21 December 2011

A Catholic governor meets his bishops

Cardinal George and several bishops in Illinois held a meeting with IL Gov. Pat Quinn in order to re-teach him the meaning of Catholic conscience.  When the governor tried to downplay the teaching element of the meeting and play up the social justice angle, the Cardinal and bishops responded.

Their response is a good summary of Catholic teaching on the nature of moral conscience:

“As Catholic pastors, we wanted to remind the Governor that conscience, while always free, is properly formed in harmony with the tradition of the Church, as defined by Scripture and authentic teaching authority. A personal conscience that is not consistent with authentic Catholic teaching is not a Catholic conscience. The Catholic faith cannot be used to justify positions contrary to the faith itself.  It is a matter of personal integrity for people who call themselves Catholic to act in a manner that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

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What is it to believe?

NB.  This is not a very Advent-y homily, I know.  But for whatever reason it needed to be preached.  The preacher preaches to himself first.

4th Week of Advent (W)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

“I believe.” We pray this sentence every Sunday when we recite the Creed, the Credo: I believe. The Creed is a set of beliefs that all Christians share. We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible, etc. We go on to repeat this nearly 2,000 year old statement of beliefs and, in doing so, we claim to believe in all sorts of outrageous things: a divine Son; his virgin birth as a man; his resurrection from the dead; even our own eventual resurrection from the dead! We claim to believe in someone named the “Holy Spirit” who proceeds from both the Father and the Son, and we believe in the oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity of a universal Church. As I said, we believe in sorts of outrageous things. And we believe these outrageous things without any obvious anxiety or fear of contradiction. If we were given some time and had the inclination to reflect critically on what we are claiming to believe, we just might feel the absurdity that so many of the early Church Fathers felt in repeating and defending these claims. Ultimately, we would likely say something like, “Well, this is what we believe to be true about the faith. It's just what we believe.” Leaving aside for the moment the content of the Creed, let's reflect on what it means to believe in something or someone. What is it to believe?

Mary, pregnant with the Christ, visits Elizabeth in Judah. Upon greeting one another, the child in Elizabeth's womb jumps for joy. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaims, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. . .Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Mary is blessed b/c she heard the Lord's Word spoken by Gabriel, listened to that Word, trusted in it, and acted accordingly. Think back to the scene with Mary and Gabriel. The angel tells Mary that she will conceive and bear a son, a son who is the promised Messiah. Despite her doubt and fear, Mary says, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” She doesn't merely say, “I hear you and trust what you say.” She says—in effect—I hear; I listen; and I assent to all that I have heard. Let it be done. Elizabeth calls this attitude “belief.” When Mary permitted the Lord to give her the Christ-child, she believed.

As we get closer and closer to our celebration of the world's most important event—the coming into human history of God's Son, the birth of our Savior—let's reconsider what we are saying when we pray the Creed. We are not merely giving intellectual assent to a series of theological statements. Yes, yes, I believe X, Y, and Z. Nor are we staking out a few controversial philosophical positions. Nor are we simply muttering $15 academic words and phrases: “consubstantial,” “incarnate,” “proceeds from,” “resurrection of the dead.” What we are doing—as we wait on the coming of the Lord—is committing ourselves to a way of thinking about the world and ourselves and a way of behaving in the world and among ourselves. We must believe and behave; we must accept and act, trust and perform according to what we know to be the truth. Otherwise, when we pray the Creed, we lie. We present ourselves falsely before God and His Church. The Blessed Mother—doubtful, fearful, probably deeply surprised—heard the Word, trusted in it, and acted accordingly. She believed. And b/c she believed, Elizabeth named her, “Blessed among women.” If you and I will be blessed among men and women, we too must believe; we too must pray, “Let me do your will, Lord!”

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On Christmas gifts and much gratitude. . .

Another happy surprise this morning!  Several Kindle Books from faithful HancAquam reader, Jenny K. 

Thanks so much, J.K.!  

A note on Christmas gifts:  several readers have written to ask what I might need/want as a Christmas gift (an annual question).  Honestly, truly, I need nothing.  My brothers in community and I have what we need.  Now, having said that, I want all sorts of stuff!  And that stuff is available on the Kindle Wish List and the Books & Things Wish List.

I have NO expectations of receiving anything from either list.  I am always deeply grateful and often surprised to discover a package in the mail. . .BUT I never expect anything.  This really can't be emphasized enough.  Dominicans are mendicants (beggars), so when I need something, I ask for it.  And H.A. readers have always come through.  

For example, we asked for a newly translated English Missal for the chapel in Rome.  And one appeared in the mail.  I asked for books for our novices once.  And they appeared.  I asked for a DVD set one time to give to the novices.  And it appeared.  Also, the many books I've needed and used for my studies. . .all sent to me and received with gratitude. 

So, I try to think/behave with my readers the same way I am with God: I expect nothing from Him that He has not already given and receive everything He sends with thanksgiving and praise!  

Merry Christmas to you all! 

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19 December 2011

Surprise!

Received another poetry book quite unexpectedly today!  Always a good surprise. . .especially this close to Christmas.

My thanks to C.N., B.J.N. and their kids:  S., N., and J.  You know who you are.  :-)

God bless, Fr. Philip

P.S.  I also rec'd my cell phone today. . .so, Big Brother knows where I am now.  Sigh.

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Individual Conscience & the Magisterium (Repost)

Reposted by special request. . .
 
The relationship between an individual's conscience and the authority of the magisterium is often easily confused and intentionally distorted.   

Let's start with a definition:  "Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law. . ."(CCC, no. 1778).

Conscience "perceives and recognizes" moral truth.  Contemporary Catholics often seem to believe that conscience is the ability to choose freely among available moral options.  So long as I preface my choices with something like, "In good conscience, I believe. . .," I am safeguarded from error.  This is false.  Conscience is not the ability to magically turn an evil choice into a good choice.  Conscience is what helps us to perceive the Good and recognize that Good in making moral choices.

When I walk into a bookstore, I perceive and recognize items that we call books.  I do not walk into a bookstore and choose to perceive the books as squirrels and recognize them as squirrels.  If I do this, I am in error.  Announcing my erroneous judgment about the books with, "In good conscience, I perceive and recognize this collection of paper and cloth bound pages of printed material as squirrels," does not magically transform the books into squirrels.  

Catholic teaching holds that the morality of human acts is as real as the books in a bookshop.  Calling the intrinsically morally evil act of abortion "good" is the same error you make when you call a book a squirrel.*  Conscience empowers you to perceive and recognize abortion as evil.  If you do not perceive and recognize abortion as evil, then you are either ignorant and need to be instructed, or your conscience has been twisted into folly by sin and you need both instruction and confession.

The Church's role in conscience formation is to present the truth of the faith.  Ideally, a Catholic will immediately perceive and recognize the truth and act accordingly.  But because we have been mislead for a generation or two about the nature of conscience, many Catholics fail to perceive and recognize moral truth when they see it.  Basically, we have been told for decades now that conscience makes truth, or that conscience assigns truth value to moral acts according to subjective, private standards of judgment.  This is how we end up with pro-abortion Catholics, pro-same sex "marriage" Catholics, pro-torture Catholics, pro-women's "ordination" Catholics, ad. nau.  These Catholics have falsely perceived and falsely recognized moral truth and misused "conscience" as a defense of their errors.

To repeat:  conscience perceives and recognizes truth; it does NOT create truth. 

Tom Krietzberg at Disputations has a very good post on how Aquinas' thoughts on conscience have been misunderstood and misused to push the Free Choice notion of conscience.

*Of course, the eternal consequences of these two errors are not the same.

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Aquinas & Augustine on the Incarnation

Excellent read for your Christmas contemplation! 

10 Reasons for the Incarnation

1. Faith: Certitude in the Living God

2. Hope: A Strengthening

3. Charity: The Great Kindling

4. The Exemplar: The Life of Right-Doing

5. Theosis: Full Participation in Divinity

6. United to Christ: The Bodiless Evil Spirits

7. Dignity of Humanity: To Shun Sin

8. Human Presumption: Unmerited Grace

9. Human Pride: The Humility of God

10. The Thralldom of Sin: Divine Rescue

Go to the link above for an explanation of each point.

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Monday +2

Despite sharply cutting back on my caloric intake this last week, I still managed to gain 2lbs. 

How?  No idea.  But I'll keep on trying to lose!

Thank you for your prayers. . .


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Coffee Cup Browsing

When my Nunya Libertarian Streak meets my Grouchy Driver streak. . .how many times have I almost been run over by drivers chit-chatting on a cell phone?

A vast Jesuit conspiracy!  Oh No.

"Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62."  Like a lot of Catholics, I found Hitch to be engaging and masterfully infuriating.

N.Korea's Dear Leader is dead.  Dear Leader, Jr. is now. . .um. . .Dear Leader.  Why do socialist worker paradises always end up being quasi-medieval serfdoms with hereditary princes?

The "serfs" mourn Dear Leader.  The sad part is that this is probably genuine grief.  



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Doubt His method but never His will. . .

4th Week of Advent (M)
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St. Dominic Church, New Orleans

The elderly priest, Zechariah, is inside the temple burning incense on the altar. While going about his priestly duties, he is visited by Gabriel, the archangel. If this heavenly visitation were not surprising enough, he is also told that he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, will soon have a child and this child will grow up to be the herald of the Messiah, a second Elijiah who will “prepare a people fit for the Lord." Hearing this news, Zechariah asks, in an impious outburst, “How shall I know this?” His doubt earns him an unusual punishment: he is struck speechless by the angel, unable to speak until his son is born. We might wonder how a muted Zechariah serves as a warning to those who would question the power of the Lord to accomplish apparently impossible deeds? How does a still tongued punish a doubter?

Let's compare and contrast Gabriel's visit with Zechariah and his visit with Mary. First, both Mary and Zechariah are shocked by the appearance of an angel of the Lord. Sensing their fear, Gabriel assures both Mary and Zechariah in the power of the Lord and tells them not to be afraid. When Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive and bear a son, her reaction sounds very familiar. Like Zechariah, she too questions the news, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Despite her doubt, Mary is not silenced; she is not punished for questioning the angel's announcement. What's the difference btw Mary and Zechariah that merits this divergent treatment? There are the obvious differences. Zechariah is an elderly priest, a man. Mary is a young woman, a virgin. But it's not clear why these differences would matter in their treatment by the angel. We could point to Gabriel's greeting to Mary, “Hail! Full of grace!” and note Mary's unique nature as a sinless person—her immaculate conception in her mother's womb, a singular grace. Despite this gift, she still doubts Gabriel's news. Maybe the difference that matters is to be found in what it is that each doubts. Notice: Mary accepts the truth of Gabriel's news and only questions the method of conception. Zechariah doubts both the truth of Gabriel's news and questions how his wife will conceive. Mary receives in faith the news of an apparently impossible feat. Zechariah fails to trust fully the news from the one who stands before the Lord.

For his failure, Zechariah loses the ability to speak. Why is this a just punishment? Rather than use his gift of speech to praise the Lord for accomplishing the apparently impossible, the elderly priest uses a God-given gift to express a deeply seated doubt. Even as he worships at the temple's altar of incense, he willfully denies the possibility that God can do what He says He can do. Zechariah's tongue is stilled to prevent him from sullying the good news of his son's impending conception. When Elizabeth becomes pregnant with John the Baptist, Zechariah is unable to rejoice out loud. He is denied the privilege of praising God for this gift until John is born. However, his rejoicing at John's birth is all the sweeter b/c he has spent so long unable to speak. So sweet is his rejoicing that we sing the words of his song every morning at Lauds—the Canticle of Zechariah, “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Israel; He has come to His people and set them free.”

Doubt if you must how the Lord will accomplish His wonders in your life. But never doubt that He will. Rely wholly on His loving care and be vigilant in waiting for the miraclous appearances of His mercy. Let your mouth be filled with His praise and your tongue everyready to give thanks!

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17 December 2011

Being a mother of Christ

NB.  Feedback on this homily would be greatly appreciated.  It didn't seem to go over very well with the congregation.  Too convoluted?  Too harsh?

4th Sunday of Advent 2011
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St Dominic Church, New Orleans

As we approach the birth of the Lord and celebrate—this afternoon/morning—his conception in the womb of the BVM by the Holy Spirit, it may seem strange to ask, “What do we fear?” As a Church, as the Body of Christ, living in the world, what is there for us to fear? With some bravado, we might say, “Nothing! The world had better fear us!” A little more realistically, we might say, “There's always the temptations of the world to fear, to avoid.” Perhaps stoically, we could say, “There is much to fear, but we will endure.” None of these answers is wrong but none of them is exactly right either. There is much to fear but that doesn't mean we have to be afraid. We will endure but all those fearful things still exist despite our enduring strength. And the Church does cause the world some anxiety, some small amount of fear, but our task is not intimidation. When Gabriel appears to Mary and greets her with, “Hail! Full of grace! The Lord is with you,” the virgin is “greatly troubled at what was said and ponders what sort of greeting this might be.” Sensing her troubled spirit, Gabriel assures her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” If Mary is troubled by being named “Full of Grace” (and she is); and if the angel Gabriel calms her spirit by telling her that she has found favor with God (and he does); and if Mary is the model of the Church (and she is), then the Church is at once full of grace, favored by God, and troubled. The Lord's message to us then is: “Do not be afraid!”

We do not fear b/c there is nothing to be afraid of. There is more than enough in this world for us to fear. Temptations, failures, persecutions, betrayals, and trials. More than enough to keep us busy, to keep us occupied running, hiding, being silent. We could fear ridicule and rejection, embarrassment and being made into fools. We could fear defeat, disease, disability, all sorts of physical and mental disasters. We could find ourselves lacking faith, failing to trust in the Lord; scrambling with the faithless to acquire more and more, to “get mine” before its all gone. Whatever “it” is: money, stuff, prestige, power, attention. We could wake up tomorrow morning, forgetting everything we have ever believed, and find ourselves swept along with the world toward a darkness so black we fear that no light will ever shine for us again. There is much to fear. But there is no reason to be afraid. All who believe on the Word of God, the Son made flesh, they have found favor with the Most High!

Like the virgin, greeted by Gabriel, when we are ready to receive the Word made flesh, we too are “full of grace”; we too stand in the good graces of God; we too will hear and believe, “The Lord is with you.” And we will say yes to being bearers of the Good News to the world and, like Mary, we will carry the Messiah in our bodies and deliver him to all those most in need of his healing mercies. If this sounds too poetical, too vague, let me be a little more prosaic: when you approach the altar to receive communion, you are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ into your body and blood. Much like Mary received the Holy Spirit and conceived the Christ, we too say, “Let it be done to be according to your word” and receive Christ Jesus—body, blood, soul, divinity. While the Holy Spirit placed the Christ-child in Mary's womb, the Church places the Christ Resurrected and Ascended into our mouths as food and drink for our perfection. Mary departed her encounter with Gabriel pregnant yet still a virgin, a walking tabernacle carrying her Lord. We too depart this Church as walking, breathing tabernacles, carrying the Lord out into the world. We walk out into the world as the Body of Christ carrying the Body and Blood of Christ. This is why the Lord's message to us is: do not be afraid! He is with us. Yes, there is much to fear. But there is no reason to be afraid.

In a homily a few weeks ago, our Holy Father noted that the Church should fear the sins of her members more than she fears persecution at the hands of her enemies. Being followers of Christ, we we have been promised persecution and there is very little we can do to prevent the Enemy from tempting us, from putting us on trial. However, we are more than capable of refraining from disobedience. We are given—daily given—every grace we need to listen to and comply with the Word God has sent among us. The only question is whether or not we will choose to cooperate with those graces and grow in holiness. Sin is the mark of our failure to receive God's gifts and use them to announce His glory, to give Him thanks and praise, and to work tirelessly for the spreading of His Good News. We should fear our sins b/c they distort who it is that God has made us to be; they twist our love for Him and for one another; they misuse His beauty and goodness and lead us off the narrow way of Christ. It's not God's punishment that we should fear, but rather the natural and supernatural consequences of openly declaring ourselves enemies of the One Who gave us life. By choosing to sin, we set ourselves against the Love Who created us and assign ourselves to living lives in a wilderness empty of the very graces that we most need. God never stops loving us; it is His nature to love. However, we are free to cease loving Him, free to disobey Him, and the consequences of that choice are fearful indeed.

As you leave here this afternoon/morning, filled with the Body and Blood of Christ, set your heart and mind to wondering what it is you can do to bring our Lord to your world—your school, your office, your home, all your family and friends. How can you be the “mother” of Christ among those you know best? What can you do or say or not do or not say that will give him glory and draw in souls hungry for his eternal feast? We are in the last week of Advent, ready to welcome the Christ-child among us as our Savior on Christmas Day. Even though we celebrate his incarnation on this special day, he is given flesh and bone everyday of the year, every time we approach this altar and receive the sacrament, we walk away as a Christ. We walk out into a fearful world, filled with grace, overflowing with grace. . .do what Christ himself did and give your life away for the love of another.


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Odor of sanctity?

A quick Thank You to D.G. for the cologne from the Wish List and to Anon. for the book of poems.

Now, I can smell refined AND read some refined poetry!

Thanks and God bless, Fr. Philip


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A prayer for marriage



Fr. Z. reports that a SSM pressure group has lost its frivolous case against the bishops of MN.  What horrible thing did the bishops do?  Support the universally recognized notion that marriage consists of an unbreakable bond between one man and one woman! 

Archbishop John Nienstedt has issued a prayer for marriage that every faithful Catholic should offer:

Heavenly Father,

Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families.

May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness.

Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

The prayer is downloadable in PDF format for easy printing and copying here.


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15 December 2011

Notes on being fat

Just a quick Thank You to all those faithful souls here on HancAquam and in the parish who have offered me advice and prayer for losing weight.

Over the years I have learned several things about my diet:

1).  I love food.  But I do not confuse food with love, respect, honor, etc.  Food is food.  And I love it.  

2).  I have total control over my eating.  There have been times--when it really mattered to me--that I dropped 20, 30 lbs. When I was asked to serve as chaplain for the UD students on their Greece trip, I dropped close to 35 lbs b/c I knew there would be LOTS of walking/climbing involved.  

3).  When I have breakfast, I want to eat all day.  Skip breakfast and I'm good 'til dinnertime.

4).  Keep the meat, veggies, bread, fruit. . .give me ice cream!  I've been here a week now with full access to a car and cash and not a spoonful of ice cream has crossed my lips.

5).  While some use tobacco, alcohol, etc. for relaxation, I use food.  I get hyper (not hungry) and food does the trick.  

6).  Caloric restriction diets don't work for me simply b/c I am constitutionally incapable of being disciplined enough to keep track.  Any diet that requires anything remotely related to math is going to fail.

7).  Diet pills usually contain substances that rev up one's metabolism.  That makes me hyper.  See #5.

8).  The only diet that has ever worked for me is Atkins.  I lost about 70 lbs in eight months.  However, when finals time rolled around, I cracked and OD'ed on peanut butter cookies and ice cream.  

9).  Exercise poses a problem.  I'm too fat to be comfortable exercising but losing weight means exercising.  So, my solution is hold off exercising 'til I've lost a little weight.  Getting to that point w/o cracking is the challenge.

10).  Fast food (Burger King, Wendy's) is a fav of mine.  In Rome, this poses no problem and I never missed them.  Here, I have to watch out.  My solution is to go to Subway.  So far, so good.  

Keep praying, people!!  God bless, Fr. Philip

P.S.  I've ordered a book that comes highly recommended:   Why We Get Fat and What to do about It.


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14 December 2011

A new bishop. . .

Fr. Charles Morerod, OP, former rector of the Angelicum in Rome, becomes His Excellency, Charles Morerod, OP, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg in Switzerland.
.


Please pray for His Excellency's people. . .he has a really corny sense of humor.

Congrats, mon frere!


Pic credit:  Fr. Bernard Caruana, OP

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But have you received?

St John of the Cross
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
St Dominic Church, New Orleans

If you've ever talked to an evasive teenager or an American politician, you know what it feels like to ask a question and get a non-answer. You might get an excuse or an accusation or a counter-question. Regardless of the form, the response you get isn't what you were looking for. Or even close. Listening to Jesus answer questions from the Pharisees and scribes could lead us to think that he's very much like a teenager with something to hide or a politician looking to say as little as possible. If you don't have ears to hear, it sounds as though he rarely—if ever—gives a straight up answer. However, if your ears are tuned to the Word—the prophets and their divine message—you can easily hear exactly what he's saying. Today's gospel is the perfect example of this! John sends some of his followers to question Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" Jesus' answer is crystal clear. . .if you've listened to the the Lord proclaim to the prophet Isiah, “Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other! To me every knee shall bend; by me every tongue shall swear, Saying, 'Only in the LORD are just deeds and power. Before him in shame shall come all who vent their anger against him.'” Jesus answers John's question by recounting his own powerful deeds and by blessing all those who take no offense at him.

Jesus' response to John's disciples is extraordinary. Without saying so outright, Jesus lays claim to his Sonship with the Father and announces to anyone with ears to hear that his ministry of healing and reconciliation is not only divinely approved but of divine origin. It can be nothing less. Jesus himself is Lord. Everything he does, everything he says is the word and deed of God. Luke reports, “At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind.” Those healed by his hand are healed by God. Those freed from demons by his hand are freed by God. The poor who hear the good news of freedom from his mouth are freed by the Word of God himself. Jesus' answer could not be clearer: it is Lord God who has done these things! So, take no offense that sinners are turned to obedience; that the lame walk, the blind see, the mute speak; that the promised Messiah is among you. Blessed are those whose eyes see and whose ears hear.

Indeed, we are blessed, if we will to be blessed. Our Father's outrageous generosity, His overwhelming love is indiscriminately given, freely offered to any and all who will receive it. Those whom Jesus healed were healed b/c they took in the power he sent to them. They were made right b/c they welcomed in his righteousness and ran the streets shouting their thanksgiving and praise. No longer strapped to their afflictions, they were let loose to rejoice, to spread the Good News of divine mercy, showing themselves as living witnesses to what happens to those who accept the gift of the Holy Spirit's love. We are blessed if we take no offense at the Father's generosity and give Him thanks when His voice speaks a liberating word to our chains. 

While we wait on the coming of the Lord, ask His Holy Spirit to reveal to you all that blinds you, all that deafens you; ask the Spirit to show you whatever or whoever it is that mutes your voice in praise and thanksgiving. If you cannot see or hear, if you cannot speak as a witness to grace, ask the Spirit: why? Why am I blind, deaf to the Word and not healed; why am I hungry and not fed? His answer may be: you have not received all that the Lord has given you.

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