The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Fr. Michael Silloway

Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity

24 December 2012

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.  Enkindle in them the fire your love.  Send forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

     There is a song that is sung leading up to these days of Christmas joy: It’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

     Christmas has personally always been my favorite time of the year.  There’s just something about it; families travel crazy distances to be with one another.  The excitement of children over what will be under the tree.  A time to splurge in caloric indulgence.  We rejoice.  We celebrate.

     Even the cosmos echo the celebration.  Think about it: how appropriate is it that right after the shortest day of the year (Dec. 21, the Winter Solstice), that Jesus Christ is born, the Light of the World.  When the Earth is at its darkest, when it seems the darkness is conquering the day, BAM! In comes the true light, the light that the darkness cannot overcome.

     Yet our experience of Christmas and its wonder down here in metro Atlanta doesn’t exactly line up with the words of that holiday song.  Much of the Northeast and Midwest are being pounded with snow, cancelling flights and snarling holiday traffic; but besides a freak winter storm once every other decade, we don’t get the chance to go caroling out in the snow.  In fact, in my 20 Christmases here in Georgia, it’s rained for at least half of them.  Not good caroling weather.

     I don’t know of many families who set aside marshmallows for roasting, and no one has ever come up to me and said “BE OF GOOD CHEER!”

     So perhaps the lyrics of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” don’t apply so readily down here in a Southern Christmas.

     But there are two Christmas songs in particular that no matter where you are, or where you’re from, will ring out with true Christmas spirit.  They happen to by my two favorite Christmas songs, and when I think of the nativity scene that our Gospel from Luke portrays, these two songs hit the nail on the head, and will hopefully speak something to our hearts about this simple yet profound, this solemn and utterly joyful event.

Silent Night and O Holy Night

Silent Night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.  Round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild.  Sleep in heavenly peace.

     It’s a lullaby.  How perfect.  And at the same time how strange.  “Silent night?”  Why silent? Have you ever thought about how strange it is that when the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the savior who, as God, bears divine and immense power, when he is born into the world, we sing a lullaby.

     How strange, but yet how perfect.

     God’s plan of salvation involved him sending his Son to be like us in all things but sin.  Only one like us could undo the original disobedience of Adam and Eve.  And only one like God had the power to do it.  So here we have the baby savior, being cradled right up to the heart of his mother.  He is God almighty and Lord of Hosts, the One whose hands made the universe, yet he humbled himself so much that his chubby little baby arms can’t even touch the snouts of the cattle that surround his manger.

     The silence and stillness of the nativity urge us to slow down.  Silence can be unnerving.  The lack of distractions makes us listen to our inmost thoughts and feelings.  We become open to really experience what’s happening around us.

     No quick movements: you’ll wake the baby!  No loud noises, no sudden jolts or sounds.  Just watch the baby.  Have you ever watched a baby sleep?  It is holy.  It does something to you to watch a baby sleep.  The innocence, the purity, the hopefulness.  Your heart goes out to them.

     Imagine Mary rocking her newborn to sleep.  Imagine the stillness and peacefullness.  You moms out there know the feeling; that feeling of holding your baby.  And it doesn’t go away…it never goes away.  Even when your baby is 25 years old, something burns within as you hold your baby.  There is a mystery of love so real that words fail to give it adequate description.  There is a love there that cannot be put into words.  Silent night.  Holy Night.

     And as the silence and serenity of this sacred moment washes over us, we hear the soothing melody of O Holy Night, a truly stirring Christmas song that plunges us into the depth of meaning and importance of this tender moment.

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining.  It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth. 

     The scene is set.  It’s a nice night.  The stars are out.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.

     From the fall onward to this moment, sin has reigned in the world.  Without the light we stumble in the darkness, without the truth, we fall into all kinds of error.  Nothing makes sense in a world without truth.  But then came Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He gives meaning to our lives.  Loving him and following him are the way to true happiness.  The soul feels its worth because it is resting in the hands of the One who created it!

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

     When you work extra long hours and your brain is fried and you see there’s only 10 minutes left before you can bolt out the door, you get a thrill of hope.  This day will end!

     When you’ve wandered long through the desert of life, lost, parched, famished, tired, beat and emotionally spent, and you finally see relief, your wearied world rejoices.  I’m going to make it out alive! 

     When you’ve been trapped in sin for days, weeks, or years, and you hear the good news that Jesus Christ can and will set you free, then you rejoice.

Fall on your knees!  O hear the angel voices!  O Night divine!  O night when Christ was born.  O night, o Holy Night!  O night divine!

     The music takes on a stark and serious character.  There’s a sudden gravity as we’re told to drop down to our knees in adoration before this baby.  He’s no normal baby.  This is the Son of God.  This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  The wood of the cross he will mount for us is foreshadowed in the wood of his manger-crib.  He is born in Bethlehem, the city foretold to be the place where the King would be born, the city whose name literally translates “House of Bread”.  And in this divine bakery is a manger, an eating trough for the beasts, and in this eating trough is placed the one who will proclaim himself the Bread of Life and who will tell us in the Gospel that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink, and that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood we will not have life within us. 

     The angels cry out that the savior has come!  Emmanuel, God-with-us is born.  A child has been born for us, a Son has been given.  Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will!  This is where we get the Gloria that we sing on Sundays—we’re singing the song of the angels as they praise God for sending his Son.  We JOIN THE ANGELS!  I love being Catholic!

     Do we see God’s mysterious plan of salvation unfolding right in front of us?  Do you see what God is doing?  Jesus himself is the bread that came down from heaven, the food that nourishes us, the daily bread we pray for each time we recite the Our Father.  Blessed John Paul II, on his last Christmas before he died, said that “on this Holy Night, adoration of the Child Jesus becomes Eucharistic adoration.”

     To look upon the baby Jesus is to see the lengths God will go to show us his love.  From the very first moment of his existence, he is given for us.  His life was not his own.  He sacrificed for us.  Every beat of his heart says “I am here for you.” 

     You’ve probably heard that every Mass is a little Easter.  Well, it’s also a little Christmas.  The Holy Spirit makes Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist.  We sing him songs, we cry out with the angels, we sit in silence to speak to him heart to heart. 

     As individuals and as families, take this Christmas as an opportunity to slow down, to make room for silence and stillness.  Let your heart take in the depths of Divine Love, of this Silent Night, of this Holy Night.  As Jesus Christ came to be our forgiveness, offer the gift of forgiveness to someone who has wronged you.  Perhaps make a New Years’ resolution to sit with Jesus in the Eucharist for a little time each week.  Or recommit yourself to ridding your life of a sin or vice that has long plagued you.

     Christmas reveals how simple a relationship with God is and how powerful simplicity is.  He came as a baby, just like you and I did.  Do not be afraid to hold and cherish this precious child.  Do not be afraid to fall to your knees and to give him everything.  It is through him and him alone that you will find this to be absolutely, without doubt, the most wonderful time of the year.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Merry Christmas! 

O Antiphons Day 2: O Adonai

O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel,

who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,

who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:

come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Today is the second day of the O Antiphons in Evening Prayer.  Yesterday proclaimed Jesus Christ as the ancient Wisdom that was present at the founding of the world, the very logic of all creation, he through whom all things came to be.

Our antiphon this evening draws us into the mystery of the lordship of Jesus Christ.  

To call Jesus "Adonai" is no small thing.  Adonai is one of the terms used in the Hebrew language to speak about God, the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and revealed his name to be "Yahweh".  God's name is so sacred that they would never pronounce it, nor would they ever write it out completely.  This is why in some Bibles you'll notice reference to the diving name as spelled out in all caps without the vowels: YHWH.  His name is simply too sacred to be spoken by mortal tongues.

After the crossing of the Red Sea, the event that definitively set them free from slavery in Egypt, the Hebrews wanted to speak and write about this God who so marvelously kicked Pharaoh-butt.  Wanting to keep holy the name of the Lord, they used a new words to reference him, namely Adonai and Elohim.  These words are what you will find in the Hebrew manuscripts when our English translations have LORD in all caps.

This LORD is the one who saved them.  This LORD gave them the Law to guide them to righteousness.  This LORD is the one whose mighty arm beat down their foes.  This LORD is the one who spreads out his wings like an eagle to gather in his brood.  This LORD is Jesus Christ.

To call Jesus "Adonai" is to associate his saving action on the cross with the saving work that had been at work for the previous several thousand years.  Jesus saves us from our sins, he gives the new law that leads us to righteousness through sacrificial love; his victory beats down our foes; he spreads out his arms to gather into one fold all his sheep.  Jesus Christ is LORD!

O Antiphons, Day 1

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God,

you govern all creation

with your strong yet tender care.

Come and show your people

the way to slavation.

Today, Dec. 17, marks the one week mark to Christmas Eve.  There is a neato liturgical phenomenon that begins with Evening Prayer tonight called the "O Antiphons".  For the next week, the Magnificat antiphon of Evening Prayer will contain the titles of the Lord that comprise the verses of the classic Advent song O Come O Come Emmanuel:

Emmanuel

Root of Jesse

Day-Spring

Key of David

King of the Nations

Lord

Wisdom

Take a look at them in Latin now.

Emmanuel

Radix Jesse

Oriens

Clavis David

Rex Gentium

Adonai

Sapientia

When you take the first letter of each of these titles of the Lord in order, you get Ero Cras, which in Latin means "I'm coming tomorrow".

So with the completion of the O Antiphons on Christmas Eve, we can sense the closeness of the Lord who comes to us as a little Baby in Bethlehem and we hear him cry out that he is coming to save us.

And this, my friends, is one of the MILLION reasons why I love being Catholic.

(It should be noted that the antiphons appear in reverse order in the liturgy, starting with Wisdom and ending with Emmanuel.)

Advent MUST READ

One of my priest brothers here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta has written a stellar article on the spirit of Christmas.  This is for the SERIOUS CATHOLIC.

It's called "Keeping Christmas in Christmas" by Father Joshua T. Allen.  Enjoy!

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column.php?n=2374

The stores are decorated, all of the Christmas fare has been out for purchase since shortly after Labor Day, trees are being snatched up at lots all over Atlanta, and lights will soon be going on, that is, in the homes that bothered to wait until after the Fourth of July to decorate.
In all seriousness, the Christmas blitz has begun. Two weeks ago, I started preaching about keeping Christmas simple and keeping the season of Advent intact. And in doing so, I have joined a chorus of voices from the Church that have exhorted the faithful to be on guard regarding the nearly blasphemous materialism that has so often shrouded the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas, now more a material than spiritual event, is celebrated earlier and earlier each year. Not surprisingly, the rapid ascendency of the secular material Christmas has corresponded to the secularization of the faithful and the increasing assaults from both within and outside of the Church on her fundamental mission, which is to proclaim the saving message of Christ in the world. Unfortunately, these days Christ has less and less to do with Christmas.
But, I believe in Christmas. I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe that it is possible to salvage the true meaning of Christmas, though I think it will require some serious sacrifices. The purpose of this column is to assist you with some ideas on how to make Christmas truly special while keeping Advent intact. I recognize that our culture has progressed to an extraordinary level of false celebration that will be very difficult to overcome, so I am not expecting the complete and full reversal of the troubling remnants of the secular trends in Christmas; rather, I would like to make some suggestions that can help you and your families to make strong steps towards a deeply Christian and less material experience of Christmas.
First, some principles:
1) We assume that the most joyful Christmas ever celebrated was the one in Bethlehem when Jesus entered into the world. This Christmas was a notable mixture of poverty and splendor. Christ was born in a less than glorious place, but the entire magnificence of the heavenly host appeared to a poor shepherd in the middle of a field singing “Gloria in excelsis Deo” and indicating the coming of the savior.
2) To the extent that we can approach the fundamental truths present in that first Christmas, our personal experience of Christmas should approach the joy experienced by Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and even the angels. Those truths are simplicity, glory, family, and a fundamental orientation to the incarnation of Christ in our lives.
Keeping these principles in mind, if we can devise even small strategies designed to emphasize simplicity, glory, family and the personalization of the Incarnation in our lives, we should be able to help our own families to experience Christmas more deeply.
To this end, I recommend considering the following:
1) Decoration. For many families with strong family traditions, the expectation that Christmas decoration would be delayed until Christmas Eve is unattainable…at least not as a first step. To be clear: I think that is the ideal. But ideals are not always easy to attain. Many families keep the wonderful tradition of slowly filling the family Manger scene with figures on the Sundays of Advent. On the first Sunday, the stable or structure itself is put out. On the second Sunday, the animals can be put in the scene. On the third Sunday, the shepherds can be placed in the field, and other figures inserted. The fourth Sunday brings Mary and Joseph, and then Christmas brings the baby Jesus and the Angel proclaiming the “Gloria.”
But, I recommend something further: the central figure in secular Christmas decoration is the Christmas Tree. I recommend that you go ahead and decorate the whole house as you normally would, but don’t turn on any of the lights. Put up your tree, but don’t decorate it. If you like, place some purple and pink ribbons on the tree to indicate that we are still in Advent. Make the Nativity Scene the focus of the decorations.
On Christmas Eve, in the morning, decorate the tree with your family. But don’t turn on the lights yet. Only once the sun goes down (or, if you attend a Vigil Mass or Midnight Mass, after Mass) do you light up the tree and the house and place the Baby Jesus in the manger. Then keep your decorations up and lit until January 6, the Epiphany.
What will the neighbors say? They’ll think you’re crazy. And they will ask you what you’re doing. And then you’ll have the opportunity to explain what Christmas is really about. And they’ll still think you’re crazy. But hey: we’re Catholics. We can all be crazy together. What I can assure you is that if you do this, your family will experience a holier and happier Christmas than otherwise.
2) Gift Giving. You’ll notice that in the first Christmas, there was no gift-giving until the Epiphany. I am a big fan of waiting to give gifts until after Christmas…letting Christmas Day be about Jesus Christ, and then letting the gifts come later. However, I recognize the difficulty of this proposition.
But, what can you do? Keep one gift for each member of your family for Epiphany. Your tree is going to be lit for the next 12 days anyway…it might as well have gifts under it! Make the Epiphany gift the best one, and make sure that you discuss with your family the mystery of the Epiphany…the coming of the Wise Men and the fulfillment of the aspirations of all the world in the coming of Jesus as savior…before you give your gifts.
I promise you this: you and your family will stay in the Christmas spirit if there are gifts yet to come, and this small act will dramatically increase the religiosity of your Christmas season.
3) Parties. It’s probably too late for this year, but consider next year having your Christmas party after Christmas Day. First of all, everyone is available, as long as you don’t have it on the 26th, because then all of your friends will be busy taking down their decorations. Have your party on one of the days in the Octave of Christmas! Secondly, everything you offer at the party will be cheaper, because you can benefit from the after-Christmas sales!
4) Prayer. Ask yourself this question: do you spend as much time praying about the true meaning of Christmas as you spend decorating and shopping and preparing for the material aspect of the holiday? If not, it’s time to change. Consider taking your family to Mass every morning the kids are off from school during Christmas. The Mass readings are awesome…we literally celebrate Christmas for 8 days! Pray the Rosary with your family during Christmas…even if you never do it. Yes, the kids get restless. Maybe it doesn’t even seem like prayer. Jesus understands. Mary understands…she once had a little munchkin running around too.
5) Almsgiving. Consider setting aside ten percent of your Christmas budget to assist the poor. Will this make things tighter? Yes. But, if we accept that there has never been a more joyful Christmas than the first, we should discover that simplicity is something that makes us happy.
Also, ask your kids to choose something that they really love (and you do the same), and to offer that very thing to someone less fortunate than them, even if it is something they have just received for Christmas. This can be easily accomplished through the St. Vincent de Paul society. And do this on the Epiphany, which will truly help your family to understand the greatness of sacrificial giving.
Now if you’ve actually made it this far in the column, you think I’m crazy and out of touch and asking the impossible. But here’s the thing: I know families who do each of these things, and more. And they are the happiest families I know. They are the families that are not constantly stressed at Christmas.
We have to be honest, to look at our culture, and to ask ourselves whether what is going on is really something we want in our families? Then, we have to recognize that it is already in our families! This is not the work of prevention, but the work of correction. If we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ actually has something to offer to this world, we should live as if we believe it, even to the point of making sacrifices.
Whether these suggestions are the right thing for you or not, I encourage you to consider them and to come to some resolutions about how best to celebrate the holiness of Christmas in your families. God Bless, and Happy Advent!

Papa

Papa has continued to decline. When we arrived, he would greet us with a smile then fall back asleep. For the past 48 hours he has barely opened his eyes. Even when we have to shift him to freshen him up he doesn't wake or even grimace.

Grandma has a little booklet that details the events that lead up to death. It describes the dying process as a transitioning from this life into eternity. The person sleeps more the closer they get to death, symbolizing their further detachment from this world and deeper attachment to the next.

My aunts take turns keeping vigil with him and grandma. Apparently after most of us go home for the night, he gets most restless, as if all the noise we make during the day gives him comfort.

I know he knows he's surrounded by his loving family. I hope he feels safe enough to leave our loving presence to enter the infinitely greater love of the presence of God.

Time to get personal

Three posts in a day!

I've got some time on my hands as I'm away from my parish for a week.  I'm up in a tiny apartment in Olean, NY, way up north in the frozen tundra (for real, it was 36 degrees when we landed) where my grandfather, my Papa, lay in a hospital bed awaiting his return to the Lord.

It's a hard sight to see.  He wears a t-shirt and a diaper, and is clothed with a bed sheet.  He goes in and out of alertness, mumbling every once and a while about a conversation he just had with a deceased brother.  His hair is all over the place, like he just got off a roller coaster.  He grunts, falls asleep, waves to someone only he can see in the corner of the room, then falls asleep again.

This is a man I've looked up to for three decades, the one whose faith was so contagious that even I, at the barely-conscious age of 7, was swept into the river his love of Jesus Christ and His Church.  He taught me you can pray anywhere and everywhere, that Mary loves us like she loves her own Son, that family comes before all else.

My Papa is dying, and it's really hard to grasp.  It's hard to talk to anyone in the family about it, because we all end up in tears.  If not for the faith, I think we'd all be falling apart.  But this is a staunchly Catholic family.  As an active deacon, Papa took so much pride in the fact that his parishes did absolutely everything by the book.  I knew what the General Instruction on the Roman Missal was before I had memorized the Creed.  Papa talks to Mary every day.  He says she once told him not to tell Jesus, but that he was her favorite.  I'm fairly certain that in some of his less lucid moments, when it seems to us that he's lost on a cloud, he's actually conversing with the other side of eternity.

We all love this man very much.  I'll try to keep sharing my thoughts as I can.  Please offer a prayer for Deacon Don Radlinski, that the Blessed Mother walk him to the portals of Heaven where together, they greet the Lord.

Papa holding his great grandson, Edmund.  That's Grandma in the red shirt next to him.

More Thoughts

One more thought on the abortion question:
In regards to the fact that it's not the government's job to tell people that disagree with you what to do, Archbishop Chaput hits the nail on the head: (synthesis) In a myriad of ways the government tells people of a variety of belief systems and opinons what to do.  They make a decision for the common good and implement it.  When the elected representatives think it's a good idea to defend our borders, they do so.  When they think it's a good idea to create a safety net for the poor, they do so.

They recognize a need and work to address it, even, in the case of Obamacare, when the decision is highly unfavorable with 1/2 of the nation.

Vice President Biden used a very poor logic to defend his position.  The life of the unborn is obviously not very important to him.  He doesn't see embryonic life as human life.  If he did, it would be blatantly clear in his policy decisions.

Religious Freedom

A major incident occurred earlier in the debate, when the question of religious liberty came up.  Biden stated that no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, would have to participate in contraception.  He brushed aside the criticisms the US Bishops have manifested through their manifold lawsuits, basically saying religious freedom is a non-issue.

WHAT BIDEN SAID IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE.  The USCCB responded with a swift and clear penalty flag, maintaining that yes, indeed, Catholic institutions will have to violate their principles or pay heavy fines if their insurance policies do not cover contraception, sterilization, and certain abortion-inducing drugs.

America, this is serious.

Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of the Gospel,

for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe

Interesting to note that on the first day of the Year of Faith, two Catholic contenders for the Vice Presidency of the United States of America sparred on international TV in a campaign season debate, and their Catholic Faith was brought to the forefront.

The particular context of their moment of witness was on the topic of abortion.  Let's see what the Church actually teaches about this subject:

Catechism paragraph 2270 - "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life."

That's some pretty clear language: life is to be "respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception".

Now the video:

     The moderator asked how their common faith influences their position on abortion.  Ryan goes first, pointing to the fact that abortion is not simply a religious issue, it's a moral issue, and therefore subject to being either right or wrong.  It cannot be both.  His faith informs him that life begins at conception.

     VP Biden then addresses it saying that he also believes the teaching of the Catholic Church.  That means he believes that life is to be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.  Awesome!

     But then he qualifies his belief in that he doesn't think it's right to impose his views on other people.  Something about it's not the government's job to tell people what to do with their bodies.

     There are so many problems with that statement, but I want to focus on one thing: when we claim to believe something, that belief has an impact on the way we act.  If it doesn't, then it's fair game for someone to challenge the firmness of my belief.

     If I say I don't believe an airplane is built solidly with good aerodynamics or I doubt that the pilot is skilled and will get me to my destination safely, I don't get on the plane.  If I believed there was a threat to my safety, I would choose to protect myself.

     If I believe that it's going to rain, I bring an umbrella.  If I believe clapping two sticks together keeps mountain lions away, I clap away.  If I believe life begins at conception, and if I believe that human life is worth protecting, I protect it.

     If I choose to not act on a belief, I'm letting something else take precedence over the firmness of my belief.  If I don't get on a perfectly good airplane with a perfectly good pilot, it may be because fear is stronger than my belief in the principles of physics.  If I don't take an umbrella when I believe one is necessary, it might be because I value having my hands free more than I believe the protection it provides is necessary.  If I stop clapping my anti-mountain lion sticks, it's because I'm holding something in greater esteem than my belief, perhaps my doubt that it's even effective at all.

     My point is this: when we truly believe something, it changes us.  We allow belief to change us.  It's how we know we really believe it.

     When a candidate can get up on his high horse and claim belief in the teaching of the Church and then so easily dismiss it, one has to wonder how firmly he holds that belief.

     The questions the moderator should have followed up with is: "Mr. Vice President, do you believe it's a duty of the government to protect human life?  Do you hold that unborn babies are human?"

      The sacredness of human life is an objective moral value.  It's either true or it's not.  It either applies in all circumstances or none at all.  It's that kind of issue.

     Is the Gospel salvation for those who believe or isn't it?  It cannot be both.

     Mr. Vice President, what are you ashamed of?

Bishop Jenky Brings the Heat

Bishop Daniel Jenky, the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, has some clear and powerful words concerning the HHS Mandate, our discipleship in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the importance of voting our Catholic conscience this November.

From a homily he gave back in April:

       "As Christians we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but as Christians we must also stand up for what we believe and always be ready to fight for the Faith. The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.
"In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work – like that very first apostolic generation – we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.
       "Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like the first disciples locked up in the Upper Room.
       "In the late 19th century, Bismarck waged his “Kulturkampf,” a Culture War, against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany.
       "Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.
Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.
       "In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.
Now things have come to such a pass in America that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgement seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.
       "This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries -- only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down. Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the instrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb.

This may be old news, especially to those who are faithful Catholic blog readers.  I just found it.  And I found it extraordinary.  Might even use it in my homily this Sunday...

Atlanta joins lawsuit against HHS Mandate

Here's the press release [emphasis added]:

Contact: Pat Chivers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(678) 480-6865 October 10, 2012

Archdiocese of Atlanta Files Federal Lawsuit
Against HHS Mandate

Atlanta --- In order to defend one of America’s most fundamental freedoms—the freedom to practice one’s religion without governmental interference—the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta has filed suit in federal court seeking to block the Health and Human Services’ mandate that unconstitutionally attempts to define the nature of the church’s religious ministry and would force religious employers to violate their consciences. Christ the King Catholic School, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah joined in the lawsuit. Named as defendants in the suit are the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division.

Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta, said about the lawsuit filed in Atlanta, “We are undertaking this action because the stakes are so incredibly high. Our religious liberty and that of our fellow Catholics and people of other religious faiths as well as those with no professed religious belief throughout the nation are impacted by this proposed action. The unchallenged results of the HHS mandate would require that we compromise or violate our religious faith and ethical beliefs.”

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has filed this suit because the federal government is requiring religious organizations, under penalty of law, to provide, pay for, and/or facilitate access to abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs.

The lawsuit states, “Plantiffs acknowledge that individuals in this country have a legal right to these medical services; they are, and will continue to be, freely available in the United States, and nothing prevents the Government itself from making them more widely available. But the right to such services does not authorize the Government to co-opt religious entities like Plantiffs into providing or facilitating access to them.” American history and tradition, embodied in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, prohibit just this sort of overbearing and oppressive governmental action.

While the government has recognized a religious exemption to these mandates, it is so narrowly worded that many – if not most – religious institutions such as Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Christ the King Catholic School may not qualify for it. Under the government’s exemption standard, these Catholic institutions may not qualify because they do not discriminate against non-Catholics who might come to them seeking assistance or education. Nor do they discriminate against non-Catholics in their hiring practices. In order to qualify for an exemption, a religious institution must submit to an intrusive and arbitrary governmental investigation into whether, in the discretionary view of the Government, their “purpose” is the “inculcation of religious values,” whether they “primarily” employ persons who “share their religious tenets,” and whether they “primarily” serve such people. Catholic schools and the programs of Catholic Charities Atlanta are open to people of all faiths and do not consider religious affiliation in hiring for most positions. The Archdiocese of Atlanta strongly objects to such an intrusive, arbitrary and misguided governmental investigation into their religious missions.

Archbishop Gregory, a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, stated, “We bring our heritage of faith and dedication to the service of the poor and needy who have been served by the agencies of the Catholic Church in Georgia with generosity and commitment for all of the years of our existence in this region. We become one more voice that must be heard by the courts as they consider the legality of this action.”

Joseph Krygiel, CEO of Catholic Charities Atlanta, said, “This lawsuit is not about contraception, it is about religious freedom and it always has been. Our board felt that religious freedom is the cornerstone of every basic human right. It is the most cherished of all liberties that we enjoy as Americans, and this HHS mandate is an unprecedented direct attack on our Catholic faith and our religious freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.” Krygiel added, “The majority of poor and needy people that we serve are not Catholic. In fact, we never ask our clients what faith they practice or if they even believe in God before we provide help to them. There is a saying in Catholic Charities agencies across the country, "We help people not because they are Catholic; we help people because we are Catholic."

For more information, contact Pat Chivers (678) 480-6865 or pchivers@archatl.com.

Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Come Holy Spirit

In a nutshell: Live passionately not for this world, but for the world to come.

We hear some Cautionary words in our readings today:

St. James lays the smack down on those who use wealth as a means of lording their authority over people – withholding wages, living in opulent luxury while their workers struggle to make ends meet.

Gospel tells two stories.  One about an outsider who acts as an insider (a guy who, though not a follower of the apostles is casting out demons in the name of Jesus) and second story about the true threat of a person, who from within the believing community, causes a “little one,” that is, anyone who has humbled him or herself to follow the Lord, to sin.  Basically posing the scenario – what’s worse . . . to be a wannabe or to create scandal? 

Let’s pause on that word for a second…scandal.  We hear it all the time.  But what does it actually mean?

Scandal – an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil.  The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter.  He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death.  Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense (CCC 2284).

The catechism goes on to say that scandal is made more egregious when committed by someone in authority, someone who is trusted with more responsibility and then abuses or otherwise misuses that responsibility.  Some timely examples would be clergy who forsake their promises of chastity and obedience, causing people to sin, leading them into error, and hurting already wounded souls; or Catholic politicians who tout their faith before the cameras, then betray the precepts of the Lord in their policy, leading to confusion among the faithful and division within the Church.

Jesus says that it’s better for us to have a millstone tied to our necks and we be thrown headlong into the sea than to lead another person into sin.  He tells us today that if there is a member of our body, both our physical body or our collective communion, that is causing us to sin, CUT IT OFF!

Now, to be sure and clear, this is an example of literary hyperbole, intended exaggeration to draw out a point, a truth.  And that point, that truth is this: it IS, in fact, better to enter heaven with battle wounds than to burn in hell with a perfectly chiseled body and a million friends on facebook.

This is solid spiritual direction here, straight from the giver of the Spirit!  If there is something that causes you to sin, get rid of it!  If a person is scandalous, that is, leading you directly or indirectly into sin, shut them down! 

Brothers and sisters, live passionately your discipleship in the Lord Jesus.  This world is transitory and we were made for infinity.  The spirit of the world, the flesh, and the ancient enemy all want to create division in the Body of Christ, to sow the seeds of doubt and despair.  Take real action against the sins or the patterns of sin in your life.  Shut down the voices that lead to division, cut off the power to the devices that lead to sin.

The Spirit of Truth will lead you to all truth, and the truth will set you free.  Truth is what binds us together.  Listen to the voice of Truth, the one voice that really matters: the voice of the Lord, the voice that unifies, the voice that inspires, the voice that challenges complacency, the voice that rebukes the enemy and calls out lies, the voice that encourages, the voice that builds up and fills us with meaning.  Live passionately for this voice.  

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Single-Issue Voters

I'm giving a few talks on Faithful Citizenship at some local churches.  As part of my research, I rely heavily on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (full document available here).

Paragraph 42 of that document highlights a conundrum that seems to come up every election year: can Catholics be single-issue voters?  Is it OK to endorse one candidate because s/he supports one particular issue that is near and dear to my Catholic heart?

The bishops give a resounding, clear-cut, no-doubt-about-it NO; we should not vote for a candidate because of one issue alone.  It's the third sentence in the paragraph that I find most interesting.  Read it for yourself:

42. As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet a candidate's position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.

While voting for a candidate because of single issue sympathy is outright denied, if a candidate holds near and dear to one issue that is (of itself, or, theologically speaking, in its moral object) intrinsically evil, we can disqualify them from the receiving our support.

This is just good spiritual practice.  If someone is participating in some evil, especially something gravely evil, we should disassociate ourselves from them.  If we actively support them, we are accomplices to the evil they are doing.

I think I already know the most common argument people will make against this statement: Every candidate stands with something that is morally questionable, so, according to the bishops, we can't vote for anyone, because no matter what, we'll be participating in some evil.

There's something true in that statement and also something terribly false.

TRUE: We won't EVER find a candidate that perfectly in every situation upholds the dignity of the human person above all else, outlaws abortion, feeds the poor, gives healthcare to those who can't afford it, does away with embryonic stem cell research, makes the death penalty a thing of the past, locks up doctors who facilitates suicides, and provides a safety net for orphaned children (did I miss any of the prolife initiatives?).

 FALSE, While there is no single perfect candidate (unless the Lord Jesus himself were to be the last-minute, third party candidate this November), that does not mean we cannot or should not evaluate what evils a candidate stands for and check them according to our Catholic-formed conscience.  Evil is evil, but not all evils carry the same weight.  The goods we try to uphold do, in fact, exist in a hierarchy.  The good of equality among the races outweighs the good of the price of gas, and the good of human life outweighs all other goods.

It is not intrinsically evil to cut taxes.  It is intrinsically evil to abort a baby, or promote racism, or to steal, etc.  These things can never be "good" no matter what the intention behind them or the circumstances around them.

When a candidate stands for one or multiple intrinsically evil positions, and we have an alternative who, while not being perfect in any stretch of the imagination, we can, and I'd argue should discredit the the former by supporting the latter.

Don't take my word for it.  Take Jesus': If something (or someone) causes you to sin, cut it off.