The Mass: Not Just a Family Affair

Plato and Aristotle both reasoned that the size of the polis – the Greek city-state – should be roughly 5,000 men in number. They came to this conclusion because 5,000 is the number of men who can gather together to hear another man speak to them (they of course did not have microphones and video projectors in the 4th century BC). St. Paul knew that “faith comes from what is heard” (Romans 10:17) and when he went to the Greek cities of his day, he went to speak to the very places the Greeks established for the men of the city to gather and listen, man to man. In this sense, we see God preparing the way of the Gospel among the Greeks centuries before the birth of Christ.

Most importantly, however, the very notion that men speak to men in a way that is different from how men speak to women or how women speak to women is being lost in our present culture and in aspects of the liturgy. The new translation of the Mass protects the sacred speech – so long as priests simply read the black and do the red – but often times the impromptu announcements, greetings, conclusions, and many homilies break up the flow and sacredness of the liturgy because many see the Mass as, at best, for families. Consequently many single men are not attracted to the Mass and many married men are dragged to the Mass. Add to this the growing effeminacy of the priesthood and our bishops’ preference to speak to the press or write theological articles and books, we have a large number of Catholic men who think that church is for women, children, and the aged.

Heart may speak to heart, but men must speak to men. This means more than shaping the minds of Catholic seminarians into erudite theologians or sharpening their tongues with the words of conflict resolution. It means shaping the personalities of Catholic men and helping them to see that the common, authoritative male personality, aided by grace and virtue, would be far more beneficial – and more properly ordered to – the priesthood than the scholarly, effeminate, timid, social problem solvers who were so common in the priesthood during the past forty years. It also means that priests today should not refrain from addressing men from the ambo or addressing topics which are not “family-oriented”.

When Jesus looked for Apostles, he did not call families. When the Apostles looked for believers, they did not preach to families. As the Greeks and the first Christians understood that men speak to men, so too must we remember that men will listen to men. The Mass is not merely the gathering of the feminine bride of Christ – it is also the gathering of the masculine body of Christ. If we really want to see vocations rise and the priesthood truly elevated, men must once more speak to men.

Viva Cristo Rey!

As Phillip Lawler points out, a war with no long-term objectives and no clear allies leaves us with the question, “who are we fighting for?” Indeed, it was this very problem that allowed the Obama Administration to weaken our relation with traditional Muslims and minority Christians in the Mideast and instead solidify our mission to promote “gay rights” and abortion across the globe. While President Bush failed to protect religious minorities and the American clergy was more concerned with opposing the wars rather than promoting religious liberty, no one could see that they were only leaving the door open to a liberal cultural imperialism which would leave the survival of Mideast Christians to Syria’s Assad and Russia’s Putin. Moreover, it is this unchecked cultural imperialism which will drive nations like Egypt and Syria into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving their lands soaked anew in the blood of Christians.

In a peculiar and roundabout way, the American bishops are now finally concerned with religious liberty. Though they may have arrived ten years too late to save the thousands of Mideast Christians who have and will continue to perish, perhaps they can learn from Catholic clergy and laymen south of the border who did not “expect to die in bed” while the next generation “[died] a martyr in the public square.” I speak here of the Mexican priests and laymen of the Cristero War. Though this war may have a better stake to the title of “The Forgotten War”, the Cristero War was a revolt in the 1920s against the Mexican government’s attack on religious freedom. The war produced many martyrs and many saints. It was a testimony to the piety of Catholic priests, the bravery of Catholic soldiers, and the ingenuity of Catholic women (who secretly supplied and nursed Cristero soldiers as members of the Feminine Brigades of St. Joan of Arc).

The Cristero War is finally being told to an American audience through this weekend’s release of For Greater Glory (formerly titled Cristiada). Be sure to watch the preview below – and see the movie this weekend – but also remember that it is our Hispanic brethren in America who possess a lived experience of shedding blood to protect religious liberty. We, too, must learn their hymn and sing their battlefield song:

The Virgin Mary is protector and defender against that [which] we fear / She will vanquish demons with a cry of "Long live Christ [the] King!" / Soldiers of Christ, let us follow this flag, for its cross points to the army of God / Let us follow the flag and declare, "Long live Christ [the] King!"

Joan of Arc and Memorial Day

Although the Easter season concluded a few days ago on the feast of Pentecost, today is a worthy day to recall once more that image of the Holy Spirit descending upon Mary and the twelve Apostles. The image of these men gathered under God to protect the feminine may appear simply religious in character, but it shows us how grace perfects nature. Conversely, if we fail to understand the nature of masculinity, femininity, and their unique forms of associations, we will not be able to understand how grace perfects and builds upon them, elevating them with supernatural life. Today, May 30th, commemorates two images which further expresses the anthropology of Pentecost: the feast day of St. Joan of Arc and the traditional date of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day, which was day a set aside to honor and remember the American soldiers who showed “no greater love” by laying down their lives in service to the nation, was moved to the last Monday in May - an act signifying a radical shift of American idenity from being a civic and religious people to being a commercial and domestic people. Despite this move, Americans are still drawn to remember the sacrifice of our soldiers; and though some criticize the use of American force, consider the causes for which the vast majority of them have died: the cause of national liberty, the cause of abolition, and the cause of delivering the nations from the hands of armed Darwinian atheism and armed Marxist communism. There are indeed a great number of noble causes for which our nation has bled – and while the most blood has been shed in national penance, Americans have much for which to be proud.

But more than ideas and ideals, we also know that men fight for something concrete. It takes the right kind of masculine personality to shape men and order them for combat, and it takes far more than an abstract concept to compel men to willingly advance forward while being “stormed at with shot and shell”. A general may command his men to charge forth from their foxholes, but it is for the love of something feminine - be it the motherland of the nation, the church (ecclesia), or the wife at home - that propels the men out of their defenses. As Chesterton said, "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." A man may fight for liberty, but as every New Yorker knows, liberty is not just an idea, liberty is a Lady.

During World War I, French soldiers were drawn together carrying a new feminine ark into combat: Joan of Arc. The prayerful devotion of soldiers to St. Joan helped lead to her canonization in 1920, less than a thousand days after the war’s end. Declared by the universal Church as the patroness of soldiers, St. Joan of Arc did in 1918 exactly what she did in 1429: she rallied the men of the nation. Her battle cry was not, “I am woman, hear me roar!” but rather, “Men of France, do your duties!” She was certainly not fighting to see more women in uniform, much less fighting for their “right” to breastfeed infants while wearing a combat uniform. She knew that her role was to draw men more deeply into an inherently masculine bond of association, not to enter into it.

During World War II, St. Joan was symbolically incorporated into the flag of de Gaulle’s exiled French government, once again drawing together the men of France. As we observe Memorial Day and the feast of St. Joan of Arc, it is imperative that we recognize the intrinsic good of the masculine forms of association which unites soldiers and enables them to courageously lay down their lives in shared duty. Correlatively, we must also recognize the unique feminine quality, exemplified by St. Joan, which works to enhance masculine bonds without being incorporated into them. This is the sexual order which creates a culture of life through a culture of protection.



The cross used on the flag of de Gaulle's exiled French government - the cross of Lorraine - symbolically refers to the province in which St. Joan of Arc was born, the same province taken from France by the Germans in 1870.



Gay Marriage and the Minority Vote

While Harvard geopoliticist Samuel Huntington defined America’s identity as white, Protestant, and English-speaking, the United States is becoming increasingly Latino, Catholic, and Spanish-speaking. Huntington’s fear – as is the fear of many conservatives – is that the influx of non-white, non-Protestant, and non-English-speakers will only turn the United States into a cleft country, a nation deeply split along cultural, religious, and linguistic divisions. Coupled with the fear of minorities and their tendency to vote for liberal politicians, both Huntington and conservatives fear a fundamental change in America’s identity. They forget, however, that immigrants and blacks are far more loyal to the defining characterists of American identy: the worship of God, the bonds of brotherhood, and the male-female character of marriage. As minorities now make up more than half of all children born in America, conservatives must re-evaluate their position on how they define American identity and who among us exemplifies that identity.

Are not radical feminism and homosexuality far greater threats to America’s identity than an influx of immigrants and minorities? Should the conservatives cede the minority vote and allow the Democrats to be the party of the immigrants? Can the GOP finally cut itself loose of the Log Cabin Republicans and the pro-choice politicians in its own party and reach out to immigrants and minorities who share the same traditional moral outlook? If the NAACP and Barack Obama want to tie themselves to gay marriage and thus betray the natural law and religious character of the Civil Rights Movement, so be it. Let the Republicans return to their party platform of 1856, which pledged to end the "twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery", and once more be the defenders of marriage and the Civil Rights Movement.

Consider these examples. The black vote is a monolithic bloc which the Democrats have consistently drawn on for decades. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry all claimed more than 85% of the black vote. And it shouldn’t surprise us that Barack Obama received over 95% of the black vote in 2008. But at the same that black Californians voted in Obama, 7 out of 10 of them voted to ban gay marriage in the state. Flash forward to 2012 and within 24-hours of Obama’s newfound support for gay marriage, Black voters rejected gay marriage in North Carolina by 2 to 1. A close look at the image below tells us the shared story of California and North Carolina: it is the minorities who uphold marriage and the college-educated whites who stand against it.

But it’s not just blacks and Latinos who stand alongside conservatives in this culture war, we see it in immigrants coming from Asia, Africa, and South America as well. Unlike European nations, the vast majority of immigrants coming to the United States have been Christian - indeed, immigration has made America more Christian today than it was fifty years ago. One caller to a New York City radio station shared his opinion on Obama’s acceptance of gay marriage: “I'm totally against it. I mean I'm born and raised in New York. My parents are from Guyana. That would never go in Guyana.” Manny Pacquiao, a well-known Pilipino boxer, has come out swinging – pardon the pun – against gay marriage. But publically sharing any views contrary gay marriage is one closet no one is allowed to come out of. In the name of “tolerance” Yahoo! News has declared Pacquiao “homophobic” and “intolerant” while The Grove shopping mall in L.A. has banned him from its premises.

It is time for conservatives to set aside their nativist proclivities and see how Asians like the Pilipino Manny Pacquiao, the Christian immigrants from Mexico and Guyana, and the deeply religious black community here in America, are much closer to our national identity than the white, Protestant Log Cabin Republicans. As the Catholic Church begins shifting its American cardinals from the northeast to the Latino southwest, drawing more and more on minorities to fill the ranks of priests and bishops, so too should conservatives re-evaluate the immigrants and minorities in their midst. It may just be that they have more in common than they originally thought.


UPDATE: The Coalition of African American Pastors concurs with the assessment of Orate Fratres in that there has been a "hijacking of the civil rights movement by homosexuals, bisexuals and gender-confused people." Rev. William Owens, the President and founder of the CAAP declared,"We who marched with Rev. King did not march one inch or one mile to promote same-sex marriage," and that the "NAACP has abandoned its historic responsibility to speak for and safeguard the civil rights movement." The readers of Oratre Fratres should support Rev. William Owens and the CAAP by signing their petition to protect the male-female character of marriage.

Patriotism and Women

There is a deep and profound connection between patriotism and women. When God placed Adam in the Garden he was given the duty “to till and to keep” it (Genesis 2:15). But Adam was also given Eve. In a way, Adam was given a similar duty to Eve. With Eve he is to bear fruit – not simply the fruit of the earth, but the fruit of their marital union. Nevertheless, Adam’s name means ‘earth’ and in a play on words we can say that the sons of Adam are indeed the fruit of the Earth through Eve. Adam must also “keep” the Garden; he must protect it. The same can be said of his duty to Eve – as he must protect the Garden, so too must he protect her.

Another way we can put this is that God is telling Adam, “When you see the beauty of the Garden, see your wife. When you see the beauty of your wife, see the Garden.” Like Adam, we American men and women find ourselves in a land that we did not choose for ourselves. And looking back to Adam’s relation, under God, to Eve and to the Garden, we see that authentic patriotism is deeply connected to a nation’s women. If the women of a nation lose their own femininity, then men either lose their patriotism or replace it with a twisted version which only leads to destruction.

As the sons of Adam should have looked to Eve to understand the beauty for which they were to fight against the Evil One, so we must see authentic femininity in our mothers and our sisters, in our wives and in our daughters. As Catholics, Marian femininity must be the fixed point, the North Star by which woman orients herself to the meaning of femininity. With women shaped by the personality of the Virgin Mother of God, a nation's men can regain their sense of proper patriotism and once more see in their motherland the beauty of woman for which they can give their lives.

1000 Years of European History

If you've ever wondered how the map of Europe has evolved over the course of a thousand years, check out this video below:

Slowing Down the Freedom Train

In his book, Religion, Sex, & Politics, Dr. David Pence describes the civil rights movement as a train carrying African American’s to freedom. The “freedom train”, however, has been rapidly slowed down by the feminist and homosexual movements which have tried to get a free ride by hitching their cars to the civil rights movement’s engine. But why would the post-MLK civil rights movement allow this to happen? Because it promised to get more people behind the movement. In other words, God does not power the freedom train, people do. Or as Dr. Pence writes:

Adding first the baggage car of gender, then the braking caboose of homosexuality to the freedom train has depleted its fuel supply - religious tradition and natural law… The feminists and homosexuals promised to swell the crowd but, in a Faustian bargain, stole the movement’s soul. When the civil rights movement lost its religious center, it lost its soul. To forgo the word of God for a promise of government health care benefits makes even the idolaters of the golden calf look like bargain shoppers.

Indeed, the civil rights movement, like the abolitionist movement before it, ran on religious tradition and natural law. The divine power and providence which ran the freedom train, however, is incompatible with the feminist and homosexual agendas – no wonder the train has come to a screeching halt! And while President Obama has placed two radical feminists on the Supreme Court, repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and now supports gay marriage (which the African American community in particular rejects as an affront to the civil rights movement), the unemployment rate of African Americans is double the national average, 70% of African American children are born to single mothers, and President Obama himself laments the fact that there are more African American men in prison than in college.

The civil rights movement needs to cut loose the feminist baggage car and the homosexual caboose and return to its religious center.

Perhaps the actions of other nations will serve as better examples. Though our nation continues to parallel the economic policies and cultural outlook of Europe, Russia – our Cold War nemesis – may pass a national anti-homosexuality propaganda law this year. Five cities, including St. Petersburg (the second largest city in Russia), have already passed such legislation since March. While the Russian Orthodox clergy strongly support the legislation, a 2010 survey of the Russian population showed that 70% of Russians did not view homosexual acts as morally upright behavior.

The African continent as a whole, both in the Islamic north and Christian south, also rejects homosexuality. In Liberia, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning female President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has shared her support for laws criminalizing homosexual acts. In an appearance at a National Prayer Breakfast in 2010, President Obama blasted Uganda’s laws against homosexual acts and he has sent Hilary Clinton abroad in the name of feminism and homosexuality. But as Orthodox Russia, Islamic North Africa, and Christian Sub-Sahara Africa recognizes the religious character of their nations and cuts loose the braking caboose of homosexuality, let us pray these nations help the American civil rights movement reorient itself and recharge itself on religious tradition and the natural law.

The Weeds Among Wheat

When the Israelites rejected the true worship of God by replacing Him with the Golden Calf, Exodus 32 tells us how the Levitical priesthood was inaugurated:

[Moses] stood at the gate of the camp and cried, "Whoever is for the LORD, let him come to me!" All the Levites then rallied to him, and he told them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Put your sword on your hip, every one of you! Now go up and down the camp, from gate to gate, and slay your own kinsmen, your friends and neighbors!" The Levites carried out the command of Moses, and that day there fell about three thousand of the people. Then Moses said, "Today you have been dedicated to the LORD, for you were against your own sons and kinsmen, to bring a blessing upon yourselves this day." (Exodus 32:26-29)

From this day on, the Tribe of Levi was set aside. When the Israelites made their final preparation to enter the Promised Land, the men of fighting age were gathered and counted – except for the male descendants of Levi. The Levites were set aside for a sacred duty, the duty of the priesthood. They would tend to the sacrifices of the Law and they alone would carry the Ark of the Covenant. The Levites were not pacifists – they gave up one sword for another.

The slaying of the three thousand kinsmen, friends, and neighbors was also a kind of exorcism. Exorcism was first carried out by the angels when they cast out Satan and his demons from Heaven. It happened again when God flooded the world. The Levites themselves would undergo a kind of priestly exorcism with the rebellious priest Korah, and the Apostles – the priests of the New Covenant – would experience a priestly exorcism when Jesus exorcized Judas from their communion at the foot-washing on Holy Thursday.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the weeds among wheat. He describes how the two grow together and then says: “…at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” To prepare the Apostles and their successors for their mission as His harvesters, Jesus expels Judas and on Pentecost sends them the Holy Spirit. And in an apparent reversal of Exodus 32, Peter’s preaching on Pentecost drew three-thousand people into the life of the Apostolic Church (see Acts 2:38, 41). What a harvest indeed!

But we must not forget the weeds.

The Apostles and their successors (through the Sacrament of Holy Orders) fulfill and perfect the Levitical priesthood by being sacramentally configured to the Christ the High Priest and ordered for contest with the Evil One who prowls about seeking the ruin of souls. Jesus told the Apostles that they would sit on twelve thrones to judge (Matthew 19:28). And if the Levites went through the Israelite camp, slaying three-thousand kinsmen, friends, and neighbors, it should not surprise us that the priests and harvesters of the New Covenant will be just as responsible for casting the weeds into the fire as they are responsible for gathering and bringing the wheat into the barn.

Every priest must prepare himself for this two-fold eschatological act: (1) to gather those saved into the marriage supper of the Lamb and (2) to finish what the angels begun, completing the final expulsion of the Evil One and his minions into the fires of Hell.

South Korea, the Asian Tiger of the Church

Chiesa has a wonderful article on growth of the Church in South Korea. The growth rate is such that adult baptisms are not merely celebrated at Easter (as is done in North America) but also on Pentecost and Christmas. Only Vietnam and the Phillipines have a higher proportion of Catholics - but South Korea is rapidly catching up. The Catholic population of South Korea is around 10%-12% but they are now in the middle of an ambitious evangelization program called Evangelization Twenty Twenty. The goal is to bring the Catholic population up to 20% of South Korea by the year 2020. It is interesting to note that while the Catholic population is a little over half-way to the 2020 goal, the Catholic presence in the South Korean military jumped to 18% by 2007.

With atheist North Korea on the boarder, the South Koreans know that Catholicism isn’t just a religion for the aged, the women, and the young.

Two Chrism Masses, Two Homilies

Papal Chrism Mass - Holy Thursday, 2012

At every Chrism Mass, the priests of a diocese gather with their bishop as he consecrates the oils which will be used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and holy orders. Traditionally celebrated on Holy Thursday, the Chrism Mass offers each bishop an opportunity to speak to his priests as Christ spoke to his Apostles at the Last Supper. Just as the Sacrament of Confirmation deepens the laity’s bond to the mission of the Church and connects them concretely to their bishop, the Chrism Mass orders the priests to the mission of their bishop.

While the bishop usually speaks to his own priests, Pope Benedict seemed to direct his Chrism Mass homily in the direction of Vienna.

It’s been six years since 250 priests of the Archdiocese of Vienna created the “Call to Disobedience” – a group dissenting from Church teaching on priestly celibacy, homosexuality, feminism, and liturgy. Led by Vienna’s former vicar general, it has since grown and no steps have been taken to discipline the dissenters. Indeed, the recent decision of Austria’s archbishop, Cardinal Schönborn, to interfere with the legitimate authority of a Vienna priest thus allowing a homosexual in a domestic partnership sit on a parish council only reinforces the views of the dissenting priests and deacons.

With hundreds of priests gathered – 20% of whom are in open rebellion against Church teaching and natural law – Cardinal Schönborn said this in his homily:

The good shepherd holds fast to both [of] these things: [1] to the conviction that God’s master plan is right, that it is good for human beings and makes them happy, and [2] to the loving, patient path along which Jesus draws us into his friendship. Here it is often the little signs of lived love, of patient, mutual support, even in "irregular" situations, which are the signs of a growing friendship with Jesus. We shepherds should take note of these signs, promote them, encourage them. All this is not "the solution" for all of life’s problems, but it is the path of a growing friendship with Jesus.

If living in grave sin is redefined as only an “‘irregular’ situation” in which there are “signs of a growing friendship with Jesus” and we must “promote them, encourage them,” then why couldn’t the heretical teachings of the dissenting clergy just as well be redefined as “‘irregular’ teachings” which could also be signs of a growing friendship with Jesus, also to be promoted and encouraged. In this homily and in his decision “not to intervene in the already completed [parish council] election,” Cardinal Schönborn shows his inability to act with authority regarding these successors of Korah and his priests.

Pope Benedict, however, does not mince words.

While it has been six years since the “Call to Disobedience” began, the recent parish council scandal undoubtedly provided Pope Benedict the impetus to address the crisis in Austria in his own Chrism Mass homily:

“Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience, and at the same time gave concrete examples of the forms this disobedience might take, even to the point of disregarding definitive decisions of the Church’s Magisterium… Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church?”

Pope Benedict teaches us the meaning of obedience, authority, and the Father’s will:

"Nor must we forget: [Jesus] was the Son, possessed of singular authority and responsibility to reveal the authentic will of God, so as to open up the path for God’s word to the world of the nations. And finally: he lived out his task with obedience and humility all the way to the Cross, and so gave credibility to his mission. Not my will, but thine be done: these words reveal to us the Son, in his humility and his divinity, and they show us the true path.”

And at the Chrism Mass with his priests gathered, Pope Benedict reminds us of the “great throng of holy priests”:

“…it is clear that configuration to Christ is the precondition and the basis for all renewal… Saint Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ… We priests can call to mind a great throng of holy priests who have gone before us and shown us the way: from Polycarp of Smyrna and Ignatius of Antioch, from the great pastors Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory the Great, through to Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, John Mary Vianney and the priest-martyrs of the 20th century, and finally Pope John Paul II, who gave us an example, through his activity and his suffering, of configuration to Christ as ‘gift and mystery’”.

As we recall the foot-washing of Holy Thursday, Pope Benedict reminds us that the Church must not compromise its mission, placing “pastoral needs” above the will of God. “…God is not concerned so much with great numbers,” Benedict says, “…but [he] achieves his victories under the humble sign of the mustard seed.”

And with that, let the foot-washing begin.

The Etymology of Communion ordered to Contest

Community is a very popular word these days. A Latin word sounding very similar to community is also very popular among Catholic theologians – this word is communio. Both words trace their roots to the Latin word communis, a word which literally means a shared duty (cum meaning ‘with/together’ and munus meaning ‘duty’). While we tend to think of community or communio in terms of peace and prosperity, we must remember our public duties which shape both community and communio.

We are in a communion ordered and directed to contest and conflict.

Indeed, contest and conflict are what Christians are celebrating right now in the Easter season. We sometimes think Christ’s agony in the garden was simply Jesus’ nerves bothering him before his torture and death – but we should remember that ‘agony’ comes from the Greek word agon, which means ‘a contest’. Jesus’ death did not mark his triumphant entry into Heaven – no, it marked his descent into Hell where he engaged in a battle with the Evil One, struck Satan a mortal blow, and then freed the righteous from his death grip.

The Resurrection is the celebration of Christ’s victory over death. In a conflict and contest, there is a winner and a loser – and Christ is the winner!

The word agon also means ‘an assembly for contest’ – and it is altogether fitting that the word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which means ‘the assembly’. Ekklesia itself is derived from ek-kaleo, “which was used for the summons to the army to assemble… and denotes in the usage of antiquity the popular assembly of the competent full citizens of the polis, city” (New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology). The assembly thus comes in two forms – the city, state, nation and the Church. There are those men assembled to protect the borders of temporal entities and another drawn from the nations elevated to protect us from the power of the Evil One himself.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia! But let us not forget that the Devil still prowls about seeking the ruin of souls. Let us form up as men and ready ourselves for contest.

Puritans and Christian Mission

The Puritans that came to the New World very much saw themselves as the new Israelites coming to a new Promised Land. They were quite fond of, and familiar with, the Old Testament. The Atlantic was like a new Red Sea and crossing through it meant freedom from the Egypt-like England. Like the Israelites they came not to forward religious liberty but rather to worship God in the way they were commanded.

But the Puritans were also influenced by the Christian notion of mission.

When entering the Promised Land, the Israelites would act like the floodwaters in the days of Noah. They practiced herem warfare, killing all in their way. Long before this, God told Abraham that “the wickedness of the Amorites [who lived in the Promised Land] is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). It would be the duty of the Israelites to eradicate the pagan population and their abominations lest the Israelites fall into their pagan practices. Just as the waters of the great flood washed away sin – and sinners – from the world, so would the Israelites created a public space where God alone is God.

The Puritans, however, did not practice herem warfare on the Native Americans.

Of course Thanksgiving images of Pilgrims and Indians come to mind from our days in elementary school, but Puritan preachers like John Eliot preached to the Native Americans in order to bring them Christianity. The Puritans considered their polity as a “City on a Hill” or an uncovered light for all to see. The glory of the Christian mission is the ability to create large, wide-radius forms of association. This sense of mission is not found in the Israelites of the Old Testament. For this one needs the body of Christ.

Washing Feet: Not Merely “Servant Leadership”

From a wonderful article in the National Catholic Register, Tim Drake writes that we tend to understand, “the foot-washing passage [of Jesus and the Apostles] as if through a pair of glasses with one lens missing. The modern interpretation views the event only as an act of service… It is certainly this, but oh, so much more.”

If the foot-washing is not just about service to others, what exactly is it also about? Well let’s take a look at how John opens his passage on the washing of the feet: “The devil had already induced Judas… to hand [Jesus] over. So… [Jesus] rose from supper and… he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (John 13:1-2,4-5). Notice the word “so” in the passage. John is leading us to connect the Devil and Judas to the act of foot-washing. Because the Devil has induced Judas to betray Jesus, Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles. But does Jesus’ action make sense? What connection could there possibly be between water and evil?

It makes perfect sense.

Just recall what water does in the Bible. It’s the floodwaters in Noah’s day that purifies the world of sin. The waters of the Red Sea drowned Pharaoh’s army and set the Israelites free to worship as God has instructed them. For us it is water in baptism that frees us from Original Sin and enables us to worship as the sons of God. And don’t forget that there is always a minor exorcism with every baptism. Jesus, before instituting Holy Orders and the Eucharist first performs a kind of communal baptism and exorcism of the Apostles. He exorcises Judas from among the Apostolic ranks and he washes their feet, preparing them for their mission: to carry by foot the proclamation of the Gospel and the spread of Christ’s Kingdom, drawing all men to Him through them (see John 17).

When Peter resists the foot-washing, Jesus says to him: “…you are clean, but not all.” (John 13:10, 11). Just as the Israelites fought as one man, the unity of the Apostles must be retained. They, too, shall fight as one man in a battle against Satan. Jesus knew there would be future Judas’ among his men – and he established this foot-washing example among them in order that they should be vigilant among themselves, casting out evil from their ranks so that the mission is not jeopardized and the bride of Christ is protected. Jesus says, “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:15). For centuries the bishops followed this model by washing the feet of their priests at the Chrism Mass on the morning of Holy Thursday.

As another landmark clerical sex-abuse trial begins in Philadelphia, is it at all surprising that these cases have arisen since we reduced the foot-washing to merely a nice act of “servant leadership” in our parishes? Does it really surprise us that monsters have profaned the Sacrament of Holy Orders since we stopped being vigilant? Is it not time to renew the bishop’s washing of his priest’s feet?

Perhaps our bishops should heed two other words from Christ on Holy Thursday: “…keep watch” (Matthew 26:40).

Non-Confrontational Personalities Wielding Authority

Coming on the heels of Cardinal Wuerl’s removal of a Catholic priest because he refused the Eucharist to practicing Buddhist lesbian, another orthodox cardinal is in the news at odds with a priest over another homosexual.

The cardinal is none other than Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Austria.

The issue concerns the appointment of a practicing homosexual to a parish council. After winning two-thirds of the parishioners’ votes, Florian Stangl was barred by the parish priest, Fr. Gerhard Swierzek, from taking a seat on the council. The twenty-six year old is currently living with another man in a registered domestic partnership, and is thus not in good standing with the Church.

Enter Cardinal Schönborn.

Overruling one of his parish priests, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna has permitted a homosexual in a registered domestic partnership to serve on a parish council… Cardinal Schönborn said that he had initially intended to uphold the priest’s decision--but then, he said, “I ask myself in these situations: How did Jesus act? He first saw the human being.”

For his part, Stangl had this to say:

“I feel committed to the teachings of the Church. But the demand to live chastely seems kind of unrealistic to me. How many people really live chastely?”

I wonder what Jesus would have said to the woman caught in adultery if that was her response to his command: "Go and sin no more" (John 8:11).

Having lunch with Stangl and his homosexual lover, however, was the tipping point which led Schönborn to make “a decision for human beings,” rather than to support a priest wielding a legitimate authority formed by the teaching of the Church and the moral law.

Schönborn is perhaps best known for leading the work on the newest Catechism of the Catholic Church. Both Schönborn and Wuerl, however, are admired for their adherence to the Catholic faith in teaching. Wuerl recently published a book with Mike Aqulina on the Mass and Schönborn entered the faith and science debate with a book called Chance or Purpose?

Morality is carried by personalities. To wield the crozier – the bishop’s staff – means to wield a sacral authority. To wear a miter, with its two lappets hanging behind representing Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, means to authoritatively speak and defend the Word of God in its two primary sources and lived liturgical expression. The bishop’s ring is a sign of fidelity, a faithful “yes” to God which precludes saying “yes” to the world and its mortally wounded, but nevertheless deadly, master, the Father of Lies.

The people who heard Jesus “were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority” (Mark 1:22). With that in mind, our bishops should recall what Jesus said of them: “Whoever hears you, hears me” (Luke 10:16). The next time the people hear Jesus through the voice of the bishop or cardinal, will they too be astonished at his teaching as one having authority? Or will they hear the words of an erudite scholar shaped by a non-confrontational personality?

Recruits - Spring 2012

Maps are very important. Not only can epic stories can be told by pointing to a map, but sometimes data can be conveyed better through a map than through many, many explanatory paragraphs in a research paper. Maps show us national and civilizational boundaries, where natural resources are can be found, and the location of opposing forces seeking control of those resources.

So getting a group of men together to look at a map and reenact historical events is an excellent tool for learning, thinking, and training.

And at Lee's Summit High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri, Midwesterners gather every six months for a tabletop wargaming convention called Recruits. The proceeds of the convention go to the high school's Organization for Strategic Gaming, an extracurricular club in which students can letter for wargaming history. In addition to funding the OSG, Recruits also helps introduce wargaming to those curious about tabletop wargaming.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to present the game Tide of Iron, a combat simulation of tactical fighting during World War II. Below are some pictures from the event:

In this Tide of Iron scenario, the Germans are trying their best to overrun the Allied defenses and secure their objectives.

World War II is not the only World War to replay. In this image, players better understand the difficulties of assaulting the trenches of World War I.

Some games required a much larger table space. This recreation of Napoleonic battles required a table at least eight feet long and five feet wide.

Of course, wars are going on even today. This recreation introduces players to the much more recent Battle of Fallujah which took place in Iraq.

Barack’s Deborah and Jael?

As the healthcare battle moves to the Supreme Court, the Book of Judges (no pun intended) offers us a look back at the Obama presidency.

When Barack Obama defeated Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, he ran against the Republican John McCain in the general election. Standing side by side, the seventy-one year old “Maverick” and the far younger father of two seemed polar opposites. Only one, however, directly catered to the feminist cause: John McCain. He did so by placing Sarah Palin on the ticket with him, not because she was fit to be second in line to the Presidency but because he was attempting to draw more women to his own cause.

Now it’s not that Obama did not espouse a feminist-supporting viewpoint, but as a convert to Christianity from Islam and a successful family man of the African American community, Barack Obama had an opportunity to continue national efforts with Islamic nations and be a strong voice to the young and struggling African American male population. Sometimes the Presidency forces greatness upon men, challenging them to rise up the task and doing what is best for the nation. In other words, while John McCain’s damaged policy positions were sacramentally reflected in his broken and aging body, Barack’s vigor and refusal to run an Obama-Clinton ticket gave the nation hope for an Obama presidency.

Like Barak in the Book of Judges, however, Barack’s presidency has been to win battles through his female protectors.

First he chose Hilary Clinton to be his Secretary of State and he not only sent her as his representative to the very masculine Islamic nations, but he also used her to defend abortion, contraception, and gay rights across the globe. Then during the healthcare debate in the White House he listened to Nancy Pelosi over Joe Biden concerning the contraceptive mandate. To defend this position, he hid behind Sandra Fluke who testified that every American woman should have thousands of dollars of free condoms and birth control pills. And as of this week, his new hope has been placed in the two justices he sent to the Supreme Court: Elena Kagan and Sandra Sotomeyer, both women. Today, Zogby released a poll showing Barack leading Romney among women by 14 points.

All this seems eerily similar to the actions of Barak in Judges 4.

In Judges, the Israelites found themselves at war with the Canaanite king, Jabin. When God choose Barak to defeat Jabin’s army in battle, he refused to go without the presence of the prophet Debra in his midst, saying: “‘If you come with me, I will go; if you do not come with me, I will not go’” (Judges 4:8). Deborah responded by telling Barak that because he would not lead the battle alone, his victory would not come through his efforts but through woman. Indeed, after Deborah and Barak routed Jabin’s army, the general of the army fled to an ally’s tent. Jael, the wife of the ally, led the general to her bed where she hid him and allowed him to sleep. But once he was in a deep sleep, Jael “got a tent peg and took a mallet in her hand… and drove the peg through his temple and down into the ground, and he died” (Judges 4:21). Barak won the battle, but the victory was not his.

Like Barak, Barack Obama has fought his battles through women - but Barack's women, however, are the defenders and propagators of feminism. They have given him counsel and he has appointed them to high and influential places. And with the Sandra Fluke debacle and the Supreme Court case, his feminist defenders await within the tent-bedroom.

Just make sure to keep watch for the peg on the table.

Twelve Succinct Facts on Angels

In the opening of Dr. Peter Kreeft’s book on Angels (and Demons), Dr. Kreeft begins by offering us these twelve facts about angels which should interest us enough to read the rest of the book.

Angels: The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.

2. They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.

3. They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.

4. They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.

5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.

6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.

7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.

8. Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.

9. You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.

10. Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares”—that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.

11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.

12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

If you found these twelve facts interesting, you should run down to your nearest Catholic bookstore and get yourself a copy of Kreeft's book!

The Patron Saint of Feminism?

Morality is carried by personalities. As the contraceptive mandate debate rages, we as Catholics must take this as an opportunity to examine our own understanding of femininity and look at the personalities which shape our moral conduct.

In short, the current debate is not merely a church-state debate, nor a healthcare debate; rather, it is a battle between feminism and Marian femininity – and there can be no peace between the two. It is a battle between “I am woman, hear me roar” and the Virgin Mother of God who says “Let it be done to me according to your word.” It is a battle between women’s “right to choose” on one hand and the Woman’s submission to the will of God on the other. It is a battle between those hungry for power and the Spouse of the Holy Ghost.

Many Catholic women no longer see Mary as the model for their femininity. Perhaps she’s inspiring or appealing in some way or another, but very few women would name her as the woman to whom they aspire to imitate. Today’s patron saints are Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Sebelius, Hilary Clinton, Margaret Sanger – and now Sandra Fluke. Women of power, not purity. Indeed, the polar opposites of Mary and Marian femininity.

Tolkien tells us in the Lord of the Rings that evil “can only mock, it cannot make”. To mock here means to mimic in a twisted and distorted way. Today Sandra Fluke has become the newest patron saint of the feminist cause, and a standard bearer of the twisted mockery of Marian femininity. For example, unlike Mary, the woman who bears the titles Virgin and Mother, Fluke fights for those who detest their virginity and say “no” to motherhood while saying “yes” to the abortionist's scalpel. And unlike Mary, who intercedes before the King on behalf of her children at war with the Evil One, Fluke intercedes on behalf of the President in order to win his battle while preventing the creation of children.

In the Passion of the Christ, Satan appears as a woman carrying a demonic infant in mockery of Mary and her Son. The new mockery comes from those who despise virginity and motherhood. Let us raise up the person and personality of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Let us excise the feminist cataract from our eyes and see clearly. Only then can we succeed at being a lumen gentium – a light to the nations!

An Authoritative Bishop

We all know that words have meaning. Some words even effect what they signify. Take the words “I love you” or “I hate you” when spoken between two people. Our words in the liturgy do this at a supernatural level. Indeed, the power of the Church is wielded par excellence during the liturgy. Another important aspect of the liturgy is that the Roman Missal’s precise words take the priest’s personality out of the sacred act. In fact, those who go to a particular church because they like the personality of one priest over another is evidence that the priest’s personality has entered too much into the liturgy. The great thing about the liturgy is that any priest can step in and read the words!

Since Vatican II, however, there has been a good deal of adlibbing the text of the Mass. Some have done this because they didn’t like the text, while others were awaiting a new translation. Thankfully this translation is here and the bishops are uniting their priests around it. No more adlibbing.

But in the name of making the Mass “more understandable and more meaningful to parishioners,” Fr. William Rowe of the Belleville Diocese in Illinois has continued to improvise the words of the Roman Missal. His ordinary, Bishop Edward Braxton, instructed Fr. Rowe to be a faithful and obedient priest and use the correct words. “I told him I couldn't do that,” Rowe said. “That's how I pray.” This emphasis of his own personal preferences rather than praying the most powerful words of the Church led Bishop Braxton to remove Fr. Rowe from his parish. In an age where authority and leadership has been reduced to mere service, Bishop Braxton shows us that being a bishop means having a backbone in the face of recalcitrant priests who entrench themselves in parishes by making themselves the center of attention.

To End All Wars

It's been a while since I last viewed this movie, but despite the pacifist-sounding title, I remember it being a profound movie concerning survival and faith amidst a Japanese labor camp during World War II. Definintely worth checking out.