The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Faith

If It Be Dark

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If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,

Winter will have another flight;

But if it be dark with clouds and rain,

Winter is gone, and will not come again.

One of my favorite days of the year, Feburary 2nd is a cross-quarter day, falling between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It brings the hope of renewal, the coming of light. Catholics celebrate it as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In our tradition, candles are blessed and distributed. In some cultures it also marks the end of Christmastime.

In Celtic tradition, it is Imbolc, the feast of the lactating ewes – again, a celebration of hope for Spring to come.

…and of course it was the Germans settling in Pennsylvania who brought the tradition of Groundhog Day to the United States.

Garrison Keillor offered a succinct history on The Writer’s Almanac a few years back.

It is cloudy and foggy here in East-Central Illinois this morning. Dare we hope that Winter is gone?

UPDATE: Bright sunshine here now…

The Coming of the Bride

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Today we celebrate St. Bridget of Kildare, “Mary of the Gael.”

Here’s my weblog entry from four years ago:

Scotsman John Duncan painted this depiction of St. Bridget in 1917. She is the patron of newborns, blacksmiths, milkmaids and poets. Her feast day in the Catholic Church is February 1st, but traditions for “Bridie’s Day” predate Christianity. In Celtic lore, Bridget was the Triple Goddess – poet, smith and healer. She was associated with the Feast of the Lactating Ewes (Imbolc) marking the impending return of Springtime. Bridget is still, to this day, represented by the equal-limbed cross (which symbolized the Sun in the old religions). Candles and hearth are other obvious representations.

Catholic tradition tells us that she had a vision of the Nativity and was mystically transported across space and time to adore the Christ Child.

Whatever your faith or beliefs, this time of year presents an opportunity for renewal – and if ever we could use a fresh start, we could certainly use one now.

Those words still ring true for me.

Today is also, not merely coincidentally, the anniversary of the day that Claudia and I chose for our wedding nine years ago. From the beginning, our marriage has been under Bridget’s patronage. I cannot help but feel blessed to be building a life with my true love, and I am so grateful that she and I found our way to each other. When one considers the seemingly infinite span of possibilities, such occurrences are a wonder.

The Bishops and the Affordable Care Act

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At Mass this past weekend, most Roman Catholics in the United States heard sermons or were read letters from their Bishops railing against a recent decision by the Department of Health and Human Services concerning implementation of health care reform. My own Bishop, Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, said in his letter that President Obama was “being either dishonest or delusional or he is incompetent.” He also referred to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a “pro-abortion Catholic.” This rhetoric was apparently typical, as Bishops across the nation characterized the HHS decision as nothing less than an attack on religious liberty.

It being the (sad) case that a dedication to the facts has been lacking in some similar communications from the Church hierarchy in the past, I felt it necessary to investigate the matter myself. It has been difficult to parse, but here is what I’ve learned.

The controversy centers on which preventive services for women will be mandated for insurance plans under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was passed into law by Congress in 2010. The law gave HHS broad discretion to determine which services would receive required coverage.

In the Summer of 2011, HHS announced rules requiring all new private health plans to cover preventive services such as mammograms, colonoscopies, blood pressure checks, and childhood immunizations without charging a copayment, deductible or coinsurance. In the Interim Rule announced by HHS in August of 2011, “FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling” was added to the list of required preventive services. “Religious institutions” were given an exemption from the requirement.

“The administration also released an amendment to the prevention regulation that allows religious institutions that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraception services. This regulation is modeled on the most common accommodation for churches available in the majority of the 28 states that already require insurance companies to cover contraception.”

– HHS Press Release, August 1st, 2011

So churches would be exempt from the provision, and could legally exclude such services from their employee health plans.

The problem, as I understand it, is that the exemption does not apply to organizations such as hospitals, schools, universities and charitable groups that are affiliated with churches, but only to the churches themselves. The Bishops and other religious groups were in conversation with the Obama Administration during the period of comment for the rules, advocating for a broader exemption. On January 20th, Secretary Sebelius announced that the final rule will allow the affiliated institutions an additional year (until August 1st, 2013) to comply with the law, but will not exempt them from the provision.

Whether this constitutes an attack on religious liberty (or violates First Amendment protections) I do not know. I’m still trying to understand the implications more clearly, and would welcome pointers to more information, commentary and discussions. Clearly at issue is the tension between the rights of faith-based institutions to practice and defend their beliefs, and the rights of individuals and our society to be free from imposition of those beliefs.

I’ll be posting more here as I give the matter additional study and prayerful consideration.

A Few Links

Conscience Protection (USCCB)

Bishop Paprocki’s Letter

E.J. Dionne’s Analysis (RealClearPolitics, 24 November 2011)

CBS New Coverage of the Bishops’ Letters

HHS News Release August 2011

HHS News Release January 2012

Obama’s Catholic Problem

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Obama’s Catholic Friends and Enemies. [RealClearPolitics] – Any time the Obama administration touches issues related to the Roman Catholic Church, it seems to get itself caught in a rhetorical and moral crossfire that leaves all involved wounded and angry. This is what’s happening in the battle over how contraception should be covered under the new health care law.

Godspeed, Whoever You Are

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He approached the van with a broad smile on his face while I was waiting to pick my daughter up from school. I’d arrived a few minutes early, and was catching up on some reading. He gestured to me, and I rolled down the window.

He asked me directly “Are you a Christian?”

“Yes I am.”

“Are you reading the Word right now?” His eyes were friendly and soulful.

I smiled back at him. “This afternoon I’m reading politics.”

“But you are a Christian?” It seemed an important question to him.

“Of course.”

He now appeared rather nervous and I began to wonder what kind of conversation this was going to be. He pulled a card out of his pocket and brought it up to my eye level. It was his driver’s license.

“This is me. This is who I am. I’ve got money too. I can show you. I’ve got to get to Chicago and I need eight more dollars for my fare.”

I considered, for a moment. I knew that I had a five dollar bill and a few singles in my wallet. Before I could discern, he volunteered more information. “I don’t drink or anything.” For some reason, I believed him, though it really didn’t matter.

We seldom see people asking for money on the street in our small town. When we’re visiting the city, if someone is panhandling I almost always give them a few bucks (if I can spare it and unless it seems unsafe to do so). Although friends have occasionally derided me for “supporting someone’s bad habits,” my response has been that it’s not up to me to take on that particular burden of judgment. Let God sort it out.

The man seemed dressed for the weather, clean and not shabby. He told me that he’d had a good job providing transportation to senior citizens until state funding was cut, and then he had lived with his mother until her house was foreclosed. How he ended up here, or what was waiting for him in Chicago, I didn’t ask. By that point I was already handing him the five and three ones.

“This’ll get you there?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you. I’ll worry about finding something to eat later.”

I wished him good luck as he started to walk away, and then, struggling for a cheery admonition, added “I’m trusting you.” As soon as the words crossed my lips I regretted them.

He stopped, looking crestfallen, almost as if he was going to give the money back. “I wouldn’t lie to you. I’ll be on that train at 6 o’clock.” With that, he was on the move again, and I noticed for the first time that he was carrying a backpack.

I called out “God bless you,” as an afterthought.

By the time he had turned the corner I wished that I had done more. His comment about finding something to eat stuck with me. I had eight more singles in my wallet. I could have at least given him enough for a sandwich. I realized that I hadn’t done it because his comment had sounded like a slick panhandler’s line. I had judged the man, and shown him disrespect. I guess I was willing to “let God sort it out” when it came to a couple bucks, but when it approached the princely sum of ten, I didn’t want to be taken for a sucker.

The guilt that I felt at that moment was terrible. I recalled the words of Jesus, and they shamed me. “I was hungry, and you fed me not.”

There were still a few minutes before the kids were dismissed, so I got out of the van and started walking, hoping to find him. I saw someone walking from the nearby grocery store with what looked like a six pack of beer and (still yielding to judgment and suspicion) at first thought it might be him, but then realized by the hat and lack of backpack that it wasn’t. I went into the church to see if he was there waiting in the warmth until time for the train. The church was empty, and now it was time to go collect my daughter.

Back in the van and headed for home, my conscience was still bothering me. I told my daughter “We’re going to take a little detour.” I figured I would drive the five or six blocks to the train station in case he might be there, and then circle back toward the school on our way home in case he was still walking somewhere in between. I was almost desperate in the quest to find him and make amends for what I had said and for what I had failed to do.

To my delight, as we rounded the corner near the depot, I spotted him approaching it from the other direction. I pulled to the curb and rolled down the window. He recognized the van and walked over to us, smiling just as he had earlier.

“Hey, man – I should have given you some money for a sandwich. This is all I’ve got with me, but it ought to at least get you one meal.”

He nodded and grinned warmly. “Thanks. I think they’ve got hot dogs and stuff on the train.”

We shook hands through the open window, and suddenly he looked a little embarrassed. “You could tell that I’m homeless?”

I didn’t really know how to respond, but as we released our handshake I said “The depot is open and it ought to be warm in there until your train comes.”

“Yeah. Thanks again.”

“Good luck in Chicago.”

As we pulled from the curb, my daughter asked “Was that a homeless man?”

###

As many as 3.5 million people in America experience homelessness in each year, with nearly three-quarters of a million homeless at any given time. The main cause of homelessness continues to be the lack of affordable housing. We can help by volunteering at local shelters, by contributing to organizations like Catholic Charities, by offering our prayers, and (perhaps most importantly of all) by showing our respect for the human dignity of homeless people we encounter.

I don’t know the name of the man I met today, and I will probably never know how his story turns out. I wish him godspeed on his journey, and good luck in the big city. He gave me much more than I gave him.

The Final Judgment

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At Mass on this, The Feast of Christ the King, we were reminded once again of the standard by which Christians are to be judged.

Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:

Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee? And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.

Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.

And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

From the Gospel According to St. Matthew, Chapter 25, Verses 34-46 (Douay-Rheims Version)

Daily Readings, Order of Mass and Divine Office for Kindle

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My wife gave me a Kindle on my birthday back in September, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the device. It’s very nearly the perfect thing for someone who spends a lot of time reading, and I find that I make more time to read as I have more content at hand on the device. I grab it as I’m walking out the door to go just about anywhere, and can usually steal a few moments away to read something of value while waiting in the van to pick up my daughter from school or such.

Of course, one of the first things that I looked for was a Kindle version of the Bible, which was relatively easy to find, but I also wanted to get the daily readings of the Catholic liturgical calendar on to the device. If I don’t make time for any other study or prayer during the day, I can almost always at least make it through those. Surprisingly, although the readings are online in several spots, it was a bit of a hunt finding them formatted for Kindle or other ebook reader.

Fortunately I eventually found Universalis, a site that offers not only the daily readings at Mass, but also the Liturgy of the Hours and the Order of Mass. All of these are available on the Web, for mobile devices or in a downloadable version. They can also be exported to any of the major ebook formats.

As we approach the end of Ordinary Time and the beginning of Advent, the revised Order of Mass for the English speaking world will take effect. For those of us who were born (or who converted to Catholicism) after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council were implemented, some of the phrases we’re leaving behind are all that we’ve ever known. Having the new Order at the ready on my Kindle is really nice, though I’ll probably still slip up and say “and also with you” for a long time yet. I also had to assure my mother-in-law that I was, indeed, reading the Scriptures after she caught me with the Kindle at Mass last Saturday night.

I’ve not yet made it through an entire day praying the Divine Office, but having all of the prayers handy for each day has made it easier to explore this beautiful devotion – and I do aspire to one day adopt the habit of praying the Hours each day.

The online resource at Universalis is entirely free of charge. If you’re interested in the software download or smartphone apps, the full featured free trial version lasts for one month, after that it reverts to a simple calendar version unless you purchase a registration code for a (one-time nominal) fee.

You can click the banner below for more information, including today’s propers.


Universalis