Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 62
January 8, 2015
Sacrifice, Substitution, and Suffering
The Temptation in the Wilderness, by Briton Riviere (1898).
Sacrifice, Substitution, and Suffering | Dusty Gates | Homiletic & Pastoral Review
Sacrifice is troublesome for us fallen humans. It is not only the inconvenience or effort that troubles us so much, because we are sometimes willing to be inconvenienced or troubled for good reason; that is, a reason that serves our own agenda in some way. The need to sacrifice may become palatable when it can be connected with some form of personal advancement or gratification. The most difficult part of truly understanding sacrifice, in a religious sense, comes from our unwillingness to admit that we owe anything to anyone other than ourselves. We are consistently taught by our society, in all places, from kindergarten to Madison Avenue, that our purpose in life is to achieve, become, and grasp at whatever makes us feel best about ourselves. Adam and Eve, even without public school or mass media, found themselves unable to resist the temptation to do some grasping themselves, looking for something more, and novel, even while in the midst of paradise. The understanding that they owed something to God and were called to return the gifts he had given them, though built into their very nature, was found to be less than compelling or binding in the end.
Sacrifice requires a willingness and ability to prioritize our lives: to rank our obligations and to properly order our desires. To sacrifice a “thing” for something else, whatever the sacrifice itself, or its purpose, may be, is to say that the purpose supersedes the object. To sacrifice something, specifically to a higher power, is to say, “this thing is less important to me than you.” For this reason, it is easy to see the natural place of sacrifice in the cult of religion as an antidote to our concupiscence and selfishness. In the context of biblical religion, animal sacrifice (such as the sacrifice demanded by God from Abram to initiate the Genesis 15 covenant) has the additional significance of the shedding of lifeblood—signifying the participant’s agreement to have the same thing happen to him if he is unfaithful to the covenant. It was, for the people Israel in the Old Covenant, a regular reminder of the grave implications of their chosen status.
God’s prescription for sacrifices is taken up a notch when we get to Moses and the Exodus.
Quo Vadis Matrimonium?
© kelly marken - Fotolia.com
Quo Vadis Matrimonium? | Benjamin J. Vail | CWR
Where things stand, and where they may be headed, in the same-sex marriage debate.
The year 2014 saw important changes in attitudes and policy in the US regarding marriage and the so-called “same-sex marriage” (SSM) debate. In this article, I would like to bring readers up-to-date on some recent developments, and help Catholics understand their own position better, by summarizing some important philosophical arguments used by traditionalists and by the proponents of SSM. In spiritual warfare as in politics it is helpful to know your adversary, after all.
We begin with an update on recent developments in marriage policy and culture, and then review the history of the debate, introduce some of the important philosophical principles that characterize the different camps, and conclude with a few thoughts on where it’s all headed. We focus on the writings of well-known academic advocates representing the two positions: affirming SSM, Professor John Corvino of Wayne State University, and affirming a traditionalist view, Professor Robert P. George of Princeton University, and his coauthors Sherif Girgis and Ryan T. Anderson.
The on-going marriage debate
The reason SSM is so controversial is because it is not just an abstract policy debate, but a highly personal issue, and a moral question. The opposing viewpoints are animated by what could be described as completely different world views. On the one hand, those who advocate SSM typically adhere to a social constructionist view of marriage. In other words, they see marriage as a product of culture and subject to change. For those who defend what is called the “conjugal” view, the definition of marriage is not a malleable construct but an expression, or consequence, of natural law. In the book Debating Same-Sex Marriage, Corvino explains that this definitional debate “…is one of those areas where each side tends to see its position as not merely correct, but obvious. Marriage-equality opponents say that marriage has been male-female pretty much forever, and you can’t just change the meaning of words at will. Marriage-equality advocates say that marriage is an evolving legal and social institution, and if the law and society recognize same-sex couples as married, then they are in fact married” (p. 27).
Pro-SSM author Jonathan Rauch traces the origin of the SSM debate to May 1970, when a homosexual couple applied for (and were denied) a marriage license in Minnesota.
January 7, 2015
Parables of the Generous One
The Good Samaritan, by Harold Copping (1907)
Parables of the Generous One | Fr. John Navone, SJ | Homiletic & Pastoral Review
Our faith-conviction that God is the primordial Source and Resource for all creation and human life inspires our gratitude for all as gift, and our boundless hope that the best is yet to come. The abundance of God is the ultimate Source and Resource of Christian hope in the face of death, grounding our conviction that there is more where that came from. There is an artesian well in everyone whose Source is the abundance of God. We are what we are because of who our Parent is, and once this identity becomes deeply rooted in us, then an unself-conscious giving of self will become a way of life. This is another way of saying that we “inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34).
By the grace of God, we are what we are. Our worth is a gift given to us from the moment of our creation. The marvel of our life in Christ is not getting something from the outside to the inside by achieving. Instead, the marvel is coming to recognize what is already inside by the grace of creation, and learning to bring this outside by sharing and serving. It consists in seeing the first thing that ever happened to us—our birth—the way God sees it, and regarding it alongside God as something “very, very good.”
Jesus gives us this new way of perceiving the event of our beginnings—and thus of our whole lives. We, too, can begin to look on our creation the way Genesis depicts God as looking on all creation. When this begins to occur, delight rather than dissatisfaction becomes the lens through which all is perceived. What begins with a new appreciation of our own birth extends to the world itself, which means that the spirit of chronic dissatisfaction is replaced by the spirit of the One who first looked on creation and pronounced it “good.”
Every one of us has been given our chance to live by the action of Another. We did not engineer our birth into the world. It was a gift—a sheer, total, and unmerited gift. We were all given the same mandate as well: to do with our gifts and power what God does with his. God is not an irresponsible and indifferent giver. Jesus tells us that God is going to want to know at the end of our journey what we have done with all we were given in the beginning through the abundance of divine generosity. Creation is, at bottom, an act of generosity—God sharing his bounty. We have been made in the image of Generosity for Generosity. Our Creator’s magnanimity lies at the root of our being the kind of creatures that we were meant to be. Just as there is delight in our recognizing how much we have that we do not deserve or create, so there is a godly delight in seeing our generosity bless and energize others.
The parables of Jesus teach that we have to decide about what God has already decided, namely, that we are invited to share God’s joy. The joy that God sets before us can only be received; it cannot be forced on us. Jesus invites us in the following parables to share that joy.
The parables of Jesus assume that we are made in the image and likeness of a dynamic and creative God, and that we do know something of God’s ecstasy when we are in communion with God and what he is doing. It is then that we become what God had in mind for us from the beginning. It is then that we follow the example of the Holy One, described in Genesis, who freely used his power to delight himself and to bless all that he touched. This is the life that we are called to share.
The banquet image sums up what Holy Scripture reveals about the generosity, abundance, joyfulness, and exuberance of God.
Rethinking the American Experiment
(Photo: us.fotolia.com | © Andrea Izzotti)
Rethinking the American Experiment | Jerry Salyer | CWR
A review of The Race to Save Our Century: Five Core Principles to Promote Peace, Freedom, and a Culture Of Life
In the aftermath of a terrible civil war pitting brother against brother, the Theban ruler Creon ordered the body of the traitor Polynices, his own nephew, be left unburied outside the city walls, to be devoured by the vultures and jackals. By stealth, Polynices' sister Antigone flouts this decree, giving Polynices the funeral rites she owes him as a female of his family. Even the head of state himself, Antigone proclaims, “has no right to keep me from my own.” Soon Creon learns of Antigone's defiance, however, and sentences her to be entombed alive, niece or no: “Though she is my sister's child or nearer to me in blood than any that worships Zeus at the altar of our house,” he resolves grimly, she “shall not avoid a doom most dire.”
From there, the tragedy moves inexorably toward its catastrophic conclusion. By refusing to let go of his enmity for the dead Polynices, Creon offends the gods of the underworld; by denying Antigone's claim to her own flesh and blood, he offends the Olympians who sanction such familial bonds as sacred. The result is disaster not only for Creon, but for all of Thebes.
Wherever else we might part company, I agree with John Zmirak and Jason Scott Jones, authors of The Race to Save Our Century: Five Core Principles to Promote Peace, Freedom, and a Culture Of Life, that Sophocles' Antigone is a timeless work, one which deserves more attention. We also could agree on the general explanation for the tragic, catastrophic events of recent generations. Like Creon, modern leaders have succumbed to hubris:
How did we get here? Put simply and starkly, Western man tried to pursue a humanist project of understanding and uplifting human life, and in the process he identified God as an obstacle, even an enemy. So we tried to root him out. We tried to create consistent systems that preserved all the good things we take for granted in Western society, while denying God. That is, we tried to build the steeple on the church of humanity with steel ripped from its foundations. Predictably, the whole tower collapsed in the killing fields of the twentieth century.
In short, the West now attempts to treat human dignity as a premise rather than as a conclusion drawn from a particular vision of the world. With the classical Christian theological framework that justified and demonstrated it ripped away, the value of the individual now rests upon a nakedly fideistic affirmation. Per the secularist humanitarian, every man deserves consideration not because his soul is a marvel that reflects his good and glorious Creator, but—well, because. As Jones and Zmirak rightly note, the mere word because is hardly much of a reassurance for those of us who worry about modern trends.
Such worry leads Jones and Zmirak to scrutinize the decision to employ nuclear weapons against Japan during World War II. Archibishop Fulton Sheen's opinion—one not widely publicized in America, as the authors point out—was that the “idea that freedom means having no boundaries and no limits […] began on the sixth of August 1945 at 8:15 am when we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.” Clearly sympathetic to Sheen's position, the authors are nonetheless careful to avoid the smug, Monday morning quarterback tone employed by some critics of the bombing.
January 5, 2015
Powerful testimony of RU486 abortion pill reversal to be shared at the Walk for Life West Coast
Pro-lifers rally and stand up for life in San Francisco on January 24, 2015
San Francisco, January 5, 2015 – Twenty year old Rebekah Buell never imagined that she would be a pro-life speaker. At only seventeen years old, she became pregnant with her first child, and despite all odds, finished high school, married the baby’s father, and started a promising college education.
However, a few months later, after her marriage became troubled and she and her husband separated, she also found out she was pregnant again. Feeling ashamed, alone, and afraid of losing all she had worked for, she went to an abortion clinic and took the first part of the RU486 abortion pill.
Buell explains, “I instantly knew this was a mistake. I found Culture of Life Family Services and called the hotline. The nurse, Debbie Bradel calmed me down and literally saved my baby’s life by finding me the wonderful doctor that reversed the abortion pill. I truly believe God knew I was going to take that pill so he set many barriers that allowed my baby to reach 8 weeks so he could survive the pill. When I told Planned Parenthood I was not returning for them to check to make sure the fetus was ‘removed’ and explained what I planned to do, they told me it was dangerous and would result in my baby being born deformed, but I didn’t listen.”
Seven months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who she named Zechariah. Rebekah Buell is currently continuing her college education as a third year English major and raising her two beautiful sons.
Buell now feels compelled to share the pro-life message, saying, “I have a special place in my heart for young women who feel abortion is their only option. It is all too easy to assume the worst but in reality, it often all works out. The family that swore they’d disown you becomes your support system, and the life you thought would be impossible with a baby becomes possible and better than ever. It is heart wrenching to think about how many mothers took the RU486, unaware that their babies survived only to be expelled by the 2nd pill, misoprostol. But abortion clinics leave that part out.”
The 11th annual Walk for Life West Coast will take place on January 24, 2015. Rebekah Buell will share her amazing story of hope and life at the rally, which will begin at 12:30 PM in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza. Organizers expect to produce a bigger, more dynamic, grassroots Walk for Life West Coast that will demonstrate a growing trend: America is becoming more pro-life.
Founded in 2005 by a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, the Walk for Life West Coast’s mission is to change the perceptions of a society that thinks abortion is an answer. Walk participants are expected from throughout the Bay Area and across the United States and Canada.
More details and the most up-to-date information about the walk is available at: www.walkforlifewc.com
To set up an interview with Rebekah Buell, or any of the Walk for Life West Coast’s dynamic speakers or event organizers, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Walk for Life West Coast, media@walkforlifewc.com or (239)867-4180.
The Fundamental Good of Complementarity
(CNS photo/Daniel Karmann, EPA)
The Fundamental Good of Complementarity | John Paul Shimek | Catholic World Report
Dr. Helen Alvaré on why understanding the complementary relationship between man and woman is vital to understanding God and true love.
understanding the complementary relationship between the man and the woman is key to helping us understand the identity of God, God’s relationship with his people, and how we are to love one another.
John Paul Shimek
With multiple degrees in theology and law, and experience with a vast spectrum of public forum issues Professor Helen M. Alvaré is one of the leading Catholic voices in the United States on pro-life issues, marriage and the family, and the role and mission of the laity.
At George Mason University School of Law, Dr. Alvaré teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She has published on a wide variety of matters concerning marriage, family, parenting, and the First Amendment religion clauses. Outside the classroom, she is a consultant to ABC News on women in the Catholic Church, religion in the public square, and the papacy. Her expertise in these fields has been lauded by the Holy See. Since 2008, she has been a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity at the Vatican. Previously, she served the National Conference of Catholic Bishops as the Director of Planning and Information for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.
This past November, she served as the Vatican’s media representative for Humanum, a three-day international inter-religious colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman, held in Rome and sponsored by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Although the conference participants returned home long ago now, and other Church-related news is filling the airwaves, the Humanum conference set a course for future intra-ecclesial (and, indeed, extra-ecclesial) discussions about issues at the forefront of today’s culture. The conference hall might have emptied out several weeks ago, but the fruit that will come of this conference is only beginning to ripen.
Dr. Alvaré recently spoke to CWR about her experience at the Humanum conference and its impact on future discussions of marriage and family.
CWR: Professor Alvaré, it is a real honor to have this chance to talk about Humanum, the international conference held at the Vatican between November 17-19, 2014. First of all, what was the conference about and what are the planners and participants hoping comes from it?
Dr. Alvaré: The Humanum conference was an attempt to engage the world in a serious consideration of the foundational good that is the relationship between the man and the woman. As I wrote in America [after the conference], we think we talk about men and woman all the time, but we are usually just peering into their sex lives or talking about their problems with relationship formation or dissolution. The fundamental good of their complementary union is too rarely considered.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the other Vatican offices hosting the conference hope to surface ways of thinking about and expressing this relationship that effectively convey both its natural and divine significance to observers world-wide. The movies and the papers and the video-talks are intended to have a long shelf life.
CWR: Later this year, high-ranking churchmen will once again gather in Rome for the Fourteenth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The theme of their meeting will be the “Vocation and Mission of the Christian Family in the Church and the Contemporary World.” Some of the prelates who chaired sessions of the Humanum conference will be there for that synod. While the Humanum conference was independent of the synodal path, will it help to keep the conversation going?
The Journeying of Humanity toward Christ
"Adoration of the Magi" (1438-c.1445) by Benozzo Gozzoli [WikiArt.org]
The Journeying of Humanity toward Christ | William L. Patenaude | CWR
The Feast of the Epiphany highlights a scandalous message of hope that cries out in our days’ dark news
The Christmas Season continues for many this Sunday with the Feast of the Epiphany. This feast celebrates the revelation in Matthew’s Gospel of the adoration of the magi. This account offers an important but often overlooked detail about the scandal of Christmas—of how Christ’s birth is good news of great joy that comes at a price.
This is foretold in one of magi’s gifts to the Christ child. While gold is a gift for kings as is frankincense for priests, myrrh is an ointment used to embalm the dead. Indeed, St. John’s Gospel tells us that Nicodemus brought “myrrh and aloes” after Jesus’ crucifixion.
This foretelling by the magi of Christ’s passion begins to make known the decisive Christian proclamation: God’s coming among us is a coming to the entirety of the human condition—including suffering. The crib of Christ is connected to the cross of sacrifice because our conception and birth are the first steps taken toward death.
From Christianity’s earliest days, many resisted this talk of sacrifice and death. They would not (and do not) tolerate the proclamation that the infinite and transcendent would dwell in and among the anguished finite. Confronted over the centuries with various forms of this resistance, Christianity held true to its core proclamations, as it does today within a new age that seeks to wipeout Christianity from the public square—or, as in areas of the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere, from the face of the planet.
And yet the Christmas message of sacrifice survives.
January 3, 2015
Mary, true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, presents the Redeemer of all peoples
"St. Juvenal Triptych" (1422) by Masaccio [WikiArt.org]
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, January 4, 2015, The Epiphany of the Lord | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
• Isa 60:1-6
• Psa 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
• Eph 3:2-3A, 5-6
• Mt 2:1-12
Pope Paul VI, in the Apostolic Exhortation, “Marialis Cultus” (Feb. 1974), emphasized that the “Christmas season is a prolonged commemoration of the divine, virginal and salvific motherhood of her whose ‘inviolate virginity brought the Saviour into the world.’” This is so much the case, he wrote, that “on the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ the Church both adores the Savior and venerates His glorious Mother.”
He then stated the following about today’s great feast: “On the Epiphany, when she celebrates the universal call to salvation, the Church contemplates the Blessed Virgin, the true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, who presents to the Wise Men, for their adoration, the Redeemer of all peoples (cf. Mt. 2:11).”
Mary’s presentation of her Son to the wise men was another demonstration of her mysterious and maternal role in salvation history. It was mysterious—not magical—because Mary, sinless from conception by the power of the Holy Spirit, conceived the sinless Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her faith is that of a disciple—but not just any disciple, for she is the first and perfect disciple of her Lord.
Her role, then, is truly maternal, for she is both mother of the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, but also mother of the Church, the mystical body of Christ. Mary, although not divine by nature, is at the heart of the culmination of divine revelation: the coming of God in the flesh.
And so the Solemnity of the Epiphany is a celebration of the epiphaneia—that revelation and manifestation—of God become man, Jesus the Christ. The feast, going back to the early centuries of the Church, has focused on three key events, related to one another by virtue of being revelatory in nature: the visitation of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana.
Each manifests the astounding, transforming truth of the Incarnation. Each, in turn, opens up further the mystery of God and calls us to worship and adore the Messiah.
Consider that Mary and Joseph did not have to receive the magi. We also recognize that Mary did not have to accept God’s invitation to be the mother of the Savior, nor did Joseph, the foster father of Christ, have to obey the directives given to him by angels. Mary and Joseph were not stock characters or tools used by an impersonal force, but real people who accepted the call and the word of God with free will and full faith. Then, in turn, they opened up their hearts and home to those seeking the Word who is the way, the truth, and the life.
The magi represent those who earnestly desire the fullness of truth and who yearn to see the face of God. I am struck again by how Matthew’s account presents, so simply but powerfully, the four actions or responses of the magi. First, they were filled with joy upon recognizing the star and being brought to the home of the Christ child. Secondly, they entered into His home and into communion with Him and His Mother. Third, they worshipped Him. And, finally, they offered Him the finest gifts they possessed.
The readings from the prophet Isaiah and from Saint Paul to the Ephesians draw out this fact about the magi: they were not Jews. The Kingdom of God is offered to and includes peoples from all nations; it is not for a people united by ethnicity or geography, but by grace and the fullness of revelation. Thus, the magi represent the first of a vast number of Gentiles brought into the family of God through the Christ-child, who is the King of the Jews and the King of kings.
And Mary, the true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, continues to open the doors to her Son so we can see him, know him, and worship him.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the January 8, 2012, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
The Church in Africa in 2014: A Year in Review
Jesuit Father Michael Schultheis distributes Communion during Mass held in April 2014 in a camp for internally displaced families inside a U.N. base in Juba, South Sudan. (CNS photo/Paul Jeffrey)
The Church in Africa in 2014: A Year in Review | Allen Ottaro | CWR
Ebola outbreaks and violent conflicts have affected millions and dominated headlines, but there have also been many moments of consolation
The year 2014 has been a challenging one for the Church in Africa, as it journeyed through a numerous highs and lows. Conflicts in different parts of the continent and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa have dominated news headlines all year long. However, there have also been many moments of consolation.
Conflict and peace
In February, I had the opportunity to interview Fr. Paterne Mombe, SJ, the Director of the Africa Jesuit AIDS Network based in Nairobi and a native of the Central Africa Republic (CAR), about the conflict in his home country. He narrated his personal experience of the violence in the capital city, Bangui, and reconciliation efforts of both Christians and Muslims. Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapailanga of Bangui, Imam Oumar Kobine Layama and Rev.Nicolas Guerekoyame Gbangou have been prominent in leading interfaith efforts at stemming the violence. In their Advent pastoral statement, the Bishops of the CAR expressed worry about the increase of criminality and banditry orchestrated by former rebels and urged dialogue and constructive confrontation as the ideal tools to obtain lasting peace. Elections are scheduled later in 2015 and hopefully will help open the way for peace building.
South Sudan has also been engulfed in civil war since mid-December 2013. Peace talks between government and rebel leaders have been held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Abeba, but both sides have accused the other of breaking the accords signed for the cessation of violence. The Archbishop of Juba, Most Reverend Paolino Lukudu Loro, in a statement on the occasion of the National Memorial Prayer for those who have died and suffered since December 15, 2013, titled “A Prayer for Reconciliation, Healing and Peace in South Sudan” described the situation in his country and praised the efforts of the Church in South Sudan: “Since the beginning of the conflict, there has been so much unnecessary death and displacement of individuals and communities with many fleeing the country as refugees to the neighboring countries. The Church in South Sudan - Bishops - Clergy - Faithful and all friends must be praised and encouraged for their deep prayers - tears - peace gatherings to obtain God's blessings for peace in our nation.”
Earlier in September, the Bishops issued a message of hope to the country at the end of a three day meeting during which they discussed the status of the Church in the country. They emphasized their prophetic role as Bishops and strongly condemned the conflict.
In our prophetic role as bishops, we state without hesitation or fear that the current conflict is evil and must be stopped immediately and unconditionally, regardless of any other considerations. We call on every political leader, every military officer, every individual soldier, every armed civilian, whether government or opposition, to avoid any further killing. It is immoral and evil. The question to ask ourselves is: do I have the sincere will to renounce violence, to compromise and to bring peace?
The Ebola crisis
Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea are three West African countries that have been hit hardest by the Ebola outbreak. Over 4500 deaths and more than 18,000 infections have been reported in the West African region. Nigeria and Senegal were able to contain the few cases of Ebola detected and were eventually declared Ebola-free.
The Church, through agencies such as Caritas, has been on the frontline in responding to the situation in all three countries.
January 2, 2015
“The Best Books I Read in 2014”
Detail from “The Bookworm” by Carl Spitzweg (1808-85)
“The Best Books I Read in 2014” | Catholic World Report
CWR editors and contributors share their favorite reads from the past year.
Ten years ago, I posted a “Best/Worst of 2004” piece on Ignatius Insight, containing a listing of books and music that I either really liked or didn’t care for at all. That then led, the following year, to the first “Best Books I Read in…” piece. Each year there have been more contributors, and a couple of years ago the popular feature was moved over the CWR site. As always, the criteria used by contributors is very simple: “What were the best books I read in the past year?” The books chosen can address any topic and could be published recently or centuries ago. I hope that reading this list of good reads does not feel at all like fulfilling a duty, but is a delight for mind and soul alike. — Carl E. Olson, editor
Read “The Best Books I Read in 2014” at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.
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