavia and China, 38% in the US, 30% in the UK, and 3 % in the Philippines. Trust in government in the US dropped from 70% in 1958 to 20% in 2015. Trust in churches dropped from 68% to 36%, which is below the trust in the military (73%), small business (68%), and the police (53%). Can we—or should We—trust in the institutional church?

Before the Vatican II Council, people generally trusted the church and the clergy. It is in the 1960s that emerged the polarization between liberals and conservatives, in the Catholic as well as the Protestant Churches. Christians have adopted the political language of politicians. Many Catholic liberals wanted more change, and they started labeling the hierarchy “the institutional church.” A further distinction emerged among the young between non-rfeligious spirituality and institutional religion. In short, distrust in the institutional church was mainly created by the dissatisfaction of liberals about the lack of change in the church, and also by the increasing interest in non-religious spirituality. Hence the question, can or should good Catholics trust in the institutional church?

Distrust and doubt are part of adult faith. Believing in Santa Claus and in church leaders as if they were Santa Claus is naïve. Critical mindedness is a healthy attitude of faith. Yet it is trust that is the glue of churches as well as societies. Without supernatural faith the church is not much more than any social institution.

Religious faith is a theological virtue, that is, something acquired through effort and practice. It takes self-control not to say anything negative about or to a friend when we are disappointed and doubtful about his or her loyalty. It takes will power to trust in God when he seems absent. The situation about the church is even worse: we can see her weaknesses, her absence of initiatives in times of crisis—and we are rightfully critical—but it takes effort to see the positive, or at least to keep silence about the negatives, and keep faith in Christ the head of the church who has selected fallible men as his servants.

Over the last 80 years, I moved from a child’s trust in Santa Claus, to the uncritical faith of cultural religion, to a critical faith after Vatican II, to hyper-critical attitude of the culture of suspicion in the 70’s and 80’s, to a more sober faith, both critical and trusting, in recent years. There is no adult faith with some questioning, but in the long run distrust destroys both faith and the church.

Many of our contemporaries seem stuck, either is dogmatic conservatism or in hyper-critical liberalism. Both are undesirable in the long run.Where do you stand?

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“All things were created through him and for him"

Reflections for times of anger, bitterness, and polarization

In God’s plan, all things come from God and return to him through Jesus Christ. The goals Christians should pursue is to reconcile all things in Christ and for him, not at the end of time, but in our everyday life (Colossians 1:16). Paul warned the Philippians: “Beware of dogs! Beware of the evil-workers.” In every society there are bad apples, bad examples that contaminate the whole body. It is not enough to condemn them because most probably we have already been contaminated and follow their bad examples of anger, bitterness, and polarization.

In times of political campaigns and elections, or just in the situation of confrontations in families, cities, and countries, we have to be beware of bad examples that contaminate all of us. In politics, most speeches are negative camplaints: they attack other candidates instead of outlining their own program. It is true that the best defense is attack. There is the negative attack of destroying others, and the positive position of offering solutions. This is also what often happens in family disputes: when attacked, we fight back rather than seek solutions. Here are some specific points.

- Limit your complaint or attack to one specific point.  Usually an argument begins with one (often minor) issue, but it quickly degenerates into a general war. This is also the war of one political party against another. In an argument we tend to bring up all out the grievances of the previous week and of the previous month and past years. No! Limit yourself to one specific point.

- Argue over specific issues, not personal traits. Specific issues in politics are economic development, health care programs, poverty and social justice, criminal punishment and rehabilitation, unequal education, taxes, etc. Instead of proposing a plan, politicians like to attack the personality and the accomplishments of opponents. In many families there are specific issues that need to be addressed: unequal contribution to family chores, gender biases, television and cell phone addiction, overspending, laziness, unwillingness to learn and change, etc. Instead of discussion these issues, we tend to attack: “Your never help!” “You’re such a lazy bump!”

- Don’t use absolutes like “Your never,” or “you always.” Be aware that “never” is never right, and “always” is always wrong. Even if such statement is actually true, the use of absolutes sabotages the discussion. What can you replay to the accusation “You always…” except to explode in anger, “And you never listen to what I have to say!” This creates a stalemate of confrontation and polarization.

- Finally, Don’t lecture. Don’t shame. Don’t blame. Don’t nag. No sarcasm, no irony, no belittling. Don’t label. Don’t interrupt. No take-it-or-leave-it. No win or lose argument. All of these are common in political debates. Why is it so? Politicians do so in public because they probably do so in private; and when we hear these politicians, we imitate them in private.
God’s plan is to reconcile all things in Christ and for him, and we have to do our part to make it happen. Paul warned “Beware of dogs!” Not in order that we bark and bite back, but in order to bring peace and reconciliation. In the words of Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon.

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IN THE COMPANY OF SAINTS,
Our Friends and Guides

The saints were a major characteristic of the Catholic identity in the past. At birth, children were given the name of a saint. The anniversary of the feast of this patron saint was often celebrated more joyfully than the birthday. In a family of three or four children and quite a few cousins, one would be familiar with the name of quite a few saints. In the popular culture, the saints’ days constituted the calendar of the year, besides the major feasts of Christmas and Easter. There were special festivities at some of the saints’ days. Most of this is gone in the U.S. but these traditions are still alive and well in many places in the world.

At times there was some abuse in the past. Some saints were considered specialists  and people went to them the way we go different doctor for different needs—like to St. Anthony for lost items, St. Jude and  St. Rita for lost causes,  St. Gerard  for motherhood, St. Peregrine for cancer etc. People expected miracles, and even miracles-on-demand. Mary and the saints were often considered more powerful to answer people’s prayers than God himself. Of course, there was also much faith and trust in God.

Saints are not just intercessors. More importantly they are companions, friends, and guides for our daily lives.  In the past, the memory of saints was transmitted by the popular culture. In my province of origin, St. Odile, the daughter of the duke of Adalrich, founded a monastery on top of a mountain in the 8th century. The monastery is still in use. It is visited by lots of tourists and pilgrims. It is also a place of perpetual adoration where volunteers come to spend a week-long retreat.

My cousin’s name was Genevieve, and St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris. The city was saved through her prayer from the invasion of Attila’s Hunts in 451. As children we learned about this in history classes. We also learned about John of Arc who delivered Orleans and had Charles VII crowned as king in Reims in 1429. The 17th century priest, St. Vincent de Paul, is very popular around the world. His story was popularized in the 1947 movie, Monsieur Vincent, still available. Many movies have popularized important saints, like Óscar Romero, who opposed the oppressive military dictatorship of his country.

What are the popular saints in your parish or country?

In his talk to the U.S. Congress in 2015, Pope Francis praised “four great Americans”: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day. None is a canonized saint but all four can be seen as friends and guides in everyday life. Lincoln is of great inspiration to students of public life, Martin Luther King and Dorothy Day to social activists, and Merton to reformers of religious life. It is through the examples of such exceptional figures that we find answer to the question “What would Lincoln/King/Day/Vincent de Paul, etc.  do in my situation?”           

A Christian life without familiarity with the saints is like knowing the English language without knowledge of the English literature, or claiming to know a country without knowing its history, or marrying a person without knowing his/her past. Without knowledge of the past, there can only be a foggy future. Without the examples of saints, we walk in the dark.

Today we must rely on books to become familiar with the great followers of the gospel. Here are two introductory books: A Living Gospel by Robert Ellsberg who interacts in the book with the heroes he describes: Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and Charles de Foucauld. The other is My Life with the Saints by James Martin, S.J who describes his daily interactions with saints as friends and guides. Today, books are our best source of information about saints. Can you recommend one or two?

Are the Saints your Friends and Guides?

TESTIMONIES

From Eugene Finnegan
Calumet College of St. Joseph, efinne1540@gmail.com

          As a kid, I grew up in northeastern New Jersey in the early 1950s, along what has kindly become known as the “Chemical Coast” because of all the pollution in the waters between New Jersey and New York City. Thus, I was sick a lot because of the terrible air pollution. I went to a Catholic grade school, so that one time when I was sick, my mother got me a book about the “Little Flower.” This was the story of a little girl writing about growing up and being sick at the same time, the story of a soul. I could relate to that. There was a photograph on the cover of a young nun that was the Little Flower herself, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She was a saint, but this cover did not have a statue or painting of a saint, but a real live photograph.
          Thérèse was almost a contemporary, since she died at the age of twenty-four in 1897, the year before my father was born. Two of her sisters were still living in the 1950s. She had lived in northern Normandy, France, the place where D-Day took place. As a Carmelite nun, she had a spirituality of the “little way,” not some grand scheme. On reading this book, I realized that she got annoyed by little things, just like me. Obviously, she was famous, but for me, a twelve-year old sick kid, she was a relatable saint. I suddenly realized that saints were people too. This is something that I took with me the rest of my life. Being holy was being ordinary in all the little things in life, but with a spiritual purpose.

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SALVATION BY FAITH
and nothing else?

            The topic of salvation by faith is central in St. Paul's theology and has become again a central issue during the Reformation. This is a difficult and controverted topic. Rather than present Paul’s discussion as of 2,000 years ago, I will present the issue as it stands today. There are conflictive views about salvation which can be avoided if we discuss, not the theologies, but practical dimensions of salvation. I will distinguish between salvation as 1) doctrine, 2) religious practices, and 3) theological virtues. Here is in a simplified summary of it.

1.         The Doctrines of the faith. Every Sunday we repeat our profession of faith and every year during the Easter Vigil we renew the baptism promises. We are used to the idea that salvation comes through the doctrines of the faith. Since childhood we have accepted the church teaching that through baptism and no mortal sin we go to heaven. Nothing else? No. “Salvation by faith alone” is also a belief. Moreover, Lutherans and the Catholics have come to an agreement in their Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This controversial issue seems to have been settled.

2.         Faith and the required practices. No church claims that salvation is automatic: it always involves some practices, like church attendance and financial offerings. There are also the Ten Commandments and the sacraments. Now we may believe that salvation comes through a few practices, and we may think of ourselves as good practicing Catholics.

3.         The practice of faith, hope and love. “If I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1) There is faith in submitting to the doctrines of the faith and there is faith and love in one’s religious practices, but the daily practice of faith and love is sometnhing more.

          Everybody has the opportunity to practice faith and love several times a day. Are you stuck in the traffic? Have faith in God's Providence. Are you waiting in line in the grocery store? Pray for all the people around you. Are you waiting in the doctor’s office? Close your eyes like taking a nap and find rest in God. You are sick and bed-ridden? You have the whole day to express your trust in God.

          All virtues are always practiced in the present. Courage is shown in dangerous situations not in fictitious stories. Wisdom must be shown in difficult choices, not in writing wisdom books. Practices can be planned, but virtues are in the present moment. Faith, hope, and love must be practiced in the spur of the moment when the opportunity presents itself. For that, we need God’s Spirit.  Beliefs are accepted by reason, and religious practices are performed by the power of the will, but for faith and love, reason and will are not sufficient. “Christ set us free”—free of human passions and the dominance of reason and will—because “God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts.” (4:6). By being “baptized (that is, immersed) into Christ, [we] have clothed ourselves with Christ.” Therefore, Paul concludes, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” (5:26) This is what we do when we practice faith, hope, and love.

  Where do you stand?
- Is your faith that of a child's acceptance of church doctrines?
- Is your faith summarized in your religious practices?
- How do you respond to the daily circumstances of frustration (with faith?), of irritation (with forgiveness?), and human needs (with self-giving?)?
          How do you move from level one to level three?

TESTIMONIES

From Guy C. Carter,
Saint Peter’s University, drguychrcarter@gmail.com

          It seems to me that, though the vision and appreciation of my Catholic faith has expanded to include a maturing sense of both its form and content, and though I hope that my understanding of the application and implication of my faith has matured as well as I stand before God now and in the future, that the fact of my faith has not changed from the first time I asked my mother about God.  I found, as a child, that I could get more information from her on that topic if I asked about Our Lady first. I believed that my mother loved me and would never lie to me, just as I came to believe the same about the greater Church beyond her.  To learn, in the words of the Catechism, that God creates me because he loves me and has infinitely high hopes for me, that God is in fact a united Triune family of love surrounding me and the whole world, seemed and still seems wholly consistent with what my first teacher had imparted, even in the name she gave me, meaning ‘leader’ and ‘Christ-bearer.’
          My faith in the Triune God, with Christ at the center in the midst of his Church, has continued to be expressed and summarized, if not exclusively defined, by my religious practice as a Catholic, through participation in and use of both the Sacraments and the sacramentals, and especially through a consciousness of the Communion of Saints, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth and in heaven, during this dark time of isolation in which it is still far from safe for persons of my age and state of health to congregate with any group, including the assembled People of God.   Though I am grateful to be able to see and hear the Mass streamed online, that is no substitute, and somehow drives home the sadness and isolation of this pandemic. 
         Conscious of how profoundly graced I was in my first teacher, it is my joy now to be both blessed by and to in turn bless my beloved spouse as we ‘shelter in place,’ geographically separated from her blood family and mine, and physically from our parish family, but not from each other.  For each day of that blessing we may still have, with faith in God’s love and goodness through faith in each other, through patient, chaste and humble love, thanks be to God! . Write a comment on Facebook

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SUNDAY MASS:
Private Devotion or Community Celebration?

            Why do you go to Mass on Sundays? Which of the following applies to you?

1.         It’s the family tradition. We have done it since childhood.  It is one of the seven sacraments. The church says so, and it will never change.

2.         At church I feel close to God. At Mass I feel very devotional. I like some of the old hymns, the Gloria, the Credo, and well-known traditional songs. In the old days (and even today), people say the rosary because it makes them feel close to God.  There are many devotional times at Mass. At the beginning, it is good to kneel and pray in silence. And there is consecration and communion.   Some people stay after Mass to pray to a saint or for personal prayer.  The church often ends with a prayer to the Virgin Mary.

There are many devotions associated with the Mass. There is the practice of receiving communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months because of the promise  to St. Mary Alacoque that one will not die without having received the last sacrament. There is also the practice of perpetual adoration which has been adopted in many parishes. The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament ending with the Tantum ergo has also been popular for centuries.
          If you belong to this devotional tradition, you are blessed. It will continue to inspire you. However, it is not very appealing to the younger generation that is looking for something more modern.

3.         Before Vatican II, participation in the Sunday Mass was individual and personal: one could come to church with a missal or without one, follow the Mass in Latin or pray individually, receive communion or not. Basically, it was a personal and individual practice. Now the language is to “celebrate the Eucharist” rather than “offer the Holy Sacrifice.” People want to celebrate because they see the Eucharist as community activity. This requires active participation of the faithful. The music and the songs should be modern, and the choir should involve faithful participation rather than just give a performance. The celebration must involve a spirit of dialogue, not just stereotypical answers like “Amen” or “And with your spirit,” or “Praise be to God.”

At Mass we celebrate the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but his presence has been understood and venerated differently over time.  At some time and for some people, the priest was nearly as sacred as the bread and wine since it is he who consecrates them. At other times and for other people, it is in the sacraments that we find the Lord’s presence. At other times and other people, it is in scripture. Today many people expect to find Christ in his community, in light of his promise, “When two or three are gathered in my name, I am among them.”

Today many Christians want the church to be a true community, one where people know one another, where they can share and discuss personal, family, and social problems. In our consumer self-centered society, the extended family and one’s neighborhood are not communities anymore, but the church should be one. The local church must be the body of Christ as a living reality, not just as a concept. This requires quite a different organization of the parish and quite a different role of the priest. That’s what many people expect, especially the young, or they will drop out.

4.         Many people have dropped out of regular Sunday Mass attendance. They do not really miss it, because for them the Mass has never been a strong family tradition, or for them the Mass has never been an inspiring devotion like for their parents or grandparents. Or maybe they want spirituality rather than institutional religiosity.

Where do you stand?   What do you expect your journey to be in the next 10 or 20 years? What spiritual legacy will you transmit to your children? Write A comment.

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August 15, Assumption Day

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

 Devotion to the Virgin Mary has always been inspired by the love and veneration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Although there is little in the Scriptures, there is enough to justify our veneration. There are three basic texts.
          The Annunciation is the story of Mary’s vocation, and also of our own. In any vocation there is a dialogue like, “How is this possible?” – “Nothing is impossible to God.” – “Let it be done according to your word.”  Our most common vocation is to have been called to be part of the church of Jesus Christ, and we all had the opportunity, at one time or another, to doubt, question, resist, and finally say “Yes.”
          Mary followed Jesus to calvary when all the disciples fled. We all have the opportunity to be faithful when it is easier to give up and say “I just had it!” For instance, in times of serious sickness, financial disaster, family breakdown, or the death of a loved one.
          Finally, on the cross Jesus said to John, “Behold your mother,” and to Mary, “Woman, behold your son.” Jesus thus instituted Mary as the New Eve who will generate many beloved disciples like John.
          These three texts have inspired at least three types of devotions: that of the followers of Christ who also venerate his mother, that of the suffering people who turn to Mary as Mother of Sorrows, and that of disciples who ask her to help them in their imitation of Christ. Moreover, today there is also the tendency to reject all Marian devotions.

1.         The veneration of Mary has been part of the Christian faith since early Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 defined the virginal conception of Jesus, and hundred years later in 431, the Council of Ephesus in 431 officially called Mary "Mother of God" (Theotokos).  The feast of the "Memory of Mary, Mother of God" was celebrated on August 15 in Jerusalem by the year 350. Sixteen hundred years later, we still venerate Mary on August 15.
        In every country, Catholics are very attached to their national shrine: Guadalupe in Mexico,  Lourdes in France, The Black Madonna of Częstochowa in Poland, and Our Lady of Antipolo in the Philippines, etc.  Many people come to these shrines with prayers and expectations. There are numerous stories of miracles attached to each one of them. We all need a miracle in times of crisis.

2.         Another Marian tradition is that of Our Lady of Sorrow, of the Sorrowful Mother, and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. This tradition takes inspiration from the prophecy of Simeon to Mary, that a sword will pierce her heart. When Mary is seen as the Mother of compassion, people ask for comfort and support. There are many painful situations (death, sickness, and unbearable poverty) when people need emotional and spiritual support rather than a miracle.  This is a common devotion in poor countries where people have little control over their destiny. The special times of this devotion are February 2 in the Catholic Church and during the Holy Week, especially during the long and numerous passion processions.

3.         Mary is also of special inspiration to the disciples who endeavor to follow Jesus in every day life. Taking inspiration from the various traditions of religious life, they make the imitation of Christ the center of their lives; they may be lay or religious. For these disciples, Mary is their mother as Jesus is their Lord. They are not lonely religious individualists because they live in the company of Jesus and Mary, the Lord and his saints, God the Father, Jesus the Savior, and the Spirit the Sanctifier. Prayers to Mary and devotions to the saints are part of their following of Jesus.

4.         There has been a general decline of devotional practices over the last two or three generations, and the devotions to Mary have similarly been affected. Some Protestants have always objected to all devotions as not found in the bible, yet “This is your mother” is Jesus’ legacy to all future generations of Christians. Today one may sincerely feel no attraction to Marian devotions because they may appear as old-fashioned or immature. It is true that some plaster-like statues or overly emotional paintings may turn younger people off. Marian devotions have always been culture-bound, hence not appealing to outsiders of that culture. It is the vocation of artists, writers, preachers, and reformers to present us with attractive religious images of Jesus and Mary.

What is your preferred Marian devotion? How enthusiastic or skeptical are you in today’s changing church? What would you suggest to questioning young Catholics?

TESTIMONIES

From Michael Dallaire, Canada,
michael@michaeldallaire.com, www.michaeldallaire.com

          As a cradle Catholic I was imbued with a profound respect for Mary, our Holy Mother. Of course, like many of my peers who were born after WWII and lived through Vatican II and its ongoing implementation, I attended Catholic elementary schools when annual May processions to Mary were celebrated. These were important ceremonies.  But, what made the most impact upon me was the quiet witness and reverence which both my maternal grandmother, Cecilia, and paternal great-grandmother, Elise, demonstrated towards Mary. Quiet matriarchs, they practiced the recitation of the rosary as a form of personal meditation. How lucky I am to have inherited their rosaries, which I now and then pull out and use for my own meditation in times of trouble.
         Later, while studying history and then theology at university, I came to understand how Marion devotion emerged from below, from the people of God, as a counterbalance to the tendency to absolutize a patriarchal presentation of God. Over time peoples’ understanding of Mary’s significant role of accompaniment during suffering and death, tragedy and crucifixion, has found expression in devotional practices many of which help us endure the hardships of life. This is why images of Mary are so diverse and ubiquitous, from Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Black Madonna, from Rome to the home. She continues to speak to us, drawing us closer to her in times of suffering, gathering us into her warm embrace. And this is why even today Mary, our Mother, is with us just as she was at the foot of Jesus’ cross.

Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, stevensa@ptd.net
Professor Emeritus of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College

         Mary, the Mother of God, has always occupied a special place in my personal piety.  My understanding of her role in theology and Catholic praxis has been shaped by the Latino culture by which I have been shaped throughout my life.  The more historical and analytical I have become about Catholicism, the deeper has become my devotion to Mary. This experience of mine runs in reverse to many academics wherein the light of analytical reason often chases away the mystery of faith.  As a scholar whose career began after the Second Vatican Council, I was initially inclined to scorn the traditions of rosary, candles and honored images of Marian devotion in my Puerto Rican home.  However, my mature research has instead led me to a role as advocate of Marian devotion in order to preserve an indispensable religious and cultural identity.  
         Two historical characteristics have stayed with me: racial rootedness and matriarchal femininity. Racial rootedness is clearest in the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe:  the popularity of Mary in Mexico is understandable given the role of woman among the indigenous Aztec. This image of Mary links Catholicism with the original Latin American religiosity by fulfillment rather than by cancelation. while there was a tendency to destroy this non-European image of Mary. For me, on the contrary, indigenous images link local religiosity with the unfolding of Salvation history around the globe. 
         There is also the matriarchal femininity of Mary in her various Latin American devotions.  Nothing rings closer to our family experiences than a strong woman at the center of faith transmission.  To that personal experience I add the historical context of colonialism and oppression.  For most of our Puerto Rican history, we have lived in a society where men are “emasculated” by a politico-economic system that denies the human dignity of a conquered people.  Whether under Spain or the US, the limitations placed on our male leaders has created space for matriarchy. In a colonial situation, survival often depends on replacing foreign patriarchy with native matriarchy. This is Mary’s meaning to me.

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CATHOLIC IDENTITY

How do you recognize a Catholic? Here are some signs.

Meatless Fridays. The custom of no meat on Fridays and fasting five days a week during Lent has been the rule for centuries until the American bishops abolished it in 1966. According to Andrew Greeley, the US bishops’ decision of 1966 was “the most unnecessary and the most devastating” implementation of Vatican II. Today, if you say you fast, people may think that you are a Muslim.  Catholic fasting has become an oxymoron.

Sunday celebration. Before Vatican II, everybody dressed up for Sunday Mass. Because few people had a car, walking to church in their Sunday best identified Catholics. Now it identifies evangelicals. Moreover, the Sunday family meal was always special. Now the family activities are fragmented according to each individual’s schedule.

The church bells. On weekdays the parish bells rang for the 7 AM Mass and at Noon for the Angelus. On Sunday they rang for the various Masses, and Vespers in the afternoon. The bells also rang at the Consecration of the 10 AM High Mass. Moreover, when the death knell rang, people knew that a Catholic had died. Today, a call to prayer from the Minaret will wake you up at 5 AM if you stay in the Arab section of Jerusalem.

Processions. In past centuries, the whole community marched processionally throughout the streets on all major celebrations—like parades today on major holidays. In pre-Vatican II days, the processions of Corpus Christi and Assumption day were well attended and took several hours. On Rogation Day (April 25) the procession went to the fields to bless the future harvest. In Guatemala City, processions last over ten hours and involve thousands of participants. Today in the U.S. there are ten times more secular parades and political marches than religious processions.

Pilgrimages and vows. Pilgrimages in Christianity were once as popular as they are today in Islam. In my village there was a yearly pilgrimage on foot to a shrine a few miles away, in response to a vow made in the distant past when the plague killed most of the inhabitants. About 100,000 pilgrims come regularly to Esquipulas in Guatemala on January 15. Many told me they have had made the vow to come in thanksgiving for a favor received.

Devotions and the rosary. In my parish a long time ago, there was rosary prayer at 5 PM right after school. The rosary was the most popular devotion; many people recited it, even during Mass. There was a crucifix in most rooms of the house, and often a home-altar decorated with fresh flowers. Some people even had a statue in their front yard.

The Mass and the Eucharist. Since Vatican II the Mass is often called the Eucharist, but not much has changed.  Mass attendance has dropped by 30 to 50 percent at each generation since the 1960s. Moreover, only 31% of Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist according to the 2019 Pew report; other measurements find slightly different percentages. Both the beliefs and the practices of Catholics have drastically changed.

Many Catholic still find their identity in the characteristics described above, and rightly so. But self-identities are constructed and achieved rather than given.        

How would you identify Catholics today?

Catholics are Christians. Christ is the center and the core of his church. In many places in the world and in the U.S., to be a Christian means to be a Protestant. We must proudly claim that we are Catholic Christians.

The message of the Sunday liturgy is always given by the gospel reading. By following the gospels (eu-angelion), we become evangelical. Many Protestant evangelicals are more biblical than evangelical when they take the stories of Moses, Joshua, and David as equally important as those of the gospels. There are many Catholics who consider themselves to be evangelical Catholics.

The Catholic Church stands for unity in diversity (but in fact she often fosters unity in conformity). Diversity includes the variety of traditions throughout the centuries, not just the Tradition of official teaching. Unity means that when one member suffers, all suffer and all must help. Works of charity are a typical and traditional Catholic characteristic. Catholic diversity includes both highly rational theologies and emotional charismatic effusions. There is no conflict between faith and reason, and between faith and emotions, and the care of the body.

The Catholic imagination is sacramental and incarnational. The Word became flesh for us to see and consume. Rituals and sacraments are visual signs of the unity and diversity of Catholic beliefs and practices. Worship is most inspiring when beauty animates its expression.

How else would you define Catholic identity?

COMMENTS

From Ana Lourdes Suárez,
Universidad Católica Argentina, analourdessuarez@gmail.com
          Catholic diversity includes both highly rational theologies and emotional charismatic effusions. As for my experience in Latin American countries—the region of the world with most Catholics, most Catholics in Latin America frame their faith in devotions, community practices, and a variety of practices (pilgrimages, novenas, attending sanctuaries, etc…) that are quite parallel to receiving the sacraments of the Church. They identify as Catholics not for attending mass, but for being able to have this emotional belonging from which they frame their identity as Catholics, and feed their spirituality.
          A missing point in Pierre´s arguments is the Vatican, the Pope. Catholics identify with this particular kind of leadership. Not that they follow the pope's teachings; they may not even know what his teachings are (particularly in what has to do with moral sexual issues, which they certainly will not follow). My point is that they have an emotional attachment to the person of the pope.

From Simon Aihiokhai,
University of Portland, aihiokhais@yahoo.co.uk
Reclaiming plurality after Trent
         The Council of Trent responded to the hemorrhage of the Protestant Reformation by enforcing uniformity: One Vision; One Leadership; and Oneness in Doctrines.  Identity, however, is not a badge. It is a way of being church in one’s relationship with Christ and in dialogue with the context of one's faith community.
         Catholic identity today is being negotiated in response to multiple forces in theology, rituals, church governance, doctrines, and even language. Catholic identity is challenged by women’s call to leadership and ordination. One thing is certain, Catholic identity in the 21st century must open to geo-political changes, as the center of power in the Church is moving away from Europe. This shift will require great imagination.

Thomas Parmar, India
I like and love to pray Seven Rosary daily; the Rosary is in my daily life. Due to the lockdown, no church is open for daily Mass. I am unable to attend the Wednesday evening Mass with Novena to our Lady of Perpetual Help, the first Friday Evening Mass with adoration of the Holy Sacrament, and the Sunday morning Mass ...

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The covid winder & self-reliance

The shut-down forced all of us to be more self-reliant. When we cannot find an item at our regular store, we can go to another one. When we cannot go to the gym, we can exercise at home. And because the churches are closed or of limited access, we can find religious services online. Self-reliance is increasingly necessary.

Most of us grew up in passive acceptance of the adult world, but things have changed. Today young people do not want to be lectured; they want to be treated as active learners. In church we may still be treated as passive recipients but we must become religiously self-reliant. Faith is a flickering light that will die if we do not feed it by seeking what we need.

Become an active spiritual seeker! The internet is a good source of information besides books. There are channels of religious radio and television. Youtube is a good source of inspiration. Blogs can widen our horizon. We can also find inspiration in devotions like the rosary, evening prayer, and bible reading.

“The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27). We go to church to be nourished. If your church feels boring most of the time, it is not fulfilling its function and you need to go elsewhere. Because a church may not be able to satisfy everybody’s needs, those less satisfied must actively seek another church for the food they need.

Become more self-reliant by joining a group or a special program during Advent. People need small groups where they can share their experiences. There are more members on Facebook than in all the Christian churches combined. Parishes should have discussion groups like Facebook; join one if you can.

That covid winter drags on too much! We are tired, bored, lonely, and angry! For this long winter, we need to become more self-reliant and active. Here are some suggestions.

• Get out of your isolation. Call friends and family members. Organize Zoom or Whatsapp conferences.
• Express your negative feelings like anger in order to control them, and by doing so, you allow others to express and control their negative feelings.
• Cultivate the mind through readings and educational programs: any increase in knowledge is an incdrease of selfhood.
• Write letters or emails, or a diary, or an article or blog to be shared with others for comments.
• Have daily exercices like prayer, bible reading, or taking a walk in the neighbohood.
• Occasionally have a treat to make you feel good and cheer up.

 

COMMENTS

From Sam H. Goyvaerts,
Tilburg University, Netherlands, S.H.Goyvaerts@tilburguniversity.edu
          I very much agree with the fact that the corona virus urges people to be more self-reliant. From a liturgical perspective, I noticed this was very hard for many Catholics. The liturgy, being advocated as source and summit since Vatican II, was and is narrowed down for many people into celebrating Sunday Eucharist. Of course liturgy is much more, but for many catholic faithful in my country (Belgium), liturgically practicing their faith means: going to mass on Sunday. The rich array of devotional practices in Catholic Flanders prior to the 1960s has largely disappeared. Where many families used to have the habit of praying every evening (a decade or some mysteries of the Rosary) and all the faithful knew the Angelus by heart and were reminded of it three times a day with the bells of the church, is over.
          People's missals containing not only the texts of the mass but also including many house, garden and kitchen prayers, can only be found at flea markets. The liturgical, devotional life of people outside the mass has disappeared. Even before the corona-lockdown, I noticed that students and people around me didn't know how to pray anymore. The question which the apostles asked Jesus: "Lord teach us how to pray" has become extremely topical because of the corona crisis. I’m strongly convinced that church communities should indeed, as you write, work on adult education in small groups, but first and foremost help people to pray. The liturgy is indeed the source and summit of Christian life, but in order to reach that summit one can find a slowly ascending path of Christian devotional and liturgical practices that, over the past fifty years, we have not walked enough together with people, at least as far as I can see in my region. Fortunately, the corona crisis has also shown the great value of social media in view of this, as you rightly describe. Let's certainly use them as well as possible to introduce people to the rich and long-standing tradition of prayer and liturgy, which is – let us not forget - is much broader than just the Sunday Eucharist.

From Simon Aihiokhai,
University of Portland, aihiokhais@yahoo.co.uk
The current global pandemic has offered Christian churches an enviable opportunity to be more imaginative on how to understand ministry that is relevant for our times. With this understanding, one has to ask the following question: In what ways must the current ministries in our Church today be re-imagined to allow for new charisms to emerge? Remember, all ministries are at the service of the baptized, including the very ministerial one through which we are introduced into through the waters of baptism. In other words, to be a Christian is to be called to a life of service (diakonia) to all of God's people in God's world. Can we today look at the family itself as a form of ministry in the Church? It is the first place where the imaginative power of church rises up to the surface of our ecclesial consciousness as people tied together in the Spirit of fellowship (koinonia)? In what ways, then, can the Church allow home rituals carried out by family members become a way of enacting the call to holiness that baptism invites us to? How can these roles also allow for the expression of the one priesthood of Christ? In what ways can the role of healthcare workers today become a form of diaconal ministry to God's people to make possible the reconciliation and wholeness of the sacrament of anointing of the sick? Especially because we have been forced by the current pandemic to abandon our loved ones to go through the journey of dying alone?
Add a comment below (10-20 lines)

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Bishop in El Paso kneeled for George Floyd.
Two days later, Pope Francis called

Bishop Mark Seitz's act of kneeling in prayer for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd prompted a call from Pope Francis this week. By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN.

With eyes closed, masks covering their faces, white roses in hand and handwritten signs that read "Black Lives Matter," Seitz and 12 other priests from the Diocese of El Paso knelt in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on Monday.

They were praying in silence for George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police after an officer knelt on his neck for that same amount of time. "Frankly, what I did and what I have said is only a very small way to take part in what so many are doing in their peaceful protests," Seitz said.

Two days after the clergy's prayer, Seitz had just finished celebrating Mass when he got a call on his cellphone from the pontiff himself. In Spanish, Francis told Seitz how grateful he was for Seitz's response to Floyd's death. "Through me, he's expressing his unity with everyone who is willing to step out and say this needs to change," Seitz said. "This should never happen again. Wherever there is a lack of respect for human beings, where there's a judgment based on the color of their skin, this has to be rooted out. Whether it's in law enforcement, in business, in government, in any aspect of our society, this has to change. And now we know very clearly that the Holy Father is making this his prayer."

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WHAT THE PANDEMIC HAS CHANGED

Life in New York is slowly returning to normal. The pandemic has changed most of us. It has changed business, education, politics, and religion. What did I miss? What did I gain?

As the above picture suggests, the basic image of the pandemic was that of masks isolating us from one another. The first weeks were most unpleasant because of separation from family and friends. I had to adjust and quickly organized Zoom conferences with many family members. WhatsApp video calls have also been very useful. Actually, the pandemic brought us closer together, as the face-to-face conversations via zoom or whatsapp are more gratifying than telephone calls.

The pandemic passed me by.  I had two sick people in my house, unable to work because of the virus, but it did not touch me. I was blessed, and am aware that there were many deaths in Long Island where I live. What about you?

Life in the distant suburbs is quite different from city life in apartments. Here there was no problem going shopping for food and other necessities. Life was practically undisrupted. The barbershop was closed. When my hair got too long, I simply cut it myself, and easy job without much damage.

The quarantine encouraged self-reliance. From what I can see, school children in my family became more responsible because they had to follow a discipline of work and fun: 40 - 50 minutes of work followed by half an hour of fun activities, every day and every week for the last three months. The schools had well-organized schedules of daily lessons, video conferences, and personal tutoring.

The shut-down forced us to be more self-reliant. The gym is closed? Then exercise at home (I did what I could). The libraries and schools are closed? I had to buy books instead of renting them. Food and house supplies? Plan ahead. The restaurants are closed? Do more home cooking. I remembered two family recipes from the 1950s which I had never tried. Generally, it was a return to home cooking. Was it so in your family?

I was somewhat disappointed by the churches around here. They did nothing, for the simple reason that they were not prepared technologically. Most churches do not have the telephone number and the e-address of their members. The senior citizen center of my town called me to inquire about my health. I would have liked my church to call me. Again, I had to become more self-reliant and find on the internet some food for thought, and I found a lot! Will you go back to church after watching services on your screen for three months?