Engaging the Faith in Our Times

Is There a Prayer for the President?

In a scene from the movie Fiddler on the Roof, the rabbi is asked an important question: "Is there a prayer for the Tsar?"  After some reflective thought, the rabbi raises his hands in the air and exclaims "Of course, there is a prayer for the Tsar." "May the Lord bless the Tsar, and keep him far away for us."

I propose that this prayer, in a somewhat modified form, be applied to our nation: "Lord bless the president, and keep him far away from us!"  I think the time has come for us to realize that our beloved country, under its current leadership, is moving quickly down a dark and, dare I say, dangerous road.

It would be difficult to document all that the Obama administration has enacted that either undermines, or goes directly against the Judeo-Christian values and principles upon which our country was established.  One of the more recent instances of this was the establishment of the so-called Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month in the United States. I quote the statement issued by the White House: "NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists."  

We have rightly taken pride in being a Christian nation "under God." Now, however these words no longer seem to fit; this reality is slipping away. There are however, many, hopefully millions, who still hold to the principles upon which our country was founded. The best of these principles find their source in the Scripture, especially the Gospels. During this time of radically shifting values and the erosion of foundational principles, we need to once again stand firmly upon Christ, who is the source of our lasting principles, and our true nourishment especially in times of trouble and unrest. Although we continue to pray for a "change of heart," as well as holding the office of the president in great respect, at this time we cannot count on our country's leadership to point the way.

I am reminded of the words of St. Peter when, filled with the Holy Spirit, he proclaimed to the people "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40). Peter called the people to conversion. We too must seek ongoing conversion to Christ; a conversion that is deep and lasting.  I think of the words of John Paul II in his encyclical Mission of the Redeemer. In addressing the topic of conversion, John Paul writes:

"Conversion is a complete and sincere adherence to Christ and his Gospel through faith. Conversion is a gift of God, a work of the Blessed Trinity. It is the Spirit who opens people's hearts so that they can believe in Christ and confess him. From the outset, conversion is expressed in faith which is total and radical, and which neither limits nor hinders God's gift. At the same time, it gives rise to a dynamic and lifelong process which demands a continual turning away from 'life according to the flesh' to 'life according to the Spirit'" (MR 46).

In Fiddler on the Roof Tevye and his fellow Jews, in the small village of Anatevka, held on to their faith in God in the midst of great oppression from the Tsar and others. Let us follow not only their example, but especially the example of all the saints throughout the ages, and proclaim Christ with confidence, courage and charity, both in our words and in the witness of our lives.

Faith, Conversion and the American Way

For decades we in the United States have enjoyed the privilege of freedom of speech, as well as freedom of religion. Recently however, those freedoms are increasingly coming under attack. If you follow the news as reported by various Catholic news agencies, such as Catholic Online or Catholic Culture you know what I mean. How do we respond to the way our American society is changing? The freedoms we once took for granted are now deteriorating before our very eyes.

In a certain sense, we in America have been spoiled over the past 50-60 years. Our freedoms have been a source of envy to others in countries less fortunate than our own. Now we are being put to the test - how deeply rooted is our Catholic faith? There is a passage from the Old Testament book of Sirach that comes to mind: "My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humility. Trust God and he will help you" (Sir 2:1-6).

We are being tested in a number of ways. So-called abortion rights are being greatly expanded, while opposition is being squelched. The dignity of the human person and the family are continually being attacked, while anti-hate laws are being enacted to quiet any opposition. The Catholic Church herself is being attacked and belittled, as is the case in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Our natural inclination in the face of these attacks is anger. However, anger is rarely effective and can easily draw us into bitterness and resentment. The words of Scripture ring out to us "Be undisturbed in time of adversity... trust God and he will help you." It can be very difficult for us to follow this counsel. We have to dig deeply into our inner self, where God dwells and seek his strength - we must endure. "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28).

We really do not know how to respond to these tests, which will probably only get worse. Only in God can we find the strength and means to respond in a manner that, in some way, reflects God's presence in our words and actions. How often do we read in the Gospel how Christ responded or acted in ways that we did not expect or anticipate? Yet, Christ is our model; he is our example of holiness in the face of adversity and ridicule.

As our culture becomes more and more antagonistic towards Christianity, prayer and intimacy with Christ point the way to a true response. The American way, or the way of Christ? It is up to each of us to choose with greater conviction, and to follow our Master.   

He is Risen!

Every year we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, the central mystery of our faith. The fact of Christ's victory over death is explicitly manifest in this event of His glorious resurrection. St. Paul emphasizes the centrality of this mystery of faith when he says "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain... [and] we are of all men most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead" (1 Cor 15:14ff). In light of its great importance, how deeply do we reflect on this central mystery of the faith--this cornerstone of the Christian life?  

The reality of this magnificent mystery came home to me more clearly than ever this past Easter Vigil. I was able to witness my son-in-law, Mark, come into the Catholic Church and receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist. I flew to Oklahoma for the celebration and was most pleased to be able to spend time with my daughter and her family. The Easter Vigil ceremony was very well done, and Mark was among a group of 19 who were either baptized or came into full communion with the Church. The highlight of the evening for me, other than witnessing the joy of my son-in-law and his family, came during the homily given by Fr. Larkin. The manner in which he preached on the Resurrection of Christ was superb; it had a significant effect on me. I have reflected on Christ's Resurrection many times in the past, however this was one of those times when God touched my heart in a very special way. The event came alive to me like never before.  

God often gives these experiences, or gifts, to us when we least expect it. I am reminded of a story told by Frank Sheed, a noted apologist, who described his experience of coming to see the beauty of the truth of the Trinity in a similar way. In his popular book "Theology for Beginners," he relays the following: "I suppose that most people who have made an effort to hear what God is telling us about his innermost self have had the same experience as I. The first time I heard a really competent lecture upon the Trinity, I followed it well enough, admired it, but made nothing very much of it. A year later I heard a second lecture, and this time I thought I grasped all that the lecturer was saying; I was lost in admiration at the intellectual perfection of the doctrine's structure, and from that time on I could have told anyone else the doctrine as it had been told to me. But in no sense was it alive in my mind; it was simply an intellectual possession, something I could visit when I felt like it and enjoy visiting, then put away again into the back of the mind. It was a year or two later that another series of lectures came my way, and the doctrine was at last alive. For most people something like that happens--first an intellectual response, then a vital response, till the doctrine possesses the mind, and the mind would be desolate without it." 

How often does an aspect of our faith reside in our intellect, yet not empower us in our lives? This is something I struggle with from time to time.  However, being able to witness my son-in-law, Mark, embrace the truth and beauty of Christ as expressed in our Catholic faith, was a most memorable moment for me. We all need other believers to witness to us and to be examples of this life-giving treasure which we have been privileged to share.

He is truly risen and this reality is meant to live in our hearts and motivate our lives.

North Dakota Posits Personhood in the Womb

On February 17, 2009, almost in time for Valentine’s Day, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed The Personhood of Children Act (House Resolution 1572), protecting the rights of all citizens from conception onwards. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Dan Ruby, passed by a vote of 51-41. The bill is being argued in the ND Senate as we speak.

In effect, the House sought to repair, better yet, reconnect two fundamental notions that were ruptured on January 22, 1973, in Roe v. Wade: personhood and when human life begins. Chief Justice Harry Blackmun wrote the majority opinion for Roe v. Wade, and, in section IX.A, dealt with the legal definition of “person”:   

The appellee [D.A. Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas] and certain amici [friends of the court] argue that the fetus is a “person” within the language and meaning of the 14th Amendment…. The Constitution does not define “person” in so many words…. But in nearly all these instances [where the term “person” is found in the U.S. Constitution and its amendments] the use of the word is such that it has application only postnatally. None indicates, with any assurance, that it has any possible pre-natal application.

In the next breath (IX.B), Blackmun changed the subject to the beginning of human life. His conclusion—erroneous at the most microscopic, genetic level—changed human history for all time:

Texas argues that, apart from the 14th Amendment, life begins at conception and is present throughout pregnancy, and that, therefore, the State has a compelling interest in protecting that life from and after conception. We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man’s knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer. (Emphasis added.)

But, Justice Blackman had obviously decided when human life did not begin, namely, at conception and, de facto, anytime thereafter up to the viability of the fetus (when, presumably, the State’s interest in the fetus would be “compelling” enough to trump the mother’s interest; cf. section X).

More than two years before Blackmun’s decision, an editorial appeared in California Medicine, the official journal of the California Medical Association. The editor was looking into the future and could see that abortion would be part of society’s fabric. Under the apt title, “A New Ethic for Medicine and Society” (Vol. 113, No. 3, Sept. 1970), the writer mused:

Since the old ethic has not been fully displaced it has been necessary to separate the idea of abortion from the idea of killing, which continues to be abhorrent. The result has been a curious avoidance of the scientific fact, which everyone really knows, that human life begins at conception and is continuous, whether intra- or extra-uterine, until death. The very considerable semantic gymnastics which are required to rationalize abortion as anything but taking a human life would be ludicrous if they were not often put forth under socially impeccable auspices. It is suggested that this schizophrenic sort of subterfuge is necessary because while a new ethic is being accepted the old one has not yet been rejected. (Emphasis added.)

In North Dakota, the old ethic had not been eradicated, and the people and their representatives rallied to posit personhood in the womb, via the law. "North Dakotans have gotten used to cold temperatures like -44 degrees, but they haven't gotten used to child-killing," said one resident.

HR 1572, in part: "For purposes of interpretation of the constitution and laws of North Dakota, it is the intent of the legislative assembly that an individual, a person, when the context indicates that a reference to an individual is intended, or a human being includes any organism with the genome of homo sapiens." "This is very simply defining when life begins,” said Rep. Ruby, “and giving that life some protections under our Constitution—the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Out of the ashes caused by Roe v. Wade, rises the phoenix of personhood in the womb. If the North Dakota Senate follows the House, the 36-year old rupture between personhood and conception would be healed, at least in one state. To mix metaphors, what a mustard seed that would be.  

The Formation of Society - Part 4

This week we continue with our review of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on the Rosary with a closer look at the Glorious Mysteries and they can assist us with a spiritual outlook of the future.

Commending Devotion to the Rosary

Third Influence: Forgetfulness of the Future - The Glorious Mysteries

What the Problem Looks Like:

• chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live
• sinful attachment to the things of earth by a contempt of the things of heaven thought of our true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but... banished and entirely erased from memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, "We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come" (Heb. xiii., 4)

Causes of this Forgetfulness:

• many allow themselves to believe that the thought of a future life goes in some way to sap the love of our country... against the prosperity of the commonwealth. No illusion could be more foolish or hateful
• our future hope is not of a kind which so monopolizes the minds of men as to withdraw their attention from the interests of this life

[Comment: I think this is true in our day as well, though our language would be different. Today, there is a great focus on the immediate pleasures of life and little thought is given to the future glory. It may be thought, though perhaps not admitted, that being a Christian means putting all of one's hopes in the future of heaven to the exclusion of any fun or pleasure in the here and now. While this is partially true, Christians are called to make prudent judgment with their time and money, it is a great waste and sadness to shun the hope of an eternity with God at the thought of losing some comforts in the here and now.]

God: Author of Nature and Author of Grace:

• Christ commands us... to seek the Kingdom of God, but not in such a manner as to neglect all things else
• the use of the goods of the present life, and the righteous enjoyment which they furnish, serve both to strengthen virtue and to reward it
• the splendour and beauty of our earthly habitation, by which human society is ennobled, may mirrorthe splendour and beauty of our dwelling which is above
• God, who is the Author of Nature is the Author of Grace, willed not that one should collide or conflict with the other, but that they should act in friendly alliance, so that under the leadership of both we may the more easily arrive at that immortal happiness for which we mortal men were created

Remedy: The Glorious Mysteries:

• learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life
• learn that the path to Heaven lies open to all men
• recall the sweet words of Christ and His promise, "I go to prepare a place for you"
• remember that a time will come when "God will wipe away every tear from our eyes," and that "neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more," and that "We shall be always with the Lord," and "like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is," and "drink of the torrent of His delight," as "fellow-citizens of the saints," in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother
• dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire [for heaven]
• discover the true relation between time and eternity, between our life on earth and our life in heaven
• form strong and noble characters. When such characters can be counted in large numbers, the dignity and well-being of society are assured. All that is beautiful, good, and true will flourish in the measure of its conformity to Him who is of all beauty, goodness, and truth the first Principle and the Eternal Source

Concluding thought: The rosary is one of the best devotions that can help us to see how our divine Lord comes down to earth, accompanies us through very human experiences, and how these experiences, transformed through grace, helps us to get ready to go to heaven to live there for all eternity. The rosary shows us that grace can be found in every different moment of our life. Though moments of joy, sorrow, light, and glory God is there to teach us His eternal truths. This timeless letter from Leo XIII expresses, with great understanding, the benefit of meditating on and seeking God's grace for ourselves and for the formation of society. What a treasure!

I'll leave you with a question: For what ill in society would the Luminous Mysteries be a remedy?

To read the letter in full text please go to:

LAETITIAE SANCTAEENCYCLICAL

OF POPE LEO XIII

COMMENDING DEVOTION TO THE ROSARY

Sean Penn and Shame

Sean Penn recently won the Oscar for best actor in the movie, "Milk." He portrayed Harvey Milk, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the first openly gay, non-incumbent man in the United States to win an election for public office. A year later, in the fall of 1978, Milk and Mayor George Mascone were assassinated by Dan White, a supervisor who had resigned, then wanted his job back, and was told no.

In his acceptance speech, Penn singled out supporters of Proposition 8: “…for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone” (emphases added).

First, if there were hateful signs outside the Oscar’s venue, the sign carriers were interested in insults rather than the truth. The for-Prop-8 signs I saw prior to the election could have papered the walls of any kindergarten.

Second, Proposition 8 was for something, namely, the recognition of the meaning of marriage as a conjugal covenant between one man and one woman. Indeed, the inherent truth of marriage excludes all other possible partnerships, including same-sex unions, polygamy, and bestiality. And that’s because marriage, by its very nature, is different than any other kind of love. Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand says it well:

There is a widespread error, even in Catholic circles, that conjugal love is distinguished from love of friends or love of parents and children merely by its connection with the sensual sphere. Quite independent of sensuality, conjugal love in itself constitutes a completely new kind of love [that] involves a unique mutual giving of one’s self….

The difference between a man and a woman is a metaphysical one…. These two types, man and woman, have a unique capacity for complementing each other…. Marital love…can exist only between two types of the spiritual person, the male and the female, as only between them can this complementary character be found (Marriage: The Mystery of Faithful Love, pp. 5, 11-12).

Third, shame first came to be when sin caused a “constitutive break,” a “fundamental disquiet” between the first man and the first woman. In plain terms, shame was the result of Adam being able to look at Eve as an object rather than as a subject, and vice versa, a perception problem we’ve inherited. Feeling shame, therefore, is a signal that something is terribly wrong with what was meant to be wonderfully right. 

For John Paul II, shame both indicates a threat to a value (in this case, the inherent dignity of the beloved) and preserves this value interiorly (Theology of the Body, 28.6). In other words, shame is an internal, corrective shock, triggered by what is awry in our vision and actions relative to another.

Penn sees no shame in making marriage fit any relational role on the world stage. On the other hand, Prop 8 supporters are supposed to feel shame that they don’t have that kind of versatile, sophisticated imagination.

Verily, the truth is 180 degrees out from Penn’s tack. Knowing that, from the very beginning, marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman (Mt 19:1-8), real shame for us would be in choosing not to support a proposition like 8. 

   

President Obama and Catholicism

Everyone has probably heard by now that 54% of Catholics voted for Obama in the recent presidential election. This has caused many Catholics to scratch their heads in bewilderment… how could a Catholic in good conscience vote for him, with his past aggressive pro-abortion record?  Others, we may also suppose in good conscience, voted for the man.

 

Students have requested that I write a piece on Obama’s first month, or his first 50 days in office from a Catholic perspective. This would be a huge task. And since I am not an expert in economics, or politics, or even in American history, how to reasonably approach such a issue?

 

I have been thinking about this for about a week now and was still not quite sure how to address this.  Then I read an excellent speech by Archbishop Chaput of Denver on this very issue. I cannot recommend, highly enough, reading this speech – he addresses this very important issue with a clarity, courage and conviction that is rarely found among bishops today. The address can be found at Tolerance Is Not a Christian Virtue   Read it carefully.  I may return to write on this later, but for now, the Archbishop’s words are well worth your effort.

The Formation of Society - Part 3

This week we continue our  detailed look at the mysteries of the rosary and how they can help us to understand the wealth of grace God gives us to face some of our greatest weaknesses. Today's topic is the repugnance of suffering and the Sorrowful Mysteries as found in Pope Leo XIII's 1893  encyclical called

 

Commending Devotion to the Rosary

 

Second Influence: Repugnance to Suffering-The Sorrowful Mysteries

 

What the Problem Looks Like:

• eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure
• dreams of a chimeric civilization in which all that is unpleasant shall be removed
• desire of living a life of [only] pleasure
• belief that all that is pleasant shall be supplied

Negative Consequences:

• freedom of mind robbed, minds of men are weakened
• demoralization
• sink under the hardships of the battle of life

Remedy: The Sorrowful Mysteries

• train one's mind to dwell upon the sorrowful mysteries of Our Lord's life, and to drink in their meaning by sweet and silent meditation
• contemplate, also, the grief of the most Holy Mother, whose soul was not merely wounded but "pierced" by the sword of sorrow, so that she might be named and become in truth "the Mother of Sorrows"

Christ's Example:

• see how Christ was subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, accounted unworthy to live, and condemned by the voice of the multitude as deserving of death
• realize that the sufferings which were hardest to bear were those which He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will
• witnessing these examples of fortitude, not with sight but by faith, who is there who will not feel his heart grow warm with the desire of imitating them?

Our Hope in Following the Way of Christ:

• freedom of mind is reward of those who do what is right, undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so
• there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering
• it belongs to the Christian to do and to endure great things, for he who deserves to be called a Christian must not shrink from following in the footsteps of Christ
• it is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which shirks not a trial because it is painful, but which accepts it and esteems it as a gain, however hard it may be to undergo
• Christians are able to re-echo, not with [our lips], but with [our] life, the words of St. Thomas: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John xi., 16)

Let us continue to implore heaven for the grace to understand the role of suffering in our life and may we turn to the Blessed Mother for intercession in life's most difficult moments. Next week, we shall conclude this four-part series on Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on the rosary, taking a careful look at the Glorious Mysteries.

Human Life in the Fast Lane: Conversing with Jérôme Lejeune

In June 1978, I drove Dr. Jérôme Lejeune, from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport to St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, where he was to address an international conference on human life issues. I knew Dr. Lejeune only by reputation: pediatrician specializing in the treatment of children with chromosomal anomalies and renowned geneticist who had discovered the cause of Down’s syndrome some 20 years earlier. When I met him, he was professor of Genetics at the University of René Descartes in Paris. Until his death in 1994, he would focus his work and research on preventing and treating Trisomy 21, the cause of Down’s syndrome. 

Prior to heading northwest to St. John’s, we stopped at the University of Minnesota where Dr. Lejeune gave a lecture to medical students on the biochemical elegance of DNA and RNA.  He was obviously in his element—a quiet confidence and wonderful sense of humor underlay his love and gift for sharing an enormously complex, microcosmic world. At the close, the students clapped with verve.

Back on the road, he asked about my life and work at St. John’s University. His interest and altruism took me by surprise. I responded with a half-minute sound bite on my job, then countered with questions about his life and research. What ensued was a fascinating tour of the beginnings of human life: helical structures, DNA replication, the unbelievably intricate and dynamic world of genetics.

After many years of chromosomal research, Dr. Lejeune believed that our human building blocks could not have come to be by chance. For him, the pattern was too wonderfully complex, yet singularly structured, to have randomly “happened.” And he expressed the hope that someday he would be able to elucidate more the intricate chemical and physiological “formulae” behind the design itself.

For the next hour plus, I soaked up as much as I could. What impressed me more than Dr. Lejeune’s knowledge, was his person. He was passionate without being pedantic. He obviously loved life. Whatever the topic, he was thoroughly engaged and therefore engaging. Every now and then he would let his French sense of humor bubble to the surface. At one point, with a wry smile and eyes twinkling, he quipped that his house in Paris was older than the United States. I gave him my you-have-to-be-kidding look, and he laughed, saying that he always got a rise from Americans with that historical bit of truth.

Dr. Lejeune was a man of faith. Indeed, he exuded faith… in life, in science, in God. He saw no barriers, no compartments, no built-in contradictions amidst “levels” of reality, from the biological to the spiritual. As a Renaissance man and Catholic scientist, he was not behind the lines, but in the front trenches. 

Suddenly we were at St. John's; a hour and a half had passed in what seemed like a minute and a half. An unforgettable ride at warp speed.    

Post Script  In April of 1981, a U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held hearings on the question, “When does human life begin?” Among the experts who testified were Drs. Hymie Gordon, McCarthy de Mere, and Jérôme Lejeune. Excerpts from their testimony:

Dr. Hymie Gordon, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic: "By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception."

Dr. McCarthy de Mere, M.D., J.D., medical doctor and law professor at the University of Tennessee: "The exact moment of the beginning of personhood and of the human body is at the moment of conception."

Dr. Jérôme Lejeune, M.D., Ph.D.:

“When I had the honor of testifying previously before the Senate, I took the liberty of referring to the universal fairy-tale of the man smaller than the thumb. At two months of age, the human being is less than one thumb's length from the head to the rump. He would fit at ease in a nutshell, but everything is there: hands, feet, head, organs, brain, all are in place. His heart has been beating for a month already. Looking closely, you would see the palm creases and a fortune teller would read the good adventure of that tiny person. With a good magnifier the fingerprints could be detected. Every documentable human factor is available for a national identity card.

“With the extreme sophistication of our technology, we have invaded his privacy. Special hydrophones reveal the most primitive music: a deep, profound, reassuring hammering at some 60-70 per minute (the maternal heart) and a rapid, high-pitched cadence at some 150-170 (the heart of the fetus). These, mixed, mimic those of the counter-bass and of the maracas, which are the basic rhythms of any pop music.

“We now know what he feels, we have listened to what he hears, smelled what he tastes and we have really seen him dancing full of grace and youth. Science has turned the fairytale of Tom Thumb into a true story, the one each of us has lived in the womb of his mother.

“And to let you measure how precise the detection can be: if at the beginning, just after conception, days before implantation, a single cell was removed from the little berry-looking individual, we could cultivate that cell and examine its chromosomes. If a student, looking at it under the microscope, could not recognize the number, the shape and the banding pattern of these chromosomes, if he was not able to tell safely whether it comes from a chimpanzee being or from a human being, he would fail in his examination.

“To accept the fact that, after fertilization has taken place, a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or of opinion. The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention. It is plain experimental evidence.”

Writing the Gospel with Our Lives

A few weeks ago, I attended a biblical studies conference on St. Paul.  It was entitled “The Gospel According to St. Paul.”  I had never thought about St. Paul as an author of The Gospels.  Yet, indeed that is who he was.  And he is uniquely qualified to be addressed as such, with his immense background in the Scriptures and their predictions of the messiah.  Paul had deep insight concerning the Old Testament passages that referred to the coming messiah, even before Christ revealed Himself on the road to Damascus. So it was with some excitement that I attended this event.  It promised to be more than just another commentary on the subject.  Three serious students of biblical theology were speaking: Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. Brant Pitre, and Professor Michael Barber.  There was no reason to fear disappointment in attending.

 

The first presentation by Dr. Hahn presented the question of Paul’s conversion - was he really converted?  There are paintings so entitled, and we often mention his so-called conversion. In reality, Dr. Hahn suggests, Paul was simply called by the Messiah he had long awaited, and had served to the best of his ability and with great vigilance, hence his murderous mission to Damascus persecuting the Christians.  It gave me pause to think about how often I pray for conversion.  In the sense that I, like all sinners, need to turn from sin and realign my life with Jesus in faithful obedience to the Father, accepting the help of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I am praying for conversion. 

 

But Paul’s encounter with the Risen Lord was really “a call.”  Though very dramatic, involving three days of blindness, followed by healing and a whole transformation of life for Paul, it is still very much like the calls we receive each day in our own lives.  For example, very much like the call I received inviting me to become a part of the University of Sacramento as adjunct faculty.  Very much like the call from a parish to become part of an RCIA team, or to take over a catechism class for children.  We are all writing little “gospels” according to our own lives. 

 

It might be an interesting experiment to write down the number of people to whom you have spoken of Jesus and His Good News.  Don’t limit the list to your family members only. Include non-Catholic friends to whom you have spoken of the wonderful news of your Catholic life.  Include also the members of the parish you attend, the people you work with, the clerk at the grocery, and the other chance encounters you have throughout your everyday life. In the second column, next to the name, record what part of the Creed you spoke about.  Paul was always about speaking the Creed.  The Father who sent Jesus, Jesus who always did the will of the Father, the saving love of the Cross.  What part of your belief did you speak aloud? (Remember that there are two who are listening: you and the person you speak to.)  What we say aloud we embed more firmly in our hearts and minds.  How firmly Paul embedded the Gospel is witnessed in the many trials he endured, and even his martyrdom.  Speak the Word!

 

Finally ask yourself, what else is in the Creed that I do not speak?  As Paul worked and traveled, he saw in every encounter a chance to speak the Gospel, to explain the Creed so that the Body of Christ would grow and live in grace.  That kind of “conversion” – the knowledge and communication of the Gospel – is what we are all called to.