Advancing the Kingdom

What fecund ambiguity!   Clearly, the phrase ‘path of totality’ was used unambiguously earlier this week as the media covered the trajectory of the moon’s shadow over a large swath of our nation and millions of viewers witnessed the total blackout of the sun. But an unrelated news article about vision which appeared on the same day suggested to me that in a different context, the phrase could have other connotations. The news article reported on an organization in the United States that provides young adults in poor rural areas around the globe with inexpensive eyeglasses. Because of the ubiquitous availability of inexpensive secondhand glasses in this country many of us might be surprised to learn that millions in the world go through life with some form of uncorrected vision. This is particularly regrettable for young people whose productive lives are just beginning. The organization offering them optical support asserts the…

We met in sixth grade.  I was a new kid in the school and felt very much out of place. Maybe it was his gentle manner, or that he was the oldest in the class. Whatever the reason, in his quiet and unobtrusive way Kyle sensed my discomfort and welcomed my arrival. It was the beginning of a friendship that has endured for the better part of a century. What prompted his welcome? For some, to be welcoming is an innate, natural gift. For others, perhaps, it is a posture that requires a conscious decision. Either way, it is an attitude that is rightly and highly praised. With my jejune sixth-grade awareness, it would not have occurred to me in Kyle’s case to question its source. Neither would I have been able then to link it to any biblical imperatives. Welcoming others is, of course, a biblical imperative.  The scriptural…

Two passages in the New Testament – one at the beginning and the other at the end of Jesus’ public ministry – illustrate a foundational tenet in Catholic philanthropy. The first is Jesus’ proclamation soon after his baptism by John: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mk.1:15). The second occurs in the crucifixion dialogue. The two thieves and Jesus are being executed. When one thief mocks Jesus, the other rebukes him: “Do you not fear God?  We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong”. Then he says: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. (Lk. 23:39) ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’. Christianity – and by extension Catholic philanthropy – is more than repentance, more than turning away from sin and selfishness. Indeed, it is more…

Recently I participated in the burial service of a family member. It was a peaceful ceremony led by a priest and attended by numerous family members and friends. The urn containing the deceased’s ashes was handled respectfully as it was eventually lowered into the grave site in the Catholic cemetery. We, family and friends, were grateful for the opportunity to gather, to pay our respects, and to raise our unified prayer to Heaven. The prevailing sense was one of both closure and hope. This experience of interring the cremated remains of a loved one prompted me to investigate the practice of ‘ash scattering’. Cremation – once rare in this country – is increasingly popular. I have read that now in fifty percent of the cases, the ashes – the remains of those cremated – are scattered and not interred. One can readily understand the sentiments that inspire this practice. The…

“In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now, God knows, anything goes. Good authors, too, who once knew better words now only use four-letter word writing prose. Anything goes. The world has gone mad today, and good’s bad today, and black’s white today, and day’s night today, and that gent today you gave a cent today once had several chateaus”. One wonders if in his day the inestimable Cole Porter was considered prescient or if he ever used the word ‘fluidity’ in his numerous works. Certainly, this verse from his musical “Anything Goes” which premiered 90 years ago, captures the concept of the moral, artistic, and social ‘fluidity’ that has gained such currency (no pun intended) these past several years. Think of all the hyphenated constructs where some noun or adjective is coupled with ‘-fluidity’.  Is anyone concerned about the ease with which…

When most of us hear the adjective ‘chronic’ we expect what follows will be some form of illness such as diabetes or arthritis.   What are we to think, then, of the phrase ‘chronic vigor’?  In his magisterial treatise, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine Cardinal John Henry Newman (now canonized) identifies chronic vigor as the seventh and final principle that must be present within true doctrinal development. As I understand it, this refers to an inexhaustible quality or impetus within a doctrine or a mystery that allows us to penetrate it more deeply, and to grasp its nature more clearly, without fully understanding it because it remains incomprehensible. In the words of a theological tyro like me, this means that while received dogma cannot change, our comprehension of it is continually maturing. The development of the understanding of the Blessed Trinity during the Church’s first couple of…

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on” (Mark: 12:41) As NCCF starts its 27th year this well-known story of the ‘widow’s mite’ comes to mind. Since our inception, NCCF has received $60 million in contributions from donors around the United States, and our trustees have authorized (at the request of our donors) the distribution of 6400 grants totaling $30 million to recipient organizations…

“Lux fiat”. According to Genesis this was God’s command on the first day of creation when he said: “Let there be light”.  He saw that it was good. But it wasn’t until the fourth day that God created the sun. Hence, we have the mystery which has engaged the imaginations of biblical scholars for millennia: if God created the sun on the fourth day, what was the ‘light’ that his ‘lux fiat’ brought into existence on the first? Was this the Big Bang? Could it be the creation of the angels, those luminous beings? Was it some sidereal phenomenon preliminary to the birth of the galaxies?  Or, does the word God spoke in his ‘lux fiat’ relate to the Word in the Prologue to John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through…

Earlier this month I attended a Christmas concert at a local high school. The surprisingly accomplished performance ended with Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.  At the opening chords, a smattering of the attendees in the audience rose and remained standing while the rest stayed seated. (Most of those on their feet, of course, had white hair). Since the 1750s audiences have stood for this stirring masterpiece. Personally, I have witnessed this moving response at venues like the New York Met and at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. At the opening strains, a surge of solidarity lifted all the listeners to their feet and their shared reverence was palpable. Today, apparently, this tradition which has enriched the better part of three centuries is waning. Like sixty percent of our vocabulary, the word ‘tradition’ is rooted in Latin. It derives from ‘trado’ which itself has two meanings: to hand over (as from one generation…

As Advent progresses it is clear from casual observation the regard we as a nation once held for Christmas is no longer generally shared. Years ago, even among non-believers for whom the Nativity was only embellished legend, there was at least a respect for its significance. One wonders how the transformation of ‘holy day’ into ‘holiday’ relates to this and whether the disappearance of the traditional Christmas – like other vanishing commonalities we once shared – in some way reflects a threat to the ‘Unum” in the “E Pluribus Unum’ we tout as a nation. For instance, and by way of a specific example, is there a connection between diminished reverence for Christmas and our cavalier disregard for natural law? Maybe there is. Christmas celebrates the Incarnation and reminds us that God is Love. It is the nature of love to give of itself: bonum diffusivum sui est. It is…

The term intersectionality has been popularized in the past few decades. It refers to the effect the confluence or intersection of various traits such as sex, age, race, ethnicity, and education has on an individual or group of individuals. It is especially applicable in sociology and the study of economic disparities among different social groups. Perhaps the term is useful in other disciplines as well. The days between Thanksgiving and the first Sunday of Advent provide an appropriate opportunity to ponder a pertinent question. What, if any, is the connection between our national gratitude and our national destiny? What is the intersectionality of our politics (how we live and function as a nation) and eschatology  (the ‘end times’ to which we both individually and as a people strive)?  Do we Americans who believe in the existence of some transcendent reality acknowledge that there is – or should be – a…

Doxy and Praxy were great friends. They had grown up together and each would feel lost without the other. Praxy was the more practical of the pair. She was resourceful and managed to accomplish what needed to be done. A ball of boundless energy, she was undaunted by the challenge of how to do things and always succeeded through sheer practicality. Doxy complimented her. He was the cerebral partner. He concentrated on purpose, on why things were, or why things had to be done. Together, Praxy and Doxy were a dynamic duo. Over time, the world they built around them flourished with prosperity and sanity. Each was beholden to the other. Praxy knew that her accomplishments were meaningless without reference to the relevant purposes Doxy identified for them. Doxy appreciated that his pursuit of the underlying reason for anything was pointless without the Praxy’s fruitful collaboration. They were a happy,…