Monitoring the Magi

So, Ingrid is on top of this. Not only is she monitoring the progress of the Magi over field and fountain, moor and mountain, but she is also ensuring that the star with royal beauty bright is westward leading, still proceeding with an ETA of 6 January, 2020.

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Field and fountain, moor and mountain

Westward leading, still proceeding

Westward leading, still proceeding

Star with royal beauty bright

Star with royal beauty bright

Guide us to thy perfect light

Guide us to thy perfect light

Elections and the Spirit of Egotism or the Spirit of Sacrifice

Originally posted on the blog for St. Vincent de Paul Newmarket


Jesus told the pharisees: “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, red sky in the morning means bad weather today.’ You are good at reading the signs of the weather in the sky, but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times!” (Matthew 16:2-3)

Bl. Frederick Ozanam beautifully illustrated what it means to  read the signs of the times in this following extract from a letter  that he wrote to a friend in 1838. Listen to these words bearing in mind that the 2nd French Revolution occurred in 1830 and the 3rd revolt happened in 1848, the same year that the Communist Manifesto was published.

Barricades at Rue Soufflot on 24 June 1848 - Vernet

The question which divides people in our day is no longer a question of political forms, it is a social question—that of deciding whether the spirit of egotism or the spirit of sacrifice is to carry the day; whether society is to be a huge traffic for the benefit of the strongest, or the consecration of each for the benefit of all, and above all for the protection of the weak. There are many who already have too much, and who wish to possess still more; there are a greater number who have not enough, and who want to seize it if it is not given to them. Between these two classes of people a struggle is imminent, and it threatens to be terrible—on one side the power of gold, on the other the power of despair. It is between these two opposing armies that we must precipitate ourselves.

Talking to us about this quotation at our recent "Recharge the Batteries" event, Fr Roy commented that this letter was prophetic. Indeed it was, coming ten years before the "third" revolution and the publication of the Communist Manifesto.

Blessed Ozanam saw Christ in the poor and the weak, but he did not see them through rose-tinted eye glasses. He saw very clearly that the same spirit of egotism that was evident in the rich and powerful aristocracy as well as the middle class bourgeoisie, was also powerfully at work in the desperation of the impoverished working classes. As he saw it, the only thing that could possibly make a difference would be if Catholics and other Christians of France in his time could set aside their own spirit of egotism and replace it with a spirit of sacrifice in faithfulness to the teachings and call of Jesus Christ, "Come, follow me."

We are at a time when overwhelming and increasing numbers of environmental scientists are telling us that our planet is fast approaching a tipping point. In his encyclical, Laudato Si', Pope Francis tells us, "There has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty caused by environmental degradation. They are not recognized by international conventions as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind, without enjoying any legal protection whatsoever. Sadly, there is widespread indifference to such suffering, which is even now taking place throughout our world. Our lack of response to these tragedies involving our brothers and sisters points to the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow men and women upon which all civil society is founded." (LS #25)

Blessed Ozanam's words are no less prophetic and applicable to our times today where political parties in campaigns for the coming election are appealing to our spirit of egotism to persuade us to vote for them - some more so than others, and most offering no more than lip service to the environmental crisis as merely one issue among many others. Between the opposing powers of gold and despair, Ozanam says we have to 'precipitate' ourselves. I do not know the original French word and do not even speak French, but this use of 'precipitate' in the English translation suggests urgently throwing oneself headlong into a situation without taking sufficient time to consider the consequences, much like a parent might rush into a burning house to rescue a child.

As Vincentians, which spirit do we want to drive us? The spirit of egotism or that of sacrifice? I must confess that I feel nervous and ambivalent about 'precipitating' myself into the gap between the rich and powerful on the one hand, and the poor and desperate on the other. Perhaps that is the difference between saints and the rest of us, but let us take inspiration from our founder and model, nevertheless. The very existence of our Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a direct consequence of precipitous action that Frederick Ozanam took in 1833. The same question posed by Blessed Ozanam in 1838 faces us as Christians and Vincentians going into voting booths in 2019: that of deciding whether the spirit of egotism or the spirit of sacrifice is to carry the day, for the benefit of the strongest, or for the benefit of all, and above all for the protection of the weak?

My shame as a Christian

Christians For Trump

As a Christian, I am ashamed to say that Christians, in their Pro-Life support for Donald Trump, are complicit in the Anti-Life deaths of thousands of civilians killed in coalition airstrikes since the conflict in Yemen began in 2014, not to mention MILLIONS suffering from shortages of food and medical care in a country (the poorest in the world) pushed by war to the brink of famine. The U.S. and Canada are both making many millions of dollars from sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. A shame on us if we remain silent in the face of this preventable human suffering made worse by our greedy trade. Canada is not innocent either.

Dismay as Trump vetoes bill to end US support for war in Yemen

Anti-abortion does NOT equate to being pro-life

Being anti-abortion does NOT equate to being pro-life - not if your government...

• Brutalizes refugees and migrants, tearing families apart by deporting people who have no greater wish than safety, opportunity and hard work;
• Is willing to rip health care from tens of millions of people;
• Denies climate change and jeopardizes creation itself with retrograde policies on the environment;
• Intends to increase defense spending more than $50 billion while cutting social welfare programs for the most vulnerable;
• And whose leader, the president, boasts openly of sexual conquests that many would describe as assault.

This editorial in The National Catholic Reporter is a must-read for any fellow Knights in the Knights of Columbus.

Pro-life advocates with the Indiana State Knights of Columbus carry a banner past the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 27 during the annual March for Life in Washington. (CNS/Leslie E. Kossoff)

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson on abortion - with due respect, I have to disagree

"Catholics need to stop voting for pro-abortion politicians," Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told an international gathering of the Knights of Columbus in Toronto, Canada, Aug 2, 2016.

CNA - Catholic News Agency

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. Photo credit: Knights of Columbus

I am a pro-life Catholic who believes in the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception, and an active member and office bearer of the Knights of Columbus local council, so why do I find this statement by the Supreme Knight extremely concerning?

The reasons are many and complex.

Simplistic dualism

Firstly, at its most elemental, it simplistically divides politicians (and, by extension, people in general) into two groups, anti-abortion and pro-abortion, representing good and evil, clean and dirty, right and wrong, life and death, righteous and damned (if they don't repent.) If only life were that simple - black or white with no shades of grey…

With that simple statement to stop voting for pro-abortion politicians, Brother Carl Anderson has reduced the decision making process around the presidential elections facing Americans today to an obvious, no-brainer choice that is really no choice at all. Hillary Clinton is pro-abortion, Donald Trump is no longer so - well, except with "caveats" such as rape and incest and other "it depends's". (See the piece in Charisma News.) Therefore American Catholics must vote for Donald Trump! Say, what?

Single-issue voting

This is the world of single-issue voting where you identify one issue that outweighs all the other issues combined. “What political issue could possibly outweigh this human devastation? Abortion is different. Abortion is the killing of the innocent on a massive scale,” says Brother Anderson. The argument is perfectly logical - but only up to a point:

Moral issues outweigh political issues.

Killing innocent children is a moral issue.

Therefore killing innocent children outweighs political issues.

From which the argument continues:

But abortion is killing innocent children on a massive scale.

Therefore the issue of abortion outweighs all political issues.

However, after this there is a leap to the next conclusion:

Therefore Catholics need to stop voting for politicians who are pro-abortion.

Why is this a leap of logic? … because the premise presumes that all other issues are purely political, non-moral issues - which is false.

There are many other moral issues than "killing innocent children in the womb". For instance, how about tolerating that, after being born, children are growing up malnourished (with the accompanying brain under-development that this causes) or even starving to death, or being exposed to perilous sea-crossings and long overland treks on foot, or months and years of sub-human living in refugee camps? Not just children, of course, but their parents and other adults as well. How about knowingly leaving impoverished communities to drink mercury-laden water, or water polluted with arsenic or other toxic substances from gold mining? How about continuing to export asbestos to third-world countries that do not yet have regulations in place to prevent exposure to asbestos and the resultant harm to health and life this causes?

Ah, the objection goes, but abortion is "on a massive scale", involving "millions of children". Far be it from me to try and defend abortion, but to try and make abortion the only single moral issue based on numbers is indefensible. How do you stack up and compare x million abortions against human suffering that cannot be measured, the human suffering that is being endured daily and has been endured for decades by the millions of environmental, economic and conflict-driven refugees that Pope Francis talks about in his encyclical, Laudato Si, for instance? What if your (somewhat) anti-abortion political candidate wants to ban refugees from immigrating and to build walls to address the 'security problems' caused by refugees, and shows little or no compassion for children who are homeless and hungry, dressed in dirty clothes and lacking the essentials of healthcare?

Photo credit: Macleans.ca

Whenever I read the account of the sheep being separated from the goats in chapter 25 of the gospel of Matthew I am struck not only by what is listed in the "citation" but also by what is missing: the Ten Commandments are completely missing. The goats are not condemned for lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, fornication, buggery - or even murder - but for a lack of compassion! It's all about sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, assisting the sick and imprisoned. Read Matthew 25 and see for yourself.

Culture of Death

The other leap of logic is with the phrase, "culture of death." It is presumed as axiomatic that pro-lifers support a "culture of life" and pro-choicers a "culture or death." I am pro-life - in small letters. A couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to stop identifying with the "Pro-Life" movement (capital 'P', capital 'L') because of its exclusive fixation on life before birth. I see it as even worse with some fundamentalist evangelical Christian churches than with Catholic Pro-Lifers. The perception is that they will proudly and loudly, and extravagantly, go to the ends of the earth to elect politicians who will enact laws to prevent a child being aborted, but once the child is born they have no further interest in the child's welfare in terms of nutrition, health, home circumstances or education, or even whether the mother will be executed for 'immorality' - usually by stoning. It is perceived by its critics as a single issue movement that calls itself religious and Pro-Life but is mainly anti-abortion and loudly political.

Then there is the pejorative phrase, 'culture of death' that is juxtaposed (self-righteously?) against 'culture of life'. A number of my close friends and family who believe in a woman's right to choose to have an abortion are warm, caring and nurturing people. I would unhesitatingly call them 'good' people even though I do not share their views on abortion. If I have to compare, I would call them a lot more caring and compassionate than some Pro-Lifers I know or have read about, or seen on the news screaming "Murderers" at Pro-Choice activists. My point is that Pro-Lifers and pro-lifers do not have the monopoly corner on a culture of life. To suggest that a United Church minister of my acquaintance is spreading a 'culture of death' because he believes in situation ethics and is supportive of members of his congregation who have felt the need to have an abortion creates and perpetuates the kind of division between Christians that is actually contrary to a culture of life. Or to suggest that an agnostic doctor of my acquaintance lacks a moral compass and promotes a culture of death - a woman who is a loving mother, dedicated to saving lives and improving the health of her patients, but who is quite prepared to refer a pregnant patient for an abortion where she deems appropriate - would be blinkered, pietistic moralism devoid of any constructive, life-giving energy.

Election guidelines

In the 2015 Canadian federal election I was very pleased to see that the Canadian bishops did not propose simplistic, single-issue voting to the Catholic faithful. On the contrary, they published a very helpful guide covering a multiplicity of issues - none of which were purely political.  Actually, they published as many as 3 guides - all of which can be found at the above link:

Link to the Guide of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)

Link to the Guide of Development and Peace

Link to the Guide of The Canadian Council of Churches

May I propose that, in choosing a president, American Catholics follow guides such as those recommended by the Canadian bishops rather that the simplistic exhortation of the Supreme Knight who seems to imply that the only Catholic belief of political relevance is to be Pro-Life. 

The enemy of peace isn't only war, but also indifference - Pope Francis

The Pope hits the nail on the head, talking about indifference. From my reading and listening over the last few years it has become very clear to me that the opposite of love and the obstacles to love are less about hatred and malice and far more about selfishness, apathy and indifference. The goats in chapter 25:33 of Matthew's gospel were not condemned for their hatred or their malice, but their lack of caring. I suppose you could say, their apathy and indifference. This is equally true with the needy in your town as with the "hordes of men, women and children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives..."

Pope calls for peace, end to injustice in New Year's address (CBC News)

Pope Francis in New Year message: 'Now's the time to end indifference'

Gloria In Excelsis Deo

Everyone at Kwa-McCann wish all our family and friends who celebrate Christmas a merry and blessed Christmas.

And to those of you who just like to celebrate at this time of year, we wish you safe and happy holidays.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Love, Joy and Peace at Christmas

Christmas is the time when we at Kwa-McCann celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

We recognise that not all of our friends see Jesus in the same way that we do and we respect that.

No matter. At this time we wish all of our friends all the blessings that this season offers: love, joy, peace, goodness.

Love,

Terry, Ingrid and all the family.

The Holy Thursday Foot Washing - Is the point being lost because of legalism?

It is ironic that commemorating the setting for Jesus' new commandment of love has become an occasion of hurt and division in the Catholic Church.

My wife and daughter complained to me after the Holy Thursday service that there were no women selected for the foot washing. What could I say? All I could do was defend our local clergy and say that their hands are tied because the rubrics, the little red instructions in the missal, talk about selecting men. OK, they said. Then why are nearly all of the men selected old or middle aged white men? Why was there nobody there that youth or young adults could relate to? Other than our fiend Eric, why were there no people of colour? Good questions. I don't know why. Why?

For pastoral considerations the foot washing is optional at this service at the priest's discretion. I have always loved it but I think it is coming under siege - with justification. This is not the first time I have heard these objections. Ingrid's and Judith's remonstrations were pretty meek and mild compared to some of the charges that I have heard from some very impassioned and hurting women. There are many who see this as yet another point where women are made to feel like second class citizens in the Catholic church. I foresee that as the groundswell of antagonism towards the "men only" rule keeps growing, and grow it will, that this will become a point of division in the Church with many women, especially young women and their partners, opting not to go to mass on Holy Thursday, and many priests opting to leave the Mandatum, the foot washing, out of the Holy Thursday liturgy if it is going to cause such pain and division in their congregations.

Musings on the Catholic Church by a paedophile victim.

Background

Up until now (April 2010) it has not been widely known that I was abused by a paedophile as a boy for over four years from the age of ten (1957) till I was fourteen (1960) and old enough to say, "Enough. No More." Let me say right away that my abuser was not a cleric, but a lay man closely involved in parish activities that parish boys were involved in. My mother had her suspicions and once, when I was sick, asked our parish priest to visit me and question me about the relationship. I denied that there was anything taking place. Why? Because my abuser had made me promise not to tell anyone. I kept that promise. Sick, isn't it?

Other than telling my wife in vague terms I buried the secret deep down, seldom thinking about it, keeping that promise for about forty-five years, right up until 2006. In that year I went to a Catholic Charismatic rally in Toronto where, at one point, one of the leaders said that God was wanting to heal victims of rape. I had NEVER thought of myself as a victim of rape. Rape, for me, was something I had conceived of in rather narrow terms with a heterosexual, never homosexual, component; and rape is always forced, isn't it? My molester never "forced" me into things; I "allowed" him to do what he did. At this invitation, however, it was like something smacked me on the side of the head. There was a sudden, very sudden, realization, "I am a rape victim. That's me. God wants to heal me!"

Without hesitation I stood up and looked for some designated person available to pray with me. The only group available was a family - father, two teenage sons and a teenage daughter if I remember correctly. I gulped and then remembered that I was younger than any of them when this had happened to me. To keep it brief let me just say that the dad did a great job and seemed to be inspired with understanding and compassion. I experienced healing, forgiveness and freedom. Within a week I had shared my story with each of my children and the prayer group that I go to weekly and felt relief and exhilaration. It was no longer this terrible secret that I was too ashamed to tell anyone about.

The Scandal Goes Public

As far as I was concerned I was healed, it was over, and I could get on with my life. But then the clergy scandals started to rock the Catholic Church. Victims were coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of priests. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. Allegations turned into charges and many of the charges stuck. I read about dioceses that had to sell churches in order to pay for court costs and awards for damages. I started to feel increasing anger over the amounts of money being squandered, in my mind, for the defence of priests who seemed to be less than forthright in admitting their guilt, with diocesan defence lawyers making victims publicly recount and "prove" their allegations. That money had come from hard working Catholics who had given to provide for the needs of the Church. This hardly seemed to me like a "need" of the Church and was certainly not promoting the Gospel. My perception was that the ecclesiastical hierarchy had moved into damage control mode and was wanting to minimise the proven guilt and the financial amounts to be awarded in damages thereby compounding one set of injustices with another.

My freshly healed wound started to fester with a new pain which came from the realisation that bishops and their diocesan functionaries seemed to be more concerned with "reputation" and "scandal", and money, than seeing to the restitution due their victims and obtaining their forgiveness and becoming reconciled with them as deeply hurting members of the Body of Christ. Worse, by the protestations offered by some well-meaning "defenders" of the Church, victims and their protagonists were viewed as churlish and opportunistic revenge seekers who were exaggerating the pain and suffering they had endured for so many years in order to maximise their payout. "The Church" was becoming the innocent martyr if some people were to be believed.

Why "come out" now?

At this point I need to pause to explain why this sudden "coming out". Please understand clearly: I, personally, am not looking for sympathy; I do not need or want your sympathy, but I do want your acceptance. A lot of people are expressing their opinions about the clergy abuse scandal that is currently rocking the Church, from the vitriolic vultures that are calling for the head of the pope on a platter, to the frenzied fervour of religious faithful who are portraying the pope as a living martyr who must obviously be innocent of any and all charges before they are even enunciated. The first group includes some victims and their supporters but also seems to include opportunistic journalists who smell the blood of a good story that can give them lots of mileage and the appearance of being knights in shining armour. I am not enamoured of the extremists of the first group, certainly not of those who seem to be baying for blood without any apparent benefit to the victims except some kind of revengeful satisfaction at seeing the pope humiliated. However, I am even less appreciative of the Well-Meaning But Misguided who have set themselves up as Pro Deo or Pro Bono defenders of the Pope and those accused of shielding paedophile priests. I don’t seem to hear this group calling for any acknowledgement of the cause or sufferings of those abused as children at the hands of priests or lay workers in the Church except, occasionally, as an after-thought or single-line item. More often I hear the plaints, largely true it seems, that Catholic clergy per capita are no worse than clerics of any other Christian denomination.

My reason for "coming out" as a victim, then, is to establish my credentials. If these others can pen or voice their opinions about the sexual abusers of children and those who shielded them, then so can I, with more right and justification than many of the most vociferous; and I have a deeply personal perspective to bring to bear that I wish to share.

Trying to defend the Church

God does not need us to defend him; we need him to defend us. In the Garden of Gethsemane when a well-meaning but misguided Peter tried to use the sword Jesus told him that, if he wanted, he could ask the Father who could send more than twelve legions of angels to defend him. There was a chalice to be drunk. By the same token it is presumptuous to think we can defend the Church rather than the other way round. However, by faith, hope and love, and continuous repentance leading to holiness, we can build up one another in love. This is our surest defence and offence. I am convinced that if we try to "defend" the Church in any other way our efforts will backfire. It is futile to try and defend reputation in any other way than by good example and the truth. There is only one way by which Jesus wants his disciples to be recognised: by their love for one another. As for those who would seduce children and lead them to sin Jesus said that it would be better for them to be cast into the sea with a millstone tied around their necks. To these Pope Benedict said in his recent letter to the Church in Ireland, "You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals... God’s justice summons us to give an account of our actions and to conceal nothing. Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy." (Emphasis mine.)

The Pope's Priorities

I am not aware of Pope Benedict ever asking anyone to defend him or any other bishop. I am aware of the pastoral priorities that he laid out in his pastoral letter to the people of Ireland. To the extent that preachers and others who speak in the name of the Catholic Church ignore these priorities and try instead to deal with this scandal by defending the Pope and the Catholic hierarchy as an end in itself they will muddy the waters instead of offering the pure Living Water. Let's not try to mitigate the Pope's own words to the bishops of Ireland: "It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse. Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations. I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness. I appreciate the efforts you have made to remedy past mistakes and to guarantee that they do not happen again. Besides fully implementing the norms of canon law in addressing cases of child abuse, continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence." (Emphasis mine.) It is not impossible that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith may have to own up to just such failure as well.

The victims of abuse and their families

The Pope is way out in front here and most dioceses and parishes are so far behind that they don't even know there is a gap to be closed. Here is what the Pope had to say: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel." Many people criticized the Pope's letter saying it did not go far enough. Maybe, but I was very touched and appreciative of the above acknowledgement of shame and remorse by the Holy Father, just as I was appreciative when our parish priest made some similar acknowledgement in the homily at the Easter Vigil.

The victims that we are aware of are the noisy ones who have come forward - and they have a right to be noisy and to be heard. To them we owe a deep debt of gratitude for exposing this festering boil so that it could be lanced and cleaned. But there are many, many others, too ashamed or hurting or embarrassed or just plain shy. No one will ever know they were victims; they will take their secret to the grave. Some of these victims may or may not be next to you, in front of you or behind you in the pew on any given Sunday. We tend to think of abuse victims being somewhere else, in another country, or in another part of the country, "up North", "down South", out east or west but not in my parish, that's too close for comfort. How would I deal with him/her? What would we say? How can we acknowledge these victims and help them feel accepted and, to some degree, understood?

Here I have a practical suggestion to offer parishes. Please can you add the following or similar petition to your Prayer of the Faithful?

For those who have been sexually abused as children by ministers of the Church, that the Divine Mercy will help them find healing and freedom, and for the shepherds and pastors of the Church that they may have the wisdom, humility and compassion to bring Christ's love to those still suffering from such abuse, we pray to the Lord.

If entire parish communities can pray for this intention on a weekly basis it just might help us all shift from our defensive postures to the openness and acceptance without which we cannot become the “Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity” of which the Pope wrote.

This blog, “Musings on the Catholic Church by a paedophile victim” is copyright © 2010 by Terry McCann. Permission is granted to reproduce excerpts or the whole for non-commercial purposes provided source and copyright is acknowledged and this URL is referenced. Commercial publishers should apply by email to kwamccann@gmail.com.

A Happy and Blessed Christmas

Christmas is the time when we at Kwa-McCann celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

We recognise that not all of our friends see Jesus in the same way that we do and we respect that.

No matter. At this time we wish all of our friends all the blessings that this season offers: love, joy, peace, goodness.

Love,

Terry, Ingrid and all the family.