How do we define poverty?

This morning I read a post on National Review Online deploring the fact that the demographically poor are not living in third world conditions.

Now I'm the type who politically leans toward the National Review type, and some of you may have read a post I wrote a few years back about something quite similar, but something about the tone of this piece really bugged me.

I fail to see the point that Ken McIntyre is trying to make here. It would seem to me that he is trying to say that if you are living in poverty, you should also be living in squalor? If you follow his thinking to its logical conclusion, what it suggests is not pretty.

I mean, really? I can see complaining about the poor choices that people in poverty often make--one of my pet peeves has always been seeing the "poor" wearing the latest fashions in clothes, shoes (and jewelry!) each costing more than my mortgage payment. Now that's something to complain about.

But begrudging them television? A modern refrigerator and cooking appliances? Do we really need to have the poor starving, living in overcrowded, unsanitary tenements, or hovels with dirt floors, in order for them to "count" as poor? Shall we pine for the days of cholera and tuberculosis too? That's a bit Dickensian, don't you think?

True, third world poverty is utterly heartbreaking, but one can be living in the first world, among the most basic of first world comforts, and still be eking a living on such small means as to be worthy of compassion.

Let's get down to the real reason why "poor" people have more stuff than we think they "ought" to: the absolutely insane, pie-in-the-sky credit atmosphere that has prevailed in this country for decades, and continues despite the attempts of reality to crash down and bring us to our senses. We have ALL charged our way into a pretty mess, and debt ceiling or no debt ceiling, gravity is a force that must be reckoned with sooner or later.

The entitlement mentality exists at some level in EVERY household in this land, poor and rich, welfare and non welfare. As long as we can buy it on credit, we're entitled to it, whether it's as small as an Xbox or as big as a PhD. How many of you can imagine living without air conditioning? (I do all the time, by choice.) If we weren't ALL conditioned toward instant gratification of our every desire by years of easy credit, we wouldn't be in this mess. For us to get indignant that the poor should be using whatever money they can get their hands on--welfare or not--to imitate the spending habits of the rest of us is a bit obtuse, isn't it?

If you object to the state of the welfare system, I'm with you. It's disgusting. But then complain about the welfare system. Complain about the homeless panhandler who spends every cent on booze. Complain about the abuse of the system that comes with any sort of handout--including the handouts that come with an interest rate. But don't whip out your Ipad or your Blackberry or your new laptop to dogpile those who suffer the same gadget envy you have.

And then start by cutting up all of your credit cards, pay off your loans and actually live on your means. Then you'll have something to really complain about, because let me tell you, that's a whole new world.

You are what you eat...

...the number one reason for receiving our Lord in the holy Eucharist as often as possible.

Love trumps Fear

As sinners, it is easy for us to get hung up on the seriousness of sin and the necessity of penance--and to let our own unworthiness become a barrier between ourselves and God.

But what we too often fail to grasp is the warmth and immensity of God's love for us. Jesus himself tried to explain this to us in the parable of the Prodigal son. Our Father in heaven positively burns with unquenchable love for each and every one of us. He waits and yearns for us to come to Him so that He can once more throw His arms around us and welcome us home with tears of joy.

Fear of the Lord is...good...but what He really prefers is love. When we truly love someone, we will do anything at all for them--not because we feel it is our duty, but because we really, really want to.

With this in mind, a trip to the confessional becomes less of a chore and more of an opportunity to experience heaven's embrace. Likewise, an hour spent with the Blessed Sacrament is like a visit with our best friend. And the thought of receiving our Lord in the Eucharist ought to inflame us with longing!

During this Lent, seek to cultivate this love for our Lord, and experience the change it can make in your life.

Wisdom

I used to think that wisdom was something you had, whether it was gained through experience, or it was something God gave you, like he did to Solomon.

As I get older, I have begun to realize that Wisdom is something that God has. He just lends us little bits of it when needed.

Kids say the darndest things...

We often listen to the local classical music station in the mornings, on the way to drop off the youngest two at Montessori school. When something comes on that sounds identifiable, I will wonder aloud who it is by, and the kids are only too happy to throw out all the names of composers they know, starting with the usual suspects: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven...

So I couldn't help laughing at the expense of our 4yo dd this morning when she preempted my asking by blurting out, "Is this by Bachtoven?"

Right, and yet...wrong.

As a parent, one of the many hats I must don on a constant basis is that of peacemaker. Our Lord may have said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst,” but any parent knows that where two or three children are gathered in any space, for any length of time, there will always be fighting. If any other parent out there has ever taken a car trip longer than, say, 20 minutes, with more than 2 children, WITHOUT any mass distraction techniques (like DVD players) or other tranquilizers, and not experienced at least ONE fight, then…then…I don’t know what, because I don’t think it’s possible.

Because of this propensity children have toward not just fighting, but fighting over the most ridiculous things imaginable, I am often forced to attempt to explain to them a concept that even many adults are unable to put into practice.

The concept?

That you can be right and still make yourself wrong.

The concept is easiest explained in the behavior of a legalistic 6-year-old who rails against his brother, the rulebreaker. The rulebreaker refuses to repent and thus receives a whack on the head by the budding jurist.

Lawyer boy’s argument was valid, but the whack on the head made him guilty of assault, which is far worse than the original rule infraction by his brother.

Inevitably, in situations like this, Lawyer boy will argue himself blue in the face, defending the fact that he was right. It’s my job to show him the error of his ways.

How many times do we do this in our own lives? In a culture that seems to be at odds with everything Christian, we are sometimes forced to become ‘warriors’ for one cause or another. It seems like every day we manage to find an occasion to condemn others who, in our estimation, are flat-out wrong—from political leaders to personal acquaintances—and many times we are right. But when we cross the subtle line between condemning the sin and condemning the sinner, we end up like Wile E. Coyote in his quest for the roadrunner: walking on thin air.

There are all sorts of egregious examples of this phenomenon throughout history, from the bloody zeal of the Civil War—to the bloody zeal of the French and Russian Revolutions—to the bloody zeal of the Catholic-Protestant wars—to the bloody zeal of the Crusades... The partisans in each of these cases either were—or at least believed they were—“legally” within their rights, so much so that they were willing to be martyred for their cause. But if we believe all of what Christ taught us, both in the Bible and through His Saints, then we must see that the way they chose to enforce that “right” was...not.

Now, like Lawyer boy, you can argue these and other cases until you’re blue in the face. You can make wild accusations, such as calling me a revisionist (I’m not) or a heretic (well, that’s in God’s hands…). You can disagree with the inferred point of view expressed by my statements. But I didn’t write the Gospels, and if you’re inclined to disagree with them, well, then, I can’t help you. But last I checked, they still said, “Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you.” It’s not a popular philosophy, but it’s the one Christ taught.

St. Francis de Sales was on the front lines in the battle against Calvinism in Switzerland during the Protestant Reformation. He was credited with bringing thousands back to the Faith. And how did he do it? By the sword? By the Inquisition? By condemning the heretics? No—he patiently bore the hatred of the Protestants and taught them both by word and example. At the end of his life, confronted by those who disagreed with his gentle methods, he maintained: “I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove, that is, gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God?”

And when you shall stand to pray, forgive, if you have aught against any man; that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your sins.

But if you will not forgive, neither will your Father that is in heaven, forgive you your sins. (Mark 11: 25-26)

Many of those who take pleasure in the tarring and feathering of the unrepentant like to quote Christ as saying, “I came not to bring peace, but the sword...” But the Bible is full of quotes that are not only easily misinterpreted, but taken out of context. That quote is mined from a lengthy “sending off” speech that Jesus gave as he was sending his disciples out into the world to preach the Gospel, with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Later on in that very same speech, what does he tell His disciples to do if they are not accepted in a town? To call down curses from heaven? To send e-mails to everyone they know, telling how horrible those people are?

And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house. And if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words: going forth out of that house or city shake off the dust from your feet. Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. (Matthew 10:12-15)

Who does the cursing here? The disciples? No! It is God himself, the only truly worthy judge of our fellow humans. Moreover, we are to salute all in peace—and we lose nothing in doing so—even in offering peace to the unworthy, for if they are indeed unworthy, the peace we have bestowed will return to us. And I know, personally, I can use as much peace as I can get.

Nevertheless, those who refuse to be deterred from their righteous upbraiding of evildoers will persist in finding whatever support they can—often resorting to this quote:

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matthew 16:18-19)

They therefore rest their condemnation upon not their own shoulders, but upon the judgment of the Church. In matters where the Holy See has pronounced judgment on a particular matter, this is exactly what we should do: leave it to the judgment of the Church. Even with regard to “binding” and “loosing”, Jesus gives clear instruction:

Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)

He goes on to tell the story of the servant who is forgiven his debt, but does not forgive his own debtors. There is no ambiguity: in matters that involve the judging of others, we are treading on dangerous territory. The Gospels make it abundantly clear that we are supposed to love our neighbor at all costs, friend or enemy, right or wrong. When we ignore this commandment—which Christ himself gave us as one of the Two Great Commandments—by placing even the judgment of the Church above it—it is our Lord himself whom we judge, and that’s just not ever a good idea. Such matters are best left to the Office of the Inquisition if necessary.

To put it a different way: when we insist on punishing the sinners in our midst—even if it’s only verbally—we’re being like Lawyer boy again, being such a stickler for the rules that we’ve lost sight of the fact that, in general, simple things like love and forgiveness trump “being right”.

Again, to illustrate, we will look at the 3-year-old who insists against all known reason that tomorrow is Saturday. Never mind that today is Monday. This is the reality of a toddler. Her brothers and sisters are having conniption fits trying to prove to her that she’s wrong, but they’re wasting their time. My advice to them: “Let her be wrong! It is sufficient that you know the truth, and that you’ve told her, calmly, once. In time, she will learn. But you won’t convince her by screaming at her.”

This concept is easy to see in children’s behavior, but less easy to notice in our own selves. How many times do we insist on showing others the error of their ways, despite the fact that they refuse to see it? How many times do we indulge in reading and sharing material that does the same? The case could be as clear cut as the incontrovertible fact that Saturday does not follow Monday. But when we allow the ensuing argument to sow anger, resentment and discord, no good comes of it.

The Pharisees were religious zealots who used their high social and moral standing to condemn those who did not meet their standards. To quote the Catholic Encyclopedia, “Pharisaism developed a proud and arrogant orthodoxy and an exaggerated formalism, which insisted on ceremonial details at the expense of the more important precepts of the Law.” Despite the fact that they were among the most respected individuals of their day, they’re the only people in the bible that Jesus has continually got it out for. They could quote every insignificant jot and tittle of the law, but they couldn't see beyond that rigid construct and the self-righteousness it afforded them. What a complete shock it was to them that Jesus should prevent them from putting an adulteress to death! What sort of justice could there be in ignoring the law?

And indeed, if we know Him to be God, then it is impossible for him to be unjust. We must then see that He was not ignoring the law—He was attempting to show us that there was something more important than being right.

When Jesus sent his Disciples out into the world, he could have told them to judge the people and enforce the Mosaic Law. After all, that’s exactly what the Pharisees did. Of course, no one who followed Jesus could possibly be unclear with regard to how He felt about them. Instead, what did Jesus tell them to do?

And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)

He is also quite specific about what to do about anyone who hates or obstructs them, or even tries to put them to death: quite simply, they must fearlessly and steadfastly persevere in the truth. Not fight them, or badmouth them, or seek vengeance. Simply to persevere in the truth.

Here is where that quote about ‘bringing not peace but the sword’ fits in. Let’s put it into its proper context:

Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And a man's enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:34-37)

At first blush, this sounds like classic crusader language: anyone who rejects the faith is an infidel, worthy of being put to the sword. But when we read this passage, what should come to mind instead is the Passion of St. Perpetua, who preferred martyrdom to the entreaties of her father and the cries of her infant son. It’s a subtle difference, but what we are “fighting” for are not the things of this world—which must be fought by the sword—but instead our own fidelity to the Gospel. This alone is a never-ending battle, without allowing ourselves to be distracted by the sins of others.

We must not allow ourselves to be steamrolled into giving up Christ’s teachings, whether by the coercion of our loved ones, or the coercion of the sword, or even the coercion of not wanting to make waves.

However, the converse is not true: we ought not to steamroll everybody else that doesn’t agree with us:

But the servant of the Lord must not wrangle: but be mild towards all men, apt to teach, patient, with modesty admonishing them that resist the truth: if peradventure God may give them repentance to know the truth, and they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

And again:

And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed: Yet do not esteem him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15)

If you didn’t get it yet, here it is again:

Be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil. Providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.

Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. (Romans 12:16-21)

It is our job to do what is right, and it is God’s job to punish sin. “I will repay, saith the Lord.” We cannot ourselves do what is right if we are busy avenging wrongs. Besides, we avenge those wrongs best by the contrast of good example, rather than by harsh words or actions. This is the point that I must continually drum into Lawyer boy’s head: You can be right, and still make yourself wrong.

But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:22)

We really shouldn’t second guess quotes like this. If Jesus himself told us that mere anger against our brother is dangerous, we should take Him at His word. We should flee from it as though it were the Plague.

Margaret Mary Alacoque, who was blessed to have visions and instruction from our Lord himself, tells us:

“While at prayer, I begged our Lord to make known to me by what means I could satisfy the desire that I had to love Him. He gave me to understand, that one cannot better show one's love for Him than by loving one's neighbor for love of Him…You should never find fault with, accuse or judge anyone but yourself, so that your tongue, on which the Sacred Host so often rests, may not serve Satan as instruments to sully your soul.”

This is most significant, and must not be ignored by any who seek to fight the many sources of evil in this world. When we find fault with others, and worse, when we treat them with unkindness, we allow the devil to twist our good intentions to work further evil. Woe to those of us who fall into this trap! So much more good is done by patiently bearing evil, by silently offering up our sufferings, however great or small, by fighting it by word and example, and—oh yes—my favorite—by constant prayer! In this way, we allow the Lord to work His own will through us, which is more perfect by far than our own, and thus avoiding the danger of exerting our own will in error, as warned of by St. Augustine in his Treatise on the Psalms:

“…let us not hate them, for we do not know whether any of them will persist to the end in their evil ways. And most of the time, when you think you are hating your enemy, you are hating your brother without knowing it.”

Lost without a roadmap

When one first enters the new and mysterious world of Traditional Catholicism, it is not at all unusual to be plagued continually by a sense of utter ineptitude. From being lost in clouds of incense during Mass to sorting through haystacks of unfamiliar theological terms to navigating a labyrinth of customs that seem as foreign as ancient Crete—it’s truly amazing that anyone can manage without throwing their hands up in despair.

In this situation, the internet has proven sometimes more of a cross than a guide, as those seeking advice are confronted with irreconcilable factions which each claim to be more Catholic than the other. There are those who remain faithful to the Magisterium while bemoaning the departure from the long-standing traditions of our mother Church; there are those who declare that only those who remain faithful to a time-capsule Church as it was prior to the Second Vatican Council can rightly call themselves Catholic; and then there are those who take this argument one step further and declare the Chair of Peter to be empty, all Post-VII teachings heresy.

One who goes seeking answers to confront this unholy mess finds himself as a child who has known only the orphanage, suddenly being fought over by more than one family, each claiming to be his true parents; a state of affairs truly Dickensian in its ability to produce more uncertainty at every turn.

So how then can we know which path to follow? Each group seems fully convinced that they alone have the truth, and that all others are in danger of hellfire. Our Lord himself foresaw just such situations as this: His own advice was that we might know them by their fruit. The defense of truth looks wholly different from quibbling over right; and 'enmity, contention, wrath, quarrels and dissent' are most certainly sour grapes. We must bear in mind that if Heresy is our enemy, yet the heretic is still our fellow man. It is a subtle distinction, but an important one: we all have the duty as Catholics to hold to the truths of our Faith despite the worldly onslaught of evil, but this duty does not excuse us from our obligation toward 'charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity and mildness' in the practice thereof. Don’t believe me; a whole list of saints have said the same. See St. Francis de Sales for starters.

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another; take heed you be not consumed one of another.” (Gal 5:14-15)

When one is fortunate enough to be fed the richness of the Tridentine Mass, who has subsisted on the meagerness of the “Ordinary Form” for so long, it seems almost inevitable that our human nature will compare the two and, finding the one lacking, misinterpret the new blessing by cursing the other. But to be enlightened is not to be superior; we must always in our humility remember that Salvation is not merited but freely given. That our Lord saw fit to lead us to this fold ought to make us rather thankful to Him than spiteful of the other sheep whom we unwittingly followed astray.

I cannot pretend to know, in its entirety, what the True Church consists of. I only know that in our feeble attempts to learn, we are all like the blind men trying to describe the elephant. I know that the elephant is far more wonderful than any of us can comprehend. And above all, I know that, as the living Body of Christ, it can not be discovered by being hacked to pieces.

All of us then, must take refuge in knowing that

“As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him: For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust.” (Ps 102:13-14)

He knows each of us better than we know ourselves, and He himself will lead us if we will simply allow him to:

“And when he hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice.” (John 10:4)

In times past, to know the voice of the Church was to know the voice of our Lord. In these times, when the number of voices clamoring to be heard has become a cacophony, it is crucial to learn to know His voice—not that of the storm nor the earthquake nor the fire, but only the “whistling of a gentle air.” (3 Kings 19:12) We will never hear this voice if we allow the clamor of petty scandal and worldly strife to drown it out; nor will we know it if we place our own voice above all others, for to seek Truth is to doubt you already possess it.

Thus we tune our ear to the voice of God through practicing humility and self-mortification, and above all, through frequent prayer. What type of prayer is less important than that we should pray as often as possible.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings.” (Romans 8:26)

By allowing God to lead us in all things, He cannot fail to lead us to Himself.