The Providence of an Eclipse

Today people throughout the United States are traveling and staring at the sky (with proper eye protection, of course) to see either a total or partial solar eclipse.  It is one of the most impressive naturally occurring sights known to man, but it didn't have to be that way...

There are countless variables and constants within physics, biology, and astronomy that, were they just a hair different, would make life on earth impossible.  The laws of gravity, the improbable development of DNA, and the Earth's distance from the Sun, among other things, seem so perfectly fine-tuned that many people have looked at them as proof for the existence of God.  While we can certainly be grateful for the seemingly perfect starting point that God has given us and marvel at the beauty of our intricate universe, it isn't exactly an iron-clad argument--of course the conditions are perfect for the existence of life, if they weren't, there wouldn't be anyone here to notice that they were off! 

The presence of solar eclipses strikes me as a little bit different, though.  There is really no reason why we should even be able to see them, nothing about the variables involved are necessary for the existence of life and it is most likely that there are relatively few places in the universe where something like our total solar eclipse is even possible and few time periods in our planet's history when it would be an impressive sight. 

Consider these facts:

1. The Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun--now, our Sun is pretty average-sized for a star at this stage in its sequence and our Moon is a little larger than would be expected for a planet our size, nothing Earth-shattering there.
2. The Sun is about 400 times further away from the Earth than the Moon is--again, we are the right distance from the Sun for a planet to be habitable and our moon is a normal distance from us, so this in itself isn't strange.
3. The Moon's orbit around the Earth isn't constant, it wobbles a little and moves a few centimeters away from us every year--a minuscule amount for the distances we are talking about.

None of these are terribly interesting on their own, but when viewed together they are pretty impressive.  The relationship between the Moon and Sun's sizes and distances from the earth match up almost perfectly...why?  There is no real reason for that to be the case, and yet it is!  The size of both and their distances from each other are perfectly calibrated to allow us to see total solar eclipses, undoubtedly a rare sight in the universe.  What's even more, it hasn't always been that way and won't be that way forever.  Since the Moon is slowly moving away from the Earth that means that millions of years ago the Moon would have completely blocked out the Sun, leaving nothing but darkness, and a few million years from now the Moon will be too small in the sky to block the Sun.  We happened to come along during the brief window in which solar eclipses occur on our planet.  We, Earth's first and only sentient life form, live in a place and during a time in which a solar eclipse is possible.

Of course, this isn't an iron-clad proof of the existence of God, either, but for the believer it sure seems providential.  It makes you stop and think about the beauty of our universe and the intricate details that are necessary for us not only to exist, but to see such incredible things.  Thank God for our magnificent cosmos and for putting us in a time and a place to see His wonders all around us!

Brother Sun and Sister Moon

St. Clare of Assisi, in what has to be one of the most hilarious papal pronouncements of all time, was named the patron saint of television by Pope Pius XII in 1958 even though she lived seven centuries before its invention.  The oft-provided rationale is that when Clare was ill in her convent and was unable to attend Mass, she received a vision on her wall of the Mass taking place, I guess making her the first to watch closed-circuit TV. 

The deeper meaning behind Pope Pius' designation, I have to think, lies in the fact that Clare's entire ethos is a near perfect refutation of the flaws of modern society.  Where, in the age of television, we seek instant gratification, Clare sought virtue.  Where we seek control over every aspect of our lives and others' lives, Clare sought abandonment to the Divine Will.  Where we seek comfort, Clare sought poverty.  Where we fill our days with a thousand little worries and concerns, Clare sought perfect simplicity.  Where we seek power, Clare sought the silence of the monastery.  Where we seek self-fulfillment, Clare sought God and God alone.

Enjoy a little clip of St. Clare and St. Francis together from Franco Zefirelli's film Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, our patroness.

• Remember, like the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel, to spend some time in silence to listen for the voice of God.
• Remember, like St. John the Baptist, to gain strength from your prayer so that you can go out into the world and announce the coming of Christ.
• Remember, like the great Carmelite saints, to never stop striving to grow in your relationship with God.

We pray today for the guidance, protection, and example of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as we find the quiet and prayerful Mt. Carmel in our own lives.  May God bless you on this special day.

The Benedict Mandate

Perhaps no Christian since the days of the Apostles has had more of in impact on the development and future of the Church and western culture as a whole as St. Benedict of Nursia.  As the author of the Rule of St. Benedict and the founder of modern religious life, his family tree would include such monumental figures as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and St. Teresa of Calcutta.  His monastic system would eventually give birth to modern schools, hospitals, orphanages, wineries, and universities.  Benedictine monks helped develop modern agriculture, metallurgy, and genetics.  Their numerous inventions range from Parmesan cheese to the mechanical clock.  The monasteries of late antiquity and the early middle ages preserved and advanced upon the literary, scientific, and cultural achievements of the ancient world to the benefit of generations to come.

As impressive as these achievements are, however, St. Benedict certainly did not live and teach the life that he did in order to facilitate any of them.  St. Benedict's primary mission, like all saints, was to serve as the salt and light of the world.  Over 100 years before Benedict's birth in 480 AD the situation Christians found themselves in within the bounds of the Roman Empire was quite different from the one their ancestors had faced.  With crucifixion or beheading no longer a real possibility, the new threat to the Christian was complacency.  Gone were the days of the heroic martyrs and in their place was a world were Christianity was not only not persecuted, but favored.  It was in this setting that early ascetics like St. Anthony of the Desert decided to voluntarily live a life of extreme poverty and prayer, the martyrs of the new society.  It was into this tradition that St. Benedict of Nursia stepped.  He realized that this extreme and solitary life of a holy hermit was certainly not the best option for a novice looking to grow in holiness and could easily lead a person down the wrong path.  His solution was to develop and teach a rule of life that set guidelines for groups of Christians living together in community and voluntarily adopting lives of poverty, chastity, obedience, and prayer.  These new monasteries quickly became centers of prayer, education, and vitality for their surrounding communities and immeasurably improved the quality of life and holiness of those in their vicinity.  The tradition that Benedict began continues to this day in the Order of St. Benedict, but has also given birth to all modern western religious orders such as the Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans.

With this back story in mind it is absurd to posit, as some people have, that Benedict's Rule promotes a full retreat from the world and the establishment of separate and isolated Catholic communities.  In fact quite the opposite is true.  By bringing men or women together to live in intentional communities of faith, to themselves grow in holiness, Benedict from the beginning saw the evangelization of his culture as his primary mission.  It wasn't so much a desire to form a pure and undefiled remnant of the Church that motivated Benedict as it was to form the best possible means of engaging and inspiring the Church around him.  Benedictine monasteries were set apart from their communities, but they were also established in the midst of wider communities to teach and preach to those around them.

As we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict today we remember that he did not call on followers of Jesus to abandon the world, but to engage it, to gently help it grow (Benedictines have been working on this for 1500 years!), to be salt and light for the world.

The Rule of St. Benedict (if you're interested in taking a look)

Happy Fourth of July: The US Constitution and Vatican II

Below is a talk I gave several years ago for the Fortnight for Freedom about our American contribution to the Catholic Church and our Catholic contribution to the United States:

Our two great loves--The Catholic Church and America. 

Living in Rome for five years made me more patriotic.  Thanksgiving and Groundhog’s Day of all days became displays of patriotism.  The Clericus Cup, an international soccer tournament pitting national groups of priests and seminarians against each other, was one of the biggest events of the year for many of us in Rome and a fun source of camaraderie among all of us studying in the Eternal City.

But it wasn’t always easy to be Catholic and American.  It sometimes seemed like to believe in the ancient Church whose history mostly took place in Europe meant that a person couldn’t truly be a part of the radical experiment in liberty and democracy that was taking place in the New World.

It took us a long time as Americans to find our place in the Church, and a long time as Catholics to find our place in America.  In the Vatican we were viewed as radicals and newcomers and at home we were viewed as superstitious and untrustworthy.  The story of Dignitatis Humanae—the Declaration on Religious Freedom, one of the last and most controversial documents of Vatican II, which we will talk about tonight, is the story of how we discovered a way to make it all work.  A story of how we showed that Catholics have something profound to add to the American system and how we made our one great contribution to the teaching of the Church.

We’ll start our story in America:

Religious liberty was, from the beginning, at the heart of the American project.  Our first settlers were fleeing religious persecution and from the beginning our country was made up of a variety of Christian traditions cobbled together.  There was and always has been a strong sense of God’s presence and Providence, that it is God who guarantees and ordains our freedom and rights.  Look at the preamble to the Declaration of Independence--

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;”

— Preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence

But there was also a sense that the way in which a person chooses to worship is a freedom which cannot be taken away by the state.  Looking at the nation of Great Britain that they left behind they realized the damage that can be done to both the Church and the government when the two become indistinguishable—if for no other reason than history has shown us that governments aren’t very good at running churches and churches aren’t very good at running governments.  And besides that, it’s just not the job of either to do either.  And so they determined that the right to religious freedom should be a foundation upon which they would build this new nation.  It’s best expressed in the 1st and 14th amendments to the Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

— First Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction there of, are citizens of the United States and of the State where in they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

— Fourteenth Ammendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Every American has the constitutional right to worship as they choose, it is in the Bill of Rights, it has been clarified and emphasized and resides right at the heart of our idea of freedom, it’s listed even before freedom of speech.

Now, all this talk about religious liberty was difficult for Catholics in Europe to accept.  They were used to Catholic kings and Catholic states.  The only example of democracy they had to work with was from the French Revolution where everyone’s head was chopped off, so they were skeptical.  For Catholics in America it seemed difficult to be both Catholic and American.  It seemed to many like a contradiction to say that the Catholic faith is true BUT that the government can’t favor the Church if Catholics are in the majority.

Over time, little by little, the ideal of religious liberty and democracy was introduced, often by Americans, and accepted by the Church. 

One of the great proponents of the idea that not only was the American system not contrary to Catholic teaching but that it was HELPFUL to it was a Jesuit priest by the name of John Courtney Murray.  While he was writing in the 50s and 60s he became something of a minor celebrity, even being featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1960s after he published his book on America and Catholic theology called We Hold These Truths. 

Murray said this—in America it’s not that the government can be described as atheist, but LAY.  The state in America is responsible for assuring that there is order and freedom so that the people can pursue their own end.  You can’t describe America as having a particular religion because in America it is not a king or queen or even a president who hold authority, but the PEOPLE as a whole.  The system in America allows Catholicism to truly flourish because it facilitates conversation and offers the freedom for people to choose to follow God without the use of force, something central to the early teachings of the Church.  Separation of Church and State, while a new idea for many Europeans, simply means that the American state allows Churches the freedom to ensure the spiritual well-being of their people and doesn’t assume that duty for itself which can happen in dictatorships and monarchies.  The American government is content to let the government govern and the Church sanctify.

Through the 50’s and 60’s the teaching of John Courtney Murray began to convince people in the Church that perhaps the American system, the idea that faith can only truly flourish when it is CHOSEN, not forced, is central to our Catholic identity and a God-given right.  So, after much arguing, much controversy, and with the help of the American John Courtney Murray the Second Vatican Council, in it’s final year, presented the document Dignitatis Humanae—on Human Dignity, which would enshrine forever in Catholic teaching the God-given right of each person to pursue their faith and follow their conscience without coercion.

“First, the council professes its belief that God Himself has made known to mankind the way in which men are to serve Him, and thus be saved in Christ and come to blessedness. We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad among all men….

This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is upon the human conscience that these obligations fall and exert their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power…the Council further declares that the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this dignity is known through the revealed word of God and by reason itself. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed and thus it is to become a civil right…Therefore the right to religious freedom has its foundation not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature. In consequence, the right to this immunity continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it and the exercise of this right is not to be impeded, provided that just public order be observed.”

— Dignitatis Humanae, Second Vatican Council

The beautiful thing about the document is that it bases the right to religious freedom in the dignity of the human person.  We are all created in the image and likeness of God.  We are all endowed with a conscience.  Because of that God OFFERS himself for us to accept, but never forces us to accept his Truth. 

It means that we as a Church always offer our faith to be freely accepted, we continually enter into the discussion, showing the truth and the beauty of the Gospel, but we never force someone to accept.  We realize that, even for those who are raised in the Catholic faith, each individual must choose to follow Christ.  We believe that our faith is true, that the Catholic Church is instituted by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, but that our God gives us the ability and the capacity to accept that truth freely.

But there is another side to the teaching.  It also means that each person should be free to live out their faith.  That it is the responsibility of each state to ensure that individuals are able to live and act as their conscience tells them, that they are able, within reasonable bounds, to choose for themselves how to raise their children, serve the poor, and preach their faith.  Freedom isn’t just about allowing leaving people alone.  It isn’t just about allowing people to engage in trivial and unimportant things.  The deepest and most important freedoms are the ones that allow individuals to pursue meaning and purpose.  To allow people to pursue the most important things in their lives.  As Catholics that means the freedom to live our faith and our calling from God.  The freedom to follow our consciences, to serve the poor, to preach the Gospel.  Without that freedom the others become trivial.

Religious liberty is our great contribution as American Catholics.  It is one of our most cherished and basic freedoms as Americans and it is a tenant of our faith.  Our experience of democracy opened up to the world Church a new way to express and explain the inherent dignity of the human person.  Our little contribution is summed up so beautifully by one of our great American poets, who said:

“That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

— O Me! O Life!, Walt Whitman

Freedom of religion.  Freedom of conscience.  The dignity of the human person who is free to accept God’s call and live it.  That is our contribution as Americans to the powerful play, to the Church.  Be proud of it.  Be proud to call yourself an American.  Be proud to live your Catholic faith in freedom.

Courage and Creativity

John Fisher and Thomas More--the two famous English martyrs who were willing to be beheaded rather than violate their consciences and their faith by following King Henry VI as he broke away from the Catholic Church.  The courage of these two saints is inspiring, but courage is only the final virtue they demonstrated, not the only one.

Fisher and More lived during a tumultuous time in world history and especially in the history of the Church--the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent changed the face of Christianity forever--but to view them as stubborn relics of the old guard fighting against innovation would be a mistake.  John Fisher and Thomas More were creative visionaries and dedicated reformers, passionate advocates for a new, more faithful, and more creative vision of Christianity.  It is precisely their dedication to principle and building a better Church that led to their beheading as they were surrounded by old-fashioned churchmen and politicians clinging to an arbitrary and authoritarian vision of the Christian state.

As chancellor of Cambridge University John Fisher helped to form one of the first truly modern universities.  He reintroduced the study of ancient languages such as Greek and Hebrew instead of simply teaching Latin.  He demanded a rigorous course of studies and higher standards of teaching and research.  Thomas More was an early advocate of women receiving an equal education to men, seeing to it that the women in his own family were as lettered as any contemporary man.  His Utopia championed the development of innovative new methods for structuring political and economic systems.

On the feast of Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More we not only celebrate two courageous martyrs, but two creative and innovative visionaries born ahead of their time.

The Pope and the Pigskin

On a fun note, Pope Francis met with a delegation from the NFL this morning.  Here was his message:

“Dear Friends,

I am pleased to greet you, the members and directors of the American Pro Football Hall of Fame, and to welcome you to the Vatican. As many of you know, I am an avid follower of “football”, but where I come from, the game is played very differently!

I thank Mr. Anderson for his gracious words of introduction, which stressed the traditional values of sportsmanship that you seek to embody, both on the field and in your own lives, your families and your communities. Our world, and especially our young people, need models, persons who show us how to bring out the best in ourselves, to use our God-given gifts and talents, and, in so doing, to point the way to a better future for our societies.

Teamwork, fair play and the pursuit of personal excellence are the values – in the religious sense, we can say virtues – that have guided your own commitment on the field. Yet these same values are urgently needed off the field, on all levels of our life as a community. They are the values that help build a culture of encounter, in which we anticipate and meet the needs of our brothers and sisters, and combat the exaggerated individualism, indifference and injustice that hold us back from living as one human family. How greatly our world needs this culture of encounter!

Dear friends, I pray that your visit to the Eternal City will increase your gratitude for the many gifts you have received and inspire you to share them ever more generously in shaping a more fraternal world.

Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace.

God bless you all!”

— Pope Francis, Audience with the delegation from the National Football League, 21.6.2017

Praying for the Lost

If you grew up in a Catholic household you may have learned as a child to pray a little prayer to St. Anthony of Padua (whose feast day is today, June 13) whenever you lost your keys or wallet or the remote control for the TV.  At first glance it doesn't seem like a silly little prayer like that has too much in the way of deeper meaning...but it kind of does...

A lot of the great basilicas and cathedrals of the world can seem more like tourist destinations than places of prayer, that is not the case for the beautiful Basilica di Sant'Antonio da Padova in northeastern Italy.  Every day hundreds of people visit this church with pictures and mementos from loved ones who have gone missing, praying to God together with St. Anthony that they might be safely found.  It is a powerful sight to see so many people turning to God when it seems like all hope is lost--when they need the Holy Spirit the most.  It is a tragic and heartbreaking ordeal to endure and it remains a major problem the world over.  According to FBI statistics each day 700 children are abducted in the United States alone, add to that the thousands of victims of kidnapping and human trafficking every day throughout the world and it becomes apparent that perhaps now more than at any other time in history we are in the midst of a missing persons epidemic.  For the thousands of pilgrims to St. Anthony's shrine in Padua, it is faith and prayer that offers the strength to continue the search for loved ones, even after many years, and to find hope in God when the outlook is bleak.  

While many of the prayers at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio are petitions, there are also prayers of thanksgiving.  Each day hundreds of pilgrims return there to give thanks to God that their child, loved one, or friend has been returned safely.  

Today on the feast of St. Anthony we pray together with all those who are lost throughout the world and their families-- that they may find comfort in their fear, hope in their despair, and the strength of the Holy Spirit in their most difficult hour.  

The Smiling Saint

“Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere in a good life; wherefore the servant of God ought always to be in good spirits.”

— St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome

We have a tendency at times to be gloomy and pessimistic about the future of the Church.  Just imagine what it must have been like in the immediate aftermath of the Protestant Reformation--discord, war, confusion, and division the likes of which hadn't been seen in hundreds of years.  It was precisely in that environment that St. Philip Neri brought his unique brand of humor, joyfulness, and holiness to the city of Rome.

Philip Neri was known by everyone in the Rome as a man who could always be trusted to come with a smile on his face, a joke, and a sense of undeniable trust in God.  He used to send younger brothers in his oratory out to purchase communion wine and tell them that they had to taste every single wine in the city before they made a choice.  When they would return he would remind them that he only actually needed to purchase half a bottle.  During Lent he would shave half of his beard to remind people not to take themselves too seriously.  He would juggle, dance, and play practical jokes.

He was also a man of deep reflection and prayer.  During Philip's life there was great religious discord in many parts of Europe, but perhaps nowhere more than Elizabethan England.  It was very common in the 16th century for English Catholic priests to be executed by the government simply for crossing the Channel into the British Isles, so being a seminarian at the Venerable English College in Rome was essentially a death sentence.  When Philip would pass an English seminarian on the streets he would invariable tip his hat to them, letting them know of the deep respect he held for their risky and courageous vocation and likely future martyrdom.

Even during one of the most difficult periods in our Church's history Philip was a witness to levity and joy.  He reminds us that, if we truly trust in God's Providence, then even in trying times we can walk about with a smile on our face and a spring in our step and the full knowledge that in God all things will be well.  So follow of St. Philip Neri today and, even though life isn't always easy, remember that God is good and we can keep a smile on our face and share a joyful word for all those we meet.

Clashing Symbols

An Orthodox priest was telling me today about a new translation of some beloved Greek hymns into contemporary English.  His favorite adaptation had to do with today's feast, the Ascension, which, in an effort to make the language more accessible, was translated in the new hymnal as "Jesus' lift-off". 

While we can obviously laugh at the notion that Jesus' Ascension to the right hand of the Father would be compared to a rocket launch, it is quite true that we often misinterpret obviously symbolic theological language.  Now I am not saying that our faith consists solely of symbolic language or that certain teachings shouldn't be taken literally or that they are un-historic.  Jesus, in fact, is quite good (as you would expect) at signalling when he is speaking in parable and when he is speaking literally.  Furthermore, Christian belief is so profound precisely because Jesus is an actual, flesh-and-blood, historical figure and God.  What I am saying is that when we engage in theology we are dealing with issues that necessarily transcend human language and categories and so we must often use terms that are insufficient to capture divine realities and only imperfectly represent concepts that go beyond the capacities of our finite intellects.

A great example of this is found in our feast of the Ascension.  For powerful psychological and historical reasons we think of Heaven as being up.  In a symbolic sense this is not inaccurate, talking about the heavens, the sky, and the stars conjures up images of realities that are beyond our understanding and participate in something larger than our every day earthly existence.  It is therefore helpful to think of Jesus ascending to Heaven, bringing our human nature beyond mere earthly existence to something beyond, something greater.  It does not follow, however, that heaven is somehow literally up there in the stratosphere or that Jesus' ascension references him physically floating through the sky.  If we take this kind of language too literally it breaks down.  Again, this is not to imply that the Ascension is not an historical event (of course it is) and it is not to say that heaven isn't a real place (where would Jesus' physical body have gone, otherwise?), but it is to say that it's important to recognize the limitations of our language and concepts to describe exactly what is going on in theology.  We were endowed with formidable intellects and can go quite far in understanding and describing the realities of our Creed, but there is always infinite meaning beyond what mere words can express.  The Ascension is more than Jesus floating through the sky, it is in reality an event that transcends human understanding and speaks of a blessedness and a destiny for each of us that goes beyond anything we can fully grasp in this life.  Maybe lift-off isn't such a bad descriptor after all.