The Extravagant Banquet that is Catholicism

 Catholicism in its essence is simple, basic, clear: the love of Christ and each other, in the communion of saints (especially Mary) and the sacramental, infallible Church, with prompt responsiveness to the will of God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit in one's vocation and circumstances of life. No-frill Catholicism, in its fundamentals,is clear, simple, uncluttered.

At the same time, Catholicism in its breathtaking richness can be understood as a sumptuous, extravagant,  banquet, with marvelous offerings that are available to all, free for the taking, but obligatory for no one. This is the beauty of Catholicism. So many blessings; none of them compulsory. There are so many that no one could possibly partake of them all. Here are some that come readily to mind.

1. Devotions. There are so  many devotions that enrich our faith, but none are required: the rosary, stations of the cross, litany of Divine Mercy, litany of the saints. I will include the Liturgy of the Hours as "the prayer of the Church"although that has a special place of honor and is required for those in the priesthood or religious life.

2. Retreats, pilgrimages, conferences. These are special blessings and many of us have had our lives changed by them but there is nothing wrong with a Catholic who has never made a retreat or pilgrimage. 

3. Spiritual reading. This is a marvelous aid to those of us of a more literary bent as it leads us fluidly into prayer. But centuries of Catholics were unable to read and many of us today have little taste for such. There is nothing wrong with that.

4. Spiritual Direction. This has sometimes considered normative for those who are serious about the spiritual life and it is certainly a great assistance to many; but again, is not required. More recent renewal movements (the Neocatechumenal Way and Communion and Liberation) replace individual direction with communal dynamics that prove fruitful and overcome an individualism that has crept into the Church.

5. Vocations of marriage, priesthood, consecrated life. These are specific, secondary calls after the primal baptismal vocation of life in Christ. Most of us are called to a "state in life" but such is not necessary for every individual. Many respond generously to Christ, live holy and fruitful lives, without such a vocational choice...for a variety of reasons. There is nothing wrong with that. But every vocation is a specific blessing; never a necessity. Always an invitation to our freedom.

6. Theological study. Very few immerse themselves in study of theology, so it is clearly not required. It is necessary, however, for the good of the overall Church that there be sound teaching, from our priests and catechists, so it is absolutely necessary that some of us give ourselves over to this task.

7. Direct work with the poor. This again is a special blessing, but not all are called to empty ourselves into the Sahara desert (DeFocault), the slums of Calcutta (Theresa), the gypsie camps of Madrid (Kiko), or the soup kitchens of Manhattan (Day.) Compassion for the poor is constitutive of the Church as such and part of every Catholic's life, for sure, but we are blessed that some are specially called. It is a mistake to moralize this precious gift into a generalized obligation. Many attain holiness while living a mainstream middle class life, but surely such holiness expresses itself in some gesture to those less privileged.

8. Charismatic gifts. I personally cherish my gift of tongues (although honestly I use it infrequently) and  love all the pentecostal manifestations of the Holy Spirit manifest in healings, deliverance from evil spirits, exuberant worship, and even the weird stuff like resting and laughing in the Spirit. All of these strengthen and enrich the Church; but they are optional for the individual, not required.

9. Social activism. Here again: we need activists, politicians, movement leaders and civil servants who work energetically for the common good and the poor. But again, this is a special task. Not all are called. Many serve well by prayer,caring for the home, poetry, gardening, art...and may not even vote. And there is nothing wrong with that. It is NOT a sin to not vote. A sound Catholic sensibility resists the "totalitarianism of politics" and also entertains a variety of views and policies in pursuit of justice and care for the suffering.

10. Organizations, movements, societies of all sorts are forever flourishing in the Church, for a long or short period. Again, these are blessings for many, but required for none.

11.  Penances, sacrifices, and fasting. Our greatest saints have loved these. They will always be part of the Church as Jesus said that "such demons are only cast out by prayer and fasting." They are unpopular today. They are required in a most minimal manner: the small fast and abstinence of Lent. I feel largely incapable myself of much more that the minimum required.

12. Scripture prayer and study. Historically, Catholics are vastly inferior to Protestants in their devotion to the Bible. In our defense: the liturgy, heart of our faith, overflows with scripture. Since Vatican II we have been influenced positively by our Christian brethren and deepened our love for scripture.

These are a sampling. It is a rich diet! It is sad that some Catholics suffer a "spiritual anorexia" and show little interest in any of this. Equally sad are those who are hungry but stuff themselves with "junk food": "New Age" pantheism; political messianism, mostly of the left; psychology as religion. I have had a problem of gluttony: I love this stuff and can't get enough of it. But moderation is required in all things, especially the very best. As with the natural appetite, feasting on good food can be a bad thing if the calories are not burned, if there is no exercise to balance. So: let us indulge ourselves on the rich blessings offered in the Church, but then exercise ourselves in good works. Let us energetically and confidently join Christ in his battle as he storms the gates of hell. 

The Trump Base and Black Lives Matter: Mirror Images of Each Other

One moves right, the other left. They despise each other. Apparently, superficially, accidentally they contrast; but interiorly, in essence and form, they are identical.

It is the anguished scream of the afflicted underclass, marginalized from power, economically depressed, caught in the smothering culture of poverty, bereft of hope and agency, and self esteem.

It is the culture of father-less-ness: male impotence, promiscuity and faithlessness; the absence of protection, provision, authority, steadfastness, tradition, discipline, and gentle strength.

It is the very bottom of a highly stratified, meritocratic, class society which extravagantly rewards the privileged,  the competent, and connected...of whatever skin color...and afflicts the poor, the incompetent and the unconnected...of whatever skin color. (How absurd to see Oprah Winfrey, Lebron James and a host of NFL players lecturing us on social injustice from their perch at the very top of the economic pyramid!)

In two forms, it is an incoherent, convoluted politics of rage, anxiety, resentment and irrationality. It is a scapegoating: on the one side an alleged "systematic racism" and the vicious police; on the other side an influx of criminal Mexicans and Moslems. In neither movement is there intelligence, vision, or logic. Both spring from fear and hatred and are energized to destroy, but not to build or reconcile.

Class Not Race

The underclass is one class. In this I resemble a classic Marxist: identity politics, of the right or left, is a distraction from the core economic injustice and serves the interests of the rich. Virtually all elite institutions, especially the global corporations and the prestigious cultural organizations, have jumped on the BLM bandwagon: intuitively they know that they can parade their "anti-racism" and it will never cost them an iota of power or money; indeed, it enhances their prestige. The hatred of the white and black underclass for each other keeps them polarized and powerless; and leaves the power structure firmly in place.

Culture Not Race

The underclass, black and white, are caught in the same Culture of Poverty: a complex web, a multi-universe of negative dynamics...economic, spiritual, emotional, moral, educational, medical, and on and on...which keep the poor poor and allow the most narrow window of escape, mostly for the exceptionally competent who are able to climb the meritocratic ladder of achievement and merit. This culture is kept in place by a stratified class system but is even more deeply structured by toxic religious, moral, cultural and familial dynamics. It is very powerful. Throwing money at it will not change it. Eliminating the alleged "systematic racism" will not change it. Building a wall will not change it.

Path Forward

There are three promising paths forward.

First of all, the grace of God will need to descend upon the lower and the upper classes, bring change of heart; bringing the joy, strength, energy of faith; turning our hearts toward each other regardless of class or race; and especially reviving a confident, generous, strong but gentle masculinity and paternity.

Secondly, starting with the family and the presence of the father, intermediate institutions need to be rebuilt: schools, neighborhoods, extended families, faith communities and all sorts of smaller organizations. Yuval Levin is very helpful on this.

Lastly, the underclass, along with allies higher up, must rid itself of identity and racial politics and form a coalition to address economic injustice and the desperate needs of the one class. In this regard, Bernie Sanders did have an appeal, even to this arch-conservative, in his untiring focus on economic injustice.

Personally, I dream of a new, post-Trump Republican Party, which retains its current defense of traditional moral-cultural values (the unborn, suffering and powerless; traditional marriage; religious liberty) with a genuine economic populism that actually addresses the injustices. It is hard to imagine this happening since the party is traditionally wed to the interests of capital. But the Trump event, while unfaithful to its commitment to economic populism, has placed a wedge between the party and capital. It has been true to its moral-cultural commitment. It has created a coalition of the underprivileged (white) and the religious against the powerful, rich and secular elite. Conservative thinkers like Douthat, Levin, Vance, Reno and others are thinking this way. If the largely working class Catholic Democratic Party of my childhood could transfigure itself into the party of sexual liberation and identity politics and the Republican Party of capital change into the party of Trump, it is not inconceivable that the Republican Party, already reconfigured, might adopt an authentic cultural and economic populism, an alliance of the religious, the working class, the poor, and their allies among the powerful. It would take a politician with the charismatic appeal of JFK, Reagan or Obama to embody such a synthesis. It is a good hope and a great prayer!

 

Pandemic as Honeymoon

What is a honeymoon? A time when we "social-distance" ourselves from everyone and everything, "quaranteen ourselves,"  to be alone with the Beloved: to be with her, gaze on her beauty, listen to her, tell her of her loveliness; to touch, hold, kiss and become one with each other; and forget about everyone else. I recall our honeymoon, almost 50 years ago:  January in frigid Quebec, we were not merely warm, but radiant and at times flaming in our mutual delight, desire and passion. 

God brought His bride, Israel, into the desert for 40 years for their honeymoon, their time of intimacy together. It was not as pleasant as my time in Quebec. It was the desert heat, without the onions and garlic of Egypt, without any of the normal supports of life, insecure and uprooted. It was the time in which the Bride Israel surrendered herself in trust to the Bridegroom.

This time of pandemic is just such a time of honeymoon for us with our Lord Jesus. We have been stripped of all our routines, pleasures, certainties. We are being invited to trust only in Him. We are being seduced into intimacy with Him alone. Even the Church has been closed to us! The bishops and the Vatican have proven to be not trustworthy. Our two political parties are both morally corrupt to the very core. I intentionally watched not a second of either party's convention as I consider both to be toxic, deceitful, vile. I cherish my own intellect, heart, and soul too much to ingest such filth. I cannot imagine how any Catholic with some intelligence and a moral compass could vote for either of these two. It is a clear, moral imperative for us to "distance" ourselves from the DNC and the RNC both, although the former is far worse.

Ralph Martin has retrieved a charismatic prophesy delivered 44 years ago, in 1976, by the marvelous Father Michael Scanlon  of Steuvenville University. It foretold of societal collapse, closed Churches, and lawlessness, but the point was an invitation to closeness with God: "Are you willing to know no law, no government, not protection for you except that which I myself will give you? ...Are you willing see no country, no country to call your own except those I give you as my body? Are you willing to base your life only on me and not on any particular structure?"

Martin sees in this prophesy a clear call for us to relinquish our trust in so many false securities and lean trustingly into intimacy with our Lord. Along with this, we are called to lean into each other, in faith, hope and love. In this is great joy, safety, confidence and trust. The future is very uncertain. The economy, science, politics...all are unreliable. 

But drawing close to God and to each other in Him...we overflow with Hope and Joy and Confidence!