Have you noticed that there is a widespread view that the country is “on the wrong track.” Political candidates, TV commentators, newspaper pundits and preachers in various churches seem to be of a common mind on that. The Secret Service scandal, Walmart’s bribery in Mexico and beyond, “flash mobs” in department stores, the Navy captain providing pornographic movies to his crew, an $800,000 weekend meeting of the General Service Administration, an agency that is supposed to shepherd our financial resources, violation of corpses in Afghanistan, etc., etc., etc. None of these problems are new; none of them particularly original for this period. What is different is that these very discouraging modes of operation are more easily tolerated than was ever the case in the past. Most of us are saddened by it, most of us regret these activities but most of us feel that there is little that we can do about it. Is that the case?

Our culture, if you can call it that, is the first one in human history that has denied itself the right to pass on responsibility to the next generation its own set of values.

Not only does that lack of religious values add to the criminal activity I mentioned above, but it is one of the underlying causes of so many other agonizing human problems from which we are suffering in this country. Shattered marriages, all too many immature, irresponsible adults, alcoholism and drug addiction, lack of commitment to education and a host of other tragic let downs that mark our society, our families and our individual lives.

Why not try something new? Religious formation. Some of the churches have sizable school systems and most churches have Sunday school, but they tend to concentrate on the religious teachings of that particular church. The U.S. Supreme Court continues to feel that any religious formation in the public school system is a violation of the Constitution. What a tragic mistake.

Not only are the American people blocked from using its enormous educational system from transferring moral values in any realistic way, but the court has actually worked against outside groups, such as churches and synagogues to reach its students. Several decades ago, serious efforts were made in areas such as “released time” and other efforts to provide religious instruction to public school students, but it was always rejected by the Court. The vast majority of American people hold that religious values are extraordinarily important and they ought to be imported to each new generation as effectively as possible. Can anybody imagine teaching math and science one hour a week after school? If only half our students attended those voluntary classes, can you imagine the destructive effects on their education? Well, that is what we are doing with religious values and we are paying for it.

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As we go through life observing the world around us, we see many things that are destructive. Dams break and flood valleys. Cancer attacks our vital organs and calls us early to Judgment. Speeding automobiles spew out death, especially on long holiday weekends. Pain and suffering are all around us. However, none of these terrible things can generate the pain, the suffering, and the destruction as does human hatred- this frequently present aberration in the human psyche where one person or a group of persons or an entire nation develops tremendous dislike, antipathy and hatred for other persons or groups.

Psychiatrists have studied for years trying to figure this sad reality out but it is all really fairly simple. Most of us are uncomfortable with people or things that are different and when we are confronted by those differences we sometimes seem to react with fear. Since we can’t admit to ourselves that we are frightened, then sometimes we kick in another response which is hatred.

Would that all too vigilant, self-appointed night watchman have shot that young black teenager on his way home from the convenience store if he did not already have hatred in his heart for people who are different? I don’t know but God does. The American officer who shot men, women and children in that Afghan village – could it have possibly have happened at home in his own neighborhood? I doubt it. I am not judging the poor man. That is God’s chore. However, I do think that an enormous amount of damage is generated day-by-day, year in and year out, by people who allow hatred to develop in their hearts for different groups of people.

We are called to be loving people. We are called to respond to God’s love and we respond to God’s love best by manifesting it ourselves in our dealings with those around us. Let’s pray today that we can continue the never-ending task of lessening hatred within our ranks.

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Two weeks back, I was startled to read an article in America magazine by a very well known and successful female Catholic scholar, writer and psychologist who admits that as she ages her fear of dying increases. She experiences surges of anxiety and finds them very dispiriting. She is a woman of deep faith but that does not remove the fear.

I think that most of us can agree that we share a less than enthusiastic reaction to our approaching death (and let’s remember, death is approaching for every single one of us!) She was not talking about the vast number of deaths that are simply hideous and the horror, dreadfulness and the desolation that so many human beings suffer as victims of disease, accidents, natural disasters, war and cruel torture. Her fear of death even applies to those situations where the person is surrounded by loved ones and relatively comfortable. She speaks of the desolation and agony of a disintegrating self, an intense sadness arising over giving up one’s part of the ongoing drama of daily life.

I was very saddened by the article. I believe it is perfectly normal to fear the process of dying but not the fact of being dead. We are created for eternal life. We have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. In death, our faith tells us we enter into an unimaginable, extraordinary existence of joy forever. The wonders that are beyond the door to eternal life are worth infinitely more than any burdens we have carried in this life.

The oft repeated cliché is, “the only thing in life about which we can be absolutely, totally certain is the fact of our death.” That statement is true and it challenges us to prepare for our death a little more realistically.

Onward through that door!

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We all remember that on the night before His passion, Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father that His followers would be united. That they would be one with Him, and through Him, would be united to the Father.
That has always been the goal of Christianity, but it is a goal not yet achieved.

Recently, I have been stressing the major theological truths underlying basic Christianity. They are more complex than can be possibly described in a few paragraphs, but never the less, I tried. My points were:

God Himself, the Creator of all that is.
Humanity, endowed with an immortal soul
Sin- the abuse of the gift of freedom
And finally, Jesus, and redemption.

While we regret existing disunity in the followers of Jesus, we should take some very real consolation in the fact that virtually all Christians hold to these same truths. Where, then, is the difference? That difference is to be found in the unfolding story of Jesus and His redemptive acts. Those differences flow from the way the followers of Jesus have tried to live out their lives and their faith in keeping with His teachings. Those differences have developed within the Christian story, and have rent the unity of the followers of Jesus.

Tomorrow we will look at the two major divisions among the followers of Jesus. Stay tuned.

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I don’t know who does the census counting but whoever it is sure seems to have a lot of confidence in their abilities. Last week, there was general agreement that we would pass the seven billion mark here at the beginning of November. Some of the counters were even saying where that seventh billion person would be born and on what day. Wow! That person must be a mathematical genius!

Human beings are amazingly diverse, divided as we are in different groups by race, ethnicity, economics, personalities, ethnic traits, productivity, etc., etc. The one overpowering unifier of commonality that marks the vast majority of the human population is belief in God. Church attendance has fallen off in Europe and North America but that does not mean that the same people do not have at least a vague belief in the existence of a Supreme Being who is the cause of all existence and even when we sleep in on Sunday mornings we are conscious of the presence of that being. We are conscious of God.

Belief in God is almost universal today and it has been throughout human history. People do not develop this belief by going to schools of theology or reading impressive religious books or by listening to an occasional homily. This universal belief in God exists because the human brain cannot accept the idea of something just happening, just being without being caused. As modern technology gives us an even greater increase in knowledge about the created universe/universes that are out there, the instinctive reasons for demanding a cause simply grows stronger. Greek philosophers called that “the uncaused cause.” We call it God.

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From the United States, through Europe and over to the Pacific rim there has been a tremendous amount of nervousness and fear over economic developments that are unfolding. Our own country has seen its fiscal stability downgraded for the first time in history, several countries in Europe are in desperate financial straits and the other countries are finding ways to help them through the crises. And, of course, in this one world economy through which we are working, events in North America and Europe have some powerful affect in Asia as well.

Hopefully, our leaders can help us work our way through these issues. We, who are by nature bystanders observing the economic wheels churning away, day-by-day, can certainly pray that we don’t blindly walk into a world-wide crisis. We have the technical competence to do wonderful things in terms of production. Now we have to be sure that the production processes are tied in with our systems of distribution that are just and fair.

Let’s all hope and PRAY that we will get through this nerve wracking period as quickly as possible and come out on the far side with strong economies serving the human family across the planet.

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In a couple posts now, I have referred to an organization that gives me so much hope and courage.  It is called CURE, an acronym coming from Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants. CURE was started by Charles and Pauline Sullivan in Austin, Texas and, without structural support or any financial support whatsoever, carried forward by their own generosity and dedication, they put together a state-wide organization in Texas to lessen unnecessary burdens that are so often placed upon those incarcerated as society forgets that the punishment is the loss of freedom and the state does not have to add beyond that.

At first CURE tried to make it possible for low-income families to visit their loved ones who were incarcerated.  The Texas Department of Corrections does not take into consideration family location when assigning prisoners to one or another of the prison units.  Then this brave couple went after an evil part of the Texas system called “prison tenders.”  That was a system where the guards picked out the toughest, meanest person in a particular section of the unit and put them in charge of the other prisoners.  You can imagine the enforcement system that is in place here while the guards could stay safely outside of the risk area.  CURE went to fight the battle in the state legislature and ultimately succeeded in outlawing “prison tenders”, a wonderful break for weaker prisoners.

Finally, CURE was beginning to go so well and the Sullivans were getting inquiries from other states that they moved to Washington, DC to establish National CURE.  As I had always been an advisor to Charlie, I explained to him that it was going to be extraordinarily more difficult than establishing Texas CURE and gently discouraged him from an unnecessary failure.

Today, there are about 45 state CUREs scattered around the country.  What next?  On to worldwide CURE?  Stay tuned.

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