Unsought Thoughts

Yesterday and today I have two rare days off. My calendar is completely empty. There is nothing that demands my presence -- no meetings, no parish demands, no social events, no projects that can't wait, even the items on Dear Diane's honey-do list can be deferred until tomorrow. It's a wonderful feeling, and one I had hoped to experience more frequently during this so-called retirement of mine.

Of course I bring it all on myself because I seem incapable of saying "No" when asked to do something. I'm not bragging and trying to paint myself in some saintly light, because, believe me, this inability is far more fault than virtue. If I allotted my time and effort more carefully I would do a much better job on the truly important tasks, and would also have more time to devote to the personal relationships that matter, especially my relationship with my spouse of 48 years. And so I have vowed to set some limits in the hope that good things will result. We'll see.

My clear calendar has also given me some time to think. The busyness of my life has made thinking an increasingly rare luxury, and so usually I just plod along doing things and thinking only about practical matters, about the hows of those things I must do. Now, I'm no great thinker, and certainly no philosopher, but the journey of life demands thought or it will ultimately be a journey to nowhere.

Josef Pieper

Indeed this little thought calls to mind that wonderful book, Leisure, the Basis of Culture, by a true philosopher, Josef Pieper (1904-1997). In it Pieper instructs us on the critical role leisure plays in the very act of being human. Too many of us today seem to think that just because we're busy, we're also being creative and productive. And yet, so much of what we do, the daily busyness of our lives, is just about making a living. Or it's directed toward ideological ends such as materialism. This modern obsession with keeping busy prevents us from focusing on that which is truly and eternally important. To do this we need leisure. If you disagree, read Pieper's book and then rethink your life and the busyness that fills so much of it.

Another thought that struck me this morning originated from an interview I watched on some local TV station late last night. The person being interviewed, a writer and self-proclaimed atheist, stated that he was turned off by all religions because most believers seemed to ignore what their religions taught. I'll paraphrase his comment: Their actions show me they really don't believe what they preach, so why should I? Anyhow, most religious people seem very grim. He especially noted Christians as the most hypocritical. The interviewer nodded knowingly and moved on to another topic.

I found myself agreeing with the atheist's premise, at least as it relates to Christianity, but coming to exactly the opposite conclusion. The fact that most Christians are abject failures when it comes to following the teachings of Jesus Christ -- i.e., we are all sinners -- actually confirms rather than denies that which we profess to believe. If we were perfect we wouldn't need a Savior. If our first parents hadn't fallen in Eden we wouldn't have to cope with original sin or need to be redeemed by God Himself. It's the very fact of our sinfulness and our continued struggle to live the Gospel that convinces me of the truth of Christianity. 

Pope Francis Sharing the Good News

As for all those grim Christians out there, I'll concede the atheist's point. Often enough, as I stand at the ambo and proclaim the Gospel at Mass, I can't help but notice that most of the faces in the congregation don't look very happy. Sometimes I want to scream, "Hey, Christians! This is the Good News you're hearing, not the bad news. You've been redeemed by Jesus Christ. God loves you as no one else has or ever will. Put a smile on your face and show God how thankful you are."

Other unbidden thoughts popped into my aging brain when I assisted at the funeral of a friend's mother on Saturday. Her name was Ruth Stafford and she died just six days after her 100th birthday! Fr. John, the homilist, mentioned how much she had witnessed during a long life that began in 1916. Yes, although the world has changed much since then, human nature has remained the same. But in addition to Ruth's birthday, we mark some interesting anniversaries in 2016 and 2017.

Flanders Field

Next year, for example, is the 100th anniversary of our nation's entry into the World War I, a war which began in August 1914 and brought devastation to Europe for four deadly years. Ironically, this "war to end all wars" did exactly the opposite. Not only did it set the stage for the even greater devastation of World War II, but it also brought us the horrors of Hitler's Nazism and Stalin's Communism, deadly ideologies that were forced onto the people of dozens of nations.

The Blessed Mother Appears at Fatima

In the midst of that war, during the spring and summer of 1916, near Fatima in Portugal, three young children were visited by an angelic being. His mission was to prepare them for something far greater the following year. And on May 13, 1917 the children saw a woman, "brighter than the sun," who told them to pray the Rosary daily. This, she promised, would bring peace to the world and an end to the war. The apparitions of Mary, which continued monthly for six months, have been repeatedly confirmed by the Church as supernatural in origin. Along with a series of predictions and warnings, the Blessed Mother told the world that the only effective antidote to sin is prayer and repentance.

Satan, of course, takes no days off and one can only assume that, even as he relished the desolation of World War I, he perceived the message of Fatima as a threat. Yes, indeed, Satan was very busy back in 1916.

On October 16 of this year Planned Parenthood celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. Margaret Sanger, who founded this organization devoted to death, opened its first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY in 1916. Sanger, who believed that certain people should not procreate, focused her attention on those races she believed to be unfit for life. Most Americans, and certainly most minorities, don't realize this, but Planned Parenthood really hasn't changed. The vast majority of its clinics are located in the nation's inner cities where they can more easily "serve" minority clients. Under the Obama administration, Planned Parenthood has received over $1.5 billion of federal funds in just the past three years and performed over one million abortions during this same period. This will only increase if Hillary Clinton is elected.

It is no coincidence that God sent the Blessed Mother to remind the world that sin has its consequences. Will the world listen?

A Younger Professor Ratzinger

All these thoughts about the past caused me to think about the future and what it holds for the world and for the Church. This brought to mind something Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) wrote back in 1969, long before he was pope, or even a bishop. It's a quote from a book entitled, Faith and the Future. The book's five chapters were actually first delivered as radio addresses during 1969 and 1970. In the last chapter, Fr. Ratzinger, then a 42-year-old theolgian, offers his vision of what the Church will be like as it encounters the changing world in the years to come. The quote is quite long, but well worth reading.

"What will remain is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church that believes in the God who has become man and promises us life beyond death...

"From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge -- a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so will she lose many of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, she will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision. As a small society, she will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. Undoubtedly, she will discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to the priesthood approved Christians who pursue some profession. In many smaller congregations or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care will normally be provided in this fashion. Alongside this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the changes at which one might guess. the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world. In faith and prayer she will again recognize her true center and experience the sacraments again as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical scholarship.

"The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right. It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek. The process will be all the more arduous, for sectarian narrow-mindedness as well as pompous self-will will have to be shed. One may predict that all of this will take time. The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism of the eve of the French Revolution -- when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain -- to the renewal of the nineteenth century. But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret."

And so my generation has its work cut out for it: to prepare our children and our grandchildren for what is to come. The Church will face some serious hard times, but it will remain the only beacon of hope in a hostile world. I suppose the question for all of us is, are we ready to do what God expects of us? But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? [Lk 18:8]


Enough thinking. As I typed the above words, my PC crashed and confronted me with that deadly blue screen. I have tried every remedy I can think of, along with all those recommended by HP and Microsoft, but the problem persists.The desktop PC has therefore been removed from the desk and been replaced by my handy laptop. We'll see what data has disappeared, but I trust my precautions have prevented serious loss.

God's peace.

Work and Leisure

Pope Benedict, in a recent address, touched on the dignity of human work and the associated need for leisure so one can rest, spend time with one's family, and devote time to divine worship. I've included a brief video (below) of the pope's comments.

Listening to the pope I couldn't help but realize how society has changed so drastically in just a few decades. When I was a child very few businesses were open on Sunday. The Lord's Day was still considered a day of rest, a day to worship God, a day which we were commanded to "keep holy." Today, however, it's hard to tell Sunday from any other day. Just go to your local shopping mall. Okay, the stores may open a few hours later on Sunday, but they will open nonetheless.

Here in Florida some stores that sell alcoholic beverages make customers wait until noon before they can purchase them on Sunday. A few weeks ago Dear Diane sent me to Sam's Club to buy some items for the soup kitchen. It was 11:30 a.m. Sunday. (Yes, I know, I should have done it on Saturday, but I forgot. And it was for the soup kitchen, which should mitigate my guilt a little.) Anyway, I was in the checkout line and the man ahead of me had four bottles of wine among his purchases. When the checker told him he couldn't purchase them until noon, he began to rant and take it out on her. The poor girl was almost in tears. I tried to quiet him down with some nice, soothing and meaningless words, but that only caused him to turn his attention to me -- very unpleasant. Eventually he regained control and agreed he'd have to buy the wine some other time.

Thankfully, many of the smaller, mom-and-pop retailers, and most non-retail businesses, still remain closed on Sunday. But I believe it's telling that the large retailers, those whose employees are probably among the lowest paid, are the same businesses that remain open seven days a week, thus depriving their employees from keeping the Lord's Day holy.

But even some highly paid employees in certain industries are expected to be "on the job" 7x24. In many companies for whom I consulted back during my working days, engineers and others regularly put in very long work weeks of 60 or 70 hours. This left little time for family or faith, and both suffered as a consequence. But for them work had become an end in itself. Lacking faith, it became their reason for being.

Some work, by its very nature, includes unusual demands. I recall my years as a naval officer and pilot when long days and nights were more the rule than the exception. And sadly, wars and rumors of wars don't stop just because it's Sunday. Police officers, firefighters, and those who keep our nation's infrastructure up and running are also required to work when most of us are resting. It requires strong, loving relationships and even deeper faith for families to withstand the stress this can generate.

Why these changes in our society? Well, I think the reason is pretty obvious. We've become much more materialistic, more acquisitive, more attracted to the so-called good life than were the generations that preceded us. We want it all, the big-screen TV, the Lexus and the Corvette, the country club membership, the second home in the mountains or at the beach, the vacations at the fancy resorts, the au pair to relieve us of childcare -- yes, we want it all and we don't want to wait for it. We don't even want to wait a half-hour to buy our wine on Sunday morning. And we certainly don't want that unplanned pregnancy and the costly child that will no doubt have a negative impact on the family's bottom line.

And businesses aren't stupid. They saw these developing "needs" and decided to address them in every way possible. They lobbied for the repeal of the old "blue laws" that shut the doors of many businesses on Sunday. They filled the coffers of our politicians' reelection campaigns and peppered them with appeals to their patriotism: "Don't you want our economy to grow? Don't you want to create more jobs? Dump these antiquated laws and good things will happen." The politicians listened. After all, such laws obviously violated the time-honored principle of separation of church and state. And so the laws were changed, and one more of God's Commandments became lost in all the noise of our modern society.

What does the Church say about all this? Among the many excellent sources of Church teaching on the subject is the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Published in 2004, and available online at the Vatican's website, it encompasses virtually all aspects of human life and the Church's associated teaching. I decided to see what it had to say about work and leisure. Regarding rest from work and keeping the Lord's Day holy, here are some direct quotes from the Compendium:

284. Rest from work is a right.[609] As God “rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done” (Gen 2:2), so too men and women, created in his image, are to enjoy sufficient rest and free time that will allow them to tend to their family, cultural, social and religious life.[610] The institution of the Lord's Day contributes to this.[611] On Sundays and other Holy Days of Obligation, believers must refrain from “engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body”.[612] Family needs and service of great importance to society constitute legitimate excuses from the obligation of Sunday rest, but these must not create habits that are prejudicial to religion, family life or health.

285. Sunday is a day that should be made holy by charitable activity, devoting time to family and relatives, as well as to the sick, the infirm and the elderly. One must not forget the “brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery”.[613] Moreover, Sunday is an appropriate time for the reflection, silence, study and meditation that foster the growth of the interior Christian life. Believers should distinguish themselves on this day too by their moderation, avoiding the excesses and certainly the violence that mass entertainment sometimes occasions.[614] The Lord's Day should always be lived as a day of liberation that allows us to take part in “the festal gathering and the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” (cf. Heb 12:22-23), anticipating thus the celebration of the definitive Passover in the glory of heaven.[615]

286. Public authorities have the duty to ensure that, for reasons of economic productivity, citizens are not denied time for rest and divine worship. Employers have an analogous obligation regarding their employees.[616] Christians, in respect of religious freedom and of the common good of all, should seek to have Sundays and the Church's Holy Days recognized as legal holidays. “They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect and joy, and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society”.[617] “Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord's Day”.[618]

Wow! The Church pulls no punches in its treatment of the subject. Notice, too, that it places the onus not only on employers, but also on public authorities and on each individual Christian.

Perhaps as Christians we can, in some way, return to God's will for us in such matters by restraining our materialistic impulses and, as the Church instructs us, begin to once again "enjoy sufficient rest and free time" that is necessary if we are to take care of  our "family, cultural, social and religious life."


One more thought. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy of Josef Pieper's book, Leisure: The Basis of Culture. Written over fifty years ago by the famous German philosopher, it prophetically explores the current crisis facing our civilization and provides a means for each person to avoid falling prey to its dehumanizing effects.

Off to Church. Our parish is offering a ten-week program based on Fr. Robert Barron's remarkable video series, Catholicism. So many people signed up for the course that we had to offer three separated classes each Tuesday: morning, afternoon and evening. I'm facilitating the afternoon session, and enjoying it immensely.