Deacon Dan Wright

Pope Benedict XVI's 30-year campaign to reassert conservative Catholicism - CSMonitor.com

In the past 30 years, the Vatican has moved strongly to reassert the authority of a traditional, even orthodox Roman Catholicism – to bring the notion of a "one true church" to Europe and then the larger world. The intent was to reverse the "open" or liberalizing trend of the church represented by Vatican II.

via www.csmonitor.com

If reasserting conservative Catholicism were to mean connecting to the richness and tradition of the faith, and it meant making the faith present in a clear and understandable manner to the world today, whose moral paradigms often differ sharply from those of the Church, then I would support it wholeheartedly. 

However, we need not look far to see a world ready to abandon what it may see as a religion that has not borne fruit. Any move that involves the Church retreating into its own system is sure to bring only further misunderstanding. My original embracing of Catholicism nearly 20 years ago came about because I saw a positive force at work in the Church, a force that held the potential to fulfill the deepest longings and questions of life. For me, it was an experience that I understood as somehow--perhaps mystically--connected to the experience of the first Christians. For me it was, frankly, a pentecostal experience. There was something in the Church that had the power to transform my life.

I believe that the same potential still exists, but we won't get it--and we won't be able to share it with others--by embracing ideology. Our world, both in the Church and outside it, tends to see religious conservatism as having a connection or kinship to the politics of the Right, and this worries me. It worries me not because my views differ from those of the Right--and they often do--but because of something I've known a for long time, and something that I've lived out in my own life, namely that being orthodox in one's religion doesn't mean that we have to buy into a political system that staunchly shuts the door in the face of whatever doesn't fit into the system. Orthodoxy, or conservatism, in faith does not necessarily equate with conservatism in politics.

Of course Christians are free to choose whatever system of politics they feel comfortable with, but we have an obligation to allow our faith to inform our politics rather than letting politics force itself on our faith. The Christian faith that I embraced long ago hasn't changed--it's still the same positive force in my life that it has always been. It's the forward-looking and open-minded love of my fellow human beings that compels me to desire fruitful dialog aimed at overcoming the biggest challenges of living in the world today: the differences between ourselves and others. It compels me to reach out to the world with the positive power of healing life's biggest injustices and wounds.

If purity and truth of faith are what the Church desires, the realization of such will be obtained not by prohibition but transformation. Many years ago I recall a sermon given by an Episcopalian priest on the marks of true Christian faith. Essentially she said that true faith can be easily recognized because it informs you of what it is for, rather than what it is against.

True faith may certainly be interested in the preservation of its most cherished values: It may be for the value of chastity for example, but does this necessitate a statement against anything in particular? Does the Church's definitions of what it values, say marriage, or perhaps ordination, need to be demanded of others before dialog or explanation occur? Especially this is true if the desire of the Church is to win others over to being receptive to the power that can transform life. If a religious system is truly universal then it needs to stand ready to embrace a universe of difference--a universe that may appear to be at odds with what it holds as sacred in some respects. Here, again, the obligation of faith is to better inform, and to do it in a clear and cogent manner.

We Catholics have a tendency to leave things up to the hierarchy--especially in matters of faith and morals--but I believe there is an obligation for every Catholic, every Christian, to enter meaningful dialog and explore the difficult questions and real-life issues that exist. If the Christian religion is going to survive it will be because individual Christians will begin to shed the mask of ideology and embrace life completely with all the baggage that comes with it.

Intolerance, Broken Religion, Fear, and the Faith of Anne Rice

Ever since I added religion to my news feed I've been tempted to return to blogging my thoughts on stories more frequently. For a long time the majority of what I've posted has been Sunday sermons and occasional reflections--just mostly innocuous stuff with an interest limited perhaps to the parish. Seems that back during the presidential election year not all my opinions on the news were appreciated by everyone, and I was busy with other things, so I backed away from commenting on news--with the intention of it being temporary. With that being said, I'll go ahead and take the big risk of not keeping my thoughts and opinions to myself. 

I noticed recently that a friend remarked how the "Angry Bearded Catholic Bloggers Club" (ABCBC) were "going nuts" with Anne Rice's rejection of the faith that she returned to after having rejected it once upon a time long ago (I have to admit: I'm not a member of the ABCBC). I hope the title of my post today isn't too much, but I feel like it encapsulates what I've been seeing in the religion news.

Whatever the news brings us, or what others might comment in its regard, the response from people of faith shouldn't be driven by intolerance or fear. These are actually the antitheses, among innumerable others, of true faith. If we are secure in what we believe, we don't have anything to be afraid of. On the contrary, we ought to be willing to let others be who they are in their belief, and in their choice of how they practice it, or even the total lack thereof.

Having true faith, in my opinion, means striving toward what is positive and best in life, and it also means rolling up our sleeves and working to change what is negative or broken. True faith means taking a risk and reaching out to other people. For me, this doesn't include my having to get you to believe the same thing that I believe in terms of religion, and it certainly doesn't mean losing touch with sanity in order to recognize that life on earth is sacred.

Unfortunately, all too often people's experience of religion is that of something broken. Often they struggle within themselves and they feel that the bad relationship they have must be ended. It's like coming away from bad love relationship or a marriage that didn't work. You can give up on the relationship without giving up on love, and this is really where I think Anne Rice may be coming from. Her experience of religion is one that is broken. However, she still recognizes the validity of what was at the basis of it to start.

Where I want to end this, without it becoming too long, is by saying that Christians have an obligation to enter each others' struggles in a positive way. We have an obligation to apply the healing balm of friendship and acceptance, and always we have an obligation to meet people just where they are in life without any expectations of making them be like us in any way. In other words we have the duty to reach out with tolerance, to fix what is broken, to cast out fear, and to make the world a truly positive place by struggling to overcome its greatest challenges.

Sunday Homily: The Gift of Oneself

Our lives consist of far more than the things and money that we might possess… Perhaps the greatest possible wisdom lies in the notion that what matters most, what our lives really consist of, is what we are willing to share with others. What we do for others, and what we give away, is what the most important thing is.

The generosity that we offer of ourselves, not only with the things we have but also our time, our effort, our creative energy, and whatever wealth we may possess, is in reality the substance or foundation of true Christian responsibility in the world. In other words, our substantial actions, our concrete works, are the sign and evidence of our faith. It is by these that we are able to make a difference in the world.

Throughout the year we have ample opportunities to support worthy causes, such is the case today as we heard from the Sisters of St. Joseph about their mission. If it should seem difficult for us to decide the best way is to put our faith into action we fortunately have such causes that stand ready for our support and outreach to those they serve, who perhaps cry out for mercy most.

One of life's biggest lessons is that we are to give of ourselves exhaustively, and give in an excellent way. It seems that holiest people I've known are the ones who gave and worked tirelessly. It's not that our work ethic or exceeding personal generosity are what saves us, or even what makes us holy, but these things help us to discover the sacred in life by helping us to focus on those with whom we share life.

Over the past several months, perhaps even the past several years, there's been a lot in the news to inspire fear and anxiety about the future of the planet and the human race. The prophets of doom seem to stand on every corner crying out that the end is near. It's important for us to fully understand that the Holy Spirit casts out fear. Our concern, our focus and our energy, doesn't need to be consumed with the things that we can do nothing about. Rather, the right stance for us to take is to be busy exactly with the things in life that we can, to the contrary, do something about. The end is only near when we despair and decide to do nothing.

Where do we turn to give of ourselves? First, I would suggest family, friends, and loved ones. Our gifts and service first go to the ones with whom we have daily contact. We are to be the living sign of God's love to them. Then perhaps we might consider how to do a better job in our work, just as the sisters have come to us today with their appeal we too should make of ourselves a gift to others in our daily work. Then we might turn to the greater world around us. How might we make a positive outcome in the lives of people who live thousands of miles from us? How might we act or contribute to building a world full of hope for tomorrow, a world of peace and justice for future generations?

Finally we are to be sure of this: our Lord tells us that our lives will be demanded of us. We will have to answer, and thus we need to be prepared. However, rather than being consumed with anxiety about the times, we need only turn in attitude away from selfish needs and toward the needs of others. Our actions will follow. St. Paul suggests that we hide our lives in Christ. If we consider Christ, the anointed one, to be the source of all that anoints the world and makes it holy, then our job is to "lose ourselves" in the work of God. There is no better time than now to begin. What really matters is what we do for others.