Catholicism, holiness and spirituality

The Other 6

Loyola Communications has come up with a nice little web site called The Other 6 - www.other6.com; The Other 6, as in the other six days of the week aside from Sunday. Its aim is to give people a place to share their answers to two questions: Where have I found God today, and Where do I need to find God today? For those who do or have done the daily examen, these are familiar questions.

The messages appear as bubbles; light colored bubbles for those who respond with a need to find God in their day, and darker bubbles for those who are sharing where they found God in their day. The size of the bubble gives an indication to the number of comments and responses to a person's message. When you mouse-over the bubble, you can see the message; if you click on the bubble then you can add your response.

I like this site on two levels. First, it's visually appealing and fun to work with. Second, it gives people a place to reflect on God's work in their daily lives. So, as you reflect on your day, how would you answer those questions? Feel free to leave answers over at www.other6.com.   

Catholic Identity

One of the autumn rituals in the Cincinnati area for 8th graders and their parents is deciding which area high school to attend. We have 17 Catholic high schools to choose from. Some are single-gender, some are co-ed. Many are run by the archdiocese, but then we have a Jesuit high school for boys, and several high schools for girls run by various groups such as the Ursuline Sisters, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and the Sisters of Mercy. And then you can choose from several very good non-religious high schools, and if you are in the suburbs you have great public high schools.

So our 8th graders take the entrance test, we tour the schools and fill-out applications, and then in early January the acceptance letters go out. Soon after that, I assume, the first bills for tuition. So this past Saturday was the day the standardized entrance test was administered. My older son, Nicholas, was taking the test at St Xavier high school, the Jesuit school and the one he very much wants to attend. While he was doing that, I was at a parent meeting where the school's staff were having an information session. One of the questions posed by a parent got me thinking, and the wheels in my mind have been turning on it since then. He asked a question about 'Catholic identity'; he had heard other parents say that they felt their sons lost their Catholic identity while going through this high school. The question made me wonder just what is 'Catholic identity?' It also made me think about several other things – but I want to stay on-topic! I'll get to those other things another time.

I believe there is a Catholic way of looking at the world, of living in the world. We don't all do it perfectly, that is sure. Now someone will want a definition of that – what is the Catholic way of looking at the world, or what is the Catholic way of living in the world? I don't have answers for those right now, and I feel that the answers could fill a few books. But my curiosity is also in the link from this Catholic way of being to what people term as Catholic identity. Just what is that? It seems to me that it is linked to one's culture – an American Catholic identity probably looks different from an Asian Catholic identity. And then there are Catholic identities influenced by various spiritualities in the church – Ignatian and Franciscan for example. Ultimately, it seems to me that Catholic identity is just a reflection of our internal spirituality; it's going to have some commonality among people, but ultimately it is individual.

Living Biblically

Well I wonder how this would turn out? A. J. Jacobs, an author, spent a year living as Biblically as possible and wrote a book about it. Maybe I'll put that book on my Christmas wish-list... sounds entertaining.

Not surprisingly, in one of the reviews of the book I read that Jacobs found that modern-day folks who claim to hold to a literal translation of the Bible actually pick and choose what they take literally. Ever since Scripture was written, people have been arguing about what it really means.

Politics

How's that for a title: Politics.

Politics have been on my mind lately, and I'm just not sure what to say about it all. But here's a start...

How many millions of dollars have been raised by presidential candidates in the primaries? Not just a few million, but hundreds of millions! Just in the primaries. That could feed, shelter and care for a lot of needy families in the US. Like war, we can find millions of dollars to support a politician's campaign. But when we ask for money to fund public safety, community development, health care or other basic human needs we often come up short. What's up with that?

Some may remember my involvement in a local pro-life pregnancy counseling center. I'm actually chairperson on the board of directors. And it seems like I'm the only person in the organization of volunteers and supporters that is not a conservative, single issue, any-tax-increase-is-bad Republican. Oh, and I'm not a creationist, either. I voted for a local tax increase this week, and I've voted for Democrats in the past. And oh yeah, capital punishment ought to be outlawed. One can be against abortion without being a conservative Republican and (dare I say it?) without advocating a repeal of Roe v. Wade. Single issue myopia, fueled by special interest groups and pandered to by politicians, has driven from the public consciousness a desire for the common good. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

I'm already tired of the presidential campaign, and we still have a year to go! Politics is big business, I suppose. Like the Christmas shopping season, why not start earlier so you can sell more?

Yes, I'm cynical about politics. I don't need politicians to sell themselves to me. I need a politician willing to sign on for the common good of the country, of humanity.