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‘Proper education in the faith is crucial’

Posted on by Fr. James Dodson

Have you ever spent time considering the difference between knowing about something and knowing the thing itself?

Herein lies a big difference, and one’s appreciation for and understanding of that difference makes all the difference in one’s interaction with the thing in question. It is the difference between saying, “I bought this car because I know a lot about it” and “Since I’ve owned it for so long and driven many miles in it, I really know my car.”

It is precisely from one’s firsthand experience of and interaction with the object in a variety of circumstances that familiarity with it develops. Knowledge of the information in the driver’s manual, even with superabundant reflection on it, will never get one from where one is currently to where one needs to be, although it is essential for the proper operation of and safety in the vehicle.

Rather, it is only when “the rubber meets the road” and one begins driving that one’s knowledge about the car gives way to one’s specific familiarity with it, as it operates both ideally and clunkily as circumstances arise, bringing one from the current location to the final destination.

Seminarians love to study theology, articulate fine points, make distinctions, and have discussions (and oftentimes arguments) about such topics as sacred scripture, the sacraments, ecclesiology (the study of the essence and nature of the Church), eschatology (the study of end times and the Four Last Things — death, judgement, heaven, and hell); soteriology (the study of salvation); and Mariology (the study of Our Lady). When taking ownership of the new car, the manual is fascinating because it relates to the excitement of interacting with the object. Yet over time, the manual loses its initial appeal, while always maintaining its inherent worth and purpose. In other words, all of a seminarian’s theological studies about God, are always at the service of coming to know God.

When I was in the seminary, Eucharistic Adoration was, and is, the opportunity simply to be in our blessed Lord’s holy and divine presence – a foretaste of heaven. To just be in His majestic presence and bask in the glory of Him who was, and is, and is to come. In these moments, fascination stemming from knowledge in the manual gives way to loving the one who owns the car, is in the driver’s seat, and is navigating His passengers safely to the next destination.

Considering this, we acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God (“in Him”), the Good Shepherd (“with Him”), and the gate for the sheep (“through Him”), and make this connection to what we hear the priest chant during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is, in a particular sense, theology (“words about God”) made incarnate. Just as education in the faith is geared toward proper catechetical instruction and evangelization, so theology, as interesting and important as it is, is not in itself the final goal, but serves coming to know and love Him in whom all education and theological knowledge finds its culmination and fulfillment, namely Jesus Christ.

As it is for every seminarian studying theology, so it must be for each person desiring to grow in intimacy and love of the Lord. Do you go to Holy Mass each Sunday out of obligation?  Weekly attendance at Holy Mass is required for every Catholic, yet that is merely the observation of what is explained in, and expected from, the manual.

Here it is important to recall the savior’s words that “not everyone who says to [Him] ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of [His] Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21).

And the Father’s will is that “everyone who sees the son and believes in Him may have eternal life. …” (Jn 6:40). It is insufficient, therefore, merely to go through the motions or have theological knowledge. Or, considered another way: “If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-2).

None of us can love properly or fully without Jesus Christ, for He is love incarnate, and “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). An understanding about God’s command may indeed move one from the living room recliner to the church pew, but will it necessarily move the soul from the things of this world specifically to Him who is eternal?  And not just for an instant, but setting the soul on its constant trajectory toward Him and moving down the path “through Him, with Him, and in Him” who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6). Go to Holy Mass, neither out of obligation nor routine, but in response to the call from Him who loves you and desires to draw you into ever greater intimacy with himself. Go out of sacrificial love for Him who has loved you first and calls you to himself in love.

It is critical for every Catholic to know the faith – what Christ teaches in and through His one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church: her precepts; the catechism; the commandments; and the Beatitudes.  And yet with all of that knowledge of God, which is good, true, and beautiful, we recall St. Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians: “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:1-2). In other words, prefer nothing and no one to Jesus Christ, for “where your heart is, there will your treasure be” (Mt 6:21). So, take an inventory of your heart and be brutally honest with yourself with what you find there.

On my deathbed, I will not be trying to wrap my head around understanding the truth of this theological claim: “Jesus Christ is the ontologically abundant solution to the soteriological problem.” Rather, after a lifetime of prayer, study, and meditation, I hope simply to know and love Him, whom I have tried to serve as a steward educated in the mysteries of faith. Education is important, and proper education in the faith is crucial so that every person may ‘know, love, and serve Almighty God in this life, and be with Him forever in the life to come” – to His praise and glory and the salvation of souls.

—Father James Dodson is vocation director for the Diocese of Burlington.

—Originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

 

 

Annual Priests’ Benefit Fund Collection

Posted on by Vermont Catholic

“If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest.”

— St. John Vianney

The annual Priests’ Benefit Fund Collection will take place in the Diocese of Burlington at Masses on the weekend of Oct. 14-15.

For more information, contact the Priests’ Benefit Fund Office at 802-658-6110 ext. 1216

—Published in the Oct. 7-13, 2023, edition of The Inland See.

Blessing of the Animals

Posted on by Submitted Article

A Blessing of the Animals took place Oct. 4 at Christ the King School in Burlington.

The school celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with a special blessing of pets on the upper playground.  School families brought their pets or something that represents their pets such as a photograph, drawing, or toy.

Christ the King/St. Anthony pastor Father Justin Baker offered the blessings.

St. Francis of Assisi was a 12th century Italian Catholic friar and preacher known for his love of animals, generosity to the poor, and willingness to minister to those on the outskirts of society. Today he is closely associated with protecting the environment.

 

Movie review: “The Creator”

Posted on by Our Sunday Visitor

Science fiction is often used as an allegorical vessel within which to explore real-life current events, and such is the case with “The Creator” (20th Century). Although primarily set in the year 2070, this thinking person’s war drama takes for its main topic the very timely subject of artificial intelligence.

While present-day concerns center on AI’s potential to turn on its designers and displace human control of the world, within director and co-writer Gareth Edwards’ film, machines would seem to have more to worry about than those they were manufactured to serve. In fact, a global conflict is raging over an American-led effort to eliminate all automatons.

This crusade comes in the wake of a disaster that the U.S. blames on A.I. As a result of it, America and the West have banned the technology but the fictitious enemy nation of New Asia has not.

Formerly caught up in the struggle, as the opening sequence shows us, retired special forces agent Sgt. Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) was traumatized by it and has left it behind.

So at least he thinks until he’s visited by a duo of high-ranking officers, Gen. Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Col. Howell (Allison Janney), intent on enticing him back onto active duty.

As a lure, they show the widower footage that seems to establish that his wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), whom he has long believed to be dead and for whom he still grieves, is, in fact, alive and living in New Asia. With the prospect of reuniting with Maya before him, Joshua agrees to get back in the fight.

He’s assigned to destroy the pro-AI side’s most potent weapon, which is in the last stages of development. Eventually, however, Joshua’s intensifying bond with Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), a childlike robot he encounters during his mission, has him questioning his nation’s ultimate goal of destroying not only her but every being like her.

Joshua’s saga is visually expansive but thematically shaky. As penned with Chris Weitz, the script raises issues that will be more troubling to viewers with a secular outlook than to Christian believers. Are humans the gods of A.I.? Can A.I. advance to the point where the machines endowed with it must be treated with the dignity traditionally accorded to people?

Since no mechanical object, however brainy, can be said to have a human soul or the immortal destiny that comes with it, these questions are easily answered from a biblical perspective. As the screenplay admits, cuddly Alphie, for all her endearing ways, is not headed to heaven if she’s switched off by her enemies.

Although these topics are more dabbled with than deeply delved into, grown-ups – for whom alone the picture’s vulgarity-laden dialogue is acceptable – will nonetheless likely appreciate Washington’s hard-driving performance. Moviegoers of all persuasions, moreover, can probably agree with Edwards’ peaceable agenda.

The film contains much stylized combat violence with minimal gore, a scene of marital sensuality, a few uses of profanity, about a half-dozen milder oaths, at least one rough term and pervasive crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

— John Mulderig, OSV News

Communications update

Posted on by Holly Thayer

Coffee with Vermont Catholics 

Coffee with Archbishop Coyne launched in 2021 and featured Archbishop Christopher Coyne and Alayna Masker discussing current events, programs, and topics related to the Catholic Church in Vermont. Last November Denise Watson took over the co-host position. When Archbishop Coyne’s farewell episode publishes on Oct. 4, there will have been 90 episodes of the weekly series, with topics ranging from Archbishop Coyne’s priestly experience, liturgical seasons, the challenges for the Church in Vermont, the synod, lay formation and youth education programs, Catholic schools, and the archbishop’s cooking and garden.

With a new name, Coffee with Vermont Catholics will feature Watson with a special guest each week to discuss programs, project, or topics related to the Catholic Church. ” I am getting more and more excited for the opportunity to launch Coffee with Vermont Catholics and have conversations with Catholics all across the state, to hear about their passion for their work and the vibrant activities and programs in our parishes, schools, and local communities” Watson said.

Coffee with Vermont Catholics episodes will premiere every Wednesday, beginning Oct. 11 at 9 a.m. on the Diocese of Burlington’s Facebook page as well as on the diocesan website, vermontcatholic.org. First guests will include Msgr. John McDermott to discuss his role of diocesan administrator after the archbishop’s departure to the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut; Deacon Gerry Scilla to discuss his prison ministry work with Vermont Catholic Charities; and Father Luke Austin to discuss his work as judicial vicar of the diocesan tribunal.

Do you have a suggestion of a topic or guest to feature on Coffee with Vermont Catholics? Email suggestions to coffeewithvtcatholics@vermontcatholic.org.

—Originally published in the Fall 2023 edition of Vermont Catholic magazine.

 

Healing addiction requires faith, science and a pastoral commitment to love, say experts

Posted on by Our Sunday Visitor

Faith, science and compassionate pastoral outreach can help address the crisis of addiction, said experts at a recent panel discussion.

The McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame teamed up with the nonprofit Catholic in Recovery to present a Sept. 27 webinar on “Addiction and Recovery: Accompaniment Toward Wholeness and Healing,” part of the institute’s “Conversations That Matter” series.

Presenters included Father Sean Kilcawley, director of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska’s Freedom from Pornography apostolate and a national speaker on the theology of the body; Dr. Amy Ricke, a board-certified psychiatrist in Indianapolis specializing in mood, anxiety and substance use disorders as well as developmental trauma; and marriage and family therapist Scott Weeman, founder of Catholic in Recovery.

Moderating the discussion was Beth Hlabse, a mental health counselor and program director of the institute’s Fiat Program on Faith and Mental Health.

Ricke began by pointing to the nation’s “staggering” statistics on current levels of addiction.

In 2021, more than 46.3 million individuals in the U.S. had a substance abuse disorder, with alcohol abuse (29.5 million) topping the list, followed by drug abuse (24 million) and combined alcohol and drug abuse (7.3 million), according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Addiction disproportionately affects American Indian and Alaska Native populations (27.6 percent), with Black (17.2 percent) and white (17 percent) groups about equally impacted, Hispanics slightly less (15.7 percent) and Asian groups least (8 percent).

Those numbers “(do) not even include people who suffer from behavioral or process addictions, such as compulsive gambling, sex addiction, pornography addiction” and the like, said Ricke.

Only 6.3 percent of those with substance use disorder had received treatment, she said.

In 2021, approximately 107,000 died of drug overdoses in the U.S., according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“It’s important to keep in mind, too, that … at least a third if not more of people that struggle with addiction also have struggled with psychiatric illness, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis,” said Ricke.

Understanding the true nature of addiction is crucial to addressing the issue, said panelists, who stressed that addiction is a disease of the human body, mind and spirit.

As “a treatable chronic brain disease … addiction involves complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, environments and one’s life experiences,” said Ricke.

Drugs and alcohol “can mimic” the brain’s neurotransmitters — such as dopamine, which governs the ability to feel pleasure and motivation — and “hyperstimulate” the brain’s reward center, leading to “a loss of self-control” and a drive to continually use the substance, said Ricke.

“There’s a neuroscience to losing your free will and becoming more compulsive,” said Father Kilcawley. “Addiction actually causes atrophy in the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that’s responsible for moral judgment, logic and reason. And when we’re in an addictive process … our frontal cortex sort of shuts down and it stops functioning the way it’s supposed to function.”

Although addiction has clear biological aspects, “there’s no one gene or one single risk factor that can predict if someone will experience addiction,” said Ricke.

Weeman noted that “a simple biological understanding of addiction misses so much,” and urged pastoral leaders to take “a layered approach” that counters several myths surrounding addiction.

Substance and process abuse disorders do not discriminate, he said, adding that “the beautiful thing is, neither does recovery.”

“We come to an equal playing field when we’re in the room together, desperately needing each other and the Lord, in order to find freedom one day at a time and live life joyfully and with purpose,” he said.

Addiction is also “not a moral referendum on one’s life,” Weeman stressed. “Often it’s just a coping response to circumstances.”

By definition, recovery from addiction requires spiritual assistance, he said.

“No human power can keep us and can relieve us of our addictions,” said Weeman. “We need the help of God.”

At its core, addiction speaks to the longing of the human person for the love of God, said Father Kilcawley.

“To be created in the image of God is to be created for love, out of love, and to be created to be in relationship,” he said. “And one of the simplest kinds of formulations … for an addictive behavior or a lot of times behaviors (is that) … we kind of know that (we) do these things and don’t want to do them (in order) to replace negative emotions with positive sensations. So in other words, when I’m bored, lonely, angry, stressed, tired, feeling unaffirmed, feeling left out, feeling unchosen — when life gets hard, do I turn to the Lord as my refuge or do I turn to a thing?”

From a spiritual perspective, “we’re really just talking about what St. Paul talks about constantly in Scripture, when he (says), ‘You were once slaves and now you’re free.'”

The touch of God’s grace heals body, mind and spirit, he said.

“As we enter into recovery and our brain heals, our reason, our moral judgment, our empathy come back online,” said Father Kilcawley. “And it’s an amazing thing to see.”

Addiction and the isolation that attends it underscore the innate need for community, said the panelists.

“We as individuals and we as a church community can try to show the person that they are more than this addiction,” said Ricke.

“Nobody in Scripture gets healed in secret,” said Father Kilcawley. “Sometimes we want to go to the secret healing priest and get prayed over and be healed and not tell anybody … but there’s nobody in the Gospels that has that experience.”

Removing shame, and providing practical pastoral supports — such as partnerships with 12-step groups and recovery outreaches, social ministries and simple fellowship — can enable parishes to heal the wounds of addiction among their members, he said.

“We all are in need of conversion. We all need to fall in love with our Lord more. And we all need to be transformed,” said Father Kilcawley. “And when we can acknowledge that and then we can provide spaces for people to actually get help, like that’s where something really beautiful can happen.”

—Gina Christian, OSV News