January 31, 2010
I am late getting to this news, but the pope recently said that priests need to take advantage of the Internet in their task of being witnesses to the gospel. Some priests are behind the curve (if you ask them if they have a blog, and they think it is something they coughed up last week, they are probably behind). Some others are ahead of the curve.
I started a blog in 2003, to deal with my frustration with what was happening in the Episcopal Church. In 2004, I started my own blog, and in 2006, I helped start Per Christum, a group blog. While I believe the Catholic blog market is saturated (by this, I mean I wish I had time to read more great blogs than I do!), it is great to see so many of the faithful taking up the cause of the Church.
The internet is the way many of us communicate. I am pretty Internet savvy, but my students are even more reliant on electronic communication. While I am not saying we should translate the Bible into “text,” and then text the whole thing to somebody (although this would make a heck of a publicity stunt), we need to deal with the newer forms of communication cropping up. E-Communication is like the printing press: it has changed the nature of communication. Some object because there is so much bad stuff out there. Yes, there is a lot of crap on the Internet, and even more drivel being sent out on cell phone networks, but there is a lot of nonsense published on paper as well. We are called to take this medium of communication, and use it for the gospel. Kudos to the pope!
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Posted by David Bennett
January 22, 2010
Be Open to Life!
Most people in the world are quite aware of the problems that afflict mankind. Put more colloquially, people know that “something is wrong with the world.” Yes, indeed, peoples around the globe are facing terrible crises: personal, social, economic and political. It is all over the media: hunger, poverty, underdevelopment, terrorism, etc. Evidently, these obstinate challenges and afflictions are immense barriers that stand in the way of necessary integral human development, they are obstacles, really, to the vocation that every man and woman is called to bring to fulfillment.
To be sure, there are many who have courageously “stood up” against said atrocities. For their courage, they are to be commended and thanked for. It must also be admitted, however, that there many among those who are committed to human development who, without necessarily questioning or judging their zeal or intentions, have approached the problem of human development with the help of bad philosophy and, consequently, harmful ideologies that either inevitably inhibits development or actually further accentuates underdevelopment. Prominent among such harmful ideologies is what we may call an “Anti-life ideology”; that is, an outlook which underestimates or denies the value of human life from conception to natural death.
A rampant anti-birth and anti-life ideology (or mentality) has seemingly taken over many individuals and institutions committed to, quite ironically, human development. Worldwide movements and organizations such as Amnesty International and the Institute of Development Studies (IPPF), human rights activists and politicians such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi are among those who have been infected, as it were, with an anti-life mentality. And of course, some of you might be thinking that I am exaggerating when I say that these organizations and individuals have embraced an anti-life mentality; after all, you might be wondering, aren’t they all, in some way or another, human rights activists? Haven’t they spent practically all their lives fighting for equality, social justice and human development? To a certain extent, I must admit, you are right. They have spent much of their lives fighting for freedom and liberty, for human rights. At the same time, however, I also contend that their beliefs regarding human life issues have in fact been a great disservice to integral human development, to making the world a “better” world.
Take, as an example, Hillary Clinton. In her remarks on the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, the current Secretary of State lamented that “More than 215 million women worldwide lack access to the modern forms of contraception, and this contributes to the nearly 20 million unsafe abortions that take place very year.” At first sight this might seem like an innocent remark. But, when examined closer, and taking the overall context of this remark into consideration, we see that it actually communicates a deep lack of respect for life and an erroneous concept of human progress. [Artificial] contraception, contrary to what Mrs. Clinton would like to have us believe, is not conducive–nor is it constitutive–of human progress! Rather, artificial contraception, being intrinsically contrary to the natural law, has greatly contributed to the deterioration of the human family (Please visit: Contraception: Why It’s Wrong). And what can we say about what Mrs. Clinton calls “unsafe abortions”? Unsafe abortions? Is there such a thing as a safe abortion? Well, apparently, according to the Secretary of State, suction abortions and dismemberment abortions are considered to be safe simply because they are carried out by a physician and because they take place at an abortion clinic! What’s even more appalling is that Mrs. Clinton apparently considers the availability of “safe abortions” to be a sign of human progress. Human progress? How can anyone consider the killing of millions of unborn babies a sign of progress, of international development? Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die [through abortion] so that you may live as you wish.” The Venerable Pope John Paul II said that “It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop.” Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his Encyclical Letter Charity in Truth:
“If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology”.
If integral human development is to take place, if society hopes to make authentic progress, if the world is to be a better world, then openness to life must be acknowledged as the very center of true development. There will be no progress unless more individual human beings are enkindled by charity and are led by truth. Openess to life needs to be promoted and cultivated. The time for mankind to embrace and respect the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual is now!
5 Comments | Abortion, Benedict XVI, Pope, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic, General, Culture Wars, Family and Domestic Church, Marriage, Morality and Moral Issues, Natural Family Planning, Papal Encyclicals, Politics, Pro-Life Issues, Science | Tagged: Barack Obama, Charity, Development, Hillary Clinton, Humanity, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nancy Pelosi, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, Progress, Truth | Permalink
Posted by Jorge Flores
December 2, 2009
On the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the telescope, Pope Benedict XVI points out that observing the cosmos is only part of what we are to do; we must also explore the meaning of the created world must. According to the pope:
Philosophy, “given the phenomena and beauty of creation, seeks with its reasoning to understand nature and the ultimate end of the cosmos,” he explained. Theology, on the other hand, “founded on the revealed Word, scrutinizes the beauty and wisdom of the love of God, who has left his imprint in created nature.”
In this movement, he affirmed, both reason and faith are involved; “both offer their light.”
I read two great books over the summer, The Elegant Universe and The Physics of Consciousness. The former tries to reconcile what we see at the macro level, with what we observe at the quantum level. The theories that work to describe the universe that we see with the naked eye (e.g. general relativity) don’t do very well to describe the seemingly random and odd behaviors at the Quantum level. The latter book looks at the importance of consciousness in quantum physics. Why do I bring these books up? Well, because as I read the books, I did not lose faith in God, but instead, as I read of phenomena that even the most brilliant scientists cannot grasp, I concluded that God not only exists, his creation is even more marvelous than once thought.
What follows are just some initial thoughts about God, science, and meaning. I haven’t fleshed them out too much, so they may be a little raw. Unfortunately, with empiricism still in vogue and good, old-fashioned, theology out-of-style, many people ask questions about how the universe works, but are not encouraged to ask what meaning the universe has, or what meaning we have within the universe. Humans, like animals, can observe and respond to phenomena, but we can also analyze the their meaning. A flickering candle on an Advent wreath, with its glow radiating upon the faces of a family, is more than just an emanation of photons and heat. Our brains are wired to perceive meaning, even spirituality, in this experience. Perhaps our brains are deceiving us, but I find it interesting that the most highly evolved creatures on the planet are able to appreciate things like spirituality and music, which we would classify as having meaning. Animals, from what I observe, cannot appreciate these things. In other words, our instrument for perceiving reality (the brain) seeks meaning, yet, we often encourage people not to attempt this, or even worse, tell them there is no meaning to even be found. I agree with the pope that while science offers us a lot, we still have to perceive the beauty of the universe, which leads us to God himself.
Image taken by me. Even on an average November day, the beauty of creation is still evident to me
6 Comments | Benedict XVI, Pope, Science | Tagged: Benedict XVI, galileo, Pope, Science | Permalink
Posted by David Bennett
September 30, 2009
Pope Benedict is calling priests to make use of new digital media in order to carry out their priestly duties. According to the article,
The Holy Father urges priests to “consider the new media as a powerful resource for their ministry in the service of the Word and wishes to express a word of encouragement in order to address the challenges stemming from the new digital culture,” the communiqué explained. “If the new media is adequately known and appreciated, it can offer priests and all pastoral agents a wealth of data and content that previously was difficult to access, and it facilitates ways of collaboration and growth of communion that were unthinkable in the past…”
This enables the creation of “new areas of knowledge and dialogue, enabling one to propose and carry out programs for communion,” the council affirmed. “If used wisely, with the help of experts in technology and the culture of communion, the new media can thus become for priests and all pastoral agents a valid and effective instrument of true and profound evangelization and communion.”
In other words, priests should do the same things some of us have done since 2004 and much earlier ( our very own Ancient-Future.Net became Catholic, and ChurchYear.Net was started in 2004). This internet thing is here to stay and most younger people (and a lot of older folks) don’t just play around on the internet, but communicate over it. While we can debate the merits of communicating over the internet (it has good and bad aspects), the reality is that if a message is to get out to many people today, it must get out over the internet. It is good to see the Church recognizing this in an official capacity.
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Posted by David Bennett
September 16, 2009
Rene Ecochard, a French epidemiologist, says that Pope Benedict XVI is right that “the problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is. If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help [by responsible behavior], the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it.”
Ecochard explains that finding solutions to the problem of AIDS is hampered by strong ideology. In other words, how many people actually dared to take Pope Benedict seriously before they condemned him? The history of science is a history of new ideas against held ideology. I often am dismayed at how readily many point out the bias of certain Church leaders of the past that hindered scientific progress, yet these same people are unable to even consider that their ideological bias may be hindering progress today. The tacit assumption that “past ideologies=bad, present ideologies=good” is often uncritically taught and accepted. As a Catholic I agree with Benedict. As an educated individual and critical thinker, I hope that more people will actually look at what he has to say and fairly evaluate it (and I think those who know me know that I do the same even for ideas I initially oppose).
Read the whole thing
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Posted by David Bennett
August 27, 2009
The Vatican press office has noted that “for the time being there are no institutional proposals for a modification of the liturgical books used at present” apparently refuting some news reports, one of which was linked to on this blog. I suspect that it may be the Vatican spinning at bit.
Why spin the information?
1) Let’s not drive the certain segments of the Church crazy and have them wreck this on the local level. Instead, work slowly while those of the “spirit” of Vatican II retire and the young take the Church in a more conservative direction
2) This is definitely planned, but technically nothing has started (hence the words “for the time being”). So, why ruffle too many feathers?
3) Whatever happens, most the changes proposed are already possible under the current authority of the diocesan bishop: ad orientam worship, communion on the tongue, and a crackdown on liturgical abuses.
Leave a Comment » | Benedict XVI, Pope, Liturgy and Worship | Tagged: Benedict XVI, Congregation for Divine Worship, novus ordo, Reform of the reform | Permalink
Posted by Jonathan B
August 25, 2009
Pope Benedict’s much needed “reform of the reform” continues as the Congregation for Divine Worship is examining possible changes to the “novus ordo” mass of Paul VI. Some of the possible modifications include normal reception of communion on the tongue, rather than the hand, bi-lingual missals (Latin and vernacular), and the priest celebrating in the ad orientam position (facing East, not “the priest turning his back on the people”). The congregation is also looking into tightening the rules for the rite to discourage unnecessary creativity (I take the view that when a liturgist has “gotten creative” with a prayer service, run away very quickly!).
In my humble opinion, not only these changes, but above all, the discussion about how to make the “novus ordo” more sacred is greatly needed. It took years to get into the post-Vatican II liturgical mess and it will take years to get out of it. This is a great start.
4 Comments | Benedict XVI, Pope | Tagged: ad orientam, Catholic, Congregation for Divine Worship, Liturgy, mass of Paul Vi, novus ordo, Pope Benedict XVI | Permalink
Posted by Jonathan B
August 8, 2009
Thus said the Pope to a group of swimmers competing in Rome. He praised sports for teaching universal positive values and discipline. He also urged the athletes to “swim towards the highest ideals.”
Sports continue to play an important part of American (and world) culture and although the sports culture here at home has been degraded a bit due to overzealous parents and valueless coaches, I still think that more often than not sports are a positive force in a child’s life. By keeping busy with sports and learning the values that go with it (team building, discipline, etc.) kids are not spending their down time (or at least as much of it) doing the activities they shouldn’t.
I also find the sports comments of the Pope important because they affirm that one doesn’t have to conform to the touchy-feely image of religion that came out of the 70′s. A person can be a vigorous, strong, tough, competitive human being (of either sex) and still be a good and perhaps better Catholic.
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Posted by Jonathan B
July 8, 2009
Fr.Z has a helpful post about the newest papal encyclical. He has listed some concise explanations of various parts of Caritas in Veritate, giving us the overall thrust of Benedict XVI’s newest encyclical. Below are some of the excerpts, taken from L’Osservatore Romano, but I suggest checking out the entire post.
- Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty. (21)
- The primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity. (25)
- Following his lead, we need to affirm today that the social question has become a radically anthropological question, in the sense that it concerns not just how life is conceived but also how it is manipulated, as bio-technology places it increasingly under man’s control. (75)
- There cannot be holistic development and universal common good unless people’s spiritual and moral welfare is taken into account, considered in their totality as body and soul. (76)
Also, I would like to point out that the Catholic Report has a bunch of links to responses to this new encyclical that are worth checking out.
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Posted by David Bennett
May 16, 2009
Obama has appointed Harry Knox, a Pope bashing gay activist, to the Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which is based out of the White House. Knox disagrees with the Pope on sexuality and birth control and has gone out of his way to make this known in an incredibly offensive manner. William Donahue of the Catholic League is already complaining. However, does anyone expect any different? Do you think Obama owes his election to traditionalist or orthodox minded believers? I don’t think so.
This kind of council is, in my humble opinion, completely ridiculous. Many conservatives were all for government participation in religion when President Bush suggested it. Now, however, it’s in the hands of a liberal…and surprise, liberals are appointed. If I want faith, I’ll go to the Church, not the government. This is as true under Obama as it was under Bush. Now, hopefully, it’s becoming more obvious to my fellow travelers on the right.
Leave a Comment » | Benedict XVI, Pope, Homosexuality, Politics | Tagged: Catholic League, Harry Knox, Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Pope Benedict XVI, President Obama, separation of church and state | Permalink
Posted by Jonathan B
May 4, 2009
…And can become a vehicle for adoration, said Pope Benedict recently. Of course, he was listening to Haydn.
I usually do not write about the church music wars, but the Pope’s recent words remind me of the power that well-written sacred music can have in worship. And, conversely, poorly written hymns either bring down the worship experience or make it less inspiring.
My parish usually does a mix of older, more established hymns and newer stuff. Not all of the newer stuff is bad and just because something is older doesn’t make it more reverent. But, I do notice that a lot of the fluff has a date closer to the present. In addition, the words are often a little too folksy or even heretical, to say nothing of the music. Nothing irritates me more, for example, than a communion hymn that speaks of the Eucharist in terms of a meal, like sharing bread and wine. Most of the bland contemporary Eucharistic hymns are focused on this theme. It could be because many of the authors are not even Catholic! Why we let liberal Protestant hymn writers compose our Eucharistic hymns is beyond me.
Anyway, a blessed Monday to all of you. The rant is finished.
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Posted by Jonathan B
March 29, 2009
According to Edward Green, a research scientist at Harvard, the pope may be right about condoms after all (despite all the negative criticism from the media). From his interesting article:
We liberals who work in the fields of global HIV/AIDS and family planning take terrible professional risks if we side with the pope on a divisive topic such as this. The condom has become a symbol of freedom and — along with contraception — female emancipation, so those who question condom orthodoxy are accused of being against these causes. My comments are only about the question of condoms working to stem the spread of AIDS in Africa’s generalized epidemics — nowhere else.
In 2003, Norman Hearst and Sanny Chen of the University of California conducted a condom effectiveness study for the United Nations’ AIDS program and found no evidence of condoms working as a primary HIV-prevention measure in Africa. UNAIDS quietly disowned the study. (The authors eventually managed to publish their findings in the quarterly Studies in Family Planning.) Since then, major articles in other peer-reviewed journals such as the Lancet, Science and BMJ have confirmed that condoms have not worked as a primary intervention in the population-wide epidemics of Africa. In a 2008 article in Science called “Reassessing HIV Prevention” 10 AIDS experts concluded that “consistent condom use has not reached a sufficiently high level, even after many years of widespread and often aggressive promotion, to produce a measurable slowing of new infections in the generalized epidemics of Sub-Saharan Africa.” Read the whole thing.
While Green is not Catholic, and supports contraception, it is still great to see someone challenge the status quo here.
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Posted by David Bennett
March 22, 2009
Pope Benedict’s long awaited social encyclical is finally coming in May. It has been delayed to address the current economic and cultural issues. I personally can’t wait. Benedict’s encyclicals are always excellent, often surprising, and never disappointing. And, social issues haven’t exactly been the main focus during his pontificate (or his career), so I am eagerly awaiting what this incredible theologian has to say about the social ills of the world.
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Posted by Jonathan B
February 11, 2009
Lent encourages us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and thus to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what road to take in life. And thus, the Season of Lent offers us an ascetic and liturgical route which, while helping us to open our eyes to our weakness, opens our hearts to the merciful love of Christ. BENEDICT XVI, GENERAL AUDIENCE, 1st March 2006.
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
The liturgical season of Lent is fast approaching. The Lord is giving us yet one more opportunity to work on ourselves, on our souls. For this, I thank Him!
As you are well aware we are living in a very tumultuous time; a time of financial distress, war, and a time in which radical politicians –and presidents–boldly undermine the sanctity of life. This time in which we live demands conversion, a radical turning away from sin to God. But unless we ourselves begin this conversion process, the world will continue getting worse and worse by the minute.
I warmly encourage each and everyone reading this post to take advantage of Lent, to make it the best Lent you ever had, the most spiritually fruitful. Let us enter into this holy season with a deep desire “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,” so that we “may be filled with all the fullnes of God” (Ephesians 3:19).
Please realize that God has given us everything we need to experience the conversion of our own hearts and minds, if we but humbly accept His Divine Grace. Let us ask our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, to plead our cause before the Lord, to teach us how to be good sons and daughters of the Most High, to protect us from all harm. Let us also ask our Brothers and Sisters who dedicated their lives to the fulfilment of the Christian vocation, and who now enjoy the Beatific Vision, to come to our aid in times of temptation so that we may be strengthened and may come off unharmed after the battle. Finally, let us be mindful that, through Baptism, we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ, and so we all have the responsibility to look out for one another, especially for the poor (Philipians 2:4; Matthew 25:40). Let us, then, pray for one another during Lent!
Lenten Resources:
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