BIBLE AND FAMILY OF MANY THINGS 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 rom the third-floor corner balcony nations that must work together in Ph: (212) 581-4640; Fax: (212) 399-3596 of the Gran Hotel Ciudad de mutual interest and mutual respect.” Subscriptions: (800) 627-9533 México, I enjoyed a panoramic It will be useful, then, to have as www.americamedia.org F facebook.com/americamag view of at least seven centuries of human the pope’s representative to the United twitter.com/americamag history. From the ghostly ruins of the States a man who has experienced the Templo Mayor, to the Baroque splendor U.S.-Mexico relationship from the other President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. of the 16th-century cathedral, to the side of the Rio Grande, someone who Executive Editors mammoth Palacio National, from which can help us understand what it might Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy a vast swath of North America was once mean to build a wall between us. It will Managing Editor Kerry Weber governed, this teeming, cacophonous also be useful to have in Washington Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. square in the heart of Mexico’s capital a diplomat who represents the vicar of Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent Kevin Clarke tells the story of several empires won Christ, the one who breaks down walls; Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. and lost: the Aztecs, the Spanish and the one for whom charity, reconciliation Executive Editor, America Films the French. The successive imperialists and justice are the only standards of Jeremy Zipple, S.J. who built this place, like their Roman or human action. “Basically, when you Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. British counterparts, no doubt thought listen to the Gospel,” says Archbishop Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent Gerard O’Connell that each of their earthly paradises Pierre, “when you follow Christ, Christ Associate Editor and Director of Digital would last a thousand years or more. is asking you to be very radical. Christ is Strategy Sam Sawyer, S.J. Such is the hubris of earthly schemers. asking us to be close to the people, to be Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. I had come to Mexico City to close to the poor.” Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga Segura, Robert David Sullivan interview the new apostolic nuncio Such radical closeness requires Assistant Editor Joseph McAuley actions that are the very opposite of to the United States, Archbishop Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder Christophe Pierre, a French-born building walls. We should also bear in Editorial Assistant Zachary Davis career papal diplomat who had just mind that the American empire, like Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., completed nine years as nuncio in the Aztecs and the Spanish before us, Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, Mexico. Popes have traded ambassadors will one day go the way of all things Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider with the world’s major powers since mortal, that we too will be judged at Correspondents John Carr (Washington), An- at least the Middle Ages; in that the bar of history. More important, the thony Egan, S.J., and Russell Pollitt, S.J. (Johannes- burg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles), Timothy sense, the news that Pope Francis had King of Kings himself, the only one Padgett (Miami), Steven Schwankert (Beijing), selected a new man to represent him in who can rightly claim to reign forever David Stewart, S.J. (London), Rhona Tarrant (Dub- Washington, D.C., was hardly news at and ever, will also call us to account for lin), Judith Valente (Chicago) Moderator, Catholic Book Club all. What makes the archbishop’s arrival our actions. “Christ is not an idea,” says Kevin Spinale, S.J. newsworthy is the fact that the United Archbishop Pierre. “Christ is a person Editor, The Jesuit Post Michael Rossmann, S.J. States of America presently bears the who came and offers us the Gospel…. Editorial e-mail mantle of global leadership; we are, for The values of the Gospel are not ideas. [email protected] good or ill, the successors of the Aztecs, They are behaviors. We know from Publisher and Chief Financial Officer the British and the Spanish. As the experience that this is quite demanding.” Edward G. Spallone Deputy Publisher Rosa M. Del Saz Vice President for Advancement archbishop reminds us in the interview The view from the Gran Hotel Daniel Pawlus Advertising Sales Manager reported in this issue (page 9), the appears to confirm that fact. Chris Keller Advancement Officer Kerry Goleski Business Operations Staff Khairah United States is the pre-eminent power ••• Walker, Glenda Castro, Katy Zhou, Frankarlos in the world today. Every aspect of life This special issue on the Bible and Cruz Advertising Contact ads@americamedia. on earth is affected by our actions, noble the family has been generously org; 212-515-0102 Subscription contact and Additional copies 1-800-627-9533 Reprints: or otherwise. The people of Mexico underwritten by the American Bible [email protected] know that reality in a way few others Society as part of our continuing © 2016 America Press Inc. do, for the destiny of our immediate series, “The Living Word: Scripture in southern neighbor is especially the Life of the Church,” a multiyear, intertwined with our own. In such multiplatform joint project of America an intimate relationship, as President Media and A.B.S. to promote deeper Cover: A circus performer cradles a child in a Obama has said, there should not be popular engagement with the Bible. We baptismal gown before Mass in the center ring of are deeply grateful for their friendship the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at “a senior partner or junior partner. We George Mason University’s Patriot Center in Fair- are two equal partners, two sovereign and support. MATT MALONE, S.J. fax, Va., in April 2015. CNS photo/Bob Roller Contents www.americamagazine.org VOL. 214 NO. 20, WHOLE NO. 5132 June 20-27, 2016

ARTICLES 16 ORDINARY, HOLY FAMILIES Looking to the Bible for new models of mercy Julie Hanlon Rubio

21 FAMILY BIBLE STUDY Five lessons from Scripture for parents Jake Kohlhaas

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 16 5 Editorial The AIDS Epidemic at 35 6 Reply All 9 Signs of the Times

14 Column Care for the Person James Martin 20 First Monday Supreme Indecision Ellen K. Boegel 24 Vatican Dispatch Next Stop Cairo? Gerard O’Connell 26 Faith in Focus Wham! Thump! Yahweh! Kevin Clarke Bouquets for My Father B. G. Kelley Truth, Then Love James Dominic Rooney 42 The Word Christian Freedom; The New Cross John W. Martens 21 BOOKS & CULTURE

33 THEATER “The Crucible” and “Blackbird’ OF OTHER THINGS Interrogating Grace BOOKS The Whole Harmonium; Pope Francis Among the Wolves; Opening the Door of Faith; The Nones are Alright

ON THE WEB Elizabeth​ Dias​ of Time has been named the 2016 recipient of the George​ W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters​. Plus, Stephen​ P. White​ talks about his new book Red, White, Blue and Catholic​ on “America This Week.” Full digital highlights on page 25 and at 33 americamagazine.org/webfeatures. CURRENT COMMENT

policy agenda. He came into office determined to put the The Libertarians Step Up United States on a course toward disarmament. But today Over Memorial Day weekend, an American political party the U.S. nuclear arsenal is being modernized to the tune of held a contested convention and the roof did not fall in. There $1 trillion over the next three decades. Nuclear weapons were no riots and no thrown chairs, and the Libertarian and delivery vehicles are being made smaller and more Party nominated a pair of former two-term Republican precise—which may make them more tempting to use. governors—Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Bill Weld of But even if the United States were never to employ Massachusetts—for president and vice president. While the Republicans seek to ensure a smooth, debate-free national these diabolical weapons, the risks and costs associated convention by rallying around a man who has never held with possessing and maintaining a nuclear stockpile are political office, a so-called fringe party has chosen experience unacceptable. Popes from St. John XXIII to Francis have over novelty. condemned the squandering of national wealth on arms It took two ballots for Mr. Johnson to secure the while millions live in extreme poverty. Seven years ago in nomination over several rivals with no governing Prague, President Obama promised to “take concrete steps experience. Some Libertarians questioned his commitment towards a world without nuclear weapons.” He has seven to making government as small as possible; he got some months left to follow through on that commitment. boos for saying he would have signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Mr. Weld faced tougher scrutiny, partly for his ‘Not Peanuts’ support for gun-control laws when he was governor of Later this year, the Department of Agriculture will ship 500 Massachusetts. This is not surprising at a gathering where metric tons of peanuts, packaged into individual servings for many feel it is oppressive for the government to require school children, to Haiti. Instead of celebrating, 61 aid groups driver’s licenses. working in Haiti have signed a letter calling for the immediate The party’s slogan, “Minimum Government, Maximum cancellation of the shipment. They are concerned that it Freedom,” is simplistic, but perhaps no more so than the will become “the latest in a long history of U.S.-sponsored idea that a wall across our southern border will make programs that have destabilized Haiti’s agricultural sector, America great again. It is too early to say whether the driving the nation further into poverty while increasing its Libertarians deserve to be included in this fall’s presidential dependence on foreign aid.” and vice-presidential debates, but it is encouraging Haitian farmers already produce plenty of peanuts, that the party has chosen two qualified, even-tempered and a local supply and processing chain employs many candidates and is making an attempt to appeal to voters Haitians; the aid groups estimate more than half a million beyond its narrow base. The two major parties deserve the Haitians derive income in some way from peanuts. In the competition. 1990s, domestic rice production in Haiti was crippled after U.S. rice flooded the market through aid programs and Obama’s Nuclear Contradiction because of lowered tariffs. Food imports are cheaper than Haiti’s domestic crops for a number of reasons, including It was not the apology critics pre-emptively denounced nor the concrete call for disarmament that anti-nuclear activists greater efficiency from mechanization in the United States had hoped for. The speech given by President Obama at and decreased crop yield in Haiti due to environmental Hiroshima on May 27 was instead a somber reflection on degradation. Many U.S. crops are also federally subsidized, “humanity’s core contradiction”: that what sets us apart as a with the federal purchase of excess production leading to species, our ability to imagine a better world and to fashion stocks of food that need to be distributed somehow. the tools to build it, “also give us the capacity for unmatched This link between food aid and farm subsidies destruction.” Standing at the site where one unrestrained is both economically and morally problematic. The technological innovation reached its deadly conclusion, Mr. U.S. government distorts the market at home while it Obama called for a moral revolution, one that requires more undermines the ability of Haitian farmers to produce than “mere words.” income for themselves. The current “solution” to this It was an honest and challenging speech, worthy of the problem is to package peanuts for consumption as school historic first visit by a U.S. president to the city leveled by snacks so they will not leak into the local market. A far the United States in 1945. But it also highlighted what may better solution would be to package aid according to what be the core contradiction of the Obama presidency: His might actually be best for Haiti rather than U.S. industrial soaring rhetoric has at times been in direct opposition to his agriculture interests.

4 America June 20-27, 2016 EDITORIAL The AIDS Epidemic at 35

n June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and people in the United States Prevention released its “Morbidity and Mortality were living with H.I.V. and/ OWeekly Report.” The report described five cases in or AIDS. which young, previously healthy gay men were diagnosed Most at risk are African- with a rare lung infection—a report that would eventually Americans and the poor. become the first official publication on the H.I.V./AIDS ep- Despite making up less than idemic in the United States. 20 percent of the population, By 1989 the number of reported AIDS cases in the African-Americans account for almost 50 percent of all new United States had reached 100,000. During the following diagnoses. As new treatments are developed, the costs rise as decade, the epidemic continued growing. By 1992 AIDS well. As we better manage infections, impoverished citizens was the leading cause of death for U.S. men ages 25 to 44; living with H.I.V. and/or AIDS face an additional burden. and just two years later, it was the leading cause of death for We encourage Congress to approve the additional funds in- all U.S. citizens in that age group. cluded in President Obama’s 2017 budget for H.I.V./AIDS As the crisis grew, programs were implemented to deal treatment and prevention, which includes additional fund- with the epidemic. Initiatives included the passing of the ing for the Ryan White Act, treatment and care completion Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency services for people living with H.I.V., and housing for indi- Act, the largest federal program for people living with viduals and veterans living with H.I.V./AIDS. H.I.V./AIDS. A number of Catholic organizations also Tensions remain as to what degree condoms can be cared for those who were infected. The National Catholic accepted as a preventive measure. In 2010 Pope Benedict AIDS Network was created in 1989 to provide “education, XVI stated that condoms could be used in some cases to technical assistance, and a support network for HIV/AIDS prevent the spread of disease, though not to prevent preg- service providers as well as individuals and groups affected nancy. The focus on condoms, however, should not obscure by HIV.” The African American Catholic HIV/AIDS Task the enormous contribution of Catholic ministries and pro- Force is a network of national African-American Catholic grams in supporting people living with H.I.V./AIDS, both organizations focused on community outreach, ministering in the United States and the developing world. Churches to people living with H.I.V./AIDS and mobilizing locally can continue to advise against complacency and expand and nationally within black Catholic communities. efforts like the African American Catholic HIV/AIDS The Catholic Church’s presence, however, has been Task Force, N.C.A.N. and programs of Catholic ministries most felt in the developing world, particularly in sub-Sa- worldwide. haran Africa, a region that accounts for almost 70 percent America’s editor in chief, Matt Malone, S.J., writ- of the global total of new infections each year. As of 2014, ing about World AIDS Day in 2013, said that the H.I.V./ there were over 25 million people living with H.I.V. in this AIDS crisis “brought out the best and worst in the church.” part of the world. Organizations like Caritas Internationalis Even those who overcame the fear of contagion to minister and Catholic Relief Services have been critical players in the to the afflicted were at times more concerned with pressing fight against H.I.V./AIDS internationally. church teaching on homosexuality and drug use upon the Today more effective treatment allows H.I.V.-positive sick and dying than with accompanying them in their ill- individuals to lead long and productive lives. Thanks to pre- ness. Fortunately, the prejudice that marked the early days vention efforts and medical advancements, the United States of the H.I.V./AIDS crisis has diminished, while the good saw a 19 percent decline in the number of diagnosed cases work of the church continues. Today, no less than 35 years from 2005 to 2014. But coping with H.I.V./AIDS remains ago, it is incumbent upon us to provide spiritual support to a physical and financial struggle for many people. A recent the sick and to aid those fighting drug addictions or seeking report from the C.D.C. predicts that half of black gay men to resist the cultural pressure to engage in behavior that may and a quarter of Latino gay men will be infected in their life- put them at risk of H.I.V./AIDS. This epidemic, which dis- times. At the end of 2012—the most recent year for which proportionately affects the most vulnerable among us, con- information on the virus is available—at least 1.2 million tinues to require our vigilant attention.

June 20-27, 2016 America 5 REPLY ALL gift I can give to my daughter. of some hot-button church issues that MAUREEN WEBER do not seem to be in the domain of the A Gift to New Mothers Online Comment Black Lives Matter movement at all. Re “Life After Birth,” by Kerry Weber There is not a single concrete sugges- (5/23): Congratulations to Kerry A Painful Beauty tion to move people to action to reme- Weber. My heart is with her. If only Being an unmarried, celibate Catholic dy the overall situation covered in this I had known, especially after my first priest, I appreciated Kerry Weber’s re- piece. There is a great deal of the sort of child, that I was not alone. Indeed, flections on life as a new mother very spiritual pablum that could not possi- it felt as though I was. My mother much. They reminded me of how much bly be useful in a “hospital on the field helped me, but she was not prepared to I enjoy watching “Call the Midwife,” a of battle.” The wounds experienced by listen to my laments—many of which very involved British-produced televi- those injured by prejudice are not only Ms. Weber eloquently describes in this sion series set in East End London of spiritual in nature. Visit any impover- column. After giving birth, I felt as if the 1950s. By watching it I have come ished school district in our land to see giving voice to the hardship meant I to appreciate the very many nuances, that the wounds are real, the sores are was not grateful for being a mother, the beauty, pain and surprises of preg- open, and the remedies are few and far which I was. nancy, birthing and childbearing. Ms. between. Now that I am looking forward Weber’s comments certainly fit into Pretense has no place in confront- to the birth of my first grandchild in this multifaceted reality, the wonder ing the problems that exist when it September, I feel torn. I don’t want to and practicality of it all. Thanks so comes to the racial divide in our coun- sugarcoat the truth to my daughter, but much for sharing. I hope she continues try. What is known to help is for real I do not want to frighten her, as she is to enjoy the ride. persons of all races to come together (REV.) GEORGE SCHROEDER already apprehensive and worried. If Scottsdale, Ariz. and live together and work together my worries and difficulties had been to see to it that the words we actually validated as a new mother, it would Prophetic Solidarity use and the actions we take reflect our have been such a relief. I hope that is a Thank you for publishing “Bridging best nature and our fondest dreams. the Racial Divide,” by Bishop Edward What does work are real communities, K. Braxton (5/16). I believe that our like those created in the Cristo Rey baptism calls us to act on the anoint- schools, where young men and women ing we received to be “priest, prophet are nurtured and educated to be peo- and king” in imitation of Jesus. This is ple for others. They serve as bridges we the time for us to act on our prophetic can all walk across with confidence. BARRY FITZPATRICK call as members of the body of Christ Online Comment and call for the gift of life to be af- firmed through the Black Lives Matter movement. As an African-American School Stratification Catholic, I believe it represents an- In “Ship for the Rich” (Current other moment in history, like the civil Comment, 5/16), the editors raise rights movement, when the church can concerns about the exclusive ameni- stand as a beacon of light by joining in ties available to high-paying customers solidarity with the Black Lives Matter aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s The movement. As Dr. Martin Luther Haven. There has never been a time King wrote in his book Why We Can’t in history or a place anywhere in the Wait, “The bell of man’s inhumanity to world that has not had social stratifica- man does not toll for any one man. It tion. Some people live in large subur- tolls for you, for me, for all of us.” ban homes with good suburban public BORETA SINGLETON schools and others live in cramped, Online Comment substandard housing in areas with poor schools. Some suburbanites and A Time for Action urbanites send their children to pub- While Bishop Edward Braxton is a lic schools, and some send them to superb writer and preacher, he engages extremely pricey private schools. The us in a totally disconnected discussion tuition at the Jesuit school a few miles

6 America June 20-27, 2016 from my house is about $33,000/year, need to return civility…to politics.” broken. Programs like the Cristo Rey plus fees. The root of today’s incivility, I often schools are proven methods of fighting For those of us who travel fairly of- think, is economic insecurity. Scarcity poverty. Instead of mandating a mini- ten, “social stratification” in transporta- makes us crazy, and since 2007 it has mum wage, the state or the federal gov- tion, accommodations and restaurant become impossible to ignore how ernment should make up the differ- choices is a given, starting with the many of us are terribly vulnerable. The ence between the workers’ wages and purgatory of airline travel. I would say bishops have focused so much on sex- $15. Use this wage subsidy to create a that social stratification in education is ual ethics for the last quarter century fund that a person can use for further a far bigger issue than is social stratifi- that the moral implications of these education and job training. cation on a cruise line. economic realities have gone (most- There are exceptions, people who SANDY SINOR ly) unarticulated; today it is difficult are not able to work, and we as a Online Comment for church leaders to find a way into church, as well as the government,

the debate. The challenge is for the need to make sure that these excep- Remembering Differently church to bring attention back to what tions do not fall between the cracks. “The Rising Revisited” (4/25) reveals Catholic social teaching tells us about No one should go to bed hungry. Pádraig Ó Tuama’s gift as poet and our economic lives. Only that, I think, RICHARD HUG writer. He crafts together frontier Online Comment can lead us back to a politics that is fo- words that invite broader application. cused on reality, one more susceptible His description of “remembering” is White With Benefits to reason. a mini-course on the Eucharist. It STEVEN MILLIES Re “It’s Been a Privilege,” by Daniel P. speaks to the sadness of our church’s Aiken, S.C. Horan (3/14): Anyone who denies “empty pew syndrome.” “To re-mem- that both overt and institutional rac- ber is to re-present…something in the Education, Not Inflation ism still exist in America should spend past is not gone; it is here and now.” Re “Make Work Pay” (Editorial, some time getting to know African- When Mr. Ó Tuama writes, “We re- 4/18): Is there any evidence that a Americans and other people of color. member we are a people broken by $15 minimum wage will lift folks out Go shopping with them. Try to catch a ourselves and by our relations with our of poverty? I think not. It might make cab at night with them. Listen to their closest neighbors,” one can almost hear the cost of hamburgers go from $3 to stories. Examine statistics on drug a Judean lawyer asking Jesus, “And who $5—so it is really not helping, since use among the different races and the is my neighbor?” the higher minimum wage is a major percentage of people from each race “The Rising Revisited” could be factor in inflation. who are incarcerated for drug use as a template for the church: “The fall- The solution for poverty in most opposed to having access to rehab. ing revisited” is a story of the mod- cases is education. In the United States Institutions and laws are geared to- ern church, “alive and strong,” whose our public education in poor areas re- ward the benefit of white people. I am arrogance and power permitted un- mains poor, so the cycle remains un- white, and I see it and experience it. thinkable abuse and human Leaders of white com- violation. We may not have munities of faith need to be reached a time of com- bold and blunt about the sin memoration, but we remain of racism when they preach damned to limbo (and con- and should develop ways to tinue to fall) until we begin connect with black, Latino to remember in ways that and other ethnic church- truly measure the pain; and es. Teachers need to foster that happens by including cooperation and harmony the voices of those “who re- between students of differ- member differently.” Where ent ethnicities. And families does that story begin? need to seek out multiethnic GREGORY CORRIGAN neighborhoods and school Wilmington, Del. districts in which to live and open their homes to guests The Roots of Incivility from different ethnic groups. In “Our Political Mandate” KATHY WAGLE “Relax. It’s only the tree of moral relativism.” (4/25), John Carr writes “we Online Comment BYRNES PAT CARTOON:

June 20-27, 2016 America 7 8 America June 20-27, 2016 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

FIRST ENCOUNTER. Matt Malone, S.J., interviews Archbishop Christophe Pierre in Mexico City, May 31.

VATICAN Archbishop Pierre said. “The Catholic is not the person who just defends a New U.S. Nuncio Calls for Church position and ideology, a moral. The Catholic is a disciple of Christ. This To Embrace ‘Discipleship of Christ’ quality of discipleship of Christ will change the life of the person, make this etting actions speak for words and ultimately for truth seems to be the person a missionary and organize his intention of the new apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop life, I would say, according to his faith.” LChristophe Pierre, as he begins his latest North American appointment. To serve as effective evangeliz- In an exclusive interview with America conducted in Mexico City on May 31, ers, the impact of Christ on our lives Archbishop Pierre suggests he is not interested in engaging in a cultural battle should be obvious to all. “People will when he begins his new assignment in the United States. say, ‘This man, this woman, this child, “Should we fight our truths against other truths?” he asks. “No. I don’t think so. is a believer. You see it through his be- I think what we have [to do] is to let Christ transform us, tell us what is the way havior.’ The pope impresses the people of the truth.” precisely because they say, ‘This is a Pope Francis, he adds, is helping us discover “that the way to know the truth is man of God.’” also love, charity, the kind of deep tolerance that is not relativism. It’s something Archbishop Pierre added: “I think different.” a priest should be a man of God. Not In a rapidly secularizing society, he believes that evangelization through just a bureaucrat.” Christian witness should be a primary obligation of the church. He warns against The archbishop said he kept a keen the temptation “to close ourselves in ideology” and urges a church that encourages eye on Pope Francis during the pope’s all its members to serve as exemplars in society, as “disciples of Jesus.” visit to Mexico last February. The pope “Our faith is the encounter with a person,” Jesus Christ, “who changes our life has always been careful, according to and opens a new perspective in our life,” Archbishop Pierre told America’s editor Archbishop Pierre, to pay special at- in chief, Matt Malone, S.J. “Otherwise, we will reduce our faith to an ideology. tention to people who suffer. “This is Ideology will die, but the person of Christ will never die. a priority in the church,” he said. The “I think the pope is asking us to become Catholics in all senses of the word,” societies he has lived in as a church

June 20-27, 2016 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES diplomat, primarily in Africa, “produce is a church “open to the people in order Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó, who many people who suffer.” to announce the Gospel.” has been the U.S. nuncio since 2011. “There are many injustices, many Archbishop Pierre has for the last Archbishop Pierre believes evan- poor, many people who are unjustly nine years served as papal nuncio to gelization through encounter will treated. The church should be there. Mexico. He comes to Washington as characterize his mission in the United The church should be near to the poor. an experienced diplomat, with first- States, something he believes Pope This is where Christ wants us to be. hand knowledge of the dramatic plight Francis is modeling for all members of “If we do [that], we shall the church. “You have to be with serve the society,” Archbishop the people, to know them, to be Pierre said. close to them,” he said. “When we speak about the Very often, he said, “we fall social doctrine of the church, into the temptation to put our we always say the church is ideas first, to adjust the Gospel to about the centrality of the hu- our ideas.” But it is the contrary man person. It’s about solidar- that should be true. ity, it’s about humanity, about “Christ is not an idea. Christ justice. These are not ideas; is a person who came and offers these should be behaviors. The us the Gospel. We have to listen church should practice so- to his word. We have to be trans- cial justice” in all senses of the formed by the Gospel. Many of phrase. “Respect life from the us basically, we forget about… beginning to the end,” he said, the Scripture. We forget “but respect also work for jus- about listening to Christ. tice, work against inequalities. We have to be told, not All these things.” by ideology, but by the As for his new appoint- Word of God.” ment, Archbishop Pierre told Gospel values, he Father Malone that he looks forward of migrants from Central adds, “are not ideas,” but to learning about the United States America and Mexico to “behaviors.” “from the inside,” after years of watch- the United States, and There is a method to ing it from societies tremendously in- will be able to give voice understanding the Word fluenced by policies and events in the to Pope Francis’ concern of God, the archbish- United States. He added, “I’m a bit for them. A native of op said: listening to it in afraid because I know that I have to France, he was ordained in 1970 and prayer. “It is letting ourselves be con- discover a lot.” first joined the church’s diplomat- verted. Only people who have been Why he was selected for this piv- ic service in 1977. He has served in converted by the word of God will be otal position for the global church, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cuba and able to offer to the world what God, Archbishop Pierre could not say. But Brazil and at the Permanent Observer through Christ, wants us to be.” That, he was certain that evangelization has Mission of the Holy See to the United he believes, is to serve as “witnesses.” become a primary concern of the pope, Nations in Geneva. “We are the presence of Christ in an evangelization driven by closeness, In July 1995 St. John Paul II named the daily life, in this society. We are by being with people rather than over him an archbishop and appointed him being sent to be the witnesses of his them. “I’ve seen a pope who is very as apostolic nuncio to Haiti. He served presence, of his love, of his values, the concerned about getting near to the there until 1999 and then was named values of the Gospel,” he said. people.” nuncio to Uganda. He remained in And when “you listen to the Gospel, He added, “This is very coherent Africa until 2007, when he was ap- when you follow Christ, Christ is ask- with his main documents, particularly, pointed to Mexico. The Vatican an- ing you to be very radical,” he said. ‘Evangelii Gaudium.’” nounced his new appointment to the “Christ is asking us to be close to the What Pope Francis wants, he said, United States in April. He will succeed people, to be close to the poor. To leave

10 America June 20-27, 2016 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

everything. To have God at the center of our life,” the archbishop said. “These NEWS BRIEFS things are not very easy…. I think the Maria de Lourdes Ruiz Scaperlanda, a Gospel is challenging everybody.” writer and author in the Catholic press since KEVIN CLARKE 1982, received the 2016 St. Francis de Sales Award from the Catholic Press Association during its annual conference in St. Louis, Mo., Bishops’ Accountability on June 3. • The treacherous Mediterranean Pope Francis issued a decree on June 4 Sea crossing from Libya to Italy claimed the that makes it possible now to remove lives of over 1,030 migrants in the last week diocesan bishops for neglecting their of May, as overloaded and barely seaworthy duties, in particular in regard to pro- smuggling boats foundered and sank despite tecting minors and vulnerable adults calm seas and clear skies. • India, with more from sexual abuse. The decree comes than 18.5 million people trapped in modern in the form of an apostolic letter issued slavery—40 percent of the total of 45.8 mil- Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda motu proprio, responding to many calls lion—topped a global slavery index released to hold bishops fully accountable for by the Walk Free Foundation on June 3. • “Nothing unites us to God failing to act to protect children and more than an act of mercy,” Pope Francis said at a Vatican retreat for vulnerable adults. In his decree Pope priests on June 2, adding, “for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives Francis recalls that already “canon law our sins and gives us the grace to practice acts of mercy in his name.” provides the possibility of removal • European funding for Catholic aid agencies based in the United from ecclesiastic office ‘for grave rea- Kingdom could be withdrawn if the British people vote on June 23 sons’” and this applies also to “dioce- to leave the European Union, Auxiliary Bishop William Kenney of san bishops, eparchs and those who Birmingham warned on May 28. are equivalent to them in law.” In the decree he explains that he wishes “to ity for a particular church must exer- to combat these crimes, which have specify that among those ‘grave reasons’ cise particular diligence in protecting made victims of an estimated 40 mil- is included the negligence of bishops in those who are the weakest among the lion men, women and children. After the exercise of their office, in particular persons entrusted to them.” The decree thanking them for the work they are in relation to the cases of sexual abuse also says that before giving his defini- doing in this field, often in difficult and committed on minors and vulnerable tive decision the pope will draw on the sometimes dangerous circumstanc- adults,” explaining that this had been assistance of “a college of jurists” estab- es, Pope Francis encouraged them “to envisaged by earlier decrees on this lished for this purpose. fulfill their vocation and their crucial matter. mission—to establish justice—with- In the apostolic letter, “Come una Hope Against out which there is neither order nor Madre Amorevole” (“As a Loving sustainable and integral development, Mother”), the pope emphasizes that Human Trafficking nor social peace.” He emphasized the “the church loves all her children but Speaking to judges and prosecutors importance of their work in defense cares for and protects with most partic- at a Vatican summit on human traf- of “the dignity and freedom of men ular affection those who are small and ficking and modern slavery on June 3, and women today” and in particular defenseless.” Aware of this, he said, “the Pope Francis said, “You are responsible “to eradicate human trafficking and church dedicates a vigilant care to the for executing justice,” the ones “called smuggling and the new forms of slav- protection of children and vulnerable to give hope.” The pope had been given ery such as forced labor, prostitution, adults.” Francis said this task of pro- a warm welcome by some 100 judg- organ trafficking, the drug trade and tecting and caring belongs to the whole es and prosecutors from all over the organized crime.” He denounced these church, “but it is especially through its world. They had spent the day sharing forms of modern slavery as “real crimes pastors that this is exercised.” For this experiences dealing with cases of hu- against humanity.” reason, he said, “diocesan bishops, ep- man trafficking and making proposals archs and others who have responsibil- for national and transnational action From America Media, CNS, RNS, AP and other sources.

June 20-27, 2016 America 11 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

DISPATCH | DUBLIN the housing problem a “national emer- gency” but also said people will need Home Rules patience. Perhaps the most glaring irony of hen Archbishop The victims of Ireland’s housing cri- the crisis is that 230,000 homes, the Diarmuid Martin spoke sis appear on every step of the property majority privately owned, currently W in Rome in May to pro- ladder: overstretched renters, first-time stand vacant all over Ireland. In ad- mote the 2018 World Meeting of buyers, owners caught in negative equi- dition, social housing in some areas Families, which will be held in Dublin, ty. Rents in Dublin are now higher than has been left empty for more than a he listed housing as one of the main they were at the height of the Celtic year between tenancies because of in- challenges facing Irish families. As in Tiger period, while the lack of housing efficiency on the local level. The gov- many countries, housing has become has made competition fierce. The -ar ernment has also traditionally offered Ireland’s most glaring expression of rival of U.S. “vulture funds,” swooping some social housing tenants the op- social inequality, a vicious cycle that in on Ireland’s property market during portunity to buy their properties at a has spun full circle in the last decade. the bust, is another problem that rent- hugely discounted rate. While a wor- The inflated housing market of thy program, it adds another hole the Celtic Tiger era precipitated Ireland’s housing to the housing reserve’s already the devastating economic crash leaking bucket. of 2008 and cost thousands problem has been A challenge for the new gov- their homes and livelihoods. ernment will be to coordinate the Now, with a recovering economy, creeping up for many proposed solutions to the Ireland is faced with a contradic- decades. housing crisis into a workable na- tory problem: a steep housing tional plan. So far, the government shortage after several years of has pledged to increase social stunted capacity growth. ers and homeowners have to contend housing significantly and to develop In a small country where home- with. The master of the High Court, a nonprofit “cost rental” housing while lessness has never been a significant quasi-judicial figure in Ireland with the also addressing mortgage arrears. problem, the figures are striking. Focus power to intervene in civil judgments, Perhaps most significant, the govern- Ireland, a charity for the homeless, re- suggested in April that the government ment has said it intends to press for ported that 366 families became home- buy back homes sold to vulture funds the inclusion of a right to housing in less in Dublin in the first four months after hundreds of renters in Dublin the Constitution. More than anything of this year. The charity found that the were given notice to leave from a fund else, this measure confronts the root overwhelming number of homeless run by Goldman Sachs. of the issue, treating housing as a right families had their last stable home in Ireland’s housing problem has been however the economy may ebb or flow. the private rental sector and were forced creeping up for decades. In the 1970s, Prior housing policy created a funda- out by rising rents, landlords “selling up” social housing made up over 30 percent mental shift, one that has allowed mar- what had been rental units and a short- of new houses in Ireland. That num- kets to overrule the special place of the age of properties to rent. ber dropped to 5 percent in the 1980s, family in the Irish Constitution. Most had never experienced home- while rent controls were deemed un- President Michael D. Higgins last lessness before and were now being constitutional and abolished. The year urged those in authority to apol- accommodated by local authorities in trend continued through Ireland’s eco- ogize publicly for not valuing social shelters and hotel rooms. The waiting nomic prosperity, with policymakers housing in the past. He said that while list for government-subsidized “social slow to recognize and respond to the newspaper headlines proclaim that the housing” has swollen to 90,000 people, emerging housing problem. The new economy is roaring back in Ireland, in- meaning some Irish families will have Fine Gael-led government, formed equalities are roaring back much loud- to wait more than a decade for a home. in May, has promised decisive action er. Which one the government pays at- rather than the halfhearted and inade- tention to will make all the difference RHONA TARRANT is America’s correspondent quate response of the past. The minis- for keeping economically vulnerable in Dublin, Ireland. ter for housing, Simon Coveney, called families in their homes.

12 America June 20-27, 2016 June 20-27, 2016 America 13 JAMES MARTIN Care for the Person hat’s so great about a Jesuit Much of my amazement comes from back, looked skyward and shouted, education? meeting not just administrators, facul- “Magis!” W It’s a fair question, giv- ty members and staff, or fellow Jesuits, Third is the idea of being men and en the bills parents and students face as helpful as that is, but another group: women for others. The original ex- these days. That’s not to say that Jesuit students and their parents. Admittedly, pression, from a talk to Jesuit alumni colleges are more expensive than com- on commencement weekends I’m see- by the former Jesuit superior general parable institutions of higher learning. ing the kids on one of the happiest days Pedro Arrupe, was “men for others.” The cost of tuition, room and board of their lives. Sometimes it’s rendered “men and also varies widely from school to Nonetheless, what I hear is best women for and with others,” which is a school. Still, the price tag for any Jesuit summed up by what a young wom- bit of a mouthful. It means that a good college might prompt anyone to ask: Is an from Gonzaga said to me: “I loved, life is an other-directed life. During it worth it? loved, looooved my Jesuit the commencement at It’s also a common question for education!” When pressed, Canisius, all the stu- people unfamiliar with Jesuit educa- they have named for me dents who had signed tion: What’s the big deal? Last year three things that stand out. I’m amazed up for a year’s service af- my nephew, now a high school senior, First, cura personalis, the by what ter graduation—in the was musing aloud about what college educational goal of caring Jesuit Volunteer Corps, he’d like to attend. Not surprisingly, my for the “whole person.” Every happens the Mercy Corps, Teach first question for him was whether he college worth its salt cares at Jesuit for America and other had considered any Jesuit schools. He for the intellect, and perhaps service organizations— was noncommittal, as were his par- the body, but Jesuit institu- colleges and were asked to stand and ents. Since neither my nephew nor his tions are committed to the universities. be recognized for their parents attended Jesuit schools, they care of the whole person— commitment. It was an wondered what the fuss was about. which includes the soul. By admirable number. And why go out of your way to explore encouraging students to After the baccalau- something, much less pay a premium, attend to their spiritual lives, inviting reate Mass at Creighton University, I if you don’t know what you’re getting? them to Masses and retreats, as well met the beaming parents of a soon-to- Over the past few years, I’ve been as offering them service opportunities be graduate. They gushed about the happy to be invited to speak at Jesuit rooted in faith, they try to care for the education their daughter had received colleges and universities, and events whole person. In that way they help and told me how much it had meant to like the Ignatian Family Teach-In. them become whole people. them as well. It was moving to listen to By now I’ve probably met hundreds Second is the rather elusive concept them. The night before, they had asked of young people from “our” schools. of the magis—the more, the better, their daughter what she would change And last month I visited three Jesuit the greater for God. It comes from the about her last four years. “Nothing,” schools at commencement: Gonzaga Jesuit motto Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam she said. University in Spokane, Creighton (“For the Greater Glory of God”) and, The students I meet with may not University in Omaha and Canisius more fundamentally, from the Spiritual be a representative bunch. (I’ve heard College in Buffalo. In light of all these Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. If you a few stories of students at Jesuit col- experiences, I want to say this: I’m would be willing to work hard to fol- leges who don’t know what a Jesuit is.) amazed by what happens at Jesuit col- low a “temporal” leader you admire, And I am biased, of course. But the leges and universities. wrote Ignatius, “how much more” more I meet with Jesuit college stu- would you be willing to do to follow dents, the more I am convinced that Jesus? In Spokane, I asked a smiling there is something special here. JAMES MARTIN, S.J., is editor at large of America and the author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage young graduate what most defined his Happily, my nephew agrees. He’s (HarperOne). Twitter: @JamesMartinSJ. time at Gonzaga. He threw his head starting at Fordham in September.

14 America June 20-27, 2016

Ordinary, Holy Families Looking to the Bible for new models of mercy BY JULIE HANLON RUBIO

he recent meetings of the Synod of Bishops of earthly marriage is “relativized” because Jesus “demanded on the family were in part an attempt to invite a readiness to forsake marriage and family (Mt 10:37) and, families to join in the church’s work of evangeli- from those to whom the gift was given, celibacy for the sake zation. Instead of the judgment many Catholics of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 9:12).” Tassociate with family life, the synod documents spoke of a But not much is made of this remarkable lack of focus on “Gospel of the family” and a God of mercy. The Gospels, the family in the Gospels. Cardinal Kasper simply claims however, offer a more complicated and hopeful message that members of a “new family of brothers and sisters (Mt about ordinary families. 12:48-50;19:27-29)” are there to support and carry one an- Families sometimes see the church as a place of rules and other, and moves on. In a cultural context in which marriage judgment rather than wisdom and mercy. The Holy Family has become more difficult to choose and sustain, it may be gets in the way of efforts to invite families to take part in crucial to find and emphasize all of the affirmation of family the work of the church. It is not just the seemingly perfect the Gospel has to offer. Still, the cardinal’s reading seems to family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but the images of families gloss over what is most distinctive in the most foundational that tend to grace the covers of Catholic magazines and the of Christian texts. actual families that are most likely to be asked to carry up In fact, even the most familiar and oft-quoted Scripture the gifts on Sundays. These iconic and real-life models of passages are not quite as affirming of family as one might holiness can alienate those who feel their households will imagine. The Genesis creation narratives give us hints of never compare. marital intimacy (“one flesh union”), equality (“bone of my And yet the Gospel provides a diversity of models of bone and flesh of my flesh”) and generativity (“be fruitful faithfulness and mercy. It is not limited to allegedly ideal and multiply”), but not a compelling portrait of lifelong families who provide mercy to less than ideal families. marriage or a vision of a close and loving family, nuclear or otherwise. The famous household codes of Colossians, The Gospel of the Family Ephesians and 1 Peter paint a positive picture of the When the phrase “Gospel of the family” surfaced in discus- well-ordered home that seems designed to fit into a well-or- sions prior to the synod assemblies, many were confused. dered society, while softening the authority of male heads Cardinal Walter Kasper spoke on the topic at the Vatican of household with Christian compassion. Children are to in the fall of 2014 and later published the text of his re- submit to parents, wives to husbands and slaves to masters, marks as a short book. He claimed not to be breaking new though all earthly submission is modified by the ultimate ground but only to be expressing something that is ancient submission of believers to Christ. and yet “always new.” Whether this instruction is taken as a departure from In a sense, this is true. Many church documents link to- the discipleship of equals preached by Jesus, progressive in gether the creation accounts in Genesis, the Golden Rule its context or timeless (scholars disagree), it does not quite (Mt 7:12, 22:40; Lk 6:31), the Ten Commandments, the capture the reality of contemporary family life, which is Holy Family, the story of the wedding feast at Cana (Jn probably why few contemporary brides and grooms choose 2:1-12), images of Jesus as bridegroom, Jesus’ teaching on it for their wedding liturgies. divorce and the household codes in the Pauline letters (Col Families today are ordered more by loving activity than 3:18-4:1, Eph 5:21-6:9, 1 Pt 2:18-3:7). Yet there is some- by submission. The lives of families are marked by meals at thing new about calling all of this a “Gospel of the family,” a table or in a car, basketball games, dance lessons, school especially since it seems to imply that family life is central to picnics, child and elder care, parish festivals, homework and the Gospel. Even Cardinal Kasper admits that the import big screen televisions. Family life might include date nights for parents who are expected to grow in love; bedtime read- JULIE HANLON RUBIO is professor of Christian ethics at Saint Louis University and the author of Family Ethics: Practices for Christians ing rituals for parents and children who, it is hoped, devel- (Georgetown University Press, 2010). op strong bonds; graduation ceremonies, birthday parties

16 America June 20-27, 2016 LOVE IN ACTION. A father holds his daughter at the Festival of Families with Pope Francis in Philadelphia on Sept. 26. and anniversary celebrations all designed to celebrate the main subjects of mercy. In the Gospels, they are often mod- love that is only briefly alluded to in the best-known pas- els of mercy. sages of Scripture. As Pope Francis points out in “The Joy of Love,” the Cardinal Kasper works with this tradition by emphasiz- Gospel is full of the messy reality of family life. He notes ing the positive and adding what we might call stories of examples of anger, betrayal and separation. But it is also im- mercy to the canon of the Gospel of the family. He affirms portant not to miss the diversity of characters in the Gospel the ideal and adds mercy. We have Genesis and Ephesians, narratives, including singles, children and the church itself. but we also have the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11) There are many singles in the Gospels: single adults, sin- and the woman at the well (Jn 4:1-26). For Kasper, to un- gle parents, widows and vowed celibates. The disciples who derstand the Gospel as it relates to family is to see the beau- are called to leave work to follow Jesus must also leave family ty of the ideal while remembering Jesus’ ministry marked by behind (Mk 1:16-20). Both critics and sympathetic histori- mercy. Placing both together allows for a full picture of the ans of early Christianity report that early Christian commu- Gospel of the family. nities included vowed celibates and celibate married couples. Wealthy widows are known to have been sources of financial Models of Mercy support and hospitality for apostles charged with traveling This approach is helpful yet limited. It is helpful because and spreading the faith (Lk 8:3). people yearn for mercy, especially in relation to an ideal fam- Even our most familiar stories fail to fit into a neat “fami- ily life. This is why Pope Francis’ insistence on accompani- ly” box. Are shepherds and wise men married? Where is the ment as the mark of the church’s approach to families is so mother of the prodigal son (Lk 15: 11-32)? Does the wom- right and so well received. The church ought to be walking an who searches for the lost coin have a family (Lk 15:8-10)? with all who are heavy burdened, offering light and compan- The infancy narratives tell of a Messiah born into an atypical ionship. It is limited because the imperfect or “irregular” re- family. Joseph drops out of the Gospel after stories of Jesus’ HARING CNS PHOTO/PAUL

June 20-27, 2016 America 17 youth, leading tradition to assume Mary’s early widowhood. 36). The fact that sometimes women, slaves and children Martha, Mary and Lazarus are strong siblings whom Jesus converted on their own was controversial for some critics of loved, but they do not seem to have spouses (Jn 11). Paul, of early Christianity, for whom religion was inextricably tied to course, is single, and so, it seems, are many of his co-workers: the patriarchal household. Christians were known for priz- Barnabas (Acts 11:27-30), Thecla (in the apocryphal Acts ing single-hearted discipleship, not “family values.” Some la- of Paul and Thecla) and Phoebe (Rm 16:1-2). beled them “homewreckers.” Other than the young Holy Family and missionary The church is the most significant family in the Gospels, couples like Aquila and Priscilla (1 Cor 16:19), married the place where followers address each other as broth- couples are far rarer than singles in Scripture. And adults er and sister. Its strength is the only thing that makes the who appear to be single, like Jairus who seeks healing for hard sayings of Jesus on family comprehensible (Lk 14:26). his daughter (Mk 5:21-24), the father of the prodigal son, Discipleship to Jesus always comes first, before burying a the woman who searches for the lost coin and the widow dead father (Lk 9:59-60) and loyalty to one’s family of origin who offers her two very small coins (Lk 21:1-4), are often (Mk 3:31-35). In the Gospels, the people of faith, those who models of mercy. “hear the word and keep it,” are a new kind of kin, a radically When Jesus speaks of children, he holds them up as mod- inclusive community bent on mercy. els of faith (Lk 18:15-17), associates himself with them as he does only with the poor, tells his hearers to care for them Learning From Real Families (Mk 9:36-37) and suggests that those who fail children The Gospel “on” the family (perhaps not “of ” the family) are guilty of grievous wrongdoing (Mt 18:6). But nowhere should be the context for contemporary Christian thinking does he speak of parents’ responsibility for children or of about family. Our sense of what family means, why it is sig- children’s for their parents (though of course he would have nificant and how to approach it should flow from this place, assumed these duties). Worthy of attention in themselves, with full recognition of its strangeness in its own time, as children are models of faith and mercy. well as its strangeness in relation to our own. The early church community was not exactly a “family of And yet the church also moves in the world, learns from families.” While some baptisms involved whole families, in the world and develops. The Christian community has the other cases, faith, like a sword, divided families (Mt 10:34- ongoing task of discerning what to take in and what to by-

18 America June 20-27, 2016 pass. The Christian tradition has grown in its esteem for the intimate love of spouses, parents and children, and that is a good thing. Pope Francis’ “The Joy of Love” continues that growth in appreciation for familial love and offers a more inclusive vision by taking from the Gospel an emphasis on mercy for the imperfect. But if the Christian community seeks to be truly welcoming, it might also learn from the Gospel recognition of the modeling of mercy in “imperfect” families. When I was in Nicaragua with students in 2008, I stayed in a home with four young girls, their mother Lidia (not her real name) and their grandparents. During my first night in their home, I brought out a picture of my own family to share with them. Lidia complimented me on my beautiful family—a mother and father, three sons perched on a sofa in a living room. Then she told me about her family. She ex- pressed her great shame at being without her husband, who had left her for another woman. “I wanted what you have,” she explained, “but it didn’t work out that way.” I listened as she spoke for hours about the difficulties of life as a single mother in Managua. Yet during the whole two weeks I was there, I observed a welcoming, loving family. Lidia rose before dawn to cook breakfast, iron clothes and get her daughters out the door in time to catch the bus to school. The grandmother blessed all of the family members as they left the house, and me as well. Lidia went to work and came home to cook dinner. In the evenings the family often gathered to watch telenovellas or comedy shows on television. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of love. I never heard Lidia raise her voice, even in the morning rush, which struck me because mornings at my house in those days were not nearly so calm. On the feast of Corpus Christi we helped to decorate al- tars throughout the neighborhood, walked in a long proces- sion and went to Mass together. When I was embarrassed in church because I had forgotten to bring money for the collection, Lidia handed me a coin to place in the basket. Was this family broken and in need of mercy? Perhaps. But like many of the households we encounter in Scripture, it was also a model of mercy. Lidia, like the woman search- ing for her lost coin and the father of the prodigal son, loves beyond measure. The synod on the family will be significant if the take- away is not only a renewal of the church’s commitment to welcome everyone to the table in spite of imperfection, but if it allows Christians to remember that the paradigmatic meal in the Gospels is not the family meal. It is a meal celebrated at a table where prostitutes, tax collectors and friends eat and talk with Jesus. There is no father or mother at the head of the table, only an odd assortment of seekers, sinners and disciples gathered to share fellowship. This is the Gospel of family. This is the Gospel of mercy. A

June 20-27, 2016 America 19 FIRST MONDAY Supreme Indecision dvocates for religious rights rassment in the workplace but exempts ination on the basis of age, disability or hoped the Supreme Court’s religious employers from religious sex. Judicial acceptance of the Justice Adecision in Zubik v. Burwell, discrimination claims. The Supreme Department’s interpretation of “sex” to the Affordable Care Act’s contracep- Court has not determined the extent include transgender identity may lead tive mandate case, would determine of this exemption, and the lower courts religious employers to assert R.F.R.A. the scope of protection afforded by the are not in agreement on a proper test defenses. As one federal trial court re- Religious Freedom Restoration Act. to determine which employers are “reli- cently stated, “though most of the ear- Instead, the court remanded Zubik gious.” Some courts apply a laundry list liest cases held that Title VII does not and its companion cases to allow the of factors, including whether the entity protect gender identity, the weight of litigants to resolve their disputes in a operates for a profit, produces a secular authority has begun to shift the other manner that provides contraceptive product or is affiliated with a formal re- way.” coverage without invoking religious ob- ligious entity. Others rely on a “general Discrimination in Education. Title jection. The court’s promotion of self- picture” of an organization IX prohibits sex-based help conciliation may be an exercise of as “primarily religious” or discrimination in edu- Solomonic wisdom or merely an effort “primarily secular.” Lower cation. Religious schools to avoid a 4-to-4 split that would have R.F.R.A. challenges are exempt when appli- left conflicting lower court decisions brought by nonexempt em- courts cation of the law “would in place. The expected pronounce- ployers involve the clash of are not in not be consistent with ment of a standard for determining two sets of religious rights: the religious tenets of the substantial burden requirement of the right of employers to use agreement such organization.” R.F.R.A. would have given clarity to their businesses to promote on a proper This exemption is quite the law’s reach. their religious beliefs and narrow and is rarely R.F.R.A. prohibits the federal gov- the right of employees to be test for invoked with success. ernment from substantially burdening free from hostile workplaces ‘religious.’ Nevertheless, at least a person’s exercise of religion unless and religion-based employ- one Catholic school has doing so is the least restrictive means ment decisions. Each case alleged that enforcement of furthering a compelling government requires a careful factual analysis, and of Title IX against it would violate interest. R.F.R.A. has been asserted the law encourages “mutual accommo- R.F.R.A. by substantially burdening creatively, and with varying results, to dation” of conflicting religious practices. the school’s religious rights. A lower transfer assets from bankrupt dioceses, Nevertheless, the government has a court rejected the argument, but the protect tithes given by bankrupt con- strong interest in preventing religious case is still ongoing and that decision gregants to their churches and shield discrimination. Thus, even ardent be- may be appealed. “fictitious profits” generated by Bernard lievers whose religious exercise is sub- As with employment discrimination, Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme. The applica- stantially burdened by Title VII must the application of Title IX to transgen- tion of R.F.R.A. to every federal law yield to the extent necessary to protect der students could yield a plethora of guarantees numerous opportunities for employee rights. In one case, a nonex- R.F.R.A. lawsuits. The federal circuit the court to revisit its breadth, with a empt home health care company with court that has jurisdiction over North likely scenario being a challenge to fed- a fundamentalist mission was found Carolina has determined that the U.S. eral anti-discrimination law enforce- liable under Title VII when the owner Department of Education’s interpreta- ment. refused to hire an otherwise qualified tion of the law “as it relates to restroom Employment Discrimination. Title Unitarian, ridiculed her Catholic em- access by transgender individuals” is VII prohibits discrimination and ha- ployees’ faith and forced participation controlling. Until the Supreme Court in “born again” prayer. “decides to decide,” the lower courts ELLEN K. BOEGEL, who teaches legal studies Except with regard to ministers, and litigants must do their best to ap- at St. John’s University in New York, clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the even religious employers are not ex- ply R.F.R.A. as Congress intended. Second Circuit. empt from laws that prohibit discrim- ELLEN K. BOEGEL

20 America June 20-27, 2016 Family Bible Study Five lessons from Scripture for parents BY JAKE KOHLHAAS DETAIL OF “CHRIST BLESSING THE CHILDREN,” BY ARTUS WOLFAERTS. PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/BONHAMS WOLFAERTS. OF “CHRIST BLESSING THE CHILDREN,” BY ARTUS DETAIL

he Bible is not a handbook on parenthood, or in recognizing the parallels that may actually exist. morality, or any number of other things for Values, knowledge and beliefs change significantly over which handbooks are perfectly suitable. The time and across cultures. Yet some basic experiences still Bible is a written testimony to the persistence unite human families. Family members are generally marked Tof God’s grace throughout centuries as experienced by a by affection for one another, new caregivers are often deeply particular people, in particular times and places. Scripture anxious about their duties, and parents must negotiate chil- presents ancient families doing things that ancient families drearing within the constraints of external forces and their did and presuming things that ancient families presumed. own abilities. Encountering the biblical testimony with an Viewing Scripture as a direct source of parenting advice honest and critical eye to both its complexity and our own disregards the complexity of the biblical witness as well as experiences permits encounter with the counsel it may offer. that of our own lives. Such an approach leads to sentiments 1. Families are complicated. Even the most cursory review that are comforting on the surface but lacking in depth and of families in Scripture reveals their complexity. In the first substance. Coming to terms with the distance between family, Cain’s jealousy provokes him to murder his broth- Scripture and our own experience is an important first step er, Abel (Gn 4:8). A few chapters on, Noah curses his own grandson, condemning him to slavery (Gn 9:25). Later, Abraham fathers Ishmael with the concubine Hagar (Gn JAKE KOHLHAAS is an assistant professor of moral theology at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. His research interests include theology of chil- 16) and eventually abandons both in the desert (Gn 21:14). dren and parenthood, sexual ethics, and environmental ethics. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, marries the wrong sister (Gn

June 20-27, 2016 America 21 29:25) and eventually fathers children with four separate to educate and raise their children as Christians, he wrote, women (Gn 30). This list could be much longer. not because they are bound by biological ties but because Biblical families are characterized more by intrigue than Christians are called to serve their neighbors. Children sim- wholesomeness. While such families certainly add to the ply happen to be their parents’ closest neighbors in need. drama of Scripture, they also carry an important lesson. With the high valuation of family privacy and autonomy Within the complexities of life, families often fall short of prevalent today, the tension between present conceptions of our ideals. The chaotic families re- family life and the New Testament’s corded in Scripture do not speak to message is significant. It is comfort- the sort of families we wish we had ing to believe that there is something but to the sort of families we actual- Biblical families very special about our own private ly do have. In Scripture, God pledg- families apart from the busy world of es loyalty and enduring presence to are characterized work, school and social obligations. Yet a lineage that is marred by infidelity, Scripture suggests that when Christian jealousy, thievery and more. None of more by families become too inwardly fo- these vices ultimately interfere with cused, they are not just failing in their God’s will, which works often in spite intrigue than Christian social obligations; they are of our own efforts. failing to be Christian families. 2. The Gospel challenges families. wholesomeness. 3. The Gospel creates families.The Jos 24:15 adorns the walls of many lengthy genealogies scattered through- Christian homes: “As for me and my out the Bible attest to the importance household, we will serve the Lord.” of family descent in the minds of its Inspiring though it may be, the verse resonates with prevail- authors. Two Gospels place Jesus in history and suggest ing assumptions of family autonomy and privacy in contem- their author’s interpretations of his mission by providing porary culture. But the vocation of the Christian family is genealogies (Mt 1:1-17, Lk 3:23-38). But despite this em- both inwardly directed toward its members and outwardly phasis on biological descent, Scripture’s view of kinship is directed towards mission in the world. It is often difficult complex. Various forms of group dynamics persist through- enough just to get uncooperative children to church consis- out Scripture. Scripture is particularly hostile toward neigh- tently and on time, let alone engage as a family in meaningful boring groups that are known to be related to Israel (the work toward the social good. But such is the vocation of the Canaanites in the Old Testament and the Samaritans in the Christian family. New). While Jesus follows these mores on various occasions, Scripture does not just challenge individual families to he is also willing to transgress them (Jn 4:4–38). fulfill their Christian calling; it challenges their existence it- One of the most perilous moments in Jesus’ ministry self when families neglect this mission or interfere with the comes when he recounts for the people of his hometown Christian vocation of individual members. In the Gospels, how God had chosen foreigners to receive blessing while Jesus clearly and repeatedly rejects commonly held familial Israelites suffered (Lk 4:16–30). The parable of the good obligations (Mt 8:22, for example). At times, he pits true dis- Samaritan is among the clearest examples of Jesus’ will- cipleship and family allegiances against one another as con- ingness to break down the barriers of group identity (Lk flicting and incompatible alternatives (Lk 11:27–28, 14:26). 10:29–37). As seen above, this willingness applies to family In Mk 3:31–35, for instance, Jesus sharply rebukes his relations as well. Jesus rewrites the rules of kinship in view family in order to assert the primacy of his mission. More of the decisions and actions of individuals rather than their gracious options for engaging his family seem to have been biological relatedness or social identity. Even on the cross, possible, but Jesus capitalizes on the opportunity to make a Jesus creates kinship obligations where none existed before clear statement about the relative value of family commit- (Jn 19:25–27). It is no accident that Paul takes up the fami- ments in light of the call to discipleship. ly as his preferred analogy for the Christian community. The These tensions do not indicate that Jesus or early commitments of an active faith create networks of related- Christians were anti-family. Instead, they explore allegianc- ness and obligation. es and loyalties. The New Testament recognizes potential 4. Jesus welcomes children. One obvious reason why Jesus conflict between familial obligations and faith commitments is often seen as unilaterally pro-family stems from his rebuke and clarifies family obligations as subordinate. Following the of his own disciples and insistence that children be allowed Gospels’ lead, the early Eastern theologian John Chrysostom to come to him. Indeed, Jesus’ interaction with children is explained family obligations while insisting on the centrali- rather remarkable for his time. Within a culture that did not ty of the Christian call to serve one’s neighbors. Parents are regard children as having inherent value, Jesus contended

22 America June 20-27, 2016 that there is something characteristic about childhood that communities, the Christian family has persisted. should serve as an inspiration for adults (Mt 19:13–15). Like the families of Scripture, our own families are It remains unclear, however, if Jesus’ statements about shaped by stories of difficulty and persistence. One notable childlikeness relate to any essential quality of childhood or area in which the teaching of the Catholic Church and con- children themselves. The message may be connected primari- temporary social scientific research are in agreement is on ly to the low social status of children, which made them fitting the benefit of family stability as a singularly important fac- symbols of powerlessness. Jesus’ interactions with children tor for child well-being. Stability in the social scientific sense push back against cultural expectations but do not entirely generally refers to low-conflict families without divorce, break the mold. Jesus does not romanticize childhood, nor separation or other significant shifts that affect caregiving does he generally seek out interactions with children. arrangements. Catholic teaching links stability to marriage Parents consistently mediate contact between Jesus and and the nuclear family, though Catholic social teaching ex- children. In each of the accounts of Jesus welcoming the tends this to factors like wages and housing. But while the children, it is the parents who are rebuked as they bring chil- risk factors are significant, there is no magic recipe for long- dren forward to Jesus. Jesus frequently encounters parents term family stability. All families face challenges, hardships who request healing for their children, and repeatedly ac- and losses. Those families that hang together, even as partial cepts. The Gospels present a God who responds to parents or reconstructed units, provide the surest foundation for in times of both joy and distress. well-being and also attest to the loving fidelity of God as 5. Scripture teaches fidelity and stability. Families in recorded throughout Scripture. Scripture are diverse, complex and messy. The Gospels seem Christian parents are right to look to Scripture for guid- as inclined to challenge family allegiances as to construct ance. But Scripture does not provide us a handbook on how new forms of kinship. Scripture does present several ideals to do parenting right. Instead, it presents us with a God who for family life, but these rarely play out within the families works through the complications of human experience. Our actually encountered. In spite of it all, families in Scripture, own families certainly participate in their own levels of com- biological or not, tend to hang together. Despite their fail- plexity and drama. We should be comforted that Scripture ings, the patriarchs do, in fact, become the ancestors of a na- tells us the story of a God that has done great things through tion. Despite Paul’s admonitions to dysfunctional Christian challenging circumstances. A

June 20-27, 2016 America 23 VATICAN DISPATCH Next Stop Cairo? hen will Pope Francis invited him to join him, together with 23 Muslim countries and made a cour- go to Cairo? That is the Rabbi Abraham Skorka, on his pil- tesy visit to Al-Azhar and met Sheik Wquestion now being asked grimage to the Holy Land in May 2014. Mohammad Sayyid Tantawi during in Rome following the invitation giv- Mr. Abboud hailed the sheik’s meet- his pilgrimage to Mount Sinai in en by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar ing with Francis as “a historic encoun- February 2000, Mr. Abboud believes during their historic meeting in the ter, like that of the Sultan Malik al that Francis’ approach, words, gestures Vatican on May 23. Kamil and St. Francis of Assisi during and visits to Muslim countries and The imam, Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Crusades some eight centuries his concern for refugees and an end to the highest religious authority in the ago.” Although “the context of this era the war in Syria have taken Catholic- Sunni Muslim world, invited the pope is different, it too was an epoch of ten- Muslim relations to a new level. to visit Al-Azhar during their 25-min- sions in relation to religion and in the He revealed that on his travels to ute private conversation, Vatican same geographic scenari- many Islamic countries and Egyptian sources told America. os,” he said, referring to St. ‘This is the and his conversations The invitation is particularly signifi- Francis’ visit to the sultan with Muslim digni- cant since 85 percent of Muslims are of Egypt in 1219, opposing time to move taries, he has “found Sunnis, and Al-Azhar, founded in 969 the culture of war and en- out from great respect for Pope C.E. in Cairo, is the most prestigious mity in the Crusades. Francis everywhere in center of learning of Sunni Islam. The Argentine Muslim the era of the Muslim world.” He Each year it provides formation for director described the analysis added, “I would dare thousands of imams from many coun- meeting as “the most signifi- to affirm that he is the tries. cant encounter that Francis and to begin pope that is the most The invitation came as conflict has had with the Muslim concrete loved and most present rages in Syria, with persecution of world,” as “Al-Azhar is the in the history of the Christians and other minorities by most important institution actions.’ Muslim world.” the Islamic State, and as Islamophobia of the Muslim world be- He shared Francis’ spreads in Europe and in the United cause of its tradition, history and the view about the May 23 encounter: States. It is a sign of Al-Azhar’s open- esteem in which it is held in all Muslim “The meeting is the message.” Indeed, ness to cooperation with the Holy See countries.” Furthermore, the sheik “it is a symbol in itself, and it is now in the search for peace and respect for of Al-Azhar “is respected not only in up to the collaborators on both sides human dignity in the region and in the Sunni world but also, though to a to build an agenda of true dialogue.” rejecting the use of religion to justify lesser extent, in the Shiite world. His He affirmed that “we know perfect- violence and terrorist acts. responsibility is great in the Muslim ly well what are the difficulties and the To gain an insight into the signif- world; his words carry weight.” problems” and declared, “This is the icance of the May 23 encounter and He recalled that this was the first time to move out from the era of anal- invitation from an Islamic perspective, time ever that a sheik of Al-Azhar ysis and to begin concrete actions.” He I spoke with Omar Abboud, a friend has visited the Vatican to meet a pope. thinks the best place to start is in “the of Francis for many years and director Francis invited him; he accepted. That field of education” because “to bring of the interreligious center in Buenos encounter reflected “the desire for uni- the positions closer together, there is a Aires, who has been working behind ty over conflict” and marked “a new need for mutual cooperation in elimi- the scenes to make it happen. The pope stage in Al-Azhar’s relations with the nating prejudices.” Holy See, which had been interrupt- Mr. Abboud is confident Francis ed for several years,” Mr. Abboud said, will accept the sheik’s invitation to Al- GERARD O’CONNELL is America’s Vatican correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is alluding to the breakdown in relations Azhar and believes this can foster clos- sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of under Pope Benedict XVI. er Christian-Muslim cooperation in the the United States. Twitter: @gerryorome. Although Pope John Paul II visited future. GERARD O’CONNELL

24 America June 20-27, 2016 FROM OUR BLOGS Sell Everything You Have Valerie Schultz Dying for One’s Country, At Home and Abroad, Raymond A. Schroth HUNT PRIZE A Fascinating New Take on the Elizabeth Dias, a religion and politics Jesuit Missionaries to China correspondent for Time, has been named the 2016 Jim McDermott, S.J. recipient of the George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for WHAT YOU’RE READING Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters. Pope Francis and Top Sunni Leader RADIO Meet at the Vatican, Gerard O’Connell Stephen P. White talks about his new book Red, Happy 75th Birthday, Bob Dylan White, Blue and Catholic on “America This Week” Jim Keane on SiriusXM. Steering the Ship of State Robert David Sullivan ‘Pope Francis is With the People,’ says WEB EXCLUSIVE President of Human Rights Organi- Small faith communities and the future of the U.S. zation in Argentina, Gerard O’Connell church: a report from Joseph Graham Healey, M.M. ‘A Priest With His People’ Thomas M. Kelly

“We have an imperial presidency more dangerous than Nixon’s ever was.” —“Steering the Ship of State,” Henry George

June 20-27, 2016 America 25 FAITH IN FOCUS Wham! Thump! Yahweh! Are your kids ready for ‘The Action Bible’? BY KEVIN CLARKE hat is that ratty-looking, darn thing. But I can’t argue with the dog-eared thing they’re results. Each of my children in turn Wtrooping up and down has run through The Action Bible, the stairs with, clamping under an and they all consistently return to elbow and carrying everywhere? It’s it—completely without any parental dragged out to the family not-so-mini scolding or pleading. It is as near a van for long car trips and down to the painless introduction to Bible reading bus stop to read on the way to that as I can imagine. Sure, the kids come dreaded place of doom, middle school. for the comic-book storytelling, but Pored over at night before bedtime, they stay for the Gospel lessons and overly loved, pages turned and pulled they remember their Scripture. The so often they’re finally falling loose Action Bible’s images— from their gluey mooring. Is it Diary and the Bible stories— of a Wimpy Kid? Maybe it’s a Harry simply stick with them. Potter book or How to Train Your The children main- Dragon? Is it Percy Jackson? tain a largely inexplica- None of the above. ble process (at least to Shockingly, over the last few years me) for harmoniously ed in reading in the skeptic-rich Clarke household, sharing the house’s sole and seeing it and the most well-thumbed book has copy. I have yet to hear understanding it, been the Bible. Don’t fear, this is not a major dispute about especially since the a my-family-is-holier-than-thou hum- “whose turn it is” to read Old Testament has blebrag. I am in no position to Bible- it . Ye t The Action Bible all sorts of armies thump anyone with my superior pa- remains in heavy rotation battling one another. rental Scripture skills, but my kids did in various reading nooks I thought it might read the Bible with nary a carrot nor around the house. keep their interest.” a stick in sight. The secret was simply My wife, Megan, has been a cat- That it did. the choice of Bible. echism teacher in our parish and is My oldest, Eoin (that’s “Owen” for My kids aren’t King James fans; they the director of Christian service in a you Irish-challenged), is now 13. A have never opened a North American Manhattan high school, so she does few years back he was the vanguard Standard. But all four have devoured bring some educator chops to this reader of The Action Bible. He tries to The Action Bible, a comic-book-style project. She bought The Action Bible explain its appeal, beginning with the Bible illustrated by the Marvel and because she had noticed the older fact that, well, it’s like a regular comic DC Comics artist Sergio Cariello. boys enjoyed reading books “that were book: “Unlike a normal Bible, which Upon its unveiling in our house, I not quite graphic novels” but were it’s really just words, this one also has viewed The Action Bible with sectari- close, like the aforementioned Diary pictures, so it’s a bit more descriptive an suspicion. All those gaudy graphics of a Wimpy Kid and, yuck, Captain and you can get into it more than just and bright colors? Surely there was Underpants (I am not a fan). reading a Bible. something, well, evangelical about the “When I saw that they had a com- “Plus it’s in contemporary lan- ic-book style Bible,” she says, “I thought guage, where other Bibles, they’re KEVIN CLARKE is America’s senior editor and that was perfect because it’s highly vi- really complicated and they go like, chief correspondent. sual and the kids would be interest- ‘And then God said, “Thy must go to C. COOK FROM “THE ACTION BIBLE” © DAVID COVER AND PANELS

26 America June 20-27, 2016 the mountain.”’ But in this it just says, ‘And then God told Moses to go to the mountain,’ and it shows Moses walk- ing to the mountain.” Eoin’s favorite book in The Action Bible? “I kinda like the Acts of the Apostles,” he says. “It shows a little re- bellion, if you think about it, because they’re going up against a huge em- pire which did not want them to exist, did not care about them, just wanted them gone. [The Romans] outnum- bered them like a million to one and they seemed to stand no chance. They would have been gone, and they end up winning.” His sister, Elaine, 10, is also enthu- siastic about The Action Bible. “I like how there’s a lot of pictures,” she says. “There’s not a bunch of words and it really interested me since I would get bored if I read the Bible, but when I read The Action Bible I don’t get bored because there’s a lot of colors and ‘whatsonot.’” (This is Ellie’s word for “other stuff.”) “My favorite story is Esther’s story,” Ellie adds, “when she saves the Jews from…. I forgot his name.” Ellie stum- bles around a bit before Eoin conjures up “Haman” from his past reading of the The Action Bible. (Yes, it’s that sticky.) Declan, 8, liked “all of Noah’s sto- ries,” especially the “one where he’s building an ark and rain.” Aidan, 11, is pretty straightfor- ward: “I like it cuz it’s a comic and I like comics.” Some favorite stories from The Action Bible? “The part where God sends an angel to punish someone for beating up their donkey.” Aidan is a big animal lover. He’s also a fan of “the part where af- ter the Hebrews get free from Egypt.” “They finally make it back to Canaan, then they start worshiping idols and then they get conquered by another kingdom, then they finally start wor- shiping God again and God sets them

June 20-27, 2016 America 27 free, but then they stop worshiping “They’re still young,” she says. “I’m him and it just keeps going in a re- actually pretty amazed. There’s a lot peating cycle,” Aidan says. He grins of stories that they can recount to diabolically. “I thought that was hi- me that I, as a theology major, don’t larious,” he says. Future theologian? remember or don’t know. They read I overheard Aidan harrumphing it over and over again, and they defi- through Genesis a few months back, nitely know the stories and learn lying on the floor of his bedroom. He about them much better than just was just not buying that “seven day” going to Mass or going to religious creation story. “Where are the dino- ed. saurs?” he muttered. “Where are the “It reminds me of C. S. Lewis and volcanoes and the eruptions?” his idea with the Narnia novels,” she Skepticism may come naturally to the drawing might seem “kinda racist,” adds. “You sort of want to imprint him, but he did get through the whole with Semitic folk of the Old Testament your kids with the possibility and the book and learned what literal, allego- or Jesus’ time appearing a little too Christian themes so that when they get ry and metaphor meant. Asked how it fair-skinned to be credible. And so far older it becomes something that is part ended, he replied, “God saw that it was we haven’t seen a significant transition of their own understanding of life and good.” Not a bad takeaway. from The Action Bible to the Actual story structure. The Action Bible is not without its Bible, but Megan remains confident “Knowing the stories,” Megan says, drawbacks. As Eoin points out, some of that is coming. “is always the beginning.” Bouquets for My Father BY B. G. KELLEY

ons are often defined by their GROWING SEASON. The fathers and necessarily reflect author and his father in Son the man who gave them life: front of his flower shop. Here he came up short; here he came up full. For me, there was much more gained than lost by his fatherhood. For 50 years my father worked in his tiny flower shop in a section of Philadelphia called Paradise, 10, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, unless, of course, it was a holiday—Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day. Then he would work around the clock. He had to; he had six kids to feed. He was slightly more than 5 foot 8, muscular and sinewy, and, boy, could

he play football—he was a halfback. OF THE AUTHOR PHOTO COURTESY As I was growing up, his friends would tell me, “Your father was not only the recruited him, but his father died when best but the toughest football play- he was in high school, and he went to B. G. KELLEY is the author of The World I er I ever saw.” They were referring, of work digging graves in a cemetery to Feel, a book of poetry, and was a writer for the course, to the times he played with a help support his mother and five sib- television film “Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story” (1992). He is a regular contributor to The broken nose or several teeth dangling lings. Philadelphia Inquirer. from their roots. Villanova University The last time I saw him play foot-

28 America June 20-27, 2016 ball I was 8 years old. He was 34 and many sons are born blank and limit- tions instead of letting them gush out. still playing in a club football league in lessly malleable, seeking new identi- The only time I saw him cry was when Philly. It was his last game; he was re- ties apart from their fathers. I never Mom died. He was the old-time father tiring from the sport. Late in the fourth wanted to disconnect from my Pop, who paid the bills, put food on the ta- quarter, with his East Falls team trail- particularly from his values—hones- ble and provided a Catholic education ing the Frankford Club, 14-13, he took ty, hard work, perseverance, an undy- for his children. Today nearly 50 per- a pitch out and cut, as if on ice skates, ing faith in and love for his family and cent of children have no such father to his left, just out of reach of a flailing church. Every Sunday I would see him around to do these things. tackler, and raced down the sideline, feet walk to Communion with my mom I confess: There were times I ablaze, all the way to the end zone—a in our parish church, Corpus Christi. wandered here and there from his 62-yard game-winning touchdown run. At Christmastime he would donate ways. Disagreements are not unusu- When the gun sounded, his teammates red poinsettias to decorate the altar; al between fathers and sons. Once he hoisted my dad on their backs and car- at Eastertime he would do the same kicked me out of the house because my ried him to the locker room. On the with huge gold vases of white chrysan- hair was too long—he thought I was a way, he tossed me his helmet, and I themums. I know. I would tote them hippie and he didn’t care much for hip- caught it. “It’s yours,” he said. I wore it in across the street to the church and dec- pies. Another time he wanted me to every football game I played. orate the altar with them. Those val- wear a suit and tie to a family function; In later years, whenever I men- ues called to me like a famous proverb: I wanted to wear jeans and sneakers. I tioned to him that someone had told “Blood calls to blood.” didn’t go. And some Sundays when I me what a terrific football player he Now my father was not a saint. wanted to sleep in instead of going to was, my father would simply, and suc- He could be demanding—it was his Mass, he roused me and said, “As long cinctly, reply, “I was okay.” That state- way or the highway many times. He as you live in this house, you will go to ment distills the essence of my father: was the quintessential patriarch who Mass.” I went. He was humble. changed tires instead of diapers, who Wanderers need an anchor. And much more to me. did the handywork instead of the laun- Once when I was full of myself af- It seems to me these days that drywork, who put a cap on his emo- ter scoring 29 points in a high school

June 20-27, 2016 America 29 basketball game (he never missed any So, yes, I have been greatly enriched the cherry blossom trees blushing, the of my games) to put the team into the in so many ways by being the son of geese frolicking along the banks, the playoffs, I blurted, “I was the star.” He a florist. Even now, 20 years after he’s warm sun flashing off the water like stared me square in the eyes and firmly gone. diamonds, the balmy air replacing the told me, “That’s not for you to say.” Each day I walk along the banks cold, spare winter. He was right. of the Schuylkill River in Philly’s fa- My father’s gone now, to another He was usually right, particularly mous Fairmount Park I think of him. paradise, but there is a photograph of the time he hit a bull’s-eye on the big- He had rowed along this river in the him I keep in my office. He’s 21, on the gest and best decision of my life. As we autumn and spring when he was in beach in Wildwood at the Jersey Shore were working side-by-side in his shop his 20s, and he always drilled into me in a bathing suit, with a crop of wavy one Valentine’s Day, he turned to me that those seasons along the riverbank black hair, thick as cable wires, looking and said, “She’s the only one for you,” were about sensory experiences. In full of life in a Kennedyesque way. I of- referring to a girl I was dating. “Give fall, there was a bite to the air, a rip ten stare at it and become even more her these.” He handed me a dozen to the river, a sun dropping down like certain of this: My father, though not American Beauty roses. I gave them to a gold coin, the changing colors of perfect, as none of us are, knew exactly her. Not long after that I married her. the leaves—yellows, golds, reds and who he was. And she carried a bouquet of rusts that formed on the boughs of I may not have turned out exactly American Beauties down the aisle on the trees, like bouquets we once made like him; but, for sure, there is much of our wedding day. Arranged by my Pop. side-by-side in his tiny shop. In spring, his soul in me. Truth, Then Love An Eastern priest’s vision for Catholic-Orthodox relations BY JAMES DOMINIC ROONEY recently encountered an Orthodox be used without any ill will by some priest who was taking a group of Orthodox. Iwell-known Russian iconogra- But those past tensions continue phers to look at religious art at the St. to play out in Catholic-Orthodox di- Louis Art Museum. I had met him a alogue and in the popular Orthodox little earlier when visiting his parish. mind. A historic Great and Holy He introduced me to the group, in Synod—a synod of all the worldwide Russian, as a “uniate priest.” He likely episcopal primates of the Orthodox never intended anything disparaging churches—will take place at the by this, but the label rang in my ears. Orthodox Academy of Crete from The termuniate , while sometimes June 16 to 27. While not an ecumen- used by Eastern Catholics themselves, ical council, it is in some ways parallel originally carried a disparaging conno- in significance to the Second Vatican tation. It was used after the Union of Council. There has not been such Brest (1596) by Orthodox people to a meeting among the Orthodox for identify those previously Orthodox The Rev. Miron Kerul-Kmec and the many hundreds of years, and the syn- author at St. Nicholas Byzantine members of the clergy and laypeople Catholic Church in Barberton, Ohio. od, like Vatican II, will deal with the who had agreed to the “union” with church’s relations to the modern world. Rome. Its foreign-sounding character But the release of a preparatory connoted submission to the “Roman synod document on relations with foreigners.” Today, given the term’s non-Orthodox Christians occasioned JAMES DOMINIC ROONEY, O.P., is a priest and a doctoral student in philosophy at St. history, it is avoided in any official dis- what might seem to outsiders a sur-

Louis University. cussions, even though it continues to prising amount of criticism among OF THE AUTHOR PHOTOS COURTESY

30 America June 20-27, 2016 some Orthodox. There is a signifi- path toward either theology or phi- and their relations with both the Latin cant and vocal minority of Orthodox losophy. What surprised me, though, and Orthodox worlds, I have come to who fear that any ecumenical activity was how I would become a part of the a profound appreciation for something will involve compromising the doc- Eastern churches later in my life. beyond the standard terms of engage- trine that there is no salvation out- After joining the Dominican friars, ment. This is best described as the uni- side the Orthodox Church. This has I maintained connections with the fying force of truth—that same truth been termed the “pan-heresy of ecu- Byzantine parishes I came upon. Few I encountered as a boy. Typically, we menism,” insofar as these people per- Dominicans serve the Byzantine lit- might think of love as the great unifier. ceive ecumenism to rest on doctrinal urgy, and I did not personally expect But love by itself cannot exist without indifferentism and disregard for truth. to do so. Near our priory in St. Louis, a definite object. We have to be able to Catholics familiar with the history of where I spent my time in study for the conceive rightly of what we love; oth- the Second Vatican Council will like- priesthood, is a small mission of the erwise, we love an idol, a fiction. But ly recall similar criticisms voiced by Ruthenian Catholic Church, which if we jointly acknowledge the right of Catholic traditionalist groups in re- has its roots in modern-day Ukraine. something to our love, the power of gard to ecumenism. It is not an unfit- It is a vibrant little group of around that recognition brings us together. ting comparison in tenor or mentality. As an adopted son of the Eastern Catholic churches, I have a vested in- terest in the success of the Holy and Great Synod.

Becoming Byzantine My acquaintance with the Eastern Catholic churches began when I was in elementary school. Our home in Ohio was relatively close to many Eastern Catholics, both in our city EASTERN CATHOLICS. Members of the clergy, servers and parishioners at of Toledo and in nearby Detroit. My the Byzantine Catholic Mission in St. Louis, Mo. Center: retired Bishop John father frequently took me to a near- Kudrick of the Byzantine Ruthenian Eparch of Parma. by Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church, and, because my Hungarian 150 people, many of whom have to The union that is an effect of love is, relatives lived in Cleveland, an émigré drive quite far to attend an Eastern in turn, an effect of a shared grasp of hotspot, I was often able to visit the liturgy. After I began to attend spo- some truth about the world. Melkites and the Maronites located on radically, a parishioner asked if I had It is easy for most Catholics to see either side of my grandparents’ Latin thought of becoming biritual—that their shared faith with the Orthodox. parish. Before finishing high school, I is, receiving faculties from a Byzantine We have almost every belief in com- had become acquainted with almost bishop to celebrate the Divine Liturgy mon, and modern theologians have every liturgical tradition among the 23 and sacraments. They noted that there hammered out agreements on the filio- Eastern Catholic churches. are few priests in service, and many que (the Latin creedal declaration that My oldest memory of an Eastern do not have replacements if they take the Holy Spirit proceeds from God liturgy is not of the clouds of incense, vacations or fall ill. Before I knew the Father “and the Son”) and oth- however much that might give a mys- it, I was celebrating my first Mass as er issues. The nature of the papacy is tical glow to everything else, but the Divine Liturgy after my priestly ordi- practically the only serious theological use of terms like consubstantial and un- nation. issue at stake, from the Catholic per- approachable light in church. It struck spective. The Second Vatican Council me that the people I visited believed The Great Unifier brought much of this home to the something important and life-affect- Perhaps it is not surprising, therefore, Catholic faithful, with subsequent rec- ing—something that involved truth. that my perspective on the Orthodox- ommendation from our popes that the I was being exposed to a whole field Catholic divide is different from that church “breathe with two lungs,” East of theological belief held in common. of many others or that I take a particu- and West. This encounter with a single, omni- lar interest in ecumenism. But through But for many Orthodox it remains present truth set me on an inevitable my experience with Eastern churches difficult to look at Catholics and see

June 20-27, 2016 America 31 anything other than innovation, with part of a plot by the pope to make us and sisters among the Orthodox, we heretical overtones. In the aftermath all Jewish. Eastern Catholics continue to com- of the historic meeting in February be- Here, though, I think the truth will memorate St. Josaphat, for example, as tween the Russian Orthodox Patriarch ultimately set us free. I have no inter- the heroic martyr who claimed that he Kirill of Moscow and Pope Francis, est in syncretistic views of ecumenism would be happy to give his life for the I read and watched some Orthodox that would deny the exclusive nature people who killed him. Josaphat, and register their protest against the patri- of salvation or discard Orthodox all the others unnamed, died not for arch’s affirmation in a joint declaration or Catholic doctrine for the sake of the pope, but to preserve the Catholic that the Greek Catholics have “a right a false unity; such is the Catholic ideal of one shared apostolic faith and to exist.” In response, some said explic- Church’s official view as well. Much one Eucharist. St. Paul’s dictum can be itly that there is no such thing as a “le- of the distrust, however, is built on applied here: Peter is only a “servant gitimate” Eastern Catholic. Orthodox misapprehensions about Catholicism. through whom [they] came to believe” “fundamentalism” was out in the open. I have faith that dialogue can dissolve (1 Cor 3:5); it is Christ, head of the What encourages me in the midst ignorance, even if it takes time. In the church, for whom they died. of this is that I have found, aside world of modern communications, we Eastern Catholics struggle for from the many intelligent Orthodox no longer have the Mediterranean or our faith from both sides—from theologians and laity, that those most imperial legates to keep our people Westerners who do not understand opposed to dialogue often carry rath- from seeing what we all really believe. us and from Easterners who think we er absurd misconceptions about the are traitors—but this has only made Catholic faith: that “indulgences” are Martyrs of Unity Christ’s church stronger. If Eastern licenses from the pope to be allowed At the time of the Union of Brest, Catholics had abdicated to either par- to commit a certain number of sins; when many Orthodox united in com- ty, the affirmations of Vatican II in re- that Catholics believe Mary’s immac- munion with the Bishop of Rome, gard to the East would never have oc- ulate conception means she was not some of these who united were killed curred. It was the sacrifices of Eastern a real human being like Christ; that for their commitment. While they Catholics for unity without compro- the use of unleavened bread at Mass is were seen as traitors to their brothers mising the truth that led to true love. When I was introduced to the ico- nographer museum visitors as a “uniate,” I felt a subtle tinge of pride. I might not have initially planned on it when I be- come a Dominican friar, but I was now being identified with the same people that produced those martyrs of unity. What my experience with the Eastern Catholics has taught me is that to suffer and die for love of our brothers, for uni- ty in the faith and for the communion of the Holy Spirit has always been the best answer to ecumenical differences. While I cannot speak for them, I believe in the same faith I hear in my Orthodox brothers and sisters, and I pray for them to discover the same in me. I will be praying for the success of their synod this June, and I will be praying every time I celebrate the Divine Liturgy for unity between East and West. Commending ourselves, one another and our whole life to Christ our God, we look for the mercy of God upon our churches. Our Lord surely despises not a good uniate. A

32 America June 20-27, 2016 FEEDING FRENZY. Saoirse Ronan and the cast of “The Crucible”

Books & Culture THEATER | ROB WEINERT-KENDT in 17th-century Salem, Mass., which ends up claiming many more victims DANGEROUS LIAISONS than her intended targets: her one- time lover, the farmer John Proctor, Soured relationships, tragic consequences and his wife, Elizabeth. Such is the ter- rible logic of a moral panic, in which ell hath no fury like a woman ver and driving the plot of each play the circle of assumed guilt always wid- scorned, William Congreve is an inappropriate sexual relationship ens, accusations might as well be in- Honce (almost) wrote, but on between an older man and a girl, and dictments, and resistance is worse than Broadway currently, it is young wom- the central tension in both springs useless—it’s just more fuel for a fire en, especially, whose spurning reaps not only from the hovering threat of that must be burned out before reason a virtual whirlwind. In two produc- exposure but, more disturbing, from prevails. tions—a revival of Arthur Miller’s the volatile, frighteningly untamed But while Arthur Miller famously 1953 classic The Crucible, and a 2005 forces unleashed by thwarted female pressed the real historical trials of co- play called Blackbird by the Scottish desire. Both Abigail Williams, in “The lonial Salem into service as an allegory playwright David Harrower, both Crucible,” and Una, in “Blackbird,” have for what he saw as the anti-Commu- nominated for several honors at the felt what they thought of as love for the nist hysteria of the McCarthy era, that recent Tony Awards—intimate trans- men who took advantage of them; and resonance has receded. What we’re gressions among unevenly consenting the betrayal of that tender feeling, as left with now is a play about a group partners have world-shattering con- much as the violation of their bodies, of schoolgirls whipped into a preter- sequences. And while both plays ulti- is the wound they can neither forgive natural frenzy that so terrifies the men mately generate more heat than light nor entirely heal. in power that they turn on each other around the large and small sins they In “The Crucible,” as we all know and their wives in a descending spiral consider, the intensity that animates from our required high school read- of recrimination and retribution. In both is reliably unsettling. ing, 17-year-old Abigail’s jealousy and 2016, in other words, it plays a bit like

PHOTO: JAN VERSWEYVELD That is because underlying the fe- hysteria metastasizes into a witch hunt “Fatal Attraction” meets “The Bacchae,”

June 20-27, 2016 America 33 marbled with thick layers of super- Mr. van Hove has found a bracing- ble in his company’s awful breakroom. erogatory speechifying about dignity ly fresh perspective on this canonical She is also angling for something and truth. American playwright and, at the same else from Ray—but what? An apol- Directed by Ivo van Hove, this new time, managed to point up the baggi- ogy? A pound of flesh? A reset, even production tunes into the play’s girls- ness of his writing. a rekindling of their romance? Her gone-wild wavelength, setting the ac- At an intermissionless 90 minutes, agenda is not clear from moment to tion entirely in a grim, fluorescent-lit and centered on just two main charac- moment, though in the course of the classroom, dressing the cast in more- ters, Harrower’s “Blackbird” is consid- play she does manage to break down or-less modern clothes, and—most erably leaner and sharper; there is no Ray’s defenses and reach moments of boldly—taking the girls’ pretense of allegorical overlay and little obvious queasy communion, heartfelt confes- demonic possession at face value. In moralizing. The twentysomething Una sion and reluctant attraction. this “Crucible,” the teen witches have (Michelle Williams) has confronted a The playwright’s agenda, on the real power: A body levitates, light- fiftyish man called Peter (Jeff Daniels) other hand, is quite transparent: to ning flashes, winds roar, writings on a at his workplace with his former name, shift the ground under the play every chalkboard swirl. Next to these special Ray, as well as with the reason for the 10 minutes or so, and thereby give his effects, the rest of the play, frankly, is a new alias: He had a relationship with actors, and the audience, a kind of ex- tediously preachy inquest, despite the her when he was 40 and she was 12. treme emotional workout. It’s a skillful fine efforts of an excellent cast, includ- While he did prison time and has os- if somewhat spurious achievement, as ing Saoirse Ronan (star of “Brooklyn”) tensibly moved on, Una has had a far the result of all these tectonic shocks is as an icy Abigail, Ben Whishaw as a rougher time of it, spending her ado- that the play’s moral and psychological slow-burning John Proctor and, most lescence in the purgatory of shame and landscape is distorted beyond recogni- memorably, Bill Camp as the anguished anger all too familiar to the sexually tion by the end. Harrower may want us inquisitor-turned-dissident Rev. Hale. abused. Indeed, she is still clearly pro- to consider the troubling notion that As with his staging of Miller’s “A View cessing this trauma as she squares off Ray and Una’s relationship was some- From the Bridge” earlier this season, with Ray across a conference room ta- how both abusive and genuine, and to interrogate the essence of the animal impulses we often exalt with the name “love,” but it doesn’t come off—per- haps partly because Williams’s jagged, jarring performance only exposes the play’s fault lines. Daniels’s smoldering thaw, mean- while, is a wonder to behold, and there is no question that “Blackbird,” ex- pertly directed by Joe Mantello, offers vivid sensations and provocative jolts, as roller coasters are meant to do. The play has been widely acclaimed and produced and will soon be released in a film version titled “Una,” starring Rooney Mara. Like “The Crucible,” though, “Blackbird” derives its power from the dubious spectacle of young women lashing out, vengefully and in- effectually, at men in power. Perhaps we haven’t come so far since the time of the Puritans.

ROB WEINERT-KENDT, an arts journalist and editor in chief of American Theatre maga- zine, has written for The New York Times and Time Out New York. He writes a blog called The Wicked Stage.

34 America June 20-27, 2016 OF OTHER THINGS | ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL INTERROGATING GRACE

What I hoped for was a signature. cloth doll she clutched so closely. How she moved us?—by being pres- ent to the word, to the world, and When I discovered my old English How I knew it was true?—those eyes, all the blessed creatures in it, in- professor had published a book of cluding ourselves. “For Mercy has a poems when she was a young wom- Who she’d become already contained human heart, / Pity a human face, / an and I was 4 years old, within, her spirit clear and shining, And Love, the human form divine.’” the child mother to the woman When I clicked the “Add to Shopping Where that soul had gone, Cart” button and paid my $2.99, Who would teach me to love William Who could say? plus $3.99 for shipping, with my Wordsworth, to fear William Blake, saved American Express, to know Percy Shelley for the beau- Who she had loved and who loved her tiful madman he was, to argue “in- also gone, most likely, except for me, When the envelope arrived at my exorably” and to value inordinate- house five days later, slim and slight ly the words of the poets and the Who had searched for her for the sake and full of what I knew, prophets— of memory, When I slid the little volume out, Where that soul had gone, smelled the sharp scent of book mold, traced the creases on the cov- Who could say? er and opened it,

What I hoped for was her familiar Who would teach me patience and hand. sacrifice—her lifelong care for her Who discovered her long out-of-print disabled sister, her loss of her fiancé, collection (so wonderfully) titled What I found, instead, was her face. a boy named Will, a World War II The Paradise of the World, pilot who left and never returned— What I picked up with my fingers, the woman Who had waited for its arrival on the charily, warily, was a photograph, doorstep, faded with age. Who would never age and never marry, Who had hoped for the unlikely, the What I saw were her eyes, the eyes I’d Who would never have children of her less than possible, for the signature known, deep and questioning and own, except for us, young people and sign, half a century old, full of life, looking into the future, she would teach with such passion. Who received, instead, a relic of her What I read on the back of the pho- How she astonished us?—by walking teacher-poet-saint, that miraculous to was “Deborah at 3 years old,” my briskly up 8 flights of stairs to our face, those telling eyes, imaged on teacher as a child, her bangs cut 8AM class, never losing her breath, paper, tucked among her words, straight across, her Peter Pan collar while we took the elevator. For “an crisply pressed as the collar on the early-morning walk is a blessing for Who treasured the gift, unasked for the whole day.” and undeserved, that arrived like a letter from beyond the World, like ANGELA ALAIMO O’DONNELL is a writer, How she inspired us?—by speaking grace in the mail, like redemption, professor and associate director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at of the (many) books she was (for- Fordham University. Her book, Flannery ever) reading, while we jotted down When she received the envelope of O’Connor: Fiction Fired by Faith, recently re- the titles, creating a reading list that surprise, ceived a first place award for excellence in biogra- phy from the Association of Catholic Publishers. would occupy us for decades. For Twitter: @AODonnellAngela. “energy is eternal delight.” When she opened the book of Paradise.

June 20-27, 2016 America 35 BOOKS | PHILIP C. KOLIN was imbued with a different spir- it. As Mariani put it, the “Stevens of MUSEUM OF THE MIND Harmonium...[was] the mandarin poet, the Frenchified dandy, the lawyer-poet THE WHOLE HARMONIUM the lens of the sublime, and the worldly of inscrutable edifice” who searched for The Life of Wallace Stevens connoisseur who “caught the gaiety, the and celebrated the sublime through his By Paul Mariani parasols and chocolate, the complacen- poems. Imagination became the true Simon and Schuster. 496p $30 cies of the peignoir, even the blaze of the reality for Stevens, the very oxygen tiger’s eye.” he breathed. In an early chapter, “An Incorporating the title of Wallace A paradoxical, domestically troubled Explosion in a Shingles Factory,” refer- Stevens’s first collection of poet- Stevens emerges. A large man (in a line- ring to The New York Times’s deroga- ry (Harmonium, 1923), this is Paul backer’s frame) with a tiny scrawl, in- tory description of Duchamp’s “Nude Mariani’s sixth literary biography, tensely private, “abrupt” and “dismissive,” Descending a Staircase,” Mariani takes preceded by his lives of Hopkins, he was estranged from his own family, us on a colorful tour of Stevens’s muse- Berryman, Lowell, Williams and Hart especially his father, um of the mind. Living Crane. Mariani adds his seasoned wis- who disapproved of life to the fullest, the dom and remarkable narrative skills in his marriage. He was younger Stevens en- capturing a poet’s ethos to earlier and caught in a loveless tered the world of current Stevens biographies by Joan marriage to the “steely sultanas, tambourines Richardson, Alison Johnson and Al cold” Elsie Kachel and sapodillas, in- Filreis. Moll, whom a niece dulging himself in surf Mariani’s impeccable research and described as a “’church baths, “the sun and perceptive readings of the Stevens mouse without a sense martinis,” exotic teas canon make The Whole Harmonium of humor” and who imported from Ceylon, essential reading on Stevens’s place in banished Stevens, sus- Cuban cigars, the arts, American and world poetry. According pecting him—without gardening and long to Mariani, Stevens is “among the im- grounds—of adultery, walks when “the green portant poets of the twentieth and first to the attic and evenings were clear the still-young twenty-first century, then to his own bed- and warm.” sharing a place with...Rilke, Yeats and room, where his poet- In the “paradisal Neruda.” But The Whole Harmonium ry, Mariani contends, green” of Key West, is more than a biography; it is a history served as an imagina- where Stevens went of high modernism that Stevens helped tive substitute for the woman he had yearly for the winter vacations he com- to create, define and exemplify through lost. It was the Rev. Arthur Hanley, a bined with business trips, he enjoyed his poetry, aesthetics and friendships Catholic chaplain, who administered card games, fishing and drinking bouts, with figures like Harriet Monroe (the the sacraments to Stevens (this poet and once “broke his fist in two plac- founder of Poetry magazine), Marianne who had once described himself as a es” in a fight with Ernest Hemingway. Moore, William Carlos Williams, Carl “dried-up Presbyterian”) on his death- Yet even in this Arcadia, he was con- Van Vechten and James Latimer. bed. And it was Hanley who learned cerned with the two major concepts In fascinating detail gathered from a firsthand that Stevens clearly “lived on that shaped his life and work—order wealth of documents, including letters, a higher or different plane than she did.” and the sublime. “How does one stand/ speeches, journals, interviews, business Educated as a lawyer, Stevens to behold the sublime/ To confront the reports, genealogies and photographs, switched to the insurance business (a mocker/ The mickey mockers/ And Mariani reveals a Stevens who was as career more suited to his personali- plated pairs,” he asked in “The American complex a human as he was a poet. He ty) and eventually became vice presi- Sublime.” Music in particular charmed plumbs Stevens’s family background, dent for surety claims at the Hartford him; it was something he always played personality and influences more in- Accident and Indemnity Company, a at home and played with in his poetry sightfully than other biographers have position he held for the last 20 years of as well. In one of his most famous po- done. Mariani claims there were two his life. For him, poetry was an “affair of ems in Harmonium, “Peter Quince at sides to Stevens: ”the unhappy Stevens,” holidays and weekends,” something he the Clavier,” he declared that “Music is who nonetheless devoted his life with- did walking to and from work. feeling, then, and not sound.” out cynicism to seeing things through Yet the writer inside the man Mariani does an exemplary job of

36 America June 20-27, 2016 capturing this zestful Stevens through of Ice-Cream”), he eschewed the crusty spiritual. He defended the idea of a the publication of his Man With the Blue pathetic fallacies that encumbered merciful God and often visited church- Guitar & Other Poems (1937). But no generations of earlier poets. Though es, especially St. Patrick’s Cathedral in less compelling or sensitive is Mariani’s he spurned being labeled “a dated New York City for its peaceful sanctity. biography of the prodigious Stevens in Romantic,” he formulated an Ars Poetica Heavily influenced by his Harvard phi- his 50s and beyond, asserting that later for his own brand of Romanticism, losophy professor, George Santayana, in life Stevens the dandy “assumed the since “there was no going back, copy- Stevens saw poetry itself as a religion. New England conscience of a Dickinson ing… Shelley or Wordsworth or Keats With almost vatic powers, the poet was or Hawthorne.” Mariani is at pains to or Whitman.” In “Tea at the Palaz of “the maker of a thing yet to be made” show how Stevens’s later works differed Hoon,” he locates “the golden raiment” (“Blue Guitar”). Poems express and are from those in Harmonium. Drawing (the poet’s powers) inside the poet themselves “the essence of reality,” be- upon a wellspring of correspondence, himself and not in nature: “Out of my cause “Poetry should be the subject of talks and journals, he provides studied mind the golden raiment rained,/ And the poem.” Stevens prayed through his analyses of Stevens as thinker and theo- my ears made the blowing hymns they poems, the vehicles by which he sought rist, ever mindful of Stevens’s burgeon- heard./ I was myself the compass of the the Supreme Fiction, the poetic equiv- ing reputation and legacy. sea:/ I was the world in which I waked, alent of God and grace. “God is Good, Poetry for Stevens was not person- and what I saw/ Or heard or felt came It Is a Beautiful Night” from Transport al, ideological or political (though he not but from myself/ And there I found to Summer (1947) reflects Stevens’s was horrified by wars and despised myself more truly, more strange.” And strong sense of the transcendent caught Fascism). Though Mariani scrupulous- yet, despite his heady abstractions, in listening to the “brown bird” whose ly contextualizes people and events in many of his poems are beautifully lyr- “thin music” rises from the “stump/ Of Stevens’s life (e.g., cocktail events, par- ical, filled with haunting scenes from summer.” Dying of stomach cancer and ties, trips, literary tastes) that inspired nature. still believing that the imagination was or float through his works, he rightfully Stevens, no lover of organized re- the gateway to the Sublime, Stevens, insists that it would be misleading to ligion, was nonetheless drawn to the Mariani argues, could be satisfied only tag Stevens an autobiographical poet in the accepted sense, for, as Elizabeth Drew, a reviewer for The Atlantic Monthly, speaking for many readers, phrased it, Stevens intended poems to be “’beautifully phrased and condensed enigmas.’” Even Robert Frost quipped that Stevens’s poetry was too hard because “it made him think.” But as Mariani emphasizes, the poetry is au- tobiographical in the sense that it is “an activity of the mind equal to and even greater than philosophy.” If Stevens’s poetry was difficult, abstract and in- tensely intellectual, it was because, like Picasso and Braque, he kept trying to locate the real within “the inaccessibility of the abstract,” for what was “there in life except one’s ideas?” Ever the metaphysician, Stevens placed inestimable value on how we see and perceive things; “13 Ways of Seeing a Blackbird,” “Yellow Afternoons” and “Women Looking at a View of Flower” are proof texts of his ontology. A poet steeped in philosophical axioms (“Let be be finale of seems” in “The Emperor

June 20-27, 2016 America 37 by “coming into the fold” and joining gling down.” Mariani’s magisterial bi- or rushed. Politi excellently presents the Catholic Church, receiving bap- ography is a tribute to one of America’s Francis’ simplicity as deliberate. tism and Communion at St. Francis most profound poets. Many admirers of Francis look to Hospital in Hartford. Ironically, his his acts of kindness: embracing people last poem prophetically welcomes the PHILIP C. KOLIN is an emeritus distinguished he encounters, washing feet and vis- professor of English at the University of Holy Spirit’s entrance into his life with Southern Mississippi. His most recent book is iting the homeless. Some of Francis’ the image of “fire fangled feathers dan- Emmett Till in Different States: Poems. critics within the Roman Curia dis- parage his simple speech and claim he needs help with his theology: “Francis ELIZABETH WEBB is more attentive to pastoral positions than to doctrinal ones, the exact re- PONTIFF ON A PEDESTAL versal of before.” The vice dean of the College of Cardinals added, “His style POPE FRANCIS AMONG only to root out corruption and greed of great simplicity doesn’t please those THE WOLVES in the Vatican but to forge a new reali- who like to imagine the pope always The Inside Story of a Revolution ty of humility to take its place. on his throne with a miter on his By Marco Politi Politi begins by painting a vivid head.” Columbia University Press. 288p $27.95 picture of Archbishop Jorge Mario But when it comes to his revolution Bergoglio’s humble service in Buenos at the Vatican, Francis’ positions are There is much written about Pope Aires, putting the reader not simplistic, but rath- Francis today, especially the pontiff ’s by his side in a shanty- er deliberate and com- public life of service. People from town. The scene shows plex. Francis shakes up different religious and nonreligious us that today’s Pope the Vatican by cracking backgrounds concede his public acts Francis is rooted in the down on money laun- of kindness and inclusive rhetoric are Bergoglio of Buenos dering, misuse of funds admirable. Marco Politi’s Pope Francis Aires—a genuine man, and abuse of power. His Among the Wolves: The Inside Story of a humble, yet bold and appointments to posi- Revolution reiterates Francis’ venerable calculating. “Francis’ hu- tions of power and new- public life but also sheds light on the mility is not folklore; ly formed committees pope’s revolution within church insti- his unconventional ways foster collegiality and tutions. At times Francis’ public life reflect his personality…. decentralization. Even seems quite simple, but his knowledge [The] idiosyncratic style his seemingly simple of and ability to maneuver within the is part of a coherent de- decision not to reside inner workings of the Vatican are com- sign to dismantle the im- in the papal apartments plex. By helping the reader understand perial character of the papacy.” Politi in the Apostolic Palace but opt in- the institution Francis is reforming, presents Francis’ simple and humble stead for a modest room in the apart- Politi inspires even greater estimation acts as purposeful and well-planned. ments for guests at the nearby Domus of the Bishop of Rome. In his home of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio Sanctae Marthae was a purposeful Politi’s title alludes to the story of preached that his parish priests should act to reject the exclusivity associat- St. Francis, who tamed a wolf that was visit the shantytowns—a noble en- ed with those who have access to the terrorizing a town. Francis disciplined deavor of serving the poor, to which all pope. “By choosing to reside at Santa the wolf and made him change his Christians are called. Bergoglio went a Marta, Francis at one stroke undercut ways, but he also asked the townspeo- step further and shifted the paradigm the charmed circle of insiders who, in ple to forgive the animal and help feed to focus primarily on the poor instead every pontificate, claim to relay snip- him. St. Francis was a great arbitrator, of treating them as an aside: “Before pets of the papal thinking thanks to doing the difficult work of bringing his arrival, priests who had a parish in their privileged access, real or pretend- two warring sides together—paving the city would also be assigned some ed, to the apostolic apartment.” the way for a new dynamic to emerge portion of the outskirts to look after. For admirers of Francis, it might where former opponents work toward Now it is the opposite, he gives parish be easy to place him on a pedestal of mutual support. Politi aptly presents priests from the shantytowns a second unachievable import. Francis may sus- the story as the foundation of his trib- parish in a middle-class sector.” All pect this himself. In a speech before ute to Pope Francis—who seeks not too often “simple” is equated to naïve the U.S. Congress in September 2015,

38 America June 20-27, 2016 the pontiff highlighted the work of catalog of sins was interminable with did not give him the energy to carry Dorothy Day—who provided services the polite remark, ‘Bueno, I get off two out. “Benedict XVI wanted to sweep to the homeless through her Catholic stops from here.’” Francis is generous the board clear of all the entrenched Worker Movement—in an effort to with his time and attention, but also, positions of power in the curia. By re- call U.S. Catholics to acknowledge he doesn’t want to miss his bus stop. signing, he triggered [their] automatic local inspiration. She famously said, He is not on a pedestal, but seated resignation…. His decision to abdicate “Don’t call me a saint. I don’t want to right beside you. amounted to a sort of coup d’etat, a be dismissed that easily.” Her biogra- It may already be that some find virtual ‘reboot’ of the Vatican.” pher, Robert Ellsberg, adds that Day Francis’ way inimitable. “Pope Francis While many will be inspired to join expanded, “When they call you a saint,” realizes that he remains fairly isolated Francis’ cause, some already were anx- she said, “it means basically that you within the structure of the Curia and iously awaiting a leader to pave the way. are not to be taken seriously.” By no that in Rome and beyond Rome many It is up to the Catholic Church and its means did Day dismiss the lives of the midlevel ecclesiastics applaud him members to keep Francis’ momentum saints, but rather the notion that they while hesitating to walk in his foot- going; the revolution was never meant are to be put on pedestals, stripped of steps.” However, there are signs that to be Pope Francis’ one-man show. humanity, with common people un- suggest the will already exists. After all, Collegiality is often referred to in this able to follow in their footsteps. Francis was elected by a conclave. Even book, signaling Francis’ desire to bring Politi gives us much with which some within the Curia itself were ready all parties to the table. Like his name- to extol Francis, but also reminds the for change upon Francis’ election. “The sake from Assisi, Pope Francis is forg- reader that Bergoglio is still a human majority of curial prelates were against ing a new reality for the church, where being. Politi relates that Bergoglio was the excessive degree of power […] and tamed wolves live in harmony with the often asked to hear their confessions saw the change of popes as the occa- rest of the faithful. by his fellow passengers aboard public sion for reducing it.” Pope Emeritus transportation, to which he replied, Benedict himself paved the way for a ELIZABETH WEBB, a graduate of Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, N.J., is a senior “Yes, of course.” “Once on a bus he fi- Francis figure to step in and make the intelligence analyst at iJET International in nally had to interrupt a man whose reforms the German pontiff ’s health Annapolis, Md.

June 20-27, 2016 America 39 RHONDA MISKA ligious generation, in which adherence to a religious tradition is the exception, THE ROAD TO CHRIST not the rule. “Many younger people engage in a kind of spiritual mix and OPENING THE DOOR OF sive,” “agnostic-leaning believer” and match, blending many traditions and FAITH “Catholic revert” (one who was raised adhering strictly to none,” she writes. Encountering Jesus and His Call Catholic, left and later returned). She They are not indifferent to spiritu- to Discipleship teaches at the University of California, ality and in some cases passionately Thomas D. Stegman, S.J. Berkeley, “the most secular of secular desire to believe and belong, but they Paulist Press. 103p $11.95 universities.” Stegman is a Midwest na- cannot reconcile their experience with tive and New Testament the church’s teaching THE NONES ARE ALRIGHT professor at the Boston on women or sexuality, A New Generation of Believers, College School of struggle with doubt or Seekers, and Those in Between Theology and Ministry, distrust large institu- Kaya Oakes my alma mater. While tions—a generational Orbis Books. 198p $22 many of Oakes’s stu- trend that is only exac- dents and conversation erbated by the mishan- James Joyce famously wrote in partners are secular, dling of the crisis pro- Finnegan’s Wake that “Catholic means or at least not reli- duced by sexual abuse by ‘here comes everybody.’” Catholics gious practitioners in members of the clergy. have repeatedly created new forms of any traditional sense, Yet these “nones,” Oakes community to respond to the signs Stegman’s students are assures us, are “mature, of the times and the “joys and hopes, training for profession- self-aware, intelligent griefs and anxieties” of their particu- al Catholic ministry. It and well informed.” And lar context. In the postmodern West, is not surprising, then, though they eschew tra- where we are increasingly isolated and that they make different ditional religious prac- disconnected from each other—ex- assumptions and come to diverging tice, they still seek community, engage periencing what Robert Putnam in conclusions about the life of faith. in service and social justice efforts and Bowling Alone dubbed a serious “loss Oakes invited young seekers on experiment with spiritual practice, al- of social capital”—questions of build- social media to share their stories beit in a casual, syncretic, do-it-your- ing and sustaining community take of “reinventing what it means to ‘be self kind of way. on a new urgency. This is particularly church’ outside of church walls.” In Stegman’s book Opening the Door of true for millennials like The Nones Are Alright, Faith: Encountering Jesus and His Call myself: digital natives she paints a sympathet- to Discipleship—which originated in who increasingly engage ic, thoughtful portrait articles for The Pastoral Review on with the world through of this “Generation of the Year of Faith—is written as a re- screens and whose re- Believers, Seekers, and source for “groups to study, reflect, and lationships are often Those in Between” for pray together” with the “sincere hope” formed and deepened whom there is “no one that it will “’open the door’ into what through online plat- way to believe and no the New Testament says about faith.” forms. What does it one way to belong.” To this end, he includes 10 prayer and mean to be faithful in The interviewees she reflection questions at the end of each community in this con- highlights are “nones” chapter that serve to challenge the text? or “unaffiliated,” a cat- reader in exploring the theme of faith This question is en- egory that describes more deeply. gaged by Kaya Oakes 31 percent of people Stegman explores what five dis- and Thomas Stegman, between the ages of 18 tinct voices in the New Testament— S.J., who live on op- and 29, according to a Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, John and posite coasts of the United States Pew Forum study in 2012. For pre- Paul—say about faith. He succinctly and write from distinct contexts. vious generations, faith and practice and accessibly summarizes each of Oakes, whose writing has appeared in were assumed. In contrast, Oakes and these five biblical authors’ writing on America, is a self-described “progres- I and her subjects are part of a postre- the topic. He concludes that there are

40 America June 20-27, 2016 four primary themes: encounter with fine in the liminality of the doorway. tradition and the 21st-century reality Jesus, call to discipleship and mission, For Stegman, the life of faith is one of of postreligious United States? How prayer and sacrament, and commu- “continual conversion…even heroism,” can our universal church of “here nity of faith. While acknowledging while Oakes claims that “faith is a tid- comes everybody” cultivate commu- current polarization in the church and al motion, an ebb and a surge, a push nities of faith in our postmodern and the abuse scandal, Stegman, as a New and a pull.” Stegman cites the biblical postreligious context? Who defines Testament scholar, is more focused on authors in emphasizing the primacy Catholic identity and gets to decide the words of the biblical authors than of faith community in “following Jesus what it means to be a faithful Catholic, on the social and religious landscape of alongside others” in “’flesh and blood’ when so many young people are re- postmodern America. interactions,” while Oakes’s nones drift defining faith in their own image? If Several times Stegman posits that in and out of various communities and Dorothy Day’s words that the “answer faith describes God’s fidelity to God’s often find like-minded seekers online. to the long loneliness is communi- people; pistis (“faith” or “faithfulness”) A rare point of consonance between ty” are taken to heart—particularly is first a divine attribute, which is then Oakes and Stegman is a shared empha- during this Year of Mercy—then how followed by the human response. Our sis on concern for the poor and strug- can parish communities that “open the faith is the “second act.” This resonates gle for social justice in the life of faith. door of faith” be recreated in ways that with much of what Pope Francis has Beyond this, the Boston Jesuit and the connect with “the joys and hopes, the stressed in the Year of Mercy: God Berkeley writer make different assump- griefs and anxieties” of both Gen-Xers seeks us out tirelessly and, thus, the tions, ask different questions and come and millennials? church is to be a place of mercy and to different conclusions about what it welcome. This statement stands in means to live faith in community. RHONDA MISKA, a former Jesuit volunteer, is counterpoint to the witness of many Their books, read in conversation a Dubuque-based freelance writer and contrib- of Oakes’s interviewees, whose expe- with each other, prompt some fasci- utor to Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table (Paulist Press, 2015). rience of church is uncomfortable at nating questions. How is faithfulness She teaches in religious studies at Clarke best and inhospitable and alienating to be understood in a way that recog- University. Website: www.clippings.me/rhon- at worst. Unlike Oakes’s “nones” on nizes both the truth of Scripture and damiska. the religious margins, Stegman as- sumes belief—while recognizing the CLASSIFIED challenges of Christian discipleship acknowledged in New Testament Retreats texts—and assumes participation in CELEBRATE Pope Francis’ vision. Inspiring, faith community. dynamic parish missions, retreats: “Discipleship Around questions of faith and faith- and the Francis Effect” and “Celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy.” Website: www.sabbathre- fulness, Stegman and Oakes begin and treats.org. end in different places. Stegman, citing Luke, states that lived faith is “marked Sabbatical by a bold and holy confidence.” For NEW DIRECTIONS SABBATICAL at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. Enjoy the young seekers Oakes interviewed, a semester or two at the only Jesuit sabbatical faith is a doubt-filled struggle marked program in North America. The scenic San with tension and paradox, even contra- Francisco Bay Area is the setting for this unique diction. Stegman appeals to both the program situating experienced ecclesial minis- ters within the broader context of a major in- authority of biblical authors and the ternational Jesuit formation center. Meet future writings of Popes Francis and Benedict church leaders from over 35 countries: Jesuit XVI, while Oakes’s “self-reliant and scholastics, women religious and laypeople. The holistic program is enriched by training and re- free-thinking” interviewees look to newal in the Ignatian vision. For more informa- their own experience instead of to out- tion, visit https://www.scu.edu/jst/academics/ side authority in their quest for truth. special-programs/new-directions-sabbatical/, or contact Rob McChesney, S.J., at (510) 549- Stegman wants his readers to walk 5046 or [email protected]. “Your time, through the “door of faith” and “hold God’s goodness!” the door open for others to enter,” while Oakes is convinced the young WANT YOUR AD HERE? seekers she writes about are doing just Visit americamagazine.org.

June 20-27, 2016 America 41 THE WORD

Paul says that the whole law is fulfilled in love. Christian Freedom Freedom is not “an opportunity for THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), JUNE 26, 2016 self-indulgence” but an opportunity Readings: 1 Kgs 19:16-21; Ps 16:1-11; Gal 5:1-18; Lk 9:51-62 to “through love become slaves to one another.” In the Greek text, the word “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1) (sarx) translated “self-indulgence” here are different ways to un- pher Philo of Alexandria approaches means literally “flesh,” which intends derstand freedom. There is Paul’s thought in his treatise Every not just “sins of the flesh” but the be- childhood freedom, which Good Man Is Free. Philo’s positive haviors of the whole person turned T away from God, which can include remains linked to the carefree days point of view is expressed in the con- of summer, peddling furiously to the trasting statement: “Every bad greed, gossip and any other weakness playground to join friends in a game man is a slave” (No. 1). to which humanity is prone. Our of baseball or to go swimming. The Philo states that “in very freedom through Christ is summer idyll reflects freedom from truth he who has God to be an opportunity to responsibility. Others view freedom as alone for his leader, go beyond the demands the choice to live your life however you he alone is free” (No. of the law in order choose, unencumbered by religious 20). For Philo, sin en- to love in the same morality or authority figures. This is slaves us; it is the soul way Christ loved us. freedom as license. There is also the following the dictates Christ gives us the liberty to choose among a series of can- of God’s law that sets The contrast, there- didates for office in elections, some of us free. fore, is not really between whom might even inspire some hope While this is not far freedom and law, but be- in you, so that there is a freedom to from Paul’s view of freedom, establish how we are governed. This is what sets Paul apart from Philo is PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE the nobility of political freedom. that Paul believes that freedom has Contemplate your own understanding of None of these, though, are what been gained through the salvific ac- freedom. What comes to mind when you Paul has in mind when he claims that tions of Jesus Christ, not simply by think of freedom? What sort of freedom it is “for freedom (eleutheria) Christ following the Law of Moses. Paul means the most to you? What do you think of Paul’s understanding of freedom? What has set us free.” Ancient Greek thought writes, “You who want to be justified challenges you most and comforts you comes closer to what Paul had in mind by the law have cut yourselves off most about your freedom in Christ? since, especially among the Stoics, free- from Christ; you have fallen away DUNNE TAD ART: dom was not grounded in external cir- from grace.” In some sense, Paul’s cumstances but in how an individual freedom is freedom from law—not, tween flesh and Spirit. It is the license responded to these circumstances. To like Philo, freedom that comes from of the “flesh” that Paul warns against, be apatheia, for a Stoic, was not to be following the law. which can only be combated by the swayed by outside events but to retain This is the hardest part of Paul’s Spirit. Paul says, “If you are led by the control over one’s emotions and thus thought, though, since he also says Spirit, you are not subject to the law.” one’s soul. But for Paul, this would ig- Christ does not lead us away from the Yet when you are led by the Spirit— nore the power of sin. law but to its fulfillment. How is this and this is the conundrum here of The first-century Jewish philoso- done? As the Second Vatican Council’s true freedom—you do not pursue “Declaration on Religious Freedom” moral license, or attempt to skirt the (No. 11) states, Christ “bore witness limits of the law, or seek even the care- JOHN W. MARTENS is a professor of theology to the truth, but he refused to impose free life of a child, free of responsibil- at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. ity. Instead you attempt to be guided Twitter: @BibleJunkies. the truth by force on those who spoke against it.” Christ offers us freedom by the Spirit. For when you live in through his example, which draws us the Spirit, you find freedom in pursu- to fulfill the law not out of obligation ing the good of the neighbor and the but out of love of neighbor and God. truth of God.

42 America June 20-27, 2016 The New Cross FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), JULY 3, 2016 Readings: Is 66:10-14; Ps 66:1-20; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10:1-12 “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14)

n the Apostle Paul’s letters, espe- the epitome of the old ways. For Paul, the heart of his “new cre- cially in Galatians, Paul sees boast- In the Septuagint Bible, the com- ation” was doing it all for the glory of Iing as the core of the spiritual sins mon Greek verb for “to boast,” kauchao- God’s reign. This meant that haunt the church. Boasting reflects mai, takes on a religious flavor, which is Paul had to “carry the marks [stig- more than just a problematic personal- seen in Paul’s own writing. Ceslas Spicq mata] of Jesus branded on my body.” ity or character trait. For Paul, boast- writes in the Theological Lexicon of the While these are not the stigmata as lat- ing in anything other than Christ is a New Testament that the peculiar con- er understood by the tradition, they are sign of the “old creation,” a refusal to be tribution of the Jewish scriptures to an most probably the wounds he received transformed by Christ into a “new cre- understanding of kauchaomai “is to give for his apostolic work as a member of ation.” The cross, though, is the emblem the verb a religious meaning and to pose Christ’s body, and these he bore happily of how the old ways are made new in the contrast between human vainglory because it was a boast about the nature Christ. and divine honor.” This is what Paul’s of his solidarity with Christ’s sacrifice. To think of what the cross was in contrast is driving at—not an argument Though his body was marked, the the old creation is to recognize it sim- against human worthwhileness, but an marks defined him as one who offered ply as a tool of capital punishment by understanding that all of us are valuable honor to God. They were visible signs the Roman state and its functionar- to God simply for who we are as hu- ies. There was nothing transformative man beings and that God has saved PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE about the broken bodies of slaves or us not because of our achievements insurrectionists hung out publicly for or holiness but because God loves us. Pray about the cross of Christ. What does it mean to you to boast of the cross? all to see. But for Paul, the cross, though This is our boast, and it belongs to all What sorts of boasting do you need to put outwardly the same instrument of tor- who belong to Christ. aside? What marks you as a “new creation” ture and torment as before, has been What it means to be a “new cre- in Christ? transformed by Jesus into the means ation” for Paul is to be transformed of grace by which humanity is brought by the cross of Christ and in light of that the body of Christ took prece- into the family of God. As a result, our eternal goal and purpose into peo- dence, not Paul’s. They were the marks when Paul speaks to the Galatians, he ple who glory in the love of neighbor of “new creation.” tells them that he would “never boast of and of God and not our achievements. The marks we have gained as mem- anything except the cross of our Lord Paul did not stop being the apostle who bers serving the body of Christ might Jesus Christ.” “worked harder than any of them,” nor be different. They might not be phys- In the same way that the humiliation should people stop using their gifts to ical but emotional, spiritual or psy- and cruelty of the cross became through be the best ski instructor, or chocolate chological. The marks might not be Christ’s sacrifice a source of God’s maker, or teacher. But for Paul “new visible, but they too are signs of “new love, so we, too, are to be transformed creation” gives thanks to God, acknowl- creation,” of the times when we have by God’s love from those who glory in edging that “it was not I, but the grace been marked by our love of Christ. achievement, ethnicity and expertise to of God that is with me” (1 Cor 15:10). They do not mark us as weak or strong, those who boast in the cross. It is no “New creation” glories not in oneself but as members of God’s family, those longer about the things that used to de- but the good gifts that have been gra- who seek to be transformed as “new fine us; in Christ “a new creation is ev- ciously showered on each of us for the creations” who boast only in the cross. erything.” Boasting apart from Christ is benefit of all. JOHN W. MARTENS

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