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.

Rend Your Hearts

Praised be Jesus Christ!

My brothers and sisters,

One of the most common homily topics heard on Ash Wednesday is taken from this verse in Joel: "Rend your hearts, not your garments" (2:13). As I sat watching people whom I had never seen in church before file into the pews by the hundreds--as they had at every one of our back-to-back masses that day--I was reminded precisely why.

We have an unfortunate phrase in Catholicism, "C and E Catholics", signifying those Catholics whom most see only twice a year, on Christmas and Easter. One may assume that their sense of religious obligation does not extend beyond these two major feats. However, I think it would be more accurate to say "C, E and A Catholics", the "A" standing for Ash Wednesday, there being a disproportionate number of Catholics who turn out on this day.

Why disproportionate? Well, Christmas and Easter, as stated above, are major feasts and so much a part of the culture that one need not be overly pious to drag oneself out of bed and away from that square idol in the living room to attend mass. Ash Wednesday, by comparison, is a rather minor liturgical observance; at least it is not a holy day of obligation. And yet, so many Catholics treat it as such. These same Catholics, in fact, easily skip mass every Sunday and most holy days. How do I know? Because my parish does not generally offer seven full-to-capacity masses on a given Sunday.

But then, my parish doesn't generally mark worshipers' forheads with a cross of ashes every Sunday either. And here, my brothers and sisters, I believe I have struck at the sad root of the problem. Is it probable that these Catholics, so conspicuously absent 49 weeks out of the year, truly intend to "repent and follow the Gospel"? Is it probable that they intend to maintain the penitential spirit of Lent throughout the 40 Days? Fine. Then we shall expect to see as many as attended our Ash Wednesday masses on the First Sunday of Lent, and every Sunday therafter. Forgive me if I don't hold my breath. Rend your hearts, not your garments!

My brothers and sisters, I'm afraid that so many of us have not and never intended to rend our hearts. Rather, we relish the opportunity to wear our faith on our sleeves--or rather, our foreheads--in an admittedly impressive display of our relgious identity. This is precisely the opposite of genuine repentance. Our Lord counsels in the Gospel for the day, "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites," who "neglect their appearance so that they may appear to others to be fasting." Rather, He says, "anoint your head and wash your face" (Mt 6:16, 17).

Jesus is not concerned here with our physical apperance but with our spiritual disposition. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving done in a spirit of pride are worthless in the eyes of God. Why? Because only when God Himself, and not human affirmation, is the desire of our hearts, only then can we let Him in. And only then can His love transform us into the creatures He created us to be. And brothers and sisters, this is why we wear ashes, to remind ourselves and everyone we meet that we need Him, we need His transforming love, becasue without Him, we are nothing but ashes. "Remember, man," He says to us, "you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19).

I don't complain that they came. Good for them. I pray that the Holy Spirit may begin to work in their hearts in amazing ways because of it. Would that every soul who attended our Ash Wednesday masses and received ashes attend mass every Sunday of the year, and every holy day too. Would that every soul rend their hearts, not their garments, and thus let the Lord of Life in.

In His peace.

Note: I know I've been gone for quite a while; I hope to blog more often--perhaps weekly--as part of my Lenten obsevance. Until then, may you rest in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

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.

A Gift for All People

It is lamentably common to hear Catholics admit to the undoubted authenticity of the charismatic renewal, but in the same breath attemt to disassociate themselves from it, saying something like, "It may be alright for them (i.e. the hyper-emotive or, worse, the especially holy), but it's just not my cup of tea." So that's it... You do your thing and I'll do mine, summarily dismissing the immense weight of support for the charismatic experience from Scripture, the Church Fathers, Vatican Council II and three modern Popes, not to mention the lived experience of thousands of charismatic Catholics throughout the world.

But let this be absolutely clear: the Catholic charismatic renewal is more than a spirituality; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit for all believers. But you need not take my word for it; Popes Paul VI, John Paul the Great and, most recently, Benedict XVI, have all lent their support for the renewal, even calling it "a chance for the Church." It is the firstfruit of the Council, and the answer to John XXIII's prayer that the Lord "renew [his] wonders in our day as by a new Pentecost."

The renewal is primarily an experience, an encounter with the living God, but it is also a mindset. A friend of mine has been frequenting a Baptist church on Sunday mornings and our Catholic church on Sunday evenings. Naturally, his Baptist friends have questions about his Catholic faith, which are more or less familiar: Do you believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist and, come to that, why is it so important anyway? Or, Why is Mary so important in the life of the Church?

The first question is easily answered with a few key scriptures, John 6 among them. Jesus makes it absolutely (and unapologetically) clear that He is "the bread of life," and that His body is "true food" and His blood "true drink" and that "unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you" (35, 53, 55). Period. Many of His hearers find this revelation so offensive that they leave him. And Jesus, who after all is wont to speak in metaphors (parables, to be exact), does not run after them saying, "Wait, come back... you misunderstood me!" He turns to His disciples and asks, "Do you also want to leave?" (67).

Of course, the next logical question is a "what if". What if a remote island tribe has belief in Christ, but no priest to celebrate the Eucharist? Will they be saved? Well, yes. There are precious few things that are neccessary for salvation, baptism and belief in Christ being the only two that come to mind, and even there we admit exceptions. But a far better question is, If the Lord offers us this extraordinary grace (i.e. the Eucharist), as we know He does, and if this grace is His real and substantial presence in the Eucharist, as we know it is, why would we not take it?

We may apply the same question to the issue of Mary. If God offers us this profound gift of His own mother, as we know He does, why would we not take it? God never ceases to bestow gifts upon us in abundance! And to say, "No thank you, Lord, I have enough, I need no more" is at best unwise, at worst simply blasphemous.

Thus so with the charisms. The Scriptures are abundantly clear on this too: "Strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts," says Paul, "especially that you may prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:1). Paul takes personal prophecy as a given among the Corinthians, along with word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, discernment of spirits, miracles and even tongues (glossolalia), of which he says, "I would like all of you to speak in tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:5).

Docility, docility, docility! With Mary, Mother of charismatics, let us be docile to the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, that we may be able to say with her, "May it be done unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:35).



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.

Detachment

Saint John of the Cross (with Teresa of Jesus, founder of the Discalced Carmelite Reform), a revered Doctor of the Church, wrote much on the topic of detachment. That is, that we as Christians should be detached from all temporal things, even those which are themselves good or profitable, such as our human relationships.

We may understand well enough why Saint John would counsel us in detachment from something like wealth, status or power. We need only look around and see how money is often the cause of much anxiety, the enemy of inner peace; the poor break laws to get money, the rich break laws to keep it, and both break more than laws in this plutonian pursuit, leaving in their wake a litter of broken hearts and broken homes. Such is the result when people try to fill with riches the void that only God can fill. And if any suffer more than these two extremes of the economic strata, it is those in the middle who from below and from above are subjected to the perennial lie: Money can indeed buy happiness. The expression "They had just enough money to make them miserable", comes readily to mind.

But what of those things which are obviously good, even of God? What of our friendships and marriages, anything that belongs to the sphere of human relationships? Yes, from these too, Saint John insists, we must be detached, good though they are and far superior to material wealth or status. As Scripture says, "Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would be roundly mocked" (Song of Songs 8:7). Even these, however, can never fill the void in every human heart; loneliness, which is the human condition, can only ever be fully remedied by the indwelling of the Spirit of love and truth.

This does not mean that we must (necessarily) divest ourselves of all worldly wealth, status, power and (God forbid!) relationships, hermit-like. We need not run off to the mountain or the desert to escape temptation for, as the Gospel clearly demonstrates, even there (especially there) do we meet temptation (cf. Matthew 4:1-11). But everything must be ordered to the service of God and judged, for good or for ill, according to the extent that they serve God. If your riches empower you for the service of God, thank Him for them; if your riches are a consistent occasion of sin and grief, thank Him for them and then give them back.

Think about this the next time you get that whopping paycheck (some of which you will save, and some of which you spend on Christmas presents, a dinner out with friends and--one hopes--some charitable cause): What if God took it all away? Would it affect my relationship with my family, my friends... God Himself? Would the loss pull me down into despair? Would my ability to trust and to love be crippled? Would I have the peace of spirit to learn and grow from the experience?

Put another way, our human loves must never become possessive. (See what a difference such slight modifications of language make.) Perfect love (Latin caritas, Greek agape) is not only non-possessive, it is self-giving love... sacrificial love, for which Christ died on the Cross. And this is yet another paradox of the Cross: He loved the world too much to be bound to it.



"Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved." Saint John of the Cross

In His peace.