“Envisioning an Inspiring New Year”

December 18, 2023

How might we get out from under today’s malaise? What is needed to keep us calm and steadfast in the midst of violence, blatant irrationality, divisions and a barrage of disturbing news?

The Italian proverb “La provvidenza di Dio non manca mai” meaning “God’s providence never fails” contains our answer.

In The Living God author Romano Guardini observes, “Providence implies that the world, with its natural facts and necessities, is not enclosed in itself but lies in the hands of a Power and serves a Mind greater than itself. Providence means that everything in the world retains its own nature and reality but serves a supreme purpose which transcends the world: the essence of providence par excellence.”

Providence counsels us to transcend our narrow world and embrace God’s purpose in life affairs. It means to move beyond our mundane thinking and acting, to let go of self, sidestep worldly entanglements and place our faith in Gods hands.

Albert Einstein noted the greatest miracle in our life is God sharing God’s harmony with us. Within this comprehension is the comprehension of God’s providence: Divine laws governing our universe and the responsibility to embrace their awesome blessings.

Jonathan Edwards, third president of Princeton and noted theologian gives us two steadfast resolutions to make for the new year: “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does I still will do it.”

When God’s presence in our life is embraced much of today’s malaise is seen in a clearer light, a calming lucidity that we are not alone, God’s guardianship is at our side.

“The Profoundness of Christmas Joy”

December 11, 2023

Want to experience Christmas joy at its best? Take a look at tour guide Richard Steve’s visit of Christmas celebrations throughout Europe on the Internet.

In Norway young girls dressed in white gowns carry lite candles to the sound of Christmas carols. It is dark solstice time and the candles symbolize light, especially the eternal light of salvation.

A Swiss family goes into the woods to cut greenery that will become a wreath hung over the doorway symbolizing green is life and especially symbolizes eternal life for all seasons.

In Salzburg’s magnificent cathedral a choir sings “Silent Night” from where it was created. Each of its carols is filled with reminders of a caring God among us.

In the farm countrysides are scenes of parents and grandparents teaching young children to make symbolic Christmas cookies and holiday meals.

In another farmhouse a child has a picture book of Christmas stories with her mother explaining them.

In each country celebration, we are introduced to joyful and meaningful reminders of the birth of the Christ child and God’s love: heartwarming joy par excellence.

The Indian poet Rabindrandran Tagor takes us further into the depths of joy by pointing to its essence, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”

Viewed through the eyes of Tagor, our Christmas scenes are seen as parents, elders and communities building upon a God-given foundation, thus forming a living pattern of spiritual reality. Sacred traditions, rituals and symbolism is generated and minds and hearts experiencing God’s care for us are taught. At the heart  of this experience are those individuals providing a divine service, the very essence of joy: caring loving communities at the service of each other and others.

“The Challenge of Updating”

November 27, 2023

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for change.”

The words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe echo the thoughts of Saint Pope John XXIII who counseled the Church to read the signs of the time, and to initiate an aggiornamento which translates updating.

The formidable psychological powers of the media, moral principles needed to guide new scientific advances, climate change, economical ethics, gender concerns, and upgrading public rhetoric are just some of today’s events calling for a new moral compass for guidance?

Accomplishing this will require courage consisting in living with a view to the future for acting, building, assuming responsibilities and forming unity. Going with the flow, being matter of fact and dormant is unacceptable.

The future is often unknown and may lie before us like chaos into which we may hesitate to venture. Our character, the ordering power within us, however, must remain strong empowering us to cope with never before challenges.

It is easy to tell ourselves, “I have enough problems of my own trying to live the present. Let someone else address the future.”

Modern day courage is prompting us to be less concerned about “me” and “my” personal life, and to be more concerned about our children and generations to follow ---to be selfless forward looking. This is calling for exceptional prudence which St. Thomas Aquinas describes as “A prudent man seeing the future from afar with keen sight foreseeing the events of uncertainties.”

Undoubtedly expanding our present knowledge is necessity, but as William Shakespeare cautions, “Knowledge maketh a bloody entrance.” As we experienced with the Covid pandemic, some people refused to act on it. One reason being they did not have faith in the suggested changes needed to contain it. And too, their knowledge may have been incomplete. Yet another reason may be that changing habits means dying to a revered way of life.

Undoubtedly, the past has spawned wise habits that need preserving. To update them need not be classifying the past as an opponent. Rather, today’s challenges suggest we unite the best of the past with the present for the common good. In unity we stand, in division we fall.

In all honesty some habits have had their day and need a new day. And too, in moving onto that new day it should be cautioned not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Respectful change is vital, and disrespectful labeling avoided at all costs.

How will Pope John XXIII’s call for an aggiornamento succeed? Success will depend on the past united with the best of modern-day wisdom. Most important, sincere heartfelt desire is imperative for coping with challenges that once were nonexistent.

Knowledge need not maketh a bloody entrance if hearts are unlocked --- if there is a metanoia, a spiritual change of mind. 

“Burning the Midnight Oil”

November 20, 2023

Every so often I have nightmares of examination time and being unprepared.

On the west side of the Supreme Court a freeze portrays Justice with burning oil lamps on each side of her. The lamps symbolize perpetual study is needed for justice to succeed. It is a wise reminder that study requires burning the midnight lamp.

In addition to an oil lamp symbolizing study, it also symbolizes light needed for wisdom and warmth.

Unfortunately, there is growing darkness today due to chilling, foolish rifts between the far right and far left that emphatically emphasize one side is right and the other wrong. It is a frightening disorder compromising our peace of mind because as Aesop reminds us, “In unity we stand, divided we fall.” When divided, life enhancing order is ruptured.

No doubt diverse opinions are needed in pursuing truth. They are also an integral part of humanity.

When, however, diversity leads to cold hard heartedness, belligerence, and violent behavior, darkness follows, blotting out God’s light of the world.

Pope Benedict told us how to cope with this in lauding the principle of the proposition for. It reminds us Christ died for us and desires to be unified with and for us. To regain peace of mind is to embrace the for principle and desire unity at all costs.

Thriving civilizations teach us they succeeded because they were unified and were founded on justice. Justice also contains the proposition for. It reminds us we are created for each other, the first rule of a successful polis. In turn it requires burning the midnight oil studying how best to achieve and maintain fairness and healthy community spirit.

Burning midnight oil also symbolizes warmth that is produced when we care for each other to the point of sacrificing self for them.

As I reflected on the symbol of warmth, I remembered many times my mother and father got up in the middle of the night to care for me when I was sick, exemplifying parental warmth par excellence.

It also reminded me of those parenting their elderly parents, or friends sacrificing themselves morning and night to provide warm care, and dedicated doctors, nurses, civil servants, and the endless list of oil burners.

When Abbot Boniface Wimmer, founder of Benedictine life in this country, was dying, he thanked the Lord for the miraculous strength he received in carrying out his work. His life is a powerful spiritual example of a dedicated monk who kept the midnight oil burning to spread the light of Christ and warm hearts of thousands with Benedictine education. We must believe, as weary as he was from his extensive travels and difficult trials, he slept peacefully free of nightmares of being unprepared for his ministry.

“One Step at a Time”

November 13, 2023

As I practiced for a triathlon at Lake Michigan on a beautiful sunny day, I thought this weather would be perfect for tomorrow’s event.

Next morning as the gun sounded, I hit the water experiencing a sudden shock. Overnight rain caused frigid water to rise to the top. Shivering and adrift, I contemplated abandoning the race when I noticed trees along the shore evenly spaced. “Let’s take one tree at a time,” I told myself.

It worked! Little by little my confidence returned, and I was motoring.

Today there is much on our plate to digest: endless wars, political disunity, prices rising, uncontrollable forest fires, radical climate changes, street violence, and drug overdoses to name a few stomachaches. Add we live in a “get it now, move quickly and do not deny yourself atmosphere” emphasizing immediacy. What might be needed to combat this?

As I was blessed by an inspiring thought so too is wisdom needed to cope with worldwide anxieties.

In Christian Art, Vincent Van Gough’s painting First Steps, after Mallet portrays a baby girl being coxed by her father to leave her mother’s arms and take her first steps toward his open arms, an excellent portrayal of the necessity of taking first steps in life. A quote by Anthon St. Maarten addresses its wisdom, “On your darkest days do not try to see the end of the tunnel by looking far ahead. Focus only on where you are right now. Then carefully take one step at a time, by placing just one foot in front of the other. Before you know it, you will turn that corner.”

Another quote by Joe Whitt emphasizes how it helps our sanity, “Oh, I wonder... I was trying to fix the whole thing at once... But maybe it needs to be done one step at a time? I can do this... I can do this!!”

Mokokoma Mokhonoana points out, “Even the longest book is read and was written one word at a time.”

Josh Hatche lists another reality of life, “No one can achieve their dreams and become the kind of person they were meant to be all at once. It is a series of little movements, and you can only take the step that is right in front of you.”

The world of spirituality goes to the very heart of taking one step wisdom in pointing our need for daily metanoia --- committing our heart every starting day to the practice of the wisdom of one step at a time.

Today’s anxieties we experience are heartbreaking, needing constant re-heartening. As the idea of one step at a time renewed my spirit to stay in the race, so too, is one-step wisdom needed to maintain our strength and complete the race.

“Humble Docility for Our Postmodern Age”

November 8, 2023

St. Gregory the Great holds humility is “Mistress and mother of all virtues.”

St. Thomas Aquinas links it with magnanimity and states the humble person can achieve great things for God and others “because living no longer for himself . . . the spirit is delivered of all the limitations and vicissitudes of creaturehood and contingency.”

Thomas Merton adds “Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real.”

Rick Warren gives a twist to humility, “Humility is not thinking less of self but thinking of ourselves less.”

And St. Augustine points us to its antithesis, “It was pride that changes angels into devils; it is humility that makes men into angels.”

When we reflect on our country’s achievements, they are awesome. The industrial, maritime, agricultural, and economic structures we created are truly marvelous and something to be proud of.

With pride, however, comes the warning, after pride the fall often follows. Many mighty civilizations have proven the reality of “the fall.” As true as this is it is easy to forget this historical lesson.

How might we avoid repeating history?

Education is one answer. Early in Greek history arete, the Greek word for virtue took center. Greek education focused on nobility, justice and emphasized giving one’s life for the common good and it saw avarice as the downfall of a society.

In his Idea of a University, Saint John Cardinal Newman exalts liberal education that liberates the mind and broadens our thinking abilities. We can add so does religious education.

Education implies docility and especially humility according to philosopher Josep Pieper. “Docility, he says is the ability to take advice, sprung not from any vague ‘modesty,’ but simply from the desire for real understanding (which, however, necessarily includes genuine humility.”

Humble docility prompts us to examine the differences between a well- rounded education and an imbalanced education.  Well-rounded education teaches critical thinking and the ability to distinguish between truth and untruthfulness, to detect a phony from an authentic person, to see through the media and its psychological manipulations. It teaches us to learn from history, classical literature, lessons portrayed in art and music and respect for various cultures.

A trademark of postmodernism is living in lickety-split times and quick sound bites lacking the complete picture. Wisdom, on the contrary, teaches us to take the necessary time to educate ourselves to this new challenge, encouraging us to realize we don’t have all the answers, and neither do many who claim they have. To neglect humble docility that prompts us to expand our education leaves the door open to future folly and cloudy thinking.

“Keeping Our Center Balanced”

November 1, 2023

Is anxiety filled news shattering your nerves? If so, what is the primary variable causing this?

Let us start with the philosophy “Physician heal thyself first.” We have been blessed with an inner spirit called the center which is responsible for our physical, mental, and spiritual health. It is the variable needing attention. How do we keep it strong? What is our best offensive?

As wonderful as is round-the-clock news it is a new kid on the block that has yet to mature even though it is making remarkable progress. Yes, it keeps us up to date on world affairs and is educational, deepening our sense of what is influencing our life. But today’s instant news comes with a price: anxiety, sleeplessness, and depression. It can be a deadly assault on our center knocking it off balance. Why is this so?

A strong center thrives on faith, hope and especially the love Christ lauds. “Love God above all things and love your neighbor as you love self.” Love is indispensable to our center for coping with disturbing events bombarding our center.

Thanks to St. Thomas Aquinas’s in depth understanding of love we learn of its extraordinary coping powers: beneficence, mercy, alms giving, peace, and joy, powers our center thrives on. They enable us to take life into our own hands and to transport ourselves beyond an often-dismal world into a healthier, stronger spiritual world. Let us look at how this plays out.

Beneficence is doing good for someone --- to be at his or her side giving them support.

Undoubtedly, all of us have experienced beneficence, “Son you are doing well, keep it up.” “Go for it, you have the goods.” When we make another feel his or her worth our center is energized.

The Latin word for mercy is misericordia meaning to take heart. Unfortunately, today’s news is filled with heartlessness that takes the heart out of us. Hate, the antithesis of love, is one of the seven capital sins. It is capital because it is ever so easy to succumb to in a warlike atmosphere often lacking heart filled unity.

Interestingly, Shakespeare quotes Aquinas in The Merchant of Venice on mercy’s formidable power.

“The quality of mercy is not strained. Tis mightiest in the mightiest: It becomes the throne monarch better than the crown.”

Shakespeare lauds mercy as an indispensable power reinforcing our center.

Peace, another quality of love, is generated by order, the very order needed to cope with the disorder that pervades the news. When our life is in order tranquility follows --- the very tranquility needed to nourish our center.

Love’s quality of alms giving is letting go of our cherished sustenance so another less fortunate may enjoy it. It is selflessness and compassion par excellence.

Love’s quality of joy can be summed up as practicing mercy, beneficence, alms giving and peace. How true is loving God above all things and your neighbor as self --- the perfect means for countering bad news’s ability to knock us off center.

“Media Indigestion”

October 27, 2023

Fed up with fake news, fear tactics, and treats of a worrisome future? Are you frustrated with nagging negative criticizers, twisters of truth, and divisions? If so, it is time to confront the fact you may be suffering from media indigestion. What variables, therefore, do we need to explore to accomplish this confrontation?

We have been blessed with an inner spirit called the center which is responsible for our physical and mental health. This is the first variable needing exploration. How do we keep our center strong? What are the foremost sources producing unwarranted anxiety and depression [center viruses] caused by media indigestion?

As wonderful as is the media, it is a new kid on the block which, like all young children, has yet to mature even though it is making unimaginable progress. Yes, it is blessed with the gift of freedom of the press and speech: the heart of democracy. And yes, it has a right to publish whatever speaks to the public. But with freedom comes responsibility, the need for discipline and propriety.

Today the media is the new child on the block but like all postmodern movements innovative postmodern developments founded on the rules of respectability are needed to match them. It is true everyone has a right to have their opinion. Equally true is that some opinions have validity, and some are invalid, some can lead to the common good and some ignore it. This leads us to conclude there is a moral compass needed to navigate through what ought to be and what should not be. For our postmodern age to guide us in the right direction the religion of the media is needed.

Religion moves us from the mundane into the spiritual world of God who created the world and the peace and loved needed to live a happy tranquil life. Within the bible is a road map pointing us to the best routes to take to a wholesome life.

Blaming the media for indigestion is not a putdown. Modern day media has been an excellent means for increasing our education on how to live a better more joyful life. To protect healthy digestion, however, it needs to be more responsible in avoiding ersatz and degrading entertainment. Above all, it needs to counter the temptation of embracing economic greediness, pomposity and the unscrupulous manipulating of the psyches and emotions of media audiences. If it does not discipline itself eventually it will be disciplined by the rule of law. Its potential for doing good is enormous, but also its potential for lowering the standards of life.

“Wisdom Needed for Achieving Peace”

October 20, 2023

The best means for achieving peace of mind are found in wise poetic quotes that penetrate the soul of life.

• Buddha points us to the first place for pursuing peace: “Peace comes from within. Do now seek it without.”

• The Dalai adds to this: “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”

• Albert Einstein points to the virtue of understanding necessary for seeking peace: “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”

• Mother Teresa points to a missing link in achieving peace: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” She also reminds us of a simple principle of peace, “Peace begins with a smile.”

• Thomas Merton addresses the spiritual heart of peace: “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.”

• Mahatma Gandhi exhorts us to examine the wrong way to gain peace: “An eye for an eye ends us making the whole world blind.”

• Baruch Spinoza points us to virtues needed for obtaining peace: “Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.”

• Saint Francis de Sales implores us to remain calm when seeking peace: “Do not be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your entire world seems upset.”

• John F. Kennedy expands on Francis de Sales: “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”

• Maria Schell and Lyndon Johnson further add: “Peace is when time doesn't matter as it passes by.” “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles, and it must be taken one step at a time.”

• Finally, Henri Nouwen adds: “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits.”

Today’s wars and divisions are increasing hardness of the heart, especially in those who cannot see light beyond the tunnel.

One way to obtain light needed to cope with dark times is to take to heart the light found in poetical quotations that replace pessimism with optimism, helplessness with courage and the mundane with spirituality.

“Updating Today’s Conscience”

October 16, 2023

Pope Saint John XXIII 1959’s encyclical on Truth, Unity, and Peace is as pertinent today as when written.

Addressing the use of the press and media Pope John wrote those who willingly and rashly doubt known truth and employ the weapon of the lie in writing, speaking, or acting to win unlearned poor people, and who drive to mold the inexperienced and pliable minds of youths and shape them to their way of thinking are engaged in a work worthy of the deepest scorn. Books, magazines, and the newspapers play a large part in teaching and forming our minds. Particularly true of the youth in controlling the tone of their moral life. We beg purveyors to manage truth with care, and prudence. They are obliged not to publicize lies, half-truths and the moral evil of society. On the contrary they should emphasize truth and especially those things which lead to lives of solid virtue rather than of vice.

This concern is nothing new. History is filled with stories of battered truth. What is at the root of this travesty?

In Senator Patrick Leahy’s book The Road Taken he reflects on his time in government recalling that in the past “The Senate Republicans and Democrats kept their word, valued the freedom of a six-year term, and worked --- however --- imperfectly --- toward what most of them believed was for the good of the country.”

He points to irreparable damage being done today by a lack of conscience.

Conscience comes from Latin con science, to be in a state of consciousness, such as I am conscious within myself that this or that is the case.

On the moral level conscience denotes being a witness for or against oneself, to hug a secret to oneself, usually a guilty secret. The Athenian playwright Euripides portrays a conversation between Orestes and Menelaus that addresses the workings of a moral conscience.

Orestes: “I call it conscience, the certain knowledge of wrong, the conviction of crime.”

Menelaus replies, “You speak somewhat obscurely. What do you mean?

Orestes: I mean remorse, I am sick with remorse.”

Truly, conscience can create remorsefulness and guilt. But it also acts as a moral compass directing us to take the right direction for being the real person we desire. In doing so, it creates a sense of freedom --- being free of a haunting, torturing monkey on our back.

Although some fear going to confession, it is a blessing for creating true freedom. Orestes reflects the weight of conscience over a wrong --- something internally out of order needs correcting. Going to confession is not meant to be a scourge but an opportunity to reorder our life for the better.

How much better would be our society if more responsibility were taken to consult our conscience and how endangering our society, especially minds of the youth and inexperienced poor people is scornful --- to realize conscience is the ultimate basis for avoiding this disorder!

“Combating Irrationality”

October 10, 2023

“There is no respect anymore.” And we can add today there is less respect for a unified democracy.

The word respect in German is Ehrfurcht meaning honor and fear. Here fear does not mean something that is harmful or causes pain. It is awe that comes when in the presence of greatness.

How might we manage the growing disrespectful irrationality causing this?

One way is to censure news on television, radio, in our newspapers and magazines. In discussions on depression, people have told me they are toning down the use of the media to reduce it.

Another way to cope is escaping to another country and imbibing in its culture. Entering another world away from home can be just what the doctor orders to regain needed tranquility.

And then there is Ersatz entertainment that numbs us and helps to momentarily curtail the bedlam entering our mind.

Going ascetical is another tactic for combating depressing times. Asceticism suggests taking better control of our life to control its direction.

In these suggestions the common denominator is running from an actual problem, to find ways of putting it out of mind.

The opposite is to take a stand, face the situation and knuckle down on finding the essence of the problem. How might this stance translate?

First, is to realize God blessed us with a mind for the purpose of wisdom. We inherited the responsibility to act wisely. St. Thomas Aquinas defines wisdom as seeking the principal cause. Our mind is meant to probe and investigate. Note the verb “to seek” denoting taking action. If we are disturbed what is at the heart of the disturbance? Is it because we feel helpless in confronting the issue? Has this caused inertia and the ability to act? Is it more secure to sit on the sidelines and let others carry the ball? Or is it fear we may have to be a revolutionary?

Aquinas, quoting Gregory the Great, states wisdom is the remedy to folly and irrationality. Undoubtedly, we are experiencing growing irrationality that borders on the absurd. However, it is not the time to wring our hands, shake our heads and become stymied.

The Greek word for duty is aidos. It connotes taking responsibility for the common good. It is a call for action to defend the common good, containing the imperative to stand firm and confront the problem. Implied is embracing the blessed wisdom, courage, and faith God intends us to employ to live godly.

Undoubtedly, we live in mind blogging irrational times. It is no time to fall asleep at the switch and be derailed but to ensure we are on the right track to reasonableness.

“Updating Psychological and Spiritual Wellbeing”

September 29, 2023

Agony and the Ecstasy is the movie of Michelangelo who is commissioned by Pope Julius II to adorn the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo begins his work on frescos of the twelve apostles. After painting two of them he heads to a local tavern feeling gloomy. As he drinks his wine he suddenly burst out, “The wine is bitter and so is my work.” Immediately he returns to the Sistine Chapel, tears down the frescos, and begins his masterpiece The Creation of Adam.

As Michelangelo was dissatisfied with the frescos, so too is growing public dissatisfaction with an environment of bitterness and increasing unrest. What is at the bottom of this discontent?

A white ivory frieze of the works of Good and Evil in the U.S. Supreme Court points us to one reason. On it, slander is portrayed as a work of evil. Needless to say, we live in an age of smear campaigns. Backbiting, infighting, power struggles and pseudo blames fill the air. One reason for this is the dysfunctional behavior of leadership.

I watch Rick Steve’s Europe often. They are filled with delightful sweetness. For example, there is one in which we travel though the lush countryside of Tuscany. But it is more than beautiful landscapes that delight. It is the way Italians love to cook and their pride in sharing a treasured meal. Joviality and a sense of wellbeing fills the air. In addition to joviality psychological wholesomeness exudes a breath of fresh air and conviviality.

Psychological malaise is terrible to experience. Nothing worse exists than a disturbed mind. When out of order it opens the door to depression, despair, and melancholy, shattering the human spirit. We often think our spirit can resist anything thrown at it. This is false; our spirit is weaker than we think. To stay healthy, it needs constant maintenance.

Returning to the frieze of Good and Evil harmony is portrayed as a sage means for combating works of evil echoing “United we stand divided we fall.”

Harmony holds enormous strength. When exercised it can move mountains. St. Augustine would add that at the heart of that strength is justice, love, and adoration. Once truth loses its significance, once success usurps the palace of justice and goodness, once holy is no longer perceived or even missed, the human spirit is stricken. This being true, what is our post-postmodern age calling for?

It is a metanoia, a change of heart that prefers harmony to perpetual strife and disunity. A love of justice in which caring for each other instead constantly fighting each other, and God’s caring love that opens the heart and combats closed selfish heartedness. Shakespeare once wrote that “Knowledge maketh a bloody entrance.” So does metanoia’s call for change that means death to old ways.

“Gifts of the Holy Spirit

for Our Troubling Times”

September 11, 2023

“If your brother does not listen, take one or two other witnesses . . . If he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community.”

How might this passage from Saint Matthew’s gospel be interpreted? And how does it apply to preserving the sanctity of our democracy and peace of mind?

The message of Christ’s lesson is to practice  the Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel: when arbitrating seek wise outside counsel.  This message is not only in today’s gospel, but it is the foundation upon which all successful civilizations past and present have built.

Interestingly, on the doors of the Supreme Court, we have one of the earliest examples of the need of taking wise counsel. It is portrayed on the shield of Achilles in one of the door panels. It is a reference to an episode in Homer’s Iliad in which we read: “The people were gathered in assembly, and there is a dispute in which two men argue over the payment for a man who had died. The one made a claim to pay back full, but the other was refusing to accept anything. Both were eagerly heading for an arbitrator to get a limit.”

In other words, there was need for outside counsel. 

Right above the doors of the Supreme Court counsel is lauded again. It is found in a frieze depicting men leaning on their sides in discussion. They symbolize taking counsel to ascertain justice. Wise counsel is the epitome of just law. 

Counsel in government and law, when properly ministered has been lauded for centuries, starting with the Greeks. It was considered the foundation for creating a peaceful successful civilization.  It also was seen as a power for combating dictatorship and authoritarianism. When council is politicized, or misused for personal gain, when it promotes avarice and a desire for power and prominence, the health of the social community is threatened.

A frieze on the east side of the Supreme Court also points us to the value of counsel. It contains Moses, Confucius, and Solon the great lawmaker. Solon was an outstanding Athenian governor who was forever urging Athenians to work together by employing sound counsel. He was a poet whose poetry was filled with wise counsel. Poetry was also part of an Athenian student’s curriculum because it spoke to the soul of the nation. 

The 13th century Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas adds another dimension to counsel’s value in stating its purpose is to promote common sense, to seek the truth of the matter, and what speaks to our intelligence and conscience. When common sense is missing, senselessness follows, so says Aquinas. 

When we speak of common sense, what grounds it?

It is a moral compass needed to keep our life in proper order. When God our moral compass  governs divine order follows.

Today, disturbing senselessness exist due to the absence of common sense counsel. It is no exaggeration to say we are literally biting the hand of the Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel.  Counsel is often weaponized rather than being a revered means for getting at the truth. 

It is also no exaggeration to say in our growing secular society, God is not being consulted when dealing with pressing issues. Mundane counsel is preferred to the spiritual Gift of Counsel.

This leads us to another gift of the Holy Spirit, which is Fear of Lord.  In German this fear translates possessing utmost respect.

It is the very respect of God that is at the heart of our moral compass and wise counsel.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially Counsel, and Fear of the Lord are meant to create order, which is the basis of peace. As St. Augustine tells us, order creates peace and tranquility. Yes, when we put our life in better order calm does result.

Today, more than ever, we we need an aggiornamento, an updating of the power of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts whose purpose is the creation of a moral compass and the peace of mind it creates. 

“Lift Up Your Heart”

September 5, 2023

More than any other spiritual concept, Heaven ranks first in the Scriptures. For example, Christ tells Peter I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be considered bound in heaven.

Is there an earthly example of how to envision the bliss of heaven? How will we experience it?

Recently, I watched the Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu perform an outdoor concert in Bahrain. His joyfulness was a delight to behold. As he invited the audience to join the orchestra in singing rousing Bahrain melodies, the camera panned it. Some were singing heartily, others tenderly held each other’s hands and swayed together, while still others were mesmerized by the moment.

As I watched, my heart leapt with joy. Momentarily, I felt like there was not a trouble in the world and I had been transported into an unimaginable world of delight. Suddenly the thought struck me: this is a perfect example of the Eucharistic Preface of the Mass in which we are invited to lift up our hearts. It implores us to embrace joyful hearts, to become transcendental, and be one with God’s heavenly heart.

The invitation to lift up our hearts is at the heart of life. When inflamed, it can move us to unimaginable joy and fill us with inconceivable goodness.

On the other hand, our heart can be filled with deep concern for another—- sympatico —-which translates—- suffering with another in spirit.

I also recently happened upon a concert for the children of Ukraine in Munich given by its Philharmonic Orchestra and Anna Sophie Mutter.

Part of the concert consisted of a duet by violinist Anna and violist Vladimir Babesko playing Mozart’s heart moving Sinfonia Concertante. As they played it tore at the heart, drawing us into the pain of suffering. The back-and-forth of the violin and viola duet was like two persons weaving together their sadness over innocent children being separated from their parents and country. It also exuded the strength needed to overcome adversity.

When the music finished a tearful Vladimir Babesko and Anna embraced, receiving a standing ovation. Their eyes were cast down momentarily reflecting, sorrow and as the orchestra applauded, its members eyes said the same.

When we are invited to lift up our hearts, we are called to remember God’s heavenly heart that contains heavenly joy as well as heavenly compunction, that we thank God for God‘s joys, and that we likewise spread God’s joy to those who are less joyful and whose hearts bleed.

Speaking in German, Anna Sophie Mutter reminded the audience that the world is filled with revolutions that tear at our heart, and that music protects the heart from being torn apart by giving it strength and beauty. 

Ah yes, Plato was right in stating, “Music is the soul of the universe.”

“Visualizing Life through God’s Providence”

August 23, 2023

Injustice, shock, and tragedy surround us daily. As wonderful as are worldly wisdom and philosophy neither has a solution for solving them. Where then do we look for the answer?

In Italian “La providencia di Dio non mancamai,” translates the providence of God never falls. It reminds us of needing a fixed point that exists outside our worrisome world, to embrace our faith and recall that God is active in our life and to place it in God’s hands. Circumventing our mundane concerns and expanding our horizons to include God’s role throughout our life is an excellent means for alleviating many of our anxieties.

Fear of dying, loss of jobs, experiencing life-supporting norms disappear, and an uncertain future are placing a heavy load on society. This malaise has been and always will be a regular aspect of life. Embracing the providence of God, however, prompts us to move beyond our usual mundane life to its faith-filled spiritual life.

I live on Capitol Hill where I have mixed with prominent senators, federal and Supreme Court judges, CEOs, and scholars. Many of them were outstanding in what they produced and stood for. Most are now deceased. When I speak of them to others, often I hear, “Senator, or professor who?” Their names may be in historybut they are no longer recognized by many. This hard fact of life prompts us to ask, “What, then, might be the most lasting value in this passing life?”

It is living it in God’s presence; to be awed at how God directs us through it; to see our earthly life intertwined with God’s heavenly life. Believing in God’s providence prompts us to visualize God’s wisdom constantly encouraging us to see how life is connected to God’s purposiveness. It is true, it also makes us realize that God sometimes paints in crooked lines. We sometimes do not understand life’s ironies.

Despite this conundrum, life is best valued in believing the solution for guiding us through good and bad times is realizing Divine Providence is at work in them.

“The Benedictine Way to Live”

July 17, 2023

Looking for a means of enjoying life better? Then take to heart St. Benedict’s Rule in which he advocates the practice of hospitality, obedience, and stability.

Much of my life has been experiencing Benedictine hospitality. Whenever I am in a Benedictine monastery, it is like being with a wonderful family.

Benedict implores monks to treat visitors as if they are another Christ; to make them feel at home in a close-nit family.

Repeatedly when I visited a Benedictine monastery in this country and Germany, I was greeted warmly: “Love to have you here. We are honored by your presence.”

Time was taken to make me feel special and a joy to have.

Moving to monastic obedience that is often thought to be “bending our will to another.” Its root meaning however is to hear.

In an interview with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki at Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania he pointed out listening is addressed throughout the Benedict Rule and then immediately added “to listen with the heart.”

This wisdom echoes philosopher Martin Buber who coined the idea of an I-thou relationship. I to thou and thou to I that creates the reverential intermingling of two persons becoming one. Note its reverence, I am in awe of you, I esteem you with the response of being esteemed in return, two hearts joined together as one which is the epitome of love.

When a man enters the monastery, he vows stability which is to remain in the Benedictine community for life.

On the topic of stability, American religious leader Gordon B. Hinckley wrote, "People are looking for stability in a shaky world. They want something they can get hold of that is firm and sure and an anchor in the midst of all of this instability in which they are living.”

One reason Benedictines were revered over the centuries was because the monastery was a stable sanctuary, a haven in which people turned to stabilize their lives. St. Benedict lived in a time in which Rome was in disarray. He left Rome to live alone in a cave and after three years set about creating monasteries where people could escape chaotic life to find quiet time to gather themselves in God’s presence and meditate on God’s meaning in their life.

Interestingly, the Benedictine Rule has been utilized by the business world, organizations of all sorts and study groups as a model for improving community life. Several reasons are behind this movement.

One reason is working people often feel as if they are inanimate machines lacking human touch, no sense of warm hospitality and feeling significant.

Another reason is we have moved away from family-close-nit neighborhoods. Relocation is more common, leaving the feeling of being unrooted and lacking balance.

If the opportunity presents itself to visit a Benedictine monastery, do so and experience its calm inviting atmosphere.

“The Way It Goes”

July 10, 2023

In Psalm 1 we read:

“Blessed the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

But he will delight in the law of the Lord, and on God’s law, he shall meditate day and night.”

Note the image of the way to adore God --- to meditate day and night on God’s way and to avoid the ways of ungodliness.

Let us pause here to reflect on the role the concept of way, whose synonyms are direction and path, affect our life. To achieve a goal, we are forever looking for ways to achieve it. We ponder what is the best route to take to accomplish this or that. The role of way is basic to everything that happens in life. Take for example a plant. First there is the seed, that then develops a shoot and one way after another fully develops. This is the way of nature. And then there is a right way and wrong way to do something that brings into play the role of our conscience and the way it should react.

In the gospel of St. Matthew Christ gives us the way to achieve what God desires --- to meditate day and night on God’s laws. And then comes the promise --- achieving rest and being at peace. “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Christ lauds this path to true happiness. He is a loving father who looks out for our good by directing us how to pursue goodness.

Psalm 1 reminds us that the way to achieve true fulfillment is to meditate on God’s ways and making them an integral part of our life.

What is asked of us is to become transcendental, to put aside our mundane world and enter the spiritual world of God. This implies we become poetic and as poets do, we penetrate the very soul of God’s world and that we plumb the Truth that God’s divine laws like, “Treat others as you would want them to treat you.”

Implied is putting aside distractions to ponder God’s workings within and around us. Yes, that we become poetic and float in spiritual meditation and prayer.

Today we live a busy life filled with worldly concerns. This has its place, but it also gives us pause to ask what is the ratio of time we spend on world and local affairs to the time we contemplate God’s creative role in our life? Is it not true the way we try to achieve peace is through worldly means more than spiritual means? That we float in bizarre sensationalism and ersatz entertainment that really is not entertaining and that often gives us no rest, but only anxiety?

When Christ promises us rest, it is through the peace of contemplating the heavenly. And too, one exceptionally effective way is to embrace God’s Providence and let God take us where God desires, to put our concerns into God’s hands and let go of self.

When meditating God’s world, I often think of Albert Einstein who said that the greatest miracle God preformed was God sharing God’s harmony with us. In looking beyond the laws of nature, he became transcendental by leaving this world and seeing the world through God’s eyes.

Yes, contemplating God’s marvelous ways is a delight par excellence and our best way to cope with the world’s anxieties and achieve true peace of mind.

“The Ramifications of Docility”

July 6, 2023

To misunderstand docility is to portray it as a simpleminded zealous “good student.” Philosopher Josef Piper says it is much deeper than this by stating, “It is the kind of open-mindedness which recognizes the true variety of things and situations to be experienced and does not cage itself in presumption of deceptive knowledge. Docility means taking advice, sprung not from any vague modesty, but simply from the desire for real understanding. Inimical to docility are close-mindedness and being a know-it-all.”

The virtue of earnestness would add docility is an intense desire to plumb the depths of truth, to passionately dig deep into reality. It also implies humility and admitting not knowing the whole picture and desiring to learn more of it.

A fault of those desiring to govern is presenting self as a candidate who is on top of the issues and knows the facts. Knowing the facts is essential to governing. Great politicians were those who traveled the country to learn all there is to know of the backgrounds of the people they wished to represent. And, too, they never stopped reading and learning more.

Unfortunately, some wishing to govern are tempted to play boisterous savior and for fear of sounding weak seldom or never say, “I don’t know everything.”

Docility comes from the Latin word docere, to teach. A synonym for teach is to train, to stay in condition for running down the truth of the matter no matter how difficult in an age that has come to expect immediate answers.

One of the foibles of our postmodern age is bit-size information. As in our instant commercials this plays to our short attention span. The meaning of true docility gives us pause to wonder if the media is feeding us with pabulum when we need more substantive food? Is something out of order needing reordering? Could it be we are being psychologically manipulated and shortchanged?

Order is the core of peace. When things are in order tranquility follows. When out of order unsettledness sets in. Could this unsettledness be because docility requiring needed intense homework is missing.

Today we need updated wisdom and prudence, an aggiornamento to cope with unimagined complex challenges. If our age is to progress unrelenting questioning minds with the burning desire to study and learn the truth of the matter must lead it. Docility must reign.

“Reverencing Law”

June 19, 2023

On my first day of high school, students were ushered into the auditorium. The rector welcomed us and then held up a small book saying, “This is the rule book, it is not a scourge but a way to make you better students.”

We had rules in our home but not the number of laws that little book contained.

Today our judicial systems are being questioned. Some protestors feel they contain too much power and need overhauling while others feel they are too one-sided.

Throughout history successful civilizations have employed laws to encourage citizens to work together and practice equality. Law united the best legal thinking for producing unity and progress. Those in authority wisely knew “United we stand, divided we fall.”

In our U.S. Supreme Court, a frieze of the Works of Good and Evil faces the justices. On the side of Good Works, Harmony, Truth, and Peace extol the benefits of laws. On the side of Evil Works is Corruption, Deception and Despotic Power, enemies laws must confront.

St. Augustine states one of the fruits of law is order, adding order generates peace, an essential quality of love.

Admiral McRaven, author of the book Make Your Bed speaks of being a Navy Seal in which there was the rule to make your bed first thing every morning. “When you start your morning with your first achievement of the day it often leads to other achievements throughout it,” he believes.

McRaven and Augustine remind us rules are not meant to restrict us but to expand our ability to rule ourselves. Before we are to take command of our duties, it is best to command ourselves first echoing the rule of ascetism which is the exercise in the proper directing of one’s life.

One reason some people dislike rules is feeling they are deprived of freedom. They forget freedom comes with responsibilities, especially the responsibility of serving the common good rules promote. Often despotic power is the result of avarice in which authorities prefer promoting themselves instead of those under their tutelage. History points repeatedly to countries that have been ruined when this happens.

When laws are bypassed, twisted, or downplayed, the result is chaos. Order goes out the window and madness replace it.

In front of the Supreme Court stands a Romanesque statue of Law and Order. Law and Order go together like a horse and carriage. Intelligently designed laws pull the carriage of order, bringing with them harmony, peace, and love. No, laws are not a scourge, they are a blessing aimed at unifying and freeing us to pursue true progress.

“Unity and Division”

June 9, 2023

Several state flags line the underground railroad leading from the Senate Building to the U.S Capitol reminding us of unity’s significance. South Dakota’s flag reads “Liberty and Unity now and forever, one and inseparable.” Kentucky’s flag contends, “United we stand, divided we fall.”  “Union, justice and confidence” adorns Louisiana’s flag.

Thanks to President Dwight Eisenhower our U.S. Pledge of Allegiance ending in One Nation Under God reflects the nation’s desire to be one with God. And then there is congressman and senator Henry Clay “The Compromiser” who employed compromise to defuse sectional crises and unite political parties. Throughout the U.S. Capitol’s governance unity is hailed the bedrock of our country.

Religious liturgies worldwide exhort us to be one as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one likewise.

Why focus on unity’s significance? It is because selfish divisions often destroy unified progress, community spirit while spawning hate, and violence.

What is behind destructive division most?

In the U.S. Supreme Court main court room an ivory frieze containing the works of good, and evil gives us the answer. Peace, harmony, and truth are among the good works. Among the evil works are corruption, deception, and despotic power. When peace, harmony and truthfulness are threatened it is often because of corrupt leaders who are greedy and lust for power using dishonesty to keep it. Solon, the great lawmaker of Athens warned that the folly of avarice and greed was the cause of a city’s ruin.

Lack of docility is another reason for division.

German philosopher Josef Piper tells us, “No man is altogether self-sufficient in matters of prudence. Docility is of course not the ‘docility’ and the simple-minded zealousness of the ‘good pupil.’ Rather, what is meant is the kind of open-mindedness which recognizes the true variety of things and situations to be experienced and does not cage itself in any presumption of deceptive knowledge. What is meant is the ability to take advice, sprung not from any vague ‘modesty,’ but simply from the desire for real understanding which, however, necessary includes genuine humility. A closed mind and know-it-all are fundamentally forms of resistance to the truth of real things.”

Today there is increasing concern about growing divisions threatening progress, peace of mind and democracy. Pogo once said, “We have found the enemy and it is us.” Yes, the enemy is among us: avarice, greed and close mindedness, plagues that are forever threatening unity and harmony. As with any enemy threatening our unity a new postmodern wisdom is needed to address and defeat this sinister folly.

“The Age of Convenience”

May 19, 2023

“You need not come to the Kaiser pharmacy; we can mail your refill which is cheaper.”

The offer of convenience was gracious, but I live only four blocks from the pharmacy.

Convenience comes from the Latin “con venire,” to come together, to be suitable. It is an apt description of today’s services we enjoy. Groceries can now be delivered to our doorstep within hours. I-phones have increased communication significantly. And where would we be without Google? Unimaginable conveniences now allow us to enjoy more leisure. Goodness, however, comes with responsibility and caution as sage quotes remind us.

“Anyone who steps back for a minute and observes our modern digital world might conclude that we have destroyed our privacy in exchange for convenience and false security.” John Twelve Hawks

Hawks reminds us to reflect on the difference between the benefits of convenience and losing precious freedom.

“Too many Christians have a commitment of convenience. They will stay faithful as long as it is safe and does not involve risk, rejection, or criticism. Instead of standing alone in the face of challenge or temptation, they check to see which way their friends are going. Charles Stanley

The underlining message here is wholesome commitment requires longtime dedication.

“Challenge yourself, grow, blossom, and become who you were meant to be. Do not ever stay at a job solely out of convenience or comfort. Aim higher, even if that means pursuing another job that is just one step closer to your ultimate goal.” Carolyn Aronson

How true! Convenience can blind us to what is genuinely good for ourselves.

“Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I do not believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.” Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King reminds us that political convenience can be self-serving and to forget politics is not about seeking personal favors from an elite group but caring for the common good.

“Never get too comfortable there is always room for improvement or replacement.”

Convenience is desirable but over concern for it often stunts growth.

Convenience also possesses a laudatory side. For example, there are scientists who make their life’s work advancing our welfare. Caretakers devote their lives to those needing solace. Lawmakers endeavor to improve justice and equality, and concerned friends look out for what is best for us.

We have inherited a blessed mind and heart for making God’s kingdom on earth its best by creating a suitable, happy life. This is why we are born with blessed intelligence.

“Maintaining a Healthy Heart”

May 13, 2023

Feeling anxious, restless, agitated, and unhappy? If so, you are not alone thanks to troubling times.

One way to understand the meaning of trouble is everything spinning around us out of control. With so many worrying events swarming around us today, how might we follow best Christ’s counsel, “Do not let your heart be troubled?” One answer is to take to heart three of charity’s qualities: beneficence, mercy and almas giving.

Beneficence is big heartedness and doing good for another. Mercy is having a heart for another needing compassion, and alms giving implies a heart going out to another heart in need.

Interestingly St. Thomas Aquinas not only lists the above qualities of charity but identifies vices that oppose them: discord, contention, schism, war, strife, sedition, and scandal.

Even though Aquinas’ writings are centuries old, they apply to today’s distressing events. The present bombardment of these vices we are experiencing are psychological bombshells.

With more frequency, it is common to hear people complain of depression. Some of these people are making off limits disturbing news, other persons are limiting themselves to uplifting events solely, and unfortunately there are some disillusioned persons who have reverted to drinking or drugs due to lack of peace of mind.

In addition to charity as an antidote for uncomforting times, there is a need for stronger postmodern justice. The first principle of justice is we are social beings created with responsibility for others. It reminds us to put aside selflessness and to be concerned for others, to shun a false self solely concerned with “me,” “mine,” “I” and to develop our true essential self. It means taking to heart the ancient Chinese proverb “The fewer interests a person has the more powerful he or she is.” Here we can add the power needed for a resilient postmodern heart.

When I was disturbed by shocking news, my Italian grandfather would sing out “Uh fa” meaning get over your narrow selfish concerns. He would then add, “The Bible contains numerous stories of troubling times. They happened in the past, are happening now and will happen after we are gone. Do not let them shorten your life or outreach to others, let life begin anew for yourself and others.”

St. Francis de Sales would add “Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” Yes, keep strong the inner peace needed to be at peace.

“Reflecting on Mass Media”

May 1, 2023

“What we are dealing with is a false idea of human communication that underpins many of our failed attempts to enter into communication with another. Such a false vision does not err by defect . . . Rather, it errs from excess. It desires too much; it wants what human communication cannot give. It wants everything right now; it wants fundamental mastery over and possession of another. For this reason, it is profoundly in error, even though at first glance it seems splendid and attractive.”

In 1994 Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, S.J. made the above observation in Communicating Christ to the World. [Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, MO]

He further observed “If we examine the phenomenon that ought to serve as a primary social bond, namely, the means of mass communication, we see that these seem to have long ago abdicated their true function to become sounding boards, even amplifiers of every kind of conflict, even interpersonal. From the tabloids and scandal-sheets to analysis of important political phenomena, the language and tone of the vehicles of mass communication (radio, dailies, weeklies, television) are always attempting to stir up strong and exciting sensations so as to “market” more news reports better than their competitors. The situation becomes more worrisome when the “sounding boards” are apparently bound up to powerful and hidden interests. Building on the sensational, calculating which details will stir up desire, disgust, or pity, the media generate an inflation of feelings that, at the same times, requires ever more electrifying emotional stimuli.”

“From all this, a troubling question emerges: At what point do these rationales of communication begin to shape and complicate personal communication?”

On this same note, Fr. Romano Guardini foresaw “man acquiring more power over man, an even profounder influence over him physically, intellectually, spiritually. Take, for example unscrupulous psychological media manipulations aimed at twisting minds on what is or is not truthfulness or duping unthinking persons to “get-it-now-don’t deny-yourself” that leads to unending debt.”

These dangers led Guardini to caution “the spirit is weaker than we think.”

This being true, what postmodern strategies does the public need to maintain a strong spirit?

One suggestion is to “go solitary” to be one with self, to sharpen our contemplative edge, and to strengthen our interior life. If we are to conquer undesirable outside dangers, we must first go inside and conquer self. Implied is contacting our center (our conscience) that prompts us to embrace the moral imperative to take decisive action.

Note the caveats and dangers in today’s mass media: excessiveness, the complication of personal communication, a weakened spirit, duped, twisted minds, and becoming a victim of “unending debt.”

According to Guardini, contacting our center translates getting a firm hold on self, taking command, controlling appetites, shutting out the outside and being one within self. Using an image from St. Paul interiority encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on the finish line. In our age of mass media, we are in a moral war fighting to do what ought to be done, namely, achieving the good for our wellbeing.

It is mass media offers many worthwhile offerings. However, it could be better balanced by raising questions like what the ratio is between persons who are adversely affected psychologically by mass media to those who are not? What the ratio is of people viewing time-wasting programs to those who prudently measure what is worth their time. What the ratio is of non-productive hours spent by young children to hours that are productive.

Mass media is the new kid on the block and like a young kid it needs sound upbringing to become a wise adult.

“Cherishing Multiculturalism”

April 26, 2023

I am an American brought up in an Italian, Irish environment and blessed to have had wonderful friends of varying nationalities: Venetian, African American, Mexican American, and of Polish and German heritage. The multicultural experiences propelled me into understanding a wider world than mine and the vast treasures it contains.

I visited my grandmother’s farm in Ireland and learned of the potato famine, and brutal hostilities during it that wiped out much of the Irish population. Those who survived attributed it to their faith in God.

While cycling through Germany it was common to enjoy discussions on world events and especially trying to understand dealing with our nuclear age.

My African American friend taught me firsthand the dreadful effects of racism that he had experienced personally.

My Italian mother schooled me in the Italian saying “uh fa” which translates bury the hatchet, life is too short to spend on foolish resentments. My grandfather who had little schooling was a shepherd in the mountains of Italy. Being at his side taught me wisdom no book could teach.

Polish classmates not only possessed beautiful sounding names but were comrades possessing inspiring work ethics.

When designing a study on Hispanics, I visited Fr. Joe Fitzpatrick, S.J. head of the sociology department at Fordham University. As we compared notes, he commented, “Gene the Hispanic is not only on our doorstep, but also in our homes. I worry about what will happen to the next generation as they Americanize.”   

Most Americans have immigrant backgrounds who came to America seeking opportunity and hopes of a bright future. Unfortunately, some Americans have forgotten their immigrant roots or are not interested in lauding them. Sadder is the backlash against multiculturalism by narrow-minded people who espouse White Supremacy, Neo-Nazism and similar movements that are creating a wave of antisemitism, anti- Asian, African American racism, and sentiments leading to violence.

Fr. Fitzpatrick observed, multiculturalism is here to stay and is growing exponentially. Not only this, but during our study of Hispanics the National Conference of Bishops was quick to point out multiculturism embellishes America life. Immigrants are part of the work forces in medicine, science, the arts, architecture, and the construction business to name a few.

When Solon the Great Lawmaker ruled Athens, he saw avarice as the primary danger to the life of a sound social community. We see how true this is when we reflect on corrupt governments in which those in authority held onto prominence and their power with an iron fist. To maintain this hold on power pseudo ideologies were devised to justify their greed creating narrow sightedness that changed places with far sightedness.

As is usual, accepting multiculturalism requires change and dying to revered ways. Saint Pope John XXIII knew this but also foresaw changing times and the need for aggiornamento --- an updating --- a need to examine old ways of thinking and adjust them for our postmodern times. [As Pope John met with resistance then and today that resistance persists.]

William Shakespeare said, “Knowledge maketh a bloody entrance.” Yes, applying knowledge to refashion the status quo can be difficult. And too there is always resistance to leaving one’s comfort zone. Albert Einstein would remind us, however, “Change is the measure of intelligence.” Change often requires courage and in our case a postmodern new breed of courage which Fr. Romano Guardini sees as “Having confidence required for living with a view to the future, for acting, building, assuming responsibilities and forming ties. For, despite our precautions, the future is in each case the unknown. But living means advancing into this unknown region, which may lie before us like a chaos into which we must venture.” Multiculturalism is here to stay, prompting us to appreciate its potential and rich opportunities.

“Achieving Peaceful Tranquility”

April 19, 2023

“In memory all things are kept distinct and according to kind. Each is brought in through is own proper entrance; as light and all colors and bodily shapes through the eyes; all variety of sound through the ears; all odors by the portal of the nostrils; all tastes by the portal of the mouth; and by the sense diffused throughout the whole body, what is hard, what is soft, what is hot or cold, smooth or sharp, heavy or light, whether outside or inside the body. The great cave of memory. . .”

St. Augustine’s lauding the awesomeness of our portals is an inspiring means for making us conscious of their importance. Let us look at questions that cause us to be more appreciative of them.

How conscious are we in directing our eyes away from that which is injurious to our wellbeing? One result of today’s hyped-up media is to create titillating curiosity. Scandal mongering, lurid images of violence, pornography, and myriads of tantalizing images now bombard our memory at the speed of light.

Given this assault on our eyes, St. Augustine would implore us to take time to assess unsuitable images assaulting our eyes and to reflect on the uncomfortable tenseness they cause.

People with whom I serve often say they no longer watch the news because of the uneasiness it creates. If this rise in stress is true, are not our times challenging us to check the input our eyes are experiencing and whether it is doing us a service or harm? As they peer out of their portals how much thought is given to the sacred use for which they are meant, a God-given sacred use?

Undoubtedly, we live in an age of better nutrition. But it is also an age of junk food that tempts our appetites. True, our food is improving in quality making it more delicious. However, we need to ask, is this what really counts? The portal of the mouth is the highway to our bead of life. As wonderful as is our bread of life appetite, it has responsibilities. When used improperly it can be the downfall of our wellbeing. It is true we are now valuating the food we eat, but how much do we value the use of the mouth to moderate it?

The same holds true regarding the portal of our ears. It is not an exaggeration to say we live in an environment of maximum loudness manipulated to heighten our attention. And too, the cleverly crafted words used in commercialism are forever tempting us to get it now do not deprive yourself. True these are the times we live in but is the affront on our ears going too far? Do we need to turn down the volume needed to maintain mental and physical health? And, too, do we need to see through manipulated sound bites aimed at getting us to buy? As with all our portals they come with the responsibility to control what we hear.

It is easy to take our portals for granted, to just let them be. Why, then, be so overly concerned about their use?

It is because they contain the doorway to peace.

St. Thomas Aquinas defines peace as “tranquility of order.” Putting ourselves in better order is the epitome of achieving peace. When applied to our portals the better we order them the more opportunity for achieving peace. And what better place for this to happen than to employ them to increase a fit life by making them peacemakers par excellence.

“Understanding Freedom”

April 4, 2023

Reminders of freedom abound throughout our U.S. Capitol. Take for example colorful flags that adorn the underground train that goes from the Senate building to the Capitol. Vermont’s Freedom and Unity, Massachusetts’ By the sword we seek peace, but Peace only under Liberty, and Pennsylvania’s Virtue, Liberty, and Independence.

Above the east entrance of the U.S. Capitol Liberty stands in the middle of a woman leaning on an anchor depicting hope and a woman holding the scales of justice symbolizing the hope of liberty is justice. Everywhere on Capitol Hill, reminders exist of freedom being the basis of our democracy.

In the book Habits of the Heart, Individualism and Commitment in American Life, Robert Bellah and associates state Americans’ greatest desire is freedom, but when they get it, they do not know what to do with it. This leads us to ask what is the essence of freedom and how is it maintained best?

Thanks to God’s love, all of God’s creatures are blessed with the gift of freedom that allows them to initiate when so desired, decide what to embrace or not embrace and to enjoy freedom’s awesomeness.

Freedom comes with responsibility. A cherished virtue in Greek history is Aidos meaning to possess a sense of duty. Freedom comes with obligations the first being its duty to serve the common good and practice its moral imperatives.

Why is freedom difficult to practice? It is because external addictions hinder it. For example, tempting commercialism leading to bankruptcy, greed, pornography, alcoholism, avarice, depression, and chronic illness. How, then, do we contend best with these afflictions?

As ironic as it may sound it is through solitude.

Solitude enables us to be myself with myself alone. It assists us in establishing a center, an interior life that enables us to come face to face with the forces and tensions that interrupt our freedom, to look in the eye foes of freedom.

Recovering alcoholics or drug addicts tell us they regained their freedom by coming to grips with themselves and becoming interior. The same holds true for those afflicted with psychological and physical problems. Going inside self is the first and most beneficial place to face the truth of what exactly is ailing our freedom.

The road to recovery is often difficult requiring a strong spirit of asceticism. This does not suggest becoming a monk or fasting. The Greek word askesis for asceticism means directing one’s life in the right direction. In the case of freedom, it translates digging down deep into our interior life to penetrate and alleviate that which is afflicting freedom. It implies taking hold of the direction our life is taking.

It is no exaggeration to say many people do not know what to do with freedom once they have it. And, too, it is easy to take it for granted and overlook our interior life’s role in keeping it healthy.

“Wholesome Dialogue”

March 29, 2023

Over the last years there has been a shift in communication in which people are talking at each other vociferously rather than talking with each other as companions. Sad to say bad deportment in speech is becoming too common.

A vital ingredient of our life is dialogue. When misused or missing horrific disasters often follow. This leads us to ask, what are the fundamental qualities of dialogue needed for its wholesomeness?

In the Encyclical Ecclesia Suam Saint Pope Paul VI gives us three characteristics foremost for dialogue.

First, “Clearness above all. Dialogue supposes and demands comprehensibility, it must enlist apostolic care to review every angle of our language to guarantee that it be understandable, acceptable, and well-chosen.” Simply put clearness implies an all-out effort to be as comprehensible and compatible as possible when dialoguing. It also implies sound rhetoric.

Seventeenth-century rhetorician Mary Astell states. “The design of rhetoric “Is to remove those prejudices that lie in the way of truth, to reduce the passions to the government of; to place our subject in right light and excite our hearers to a due consideration of it.”

Twisted ideas, half-truths, and the absence of being straight forward are the scourge of fruitful dialogue. This occurs when deviousness is employed to use unclearness to take advantage of another person. Interestingly, the synonyms for obfuscation are smoke screening, muddling, and clouding much of which we are experiencing in today’s public arena. To paraphrase Native American wisdom, shoot with a straight arrow and speak not with forked tongue.

A second principle of dialogue is meekness. “It is not proud,” Pope Paul IV states. “Its authority is intrinsic to the truth. It is not a command. It is not an imposition. It is peaceful. It avoids violent methods. It is patient. It is generous.”

Here we are reminded that pride comes before the fall. When meekness falls so does humility, peacefulness, and truth. Walled off is the pure of heart needed for heart-to-heart dialogue.

Trust is the third principle of dialogue. Pope Paul IV reminds us “fruitful dialogue depends not only in the power of words, but also in an attitude of welcoming the trust of the interlocutor. Trust promotes confidence and friendship. It binds hearts in mutual adherence to the good which excludes all self-seeking.”

The renowned philosopher Martin Buber would add trust is the glue of an I-thou relationship, two persons united with each other: true friendship par excellence needed for fruitful dialogue. Open healthy dialogue is achieved primarily when those engaged in it are selfless and deeply concerned for the common good and the respect of the person engaged in it. No matter whether dialogue is between those of different languages, cultures, beliefs, and ideologies, its purpose is to make an all-out effort to understand and connect with each other.

Difficult to achieve? Definitely! But as the Book of Proverbs prompts us, “Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you.” And too, understanding needs suffering for growth, and suffering needs understanding to be meaningful. Marie Curie would add, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is to be understood.” As being clear and understandable are required, so too, is openness crucial to healthy dialogue.

Today dialogue is at a crossroads between those who respect and cherish it to achieve peace and progress and those who exploit it leading to confusion, violence, and lack of trust.

“What is Happening to Privacy?”

March 13, 2023

What is one meaning behind Jesus telling the apostles to say nothing after experiencing the Transfiguration?

Christ’s admonition connotes reverence which translates keeping the sacred moment to themselves. When a person engages in an astonishing experience there is the temptation to tell others. This is normal and it also normal to seek personal attention and notoriety and to say, “Look who I know, what I experienced, and how I am part of his or her inner circle.” Tell no one is the antidote to seeking self-prominence.

What is reverence?

The German word for reverence is ehrfurcht, combining the words of honor and fear. Fear of which we speak does not fight or flee, but forbids obtrusiveness, keeps one at a distance, does not permit the breath of one’s own being to touch another. When Christ says tell no one implied is the apostles be silent and keep a dignified moment dignified. Leave the moment alone in its pristine sacredness.

Reverence also prompts us to create spiritual space in which we step back from another, not crowding him or her, but allowing them their rightful freedom. [Divorces I process often are the result of one or other party violating the principle of “keeping respectful distance.” When this infringement happens so does domination over another occur.]

Reverence further reminds us to respect those who possess greatness, but it likewise implores us to respect the defenseless, the inexperienced, the weak, the suffering and afflicted in the way following Christ’s example of reverencing the downtrodden, and physically suffering. Inspiring scenes in Christ’s life exist in which he politely restores their wellbeing in privacy.

Today hyped-up publicity and disrespect of privacy are on the march; a mania to devalue that which is revered; a greed for sensation which finds an odious pleasure in unveiling, stripping, causing shame and confusion. Behind this disrespect are techniques for making assaults on privacy possible, money, newspapers, magazines, films, and television. More disturbing are data banks containing personal information that are being utilized legitimately or broken into unlawfully for character assasination. Disrespect for the personal, intimate, and confidential has reached a  new appalling level.

Turning to prayer life we usually find only petition or thanks, less frequently praise; adoration scarcely ever appear. Why point this out and what has it to do with reverence? In adoration we are made aware of my Lord, we stand before God and are grateful for being God’s creature. In adoration we are prompted to direct our hearts and minds totally to the holy one, to revere God with our very being. Most importantly we focus more on God and more away from ourselves. It is normal and proper to petition God for our needs. Reverence on the other hand prompts us step away from our needs and to concentrate on the Almighty that God is solely.

“Tell no one” appears to be so simple and yet when closely analyzed it speaks to an disturbing age that hungers for publicity and is indiscrete in keeping privacy sacred. Tell no one, stay quiet, preserve the dignity of the moment, and keep the sacred moment sacred contain a formula our times could practice more of.

“The Grand Inquisitor”

March 1, 2023

Looking for an intriguing dialogue on the three temptations Christ endured with the devil? If so, read The Grand Inquisitor’s chapter in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s book The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky considered the temptations as possessing the greatest influence ever on the future of the world and humanity. He also states no force than their force exists, and intimates singling them out as pivotal to life’s future is divine inspiration.

In the first temptation the devil tries to coax Christ into changing stones into bread. If achieved all of humankind will run after him. Christ will be the bread winner of the world thus making him a formidable power.

When the Ukraine war started there was concern its grain production would decrease. Ukraine produces much of the world’s grain and countries like Africa depend on it to avoid starvation. Choosing bread as an instrument of temptation pictures it as a mighty symbol of world power.

Christ counters: “Man does not live by bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Implied is God gifted us with a conscience --- his voice within us --- to enable us to freely decide between good and evil. What good is bread since it deteriorates? Living God’s word, however, possesses the means for achieving eternal life. Bread may sound enticing; more enticing, however, is God’s words that lead to eternity.

Due to growing bizarre behaviors today there is a feeling some of those who govern are losing their conscience. The line between wrong and right is blurred making us like a ship without a compass sailing the seas blindly devoid of moral direction. Making God’s words the center of our conscience is wanting.

The devil next tempts Christ to throw himself down from the parapet of the temple and angels will save him. Christ counters: “Scripture also says you must not put your God to the test.”

Christ’s counter prompts us to turn to the meaning of fear of the Lord. The fear of which we speak is not fright and terror but respect. It reminds us that God so loved us that God shared God’s love in creating us. With God’s love also comes the duty to possess a reverential awe in which we never let ourselves feel equal to God.

The history of civilizations reveals most of them revered gods. They realized someone bigger than they existed in the beyond and bowed their heads.

As we grow as a secular society there is a tendency to be distant from God to be politically correct and to shed so-called medieval religion. And as we make giant leaps in science some people feel there is no need for God since science will solve our problems. This secularism leads us to contend today’s secular-minded society is testing God by putting him out of the picture in our lives.

The devil finally tempts Christ with Caesar’s sword that symbolizes world conquest, and the desire to become a world ruler.

Here we especially see why Dostoevsky envisions the temptations a danger to the future of the world and humanity. Why the temptation to conquer that causes millions of innocent deaths? Why an insatiable desire to dominate? Why greed? Could this be why the very first temptation is envisioned as the culprit of all unlawful temptations?

Dostoevsky was right is noting no wisdom could have been invented with the depth and force equal to the power of the meanings within the three temptations. They contain destructive powers for destroying a healthy world and humanity, destructive powers Christ came to teach us how to conquer. 

“Torn in Too Many Directions Simultaneously”

February 27, 2023

Feeling out of sorts and experiencing an elevated level of anxiety? If so, time to check on what is entering our minds routinely. For example, round-the-clock news about political conflicts, Ukraine war, worldwide disturbances, and unpredictable destructive weather. Then there are candy coated commercials tempting us unceasingly. And too, the growing pharmacy industry has entered a new postmodern phase forever pushing improved remedies for illnesses we never knew existed that also contain dangerous side effects. Equally disturbing is the world of media commentators who are more opinionated than less factual and the deterioration of inspiring rhetoric.

We have entered a new age of mindlessness that is tearing apart our psyche.  Many in society now aware of the damage are divorcing themselves from the media in hopes of moving on to a more peaceful life. Unfortunately, our minds cannot always move on and when overly distressed depression and acute anxiety follow. What then does this age of mindlessness require of us to maintain our balance?

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “Concentration is the secret of strength.” In this adage we are reminded mental strength is generated by centering our thinking, shoring up its powers and taking a stand against being torn in multiple directions. Wherein do we find this implied strength?

In Power and Responsibility author Romano Guardini writes, “Before all else, man’s depths must be reawakened. His life must again include times, his day moments of stillness in which he collects himself, spreads out before his heart the problems which have stirred him during the day. In a word, man must learn again to meditate and to pray. . . He must step aside from the general hustle and bustle; must become tranquil and really “there,” opening his mind and heart wide to some word of piety or wisdom or ethical honor, whether he takes it from Scripture or Plato, from Goethe or Jeremias Gotthelf . . . Only an attitude this deeply grounded in truth can stand against the forces around us.

Roman philosopher Seneca once wrote “Healthy body, healthy mind.” Today it is the other way around: “Healthy centeredness, heathy mind, healthy contemplative edge, sharper mind.” 

“Getting Power Over Undesirable Powers”

February 16, 2023

Modernity’s powers governing our democracy are numerous, including the press, the mass media and means of communication, cybernetic power, commercial power, banking and finance power, trade power, genome power, and nano power.

These powers are creating a new world view and the way we treat daily life. Positively they promise enormous possibilities for progress. Negatively they contain the fear of self-destruction. Whether negative or positive, they are pointing us to the need of newly reconstituted asceticism.

When asceticism is mentioned in today’s parlance a common response is to dismiss it as restrictive of our freedom and out of date. Why then consider it the hope of the future?

Asceticism is derived from Greek askesis, meaning exercise in the proper directing of our life. One of its lessons for taming modernity’s powers is we first achieve lordship over our self. Courage is required to achieve this conquest. If mass media is endangering our mental stability and especially jeopardizing our children’s thinking asceticism dictates that we devise wise means for countering this. The wisdom of which we speak is considering the primary causes in decision making, what is the ultimate bottom line causing this or that effect? If the media is atrocious why is this so? Are we ingesting too much violence, an overload of negativism, untruthfulness, a bombardment of commercialism and frivolous entertainment? The epitome of asceticism is to go on the offensive and unearth that which is preventing us from developing an appropriate life.

Ironically, when we are confronted with enormous undesirable powers we tend to fall back on self-pity and emphasize our inabilities to control them. “We are poor little lambs.”

Equally ironic is to forget we are never all alone, to forget many exemplary people are already in the fight for right. Multitudes of concerned parents, schoolteachers, and public servants are on the firing lines wising up our children. Worried citizens are developing strong voices that ring loudly in their localities.

Modern unwelcomed forces are often the result of well-organized subsidized organizations. To win the day, the very same organizational plan should be employed fighting fire with fire, and creating a counter revolution against the undesirable evolutions of the day.

As asceticism suggests we must master ourselves before addressing the powers mastering us. This exercise is calling for staunch courage to counter the masses and to get off the couch and act.

As a country we are ever so blessed with resources and as a democracy we are ever so empowered  to use them freely to empower ourselves and “overcome all the odds.” 

“What Do Americans Stand For?”

February 13, 2023

On the east side of the U.S. Capitol a frieze inspired by John Henry Adams portrays Liberty in the center surrounded by a woman leaning on an anchor and opposite her a woman holding the scales of justice. It symbolizes that America stands for freedom and championing justice as the means for ensuring its success.

Freedom contains the spirit of sovereignty with which God blessed us. It empowers us to judge, decide and take control of ourselves. Whether or not we embrace it, its spirit is deep-rooted in us deserving utmost reverence.

Freedom is not doing whatever we like; it comes with responsibility. When practiced we are always answerable for its results. A virtue the Greeks highly esteemed is aidos meaning a sense of duty. Freedom comes with a sense of duty prompting us to properly employ it for goodness, excellence, and virtuousness.

Freedom can be used for good or for evil. When it comes to the question “When are we most free?” the answer is, “When it is fundamentally a freedom before God and is employed to promote God’s goodness.”

Maintenance is one of its essentials requiring vigilance and continuous development.  All we need do is recall a favorite team suddenly becoming dispirited and falling apart to realize how quickly spirit can be lost. Its spirit is never to be taken for granted.

Existential philosopher Jasper argues freedom at times can be lost because of itself, “Freedom can be lost by freedom.” This happens when freedom ignores its limits, tunes out its conscience, and fails to reverence its use.

As our national mottos remind us justice is the epitome of American freedom. Of justice St. Thomas Aquinas says, “It not only orders a person in himself or herself but a person together with others.” Justice reaches out beyond the individual person because it is itself the bonum alterious, for the good of another. Justice reminds us we are created as a community that is responsible for the welfare of each other. How then do we stand for true freedom? It is by living a communal life in which the family and the nation organized as a state work together for the common good. Practicing sound freedom is caring for the good of social order. It is concern for those considered society’s insignificant, the immigrant, the war torn, the derelict, neglected and abandoned. It is warmheartedness, kindness, compassion and sympathy that is forever concerned for our brothers and sisters.

Freedom is at its best when we as a community employ it to increase God’s goodness. Yes, we Americans stand for it even to the point of dying for it.

“Allaying Nerve Wracking Challenges”

February 2, 2023

When I woke and looked over at the U.S. Capitol, yet another flag at half-mast was being buffeted in the wind reminding us of yet another horrific tragedy.

Repeatedly the air is being filled with anxieties that are taking a toll on our emotional health and mental balance. Most disturbing is losing faith in humankind and seeing only its evil side. So many inhuman, violent, senseless acts are filling daily life. How do we grapple with dark clouds of despondency that are relentless?

Having lived through numerous wars, recessions, uprisings, and destructive storms, one advantage of being older is knowing even though irreparable damage was caused nothing lasts. We endured extremely difficult times but somehow, we were able to get through them and move on with life. As then how do we get through present times best?

As a youth I remember being filled with acute anxiety over the daily news of our troops being killed. I lived with my grandparents during the war. When I confided to my grandfather how upset I was with the war, and violence he said, “Gini, it is all in the Bible, it happened before, it is happening now, and it will happen again. Behind it all is God’s providence, God’s reason. God knows what God is doing.” Those words of wisdom sunk in and to this day they have helped me get through the disturbing news that bombards us. Life can be very despondent. However, we tend to forget in these moments the reality life is ultimately governed by God’s life. To accept this is faith, seeing our life in the light of God’s life, to rise above mundane darkness and embrace the reality this is God’s world. If so, “Better to light a single candle than curse the darkness.”

This is not to suggest that we put our head in the sand. Rather it suggests we dig deeper into the meaning of God’s providence. The mainspring of God’s direction of the world is God’s love. From the very first pages of the Bible creation is an act of God’s love.  That love never stops but continues throughout history. It reminds us we are members of God’s kingdom and have a coequal responsibility of building it. Good and ill fortune, challenge, and development, and hindrance and destruction as mystifying as these are, are all part of its advancement.

Our faith teaches God’s love is the mainspring of God’s kingdom and the truth, justice, and love for which it stands are inseparable. When they are violated so is the kingdom of God harmed. One way of looking at our distressing times is God is reminding us that evil we are experiencing is God’s way of prompting us to counter it with God’s truth, justice, and love. We are receiving a call to arms, to counter falsehood, inequality, hatred, brutality, and hardness of heart with a loving heart. We are being called to God’s action,

None of us likes waking to yet another atrocity and senseless violence. Instead of cursing the darkness our faith teaches to light a candle, to start the day with a challenge of making God’s kingdom on earth a heavenly kingdom. The first principle of justice is God created us as social beings which carries with it the responsibility of caring for others. No doubt we all know of someone in need. To do just one good deed a day is a wonderful way to keep distressing news at bay. Yes, it is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.

“Bolstering Democracy”

January 23, 2023

Recently Professor Rocco Pezzimenti, chairperson of Economics and Political Science at LUMSA (Rome), sent me his book The Anchors of Democracy. As I reflected on his noting scandalmongering, destructive negativism, wrangling, and intolerance threatening democracy, the thought occurred, “The darkness these evils cause are not fantasies of the mind but are real threats to today’s civil coexistence! Where then do we start to counter them?”

One suggestion of Pezzimenti is “political order has to be continuously willed for when this stops order disintegrates from within at its very will.” Implied is we need to generate stronger, more resilient postmodern courage; the same courage Romano Guardini echoes in his book The End of the Modern World.

“This courage,” Guardini states “must be purer and stronger even then that which man needs to face either atom bombs or bacteriological warfare, because it must restrain the chaos rising out the very works of man. Finally, it will find itself - as true courage always does - opposed by an enemy, the masses, ranged against it in public organizations clotted with catchwords.”

Note how Guardini like Pezzimenti points to the heavy responsibility this implies. The malaise we face is not out there somewhere in the making, it is our making, and it is the charge of everyone, not just the few, to rectify it. 

The word courage refers to having heart; to stand firm, to be stalwart. Today this spirit is seen in the Ukrainians who know what they stand for and are willing to die for freedom. Love of freedom is the singular driving force behind their courage.

Undoubtedly Ukrainian courage is praiseworthy and inspiring, but more so, it reminds us of its immense power to overcome all odds. But is this where we stop on lauding courage or is there something more, something to be added that compliments it? The answer is yes: it is embracing moral imperatives as an essential part of courage.

Emmanuel Kant defines moral imperative as a strongly felt principle that compels a person to act. Saint John Henry Newman furthers this meaning in pointing us to our conscience wherein objective moral truths of God exist. If we are to rule life, God’s life must rule within us.

When God created the world God changed chaos into cosmos. One understanding of the word cosmos is order. Creating order is godly work. Order goes beyond creating harmony and unity. It is a sacred means; a divine instrument God chose to achieve peace on earth. When absent, chaos follows. Sadly, chaos can act like a virus that mutates. As we have experienced, one insurrection or lie never stops once committed but they continue to generate others.

The same law of mutation operates in inspiring order. The more it happens, the more people are inspired to reproduce it.

It is no exaggeration to say that today we need to create a new corps of makers of order, harmonizers who craft productive unity. And what might they look like? The answer is found in synonyms for righteousness: virtuous, decent, possessing integrity, honest, upright, and innocence. Each of these virtues is a moral imperative for promoting sacred order. When practiced the words of Christ come alive: “The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light. On those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.”

“Embracing the Beauty of Selflessness”

January 17, 2023

In 1688 Pierre Mignard painted a beautiful portrait of young John the Baptist. He is wearing an animal skin and sitting on a rock from which water flows. A gazing lamb is behind him. In his right hand he holds a staff with the banner reading “Ecce Agnus Dei” which translates “Look there is the lamb of God.” Upon closer look we see John’s finger pointing away from himself toward Jesus.

As the beginning of Christ’s public life, we learn of adoring crowds surrounding John the Baptist. He could have basked in this notoriety. And yet as Mignard’s portrait symbolizes, he is pointing away from himself creating an image of unselfishness.

One way to understand John the Baptist’s behavior is to see it as an excellent example of unselfishness and what altruism tells us about our true self, the tremendous value of selflessness, and especially its value for our present times. To accomplish this, let us start with a gift we unconsciously practice often. It is the gift of being able to decide and its power to make change. We ask, “What shall I do? This or that?” And finally, we decide, “I shall do that.” In this decision we are empowered to move in one direction or the other.

Note the divine implications here. God has endowed us with freedom to achieve decision making and the power to make change. Turning to John the Baptist he could have decided to embellish his popularity and increased his power in moving crowds. Yet he relinquishes fame, he makes the choice of unselfishness. Upon seeing Christ, he exclaims, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”

Does this diminish John’s fame? Does this mean he is now no longer of use?

By no means! It is just the opposite. To learn why Christ says of him, “No greater prophet exists,” leads us to compare the essence of selfishness with John’s selflessness fame.

As soon as we fix our eyes upon our self, we create a closet in which there are few windows to look out and become part of the bigger picture of life. We are less than the real person we were meant to be by becoming a “self-centered person” whose thinking and actions are stunted. Selfishness not only spawns closed minded, but it secludes us. And too, it is as if we are hording our self.

On the other hand, when we put aside our needs and wants and direct our attention to others, our world expands. We become our true self by being an outgoing generous humane person.

Equally important, we are enabled to enter I-thou relationships more fully in which I am for thou, I am one with thou and thou means most to me. I-thou relationships are the epitome of love at its deepest level and in John’s case his love for Christ.

The scourge of selfishness has existed from the beginning of time. Today is no different, it continues to exist raising the question: “How is it effecting the progress of our postmodern times?” Let us turn to the power to decide to answer this and ask, “In employing it, how much do we reflect that the freedom to decide is a God given gift?” How easy it is to randomly use and take it for granted. How easy it is to realize its preciousness. For example, when we lose our sight or hearing we suddenly realize what a gift we have taken for granted and now lost. This leads us to wonder how better our society would be if it graciously embraced God given gifts.

Equally important, do we realize that these gifts come with responsibility, that we have an obligation to employ our choices for the common good and not our selfish aggrandizement.

Do we realize that when John says he must increase, and I must decrease this is not a pious platitude but a divine rule of life. The preposition for is just that. As Christ died for us, we are obliged to give our life for others.

One of the conundrums of our technical era is the “tutting my horn and the louder the better syndrome!” Unfortunately, it often plays three notes only “me,” “I,” “mine.”  No sweeter music exists than hearing inspiring music of those who sacrifice themselves for others in need. They have always been and are now the backbone of today’s society.

It is no exaggeration to say we could use more John the Baptists who practice their true responsibility of choosing to put self aside and to be at the side of another.

“Speaking with Authority”

January 12, 2023

What enables a person to speak with authority? A recovering alcoholic I once heard answers our question. When he spoke his directness, candidness, honesty, and sincerity resonated authoritative conviction. As he spoke with authority, he especially exemplified the meaning of sincerity.

Sincerity’s derivation goes back to Roman times. Famous senators would often have busts commissioned of themselves. Usually, the marble smoothness was the result of laborious hand polishing. Over time artisans began to shortcut the smoothing process and used wax to coverup flaws. During one of Rome’s hottest summers, behold wax melted exposing the flaws. This caused incensed senators to declare the law “sine cera,” meaning without wax when crafting busts. [Note when these two Latin words come together, they spell sincerity].

When that recovering alcoholic spoke, he did not wax over the evils of addiction. He told them as they were. 

The word authority contains the Greek “auto” meaning true self. A Chinese proverb states, “The less interests we have the stronger we are.” Here we are reminded of the virtue of disinterestedness that reminds us within us lives a false and true self. The false self is the constantly emphasized “I’ and “me” and “mine” which refers everything to its own honor and achievements. To the degree we depart from our self in selflessness we grow into the essential self. One reason the recovering alcoholic spoke with vim was being his real self, no false pretenses, no ego trips, no coverups.

I interviewed a Benedictine monk at St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania that further amplifies our understanding of speaking with authority. He was a longtime friend, but until the interview, I never realized he was a brilliant scripture scholar. When speaking of his love of the Psalms he became radiant; the love of the Psalms had become part of his very soul. As he spoke, it was his heart speaking. He reminded me of the prophets who tell us they do not speak when prophesying, it is God speaking through them. They are God’s mouthpiece. A humble scholar my monk friend was in the service of God’s wisdom and its authority.

During the history of humankind statespersons exuding sincerity, honesty, dedication to the common good and humility have blessed us by speaking with authority as true persons.

“Cherishing True Beauty”

January 9, 2023

“My dear, A soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.

For the world has given up on beauty. It does not believe in fairytales anymore, or happy endings.

So a soul that sees beauty is a soul thought to be insane by the majority. They call it stuck up, delusional, and abnormal – all because it sees something better that it can hold out for.

But, if my words mean anything – hold out for that beauty. Walk alone until you grab it. The pain of walking alone against the stream is worth it.

Falsely yours, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”

Goethe’s thoughts on the soul of beauty encourages us to reflect on its meaning for us and our postmodern age. Let us start with the Greeks and ask how they envisioned it?

For the Greeks beauty consisted in proportionality, symmetry, and harmony. When we look at the statue of Hermes or Venus, we see features which Socrates calls pure. The features flow with a beautiful orderly smoothness.

Plato on the other hand stated beauty cannot be defined. He felt that we had lost its original perfection in the prime years of life and as consequent this left us shot with an arrow of nostalgia, we now long for that which was once a part of that is lost, i.e., the true sense of beauty. He felt the wound of nostalgia was a blessing giving us wings that lift us upward toward the transcendent and a desire for heavenly beauty. For example, we see a beautiful flower, we know it is breathtaking, and we concede only God could make it. Beauty prompts us to transcend the mundane and leap into divine life.

When attending a Bach concert in Germany Joseph Ratzinger [He himself being an excellent pianist and becoming Pope Benedict XVI] was so moved by the concert’s beauty he turned to a friend and uttered, “Its beauty impacted my heart.” Ah yes, Plato was correct, beauty cannot be defined. It is not to be analyzed, dissected, or evaluated. It must be free to touch our vary center. When we are so touched Goethe implores us “Walk alone until you grab it.” 

Does this sound too lofty? If so, it was meant to move us to the beautiful transcendent events of the Christmas season. Throughout it we bathe in beauty, the beauty of God becoming one of us, Mary and Joseph caressing the blessed Christ child and Epiphany which summarizes God’s manifestation to us. God enters the physical world so that we can transcend it and enter heavenly beauty.

Goethe’s comment that the world has given up on beauty points us to an alarming postmodern world illness: the jeopardy of losing our sense of beauty.

After World War II Joseph Ratzinger worried about a loss of beauty. “After Auschwitz, he wrote, “it was no longer possible to write poetry; it was no longer possible to speak of God who is good. People wondered where God was when the gas chambers were operating?” . . .” What is most damaging to a sense of beauty is the scourge of falsehood, seduction, violence and evil.” 

We must wonder how a more joyful life would exist if only we realized the beauty of a God who cared so deeply for us, a God who became one of us and taught us how to live a more beautiful life. 

We must wonder how many suicides and persons suffering from depression could have enjoyed a healthier existence had they felt true beauty in their lives.

We must wonder how much anxiety would be lower if we woke each morning and realized the blessed beauty of our world: its planets and harmonious laws of nature that insure life. We plant, then comes the rains and sun and seasons that sustain life. Albert Einstein once remarked God’s greatest miracle was sharing God’s harmony with us.

To imbibe in the beauty of the Christmas season is to walk alone until we grab its true beauty. The pain of walking alone against the streams of violence, evil, discord and darkness is worth it.

“An Uplifting Way to Start 2023”

January 2, 2023

The Johnson Wax administration building constructed in 1936 in Racine, Wisconsin is the rarest of modern buildings. It is as much a total work of art as are the cathedrals of Europe.

Its architect was Frank Lloyd Wright who designed virtually everything in it. Among its most striking features are the columns which look like narrow stemmed wine glasses turned upside down with their bases supporting the ceiling. The ceiling space between the columns is covered by on giant skylight. The effect is one of airy, natural brightness.

Atriums add to the spaciousness of the building as does the design of furniture. Desks and chairs have no sharp pointed edges. All the furniture is rounded, creating a free-flowing environment.

Wright though the building worthy of this supreme orchestration because he believed that the workplace need not be mundane. He wrote that the building was to be “as inspiring a place to work in as any cathedral ever was in which to worship.”

Wright also wanted to remove the box effect found in most architecture. He believed a building should fit into its surrounding environment, capture light, and allow for free movement.

Studying Wright’s architecture and thinking about his philosophy inspired me to pass on an uplifting idea for making 2023 a delight.

Most of us would deny emphatically that we are architects because we haven’t designed anything, much less a building. Yet we are architects, responsible for creating a special environment whenever we are with others. As some young people might put it, we always “give off vibes,” and that influences the environment around us.

When we are happy, we tend to lift spirits and release pent-up frustrations in others who may be all boxed in by them.

When we are concerned about another’s feelings or ideas, we tend to create an atmosphere of sympathy and a sense of togetherness which diminishes the sharp, pointed edges of a problem. We free up the situation and help things to flow better once again.

With the sort of detachment that removes any overemphasis on ourselves or on “me” we create more open space around us in which we are freed to reach out more fully to others.

It is my 2023 wish you will think more of yourself as an architect and artist.

May this lead you to create atmospheres of joy that others will rejoice in.

May you be an inspiration to others. And may you be blessed with the vision to create wholesome spaces that allow for freedom of movement and reflect life at its best.