Crazy Catholic Question #140: Conscience

CCQ #140: What do I do if my informed conscience does not agree with church law?

A couple weeks ago I attended Mass at another parish. The priest preaching during Mass made reference to the reality that our current immigration policy is morally wrong. At that point a couple of people stood up and walked out, obviously very upset with his remarks. This reminded me of a piece on Conscience Formation written by my former colleague, Sr. Mary Ann Dixon, O.P. I’ve edited and adapted some of her work below.

We all hold opinions on a number of issues. Some of these opinions are well informed and some are made with little conscious effort. In most cases, our experiences lead to values, which help us form opinions. But how do we navigate our moral stance without reducing it to an opinion?  How do we keep an authentic moral compass?

Morality is a concrete response to the things we believe, and our Church has, of course, over the centuries, made many statements about morality. Some subjects we have taught as sinful include: contraception, abortion, the death penalty, nuclear war, homosexual activity, domestic violence, war of aggression, and economic exploitation…among others.

As faithful Catholics, we do not have the option of selecting some teachings for consideration and dismissing others “because we do not agree with that.” Rather, we are called to the arduous process of forming our conscience. This process is, in itself, the teaching of our Church. Once we have done this work, we are obligated to follow the conclusion of our informed conscience, whether it conforms to Church law or not (CCC Article 6: 1790, 1800). We can offend this teaching by blindly obeying Church law without any discernment or by totally ignoring Church teaching, again without any discernment.

Authentic discernment or conscience formation calls us to consider several aspects of moral decision-making. 

  

1.  Church Teaching  Formation      

We may have learned that we form conscience by following the law of the Church, but if that were the complete truth there would be no room or need for discernment. Rather, we are called to seriously attend to church teaching and place ourselves “under the influence” of Church law. We must know the law, the value implicit in the law and, if possible, the situation out of which the teaching was articulated.  For example, prohibition of artificial contraception was articulated in 1930 in the aftermath of Margaret Sanger’s establishment of Birth Control Clinics in 1923 and the World Population Conference in 1926. At that time Pius IX said, “the conjugal act is destined primarily by nature for the begetting of children, and that those who frustrate its natural power…are branded with the guilt of grave sin.” (Casti Cannubi) The Church’s teaching on artificial contraception was reiterated by Paul VI in Humanae Vitae, although in this document a concession was made to the reality that conjugal love had a parallel purpose: it also nurtured the love relationship between husband and wife. So, we, as Church, grew in our recognition that sex is not only for the purpose of procreation, but also has unitive properties for married couples.

2.  Wisdom of the Community

Church law is not enough, however. The Church also calls us to consult other sources of expertise in the area about which we are making a decision; maybe a doctor or counselor, a spiritual director or an expert on the subject. For example, in war, we should know the Church’s teaching on just war and the context in which that teaching was written. Then we must ask, “Do these criteria still apply given the development of weapons since that teaching was articulated?” What has history taught us about the causes and effects of war?

3.  The Lived Experience

Besides consulting Church law and current experts on an issue, we are asked to look at our life situation, its demands, its limitations and its realities. What has been my experience? What do I know from the realities in my life?  

4.  Scripture

Our sacred texts often do not address specific moral questions – for example nuclear weapons did not exist in the first century, so we can’t expect to find any specific direction on that topic. We can always find “one liners” in the Bible to make our case, but that would be a misuse of Scripture. Truly, the Bible can be used to justify virtually any behavior if taken out of context; divorced from its original language and meaning. With Scripture, it is important to be attentive to an overall spirit that captures a value rather than to try to find the right quote or verse and a solid inquiry may necessitate consulting a theologian or scholar. We also have to be faithful to our Church’s teaching about Scripture – that we study and interpret it rather than accept a literal reading of the Scripture.

5. Finally, along with the study, searching and reflection, we must pray. We must humbly present ourselves before a loving God and pray for direction – not the direction that someone else tells us, but the direction from within ourselves. We stand before God saying, “Being as honest and thorough as I could be, this is what I think my decision must be.” Then we are obligated to follow our conscience.  At this point, no one has a right to say our decision is morally wrong.

Can we make mistakes? Yes.  Can we fool ourselves?  Yes. But if we have put effort into our discernment, we have integrity as an ally.  We stand before God having followed an authentic process of discernment. This is what our Church asks of us…

Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.

Crazy Catholic Question #139: 13 Reasons

CCQ #139: Do you think 13 Reasons Why is dangerous for our teens to watch?

I am not a mental health professional, so I am not qualified to answer that question, however, I AM a Mom and I have to say the advisory notice from our Oakland County Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force certainly caught my attention (see adjacent). Though I could only stomach watching 5 episodes of this high drama series with my own teenage daughter, we did talk at length about the themes touched on in the show and how all of us need to be thoughtful and careful about what we "ingest" as far as media/shows, not unlike we are attentive to our food choices. Because, ultimately, as the saying goes "we are what we eat" and whether we recognize it or not, shows like 13 Reasons Why DO shape our thoughts and our culture.

Like it or lump it, 13 Reasons HAS become one of the shared stories among our teens - just like Happy Days and The Brady Bunch were part of our shared culture growing up. Remember Bobby's unfortunate discovery of the bad luck Tiki charm found on the Brady's trip to Hawaii? Even if you didn't see the episode, you know what I'm referring to. The bottom line is, we can ban watching 13 Reasons in our homes, but that is not going to shield our children from the discussions about it with their friends. The tidal wave force of our culture, of which this show is a part, WILL be part of our children’s formation. We have little to no control over that. The way we respond as parents to this presence is crucial. As the Youth Task Force mentions, conversation is key. If our teens watch the show, perhaps we parents can view it as an opportunity, even an invitation, to talk about these important topics that effect our young people today. 

Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.

Crazy Catholic Questions #138: Quiet

CCQ#138: Do you think technology helps or hinders our spiritual lives?

Below is little excerpt written by Peggy Kendall that I thought was spot on for me. I hope you find it meaningful too.

"Most of us know how important things such as quiet times are to spiritual growth, but sometimes quiet times can be anything but quiet. Take my prayer time this morning, for instance. I began by logging into BibleGateway.com. As I scrolled down through Psalm 23, which was my passage for today, I noticed the ad offering to link me to the site's new online bookstore. I had to take a quick look and see what special offers they had. In between "The Lord is my shepherd" and "He makes me lie down beside still waters," two e-mail notifications popped up. One message seemed urgent, so I just had to respond before I forgot. Then my cell phone vibrated. I had to see who it was to make sure I wasn't missing something important. By the time I got down to "He restores my soul," I'll be honest, I wasn't feeling very restored.

I find that as I strive for meaningful spiritual growth, my technology-saturated lifestyle sometimes seems to get in the way of what it really takes to experience a deep, focused and purposeful Christian life. When we live in a culture where being productive and doing lots of things at once are so highly valued, there are certain spiritual disciplines such as solitude, meditation, fasting, even keeping the Sabbath that can feel a little out of step. We need to recognize that as our technology speeds up our lives and reshapes the value we put on things such as efficiency and productivity, these spiritual disciplines are more important than ever.

Let's face it, whether texts, posts, ads, tweets, e-mails, links, updates, chats or iTunes, our technology has a way of cluttering up our lives and slowly sucking the purpose and focus from our days. What we—and our kids—desperately need now more than ever, is sacred time and space. But how can we reclaim it from the dominance of our technology and our Attention Deficit Disorder culture?

If we truly want to slow down and reconnect, it usually takes a little peace and quiet; but really, when is the last time you actually heard silence in your house that wasn't accompanied by snoring? For me it was the last time the electricity went out. I was in the middle of watching the news and off it went. I looked at my dog and back at the dark TV screen. I felt a little lost, something akin to loneliness. Everything was so, well, quiet. Honestly, silence takes a little getting used to. It dawned on me that night that I don't perceive silence as being golden. I perceive it as being awkward and boring. The usual stimuli I have bombarding my every waking moment have created a deep restlessness in me when it is all turned off.

Silence, however, can be an especially powerful gift. Take for instance the way silence gives us space to think. Could anyone argue the fact that more time to think leads to better decision making? As we speed through life, we tend to emphasize "fast answers over good answers...unable to see the larger array of options before us." However, when we spend intentional time unwired and logged off, we thoughtfully and prayerfully can consider the opportunities God has laid before us. Jesus consistently spent quiet time alone, preparing for the major events in His life. Perhaps His example is an invitation to us to reclaim this endangered spiritual discipline."

Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.

Crazy Catholic Questions #137: Hallowed

Is “Hallowed be thy name” actually one of the petitions of the Our Father? If it is, what are we petitioning God to do?

When I was researching for the Good Shepherd reflection a couple weeks ago, I came across this little random note from my CGS training last summer that really changed the way I think of this sacred prayer that Jesus taught us.

Some scholars connect the first verse of the Lord’s Prayer (aka The Our Father) to the Prophet Ezekiel who wrote while the Jewish people were suffering in exile. Their land had been overrun and they were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to Babylon, held in captivity for decades.

Ezekiel writes “Look God, your sheep are scattered, vulnerable and lost. Your name is defamed.” Basically saying that God’s reputation is shot because His sheep are scattered all over the earth. So Ezekiel says “Unite your people, bring them home, so that your name will be Hallowed, or made Holy again.”

Ezekiel is a book found in our Bible that Jesus probably knew very well, being steeped in the Hebrew scriptures as a faithful Jew himself. And it is quite possible (even probable) that Jesus was referring to this prophet’s writings when he described himself as the Good Shepherd who gathers and cares for his sheep.

So it is possible that the first petition of the Our Father is really a plea for God to show His stuff! In other words, when Jesus instructs us to pray “hallowed be your name” – its not just showing reverence, but rather it’s the first petition - our way of asking God to “show the world who you are;” To gather His sheep so that His name may be Hallowed. Each week when we pray this prayer we are asking that God will provide the world with an indisputable show of God’s power - something only God can do.

When we pray “hallowed be thy name” we are asking God to act in a way that will bring glory to God. It is a request that God will yet bring about a change or result so dramatic that all humankind cannot help but notice. So, “Hallowing the name of God” means collecting God’s people. (Dale Bruner)

Ilia Delio writes “It is time for a new catholicity, a new religion of the world, a liberated Church with the Spirit-filled Christ empowering us to become artisans of a new future. We are at a tipping point of a profound change of consciousness or extinction. God is the power of unconditional love who dwells in us, animates us. We are to think so as to unify and love with a grateful heart. To live in catholicity is to be conscious that each life breath that I call my own belongs to the stars, the galaxies, my neighbors and family, my enemies, past generations and those to come. I am part of a whole, like you, and the whole is more than any one of us can grasp because the absolute wholeness of life is Love itself – God – the power of the future. We need to let go of trying to control life and wildly fling ourselves into the arms of divine Love. This is the only real way into the future of life. We have the power to create a new world, and we have the power to destroy this one. How we choose depends on how we grasp this moment as the kiss of God, impelling us to stand up and speak.”

Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.

Reflection on the Good Shepherd, John 10:11-16 (audio & text)

Gospel of John, Chapter 10:11 - 16

Listen to Gospel reflection at this link: http://www.ctredeemer.org/april-22-2018/

All of us here today have lived through the wake of the most significant time of change and transition that the Catholic Church has experienced in over 500 years, namely the reforms brought about by the Second Vatican Council held in the late 1960’s. Though profound and life-giving, it was a bumpy transformation to say the least. I’m reminded of the Chinese curse that says “May your children be born in a time of transition.”

The Catholic Church is a big ship that changes course about as fast as an iceberg. So, understandably, it took a bit of time to absorb and then develop engaging and sound curriculum to update the Baltimore Catechism that was in place since 1885.

Since then Catholic Faith Formation programming has improved steadily, but is still very textbook/classroom oriented, which works for some, but not for all.

A couple years ago, I was invited by a friend at Gesu Parish in Detroit to observe their elementary program and quite frankly, I had my mind blown…and all our education staff has followed suit, one by one, taking the training and (thankfully) becoming obsessed right along with me.

It’s not a change so much in content – but in style and we are going to give you a little taste of it today, but I want to introduce it a bit first…

It’s called The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) and is an approach to the faith formation of children ages 3 through 12 that grew out of over 40 years of research and careful observation of children by Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew & Scripture Scholar, and her collaborator, Gianna Gobbi, an expert in Montessori education.

It began when Sofia, quite content in her role as a scholar and professor, was asked by a neighbor to give some religious instruction to her child. At first she declined saying she knew nothing about children. But, the mother was persistent and Sofia eventually gave in and her experience with this 7-year old was to change the rest of her life. She saw and studied in that child (and many others afterwards) a way of being in the presence of God that is both unique to the child and a gift to the adult who stops long enough to notice.

They identified two key moments in the learning process:

First the child passively receives the lesson being offered by the catechist.

The second moment begins with a series of wonder questions designed to help the child ponder and chew on what they have heard so as to internalize it and make it their own. Such as "I wonder what Jesus meant when he said the kingdom is like a mustard seed?" or "I wonder why the merchant gave up all of the other pearls just to get the one?"

In service to this second moment, Sofia & Gianna found that young children learn best through working with their hands, so central to this CGS method is what is called the “atrium”: a sacred, prepared space containing homemade, simple, beautiful, materials that help keep the child focused, such as small models of various objects we see inside the church, dioramas and figures of stories from the bible, maps of ancient Israel, and many other things that I hope you will come see for yourself after Mass today at our official ribbon cutting and blessing of this sacred space for our little ones.

These materials or “works” are not an aid to the teacher but a help for the child in that second moment of learning: they help the child prolong…..alone with the inner Teacher (God)….. the meditation begun with the adult.

CGS has two pillars: Scripture & Liturgy…our story and our prayers….

Scripture is essential in passing along our collective wisdom gleaned from the experience of God in our lives, and this witness is critical because as theologian Michael Himes says “Christianity is not a series of conclusions that any one of us could have reached by simply sitting down and thinking about them very seriously and carefully for a long time. Christianity is a story about a particular person and set of events in a particular place and time in history. It is a report that requires that someone bring us the ‘good news.’ We need to hear it from someone else.” Scripture is our story.

The second pillar is our Liturgy. Bishop Ken Untener once said “If you want to know what we believe listen to what we pray.” For centuries our Mass has offered a highly visual, sensory and symbolic yet concrete means through which we experience the sacred; connecting two levels of reality by imbuing very simple, humble things like water, bread, wine and oil with deep spiritual meaning. So, our liturgy is, for our children, early training in imaginative, non-literal, spiritual thinking, fostering an ability to reverence the inexhaustible mystery that God is - what Sofia calls an “interior agility” that is central to all spiritual development.

Since beginning CGS, my youngest daughter, age 6, has become very alert and interested in the details of our liturgy and enjoys explaining things to me at Mass. “I know why the priest is wearing purple, do you?”

A few weeks ago I was holding her during Mass, thinking she wasn’t paying attention as she rested her head on my shoulder and when Joe said “And then he took the chalice” she pulled away from me and with big eyes excitedly said “I know what a chalice is Mom! (I wonder what she thought it was before?!?).”

When she recognizes phrases like "The people in darkness have seen a great light!" she gasps and agrees in a church whisper. "I KNOW THAT."

The goal of time in the atrium is to foster wonder, prayer, and provide an environment for the child to be able to hear our Good Shepherd call his or her name…because that is the seed that lasts and grows.

I’m guessing most of us know the power of hearing that still small voice within, as rare and elusive as it might be at times, especially in our busy, noisy, screen-laden world. We can know every little factoid there is about Jesus and Catholicism, but if we haven’t heard our name called in love by God, nothing takes root…nothing grows.

So, with that, let’s listen and chew on the good news of Jesus. I invite all the children to join us up by the altar…(CGS Good Shepherd lesson by Michele)

Crazy Catholic Question #136: Abide

CCQ #136 What does it mean to “remain” or “abide”?

On the night before He died, Jesus gathered his small group of friends, who had seen him through the thick and thin of his earthly ministry, and gave them this parable “I am the vine, you are the branches, remain in me as I remain in you.” In the span of just a few verses he uses the verb “to remain” over 10 times.

Ann Garrido in her book Redeeming Conflict says that “Remaining is perhaps the most difficult of activities humans ever undertake.” Jesus knows his disciples are going to face hard times, and they are going to be tempted to hang up their cleats. But Jesus’ prayer is that they (and WE) will be able “to remain” - because our togetherness is essential to our purpose, our calling, to the kingdom that Jesus dreamed of and spoke of so often. She says

“While we readily acknowledge the skill and practice it takes to keep moving when others would be inclined to give up, we rarely give more than lip service to the immense skill and practice it takes to remain when other would be inclined to move on.”

No matter how many books we read on good communication and building strong relationships, no matter how much we love our friends and family, conflict happens. It’s never a question of “IF”-  it’s only a question of “WHEN” will the conflict come and how will we respond. It seems so much easier to ignore and avoid the conflict and simply take our toys and go home in response. We say to ourselves - this is just too much, too hard, too much drama. But, the compelling vision of Jesus is one of inclusion, of togetherness, of remaining.

This does NOT mean we are called to withstand abuse. Jesus never calls us to be a doormat. But rather, we are compelled to learn how to communicate clearly and peaceably, while discerning essential boundaries so that we are able to maintain our relationships in a healthy way. Garrido suggests that when we offer the vision and practice the skills to do conflict well, we light the path for ourselves and those near to us to be able to remain.

Jesus wants us to realize that we are part of the flow of God’s love. He says “As the Father has loved me, so I love you.” He is asking us to not break this chain of love. To remain a conduit and love others as we have been loved. This is Jesus’ dream for our world, this is what will bring us and our lives to full fruition. The Kingdom is built not one brick, but one messy, unpredictable relationship at a time.

What if (in light of chaos theory that has absolutely seized my imagination of late) conflict is important? Essential? It certainly flourishes in nature. And we are part of nature. What if conflict is a necessary part of creation; just part and parcel of our diversity, different temperaments, values, personalities and priorities and the way in which we respond can change the future in dramatic ways? James Surowiecki, in his book The Wisdom of Crowds states that “the best collective decisions are the product of disagreement and contest, not consensus or compromise.” Huh…who’da thunk?

Ann Garrido concludes “If we manage to remain, it turns out that conflict can be redeeming. Our aim is not to fix or avoid it but rather to manage it in such a way that we rob it of the power to divide and fragment while heightening its power to educate and illumine.”

Send your Crazy Catholic Question to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns via our website at www.ctredeemer.org.

Crazy Catholic Question#135: Loneliness

Crazy Catholic Question #135: I'm terribly lonely lately. Any advice or words of encouragement?

When things look dire, we must turn to the masters...

Find the Source of Your Loneliness, by Henri Nouwen

Whenever you feel lonely, you must try to find the source of this feeling. You are inclined either to run away from your loneliness or to dwell in it. When you run away from it, your loneliness does not really diminish; you simply force it out of your mind temporarily. When you start dwelling in it, your feelings only become stronger, and you slip into depression.

The spiritual task is not to escape your loneliness, not to let yourself drown in it but to find its source…This is an important search because it leads you to discern something good about yourself. The pain of your loneliness may be rooted in your deepest vocation. You might find that your loneliness is linked to your call to live completely for God. Thus your loneliness may be revealed to you as the other side of your unique gift. Once you can experience in your innermost being the truth of this, you may find your loneliness not only tolerable but even fruitful. What seemed primarily painful may then become a feeling that, though painful, opens for you the way to an even deeper knowledge of God's love.

Loneliness, by David Whyte

Loneliness is the doorway to as yet unspecified desire; the first step to understanding how far we are from a real friendship, from a proper work or a long sought love. Loneliness can be a prison, a place from which we look out at a world we cannot inhabit; loneliness can be a bodily ache and a penance, but loneliness fully inhabited also becomes the voice that asks and calls for that great, unknown someone or something else we want to call our own. Loneliness is the very state that births the courage to continue calling, and when fully lived can undergo its own beautiful reversal, becoming in its consummation, the far horizon that answers back.

In the grand scale of things, loneliness might be a privilege. Human beings may have the ability to feel aloneness as no other creature can; with a power magnified by intelligence and imagination. Animals may feel alone in an instinctual way, moving naturally and affectionately toward others of their kind, but human beings may be the only beings that can articulate, imagine or call for a specific life they feel they might be missing.

Loneliness is the substrate and foundation of belonging, the gravitational field that draws us home and in the beautiful essence of its isolation, the hand reaching out for togetherness. To allow ourselves to feel fully alone is to allow ourselves to understand the particular nature of our solitary incarnation, to make aloneness a friend is to apprentice ourselves to the foundation from which we make our invitation others. To feel alone is to face the truth of our irremediable and unutterable singularity, but a singularity that can kiss, create a conversation, make a vow or forge a shared life. In the world or community, this essential singularity joins with others through vision, intellect and ideas to make a society.

Loneliness is not a concept, it is the body attempting to become proximate and even join with other bodies: through physical touch, through conversation or the mediation of the intellect and the imagination. Loneliness is the place from which we pay real attention to voices other than our own; being alone allows us to find the healing power in the other. The shortest line in the briefest e-mail can heal, embolden, welcome home and enliven the most isolated identity. Human beings are made to belong.

Loneliness is the unwanted single malt taste of the very essentiality that makes conscious belonging possible. The doorway is closer than we think. I am alone; therefore I belong.