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The inner word

02 Sep 2012 - Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

In the gospel Jesus found himself in the kind of conflict that would eventually accelerate into his Passion: Going against the deeply held beliefs of influential people. He and his disciples not only violated the traditional religious practices regarding eating and other matters of purity, but Jesus turned the whole episode into a stinging rebuke of the hypocrisy of his critics. No matter how hard you tried, he said, following the rules did not make you pure and righteous if your heart were otherwise. The practices of religion are not unimportant, but have you ever let observing them substitute for true faith? Do your outer actions reflect what’s really going on inside?

Rules practices actions

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Magazine calls the church to accounts

26 Aug 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Letter to the Ephesians this Sunday speaks of how Christ loved the church as a spouse, “cleansing her by the bath of water with the word” so that “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing . . . she might be holy and without blemish.” After looking at the way money is handled by Catholic churches in the U.S., a major financial journal begs to differ, concluding that “the finances of the Catholic Church in America are an unholy mess.” A Catholic researcher, on the other hand, said the analysis reveals “lack of understanding of what the church is as an institution.” The Economist magazine’s report begins by acknowledging the many charitable works done by Catholic organizations. But, the report continues, “The financial mismanagement and questionable business practices would have seen widespread resignations at the top of any other public institution. “The church’s finances look poorly coordinated . . . . The management of money is often sloppy. And some parts of the church have indulged in ungainly financial contortions in some cases—it is alleged—both to divert funds away from uses intended by donors and to frustrate creditors with legitimate claims, including its own nuns and priests,” said the report. “Thousands of claims for damages following sexual-abuse cases, which typically cost the church over $1 million per victim, according to lawyers involved, have led to a liquidity crisis,” the report said, arguing that because of the crisis, churches are resorting to some questionable and risky financial practices to make ends meet. Some influential Catholics are keen to see better management and more openness and accountability. Current U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called for outside oversight of church finances when he was a director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, a position he relinquished in 2009 to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Mark M. Gray, who edits a research blog for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, however, takes issue with the magazine’s approach to church economics. “Even a glancing read of the [Code of Canon Law] would have revealed that the church is quite clearly not run like a multinational corporation”” wrote Gray. “The sole objective of the modern corporation is to extract and grow profits. . . . But it sadly has no capacity for social justice.” “If the aim of this article was to encourage the church to be more like Walmart I personally remain unconvinced,” wrote Gray. “I don’t know any person or institution that is not without its sins and The Economist’s story correctly notes many of the church’s recent failings. But I would also counter that there are many corporations who really, really need to find a way to adopt some of the charitable focus of most nonprofits (religious or secular) more than the church needs to adopt corporate accounting practices on a unified global scale.” Sources: Articles by The Economist and Mark M. Gray for Nineteen Sixty-four, a CARA research blog

corporations catholic church cara financial practices the economist church finances
Wal-Mart up against a legal wall?

24 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A joyful psalmist this Sunday encourages all to give thanks to the Lord and rejoice. Wal-Mart workers who say they were fired because they protested for better pay are rejoicing at a ruling that may get them their jobs back. On Monday a federal agency said it is ready to bring a case against Wal-Mart for allegedly retaliating against workers who staged Black Friday protests last year.The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which protects the rights of workers who organize for better working conditions, said Wal-Mart illegally threatened "reprisal" against workers who protested on November 22, 2012. The agency also said Wal-Mart stores in more than a dozen states "unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees" who participated in legal strikes and protests.Wal-Mart has up to two weeks to reach a settlement, according to the NLRB. Under any settlement Wal-Mart would either have to hire back the people it had fired or compensate workers who had been disciplined. If a settlement is not reached, the agency said it would file a complaint against the company, after which a trial would be scheduled with an administrative law judge.Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said the company is looking into its next steps and will make a decision very soon. "We take this very seriously. We believe our actions were legal and justified," she said.The labor accusations come as workers are gearing up for a second year of protest on Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving when millions of people throng stores which run big holiday sales—calling for higher wages, better hours, and the right to speak up without fear of retaliation.Homily hint: Catholic social teaching supports the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively. For a good summary in lay terms of Catholic teachings on labor, see "What does the Catholic church teach about labor unions?" Source: An article by Emily Jane Fox for CNNMoney

black friday workers unfair labor practices working conditions nlrb national labor relations board walmart

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Clinton email dust-up pulls her off message

15 Mar 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus speaks of those who seek to keep their works from being exposed and those who bring works to light so they can be known by all. Hillary Rodham Clinton, poised to enter the 2016 presidential campaign, has stumbled over her practice of using a private email account and private email server to store all of her work-related emails while serving as secretary of state. Detractors claim she was trying to hide her communications from public view, while supporters say she made the choice for the sake of convenience. A hastily called press conference on Tuesday where Clinton acknowledged it would have been better to use a government email address for business did little to quell the controversy.Homily hint: Discernment involves making good judgment in difficult circumstances. Political leaders need to exercise it, and each one of us as well is called to thoughtful discernment in our personal lives. Pray for insight, good judgment, and a willingness to learn and grow from our errors. For more on the Clinton email controversy, see: Questions swirl over Clinton emails as she prepares for 2016; Techies skeptical of Hillary's "all-out" email search

transparency clinton email practices

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Winds of change hit Windy City policing

06 Dec 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The message John the Baptist brings in this Sunday’s Advent gospel is that now is the time to reform our way of life and take a new direction. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday that it was time to reform and take a new direction in police practices in the city, as he asked for the resignation of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. The announcement came amid angry protests over the way the city responded to the killing by a police officer of a black teenager. Emanuel also described a new task force on law enforcement accountability that will review how the city trains and oversees its police officers and will consider input from victims' rights representatives, law enforcement organizations, and youth and religious leaders. Homily hint: Law enforcement officials have incredibly difficult jobs and the vast majority perform their duties with honor. But when misconduct occurs it must be called out lest the actions of a few color the reputation of all. Support the call for high standards of conduct and accountability. For more on Chicago police strife, see: Chicago mayor asks for police superintendent's resignation

Justice chicago police practices

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Lex orandi, lex credendi

Short essays about observed trends in Roman Catholic life - Pastoral trends

If, as the ancient principle of “lex orandi, lex credendi” says, the “law of prayer is the law of belief,” then we need to pay attention to the “how” no less than the “what” of prayer. This maxim, after all, suggests that we might not, really, believe that we are universally connected across time and space as the Body of Christ if prayer is individualistic and isolated, or if we pray in a way that connects us with our local community and particular group without breaking through to a larger, more universal experience of human interconnectedness in our prayer. But this saying has a larger implication: It points toward a relationship between practices and understandings. We might think that right practice is based on right understandings. But we could have it backwards. It may be that right practice—“lex orandi”—leads to right understanding—“lex credendi.” In any case it's possible that we underestimate practice and the power of practice. If we did not underestimate the power of practice, there would be far more well-celebrated liturgies, well-attended Masses, deeply engaged worshippers, highly prepared celebrants. But instead we seem to assume that as long as our hearts (or minds) are “in the right place,” all else will follow—even if we are not, really, in the right place. No wonder we can’t seem to convince our young people. Or ourselves, often enough. Prayer, worship, needs to come before belief, before understanding. It might just be that understanding and belief are a by-product of the practice of right relationship, not the other way around. © 2009, Bryan Froehle.

Authors Bryan Froehle

practices Prayer

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Exploring the word

08 Mar 2020 - Second Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

The Lenten terrain keeps changing. Last week, we crossed a desert. This week, we scale a mountain. No one said the journey of faith would be easy. But neither were we warned that this level of athleticism would be required. Is the spiritual path really as challenging as the metaphors would make it seem? The answer is—hopefully. If we’re doing it right, we ought to be flexing some serious spiritual muscle. The church has long used the language of journey and movement to describe the life of faith. The notion that our time on earth is a pilgrimage en route to the Beatific Vision is older than Dante, more traditional than Pilgrim’s Progress. Luke’s gospel was the first Christian story to be structured around the journey theme, tracing the ministry of Jesus as a long road between Galilee and Jerusalem, the epicenter of Judaism. The format worked so well that Luke employed it for Acts, too, transcribing the way of the early church from Jerusalem to Rome at the heart of the ancient world. As Luke would have it, the Good News of Jesus Christ conquered the world in two giant steps: first Palestine, then the Empire itself. It seems so simple the way Luke tells it. But we know that the gospel must actually confront the world in three giant steps: first Jerusalem, then Rome, and finally the individual human heart. That last step, it turns out, is the biggest one of all. That is where the leap of faith meets its greatest obstacle: me. Or you, as the case may be. The sinner, by any other name. Which is one reason why the season of Lent is so vital to the church. It limbers us up to take that breathtaking leap beyond the self. Some of us may need a personal trainer to get in shape. Spiritual growth Many of us, it must be admitted, are not on a spiritual journey much of the time. We are spiritually parked, as it were: in the pew where we always sit, or stuck in neutral in the same old habits of sin. Oh, our sinfulness is pretty run-of-the-mill, nothing to get excited about. We’re greedy, lazy, selfish, and judgmental. And, of course, dishonest, because we rarely admit that we’re greedy, lazy, and so on. Not even in the confessional, when you get right down to it. Most of our habits of sin may seem too tiresome to mention. But they are obstacles to the spiritual life all the same, because they keep us from embracing the exuberant fullness of the love of God urgent to be expressed in every moment of history. Being spiritually parked, we don’t “walk by faith,” so we don’t grow in faith either. Instead, we acquire sacraments and accumulate prayer hours as if they were so much religious flab; not all calories are created equal, as we know. We may grow fat with pious practice, but that’s not the same as achieving spiritual strength. Strength comes when religious practice translates into grace-in-action. In order to get somewhere, obviously, we have to go somewhere. As easy as that is to understand, it is not always so easy to do. The time-honored practices of Lent—fasting, prayer, and almsgiving—jump-start the heart muscle. Fasting is a great foundational exercise: Get hungry, somewhere in your well-fed American life, and know how small, fragile, and vulnerable you are! Hunger puts us on the ground floor of humility, that indispensable virtue. It teaches us to be still and know who God is—and who we are—by displacing us from the center of power and sufficiency. Self-knowledge moves us next to prayer, which opens communication between God and us. Prayer is a two-way street, of course; we don’t do all the talking. Our newfound skill of humility ought to enable us to do some thoughtful listening, and our prayer should be richer and more productive than usual. Finally, as the movement of the Spirit in us grows more agile, we will naturally be led to share. Generosity is not an afterthought to fasting and prayer, but the direct response of knowing how deeply loved and provided for we are. Trusting in God, we can give ourselves away with greater freedom than ever. Money, time, skill, presence—we have more than we need, and furthermore, we know why it came to us in the first place. Transfiguration Climbing that Lenten mountain with Jesus seems like a lot of hard work. But what do we encounter at the summit of the spiritual mountain? Something called Transfiguration. It means we see what was always there, but hidden before. We see truly. We see as God sees. This new vision is given to those who are willing to go there to get it. It won’t come to us if we don’t climb the mountain. It won’t come to those who are spiritually parked and waiting for enlightenment to be handed out the drive-thru window like a happy meal. Eucharist does not come in fast food varieties. Eucharist is slow food. It takes a lifetime of remaining steadfast on this journey to absorb it completely. But if we want a preview of coming attractions, if we want to know where this life is leading us, if we want what the disciples got on top of the mountain, we can have our glimpse of Transfiguration. It is a sustaining vision that can lend us courage in our most difficult hours. It is a privileged view that can teach us what no preacher can say better. The Transfiguration reveals the God in the flesh, and the glory in the humility. Transfiguration reminds us that Christ is hidden in surprising places, and that is why we fast, pray, and give alms. Christ is hiding right now in the poor ones. If we want to see him there, we have to take this path and climb this mountain. Applying the word Hills brought low We might prefer a straighter, flatter route to holiness. Exercise is not always welcome, be it physical or spiritual. But never fear: The Lenten terrain will keep changing—desert one minute, mountain the next. Who knows what next Sunday will bring? (The prepared homilist does!) If we keep one foot in front of the other, our faithfulness will be rewarded by glorious moments along the way, when Christ springs brilliantly into view. Related scripture links Journey theme in Luke: Luke 2:4, 2:22, 3:4-5, 3:41, 4:1; 5:11, 8:1-3, 9:3-6, 9:23, 9:51-62, 23:26, 24:13-32 Walking by faith: 2 Cor. 5:7 Be still and know God: Ps. 46:11 Other spiritual mountains: Horeb/Sinai: Exod. 3:1-10, 19:11-25; 1 Kings 19:8-18; Mount Zion: Isa. 2:2-5, 60:1-6, 62:11-12, 66:7-13; mountain of choosing: Mark 3:13-19; Sermon on the Mount: Matt. 5:1-7:29; Mount of Olives: Matt. 24-25; Great Commission: Matt. 28:16-20

Authors Alice Camille

spiritual journey spiritual strength lent practices Fasting Prayer almsgiving Transfiguration vision enlightenment

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