The month of May is devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Mother and Child by Ring Studios 

Mary is a paradox. A simple girl from a small town is proclaimed Queen of the Universe. A virgin gives birth to a child, names him “savior” and then becomes his most faithful and long suffering disciple. She speaks with authority (“Go, do whatever he tells you”) but she acknowledges the great mystery of her life, pondering things in her heart.

Mary is born without sin (the immaculate conception), but she suffers the consequences of our sinful human nature—with one important difference. She does not die as we do. She simply falls asleep and is taken to heaven with her body and soul intact. From her heavenly home she continues to follow Jesus and to intercede for us before the throne of grace.

Compassion and mercy are her hallmarks. No one who seeks her help is ever left unaided.

We are right to turn to Mary during this month of May. She is our mother and our queen. Our protector and our source of comfort and hope.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I wonder what Edward R. Murrow would have thought about this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner—or about the state of journalism today?

I suspect that he would be unsettled and confused. How can we distinguish journalism from propaganda if there are no standards of objectivity, civility or respect for the truth? How can we serve the cause of freedom if there are no self-imposed restraints and anything goes?

I’ve served as a columnist for Catholic newspapers for 30 years. I only rarely venture into politics and I work hard to be objective in my writing. That doesn’t mean I have no point of view. In fact, I stand with the Church on all issues even when I have questions or doubts. To suggest (in any way) that I know better than the pope or 2000 years of Catholic teaching would be arrogant—and foolish—in the extreme. I admit to being confused sometimes, but I think and pray about it, talk to people I respect, and if necessary hold my tongue. I’m far from being perfect, but I do not engage in slander, gossip or character assasination regardless of what I think about other people. 

This is such a simple standard—no slander, gossip or character assassination—that I wonder what today’s journalists are thinking. Do they really believe they serve their readers or our nation by communicating half truths, questionable information or outright lies? Do they honestly think we’re all better off when the lines that were once drawn between reporting, opinion and sensationalism are completely blurred?

I try not to fall into the trap of negative thinking, but it’s hard to be objective  (let alone positive) when confronted with a constant barrage of propaganda from the left, the right and everywhere in between. 

I pray for the day when there is a genuine reform of journalism and politics. Until then, I guess I’ll  have to settle for being unsettled and confused. 

Monks help recovering alcoholics find God

Christian Monks have been seeking God since the dawn of Christianity. They have removed themselves from the chaos and temptations of daily life “in the world” in order to pray, do good work and share their journeys with others who also seek God in community. 

Of course, the monk quickly learns that “the world” comes with him or her. There is no absolute escape from the trials and temptations of life. There is only the transforming power of God’s amazing grace which is available to all God’s children wherever they are. Even so, there are special—holy—places where it seems much easier to seek and find “the God of our understanding” and to discover (and then do) God’s will. Saint Meinrad Archabbey, a Benedictine monastery in southern Indiana, is one of these holy places. 

For the past nine years, Saint Meinrad Archabbey has served as the host for a weekend retreat for recovering alcoholics. The overarching theme of the retreat is the 11th Step of Alcoholics Anonymous: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. What better place to examine prayerfully this important step in the recovery process? Could there be a better group of people to pray with and share their spiritual journeys than those who have freely given themselves to a life dedicated to the search for “conscious contact with God”?

Many believe that alcoholism is a multifaceted disease that effects the mind, body and emotions of those who suffer from this all-too-common form of physical addiction, mental obsession and emotional illness. There is no cure, experts say, but many women and men do recover if they can work the 12 steps of AA with honesty and humility. One day at a time. 

Alcoholics Anonymous describes itself as “a spiritual program” that has no affiliation with any religious or secular group. AA’s spiritual program of recovery is open to “all God’s kids” regardless of religious, social or economic status. Thus, the 11thStep Retreat is open to all—including spouses, family members, friends and professionals who work with people in recovery. 

In addition to the retreat conferences, the program includes opportunities for prayer with the monks, silent reflection and meditation and fellowship with other retreatants at meal times and during social gatherings. 

Pope Francis recently spoke about the value of this kind of retreat: 

In this age, when people are so busy that they do not have enough time to listen to God’s voice, monasteries and convents become like oases, where men and women of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and religions can discover the beauty of silence. At monasteries people can rediscover themselves in harmony with creation, allowing God to restore a proper order in their lives (Pope Francis, General Audience, April 19, 2018).

The 9th annual 11th Step Retreat will be held at Saint Meinrad July 13-15, 2018. It’s particular theme is “The Joy of the Journey,” and guest speakers include Dr. John M., author of “Being Sober and Becoming Happy,” and a video presentation by Fr. Richard Rohr, author of “Breathing Under Water.” 

Those thinking about attending should go to spiritualretreatsteps.com to register.

I just finished a careful reading of Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be Glad) On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World by Pope Francis. It is one more instance of this pope’s inspiring, prophetic, hope-filled and occasionally controversial teaching. I believe the Holy Spirit is with Pope Francis as he stirs up those who are too comfortable and settles down those whose anxieties have caused them to abandon all hope. 

Like his immediate predecessor, who now calls himself “Father Benedict,” Pope Francis makes it very clear that holiness is not something that only a saint can achieve. All are called to holiness and all have the potential—aided by God’s grace—to become holy. “These witnesses may include our own mothers, grandmothers or other loved ones,” the pope says. “Their lives may not always have been perfect, yet even amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord” (#4).

A beautiful example of Pope Francis’s view that holiness is accessible to all is his reflection on “the holiness of the Church militant.”

I like to contemplate the holiness present in the patience of God’s people: in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance I see the holiness of the Church militant. Very often it is a holiness found in our next-door neighbors, those who, living in our midst, reflect God’s presence. We might call them “the middle class of holiness.”

Here Pope Francis rejects what might be called “the elitism of sanctity” and calls attention to its presence (not perfectly or completely but truly) in ordinary people, the middle class of holiness. This emphasis on what the Second Vatican Council called “the universal call to holiness” is not unique to Pope Francis, but, as always, this pope uses vivid images and gestures to reinforce his teaching. 

Critics accuse Pope Francis of sowing doubt and confusion by urging flexibility in the application of traditional Church teaching to concrete situations. Gaudete et Exsultate will not silence those who question the pope’s orthodoxy. In fact, the Holy Father uses this apostolic exhortation to challenge those whom he considers “subtle enemies of holiness” to cast off their “narcissistic and authoritarian elitism” and embrace a more open, loving and forgiving attitude toward the struggles of ordinary people who seek to follow Jesus in spite of their weakness, selfishness and sin. 

When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road,” the pope says. “They may well be false prophets, who use religion for false purposes to promote their own psychological or intellectual theories. God infinitely transcends us; he is full of surprises. We are not the ones to determine when and how we will encounter him; the exact times and places of that encounter are not up to us. Someone who wants everything to be clear and surepresumes to control God’s transcendence (#41).

These are challenging words—addressed to those who claim that the teaching of this pope causes “confusion” among the faithful who long for clarity and certainty in the Church’s teaching. 

Perhaps the most serious issue for many of the pope’s critics is his statement that defense of the unborn and other social justice issues are “equally sacred.” 

Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection. We cannot uphold an ideal of holiness that would ignore injustice in a world where some revel, spend with abandon and live only for the latest consumer goods, even as others look on from afar, living their entire lives in abject poverty (#101).

This is the both/and of Catholicism. While it’s undeniably true that defense of the unborn is a grave responsibility for Christians and all who affirm the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to the point of natural death, we cannot be faithful to the Gospel if we neglect any of the issues of morality and social justice which the pope calls to our attention. We must be both radically pro-life and uncompromisingly firm in our opposition to all forms of injustice. 

As always, the words of Pope Francis make us uncomfortable even as they assure us of God’s mercy and encourage us to find both hope and joy in the life of missionary discipleship to which we are called by virtue of our baptism. 

Read Gaudete et Exsultate and judge for yourself whether this pope is right about the blessings and challenges of the call to holiness today. 

We must remember that prayerful discernment must be born of a readiness to listen: to the Lord and to others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways. Only if we are prepared to listen, do we have the freedom to set aside our own partial or insufficient ideas, our usual habits and ways of seeing things. In this way we become truly open to accepting a call that can shatter our security, but lead us to a better life. It is not enough that everything be calm and peaceful. God may be offering us something more, but in our comfortable inadvertence, we do not recognize it. 

This is the consistent message of Pope Francis: God calls us out of our comfort zones to go out to the margins of society bringing the Joy of the Gospel to the most vulnerable, neglected and abused members of the human family. May God bless Pope Francis as he challenges us and gives us hope!