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Archdiocese of Washington: Year of Faith series

Written by:

Dominican Brothers of the Province of St. Joseph

The Archdiocese of Washington, DC is hosting daily reflections on its Facebook page for the Year of Faith.  Have you missed them?  Today we are starting the next weekly series on faith.  Please visit our page and “like” us, so you can follow along with the rest of the series.

Theme: Friendship.

1.  Can we be friends with God?

Friendship is the very basis of our relationship with God in Jesus Christ: “I no longer call you slaves…I have called you friends.” (Jn 15:15) One quality of friendship is an exchange of personal knowledge and openness. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, “It is proper to friendship that a man reveal his secrets to his friend: because friendship unites their affections, and of two hearts makes one.” Couldn’t you use a good friend right about now? Friends talk to one another; friends listen to one another. When was the last time you spoke to Jesus as a true friend and from your heart? He is listening.

2.  Why is it good to share things with our friends?

Another mark of friendship is that we share our belongings with our friends. “A friend is another self,” so we help a friend as we would ourselves–which is part of willing and doing good for our friend. St. John asks, “But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17) Think too of the great love God has for us. When we were His enemies, He cleansed and sanctified our hearts by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and thus made us His friends.

3.  Do you find delight in the presence of God?

“It also belongs to friendship that a man delight in the presence of his friend, and rejoice in his words and deeds: also that he find in him consolation in all his troubles: hence it is especially to our friends that we have recourse in time of sorrow.” How true this is of our friendship with Jesus! When we look upon God in prayer with a loving gaze true delight arises in our hearts, and we are able to admire His goodness. This type of prayer is called contemplation. It makes us lovers of God, and it brings us amazing joy. Do you find delight in the presence of God? Does your friendship with Jesus bring you joy?

4. What if our friends hurt us?

At their best, friends are always trying to build one another up and seeking the others good. But we are not always at our best, and all too often we end up offending those we truly care about. Still, the bond of friendship can overcome even serious human failings because “love covers all offenses.” (Pr 10:21) Of course God’s love for us is the ultimate friendship, and likewise the ultimate example of forgiveness. Despite our countless offenses against Him, by His love we are pardoned and we can be restored to our undeserved status as friends of God. What is more, by our love for God we are called to love all who are His–all people, both our friends and our enemies.

5.  Does friendship mean agreeing with my friend?

Another part of friendship is harmony with your friend. Friends often and easily unite their wills, even in the smallest things, and even if they are very different personalities. We are also friends with God. Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15). Friendship with God means aligning our wills to His. But there is nothing burdensome or weary about agreeing with friends. In friendship, we aren’t oppressed by obligation, but moved by the weight of love. The Holy Spirit moves us to follow God’s commandments from the heart, with love. St. Paul says, “Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).

Please don’t forget to visit our Facebook page and “like” it to follow this week’s daily reflections on the theme “faith.”

I like many of you heard of a recent Pew Research Center survey on Abortion (released just before the March for Life) that presents discouraging results. The very title of their release was trumpeted by secular Media: Most Oppose Overturning Abortion Decision. That was the lead and really the only thing the secular media wanted to hear.

The actual Pew report is a lot more difficult to read and the results are hard to compare with other surveys since the wording of the questions is never held constant. For example, the exclusion of rape/incest clauses makes for different results. Like it or not most Americans are more sanguine about abortions in cases of rape and incest (rare though such cases are). Whether respondents are given such distinctions makes a difference, as do other factors. For example, many if not most Americans favor any number of restrictions on Abortion short of a total ban and, depending on how the questions are asked, the restrictions they favor come close to a general exclusion of Abortion as a legal option. Thus there are many subtleties in the context and wording of questions.

You can see the full Pew Report here: Roe v. Wade at 40 Frankly the report is bewildering to my eyes, pointing in many different directions and broken into so many categories. It is hard to draw any real conclusions at least to my amateur statistician eyes.

Ramesh Ponnuru writing in National review on-line has some of the following observations of the Pew Report that also help place the survey in context and which raise the problem of leading questions flawed premises that plague such surveys. His remarks are in bold black italics, my comments are plain red text. His full article is Here: How Not to Read Abortion Polls

Actually, Pew did not find that support for Roe has been increasing. It found less support for Roe than it did in 2005, which appears to be the last time it asked the question. The ABC/Washington Post poll also found declining support for Roe between 2005 and 2010.

But of course the lead headlines all suggest that support for legal abortion was growing, not declining. The impression on radio and TV news was that over 70% Americans want Roe to stay just as it is.

But the fact is that Roe and subsequent rulings that brought us Abortion on mere demand for all nine months of pregnancy has been steadily eroding as an unabridged legal right. This is because Americans, at many state levels, are insisting on and getting increasing restrictions both on the abortion industry, and the right to unrestricted abortion for all nine months.

Americans do not in practice provide unqualified support for Roe and abortion on demand away from the poll takers survey. Late term abortion are far more repugnant to Americans, as are abortions for crass reasons such as sex-selection. There are many things that will influence how a person answers the survey.

Other polling does not find any leftward shift. The University of Michigan’s polling finds no clear change from 1990 through 2008. The CBS/New York Times poll shows no movement between 2003 and 2012. Gallup shows no clear change in either direction from 2002 to 2012. (It also finds no pro-choice majority: In May of 2012, 59 percent of respondents told Gallup abortion should be legal in a few circumstances or illegal in all circumstances, while 38 percent said it should be legal in “all” or “most” circumstances.) Harris’s numbers show a movement in the pro-life direction from 1993 to 2009 on the question of under what circumstances abortion should be legal.

And here is a key point that makes surveys hard to read. Some surveys ask the question of support for Roe in an all or nothing, up or down fashion. Other surveys introduce circumstances. And it would appear that the circumstances make a lot of difference.

And when poll takers do not add any circumstances or qualifiers to the question it is less clear what qualifiers the respondents read into the question. For example, if a person is asked to vote up or down on Roe it is important to know if they think Roe allows abortion only in the first three months or if they know that Roe permits abortion right up to the last moment in the womb. Far fewer Americans support abortion in month 8 than in week 4. Further, far fewer Americans support abortion for sex-selection than due to the health of the mother.

Simply reporting that a percentage of Americans support or don’t support Roe is not really very informative.

Pollsters [often] include misinformation in their questions about Roe, as both the Pew and NBC/WSJ polls do. They suggest falsely that Roe limits the abortion license to the first three months of pregnancy. (The combined effect of Roe and its companion case Doe v. Bolton is to make abortion legal at any stage of pregnancy.) The latter poll even uses the phrase “completely overturn” in its question, a qualifier that can be expected to lower support for the option….what the Roe polls are probably picking up is that a strong majority of the public does not favor a ban on all first-trimester abortions.

Exactly, and while we may wish that Americans rejected abortion under ALL circumstances, we may have to be content to change hearts incrementally in this matter. It is at the outer edges that the pro-life progress is most evident. For, as noted above there is a steady string of legislative and legal victories at state levels that have sought to limit abortions. Gradually Americans are more comfortable that access to abortion at any stage for any reason should not be unrestricted. This may then lay the groundwork for further progress in a total change of heart and rejection of abortion at all stages for more and more Americans.

Maybe it will turn out that the public is becoming more supportive of abortion. I’d wait to see more evidence before calling that trend, which may not exist at all, “clear.”

Yes, it seems clear that the media rush to publicize the Pew results simplistically was likely more illustrative of their own views than of what this limited result actually shows. Shame on Pew as well for their leading headline which probably was aimed more at publicity than careful analysis.

More the complexity of this issue was discussed a year and half ago on this blog when a Gallup Poll released then said that 61% of Americans want all, or most abortions, to be declared illegal. Even there, the nature of the questions had to be carefully factored in. You can read more of my blog from then Here: Americans Want most Abortion to be Illegal.

Fair is fair. We continue to have a battle on our hands, be I still contend that we are steadily eroding support for abortion at the edges and more Americans want more restrictions. We are heading in the right direction. Further embryology and medical science in general are on our side. Increasingly, with 3-D sonograms and the like the reality of life in the womb is evident to all but the most hardened.

Onward fellow pro-lifers. Time + evidence favor our cause. Do not be discouraged by misleading reports and undistinguished data.

For those of us in pro-life work there are important precedents to be seen in the fight against slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and even in the anti-smoking campaign. Consistent, persistent and organized action brings eventual results. This is often a battle for inches, but inches become yards, and yards, miles. Keep a inching alone like a poor old inch worm, Jesus will come by and by.

As I have remarked before, to March for Life is experience life. So many joyful Christians and others who support life gather and celebrate the glory and dignity of human life. The March is ever young, with the ranks of so many young people growing every year.

Here at my rectory are 15 fine seminarians from the Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. Fine orthodox, and zealous men who love God and the Church and are eager to preach the Gospel and celebrate the sacraments. Almost 700 seminarians marched into the Basilica Thursday evening along with hundreds of priests, and as many as 8000 lay people, standing room only in the Great Upper Church, and also filling the chapels of the undercroft.

Today at the Cathedral I was privileged to preach to a full Church and hear powerful witness talks from Project Rachel leaders prior to the Mass. Despite cold and some light snow, I would say the crowd was close in size to last year’s 400,000.

Yes, such life, such faith and joy.

I must say however, that my joy is often tempered each year toward the end of the march when I go and try to witness to the “pro-choice” demonstrators who stand in front of the Supreme Court. I often experience great pain in this work.

To be sure they are the hardened cases, but I experience such grief after talking with them. Here are a couple of conversations as I remember them.

1. A man with a sign that says, “Pro-Abortion without apology.”
2. Me: “Well, at least you say like it is, “Pro-abortion” instead of “pro-choice.” But listen, man, no one here asks for your apology, we’re praying for a your change of heart.
3. Him, laughter, a profanity and some mumbled references about priests belonging to a criminal class.
4. Me: well think about it, deep down you have to know its wrong.
5. Him: Ridiculing laughter, turns to talk to another pro-abortion demonstrator.

Another, even sadder conversation.

1. She, holding a sign that says, “Stop the war on Women.”
2. Me: listen I want you know that I don’t hate women and I’m not waging a war against you. I love women. We all love women here today. We’re fighting to save women. Think about it, half the children killed in abortion are women.
3. She: They’re not women and they’re not victims.
4. Me: Well that’s just bad biology.
5. Me: Come on, think about it. Deep down you know its wrong.
6. She: No I don’t. Don’t tell me what I think. You do know what I think.
7. Me: Well, I’m talking about your conscience, that’s deeper than your thoughts. I know you have a conscience and God wrote his law in your heart. So you do know, deep down, you know it’s wrong. Listen carefully to that still small voice.
8. She, walking away, “Your little make-believe God didn’t write anything in me. Your God is fairy-tale. Besides you’re a man, don’t even talk to me abortion.
9. Me: Well but I know a lot of women who don’t support abortion, It’s not just a man thing.
10. She: Well I don’t care about them. I only care about me.
11. Me: Do you think that’s a good way to live?
12. She: I don’t care. (Moving forward to end the conversation).

Most of my conversations went that way. I wasn’t very effective to be sure. My hope was to engage their conscience. I know they’ll never admit to me that they do know it is wrong, but deep down under all the rationalizations and stinking thinking, I am convinced that they do know, they know. I tried to reach there, but this year no apparent sign, not even a glimmer. Perhaps I planted seeds. But each year the soil seems harder and rockier. I leave those conversations quite downcast, I must say.

Luckily the day ended with a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Bishop Perry was celebrant and gave a fine and encouraging sermon. Sitting in choir I was able to pray quietly for those with whom I spoke today. I offered Mass for their intentions and also in reparation in case I handled anything poorly. Witnessing is hard work and I don’t always get it right, so have mercy Lord on me too.

A day of life to be sure, and also of a heavy heart. But in the end, at the Latin Mass the restorative mercy of God and the reminder of life as I looked at another packed Church, standing-room only.God be praised.

A Taize song says, “Within Our darkest night you kindle a fire that never dies away.” It was nice to enjoy that light today shining on the faces of so many who came to celebrate life. I pray too that those to whom I tried to witness will also discover that light that never dies away.

The magnificence of life is really too wonderful too describe. But I found this description some years ago which summons reverence by its very ability to baffle the mind:

MIRACLE OF LIFE– Consider the miracle of the human body. Its chemistry is just as extraordinarily well tuned as is the physics of the cosmos. Our world on bothsides of the divide that separates life from lifelessness is filled with wonder. Each human cell has a double helix library of three billion base pairs providing fifty thousand genes. These three billion base pairs and fifty thousand genes somehow engineer 100 trillion neural connections in the brain—-enough points of information to store all the data and information contained in a fifty-million-volume encyclopedia. And then after that, these fifty thousand genes set forth a million fibers in the optic nerves, retinae having ten million pixels per centimeter, some ten billion in all, ten thousand taste buds, ten million nerve endings for smell, cells that exude a chemical come-on to lure an embryo’s lengthening neurons from spinal cord to target cell, each one of the millions of target cells attracting the proper nerve from the particular needed function. And all this three-dimensional structure arises somehow from the linear, one-dimensional information contained along the DNA helix. Did all this happen by chance or do you see the hand of God?

Today, many of us march for life, here in Washington, on the West Coast, and in other communities. Today we ponder the great mystery that is expressed in the 139th psalm:

For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you for the wonder of my being…Already you knew my soul my body held no secret from you when I was being fashioned in secret….every one of my days was decreed before one of them came into being. To me, how mysterious your thoughts, the sum of them not to be numbered! (Psalm 139 varia)

No human being is an accident, no conception a surprise or inconvenience to God. Mysteriously he knew and loved us long before we were ever conceived, for he says, Before I ever formed you in the womb I knew you (Jer 1:4). And, as the psalm says above, God has always known everything we would ever do or be.

It is often mysterious to us why human life is, at times, conceived in difficult circumstances such as poverty, times of family struggle or crisis, or even conceived with disability and disadvantage. But in the end we see so very little and must ponder the mystery of God’s reminder that many who are “last” now are going to be first in the kingdom (e.g. Matt 20:16; Luke 1:52-53).

So today, many will march, and all are called to remember the sacred lives that have been lost. We acknowledge our loss, for the gifts of these children and their lives have been swept from us as well. We pray for women who struggle to bring children to term and experience pressure to considerabortion. We pray for the immediate and sudden conversion of all support legalized abortion for any reason and for a dedication to assist women facing any difficulty in giving birth to or raising their children.

The following video is a shortened version of the masterpiece video called “Genesis” by Ramos David. It magnificently depicts fetal development. I have taken the liberty of adding a different music track since this is a shortened version. The Music is William Byrd: Optimam Partem Elegit (She has Chosen the Best Part), a text most fitting since we pray all mothers will choose life. The full length video is found in higher definition on YouTube by searching under “Genesis Ramos David”

It’s late January in Washington DC. It is the (dreadful) 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade A little snow, and surely a chill.

But this time every year is also marked by the warmth of tens of thousands who come to DC for the March for Life. I have marched just about every year, except when I was sick or away from the city.

My favorite year was 1985. There was record cold that year. The day before had featured the second inauguration of President Ronald Reagan. However, the temperature for that inauguration morning was -4 Degrees Fahrenheit. Thus the swearing in moved inside the Capitol and the parade was cancelled. The next day was just as cold, and the snow was knee high, but the Pro-life March went off any way. We walked through the bitter cold and snow in testimony to life. The numbers were down but our spirits were high (and our pace was swift!).

Most years have escaped such bitter conditions but its nice to know that many of us march anyway even in the worst weather.

But on this 40th March for life, I must say, I have longed for us to take a fresh look at the march. And while I hope it never comes, I have wondered if we could not perhaps do something powerfully memorable for the 50th Anniversary. Again, I hope that year never comes and that Roe v. Wade will be gone before then. But, I think that what I dream of is going to take about ten years to plan.

I also say this planning may be necessary since this 40th year kinda of caught us off guard. I remember last year being in a couple nationwide conversations to consider what we should do for this 4oth year of the march, (such a biblical number). But honestly we got to work too late and then Mrs. Nellie Gray died mid year (may she rest in peace).

That’s why I say, it may not be too early to start planing now for 2023 and my dream will take some planning. And my dream is born on something of yearning to really ramp up the March.

Regarding the March now, consider that we barely make the news anymore here in DC. And it’s always the same: the media says we have 30-70,000 and the March for life committee estimates over 100,000. Likewise the media always gives equal billing to the dozen or so counter-demonstrators that show up.

Another, more frustrating aspect is that every year the political speeches get longer and longer and the march starts later and later. What once began 1:00pm now often slips to as late as 2:30pm. 90% of the marchers can’t even hear the speeches anyway. Someone tells me that this will be different this year, we’ll see. I realize there is a political dimension to the march but frustrations do rise as we stand for a long period, often in poor and frigid conditions.

I am not sure exactly what to do on a yearly basis to move the march back into the headlines but I do have a dream that we would pick the year 2023, the 50th year of the March, and really pull all the stops to give Washington a March they’d never forget. Here are the aspects of my dream:

1. There are 78 million Catholics in this country according to recent Pew and Gallup Polls. If only 10% of them agreed to come to DC, that would be 7 million people filling the mall, the reflecting pool, the tidal basin area and even across the river to the Pentagon. Now I know that only 25% of Catholics really practice their faith in any meaningful way by coming to Church. But that’s still 19.5 million and if only 10% of them came we’d still have almost 2 million people here.
2. Now how to get that many to come? Well, what if we invited the Pope to lead us? In thirty-eight years of marching have we ever invited the Pope to personally summon us and promise to stand with us?
3. Bring the Pope! And bring with him other religious leaders. If our numbers did swell past 2 million I doubt we could actually march, but I can see the Pope and other religious leaders on the steps of the US Capitol standing at the head of two to three million people lamenting the legality of infanticide (aka abortion) and warning our nation that God’s justice cannot forever wait. Then I see him turn toward the Capitol, staff in hand and millions behind him. (Think of Moses before the Red Sea, staff in hand). And I hear the Pope in prophetic tones calling legislators to conversion, and insisting that the life must be respected. Insisting that it is shameful that the richest and most powerful land in this world cannot find the political courage and the moral fiber to end abortion, that the best it can offer women who face challenges in accepting life is a trip to the abortionist.
4. The speech would have to be very carefully developed because in my dream this speech would need to rank right up there with Dr. Martin Luther King’s Speech in 1963. That was a speech full of hope to be sure but also a speech that indicated no compromise with injustice and insisted that America live up to its vision and do what was right. Not in some distant future, but today.
5. Turnout goals – In the years and months leading up to the rally every Bishop would have goals to meet in terms of catechesis and turnout. Likewise every pastor. Dioceses closer to DC would have higher turnout goals, but every diocese would have to meet turnout goals and be publicly accountable.
6. With this sort of turnout and the presence of the Pope we’d give Washington a March they’d never forget.

I realize that our present Pope (may he live forever) is up in years and that in ten tears we may have another in his post. But the point here is, let’s dream big! Let’s break all records! One for the books. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream (Amos 5:24). Even if it takes years to plan, lets do it.

Do you have dream? Do you have ideas about the Pro-life March? How can we turn up the volume and wake the sleeping nation?

Nella Fantasia – In my dream….

Years ago, in High School, I dated Paula, who liked square dancing. So, most Saturday nights we were down at the community center, she in her petticoats and dress, I in my jeans, button down western shirt with a scarf tie and hand towel.

Square dancing has some basic moves that beginners learn. And so it was that Paula and I started with the basics. But in square dancing there are different levels, and so eventually we cleared the floor and watched those who knew the more advanced moves. Sometimes there were several levels of dancers. I remember being amazed at the complicated moves the move senior members had learned and wondered how I would ever master it. But, little by little the moves were learned, and we got to stay on the floor just a little longer as the months and years ticked by.

Image of the Church? I was over at YouTube and came upon the video below of a square dance group that’s pretty advanced. I remember many of the moves they do, but some of it was above what I ever learned. And suddenly it occurred to me that I saw an image of the Church.

Surely as a young man I never gave a thought to the Church, in terms of square dancing. But now with this great love for God and for the Church, I can’t help it, I see the Church in square dancing. Just a few thoughts:

1. Every Square Dance needs a caller and, if the dancers in the square are the body, he is the head. He calls the moves, and the dancers must listen and respond. He has the authority to set direction and maintain order. If a square falls into disorder he reestablishes order by calling them home. Not only that, it is also the role of the Caller to teach new moves and drill the dancers until they master it. So the caller is the source for unity and direction for the square.

This is also the role of the Pope and the Local Bishop in the Church who also have the authority to set direction, maintain unity and restore order when necessary. It is also their role to teach the faith, along with their priests and catechists until the faithful master the Christian walk (dance).

2. As long as everyone listens carefully, and fulfills their particular role in the particular moves, the dance continues. But when, usually through error, one or more of the dancers veers away from the directed move, the square either stumbles or falls apart. As long as the dancers are open to learn, the square will continue to get better, and become a good, and disciplined group who increasingly enjoy advanced square dancing.

So too with the Church. When all listen carefully and do their part, the Church is strong and well ordered. When the faithful do not listen, or persist in error, the Church stumbles and is less effective. Disunity leads to a poor Christian walk (dance), not only for individuals, but also for groups and parishes. But if the faithful are willing to learn to and grow, the dance of faith becomes deeper and richer, more enjoyable, and just plain fun.

3. Everyone has a role, but not the same. When the caller calls a dance move, what you do in response depends on where you are in the square at that time. You might just stand still while others move, or you might be the one who switches positions. And all this varies from move to move.

And so it is with the Church. We have varied and different roles depending on where we are in the Church. Some of our roles are stable but others change depending on the situation. As a pastor, I am a leader and teacher in my parish. But at a meeting with the bishop I am a learner and a man under authority. In the parish I may take the lead when it comes to teaching the faith, but I may need to learn from my parishioners when it comes to understanding some technical legal matter, or car repair, etc. In such cases many of my parishioners can show me the way. We all have different gifts and talents and they all interact in various ways, depending on the situation. At times we lead, at times we follow, at times we stand still, while others move about us. All at the direction of the caller.

4. There is an etiquette to square dancing. There are bows, and curtseys, there’s a way you hold a lady’s hand, and there is a graciousness expected by all. Especially for those in higher levels, proper attire is also expected. Timeliness is also important since it is necessary to have eight people to form a square and get things underway. Thus everyone needs to be committed and timely. If just one of the eight is late, seven others are left standing. In larger groups, where there are numerous squares, people can mix and match a bit, but one missing member always impacts many other people.

In the Church too, basic kindness and generosity are also expected and necessary. Where there is Charity and truth, God himself is there. Further, people must be true to their commitments and be timely or many others suffer.

5. There is a great intricacy to square dancing where many aspects are interacting at once. It is almost mind-boggling to watch as the dance unfolds.

So too with the Church, there are many layers and great intricacy at work. Some are praying, some are studying, some are raising children, some are preaching, some are evangelizing, some are caring for the poor, some are praying in front of abortion clinics. But all are responding to the great call of the Shepherd Jesus speaking through his Pope and Bishops, through the Scriptures and the Tradition. It is a great dance of wonderful intricacy, and everyone interacts at different levels, all at once.

So there you have it: the Church as a square dance. Enter the dance, learn the moves and have a great time.

Note: This article is a reprint from two years ago. A publishing deadline for my OSV column and some pro-life talks I am preparing for the March and Rallies this Friday necessitate a reprint. With all the heavy weather on the blog recently, I thought too that a little lighter fare might be good.

This video shows Square Dancing at a more advanced level. I got close to this, but never this good. Paula’s parents could have danced like this in their sleep.

Here’s how a caller teaches a new move:

Archdiocese of Washington: Year of Faith series

Written by:

Dominican Brothers of the Province of St. Joseph

The Archdiocese of Washington, DC is hosting daily reflections on its Facebook page for the Year of Faith.  Have you missed them?  Here they are.  And please visit our page and “like” us, so you can follow along with the rest of the series.

Theme: Happiness.

1.  Why did God create me?

Above all, we must recognize that God created every one of us – out of nothing. God’s love holds us in being. The Dominican tradition recognizes that God created us to be happy. This hardly sounds like the dour Catholicism that some people imagine. In fact, God wants us to use the gifts He has given us. Human beings delight in the good. The tradition teaches: do good and avoid evil. The challenge is: we have to know the true good, which is what the Church teaches. God helps us to accomplish the good, even in difficult situations, so that we can know Him and so that we can be truly happy in this life and in the next.

2.  How can I be happy?

God created us to be happy. It’s not a matter of simply following rules. It means rejoicing in and possessing what is truly good. The Psalmist asks, “Who will show us the good?” (Ps 4:6). If only we knew what was true and good– and then we could walk in it. The Psalmist answers the question with a prayer. “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” God teaches us a way of life that will make us happy, by revealing the face of His Son, Jesus. Aren’t we tired of walking in unhappiness and darkness? The Psalmist continues, “Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.” Let us turn to Jesus and the Church He gave us, and there find joy.

3.  What will truly make me happy?

According to the TV, the answer is the latest car, gadget or drink. As silly as we know that answer is, we still find ourselves trying to secure our happiness with created things: the right school; the right career; the respect of our peers. While these details have a major impact on our lives, they are not the goal. For “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”(1 Cor 2:9) Achieving that true happiness, which ultimately means the beatitude of heaven, begins by letting the grace of God work in us, and to orient all the details of our life to the place he has prepared.

4.  How can I grow in happiness?

Habits shape human conduct. Habits make us act in a reliable and consistent way. Without them, we’d find it difficult to have a stable pattern of life. But are habits mere routine? The soldier tirelessly trains in the art of warfare, so he can act properly on the battlefield. Without such intense training, he wouldn’t be free to fight well in extreme and real life circumstances. Unless fighting is “second nature” he will make mistakes in the clutch. It is the same with the virtues, the good habits of the moral life. They form us so we can freely and happily act in the moral life. They make us free to grasp the good things that make us happy.

5.  Why do the saints seem so free and so happy?

Some people seem to think that a good person is someone who grits his teeth and does the right thing, constantly fighting off the desire to sin. While the moral life can feel like this for many of us sometimes, we know that there is a more perfect way. We see it in the lives of the saints. The saints do not spend all their day on the lookout for sin and avoiding it; they turn their face towards God and walk boldly towards Him, confident that their steps will not falter. This is the life of virtue. By God’s grace we can build up the habits and virtues that lead to a joyful life now and in the life to come.

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In the wake of several mass killings, there has been a lot of talk about further restricting the sales of guns and various types of ammunition. I want to stay out from that discussion since reasonable Catholics will differ and I really don’t know much about the topic.

However, I do find it odd that there is a lot less discussion about other and perhaps more relevant issues related to explosive violence in our culture. Surely the breakdown of families, the decreasing discipline in schools, and a steady diet of violent video games and movies are factors too.

It is about the last matter that I would like to say a few things. Let me say from the start I am not calling for bans or boycotts. Actually, I am turning my attention to we the viewer, the consumer and am asking why it might be that violent “entertainment” appeals so much to so many of us. I wonder how well this can be squared with the Christian walk and if it is just harmless fun, or if there aren’t a few questions we should ask our self.

When I was a young man in my twenties I loved “action movies.” I remember that we guys often talked about the “kill ratio” as a way of rating the movie. High kill ratio movies were “good,” and low kill ratio movies were poor and dangerously on the way to becoming a “chick flick.” Car chases, buildings being blown up, and the bad guys being killed in large numbers, was the recipe we looked for.

In fact, I’ll save you some money and give you the plot of every adventure movie ever made or to be made:

1. The movie opens with some bad guy, a guy who is unambiguously evil, doing some terrible thing. Perhaps he kills some one, takes hostages, or engages in a terrorist act.
2. After this our hero steps on the scene.
3. There follows about ninety minutes of car chases, blowing things up and killing lots of people
4. He has a final showdown with the unambiguously evil bad guy and kills him.
5. In having done this, He has exacted vengeance, restored justice and now walks off the scene, girl in arm, burning city in the background, roll credits.
6. (There is usually a sub-plot which involves the girl wherein she enters the scene, complicating things for our hero. She is usually a combination of an insistent partner to our hero who is reluctant to accept his need for her help. Some other leading ladies play the role of damsel in distress, but that is less politically correct today).
7. Bottom line, our hero is victorious and justice once again reigns in Gotham City.

OK, so save your $15. You’ve just had them all presented to you. There is almost no variance to this theme and it is usually downright cartoonish.

In recent years I have lost interest in these movies. Some of it is age. But a lot of it is my Christian walk. I no longer love these movies because it is seems to me that the Lord does not love them. For a Christian, who really stops to think about it and to apply the faith in violent movies and video games, it should, in my estimation become clear that violence ought not be proposed as entertainment, or be experienced as entertaining. Violence is always regrettable and is a cause for sober reflection, not exuberant joy.

I am no pacifist, there are times when the police have to repel or restrain criminals with violent force. There are times when nations, for a grave reason, and as a last recourse, must go to war. But this is always lamentable, and surely not entertaining. People often die terribly in war, and in other violent ways.

The adventure movies and video games often present simplistic and cartoonish notions of violence. For example, our hero may be involved in a high speed car crash. Despite this, he often walks away from it and remains quite fit to do further battle. But in reality no one walks away from a high speed car crash unscathed. The whole body is wrenched and there are almost always neck and back injuries that require months to recover from. Some never recover. Further, as our hero kills bad guys left and right, we are never invited to consider that in real life death has terrible ripple effects as families, children and others related to the dead, experience the tragedy and often never recover.

The CBS video below speaks of an area I know little, the world of video games. I will admit, that video games are simply not, and never have been a part of my world. When I was in high school the only video game available was “PONG” (a simple monochrome tennis game). Pac Man and Donkey Kong were just on the horizon, but I never warmed up to them in college years. The first video shows that a new rating system has come into play for these games, many of which are horribly violent as well as being saturated with sex and bad language. I am personally glad to see it and hope it will guide parents to be more sober about what their kids are playing.

I intend no crusade here. I am not calling for abolishment of such games, or of adventure movies. Neither am I saying that these movies and games cause mass killings. I am simply saying that they don’t help. I will even say I oppose those who refuse to let little boys have toy guns and play war. I figure for them it is just a stage, a boy thing. But that is a central point, it should be just a stage.

So what I do propose is that, as we grow in our Christian walk, the notion of raw violence as a form of entertainment, should become increasingly untenable for us. As we grow and consider real life, violence is something we increasingly mourn, increasingly find troubling. If it ever did appeal to us, it appeals less and less. The voice of Jesus echoes in our conscience: Put away your sword (Matt 26:52).

And as we grow in grace, that still small voice of Jesus gradually has its way. The swords are sheathed, the video controllers are set aside, the movies look silly, and violence becomes unappealing, lamentable, and a subject for prayer, rather than a form of entertainment. At least that has been my experience.

I’m glad I don’t like the “high kill ratio” movies any more. Somehow I think that’s how it should be, that I’ve outgrown them. I do worry that some young people have a pretty steady diet of this stuff and may be desensitized. I rather doubt that most of them will ever become mass killers. But I don’t think it helps by making the simulated killing of other people entertainment. And, at some level, it is worth asking our self, “Why do I like this?” Honestly, to say that the killing of large numbers is a reasonable solution to a problem, is generally a kind of an “anti-gospel.” At best, the violent engagement of an enemy is deeply lamentable and rarely necessary. And when it must be undertaken it is subject to the tenets of the Just War Tradition. Surely there is nothing “entertaining” about real violence.

A couple of videos for further reflection.

The first video is from CBS News and details some of the problems with violence in video games. The second video is a humorous description of how silly adventure movies really are. Pardon a could mild profanities. One of the lines says, Cool guys don’t look at explosions, they blow things up and walk away, and never think of the people they’ve killed.