New “Zero Nukes” Ad Released

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There are times when I think our Christian faith has nothing in common with what comes out of Hollywood. But every now and again, there is a glimmer of hope coming from that city by the sea:

As Pope John XXIII reminded us 50 years ago in his encyclical, Pacem in Terris:

Justice, then, right reason and consideration for human dignity and life urgently demand that the arms race should cease; that the stockpiles which exist in various countries should be reduced equally and simultaneously by the parties concerned; that nuclear weapons should be banned; and finally that all come to an agreement on a fitting program of disarmament, employing mutual and effective controls. In the words of Pius XII, our Predecessor of happy memory: “The calamity of a world war, with the economic and social ruin and the moral excesses and dissolution that accompany it, must not be permitted to envelop the human race for a third time.”

All must realize that there is no hope of putting an end to the building up of armaments, nor of reducing the present stocks, nor, still less — and this is the main point — of abolishing them altogether, unless the process is complete and thorough and unless it proceeds from inner conviction: unless, that is, everyone sincerely cooperated to banish the fear and anxious expectation of war with which men are oppressed. If this is to come about, the fundamental principle on which our present peace depends must be replaced by another, which declares that the true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms but in mutual trust alone. We believe that this can be brought to pass, and we consider that, since it concerns a matter not only demanded by right reason but also eminently desirable in itself, it will prove to be the source of many benefits.

Please pray for an end to war!

Door to Door Ministry

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If there’s one thing most American Protestants know about Catholics, it’s this: we’re not very good at evangelizing people. Granted, that has been changing in recent years, but as a community, we Catholics don’t always do a great job of sharing our faith compared to many Protestants, who seem to always be having open houses and “come and see” events.

I’m happy to say my parish doesn’t fit the typical Catholic mould when it comes to evangelization. For the second time in three years, we’re running a summer door-to-door ministry campaign in an effort to knock on every single door within the parish boundaries and invite people to come check out the parish. We go out two by two with some brochures and just talk with people. 75% of the time no one comes to the door. 15% of the time, people politely decline to talk with us. But 10% of the time, something amazing happens. This past week I went out with a seminarian to cover two blocks near my house, and right away we spoke with a man about his young daughter, who was just diagnosed with a difficult and painful disease. He agreed to pray with us, and right on his doorstep, we asked God to heal his daughter. This man is not Catholic, but we shared a moment of true religious brotherhood on a windy day in June.

It’s nerve-wracking work, and I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, but I hope God works through our parish this summer to bring more and more people to God, or back to Him, as the case may be.

Gifts From the Lord

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“Certainly children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward.” -Psalm 127:3

big family

Most of my friends have multiple children. Most of my friends are not done having children. And most of my friends have been on the receiving end of negative comments about their family size. It seems that in our society, anything more than two children constitutes a large family, and a mother seen in public with three children is assumed to be “done”. Since our third child and first daughter was born, the most common comments I get are, “Oh, you finally have your girl!” and “So, you must be done now.”

I know that these comments are not meant to be hurtful, it is simply the general assumption that no normal person has more than three children. My friends who have four or more get plenty of looks and downright rude comments, including (but not limited to) “Don’t you know how that happens??”

This is why I was so blown away on Sunday when a man went out of his way to stop my husband and I, with all three kids in tow, to tell us how beautiful our family was. It was not at all what I expected to hear in the Costco parking lot, but it made my day. He told us over and over again how much he loves to see young, growing families like ours. He seemed truly joyful when telling us about his twelve children and how he caught hundreds of fish each year to keep them fed.

Having already been the brunt of many judgments and opinions about the “proper” family size, I want to thank this man, wherever he is, for his gift to me. In just a few quick moments, and without quoting scripture or Pope Paul VI, he was a witness to the sanctity of life and the gift of children. Because they are, in fact, a gift. I did not choose to have children in order to be fulfilled as a woman. I received them as gifts from God, and if He desires to grant us more gifts, I will lovingly accept them as well!

This article explains beautifully what I wish I could say, but would never be able to put as eloquently. 

 

 

The Abstract and the Concrete

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Another school year has ended, and I still dearly love teaching Church history to high school juniors, which means I’m going back for another year in the autumn. I have always loved dealing the world of the abstract–ideas, creativity, imagination, etc. However, as I grow older, I notice that after eight hours of dealing with heresies and high schoolers (that phrase is going to be the name of my memoir, I swear!), it’s good to go home, plant both feet on the ground, and get into the nitty gritty concrete aspects of life.

That’s why I love cooking: spend a whole day talking about big theological issues, then get home, tie on an apron, find a fine malted beverage, and make a meal. When we all gather around the dining room table, I think, I spent all day sowing seeds that will sprout long after my students leave my classroom, but for the next 45 minutes, my family will be nourished with food I prepared for them. I will watch them eat it and know that today I was completely successful in at least one endeavor.

The teacher’s great curse is just what I mentioned above; you spend nine months planting mental seeds and you rarely see them sprout in front of your eyes. Once or twice a year an alumnus returns and thanks you for what you taught him back in the day, but 98% of students don’t do that. That’s why doing something concrete is so important to me; it grants me a sense of balance and helps me to remain humble. With one foot planted in the world of ideas and another in the world of things, I am able to know myself a little bit better. I’m thankful to be able to do it.

So, without further ado…if you feel fully alive in the kitchen, here’s something guaranteed to make your family happy.

Ginger Snaps (as prepared by John)

1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark molasses
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp ginger

Combine shortening, sugar, eggs, and molasses in a large bowl and beat together. Then add remaining ingredients. Shape into ping-pong sized spheres and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and back at 375 F for 9-10 minutes.

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Pray for Vocations

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This past Thursday, I attended the diaconate ordination of two men in the Rapid City Diocese. While we were away, ten new priests were ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul! After years of study and discernment, these men have chosen to give their entire lives in service of Christ and His Church. How inspiring!

My son, who normally can’t sit still for a regular Sunday Mass, couldn’t take his eyes off the action at the ordination. I whispered explanations as they prostrated themselves in front of the altar and as the Bishop laid hands on them, and he had a great time trying to count the priests concelebrating the Mass. (He gave up somewhere in the 20′s… it’s hard to count every priest in the diocese, especially when they are all dressed alike!)

In Rapid City and in many St. Paul parishes, the people pray a prayer for vocations during every Sunday Mass. I love those prayers and I truly feel like they are bearing fruit. In St. Paul, we pray this prayer by Archbishop Flynn:

“O God, we earnestly ask You to bless this archdiocese with many priests, Brothers, and Sisters who will love You with their whole strength and gladly spend their entire lives  to serve your Church and  to make You known and loved. Bless our families, bless our children. Choose from our homes those needed for your work. Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us, pray for our priests, Religious, and deacons. Obtain for us many more.”

I love the focus that this prayer places on families because, although it is God who chooses those who will serve, the family is where the seed is first planted. When I say this prayer, I pray for vocations in our diocese, in our parish, but especially in my own family- that God will call my children to great things and I will be able to get out of the way.

People talk about a priest shortage in our church, but I believe that what we really have is a prayer shortage. Where there is prayer, there are vocations. Please pray for our priests, pray for our seminarians, and pray that all young people will be open to God’s call in their lives!

Check out the St. Paul Archdiocese’s vocations website to see what you can do to encourage vocations.

“You give them something to eat.”

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“You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16)
“You give them something to eat.” (Mark 6:37)
“You give them something to eat.” (Luke 9:13)
“Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this to test Philip… (John 6:5)

This line from the Solemnity of Corpus Christi Gospel yesterday made the woman in the pew in front of me snort and laugh out loud. At first glance, it seems as though Jesus is actually being sarcastic, perhaps even annoyed at the crowd and his disciples. One could read this line with a certain snide subtext: You told these people where I was. I just taught them all day. Now you’d better pick up the slack and feed ‘em. 

But is this really what’s going on? This bugged me all day yesterday, and I had a lot of time in the car to mull it over. Then John 15:5 came to mind: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

 

Imagine a difficult obstacle in your life. It’s many people’s instinct to freeze up. I do this all the time; something goes wrong at work and I throw up my hands and shout out the equivalent of “These people are hungry!” Then God speaks: Do something.

“What?” I reply.

Anything.

The boy with the five barley loaves and two fish represents what I bring to God in a difficult situation. It’s paltry stuff, but it is something. However, that something is not enough to overcome the obstacle at hand.

“Okay. Here’s what I’ve got.”

Good. You’ve brought something to this situation. Now let me do the heavy lifting.

This happens constantly to me at work. I teach for a living, and like (I hope!) all teachers, I consider my work incredibly important to individual students and society. When I don’t see eye to eye with a colleague or parent, I can take it very personally because I know how high the stakes are in education and the impact that I can have on my students, for good or for ill. When I remember to take my problem to God and offer up my measly talents in the face of opposition, I have found that within 1-2 days of doing this, I receive some small sign that He is in charge and everything is going to be okay.

A few weeks ago, it was an angry phone call to me followed up by an apologetic one. At the beginning of the school year, it was a tense relationship with a student followed up by a thank you note from an alumnus. I’ve been teaching for almost a decade, and without fail, these sorts of things happen. So, next time, I’ll try to remember to bring my bread and fish…and let God do the multiplying.

Human Dignity in Unbroken

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…Self-respect and sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, lies at the heart of humanness; to be deprived of it is to be dehumanized, to be cleaved from, and cast below, mankind. Men subjected to dehumanizing treatment experience profound wretchedness and loneliness and find that hope is almost impossible to retain. Without dignity, identity is erased….Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme…hardship, can hold a man’s soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it. The loss of it can carry a man off as surely as thirst, hunger, exposure, or asphyxiation, and with greater cruelty… Degradation [can] be as lethal as a bullet.

–Lauren Hillenbrand, Unbroken, p. 183

Full disclosure; I am writing about a book I have not yet finished. But while reading Hillenbrand’s excellent book about the life of Louis Zamperini, the excerpt above made me stop and ponder. In telling the heroic story of an American Olympian-turned-bombardier in World War II, Hillenbrand rarely brings in her own thoughts and opinions. Halfway through Unbroken, here she is suddenly remarking on the dignity of the human person. Her insight is profound. On the one hand, God has granted us dignity which cannot ever be taken from a person. On the other hand, the worst harm that can be done to a person is to assault his or her dignity. Bit by bit, whether in a POW camp or in the everyday ebb and flow of modern life, our dignity is being tested. If we stand strong, no one can take it away. But all too often, we give in and agree with our tormentors–be they prison guards, gossips, or, God forbid, those closest to us–that we are worthless. We surrender our dignity and think of ourselves as unworthy of love and basic human concern.

I know I’m not strong enough to simply clench my teeth and steel my soul in the face of such an attack. I need someone outside of myself, someone infinite in mercy, to buoy me up in such difficult times. What’s so incredible about Unbroken is it is the story of a man who slowly comes to realize that for himself. In the midst of incredible suffering, he does not shun belief, but explores it an embraces it.

“We should run toward those who need healing.”

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Dear Father Kennedy,

I was very moved to read the letters you sent to me from the young people of Juvenile Hall and to know that we were close to one another in spirit during the washing of feet on Holy Thursday evening. Please tell the young people that I am remembering them in my prayers to our Lord Jesus, who loves each of them with all his heart. I ask them to pray for me and for the needs of all God’s people throughout the world. With gratitude and affection I send my blessing.

Francis

So, what is the story behind this letter? It’s quite simple. On Holy Thursday, a group of 12 Jesuit novices in Los Angeles went to a juvenile detention center and washed the feet of twelve of the young men incarcerated there. On the same day, halfway across the world in Rome, Pope Francis was doing the same at an Italian juvenile detention center. The young men in Los Angeles wrote to the Holy Father, and the Jesuits mailed them. Francis received them and wrote back to the boys. You can read about the whole story here.

The subject of my post is a line from Father Kennedy, speaking about the example of Pope Francis. This also reminds me of the decision of Pope Pius X to lower the age of communion to the “age of reason,” or 7-8 years old. He stated that the Eucharist is not only a reward for the good, but medicine for the spiritually ill. And since we are all spiritually ill because we sin, we all need the mercy of the Eucharist. In the first few months of his pontificate, Pope Francis has definitely showed himself to be a man of mercy, whose chief message to us has already been, “God forgives you. God loves you. You have dignity.”

Have a great weekend!

Clouds

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Zach Sobiech, an 18-year-old from Stillwater, passed away on Monday after a four year battle with osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer. Zach and his family have known for awhile that he didn’t have long to live, but instead of giving in to despair, he inspired everyone around him with joy, faith and hope. A talented musician, he wrote a song called “Clouds” that went viral on YouTube and sent his story around the globe.

It is amazing to me the faith of this young man and his family; I cannot imagine anything more devastating than losing a child. But Zach’s goal was to bring happiness to those around him, and he touched more lives than he could have possibly imagined! Here is his song:

If you have a little more time to spare, watch this beautiful tribute to his life.

I don’t have much more to say. We could all learn something from his amazing example of hope. Zach, thank you.

Creation, De-Creation, Re-Creation

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Last week the Vatican got back into the game of patronizing the arts as the Pontifical Council for Culture named the three artists who will be presenting work on behalf of the Holy See at the Venice Biennale, one of the edgiest art shows in the world. The artists were only told about the title of the Vatican exhibition and clued in to the fact that the Council for Culture took the theme from the first 11 chapters of Genesis. You can read more about it here and here.

I am so happy about this! Since the rise of Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there has been a tendency for Catholics to retreat in the face of popular culture. It’s very common in some Catholic circles to hold to a sort of “fortress theology,” an ideology through which those who are in the Church act and speak as though they are beset on all sides by sheer evil. Sure we are engaging in spiritual warfare against “powers, principalities, thrones, and dominions,” but there is much that is good, holy, and noble about popular culture, and it is wonderful to see the Vatican embracing it more and more.

I say, keep projects like this coming! Let us wade out into the waters of art, literature, and music with more and more vigor. It’s an incredible witness to those who have lost hope in the power of religion to bring about beauty.