A Book Review by John Fahy
Martin Scorsese’s controversial Catholicism is known to all who love his films. His newest, called Silence, draws from the similarly complex faith displayed by the 20th Century Japanese Catholic author, Shusaku Endo. Endo’s 1966 book, also titled Silence, is profound and satisfying, even while leaving more questions than answers. I first read Silence over ten years ago, and it remains one of only a handful of books I return to over and over. Scorsese’s movie has a similar depth and appeal. For the earnest Catholic viewer (or reader!), Silence will puzzle, frustrate, and console you — sometimes all three in the same moment!
The narrative follows two Portuguese Jesuit priests missioned to Japan in the late 1630s. They arrive in a nation where Christians — especially priests — are targeted for forced apostasy, torture, and death. Fr. Rodrigues and Fr. Garrpe become deeply enmeshed in the underground “Kirishitan” movement. They meet Mokichi and Ichizo, some of the most valiant and dignified of the Japanese Christians. Kichijiro, a pathetic apostate and drunkard, becomes their unreliable guide. Eventually, they confront the depraved Japanese magistrate Inoue, mastermind of the most violent persecutions against Christians.
Reviews of the new movie are all around us. Bishop Robert Barron lauds its “gorgeous cinematography, outstanding performances… gripping narrative, and… thematic complexity”. Catholic film commentator Steven Graydanus called it an “intensely Catholic film” that “tells no one exactly what they want to hear… and poses a challenge for viewers of any faith or of none, or of any culture or ethnicity, even if the challenge is not the same for everyone.” Sr. Rose Pacatte, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles, wrote several positive and precise articles about the film for the National Catholic Reporter. I myself am no movie critic, so I’ll leave these sort of reviews to those others. Instead, I’d like to propose four theological lessons that Silence seems to teach, and one error that viewers should be careful of. I’ll rely on my experiences with the book and the movie alike, and while I haven’t revealed the central climax, I apologize in advance for a few minor spoilers.
 
Charity is Central
Early on in Silence, Rodrigues and Garrpe receive word from Japan that Fr. Ferreira, their former mentor, has repudiated the faith. Everyone’s first reaction is, of course, dismay. By all accounts, Ferreira is a spiritual powerhouse and a hero of a man. If he has been broken by the inquisition, then things in Japan are truly despairing. The Jesuits set out to Japan, in part to find Ferreira and rebuild his reputation, but later sadly discover that his apostasy is very real, if more complex than first proposed. The ordinary assumption made by Western Christians was that the apostates were faithless and cowardly. The only reason they imagined for denying the faith was too much love of self and the world, insufficient love of Christ, and insufficient care for the flock of impressionable Japanese Christians. Ferreira insists to the contrary — that his apostasy was exactly motivated by Christian virtue, fidelity to Christ’s mission, and love for his Japanese flock, whose torture was ended when Ferreira committed the “mere formality” of trampling on an image of Christ (called the fumie).
Set aside the moral question for a short while. We’ll pick it up later. Attend instead to the motivations of Rodrigues, Garrpe, and Ferreira: concern for their fellow man brings each of them to a painful, decisively dangerous situation, and in every case, it’s love that motivates their answer. Silence is chock full of loving men and women who respond intensely to others’ suffering. Even if we reject apostasy, we struggle to reconcile that with the sincere love Ferreira appears to have. In this way, Endo (and Scorsese) remind us of the message of Matthew 25: love and care for the vulnerable are the central moral requirement of the faith. Silence provides a gripping and emotional reminder that the works of mercy and a heart of love for neighbor are core Christian precepts.
The Priest is Nothing and Everything
St. Norbert is credited with the adage that the priest is “nothing and everything.” He is everything because of what God does to him and through him, and he is nothing because of what his own servant heart does by giving away his life for his flock and his will for God’s will.
O Priest, who are you?
You are not yourself because you are God.
You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ.
You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church.
You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man.
You are not from yourself because you are nothing.
What then are you? Nothing and everything.
The portrayal of priesthood in Silence must challenge some of its secular and non-Catholic viewers. The Japanese people have a lionizing love for their newly arrived “padres.” When Garrpe and Rodrigues first arrive in Tomogi, dozens of Christians gather to watch their midnight entry into the ramshackle village. A decade has passed since the sacraments have been available to them (outside baptism, of course, which any person can administer). The priests’ days are full with Christians risking their life for clandestine Masses, confessions, and spiritual counsel. The people pine for any tangible symbol of the priests and their faith, even to the point of disassembling the men’s rosaries as a kind of relic. Though the government has offered an enormous bounty for betraying a priest, the huge majority of Japanese are resolute in protecting them, even to death.
Imagine the difficulty of that decade the Japanese had no priest. Most of us find an hour’s wait for confession too onerous, but perhaps most Christians in history have gone months or years without the sacraments. Silence inspired me to gratitude on this account. Because of God’s grace, our priest is powerful enough to bring Christ down from heaven to the altar for us. He is our privileged access to God’s mercy and his salvation. He really is everything.
Further, Rodrigues and Garrpe certainly live to become “nothing.” As described just above, they give away everything to make the year-long journey to Japan, knowing that they would likely never return. In this sense, they are “martyred” early in the story, while they are still very much alive. They loved profoundly, and seem to have saved many souls at great personal expense. The service of these men shows the truth of these words of St. John Eudes: “The worthy priest is the living image of Christ in this world, of Christ watching, praying, preaching, catechizing, working, weeping, going from town to town, from village to village, suffering, agonizing, sacrificing Himself and dying for the souls created to His image and likeness.” Much like Christ emptied himself, becoming obedient to death, becoming nothing, so too do these priests.
Faith is Mysterious
Remember that the Japanese insist that the fumie is only a formality. There are several characters in the narrative who have stepped on the fumie and renounced their faith, but who appear to still live a private Christian life. Ferreira has left active ministry, participates in anti-Christian apologetics, and assists in the prosecution of missionaries. And yet signs point to a deep faith that he nourishes privately, and with a broken heart. Kichijiro, the flaky companion and guide to the priests, is a known apostate; and yet he makes a rocky return to the faith time and time again. Do these men really believe? Do they have faith? Are they truly repentant? We don’t know! This is one of the greatest compliments I can pay to Silence — the mystery of faithfulness is left mysterious. The apostates we meet are equal parts heart-breaking and alluring. They repudiated the only unalloyed good in Japan, but they did so from an impossible dilemma. What does it mean to be a secretly faithful member of an undeniably missionary religion? How can we resolve the tension between the apparent holiness of those who hide their faith with the apparent wickedness of those who publicly deny it? If refusing the fumie means death, but trampling allows a life of secret evangelization, which truly advances the Kingdom of God? These are the central questions of Silence.
Some suggest that Endo and Scorsese (especially Scorsese) are pressing the easy answer on their audience — that apostasy is okay when it’s only a loving formality. Let’s not endorse that answer — hang tight another few paragraphs for a more complete treatment. But it would be likewise too easy to insist the opposite: that the only kind of faith is the unflinching heroism of Ichizo and Mokichi, the martyrs at Tomogi. There is something about the cowardly and weak faith of Kichijiro — who fails over and over but keeps coming back — that speaks deeply to me, and perhaps to most of us.
Mercy is Endless
“Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.”
The closing prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is written on every page of Silence. God’s mercy is endless. The treasury of God’s compassion is inexhaustible.
One of the key themes that Endo wrote was the silence of God — that God seems to have nothing to say to the suffering Christians of Japan, nor to Rodrigues and Garrpe. Finally, Rodrigues does clearly hear a voice he identifies with Christ. What the voice brings is the same as the message brought to St. Faustina: love and mercy, compassion and confidence. (It’s worth noting that the voice may very well be Rodrigues’ own self-justification — this is an ambiguity the story leaves us with. But the message’s source in mercy is no less Christian.)
Kichijiro (in my opinion, the underrated and most important character in the story) is the patron saint of mercy, especially in the movie’s depiction. His sacramental confessions are like mile markers in the film, and his outright desperation to be virtuous, even in his moments of greatest weakness, are the most human depiction of any character. In a surprising way, I think this unreliable drunken coward may be the true hero of Silence. Unlike the ambiguous Ferreira, Kichijiro seems plainly to be moving towards God and towards salvation, if by fits and starts. And unlike Ichizo and Mokichi, whose salvation is by heroism, Kichijiro’s is by mercy alone.
A friend of mine found this loving, merciful message so important and surprising that Silence may bring him back to a Church he’d previously found harsh and unwelcoming. Perhaps you could pray for him, and for all of us who need God’s abundant mercy.
Evil Cannot Develop into Good
Finally, let’s lay bare the moral hazard of Silence: one can read it as a justification of apostasy. Maybe those who apostatize are right because their apostasy saves lives and continues the underground faith.
Don your moral theologian hat and you’ll find two big issues with this argument: first, apostasy is simply never justified. Per the Catechism:
The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith, including apostasy, the total repudiation of the Christian faith.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus offers one of his clearest moral teachings when treating this topic:
You will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles… Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved… Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell… Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
Second, to choose evil for certain material effects — no matter how great the effects — is a kind of moral reasoning called consequentialism or proportionalism. This philosophy has never been acceptable for Christians, and was most clearly repudiated in St. John Paul II’s encyclical letter Veritatis Splendor:
Consequentialism claims to draw the criteria of the rightness of a given way of acting solely from a calculation of foreseeable consequences deriving from a given choice. Proportionalism proceeds by weighing the various values and goods being sought, focusing on the proportion between the good and bad effects of that choice, with a view to the “greater good” or “lesser evil” actually possible in a particular situation. Such theories are not faithful to the Church’s teaching when they believe they can morally justify choices that are deliberately contrary to the divine and natural law.
Consequentialism and proportionalism would have us believe that our bad choices are sometimes good because they are fortunate, or because they end up in the right way, or because the ends can justify the means. The truth cannot tolerate that error, and admittedly, Silence seems to traffic in it.
This is not to deny that sometimes good does come from evil in a different sense. The cross is the best example — it is the happiest, most grace-filled sin ever committed. God is a master of making lemonade from the lemons we offer Him in our evil choices. In this sense alone can good be said to come from evil, and never because good and evil are somehow unified. C.S. Lewis put the distinction like this in his book The Great Divorce:
I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back til you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it.
At the end of the book and the movie (especially the movie), Endo and Scorsese may be suggesting that the characters’ apostasies are made good by the passage of time and the cessation of hostilities. I don’t want to say much more than that for fear of spoiling the movie, but suffice it to say that this cannot be so — evil and good are not balanced on a scale, or part of the same branch on our life’s tree. Evil cannot become good simply by its being in the right scenario and with sufficient time. Evil is undone by repentance and mercy. Is there repentance in Silence? I don’t know, but you should certainly watch or read to find out.
None of this is to say that the choices made in Silence should have been easy, or that the characters are unforgivable! The sympathetic treatment of people who are objectively sinning is, quite simply, real. Sinners are sympathetic! Jesus treated them as such. While our sympathy shouldn’t be allowed to fool our consciences, there’s no need to resist the complexity that Silence offers; perhaps that is the best way to describe the story’s spirituality. It is about a particular time and place, but also fundamentally about every sin and doubt, every life of faith and virtue, every error, and every act of contrition. Silence is about us and the mercy of God — all complex, vexing, beautiful, and consoling.
 
John Fahy has a Master’s degree in Theology, and he is Assistant Principal for Student Affairs and a member of the theology faculty at Strake Jesuit College Prep.  With his wife Angelica and their three children, John is grateful every day to live and work in holy communities like Jesuit and St. John Vianney.

By Deacon Marcus Fryer, SJ
When we think of the Exodus in Scripture, our minds may conjure an image of the Israelites fleeing from the Egyptians, through the Red Sea, and wandering in the desert for forty years. Their goal was the Promised Land, “flowing with milk and honey,” given to Abraham and his descendants by God. They were seeking a home where the Jewish people could worship their God and could grow in faith and numbers for generations to come.
Recently, CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, released data from their latest survey of Catholics in America that showed a much different type of Exodus taking place in the Church.  Based upon data from their 2008 survey, their mid-2016 survey showed decreased numbers of weekly Massgoers across the United States, especially in the Millennial age group.  Oft-maligned in popular culture and in the media, Millennials are made up of young people who entered adulthood in the early twenty-first century.  While the exact birth years for Millennials are hard to nail down, most social researchers indicate young people born between 1980 and 1995 fall into this generational category.  If you take a moment to Google the term Millennial, you will come across a stack of articles discussing how Millennials tend to live at home longer, stay on their parents insurance longer, have a harder time holding down jobs, and rack up at an alarming rate more debt than previous generations (mostly due to education).  As a member of, and one who is involved in working with this generation, I am quite sympathetic to the impact our society has had on young people. In my work with high school and college students, I have seen firsthand how changes in our society have affected young adults in our culture.  I have also seen how caring, compassionate, service-oriented, and open-minded Millennials can be.  The number one lament I hear from parents and grandparents at parishes and retreat centers across the United States is “how can I get my (adult) children to go to Mass?!”  Far from simply being an anecdotal cry, the CARA data clearly shows that there is a disconnect between Mass attendance and Millennials.  The question, then, becomes, “where do we go from here?”
 
The CARA data tells us that, of Millennial Catholics, only 14% attend Mass weekly. A massive 66% of Catholic Millennials attend Mass “a few times a year or less often” if you do not include weddings and funerals. That number becomes interesting when you consider that of the Catholic Millennial group, 71% have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Even more interesting, perhaps, is the fact that 64% of Catholics in the Millennial age group “believe in God and have no doubt of God’s existence.” What we see, then, is a catechized group of believers who rarely attend Mass.
While I do not know the secret to bringing Millennials back to Mass (if you do, please email me…!), I do want to spend a moment looking at what young Catholic families can do to help raise their children in the faith.
The first step we can take is to emphasize the importance of Mass attendance as a family from an early age. Children develop habits and values directly from their parents. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us (and Pope Francis frequently reminds us) that the parents are the first and primary educators of their children and that the family is the basic building block of the Church – the “first” Church is the domestic Church. Parents should endeavor to attend Mass regularly, holding true to the Sabbath, as a family unit. Attending the same Mass each week can help children to understand a pattern and rhythm in their life and can help them begin to build community with other children and youth and families at that Mass. Sit in the same pew each week, and, along with your children, get to know the people around you. Being “Mass transients” can lead to a sense of disconnect in young people between the community built in liturgy and in their own faith life. The regularity provided by the Eucharist can help our youth engage fully in so many aspects of Catholic life.
The liturgical calendar has a rhythm and a flow that children can begin to pick up on from the decorations in the church and the tone of the liturgical music. The repetition of the readings and the cycle of the lectionary also add to the tone of the liturgical year for children. Weekly Mass attendance is key to helping our children develop their faith life from an early age.
Secondly, as Catholic families we are called to take advantage of the Sacraments as gifts of God’s grace that aid in our salvation. God gave us the Sacraments, as instituted by Christ, as a way of fully participating in God’s continued work of revelation and salvation. Attendance to the Eucharist in Mass remains paramount among Catholic practices. The other Sacraments also play a vital role in our Catholic life and faith. Children should attend Religious Education at their parish as part of their preparation for the Sacraments and should then be encouraged to partake in the Sacraments regularly as they grow in maturity.
Parents, too, should strive to be models of the Sacramental life, receiving frequent Reconciliation. Bring your children with you when you go to confession (…you can leave them outside of the confessional!). I remember being a young child and being terrified of going to confession. To this day my high school confirmation students still tell me that the thought of going to confession scares them to no end (even though they always say they are glad that they went!).
How do we help our children when they are scared of or intimidated by other things in life? We explain, we encourage, and we model. The Sacraments must be handled the same way. Perhaps more important than the simple act of building the habit of taking advantage of the Sacraments, we acknowledge as Catholic faithful that the Sacraments give us the grace and strength to live out our faith. Let’s make sure that our children receive as much of that grace and strength as we can!
Finally, we return to the idea of the domestic Church. We have to make sure that we model at home the life of faith. Church and faith cannot simply be something that happens on the weekends when we feel like getting up, packing everyone into the car, and driving to Mass. At home we should strive to start our meals with prayers and we should encourage our children to lead these prayers. We can even decorate our homes in simple ways to match the liturgical calendar. No one questions putting up Christmas decorations, but what if we use just one table or counter in our home to set up similar displays or decorations for Lent or Easter? Do we light candles on an Advent Wreath in the weeks leading up to the Birth of Christ?
The family can participate in social ministries at the parish as well. Consider picking one event a month at your parish to go as a family to do service for the community. The goal, here, remains to help our children and young people to develop a full sense of their faith, fully integrating what we believe with what we live.
Many of the articles about young people and the Church advocate setting off alarms and issuing cries about the sky falling. We have to remember that the Holy Spirit is alive and well and working in the life of the Church and in the lives of the faithful. We have been redeemed by Christ and God desires a personal relationship with each one of us. As parents, grandparents, and Catholics in the pews, we must remember to thank God each day for the gift that young people are and accept that we have a responsibility to help them grow into faithful, loving Catholics!
 
Deacon Marcus Fryer, SJ, is in his last year of theology studies at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Originally from Missouri City, his parents now live in West Houston and are parishioners at St. John Vianney. Marcus is a Jesuit for the United States Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus. He has worked in parish ministry, prison ministry, and retreat ministry as well as primary and secondary education in the United States and Central America. Prior to theology studies in Boston, Marcus taught and coached at Strake Jesuit College Prep. His priestly ordination is scheduled for June 10th in New Orleans.

“When we are afforded the opportunity to meet the ‘other,’ we are being given the opportunity to grow, to grow in Christ. In God’s eyes, the ‘other’ is not other. The other is God’s son or daughter, no more and no less than we are. And we are invited to see with the eyes of God.”
~ Jack Jezreel

Living Solidarity like Jesus Christ

by Father Nathaniel Haslam

by Father Nathaniel Haslam
Continuing his series of videos on the key themes in Catholic Social Teaching, Fr. Nathaniel enlightens us with a brief explanation of the nature of rights, and the responsibilities that are linked to these rights.  In a society that is so focused on claiming everyone’s rights, Father Nathaniel reminds us that linked to these rights is our responsibility to serve God and our neighbor by promoting our human mission in life.  He also explains the difference between natural rights and pseudo-rights or false “rights,” and the importance of knowing the difference.

For further reading, see The Principle of Rights and Responsibilities: the 10 second summary by Sr. Katherine Feely, SND.

“Thus the little domestic Church, like the greater Church, needs to be constantly and intensely evangelized: hence its duty regarding permanent education in the faith…the family, like the Church, ought to be a place where the Gospel is transmitted and from which the Gospel radiates…the future of evangelization depends in great part on the Church of the home”
~ St. John Paul II (Familiaris Consortio, #51-52).

 

What a Gift!

By Sarah Kushner
It’s 15-20 degrees outside in the snow and maybe 60 degrees inside my house as the wind whips a nearby tree branch against my bedroom window and the radiator begins to rattle and hiss with the promise that the temperature inside my room may soon begin to slightly rise.   I comfortably lay under the covers trying to convince myself to make a run for the bathroom and turn on the shower to begin the lengthy process of warming up the frigid winter water.  As an adolescent, it’s what I did every day for school and it’s also what I did early every Sunday morning to attend CCE classes and Mass in my hometown of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
My parents, my younger brother, and I attended St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Beaver Falls. The parish was founded in 1871 by German immigrants and the finalized traditional European brick building with its many beautiful stained glass windows and towering spire was completed and dedicated in 1897.  The spirit of our parish was humble and holy and most of its members lived simple, hard- working lives.  We knew the names and family stories of almost all of our fellow parishioners.  Mr. Wagner was a parishioner and my high school CCE teacher.  He and his wife had 17 children and lived across the street from the church.  I remember him dissecting every word of the “Hail Mary” with us, pounding on his desk, asking us if we could “believe how beautiful this prayer is?”  At. St. Mary’s, I learned to do the dishes at the Friday Lenten fish fries, my dad was on the church council and my mom headed up things like the parish picnics and the church bazaar.  I can remember waiting for what seemed like hours outside in the snow after CCE class for my parents to join me for 10:30 am mass.  My parents were always dressed in their Sunday best and I can remember during mass, they both would recite the Nicene Creed in a way that made me know they really believed it. After mass, my parents would be sure to visit with our pastor, Father Gildea, as well as their fellow parishioners.  Sometimes they would offer to take someone “up the hill” back to their home if they had no other way.  My parents’ devotion to St. Mary’s taught me many things, among them that God was first and worth any human sacrifice, that the offering of the mass was a priority always, as well as were the teachings of our faith, and that we are here to serve God, to praise God, and to be Christ to others.  What a gift they gave to me!
 
My aunt, uncle and cousins attended St. Philomena’s Catholic Church two miles away on the other side of our small steel town, and my grandparents attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Church three miles in the opposite direction, across the bridge in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. My aunt was both my godmother and my confirmation sponsor.  She was a Eucharistic minister and often took communion to those who were sick or homebound.  Occasionally we would attend mass with my grandparents at “St. Joe’s”.  They always sat in the same pew and were always there at least 30 minutes early.  My Italian grandmother would pray the rosary while waiting for mass to begin and once mass did begin, my German grandfather would sing the entrance hymn with such pride and vigor that I was sure he could be heard in heaven.  Many of the hymns we still sing at mass today move me to be able to hear my grandfather’s radiant voice, even though he is no longer here with us.  When I recite my rosary I often think about my grandmother’s own devotion to the rosary.  I can envision her in her recliner, rocking back and forth, rhythmically murmuring the words, almost entranced, finding peace in this prayer, particularly after her son, my uncle, passed away from Leukemia at the age of 43.   These practices taught me several things; to go to God first, to seek and praise Him with vigor, to bring my sorrows and requests to our Blessed Mother, and that our Catholic faith was a part of my extended family as well as my nuclear one.  What a gift they all gave to me!
As a mother, I know how important it is to give these same types of gifts to my three young boys. I sometimes find myself almost filled with panic wondering “How can I possibly do that, in a big city, where there is no snow, that is hundreds of miles away from any extended family, in a parish that sometimes seems bigger than the entire town where I grew up, in a day and age where our culture overwhelmingly tries to direct us away from the Gospel message, from family life, from serving one another, and from God!” …and then and I pray, or I work on my Bible study, or I attend mass, or I drop my children off at the Catholic school that they attend, or I go to Adoration, or I recite the rosary, or my son asks me a question about a Bible verse he doesn’t fully understand…and God blesses me with the wisdom of His Word, the grace of His love and sacrifice, and the peace of His protection.  My husband and I don’t always get it right, but we work hard to teach our children to put God first in their lives.  When planning our family time together, including weekends and vacations, we let the kids know through our choices, that God is first.  Mass, family prayer, making sacrifices for relatives, putting others first, doing works of mercy, treating all of God’s creations with dignity, not giving into all of our human wants and desires, are some of the messages we hope are making their way into the hearts and minds of our kids.  Raising soldiers of Christ is hard work!  What a gift they are giving to me!
Due to a declining number of parishioners and the under-abundance of available priests, in recent years, the parish of St. Mary has been consolidated with the other parishes in the area and has been renamed St. Monica. Two years ago this month, due to an over-abundance of necessary repairs, demolition began on the beloved St. Mary church building I grew up in.  After the initial demolition, I phoned my dad and asked him if he could retrieve for me, a relic of the church structure.  So, my dad cautiously walked among the rubble of the church, the church where I was baptized, where I worked at fish fries on Friday nights, where I watched Mr. Wagner and his 17 kids grow up with me, where Fr. Gildea was our pastor for 15 years, and where I heard the Gospel for the very first time.  My father got for my brother and I, each a brick from St. Mary Roman Catholic Church. My brick rests in my home here in Houston, Texas.  When I see it, it reminds me that I have to keep working hard, fighting the battle, teaching my faith to my children, and keeping Christ at the center of our family life, one day at a time, brick by brick.  It also reminds me that all of this shall come to pass and that the battle over sin and darkness has already been won.  God gave us his only son for our salvation.  What a gift God gave to me!
Sarah Kushner and her husband, Dave have been parishioners at St. John Vianney since the fall of 2014.  Sarah is the proud mother of three boys, Davis (9), Vincent (7), and James (1).  She has continuously heard a calling to aid expectant mothers in need through the Gabriel Project and has recently accepted the position of Co-coordinator of the St. John Vianney Gabriel Project.   Sarah is a former middle school math teacher at St. John Paul II Catholic School and currently serves on several committees at the school as a parent volunteer.  She is an active member of the St. Monica’s Society and is also looking forward to traveling this fall with the St. John Vianney mission team to Eagle Pass, Texas.
 
Sarah’s moving reflection and what she is doing for her family, her parish and her community are truly a gift and an example for all of us, and it could not have come at a better time. Multiple national surveys provide evidence of a drop-off in faith participation for younger Catholics.  This is particularly the case for millennials, where only about two thirds or fewer of those raised Catholic remain Catholic as adults.  In addition, a study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) confirms that Catholics as young as ten years old are leaving the Catholic Faith.
As Sarah reminds us, “all of this shall come to pass and the battle over sin and darkness has already been won.” Yet, we are still called to fulfill our duty and responsibility to share our faith with one another.  In the article Healthy Families, Healthy Society, Archbishop William E. Lori encourages us to strengthen our Catholic Faith by strengthening one family at a time.  This, in turn, will lead us to becoming the civilization of truth and love which God created us to be.

by Pat Guzman
Rights and responsibilities. Do these words go always together when we think about people in the context of the society?  Do we need to talk about both at the same time when we address social, economic, and political harmony or conflict?  Do we know why sometimes these words drift apart?  The current media environment uses loosely the meaning of these words creating confusion that gives way to idle discussions among the so-called experts.  At times, these individuals portray the concepts behind these words as if one word is more important than the other or that one applies to citizens and the other to the government or vice versa depending upon current events.  To make matters worse, politicians apply the meaning of these words based on their agendas, especially when these are at stake.  We cannot agree on the meaning of “rights and responsibilities” unless we know the conceptual definition of these words for us, Catholics.

Rights and responsibilities. Do these words go always together when we think about people in the context of the society?  Do we need to talk about both at the same time when we address social, economic, and political harmony or conflict?  Do we know why sometimes these words drift apart?  The current media environment uses loosely the meaning of these words creating confusion that gives way to idle discussions among the so-called experts.  At times, these individuals portray the concepts behind these words as if one word is more important than the other or that one applies to citizens and the other to the government or vice versa depending upon current events.  To make matters worse, politicians apply the meaning of these words based on their agendas, especially when these are at stake.  We cannot agree on the meaning of “rights and responsibilities” unless we know the conceptual definition of these words for us, Catholics.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (1995) in their report on the Task Force on Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Education included the definition of Rights and Responsibilities as follows:
In a world where some speak mostly of “rights” and others mostly of “responsibilities,” the Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities, to one another, to our families, and to the larger society. While public debate in our nation is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those who focus on social responsibilities, our tradition insists that both are necessary.
The teachings speak to a balance of rights and responsibilities.  Otherwise, the gap created, when they are separated or individualized, opens a path to discrimination, human trafficking, neglect, abandonment, or abuse.  Sadly, this gap appears to be wide open in the 21st century across the globe.  St. John XXIII (1963) spoke about a human society that in order to be well-ordered and productive, it needed to lay down as a strong foundation the principle that human beings are persons empowered with intelligence and free will.  He stressed that we have rights and responsibilities precisely because they flow from our own nature; that is, we were created in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26, The New American Bible).  Thus, these rights and duties are universal, inviolable, and cannot be surrendered.
It is not enough, however, to believe and acknowledge these rights and obligations. We should strive to give life to these teachings and become advocates for the preservation and respect for human dignity.   In all we do with everything we have, we should strive to be generous, charitable, serving, and solidary.  Every encounter with a human being is an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to contributing to the common good.  We should look for opportunities to join ministries that serve those in need, to participate in advocacy, to be guardians of ethical principles, to be responsible caretakers of natural resources, to vote responsibly, and to have a voice of action.
We are never alone when we act to champion and protect human dignity; the Spirit of God is always inspiring, supporting, and counseling us. Through a lively faith, we will inspire others to follow our lead.  Benedict XVI (2009) affirmed:
God’s love calls us to move beyond the limited and the ephemeral, it gives us the courage to continue seeking and working for the benefit of all, even if this cannot be achieved immediately. . . . God gives us the strength to fight and to suffer for love of the common good, because he is our All, our greatest hope. (p. 49)
 
References
Benedict XVI. Vatican. Caritas in Veritate. 29 Jun. 2009. 22 Sep. 2016.
John XXIII.  Vatican.  Pacem in Terris.  11 Apr. 1963. 20 Sep. 2016.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (1995). Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions.  Retrieved September 16, 2016.
Pat Guzman is a retired executive from one of the top consulting firms in the U.S. She holds the knowledge, experience, and insights of a 38-year career as a consultant. Currently, Pat is a Social Services volunteer at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Houston, Texas. She manages the Food Pantry, serves Meals-on-Wheels, teaches ESL, and is a member of the Social Services Board. Pat holds a Doctorate in Organizational Management and a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems.
 

“The Church’s social teaching rests on one basic principle: individual human beings are the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution.” ~ Mater et Magistra, #219

Standing Up for ‘The Most Cherished of American Freedoms’

“What is at stake is whether America will continue to have a free, creative and robust civil society – or whether the state alone will determine who gets to contribute to the common good, and how they get to do it.” ~ USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

People from different cultures and religions may attribute the meaning of “religious freedom” based on their historical context, their religious experience, the tense or harmonious relationship between civil and religious doctrines, the meaning of freedom, and other elements that contribute to the fabric of their culture. What is the meaning for us, members of the Catholic Church and citizens of the U.S.? Two documents describe how religious freedom is rooted in the dignity of the individual, namely, the Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, promulgated by Pope Paul VI (Paul VI, Dignitatis Humanae) and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States (U.S. Const. amend. I). Upon reading these documents, one would ascertain that religious freedom is the road to peace that expands across the world, society, and our community. This is the path that leads us to live and act in solidarity with each other nurturing and promoting the common good (Benedict XVI, Religious Freedom, The Path to Peace).
Religious freedom is the path to peace that leads us to search for the truth. The quest for peace and the search for the truth rest in the strong and solid foundation of a civil society that protects the individual to act without coercion for the common good based on his or her religious beliefs. The strength of religious institutions to support and promote the quest is enabled by the ability to establish norms, educate its members, direct, influence, and motivate the members’ actions and help them elevate the meaning of their achievements to a strong faith in God. Thus, the path to peace protects, fosters, and promotes toleration, engenders diversity and prevents inbreathing of disturbance and confusion that stems from the difference in beliefs, traditions, and values across the world, society, and our community.
What does this mean to you and me who sit in the church’s middle pew every Sunday? What does it mean for us who find it difficult to find time and space to commit to the Church outside of Mass? (Korgen, 2007) It means that we are called to know and understand the current challenges, issues, events, laws, decisions, and actions facing religious freedom. It means that we must not take this freedom for granted and assume it is a given because our Constitution protects it and our Church has been enabled to preserve it. We must not sit in the middle pew our whole life and become mere spectators and passive participants. We must contribute actively to the nurturing and preservation of this freedom in whichever way we are able to and pray to God that we may not walk through the darkness of a sordid path due to inaction but instead walk through the narrow and constricted path (Matthew 7:14, The New American Bible); the bright path of love and peace.
References:
Benedict XVI. Vatican. Religious Freedom, The Path to Peace. 1 Jan. 2011. 18 Jun. 2016.
Korgen, J. O. (2007). My Lord & My God. Engaging Catholics in Social Ministry. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Paul VI. Vatican. Declaration on Religious Freedom — Dignitatis Humanae. 7 Dec. 1965. 10 Jun. 2016.
Pat Guzman is a retired executive from one of the top consulting firms in the U.S.  She holds the knowledge, experience, and insights of a 38-year career as a consultant.  Currently, Pat is a Social Services volunteer at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Houston, Texas.  She manages the Food Pantry, serves Meals-on-Wheels, teaches ESL, and is a member of the Social Services Board.  Pat holds a Doctorate in Organizational Management and a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems.
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Book Pick for the Fourth and Fortnight

The first step towards actively contributing to the ‘nurturing and preservation’ of Religious Liberty is to inform ourselves on the matter. Much like the case for Catholic Social Teaching, the topic of Religious Liberty has been egregiously misunderstood and misrepresented.  It has unfortunately been reduced to a mere right to private thought or worship at best.  As this year’s Fortnight for Freedom draws to an end on Independence Day, we conclude our section on Faithful Citizenship with John M. Grondelski’s review of Kevin Seamus Hasson’s book, “Believers, Thinkers and Founders: How We Came to Be One Nation Under God” in The National Catholic Register.
 
“Where the English nation historically has had Anglicanism, and before that Catholicism, America instead has a philosophy, and on the basis of that philosophy our government presupposes the existence of a God who endows the people with rights. Our rights tradition … presupposes theism. That choice cannot simply be walked back after more than two centuries without abandoning the foundations of the rights themselves.” ~ Kevin Seamus Hasson.
 

Why Fathers Matter

“There is something powerful when a father kneels before the Blessed Sacrament, prays a rosary, goes to Mass every Sunday, or clearly prioritizes practicing the faith over any form of entertainment… In short, fathers play an indispensable role in the new evangelization.” ~ Archbishop William E. Lori

 
As the traditional family – modeled after the Holy Family – in consistently undervalued and attacked, the Catholic Church continues to promote marriage and family for the good of society. Having just celebrated Father’s Day, Archbishop William E. Lori reminds us in his article Why Fathers Matter of the pivotal role that fathers play in the upbringing of their children and in their coming to know, practice and love their Catholic faith.
Maria Sotolongo concludes our section on Strengthening Catholic Identity, sharing with us part of her very own experience growing up and growing in her faith with a loving and dedicated Catholic father.
 
As I sit here observing him, I think of who my father is, the things he’s done in his life, the lessons he’s taught his 5 children and 12 grandchildren. Details about events, stories, jokes, and sayings he has fill my mind with, and I wish I could hang on to him forever.
And I remember: “Trust the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6.
I hear the bubbling of the oxygen attached to my dad. Bright summer sunshine outside our window. He coughs and cautiously rearranges his body on the hospital bed. Birds sing for us as background music. He’s received 2 blood transfusions today, as well as insulin and an IV.
My brothers and sisters are at the cafeteria and I have just a sliver of time alone, watching my dad try to sleep. He has his eyes closed most of the day. My sister describes it as if he were an athlete, getting ready for a big race, focusing, visualizing himself crossing the finish line, measuring his energy so as to not waste an ounce on unnecessary matters.
In a span of two months, my father has been stripped of things we take for granted. He has had trouble breathing, walking, talking, eating, and hearing. It’s as if all his senses are in training to fight the mass that resides in his pancreas. But what remains untouched, what no cancer can take away is my dad’s unwavering faith. This illness has magnified his belief and fortified his faith in God.
Who is my father without his faith? Who am I if not my father’s faith-filled daughter?
I am a Spaniard, a mother, a friend, a sister, and a neighbor. I belong to clubs and organizations. But beyond all I am a Catholic. I am a child of God.
“I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:18).
I believe that my identity as a Catholic is the most important way to define myself and as I get older and confront life’s challenges, I use my faith and relationship with God as the basis for every battle, every question, and every celebration.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
My dad sleeps, surrounded by an army of angels. He says that he’s been having visions of bull-fighters, (like a true Spaniard) and I think maybe they represent the cancer. But he told us that he’s replacing those images with angels. He’s focused on winning this battle.
He hasn’t wanted to eat much or even talk a lot. But what he has requested day in and day out is to receive Holy Communion. Oh daddy, may God give you strength to survive this, and may we walk outside in the bright sunshine soon!
Maria Sotolongo is a member of St. Anne’s Society and has been coming to St. John Vianney since the mid-80s. Sotolongo’s background is in Broadcasting and she has worked for NBC, FOX, and Telemundo networks. She has three young children and she blogs about motherhood, marriage and her faith at www.mariasotolongo.com.