Biden - not transformative, but not doing too badly

While I'm too tired this late at night to pepper this post with facts and links in support of this assertion, let me go ahead and make it, and then you all can support it or rip it to shreds as you wish.

Here it is: the Biden administration initially had hopes that his presidency would prove to be transformative.  For the most part, that hasn't panned out.  Part of that is because it is difficult to pass major legislation without decisive majorities in both houses of Congress.  In part it is because inflation unexpectedly roared back from the dead; Americans tend to blame presidents for inflation, even though it's largely outside the president's control.  Frankly, part of it is that Biden doesn't come across as an inspiring leader: he's not especially articulate, and he makes his share (or more than his share) of verbal gaffes.  

But in my conservative opinion, Biden is proving to be surprisingly effective as a president.  COVID no longer is a major concern among Americans; he got a major infrastructure bill passed with some bipartisan support; and he managed to get a stripped-down version of Build Back Better (the badly-misnamed Inflation Reduction Act) passed.

He was getting credit earlier today for helping to defuse a railroad strike that could have dealt the country a painful economic blow.    

In foreign policy, his administration badly bungled the Afghanistan withdrawal, but in my view, his handling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has much more than made up for the Afghanistan debacle.  He seems to have NATO on a more unified and determined footing than we've seen in years.  

What do you think: is President Biden a good enough president for this moment?

A random spiritual thought

This occurred to me today while I was doing my Morning Prayer.  Today is an important feast day in the church, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Honoring the Cross is not something which comes naturally to most of us, or at least not to me.  So it's possible that the following train of thought was engendered by my trying to come to grips with the meaning of the Cross.  Whatever its genesis, here it is:

If God we believe God is merciful, then we shouldn't worry about the fate after death of those who don't know him - those who haven't really "received" the Good News.

Now - there is a strand of Christian spirituality (and I think it's a common one) which says that the whole point of the Christianity exercise is to prepare us for what comes after we die.  If we adhere to that spirituality, then it would seem a kindness not to proclaim the Good News to those who haven't yet received it.  After all, God will treat them mercifully after death, which presumably means that they won't be cast into the unquenchable flames.  What's more, we know that all persons have innate goodness, because all of them are created by God.  That innate goodness should serve to bolster the hope that God will treat them mercifully in their ignorance about him.

I think the corrective to that strand of Christian spirituality is that God wants his human creatures to get to know him, not only in the next life, but in this life as well.  We are tasked with proclaiming the Good News so that people can get to know God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, both now and in the future.

But what is the inducement to get to know God in this life, if God is a warden, keeping track of each of our misdeeds in his book, so as to have a balance sheet for each of us which will determine our fate after death?  Isn't getting to know that God a sentence to a lifetime of blind obedience and fear?

To that question, we must answer No: That is not how we should understand God.  In my view, the key to thinking rightly about this is to encounter God - especially Jesus - in a personal and spiritual way in this life.  When we really get to know Jesus - not just know about him, but know him through personal encounter - we appreciate that his relationship with us is a relationship of love, and a source of joy in our lives.  And then, when we are able to welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we experience that the Holy Spirit gives us gifts which help us in our lives in this world.  And then we learn that it is right and fitting to offer God the Father thanks and praise for all he has done for us.

In short: the 'antidote' to a spirituality of blind obedience and fear, is to encounter God in this life, and thus experience the love and joy of knowing him.

Thoughts?  

Severing the connection with the family, and then being forgiven

This is my homily (or at least close to what I preached) for today, the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.  The readings for today are here.

Just to add a comment: I think the parable of the Prodigal Son is my favorite story in the New Testament.  Among the deacon couples with whom we went through formation, there is a lot of love for the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  I love that story, too, but this parable is even better.  

Oh, one more comment: in the homily text, I use the word "prodigal" in a loose fashion.  "Prodigal" means "extravagantly wasteful".  It's unfortunate that the common name for this parable is (if understood literally) "The extravagantly wasteful son".  That phrase is true, but as I try to explain in the homily, his wastefulness is hardly the key idea of what he did wrong.  I don't think one person in a hundred, at least in our congregation, knows the dictionary definition of "prodigal", so I use it in the sense that I think most of us understand it. 

Feast of the Nativity of Mary

This is a statue I  like, in one of the side chapels of our parish church.  It is a representation of the child Mary and her mom, St. Ann.

Spirituality and Theology

Back in the recent thread What are you reading these days? we had an extensive discussion of books on spirituality in the course of which Jean asked:

So is that the accepted distinction between spirituality and theology? How religion is lived v official dogma? Just asking bc I don't know. It seems to be imp to people here.

The fullest best answer of the relationship is given by Gutiérrez in his book on the spirituality of the poor. 

We Drink from Our Own Wells

It was one of the twenty books on my comprehensive exam for a M.A.in spirituality from Notre Dame so I have an extensive outline with quotes.  It is certainly on my top ten list of any book to read. I think that his understanding of spirituality is more important than liberation theology, but that is probably the prejudice of a someone trained in psychology and sociology. He understands the complex intertwining of persons, institutions and cultures.  Although this book does not treat synodality it is probably the best way to begin to understand the Latin American experience which has shaped both Gutiérrez and Francis.

This will be the first of three posts, In the second I will look more extensively in how he relates spirituality to discipleship, and in the third how he relates it to community. Italics are my comments. I had him for a week-long course at Notre Dame. It was more like a retreat.  When he talked about the Magisterium he was referring to the teaching documents of the Latin American bishops. Francis has adopted the practice of quoting the teaching documents of bishop's conferences as well as those of popes. 

Sad News About Jim McCrea (Jimmy Mac)

Those of us who took part in Jim McCrea's e-mail forum received the following very sad message today. Jim posted on the Commonweal blog and later here on NewGathering under the name Jimmy Mac. To those of us who shared Jim's interests and concerns about the Catholic Church—particularly how it affects the lives of members of the LGBT community—the information Jim shared (and his own voice) were very valuable. This is a real loss. 

Dear Good Friends of Jim McCrea, 

This is Gregory Jurin, husband of Jim.  Jim as been ill the past 3 weeks and hospitalized.  It is in grief and prayer that I am writing to let you know that Jim passed away last Thursday, September 1st after a six month battle with kidney and lung cancer one month short of his 82nd birthday.

 

Jim's decline was so sudden that his passing caught all but God unaware.

 

There was a special intention Sunday Mass at St. John of God Church in San Francisco yesterday. It was rewarding and comforting to honor him among friends. There will be funerals celebrating Jim's life both in Oakland, California, possibly near the end of September, and in Cuba City, Wisconsin, his hometown, perhaps in early October.   I will let you know as plans are in place.

 

Jim was passionate about many things, certainly about the Church and society, but nothing more than about the friends of his long life. He nurtured and cherished each friendship, often over decades.

 

Thank you for enriching Jim's life with yours.  Thank you for your prayers - past, now, and future. 

 

You may forward this e-mail to people that would like to know about Jim's passing.

 

In Christ's love,

 

Gregory Jurin

1311 Grand Avenue

Piedmont, CA 94610-1019

My cell: 510-410-3181

gregjurin@aol.com

Family values

Jesus doesn't make an idol of family life.  He has more important things to proclaim.