Skeptical Faith

Google Image A neighbor and I recently met on the sidewalk in front of our house and I asked about her daughter, who has a rare disease that attacks nerve cells in the spinal cord. Her daughter, who is smart and talented, has a permanent condition that results in very limited use of her limbs. She requires lots of help in daily living. My neighbor told me how worried she is about the federal government help her daughter receives, at home and at the state university she attends. Under proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act, supplemental benefits for millions of recipients, many of them disabled, would be at risk, according to media reports. That would be devastating to my neighbor and her family because though they are not poor, they would be hard pressed to pay the costs of caring for her daughter without such help. For many, my neighbor family’s predicament is on the periphery of the health-care reform debate. Many can’t seem to put themselves in my neighbor’s shoes. ...

Google Image Though these blogs are obviously written by a Catholic, I try to make them as non-denominational as possible, hoping they can be of use to all readers. But it occurs to me that it would be useful to know why people like me choose religion over none, and a particular religion over others. To begin, this is about my reasons for being a Catholic, not my reasons for NOT being something else. I understand and respect that people of other faiths, and people of no faith, also have reasons for being who they are. Nothing in this post should be interpreted as antipathy toward anyone's faith, or lack of it. With that, I must admit that my first reason for being a Catholic is that my parents were. My father's faith was a practical sort but I was impressed as a youngster that he never missed kneeling down beside his bed to pray each night. My mother was more devout, with a special devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Both prayed regularly and never missed Sunday Ma...

Google Image As I was thinking about how to write about trust, I looked out my office window and saw a robin lighting on the topmost branch of a birch tree in our backyard. The tree is at least 100 feet tall. The bird lit there for a few moments, then flew off. I imagined how terrified I would be if I were on the top branch of a tree that was proportional in size. I don’t do well with heights. But, of course, the robin has nothing to fear because the air is her friend, supporting her wings and her life. She trusts. I believe that’s a good analogy for trust in God, whose presence is the air under our wings, what keeps us from falling, what keeps us spiritually alive. If only we trusted that that is the case! If we did, we would have the peace that results from faith. Not an Insurance Policy However, writing in Give Us This Day, a prayer book “for today’s Catholic," published by the Liturgical Press, George Niederauer, former archbishop of San Francisco, says, “We...

Google Image I recently received a letter that appeared to be “official.” It had the clear plastic windows on the envelope you would expect from an official source, a return address saying it was from the “Vehicle Services Department” and in red print, “Important Vehicle Notice.” Genius that I am, I wasn’t fooled. I knew it was another piece of deceptive advertising mail that comes almost daily. But out of curiosity, I opened it. In the envelope was an official looking document on pink paper that listed features of our 2010 Nissan Altima. The pitch was for an extended warranty on the car, something that I have determined is a waste of money in any case. The satisfying part of the letter was that we haven’t owned that car for several years and so for the sender, it was a waste of time and money. We’ve all become so accustomed to such misleading mail and propaganda that we think nothing of it. I wrote about this subject back in February when there was so much publicity about...