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Any day that I wear my “Grace if Enough” tee shirt, I’m bound to have an interesting conversation with someone. In fact, sometimes that’s exactly why I wear it.

One day I was at Teaism in Dupont Circle and a man who was there with his daughter asked, “What does your shirt mean?” Great question!

The quote (and the title of a song by Matt Maher whose concert is where I purchased the tee) comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9:

Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Today was no different. I was at the grocery store, and as I was checking out the cashier said to me “Is your name Grace?” I giggled and said, “No, it’s the Grace of God!”

As I left the store, the lyrics of another musician came to mind…my fav, U2:

Grace, it’s a name for a girl, it’s also a thought that changed the world.

Why is it that people don’t know that Grace is more than just a name for a girl?? Why? Because we don’t speak about grace enough. When was the last time you answered someone’s question with the word “Grace”?

“Wow, how did you do so well on your exam?”

“Wow, aren’t these flowers gorgeous?”

“Wow, how did your mother make such a quick recovery?”

Sometimes we forget who’s in charge and how much He loves us. So let’s start remembering and calling His gift by its proper name: GRACE

Here is a rather nice musical rendering of John 6 in Music and picture.

The Song is called “I Believe” by Brian Flynn. The Song is available on iTunes

You can buy the Sheet Music here: http://www.brianflynnmusic.com/index.cfm?load=page&page=36

On the liturgical calendar May 31 is the feast of the Visitation. What a lovely way to celebrate Memorial Day by asking our Mother’s intercession for all the women and men who have died in service to our country and to commend to Mary’s protection, those who are in harms way in defense of our liberty and freedom.

This painting is by Brother Mickey McGrath, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales of Bee Still Studio. He painted this for a convent at Visitation parish in Chicago and I think it so captures the joy of the cousins visit as they began to make sense of what it was that God was asking each of them to do in the great work of his plan for salvation.

The Magnificat

Today, we also renew our commitment to be part of God’s plan as we pray:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,  my spirit rejoices in God my savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm and he as scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he has made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever. Amen

When I first saw Msgr. Pope’s post about veils, I thought he had taken up the question of the French Government’s decision to fine women who wear full-face veils. Not much more needs to be said about that but there is a quite interesting debate in Europe about the Muslim custom of full-face veils.

 I have been doing a lot of thinking about France’s decision. The French government adopted a law to fine women ($185.00 in U.S. dollars) if they appear in public with the full face veil. France is the first of a number of European countries taking up the topic and it is one of those topics that is very easy for us to dismiss because we think it is not relevant.  A few years back I thought that about same-sex marriage and look how that turned out. Are you still startled when you see women at Tysons Corner and in other parts of our area in burqas or niqab or has it become unremarkable?

 Thinking behind the law

My first interest in the question was out of a concern for religious liberty. There is a way in which you can liken Muslim women’s dress to a religious habit. The dress stems from a discipline of the faith.  However, I also remember my father who is an attorney, involved in a legal case in the 70’s in which a religious sister had been in a car accident, in part because her driving visibility was limited by her veil.  The religious community determined that indeed, modifications would need to be made to the veil if the sisters were going to be driving. One of the French arguments is that the full-face veil makes walking and moving around the city difficult and puts women in danger. Another argument is that the meaning of the full-face veil demeans women—rendering her a non-person in a way that is not compatible with Western values. A third argument is one related to security. As we move into an age where we are screened via facial recognition, the full veil does not allow for this. Furthermore, there have been cases of robberies and security infractions committed by persons in burqas.

 Is it a Question of Religious Liberty?

 It is indeed a complicated question. Some writers took the position that it is an affront to the dignity of women because it is an imposed rule, stemming from a customs including the veil as a sign that you belong to a man, and that women are a source of temptation and should not be seen. Certainly this is a practice that is quite hard for most of us to wrap our minds around. This line of thought also assumes that women, though they have no choice, if given a choice would opt not to wear the full-face veil. I saw an interview in which a number of Muslim women said that they appreciate the custom as an act of modesty and as part of a tradition they love. That’s not unreasonable to believe though the fact that it is imposed and not freely chosen is cause for serious consideration.

 Other writers took the position that it is simply incompatible with Western values and that ought to be reason enough. This is where the conversation becomes important because of its relationship to any kind of religious habit. The religious habit is more than a uniform. It is a sign and gives testimony to a radical way of a life. Will this one day be incompatible with American values? The first amendment makes this unlikely but I think the debate over the burqa will raise related issues.

 I spoke with my friend, Dr. Sandra Keating who teaches at Providence College and is a Consulter to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims. Sandra is fluent in Arabic and has studied Islam for more than 15 years. Sandra attested to the complexity of the issue because of its roots in various cultures. The Koran teaches that women ought to dress modestly, as Dr. Keating describes it; arms covered, legs covered, hair covered, much like we see Orthodox Jewish women dress. The tradition of the full –face veil is rooted in Persian culture and indeed tied to the notion that women belong to their husbands. She pointed out that across the Islamic world there is a tremendous diversity of women’s dress and the expression of the teaching on modesty in the Koran.

As Catholics and as Msgr. Pope pointed out in his blog, the combination of teaching, tradition and custom is very much intertwined and not always easy to sort out. This seems also to be the case with regard to this question.  I think we need to follow the argument carefully as it is taken up in Europe and might one day find it way to the U.S. View this.  French law on full-face veils

This spring, the Office of Young Adult Ministry hosted Theology on Tap on the topic of “Marriage is Forever”. During the series, we had 4 couples come speak on the sacrament of marriage and how their marriages are flourishing after 26, 3, 18, and 41 years respectively!

It was an incredible series featuring some of the most real, courageous, sweet, Spirit-guided, passionate stories I’ve heard on the topic of marriage!  We recorded all of the talks which can be found at the link below. Enjoy them, and pass them on!

http://www.adw.org/parishes/yam_tap.asp

If you are looking for a good conversation starter for the holiday weekend picnic ask people if you can be spiritual and not belong to a parish or community of faith.

I am teaching a course on Pastoral models of adult faith formation and to lay the foundation I asked them to define faith in six short statements. Why six statements? Firstly, because the class is composed of candidates for a doctorate in ministry and they tend to make things more complicated than necessary! Secondly, the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults(37-38) uses six statements that work quite well. The six statements read:

• Faith is a personal and communal relationship
• Faith seeks understanding and is a friend of reason
• Faith is necessary for salvation
• Faith is a gift of grace
• Faith is a free, human act
• Faith believes with conviction in a message

 I can report my very smart students identified all six components of the definition. I then asked, “Ought one to conclude that membership is an essential element of faith?” It led to quite a lively discussion. A student suggested that there is a stage in the conversion process in which the person may have a relationship with God but not be part of a faith community. This is true but faith by definition is about one’s relationship with God lived out communally and this is very important in the work of evangelization from the Catholic perspective. The free act of faith is expressed in response that is made explicit in the way in which we relate to others.

 All about revelation

Another student pointed out that the revelatory dimension of our faith is such that the message is found in Scripture and Tradition and these are found in the life of the church. We concluded that to be authentically spiritual we must make our home inside the church.

On marriage and the church

I tend to think of my relationship to the church like my marriage: permanent, in good times and in bad…. I don’t think of my marriage in a way that does not include my husband and I can’t really imagine saying to my husband, I love you but I will love you better if we are not married.* Like my husband in my marriage, I think the the church nourishes, strengthens, and builds my faith and  tests it in ways that I would never have expected but makes it all the more rich.  Much as my husband is great at calling me out in a way that no one else can, the church keeps me honest in my relationship with God!

*(I am fortunate to be in a lovely marriage, but also know that in some situations a spouse or children live in danger, and that makes it necessary to leave. )

This morning on TV there was a commercial for a retirement community out in Virginia. You know, the ones where seniors can be found playing golf, swimming, reading, laughing, etc. in a carefully manicure and controlled environment? Nothing out of the ordinary really…but a sinister thought struck me.

Has anyone read C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters?

Ever since reading that book and seeing the play two years ago, I look at the world differently…as a place where a spiritual battle is truly being fought.

What does this have to do with retirement communities? Well, let me give the genre a crack.

Dear Wormwood,

With age comes wisdom. All humans know that. Life experience is often the best teacher, and every year a human lives, he or she gets wiser. They can’t help themselves; it’s just written in their souls. Through every relationship, hardship, success, experience of death, experience of new life, they see clearer glimpses the one who calls himself love. Ugh! Unfortunately, we can’t stop this revelation, but we can certainly try! Wise, old people are our worst enemy, especially if they are happy!

Our goal is to do everything in our power to keep these wise, old, happy from sharing their wisdom with anyone, especially children! So, what can we do? Seclude them of course! Get them far away from their families and neighborhoods.

It’s particularly helpful if these retirement communities are smelly or dimly lit or unattractive in any way. That way children will not want to go talk to the old people, even if they are family. Consequently, they won’t receive any of the wisdom these happy, old people have to offer.

Now, a word of caution. We must be vigilant about young people who work at these retirement communities, school groups who volunteer there, and families who for some reason force their children to visit their grandparents. Do everything you can to distract them, confuse them, interrupt them, etc. All conversations, story-telling, and letter-writing must be blocked.

Silence and seclusion. That is the key.         

Signed,
Screwtape