Be fruitful and multiply, Part One

I have hinted a few times in this blog that I feel that the dwindling size of the population is at the root cause of so many of our societal problems today, not just here in the United States, but throughout the world.   It is also causing issues in the Church.  I believe that in addition to being an economic issue, it is also a moral and spiritual one, and that is why I feel it appropriate to discuss this in a Catholic blog.   To be honest, I do not hear this discussed much in other Catholic forums.  I think this issue needs to be discussed more in Catholic circles, and it might be good to hear about it once in a while from the pulpit, as well.   And quite honestly, if one hears anything, one often hears the opposite argument, that we have too many people.   However, I do not believe that is an issue at all, and I believe quite strongly we have the opposite problem.

To begin with, here are some facts.

1)      In 2016, the birthrate of the United States was 12.50.    Out of 226 countries, the United States ranked 159^th.  This is the lowest since before World War II.  

2)      Other major industrial countries had even lower birth rates than the United States.   The following notable countries had lower birthrates than the United States in 2016; China, France, Norway, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia,  Thailand, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Canada,  Poland, Spain, Portugal,  Italy, Germany, Greece,  North and South Korea, Japan. (Japan ranked 224’th!)

3)      When the birthrates remain real low, the population cannot stable itself and goes into reverse.  This will happen in America starting in the next few years, experts say.  It is already happening in European and Asian countries.   Between what is happening here, and overseas,   I heard someone say today there are 300,000 less Italians on the earth than there were this time last year.  I would not be surprised if the same could not be said about the Irish, the German, or the French.

4)      The majority of the top 50 countries on the list with the highest birthrates are in Africa and the Middle East.    Countries that were on the President’s travel ban rank all have higher birthrates than the United States.   Somalia ranks 8^th.  Afghanistan ranks 11^th.  Yemen ranks 43^rd. Sudan ranks 44^th.    Syria ranks 75^th.  Iran ranks 103^rd. 

If the United States and other industrial nations supposedly have the best healthcare, the best infrastructure, the best food supply, than why are we not growing?  Why are countries that find themselves on terrorist watch lists finding it easier to grow?  I think we have to ask ourselves some tough questions here.   Why is this the case?  What is going to happen if we continue down this road?  How can we reverse this trend?

Before we continue any further, let us lay out some papal teaching on this issue.   Saint John Paul II said the following in his 1987 encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, which dealt with the development of people.    One must immediately add that in the northern hemisphere the nature of this problem is reversed: here, the cause for concern is the drop in the birthrate, with repercussions on the aging of the population, unable even to renew itself biologically. In itself, this is a phenomenon capable of hindering development. Just as it is incorrect to say that such difficulties stem solely from demo graphic growth, neither is it proved that all demo graphic growth is incompatible with orderly development.  

Our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, said the following in his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si, which deals with the environment. Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate….Yet ‘while it is true that an unequal distribution of the population and of available resources creates obstacles to development and a sustainable use of the environment, it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development.’ To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.

What do these quotes have in common?  They both say that growth of the population is fully compatible with development of people, and that attempts to blame overpopulation for any ecological or economic problem is not founded.   The real issues we face today are not a result of overpopulation.  We will examine these issues in future posts, and how they relate to the overall population challenge.

Finally, for now, I propose we read some Scripture passages and really ask ourselves if we, especially in the industrialized nations of the world, are doing God’s will in giving birth as so infrequently as we are?  

Genesis 1: 26-31 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”⁹ God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.  God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 9 1-7: God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life.  Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image, God made humankind.  And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it.”

Genesis 22: 15-18 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

Genesis 26:  1-5  Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.  The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you.  Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Jeremiah 30: 18-22 Thus says the Lord: I am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on his dwellings; the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and the citadel set on its rightful site.  Out of them shall come thanksgiving, and the sound of merrymakers  I will make them many, and they shall not be few;  I will make them honored, and they shall not be disdained. Their children shall be as of old, their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all who oppress them. Their prince shall be one of their own, their ruler shall come from their midst; I will bring him near, and he shall approach me, for who would otherwise dare to approach me says the Lord.  And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Acts of the Apostles 9:31  Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Acts of the Apostles 11:24   But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents.

Indeed, I think it is clear from the Word of God that His people are to be about growth, both physically and spiritually.   Many nations of the world today are just the opposite, as are sectors of the Church.   When we act against God’s will, problems arise.  We will explore these problems more in future posts.

Many of the titles to Saint Joseph in the litany to him are titles that reflect the theme of birth or growth.   I hope to close each of these upcoming reflections in this area with one such title. For tonight, I chose the title renowned offspring of David.   Joseph was a descendant in a long family tree, as we all are.   Unfortunately today, many trees are withering, and being cut down, for lack of fruit.   Let us pray that there be a flood of life and love to rejuvenate the trees of human life throughout the world, so that this population crisis may reverse itself, and the corresponding crises that result from it may be contained.

Joseph, renowned offspring of David, pray for us.

Water (repost)

In today's Gospel, Jesus meets the woman at the well,  asks her for a drink, and speaks to her of "living water".   I figured I would repost this post from early 2016 that deals with the topic of water.

"To give drink to the thirsty" is one of the corporal works of mercy we are being asked to learn and practice during this Year of Mercy.

Water is central to our existence. It is indispensable for living.   The present Holy Father, Pope Francis, said water is "the most essential element for life", and "humanity's future depends on our ability to care and share it.".  Some of you may recall my post on November 29 when the Holy Father was in Africa and he spoke about the need for clean water in many of the communities there.  There are clearly still parts of the world where access to clean drinking water remains an issue.
The late Saint Pope John Paul II wrote, "As a gift from God, water is a vital element essential to survival, thus everyone has a right to it."   He wrote that the need for water precedes the "market logic".  Some natural rights come before any "ism" that might exist today (socialism, capitalism, etc.); life and family are good examples, and right to water is another.  Water is essential to the survival of the human race, and thus, anyone has a God-given right to it, whether that person is rich or poor, lives in the First World or the Third World, lives in a democracy or in a dictatorship. 
John Paul II was influenced by the solidarity movement in his native Poland, and this influenced a lot of his thought and teaching.  It was a movement designed as a response to the Communist government's abuse of human rights.  (We spoke about the issues of Communism in a post on August 8.)  The essential philosophy of that movement was that we stand with each other, in recognition of our common, basic human rights.

With regards to the basic human right to water, we all must stand together.  The rich must stand with the poor, the First World with the Third World, as the issue of getting access to drinking water may be an issue that developing countries may not be able to accomplish by themselves.
In standing with one another, we become compassionate with one another, and this is at the essence of mercy.  So, this Year of Mercy is certainly a good time to try and help bring some people who are thirsty some water. 

Lest we think of this particular corporal work of mercy as merely some kind of environmental feel-good thing, let's remember some of the words of Our Savior.  He said from the Cross,  "I thirst." (John 19:28).   He says to those damned to hell, "I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink."  (Matthew 25:42).  Thirst is a serious matter for Our Lord.  If we do not seek to satisfy His thirst by quenching the thirst of our brethren, not only will we and they not feel good, but we may lose our salvation.

Finally, I want to call attention to a particular group of  people in our own country who are crying out for water.   I am thinking those whom we condemn to death prematurely when we withhold food and water from them.   The right to food and water is a non-negotiable.  That right just does not disappear when we enter any kind of state, even if it be a vegetative or comatose one, or we just simply grow old.   These rights, as I stated, are foundational, from God, and they exist before any government, or any other entity, even a person's family member, can grant it or take it away.  My friends, if we say we have a "right" to withhold basic care, the basic essentials of food and water from anyone, we are setting a very dangerous precedent, and starting down a very slippery slope.  Well, we already have.
Many of these brothers and sisters of ours whom we withhold food and water to  may not be able to talk, but if we continue to do these things to them without repenting, we may very well hear those aforementioned words of Our Lord when we least want to hear it, at the judgment seat, and they will be so awful to hear, and the torment will never end.   This slippery spoke I spoke of could lead all the way to hell for those of us who participate in this without repenting.

Joseph most just, pray for us.

Sunday rest

In our last post, we focused on Sunday worship in the life of the Catholic Christian. We discussed the meaning, importance, and necessity of going to Mass on Sunday.   In this post, we will focus on the “rest” of Sunday so to speak.  We can use that word two-fold to mean both,  1) the rest of the day besides Mass, and 2) to relax, and not work.

We mentioned in the last post that Sunday is indeed a different type of day than the other days the rest of the week.   God rested on the Sabbath.   Sunday is the fulfillment of the Sabbath.   If we are indeed the image of God, then we, too, must follow God’s blueprint for life, so to speak, and have periods of work and creativity, followed by periods of rest.   It is how our bodies are designed.  After all, consider our experience.  We yearn for rest after long periods of work, but after a certain time period of rest, usually much shorter than the work period, we are ready to return to work, or at least some sort of activity.   There is a certain rhythm to our bodies and our lives, inscribed by the Creator.   We honor God by allowing ourselves periods of leisure.  In honoring God, we honor ourselves as God’s design, and then, we realize the reality of Christ’s words that we referenced last post that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  (Mark 2:27).

However, there are some deeper insights that must be made here, that show that the meaning of Sunday rest goes beyond just the traditional (yet still valid) points I just made.  I will use Saint John Paul II’s 1998 apostolic letter “Dies Domini” as reference.

1)      Sunday rest is not inactivity.     John Paul II references Genesis 1:31 where we read on the evening of the sixth day (the last day of creation), “God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.”  Then on the seventh day, God rested.  On that day, God was still delighting in the wonder of his creation, like a contemplative gaze.   Contemplation is not inaction, as those who regularly pray know.  When we pray, especially when we are engaged in contemplative prayer, we are engaging so-to-speak with God, delighting in him.   This is anything but passive.

2)      Sunday rest is an indistinguishable and necessary element of our love relationship with God.   This aforementioned gaze of God is a look of love.   God’s is gazing at the beauty of His creation, which includes man and woman.    If, for God, it was necessary and good to rest from his work, and engage his whole self in the love of his creation, then surely it must be for us, as well, when we try to return that love to God.   While it is good and possible to pray always, even as we are in the busyness of our everyday lives, certain periods of time of intense prayer, where we can engage our whole bodies, are necessary.   The symbolism of marriage is used throughout the Bible as a sign of God’s relationship with us.   Those of us who are married know well that we cannot sustain our married relationship if we are always working.  We must learn to “rest” in one another, and enjoy and delight in each other, as God did on the seventh day with us.

3)      One of the purposes of Sunday rest is to remember.    “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day  Six days you may labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God…In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but on the seventh day he rested.  That is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11).   The Lord wishes us to remember what he has done!  This has to be a key element of our observance of Sunday.    For Christians now, this would include not just creation, but salvation through Jesus Christ.  Now, a lot of that happens at Mass, as we celebrate and indeed, represent, the Paschal Mystery.   However,  if Sunday is indeed to be a day of rest from work and an engaging in a contemplative gaze with God, it absolutely would make sense that recalling and remembering  all that God has done would nurture that love relationship.  This remembering can and should go beyond just God’s general work of creation and salvation for all men and women to include the wonder of our own individual creation, and all the “work” of God in our own individual lives.   Again, think about married relationships.  Is not “recalling” and “remembering” how we met, how we fell in love, and doing that on a regular basis,  critical to maintaining a healthy relationship?   We do not need to do that every day, but like we are discussing here, there should be regular periods of time for that.   The same is true of our relationship with God.

4)      Sunday rest must be in God.    Sunday (again, the fulfillment of the Sabbath) is holy.  We are called to rest on that day.  Therefore, logically, we must conclude that there is something sacred about this rest.  If it is sacred, then it must involve God.   It must not just be rest for rest’s sake.  It must just not be for leisure.  It must just not be an escape from work.  It cannot at all be an escape from reality in general.   No, it must be an imitation of the sacred rest of God, who on this day, marveled at his creation.   Our Sunday rest, then, must, likewise, be focused on the marvels of creation.   We must, like God, gaze.   On Sundays, we should gaze into our family member’s eyes, especially those of our spouses, and gaze at their God-given beauty, and the love they have for us.  We should take a drive, or take a walk, and marvel at nature.   We should be thinking about philosophical and theological thoughts, if we are suited for that.  

5)      Sunday rest, in conjunction with the Sunday Mass, should build solidarity.  We gather as a people at Mass, and participating in the Sacrament of the Eucharist unites us to God, and to each other.   At the end of Mass, we are sent forth to do good.  Well, we should not delay!  Jesus performed cures on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6).  Therefore, we must likewise seek to do good on Sundays for our fellow men and women, “works of mercy” as they are sometimes called.  But I thought we were supposed to refrain from work on Sundays!  Well, if we look back at both the Creation account in Genesis, and the command in Exodus, the work that is not being done (Genesis), and the work that is forbidden (Exodus) is creation.  We are not called to create anything on Sundays.   On Sundays, on the other hand, we are called to gaze on creation, not build it.  If, when we gaze on that creation that is man, we see there is a need, we can act, and those are the works of mercy, charity, and the apostolate, as the Pope suggests we do in his letter.   If we do not take the time to gaze, we often will not see the need.   We can see here another reason why we need the Sunday rest!   Nonetheless, we must ensure the amount of time devoted to these works does not deprive us of the necessary time for rest, and if they do, that is probably a sign they are servile work, and not authentic Spirit- inspired acts of mercy.

So we need to keep these things in mind if we are to truly celebrate the Lord’s Day in the manner befitting to God, and ourselves as children of God.   Let us recapture the true spirit of Sunday in our lives, in the Church, and in our culture today.  If we do, we may just experience a rejuvenation in the world of peace and solidarity.

Saint Joseph, who worked hard, but as a faithful Jew, observed the Sabbath, and used that time to gaze on the child Jesus and the Blessed Mother, inspire us to imitate God as you did, and learn the proper rhythm of life inscribed by the Father, so that we may learn to love God, our fellow men and women, ourselves,  and all of creation, as you did.

Sunday Mass

A priest at the Shrine this morning gave a wonderful homily on the importance of Sunday worship in the life of the Catholic Christian.  This is a topic that is sometimes not delivered with the seriousness it deserves, so I thought I would take this opportunity to discuss it here.

Let’s cut right to the chase.  Missing Mass on Sundays without a serious reason is a grave sin, and must be repented of in the Sacrament of Confession before receiving Communion again, and if not repented of before death, it can put one’s salvation in jeopardy.    (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2182).    I know this might sound a little too harsh.  After all, missing one Sunday Mass in the big scheme of things, not a big deal, right?  Well, actually it is.  Let’s see why Sunday Mass is so important.  Here are some key points.

1)      The Sabbath, a day critically important and meaningful to God, a day different from the other days of the week.   Recall the creation account in the first Chapter of Genesis.  God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh.  On that seventh day, he rested, and we read in Genesis 2:2-3, “Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”  We see here there is something special about the day of the Sabbath, compared to the other days of the week.

2)      God made man in His image and likeness, and therefore, we are meant to reflect the work and rest rhythm of God.    We read in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. “   If man is made in the image of God, then it would make sense that we would naturally be built to follow the rhythm of God of work, followed by rest.   He would want us to be like him in keeping the Sabbath day holy.   And therefore, he expresses just that as one of the Ten Commandments.

3)      The third commandment is “Keep holy the Sabbath Day”.    The Ten Commandments can found in Exodus 20:2-17, and Deuteronomy 5:6-21, and in the catechetical tradition of the Church, including the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, where they can be found at the beginning of Section Two of Part Three.)  We read in Exodus 20: 8-10 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work.”    Notice, he does not make this optional!   The Lord does indeed commands us to observe the Sabbath, but always keep in mind His commands are always for our good, and Jesus even alludes to this reality when he says in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

4)      Sunday is the fulfillment of the Sabbath.   You may be saying at this point we are talking about Sunday, not the Sabbath.  There is a distinct difference, yes, but one is the fulfillment of the other.   If the Sabbath is critically important for God, and therefore, important for man, then Sunday, which is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, must be incredibly important!  Christ’s paschal Mystery (His death and resurrection) ushered in a new Creation.   Christians, therefore, made the “first day of the week”, the day after the Sabbath, the day on which Our Lord rose from the dead, in a sense a “new” Sabbath.  This “new” Sabbath, Sunday, is at once the “first day of the week”, in which the original creation of the world is recalled, and also “the eighth day following the Sabbath”, symbolizing the aforementioned new creation of man and nature in Christ (see paragraph 2174 in the Catechism.)

5)      Sunday as both the “first day” and the “eighth day” points to the reality of eternal life, the day without end.    Sunday as the first and last day, the old creation, and the new creation, the beginning and the end of time, is an image of eternal life.  The eighth day, unlike the other days, is a day without night to follow, a day without end.  The Catechism states that Sunday “announces man’s eternal rest in God.” (p.2175)  This is heaven.

6)      The Mass is” heaven on earth”, a taste of eternal life.  It is therefore, appropriate and fitting, that it be celebrated by everyone on Sundays.     In the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, which is a vision of heaven, we see all of the following that we also see at Mass; priests, altars, vestments, lamp stands, incense, book, the Eucharistic Host, chalices, the Sign of the Cross the Gloria, the Alleluia, the “Holy Holy Holy”, the Amen, the “Lamb of God”, and readings from Scripture. (Scott Hahn’s book “The Lamb’s Supper, The Mass as Heaven on Earth”, which speaks in more detail on each of these, and where specifically each is found in the Book of Revelation.)  This is what we will be doing for all eternity, giving praise and thanks to God in the presence of His Son Jesus Christ.  When we go to Mass, we truly do go to heaven!  It is the heavenly banquet that we participate in. 

So, to recap, God created the world in six days, and rested on the Sabbath.  The Sabbath is holy to God.  God made man in his image. Therefore, we must keep holy the Sabbath.   Sunday is the fulfillment of the Sabbath.   Sunday is both the first day of the natural week, and the first day of the eternal week, an image of eternal rest, of heaven.  The Mass is heaven on earth.

Now, we can hopefully see why we are commanded to go to Mass on Sunday, and are only excused so for the gravest of reasons. 

We need to be properly disposed to enter eternal life.  If we are deliberately missing Mass on Sunday, we are really saying we do not want heaven.   We do not want what we are made for.  We do not want what Our Lord won for us in the Paschal mystery.  We have no desire for the things of heaven.  We basically, in other words, don’t want God, and have no desire for the things of God.   By missing Mass, we say just this, and saying just that is a very serious thing, that we do not desire, you, God.  This is why it is such a serious matter to miss Mass on Sundays.   This is why the fact that less than 20% of Catholics go to Mass every Sunday is a serious issue.    We must return to regular attendance and participation at Mass on Sundays if we have not been fulfilling that serious obligation as we should.  Eternal salvation is at stake!

For more on all the material covered here in a little bit greater detail, I highly recommend John Paul II’s 1998 apostolic letter Dies Domini (“The Day of the Lord”).   And I of course also recommend the aforementioned Scott Hahn’s book on the Mass.  Both are short, and could be read in one day each.

Saint Joseph, devoted to Our Lord like no other man while on Earth, and who is now the Protector of Holy Church from heaven, help us to rediscover the Lord’s day and the beauty of Sunday Mass.