God Embraces Outcasts -- Then & Now

Thom, author of the blog Faith in the 21st Century, has a great post today in which he considers how the socially marginalized (the outcasts from Proper Mainstream Christian Society) would come into play if Jesus were to appear in our midst and offer us a fresh version of his teaching that "tax collectors and prostitutes are entering heaven before you" (Luke 11:46).  Well worth a read.

Advent: Less Running, More Stillness

I was googling around a few minutes ago, in search of a quick, one-off Advent reflection.  (I haven't picked up the Advent booklet at my bedside in several days:  too busy.)

This is the line I came across on the Internet.  I know nothing about the author or what else he has written.  But it works for me right now.  It fits the spiritual state I'm in at the moment.  And it speaks to this time of waiting.

“Advent: the time to listen for footsteps -- you can't hear footsteps when
you're running yourself.” -- Bill McKibben

I need to slow down.  I need to stop running.  I need to get myself quiet on the outside, and then quiet on the inside as well.  Avail myself of the possibility that Christ might just be willing to take up residence in my flawed soul.  Make myself available to the peace that God is willing to offer -- and which I must be willing to accept.

Advent 2011.  The season when what I really need is fewer bright lights, less noise, less shopping, less greed for what appears in the ads from the big box stores.  And more moments waiting for the peace and love and mercy of God, which most likely will come in small moments, quiet moments.

Making and Finding Silence in Advent

We are now in the first week of Advent.  I love Advent; I love what it's all about -- waiting for God and, as we wait, trying to make a home for God in our hearts.  It's a liturgical season that is, in a sense, all about getting pregnant -- getting pregnant with Christ.  Each of us, female or male, old or young, can help bring Christ into this world.  Each of us is responsible for saying yes to God's call and now we wait for God's presence to grow in our souls rather than in a womb.

For me, silence has to play a role in all this waiting.  Otherwise I get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the commercial enterprise that is Christmas 2011, a season of bargains and parties and food and outward trappings that often fail to lead me back to the spirit of quiet possibility -- the sacredness -- found in "mangers" both ancient and modern.  (There's a "manger" two hundred yards to your right or left, if you're willing to keep your eyes open and you don't require farm animals or straw.  Humble, unassuming places where one can be open to the in-breaking of God in our world.  Places where the incarnation still seems like it has a real chance of occurring in the human soul, even in this busy, high tech era known as 2011.)

Now, in the middle of the night as I write this, I realize that I may not have an easy time of finding silence each day during Advent.  Plenty of Christmas carols in the air, some of which I like a good deal.  (A friend just sent our family a beautiful CD of Christmas carols performed by a girls choir.  We'll be playing that many times in the coming weeks and finding food for our souls in the playing.  Thanks, Jeanne!)  Still -- if I want to find moments of quiet during Advent, I'm going to have to kill the remote and turn off the car radio more often and stop myself from blathering on, too.

I'm going to have to make silence, in other words.  Valuing silence at different points during the day is helpful (perhaps essential) if I hope to make space in my heart for Christ's love, Christ's mercy, Christ's grace.  And maybe cultivating an inner spirit of quiet is essential if I hope to attain the equilibrium to share a bit of that love with others too -- since even in the quiet of the manger, the doorway was left open for shepherds, travelers from afar, and even (let's face it) curious livestock.  I have to imagine that Mary and Joseph savored the quiet -- occasionally broken by the Christ child's cries, for sure -- before they let those strangers in, before they pulled back the blanket a bit to let the visitors see the innocent face of love.

Martin Sheen -- Interviewed by the NCR

Great interview of Martin Sheen in the National Catholic Reporter.  A superb actor, sincere Christian, and good father and citizen.  Not to mention a damn good TV president...

Merton and Contemplation . . . on YouTube

Someone reading out loud the first chapter ("What is Contemplation?") from Thomas Merton's beautiful little book, New Seeds of Contemplation.  Have some coffee handy.  The voice could put you to sleep.  Merton's words, however, may deepen your life.

"Contemplation is also the response to a call: a call from HIm Who has no voice, and yet Who speaks in everythat is, and Who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being: for we ourselves are words of His."

An Online Retreat -- Another Gift from Creighton University

I've been wrestling with myself for a couple years now who has the better site for prayer and scripture reflections  -- Saint Louis University or Creighton University.  They're both great sites, albeit in very different ways.  Creighton wins this month, however, as it provides an entryway into its annual online retreat, which begins next week.  (Actually, you can begin it anytime, but you'll be going through it in sync with even greater numbers of other folks--if such things matter to you--should you happen to start it in the third week of September.  There's also a retreat book available for purchase, though you can participate in the retreat just fine with your mouse.)

Not sure if I'm going the online route or not this year; probably not, as I'll be going on retreat later this year in the old fashioned way (for the first time in a decade, actually).  Truly, though, it's great to have Creighton's prayer resources out there to remind us that you can go on a retreat--send your soul on a retreat--no matter your transportation options, your budget, your job schedule, or child care/family responsibilities.  Jesus was in the habit of going away to a quiet place to pray.  These days, sometimes that quiet place is in front of a monitor.  Whatever works, however you can make it work . . . trust that God will make it work.  This is the God of limitless love, boundless mercy, infinite creativity.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."  --Matthew 11:29-30

Just as the human body needs and deserves sleep, the soul needs its own rest--the time and opportunity to trust completely in God's love, to unfold itself in the radiant warmth of God's love.  Whatever good deeds you hope to carry out in the world, your soul needs the warmth of God's love if you hope to carry that love out into the world.  Don't kid yourself into thinking a retreat is a selfish thing.  It's no more a selfish thing than an annual visit to the doctor (even though you'll probably enjoy your retreat more than that visit with your physician).

Okay, your turn:  Have you gone a retreat at some point yourself?  Would you do it again or not?  What did you get out of it?  There's an empty comment box just waiting for you.  It's pretty empty, really it is.  Or almost empty.  Go on.  You know you want to type in your thought...

In Remembrance

Those who died on September 11, 2001, live on in many hearts, most especially in the lives of those who knew and loved them.  May we trust, through God's grace and mercy, that they also live on in God's loving embrace.

May we honor their lives by living in generous, life-giving ways.

May we acknowledge the injustice of their deaths by rejecting hatred, violence, and vengeance.

May we pray for their families, that they find peace in the years and decades to come.

May we view this anniversary, and future anniversaries, as times when we respect all human life, rather than as partisan occasions for name-calling or recrimination.

Nothing can undo this tragedy.  Nothing can help us to make complete sense of it.  But seeking God's love and mercy, and embracing the call to forgiveness and healing that is at the heart of the readings at Mass for today, is an important step in not allowing hatred and violence to have the final say in the life of our nation or our families and neighborhoods.

An old post related to September 11:  "Losing One's Life for Others--Priestly Examples," concerning NYFD chaplain Fr. Mychal Judge.

Vatican Again Papers Over Real Priorities

A great (and brief) article by Eugene Kennedy, in the National Catholic Reporter, on Rome's mixed-up priorities and retreat into medieval ways.

Benedict's Vatican is again engaging in a legalistic approach to grace.  Sadly, that's pretty darn appropriate, since its approach to just about everything else also seems legalistic.

Someday, we may once again find ourselves with a pope who truly embraces Vatican II, rather than runs away from it.  Someday, we may have a pope who--like John XXIII--opens the windows of the church and allows the church to thrive with the fresh air, rather than recycling practices that were wisely put on the shelf.  There is much hope for the Church.  The Holy Spirit is not finished with it yet.

Religious Tests for the Presidency

Jimmy Akin is one of those self-appointed right-wing Catholics who has created a business out of telling other Catholics that they aren't true enough or pure enough in their Catholicism.  He's a blogger who has written books and gets on right-wing Catholic radio (including the Covenant network) to encourage Catholics to report their priest to the bishop if he says something during Mass that a right winger does not like--for instance, if the priest mentions that he thinks priests should be able to marry, or that women should not be banned from the priesthood.

That's Jimmy Akin's right.  He can make money however he wants, as long as it's legal, and he obviously has his first amendment rights.  No crime there.  But now Akin has gone on the warpath against Mitt Romney -- not because Romney's economic policies (the few that he's actually been willing to put his name to) are heartless, not at all protective of the poor Jesus asked his followers to help.  No, Akin does not think Romney should be taken seriously as a presidential candidate because....wait for it....he's not Christian.  Romney is a member of the LDS church (the Mormons), obviously, and Akin is quick to point out that the LDS church is not Christian.

Couple problems with that one.  First, Akin's own faith -- Catholicism -- is often bashed by evangelicals as "not being Christian."  That's a charge arising from ignorance; it typically comes from people who believe that Catholics worship Mary or that Catholics are not called by the church to have a "personal relationship" with Christ.  You would think Akin, as a member of a faith community that is itself often attacked by outsiders, would not want to tackle Romney on Romney supposedly not belonging to a Christian church.

The second problem is that Akin defines Christianity in strictly theological terms.  Personally, I find theology fascinating -- one of the most interesting parlor games around.  But theology is not synonymous with being a follower of Christ -- that is, a true, humble Christ-ian:  a person who attempts to love as Jesus loves.  Akin has missed the point of Christianity if he thinks it's chiefly about doctrine.

Not to mention that people who call themselves Christian should reject bigotry in all its forms--including religious bigotry.  There's no other word for what Akin has advocated:  rejecting a presidential candidate chiefly on his religious beliefs.

There's no way in heck that I will vote for Romney -- in part because he has now rejected the one clearly good thing he did as governor of Massachussetts:  helping to craft health care reform that increased the likelihood that sick people (of all income levels) will be able to get medical care without the system going bankrupt.  No, Romney is not getting my vote.  But it has nothing to do with the sort of bigotry that Jimmy Akin is busy promoting.

I truly believe that each of us is called by God to reject bigotry in all its forms.  If we work at that, we can help save the church.  (Call me naive if you must, but I do believe that.)