I've been thinking about trying to write this post for a long time.
There's a lot of begging in Rome. There are scammers too, but with the scams that I usually get, I guess because I look like a good 'ugly American' mark, I've grown wise and I turn the tables and frustrate the person and try to playfully shame him."What would your mama say? Going around tricking foreigners!"
But it's the begging that troubles me more.
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
February 27, 2010
Transfiguration
This weekend our pastor will be making one of our annual financial appeals at all the Masses, so I don't have a new homily to post. It's too bad, because the Transfiguration is one of my favorite mysteries of Jesus Christ. For a long time I've felt a sort of mystical affinity with it; it was on the feast of the Transfiguration in 1993 that I first consented to my religious vocation, and I was born on the Second Sunday of Lent when it is always proclaimed.
I often find myself including the Transfiguration in these posts, and so I just present three of my best:
The Resurrection, Transfiguration, and the End Times
Coincidence or Providence?
The Resurrection and the Bomb
I often find myself including the Transfiguration in these posts, and so I just present three of my best:
The Resurrection, Transfiguration, and the End Times
Coincidence or Providence?
The Resurrection and the Bomb
June 16, 2009
Martyrs of the Nazi Persecution
Today in the Capuchin calendar we have the option of celebrating those five Capuchin friars among the 108 Martyrs of World War II beatified by John Paul II in 1999.
Their feast day, today, was the occasion of one of the most remarkable experiences of my whole religious life. For one of my summers during studies, I went to one of our infirmaries to help out. One of the friars there, Fr. Zygmund--then 91 years old--is a survivor of the Dachau concentration camp.
When the day of our blesseds arrived, I was with Fr. Zygmund in the sacristy. Taking the ordo (the little guide book that indicates which Mass and Office to offer each day) he read the names of the five martyrs, telling me a little about each one. He explained how one had always seemed like a saint, while another was easily annoyed and difficult to live with. He laughed about another whom he said never liked him because Fr. Zygmund's command of Russian was better than his.
I stood there, overwhelmed and amazed. The man standing before me was lucky to be alive, and it was only chance that he was alive and living in the obscurity of a Capuchin infirmary while his friends and confreres were being celebrated as beati in Capuchin churches all over the world.
One day Fr. Zygmund will die in the same obscurity. Even so, he shared the same sufferings as his brothers who will be known and celebrated as blesseds (at least) until the end of time.
I keep this story in mind sometimes when I'm around a lot of strangers, perhaps on the bus or the subway, or even in church. I try to remember that one never knows the sufferings that other people have been through, and how much they have survived in their lives with God's help and care. It helps me to remember that I'm called to treat others according to their final destiny in God's eyes, as those meant for flourishing holiness in this life, and sainthood in the next.
Their feast day, today, was the occasion of one of the most remarkable experiences of my whole religious life. For one of my summers during studies, I went to one of our infirmaries to help out. One of the friars there, Fr. Zygmund--then 91 years old--is a survivor of the Dachau concentration camp.
When the day of our blesseds arrived, I was with Fr. Zygmund in the sacristy. Taking the ordo (the little guide book that indicates which Mass and Office to offer each day) he read the names of the five martyrs, telling me a little about each one. He explained how one had always seemed like a saint, while another was easily annoyed and difficult to live with. He laughed about another whom he said never liked him because Fr. Zygmund's command of Russian was better than his.
I stood there, overwhelmed and amazed. The man standing before me was lucky to be alive, and it was only chance that he was alive and living in the obscurity of a Capuchin infirmary while his friends and confreres were being celebrated as beati in Capuchin churches all over the world.
One day Fr. Zygmund will die in the same obscurity. Even so, he shared the same sufferings as his brothers who will be known and celebrated as blesseds (at least) until the end of time.
I keep this story in mind sometimes when I'm around a lot of strangers, perhaps on the bus or the subway, or even in church. I try to remember that one never knows the sufferings that other people have been through, and how much they have survived in their lives with God's help and care. It helps me to remember that I'm called to treat others according to their final destiny in God's eyes, as those meant for flourishing holiness in this life, and sainthood in the next.
March 13, 2008
Iraq
Let's pray in a special way for the people of Iraq today; the recently kidnapped archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho, has been found dead.
February 26, 2008
The Resurrection and the Bomb
Continuing in response to Ben in Denver's comments on my Transfiguration homily from the second Sunday in Lent, I have been thinking about the relationship between the Transfiguration/Resurrection and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which occurred on the feast of the Transfiguration in 1945.
As I've tried to think about it, I think there is an analogy between the Resurrection and the bomb. What is the Resurrection? It is God revealed in history. It is the glorious, immense, and benevolent power we clumsily call "God" revealed to us in Jesus Christ's victory over suffering and death. Most simply, the Resurrection is the fierce but gentle, intense but quiet power at the core of the everything having been made available to us.
It is in this sense that the atomic bomb--and this is how I make sense of Ben's calling it antichrist--is a kind of negative mirror image of the Resurrection, in that it is an unleashing of a hidden power at the core of creation, not for life, but for destruction and death.
But the power that runs amok in an atomic bombing is only that. It is scarcely imaginable, but it is only a power bounded by creation. The Resurrection, on the other hand, unleashes the hidden power at the core of everything that is, including God, and this is the hidden Desire for goodness, gentleness, and life that is the foundation of all that is. And that's why the Resurrection is more powerful than death, and certainly more powerful than the bomb.
As I've tried to think about it, I think there is an analogy between the Resurrection and the bomb. What is the Resurrection? It is God revealed in history. It is the glorious, immense, and benevolent power we clumsily call "God" revealed to us in Jesus Christ's victory over suffering and death. Most simply, the Resurrection is the fierce but gentle, intense but quiet power at the core of the everything having been made available to us.
It is in this sense that the atomic bomb--and this is how I make sense of Ben's calling it antichrist--is a kind of negative mirror image of the Resurrection, in that it is an unleashing of a hidden power at the core of creation, not for life, but for destruction and death.
But the power that runs amok in an atomic bombing is only that. It is scarcely imaginable, but it is only a power bounded by creation. The Resurrection, on the other hand, unleashes the hidden power at the core of everything that is, including God, and this is the hidden Desire for goodness, gentleness, and life that is the foundation of all that is. And that's why the Resurrection is more powerful than death, and certainly more powerful than the bomb.
January 31, 2008
The Wisdom Of This World
This afternoon I've been playing with Matthew's beatitudes, seeking a strategy for preaching this coming weekend. Just for fun, though maybe I'll be brave enough to use it, I re-wrote them according to the unwisdom that we are encouraged to buy from the world that doesn't know God:
“Blessed are those with financial and national security,
for theirs is the kingdom of this world.
“Blessed are those with financial and national security,
for theirs is the kingdom of this world.
Blessed are they who feel good,
for they will be comfortable.
Blessed are the strong,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for success,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are right,
for they will be shown respect.
Blessed are the smart,
for they will see how to get what they want.
Blessed are the Halliburtons and oil men,
for they will get rich from wars.
Blessed are they who can convince others of their righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of this world.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you.
Rejoice and be glad,
for they are only jealous of how well you’ve done for yourself.”
February 15, 2007
Shame on Us
I finished a first draft of chapter 3 of my thesis this morning, so for a break I caught a little of the President Bush's speech on Afghanistan.
There he was, talking about further escalations of the so-called "war on terror," in front of his friends of the American Enterprise Institute, as if nobody even wants to hide or is even a little bit ashamed of the awful collusion of business and profit interest in these "wars."
There he was, talking about further escalations of the so-called "war on terror," in front of his friends of the American Enterprise Institute, as if nobody even wants to hide or is even a little bit ashamed of the awful collusion of business and profit interest in these "wars."
February 13, 2007
2084
The news frightened me yesterday. On and on with the killing in Iraq, and now you have to wonder if a conflict with Iran is coming. Not to speak of a new "spring offensive" in Afghanistan. I just wonder if we are heading to a world of permanent warfare, like the Oceania-Eastasia-Eurasia war in 1984.
Everyone says that they want peace, but their problem is they don't know what peace is. To the world, peace is just the absence of annoyance and conflict. It is the absence of anything which would interfere with their own selfish projects and plans for exploitation of others.
Real peace isn't just the absence of conflict. It is an active, provocative force. It "turns the other cheek," putting the power of peace and non-violence in the face of those whose misery and self-hate explodes into the all the violence of the world.
As long as we live in fear, there can be no peace. But the answer to fear is not war, is not the "Cheney doctrine" of destroying threats before they can arise. Perhaps Yoda put it best: "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
Everyone says that they want peace, but their problem is they don't know what peace is. To the world, peace is just the absence of annoyance and conflict. It is the absence of anything which would interfere with their own selfish projects and plans for exploitation of others.
Real peace isn't just the absence of conflict. It is an active, provocative force. It "turns the other cheek," putting the power of peace and non-violence in the face of those whose misery and self-hate explodes into the all the violence of the world.
As long as we live in fear, there can be no peace. But the answer to fear is not war, is not the "Cheney doctrine" of destroying threats before they can arise. Perhaps Yoda put it best: "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
February 8, 2007
St. Josephine
Today is the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947), a Sudanese who spent much of her life suffering in brutal slavery, and later became famous for her gentleness as portress with the Canossian Sisters.
Her feast day reminds us of the need to pray and seek justice and peace for the people of Sudan, and to do penance for the violence of the slavery and human trafficking still inflicted on many people, especially women and children.
January 10, 2007
Iraq
I just watched the president's speech, and I think Mr. Bush would do well to review the definition of insanity they use in the recovery community: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
December 30, 2006
Saddam Hussein
Executing someone does not constitute a coherent method of demonstrating that killing people is unacceptable.
December 5, 2006
Peace
One line form the psalm for today really caught me: in the reign of the King who is to come we will enjoy "profound peace."
A lot of people talk about peace. "Peace" is the goal of the military maladventures of these United States. But mostly, when the world talks about peace and its desire for peace, they don't have the faintest idea what they are talking about.
The peace that the world wants is just freedom from annoyance. It's the absence of anyone getting in the way of their plans for security and power, their efforts at exploiting the earth and everyone else for their own comfort and gratification.
Real peace isn't the absence of anyone getting in the way of fulfilling your unreasonable desires, but is the courage to let go of them. Real peace starts with treating others as if they were human beings like yourself, or better, as human beings better than yourself.
The "profound peace" that the psalmist looks forward to is the power of love to break down all the ways that we insist on misery, both for ourselves and those around us.
A lot of people talk about peace. "Peace" is the goal of the military maladventures of these United States. But mostly, when the world talks about peace and its desire for peace, they don't have the faintest idea what they are talking about.
The peace that the world wants is just freedom from annoyance. It's the absence of anyone getting in the way of their plans for security and power, their efforts at exploiting the earth and everyone else for their own comfort and gratification.
Real peace isn't the absence of anyone getting in the way of fulfilling your unreasonable desires, but is the courage to let go of them. Real peace starts with treating others as if they were human beings like yourself, or better, as human beings better than yourself.
The "profound peace" that the psalmist looks forward to is the power of love to break down all the ways that we insist on misery, both for ourselves and those around us.
October 3, 2006
School Shootings
It was 780 years ago tonight that our holy father Francis was born to eternal life, so that's what I should be writing about today, what we call the transitus of Francis.
But three school shootings in a week-and now even the daughters of our radical anabaptist Amish friends are in danger.
Who needs any other sign that there is something horribly wrong with our culture? Violence is the answer for everything. People who kill people? We kill them. Inconvenient babies? We kill them. Children at school? We use them to take out our anger at the God and the world.
And now with the so-called 1% doctrine, we here in the United States respond with violence and pre-emptive war to threats that have yet even to appear.
We are already guilty; by doing nothing we simply maintain our condemnation as murderers. We need to uproot from inside ourselves the obvious and the hidden wellsprings of violence and anger and hate.
There is no time.
But three school shootings in a week-and now even the daughters of our radical anabaptist Amish friends are in danger.
Who needs any other sign that there is something horribly wrong with our culture? Violence is the answer for everything. People who kill people? We kill them. Inconvenient babies? We kill them. Children at school? We use them to take out our anger at the God and the world.
And now with the so-called 1% doctrine, we here in the United States respond with violence and pre-emptive war to threats that have yet even to appear.
We are already guilty; by doing nothing we simply maintain our condemnation as murderers. We need to uproot from inside ourselves the obvious and the hidden wellsprings of violence and anger and hate.
There is no time.
September 11, 2006
9.11
Today we remember the tragedy of September 11, 2001. And I think we are wise to mourn the victims of that day, but we also pray for all of the further victims of the attendant "war on terror" and the grand disaster of our response to the attacks.
It makes me think that perhaps both the perpetrators of Islamic violence and we arrogant western crusaders might take a lesson from Francis in the Earlier Rule.
Francis writes that the brothers who are inspired to go among non-believers may do so in one of two ways. They may either keep themselves quiet and humble, not arguing or debating with anyone, and being subject to every human creature for God's sake (2 Peter 2:13), simply confessing that they are Christians. In this way they preach the poor and humble Christ without having to say anything. Or they may boldly preach the Trinity and the necessity of baptism for salvation, and gratefully suffer whatever consequences come.
We might note that neither of these paths involves killing or imprisoning anyone.
It makes me think that perhaps both the perpetrators of Islamic violence and we arrogant western crusaders might take a lesson from Francis in the Earlier Rule.
Francis writes that the brothers who are inspired to go among non-believers may do so in one of two ways. They may either keep themselves quiet and humble, not arguing or debating with anyone, and being subject to every human creature for God's sake (2 Peter 2:13), simply confessing that they are Christians. In this way they preach the poor and humble Christ without having to say anything. Or they may boldly preach the Trinity and the necessity of baptism for salvation, and gratefully suffer whatever consequences come.
We might note that neither of these paths involves killing or imprisoning anyone.
July 4, 2006
I Don't Know
I find Independence Day a little depressing. As I try to reflect on the questions facing these United States, I have few answers.
What to say about immigration? I've spent my life in the Franciscan order living and working in churches built by Germans, but now populated by folks of various Spanish-speaking cultures. I ride on the railroads built by the Chinese and the subways built by the Irish. Should it be any surpise that people are still seeking a share in our wealth and spirit of self-determination?
What to say about our conflict with violent Islam, the so-called war on terror? Yes, people need protection from harm. But there is part of me that has some sympathy with the "terrorists." Theirs is a theological world, and perhaps they feel threatened by the economic and cultural imperialism of the secular west. At least the paganism of the classical pagans was one of beauty and order; ours is the much more crass paganism of power, wealth, and security.
We (and our allies) are the only ones allowed to have nuclear weapons. Unfriendly states are only allowed defenses that we can beat easily. We decide what defenses and economies others are allowed to have; what is this but the colonialism whose rejection we allegedly celebrate today?
When I was in school and they taught us about the American Revolution, we were told about how the American soldiers used subterfuge and guerilla tactics to defeat the orderly British army. But they weren't terrorists, we were taught, they were creative, do-it-yourself, American freedom fighters.
What to say about immigration? I've spent my life in the Franciscan order living and working in churches built by Germans, but now populated by folks of various Spanish-speaking cultures. I ride on the railroads built by the Chinese and the subways built by the Irish. Should it be any surpise that people are still seeking a share in our wealth and spirit of self-determination?
What to say about our conflict with violent Islam, the so-called war on terror? Yes, people need protection from harm. But there is part of me that has some sympathy with the "terrorists." Theirs is a theological world, and perhaps they feel threatened by the economic and cultural imperialism of the secular west. At least the paganism of the classical pagans was one of beauty and order; ours is the much more crass paganism of power, wealth, and security.
We (and our allies) are the only ones allowed to have nuclear weapons. Unfriendly states are only allowed defenses that we can beat easily. We decide what defenses and economies others are allowed to have; what is this but the colonialism whose rejection we allegedly celebrate today?
When I was in school and they taught us about the American Revolution, we were told about how the American soldiers used subterfuge and guerilla tactics to defeat the orderly British army. But they weren't terrorists, we were taught, they were creative, do-it-yourself, American freedom fighters.
June 15, 2006
Elijah
It's been great to hear the stories of Elijah in the readings this week. Yesterday we heard about his contest against the 450 prophets of Baal. Our Old Testament professor used to tell us to read these stories through the lens of the "emerging monotheism" of Israel. Struggles between the prophets of YHWH and the prophets of other gods represent Israel's struggle to come to firm adherence to the one God. I remember writing a paper I called "Elijah Slays the Prophets of Baal: Model for Ministry?" The title was probably the best part.
If this struggle seems foreign to our time, think again. Monotheism is still struggling to emerge in history. We still sacrifice our time, energy, and love, even our loved ones, to other gods. Nowadays these other gods are not the Baal or Astarte that the Israelites struggled with, but the gods of wealth, celebrity, and security. Think how many young people have been sacrificed in Iraq on the altar of the high god we call "national security" and the "american way of life."
If this struggle seems foreign to our time, think again. Monotheism is still struggling to emerge in history. We still sacrifice our time, energy, and love, even our loved ones, to other gods. Nowadays these other gods are not the Baal or Astarte that the Israelites struggled with, but the gods of wealth, celebrity, and security. Think how many young people have been sacrificed in Iraq on the altar of the high god we call "national security" and the "american way of life."
June 10, 2006
War and Pornography
Do check out Jeff's brilliant post on the state of our collective soul.
Yesterday I finally made it through the very tedious Da Vinci Code. I'll post on it soon.
Yesterday I finally made it through the very tedious Da Vinci Code. I'll post on it soon.
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