One and a Half Cheers for Free Markets; One and a Half Cheers for Government

In an insightful piece cleverly titled "Two Cheers for Capitalism" (NY Times, Friday, July 31, 2015), David Brooks identifies the emerging left/right debate: the former moving beyond re-distribution and enhanced social services to a deeper critique of the inequality and irrationality of unchecked capitalism while the later remains enamored of the vitality of market freedom and the deadening effect of state control. Locating myself just to the left of Brooks and dead center on the political spectrum, I give one and a half cheers for both the free market and the state: both have vitality and purpose; both are inclined to disfunction. Both have become too large and complicated; both are cancerous in their over-growth; both need to be viewed with a delicate balance of confidence and skepticism.

List of the Greatest Saints

Who are the greatest saints? Is this a stupid question? I think not; I think it is interesting and worth pondering! The Church does not rank its saints but it doesn't prevent me from doing so. So here goes: 1. Excepting our Blessed Mother who is exceptional as Queen of Angels and Saints, primacy of place must go to St. Joseph because of his intimacy with Jesus and Mary. This is an easy choice! 2. John the Baptist is my number 2 even though Jesus said he is less then the least in the Kingdom of God. We know Jesus had a habit of exagerating things to make a point. John was cousin of Jesus and since Jesus had no siblings, he must have really loved his cousin; he was the first believer (after Mary of course) with his leap of Joy; he was the culmination of the Old Testament; the first celibate, first martyr, last prophet; he is an icon of Joy, austerity, penance, courage, and truthfulness. He is unique and unequaled. And he was not worthy to lace the sandals of his Lord! 3. Next we must go with Peter, Paul, John and the Apostles who are the foundation of the Church. Peter and Paul are favorites also because their sins were so blatant; John for the opposite reason that he was so close to Jesus, even at the cross, in his innocence. 4. John draws us back to those who prepared the way and first place here goes to Moses, the meekest man on earth, the one who spoke face-to-face with God. Second here is Abraham, father of our faith. And third I go with Elijah who stands for all the prophets as he did at the Transfiguration. 5. King David has a special place of honor because he was such a blatant sinner, especially with women. But his repentance (Psalm 51) was so fervent, his Joy and Loyalty so fierce, that he is a favorite. He is surely a patron saint for those of us who struggle with chastity! 6. Now it gets more subjective and difficult. I am going with Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas because they were holy and wise and their teaching is the basis for what we believe, at least in the Western Church. (I show my intellectualist bias here!) 7. Next I see those handful that received such a strong charism that it still flourishes through the centuries in religious orders: Saints Francis, Benedict, Dominic and Ignatius are prominent among them. 8. Eigth place goes to the great and extraordinary mystics: St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Theresa of Lisieux. 9. Ninth place goes to a select group who manifested holiness, a striking mission/charism, and an appealing humanity: St. Fancis deSales, St.John Bosco, St. John Vianney, St. Vincent De Paul, Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II. 10. Tenth place goes to all martyrs who consciously accept torture and death for their faith in Christ. Within that large group, however, pride of place goes to virgin martyrs who gave their femininity in spousal intimacy and surrendered their bodily selves doubly, in consecration and in death. 11. My next choice may be controversial: those Christian, non-Catholic martyrs who were violated by the Catholic Church. For example, we Catholic honor the martyrs in Elizabethan England but in that era the Church also persecuted holy Protestants so we need to grieve and honor them in awareness of the fallibility of the Church in her human dimension. 12. Lastly I will honor all Jews who were killed for their Jewishness because I see in this their identification with the Crucified Jew, even if they were not conscious of this identification. Queen of this group, of course, is St. Theresa Benedicata of the Cross, who was a Jew (agnostic for much of her life), a virgin, a doctor of the Church, and a martyr. She has a very, very, very special place. She is also a leader of the contingent of holy 20th century women: St. Faustina, St.Maria Goretti, Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa, Catherine Dougherty, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, Elizabeth Eliot, and Adrienne von Speyr! This list is, of course, intended to be playful and provocative and invites response: who have I ignored, underrated, overrated?