Is Happiness A Matter Of Choice?

I've come to wrestle with what the former secretary general of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold wrote in his posthumously published and translated memoir known as Markings: "The chooser's happiness lies in his congruence with the chosen."

I had to think about that, and translate that statement into simpler terms I could understand, namely,
"A person's degree of happiness can be correlated with what he or she has chosen."

That insight flows from our being made in the image of God, from being blessed with an intellect and a will - the spiritual powers which enable us to know and to choose.

The intellect (a gift from God) is by its nature geared toward truth. The will (the ability which accompanies the intellect and therefore is also a gift from the Creator) is by its nature oriented toward what is good.

The will is that power by which we choose, the power that allows us to enjoy (or be burdened by) freedom.

By God's design human beings are blessed with the ability to make choices, to choose among the variety of good things in creation, such as choices in colors, sounds, foods, companions, etc., etc.

It is also possible, however, to choose evil things: to lie or be honest, to love or to hate, to conserve or waste, etc., etc.

That natural orientation in the will toward good is so strong that even when we choose to do evil we choose to do it not because it is evil but because we see some good in it. The robber robs the bank not because it is evil but because that's where the money is, and money is the good he seeks.

When the object of a potential choice is judged by the intellect to be evil, it is the cooperation of conscience (intellect and will working together) that is supposed to lead us to withdraw the choice from evil to good, from robbing to respecting other peoples' right to property.

To violate the principle of good over evil is to thwart the blessing (or burden) of bring human, a rational animal.

Granted the weaknesses within us (excessive pride, jealousy, greed, haltered, etc., etc.) can challenge the goodness of choice, and maybe even the judgment of intellect about what is good, we still carry some degree of responsibility. The two powers remain intact.

But, at least in theory, happiness is the natural by-product of the choices we make. Choose evil, and we work against the natural orientation of the will. We work against our very selves.

Happiness (peace of mind, restful harmony) can be challenged by the outward forces of evil (e.g., being betrayed, loss of a loved one, failure to achieve or to be what we should), but happiness regains its place within one's mind, heart and soul when we think it through and assess what is true and good.
(God's forgiveness and patience give us pause, and the reason to work it through.)

Th next time I determine I am unhappy I need to ask myself, "What choices have I made?" Maybe the very choice to be happy is all its takes to overcome my unhappiness. I must wrestle with Hammarskjold's  theory and my experience.

A Resolution For The New Year

I've come to believe that a person  filled with hate cannot think straight.

The political scene in our country tests the point.

Many contemporary partisan commentaries and news reports reflect a rancor  that ignores truth and cares nothing for civility.

Dishonesty and chicanery become tools for scoring political gain. The end justifies the means. Even perjury is an acceptable avenue in the arsenal of unscrupulous but determined politicians.

The so-called mainstream media have too often fanned the flames of emotion without giving due place to reason and the search for truth.

Civil War America experienced something akin to what we see and hear today: "The hoary-headed old tyrant whose presence now defiles the honored seat of  Washington has usurped powers which the constitution has conferred neither upon the President nor Congress, nor upon both together. He has declared war against the sovereign States of the South, in order to coerce them into subjection....Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God" (Editorial, Nashville Union and American, April 16, 1861).

Such rhetoric stirs the emotions but too often foregoes reason.

Wisdom and prudence suggest that allegations be researched, that commentators and politicians be vetted, that online stories be taken with the proverbial grain of salt --all in the interest of finding the truth.

It is easy to spew fighting words; it is hard to think things through.

There is something in the human spirit that seeks a cause, something to live for, something to promote. When a person finds that cause he can easily give in to an emotional response which makes him feel righteous and possessive of the higher ground. That feeling can relieve him of further search and assessment. it almost resolves into simple contradiction: "My mind is made up; don't bother me with the facts."

Jesus appealed to the better angels of our nature in what we call the "Beatitudes." He described the attitudes his followers should assume, and went so far as to say, "Everyone who is angry with his brother is liable to judgment."

Clearly in the teaching of the Christ, hatred is the opposite of love. A hateful person cannot think and act like Christ, and even if many of our fellow countrymen are not Christian, those who are must put a check on hatred to help abet peace and justice in the culture and politics around us.

A resolution for the new year?

Good News Story

Too often these days news about the Catholic Church is dark and depressing, but I caught a glimpse of light and encouragement recently in an article in the Tennessee Register, the bi-weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville.

Father Jim Sichko, who was named a Missionary of  Mercy by Pope Francis, came to the rescue of nearly 200 out-of-work miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, providing $20,000 for utility bills and other necessities. As Sichko put it, “I paid everything –electric, rent, etc.—but not cell-phones.”

The miners had worked for a mining company named Backjewel, which has filed for bankruptcy. The Tennessee Register added, “The company apparently all but absconded with money withdrawn from its employees’ paychecks for child support payments and 401 (k) contributions, but the workers said the money was never deposited in their accounts.”

Other news reports note that Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and the state’s Attorney General are opening an investigation because of complaints from miners who reported paychecks that ‘bounced” and missing payment for child support.

 Sichko, a priest of the Diocese of Lexington, is one of about 100 priests across the United States designated by Pope Francis as Missionaries of Mercy, a positive, concrete outreach prompted by the 2016 Year of Mercy.

Missionaries of Mercy are authorized to preach and hear confessions anywhere in the country, are allowed to forgive sins usually reserved to the pope, and have funds allocated to them to meet the material needs of people too.

When Sichko learned of the miners’ situation, he traveled to Harlan County and met with nearly 200 of them at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, compiled their information, asked what they most needed, and on his return to Lexington mailed them checks totaling $20,000.

“I would say that 99 per cent of them were not Catholic, and had not even set foot on Catholic property,” Sichko explained, “but these people have had their cars repossessed and their utilities shut off.”

In establishing the “Missionaries of Mercy” Pope Francis said, “We can’t run the risk of a penitent not perceiving the maternal love of the Church that welcomes and loves him.”

Father Sichko’s intervention at Harlan County is only one of the many responses he and other Missionaries of Mercy have made in fulfillment of the Pope’s plan and the Church’s mission. This story allows some of the light of the Gospel to shine in our world today –truly good news.

The Tennessee Register  is a good source for Catholic news not only about Nashville but in other parts of the world. Annual subscription for the bi-weekly is $29.00. Send check to Tennessee Register, 2800 McGavock Pike, Nashville TN 37214-1402., or call 615-783-0750. 

Web site: www.tennesseeregister.com

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Opposition to Pope Francis

It is well-known that some segments of the Catholic Church oppose Pope Francis and his vision of what the Church should be.  

Even some cardinals and bishops as well as lay persons have publicly challenged the pope’s openness to allow Catholics in certain circumstances who have divorced and remarried  to receive Holy Communion.

On other fronts some of the hierarchy and even some seminarians object to Pope Francis’ suggestion that clergy should reject clericalism, careerism, and elitism. They resent being told they should smell like the sheep.  Some Catholic  bookstores (even in seminaries) carry few if any books by or about Pope Francis.
They want him to go away.

The Argentine pope looks at the Church not only from the traditional European point of view but also from a South American perspective. His theology is influenced by writers whose names are well-known in Europe and America (Thomas Aquinas, Romano Guardini, Yves Congar, Henri de Lubac) but also by others scarcely known in the United States or Europe (Amelia Lezcano Podetti, Alberto Methol Ferre, Guzman Carriquiry Lecour, Lucio Gera).

Massimo Faggioli, professor at the University of St. Thomas in St Paul (MN), writes that “Pope Francis appears to be motivated by a more historical and cultural vision, in line with the Latin American theology he comes from, and by a more spiritual than theological vision for the ministry of the Roman pontificate” (Pope Francis: Tradition in Transition, Paulist Press, 2015,  p.77).

Faggioli adds, “The shift of emphasis with Bergoglio, from the theological to the spiritual papacy, has some unknowns for the future structure of Catholicism” (ibid, p. 78).

Pope Francis is aware of both the task before him and the obstacles he faces. That may be the reason he continually makes the plea, “Pray for me.”

Marco Politi, author of Pope Francis Among The Wolves (Columbia University Press, 2014) recalls a You Tube skit which shows Francis plodding along with a refrigerator on his shoulders, a gift for a poor widow. As he walks along he asks his two secretaries who accompany him (but offering no assistance with the heavy load), “What door do we deliver it?” One answers, “Number 1321, Your Holiness.” And Francis asks, “Where are we now?” only to hear, “Number 23, Your Holiness.”

As he trudges along under his heavy burden, a number of others, including two cardinals, stop him and ask for photos and blessings, but none of them lends a hand. Finally he arrives at the widow’s house only to hear her refuse the gift because it is the wrong color! “It could have been worse,” Francis murmurs as he sets off homeward.

Changing metaphors, I recall  an old saying that “it’s hard to remember that you came to drain the swamp when you’re up to your hips in alligators.”

Many of the cardinals who elected him to succeed Pope Benedict XVI chose Cardinal Bergoglio with the hope that he would reform the Curia, the Church’s bureaucracy, and  rid the Church of the alligators.

He may well be up to his hips in opposition but it is a fair assessment that he has not forgotten why he came to the swamp. For that reason his many supporters continue to  pray for him!

It Is Hard To Be Honest

It’s hard to be honest.

When I was teaching high school I was sometimes challenged by a student who rejected what I was saying, often defending her resistance with, “Well, I’m entitled to my own opinion!”  My rejoinder, “No, you’re not, at least not until you’ve taken steps to form it properly. You are not entitled until you opine.”

An opinion is the result of thinking. It’s not a feeling or a prejudice or what I would like to be true. An opinion is the result of an honest search for the truth. It requires effort. It means using both one’s intellect and will in a quest for accuracy, verity, honesty. And God knows, it’s hard to be honest.

That honesty is rare may be assumed by noting that of all the United States presidents only Washington and Lincoln are characterized by or remembered for their honesty. Washington’s “I cannot tell a lie” story may be apocryphal but it does affirm history’s respect for a man who is honest.

And in his biography of Lincoln, William Herndon, his law partner, concluded, “In the grand review of his peculiar characteristics, nothing creates such an impressive effect as his love of the truth. It looms up over everything else. His life is proof of the assertion that he never yielded in his fundamental conception of truth to any man for any end” (p. 487).

Dedication to truth and honesty seems to be intimately related to humility. What irony that Shakespeare’s Polonius, the rather officious, garrulous counselor to King Claudius, should advise his own son, “This above all, --to thine ownself  be true; and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man” (Hamlet I, 3).

It is humility, being down-to-earth, that promotes an honest assessment of oneself. The sincere recognition that we are not perfect, that we may err, even sin, is healthy. Failure to acknowledge weakness often leads to defense-oriented behavior, those mechanisms we use to prop up our pride and defend our ego.

Instead of an honest admission to self, we may resort to rationalization (searching for reasons to justify a decision or an act), projection (blaming others), compensation (downplaying our weaknesses and focusing on our strengths), denial of reality (refusal to face facts), and other commonly used defense mechanisms.

Those in the Judaeo-Christian tradition are expected to be truthful.

It’s odd that Old Testament Hebrew does not have an exact word for true or truth but conveys the idea with the word emeth which can be rendered stability, firmness, reliability, faithfulness.  Bible scholar Father John McKenzie explains the Hebrew mentality, “The true is not merely an object of intellectual assent, but something which demands a personal commitment. In a sense one can be said to choose or accept the truth rather than assent to it. The lie on the contrary is not solidly real, and therefore not dependable.”  Truth is an objective reality to be embraced.

The New Testament Greek uses alētheia for truth, from an adjective meaning “unconcealed, manifest.” John uses this term in 8:31-32, “Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him ‘If you remain in my word, you will truly (alēthōs) be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth (alētheia)  will set you free.” The freedom he offers removes the constraints of a misguided life, clarifying life’s purpose and meaning.

If religion supports the search for and embrace of truth and honesty, so does an analysis of what makes a human homo sapiens, thinking man. Humanity is characterized by two spiritual powers: intellect and will. With the intellect we know; with the will we choose. By nature the intellect is oriented  toward truth, and the will is oriented toward good. Such natural orientation, however, does not preclude telling lies and doing evil. Humans are so free that they can violate their own integrity and work against their very selves.

The God-given orientation to truth and good is not a pass. A human being must search out truth and discern what is good. It is often a struggle, weighing contradictory options, overcoming thoughtless emotional responses, confronting weakness, and wrestling with the defense mechanisms we can resort to when the ego is challenged.

An opinion is not what one feels nor what one wishes to be the truth. An opinion is the result of responsibly seeking truth.

Many of our religious and political clashes are the result of the failure to pursue the truth. It is easier to hold on to past persuasions/convictions or party lines than to dare an authentic search for truth and good. A great deal of what passes for “opinion” on radio/TV talk shows is not opinion but prejudice. Many of the experts have not responsibly searched for the truth. Failure to opine leads to fake news.

Our searches may not always lead to common answers, but opinions without the search are irresponsible. Pope Francis urges us to accept the challenge of the intersection of opposite (not contradictory) opinions. He believes such an effort is the only way to arrive at truth and unity.

Early on the Church had to wrestle with whether Jesus was divine or human. The failure of some Christians to bring the opposites together led to heresies. The truth did not deny Jesus’ divinity or humanity; it lay instead in the awesome mystery of  “God-made-man.”

The prophet Micah (cf 8:6) told the people that there were three things Yahweh wanted from them: to do what is right, to love what is good, and to walk humbly in His presence. These three responses to life are the supreme qualities of a life well-lived.

Opinions require work; it’s hard to be honest.

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.

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.”