Laudet Dominum

The Pew Research Center recently conducted a survey of Americans’ view of marriage, and the results should be seriously troubling for anyone who believes that marriage is more than just a social construct that grows and fades with passing fads. According to the results released today, 39% of Americans believe that the institution of marriage has become obsolete, thinking that cohabitation and single parenting are perfectly acceptable equivalents. Only 43% surveyed are concerned about the increase in cohabitation and unmarried couples raising children, as well as the rise in gay couples raising children. Likewise, large percentages no longer see marriage as essential for establishing a family, as 80% say that an unmarried couple living together with children is a family, and 63% say that a gay or lesbian couple living together with children make up a family.

As Catholics, these trends should seriously concern us. We do not believe that marriage can be made obsolete over time. Instead, we believe that marriage is the fulfillment of God’s creation of humanity as male and female. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Mk 10:6-9) Marriage is not merely a social construct that can be dispensed with when inconvenient or unpopular, but the fulfillment “of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man.” (CCC 1604)

As the Second Vatican Council put it in Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), “The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws…. God himself is the author of marriage.” (GS 48, as quoted in CCC 1603) Look at that last sentence again: “God himself is the author of marriage.” Marriage is not something granted by the government to be changed according to legislative whims. Marriage is not something grounded in an outmoded cultural context that can be disposed without concern. Marriage was established by God for our good and the good of society: “The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.” (GS 47, as quoted in CCC 1603)

What does all this mean for us as Christians in general, and Catholics specifically? First, those who are called to the married state need to live their marriages according to God’s will and out of true concern for the well-being and salvation of their spouse. Second, those of us who are not called to married life need to support and defend the marriages of our parishioners, family members, and friends. Finally, all Christians need to stand up and defend the divine institution of marriage against cultural attacks, including the ready availability of divorce, so-called gay “marriage”, and high levels of cohabitation, among other threats. I strongly encourage all Catholics to read, reflect, and pray over the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s section on the Sacrament of Matrimony, starting with paragraph 1601, and continuing through to paragraph 1666.

Looking at the results of the Pew survey, I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the United States is in serious trouble.

I think today’s reading from the Book of Revelation sums up the problem with the Catholic Church in the US today:

“I know your works;
I know that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either cold or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth.
For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’
and yet do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent.” (Rev 3:14-19)

The problem, as I see it, that too many Catholics are lukewarm in their faith. Sure, they might go to Mass once in a while, maybe, but most who were baptized Catholic don’t even do that. Many Catholics don’t even know what the Church teaches, or have received and accepted a false understanding of what Jesus teaches through His Church, and do nothing to correct that serious problem.

Danny Abramowitz, former NFL wide receiver and coach, has developed Crossing the Goal, a ministry to encourage men in living and developing their faith. He was on EWTN Bookmark with Doug Keck last Sunday morning, where he said (roughly paraphrased), “Men will work hard at sports, and encourage their children in sports and academics, but won’t do a thing with their faith.”

Being lukewarm in the faith is not only a male thing, but men seem to be more susceptible. More women work in parishes than men. More women volunteer in parishes than men. More women attend Mass than men. Some women even attend without their husbands because their husbands aren’t man enough to attend Mass just once a week, but that’s another post for another time.

For both men and women, being lukewarm is dangerous. Seriously dangerous, as in spend-eternity-in-Hell dangerous. Practicing the Catholic faith is about as urgent as breathing. We can go a couple days without food or water, but can’t go more than a few minutes without oxygen. Living our faith in Christ must be that serious.

As Catholics, we need to WAKE UP! We spend more time worrying about our stuff (something I’m very much guilty of doing) and taking our salvation for granted. We must not take the promise of salvation for granted. Contrary to the opinion of many Christian denominations and preachers, salvation is not a one-time-good deal. It’s something we seek every moment of our lives. We stop striving, we run the risk of not entering into salvation. It’s that simple. As St. John recorded in the Book of Revelation, “Be earnest, therefore, and repent.” Don’t wait, do it now.

Spoken as part of his presentation on defense of marriage at the USCCB Fall Assembly.

Let’s compare and contrast these two statements, shall we?

Statement 1: “Jesus didn’t ordain anyone.”

Statement 2: “If any one saith, that order, or sacred ordination, is not truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord; or, that it is a kind of human figment devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical matters; or, that it is only a kind of rite for choosing ministers of the word of God and of the sacraments; let him be anathema.”

What’s the difference between these two statements? The first is a quote from a woman in Georgia who wants to become a woman deacon. The second is from the 23rd session of the Council of Trent, Canon 3 to be specific.

The first comes from a person who believes that Jesus did not institute the Sacrament of Holy Orders and very likely believes that Ordination is “a kind of human figment devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical matters”, although she probably would never use those exact words. The second comes from a Council of the Church, and was guided by the Holy Spirit to clarify and defend the revealed Truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, which do you think I’m going to follow?

One parish in Pittsburgh, PA, had a tradition of a “Printer’s Mass” at 2:30 AM on Sunday for those who worked for the newspapers. They could finish their print run at 2 AM and catch Mass before going home. Likewise, the delivery people could go to the same Mass, then start their rounds.

Although there’s not the demand from newspaper printers for a Mass that early, the parish is resurrecting the 2:30 AM Mass. Instead of printers leaving their work shifts, the Mass is aimed at those who were out at the bars until the 2 AM closing.

If there actually happens to be someone here in one of my parishes that’s interested in such an early Mass, I hate to disappoint you. It’s not going to happen. Might be better if you made and effort to get home before the bars close.

Iconography has long been practiced in the Eastern Churches, and truly presents to us a window into Heaven. Fr. Thomas Loya, Pastor of Annunciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Parish and host of Light of the East on EWTN Radio, is an accomplished iconographer. Fr. Loya has made copies of his iconography available through Morning Star Books and Gifts. Check out Fr. Loya’s marvelous handiwork, and support him and his ministries by ordering one (or two, or more): Fr. Loya’s iconography.

As I mentioned last week, the end of the liturgical year brings about a focus in the readings on the return of Our Lord at the end of the world. It’s good to be reminded that Our Lord has promised to return one day, and that we need to be always prepared to receive Him. We do not know when that day will arrive, but we need to be always looking forward with joy to His return.

While Jesus did not specify when He would return, there are many groups throughout history that have tried to predict when His second coming would occur. Some have looked at significant events, such as wars or natural disasters, and used them to calculate a year or even a specific date for His coming. Other groups have chosen important milestones in the calendar, such as the year 1000 or the 2012 end of the Mayan calendar, as obvious times for the return of the Lord to occur.

Obviously, these groups have been wrong so far, and I’m confident that we will wake up on January 1, 2013 and realize that 2012 was also wrong. As Jesus put it in the Gospel today, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!” (Lk 21:8) The fact is that Our Lord has not revealed to us a specific date for His triumphant return. He will return at a time when He has preordained, whether tomorrow or a thousand years from now.

However, this does not mean that we can be lax in our preparations for His return. We need to realize that we have been in the End Times from the moment Our Lord ascended into Heaven. Our Lord truly could come at any moment, and woe to those who are unprepared! As the Prophet Malachi says, “the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch”. (Mal 3:19) We all know how quickly and thoroughly hay will burn, so we don’t want to let our pride cause us to be unprepared.

Some of the groups I’ve mentioned before have used the signs that Jesus mentions in the Gospel to make their false predictions. These signs – wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes, and so on – are not meant to be a checklist of things to watch for before He returns, but rather an exhortation not to become discouraged when we see these events in the world around us. Despite all these terrible events, we have hope in the return of Our Lord that we will one day no longer face death as part of our lives. Even if we are persecuted for Jesus’ name, arrested and punished for following Him, we need not fear the loss of this life as we will have a greater life after His return. This truly is our hope, and is what it means to be a Christian.

As we go through these End Times, just as Christians have for nearly 2000 years, may we seek to follow Our Lord with our whole lives, preparing for His return at the end of time. As Jesus tells us, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” (Lk 21:19)

At a recent vicariate meeting on the new translation of the Mass, which will be implemented on the First Sunday of Advent, 2011, one of my brother priests kept asking, “So what we’ve been doing has been wrong?” Although I wanted to jump in and say, “Since it’s what you want to hear, yes, Father, what you’ve been doing is wrong,” the director of liturgy wisely didn’t address his question but continued with her presentation. In retrospect, I think that her approach was more pastoral, but hasn’t helped settle the question. If I had to answer that question today, I think I would say, “In some ways yes, and some ways no.”

Behind that question is a far deeper issue than just doing things right or wrong. This priest was ordained within period following the Second Vatican Council when much was changing, and people were still trying to wrap their minds around the documents of the Council. Understandably, there was much confusion as to the purpose of the Council and what it means for the Church moving forward.

Out of this confusion, an approach to the Council’s role within Church history began to coalesce that viewed the Council as an agent for completely restarting the Church. This view of the Council, commonly known today as the “hermeneutic of rupture,” sees the Council as bringing about a complete break from the baggage of the past and invoking a new Church influenced by and open to the movements and philosophies of the Twentieth Century. According to this view, anything from the past which was retained or recovered from antiquity would have to fit within the image of this modern, rebuilt Church, and anything that is viewed as medieval or obsolete would be discarded.

Although it is not universal, much of modern theology during the last 40+ years has operated under this first impression of the Council teachings. In recent years, a new understanding of the Council has begun to exert itself, especially in the 5 years since the election of Pope Benedict XVI. In fact, this renewed understanding of the Council has gained traction in large part to Pope Benedict’s writings as professor, bishop, cardinal, and now Pope.

Pope Benedict and those who follow his thoughts on the Council have proposed a “hermeneutic of continuity.” This alternative view sees the Council not as a break with the past, but in line with what has come before. The purpose of the Council, in this perspective, is to take the 1900+ years of Church teachings and traditions, and present them in ways understandable to Twentieth Century people. The Council did not seek to discard the past in exchange with modern philosophies and movements, but rather to influence these modern philosophies with the Tradition of the Church, passed down from Our Lord through the Church from generation to generation.

Understandably, many who were influenced by the hermeneutic of rupture are upset by the increasing influence of the newer hermeneutic of continuity towards the Council. Much of what they learned and believed is being disregarded and seen as going against the Council instead of acting in the spirit of the Council. Likewise, they see those of us who follow this hermeneutic of continuity as trying to reverse what the Council accomplished through their actions.

While their feelings are completely understandable, they are also regrettable. I purposely used the term “first impressions” in referring to the hermeneutic of rupture. Like many first impressions, they can often turn out to be in error. This is something well understood by anyone who has ever entered into a relationship with another person that ended badly due to a mistaken first impression. This person who might seem to be Mister or Miss Perfect at first glance ends up being Mister or Miss Wrong.

We can prejudge someone mistakenly off of first impressions, and many of us sadly do. Likewise, I propose that the first impression of the Council that became widely taught unjustly judged the Council as seeking to “reboot” the Church and rebuild Her from the ground up. Just like the gradual realization that the first impression of another person can be wrong, the 40 years since the Council has been more than enough time to realize that the first impression of the Council that led to the hermeneutic of rupture was wrong.

Sadly, much time, energy, sweat, and tears have been expended under the hermeneutic of rupture, and those influenced by this hermeneutic may be reluctant to let go of it. All of us, regardless of where we fall in this debate, need to pray for humility and true openness to the Holy Spirit, that we may hear and follow God’s will for the Church and not our own. In the end, all that matters for the Church is to follow God’s will for the salvation of humanity.

Today, the Holy See released a new Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church. Anything Pope Benedict promulgates is worth looking at, so download the PDF and check it out!

…the front page of the weekly county newspaper includes a photo of a newly-paved highway to a smaller town (population 448) and a debate between the city council and a motel owner over daily tests of the emergency sirens.