The problem with "Amazing Grace"

At Mass today, we heard the Gospel where Our Lord healed the blind man Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52).   Because of that I feel, the song "Amazing Grace" was chosen to be sung during the Procession of Gifts.   One of the lines from that song is " was blind but now I see", so one can see the connection between the Gospel reading and that hymn.
There is some controversy over whether this hymn should be sung at Catholic Masses, for several reasons.  For one thing, it is a Protestant hymn,  written by a Protestant minister.  One line reads "that saved a wretch like me".  This is not a Catholic understanding of the human person.  Humans are good because they are created by God, we are not wretches!   Yes, we have been tainted by Original Sin, and because of that, we are prone to what is called "concupiscence ", which means our lower appetites are overriding our sense of reason.  This, however, does not make us wretches; humans are still good, despite being subject to sin, and in need of redemption by Christ.
Another line reads " how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed."    However, grace is a free, unmerited gift of God, it does not come as a result of our action, which this line seems to indicate it does.  Often you will hear our Protestant brothers and sisters talking about how they received salvation after accepting Christ as their Savior.  Unfortunately, often when this gets discussed, the focus is as much on the action of the person as it is the grace of God as if the two are connected, and one is conditional on the other.  It is not.

Those are some of the traditional arguments against this song being sung in a Catholic church.  For some reason, today, I felt uncomfortable singing the song, but not for those reasons.  Instead, here is what I realized today.

Number of times the following words are used in the hymn:

I       5
Me   3
My   4
Mine 1

God 1
Lord 1
He 1
His 1
(Jesus or Christ) 0

Total words relating to "me"  13
Total words relating to God  4

The fact that the song seemed to dwell so much on me and not as much on God is what bothered me the most, I think.  I have sung that song many times before and it never occurred to me how human-centered that song is.  One could say that "grace" refers to God, and the song mentions that several times.  OK, but if that is the case, why is it not capitalized?  Why is that name used for God when it is not in the Bible?  It is a gift from God, but it is not God.

There a lot of hymns that are sung at Mass, like this one, that probably should not be.  We need to pay attention to what we are doing at Mass, and singing the hymns is no exception.  If what we are singing is not rooted in sound Catholic doctrine, then the hymn should be replaced with another hymn, or better yet (in my opinion), sacred silence, or an instrumental rooted in the great Classical tradition, which is rooted in Catholic culture.

One of the lines in the litany to Saint Joseph is "solace of the wretched."  One might say, "Hey, that word is in the Litany, why should it not be in a hymn as well?"   I would propose that there is an important distinction between being "wretched" and being a "wretch".  The word "wretched" implies something that describes us, but does not identify us.  The word "wretch", on the other hand, seems to identify us.  This is a subtle distinction, but an important one.
Distinctions are important in Catholic theology.  We distinguish between person and act (i.e. we love the person who is considered by himself and/or others as a homosexual, but we do not approve homosexual acts.)  We distinguish between mortal and venial sin.  We distinguish between sanctifying and actual grace (a topic for another post).   There are other examples, but you get the drift.  Sometimes this what seems like minor distinguishing, or nitpicking,  drives non-Catholics crazy, and they give up trying to understand the teachings of the Church, or make generalizations without really studying the issue (i.e. they say there is no difference between divorces and annulments, and that an annulment is just a Catholic divorce).
Back to our main point for this post, it might seem we are like nitpicking.  However, words mean things, and as it is said sometimes, "God is in the details.", and we have to study the details of things if we are to come to a proper understanding of them.  Doing this will allow us to shine the light on things like this hymn, and discover their truth or falsehood.

I hope one will consider this all the next time one hears Amazing Grace sung at Mass, and will develop a keen ear when listening to other hymns, as well.

Saint Joseph, light of Patriarchs, and solace of the wretched, pray for us.

The Synod on the Family

There is so much reporting and analysis  in Catholic media these days about the gathering of Bishops from around the world to discuss family life, otherwise known as the Synod on the Family.   I have never seen anything generate so much discussion in the life of the Church since I have been practicing my Faith, something I have done regularly for 25 years or so now.   Whenever there has been a Papal election, that has been close, but the fact that this Synod was discussed before it happened, that it does not happen often, that it will last nearly a month, that afterward, the Holy Father is expected to issue a formal teaching document, known as a post-synodal exhortation, and that controversial things like communion for the divorced and remarried, as well as the acceptance of same-sex "marriage" by many today, are expected to be discussed in the Synod and possibly in the exhortation afterward, all of these have factored into the reasons why there is such exhaustive coverage on Catholic TV, Catholic websites, Facebook, Twitter, you name it.
I myself have been paying attention to it, checking in daily for a few minutes.  There have been, among other things, rumblings of Bishops threatening to walk out in protest of the process , Bishops concerned with translation issues, and concerns expressed by certain media members about the information being given to them by the official Vatican media personnel.   I think there are valid concerns, and some anxiety is justified.
A few points are in order here, I think.   The Catholic definition of a Synod is "an ecclesiastical gathering under hierarchical authority, for the discussion of matters relating to faith, morals, or discipline."  (emphasis mine).   It is NOT a gathering to discuss science, politics, or sociology.  It ideally is a gathering to discuss and develop rich theological understanding, in this case, of the family.  There should be discussion of morality in family life.  How do parents act morally towards their children and vice versa?  How does a husband act morally towards his wife and vice versa?  What is the meaning of the family in God's plan?  How does it image God?   How does it image the Church?  What are the Biblical and theological underpinnings of the Catholic understanding of the family?  Only after all that and more is discussed, only then can sociological and political elements relating to the family be discussed, if need be, as it relates to how the theological understanding of the family is lived out.   However, that should absolutely not be the dominant conversation in a Synod.  Many fear that unfortunately it is, and perhaps they are right.  Too much sociology and political science is discussed, and not enough theology.
This Synod will produce a body of writing that will be given to the Holy Father for advisement.  Some are understandably worried that this summary will not accurately reflect what was discussed as the ones putting it together perhaps could be biased towards certain sociological or theological views of the family that might not be what others have.  There are language and translation issues, of course, as well.  The bottom line is that most likely an imperfect summary of the discussion will be presented to the Holy Father for his consideration.  However, it appears he is attending a fair amount of the discussions himself, so perhaps it is not as big a deal as it might be.
The Pope is then free to do as he wishes.  He can ignore the document, he can read it and do nothing, or he can read it, and then make some decisions or put together a teaching document for the Church based off that, as well as his experience of the Synod overall, and his personal prayer, study, and pastoral experience.  I suspect he will do the final thing, and put together some sort of post-synodal teaching document as previous Popes have done on topics such as Evangelization (Paul VI) , Sacred Scripture (Benedict XVI), or the Church in Asia/America/Africa (John Paul II).

Now, here is what we are dealing with.  Remember, the Synod deals with matters relating to three things;  1) faith, 2) morals, and 3) discipline. 
Now, the Church teaches that the Pope, and Bishops, when they are teaching in union with him, have the charism of infallibility when they are teaching about those first two matters, faith and morals.  They are guaranteed to not teach things that are false (if a Bishop decides to go against the Holy Father, obviously he loses that charism for that teaching moment.)   Therefore, we do not have to worry about false teaching coming out of this Synod; nothing contrary to faith and morals can officially come out of this Synod.  Therefore, I believe, there is no way one should worry about the Synod encouraging legal recognition for same-sex "marriages" or that someone who is divorced and remarried could receive Holy Communion without an annulment.
However, the third matter that this Synod can discuss, discipline, is NOT given the same charism of infallibility.  So, for example, the Synod could decide to change the process of getting an annulment.  They could decide to change the marriage prep process requirements.  They could decide to get out of the civil marriage business all together, and decide to no longer be official witnesses for state-validated marriages.  All of these are discipline matters, not directly tied into faith or morals.  Therefore, since they do not have the gift of infallibility in this area, they could make wrong decisions in this area that could harm the family.  That is where the real anxiety should be, that is where the prayers are the most needed.  

So, who else better to turn to for intercession for the Synod than Saint Joseph?  Why?  Because he is a man of the family AND a man of the Church.  
In the litany to Saint Joseph, we see many titles that pertain to the family
-Renowned offspring of David
-Spouse of the Mother of God
-Foster father of the Son of God
-Head of the Holy Family
-Glory of home life
-Pillar of families
And we also see a title that pertains to the Church.
-Protector of Holy Church

So, in this time, when the Church is focused on the family, let us turn to Saint Joseph to intercede that only 100% good will come out of this Synod.

Saint Joseph, pray for us in our time of our need.

Meeting The Vicar of Christ

I was given the great grace to be able to attend the Holy Father's Mass in Philadelphia last weekend, thanks to a family member who lives in that area and who got a hold of an extra ticket through his parish.  Words cannot begin to do justice to what it was like to be there, and see him in person.  We got to see him ride very close to us in his Popemobile on his way to the Mass, as you can see in the attached picture.   It made the five hour wait, and the two hour line through security that proceeded it, worth it.
It is too personal to reveal everything this visit meant to me, and I apologize if you were looking for more personal reflections on it.  I feel everyday since a deeper meaning has been revealed to me, and I feel this event will have an impact on me for a long time to come.

The Holy Father has an impossible job.   He is being asked to do what only the Lord can do.  Only the Lord can build His Church.  Only the Holy Spirit can unite people.   Only around Jesus can true community be built.  The Pope, in other words, is asked to do what only God can do.
Wait, you say, that is impossible.
Exactly.
The Pope is known as the Vicar of Christ.   A "vicar", according to the dictionary,  is "a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting 'in the person of' or agent for a superior.  The Pope acts in the person of Christ.  He does not merely have Christ living in him as all baptized Christians do.  He does not merely reveal Christ; in a true sense, he IS Christ.  
Wait, you say, that is impossible.
Exactly.

What a personal and spiritual anguish that must be, every day to get up and be asked to do the impossible.   No wonder Pope Francis asks everyone whom he meets to pray for him. 
It must get very lonely for him.  No one else on Earth is asked to do what he is, to be Christ's representative as superior of the Church.  He has many supporters, many friends, and many prayers, but in the end, when the dust settles, he is alone with the Lord in his decision making, in the depths of his soul as he seeks to carry out the impossible.   His smile is heavenly, but at times, perhaps it is faked, and deep down he is in anguish.  I do not know.
Being the Holy Father has always been hard down through the centuries due to the impossible demands on the person who occupies the office.  There have been Popes who have struggled during times of great world war; I think, for example, of Pius XII who had to work to save his fellow believers in Yahweh, while at the same time balancing that need with the need to not further incense the Nazis and cause even greater harm to an even larger amount of people.  How much anguish he must have suffered!   There are Popes who have lived during times when Christians were martyred, during times of famine, during times of rebellion in the Church, during times of attack on the Papal States, just to name a few.  
Well, our present Holy Father, Pope Francis, is living through all of this and more.   Christians are being martyred today.   Morality is being challenged; people all over are questioning, like Pilate, "what is truth"?  Traditional societal beacons like the family are being attacked.  There is rebellion in the Church.  There are wars, terror, and disunity all over the world, and yes, in the Church.  
In his actions and words, he is seeking to counter all this, to bring people together to unite in Jesus Christ, who fully reveals what it means to be human.   I feel so much for him as he tries to do what I consider an impossible task, to unite a broken world, and yes, a broken Church.  This Holy Father is trying his hardest to bring unity to the Church, and to the world.  

It is making me wonder.  Benedict XVI seemed to speak of a smaller, but more zealous Church, in the future.  I wonder if this Holy Father shares this vision; I do not think he does.  I think he is trying to cast a "wide net", and unite and bring as many people into the flock under the Shepherd as possible.  He addresses all people on the different ends of the spectrum;  for example,  he speaks and befriends persons with homosexual tendencies, and at the same time, he does the same with people who stand up for traditional marriage.  He spends time and embraces the poor, but also the rich, and everyone in between.  He extols traditional marriage and family values, but also goes out of his way to say that the divorced, even if they are remarried, are welcome in the Church.
My personal feelings about the future of the Church lie more with Benedict's vision, that the Church will likely not grow in number, but that it will become smaller, but more faithful and zealous.  I admire so much what Francis is trying to do, at least in my eyes, and that is to grow the Church.  I feel, unfortunately though, that  he is not going to be successful.  
Think of what transpired over the past few days; he meets with someone who stands by her view on the family, and many who were with him seemed to have turned against him.  Likewise, he speaks his views on scientific matters like climate change, and people who are normally with the Vicar of Christ turned against him. 
I think he is trying to cast a wide net, but the net, I do not sense, is catching a lot of fish.   For example, I do not see any evidence that more people are going back to Church since he became Pope.   A lot of talk happened during and after this past weekend that people may consider going back, may consider practicing their Faith again,  as a result of his visit, but I have a wait and see attitude on that one.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I admire so much our Holy Father and what he is trying to do, but I do not think he will be successful.  It breaks my heart to say that because I love him so much.   I pray that he recalls the words of Blessed Mother Theresa that we are not called to be successful, but faithful, and I believe personally Francis is doing just that, but only God can judge now and in the end.

Saint Joseph's life was not about success, but faithfulness.  He never was rich.  He never was comfortable, he seemed to always be on the move.   He had to work by the sweat of his brow all his life.  And he never had sexual relations with a woman (which is kind of the goal of most men if you think about it).
Yet, Joseph was faithful, and that was the important thing, and that is why he is a Saint, and continues to work in heaven for us (I am sure the work is more enjoyable now).
Our Holy Father's joy and peace, like that of Joseph, must come from faithfulness, more so than success.  He must be faithful, as Joseph was, to what the Lord asks of Him.  If he does that, he can smile genuinely, not just externally, but in his soul, despite what those on different cultural, theological, and political persuasions might say about him.  We must answer his call to pray for him as he seeks to do an impossible job.

During his visit, the Holy Father made a surprise visit to Saint Joseph's University.  I don't want to read too much into the fact that the place he chose was named after Saint Joseph, but for the sake of this blog, why not?  Joseph is the patron of the Universal Church.  He supports the entire Church.  No other human being, alive or in heaven, can claim that title as a supporter of the entire Church.  The Holy Father, who as the Vicar of Christ, is the acting head of the Church so-to-speak, absolutely needs the intercession of one who can support the entire Universal Church. 

Saint Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for the Holy Father, and pray for us.

Thank you, Holy Father, for visiting me.