Skeptical Faith

Google Image In a speech about immigration, a prominent politician recently remarked that America has become “ a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world.” And at a political rally, a comedian referred to Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage." I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Did they mean that all immigrants are garbage, and that the residents of Puerto Rico are garbage? Or was the politician talking only about immigrants who lack proper papers and the comedian only that the island is messy? I don’t know. But is speaking about any group of human beings in that manner OK? I think not. We may have different opinions about how the U.S. border should be handled but referring to any group of human beings in such a way, even those who are “illegal,” is an obstacle in the search for God. And Puerto Ricans are certainly not garbage.   Contradicts Christian Teachings For starters, such a view contradicts my church’s teaching on social justice,...

Ouray, CO Google Image There’s a strange story in the Gospel of Luke about Jesus sending out a large group of disciples, two by two, as a kind of advance contingent “into every town and place where he himself was about to come.” Some Bible versions say there were 70, others 72, disciples. But among the strange aspects of this story is Jesus’ instructions that they were to “carry no purse, no bag, no sandals….” And they were to stay in houses along the way, “eating and drinking what they provide.” It appears he wanted them to travel lightly and engage their hosts. When I worked as a priest in Bolivia, Father Mike Walker, a priest who had worked at the parish when I arrived, decided to take a two-week “vacation.” Our parish was a relatively isolated place on the shores of Lake Titicaca, about two and a half hours from the capital, La Paz. And priests from our American diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph worked at another Bolivian parish in a semi-tropical place called Coripata, which b...

Google Image “Say what?" some may ask. "Who do you think you are telling your readers how to pray?”  Well, remember that this blog is principally for people who have given up on God and/or the Church, even though few of those people may read it. I always hope that people who do read it pass it on to their family and friends, and I know some do. Anyway, I'm guessing that many people searching for God have a problem with prayer. (I recall an old joke about soldiers in a fox hole a under fierce artillery attack. Paralyzed with fear, one of them asked, “Does anyone know how to pray?” One of the soldiers said he grew up near a Catholic church and maybe he could say a few words. So, he began, “B-22, I-8, N-14.” For those of you who don’t get it, Catholic parishes were known for their frequent fund-raising Bingo games.) Hopefully, most readers know something about praying. I would even bet that most already pray, but even though I’m certainly not a prayer expert, I do quit...

Google Image I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit of election anxiety. I’m not crazy about either presidential candidate, to be honest, but using the standards of my faith, I greatly prefer one over the other. Other people will undoubtedly have a different preference. But if my preferred candidate is not elected, I fear a further corruption of democratic processes, further deterioration of the value of honesty and integrity, tolerance and benevolence. And greater authoritarianism. Some will say that these negative traits apply equally to both candidates; that both candidates lie, are intolerant, etc. But as I said, though I don’t fully endorse either, I think there is a great difference in their moral characters, and I believe morality and ethics are basic qualities to seek in a presidential candidate. Thought Better of Myself I’m not pleased to feel that anxiety. I thought better of myself, but there’s so much at stake, I suppose it’s to be expected. I keep coming bac...

Google Image I vividly recall when, as a kid, I learned that a priest who was popular nationally for his ultra-traditionalist, anti-Semitic radio broadcasts, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church for insisting that non-Catholics could not be “saved.” At the time, this news confused me because I thought that’s what we learned in the Catholic school I attended. Later in life, I better understood the church teaching on the subject but still believe the teaching is ambivalent and misunderstood by many Catholics, let alone non-Catholics. On the one hand, Fr. Feeney’s view confirms the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John that “No one can come to the Father except through me.” On the other, the church attempts to explain how non-Catholics can enter God’s kingdom with the esoteric doctrine of the “baptism of desire.” "Seeks the Truth" "Every man who is ignorant of the gospel of Christ  and of his Church,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “but seeks the truth...