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Exploring the word

17 Aug 2014 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Theologians have a lot to say about the omniscience of God. The bottom line of every discussion comes down to this: God knows everything. Every heart is an open book to the divine eye. You can't fool God. And you can't even surprise God. That last part is just a little sad, maybe. Don't bother to wrap gifts for God. God already knows what's in them! Now here comes the tricky part. God knows everything, and the Trinity means that the God who creates, redeems, and sanctifies is all one “substance.” Ugly term but serviceable. So Jesus knows everything? Not really. Jesus grows in wisdom and grace through the years, we're told early in Luke's gospel. Also, Jesus tells his disciples that there are some things only the Father knows, things not yet revealed even to the Son. And clearly, from reading the gospel accounts, every once in a while somebody manages to astonish Jesus. It's hard to astonish anybody who has omniscience up a sleeve. So one might say things happen to Jesus that he didn't see coming. Take the centurion who comes up to Jesus and asks for his servant to be healed. He tells Jesus not to come to his house, just to say the word and it will be enough to affect a healing. And Jesus is flabbergasted by this kind of faith! He never saw it among his own people so he hardly expected it from a Roman. The same sort of thing happens in today's gospel passage, when a woman from a non-Jewish part of the territories summons Jesus to an action he wasn't counting as part of his job description. The redeemer of ancient prophecy was the savior of Israel. For the most part. Some passages in Isaiah push that envelope quite a bit, but most good Jews who were expecting anything from heaven at all were expecting a son of David to rescue the nation. Canaanite territory was so not-Israel it wasn't even funny. Pagans were definitely not on God's radar to most devout Jews. Jesus isn't mean to this woman. He's honest. He tells her she's not a member of his family, and she accepts that. And then she reminds him something every dog-loving, cat-cohabiting, fish-supporting, hamster-spinning, bird-feeding American knows: Not all members of a household are created equal but they still belong as part of the whole and still have basic rights. And Jesus is surprised. Her argument was so convincing, he changed his position and embraced hers. I think the saints of history demonstrate that kind of power: to intercede so persuasively for those who suffer that the very rules of creation bend to admit a new possibility. Dynamic faith from human beings is enough to surprise heaven sometimes, it seems. Want to give God something unexpected? Offer bold, extraordinary faith. Related scripture links Do not go into pagan territory: Matt. 10:5-15 Gentile-positive stories: Matt. 2:1-12; 8:5-13; 8:28-34; 28:16-20 Wisdom’s role in creation: Prov. 22:8-31 The new creation in Christ: 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10 Catechism links The response of faith: CCC 439; 448; 2610

Authors Alice Camille

Faith Belonging omniscience

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Exploring the word

02 Jan 2011 - Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Cycle A

IT’S HARD TO make progress when you can’t see where you’re going. That is true whether you’re navigating down a foggy highway, lost in a forest, feeling your way through a power outage, or just bumbling through life in general. None of us knows what lies around the next bend on this journey, for ourselves personally or for our families, our community, nation, and world. Who could have predicted half of the developments that led to where we are today? Despite the unknowability of the future, shedding a little light on the subject helps. We can’t know everything, but we can seek as much information as is available to assess the next step. When we don’t have a road map, we have to get better at reading the signs around us: Which way is the sun setting? Does moss really grow only on the north side of trees? If it’s too dark to use our eyes, can our ears and hands do the “seeing” for us? If our relationships have become so convoluted that we don’t know how to communicate anymore, can we find a guide to lead us forward? When our days have lost their meaning, do we know which way to go to get more? Isaiah once predicted that Jerusalem would become a light for the world, a place of sought-after wisdom and splendor, worthy of international acclaim. This destiny would come about not through the city’s own merits but because of the glory of God shining out from it. Today, sadly, Jerusalem is known more for radiating violence and insoluble problems, although pilgrims of three world religions still travel there in hopes of glimpsing some of the glory. The mystery of unity across ancient divisions that was announced in Ephesians has indeed been revealed—and, seemingly, rejected. We humans like our prohibitive walls too much to tear them down. But we can’t point a finger at Jerusalem without finding ourselves before a mirror of our own intolerance and defensiveness. The darkness that hides the mystery of humanity’s oneness begins very locally, in your heart and mine. If we want to find our way out of that darkness, we have to take the journey toward Epiphany: that is, to bow before the Real Presence of God for ourselves. We have to follow the star through the gloom of prejudice, stereotypes, political spin, personal comfort zones, and self-interest. We have to risk the danger of change, as those intriguing magi did, crossing borders that kept them safe and heading into territory that was unfamiliar and potentially unwelcoming. We have to bring our resources with us, prepared to set them down and walk away. Sometimes we need much more than our eyes to see rightly. Related scripture links Magi in Daniel: Dan. 1:4, 20, 2:2 (Daniel as magos: 1:17) Magi in the NT: Acts 8:9-25, 13:6-13 More kings in Isaiah: Isa. 49:7b Other Hebrew images used: Num. 24:17 (star), Gen. 49:10 (tribute), Mic. 5:1-3 (Bethlehem) Jesus on palaces fit for royalty: Luke 7:24-25 Catechism links Epiphany: CCC 486; 528; 724

Authors Alice Camille

Journey omniscience Prophecy future

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Grave doubts resolved

21 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Letter to the Romans speaks of the revelation of a mystery kept secret for long ages. After DNA testing resolved the 400-year mystery surrounding the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish bishop who organized the successful search for the remains suggested that the discovery could help resolve tensions between science and religion. "During [Copernicus'] own lifetime, there were Catholics and Protestants who sympathized with him, but also those from both churches who rejected his vision of the world," said Rev. Jacek Jezierski, an auxiliary bishop in Poland's Warmia archdiocese. "The conflict between interpretations of Holy Scripture and empirical observation resulted from a great misunderstanding, which we've gradually moved away from." The breakthrough came after the discovery of two hairs in a book with notes made by Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy. DNA from the hair matched that of a skeleton in an unmarked grave found four years ago in the chancel of Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland, where Copernicus had served as a priest. Source: Articles by Kate Connolly for Guardian.co.uk and by Ecumenical News International

dna nicolaus copernicus science and religion jacek jezierski astronomy frombork cathedral

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Terrifying dissenters in Sri Lanka

06 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"The Lord sets captives free," the psalmist intones this Sunday. Sri Lankan journalist J. S. Tissanayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama as an example of persecuted journalists around the globe, was sentenced Monday to 20 years hard labor under Sri Lankan anti-terrorism laws critics say are used to stifle dissent. Tissanayagam was arrested in March 2008 after writing articles criticizing the conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and accusing authorities of withholding food and other essential items from civilians in Tamil-majority areas as a tool of war. The government accused Tissanayagam of writing propaganda and sowing dissent. "The constitution itself gives freedom of press, but that doesn't allow anybody to spread false information to spur ethnic violence," prosecutor Sudarshana DeSilva told the court. Rights groups have accused the government of waging a broad crackdown on media freedom that has continued since it routed the rebels and ended the nation's quarter-century civil war in May. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Sri Lankan reporters were forced to flee the country in the past year, and Amnesty International, which has labeled Tissanayagam a prisoner of conscience, said at least 14 Sri Lankan journalists and media workers had been killed since the beginning of 2006. Source: Articles by Ranga Sirilal for Reuters and Bharatha Mallawarachi for Associated Press

sri lanka committee to protect journalists sudarshana desilva j s tissanayagam freedom of the press prisoners of conscience amnesty international journalists tamil tigers antiterrorism

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Bishops flex lobbying muscle

29 Nov 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Guide me in your truth and teach me," the psalmist asks of the Lord in this Sunday's psalm. The U.S. Roman Catholic bishops have been lobbying Congress to come up with a health care bill more in line with what the church teaches. Their efforts contributed to the inclusion of restrictive abortion language in the U.S. House health care bill. The version of the bill currently being debated in the Senate, however, does not contain that language. The bishops have consistently identified three priority areas in the health care debate: abortion, religious conscience clauses, and immigrant rights. They urged the Senate to change its version of the bill in order to keep in place federal law on abortion funding and conscience protection on abortion; protect access to health care for immigrants; and include strong provisions for adequate affordability. "I don't think the Catholics in the pews will get quite as focused on a message of immigrants as they have been on the question of abortion," said Stephen Schneck, a professor of politics at Catholic University of America. "And I'm not convinced the church leaders are willing to expend the political capital with those Catholics in order to promote the cause." Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), a Catholic who participated in the intense negotiations over the final abortion language in the House, said the pressure from the church to ease restrictions on immigrants was "not even close" to the abortion language tug-of-war. Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, called the House bill historic and said it "brings our nation closer to ensuring quality, affordable health care for everyone and to reversing the injustice of millions of un- and underinsured women, men, and children." Success in the House came after the church ran a classic lobbying operation: deploying paid staff to Capitol Hill, tapping influential bishops to make private appeals to key congressional leaders, and distributing bulletin inserts to 19,000 parishes with easy instructions and sample wording for sending a message to local representatives. The bishops say they've found a lobbying model that could provide them a stronger voice in future policy debates. "It was a good example of how we, as a conference, can work together to have a positive influence on legislation," said Bishop William Murphy, head of the domestic justice and human development committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Some lawmakers and others, however, have questioned whether the bishops' activities constitute substantial political lobbying and therefore endanger the church's tax-exempt status. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) has suggested that IRS rules may be too lenient. "The IRS is less restrictive about church involvement in efforts to influence legislation than it is about involvement in campaigns and elections," Woolsey said. "Given the political behavior of USCCB in this case, maybe it shouldn't be." The church's strategic decisions are significant because with Catholics representing the largest single religious group among members of Congress--at 30 percent--the church can gain access across party lines. Another reason the bishops could find an entry into the health care debate is the church's vast array of clinics and hospitals that often serve those most in need, including legal and illegal immigrants. Source: Articles by Jeanne Cummings for Politico, Patricia Zapor for Catholic News Service,Eliza Newlin Carney for the National Journal Online, and a USCCB news release

immigrants lynn woolsey united states conference of catholic bishops william murphy lobbying carol keehan mike doyle stephen schneck conscience health care reform abortion congress bishops tax exempt

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Climactic moment on climate change?

13 Dec 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"What then should we do?" was the question on the minds of John the Baptist's listeners we learn in this Sunday's gospel. It is also the question at the forefront of the debate over global warming. Political leaders and scientists gathered in Copenhagen this week for an international climate summit some dub the world's "last chance" to control warming. At the same time the conference was getting underway the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday that greenhouse gases are endangering people's health and must be regulated. The move puts pressure on Congress to act on stalled climate legislation. The ruling paves the way for regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, factories, refineries, and other major sources. Industry groups quickly criticized the decision, saying that the regulation of carbon dioxide would be legally and technically complex and would impose huge costs across the economy. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said that the finding was driven by the weight of scientific evidence that the planet was warming and that human activity was largely responsible. Jackson waded into the current dispute over leaked e-mail messages from a British climate research group that have stirred doubts among some people about the integrity of climate science. "We know that skeptics have and will continue to try to sow doubts about the science," she said. "It's no wonder that many people are confused. But raising doubts--even in the face of overwhelming evidence--is a tactic that has been used by defenders of the status quo for years." Worldwide the vast majority of increased greenhouse-gas emissions is expected to come from developing countries such as China and India. But those countries have made it clear that their willingness to reduce growth in emissions will depend on what wealthier countries do first. That puts a spotlight on the U.S. in Copenhagen, observers said, and the EPA announcement was timed to boost the Obama administration's case that the U.S. is indeed taking action to combat global warming even though Congress has yet to act. In conjunction with the Copenhagen summit churches around the world this Sunday will ring their bells as part of what is being called "Hopenhagen," a call to action and prayer in response to climate change. Source: Articles by John M. Broder for the New York Times, Dina Cappiello and H. Josef Herbert for the Associated Press, Jeffrey Ball and Charles Forelle for the Wall Street Journal, and Ecumenical News International

china carbob dioxide emissions climate science lisa jackson summit copenhagen greenhouse gases climate change india global warming environmental protection agency hopenhagen

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Cartoon promotion of junk food no laughing matter

27 Jun 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord is “my allotted portion and my cup,” says the psalmist this Sunday. Given the choice, the vast majority of children are attracted to food that feature cartoon characters, a new study suggests. Because such characters regularly adorn junk food, nutritionists are concerned. Food and beverage companies spend more than $1.6 billion a year to attract kids’ attention. Shrek, Dora the Explorer, and other animated TV and movie stars beloved by children have been moonlighting as junk-food pitchmen in recent years. And they’re good at it. Fifty percent of children say that food from a package decorated with a cartoon celebrity such as Shrek tastes better than the same exact food from a plain package. And when given a choice, the vast majority of kids pick the food from the cartoon-illustrated package as a snack, the study found. The use of TV and movie characters on food packaging is “designed to access certain feelings, memories, and associations,” says Dr. Thomas Robinson, M.D., a professor of child health at the Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. “If you associate certain products with things that are otherwise considered fun, it’s going to make those products seem more desirable.” “Parents may not set out to buy unhealthy products,” says the lead author of the study, Christina Roberto, M.S., a doctoral student at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity in New Haven, Connecticut. “But kids can be really, really persuasive. They see them and they want them, and it gets difficult to have that battle in the grocery store.” In related developments, weeks after a Silicon Valley county became the first in the nation to ban toys from McDonald’s Happy Meals and other food promotions aimed at children, a public health watchdog group called on the fast food giant to remove the playthings from all its meal packages. The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald’s restaurants where they are then likely to order food that is too high in calories, fat, and salt. Source: Articles by Sharon Bernstein for the Los Angeles Times and Sarah Klein for Health.com

Children rudd center for food policy and obesity christina roberto center for science in the public interest happy meals packaging cartoon characters food mcdonald’s thomas robinson

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“Liquid candy” leads to weighty problems

04 Sep 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Loving one another fulfills Jewish law because love “does no evil,” explains Saint Paul in this Sunday’s selection from the Letter to the Romans. But not all “loves” are benign. A new study has shed light on America’s increasing love affair with sugary beverages, which in part explains the growing problem of obesity, especially among the young. Over half the people in the U.S. drink a sugary beverage a day, said the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Males ages 12 to 19 guzzle the most sugary drinks, about 273 calories' worth per day on average. And 70 percent of boys ages 2 to 19 consume sugary drinks on any given day. Sugary beverages have been implicated as contributors to obesity, especially among the young, and that in part explains why the world is becoming a heavier place. Obesity rates worldwide have doubled in the last three decades, according to three new studies being published in the British medical journal The Lancet. People in the Pacific Islands, such as American Samoa, are the heaviest, one of the studies found. In developed countries, Americans are the most obese and Japanese are the slimmest. In 1980 about 5 percent of men and 8 percent of women worldwide were obese. By 2008 the rates were nearly 10 percent for men and 14 percent for women. An additional 1.5 billion adults worldwide were overweight. On the heels of the CDC study on sweetened drinks, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announced it's taking part in the “Life’s Sweeter With Fewer Sugar Drinks” campaign, whose mission is to get people to drink fewer sugary beverages. The campaign's goal is to broaden the battle against sugary drinks from health experts to civic organizations, youth groups, civil rights groups, and others, said CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson. "The enormous health and economic benefits that would result from drinking less 'liquid candy' will be supported by a broad cross section of America. Not since the anti-tobacco campaigns has there been a product so worthy of a national health campaign," Jacobson said. Sources: Articles by Jeannine Stein for the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press

young people obesity centers for disease control and prevention center for science in the public interest sugary drinks life’s sweeter with fewer sugar drinks michael jacobson

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Churches criticize government contraceptive ruling

29 Jan 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

We are the people God shepherds, the flock God guides, the psalmist reminds us this Sunday. U.S. bishops, who shepherd dioceses across the nation, are upset with the Obama administration’s decision last Friday that religiously affiliated nonprofit organizations, including hospitals and universities, will have to offer a broad range of birth-control coverage to employees. The administration gave the organizations an extra year to comply, and the ruling does not apply to churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and some religiously affiliated elementary and secondary schools, but it comes as a blow to the interests of some religious authorities. “Never before in our U.S. history has the federal government forced citizens to directly purchase what violates our beliefs,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities. He spoke at a gathering in Washington, D.C. Monday to observe the annual March for Life. “At issue here . . . is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for conscience and religious liberty,” DiNardo said. In the decision, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule requiring religiously affiliated groups enjoying nonprofit status to provide a broad range of services, from implanted contraceptive devices to the morning-after pill. Many such groups do not presently offer such coverage. “Generally, Christian colleges and organizations find the ruling to be outrageous,” said David Dockery, president of Union University, a school affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “It puts us in a position of having to support something that we fundamentally oppose.” The Obama administration doesn’t see it that way. "This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "This proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services." Religious-affiliated nonprofit organizations, many of which currently do not offer birth control coverage, have until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new rule. Other employers must begin covering the services from August 1, 2012. Sources: Articles by David Morgan for Reuters, Todd Starnes for FoxNews, and the Associated Press and a news release by usccb.org

kathleen sebelius freedom of religion nonprofit organizations contraception freedom of conscience david dockery department of health and human services daniel dinardo birth control

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Brazilian Catholics migrating to other churches

08 Jul 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Catholic Church in Brazil might take some solace from Saint Paul’s message in this Sunday’s selection from Second Corinthians, where he says he is content with his weaknesses, hardships, and constraints because “when I am weak, then I am strong.” That is due to the fact that fewer than two thirds of Brazilians now identify as Catholics, marking a record decline in the country with the largest Catholic population in the world.Just over 64 percent of the Brazilian population of 191 million identifies itself as Catholic, according to figures from the 2010 census. In the year 2000, when the last census was carried out, Catholics comprised almost 74 percent of the population. The fall since 1970 has been stunning: In that year, almost 92 percent of Brazilians self-identified as Catholic.Meanwhile, the number of Brazilian Christian evangelists has risen rapidly, up nearly a third in the last decade, from 15.4 to 22.2 percent. Demographer Joseph Eustace Diniz Alves, from the National School of Statistical Sciences, said that if the trend continues, the number of evangelicals will surpass that of Catholics in 20 or 30 years. If that happens, "The largest Catholic country in the world will cease to be Catholic," Alves said, adding that evangelical churches are taking over in the suburbs and the new middle class with a "theology of prosperity” which promises an improved economic life to those who join.Father Thierry Linard of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil said the data reflect an "institutional failure" of the Catholic Church. In his view, the church has been unable to respond as quickly to the migration patterns in the country as have Pentecostal churches. "The Assembly of God has much more penetration in the periphery. Where a community arises, soon a little church comes," he said, adding that in the Catholic Church, the "structure is more onerous." Sources: Articles by Agence France Presse and Denise Menchen and Fabio Brisolla for Folia de S. Paulo

catholics catholic church brazil evangelicals assemblies of god pentecostal churches national school of statistical sciences joseph eustace diniz alves thierry linard

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