Digital Contraception

I wonder if I should just stop there, with that phrase - "digital contraception" - attached to this image, and allow us time to ponder this picture?

In this crowd of "popearazzi", (if I might coin a phrase,) an older woman, face radiant like Moses on the mountain, gazes without obstruction on Pope Francis, who appears to be looking at her. She's not touching him but is clearly touched. The younger woman, hand actually grasping the Shepherd's hand, holds in her other hand a smartphone, through whose 3 x 5 screen she stares at a pixelated image of the actual man five feet away from her. Granted, she too is touched. Both are joyful and smiling, but there is something sociologically intriguing about this image. Which of these two is having an actual, personal encounter? A 'communion of persons' for only a fleeting moment?

I think we all know where this is going. And you may have strong feelings about it.

Some history. Facebook launched 11 years ago this year. YouTube is just 10, and Twitter is 9 years old. The first iPhone debuted only 8 years ago. What a decade it's been. The digital revolution is in full swing. A tsunami of smartphones brimming with social-sharing apps has washed over nearly every continent and seems to be omnipresent, popping up even in the most remote of Third World villages. It's important we talk about its effect on us as persons, called to interpersonal relationships. I hope to do this in a circumscribed manner. So let's shift gears for a few paragraphs and then we'll return to this pregnant phrase, pardon the pun, of "digital contraception."

Decades before the digital revolution, in fact, shortly after the sexual revolution of the late 60's, the Theology of the Body debuted. It's a biblical and philosophical reflection on the human person by St. John Paul II; a glorious life-giving vision of the potential of human love. It speaks of how our sexual complementarity as created by God is meant to be a fruitful sign, imaging the gratuitous gift-giving nature of God Himself, Who lavished on creation from the very beginning a design of communion and complementarity that, when embraced, is creative and efficacious on many levels. It's an extensive catechesis on the human person as imago dei, a being fully realized in relationship, in family, for God in His deepest essence, as St. John Paul II wrote, "is not a solitude. God is a family."

Those who have reflected upon this beautiful teaching of the Holy Father, who have opened their hearts, minds, and bodies to its life-giving truth, can certainly attest to this fruitfulness in their own lives. When one receives the teaching, which in essence is Christianity itself, the gospel "reloaded", then the walls come tumbling down. Illusions are blown away. Misconceptions about who God is and who we are get a proverbial facelift and our faith is lifted! One finally sees within one's masculinity or femininity, not a confused and solitary shuffling around for meaning and purpose that we must construe by ourselves, but a divine dance. A holy communion. A divine romance.

Circling back... Today, the life-giving joy that flows from living the theology of the body shines all the more brighter as we live and move and breathe in this increasingly suffocating, contraceptive culture. When I speak of contraception and of a contraceptive mentality in the present culture, it isn't merely the biological block. It isn't merely latex or a pill that is the issue. That exterior contraception is really the manifestation of a deeper interior contraception. An emotional contraception. A kind of spiritual contraception that holds back the heart and soul of one person from another. We see it everywhere. We struggle with it at multiple levels. In our frenetic activism we've failed as receivers. We've neglected to become that naked heart to the real and raw encounters of everyday life.

In his beautiful reflections on our common home, Laudato Si, Pope Francis wrote "We were not meant to be inundated by cement, asphalt, glass and metal, and deprived of physical contact with nature." (Laudato Si, 44) Can we add our little gadgets to this list?

Pope Francis advised us that "the accumulation of constant novelties exalts a superficiality which pulls us in one direction. It becomes difficult to pause and recover depth in life... a constant flood of new products coexists with a tedious monotony. Let us refuse to resign ourselves to this, and continue to wonder about the purpose and meaning of everything." (Laudato Si, 113)

These naked hearts, open to encounters with the real world of persons and signs and wonders often feel as though they are the person who escaped from Plato's dark cave of self-inverted shadows and they've seen the light. They return to the cave changed. They try to express what they've seen and heard and touched with their hands but everyone in the cave is touching screens. 

The walls of smartphones that we've seen in the photos and videos of the recent visit of Pope Francis are certainly not intrinsically evil, or even sinful, but they sure seem strange. In a certain sense, these phone walls can be just as much a block to the life-giving call of humanity to love as other forms of contraception. I think you all know what I'm talking about. You all have experienced it in your own lives, in restaurants, movie theaters, workplaces, sidewalks and even busy streets.

Dozens of times per day, people hold up a very thin wall in front of faces. A 3 x 5 screen that aids us remarkably in communicating with others, yet too often hinders the communion with the real flesh and blood right in front of us.

Again, Pope Francis' insights here are spot on. In the Joy of the Gospel, he wrote that some people "want their interpersonal relationships provided by sophisticated equipment, by screens and systems which can be turned on and off on command. Meanwhile, the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction. True faith in the incarnate Son of God is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the community, from service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the revolution of tenderness." (Evangelii Guadium, 88)

During the recent visit of Pope Francis to the United States, watching video and looking at photographs from the various places he went, I was struck again by this reality of "digital contraception". I fall into the same struggle, I wrestle as much I'm sure as anyone with the wonder of these little gadgets but it leaves me wondering. Many of us touch these screens so many more times a day then we touch other people's hands and little heads of children, and blades of grass and the bark of trees. Our touchscreens have left us out of touch with the very real world we've been placed in by God. I think we need once again to possess our possessions rather than have our possessions possess us. Let's all make a promise to be more present, to be more of that naked heart who can really receive the other person in front of us. For as C.S. Lewis once wrote,

"Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses." 

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Originally posted here for the TOB Institute

Let Us Make God in Our Image, After Our Likeness 'Cause It'd Be Awesome

This might hurt your brain, but stay with me friends.

Imagine if he came the way we wanted him to? Imagine if Jesus answered the problem of evil with a punch rather than his paschal mystery?

He would've kicked the devil's butt. He would've been ripped, with muscles on top of his muscles. A combination of brains and brawn. Bolder than Bourne, slicker than Spider-Man, more convicted than Captain America and every move in slo-mo. The lance set to pierce his heart on the Cross would've bounced off and snapped like a toothpick! Nothing would break him. He'd have busted up the Romans and religious leaders in a Divine Smackdown the likes of which the world had never seen!

"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?" (Luke 9:54)

"Yes, I do. Let's kick some taḥat!" (Luke 9:55, revised)

Yes, if God were made in man's image... we'd all be wowed, then bored to tears. 

"That was awesome! What else is on?”

I saw the latest X-Men film this weekend, and it was awesome. Don't get me wrong, Rebecca and I will be watching this chain of films until we're 90 (because they'll still be making this franchise when we're 90)! Lots of fun, lots of flash and fireworks, classic good versus evil (though the characters are getting morally foggier these days, aren't they?) and then the credits rolled. Fade to black until another new translation of the same old, same old throws its glowing flashes on our sedentary faces. (There was a remarkable and refreshing gem in this X-Men film though.... wait for it ;)

Last night's movie, scheduled as a 9:10 viewing, didn't actually start until about 9:30. It was preceded by 20 minutes of previews. Most of these were coming attractions for the same perennial distractions. Stuff blowing up, slow motion acrobatics, killing, fighting, quelling evil forces with opposite force, which then ushers in a fragile peace until the sequel. Now, what I find reassuring as a "theological anthropologist" (my unofficial job title) is the recognition that bad needs to be broken. We must fight evil and rescue that which is good. This is a theme so deeply engrained in our stories. But "making right" has a better word and a more effective one than the firing of bullets; it's redemption. 

This word changes everything. and it all goes back to that paradigm shift when Christ first hit our "fault line" with the tectonic shift of gratuitous grace. Those aftershocks still reverberate throughout human history, backwards and forwards. Our realignment comes now by our allowing ourselves to be set into this new geographic configuration by faith, not fists. Retaliation and redemption are two very different answers to the problem of evil.

Point is this: There must be a fight. There will be blood. There must be. To quote the Princess Bride for the thirteenth time on this blog, "Life is pain... anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something." But it's all about what we do with the blood and pain and suffering that comes from that first punch. 

The amount of blood and violence and suffering in our blockbuster movies today is staggering, but honestly it's no more staggering than the battles and death in the Bible, especially, uh, the crucifixion. In this latest X-Men film, however, a powerful twist enters in and truly redeems suffering in a beautiful way.

In a climactic scene (slight spoiler alert here) between young Charles Xavier and old Charles Xavier, we receive a pearl of wisdom on how to treat our "enemy"... how to open up to a peace that just might have the power to stick, finally, after so much fighting; 




"The greatest gift we have is to bear their pain without breaking and it comes from your most human part, hope." 

- Charles Xavier

Wow. The scene has so much more to it, but I want you to go and taste it for yourself.

So back to Jesus... who is the quintessence of this kind of compassion (which means to suffer with).

Recall he came the way the Father wanted him to. He answered the problem of evil not with a punch, but with his paschal mystery. He took the punch, and let it penetrate him (literally in fact break him), through and through. "Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave... becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:7-8)

This is the "movie" that continues to truly move me. And with an ever building sense of joy and Easter hope, all the while trying to unite my own personal small bit of suffering to his, I'm looking forward to the sequel!

"In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

- John 16:33

The Power and Purpose of Masculinity

I was invited to write a new pamphlet for Ascension Press's Theology of the Body series. Woohoo! Check it out here, and feel free to forward the link to your parish, pastor, deacon, seminarians, DRE, RCIA, CEO, bishop, cardinal, Men's Group, old high school buddies, college pals, every one of your Facebook friends, and... yeah. That should do it. It's time to man up America (for women's sake!)
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What does it mean to be a real man? In this pamphlet, Bill Donaghy discusses the challenges men face in today's culture and the ways they are called to live. He outlines three male archetypes that provide a "blueprint" for living authentic masculinity. With energy and conviction, Donaghy applies the principal themes of the Theology of the Body to all men and husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, priests, enlightening man's deepest identity, and unique gift to the world.


Find it here: http://www.ascensionpress.com/shop/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=740

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I've been invited to speak at this weekend's Natural Family Planning Network Conference at Our Lady of Good Counsel Trinity Parish in Southampton, PA. Please spread the word about this invaluable resource and opportunity to learn about the mystery and gift of married love! Details below:

Philadelphia Natural Family Planning Network

& Philadelphia Catholic Medical Association

& St. Mary Medical Center

& Archdiocese of Philadelphia Family Life Office

Present

MARRIAGE: A DECISION TO LOVE

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING AND MARRIAGE PREP

Saturday MARCH 19, 2011

9:00 AM- 4:30 PM

Additional information available at www.pnfpn.org

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

9:00- 9:45 AM        Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:45- 10:00 AM      Opening Prayer, Opening Remarks- Dr. Lester Ruppersberger Pres. PNFPN

10:00- 11:00 AM    Marriage Prep & NFP: At the Service of the Sacrament - Tara Plymouth

11:00- 12:00 PM    Theology of the Body in Marriage Prep - Bill Donaghy

12:05- 1:00 PM       Lunch and Exhibits

1:00-   2:00  PM      God’s Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage - Damon Owens

2:00-   3:00 PM       The Priest- Marriage Prep & NFP -  Fr. Pat McCormick

3:00-   3-15 PM       Break

3:15-  4:15 PM        “The Road Show”- Dr. Les and Betty Ruppersberger

4:15-  4:30 PM        Q & A: Wrap Up; Where do we go from here?

4:30-  4:50 PM        Cardinal Rigali Address

5:15 PM                   Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel: Cardinal Rigali Celebrant

The Balm of the Baby or How to Save America

This may not be pleasant. I’d like to start this reflection in the same way we start every Mass, with a confession of our sins. I don’t know if that part of the Liturgy ever bothered anybody else but it used to bother me. “Sheesh. At least we’re in church, now the first thing you do is throw our sins in our face?” But now I get it. To get to Heaven, or Happiness, or Wholeness, or Holiness (which is all saying the same thing) you have to have a starting point.

When I bring up directions in my Google maps app it always asks if I’d like to start from my “current location.” Great idea! In the Mall, the directory says YOU ARE HERE. I think we ponder our sins so that we can see where we are with God. The Penitential Rite is our Catholic GPS – God Positioning System.

So… Where are we? Typically, our locale is Sin City. The Heartbreak Hotel. We are sick, half-hearted, tired. We are too big, too full of ourselves, super-sized, maximized, stuffed and stunted in our spiritual growth… or is it just me? We are all the Biggest Loser…. We all need an Extreme Soul Makeover. Think about it. We are all in Divorce Court. As Peter Kreeft says, "All of history is a kind of broken marriage and God puts it back together again."

This being the case, let's not kid ourselves by saying "I'm OK, you're OK" but by saying "Hi, I'm ________ and I'm a sin-o-holic." Then God, the Higher Power, can set to work. We've told the Doctor of our souls where it hurts and now He can get some healing done.

Now to the main point of this reflection... Abortion. Oh, I know the word is a scar on the American landscape, I know it hurts us deeply, and I know no one wants to talk about it. Haven't we said enough? Can't we just leave it be, behind those locked clinic doors so we don't have to talk about it? No. It's a very real wound on our collective body and we need to give it air and space to heal, we need to get it out of the dark and find a real remedy. Like the woman in the gospel who had the hemorrhage for 12 years and was trying to touch Jesus. But we have more than triple those years bearing the burden of abortion, a self-inflicted wound. We need to touch the hem of His garment. And that means getting up and moving out of the shame and into the Light of Day. That day was last Monday, by the way.

It was the 38th annual March for Life, gathering nearly 400,000 people from all over the country and every stage and walk of life. And there I saw the antidote for our illness. God is touching us right where it hurts. His balm for abortion is the beauty of the baby. His medicine is a mother's child. These are the only ones that can slip past our cynicism, pain, pride, and our sarcasm. They have been spurned and rejected by abortion but they will return to us if we open our hearts (and bodies) to them! They can fill these empty wombs again, they can slip into the spaces in our cracked hearts and fill us up. God constantly comes into the world, it's been said, in two ways; at the altar in the Eucharist and in the womb, in the presence of new life.

Think about it. It’s the perfect antidote! Babies turn the toughest skins into the mushiest hearts. Babies get us out of our own heads and, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the Other. Before they ever learn their first steps, they are teaching us to walk in the Way of Love.

This is the scandalous beauty and power of Christmas, which is absolutely ridiculous. God becoming man? It’s the BIGGEST event ever to hit our tiny little planet. God becoming a tiny little part of His own creation… The Creator becomes His Creature – it’s like Shakespeare becoming Romeo, or Michelangelo becoming a figure on the Sistine Chapel ceiling… Forever locked in, so to speak, to the work of His own hands.

Christmas is too good to be true. It’s like a fairy tale, like a dream, like the romance to end all romances, for this is the story of how Heaven kissed Earth. How the author entered his own story, how the Master Painter allowed Himself to become a brush stroke on the canvas of His own creation. Christmas, and every new birth in a certain sense, is like the Eucharist…. it is inconceivable. Unable to be conceived by our 3½ pound brains. Only God could conceive of the Idea, or give flesh to this Word of His idea… which is exactly what Christmas is, and what the Eucharist is... His Word made Flesh. And what babies are supposed to be; the direct object of a husband and wife's sentence, "I love you."

To heal the wound of abortion, we must image this self-empyting love. We must not contracept it, terminate it, or withhold it. We must learn by Jesus's body language. "This is my body, given up for you." By the body language of every baby too, we can learn the steps to love. They become defenseless. Little, helpless, dependent… why? So that they can be loved, held, snuggled, yes, literally. So let us let them in again. For whosoever welcomes them welcomes He who sent them. And to such as these little ones, the Kingdom of Heaven has been given.

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Originally published in a shorter form on www.tobinstitute.org

The "Problem" of Pregnancy

There must be roughly 317 reality shows on television today. Huddled in our homes at the end of a long day, it seems we are living more and more vicariously through them - be they Biggest Losers, or Amazon Adventurers. It's fishbowl television and certainly many of these shows are simply shock and awe, meant to keep us watching in a more voyeuristic kind of way. This is not so much the case with the reality show "16 and Pregnant." It's a series that follows the tremulous and fragmented lives of pregnant high school girls and the boys who have impregnated them.

Is it good? Well, at least it raises awareness of the consequences, intense stress, need for commitment, and sacrifice that being sexually active and not being married can bring. Sexual intercourse is a life-changer, and potentially a life-maker in fact. Once you open up that gift (or even tear at the wrapping paper before its time to receive the gift), your life will never be the same. For many on the show, and for many watching it, "16 and Pregnant" is a wake up call.

It can be crass, it can be insanely frustrating to watch, and it often condones things that as Catholics we know are only exacerbating the problem. But even through these crooked lines, sometimes they get it right. The show appears to be very pro-life. All of the girls choose to carry their babies to term. However, there is a strong contraceptive mentality that slithers through the show like a serpent, and it's this point that I find disturbing and deceptive. The adult advice from Dr. Drew is not "stop being sexually active, kids. You have an amazing power and need to be ready for mommyhood and daddyhood if you're going to have sex." The advice is "protect yourselves" from this problem of pregnancy. They are consistently told to don the "bullet-proof" vest of a condom, etc, before entering into the battle of the hormones. By the way, the real stats on the reliability of condoms in use by teens is another story altogether.

Almost one in four low-income teens (23.2%) who rely on condoms will become pregnant in a year. If these teens cohabit (and are therefore more sexually active), almost three in four (71.7%) who rely on condoms will become pregnant within a year. (Contraception: The Fine Print by Susan E. Wills, Esq.)

The effort to raise awareness of the teen pregnancy crisis, and assist teens through it, or to teach them how to avoid it, is very commendable. But to perpetuate the problem by pushing contraception, or turning a blind eye at cohabitation does them a grave disservice. Is this the best we can offer young people today? Taking the seemless garment of pleasure and procreation, love and life, bonding and babies and tearing them in two as if they were made from a different fabric? Aren't pregnancy and sex connected? Should we really have one without the other? Common sense tells us that tearing a thing apart kills it, and "what God has joined," well, you know the rest of that line. This garment is meant to be white for purity and worn on the wedding day, and pulled back to reveal the gift of self only to your beloved for life. That's when it shines the best. Teach this truth with passion, reverence, and sensitivity and I believe the young will rise to the challenge. 

Here is where the fallout from the sexual revolution of the 60's hits us. After nearly 50 years, the field of male/female relations is still radioactive and the infected are leading the infected. The season two finale of "16 and Pregnant" interviewed each mom (and sometimes the father) and asked the question "Are you still sexually active?" To which came the response, between sheepish giggles, "yesssss..." "Are you using contraception?" "Oh yeeeeesss! We won't make that same mistake again!"

Hmm. Pregnancy = mistake, problem. In the words of Dr. Janet Smith, "If you get pregnant during an act of sexual intercourse, it means something went right, not something went wrong!" (Contraception: Why Not? CD, www.mycatholicfaith.org) Here lies another hole in the head and in the heart that the Theology of the Body could have perfectly filled. Studies have shown that simply shoving contraception at teens only creates what's called "risk compensation." Ever wonder why teen pregnancies continue to rise after decades of "safe sex" talk? One deterrent to premarital sex was the risk of getting pregnant, but slide in contraception and tell kids to be "safe" and kids think they are "safe." More of them, now equipped with more contraception, feel at liberty to have more sex. And the more sex is engaged in the more chances there are for becoming pregnant.

Those who mistakenly believe that contraception protects them from pregnancy and STDs are more likely to become sexually active at an earlier age and to engage in riskier activity, such as having more sexual partners. (Susan Wills)

This sad fact is perpetuating itself as we push more contraceptives on kids. This is in addition to the "unseen" scars premature sexual activity brings to youth; unhealthy attachments, emotional dependency, depression, general distraction and confusion about who they are and where they are going at a tenderly decisive age of life.

The bottom line is this: contraception is not stopping 16 year olds from having sex and getting pregnant, and handing it out in a teen's back to school kit is essentially giving them license. So what do we do? Just pull our thumbs out of the dam and let the breaching waters of teen hormones flood the culture? No. I suggest honest and straightforward talk about everything, starting with the wondrous beauty of our God-given sexuality, then tackling the contradiction of a contraceptive mentality. When they see what lies at its heart, perhaps teens will choose the higher path of chastity until marriage.

So my dear young people, here's the skinny: contraception literally creates a wall between people - between bodies and between hearts. It holds back an essential part of the total self-gift of who we are and who we're called to be. It literally means "against the beginning." What lies at our beginning, you ask? Well, for believers it was a call to be fruitful and multiply. Yup, that means just what you think it means, but hear that first commandment of God in all of its glorious and beautiful context! See the seemless garment that is woven from the fabric of sexual intercourse, fertility, pregnancy, motherhood... These are truly signs of the Divine in our midst. And the garden in which they were meant to flourish was marriage, and the sower of the seed was meant to "cleave to his wife" as husband and father; chivalrous, chaste, with reverence for the gift of woman, fertility, love, and the fruit of that love. Pregnancy is meant to be the jewel in the crown of a free, total, faithful, and fruitful love, also known as marriage. 

For Catholics, this month of May is a joyous reminder of Mother Mary, and as nature's blossoms break abundantly, we see the same fruitfulness in spirit as in the natural world. Life is good! Motherhood is good! Fatherhood is good! Fertility is good! In the midst of the massive sexual disorientation in our culture, there is still a chance to "see the light." In pregnancy we have been given a refresher of the pure gift of sexuality, intimacy, fertility, and the sheer wonder of bringing a human life into the world. May the young and old, from 16 to 70 come to a new reverence and appreciation for the gift of sexuality and the miracle of the family. May Joseph be the light to show men and boys alike the high call entrusted to them of the care and protection, love and devotion they are called to give as husbands and fathers. And may Mary, herself once sixteen and pregnant, be an example for us all of the power of a YES to Life, no matter how difficult the path ahead may be!

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Originally published in the Catholic Standard and Times

Awkward Catholic Moments: Flashback Edition

Hi All. In lieu of busyness and a lack o' blog reflections, I thought I'd recycle one from May of 2007. I hope it retains its freshness.

Have you ever had an Awkward Catholic Moment (henceforth referred to as an ACM)?

- Maybe you're about to make the sign of the cross in a restaurant or a diner before a meal and there's that brief second of indecision; "Am I being showy or saintly?" (ACM)

- A friend\co-worker says "You're Catholic, right?" (you swallow hard) "So what's the big hang-up with birth control? Are you guys trying to take over the world?!" (quick answer is yes, we are. See Genesis 1:28 and Matthew 28:19)

- Maybe someone at work or school drops a bomb on the table and says "they" should just let priests get married and that would solve the "problem," and in the seconds ticking between talk, you wonder if you should speak a clarifying word from Matthew 19:12 or the Catechism? (ACM)

- or maybe you're actually a little unsure about the meaning of the whole celibacy thing yourself and don't know what to say. (ACM Deluxe Edition)

- You're walking down the aisle of a massive movie theater to grab a seat and you genuflect before you enter your row (ACM Platinum Edition... and yes, I did that once.)


Everyone has a little ribbon on their car bumper or lapel these days: Support Our Troops, Breast Cancer Awareness, Save Darfur. Imagine wearing a little I Love the Priesthood ribbon?Support Our Bishops? In light of the last few years, that ain't easy. In light of some workplace/lunchtime/water cooler gatherings, it's downright embarrassing.

But when was it ever easy to believe in an incarnational Church, a Church that professes that God Himself established and is literally working through this sinful mess of people, promising a grace and mercy that can save us, even though it may sometimes seem to be flowing over dirty hands and through clogged pipes? With the episcopal shipwreck of the last few years, and the laxity in the laity, many of us still feeling "holy stuff" is what Father does, not me, I'm just a pew potato, it can be awkward to be Catholic today. As awkward as it was for a certain crusty fisherman standing outside of a praetorium, warming himself by a charcoal fire, painfully self-conscious as his Master takes a beating behind those walls.

"Aren't you one of his disciples?"
"I've seen you with the Nazarene, aren't you one of them?"

I guess the question in our ACMs these days is the same as it was for Peter.

So what will your answer be? Do you know the Man? Will you claim allegiance to Him, even as He comes to us in the distressing disguise of a sinful Church? Will you have the eyes to see through the humanity and into the divinity, to the spotless Bride of Christ that is forever wedded to the Lamb of God? For that is Her deepest identity and our ultimate end. We will all be one. And He will wipe away every tear, and He will defend us who have been fearless in our defense of Him. And if we have fallen, He will come and seek us out, saying "Do you love me?"

And then, we can enter the unending bliss of that Wedding Feast with a simple... "I do." And that love will cover a multitude of sins....

It Ain't Easy Being Green... Or Is It?

Kermit the Frog used to sing, "It ain't easy being green" but today, in our eco-conscious climate, it seems being "green" has never been easier. It's a regular agenda, and not just from the crunchy cons, or the liberal left. Enter Pope Benedict:

Contemplating the beauty of creation inspires us to recognize the love of the Creator, that Love which “moves the sun and the other stars”.... It is imperative that mankind renew and strengthen “that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying. - Pope Benedict XVI

A Covenant with Creation? For Catholics, this whole Green Movement isn't just a passing fad. It was part of our marching orders way back in Eden; "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over all living things." For most of our subsequent story, sadly, that call to stewardship, harmony, fecundity, and dominion, has decayed into a twisted domination. The word subdue meant to remember our headship as human persons and not fall into the trap of idolatry (the earth becoming an idol). But we went too far and laid waste to the land, like little Saurons creating our own little Mordors over and over again. In the Holy Father's Message for the Celebration of the World Day for Peace, given just a few weeks ago as we entered into the year of Our Lord 2010, he called attention to the pure gift of the environment we so often take for granted, saying:

"Many people experience peace and tranquillity, renewal and reinvigoration, when they come into close contact with the beauty and harmony of nature. There exists a certain reciprocity: as we care for creation, we realize that God, through creation, cares for us."

That's a uniquely Catholic vision... a sacramental vision. God, through creation, cares for us. The stuff of the earth, the swirl of molecules, the dance of matter, the splendid mosaic of earth and sky and water; all of this grand display is a storybook for us. God speaks through it all! What a wonderful thing. Everything is full of His wonders. A line from a Peter Mayer song comes to mind; "This morning outside I stood, saw a little red-winged bird, shining like a burning bush, singing like a Scripture verse. Made me want to bow my head... everything is holy now." I think a good dose of the natural world does wonders for the soul, especially in these days when it seems only the latest gadget is capable of instilling wonder and "magic." Granted, we have some amazing works to ponder, but none are so magical as those that flow right from the Mind of God. Who can fashion a single seed, pregnant with the uniqueness of a rose, a giant Redwood, a human life? Only God. What a wonderful world! Great and wonderful are Your works O Lord! Let's give them a second look, a long and penetrating gaze, and drink in the gratuitous beauty that God filled them with. For this cup overflows just for us!

A Heart for Haiti

I was in Haiti in 2002, driving through the rubble of the streets of Cite Soleil with a missionary priest named Fr. Tom Hagan (you can read an update of his experiences here). It looked as if an earthquake had already struck the land, and that was almost 8 years ago.

Why Haiti? Why so much sorrow and pain?

Something I can't stop thinking about in my pondering of what's happened is the thought that Haiti is the broken body of Christ. More than a thought, it's the realization that Haiti is the broken body of Christ.

Haiti is like the youngest of Jacob's sons, sold into bondage at the hands of jealous, greedy brothers. Haiti is the Suffering Servant in the Prophet Isaiah, whose back has been whipped in its sad history of slavery, and its beard plucked by the grasping hands of countries stripping its once fertile land of resources. Haiti is "making up for the things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ," in the mysterious words of St. Paul. Haiti is a never-ending Passion Play.

If we believe that God came into our world out of love to take on our sorrows, than we can see God in Haiti. Mother Teresa always said that Jesus is in the distressing disguise of the poor.

God has come into our world, become one of us, become all of us. He doesn't wear humanity over His Divinity like a robe that He casts off in the end. Jesus has married Divinity to humanity forever, world without end! Jesus is in every suffering, He has already suffered and he suffers still in everyone who suffers. Jesus is in Haiti.

At the Hands Together house in Port au Prince, where I stayed a few days with Fr. Tom, one of the most memorable sights was of the tabernacle in his little chapel. At first it caught me off guard. It looked like an old shoe box, or a pile of garbage. But a lamp burned beside it, and a Real Presence was there, in the midst of the slums of Cite Soleil.

Then Father explained, Jesus dwells with his people, and Jesus has become one of his own. So for the poor who live in cardboard homes, reinforced with sheet metal and tin, Jesus has a home of the same material. The Blessed Eucharist is there, in poverty, just as our brothers and sisters, made in God's image, are there in the garbage and in the desolation of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Let us pray that Haiti, like Jesus, will return to the Land of the Living, rise from the darkness of the grave, and that we, brothers and sisters throughout the world, will continue to rise up and be present at this tomb. That we lend hearts and hands to this land of brave men and women, suffering souls who have suffered long and hard.

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To view the faces and places (and some rough video)

of my time in Haiti, click here.

Bible Smackdown - The Moses Edition

When Pope John Paul II called for a New Evangelization, he asked that it be "new in ardor, methods, and expressions." I hope this is what he meant... Bible Smackdown is one of my ridiculous attempts (and successes, mind you) at getting my students to read and know (and love I hope) the Bible - the people, places, events, and lessons to be learned in the Word. So enjoy this little "teaser trailer" of our last episode!

THE SKINNY: 1. There are three teams, electing one "Moses" each (beards and robes provided).

2. All the students compile trivia questions from the appropriate book(s) of the Bible, our notes, etc. I add a few of my own as well.

3. I ask a question of the prospective Moseses... ending with the sonorous "ding" of Tibetian chimes, and the points go to the first hand up with the correct answer!

Two heseds (Hebrew for 'mercy') are given a game, where a Moses can ask his team for help "remembering" his life story and God's work in it. THE PRIZE:

The winning team gets to skip a homework assignment the following week!

A Few Good Men

The 13th Day

"In a world torn apart by persecution, war and oppression, three children were chosen to offer a message of hope. Based on the memoirs of Sister Lucia Santos and independent eye-witness accounts, The 13th Day dramatizes the incredible true story of three shepherd children from the village of Fatima in Portugal who experienced six apparitions with a Lady from Heaven between May and October 1917, which culminated in the final prophesied miracle.

The lady, who later revealed herself to be the Blessed Virgin Mary, gave a secret to the children told in three parts, from a harrowing vision of hell, to prophetic warnings of future events including the advent and timing of the Second World War, the spread of communism, and the attempted assassination of the Pope. Stylistically beautiful and technically innovative, writer-directors Ian and Dominic Higgins use state-of-the-art digital effects to create stunning images of the visions and the final miracle that have never before been fully realized on screen. This film was shot on location in Portugal and in England."

- from the trailer For more information on The 13th Day visit www.The13thDayMovie.com

Real Men Pray the Rosary (and Women too!)

On a dusty road in Ireland’s countryside, back in the early years of the 20th century, a man was walking, communing with nature and with God. His fingers whispered through the beads, offering a prayer to the One through the soft repetition of words found in scripture…. “Our Father, Who is in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name….” “Hail Mary, full of grace…” He was stopped by British soldiers. The beads he prayed upon were nearly forced down his throat in an act of bestial bigotry. That man was my great grandfather, William. I can still recall nights when my own father, William, would fall asleep in the chair holding his beads, stressing to us the importance of faith, of the rosary, of meditation on the Passion of Our Lord, and on the mysteries of the Gospels encapsulated in every set of “mysteries.” Every action teaches, every reaction reinforces something for good or ill. Every move of the hand, every slip of the tongue. All the more reason then to train the tongue, and to mold the mind on the pattern of a higher love. That’s the goal of the Rosary…. Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. For the Catholic, the rosary is the soundtrack of the Gospel, the music of the meditation on the Word of God that keeps us tethered as it were by a string of beads to the life of Jesus and the life Mary in Scripture. May we take a hold of that life-line today, singing again the Song of Mary on the dusty roads we walk… “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my Savior!”

Two Excellent Lectures Coming to the Philadelphia Area

“MARRIAGE AND FAMILY - THE CHURCH AND THE EMERGING CULTURE”

Lecture: HELEN ALVARE, Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University & Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009 ♦ 12:15 P.M.

SAINT MONICA PARISH AUDITORIUM

635 FIRST AVENUE, BERWYN

FREE WILL OFFERING

"JOHN PAUL II AND EDITH TEIN: TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES"

Lecture: Scholar GEORGE WEIGEL

5th Annual Edith Stein Lecture Series

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.

Alumnae Hall Theater at Immaculata University

** Admission is Free **

Advanced phone registration is recommended

Please RSVP to Bambi Girafalco (610) 647-4400 x3438

or bgirafalco@immaculata.edu by September 23, 2009

How Babies Can Save the Human Race

First off, let's all agree that the world is presently screwed up. For proof, click here. We're too busy, too angry, too focused on work, too ignorant towards each other, too selfish, too lazy, etc... (or is it just me?)

Well, don't despair! I've discovered in the past 10 months that salvation is near at hand.

BABIES CAN SAVE THE PLANET.

Oddly enough, you may have heard just the opposite. Some propose that babies eat up the planet's resources, that there is a "population crisis", and that we should all feel very, very guilty and irresponsible for not routinely contracepting and for ever considering having more than 1.5 children. Because aside from being stinky, babies leave a "carbon footprint" everywhere they go. As to the "population crisis" click here and check out Caritas in Veritate, section 44 to top it off.

But I believe the secret to building a happy, vibrant, life-affirming, love-soaked Civilization lies in a healthy abundance of those squishy Little People who are utterly dependent on us Big People. Here are Ten Reasons Why Babies Will Save the Human Race (feel free to add more reasons through the comment link below):

1. Babies make people talk to each other in parks, who normally might not give each other the time of day. Talking to people builds friendships, friendships build communities, communities build parks. Babies hang out in parks (and around and around we go!)

2. Babies learn EVERYTHING from their parents, by watching, listening, studying, and looking up at Mommy and Daddy.... and so should we.

3. Babies are the greatest "man-made" creations in the universe; they shall grow up and outlive the stars, each in their own way altering the course of human history, each absolutely unique and unrepeatable. How cool is that?

4. Babies are the fruit of the sexual union between a man and a woman. We need to be reminded that that's how it works.

5. Babies are aware of everything and everything amazes them: lights, noise, colors, tinfoil, keys. We could all stand to be amazed again by the ordinary things around us.

6. Babies smell really good.

7. Babies conversely can smell really BAD. They need us to clean up their "poopy." A constant reminder that we have our own "poopy" to clean up.

8. Babies are completely innocent, regardless of the way they were conceived, and have no guile, no sarcasm, no agendas. They are pure as the driven snow, fresh as a sea breeze, vulnerable as a flower. We need more purity, sea breezes, and flowers in this world.

9. Babies need us and we all need to feel needed.

10. Babies see the world as their playground, a wonderful gift made just for them. And so should we.