Wednesday, September 26, 2018

The Kavanaugh Hearings


Today, the Kavanaugh nomination reaches its climax with a hearing featuring Brett Kavanaugh, nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, and his main sexual abuse accuser testifying.  You probably will be reading this edition of MTT after you’ve already watched the hearing.  I’m writing this before the hearing.  Sins that seem to be prevalent in our society are in full discussion with accusations flying in all directions.  Though there are a number of such sins in this scenario that I could focus on, my thoughts are mostly with the sins of judging others and of bearing false witness (lying).

Both the accuser and the accused are being judged for their actions and for their words.  The obvious Scripture passage that applies here is the parable of Jesus (at the Sermon on the Mount) that begins with the words: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”  (Matt 7:1).   We’ve all heard it and I would venture to say that we’ve all done it.  I am guilty myself.  A person may be accused of some obvious wrongdoing and we all immediately judge him or her as a bad person.  Let’s take a look at the entire passage.

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.  For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.  Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your own eye?”  (Matt 7:1-4).

The sins of the accuser are often more serious than those of the accused!  A splinter compared to a wooden beam!  We’ve all committed serious sins.  It’s the nature of the human condition.  Jesus is telling us to not be hypocritical.  Do not judge others.  Kavanaugh accusers should not be accusing him and Kavanaugh supporters should not be judging the accusers.

Now, what about lying.  In the eighth commandment, God says  “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”  (Exod 20:16).  In other words, do not lie!  In the case of the Kavanaugh hearings, someone is lying, either the accuser or the accused.  In the Book of Proverbs, God says:  “Put falsehood and lying far from me …. lest I deny you.”  (Prov 30:8-9). 

Of course, most people involved in this whole situation are not thinking of Scripture passages, or God’s laws, or of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, or, more fundamentally, of their eternal salvation.  For a person of Faith like myself, that is the crux of the problem.  And what if people today did have a devout faith as told in Scripture?  There would be no accusations flying around in either direction.  There would be no judging and there would be no lying.  Kavanaugh’s fitness for the job would be decided by the committee as appointed with no outside interference from either side.

But the deeper problem is that politics rears its ugly head.  I fear that the crime of abortion (another serious sin) lies at the heart of the whole affair.  Accusers and their supporters are afraid that abortion will eventually become illegal, while the accused and his supporters want to be allowed to have the process take its course and the outcome be whatever it will be.  And what about that process?  How can the accusers and their supporters change it to their advantage?  Well, that is supposed to occur at the upcoming elections and not by judging and lying!

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Two "What if ...?" Questions



No human being is on the same level as God.  No human being WILL EVER BE on the same level as God.  Man should never think that he is or could be God, or like God.  When he does think in such terms, he runs into trouble because he is way out of his league.  If he ever rationalizes that he is like God in the future, he will run into trouble for the same reason.  Here is a Scripture verse that applies:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”  (Isah 55:8-9).

Some reject this idea, especially in this age of the Enlightenment, when they say that there is no need to invoke the existence of God at all.  They believe that man will some day advance so far in the fields of science, mathematics, and technology that all natural phenomena will be able to be explained with no need to consider any sort of a deity.  Therefore, man’s knowledge will, when this day arrives, meet or exceed all that is currently attributed to God and man will have completely logical and accurate information without saying that God exists.  In essence, they will be saying that Humanity has become the only God.

I remember, back in my college days, when one of my friends (who noted my strict adherence to my Catholic faith) said to me “But what if you live your entire life full of faithful attention to prayer and sacrifice and you are on your deathbed and someone walks in and tells you that the existence of God has just been proven as complete fabrication?”  The implication here, of course, is that I thus would discover that my life of devotion and deep faith has all been proven wrong and that I would have deep regret.  I told him that that would never happen.  Here is another passage from Scripture.

“Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!  Therefore, you shall love the Lord, Your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.  Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.  Drill them into your children.  Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.  Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.  Write them on the doorposts of your homes and on your gates.”  (Deut 6:4-9).

Some will say simply that there is no God and it will be proven that the Scriptures are just a collection of fictional stories that have absolutely no relevance to anything real or important.  Well, both these passages from Scripture use pretty strong language in favor of the existence of God.  What we Christians believe today is that God does exist, that He has revealed himself through the Scriptures handed down via the Jewish faith to the present-day Christian faith, and that this God is the one true God, that there is no other.  And men can never and will never become like gods. 

To my college friend, I would now ask this:  “What if you live your entire life full of sin and every kind of debauchery imaginable and you are on your deathbed and someone walks in and tells you that the existence of the Judeo-Christian God has just been proven as complete truth?”  My prayer would be that he would have the time and the courage to call in a priest for a deathbed Baptism, or if he is already a baptized Catholic, a deathbed Confession.  It is so, so important because, when we die, he (and we) will be judged by this almighty and ever-living God and what our eternal home will be depends on the result.  Amen.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

The Exultation of the Holy Cross



We, here in 2018, are close to 2000 years removed from the days in which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walked the face of the earth.  People who lived in the 10-20 years following his Death, Resurrection, and Ascension seemed to expect His return at any moment, despite Christ’s caution that we do not know the day nor the hour.  (Mark 13:32).  So, in the year 40, for example, they waited.  In the year 50, no return.  In the years 60, 70, 80, nothing.  They began to think that they should write down the teachings, the parables, and the events in his life so that people wouldn’t forget details and so that they could evangelize more effectively than relying solely on oral teachings.  We all believe that the Sacred Scriptures were then written by the evangelists, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, on parchment that was available at the time and preserved through the centuries.

But what about relics?  For example, the burial cloth.  Some believe that this was preserved over time and is on display today as the Shroud of Turin.  Or the tomb.  We believe that the tomb was “discovered” via excavation work.  Today, the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre” stands in Jerusalem over the site of the tomb.  Similarly, many other sites have been identified and venerated through time.  I have not toured the Holy Land, but what an adventure that would be!

What really inspired these thoughts today is the fact that the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross tomorrow, Friday, September 14, with special liturgy at Holy Mass.  The Holy Cross!  The Cross on which hung the Savior of the World!  Was this cross preserved to the present day?  As the story goes, It was “discovered” in the year 326 by St. Helena, mother of Constantine, during a pilgrimage she made to the Holy Land at a time when excavations were taking place on Goglotha, the site of the crucifixion of Jesus.  It is said that the crosses of the two thieves were also found there.

I am inspired by the Scripture readings for tomorrow’s Holy Mass.  Here is an excerpt from St. Paul’s letter to the Phillipians, referring to the infamous death:  “Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Phil 2:9-11).   Most people don’t bend their knee these days, but I personally make a conscious effort to bow whenever I hear the name of Jesus.  My prayer for today:  Lord, thank you so much for the excavations and preservations that have occurred and for this awesome feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.  Amen!

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Faith, Science, and My Pea Brain



I have an intense interest in the natural world.  To see a hummingbird flitter around the sugar water feeder in my back yard fascinates me.  To notice that grizzly bears seemingly wonder aimlessly around Yellowstone National Park intrigues me.  To observe raindrops falling from a dark sky during daylight hours mesmerizes me.  To know that innumerable planets, stars, galaxies and black holes exist in the sky above captivates me.  To consider that a whole other world of atoms, nuclei, electrons, and molecules are found while observing matter under a powerful microscope (that does not exist) enthralls me. 

I could go on and on.  Sometimes I think I have a pea-sized brain that can’t possibly capture, let alone explain, all that is there in the natural world.  But I gave it a try.  I went to college and majored in chemistry, going as far as a Master’s degree.  In college, I met people who had similar interests.  Some obviously have brains that could go much further than mine in explaining things.  These folks now write and speak their science specialty in ways that clearly show an understanding that goes far beyond mine.  Today, I am seventy years old and retired.  I taught chemistry at the college level for thirty-seven years.  I found myself always wanting to go deeper in explaining things to my students.  Besides needing to obey rules that stopped me from mentioning God, I found myself also stopped because of my pea-sized brain too.

Today, I read books about the science vs faith riddle.  Some scientists feel they can conclude that all of life’s mysterious phenomena can be (and will be) explained by science without invoking anything like the existence of God.  These scientists are obviously atheists.  Other scientists have a long list of scientific accomplishments behind their name (such as the unraveling of the human genome mystery) and conclude that there is no other explanation except to say that God exists, has created the universe, and is in total charge.

I was born into a faith-filled family.  I believe in miracles.  I believe in God.  Besides that, I am a Catholic and am entirely comfortable with the tenets of my faith.  I believe in the miracle of the Eucharist.  I believe that bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus at the Catholic Mass.  You may want to call it my pea brain.  You may want to call it indoctrination.  You may want to call it insanity, or all of the above.  But that is who I am.  I look forward to pulling back the curtain and passing from this life into the next.  In fact, I can hardly wait!  My prayer for today:  Lord, you are in charge.  I stand in awe of your astonishing power, your breathtaking creation, your astounding handiwork, and, besides all of this, your overwhelming abiding patience and love.  Keep me ever in the palm of your hand and within your providential care.  Amen!