What does the scripture “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” really mean?
In our long history of wrestling with this verse, our tradition has taken many approaches. We have theologized it and said that Jesus was simply challenging the common Hebrew wisdom of the day that viewed wealth was a sign of God’s favor and this is just another time he turns this belief upside down.
We have claimed that the “eye of the needle” was a small gate in the protective stone wall surrounding ancient cities through which a camel could only pass through if it’s load was removed and it scooted through on its knees. Which makes the task difficult, but not impossible.
Some scholars claim that the word translated as “camel” is very close to the word in greek for “rope,” so if we had a big enough needle and a thin enough rope – it could happen!
We have individualized it, saying that wealth just happened to be the weakness of this particular young man and that “riches” could symbolize other things for other people such as career, reputation, security, fame, power, vanity, etc. So its not necessarily a statement on wealth as much as surrendering whatever is keeping us from God.
All these may be valid approaches to interpreting this passage, however, I think we risk quite a bit if we don’t consider the possibility that this passage may be intended just as it is written. What if it is really hard for the rich to enter heaven? Very hard. Maybe even impossible?
What if wealth is an obstacle to eternal life?
What if our saints like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Benedict and Mother Theresa, had it right?
What if God is truly calling us to give up everything we own?
What if the ‘shall nots’ are simply not enough?
Where does this leave us?
At the very least, it should leave us uncomfortable, looking quite seriously at the choices we make. Beyond that, I don’t even pretend to have a clue.
We stand lacking, and sad with the rich young ruler, knowing deep within that God is calling us to more selflessness, more surrender, more sacrifice, more than we feel able to give. We stand with the apostles asking “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus’ response is key to our hope. The young ruler comes to Jesus with a restlessness, an awareness that something is missing in his life, there is a pull, urge, whisper, thirst, a deep desire that haunts him. He has done his best to live as a decent, honest, hard-working person who has “observed the commandments since his youth” but he still believes he could do more...BE more….and Jesus looked at him with great love and holds unwavering hope for him even as he turns to walk away.
We too need to feel that loving look of Jesus upon us, and hear his continual invitation to a deeper more authentic Christian discipleship. Theologian Walter Rauschenbusch suggests that the key to this story is to concentrate not on what the man was asked to give up, but instead consider the incredible opportunity he gave up. Because of his ‘many possessions’ he declined the opportunity to be one of Jesus’ closest friends.
The apostles lived passionate lives full of purpose and love and turned the world upside down. The rich young ruler walked away sad…and he had reason. Each of us are invited and uniquely equipped to be a part of the ongoing radical transformation of the world. The question is are we too walking away sad? Are we missing the point of life?
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Crazy Catholic Question #85: Voting
Are Catholics required to vote a certain way?
Yes and No. The Catholic Church does not endorse any candidate or party. Period. No matter what you have read or heard, there is NO mandate on which candidate(s) Catholics must vote for from Rome. However, we ARE asked to bring our values and commitment to the common good with us to the voting booth. What that actually looks like on our individual ballots depends….
Matt Malone, SJ wrote this great little opinion piece for America magazine recently, in which he said “I can virtually guarantee that if you attend Mass on Sunday morning in any parish in the United States, you will find yourself sitting in a pew near someone who disagrees with you about what the public policy should be on abortion, or same-sex marriage, or the death penalty. While the teaching of the church on the moral dimensions of these issues is consistent, there is today, as there has always been, a spirited debate about HOW to APPLY those moral principles in the public realm, one that is democratic, diverse and nonsectarian. Catholics are free to disagree with one another in good conscience, if not about the moral principles at stake, then certainly about the prudential application of those principles in the public square.
Our fundamental identity and unity as Catholic Christians does not reside in our allegiance to a set of ideas, much less to some political manifesto. Our unity resides in the person of Jesus Christ. For us, truth is ultimately a person – a “someone” we encounter rather than a “something” with which we beat each other over the head.”
In another piece in the NCR by Michael Sean Winters: "conservative Catholics have every right to be Republicans, to try and play their faith in ways that correspond to their conscience, to reach conclusions that might differ from that of more liberal Catholics. They sometimes leave aside certain concerns that I think are central to the relevance of our faith at this time in history, but there are those on the left who do the same. The bastardization came when conservative Catholics claimed theirs was the only acceptable application of faith. By aiding the reduction of faith to morals, these conservative Catholics have unwittingly been agents of the very same secularization they claim to oppose. What makes Catholic social teaching so powerful is that it doesn’t fit squarely within in any one party or ideological movement.”
St. Paul says “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Never be lacking in zeal, but be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in affliction, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of all God’s people. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another…Do what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
This is our Catholic “practice.” These sacred hopes are what we take with us to the polls as believers on Nov. 8th.
All our CTR families are invited to set aside the hour of 7-8PM on Mon. Nov. 7th for a “Community Prayer Hour at Home” on the eve of this important election. A brochure is available in the vestibule or at our website at ctredeemer.org that will help us to “unplug,” gather those we love, and be united in prayer as a parish family.
Yes and No. The Catholic Church does not endorse any candidate or party. Period. No matter what you have read or heard, there is NO mandate on which candidate(s) Catholics must vote for from Rome. However, we ARE asked to bring our values and commitment to the common good with us to the voting booth. What that actually looks like on our individual ballots depends….
Matt Malone, SJ wrote this great little opinion piece for America magazine recently, in which he said “I can virtually guarantee that if you attend Mass on Sunday morning in any parish in the United States, you will find yourself sitting in a pew near someone who disagrees with you about what the public policy should be on abortion, or same-sex marriage, or the death penalty. While the teaching of the church on the moral dimensions of these issues is consistent, there is today, as there has always been, a spirited debate about HOW to APPLY those moral principles in the public realm, one that is democratic, diverse and nonsectarian. Catholics are free to disagree with one another in good conscience, if not about the moral principles at stake, then certainly about the prudential application of those principles in the public square.
Our fundamental identity and unity as Catholic Christians does not reside in our allegiance to a set of ideas, much less to some political manifesto. Our unity resides in the person of Jesus Christ. For us, truth is ultimately a person – a “someone” we encounter rather than a “something” with which we beat each other over the head.”
In another piece in the NCR by Michael Sean Winters: "conservative Catholics have every right to be Republicans, to try and play their faith in ways that correspond to their conscience, to reach conclusions that might differ from that of more liberal Catholics. They sometimes leave aside certain concerns that I think are central to the relevance of our faith at this time in history, but there are those on the left who do the same. The bastardization came when conservative Catholics claimed theirs was the only acceptable application of faith. By aiding the reduction of faith to morals, these conservative Catholics have unwittingly been agents of the very same secularization they claim to oppose. What makes Catholic social teaching so powerful is that it doesn’t fit squarely within in any one party or ideological movement.”
St. Paul says “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Never be lacking in zeal, but be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in affliction, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of all God’s people. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another…Do what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
This is our Catholic “practice.” These sacred hopes are what we take with us to the polls as believers on Nov. 8th.
All our CTR families are invited to set aside the hour of 7-8PM on Mon. Nov. 7th for a “Community Prayer Hour at Home” on the eve of this important election. A brochure is available in the vestibule or at our website at ctredeemer.org that will help us to “unplug,” gather those we love, and be united in prayer as a parish family.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Crazy Catholic Question #84: Trinity
Why does our doctrine of the Trinity matter?
Karl Rahner, one of our most beloved Catholic Theologians, a key architect in the process and a significant contributing author to many of the 16 documents of Vatican II, is very famous for once having said “If people were to read in their morning newspapers that a fourth person of the trinity had been discovered it would cause little stir, or at least less than is occasioned by a Vatican pronouncement on a matter of sexual ethics – so detached has the triune symbol become from the actual religious life of many people.”
And I think he is quite right. I found it to be quite a stretch to meaningfully connect this mind-bending paradox to our everyday faith life….pondering how three persons can exist in one God….3 modes, but one substance….while the dinner is boiling over next to a sink full of dishes, my kids are running and screaming, and my aging father is cursing while negotiating the complexities and little buttons of his cell phone…
In the midst of the everyday grind, I was left wondering “does the Trinity really matter?” Which reminded me of this story….
Jesus said “Who do people say that I am?”
And his disciples answered and said, some say you are John the Baptist, others Elijah, or one of the prophets…
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am? Peter answered in reply
“Thou art the Logos, wisdom incarnate…one of the three distinct, but not solitary, persons in the consubstantial, Divine Triune Unity, in yourself whole and entire, sharing full divinity without disparity of substance or nature, emanating from the co-naturality of three infinites in perfect and profound egalitarian, relational communion.
Jesus said to him in reply “What?”
Sometimes I wish that God wasn’t so damned cryptic and subtle…that God would just say what needs to be said, clear as a bell….providing directions on the path of life like a trusted crossing guard….with no ambiguity, no doubt, no lengthy discernment period or straining to find that elusive ‘quiet place within.’
But instead, it seems that when I’m trying my very best to be an attentive and faithful servant of God, I often feel like a mouse poking around in a maze trying to find the cheese….not exactly edifying….
Now, of course, we all realize that fully grasping the mystery of God is absolutely and without question beyond us and our human capabilities…and that is as it should be.…But, that still leaves the question, is the revealed, paradoxical, truth of the Trinity relevant for our faith lives and in what way?
I caught sight of the cheese when reading theologian Elizabeth Johnson who affirmed that
at the root of ALL our doctrine is an encounter with the holy mystery that is God. Our doctrines are not just speculative mental acrobatics but rather an attempt to express a truth we have experienced.
The Trinity is an image, a concept of God that developed historically out of our collective experience…the first Christian believers were faithful to their Jewish monotheistic tradition and without abandoning Yahweh, the God of Israel, they pondered and tried to make sense of their experience of this same God in the person and mission of Jesus Christ…and then once again coming to know this same God in the Holy Spirit in the days following Pentecost.
Karl Rahner, one of our most beloved Catholic Theologians, a key architect in the process and a significant contributing author to many of the 16 documents of Vatican II, is very famous for once having said “If people were to read in their morning newspapers that a fourth person of the trinity had been discovered it would cause little stir, or at least less than is occasioned by a Vatican pronouncement on a matter of sexual ethics – so detached has the triune symbol become from the actual religious life of many people.”
And I think he is quite right. I found it to be quite a stretch to meaningfully connect this mind-bending paradox to our everyday faith life….pondering how three persons can exist in one God….3 modes, but one substance….while the dinner is boiling over next to a sink full of dishes, my kids are running and screaming, and my aging father is cursing while negotiating the complexities and little buttons of his cell phone…
In the midst of the everyday grind, I was left wondering “does the Trinity really matter?” Which reminded me of this story….
Jesus said “Who do people say that I am?”
And his disciples answered and said, some say you are John the Baptist, others Elijah, or one of the prophets…
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am? Peter answered in reply
“Thou art the Logos, wisdom incarnate…one of the three distinct, but not solitary, persons in the consubstantial, Divine Triune Unity, in yourself whole and entire, sharing full divinity without disparity of substance or nature, emanating from the co-naturality of three infinites in perfect and profound egalitarian, relational communion.
Jesus said to him in reply “What?”
Sometimes I wish that God wasn’t so damned cryptic and subtle…that God would just say what needs to be said, clear as a bell….providing directions on the path of life like a trusted crossing guard….with no ambiguity, no doubt, no lengthy discernment period or straining to find that elusive ‘quiet place within.’
But instead, it seems that when I’m trying my very best to be an attentive and faithful servant of God, I often feel like a mouse poking around in a maze trying to find the cheese….not exactly edifying….
Now, of course, we all realize that fully grasping the mystery of God is absolutely and without question beyond us and our human capabilities…and that is as it should be.…But, that still leaves the question, is the revealed, paradoxical, truth of the Trinity relevant for our faith lives and in what way?
I caught sight of the cheese when reading theologian Elizabeth Johnson who affirmed that
at the root of ALL our doctrine is an encounter with the holy mystery that is God. Our doctrines are not just speculative mental acrobatics but rather an attempt to express a truth we have experienced.
The Trinity is an image, a concept of God that developed historically out of our collective experience…the first Christian believers were faithful to their Jewish monotheistic tradition and without abandoning Yahweh, the God of Israel, they pondered and tried to make sense of their experience of this same God in the person and mission of Jesus Christ…and then once again coming to know this same God in the Holy Spirit in the days following Pentecost.
In the doctrine of the Trinity, and why perhaps it is a non-negotiable for every Christian believer, God has shown Godself to be a community of three persons, equal in every way, living together in loving, mutual relationship…
….and somehow in the life, death and rising of Jesus we too have been swooped up into this communion, invited into this love of God that is gratuitous, overflowing, and life-giving… God is pure self-gift and we are the happy recipients of this nature, for God did not choose to be God without us. This is the God we worship and aspire to imitate.
And studies show that people actually do become like the God they worship …so, if people believe in a Warrior God, people become Warriors. If they believe in an aloof, patriarchal God, they become very detached from one another and struggle with issues of power and authority.
So, if we believe, and God has revealed, that God is a community of mutual love and equality, then whenever we find ourselves freely giving or receiving love we are actively growing in knowledge and discovering the truth of the Trinity in the most potent and powerful way…not through our limited reason and words, but through our graced experience.
A sufi mystic (Rumi) once said, we live “with a secret we sometimes know, and then not know.” There will always be moments of feeling like a mouse in the maze…this is the human condition….we don’t, and won’t, always ‘get’ what God is trying to communicate and draw us into.
But then there will also be those other times, when the sun is blazing through the colored leaves on a crisp fall morning, or when we are enjoying a spirited meal with those we love, or we feel the support of our faith community in a time of distress or loss….or, for me, last night, as I’m writing this, listening to my youngest laugh uncontrollably as my husband made silly faces at her in a game of peek-a-boo, and my feeling thankful almost to bursting for being alive…and at those times we know, deep in our souls, that God is in this….that the love that we are sharing, the love that is between us, IS the stuff of God, the substance of life, the Trinity expounded…and it is enough…..(it is relevant.)
So, perhaps paradox is just God’s loving way of playing peek-a-boo…getting us out of our heads and into the communion of the moment.
….and somehow in the life, death and rising of Jesus we too have been swooped up into this communion, invited into this love of God that is gratuitous, overflowing, and life-giving… God is pure self-gift and we are the happy recipients of this nature, for God did not choose to be God without us. This is the God we worship and aspire to imitate.
And studies show that people actually do become like the God they worship …so, if people believe in a Warrior God, people become Warriors. If they believe in an aloof, patriarchal God, they become very detached from one another and struggle with issues of power and authority.
So, if we believe, and God has revealed, that God is a community of mutual love and equality, then whenever we find ourselves freely giving or receiving love we are actively growing in knowledge and discovering the truth of the Trinity in the most potent and powerful way…not through our limited reason and words, but through our graced experience.
A sufi mystic (Rumi) once said, we live “with a secret we sometimes know, and then not know.” There will always be moments of feeling like a mouse in the maze…this is the human condition….we don’t, and won’t, always ‘get’ what God is trying to communicate and draw us into.
But then there will also be those other times, when the sun is blazing through the colored leaves on a crisp fall morning, or when we are enjoying a spirited meal with those we love, or we feel the support of our faith community in a time of distress or loss….or, for me, last night, as I’m writing this, listening to my youngest laugh uncontrollably as my husband made silly faces at her in a game of peek-a-boo, and my feeling thankful almost to bursting for being alive…and at those times we know, deep in our souls, that God is in this….that the love that we are sharing, the love that is between us, IS the stuff of God, the substance of life, the Trinity expounded…and it is enough…..(it is relevant.)
So, perhaps paradox is just God’s loving way of playing peek-a-boo…getting us out of our heads and into the communion of the moment.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Crazy Catholic Question #83: Hardship and Hope
Hardship abounds, how can we stay hopeful?
A little piece by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, an American poet, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves:
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The luster and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.
I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong in the world. Do not focus on that…That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale…There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.
A little piece by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, an American poet, author of Women Who Run With the Wolves:
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The luster and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.
I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong in the world. Do not focus on that…That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.
What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale…There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Crazy Catholic Question #82: Conscience
What is Conscience? How Do I Form My Conscience?
“Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere ‘feeling’ about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience is a judgment of practical reason that helps us to recognize and seek what is good, and to reject what is evil (Our Catechism, no. 1778, 1796). Conscience does not simply “come to us.” Throughout our lives, we have to spend time forming our consciences so that we can make well-reasoned judgments about particular situations.
When examining any political or social issue or situation, we must begin 1) by being open to the truth and what is right. 2) We must study Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church. 3) We must examine the facts and background information about various choices. 4) We must prayerfully reflect to discern the will of God (USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship). The Church does NOT support any one political party or candidate! That decision is our work…
Some quotes to ponder….
1776 Deep within our conscience we discover a law which we have not laid upon ourselves but which we must obey. Its voice, ever calling us to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in our heart at the right moment…For each of us has in our heart a law inscribed by God. Our conscience is our most secret core and sanctuary. There, each of us is alone with God whose voice echoes in our depths.
1778 Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that one is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all one says and does, the person is obliged to follow faithfully what (s)he knows to be just and right.
1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
“A decision of right conscience is a complex process; and although it is an individual process, it is far from an individualistic process. The Latin word conscientia literally means “knowledge together,” perhaps better rendered as “to know together.” It suggests what human experience universally demonstrates, that being liberated from the confining prison of one’s individual self into the broadening and challenging company of others is a surer way to come to right knowledge of the truth, including moral truth, and right practical judgment, including moral judgment, of what one ought to do or not do. This communal search for truth, conscience and morality builds a sure safeguard against both an isolating egoism and a personal relativism that negates all universal truth.” (“Following Faithfully,” America Magazine February 2, 2015 Issue).
To this end, we invite all our parishioners to join in a “Community Prayer Hour at Home” on the eve of our election, Monday, Nov. 7th. Everyone is invited to set aside the hour of 7:00 – 8:00 PM for one hour of quite reflection and prayer at home for this important election. A brochure will shortly be available that will help us to “unplug,” gather our family and lead this time of prayer. Our hope is that it will be a unique experience of practicing our “conscientia” if all of our 1800 households joined together in prayer at the same time.
“Conscience is not something that allows us to justify doing whatever we want, nor is it a mere ‘feeling’ about what we should or should not do. Rather, conscience is the voice of God resounding in the human heart, revealing the truth to us and calling us to do what is good while shunning what is evil. Conscience is a judgment of practical reason that helps us to recognize and seek what is good, and to reject what is evil (Our Catechism, no. 1778, 1796). Conscience does not simply “come to us.” Throughout our lives, we have to spend time forming our consciences so that we can make well-reasoned judgments about particular situations.
When examining any political or social issue or situation, we must begin 1) by being open to the truth and what is right. 2) We must study Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church. 3) We must examine the facts and background information about various choices. 4) We must prayerfully reflect to discern the will of God (USCCB, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship). The Church does NOT support any one political party or candidate! That decision is our work…
Some quotes to ponder….
1776 Deep within our conscience we discover a law which we have not laid upon ourselves but which we must obey. Its voice, ever calling us to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in our heart at the right moment…For each of us has in our heart a law inscribed by God. Our conscience is our most secret core and sanctuary. There, each of us is alone with God whose voice echoes in our depths.
1778 Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that one is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all one says and does, the person is obliged to follow faithfully what (s)he knows to be just and right.
1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
“A decision of right conscience is a complex process; and although it is an individual process, it is far from an individualistic process. The Latin word conscientia literally means “knowledge together,” perhaps better rendered as “to know together.” It suggests what human experience universally demonstrates, that being liberated from the confining prison of one’s individual self into the broadening and challenging company of others is a surer way to come to right knowledge of the truth, including moral truth, and right practical judgment, including moral judgment, of what one ought to do or not do. This communal search for truth, conscience and morality builds a sure safeguard against both an isolating egoism and a personal relativism that negates all universal truth.” (“Following Faithfully,” America Magazine February 2, 2015 Issue).
To this end, we invite all our parishioners to join in a “Community Prayer Hour at Home” on the eve of our election, Monday, Nov. 7th. Everyone is invited to set aside the hour of 7:00 – 8:00 PM for one hour of quite reflection and prayer at home for this important election. A brochure will shortly be available that will help us to “unplug,” gather our family and lead this time of prayer. Our hope is that it will be a unique experience of practicing our “conscientia” if all of our 1800 households joined together in prayer at the same time.
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