A Sinner's Prayer

What, oh lord, could I do to make you rejoice?

On Evangelism and Enculturation

A hefty portion of the literature on the New Evangelization has mentioned the method of acculturation or inculturation (variant spellings of enculturation). To be sure, the call to witness is primary in beginning any evangelization activity, however, there are a variety of ways that do this well, and others that surely do not.

In light of today's gospel text and some recent political news, I'd like to offer a brief reflection.

This past Tuesday, Kansas State Legislature passed a bill concerning religious freedom and marriage. On the face, the bill seems to be aimed at protecting religious individuals' and groups' sensibilities. What it actually does is allow anti-gay segregation. Slate has an informative, and clearly biased, report on the bill found here.

When Christians talk about enculturation, they often mean going against the current of a secular society to propagate the values, morals, and worldviews on the secular culture. This has been done throughout the history of the Church. Constantine made Christianity legal and publicly supported the Church with funds and buildings. Slowly, Christian values and culture became the societal norm. Again, the Germanic tribes slowly adopted the Roman Christian culture throughout the early middle ages. Sometimes, it was done to allow the process of evangelization and conversion to be swifter and easier. For example, Pope Gregory the Great instructs Augustine of Canterbury to leave the pagan temples, only removing the false idols and re-purposing building as a worship space for the one true God. This happened throughout the history of the Church, sometimes successfully, sometimes without full conversion - a la Central and South American Catholic superstitions.

Texts on the New Evangelization often highlight the need to engrain Christian identity into cultures to more effectively transmit and reflect the reality of the Kingdom of God. I posit, however, that this can be a dangerous game. When done without the spirit of love and a desire for conversion, the ideals of a Christian society can become arrogant, restrictive, and hurtful. This is not to undermine the offensive nature of the Gospel, but to highlight the need for positive witness.

Today's Gospel reading was the middle of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. The text reads from verse 17, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them," and concludes with verse 37, "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." This is the same portion of scripture where Jesus tells us that lust is as bad as adultery and hate is as heinous as murder. To summarize, Jesus communicates that it is the spirit of our action that demonstrates our satisfaction of the law.

What does this say about evangelization and enculturation? Our witness and our effect on culture must carry the spirit of love, not just with concern for how we communicate, but also with how our communications are received. This is not to say that we should be soft on our expectation, or overly tolerant of what some would term deviant behavior; I am simply saying that we need to be conscious of how we speak and how we are heard in a rapidly secularizing society and culture. Where religion and intelligence are not valued, we must avoid the tendency to entrench ourselves in fights that are about nuances in a disciple's life, not conversion. This leads to a response like that of the state of Kansas: a response to the culture out of fear, not out of love; out of resistance, and not courage.

Need I comment on what love entails? St. Paul reminds us in his first letter to the Corinthians, "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." (13:4-6)

In dealing with the obnoxious divisions between Christian and secular cultures, we must not be afraid, but we must also not be rash or overly offended by the manner in which life is lived apart from Christ. How can we expect our own values, which can only be rationalized with revelation through conversion by way of an experience with the person of Christ, to fit a non-Christian culture?

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, spoke in 2011 regarding the cultural shift that we continue to encounter today.

"The current crisis brings with it traces of the exclusion of God from people’s lives, from a generalized indifference towards the Christian faith to an attempt to marginalize it from public life. In the past decades, it was still possible to find a general Christian sensibility which unified the common experience of entire generations raised in the shadow of the faith which had shaped culture. Today, unfortunately, we are witnessing a drama of fragmentation which no longer acknowledges a unifying reference point; moreover, it often occurs that people wish to belong to the Church, but they are strongly shaped by a vision of life which is in contrast with the faith.

Proclaiming Jesus Christ the only Saviour of the World, today is more complex than in the past; but our task remains identical to that at the dawn of our history. The mission has not changed.... The Holy Spirit which prompted [the Apostles] ... is the same Spirit which today moves the Church to a renewed proclamation of hope for the people of our time." 

The virtue most closely tied to hope is patience. Patience is also a quality of love. It is not a quality that is passive, but is enduring. Let us act patiently out of love and with respect to our hope, not divisively or hatefully. Christians need not cease to be reeds shaking in the wind in order to effectively be kind and generous witnesses to the love that God lavishes us with. It is that witness that enables appropriate and effective evangelization and cultural changes. Let us not forget, the only offensive aspect of the whole armour of God is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Everything else is defensive. The Word alone can act, everything else sustains, maintains, and defends the Christian against the devil, who is our adversary, not our neighbor. 

* 2/19/14 - It has been brought to my attention that perhaps the intention of this law was to allow religious individuals to have authority over their goods and service in such a way that they would not be used to expressly support activities and ideals that are opposed to their religious sensibilities. I have no qualms with such a legislative measure, which would effectively maintain both individual and religious liberty. This bill, which the Kansas Senate has blocked, would not have preserved liberty, but in fact indicted all LGBTQ individuals to potential discrimination and segregation.

On a separate note, I would like to point out that while there is no such thing as a truly victimless crime (legal) or sin (religious), there are those which offend/harm others physically and those which only do harm the acting individual - either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. In a landscape with growing secularism, regardless of a waning Christian culture, it is an affront on the personal dignity and freedom of an individual to say, "You are not welcome," especially when the first saving action of our Lord (apart from the incarnation) is to say, "You are welcome" to every person. This is the first grace that allows us to say, "I will allow myself to be welcomed." As Christians, we have the obligation to welcome all, as Christ did, regardless of any person's or group's morality, ethic, religion, or attitude. Clearly, there is also an imperative to also be excellent and to call other's to that excellence, which only comes by way of welcome (witness) and word (proclamation) so that all might believe and be changed fundamentally and ontologically, not merely in their moral choices and attitudes. This highlights my point that only real conversion will change anything, culturally or salvifically. Entrenchment in ideals is not Christian when it ceases the welcoming witness after the Christ's own model, which is a grace conferred through the sacraments and life in the Church.

On Apologetics and the New Evangelization

“…but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” – 1 Peter 3:15, RSV

On December 18, 2011, at age twenty-two, I was blessed to receive the final two sacraments of initiation and formally entered the Roman Catholic Church. It was a great and blessed day. By Confirmation, I was anointed with oil and received the seal of the Holy Spirit, deepening the grace of baptism I received as an infant. Receiving the Eucharist, I feasted on the source and summit of life, consuming Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity, just as the Lord had instructed his followers to do. It was beautiful. It was relieving. It was oddly quiet. Nonetheless, I received the sacraments and their graces and have continued to grow in understanding of just what they mean for me as a human and a Catholic. To help, and to obey God’s call in my life, I went to theology school! Along my journey, I have been particularly learning just what the last baptismal grace means. “It gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross” (CCC 1303). These are some thoughts on my experience.

As a relatively new Roman Catholic who is also studying theology in graduate school, I regularly have an interaction of this sort when meeting a new person or catching up with an old friend:

Person: Oh you’re studying theology? Oh that’s different/cool/weird (etc.). What made you want to study that?/What are you going to do with a degree in that?

Me: Well, after I became Catholic a little over two years ago, I really wanted to learn more about the Lord and the faith. I also felt there was a real need for educated lay people in the Church to promote religious education within the Church and share the faith with those outside of the Church.

Now, whenever this sort of conversation begins, there are exactly two ways that it should proceed (usually), and those two ways depend on both my heart, and the other person’s:

Person: Awesome!!!! I’m Catholic, too, and it brings me so much joy to hear that you have come home to the Church!

Me: It is so great to meet a brother/sister! (Share communally how cool it is to be part of the Lord’s family… etc.)

OR

Person: Oh, I’m not religious/Protestant/a different religion (etc.) So, you weren’t always Catholic?/Why would you want to do that?/

Me: (Thanks for inviting me to share the fullness of the Gospel of Christ with you!) proceed to share the Gospel

This, however, is not often the case, and sadly so. Now, like I said, there are two conditions for this conversation to proceed in an ideal fashion: the other person’s heart and my own.

What unfortunately happens with great frequency is this:

Person: Oh, I’m Catholic, too/Oh, I was raised Catholic. Why would you want to become Catholic? (said often with confusion and disdain, as if I just said, “I really wanted to get AIDS!”)

Question: Why are people of THE Church, THE fullness of the faith, THE pillar and bulwark of Truth questioning my addition to their population with a tone of confusion, disdain, or discomfort? The information I just shared should translate in such a way to a Catholic listener, so that what I just shared really means: I was rescued and adopted by the SAME loving father that rescued and adopted you! I just told you that we are siblings that get to share an infinite inheritance and live with the SAME Holy Spirit that gives us gifts, helps us bear really awesome fruit, and be better than we were before. I just informed you that we SHARE a union in the sacramental graces of the Church - the Church that God in FLESH founded and continues to reside with and in. I just told you a piece of information that, with your own knowledge of yourself, meant all of that. Again, this is the same as if you were one of the angels in heaven who just got word that one more sinner repented. “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

I bet that I sound a little bit upset or perhaps mad (in both senses of the word). And I am. However, nothing good comes from blaming. As Pope Francis said this past October in an address on the New Evangelization, “It would be a mistake to place the blame on one side or the other; indeed, there is no need even to speak of blame…. As children of the Church we must … divest ourselves of useless and hurtful things.”

What I am trying to say is simply this: there is great reason for joy in meeting someone that you are in communion with. To be sure, there is similar joy in meeting someone who has no clue that they can become complete and have a new brother, father, and advocate, that provide all things for his or her good, and bring this person into a family that spans more than two thousand years with nearly every single culture, language, and ethnicity. There is joy in bringing this good news. There is joy in sharing the hope of eternal beatitude in the midst of the one who made you, and made you whole. As I said above, however, there are two conditions for this conversation to have the best possible outcome. We can only sow seed. Their heart must be receptive. Whether the person I am speaking with is Catholic or not, if their heart is not open to the Truth, it will not be received. This by no means gives reason to not throw the seed out. We cannot often know what condition the soil is in, or who may be preparing the land. We have an obligation to share this Good News.

Penn Jillete, the famous magician from the duo Penn and Teller, is an intellectual man and, unfortunately, an atheist. He posted a YouTube video several years ago in which he made a very potent and rational statement on evangelizing. He says, “If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward … how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” An excerpt of the original video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owZc3Xq8obk 

Hence, the second condition for the potentially ideal conversation to occur: my heart. It is totally on me to follow the first portion of the verse in the prologue – “in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord.” Another way of saying this is to regard or treat Christ as Lord. With this, Peter implies several things.

1)    I am not the Lord – Humility

2)    Jesus is the master, with all authority and worthiness – Praise

3)    This is to be acknowledged constantly in the very core of my being; it should be the directing Truth of my very existence and essence. – Conversion and Evangelism

When this is acknowledged in my heart, I can continue to explain why I am doing what I am doing, and why I am who I am. It gives me the freedom to sincerely and honestly tell a stranger or an old friend, Catholic or not, why I am Catholic and why that identity gives me a reason to hope, and to have great joy and peace. This is the primer for extending that invitation of grace. If I can explain to someone why I am a Catholic Christian, I can surely go the next step, and (NOT LIKE A SALESMAN) invite him or her to acknowledge Christ as Lord also. After all, how much would I have to hate someone to NOT tell them that they need to repent and believe in the Gospel?

Confession: I do not always regard Christ as Lord in my heart. I sin, and often. But that is part of this hope that is within us as Christians! I don’t have to sin. I am no longer bound, like a slave, to sin. I am now bound to Truth and thus have freedom, which is the only reason for real peace and joy. It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Sacrament of Confirmation), which gives us the gifts of wisdom, understanding, right judgment, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. And these are the very graces that aid us in the continuation of our conversion, as we walk the path of discipleship. At the same time this anointing, this grace, enables us to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). Tell me these are not valuable tools and good gifts. BUT, they require cultivation. They require focus, and a re-orienting of the will.

St. Josemaria Escriva writes in his ever useful, The Way, “Will-power. A very important quality. Don’t disregard the little things, which are really never futile or trivial. For by the constant practice of repeated self-denial in little things, with God’s grace you will increase in strength and manliness of character. In that way you’ll first become master of yourself, and then a guide and a leader: to compel, to urge, to draw others with your example and with your word and with your knowledge and with your power” (19). And further on in the same work he writes, “Yours is only a small love if you are not zealous for the salvation of all souls. Yours is only a poor love if you are not eager to inflame other apostles with your madness” (796).

All of this leads me to one conclusion: the New Evangelization is of vital importance to the Church in America. It is of vital importance to me. It is, in fact, how I was led into the Church in the first place.

Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in Redemptor Hominus and repeated in Redemptoris Missio, “Christ the Redeemer, fully reveals man to himself.... The person who wishes to understand himself thoroughly...must...draw near to Christ.... [The] Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored to man his dignity and given back meaning to his life in the world” (RH 10. RM 2). He continues in The Mission of Christ the Redeemer, “there is an intermediate situation, particularly in countries with ancient Christian roots…where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a "new evangelization" or a "re-evangelization" (33). “Christendom” is not enough. Conversion to the Lord is all that can offer hope. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Porta Fidei, draws a clear link between the conversion and holiness of the individual believer and the activity of evangelizing. We must continue the moments of our own conversions, persevering in holiness and purification. From there we can ourselves be torches in the pews, setting whole congregations ablaze with the light of the Gospel, and continuing out of the Church, to those who have left the faith, or never known it.

I’ll leave off now with an exhortation from our Pope Emeritus, who spoke this in his 2011 address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, which he formed in 2010. “It is important to realize that being Christian is not a type of clothing to wear in private or on special occasions, but is something living and all-encompassing.”

I have failed as a blogger

I had a real bad time with ... everything, last semester. Grad school was a big adjustment. So was St. Louis. So was the cold. And lots of other stuff.

BUT!
I'm better now. I think. And I can survive the winter, as well as this whole adventure in learning and creating and doing theology. I'll try to do better at keeping up with what's going on in my life, and pictures, and stories. I have lots of stories. But, I'd also like to begin sharing some of my theological-ish thoughts. Hopefully they won't sound too much like diatribes, and if they do, please forgive me! But henceforth, I will hope to be more better at blogging.