Where are you going?

On Saturday, I participated in a retreat at the Catholic Theological Union. The retreat focused on the theme of "calling." More specifically, we reflected on the times that we heard God calling us to something greater than who/what/where we were at the time. This can be a life-altering theme for anyone.

During the retreat we were asked important questions, such as; Where are you? What direction is your life headed? What has God called you to? Who are you? What do you desire? What questions do you struggle with?

All of these questions challenge us to take a good look at ourselves. Why are we attending the schools that we do? Why are we working the jobs that we are? Why are we in relationships with that we are in? How did we get here? Is this where we intended to be?

We can't just meander through life without asking ourselves these important questions. It's hard to know if you're where God wants you if you can't remember where God asked you to go.

There is a mural here in Hyde Park underneath the Metra station at 56th and Lake Park. The title of the mural is "Where are you going?" The mural depicts many diverse different people (presumably people who were interviewed at that very station) and places next to them an answer to this very important question. One young man says "I can't afford to live where I work, so I live here and ride the train to work everyday." An old woman says "I have a friend who lives in this neighborhood, one of my few friends, I come here to spend time with her." Another man says "I come to look for my friend, an illegal immigrant, who works in this neighborhood."

Mural, with artist Olivia Gude

None of the captions is very long but each of them reveals something profound about the person they are attached to.

Similarly, answering these questions about our call by God- namely, where am I going and why?- can reintroduce us to ourselves and set our moving back in the right direction.

So, where are you going? Peace turtles!

I am an awkward turtle...

I gave the URL for this blog to someone the other day and he responded "good for you, we need people to challenge the Church." (meaning the Catholic Church to which I belong). Maybe the name suggests something other than was intended... so let me explain.

I'm trying to walk this incredibly difficult road toward Sainthood. To be honest, it is often overwhelming. That is where the image of an awkward turtle comes in. People always say things like "don't worry about falling, it's getting back up that matters most," to which I would like to reply "but I have this hard shell to carry around, it's not that easy to lift!" Hence, this blog and it's readers are a Church of Turtles... perhaps Church FOR Turtles would have been a better name.

I've begun participating in a great shell-shedding adventure that involves being part of a lay formation program at the Catholic Theological Union while I am studying for a degree in Divinity. I am not a priest, nor do I aspire to be one. The formation program at CTU is similar to that experienced by our religious brothers and sisters and I study along side members of our many numerous spiritual traditions.

I also live in Hyde Park, Chicago which is a focal point of religious education for many faith traditions here in the United States. Many of my posts come from my experiences here at CTU and the people that I come in contact with in the neighborhood.

I write this blog first for purely personal reasons... it forces me to think and reflect. Second, I write it in the hopes that other "back wobblers" may read it and be inspired by it.

My apologies to anyone who comes expecting some ultra-progressive commentary on the Catholic Church, you won't find it here. I don't deny that the Church has problems, I just don't feel the need to commentate on them.

Peace turtles!

Frater Graham

For those of you who are interested in knowing more about my friend Graham, the Norbertine novice living in a hermitage here in Chicago (although some hermits may take exception to this statement), he now has a blog where he writes about his experiences in religious life.

It's a fascinating blog, I've read the whole thing.

Don't miss his poetic language and attention to every artistic detail... he talks like that in real life... it is not a scheme to make religious life sound any different than he is really experiencing it.

For those of us who have not experienced life in a religious community, Graham does a great job of communicating his joys (and soon sorrows, he assures me) on the blog.

www.norbertine.wordpress.com

Peace turtles!

Gender Inclusive Language

I in no way want to imply that woman have not gotten the short-stick when it comes to naming things. For example, masculine pronouns are attached to God... and women get... cars, boats and airplanes. For this reason, I support the use of gender inclusive language when referring to the theoretical human person, humanity and God.

However, I witnessed something shocking today as I was doing my homework. An author had placed a large quotation of Karl Rahner in her thesis paper and had replaced all masculine words with gender-inclusive words in brackets (which was fine). She had been so copious in applying these brackets that they appeared in almost every sentence of the quotation...

...until...

...Rahner made a reference to the devil. All of the sudden the author stopped replacing masculine pronouns and adjectives with gender-inclusive words. It appeared as though the author wanted to show that while God and humanity should be portrayed as gender-ambiguous, EVIL on the other hand is surely masculine.

I mean... people call God 'mother' and 'she' all of the time, but "Princess of Darkness?" I've never heard that one.

It's not even that the author would have had to edit the text to make the devil feminine, because she was changing everything masculine to make it inclusive; hence "his" became "one's" and him became "person," etc. So why not continue that editing trend and apply it to all transcendent beings?

Oh well, maybe I've just bitten off more than I can chew.

Pray for Your Friends

I know this may sound like very basic advice, but don't forget to pray for your friends.

I have a friend who's going through a pretty rough time right now. I've taken time each day to either pray the Rosary for him or lift up petitionary prayers. What an intimate thing; to lay down a loved one before the Lord! I have no idea how God is answering these prayers but I can feel the Spirit working!

Also, I live in a residence community of students. I am very close to the people in the building and I have begun saying a little blessing for all of them each night before I go to sleep. Nothing very specific or special, just asking God to hold all of us close.

For all of those times we cannot make it on our own... it's nice to know that there are people looking our for us. Peace turtles!

Remember that saint you chose?

I received the Sacrament of Confirmation when I was twelve years old. There are just some things that a twelve year old cannot appreciate... like the beauty of choosing a Saint to model your life after.

The Saint that I chose was Alexander. I chose him because I had always wished that my parents had named me Alexander instead of Chris. I had no devotion to St. Alexander and really hadn't done any research about him.

Looking back, there were so many that I wish I would have chosen; John Bosco, Pio, Maximillian Kolbe, John the Baptist, Aloysius Gonzaga, Dominic Savio. But alas... I did not choose these names, I chose Alexander.

The other day someone asked me what my Confirmation name was and I told them this same story. Afterward, I felt called to look up some information about St. Alexander (basically, I wanted to introduce myself after having used his name for over a decade). I was amazed at how much I was able to identify with St. Alexander. It was almost like God had known that I would find conviction of belief in Alexander's example but was just to young to appreciate it yet.

Here is some biographical information about St. Alexander for anyone that is interested:

St. Alexander

Feastday: March 18

St. Alexander, Bishop and Martyr. Alexander was a student with Origen at the famous Christian school of Alexandria in the late second century. He became bishop of Cappadocia and during the persecution of Severus was imprisoned for several years (204-211). Following his release from prison, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was proclaimed coadjutor bishop there in the year 212. Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, censured Alexander for participating in the ordination of Origen and for encouraging Origen to teach in churches while still a layman. Despite this, Alexander received Origen in exile. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Alexander developed a great theological library. During the persecution of Decius, he was seized and again imprisoned. After making a public confession of faith, he was condemned and thrown to the wild beasts, but they refused to attack him. Alexander was then taken to Caesarea where he died in chains in the year 251. The Church recognizes him as a martyr. St. Alexander, despite his great learning and important ecclesiastical positions, was known as an individual of great mildness, especially in his sermons. When put to the test during two persecutions, he remained steadfast in faith and was willing to suffer death for the Faith.

Today when we are criticized by friends and society for the moral tenets of our Faith, St. Alexander is a prime example of how we should stand fast in the face of ridicule and ostracism.

A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken

Sometimes God just throws things at us. That is exactly what He has done to me with this book. I got an e-mail from a book club announcing it was their assigned reading, I was asked by two separate friends if I had read it and it miraculously was returned to our library that same day. Needless to say, I began reading it right away.

It is a rare thing to find a book that melts your heart and challenges you to love more deeply than you knew was possible. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken has been that book for me.

This is the story of Sheldon and Jean (Davy) Vanauken. They met and developed a love stronger than most of us may ever know. The book follows their lives through youth, Pearl Harbor, Oxford, a friendship with C.S. Lewis, illness and the tragedy of lost love. This heroic journey of love taught Sheldon important lessons about the Severe Mercy of our God and his poetic writing communicates those timeless truths to his readers.

While reading this book I was shaken, I was challenged, I experienced great joy and I cried my eyes out. I cannot give a higher recommendation of anything else to read. No further description from me could express how valuable I found this book.

Keep me posted if anyone decides to read it, I would love to discuss it with some of you!

Papal Wisdom #1- Charity and Justice

Relationship Between Charity and Justice

This won’t be easy for some to swallow- and I don’t claim to practice this perfectly in any way- but here goes:

In section 6 of his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict speaks of the relationship between Charity and Justice.

Justice is what leads us to give to another what is rightfully his or hers based upon their being (dignity) and sometimes their actions (work). Thus, there can be no Charity where there is no Justice.

We cannot consider something ‘ours’ if it should rightfully belong to someone else. For example, if I have enough water for two people and you are going to die of thirst, it would be unjust to deny you a full ration of the water. However, there would be no authentic Charity in this action because I would only be giving you the water I did not need… sacrificing nothing and changing my own circumstances in no measurable way.

Charity is when, out of love, we give something that is rightfully ours to someone else. If I only had enough water for myself but shared with you anyway- that would be Charity.

Too often when we say we are being “charitable” we are really only giving our EXCESS to the poor. That would be Justice- not Charity.

This is somewhat of an overwhelming challenge. First, we must establish justice by giving away every excess that we have (because, by right, they belong to someone else anyway). Second, we should continue to give, out of love, from what we have to those who remain in need.

Think… pray… act. Peace turtles!