Love in the Time of COVID-19

Love in the Time of COVID-19

Today is Laetare Sunday.  Laetare means rejoice, and is the first word of the ancient prayer that opens this liturgy: “Rejoice, Jerusalem: and all who love her: Be joyful, all who have been in sorrow: that you may exult and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.”

This year, in particular, we get the sorrow part:  we've been displaced and isolated.  We miss our friends and seniors, in particular, are missing out on all the festivities that mark the end of a schoolyear and their college career. No Senior week.  Maybe even no commencement ceremonies!  No closure.  So, what possible reasons could we have to rejoice?

Questions are raised by those who do not understand God as incarnate:  Why would God allow this virus? Is it a punishment for a sinful world? This is similar to the questions asked in today's gospel by those who challenge Jesus. "Who has sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind"?

I read the statement of an atheist who feels that the notion of God has finally lost in the debate between science and God. The comment: "Seems like all eyes are on science for a solution to the coronavirus, not on God.  Churches are closed! Liturgies are canceled! People are slowly realizing that real problems can’t be solved by imaginary solutions!”  That is this person’s reason to rejoice!

But, clearly, the author of this quote does not understand the God of Jesus!  The assumption is that if there were a God, God would not allow the coronavirus or at least would eradicate it once it appeared. But Jesus says that doesn't sound like any God that I know. The God I know is not separate from nature controlling it. Instead, God is with us in it.

Remember how we began Lent: “Remember you are dust, and to dust, you will return."  We reflected on the paschal possibilities (life, death, resurrection) in this statement:  We are of God.  God is the essence of our being; God always was and always will be, and if we are of God, the same is true of us!  We come from the stuff of the cosmos, and we will return to it.  But when we return, we return to a place of completeness.  We have learned to hope and to love.  Our faith is in eternal life.

The second reading assures that Christ gives us light in the darkness.  Christ is the light in the darkness.  Nothing in the darkness ultimately matters.  Nothing in the darkness is of God.  So we move away from sorrow and mourning during this dark time of quarantine to "every kind of righteousness and truth."  Through science, we find ways to alleviate the suffering that accompanies illness and death, and we take precautions to avoid causing more of it.  We are anointed by God to do so in this temporal place.   But no matter how successful science is in this endeavor, it doesn't overcome the eventuality of death.  Christ has already done that, by bringing the human and the divine into communion! 

As Catholic Christians, we usually celebrate that reality in the Eucharist.  Our current darkness does not allow that.  But we can at least commune spiritually until we come together again at the altar of the Lord.  We can hold each other in prayer. We can share our faith online through Bible study and sharing reflections on the daily and Sunday readings.  We can check-in with friends and, especially, older relatives and neighbors who are isolated and yearn to hear from us.  That’s the Liturgy of the Word.

Google The Mass on the World.  It is the first chapter of Teilhard de Chardin’s book: Hymn of the Universe.  In the Mongolian desert without bread or wine, Teilhard, a Jesuit priest, prays mass over the elements available to him: land; sky; wind; fire. How do we pray the Eucharist in isolation without bread, without wine, without priest? We acknowledge the holiness of all we see. Our homes. Our rooms. Our land. Our people. We pray in consecration, acknowledging that all is holy. This is why Jesus chose bread and wine. They were the most basic available elements. We see creation not with our own limited vision, but with the healed vision of Christ. At first, it is not very clear. But with time, all can come into focus. We see the connectedness of all creation and, as we say in the Creed, of all things visible and invisible. We enter into the darkness of our isolation, disappointment, illness, and through our healed vision are able to see the light in that darkness, the light of Christ. We expose the fruits of the works of darkness. We rise from it by living the light of Christ. And then we share it.  So, rejoice. Laetare!

Belles Beginning Mass Homily

August 24, 2019  Saint Mary's College

First Year Students Mass

Welcome to Saint Mary’s College!  How many of you arrived by horse and chariots? In carts? Upon mules and dromedaries?  How many of you know what a dromedary is?   You represent 31 states and 3 nations, from the east and the west and the north and the south, and you are here for your next great experiment with truth—for continuing your education.  

 At Saint Mary’s, you will exercise the discipline that is education to become fully alive or, in the words of  Saint John Newman, to flourish--to grow not into the conventional person the limited world would have you be but into who you REALLY are at the very core of your being.  You are here to flourish!

You enter through the narrow gate, where you will encounter the core of your being:  your God.  None of us can know our true selves until we come to know and love the core of our being -without a relationship with the living presence we call God.  God!  What a word!  What an over used, misunderstood and mysterious word. We have certain perceptions of that word, many of which are still immature, undisciplined, poorly educated, and incomplete and can impede our spiritual and intellectual growth. We cannot cleave to those images of God but need to examine and evaluate all of them if we are to grow into who truly are.  We might keep some aspects of the images.  We will tweak others.  Others we might drop entirely, realizing they were more like fairy tales, told to attract us through them into a more adult belief, but no longer of value. As we mature spiritually, our faith becomes not a theory but a love affair. We flourish!

For Cardinal Newman, the ideal Catholic institution of higher learning is a community of thinkers, engaging in intellectual pursuits not for any external purpose, but as an end in itself. Same for Sister Madeleva, who envisioned for Saint Mary’s a broad, liberal education which teaches women "to think and to reason and to compare and to discriminate and to analyze."  

 

So welcome to the community that is Saint Mary’s College. We do what we do here as a community because that’s who we are – individuals come together with unique talents and gifts in pursuit of a common goal –renewing the face of the earth!  Here we grow in knowledge of God by learning about the entire community of creation, everything that exists, visible and invisible, fact and theory.

No one of us knows God fully. So we learn together in classrooms and laboratories -- as a community We live and eat together --as community.  We pray together as community and we play together as community. 

You are most welcome to this community, not to fit into to something already established, but to join in forming the new community Saint Mary’s will become because you are now added to that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before.  We only continue to flourish if we welcome the addition of your presence, your gifts, and your talents. 

Jewish philosopher and theologian Martin Buber contends that community comes about first through living in mutual relationship with a Living, Ultimate Reality at its Center. For Christians,  the Living, Ultimate Reality at our Center is the Risen Christ, who walks with us through the narrow gate, We walk in mutual relationship with Him as we listen to His word and embody his incarnate Spirit into our common flesh—body and blood, as we will do anew in just a few minutes.

Second, Buber continues, community comes about when its members live in that same mutual relationship with one another. We become who we receive-one in communion with all creation as the Risen Christ. 

Our integrity as a community depends on the mutuality of our relationships.  We live as a community when we welcome all who journey with us and exclude no one for any of the reasons our world gives us to do so: differences of origin, socio-economics, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, religious belief or lack thereof—all are us and all are welcome.

We encounter Ultimate Reality through communal religious practices like this one, but also through nature, science, the arts, human relationships, and serving each other, because everything that is, is one—is Christ!  We are the Risen Christ! In knowing ourselves, we know Christ.  In living as one with Christ, we become our true selves, and we recline together at His  table as equals, as one in being with the living God.  Then, with all creation, we flourish! Welcome!  Flourish!  We need you and we love you, but ours is an easy discipline, because we know Christ and we know you.

 

          

Trump address to the nation Sunday, August 4, 2019

For whatever reasons, I found myself wanting to write the speech I feel our president needs to deliver to the nation after this past weekend's mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.  Your feedback is appreciated.

Donald Trump:

My fellow Americans, this has been a weekend of violence that has cost many fellow citizens their lives and even more their peace of mind and security. We mourn with the families of those who have been killed and mourn for our country in which such killings are entirely too frequent.

It has been said that my words have played a role in empowering those who are inclined through mental illness, violent addictions, or any other impetus to act on their violent tendencies. I can no longer deny that there is truth in these accusations. As the leader of our country, I now realize that I have an obligation to moderate my own speaking so that it can no longer be said to enable violent action. It is of small comfort, but I do apologize for any role I have played in bringing our country to this point.

I also challenge others who contribute through their rhetoric to the divide that is causing an emotional, political, and spiritual civil war within our beloved nation. I challenge all Americans to focus now on solutions rather than on blame.  Our nation is in need of healing which can only occur if we work on it together.

I ask the nation to join me with their thoughts and prayers for the victims: those who have died and all who are grieved by their losses. I ask the nation to join me in thoughts and prayers for the families of the perpetrators who must feel tremendous pain and even shame. But I also accept the criticism that thoughts and prayers are not enough.

Therefore, within the coming week, I will have established a group of bipartisan citizens–not just politicians –to begin to look at ways we might put an end to the spiral of violence and divisiveness that has become how our country is being seen by the rest of the world. I will ask this group to look at policies and procedures that contribute to violence and to propose,  by year's end, policies and procedures that will stop it from being the norm. I will direct them to look at legal, educational, social, political, and other solutions that will make America great again. The group will consist of survivors of mass violence, families of victims as well as national and spiritual leaders.  No proposed solution will be rejected out of hand. No voice will be discounted prior to consideration.

The history of our country is that when we come together as one we achieve great things. When we are divided we cause only ruin, hardship, and great pain. This weekend has brought me to realize that my job is to unite and that I have not done that job at all well. In whatever time I have remaining to serve as our president, by the grace of God I will atone for my failures in word and deed through healing words and loving deeds. Out of the blood of those martyred by violence may new life, new ways of thinking, and a new America emerge.

Thank you, and God bless America.

I had just been elected to the Leadership Team of the Association of US Catholic Priests, so when I received notice of the Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children I sent out notices to generate interest in representing the association.  My thought was that members near DC would attend.  But most had prior commitments, and I did not.  I also did not have funds to make the trip and pay the fine, so I drove the 900 + miles to Washington the day before the event and made arrangements to stay at the recommended Stuart Center, sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart.  I was apprehensive about the drive, but just talking about opposition seemed weak and way too easy.

Arriving in time for dinner, I was warmly (if not wetly) greeted by Center staff and shown my room.  Then I joined about 12 fellow demonstrators for a delicious potluck meal.  Community began to form immediately.  Two others indicated their intention to participate in civil disobedience by demonstrating in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building and facing arrest, as did I.  We had joined a webinar earlier in the week to learn about the program and consequences of being arrested for not leaving the building when directed to do so by the Capitol Police, so while we were not entirely sure what to expect, we were confident that all would be well.

The group of those willing to face arrest (70 of us) gathered at 8:30 Thursday morning at a Lutheran church right across from the Russell Senate Office Building.  There was a festive spirit in the air.  Many old friends from other demonstrations and activist work were reunited and many introductions were made.  I connected with fellow AUSCP-er Bernie Survil, who seemed to know and be known by everyone! Many of us were presenting ourselves for civil disobedience for the first time. Ground rules were again covered and we placed our possessions (cell phones, wallets, etc.) into the care of volunteer supporters and prepared to go to join about 200 other demonstrators for the prayer service outside the senate building.  It was VERY hot outside!!

Event organizers led prayer, music, and testimony.  While they were all very stimulating and brief, the combined effect of time, standing, and heat got to me.  I have injuries from an accident that broke my neck and back, which hurts with  a painful vengeance whenever I stand for too long a period.  But I reflected how my temporary pain, however severe, paled in comparison to the emotional pain and physical hurt of children detained and their families.  The pain kept getting worse but the context made it bearable!

We moved to the Russell rotunda.  It was obvious to many that I was in great pain, including a man from Dayton, Ohio with a cane who saw a report about what we would be doing on the previous night’s Rachel Madow show.  He immediately bought a plane ticket and flew to DC to get arrested!  He was recovering from a recent hip replacement, but was very solicitous of me!  We were all standing, so unbeknownst to me, someone went to seek out a chair for me, which was brought by an aide from the nearby office of Senator Tim Kaine! 

We began the rosary.  Very quickly, an officer of the police announced through a bull horn our first warning to disband.  Then the second.  Finally the third, at which point only the 70 of us remained in the rotunda, including five lying on the floor in the shape of a cross.

I had sat long enough that when I stood to be handcuffed and arrested, my pain was gone.  The arresting police were very polite and very young.  I wondered what was going through their minds as they put cuffs on such a diverse and non-violent group including a 90 and an 80+-year-old religious sister.

We were handcuffed behind our backs, searched and taken to a bus  (I later learned that there was a shot on MSNBC of me being cuffed).  It got real.  The ratio of police officer to ‘prisoner ‘ was 1::1.  To me, the expense seemed excessive and the money would have done wonders for the kids detained at the southern border if any official had been inclined to use it for them.

Still, the police were polite and human.  At the site of detention (it was a large, cleared-out police garage!) chairs were set up and water was offered.  There were plenty of fans, so the air did move.  We were again searched.  The behind-the-back cuffs were removed (I asked to keep mine) and our signs, stoles and other remaining possessions except for id and $$ for bail were bagged.  Once again we were cuffed, this time in front, and directed to sit in chairs.  At this point, the whole thing reminded me of a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles—except for the cuffs, of course.  Hurry up and wait!!

The sense of community continued, while police and detainees got a sense of each other.  Police offered water and were quite kind, but obviously in control!  Some detainees thanked them for their service.  I was not ready to do that. 

We were processed one by one, in some random order.  We sat before an officer who read us our rights and filled out a detention form.  I realized this was my first time in detention!  Then we waited some more.  I did notice that the officers were quite formal and consistent in their demeanor and procedures at the beginning but gradually let up as the process continued.  For example, initially, each person being processed was led to and from the table where that was being done by an officer.  Eventually, we were able to go back to the seats on our own.  Men were seated on one side of the garage and women on another.  At one point a women came over to the men’s side and was redirected.  An hour or so later, a man went over to talk to a woman.  He was ignored by the police.  I guess they realized themselves how stupid some of this was!

Finally, after about four hours, the first of us was called to pay her fine and was let go.  She was Sr. Pat Murphy from Chicago, who is 90 years old.  Sr. Pat gathers every Friday outside the Cook County detention center and has done so for 13 years.

A great cheer went up as she was released.  This continued each time one person would be released.  I wondered how that would go for the last person.  I was not to find out, as my name was called when there were still plenty detainees left.

Outside, with my bag of possessions from the police, I walked to where the event organizers and other volunteers were and was offered a snack.  I took a clementine.  It was delicious but at that point so would have been a turnip!  Waiting for rides, we sat and talked and debriefed.  Sr. Bridget, the executive director of the Stuart Center picked a number of us staying there up and returned us to the center, which was where I had parked.  We had a bit of a social and then they had prepared a dinner for those of us staying there and anyone else who took part in the demonstration.  I left  at about 7 and began the 11 hour drive back to Notre Dame, arriving at 6 AM  Friday morning.

I realize that our efforts were mostly symbolic and of very little personal cost.  Nonetheless, I know it was worthwhile.  It was a witness gesture, but it did draw attention. It made news throughout the nation and even in at least England., with emphasis on it having been a Catholic witness event. 

Social media was full of personal stories and reports of the event.  I am very moved by the hundreds of supportive comments from friends and relatives and even strangers, likes, and loves on my own Facebook page.  It was one of my brothers who posted the clip from MSNBC, showing me getting arrested.  When I got home, I felt positive support from some members of my religious community. Of course, there were also some less supportive comments, but none of these were from anyone I know.  I am glad I did it, and am open to doing something similar again—preferably closer to home!!

Woman caught in adultery

This is a reconstruction of the homily I gave on April 7, 2019--the Fifth Sunday of Lent.  I don't write my homilies, but someone asked for a copy so I tried to recapture it.  I gave it at three different Masses, to college women.  The readings were 

IS 43:16-21

PHIL 3:8-14

JN 8:1-11 . The woman caught in adultery

“Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”  Isaiah 43.

The prophet suggests that creation is an ongoing process. Things are always being made new. This should give us hope.

Hope is the conviction that all will be well. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This is the mystery of our faith. If we believe it then we will not experience disappointment, stress, or despair in the face of failure or even crucifixion.

It’s like a novel or a movie.  .We read or see only what exists at the moment, but in fact, outside of the particular moment the final chapter has already been written; the final scene has already been filmed. Our faith tells us that salvation has been won and that all things have come together in Christ. All is eternally well.

Imagine yourself as the woman caught in adultery. The most stringent upholders of the law–the scribes and Pharisees- have caught you in the very act! You know that the law says you must be stoned to death. How does this feel? How could you possibly have any hope? But the scribes and the Pharisees also have an additional agenda. There’s this guy preaching in the temple who seems rather loose with the law. So they want to test and condemn him and they use you for their purposes.

Now we might say this story is from more primitive times. It was 2000 years ago. But just last week Brunei passed a law to punish those involved in any gay sex and adultery with death by stoning.  Last week the Arkansas Congress refused to pass a bill calling for equal pay. Last week the National Rifle Association opposed the violence against women act.

But also last week Muffet McGraw, the head coach of Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team, got even more press for something she said than about her team. She called for more equity and used college basketball as an example of its lack. She said that if men coach 98% of men’s basketball teams, why do only 47% of women’s teams have a woman as head coach?  McGraw sees her role as a basketball coach as a way to advocate for gender equality. While speaking to reporters Thursday, she spoke passionately about the lack of women in leadership positions inside and outside of sports. McGraw started by citing the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and acknowledging that while the gender pay gap still exists for all women, women of color are paid even less. She mentioned how less than 5 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women. She sounded rightly baffled that while women make up 50 percent of the population, they make up only a quarter of Congress.  He stressed that if this is to change, women must fight for it.  We know men will not be handing it to women!

For the past year, I have been a member of a working group of the Association of United States Catholic Priests, whose task is to formulate a declaration on the role and status of women in the church and especially in church leadership. The working group consists of the four men for women.  We looked up theological, biological, anthropological, philosophical, scriptural, and theological reasons used to justify the disparity of leadership in the church, and found them all wanting.

We need always to remember that we are not now at the last chapter. We are not now watching the final scene. But we know in faith that the story has ended outside of this moment and that it has ended well.  At the end, we are completely fulfilled and at peace.

Di you notice something missing in  the story of the woman caught in adultery? You can’t commit adultery alone. What about the man? Who is a stoning him? Why such an unbalance? If there is going to be balance between men and women, it is you, as women, who have to lead the fight for it. But fight in the confidence and the hope that outside of time, in eternal life, all is well. And live in the hope that someday soon it will be a woman- rather than me- sharing her reflection on the readings of the Eucharist with you!