Cardinal Consistory

Pope Leo XIV called an “Extraordinary Consistory” of Catholic Cardinals from all over the world for January 7-8 (link to the article with photo is HERE). This event was held for support and guidance for Leo for the direction of the Church. At first, there were four possible topics presented, summarized as Evangelization, Liturgy, Synodality, and the Roman Curia service to the local churches. Due to time constraints, these were reduced to two, as reported in the article:

By a “clear majority,” the roughly 170 cardinals gathered for the Extraordinary Consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV—the first of his pontificate—voted for “Synod and synodality” and “Evangelization and mission in the Church in the light of Evangelii gaudium” as the themes on which to reflect during these two days of work.

I was glad to see the focus starts with Evangelization and Synodality. Though the other topics are important, the method to gain cooperation between conflicting ideas and opinions comes before them. And Evangelization is of utmost importance to the Church. It’s encouraging to see Catholic Cardinals from around the world agreeing on these matters.

Another Vatican News webpage describes some thoughts shared by Pope Leo to the Cardinals during the Consistory Mass HERE.

Do You Believe?

My husband and I went to see the movie Do You Believe? (Pure Flix Entertainment, 2015) a few weeks ago, so I thought I’d make a few related comments (this is not a review since I won’t get into the details of the movie but a short description is at the link in the title). The movie, which I'll call DYB? was made by the creators of God’s Not Dead (GND), which was a small budget film that was very enthusiastically received by Christian audiences and did well financially. I had liked that film too and commented on it HERE. It is basically about people who are living out their Christian faith and also about the people whom the Christians are trying to materially help and spiritually convert.

I noticed that DYB? brought in about half the proceeds of GND the first weekend, but it did exceed studio estimates, so I guess they were happy. I liked DYB? well enough, but I know it will not be appreciated by everyone. The problem with trying to film the Christian experience is that it is the experience itself that brings the meaning. It’s like a story about a happening that was actually quite interesting but falls flat in the telling: you had to be there. When the understanding of God in an individual blooms, it is under the skin, so to speak. It is lived, not watched.

I can testify that the inner life is changed with Jesus Christ. I had been brought up in Church but did not understand the fullness Christ can bring. I dropped away for a while and in my 20’s I was miserable, even though I was well-educated and well-off by worldly standards. I felt no happiness and had no hope for the future. When I accepted Christ fully, all that changed. I had identity, purpose and joy (along with the many other benefits that come with belief in God). It was like night turned to day. And in coming back to the Christian community, I have heard many similar stories.

It is natural to want this for others. We try to evaluate who is really experiencing Christ and who is not, and some cases are pretty obvious. And we try to help them spiritually. (We also try to help anyone in material need, but that's a little different.)

Many Christians continue to live out our lives the best we can, trying to show others God’s love by what we do. When we tell people about Christ, many of us do it in a loving and concerned manner. Though we falter and sin, we go to God for help to do better. In the nitty-gritty of everyday life, we try to get the ideas across. Since Christians are human, we don’t always live up to the standard. We don’t always live the life and sometimes we accuse instead of encourage.

Unfortunately, those who are affected by bad experiences become cynical and group all Christians together. Then, even when Christians simply try to state the Truth as we see it, the words are taken as harassment. Add to this mix the tendency for those who are doing wrong to not want to hear about it. You get reactions to Christians that are not likely to be kind.

That leads to the other problem with the movie: the people who were helped were either relatively charming or easy to convince. I mean “relatively” in comparison to some of the real people out there that Christians are trying to help. My husband and I have had experience in that arena, and it can be an extremely difficult business.

This actually relates to Catholics right now in the leadership of Pope Francis. One of his main messages has been for Christians to get out among the poor and help them. Now, don’t get me wrong--I am very glad for his emphasis in this area. But he hasn’t really clarified the down side--that many people want help in one way (material), but not in another (genuine acceptance of God and life changes for the better). Still, it is better to be optimistic, and the Pope promotes God's mercy--the emphasis on God's love for us and His desire for us to reconcile with Him.

For a long time, I had continual feelings of failure in my relationships with those who would not accept God. Then as I was reading one of St. Paul’s letters in the Bible, I found peace. He was talking about people who said they followed either him or another apostle. Paul said it is ultimately Jesus Christ we should all be following (1 Corinthians 1:10-17 NABRE), A little later, Paul said he and other ministers only plant the seeds and water. It is God who really causes the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6 NABRE).

It is true from my own life and for many other Christians that it took years for the Gospel to really sink in, so why should it not take time for others? We can speak from our hearts about God, but it is God who ultimately interacts with individuals at the deepest level. And then it is between each person and God whether s/he accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and repents from sin, or not.

Whether the movie, Do You Believe? is a critical or financial success, I think the production has been worth the effort. It will inspire many of the people who know exactly what it is like to try to live out a Christian faith. These persons know every attempt at urging people toward the true God is worth it, no matter the cost. And we have already experienced some of the wondrous transformations God can bring to us on the inside.

Thomas Aquinas Continued

In my last post I was talking about St. Thomas Aquinas and Catholic thinking related to him. Aquinas has had influence in many ways, but is ignored in others. I compared two specific areas: the treatment of Catholic women by the Church because of Thomas’ opinion of them, and the misuse of his name for worldviews other than his belief in direct supernatural Creationism. But I made my point about women in the last post and now I want to say something about Creationism.

In Summa Theologica, Part I, Question 91, Article 2 (New Advent website HERE), Thomas stated:

The first formation of the human body could not be by the instrumentality of any created power, but was immediately from God.

The definition of “immediately” is HERE . It means instantly and directly. Thomas again talked about direct creation by God when he discussed the creation of woman from the rib of a man in Part I, Question 92, Article 4 which can be seen HERE.

But, a 2009 Vatican-sponsored conference on evolution excluded Creationists and Intelligent Design advocates.  The organizers said we weren't scientific enough, although they are the ones ignoring science as well as the words of Thomas Aquinas.  The science is revealing biological systems way too complex to be answered by chance genetic mutations even when natural selection is factored in.

The human condition is to have all kinds of ideas bombard us from inside our heads and out. Some of these take hold and we are convinced they are true. Sometimes the ideas are right and sometimes not. As our science research discovers more and more, we are overwhelmed with facts and opinions about them. As our communications improve, we discover new religions and cultures. How do we sort it all out? It takes time and effort and discernment.

Of course, people have argued about things for a long time and for philosophers, argument is a living. But all the worldviews can be hard to learn and follow, and facts can be lost or mangled in our minds after time. Concerning the relationships between philosophy, theology, Creationism, and Intelligent Design Theory (ID), a good series of posts is by Discovery Institute's Jay Richards, "Catholics and Intelligent Design," Evolution News, April-May 2011. Even if you don’t agree with him, he is very good at explaining the situation. The fourth post has links to all previous so I will give that one link HERE. He of course emphasizes ID compared to Creationism, but much of the biology of Creationism is linked to the ID scientific theory.

The arguments in Aquinas’ day (13^th century) didn’t concern materialistic evolution but whether man was made by angels, as St. Augustine had said, or according to Aristotle’s philosophy with which Aquinas was wrangling. The Greek elements of Fire and Air seemed a more noble make-up for man than Earth and Water, the ingredients of the “Slime” which was closer to the Biblical account of God’s action. Aquinas takes his stand with the answer (also Question 91):

On the contrary, It is written (Gen 2:7): God made man of the slime of the earth.

Some of the totality of Thomas Aquinas’ thought, and it is a lot, still resonates to this day. He had a lot of detractors in his lifetime, and we can wonder if Thomas sometimes got discouraged and felt he was wasting his time.  As a matter of fact, he had a mystical experience at the end of his life, put down the pen and never wrote again.  He said then, as quoted by Brian Davies, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (1993), 9, “All that I have written seems like straw to me” (Wikipedia quote HERE).  And yet before that he used his gifts at a time when many were probably confused by the different interpretations and theories floating around in that day. He probably helped many get back to the faith or remain more solidly in it.

I’ve lately been reading Paul’s letters in the Bible and one of the things he says is:

Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with kindness….(2 Timothy 2:23-25 NABRE).

I wonder sometimes if it is worth arguing about materialistic evolution. Since science changes so much, how long will these details be relevant? But in this day when scientism (belief that science is everything) is taking over like wildfire, I think science is a good approach for conversation. It is in this way people can think about whether biological life and diversity is beyond what can possibly be formed from the other currently known forces of nature. Though biology is complex, it can be appreciated on a certain level by everyone. Like it does with so many things, the Internet grants access to biologic wonder. With video searches, people can view muscle molecules contracting, DNA being copied, and a multitude of other biological functions. Then they can ask the harder questions: could these have formed in even billions of years? Was that time enough to randomly build a house or even make a brick? Did a computer chip form out of the primordial soup? Why then does the concept of billions of years answer the question of how and why we are here?

 

Ironically because science changes so much is one reason individuals need a more solid foundation in their lives. The researcher gets old like everyone else. My suspicion is that the Theory of Evolution has led many scientists to the sad conclusion that they consist of only atoms. But their inner feelings of fear and love must be inescapable. The unchanging and absolutely necessary foundation, hard as it is to believe for the hard-driving atheistic evolutionist, is Jesus Christ.

The overriding priority of Catholics is to evangelize the Good News of the Gospels, and we must find a way to work together to carry out our commission. Sometimes I get very discouraged and heartsick about our problems in the Church, particularly the child abuse scandal. Yet I believe our new Pope is trying to reform the Church as others accomplished in previous dark times. He talks about hope which is uplifting to me.  We know our Lord Jesus has conquered evil. Thomas Aquinas would have agreed:

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth (Psalms 124:8 NABRE).

Slow Blogging

Maybe the number of blogs would prove me wrong, but from what I read it seems everything is happening on Facebook anymore these days. I have not set up a Facebook page and can't imagine ever doing it. I'm not fast enough, or don't have the endurance, or whatever it takes to keep track of what everyone is communicating all at once. I have even found the blogging to be a little heavy duty when it comes to trying to keep up with other blogging sites. When I make a comment I watch for answers, and that takes time, along with all the new posts at the sites. Now that I'm trying to go back to work, I don't know if I can continue.

I want to relate here, though, one of the insights I had in coming to believe only Jesus is the Lord. Many modern minds seem to spurn the belief that only one religion can be true. But in reading the Bible you will see that the Apostles were convinced that only Jesus was the true Lord and the way to salvation. I asked myself, why would it change? What would make the Truth of that time any different now? And the answer is, it wouldn't change. Jesus Christ is still Lord. He is still the only way to salvation and a life in heaven.

It seems very simple, but in this complicated day and age, the message gets mixed. Though I'm not on Facebook, I pray for all evangelists, and I hope that this message comes through.

Back to Christianity

I talked in a recent post about evangelism and how I always want it to be first in my life. Somehow I got back into the subject of evolution and what different viewpoints of evolution can mean to a person's faith.

I guess I keep talking about science because I was one of the students in college, a long time ago, who got sucked into eventually believing everything is made by chance from matter and energy, and that there is no God at all needed to make our universe and everything that is in it.

Though I think that is obviously a wrong argument today, my way back did not start through reason. It was because I was emotionally miserable. I had some difficult life situations as we all do, and I saw nothing to give me hope in this life, much less in any next one.

Fortunately I had been brought up with Christian training. Then, after a long time, certain events took place in my life that showed me how rich Christian love can be. Though it seems I myself decided to try to go back to the beliefs once more, I think Christ was rescuing me. I found myself healing and renewed. And the same goes for problems since then. I can be scared from life's tribulations, but I feel the Lord will pull me through.

My beliefs also meant I could accept God as Creator of life, which made more sense than chance. It also meant that love has meaning and morals have meaning. That especially has a profound influence on our lives and uplifts our spirits when we experience it. It builds up instead of tearing down.

The more I tried to believe, the more I really believed. I believe God exists, and I believe Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, part of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian creeds proclaim that we believe God made all that is seen and unseen.

It seems that faith and reason interweave. As I've said before, if we think at all, we can't help but reason. But this reasoning may be right or it may be wrong. I believe true faith, which is a mystery, gives us the underpinning for right reason. We can stand strong in faith when others attack it because Jesus Christ provides the foundation for us.

Evangelism First

My husband and I had a nice vacation to visit relatives and now that I'm back I want to put together a positive-minded post.

I have been writing regularly in my blog for several years, and wrote a mystery book and several booklets. However, I had been feeling frustrated and at a stand-still with the resistance of persons against the idea of direct supernatural creation of life by God. I don't want my writing to be all about the negative interactions I have had. I truly admire Creation and enjoy learning about it. I've written about it in those terms, not just in antagonism to those who don't agree. I had given some talks and debated with persons on the Internet (on a small scale). Some of this activity has been positive and successful. But then I got into negative debate, enough to discourage me about future success. So I took some time off and do feel better about things in general.

I hope to always serve the Lord as the priority of my life. We all have various gifts and can serve in different ways. I'm not very outgoing, yet I'd like to evangelize. I think of what I can do to tell someone about Christ by something I do or write. This includes prayer for those who are out in the field, doing the living work of telling the Good News.

I think those of us who talk about Creation care about how God is perceived. Those who insist on theistic evolution (indirect creation and evolution of life) worry that atheists will reject what they think is ignorant (even if this perception is incorrect). Those who believe in direct supernatural creation believe the discussion of it in the classroom will bring students' imaginations closer to the possibilities of God's touch and then God Himself. Young-Earth Creationists are concerned about Scriptural Truth and that people will not be turned away from it.

The theistic evolutionists also are afraid that science will suffer if we say about unknown aspects of life that "God did it." Yet we can keep on discovering life as it is, and seek knowledge for medicine and the like under the auspices of systems biology. This is what many researchers are already doing with their computer analyses of genes, proteins and other cell processes. They don't have to know how or whether something evolved to see how it works now. In fact, wrong speculation about evolution can mislead theory, such as the case of thinking that all non-coding DNA was "junk DNA." This has proven false and slowed down research in this area for many years. We need the clear theory-neutral facts, and if researchers want to speculate on theory such as evolution, they should do so in clearly marked separate sections of their paper.

Christians should want to put our solidarity in Christ at the forefront, then work out our other concerns with each other. Though science is important, evangelism for Jesus Christ is much more so. The body lasts only so long in this world, no matter how well our medicine works. The everlasting life of the soul is our more important concern. Consider the thought of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:2 (NABRE) when he says about our bodies (tents), "For in this tent we groan, longing to be furthered clothed with our heavenly habitation." Now, I very well know we want to treat children for cancer and have them live to their full earthly life-span, but Paul appreciated the greater power of God. Paul said in v. 4, "we do not wish to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life."

I want to serve the Lord in the forefront in my life.

New Evangelization

I have written about things in which I am interested besides Intelligent Design, but I think I forgot to list one of the most important--Christian evangelization. I am interested in the Catholic Church's New Evangelization, and want to learn more about it. John Paul II had talked about it in his Apostolic Letter, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (At the Beginning of the Third Millennium, Sec. 40). Benedict XVI speaks about it too (2019 Update: so does Pope Francis). My book, Unto Others, uses fictional characters to show the importance of belief in Jesus Christ.

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My husband, Thomas Carlson, and I have listed some of our books on eBay! Several years ago, Tom wrote a historical novel, Sawdust Fires, about the logging industry in Muskegon, Michigan. It's set in the late 1800's, when logging was coming to an end because of depletion of the pine forests near the Muskegon River. The lumbermen came up with audacious schemes to move their investments west. We have had very positive feedback from people who have read this book. Tom also put together many scenes of the lumbering days in a pictorial to provide a background for the novel. This is called Muskegon at the Peak of the Lumber Era. The book and pictorial are in the Muskegon County Museum which has provided a wonderful outlet for them.

I wrote a book, Mission: Faithful, about 10 years ago. Before the digital revolution, Tom and I had to print out quite a few of our first 2 novels to bring down the individual cost per book. We still have some! As I've said, we are writers, not marketers. But now is our opportunity to sell some through the Internet. And included with our eBay lot, of course, is my latest book, Unto Others. This set can be found on eBay (2019 Update: the books are no longer available on eBay). It was listed Wednesday and goes for 7 days, until Wed., Dec. 10. After that, we hope to list again soon. We'll give you the link again when we do. These books would make great Christmas presents!