I remember back in seminary my Philosophy teacher said, “You can’t avoid having a philosophy. Even if you say you don’t have a philosophy, that is, in fact, a philosophy.” I think the same is true of religion. Those who claim to have no religion are in fact taking a religious position. To deny God or to say He should have no role is just as religious a perspective as to say God is my everything. The truth is that if God is not on the throne some one or something else is. Maybe it is the Government, maybe it is man, maybe it is me. But some one has that place in my life. I cannot escape having a religious perspective. If God does not explain this world then I must be advocating the fact that some one or something else does explain it.
Why then does the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) simply exclude one of the positions on this discussion? It appears that it is OK for secular humanists, atheists, advocates of the “new morality” etc all to air their positions, but religious advocates are banned? If the public airways are a kind of forum to field discussions to ban one side is kind of a show stopper. It’s almost like promising to air a basketball game and then only allowing on team on the court. A rather absurd and boring game actually. You might notice that in its logo above PBS is starting to portray its viewers as blockheads. Is that how they see us???
Here is what Fr. Barron thinks: (Incidentally there is a lot of discussion of this video at the youtube page if you click through you can read it).
I would like to re-post a blog entry that I did some months ago. Given Our recent and robust discussion of marriage and dating I thought re-posting this might be good for those of you who missed it:
We live today with very high expectations of many things. Culturally we have very demanding standards for beauty, especially in regard to women. We expect them to have appealing “curves” but be slender etc. Even ordinary weight is considered by many as unattractive. All this obsession with perfection leads to low self esteem among women and men too. Further, these high expectations of zero body fat and perfect shape, hair color, skin tone etc. leads to hypercritical and hurtful remarks. There is an old saying that “Unrealistic expectations are premeditated resentments.” Hence this attitude also may have to do with marriage difficulties as the near perfect bodies of youth give way to the more “settled” bodies of middle age and beyond (gravity and age do have their effects and even if you weighed what you did in High School it doesn’t look the same!) Plastic surgery is a miracle for those with a truly catastrophic injury or deformities but today it is too often the refuge of those who have become obsessed with how they look and how they think others regard them. Oh to be free of such obsessions! The picture to the right depicts a woman but men have the problem too.
Help me Lord to be little more comfortable in my own skin. Help me to accept that you like both tall and short people because you made them both. Both the blond and the brunette are from your hand, wavy hair, straight hair, wirey hair are all from you and apparently to your liking. Thin and hefty, black, white and all between are from your artistic hand. Help me to love me as you made me. If I should lose weight for health’s sake help me, but if its only about what others might think of me, free me.
Watch this video and see how a very lovely young woman is not lovely enough. She has to be altered, “perfected.” And when simple natural enhancements are not enough her image must be furthered altered on a computer. Message: the perfect beauty does not exist in the world of media. She must be invented. Then everyone can pine after and spend large amounts of money and time trying look like someone who doesn’t even exist.
This summer, the Archdiocese of Washington is marriage-minded! Check out these resources as well as events sponsored by the Office of Young Adult Ministry.
Attend a Series of Talks
Sundays July 12, July 19, and July 26 at 6:30pm
Relationship Speaker and Discussion Series
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle North Conference Room
6:30pm (after the 5:30pm Mass) Light Dinner Included
July 12 Dr. Andre Leyva
“Dating and Mating from a Catholic Perspective”
Dr. Andre Leyva is the President and founder of the Psychology Center in Montgomery County, Maryland and a member of National Association of Hispanic Psychologists. He is a nationally and internationally recognized trainer, consultant, and key note speaker. His doctoral dissertation on Conflict Resolution was published and requested by mental health professionals in Europe and South America. He has written for two family magazines and has authored articles and workbooks. He is a frequent speaker at the Archdiocese of Washington’s Theology on Tap and Marriage Preparation program. Dr. Leyva has been married for 25 years and has six children.
July 19 Dr. Catherine Yohe
“The Essential Groundwork of Friendship”
Dr. Catherine Yohe received her Ph.D. in Historical Theology with a focus on spirituality from Catholic University of America. Her dissertation was on human friendship as a means to grow in union with God, and most of her publications and lectures have centered on the lay vocation or friendship. She has taught at Catholic University and LaSalle University and is presently teaching Scripture and Catholic Doctrine at Trinity School at Meadow View. She has been married for fifteen years and has a thirteen year-old son.
July 26 Deacon Al Turner
“While I’m Single: Living Life to the Fullest”
Deacon Al Douglas Turner is the Director of the Office of Black Catholics of the Archdiocese of Washington. He is assigned to the Church of the Nativity in Washington, DC. and was recently appointed to the Maryland Catholic Conference Respect Life Committee by Archbishop Donald Wuerl. Deacon Turner received a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction in 2006 and a Master of Theological Studies degree in 2007 from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. Before his retirement from ABC News in 2007, Deacon Turner was employed for more than 28 years as a broadcast technician/ cameraman covering the White House, Capitol Hill, and news events around the world.
“Development needs Christians with their arms raised toward God in prayer.”
In a book called How Do You Spell God, the authors say one gift of religion is that is offers the best answers to life’s biggest questions. Today, Pope Benedict XVI is calling on the world to consider how theology can help shape the best answers to some of the world’s most pressing challenges and the questions that come with them; globalization, the growing divide between the rich and poor, care of the environment; protection of freedoms.
The Teaching Mission of the Church
The encyclical letter is a great example of the teaching mission of the Church. In Caritas in Veritate( Charity in Truth), Pope Benedict writes “Development needs Christians with their arms raised toward God in prayer.” He goes on to say that development requires attention to the spiritual life because it involves the individual and society. As pope, it is Pope Benedict’s responsibility to bring the light of the Gospel to the issues of the day. This encyclical looks at the changes that globalization is bringing to the way the world does business and asking what impact are they having on society and on people. You might be asking what authority the church has in the field of economics and global development. The area of expertise is people! In this field the Church has expertise unlike any other organization or government!
Pope Benedict boldly preaches that the world has lost a sense that the meaning of charity is at the core of one’s personal relationships and the core of societal life. He thinks that the world is losing sight of the fact that charity is the driving force behind authentic development (Caritas in Veritate, #1). The reason he gives for losing the meaning of charity is the devaluing of the existence of truth and the meaning of truth and so the title, Charity in Truth refers to his desire to remind the world that “truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity.” (CV, 2)
Learn More
More will be shared about this encyclical in this space, I want to encourage you to follow the news stories and pick up the document. In the Catholic Standard, http://cathstan.org. you’ll find background, summaries and reflections on the letter. The Gospel and the intellectual tradition of the Church can help Catholics and all people think deeply about the most serious challenges facing our world and about the big picture. The big picture, as the authors of How Do You Spell God point out, is one of the great gifts of religion—it keeps the big picture in mind—to look at the present through the wisdom of experience and with an eye to the future and the ultimate meaning of life.
Every now and then I hear the Old Latin Mass described as a somber affair. Many think only dirges are sung and that everything is quite subdued. Granted a low Mass can be rather quiet as the Priest whispers much of the Mass. But a sung Mass in the Old Rite (Extraordinary Form) can be quite elaborate, especially if the Choir sings in polyphony (harmony). Some of the greatest music in history was composed during the Renaissance in a form known as Renaissance Polyphony. It is a kind of harmonic singing that features four or more independent melodies sung simultaneously in rich harmony. Much of this Church music was written in Dance Time such that you can almost dance to it!
Enjoy this brief video of the Angus Dei (try not to tap your toe) and perhaps you’ll see what I mean. The song was recorded at the Oratory of St. Francis De Sales in St. Louis – one of the most beautiful Churches in the Country. (See photo above). The text is Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis, dona nobis pacem (Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us…grant us peace). Enjoy a beautiful sample of Renaissance Polyphony.
Here’s the latest news from Catholictv.com, a TV Station sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston. Among the news stories here is a story about the uncovering of the oldest known image of St. Paul in Rome.
OK guys, time to man up and ask her out on a date! Too many of you men are slow in looking for a bride. When I was ordained twenty years ago I had a lot of marriages. Today there are far fewer, and those that marry are much older. Perhaps maturity is a good thing PRIOR to marriage but couples are really waiting a long time these days. Now I was not born yesterday and I know that part of the reason for the delay is that couples are often fornicating and are just plain shacked up as well. True marriage is delayed as false notions of sexuality and marriage are indulged.
But there is also another phenomenon that is harder to understand. I have quite a number of young women, who are very attractive I might add, tell me that they are seldom asked out on dates, that young men don’t seem very good at taking initiative when it comes to dating and marriage. Now come on guys, be a man and get out there and ask her out!
I remember back in high school and college when I was a dating man, prior to discovering my call to be a priest, I remember that there were risks that you took when you asked a girl out. She might say no. She might even laugh. I might feel humiliated or depressed. Well? Welcome to life! Some of the more embarrassing moments of my life are related to the dating game. So I understand guys. But do what I did: get out there anyway! Take the risk, ask her out! Forget about your fragile little ego, be man and make the ask. You might be surprised. Many attractive young ladies are just waiting for some one man enough to ask them out on a serious date. I’m not talking about some vague thing like, “Maybe I’ll see you at the social tomorrow.” Ask her out on a real date. Just you and her. Spend a little money on her and dress well for the occasion.
It is odd that today with so many ways to communicate, it seems harder than ever for men and women to meet. Though our ways of communicating are more than ever, real and actual communication seems hard to come by. The simple fact is that we need to work on this, actually get out there and meet, communicate, date and marry. Interestingly enough, a number of the recent marriages I have celebrated began on the internet, at a Catholic dating service. It’s not all that bad. Individuals signal their intention and wish to meet members of the opposite sex, share a significant amount of their values and expectations, and then meet to begin the process discernment. The Catholic faith is the starting point.
There is a lot of focus today on the issue of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, a good thing. But we need to wake up to the fact that marriage is on hard times. The statistics are sobering. In 1974 there were 46 Million Catholics in the USA and 400,000 marriages. In 2004 there were 70 million Catholics and only 200,000 marriages. Most priests know this personally. We just do a lot less marriages today. Further, the birthrate has dropped significantly for Catholics. One explanation: we are aborting and contracepting ourselves out of existence (the future world will feature a lot of Muslims and far fewer Catholics). But another explanation is that marriage rates are dropping and many delay marriage far into the years when fertility is diminished and limited.
There is also a lot of talk about evangelization so let me recommend a fundamental pillar to the Church’s Evangelization Plan: Let’s have a lot of young Catholics get married FIRST, have lots of babies and raise them Catholic. 🙂
Alright young men, get out there on the field, MAN-UP and ask her for a date! Young men and women, get serious about marriage. It is a holy institution established by God himself. It will make you holy, enrich the Church and ensure that we have a future. Are you up to it? We’re depending on you. Young men, don’t make the ladies wait and DON’T make me come out there and force you!
Here’s a fun video about the “Adventures” of Internet dating entitled “WEB SITE STORY”
