Skeptical Faith

Google Image Sadness has a way of creeping into life, even when you want to reflect the joy of faith. For me, this was occasioned by the recent death of my cousin and life-long friend, Dan Carney. Strictly speaking, we were of two generations. I am actually the first cousin of Dan’s dad, but Dan was only 3 and a half years younger than me and, even though we were together only occasionally, I fondly recall playing with him as a kid and in the last few years having long telephone conversations with him on religion, politics, family history, and one of his life-long passion, cars. Dan was in the seminary with me at Conception Abbey in Missouri and though he left after a couple of years, late in life he became a deacon and threw himself into that ministry. In between, he was in the auto salvage business, first with his dad, then on his own, and was a cigar-smoking auctioneer. His vocabulary was laced with words that are not used in polite society. When he told me he intended to study ...

Google Image “Who am I to judge?” This must be Pope Francis’ most famous quote. It came from a press conference on an airplane in 2013 when Francis was asked about gays in the church. The phrase was considered revolutionary for a pope and launched a controversy about how the church should respond to homosexuality. It brought praise from some; condemnation from others. Some critics said it confused people. Others said it appeared to place the pope on the side of moral relativism – the term used to describe denial of the existence of objective morality, holding instead that there is “your right and wrong and my right and wrong.” Indeed, the pope’s words were a shock for the Catholics who believe judging is exactly what a pope is supposed to do. Clear? But isn’t the gospel pretty clear on the subject? “Judge not and you will not be judged,” Jesus is quoted as saying in Mathew’s gospel. Does that apply to popes? And he continued in an even more powerful way, saying, “Why do you s...

Google Image I find myself upset when the vehicle in front of me is going 20 mph in a 35-mph zone. I carefully examine the checkout lines at the supermarket before joining one, then am irritated if the person in front of me takes “too much time.” Recently, I considered myself a victim because I was sitting “too long” in a pharmacy waiting room. As you can tell, I’m not a patient person. It’s a character trait of which I’m not proud. For years, I’ve been aware of my impatience, have prayed about it and tried to get better. But to be honest, there’s been little improvement. (On the bulletin board in my office where I write these blog is a sign in 60-point type that says, “Patience.” It blends with all the other stuff on the board and I manage to avoid seeing it most of the time.) Wanting the Future Sooner? “Waiting impatiently is just another way of saying we want the future to come sooner,” writes Anne Kertz Kernion in a recent issue of the National Catholic Reporter. How ironic...

Google Image Geez! I’m doing dishes, again! And now I have to go on a long trip because my spouse wants to. Tomorrow I have to skip work because my kid is sick. Next week, I’ll have to go to the birthday party of my brother’s wife, and I hate that. These are all hypothetical scenarios, but oh, what we do for love! Some balk at it, viewing such “demands” as a curtailment of freedom and deciding that if love makes demands, it’s not worth it. A similar dynamic plays out in love of God. A big difference is that we don’t see it that way. To many, religion is about diminishing our freedom and rules that aren’t in line with what we want to do or not do. For many, the definition of freedom, in fact, is doing what we want, and for them, doing what’s right keeps us from “being our true self.” Other People's Rules The reality is that for people searching for God, trying to be Godlike is essential. But unlike the spouse characterized at the beginning of this blog, it’s not a matter of ob...