Reflection: Exposition and Adoration (3/22/2023)

Readings for Today's Mass: Is 49:8-15; Jn 5:17-30

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I like to listen to radio preachers. Many are quite good, and I learn a lot from them. But some...well, they're burdened by different theologies. I suppose I learn a lot from them too.

The other day, driving to the National Cemetery in Bushnell, I happened to hear a radio preacher telling his listeners their sins would lead inevitably to God’s punishment. “Your sins will open wide the gates of hell,” he told us. Then he added, “and there’s not much you can do about it.”

My first reaction was, “Well if we can’t do anything about it, why are you even telling us?”

He later softened his message a bit and mentioned the need for repentance. But even then he didn’t sound very hopeful. By the time I arrived at the cemetery, I realized I’d been listening to him for close to 15 minutes and not once did he mention the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I wonder how many Christians think of God only in terms of judgment and punishment. I was surprised this preacher never mentioned the gift of God's grace. Maybe that came later, after I'd turned off the radio.

Anyway, he was right about judgment. Indeed, in today’s Gospel passage Jesus explicitly tells us the Father gave Him the power to exercise judgment. Yes, we will all be judged. But we’ll be judged by a God of mercy, a God of forgiveness, a God who gave His life for us, a God who gives us a lifetime in which to return to Him in repentance. What could be better than that? Do you see how good the Good News is?

This Good News, this Gospel, isn’t new to the New Testament, because it’s proclaimed throughout the Old Testament as well. The prophets, after all, were in the business of pointing exclusively to the Good News. Perhaps more accurately, often enough without knowing it, thanks to the Holy Spirit they pointed to one person: to Jesus Christ.

In today’s reading from Isaiah, can’t you hear the prophet preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ?

…as he tells the prisoners to “Come out!”

…and pleads with those in darkness to “Show yourselves!”

No longer shall you hunger and thirst, “For the LORD comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.”

And our passage ends with some of the most comforting words in all of Scripture:

“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

Prophetic, consoling words…and so fitting today when so many are without tenderness for infants in the womb.

Yes, Isaiah preached the Good News 700 years before the Incarnation, and gave the world a taste of God’s love, of God’s forgiveness. Like John the Baptist, whom he foretold, Isaiah also walked in the wilderness to “prepare the way of the LORD!” – to prepare the way for Jesus Christ.

For it is Jesus, Who forgives the sins of the repentant.

Jesus, Who heals bodies and minds and souls.

Jesus, Who offers eternal life to those who believe.

Jesus, Who preaches this Good News to all.

Jesus, Who gives us His Church, the sacramental font of God’s grace.

Jesus, Who sends us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to guide us and teach us.

And He does it all out of love for the Father, and love for us.

Do we really hear and accept the Good News Jesus offers us? Or do we only pretend to hear, remaining closed to the Word of God because sharing it demands a changed heart? Maybe you and I, every day, need to ask Jesus to touch our hearts so we’ll be open to His Word.

And never doubt God’s love, but recall those words from Isaiah: "I will never forget you." – words intended to strike the heart, words we all long to hear from those who love us.

Today, as we move into these final days of Lent, let’s just keep this simple truth in mind: God will never forget me.

Carrying all the sorrows, worries, and fears that plague me, I will go to Calvary, realizing Jesus wants to share those burdens with me, and I will pray: "God will never forget me."

Knowing that my own death awaits, I will go to the Empty Tomb, and I will pray:  "God will never forget me."

I will take all my brokenness, my sinfulness, and yes, my hopes and joys, to God and pray "God will never forget me."

Then, filled with God’s love, maybe I can ask myself:

“Who is God asking me to ‘never forget?’"

 

Signs of Moral Collapse in the UK

Have you been following what’s going on in the U.K. these days? Believe me, it’s not pretty. Trouble is, it might be coming this way sooner than we think. The U.K. is creeping down a path that leads only to the extinction of public morality and the destruction of a once renowned system of justice. Here are just a few examples…

Teacher Fired For Being Christian.  Okay, teachers get fired all the time, and for all kinds of reasons. But have you ever heard of a Christian college firing one of its teachers because he openly expressed Christian teaching? 

Dr. Aaron Edwards, a teacher of theology at Cliff College, a Methodist college in Derbyshire, was sacked because he posted a tweet claiming that “homosexuality is invading the church.” Here’s his complete tweet:

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Homosexuality is invading the Church.

Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this b/c they're busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it's true.

This *is* a "Gospel issue", by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Saviour.
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I agree completely, and I especially like his last line. But it seems the presiding powers at Cliff College were displeased when his little social media post went viral. Not only did they fire Dr. Edwards, but also threatened to report him to the U.K. counter-terrorism police, an ever-vigilant team of professionals who apparently look for terror in all the wrong places. That Dr. Edwards is a politically incorrect father of five might also have placed him in the counter-terrorism crosshairs. How un-Green of him to sire so many little polluters.

Dr Edwards is appealing the decision. He claims the college’s accusation that he violated the school’s social media policy ignores his right to express freely his religious beliefs. He also denies that his beliefs are in any way homophobic, but merely express theological insights that to many Christians are certainly not controversial. As he said when interviewed by The Telegraph: “Anyone concerned about academic freedom, Christian freedoms, and free speech should be deeply concerned about what has happened to me.” We are concerned, and troubled, and will pray that Aaron Edwards’ appeal is successful.

U.K. Street Preacher’s Conviction Overturned. Here we have some good news, a successful appeal of an unjust conviction. On June 8, 2021 Dave McConnell, a Christian street preacher, was doing his thing in Leeds when a transgender individual came up to him and asked if God accepts the LGBTQ community. Mr. McConnell, who encourages questions, said that God hates sin, but then referred to the questioner as a “gentleman.” The crowd didn’t like this and responded with hostility and profanity. The unruly crowd continued to abuse the preacher, and some even stole several of his possessions. All of this, of course, drew the police.

The police officer who responded, sporting a pentagram tattoo, arrested Dave because he went on to call a biological man a man, and not a woman. Apparently, the U.K. has a law (Section 5 of the curiously named Public Order Act) that empowers police to arrest anyone who causes “harassment, alarm, or distress” within the hearing of those who might be nearby. It’s one of those marvelous laws that can be applied to anyone in almost any circumstances. The local police station, where Dave was detained for 14 hours, proudly flies an LGBTQWhatever flag. 

Dave McConnell was convicted by a local judge and sentenced to pay costs of £620 and given 80 hours of community service. And then, to top it off, his probation officer reported him to the U.K. Prevent counter-terrorism police because McConnell was “viewed to be persistently and illegally espousing an extreme point of view.” Just reflect on those words and their impact on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and even freedom of thought. 

Fortunately, the Leeds Magistrates’ Court overturned the conviction, although the presiding judge in the appeal offered a rather squishy comment, stating: “We live in a time when free speech is important and vital and we live in a time when people’s attitudes towards gender are very different from how they were years ago…All these issues need to be properly respected, so I make no criticism whatsoever of the Crown bringing a prosecution in this case.” Two cheers for the appeals court. Three cheers for Dave McConnell.

Woman Arrested Again for Silent Prayer. When I mentioned above that freedom of thought is under attack, I wasn’t kidding. 

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested back on December 6, 2022, outside an abortion clinic (the BPAS Robert Clinic) in Birmingham, England. At the time she was asked by the arresting police if she were praying. She replied that she “might be praying silently.” That was enough to arrest her. Yep, engaging in silent prayer — that is, your unexpressed internal thoughts — is now illegal in the U.K. If those thoughts might be considered by an observer to be prayer, especially if that prayer reflects opposition to politically correct activities such as abortion, you'll probably be arrested.

Isabel Being Arrested for Silent Prayer

Note that Isabel, this potentially violent praying woman, was arrested not by one, but by three police officers (actually, there was a fourth present) who were apparently patrolling the streets of Birmingham searching for latent terrorists engaging in dangerous thinking or praying. 

As it turned out, the charges against Isabel were dropped on February 3, but she said they might well be revived. In her subsequent statement she said, "It can't be right that I was arrested and made a criminal, only for praying in my head on a public street." She then added, "So-called 'buffer zone legislation' will result in so many more people like me, doing good and legal activities like offering charitable support to women in crisis pregnancies, or simply praying in their heads, being treated like criminals and even facing court." 

Two weeks after the earlier charges were dropped, the Birmingham police arrested Isabel once again, and on the same charges. In a video of her arrest, a police officer informed her that silent prayer "is the offense." It violates the Public Space Protection Order banning any protest that includes "Graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counseling." The officer told her, "But people know who you are and they know why you're here...And it's their perception of events, isn't it?"

Just consider this. Public Spaces are now "protected" from such evils as prayer, especially Christian prayer. Perhaps I'm taking too far a leap here, but I suspect there would be no arrest if a Jihadist prayed openly and loudly on the streets of Birmingham and asked Allah to destroy the United Kingdom. The increasingly woke establishment seems to consider Christianity their primary enemy, so we can expect to encounter more frequent and more intense attacks on Christians and Christian institutions.

Keep Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in your prayers. She is a courageous woman. I wonder what would happen if a few thousand people wandered into that buffer zone and simply prayed together in silence.
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Pray for the United Kingdom, which provided our nation with the much of the foundation of our system of justice. And pray, too, that as a people we Americans will continue to respect the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.

Newsy Odds and Ends

We’ve been exposed to a lot of conspiracy theories in recent years, but amazingly many have turned out to be true. In an effort to generate a few more, here’s my take on a several recent stories I stumbled cross. 

Do Masks Stop the Spread of COVID? You might not have heard of Cochrane, a UK-based network that produces sound information used by organizations throughout the world for healthcare decision-making. Cochrane has an exceptionally strong international reputation and prides itself on the quality of the evidence supporting its studies. Among its latest offerings is a fascinating study on the efficacy of masks, hand-washing, and other means to stop or slow the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza, SARS, and COVID-19. 

Cochrane investigated the results of dozens of randomized controlled studies conducted worldwide that examined various physical measures to stop respiratory virus infections. I’m guessing most people would find the results unexpected. Cochrane found that medical, surgical, or N95 masks “make little or no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness.” That’s right, it seems all those masks we’ve bought and worn didn’t really offer very much protection. If this is really true, just consider the ramifications. One thing’s for certain: a lot of folks sure made a lot of money thanks to this “error”. To read a synopsis of the study, here’s the link: Cochrane Study 

Medicare and Social Security need Work. Most seniors don’t like to hear that politicians are even considering making changes to either Medicare or Social Security. I suppose many of us think we’ll probably be long gone before these two programs run out of money and are either completely refurbished or simply disappear. But the truth is really quite different and relates not only to the costs involved but also to demographics. Both the Government Accounting Office and the Social Security Administration agree that these programs are “unsustainable” and will run out of funds by 2037. For the mathematically challenged, that’s only 14 years from now. If you’re my age, 78, or older you may not be around in 2037, but your children and grandchildren will probably still be here and will have paid into these programs for their entire working lives…just in time to watch them go broke. I can’t speak for anyone else, but that’s not a legacy I want to leave behind. 

Politicians are not a courageous lot, and almost all consider reelection far more important than the long-term needs of their constituents or the good of the country. Few politicians engage in strategic thinking since most tend be be tacticians who worry more about the short-term effects of their votes or their latest TV live shot. Perhaps even more disheartening, few of today’s politicians ever consider the lessons of the past, so they continue to make the mistakes that generated those ignored lessons. We see this, too, among the bureaucrats who run the day-to-day operations of our government. They have become a cadre of careerists, too often lacking in moral courage, and dedicated to extending the life and increasing the size of any government programs they manage.

To all you seniors who think Social Security and Medicare will outlive you: don’t count on it. These two programs account for 45% of the federal budget, a percentage that’s increasing every year. Long before these programs run out of the cash needed to keep them going, changes of some type will have to be made. Whether this involves limiting eligibility, extending recipients’ eligibility age, increasing the amount withheld from those who pay into the system, or simply cutting the benefits, something will have to be done, and fairly soon. 

Wind Turbines and Dead Eagles. It seems the widespread expansion of wind turbines has led to a huge increase in dead birds. We’ve heard about this for years, but the data seems to be either classified (the Interior Department refuses to release the actual number) or just downright embarrassing. So…the folks who wrap themselves in the green blanket of alternative renewable energy find themselves at odds with another set of environmentalists who desire to protect God’s creatures. 

I’ve never been accused of being an environmentalist of the radical green or any other variety, but I’ll admit up front that I really like birds. To me they’re among the most fascinating of living creatures. They’re also worth keeping around since God obviously thought they were good enough to create on day five:

So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth” [Gen 1:21-22].

We should, therefore, be careful about how we, as the earth’s stewards [Gen 1:28], care for God’s good creatures. Climate-change radicals, predicting our immanent destruction, consider dead birds (and, it seems, dead humans) nothing more than acceptable collateral damage. Nothing is more important, they tell us, than saving the earth from the ravages caused by man. These are the same folks who have canonized John Kerry and Greta Thunberg, the former a serial liar since his Vietnam days and the latter…well, nobody really knows what she really is or how she got there. The trouble is, people who jump on bandwagons might enjoy the ride, but they rarely anticipate the unintended consequences that bring everything to a screeching halt. But that’s another subject…

Anyway, back to our birds…

It seems wind turbines are particularly threatening to soaring birds of prey; i.e., eagles, falcons, hawks, osprey, even condors. These birds spend most of their time just soaring above the earth, scanning the ground or water for prey; thus, they are far more likely to collide with the blades of wind turbines. Talking about this with an acquaintance the other day, he wondered how this could happen since those huge blades seem to move so slowly. He didn’t understand why birds couldn’t avoid them. What he really didn’t understand was the speed of the tips of those blades. As an old helicopter pilot, I’m very familiar with blade-tip speed. A large wind turbine can have blades well over 200 feet long, which can generate blade tip speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour. A blade, weighing several tons, and moving at that speed, can certainly catch a soaring bird by surprise. Another contributing factor: the location of turbines in areas where such birds are especially plentiful. For example, wind turbines located offshore can adversely affect seabirds and migratory birds who fish or pass through areas where offshore turbines are usually located.

When it comes to birds killed by wind turbines, what kind of numbers are we talking about? Nobody knows for sure, but it seems the numbers are growing. 10 years ago (2013) it was estimated that over 500,000 birds had been killed by turbines. But most estimates came from the wind turbine industry, probably not the most objective source. Current estimates by the federal government, another questionable source, vary but range upwards to 400,000 per year. These numbers are expected to increase considerably as the number and size of turbines increase. 

Golden Eagle and Wind Farm

Many bird lovers are most concerned about the long-term effect on eagles. Eagles, of course, are a protected species, and individuals who kill a bald eagle can be fined $5,000 and spend up to a year in jail. I found it surprising that wind farms are allowed a certain number of eagle “takes” — a polite euphemism for the number of eagles the spinning blades are allowed to kill every year. When the wind farm exceeds its takes, the company gets fined. At the Two Rivers Wind Project in Wyoming, the total number of bald eagles legally killed annually by wind farms would be almost 30% of the eagle population in the area. It would be very hard for any species to withstand such losses.

Now we’re hearing rumbling along the east coast about the unexplained deaths of unprecedented numbers of whales and other sea mammals, allegedly related to the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines. The powers in charge all deny any connection, while the locals, including the professional fisherman who claim they know the area best, disagree. I just find it interesting that these wind turbines seem to be at war with both of the species God created on that fifth day: “the great sea monsters…and every winged bird.”

I’m not smart enough to know what to do about all this, but it seems we have jumped into technologies without really studying their possible, usually unintended, effects on the rest of our interconnected world. The fact that we don't understand these connections should lead us to move with extreme caution as we introduce new technologies. We see this as well when it comes to electric vehicles and the potential environmental effects of battery production and rare earth mining.

Politicians just love to do seemingly important things by making grand gestures and forcing their will on those who elect them. Sadly, far too often they make these decisions in favor of those entities that provide them with the most money. Perhaps they would be far more successful and certainly more worthy of our votes if they simply let the market — i.e., the people — make those decisions within a framework that balances both good and not-so-good consequences.