Celebrating Christmas in a Time of Tragedy, Dec.,2012

Celebrating Christmas in a Time of Tragedy, December 21, 2012

The weekend following the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the Scripture readings for the Sunday Masses focused on the theme of rejoicing. Because Christmas was drawing near, as we entered the third week of Advent preparation, we were called to rejoice. Normally those are appropriate readings with an appropriate theme. However, I wondered what the preachers in churches in Newtown were going to do with those Scriptures in the midst of their horrible tragedy. What was there to rejoice about as people mourned the deaths of twenty young children and several adults?

Since I was scheduled to preach that same weekend in a church in the New Orleans area, I wondered what I would do with those readings. We were not facing such a tragedy at this time in our area. I thought of focusing on the theme of rejoicing and passing over the tragedy. That would have been an easy way out. However, my conscience would not let me ignore the tragedy of Newtown. We in the New Orleans archdiocese are part of the same Church as the people in Newtown and part of the same nation. I concluded that I needed to bring together the theme of rejoicing and the tragedy of Newtown and somehow apply the message to the people in our area. How was I going to bring together such a tragic event and the joyful preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ?

As I reflected on those issues, I realized that the very celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and what it signifies contained the solution to me dilemma. As Christians we believe that Christmas celebrates the birth of God among us as a human being, the “Word become flesh” as the author of the prologue of John's Gospel writes or “Emmanuel”, God with us, as other Gospels declare. We fill the celebration of Christmas and the birth of Jesus with beautiful carols and songs, artistic presentations of the scene in Bethlehem, stories and poetry that idealize the event. However, when we look more closely at what Luke's nativity account describes, we see something quite different. We see a couple giving birth to a child in very poor surroundings, away from family and home, doctors, midwife or any medical support and the birth takes places in a stable, probably behind someone's house.

The significance of this description for Christians is our belief that Jesus, that Word become flesh, truly chose to involve himself in our humanity in its ordinariness or as I like to describe it, in the messiness of humanity. Certainly the description of the scene of his birth was humble, even poor, nothing rich in any material sense. And when we look ahead to the end of Jesus' earthly life, we experience a scene even more shocking—Jesus dead on a cross, crucified between two common criminals. As Christians we certainly believe that God was with Jesus at the time of his humble birth through the time of his crucifixion and death on the cross. God never abandoned Jesus nor his family nor his followers at any time.

This is the pathway for connecting the theme of rejoicing in preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus with the horrible tragedy of Newtown Connecticut and even with similar or lesser painful experiences for other communities, families or individuals. Just as God did not abandon Jesus and his followers from the moment of his birth through his horrible crucifixion and death, so that same God did not abandon the people of Newtown nor those children and adults in that Sandy Hook school that fateful day. Nor does our God abandon any of us whatever we face.

It is important to affirm the presence of God in this tragedy because, unfortunately, some have presented a different picture. Some dare to say that God abandoned that school and those children and adults because our nation has become too secularized, because we have taken prayer out of public schools and other gatherings. Regardless of how secular we are as a nation, God does not abandon us. God does not behave like a petulant adult or child who say that if you don't include me I won't include you. The God we believe in is always present in our lives whether or not we choose to acknowledge God.

It is also important to affirm God's presence in the lives of those children and adults at Sandy Hook school and in the surrounding towns. The life of Jesus and our faith tells us that God was with those children and adults even as some of them were being killed by that deranged young man. Our God continues to be with the children and adults who mourn the deaths of their family members and friends. A powerful example of the faith of the people and the presence of God in their midst was the prayer service mourning the passing of the deceased. Thousands packed the auditorium as minister after minister of so many different religious beliefs came forward and led the people in prayerful reflection, calling upon God's assistance, including the President of the United States.

This connection between such a horrible tragedy and the birth of Jesus Christ does not lead to the kind of rejoicing that would include shouts of joy. However, there is reason to rejoice in the awareness that God was and is with those who have suffered through this tragedy. Our faith reminds us that those who have died are now rejoicing in a better life, beyond our human existence. We who continue on in this life can count on the presence of God to support and grace us as we face whatever lies ahead.

What can all of us throughout our nation do as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as we seek ways to support the people of Newtown, Connecticut? Surely we can keep all the mourners in prayer and offer whatever other comfort, including material gifts we wish to share, as many from across the nation are already doing. At the same time, I think there is something more challenging for the long haul that is worth doing, something that may help us to conclude that these children and adults did not die in vain. We can do something that is rooted in our understanding of the meaning of Christmas, of the coming of God to share our humanity. I am referring to is a commitment all of us can make to work to make our nation a safer and more peaceful place in which to live. One of the titles of Jesus and one of the things he came to bring was peace. We refer to him as the Prince of Pleace.

 

We as a nation ought to get into serious discussion and action regarding the causes and possible solutions of all the violence, killings and tragedies that take place far too often in our cities, on our streets and in our homes. There is no one single cause and there is no one single solution. However, there are things we can do to diminish if not eliminate the killings that are taking place.

Instead of responding to a call for armed guards in every school in our nation, as some are proposing, we need to consider action on the following and other topics:

1. An end to the sale of semiautomatic riffles;

2. An end the sale of high capacity magazines, with 30 or more bullets;

3.Close the loop hole of gun sales at gun shows without background checks;

4.Improve national tracking systems to make sure that people with criminal records or serious mental conditions are not allowed to purchase weapons.

5.Find ways to provide medical assistance for all with mental issues, instead of doing the opposite by shutting down mental hospitals and clinics in our cities.

6.Continue to work with communities that teach people how to deal with conflict in non-violent ways instead of resorting to violence and killing.

7.As a nation, pursue ways to settle differences with other nations or groups through mediation rather than through military action, including drone warfare.

Can we imagine what rejoicing there would be in our land if we achieved some or all of the above pursuits because there would undoubtedly be far less killing in our nation? Maybe there would even be some comfort, if not rejoicing, for the people of Newtown if action after their tragedy would lead to a reduction of violence and such tragedies. Christmas is truly the celebration of the coming of God, Emmanuel, in our midst, of the Word becoming flesh, of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. This is a time to rejoice. May the New Year bring us closer to a nation and a world that is more peaceful. Maybe, then, we will have something for which we all want to rejoice.

 My August, 2012 visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Twenty plus years after being on a sabbatical program with a Japanese Sister who told us "I grew up in the ashes of Hiroshima", I finally got to visit Sr. Teruko Onojima in her hometown  August 3 to10th. I was fortunate to receive housing in the residence of the Archbishop of Hiroshima at the Cathedral parish. I was able to take in the ceremonies that mark the anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The activities began with a Catholic Mass in the Peace Cathedral of Hiroshima on the evening of August 5, where I was introduced as a Catholic priest representing Pax Christi USA. The morning of August 6 began with an ecumenical prayer service at 6 AM in the Peace Park,  followed by a public outdoor ceremony  at 8 AM attended by 50 to 70 thousand. That evening  there was  a symphony's performance of a Requiem in the Cathedral followed by a moving ritual of lighting lanterns and floating them down the river adjacent to the Peace Park. Similar ceremonies took place in Nagasaki on August 9, including a service at the Peace Park followed by a candle light procession to the Nagasaki Cathedral culminating in a Mass.

During my visit, I spent time in the very modern Peace Museum in Hiroshima at the Peace Park. I  learned more about what happened on August 6^th, 1945 and especially  how the people of Japan have focused on promoting peace and the end of both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. I was impressed by the way children of Hiroshima are so involved in these activities, being educated and promoting peace.  I signed a petition they were holding asking for the end of nuclear weapons; they planned to send the signed petition to the United Nations.  Many children were present at the public service and formed a choir that added to the service.

I was also able to be on a bus trip from Hiroshima to Nagasaki with Sr. Teruko and twenty-five members of her parish. The bus trip helped me see the beauty of Japan with its many waterways, hills and rice fields. I also listened to the stories of the men and women on the bus, translated by Sr. Teruko, about their reasons for taking part in these services. One story I remember was that of the man who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing. As he related, "I missed the tram that morning. I am alive today while my schoolmates are dead."

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have both been rebuilt and stand as very modern and clean cities, Hiroshima with over one million people and Nagasaki with approximately 500,000. I am grateful for this experience and the conviction I am left with is this. Japan learned from the horrors they inflicted on others and that were inflicted on them. Their new Constitution, in article 9, forbids Japan to go to war. They are not a threat to other nations. Sadly, some in Japan and some in the USA want Japan to modify article 9 so that the noncombatant military of Japan can join forces with American troops in any future wars we may wage.  So far the government and people of Japan have stood firm. Would that other nations and peoples would learn the same lesson of the horror of war and nuclear weapons! Would that more people would take it upon themselves to work for alternatives to war in dealing with conflicts in our world!

 Peace, Louie Arceneaux, c.m.

The Church I love

As a lifelong Catholic and priest for forty six years, I love being a member of the Catholic Church.  There is a great deal about being Catholics that delights and encourages me. I appreciate the fact that the Catholic Church is rooted in humanity, through the Incarnation of Jesus and through his life, death and Resurrection. I find the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Church comforting. I find the full Catholic Social Teaching of our Church, rooted in the commitment of Jesus to the lowly, children and the poor. I am grateful that there is so much in the long history of our Church to keep us connected over centuries with saintly women and men who have gone before us and to so many different cultures throughout the world. I belong to a religious community of apostolic life, the Congregation of the Mission, that is one of many religious congregations in the Church. I even see value in the organizational structure of our Church that connects parish communities to dioceses and dioceses to national conferences and national conferences to the universal Church. I see value in clergy, religious and laity working together to promote the unfolding of God's reign in our world. I could go on with other positives about the Church that I love.

However, I am terribly saddened and even angry over some of the actions of the hiearchy, especially some bishops and popes, in recent years. The leadership of our Church has just proclaimed a year of faith, wants to promote a new evangelization and has been speaking out for “religious freedom” for the Church. Those are worthy declarations and goals. Unfortunately, I experience the actions of our leadership leading to the opposite rather than bringing more faith filled people into the Church. Here are some specific examples.

The bishops of the United States promoted a campaign this past summer before our national elections on “religious freedom.” They expressed a concern that our government is doing things to prevent religious freedom in our Catholic Church, specifically regarding birth control and the definition of marriage. Certainly, religious freedom is worth standing up for. However, it is just as worthy to grant “religious freedom” to the many Catholics and other people who have a different understanding of the legitimacy of birth control and the definition of marriage. While making their stand on “religious freedom,” it was sad to hear and read of bishops who were threatening Catholics with eternal damnation if they dared vote for someone who allowed birth control, allowed people to make their own choices about abortion and had a different understanding of civil marriage.

In the interests of religious freedom for all people, why could not the bishops forcefully declare what is our Catholic definition of marriage and what we expect of people who want their marriage to be accepted in the Catholic Church? In fact, that is the present position of the Catholic Church. Anyone who wishes to enter into a Catholic marriage must accept the Catholic Church's understanding of marriage. The Catholic Church does not accept the limited understanding of marriage that civil law in the United States accepts and we have had no problems over the years with this approach. If civil and state governments choose to broaden their understanding of what constitutes a civil marriage to include members of the same gender, that is the right of the government, generally after receiving the vote of the majority of the governed. This marriage issue is an excellent example of the value of keeping Church and State separate. The State need not tell the Church or any religious group what must be an acceptable religious understanding of marriage and the Church need not tell the State what is their acceptable understanding of marriage. This is how freedom ought to be exercised.

A most recent example of how the hierarchy of the Church says one thing and practices another is the way they have dealt with Fr. Roy Bourgeois, MM. He has publicly come out in support of the ordination of women in the Catholic priesthood. The Vatican has declared this a topic that we ought not to even speak about, declaring it a defined teaching that women cannot be ordained priests. Despite the fact that Catholic Biblical scholars and theologians have studied the matter and concluded that this is not so clear cut as the Vatican would like it to be, Popes and bishops have declared it so. Is this the way to promote religious freedom?

The reality is that many Catholics, indeed many Catholic priests and probably even some Catholic bishops think this is a topic worth continued discussion. Many would like to discuss this topic publicly and yet are afraid that they would be treated in the same way that Fr. Roy has been treated these past four years by Church hierarchy. Fr. Roy chose to go public even to the point of participating in the ordination of a woman to the Catholic priesthood. Because of that action, he was declared automatically excommunicated from the Church in 2008. Since that time efforts were made to pressure his religious community, Maryknoll, to expel him from the community if he would not recant from his position on the ordination of women. Fr. Roy said he could not recant because he would be going against his own informed conscience by doing so. Maryknoll did not choose to expel him. This October, the Vatican took matters into its own hands and expelled him on its own authority and informed the Maryknoll leadership, who in turn informed Fr. Roy that he was out. There is still some question about the authority of the Vatican to intervene in the life of a religious community and expel a member. However, the Vatican decided that it could do what it wanted because it is the highest authority in the Church. How do we reconcile this with the promotion of religious freedom?

What makes this situation so striking is that the Vatican chooses to take such a strong and definitive stand on a matter of doctrine that is debatable in the eyes of many Catholics. At the same time, the Vatican has taken a much milder stand on a matter of moral behavior of its members, namely in the matter of clergy and bishops involved in pedophilia cases over the years. It appears that one can go against serious moral teachings of the Church to the point of harming and in some cases destroying the lives of other people and yet remain in full membership in the Church. However, when one challenges some doctrinal teaching of the Church that is another matter.

How does this kind of behavior speak to people of faith in this year of faith? How can this behavior help to promote a new evangelization and bring more people into the Catholic Church? How are young and intelligent women of faith going to be kept or welcomed into the Church when they are told that they are not even supposed to talk about the possibility of their sharing in the priesthood in the Church? How are inquiring young men going to be welcomed into the Church and to pursue priesthood when they are told that there are certain topics they cannot even talk about, such as ordination of women?

How are young married couples going to continue in or join the Catholic Church when they are told that the celibate hierarchy of the Church knows more about what constitutes legitimate forms of family planning than they do? How are homosexual men and women going to continue in or join the Church when they are told that the only way they can be Catholics is if they commit themselves to celibacy for the rest of their lives, that there is no debating any other form of behavior for them?

To conclude, what do these issues have to do with the Catholic Church, with Faith, with religious freedom and with a new evangelization? It appears to me and many I share with that there are many more fundamental issues of our Catholic Faith that we ought to focus on while leaving others open to debate and differing views. We can promote our wonderful teaching on the importance of religious freedom and the formation of conscience, while allowing individuals to exercise that freedom. We can promote as strongly as we desire our wonderful teachings on the sacraments in the Church and still allow discussion on the possibility of extending the sacrament of Holy Orders to others besides celibate males. We can teach and continue to demand that all people who wish to marry in the Catholic Church accept our Catholic understanding of the sacrament of marriage while allowing civil governments the freedom to define civil marriage as the governed choose. In this way, we will truly be promoting the Catholic Church in this year of faith and we will be showing others what we stand for as Catholics while not imposing our views on others, especially when there are even differences within our Church on many of these issues. Rev. Louis Arceneaux, C.M. E-mail a.66528@yahoo.com