The 1918 "Spanish Flu" and Padre Pio

If you're my age and spent some time talking with your parents and grandparents about life in the early 20th century, you likely heard about the influenza pandemic that spread throughout the world in 1918. A devastating plague, it infected upwards of 500 million people worldwide and resulted in perhaps 50 million deaths. 

To deflect attention from the reality of its spread among the troops fighting in World War One, the censors incorrectly named neutral Spain as the flu's source, so it became the "Spanish Flu." Of course, infected troops brought the disease home with them. And unlike most flu pandemics, young adults were particularly vulnerable. In fact Diane's grandfather and the grandfather of my stepmother, Barbara, were among those young men who died after being infected.

Diane's mother, Blanche, a six-year-old in 1918, explained that her entire family was infected: her father, mother, older brothers, and she herself were quarantined in their house near Bonafay, a rural community in the Florida panhandle. Although their neighbors would not enter the house, every day they left food at the front door. The sense of Christian charity of these good, faithful Baptists outweighed their fear of the disease. Blanche made a point of telling us that one neighbor even bought her a new pair of red shoes and left them at the door with the food. And, believe me, these were not wealthy people.

As we spoke about this today, Diane mentioned that, although young women also died during the 1918 pandemic, young men were far more susceptible and had a much higher death rate. She then told me, "God certainly blessed my mother's family because my grandmother survived and was able to care for the family and keep it together." Yes, indeed, everything is a gift, even when we are suffering and coping with the fears it brings.

People were indeed afraid back then, just as people are afraid today as we deal with another, but far less severe pandemic. And like today, businesses and schools closed in an attempt to mitigate the spread of that killing influenza. The people of Italy, like the rest of the world, suffered in fear as they witnessed the effects of the disease that infected and took the lives of family members and neighbors.

 

Photo Taken in Rome (2008)

Fear, however, is incompatible with faith. One person who realized this back in 1918 was Padre Pio, now St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968). Many of Padre Pio's followers had succumbed to their fears and turned to the saint for help. The following is from a biography -- Padre Pio: The True Story -- published by Our Sunday Visitor. The story was posted a few days ago on the Aleteia website. I repeat part of it here:

By September, everyone in San Giovanni Rotondo seemed to be ill, the schools were closed, and what little commerce there was in town was brought to a halt. In the next couple of months, two hundred people from a population of ten thousand would perish. Padre Pio's spiritual daughters came to him terrified, begging him to save them. "Never fear," he assured Nina Campanile. "Put yourself under the protection of the Virgin, do not sin, and the sickness will not overcome you." Although some of the "daughters" fell ill, none of them died.

The saint's advice in 1918 is just as valuable for us today. Fear accomplishes nothing...

Do not fear brothers and sisters. Trust and pray.

 

Lottery Fever

According to this morning's news reports, the anticipated payoff from tomorrow's Powerball lottery drawing will approach a staggering $1.4 billion. This could and quite likely will increase as more and more people buy tickets during the final day's feeding frenzy. This payoff is a world record for lotteries and if no winning ticket is drawn the record will only be set higher.

Almost everyone I know has bought a ticket, or a fistful of tickets, in the vain hope that they will beat the astronomical odds that say otherwise. The odds of winning when one buys a single ticket are 292.2 million to 1. These odds do not change with the size of the payoff, but are based solely on the  way Powerball is structured. If, therefore, you are considering buying a ticket, the odds of your winning are about the same as pulling your name out of a gigantic hat holding the names of every American. It's estimated that you are 2,000 times more likely to be killed by a lightning strike than to purchase a winning Powerball ticket. If you are a golfer, your chances of making a hole-in-one are about 20,000 times greater than winning this particular lottery. And so, if you've not been killed by a lightning bolt, or if you've never sunk a hole-in-one, I suggest you consider using your funds more constructively by buying an ice cream cone (with sprinkles, or "jimmies" as we call them in New England) or maybe one of those giant bakery cookies filled with macadamia nuts and chunks of white chocolate. Either of these will bring you more joy than the act of tearing up a losing ticket.

Of course, as you might have deduced, the person offering this advice has never actually bought a lottery ticket. Over the years I've been given a few and surprisingly have won more from these gifts than the gifts cost the givers. Despite the fact that my net "winnings" are rather modest and amount to perhaps $10, one can't deny that I have a track record of beating the odds. And yet, blessed as I am with such obvious good fortune, I have no intention of buying a Powerball ticket before tomorrow's drawing.

My reason for avoiding Powerball, or any other big-time lottery, has less to do with the ridiculous odds than with motives. The other day, as the anticipated payoff rose dramatically, I saw the results of a poll in which people were questioned about their plans should they have the winning ticket. When asked what one would do first, only a tiny minority mentioned charitable giving. The vast majority talked about buying things for themselves and their family -- cars, houses, trips, yachts, airplanes, motorhomes, etc. Several people even mentioned cosmetic surgery. In others words, their motives for playing the lottery were, quite simply, more selfish than altruistic.

300+ feet of what?

When such large amounts of money are involved greed tends to overwhelm other, more charitable motives. One sees this displayed among the super-rich who never seem to have enough. The 10,000 square-foot mansion is just too tiny, so construction soon starts on the 50,000 square-foot super home. A few years ago while on a 5-day cruise in the Western Caribbean, I spotted a yacht owned by an American industrialist. It was huge, over 300 feet long, with its own helicopter deck, and was for sale at an asking price of $125 million. I later discovered the owner was selling it because it was just too small. His other yacht is over 400 feet in length. And, yes, I know that he and others like him have all established charitable foundations which they support with their wealth. And yet that support comes from their surplus wealth and not from their need, not from their poverty. Jesus, of course, addresses this failing in an unmistakable way when He points to the widow who gives a small amount to the Temple treasury, but an amount that represented "all she had, her whole livelihood" [See Mk 12:38-44].

Interestingly, not long ago I came across a study that examined the charitable giving of the super-rich -- what it called the "myth of philanthropy." It concluded that the most wealthy actually gave far less than lower and middle income folks. It would seem that not much has changed since the time of Jesus.

Furthermore, one need only examine the record of past lottery winners to see how greed often ruled their lives leading them to squander their winnings on extravagance. As a result, many have found themselves with nothing after only a few years. When selfish gain and greed are the motives one can expect nothing good to come out of it. How did St. Paul put it?

"Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains" [1 Tim 6:9-10].

And if you don't like (or need) an ice cream cone or a cookie, why not drop a few extra bucks in the collection basket at church, or perhaps give a small donation to your local soup kitchen. Think of it as a means to experience first-hand the mercy of God. As St. Peter reminds us:

"Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins" [1 Pet 4:8].

God's peace.

Homily: Wednesday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: 2 Cor 9:6-11; Ps 112; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

I grew up in the Northeast, along the coast, so whenever I read in the Bible about sowing and reaping and harvesting and scattering…well, these farming metaphors don’t really strike home. About the closest I ever came to farming was mowing the lawn. But living near the ocean I did spend some time on the water. Indeed, I had a number of friends who were commercial fisherman, and on a few occasions I joined them on their boats.

Although fishing at sea is very different from farming, there are similarities. Both are dependent on the whims of nature, and nature can be harsh. Both occupations can experience the kind of failure that can result in financial catastrophe, the loss of a season’s income.

Some elements of our lives are simply beyond our control. And I suppose it’s good that this is so, that we come to know we are creatures with limitations. The challenges and disappointments of life are strong reminders that we are simply men and women. We are not God.

Of course, you don’t have to be a farmer or a fisherman to experience loss. Diane and I volunteer as chaplains at our local hospital. Earlier this week, we received a late-night call to go to the ICU to meet with the family of a dying woman. As it turned out, she died just moments before we arrived.

Even though she had been seriously ill for some time and her family expected her death, her three grown children were devastated. Her son, especially, was overcome with grief. He had cared for day and night for over seven years and just couldn’t handle her death. His care for her had been a work of selfless charity that few of us could probably handle.

I suppose we spent at least 30 minutes simply listening to all three as they poured out their hearts and spoke of their mother. Fortunately all were believing Christians, and responded well to our feeble attempts to comfort them and they willingly joined us in prayer.

In today’s Gospel passage Jesus reminds us that our works of charity must be acts of humility. Believe me, I am always humbled in the presence of the dying and those who care for them.

And charity must be hidden, Jesus tells us, the kind of work that seeks no human reward. Charity, the business of love, yields no return. There’s no bountiful crop, no net-breaking catch, no obvious reward.

Nature is very fickle with her rewards, but not the Father, the One Who is love. As Jesus reminds us, these works of ours please the Father greatly. He loves our love. And He will reward us, just not always in ways we might expect. Perhaps the Father, who sees our works in secret, places a little something in our heavenly fishing net or silo. Maybe that little something, the Father’s reward, is something far greater than we can ever imagine.

My father, speaking of charity, used to say, “Throw bread on the water and it comes back strawberry shortcake.”  You just never know when it will arrive.

Flannery O'Connor, Bishops, Government and Money

More on Flannery O'Connor. Yesterday, a few hours after I posted links to recordings of a reading and a lecture by Flannery O'Connor, I received an email from a friend asking me for more information about her. He had never heard of O'Connor and wanted to know something before investing in the books I had recommended in the post. So, for him and for others who might be thinking similar thoughts, here are a few additional links I trust will whet your appetite to get to know Flannery and her work.

Her publisher and friend, Robert Giroux, wrote a superb introduction to her collected short stories. You can read his introduction online here and purchase the published collection of 30-plus stories (including Giroux's introduction) here. If you're not familiar with O'Connor and her work, Giroux's comments will provide you with some wonderful insights.

I've also included a link to an audio file (about an hour long) that addresses four twentieth-century writers: Thomas Merton, Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, and Dorothy Day. It's an interview with Paul Elie who, a few years ago (2003), wrote a fascinating book about these four writers: The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage. Here's a link to the recorded NPR interview of Paul Elie answering questions on the four authors and his book about them: Paul Elie.

One more link, this one to a recent biography by Brad Gooch: Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor. I don't fully agree with Gooch's emphasis when he addresses the role played by of her faith in her life and work, but despite a few minor disagreements, I truly enjoyed the book. It's well researched and very well written, and I recommend it to all wanting to know more about this remarkable woman.

The Bishops and the Obama Administration. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, ordained me about 15 years ago when he was Bishop of Fall River. And because I love the man I'm a regular reader of his blog. Last week the cardinal included a post in that blog about a recent decision by the Obama administration that prohibits the US Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services from receiving grant funds to help victims of human trafficking receive food, clothing and medical care. These victims -- men, women and children -- in their desperation have been either fraudulently recruited or overtly kidnapped and placed in slavery-like conditions. And why will the Church no longer receive grants for this work? The US Catholic Bishops, upholding the moral teachings of the Catholic Church, will not refer these victims for abortion, sterilization and other similar anti-life services.

In his blog posting, Cardinal Sean includes an excerpt from the US Bishops' USCCB Media Blog written by Sister Mary Ann Walsh in which she describes the situation and its causes. She refers to the emerging policy of the administration's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the "ABC Rule"; that is, the "Anybody But Catholics" rule.

Do you recall the president's promise to guarantee the protection of conscience in such matters? Apparently it's a promise that neither the president nor anyone else in his administration remembers. Of course, this is what happens when the Church cozies up to the government at any level for the sake of sharing in the distribution of public funds. Eventually, government bureaucrats and their political ideologue bosses will try to enforce their will on the Church. This situation with the bishops' Migration and Refugee Services is a typical example.

Last weekend the deacons of the Diocese of Orlando took part in a weekend-long workshop put on by Catholic Relief Services, the US Bishops' international charitable arm. As you might imagine we heard many discouraging statistics about worldwide poverty, hunger and disease, but for me the most depressing statistic was that Catholic Relief Services receives 60% of its funding from federal government grants. CRS does much wonderful work throughout the world, but its dependence on government funding is problematic at best and will not lead to good. Instead of telling us to call our senators and representatives asking for more federal funds, perhaps they should be telling us to encourage our parishioners to give directly to CRS.

It all makes one wonder: Where are our bishops? These Church-sponsored organizations should be fully funded by the Church without the need to accept any public funds, thus frustrating the government's desire to suppress or even distort the Church's moral teaching. To do otherwise is to ignore the Great Commission that Jesus gave His Church [Matthew 28:19-20]. Is our faith as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church so weak that we have forgotten the power of prayer, that we no longer believe that "with God all things are possible"? As a Church we should be storming heaven with our prayers asking for God's intervention and mercy in the lives of His people who suffer so much. And the bishops should be taking these needs directly to the faithful in the pews, explaining the need and making clear the Gospel mandate to address that need. It's a mandate that applies to all of us as Jesus made abundantly clear [See Matthew 25: 31-46], and it demands a generous response in money, time and service. By ignoring it we place our very souls in jeopardy.