Lumen Fidei #12: To Touch with our Hearts

Source: http://www.lushquotes.com/

From #31: Saint Augustine, commenting on the account of the woman suffering from haemorrhages who touched Jesus and was cured (cf. Lk 8:45-46), says: "To touch him with our hearts; that is what it means to believe."

The woman with the haemorrhages. She'd been bleeding for years. Scholars say it was likely a gynecological issue which would mean that no man could touch her and be ritually clean. She was so sure that Jesus could heal her that she reached out and touched His robes. All He felt was someone tug on His clothes and some power leave Him. When Jesus questioned the crowd to see who had touched Him, she reluctantly came forward knowing that as a bleeding woman, she had no right to touch a man. But Jesus doesn't rebuke her. He says simply that her faith has healed her and tells her to go in peace.

I am originally from the "show me" state. We all value what our senses tell us as true. Right now, we cannot directly see God. We can see Him in creation. We can feel His love through other people. But we cannot see Him Himself. The closest we can get is to touch Him with our hearts, to believe. As Jesus says to Thomas:

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” - John 20:29

Lumen Fidei #11: At First We See Dimly

No, that's not James. This kid has a lot more hair.

From #30: Joined to hearing, seeing then becomes a form of following Christ, and faith appears as a process of gazing, in which our eyes grow accustomed to peering into the depths.

This quote reminds me of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. - 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 

One of the most liberating things about Catholicism is it's understanding of conversion. It's not a one time deal. You're not "born again" and then your done. You have to choose every single day to follow Jesus. (Note: I know that many more mainstream Protestant churches share the same idea.)

Our faith takes more than a lifetime to understand. It takes an entire lifetime to even begin to grasp God and His love. I know grandparents who still don't know God's will for their lives.

To read more of this series on Pope Francis' first encyclical, visit here.

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.

Lumen Fidei #9: The Need for Knowledge

From #24: ...we need knowledge, we need truth, because without these we cannot stand firm, we cannot move forward.

How do we know what is real? Without a firm grasp of what is real, we cannot really interact with the world around us. An example that was used frequently in my philosophy classes was:

We need to have an idea of what is real to even get out of bed in the morning. When you swing your legs over to get out of bed, you have to trust that there is a floor there that will hold you up.

Reality cannot be completely subjective or there will be chaos. There has to be an up and down, a right and wrong, a true and false. Otherwise, we cannot get out of bed in the morning, much less make any real choices, changes, or movement in our lives.

To read more of this series on Pope Francis' first encyclical, go here.

Lawn Chair Catechism #9: Life (and Conversion) is Messy

This is my contribution to a conversation happening on Catholicmom.com about Sherry Weddell's book Forming Intentional Disciples. This book has been eye-opening for me. I highly recommend it and it's never too late to join the conversation.

I found it very liberating earlier in the book when Weddell points out that the stages of conversion are not always in order and we are always bouncing around.

I know I've been in the intentional disciple phase before, but I know I'm not now.

I would now put myself back maybe as early as "Trust."

So, it hit home in this chapter in the end when it talks about people in leadership positions who are not yet disciples.

As one of those leaders, I cannot speak to whether or not I can treat others in my shoes graciously. I'm one of the ones who need that patience.

Life is messy. Nothing ever goes in a straight line. Often, we do not get a resolution or closure. We hardly ever get what we think we want. And our relationship with God is much the same way.

When I was looking up images for this, I was struck by this one:

Stolen from a very interesting blog post.

As a graduate theology student, I didn't really care about theory unless it had some application to reality. What good is it to know the complexities of the Trinity if it has nothing to do with people's everyday life? Life needs to feed theology and theology needs to feed life. Otherwise, both are pointless.

And both are messy. We are imperfect people relating to a perfect Creator. We are imperfect people fumbling through a confusing life dealing with other imperfect people.

Like the other relationships in your life, your relationship with God will not be on a straight trajectory. That's just not how humans work. Some days you'll be on a spiritual high, some days you'll be full of doubt, most days you'll be somewhere in-between.

I'm not really stressing about the fact that I'm at the "trust" phase.* I'm still working through it. I'm not sure if I'm pining after a community that doesn't exist and I just need to get over myself. Maybe I need to find my community in the Holy Trinity and the saints. Maybe I just need to grow up and realize that adults don't bond like young adults and kids do.

Source.

The kicker in all of this is I cannot give others what I don't have. At least I'm trying to develop my relationship with God. And, as I said, I've been an intentional disciple before. Does that count for something? I think it does. I think I do have something to share even in this stage.

Leaders who are not yet disciples do need to become disciples, but they don't have to quit in the short-term. Seeing leaders struggle gives hope to us all in our struggles. I've told people before, there are things that the Church teaches that I struggle with. And those who have heard of my struggles are comforted by the fact that someone-who-has-been-studying-religion-since-she-learned-how-to-read still has trouble. As long as those who are struggling don't intentionally mislead the flock, I think there is no reason why those who are struggling cannot stay in power.

What do you think?


*For those of you following at home, the "trust" phase is the first stage of conversion where a bridge is created between the person and the worshiping community. It is characterized as such, "Many don’t trust God or the Church, by they do trust a Christian in their life." (quote from chapter 5 of Forming Intentional Disciples)

What is up with Psalm 149?

Recently, we've had a few opportunities to pray with Psalm 149 in Morning Prayer. I always find that Psalm kind of jarring. We start with "singing a new song" and we end up being "honored" to kill and imprison a lot a people.

Source

My inner wanna-be Bible scholar told me it has to be about the exile and I was right. First, let's look at the Psalm:

Sing a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips
and a two-edged sword in their hand,

to deal out vengeance to the nations
and punishment on all the peoples;
to bind their kings in chains
and their nobles in fetters of iron;
to carry out the sentence pre-ordained;
this honor is for all his faithful.

Yes, we recite the whole Psalm in Morning Prayer. It's a short one. Here's where I get confused:



This awful little hymn (pardon the use of the HOLY NAME, by the way) is a cheery little number that was used all the freakin' time at my last parish. To think that this song is followed by blood shed is kind of crazy.

Yesterday, I bought my new favorite book

It's commentary on Psalm 149 is illuminating

An exilic or post-exilic psalm, depending on whether the event envisioned has already taken place or is yet to come. The event is God's deliverance of His people from exile and their restoration to Judah. The psalm envisions a reversal whereby Israel is the victor and its enemies the vanquished. The threefold repetition of the faithful emphasizes loyalty to God.

This gives us some essential clues as to what we are supposed to get out of this Psalm. As the Israelite were in exile, so are we in exile in a foreign land. Our true home is Heaven (Philippians 3:20) so we are, in a sense, exiles waiting to return.

In a Christian reading of the Psalm, this reversal is of the righteous and the unrepentant sinner. As the righteous now suffers, they will be vindicated. As many unrepentant sinners now live comfortable lives, they will be punished.

No, we are not supposed to rejoice in the pain of our enemies (Matthew 5:44). The end of this psalm is supposed to bother us if we are truly trying to imitate Jesus. It is part of our job on earth to  help make sure that other people make it to Heaven (Matthew 5:19). We don't want others to be put into chains. That's a normal, good response to this psalm. This psalm should lead us to prayer for those who aren't following God's will.

St. Gertrude the Great, pray for us

7 Quick Takes (#9) Shameless Pulg Edition

--- 1 ---

I've been back home for a week now. Time flies when you're sicker than a dog and still trying to work your butt off.

--- 2 ---

 

I'm always looking for an excuse to use the above cartoon. So, what have I been doing? I volunteered for another website: YOUCATholic.com. I'll be blogging and putting together the unit on ethics. The biggest issue I've had so far is not being able to find a YOUCAT in all of Syracuse NY. You wouldn't think that would be an issue. Syracuse isn't that small of a town, but you'd be wrong.

 



--- 3 ---

Next Sunday will be my 5th article for Ignitum Today. As I am writing this, the site is down, but as soon as it's back up, you need to check it out. Writing for IT has been enormously helpful for me in developing my blogging skills. Although I'm still not a great writer, I'm a lot better than I was when I first started at IT.

--- 4 ---

I'm helping with publicity for a new organization in town called the John Paul II Center For Women. It is something that Syracuse is in desperate need of. They work on promoting Catholic teachings in regards to the dignity of women, specifically NFP and Theology of the Body. I'm running their FB page and I'm working on their blog right now. I hope to get a Twitter account going soon.

--- 5 ---

And last but not least, my Feminists for Life internship. Of course, it got going to a running start while I was in MO visiting family and friends. I was on the computer a lot more than I would have liked to during my visit. I've already been learning a lot, though, and I've met online some like-minded pro-life feminists. Including a dude. Yes, men can be feminists, too.

--- 6 ---

As mentioned above, James and I did bring home a lovely souvenir from MO. We are both full of snot. Our throats hurt. James is clinging to me, because, hey, mom's supposed to take this stuff away right?

--- 7 ---

That pretty much covers everything. I've renewed my efforts at finding work that I can actually get paid to do. I've volunteered again to review a book for Patheos. I promise it will be better than my last one. And James just pulled himself up on dad's footrest! My big boy!

 

 





For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Pope Francis Doesn't Value Women's Issues?

I thought long and hard about whether or not to respond to this article I saw posted online yesterday. It seems to me that the author doesn't know fundamental things about Catholicism. Maybe I'm being unfair in assuming she doesn't want to know. I would like, however, to give her readers the benefit of the doubt. Even if you don't agree with the Church, it's always good to understand people who are not like you. So, let's take this article apart and explain some things.

The Vatican has enjoyed religious authority worldwide, directly controlling more than a million bishops and nuns who are followed by 1.2 billion worshipers: more than any other Christian sect.

First of all, the Church doesn't work that way. Yes, the Pope is in charge, but he rarely exerts direct control over the other bishops. She makes it sound as if he micro-manages. He usually steps in on another bishop's turf only when stuff seriously hits the fan. Pope Francis seems to have  this view of the papacy, as he prefers to be referred to as the Bishop of Rome, not the Pope. Otherwise, the hierarchy is a lot more messy than she indicates. Nuns are not equal to Bishops, but some religious superiors are not answerable to any Bishop other than the Pope. And it just gets more complicated from there.

There is little doubt that the latest sex abuse scandals have played a major role in shrinking the Church's membership and undermining its credibility.

Actually, statistically, no. Although it has undermined our authority in "pelvic issues" among the general public, the sex abuse crisis has had little to do with the numbers of people leaving the Church.

Ending mandatory celibacy would go a long way to deal with much of the hypocrisy witnessed over the years.

Also, no. Think about it: If someone told you that you could never have sex again, would you start messing with kids? Pedophiles come in many different guises, many are "happily" married men and many never took a vow of celibacy. While the cover-up in the Church is deplorable, the rate of abuse in the Church isn't any higher than any other institution. The priesthood doesn't turn people into pedophiles, pedophiles are attracted to the priesthood because they get unfettered access to kids.

It's no coincidence then that American nuns are also leaving the church in record numbers, according to Catholic World News. Their number has  dropped from 180,000 nuns in 1965 to 75,000 in 2002, and to 56,000 today. They are expected to drop to well below 40,000 by 2020.

I'm sure there are nuns leaving the Church, but the bigger issue is that the vowed religious women are dying. Orders are disappearing because of a lack of vocations to replace those elderly nuns, not because they are jumping ship.

It is common sense that women who make up the majority of the Church's worshipers, should have equal influence over a church in crisis and incapable of truly reforming itself.

And now she shows her whole hand. She has absolutely no understanding of the Catholic priesthood or how the Church actually works. Yes, women make up the majority of the worshipers. They also make up the majority of the catechists, the majority of pastoral staff, the majority of parish councils. The Church isn't about one celibate old man pontificating from on high (pun intended). It's a community. It's the body of Christ and we all have our roles. No role is less important than any other. As Paul says:

Now the body is not a single part, but many. If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. Or if an ear should say, “Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.” Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety, whereas our more presentable parts do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

- 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 

In every parish I've ever belonged to, the true power behind the throne has been a woman. The priest was there to administer the Sacraments which are necessary for salvation, but the woman was largely in charge of day-to-day finances and staffing. She helped make sure the priest made it to his appointments and had everything he needed to do his job. Women educate the young, including those who will one day become priests, and pass the faith down to future generations.

The way I see it: I can no more become a priest than a man can give birth to a child. It isn't a glass ceiling to break through as if the Church was some kind of corporation. That's just not how the Church works. I'm not being held down in some subservient role because I'm a woman.

I can still speak up and I can still be heard. Some of the best priests I've ever met held their female staff in high esteem and often rubber stamped whatever the staff wanted to do. Not to say that the priests were doormats, but they listened and they saw running a parish as a truly collaborative job.

 Source

Women have come a long way in recent years in the Church. We still need more women theologians. Women as well as men need to learn more about their faith in order to accurately and effectively pass it on. But women don't need the priesthood.    

  

Holy Trinity Sunday Reflection: Dancing at the Creation

When I imagine yesterday's first reading, I see a little girl in a white dress dancing around the altar.

This reading talks about the Holy Spirit/Wisdom being the apple of God's eye. Some translations call Her "His darling" or "His partner." This isn't an example of a goddess in Scripture although I admit it seems to come close at first glance. But the truth is, our God contains all that is perfect in both the male and the female. We have no need for a goddess, our God transcends gender.

Now, that said, isn't this a beautiful image. Just like the priest re-presents Jesus' sacrifice on the altar, I think of God Himself creating the world on that same altar. As the New Adam brings our rebirth, God brings our initial birth.

This bright, loving child prances before her Maker. She has been with God since before the beginning. Since before time, before humanity, before dust. Like any little girl and her Dad, she wants to "help" Him anyway she can, even if that just means playing nearby and cheering Him on.

She adores Him, completely loves Him. He loves and adores her. They would do anything for each other.

It is out of this love, out of this dance, that all of existence is created. This is actually very Biblical and Traditionally correct. The love of the Trinity makes all life possible. It is the model of perfect love. Love that all people, all families, are called to emulate. Without this love, nothing could exist and nothing could be made. (See CCC 257 and link and link, just to scratch the surface.)

Source

I cannot end this post without referring to the Romans passage. "Justified by faith," was one of the rallying cries of the Protestant Reformation. In recent meetings, Lutherans and Catholics realized that they weren't that different after all in regards to this teaching. Catholics don't believe that you are saved by works alone. Lutherans don't believe that works are completely irrelevant and unnecessary. To read more, see their published joint statement.

Praying Through, Not To, Mary

Praying mantis praying through, not to, Mary. I didn't know they were Catholic.

This is one area that Catholic and non-Catholics get tripped up on all of the time. What is it with Catholics and Mary?

The most realistic picture of Mary I've ever found

Mary is the mother of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think that all Christians can agree with that. Mary carried Jesus in her womb, gave birth to Him, raised Him and was one of His closest followers. I would hope that all of that is pretty straight-forward.

Catholics have a thing about saints. We have a ton of them.

I mean, a ton of them.

 

 

Like, a whole lot of them.

Nobody has bothered counting them, there are so many. Best estimates are somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000. And being canonized doesn't mean that you then get to go to heaven. It means that the Catholic Church recognizes by your life, works, and miracles in your name that you are already there. We know there are more saints than are formally recognized by the Church.

Now, I start by talking about the saints because Mary is a saint. She is considered to be the highest and most perfect of the saints, but she's still a saint. Now, what makes her so much better than the other saints?

First of all, there must've been something about her that made God choose her to bear His Son. Catholics believe that Mary was born without the stain of original sin. Original sin is a stain that we all get from our first parents Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God in the garden. We believe that she must've been sinless because she carried God in her womb and God cannot co-exist with sin.

Then we observe human nature. All good kids honor their mothers, right? And Jesus must've been the best kid of all, right? So. we know Mary is in heaven and as the mother of God, we figure she's pretty close to the throne.

Through the centuries, the Church has held Mary up as a role model for all the faithful. We see her willingness to have Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). We hear about her pondering things in her heart (Luke 2:19). We wish we had the openness to Jesus that Mary had and the ability to ponder Jesus' deeds and sayings like she did.

Praying through a saint is like asking your best friend to pray for you. We figure these saints are in heaven and they can talk to God directly about our needs. Mary is considered the closest of the saints, so she is given the most respect and attention from the Church. That is the best summary of an answer that I can give.  

We call her the Queen of Heaven because that's what we figure she is.

 She did give birth to Jesus, after all.



Communion Hosts Dispensers?

Since 2007, there have been these nifty things on the market called Communion Host Dispensers.

These Jesus PEZ dispensers are in use in 375,000 churches, at least one of which is Catholic. So, this makes me wonder, what would the Vatican say about such things?

Please wait as your local theology student researches answer (source)

After a couple of hours of looking through everything I have, I see nothing that explicitly says that communion has to be given by hand or that it cannot be given by a dispenser like those above. This is possibly due to the fact that in some Catholic Churches of other rites, it is not given by hand.

Like so.

Next question: Why does this go against our sensibilities then? Why are we so completely bugged by a Jesus PEZ?

Not this.

The first thought I have is directly related to the phrase "Jesus PEZ." It's disrespectful to take communion the same way we take candy. Communion is unlike anything else we eat and it shouldn't be consumed in an ordinary way.

These dispensers are silver and gold, though. And isn't it important to take communion in the right frame of mind? Can't it be reverent regardless of the trappings?

The old-school definition of sacrament is: an outward sign of an inward grace. So the outer trappings really do matter.

Being in the right frame of mind is all well and good, but the appropriateness of your behavior counts. Behavior makes a difference. Take for example smiling: If you smile even when you're depressed, it will make you feel better. Act reverently, even if you're not particularly feeling it, and you'll start to feel it. But act irreverently and, even if you do feel reverent, the feeling will go away.

So, what about this makes Catholics make this face?

 

Simply put, we take actions and outer trappings very seriously, especially when it comes to our Sacraments. The inner life affects the outer actions. The outer actions certainly affect the inner disposition.

 

 

It might sound shallow to you, but that doesn't make it less true.

Mary as Model to Empty Oneself

Source

This haunting picture claims to be a "metallic figurine of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus." I ran across it looking for an illustration for a book review I wrote for Ignitum Today.

Clearly, there is no Mary in this picture. She's a hollow shell holding the infant Jesus. All we see of her is her cloak wrapped around the Babe.

What does this say about Mary? What does this say about all mothers? What does this say about being a disciple of Jesus?

Sorry, more questions than answers today.

Magnificent by U2 inspired by the Magnificat

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.

7 Quick Takes Friday (#5)

--- 1 ---

This will be a post of images. I'll likely write more on some of these later:

A Praying Mantis praying through Mary

--- 2 ---

Mary holding the baby Jesus. I'll leave you to contemplate this image for a while.

--- 3 ---

Pope Francis, future patron saint of the socially awkward

 

--- 4 ---

My son someday?

--- 5 ---

I don't know if I'll miss these days or not.

 

--- 6 ---

Annunciation by John Collier

--- 7 ---

Yeah, I don't miss that.

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!