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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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Health care debate enters critical phase

13 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the reading from the Book of Isaiah this Sunday, the Lord opens the ear of the prophet so the prophet might hear. President Barack Obama hopes that Congress and the American people heard his message on health care reform in a major address delivered Wednesday evening. Obama offered his most detailed outline for legislation: "Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime." He called for serious proposals from Democrats and Republicans to address chronic health care problems and rising costs, and warned, "I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now." The President also sought to lay to rest what he termed "bogus claims." "The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple. "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false--the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up--under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place." Reaching out to Republicans and independents, Obama said his administration would authorize a series of test programs in some states to check the impact of medical malpractice changes on health-insurance costs. Responding on behalf of Republicans, Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana said the country wanted Obama to instruct Democratic congressional leaders that "it's time to start over on a commonsense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality." Source: Text of President Obama's healthcare speech posted at Politico.com and articles by David Espo for Associated Press and CNN.com contributors Ed Hornick, Ed Henry, Suzanne Malveaux, and Dana Bash

barack obama health care reform democrats republicans insurance companies malpractice charles boustany
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
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
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
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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Practice, practice, practice

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

Why do we “need” to go to church? Putting theological questions aside for a moment, it is reasonable in our time to look at regular religious practice with new eyes. In a time of concern for efficiency, we know why we go to work or why we go to the grocery store. But why do we need to go to church when we effectively find ourselves doing the same thing, week after week? Why all that repetition? Doesn’t repetition just make it boring and irrelevant? Maybe repetition is precisely why we need to do it. We need the practice, the repeating. When it comes to going to church, it seems, we sometimes fail to appreciate what we have learned about human physiology and how the human brain works. Nerve endings need to “fire to wire.” If we don’t fire those God-connecting, religious-experiencing senses, they will not come together nearly as richly and powerfully as they could. Neural pathways are not guaranteed: We “use them or lose them.” It is similar to the ability to speak a difficult language: much easier if we have learned it and consistently used it from a very young age. If we do not develop those nerve endings, those religious instincts for connecting with God and neighbor and all creation, our capacity to do so will become a shadow of what it otherwise could be. Of course God’s grace is always there, and miracles of transformation do happen. But it is in the little steps of regular practice of the presence of God, each week, each day, that we truly enter into new possibilities as human beings. It’s simply how we are made. People would not scoff at violinists, ballplayers, lawyers, or doctors who practice their discipline, carefully, regularly, over years, repeated. They need to practice. Just as we need to go to church. © 2010, Bryan Froehle.

Authors Bryan Froehle

repetition church attendance practice

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Mystics or nothing

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

The great theologian Karl Rahner is said to have observed that in the future all of us will be mystics—or non-believers. In other words, in our time and certainly in times to come it will not be enough simply to accept the faith one has inherited. One must enter into the depths spiritually and practically. Faith cannot simply be an identity; it must become practice—that is, deeply entwined in one’s everyday actions and self-understanding. We know that is true, but what have we done about it? How much do we truly work to build up structures that make disciples as opposed only to teach or pass on an identity? How much do we ourselves take on disciplines that truly reflect a modeling of that mystical turn where those who claim a Catholic Christian identity will be religious virtuosi responding to the universal call to holiness? If we don’t model that call to action, who will? © 2011, Bryan Froehle.

Authors Bryan Froehle

Faith practice identity

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Homily stories

29 May 2011 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

One of the great lies of sin is that we are alone in the world. If we orient our lives toward that conclusion, then it's easy to get swallowed up by fear and loneliness. We've all gone down that path. Our minds jump from "I am alone" to "it's every person for himself" to "it's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm going to get mine before somebody gets me." Or we jump from "I'm alone" to "I've got no friends" to "the whole world's against me, and no one cares if I live or die." Either direction we go, it's a desperate path that leads to spiritual decay and death. Today's gospel encourages us not only to believe that God is always with us but to practice that belief by following Jesus' commandments. Orphans have no parental guidelines and healthy limits set for them. But, Jesus assures us, we are not orphans in the divine realm. We are completely connected and interconnected with the Father, Son, and Spirit. We have someone who watches over us and wants us to succeed at loving God. That requires discipline and commitment in the same way becoming a great ball-player or pianist does. Constantly remind yourself that you are not alone, and it will be impossible for you to go down the path of spiritual destruction. You may then find people asking you the reason for your hope. Your reply? "Practice, practice, practice."

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

discipline Commitment jesus practice

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