Category Archives: Faith

What is it to be Poor in Spirit?

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Dear Folks,
Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount with eight beatitudes. Let’s take a good look.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom on heaven.” How many folks have no idea what it means? I’ve learned you can get through the seminary and not be ready to answer that question. I would look for a clue in the two stories immediately after the Sermon on the Mount. First, Jesus heals a leper. This guy was poor, totally poor. He had nothing, nothing, nothing to offer Jesus. He had no contacts, no connections. Everyone shunned him. When he came to Jesus for help, he was completely dependent on His mercy and generosity. Next comes the healing of the centurion’s servant. This centurion was
probably the wealthiest, most powerful man in the area. Furthermore, he had been very good to the Israelites (Luke 7:4-5). If anyone was likely to approach Jesus with a sense of entitlement, it would be him. Instead of presuming he makes a wonderful statement of humility, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.” We remember this at every Mass. He was poor in spirit. 
There is a text in Matthew 15:21-28 that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. A woman comes to Jesus for help, and He ignores her at first, then seems kind of mean. Many people
don’t know how to deal with this. Remember that we only get the words, and don’t see what is in their hearts. Jesus, of course could read people very well, and sometimes people need to have their intentions purified. She came through: she showed she was not taking Him for granted, and recognized she was not entitled to His help, and the story ended well.
Have we ever felt that God was ignoring us or even being harsh? Might we be undergoing some purifying of our intentions too?
Contrast this with Luke 4: 16-30, when Jesus comes to the synagogue in Nazareth, where He grew up. They had the attitude that because Jesus grew up there, they were entitled to some miracles and mighty works from Him. It didn’t go well, and they missed a most wonderful opportunity.
See also Jesus’ teaching in Luke 17:7-10, in which Jesus teaches about a servant who, after serious labor, does not get immediate reward and rest, but must first do more work. Jesus says, “When you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done only our duty.’”
A working principle is that we look to Jesus as perfectly embodying the beatitudes. St. Paul taught, “For you are well aware of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he
was rich, he became poor for your sake so that by his poverty you might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).” We should be familiar with the hymn in Philippians 2, that describes
Jesus as entitled to divine glory but “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”
However much we have done, sacrificed, and achieved for God, we still come to Him as absolute paupers who are completely dependent on His mercy. We are beggars who do not have to beg because God is glad to be generous with us. Have we ever thought we have done enough and are entitled to a break? Have we ever thought we have had a hard enough path and resented those who seem not to have done as much and seem to be getting things easier? Jesus is calling us to a different perspective.
Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessings
Fr Jim

Sermon on the Mount: Key to Fullness of Life

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Dear Folks,
February 1 the Sunday readings begin the Sermon on the Mount. We only get three weeks of it before It is superseded by the early beginning of Lent. However, I suggest that a good way to strengthen one’s Lenten Journey would be ongoing reflection on this Sermon. It is too easy to hear this text read, recognize that it sounds good, or maybe a bit confusing, and then move on untouched. That is a terrible waste.
Matthew 5-7 opens Jesus’ public teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. Prior to that, it mentions he was teaching in the synagogue, and that He was saying “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand,” but this is where we start going into what the Christian is called to be. Matthew 23-25 gives us His final public teaching in Matthew, and it centers around judgment on how one has answered that call. In between, one may want to see some principles from the Sermon applied.
To understand how Matthew presents the Sermon on the Mount, it is essential to understand the giving of the Torah to Israel and the role of the Torah in the life of Israel. It is the first five books of the Bible, and is central to their relationship with God, and held in great reverence. It is usually translated “Law” though it could be better called “instruction.”
When the Bible makes reference to “statutes,” “precepts,” ”decrees,” or “the law of Moses” that refers to the Torah.
Psalm 1, and Psalm 119 for those who want to read more deeply, are hymns to the Torah. They both start with “Blessed,” living the fullness of life. Matthew’s readers would have immediately seen the connection between these psalms and Jesus’ beatitudes. Psalm 1 describes this fullness of life as being “like a tree planted beside flowing water whose leaves will never fade and all that he does shall prosper.” The Bible has repeatedly used the image of flowing water as a sign of God’s abundant life (Genesis 2:10; Jeremiah 17:5-8; Ezekiel 47:1-12; John 4:10-14; John 7:37-38; Revelation 22:1-2). I would suggest continued reflection on Psalm 1 during one’s continuing reflection on the Sermon on the Mount.
The classic presentation of the giving of the Law is Exodus 20 and following. It shows Moses going up a mountain and receiving the law, first the ten commandments (pocket sized version), and then more elaborate rules. Jesus goes up the mountain and gives the beatitudes (pocket sized version) and then more elaborate principles. This echoes the giving of the Torah, but Christians would not say that the Sermon on the Mount is the new Torah, but Jesus Himself is the new Torah (“I am the way, and the truth, and the life” [John 14:6], but this is a vision of living according to that Way. We notice that Jesus does not give us rules, a set of dos and don’ts, but a vision of what sort of person we are to be. In our union with Jesus, we become more and more able to live according to this vision. We cannot simply choose to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, but the closer we
grow to Jesus, the more He transforms us into people who do.
I’ll be going deeper into this, if you want to come with me.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

The Marriage of the Bride and the Lamb

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Dear Folks,
In our readings this Sunday, God tells Isaiah, “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” John the Baptist says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
In the Gospel of John, it is emphasized that John the Baptist’s major function was to introduce Jesus. John uses two main images to describe Him: The Lamb (of sacrifice) in John 1:36 and the bridegroom in Jn 3:26-30. These two images will be brought together at the end of the story in the wedding of the bride and the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-10, 21:9). We remember these truths at every Mass as the priest says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” They teach us that Jesus gave Himself to us completely, holding nothing back, out of pure love for us.
The image of the lamb emphasizes Jesus’ suffering and dying to save us. He faced overwhelming agony- mental, physical, emotional- enduring the full brunt of the evil in the world to undo the power of evil in us. The image of bridegroom emphasizes Jesus being faithful day in and day out, during good times and bad, never wavering in His love.
We are called to be a light to the nations, drawing people to Jesus. What is our message?
Our atheist, materialist friends will tell us that core reality is matter and energy, that personhood is a blip in the unfolding of matter and energy, and that love is a byproduct of the mating instinct. In this view, we are nothing but collections of chemical reactions in temporarily self-sustaining systems. Some may object to my description, but I don’t see how they can logically escape it. I don’t find that very inspiring.
In the Christian view, Divine Personhood is the core reality, and His essence is love. The Father is eternally giving Himself in love to the Son, who is eternally receiving and returning that love, and the love that passes between them is the Holy Spirit. Love is by nature fruitful, so He created us to receive His love and love Him in return, thus knowing the fullness of Joy, and created matter and energy. The universe is the stage of salvation history. The whole universe is a love story.
The essence of the Gospel is the gift of self in love. The Lord gives Himself to us and invites and enables us to receive that love and give ourselves. God gave His people marriage and taught His people to offer sacrifice so that we could learn to become gift. This, of course means following Jesus and the path He laid out. We are to be willing to suffer and to lay down our lives when the situation calls for it (John 15:12-13). We are called to love our neighbor in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, faithfully day by day, year by year. Jesus’ gift of Himself is at work in us as we seek to give the gift of ourselves to Him and one another.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Hard Messages to Hear

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Dear Folks,
In this second Sunday of Advent, we encounter John the Baptist, and his fierce preaching. We also meet the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom we will encounter later. They were very smart,
did a lot of studying, and did a lot of religious devotion. They did a lot of listening to each other, and despising those who were not a part of their group. Of course, if they all agreed on
their basic beliefs and just talked to each other, they would never be challenged serious. They would reinforce each other
In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Screwtape Letters” we see a senior devil (Screwtape) giving advice to his nephew (Wormwood) about how to lead a soul to hell. In letter 3 we see, “You must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with him or worked in the same office.” He’s talking about blind spots, and if we listen to those who think like us and discount those who don’t before really hearing them (because they are evil/stupid/lying) we protect ourselves from having our ideas challenged and our blind spots discovered. In the book “Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity” by Jennifer Garvey Berger, Margaret Wakeley, et al. they talk about the trap of agreement: if our entire group agrees, we tend not to seek further input, and become trapped in our bubble. I have recommended Monica Guzman’s book “I Never Thought of it That Way” to understand how this works and how to counter it. In the book “Radical Inclusion” by Martin Dempsey and Ori Brafman they mention that modern discourse tends not to be about logical argument but competing narratives. People hear a narrative, find it compelling, believe it and proclaim it as if it were the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They often do not consider if the premises are true, if he reasoning is valid, or if it is missing something. Then, when they hear something contrary to that narrative, they dismiss it, ridicule it, and attack it, without asking, “Might there be something here to learn?”
What if our Pharisee and Sadducee friends were so rooted in the narrative that their approach was the correct one, they were the good guys, and that no one else had anything to teach them. They reinforced each other in their beliefs and were quite sure they didn’t need to change anything in their thinking or actions. John gave them a severe talking to (I don’t think his methods would work today. We are too good at dismissing people we see as cranks.
In the book “The Practice of Adaptive Leadership” by Ron Heifetz et.al. they talk about protecting minority voices. Too often, minority voices get steamrolled and ignored by the majority, but they may have some wisdom to share. Even if we don’t accept all of their position, they may have insight that can help us refine our ideas. We remember that in 1905 Albert Einstein turned the physics world upside down with three groundbreaking papers, including one on relativity. Over time, however, the revolution became the establishment, and when the time came for the next step, quantum mechanics, Einstein was fiercely opposed. He came up with every argument he could to discredit it (and he was very good at that. Even though he was eventually proven wrong, arguing with Einstein helped the innovators refine their position, and it made the science better. Those who disagree with us are challenges, not enemies.
Heifetz also talks about getting on the balcony. Taking some distance to see the big picture, the picture that we can’t see when we are in the midst of the dance. If we can find a way to take a step back this Advent to see things from a different perspective, that could bear some fruit.
May we all have a fruitful Advent.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Waiting for God’s Peace

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Dear Folks,

Today we begin Advent, a season of expectant waiting. Waiting is not just stillness, but directed toward a future hope, and doing Advent well includes a keen focus on what we are hoping for, and how we are shaped by that hope. Our readings, of course, help us.

First, in Isaiah 2:1-5, we see a future in which God gathers people from everywhere. God is the great Gatherer. Jesus prayed in His great priestly prayer “I pray not only on behalf of these, but also for those who through their word will come to believe in me. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be in us so that the word may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely on, and thus the world may know that you have sent me and that you have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:20-23).” Do you want people to believe that Jesus is truly at work in the Church and that the Church is worth coming to? Jesus connects that to our being one. 

We see as people gather, their great desire is that God “may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” We call ourselves disciples, and “disciple” means “student.” To be a disciple is to be learning, that we may “walk in His ways,” that is, live according to His truth.  As they live this truth they will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” because fighting has become obsolete. The great promise is peace: everyone will get along all the time. Ahhhh.

Romans 13:11-14 reminds us that to get to that peace, we must “throw off” all the things we do that are not in keeping with God’s truth. This time of expectation and hope is a time of repentance. By the power of God’s grace, we seek to live like people who want that peace, and that means not only avoiding doing harm, but actively and intentionally building peace (Matthew 5:9).

Because we are sinful, flawed people, we are going to offend each other. We are naturally more aware of how others offend us than how we offend other people (That great big splinter in your eye looks so much bigger than that little plank in my eye). When we have a gripe against someone, we are called to be healers, even if we are sure we are not at fault (though more often than not, we have contributed somehow and need to be open to that possibility). 

We go to the person first and talk, not to attack, but to bring mutual understanding and healing. If we can’t make progress, bringing one or two more into the conversation to help (Matthew 18:15-16). Talking about people behind their backs, saying things about them that we don’t say to them, spreading complains to create a climate of hostility against that person, is a terrible poison that does immeasurable harm in communities. We must all remind each other because gossip is a terrible plague in the church. We are always to encourage healing. Talking to each other is so much harder than talking about them, but that is exactly the sort of sacrifice to which Jesus calls us.

Matthew 24:37-44 reminds us that God will call us to account for how we answer this call, and we are always to be ready.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Strength in Weakness: Christ the King

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Dear Folks,

This is the feast of Christ the King, the celebration of Jesus’ great victory over evil, over sin and death, and now He reigns supreme forever. Alleluia! And yet, our Gospel is of Jesus on the cross. He is being ridiculed, and He makes no reply. He cannot move His hands or His feet. He has to fight to breathe. This is not what humans think when we think about a great king in his triumphant moment. This cuts to the heart of the Christian paradox that the world cannot understand. Jesus’ mighty power is expressed most powerfully not in His amazing miracles or brilliant teaching, but His faithful suffering and death.

St. Paul understood this, saying “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that exhibit my weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30; see 11:16-30)” and “Hence, I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell within me. For this reason, I rejoice when I endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and distress for the sake of Christ. For it is when I am weak that I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10; see 7-10).”

Some resist admitting a mistake or failing for fear it will make them look weak, but whom do we trust more: someone who admits when they fail or someone who always, always finds a reason why it is not their fault and not their failing?

Not only have I had to deal with the fact at my age that my biceps aren’t what they used to be, but I have had some particularly powerful lessons in weakness lately, with more on the way. I

have found that times of weakness can be great times of love, and God values love more than biceps.

We look at all the evil in the world, and it is overwhelming. We feel helpless. I find that is often when God does His best work.

Christians are never helpless. Even if we can only do a teeny, tiny bit, if we do that bit with everything we have, that is huge in God’s eyes (see the story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4). Even if we are completely immobile, we can pray, though this will put our faith in the power of prayer to the test. I find that God is quite willing to let our faith be stretched. If our minds go so that we cannot form a coherent prayer, God can still touch us on a deep level, as Psalm 8 tells us, “From the mouths of children and babes you fashioned praise to foil your enemy, to silence the foe and the rebel.”

The basic message of the book of Revelation, as well as Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, is that the world may fall apart and go horribly wrong, but Jesus is victorious, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will share in the victory (for example Matthew 24:13).

Bottom line: The more the world goes wrong, the more tightly we need to cling to Jesus. If we stay faithful to Him and do not give up, we can contribute to making things better, but He has the victory. He reigns supreme.

Blessings,

Fr Jim

St. John Lateran and the Body of Christ

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Dear Folks,

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. You may be asking why the Catholic Church is making such whoop-de-do about the dedication of some old church building? I’m glad you asked.

First, we remember that the church building is a symbol of the real Church, who is us.

St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Catholic Church. The word “cathedral” is from the Greek for “Cathedra” meaning “chair” Jesus said in Matthew 23:2-3 that the scribes and Pharisees sat in the chair of Moses, so their authority should be respected, even though their conduct was abominable. (If you know your history, you know that Catholics have had a good deal of opportunity to apply this teaching through the years).

Some people have said that they believe in Jesus but not the Church. This leads me to wonder where they get their Jesus, because it can’t be from the Bible. In the Gospels Jesus begins by calling people together, and He says that He will build His Church (Matthew 16:18) and expected that the Church would be there to help keep us working together.

The Scriptures compare the Church to a body (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 1:22-23 and Ephesians 4:11-16), and to a temple (Ephesians 2:19-22 and 1 Peter 2:4-5).

I find the image of the body especially interesting. The various parts are very different, but have compatible genetic structure, and if my rudimentary biology is correct, they agree on certain antigen proteins so they recognize each other as belonging. This can break down when there is an autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself. 1 Corinthians 1:10-16 talks about factions in the early Church, and how dangerous that was. Some say diversity is our strength, and others say that unity is our strength. I say they are both half right. Having diverse points of view, styles of thinking, and backgrounds but being united in purpose and agreeing on essential teachings while cooperat-

ing with each other under the guidance of leadership makes us strong. I have put a lot of energy into teaching and encouraging people to deal with their differences in a charitable

and productive way, and I think it is one of the most important tasks for this generation of the Church.

I believe God calls us to be Church so that we are forced to deal with each other. We have to deal with other people’s ideas, concerns, needs, and perspectives. This draws us beyond ourselves and demands giving of ourselves in a deep way. It also means a lot of times things won’t be done the way we want or the way we think they should be. That is part of the cost of discipleship.

Let us pray that we may work together so that we can be strong against our common enemy (Ephesians 6:10-17).

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Helping Those in Need Part II

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Dear Folks,

There is serious concern that many things that are meant to help the poor are actually keeping them trapped in poverty. I’ve been told that these are hard to change because many people make money helping the poor to stay poor.

The books “Toxic Charity” by Robert D. Lupton and “When Helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert and the documentaries at Povertycure.org and Povertyinc.org can shed some light on the disparity between good intentions and good results.

In the Greenville and Belding area we have programs that are worth looking at. IM Kids Third Meal makes portable meals for children in food insecure situations to have something

to eat in the evening. I’m not an educator, but even I know that children go through different stages of development, including their brains, at certain ages, and if they don’t have adequate nutrition during those times that development does not happen and can’t be made up for later.

Children must never go unfed. Some will say that the parents should be doing this and I agree, but I don’t know all their situations, and I’m not sure how to make it happen. One thing I’m not willing to do is let children go unfed to incentivize the parents to solve the problem.

Have Mercy helps the homeless to look for work and to find a stable home. They celebrate every time someone “graduates.”

Alpha Family Center and the Walking with Moms in Need ministry help families during pregnancy and when their children are little. This is a pivotal and especially vulnerable time for them, and so what they do is valuable beyond imagining.

Habitat for Humanity engages people and gives an assist as they work to better their own situation. It is known to make a lasting and profound difference in people’s lives, so they can move from squalor to flourishing.

Many churches have food pantries and make meals for people in the community, and these can help people through difficult times (eating has become an expensive hobby).

All these and other programs could use support, including financial and volunteers. Might God be calling us to reexamine how we could participate?

For us to answer this challenge, we the Church must grow stronger and sharpen our focus on caring for those in need. The more we do that, the more people may believe the Gospel that we preach with our words. We cannot do it by our own power, of course. Without God’s grace we are helpless; with God’s grace nothing is impossible. If we want a better world, thefirst step is falling more deeply in love with Jesus.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Pope Leo and Care for the Poor Part I

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Dear Folks,

Pope Leo XIV has issued an Apostolic Exhortation called Dilexi Te about Christian love for the poor. Nothing in it will surprise anyone familiar with the Scriptures and what the Catholic Church has taught for 2000 years, but he is reminding us as we need to be reminded on a regular basis.

Pope Leo goes through the Scriptures and stories of Saints through the centuries who showed great love and care for the poor and emphasizes that care for the poor is not op-

tional for Christians, but an essential dimension of being Christian, and our Christianity is not authentic without it.

1 Corinthians 9:7 “God loves a cheerful giver.” I remember one church sign that said, “God loveth a cheerful giver, He accepteth from a grouch.” The saying has a more profound meaning than people think. Real generosity is not just giving but joyfully giving.

Our faith calls us not just to comply with commands but be transformed to our core. To be a Christian is to give ourselves to Jesus to transform us by the power of grace. The more we are transformed into the image of Christ the more we seek to give of ourselves, because that is who we are. Hence, the Holy Father warns that worship that is authentic is worship that moves us to care for the poor.

We should not approach them as if they were inferiors, but as brothers and sisters. We encounter Jesus in them, and we can learn from them. We are not only to offer material

help, but dignity and spiritual help gathering them into the community.

He says that giving material goods is meant to be a provisional solution, and better to help them get a good job by which they can earn a enough to live with dignity.

He talks about getting to the root causes. We could have a good deal of conversation about the root causes of poverty. I have heard that those who come from fatherless families are more likely to be poor. How can we address the issue of fatherless families? Helping people to produce more value so they could get good jobs seems important. Would school choice help people escape failing schools and be better prepared? Let’s look at who our celebrities are. What if we did more to lift up those people those people who worked hard and accomplished things that helped people. A culture that valued self-improvement and achievement over gratification of desire might produce fewer poor people.

He warned not to just let the government do it, but neither should we deny the government role in caring for the poor. There needs to be a lot of conversations about how that

all shakes out. One thing that doesn’t help is saying, “You don’t agree with what I think will help, so you don’t care about helping.” I see this again and again in different forms, and I think it is a serious obstacle to productive dialog. There’s a Youtube video called “Bishop Barron on Paul Ryan and Catholic Social Teaching” that talks about the coming together of subsidiarity and solidarity and how there can be different perspectives.

More on this next week.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Capital Punishment and Pope Leo

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Dear Folks,

Recently, Pope Leo mentioned that those who favor capital punishment are not pro-life. This has confused many people, and I would like to offer some reflections.

First, remember that the term “pro-life” is not rigorously defined. In math, science, and philosophy they taught us to define our terms clearly so we know what they really meant so that everyone using them could understand them the same way. When we use terms that carry much emotional weight but are not rigorously defined, let us remember what is and what is not being accomplished.

Now let us consider capital punishment and respect for human life.

In the Old Testament, God mandated capital punishment, beginning with the covenant of Noah: “Whoever spills human blood, that person’s blood will be shed; for in the image of God has God made man (Gen 9:6).” This taught that all human life was sacred, whether an aristocrat or a peasant, man or woman, little baby, vigorous adult, or infirm senior citizen, their lives had a value that could not be compared with any other value. There was no amount of money, nothing on earth that could compare to the value of human life.

Remember, though, that was not the response to Cain when he killed his brother Abel (Gen 4). More on that later.

As we go through the Bible, we see that God teaches some things gradually, not because He is learning as He goes, but because people can only be brought along so fast. Our kindergarteners are bright and enthusiastic, but they are not learning calculus. They are not ready.

When some Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce and He said they should not be separated they were surprised. “They said to him, ‘Why did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?’ He replied, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning (Matthew 19:7-8).’” This suggests that God led His people along gradually, and some things they were not yet ready to receive, but that God wanted from the beginning. This may explain His treatment of Cain.

Around the time of the exile, there was more reflection on the individual, personal rights, and personal responsibilities. In Ezekiel 18 we see God reveals what He really wants.

“Do I derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? Asks the Lord God. Would. I not rather rejoice to see them turn away from their wickedness and live (Ezekiel 18:23).”I would encourage reading the whole chapter. A very nasty Saul of Tarsus was responsible for the deaths of many Christians, but God did not strike him down but called him to repentance and sainthood. God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).

We remember the one time when Jesus was presented with a question about capital crime, He didn’t want her killed; He wanted her to “go and sin no more (John 8:1-11).” This does not by itself resolve the issue, but it is worth considering in the discussion.

For many centuries, the Catholic Church held that capital punishment was a proper way to enforce the law and deter crime. Things started to shift starting with Pope Saint John Paul. As I remember it, he started by appealing to authorities not to execute particular criminals. He taught extensively about the culture of death, (which considered killing a way to solve problems) and how that contrasted with a culture of life. Toward the end of his papacy, after laying the groundwork, he taught that we can do better than capital punishment in most cases. Pope Francis pushed it farther. Now it appears that Pope Leo is

moving in that direction.

There are some arguments against capital punishment that I find unpersuasive to the point of being irritating. I saw a t-shirt that said, “Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?”. I believe it is common to imprison kidnappers,

but I never saw a t-shirt that said, “Why do we lock up people who lock up people to show that locking up people is wrong?” When people claim it is inconsistent to be antiabortion and pro-capital punishment, that tells me that they have not taken the effort to understand the other point of view, and that is irritating. I’m reminded of the 5th amendment that says that no one can be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Punishing convicted criminals calls for some things that we shouldn’t do to innocent people.

Do some people deserve to be put to death? I think so. In fact, one could make a case that there are some awful people who might deserve to die slowly and tortuously. Imagine, though, what it would do to our souls to inflict such a thing? What would it do to our society? Imagine having that job. I would be concerned about someone who is not repulsed at the thought.

Someone said, “if he took someone’s life should he be able to keep enjoying his life?” I say, “Who said he’ll get to enjoy it?” I’m not arguing this out of niceness. If I had my way a vicious murderer would be put in twenty-three hour a day lockdown, with Mother Angelica, Bishop Robert Barron, Trent Horn, and other such videos pumped into his room. I also have a recipe for brown rice and tofu. Let’s see how he does with fifty years of that. He might beg for a lethal injection. I recognize this idea would have to be adjusted by others who know more about this stuff, but you get the idea. If a few of those souls could be redeemed, that would be a good thing.

If we treat every human life from conception to natural death as sacred in a way that is deeper than human choice, deeper than our personal merits, and transcending all other categories, I suggest that we will be a better society and better people, and will put us in a better position to fight abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, and other manifestations of the culture of death.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim