A Blessed Fest

Sr. Jerome, Br. Peter, and I welcome you!

Had it been a weekday, August 5 would have been the memorial of Our Lady of the Snows. You would have never known it, though, in Staten Island, with temperatures in the 90’s and the threat of severe thunderstorms hanging over the day. Still, this was no problem for the second annual St. Paul Friends & Family Fest, held on the grounds of the Society of St. Paul, as long as the downpour held out until our guests were home safe and we all had finished cleaning up. God was very considerate that way, even giving us a little time for a very modest after-party around a picnic table. Work done, many of the crew and planning team chatted about the Fest over a glass of whatever before the wild winds and sheets of rain drove us home. Like last August’s event, this year’s Fest was blessed.

The blessings weren’t limited to the weather, though. Despite the dramatic drop in attendance—half of last year’s (due to heat and storms?)—those who came enjoyed themselves. Of course, their chances at the raffle baskets increased! Rolling Thunder Chapter 2 New York, Staten Island, bikers in a humanitarian organization that mainly supports U.S. vets, couldn’t have been more kind or more skilled with the barbecue tongs. Manhattan Fruit Exchange had lavished produce on us, so nothing was lacking. Thanks to the generosity of the United Staten Island Veterans Association, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and 28 other businesses and organizations, expenses were pared down, raffle baskets overflowed, games and crafts entertained the kids, and music kept things lively. Even “New York’s Bravest” rolled into the parking lot and offered tours of one of their fire engines.

All told, the Pauline Family—priests, brothers, sisters, and Pauline laity—hosted about a hundred people, including a number of our own members. The purpose of the event is to re-introduce Staten Islanders to the Pauline communities and their mission of evangelization within and through the media, help people to consider a vocation in this Family, whether as religious or laity, to share faith and hope in joy with our guests regardless of religious affiliation, and if possible raise some funds for a common project—all while having a good time with family and friends. So it makes sense we would
begin with Mass together with those who want to pray with us, and then turn the celebration outdoors.

Fest Team and Rolling Thunder serve it up.

Proceeds last year went toward the production of the film on Blessed James Alberione, our founder. This year and next, we’re using funds for a joint crossmedia vocation project that all branches of the Pauline Family will be included in crafting and will be able to use in raising awareness about themselves and their mission in the Church. Next year, since the film will be ready, we intend to show it throughout the afternoon and set up hands-on exhibits about Fr. Alberione and the branches of the Family he founded. With her background in project management, local team member Patricia Reilly will coordinate the team’s preparation, formulating a plan, following up on details, and serving as a local (and ready) point of reference for questions and concerns. I’m grateful; It’s almost impossible to do that effectively from 200 miles away!

The morning of the Fest, as I was preparing for the day at the Society of St. Paul’s grounds, a woman, a lifelong Buddhist who often visits the adoration chapel at the SSP, dropped by. We fell to talking, and she said that her husband had died fourteen years ago. Four years later, she discovered the chapel. She confided, “I feel my body being drawn here.” That sounded like God to me. So I ventured, “Take this as an invitation: If you ever feel like learning more about the Catholic Church, you’d be welcome.” She had attended Catholic school as a child and lamented that her girls had never met a sister. “Well,” I answered, “you can take care of that this afternoon.” I invited her to the Fest, and she did come with her daughters and her 17-year-old’s friend. Who knows where this will go?

Kate, who’s probably no more than six, didn’t initially understand the raffle concept. But she was a woman who knew her own mind. She wanted the eight English teacups and saucers with puppies on them. She didn’t care that they came with a coffee and tea basket and she didn’t grasp that just putting her ticket in the bag in front of it didn’t automatically entitle her to the goods. Once she got it, though, she returned again and again to find out when her name would be called. I wondered what would happen to her if someone else had lucked out instead. I didn’t have to worry. When her ticket was pulled (fair and square), she almost somersaulted to claim her prize. I imagine we haven’t seen the last of Kate.

To beat the heat, we’ve changed the date for future Fests to late September or early October. This way we can do more to involve the Catholic schools, too. Seven terrific seniors from St. Peter’s High School spent a few service hours on Sunday working with the Fest Team. There’s potential there either for ministry or total vocational commitment.

Don't miss the slideshow at right!

If you would like to be invited to next year’s event you can e-mail me at margaretjo@paulinemedia.com. If you would like to donate toward the vocation project, you can make a check to the Society of St. Paul and send it to my attention:
Sr. Margaret J. Obrovac, FSP
50 St. Paul’s Ave. Boston, MA  02130.

See you next year!

Photo credits: James Haynes III, John Nappi, Sr. Margaret J. Obrovac, FSP

A Dark Night Rises—Then the Dawn

Today at Mass we heard the Gospel of the margarets. You know the one—about the merchant with a high tolerance for risk, hunting for fine margarets. One day when a really valuable margaret catches his expert eye, he takes the gamble of his life, sells everything he owns, and buys it.

But that’s about pearls, right? Right. That’s what “Margaret” means. From the time I was a girl I had heard that my name comes from the Greek word for “pearl”—margaritári. From the time I was a girl I had also heard that Jesus compared love for the kingdom of God to the relentless search for the best pearl around. It had never been as personal to me, though, until one day about twenty years ago when I was making my daily Eucharistic hour of adoration. I was looking at the crucifix and thanking Jesus for giving his life for me. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, this Gospel passage came to mind. Oh my gosh, I thought, I’m the pearl, and that’s the price!

The only reason I can give my all for the kingdom is that Jesus Christ did it first. Frankly, that’s the only way he could urge us to sacrifice what is dear to us for something dearer. He knew that loving the Father would eventually entail loving us to death. By the outpouring of the Spirit through the outpouring of his life on the cross, he would buy us back for the Father, and in the process, begin to shape us together into the kingdom that’s worth giving our lives for.

This is “the essential point by which Christianity differs from all the other religions,” John Paul II wrote in his apostolic letter preparing the Church for the new millennium. “Here, it is not simply a case of man seeking God, but of God who comes in Person to speak to man of himself and to show him the path by which he may be reached” (Tertio millennio adveniente, 6). This is what, more than anything else, keeps my faith and trust going in dark or difficult times. Jesus cared enough about me to seek me out and to give all he had and was for me: “…the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

I don’t know anyone directly affected by the violence upon moviegoers last week in Aurora,* Colorado, but I couldn’t help thinking of them as I meditated on this Gospel. Do you feel as personally attacked as I do? Only happenstance kept my sister, my cousin, my friend…or me from being counted among the night’s casualties. In fact, more than happenstance connects me to them all: our common citizenship, our common humanity, and in some cases, our common faith. Our common redemption certainly does.

Comforting a young adult after Mass

Some who read Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila’s column the week afterward probably gasped as they recognized yet another apparent twist of fate. I know I did. He recounted how joyfully his first week as Ordinary (head bishop) of Denver began, then how “stunned” he was only two days later as his “great joy turned to sorrow” for the people of this city in his archdiocese. Two short days before a horrifying rite of initiation. Two short days before he was called upon to strengthen his brothers and sisters (cf. Lk. 22:32). What could he tell them that would ease the pain or make sense of tragedy? Nothing. But he could and did “stand in solidarity” with them and recall the One who gave his all for them. It was this proclaimed faith that gave meaning to his decision to place the counseling services of Catholic Charities within reach of those who need them in these weeks:

“Tragedy breeds uncertainty because it undercuts the things we implicitly believe to be true—that we can go to school, or to work or to the movies safely. When those certainties are shaken, we question a lot.

“I imagine there were many questions after the Crucifixion. In the upper room, the Apostles asked themselves the same questions we ask ourselves. The Blessed Mother, too, who lost a child, was faced with the question of why such a tragedy had ever occurred….

“The questions ceased when they encountered the Resurrection.…[I]n the Risen Christ, they encountered victory over death and evil. They learned that unspeakable sin, like the unspeakable sin we have encountered, is defeated by the love of God. The love of the Father is stronger than the sting of death. The Resurrection proves that to be true.”

Those who lost loved ones or still watch other loved ones suffer may find words, even faith-filled words, cold comfort. After all, nothing will ever undo what a few minutes did. Survivors in Afghanistan, Darfur, Syria, and every violence-scarred spot on earth know this well. Faith in the Crucified and Risen One doesn’t offer an explanation for the inexplicable, but hope beyond it, even here and now. Who else offers as much? This is what Peter sensed when he answered Jesus’ question to his disciples, “Do you want to leave me, too?” “Lord,” Peter replied, “to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68).

It’s not a platitude to say that God took them to himself. God didn’t take their lives; somebody else did that. God just didn’t let him keep them. “Like a shepherd he will gather the lambs in his arms” (Is. 40:11). This is what moved Archbishop Aquila, Auxiliary Bishop Conley, and Pope Benedict XVI to give of themselves in word and deed for the pearls, the living stones, the kingdom of God entrusted to them. God seeks us out through those who share words of eternal life with us. Are we ready to let him do the same through us?
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* “Aurora” means “dawn.”

Photo of Archbishop Aquila by James Baca/Denver Catholic Register

Mining for Gospel Gold

For our young women in formation and for their directors, too, this has already been one busy summer. The week-long St. Paul Summer Program for teens in various stages of vocational discernment drew a record 24 participants. Last month our five postulants, in their two-year introduction to religious life, arrived from St. Louis for their Boston hiatus, which includes vacation, annual retreat, classes, and internship in some very lucky departments of the Pauline Books & Media publishing house. As part of our twinning with Mexico, Julia Yanez, a Mexican postulant, is studying English, and will enter the novitiate program in September with three of the U.S. postulants. At the end of the month Carly Arcella and Chelsea Moxley will return to St. Louis for their second year of formation.

Part of the postulants’ year marked a first for us, too: It was the first time our postulants were able to go to Culver City (Los Angeles) to participate in the course for an advanced certification in media literacy education that Sr. Rose Pacatte offers at the Pauline Center for Media Studies (PCMS). This was made possible by the Dan Murphy Foundation in L.A., which regularly subsidizes speakers and materials for the course, as well as by the Outreach Trust Fund, administered by St. Mary Seminary, Wickliffe, OH. That’s the seminary for the diocese of Cleveland.

Among its interests, the Outreach Trust Fund supports “the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, with a special concern for the needs of minority groups.” It also reaches out to “the social needs of the larger diocesan community.” Because of the intimate connection between media and the social condition everywhere, the fund’s committee chose to invest in the course.

It didn’t hurt that one of the postulants, Sandy Lucas, is from Cleveland. Or that Cleveland’s Bishop Lennon, who approves the funding projects, served our Boston community for nine years as chaplain. But there was more to the decision than that. Fr. Donald Dunson, who endorsed the proposal for the postulants, told the committee, “This is a wonderful way to connect our school with a community that served this diocese for so many years”—almost 40, until 2002. We still go back at least annually now, to put on a Christmas concert at St. John’s Cathedral, and religious stores in the area stock our materials. Did I mention that Fr. Dunson and I were classmates in the seventh and eighth grades after my father was transferred to the city way back when? We Daughters definitely cherish our Cleveland connections.

Carly and Sandy

Sandy was excited about going to Los Angeles. It was, as she said, the farthest west she had ever been. She also felt she had no formal training in media before she joined us; she had had a career in law. So she was looking forward to learning, especially since in January Sr. Marie Paul Curley had introduced the postulants to media spirituality. “She whetted my appetite for more,” Sandy said. “I wanted to learn the basics. I was hoping for a practical application. The exit project we did helped with that. I knew that if I’d be speaking to a group, I’d be able to explain media literacy to other people. The course was geared to that. It’s designed for catechists, who need to be able to explain it.”

Carly, instead, had been a broadcast major in college. So the background offered in the media literacy (ML) course was familiar territory: “I wanted to integrate what I already knew with my faith and begin looking at media from a different perspective.” With that background, she was just as eager as Sandy to go out to California: “Being in LA was an amazing part of the experience with its pronounced attachment to the media culture.”

Our world, including every ethnic culture in the U.S.,  has largely been shaped by the communications media and is daily becoming more immersed in all forms of media. Business, politics, education, entertainment, and social relationships no longer exist apart from the media. As a result, even though in the new economic climate we all live in many people of every ethnic background have few resources at hand for “non-essentials,” the purchase of electronics and digital devices, as well as their content, has increased. Staying connected—and with current technology—is no longer seen as an extra, but as a need. The importance, therefore, of inculturating the Gospel within the current milieu created by the communications media is greater than ever, especially in view of the accessibility of social networking.

While the Daughters of St. Paul have been entrusted with this mission, we notice our own ongoing need to give media that same priority and acquire new skills that will equip us to, first, make media choices in harmony with our commitment to the Gospel, and second, to assist others to do the same within their media world. Sandy picked up on this. “It gave me a new lens to watch movies with and helped me develop a more critical thinking approach. I began being able to spot different things in a movie, a nugget of the Gospel.”

The media literacy education experience at the PCMS is unique. The 50-hour course awards an advanced certificate in media literacy education, which is accredited by four California dioceses for catechist and DRE formation, and has been attended by almost 86 clergy, religious, and laity from coast to coast since it began in 2007.

Participants learn how to analyze media texts and processes critically and apply the content across a variety of learning situations. They develop awareness of the experiences and opinions of those with whom they share faith, becoming co-learners. They learn how media function in relation to human emotions and how these shape attitudes in society. As Christians in front of the media and as evangelizers, that it, as ministers of the Gospel, they begin to acquire new respect for others, empathy, and a balance of freedom and responsibility.

The purpose of the course has been the training of educators, administrators, librarians, and parents, in view of integrating media mindfulness both within and across the curriculum and within faith formation in other educational and ethnic contexts. Even though our sisters don’t teach in a parish faith formation program, we’re constantly in contact with those who do. In addition, our publications and outreach programs for kids and teens always need to keep current with the world of these “digital natives” and their parents.

In view of this, the course introduced the postulants to a deeper study of how to “read” different forms of media through a technique called “Media Mindfulness.” This mindfulness on the personal level is designed to spill over into mission: vocation presentations, Bible/movie nights, school book and media fairs, parish displays and presentations, and informed service to those who walk into our PBM centers. Especially in view of the tri-lingual (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) American continental project now underway among all our communities in the Western Hemisphere, such an approach has already been very helpful in the international collaboration among us. Sr. Rebecca Marie Hoffart, postulant director, said:

“From the beginning of their formation the postulants are encouraged to use the many forms of communications media that are available as tools of evangelization and we instill in them the freedom to be creative and zealous in the use of these means for the spread of the Gospel. Understanding how media is constructed and being able to seriously reflect on the meanings and messages presented by the media is imperative for carrying out our mission.”

"Lady Gaga Meets St. Paul"

Carly was ‘impressed with the well-roundedness of the course, with its variety of topics, and with the speakers.” Both she and Sandy loved two of the sessions best: actor Michael Harney’s “Art and Vocation,” on the craft of acting and living in the present moment, and Sr. Nancy M. Usselmann’s “Lady Gaga Meets St. Paul,” on music and popular culture. They said: “[Sr. Nancy’s] class explained the dialogue between music and Word of God, especially how the lyrics contrast with Paul’s message. The great thing about the presentation was the way it answered the question: ‘What does Paul offer in response to what Lady Gaga is crying out for?’ She is the voice of her generation, and it’s important to hear her, even if we don’t agree with what she’s saying. We have to understand where it’s coming from.”

When I asked them why this is important to them and to all Daughters of St. Paul, Carly answered, “It’s so important to be in touch, to know people’s needs and hungers and know how to respond with the message of Christ.” Sandy added, “We can’t presume to know where people are coming from. We have to listen to what they have to tell us.”

In case you were wondering, these five young women and Sr. Rebecca didn’t just sit back and absorb. Part of their learning came through doing. Each was responsible for designing an exit project and presenting it to the group. This gave evidence of how she integrated learning and experience, previous and new. Further, it demonstrated how the postulant internalized the Church’s understanding of human dignity, community, family, and society. These are consistent with the principles of social teaching articulated most recently by John Paul II and Benedict XVI, notably in documents and messages regarding the media. I know from having taken the course, that the pressure is on at this point, also because we’re trying to beat the clock. The consolidation is an important aspect of the learning experience, though, and I was able to use what I prepared in a presentation to seminarians and catechists in San Antonio the following year. I have no doubt these bright young women will do even more. As a deacon-participant from Fremont, CA, wrote:

“This is a course you can’t afford to miss!  Media needs to be embedded in our evangelization….Teachers know the merits of a lesson plan that instructs through multiple intelligences. This course unlocks the tools that are embedded in media-rich lesson plans, tools that you can use immediately.”

Both Sr. Rebecca and the postulants hope we can find ways of including it on a permanent basis in the postulant formation program. Lack of funding is the greatest challenge here. Making it always more relevant to life and mission is a cakewalk by comparison. Sandy summed up everyone’s wish: “I hope every Daughter of St. Paul would have a chance for this early on, so we can continue to mine the culture as we go forward.” Carly gave the reason why: “Media are gifts of God. If we’re working so close to media, we don’t want to forget the tremendous good that they can offer.”

To me, the greatest challenge is this: broadening its appeal to religious communities beyond our own. Dedication to social justice and engaging in the “New Evangelization” cannot be done without reference to media, the cultural context in which the people—and evangelizers—of our time live, believe, pray, and relate. Including this in formation programs has become necessary, not only for us, but for clergy, religious, and all those who are entrusted with a mission to witness to Christ and his Gospel in our modern world. (Who isn’t?)

Media mindfulness doesn’t just “happen.” Like all areas of intentional living, it’s the result of a process of information, guidance, reflection, decision-making and experience. We cannot exclude media mindfulness from initial formation and reasonably hope that suddenly after ordination or profession, young priests and religious will magically have been infused with the tools and skills to be media responsible. Even more, with a little creativity and inspiration, we can easily imagine a ministry that speaks the language people understand. Media literacy is not a panacea for the Church’s rift with modern culture. Nor is communication a matter of simply using media to dazzle. It’s a matter of learning the art of communicating—and here we’re perpetual students—knowing that it’s not a one-way street, but for all of us a goldmine of “nuggets of the Gospel.”

Photo credit: Carly Arcella

In-Dignity

In the last article I posted (July 4) I mentioned that I had been working with the archdiocese of Boston on its educational campaign opposing doctor-prescribed suicide, an initiative that will appear on the November ballot here in Massachusetts…this year…for starters. If you think that this concerns only the Bay State, or that it’s a matter of “privacy” with no bearing on public policy, you might want to scroll down to that article before you read another word of this one.

That said, the issue does have its personal, if not exclusively private side. That’s what we explored in our reflection/movie/prayer sessions in seven parishes, where a total of 89 of us gathered to understand its “human” side: its spiritual, psychological, and social aspects.
One day over lunch, I told several sisters I had been thinking of using Scripture and film to do this and asked for their suggestions. Sr. Christina Miriam must have been inspired, because the HBO movie she came up with was perfect: Wit.

Emma Thompson plays Vivian Bearing, an “uncompromising” scholar of John Donne’s poetry. Independent to the point of isolation, Professor Bearing has become self-sufficient and even arrogant. At the age of 48, she is diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. She agrees to collaborate with medical research by submitting to eight months of chemotherapy. As she declines physically, she gradually “distinguishes herself in illness,” becomes “the one taught,” and is gradually freed from identifying her person with her professional self-image. She becomes the human being she was meant to be and so—we are led to believe—finds peace in God who never lets go.

The movie never mentions suicide, but every scene pulses with a human value that’s a major motivation both for those who go that route and those who choose life: dignity. Clearly, then, it’s a key dynamic in the current debate.

This past April, the Health Department of Washington State, where doctor-prescribed suicide is legal, issued its “Annual Death With Dignity Report” for 2011. Look at the reasons cited by the 94 people who died last year after opting to end their lives.

End-of-life concerns of those who died in 2011 in Washington State
Loss of the ability to participate in activities that
   make life enjoyable                                                          89 %
Loss of autonomy                                                                 87 %
Loss of dignity                                                                     79 %
Loss of control of bodily functions                                          57%
Burden on family, friends/caregivers                                      54%
Inadequate pain control  or concern about it                           38%
Financial implications of treatment                                          4%

Unlike laws about seat belt use, or allocation of tax revenue, this issue reaches deep within us to the core of how we perceive ourselves as persons and what we understand about our dignity as persons. As we met with people in parishes over Scripture and Wit, we all struggled with this. Morality notwithstanding, if viewers allowed themselves to remain with the surface narrative of the film—Vivian’s journey toward death—they could easily argue a case for taking their lives: Who wants to go through what she did? That narrative, though, offered us a portal for going to a deeper level: What do we deprive ourselves of becoming if we abbreviate the experience, despite the ordeal? What growth? What reconciliations? What relationships, including one with God? Vivian observed that she was “learning how to suffer.” Instead of standing apart from the rest of humanity as she had been doing, she identified with them and so, paradoxically found her true self. Not unlike real people.

Even more: The perception out there is that the Catholic Church insists on using every means available for prolonging life, regardless of expense, suffering, or indignity. So— many people reason—the only option for maintaining any kind of control over our lives is to decide how and when to end them. Nothing could be further from the truth! If Vivian made any mistake in her care, it was her decision to “leave the action to the professionals,” even regarding the management of her pain. She had already requested a Do Not Resuscitate order (DNR). Why not express her will regarding her treatment? As Pope John Paul declared to his physicians pending the course of his care, he was a “subject, not an object” of treatment; he expected to be in the driver’s seat. The movie highlights failure on several levels to provide the patient with adequate palliative care and underscores the need for everyone to have a health care advocate or proxy to ensure respect for his or her personal wishes.

As anyone who has spent a night in the hospital can tell you, you are definitely at the mercy of schedules, policies, and your disease itself—plenty to relinquish control over, plenty of indignities to endure. Why add to them unnecessarily? I’ve been touched by the dark faith of one of our senior sisters who lives with dementia. When it came to choosing Scripture passages to pray with at these movie nights, I ended up pairing the film with the Word she’s been quoting to us recently:

“Jesus said to Simon Peter,… ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow me’” (Jn. 21:15, 18-19).

Sr. Sean Mayer, FSP, and participants, Peabody, MA

The people I met with easily connected this text to Vivian Bearing’s experience and their own. It gives a fresh perspective to our common experience, as St. Paul understood well: “In all this we are more than conquerors because of [Christ] who has loved us” (Rom. 8:37). It takes trust and discernment all along the way. “Lord, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

As I mentioned before, most participants took the booklet To Life! Life and Death With Dignity Through Scripture and Screen, to use at home. It allows them to repeat the encounter through additional films and apply the educational experience to children, teens, and other adults. The idea was to extend the benefits of the group session among family and friends. The beauty is that no one has to be a media “expert” to profit from it. It’s a simple way to connect faith with media culture.*

Wit cleverly exploits the poetry of John Donne to shed light on Vivian Bearing’s inner journey and struggle for dignity. At the forefront is his sonnet “Death, Be Not Proud.” It’s short enough and relevant enough to include here in its entirety:

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, death, thou shalt die.

In a flashback moment, Professor Bearing admiringly recalls how her own teacher and mentor, Eve M. Ashford, upbraided her for having referenced an inferior version of the poem and so, missed its point.

Ashford: Nothing but a breath—a comma—separates life from life everlasting. It is very simple really. With the original punctuation restored, death is no longer something to act out on a stage, with exclamation points. It’s a comma, a pause. This way, the uncompromising way, one learns something from this poem, wouldn’t you say? Life, death. Soul, God. Past, present. Not insuperable barriers, not semicolons, just a comma.
Vivian: Life, death...I see. It’s a metaphysical conceit. It’s wit! I’ll go back to the library and rewrite the paper—
Ashford: It is not wit, Miss Bearing. It is truth….

Our postulants had their own workshop/movie session.

Like Paul who taunted, “Death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?” Donne chops death down to size by reminding it of its transitory nature and of the company it keeps. Instead, in suicide it takes on a mistaken identity. If we think that death rescues us from fear and pain—a fate worse than death?—we give it a power it does not have, a prestige it does not merit. In effect we say, “Yes, Death (“capital D”), be proud! You have saved me!”

Really, what does it mean to die with dignity? A question I sometimes asked participants was, “Did Jesus die with dignity?” The initial response was a resounding “No!” Then as they reconsidered, they weren’t so sure. Is it the circumstances surrounding death that determine a dignified passing, or the way it’s faced? When we look at the passion narrative in the Gospel according to John especially, Jesus is clearly in charge. He unflinchingly carries his kingship and control, sure of his Father’s love even when he no longer feels it. Go through chapters 18 and 19; you’ll see what I mean. His dignity in death is ours for the asking.

Dignity is not what we give each other, but is something human beings possess inherently within themselves. The respectful way we treat others acknowledges that dignity and can go a long way in helping them to recognize their worth, but nothing we do can add to that dignity or take away from it. In addition, a person’s dignity is eroded not by what is done to him or her, but by the choices she or he makes (cf. Mt. 15:11). While it is championed by believers, this is a principle that those of other faiths or of no faith can agree on. In fact, society has an obligation to ensure that its structures affirm each person’s dignity, too, so that people can live in keeping with it.

Regardless of how the November vote turns out, “death with dignity” will not be a one-time issue, soon to be replaced by other ethical dilemmas. How we respond to society in general will be shaped by how we respond to family, neighbors, colleagues, and friends as we share with them our vision of human dignity. For some of us that will come at the “comma” between life and life everlasting—ours or someone else’s. What insight faith can give at that point! What life!

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*Interested in a digital copy of the family/friend booklet, To Life! as well as the guide for our conversation on Wit? E-mail me your request at pearlmjo@gmail.com.

PAS—Coming Soon to a State Near You

For the past two months I had the privilege of working with Boston’s archdiocesan Pro-Life Office and the Office of Faith Formation and Evangelization on a challenging project. This November, voters in Massachusetts will be asked to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS), more grimly called “doctor-prescribed suicide,” which if passed, would make the Commonwealth the third state, after Oregon and Washington, to do so.

Need I say that the Massachusetts Episcopal (Bishops) Conference takes a dim view of the idea? (See www.SuicideIsAlwaysATragedy.org). The Church in Boston has officially concluded its workshop campaign and plans to inaugurate a media blitz this fall. I helped promote the informational workshops on the legal and medical aspects of the issue in several parishes and led a reflection session as a follow-up, using Scripture, the movie Wit, and group discussion to highlight the “human side” of the issue: its spiritual, psychological, and social aspects.

We had time for workshops in only twelve strategic locations. Attendance was minimal. We knew it would be, considering the topic and the current lack of media attention on the referendum. About 300 people attended the informational workshops and 89, the reflection sessions, half of whom had not attended the workshops. The upside is that the archdiocese is keeping in touch with those who offered their services to assist in defeating the Act at the polls. In addition, many of those at the movie sessions took the booklet I had prepared for home use, so that they could replicate the experience for families and friends. Stories about people, as in Scripture or on the screen, can be great indicators of what is truly human. Some suggestions in the booklet use simplified Scripture passages and kids’ movies to educate young people in reverence for life, human autonomy, compassion and dignity, and interpersonal dynamics surrounding end-of-life issues. Only 17% of Catholics in the Boston archdiocese attend Mass regularly, so churches are not the place where most people, young or old, will get their information and values formation.*

No doubt the lack of publicity will change somewhat come the fall, but even then, it will be overshadowed by the hype around the presidential election and local elections. This is a “blue” state, and a Democrat, fairly popular with Bay State voters, sits in the White House. Compassion and Choices (the former Hemlock Society) wagered on all that when it targeted Massachusetts as the next state to include its Death With Dignity Act on the ballot. With this state as an international leader in health care, a win in Massachusetts would set the stage for legalized suicide in one state after another. Last December, the Massachusetts Medical Association voted 178 to 56 against what it views as a “bad bill,” because of its lack of safeguards for the terminally ill and its disregard for palliative care. One doctor I spoke with said that although it was not part of the debate, the prospect of malpractice suits in the aftermath of misdiagnoses and wrong prognoses may well have been in the back of some doctors’ minds as they voted. Not surprisingly, disability rights activists are alarmed. In addition, various churches and both Christian and non-Christian organizations have stood up to be counted and some are planning their own educational events, including one that I know of that intends to use the movie as well. It's definitely not just a Catholic issue.

A useful online site is www.SuicideIsAlwaysATragedy.org. It includes Cardinal Seán O’Malley’s video and lists a number of digital and print media resources.

At Holy Family Parish in Duxbury

I especially like a clear, no-frills article I read in the Boston Pilot in January and which is available online: “Purpose, Palliative Care, and Respect for Human Life,” by Adam MacLeod. If you’re like most people and you’re touched by a good story, you’ll appreciate the article posted in March on the death of Sr. Annette Margaret Boccabello, one of our younger sisters. The resources that helped her to make her decisions regarding her care and treatment might also help you or someone you know.

If you like something a little more intricate, check out this fascinating report sent by the Catholic Health Association to the Supreme Court in 1997—Physician-Assisted Suicide: CHA Amicus Brief. A Pauline Cooperator who works for a law firm here in Boston sent me the link to the ten-page report, that includes a letter by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago written the week before he died. It seems that the controversial Ninth Circuit Court had raised a question as to whether a person has a right, not “to be assisted in ‘killing oneself intentionally,’ but whether there is a liberty interest in ‘determining the time and manner of’ or ‘hastening one’s death.’”

That’s sobering. Among other issues, it erases the distinction, for instance, between deliberately causing one’s death (suicide) and withholding or withdrawing disproportionate means to sustain life, or managing pain with medication, even if as a side-effect, it hastens death.

It also sets society on what is being called “the slippery slope.” The CHA observes that if law is grounded in choice rather than in moral right, “there is no coherent way to limit a purported right to ‘assisted suicide’ to terminally ill people or to competent people who can communicate,” since not even incompetent people “lose their constitutional freedoms simply due to their incompetence.” The non-communicative or incompetent person’s health care proxy would be authorized to make that decision. Euthanasia, or physician-administered poison would be the next step, since as the Court declared, it considers it “less important who administers the medication than who determines whether the terminally ill person's life shall end.” The CHA report’s argument concludes, “At this point, assisted suicide is no longer a clinical event occurring in a health care setting; it is nothing more than state-sanctioned killing by private agreement.”

The voice of the people is not, of itself, the voice of God. Personal choice or public consensus as a basis for law are as arbitrary as the “divine right of kings,” when exercised apart either from natural law, which rests on the purpose for which things exist, or divine positive law, such as the Ten Commandments. For instance, my lungs are made for inhaling oxygen that my blood needs to sustain life throughout my body. If I go into the garage, close the door, turn on the car, and begin to breathe carbon monoxide instead, I’m using my lungs for something other than what they were intended for. My “choice,” regardless of how it’s condoned by the public, is immoral according to natural law. Notice that the basis for this morality, or natural law, has nothing to do with religion; it’s common to all human beings.

This may seem all very theoretical, but it provides the foundation of what we’re witnessing: 
•    When a terminally ill person can request a lethal prescription and have that written request witnessed by an heir and a total stranger;
•    when neither the psychologist administering the psychological test nor the prescribing physician need to know the person;
•    and when death certificates are falsified to reflect the underlying disease and not suicide as the cause of death (life insurance policy concerns?),
we have to ask ourselves some very hard questions about how superficial our moral reasoning has become and not turn our eyes from its consequences. What can our response be?

My two-month interaction with a broad range of Catholic attitudes toward life and dignity was an education for me as much as it was for the people I served. It was a privilege to reach out among them with the Pauline mission, using media in connection with God’s Word, to address an issue that I’ve made my own since my sister and I cared for our parents. We faced many of the same questions and agonies as those I talked with. People were deeply touched by the session. One parish secretary sent us a note that she was thankful for the “human face” the media experience put on the issue.

What kind of world do we want to leave to the next generation? One, I would think, which offers creative alternatives to suicide in facing life’s challenges, one in which we freely take charge of our own lives within an increasingly dizzying array of technological choices. Next week, we’ll look at the movie Wit, see how, practically speaking we can live and die with real dignity, and “grow” our imagination to envision courses of action worthy of our humanness in its best sense, alternatives to the cheapest way out, economically and humanly. May we discover hope.

_____________
*Interested in a digital copy of the family/friend booklet, “To Life!” and the guide for our conversation on Wit? E-mail me your request at pearlmjo@gmail.com.

The Family, the Maestra, and the Broken Nose

From all appearances, especially mine, this has not been a pleasant week. After a wonderful annual retreat, a capillary in my eye burst, a seven-pound metal tray got dislodged off an upper kitchen shelf and broke my nose, and now I’ve been struck with poison ivy. Sr. Kathryn jokingly calls it bad karma. I’ve been tempted to grouse, “Back to reality.” Why should the minuses in life, though, get the fantabulous name of “reality,” while the plusses, even when tallied, get labeled the exception rather than the rule? It’s all reality, even the highs. I think the highs are there to carry us through the lows, which, to be honest, make us really grateful for those highs. We all know what a flatline means.

The couples who gathered for their own retreat on The Weekend of the Broken Nose in Still River, Massachusetts, had a taste of that, too. Seven husbands and wives from the Northeastern seaboard, vowed members of the Pauline Family’s Holy Family Institute (HFI), met for prayer, reflection, and fellowship, along with members of the Society of St. Paul, Daughters of St. Paul, Sister Disciples of the Divine Master, Institute of Jesus the Priest (IGS, for diocesan clergy), Our Lady of the Annunciation (for single women), and Pauline Cooperators. The couples came with their 25 kids in tow, and Fr. Mike Harrington, IGS, who organized the event, brought his YHope young adult group for music ministry and KP duty. They also helped those who led the youth sessions.

Our days centered around Pauline witnesses of holiness. Br. Aloysius Milella gave a talk on St. Paul as Bl. James Alberione knew and loved him. Sr. Tiziana, PDDM, told the story of Mother Scholastica Rivata, co-foundress of the Sister Disciples, while Sr. Kathryn and I introduced participants to our own co-foundress, Sr. Thecla Merlo, the “First Teacher,” or “Prima Maestra.” Sr. Kathryn has developed a retreat experience that helps women relate to the Word of God through questions they ask themselves: “Am I beautiful?’ “What if everything falls apart?” “Will my children be saved?” etc. She decided to add the words of Thecla Merlo. Wonderful. And their spouses? Those lucky men! They got me. With help from some fine men I know, I cobbled together an hour with Thecla Merlo: The Maestra for Men.

Minutes before showtime, my nose collided with that antique, silver plated tray. Greg and Kim Burke—he a doctor, she a nurse—came to the rescue. Within 45 minutes they mopped me up and put me back together again, pumping me with Advil, at least so I could introduce the men to the woman who was both co-foundress of the Daughters and Mother of the entire Pauline Family. And what an introduction it was! I was moved more than once to hear how those men of Paul connected with her and to see them pray with the conviction of faith and heartfelt devotion. For my part, I couldn’t have been more blessed. One more inch and I would have lost my right eye to that offending tray. Prima Maestra shielded me with her hand as any mother would. Through a comment of the Burkes, she also kept in my mind the women who face this sort of thing regularly from the men they love, and I found myself praying that they might have the wisdom and courage to do what they must to protect themselves and their children.

HFI members repeated throughout the two days how renewing and uplifting the retreat was. Fr. Mike has been concerned that since they live hundreds of miles from each other, they don’t often have the chance to see one another and share aspects of their lives with each other beyond what social media can do. Several don’t live near any other Paulines, either. So with assistance from his friend and classmate, Fr. Ed Riley, he planned a terrific weekend and worked it like a trooper. The under-eighteen crowd—and a crowd it was—enjoyed hanging out with each other, too, whether around the altar, discussion table, activity room, or barbecue grill. Don't miss the slideshow at top right!

Hats off to the HFI members on the West Coast, who helped the Easterners sponsor the weekend. They were remembered in prayer during those blessed days.

Low points have no doubt already elbowed their way into HFI lives in the ten days or so since then. During those times in her own life, Mother Thecla recalled that “beyond those stars is our Father’s house”—her home. Desire for this, her ultimate destiny supported her through some unbelievably trying periods, so that she could live in the conviction that “even if you cannot always be joyful, you can always be at peace.”

Paul the Apostle, Pray for U.S.

Did you hear? Tomorrow the Church in the U.S. begins a “Fortnight for Freedom.” The fourteen days between June 21 and July 4, a kind of living room retreat, are designed to help us think prayerfully about what faith-filled citizenship looks like in a free society such as ours. You would have thought that after all these years in which we, the Church, have lived, prayed, and ministered within our country it would be obvious. The HHS mandate that sparked a blaze in both Church and society this spring shattered that illusion for anyone who might not have been paying much attention before. It appears that maybe, just maybe, our government and society don’t understand, because many of us “believers,” who live in this society and elect these leaders don’t understand either. So the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) decided it was high time for a little homework.

On the USCCB’s Web page for the event you can find a number of helpful resources—also available en español: study helps, a prayer, activities for parents and teachers, videos, and announcements about opening and closing Masses which will be televised.

It’s interesting that the saints who are singled out are all martyrs. While the times we live in necessitate our willingness to pay the price for witnessing to Christ, it would be counter-productive for us to assume a victim stance. This “fortnight” is not about rattling sabers or nursing wounds. A glance at the other saints whose feasts and memorials we celebrate during those two weeks offer us a complementary set of heroes who come from various backgrounds and witnessed to the Gospel in various ways for the good of both Church and society (No women happen to be on the calendar. Sorry, ladies.):
•    Aloysius Gonzaga—Prince-to-be, Jesuit, nurse to the plague-stricken
•    Paulinas of Nola—husband and, later, pastor
•    Cyril of Alexandria—bishop, doctor of the Church, and feisty defender of the faith
•    Blessed Junipero Serra—intrepid and controversial Franciscan missionary, founder of the chain of California Missions
•    Thomas—Apostle of “doubting” fame, first missionary to India, martyr (The Web site missed this one.)

Photo credit: Sr. M. Emmanuel Alves, FSP

Below I’m offering you my abridged edition of the study helps, cast within the framework of our community’s novena to St. Paul, which also begins tomorrow. Our novena has a lot more chanting and  praying than what’s here. But if you’d like to pray with us, just follow this simple format:
1.    The opening prayer in honor of St. Paul (Pauline prayer)
2.    The reflection section for each day, which consists of an abridged quote from Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae, or DH), an abridged quote by the USCCB, and a prayer based on the Epistles of St. Paul
3.    The Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty (at the end of the blog post)

If you pray the Liturgy of the Hours, another option would be to use the daily readings below after the Scripture reading in the LOH and make the Pauline prayer your responsory. You could add one or two of the petitions in the Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty to the Intercessions and conclude with the Pauline prayer.

Your intentions are our own!

                                    Novena in Honor of St. Paul
                                         During the Fortnight for Freedom

Opening prayer for each day:
Lord God,
you appointed Paul your apostle to preach the good news of salvation.
Fill the entire world with the faith he carried to so many peoples and nations.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Day One—June 21

“The right to religious freedom has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person, as this dignity is known through the revealed Word of God and by reason itself. This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed. Thus it is to become a civil right” (DH 2).

“What human beings believe concerning God is of supreme importance. Religious belief lies at the very center of who we are in relation to what is most central and cherished in our lives. Therefore, the Council insists that the religious convictions of individuals or groups should never be coerced but must be held freely, protected by a civil constitutional right.”

Prayer: O God, you made the world and everything in it. You give all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor you made all nations that inhabit the whole earth; you guide our history, so that we might search for you and perhaps reach for you and find you—though indeed you are not far from each one of us. In you we “live and move and have our being, for we too are [your] offspring.” We ask forgiveness for the times we have not made you the center of our lives and we renew our trust in Christ Jesus, whom you have given to us as our Resurrection and Life (cf. Acts 17:24-31).

Day Two—June 22

“[M]en cannot discharge these obligations [to seek and adhere to the truth] in a manner in keeping with their own nature unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as psychological freedom. Therefore, the right to religious freedom has its foundation, not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in his very nature. In consequence, the right to this immunity continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it. Nor is the exercise of this right to be impeded, provided that the just requirements of public order are observed” (DH 2).

“[T]he truth [human beings] believe they have come to know binds them to that truth. Even if the ‘truth’ they believe is not actually true, yet, because they believe it is true, they are bound to follow their conscience. As long as what they believe does not infringe the just rights of others, they cannot be coerced into giving up or changing what they believe.”

Prayer: Lord, some of us judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all of us be fully convinced of the truth in our own minds. May we respect those who do not think exactly as we do, not sitting in judgment of either those who are scrupulously observant of even the smallest rules, or those whose spiritual vision is broader. Each of us is and will be, accountable to, you. May every knee bow to you and every tongue sing praise to you, our God (cf. Rom. 14:5ff.)

Day Three—June 23

“[T]he highest norm of human life is the divine law—eternal, objective, and universal whereby God orders, directs, and governs the entire universe and all the ways of human community, by a plan conceived in wisdom and love. Man has been made by God to participate in this law, with the result that, under the gentle disposition of divine Providence, he can come to perceive ever increasingly the unchanging truth. Hence every man has the duty, and therefore the right, to seek the truth in matters religious, in order that he may with prudence form for himself right and true judgments of conscience, with the use of all suitable means” (DH 3).

“However, human beings do not seek the truth as isolated individuals. The search for the truth is common to all, and so all share in the finding of truth and all share in the receiving of truth from others. Because the search for truth, the finding of truth, and the sharing of truth is a social exercise, human beings must not only be free to search for truth in the hope of finding it, they must also be free to communicate and discuss together the truth they believe they have found. It is through our free assent that we each personally lay hold of the truth.”

Prayer: Father of us all, we offer you our prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone, for civic leaders, and for all who are in high positions: May we lead quiet and peaceable lives in all holiness and dignity and share with others the good news of our freedom in Christ. We know this is right and acceptable in your sight, since you are our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tm. 2:1-4).

Day Four—June 24

“[T]he exercise of religion consists before all else in those internal, voluntary, and free acts whereby man sets the course of life directly toward God. No merely human power can either command or prohibit acts of this kind” (DH 3).

“[N]o one should either be forced to act contrary to his or her conscience or be forbidden to act in accordance with his or her conscience. This is especially the case when it involves one’s religious beliefs. The Council Fathers note that this applies not only to one’s internal private religious acts but also to public communal religious acts. Human beings hold religious beliefs within a community of like-minded believers and so have the right to publicly live out their beliefs.…
     “The Council Fathers want to ensure that religious liberty is understood to be both private and public. It cannot be limited to what takes places in houses of worship. Rather, since religion is by its nature a social phenomenon, its presence within the broader society and culture should not be hindered or forbidden.”

Prayer: Father, you call us to freedom. In the spirit of true religion, we promise not to use our freedom for self-indulgence, but to serve one another out of love. You have summed up the law for us all in the commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Do not let us grow weary in doing what is right. By your grace, may we work for the good of all, especially for those in the family of faith (cf. Gal. 5:13f.; 6:9-10).

Day Five—June 25

“The religious acts whereby men, in private and in public and out of a sense of personal conviction, direct their lives to God transcend by their very nature the order of terrestrial and temporal affairs. Government, therefore, ought indeed to take account of the religious life of the people and show it favor, since the function of government is to make provision for the common welfare. However, it would clearly transgress the limits set to its power were it to presume to direct or inhibit acts that are religious” (DH 3).

“[T]he Council Fathers….previously stated that governments should not deny religious liberty. Here they state what governments should positively do with regards to religion. Since people, through their religious beliefs, direct their lives toward God, governments are positively to take this into account. Not only should governments not hinder religious life, they should also “show it favor.” Since religious belief is a good within culture and society, governments should foster and aid the good that religion brings to the commonwealth.…[G]overnments are to create an environment in which religious life flourishes for the good of all.”

Prayer: O Holy Spirit, help us in our weakness. We know that all things work together for good of those who love God. So we place our trust in you as you intercede for us and all created reality within the heart of God. Set us and all that is ours free from our bondage to decay and obtain for us the freedom of the glory of God’s children (cf. Rom. 8:26ff, 21).

Day Six—June 26

“The freedom or immunity from coercion in matters religious which is the endowment of persons as individuals is also to be recognized as their right when they act in community….
    “Religious bodies also have the right not to be hindered, either by legal measures or by administrative action on the part of government, in the selection, training, appointment, and transferral of their own ministers, in communicating with religious authorities and communities abroad, in erecting buildings for religious purposes, and in the acquisition and use of suitable funds or properties” (DH 4).

“Provided that the just civil and religious rights of others are not transgressed, religious bodies must possess the freedom to live out publicly what they believe. They must be free to gather for worship, to instruct their members, and to develop institutions that further the religious life of their members. From within the Catholic tradition this would include religious institutes and orders, schools, fraternities and sodalities, prayer groups, and Bible study groups. Likewise, religious bodies must be free to appoint and train their own ministers. For Catholics, that means the Church’s freedom at least to appoint bishops and ordain priests. It also means that Catholics are free to be loyal to their church and its leaders while also being loyal to their country and its leaders.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are head of your body, the Church! You are the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that primacy might be yours in everything. May the peace you won through the blood of your cross reconcile everything both on earth and in heaven (cf. Col. 1:19-20).

Day Seven—June 27

“Religious bodies also have the right not to be hindered in their public teaching and witness to their faith, whether by the spoken or by the written word. However, in spreading religious faith and in introducing religious practices, everyone ought at all times to refrain from any manner of action which might seem to carry a hint of coercion or of a kind of persuasion that would be dishonorable or unworthy, especially when dealing with poor or uneducated people. Such a manner of action would have to be considered an abuse of one’s own right and a violation of the rights of others.
     “….Finally, the social nature of man and the very nature of religion afford the foundation of the right of men freely to hold meetings and to establish educational, cultural, charitable, and social organizations, under the impulse of their own religious sense” (DH 4).

“It is not only governments that can deny their freedom; in attempting to spread their own beliefs, religions should not force others, physically or psychologically, to convert. Rather, each person’s dignity and freedom must be maintained….
     “That being said, religious bodies should be free to provide reasons as to why their beliefs are true and why it would be of value for others to believe what they believe. They should also be free to address how their beliefs contribute to the good of society.”

Prayer: Jesus Master, teach us, as you taught Paul, how to discern when to lean on our rights and when not to use them so as not to put an obstacle in the way of your Gospel. Proclaiming the Gospel gives us no grounds for boasting or holding others in poor esteem. Woe to us if we do not proclaim it! We offer you all we do for its sake; give us a share in its blessings.

Day Eight—June 28

“Since the family is a society in its own original right, it has the right freely to live its own domestic religious life under the guidance of parents. Parents, moreover, have the right to determine, in accordance with their own religious beliefs, the kind of religious education that their children are to receive. Government, in consequence, must acknowledge the right of parents to make a genuinely free choice of schools and of other means of education” (DH 5).

“From within the Catholic tradition, Vatican II stated that the family is a ‘domestic church’….Together the members of a family live out the Gospel life of love. In keeping with this, the Council states that parents must be free to choose their children’s schooling. The exercise of this freedom should not be the cause of undue financial burdens upon the family. Likewise, children should not be forced to attend instruction that is contrary to the religious belief of their families. Lastly, if there is only one form of education within a country, this does not mean that all religious instruction should be forbidden. Accommodation is to be made. What we see here is the Church ardently wanting to assure a broad and extensive scope for families to live out their faith as families, and this extends to the education of children.”

Prayer: Lord, you are the Father from whom every family on earth takes its name. May they be worthy of their dignity. May they be strong in the strength of your power, able to stand against the wiles of the devil. With the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes for spreading the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith that quenches the flaming arrows of the evil one, the helmet of salvation, and the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, may they stand firm, praying for their own and for all the holy ones of God. (cf. Eph. 3:15; 6:10-18).

Day Nine—June 29

“The protection and promotion of the inviolable rights of man ranks among the essential duties of government. Therefore, government is to assume the safeguard of the religious freedom of all its citizens,… also in order that society itself may profit by the moral qualities of justice and peace which have their origin in men’s faithfulness to God and to His holy will” (DH 6).

“While governments do not control religions, they should recognize their value and so promote their well-being. This allows all religious bodies and their members to exercise their religious rights and ‘fulfill their religious duties.’ The government’s fostering the religious life of its citizens not only benefits those citizens but also, the Council states, contributes to the good of society as a whole. It helps society grow in its understanding and implementation of what contributes to justice and peace. This justice and peace find their origin in God, who desires the good of all.”

Prayer: Lord, by your mercies, we offer you our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to you; this is our spiritual worship. We pledge ourselves not to be conformed to this age, but by your grace to be transformed by the renewal of our mind, that we may discern what is your will, what is good and pleasing and mature (cf. Rom. 12:1-2).

Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty

O God our Creator,

Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.

We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.

Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

On Retreat

This week I'm making my annual silent "re-TREAT" at our own St. Thecla's Retreat House in Billerica, MA, about 30 minutes from our convent. I'm carrying your intentions with me. You can take this reprieve to catch up on everything you haven't read yet! Pray for me and for all of us. See you June 20.

Counting to One-Tenth

June has traditionally been the month for the much anticipated tax refund, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service. But with more people e-filing, plus the IRS electronically depositing 79 million refunds a year, June has lost its privileged status with the American taxpayer. That windfall, large or small, can’t come fast enough. No doubt, if you’re like most taxpayers, it was earmarked for spending months ago. Easy come, easy go.

Same thing with performance bonuses. Last year a member of the Holy Family Institute, one of the lay institutes of the Pauline Family, told me that he and his wife, Jessica, had intended to give a sizeable donation toward the production of the documentary on our founder, Blessed James Alberione. With their eighth child on the way, though, they were looking forward to Michael’s annual oil gush for lots of little reasons, and a donation project seemed less compelling than the bills. That May the spurt came with a chuckle. He wrote: 

“In the southern U.S. the notion of tithing among Christians is a lot more prevalent. One of the supervisors who works for me at our plant mentioned in a superstitious way that so-and-so had bad luck, because they had not tithed against their bonus (the end of April is the time of year when our company pays performance bonuses), and you can understand how a person might hesitate when they have a large chunk of cash like that all at once.

“Now I am not superstitious; however, in the last week we lost our dishwasher, my garage door went off its rails, two tires have begun to go flat on my car, and I caught a virus that gave me a four-day headache. Needless to say, I took these as reminders from Blessed Alberione that I am blessed to have the wherewithal to deal with this series of minor crises and get to the business of helping make known the work of Father Alberione.”

To date he and his generous wife have contributed $2,500 to the film project.

In their 2008 book, Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money, the sociologist-authors cite one alarming statistic that American Christians donate less than one percent of their annual earnings to charity. Only ten percent of them tithe. They add that twenty percent of U.S. Christians overall and twenty-eight percent of Catholics give nothing.

Lack of generosity is not always the culprit, though with luxury spending on the rise, a case could well be made for adjusting our priorities. Part of the problem stems from the demands of our hectic lives, in which the important takes a back seat to the urgent. Too often credit card debt, car payments, mortgages, and student loans siphon off what’s needed for worthy causes. Many of us could use a crash course on managing finances across the board, so that charitable giving enjoys its rightful place in the budget.

Based on the example of Christ the Master, Christian charity has become iconic, and so, certainly, Christian motives for openhandedness and self-service embody unique characteristics. The tradition of every great religion, however, appeals for liberality among believers. In Judaism everyone, wealthy or not, was obliged to give toward the support of the resident foreigner, orphan, widow, Levite (the priest, who had no ancestral heritage to fall back on), and generally speaking, the poor. See Dt. 14:22-29 for particulars on tithing. Israel’s communal nature called for this sense of belonging and responsibility.

Even today, Jewish congregations routinely require tithes of their members or a percentage in proportion to income. A few years ago, I attended a fundraising lecture at the historic Sherith Israel Synagogue in San Francisco. It cost me a paltry $10 for a fabulous explanation of the opalescent Beaux Arts windows. In chatting later with a staffer, I learned how the synagogue’s membership director helps members work out their financial commitment to the congregation. Oh, yes, you have to pay to belong! It was reassuring to hear, though, that no one is ever refused membership for financial reasons.

In Buddhism, giving, and almsgiving in particular, is called dāna. Religious Buddhism, as well as various non-religious Buddhist traditions and cultural or geographic conditions, have given rise to different applications of this principle, but almsgiving remains an important part of the eightfold path.

Almsgiving, or zakat, is one of the five pillars of Islam. Percentages are assigned for contributions in the form of money and produce. Alms benefit those who have no recourse to other means to meet their needs and are the responsibility of the wealthy.

Tithing is not unique to Judaism or Christianity. In antiquity, even many civil societies required a ten percent payment on harvests and revenue from production or sales—a primitive income tax schedule. Religious groups adopted the practice and adapted it for spiritual purposes.

While the New Testament shows no evidence of a requirement to tithe, it’s adamant in its call for generosity and planned giving (1Cor. 16:1ff.). St. Paul invoked his Jewish heritage to remind the Corinthians that gratitude necessitated some return on his investment with them: “If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits?” (1Cor. 9:11). He alludes to Israel’s practice of apportioning “those who serve at the altar [a] share in what is sacrificed on the altar” and concludes: “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (9:13, 14).

Church tradition, teaching, and law throughout the centuries mandated not only almsgiving for the poor but tithing especially to support the clergy. The old Catholic Encyclopedia reported that, at the time of publication (1912), Catholic clergy did not generally receive tithes in English-speaking countries and so, relied on other sources for their support and the maintenance of property. I’m not sure if that still stands in all Anglophone countries. In the U.S. certainly, salaries and stipends account for this support. Sunday collections and capital campaigns pay for maintenance and development.

What about support for other non-parochial public charities that have no access to parish funding? There exists a medley of structures and processes that creatively meet the needs of many. One of these is donor-advised funds. Typically, such a fund enables a donor to give to a cause by initially setting up a fund, then allowing other donors to contribute to it to help it grow. Some allow charities to dip into the fund periodically without running through the stash all at once. In this way, immediate needs are met, while future needs are provided for.

I recently read of a couple, Nancy and Mike Meyer from the diocese of Phoenix, who established such a fund with a local Catholic foundation, pledging ten percent of their annual income to it. Such tithing is not a requirement in donor-advised funds, but it does make for a simplified tax return!

In 2011 another couple, who love our sisters and the mission of our congregation, worked with the National Catholic Community Foundation (NCCF) to establish the donor-advised Daughters of St. Paul Fund. The NCCF was founded in 1997 by twenty religious orders and organizations in concert with the prominent Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities. (John J. Raskob was the architect for the Empire State Building in New York City; his creative wife, Helena, was as generous as her husband.) The Daughters of St. Paul Fund exists to support the life and evangelizing mission of our community as it shares the Gospel of Christ in and through the media, arguably the most influential means of shaping our world today.

Think of the NCCF as an online “donation mall”: Almost 350 Catholic ministries and charities with funds managed by the NCCF are described and “displayed.” So are ways to give. To learn how you can donate, call 1-800-757-2998, or e-mail info@nccfcommunity.org.

However you choose to give to the Daughters, whether for a particular project or through a donor-advised fund, whether once or regularly, you and yours are remembered in a monthly Mass offered in our Boston chapel, as well as in the prayers of us all throughout the world. May God make us worthy of your goodness to us!