Which cross will you carry?

NB.  Just as I finished this homily, Fr. Michael (our Pastor) knocked on my door and volunteered to take today's 5.30pm Mass b/c of my hacking, sneezing, etc.  So, here's the text of the Homily That Will Not Be Preached!  :-)

Seven Founders of the Servite Order
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

In the fall of 2000, I entered what we Dominicans call, the studium; basically, what everyone else calls seminary. My studium days were sometimes tough b/c I had spent a lot of years in a secular grad school, and I was used to aggressively challenging my professors and my fellow students. At some point in that first year, I began to realize that some of my profs were inclined to dissent from basic Church teachings and tended to present a critique of our tradition before presenting the tradition itself; or even worse, they presented their critique as the tradition. When I aggressively challenged this approach, and got a lame answer from the prof, I would go to the student master and rant for a while. He would patiently listen, nod appropriately, heave a big sigh, and ask, “Philip, is this the hill you wanna die on?” In other words, Philip, is this issue important enough to you to risk your vocation as a Dominican friar? I said NO every time. He could've asked me, “Philip, is this the cross you wanna be nailed to?” Is this the issue you want to carry to your death, the stand you want to make right before you die? As Lent approaches, here's our question: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” What good is it to you if you win the treasures of the world and die in the process of winning?

With anti-Catholic bigotry on the rise among our nation's political elites, we might have to answer that question much sooner than we ever thought we would. We might be forced sooner rather than later to answer the question, “Is this cross the one you wanna be nailed to?” There's no need to be dramatic here: the Men in Black aren't out rounding up Catholics for the re-education camps. None of us is headed to the firing squads. The erosion of our religious liberties as Catholics and Americans is subtle, piecemeal, but frighteningly obvious if you're paying attention. We are being inexorably corralled—court decision by court decision, agency regulation by agency regulation—forced into making some stark black and white choices about where we put our faith, our trust: in coercive governmental power, or ancient Church teaching? We can scream, whine, complain, sue, petition, and vote 'til our fingers and tongues are swollen and useless, but eventually, sooner rather than later, someone is going to ask you, “Is this the cross you wanna be nailed to?” You can say NO, NOT THAT ONE a lot of times but at some point you will have to say YES, THAT ONE, or you can wait until they run out of crosses, and then you will belong to the world. 

Jesus teaches us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” St. Augustine writes that “deny himself” means, “Let him not trust in himself. . .Cursed is every one that puts his hope in man. . .Let him withdraw from himself, that he may cleave unto God.” What does “take up your cross” mean? He writes, “. . .let them in the world endure for Christ's sake whatever the world may bring upon them. . .Hold on, persevere, endure, bear delay and you have borne the cross.” Borne the cross, yes; but the world seeks to nail us to a cross b/c we choose to follow Christ. This should not surprise us b/c it is exactly what Christ promised would happen. That cross might be living as a Christian in a Muslim country or the atheist utopia of N. Korea; it might be the choice btw living the faith honestly, or having medical insurance; it might be the choice btw living your faith freely, or hiding your light in the darkness of political correctness and cultural oppression. Which among the alternatives “follows Christ”?  Which will be the cross you are nailed to?

cf. Augustine, Sermon 46 on the New Testament

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We will NOT comply!

Copy it, paste it, spread it ALL over!

H/T:  Mark "Bloody Shanks" Shea
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Coffee Cup Browsing

Believers are happier than non-believers.  Duh.

A must-see-for-me summer movie. . .Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.   I suggest for fall/winter release. . .Ronald Reagan:  Lefty Zombie Hunter!

It's OK to force a high school choir to sing Muslim worship song. . .imagine if that same high school forced the choir to sing, "Amazing Grace" or "Salve Regina."  How did we get here, people???

Poor Ole Jimmy Carter continues to embarrass himself and his Democrat friends.

White House lies about Catholic Charities' support for B.O. anti-Catholic powergrab.

Bishop thrown out of a bar after giving a Theology on Tap talk.  Note the hypocrisy mentioned in the post.

Planned Parenthood angry after local food pantry rejects their donations.  Expect more of this sort of thing.  Oh, and click the link in the post and send the pantry your support.

A kid with no sense of humor. . .he'll do well on the Internetz comboxes.

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Tracking Institutions Opposing B.O.'s Power Grab

The indefatigable Tom Peters is tracking institutions that have issued public statements against B.O.'s violation of religious liberty.  

If your institution (college, religious order, charitable organization, etc.) hasn't spoken out, it might be a good idea to drop them a note and encourage them to do so.

I will note that both Notre Dame and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities have issued statements praising B.O.'s use of coercive governmental power to force Christians to not only violate their conscience but to pay for the privilege as well.  Ahem.  It might be a good idea to wonder a bit about whether or not you want your donations to these institutions to be used to buy the faculty, the cafeteria staff, and the safety officers, etc. the Morning After Pill.

From Mr. Peters:

Here are Catholic institutions that have spoken out against the mandate:

• 1. EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) – filed lawsuit
• 2. Belmont Abbey College – filed lawsuit
• 3. University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN – issued statement to press
• 4. Christendom College in Front Royal, VA – issued statement
• 5. Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, FL – considering legal options, “will not comply”
• 6-9: Aquinas College in Nashville, TN (joined by three other Dominican schools)–issued statement
• 10. University of Dallas in Dallas, TX – issued statement
• 11. Priests for Life in Staten Island, NY – filed lawsuit
• 12. Nashville Dominican Sisters in Nashville, TN – issued statement
• 13. Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD – issued statement
• 14. Benedictine College in Atchison, KS – issued statement
• 15. The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC – issued statement to the press
• 16. Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities - issued statement
• 17. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA - issued statement
• 18. Knights of Columbus - issued statement
• 19. Catholic Medical Association - issued statement
• 20. Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH - issued statement
• 21. Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio - issued statement
• 22. Holy Cross College in Indiana - issued statement to press
• 23. Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, WY - issued statement
• 24. Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist - issued statement
• 25. Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH – issued statement
• 26. New Hampshire Catholic Charities – issued statement
• 27. Saint Anselm College – issued statement
• 28. Catholic Charities USA – issued (clarifying) statement
• 29. Catholic Charities Denver – issued statement
• 30. Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration – issued statement

Good to see Catholic universities leading the charge on this!  Here are non-Catholic institutions that have spoken out against the mandate:

• 1. Colorado Christian University (nondenominational) - filed lawsuit
• 2. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod – issued statement
• 3. National Association of Evangelical Protestants – issued statement
• 4. Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – issued statement
• 5. Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops – issued statement
• 6. Anglican Church in North America – issued statement
• 7. Reformed Theological Seminary – issued statement
• 8. American Life League – issued statement
• 9. Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission – issued statement
• 10. The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod – issued statement

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Peter freaks out!

A repost from 2006, using today's gospel reading:

18th Week OT (F)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Albert the Great Priory

Jesus has just finished telling his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem where he will suffer and die at the hands of his enemies. Peter, no doubt rocked to his core at this revelation, takes the Lord aside and rebukes him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." Being a deeply pastoral sort, Jesus turns to Peter and offers to listen to his concerns; gently leads the newly minted facilitator of the disciples through all of the available options, and helps him to express his concerns in a non-confrontational, non-threatening way. Once consoled, Peter smiles and Jesus continues, saying, “Whoever wishes to come after me is invited to explore a wide variety of possible means for doing so and choose the path that best suits his/her felt needs.” All the disciples smile and wander off in different directions in search of how best to actualize his/her individual human potential. We are happy to learn that no one suffered, no one died, and everyone eventually fulfilled all of his/her felt needs. Now, what does Jesus actually say in response to Peter's rebuke? “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. . . Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. . .” If you've never thought of Jesus as a major buzz-kill, now's the time to start!

We don't want to say that Peter is urging his Master to abandon his mission and create some sort of humanistic, therapy-ish program for achieving inner-peace and enlightenment. But we have to wonder what exactly Peter is thinking when he objects to God's plan for His Christ. Peter knows the Hebrew prophecies concerning the fate of the promised Messiah. He's witnessed the religious and political opposition to his Master's teachings. He's heard the dropped hints and subtle clues that indicate a less than glorious end for Jesus' public ministry. So, what exactly is his problem? Maybe it's just hearing it all said out loud. Maybe it's hearing Jesus himself reveal the ugly details. Or, maybe it's a combination of being handed the keys to the kingdom AND THEN told that his Master is to suffer and die at the hands of their enemies. The combination of authority, responsibility, and the lack of Messianic supervision is enough to rattle anyone! No doubt—Peter doesn't want his teacher to suffer and die, nor does he want the burdens of leading a Messianic movement w/o a Messiah. But it could be the caase that Peter is most afraid for his own skin. He knows that Christ's suffering and death means that his own suffering and death is not far behind. When he rebukes Jesus, what he's really saying is: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to ME!"

Let's ask a difficult question: how much of our daily lives as followers of Christ is spent avoiding the suffering Christ himself suffered? How often do we put down our cross and let it rest against convenient props—props like social justice politics, theological speculation, well-worn and comfortable devotions, intellectual gaming, therapeutic processes, or an old favorite: “just doing a job”? Following after Christ—that is, following him to the Cross in Jerusalem, following him to suffer and love for others—isn't a theory, a therapy, a game, a devotion, a process, or a job. Nor is it a lifestyle or a career. It's a commission, a ministry, a vocation; one that each of us has accepted freely, willingly, perhaps even eagerly. And even though each of us individually has set our feet on this path, we do not travel the path alone. Christ died so that he might be among us always. . .with each of us and with all of us together. With all the authority and responsibility of leading others behind our Christ, there is nothing we should fear and so we can say, “God forbid, Lord! That we should set down our cross.”

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No homily texts today. . .

Two Masses today--St Dominic School Mass and Mt. Carmel Academy Mass--but no homily texts.  I preach "textless" for the kids.  

The ladies of MCA have a very short period of time for lunch and they use part of that time to come to Mass, so I give them the One Minute Homily.   

Maybe I'll dip into the archives and post an older homily. . .

Still sick--coughing, snotting, headache, etc.  Back to bed when I'm done!

Fr. Philip, OP

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American Flu vs. Italian Vaccine

Apologies for the low-key blogging. . .I started getting sick yesterday.  The flu, I think.  I got a flu shot in Rome back in Dec., but it's possible that these American bugs aren't afraid of Italian anti-bugs.

I'm recycling a homily for the 5.30pm Mass. . .

Going back to bed.  Yughhhh. . .

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BXVI: When injustice becomes justice. . .

“When the murder of innocent life is called a right, then injustice has become justice. When the law can no longer protect human life, it is suspect as law. Saying this does not mean wanting to impose specifically Christian morality on all members of a pluralistic society. What is in question here is human nature, the humanity of a person who cannot make the trampling on a created being a means of self-liberation without profoundly deceiving himself. The vehemence of the dispute over this question is due to the profundity of the question that is being discussed. Do we become free only when we have cut ourselves loose from creation and have cast it off as an enslavement? Or have we, precisely in so doing, betrayed ourselves? In the last analysis, the battle being waged is about man as such, and from that we Christians cannot dispense ourselves. But another aspect of the question arises here that is significant for the situation of mankind today. In the anxious attempt to obstruct the path of new human life as silently and as surely as possible, can we not detect a deep anxiety about the future? Two answers seem to suggest themselves here. On the one hand, this anxiety emanates, no doubt, from the fact that the free gift of life does not seem meaningful to us because we have lost the free gift of its meaning; there is evident a despair about one’s own life that makes us unwilling to impose on others the dark way of humanity. On the other hand, we see exemplified here clearly and simply a fear of competition, a fear of the curtailment the other may invariably be for me. The other, he who is to come, becomes a threat. True love is death, an obliteration of oneself before and for the other. But we have no desire for death. We want only to be ourselves and to lead lives as free as possible from sharing and disturbance. We do not realize and we do not want to realize that, by our avidity for life, we are actually destroying our own future, that we risk having our own lives fall into the hands of death.” Der Gott Jesu Christi, pp. 38ff.

Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year, ed. Irene Grassl, trans. Mary Frances McCarthy and Lothar Krauth, 60-61 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1992).

H/T: swilson18 from Fr. Z's combox

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Fat Monday Report -3

-3 this last week. . .not too bad at all.

Down to 325lbs.

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Live with Christ now and live with him forever

6th Week OT(M)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

In 1626, Pope Urban VIII commissioned the construction of Santa Maria della Concezione near the Piazza Barberini in Rome. Five years later, the Capuchin friars of Rome moved the bones of their deceased brothers into the crypt underneath the church and continued to bury their dead in the crypt until around 1870. There are some 4,000 friars buried there. This is not all that unusual. What is unusual is that the bones of the friars were used to decorate the five chapels of the crypt. The walls and floors of the chapels are covered in elaborate mosaics made up entirely of bones. To the 21st century Christian, using the dead as decoration—especially in a chapel—is a little creepy if not outright scary and sacrilegious. For us, the dead are to be made to look as much alive as possible: carefully made up, dressed, coiffed, manicured, and then buried beneath the ground, out of sight, out of mind and their passing marked with a tasteful headstone. But for centuries, Christians were stoical about death, not at all squeamish about facing mortality. They understood that this world is passing away and set their hearts and minds on the world to come. They understood exactly what James means when he writes that the rich and poor alike will pass away "like the flower of the field." If you seek a sign that you will live forever, look to your death and where it will send you.

This morning we heard read the beginning of James' exhorting letter to the “twelve tribes in dispersion,” a letter to the Jewish Christians dispersed throughout the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. James encourages his brothers and sisters to endure trials as a means of achieving perfection in Christ. He exhorts them to pray for wisdom with a heart and mind steeped in faith b/c “a man of two minds [is] unstable in all his ways” and cannot presume to receive anything from God. Most importantly, James reminds us of our mortality, comparing us to grass in a field, thriving under a scorching sun. Eventually, the grass “dries up. . .its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes.” We “fade away in the midst of [our] pursuits.” The Christians' focus, while living in the world, is on the world to come. Our goal, our end is to be completed in Christ, and death is just one more door we must open and step through. The friars underneath Santa Maria della Concezione do not merely decorate their crypt's chapels; they memorialize, bring to mind again through memory, the truth that we live and die in Christ now so that we might rise and live with him forever. 

If you seek a sign that you will live forever, look to your death and where it will send you. Signs show us the way by giving us direction. The Pharisees seek a sign in order to test Jesus. He refuses to show them a sign, refuses to give them their test. Like the rich man in James' letter, they are of two minds, unstable in all their ways; so, any sign he shows them will be wasted in more demands for more signs. The only sign they truly need is their own mortality. But what they need to survive their mortality is faith, a gift they cannot receive b/c their focus is on this world and the evidence they desire as proof of Jesus' power. Our faith in Christ Jesus is not a magical spell or a death-defying secret. To live with Christ forever, we must live with him now. Our mortality—that we will die—is all the sign we need to motivate us to live now as we would live forever. If you want to dwell eternally in love, dwell in love now. If you want to eat at God's table in heaven, eat at His table now. If you want to sing His praises before the throne, sing those praises before you die.

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The Way of Life, the Way of Death (2.0)

6th Sunday OT (Revamped)

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

St. Dominic Church, NOLA

The Way that leads to a peaceful soul is always the way of life. In the first century, an unnamed Christian wrote a small book called The Didache. The first sentence of this book reads, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways.” What is the Way of Life? He writes, “First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbor as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would not have done to you, do not do to another.” What is the Way of Death? He writes in part, “First of all it is evil and full of curse. . .hating truth, loving a lie. . .not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God. . .” The way to peace is the Way of Life—loving, forgiving, trusting in God that He will provide. The way to trouble and trial is the Way of Death, destroying the handiwork of God, destroying in the human person the image and likeness of our Creator.

When we hate truth and love a lie, we walk the Way of Death and set up for ourselves an idol, a false image to worship. What idol tempts us most in 2012? The image of the human person as an animal w/o a soul, an animal that only needs to eat, drink, sleep, have sex, and get all that it can before it dies. When we reduce the human person to nothing more than an animal, we invite upon ourselves a darkness and despair that will not permit us to see or feel or think beyond our next meal, beyond our next bed partner. When we understand ourselves as nothing more than soulless animals, we begin to think that the destruction of God's handiwork—the destruction of our children—is a duty, a right, even a blessing. When we think of ourselves as nothing more than soulless animals, we begin to think of ourselves as gods, as masters of creation with the power to deal death at a whim. This is not who we were created to be or who we were created to become. He created us in His likeness and image and He loves us to make us better than we can be on our own. God gives us the joy of salvation in the time of trouble so that we might overcome death and not surrender to despair. And make no mistake: when we destroy the handiwork of God, when we kill our children, treat pregnancy as an injury and fertility as a disease, we are aiding and abetting despair, giving comfort to the Enemy, and setting ourselves on course for a fall into darkness. Therefore, as followers of Christ, we turn to the Lord and His Way of Life. We turn away from the Way of Death and rejoice that we are helped and protected in these times of trouble.

The Psalmist sings, “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation!” Turning to the Lord in times of trouble is an old, old tradition of the sinner. Lord, I made another dumb choice, so I'm turning to you! Lord, I didn't anticipate the consequences of my behavior, so I'm turning to you! Lord, I know we don't really talk all that often, but I'm in real trouble here, so I'm turning to you! We've all done it. When all else fails, turn to prayer; turn to the Lord. God as Last Resort is a constant in human history and it is far better that we see Him as the Last Resort than it is to see Him as No Resort At All. But the Psalmist isn't wagging a finger at us for our infidelity. Quite the opposite. What we hear reaffirmed in this verse is the constancy of God's help and protection, most especially in times of trouble, most especially when we are least able to help and protect ourselves. Of course, the Lord watches over us; of course, the Lord lends us the help we need. However, that help may not always come in the shape and substance we want. His protection may not always look and feel like the protection we ask for. Sometimes, more often than not, the help and protection He provides is the joy of salvation, the elation of knowing that whatever trouble plagues us now cannot follow us into a righteous life. Nothing can trouble a soul at peace with the Lord, a soul that walks the Way of Life, the way of love.

Remember: the purpose of God's love for us is to boot us into being better than we are. He will not overwhelm the freedom that He has given us nor will He punish us for making the wrong choices. We freely choose to love, to hate, to lie, to forgive, and then we live with the consequences of those choices—good or bad. God's love for us shows us the way to His peace, the way to His righteousness. We follow the Way, or we do not. Both those who follow and those who do not suffer disease and disaster, both grow and prosper. But those who struggle to follow the Way know the joy of salvation in their suffering, the delight of being wholly loved through their trials. We who struggle to follow the Way may experience a miraculous healing, a miraculous intervention that relieves our pain and distress, but all we are sure of is the company of a Father's love for His child. That surety alone brings us closer to being perfect as the Father is perfect. It brings us that much closer to the knowledge and peace that surpasses all understanding, that much closer to seeing our troubles as God Himself sees them: temporary, of a moment. He draws us into eternity, seduces us into living our lives as if we were already with Him face-to-face, doing nothing other than giving away everything we have always been given. To use a contemporary image: we are recycling machines for the love that gave us life. God's love goes in at our creation, and we live and grow by turning that love into righteous human thought, word, and deed. When we fail to function properly, when we turn divine love into spite, revenge, despair, selfishness, and death we turn to the Lord again and He fills us again with the joy of salvation!

The Psalmist sings, “Lord, I turn to you in time of trouble, and you fix everything to my liking!” That's not right. It's “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you rescue me from the bad consequences of all my dumb choices!” No, wait. That's not right either. That should be: “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you remove my free will so that I won't make those dumb choices ever again!” No. The solution of our troubles is not a magical fix, or a divine rescue, or the extinction of free will. The Psalmist sings that the solution to our troubles is to be filled with the joy of salvation! To be delighted with the fact that we are children of a loving God. To take pleasure in the knowledge that while this world passes away, we remain constant in His mercy. God doesn't erase our troubles like some sort of heavenly Mr. Clean. What we are given in tumultuous times is the joy, the delight, the pleasure of knowing, feeling, living His divine love and knowing, feeling, living the absolute hard fact that there is nothing—no trouble, no disaster—greater than His love for us. God cannot love us more than He already does. He cannot be greater than Himself. But we can always be more than we are. And that is the purpose of His love for us: to bring us out of the darkness, out of despair, and to heal us into an eternal life with Him.

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NARAL & Planned Parenthood LUV the accommodation!

Here's all you need to know about the B.O. birth control pill mandate "accommodation". . .

From the Wall Street Journal:

[. . .]

Insurance companies won't be making donations. Drug makers will still charge for the pill. Doctors will still bill for reproductive treatment. The reality, as with all mandated benefits, is that these costs will be borne eventually via higher premiums. The balloon may be squeezed differently over time, and insurers may amortize the cost differently over time, but eventually prices will find an equilibrium. Notre Dame will still pay for birth control, even if it is nominally carried by a third-party corporation.

This cut-out may appease a few of the Administration's critics, especially on the Catholic left—but only if they want to be deceived again, having lobbied for the Affordable Care Act that created the problem in the first place. The faithful for whom birth control is a matter of religious conviction haven't been accommodated at all. They'll merely have to keep two sets of accounting books.

[. . .]

As reporting by Bloomberg and ABC this week has made clear, the contraception mandate was fiercely opposed within the Administration, including by Vice President Joe Biden. The larger tragedy is that none of them objected to government health care, which will always take choices away from individuals and arrogate them to an infallible higher power in Washington. Who was it again who claimed that if you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan?

And this Bitter Pill of a compromise is not made any easier to swallow by the endorsements of both NARAL and Planned Parenthood.  Sr. Keehan of the Catholic Health Association put her stamp of approval on this "accommodation."  All this means is that the Good Sister is being used a propaganda tool.

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A deep distrust of religious faith. . .

Archbishop Chaput nails it:

Despite all of its public apprehension about "culture warriors" on the political right in the past, the current administration has created an HHS mandate that is the embodiment of culture war. At its heart is a seemingly deep distrust of the formative role religious faith has on personal and social conduct, and a deep distaste for religion’s moral influence on public affairs. To say that this view is contrary to the Founders’ thinking and the record of American history would be an understatement.

The Left sees itself as the only true advocate for and protector of the poor and oppressed.  For decades, they were content to leave the Church to do her charitable work in peace.  But now that the Left has become radicalized by a militant strain of purist secularism, it is no longer acceptable to have Religious Neanderthals getting the credit for feeding the hungry and healing the sick.  We must be prevented from offering free healthcare to millions every year b/c we refuse to bow to the Sublime Truth that pregnancy is an injury and fertility a disease.  We must be prevented from helping victims of modern day slavery b/c we will not send these people to be victimized again at Planned Parenthood abortion mills.  We must be prevented from placing orphaned children with intact families b/c we will not give moral credibility to same sex "marriage." And most importantly, we must be made to bend the neck and confess our sins against the great revelations of feminist "tolerance." 

As Archbishop Chaput notes in his takedown of B.O.'s mandate, this latest episode in the culture war was not a bone-headed mistake made by a political amateur. . .it was just the next step.

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The Way of Life, the Way of Death

NB.  I'm seriously considering revamping this homily.  It started in one place and ends in a completely different place.  It's almost three daily homilies just stuck together.  Feedback, please.

6th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, NOLA

The Psalmist sings, “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation!” Turning to the Lord in times of trouble is an old, old tradition of the sinner. Lord, I made another dumb choice, so I'm turning to you! Lord, I didn't anticipate the consequences of my behavior, so I'm turning to you! Lord, I know we don't really talk all that often, but I'm in real trouble here, so I'm turning to you! We've all done it. When all else fails, turn to prayer; turn to the Lord. God as Last Resort is a constant in human history and it is far better that we see Him as the Last Resort than it is to see Him as No Resort At All. But the Psalmist isn't wagging a finger at us for our infidelity. Quite the opposite. What we hear reaffirmed in this verse is the constancy of God's help and protection, most especially in times of trouble, most especially when we are least able to help and protect ourselves. Of course, the Lord watches over us; of course, the Lord lends us the help we need. However, that help may not always come in the shape and substance we want. His protection may not always look and feel like the protection we ask for. Sometimes, more often than not, the help and protection He provides is the joy of salvation, the elation of knowing that whatever trouble plagues us now cannot follow us into a righteous life. Nothing can trouble a soul at peace with the Lord, a soul that walks the Way of Life.

The Psalmist sings, “Lord, I turn to you in time of trouble, and you fix everything to my liking!” That's not right. It's “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you rescue me from the bad consequences of all my dumb choices!” No, wait. That's not right either. That should be: “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you remove my free will so that I won't make those dumb choices ever again!” No. The solution of our troubles is not a magical fix, or a divine rescue, or the extinction of free will. The Psalmist sings that the solution to our troubles is to be filled with the joy of salvation! To be delighted with the fact that we are children of a loving God. To take pleasure in the knowledge that while this world passes away, we remain constant in His mercy. God doesn't erase our troubles like some sort of heavenly Mr. Clean. What we are given in tumultuous times is the joy, the delight, the pleasure of knowing, feeling, living His divine love and knowing, feeling, living the absolute hard fact that there is nothing—no trouble, no disaster—greater than His love for us. God cannot love us more than He already does. He cannot be greater than Himself. But we can always be more than we are. And that is the purpose of His love for us. 

A man suffering from leprosy begs Jesus to make him clean. Jesus says to the man, “Be made clean.” And he is. Jesus tells the man to be quiet about his healing. Completely ignoring this order, the man runs around town shouting with joy, spreading the good news of his miraculous healing. Can we blame him? Leprosy is a rotting skin disease that can take years to kill. Not only is it a terminal illness, in those days, it turned the sufferer into a social pariah, someone to be exiled, avoided. Moses ordered that all lepers were to tear their garments, keep their heads bares, cover their mouths, and shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” everywhere they went. They were exiled to live outside the camp, outside the protection of the tribe. When Jesus heals the leper, he not only cures his disease, he lifts a social death sentence. No wonder the grateful man ignores Jesus' order to remain silent and runs the streets shouting the joy of his salvation. 

The purpose of God's love for us is to boot us into being better than we are. He will not overwhelm the freedom that He has given us nor will He punish us for making the wrong choices. We freely choose to love, to hate, to lie, to forgive, and then we live with the consequences of those choices—good or bad. God's love for us shows us the way to His peace, the way to His righteousness. We follow the Way, or we do not. Both those who follow and those who choose another way suffer disease and disaster. But those who follow the Way know the joy of salvation in their suffering, the delight of being wholly loved through their trials. We who follow the Way may experience a miraculous healing, a miraculous intervention that relieves our pain and distress, but all we are sure of is the company of a Father's love for His child. That surety alone brings us closer to being perfect as the Father is perfect. It brings us that much closer to the knowledge and peace that surpasses all understanding, that much closer to seeing our troubles as God Himself sees them: temporary, of a moment. He draws us into eternity, seduces us into living our lives as if we were already with Him face-to-face, doing nothing other than giving away everything we have always been given. To use a contemporary image: we are recycling machines for the love that gave us life. God's love goes in at our creation, and we live and grow by turning that love into righteous human thought, word, and deed. When we fail to function properly, when we turn divine love into spite, revenge, despair, selfishness, we turn to the Lord and He fills us again with the joy of salvation!

The Way that leads to a peaceful soul is always the way of life. In the first century, an unnamed Christian wrote a small book called The Didache. The first sentence of this book reads, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways.” What is the Way of Life? He writes, “First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbor as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would not have done to you, do not do to another.” What is the Way of Death? He writes in part, “First of all it is evil and full of curse. . .hating truth, loving a lie. . .not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him that made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God. . .” The way to peace is the Way of Life—loving, forgiving, trusting in God. The way to trouble and trial is the Way of Death—destroying the handiwork of God. 

When we hate truth and love a lie, we walk the Way of Death and set up for ourselves an idol, an image to worship. What idol tempts us in 2012? The image of the human person as an animal w/o a soul, an animal that only needs to eat, drink, sleep, have sex, and get all that it can before it dies. When we reduce the human person to nothing more than an animal, we invite upon ourselves a darkness and despair that will not permit us to see or feel or think beyond our next meal, beyond our next bed partner. When we understand ourselves as nothing more than soulless animals, we begin to think that the destruction of God's handiwork—the destruction of our children—is a duty, a right, even a blessing. When we think of ourselves as nothing more than soulless animals, we begin to think of ourselves as gods, as masters of creation with the power to deal death at a whim. This is not who we were created to be. God loves us to make us better than we can be on our own. He gives us the joy of salvation in the time of trouble so that we might overcome death and despair. We turn to the Lord and His Way of Life. We turn away from the Way of Death and rejoice that we are healed!

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U.S. Bishops to BO: Rescind the Mandate!

Below is the most recent statement from the USCCB. . .despite the convoluted bureaucratese that these things are always composed with, the statement is adequate. . .for now.  However, one sentence near the end nearly surrenders the battle.  We can be thankful that our bishops were not duped by this highly dubious "accommodation."  Let's pray that they continue the fight!

WASHINGTON – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the "preventive services" regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2011.

First, we objected to the rule forcing private health plans — nationwide, by the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen—to cover sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion. All the other mandated "preventive services" prevent disease, and pregnancy is not a disease. Moreover, forcing plans to cover abortifacients violates existing federal conscience laws. Therefore, we called for the rescission of the mandate altogether.

Second, we explained that the mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such "services" immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of "religious employers" that HHS proposed to exempt initially.

Today, the President has done two things.

First, he has decided to retain HHS's nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients. This is both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question of religious liberty.

Second, the President has announced some changes in how that mandate will be administered, which is still unclear in its details. As far as we can tell at this point, the change appears to have the following basic contours:

--It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write. At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.

--It would allow non-profit, religious employers to declare that they do not offer such coverage. But the employee and insurer may separately agree to add that coverage. The employee would not have to pay any additional amount to obtain this coverage, and the coverage would be provided as a part of the employer's policy, not as a separate rider.

--Finally, we are told that the one-year extension on the effective date (from August 1, 2012 to August 1, 2013) is available to any non-profit religious employer who desires it, without any government application or approval process.

These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer's plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. This, too, raises serious moral concerns.

We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch (No, no, no.  This sentence concedes the ground to B.O. and his allies.  Why are we pressing B.O. to grant us meager exemptions to our fundamental constitutional right to the free exercise of our religion?  We are not petitioning a monarch to graciously grant us a boon.  We are demanding that a public servant do his sworn duty and uphold our God-given natural rights). But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today's proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions (Much, much better!). In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services (Yes!).

We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

 

This power-grab by B.O. and his Culture of Death allies is just a warm-up to the kinds of battles we can expect in the future if ObamaCare is allowed to remain in effect.  

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