Don't Be Afraid of New Thngs

The pope-ification of the daily news reports has ended, and Pope Francis’ departure will bring the usual event amnesia that infects the national scene at the end of any news cycle.

But Pope Francis offered parting words, as reported by Joshua J. McElwee, that call us to remember: “Don’t be afraid of new things!”:

Jesus encountered hostility from people who did not accept what he said and did. . . For them, his openness to the honest and sincere faith of many men and women who were not part of God’s chosen people seemed intolerable. . . The disciples, for their part, acted in good faith, but the temptation to be scandalized by the freedom of God, who sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike, bypassing bureaucracy, officialdom and inner circles, threatens the authenticity of faith. Hence it must be vigorously rejected. For Jesus, the truly 'intolerable' scandal consists in everything that breaks down and destroys our trust in the working of the Spirit! God will not be outdone in generosity and he continues to scatter seeds. He scatters the seeds of his presence in our world, for 'love consists in this, not that we have loved God but that he loved us' first. That love gives us a profound certainty: We are sought by God; he waits for us.

It is this confidence that makes disciples encourage, support and nurture the good things happening all around them. To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not 'part of our group,' who are not 'like us,' is a dangerous temptation. Not only does it block conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!

That admonition needs to be taken to heart everyone, including, as his demeanor during this visit would seem to indicate, himself.

Yet he ignores the 59% of Catholics a Pew Opinion Research Survey indicates favoring the ordination of women.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/09/02/chapter-4-expectations-of-the-church/

And in Philadelphia the week before Francis’ visit, hundreds gathered for the Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) Conference in Philadelphia in a "call to action for Catholics and to get Francis' attention". "We want more Catholics to see women's rights as a justice issue," the leader of the WOW conference, Miriam Duignan said.

The conference was scheduled just before the World Meeting of Families, where Pope Francis is speaking, The Pope has said the topic of ordination of women is a closed book.

I readily acknowledge that many women share pastoral responsibilities with priests, helping to guide people, families and groups and offering new contributions to theological reflection," the Pope wrote in in his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. 

Despite this, he maintains that "The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion." 

Women are told they cannot be priests because they do not physically resemble Christ and therefore cannot stand on the altar to represent Him to the Church.

WOW says that the denial of female priesthood on physical grounds is damaging. 

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pope.francis.says.its.a.closed.book.but.some.catholic.women.are.getting.ordained.anyway/65057.htm

Earlier last week as he visited in New York, actions by some representing 59% of Catholic, calling for the ordination of women got them arrested. Hostility from people within the power structure, not only of the Church but also civil authority, shows they do not accept or respect the opinion of this majority. As reported on September 25^th  in truth-out.org:

Seven activists have been arrested in a civil disobedience in Washington, DC, to call for Pope Francis to recognize the rights of women to be ordained. Among those arrested were four women priests who staged a die-in near St. Matthew's Church. We speak to Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.    

More at:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32952-female-priests-stage-die-in-urging-pope-francis-to-open-priesthood-to-women

Anyone who denies that the Spirit is speaking through these actions runs the risk of falling into the “dangerous temptation” Francis mentions as giving “the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not 'part of our group,' who are not 'like us.'” And that not only “blocks conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!”

Finally, a kind of coming back to the beginning, I extend an invitation to view a short video in which Kate McElwee, the wife of the journalist who wrote the article cited at the beginning of this blog post, appears. See it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjFw3dovvqk

Galatians 3, 28. . . Afraid of new things, indeed!

Considering Violent Crime An Epidemic

Today in Hartford, where there have been 25 homicides this year, John Dankosky on his daily WNPR program Where We Live, offered food for thought discussing violence as resulting from a contagion:

Violent crime in America has been dropping for years, reaching a point in 2012 that was roughly half of what it was in 1993. But that may be changing. The New York Times reported last week that violent crime was rising sharply in cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis. In Hartford, homicides jumped to 25 so far this year, up from 19 in 2014.

Read more at: http://wnpr.org/post/violence-contagious

Whenever cities experience violent crime increasing above the number of the previous year’s homicides, city administration, other authorities and the public there is often a tendency to see greater police presence as a solution. The commentary on Where we Live on which professional academics offer another element to consider in seeking solutions demands our attention. One of the comments went something like this:

When we see an outbreak of a contagious disease—think Ebola—all kinds of measures are put in place to contain it. Community hospitals in major cities are inundated with victims of shootings and other violence threatening the life of citizens, and yet there is no healthcare measures implemented.

On the TED Radio Hour, Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist, an innovator in violence reduction and the founder/executive director of Cure Violence, addresses the question about increases in violence in cities:

“What if it could be treated like a communicable disease?” at:

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/06/379185265/why-should-we-treat-violence-like-a-contagious-disease

This is not the place to attempt a total summary of the commentary on these presentations. But in the light of national discussion on gun control and growing concern in our major cities, this important topic seems to call us to pay attention when seeking community responses.

Citizenry who call for greater police presence as a measure to prevent gun violence are looking for a way to assure safety for themselves and their children. Those who live in communities where gun violence is almost non-existent cannot imagine what it is to live in neighborhoods that can only be compared to a war zone. Community activists in our area have commented on the effect on children who walk through their neighborhood to school past crime scene tape, and even see residue of blood on the sidewalk, terming that effect as “Yellow Tape Syndrome.”

And it’s only natural for people in a war zone to seek militaristic solutions like law enforcement. Even in communities where law enforcement places a strong emphasis on community policing, city administrations, especially in an election year, want to be seen as addressing violence in their city. People see more police presence, no matter how that impacts the municipal budget, as a measure that will immediately reduce the number of homicides and thus make them feel safe and more confident about where they allow their children to play.

The recognition of the nature of violence as a kind of epidemic presents people with an added element to consider. If the commentary about violence as an epidemic is considered, the question arises: What is the part that we all play in bringing this element to the gun control debate? While consideration of this question can only lead to a long-term process toward a solution, it’s one that demands attention.