The Gospel According to U2

This past Sunday, which also happened to be the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, known colloquially by its Latin name Corpus Christi, I had the great privilege of seeing U2 live in concert.  The event was rescheduled from last year's original date, which was to bring the Irish rock legends to Spartan Stadium... before Bono threw out his back.  The co-occurrence of this concert and the liturgical fest is of no small import, as I will explain below.

But first, permit me to say that I believe U2 to be one of the most positive forces on the artistic scene today.  Anyone who is even slightly familiar with their music knows that it frequently speaks to spiritual, even explicitly Christian, themes.  Consider lyrics such as "You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains/ Carried the cross of my shame/ O my shame, you know I believe it"?  Or, "The real battle just begun/ To claim the victory Jesus won/ On Sunday, Bloody Sunday"? 

Lest anybody doubt the Christian commitments of the U2 front man, I recall an excerpt I read recently from his interview-style biop.  When asked about his own religious convictions, Bono responds with candor and no small amount of theological depth: 

I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.... The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled . It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven. (From Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas)

Um... wow.  

So what does U2 have to do with the most Holy Eucharist (despite goofy Anglican attempts to integrate their music into worship)?  I would suggest that the lads not only preach a very Eucharistic message, in the form of their music, but live a very Eucharistic life.  


The great gift of the Eucharist is not only the opportunity for real, physical and spiritual communion with Jesus Christ, but also the grace that empowers us to be Eucharist for others.  Christ, in His humility and love, comes to us in the form of bread and wine, to be our spiritual food and drink.  As He did two thousand years ago on Calvary, when He gave up His own life that we might have life, so He continues to do today, wherever the Mass is celebrated.  In the Eucharist, Jesus says to us, "Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).


This message of Christ is also the message of U2.  Bono is one of the greatest philanthropists in the world.  Consider the ONE campaign to cancel Third World debt, and the RED campaign for AIDS relief in Africa, each founded through the magnanimity of Bono.  I would suggest that it is not coincidental that Bono, who is a committed Christian, is also so giving.  Charity is the heart of the Christian life, and Bono has learned that virtue in the school of the Eucharist.  

The Catholic Priority of Truth

I recently had a conversation with my English professor that reminded me of the prevailing attitude toward Pope Benedict XVI, especially among intellectuals. I had met with him to discuss my research paper, but somehow the conversation turned to matters of faith. My professor commented on the pontiff's perceived unconsciousness of his political influence. He mentioned (predictably) the recent opening of the canonization process for Venerable Pope Pius XII, frequently accused of indifference toward the Shoah, and the lifting of the excommunications on members of the Society of St. Pius X, including Bishop Williamson, an infamous Holocaust denier.

I explained that Pius XII harbored hundreds of Jews within the walls of the Vatican itself, and instructed religious houses across Europe to do the same. So grateful was the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, that he converted to Catholicism, taking the name Eugenio, Pius XII's baptismal name. Regarding the Williamson debacle, I explained that while the illicit ordination of bishops is an impediment to full communion with the Church, stupidity is not. Since the members of the SSPX have repented of that crime, canonically, the excommunications must be lifted. Still, he countered, I could not deny that these actions were impolitic. Perhaps.

However, as I left his office, that stubborn and most Catholic of questions weighed on my mind: But is it true? Is it just to deny Pius XII beatification merely because of the slanders against him? Is it fair to deny full communion with the Church to those who have repented of the sin for which they were excommunicated in the first place? Ultimately, it's a matter of differing priorities. For secular intellectuals, many of whom deny man's ability to know truth with certainty, the priority is political advantage in some form or another. Not so for Catholics. Sebastian, in Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece Brideshead Revisited, observed that "everything they think important is different from other people." For Catholics, who vehemently affirm man's ability to know truth with certainty, the priority is the proclamation of that truth which sets us free (John 8:23).

If one desires to understand the mind of the Church and its priorities, Pope Benedict's new book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Sign of the Times, is an excellent guide. As eminent theologian George Weigel writes in the Preface:

World political leaders see the flow of history in terms of interests, alliances, and power. Intellectuals of international repute perceive humanity in terms of their philosophical, historical, or scientific theories.... Popes, if they have the wit and the stomach for it [Benedict does], see the whole picture.... (ix)

This broadness of vision derives not only from the Holy Father's close and frequent contact with bishops and faithful from around the world, but from his grounding in Christ, the Truth whom we can know personally. He explains how Christ-who-is-Truth frees us from the "dictatorship of relativism":

The truth comes to rule, not through violence, but rather through its own power.... [Jesus] does not defend the truth with legions but rather makes it visible through his Passion and thereby implements it. (51)

And this, brothers and sisters, is the essential difference between Catholicism and every other philosophical system: the proclamation of the Truth through Love. It is the bent-but-unbroken logic of the Cross.

Father Barron: What's Wrong Here?

Here is one of my living idols, Father Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Chicago and Word on Fire Ministries. He is an excellent and insightful theologian and an intriguing commentator on popular culture. I think you'll enjoy his take on all things sacred and profane.

Here he comments on Kerry Kennedy's Being Catholic Now and the error of reducing Catholicism to "social justice".

In His peace.

Where We Stand

Less than five days from what is sure to be--for good or ill--the most pivotal election of our generation, I would like to take a final opportunity to say what must be said, to tell you what every Catholic must know... in short, to help you, as a Catholic voter, inform your conscience before you approach your local polling station.

First, as I have said before, the suggestion that abortion is "just one issue among many" is diabolical. Of course, we must not be single-issue voters, but there are issues (i.e. any of the life issues)that carry more weight, morally, than others. The destruction of innocent human life, from conception to natural death, is always an unspeakable crime and must be opposed, over and above any social or economic considerations. Put another way, aborted children cannot benefit from a secure Iraq or low gas prices.

Second, the suggestion that "nothing will really change" regarding abortion is blatantly false. This election is arguably the most important election for the life issues to date, for two reasons: 1) the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and 2) the Supreme Court.

For those who are not familiar with the Freedom of Choice Act (i.e. most of the voting populace), you can and should read about it here. FOCA is the most permissive piece of abortion legislation since Roe v. Wade; it will lift all state and federal restrictions on abortion and require taxpayer dollars to fund abortions. Senator Obama has sworn to sign the bill into law immediately upon taking office.

Further, the next president could make from two to six Supreme Court appointments, depending on whether or not he is elected to a second term. As the next two Justices who are likely to retire are pro-abortion, it is all the more imperative that a pro-life candidate is elected. The possibility of Roe v. Wade (by all accounts the most shoddy and overturnable legislation in the history of Supreme Court jurisprudence)being overturned, once thought impossible, may well be within sight, but only if a pro-life candidate is elected to the presidency.

This is where we stand. As Catholics, we are required to vote with an informed conscience. And a Catholic cannot, in good conscience, vote for a pro-abotion candidate... without grave cause. But here's the thing: what cause could possibly outweigh the destruction of 45 million human persons, not to mention the countless broken hearts and broken homes, the many women and men who have been deeply wounded, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, by the unspeakable crime of abortion?



Mary Immaculate, patroness of the United States, pray for us!

In His peace.

A Home-grown Holocaust

Heated rhetoric, non-sequitors and eptithets are generally not effective forms of argument, still less evangelization. There are, however, ideas and behaviors that are simply evil--I would even say diabolical--and should be named as such.

The suggestion that abortion is just one issue among many, and that citizens must not vote on this single issue, is such an idea. Let me be quite clear: THIS IS A LURE OF THE DEVIL. It is, perhaps, the chief means by which he sways good men and women--unwittingly--to his cause, the destruction of human life. He fills their minds with false or misguided compassion for the poor, the oppressed, the sons of war, whose lives they feel would be better served in voting for a pro-abortion candidate. Again, I say, this is a lie of Satan!

Consider, for a moment, the implications of such a position. The God-given right to life, and the defense of life, which is the primary purpose for which governments are formed, is the cornerstone of our nation. Remove the cornerstone and all the others, the many and varied rights and liberties that we as Americans enjoy, come falling down. When governments take it upon themselves to decide when life begins, and the termination of life becomes a multi-billion dollar industry that preys upon the most innocent and defensless... when we blind ourselves to our own home-grown holocaust with transparent euphemisms and deafen ourselves to the silent screams of 4,000 unborn children every day, then we throw our futures away with the minute and mangled corpses that litter the bio-waste bins.

My brothers and sisters, do not be deceived! Seek always and everywhere the will of God, even and especially in the voting booth. The Lord says, "to whom much has been given, much shall be expected" (Luke 12:48). And we have been given so much; we hold within our hands the lives thousands, millions, of innocents. Do any of us desire to stand before Christ in judgement and explain why we did not stay the hand of the abortionist when the opportunity arose? Our Lord also says, "as you did to these least of my brothers, you did to me" (Matthew 21:40). Shall we be counted among the people of Jerusalem who, though they hailed Him as their King just days before, cried for His crucifixion, or simply said nothing at all? Shall we say with Pilate, "What is truth?" and wash our hands of all accountability? God forvive us!

I have a challenge for you all. Jesus, as always, is our best model for prayer. He was disciplined in silence and solitude; He was led by the Spirit into the desert where he fasted and prayed for forty days. In immitation of our Lord, and for the sake of the thousands unborn children for whom He gave is own life, I ask that you participate in the national 40 Days for Life campaign. Devote yourselves, I beg you, to prayer and fasting from September 24-November 2. And pray, especially, for wisdom from the Holy Spirit, to vote in conformity with the will of God, which is always the preservation of human life.

Below is an excellent video from Catholicvote.com. I encourage all to watch it with a listening heart.



In His peace.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

In ancient Rome, Christians would rescue weak, deformed and unwanted infants that had been left to die by exposure. That traditon continues today; two thousand years later, the Catholic Church is still the first and best advocate of the most vulnerable among us, from conception to natural death.

As I have said before, this is not a political blog; my purpose is to witness to Jesus and His Gospel, to provide a uniquely Catholic perspective to every facet of life. To that end, I must--again--denounce Senator Obama as a man opposed to that Gospel and to Christ insofar as he is opposed to the sanctity and integrity of human life. The video below will explain in painful detail what I mean.



Pray for life, pray for our leaders... O Lord, have mercy upon our nation!

In His peace.

Render Unto Caesar

This is not a political blog, and intentionally so. My purpose here is to witness to the perennial truths of the Gospel, not to advocate one policy over another or one politician over another, though I could and, in certain circumstances, should. However, Senator Barack Obama's abuse of Scripture, both Hebrew and Christian, in support of a fundamentally flawed and self-contradictory view of religious pluralism, impels me to speak out.

There are two things that distinguished the Roman Empire, which in many ways provides an ancient model for our American "empire": 1) supreme religious plurality and tolerance and 2) emperor worship. Among the many and varied cults that crowded the temples of the Eternal City, the worship of the emperor as the bringer of national prosperity and security was, as they say, an institution. Chesterton warned, "abolish the God and the government becomes the God" (Christendom in Dublin). While Rome did not exactly abolish God, it did the next worse thing, exalting in a national pantheon every deity who ever claimed dominion over the fates of men, which unfortunately included the likes of Nero and Domitian.

Thus it is imperative to remember that the first-century Christians were not persecuted for their tolerance of the Hebrew god, but for their intolerance of every other god, including the mighty Caesar. They were persecuted for their insistence that such titles as "son of God" were the sole property of the Son of Man, and rigidly refused to make the small concession of lending them to the emperor. Saint John speaks of this bitter trial in his Apocalypse:

Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast [the Emperor]. They worshipped the dragon [Satan] because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshipped the beast and said, "Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?" (13:3, 4)

Senator Obama erroneously suggests that democracy requires that believers "translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values", even as he chides secularists for their lack of religious vocabulary in a clever, but ultimately transparent attempt at moderation. What to make of such a proposal? Why cannot Senator Obama and his fellow progressives see that morality divorced from religion is wholly subjective and arbitrary, totally dependent upon the whims of the individual or the mob? When Lincoln boldly declared that our nation was "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal", he was really making two mutually dependent theological assertions, that men are created and that they are equal. The proposition that all men are created by God, therefore no man is God, and therefore no man may rule another is the only sure foundation of democracy. It was the Creed that cut the chains of a race enslaved.

The Roman martyrs would not leave their religious language at the door of the Forum, and so were left to the the lion's mouth in the Colosseum. The lesson here: religious pluralism is no guarantee of religious freedom and can (paradoxically) usurp that fundamental right. Let us not be deceived by false prophets who cry "peace, peace," or even "hope, hope".