Human vs. Divine Kings

Last week and all of next week, the first daily scripture readings are from the Book of Revelation.  The liturgical year winds down with numerous references to end times and the last judgment.  Much has been written about the fantastic apocalyptic images in Revelations.  I like to think of it as staged drama and over-the-top exaggerated caricatures with dream-like qualities.  St. John uses these images and dramatic effects to make the point that Jesus (depicted as a Lamb) is the Son of God, our King, and that our salvation depends on Him alone.  In Revelation, God not only defeats Satan, He conquers death itself.  Next Saturday, the last day of the liturgical year ends with a reading from the last chapter of the bible: “Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.”  (Rev 22:7) 

Scripture calls us to consider the fact that our lives here on earth will come to an end, and now is the time for us to prepare for eternity.  The last Sunday of the liturgical year celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King, and the first reading from Ezekiel begins with God saying, “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.”  (Ez 34:11)  Initially, the Jews had no earthly king, only prophets and the law to guide them.  It was only when the people complained and demanded an earthly king, that the prophet Samuel chose Saul to be the first king of the Israelites.  The problem is that right from the start, the earthly kings fell far short in many respects.  Their human faults led them to commit sins of pride, lust, greed, and more. 

God alone is perfect, and His Kingship is not based on power, but on Love and mercy.  When Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand, He did not mean that God would rule by force, as human kings do.  God’s kingdom is not a faraway realm only attainable in death; it encompasses all time and space, and is accessible even now simply by entering into a loving relationship with God.  It is Jesus who makes this relationship possible, because through His sacrifice He has revealed the nature of God Our Father, and makes Him accessible through Jesus Himself.

In teaching us to pray the Our Father, Jesus taught us to invoke the kingdom of God every time we say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…”   Kingdoms and leaders of the earth rise and fall, but the kingdom of God will never pass away or be destroyed, because they are rooted in the infinite and eternal Love of God.  When we enter into this Kingdom through Jesus, our eyes are opened to the beauty of creation and the dignity of human life which has been created in the image of God.  But when our eyes are deprived of this vision, the world is a darker, more foreboding place.  When we lack a relationship with God, we rely on ourselves or on human rulers and leaders, and we are bound to be disappointed.  Like Saul, David, and so many kings of history, human sinfulness seeps into their actions and their leadership is tainted.  Not so with God and Jesus.  They alone possess the Love that created the universe and the ultimate Truth about the meaning and purpose of life.

The folly of human leadership is in full view these days, but many are blinded to the errors that seem so obvious to people whose perspective includes the kingdom of God.  Here are just a few examples:

Can a nation flourish when it kills its’ own children?  The Culture of Death is in high gear in California where last summer the Department of Managed Health Care passed an edict that requires every insurance plan to pay for surgical abortions.  That’s right, not just contraceptives and the morning after pill, but surgical abortions!   There are no exceptions allowed, even churches and religious organizations must comply.  This is a direct violation of federal law under the Weldon Amendment, but federal law does not contain provisions for enforcement at the state level.  Here’s an instance where a bureaucrat wrote administrative law without the oversight of the legislature, and it is being carried out by the state government in firm control of the Democrats.  Republicans have drafted a bill called the “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act,” to enforce the Weldon Amendment, but it won’t get through the US Senate until there’s a Republican majority.

Can poverty be cured by raising taxes on professional athletes, Hollywood stars, and Fortune 500 CEOs?  You might think so if you listen to Janet Yellen and Hillary Clinton.  Yellen, the new Fed chair, keeps talking about income redistribution as if it’s the government’s job to distribute income.  At a recent speech, Hillary Clinton said, “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.  You know, that old theory: trickle-down economics.”  What planet is she from?  If everybody works for the government, who will pay the taxes to fund their wages?  Where was Hillary when Ronald Reagan dumped Keynesian economics and cut personal and business taxes substantially, resulting the creation of millions of new jobs and ultimately MORE federal tax revenue?  Reaganomics, as it came to be called, was based on the sound economic theory of Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate economist who helped Reagan overcome the high unemployment and inflation inherited from Jimmy Carter. 

Will amnesty for 5 million illegal aliens help solve our immigration crisis?  Or will millions more people cross our borders illegally in hopes of cashing in on the American dream?  The DREAM Act seems to have been the impetus for tens of thousands of children to be sent across our border illegally, at great risk to their safety.  If we do this without first securing the border, won’t we be inviting another wave of illegal immigration?  And why are the unions silent about this infusion of cheap, non-union labor?  Maybe they think they’ll be able to recruit them into unions, or perhaps just increase the number of people voting Democrat.  Recent studies show rampant voter fraud in states without voter ID requirements, and found that 80% of the illegal aliens who voted went Democrat.  In Minnesota, it was enough to secure re-election for Al Franken.   

Should the Federal Government micro-manage the mortgage business?  The Dodd-Frank banking laws created a burgeoning bureaucracy that now governs mortgage loans.  In their wisdom, they’ve removed the element of risk from banks making loans, so that all defaults will be assumed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Apparently one housing crisis wasn’t enough.

These are just a few instances of the failure of human leadership when it is motivated by the desire to retain power and seems to be blind to Truth.  There are many more examples to be found in the labyrinth of federal and state administrative law.   While we are constrained to live and work in this flawed world, it’s a bit easier to take knowing that it will all pass away and our real citizenship is in the kingdom of God, even now.  

Our Greatest Gift: Sexuality

Last Friday’s first scripture reading for the daily liturgy was from the second letter of John and it contained this little gem:  “Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.”  (2 John 9)  In the deeply polarized politics of our time, on one side we have people who are proud to consider themself “progressive,” in the sense that they believe it is necessary for government to assert control over nearly every aspect of society, ostensibly because people cannot manage their lives effectively without government oversight.  Liberal, or progressive thought, is also associated with an emphasis on individual happiness and freedom, and views religion as imposing unnecessary restrictions and burdens on the pursuit of personal happiness.   On the other side, conservatives hold more traditional views about marriage and family, and consider the growing burden of government regulation as an impediment to economic growth.

Jumping ahead to Sunday’s liturgy, the first reading from Proverbs described the value of wife who “fears the Lord” and is a blessing to her husband and family.  Psalm 128 also addresses the benefits of marriage and family, describing the man blessed who fears the Lord, his wife as a fruitful vine, and his children like olive plants around his table.  In other words, the blessings of marriage and family are the product of walking with the Lord.  The gospel parable about a man who entrusts his servants with talents, also describes the benefit of using those talents for good, rather than burying them in the ground.  The message is clear: God has entrusted us with many gifts and it us up to us to put them to good use.  In that vein, I contend that the greatest gift God has entrusted us with is our sexuality.  Our fertility also represents the great responsibility we have for procreation and the continuation of human life on earth.  What greater joy and fulfillment could there be than to join with our spouse and share in God’s plan for creating new life?   Anyone who has held their newborn child for the first time, understands this tremendous fulfillment and responsibility.

The very nature of our bodies, and the biological truths about our sexuality, is that it takes a man and a woman to create new life.  Sex is inextricably linked to our fertility and procreation, but when we separate sex from fertility, all hell breaks loose.  Even the atheist Sigmund Freud knew this would spell trouble for society.  Nevertheless, the “progressive” point of view these days is that sex should be an entitlement, completely separated from the responsibility for child bearing.  Anyone who says otherwise is accused of waging a war on women.  And if sex for the sake of pleasure is the goal, any and all forms of sexual expression are considered a civil right.  Hence the growing belief that sexual expression in all forms is “normal” and anyone who says otherwise is considered intolerant, some would say, “on the wrong side of history.”  Progressive activists have made several attempts in the courts to establish the right to contraception and abortion as “civil rights.”  And of course the Affordable Care Act now makes it a legal requirement that every employer must offer these coverages.  In fact, just last week the Pro-Life group Priests for Life, lost their appeal in court and will now face heavy fines for refusing to pay for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

But herein lies the problem: Our society is no longer “progressing,” it’s coming apart at the seams.  Poverty levels have never been higher in the US, despite record spending on welfare entitlements; crime is rampant; and education is in decline.  Sociologists are now pointing to the breakdown of the family as the root cause of these problems.  Even atheist and agnostic sociologists are concluding that the lack of having both a mother and a father raising children as a traditional family, leads to poverty, poor educational outcomes, and crime.  (I’ve cited the fact in earlier blogs about the very high percentage of male inmates who grew up without a father in the household)  And what is causing this breakdown in family structure?  Inarguably, it is sex outside of marriage.  Young men who want sex without commitment or responsibility are disinclined to marry if sex is readily available.  Young women who can collect more welfare income if single, are discouraged from marriage.  A review of the book Broken Bonds: What Family Fragmentation Means for America’s Future, put it this way:

“The social capital created by traditional families is what undergirds the rest of our society.  Sociologists and economists now understand that when this social capital is diminished, it causes all sorts of other problems.  The crisis of the welfare state, wage stagnation, income inequality, unemployment, the prison-industrial complex—all of these can be traced to the breakdown of the family.”

 Simply stated, to destroy the family is to destroy culture.  The sexual revolution has led to too many children for several generations being raised without fathers.  Those children do not learn how to manage their lives well, and the cycle perpetuates itself.  The Catholic Church has maintained for generations that sex outside marriage is wrong and leads to all sorts of problems, but our progressive culture and the ready availability of contraceptives and abortion have clouded people’s intellects and weakened their wills. 

The secular world is just beginning to catch on to what the Church has known and taught forever: that sex outside of marriage leads to unhappiness, and works against the well-being of society and specifically children who are raised without one parent or the other.   In his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II lays out the case for the beauty and gift of our sexuality, explaining the importance of chastity, modesty, and taking responsibility for our sexuality in ways that lead to greater intimacy and intense joy in marriage.  This is a beautiful, meaningful message that too few people are hearing, and if they did, they would understand the great gift we have been given in our fertility and in marriage.  This is the message our Church is hoping to share more fully with the world.  It is part of the New Evangelization already underway, and it is the topic discussed in great detail at the recent Bishop’s Synod.   

Now is the time to turn away from the false promises of progressivism, and recognize that God has given us our most valuable and potent gift, in the form of our sexuality and the complementarity of men and women.  If we hoard this gift and use it only for personal pleasure, we will be severely disappointed at the end of our life, like the servant who wasted his talents.  However, if we revere and respect this gift, and use it wisely, we will learn to love sacrificially and be rewarded with the incomparable fruits of our love, as expressed in the lives of our families.

The Mystery of Our Existence

All of Sunday’s scripture readings make reference to the Temple of God.  In Ezekiel the water flowing from the temple gives life to the world.  In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he admonishes them, “Do you not know that you are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  (1 Cor 3:16)  In the gospel, Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple and when questioned, He replies: “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 

In ancient Israel the temple was the center of life and culture, from which the Jews drew their identity as the chosen people of God.  But of course the building itself was only stone and mortar, subject to desecration and destruction, in short, it was transitory.   When Jesus referred to Himself as a Temple, and Paul told the Corinthians their bodies were Temples of God, they were referring to a spiritual reality and the mystery of our human existence.  We are more than mere flesh and bone, we are children of God who is infinite, and we have been created in His image.  Before exploring what this means, I must digress in order to make my case.

Last week I ran across an article about a Christian watchdog group that confronted Ohio State University for flagrantly teaching that Christians are less intelligent than atheists.  In a quiz for a Psychology 1100 class, the correct answer to one of the multiple choice questions was that atheists have a higher IQ than Christians.  The prevailing liberal bias is that Christians are intellectually inferior, as evidenced by their antiquated belief in the spiritual realm.  Pop culture atheists such as Richard Dawkins point to the Catholic Church’s supposed rejection of science and free thought.  In reality, modern science owes its origins to observant Catholic scientists.  This coming week on November 15^th the Church commemorates the feast day of St. Albert the Great, the 13^th century Dominican priest who set the stage for exploring all forms of science, logic, astronomy, economics, politics and metaphysics.  St. Albert is the patron saint of scientists and all researchers of the natural sciences, based on his own significant contributions.  Other notable Catholic scientists included:

·        Nicholas Copernicus, the priest who proved that the earth and other planets rotate around the sun

·        Father Roger Bacon, who is considered the father of the modern scientific method

·        Blessed Raymond Llull who invented the first analog computer 

·        Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and physicist who is known as the “father of modern hydrostatics”  

·        Gregor Mendel, the 19^th century monk who was the first to prove the founding principles of genetics

·        Fr. Georges Lemaitre who first posited the “big bang theory”

Even our current pope, Francis, is a chemist who taught at the university level.   The point is that the Church staunchly believes that there is no conflict at all between science and religion.  The Church still operates two major observatories, and sponsors important international annual seminars on adult stem cell research.  Louis Pasteur said, “Science brings men nearer to God.  The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the Creator’s work.”  In his recent book, Chance or Purpose, Archbishop Schonborn wrote, “Belief in God as the Creator is not an obstacle to science.”  The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“There can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason.  Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny Himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.  Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God… for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.”  (CCC 159)

Now for a bit of speculative thought of my own:  Modern particle physics states that at the sub-atomic level, all matter is comprised of tiny packets of energy.  At the sub-atomic level, our bodies are, at their core, bundles of energy.  According to Genesis, all of creation came into existence at the Word of God.  When God said, “Let there be…” existence came into being.  Before the Big Bang, was there only energy?  And if so, was that primordial energy God Himself?  Did He create all matter, and all that exists by converting some of His own energy into matter?  This might explain why we are drawn inexorably to God. The energy that forms the atoms in our bodies contains that primordial energy, making us quite literally Temples of God.  

The Church teaches that every human body has inherent dignity and commands respect.  This is because we are God’s children and every human being is beloved by God, Our Father.  Do not mistake my musings for pantheism.  I don't contend that we are gods, or even the embodiment of God, but in a mystical sense we owe our existence to God.   We are drawn to God not only because we come from Him, but because our existence does not begin and end with our birth and death, but rather, we have been created for eternal life.  None of this can be proven scientifically, but nevertheless, we believe it to be true because we inherently know that love exists, and that love transcends time and space. 

The Spirit of God does dwell in us.  This ennobles us, inspires us, and is perhaps the reason why we are drawn to beauty in nature, in music, and in art that transcends our ordinary existence.  After all, music is the vibration of energy, and light consists of packets of energy that makes life itself possible.  When God spoke, energy exploded into matter, including the very atoms that make up our human bodies.  Yet we know we are more than just trillions of atoms, we resonate with the Spirit of God because we come from Him and we instinctively know that we will return to Him.  This does not make us naïve or less intelligent than atheists.  We never deny the truth because all Truth is from God, and draws us closer to Him.  What distinguishes us from non-believers is that we have come to know and believe in the spiritual realm from which we have all been created, and for which we are destined to return. We know this because we are loved and capable of love, despite the fact that love cannot be measured scientifically, nor studied in a lab.  Love is the only thing we experience which is unbounded by time and space.  It is another dimension of our being, which is not limited to our three dimensional existence.  Love is a hint of our spiritual self which we cannot fully fathom until we are released from this world and experience the fullness of God’s infinite love.  

Death, Dying, and Civilization As We Know It

This weekend marked the celebration of All Saints and All Souls Days, following Halloween (Hallowed Eve) on the Friday before.  Scripture readings for Saturday and Sunday boldly proclaim the hope we share because of our faith.  Here are just a few excerpts from the past two days:

·        “I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race,   people and tongue.  They stood before the throne and before the Lamb…” (Rev 7:4) 

·        “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:3)

·        “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”  (Matt 5:2) 

·        “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.  They seemed in the view of the foolish to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction.  But they are in peace.  For… their hope is full of immortality; “ (Wisdom 3:1-3) 

·        “Brothers and sisters, Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:5) 

·        “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.  For if we have grown into union with him through a death like His, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.  If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”  (Romans 6:4-5,7)

The message here, repeated over and over, is that death is not the end of our lives, but only the beginning of our eternal life in the loving Presence of God.  This is why we celebrate the saints and all those who have gone before us in life.  We believe that they are still very much alive, living an existence no longer constrained by the limits of time and space.  This is the message of the gospel; this is the promise of salvation; this is our eternal destiny, if only we believe and abide in the love of Christ Jesus. This is the culture of life, the culture that believes in the absolute dignity of every human life, not just because of our human bodies, but because each of us is a spiritual being who happens to be living in a human body for the time being.

Ironically, the secular culture, the culture of death, seems lately to be enamored with the idea of life after death, but in a dark and foreboding way.  Instead of depicting life after death as marked by a release from the pains and suffering endured in our humanity, it portrays life after death as painful and tormented, as in the form of zombies, vampires, or werewolves who are murderous and demonic.  Could it be that fascination with these perversions of life after death are a byproduct of the mindset that refuses to respect human dignity; one that views inconvenient babies as disposable, and fails to see value in the lives of the elderly if their quality of life is judged to be unacceptable?   Ezekiel Emmanuel, the principle architect of the Obamacare legislation, recently commented that he does not want to live past 75, and that the elderly should not have access to expensive life-extending medical treatment.  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, in a recent magazine interview, explained Roe v. Wade in terms of population control, “particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.” Those are her exact words.  Did she mean minorities; or the poor in general?  She went on to state that not enough resources were being spent on abortions for the poor.  In her view, we don’t kill enough babies, notwithstanding the dire consequences of our declining birth rates on tax revenue and the economy at large.

Is this the way our society and culture is trending?  Are we becoming a people devoid of hope?  In the run up to this week’s mid-term election, Nancy Pelosi screeched that if the Republicans win a majority in the Senate, “It will be the end of civilization as we know it.”  By that did she mean the culture of death?  Is she worried that all the liberal and progressive advances made by Democrats in the past 6 years will be unraveled?  Might the Republicans stop our government from giving $600 million a year to Planned Parenthood, and billions more through the abortions funded by Obamacare insurance plans whose premiums are paid in part with government subsidies?  Might the evil Republicans actually do something to curb our deficit spending?

Despite all the angst over this election, I doubt much will change.  Even if the Republicans have an overwhelming victory, our lame duck president will veto any efforts to unravel Obamacare, the Dodd-Frank banking debacle, or the run-away EPA.  President Obama and his cabinet minions will still be writing administrative laws further obfuscating healthcare, banking, environmental issues, and of course, immigration.  There’s probably little the Republicans can do to slow down this train wreck that Nancy Pelosi seems to think is the pinnacle of civilization.

As depressing as all this may sound, the bottom line is that it all matters very little in the long run, the long run being eternal life.  Shakespeare, who many think was a closet Catholic, put it this way:  “This life, which has been the tomb of his virtue and his honor, is but a walking shadow; a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” (Macbeth Act 5, Scene 5)  Life on this earth is no more than a trifle in time, compared to timeless infinity.  The deepest longings of the human heart cannot be satisfied here on earth.  No matter what we have, or how much of it we are able to grasp, we always want more.  What will satisfy our longing?  Simply put: Everything.  We are spiritual beings, children of God, with desires rooted in the Infinity that is God, and therefore nothing finite will ever satisfy us.   Only in death will we find what we desire most dearly: Infinite Love, in which we already participate, but only in our currently limited capacity.   More on that next week…