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Year: 2006

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Christian Witness, Current Events, Political

To whom are we bound?

Jeff Culbreath at Hallowed Things comments on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB 1441, a Bill that seeks to prevent any government funding of any private institution that follows a code of conduct contrary to the wishes of the State. In California: The Slide Continues he states:

Today, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB1441 into law. This tyrannical bill further marginalizes Californians with traditional beliefs by preventing “parochial schools, such as private, Christian, Catholic, Mormon, and many other religious universities, from receiving student financial assistance if they also maintain a student code of conduct preventing behavior deemed immoral by their religious beliefs.— Homeschoolers could be impacted, as many California homeschoolers use public charter school programs or the homeschooling programs of registered private schools. The remainder of California homeschoolers are independently registered as “private” schools with the state: these should not be affected (unless they are somehow receiving state assistance), but the stage is set to go after them next.

I follow Huw Raphael’s line of thinking. In Dance all you want he states:

Religious groups accept money from the state and then discover that the state can change the rules.

Oopsie.

Any school, college, daycare provider, business or entity, social service agency, hospital, or other organization that provides services to the state and receives state funding for those services must set aside their moral/religious views or face an elimination of contracts and funding. There are no exceptions in the new California Law.

Now I do not expect a huge change in the landscape of California’s educational, healthcare, or social service network. Nothing will happen right away because the state will only selectively enforce the law when someone or some group is denied services. Everyone will cover their ears and sing a merry tune in the meantime, at least until they get slapped. Then there will be a lot of hand wringing.

Newer Christian organizations (at least under Bush initiatives) and Catholic organization (for a long time now) have tied themselves too tightly to the cash flow coming from the government. Sure, government is a cash cow – but it is also a golden calf.

We are being offered another opportunity to witness to the strength of our faith. Which will it be, values or money?

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness. — Mother Teresa

Church leaders should heed those words.

Christian Witness

Beheading the witnesses

On this Solemnity of the Beheading of the Baptist I think it is right to reflect on the trend toward making public expressions of faith a crime.

There is a slow moving degradation of our ability to witness to Christ without outright persecution.

I’m not calling our ability to witness a ‘right’ because it is more than that —“ it is a Divine command and an obligation. The rights handed to us by governments can change in fairly rapid order. The obligations we have toward God are eternal. Regardless of the existence of a right, we must remain faithful to the Lord.

A recent case in point is the criminal charges that were pressed against Artur Boruc, a Catholic Pole who plays goal for the Celtic soccer club. Mr. Boruc makes it a regular practice to make the Sign of the Cross as soccer matches. The Scottish prosecutor thinks that doing so is a bad idea and that the Sign of the Cross —provoked alarm and crowd trouble— and —constituted a breach of the peace—. For showing his faith Mr. Boruc received a formal police caution. Some in the football crowd showed that they are little more than racists and bigots.

The opposing team at the match was the Rangers. The match occurred on their home field. Their fan club had this to say: —Boruc should have been dealt with immediately after the February 12 incident by his club.—

That’s right, lets deal with these people. I’m thinking gladiators and lions…

An excerpt from the Evening Standard article: Footballer gets criminal record for making sign of the cross follows:

Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc has been cautioned for blessing himself in a match against arch rivals Rangers.

The Catholic Church has condemned the cautioning of a Polish footballer for gestures which allegedly included blessing himself at an Old Firm match.

Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was cautioned after complaints were made about his behaviour at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in front of Ranger’s fans.

Strathclyde Police investigated claims that Boruc, 26, angered a section of the home support after allegedly making the religious gesture at the start of the second half of the game on February 12.

Officers submitted a report to the Procurator Fiscal.

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal has issued an alternative to prosecution in this case.

“On this occasion, the actions included a combination of behaviour before a crowd in the charged atmosphere of an Old Firm match which provoked alarm and crowd trouble and as such constituted a breach of the peace.

“This quite properly resulted in the matter being reported to the procurator fiscal for consideration. Having looked at the full circumstances in this instance the public interest has been best served by the decision to resolve the matter with an alternative to prosecution.”

The alternative to prosecution being persecution…

We are being reminded in not so subtle ways that our duties toward God are going to run up against both subtle and vehement opposition. The question for each of us is whether we will persevere. Through the intercession of St. John the Baptist may we be granted the grace of humble and final perseverance.

Saints and Martyrs

Solemnity of the Beheading of the Baptist

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Beheading of St. John the Baptist

From today’s Office of Readings:

Precursor of Christ in birth and death

As forerunner of our Lord’s birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendour of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.

There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.

Through his birth, preaching and baptising, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.

Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace, yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptised in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptise the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.

Since death was ever near at hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

— From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest

Everything Else,

From the City of God

St. Augustine of Hippo - Fresco by Botticelli

Of the Nature of the Two Cities, the Earthly and the Heavenly.

Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God “glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise,”-that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride,-“they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, “and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.” But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, “that God may be all in all.” — St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book 14, Chapter 28

Current Events, Media

Muslim conversion trends

The New York Times, in and article describing the release of two Fox News journalists, notes that they were freed after declaring that they had converted to Islam, had taken Muslim names, and had read from the Koran (all at the point of a gun).

Now I could go in a lot of directions on this but I’ll stick with two:

First, these kidnappers are not stupid crazy people (a label the media often uses). They full well understand that Fox News represents rightwing Republican interests. They are also caught in the same trap many Americans are in, falsely equating Republicanism with true Christian conservatism. It is a presumption that many make and that holds fast in the ‘popular culture’ due to the actions of politically inspired ‘preachers’.

As such, the forced conversion of these two men represents, for the Muslim captors and the Muslim world, the ultimate in victories. What the Roman Empire was unable to do on a worldwide scale, a small group of Islamic terrorists accomplished in thirteen days —“ mocking the Christian faith and its adherent’s fidelity.

Second, it is our duty to forgive these men of their rapid ‘conversion’, and to pray for them and their families. The conversion was done at the end of a gun, and was not truly free. In addition, we do not know the depth of their faith or even if they follow Christ. If they do, the guilt of betrayal will be heavy. All in all we must avoid the heresy of Donatism*.

This ‘success’ makes what is old new again, and will give Muslim extremists/terrorists an additional tool by which they think they can mock Christ. Fortunately they are mistaken, the martyrs may be few in coming, but their blood will reap generations of faithful Christians.

Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times article: Fox News Journalists Free After Declaring Conversion:

JERUSALEM, Aug. 27 —” Two journalists kidnapped in Gaza were released unharmed on Sunday after being forced at gunpoint to say on a videotape that they had converted to Islam.

The two journalists for Fox News —” Steve Centanni, 60, an American correspondent, and Olaf Wiig, 36, a freelance cameraman from New Zealand —” were held for 13 days in an abandoned garage in the Gaza Strip as hostages of a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades.

—I’m really fine, healthy in good shape and so happy to be free,— Mr. Centanni told Fox News. He said the two had been forced at gunpoint to say that they were converting to Islam and had taken Muslim names. —I have the highest respect for Islam,— he said. —But it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.—

Earlier on Sunday, their captors delivered a video showing the two men in Arab robes reading from the Koran to indicate their conversion.

*against which St. Augustine fought – his memorial is August 28th.

Everything Else,

Finding Deacons

If you’ve read some of the comments I’ve received from Deacon Dan or from our seminarian Adam, you’ll note that a few of the comments mention the lack of deacon bloggers.

My mini mission, since I redesigned my blogroll, is to identify worthwhile blogs run by Catholic deacons. I’ve just added another link to Deacon Dean who blogs at Life on the (L)edge. He is chronicling the struggle his family is facing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

As we’ve just passed the first anniversary of this tragedy, please make a special intention this week for Deacon Dean, his family, community, and all affected.

I should also note that I’m not including all deacon sites that I trip across. I look at several things to determine whether a deacon will be included:

  • Catholic content, i.e., reflecting the Catholic faith whether in discussion of the Catholic faith itself or in politics, sports, family life, etc.
  • Good design with readable content
  • No extremes except in the preservation of the faith, i.e., no ultra neo-Cath content, far left, far right, far out agendas
  • Ecumenical, Orthodox, Roman, PNCC, Oriental, basically Catholic (anyone who has a Catholic understanding of the Diaconate)

If you would like to recommend someone, let me know.

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