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As indicated in my last post, I love to see authentic examples of people helping each other, giving love in seemingly ordinary ways and affirming the full dignity of people. Though I don't go for the cheesy background music and corny staging, I think Liberty Mutual got it right - these little actions give us small reminders that people are good at heart, that we do have generosity and good will within us. And seeing it in action can reenergize us to choose good and God over evil.
As my flight from Ontario, CA, began its descent into Seattle, WA, it was confirmed that our delayed takeoff had made our arrival late as well. This posed a problem for people on connecting flights, as we were to land around 8:30pm and they were connecting to the last flights for the day. Our flight attendants announced the connecting flights' info, told us the flight to Portland would be held for those 13 passengers, and that a bus would be waiting to zip them over to their gate.
She asked those passengers to hit their call buttons so we could see where they were sitting and boldly asked that we all allow these folks to disembark first. Whoa, I thought. Yeah, right. Maybe she's new. Maybe she hasn't seen people getting off a plane before - everyone for themselves, all-out rush to the plane door. But she made the request and hoped people would acquiesce.
Sure enough, as the "fasten seat belts" light was turned off, most everyone remained seated, and a dozen or so hastily began to move out. I was in delighted disbelief as some anxious Portland-bound travelers hustled out, around rows of still-seated passengers. It was awesome to see the apparent foolhardiness of our flight attendant get redeemed by a crowd of understanding (even if reluctantly) travelers.
Go humanity.
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This Sunday at Mass in Seattle, the priest included in his homily that around half of Washington residents claimed no religion in their census reporting. I reflected on this phenomenon - "the rise of the nones" and the proliferation of being "spiritual but not religious" - at the beginning of my first year in campus ministry in a brief apologetic for religion and Catholicism and what might be missed by those who avoid it.
And now as I correspond with the chaplain who will be my partner in crime as I begin year two at a new school, I wonder how this new spiritual terrain in America can be an advantage for us as we attempt to create a school environment that is fertile for Christian-Catholic faith.
My gut reaction is to view it as a negative, evidence of an entrenching secularism, of people practicing religion poorly and alienating others by their ways. Surely, there are downfalls to the growth of these trends. However, I imagine there must be a way to engage this growing social norm in a way that is compassionate, constructive, and responsive to the Gospel and the Church.
How can the individualism, curiosity, and seeking of SBNR's lead them back to faith? What about organized religion and the Catholic Church can be emphasized to appeal to nones? What experience of faith and spirituality will speak most effectively to SBNR's and nones?
As my brain recombobulates, I hope I can put some of the pieces of that puzzle together.
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The hysteria over the DOMA ruling was quite the firestorm. I almost couldn't go on Facebook for the day in the midst of all the extremism flying both ways, the loudness of voices and capitalization of letters overshadowing the tempered middle.
I find myself in the middle. I believe marriage is the sacrament that unites a man and woman for the procreation and union of a family. I also believe that two homosexuals can have romantic love for each other and can and should commit to one another for the whole of their lives, but I don't think that is a marriage.
I am all for same-sex unions getting legal recognition by governing bodies, access to joint tax filings, reformed inheritance/estate laws, revised hospital visitation rules, and other practical things that allow their union to achieve legal/social equality. However, their commitment, while just as potentially strong as heterosexual marriage (which I think is a redundant phrase), is not a marriage - it cannot procreate or produce intimate union the way that marriage does.
My greatest concern as religion comes under greater and greater siege - abortion laws proliferating or holding steady, new anti-abortion laws coming under fanatical attack in Texas, the ACA and HHS mandating birth-control access for free and Obama's breaking his promise to Notre Dame from commencement - is that the approval of same-sex unions will require churches to host these ceremonies. I don't think this trend is far from insisting that churches allow gay couples to use churches as the venue for their ceremony.
I think there may be a way for my Church to outline the liturgical blessing of a covenant, something more akin to a Holy Orders-esque commitment to a person/partner, but not before we spend serious thought and attention discerning how something like that can be explained and understood. And that needs to be preceded by a serious recommitment to practicing what we preach - compassionate embrace of our homosexual brothers and sisters and a call for chastity from all unmarried people. For now, the state of things scares me because the discourse and discussion is being overcome by a borderline-bandwagon stream of populism that wants change quick and dirty.
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2+ years removed from writing my senior theology thesis, heading into the "junior year of life", I continue to feel grateful for the time I was able to spend researching and synthesizing understandings of the Kingdom of God.
I continue to be most grateful that my primary goal - articulating a practical, spiritually useful, relevant-to-daily-life explanation of the Kingdom - was realized, largely through the wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI. Quick recap:
The Kingdom of God is best understood through some balance of a trinity of senses, which Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, describes well. First, the Kingdom has a “Christological” dimension. Reaching back to Origen, Ratzinger explains that Jesus is the “autobasileia, that is, the Kingdom is person.” This dimension makes the Kingdom into a kind of Christology itself. Next, the Kingdom has an “idealistic or mystical” dimension, which sees “man’s interiority as the essential location of the Kingdom of God.” Finally, the “ecclesiastical” dimension shows the Kingdom of God and the Church as related in some ways and brings them into “more or less close proximity.” -Based on (with quotes from) Jesus of Nazareth (Part I), p. 49-50The idea is that we should understand the Kingdom as being within us, within our Church, and within Christ.
We can experience the Kingdom when we do the will of God, follow the Gospel call from Christ; as in the Lord's Prayer's sentiment "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven", we experience Heaven when our will aligns with God's will.
We can experience the Kingdom when we celebrate in prayer and worship with our Christian community, which memorializes what Christ has done for us, thanks Him for what He does, and looks forward to what He will do. When our communal work (liturgy!) happens this way, we glimpse the Kingdom.
We can experience the Kingdom through the person of Christ. Our experiences of Him in our giving and receiving love, in the Word, and in the Sacrament manifest the Kingdom.
All of these moments of clarity are both previews or foreshadows as well as brief temporal experiences of the Kingdom of Heaven. This guiding hand of Benedict toward a real understanding of where the Kingdom is seen and felt led me to a deeper understanding of what Jesus talked so much about.
Keep seeking the Kingdom in yourself, in service with the Church, and in Christ!
Hi Dan,
ReplyDeleteGreat work on your blog. You write with faith, intelligence, and warmth, and your words inspire many. I remember reading a piece you wrote during college in which you said something to the effect of, “I enjoy compliments but prefer criticisms.” Today I will happily supply you with both!
I think you are simplifying the dialogue about marriage just a bit too much when you reduce both sides to all-caps “extremism.” The tempered middle you speak of exists, indeed—and in my opinion, anyone who voices their convictions with intelligence and respect resides in that hallowed argumentative ground. The Catholic Church, for instance, takes a very strong line on this issue, but certainly not in the same way as the Westboro Baptist Church. See the difference?
Have you ever heard Chris Rice’s song “You Don’t Have to Yell”?
http://youtu.be/Bp34VK5fahM
It’s a great song that voices a similar suggestion to yours. However, what I like about Rice’s song is the line, “Draw your lines and choose your side / ‘Cause many things are worth the fight.” He reminds us that there is nothing inherently wrong with having a strong opinion—what makes the difference is the way we express ourselves to others.
Secondly, I was puzzled by your speculations about a covenantal ceremony for homosexual unions. Are you saying that we would create an eighth Sacrament? If so, what action of Christ would serve as its foundation? If not a Sacrament, then what exactly would it be?
Most pressingly, what would be the purpose? If, as you acknowledge, homosexual unions can never be a marriage, why would such a covenant exist? Ecclesiastical approval of same-sex unions would necessitate a wholesale rejection of what both Scripture and Tradition say about nature, sex, and marriage. Doctrine does not develop in a way that annuls what came before.
I invite you to think about this issue once more. Keep in mind that there have been many times in Church history when the culturally unpopular opinion was also the theologically correct (and historically vindicated) one. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that when the Church finds itself getting along well with society, that’s a sign that it is or soon will be in serious trouble.
I hope this message finds you well! I write it in good faith as a fellow laborer in Christ. My prayers are with you as you continue leading young people to Jesus. Never doubt the difference you make!
God bless,
Joe