Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 318
May 23, 2011
"It takes an open and intelligent mind that always seeks truth..."
... willing to go wherever that leads. Becoming a parent also helps.
One of the things I love about this book I've been reading, The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God, is its high-level of reasoning and engagement of critical thinking. I wasn't exactly prepared for that when starting what I already knew was a touching biography about an exceptional life, the one Michael Pakaluk wrote about his wife Ruth after she died.
So writes Sheila Liaugminas, on her MercatorNet blog, about the recently published, The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God: The Story of Ruth Pakaluk: Covert, Mother, Pro-life Activist, edited by Michael Pakaluk. Read the entire post, which contains several excerpts from the book. Also see Peter Kreeft's Introduction to the book, "I Invite You to Meet A Warrior for Life".
Fiorella De Maria, author of "Poor Banished Children", discusses...
... her novel and the craft of novel-writing in a recent interview on Premier Radio; access it via her blog, "Monstrous Regiment of Women". Great stuff!
Also, Fiorella has a short story, "Mariana's Journey", in the Easter 2011 issue of Dappled Things.
Poor Banished Children: A Novel, was recently published by Ignatius Press, and is available in both hardcover and electronic book format.
You can read the opening of the novel on its website; here are the first few paragraphs:
Dreams of the Dead
Death has come for me again. The others are already lost. I heard their screams as I was cast into the night; I heard them cursing as they burned or drowned before the roar of the explosion stopped up my ears and I fell into a world of 
silence. I am burnt by fire and stifled by the black, icy waters that drag me down. There is merciless darkness everywhere, which even the flames tearing the ship cannot pierce. I spin and struggle, raising my head for air as my blood freezes, and I know the sea will take me in the end.
The ship is gone now, and all that remains are burning fragments scattered like votive candles in the night. And I remain—the fragment of a human life, drifting to its close. I am not afraid to die, even though I will dieunabsolved, but I am afraid to be alone. I fear the loneliness of the last journey down to the depths of the sea, where I will take my place among the dead, and no one will know that I came to such a pass. There will be no Requiem for me and no resting place, only a troublesome memory in the minds of a few old friends who believe that I died long ago, at the hands of another aggressor.
There are faces all around me; the spectral images of those I have loved dance around my head, taking their leave of me, whilst those I have lost gaze at me in silent accusation. I will die with so many lives to account for, so much blood I never meant to spill, but it cries out for vengeance nonetheless.
Death is so slow in coming that I find myself fighting. If I had desired death as I yearned for it once, I would not have run onto the deck when I knew the end was truly coming; I would not cling now to splintering driftwood, praying that it will hold me. The very motion of lifting my head to take a breath is an act of defiance. I feel no pain, the chill takes away all sense, and I feel only the weariness of death as it reaches out to me. I have died so many times and been returned to the land of the living that I could almost believe I am not meant to go down with the ship—but I am cold. I am cold and weary and cannot draw breath any longer. In the gloom above my head a single star shines. Stella ... Stella Maris. I am lost. Stella Maris. I call out to the Star of the 'Sea but cannot hear my own voice ringing out across the murderous water. Perhaps this is death, then—cruel death from which I can never awaken. I cannot hold onto the driftwood any longer. My hands grow limp and numb with the cold, so that I cannot feel my own fingers as they uncurl.
"Mother? Mother, I am dying!"
"Hush", says a voice I can hear. "I am holding you."
Dreams again, the dreams of the dead.
Tolkien's Faith | An Interview with Paul E. Kerry
Tolkien's Faith | An Interview with Paul E. Kerry, editor of The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings | by Sean McGuire | Ignatius Insight | May 23, 2011
Dr. Paul E. Kerry is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, research associate at Corpus Christi College and visiting fellow at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge. He specializes in German, Jewish and intellectual history. J.R.R. Tolkien is the latest of several scholarly subjects into which he has plunged. Past works include Thomas Carlyle Resartus: Reappraising Carlyle's Contribution to the Philosophy of History, Political Theory, and Cultural Criticism and Friedrich Schiller: Playwright, Poet, Philosopher, Historian.
He is the editor of the recently published collection, The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2010), which includes essays by Joseph Pearce, Bradley J. Birzer, John Holmes, and several other Tolkien experts. Dr. Kerry is also co-editor, with Sandra Miesel, of the 
book, Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in the Work of J. R. R. Tolkien (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, August 2011). He recently spoke with Sean McGuire (who blogs at The Room of Shattered Glass) about The Ring and the Cross, Tolkien's faith, and the great popularity of The Lord of the Rings.
McGuire: In your Introduction, you mention a lot of questions scholars have covered in the "Is-Tolkien-A-Christian" debate. How did you frame this debate and why?
Kerry: Well, I would first point out that the question is not "Is Tolkien a Christian" – the overwhelming majority of scholars understand that Tolkien was a devout Catholic who believed in the truth, beauty, majesty, and salvific power of the Roman Catholic Church. The question is to what extend did Catholicism inform his fictional writings, particularly The Lord of the Rings, his masterpiece.
As a student at Oxford I was a member of the C.S. Lewis Society that drew many Christians of varying denominations together, as well as those who simply enjoyed his writings. The thought was a glimmer at the time, but I wondered about Tolkien's writings and their relation to Christianity. In the case of Lewis it is more obvious and thus less contested. Sometimes that leads to complacency and Lewis's fiction is relegated to Christian allegory, and we do not see his formidable mind and skills as a writer as clearly as we should.
My long-time colleague Dr Michael Ward, an Anglican clergyman, wrote Planet Narnia (Oxford, 2008) that has been justly praised as an interpretative breakthrough in Lewis scholarship on precisely this point. Michael, in fact, was president of the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society when I was a member and we remained in touch when I was a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge when he was a chaplain at St. Peter's College. In fact, I helped him set up a speaking engagement at Princeton University and I recall when we conversed thinking that I would like The Ring and Cross and Light Beyond All Shadow to reflect the same judicious scholarship that he had employed in Planet Narnia.
I wanted to provide a forum where scholars interested in the subject could articulate their ideas and present them with civility. I think that the exchange in the book between Professors Hutton and Agøy illustrates precisely this.
McGuire: Is it the case that most Americans are too religiously illiterate to understand Tolkien?
Contemporary Obstacles to Catholic Apologetics
From the new Napa Institute blog, a post by Nathaniel Currie on obstacles to apologetics in the 21st century:
In the first chapter of his early work Introduction to Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI recounts the famous story by 
Kierkegaard about the clown and the burning village. He writes,
"According to this story, a traveling circus in Denmark caught fire. The manager thereupon sent the clown, who was already dressed and made up for the performance, into the neighboring village to fetch help, especially as there was a danger that the fire would spread across the fields of dry stubble and engulf the village itself. The clown hurried into the village and requested the inhabitants to come as quickly as possible to the blazing circus and help to put the fire out. But the villagers took the clown's shouts simply for an excellent piece of advertising, meant to attract as many people as possible to the performance; they applauded the clown and laughed till they cried. The clown felt more like weeping than laughing; he tried in vain to get people to be serious, to make it clear to them that this was no stunt, that he was not pretending but was in bitter earnest, that there really was a fire. His supplications only increased the laughter; people thought he was playing his part splendidly — until finally the fire did engulf the village; it was too late for help, and both circus and village were burned to the ground." - (Introduction to Christianity, Chapter 1)
Our Holy Father sees this story as an allegory for the experience contemporary theologians have when trying to assert their role in society and academia. But this allegory can also be extended to include the experience all Catholics have when trying to defend the Faith and evangelize others. In the story, the poor clown is not trusted because the villagers think that what he is telling them is merely a clever ploy to sell tickets, and for the simple reason that "he is a clown." After all, clowns, like all actors, are supposed to be dramatic, entertaining, and dishonest. In the end, however, we can see that both the clown and the villagers are to blame for the resulting tragedy. The clown could have attempted to remove his costume and makeup, and so help the villagers overcome their false assumptions. The villagers, for their part, could have tried to overlook the extraneous circumstances surrounding the clown's plea for help and taken him seriously. Had either party made more of an effort toward effective understanding, perhaps real communication would have occurred.
Similarly, Catholics are often at a disadvantage when it comes to the public square.
Read the entire post, "Contemporary Obstacles to Catholic Apologetics".
May 22, 2011
If you are "into" Jesus, you must be "into" the Church
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2011 | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• Acts 6:1-7
• Psa. 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
• 1 Pet. 2:4-9
• Jn. 14:1-12
Perhaps you, like me, know people who express belief in Jesus, but have no interest in the Church. I once conversed with a young non-Catholic man who summed up this approach by saying, matter-of-factly: "I'm into Jesus, not the Church." There were several reasons for his attitude, including the faulty belief that since the Church is only an external institution (or so he thought), it can have little to do with inner, spiritual transformation.
However, since Jesus did found the Church—described by Saint Paul as the body of Christ (cf., 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:24)—it behooves us to be both "into Jesus" and "into the Church." Today's readings help us appreciate this since they provide insights into the nature and purpose of the Church. Jesus Himself established a basic foundation during His Last Supper discourse. Talking about the mystery of His relationship with the Father, a central theme in the Gospel of John, the Son explained that He came to reveal the Father, to do the Father's works, and to give His disciples the ability to perform similar—even greater—works. "Whoever has seen me," Jesus declared, "has seen the Father."
The Swiss theologian Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, in writing about this perfect, loving relationship between the Father and Son, observed that the Son "steps forward (with divine authority) in order to make the Father visible, and simultaneously he steps back (as the Suffering Servant) in order to reveal the Father, not himself. … In other words, the Father reveals himself by revealing the Son; he gives himself by giving his Son…" (In The Fullness of Faith, Ignatius Press). What does this have to do the Church? The answer comes into sharper focus further on in John's Gospel, when Jesus offers this stunning prayer to the Father, "The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me" (Jn. 17:23-24).
The Father has sent the Son to redeem humanity by drawing us back to Himself through love and mercy into the life-giving communion of the Trinity. "He calls together all men," the Catechism explains, "scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church" (CCC, par 1). Mankind was originally a single family. When Adam and Eve sinned, man's communion with God was suddenly ruptured. God, however, already had a plan of salvation that would create a new family bound together by divine life. This family is the Church, the "household of God" and "the pillar and support of truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). Or, as Saint Peter puts it in today's Epistle, we are being "built into a spiritual house"; we are a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own…"
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides a snapshot of sorts of the Church's concrete, external character. As the early Church grew rapidly, the Apostles recognized the need to grant authority to other men—the first deacons—to carry out certain duties. This was accomplished through prayer and the laying on of hands by the Apostles, part of the continuing work of Christ in His Church, accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Such apostolic action was all about spreading the word of God and drawing men to the Father. In that way the unity of the Twelve upheld and served the communion of the Church; the Apostles, in continuing the work of the Son, "would reflect and witness to the communion of the divine persons" (CCC, par 877). The Church, then, is a gift of the Trinity bringing man into saving communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you're "into" Jesus, you must be "into" the Church.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the April 20, 2008, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
May 21, 2011
If you're "into" Jesus, you must be "into" the Church
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 22, 2011 | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• Acts 6:1-7
• Psa. 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
• 1 Pet. 2:4-9
• Jn. 14:1-12
Perhaps you, like me, know people who express belief in Jesus, but have no interest in the Church. I once conversed with a young non-Catholic man who summed up this approach by saying, matter-of-factly: "I'm into Jesus, not the Church." There were several reasons for his attitude, including the faulty belief that since the Church is only an external institution (or so he thought), it can have little to do with inner, spiritual transformation.
However, since Jesus did found the Church—described by Saint Paul as the body of Christ (cf., 1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:24)—it behooves us to be both "into Jesus" and "into the Church." Today's readings help us appreciate this since they provide insights into the nature and purpose of the Church. Jesus Himself established a basic foundation during His Last Supper discourse. Talking about the mystery of His relationship with the Father, a central theme in the Gospel of John, the Son explained that He came to reveal the Father, to do the Father's works, and to give His disciples the ability to perform similar—even greater—works. "Whoever has seen me," Jesus declared, "has seen the Father."
The Swiss theologian Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, in writing about this perfect, loving relationship between the Father and Son, observed that the Son "steps forward (with divine authority) in order to make the Father visible, and simultaneously he steps back (as the Suffering Servant) in order to reveal the Father, not himself. … In other words, the Father reveals himself by revealing the Son; he gives himself by giving his Son…" (In The Fullness of Faith, Ignatius Press). What does this have to do the Church? The answer comes into sharper focus further on in John's Gospel, when Jesus offers this stunning prayer to the Father, "The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me" (Jn. 17:23-24).
The Father has sent the Son to redeem humanity by drawing us back to Himself through love and mercy into the life-giving communion of the Trinity. "He calls together all men," the Catechism explains, "scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church" (CCC, par 1). Mankind was originally a single family. When Adam and Eve sinned, man's communion with God was suddenly ruptured. God, however, already had a plan of salvation that would create a new family bound together by divine life. This family is the Church, the "household of God" and "the pillar and support of truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). Or, as Saint Peter puts it in today's Epistle, we are being "built into a spiritual house"; we are a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own…"
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides a snapshot of sorts of the Church's concrete, external character. As the early Church grew rapidly, the Apostles recognized the need to grant authority to other men—the first deacons—to carry out certain duties. This was accomplished through prayer and the laying on of hands by the Apostles, part of the continuing work of Christ in His Church, accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Such apostolic action was all about spreading the word of God and drawing men to the Father. In that way the unity of the Twelve upheld and served the communion of the Church; the Apostles, in continuing the work of the Son, "would reflect and witness to the communion of the divine persons" (CCC, par 877). The Church, then, is a gift of the Trinity bringing man into saving communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you're "into" Jesus, you must be "into" the Church.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the April 20, 2008, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
"Do We Know Our Souls and the World We Live In?" On Graduating from College
Do We Know Our Souls and the World We Live In? On Graduating from College | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | Ignatius Insight | May 21, 2011
On Graduation Day, reflecting on their collegiate four years, seniors can hardly believe it is over. They are both nostalgic and glad. They wonder about the friends they have made. Will they see many or any of them again? Will what they learned in college be "useful." The more reflective wonder about what was, to recall Plato, useless and unserious, about the "things that cannot be otherwise." Did they really reflect on the higher things? Did they fritter away their time on current events? Were their parties more memorable than their minds?
A student sent me an article about a study published by the University of Chicago Press, one of those statistical studies that pass for information, but still worth considering. In American universities, most students average about twelve hours a week study outside of class. This may be due to "boring" classes or little professorial demand. Courses known to have a lot of writing were shunned. Courses that required reading more than forty pages a week avoided. Surely, this did not apply to me!
The short sub-title to my book, Another Sort of Learning—it has a much longer one—is "How to Get an Education Even While Still in College." It is, I think, quite easy to graduate from college and remain, though literate, quite uneducated. With regard to "boring" classes, I am fond of Chesterton's remark that there is "no such thing as a boring subject, only bored people." But I am aware that hapless professors can conduct lethally dull classes. I may have produced a few myself.
May 20, 2011
Call for Captions for a May 22nd, 2011 Billboard
Feel free to leave your suggestion for the "thought' balloon below (nasty, humorless, and tasteless ideas won't be posted). I'll begin:
"I think I got punked by a false prophet..."
The Rapture: A short history and some basic facts
Not to beat any of the dead-dealing four horses of the apocalypse, but here are a couple of pieces I've written about the "rapture" and such:
And, on a much lighter note, here is my guide to getting rich off of "Rapture Fiction: "How To Write an End Times Novel Before the Rapture Takes Place!" (Of course, if the Rapture is tomorrow, you better be a fast writer and publish it online.)
In praise of Word on Fire's remarkable and unique "Catholicism Project"
As most Insight Scoop readers know, Fr. Robert Barron and the folks of the Word on Fire apostolate have been working for some time on the ambitious "Catholicism Project", a ten-part video series about the history, beliefs, practices, and nature of the Catholic Church.
Each of the ten episodes is an hour long and focuses on essential topics, including the Incarnation, the teachings of Jesus, the mystery of God, the Mother of God, the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Church, the Sacraments and liturgy, the Communion of Saints, prayer, and the Last Things. As the descriptive copy states, "this engaging and interesting formational program uses the art, architecture, literature, music and all the treasures of the Catholic tradition to illuminate the timeless teachings of the Church."
Over the past year or so, I've had the privilege of working with Fr. Barron and Fr. Stephen Grunow, assistant director of Word on Fire, on writing the Study Guide/Workbook for the "Catholicism Project". This involved a careful reading of Fr. Barron's scripts for the videos (which were still being shot as I worked on the guide), and then using those as the basis for a detailed study drawing upon Scripture, Church documents—especially conciliar documents and the Catechism of the Catholic Church—and the writings of Fathers, Doctors, Saints, Popes, and others. From the descriptive copy on the Word on Fire site:
Each study guide lesson provides an extensive commentary on the theological content of each episode, plus "Questions for Understanding" and "Questions for Application." The "Questions for Understanding" incorporate references from Scripture and from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to build on topics featured in the series. The "Questions for Application" help you reflect on how Father Barron's message is relevant to your own life and experiences.
I'm not sure how long the final Study Guide will be, but it will likely be more of a book than a booklet (I put down over a 100,000 words total).
It has been a tremendous honor to be involved in what I believe is a really remarkable project. There are many reasons for saying the "Catholicism Project" is remarkable, and I'll mention just a couple. First, the series is a unique and seamless marriage of catechesis, theology, history, culture, devotion, art, apologetics, and philosophy, adroitly presenting the great breadth and depth of Catholicism. This is a testament to Fr. Barron's impressive gifts as a pastor, theologian, philosopher, communicator, author, historian, and speaker. He challenges viewers to grapple with the mysteries of Faith while always avoiding two great temptations: to dumb things down or to be needlessly obscure or pedantic.
Secondly, having now seen a couple of episodes, I can say that the "Catholicism Project" captures, often in breathtaking fashion, the tremendous beauty of Catholicism. The cinematography is of the highest order, and the range of visual material is tremendous, including footage from all over the globe, in cathedrals and churches, at liturgies and in monasteries, of priests and laity, nuns and monks. Each episode highlights certain works of art, literature or architecture, and the Study Guide discusses these as well. In short, this is not only a most worthy introduction to Catholicism, but a vibrant and personal tour, if you will, of the Faith established by Christ and alive and well today, despite desperate rumors to the contrary.
Finally, I can't say enough about how enjoyable it was to work with Fr. Barron and Fr. Grunow. The latter, especially, deserves some sort of medal for putting up with unexpected hiccups in my schedule, and always putting me into a much better frame of mind when I found the going tough on a couple of occasions. His good humor and patient encouragement were a real blessing. Thank you, Fr. Steve!
If you've not seen it already, here is one of the introductory videos for the "Catholicism Project":
And here is a recent video from Fr. Barron, featuring remarks made by Cardinal Timothy Dolan and George Weigel, announcing that some episodes of the "Catholicism Project" will air on WTTW, Chicago's premier public television station:
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