Of Many Things 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 eorge Bush’s Message to As William T. Cavanaugh has observed, Ph: (212) 581-4640; Fax: (212) 399-3596 Michael,” I recall, was Father Murray’s vision of civil society Subscriptions: (800) 627-9533 the headline that blared has been inverted. “The rise of the www.americamedia.org ‘G facebook.com/americamag across two whole pages of The Boston state,” says Cavanaugh, “is the history of twitter.com/americamag Herald on Aug. 19, 1988. The Herald the atrophying of such [intermediate] had chosen to print in its entirety the associations.” In an important sense, President and Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J. speech that Vice President George American political history is not a tale Executive Editors Bush had delivered the night before of the triumph of individual autonomy Robert C. Collins, S.J., Maurice Timothy Reidy in New Orleans, accepting the over the authoritarian state; it is rather Managing Editor Kerry Weber Republican nomination for president. In a tale of the triumph of the state over Literary Editor Raymond A. Schroth, S.J. Massachusetts in 1988, no one was in the individual, through the progressive Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent Kevin Clarke doubt about who Michael was: the Bay absorption of the intermediate Editor at Large James Martin, S.J. State’s own Gov. Michael Dukakis, the associations of civil society. Cavanaugh’s Executive Editor, America Films Democratic nominee. evidence includes “the exponential and Jeremy Zipple, S.J. Mr. Bush’s speech, expertly crafted by continuous growth of the state” in the Poetry Editor Joseph Hoover, S.J. the veteran speechwriters Peggy Noonan postwar period, “in the progressive Associate Editor and Vatican Correspondent Gerard O’Connell and Craig Smith, is best remembered enervation of intermediate associations,” Associate Editor and Director of Digital for “Read my lips: no new taxes,” a as documented by Robert Bella, Robert Strategy Sam Sawyer, S.J. promise President Bush would later Putnam and others; and “the symbiosis Senior Editor Edward W. Schmidt, S.J. break in order to balance the federal of the state and the corporation that Associate Editors Ashley McKinless, Olga Segura budget. But first-runner up for best- signals the collapse of the separation Assistant Editors Francis W. Turnbull, S.J., Joseph McAuley remembered phrase lies in his remarks between politics and economics.” Art Director Sonja Kodiak Wilder on the importance of civil society: “This Yet politicians on both sides of Editorial Assistant Zachary Davis is America,” he said. “The Knights of the aisle have started to acknowledge Columnists Helen Alvaré, John J. Conley, S.J., Columbus, the Grange, Hadassah, the the importance of those intermediate Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., James T. Keane, John W. Martens, Bill McGarvey, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, Disabled American Veterans, the Order associations and are attempting to Margot Patterson, Nathan Schneider, Robert David of Ahepa, the Business and Professional reverse the trend. Mr. Bush’s son, George Sullivan Women of America, the union hall, W., during his tenure as president, Correspondents John Carr (Washington), An- thony Egan, S.J., and Russell Pollitt, S.J. (Johannes- the Bible study group, LULAC, ‘Holy created the first White House Office of burg), Jim McDermott, S.J. (Los Angeles), Timothy Name’—a brilliant diversity spread like Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Padgett (Miami), Steven Schwankert (Beijing), stars, like a thousand points of light in a President Obama has a similarly styled David Stewart, S.J. (London), Judith Valente (Chicago) broad and peaceful sky.” initiative, and in this issue of America, Moderator, Catholic Book Club That phrase, “a thousand points of the first to feature a cover story by a Kevin Spinale, S.J. light,” was much satirized and derided sitting secretary of state, John Kerry Editor, The Jesuit Post Michael Rossmann, S.J. by critics. But unfairly so. Mr. Bush was writes about the new Office of Religion Editorial e-mail [email protected] onto something: While government and Global Affairs, a testament to has a role to play in the pursuit of the Mr. Kerry’s belief in the power of Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Edward G. Spallone Deputy Publisher Rosa M. common good, our charitable and religion to effect meaningful, positive Del Saz Vice President for Advancement Daniel voluntary associations are similarly change, sometimes in partnership with Pawlus Advertising Sales Manager Chris Keller Development Coordinator Kerry Goleski indispensable, and those who have a government agencies but more often on Business Operations Staff Khairah Walker, religious worldview have historically led its own. Glenda Castro, Katy Zhou, Frankarlos Cruz the way. In this, Vice President Bush Perhaps we can say that a revival of Advertising Contact [email protected]; 212-515-0102 Subscription contact/Additional was aligned with the thinking of John sorts is in the works, or a least a growing copies 1-800-627-9533 Reprints: reprints@ Courtney Murray, S.J., who viewed recognition of the importance of the americamedia.org civil society as an ascending world of third sector and its religious actors in © 2015 America Press Inc. social organizations that, along with providing for the common good. Perhaps government, form a coherent, cohesive we are a step closer to retrieving what whole. Mr. Bush called in his acceptance speech Cover: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tours the But in the contemporary United “a better America…an endless enduring “Sala Regia,” the “royal room” of the Vatican, Jan. 14 with Msgr. Jose Bettencourt, the Holy See’s States, it would be more accurate to say dream and a thousand points of light.” head of protocol. CNS photo/Pablo Martinez that such an arrangement was America. Matt Malone, S.J. Monsivais, pool via Reuters Contents www.americamagazine.org Vol. 213 No. 6, Whole No. 5099 September 14, 2015

articles 14 Religion and diplomacy Toward a better understanding of religion and global affairs John Kerry 17 our armed society The common good is the first victim of America’s gun culture. Firmin DeBrabander 22 dear Pope Francis Letters, with love, from young Catholic women Elizabeth Groppe 26 Religious Life Reimagined Looking for opportunity in a misunderstood vocation crisis 17 Seán D. Sammon 30 A Grace-Filled Light The transformational world of John Hassler Ed Block COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment 5 Editorial Worked Over 6 Reply All 8 Signs of the Times 12 Column Is the Shroud Real? James Martin 34 Vatican Dispatch Not a Maverick Pope 22 Gerard O’Connell 47 The Word The Greatest John W. Martens BOOKS & CULTURE

36 television Saying goodbye to Jon Stewart poem A Rose of other things Who is a Saint? BOOKS Changing the Questions; Thirty-Three Good Men; In the Country ON THE WEB Robert P. Maloney, C.M., offers 15 tips on how to pray in “Never Lose Heart,” and Jennifer Fulwiler talks about raising a Catholic family. Full digital highlights on page 28 and at americamagazine.org/webfeatures. 36 CURRENT COMMENT

million effort to combat the trafficking and use of heroin. A Papal Push in Colombia Michael Botticelli, director of National Drug Control Policy, The Vatican played a quiet but decisive role in jump- says the plan focuses on overdose prevention and access to starting the ongoing normalization of relations between the recovery support services and will enhance coordination United States and Cuba, and negotiators for the rebels of between public health and law enforcement officials in five the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly high-intensity drug trafficking areas, ranging from Maine to known as FARC, clearly took note. Perhaps concerned about Tennessee. the possibility of a breakdown in their own peace talks, This initiative is a wise one but, given the need, under- negotiators for the rebel group suggested that the pope meet funded. Notably absent, fortunately, are the “tough on with FARC officials during his visit to Cuba in September. crime” rhetoric and policies that characterized this country’s There have been positive developments in the long response to previous drug waves—heroin in the 1960s, crack peace negotiations between FARC and the Colombian cocaine in the ’70s and ’80s. Is today’s softer touch a reflection government, which began in Havana in 2012. FARC officials of lessons learned from the failed war on drugs—or of the recently extended indefinitely a unilateral ceasefire, and race and class of those affected? Whatever the answer, which Colombia’s Conflict Analysis Resource Center reports that is probably a combination of the two, we now know that the the intensity of the civil war has dropped to its lowest level in lives and communities destroyed by addiction need more more than 40 years. But it would be a mistake to believe that recovery beds, not jail cells. a successful conclusion to the negotiations is guaranteed. Archbishop Luis Castro Quiroga of Colombia told local media that he was hopeful a “small meeting” with the pope Russia at the Border in support of the peace process might be arranged. Vatican Before attending a NATO summit in Wales in early officials, however, dismissed the possibility. According to September 2014, President Obama first visited Estonia. This Archbishop Castro, Pope Francis has proposed that an was a clear statement to neighboring Russia that the United observer from the Holy See attend the Havana negotiations. States was committed to Estonia and the other NATO This would be a good initial step, but a more personal states bordering Russia: What was happening in Ukraine gesture may be warranted as negotiations enter this critical must not happen here. Days later, Eston Kohver, an officer in stage. While other crises have driven it from the headlines, Estonia’s security service, was captured by Russian officers in Colombia’s civil war continues to be devastating. As the a remote border area and charged with espionage, trafficking conflict enters its fifth decade, somewhere in the vicinity of in weapons and illegally crossing the border. 250,000 people—80 percent of them civilians—have died Estonia “investigated the scene” and reported that the and five million have been driven from their homes. It would evidence clearly showed Kohver had been in Estonian be a historic tragedy if negotiations falter now so close to a territory. His arrest was seen at least partly as a Russian comprehensive conclusion. response to President Obama’s visit and to NATO. About a quarter of Estonia’s population is of Russian descent, so it has particularly good reason to keep an eye on its eastern New Face of Heroin Abuse neighbor. It was the Russian population inside Ukraine On Aug. 17, a 26-year-old mother was found unconscious, that gave Moscow a pretext to occupy and annex parts of her daughter strapped in a stroller beside her, in a Walgreens Ukraine. bathroom stall. The Washington Post reports she was one of On Aug. 19, 2015, a Russian court sentenced Kohver the 25 people to overdose on heroin in just two days in the to 15 years in prison. Four days later Andrzej Duda, in his Rust Belt community of Washington, Pa. First responders first foreign trip as president of Poland, which also has a were able to revive her with a fast-acting antidote, but three border with Russia, visited Estonia. He and the president of others that weekend were not so lucky. Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, discussed the relationship This is the new face of the heroin epidemic, which in between their countries. They share economic issues and, 2013 took more than 8,200 lives. Though historically of course, security concerns. Both countries have called associated disproportionately with poor and black inner-city on NATO for permanent military bases on their eastern teenagers, today the average heroin user is a white, middle- borders. Estonia has also announced plans to build a fence class suburbanite in his or her mid-20s who moved to the along the land border. It will have barbed wire and cameras drug after getting hooked on prescription painkillers. The to help prevent incidents like the abduction of Eston Kohver. Obama administration responded in late August with a $5 But it would not stop a Russian tank.

4 America September 14, 2015 EDITORIAL Worked Over

escribing her desire to be successful in Amazon’s of the intersection of consum- high-intensity workplace culture, Dina Vaccari, er convenience and technology Dwho worked there from 2008 to 2014, compared companies funded by modern it to an addiction: “It was like a drug that we could get self- finance. We want our Uber worth from.” A number of former employees spoke with rides when we want them, pre- The New York Times for a report published on Aug. 15 that dictably, safely and cheaply; we examined Amazon’s management practices. They described want our Amazon Prime pur- the work environment as being nearly brutal in its focus on chases delivered almost before we finish clicking “Buy Now.” rigorous measurement of performance, constant improve- In order to achieve these prodigious feats of consumer sat- ment through competition and critique, and a disturbing isfaction, companies need to tightly control and manage their lack of patience or compassion for colleagues dealing with workforces. Uber cannot function without drivers on the clock family and medical issues. and centrally coordinated; Amazon cannot shave another 50 Jeff Bezos, the company’s chief executive officer, said the cents off the price of a book or a day off a delivery time unless article did not “describe the Amazon I know” and that “anyone its workers are performing optimally, achieving great produc- working in a company that is really like the one described… tivity at very low operational cost. Under this logic, Amazon would be crazy to stay.” In other words, that kind of workplace and Uber have an obvious ultimate goal: warehouse robots is not worth working at, for self-worth or any other goal. and self-driving cars. Why employ humans at all when they While they have different accounts of the reality at are primarily an extra cost of doing business? As Pope Francis Amazon, both Mr. Bezos and the ex-employees agree implic- cautioned in “Laudato Si’,” “The orientation of the economy itly that work must contribute to human flourishing, not only has favored a kind of technological progress in which the costs to the bottom line of a corporate balance sheet. Pope Francis, of production are reduced by laying off workers and replacing reiterating this fundamental claim of Catholic social teaching, them with machines” (No. 128). reminds us in “Laudato Si’”: “Work is a necessity, part of the Economists are very good at quantifying the cost of labor, meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human devel- but we struggle greatly to talk about its worth. Because of the opment and personal fulfilment” (No. 128). outsized and exclusive priority given to profit, we will contin- Our economic culture and our consumerism are making ue to struggle both with the exploitation of low-wage workers it ever more difficult to value work and workers in any terms and, even at the highest levels of compensation, with the pres- other than raw productivity or the “cost of labor.” And, as we sure to chase productivity, efficiency and growth at the cost of might expect and ought to pay attention to, the burdens of actual happiness. this limited perspective fall more often and more heavily on There are some hopeful signs. Local and state-level ini- the poor and the working class than on white-collar “knowl- tiatives to raise the minimum wage to a living wage can help edge workers.” While Amazon’s office culture was the focus to put a floor underneath the profit-maximizing drive to pay of the recent Times article, their warehouse employees are employees as little as possible. Increasing the earned income measured and monitored to achieve similarly demanding tax credit and raising the national minimum wage to an ap- performance, though in their case the relevant metric is boxes propriate level would help set a national baseline for income packed per hour. that reflects the dignity of work. Archbishop Thomas Wenski Similar approaches to labor can be seen throughout the of Miami, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic increasingly misnamed sharing economy. Uber, for example, Justice and Human Development, supported the living wage currently faces legal challenges from some of its drivers, who initiatives in his 2015 Labor Day statement and called us to argue that they should be classified as full-time employees. examine our consciences regarding our “choices about the Uber argues in response that many of its contractors value clothes we wear, food we eat, and things we buy—most of the flexibility to set their own hours; what goes unsaid is that which is unaffordable to the very workers who make it.” We their flexibility and Uber’s avoidance of the extra costs of hav- also need to examine as a society how corporations connect ing real employees may be two sides of the same coin. labor to profit and seek models that value the human worth This appears, in hindsight, to be an inevitable outcome of work rather than its productivity alone.

September 14, 2015 America 5 REPLY ALL with the hope of medical research. We port, not abortion. Killing is never an as Christians should, of all people, best answer, and the death of a child is nev- Separate Issues see the possibility of good coming from er just a “difficult decision.” It should be Re “Selling the Unborn,” (Editorial, tragedy, a resurrection following cruci- unthinkable to take a child’s life to ease 8/17): The tragedy of abortion is a fixion. the parents’ problems—a permanent mother finding herself in a situation Peter Castaldi “solution” to a temporary problem—es- where she decides ending the life of her Online Comment pecially when it isn’t even the child but child is her best option. “Pro-life” is a other factors that are truly the issue. Not a Solution euphemism for taking this hugely per- Lois Kerschen Other comments on “Selling the sonal and difficult decision and placing Online Comment Unborn” show little relationship to re- it in the legal system, as if a judge could ality. “Between a woman, her doctor Reality Check bring more knowledge and wisdom to and her God” is nice slogan, but it is not Re Of Many Things (8/3): Father this decision than a mother, her doc- what happens. The woman goes not to Malone’s response to statements about tor and whatever religious counsel she her family physician or to a minister bishops is long overdue and to the seeks. but to an abortionist, whom she does point. If one reads Father Malone’s The law establishing that the fetus- not see until she is on the table and with writing and substitutes “Republicans” es resulting from this decision can be whom she is unlikely to have any dis- for “bishops,” the fundamental points used under legal controls in the search cussion. Since the vast majority of abor- still apply. I would urge Father Malone for cures to disease is a separate mat- tions have social or economic causes, to “meet a lot of Republicans” and also ter, a bringing of some good from the solutions can be found. Indeed, they are realize that perceptions do not always tragedy of a mother finding the end of provided by pregnancy resource centers align with reality. her child’s life is her best decision. Let every day. Women need love and sup- Ken Balaskovits us not confuse the tragedy of abortion Park Ridge, Ill.

Women in Chains Status Update seems like that is a dirty word and Nicholas Sawicki’s fine, fact-filled -ar Readers respond to “Surviving in the focus is more on identity politics ticle, “Today’s Slaves” (8/3), elucidates America,” by Tom Deignan (8/17). at the expense of a common, shared this global crime and Pope Francis’ wis- society. My grandparents were Polish. I was Jeremiah Woolsey dom regarding this human trafficking. baptized in a Polish-speaking church As Mr. Sawicki notes, more than half in 1946. My grandmother, a citizen When my Irish-speaking great-grand- the victims (53 percent) are exploited for decades, spoke what was called mother came to the United States, the sexually, and almost half the victims (49 broken English. She never really first thing she did was learn how to percent) are women. From childhood learned the language. Two of her sons speak German—the language of her up, trafficked females are routinely served in World War II; Dad served in new home city, Cincinnati, Ohio— raped, tortured and brutalized. the Army Air Corps. People have cre- then English. I suggest this is caused not only by ated a myth about past assimilation. Mary Eileen Homa poverty and greed but also by the glob- Immigrant children learned English al perception that women are inferior, then, as they do today. I am fortu- This is a very problematic article. The dispensable. The perception is both nate to live in a neighborhood rich issues pertaining to the history of overt (“Women are buffaloes. Men are in diverse cultures. The parents and Hispanics in this country and migra- humans,” is a traditional Thai proverb) grandparents struggle with English; tion do not perfectly match up with and covert (the continuing income the children do not. The immigrants European immigration. If America inequality of women in the United I encounter work hard, which is the is serious about discussing Latinos States). In our church, too, gender bias only “handout” they want, and the and immigration, get a Latino ex- keeps women in an inferior status. Pope only handout my grandparents want- pert on immigration to write about Francis says women will never be or- ed. Nothing has changed! it. Otherwise all the pictures of dained. And the world listens. Bob Ashdown Hispanics you post, however much Francine Dempsey, C.S.J. they are meant to humanize us, sim- Albany, N.Y. In my grandmother’s time, there was ply keep us as the voiceless, abstract a conscious effort to assimilate and “other.” Flannery’s Holy Work become more “American.” Today it Mike Mendez As an admirer of Flannery O’Connor,

6 America September 14, 2015 I was saddened to read about her under a nuclear sword of Damocles, incorporates Gentiles onto the tree of struggle with the tension between her hanging by the slenderest of threads, Judaism, a complete surprise to the ear- “desire to be a successful writer and to capable of being cut at any moment by ly church. be spiritually committed,” described accident or miscalculation or by mad- That said, another author noted that in “Far Away From God,” by Susan ness.” On Jan. 25, 1995, the United by using parables rather than rigidly Srigley (7/6). I don’t know of any- States launched a multistage rocket defined dogmas, Jesus gave the Holy one whose labors have been a great- off the coast of Norway to study the Spirit room to move in and through his er imitation of God the creator than northern lights. Russia had previous- parabolic words through the various O’Connor through her literary mas- ly been notified, but the message was eras and cultures in which his word has terpieces. Why have Christians failed not passed up the chain of command. been sown. to see that being created in God’s im- Russian radar picked up the launch (Rev.) Mike Lydon age makes us agents of the continuing of our missile, and they prepared to Online Comment work of creation and that therefore launch a counterattack. President our work, whatever it is, is holy? Boris Yeltsin had five minutes to de- Rethinking Mission Donald Rohmer cide whether he should launch a nu- In “Company Men” (5/11), William J. Muenster, Tex. clear attack against the United States. Byron, S.J., calls for the preservation of If he had followed their military pro- “mission and identity” at Jesuit institu- Revisiting the Catechism tocol, he should have launched the at- tions of higher learning. How about “ac- I was disappointed for Daniel P. tack. For some reason, he did not. “The cessibility and affordability”? Catholic Horan, O.F.M., when I read in his col- weapons of war must be abolished colleges and universities are among umn, “Never Justifiable” (6/22), that before they abolish us,” said President the most expensive in the country he found the Catechism of the Catholic Kennedy. If we forget history, we will (Georgetown is about $46,000 per year Church to be “primarily a summary repeat it. and Catholic University is $40,000, instruction manual of church teach- (Rev.) Rich Broderick excluding room and board, of course). ings for catechists.” I wondered: Had Delmar, N.Y. The smaller ones have bottom lines that he ever given it the opportunity to be are more tuition-driven than invest- more than that? Sowing the Word ment-driven. They need to keep raising In 2005 I decided to read the cat- Re “The Kingdom Unusual,” by John tuition just to stay in business. College echism from cover to cover. Over the W. Martens (6/8): The Scripture needs to be affordable, and a Catholic course of the year, I assigned myself scholar C. H. Dodd famously defined college should be affordable to those three to five pages each day, deter- the parable: “At its simplest the par- who need it. It’s time they rethink their mined to read patiently and prayerfully able is a metaphor or simile drawn social mission as something other than (which was key). I was pleasantly sur- from nature or common life, arresting a playground for America’s upper class. prised to find myself reading well past the hearer by its vividness or strange- Christopher Ratto five pages on many an evening because ness, and leaving the mind in sufficient Online Comment it was just too good to put down. And doubt about its precise when I got to the back cover I found application to tease it into the catechism to be far more meaning- active thought.” It seems ful and uplifting as a whole than any like seeds, plants and collection of its parts. If Father Horan, trees are the most ordi- or anyone else reading this letter, has nary of things, especial- not yet given this a try, I heartily rec- ly a mustard shrub. But ommend it. Perhaps they too can gain as Mr. Martens notes, it a whole new appreciation for the cate- is eminently useful for chism by doing so. birds to nest. Here the Ronald Bonesteel birds represent Gentiles, Overland Park, Kan. so the crucifixion of Jesus—one of thousands Mad World of executions during that Re “Nuclear Dud” (Editorial, 6/22): era—becomes the cruci- President John F. Kennedy stated, ble for the unleashing of “He’s still ‘I’m just looking for something to do, so “Every man, woman and child lives the Holy Spirit, which

I’ll run for president’ rich.” bob eckstein cartoon:

September 14, 2015 America 7 SIGNS OFOF THETHE TIMESTIMES

Puerto Rico Amid Accelerating Debt Crisis, Church Calls for Jubilee s Puerto Rico’s government marches on toward a critical financial dead- line regarding its $72 billion “unpayable” debt, there are hopes for a jubilee Aof the kind espoused in Scripture. Church leaders, like Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan, have offered diverse opinions about the effects of the crisis. His recent column in Time magazine was tinged with pastoral, political and solidarity overtones. “The Bible itself provides us with a concept that seems perfect for the situation our island now finds itself in: the jubilee,” he wrote, citing a passage from Leviticus that speaks of debt forgiveness. “The jubilee is meant to prevent the poor from be- coming too poor and serves as an economic clean slate that mirrors the forgiveness and new beginning proclaimed in the Gospels.” Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Washington-based Jubilee USA Network was in Puerto Rico in mid-August working with church, political, business and organized labor leaders to develop a solution to the financial crisis which “invests in people” and ends deep spending cuts in education, health care and employment. It is an idea that the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico welcomes. “I applaud the Jubilee USA Network, which is fighting for debt forgiveness for Puerto Rico and working to bring about a global jubilee—debt relief in times of crisis,” wrote Archbishop González, “but also long- term structures that prevent the next cations: empty coffers for public med- ery plan before it even considers allow- crisis.” ical insurance plans and water and ing bankruptcy. The archbishop cited “mismanage- electric power utilities, plus federal Several prominent economists, ment, bad luck and [Puerto Rico’s] funding cuts to Medicare and other however, have argued that accepting unique colonial status as neither a sov- programs. bankruptcy will not solve the “real ereign country nor a U.S. state” as the Gov. Alejandro García Padilla ap- causes” of the crisis, such as the is- root causes of the financial woes. peared on local television on June 28 land’s political status, innate sociolog- Most of Puerto Rico’s debt is owed saying: ical idiosyncrasies and outdated eco- to “vulture funds,” companies that “The debt cannot be paid. There is nomic procedures. Many align with assume risks presented by unstable no other option. I would love to have Pope Francis’ tying the world econom- debtors by buying the debts for pen- an easier option. It is not politics, it is ic crisis to “unfettered capitalism” and nies on the dollar. These secondary math.” defining it as “the failure of global cap- financial markets commonly operate After the sudden scramble his mes- italism to create fairness, equity and privately and are usually based in fis- sage caused in financial sectors, his first dignified livelihoods for the poor.” cally safe-haven countries and push proposal was to consider the possibil- Nevertheless, Archbishop Gonzá- the debtor entities to repay what they ity of structuring a local bankruptcy lez supports the bankruptcy plan. owe in full. system. Although federal courts have “Although not a perfect solution, bank- Aug. 30 was the deadline Puerto expressly denied the so-called “creole” ruptcy protection would provide a Rico faced to present a fiscal read- bankruptcy’s constitutionality, Puerto fairer, transparent system for resolving justment plan for the next five years Rico continues to pursue that avenue. Puerto Rico’s debt burden and creating based on recommendations from the There is a growing push in the fiscal space we need to grow our International Monetary Fund. The Washington to pass legislation sup- economy and serve our people,” he said. date is a step ahead of several crucial porting it, but Congress has rejected end-of-September economic compli- the idea, opting to wait for the recov- From CNS, RNS and other sources.

8 America September 14, 2015 most all their seats. get enough signatures for nomination, CLOSED FOR BUSINESS. Puerto Rico gets closer to a deadline for Numerically, the Labour collapse has surged ahead, remaining popular its $72 billion “unpayable” debt. was not so calamitous—except in with the rank and file. At various times Scotland, where they were wiped out in recent weeks, his opponents have by the resurgent Scottish National uneasily held hands, attempting to per- Party, whose resilience after losing the suade the party membership away from independence referendum in 2014 Corbyn, but he has continued to attract defied all predictions other than their support, mainly from the unions and own. Miliband’s Labour managed to the young. Specific policy lines have increase their overall popular vote been featured in the campaign but have slightly—more than the Tory vote been secondary to the question wheth- share rose—but suffered a net loss of er Labour can ever return to Downing parliamentary seats, winning 30.4 per- Street, or will it henceforth be a power- cent and 232 seats. This is the smallest less party of protest. number of seats held by Labour since There have been allegations that 1987. Miliband lost. He had to go. non-party members, including even Whereas the Liberal Democrats, some Tories, might have taken out whose leader, Nick Clegg, resigned Labour Party memberships in order after being deputy prime minister to to cast a vote for Corbyn, ensuring Cameron in the coalition, contrived the party’s non-electability. Corbyn’s to elect his successor without public opponents demanded extra checks attention, Labour has tried to regroup for infiltration; Corbyn denied the out in the open. Splits and divisions possibility. Right on cue, the hashtag have been there for all to see as the #LabourPurge began trending on United Kingdom lengthy leadership battle raged. The Tw i t t e r. biggest talking point thus far (a winner The leadership battle has reflected Labour Picks a will be formally declared on Sept. 12) the continuing anti-austerity feeling in is the remarkable popularity of Jeremy many countries, including the United New Leader Corbyn, a veteran of the party’s left. Kingdom. Greece’s travails have in re- he British Labour Party has His brand of outwardly cent weeks been the most long been marked by faction- hard socialist policies is prominent as Prime Talism and splits, entryism and preferable, according to Minister Alexis Tsipras intrigue. The center and the right have some, to winning back called a general election, it too, but they hide it better. With power. precipitating an immedi- Labour, it is visible and endemic. Corbyn’s three lead- ate split in his radical left It has happened again, as Labour ership competitors, the Syriza party. Those who tries to drag itself back from disaster M.P.’s Andy Burnham, repudiate that country’s after the Parliamentary general elec- Yvette Cooper and debtor-imposed austeri- tion of May 2015. Then, the Tories Liz Kendall, all come ty broke away. Although under David Cameron won enough from the center-right, the British Labour Party seats to collect the keys to Number “Blairite” wing of the Labour Party leadership has always managed, 10 Downing Street and form the first party. They compare his candidate Jeremy Corbyn barely, to hold its uni- Conservative Party government since rise with that of the for- ty, there must now be 1992. Labour, under Ed Miliband, mer leader Michael Foot, some concern that the suffered electoral casualties, as did the whose cerebral and passionate advoca- Corbyn-inspired resurgent left might smaller Liberal Democrats who, having cy of a left-leaning platform led to elec- similarly, and permanently, split the spent the previous five years as junior toral catastrophe for Labour in 1983. party.

Photo: wikimedia commons/garry knight Photo: wikimedia commons/garry partners in a Tory-led coalition, lost al- Yet Corbyn, who initially struggled to David Stewart, S.J.

September 14, 2015 America 9 SIGNS OF THE TIMES Ten Years After Katrina On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina NEWS BRIEFS buried one of the world’s most iconic cities in a flood of biblical proportions. When Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago re- More than 1,800 people lost their ceived the pallium, a symbol of his unity with the lives. “It was like a war zone. No sign pope and brother bishops, at a special Mass on Aug. of life,” said the now-retired archbish- 23, he asked the entire church to join him in seek- op of New Orleans, Alfred C. Hughes. ing out lost sheep. • The Diocese of St. Augustine Across the region, 200,000 homes will join the city of St. Augustine, Fla., in celebrat- were destroyed or heavily damaged. ing the 450th anniversary of the first permanent Cathedral Basilica Dozens of public, private and Catholic settlement of European origin in what became the of St. Augustine schools closed forever. But in the continental United States on Sept. 8. • In Syria, midst of the devastation, the Catholic the Islamic State demolished the 1,500-year-old Saint Elian mon- Church jump-started the city’s ini- astery and beheaded a renowned 81-year-old archaeologist who tial recovery by opening up as many sought to protect antiquities in the town of Palmyra. • The Vatican Catholic schools as quickly as possible. has given its backing to the naming of a central square in Rome af- These schools accepted all students, ter Martin Luther, who was excommunicated by Pope Leo X near- including those who had attended ly 500 years ago. • According to the United Nations, nearly 4,500 public schools, and did not charge tu- people, including many civilians, have been killed in Yemen since ition. The current archbishop of New March in the conflict between forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Orleans, Gregory M. Aymond, who Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels. • Josef Wesolowski, former arch- came back to his hometown as arch- bishop and nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died on Aug. 28, in bishop in 2009, sees God’s blessings the Vatican residence where he was awaiting trial on charges of child everywhere he looks: “He was walking sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. in the floodwaters. He was in the attic. He was in the Superdome. [H]e didn’t abandon us.” Speaking on “America ers, who argued that the archdiocese’s contraceptive coverage or follow pro- This Week” on Aug. 26, Mayor Mitch proposals to strengthen the schools’ cedures to hand off that responsibility Landrieu of New Orleans said the city Catholic mission could threaten their to others. The court ruled in July that “is a great story of resurrection and re- job security and lead to intrusions into the Little Sisters are not substantially demption...of people coming together their private lives. John Piderit, S.J., burdened by the process set out by the to help each other out.” He commends archdiocesan vicar for administration Department of Health and Human the “tremendous progress” the city has and moderator of the diocesan curia, Services by which they can avoid re- made, but adds that there is still “a long said the overall impact of the agreement quirements to provide contraceptive way to go.” is to clarify Catholic identity, especial- coverage to employees as mandated ly in the Bay Area, where ideas may be by the Affordable Care Act. All of the confused, adding, “We expect people circuit court decisions have come since Labor Deal not to compromise in Catholic teaching the Supreme Court’s June 2014 ruling A new labor agreement between the in word and in action.” that the owners of the Hobby Lobby Archdiocese of San Francisco and the craft store chain and similarly situated, union representing teachers at the four closely held, for-profit companies are archdiocesan high schools states that Court Approves Stay entitled to be exempt from the con- Catholic teaching must remain para- For Little Sisters traceptive requirement. The 100-word mount in the classroom and that teach- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the order of the circuit court granted the ers are accountable for personal conduct 10th Circuit on Aug. 21 said that stay requested by the Little Sisters, that could negatively affect their ability while the Little Sisters of the Poor Southern Nazarene University and to serve the Catholic mission. The deal and fellow plaintiffs appeal its July Reaching Souls International, pending ends 10 months of bargaining marked ruling against them, they need not the Supreme Court’s consideration of by strong resistance from some teach- comply with the mandate to provide their petitions for appeal.

10 America September 14, 2015 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

dispatch | Los angeles tically running off the stage. But instead of diminishing the mo- People of the Book ment, all this awkwardness reveals something important and special. At its ne evening in July, a couple awards; few would even know these foundation the comic book business is of hundred people gathered artists’ names, or that of Will Eisner, for a community not of shiny-toothed ac- Oin a dark San Diego hotel whom the comic book industry’s year- tors and movie execs but of quirky and ballroom for an awards ceremony. At ly awards in comic book excellence are deeply vulnerable artists who are trying the front of the pop-up tables, a fold- named. to uncover what it means to be human out stage sported a podium that could In 1978 Eisner, who was best known in word balloons and pencil drawings. be quickly wheeled to the next event. in the 1940s and ’50s as the creator of And while for Hollywood “Spider- A pull-down screen behind sat at the “The Spirit” comic strip, which ran as a Man” may be just a property to be ready to display slides of winners and a newspaper series. wrote and drew the scrutinized, “The Avengers” a franchise commemoration of the deceased. first graphic novel, an extraordinary set over which to gush while its actors get Meanwhile, overweight older men of short stories set in the tenements of stalked by TMZ.com, before all that in Hawaiian shirts mingled at the these and so many other stories we cash bar with young women in in- So many stories we see see today on the big screen were teresting glasses and the occasional tales our parents read to us at night, sleek-suited up-and-comer, while today on the big screen lands and characters we dreamed of bland saxophone-heavy public-do- amid nightlights and glow-in-the- main music strained in the back- were tales our parents dark-starred ceilings. ground. The presentations for the read to us at night. Wandering through the teeming evening were just as odd an assort- halls of the San Diego Comic Con ment, from the middle-aged artist next door, you see it in people’s eyes with a sweet Texas twang who fielded a New York, called A Contract With God. as they come upon someone dressed as phone call from a complaining teenage In the title story, a man proposes a deal their favorite character. It’s not the veri- daughter in the midst of his presenta- with God, believing that if he promises similitude of costume that grabs them, tion to the actor Edward James Olmos to be good, God will always take care but that sense of being transported impeccably pronouncing an endless se- of him. All goes well—until it doesn’t. into stories that have spoken to them, ries of Japanese names. Eisner revealed decades later that the worlds not simply of entertainment but Truly, only an L.A. funeral could story was his attempt to express the of meaning. account for such a crazy assortment of rage and grief he felt over the death of “The deep places in our lives—places characters. But the people in this room his teenage daughter. He went on to of resistance and embrace—are not ul- and their colleagues had in recent years write a number of other equally power- timately reached by instruction,” writes earned billions of dollars for their com- ful stories about being human. the theologian Walter Brueggemann. panies (and in a few cases done rather The comic book industry uses his “Those places of resistance and embrace well for themselves, too). Among their name to honor its greatest creations. are reached only by stories, by images, works are some of the most interna- But on this particular night, the over- metaphors and phrases that line out the tionally well-known (and in some cases whelming majority of the winners are world differently, apart from our fear beloved) stories ever written. In fact, nowhere to be found, and those who and hurt.” just a few hundred yards from this din- are present have none of the polish In this cheap, half-empty ballroom, gy half-empty ballroom, over 100,000 of their Hollywood counterparts. the creators of the next generations of people had gathered from around the Shannon Watters, whose cartoony those stories sip watered-down drinks world to celebrate their artistry. “Lumberjanes” comic book about a and wait for the awards show to end. No mainstream press covered these group of girl scouts who encounter It’s not that they don’t want the valida- supernatural phenomenon won two tion. It’s just that there are characters major awards, was so overwhelmed whispering in their heads, calling them Jim McDermott, S.J., a screenwriter, is America’s Los Angeles correspondent. Twitter: she couldn’t quite stop crying; other back to unexpected countries of grace @PopCulturPriest. winners were shy to the point of prac- and truth. Jim McDermott

September 14, 2015 America 11 James Martin Is the Shroud Genuine? wo years ago an Italian scien- attenuated torso—all consistent with of the Pool of Bethesda. tist published a book entitled crucifixion) is a perfect photonegative. According to Chapter Five of the TThe Mystery of the Shroud, Even if it was a medieval forgery, how Gospel of John, Jesus, while visiting an examination of the authenticity of could forgers have known about nega- Jerusalem, heals a paralyzed man be- the Shroud of Turin, the cloth that tives? Moreover, how could they have side a pool “which has five porticoes.” many believe to be the burial cloth of concocted an image that appears in Until the 19th century, many scholars Jesus mentioned in the Gospels. This three dimensions when analyzed by believed there was no such pool. The book asserted that contrary to scien- contemporary scientists? pool in the story was, some believed, tific studies from the late 1980s, the Other compelling proofs: the pe- an “allegorical” pool, or the entire story 14-foot piece of linen cloth, which is culiar weave of the linen dates to the was fabricated and added to the Gospel stored in an underground vault in the time of Jesus; and, believe it or not, the later. Some believed that the idea of Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in pollen and dust found on the shroud the five porticoes was an allegorical Turin, dates not from medieval times (some around the knees representation of the but from the time of Christ. Il Mistero of the man) are native to five books of Moses or Della Sindone, by Giulio Fanti, a pro- Jerusalem. Religious a “construct of the imag- fessor of mechanical engineering at the And so on. For those legends ination,” as Francis J. University of Padua, dates the cloth be- who believe in the shroud’s Moloney, S.D.B., says in tween 300 B.C. and A.D. 400, a period authenticity, every new have a his commentary on the that includes the dates of Jesus’ death confirmation confirms. For funny way Gospel of John. and resurrection. Professor Fanti’s tests those who don’t believe, ev- At the turn of the focused mainly on the rate of decompo- ery possible doubt (particu- of being 20th century, however, sition of linen threads over time. larly critiques of the science proven excavations in Jerusalem Arguments over the shroud, in front behind the investigations) uncovered not simply a of which Pope Francis prayed during encourages disbelief and true. pool but, as the archae- his visit to Turin this June, probably be- eye-rolling dismissals. As ologists gradually cut gan when it was first displayed in the the saying goes, “For those without into the rock, the foundations for col- late 14th century. In fact, the most com- faith, no explanation is sufficient. For onnaded walkways or porticoes—five pelling argument against its authentici- those with faith, no explanation is nec- of them, exactly as John had described. ty is that relatively late date. Where was essary.” (Speaking of authenticity, that So I give these things the benefit of it before that? Why would such a pre- quotation is either from a character in the doubt. My general reaction is, “Who cious religious artifact be absent from The Song of Bernadette, Franz Werfel’s knows?” My faith does not depend on the historical record? Wouldn’t some- novel about the Marian apparitions in the shroud’s authenticity, but neither thing so important to believers have Lourdes, or from an even loftier source, am I eager to disprove it. If I get to heav- been the object of popular devotion St. Thomas Aquinas.) en (a big if ), and Jesus says, “That was long before the 14th century? I’m not saying that people who doubt a clever forgery by some lucky medieval On the other hand, the arguments the shroud’s authenticity are faithless. artists,” I’ll say, “O.K.” But if Jesus says, in favor of its authenticity are strong Needless to say, it’s not essential to “That was indeed my shroud,” I’ll say, too. To begin with, the image of the believe in the Shroud of Turin to be a “O.K.” Frankly, if Jesus says anything to brutalized man on the shroud (who good Catholic. Rather, most of us have me, I’ll say, “O.K.” bears holes in his hands and feet, a a “confirmation bias,” which inclines us For now, I’ll revere the shroud not gash in his side, the marks of scourging to give greater weight to arguments that simply as an object of faith (that’s the on his back, pinprick wounds on his prove what we already believe. somewhat weaker stance: it’s important forehead and has longish arms and an I tend to believe things that are still because people think it’s important) unproven. Why? Because religious leg- but as something else: the possibility James Martin, S.J., is editor at large of America. His novel The Abbey will be ends have a funny way of being proven of something great, something remark- published in October. true. My favorite example is the story able, even something holy.

12 America September 14, 2015 September 14, 2015 America 13 Religion and Diplomacy Toward a better understanding of religion and global affairs By John Kerry

ne of the most interesting challenges we evidence of anti-Semitism, radicalization and anti-Muslim face in global diplomacy today is the need sentiment. to fully understand and engage the great As secretary of state for the past two-and-a-half years, impact that a wide range of religious tra- and before that as a senator for 29 years and also as a pres- ditions have on foreign affairs. I often say idential candidate, I have met with religious leaders all Othat if I headed back to college today, I would major in across the world. I have also met with people of all reli- comparative religions rather than political science. That gious traditions, life philosophies and belief systems. That is because religious actors and institutions are playing an experience has only reaffirmed my belief that there is much influential role in every region of the world and on nearly more that unites us, and should unite us, than divides us. every issue central to U.S. foreign policy. Amid the diversity of the world’s religions, there are In June, Pope Francis’ historic encyclical “Laudato Si’” common denominators; many are tied together by the helped advocate for global measures to combat climate Golden Rule. They share fundamental concerns about the change. Religious advocacy groups have long raised aware- human condition, poverty, human relationships and our re- ness about famine and human rights violations abroad; sponsibilities to each other. Many people talk about how we Buddhist nuns in Nepal play a crucial role in natural disas- draw strength from the example of our religious communi- ter recovery efforts; and religious organizations have been ties—but too few actually translate those words into actions essential to providing humanitarian support to Syrian ref- or policies. Leaders in public life need to recognize that in a ugees. world where people of all religious traditions are migrating On matters as diverse as how to drive economic growth, and mingling like never before, we ignore the global impact rein in corruption, combat terrorism, mitigate conflict, ad- of religion at our peril. vance women’s rights and promote public health, religious beliefs shape the views of publics and change-makers near and far. In a world where people of all religious Religion is a multivalent force, not reducible to good religion and bad reli- traditions are migrating and mingling gion. Still, we must take seriously those instances when actors seek to justify vi- like never before, we ignore the global olence through religion. Rather than talking about building a school, creating a impact of religion at our peril. community or providing health care, these actors sometimes promote destruction— occasionally, sadly, in the guise of religion. In the Central African Republic, militia groups, some A New Approach of which are Christian and Muslim, are engaged in a It is not enough just to talk about better dialogue. We have bloody conflict. Religious minorities in Burma, including to act to meet this need. That is why in 2013 I announced the Rohingya—a Muslim community—are subject to hate the creation of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at speech and controversial legislation that threatens religious the State Department, which helps to implement President freedom. In the Middle East and Africa, terror networks Obama’s U.S. Strategy on Religious Leader and Faith like ISIL and Boko Haram justify violent acts with reli- Community Engagement. Its mission is clear: to expand gious arguments. Major European cities are also struggling our understanding of religious dynamics and engagement to cope with the aftermath of terror attacks amid strong with religious actors. The office is led by Shaun Casey, a former professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological John Kerry, former Democratic senator from Massachusetts, is the 68th Seminary, who is one of the country’s leading thinkers on U.S. secretary of state. religion in public life. As U.S. special representative for reli-

14 America September 14, 2015 FRUITFUL DIALOGUE. Secretary of State John Kerry, center left, stands next to Venerable Professor Kollupitiya Mahinda Sangharakkhita Mahathera as they tour the ancient Kelaniya Temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 2, 2015.

gion and global affairs, he is charged with growing our abil- influence at both local and national levels. Although just two ity to reach out to more communities and to create greater years old, the office has already met with over 1,000 reli- understanding among peoples and countries. gious leaders from five continents and a range of religious The new office’s mission is multifaceted. First, it provides traditions. Indeed, engagement is a two-way street and our me with high-level advice on policy matters as they relate to foreign policy will be better informed by hearing what they religion. In many countries around the globe, a comprehen- have to say. sive look at almost any policy area requires attention to re- In creating the office, I encouraged strategic collabo- ligious dynamics. Second, it works with U.S. embassies and ration by consolidating multiple offices that already han- consulates to improve their capacity to assess religious dy- dled religion-related topics. For example, Ira Forman, the namics and engage religious actors. We want foreign service special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, now officers to know how to work effectively with local religious works alongside Shaarik Zafar, the special representative individuals and groups. Finally, it serves as an initial point of to Muslim communities, and Arsalan Suleman, the acting contact for organizations and people interested in discuss- special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. ing foreign policy issues related to religion. While their special mandates remain unchanged, their dip- That final charge revolves around an important skill in lomatic experiences will be better shared and their insights diplomacy: listening. We regularly meet with religious lead- more effectively implemented. ers and religiously based organizations, listening to their The Office of Religion and Global Affairs is adding value thoughts and suggestions in order to work with them on on some of the most difficult international challenges that matters of significance to both sides. These religious actors our country faces. One is the fight against climate change,

RE U TERS / A ndrew H arnik/Pool and organizations are key players in their countries, holding a priority for the Obama administration and an issue that

September 14, 2015 America 15 has long been important to me. It is also an area in which we will mistakenly see religious influences when only polit- we have strong partners in the religious community. Even ical and social ones exist, or we will overstep the separation before Pope Francis issued his encyclical, organizations of church and state laid out in the First Amendment. While across the religious spectrum raised the banner against these concerns are serious, and we think about them daily, global warming. We have worked with many religiously the goal is to make sure we approach religion with a critical based groups to advance the fight, including those prepar- and sophisticated analytical lens. ing to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Summit in State Department lawyers have already drawn up Paris later this year. Importantly, the office has ensured that clear and practical guidelines to help officers serving leaders of these groups have been able to meet and exchange overseas identify what is and is not allowed by the First views with department officials on topics such as the Green Amendment’s establishment clause. We must be careful Climate Fund. to not overemphasize the role of religion and to properly The office is also leading engagement with communities understand its intersection with political, economic and abroad on a regular basis. Just a few months ago, Shaarik other factors. Zafar led a delegation of American Muslims to Jakarta to We are also providing resources to support our diplo- talk about ways Indonesia and the United States can address mats’ engagement with religious actors. The office is design- shared challenges. They discussed how best to take advan- ing, developing and implementing training modules for a tage of opportunities to collaborate in areas like increased broad range of State Department officials—from ambassa- trade and investment, and made a renewed commitment to dors to new foreign service officers—on fundamental issues the values of tolerance, pluralism and democracy. The visit related to religion and foreign policy. These interactive ma- was typical of our outreach efforts to build people-to-people terials and creative teaching methodologies will increase the ties, spread key messages and strengthen relationships with knowledge of the department’s officers serving overseas. The local civil society institutions. courses will help officers think about the complex issues sur- rounding religious actors, religious dynamics and American Understanding Religion’s Complexity interests in a comprehensive framework designed to support I understand that there may be concerns about the U.S. our foreign policy goals. government engaging religion in this way. Some may worry These efforts are complemented by our work defending religious freedom around the globe. The ambassador at large for international religious freedom, David Saperstein, and the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, have long been successful at protecting religious minorities and raising alarms about religious oppression. The office works to execute its Congressional mandate to monitor, report on and promote the human right of reli- gious freedom across the globe. With these two offices, I am proud to say that the United States is better able than ever before to engage with religious communities and ideas from South America to the Middle East to Asia. In early 2014, I had the honor of traveling with President Obama to Rome to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. Visiting the first Jesuit pope as the U.S. secretary of state was an experience that I never could have imagined when I was an altar boy 60 years ago. The moment was both per- sonally thrilling and an embodiment of the deep connection between religion and America’s foreign affairs. Today, we are approaching religious actors and groups in a new way. The State Department understands the cen- tral role that religion plays in the lives of billions across the globe, and we know engagement can open a world of pos- sibilities. The challenging array of foreign policy issues we face today demands that we recognize a fundamental truth: Our foreign policy needs a more sophisticated approach to religion. A

16 America September 14, 2015 Our Armed Society The common good is the first victim of America’s gun culture. By Firmin DeBrabander

mong the so-called advanced societies of the ilies with small children were forced to scatter for cover. In world, only in the United States are there regu- the end, that violence left nine people dead and 18 injured. lar scenes of gun violence and suffering like that Authorities collected more than 100 guns from the brawling witnessed in July in Lafayette, La., after an ap- bikers. Amid reports of other bikers pouring in to Waco to Aparently unbalanced middle-aged man fired off 20 rounds in take up the battle, the city was locked down. People were a movie theater, killing two and injuring nine, or like the even afraid to leave their homes. more devastating spectacle that engulfed Charleston, S.C., This is what passes for normal life in our armed society— the month before that when a hate-filled young man began enjoying the “freedom” that the National Rifle Association a murderous rampage inside a historic African-American promises as the number of civilian firearms in the United church, killing nine people during a Bible study. States soars and easy access to guns continues. The gun And in the month just before that in Waco, Tex., on May rights movement has made sure of this. The N.R.A. has 17, a dispute among biker gangs erupted into an epic gun fought universal background checks for prospective buyers battle outside a chain restaurant in a suburban shopping and uses its political power to limit the ability of the Bureau center. A witness likened it to a war zone, with “maybe 30 of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to regulate gun dealers guns being fired in the parking lot, maybe 100 rounds”; fam- and track illegal guns and guns used in crimes. The gun rights movement’s solution to gun violence is more guns—always more guns. Its supporters argue that we Firmin DeBrabander is a professor of philosophy at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the author of Do Guns Make Us Free? (Yale must ensure that the “good guys” among us are well armed, as University Press). Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and chief executive

STAND YOUR GROUND? Chris Williams holds a firearm as he attends a rally against Initiative 594 at the state capitol in Olympia, Wash., Dec. 13, 2014. RE U TERS /Jason R edmond

September 14, 2015 America 17 officer of the N.R.A., memorably put it, and we must ex- police officer Curtis Reeves after he shot an unarmed man pand the number of public venues where guns can be legally he argued with in a Tampa movie theater in January 2014. carried. After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary The victim had allegedly thrown popcorn in Reeves’s face. School in Newtown, Conn., where 20 first-graders were His lawyer said Reeves did not know his assailant’s only killed, the N.R.A. recommended placing armed guards in weapon was popcorn; in the darkened theater, he feared his every school in the nation and training and arming teachers opponent was better armed. and staff. Many school districts obliged. Fair enough. In a stand-your-ground society, it makes Since the shooting in 2007 at Virginia Tech, where a gun- sense to suspect and fear your neighbor. You do not know man killed 32 people, the gun what weapons he may have, rights movement has persuaded how he might use them and legislators in nine states to allow America’s profusion of over what complaint, no matter students and faculty with ap- how trifling. What if he decides, propriate permits to carry their arms makes us instinctively like George Zimmerman, who weapons on public university in 2012 confronted and killed campuses. Ten more states are wary of reaching out to an unarmed teenager, Trayvon considering similar legislation others, even in acts Martin, that you look suspi- this year. It seems the very no- cious, and he picks a fight with tion of gun-free zones is endan- of charity. you? The law effectively can offer gered. In April 2014 Georgia legal cover to shooters who, fear- passed a controversial law—a ing for their personal safety, feel so-called guns-everywhere statute—allowing residents to justified in using deadly force in self-defense. Ironically, of bring firearms into bars and restaurants, airports and gov- course, that is precisely the feeling they are more likely to ernment buildings. have thanks to stand-your-ground ordinances. The armed society obstructs our ability to fulfill the The ‘Shoot First’ Society church’s teaching and work for the common good, a foun- In a lesser known and heralded policy position, the U.S. dational concept in Catholic social teaching. St. Thomas Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for stronger gun Aquinas affirmed that we are political by nature and that the control. The bishops released an impassioned plea to law- aim of the political community is to advance this common makers shortly after Sandy Hook, urging them to support good. The personal success and welfare of each individual bills that would make guns safer and restrict easy access to is bound up with it, and people cannot hope to advance in- firearms. But American Catholics have not embraced gun dividual goals without accepting and contributing to it; but control as a central tenet of their parish social justice agen- the common good is not the mere accumulation of individ- das. This must change. ual goods. As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the The gun rights ideology, which says we need ever more Church puts it: “The human person cannot find fulfillment guns to deal with the threat of violence, that we must expand in himself...apart from the fact that he exists ‘with’ others the number of public places where people may carry weap- and ‘for’ others. This truth does not simply require that he ons and that we must legally protect people who use fire- live with others at various levels of social life, but that he arms, is opposed to the message of the Gospel and Catholic seek unceasingly—in actual practice...the good...found in social teaching. The radical agenda of the contemporary gun existing forms of social life.” rights movement undermines the very basis of civil society, Cooperation and interaction are necessary conditions of reducing community members to atomistic, alienated indi- this social life, the compendium affirms. But stand-your- viduals and contradicts the Catholic doctrine of the com- ground laws drive people apart; they sow and then validate mon good. mutual mistrust. The gun rights movement is busy creating a shoot-first America’s profusion of arms makes us instinctively wary society. This is the upshot of so-called stand-your-ground of reaching out to others, even in acts of charity. It becomes legislation, now on the books in more than 20 states. Stand impossible to “seek the good of others as though it were one’s your ground is the logical, legalistic extension of our armed own good,” as the church urges, because an armed society society; it effectively emboldens gun owners to use their opposes the primary and requisite identification with oth- weapons in public. Indeed, what good is owning and carry- ers. In a stand-your-ground world, other people are a source ing a gun for self-protection if you are not also legally pro- of fear—a source of danger. I have to worry about even mi- tected in using it? nor misunderstandings, should my actions and outreach be Stand your ground was invoked in the case of the retired interpreted as a threat.

18 America September 14, 2015 A Deadly Force Busy making guns a fixture in public spaces, the gun rights movement ironically compels a radical retreat from the pub- lic sphere. Guns are inherently isolating. A gun indeed com- municates; it communicates a threat. This is its nature, and gun rights proponents admit as much when they proudly assert that the weapon on one’s hip serves as a warning—a warning of deadly force. This is a disincentive to look for Christ in others, as the Gospel urges us to do—as Jesus’ disciples discovered on the road to Emmaus, when they invited a stranger to dinner and discovered he was the risen Christ. Jesus tells us that we encounter him in others when we reach out to them and serve them, when we extend the bonds of love. Jesus is found precisely in a rich, open public life. What is more, he urges us to reach out to those we would be least inclined to en- gage because we fear them or disdain them, or suspect them. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” Jesus tells us. A favorite saying of the gun rights movement is that “an armed society is a polite society.” That is, guns sprinkled lib- erally throughout a community will effectively scare people straight. People will behave lest they insult or offend gun owners, and God help any prospective criminals. But I imagine it otherwise: an armed society is distinctly uncom- fortable, treacherous and electric. The gun rights recipe for peace sounds more like a constant tense and tenuous stand- off between warring parties. It is no prescription for lasting social peace and security. Guns by their nature frustrate discourse; they chasten speech. If you should spy an armed citizen on a street cor- ner, you are not more likely to walk up to greet him unan- nounced, but less so. Most people will hurry the other way. Gun rights proponents will object at this point, saying that if or when guns are a regular feature of everyday life—in other words, a commonplace—they will not hinder conver- sation. Perhaps. But this does not change the fact that guns certainly do not invite conversation and interpersonal con- tact. Guns are mutually alienating. The theologian Jacques Maritain suggested how an armed society violates natural law. “Each one of us has need of oth- ers for his material, intellectual and moral life,” Maritain explained in The Rights of Man and Natural Law, “but also because of the radical generosity inscribed within the very being of the person, because of that openness to the commu- nications of intelligence and love which is the nature of the spirit and which demands an entrance into relationship with other persons.” Of our nature, we are outwardly directed, driven and disposed. We cannot live without others; we re- quire their contribution and interaction. On our own, we are incomplete. The church teaches that we must work in and with a political community advancing the common good in

September 14, 2015 America 19 order to perfect our nature. that invisible, tacitly accepted and understood laws govern Mr. LaPierre declares that supporting the gun lobby’s society and that everyone will behave accordingly and pre- agenda “is a massive declaration of individual rights.” To be dictably. If, by contrast, good behavior must be ensured at the sure, gun-rights absolutism demands nothing short of rad- barrel of a gun, as gun rights proponents maintain, then all ical individualism, sliding into a dangerous and foolhardy, bets are off; I can assume nothing about anyone else’s behav- and ultimately destructive, insistence upon self-determina- ior. Needless to say, it fundamentally changes my everyday life tion and self-sufficiency. Mr. LaPierre is prone to listing the and makes it impossible to pursue ordinary business. many hostile forces that oppose individuals in society, be- “In the world that surrounds us,” Mr. LaPierre told the ginning with the government, which “can’t or won’t, protect 2014 Conservative Political Action Committee convention, you.... Only you can protect you!” “there are terrorists and home invaders and drug cartels and To gun owners, he declares, “We are on our own!” car-jackers and knock-out gamers and rapers [sic], haters, campus killers, airport killers, shopping mall killers, road rage Seeking Security killers, and killers who scheme to destroy our country with But an individual cannot ensure his security on his own for massive storms of violence against our power grids, or vicious long. Real security rests on the integrity of society at large, waves of chemicals or disease that could collapse the society which is contingent on the cooperation of others and, in a de- that sustains us all.” The implication is clear: The rule of law mocracy, the rule of law. The N.R.A. touts gun ownership as is quite nearly vanished; civil society is on the brink, if not the best way to protect your private property, your person and already destroyed in parts of the country. your family. But in a society without the rule of law and its These are no harmless, idle pronouncements. In the hands recognition by others, your property is hopelessly imperiled, of the gun rights movement, they become a self-fulfilling no matter how great your arsenal. prophecy. A proliferation of guns in society, increasingly prev- The gun rights movement willfully, at times happily, ignores alent in public spaces and used in stand-your-ground states to the rule of law, but the rule of law is what ensures the seamless neutralize imagined threats, undermines the conviction that functioning of modern democratic societies. Everyone can go the rule of law still pertains. People who have no gun start about their business because they assume their neighbors rec- to think they too should be armed—and ready to use their ognize and respect the rule of law. They share the conviction weapon. That erodes the rule of law even more. In short, the gun rights movement creates the world it warns us of—where differences are decided by gunfire, as in Waco. To that extent, Mr. LaPierre gives up on humanity; he would reduce us to our mere physical being, engrossed in self- ish, material concerns. “In this uncertain world, surrounded by lies and corruption,” he told the crowd at the convention, “there is no greater freedom than the right to survive, to pro- tect our families with all the rifles, shotguns and handguns we want.” The church maintains far higher aspirations. “The human being is a person, not just an individual,” the compendium tells us, and “does not find complete self-fulfillment until he moves beyond the mentality of needs and enters into that of gratuitousness and gift, which fully corresponds to his essence and community vocation.” Political society is not an end in itself, according to the church. We have a higher destiny, an ultimate end in Christ. But we cannot hope to attain that end, Aquinas knew well, unless we inhabit a society that promotes the fullest develop- ment of the human person in all its capacities and encourages and makes possible outreach and service. We require such personal preparation to invite grace, and this is achieved in a political society devoted to pursuing the common good. The common good demands that we resist the radical agenda of the gun rights movement and work to bring peace to this armed society. A

20 America September 14, 2015 September 14, 2015 America 21 Dear Pope Francis Letters, with love, from young Catholic women By Elizabeth Groppe

ear Pope Francis.…” Thus began many of write to the pope and wagered that the letters that were carefully placed in a other young women (ages 15–30) blue binder in preparation for transconti- might be inspired to do likewise. In nental travel to Rome. Others opened with an invitation published in America ‘Dthe salutation: “Your Holiness,” “Most Holy Reverend Pope and circulated through the Catholic Francis,” “Querido Papa Francesco,” “Queridísimo Santo Campus Ministry Association, they in- Padre” or “Caro Papa.” Some arrived on letterhead bearing vited their peers to join them in sharing their love for the the name of a Catholic school, while others were handwrit- Catholic tradition and ideas that could contribute to the ten on polka-dot notecards or rainbow-colored paper. church’s outreach to young women. Two hundred and twen- The letters, in all their colorful variety, appeared in the ty-five Catholic women from 16 high schools, colleges and mailbox of the Saint Mary’s College Center for Spirituality universities responded. They wrote of the significance of the in response to an invitation issued to millennial women by Catholic faith in their lives, challenges they face as young peers at this Catholic women’s college in Notre Dame, Ind. women in our culture and means to enhance ecclesial out- The initiative was inspired by the article “A Lost Genera- reach to their generation. tion?” published in America in 2012 by the sociologist Patricia Wittberg, S.C. One-third of millennial women Body of Christ and Sacrament of Love baptized into the Catholic Church in the United States, The letters penned to Pope Francis give voice to the beauty, she wrote, no longer find a spiritual home in Catholicism. truth and goodness that young women find in the Catholic Millennial men have left the church too—but not to the tradition. “On the day of my confirmation,” wrote Kate, “I same degree, possibly making this the first generation in the was sure I was a Catholic. As I sat in my pew with my older history of Western Christianity in which fewer women are sister (who was my sponsor), I looked up and was so touched active in the Catholic faith than their male peers. by the beauty of the church and the wonderful music that I The disaffiliation from the Catholic Church of so many almost cried. I truly felt God’s love and was inspired to carry young women is a loss both to the church and to those who out my duties as a Catholic.” Haley composed the poem “My have departed. The church is without the gifts and charisms Church, My Home” that expresses the strength she finds that these young women could contribute to the life and through Eucharistic communion in the body of Christ. “The mission of the body of Christ, and they, in turn, are with- church,” shared Anna, “offers salvation in Christ, forgiveness, out the sacramental, liturgical and corporate life that could and most of all love. Not the type of love society wants, but be the church’s gift to them. Moreover, the loss of so many a genuine love…. We need strong Catholic women to speak millennial women bodes ill for the future of the Catholic out today, and tomorrow and the next day.” Church in the United States. Traditionally, Sister Wittberg The young writers speak of the church as a family that notes, women have taken primary responsibility for handing reaches out with compassion to others. They cherish the on the faith to their daughters and sons. If young women moral and spiritual formation they have received, the continue to leave Catholicism, she cautions, the church will church’s defense of life and human dignity, the Catholic likely lose not only these young women but also the follow- social tradition and the work of justice and peace-making. ing generation of their children. “I find the church’s focus on the poor inspirational,” wrote What could students active in campus ministry at a the university student Mary Jane, “and it has motivated me Catholic women’s college do in response to this? Moved by to use my knowledge to serve others. I hope to graduate in Pope Francis’ humility and evangelical joy, they decided to nutrition and work in a third-world country making a differ- ence.” Many of the letters came from Catholic high schools Elizabeth Groppe is an associate professor of theology at Xavier and colleges for women. “I am fortunate to go to a Catholic University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She coordinated this project as interim women’s school,” wrote Emma, “where empowering young director of the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind. Letters are cited with permission of the authors, some of whom have women to go out in the world as confident leaders is a major identical first names, and some of whom have chosen pseudonyms. objective. More girls and women need this opportunity.”

22 America September 14, 2015 READING MATERIAL. Saint Mary’s College President Carol Ann Mooney, left, and Saint Mary’s student Kristen Millar, center. President Mooney is holding a binder with all the letters addressed to Pope Francis. Photo: vatican p hoto service Photo: vatican

Challenges Facing Young Women the few Western nations that does not mandate paid mater- The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the nity leave for women who work outside the home. “It tore Christian Faith, the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the me apart to leave my seven-week-old son in day care with a Synod of Bishops affirmed in 2012, includes among its aims stranger,” writes Teresa. “But without my income we cannot outreach to baptized Catholics who “have drifted from the pay the bills.” church and Christian practice.” This drifting, Pope Francis Salient in letters from high school and college women explains in “The Joy of the Gospel,” takes place amid the cri- are the challenges posed by media culture and sexual mo- sis of communal commitment that is evident in secularism, res. The music, movies, magazines, television and websites relativism, vast global economic inequality and the violence that fill the lives of youth today routinely sexualize wom- that this spawns, an economy that treats human beings as en. Sexualization ascribes value only to physical sexual at- disposable commodities, the globalization of indifference, tractiveness and objectifies a human person as a thing for the abrogation of religious freedom and the weakening of another’s use. “Women,” Anna explains to Pope Francis, “are family bonds. In this context, he continues, youth often feel objectified in all the social media—turn our bodies into beer “a general sense of disorientation, especially in the periods of cans or have us sit half-naked on cars.” Jordan writes of pop- adolescence and young adulthood.” ular music lyrics: “We are spoken of as property that men It is evident in the letters to Pope Francis that some of the can just reuse and throw out again whenever they feel like consequences of the crisis of communal commitment have it. I just don’t understand why we are thought of in this way gendered dimensions. Economic inequalities in the United by the media, when we for generations have been the people States, for example, are keenly felt in many women’s lives. to care for others and run the families.” Claudia reiterates: “Women are still discriminated against in the workforce,” “Women are called bad names in songs.” writes Grace. According to the National Committee on Pay In a process that psychologists describe as “self-objecti- Equity, a wage gap in the median incomes of men and wom- fication,” the sexualized media teach girls to think of their en persists. Moreover, families headed by a single adult are bodies as objects of the desires of others. A study by the more likely to be headed by a woman, and almost 31 percent American Psychological Association found that the conse- of households headed by a single woman were living below quences for girls and young women include impediments to the poverty line in 2012. The United States is also one of the ability to concentrate and impaired mental performance,

September 14, 2015 America 23 the undermining of confidence in one’s own body, feelings ed and anticipate no future relationship. “Today women are of shame or anxiety, eating disorders harmful to physical expected to adhere to the party stereotype,” Kaitlyn explains health, low self-esteem, depression and the internalization to Pope Francis. “What this means is that women are ex- of the presumption that women are sexual objects and that pected to dress a certain way to get a man’s attention. Men physical attractiveness is the center of a woman’s value. on college campuses feel entitled to sex. I am writing to you “Today’s media culture,” Emma writes to Pope as a 21-year-old, college senior, who has watched many Francis, “makes it difficult for me to women degrade themselves to fit in and feel loved and accept myself as God’s good creation accepted at parties. I want women to feel made in the divine image and like- the love of Jesus Christ.” ness. Strong social pressure puts to Lisa writes: “I am so the test my morals and standards. sad to see so many of my As a woman, I face degrading ex- friends giving in to the pectations, as if my purpose were hook-up culture because to please men. In these situations, they don’t recognize their I sometimes find myself question- own worth.... We need you ing: where is God in all this?” to remind young men how Media images establish ide- to treat us with respect.” The als of female beauty based en- hook-up culture is enabled tirely on physical appearance by alcohol, and interviews that are impossible to achieve with college students indicate and undermine young wom- that it fulfills the heart’s true en’s sense of their God-given desires of neither women nor goodness. Phrases like “‘20 men. Studies correlate this cul- pounds lighter,’ ‘the glow ture with depression, sadness and look,’ ‘look younger in a low self-esteem. Its consequences week,’ are words pounded can include sexually transmitted into women’s heads,” Kelli diseases, unintended pregnancies explains to Pope Francis. and abortions. Forty-four percent “Appearance is all that of abortions in the United States are matters in the world of performed on college-age women. the Internet and me- Lack of support for children con- dia. We forget that we Samples ceived in difficult circumstances is of gifts given to are all made in the image Pope Francis: a poem by Haley another challenge for some young of God.” Grace shares: “I Koth, now a graduate of Saint Mary’s, and, women. Project Rachel, the Catholic once struggled with body opposite, an inkprint by Megan Hastings, mission Church’s ministry to women who suf- image. My struggle felt director with Saint Paul’s Outreach. fer grief and depression after losing like it lasted forever. The children through abortion, reports that urge to become someone who I was not was so strong.... I the women they serve were told by boyfriends or husbands would see girls and compare myself to them, usually beating that “they weren’t ‘ready for fatherhood.’” Lucy writes to Pope myself up for not looking as pretty or skinny as them. The Francis on behalf of women in such circumstances: “What amount of self-hate I had for myself was so terrible.” The of mothers who were pressured to have an abortion and in- attempt to emulate media models, Ashley adds, can lead to stead choose life? What can be done to help and support the eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia or to conse- them and their children?” quences even more tragic: “We are constantly pressured by Many of the letters lament the sexual violence endemic each other and the rest of society to fit an unachievable de- in our culture. “We shouldn’t have to feel scared to walk out scription of perfection. Too many girls have been driven to into our own neighborhoods,” Kirsten writes to the pope, self-harm, starvation, or even suicide because of the emo- “but we have heard and experienced stories about the sexu- tional torture they experience. This epidemic needs to stop.” al harassment, all the violence.” According to one study, 83 The media’s sexualization of human personhood no percent of girls in secondary schools experienced sexual ha- doubt contributes to the hook-up culture at many colleges rassment from peers. According to federal statistics, one in and universities. The term “hooking up” refers to a sexual five women in the United States have been the victim of rape encounter of two persons who may be only briefly acquaint- or attempted rape. Among the women reporting rape to the

24 America September 14, 2015 National Women’s Study, 22.2 percent were between 18 and us down,” writes Anya. “We need the leaders of our commu- 24 years old when the rape occurred, 32.3 percent were be- nity to build us back up again.” tween the ages of 11 and 17, and 29.3 percent were under The young writers offer constructive proposals for the 11 years old. Research indicates that sexual violence has a evangelization of our culture, including a national Catholic devastating impact on both emotional and physical health. initiative for reform of the media, a Catholic social media platform, a Catholic campaign for stronger national stan- Working Together dards for maternity and paternity leave, church initiatives It the midst of a culture in which “the line between right and to reduce the levels of sexual violence in our society and wrong is nearly erased” (Anna) an “image and likeness” line of and “no one has any respect for fashionable clothing for young each other” (Julia), Catholic Catholic women that is not too parishes are described in some tight or revealing, to name a few of the letters as places in which of their ideas. The authors are young women find shelter, ac- young leaders ready to act. “We ceptance, strength and hope. must reach people through ac- “My parish,” Emma shares, “is tivities and communities that my safe haven, my escape from give them joy and purpose,” situations that threaten my writes Colleen. “We are a gen- moral standing. The church is eration who is so enthusiastic to my source to reach God.... I al- do something meaningful; we ways leave Mass refreshed and simply need to be asked.” ready to face the world the way Pope Francis personally re- God would want me to. I thank ceived the bundle of letters to- the Catholic Church for being gether with multiple pieces of there when I need it so des- artwork and a liturgical stole perately.” Colleen writes: “I love hand-stitched by the students the church for being a symbol of Saint Ursula Academy in of hope amid a broken world. I Cincinnati, Ohio. These gifts also love the church because it is were presented in a general au- made up of broken people seek- dience with Bishop Kevin C. ing peace and moving toward Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort perfection.... I find sustenance Wayne-South Bend, Carol Ann in the gift of the Eucharist and Mooney, Saint Mary’s College am comforted and made more president, Kristen Millar, a whole by the sacramental nature Saint Mary’s student, and Grace of the church.” Urankar, a 2014 alumna. “We The young women welcome Pope Francis’ call in ”The are a diverse group,” Grace explained to Pope Francis, “with Joy of the Gospel” for “a more incisive female presence in the many experiences, hopes, dreams, failures, losses, but with church” and their proposals in this regard include greater so, so much love. It is not out of hurt, fear or distress that I participation by women in visible lay ecclesial ministries and approach you. Rather, I only want to express to you the great lay leadership. “We bring many special gifts to the church,” love I have known and received. I hope you will continue to writes Julia, “such as love, happiness, and energy!” To en- encourage us all to love more fully, more openly and more hance the church’s outreach to young women, they recom- radically than ever before.” mend mentoring programs for young women (and young Although the letters were written for the pope, the voices men), programs in which youth can support one another in of the young women call all of us to engage constructive- living a Catholic sexual ethic when there is intense peer pres- ly the realities they describe. “I sincerely thank you, Pope sure to do otherwise, homilies that speak to the experiences Francis, for your role in the Catholic Church,” Jordan’s letter of young women and affirm their God-given dignity, reli- concludes. “You inspire teenage women every day. We hope gious formation that uplifts female role models in Scripture the Catholic Church hears our petitions concerning women and tradition, ministries of healing for survivors of sexual in our society, and if you have time please write back. Pope assault and support groups for mothers and other young Francis, I know we can do this. Imagine what we can do if women. “Everyone and everything around us tends to push we all work together.” A

September 14, 2015 America 25 Religious Life Reimagined Looking for opportunity in a misunderstood vocation crisis By Seán D. Sammon ack of imagination and fear of innovation on the part of the church as a whole are two elements ob- structing the renewal of contemporary religious life, for every baptized Catholic has a role to play in Lthe task of reimagining this way of living. In declaring 2015 a year dedicated to consecrated life and challenging men and women religious to “wake up the world,” Pope Francis was speaking to the church’s hierarchy and its lay men and wom- en as well. Faced with fewer vocations and an aging membership, many believers appear to have forgotten the history of con- secrated life and the Holy Spirit’s role in the work of its re- newal. Religious life has passed through far more difficult days than the present. During the years just after the French Revolution, for instance, not only was its future in question; so too was the church’s. Just before the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church resembled a pyramid, with the clergy, men and women religious and the laity occupying the structure’s top, middle and bottom tiers respectively. The council’s unequiv- ocal statement that all Christians, clergy and laity alike, are Dominican Sister Malia baptized into the one mission of proclaiming the kingdom Dominica Wong, the vocations of God and its imminence put an end to that view of the coordinator for the Diocese of church. Honolulu This shift in understanding moved religious life from be- ing within the hierarchical church to its rightful place with- By the time territorial expansion slows down, the congre- in the charismatic church, helping to clarify its nature and gation usually has moved into a stable phase. Success marks purpose. Never intended to be an ecclesiastical workforce, its undertakings; members are held in high esteem. Having sisters, religious priests and brothers are meant to be the accumulated considerable human and financial resources, church’s living memory of what it can be, longs to be and the group as a whole often begins to forget the reasons for must be. Their job is to continually remind the larger body which it came into existence; members behave as if every- about its true nature. thing depended upon their efforts alone. At the onset of the council, many religious congregations Crises Past and Present found themselves in just such a place. Boasting more mem- Tempted to wring our hands about the current state of re- bers than at any other time in their history and applicants ligious life, it is helpful to remember that religious congre- aplenty, the vast majority of men and women religious be- gations experience crises at each stage in their development. lieved that renewal meant ever increasing numbers, bigger During their early years most groups face three: in leader- and better institutions, and greater respect and prestige. ship, direction and legitimacy. As they swell in numbers and Instead, a period of surprising change ensued. spread out geographically they confront another: maintain- Membership began to decrease through departures and the ing unity in the midst of rapid growth. lack of new recruits; familiar ways of living and interacting were put aside; long-standing institutional commitments Seán D. Sammon, F.M.S., is a scholar-in-residence at Marist College in were abandoned. The groups’ service to the church became

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. haphazard. H erald C atholic CNS p hoto/ D arlene ela C r u z, H awaii

26 America September 14, 2015 As congregations grew smaller in size and older in age, The members of its monastic, mendicant and apostolic ex- with fewer candidates entering and their place and purpose pressions trace their origins back to specific times in history Religious Life Reimagined in the church less clear, a number of groups began to wonder that were fraught with unique challenges. They also hold if their way of life was dying. It may come as a surprise to fast to different understandings about community life and some to hear it said that this is exactly where religious life mission. should be today in the process of renewal. Like it or not, Religious congregations today face three possible out- comes as they labor to renew themselves: extinction, min- imal survival and renewal. Some congregations have served their purpose in the church and will cease to exist. Others will continue but with a significantly reduced membership. Still others will renew themselves. To do so, they must Like it or not, first be courageous in responding to the real challenges fac- ing our world and church today; second, have a membership breakdown and willing to allow itself the experience of personal and congre- gational conversion; and third, rediscover the spirit of their disintegration founding charism. Signs of Renewal appear to be In recent years, a number of lay men and women have claimed as their own the charism of one or another religious the means God congregation. Neither pseudo-religious nor substitutes hired to cover a shortfall of vowed members in congrega- uses to prepare tional ministries, they are sharers in the group’s charism and co-responsible for its ministry. As such, these lay partners have an essential role to play in redefining consecrated life congregations for for the 21st century. Today many lay partners are bound to a particular con- deep and thorough gregation through the group’s works. Serving alongside men and women religious, they too struggle to identify those transformation. characteristic features that distinguish their efforts from those of other congregations. A parish or university founded in the Franciscan tradition should be able to distinguish it- self from one established by Jesuits, Marists or Dominicans. breakdown and disintegration appear to be the means God Over time, lay partners, along with the members of the uses to prepare congregations and their members for deep founding congregation, become a living endowment for the and thorough transformation. institutions in which they minister, ensuring that the insti- As they began to renew their congregations, were men tutional identity is clear and the founding values respected. and women religious naïve about the cost of change? How can the members of a congregation judge that they Probably. To begin with, many believed that if change were have turned a corner in the process of renewal? When a sig- necessary and explained clearly, everything would proceed in nificant portion of them admit that their present life and the an orderly manner. But planned change can be as disruptive group’s structures are neither personally satisfying nor ap- as unplanned change. It unsettles our lives and often leaves propriately responsive to the major needs of today’s church us feeling disoriented. Also, many men and women religious and world. failed to realize that change would take place on several lev- At the same time, there must also be willingness on the els: the level of consecrated life itself, the level of individual part of those involved to change their current ways of living congregations and the level of the individual within each and acting and to develop new and renewed means of ser- congregation. vice. The individualism that plagues a number of groups at So, we must ask: Is there reason to be optimistic today the moment must be confronted. Members must also grow about the future of religious life? To answer that question, in interdependence and show willingness to alter personal we must admit that it is foolhardy to believe that all the plans for the sake of the common good. church’s various forms of consecrated life will renew them- Groups will also know that they have turned a corner selves in the same manner or arrive at the same outcome. when they are able to assess the congregation’s works hon-

September 14, 2015 America 27 estly. Many of the ministries for which men and women re- with a strong organizational identity stand for something; ligious continue to take responsibility no longer need their they have a backbone. They claim a mission that is unique presence. They must be willing to put aside their concern or, if similar to the mission of other groups, different from with these institutions and ask themselves: To what abso- them in some unique way. Finally, these groups have a set of lute human needs would our founder respond were he or values that have stood the test of time. she to arrive in this country today? Where would we find Examples of congregations that are moving into a new him or her, what groups would he or she choose to serve, phase of renewal are not easily labeled. Included among what means would he or she use to evangelize? Men and their number are groups that have developed a more pro- women religious were meant to be on the margins, in those found understanding about their foundational spirituality places where the church is not. and have spent time addressing important issues of commu- Today congregations must take steps to ground them- nity life. No longer defining the latter as a family, they have selves again in the biblical roots of religious life and to use reaffirmed that life together is for the purpose of mission, this foundation to rebuild community life. This will require centered around faith and spirituality and marked by the new models suitable for adults who have come together to members’ genuine interest in one another, as well as a spirit share life around the Gospel. For genuine renewal to take of forgiveness and reconciliation. place, transformation also must move beyond the personal. The networking of like-minded members is essential for any Reclaiming Charisms process of renewal to take root and flourish. Our world and church today are facing challenges far more As they address these tasks, individual men and women profound than the superficial problems often reported by religious and their congregations will develop a new sense of the media. The church, in particular, needs to remain aware personal and corporate identity and purpose. For personal of them as it helps religious congregations re-evaluate their identity to be clear, a sister, brother or religious priest must mission and chart their future. be in love with Jesus Christ and have grown over time to For example, the Catholic Church has during the last resemble a living portrait of his or her founder. century witnessed the single greatest demographic shift Organizational identity, though similar to personal iden- in its 2,000-year history. At the outset of the 20th centu- tity, has some distinct characteristics of its own. Groups ry, almost 70 percent of its members were found in Europe

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what you are reading Which Candidate Quotes the Pope the TELEVISION Most? Jeremy Zipple, S.J. Maurice Timothy Reidy on the HBO miniseries “Show Me a Hero” and the fraught politics of Never Lose Heart integration. Robert P. Maloney, C.M. What Defunding Planned Parenthood Would Really Do, Kristen Day PODCAST A Different Kind of Pilgrim in Assisi? Conversations with Jennifer Fulwiler on raising Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M a Catholic family and Kevin Ahern on Catholic Taking Sin Seriously, Jonathan Malesic social movements.

“Finally! This is, in my opinion, the only way to start what should be a long and vigorous discussion about the challenge that the pope threw down.” –Charles Erlinger “Relational Ecology”

28 America September 14, 2015 and North America; today more than two thirds of Roman are not daring enough; fear and routine cause us to bicker Catholics live in the Southern Hemisphere. That number is over accidentals rather than embrace what is essential to this projected to continue to grow during the years just ahead. way of life; our resistance to change makes us reluctant to The church in the Northern Hemisphere also once focused become involved with the Holy Spirit. its attention on the young; today it is dealing with the fastest Consequently, those of us in our church with an interest growing aging population in human history. in renewing religious congregations for today’s world must The growing influence of Islam worldwide, the rise of develop a disposition of will by which we separate ourselves Pentecostalism, our failure as a church to effectively evan- from everything and everyone that might hinder our ability gelize emerging generations of young Catholics, a set of so- to hear the Word of God. As a result of grace and through cial teachings that were formed for a world dominated by ascetical practice, what God wants for us will become even- the Industrial Revolution and the transforming influence of tually what we want; God’s will becomes our will. information technology are other important developments Such a spirituality does not come cheaply. It demands a that need to be considered as well. habit of prayer that helps us come to know who Jesus is and There are groups working to respond to the human and how he acts and decides. So, too, contemplation of Jesus in spiritual needs of today’s world. My own Marist institute, the Gospels is the essential discipline that makes this type of for example, in response to Pope John Paul II’s call for a decision-making possible. For contemplation of this nature greater Christian presence on the continent of Asia, decided schools our hearts and guides us to decisions that bring us to mission an additional 150 brothers to that region. Our closer to God. initial appeal for volunteers brought numbers far in excess Making a spirituality of decision-making our own will of what we had hoped for. allow us to rise above the culture wars that have plagued John C. Haughey, S.J., once remarked that attempting to our church for too many years now. It will allow us to define charism is a bit like trying to capture the wind in a work together to envision a religious life, in all its different bottle. For charism is a free gift of the Spirit given for the forms, that is suitable for the 21st century and worth the good of the church and the use of all. price asked of those called to consecrated life: the gift of Pope Paul VI, who defined the charism of religious life their life, a religious life that will, once again, truly “wake as the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who is always at work within up our world.” A the church, identified these signs of its presence: bold initiatives, constancy in the giving of oneself, humility in bear- ing with adversities, fidelity to the Lord, a courageous response to the pressing needs of the day and willingness to be part of the church. What, then, does reclaiming charism mean for the members of religious con- gregations and their lay partners to- day? Something quite simple: believing that the Spirit of God who was so ac- tive and alive in their founder longs to live and breathe in each of them today. Reclaiming charism means letting the Spirit lead, taking a chance that God’s ideas might, on occasion, be better than our own and asking those questions that are on everyone’s mind and in everyone’s heart, but on the lips of only a few. This approach translates into daring, even un- expected action, ministries that respond to today’s absolute human needs, cen- teredness in Jesus Christ and his Gospel. We are falling short in the work of re- newal because our designs for the future

September 14, 2015 America 29 A Grace-Filled Light The transformational world of John Hassler By Ed Block early 40 years after Jon Hassler’s first novel, sorship at St. John’s, where he remained until his retirement Staggerford, was published, rereading his work in 2001. Diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (a today can still provide a deeply absorbing ex- disease similar to Parkinson’s) in the early ’90s, he contin- perience. The novel- ued writing and publishing until his Nist was not just a Catholic version death in March 2008. of Garrison Keillor, chronicling Hassler looked into the hearts of small-town Minnesota. Jon Hassler Catholics and non-Catholics alike and his comic Catholic vision ex- in the years following the Second posed the crassness and brutality Vatican Council. Hassler began writ- of postmodern superficiality and ing short stories in 1970, imitating post-postmodern cynicism. His the style of the New England author sacramental imagination brightens John Cheever. A New York agent a world grown gray with the banal- read one of those stories, and this led ity of reality television and teenage to the publication of his first novel. paranormal romances. Praised by Over the next decade, Staggerford was the novelist Richard Russo for a followed by Simon’s Night, The Love “brilliance...that appears effortless,” Hunter, A Green Journey, and Grand Hassler’s novels and short stories Opening, as well as two young adult deserve renewed attention. novels. A festival in Hassler’s honor Like Alice McDermott, Hassler’s took place in June, spearheaded Catholicism has a distinctly region- by a close friend of the author in al dimension. He therefore belongs Brainerd, Minn., where both taught in the tradition of Hamlin Garland, for over a decade. The 2013 reissue Willa Cather, Sinclair Lewis and of Simon’s Night, Hassler’s second Sherwood Anderson. His portray- novel, brought a fresh perspective al of small-town Midwestern life is for a brand new audience. And over more modern than Garland’s, less the last decade Loyola Press has pub- acerbic than Lewis’s, and less maca- lished a memoir, Good People, and bre than some of Anderson’s stories Nodin Press of Minneapolis has released Conversations With in Winesburg, Ohio. Cather’s reputation now rests primarily Jon Hassler. on three or four unquestionable classics. Hassler’s will ulti- Born in Minneapolis in 1933, Hassler grew up in various mately rest on a similar handful of unforgettable works. small Minnesota towns. He attended Catholic grade school for a few years, attended high school in Plainview and grad- A More Inclusive Scope uated from St. John’s University in Collegeville. He earned As a Catholic writer, Hassler fits chronologically between a B.A. in English and taught high school for 10 years. After Katherine Anne Porter, Flannery O’Connor, J. F. Powers and earning a master’s degree from the University of North Walker Percy, on the one hand, and writers like Tobias Wolff, Dakota—he wrote his master’s thesis on moral decision Andre Dubus and Ron Hansen on the other. Though likened making in Ernest Hemingway’s novels—Hassler taught at to O’Connor because of some grotesque characters and situa- Bemidji State University and Brainerd (now Central Lakes) tions, Powers is a more apt comparison. But whereas Powers, Community College. In 1980 he accepted a Regent’s profes- author of the acclaimed Morte d’Urban, specialized in stories about priests, Hassler’s scope of characters and situations is Ed Block is an emeritus professor of English at Marquette University, broader and more inclusive. Milwaukee, Wis. Hassler completed Staggerford during a year-long sabbat-

30 America September 14, 2015 ical from teaching. He tells of that experience in My Staggerford Journal, a book that combines journal and memoir. Staggerford is on the way to becoming a classic. On the surface it is the story of a burnt-out high school teacher in the small, fic- tional northern Minnesota town of Staggerford. A

lapsed Catholic who rooms T horeson Photo: wikimedia commons/ Jonathan with his former grade school teacher—the formidable old-style Catholic, Agatha McGee—Miles Pruitt seems to stagger through a Jon Hassler’s boyhood week of teaching at the end of home in Plainview, Minn. October in the early 1970s. Readers will marvel at the picture of a high-school teacher’s drudgery and the sheer exuberance of the satire and the humor. Characters pour from Hassler’s imagination like the images painted by Fra Lippo Lippi in Robert Browning’s fa- mous dramatic mono- logue. Readers will also meet a comic principal and a lascivious dentist and his assistant, as well as a variety of students and a state patrolman through the hell that is the who towers over everyone he meets. But woven into the hum- Mall of America. drum life of Miles Pruitt is a tale of almost archetypal forces, The Love Hunter chronicles a last duck-hunting trip shared including a figure of evil ominously called “the bonewoman.” by two friends and fellow teachers, Chris Mackensie and In trying to help a female student, Beverly Bingham, Miles be- Larry Quinn. Larry is in the late stages of multiple sclerosis, comes the subject of scandal, an object of derision and finally and Chris intends to drown his friend in a Canadian marsh, an innocent victim. Yet at the novel’s end, the reader is left ending his friend’s misery and leaving Larry’s young widow for with a sense of grace and mystery despite the tragedy. himself. Yet the three-day trip—a veritable hell for Chris—is Hassler’s second novel, Simon’s Night, displays Hassler’s filled with surprises and renewed vitality for Larry. understanding and sympathy as he takes a slyly satiric look A Green Journey reintroduces Agatha McGee and sends at the elderly. After exhibiting what to him seem signs of de- her to Ireland to meet a pen pal who turns out to be a priest. mentia, the retired college professor Simon Shea has checked Hassler said on a number of occasions that Agatha’s conser- into the Norman Home, a residential retirement facility. A vative, pre-Vatican-II Catholicism expressed a part of himself, Catholic still faithful to a wife who had left him three decades observing that when Agatha complained about the church’s earlier, Simon struggles through a dark night of doubt and excesses, it relieved him from having to do so. fear before he finds his way out of the Norman Home and After the gentle satiric humor of A Green Journey, Grand back to his beloved lake cabin—but not before he helps give Opening returns to address some of the issues that animate a Catholic burial to the amputated leg of a former Norman The Love Hunter: alcoholism, parental neglect and mental in- Home resident. Besides a cast of memorable characters, stability, as well as willful malice. His most autobiographical Simon’s Night also features a satiric, almost Dantean journey novel, Grand Opening remains one of Hassler’s best-known

September 14, 2015 America 31 and most popular works. The small shapes drowse: I live The novel’s densely plotted chapters introduce a host of To woo the fearful small; fascinating citizens through their interactions with the Foster What moves in grass I love— family, who had moved from Minneapolis to Plum, Minn., to The dead will not lie still, realize the father’s dream of owning a grocery store. While And things throw light on things, loneliness and the need for love and friendship drive the plot, And all the stones have wings. small town gossip and religious divisiveness provide spice and fascination. The last two lines are a distillation of Hassler’s gift and Each of these early novels received positive reviews in the a clue to his integrative incarnational vision. The final line, local and national press. Focusing on The Love Hunter in which might remind some of 1 Pt 2:5, suggests an almost August 1981, the reviewer for The New York Times Book mystical transformation of the material world. Review called Hassler “a writer good enough to restore your “Things throw light on things” is a more elegant but enig- faith in fiction.” With these successes, Hassler gained a wider matic way of saying that context makes things special. For audience and, with North of Hope, perhaps his best novel, he Hassler, it is the context of the infinite that makes everyday confirmed his reputation as a Catholic author. existence special. Apt details, lovingly described or sometimes North of Hope introduces a priest, Frank Healy, whose merely named, give value to characters, events or objects they midlife crisis does not prevent him from helping a child- surround, creating an aura of the infinite. hood sweetheart and her drug-addicted daughter find hope Near the end of A Green Journey, Hassler gives the lines on the edge of a northern Minnesota community of Native literal form. Agatha McGee is about to leave Ireland with her Americans. A sprawling chronicle that begins in Healy’s ado- friend, Janet Meers. While staying overnight in a fictionalized lescence and stretches into his middle age, North of Hope con- seaside town, Janet goes walking along the stony breakwater fronts contemporary evil and dysfunction in an almost post- as Agatha watches from a distance. Agatha sees Janet along modern way. The Rev. Andrew M. Greeley, of the University the shore where “there were dazzling white stones among the of Chicago, praised Hassler in a review for his “Catholic imag- gray.” After a few moments, “She watched in amazement as ination.” Janet, with a shout and a flap of her arms, turned all the white stones into gulls and sent them flying out over the water.” Janet Hassler’s Gift has transformed what Agatha thought she saw into a kind of Despite the limited mobility due to his illness, Hassler con- apparition. Through Janet’s agency, “all the stones have wings.” tinued to write, adapting two of his works for the stage and In an interview for Image magazine in 1997, I asked writing an original play, The Staggerford Murders. That play he Hassler about the origin of his Catholic worldview. He re- turned into a novella, publishing it with “The Life and Death sponded, “I’m indebted to those first few grades in parochial of Nancy Clancy’s Nephew” in a volume titled The Staggerford school for teaching me that everything in life is connected.” Murders. A bit later he added, “I guess maybe I see life as a whole.” It “The Life and Death of Nancy Clancy’s Nephew” is a stun- is part of Hassler’s gift, throughout his career, to see life as a ning novella of old age, depression and a search for friend- whole, juxtaposing events and characters, thus yielding new ship—and meaning in life. The protagonist, W. D. Nestor, meanings and interrelationships, making the entire work is one of Hassler’s most moving though also disturbing appear to fly. In a word, Hassler’s style is not “magic realism” creations. A sympathetic narrator watches as the crotchety but realism magically transformed. Nestor struggles through his early 80s, stoically mourning Again and again Hassler transforms the banality of evil the disappearance of his son and the death of his wife and into Flannery O’Connor-type characters and events. A depending more and more on a young man whom he had crazed woman kills a burnt-out teacher; a brilliant teacher befriended as a latchkey child in the town library. Years later, stricken by multiple sclerosis turns psychotic in his despon- when the now grown young man drives Nestor to visit his dency; an unloved juvenile delinquent is crushed beneath Aunt Nancy Clancy, the old man experiences a mysterious a walk-in cooler like the Wicked Witch beneath Dorothy’s moment of transcendence before his death. A testament to Kansas cottage. But like St. Augustine, who speaks of God’s the author’s dedication to his vision and his vocation as writ- love treating “each of us as an only child,” Hassler (who in- er, “Nancy Clancy” should rank with North of Hope as one of cludes many only children in his fiction) treats every char- Hassler’s most insightful and moving works. acter in that way. Jon Hassler discovers God’s presence in The epigraph toA Green Journey consists in two lines from everyday life, as his novels throw a grace-filled light upon the end of Theodore Roethke’s poem “The Small,” which cel- caring teachers, open-hearted wives and lovers, priests and ebrates the numinousness of nature on an early autumn eve- spinsters—and a latchkey child who responds to an old ning. The last stanza reads: man’s need for friendship and for love. A

32 America September 14, 2015

VATICAN DISPATCH Not a Maverick Pope ope Francis will stand on doctrine is the affirmation of the God and strategist who contributed signifi- American soil for the first of mercy, whose first act toward each of cantly to the rapprochement between Ptime at 4 p.m. local time on us is a loving embrace precisely in the the United States and Cuba, tried to Sept. 22, when he steps off an Alitalia face of our own failings. While such break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse plane at Andrews Air Force Base near emphasis has been warmly welcomed and pushes hard for peace in Syria, Washington, D.C. Sources close to by believers worldwide, it has caused Iraq, Ukraine and other lands. him say he has been looking forward to self-declared custodians of orthodoxy Some portray him as a maverick, this moment, when at last he can make to subtly query his commitment to but this misleading depiction fails direct contact with the American peo- church doctrine, while overlooking the to understand that Francis is a pope ple and open his heart to them. fundamental fact that it is he—as suc- who is ever listening to what the Spirit His visit is arousing phenomenal in- cessor of Peter—not they, who is the is saying to the church, and this re- terest and has given rise to attempts by guarantor of faith and unity sults in an element of commentators to reduce the man and in the church. what some call un- his message to the political, ideological Like his Polish and predictability or sur- and cultural categories that character- German predecessors, Pope Francis prise. The Archbishop ize public discourse among Americans Francis proclaims a social comes of Canterbury, Justin in general and among Catholics as doctrine that bisects the Welby, grasped this well: Is he a liberal or a conservative? current political divide in to reach well during their first Do his social teachings validate more American society and af- out and meeting and afterwards the Republican or the Democratic firms respect for the life and described Francis as “a political agenda? Is he more aligned dignity of the human per- embrace all man of extraordinary with the thinking of John XXIII and son at every stage of exis- Americans. humanity, on fire with Paul VI or that of John Paul II and tence, an affirmation that is the Spirit of Jesus.” Benedict XVI? Does he embrace or neither liberal nor conser- This is the pope who reject American culture, society and vative in the contemporary is about to visit the economic life and, for that matter, the political lexicon and is not a selective United States. He comes as a pastor, a American people themselves? morality. humble pastor, who never puts himself I believe that those who seek val- This first Jesuit pope is a man of above anybody. He comes to reach out idation from the pope’s visit of any extraordinary inner peace but also a and embrace not just Catholics but all particular viewpoint framed by such shaker and mover in the church and Americans, whatever the color of their categories will be deeply disappointed. the world. He is a truly free man, not skin, ethnic origin, religious creed, po- Hence, I think it’s important to under- bound to any particular interests ex- litical allegiance or economic condi- stand that the centerpieces of Francis’ cept those of Jesus. He continues to re- tion. He sees each one as first and fore- message and witness, like those of the mind the whole church that “the poor” most a child of God, loved by Jesus, a Gospel itself, escape all such classifica- are at the heart of the Gospel and brother or sister whom he loves too. tions in essential ways. underscores the preferential option That is his starting point. To begin with, Pope Francis em- for the poor, solidarity and inclusion. His personal decisions to speak braces wholeheartedly the clear doc- He calls for an economy that puts the to Congress and at Ground Zero trinal tradition of the church, while human person, not profit, at the center are the clearest testimony to the fact emphasizing that at the heart of that and highlights the urgent need to care that Francis wants to encounter and for “our common home.” embrace all the people of the United Francis is a man of dialogue, com- States in their pain and their ideals, Gerard O’Connell is America’s Rome mitted to the culture of encounter, their aspirations and their failures, correspondent. America’s Vatican coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit communities of who looks for the best in people and their greatness and their love. the United States. Twitter: @gerryrome. is not judgmental. He is a peacemaker Gerard O’Connell

34 America September 14, 2015 September 14, 2015 America 35 Books & Culture

and the overwhelming options on the television | Bill Mc Garvey shelves—what I actually needed to complete the job. Our Moment of Zen My small moment of relief and gratitude was lost on the employee but Saying goodbye to Jon Stewart not on me. In many ways my humbling foray into home improvement mirrors ew things can humble me more site direction. the innumerable acts of translation we quickly than a brief trip to the A few moments later a younger em- try to make daily in the digital age. We FHome Depot. I recently found ployee approached me and asked how are constantly overloaded with endless myself lost among the store’s countless he could help. He immediately showed oceans of information and complexity plumbing supplies, and when I sought me the appropriate items and appli- but we lack the ability to stay afloat, the help of an employee, he looked cations. It dawned on me that I’d just much less fundamentally make sense at me with what appeared to be the witnessed a small act of translation. of much of it. Richard Saul Wurman disgust of an English professor being By listening to my questions there in referred to it as “information anxiety,” asked to spell cat. He grunted toward the plumbing aisle, he’d helped me which he described as “the black hole a shelf before shuffling off in the oppo- understand—despite my ignorance between data and knowledge” and “the

NETWORKING. Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer in “The Newsroom”

LAST CALL. Castmembers salute Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” on August 6. Photo:Melissa Moseley/ H B O Photo by rad arket/ G etty I mages for C omedy entral

36 America September 14, 2015 widening gap between what we under- ferent type of anxiety: Whom can we The Onion has been around since 1988, stand and what we think we should trust to give us the daily dose of sanity and “Saturday Night Live” has had understand.” we require in our polarized nation? its Weekend Update segment in one For millions of viewers over the Stewart’s debut on “The Daily form or another for 40 years, to name past 16 years, Jon Stewart has been a Show” in 1999 was well timed. Our just two examples. But what Stewart bridge over that black hole in coping body politic’s polarization was grow- has accomplished is different. Viewers with the American political landscape. ing in the wake of the impeachment look to “The Daily Show” not simply to His departure from “The Daily Show” of Bill Clinton and the disputed pres- laugh but to understand and gain some on Aug. 6 left many of us with a dif- idential election of 2000. At the same insight into the endless sound bites and time an explosion in electronic spin that now constitute the highly me- media occurred. Along with diated world of American politics. it came a bottomless need for Under Stewart’s leadership, the content that was being filled show has been as era-defining as “All A Rose by an ever-growing punditoc- in the Family” was in the early 1970s. racy, which helped turn the Where Archie, Edith, Meathead et al. I bring you a rose news media into the three-ring dealt with hot button issues of race, re- which you yourself created! blood sport it is today. ligion, gender and sexuality in a sitcom, Stewart stepped into that “The Daily Show” has used its basic ca- Did you create the rose mix as a comedian who was ble pulpit to puncture the ridiculous— so that I could bring it, not particularly known for and sometimes dangerous—nonsense political satire, much less top- that characterizes so much of our or me, so that I ical humor. Prior to arriving political and media discourse. His ag- would find a rose at “The Daily Show,” he had gressive advocacy for a bill in 2010 that and bring it to you? spent most of the ’90s hosting pledged federal funds for the health a few short-lived talk shows care of 9/11 workers was instrumental and playing supporting roles in rescuing it from a filibuster and hav- So, I give myself and a rose. in films like Adam Sandler’s ing it become law. In 2009, he skewered “Big Daddy” and guest spots CNBC and its host Jim Cramer for Thank you for the gift on HBO’s “The Larry Sanders being disingenuous about the extent of of roses which I give back, Show.” It’s not as if Stewart banking troubles leading up to the col- with my hands opening. came out of nowhere, but cer- lapse of 2008. tainly no one could have pre- Perhaps his most famous moment dicted that he would develop didn’t come on his show at all but I love your roses and you. into what he has become. when he confronted Tucker Carlson Can you smell what you’ve made? And what he has become and Paul Begala on their CNN show is one of the most incisive “Crossfire,” telling them that their pro- I can! They are exquisite and intelligent commentators gram’s polarizing political theater was as you must be on politics and media in the actually “hurting the country.” His ap- United States. Those who try pearance led to the show’s cancellation to have thought of all this! to dismiss Stewart as a lib- soon after. How I wish you had hands eral apologist would do well The truth is that it wasn’t simply so you could take the roses! to read Jacob Gershman’s ar- Stewart who created this phenome- ticle “Why Neoconservative non; his audience was a willing collab- I hope only that you can smell them! Pundits Love Jon Stewart” in orator as well. The sort of media satire They are like incense! New York magazine, in which “The Daily Show” has produced over conservatives confess that “The 16 years could not have had the impact Joe Ricciardi Daily Show” is one of the few it has had without an audience that has places where the host is “fair” been steeped in media/marketing/spin Joe Ricciardi, a retired typesetter and news- and “fundamentally wants to since birth and has become sophisticat- man, volunteers as a poetry teacher at Newton Street School in Newark, N.J. talk about the issues.” ed enough to see the substance and cri- “Fake news” is not a new tique behind the humor. This younger phenomenon by any means. audience gets its information in count-

38 America September 14, 2015 less ways—the web, television, social media, etc.; it is Stewart and his team at “The Daily Show” who offer context and candor. And over those 16 years there has been abundant need not only for con- text and candor but also for outrage, sadness and every emotion in between. Hanging chads, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Osama Bin Laden, the economic collapse, the election of our first African-American president and the debate over health care—just a small sampling of the issues “The Daily Show” has taken on. In the process of entertaining and informing it has also helped viewers feel less alienated and alone in our complex world. “‘It can be said of three men that, in their time as communicators, this nation hung on their words, waited in eager anticipation of what they were going to observe and report and treat in their special way—Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Walter Cronkite.” When a UPI senior editor wrote this hyperbolic assessment of Cronkite’s retirement in 1981, television news consisted of three major broadcast networks. Cable televi- sion was in its infancy, CNN was less than a year old and Rupert Murdoch’s major U.S. media outlet was The New York Po st . To say that we live in a different me- dia age would be an epic understate- ment. In evolutionary terms, news me- dia over the past 35 years have evolved from harnessing fire to nuclear prolif- eration. The simpler world in which Cronkite plied his trade has fragmented beyond recognition. In the information age, Jon Stewart’s great contribution has been to hold up a fun house mirror to our shattered body politic and show us how those fragments might still fit to- gether.

Bill McGarvey, a musician and writer, is the author of The Freshman Survival Guide, owner of CathNewsUSA.com and was the long- time editor in chief of BustedHalo.com. Twitter: @billmcgarvey.

September 14, 2015 America 39 of other things | Daniel P. Horan Mary, the Mother of God). Rather than resort to black-and- Who is a Saint? white thinking that paints Serra and Judge as either saints or sinners, per- ainthood is a complicated and they be canonized? fect or imperfect, we need to readjust sometimes controversial subject. Certainly, the two situations are our perspective. Saints are held up as SThe significance of formally en- very different. In Serra’s case the con- models of Christian living, as spiritual rolling someone in the canon of saints cern is about alleged wrongdoing com- mentors and intercessors reminding us is disputed, and the role of finances mitted against the native peoples of of our baptismal call. The catalog of of- and ecclesiastical politics has over the California. Judge’s case centers on the ficial saints provides a rich diversity of centuries cast a shadow of incredulity discomfort some people have with the Christian guides, and different saints over the proceedings. complex humanity his story reveals. appeal to different people. Coinciding with Pope Francis’ first In truth, neither friar was perfect. Serra will soon be added to that visit to the United States, questions But then again, that roll, but what about surrounding the meaning and pur- is not what it means Judge? Should he pose of this sort of official recognition to be a saint. Every also be added? I don’t have surfaced in at least two instances. saint was also a sinner, The catalog know. But I do think Both cases center on North American an imperfect and fi- of official that Judge provides Franciscans; and though they were nite creature brought a genuinely inspir- centuries and a continent apart, both into existence by a saints provides ing model of selfless have attracted considerable interest loving God. Whether a rich diversity Christian service. By and controversy. we are talking about all accounts he was On the west coast there is Father Elizabeth Ann Seton of Christian a friar who tireless- Junípero Serra, the 18-century mis- and Francis of Assisi, ly served the people sionary sometimes called the “Apostle or Serra and Judge, guides. of God, including to California.” As a recent article in we are talking about many of those few this magazine (“Serra’s Sainthood,” people who respond- others would serve: 8/31) explained, in the wake of Pope ed—the best way they the homeless, people Francis’ surprise announcement that he knew how—to God’s with H.I.V./AIDS, would canonize Serra during his visit call to live the Gospel the imprisoned, the in September, some Native American and fulfill their baptis- addicted, the disabled. groups have protested, accusing Serra mal vocation. And he served those of maltreating the native peoples he en- The Catechism of who risked their lives countered in the 1700s. the Catholic Church daily to help others, On the east coast there is Father explains: “By canonizing some of the including firefighters, ultimately giving Mychal Judge, the New York City Fire faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming his own life in similar service. Department chaplain (and a friar of my that they practiced heroic virtue and It is the fact that both Serra and Franciscan province) who died on Sept. lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Judge were complex individuals that 11, 2001, as he served first responders Church recognizes the power of the makes them so appealing. We should in a ministry of presence. Although per- Spirit of holiness within her and sus- not whitewash Serra’s relationship sonal support and veneration for Judge tains the hope of believers by propos- with native peoples but acknowledge have continued to grow during the 14 ing the saints to them as models and the truth that saints can also be deep- years since his death, some people re- intercessors” (No. 828). This summary ly flawed persons. We should hold up main uncomfortable with reports that makes no mention of preclusive past Judge’s heroic ministry, as well as call to Judge was a recovering alcoholic and mistakes or lives of absolute perfec- mind his own struggle for sobriety. We may have been gay (though committed tion. Nor does the declaration that should look to these deeply relatable to his religious vows). they practiced “heroic virtue” guar- Christians as models of God’s grace Were these friars saints? Should antee that each would-be saint never working where we at times least expect indulged in any vice in a moment of it, rather than in the false perfection we human weakness. To claim such a state desire in the saints of our imagination. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., is the author of several books, including The Franciscan Heart would necessarily exclude everybody Junípero Serra and Mychal Judge, of Thomas Merton. from the canon (maybe exempting pray for us!

40 America September 14, 2015 books | Kate ward published in a secular biology text- book, reflecting on stem cell research Today’s Moral Issues in the light of religious ethics. Another, written for an interdisciplinary audi- Changing the Questions She reflects on that tradition in an ence, reflects on Christian understand- Explorations in Christian Ethics essay arguing for a feminist universal ing of the natural world and humani- By Margaret A. Farley, edited and morality, one that honors the tensions ty’s responsibility for it. with an introduction by Jamie L. between autonomy and relationality Reflecting Farley’s commitment to Manson and between the values of care and “changing the questions” asked by eth- Orbis. 352p $30 justice. Other essays include feminist icists and by Christians, many essays reflections on hope and on respect for insist that two apparently competing Although Margaret A. Farley’s work is persons. In the latter, Farley upholds goods really exist in a fruitfully creative widely taught in colleges, many readers both autonomy and relationality as tension. Autonomy and relationali- first heard of her when the Congregation aspects of human persons that deserve ty is one creative tension. Another is for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a what Farley calls “anticipatory for- notification about her bookJust Love giveness,” a stance that pursues the in 2012. Lucky readers were thus freedom that comes with forgiving tipped off to one of the most influ- an injuring party who has expressed ential theological ethicists of our age, no remorse. “Anticipatory forgive- who takes on tough topics—gender, ness” maintains the humanity of sex, relationships and power—with the injuring person even as it in- clear-eyed compassion, in lucid sists on the wrongness of the injury prose. Longtime and new fans of and pursues healing for the injured Farley’s alike should hail Changing the one. Farley explores this concept at Questions, a new collection of Farley’s length in an essay published here scholarly essays, sermons and lec- for the first time, “Forgiveness in the tures for a broad audience. Service of Justice and Love.” The editor of this collection, Manson suggests that this essay Jamie L. Manson, Farley’s student draws on Farley’s experience with at Yale and a religion writer, has the C.D.F.; another almost seems to shaped a volume that demonstrates prefigure it. Farley addressed bro- both the range of Farley’s theologi- ken trust in the church hierarchy in cal expertise and the persistence of an essay published in 2002 entitled certain themes throughout her long “Ethics, Ecclesiology, and the Grace career. Two essays from the mid- of Self-Doubt.” She writes, “It is not 1970s show her staking an early possible for persons...to experience claim on the topics of romantic love moral obligation simply because and commitment, even while, as she they are told that they ought to,” notes in a footnote, we can see how and points to “a graced self-doubt, far conversations around gender issues respectful treatment from others. The needed perhaps especially by those have evolved since then. next essay, entitled “How Shall We who are in positions of power.” Just Love won both fans and de- Love in a Postmodern World?” returns Two essays reflecting on death draw tractors for the author’s insistence on to questions of love, commitment and on yet another fruitful tension, that honoring individual experience as one personhood, urging attention to the between human transcendence and source of moral insight. In an essay en- concrete reality of others. finitude. For Farley, the problem of titled “The Role of Experience in Moral One essay finds Farley reflecting on death originates in the human desire Discernment,” she demonstrates the the wisdom and just practice of “Moral for limitlessness: “We are the ones who legitimacy—indeed, the necessity—of Discourse in the Public Arena.” Others love one another in such a way that we this approach. The tradition of femi- show her engaged in discourse or urg- cannot believe that such loves will end.” nist theology, in which Farley locates ing others to it, like an essay calling From reflection about our conceptions herself, honors women’s diverse experi- Christians to prophetic speech in re- of death, Farley moves fluidly to a more ences as sources of theological insight. sponse to H.I.V./AIDS and one, first technical bioethical reflection about

September 14, 2015 America 41 end-of-life practice, guiding readers The fruitful dialectic between ful- through changing medical, legal and fillment and nonfulfillment resurfac- social understandings of death and life. es in Farley’s essay on celibacy. While In Farley’s essay “No One Goes every Christian life exists in this cre- Away Hungry From the Table of the ative tension, she shows how celibacy Lord,” she shares some personal reflec- is a particular evocation of this “already tion on the concrete situation of Yale but not yet” mystery. students planning communal prayer Readers will appreciate Farley’s and argues for ecumenical eucharistic lucid, lovely writing and her deep practice under certain conditions. commitment to the concrete reality The sermons in the volume were of complex ethical issues. Her autho- preached at student services. It is good rial voice works through problems to see Farley in a more pastoral mode, together with the audience, without yet never far from her key themes of preachiness—even when she is liter- justice, concrete reality, mercy and ally preaching—or talking down to fruitful tension. In one sermon, Farley readers. Scholars will welcome this evokes “the discipline of nonfulfill- classroom-ready collection of influen- ment,” like that experienced by Mary tial works. With it, many more readers Magdalene when Jesus told her, “Do will follow Manson to become Farley’s not hold on to me” (Jn 20:16-17). A with students. discipline of nonfulfillment keeps be- lievers in a fruitful tension in which kate ward, a doctoral candidate and Flatley they can rejoice in God’s love yet con- Fellow in Theological Ethics at Boston College, coedited with Lacey Louwagie Hungering and tinue to strive for greater union with Thirsting for Justice: Real Life Stories from God and God’s purpose. Young Adult Catholics.

Thomas V. Mc Govern a Priestly Vocation Thirty-Three Good Men tion (the Irish Catholic Church) and Celibacy, Obedience, and 3) understand their priesthood and Identity how this understanding has changed By John A. Weafer over time? The Columba Press. 282p. $28 The author’s Irish syntheses com- pare closely with 40 years of American John Weafer, first lay director of the research results, reported in Same Call, Irish bishops’ Council for Research Different Men: The Evolution of the and Development, weaves narrative Priesthood Since Vatican II, by Mary threads of three generations of dioce- L. Gautier, Paul M. Perl and Stephen san priests, ordained in the 1950s and J. Fichter. The texts deserve side-by- 60’s, the 70s and 80s, and the 90s and side reading. Readers may predict but 2000s. Through “conversations with will be unsettled by the intimacy of a purpose,” they reflect on their lives individuals’ responses—priests being from seminary days to the present “bullied” by pastors and bishops or as curates, parish priests or retirees. remaining in the priesthood as a long- Three qualitative questions shaped the term, loving, “sexually active celibate.” study: How do Irish diocesan priests Weafer “created a space in the inter- 1) understand and experience celibacy view process, which invited the partic- in their daily lives, 2) negotiate their ipants to discuss their experience of priesthood within a complex organiza- celibacy (and obedience and identity)

42 America September 14, 2015 at whatever level of intimacy they felt could identify with Melchizedek’s “cul- comfortable.” His book is a bricolage of tic priesthood”: set apart, focusing on heartfelt, insightful disclosures about sacramental obligations, teaching the the priestly vocation. The comparisons faith and accepting church hierarchy across generations illuminate the con- just as their filled congregations pub- flicts generated by changing political licly obeyed the certainties of rules and and economic values in Irish society as rubrics. Orthodox theology, learned it clashes with an insistence on conti- during monastic-like seminary train- nuity and certainty by people still in the ing, went well with the legalistic Irish pews, some priests and recent popes. culture. Now older in mind and body, My empathy has never been high- they felt celibacy ought to be optional, er for priests’ life stories—as a person were unsure about women as priests, with a 50-year vocation to the academic but thought that both topics deserved life as an interdisciplinary psychologist open discussion. After listening to so and as a lifetime marital partner. They many troubles for so many years, they bear witness to a resilient courage and a espoused a pragmatic pastoral ap- nuanced faith. Weafer’s deft use of their proach. own words will enable readers to say: The Second Vatican Council stim- “I know someone like that, respect so ulated a shift toward St. Patrick’s deeply what he does, although I don’t reverence and without complaint “servant-leader priesthood.” The sac- know how or why,” or, “I wish I might that nation to which the love of raments became teaching moments have encountered someone that au- Christ carried me, and he grant- for pastoral service, inspiring creative thentic in his own skin when I needed ed that, if I were to be worthy, I liturgical practices. It was a time to it most.” should at last do them good ser- challenge long-held assumptions about vice during my lifetime with hu- hierarchy and certainty. “Men of the Melchizedek and St. Patrick mility and sincerity...so as to leave cloth” transitioned to being “compa- I imagined Weafer’s findings to mirror after my death a legacy to my ny men, with attitude.” Making moral the iconic figures of Melchizedek and brothers and my children whom choices took into account individual Saint Patrick. Their kingly righteous- I have baptized in the Lord. This consciences. These priests felt celibacy ness and rugged pastoral ideals, respec- is my Confession before I die . ought to be optional and favored the tively, suggest the competing rubrics for possibility of ordaining women. a priestly vocational identity narrated Weafer’s pre-Vatican II cohort St. John Paul II inspired the revival by these 33 good men. The article on holy orders in the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach- es that the priesthood of the Old Covenant, prefigured in Melchizedek (Gn 14:18-20 and Ps 110:4), finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, as the medi- ator between God and men. In contrast to folklore accounts, in the fifth century St. Patrick composed his “Confession” reflecting his evange- listic work, a pastor-bishop’s life-nar- rative.

I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on top of the wall... serving faithfully with fear and

September 14, 2015 America 43 of a “neo-orthodox priesthood.” The Patrick’s “good service...with humility rosary, but they never quite get the model fostered men again set apart, and sincerity”? Intergenerational pri- meaning of their Roman Catholicism. valuing church authority, cherishing orities make daily life difficult: priest- They view their beliefs through a kind formal liturgical rituals and embracing hood is “not the call of a social work- of superstitious irony. A Philippine pol- a sense of duty as defenders and restor- er” (curate, 2000s) versus “my own itician, for example, believes he owes ers of traditional theological and moral curate has more vestments than God” Jesus for helping him to pass a rural re- positions. Celibacy is a defining, coun- (parish priest, 1970s). “The sense of districting bill. So when Jesus “visits his tercultural feature of their priesthood. church that was promoted over the dreams and scolds him for running too They do not favor the ordination of years, to pay up, pray up and shut up, hard after power and away from faith,” women. Although identification with is still a good description of how the he (in a Flannery O’Connor-like twist) orthodoxy may be paramount, like church operates. I am really disap- decides to run in the Boston marathon. both older colleague generations, they pointed with the failure of Vatican II, The stories are set roughly during confessed a pragmatic and pastoral ap- it just hasn’t happened” (parish priest, the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. proach to priestly service. 1980s). Some felt support by their There’s conflict—lots of it. One does Weafer concludes: “The Catholic “band of brothers,” especially those not have to know Philippine history to Church has, for the moment at least, who self-reported as being gay. In the savor the ironies in Alvar’s work, but lost its absolute symbolic power, 2012 American study, loneliness was two of the stories, “Old Girl” and the ti- whereby it was able to construct a the primary source of unhappiness tle novella, “In the Country,” depend on reality that was readily acceptable by and a felt lack of accomplishment some knowledge of the political climate the laity.” All three generations of the from using one’s strengths was a close during the Ferdinand Marcos era. priests live with profound sorrow for second. “Old Girl” alludes to the perspective the many children abused by other Weafer finishes with: “I was left of Benigno and Cory Aquino during priests and are often conflicted about with the impression that their deep, their three-year exile in the United how best to express outrage toward the personal commitment to priesthood States. A professor and his wife live co-conspirators of silence who failed has energized and sustained most of in Massachusetts, where he teaches them. them in times of personal difficulties in Cambridge. Having escaped from Seminary did not teach the emo- and societal challenges.... They be- Manila, he wants to go home now that tional complexities of human develop- lieve they have been called by God to martial law has ended, even if there is a ment, but rather to be “rugged men for be priests, and for most of them, it is good chance that he will be assassinat- a rugged life,” “lone rangers,” chosen as probably the best job in the world.” ed as he gets off the plane—which, as a “call by God,” then awaiting the ef- many readers will remember, is what fects of “the gift of celibacy.” How does happened to Benigno Aquino. Thomas v. Mcgovern is a professor emer- someone live a “king of righteousness” itus of psychology and integrative studies at “In the Country” focuses on a jour- Melchizedek vocation and be true to Arizona State University. nalist who secretly works for the politi- cal opposition and is imprisoned. As he Diane Scharper waits out the eight or so years of martial law, he develops a code that he shares Manila to new york with his wife, who types her husband’s stories and sends them out to various in the country Details from Philippine life infuse overseas newspapers. Later, when he is By Mia Alvar these nine stories, adding authentici- freed, his 13-year-old son mysterious- Knopf. 368p $25.95 ty and a memoir-like quality, as does ly disappears. (Events like these were Alvar’s frequent use of the first person common during the Marcos dictator- Mia Alvar was born in the Philippines, point of view. There’s the “sari-sari” or ship.) spent her early childhood in Bahrain variety store, “which smells like a heady Alvar sprinkles red herrings through and grew up in New York where she mix of bubble gum and vinegar.” Sodas a story until, at the end, she reveals a lives now. Yet after reading In the are sold from plastic sleeves. Statues are truth that has been present but not ap- Country, her evocative debut story col- taken from the churches, and the girls parent. A pharmacist, for example, lives lection, one could argue she has never “dolled up in their little white dresses to in the United States and returns home actually left the Philippines or, put an- watch” festivals of the Virgin Mary. (“The Kontrabida”). His father is dying other way, that the country has never Alvar’s characters walk in religious in a poor Philippine neighborhood. His left her. processions, go to Mass and say the mother—sales clerk, cook, cleaner and

44 America September 14, 2015 nurse—has run out of pain medicine. sends his sister to college where she takes So the dutiful son steals pain pills and up writing and creates stories about her brings them home only to learn that his brother’s life abroad. She spends so mother isn’t the suffering servant wom- much time writing “inside a story,” as she an he thought she was. says, that it “felt real.” A cleaning lady from the Philippines Like most of the families here, hers lives in New York City during the time of lives in a slum where the houses are made the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of cardboard and tin. But when the First on Sept. 11, 2001 (“Esmeralda”). Her Lady (Isabella Marcos or a variation) job is to clean one of the towers; and initiated beautification efforts, the hous- she’ll get there, even if she has to pose as es were rebuilt from cinder blocks with a hospital worker and hitch a ride in an one room on top of another. A creek ambulance. She does not give up, even with a “fish-bone smell” flows down the as she sees black smoke billowing from middle of the development. After heavy one of the towers. She isn’t sure which rain, tainted syringes, beer-can tabs, one but knows she has to get there. Only bottle shards and eggshells cling to the she’s not planning to clean. banks. The sight and stench seem to stay Danny (“The Virgin of Monte with Alvar and her characters no matter Ramon”) is the least realized character whether they’re at home in Manila or in in the collection. His story is not quite and none of them exactly. New York, Boston or Bahrain—plac- about a boy born with nubs where his Alvar’s families usually have a son or es where these stories are set and from legs and feet should be. Neither is it daughter who has to work abroad and which the best ones resonate. about the lies his mother told him. Nor send money home. An older brother, for is it about the evils of drug companies example, in “A Contract Abroad,” chauf- diane scharper, the author of several books, who dump bad drugs on third world feurs for rich Arabs in order to provide including Radiant, Prayer Poems, teaches countries. The story is about all of those for his mother, sister and girlfriend. He English at Towson University.

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46 America September 14, 2015 THE WORD The Greatest Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Sept. 20, 2015 Readings: Wis 2:12–20; Ps 54:3–8; Jas 3:16–4:3; Mk 9:30–37 “But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest” (Mk 9:34)

t feels good to belong—to one’s be the greatest football player!” “I don’t teem or a sense that we are unloved family, to a group of friends, to a want to be an ordinary baker, I want to and unlovable but the acknowledgment Iteam—to be part of something big- bake the greatest loaf of bread this city that we are dependent upon God and ger than oneself. Belonging creates feel- has seen.” And it does not seem inher- others, even for the genuine gifts and ings of comfort, joy, peace and purpose. ently problematic to want to fulfill one’s vocations we are to express for others. How good must it have felt to be cho- human abilities and gifts to the best of Our boast must be that we are children sen as one of the Twelve Apostles? And one’s ability. of the Lord and that God is our father. to have an inkling, then the growing So what is the problem with arguing, To recognize that we are called as certainty that the one who chose you “I am not just one of the twelve, disciples of Jesus is to be at is not just a man but the Son of Man, I am the greatest apostle?” the service of others, especially the Messiah. The one who called you to Jesus presents to his apostles children and all others who be among the inner circle, to be at the a spiritual world in which are vulnerable, marginalized heart of the kingdom-building project, true greatness is measured and otherwise forgotten. was the one prophesied throughout the not by human striving or Servanthood orients our re- ages. boundless ambition but by lationships with others, for Whatever the ancient Jewish equiv- servanthood. This is a gift and alent was of the fist-bump or the “Yes!” an ability that does not rely on while you high-five someone, it’s hard pre-eminence or superiority but on PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE not to imagine the apostles getting a lit- presence for those in need. We all yearn to belong, to be known and tle pumped up about being the chosen It is in caring for the little ones, loved, but sometimes this can devolve into unbridled ambition, desire for Twelve. Jesus says, that his apostles live up to human greatness and even fear that we This is the general context for un- the call of the Gospel. Jesus offers as are unlovable. How can we understand derstanding their behavior on the way an example a “little child” (paidion) greatness in the context of the kingdom of God and God’s love for us?

through Galilee, when Jesus was tell- and says, “Whoever welcomes one a. d u nne tad art: ing them, “The Son of Man is to be such child in my name welcomes me, betrayed into human hands, and they and whoever welcomes me welcomes when our desires are out of order, as will kill him, and three days after being not me but the one who sent me.” The James writes, our relationships become killed, he will rise again.” The Gospel of treatment of the child becomes the mea- disordered: “Those conflicts and dis- Mark tells us that they did not under- sure of greatness because it demands putes among you, where do they come stand what Jesus was saying and that true humility and service. Loving a child from? Do they not come from your they “were afraid to ask him.” does not offer prestige, honor or wealth, cravings that are at war within you?” Was this fear simply a desire not to especially when a paidion in antiquity We fulfill these cravings when we hear Jesus, not to distract from their was generally in the care of mothers, belong, when we are loved, and when own scenarios of the future? It turns nurses or slaves. This was not the work we are part of something. Jesus calls us out that they had been arguing among of a man, certainly not the hand-picked to the church for this purpose, to care themselves about “who was the great- viceroys of the Messiah. for those whose own hopes for belong- est.” But this is normal, isn’t it? “I don’t Yet the deep wisdom of God is at ing have been dashed. When we bring want to be a football player, I want to work here, for we are all children of our manifold human gifts to the ser- God, dependent at all points in our lives vice of others, true greatness emerges on the service of others, in varying and with every act of love and every word John W. Martens is a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn. different ways. Spiritual humility is not of compassion. Twitter: @BibleJunkies. the manifestation of a lack of self-es- John W. Martens

September 14, 2015 America 47