The Catholic University & The Church

Their Excellencies, Bishop John Michael D'Arcy of Fort Wayne - South Bend and Archbishop John R. Quinn, retired ordinary of San Francisco, have written pieces in America magazine.

America Aug 31 D'Arcy Quinn

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

I'm not sure why I decided to buy and read How We Decide by Dr. Jonah Lehrer, but the author is certainly interested in not just "why" but also "how" I made that decision.

I was in LAX with six hours of travel time ahead of me heading to Arkansas for a home visit. I had just said goodbye to dear friends. Perhaps my feeling of sadness resulted in a desire to compensate with a gift to make me feel better. "In human decision making, losses loom larger than gains" (pg 77). I paid with a credit card and the use of plastic instead of cash decreased my sense of "loss aversion", but played into another brain flaw "which tends to overvalue immediate gains" (pg 87). But still, the store had hundreds of books to choose from - some prominently displayed like Lehrer's book, and some standing almost anonymously upon wall-to-wall book-shelves. I do remember spotting this title and remembering that the upcoming Gospel passage involved a group of disciples deciding to leave Jesus and "return to their former way of life." I think that is why I bought it.

The pilot and crew of the Boeing 777 I flew on are capable as any typical human "to process five to nine pieces of information at any given moment" (pg 244), but thankfully the pilot relies upon a sort of "muscle memory" for brains, so that instincts can assist in flying the plane - a task that throws numerous pieces of information at the pilot at a time. His decisions are not entirely conscious. Dopamine neurons assist in this process.

We live in a society heavily affected by Enlightenment thought which promotes a completely intellectual and rational approach to ethics and decision making processes while at the same time giving very little weight to emotions. We have, then, "the privileging of reason over emotion" (pg 13). But Lehrer argues that there is such a thing as emotional intelligence. In fact, typical psychopaths are quite rational, the problem is that they are too rational and are incapable of tapping into emotional intelligence, most likely due to a damaged amygdala portion of the brain. They react the same way to a photo of a frightened face as they do to a photo of a rose flower. Thus, there is some irony in courts recognizing insanity defenses. Leher's thesis seems to be that "for too long, people have disparaged the emotional brain, blaming our feelings for all of our mistakes" (pg 13).

Lehrer writes about various brain flaws such as loss aversion, greater weight placed upon immediate gains, the framing effect which "explains why people are much more likely to buy meat when it's labeled 85 percent lean instead of 15 percent fat" (pg 107) and the anchor effect, which occurs when we read the price tags on a car window. This effect is "about the brain's spectacular inability to dismiss irrelevant information" (pg 157). Throughout his descriptions he makes clear the existence of both a rational and emotional intelligence which works together in the brain.

While I found this book to be quite enjoyable, accessible, and ever interesting, I would ask from time to time just how Lehrer came up with various "values" he placed upon decisions. "Most", "right", "good", "best" were used to describe certain decisions. And yet, the book doesn't seem (or perhaps I missed it) to address how the human mind places "values" upon decisions. Why, for instance, were the Monet posters "better" than the cat posters. Or why was one location the "wrong place" to live, and others were the "right place" (pg 152).

And so, I was eager to read the sixth chapter The Moral Mind. As I mentioned earlier, Lehrer is interested in showing how we use emotional intelligence everyday and therefore, morality is not just a strictly rational enterprise as Kant and other Enlightenists promoted, but relies as well upon emotional intelligence. But Lehrer seems to go too far. He writes, "Two people feel strongly about an issue, their feelings come first, and their reasons are invented on the fly, to throw at each other. Reasonableness is just a facade, an elaborate self-delusion" (pg 172-173). Lehrer makes clear that moral decisions are made by way of a 2 part process. "The emotional brain generates the verdict. It determines what is wrong and what is right. The rational brain, on the other hand, explains the verdict. It provides reasons, but those reasons all come after the fact" (pg 174-5).

I suppose this two-part process is easier to find plausible if the two parts are never too remote from one another. Perhaps it is the Catholic emphasis on the intellect that causes me to squirm a bit when I hear that moral decisions are primarily emotional/gut decisions only later dressed with a garnish of reasons, words, defenses, etc.

Lehrer goes on to say that ultimately moral decisions require a certain level of sympathy/empathy, something psychopaths and mass-murderers are incapable of having. Therefore, a grand distinction exists between personal and impersonal decisions. It's why children's aid commercials introduce the viewer to a specific child: "Hello. This is Amanda." Viewers are more likely to give to a child instead of to children or a nation of children. It's why soldiers are more likely to squeeze the trigger if the enemy is hundreds of miles away and nameless.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It made for a great travel/summer read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know just how dopamine neurons train the brain so that "disappointment is educational" (pg 48).

Births and Birthdays!

It's great to be back home and to visit with family and to assist in my home parish. John 6 is one of my favorite Gospel passages and was a joy to preach on. On Saturday night Howard and Jody Thielemier hosted a reunion for descendants of Ben and Katie Thielemier - my great -grandparents from whom my middle name, Benjamin, is derived. The potluck offerings made for a feast and it was good to visit with family not often seen.

After Sunday morning Masses we had lunch at my grandfather's house and a good meal was topped off with not one but two dessert offerings - Key lime pie and a chocolate birthday cake for my niece who turns 7 this week. I pitched-in to help buy Hannah Montana the Movie as a birthday gift. My niece was thrilled but I fear I have contributed directly to the Montana Empire!

Congratulations to my cousin Craig and his wife April who gave birth last Monday to their first child, Paul Christopher Wurtz. I look forward to the upcoming baptism, which I am promised will not interfere with the 3:30 p.m. (ET) kickoff between Notre Dame and Michigan. ;-)

Fall Reading?

What Happened To Notre Dame?

Hope!

Hope springs eternal! This prediction is "out there" but I love the optimism!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Out-on-a-limb-even-for-Dr-Lou-Irish-in-the-ti?urn=ncaaf,184500

Queenship of Mary

Ave, Regina Caelorum,
Ave, Domina Angelorum:
Salve, radix, salve, porta
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:

Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa,
Vale, o valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.

Pope St. Pius X: Pope of the Blessed Sacrament

Today is the feast of Pope St. Pius X, who sought to "renew all things in Christ". It was his belief and great devotion that "Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven".

Before 1910, there existed no universally agreed upon age by which one may receive Holy Communion. Instead, the commonly shared principle was the necessity for a Catholic to have reached the "age of discretion" as described by St. Thomas Aquinas, the Fourth Lateran Council, and the Council of Trent. In practice, this principle led to a multitude of practices form diocese to diocese. For some, Holy Communion could be received upon reaching the age of 10, for others 14, etc.

Pope St. Pius X, ever the pastor, knew that frequent, even daily, communion serves as a remedy for human frailty and therefore instructed the Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments to decree 7 to be the age of discretion, though a child may receive even under the age of seven as long as the parents and his/her confessor trust the child understands well enough the great dignity of the Eucharist.

Today I was overjoyed to celebrate the first Mass of the new school year with the students of St. Paul School, my alma mater. May God bless the students, their teachers, and the staff.

Below is a section from Quam Singulari of August 8, 1910 by which the age of discretion was determined as seven.

Quam Singulari

An Extraordinary West Coast Baptism...

After five weeks of French classes at ND and one week spent at ND's property at Land O'Lakes, WI, I flew out to L.A. this past weekend to be present for the baptism of Sofia Michele Fernandez, two month old daughter of Geno and Paula Fernandez.

I had only been to the L.A. area once before, in the summer of 1999 when the Notre Dame Folk Choir toured through Arizona and California. The flights were thankfully uneventful, the weather was beautiful, and fun times were had. My dear friend, Fr. Nickolas Becker, O.S.B. was present as well and was the baptizing priest. For this sacrament I was invited to serve as M.C., cantor the litany as we processed from the church doors to the baptismal font, and to also perform the post-baptismal anointing.

The Rite of Baptism was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form (EF) of the Roman Rite using the 1964 English translation by Msgr. Philip Weller of the Rituale romanum. I had seen the EF for baptism celebrated three years ago at St. Augustine's Parish in St. Paul, MN. It is a beautiful rite, filled with multiple blessings with the sign of the cross and exorcisms. However, the rite lacks explicit use of Scripture and makes no reference to the Easter Candle, thus part of the impetus for revision after the Second Vatican Council.

After the baptism at St. Monica's Church, the family hosted a grand party complete with Cuban food. Sunday morning we went back to the parish for Mass celebrated by Fr. David Guffey, CSC. Fr. Guffey was my novice master during my 1999-2000 novitiate year. It was great to see him as well as Fr. Will Raymond, CSC, both of whom live and assist at St. Monica's Parish and work at Family Theater in Hollywood. This Holy Cross apostolate was founded by the Servant of God Patrick Peyton, CSC, whose cause for beatification is progressing along well.

I departed sunny California for humid Arkansas to visit with family for two weeks. By arriving into Little Rock late on Sunday night I was able to go with my sister and her family to Immaculate Conception School for the first day of school for my nephew and niece. The family takes photos with the kids in their uniforms and then goes for a traditional doughnut before heading to the nearby school.

My parents joined us that afternoon for lunch with my brother and his wife at a micro-brewery in downtown Little Rock. And now, I am sitting on my parents' back porch enjoying a cigar, catching up on summer reading, and assisting in my home parish for weekday and weekend Masses. It's great to be home.

Assumption of Mary Into Heaven, Body and Soul

All-powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. Amen.

A Poet and Didn't Know It...

Frustratingly I can't remember where I saw M. Craig Barnes's, The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life reviewed, but I'm glad I saw the review and read this 136 page gem of a book. As pastor in a Pittsburgh Presbyterian church, Barnes is dedicated to both preaching to his assembly and to teaching seminary students. His latest book encourages pastors to reclaim their identity as minor poets and not primarily as CEOs, community organizers, social workers, or amateur psychologists!

Isaiah, Jeremiah, St. Paul, St. Matthew, St. John - these are the Major Poets and pastors are to be the minor poets who are able to convey to their congregations not what scripture says, but what scripture means. "Poets are devoted more to truth than to reality; they are not unaware of reality, but they never accept it at face value. The value of reality is only found by peeling back its appearance to discover the underlying truth" (pg 19).

Barnes has a clear style of writing that packs a lot into one line without simultaneously bogging down the flow. He may call pastors and preachers to a high ideal, but does so without forgetting the sort of "stuff" of daily life - cords surrounding a patient's hospital bed, over-cooked lasagna at a parish dinner, pile of messages handed by the parish secretary.

Refreshingly Barnes doesn't hesitate to admit the imperfections of his life - faults and struggles that are common among anyone who strives to preach well and see the subtext of life. He writes, "When the time has come to actually write the sermon, I always begin by fidgeting with my chair. I think about other things I have to get done in the course of the day, fight back the demons that tempt me to call an elder about an upcoming committee meeting, and experiment with fonts on the computer. Sheer fear. And the fear comes not because the work is hard but because it requires that I leave the safety of a private life" (pg 124).

I only disagreed with the author on two points which were written one soon after the other. The first is his use of the words "checked himself into" when referring to Henri Nouwen's stay at Genesee Abbey (pg 55). Such a phrase sounds like Nouwen was voluntarily admitting himself to a mental health ward. The second point of disagreement stems from the author's statement, "There is no ontological shift that occurs in the lives of those who kneel for the rite of ordination" (pg 61). Clearly this represents a theological difference that divides Presbyterians and Catholics. Also, the late Fr. Aidan Kavanagh, OSB would have perhaps had a problem with Barnes stating "theology is "first order" reflection" (pg 18). The liturgical act is first order, theological reflection is second order, no?

Great book. I highly recommend it for anyone who is charged with preaching or helping others see the subtext of their lives in Christ.

Curè d'Ars

Today the Church universal commemorates the Feast of St. John Vianney (May 8, 1786 - August 4, 1859), who on this date 150 years ago came to his dies natalis. Our Holy Father has deemed this year to be the Year for Priests, a time "meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world".

It was St. Vianney who stated, "The priest will fully understand himself only when he reaches heaven. . . If he understood while he was in this world, he would die, not of fear, but of love."

I'm spending this day at the Notre Dame Land O'Lakes property with about 15 other religious. It's a blessed time of reading, writing (few days over deadline!!), praying, and enjoying the sort of comraderie with fellow religious that is so essential to the life.

Certainly from recent reading and five years of priestly life, I am mindful these days of the sort of burden or weight or inconvenience the priesthood can be to me and I would dare say to all priests from one time to another. Whether it's the rare ability to worship anonymously, the higher moral standard by which a priest is judged, or the wonder-lust shared by all humans who occasionally think that just maybe fulfillment is found in a different setting with a different job with different people, the gift of the priesthood can sometimes seem less a gift and more a burden. But soberly I suppose it can be said that it is both. It is a gift granted by the one true priest, Christ Jesus, and is also a share in his yoke, which is easy and a burden which is light.

These days of reflection have helped me to renew my gratitude for the priesthood and my sharing in it. And I close this post with the quote with which I began this blog over 230 posts ago.

"To live in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasures; to be a member of each family, yet belonging to none; to share all sufferings; to penetrate all secrets; to heal all wounds; to go from men to God and offer Him their prayers; to return from God to men to bring pardon and hope; to have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity; to teach and to pardon, console and bless always. My God, what a life! And it is yours, O Priest of Jesus Christ." - Lacordaire

Prayers for and by Priests

Therefore, I make for one year....

Praise be to God our Father for Mr. Mark F. DeMott, CSC and Mr. Jarrod M. Waugh, CSC who today at Sacred Heart Church in Colorado Springs, CO professed their first vows in the Congregation of Holy Cross. These vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are made for one year and are then renewed annually for at least three years before the religious is allowed to profess final vows in the Congregation.

On this Saturday, the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, when religious vows are professed and dear couples profess their marriage vows, let us pray to God in thanksgiving for their witness to "the Love which moves the sun and the other stars" (Dante, Paradisio, Canto XXXIII).