Terms of Endearment, pt. II

In a recent item decrying the vacuous advocacy of sexual license, the writer chose to tar the subject of his ire with the epithet ‘Slut’. I found it a bit shocking, especially since I know that the writer was capable of making his case without derogatory commentary. Such language, I feel, belittles the target and is a reduction of their humanity. Even if the detraction is warranted, using such slurs only diminishes the moral weight of the argument.

As I have in the past, with writers utilizing ‘rump ranger’, ‘butt pirate’ and ‘faggot’, I decided to gently nudge the writer in the ribs about his choice of words. This is what I got in return:

You know what? I tend to think that the Lord who called his enemies, "you brood of vipers" would understand my use of the word "slut".

That may well be, let’s look at the specific episode invoked:

Matt 12:34-

33"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35" The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
36"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
37"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Sounds like the Gospel can cut both ways. In every instance in which Jesus spoke on such a manner to His audience, the objects of his ire were the self-righteous who spent their time passing judgment on other sinners.

While we should be zealous in proclaiming the Truth, and denouncing that which is evil, we’d be better to leave the derogatory remarks to Fred Phelps and his friends down in Kansas.

Detraction (a timely reminder)

Crossed the Tiber has a great and timely reminder on the sin of Detraction.

With everything on the news and blogs lately, it becomes easy to participate in the sin of Detraction without giving it much thought. I am ashamed to admit that this is one area of sin that continues to trip me up. As Christians, we overcome the "big sins" easily but these so called" little sins" seem to go unnoticed and at times are not so little. I think gossip becomes a sin that is justified by many Christians because we "share" information about another with the intention of "praying for them." This may be worse since it is using spirituosity to mask our sin! Yes , I have done this as a "concerned brother in the Lord."

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. It's contagious, it's affirming (in a twisted way) to denounce our adversaries. If were to silence all Detraction, and it's next-door neighbor, Calumny, the world would be a much quieter place. For example, this week, John Kerry felt entitled to fling some calumny/detraction towards the President, only it ended up hitting the military instead. The ensuing ruckus of calumny and detraction, in response to Kerry's comments, was similarly untoward. Myself included. C'est la guerre.

Tolerance &ne Mercy

"Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore and do penance."

In a recent e-mail, an old friend of mine stated that tolerance IS mercy. I think otherwise, and wrote the following to him:

As for mercy and tolerance, I would posit this: There are times when mercy requires intolerance. Look at the world today, and look at the conditions that we tolerate. We tolerate Arab militias to rape, murder, and pillage in the Sudan. We tolerate Maoist repression of Christians in China. We tolerate the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We tolerate the in utero eradication of our future. Sure, we throw fund-raisers, put ads on the tele, wag our fingers at our politicians and the U.N., but nothing changes. The status quo is tolerated.

2000 years ago, when fallen Man was in direst need, God changed the status quo. Sin, and it's dominance over Man, could no longer be tolerated, which is why He sent His Son. Jesus did not tolerate sin, and exhorted us to be perfect. Not just be good, but be perfect, as God is perfect. Jesus told all He came into contact with to sin no more. Some listened, like the adultress, Zaccheus, and Nicodemus. Others could not bear His admonishments, like the wealthy man who could not give it away, and the Pharisees.

It is not merciful to tolerate slavery. Would you agree? Merton did not think that tolerating segregation was merciful. Jesus did not think that letting someone persist in sin was merciful either.

Discrimination (as in perception of difference) is vital to our ability to see need in others and to give of ourselves to fill those needs. If I see someone panhandling on the street, this discrimination comes into play. I know I am well fed, and I can tell that he is not, and that his need requires something from my bounty. If I am oblivious to all differences, I cannot know his need, and I will walk past, like all the others in their self-centered oblivion, because they can tolerate his situation.


ego quos amo arguo et castigo aemulare ergo et paenitentiam age

The Good and Peaceable Man

In addition to reading about the Desert Fathers, and Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, I'm reading through 'The Imitation of Christ' by Thomas à Kempis. I read this part this morning, and thought that it should be a good reminder to all christian bloggers on the tenor of our discussions. From Book 2, Ch III:

First keep thyself in peace, and then shalt thou be able to be a peacemaker towards others. A peaceable man doth more good than a well-learned. A passionate man turneth even good into evil and easily believeth evil; a good, peaceable man converteth all things into good. He who dwelleth in peace is suspicious of none, but he who is discontented and restless is tossed with many suspicions, and is neither quiet himself nor suffereth others to be quiet. He often saith what he ought not to say, and omitteth what it were more expedient for him to do. He considereth to what duties others are bound, and neglecteth those to which he is bound himself. Therefore be zealous first over thyself, and then mayest thou righteously be zealous concerning thy neighbour.

I guess that instead of incessantly venting our spleens about bishop Invertebrate or sister Heresychaser, OP, we should be first as ruthless in routing our own sins. I get in posting ruts, where it's only the things that rile me enough to write about that get onto the blog. I suspect that others get into that rut as well.

Thou knowest well how to excuse and to colour thine own deeds, but thou wilt not accept the excuses of others. It would be more just to accuse thyself and excuse thy brother. If thou wilt that others bear with thee, bear thou with others. Behold how far thou art as yet from the true charity and humility which knows not how to be angry or indignant against any save self alone. It is no great thing to mingle the good and the meek, for this is naturally pleasing to all, and every one of us willingly enjoyeth peace and liketh best those who think with us: but to be able to live peaceably with the hard and perverse, or with the disorderly, or those who oppose us, this is a great grace and a thing much to be commended and most worthy of a man.

Is there any point to reading heretical journals, if one only does it to stoke resentment and provide fresh accusations? It's one thing to expose a heresey, and offer corrective proof, and another to just lambast the author with aspersions about their faith or intelligence (Mea Culpa).

There are who keep themselves in peace and keep peace also with others, and there are who neither have peace nor suffer others to have peace; they are troublesome to others, but always more troublesome to themselves. And there are who hold themselves in peace, and study to bring others unto peace; nevertheless, all our peace in this sad life lieth in humble suffering rather than in not feeling adversities. He who knoweth best how to suffer shall possess the most peace; that man is conqueror of himself and lord of the world, the friend of Christ, and the inheritor of heaven.

Peace to you all, as there are many trials ahead for us all.

Maciel in the Colosseum

Ahh, the din of the Roman crowds after a spectacular gladiatorial display. Mighty Caesar extends a fist toward the arena, thumb twitching horizontally, as if harkening to the mob's disparite cries of "martyr" and "catamite". Some in the crowd protest the warrior's innocence, appealing the heavens for divine vindication. Others scream for chastisement, as if the penalty of this one would indict all who have evaded justice in the past..

All the caterwauling over the Vatican's handling of Fr. Degollado inspires me thus.

The man is a sinner. News Flash: so are the rest of us. And I, for one, am glad that Diogenes hasn't outed me as an occasional porn-grazer. I do have a habit of being penitent as well, and I hope that Fr. Degollado is successful in his new endeavor of spiritual preparation for the Last Judgement. Will we resent the forgiveness of his sins?

Feeding the Hungry

So, you're walking down a city street, and are waiting to cross the street. On the other corner, you see a bedraggled, bearded man in dirty clothes seated near the stoop of a closed shop. What do YOU do?

Cross the opposite way to avoid the situation all together? Do you walk right by him, averting both eyes and conscience, or maybe pledging to yourself to give some money to the local soup kitchen? Do you give him some money, hoping that it doesn't end up becoming alcohol?

What do YOU do?

I'll tell you what I do once I see some conversation on this topic. Tell your friends, and have them chime in.


My Solution:

About 5 years ago, I was walking down the street, pushing my baby son in a stroller, and was approached by a homeless man. I saw him from a ways, before I got there, hitting up some other man for some money, so I knew what was coming. As our paths intersected, he said "Excuse me, mister.." , and I just looked straight ahead and kept walking.

Even as I was walking away, I just couldn't believe what I was doing. The internal debate raged.
"He's just going to use it to buy alcohol."
"Or, maybe, Jesus is hungry, and you just walked by him, you dick!"
"What am I supposed to do? I give money to the Matt Talbot Kitchen, and the People's City Mission. Isn't that enough?"
" Dude, you're rationalizing. The man was asking you for help, and you couldn't even LOOK at him."

I started buying gift cards. McDonalds, BK, coffee shops, and some retail places are all good, as long as there's no alcohol. I had to make sure that wherever I found someone and gave them a card, they wouldn't have to walk miles to redeem it. Our Church's school sells gift cards for all kinds of places, as a fundraiser, so getting some cards are easy as 10 minutes after Mass.

I keep a couple in my wallet, a couple in the car, and a few extras in my jacket, so that when I'm faced with that dilemma again, I can do something more that shrug and walk away.

The Invincible Poor

How is it we cannot eliminate Poverty? We hurl gold at it, and it is still ragged. We throw our table scraps at it, yet it still hungers. We try to kill it, and yet it lives on. There are few topics that devour more time in earnest discussion, yet it is still a mystery. Why poverty? Because God wills it.

No amount of money can quench it.
No airlifts of food will fill it.
No condoms or abortions can prevent or kill it.

Every burden is a blessing by God, for those burdens come with graces to bear them. And conversely, blessings come with burdens: the responsibility of sharing the gifts we have been given. Does it start to make sense, now, why poverty will slog on despite our best efforts? God will give us myriad opportunities to be closer to Him both though trial and in reward.

For the Poor, God gives graces to live simply and under His protection, and the Poor are much more grateful, with God’s grace, for the simple things in life than are the Wealthy. The Poor are dependent on God, and can unite their sufferings to Christ on His Cross. They also are much less likely to be completely besotted with material concerns than the Wealthy.

For the Wealthy, the poor are an opportunity to separate themselves from their wealth and show love of neighbor. Resources have been given to them that can make a real difference in the lives of many poor people, and also the graces to direct those resources. Out of gratitude, the Wealthy return blessings to God by giving their wealth to the poor.

The Poor are what separate the Sheep from the Goats, according to Matthew 25 (v.31 on), and thus are necessary to God’s plan. The Sheep should be grateful for the Poor, as the Poor are integral in expressing their faith. Conversely, one can tell how much the Goats resent the mere existence of the Poor, by the efforts to eradicate them.

Jesus said that the poor will always be with us, and He with them. Embrace them both.

Merry Christmas,

Jimbob