Doctor Who: Silhouette, A Review

I saw Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax on the cover and I knew I had to get this book! These characters are my favorites. In this book, they were depicted flawlessly. I love it when you can hear the characters speak in a book just like they do in the show. Overall, the writing was superb and the book was enjoyable, if you didn't think about it too much.

The book is almost ruined by the plot. Reading the blurb, you'd think the plot would be awesome. Not so much. You do need a pretty complete suspension of disbelief to accept some of the plot twists and the very point of this "most dangerous weapon" (to quote the blurb). Yeah, I know this is fiction, science fiction at that, but I expect my fiction to at least make logical sense if not in this world, than in the world of the book.

I'd still recommend this book to any Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax fans who are looking for a fix. Those characters are still awesome and are depicted in all of their glory. Just be prepared for a mental workout trying to make sense of the plot or making yourself not think about it.

I received this book in exchange for a review from Blogging for Books.

Lumen Fidei #17: Sacramental Reality

From #40: The sacraments communicate an incarnate memory, linked to the times and places of our lives, linked to all our senses; in them the whole person is engaged as a member of a living subject and part of a network of communitarian relationship.

A while back I reviewed The Catholic Imagination, by Andrew Greeley. I remember overall appreciating the book although he did perpetuate some half-truths about Catholic teaching. The main point of the book is that people who are raised Catholic, even if they later leave the faith, have a very distinctive mindset.

The Mass and all of the other Sacraments bring the divine into everyday life. That should permeate our whole lives. Encountering the divine in the Sacraments helps us to recognize the divine in the ordinary. Not in the same way, but just as real, Christ is present in the Mass and in our neighbors.

Moreover, the Sacraments connect us not only to God, but to all believers at all times. As this quote points out, it highlights all of the major events in our lives: birth, marriage, birth of our children, death...

And the Sacraments are multisensory experiences. You witness the priest at the altar. You smell the incense. If you go to confession seated across from the priest, you feel his hands on your head as he says the words of absolution. You hear music, the prayers, and the readings.

Growing up with these experiences leaves a permanent mark on cradle Catholics. Those I know who have fallen away still have a deep appreciation for social justice causes, still has a grasp for how interwoven we all are. Many of the ex-Catholics I know fall squarely into the "spiritual but not religious" category as they see God everywhere. I pray that they find the Sacraments again and come back.

If you want to read more of this series of posts reflecting on Pope Francis' first encyclical, visit here.

Lumen Fidei #16: Share The Light

From #37: Faith is passed on, we might say, by contact, from one person to another, just as one candle is lighted from another.

This is one of the many points in this encyclical in which I'm reminded of this year's Lawn Chair Catechism series at Catholicmom.com. We're reading Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell. While my participation in the series has been shoddy at best, I have been faithfully reading along and I love this book. Just this summer, I've recommended this book on at least three different occasions. That is saying a lot for me. I don't usually volunteer book recommendations.

In the book, the stages of conversion are discussed. Essentially, in order for someone to become a disciple of Jesus, they need to have a personal relationship with His Church. Faith is passed on in personal contact between one person and another. We can't just launch into catechesis; a person needs to trust the Church and have a relationship with the Church before they can learn.

This reading has changed my views on my job teaching Confirmation at my parish. Last year, I concentrated mainly on giving my students accurate information and making that information relevant. This year, I'll likely put more emphasis on prayer and developing a connection with my students.

If you want to read more of my reflections on Pope Francis' first encyclical, visit here.

And when spreading the faith, don't forget new media.

  

The Dead Women of Juarez: A Review

I spent my weekend engrossed in this book. The Dead Women of Juarez is a fictional story about a very real ongoing tragedy in Juarez, Mexico.

At least 400 women and girls have been raped, tortured, and murdered in Juarez in the past 20 years. Hundreds more women are still missing and some locals estimate the real number of murders and disappearances to be in the thousands.

I participated in a demonstration about this when I was a freshman in college. I've talked about it a little before. It involved raw meat all over the quad. Aforementioned raw meat was supposed to be clean, white bones to symbolize these women being found in the desert as nothing but bleached bones.

I thought that this was old news, but apparently it is on-going. Efforts and attention are being diverted due to the growth of the drug cartels. But women are still being murdered.

Just a couple weeks ago, 12 people were arrested for their involvement in the murders of 11 young women who they had kidnapped, forced into prostitution and killed after they were "no longer of use." This has been a rare taste of justice as corruption and organized crime have made investigations and convictions nearly impossible.

And, as this article points out, international and political pressure by groups like Amnesty International have actually kind of backfired in this crisis. The police, being under pressure to solve these crimes, don't do a through job to make sure the right person is convicted. So, then we have two victims, the violated woman and the innocent man behind bars.

However, without international attention and political pressure, nothing would be done at all. The cultures of machismo and marianismo devalue the life of women, particularly if that woman works or attends school outside the home. Many of the victims were students and/or factory workers. Without the outside pressure, arguably, no one (but the victims' families) would care at all.

NY Times

Back to the book: It is a page-turner. It's also very thought-provoking and depressing. The conclusion is satisfying, but it will not wipe the crimes from your mind. There are drugs, sex, foul language and violence in the book, but those topics are all covered tastefully. Sam Hawken, the author, wrote this book to bring attention back to this horrendous crisis. It certainly opened my eyes and I hope it will open your eyes too.

Can a Muslim Tell Us Anything About Jesus?

Yesterday, my Facebook newsfeed was on fire with two things. One, Pope Francis' comments about gays. And two, a Fox interview with Reza Aslan, the author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.

The so-called news channels (Source)

Now, I refuse to judge a man based on an interview on a so-called news channel. What passes for journalism today is nothing more than thinly veiled propaganda. I'm reading his book. I'll be reviewing it later.

But the main question I ask is: Can a non-Christian tell Christians anything about Jesus?

I think they can. Two of my favorite paintings of Jesus were done by non-Christians.

Source

This is a painting of Jesus done by a Buddhist using some traditional symbolism found in pictures of Bodhisattvas. Jesus is situated in a desert and directly behind him is the cross. He's seated on a lotus, which symbolizes purity and non-attachment. Both of those are among the highest values for a Buddhist to attain. Between his hands is a tiny heart. That was my latest discovery looking at this picture. I've looked at it for 8 or 9 years now and I'm still finding little things like that to meditate upon.

The White Crucifixion by Marc Chagall (Source)

This one is apparently one of Pope Francis' favorites too. It places Jesus' crucifixion squarely in the history of persecution endured by the Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew. He was born and he died a good Jewish boy. The roots of our faith and practices are all in Judaism. Judaism deserves our utmost respect.

I look forward to the day when my family gets to move into a house with more wall-space so I can hang my copies of these paintings up again.

I think it's valuable to see Jesus through non-Christian eyes. Seeing something fresh gives you a new perspective. From their religious traditions, they might see something in Jesus that you do not see and that always gives good food for thought. As long as we approach it with a discerning spirit, we can never learn enough about our Lord.

Lawn Chair Catechism #4: And you get a charism, and you get a charism...

 

As near impossible as it is to switch gears after my post earlier this morning, I will try to share my thoughts on the third chapter of Sherry Weddell's book Forming Intentional Disciples. To read other reflections, go to CatholicMom.com. It is never too late to join the discussion. Buy the book and tell us what you think today!

 

 

Today, I'm going to throw the script away. With all due respect to the hard working people at CatholicMom.com, I will not be answering the reflection questions they worked so hard on. I want to talk about charisms. While I have never been through the Called & Gifted program, the Lay Formation program at my grad school borrowed aspects of it. I've taken a couple gift inventories and was assigned to read several books.  

 

 A cool picture yanked from the Nashville Dominicans website. It's cleansing to the palate after the morning I've had. And, by the way, I know one. 

 

 

As I was doing the inventories, I felt like a teenager again. You know, those stupid quizzes in the magazines. "Are you and your friend drifting?" "What jeans are best for you?" "Are you too busy for school?" "What TV boyfriend is right for you?" After you answer a whole bunch of questions, you tally the answers, do a little math and voilà! You now know the deepest secrets of your own heart!

 

At the time, the tests annoyed me. Again, I'm paying for a Master's degree, not to sit around taking personality quizzes or poke at my emotional scars.

 

I observed one important thing that semester, however: When someone recognizes your gift, you are more apt to use it. Being my last year before marriage, I went nuts trying to get published. I saw it as my last chance to really do something before my life was no longer my own. When I took the inventory, "writing" was listed as my third highest charism, behind wisdom and service. This pushed me even more to send manuscripts out. I didn't get published that year. All of the manuscripts were rejected. 

 

 

Seeing my charisms on paper, however, made them real to me. I can see how a workshop like Called & Gifted can change someone's life.

 

It's kind of like journaling or talk therapy. It's one thing to think things in your head. It's a completely other thing to see it written out or said aloud. If I remember correctly, my top 5 were:

• Service
• Wisdom
• Writing
• Mercy
• Missionary

There aren't any surprises there for me. I'm happiest when I'm helping people. I love to write. People have sought me out my entire life for advice on things. While I'll likely never travel to a far-away land, I communicate well with people of different backgrounds and socio-economic groups.

 

So, the moral of the story is: We need to recognize our gifts and the gifts of others. If they aren't recognized, they'll go unused. I know this from experience!



 

By the way, imagine Oprah reading the title of this post and it will make a lot more sense.

 

Lawn Chair Catechism: A Personal Relationship With Jesus

 

Every Wednesday this Summer, Catholics are invited to participate in CatholicMom.com's first Lawn Chair Catechism. We are reading Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry A Weddell.

This is my addition to the discussion of the Introduction of the book.

 "How would you describe your lived relationship with God to this point in your life?"

Why is this question so difficult for me? I'm a convert to Catholicism after years and years of exploring different religions. I've been Catholic for 7 1/2 years. I graduated with my MA in Pastoral Studies last December, but my professional vocation seems to change every other week. Right now, I'm more or less on auto-pilot, just trying to get through the days caring for my son, working for my ministries and writing.

When I talk to God, it's usually in the heat of the moment when I have an immediate need. I understand completely that those in ministry are assumed to have a closer relationship. Ministry is a vocation, a calling, not a job. I'm not suffering from burn-out because there isn't much for me to get burned-out on. I think a good part of it is the fact that I'm living so far from all of my family and friends. I think I'm mostly angry at God because of that.

No discussion of my current relationship would be complete without talking about the Lay Dominicans. As someone who is considering becoming one, I pray Morning and Evening prayers and I try to go to Mass daily. In some ways it has been a lifeline for me. It forces me to keep the lines of communication open between God and I. I don't think I'd have a relationship with God at all right now if it wasn't for the Dominicans.

"What does the word “discipleship” mean to you?  Do you perceive a need in the Church today to help lay Catholics become more fervent followers of Jesus Christ?"

Mainly, "discipleship" means to imitate. Like the old bracelets say, "WWJD?" We're supposed to ask ourselves, "what would Jesus do" and act like Him.

In the Church today, we are plagued with "Christmas and Easter Catholics" and "Cafeteria Catholics" and people who go to church on Sundays simply because "that is what you're supposed to do." I admit, even I sometimes guilt myself into going to church because "I'm supposed to be a role model" and "it'll look bad to potential employers if I skip." There is definitely a need in the Church for people to better understand and appreciate Sundays, much less following Jesus the rest of the week!

"How would you describe your parish’s current efforts at discipleship?  A hotbed of discipleship?  A weekly gathering of spiritual sleep-walkers?  Or perhaps something in between?"

I would say my parish is somewhere in between because it really depends on who you're talking about. Some parishioners are on fire. On the other hand, there are some parishioners that we're lucky to see on Sunday. There are lots and lots of people who we see on Sundays but we never see them anywhere else. People in my parish do make a constant effort to get more people involved, and often it falls on deaf ears. But these people brush themselves off and try again and again. You've got to admire them for it and we are always looking for new ideas. My parish is a very old and small one, but we shouldn't (and we typically don't) use that as an excuse!

Read more reflections at Catholicmom.com

Theodicy, Morality and the Sparrow

I read an article by a fallen away Catholic explaining why he has left the Church. While a colleague of mine at Ignitum Today wrote a post directly responding to him, I took it upon myself to read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. In the article, he directly refers to the book as being instrumental in him finally taking the plunge to leave his childhood faith.

Spoiler alert: This book tells the story of the first Jesuit mission to an alien planet. Everyone on earth gets excited when we hear radio signals from a nearby world. While plans for a trip get lost in committee in all the various governmental bodies on earth, the Jesuits quickly get their stuff together and are the first to arrive on the new planet. It helps that they are spurned on by one priest in particular who thinks that it is his mission from God to make this trip.

In a couple of years, however, this trip goes completely to hell. All of the explorers except for the aforementioned priest are killed. Innumerable alien children are killed indirectly due to the explorers' actions. The priest is sold into sex slavery and he ends up accidentally killing an alien child who had become his closest friend. (And that's just the tip of the iceberg.)

The priest in The Sparrow has a lot more reason to sue God than this guy.

This story is a blunt exploration into theodicy. Theodicy is the attempt to rectify the existence of evil with the existence of a good and powerful God. In my opinion, the book leaves the question wide open. The priest ends feeling like he had been "seduced and raped by God." He feels as if God led him to this place, leading to the horrible deaths of many people and aliens, especially children. He feels as if it was God's will that the alien men rape him. He cannot rectify his belief in God with what he went through but, in the end, he wants to try. His fellow Jesuits want to help him in any way they can.

Toward the end of the book (pg. 401), two priests are discussing his experience. One of them explains to the other the idea of the "clock-maker God."

The other priest responds, "So, God just leaves?"

"No. He watches. He rejoices. He weeps. He observes the moral drama of human life and gives meaning to it by caring passionately about us, and remembering."

The other priest quotes Matthew 10:29, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them fall to the ground outside your Father's care."

"But the sparrow still falls."

 

But The Sparrow Still Falls

That is a very poetic way at looking at the issue of theodicy. God cares about us all individually, but bad things still happen. Surprisingly, this is not what the article writer, B. Sarmiento, was struck by.

The character that the fallen away Catholic most relates to is one of the older women in the group of explorers. In a conversation with the priest, she explains that she doesn't need God in order to do good. As the article says:

But that war soon ended. As the saying goes, everything passes. It ended when I found Maria Doria Russell’s “The Sparrow,” a book with a science fiction theme, about a Jesuit who lost his faith because of a tragic event in his life. A character in the book, Anne—a middle-aged American doctor in a Brazilian slum doing work for the poor, an atheist—really got my attention. In one scene, she says in effect: Just because you don’t believe in a god doesn’t mean you can’t do good.

It was as if a light bulb switched on in my head. And suddenly I was thinking: Do good for the sake of doing good, and not because you’re afraid of ending up in some hell.

First of all, Anne isn't an atheist. As her husband characterizes her, "She's a Catholic when you get her drunk enough." She believes in God, but God is not a huge deal to her.

Otherwise, Sarmiento's summary is accurate. After a long day adapting to life with an alien culture on an alien world, she shoots the breeze with the main character priest. They discuss all too briefly whether or not you can live a moral life without God before moving on to other topics.

It is entirely possible to live a moral life without God. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about "natural law." There are moral rules, like for instance murdering an innocent person, that can be reached purely through reason and experience. You don't divine revelation to tell you how to be a descent human being.

To take it a step further, the goal of Christians is to do good for the sake of doing good. We aren't supposed to do good out of fear of Hell. In Catholicism, that's called imperfect contrition. Doing good because you don't want to go to hell is a good enough reason, but it is not the best. The best is to do good out of love for God and neighbor; to do the right thing because it's the right thing. It pains me to see how poorly catechized Sarmiento was in this respect.

The Sparrow is a very good book. I would caution readers, however, that the end gets very graphic and disturbed me greatly as the killing and raping is described in detail. It is interesting in its exploration of theodicy and in its social commentary. I would recommend it, but not to the faint of heart.

The Vatican Diaries: A Review

I just finished The Vatican Diaries by former CNS journalist John Thavis.

Disclaimer: I don't know very much about the inside workings of the Vatican. Some of the things he discusses in the book predate my entry into the Church and other things predate my interest in the Vatican. So, I cannot speak to the accuracy of anything he writes.

But, I can speak to how much I enjoyed the book. When I first saw the title, I flinched. Is this book going to be bashing the Vatican? Then I saw that the author used to work for CNS. That gave me comfort. And then I read it.

(In 4 days. Impressive for a mom. Also a testament to how easy and engaging the book is. Very entertaining read.)

It's very even-handed. It depicts the Vatican as it is, a bunch of humans trying to do God's will and led by God. People make mistakes; the people in the Vatican are no exception. People are full of...ummm... personality (yeah, that's the word!); the Vatican isn't any different. I remember all of the PR flops, like the one with the lifting of the excommunication of Williamson. I remember the issue with the bell when Benedict XVI was chosen, but only because they talked about it during the recent conclave. It was fascinating to hear the background stories of these headlines. I would be interested to see a review by someone more informed than I.



Source

I think that it's important that we acknowledge and embrace our imperfections as a Church. It takes fodder away from our enemies. It keeps us humble. It shows the world how God can use imperfect humans to do His will. It reminds us all that we are all pilgrims on a journey, making the choice everyday to follow Christ.

 

The Imperfect Church: Six things to say to "church hoppers"

A while back, I reviewed John L. Allen Jr.'s interview with Archbishop Cardinal Dolan. I walked away from that book completely enamored with the man, but that's not why I bring this up. At several points in the interview, he talked about the imperfections of the Church. Any organization, even one ran by God, is going to have imperfections because it consists of people. People aren't perfect. As Dolan says in the interview, "We shouldn't be afraid to show off the wounds of the Church to the world, and we should boast that the wounds remind us of the healer."

People run from church to church trying to find the perfect one. They say, "This one is full of hypocrites" and "this one has better preaching." They are looking for some imaginary church that is full of living saints, with awesome services and amazing programs. They are looking for a church in which they'll agree 100% with everything the hierarchy says. 

And when they do not find this church, they are the people and families that stay home on Sundays. They figure it's good to just be alone with God, because other people just mess things up anyhow. I have 6 things to say to them:

1. In any group of human beings, perfection does not exist. Everyone fails from time to time. 

2. Jesus came for sinners, not for the well.

3. He also came to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. So, you don't 100% agree with the hierarchy of your church? Maybe this is God's way of asking you to reconsider your position. Maybe this is God's challenge for you to prophetically change your hierarchy's mind. In either case, maybe you should look at the issue closer. There must be something more to learn there. Never stop learning.

4. Religion isn't supposed to be easy and it definitely isn't entertainment. No, you don't have to earn your way to heaven. Catholics and Protestants both agree on that. But church is supposed to change you. You aren't supposed to get a warm fuzzy feeling every time you go to church. Sure, sometimes you'll get a warm feeling, but other times you'll be hurt, or get angry, or sometimes you won't feel much of anything at all except the comfort of knowing you are not alone.

5. This is in direct response to the Muslim convert to Catholicism who left the Church because the Church "got soft on Islam": church isn't about hate. We don't get together to hate. Jesus doesn't hate. This also goes for the Catholics who think the Church is not being hard enough on homosexuals.

6. But neither should you expect unconditional acceptance of your behavior. "Love the sinner, hate the sin," said St. Augustine. There is a huge difference between the doer and the action. The doer is always a person in the likeness of God who God loved so much that He died for them. The action is not always so holy.

So, find a church that isn't completely bad and one that you feel at home in and stick with it. Through good times and bad. When you love it and when it challenges some of your fundamental beliefs. You'll grow through it and you'll be better for it.

Source.

Cynical, but enlightening post from a Protestant Pastor who has plenty to say about this topic to fellow pastors:
http://clarityevangelist.typepad.com/will_mancini/2009/11/top-ten-things-church-hoppers-say-.html

The Catholic Imagination: A Review

"Catholics live in an enchanted world."

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini

This sentence is repeated many times in The Catholic Imagination by Andrew Greeley. Overall, I would say he's entirely right. Reading this book helped me to understand my fallen away brethren better as I saw how the "Catholic" worldview is so pervasive, they still have it no matter what their relationship is with the Church.

Catholics (and perhaps some of the more mainstream Protestants) have a sacramental worldview. The Sacraments, as the good ole Baltimore Catechism tells us, is an "outward sign of an inward grace." It is a real, physical sign of God's love and care for His people. I know for me, I cannot help but expand this understanding of life out the church doors. Seeing the "magic" (very poor word choice, but bear with me) at the altar, I cannot help but see the "magic" in my every day life.

Source, although I would not recommend the site.

And I see this overall view still in my friends who were raised Catholic and no longer identify themselves as Catholic. They may no longer participate in the sacraments, but they do have a sense of God's presence among them. They still have a passion for social justice.

Another major point that Greeley wanted to make that I agreed with is the Catholic sense of community although I would disagree vehemently with his argument that the Church has not lost it's sense of community. I do see among my Catholic and ex-Catholic friends a hunger for community. I think we are all hungering for community in this individualistic world, but I see that hunger more readily in the Catholics I know. But, even the Church, at least all of the parishes I've belonged to, has lost that sense of community entirely. Like everything else in the world, the Church in the United States has been victimized by the post-modern sense of individuality. No one is a "joiner" anymore and those who do join tend not to show up because we all have something better to do.

Aside from the lack of community, the only other thing I would argue with him about is his conclusions in regards to sexual ethics and gay rights. In some parts of the book, he does differentiate between the nominally Catholic and the active Catholic. I do not feel that he does that nearly enough. The Catholic Church, as an institution that many are born into, houses a whole variety of people. With this variety, you will meet people who agree with the teachings of the Church, people who reject practically everything that the Church says, and every thing in-between.

The Catholic imagination in literature

In this book, Greeley argues that a pro-birth control, pro-gay marriage worldview dovetails well with the overall "Catholic imagination" that he describes. In a sense, he argues that being pro-birth control and pro-gay marriage is more "Catholic" than the opposite views. He says that the "Catholic imagination" propels Catholics to see the world holistically and to value the dignity of all people above all other factors. So, it would stand to reason, that the "Catholic imagination" would lead one to be against discrimination against gays and for anything that helps the poor and disenfranchised.

In this argument he clearly does not understand the Catholic Church's teachings on gay marriage and birth control. On the topic of gay marriage, the Church is not against it because we want to discriminate against gays. The Church is against it because we want to defend marriage as an institution and the family as the fundamental unit of society. So, as marriage is for the creation of a family and children, the Church is against marriage being used for anything else. It is a similar issue with birth control. The Church is not against birth control because we want to keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. The Church is against birth control because we are for the dignity of the human person, including the woman in question. So it does not go against the "Catholic imagination" to be anti-birth control or gay marriage.

Stay tuned for my feminist rant against birth control. No, that wasn't a typo.

That said, however, I think he's on to something with the general idea of the "Catholic imagination." It reminds me of a chaplaincy visit I had a year ago. The patient had been raised in a devout Catholic household, but he had fallen away after being confused by Vatican II. He had dedicated his life to helping the mentally handicapped live normal lives. His work with them was all he wanted to talk about during our visit. In a sense, "helping the mentally handicapped" was his "religion." And I could hardly think of a more "Catholic" alternative religion, to recognize the dignity and empower those who society deems powerless.

I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand the Catholic worldview as Greeley makes a number of very good observations. BUT, please, do take some things with a grain of salt, especially when he talks about sexuality.  

Greeley argues that Springsteen uses his Catholic imagination

Christian Personalism in Medicine

Being the medical ethics nerd that I am, I happily ate Victoria Sweet's God's Hotel up. This awesome book taught me a lot and gave me a lot of food for thought from a medical ethicist point of view.

Just so's you know, this book is part memoir, part manifesto. She mainly writes about her experiences working for the last almshouse in the US, Laguna Honda, in San Francisco. Her experiences at the hospital informs her studies of pre-modern medicine, particularly the recently declared Doctor of the Church St. Hildegard of Bingen. And her studies of Hildegard makes a big impact on her treatment of her patients.

St. Hildegard of Bingen

 There is a significant religious overtone to the entire book, although she rarely invokes explicitly Christian doctrine. She talks often about the anima, the life-force, that she believes is the main difference between the living and the dead. She does not speculate what happens to the anima after death. Her pilgrimage, the Compostela, seems to have a big spiritual impact on her as it teaches her that she has no real control over life, she just needs to roll with the punches.

But that's not what I'm here to principally write about, I'm here to write about the ethics of it all. She covers several diverse topics in ethics:

- The treatment of the poor
- The treatment of the mentally ill
- The treatment of the elderly
- The relationship between administration, the doctors, and the nurses
- Medical efficiency

An overall critique that she has is that the medical establishment does not really pay attention to patients anymore. I remember hearing once that in an appointment with your doctor, you only have your doctor's attention for maybe 5 minutes and you need to get out all of your concerns early. The doctor is under a lot of pressure from insurance companies and their own superiors to get you examined and treated quickly and move on to the next patient. This pressure leads to major abuses in the treatment of the poor and the treatment of the elderly.

She is concerned that there are many elderly people who are getting the label of "dementia" or "Alzheimer's" that do not have it. There are many different reasons for the symptoms of dementia and they need to be considered before giving someone the diagnosis. I agree with her concern. Elderly patients are often written off because, well, "They're old." Working in nursing homes, I saw time and again my residents not getting the level of medical care from their doctors that they deserve because the medical establishment would rather spend that money and energy on the young. Just because someone is old, doesn't mean that you can neglect them.

The same logic sometimes goes to the poor. In the book, Dr. Sweet gives numerous examples of poor people coming under her care who are in horrible shape. She discovers that what is ailing them is actually something very treatable that the other doctors just didn't notice. She argues that the other doctors would have discovered it if they had only sat down with the patient and spent some time with them instead of rushing from bed to bed.

She gave me a lot to think about in regards to the mentally ill. I am definitely not for re-opening the mental institutions. However, she makes a compelling case that there cannot be sweeping laws that apply to all of the handicapped. For example, they all have the right to refuse their meds. Now, for the patient that still has his reason, this law makes sense and it empowers them. But for the patient that no longer has their wits about them, in their refusal to take their meds they are not only hurting themselves but perhaps endangering those around them. Similarly, the idea that all mentally ill people have the right to live out in the community. It certainly sounds good, but Dr. Sweet argues that it is not always a practical idea for all patients. Certainly, the mental institutions cannot run like they used to, but, she argues, they shouldn't be completely closed, either, because some people cannot live out in the community. And, she points out repeatedly, that sometimes the closing of the mental institutions caused more problems than it solved because, while some of the patients got to move into the "real world," many if not most of them were moved into nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

I have always been for the closing down of the mental institutions. I have always been for giving the mentally ill all of these rights that she talks about in the book. But she gave very good arguments against my long-held beliefs. Maybe, just maybe, in exceptional cases, institutions should stay open, but they would have to undergo a "culture change" like what is currently happening in nursing homes all over the country. I think I would be comfortable with that. It would be better than having them in prison or homeless on the streets like what frequently happens to the severely mentally ill in our society.

The most interesting sub-plot in the whole book IMHO is the fights with Dr. Stein. I cannot remember Dr. Stein's official title, but suffice to say he was a big shot in the local, governmental medical hierarchy. He was in charge of the public hospitals. He was apparently used to always getting his way, so when Laguna Honda told him "no," they were on his hit list from there on. It was fascinating to me to read about all of the politics and infighting going on between, mainly, the doctors and administration. I would have to agree with Dr. Sweet, that healthcare decisions are best left to the doctors and patients and economics should have little, if anything, to do with it. But, that's not the way the healthcare system in the US works and that is a shame.

We do seem to sacrifice efficiency for care in this country. It's easier to go to the doctor and get a pill then wait to find out what is really wrong and go through whatever arduous process we need to in order to bring about true healing. Health is about much more than just pills. We have pills for everything and some of them are very good and life saving, but I think we all could probably afford to discontinue some. We want quick fixes and easy answers, but what we really need most of the time is to sit down, watch and listen.

Taken from here.

10 Reasons to LOVE Archbishop Timothy Dolan

I just got done reading A People of Hope: Archbishop Timothy Dolan in conversation with John L. Allen Jr. I finished it in four days which is a remarkable feat for me with a 7-month-old son and it is a testament to the readability and the entertainment value of this book. It was very informative in relation to the state of the Church and the background and belief system of Cardinal Dolan. Allen asked some very tough questions and got some very thoughtful answers. I came away from this book a new Cardinal Dolan fan. This is why:

10. "I enjoy the novels of Dean Koontz..." No one could be bad who likes a Dean Koontz novel. And yes, Koontz is deeply Catholic.

 
9. In regards to the misperception that the Church is only the men in big hats (i.e. Bishops): "One of the things I've said for a long time is that we need a resurrected sense of apologetics. We Catholics sometimes are far too timid. We don't know how to respond when people throw out these silly, caustic remarks about the Church. We might just smile instead of rising up to say, 'Enough of that. That's simply not accurate.' Somebody sooner or later has got to blow the whistle on this."

8. On the imperfections of the Church: "We shouldn't be afraid to show off the wounds of the Church to the world, and we should boast that the wounds remind us of the healer."

7. On dialogue inside and outside the Church: "One guy who I think has reinvigorated dialogue is Benedict XVI, constantly saying that true, respectful dialogue starts with a clear understanding of the truth that you bring to the conversation. We insult our partner, our respected, cherished partner in dialogue, if we feel that they are expecting us to soft-pedal the truth."

6. In regards to the visitation to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious: "Had anybody asked me, which they didn't, I would have advised against it. Do I think it's justified, that there are legitimate worries about women religious? You bet I do. But should we do it? Probably not, at least not in this way, because the danger is that it may be seen as something heavy-handed and punitive, and therefore it risks being counterproductive."

 
5. He says that in the case of a gay couple wanting to put their child in Catholic school that he sees no reason why they can't. Of course, the child is welcome in the school as long as the parents understand that they are bringing their child into an atmosphere where the parents' lifestyle will be brought to question. No one is going to officially attack the couple for their lifestyle, but the child will, for example, learn in their Religion class that the Church disagrees with it.

4. "Here's the pitch:Let me introduce you to what I think is one of the more consoling, challenging ways to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the beginning and the end--who is, in the words of John Paul II, the answer to the question posed by every human life. Come on in, because this is the best way to do it. I don't know about you, brother or sister, but if you're like me, you need a lot of help, and I'll tell you where you can find it. Let's just say that we're in it together. If you're struggling down a path trying to get to a goal that you're not sure about, it's a heck of a lot better if you find two or three others on the same trail. They may have as many flaws as you, and they may not have the exact map either, but it's sure a lot better to be with some people trying their best to get to the same place. When we pool our talents and resources, we're probably going to be able to get there better. That's the mystery, the invitation, of the Church that I think we've got to pose."   

3. In regards to people who disagree with the Church's teaching on birth control: "If what you're asking is, would I be one of those who's quick in telling people that they're out of the Church? No, I would not, and I wouldn't want to be. People who are struggling to understand, accept, and live the teachings of Jesus and his church need the Church more than anybody."

2.In regards to denying communion to pro-choice politicians: "I always say that I don't know why this topic only seems to come up with regard to abortion, and I don't know why it's only directed at politicians"

1. AFFIRMATIVE ORTHODOXY!!!!!
"Look at our literature, and drama, and sculpture, and art, and liturgy, and poetry, and everything that's great in the Catholic worldview. The Catholic Church affirms, strengthens, expands what's most noble, most beautiful, most sacred, in the human project. That's what affirmative orthodoxy means to me. I like to quote a line from Father Robert Barron, that they Church only says no to another no, and two no's make a yes. It's only when the yes of humanity is threatened that they Church will say no, to protect the yes."

In a phrase: I like Cardinal Dolan because he stands up for his beliefs without being intolerant or stupid about it. You will never get anyone to understand your point of view if you don't respectfully talk to them. I could see people not liking him because he seems to be "all bark and no bite," but I would counter that argument by saying, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."