A Regular Joe

Sunday, October 29, 2017

TRADING PLACES

[1]According to a 2016 Forbes article precisely 42 slots on The Forbes 400 belong to naturalized citizens who immigrated to America. That's 10.5% of the list, a huge over performance considering that naturalized citizens make up only 6% of the U.S. population. For all the political bombast about immigrants being an economic drain or a security threat, the pace of economic hyper success among immigrants is increasing. The combined net worth of those 42 immigrant fortunes is $248 billion. According to the Kauffman Foundation, immigrants are nearly twice as likely to start a new business as native-born Americans. The Partnership for a New American Economy, a nonpartisan group formed by Forbes 400 members Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg, reports that immigrants started 28% of all new businesses in the U.S. in 2011, employed one out of every ten American workers at privately owned businesses and generated $775 billion in revenue. Some of these businesses are small, of course, like restaurants and auto repair shops.[2]

Yet statistics do not tell the story of immigration. People do. Since its inception, this nation has been continually infused with the energy of newcomers. The very act of immigrating is entrepreneurial, a self-selected risk taken in an effort to better one's circumstances. It's a mind-set. “You leave everything you have and get on a plane,” says Forbes 400 member Shahid Khan. “You can handle change. You can handle risk. And you want to prove yourself.” Yet their assimilation has seldom been smooth. The challenges immigrants face today are not new, only the stories are.

By and large immigrants often fall into two baskets. Some have enough privilege to live anywhere, but see America as the place of greater opportunity. Many come to escape injustices against humanity: ethnic genocide, religious persecution, war, famine, crime, and political unrest, or they are drawn by the lure of better employment opportunities, sometimes with devastating effects. Yet the goal is often the same, hope of a better life, for themselves and their families and they are willing to sacrifice an awful lot up to obtain their dream.

Now I’m not going to pretend that there are any easy answers to the long standing debate on immigration. This issue has existed throughout all of human history. What I do know is, no matter how high you build a wall, hope will scale it, burrow under it, or find some other way around it. I know, no matter how many times we develop laws that restrict or deport a person who has tasted the fruits of hope, they will find a way back. So what do we do about it? I believe the starting point for any human reform begins with each one of us as individuals and we have scripture as our starting point.

We tend to think of the escape from Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness as the content of the book of Exodus, yet the larger theme concerns the forming of a people into the people of God. Included are an explanation about the proper way to worship and revere God, civil and criminal laws, and other exhortations about how to live in right covenant relationship. Fundamental to the behaviors expected of the people of Israel is the idea that ‘as God acts toward them they are to act toward one another.’ Today’s reading singles out the treatment of the alien, the widow and the orphan, who represent the most vulnerable people & groups in society.

In our gospel reading Jesus is, once again, tested by the scholars with the question, “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest?" You know the answer, love God with everything you have and are, AND your neighbor as yourself. How do we love an unseen God? We need to love our neighbor. How do we love our sometimes inconvenient neighbor, by loving ourselves with a healthy self-love, and so we have to ask ourselves, who is my neighbor?

The book of Exodus answers this question, ALL people are our neighbors, including those most in need, the immigrant to our country, the elderly who have lost their voice and status in the community, and the orphan, especially those who find themselves aging out of foster care with nowhere to turn. We are to treat all people with dignity and respect, as God has treated us, rescued us from our modern day slavery, and forgiven us. In other words, imitate God by doing unto others what God has done for you.[3] Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation, the Joy of the Gospel states: “Being Church means being God’s people, in accordance with the great plan of his fatherly love. This means that we are to be God’s leaven in the midst of humanity. It means proclaiming and bringing God’s salvation into our world, which often goes astray and needs to be encouraged, given hope and strengthened on the way. The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.” (EG 114)

Do you want real reform? The only way is to embrace God’s plan. We know it works. St. Paul in his praise for the Thessalonians lived faith is one such example. It’s a faith that has gone forth, transmitted from one person to another, from Thessalonica to other cities and nations. Transmitted by being a living example to others, maintaining joy and hope even in the midst of suffering. I’ve heard this said so many times, “I succeeded by my hard work, by the investment of my own blood, sweat and tears. Everyone else should do the same so that they will respect and cherish what they have, just like me.” Remember the two baskets that immigrants generally fall into? I usually hear this from the folks who now fall into the basket of the some who have enough privilege to choose, from those who have either forgotten their gifted breaks in life or those who now expect more sacrifice from others than themselves, because they’ve already paid their dues.

St. Francis de Sales gives us some practical advice on how we can begin to reform our world. He says, Put others in your place and yourself in theirs, and then treat the other the way you would like to be treated. That’s how we love God, neighbor, and self.

[2] 6 Immigrant Stories That Will Make You Believe In The American Dream Again, Forbes October 25, 2016.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

WHAT CAN A SIMPLE COIN REVEAL?

[1]“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

These are the first two sentences to the Declaration of Independence (Preamble), which I felt fitting to share as we live in the current political tension. From my vantage point, it is a time of positioning for public support through twitter & facebook messages, competing agendas, and promises of its “all about you” baby. This tension springs from party alignments and distancing, as officials reveal their vision for local and national priorities. For me, and with those of whom I have had political discussions, we find ourselves increasingly frustrated in the mixed messages, while trying to maintain alignment with our Catholic Christian values. It is exactly here, where, we enter the reality of scripture.

You’d think Jesus was running for office as His opponents approach. An odd alliance representing opposite points of view yet approaching with the same agenda, get Jesus to self-incriminate himself in his response. The Pharisees, whose power is in the synagogue opposed the paying of foreign taxes, when they first approach Jesus they try to butter Jesus up and then asked the question “Is it lawful to pay the census tax…?” (Mt 22:17) In their concern for Torah practice, “Is it lawful…” equals “Is it in line with the Torah…” Jesus “knowing their malice” calls them out “you hypocrites” and without waiting for a response, asks to see the coin. What can a simple coin reveal? Jesus’ opponents are embarrassed by their possession of the unholy Roman coin, likely produced by the Herodian’s, which would immediately put them at odds with their collaborators in challenging Jesus. Followers of the Pharisees avoided all contact with such an idolatrous object.[2] By asking them to describe the coin Jesus highlights the embarrassing evidence.

The story of Jesus and paying taxes to the Emperor is sometimes used to argue that Christians should not worry about how our religious and political duties and loyalties may conflict; how one can pay to Caesar what is due Caesar without worrying how it might take away from that which is due God. Yet the division between the secular and sacred is often a blurry line.[3]

When Jesus says we should give Caesar what is coming to him, he tells us what everyone knows. Citizens owe loyalty and obedience to their country. The government provides the safety and services that make life livable, and has the right to demand that everyone contribute to the common welfare. In the realm of law, the nation is the highest authority. But in the realm of morality, it is not. In matter of conscience, the power of the state is not absolute. When we salute the flag, we pledge allegiance to one nation under God, not the other way around.[4] The Church too must be wary. During his morning Mass on October 19th, Pope Francis told a story about a priest who demanded a father not be present at his child's baptism ceremony because he had been divorced. The pope said such a priest takes away "the key of knowledge" and "closes the door" on people. Francis said God wants his disciples to live so that they can also help "open the door" to God for themselves and for others.

Often during the election seasons I’m regularly asked by faithful people, “Why doesn’t the Church just clearly tell us how or whom to vote?” I believe she does. In a way, the Church asks Jesus’ question of us, “show me the coin…” From the beginning God has commanded us, “I, the Lord, am your God… You shall not have other gods besides me.” (Ex 20:2-3) Jesus, himself, taught us the cure to anxiety telling us, “But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness …” (Mt 6:33). He clarified forever the difference between kingdoms made on earth and the one created by God stating, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you” (Lk 17:21). In the gospel of the former tax collector, Matthew, Jesus shows us more than 50 times the way to this Kingdom that is not in a palace or above the sky or beneath the sea but “at hand” (Mt 4:17).

The Church calls us to vote by a fully informed conscience and scripture calls us to be discerning people concerning the possible conflicts between our political loyalties and our ultimate loyalty, which is to God. In our discernment, we need to be aware of the possibility that our political leaders may expect more from us than they rightfully should; demanding an absolute loyalty that rightly belongs to God alone.[5] We have been formed and informed in the ways of the sacred and the secular throughout all of history. Jesus did not make rules, but his principle stands. Our current homeland may be the United States of America, to whom we owe our pledge of allegiance. Yet our true homeland, the homeland we hope to gain when this life is done, is with God, to whom we owe everything.

What can a simple coin reveal? “Paying taxes? Petty change. Following Jesus? Priceless!”[6]

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

THE SKY IS FALLING!

As you may recall the classic fable, Chicken Little caused widespread panic when he mistook a falling acorn for a piece of the sky. The phrase "The sky is falling!" features prominently in the story, and is a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.

St. John the XXIII had to respond to Chicken Little during his pontificate. At his address at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the “prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin.” Pope John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said, “The Church has always opposed… errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity.”

Today we often hear of the gloom of the shrinking church attendance, especially among millennials, a generation greatly misunderstood, especially when it comes to religion. Millennials “are not disillusioned with tradition; they are frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of religion,” argues David Kinnaman. According to Barna Group, among young people who don’t go to church, 87 percent say they see Christians as judgmental, and 85 percent see them as hypocritical. A similar study found that “only 8% say they don’t attend because church is ‘out of date’.”[1]

Upon reflecting on this it came to mind in my military experience, college campus', and even in the church a mind set has existed that say, "I had to do this or that way, this is what was expected of me, therefore that's the way it is suppose to be and I will ensure it stays that way." With a better understanding of our merciful God, which always was, is now, and ever shall be, some just get resentful and angry.

The Lord picks up twice on Jonah’s anger point, as Jonah remains uncommitted and displeased at divine mercy toward the Ninevites. God asks: “Have you reason to be angry?” The second time at a plant of all things! Yet Jonah knows his catechism, how God is “A gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in kindness, loath to punish.” (Ex 34:6; Ps 103:8) God is saying look inside first, what is your motivation?

On his deathbed, Pope John said: “It is not that the gospel has changed; it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who have lived as long as I have…were enabled to compare different cultures and traditions, and know that the moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead.”[2]

Our challenge is to get back to the basics. We must walk the talk, we must look inside first, and it starts with the prayer most of us learned as a child, the Lord’s Prayer. this prayer is more than just words we are trained to recite, they require us to bring something to prayer. It is a call on God as Father/Creator who is holy; we must let go and ask that God’s will be done, not ours. We're asking for what we truly need—and not all the things we want. We must forgive, for we have been much blessed with forgiveness, and we're asking God to spare us from testing and falling into evil in this world.[3]

When we live this prayer, in its fullness, we can become contagious for a generation who is seeking an authentic practice of gospel values of love, forgiveness, mercy, and responding to a call to serve all God’s children.

Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church ‘cool.’ The Washington Post April 30, 2015.
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