Reflections on the Church at the End of the Year

While 2013 had many instances of breaking news, I think the biggest change for the year was the election of Pope Francis and the reactions to his different style.

During the pontificates of Paul VI, Bl. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, we grew accustomed to a Pope behaving in a certain way. There were some new things done (for example, the World Youth Days) or old things done in new ways, but for the most part we had a fixed view on how a Pope was supposed to behave. There was some dissent as individuals on the left or right took offense with their actions, but they had strong support from Catholics who looked to the Church as Mother and Teacher.

It was inevitable that Pope Francis would shake things up. He was not a European with a European perspective and a European history. He was not a pre-Vatican II priest (ordained in 1969).  He would do things differently simply because he had a different background.

Unfortunately, many Catholics who were accustomed to the perspective of his predecessors mistook those elements as being part of the essence of what the papacy was supposed to be. Both conservative and liberal Catholics believed he was overturning Catholic belief... to the horror of conservatives and delight of liberals.

Both were wrong. A reading of his pre-papal works would show that he took the teaching of the Church as a given. His difference was how he approached the mission of the Church.

The approaches of Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI were not wrong. Their approach was to deal with a world that wrongly contrasted freedom and religious beliefs. Their teachings made it clear that true freedom comes from doing what is right.  That was right. That was necessary.

But it was easy for some Catholics to reduce the Catholic faith to compliance with certain moral norms. That wasn't the fault of  Paul VI, John Paul II or Benedict XVI, but it had to be addressed.

Pope Francis did address it. He told us that it was not enough to teach compliance with moral norms. We had to put those teachings in the context of Christ's Great Commission.

Unfortunately, many (both conservative and liberal) heard "not enough" and equated it with "not necessary." The media has a large portion of the blame here of course.  By taking quotes out of context, they portrayed the Pope as a "everyone love each other" hippie. It was bad enough that people ignorant of what he said believed the media. But the real problem was ordinarily faithful Catholics -- especially in the blogosphere -- also believed the media instead of seeing what the Pope really said.

The result is a portion of Catholics among those who defended his predecessors, look at Pope Francis as a Pope who has to be endured... with opinions ranging from "he doesn't understand how things work outside of Argentina" to treating him as an incompetent who knows less of Church teaching then they do.

The problem is these criticisms focus on the Pope not saying what they want him to say instead of actually considering what he says.

The Pope has spoken about the need to evangelize those outside or at odds with the Church. That means the need to show love of God and neighbor.

I believe he is right. Sin exists and we must speak out to warn people about the dangers of sin. (see Ezekiel 33). But we must also do so from an attitude of love... we have to give a damn about what happens to Obama or Pelosi.

But it also means we need to give thought to how we present Christ's salvation. Do we come across as disciples of Christ? Or do we come across as Republicans? (The two are not the same thing).

The Pope's admonishment of us is not a denial of sin or a denial of Church teaching. It is a reminder of Matthew 7:3-5...

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Personally, I think Pope Francis is the Pope Catholics need... even if he isn't the Pope some Catholics wanted.

Reflections on the Church at the End of the Year

While 2013 had many instances of breaking news, I think the biggest change for the year was the election of Pope Francis and the reactions to his different style.

During the pontificates of Paul VI, Bl. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, we grew accustomed to a Pope behaving in a certain way. There were some new things done (for example, the World Youth Days) or old things done in new ways, but for the most part we had a fixed view on how a Pope was supposed to behave. There was some dissent as individuals on the left or right took offense with their actions, but they had strong support from Catholics who looked to the Church as Mother and Teacher.

It was inevitable that Pope Francis would shake things up. He was not a European with a European perspective and a European history. He was not a pre-Vatican II priest (ordained in 1969).  He would do things differently simply because he had a different background.

Unfortunately, many Catholics who were accustomed to the perspective of his predecessors mistook those elements as being part of the essence of what the papacy was supposed to be. Both conservative and liberal Catholics believed he was overturning Catholic belief... to the horror of conservatives and delight of liberals.

Both were wrong. A reading of his pre-papal works would show that he took the teaching of the Church as a given. His difference was how he approached the mission of the Church.

The approaches of Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI were not wrong. Their approach was to deal with a world that wrongly contrasted freedom and religious beliefs. Their teachings made it clear that true freedom comes from doing what is right.  That was right. That was necessary.

But it was easy for some Catholics to reduce the Catholic faith to compliance with certain moral norms. That wasn't the fault of  Paul VI, John Paul II or Benedict XVI, but it had to be addressed.

Pope Francis did address it. He told us that it was not enough to teach compliance with moral norms. We had to put those teachings in the context of Christ's Great Commission.

Unfortunately, many (both conservative and liberal) heard "not enough" and equated it with "not necessary." The media has a large portion of the blame here of course.  By taking quotes out of context, they portrayed the Pope as a "everyone love each other" hippie. It was bad enough that people ignorant of what he said believed the media. But the real problem was ordinarily faithful Catholics -- especially in the blogosphere -- also believed the media instead of seeing what the Pope really said.

The result is a portion of Catholics among those who defended his predecessors, look at Pope Francis as a Pope who has to be endured... with opinions ranging from "he doesn't understand how things work outside of Argentina" to treating him as an incompetent who knows less of Church teaching then they do.

The problem is these criticisms focus on the Pope not saying what they want him to say instead of actually considering what he says.

The Pope has spoken about the need to evangelize those outside or at odds with the Church. That means the need to show love of God and neighbor.

I believe he is right. Sin exists and we must speak out to warn people about the dangers of sin. (see Ezekiel 33). But we must also do so from an attitude of love... we have to give a damn about what happens to Obama or Pelosi.

But it also means we need to give thought to how we present Christ's salvation. Do we come across as disciples of Christ? Or do we come across as Republicans? (The two are not the same thing).

The Pope's admonishment of us is not a denial of sin or a denial of Church teaching. It is a reminder of Matthew 7:3-5...

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Personally, I think Pope Francis is the Pope Catholics need... even if he isn't the Pope some Catholics wanted.

True For You But Not Me?

A relative shared a link on Facebook. The article itself wasn't too important, but it had a quote in it that got me thinking. The quote was:

All of us have a terrible tendency toward unwarranted certainty -- certain we are right, certain others are wrong, certain that if our ideas were only adopted all would be sweetness and light to the end of time.

When we find the truth, we often decide that what really matters is that everybody else honor the truth that we have discovered. And when we discover that others don't honor our truths -- that they have truths of their own -- we turn against them in confusion and even horror.

Now, in fairness to the author, he was trying to emphasize the Pope's speaking on the need for love in truth -- very true.  But the problem with this quote is it shows a fundamental misunderstanding on what truth is.

Aristotle once defined truth as "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.”

This is too often forgotten. To say "that's true for you," is oxymoronic (and as philosopher Peter Kreeft once mischievously put it, "it's also moronic"). Speaking the truth is to speak in a way that accurately corresponds with reality.

Now truth can be objective (always true regardless of whoever perceives it) or subjective (true for someone who experiences certain conditions but not for someone who not for those who don't experience those conditions).

An example of objective truth is the definition of a triangle. A plane figure with three straight sides and three angles totalling 180°. If you don't have that, you don't have a triangle. If it has 4 sides or if the angles total 190° it is not true to call it a triangle. This is the case regardless of perception or experience.

An example of subjective truth is for a person to say, "my foot hurts."  It's true because that person dropped a cinder block on it. It wouldn't be true for a person who did not drop a heavy object on it or a person with neuropathy.

Once you recognize this, the quote from the article becomes problematic. People may believe different things about how reality works, but if a person believes something contrary to reality,  his or her belief is not true.

For example, either some form of divinity exists or does not.  If there is no form of divinity, then atheists are right and others are wrong. However, if some form of divinity exists, atheists are wrong and the question becomes, in what way does divinity exist.

There are many legitimate either-or questions that must exclude other concepts. Pantheism vs. Monotheism for example. But the point is, the reality is objective truth regardless of what people think. If the reality is that God exists, is triune and the second part of the Trinity established His Church on Peter and his successors (Catholicism) then those who believe otherwise believe falsely -- whether sincerely or insincerely.

Thus the article only partially undetstands Pope Francis. In context, the Pope said:

Here we begin to see how love requires truth. Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth can it endure over time, can it transcend the passing moment and be sufficiently solid to sustain a shared journey. If love is not tied to truth, it falls prey to fickle emotions and cannot stand the test of time. True love, on the other hand, unifies all the elements of our person and becomes a new light pointing the way to a great and fulfilled life. Without truth, love is incapable of establishing a firm bond; it cannot liberate our isolated ego or redeem it from the fleeting moment in order to create life and bear fruit.

If love needs truth, truth also needs love. Love and truth are inseparable. Without love, truth becomes cold, impersonal and oppressive for people’s day-to-day lives. The truth we seek, the truth that gives meaning to our journey through life, enlightens us whenever we are touched by love. One who loves realizes that love is an experience of truth, that it opens our eyes to see reality in a new way, in union with the beloved. In this sense, Saint Gregory the Great could write that "amor ipse notitia est", love is itself a kind of knowledge possessed of its own logic.[20] It is a relational way of viewing the world, which then becomes a form of shared knowledge, vision through the eyes of another and a shared vision of all that exists. William of Saint-Thierry, in the Middle Ages, follows this tradition when he comments on the verse of the Song of Songs where the lover says to the beloved, "Your eyes are doves" (Song 1:15).[21] The two eyes, says William, are faith-filled reason and love, which then become one in rising to the contemplation of God, when our understanding becomes "an understanding of enlightened love". (Lumen Fidei #27)

It's because people fail to grasp that both are needed that we run into error... either a merciless truth or a love that lacks the strength to say "this is wrong. "

True For You But Not Me?

A relative shared a link on Facebook. The article itself wasn't too important, but it had a quote in it that got me thinking. The quote was:

All of us have a terrible tendency toward unwarranted certainty -- certain we are right, certain others are wrong, certain that if our ideas were only adopted all would be sweetness and light to the end of time.

When we find the truth, we often decide that what really matters is that everybody else honor the truth that we have discovered. And when we discover that others don't honor our truths -- that they have truths of their own -- we turn against them in confusion and even horror.

Now, in fairness to the author, he was trying to emphasize the Pope's speaking on the need for love in truth -- very true.  But the problem with this quote is it shows a fundamental misunderstanding on what truth is.

Aristotle once defined truth as "To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.”

This is too often forgotten. To say "that's true for you," is oxymoronic (and as philosopher Peter Kreeft once mischievously put it, "it's also moronic"). Speaking the truth is to speak in a way that accurately corresponds with reality.

Now truth can be objective (always true regardless of whoever perceives it) or subjective (true for someone who experiences certain conditions but not for someone who not for those who don't experience those conditions).

An example of objective truth is the definition of a triangle. A plane figure with three straight sides and three angles totalling 180°. If you don't have that, you don't have a triangle. If it has 4 sides or if the angles total 190° it is not true to call it a triangle. This is the case regardless of perception or experience.

An example of subjective truth is for a person to say, "my foot hurts."  It's true because that person dropped a cinder block on it. It wouldn't be true for a person who did not drop a heavy object on it or a person with neuropathy.

Once you recognize this, the quote from the article becomes problematic. People may believe different things about how reality works, but if a person believes something contrary to reality,  his or her belief is not true.

For example, either some form of divinity exists or does not.  If there is no form of divinity, then atheists are right and others are wrong. However, if some form of divinity exists, atheists are wrong and the question becomes, in what way does divinity exist.

There are many legitimate either-or questions that must exclude other concepts. Pantheism vs. Monotheism for example. But the point is, the reality is objective truth regardless of what people think. If the reality is that God exists, is triune and the second part of the Trinity established His Church on Peter and his successors (Catholicism) then those who believe otherwise believe falsely -- whether sincerely or insincerely.

Thus the article only partially undetstands Pope Francis. In context, the Pope said:

Here we begin to see how love requires truth. Only to the extent that love is grounded in truth can it endure over time, can it transcend the passing moment and be sufficiently solid to sustain a shared journey. If love is not tied to truth, it falls prey to fickle emotions and cannot stand the test of time. True love, on the other hand, unifies all the elements of our person and becomes a new light pointing the way to a great and fulfilled life. Without truth, love is incapable of establishing a firm bond; it cannot liberate our isolated ego or redeem it from the fleeting moment in order to create life and bear fruit.

If love needs truth, truth also needs love. Love and truth are inseparable. Without love, truth becomes cold, impersonal and oppressive for people’s day-to-day lives. The truth we seek, the truth that gives meaning to our journey through life, enlightens us whenever we are touched by love. One who loves realizes that love is an experience of truth, that it opens our eyes to see reality in a new way, in union with the beloved. In this sense, Saint Gregory the Great could write that "amor ipse notitia est", love is itself a kind of knowledge possessed of its own logic.[20] It is a relational way of viewing the world, which then becomes a form of shared knowledge, vision through the eyes of another and a shared vision of all that exists. William of Saint-Thierry, in the Middle Ages, follows this tradition when he comments on the verse of the Song of Songs where the lover says to the beloved, "Your eyes are doves" (Song 1:15).[21] The two eyes, says William, are faith-filled reason and love, which then become one in rising to the contemplation of God, when our understanding becomes "an understanding of enlightened love". (Lumen Fidei #27)

It's because people fail to grasp that both are needed that we run into error... either a merciless truth or a love that lacks the strength to say "this is wrong. "

Musings on the Feast of the Holy Innocents

213. Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, “every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offence against the creator of the individual”.[176]

214. Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. I want to be completely honest in this regard. This is not something subject to alleged reforms or “modernizations”. It is not “progressive” to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life. On the other hand, it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty. Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?

(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium)

One thing I notice is the contemptuous way some people view the Bible and the times it describes. It views these times as barbaric and treats modern times as infinitely superior.

The massacre of the Holy Innocents by King Herod show us how false that view is. For fear of losing his throne, King Herod ordered the murder of those children in Bethlehem two years and younger.  We don't know how many children that involved, but whatever the number, it was obviously wrong to massacre the innocent... especially for so selfish a reason.

However, in our society,  Herod lives on. The massacre of innocents is more hidden under the term "abortion," or "reproductive freedom," but the children are slaughtered for selfish reasons. Herod killed them to protect his kingdom. Today people kill them to protect their convenience, comfort or other wants.

Herod's actions showed the sin and barbarism of his time.

Abortion shows the sin and barbarism of ours.

Musings on the Feast of the Holy Innocents

213. Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenceless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defence of unborn life is closely linked to the defence of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defence of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, “every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offence against the creator of the individual”.[176]

214. Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question. I want to be completely honest in this regard. This is not something subject to alleged reforms or “modernizations”. It is not “progressive” to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life. On the other hand, it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty. Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?

(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium)

One thing I notice is the contemptuous way some people view the Bible and the times it describes. It views these times as barbaric and treats modern times as infinitely superior.

The massacre of the Holy Innocents by King Herod show us how false that view is. For fear of losing his throne, King Herod ordered the murder of those children in Bethlehem two years and younger.  We don't know how many children that involved, but whatever the number, it was obviously wrong to massacre the innocent... especially for so selfish a reason.

However, in our society,  Herod lives on. The massacre of innocents is more hidden under the term "abortion," or "reproductive freedom," but the children are slaughtered for selfish reasons. Herod killed them to protect his kingdom. Today people kill them to protect their convenience, comfort or other wants.

Herod's actions showed the sin and barbarism of his time.

Abortion shows the sin and barbarism of ours.

TFTD: Boomerang

One form of the attack on Christian moral values is an attack of negation. The general attack is along the lines of:

● The Christian belief has [alleged flaw]
● Therefore the Christian belief should not be held.

The irony is that, if followed to the end, it actually negates the attacking position.

For example, the argument claiming that opposition to abortion or homosexuality is imposing their views on others will, if taken to the end requires us to recognize that the promotion of abortion or homosexuality is also an imposition of views on others. If the imposition of one's views is grounds for rejection, then we must also reject the promotion of these behaviors.

Another example comes from the atheist claiming that the belief in God has no scientific basis. Because (they argue) that it is irrational to believe in something with no scientific basis, it is irrational to believe in God.   However, the statement that God does not exist has no scientific basis either.  Therefore, it is irrational to believe there is no God.

In both cases we see an attempt to silence the Christian belief on the basis of a perceived flaw... a flaw which the attacker's argument has. A boomerang which strikes the attacker.

There is another thing to be aware of. The alleged flaw in the Christian belief is not the reason for the Christian belief.  These attacks actually attempt to avoid looking into the reasons for the Christian moral teaching.

Because the onus of proof is on the person making the claim, we certainly have the right to question the claim. We can meet the accusation of "Christianity is flawed and therefore can be rejected," with "Show me where and how it is flawed."

If the accuser is a person of good will and willing to learn (as opposed to one shouting slogans), we have an opportunity to bear witness to the truth.