#174 - The God I Don’t Believe In – by Juan Arias

The God I Don’t Believe In
(edited for space) – by Juan Arias

No, I shall never believe in:

The God who catches us by surprise in a sin of weakness, the God who condemns material things, the God incapable of giving an answer to the grave problems of a sincere and honest person who cries in tears: “I can’t!”

The God who loves pain, the God who sterilizes our reason, the God who is a magician and sorcerer, the God who makes himself feared, the God who does not allow us to talk familiarly to him, the grandfather-God whom one can twist around one’s little finger, the God who makes himself the monopoly of a church, a race, a culture or a caste, the lottery-god whom one can find only by chance, the judge-God who can give a verdict only with a rule book in his hands, the God incapable of smiling at many of our awkward mistakes, the God who “sends” people to hell, the God who always demands 100 percent in examinations.

The God who can be fully explained by a philosophy, the God adored by those who are capable of condemning a person to death, the God incapable of loving what many people despise, the God incapable of forgiving what many condemn, the God incapable of redeeming the wretched, the God incapable of understanding that children will always get themselves dirty and be forgetful, the God who prevents us from growing and conquering, transforming and overcoming.

#173 - Mysticism

What is a mystic?
Many bemoan the drop in attendance and involvement in all main-line churches over the past several decades, including Catholics. In fact our “fallen-away” number is the biggest of the bunch. Many parents worry whether their children will ever “come back” or “make it to heaven.” Perhaps there might be another way of looking at things?

Back in the early 60’s Fr. Karl Rahner said that “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or nothing at all” – a mystic being someone who has had an experience of spiritual union or direct communion with God. In 1962 pollsters found that 22% of Americans claimed to have had a “mystical experience” of God. In 1976 that number had risen to 31% of our U.S. population. The most recent poll reported a whopping 48% who said that they had this kind of encounter with the divine. Diana Butler Bass believes that these numbers indicate that “American faith has undergone a profound and extensive reorientation away from externalized religion towards internalized spiritual experience.” Is this a good? Bad? I don’t know.

What if the trend we are observing is “the first stirrings of a new spiritual awakening, a vast interreligious movement toward individual, social and cultural transformation? Have we lived the majority of our lives in the context of this awakening, struggling towards new understandings of God, how we should act ethically and politically, and who we are deep in our souls? What if <we are> playing a significant role in forming the contours of a new kind of faith beyond conventional religious boundaries? Is America living in the wake of a revival gone awry or a spiritual awakening that is finally taking concrete - albeit unexpected - shape?” (Bass)

#172 - Why am I here?

Why am I here today?

I’m Lisa Brown, the Director of Religious Education here at CTR. Part of my job is writing this little column where someone submits a question and I do my best to respond. I made-up this particular question because I suspect many of us are asking it quietly to ourselves at this prickly juncture in our Catholic history.

I’ve only been given 600 words, so let’s cut to the chase - it’s been a rough year for us Catholics. Well, maybe we should say a rough 17 or 70 years given the sexual abuse crisis? Or a rough 1000 years since the Crusades? Well, dang, let’s just call it. We Christians have been a train wreck from day one. So why are we still here?

The late Irish poet John O’Donohue, says “Tradition is to the community what memory is to the individual…it’s a huge naïveté for anyone to believe that a religion, understood as the collective wisdom and the lived spirit experience of a people, is an empty mass. It’s a huge resource! Tradition, like memory, has huge dark passages - within the Christian tradition there are dark zones of complete horror - but there are also zones of great light and immense wells of refreshment and healing.”

This speaks to me. My rose-colored glasses are long gone, but my love for our resilient Catholic family hasn’t waned. We just keep showing up and searching for God in this mess and there is something deeply endearing about this indomitable level of hope; something I find safe and lovely. Yes, we Catholics have a seemingly bottomless font of dysfunction, but what family doesn’t? To leave would be just trading one family’s problems for another. I intimately know MY family’s problems; our language, customs, faults and factions, and I feel that in terms of bringing about change, this awareness is an extremely valuable tool.

#171 - Tragedy

Where is God when tragedy strikes?

I don’t know about you, but I just cringe when in the face of grave human tragedy and suffering I hear someone say “This was God’s will” and/or “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” Really? Because it sure seems that some people get a crushing helping of grief on occasion.

Two generations ago, we Catholics had an answer to suffering. We used to advise one another to ‘offer our suffering up to God, for the good of others, for the souls in purgatory or in amends for our own sinfulness.’ This stock answer, which has slowly faded out of use, strikes many of us as quaint and even somewhat cruel at times. But, perhaps there is some deeper truth to be mined in this traditional response.

The heart of the good news that Jesus came to share with us is not "God loves us, and has a wonderful plan for our lives." Rather, the first and primary claim of the gospel is "God is here." The cross tells us that God’s answer to suffering is not to avoid it, or deny it, or blame it on human waywardness, but rather to be with us in it even when we don’t feel God’s presence. Our faith offers no one an escape from suffering. On the contrary, being a loving, compassionate person in this world practically assures suffering, because we are open and vulnerable. What the gospel does promise is that God will be with us so that we do not have to walk through our suffering alone.

The mystery of God’s life with us is that the very moment of catastrophe is, in truth, the moment of liberation. Jesus redeemed suffering by entering into it with us - loving us right up until the end, even as we put him to death. He gave us a demonstration of the only force with the power to bring about change; that of unconditional, self-giving love and we, as his disciples, are called to follow him in this demonstration to one another, and to the world.

This is not to say that we should seek or endure suffering without a fight. Jesus was always healing people, easing the their isolation, working tirelessly to cure their ills - which tells us that the problem of pain is a matter for action; God works to fight suffering, therefore so should we, using every means at our disposal – prayer, medicine, social action, relief work, and so on. It is right to hate loneliness and poverty. The image of the suffering God we see on the cross is the image of a protesting God.

So, maybe our tradition isn’t so far off the mark after all. To ‘offer it up” is to somehow connect our suffering to the suffering of Christ; to acknowledge that we are all in this together and to be receptive to the unity and purification that can be worked in us through our pain if we do not give in to bitterness. Though never ‘good’, our suffering can have value; it can actually draw us closer to God and one another.

Although we may never find an adequate explanation for human suffering on this side of the grave, we do catch glimpses of the kingdom when we support each other in our suffering. But, in the end, suffering remains a mystery. In his movie “Hannah & Her Sisters” Woody Allen plays an atheist son of a Jewish family who in an argument asks, “If there is a God, why are there Nazis?” His father replies, “How should I know? I don’t even know how the can opener works.” Mysteries abound.

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

#170 - No meat? Why?

Why do we not eat meat on Fridays?

In the first century when Jesus lived, people only cooked up “the fatted calf” and ate meat from land animals on days of celebration. Fish was considered a common, everyday food, therefore was not included in the fast. Catholics abstain from meat on the Fridays during Lent to pay homage to and to share in some small way in the suffering that Jesus experienced on the cross on Good Friday; definitively not a day of celebration but rather a day of sorrow. A day when we allow ourselves to feel the full weight of the sadness we all hold about the world we have fashioned in which it is dangerous – and sometimes even fatal – to live as a compassionate, loving human being. Fasting is an essential element of virtually every religion, because we all know the apathy that grows from excess. Fasting is designed to “wake us up” from the numbness that comfort often brings with it – that makes us indifferent to the suffering of others. We fast in an effort to change our world by changing ourselves; to restore and atone for our broken relationships; to keep us mindful of our calling to love as Jesus loved, without counting the cost. Fasting is designed to remind us, when faced with the choice, to make the loving decision. Isn’t that beautiful?

Yes. Yes it is. So beautiful. That makes it all the more humiliating to admit that I spectacularly fail every Lent! Not just a little gaffe here and there. Nope. Not I. I’m more of the “go big or go home” variety of Lenten loser.

One of my goals this Lent was to fast from “being late.” My husband and daughters are always razzing me – saying I have a “bad relationship with time.” They say I’m not very adept at accurately calculating the amount of time that it takes to drive somewhere, pick up a few things from the grocery store, finish up my work and make it home for dinner, etc. I’m always late. Late for doctors visits, late to pick up the kids, late to send in registration forms (even for the programs that I oversee here at the church! More often than not, I’M the delinquent parent paying the late fee!). I always think I can do that “one more thing” and still make it in time…but I never do. So, I announced to my family on Ash Wednesday that I was determined to arrive to all my appointments 15 minutes early and use that extra time for prayer.

ON Ash Wednesday I was late for three appointments. I only had three appointments that day. We are halfway through Lent and my relationship with time is not showing any signs of redemption. Last night I overheard my family snickering with great delight over my abject failure. Please someone…anyone…tell me you can relate?!!?

So now what? Well, we love and serve a God of mercy, miracles, and second-chances, right? So, I’ve decided to be gentle with myself and simply start again. Because, as St. Paul writes “God’s grace is sufficient…God’s power is made perfect in weakness.” If we are called to love as God loves (even ourselves), then we also must believe that God loves us not despite our faults and failures, but rather in and through them God is bringing about the kingdom. That is the message Jesus died to tell us. So, we resume our efforts to draw nearer to God, to invite a sincere metanoia by doing things differently; never losing hope that our struggles to change our behavior, whether we succeed or fail, facilitate a change of heart - not because of our toil and labor but rather because of who God is for us; our tireless cheerleader whose grace abounds everytime! (BTW, I submitted this article a day late. Sigh.)

Send your Crazy Catholic Question to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com

#169 - Where is everybody?

So many of my friends, family and neighbors don’t attend Mass anymore. Finding Godparents and/or Confirmation Sponsors is a struggle because I know so few genuinely “practicing” Catholics. Any thoughts?

In a recent PEW research study, Americans who rarely or never attend religious services were asked “Why?” Only 28% of U.S. Adults said they don’t attend because they don’t believe in God. Another 37% responded that “they practice their faith in different ways” and 23% said “they haven’t found a church they like yet.” So, close to 60% of believers who don’t attend church cite the main reason to be that they have difficulty finding God here among us. That should give us pause or at least be fodder for some conversation.

Perhaps we can learn something from the creators of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Dr. Sofia Cavelletti and Gianna Gobbi would sometimes spend weeks and weeks developing lessons and building the special “works” (manipulatives/figures/diaramas, etc.) to accompany them. After introducing the new lesson and “work” in the atrium, they would observe the children’s response. If the children did not gravitate towards the new piece during their self-directed time in the atrium, Sofia & Gianna would remove it; they decided what “works” to keep in the atrium by watching what brought the children joy.

I would have never believed that children could so enjoy catechism (as it was called in the old timey days) but I have witnessed it with my own eyes and ears, and frankly, it’s a damned miracle. I serve as a catechist on Tuesday afternoons in our screen-free, quiet space of the atrium where our children are invited to commune with God and ponder the mysteries of our faith with their friends. Last week one of the 4th grade boys asked me, with great joy in his voice, at the end of our two-hour session, “When do we get to come back? I love it here.”

My own 9-years-old is genuinely disappointed if she misses an atrium session due to illness or snow days and even my 14-year-old, a self-possessed and intense contrarian who is actively searching for ways to disagree with me on just about everything these days, requested (with no prodding from me) to be enrolled in the CGS catechist formation classes. Now, if anyone’s kids should be “all Jesus-ed out” it should be mine, and yet my teenager freely chose to give up one full Saturday every month this year, 9AM-5PM, so she could train to be a lead catechist in our atrium. Don’t tell her this, but I never in a million years thought she would hang with it! In fact, I gave her every out and didn’t pay the whopping $400 tuition until the 4th class thinking she was going to drop out. But, she loves it. LOVES it. Forever the skeptic, here I sit, scratching my head in amazement.

So maybe we would do well in asking what brings our adults joy? Celtic spirituality speaks of “thin places” in our world where the distance between heaven and the earth is worn thin; places that we return to often to experience what is sacred. For a myriad of reasons, the institutional church seems to be a rather “thick” place for many people right now. So, what is feeding them? Where are they finding joy and nourishment in their spiritual lives? If they aren’t coming to church on Sunday, how are they keeping the Sabbath holy?

I think the advice from Sofia & Gianna would be for us to become keen scientists – observing and listening to what brings people joy. What will we find out? What will we respond? I really don’t know. But if we continue on the road we are on, we are sure to get where we are going. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” (Maxwell).

Send your Crazy Catholic Question to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com

#168 - Pillars of Lent

Why are Prayer, Fasting, & Almsgiving considered the 3 pillars of Lent?

I witnessed a miracle last week. My kids and I watched an episode of “Tidying up with Marie Kondo.” The central mantra of her best-selling book, show and method of tidying is “Keep only what brings you joy.” Half way through the show my kids left the TV screen (a miracle in and of itself) and went upstairs and thinned out their bursting stuffed animal bins, deciding to keep only a handful. This was done completely unsolicited by me and with a genuine sense of eagerness and joy. I kept rubbing my eyes and asking my husband if I was dreaming.

Author Tom Beaudoin states that Jesus preached what he calls an “economic spirituality,” which means that as Christians there has to be an integration of who we are with how we spend and share our resources; In short, what we buy is an important part of how we live out our faith as believers.

The few times when Jesus allows himself to be pushed up against a wall to answer direct questions about our salvation and eternal life; when Jesus talks explicitly about God’s final judgment on our lives (aka, who is going to heaven and who is going to hell) when he talks about what is most important in the final analysis – what does Jesus talk about?

He doesn’t talk about who you are sleeping with. He doesn’t talk about if you gave proper respect to a pastor, a bishop or pope. He doesn’t talk about scripture being inerrant. He doesn’t ask if you are a member of a church or any institution. He doesn’t ask if you knew Jesus as your personal Lord and savior. He doesn’t ask if you did the rituals correctly. What does he talk about? How we share our resources. Clearly, Jesus made this the ultimate sign of faithfulness to God. This kind of prayerful giving is what Jesus says is at the very center of our Christian way of life. Our fasting and giving alms is the prayer that helps us make the needs of others our own, especially the needy of our world - not because Jesus is scolding us but rather because sharing with others is the heart of the good news that sets us free and brings us joy.

So, I suspect that the joy my children “caught” while listening to Marie Kondo’s mantra is a part of the deep spiritual truth that Jesus was trying to teach us; that living simply so that other’s may simply live is an essential part of how we build the of the Kingdom of God – and that true security and joy is not found in what we have but in what we can do without. And yet…

· 6 million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger.

· 1.2 billion people on this planet live on less than $1 per day.

· Each day more than 30,000 children die from preventable and treatable causes such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, measles or malaria.

· 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water; 4 billion live without decent sanitation.

· 3 million children die each year from water born diseases.

We’ve all heard the saying “God comforts us in our affliction, and afflicts us in our comfort.” Well, in light of these statistics, I feel afflicted by the two televisions I have in my home, the food that goes to waste in the refrigerator and the surplus of clothing, toys and stuff that we spend countless hours organizing and cleaning. Perhaps Lent is about feeling this affliction and having a sincere metanoia – a returning to God; a return to the giving and simplicity that will restore our joy – and this is good news, not suffering. It’s being saved not punished. Lent simply invites us to make space for the joy of the Gospel.

Send your Crazy Catholic Question to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com