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Mar 27, 2012

The Sacrament of Charity: Christ, man, and nature

It’s fitting that as we approach the Great Week of Holy Week, I rediscovered a document that expresses the warm, exciting unity of Catholicism’s Eucharistic faith. I bought the book on impulse a year or so ago, read it quickly for the content needed at the time, but never had the time to embrace it.

That changed this evening.

A few hours ago, I pulled it from its pile for utilitarian purposes—for a paper on the Holy Father—and found myself in a world of Eucharistic wonder.

From the Paschal mysteries and the Holy Triduum, to the sacramental nature of the church, to the celebration of our liturgies, to the place of the Eucharist in our lives, to our place in the cosmos, and much more, this text by Pope Benedict XVI is gem like few others.

Indeed, it should be the genesis of diocesan Eucharistic Congresses across the globe during the upcoming Year of Faith.

While this text has a very long, complicated name, it comes with a short title, too: The Sacrament of Charity. It's a summary of a...
Mar 26, 2012

And the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us...

A few weeks ago, an organization for which I serve on the Board of Directors sponsored a keynote speaker for our annual conference. He's a philosopher who leans far to the left and makes no bones about it. In many ways, he reminds me of my oldest brother, whom I love dearly, even with our philosophical differences.

Anyway, much of what the speaker said about ecology was good. But his understanding of Christianity was simplistic and, as such, far off the mark. One statement was particularly troubling. He said that Catholics learned to appreciate the natural world only when John Paul II re-read the Book of Genesis.

I have since been in communications with him. I hope our dialogue helps him understand the great link between divinity and creation that we Catholics have always accepted and, today, celebrate and proclaim during the Solemnity of the Annunciation.

I’ll be posting more about my meeting with this philosopher, but for now, I’d like to simply acknowledge the great gift of Mary’s Fiat, and the immense implications it had for the beginning...
Mar 23, 2012

Paying for birth control, paying for poison

Thanks to the bishops of the United States, today was a day of civil engagement.

Rallies held across the country made clear that people from numerous walks of life, faiths, and ideologies are not happy about the cultural and constitutional implications of the president’s Health and Human Services mandate that requires employers to pay for birth control medications and abortifacients.

The debate is being framed by the mainstream media as a question of women’s rights, even if those fighting for a repeal of the HHS mandate are fighting for the right to religious freedom. The stakes are high and the rhetoric is dizzying, which is why what one woman said today was so important.

Her name is Kristen Hayes-Yearick. She introduces herself as a “Pro-Life, Catholic mother of three beautiful children and a children's environmental health advocate.” The capitalizations of pro and life are intentional. Indeed, she founded a group called PSALM, which stands for Protecting the Sanctity of All Life Movement. I have been lucky to have met Kristen and others in our various on-line lives. Indeed, a few of us have been working with...

Mar 22, 2012

What to do on World Water Day

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?' (Matthew 25:34-37)

Chances are most of you reading this are hydrated. You have plumbing at home that’s attached to a well-run water-supply system, or a well that pulls water out of a deep, clean aquifer. Either way, you have clean, drinkable water on demand. And most of you have a system that flushes and drains your used water out of your home, through a sewage collection system, and to a treatment facility that cleans the water before it finds its way back into nature.

...
Mar 20, 2012

Killing our oceans with carbon: Why are people celebrating?

Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)


According to a new report, the world's oceans are apparently under greater strain from acidification than had been thought. This could affect the very existence of creatures such as shellfish, which rely on specific water chemistry for the growth of their shells.

From the report by researchers at Columbia University, we read this:
The world’s oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent...
Mar 16, 2012

God speaks to us in the silence

March 2012

I’m blessed to have a pastor that takes his time celebrating Mass. During the Eucharistic Prayers, you don’t have to be Catholic to know that something extraordinary is happening. Such is the nature of liturgy when it is celebrated with dignity – and peacefully.

I say “peacefully” because my pastor allows silence when only silence will do. This is especially true after the consecration of each species, when, with a profound genuflection, he stops, permitting a pause of living quiet, which allows the faithful to wonder at the miracle that just took place. This is a rarity in our Internet-speed world – and tragically so. Indeed, the significance of silence in our lives and liturgies was noted with gusto by Pope Benedict XVI in his Wednesday audience on March 7, the topic of which was “The Silence of Jesus.”

Elsewhere, Mother Teresa tells us that “God speaks in the silence of the heart.” These are important words, especially during Lent, which, like Advent, being a time of calm, allows us to ponder our lives, prepare for God’s glory, and prevail over our weaknesses by accepting...

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About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.