Pro omnibus et singulis

Caritas in veritate

2009-07-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

I'm still working through the Pope's new encyclical Caritas in veritate (Charity in truth). Normally I get through these letters pretty quickly, but this one is dense to put it mildly. I don't mean that as a criticism, far from it. The Holy Father simply has a lot to say about a wide variety of topics.

I ran accross a good editoral about the encyclical in the New York Times (not someplace one normally goes for good church reporting) entitled "The Audacity of the Pope" by Ross Douthat:

But Benedict’s encyclical is nothing if not political. “Caritas in Veritate” promotes a vision of economic solidarity rooted in moral conservatism. It links the dignity of labor to the sanctity of marriage. It praises the redistribution of wealth while emphasizing the importance of decentralized governance. It connects the despoiling of the environment to the mass destruction of human embryos.
This is not a message you’re likely to hear in Barack Obama’s next State of the Union, or in the Republican Party’s response. It represents a kind of left-right fusionism with little traction in American politics.
But that’s precisely what makes it so relevant and challenging — for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Like I said, I haven't finished the Pope's original text but from what I have read so far Douthat is on the right track.

AMDG

Mas Bolivia

2009-07-13T09:28:00.000-05:00

Good times continue here in Bolivia. Language school is going well, and I'm slowly learning some Spanish. The weather has been just lovely cold at night, warm and sunny during the day, just magnificent really. The community has been incredibly gracious. Everything is really just great. My only regret is that I have only two more weeks here.

Last weekend we traveled to the Jesuit reductions, like in the movie The Mission. Here are some pretty neat pictures from the trip.

AMDG

Cochabamba

2009-06-16T10:44:00.002-05:00

Saludos de Cochabamba

Today is my first day of class at the Maryknoll Language Institute in beautiful Cochabamba, Bolivia. Six American Jesuits are studying here this term, four from Loyola Chicago, including myself, one from Fordham, and one from St. Louis University. Our trip down was largely uneventful except for a minor volcano related delay. A volcano in Peru erupted recently, the ash cloud delayed our arrival in La Paz about an hour.

So far we're all still getting our barrings. One of the Bolivian Jesuits was kind enough to show us around the city, I am pleasently surprised how nice it is here, downright cheerful really. The weather is sunny all day. It gets down to about 40 in the night and up to maybe 75 during the day. Rain and clouds are rare this time of the year they tell me.

More later and hopefully some pictures.
AMDG

Youngstown

2009-06-08T21:57:00.003-05:00

I'm here in Youngstown, well Boardman really but it's close enough. Take it away Bruce:

This morning my Dad and I took the Cessna up for a flight around the area to properly survey Youngstown. Sad to say it is not an encouraging site. The city and surrounding area even by air shows the scars of the rust belt--empty fields where steel mills once stood and proud homes slowly decaying. Proud residents too remain though many of their children have left. There's an odd beauty to the place almost as though the city has been frozen in time, waiting, for what I can't say. By most measures, at least American measures, the Youngstown economy was dismal before the financial crisis and has only gotten worse since. Still there's no place like home and hope springs eternal.

I had a wonderful but exhausting week in D.C. at the Kennedy Institute Course, "Bioethics Beyond the Soundbite." The course brought together many different disciplines including theologians, philosophers, lawyers, nurses, dentists, and primarily doctors to discuss the major issues confronting bioethics. I found the back and forth between the ethical theorists and the clinic professionals particularly helpful. Theories show their worth only when confronted with the human drama a practice. (No, I'm definitely not a Kantian.) I was particularly impressed with the presentation of Edmund Pellegrino M.D. whose list of accomplishments is nothing short of overwhelming. Dr. Pellegrino spoke of the practice of virtue in medicine and the need for self-examination including a reference to the Ignatian Examen. The Georgetown Jesuit community was particularly accommodating. I was also happy to see many friends while I was in town though not nearly as many as I would have liked. There are only so many hours in a day.

AMDG

Another Long Absence from Blogland

2009-05-29T16:34:00.004-05:00

Happy Summer one and all.

It was another hectic semester which combined with a bad case of blog laziness has meant no posts for quite some time now.

For the first time in my academic life I took an extension on a paper so technically my semester isn't quite finished yet. I'm trying to use a little cognitive science and a little philosophy of mind to support Charles Taylor's philosophy of action. It's a bit out of my philosophical comfort zone, but I'm enjoying the project.

I head to Washington, DC for a conference on Saturday at Georgetown. Then home for a spell become flying to Bolivia for the better part of the summer. For the second summer in a row, I'll be trying to learn Spanish, one of these times it's going to stick, right?

Benedict and AIDS

2009-03-28T23:05:00.004-05:00

Recently Pope Benedict received a lot of bad press for his supposedly naive view of AIDS prevention in Africa. One of my brother Jesuits, Michael Czerny, director of the Society's efforts for AIDS prevention in Africa wrote a wonderful piece contextualizing the Pope's comments both in the African scene and the larger Christian vision of reality. Here's a small snippet:

This [Christian] sexuality is based on faith in God, respect for oneself and the other, and hope for the future. Compare this vision with reliance on condoms. Everyone must recognise that ‘condoms all the time for everyone’ goes with a notion of ‘sex as fun without consequences’. Deep down, we know what a lie that is. It means treating another human being as a vehicle for my own pleasure. As public policy, it is to treat people as rapacious, unable to control themselves, incapable of anything beyond immediate self-gratification. Such an attitude is horribly pessimistic about humankind in general and, when imposed by public and international agencies on Africans, it also represents unconscious but abhorrent racism. This is not a route that the Church can take.

You can find the rest of the article at Thinking Faith. The whole thing is well worth a read. For more on the Society of Jesus' work to combat AIDS in Africa check out AJAN (African Jesuit AIDS Network). AMDG

Templeton Day

2009-03-16T11:46:00.002-05:00

The good people at the Templeton Foundation announced the 2009 winner of the Templeton Prize today: Bernard d’Espagnat, physicist and philosopher of science. The prize is awarded to, "a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works." Previous winners include such luminaries as: Charles Taylor, John Polkinghorne, Paul Davies, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and (Blessed) Mother Teresa. Check out the the prize website for more details.

Stem Cells

2009-03-09T17:57:00.002-05:00

Today President Obama lifted the ban on Federal money for stem cell research. Needless to say I disagree vigorously with the President's decision.

Slate Magazine posted an interesting article on matter entitled: Winning Smugly by William Saletan. Saletan juxtaposes the Bush administrations arguments for torture with Obama arguments for embreyo exploitation. It's hardly a full bore pro-life argument but it does raise some uncomfortable moral questions which are worth pondering.

AMDG

Jesuit Commercials

2009-03-09T16:54:00.002-05:00

Drew Marquard SJ, a Jesuit in First Studies at Fordham University produced these Jesuit Mock commercials. I think they're pretty amusing.

Garbage Man

The 25th Date

The Naval Officer

The Author

AMDG

Busy Semester

2009-03-01T22:32:00.002-06:00

Yes, I'm still alive. This semester has turned out to be my busiest so far. I'm taking Philosophy of Action, Plato, Sacramental Theology, and just for kicks a Chemistry class with lab. I've found doing some basic science is a good mental break from all the "higher level" philosophy and theology that takes up most of my time. It's nice once and a while to just sit down to a problem set that has definite answers--at least theoretically definite. Well let's just call them probable answer in reality but definite according to a certain formalism. That's the problem with philosophy, it's hard to escape even in Chemistry class.

In addition to the four classes, I've also been volunteering with the chaplaincy department at Loyola University Hospital once a week. So far I've been bringing communion to patients and helping with some initial pastoral visits. Between classes, ministry, and keeping up with things around the community all the hours in the day seem to be pretty well accounted for. Thankfully I'm enjoying the busyness.

Currently Loyola is on Spring Break. For me this means time to get term papers underway. I am taking the opportunity to see a few concerts as well. This afternoon Hilary Hahn gave a wonderful recital at Symphony Center here in Chicago. The program included two of Ysaye's lovely sonatas for solo violin, 4 and 6, two sonatas by Ives, 2 and 4, some Hungarian Dances by Brahms, and some Romanian Dances by Bartok. All in all an excellent way to spend the afternoon. I've heard Ms. Hahn in concert previously but this was the first time playing chamber work. She is an amazingly versitile artist to go from the great Romantic concertos with full orchestra to sensitive solo pieces and aquite herself beautifully with both. Tomorrow is Mozart's Abduction from Seraglio at Lyric. Then the rest of the week is a whole lot of studying.

More on Dulles

2008-12-12T15:50:00.004-06:00

A friend of mine brought this old newsreel of Cardinal Dulles' priestly ordination in the 1950's to my attention. It's worth a look.

Cardinal Dulles 1918-2008

2008-12-12T10:13:00.004-06:00

This morning Avery Cardinal Dulles SJ died at the Jesuit infirmary, Fordham University.

I had the privileged of meeting Cardinal Dulles twice and found that he more than lived up to his reputation for grace and wisdom. The Society and the Church will feel the loss of this great theologian and priest.

May he now see the face of the living God whom he served so well.

Requiem aeternam dona ei , Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei . Requiescat in pace. Amen.

DONE

2008-12-10T14:19:00.001-06:00

As of noon today I'm done for the semester. I have but one thing to say:

Royce

2008-11-28T21:06:00.003-06:00

Josiah Royce has taken over my life. I've been doing battle with The Problem of Christianity for the past week. Perhaps battle is too strong a word. Problem is actually rather sympathetic to Christianity and Royce was a Christian. The book, at least the part I'm interested in, is a metaphysics of community. The Problem bit of the book is Royce's attempt to make Christianity and modernity play nice or at least acknowledge the challenges of each.

My problem is that I started writing my paper not knowing what I wanted to write about. Unfortunately I was eight pages in before realizing this. All tolled I've gone through four topics and have rewritten almost the entire paper twice! It's enough to drive a guy crazy. Thankfully I'm nearly done now.

Thanksgiving at Loyola was lovely, eerily quiet though. This is my first time on a college campus over break, and it's almost tomblike.

Back to writing... of a non-blog variety.

Ratzinger on Economics

2008-11-20T20:21:00.003-06:00

"Even if the market economy does rest on the ordering of the individual within a determinate network of rules, it cannot make man superfluous or exclude his moral freedom from the world of economics. It is becoming ever so clear that the development of the world economy has also to do with the development of the world community and with the universal family of man, and that the development of the spiritual powers of mankind is essential in the development of the world community. These spiritual powers are themselves a factor in the economy: the market rules function only when a moral consensus exists and sustains them." Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 1985 "Market Economy and Ethics"

The world economy probably should have paid closer attention to this address. Hindsight is twenty-twenty I suppose.

Still Alive

2008-11-14T20:33:00.003-06:00

Yes, I'm still alive. I've been writing so much for school the past month I haven't had much energy for extra curricular writing.

School is going along well--I think. Once I have a chance to slow down and reflect I figure it out for sure.

In fairness I've been doing more than just study. One of my various peculiarities is a weakness for financial news and the past few months has provided amply for this little quirk. It's terrifying on one level but fascinating on another.

I've also finally gotten my ministry set-up: save some paperwork which is hopefully all just formality. I'll be volunteering at Loyola University Medical Center in the ministry department. I'm really looking forward to getting started over there.

Election

2008-10-09T16:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the dirth of posting. I'm buried alive under a mound of books. This past weekend I was at the Jesuit villa in Omena enjoying the lovely fall weather and reading Theodore Parker. Now I'm back in Chicago enjoying more lovely fall weather and reading Soren Kierkegaard. For those politically minded perhaps a look at Soren's platform is in order.

This is about as political as I get. Now back to the Hegel bashing.

Significant Figures and Perfection

2008-09-28T14:08:00.002-05:00

I've been annoyed all morning after missing a stupid question on an online Chemistry quiz because of a significant figure error. (Despite being a philosophy graduate student, I've decided to take one science class a semester while I'm at Loyola. I took very little hard science as an undergraduate and want to make up for this deficiency.) Mine was a quintessentially stupid mistake: 25 mL instead of 25.00 mL. Even though it likely will have a negligible effect on my final grade I can't shake a sense of annoyance.

Significant figures are used in experimental science as among other things an admission of the intractable error inherent in measurement (at least measurement of non-discrete entities) and thus in anything derived from those measurements. No measurement is right or wrong-- good measurements are precise and accurate which is not the same thing is right.

My annoyance springs from getting a question about foulable measurement wrong and thus having myself evaluated as foulable. Perhaps my opinion of myself should be little more like an empirical measurement, always expecting some error while striving for the greatest precision possible. God gets to be right or wrong-- the rest of us try to approximate this but only to a few significant digits.

Piles of books

2008-09-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

Most of my waking hours the past few days I've been mulling over term paper topics for my Philosophy of Religion and American Philosophy classes. Normally I walk around with a distracted look on my face, recently I've been in danger of running into things. But no matter even Thales (founder of Western Philosophy) fell into a well.

The problem with writing in philosophy of religion is just how well covered the topic is. People have been writing about it almost since there have been people writing so coming up with a small enough topic is proving trickier than I imagined. That and the subject matter is kind of a toughy. Who'd a thunk the ineffable would be well you know.

I think I'm pretty well settled on writing on Royce's view on community in American Philosophy. There's still some narrowing to be done on that but it seems managable.

Why am I freaking out about term papers in September you ask? I like to think of the library as a jungel and I'm a hunter looking for exotic academic prey. The longer I spend in the jungel the more unusual things I'll find. Working on term papers gives me a good excuse to go looking even if I only use a quarter of what I find. End of hopelessly dorky post.

Determinism

2008-09-13T17:20:00.003-05:00

I guess the mystery of belief in God has been solved.

Hat tip to Erika

Not even wrong

2008-09-07T14:13:00.002-05:00

This morning at brunch with my brother Jesuit and Dean, Paul, we were trading various logical puzzles. Not all my neurons were firing so well this morning. I found myself stuck on a puzzle that I knew was off but didn't know how to fix it nor even explain it properly.

The problem:

Three sailors book a room at a hotel for thirty dollars. Later the hotel manager reconsiders and decides to charge them twenty five. He sends a bell boy up with the extra five dollars. The bell boy realizing that five is difficult to split three ways decided to give each sailor a dollar and keep the other two.

If each sailor paid nine dollars for his share of the room and the bell boy has two dollars where did the other dollar go?

After finally solving the problem, with a little help, Paul told me what was so difficult it, to quote Wolfgand Pauli the quantum physicist, "This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."

It's relatively easy to ferret out a logical error someplace in an argument. What makes this little problem tricky is it slips an almost nonsensical perspective into the mix. To be wrong requires a certain logical framework with falsifiability. To not even be wrong is to pose a question that simply can't be answered because it completely misframes the situation.

Be on the lookout for arguments that are not even wrong.

Rainy Day

2008-09-04T10:04:00.002-05:00

It's Thursday morning. I'm sitting here in my room trying to summon the motivation to start the mountain of reading I need to get done for next week. The weather outside is cold and rainy, normally the perfect study weather but today all it's eliciting is a desire warm blankets and a nice fire. The only cure I know for such lethargy is good tea... my typical cure for anything. To the kitchen...

In the happy news department, two of my dear college friends, Erin and Dan, recently announced their engagement. Congrats Erin and Dan!

Studies

2008-08-25T20:15:00.002-05:00

"The goal of this class is to solve the most important and difficult problem in the history of the universe." -Dr. Moser in his introduction to Philosophy of God

As of today I'm officially a grad student, and what better way to start than with the "most important and difficult" questions. Does God exist? Do (Can) we know God exists? The answers to these questions change everything. This class caused me to reflect on the privilege of advanced philosophical and theological studies. Where else does one explicitly ask then deeply reflect upon the most important questions? Monasteries perhaps-- universities grew out of them after all. I'm not going to answer the most important question other than an inadequate because it's not a question that is ever really answered but always lived with and in. Though if pressed... yes and yes.

Now on to reflection.

And all for the greater glory of God who is both knowable and beyond all knowing; who exists and is beyond all existence.

Loyola

2008-08-23T21:22:00.003-05:00

Greetings from Loyola University Chicago.

My head is still spinning from all the recent business of vows and moving to Chicago. Vows were wonderful but overwhelming experience. I was touched how many friends and family came to Detroit to support me. I was particularly touched by the number of my brother Jesuits who came to witness my commitment to this Least Society.

After the vows my parents threw a wonderful little party for me complete with video montage. Sunday I packed up my room, and Monday Cyril and I headed for Chicago. This week has been a series of orientations to this new community, university, and city. It has been a transition to be sure but a painless one. Before entering the Society I spent six weeks living here at Loyola with the Jesuit community discerning so I already know the lay of the land.

Classes start on Monday, here's hoping for a good semester.

Today is also entrance day at the novitiate. Seven men entered Loyola House, please keep them in your prayers.

Vows

2008-08-17T11:47:00.002-05:00

Almighty and eternal God, I, Matthew Ian Edmund Dunch, understand how unworthy I am in your divine sight. Yet I am strengthened by your infinite compassion and mercy, and I am moved by the desire to serve you. I vow to your divine Majesty, before the most holy Virgin Mary and the entire heavenly court, perpetual chastity, poverty, and obedience in the Society of Jesus. I promise that I will enter this same Society to spend my life in it forever. I understand all these things according to the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Therefore, by your boundless goodness and mercy, and through the blood of Jesus Christ, I humbly ask that you judge this total commitment of myself acceptable. And as you have freely given me the desire to make this offering, so also may you give me the abundant grace to fulfill it.

At Detroit, Michigan, chapel of the North American Martyrs, University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, on the 16th of August in the year 2008.

Battle

2008-07-28T18:37:00.002-05:00

Hello from Villa Marquette in beautiful Omena, Michigan where an epic battle is raging between the forces of order and chaos. This week we've been engaging in a major clean up of the compound especially our war against mold which is now in it's second year.

Some major projects:

Rehabilitating fifty nightstands, yes fifty (sanding and painting with mold resistant paint)

Building replacement Adirondack chairs (last year many were lost in the mold battle)

Tearing apart a defunct and incredibly funky old shower room

Tearing down an old fuel shed on the beach and gutting another

Continuing to get rid of any carpet or upholstered furniture in mold prone areas

Painting the second floor of one of the houses

Cleaning the chapel and re-securing some of the pews (the temperature changes warped some of the wood and broke a few brackets)

Official vacation starts Wednesday.

Whether there is a sin in lack of mirth?

2008-07-21T20:37:00.004-05:00

I answer that, In human affairs whatever is against reason is a sin. Now it is against reason for a man to be burdensome to others, by offering no pleasure to others, and by hindering their enjoyment. Wherefore Seneca [Martin of Braga, Formula Vitae Honestae: cap. De Continentia] says (De Quat. Virt., cap. De Continentia): "Let your conduct be guided by wisdom so that no one will think you rude, or despise you as a cad." Now a man who is without mirth, not only is lacking in playful speech, but is also burdensome to others, since he is deaf to the moderate mirth of others. Consequently they are vicious, and are said to be boorish or rude, as the Philosopher states (Ethic. iv, 8).

-St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Secunda Secundae Partis Q168 A 4

The Angelic Doctor clearly understands the virtue of recreation. Who am I to ignore his advice? Let the recreation commence: tomorrow, Batman on Imax; Wednesday, Cedar Point; Friday, Omena for a variety of water sports, bonfires, and fellowship. And whether mirth, work, or study it is all for the Greater Glory of God.

Back in the USA

2008-07-16T14:08:00.002-05:00

I'm back in the USA as of yesterday afternoon. It was a long trip via Houston but after twelve hours of sleep last night I'm back to normal.

My time in Peru was on the whole wonderful though not especially easy. The people, especially the Jesuits were remarkably warm and welcoming. They opened up new realities of culture and the Church to me that I had never before considered.

I've come to realize just how dependent I am on the American way of doing things, everything from traffic laws to potable drinking water to good government. As much as Americans complain about the state of our government, and have the right to complain, compared with most of the world our country runs remarkably well and after even my short time in Peru, I am particularly grateful for my native land.

Task one have arrived in Detroit is working through the pile of laundry that has accumulated from the Peru trip and my trip home and to Chicago which immediately preceded Peru. On these occasions I'm especially motivated to simplify, besides the spiritual benefits I'd have less to wash.

Cuzco and Beyond

2008-07-12T20:00:00.004-05:00

I'm just back from six days in and around the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco. Cuzco is around 10,000 feet which for most people means a spell of altitude sickness anything from a mild headache to pretty severe trouble. Thankfully all but one of us were spared the nasty effects of low oxygen levels.

Tuesday we ventured a small ways out of Cuzco to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, a fertile valley home to many important Inca ruins.

Our plans got a bit disrupted Wednesday because of a National Strike. All roads in and out of the city were blocked and just about all the stores were closed. The only vehicles on the road that day were police. We watched the strike from the roof of the Jesuit Church in Cuzco's main square after an excellent tour given by the pastor. The Church in the picture is the Jesuit Church, La Compañia.

Thursday we headed out of the city to some remote Jesuit apostotles working with native peoples. It was really the middle of nowhere. We traveled for miles and miles over unpaved roads and truly harsh terrain.

Friday we visited the storied Maccu Picchu. I was less impressed with the city itself than with the rain forest and mountains surrounding it. Location, location, location.

Last week in Lima

2008-07-03T17:17:00.003-05:00

This is my last week in Lima. On Sunday I head up to the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco for a week of touring including Maccu Pichu. I don't think I'll have internet access whilst in Cuzco.

Last night there was a power outage, our fourth since arriving here. Rather than sitting at home in the dark all night we decided to head out into the city. The picture is of seven happy Jesuits at Lima's waterpark, which is really quite impressive. It's a collection of fountains, some quite large, choreographed with music, lights, and video. A good time was had by all, and when we got back home the lights were on.

Urban Roosters

2008-07-03T16:32:00.002-05:00

Urban Roosters

or how I get up in the morning.

When I was younger, I often watched Green Acres on TV and wondered what the country life would be like. As a child of upper-middle class and lower-upper class suburbs my acquinantance with any sort of farm animals is strictly limited that is to say I've visited pettings zoos and watched Green Acres. One prominent aspect of my agrarian imaginings was waking up to the sound of the roosters preparing for the dawn and then going out to a hard day's work.

When I arrived in Lima last month, a congested city of almost eight million, I had no idea part of my Green Acres imaginings would come true. Yet the very first morning here about six in the morning the roosters began cockeldoodeling (can that be a gerund?). Our neighboor a few buildings over raises roosters on his roof, in fact urban livestock appears to be common here. It was amuzing and efficient using the rooster alarm for about the first week until I realized the awful truth about waking up to roosters: it's the alarm clock that won't shut off at least not until the sun goes down. Sure they mellow out as the day goes on but never quite stop like an alarm clock the beeps randomly throughout the day just to make certain you haven't nodded off. Gone are my romanticized vision of life on the farm, all thanks to a very urban Lima and its very urban roosters.

Ss. Peter and Paul

2008-06-29T16:59:00.002-05:00

Happy Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul

Today a few of us ventured downtown to the Jesuit Church of San Pedro for Mass. We got more than we bargained for. The Peruvian people have a penchant for processions I've discovered. Today at San Pedro we arrived to find the street full of men and women in all sorts of brightly colored costumes from Inca to Elvis. At the center of it all was St. Peter decked out in an ornate cope with St. Paul carried along side. A group of retainers wore sashes matching the cope. The parade stretched on as far as I could see. I counted at least four bands and eight dancing troops.

San Pedro has Mass ever hour on Sunday mornings, all well attended. We arrived around 10:45 for the 11:00 Mass. The parade continued all through Mass. The bands outside overwhelmed the poor organ and choir. The competing cerimonies distracted me a bit but the Peruvians seemed used to it.

Around communion time the first procession seemed to end. But no sooner had it ended than a second St. Peter statue emerged ready to be taken on tour. This time in the opposite direction of the first. Talk about Catholic Culture.

¿No conoco?

2008-06-25T22:07:00.002-05:00

I was struck today by the joy of being bad at Spanish. Don't get me wrong, my goal is to eventually achieve fluency, but in the meantime there's a lot to be learned. Stumbling over my words frees me to pay greater attention to expression, tone, setting. It also makes conversation very basic. Not being able to talk about metaphysics, literature, history, world events, I've found great solace in talking about simple immanent things. In English I seldom let myself enjoy a conversation about how a certain piece of fruit was a little odd looking; in Spanish I'm all about it. Speaking like a three year old in Spanish means enjoying some three year old level conversations and it's not all bad.

In other news, my current favorite blog, The Immanent Frame, has a great thread on Neuroscience and Religion: A Cognitive Revolution. Well worth a look for those interested in such things.

Jean Vanier

2008-06-18T15:41:00.002-05:00

The saintly Jean Vanier, founder of l'Arche, speaking at the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec

Lima

2008-06-17T14:39:00.005-05:00

¡Hola!

I´m currently living in the Juniorado in Breña, a lower middle class neighborhood of Peru with six Peruvian and Ecuadorian Juniors (the stage of formation just after novitiate), nine guys from Loyola House, one scholastic from Texas, and four Peruvian priests.

The transition to Peruvian living has not been completely smooth. I go some nasty food poisoning or some such thing last week and only today to I feel completely better. Thankfully my illustrious spiritual director, Fr. Dave, is also Dr. Dave MD, so I was well taken care of.

The Peruvian schedule is a little different than what I´m used to:

7:00 Mass

7:30 Breakfast

8:15 - 1:00 Spanish Class

1:30 Lunch (the big meal of the day)

Afternoon free with occasional planned activities

7:30 Dinner

A week in I´m begining to adapt. Spanish is likewise coming along though slowly as I have not seriously studied it before. French and Latin give me some foundation but more with reading than speaking.

Peru

2008-06-10T18:44:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Peru!

It has been an eventful week and a half since I last posted.

First was Jenn and Pat s (the apostrophy key is not working on this keyboard sadly) wedding in Buffalo. It was a wonderful celebration, fitting for such a wonderful couple.

Next was a home visit. Journeying back to my native Youngstown for a few days with family, always a pleasure.

Immediately after home visit were bi-province days in Chicago. Jesuits of the Detroit and Chicago provinces gathered to celebrates jubillees and the ordination of four of our brothers.

We left Chicago Saturday after the ordination for Detroit and flew out of Detroit Sunday morning for Houston then onto Peru.

I am still a little overwhelmed at the moment. This is my first trip to South America and my first real Spanish immersion experience. My Spanish is pitiful and it takes about all my mental energy at the moment to follow the conversations going on around me. Right now I am batting about .500 on comprehension and a great deal less on conversation. Hopefully these will improve.

Approved!!!

2008-05-29T12:41:00.003-05:00

I've just received word from my provincial that I have been approved for vows in August! Huzzah!

Time for a classic Jesuit video in celebration:

Corpus Christi

2008-05-25T12:35:00.002-05:00

More like Corpus Christi observed since the solemnity was really last Thursday but is moved to Sunday almost everywhere.

Another mostly uneventful week here at Loyola House. We had a seminar Thursday and Friday which was rather good. The event of the week was, at long last, finishing Charles Taylor's A Secular Age which I've been reading off and on since October. It's truly an amazing piece of scholarship though not something that can be zipped through clearly. I would write about it except I don't know where to start, perhaps some other time.

Next week looks to be busier. Monday is the summer birthday extravaganza. Tuesday is the 25th Jubilee celebration for my novice master. Wednesday and Thursday the provincial visits. Friday is a liturgy workshop. Saturday I leave here at the crack of dawn for Buffalo and Jenn and Pat's wedding.

I will derive

2008-05-25T12:29:00.001-05:00

For all you Physics and Calculus lovers:

Returns

2008-05-17T22:08:00.003-05:00

The first year novices returned to Loyola House after being spread across the US and Canada on various ministry experiments. There's an excitement in the air as everyone shares what he's been doing the past few months-- new ministries, cities, people, challenges and joys, ministries as diverse as working with the UN to working with the homeless. In these things and everything in between finding God, who Ignatius exhorted his follower to find, "In all things." It's times like these I feel particularly blessed to be a Jesuit--living, working, and praying with such wonderful men serving a mission so much bigger than any of us.

AMDG

Back from Retreat

2008-05-13T18:24:00.003-05:00

I'm back from my eight day retreat at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House just north of here in Bloomfield Hills. It was a lovely time to decompress after working at U of D Jesuit and do some serious prayer.

May is a relaxed time here at Loyola House. We have a number of projects but no steady work until June when we head off to Peru for six weeks. I'm hoping quixotically to get caught up on my reading. I just ordered The Philosophy of Medicine Reborn: A Pellegrino Reader, a collection of essays by the eminent medical ethicist and doctor Edmund Pellegrino which I'm really excited about starting. Anyways... much reading to do.

Cartoon

2008-05-04T09:19:00.002-05:00

This cartoon was drawn by a junior in my eighth period Morality class. I think he captures my personality a bit too well.

Back in Berkley

2008-05-03T21:02:00.002-05:00

Long experiment is over and I'm back in Berkley at Loyola House. It was a wonderful four months at U of D Jesuit. I'm immensely grateful to the U of D Jesuit community and the larger school community for their support during my time with them. U of D is a wonderful institution and I was lucky to be a part of it.

Jesuit life is full of transitions. I don't find transition an easy thing. There is a natural desire to settle into places be they communities or ministries. It is a necessary part of ministry to commit to a particular work. To invest oneself in the task at hand. It's very easy to become attached to that task, to self-associate with a ministry. Yet in the midst of transition I am reminded that a Jesuit should never be content with settling into a particular ministry for the long haul. A Jesuit is, before any particular ministry, one who is sent on mission for the greater glory of God. He must always seek after the Magis. Where am I being called to serve better? Living the Magis means transition--a willingness to go where the Spirit leads. I pray I might have the grace to live this ideal.

AMDG

One more week

2008-04-25T12:46:00.002-05:00

I've just finished my second to last week here at "The High". At the risk of sounding cliche, time has just flown by. As is common in novice experiments, now that I feel comfortable at this ministry it's getting time to move on. Thankfully I still have next week.

Matthew the disciplinarian has had to assert himself a bit more as the weather has grown nicer. Student behavior is inversely proportionate to favorable atmospheric conditions. The longer I'm here the more unpleasant I find taking disciplinary action. Teaching is fun; classroom management is exhausting. Unfortunately without firm measures nothing would be accomplished in a high school, such is the cost of adolescent angst.

This weekend my parents are visiting. Tonight we're going to see Hilary Hahn play the Tchaikovsky Violin Concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; it should be excellent.

The Pope at Catholic University

2008-04-16T21:34:00.001-05:00

The Holy Father will be visiting my alma mater tomorrow to deliver an address on Catholic higher education. Hopefully my little brother, who is a freshman at CUA, will get to see him.

http://papalvisit.cua.edu/

Viva Il Papa!

2008-04-15T18:24:00.003-05:00

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the Pope is now visiting the United States. Let us pray that his visit may enliven the Church in faith and unity.

An excellent week

2008-04-07T08:25:00.003-05:00

Last week was an excellent week in the life of Matt. Now most of my weeks are good: I lead a happy life, I'm pleased to say. But last week was a cut above.

Firstly, classes last week went better than I had hoped. Particularly philosophy class, last week's topic was the ethics of J.S. Mill and Virtue ethics. It was a lot to cover in a ridiculously short amount of time, but I think they got a few of the essentials. What is more encouraging is the number of students who came up to me outside of class to talk philosophy.

The eighth graders took a Latin exam last week which also surpassed my expectations. Many of the kids got over 100%. I think they have successfully conquered the present active in all four conjugations. Now onto the passive voice.

Last Wednesday University of Detroit Mercy hosted a lecture by Dr. Robert Bellah, a prominent sociologist who studies secularization particularly. He lectured on the conditions of belief in the modern West. How does one believe today in a Society that increasingly guards itself against the transcendent. He reflected particularly on Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, which I might add is just superb. It is well worth the 800 page commitment.

Friday early evening I attended a discussion of the 35 General Congregation of the Society of Jesus which ended last month. A general congregation is the highest governing body of the Society. The presenters who had been members of the congregation were all convinced that the work of the spirit had been accomplished. The highlighted particularly our new Father General Nicolas and a reaffirmation of our strong communion with the Pope. I left the meeting reinvigorated in my Jesuit identity and pleased with the direction the Society is heading.

Friday night was the premiere of Battlestar Galactica season four. Cylons, and Raiders, and Starbuck O My. The little dork inside me was delighted.

Saturday I finished my application to Loyola University Chicago where my provincial has mission me for next year. Jesuits missioned to a Jesuit university for First Studies typically don't have any issues getting in but we're still required to go through the application process.

Saturday night I was off to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. The program was Italian themed including Berlioz's Roman Carnival, Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony 4, and John Corigliano's Symphony 3, "Circus Maximus". This last work is a new composition and a challenging one. It attempts to parallel the collapse of Roman civilization with what the composer perceives is the collapse of our own. I'm not ready to pass judgment on it yet; I can say it's kept me thinking.

Sunday I took some time to enjoy the nice weather and catch up on some letter writing.

All together an excellent week.

AMDG

April Fool's Day

2008-04-01T14:30:00.002-05:00

This makes me immensely happy. More at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

Elizabeth Anscombe

2008-03-30T14:18:00.005-05:00

As I was reading through the New York Times magazine this morning I happened upon an article about a pro-chastity at Harvard. (Chastity in the sense of abstaining from sexual activity before marriage, not in the priestly sense though the two senses are related.) It is one of an increasing number of pro-chastity groups popping up at Ivy League Universities. Several of these groups take as their 'patron' Dr. Elizabeth Anscombe, an Oxford Philosopher and disciple of Wittgenstein most noted for her work on human intention.

The chastity movement finds inspiration in Anscombe's 1977 essay "Contraception and Chastity." It's only 16 pages and well worth a read. Anscombe as the NYT article rightly points out is difficult to summarize. The essay is a hybrid of the theological and the philosophical with a little history mixed in for good measure. Better just to read what she has to say than for me to try and explain it. I don't think I can really do it justice.

Incidentally, I'm going to attempt to teach some Anscombe to my senior philosophy students in the form of her essay, "Modern Moral Philosophies." I'm not planning on having the students read it just utilizing a few arguments. This essay was landmark in the development of virtue ethics. The class is currently studying Kant, and we'll be on to Mill shortly. I'm hoping to use it as a means to work backwards to Aristotle. We'll see how well that works.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Break

2008-03-28T21:37:00.003-05:00

All good things come to an end, including spring break. Since Wednesday afternoon of Holy Week I've been enjoying some time off in Youngstown and Philadelphia.

This year I once again had the good fortune to assist with the Easter Triduum liturgies at my home parish of St. Charles. Things went off mostly without a hitch, thanks in large part to the excellent servers. Good servers make an MC's job much easier.

The Tuesday after Easter my parents and I headed to Philadelphia to visit my mother's side of the family. The picture is of Logan Circle in downtown Philadelphia near where we stayed. It was a packed but wonderful couple of days reconnecting with family.

We also had an opportunity to visit a special exhibition of Frida Kahlo's art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (home of the Rocky steps). Frida is known both as the wife of the famed muralist Diego Rivera and as an accomplished and provocative artist in her own rite. I was particularly drawn into her themes of identity and generativity which appear in many of her works.

Tomorrow it's back to Detroit.

The Immanent Frame

2008-03-28T10:01:00.003-05:00

Interesting blog find for those interested in "Secularism, religion, and the public sphere"

The Immanent Frame

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T09:19:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Christ is Risen, Alleluia!!!

Stations of the Cross

2008-03-22T11:30:00.003-05:00

Each year the Holy Father leads the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum in Rome. The celebration focused on Asia this year with Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong writing the mediations and the various depictions of the passion portrayed in a Chinese style. Full Text.

Jesus truly dies, because he is truly man. He hands over his last breath to the Father. O, how precious is that breath! The breath of life was given to the first man, and it is given to us once more, in a new way, after the resurrection of Jesus, so that we are able to offer every breath to him who gave us breath. What fear we have of death and how enslaved we are by this fear! The meaning and value of a life are determined by the manner in which it is given away. Even for the unbeliever it is not acceptable to cling to life, losing all sense of its meaning. And for Jesus, there is no greater love than that which leads us to lay down our life for our friends. Those who are attached to life will lose it. Those who are ready to sacrifice it will keep it. The martyrs give the supreme testimony of their love. They are not ashamed of their Master before men. The Master will be proud of them before all humanity on the last day.
-Cardinal Zen, Mediation on the Thirteenth Station

An End and a begining

2008-03-16T21:17:00.003-05:00

Tonight was the final performance of Grease. I was delighted with how well everything went. The cast and crew put on a terrific show. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have played a small part in it.

Today also marks the begining of Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday. This is a week set apart from all others to remember and celebrate Christ's victory over death. The event that changed everything.

Gloria, laus, et honor
tibi sit, Rex Christi, Redemptor.
-Theodulph of Orleans, circa 820

Closing Homily

2008-03-14T22:11:00.003-05:00

This is an excerpt from Father General Nicolas in his closing homily of General Congration 35:

The logic of the Christian experience is very clear. God is love, and so we too love. God is mercy, and so we too show mercy. God is good, and so we too desire to be good. If we do not love, we really do not have anything to say.

Templton Prize

2008-03-13T11:35:00.004-05:00

"Science gives us Knowledge, and religion gives us Meaning. Both are prerequisites of the decent existence. The paradox is that these two great values seem often to be in conflict. I am frequently asked how I could reconcile them with each other. When such a question is posed by a scientist or a philosopher, I invariably wonder how educated people could be so blind not to see that science does nothing else but explores God’s creation." -Michael Heller

This year's Templeton Prize will be awarded to Fr. Michael Heller, a physicist and Catholic priest whose scholarship has included work on the ever intriguing question: "Does the universe need to have a cause?" Fr. Heller ministered in Poland during the communist period and was persecuted both for his work as a scientist and a priest. More on this year's winner can be found on the Templeton site.

In other news, Grease opens tonight!

SNOW DAY!!!

2008-03-05T09:33:00.003-06:00

I woke up with morning and to my delight was greeted with a snow day. After promptly celebrating the news with a two and a half hour nap, I'm awake, caffineinated and ready to go. My goal today is to catch up on all the things I haven't had time for in the past two weeks; it's a long list.

Much of my life has been taken up with U of D Jesuit's musical, Grease. I never realized how much work goes into putting on a good show, last night the stage crew worked until 9:15 pm. That's about par for the course the next two weeks. Working on the musical has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know the students on a less formal level than the classroom but it does take up a lot of time. All things considered, I'm very happy to be working with the 90 or so students, faculty and volunteers who are trying to pull this thing together. Even more important than putting on the show is the wonderful community built around this common effort and for that I am most thankful.

Opening night is a week from tomorrow! By way of shameless plug: Anyone in the Metro Detroit area should consider coming. The Saturday show is almost sold out but there are still tickets for the other three performances.

Great Books

2008-02-27T20:47:00.002-06:00

I've had the good fortune of lecturing on Plato's Republic several times in the senior survey Philosophy class here at U of D Jesuit. For the number of times I've read the Republic, the book seems just as fresh and only slightly less enigmatic as the first time I opened it. The depth of insight is inexhaustible. Peter Kreeft once quipped, "a classic is like a cow, it always produces more milk," in which case the Republic is one of the most bovine of books.

Teaching is tiring work. At the end of the day I've found myself slipping into the unfortunate habit of settling down in the TV room and letting the images wash over me. As I walked by the TV room this evening intent on basking in the artificial glow, the dichotomy between the great book I've been teaching and what I was about watch struck me: a timeless classic versus largely vapid melodrama or strident analysis of current events. There are many classics I have yet to read, many great truths yet to be discovered. Perhaps life is too short merely to be easily entertained for the moment.

I don't mean to diminish the medium of television per se. There have been, are, and will be brilliant art and analysis through it. Yet I find my recourse to TV comes not from a desire for edification but from a desire for ease. I suspect the easy lessons of what I was going to watch are not worth learning.

AMDG

Grading

2008-02-13T11:33:00.002-06:00

More paper grading...

My respect for good high school teachers grows by the day, especially on days when a mountain of papers comes in for me to grade. The need to incentivize learning by attaching a grade to it is rather distasteful but necessary, more necessary than I previously thought.

Thankfully next weekend is a four day weekend--a chance to get caught up.

In other news, Godspy has relaunched. "GodSpy’s mission is to show—through compelling, personal writing—that being a committed, believing, orthodox Christian is compatible with being a thinking, feeling, culturally engaged person of the twenty-first century." It's well worth a look.

AMDG

Joyeux Mardi Gras!

2008-02-05T10:49:00.000-06:00

Happy Fat Tuesday to one and all.

I'm currently avoiding a stack of tests I need to grade while proctoring the learning center. The students are a bit lethargic today; they've been gorging themselves on Pazckis all morning and are now in a collective sugar coma. Before I came to Detroit I had no idea about Pazckis. They've a Polish pre-Lenten tradition, an extra unhealthy donut, if such a thing is possible. The idea was to use up all the lard, fat, etc... prior to lent. Presto! Pazckis.

Small World

2008-01-28T20:41:00.000-06:00

It's a small world after all. Two friends of mine have designed the altar Pope Benedict will use for his public Mass in Washington, DC. More details here. Congratulations to John Paul and Ryan--great job guys!

My life as a high school teacher is chugging along smoothly. This teaching thing is harder than it looks. I've learned that lesson planning is particularly tricky business. The Socratic Method doesn't work so well in 11th grade, so I have to be careful to plan explicitly what I'm going to say and where I want to end up at the end of the day. That's not to say that I'll get there, but it's nice to have a plan. Thankfully, I'm getting good feedback from both teachers and students. It's fun but tiring work--which explains my limited posting of late.

AMDG

Father General

2008-01-19T07:45:00.000-06:00

This morning in Rome these words were spoken by our former superior general announcing the election of his successor according the the formula set down by St. Ignatius and past general congregations:

Ego Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S.J., auctoritate Sedis Apostolicae et universae Societatis, Reverendum Patrem Adolfo Nicolas S.J., declaro electum in Praepositum Generalem Societatis Jesu, in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.

(I Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S.J. by the authority of the Apostolic See and the universal Society, declare the Reverend Father Adolfo Nicolas S.J. elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.)

Deo Gratias

AMDG

Thank You Fr. Kolvenbach

2008-01-14T14:20:00.000-06:00

Address given by Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ on the acceptance of his resignation by the 35th General Congregation:

Dear Fathers and Brothers,
Today the General Congregation has thought it well to accept my resignation as General Superior of the Society of Jesus. At the end of these nearly twenty-five years of service, I want first of all to thank the Lord, who – to use the words of Saint Ignatius – has truly been propitious to me at Rome, in leading a Society He has called into service for his greater glory.

I am also most grateful for the privilege of having met and accompanied so many friends in the Lord, who in their many diverse vocations have always shown themselves to be true servants of the Mission of Christ.
No single Jesuit should feel himself excluded from this profound sentiment of recognition. Nonetheless I would like to thank in a particular way those in the General Curia who have helped me day after day over many years in carrying out my responsibilities for the Society, as well as all the Major Superiors spread throughout the entire world.

Earlier I was able to express my great thanks to the Holy Father for his apostolic orientations which have allowed the Society to continue our mission “under the banner of the cross and under the Vicar of Christ on earth”.

Let us be grateful to the Lord that despite a disconcerting diversity of persons and cultures, of desires and works, our union of minds and hearts has never failed, and, despite an increasing fragility, the Society retains the capacity of apostolic dialogue before the challenges of the modern world in proclaiming the one Good News.
On this eve of the election of my successor and of the many decisions that the General Congregation will have to make, I unite myself with the prayer with which Saint Ignatius finished his letters: “May God our Lord in his infinite and supreme goodness be pleased to give us his abundant grace, so that we may know his most holy will and entirely
fulfill it.”

On Dishwashing

2008-01-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

Every time I wash the dishes they get dirty again... what's with that? Bummer.

During last week's retreat much of my time was taken up washing dishes for the retreatents. It's hard to get an sense of accomplishment from dishwashing when the dishes just keep coming. Dishes get dirty... dishes get cleaned... people need to eat again... dishes get dirty... it's a vicious cycle.

Upon reflection I've realized all work is like washing the dishes, though some types are more obviously repetitive than others. Take teaching school--students arrive not knowing things as freshmen and hopefully graduate having learned something. Then new freshmen arrive and the cycle begins again.

Even in professions involving creation or discovery this cycle is present albeit in a lesser degree. Homer created timeless classics, but they only retain their freshness and vitality by being carried on and seen anew from age to age. The letters on the page are dead--readers bring them life. Their is a cycle of interpretation and reinterpretation--the texts are not so static as they appear. Homer might have died long ago but the work of the Odyssey and the Iliad are ongoing. Surely writing is not as cyclical as dishwashing but some strands are present. I'm writing something right now and will feel accomplished when I finish, but this accomplishment has little sense of finality nor completeness-- nothing has been definitely expressed by me certainly nor even Homer.

Similarly great scientific discovery is not an end but a beginning. Newton discovered a model for the motion of planets and gravity that is very accurate but not quite right. Einstein offered an even better model, but it too does not really explain why the universe moves the way it does. Their accomplishments while immensely important are important because they more fully engage the question than because they solve it.

Does work really accomplish anything then, or are we forever washing the endless dishes? Yes, I think something is accomplished, but we need to re-imagine what accomplishment is.

In fact, in the final analysis it is always man who is the purpose of the work, whatever work it is that is done by man-even if the common scale of values rates it as the merest "service", as the most monotonous even the most alienating work. -Laborem Exercens, John Paul II

The worker is the purpose of work... that's different. Perhaps work is not so much about doing something as it is about becoming someone. The widgets we make don't last but we are hopefully changed for the better by making them. Better still those that encounter our work are also changed by it. Work is for people more than people are for work.

Now I'm going to go wash my teacup. AMDG

Moved In

2008-01-11T21:36:00.001-06:00

I've officially moved into the Jesuit Community at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (hereafter U of D Jesuit). It's been a low key day of packing and laundry. As moves go this is not a big one geographically, the novitiate is about five miles north northwest. Culturally it's a big move both in terms of the neighborhood and the Jesuit community.

The novitiate is a fairly regimented formation community. Its focus is inward--it exists to form novices. This community exists to further apostolic work. Its focus is on the well being of the school and the province office where many of the community members work.

The biggest transition is lifestyle. Going from 10 hours of apostolic work a week plus classes and ample reflection time to working full time and needing to find God in things a bit more on the fly. I'm excited and a bit daunted by this transition. It is a chance to really live the Ignatian ideal of finding God in all things especially in the midst of working with the people of God. AMDG

Juno

2008-01-10T12:15:00.000-06:00

Amanda Shaw, a Junior Fellow at First Things, has a great article on the First Things blog about a great movie Juno. For anyone who hasn't seen Juno yet, stop what you're doing and get a ticket. The movie chronicles a 16-year old girl's unplanned pregnancy and her difficult journey from contemplating abortion to telling her parents to adoption. Amanda does a much better job explaining it than I can, so read her article. Incidentally, Amanda and I are college friends.

Juno’s convictions barely show beneath her see-if-I-care attitude and her hip high school lingo, but those convictions nonetheless have deep roots. Vanessa asks if she wants to be paid for the adoption, and Juno shoots back, “I’m not selling the Thing.” Possessions can be sold. People can’t.

Go Cubs!

2008-01-10T09:04:00.000-06:00

The retreat is over. Cyril and I are transitioning from our role as retreat helpers to high school teachers. On Tuesday we began our transition by spending the afternoon at the school getting to know some of the kids, particularly kids in the school play.

Tuesday night we watched the U of D Jesuit Cubs take on their arch-rival Brother Rice in basketball. U of D is not a sports powerhouse let's say; Brother Rice usually is, but on this night the Cubs mounted a dramatic comeback in the fourth quarter from a 12 point deficit and defeated Brother Rice 45-43. The crowd went wild... yes, really. They rushed the court and everything. I was particularly impressed by the large number of students in attendance and by their enthusiasm. Clever cheers, dancing, cowbell, what more could you ask of a student section?

Monday morning, U of D Jesuit High School and Academy here we come.

GO CUBS! and as always AMDG

Ouch

2008-01-07T21:38:00.001-06:00

Ouch OSU Ouch

Two years in a row

OHIO

2008-01-07T13:46:00.000-06:00

And now for something completely different...

GO BUCKEYES!!!

Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy Hang on
O-H-I-O!

Strong Words Spoken in Love

2008-01-07T12:39:00.000-06:00

Love for the Church in every sense of the word, – be it Church people of God, be it hierarchical Church – is not a human sentiment which comes and goes according to the people who make it up or according to our conformity with the dispositions emanating from those whom the Lord has placed to direct the Church. Love for the Church is a love based on faith, a gift of the Lord which, precisely because he loves us, he gives us faith in him and in his Spouse, which is the Church. Without the gift of faith in the Church there can be no love for the Church.
- Franc Cardinal Rode CM, Opening Homily of GC 35

The Thirty Fifth General Congregation opened today with a homily preached by Francis Cardinal Rode on behalf of the Vatican. The Homily in no uncertain terms called the Society back to its roots especially to what Ignatius called sentire cum Ecclesia (thinking with the Church).

The homily touches upon what I see as the central difficult of Jesuit life, the thing that most attracted me to the Society of Jesus and most frightened me about her and still does. "The Tradition of the Society, from the first beginnings of the Collegio Romano always placed itself at the crossroads between Church and society, between faith and culture, between religion and secularism...Do not abandon this challenge. We know the task is difficult, uncomfortable and risky, and at times little appreciated and even misunderstood, but it is a necessary task for the Church." It's rather like being stuck between an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

The Society has the great and risky task of taking the Gospel foreign places: in the dialogged with other cultures, religions, even in dialogue with those who explicitly reject the faith, with an increasingly secular, atheistic world. Bringing the faith to all these diverse peoples and situations requires great creativity and adaptability. Sometimes creativity leads to distortion of what one is trying to pass on. Sometimes it leads to pride, Jesus gets lost in all too subtle distinctions used to accommodate dialogue; the Church is regarded as backwards: how could the hierarchical Church be so dim, power-hungry, or obstinate not to take our advice? Sometimes, thanks be to God, it leads to good fruit--the Gospel is advanced, the Kingdom of God is strengthened.

How do we think with the Church, the Body of Christ and His vicar while staying true to the task set before us, to confront new challenges in imaginative, effective, and often controversial ways? I don't know. This is a task too great for me, too great for any group of men; it is the Spirit of God which first enlivened the Society and continues to do so today that will see this work to fruition. AMDG

Prayer at the Tomb of Ignatius

2008-01-06T20:10:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow, January 7th, the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus opens with a Mass at our Mother Church in Rome, the Gesu.

The ceremony will include lighting a vigil candle at the altar of St. Ignatius, pictured to the right, to be kept burning the duration of the congregation; Jesuit communities around the world will be similar candles burning in their chapels symbolizing our 'union of hearts and minds' to use St. Ignatius's words. The prayer to be offered at the tomb is quite fitting I think.

Father and Master Ignatius,
discerner of the ways of God,
faithful friend of the Lord,
and humble servant of Christ and the gospel
beneath the banner of the cross;
you who untiringly sought the greater glory of God
through discernment and prayer,and were docile in obedience to the Lord and his spouse the Church;
you who did not seek riches or honor,
but preferred poverty with the poor Christ
and humiliations with Christ humiliated,
provided only that the most holy name of Jesus,
in which our salvation is placed,
was proclaimed to all;
intercede for us with the Father of mercies,
so that in this time of grace
we may seek and find in all things
God’s divine presence
and know his sovereign will.

To the Eternal King of all things
we entrust this least Society,
created not by human hands,but by the powerful hand of Christ our Lord
in whom we place our hope.
May Christ conserve and prosper
what he has begun
for his greater service and praise
and for the salvation of souls.

To you, Father Ignatius, and to the Society of saints in heaven
we entrust ourselves,
so that, confirmed in faith,
refreshed in hope,
and inflamed by evangelical charity,
we may love and serve the Lord in all things
and renew each day
our prayer of offering:

“Take, Lord, receive
all my liberty,
my memory, understanding,
my entire will—
all that I have and possess;
you have given to me,
to you, Lord, I return it.
all is yours now;
do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace;
that is enough for me.”

We ask this in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord. [emphasis mine]

John Allen

2008-01-04T18:47:00.000-06:00

John Allen wrote a piece on Benedict's "Affirmative Orthodoxy" which is well worth a read. But in case you don't read the whole thing here's the 'money' quote:

There was something original about the way Benedict presented the Christian basics in 2007, so much so that I would nominate it as perhaps the year’s most important neglected papal story. To put the story in a sound-bite, I would call it the emergence of “Affirmative Orthodoxy” as an interpretive key to Benedict’s papacy.
By “affirmative orthodoxy,” I mean a tenacious defense of the core elements of classic Catholic doctrine, but presented in a relentlessly positive key. Benedict appears convinced that the gap between the faith and contemporary secular culture, which Paul VI called “the drama of our time,” has its roots in Europe dating from the Reformation, the Wars of Religion, and the Enlightenment, with a resulting tendency to see Christianity as a largely negative system of prohibitions and controls. In effect, Benedict's project is to reintroduce Christianity from the ground up, in terms of what it’s for rather than what it’s against. [emphasis mine]

GC 35

2008-01-04T08:53:00.001-06:00

The thirty-fifth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus opens on January seventh. A General Congregation is the highest governing body of the Society of Jesus and is called only as needed for the purpose of electing a new superior general or other matters of 'greater moment'. The first General Congregation was held in 1558 to elect St. Ignatius' successor.

This congregation was called for the purpose of electing a successor to our superior general Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ who with the Holy Father's permission has asked to retire after 25 years leading the Society.

225 delegates from all over the world will gather to consider the question of the next superior general. What else the congregation takes up is left to their due diligence. Documents are expected to be produced on: Obedience, Obedience to the Holy Father, Ecology, Globalization, Vocations, Collaboration with laity, Jesuit identity, and Community Life. Once the congregation is in session it has autonomy to set its own agenda save requests from the Holy Father.

Lord, in your providence you guided Saint Ignatius to found the Society of Jesus. Enrich it, we pray, with gifts of heart, mind and spirit. Make us all one with you in holiness and love, that we may discern your will and carry it out with constancy and faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

AMDG

Matthew the Domestic!?

2008-01-03T13:02:00.000-06:00

Matthew... now with super domesticated powers!

This week Loyola House plays host to 16 guys interested in the Society of Jesus for an eight day, silent, discernment retreat. Cyril and I don't begin our spring assignments for two more weeks; we've been given the task of taking care of practical matters for the retreatants and directors. We're responsible for everything but cooking dinner and half the lunches.

Taking care of the little tasks of cleaning, organizing, shopping, etc... is more time consuming and difficult than I expected, lots of necessary little tasks none of which give a great sense of accomplishment when completed. The accomplishment in all this is the well being of the retreatants and directors.

Having been spared most domestic duties up to this point in my life and certainly having avoided full-time domesticity, this little experience gives me a new esteem for those people who devote themselves to the endless little tasks for the well being of others.

AMDG

Natural Law Conference

2008-01-02T14:13:00.000-06:00

My Alma Mater is holding a conference that on paper looks just phenomenal. The title of the conference is "A Common Morality in a Global Age: In Gratitude for What is Given Us." It will focus on a 21th century understanding of 'natural law'.

One of my favorite thinkers Sir John Polkinghorne is speaking on "The Christian Belief in Creation and an Attitude of Moral Responsibility." I'm also intrigued by the title of Jean-Pierre Dupuy's paper, "The Rebellion Against the Given: Advanced Technologies and the Obsolescence of the Human Condition."

The conference planning was set in motion three years ago at the request of then Cardinal Ratzinger and according the Whispers in the Loggia the Holy Father is taking a keen interest in its unfolding.

Back

2007-12-28T22:25:00.000-06:00

Sorry for my extended hiatus from blogging. I don't have a particularly good reason for it actually. I suppose I got busy around Christmas. Since my last post, I finished my fall ministries at the jail and the warming center. Both were deeply rewarding experiences and I shall miss the people I worked with and for.

The week just prior to Christmas we went on retreat at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Fr. Leo Cachet SJ ably directed our retreat. Leo spent 40 years in Nepal and India as a missionary and added some unique perspectives on the Christmas mysteries given his experience with those cultures and religions. It was a great retreat.

I've been home since Christmas day catching up with friends and family. There's no place like home even if only for a brief time.

Tomorrow I head down to Cincinnati for a conference with other young Jesuits.

We've all experienced the awkward situation of receiving a great gift from someone at Christmas and having nothing of value to give in return. This gift might be more expensive than we can possibly reciprocate or maybe we simply weren't thoughtful enough to buy or make something in the first place. Whatever the reason, the result is the same we're embarrassed and presented with a choice--except the gift of great value in humility or decline it in pride. At Christmas we are all given a gift infinitely beyond reciprocation, to accept so great a gift we must become as small as the child given to us all 2000 years ago.

AMDG

Spe Salvi

2007-11-30T14:11:00.001-06:00

The Pope's latest encyclical "Spe Salvi" was released today, the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. I know what I'm doing this afternoon.

O Happy Day

2007-11-24T15:14:00.000-06:00

Today is exciting for two reasons:

First, tonight is the long awaited Battlestar Galactica: Razor. Anyone that knows me well knows that I am a hopeless Science Fiction fan. My current Sci-Fi passion is Battlestar Galactica. Tonight at long last the wait is over for Razor. Unfortunately season four of Battlestar doesn't start until April assuming the writers strike is over by then.

Second, Hilary Hahn is coming to Detroit on April 25th! She is my favorite living violinist (Heifetz and Oistrak vie for the all-time spot) and will be playing one of my favorite concertos Tchaikovsky's first violin concerto in D with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Also featured on the concert is John Corigliano's second Symphony which is likewise a treat. My parents informed me today that they will be visiting the weekend of the concert of have already acquired tickets. O Happy Day!

Schedule and Diologue

2007-11-16T15:49:00.001-06:00

Two exciting things:

First, I now have my tentative schedule at U of D Jesuit High and Academy. I'll be assisting with an 8th grade Latin class, a 12th grade Philosophy class, and two 11th grade Morality classes. This means Matthew needs to brush up on his declensions and conjugations, since I'll be teaching Latin they're kind of important to know and I've forgotten much of them since last I studied Latin. The other classes I'm less concerned about. I'll also work in the Learning Center tutoring and will prefect in the library or during study halls.

Second, there's some good news on the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue front. The document produced discusses authority on the universal level of the Church; it's a baby step but a baby step forward is still good news.

Dr. Blazek SJ

2007-11-15T12:26:00.000-06:00

Bill Blazek, SJ MD who is currently a scholastic working at Georgetown Medical School and a member of my province contributed an article to the Washington Post's section "On Faith" which is worth a look. The article is a reflection on finding God during his experience of the first Gulf War while he was serving as a captain in the 101 Airborne Division.

AMDG

Albertus Magnus, Doctor Universalis

2007-11-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

"In studying nature we have not to inquire how God the Creator may, as He freely wills, use His creatures to work miracles and thereby show forth His power: we have rather to inquire what Nature with its immanent causes can naturally bring to pass." -St. Albert the Great

Today is the memorial of St. Albert the Great, OP, bishop, scientist, philosopher, and theologian. Given the length and breath of his talents he is honored with the title, Doctor Universalis. Albert is one of the luminaries of the 13th century. He tried to bring together all branches of knowledge. This included careful observation of natural phenomenon which can be called "scientific" centuries prior to the scientific revolution. He also helped reintroduce Aristotle to the west. You may have heard of Albert's brightest student Thomas Aquinas.

Catholic Univeristy

2007-11-12T11:38:00.001-06:00

Great news from my alma mater Catholic University. Pope Benedict will visit Catholic on 17 April 2008! My little brother is a freshman at Catholic and will get to see the Holy Father. Exciting stuff that is.

VIVA IL PAPA!

The High

2007-11-12T10:43:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to report that I have received my assignment for next semester--my 'Long Experiment' as it's known in Jesuit parlance. I will be working at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy or 'the high' for short. I'll also be living in the community there rather than at the novitiate. What precisely I'll be doing is still unclear though hopefully a bit of teaching and a bit of campus ministry. What's unique about the high is that it tries to bridge two worlds: poor, urban Detroit and wealthy, suburban greater Detroit area. The high is located on seven mile within the city of Detroit and draws around 25% of its students from the city. The rest of the student body comes from the surrounding suburbs.

My two current experiments continue to go well. Hard to believe this semester is almost over. I'm finally getting adapted to the cultures at the jail and the warming center. Yesterday Br. Jim, director of the warming center, took my brother novice Hung and me on a "homelessness tour" of Downtown Detroit. As we drove around the city we saw many familiar faces from the warming center at their various haunts. We visited the major shelters, soup kitchens, and social service providers. Along the way we also saw the most notorious drug dealing areas in the city. I've learned since I started at the warming center that drugs and street culture are almost one in the same. It's one thing to read about the problem; seeing the drug deals go down right in front of you adds a whole new dimension, the desperate poverty of the shelters and surrounding neighborhoods yet another.

N T Wright

2007-11-04T10:57:00.000-06:00

Per the request of one of my brother novices I just read: The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. It's an excellent little book introducing his thought on the historical Jesus and the Jesus of Christian orthodoxy.

N T Wright is the Anglican Bishop of Durham, England. He is also one of the premier New Testament Scholars alive today.

Though I haven't read much of his stuff yet, so far I'm impressed.

Many of his lectures are online at:

http://www.ntwrightpage.com/

Fields of Golden Corn

2007-10-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

Here Matthew surveys the fields of golden corn in preparation for last night's dinner.

Also of note are some pumpkin creations of the Loyola House community. Note especially St. Ignatius Loyola the pumpkin featuring in the middle of the line-up.

The Future

2007-10-28T16:37:00.000-05:00

January will be a momentous time for the Society of Jesus. Our General Superior Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, SJ has called the 35th General Congregation. A general congregation is the highest body in the Society of Jesus made up of members from each of the provinces. It is called only for matters of great moment and to elect superiors general. At this congregation Father Kolvenbach plans to submit his resignation having received approval to do so from Pope Benedict.

Yesterday I was at a meeting of Detroit area Jesuits to brainstorm the kind of man the Society needs for its new leader and what direction is needed for the future. The meeting brought up a variety of viewpoints and concerns. What impressed me was not the specific ideas but what I perceived as the source of those ideas--love of God and His Church. Despite the many difficulties the Society of Jesus will face in the coming years, if we hold close to God and His Church we'll be okay.

Pretty Things

2007-10-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was at the Warming Center after a long weekend in Omena, Michigan at the Jesuit villa. I noticed something yesterday which hadn't previously caught my attention--pleasantries or the lack thereof. Speech at the Warming Center is much more direct than what I'm used to. It is a language of utility. The same is true of the prison. Language looses its art in these places. Their very speech is molded by the harshness of their lives and surroundings.

Beauty begets beauty. The guests of the Warming Center have precious little beauty in their lives. Apart from well maintained public parks, which Detroit has few of, the homeless find themselves in dreary places. They receive what they need to remain alive from various agency, but I fear they lack something required to really live, access to the beautiful. The darknesses of their lives must be brightened by more than just material assistance. The means to stay alive does not make life worth living. Darkness can only be dispelled by light, the light that makes life worth living, the light of the beautiful. AMDG

Warming Center Article

2007-10-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Br. Jim Horgan, SJ, director of the Sts. Peter and Paul Warming Center where I work on Mondays, asked me to write a short article for the center's November news letter, this is what I've come up with so far:

The Two Tables

There are two tables in downtown Detroit less than a mile distant yet worlds apart. I had the privilege of sitting at both. In the center of the table first table were fine wines and rich foods. Surrounding the table were doctors, lawyers, and businessmen—men who had achieved much in life and were enjoying the fruits of their labors. They were dressed casually but smartly, insignias of designers dotted their clothing and every once in a while the glint of a gold watch was visible. My father was among them.

The second table was filled with some stew, a few pieces of bread, and soft drinks. Around the table sat men of less certain prospects. Some lived on the street, some in shelters. Most were in the grips of addiction. None had the luxury of a secure position in society or a comfortable savings to fall back on. They were dressed in odd assortments of clothing, some clean, some dirty, and mostly ill-fitting.

On first glance, the two tables appeared very different. Yet as I reflect on my time at the Warming Center and those two tables the differences pass away. At both tables were groups of men coming together to share their stories. Each had its share of laughter and concern; each group of men had hopes and fears. They all wanted to be valued, to find peace and security. All were seeking. The fine things of the first table had not insulated its occupants from doubt nor had the poverties of the second table crushed hope and gratitude.

In my few months at the Warming Center, I have learned the first table at which I received a reserved seat by accident of birth and the second table which the Society of Jesus missioned me to sit around are not so different. Our worth comes not from these separate tables but from our seat at the table prepared for all, the banquet table of the Lamb of God. As Christians we are called to bring all our tables together in anticipation of the table of the Kingdom set for all. AMDG

First of the Month

2007-10-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

I was working at the Sts. Peter and Paul Warming Center this morning when I learned of a phenomenon I had previously never considered. The center was remarkably quiet this morning. One of the staff members mentioned to me that the first of the month is check day. Most of the guests of the warming center receive some sort of government aid in the form of a monthly check. Various institutions will keep checks for those without a stable address.

For the next few days the center will be quiet while the normal guests are "living it up." Some stay in a hotel for a few days or buy food. For most unfortunately the money goes to support their addictions and is consumed in very short order. I'm awed by the power of addiction over these people's lives.

Jesuit Tea

2007-09-23T07:45:00.000-05:00

This is the weekend of two fund raisers. For better or for worse priests, especially Jesuits, must be able to raise funds to get anything done. St. Ignatius himself was a master fund raiser. Yesterday we attended a fund raiser for Manresa Jesuit Retreat House which is a few miles north of here. They're trying to build an endowment for among other things offering retreats to those who cannot offer them.

This afternoon is the Jesuit Seminary Association Tea, a group which raises money for young Jesuits in formation like myself. It is humbling to know that what we novices rely on materially speaking has been provided by our benefactors. Jesuits are able to be formed because other Jesuits raised the money to allow us to be formed. Considering many Jesuits go on to get terminal degrees, it requires a lot of fund raising and very generous people.

Paging Dr. Kass

2007-09-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

"The possibility of science itself depends on the immateriality of thought. It depends on the mind’s independence from the bombardment of matter. Otherwise, there is no truth, there is only “it seems to me.” Not only the possibility for recognizing truth and error, but also the reasons for doing science rest on a picture of human freedom and dignity (of the sort promulgated by biblical religion) that science itself cannot recognize. Wonder, curiosity, a wish not to be self-deceived, and a spirit of philanthropy are the sine qua non of the modern scientific enterprise. They are hallmarks of the living human soul not the anatomized brain. The very enterprise of science–like all else of value in human life–depends on a view of humanity that science cannot supply and that foolish scientific prophets deny at their peril, unaware of the embarrassing self-contradiction." -Leon Kass MD PhD

I'm a longtime admirer of Leon Kass. He is one of the founding fathers of bioethics. His career has been long and distinguished, notably he was Chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics and taught for many years at the University of Chicago. You can find a more complete bio here. You can read Kass's complete article which I quoted from above here.

Mindful Hack

2007-09-18T09:03:00.000-05:00

Yet another cool blog find: Mindful Hack discusses the faith and reason question with an emphasis on neuroscience.

Detroit Day

2007-09-14T06:45:00.000-05:00

Today after a morning prayer seminar, the novices are heading out to explore the greater Detroit area. If all goes according to plan we'll have lunch in Windsor's Little Italy which I'm told has a number of good restaurants then visit the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborne.

I found a good article on Clericalism by Mark Shea. While I don't agree with it entirely, it has a great deal of merit.

Happy Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross

Dulles

2007-09-12T11:59:00.000-05:00

Avery Cardinal Dulles SJ wrote an article in this month's First Things on the Faith and Science question in light of recent books on the subject. In the article, he pays particular attention to a Christian understanding of evolution. Cardinal Dulles provides a clarity of thought few others can muster. Well worth reading.

For those unfamiliar with the Cardinal, he is the son of John Foster Dulles the secretary of State under President Eisenhower. He is the man Dulles airport outside of Washington is names after. Cardinal Dulles converted from agnosticism to Catholicism as a Harvard undergraduate. He entered the Society of Jesus after serving time in the Navy during the Second World War. Cardinal Dulles has spent his ministerial life as a theologian. He is perhaps best known for his Models of the Church (1974) which has become a modern classic in ecclesiology. He taught at my fair alma mater, Catholic University, from 1974-1988 after which he became the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University. Pope John Paul II created Dulles as a Cardinal in 2001, a great and rare honor for a theologian.

Manresa Day

2007-09-07T21:42:00.000-05:00

Every so often we have what we call a "Manresa Day" here at Loyola House. It's a day of silence from about 9 am until Mass at 4:45 pm. We're asked to stay away from TV, computers, phones, etc...

Even living in a religious house it's easy to slip into a mundane rhythm which doesn't seem to leave time or attention for God. Sure we might schedule an hour of prayer into the day, we might even be faithful to that hour but squeezing God into part of the day is not the same as having a prayerful day. Prayer can't be reduced to an item on the schedule.

Manresa days are a way of breaking out of mundane rhythm and finding God everywhere and in everything of the day, being truly intentional about consecrating the whole day to God. It is a great privilege and challenge the novitiate affords us. The privilege of finding the vibrancy of God in the stillness of the day, excitement and life within stillness. The challenge of being open to finding that same vibrancy in the business of every other day.

AMDG

Tea, wonderful tea

2007-09-04T07:06:00.000-05:00

Now this is my kind of place: http://www.uptontea.com/

Ouch

2007-09-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

Ouch Michigan even as an Ohio State fan I feel sorry for you.

I'll probably be at the Michigan game next week; hopefully there will be some redemption.

Also, note the new "Faith and Science" section on the sidebar. I'm compiling links to various resources on the intersection of theology and science.

Jesuit Stamps

2007-08-31T19:43:00.001-05:00

Fr. Peter Fennessy, SJ is an avid collector of Jesuit stamps and other things Jesuitical. I had lunch with him today, and the discussion turned to one of my favorite topics: tea. I'm a hopeless tea enthusiast but Peter is more so. Today I learned from him that the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, is named after Brother George Josef Kamel, SJ who was a botanist in the Philippines during the seventeenth century. See Peter's website for more details.

Sir John

2007-08-31T16:10:00.001-05:00

I just happened upon this great website devoted to Dr Sir John Polkinghorne KBE.

Dr. Polkinghorne is a quantum physicist turned Anglican priest and has written many wonderful books on the relationship between religion and science.

I also stumbled upon the "International Society for Science and Religion" which was founded by Polkinghorne and is likewise worth a look.

Quiet Contemplation

2007-08-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

Things have been quiet around Loyola House the past few days. The new guys are up at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House about four miles north of here. The first period of novitiate none as 'first probation'. It's a time to transition from their former life to the novitiate (believe me it does take a while). First probation ends with a retreat for the first years presented by the second years. The theme of the retreat was the three vows. (Jesuits do in fact take a fourth vow to the Pope but not until after ordination, in the novitiate we concentration on the first three.) Below is my talk slightly modified:

The vow of chastity is perhaps the most misunderstood and countercultural vow. The difficulty I had trying to find some ‘celibacy music’ to play before and after this talk testifies to the fact. [Typically music is played before and after reflections] I’m certain you have all had the experience of explaining the vow of chastity to your various confused friends and relations. There will be plenty more opportunities for such explanations in future, particularly when you visit the high schools in March.

When giving such explanations it is a great temptation to diminish or explain away chastity. Yet the church calls all Christians to live chastely whether you are single, married, or religious. The vow of chastity should not be understood in a vacuum but in relation to the chaste living to which all are called. The Catechism says succinctly, “The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality [sic] of the gift (2337).” This gift is the gift of our full selves. To be chaste is to be our true self according to our particular vocation.

Karol Wojtyla [in Love and Responsibility] puts it this way, “Chastity is often understood as a ‘blind’ inhibition of sensuality and of physical impulses such that the values of the ‘body’ and of sex are pushed down into the subconscious, where they await the opportunity to explode. This is an obviously erroneous conception of the virtue of chastity, which, if it is practices only in this way does indeed create the danger of such ‘explosions’. This (mistaken) view of chastity, which explains the common inference that it is purely negative virtue. Chastity, in this view, is one long ‘no’. Whereas it is above all the ‘yes’ of which certain ‘no’s’ are the consequence.”

I see three dimensions of the vow of chastity: the practical, the transcendental, and the ecclesial. All three of these require the no’s society and we ourselves often dwell on. More importantly, they require a resounding yes, a yes to embracing our full humanity and living it in a unique and privileged way.

The practical dimensions of celibacy are most obvious. Intimate exclusive relationships take time and energy, lots of it. As St. Paul says, “A married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided.”

Celibacy when lived out well frees us for undivided service. This is especially true in the Society of Jesus. St. Francis Xavier and countless Jesuits after him have been sent to the four corners of the world on short notice to answer apostolic needs. People in committed exclusive relationships, married people, especially those with families are not this free or at least they shouldn’t be.

When I was teaching across the street at Our Lady of La Salette the question of the vow of chastity came up in my fifth grade class. I gave the example of two men, both devoted long hours of service in the local homeless shelter. One was married with children, one was not. The kids all agreed that service in the shelter was a very good thing to do. Then I asked if the shelter was really such a good thing if it meant the man with children had less time for his kids. I was expecting an ‘aha’ moment from the class but I got was a lot more. The kids shared with me their anxiety and fear about not seeing their parents enough and feeling neglected because of their parents work, sometimes multiple jobs. One boy was visibly upset when he talked about his father in the military.

The division of their parents’ attention and time caused these boys and girls obvious and great pain. Prior to that experience, I had some desire for a married priesthood. Certainly, the eastern Churches and Protestant ecclesial communities have very successful married clergy, though the Eastern Church recognizes the need for full celibate commitment in its bishops if not its priests. Nevertheless after that experience I realized at least for myself I could not do both. I could not be a fully committed priest and a fully committed family man. Both are consuming vocations and rightfully so. If I was to do both I would have to hold something back from each. For better or for worse there is only enough time in a life to full commit to one thing.

If only for practical reasons, the flexibility and lifestyle required of a Jesuit is not possible without a commitment to celibacy.

General Congregation 34 puts it this way, “We embrace apostolic chastity as a special source of spiritual fruitfulness in the world as a means for a more prompt love and a more total apostolic availability towards all men and women… Few are called to the life of a Jesuit, but for the man who is called, chastity only makes sense as a means to a greater love, to a more authentic apostolic charity.” That is to say full, complete, unfettered commitment.

The second dimension of the vow of chastity I want to discuss is the transcendent. Karl Rahner said of Christian sacrifice which celibacy is a prime example, “Renunciation in the ‘supernatural order’ as understood and practiced by Christianity, cannot be adequately explained from the standpoint of purely natural ethics.” In other words, celibacy and all other properly Christian sacrifice is based on a faith claim. There are no firm practical or secular grounds on which to base such a sacrifice.

The question is, why would anyone want to give up the wonderful goods of physical relationship and family life? Why would faith lead us to this step? Faith in what?

Wojtlya says of chastity, ”Chastity can only be thought of in association with the virtue of love. Its function is to free love from the utilitarian attitude.” Faith in love is why chastity makes sense. Freedom to love as we are called.

Chaste Christian living in all states of life is premised upon love. Celibacy is a vocation to live lovingly. The utility of celibacy is in the context of aiming at something beyond mere utility. Otherwise, celibacy becomes simply the ultimate efficiency plan like some kind of perverse organizational method.

It must aim at something higher, something transcendent or it becomes utterly absurd. It must aim at the highest thing, love.

Love is not something that can be proven; it can only be entered into. Love transcends reasons; it is too great for reason, too great for utility.

Augustine said, Nemo est qui non amet, roughly translated (since I couldn’t find a proper translation) ‘he is no one who would not love.’ How and who we love fundamentally defines who we are. Without loving, without reaching out in love we are non-persons, we are no ones. In reaching out in love we transcend ourselves. We leap out in faith.

This leads to a fundamental question if celibacy is about love, who or what is the object of this love. Where are we leaping?

We’ve now reached the third aspect of the vow of chastity, the ecclesial. Again, Karl Rahner provides a value insight, “The bourgeois, ‘cotton-wool’ way in which they [the vows] are often ‘discretely’ lived today in the Religious Orders, veils their meaning: which is to confess that the Church is not of this world and leads a life which, measured by all the perspectives of this world is scandal and folly…In so far as the love of God is lived ‘in the world’, it is the cosmic character of love which becomes effective. The deeds of man which have meaning for the world can appear as an expression and sign of love as something cosmic, however only if they are done by men in the Church in loving union with those whose renunciation love appears as something transcendent and eschatological.”

‘Love as something’ cosmic that is perhaps the best definition of the vow of chastity I can find. In the vocation of marriage, we find love, a love which speaks of God but which speaks particularly. One can easily see the associations of love between spouses and their children. The celibate vocation is cosmic because there are no easy identifications who one is loving and who one is not. In fact the celibate vocation admits no such distinctions. Celibate love is set in the context of the Church, the Kingdom of God, a place where all are called and all are welcome. It is a kingdom of universal and boundless love. The celibate vocation at its best is a sign of this. Rahner called it a “quasi-sacrament”. Not merely a sign but one that makes a transcendent reality present.

In this sense, celibacy is not about what we’re not doing, it’s about what we are doing. It is about making our lives faithful witnesses to something here present yet far beyond the earthly veil, the Kingdom of God.

The vow of chastity makes us a visible witness to something beyond this world. It makes us a visible, even radical witness to a Kingdom very different from all others this world has ever known.

Within this most controversial and perhaps most difficult of vows is a powerful articulation of the kingdom of heaven and the means to make that kingdom visibly present. It is a challenge. It is a sacrifice. It is a gift, if we are willing to accept it.

I conclude with Jesus’s own words on celibacy for the kingdom,

“I say to you, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. [His] disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. He answered, "Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” Matthew 19: 9-12

AMDG