My only daughter, Maria, who is 10, attended a three day camp last week. It is held every summer at the home of a Catholic homeschooling family that lives on several acres and it is for homeschooled kids.
Though we no longer homeschool, Maria is invited every year because of the friendships she had made during the years when she was homeschooled.
If you, when you hear the words “Catholic homeschooling families”, immediately imagine lots of kids and big vans and Republican politics that is pretty accurate. Though we have a big van and lots of kids and are Catholic we don’t have much in common with most of the people beyond that; on the rare occasions when I find myself around them I don’t speak much, or I stick to small talk.
Apparently Maria does not fit in so well, either.
She told us that she was with maybe 6 other children, all within a year or two of her age. They were curious, as she went to school.
So, you go to a Catholic school?
That’s right.
Is everyone Catholic?
No, in fact there is one girl who is a Buddhist.
At this some of them scoffed. How could anyone believe in Buddha? How could they not believe in God and the Catholic Church?
At this Maria bristled. How do you know that God does not work in Buddhists? You don’t know God; no one can. He can’t be limited like that. Our minds are so tiny. He can’t be understood.
At this they were alarmed: Yes, we know God! We know Jesus!
Maria was adamant: No one knows God. Even the word “God” is just a word to name something that can’t be named.
At this they said: You are not a Catholic! You are not even a Christian!
Excommunicated by her peers, Maria held fast.
Things were getting heated. An adult, who by chance teaches theology at a local Catholic college, was walking by and notice the commotion. He strode over and inquired about what was going on. Both sides explained their positions. He noted that while we can know some things about God, as He has revealed Himself in Christ, Maria is correct: no one can know Him in His essence, His inner life; He is forever beyond our concepts.
Maria was vindicated, the others no doubt disturbed.
When she told me this story I had to smile to myself. Besides the fact that she had found, in her 10 year old way, the truth of the apophatic way, what the West calls the Via Negativa, I was imagining the sparks in her eyes as she stuck up for the truth she had grasped.
She is bold like that. Last week we were in the grocery store. We were walking by the seafood section, and saw that the lobsters, who used to be kept in a tank of water, where they were free to move around, were now in a container of ice. Thus cooled, they were somnolent. Maria was indignant. In the next aisle I noticed that she was no longer with me. When she reappeared at my side some time later, I asked where she had been. She had found the seafood manager and confronted him about his cruelty to animals!
All of this is familiar to me: making a lone stand for some unpopular truth or misunderstood conviction, a passion for justice, pondering the mysteries beyond religious words and concepts (I remember doing this as a young child) and, yes, the sheer cussedness.
As I watched her tell her tale I just smiled inside and thought: that’s my girl.
Good girl. Sounds like she ran into a clan of Feeneyites.
Of course I myself spent some time with the Platform Sutra and the Eightfold Path, and I can safely say that Buddhism has nothing to offer (pun intended- if you don’t understand my pun, you need to re-read The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton- he may not have understood why, but he was completely correct, and used it as a point in one of the murder mysteries). Mu indeed.
Yes Ted I am sure that Dan is surrounded by “Feeneyites” – NOT! Maybe they are just kids that love God and think Jesus was really God unlike Buddha.
Christopher – a real honest to goodness Feeneyite! :)
One family is not “surrounded”……:-) Which is why I used the possibly unfamiliar to you word “clan”.
I personally think Nostra Aetate is the theological equivalent of the scientific method: The fullness of Christ and God exists ONLY in the Catholic Church. Buddha and Mohammed and Moses were but prophets. The Church rejects nothing that is good in these religions, because the Church accepts everything that is good, as our Lord commanded us to do (Mark 9, Luke 9) and rejects everything that is evil as our Lord also commanded us to do (Luke 11, Matthew 12). Other religions don’t have the Catholicity we do. But they do have enough of Christ, even when they do not know Him by that name, to save men’s souls, in cases of invincible ignorance, and with much time in purgatory.
And of course, all who are in the Church Triumphant, are Catholic. One cannot be in Heaven without being a Universalist, else it would not be Heaven, would it?
But when your idea of loving God excludes thoughts that God could love someone that is different from you – that is a bit of a problem. I was a homeschooler before I came back to the church and one day I thought hmm.. I wonder if there are other Catholic homeschoolers. And because they all looked so devout I bought into that culture hook, line, and sinker. But eventually there were just too many things that just didn’t make sense. I am still a homeschooler but I tend to avoid Catholic homeschooling resources, especially online. Catholic homeschooling mothers can be really awful and they think they are completely justified in their hard hearted opinions because it’s all in the name of The Faith. My experiences have also made me doubt that these so called “orthodox” Catholic colleges where everyone seems to major in republicanism could possibly be good for Catholicism in this country. The Catholic church seems to be suffering from some sort of multiple personality disorder and sometimes I really feel the only answer is to get off this crazy train once and for all.
You are right in one way Donna, but wrong in another- for how can we be truly katholikos if we don’t realize that God loves Republicans too? That’s the real challenge that Fr. Feeney brought- not his nearly heretical definition of “Outside the Church (Militant) there is no salvation”, but rather the scary thought that even if the polar opposite “We may have the pious hope that hell either is or will one day be empty” is true, *that means that Feenyites are saved*. They have taken the better part of Pascal’s Wager; even in their intolerance, so long as they trust Christ enough to save them from the fires of hell.
To oddly yank this back towards being on topic, it reminds me how the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, brought me back to Christ, when I realized that Christ was not just an English savior but a Universal Yidyam. Of course, the Bardo Thodol, being bad theology, takes a dim view of yidyams of any sort, for they prevent the soul from reaching either reincarnation or nirvana, but I was amazed that one potential interpretation of the Tibetan Study of Near Death Experiences was the implication that both purgatory and heaven are real, and that Catholics actually do go there.
Yes, I could have learned that *within* the church, but being the modernist calvinist influenced skeptic that I am, this confirmation from a completely unexpected source did great things towards leading me back into the Church.
He is indeed the Hound of Heaven!
Mr. Seeber,
I am afraid you missed my point. My point was that it is absurd and ridiculous to think that these children or their parents are “Feeneyites”. And while I wear the name “Feeneyite” proudly, since I am a true disciple of Fr. Feeney, much like followers of St. Francis, are proud to be “Franciscans” and followers of St. Dominic are proud to be called “Dominicians” – Slave of the Immaculate Heart of Mary can be a mouth full after all, you used the term as a slur against these children (or perhaps their parents). This was an awfully unjust and rash judgement on your part. This thread is not the place to debate the orthodoxy or lack there of in my theology or yours, but I do find it ironic that the rad-trad “Feeneyite” is complaining of rash judgment (and of children no less) to a person who espouses universalism – a “near heresy” (to borrow a phrase) that is supposed to spring forth from compassion and mercy (well Origenism was actually condemned so maybe I shouldn’t borrow the phrase). May our Lady keep you forever in the blue shadow of her mantle.
Christopher
P.S.- the murder mystery in question is “The Wrong Shape”- in which Chesterton also seems to have had the wrong religion, though I suppose there are a few Zen Buddhists on the subcontinent, he never gives the religion of the “queer Indian” on whom the murder is wrongly blamed.
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/chesterton/gk/c52fb/chapter7.html
God bless your Maria!
Who said God doesn’t love Republicans? I am speaking to what I see as a one-sidedness rather than a wholeness that seems to run rampant in those institutions and resources that call themselves “orthodox”. The whole putting Rick Santorum on a pedestal at Franciscan University was so disheartening to me. It was one of the colleges we were thinking about for my up coming junior in high school. We now joke that maybe we can still look into it but only if she promises not to come out as a Republican.
My husband and I went to Mass not too long ago only to be stopped by a fellow parishioner who was set up with a little table recruiting for a local gathering for the “Tea Party”. She was so sure that we’d fit right in, that we’d have so much in common. What on earth could she have based this on?
And I’m not sure what was “off topic” here – if you identify as a “Catholic Homeschooler” there are certain expectations of how your Catholicity should look – as Maria at ten was courageous and innocent enough to stand up to. She has a long road ahead. I am personally so burnt out by the politics of it all.
It was I that was drifting off topic, not you; I am just pointing out that same thing Pope Francis pointed out not long ago: That Christ died to redeem all, even the atheists.
Whether or not they take him up on that redemption is another story entirely of course. I hold to the pious hope that hell is empty, but in my more cynical moments I’m pretty sure it is quite full. I don’t need to believe God sends anybody to hell to know fully well that some of the more obstinate in sin that I’ve met are taking themselves there (and usually quite a few others in the same handbasket).
Donna,
I so know what you mean. I went to one of those small Catholic colleges whose graduates think they are going to save the world through their example (I once did, too). 20-some years later, many of them are simply cautionary tales to the world around them.
God help us is if this is the future of Catholicism in this country.
So far my children have not chosen to go to one of those types of colleges. I can’t say I’m sorry about it, either.
Donna, I totally understand what you’re saying here. I do. I am an alumni of Franciscan University. Something I noticed in myself after four years of studying Theology there (and participating in a life-changing semester in Austria) was that I gradually did become more orthodox and less “conservative.” Much of this was my last year there as an undergraduate. The summer before my senior year I began an independent study of the Koran to see what Islam was really about. (I think people judge Christianity/Catholicism unfairly by not really taking the time to understand it, so I thought it would be hypocritical of me to do the same to the world’s 2nd largest religion.) Then I went to Austria for a semester, leaving behind American politics, “culture,” and simply being open to [at least] understanding the culture and psychology of Europe. It all slowly made me realize just how much we’ve got wrong here in America: our obsession with 24-hour news, an emphasis on political allegiances rather than truth, and a Romanticized view of American History that today dangerously [mis]guides our foreign and domestic policies.
I will quit rambling now and simply say this: It bothers me tremendously when my alma mater puts figures like Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich up on a pedestal, even for a simple photo opp. I pray, though not as often as I should, that Franciscan University – its faculty, staff, and students – begins to abandon political rhetoric and allegiances so it can truly be an orthodox beacon of Catholicism, of Christ’s Truth and Way. The Theology that Steubenville teaches is solid. And if you have truly instilled in your children a proper understanding of how the teachings of Christ should influence our society, imagine the positive effect they might have in a land like Steubenville.
No college is perfect, and Franciscan University is no exception to this rule. That said, I am nothing short of thankful for my time and experiences there. Consider it. Whatever your decision, I’d just encourage your child to take advantage of a study abroad program. In the new global economy, that experience is vital.
“My experiences have also made me doubt that these so called “orthodox” Catholic colleges where everyone seems to major in republicanism could possibly be good for Catholicism in this country. The Catholic church seems to be suffering from some sort of multiple personality disorder and sometimes I really feel the only answer is to get off this crazy train once and for all.”
Donna, I am entirely sympathetic to your critique of these colleges and of many another Catholic movement and institution. But the answer to them is to insist on orthodoxy – by which I don’t mean conservatism. Only if we ourselves adhere to orthodoxy as that is defined by the Church do we have a right to call conservative Catholics to account and point out that they depart from the teaching of the Church in so many respects. So don’t give up, just try to cling to the Church and what she really teaches, and to ignore if possible those who distort the Faith – in any direction.
I agree that it can be very discouraging when the official or semi-official face of the Church in this country seems to conflate being Catholic with being a conservative. When you say that someone actually was recruiting for the teaparty after Mass – wow, what an incredible abuse! What diocese was that in?
Very well said, Mr. Storck. I would also add that at most of these schools there are people/faculty that have these problems with Catholic orthodoxy being tied to conservative republicanism (and their numbers seem to be on the rise).
I do not in any way believe that this is a regular thing in my diocese or that my priest was even aware that this was happening. Our priest is such sweet kind person who runs two parishes by himself. I am not even sure she was asking everybody – maybe just people she recognized, I don’t really know. It was just so startling that she was so sure we would be interested and that ambushing us as we were going into Mass was thought appropriate.
Latest disturbance – we are in NJ and the diocese has asked everyone to sign petitions for the past several weeks and it just seems so out of place. I am not a very political person – my voice, my evangelizing is my mothering but that doesn’t seem to be enough these days. It is all I have to give right now. It just doesn’t seem like the greatest example of religious liberty to have a parishioner call me by name to announce that I haven’t signed the petition yet. I thought by the priest’s words that we were “invited” to sign these petitions meant that I could also decline the invitation.
Who said God doesn’t love Republicans?
Well, if we narrow it down to middle class white Catholic or Evangelical Republicans, then I’ll raise my hand. God created hell for those folks, and will delight in their eternal torture.
I find it interesting that you think the middle class Republicans, who are largely Republicans because they’ve been duped into believing that Republican are pro-life, are the ones going to hell, rather than the upper crust Republicans who would gladly trade the lives of a million poor children a year for a 2% reduction in income tax.
There are so few of them that they could hardly be counted upon to populate hell.
True enough. There are so few of them, they can hardly be counted upon to populate a good sized dinner…..
And yet, they’ve convinced the grand majority to vote for them, and they, not the pro-lifers, control the Republican Party completely and with a iron, if green, fist full of dollars.
Owen: you worship a strange god.
oh man, donna, I hear you! our homeschool group is rampant with kill ’em all conservatives. It’s hard to have conversations with them as they assume everyone in their circle not only thinks the exact same way, but is thinking about politics relentlessly every hour of the day.
Election years are torture i tell you- torture!