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JUNE 2, 2011 Volume LXXXV • Number 29 www.evangelist.org
EVANGELIZATION EVERYWHERE
Sneak Peek: Graduation
Can you find the evangelization theme in this week’s issue? See the articles below, a story about a local priest “spreading the Word,” photos of new deacons, a column on senior priests and more: Pages 1-4
Next week is the Graduation Issue, but two articles this week highlight Catholic schools: Pages 14 and 20
T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y BISHOP’S COLUMN
Why Catholics fall away and why they should stay ‘Amazing God’ can be an opportunity for spiritual growth BY BISHOP HOWARD J. HUBBARD
Our Diocese’s “Amazing God” evangelization initiative has led many of us to reflect on how best to meet the spiritual needs of people living in our 21st century. Certainly, there is no topic which is more timely than spirituality. On the one hand, there is a great hunger for spirituality — as evidenced by the plethora of books, DVDs and internet resources on this matter. On the other hand, we in the Church are experiencing consternation and frustration about how to respond to this hunger, especially among our own people as more and more Catholics — especially younger Catholics — are alienated from or indifferent to the Church, and find little meaning in its rituals, language and traditions, which they experience as unrelated to their lives. Hence, we are perplexed when we see our young, and notso-young, gravitate toward evangelical churches and non-traditional spirituality centers, or choose secular settings over sacramental practices. Many of our people feel free to dismiss Church teachings which are inconsistent with their own experiences with relationships and sexuality, or they ignore Church proclamations about the beginning and the end of life. Vocations to religious life have declined by more than 50 percent and vocations to the priesthood by more than 30 percent since 1965. Mass atten-
dance in the United States has decreased by 30 to 40 percent since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Some attribute these trends to the implementation of the Council or to the Council itself. Others blame the scandal of clergy sexual abuse. Quite frankly, I believe it is more than any one cause. Let me cite three factors in the contemporary milieu which, I believe, must be understood both if we are to nurture our own spirituality and be responsive to the spiritual needs of contemporary men and women. 1: NO SENSE OF SIN The first is a loss of a sense of sin. This is evident in a variety of ways: most notably for us as Catholics, in the decline of the numbers of those celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. While penitents have dwindled to a corporal’s guard, those receiving the Eucharist at Christmas and Easter or at weddings and funerals, even when they haven’t darkened the doors of the church other than on such occasions, is all too frequent. I am not proposing that we revert to the sin-dominated culture of the pre-Vatican II Church, with its emphasis on weekly confessions or not receiving communion unless preceded by confession. But I am suggesting that, for many contemporary Catholics and others, sin is no longer a reality which is significant in their lives. I see this as an obstacle to contemporary spirituality, because if there is no sin, then, there is no need for a Redeemer. Maybe I’m all wrong in this
regard. Maybe sin really doesn’t exist in today’s world. Maybe sin was the result of a Jansenistic piety or an antediluvian approach to control the masses, which is no longer relevant in our enlightened, post-modern culture. But the fruits of sin are certainly evident all around us. We see it daily in domestic violence; in family breakdown; in child physical and sexual abuse; in addiction to alcohol, drugs, sex and pornography; and in gambling, street crime and school violence — as well as in the social sins of racism, sexism, ageism, militarism, homophobia and xenophobia. But unless there is a willingness to acknowledge the existence of sin and evil in the world, to assume responsibility for it and to bring about the conversion of mind and heart which alone can rectify it, then there remains only a social approach to these ills — which is inadequate to respond to what is primarily and essentially a spiritual problem. 2: RAMPANT CONSUMERISM A second issue is consumerism. In his 1991 encyclical, “Centesimus Annus” (“The Hundredth Year”), Blessed Pope John Paul II lamented consumerism, which he described as “exhausting.” He noted that we, in the West in particular, are sculpted and shaped from cradle to grave to live and act like consumers. We WHY CATHOLICS FALL AWAY AND WHY THEY SHOULD STAY, SEE PAGE 13
LIVING WATER
TWO-YEAR-OLD MICHAEL LAPE pauses for a drink during the ceremony at which his father, Stephen, was ordained a deacon for the Albany Diocese. Michael is snuggled in the arms of his mother, Melissa. For more photos of the ordination of three deacons, see page 3. (Nate Whitchurch photo) EVANGELIZATION’S SOURCE
Pope, in Croatia, to highlight family BY CAROL GLATZ
C AT H O L I C N E WS S E RV I C E
Vatican City — The focus of Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Zagreb, Croatia, June 4-5 will be on the family and building a community with Christian values. In the 84-year-old pope’s 19th trip abroad and his 13th to a European country, he also will continue to underline the importance he places on reviving Europe’s Christian roots. Even though Croatia is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, it has undergone hardships that have tested its foothold on faith: two World Wars, a Nazi invasion and then communist rule under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Today, threats continue, but under a different guise, said the spokesman of the Croatian bishops’ conference. “Croatia is not an island and as such is facing all of the challenges that are prevalent in western countries,” said the spokesman, Zvonimir Ancic. First among them is “a rampant secularism whose small, but very vocal proponents, with the backing of the majority of the mass media, are actively trying to deconstruct all elements of Croatia’s traditional Catholic identity,” he said. Major challenges facing the Church in Croatia include the country’s “very liberal law reguPOPE’, IN CROATIA, TO HIGHLIGHT FAMILY, SEE PAGE 17
Why Catholics fall away and why they should stay WHY CATHOLICS FALL AWAY AND WHY THEY SHOULD STAY, FROM PAGE 1
are bombarded incessantly with high-powered advertising techniques which seek to define and create more and greater needs. The superfluous becomes the convenient; the convenient becomes the necessary and the necessary becomes the indispensable. “Enough” is not a word that advertisers use. Our prevailing culture is about choice, more for less and instant gratification. We see evidence of consumerism all around us. Our supermarkets give us 40 brands of shampoo to choose from and eight different types of potatoes. We have new gadgets and software available every month, $150 flights to the Caribbean and 120 channels on cable. Furthermore, these high-powered advertising techniques not only seek to define and create more and greater needs, but they seek to shape the attitudes and personality of the consumer as well: The self becomes the center of the universe; other people, things to serve one’s needs; the moral norm, efficiency; the means, whatever works. Let the chips fall where they may — be these the chips of unethical business practices, the exploitation of labor or rapacious usurpation of the environment. Consumerism has also seeped into our approach to spirituality. While not intending to take a potshot at our friends from the evangelical churches, I believe that a consumeristic approach is one of the ingredients for their success. An article in the Wall Street Journal by James Twitchell, titled “A Congregation of Consumers”, points out that today’s Christians are first and foremost consumers — and that the complacent mainline churches are dropping out of the competition because they are not marketing “their products.” What is it that makes their “product” so desirable? Sociologists point out that the churches which demand the most of people — tithing, bowing to firm doctrine and observing strict rules — are the fastest-growing. Sacrifice, Twitchell suggests, signifies value. The more you
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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
June 2, 2011
sacrifice, the more you visibly value the product. Another key to the product success of the evangelical churches is selling. Missionary zeal is at the heart of their attraction — not only because sharing the Good News with others is a basic Christian responsibility, but because it means you yourself have found the Way. For many, Twitchell says, selling the faith to others “comes down to a kind of narcissism, like taking pride in your Prius.” Another form of selling in which these churches engage is “innovations in supply.” They offer playgrounds, day care, coffee shops, DVDs, souvenirs and a mall’s worth of service. These churches also hire consultants and public relations experts to “grow their flock,” and they adhere to market discipline. Whether you agree with Twitchell’s analysis that the reason for the success of many evangelical churches is the end result of a form of consumerism, there is no question about the fact that consumerism is deeply ingrained in our American psyche — and we must be keenly aware of it when seeking to address our people’s spiritual needs. However, rather than cater to a consumerism which enslaves us, I would suggest that, as Catholics, we are called to break free from this lifestyle of high consumption, of wasteful depletion of resources and affluent use of service and leisure around us so that we might listen to what Gospel values have to say. Gospel values tell us: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Gospel values point out that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Gospel values remind
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us that we should be content to be fed and clothed. While most would readily admit that these are Gospel norms and values, unfortunately, there are far too few people today who are willing to take the steps necessary or to make the sacrifices required to translate these Gospel values into lived realities. For example, the poor person says, “Let the rich begin. I’ve had enough frugality already.” And the rich person says, “Why should I give up that which I have legitimately acquired? Therefore, let someone else begin, and then we’ll see.” The net result is that no one does anything. Despite this pessimistic reality, however, there are signs that many people today have had enough of media-driven consumption patterns and selfobsessed lifestyles and are heeding God’s call to be different by learning to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with people who are poor. This solidarity with the poor is not, as Blessed Pope John Paul II notes in his 1987 encyclical “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis” (“On Social Concerns”), “a feeling of vague passion or shallow distress at the hardships of people both near and far.” Rather, “it is a firm and pervading determination to commit ourselves to the common good. It involves building a human community where liberty is not an idle word, where the needy Lazareth can sit down with the rich man at the same banquet table.”
I believe this is that kind of sacrifice to which we must call our people: “to share rather than to hoard; to be generous with ourselves, our time and our resources; and to consider how much is enough. For to live simply is not just to live frugally for its own sake — that would be like fasting without prayer or almsgiving. “It is to live in such a way that human dignity is respected and all may reach their full human and God-given potential.” That means taking personal responsibility for creating change and for understanding the impact our way of life is having on poor people and on the global environment we all share. I am convinced that this approach to spirituality — rooted in the rich social teaching of the Church — is the best way to challenge our people to change their lives, to transform our consumer-driven society and to bring about God’s kingdom in our day. 3: SPIRITUALITY/ RELIGION SPLIT This surfaces a third issue in the contemporary milieu: the bifurcation between spirituality and religion. More and more, people — especially young adults — make the distinction between spirituality (which is conceived as private, subjective and individualistic, freeing one to be in touch with the authentic self, with one’s true inner core) and religion (which is viewed as an assent to a self-limiting creed which can lead people to
become dogmatic, rigid and intolerant). This tendency to embrace a “spirituality-only” or a “Catholic lite” approach to faith fails to appreciate the importance and value of tradition and community. Tradition, and the rituals which sustain it, is not traditionalism (or what the late theologian Jeroslav Pelekan called “the dead faith of the living”); it is the living faith of the dead. Unlike a spirituality-only approach, with a religious tradition we don’t have to start out from scratch. We not only have a timetested and track-proven perspective on life and its ultimate purpose; we have a community that can challenge us to examine our biases and self-centered habits, and that can sustain us emotionally, esthetically, intellectually and morally through all the dry days and dark nights that inevitably occur on our life’s journey. Faith is not just a “God and me relationship,” because God calls us not as individuals, but as a people — a people who share a faith and tradition that teaches us how to take risks out of love, how to challenge the status quo, how to live and act with justice. We share a faith and tradition which enables us together to be a source of love in our sinwounded world; to offer words and deeds which affirm rather than denigrate, that build bridges rather than erect walls, that shed light in the midst of darkness. As we continue our Amazing God journey, I hope we will reflect upon these three obstacles to our spiritual growth and find ways to combat these pitfalls as we seek to evangelize others.
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JULY 7, 2011 Volume LXXXV • Number 33 www.evangelist.org
THE CHANGING CHURCH
Official Announcement
This week’s theme is change! The Albany Diocese works on evangelization, aid for those in need, parish “bonding” events and more: Pages 1, 9-11 and throughout.
Rev. Jay Atherton, ordained June 11, has been appointed associate pastor of St. Mary’s parish in Ballston Spa by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard.
T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y
FINISHING TOUCH
BISHOP’S COLUMN
Avoiding the ‘isms’: Roadblocks to faith
KAREN TWARDZIK ADDS whipped cream to a bowl of cake and ice cream during a strawberry festival at St. Stanislaus parish in Amsterdam. For more on the summer fun, turn to page 11. (Nate Whitchurch photo)
A major obstacle to spiritual growth and development is the secularization of our culture.
America remains a religious society; but, increasingly, religion is being relegated to our private lives as an aggressively secular culture systematically seeks to exclude religion from all public space. Religion is deemed acceptable for private life; but, when its adherents seek admittance to the public arena, they are told “to check their bags at the door.” Under the guise of enforcing an exaggerated notion of official “neutrality,” the contemporary secular milieu actually promotes its own secular outlook to a privileged position in shaping public opinion and public policy. Under the guise of promoting tolerance, the secularist outlook fosters the intolerance it claims to abhor. There has developed the phenomenon in our national life that would seek to rule religiously-based values “out of order” in the public arena simply because
VATICAN PORTAL
Communications said the site will streamline news from the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano; Vatican Radio; the Vatican television station, CTV; the Vatican Information Service, VIS; the Fides missionary news agency; the Vatican press office; and the main Vatican website. It offers print, video and audio material in Italian and English. New languages will be added gradually, beginning with Spanish, followed probably by French and Portuguese, he said.
Thaddeus Jones of the pontifical council, who coordinated creation of the portal, said it gives all the news from the various sources but will highlight the latest, most important items of the day. Users can share content through Facebook, Twitter and email. Gustavo Entrala of 101, the Spanish digital media agency chosen for the site’s technical development, said it was constructed on a high-end flexible platform that allows millions to use it at once. Costs will be borne exclusive-
BY BISHOP HOWARD J. HUBBARD
Last month, in conjunction with our “Amazing God” evangelization initiative underway in the Albany Diocese, I reflected on some of the obstacles we encounter to spirituality in the contemporary milieu: specifically, the loss of a sense of sin, consumerism and the gap between spirituality and religion. This month and in August, I would like to suggest some other challenges to contemporary spirituality as we seek to deepen our own faith and seek to share our faith with others. In September, I will analyze how we in the Church have failed in our mission and thrown up obstacles to people’s practice of the faith.
POPE TWEETS THE NEWS Vatican City — Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the Vatican’s online news portal with a click, then made the first-ever papal tweet: “Dear Friends, I just
launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” His tweet went viral and, within 24 hours, http://twitter.com/ news_va_en had more than 35,000 followers. On June 28 — the eve of his 60th anniversary of priesthood — the pope tapped an iPad and launched www.news.va, which aggregates news from the Vatican’s newspaper, radio, television and online outlets. Archbishop Claudio Celli of the Pontifical Council for Social
SECULARISM IN CULTURE
their roots are religious.
Wary of faithful In this view, pluralism means a public square purged of intolerance — which secularists define as the belief in exclusive truth claims that define right and wrong. They believe that any religious voice in a pluralistic society will either infect the body politic with unhealthy doses of fanaticism and ill will, or will contribute to the type of extremism and polarization along religious lines which have plagued Europe and the Mideast for centuries. Their fears are fueled by the growing political voice of evanAVOIDING THE ‘ISMS’: ROADBLOCKS TO FAITH, SEE PAGE 13
ly through donations from private organizations and foundations, Archbishop Celli said. He said that, “with this pope, Vatican communications have made enormous strides,” noting that when papal advisers proposed an appearance on YouTube, the pope replied, “I want to be present wherever the people are found.” (CNS)
The Evangelist tweets, too! Follow us at http://twitter.com/Evangelist ALB.
Avoiding the ‘isms’: Roadblocks to faith AVOIDING THE ‘ISMS’: ROADBLOCKS TO FAITH, FROM PAGE 1
gelical Christians, by the efforts of some Catholic bishops to use the threat of excommunication to dictate to political leaders or to the Catholic people how to vote, and by the omnipresent threat of Islamic extremism. Hence, we have the anomaly in this country that in private, religion enjoys an overwhelming majority status (more than 90 percent of people profess belief in God; 80 percent claim adherence to some religion); but in public, religion has a definite minority status or no status at all. If religion does exist at all in our public affairs, entertainment or intellectual and artistic endeavors, it exists uneasily and on its very best and blandest behavior — preferably as a form of vague non-denominationalism.
Cultural drift
Consequently, we in the faith community are struggling with how best to engage the public debate in a way that combats an elite secularism that is antithetical to a spiritual message. Religious people across the theological and political spectrum, from the far left to the far right, are increasingly uneasy with the cultural drift that has developed. For religious conservatives, these forces are exemplified in abortion, value-free secular schools and moral laxity. For religious liberals, these forces are perceived in militarism, consumerism and environmental insensitivity — all of which are seen as a threat to creation and a symbol of our lack of faith. In any case, a profound alienation created by hostile secular forces is at the heart of the religious community’s desire to find its voice in the public policy affairs of our nation. That there must be such a voice, I believe, is especially important given the nature of the issues which now confront American society. There is a spectrum of questions, ranging from in vitro fertilization through the Iraq war, about which public debate is not pure-
Speaking of Amazing God, local parishes are competing in a t-shirt design contest for teens to illustrate the initiative’s theme for its second year, “the heart of Christ.” The winning design will be sold at diocesan events and worn by participants at the National Catholic Youth Conference. The deadline for entries is July 1. For information, contact your parish’s youth minister or call Dave Stagliano, 453-6630.
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July 7, 2011
ly technical or practical, but filled with moral content.
Our 57th Annual
Bishop’s Appeal
2011
Morality and policy
On an increasing number of issues, it is impossible to formulate wise policy without asking what constitutes “good policy” in a morally normative sense. Every day, technology produces choices for us which previous generations could not have imagined. In the past two generations, for example, we have cracked the genetic code and smashed the atom. Neither these nor the revolution they symbolize can be understood apart from moral analysis. A key policy question is, “When we can do almost anything, how shall we decide what we ought to do?” To put it more sharply, “When we can do almost anything, how do we decide what we ought never to do?” It is precisely because this question is implicated in so many public policy issues that it is critical that religious bodies and spiritual leaders be able to enter the public policy debate.
SCIENTISM TODAY
Another problem in today’s world and society is scientism, which maintains that only that which is empirically verifiable or demonstrable can be considered as objectively true. Anything else is to be viewed as wishful thinking or mere ancient superstition, which cannot be trusted or given credence. A common view of scientism is that evolution occurs simply because matter obeys some unseen law whereby a simple organism will, if it evolves at all, become a more complex one. Evolution is thus a blind process without purpose, and science will one day uncover the mechanical rules underlying every seeming mystery. Our own lives, therefore, are equally without purpose. There is no place for the supernatural in scientism. Chemist Peter Atkins of Lincoln College, Oxford, puts it this way: “The universe has evolved over the 14 billion years of its existence by the directionless, unguided processes that are the manifestations of the working out of physical laws. That we do not yet understand anything about the inception of the universe should not mean we need ascribe to its inception a supernatural cause, a creator.” AVOIDING THE ‘ISMS’: ROADBLOCKS TO FAITH, SEE PAGE 14
“Being Christ For Others Every Day”
Your gift to the Bishop’s Appeal assists Catholic Charities in operating agencies and programs like Dayhaven Adult Day Program. Carrin Swanson started working as a receptionist at a nursing home when she was just fifteen years old. That job as a teenager turned into a life long devotion to serving senior citizens and people with disabilities. Today Carrin is the Program Manager at Dayhaven, an adult day care program of Catholic Charities Senior Services located in Schenectady, serving forty adults with physical or cognitive impairments, like Gracie Atwell shown in the photo above, at right. Many of the guests served at Dayhaven suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The youngest guest is 52 and the oldest is 101. At Dayhaven, guests have an opportunity to socialize with peers and share in stimulating activities. Every aspect of a guest’s comfort and health is supervised by Carrin and her staff of professionals. Care, compassion and love are much in evidence at Dayhaven which has no age or geographic requirements. Dayhaven gives family caregivers peace of mind. Husbands, wives and children have a safe and welcoming home-like alternative to placing loved ones in a nursing home. Carrin leaves her guests at the end of every day knowing that she and her colleagues have made a difference in the lives of others. The rewards of her job are the smiles on the faces of her guests and their caregivers. If you are interested in knowing more about what Dayhaven offers call (518) 346-1852. Please give a gift through your parish, online at www.TheBishopsAppeal.org, or through: The Stewardship Office Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany 40 North Main Avenue Albany, NY 12203 Phone (518) 453 – 6680 z Email: stewardship@rcda.org z
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Avoiding the ‘isms’: Roadblocks to faith Thus, as Dennis O’Brien, president emeritus of Rochester University, notes, the main strategy of scientism in presenting its views is to line up a set of religious claims and compare them to the claims of science and common sense morality. When this comparison is made, religious claims appear implausible factually and reprehensible morally. Creation in seven days, the virgin birth, raising the dead: Scientism dismisses all these as absurd. And what of the morality of a God who asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son?
Straw man
The flaw of this critique is that it puts forth a straw man. According to scientism, the whole of human reality must be viewed through the lens of science. But a holistic view of the world and a scientific view are not the same thing. While the detached view of the scientific observer has immense value when we are trying to arrive at a description of the natural world, it is not the only perspective to be taken into account. Science is interested primarily in what is general and repeatable. But the experience of human beings is very different. Understanding human reality is not a spectator sport. It must be lived from within rather than
observed from without. A person must be understood as more than a collection of physical laws and moral duties.
Compatible views
Unlike adherents of scientism, I believe there need not be a conflict between science and religion. Both are trying to do the same thing: namely, to explain the world we see by referring to a world we do not see. As Rabbi Neil Gilman notes: “Both find the ultimate explanation for the immediately visible by postulating a world that is invisible and that accounts for why things are the way they are. That’s what myths do; they deal with the invisible to explain the visible. In this sense, ‘the big bang’ is much more theology than it is science. Both are poetry.” Ultimately, it seems that if we do not find the compatibility between science and religion, life itself and all creation becomes meaningless and absurd — totally pointless.
ATHEISM EXAMINED
Closely aligned with scientism is the renewed militant atheism presented by bestselling authors such as Richard Dawkins in “The God Delusion” and Christopher Hitchens in “God is Not Great.” They not only ridicule belief in God or the supernatural, but
look upon faith as a disease, consider religious instruction as a form of child abuse and decry the harm religion has done and continues to inflict upon humanity. The response to this aggressive atheism is similar to that of scientism, if not more so. As to the assertion of these critics that religion is capable of doing enormous harm — citing, as they do, the Crusades, the Inquisition and contemporary Islamic Jihadism, or religious intolerance toward those outside the tradition (gays, the separated and divorced or nonbelievers) — how do these advocates for a world free of religious beliefs and traditions explain away the six million Jews incinerated in the ovens of Auschwitz and Birkenau...the 20 million Eastern Europeans killed under Stalin’s brutal totalitarian regime...the untold millions slaughtered in the killing fields of Cambodia...and the genocide of China’s cultural revolution — or the systemic effort within all of these godless ideologies to accept or even promote abortion, infanticide and eugenics?
Wanted: hope What is missing, both in scientism and atheism, is hope. Neither provides much consolation at a funeral and neither can respond to that insatiable quest
Belief in God appears to be generally high across most subgroups of the American population. Those who believe in God by demographic:
for the divine, the transcendent, the infinite, which has MEN WOMEN been at the heart of the 18-29 human experi30-49 59-64 ence through65+ out all of recorded hisHIGH SCHOOL OR LESS SOME COLLEGE tory. COLLEGE GRAD In the face of the DarEAST SOUTH winian apMIDWEST proach to life WEST upheld by scie n t i s m , REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS wherein natural selection Source: Gallup poll ©2011 CNS necessitates the ruthless and relentless destruction of individuals who have no mean- love takes, amid the chaos and ing other than fostering the sur- pain of the human condition, vival of the fittest; or following whose only ultimate goal is to out the cosmic consequences gather us in the embrace of of the “big bang” and modern divine love. Next month, I will complete atheism, which has fueled only eugenic perfection, ethnic puri- this trilogy on challenges to conty and materialistic supremacy, temporary spirituality by we believers are called to addressing the mirror image of adhere to what the philosopher scientism and atheism — fundaGabriel Marcel has called a mentalism — as well as the chal“metaphysic of hope.” lenges of technology and indiThis finds God not absent vidualism. amid the vicissitudes of nature, This, hopefully, will set the of manmade human savagery or stage for the theme of the secin God’s own intent of revenge ond year of our Amazing God or retribution; but sees God in evangelization initiative: “the all the peculiar shapes which heart of Christ.” 70 % 80 % 90 % 10 0%
AVOIDING THE ‘ISMS’: ROADBLOCKS TO FAITH, FROM PAGE 13
Belief in God
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AUGUST 4, 2011 Volume LXXXV • Number 37 www.evangelist.org
TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Official Assignment
Two pages highlight local Catholics who have traveled from Lourdes to South Africa — and more: Pages 10-11
Rev. Jun Segura has been assigned to the Hispanic Apostolate for the Albany Diocese by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard.
T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y
RAIN DELAY
BISHOP’S COLUMN
Beyond absolutes, beyond the self, beyond technology, there is Jesus BY BISHOP HOWARD J. HUBBARD
This is my third column discussing obstacles we face as we seek to deepen our own spirituality and participate in our “Amazing God” evangelization initiative in the Albany Diocese. In two previous reflections, I mentioned a loss of a sense of sin, consumerism, the bifurcation between religion and spirituality, secularism, scientism and atheism as contemporary threats to a genuine Christian spirituality and to our approach to evangelization. This month, I conclude this part of the reflection by citing three other challenges that can inhibit our spiritual growth and development. In next month’s column, I will reflect on some of the Church’s own failings in responding to people’s spiritual needs.
FUNDAMENTALISM
The mirror image of the scientism and atheism I wrote about last month is fundamentalism, both religious and political. In its religious form, fundamentalism grants a privileged status to faith over reason, to sacred texts and doctrinal tenets. Fundamentalism refuses to grant validity to any evidence which might challenge or override this status. Within our own Catholic tradition, we see this fundamentalism in nostalgia for the past or in unwillingness to allow for the development of theological doctrine or of moral understanding.
There are also strains of fundamentalism to be found among some Protestants, Jews and Muslims. It is understandable that, in a world which has become so insecure, and in a postmodern age where all certainties, dogmas and doctrines are being questioned, some people inevitably try to go back to absolute certainties which might have been there — or at least were perceived to have been there — in the past. There is a safety and security to this approach: providing pat answers or facile solutions to every problem, offering a kind of secure spiritual safety net or an “A-B-C” approach to salvation — as long as one does not stray beyond the boundaries of orthodoxy.
Closed off
Fundamentalism, however, is a closed system, often accompanied by a smugness and intolerance, by a condescending judgmentalism and anti-intellectualism which fail to appreciate complexity, seeing only black and white, without any shades of gray. Fundamentalism, I believe, is one of the attractions of some of the evangelical churches and sects. But it is also a retreat from engaging the world, from seeking to harmonize faith and reaBEYOND ABSOLUTES, BEYOND THE SELF, BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, THERE IS JESUS, SEE PAGE 13
MEMBERS OF CATHEDRAL parish in Albany and a youth group from Immaculate Conception parish in Hoosick Falls tried to enjoy a TriCity Valley Cats baseball game last weekend, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Above, Immaculate Conception parishioners stand for the national anthem; at right, the deluge hits Katie Pacuk from St. Mary’s parish in Coxsackie, Tom Dynan from Annunciation in Queensbury and Amanda Patten from Immaculate Conception. (Nate Whitchurch photos) STARVATION VS. PLENTY
Kenyan bishops to government: Improve food security for all BY FRANCIS NJUGUNA
C AT H O L I C N E WS S E RV I C E
Nairobi, Kenya — A Catholic bishop has heavily criticized the Kenyan government on what he described as its ineffectiveness in handling the hunger crisis developing in the East Africa nation. Bishop Cornelius Arap Korir of Eldoret, Kenya, said he was disturbed to see that some people in Kenya are starving, while in other parts, such as his diocese, people are harvesting plenty of produce with some vegeta-
bles reportedly rotting in fields. “This, for me, would seem to mean that the left hand of the government is not aware of what its right hand is doing, which is very unfortunate”, the bishop said during a news conference the Catholic Church called to announce an appeal for food on behalf of Kenya’s growing hunger crisis. Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth of Kisumu, chairman of the Kenyan bishops’ Commission for Justice and Peace joined Bishop Korir, the commission’s vice chair-
man, at the conference and said the crisis was worsened by the rise in food prices, deteriorating drought conditions for farmers with livestock and the high rate of inflation. “There [have] been reported deaths due to famine in various parts of the country,” the bishops said. The current debate in the Kenyan parliament on food security and allocations for KENYAN BISHOPS TO GOVERNMENT: IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL, SEE PAGE 9
13
T H E E VA N G E L I S T
August 4, 2011
Beyond absolutes, beyond the self, beyond technology, there is Jesus BEYOND ABSOLUTES, BEYOND THE SELF, BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, THERE IS JESUS, FROM PAGE 1
son — which both John Paul II (in his encyclical “Fides et Ratio,” “Faith and Reason”) and Benedict XVI (in his 2006 address on Islam at Regensburg, Germany) stated are so critically important if our Catholic Christian faith is to grow and flourish, and be attractive and credible in our contemporary world.
Need for dialogue
As Catholic Christians, then, we must not retreat from the secular world; nor must we approach it with a voice that constantly warns, judges, condemns and forbids. Rather, ours must be a dialogic process which listens both to those outside the Church and to our own members — and, when we speak, we must not do so in a didactic or condescending manner, but in a voice which is rational, civil, tolerant, patient, familial and, above all, forgiving.
TECHNOLOGY
While not explicitly opposed to religious faith and belief, I would suggest that the explosion of new technologies can also pose a significant threat to people’s spiritual well-being. Not only are there personal computers and the Internet, but there are cell phones, iPods and Blackberries — which, as an editorial in America magazine notes, have created both a culture of distraction and a culture of constant work, where we are reachable around the clock and, therefore, unable to disconnect from the demands of the workplace. Ironically, these new technologies were supposed to lessen our workloads and free us from menial tasks like phone calls and letters. Instead, they often have filled our lives with even more superfluous communication. Equally significant, as we spend more time connected to these technologies, we can
become more disconnected from one another, from our families and, because of a lack of quiet space, from ourselves and ultimately from God. The dawn of these new technologies is not a cause simply for lament. Even I, who have been a great foot-dragger and procrastinator in this regard, must acknowledge and, indeed, stand in awe of the benefits they can produce.
Balance usage
But there must be a judicious caution about how these new technologies can affect a relationship with others and our own spiritual life. The great spiritual masters in every tradition have long counseled the need for solitude and quiet. We can experience God in many ways — even through Internet sites like www.beliefnet. com or www.pray-as-you-go.org — but there remains the need for solitude and quiet where God can speak to us in the silence of our hearts. As the editors of America magazine note in their commentary, without silence, without conscious disconnecting from the cares of the day, from work and even from friends and family, it becomes increasingly hard to carve out space needed to listen to one’s own thoughts and to God. St. Benedict wrote in his monastic rule, “Silence and the absence of noise in a certain manner encourage the soul to think of God. To connect with God, then, it is sometimes necessary to disconnect.”
NARCISSISM
The final challenge I would cite if we are to foster a contemporary spirituality is the rampant narcissism and individualism which permeate our culture and much of the world. It is not only we in the Church who view this narcissism and individualism as a problem for
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individuals and society; so do many psychologists, sociologists and even economists. In his book, “Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom,” South African Dominican theologian Rev. Albert Nolan cites a false or superficial sense of freedom which is at the root of this problem. It is not the freedom to choose any brand of toothpaste you like; it is a more radical freedom. What people often seek, Nolan notes, is a freedom of the ego, instead of freedom from the ego. Freedom of the ego means that “I can do anything I like in relation to others. The more my will triumphs, the more free I am.” This is a dangerous illusion which only imprisons us further. Freedom, in the true Christian sense, is freedom from the ego. It means we are not tied down by our own selfishness. It is a freedom to do God’s will; to work for the common good, not just the selfish idea of “what’s good for me.”
Beam in the eye
When we develop this freedom from the ego, we can come to recognize that we often project our problems on others, that we have a false image of ourselves and that we may communicate this false image to others. As Jesus pointed out, until we really understand what is happening within ourselves, we have a real beam in our own eye.
Benedict’s book
This is precisely the freedom and spirituality which our Holy Father Benedict XVI presents in his marvelous book, “Jesus of Nazareth.” In this series of meditations and reflections, Pope Benedict challenges us to read the story of Jesus found in the Gospels not only with the eyes of faith, but in relation to the entire story of the Bible and the drama of Israel and the pilgrim people of God. Benedict portrays Jesus as the promised new and greater Moses. Like Moses, Jesus speaks to God face-to-face; unlike Moses, Jesus looks directly at the glory of God. Jesus’ unity with God and His filial communion with the
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We’re blinded by something we need to remove in order to see clearly and to understand that we are not the center of the world. That’s why Father Nolan states that narcissism or selfcenteredness is the root cause both of personal failure and of social injustice. He suggests that many so-called liberation movements of the 20th century failed because they neglected the need of the individual to overcome personal selfishness. Father Nolan cites, as a specific example, the experience of his native South Africa, wherein the hard-won freedom from apartheid was replaced “by greed, corruption, crime, hypocrisy and power-mongering.” This is also true of many countries emerging from the colonization of European powers. The solution to this egotistical self-centeredness, Father Nolan posits, is Jesus’ own spirituality, which responds to the need of people to heal, to love, to forgive and to affirm. It is a spirituality based not on condemnation, blame or guilt, but one which liberates, persuades, encourages, enables and empowers.
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Father are seen by Benedict as a key to understanding Jesus’ works, deeds, sufferings and triumphs — which become the foundation for developing our own spiritual life. In reviewing Benedict’s book, Peter Steinfels, the former religion correspondent for The New York Times, author of “A People Adrift” and co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion, states that Jesus of Nazareth “is leagues in advance of both the theological and biblical underpinnings of 90 percent of the preaching or catechetics encountered in Catholic America.” That’s high praise from a thoughtful, yet at times critical analyst of our contemporary Church. I recommend Benedict’s book for your own meditation and as a solid contribution to helping us address contemporary spirituality and evangelization. I am convinced that more and more our personal and communal spirituality must be rooted in the person of Jesus. We must seek to enter even more fully into a meaningful relationship with Jesus to see how His life, His words, His choices, His facing death and His overcoming death relate to our own fears and to the needs, hopes, fears and expectations of those whom we are privileged to serve. I believe it is only to the extent that we do this that we can truly face our own fears and find the inner resources needed to reenergize our own spirituality and, then, invite others to a deep meaningful relationship with our Brother and Redeemer: Jesus, the Christ. May this year’s Amazing God focus on the “Heart of Christ” lead us to do so.
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