Category: Moral Life

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Pondering Punishment In the Light of God’s Love

The first reading today from the Book of the Prophet Amos has God speaking of some rather strong punishments coming Israel’s way due to her lack of repentance. God says the strong shall be brought low and the swift shall not escape!  There is also a vivid line in the psalm that read: Consider this, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you. He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God (Ps 50:22-23)

We have become rather “soft” in modern times (at least in the Western World). We have been taught in the “God is Love” school which is not wrong but has often understood that love in sentimental and simplistic ways. Modern notions of love are usually soft, permissive and non-directive. Love is often thought to be exclusively “supportive” and “affirming.” The understanding that love could or should include setting limits, correction, admonishments or punishments is usually downplayed if not explicitly rejected as pertaining to love. For this reason parenting in our culture has been severely undermined.

God too has largely been relegated to being essentially an affirmer. He is the one who “understands.” One man recently told me that God didn’t care if he went to Church or not. When I quoted the 3rd Commandment and another scriptural passage he just brushed it aside and said, “God understands my heart.” A couple divorcing once told me that God was OK with them divorcing since God “wouldn’t want them to be unhappy.” When I read scriptures that indicated that God wasn’t too impressed with divorce they just brushed it aside and indicated that God wouldn’t want them to go on suffering since they were both in love with other people. A homosexual “couple” recently insisted that since God is about love he has no problem with any two people loving each other. Scriptural quotes as usual had no impact on these men who simply said, “God is not a homophobe.”

So in the end it would seem that God’s main job is to affirm us in whatever we want to do. This reinvented “God” just want us to be emotionally happy and have plenty of self esteem.

Of course in this climate, the notion of God not merely disapproving of something we do but actually punishing us for it seems an outrageous and untenable position. And yet over and over again Scripture is filled with God sending forth punishments on those who persist in sin. It is true many passages speak of his patience but there comes a time when, after warning through the prophets and others,  that God does punish. Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments are filled with warnings of punishment and also its execution.

Now it remains true that God is Love. But he is true and real Love. His love is strong and rooted in what is actually best for us, both as individuals and as a community. Hence when God punishes it is a manifestation of his love.

We also have to recapture a proper understanding of punishment and its purpose. Too many people today think that punishment is the same as vengeance. Hence the one who punishes is merely exactly revenge or getting back at some one for what they have done. Perhaps too many think of punishment as merely a way for the more powerful to vent their anger on the less powerful. It is true that sometimes a parent may punish with mixed motives. Perhaps they are at times venting their anger  as they punish a child. But they are imperfect parents. God however, is a perfect Father and when he punishes it is not admixed with these sinful qualities. But distorted notions of punishment as synonymous with revenge or a mere venting of anger are common today. Thus a proper notion of punishment must be recovered.

What then is the proper understanding and purpose of punishment? In effect the purpose of punishment is allow the one punished to experience the negative effects of bad behavior in a small way so that they do not experience the bad effects in a far worse way. Consider a child who has been commanded by his parents not to cross the busy street without an older person to escort him. This warning is issued in love. The parents are not trying to take away his fun or merely limit his freedom to no purpose. They are trying to protect him from grave harm. But what if the child does cross the street unescorted and the parents discover it? Likely they will or should punish him. Perhaps his father will have him stay in his room for three hours alone as a punishment. Now notice what is happening here. A smaller injury is inflicted to avoid a much worse injury. After all which is worse, a three hour “time out” in a boring room, or being struck by a car and possibly paralyzed or killed? It is clear that the purpose of punishment is to allow a small amount of pain to avoid a much worse situation.

And thus when God punishes he is surely acting in the same manner. He will allow pain or inflict it so that we will avoid far worse pain eternally in Hell, or also pain here as our bad behavior spirals downward into far worse and dangerous matters. Punishment when properly applied (and it always is by God) is salutary. It helps to bring an end to bad and ultimately hurtful behavior and usually issues forth in good and constructive behavior.

Hence punishment is integral to love. But love here must be understood as the strong and vigorous love that speaks the truth and insists upon it for us as the only basis for real and lasting fulfillment.

The Letter to the Hebrews has a remarkable passage that spells out the true contours of punishment and discipline rooted in God the Father’s true and vigorous love for us:

“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.”  Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards.  Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed. (Heb 12:5-13)

As a final observation note that this passage says that those who are without discipline are called  “bastards.” It is interesting that this word,  which originally refers simply to child that does not have a father in his life, has come to mean some one who is obnoxious self centered, or incorrigible. When a child grows up without the discipline of a father they often become a  “bastard”  in both the ancient and modern sense of the word. In our use of this rather impolite word we are connecting what happens to a person who does not know discipline.

It is a true fact that many children today have not known proper discipline and this leads to any number of ills: bad and self destructive behavior, arrogance, disrespectful attitudes, incorrigibility, hostility, selfishness, greed, insensitivity, lack of self-control and many other sociopathic tendencies.

We need to rediscover that punishment is part of love. It is not love to leave a child undisciplined. We are not helping them in any way when we fail to discipline. Surely discipline must be rooted in love and when it is it leads to many good effects. God too shows us his love in disciplining us and punishing. I have quoted these words of St. Thomas before and it is good to finish with them: [F]raternal correction properly so called, is directed to the amendment of the sinner. Now to do away with anyone’s evil is the same as to procure his good: and to procure a person’s good is an act of charity, whereby we wish and do our friend well. (II, IIae, 33.1).

In this video Fr.”Bing Crosby” warns the young men of the school of what comes from bad behavior.

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What Do We REALLY Value?

If we ask someone what is most important to them they will often times answer the question the way it should be answered rather than the actual and truthful answer. Ask a believer who is most important in their life and they will usually answer, “God.” But is that the truest answer? Others who are unbelievers will often say, “My spouse” or “My children” and so forth. That is the expected answer but is it really the truest answer?

One way of measuring what we value most is to honestly assess what we spend our money and time on. Where is most of our time spent? Where do we spend most of our money? For us who believe where does God REALLY rank when we use this measure?

Now clearly a disclaimer is needed right from the start. It is a true fact that most of us have to work at least 8 hours a day. We have little choice in this. It is not reasonable to expect that we could also spend 8 hours a day in soulful meditation. Further, we have mortgages and health care cost etc that we have to pay. We have little choice but to pay rather high amounts in these areas and we not be free to give as much to the Church or to religious pursuits. So our reflection should limit itself to what we might call disposable income and leisure or free time. But again, with this disclaimer in mind, where does God rank in how we spend our time and money? And also where does God really rank insofar as our manifest interest and passions lie?

In this post I am not going to try and give endless statistics and mathematically demonstrate where God is on our priority list. I just want to give a few brief reflections to start a conversation if you will. I hope you might add to the list of reflections I offer here and make what you think are necessary distinctions. So to begin the conversation here are some short reflection points of my own.

1. Most football games last about 4 hours if you count the usual pre-game and post game interviews etc. Many people gladly watch these games in their homes. Some will even go to a cold and rainy stadium sit in uncomfortable seats, endure crowded conditions,  traffic coming going there and they will pay hundreds of dollars for the privilege. Some of these same people get angry if Holy Mass lasts for more than 45 minutes. Often they will come late and leave early. And, God forbid, if the Mass extends past one hour they are visibly angry. If the football game goes into overtime they are excited. If Mass runs long they are upset. Football is all about a bag full of air being carried up and down a field. The Mass is about the once-for-all perfect Sacrifice of Jesus Christ who gave his life for us. Now let’s see, what is more important? Well, clearly what goes on at Mass is more important. But what do many people really value more? Well let’s see….45 minutes (mostly just endured)….vs…..4 hours (gladly received). Hmm….What is most valuable?

2. Catholics give between 1% and 2% of their income as a Church offering. In 2002  the average Household income was just over $45,000 (Source Forbes.com) and that same year the average Catholic household contribution was $455. In other words, 1% of income was given to the Church. Add in other contributions and donations such as second collections building funds etc and the number is closer to 2% given to the Church. The average American household spends 5.46 % of income dining out, 4.7% on entertainment, 7.8% on cars, and 1.1% on alcohol alone (Source Forbes.com). Hmm….What do we value more? Going to Mass or a restaurant? What we get at the Church or what we get at the movies? Now let’s see, the average Catholic looks to be putting about $8 or 9$ in the collection basket. The average NFL ticket is $67, the average live theater ticket up in the tier is $30, the average baseball ticket is about $25, the average movie ticket is about $8. The cost of these things is usually much higher in large cities. Now let’s see what do we value most?

3. The average American spends about 4 hours watching TV per day and about 4 1/2 hours in cumulative leisure activities (source Bureau of Labor Statistics). Mass is about 1 hour per week. It is hard to track the length of time people spend in prayer, study of the faith or spiritual reading each day. Many do not pray at all, some pray for a few minutes, a few pray as much as hour each day which is commendable. But really what do you think most people value most? TV and other leisure or prayer and other spiritual pursuits. It is true that recreation is important as is relaxation. But so is prayer and knowledge of the faith. What do you think most people value more?

4. The American Dream is a great pursuit that consumes an enormous amount of time and money to achieve. Years in schooling including expensive colleges. Years of study to pass tests, meet standards and receive a diploma. This then yields a career which consumes most of our future time. All for the house with cathedral ceilings in the great room, a three car garage, wide screen TVs etc. But all of this is temporary and it is uncertain if we will attain it all or not even after all the work. Heaven or hell on the other hand is eternal and our death and judgment are certain. We spend all our time working for things that pass and little time working on what is eternal and what will last. Heaven is our hope but hell is possible if we fail to be serious about our final destiny. But really, what is most on our mind? What is most important? What do we spend more time, money, energy and focus on? Is it the American Dream or is it heaven?

5. Yesterday I saw a line for a phone store  that went around the block. They were standing there for hours to get a new phone that has come out. It was 98 degrees here in DC yesterday. Would they stand in line even five minutes to get into a Church? What if the Air Conditioning was out at the Church? Would we be willing to stay for the Mass for any length of time in those conditions?

6. People get passionate about sports and politics. Have you noticed how worked up people can get at a football game or political rally? People are clearly alive and very animated and alert for such things. But go into the average Mass and look at people. Many look like they’ve just sucked a lemon; bored believers, distracted disciples, sleepy saints, the frozen chosen. You may say, well the Mass is boring. Well, I think a soccer game is boring. Baseball too. But fans (short for fanatic) tell me, “Oh you just don’t know what is going on. If you did you’d find it exciting.”  It is a true fact that modern liturgy suffers from a flat-souled quality to some extent and we need to work at doing better with preaching and celebrating the Mass. But really, the deeper problem is that people “just don’t know what is going on.” But do we try to understand? And if not why not? People don’t wake up understanding the intricacies of of football, baseball etc. They aren’t infused with a knowledge of all the terminology, strategies of the game ad it’s subtleties. Like anything they work at learning all this. But when it comes to faith…..well that ‘s all too much work. So again, I ask, what is more important? What do we value most?  What do we get most excited about? Is it the faith? Really? Or are we more passionate and dedicated, studious and interested when it comes to sport or politics? Truth is most people are more passionate about their politics than their faith. The teachings of the faith  are tucked under politics and subservient to it. Sports too commands far greater passion for many than anything God is offering. What does this say? What do we value most?

Well, just some reflections. Please comment, add to the list. I know you will want to make distinctions and I’m also ready for some rebuttals. In the end the question is not what we say we value it is what we REALLY value. Help us Lord!

In this Video Fr. Robert Barron tells a story that also makes this point. He shows how we can be very sophisticated and demanding when it comes to learning the things of the world and yet when it comes to teaching the faith we ask almost nothing of our children. And again the question arises, what do we consider most important? And also, what do our children perceive our priorities to be based on this?

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Five Disciplines of Discipleship

The first observation for this Sunday’s Gospel is that it provides a kind of remedy for the sappy portraits of Jesus that seem to predominate today. Such portraits present Jesus as the quintessential “nice guy” whose main task was to affirm people, befriend the poor and generally be “nice.” It is a true fact that he did affirm, he befriended the poor and did have some nice things to say. But it is also true that Jesus is firm and uncompromising in setting forth conditions for discipleship. In today’s Gospel Jesus is clear in his own resolve and demands the same from those will follow him. There are to be no excuses and no postponements. He wants a decision. He is clear as to what that decision must be and he is not willing  to wait for an answer tomorrow. This is no sappy or syrupy Jesus. He is serious and sets forth sober principles that he expects to be followed.

In today’s Gospel we can find five disciplines of discipleship which are both taught and exemplified by Jesus.

1. Purposefulness – The Gospel opens today with this line:  When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)  Jesus was resolute. He was heading to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise. He had this for his purpose and would not be deterred from this goal. He was determined to undertake the great battle and the great mission entrusted to him. Everything he did was to be oriented to this goal. We too are summoned to be purposeful, to be determined and to have our life centered around the one goal of knowing God in order to love Him, serve Him, be saved by Him and spend eternity with Him. Everything we do must somehow be linked to this one thing. Other Scriptures speak of the necessity of being resolutely purposeful and of having our life centered on the one thing necessary:  This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13)   No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24)   A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8)

2. Perseverance – As the text of today’s gospel continues a certain Samaritan town rejects and will not receive Jesus or the missionary group accompanying him. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village (Lk 9:54-56) Now the fact is that if we witness to Jesus Christ authentically we are going to experience some hatred and rejection. Jesus is not deterred by this rejection but simply moves on to the next town. He also rebukes James and John for being so thin-skinned and revengeful about it. We cannot allow our little egos to get in the way of witnessing to Christ. Neither can we allow vengeful anger to sidetrack us into hate and away from love. We must persevere in proclaiming the Gospel message in season or out of season, whether we are accepted or rejected. Some will reject us. Instead of stopping out of hurt or discouragement we are counseled to shake the dust from our feet and move on to the next town, or soul (cf  Matt 10:14). By the way, Jesus perhaps had this incidence in mind when he (humorously?) gave James and John the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” (Mk 3:17) So perseverance in spite of hatred and persecution is the second discipline of discipleship taught and demanded by the Lord.

3. Poverty – As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” (Lk 9:57-58) Now this man apparently thought Jesus was headed somewhere high, perhaps to a palace. He probably figured on a worldly Messiah who was set to conquer and take charge and he wanted a place close to this new King in the palace. But Jesus rebukes the notion that following him will lead to this. In fact, it will lead to the cross. To follow Jesus will require that we learn to be poor to this world. Wealth, power, popularity and prestige entangle us with this world and keep us from our appointed task of proclaiming Christ crucified and finding our way home to heaven. We need to embrace a kind of poverty where we learn to simplify, pull free from worldly entanglements and travel light. We need not be destitute but neither should we be enamored of this world’s wealth. And frankly following Christ often means directly that we will experience financial impacts. The world know how to reward it’s own. But most often this reward comes at the cost of compromising the gospel. Living as a Christian often means we will live in a way that limits financial and other rewards. We won’t  make easy compromises with sin or evil for profit or access. We won’t just take any job or be ruthless in the workplace. We won’t deal with unscrupulous people. We won’t lie on our resume, cheat on our taxes or take unethical short cuts. We will observe the Sabbath, be generous to the poor, pay a just wage and provide necessary benefits. We will pay the tithe. So pulling free of easy compromises and entanglements with the world and being “poor” to its riches is the third discipline of discipleship.

4. Promptness – And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God (Luke 9:59-60). We tend to think that the man’s Father has just died and thus cringe at the Lord’s “cruel” remark. But the text does not in fact say the man’s father has just died. Hence, a more likely understanding of this text which also respects the Lord’s response is that the man is really saying something like: “I want to follow you, but my father is getting up in years and I will surely have to care for him. Perhaps when I am free of family obligations I will follow you.” The fact is that we can have a thousand excuses to avoid making God our priority. We endlessly postpone whole hearted discipleship by saying “Perhaps when I retire I’ll be better about getting to Church and praying…..Perhaps when I get the raise I’ll be more generous to the poor.” And so we delay our conversion. Then finally retirement does come and we have other excuses such as, “Well I’m not as young as I used to be and it’s harder to get out and go to Mass or get more involved.”  And the fact is that it has always been tomorrow that “I’ll do better.” Jesus is unimpressed with all the excuses and the promises about how things will be better “later.” He says, “Now.”  The fourth discipline of discipleship is promptness. We must promptly obey God.

5. Permanence – And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”  To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Lk 9:61-62) This excuse sounds similar but Jesus different response points to another discipline of discipleship, that of permanence. Jesus teaches quite plainly that we are to set our hand to the Gospel plow and stop looking back to the world. The Letter to the Ephesians states well our call: Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-24).  The second Letter of Peter says Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your call and election permanent (2 Pet 1:10). The Lord has called us from things like: Harmful habits, ruinous relationships, soul-killing sinfulness, and perilous pleasures. We are, by his grace to leave these things behind and not look back. Proverbs, 26:11 says, As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness. Clearly then we must cling to Christ. Going back and forth from the world to Christ is unacceptable. And old spiritual says, “Some go to Church for to sing and shout, before six months they’s all turned out.” The fifth discipline of discipleship is permanence.

This song says, Jesus says, “Here I stand, won’t you please let me in?” and you said “I will but tomorrow.” Tomorrow? Who promised you tomorrow. Better choose the Lord today, for tomorrow very well might be too late.

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Correcting the Sinner is not”Being Judgmental.”It is an Essential Work of Charity.

In today’s Gospel there is a Scripture passage that is “too well known.” I say this because the world has picked it up almost as a club to swing at Christians. The text is used almost as if it were the whole Bible and it is used to shut down any discussion of what is right or wrong,  what is virtuous or what is sinful. Even many Christians mis-interpret the passage as a mandate to be silent in the face of sin and evil. It is a passage “too well known”  because it is remembered but everything else in the Scriptures that balances or clarifies it is forgotten. Here is the passage:

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt 7:1-5)

Any time the Church or an individual Christian points to a certain behavior as wrong or sinful, inevitably wagging fingers are raised and an indignant tone ensues which says something to the effect, “Ah, ah, ah…..you’re being judgmental! The Bible says, judge not. Who are you to judge your neighbor!?” etc. This is clearly an attempt to shut down discussion quickly and to shame the Christian, or the Church into silence. To a large degree this tactic has worked and modern culture has succeeded in shaming many Christians from this essential work of correcting the sinner. Too many are terrified and simply shamed when they are said to be “judging” someone because they call attention to sin or wrongdoing. In a culture where tolerance is one of the only virtues left, to “judge” is a capital offense. “How dare we do such a thing!”  The world protests, “Who are you to judge someone else?!”

But pay careful attention to what this Gospel text is actually saying. The judgment in question is not as to the question of right and wrong. Rather, the judgment in question regards punishment or condemnation. The next sentence makes this clear when it speaks of the measure we use. The measure in question is the level of condemnation, harshness or punishment that is used. A parallel passage in Luke makes this clear: Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven…. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Luke 6:36-38). Hence the word “judge” here is understood to mean an unnecessarily harsh and punitive condemnation. To paraphrase the opening verses here would be to say, “Be careful not to be condemning for If you lower the boom on others, you will have the boom lowered on you. If you throw the book at others, it will also be thrown at you.”

Further, the parable that follows in the passage above about the plank in one’s eye does NOT say not to correct sinners. It says in effect, get right with God yourself and understand your own sin so that you will see clearly enough to properly correct your brother. Hence, far from forbidding the correction of the sinner the passage actually emphasizes the importance of correction by underscoring the importance of doing it well and with humility and integrity.

In these times one of the most forgotten virtues and obligations we have is the duty to correct the sinner. It is listed among the Spiritual Works of Mercy. St. Thomas Aquinas lists it in the Summa as a work of Charity:  [F]raternal correction properly so called, is directed to the amendment of the sinner. Now to do away with anyone’s evil is the same as to procure his good: and to procure a person’s good is an act of charity, whereby we wish and do our friend well. (II, IIae, 33.1)

Now to be sure, there are some judgments that are forbidden us. For example we cannot assess that we are better or worse than someone else before God. Neither can we always understand the ultimate culpability or inner intentions of another person as though we were God. Scripture says regarding judgments such as these: Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart (1 Sam 16:7). Further we are instructed that we cannot make the judgment of condemnation. That is to say, we do not have the power or knowledge to condemn someone to Hell. God alone is judge in this sense. The same scriptures also caution us against being unnecessarily harsh or punitive. As we already read from Luke, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven…. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Luke 6:36-38).  So in this text “to judge” means to condemn or to be unmerciful, to be unreasonably harsh.

Scripture commends and commands Fraternal Correction: I said above that the Gospel from today’s Mass is, in a sense “too well known.” That is, it has been embraced to the exclusion of everything else, as if it is ALL the Bible has to say about correcting the sinner. But the fact is that over and over again Scripture tells us to correct the sinner. Far from forbidding fraternal correction, the Scriptures command and commend it.  I would like to share some of those texts here and add a little commentary of my own in Red.

1. Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt 18:15-18) Jesus instructs us to speak to a sinning brother or sister and summon them to repentance. If private rebuke does not work and, assuming the matter is serious, others who are trustworthy should be summoned to the task. Finally the Church should be informed. If they will not listen even to the Church then they should be excommunicated (treated as a tax collector or Gentile). Hence in serious matters excommunication should be considered as a kind of medicine that will inform the sinner of how serious the matter is. Sadly this “medicine” is seldom used today even though Jesus clearly prescribes it (at least in more serious matters).

2. It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened….I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men; 10not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But rather I wrote to you not to associate with any one who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you. (1 Cor 5:1-13)  So the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul commands that we “judge”  the evil doer. Now again in this case the matter is very serious (incest). Notice how the text says he should be excommunicated (handed over to Satan). Here too the purpose is medicinal. It is to be hoped that Satan will beat him up enough that he will come to his senses and repent before the day of judgment. It is also medicinal in the sense that the community is protected from bad example, scandal and the presence of evil. The text also requires us to be able to size people up. There ARE immoral and unrepentant people with whom it is harmful for us to associate. We are instructed to discern this and not keep friendly company with people who can mislead us or tempt us to sin. This requires a judgment on our part. Some judgements ARE required of us.

3. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should recall him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Gal 6:1-2) Notice we are called to note when a person has been overtaken in sin and to correct him. Note too that the text cautions us to do so in a spirit of gentleness. Otherwise we may sin in the very process of correcting the sinner. Perhaps we are prideful or unnecessarily harsh in our words of correction. This is no way to correct. Gentle and humble but clear, seems to be the instruction here. It also seems that patience is called for since we must bear the burden’s of one another’s sin. We bear this in two ways. First we accept the fact that others have imperfections and faults that trouble us. Secondly we bear the obligation of helping others know their sin and of helping them to repent.

4. My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19) The text is ambiguous as to whose soul is actually saved but that is good since it seems both the corrected and the corrector are beneficiaries of fraternal correction well executed.

5. You shall not hate your brother in your heart: You shall in any case rebuke your neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. (Lev 19:17) The text instructs us that to refuse to correct a sinning neighbor is a form of hatred. Instead we are instructed to love our neighbors by not wanting sin to overtake them.

6. If any one refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother (2 Thess 3:14)  Notice again the medicine of rebuke even to the point of refusing fellowship in more serious matters is commanded. But note too that even a sinner does not lose his dignity, he is still to be regarded as a brother, not an enemy. A similar text from 2 Thess 3:6 says  We instruct you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.

7. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom (Col 3:16)  To admonish means to warn. Hence, if the word of Christ is rich within us we will warn when that becomes necessary. A similar text from 2 Tim 3:16 says:  All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Reproof and correction is thus part of what is necessary to equip us for every good work.

8. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all  (1 Thess 5:14). Here fraternal correction is described as admonishing, encouraging and helping. We are also exhorted to patience is these works.

Well there are more but by now you get the point. Fraternal correction, correcting the sinner it prescribed and commanded by scripture. We must resist the shame that the world tries to inflict on us by saying, simplistically, that we are “judging” people. Not all judgment is forbidden, some judgment is commanded. Correction of the sinner is both charitable and virtuous. True enough it is possible to correct poorly or even sinfully.

We have failed to correct – But if we are to have any shame about fraternal correction it should be that we have so severely failed to correct. Because of our failure in this regard the world is a much more sinful, coarse and undisciplined place. Too many people today are out of control, undisciplined, and incorrigible. Too many are locked in sin and have never been properly corrected. The world is less pleasant and charitable, less teachable. It is also more sinful and in greater bondage. To fail to correct is to fail in charity and mercy, it is to fail to be virtuous and to fail in calling others to virtue. We are all impoverished by our failure to correct the sinner. Proverbs 10:10, 17 says He who winks at a fault causes trouble; but he who frankly reproves promotes peace….A path to life is his who heeds admonition; but he who disregards reproof goes go astray.

The following video is a bit home-spun but it basically captures the problem that Christians face and explains pretty well some of the distinctions I am making here: .

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Was the Black Community Targeted by the Abortion Industry?

June is Abortion Awareness Month in the African American Community. It is a tragic and curious fact that just over 30% of the abortions in this country are performed on African American women. But the African American community is only 12% of the US population. This means of course that the Black population is strongly over-represented in terms of abortion deaths. Hence the need for an abortion awareness month in the Black Community. Recent statistics from the Guttmacher institute indicate that  1784 Black children are killed by abortion every day in the USA.

Why are African American children five times more likely to die by abortion than white children? Like all sociological phenomena, one simple explanation is not enough. Surely the breakdown of the Black family structure is a factor. High poverty rates must also be influential. Others explain that women in poverty often have less access to contraceptives and other “health-care” that might help prevent “unwanted” pregnancies. But others also note that the Black community was historically targeted by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. Currently 78% of Planned parenthood clinics are  located in minority neighborhoods. I would like to take a brief look at this historical phenomenon.

Margaret Sanger’s “Negro Project” – I do not propose to give a complete description of the origins of Planned Parenthood. You can read a more through description of that history here: Margaret Sanger and the “Negro Project” and here: The Pivot of Civilization . But fundamentally Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger was a believer in Eugenics. This was a theory that held that certain races of the human family were inherently inferior and that they should be eliminated from the gene pool through the use of contraceptives, sterilization and even abortion. Doing this would help “purify” the human race of undesirable traits (negative eugenics).

Where were these undesirable traits found in the human gene pool that Eugenicists sought to minimize or remove? You guessed it, darker skinned peoples such as African Americans, Gypsies, and various indigenous peoples had these “undesirable” traits, tended to live in poverty and were targeted for reduction and elimination by the eugenics movement. The movement became quite widespread by the 1930s and influenced Adolf Hitler in his genocidal programs.

Here in America a chief proponent of eugenics was Margaret Sanger. In 1922 Sanger wrote against outreach to the poor since it caused them merely to become more numerous:

The most serious charge that can be brought against modern “benevolence” is that it encourages the perpetuation of defectives, delinquents and dependents. These are the most dangerous elements in the world community, the most devastating curse on human progress and expression (from page 108 of her book The Pivot of Civilization).

In 1926 she began to propose sterilization for those who were “unfit”:

It now remains for the U.S. government to set a sensible example to the world by offering a bonus or yearly pension to all obviously unfit parents who allow themselves to be sterilized by harmless and scientific means. In this way the moron and the diseased would have no posterity to inherit their unhappy condition. The number of the feeble-minded would decrease and a heavy burden would be lifted from the shoulders of the fit (in the Birth Control Review Oct. 1926).

The Eugenics movement used the word “moron” to describe those caught in the cycle of poverty and attributed their inability to escape that cycle as evidence of their inferior genes and poorer mental capacity. By 1929 she chose to target African Americans especially for her “benevolent” outreach establishing her first clinic in Harlem. By 1939 she began her “Negro Project”  establishing clinics and locating them especially in poorer neighborhoods to “encourage” Blacks and other poor people to reproduce less. The distribution of contraceptives was her primary strategy.  She saw Black ministers as “useful” in her campaign and rather infamously wrote to her Regional Director Dr. Clarence Gamble:

The minister’s work is also important and he should be trained, perhaps by the Federation as to our ideals and the goal that we hope to reach. We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members (Letter to Gamble, Dec 10, 1939).

After World War II the Eugenics movement was discredited so Margaret Sanger adjusted her rhetoric and spoke of trying to “help the poor” and of “promoting better health” but the method, the plan and the targeted groups remained the same. Today it is instructive to note that the usual location of Planned Parenthood Clinics remains largely poor Black and Latino neighborhoods. After 1973 Planned Parenthood added to its arsenal by becoming the largest provider of abortions in this country.

Was Sanger successful? Well, as noted, African Americans are 12% of the American Population. But just over 30% of abortions are performed on Black women. Some conclude to moral problems in the Black Community. Others conclude that the Black Community has been targeted. You decide. Today as noted, 78% of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in minority neighborhoods.

In an interesting twist of fate, Whites and Northern Europeans (races that Sanger and the Eugenics movement would have considered most “fit”) bought into contraception in a big way after 1965 and now themselves face a kind of demographic implosion. Meanwhile many “Third World” races and nations (considered by Sanger and the Eugenics movement as “inferior”) are now set to demographically dominate the world. I have written of the demographic implosion of Europe here: Contraception is Suicide

As stated above, the high rate of abortion in the Black Community is likely complicated and surely cannot be reduced to one thing. But the targeting of the Black Community cannot be dismissed as a factor. The quotes from the distant past might be dismissed by some. But the current location of most Abortion “Clinics” in Black and Latino neighborhoods cannot be so easily dismissed.

The trailer is below and features a series of quotes from proponents of Eugenics (Sanger among them) in the early half of the 20th Century. Make sure you have a strong stomach before you watch since the quotes are ugly and horrible examples of racism that has thankfully and hopefully has abated to a large degree.

Here is another video that effectively addresses abortion using a hip hop format:

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Praying for a Broken and Humble Heart: A Meditation on Love of the Sinful Woman (Luke 7)

The Lord links our love for him in terms of our awareness of our sin and our experiencing of having been forgiven: But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little (Luke 7:47)

I. The Pharisaical Problem – He said this in the house of a Pharisee named Simon. Now the Pharisees had reduced holiness to the observance of a rather precise and technical code of 613 precepts. Many of these were minor observances such at the purifying of jugs and cups, following a “Kosher” diet, and observing a myriad of Sabbath rules. Others were more weighty, involving fasts and prayer observances, paying tithes etc. But I hope you can see the absurdity of reducing holiness to a code of a mere 613 precepts. Jesus often excoriated the Pharisees for their intricate observances of the minute details while they neglected weightier matters of justice and failed to love others, see them as brethren or lift a finger to help them find God. Instead they were famous for simply writing off others with scorn and regarding them with contempt. Their arrogance troubled Jesus greatly.

At the heart of their self deception was the notion that they could be righteous on their own, that sin was something that did not touch them. They were “self-righteous.” That is, they considered themselves to be righteous on their own and that by simple human effort they had eradicated sin and were free of it. Again, it is hoped that you can see the absurdity of this. But notice that the delusion first involved a severely dumbed-down notion of holiness, reducing the matter to 613 rules. Then, if you try and put a little effort, presto – you’re “holy,”  righteous, and without sin.

The Sadducees, the scribes and other Temple leaders also had similar minimalist notions. A rather memorable interaction took place between Jesus and one of the Scribes in Luke 10. They were discussing the Commandment to Love God and your neighbor as yourself. In effect the Scribe, like a true lawyer, wants to minimize the whole thing and keep the commandment manageable so as Luke reports: But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”(Lk 10:29). Notice, he wanted  to justify himself. This is want is meant by the notion of self-righteousness, to be righteous by my own power. But in order to pull off the self justification he first needs to make the loving of one’s neighbor more minimal and manageable. So he enters into a negotiation of sorts with Jesus to dumb down  the whole thing. Jesus does not take the bait but goes on to tell his famous Parable of the Good Samaritan which teaches that my neighbor whom  I must love is an expansive category that leaps beyond, family, local community, even nation. But here was the Pharisaical, tendency also shared by the Sadducees, Scribes and Temple Leaders: I can be holy on my own, I can be without sin if I just follow a set of rules. If that is the case, who needs a savior? Who needs Jesus? Who needs God to save him? It is the law which saves and all I have to do is follow it in the narrowest and most restricted sense and I am sinless. Or so they thought.

II. Our Personal Participation in the Problem  – Now, before you rush to scoff at the Pharisees be careful on two counts.

1. The Pharisees were a large religious group in Israel and like any large religious group there were varying interpretations and experiences of the Pharisee philosophy. Not every one was as cartoonishly absurd in their thinking as I have described. Some were however (e.g. in Luke above, and Simon the Pharisee in today’s Gospel) and all the members of the Pharisee movement had the tendencies described due to their minimalistic notions of holiness.

2. But more importantly don’t rush to scoff because we have ourselves  have become very Pharisaical in modern times. There is a widespread tendency today to exonerate ourselves from sin or at least to diminish any notion that we are a sinner. We have done this in several ways.

First, we have been through a long period in the Church where clergy and catechists have soft-pedaled sin. Talking about sin sin was “negative” and we should be more “positive.” After all if we talk about sin too much “people might get angry or hurt and we want our parish to be a warm and welcoming community.” Or so the thinking goes.

Second, there is the tendency to evade responsibility. “I’m not responsible, my mother dropped me on my head when I was two…..I need therapy, I went to public school etc. .”  This may be true but it does not mean we have no sin.

Third, and perhaps the most Pharisaical thing we have done is to reduce holiness to “being nice.” All that matters in the end is that we’re “nice.” Go ahead and shack up, fornicate, skip Mass, dissent from any number of Biblical and Church teachings, have numerous divorces, and be unforgiving of your family members (after all that’s a “private” matter). But as long as you’re “generally a nice person” everything is OK.  At least the Pharisees had 613 rules. We have only one: “be nice.”  Now here too I do not say this of everyone. But in a very widespread way we are like the Pharisees, completely out of touch with our sinfulness and desperate need for God’s mercy. “What me a sinner? – How dare you! I am basically a good (i.e. nice) person” as though that were all that mattered.  Or so the thinking goes. And let a priest or deacon get in a pulpit and talk tough about sin to some congregations and watch the letters go off to the Bishop or the priest be called negative.

III. Our Prescribed Perspective – In today’s Gospel Jesus tells a Parable about two people who had a debt which neither could repay. Note carefully, neither could repay. That is to say, both were sinners and neither one can save them self of be righteous on their own. The debt is beyond their ability. One had a large debt, the other a smaller one. It is a true fact that some on this planet are greater sinners than others. Moral equivalency is wrong. Mother Teresa was surely more holy than Joseph Stalin. (Nevertheless, even Mother Teresa had a debt she couldn’t pay and would be the first to affirm that she was a sinner in need of God’s great mercy). Now since neither of the people in the parable  could repay they both sought mercy. Who is more grateful? Obviously the one who was forgiven the larger amount.

The paradoxical font of love – But pay attention to the way Jesus words it: “Which of them loves him [the creditor] more?” (Lk 7:42). The one who love more is the one who is forgiven more. This is why today’s dismissal of sin is so serious. In effect we deny or minimize our debt and the result is that we love God less. Notice that, while many sectors of the Church have soft-pedaled any preaching about sin and emphasized a self-esteem message, our Churches have emptied. Only 27% of Catholics go to Mass in this country. It is worse in Europe. Obviously love for God has grown cold. As we have lost touch with our debt, we have less love for  the one who alone can forgive it. We no longer seek him and we love him only tepidly and in a distant manner. Jesus says it plainly (and it would seem with sadness):  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little (Luke 7:47)

Pray for a broken and humble heart, a heart to know the astonishing debt of our own sin. It is a paradox but it is true: we have to grasp the bad news of sin before we can rejoice in the good news of forgiveness and redemption. Before we can really love the One who alone can save us, we have to know how difficult we are to love. You and I must pray for the grace to finally have it dawn on us that “The Son of God died for me….not because I was good or nice, but because I was bad and in desperate shape.” Only when we really experience this mercy is our heart broken and humble enough to really love the Lord.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little (Luke 7:47)

I am mindful of an old Gospel song that says, “I really Love the Lord! You don’t know what he’s done for me! Gave me the victory. I really love the Lord!”

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Abortion Awareness Month in the Black Community

What is the leading cause of death in the African American Community? Ask this question of most people or even post it in Google and answers like this come forth: Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Crime and so forth. But the leading cause by far is (you guessed it) Abortion. Look at this graph:


You can see it’s not even close. Abortion is huge killer for Black Americans as it is in any other ethnic group. Why is there a special month for awareness of abortion in the Black Community?  African American women comprise about 12% of women in this country but over 30% of  Abortions are  performed on Black  women.  There are many reasons for this including poverty and the fact that the Black Community was targeted many decades ago by Margaret Sanger, founder of “Planned Parenthood” in her so-called “Negro Project.” Planned Parenthood clinics are  especially present even to this day in Black and other Minority Neighborhoods. This month is therefore set aside in African American Catholic Parishes and some more sympathetic Protestant Denominations as a month to consider the huge toll abortion has taken in the African American community. Here on the blog I hope to provide a number of articles and insights as well. Pray to end abortion. Pray that people will want and find alternative to abortion.


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Memorial Day

Memorial Day for many means the beginning of Summer. To others, a day off to shop. But, as I am sure you really know Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have died in the service of this country. There are men and women who have died so that you and I could live with greater security, justice and peace. May these fallen soldiers rest in Peace. We owe them a debt of gratitude and our prayers. In a secondary sense we can also honor those today who currently serve in the military since they have placed their lives on the line for our security and peace. God bless them all and may the dead rest in peace.

The Love of one’s country (Patriotism) is related to the fourth commandment. The Catechism teaches: It is the duty of citizens to contribute  to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity and freedom. The love and service of one’s country follow from the the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. (CCC # 2239) The Lord himself makes it plain: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13).

Pray for our fallen soldiers of every generation. Perhaps you might use this video as a way to meditate on the sacrifices they made. Here the text of the song “Mansions of the Lord” and the video follows:

To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more weeping,
No more fight,
No prayers pleading  through the night,
Just Divine embrace,
Eternal light,
In the Mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry
And no children weep,
We shall stand and guard
Though the angels sleep,
Oh, through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord