The Search for Truth: A Self-Titled Post

I don't think it matters whether you are religious or not. The scene in John's gospel where Pilate interrogates our Lord is a chilling passage. Pilate, the Roman governor of what was considered to be a troublesome province has a beaten and bruised carpenter brought before him. This apparent rabbi is accused of blasphemy and, on the eve of the Sabbath, the Jewish leadership is calling for his execution. Not being one to easily fold to hysteria, Pilate calls this Jesus in for questioning. After a roundabout line of interrogation, Jesus finally says to Pilate, "You say I am a king- for this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.", to which Pilate responds, "What is truth?" (John 18:28-38)

Pilate asks, "What is truth?"

Pilate's final question is one that rings with me personally, and in my opinion, it stands as one the great questions of our age. Now, if you have been active in Catholic circles for more than five minutes, you have most likely been told about the relativistic culture of western society and the need for the acknowledgement of objective truths in order define our morality, our spirituality, and our very place in the world. This is true and I could write all about it, but men much smarter than I have taken up the task and it would be presumptuous of me to try and say something that has most likely been pondered and written about my many a scholar.

What I want to write about instead is something under the surface of the debate as to whether or not objective truth exists. I want to discuss why we even care. Why does it matter whether something is true or not? Why, if something is true, do you even have to share it? Finally, if there is truth in this world, how do we find it?

But first, a little background. I am a senior sociology student a George Mason University. I have spent the majority of my undergraduate career studying the various ways in which people socialize, and how those social worlds shape us and our relationships with one another and with society. I can confidently say after 4+ years in college that sociology is a largely liberal science that, in my opinion, tries all too often to fit the world into preconceived theories and worldviews developed by people who are far too interested in their own opinions to really care as to whether or not their theories truly fit. Now, I say this for two reasons. On the one hand, I've just wanted to say that about sociology forever. On the other hand, despite the flaws of its practitioners, I still have faith in sociology as a science, not because of what it has done or achieved, but because of what it seeks. As with any other science, whether it be natural or social, sociology asks the same question that Pilate asked of Jesus: "What is truth?"

You see, human beings are not simply passive creatures. We search for things. We search for love, happiness, companionship, community, fulfillment, and all other manner of seemingly abstract things. But, at the heart of every person and every question lies the desire to know oneself and to know the world one lives in. This is what we commonly call the search for the truth. We want to know fully, and we do not accept answers that we consider to be lies or half-truths. Somehow, we all know that there is a right way to live, and an answer to the question of who we are and how we relate to this world (hey look! I just disproved relativism!). So we reach out. We try to find the answers. We develop systems that lead us to truth and help us to know the answers to our deep and fundamental questions.

This is where all of our various scientific and religious endeavors enter the picture. And yes, I do truly mean both. As the late John Paul II said in his encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth". And he's right! Think about it. We have all met  people who are on either side of the spectrum. In one corner, we have the person who relies only on faith while rejecting social and scientific proofs to the detriment of his own knowledge, and in the other corner we have the staunch atheistic whack-job who relies only on quantifiable data with no belief that there could possibly be anything more that what it laid before him. Both are angry and defensive, and the irony is that the more one drifts to one end or the the other, the more he thinks that he is rational while everyone else is crazy.

So where does this dualistic notion of investigation leave us? It leaves us stranded between two camps, feeling as if we need to choose between faith or science to answer our deep and burning questions. Well here's a lifeline my dear friend. You don't need to choose!

Gregor Mendel: Father of Genetics

The Church has always said that as long as we are seeking truth, we are seeking God. In fact, that's why the Catholic Church has been the largest patron of education in all of human history, and why many of the most famous and influential scientists have been faithful Catholics. That's right, as Gregor Mendel (a monk) was developing the basic laws of genetics, he was searching the face of God. As were Roger Bacon (a friar) when he developed the scientific method, and Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc (an abbot) when he discovered the Orion Nebula. They used their reason to make great leaps in science which only deepened their faith when they sought truth in prayer and in the sacraments. These were balanced men who rose to a greater knowledge of truth through the investigation of both empirical science and religious devotion. How else can one delve into things unseen and undiscovered without faith that there is something greater than what is known?

Now, many atheists will say that the Church is against science. To that I blow an enormous and audible raspberry. I challenge them to look up the lives of the men I mentioned above as well as this list for more information. The most famous objection, of course, is the fact that Galileo was forced to recant his findings by the Church. They will also mention that the Church never officially apologized to Galileo until 1992. To that I say, our bad for the mix up, now get over it. We had bigger and more important things to worry about than Galileo's feelings.

The point is, don't be discouraged by factions of atheists and religious alike who would tell you that you must choose between religion and science, between faith and reason. In order to truly find ourselves and answer the deep questions of our hearts we need both. We need to understand how the world works. It has the potential to increase our faith in a Creator who put so much detail in the universe to be discovered and investigated. However, we have to have an understanding that we are not the be all end all. There is a God who has put within us a desire to know truth; to know him. We can have faith in a God that reveals his own beauty and intricacy in understandable and quantifiable ways while still expanding beyond them into infinity. Hopefully with our faith and reason developed and unfolded, we can answer Pilates inquiry and point to what is really true and what is really good.

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
God, Father in Heaven, bless us

Boys Will Be Boys...

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about gun violence. The tragedy in Aurora, CO, and the most recent incident in Newtown, CT have left people reeling and have resulted in everything from a call for a stricter set of rules on gun ownership to more widespread access to public mental health care. All of these are legitimate points of view, and this issue must be handled with care in order to protect our children, our freedoms, and indeed, our country.

This post is not meant to address gun control or mental health. I am not calling for stricter or looser gun control, nor am I supporting either side of the gun issue. What I hope to point out is a disturbing trend that I think is being overlooked by many experts, and goes beyond the simple issue of who can or cannot buy a gun. I think that the violence that we are seeing is a symptom of a more fundamental issue that we in the western world are afraid to address.

The fact is that in every major incident of violence in the last ten years, at least every one that has been widely publicized, the perpetrators have been young males in their late teens to mid-twenties. This is a significant statistic given that, according to mentalhealth.org, when it comes to mental illness, even violent mental illness, women are diagnosed and treated almost twice as frequently as men (29% percent as opposed to 17%).

This would suggest that there is another factor that supersedes mental illness that pushes these men to violence. And lets be honest, there is no shortage of disadvantages presented to boys and young men in today's society.  Over 40% of American children have parents who are divorced, and 20-25% of those kids show signs of not dealing well with the change. Of single parents with kids under 18, 85% are single mothers with children who do not have regular contact with their fathers, and 45% of those women were never married in the first place. Considering these statistics as well as the fact that boys are more likely to be physically and/or sexually abused, we start to see a frightening picture of the context in which our boys are growing up.

But even all of these factors do not fully account for the fact that all the major school violence incidents have been perpetrated by young men. There remains one major detail that is overlooked more than any other. In our post-modern pharmacological society WE ARE NOT LETTING OUR BOYS BE BOYS.  In fact, we're trying to turn our boys into girls.

Now, before you get on my case about somehow being sexist, think about it.  All the behaviors that young boys exhibit that distinguish them from their female classmates are being forcibly suppressed. Whether it be rougher play, tactile exploration, louder volumes, higher levels of energy, or even playing with trucks and guns over dolls and princesses, we are taking healthy behavior and telling our young boys that its wrong.

Don't believe me? Let's look at the facts. As of 2010, 52 million children aged 3-17 were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 12% of all of boys in the United States were diagnosed similarly. Most if not all of these were prescribed Ritalin. We're also prescribing antidepressants to boys as early as preschool nearly 400% more frequently than just a few years ago. Not to mention the myriad of other drugs such as Aderol being used by adolescents to focus, as well as the increasing amounts of human growth hormone (HGH) in the water and our meat. This heavy drug influx has been connected to rising rates of suicide among teens and young adults as well as deepening depression throughout life.

So answer me this: Is there really a problem with all of these children, or are we simply finding a problem just because we have looked for one? I don't think these boys are disordered. I think they are just being boys.

We have also seen a trend among parents today who are trying to change the behavior of their children through negative reinforcement of what they call "gendered behavior". All of this is in the attempt to stop our children from being "forced" into gender roles in our society, but it runs the risk of doing away with any gender identity at all. This is not a good thing, and it does not work in the long run.

Take, for example, the story of David Reimer, who was raised as a girl after a botched circumcision. His parents followed the ideas of sociologist, Dr John Money, who thought that nurture was more powerful than nature, and that boys could be raised as girls if the parents so chose. He was wrong. David, raised Brenda, still thought, acted, played, and reasoned as a boy, despite the use of sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery.  He did eventually began to live as a man of his own volition, but tragically committed suicide at the age of 38. As it turned out, the majority of Dr Money's subjects who underwent the same process ended their lives as well.

Now, I admit, this is an extreme example, but there are still parents who encourage their little boys to dress as girls and to do more feminine things, and when the other children at school notice, they are taken aside and told that they need to be comfortable with this choice.

Only genderless person I've ever seen... Just sayin'

Now here is where I may make my sociology professors angry. I'm here to say that this way of living and raising your children is ill-conceived. Boys are boys. Period. Their masculinity, however juvenile, is not simply some external characteristic that can be changed willy-nilly. Nor is it some state of mind that can be adjusted with the right mix of drugs and negative reinforcement. Their gender is not socially constructed. In fact, the fact that they are genetically XY penetrates every aspect of their being, from their brain chemistry and how rough they play, to how they relate with others and what kinds of things they will eventually come to enjoy or despise.

So, instead of trying to intervene and stopping our children from identifying or acting out who they are as young boys, we actually make a concerted effort to invest in our children and actually show them what it means to be a real man. I would be willing to bet that those poor souls who took the live of others or their own lives in acts of gun violence in Connecticut or Colorado didn't have the kind of positive support from male role models that they needed. Maybe they were mentally unbalanced, but how were they helped? Were they encouraged and told that they were cared about, or were they simply given drugs with no other type of support? We can't simply blame teachers or cruel classmates. Nor can we look at young boys who are acting out as being diseased. We need positive male role models who will man up and teach their children what it is to be a man and deal with their problems.

Away with this pablum of a gender neutral society. Show what it is to be a man in service to others. Show what it is to develop virtue not only towards others, but in relation to oneself. Encourage other men to invest in people and help them to grow. It doesn't matter if they are your own age or if they are a child. Take the time to develop your own masculinity by helping someone else develop theirs. We can only speculate, but I bet those gunmen would have benefited from such a simple act of love. Hopefully we can take steps toward preventing such acts in the future.

St Joseph, model of manliness, pray for us
God in Heaven, bless us

...And We're back!

I seem to do this a lot. I post regularly for the duration of a series of action-packed posts, and then I forget that this little community exists. It's not that I have nothing to say. It's certainly not that I have no thoughts or haven't got anything of substance to share. I simply forget. For that I apologize and hope that we can keep strolling along.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving (last night)! I hope you all had a wonderful night and are slowly recovering from your wine and turkey stupors.

 I wanted to comment on an odd phenomenon that I noticed as I sat on my couch this past Wednesday, allowing myself to forget about the responsibilities of life and class for awhile. I was sitting there, beginning the 24 hour Turkey-Fast, and I turned on the television. I was supremely enjoying this particular episode of The Big Bang Theory, when a series of commercials came on about Black Friday.

One in particular caught my eye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxCBmZFROBw

Now that we've both watched it, lets set aside the annoying in-your-face-ness of the whole add in order to penetrate to the deeper problems. First and foremost, apparently our material culture has just done away completely with the facade of giving and selflessness that the hliday season brings. What this commercial expresses to me is the idea that giving is simply an obligation that can be offset (thank goodness!)  by the opportunity to buy for oneself. Check out the line at the 13 second mark on the video. The song says, "Check out the price of this new flat-screen. I'll buy it for Phil, but it's also for me". Giving is being represented as a practice of self-serving. What this spot is telling us is that the holiday season is not simply a time to give. That's just something you HAVE to do. What you REALLY want is to buy for yourself. You just need the opportunity. Thank goodness for Black Friday!

The second problem with this spot is a little more difficult to spot, but troubling nonetheless. If you look at the time that the sale starts, you will see that the sale starts at 9pm Thursday, and Target is not the only one. Walmart started their sale at 8pm, and a bunch of stores, including Old Navy and Best Buy, started their sals at midnight. And what's the problem, you may ask. The sales start after dinner, so what's the harm of extending Black Friday into Thanksgiving night. Well, let's think for a second. If people really only get the best deals if they line up for hours, and if these lines really start forming 12 or more hours in advance, then the question must be asked: What about Thanksgiving?

For a moment, let's set aside the fact that celebration of the Christmas Season is still more than a month away. Let's even put aside the fact that Advent, the period of waiting for the Nativity at Christmas doesn't begin until December 2nd. Let's look past every other issue to the fact that our own level of cultural materialism is at such a height that Black Friday, the Olympics of Capitalism, has begun to encroach upon the one day a year that we set aside in order to give thanks for what we have. The opportunity that we all take to spend with our families and thank God for the blessings in our lives is being pushed aside so that we can all go out and BUY! The irony is daunting. If you need a second to take a breath, please, join me...

...Good, now that we're back, I feel the need to clarify. I am not condemning  those who buy for themselves, nor am I casting judgement on those who put on or attend sales on Thanksgiving night. I am simply pointing out a frightening cultural phenomenon that needs highlighting.

In fact, I have a solution to propose. As late as this post comes, I suggest saving the Black Friday shopping for after midnight. Don't leave your house until it's actually Friday morning! If you want to stay up all night, that's your business, but I urge you, forego the door-busters and spend time with your families. It doesn't matter whether you are a married man, a teenager, or simply and adult child. The fact is, we need our families, and opportunities to spend time together as a family unit are becoming more and more rare. Cherish the time.

I also suggest only buying a handful of things for yourself. I do not condemn you in any way for wanting to get things for yourself, the deals are crazy! But i beg you, take the opportunity to actually buy gifts for your loved ones. The deals and goods are being served to you on a silver platter. Use them to help you grow in generosity. Trust me. It's a good thing.

My prayer is that we can all begin to extricate ourselves from this culture of materialism. We need to understand that none of these things are evil on their face, but that they have the potential to overcome the positive times in our lives if we let them. Most of all, let's all remember that we are supposed to be self-giving in love, and that Christ is our model and our goal. may God bless us this holiday season

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us!
God, Father in heaven, bless us!

In the Garden

Today is Holy Thursday, the day that Lent comes to a close and the Easter Triduum begins. All of our prayer, fasting, and alms giving has led to this moment. In the fullness of time, our Lord came down to earth to do battle with evil; a battle that begins today. We enter into the Paschal Mystery by celebrating the longest and holiest mass of the year, beginning with the opening hymns of the Holy Thursday mass and culminating in the Resurrection of our Lord a the Easter Vigil.

Jesus and his disciples have just come from the Last Supper,  and are walking through the night to the Mount of Olives. They are on edge, and for good reason. Everything about this night has been a little off. Jesus has acted as a slave, bowing down to wash their feet (Jn 13:1-20). He has prayed aloud for the church (Jn 17). He has foretold his own betrayal by Judas, and told Peter that, before cock crows  he will have denied knowing Jesus three times. Most importantly, they have celebrated the Passover meal, but in a new way. Jesus gave them the bread said, but he said that it was his body, and he called the chalice his blood, the blood of the new covenant. Then, before the Passover meal was over, they leave the house. Nobody ever left the house during Passover.

Jesus leads them down through the Kidron Valley, calling to mind the words of Psalm 23:4, “Though I walk through the dark valley I shall fear no evil”. Jesus is going out to do battle. Exodus 12:22 says that that nobody should leave the house during Passover, lest they fall victim to the angel of death. Jesus is leaving on purpose to meet the ancient serpent, the angel of death, to win back our freedom. And, in an act of total defiance, he sings. We know from scripture that only the victorious sing. Only those who have one the great battle...

Jesus leads them into the Garden of Gethsemane, as was his custom. He tells them to sit and pray, while he takes Peter, James, and John a short distance away to pray and keep watch. He then falls prostrate on the ground and begins to pray fervently. The prayer is so intense that the blood vessels in his forehead burst, and his sweat becomes like drops of blood. This condition is called hematidrosis, and is only experienced by a person in times of extreme stress. Jesus then utters his most famous prayer, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will”.  He urges his apostles to stay awake so that they do not undergo the the test, but he gives them their rest anyway. In this way he cares for the Church, his future bride, as he fights for her heart. (Matt 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:39-46)

Jesus is fully God and fully man, and as such, he can fully understand what is happening to him this moment. He is taking on the full reality of sin. Every sin that has ever been committed or is going to be committed is being laid on Jesus in that instant. As God, he can see, feel, and know the weight and suffering of every single one of those innumerable sins. Imagine the guilt that you have felt after any one sin that you commit. Now, imagine if you can what it must be like to take on every single sin of ever single person throughout human history. Is it any wonder that Jesus, in his humanity, cries out to his Father in heaven to take the suffering away? Would we not beg and plead to make the suffering stop? But, unlike us, Jesus is also fully God. In that moment he is able to die to himself fully and completely, and say to God “not my will, but yours be done”(Lk 22:42). In this moment, the battle for mankind, Jesus’ Passion, has begun.

And so they come, Judas and the temple guards, to arrest Jesus. He knows that they are coming. From where he was on the Mount of Olives, it is possible to see a lit match from two mile away. Knowing what he does, he does not hide. Nor does he wait for them to find him. He goes out to meet them (Jn 18:4). When he sees them he asks them who they are looking for. This isn't out of curiosity. Jesus is challenging them to name the one they came for. Instead of simply saying, “You”, they say “Jesus of Nazareth” (Jn 18:5). Their hearts, darkened by sin cannot perceive Jesus. So Judas, the betrayer, kisses Jesus to signify who they should arrest. The Lover of All is betrayed by an intimate sign of affection.

Jesus, tells them, “I AM.”, and the guards fall to ground. This is the seventh and final I AM statement in the gospels. They move to arrest Jesus and he tells the guards to let his disciples go (Jn 18:8). As a result, his apostles flee. This is to fulfill what is said in Leviticus 16:17, that the one who is making atonement must be alone. He is also fulfilling what he said earlier, that none of those given to him would be lost (Jn 6:39, 10:28, 17:12).

Jesus demonstrates that he is in control of everything. He may be taken prisoner, he may be beaten, he may be insulted, spit upon, and led to his death, but he is pulling the strings the whole time. Indeed, he says 'Do you not think I can call upon my Father, and he will not provide me at this moment with six legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say it must come to pass in this way" (Mt 26:53-54; Mk 14:53-65; ).

Jesus is taken to before a hastily assembled council. Here, in the middle of the night, dozens of false witnesses present themselves to testify against him. Their testimonies fall short and contradict each other. Through all of this, Jesus sits quietly. He is in control. It is not until he is ordered under oath to reveal himself that he chooses to speak up. He reveals that he is the Son of man who will be seated at the right hand of Power in Heaven. Jesus, in his true testimony, reveals himself and seals his own fate. He is taken away to a cell overnight. in the morning, he is to face Pilate, the one who has the power to condemn him to death.

Over the next few days, Jesus will walk the lonely road to Calvary to prove his love. He will contend with death and come out victorious.  Every step of the way looks like a defeat, but he is moving closer and closer to his victory.

Do we stay awake with Jesus? Do we do what we can to help him carry his burden, or do we run? Worse yet, are we the ones who betray him with a kiss? Over the next few days, pray for the strength that we do not fall in face of the test. Let us look upon the Paschal Mystery of Jesus with love and adoration, knowing that it is through his stripes we are healed.

Joseph, model of manhood, pray for us
God, Father in heaven, bless us

A Spy Among Us

Holy Wednesday, or Spy Wednesday, is the day that Judas Iscariot went to the Pharisees and made the deal with them to hand Jesus over.

It says in scripture, that Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to chief priests and offered to turn Jesus in to them. In Matthew’s account, Judas asks them “what are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” (Matt 26:15). They agree to give him 30 pieces of silver, and from that moment on it says that Judas was looking for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them. (Matt 26: 14-16; Mk 14: 10-11; Lk 22: 1-6)

Even though this is short passage, there is a lot to be gleaned. You will remember that it has been made clear on many different occasions that the chief priests and scribes were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus and put him to death. In many cases, the only thing that stopped them was their fear of the crowds for they regarded Jesus "as a prophet" (Mt 21:46). The disciples, including Judas, must have been aware of their schemes. Judas, however, did not hate Jesus. He had followed him for three years and became one of Jesus' closest friends.On the contrary, it goes on to say in Matthew’s gospel that Judas asks the Pharisees, “what are you willing to give me if I hand him [Jesus] over to you?”. Judas is not motivated by hatred, but rather by greed.

The elders agree to give Judas 30 pieces of silver. It is often overlooked that this is not an expensive price at all. 30 pieces of silver was the same price noted in Zechariah 11:12 as being the price paid to the rejected shepherd. In the next verse, 30 pieces of silver is referred to as “a cheap price”. It is also the same amount paid to one who’s slave has been gored by an ox (Ex 21:32). Jesus was being sold for the price of a slave. He, the true rejected shepherd, was being sold for the same amount paid to a shepherd with no flock.

This says a lot about Judas. He was motivated by avarice and insatiable greed, and not by any hatred for Jesus or his teaching. This was not something new. In John’s account of the anointing at Bethany, we hear that he used to steal from the money bag, and now we see that his sin of greed has completely overcome him. It brings him to the point where any amount of money is worth handing over his master. In Matt 6:24, Jesus says that a man cannot serve God and money. Judas illustrates this point painfully well.

Our Lord is not ignorant of any of this. In all four gospels, Jesus announces during the Passover meal that one seated among them is to betray him. He also lays out a warning, saying woe to that man, and it would better had he never been born. The apostles are shocked, and begin to ask Jesus one by one if they are the one that is going to do it. Judas is the last to ask, and Jesus tells him "You have said so" (Mt 26:25). Our Lord then chooses to reveal prophetically the identity of the betrayer. In Luke, Jesus says that the one whose hand is with his on the table is the betrayer. Matthew and Mark both say that it is the one who dipped his hand into the dish with Jesus. John says that it is the one to whom Jesus hands the morsel after he has dipped it (Jn 13:26). Regardless, Jesus emphasizes the idea that the betrayer is someone who he shares table fellowship with. The betrayer is someone who is close to him; a person who is like family to him.  He then looks Judas in the eye and tells him "what you are going to do, do quickly" (Jn 13:27). (Mt 26:20-25; Mk 14:17-21; Lk 22:21-23; Jn 13:21-30)

So, Judas leaves, into the night, to alert the temple guards of their opportunity to arrest Jesus. He leads them to the Mount of Olives, a place Jesus has often gone to pray. He meets Jesus and greets him with a kiss, a sign of love and affection that has now become a sign of betrayal. The Passion of our Lord begins through a disordered and dishonest expression of love. Only at this point does Judas realize what he has done. he tries to return the money to the Pharisees in an attempt to but Jesus back. They reject his offer, and taking a rope, Judas hangs himself in his despair (Mt 27:3-10)

What masters do we serve instead of our Lord? Do we put money on too high of a pedestal? What does it take for us to sell out Jesus in our jokes and conversations? Do we despair in our sins and reject the forgiveness of Jesus. Let us pray for the true devotion to give Jesus our best instead of selling him short in our daily lives. Let us pray to put him first and refuse to let other things get in the way.

Joseph, model of manhood, Pray for us
God, Father in heaven, Bless us