Labor Movements: the Good and the Bad

Watching the remarkable movie The Irishman wakened many memories of growing up in the 1950s in a family of union men and labor organizers. In 1957 at the age of 10 I went to Washington DC with my father and sat in on the McClellan Hearings which targeted mob influence in the unions. Bobby Kennedy, famously, was waging war against Hoffa and others. I didn't know what was going on but I did shake hands with John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey and I saw Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater and a political who's-who of the 1950-60s. I vividly recall that the assembly erupted into laughter and my father explained: Walter Reuther was loquaciously answering a question when Goldwater said: "I must interrupt since I have forgotten the question you are answering." I was familiar with the three most prominent labor leaders of the time and now see that they represent distinct movements in labor: Jimmy Hoffa, Walter Reuther and George Meany. Let's contrast the three and the labor movement post-Sexual-Revolution.

Jimmy Hoffa, of course, represents the mob influence which was infamously powerful close to our home in New Jersey. Think Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) in On the Waterfront and of course his priest antagonist (Karl Malden) based upon the real waterfront priest John Corridan S.J. The book Waterfront Priest was a staple in our home and given to my father for his work as a union leader with the Labor Institute in Jersey City.

UAW's Walter Reuther represented the strongest possible contrast to the unionism of Teamster Jimmy Hoffa. He was a brilliant, courageous, flawlessly moral idealist of the left. In his youth he flirted with communism, working for two years in a factory in 1930s Stalinist Russia. Later he became anti-communist and purged the unions of that influence. He was an early and fervent supporter of the Civil Rights (he and my own father were at the "I Have a Dream" speech; my Dad was impressed, but less idealistic than Reuther, he left the march to see a movie with a colleague) and Farm Worker movements. Reuther represents the union movement as idealistic, fierce in pursuit of social justice, largely secular, and left-wing. Think Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. I don't recall my Dad speaking of him with any obvious approval or displeasure, but he seemed to respect him as well as other secular (many Jewish) colleagues who cooperated happily with Catholics like my father in that era.

Leader of the AFL-CIO George Meany, by contrast, was a meat-and-potato, Catholic unionist more in keeping with our family's values. His unionism focused on the concerns (wage, health benefits, safety, etc.) of the working man and was: anti-communist, pro-capitalism, pro-America, and fiercely if inarticulately, pro-family and pro-life. It was less idealistic, more limited and practical in its focus. It was carried from one success to another in that explosive American economy of 1950-65.  It was basically the same down-to-earth unionism I faced in the Teamster union in my own career in UPS management from 1985-2003. Like our UPS founder Jim Casey, I always appreciated the relationship with the union, notwithstanding the tension and conflict. For instance, as dispatcher of drivers, I found that my best friend was the shop steward who would mediate the inevitable disputes with drivers who thought they were wronged.

Post-1970, the labor movement, with the entire US left, underwent a substantial change as it embraced the cultural liberalism of the sexual revolution: abortion, radical feminism as deconstruction of masculinity/femininity, the explicit break with traditions of moral and religious authority, and the sundering of sexuality from fruitfulness and family. The legacy of Hoffa diminished (for the most part), that of Reuther continued with energy, but the quiet Catholic values of George Meany were cast aside as rubbish.

Catholic labor leaders like my father and uncles survived the Depression, faced down the company goons on the picket lines, defeated the communists for control of the unions, beat the Nazi and Japanese empires, contained and overcame the communism of the USSR, built the strongest economy in human history, maintained the post-war Pax Americana, and developed a dazzling Church network of schools, hospitals, parishes and religious orders. Their only failing: unprepared for the Sexual Revolution, they feebly surrendered the entire liberal order to the sexual libertines.

The unions have been, of course, battered by titanic, globalizing economic changes over the last 50 years, but a particular concern for many Catholics has been the alliance of the teacher's unions with the DNC in defense of the monopoly of tax funding for public schools in defiance of the rights of parents and communities of faith. The responsibility for education rests primarily with families and their communities of faith and the hostility of the Left to their rights is a grave matter of social justice.

An additional problem with the alliance of unions with the Democrats is that municipalities in places like NJ have granted extremely generous contracts, in exchange for political support, to unions for police, firemen and teachers. This has bankrupted local governments. This fiscal issue is of little concern to me personally as it is: first of all, only about money; and, more importantly, the work of teacher and policeman and fireman is so valuable that it serves us to reward them and attract the best talent.

In an industrial society, the union is something sacred to us as Catholics. Formerly, unions were vulnerable to the mob and the communists; today they are in bed with the libertines. It is a sadness!

Is it a Sin to Vote in the USA 2020 Elections?

Clearly: it is a sin to vote either for a Democrat or Donald Trump in 2020! I have no doubt!

Direct participation in a grave evil is  sinful. A vote for the DNC is cooperation in the genocide of the innocent, the little ones, the unborn. Any Catholic who does not see this clearly, directly, intuitively without deliberation suffers a grave disorder in moral judgment. A vote for Trump, I will argue, presents a scandal to our young and is evil in a more complicated manner.

To be clear: I do not allege that such voters are subjectively culpable of sin in the sense of intention, deliberation and consent of the will. Rather, they are objectively supporting structural evil as they suffer a mysterious blindness of moral vision, an ignorance that may be itself be in some degree invincible, which is to say unavoidable and therefore not culpable. So I see it as a grave sin, but not necessarily a personal mortal sin since such requires, in addition to grave matter, both deliberation and free consent of the will. The 50 % of Catholic voters who will pull the lever for a Democrat are not envisioning the wrenching from pain, the spurting of blood as millions of innocents continue to be slaughtered on the altars of the Sexual Revolution. On the contrary, they swell with righteousness as they condemn the despicable Trump and protect the globe, welcome immigrants, move towards health care for all, decrease gun violence and so forth. An equivalent self-righteousness operates on the Trump voter as he protects innocent life, religious liberty and the family. Both sides are right about what they oppose; but wrong in what they support. It is like Germany in the 1930s: choose between Hitler and Stalin!

My case against Trump is based on his personal character, not his policy or politics. In my own moral/political calculus, his defense of life, faith and family far outweigh the multiple failings of his policy positions which are largely impulsive, incoherent, unpromising and sometimes reckless. But his personal behavior, his absolute disregard for truth and contempt for people, make him for me a moral pariah.

Every person in a position of power, authority or status is a moral exemplar. Such is viewed by others and, by an inevitable if often unconscious mimesis, exerts influence by attraction or repulsion. Every leader...executive, principal, coach, crossing guard, politician...embodies and personalizes (always imperfectly) the values of the community. This influence is mega-multiplied for the President of the most powerful country in the world and for an out-sized personality like The Donald. Therefore, every candidate for such a position must be evaluated for two things: technical expertise in accomplishing the given task, and personal integrity (but not perfection) in morals fundamental to the specific group.

Regarding competence, Trump is pathetic; regarding character he is catastrophic. He is not a full blown sociopath (I see glimmers of empathy and conscience) but his narcissism, easily the worst in the world, has a vicious thrust that has destroyed his capacity for truth and respect.

A liar is one who knows the truth and intentionally tells a falsehood. Trump is not a liar; he is not even a compulsive liar. He seems to lack an awareness that there even is a reality, a truth, an objectivity beyond his own needs and desires. This is a moral depravity of enormous proportions. If he lived near me I would forbid my children to talk with him or even be near him. He is one with whom you cannot speak because he recognizes no objective reality beyond his own immediate desires and emotions. It is this horrific condition that underlies his contempt for all professions: the intelligence agencies, the media, and the military.

Rivaling that moral depravity is the contempt he holds for those who offend him. Shamelessly, he disrespects women, immigrants, political opponents and many of the very people he hired.

Almost half the electorate is caught up in Trump-Derangement-Syndrome in that they have become psychologically unhinged by their hatred of him. I do not completely blame them. I have a mild case myself but am fortunate that my disgust for him is balanced, and even outweighed, by my aversion to the DNC. Lately, I have been trying to practice a degree of detachment from politics to maintain my own inner serenity and openness to the workings of grace in my own life.

If I were a bishop, I would have to consider withholding the Blessed Sacrament from all communicants on the Sunday after election day as a gesture of moral correction. I doubt that canon law would allow it. But consider: if a critical mass of Catholics (even 20 or 30%) boycotted these electoral choices, both parties would be scrambling to see what they could change to recoup the vote. The left would suddenly care about innocent life and the right about already-born life.

Our politics and our culture has sunk to a dark, putrid place. Increasingly I agree with the Benedict Option of Rod Dreher: we need to (with nuance, discretion and prudence) largely disconnect from a culture of death and despair and cling to our families and our Church and all the riches that flow into and our of them.

My Recovery From Liberalism

I count April 1, 1973 as my Sobriety Date. In the five years leading up to that day, my early adulthood, I was afflicted with Liberalism. Not political liberalism (I always have and always will lean left), nor classic economic (free market, low tax-regulation) liberalism (which I have never endorsed), but specifically the post-Vatican II Catholic spiritual liberalism by which I mean a weakened Catholic faith and sanctification of a leftist political vision.

The symptoms:
- Persistent, debilitating, low-grade guilt about suffering, inequality and injustice; a joyless sense of moral burden.
- Diminished sense of the supernatural, especially a weak connection with Jesus Christ as eventful, personal savior, and lowered sense of sacredness of sacraments.
- Above all, transference of religious energies to the political, relocating the origin of evil from sin-world-flesh-devil to social systems of power and injustice and the sanctification of specific policies as sacred. And so, ideological opponents were demonized: those who favor low capital gain tax are greedy, others in favor of strong border security are racists, and so forth. Society fit neatly into three classes: the powerful who oppress, the powerless victims, and the righteous who fight the bad guys.

On April 1, 1973 I finished my Cursillo at which I encountered Jesus in a clear, intimate, powerful manner as my personal Lord and Savior. Shortly after that, I joined the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and received an overflow of the Holy Spirit as a powerful, deep, tender and directive Companion to my soul.

My life changed entirely:

- Along with my wife, I embraced Church teaching on sexuality and marriage (Humanae Vitae); we discontinued contraception; and went on to conceive seven beautiful children.
- I was relieved of that burden of guilt and inadequacy as I felt the constant protection, guidance and strengthening of the Holy Spirit.
- I continued to encounter Christ in the sacraments, the Word of God, fellowship, and personal prayer.
- My focus and energy returned to Christ and his Church. I maintained an interest in national politics, but in a light, relaxed mode; less righteous, zealous, judgmental.
- Under the direction of a holy, erudite Jesuit theologian (Fr. Joseph Whelan S.J.) I had encountered the "kneeling theology" of Hans Urs Von Balthasar and its sense that theology can only spring from holiness of life. So I was well positioned to receive, just a few years later, the splendid teaching of St. John Paul II (especially his catechesis on sexuality and gender) and that of his collaborator, Pope Benedict.

And so, I remain joyful and thankful for being rescued from the guilt, the burden, the judgmentalism and the dreariness of Catholic Liberalism! I prayed and labored to protect my children from this plight, that still pervades Catholic education, and can report happily that they are free from this pathology, that they are rooted in strong Catholic belief and practice even as they lean left politically with me and my family tradition. May my grandchildren and following generations carry on our faith!

The Anguish of the Traditional Catholic in the Age of Pope Fracis

The catastrophic summer of 2018 (death penalty change to Catechism, McCarrick, Pennsylvania Report, Vigano, China agreement) confirmed what had become obvious: the Catholic Church is in the grip of a severely dysfunctional papacy. We are like a family where the mother or father is addicted...to drugs, anger, gambling, sex or whatever. Three paths emerge: to collude with and enable the compulsion; to intervene forcefully; or to distance oneself and pursue one's own sobriety and peace in an alanon-type program. The first is itself a co-addiction; the last two can fruitfully complement each other.

1.  In his customarily brilliant Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell narrates how a high accident picture for Korean pilots, who compare in all ways with other nationalities, was finally linked to their deferential "cockpit culture." Even when facing imminent danger and obvious pilot error, subordinate staff were resistant to confronting the pilot because of a deep-seated Korean subservience to authority. Something similar inheres in Roman Catholicism: we have so much respect for our hierarchy that sometimes we fail to confront them and thus enable abuse. Priest sex scandal! This applies to pastor, bishop and yes even the pope. And so, the pious, sentimental propensity to repress any criticism of pope (or bishop or priest) is contradictory of the deeper Catholic intellectual traditions as well as dismissive of the profound sense of human sinfulness that effects even our popes, beginning with Peter.

2.  The anti-Francis resistance has opted to intervene and assert long-standing beliefs that are being undermined by this Pope and his allies. In the hierarchy itself this is a very small, but strong and lucid group: notably Cardinals Burke, Sarah and Mueller. Each is extraordinary in theological depth, loyalty to the Church, and lucidity in articulation. It is unlikely they will impact this papacy, but they are a source of light and hope for so many of us who are troubled by the reigning confusitoi From where I sit, the resistance is strongest from the laity: Reno and the First Things crowd, Rober Royal and The Catholic Thing, Raymond Arroyo and EWTN, Philip Gleason and others. The laity enjoy a greater freedom to engage critically and I for one am greatly heartened by their clarity and condor.

3. The predominant response may be exemplified by Pope-Emeritus Benedict himself. he has not engaged the papacy in its foibles! Rather, he... quietly, peacefully, prayerfully and confidently...goes about his own now-retired life, no doubt praying, resting and waiting on the Lord. Even as the Francis regime undermines his work (consider the destruction of the John Paul II Institute in Rome)  the retired Pope rests serene in God's providence and the marvelous legacy he has left the Church. It is my impression that most of the loyal laity, clergy, episcopacy and college of cardinals pursue a similar path: not overtly resisting, but persevering in the Gospel truth as we have received it. The lay leaders I most respect..including charismatic Ralph Martin, Kiko Arguello of the Neocathecumenal Way, The Schindlers and others at the John Paul II...have not directly criticized or contradicted the Pope (to my knowledge), but they continue to develop and articulate the legacy of John Paul and Benedict with energy, brilliance and conviction. The American bishops are exemplary also. Archbishop Chaput, perhaps the strongest American hierarchical resistance to this papacy, is muted and flawlessly respectful. The the recent American bishops conference, proteges of Francis (Cupich, McElroy) attempted to dilute the episcopal pro-life stance, in the name of Pope Francis, by removing the word "preeminent" in regard to abortion among other social issues (immigration, global warming, etc.) Bishop McElroy went so far as to say that this emphasis contradicted the teaching of Francis. Chaput forcefully insisted that the American bishops were indeed in union with the chair of Peter as they resisted the horror of abortion. His strong but respectful words were greeted with applause. His position was validated in a vote of 2-1. The American bishops remain faithful, at this point in time, to the legacy of the dual pontificate, but in a reverent, peace-making manner.

To conclude: filial loyalty to the papacy, like love for one's own dysfunctional father,  does not preclude but requires calm, deliberate correction when required. There is a certain Catholic genius for balancing loyalty and confrontation, for preserving unity while unveiling error. Thank God for the resistance, and also for the loyalists who work in a more peaceful, quiet manner!

Who's to Blame for Donald Trump?

The liberals are to blame: the Democrats and the cultural elites in media, academia, and entertainment. For a number of interrelated reasons:

1. Bill Clinton, and his collaborator Hillary. Trump as a public figure, in the nauseatingly vile way he speaks of and treats women, is unthinkable in a America prior to the Clinton-Lewinski event-from-hell. Trump, along with Clinton, Epstein, Weinstein and a litany of others are all children of the sexual revolution. Society's full acceptance and approval of Clinton after his abuse of a young woman the age of his own daughter was the tipping point: the precise moment when the Revolution prevailed in America and the West. In a satanic game plan, the Democrat prepared for the Republican in a culture progressively degraded by unrestrained lust. Hillary, by enabling her husband and discreding his victims, herself played a key role in preparing for the Donald. Is there a chance she has a clue about this? None!

2. Breakdown of family, community and identity. Along with cooperating historical forces, cultural liberalism has destroyed the foundation of life in marriage, fidelity, family, and community. Strangely, this negative effect has been much less on the affluent class that advocates it; and worst on the lower economic classes who have been devastated by a double blast of economic change and moral-spiritual decline. The Trump victory was not about an ideological vision for society; it was certainly not about racism (many voted for Obama and then Trump!). It was the anguished, enraged cry of a class and a culture that had lost its economic as well as its cultural-religious roots.

3.  Contempt of elites for the "deplorables." This flows from the previous point: the elites, even as they have destroyed the basis for decent family life have evident contempt for the lower class, those who they see as stupid, who "cling to guns and religion" and who lack the pedigree of a liberal education. We are in the midst of a class war, but it is not about money (although the materialistic left can think in only those terms): it is about respect, honor, status, identity. It is about religion: what is important and worthy and sacred!

4.  Militant secularism. By an inconceivable irony, Donald Trump, who embodies in preternatural exaggeration the materialistic greed, narcissism and sexual excess of the USA at its very worst, became president because he rallied the support of moral conservatives, Evangelicals and Catholics. As bad as he is personally, politically he is resistant to the hegemonic regime of the liberals: genocide of the unborn and "useless", oppression of religious liberty, totalitarian and diabolic tearing of sexuality from its roots and purpose in spousal fruitfulness, and the deconstruction of paternity/maternity in their sacredness.

The hysteria intrinsic to liberal "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is rooted in an unconscious guilt and dread that they have created a world...fatherless and motherless, sexually liberated, destructive of the most powerless...where a moral monster, a moron, a helpless incompetent...is preferred electorally to their own barren, deathly, hopeless ideology.

Five Movements of the Symphony that is Catholic Life

I like to see our Catholic life as an interaction of five eventful loves, which are distinct yet co-inhere in each other in a rich flowering and flourishing: Wonder at Being in all its Truth, Beauty, Goodness; the evangelical love for the crucified, risen-ascended, Spirit-sending person of Jesus Christ; compassion and love for those who suffer physical and spiritual desolation; devotion to Truth, in all forms of human knowing including the dogmatic splendor radiating from God's revelation; and the life of prayer and worship in its personal-intimate, communal and public-liturgical dimensions.

The sense of wonder at existence in all its glory, common to all people, manifests itself especially in the artist, the poet, the philosopher. We see it in people of all types of belief and unbelief, even as its interior logic moves towards the source of all the Good, the True and the Beautiful, the very Creator!

The specific Christian genius is the personal encounter with the Jesus Christ, the absolutely unique divine-human person, as Lord, Savior, and Friend. It includes a sense of his distinctive holiness, his self-described intimacy with his Father in the Holy Spirit, his horrendous suffering for us, his victory over death-guilt-evil in all forms, and his specific love for each of us precisely in our sins. The entire Catholic life...traditions, prayers, dogmas, morality, liturgy...flow lucidly, passionately, fruitfully from this primal personal encounter.

Empathy for the poor and suffering, like the initial sense of wonder, characterizes human life in all its forms, but is given immense depth and focus in the following of Jesus who himself took on ALL the suffering and pain of the world. Additionally, the Catholic pathos is for physical, emotional and also spiritual suffering: only in the Church do we speak of "hunger for souls" by which we mean the yearning to satisfy the deepest cravings of the human heart, the desire for eternal life in unbounded, endless Beauty, Truth and Goodness.

Truth unveils itself to the inquiring human subject analogically at all levels of existence: mathematical, scientific, historical, journalistic, philosophical and more. The Church, however, is uniquely entrusted with the splendid Revelation of God in Jesus Christ in all its dogmatic consequences. Not all of us are equally equipped to ponder, grasp and articulate this reality (just as few of us grasp the deepest truths of physics or neurology), the the hierarchy is specially guided in this task.

Lastly, is the cultivation of our communion with God in personal prayer, small group wrorship, and public liturgy. Particularly in the Eucharist, this is the heart and soul of the Church; the inner form and essence of Catholicism. We experience this in the quiet solitude of our personal  prayer; in the intimacy of shared prayer with family and friends; and in the exquisite, magisterial liturgy of the ancient Church. It is here that the Bridegroom makes live to his ecclesial Bride. Out of this communion flow all the social energies and cultural fruitfulness of Catholic life in its overflowing abundance.

Individuals, communities and entire historical epochs vary in the degree to which they express the five movements. But Catholic life, on earth and in heaven, is an unbounded effervescence, an overflowing eventfulness, a symphonic masterpiece of continuity/stability and serendipitous surpise!

Loving the Democrat; Hating the Democratic National Party

I hate the DNC; but most of my family, friends and almost everyone with whom I work are Democrats! What a dilemma! How do I handle this?

When I say I hate the Democratic Party, I mean I loathe, despise, abhor, renounce, scorn, detest it! This is not just a feeling or emotion; with my intellect, will, passions, spirit, all my energies and powers I hate it. This disgust is personal, passionate, perpetual. I was raised to respect and trust this party; so the betrayal that occurred around 1970 with the sexual revolution and abortion is very particular for me. Imagine how women feel about bedbugs! How Jews feel about Nazis or Afro-Americans about the KKK! How we all feel about sexual abuse of children! How the embryo feels towards her abortionist! That is what I am talking about! For me, just about 1970 the Democratic Party became, essentially and structurally, an embodiment of hell on earth! It is as if my very best friend seduced my wife and raped my daughters.

And so, I see that otherwise intelligent, decent, well-meaning people...admirable in almost every way...are overcome by a (virtually) invincible ignorance as they collaborate with the genocide of the unborn and other types of "unworthy" human life.  How does this happen?

I am aided by the words of Jesus from the cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." "...they know not what they do." St. Paul reflected about the disbelief of the Jews, which grieved him greatly, and wondered that God in his Providence had allowed a darkness, a cloud of unknowing and disbelief, to descend upon them, in order to carry out his greater plan of saving the gentiles and eventually the Jews and all the nations.

With regard to evil in its many forms, there seems oftentimes to be more ignorance than ill-will. Those who vote habitually, faithfully for the DNC are not subjectively conscious of participation in the massacre of the innocent and unborn; they feel righteous as they support gun control or a stronger safety net or medicare for all. Indeed, they probably view me as deficient in my moral judgement. We mirror each other in our mutual moral disapproval!

I have another, lesser problem: a contrasting, smaller group of family and friends support and vote for Donald Trump, a lesser evil (in my view) but morally repulsive for a host of reasons. So, in 2019 I feel like a German in the 1930s: almost half the community are Nazis, almost as many Communistes!

It is discouraging and disheartening! The world truly appears to be in the hands of the Evil One! I can only cling, all the more fiercely and gratefully, to my Savior and his Church!

The Right Not to Vote and the (Sometime) Obligation Not to Vote

I did not vote this past election day. I usually don't vote. I have never voted in a school board election and probably never will, as I have always been committed to Catholic schools. The right to vote is highly regarded...for good reason! It is the foundation of democracy; without it we are under some tyranny. But the right not to vote is underrated! And the obligation not to vote, in many situations, is entirely ignored.

It is an error to proclaim some general duty to vote. It is senseless to vote if one is not informed about the candidates and the issues. Most of us, most of the time lack the time, energy and interest to study the situation: most of us should probably not vote most of the time.

Most important social functions are performed by a select group: not all of us need do surgery, repair roofs, pray and fast daily, or even marry and beget children! Not every must pay taxes! And so, the vote is the right and privilege of those who give time, energy and effort to studying the issues. Many are called but few are chosen.

One of the deepest dysfunctions in a democracy like ours is the habit of always voting for the party of one's family or tradition. In a place like Hudson County, NJ, where I live, this makes for deep political corruption. Or consider the Afro-American vote which goes over 90% of the time for the party that coordinates the systematic, state-sponsored genocide of about 65% of conceived babies of that race in New York City! Is that a moral...an intelligent decision?

In the context of our current national politics, the obligation not to vote asserts itself with unusual force. In a hypothetical face-off between a Hitler and a Stalin, a crude calculation of the "lesser evil" would be morally unthinkable! I see our current situation as similar, if less extreme. As a never-Trumper, I am deeply troubled that those I love and respect could vote for a man who blatantly enacts vile, despicable values. But, as a never-forever-fanatical-passionate-zealous anti-Democrat, I am more horrified that others I love and respect could vote for the Party of Death!

Does the Amazon, Does the World Need More Priests? Married Priests?

I think NOT! It is not about numbers: I would rather encounter one holy priest...radiant with love, humility, sanctity...once yearly, than encounter half a dozen mediocre priests daily. What we do need, desperately, is two realities: the Eucharistic presence of Christ and the Word of God.

The Eucharist is sum and summit of Catholic life; but I am going to say something to upset our liturgists. Even more than the celebration of the mass, I am personally consoled by the abiding presence of our Eucharistic Christ in the tabernacles of the world. It is the permanency, the reliability, the constancy that I cherish! Let's be honest: daily mass is over in 28 minutes; Sunday mass in 58 minutes. Most of the time my own mind is wandering. Even when I focus on the paschal mystery being enacted my intellect and emotions remain dull and not equal to the event. But I take great consolation that Jesus abides in our midst twenty-four seven, every day of the year except for late Good Friday through Holy Saturday. He is with us: As we scurry about on a million errands, He is there! When we sleep, He is there! When we wander into sin, He is there! Always present to us! Always waiting on us! Always patient and available and merciful!

Let's play overrated/underrated! What is, absolutely, the MOST UNDERRATED reality in the history of our cosmos? No-brainer! The Eucharistic Presence! Christ present is the most wonderful thing imaginable, and yet He is almost entirely ignored. That indifference and neglect extends also to liturgical fashion after Vatican II in that it emphasized the liturgy as banquet and experience and downplayed the abiding physical presence of our Lord in the tabernacle.

The first thing the Amazon and the entire world needs is a craving for and delight in our Lord's physical presence. I imagine a remote village in the jungle that sees a priest once a year. They await him eagerly with joyous anticipation: it is the highlight of the year! Throughout the year, however, they find time to abide with the Eucharist, in silent adoration as well as shared prayer including communion services. Every month a group does pilgrimage to where the priest is to confess, celebrate Eucharist, receive instruction and encouragement, and return with the Body of our Lord for reception at regular gatherings. The theologically correct criticism of this approach is that it seems to minimize or marginalize the actual event-encounter celebration of the Eucharist. Fair point. We need balance here! My hope, however, is that the silent adoration and the deprivation of the actual celebration will feed a hunger and eventually an increase in genuine priestly vocations. In this way the Church grows in Eucharist adoration and craving.

The second, absolute necessity is the Word of God. In this we do well to emulate our Pentecostal brothers and sisters. In the Amazon area and throughout Latin America there is concern about the exodus of Catholic into Pentecostal churches. I do not share this concern: I greet it happily. For the most part, those "converting" are coming closer to Christ in a fervent act of surrender, an intenser form of ecclesial communion, and a devotion to the Word of God. Pentecostalism is spreading like a forest fire...and without eco-conversion, without liberation theology, without married priests, without pagan syncretism. They are spreading because they love Christ, live in close communion, and listen to the Word of God. They should be our best friends and role models. In a Church with fewer priests I imagine an emergent laity, a la Pentecostalism, on fire with the Word of God...let thousands of Scott Hahns flourish!

The two paths of renewal suggested here are quite different: the first, a revival of late-Tridentine love for the abiding Eucharistic presence; the second a radical ecumenical communion with the fiery Pentecostal movement. Both, however, center in the person of Jesus Christ, in sacrament and word. The Church need not moan and groan about numbers of clergy; She needs to delight in her Lord in His physical presence and in His Word!

In Praise of Extending Sexual Latency

Classically in psychology, the period of sexual latency is the period prior to puberty ( up to 12 or so) during which the sexual energies are quiet, dormant and peaceful. This calm is ended with the onset of adolescence, explosively so for the boy who finds himself overwhelmed by erotic passions and involved in the agonistic struggle to achieve masculine identity. The girl's itinerary, it seems to me, is briefer, more telescoped, less eruptive physically, but maybe even more intense emotionally. I want to argue for a second, culturally created, period of latency and peace through adolescence, from 12 to about 20 years old or so. I envision a cultural/social arrangement in which young men and women engage in a variety of wholesome activities and interact with each other unburdened by romantic/ and sexual involvement. Clearly, there are major advantages to single-sex high schools in light of this vision.

In Eric Ericson's stages of development the achievement of identity belongs to adolescence, ant that of intimacy to early adulthood. We do violence to the organic growth of our youth when we allow them to be pressured into physical and emotional intimacy before their identity is matured. Better for them to throw themselves into academics, sports, work, family, same-sex friendships and a moderate degree of social, chaste friendship with the opposite sex. This allows for the steady, solid formation of identity, uncomplicated by the volatile roller coaster of dating.

And so, when my older children were approaching high school, I told them I would like them to avoid serious dating until well into or after college. This did not go over well at the moment. But for the most part, I can happily report that my own seven children emulated the pattern of my own family cohort of nine: little or no dating until at least late in college. The outcomes have been excellent: solid, happy marriages.

Old fashioned dating may be a thing of the past, but a new danger has emerged: the obsession with LGBTQ sexuality. Now we have Catholic high schools sponsoring clubs that support this movement. This can only be detrimental to the development of teen boys especially. Surely we want to discourage all forms of bullying and hate, especially in a Christian environment. But the drumbeat of gay militancy is harmful for both those who do and don't experience same-sex attractions. The high school will benefit from a degree of quiet, anonymity, and even avoidance of these issues.

For our Catholic youth, for sure, we need a clear, candid and reverent catechesis of the sexed human body in regard to: the inner meanings of masculinity and femininity, sexual chastity as an aspect of purity of heart, the importance of fidelity even to one's future spouse, the unitive/procreative nature of sexual intercourse, the power of concupiscence and its disordered consequences, the mercy of confession, the vocations of virginity and celibacy, and the grave, indeed horrific, nature of romance and sexuality uprooted from marriage and family and therefore sterile, extrinsic, manipulative and dominating.

The intrusion of the gay agenda into the Catholic High School is problematic in several ways.

1. Obviously, it's affirmation of gay identity and activity clearly contradicts the Catholic view of sex as a sacred encounter of man-and-woman, within a sacrament ordered to new life and a community of two that is exclusive, permanent, and the bedrock of society.

2. Secondly, it is a big mistake for a young man, whose emotions and identity are in flux, to fix, as in cement, his identity as "gay." More broadly, it is ill-advised and narcissistic for anyone to center their identity around sexual proclivities, but this is even more disastrous for the teen. It is not irrational to imagine future law suits as those formed by LGBTQ clubs sue the schools that sponsored them.

3. For the heterosexual youth the LGBTQ presence is also disturbing. The young man is insecure in his own identity, vulnerable to shame about his sexual feelings, and involved in often brutal competition with boys who are hostile and belittling. It is not by accident, nor mere homophobia, that aggressive young men intuitively use contemptuous language around homosexual acts to demean and insult each other. It is because here is an inherent indignity, a violence, a lack of mutuality, a toxicity and a dominance/subservience in the very nature of homosexual intercourse. It has been this way and probably always will be: notwithstanding the laws, taboos and disapproval out of  the gay movement, in the crude, primitive, and violent culture of insecure male teens, the two privileged instruments of contempt and humiliation are the insult to the mother and the allegation of homosexuality as servility, weakness and lack of virility. This is unfortunate, but probably not avoidable. The argument here is that the sponsoring of gay clubs, pride, parades, rainbows and causes will not repress this regrettable dynamic but may inflame it.

A benign neglect of the gay agenda is important within Catholic education. A clear and comforting catechesis on sexuality will prepare teenagers of all types to receive, calmly,  the chaos and violence of sexuality and concupiscence, whatever its presentation. And our youth will enjoy a relative quiet and peace in which to strengthen their identity and prepare for intimacy.

What's the Difference Between Homosexual and Gay?

The narcissistic trait! There is a psychological literature about this trait in the homosexual and gay personality. I am merely describing the difference I have noticed between my friends who are homosexual or those who self-identify as gay.

The garden variety, run of the mill homosexual is suffering and struggling with his sexual cravings anonymously, quietly, (like most of the rest of us!) with more or less success, guilt, and serenity. The gay person, by contrast, has a self-obsession, specifically about his sexuality. It is something he cherishes, wants to talk about, and manifest to the world:  so he "comes out." Much more than a mere homosexual attraction or craving,  this tendency becomes his social identity. And so there arises an entire lifestyle and culture around the attraction or behavior. It entails an aesthetic, a style, and particularly a type of humor, cynicism and sarcasm. Often I find a religious fascination along with an impulse to ridicule faith. At its worse, there is detectable a sense of superiority, arrogance and condescension. Of course there are a wide range of personalities and many gays are more humble and modest. However, in general the gay movement expects not just toleration..."live and let live"...but full approval. As the entire community celebrates with joy every marriage, hoping and expecting that their shared blood and family will continue fruitfully into the future, so the gay expects the same exultation in their sterile union. They will accept no less.

The dynamic of ordinary marriage is the attraction and union of opposites, which differ drastically even as they complement each other and build upon a profoundly shared common humanity. So, Adam's exclamation of delight:  "This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!" She is the same as him, in dignity and essence. but so exuberantly exotic, fascination and mysterious. But the man loving a man is like Narcissus enamored of his own image in that pond.

The is why the gay friendly strategy pursued by the coterie around Pope Francis, and even our own Cardinal Tobin, is so futile. Homosexuals are welcome in the Catholic Church. But the gay identity demands a recognition and honor that the Catholic faith must deny them. Homosexuality as desire and even act is a humdrum, garden-variety kind of concupiscence, with which we are all of us afflicted. Even as it is a deeper, harder agony and cross than most of us carry. But gay identity and culture are structural expressions of spiritual disorder and can only be renounced by the Church.

The Charming, Delightful, Loving and Lovable Narsicicist

Narcissism is underrated and overly stigmatized. Some of my best friends are narcissistic. Many of our outstanding politicians, clergymen, entertainers and celebrities are also. Okay, I am not talking about clinical Narcissistic Personality Disorder which is a grave malady involving grandiosity, excessive need for attention, manipulation, and most importantly, lack of empathy. I am talking about "narcissism lite", a personality trait which, although a character defect, can be quite fruitfully integrated into a wholesome, even holy personality when there are countervailing virtues, especially compassion and generosity.

Put simply, ordinary garden-variety narcissism is excessive self-love: desire for attention, self-admiration, influence and exaggerated sensibility about ones own desires and pleasures. It may hide  underlying vulnerability and insecurity. But in limited doses it is not incompatible with generosity, compassion, intelligence, courage and holiness.

Bishop Fulton Sheen is up for canonization and may make it soon. He was one of the most influential, popular and gifted Catholic American figures of the 20th century. On TV I found him to be flamboyant, melodramatic, and eccentric. But O So witty, funny, insightful, entertaining and inspiring. He was "Liberace in the power of the Holy Spirit!" When I saw him in person at the Eucharistic Conference in Philadelphia in 1976 I was stunned by his unabashed showmanship: Not at all what I expect from a man of God. He was a flawed man: he wined, dined and converted the rich, famous and beautiful. At the end of his life regretted his neglect of the poor. His self love seemed to flourish with his passionate love for Christ and the Church. His enjoyment of his own charm, wit and insight was contagious and enriched his ministry enormously.

My Uncle Frank, oldest of five brothers was a sharp contrast to the shyness and reticence of the rest of the family: he had a narcissistic strain. He was full of life and fun; he was always the center of attention but everybody loved it because he was interesting, charming, gregarious. He sure loved himself but he seemed to love everyone else also; and they loved him.  That is the key: the wholesome narcissist is full of love for himself, but also for everyone else. So we all love him! (Why do I think of the narcissist as masculine? Studies show more pronounced traits of manipulation, dominance and vulnerability among men.) He loved his wife my Aunt and raised  a marvelous family and had a distinguished career as a union leader. He was a marvelous man.

This trait inclines one to dominance and leadership. One with this trait effortlessly takes control and exerts influence. So, if there are virtues of generosity, empathy, holiness and intelligence...along with the charm and charisma...you may have an outstanding leader.

Self-love, in due proportion, is, of course, a virtue. Self-love to an extreme, it seems to me, should not be repressed or condemned; but subsumed, infilled and overcome by a greater love...love of Christ and His Church! Thank God for our dear ones with this trait! May our Lord bless them!

Delight

Delight, another word for Joy, is underrated!

Delight is the heart of the human identity, drama and destiny. We are created out of God's delight; so that He could delight in us; and we delight in Him-Them; and delight in each other, and in all of this splendid Creation, in Him. It is all about Delight!

More than that, it is revealed to us that delight is the very inner life of God, the Trinity, even transcendent of Creation. God is selectively mute about His inner life:  He speaks to us directly and transparently rarely, but always to the point.  The two main occasions when the inner Triune life was revealed were the baptism of Jesus and the transfiguration, two of the luminous or we might call them the delightful mysteries of the rosary. He said the exact same thing: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight." Those are probably the most important words the Father ever spoke. Are they the only words? In any case, they are significant. They tell us that God is an event, an encounter, a drama of Delight!

God did NOT say:
- I am the infinite, the absolute, the perfect, the eternal, the all-powerful.
- I am the cause without cause, the first principle, the act of being.
- I am that than which nothing greater can be thought.
- I am the ground of being, the transcendent horizon of consciousness, the ultimate concern.
- I am holy and glorious.
- I am love and mercy.
That's right: He did NOT talk of glory, holiness, mercy or love. He spoke of delight!

So what is delight or joy? It is dense, complex, mysterious. It is a feeling yes, of well-being and satisfaction and peace; but it is far more than a mere feeling like happiness, pleasure or contentment. It brings us beyond our zone of pleasure/pain and into contact with something great and beautiful and true and beyond us.

It is an act of the will, but far more than that. St. Paul commands us:  "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." Clearly we can decide to rejoice. It entails our will. But it is not mere voluntarism: an act of choice.

Most fundamentally, Delight is an encounter, an event, an ongoing drama in which we are grapsed (in our feelings, body, intellect, psyche and spirit) by something beyond us, that is fascinating, beautiful, hopeful, true, and perfectly (within its nature) good. The best example is the encounter of Father and Son at the baptism and transfiguration. One of the first and best: Adam sees Eve and exclaims "Here at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Another good one: the meeting of the two pregnant, threatened cousins at the Visitation. Another: the first and every following Eucharist.

Delight is response to what is Beautiful, Good and True: a flower, a lover, a child, a mountain or ocean scene, a painting or symphony. Delight responds to a "gestalt", a revelation of a  beauty that is surprising and exhilarating, even as it flows organically from a prior history, and moves us expectantly forward into even greater beauty and goodness.

It is important to remember again that the Father did NOT say: "I am Mercy." To us, poor sinful creatures, of course, God is first and foremost mercy. But not in Himself. Mercy is the response of the gracious, the good, the strong to one who is miserable, guilty, inadequate. That would be us: "Let your mercy be upon us as we place our trust in you." There is a trend in popular spirituality, especially under Pope Francis, to say that it God's greatest or essential trait. This is not right. Within God's very own life there is no place for mercy, as there is no misery or guilt, no need for pardon or comfort or salvation. There is only delight. When Jesus took on flesh, of course, God developed mercy towards himself in regard to the humanity of Christ. More remotely, God took mercy on us from the time of creation and the fall. But when we are forever in heaven, in eternal life, in perfect bliss, there will be no need for mercy, because there will be no misery. Of course, as long as the human drama continues on earth and in purgatory, the Holy Ones with God join in divine mercy.

So, how do we rejoice? Delight is both a gift and a response. There is no delight that is not already given and received. But our reception is often so inadequate. I have come to see that joy depends upon the two T words: thanks and trust. So, throughout my day, I like to pause, take a breath, become aware of myself, my place, my body, my thoughts and feelings and all the goodness that envelops, grasps, infuses, sustains and fascinates me...and softly say:  "I thank you...and I trust you...and I love and adore you."

We are given here a clear commandment: Delight! Delight in life, creation, sunlight, friendship, romance, food and drink, rest and action! Delight in the drama, the eventfulness, and the exhilaration of the whole thing. Delight in the merciful love of Christ, the power of  Holy Spirit, and the promise of everlasting life. Delight in all expressions of love and ultimately in that of the Holy Trinity!

There are other commandments, of course: love one another, forgive the enemy, repent, pray, fast, and pray. I suggest that none are more important than, and less practiced than the greatest: Rejoice.

Delightful Reader, I am delighted to share my delight about delight! I will be delighted if you are able, even a little, to delight in these thoughts about delight!  Delightfully and delightedly yours!

Thoughts about Greta Thunberg

First of all, Greta is an endearing, appealing, touching person in her youth, freshness, sincerity and fragility. She is impressive for her dedication, determination, courage, and candor. She has an important message...especially for us older folks who are coarsened in the practice of avoidance. Good for her! I receive her message with gratitude, esteem and tenderness. She is like a secular Joan of Arc.

Sadly, she is clearly traumatized by the information about global warming. She is frightened, shocked, and enraged. The rage part is good in that she is fiercely activated to take action. That is much better than despair or depression (which she previously suffered). But the element of hysteria is not good for a young person. It is my view that the reality does not require such a response. (My reasons in  previous blog post.) She grieves that her childhood was taken from her...by the UN leaders in her version. I see that her childhood was stolen, but I don't blame the UN. I place some blame on the unbalanced, frightening presentation of climate facts.

Presenting children material for which they are unprepared is a form of child abuse. Imagine presenting a 5th or 7th or even 9th grade class with videos of: an actual late term abortion, rape of the Iranian women by ISIS, honor killings in the Islamic world. These are realities and they must be faced by the adult world community; but we don't want to show these things, graphically, to children. It is my view that something like this happened to the sensitive Greta.

That she has the Asperger's syndrome suggest to me the "autistic" nature of much of our political life. The autistic person is very good with numbers and facts but not so good interpersonally. And so, as I listened to her, I recognized her grasp of the numbers and science of global warming, but I wondered who she was talking to. Well, to the UN leaders of course; but she didn't seem to know them in any degree. She was screaming out, in hysteria and indignation, about the neglect. But she didn't know who she was talking with. Our politics shows this prevalent pattern: people are talking to thmselves or those who agree with them, but not speaking with the opponent. Trump is not autistic;  he is worse in that his narcicisism draws all attention to himself and his hostility alienates anyone who disagrees. But the extremes on the right and left are autistic in that they are unable to connect with each other.

Lastly, it is notable that Greta puts on a marvelous performance. Hailing from a family of actors and opera singers, she has drama in her blood. She was mesmerizing. This is a good thing in so far as her content and message is good. All politics, teaching and preaching are dramatic; otherwise they are abstract and dull. Trump succeeds because he performs. Unfortunately, his act arouses resentment and fear. Hitler was spectacular. The greatest performer of my time was St. John Paul the Great, himself an actor, who enacted and embodied the call to holiness, courage, generosity.

Greta has a sobering, troubling message for us. It is a good message. I hope she...and the youth who emulate her...are able to maintain their determination and perseverance even as they modify the anxiety and indignation.

Global Warming

Global warming is real, is partly caused by human activity, is problematic and must be confronted. But I am not alarmed: I consider a catastrophe less than probable. I am not a "denier"; but am I in some degree of denial? Possibly so. For many reasons.

First, I am an expert practitioner of avoidance. I normally have more problems and loose ends in my life than I can handle; so I ignore most (putting them "on the back burner") and focus calmly on the very most important. My wife will assure you: I can ignore a leaky roof, a faulty appliance, or "fix engine light" more completely and persistently than any man alive. This is NOT a strength, it is coping mechanism that helps me deal with life with my limitations. I practice this especially on the global problems I cannot effect: I try not to think about persecutions and abortions in Communist China; about female castration in Africa or honor killings of girls in Islamic cultures; about life in North Korea; or about how to handle Syria or Iran.

Secondly, I am 72 and global warming, even in the worst scenario, will hardly affect my life. Soon I will retire to the Jersey Shore, blocks from the ocean, and expect to live and die serenely in that area. But in fairness to myself, I do care about the world my grandchildren are inheriting; I am not entirely oblivious or polyannish.

Thirdly, I am tempermentally, philosophically and religiously adverse to negativity in all its forms: anxiety, hysteria, indignation, resentment, self-righteousness, self-pity and the victim complex. And so, my liberal views on issues like guns, immigration and climate are often overwhelmed by my emotive disgust with the shrill, arrogant and condescending tone of the crusaders.

Nevertheless, a positive, hopeful viewpoint is not necessarily illusory: serenity and confidence can enhance a realistic, accurate appraisal. Let me give reasons for my hope. (Small h hope: we will teat capital H Hope at the end.)

1.  There are a lot of uncertainties: How much is man- (I am so sorry! I mean) person-made? How severe will the consequences be?  How much of the information we receive is less sober analysis than hysteria-driven propaganda (see Al Gore's pompous, unbalanced movie!) Are there no positive consequences? Wouldn't it be nice to grow palm trees in Belmar NJ? Given our impressive scientific, technological capacities, can't we make the best of higher temperatures?

2.  What are the trade-offs, and are they worth it, especially for the poor? Climate anxiety, it seems to me, is in part an indulgence and hobby of the privileged, educated and affluent. The poor are struggling to survive and could care less. Many of the costs of climate control will be foisted on them by the elite managers. Even for the middle class, do we want to give up cars, meat, and warm houses?

3.  Experience has led me to be skeptical of all futurology. All the accepted predictions are contradicted by subsequent events. Case one: In the 1960s it was the population bomb: demographical trends predicted mass starvation and fierce wars for resources. The exact opposite happened: across the globe there is a demographic freeze and many nations (Russia, Japan, Europe) are in crisis because people are NOT having babies. BTW, it was partially this population hysteria (along with WASP elite eugenic  distaste for the overpopulating Catholics and blacks as well as the crusade for liberation of sex from its meaning and consequence) that fueled the idolization of contraception that is now the heart and soul of Western civilization. Case 2: In the 1970s I recall reading that emerging technology would reduce the need for human labor and that we needed to prepare for 15 to 20 hour work weeks by a culture of leisure. Looking back now, Americans work many more hours than they did in 1970. Case 3: In 1989 the fall of Communist Russia was seen as the final triumph of liberal, democratic capitalism. Just 30 years later, this system is under attack across the world, not least by Trumpism! So, my suspicious view is: when the experts predict a certainty, expect the opposite. I for one will not be surprised when the Tuesday NY Times Science section reports a new trend: global freezing!

4.  Lastly, but most significantly, global warming anxiety is mostly an affliction of the secular and faithless. If you believe this world is transitory, a preparation for and journey to a greater, everlasting life, you are less prone to anxiety. If you believe a powerful, loving God is somehow providentially overseeing this whole mess, you will find serenity. If you fear sin more than death, your concerns will take a different shape.  This does not make you indifferent. But things are gestalted differently for one who loves God above all. Of course, a believer receives Creation from its Giver in a stance of gratitude, humility, reverence and responsibility. Catholic, specifically papal, teaching is clear on this. But generally the tone of the climate crusade is not one of such trust and piety. It has little sense of CREATION and CREATURE  and CREATOR. But that is a theological topic for another essay.

Reasons for Hope

In the face of the heartbreaking, scandalous decline of the papacy and episcopacy, I am boundlessly encouraged, hopeful and joyfully confident about my Catholic Church. The short answer: our Church is regularly disheartening in its human aspect, but endlessly delightful in the divine.

More specifically:

1.  Christ promised that He, and the Holy Spirit, would be with the Church...always, always, always...unconditionally, efficaciously, endlessly! Concretely, we have the effficacious sacraments, the Word of God, the infallible magisterium, the witness of the doctors and fathers, and the company of the saints (on earth, in purgatory and in heaven). A different formulation of this is my "Father Burke Principle." For the first 20 years of my life, our pastor, Father Burke (nicknamed "no work Burke") was Never around: he would appear randomly, bounce around in a theatrical cape, and act strangely and distantly. As a 12-year old altar boy I knew he suffered alcoholism or a mental disorder. BUT, the work of the parish went on marvelously:  thousands of us were graciously baptized, catechized, married, buried and so forth...through the broader Church of priests, sisters and brother. Christ does not need good leadership at the top to guide and sanctify His bride and body.

2.  There is a fierce resilience and persistence to sound religious traditions. To be sure, they are not invulnerable; but they are ferociously resistant to suppression. Consider practices like the rosary, devotion to the saints, the Latin Mass, Eucharistic adoration! Even when not encouraged by the clergy, the laity pass these on from generation to generation. Consider the miraculous success of EWTN: without theological sophistication or the support of bishops or popes, this humble group powerfully passes on a no-frills, meat-and-potatoes, common sense Catholic faith to countless believers.

3.  The alternative, a liberal and accomodating faith, "Catholic lite", is lacking in vigor and appeal. It will always attract the majority who want to keep their faith but adopt what they like best in society, whether that is sterile sex or gender uniformity or the dismissal of useless human lives. The resurgence of this in the current pontificate may well prevail in the new episcopacy and the Vatican, but it is shallow and without charm.

4.  The lay ecclesial movements and the younger religious orders are a breath of fresh air, enlivening the Church and re-expressing Tradition in creative, exciting ways. They are bearing fruit in vocations, large families, energetic communities and fervent evangelization and catechesis. They are the hope of the Church.

5.  Young priests: those now in their 30s and 40s are often traditional or influenced by John Paul and Benedict. This may be especially true of those who studied in Rome and are destined to take leadership in their local churches. They will not implement the agenda of Team Francis. And we can anticipate a tension between the new episcopacy and the new priesthood.

6. The Catholic Church has a genius for living with a degree of division and disagreement. For sure, we have clear boundaries and beliefs; but we are not a narrow cult; we tolerate well a degree of dissent and disagreement. For example, for the last 50 years since Humanae Vitae we have been in virtual schism on sex, authority, gender and tradition. But the pastoral decision in 1968 was to go easy and tolerate the dissent. There was a cost to this decision: a confusion about the Truth. But the gain was the unity of the Church and an ongoing openness to those unable to understand or accept Church teaching. My own archdiocese of Newark now has a strong liberal in Cardinal Joseph Tobin who succeeded a conservative, Archbishop Meyers. Both have been clear in their pastoral and theological visions; and both have been generous, tolerant and gracious to those who see things differently. And so, as the episcopacy goes liberal and the lower clergy conservative, we will not see a real schism: we will see mutual respect, charity and generosity, along with tension.

7. The spiritual/theological legacy of John Paul, Benedict and their school (Baltasar/Speyr, Girard, DeLubac) is incomprehensibly rich, profound, promising. They have done for the third milenium what Augustine did for the first and Thomas for the second. They are exiled by the current pope but their work will bear abundant fruit, slowly and patiently.

8.  Perhaps most important, I remind myself that ultimately the only thing that really matters is my own holiness. As I grow in closeness to God, as I respond docilely to the promptings of the Holy Spirit; as I am made fresh and pure in Love, I will draw those around me in the same direction. That is all that counts!

Grieving the Decline of the Papacy

My sadness gets deeper and calmer as this papacy gets worse. Ten years ago I could not have imagined such a profound decline of trust in the pope, cardinals and bishops. For the first six decades of my life, the pope was the source of light, strength and encouragement for practicing Catholics: the popes ranged from very good (Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI) to excellent (Benedict XIII) to outstanding (John Paul II). We were overdue for a weak pope; and we got one.

Five developments trouble me.

First, the destruction of the John Paul Institute for the Study of the Family in Rome is clear evidence of the rejection of the legacy of that great pope. Early in this pontificate, I tried hard to practice a "hermeneutic of continuity" by understanding Francis in communion with John Paul and Benedict. That effort failed. There is a clear rupture here. To be clear, this pope has not renounced Humanae Vitae and all that flows from it. But his lieutenants have. And he has sidelined John Paul's inspiring, d catechesis of the human body in favor of political goals like immigration and global warming. His neglect of the theology of the body may reflect a personal asexuality: he seems to be unfamiliar with the raging passions of sexual and romantic desire, the consuming fire of concupiscence. He is of little help to those of us that do deal with such. This is like the confessor who counsels the penitent porn addict: "Don't worry about that! You are just human after all...and everyone does it anyway." SO oblivious of the darkness, shame, guilt and bondage intrinsic to lust and covetousness! The radiant gospel of chastity, fidelity and fecundity...proclaimed and embodied by John Paul...is now in exile.

Secondly, the insertion of his personal view of the death penalty into the Catechism is a grave misuse of authority, a failure in collegiality (no consultation with the bishops), a desecration of that holy document, and an arrogant rejection of a clear Catholic tradition. It is reflective of his compulsion to pursue his own political, ideological goals and present them as Church teaching.

Thirdly, more than a year after the catastrophic summer of McCarrick and Vigano he has refused to reveal what really happened. It is hardly possible to view this as anything else but a continued cover-up of the scandals of the (now credible) "lavender mafia." This cynicism is confirmed by ongoing advocacy in the Vatican of the gay agenda and new scandals.

Fourth, his agreement with Communist China is a serious mistake and a sell-out of the faithful, persecuted Catholic underground. His naive accomodation to this vile regime is similar to his casual tolerance of the tyranny of cultural liberalism in the West. Francis is a culture warrior: he is relentless about immigration and global warming and allergic to USA capitalism. These are valid concerns but neither the expertise nor the purpose of the papacy. He lacks clarity, intensity and vigilance about the real threats to the faith of the little ones.

Lastly, he is succeeding in re-creating the college of cardinals in his own image. Liberal Jesuit Thomas Reese said that if John Paul or Benedict had been so ideological in their choice of cardinals and bishops that he would have been furious. And so, a cynicism about the emergent hierarchy is simply realistic.

These are dark days for the Catholic Church. It feels like we fell into a time machine and woke up in a corrupt Renaissance pontificate; or into the ancient Church with Athanasius and Anthony in the desert and the entire hierarchy gone Arian. Nevertheless, I am boundlessly hopeful, encouraged and confident about the Church...Why so? That is topic of my next blog.

Judge Kavanaugh: Again Accused

I find myself clarifying the facts about Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh:

1.  This apocalyptic battle is about abortion, the singular most divisive issue in the history of our country. (Yes, worse than slavery in my view.) Admittedly, there is a secondary concern: the abuse of women. It is possible for a pro-lifer, especially a woman, to be against his nomination. But it is mostly about abortion: it is unthinkable that a pro-abortion advocate could back him; and improbable that such would oppose a pro-choice candidate with a similar accusation.

2.  The Supreme Court Justice has extreme legal power and so the bar for moral integrity (and competence)  is sky high; and also the credibility bar for serious accusations quite low in comparison with that for criminal or civil conviction or other social judgments.

3.  In his entire adult, professional, post-school life this man has a superb history in his relations with women, his professional integrity and competence, and his entire personal life.

4.  The reality of abuse of women by men is pervasive, profound, and entirely horrific.

5.  The accusations are not substantiated by a convincing body of evidence and cannot stand as an objective judgment against the man.

6.  The accusations are credible. The testimony of the primary witness was entirely convincing in regard to her sincerity, her intelligence, and her conscientiousness. Additionally, the details and context make sense, especially the jock-drinking world the young man inhabited. It also makes sense that he would not remember it, if it did occur when he was drunk.

However, granting the fallibility of memory and the evident fragility of the witness, her testimony on its own, without corroborating evidence, cannot be considered objectively valid. Even ancient Jewish tradition always required at least two witnesses to convict (the story of Suzana and the prophet Daniel): the second witness never appeared.

The fact that the alleged incident, or something like it, would have happened under the influence of alcohol is certainly not exculpatory, but in light of his age and subsequent history, not insignificant.

I think it is possible that something dishonorable happened: I would place the probability in the 20% to 40% range...not enough to stand as a disqualification in light of all the facts. I feel terrible for him and his family, as I also feel badly for the witness. I understand how an intelligent person, especially a woman who has been violated by male aggression,  one who shares my values and these facts, would have a more sensitive sensibility and oppose the nomination.

I remain a firm, ardent supporter of the Judge. I despise the shrill, self-righteous,lynch mob charge to crucify the man on such inadequate evidence. I trust that his service on the court will be long, wise, and honorable. And I wish healing for him and his family as well as his accuser and hers.

Reversed Gender Roles: Woman as Provider; Man as Scholar, Missionary, Contemplative

In 1946 my parents married: Mom happily retreated from the NYC work world to make a home and raise nine children; Dad worked hard and provided well! They were very happy! They were representative of their cohort, the Great Generation. My wife and I emulated this model for about 30 years. It worked perfectly! We were happy. When I reached the age of 55, just into the new century, we reversed roles: Mary Lynn was making good money, half-time, as a nurse; I left my higher paying job (almost 6 figures) to make one third in service, first as a religion teacher in a Catholic high school and then running boarding homes for low-income money. Her proficiency as a provider freed me for ministry in the Church and community.

I see this second gender model as an emerging, promising model...for many, but certainly not all.

Young women are vastly outperforming men in many arenas: especially in education, also in stability of career and generally in emotional maturity (in regard to identity, commitment, vocation) during early adulthood. If you do not see this, you live in another world from mine!

Many young women are able to nurture the children and provide for the family at the same time. They are amazing! Really!

Many young men are drifting, disoriented in career, reluctant to commit, unhinged in their masculine identity.

I am hoping that the professional competence of our young women might free up some men to, like myself, pursue a vocation in service, including study and prayer as the roots of Christ-centered ministry.

This is a retrieval of older Jewish and Greek traditions. Even today in Orthodox communities it is accepted that men dedicate themselves to prayerful study, sharing and teaching of God's revelation. We read about this in Proverbs and the wisdom literature which praises the industrious wife who provides for the household while the husband "sits with the elders at the gates." In classic Hellenic society, the higher prestige occupation was the politics of the "polis" and the study of philosophy. Practical work of farming, producing and providing was delegated to slaves.

In the pragmatic, technological, materialistic and meritocratic America of  today, of course, everything is valued financially: there are obsessions about "glass ceilings" and the "one percent." Prayer, contemplation, service, and "useless" study are devalued: they don't bring in any money. And so part of this gender adjustment is a deeper, broader transformation of values. With time, of course, women will also evaluate their preoccupation with financial and status equality. They will themselves ambition to grow deeper in prayer, study and service. Activity will yield some status to Receptivity.  If this spreads, it will lead to a drastic decrease in Gross National Product; the economists will panic; and there will be deeper peace and joy on earth!

Three Political Divides in the age of Trump

The three fundamental political divides in our society could be called: the classic, the class, and the cultural-moral.

The classic economic divide between Democrats and Republicans involves the economic interests of labor vs. capital and the role of the state in the free market, a tension intrinsic to developed, late industrial societies. This does not have to be a viciously polarizing divide, but has traditionally been relatively friendly: not so much a battle-to-the-death as an amiable if competitive softball game at an  family picnic. By the 1940s the radical socialist elements (now reemerging in new shapes) in the labor movement were defeated by pro-capitalist, pro-democracy, anti-communist, largely Catholic forces. For example, I can't recall anything terribly negative spoken about President Eisenhower in my staunchly Democratic family in the 1950s. Later in that century, during my 25 years at UPS, mostly in management, I enjoyed an easy collaboration with union shop stewards: we were equally committed to implementing "the contract" and we all came from the same source, the ranks of hourly, union workers. I was a pro-union supervisor and the union leaders were (deep down, if covertly) pro-company. The issues around this divide are economical and regulatory: minimum wage, capital gains tax, health care, safety and environmental regulations and so forth. Being material and economic, these are inherently susceptible to compromise: if I want a $10 minimum wage and you a $20, we can compromise at $15.

With regard to this classic divide, I position myself as a slightly-left-leaning moderate. I retain the values of my family background: sympathy for the underdogs, for labor, and for a robust but limited government. At the same time, experience has given me keener understanding of the dysfunctions of big government and the benefits of free enterprise. I am roughly equal in my respect for the deficiencies and advantages of the expansive state and corporation. What they share is a malignant compulsion to grow like a cancer, beyond human, sober and rational dimensions. If there is a single must-read book on economics it would be the marvelous Small is Beautiful in which Schumaher argues for a modest, limited and human scale to technology and institutions. Beyond that we should study the work of Ivan Illich and Jacques Ellul along with a smattering of the agrarian Wendell Berry and the Christian anarchists Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Together they are antidotes to the "gigantism" common to the Democratic and Republican parties that since World War II have lost any  sense of subsidiarity.

The  second, new class divide is much more severe and polarizing: that between the winners and losers in the new economy. For example, in 1950-70 the vigorous economy granted rich benefits to industrial, union workers: a UAW or Teamster worker might live close to and quite similar to a doctor or a lawyer. But the post-industrial, high-tech, information economy has seen a diminished union movement and a chasm between new upper and lower classes. On the one hand, the more educated, competent (meritocracy), and privileged develop marketable managerial or technical skills and use connections to advance; meanwhile, an emergent underclass is trapped in a web of bad education,  under-employment,  and , even worse, a deteriorating family and faith network. And so we find ourselves with two classes (I am not talking about the "1 %"): the winners are educated, cosmopolitan, mobile, more liberal; they are often but not always secular; they advocate sexual freedom even as they benefit, almost unconsciously, from a relatively intact marriage-family pattern. The underclass is destroyed by broken family structure, lack of medical coverage, under-employment, a fractured marriage-family system, broken communities, and a residual faith but a falling away from Church.  This divide, of course, explains the emergence of Trump!

I myself view this chasm with alarm from my own stable position in the upper tier since I benefit from good education, a rich middle class network of connections, and a steady income. I see the two sides of the coin, the material/economic and the cultural/spiritual: the first is the loss of jobs, benefits and opportunities; the second the decomposition of families and communities due to loss of faith, Church and an ethos of chastity and fidelity. Clearly, the primary cause of poverty is the single mother, struggling to raise children without a partner. As a moral conservative, I estimate that the moral/cultural causes are responsible for the most of our poverty. However, the economic also plays a roll. In this regard, I have small, but limited confidence in the proposed solutions from right and left: a prosperous economy will trickle-down benefits including jobs even as a stable safety network (especially health care) will help many. I have really no trust that the erratic, incoherent tweet-policy of Trump will help.

The most important of the three divides is the cultural-moral: in the wake of the Culture Revolution: traditionalists resist the emergent hegemony of:  liberation of sexuality from marriage, fertility, commitment and family; deconstruction of the Mystery of masculinity/femininity; an unrestrained Frankenstein-like explosion of technology; and a genocide of the unborn, marginalized and powerless. This is total and absolute divide: there is no compromise between "reproductive rights" and the life of the tiny One. This is Culture War, always and everywhere.

Here lies, in my view, the widest moral divide our nation has ever faced.  We now face two religions, two nations...entirely contradictory and incompatible. In the brutal fratricide over slavery, it is known that almost every soldier, North and South, carried a bible; under the immense difference, there was a shared Christianity. Slavery itself is not inherently evil in the manner of murder of the innocent. Our prison system is essentially a form of enslavement: the criminal loses personal rights and is under the control of the state. He becomes a slave of the state. No one wants to entirely do away with prisons! One of the origins of slavery was something similar. A hostile enemy attacks to destroy your people; you defeat them; you have three options for the surviving soldiers: free them to attack you again; kill them all; or enslave them. Clearly, the moral high ground is slavery. But killing of the innocent and powerless is inherently evil: never, ever allowable under any circumstances.

Into this chaos steps the surprising, ironic, puzzling and contradictory figure of Donald Trump. With an uncanny, unconscious and lucky touch, he has brought together an alliance between old-school Republicans, the alienated underclass, and moral conservatives.

Regarding the classical divide, he is clearly Republican,  the epitome of capitalism as power, arrogance, and privilege. His tax cut shows this: it benefits the affluent in stereotypical trickle-down fashion. And yet, paradoxically, he announces himself as champion of the working man; the one "chosen"  to bring back industrial jobs; a friend of expansive government and huge debt and deficits; and the tariff-master, indifferent to free trade.

With regard to the second, the class divide, he is even more contradictory: he arouses the fury of his base against the privileged elite even as he is himself the embodiment of that class. Despite the inappropriateness of his person, he is a demagogic genius in arousing the passions of resentment, jealousy, fear and contempt in his base.

The greatest irony, however, is his role as champion of the unborn and the traditional ethos of the marriage and the family. In his personal life, he is a true child of the Sexual Revolution: in a class with Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, Jeffrey Epstein and the out-sized villains of the Me-Too Movement. But his presidential politics have been absolutely steadfast and (in my opinion) sincere in his commitment to the moral right. And so he retains the (reluctant) loyalty of many Evangelicals and conservative Catholics. He may have two or three fingers reaching out from the flames of hell, into purgatory and towards heaven! He is not entirely a hopeless case; but prayers to St. Jude (patron of the hopeless) are in order!

Is the USA an Empire or a Country?

This fascinating question arose recently in NYC where Michael Brendan Dougherty presented his new book: My Father Left Me Ireland. He was joined in genial conversation about, among other things, the proper role of nationalism and love of country, with prominent moral conservatives including  Reno, who has been advocating a positive kind of nationalism in the age of Trump, and Douthat who (as always) expressed lucidly my own ambivalence. For me, the USA is both my country (which I love) and an empire, in the good and bad senses.

Regarding the country I love, I think of all the freedoms (so beautifully painted byNorman Rockwell),  of the rule of law, democracy, free markets, enterprise and the inviolable dignity of every person. I think proudly of all my uncles who fought in World War II and my son who has served in the army and now the reserves.

Since 1945, our country has been an empire. This imperial Pax Americana, has been largely benevolent, especially in light of the competition: bad actors like ISIS, Stalin and Putin, Mao and Jinping! We have spread much of what is best from Christian tradition and the Enlightenment. And so, I remain a moderate internationalist, supporting a strong American presence and influence around the globe.

But there is also the negative sides of imperialism; and they are not a few.

1.  First of all, from its founding this country has hated the Catholic Church. As a fervent Catholic, therefore, I am at odds with much of American tradition and practice; my DNA is counter-cultural.. The exception to this enmity was the time of my youth, 1945-65, when there was a romance between this country and my Church: among the towering Catholic figures widely honored across society were JFK, Fulton Sheen, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor, and others. The euphoric love affair was short-loved however, as the Cultural/Sexual Revolution cast elite culture ferociously against the Catholic Ethos. We find ourselves back where we always were: a persecuted minority, marginalized and despised by the powers that be.

2.  Secondly, I imbibed from my Catholic upbringing a strong sense of the unity of all people under the fatherhood of God and therefore a fierce internationalism. From my youth I cared about the starving babies in China and the persecuted behind the Iron Curtain. So today I reject Trump's "America First" but not as much as I despise the secular, liberated cosmopolitanism of Clinton/Obama that imperialistically exports "reproductive rights," the degrading emancipation of sexuality from family, and genocide of the powerless.

3. Thirdly, coming of age as a prospective Maryknoll missioner in seminary college in 1965-9 I became aware of the "Ugly American" side of our international influence: the power, affluence, materialism, arrogance, and contempt for other cultures. Moving into adulthood I shed many of my left wing leanings as I deepened my appreciation for my Catholic tradition, but I never lost my sense of the dark side of American materialism, consumerism, hyper-technology, mega-bureaucracy, and the not-always-obvious attack on faith, family, local communities and moral values.

4.  Fourthly, the "melting pot" narrative by which we are all molded into a uniform culture is largely wrong: America has always been a complicated, competitive arena in which diverse tribes, ethnic and cultural and religious, compete to protect and advance what is sacred to them:  WASPS, white evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Jews, Black evangelicals, secular liberals (which includes many who identify as liberal Catholics, Reform Jews, and mainline Protestants), and numerous others. For example, even the Democratic Party into which I was born was a coalition of Southern (racist) democrats, secular (largely Jewish) and culturally liberating democrats, and ethnic, Catholic labor-union democrats (like my own family).  This makes for quite a circus! (E. Michael Jones is particularly keen on this!) Even the power elites are diverse and set against each other: the culture liberal elite (media, academia, Hollywood, and tons of money) are set against the traditional moneyed Republican elites. True to my working class, Catholic roots, I send a curse on both houses. The diversity, plurality and complexity of this country has a positive aspect: no particular group is able to impose itself on the others.

There always is, however, a dominant culture working to incorporate the rest of us. Historically, of course, this was White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestantism. Since 1965, the hegemony belongs to a culture that is: secular, oblivious of God, technocratic, careerist, meritocratic, anti-tradition, destructive of gender and family, materialist, consumerist, non-racist (to an obsession!), sexually liberated, sterile, individualistic, addicted to the expansive state and malignantly-mega corporations, corrosive of local and intermediate communities and isolating...even as this toxic culture presents dual faces of economic (Republican Party) and cultural (Democratic Party) liberalism. (On this see Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Dineen as well as the work of the two David Schindlers and the Communio school of thought.) This new cultural empire is, in my view, very (if not absolutely) bad as it separates us from the Source of all good; undermines wholesome bonds of family, faith, and locality; and breeds isolation, loneliness and despair! To that extent, I am fiercely anti-cultural and possibly anti-American. But it is more complicated than that; although it is largely in bondage to an Evil Empire, I have not despaired of my county.

The election of Trump was a immense relief, even for some of us who reject his ideology and despise his vile immorality and narcissistic incompetence, in that it represented a relief from the oppression (e.g. contraception mandate) of the Obama regime. This fractured, non-monolithic society (as Yuval Levin argues brilliantly) lends itself to a certain modesty of ambition: my political goals have become smaller. I do not envision a Catholic America: I am not out to absolutely ban abortion, contraception, guns, or global warming. Rather, I am defensive of my own freedom:  to practice my faith as I understand it and pass my tradition onto my children, without coercion from the liberal state. A certain "live and let live" is desirable. If 2/3 of pregnant black women in NYC decide to abort, I cannot prevent them; but I will not finance it. If over 90% of fertile women want to poison themselves, bodily and spiritually, with the pill, I do not resist; but I will not pay for it through my taxes or my insurance premiums. If two men want to "marry"  and announce their performance of toxic, sinful actions, it is not for me to control or judge them: but I will not be forced to bake their cake or hire them in our Catholic schools. Not the Supreme Court, not the Affordable Health Care Act, not the totalitarianism of political correctness none of the above will force me to participate in sytemic sin...THAT is a hill upon which I WILL die!

And so I remain conflicted in my love for my country. Our country is darkened by a revived anti-Catholicism as well as diabolic forces of uncontrolled technology, meritocracy, bureaucracy, sexual license, consumerism, hedonism, personal isolation and despair. I find myself in agreement with both Rod Dreher and Adrian Vermuele: we Catholics need to partially disconnect from the fragmented, larger culture to strengthen our own local families and communities; even as we participate in broader political life to protect our values,  advance them, and become a light to this country and world. We can work with the right to defend religious liberty and powerless human life in all its forms; even as we collaborate with the left on a variety of issues such as gun control, immigration, protection of the environment and workers rights. A wholesome love for country can be rooted in a fierce resistance to the emergent hegemony, a balanced sense of subsidiarity, a moderate internationalism. and a grateful patriotism that is not without a critical sense.

In Praise of Illegals: Making America Great!

I never met an illegal I didn't like! It was Will Rogers who said "I never met a man I didn't like." I don't go quite that far as there are legals I dislike!! Hispanics in general, including illegals, are unfailingly: respectful, hard-working, family-oriented, gentle, quiet, dependable, usually Catholic and often devout, amiable, warmhearted and fruitful; their women are sweet, soft, nurturing; their children are adorable...to-die-for cute!

That is my experience and my belief! Ok: I admit to an intense hispanophilic prejudice in favor of immigrants from our South! Perhaps it is because I had wonderful experiences as a young man in Mexico and Puerto Rico! Perhaps it is because of my uncle who married two (not simultaneously!) Peruvians and gave me my Peruvian cousin; or my double cousin (do you know what that is?) who raised a marvelous family of five with his beautiful Latina bride!

Perhaps it is because I am myself an illegal: I jay walk, park illegally, speed, talk on my phone while driving. My tax return would not face scrutiny since I have poor records so I make up the numbers. In my business career my favorite was the "flexibility clause" which allowed me to prudentially dispense with rules and regulations when necessary. In my current position I am out of compliance, always, with many rules. Just recently my 99-year-old mother told me that it was a venial sin that I parked at a bus stop. If she is right, I am facing SERIOUS purgatory time! My view is that you will go crazy if you take too seriously every rule in this hyper-bureaucracy universe.

The right is in a frenzy over a "hostile invasion" and unprotected boundaries and the rule of law. The left is hysterical over the alleged "humanitarian crisis."  I have a different viewpoint.

Maureen Dowd in a recent column noted that a Columbian mother-with-child was interviewed in a detention center and expressed appreciation that she was safe from guns and receiving clean diapers and good food. "But you are sleeping on the floor!" protested the interviewer. "Yes! On a mat." she responded gratefully.

A NYU economist was asked about the solution to the crisis of gang violence, political corruption and severe poverty in the "triangle" of Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. Happily, he did not advocate a "marshal plan" as the infrastructure is lacking. He said that the people themselves were providing the solution by moving north. He noted that the Trump administration had discontinued the half a billion in annual subsidies to motivate those governments to stop the flood of immigranats. But illegals in this country annually send $20 billion back to help their families.

To be sure, the conservatives have a valid concern about the rule of law and control of borders and the progressives are rightly worried about treatment of the refugees. But both sides could enefit from a few deep breaths and a more positive approach. The humanitarian situation is much worse in the countries of origin than in our centers: that is why so many are coming! Their decision is intelligent, hopeful and courageous! And our country is not surrendering to chaos! The USA is a magificant country...economically, geographically, culturally...and more than capable of absorbing those who have come to date. Indeed, we need them! Big business knows we need them for industry! We need them to pick our crops, repair our homes, landscape our lawns, serve in our restaurants. We need them because they have babies and we (whites) are increasingly anti-life.

Personally, I blame Trump and the Democrats equally on the failure to intelligently address the issue. The dysfunction at the national level highlights the need for subsidiarity as well as the intelligence, courage and hopefulness of the decision of so many to risk all and come here. God bless the illegals! They are the ones who are making America Great!

Legacy Letter

Be Catholic! (capital C)  Passionately, fiercely, recklessly Catholic: in your love for Christ, in his body, his bride the Church, in all her richness, splendor and humility!

Be catholic...small c catholic...embracing of "the whole", universal...cherishing and protecting all that is good, true and beautiful...wherever it is found!

Fear nothing...NOTHING! Not death, sin, failure, suffering, shame, sickness! NOTHING!  In Christ, all is conquered and life triumphs!

Respect your adversaries: the world in all its glamour; Satan in his malicious brilliance; and your own flesh in its weakness. Be sober, vigilant, militant, fierce in resistance!

Be confident, aggressive, explosive in the attack on the Kingdom of Darkness as the gates of hell do not prevail: Christ has stormed the dark citadel, has descended into hell, and released the most miserable of sinners!

Do not even fear sin: for it is an occasion for the triumphant Mercy of Christ!

Do not fear your own weakness: lean into it, toward God, toward those who can assist you. As you fall, see that the ground below you has already been sanctified by Christ in his three falls on the hill of Calvary. Let yourself be received by the consecrated soil!

Do not fear your desires, passions, longings...even those that are disordered, immoral, perverse! Looking deeper into them, and see your desperate hunger for Him who is Love!

Do not suppress, deny or despise your longings; rather, inflame them and direct them to Jesus in the Eucharist...Jesus small, humble, surrendered to us, merciful, kind, infinite, eternal!

Let all the graces, gifts, blessings of the Eucharist flow into you and through you to those around you.

Let your poverty, your desperation, your inner sickness draw you to Christ...and draw Him to you!

Welcome...in the least, the loveless, the miserable...the Gift that comes from above.

If you interest yourself in politics (which is entirely optional!), keep a lightness about policy, party and partisanship: be aware of the complexity, uncertainty, and unavoidable subjectivity involved; avoid an ideology that would sanctify your own views as "social justice" and demonize your opponent. Be open to what is true and good in your adversary.

Protect the vulnerable, the unborn, the poor, suffering and marginalized. (solidarity)

Prefer the politics of the concrete, the local, the community, Engage the State and the Market with a prudential balance of respect and critical discernment: neither loathing or adoring them. (subsidiarity)

Be on guard against the (60s) Cultural Revolution that has deformed our world: the forgetting of God, the renouncing of authority and tradition, the brutal rupture of sexuality from fidelity and fruitfulness, the deconstruction of masculinity and femininity, the hegemony of technology/bureacracy, the break up of family/community and the isolation of the lonely individual.

Study, pray, speak, breath and share St. John's Paul II's catechesis of the masculine/feminine body as iconic of the Trinity!

Cultivate silence, receptivity, rest, and prayer.

Be ever Thankful and Trusting!
Learn to Praise our Lord and delight in His Mercies!

Root Cause of Sexual/Romantic Obsession/Compulsion: Loneliness, Shame, Weakness

Dr. Joseph Nicolosi's magisterial treatment of homosexuality (Shame and Attachment Loss) opens a window on the primal roots of the entire range of sexual/romantic disorders, compulsions and obsessions...in loneliness, shame, and weakness.

We are created for Communion...to image the Communio of the Trinity...in a magnificent symphony of ways:  with Mom, then Dad, then brothers and sisters and family and friends, spouse, children, community, Church, nation...and finally God and the Kingdom of Heaven! At our ontological core is a solitude, an emptiness, a bottomless abyss...that desperately craves communion. By Providence, we find over-fulfillment in an itinerary from womb-and-breast, to frolic-with-Dad, to friendship-cooperation-competition, and so forth.

However, if there is any mis-attunement along the way, especially with Mom and Dad, the little one experiences abandonment in the worst sense, a dreadful feeling of isolation as annihilation, a pervasive sense of shame or of oneself as void of worth, and a complete powerlessness. None of us are immune to this trauma: we all undergo this "attachment loss" in some manner and degree. It is not the fault of our parents so much, it is unavoidable as we are so delicate/fragile/vulnerable and our parents so limited in their ability to answer our needs.

This primal trauma of attachment loss and shame is so threatening to the little one that defense mechanisms are required for emotional survival: disassociation, self-blame, avoidance, repression and so forth. Eventually, with puberty and the explosion of sexuality, the underlying wound and craving unconsciously commingles with sexual energies and gives rise to a dazzling cacophony of sexual/romantic compulsions, passions and distortions.

The root problem, however, is not the paraphilia or obsession itself, but the underlying wound of shame, loneliness, and powerlessness. The cure is to find...in friendship, prayer, direction, support-group, therapy...a salient, unconditionally loving, strong and trustworthy partner to support the enormous task of retrieving the initial loss and pain and re-processing it in the light of  this new-found communion. The rupture of the original communion can be repaired by a new communion. As one grows in communion...with therapist, friend, support group, Church, spouse or lover...the original yearning for communion becomes satisfied; the wounds of shame and loneliness are healed; the compulsions disappear; and surprising synergies of collaboration and generosity overflow.

This is a most hopeful realization! Thank you Doctor Nicolosi!