Mr. Lincoln, We Could Use a Hand . . .

Thanksgiving Day is one of my favorite holidays. Its main purpose, I submit, is to give thanks to God for the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Beginning in 1863, U.S. Presidents took the opportunity to invoke the name of God in their official Thanksgiving Day Proclamation and to specifically thank Him and encourage the nation to do likewise. In fact, when Lincoln made it a national holiday beginning in 1863, he made it clear that the purpose was to give thanks and praise to God:

"I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore if, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union." 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation -- Abraham Lincoln.

All succeeding presidents, save one, followed suit as can be seen from the following excerpts from their inaugural Thanksgiving Day Proclamations. It is noteworthy that although the 2009 Proclamation recalls the words of George Washington wherein Washington mentions God, the President neither explicitly thanks God nor calls on the nation to do so. It is a sign of our times and not a very encouraging one at that.

Read more (click link below)

Tobin v. Kennedy

I have been trying to resist writing about the current public dispute between Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island and his bishop, but there are some aspects of it that are noteworthy.  Without getting into all of the details, the basic scenario is that Kennedy publicly lashed out at the U.S. bishops' opposition to the pro-abortion aspects of the health care reform bill as it was working its way through the House of Representatives a few weeks ago.  Kennedy asserted that a person can be a good Catholic and also support a woman's right to abort her child.

Bishop Tobin, believing that he has an obligation to the Catholics in his care, publicly rebuked Kennedy for making those patently erroneous statements.  Tobin's basic premise is that being Catholic means being pro-life and when a public official who is in a postion of power and influence, uses that power and influence to teach error to the faithful, scandal results.  The scandal has the effect, so the logic goes, of forcing the hand of the bishop to correct the error and since the scandal is inherently public, so too must be the rebuttal.

The dispute took center stage this week as Chris Matthews and Bill O'Reilly each invited Tobin on to their television programs and proceeded to defend Kennedy and attack Tobin.  Tobin likely knew that he was entering a hostile environment, so you have to give him credit for being courageous as he tried to defend his position.  I say "tried" because the program hosts had no intention of giving him the chance to make his points.  So what does it all mean?  Here are some thoughts on the matter:

[1] Being a Catholic means certain things and one of those things is that abortion is morally wrong.  To say that a Catholic can be Catholic and pro-abortion is like saying that an elephant is a giraffe. 

[2] Kennedy may have been baptized as a Catholic, but his actions show that he is not practicing his faith now.

[3] He is, instead, an astute politician who is trying to advance his pro-abortion agenda.

[4] He hopes to persuade Catholics to support pro-abortion policies by deceiving them into thinking that he is their brother in the faith. 

[5] He hopes that Catholics will think that he speaks with moral authority which he does not, but some will be duped and then go on to conclude that it must be true what he says "that it is acceptable to be both Catholic and pro-abortion."

[6] What Kennedy is doing is the definition of scandal. 

[7] Tobin knows scandal when he sees it and knows too that it is his moral imperative to correct it.

Tobin has been made to look like he is attacking Kennedy and publicly exposing Kennedy's sins.  The record, however, reveals that Tobin tried mightily to keep the matter a private pastoral issue (see November 24, 2009 article by Phil Lawler).  It was Kennedy who took the matter public at each and every turn and he did it, I submit, as a pure political ploy to deceive Catholics on the abortion issue.  Tobin should be applauded for having the courage to stand up for the truth of the faith.




  

Stover gets another game winner. . .

Colts 17 Ravens 15

Yesterday, the Colts got another win thanks to the clutch kicking of Matt Stover.  He once again kicked the game-winning field goal in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.  I like encountering signs of God in the world, and although there was perhaps nothing numinous about the football game yesterday, Matt's gesture heaven-ward reminds us to whom the glory and praise belongs.  Thanks for that Matt.  It made my day.

I like it too that he wears the number "3" as it makes me think of the Holy Trinity.   

Living, breathing tabernacles. . .

Catholics believe that the bread and wine (i.e., the Eucharist) literally (not symbolically) becomes the body and blood of Christ during the consecration that occurs each and every time holy Mass is celebrated. The scriptural basis for this is sometimes referred to as the "Bread of Life Discourse" and can be found in John 6:41-71. I was listening to my Catholic Answers podcast  on my drive into work  a few days ago and the guest was Michael John Michael Poirier. (Poirier Podcast)  He said something that I never thought of before and helped me better understand what it means to be "properly disposed to receive."

Poirier said that "we are living, breathing tabernacles" when we receive. A tabernacle is the sacred place in a church where the consecrated hosts reside. Catholics always bow or genuflect before the tabernacle because Christ in the Eucharist resides there. So Poirier's statement made me think differently about what it means to receive the Eucharist.  If I am a living, breathing tabernacle, that means that I too am a sacred place where Christ resides, or at least I should be. How awesome a concept that I would receive and then be the receptacle of the king of the universe. That is a concept that is difficult to truly and fully grasp. How can a fallen, sinful and unworthy creature, be capable of appearing before, much less communing with, the Creator? At a minimum, it seems logical and right to be humble, contrite, awestruck and full of gratitude at such a time.   Sometimes, I am afraid that I lack those attributes and just go through the motions. God willing, may it not be so the next time.

It Did Not Take Long . . .

On Friday November 13th I posted a short piece on the two oldest U.S. bishops. Indiana has only one now -- Bishop Higi, as D'Arcy's successor was announced the very next day, Saturday November 14. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/11/bishop_rhoades_to_leave_the_ha.html

Encountering the Numinous

The big news these past weeks about the new Anglican Rite (Anglicanorum Coetibus) made me think about, perhaps the most well-read Anglican of all, C.S. Lewis.  In the Introduction of his book, The Problem of Pain he posits that all religions have three things in common and Christianity, one more. 

The first attribute, which he calls "numinous awe," is a certain dread, fear or awe which follows on the heels of being aware that the universe is made up not only of the material, that is, the things that we can know by our five senses, but also of something supernatural which of course is God.

The second attribute is a sense that right and wrong are intuitively known and not taught.  We have an innate sense of what we ought and what we ought not do.

The third attribute is an awakening that the first two attributes are somehow connected.  We know what we ought to do because we reason that God has willed it to be that way.

The fourth attribute is unique to Christianity and will be discussed in a later post.  Stay tuned.

The Two Oldest U.S. Bishops

According to the site, http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/, there are something like 320 active U.S. bishops and, interestingly, Indiana has the two oldest of the entire group and they are in geographically adjacent dioceses to boot: bishop John D'Arcy (South Bend-Fort Wayne) at 77 and bishop William Higi (Lafayette in Indiana) at 76.   Last night, Catholic News Agency (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/) posted an article quoting D'Arcy as saying that "his successor is not too far away."  So some changes are coming, but precisely when we know not.  75 is the mandatory age for bishops to tender their retirement request to the Holy Father, but it can take awhile for the request to be granted. 

Earlier this Spring, D'Arcy spoke out (fort wayne's, wane.com) against the scandal caused by Notre Dame's decision to bestow an honorary law degree on President Obama at the university's commencement ceremonies.  D'Arcy handled the matter with an appropriate balance of charity and admonition.  I have been privileged to see him celebrate Mass on a few occasions while watching my kids play soccer in Fort Wayne.  He is widely loved and his leadership as bishop will be missed by many when he retires, although I suspect he will remain active in retirement.  Given the Notre Dame issues and Benedict XVI's recent appointments of bishops (conservative, orthodox, young), it will be interesting to see who succeeds D'Arcy and Higi. 

Giving Glory to the "One"

Colts 20 Texans 17

Sunday's game between the Colts and the Texans was, according to the sports writers, "anyone's game."  It was indeed a close and exciting game to watch.  It was decided by a field goal and on the front page of Monday's Indianapolis Star was this picture of John Matthew Stover after he scored one of his two of the game.  I just had to chuckle at the Star writer's caption below the photo:  "Matt Stover reacts after scoring a field goal."   I'm not sure that "reacts" quite captures it.  You see, he is giving thanks and glory to God.  Could it be any more obvious?  I mean LOOK at the photo, LOOK at his eyes and LOOK at his index fingers.  He is not JUST making the field goal signal folks.  Thank you Matt for letting us know what you know:   That this game belonged, at least in your mind, to the ONE.

I don't know much about Matt Stover except that he has been in pro football for 20 seasons and has really given the Colts a boost this year filling in for injured kicker Adam Vinatieri.  I don't really know anything about his faith either except what this photo says about it.  I like how his name includes two of the four Gospel writers and, for his courage to witness, I am especially glad that the Colts signed him.  After last Sunday's game, I gotta believe that Tony Dungy, a man not afraid to publicly proclaim the Gospel, is pretty pleased too.   Keep giving it up Matt. 

The New "Anglican Rite" in the Catholic Church

The Vatican has posted the new constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus on its website.  This paves the way for disaffected Anglicans, so inclined, to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.  It remains to be seen just how many will come.  God willing, it will be many.  In any event, the canonical structure is now in place for it to happen.  This is a big deal and shows, again, just how important the goal of Christian unity is to Benedict XVI.  He is a good and faithful shepherd.

You Don't Always Get What You Want. . .

Fr. Mel Bennett gave the homily at my parish today. He talked about the first reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) which tells the story about the faithful widow woman who only had flour and oil to make her daily meal. Because of her faith, God kept her flour jar and oil jug miraculously full during the coming year. Fr. Mel said that God answers our prayers. He pointed to the widow woman and noted that she probably wanted more variety in her meal: fruit, meat, etc. He then nearly quoted a Rolling Stones song saying: "you don't always get what you want, but if you pray, you get what you need."  And she did. 

I wonder what Mick Jagger was thinking when he wrote the song with a similar title? The lyrics are close: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need." Huh. Funny how the Gospel crashes through our pop culture sometimes.

Don't Be Afraid

Archbishop Chaput recently wrote an article in First Things about what a gift Down Syndrome children are to their families and communities (see article). The article is extremely well done. What resonated most for me though was what he said in the last paragraph: "[D]on’t be afraid. Fear is beneath your dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life." Today's Mass readings reminded me of this quote.

The Gospel reading today (http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110809.shtml) is the story of the poor widow who put a few coins worth a few cents into the treasury in contrast to the rich people who deposited large sums. Jesus teaches: "This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." I like what this story says about stewardship, but even more about what it says about faith. Single women in Jesus' time lived precarious, even dangerous lives, so being a widow, and a poor one at that, would be cause for much fear in her life. But not so for her. We moderns naturally equate money with security and security can mitigate fear right? But we are told that "she gave out of her poverty" all that she had -- seemingly all of her security. The beauty of the story is that she placed her trust in God entirely having faith that God would provide for her. The story does not tell us what happened to her later. How did she manage? How did she eat?

However, we know what happened to her. We find out, not by going forward in time, but by going back to the Old Testament Book of Kings and today's first reading. In that story, a poor widow has just enough flour and oil to make a final meal for her and her son to eat and she tells Elijah that after they eat it, they will die. Elijah tells her not to fear, but to take what she has and make a Elijah a little cake to eat. In faith she does as she is told and we see that her faith saved her and her son: "She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year. . .the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry." The widow was literally at the point of death by starvation, but instead of eating (who would not ignore Elijah and eat?!), she gave all that she had. Faith in Christ conquers our fear, for fear is beneath our dignity as sons and daughters of the God of life.

So, I am sitting there in Mass this morning, reflecting on the scripture readings and convicting myself for not having anything close to the faith of the widow women and I pray that God will give me the grace to trust, to have more faith and not to fear. When I do this, I feel something come over me and I believe it must be the Holy Spirit and so I am thankful and joy-filled.

Periodically on Saturdays I meet with this small group of men and we share our "most aware of Christ's presence" moment from the last week. It's only Sunday, but I have mine.