Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Clericalism

The Old Testament and the New describe God’s people as priests. In Exodus 19:6 Yahweh told Moses that the people would become “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” In 1 Peter 2, the apostle urges the people to “let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood…a royal priesthood.”

Vatican II recalled this ancient designation when it affirmed that “Christ the Lord, the high priest chosen from among human beings (see Heb 5:1-5), has made the new people ‘a kingdom, priests to his God and Father’ (Rev 1:6; 5:9-10)” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 10).

The constitution went on to say, “The common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood, though they differ in essence and not simply in degree, are nevertheless interrelated: each in its own particular way shares in the one priesthood of Christ” (10).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church clarifies the distinction between the common and the ministerial priesthood, explaining that some members of the Church are “called by God, in and through the Church, to a special service of the community.” The sacrament of Holy Orders enables certain members to “act in the person of Christ the head, for the service of all the members” (1142).

Although, over time, the ordained priests, because of their role and leadership, have been specially honored by the non-ordained members, the primary purpose of Holy Orders is to select members who are to be of service to God’s people. Members ordained through Holy Orders are to “act in the person of Christ the head.”  The ordained priest is distinctly called to be an “icon” of Christ the priest who came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (cf Mt 20:28).

Pope Francis has frequently pointed to clericalism which he called a new edition of an ancient evil, namely, religious authorities lording it over others (cf. Homily in Casa Sancta Marta, 12/13/16).  In a meeting with young Italians on August 11, 2018, he called clericalism “a perversion of the Church.”  During his meeting with the bishops of Chile in January of 2018 he had explained that “Clericalism, far from giving impetus to various contributions and proposals, gradually extinguishes the prophetic flame to which the entire Church is called to give witness.” 

(Some have proposed that clericalism precipitated and fueled the Protestant Reformation., an assertion that deserves further analysis and study, but one which may underscore the serious consequences of  clericalism if left unchecked.)

If men are ordained in Holy Orders to be servants, if they are to act in the person of Christ, then they exist to assist and promote the priesthood of the faithful. The first sacrament of “priesthood” is Baptism, “the ‘door’ which gives access to the other sacraments” (as The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes it). The priesthood of Holy Orders is ordered to the service of a priestly people; authority/authorization  bestowed by Holy Orders is given strictly for the benefit of others.

Clerics who forget or reject their servant role are like servants rejecting the role of their master. The priesthood of the faithful comes first. Holy Orders must be understood in light of the priesthood of Baptism.

In his homily at Casa Santa Marta (12/13/16) Pope Francis described clericalism as “a really awful thing.” In it “clerics feel superior; clerics distance themselves from the people; clerics always say, ‘this should be done like this, like this, like this –and you, go away!’”  In the mindset of clericalism, Pope Francis explained, “the cleric doesn’t have time to listen to those who are suffering, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned.”

Clericalism, the Holy Father told the bishops of Chile, is a caricature of the priestly vocation. The mission of the Church, he said, belongs to the whole Church, not to the individual priest or bishop. Clericalism stifles the initiatives of the Spirit. “Let us be clear about this. The laypersons are not our peons, or our employees. They don’t have to parrot back what we say…Clericalism forgets that the visibility and the sacramentality of the Church belong to all the faithful people of God, not only to the few chosen and enlightened.”

In their synodal meeting in Baltimore (November 12-14, 2018) several bishops publicly called for greater involvement of the laity in the effort to meet and correct the crisis of pedophilia by the clergy and cover-up by bishops. One bishop went so far as to say that had there been more women involved in Church leadership the pedophilia crisis would never have happened.

Pope Francis has called for a special summit meeting of the heads of bishops conferences worldwide, February 21-24, 2019, to discuss and formulate policy  for the protection of  minors and vulnerable adults.  The US bishops meeting in Baltimore had planned to develop a US response, but the Vatican asked them to await the Vatican-sponsored meeting in February.

The frustration, embarrassment, skepticism, anger, discouragement, and protests of lay people over the failures of Church leaders to stop abuse of children and young adults are more than understandable and appropriate. If the whole priestly people of God will be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in the midst of this debacle, there is reason to hope that those who are suffering can be healed and measures can be taken to prevent the frequency of the abuse in the future.

As expected the People of God have been asked to pray. Sometimes such a request seems to be an empty gesture. In reality, however, the Church is in such a mess that prayer is an essential element in restoring the community and institution we call the Catholic Church. Prayer is our petition for God’s help. Prayer helps us think the matter through and seek the truth. Prayer can change the heart and mind of those who pray.

Several facets of the Church of the future are coming together in the wake of the current crisis: an end to clericalism, revision of the acceptance and training of candidates for the priesthood, wider and truly meaningful involvement of women in Church leadership, healing for the abused, a shift  by many in the hierarchy from single focus on the institutional Church to renewed emphasis on the Church as community, movement  of the Church’s mission and ministry from the center to the periphery, the pastoral outreach of the Church as envisioned at Vatican II.

Based on what is at stake here, the need for prayer by all the People of God, lay and ordained, is obvious.


Friday, August 24, 2018

Outside the Comfort Zone (continued)

If we are going to fulfill the commandment  to love one another , then we are going to have to step outside of our comfort zone. Jesus did it. The ultimate example of stepping outside your comfort zone must be the Incarnation, when God lay aside glory and took on human nature.

If I say this in front of children, I like to ask them: “Would you change places? Would you be willing to become a cockroach?” “Oh, no!” But the distance between us and a cockroach is miniscule compared to the distance between us and the almighty God.

One of the things that Pope Francis has encouraged, at least informally, is be willing to go out and risk. It is okay if you make a mistake. He wants the shepherds and evangelizers to smell like the sheep. We do not smell that way if we are separated from them. Get out there. Bring the gospel. The motivation for doing that is that our God came to be with us. Every time we celebrate the eucharist, we are reminded of how much God was willing to empty himself.

There is a beautiful line in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John. We often translate it this way: “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

If we go back to the Greek, it actually says, “The Word became flesh and  pitched his tent among us.” I would love to find that translation used. “He pitched his tent.” It may not mean much to us in our day and culture, but to our ancestors, it certainly would because they would remember that pitching a tent was what they did when God led them out of the slavery of Egypt until they wandered into the Promised Land. For 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, trying to find their way.

Throughout it all their God was in the midst of them. They erected a tent where the ark of the covenant was placed. They thought of God being there, that this tabernacle was his dwelling place, and when they moved on they struck that tent and continued on until they set it up again wherever they would stop. It was a constant reminder that God was with them on this journey. When we say that “he pitched his tent among us,” we are encouraged to hold onto the conviction that he has promised to be with each one of us in the journey that we take. You know as well as I that if you are on a journey with God, you are not going to be able to stay where you are very long.

That is one of the characteristics of a Catholic Christian spiritual life—the acknowledgment that God will let you rest in an oasis for a little while, but he is always saying “Let’s go.” When the disciples came to him and said, “Where do you stay?” He didn’t tell them. He said, “Come and see.” It is meant to be an adventure.
Pope Francis likes to say, “Be open to the God of surprises, the God who enters into the life of the church at large and into the life of individual persons. I have to believe that you have had that experience, that several times you found yourself doing things and saying later, “I never thought I would be doing this.”

That is the response to the God of surprises. That is the call to step outside your comfort zone. Jesus not only taught it in word, he showed us an example, did he not? For example, Jesus was confronted by a leper. Had Jesus touched him, he would have been rendered impure. The lepers were told to cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” But the New Testament says that Jesus touched him. Jesus was willing to risk the impurity of the law for the sake of doing what his Father wanted—to reach out and to love.

At times, I understand the statement of Lucy Van Pelt (Charlie Brown’s friend): “I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand.”

To be in the world or to be in a community means you are rubbing shoulders day in and day out with differing people, with differing ideas and differing temperaments, and you have to struggle with that. There is always a reason to close the door. And indeed, a spiritual life is going to have to have times to do as Jesus did when he went off to the mountain to be alone and to pray. You have to have those times in which you are energized. The energizing is to open one up to go back again.

That is the whole purpose of our repeatedly coming to the liturgy we call the eucharist. We have an extraordinary nickname for it—we call it the “Mass.” And what does “Mass” mean? It means “dismissal.” We come every Sunday morning—some of us more frequently than that—to celebrate the eucharist so that we can be sent out into the world again. “Go back out there. You are not finished yet. I’ve got something else for you to do.”


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Outside The Comfort Zone

It takes courage to step outside of one’s comfort zone.  Jesus did it, and he clearly expects his disciples to do the same. The lives of the saints are biographies of people who dared to risk  being at ease and feeling comfortable in order to be and do something that threatens their security and tranquility.

Jesus left his carpenter shop and went out on the road, with no place to lay his head, in order to preach the values of the Kingdom of God. He risked being rejected by the very people he had come to serve.  He challenged the status quo in his own religion, and compared his mission to carrying a cross.  The ultimate price for stepping out of his comfort zone was death by crucifixion

The list of those willing to follow his example and eschew their comfort zone is long, but for the sake of example and encouragement reflect on the sacrifices undertaken by three of his followers:  Francis of Assisi, Blessed Mother Frances Schervier, and Pope Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi obviously went out of his comfort zone when he told his father, “I am not living according to your custom, your rule, your way of life anymore,” and, according to the story, stripped himself of his clothes. That would be going out of your comfort zone.

Bl. Frances Schervier of Aachen, Germany, (1819-76), in imitation of Francis of Assisi, left her comfortable home, went out to care for the sick, and with three other like-minded women established the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor.  Even as a youngster she shared her school lunch with those that she saw poor and miserable along the way.

And now there’s Pope Francis, calling on Christians  to go out to the periphery, urging ministers to take on the smell of the sheep, and challenging  clergy, religious and laity “to abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way.’” In his Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Gospel Joy) he invites “everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities” (#33).

Prior to the conclave that elected him as the successor of Pope Benedict,  Cardinal Jorge Bergolio of Argentina  addressed his fellow cardinals and said that what we need is a leader who will take us out to the periphery, a leader who will help the church be what the church is supposed to be.

His words had a powerful impact  on that select audience, and they elected Cardinal Bergolio, to be the successor of Pope Benedict XVI.  Coming out on the balcony at St. Peter’s in Rome, Pope Francis, before blessing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, asked them, “Bless me. You bless me.”

Since that time, he has said again and again, “We are all in this together.” He holds fast to one of the truths reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, namely that  the Holy Spirit was given to all the people of God.
Prior to Vatican II, many in the hierarchy and among theologians  had given in to pyramid model of Church -- that somehow the pope, the bishops and the priests got the message from heaven and they would give it down to the people who were often called called the simple faithful.

But when the document on the church, Lumen Gentium, was put together, there was aggiornamento, a return to the understanding  that the Holy Spirit is given at baptism and in confirmation the baptized are sent out.  The two-fold rite is the sacrament of initiation --baptism and confirmation-- because baptism makes you a Christian; confirmation authorizes you to go forth and bear witness to what you have become.

The baptized have been sent to be apostles to the world and have been given the gift of the Spirit.  The baptized have share in the priesthood, in the prophetic mission of Christ, in the ministry of servant-leaders.
From the very beginning of the Christian gospel and the development of the church, this is a foundational reality. Pope Francis is intent on bringing that awareness of that reality back into the mainstream of the church of this day.

It was a rather exciting and I am sure somewhat startling presentation that he gave to the curia just before Christmas in 2013 when he suggested to them that there are certain maladies and illnesses, and temptations that need to be resisted. He explained that a Church that focuses upon itself is a sick institution, not living up to the purpose for which it was created.

He urged the Curia staff to be careful. They must not allow themselves to succumb, for example, to what he called “spiritual Alzheimer’s” where you forget your beginnings, your struggle with the gospel and living it. You can get yourself into an institutional setting and forget about your spiritual struggle of growing in faith and personal discipline. Others have spiritual mountains to climb;  not all are the same, not all can climb at the same pace. You have to be wary of taking on judgmental/condemnatory attitudes about others who are still climbing the mountain.

His warning is reflected in a bumper sticker that said: “Before you offer a criticism, tell me if you’ve ever volunteered.” Have you been there? Have you been in it? Pope Francis is asking us to get into that world, particularly into the periphery of it and learn from those who are broken.

                                                                                                                                                                     (to be continued)

Monday, July 2, 2018

Understanding Pope Francis

Although Catholics in general like Pope Francis and support his papal style, many (bishops and priests included) do not understand him.

Francis’ words are often reduced to “sound byte” expressions (“Who am I to judge?” or “smell like the sheep” or  “confession is not a torture–chamber”), pleasant and refreshing to hear.

On another level, however, there is a depth to Francis’ theology, which challenges interpretation and application.  His message is read too quickly; readers must spend time with it to understand it.

Francis is calling the Church to on-going reform. He takes the letter and spirit of the Second Vatican Council and adds to it the theology and spirituality born of his experience in South America.

In a way, in Francis’ papacy, two mind-sets are in competition: European versus Latin American. They are not diametrically opposed but sometimes they differ. Those of us formed in the European model (North America included) may not recognize the revolution which Pope Francis has set before us.

He means it when he encourages “the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization” (EG 1). He is serious about “pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come” (EG 1).
Francis’ gives priority to a theology which is pastoral. He urges the Church to imitate a pattern from Jesus’ style of ministry: accept, heal, reform. 

He says we are to begin by embracing a person who is broken because of poverty, disability, rejection, abuse –sin! Next do something to alleviate the hurt, by bringing healing, comfort, assurance of acceptance --recognition of the dignity of every human being as an image of God. And then add the moral, ethical, spiritual dimensions necessary for a healthy, happy life.

Recall the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (Jn 81-11). First Jesus accepts her in spite of her sin (“Let the one without sin cast the first stone”), next he offers healing forgiveness (“Neither do I condemn you”), and then he issues his call for moral reform (“From now on do not sin any more”).

The tendency for many of us is to reverse the order; instead of accept-heal-reform, we respond with reform-heal-accept. The scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus’ disciples because he ate with sinners and tax collectors, and Jesus said to them, “Those who are well do not need the physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (cf Mk 2:17).

Did not Vatican II reaffirm that the grief and anguish of people, especially of the poor and afflicted, are also the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ?  The Council’s  Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World  (Gaudium et Spes) acknowledged that for Christians, “Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts” (#1).

The Council Fathers, in response to “the immensity of the hardships which still afflict a large section of humanity” suggested the creation of “some organization of the universal Church whose task it would be to arouse the Catholic community to promote the progress of areas which are in want and foster social justice between nations” (Gaudium et spes, #90).

Catholics around the world have established organizations to alleviate the hardships discussed at the Council and to promote social justice.

Pope Francis, however, is urging a response that goes beyond Church-established organizations. He insists that reaching out to the poor, abused, neglected –to anyone whose basic human rights are violated—is the responsibility not only of Church leaders and Church organizations but indeed of all the followers of Christ.

The pope’s conviction is based on Scripture (e.g., the corporal works of mercy derived from Mt 25), on the teaching of his predecessors (e.g., Pope John Paul II’s 1987 encyclical On Social Concern), on his personal experience as a pastor in the slums of Buenos Aires (e.g., he concluded that what the poor need is not charity but justice) and his participation in CELAM, the conferences held by the bishops of Latin America.

The studies, debates, compromises and conclusions of the Fifth General Conference in 2007 produced the so-called Aparecida Document, the result of the bishops’ reflecting on the journey of the Latin American churches in the midst of the lights and shadows of our times.

The bishops focused on the fundamental option for the poor, on the growing continent-wide expansion of fundamental Protestantism, on human rights violations, on migration, and on the positive and negative effects of globalization.

Scripture, Vatican II, personal experience, and the Aparecida Document are major influences in the thinking, theology, style and direction of Pope Francis. Complementing these sources of  his formation are the two hours a day he spends in prayer.

Pope Francis is leading Catholics toward a recognition of their responsibility to be more than a Church of rules and rituals. He is pushing devout Catholics to become active Catholics, applying the Church’s social doctrine in deeds as well as words.

He listed in his 2013 exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (##221-37) four principles for building a society marked by peace, justice and fraternity: 1) time is greater than space; 2) unity prevails over conflict; 3) realities are more important than ideas; and 4) the whole is greater than the part.
What do these principles mean? How are we to apply them?

There is an old saying among some of the clergy that asks, “Who can know what a Jesuit is thinking?”

As challenging, unnerving, and profound as Francis’s words may be, we are on safe ground in concluding that he is thinking, “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security…my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving, and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: ‘Give them something to eat’ (Mk 6:37).”

Those are the words of the pope (EG, #49)! That much we can understand –readily!
                                                                         Ω



Monday, June 18, 2018

What did he/she say?

Sometimes I find myself saying the same thing my mother said decades ago (she died in 1973). I doubt she would really like my repeating some of her observations, but they do come quickly to mind in certain circumstances.

This realization got me to thinking about what others in the future may repeat because they heard me say it.

Mention Lord Acton’s name, and immediately we remember, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Refer to General William Tecumseh Sherman, and we hear the plaintive, “War is hell!”

Intimately wedded to Albert Einstein is “E=MC squared.”

Sam Goldwyn: "Any man who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined."

Abraham Lincoln is identified with “Four score and seven years ago…”

Joni Mitchell: “They paved paradise / And put up a parking lot.” 

John Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

 St. Julie Billiart; “How good the good God is!”

Yogi Berra: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

And my mom, when she could not suffer arrogance: “I’d like to buy him for what he’s worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth.”

And me? If I could leave one idea, one observation, I’d like it to be this: “God does not like to do things for us; God much prefers to do things with us.”

It’s that realization that helps me make more sense of the Incarnation, of the need for prayer, of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

God could do it all –but a good Father teaches his children not only by word and example but also by participation.


The Father could give us a fish but prefers to teach us how.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Mary as Mother of the Church

In his address to the bishops at the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council (November 21, 1964), Pope Paul VI with a degree of formality proclaimed the most Blessed Mary to be Mother of the Church.

A month earlier, Cardinal Wyszynski, representing  the Bishops of Poland, asked that the pope and the Council renew the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and that she be given the title of Mater Ecclesiae or its equivalent.

This proposal was discussed by the Doctrinal Commission but for pastoral and ecumenical reasons was rejected on a 19 to 8 vote. A more acceptable title was suggested, namely Mater fidelium (Mother of the faithful).

In the process of revising chapter 8 of Vatican II’s constitution Lumen gentium (the chapter on Mary), the Doctrinal Commission suggested that the text of #53 should add as a compromise that “The catholic church, taught by the holy Spirit, honors her with filial affection and devotion as a most beloved mother.”

The Commission explained its reluctance to use the proposed description, saying, “The phrase mater ecclesiae is sometimes found in ecclesiastical writers, but very rarely, and it cannot be said to be traditional. Moreover, it is generally accompanied by such titles as ‘daughter’ and ‘sister’ of the Church. It is therefore evident that it is being used in a comparative sense. From the ecumenical point of view, the title can certainly not be recommended, although it can be admitted theologically. The Commission therefore deemed it sufficient to express the idea in equivalent terms.”

It was said that Pope Paul responded to the news with, “I’m a little sorry –but patience!”

Six weeks later, in his closing address, Pope Paul spoke to the assembled bishops about the Council’s steps toward aggiornamento, especially pointing to the Constitution on the Church and the decree on ecumenism. Council historian Xavier Rynne said Paul looked “glum and tense” as he entered the hall –the third session of the Council had been tension-filled and disappointing to the majority.

 Rynne’s account then adds, “A final disappointment awaited the bishops and particularly the Protestant observer-delegates. Everyone knew that the Pope intended to confer the title ‘Mother of the Church’ on Mary, for he had announced that he would do so at an audience on Wednesday, and intimated earlier in the session that this was his intention.”

The Commission and the Council fathers had worked out and accepted (in Rynne’s words) a “carefully worded, balanced, ecumenically-inspired, collegially expressed” teaching that avoided using the term mater ecclesiae, but Pope Paul’s public use of the description seemed to many to be reversing a decision of the Council and a sacrificing of the interests of the majority to appease the minority. It was a challenge to ecumenism.

In subsequent years after the Council a votive Mass in honor of Blessed Mary Mother of the Church was inserted into the Roman Missal, use of the title was added to the Litany of Lorreto, and countries and dioceses which petitioned to have a Mother of the Church memorial Mass added to their particular calendars were permitted to do so.

Now, as of 2018, according to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Divine Cult and Discipline of the Sacraments, “Pope Francis has decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year.”

Fourth century theologian St. Augustine in his Sanctae Virginitate came close to describing Mary as mother of the Church when he wrote that she is “clearly the mother of His members” (6). In the 19th century Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Adjutricem populi  wrote that Mary is invoked “as Mother of the Church and the teacher and Queen of the Apostles.” Twentieth century theologian Hugo Rahner is credited with the discovery that the term Mater ecclesiae was applied to Mary by St. Ambrose in the 4th Century, and Rahner’s Mariology is said to have had a strong influence on Pope Paul VI.

Whether the insistence on this title and the addition of this obligatory memorial will have negative consequences on the Church’s ecumenical dialogue remain to be seen, but it is not likely that most Catholics will have adverse reaction to honoring Mary with this special title and celebration. It is a small step from calling Mary "our Blessed Mother" to calling her "Mother of the Church."

It is well-known that Pope Francis has a profound devotion to Mary. In his book on Pope Francis, Pray For Me, Robert Moynihan notes that there are an estimated two thousand titles for the Virgin Mary.  Pope Francis’special attachment to Mary as "Untier of Knots," one of the least known titles, is “rapidly growing in importance.” Perhaps the papal insistence on honoring Mary as Mother of the Church is a preliminary step toward establishment of a memorial Mass honoring Mary as Untier of Knots.

We can hope (and pray) that the Mother of the Church will help set her Son’s followers free to live, to love, and to be the Church her Son intended.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Mass Killings, Mental Illness, Spiritual Nourishment

We are quick to suppose that perpetrators of mass shootings are “mentally ill.”  It is our go-to explanation for senseless murders such as the Columbine High School massacre (Jefferson County, Co., April 20, 1999), the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting  (Las Vegas, October 1, 2017), the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attack (Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018).

When I look for a definition of “mental illness” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition), I find in DSM-IV that “although this manual provides a classification of mental disorders, it must be admitted that no definition adequately specifies precise boundaries for the concept of ‘mental disorder’…The concept of mental disorder, like many other concepts in medicine and science, lacks a consistent operational definition that covers all situations.”

Further, “Neither deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious or sexual) nor conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict is a symptom of a dysfunction in the individual...”

And further still, DSM-IV acknowledges that “in most situations, the clinical diagnosis of a DSM-IV mental disorder is not sufficient to establish the existence for legal purposes of a “mental disorder,” “mental disability,” “mental disease,” or “mental defect.”

Categorizing the behavior of mass shooters as “mentally ill” may assuage our inability to explain their deviant behavior, but in truth there may be other elements, either ignored or forgotten,  which must be considered before we can arrive at an accurate conclusion.

A diagnosis of mental illness or a mental disorder in the perpetrators of horrific crime does not necessarily preclude their ability to think or plan.

After each killing spree, we hear public officials, desperate to respond sympathetically to the tragedy and suffering, call for more money for more mental health care. Without denigrating that response or denying the need, I want simply to suggest that another response should be a call for better spiritual care as well.
There is a spiritual side to every human being, and like the physical it too needs to be nourished.

Art is one way we feed our souls. Art, whether painting, music, literature, has the ability to sensitize us to the good we should do and the evil we should avoid. Education is meant to give us knowledge not only for the head but also for the heart. Conscious awareness of nature, whether walking in the woods or gazing at the stars, can tap what President Abraham Lincoln once termed “the better angels of our nature.” 

This notion speaks to the point made more than a century ago by English art critic John Ruskin, that we should thank God for the glory of his works, that we should be reminded of  "the duty of delight."

Recall the famous quote from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot, when the prince (a Christ figure) says that "the world will be saved by beauty." It is necessary to stop and smell the roses.  A population that fails to sensitize its spirit in the light of goodness, beauty, and love is a population in darkness, and that darkness first harbors alienation, secondly shrieks in pain, and then strikes out in rebellion, hard-heartedness, and destruction.

You may remember the story of the boy who admitted to his grandfather that he felt there was a war going on inside him, as he struggled with temptation and rebellion. Grandfather explained that there are two wolves within us, a good one and a bad one, and throughout our lives they will fight with each another. “But,” the boy asked, “which one will win?” Grandfather smiled and replied, “The one you feed, my son, the one you feed.”

For many of us, religion is a primary source of nourishment, helping us discern what is right and good. Whether the teacher is Buddha, Ghandi or Jesus, the instruction and example of their lives arouse sympathy, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

People who kill innocent people may well have mental disorders, but I have to think that one of the antidotes to such disorders is spiritual nourishment. Exposing the troubled person to beauty, to compassion, to acceptance is surely a healing balm for those suffering from hardened hearts.

Home, school and church are avenues for awakening sensitivity and discernment in troubled souls. Perhaps each institution needs to re-think its role and meet the need.

When I checked the DSM-IV for reference to “spirituality,” the manual simply listed “Religious or Spiritual Problem,” and explained this is the category for focusing clinical attention to a religious or spiritual problem, such as distressing experiences involving loss of faith, conversion to a new faith, or questioning spiritual values.

DSM-IV gives only diagnoses. What we need is preventative medicine.






Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Ash Wednesday on Valentine's Day

It’s a challenging juxtaposition when Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fall on the same date. This hasn’t happened since 1945. The celebration of romance and love, with hearts and candy, conflicts with the fasting and abstinence of the penitential season of Lent.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in such a coincidence.

In his The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky describes genuine love as “a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” He was acknowledging that romance is one thing; love, another.

Love in the fullest sense is a choice for the good of another. 

St. Paul described it centuries ago: “Love is patient…kind…not jealous…not pompous…not inflated…not rude…seeks not its own interests…not quick-tempered…broods not over injury…does not rejoice over wrong-doing but rejoices with the truth…bears all things…believes all things…hopes all things…endures all things” (1 Cor 13). Love can be harsh and dreadful.

And yet love is supposed to be the hallmark of a Christian’s life. The First Letter of John draws the bold conclusion that “God is love,” and that “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar!”

Jesus gave us the example of the fullest, most sincere kind of love: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). And what he did through his passion and death, he expected of his followers: “This command I give you: love one another” (Jn 15:17).

The romantic love celebrated on St Valentine’s Day is good, but love in the fullest sense is much more. Feelings come and go, but choices can endure: “for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do us part.”

The development of such death-defying love is a life-long process. It takes discipline, perseverance, compassion, forgiveness, selflessness  –it requires within the human mind and heart the injection of divine love. It is possible to love fully only when human love is empowered by the divine.

That’s where Lent comes in. Lent is the season for the spiritual exercises which strengthen and refine the ability to love. Prayer, fasting and alms-giving (the traditional penances of the season) are empty ritual if they do not lead the practitioner to greater love.

Maybe that’s why, on rare occasions, the beginning of Lent falls on February 14. Perhaps there’s a lesson in such a coincidence.

It would be like our God (the God of surprises) to put Lent right in the middle of  Valentine’s Day!