Roses are Blooming

June is almost here, and the roses are blooming.🌹

Non-violence: A Method and a Style of "Peace-building"

May 2025 on this Blog has been all about "Popes" - not surprisingly. I'm finding it difficult to write lately, but perhaps that's just as well. It's hard to know what to say in these disturbing times. 

Pope Leo has encouraged us to listen, and he has already said much that is worthy of hearing. 

In a speech he made today to the Italian group initiative "Arena for Peace," Leo gave a concise yet rich articulation of the importance of non-violence as a Christian and human witness which is rooted in hearts that renounce vengeance, and through compassion branch out into works of mercy, fraternity, solidarity, and peace. Here are some of his words:

"Dear brothers and sisters, all too much violence exists in the world and our societies. Amid wars, terrorism, human trafficking and widespread aggression, our children and young people need to be able to experience the culture of life, dialogue, and mutual respect. Above all, they need the witness of men and women who embody a different and non-violent way of living. From local and everyday situations up to the international order, whenever those who have suffered injustice and violence resist the temptation to seek revenge, they become the most credible agents of non-violent peacebuilding processes. Non-violence, as a method and a style, must distinguish our decisions, our relationships and our actions.

"The Gospel and the Church’s social doctrine are a constant source of support for Christians in this effort. They can also act as a compass for everyone, since the fostering of a culture of peace is a task entrusted to all, believers and non-believers alike, who must advance it through reflection and a praxis inspired by the dignity of the person and the common good.

"If you want peace, prepare institutions of peace. Increasingly we realize that this cannot simply involve political institutions, whether national or international, but requires all institutions – educational, economic and social. The Encyclical Fratelli Tutti frequently spoke of the need to pass from 'I' to 'we', in a spirit of solidarity that needs to find institutional expression. For this reason, I encourage you to remain committed and present: present within history as a leaven of unity, communion and fraternity. Fraternity needs to be recovered, loved, experienced, proclaimed and witnessed, in the confident hope that it is indeed possible, thanks to the love of God 'poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit' (Romans 5:5)."

“Christ’s Ascension…Sustains Our Journey on Earth”

This year, Thursday’s worldwide observance of the Feast of the Ascension is on May 29, which is also the memorial of Saint Paul VI, the Pope of my childhood (who served from 1963-1978).

Personhood, the "Heart," and Friendship with Jesus

I continue to meditate on the late Pope Francis’s last Encyclical on the Sacred Heart, published this past October 24. Here are some beautiful excerpts from sections 25-28.

“Where the thinking of the philosopher halts, there the heart of the believer presses on in love and adoration, in pleading for forgiveness and in willingness to serve in whatever place the Lord allows us to choose, in order to follow in his footsteps. At that point, we realize that in God’s eyes we are a ‘Thou’, and for that very reason we can be an ‘I’. Indeed, only the Lord offers to treat each one of us as a ‘Thou’, always and forever. Accepting his friendship is a matter of the heart; it is what constitutes us as persons in the fullest sense of that word.

“Saint Bonaventure tells us that in the end we should not pray for light, but for ‘raging fire’. [Itinerarium Mentis in Deum VII:6] He teaches that, ‘faith is in the intellect, in such a way as to provoke affection. In this sense, for example, the knowledge that Christ died for us does not remain knowledge, but necessarily becomes affection, love’. [Proemium in I Sent., q.3] Along the same lines, Saint John Henry Newman took as his motto the phrase Cor ad cor loquitur, since, beyond all our thoughts and ideas, the Lord saves us by speaking to our hearts from his Sacred Heart. This realization led him, the distinguished intellectual, to recognize that his deepest encounter with himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection, but from his prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present. It was in the Eucharist that Newman encountered the living heart of Jesus, capable of setting us free, giving meaning to each moment of our lives, and bestowing true peace: ‘O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still… I worship Thee then with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. O my God, when Thou dost condescend to suffer me to receive Thee, to eat and drink Thee, and Thou for a while takest up Thy abode within me, O make my heart beat with Thy Heart. Purify it of all that is earthly, all that is proud and sensual, all that is hard and cruel, of all perversity, of all disorder, of all deadness. So fill it with Thee, that neither the events of the day nor the circumstances of the time may have power to ruffle it, but that in Thy love and Thy fear it may have peace’.

“Before the heart of Jesus, living and present, our mind, enlightened by the Spirit, grows in the understanding of his words and our will is moved to put them into practice. This could easily remain on the level of a kind of self-reliant moralism. Hearing and tasting the Lord, and paying him due honour, however, is a matter of the heart. Only the heart is capable of setting our other powers and passions, and our entire person, in a stance of reverence and loving obedience before the Lord.

“It is only by starting from the heart that our communities will succeed in uniting and reconciling differing minds and wills, so that the Spirit can guide us in unity as brothers and sisters. Reconciliation and peace are also born of the heart. The heart of Christ is “ecstasy”, openness, gift and encounter. In that heart, we learn to relate to one another in wholesome and happy ways, and to build up in this world God’s kingdom of love and justice. Our hearts, united with the heart of Christ, are capable of working this social miracle.”

"May Flowers" and Green Scenes in 2025

This month has been more cool than usual, overall, with plenty of rain. Flowers have bloomed, followed by fresh lush greenery and long days with plenty of evening sunshine. Here are some examples of Springtime as seen 'through the eyes of JJ."

Another “Janaro Graduation”

Last weekend, Teresa Janaro became the fourth of the “Janaro children” to graduate from University! She now joins the Christendom College alumni along with her brother John Paul and sisters Agnese and Lucia. Remember those “kids” in the earliest days of this Blog? (They really do grow up…)

Congratulations, Teresa!!⭐️ We love you and we’re proud of you.

It was a hot day so we all look a bit wilted, but the whole family got together. We got to cool off later.

I was also proud to be there in my professional duds (as “emeritus” member of the faculty). I also posted a silly Instagram video while I waiting for the graduation to begin (I hope you can access it below the picture).

Authority: "Loving as Jesus Did"

Here are some excerpts from Pope Leo XIV's homily at his installation Mass on May 18. He helps us to understand the meaning of the authority bestowed upon him when he was chosen to be the 267th Successor of Saint Peter.

"Jesus asks Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ (Jn 21:16), he is referring to the love of the Father. It is as if Jesus said to him, ‘Only if you have known and experienced this love of God, which never fails, will you be able to feed my lambs. Only in the love of God the Father will you be able to love your brothers and sisters with that same ‘more’, that is, by offering your life for your brothers and sisters.’

“Peter is thus entrusted with the task of ‘loving more’ and giving his life for the flock. The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.

“The Apostle Peter himself tells us that Jesus ‘is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, and has become the cornerstone’ (Acts 4:11). Moreover, if the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pet 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve the faith eof his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them, for all of us are 'living stones' (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. In the words of Saint Augustine: 'The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbour' (Serm. 359,9).

"Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

"In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalises the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!

'This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.

"Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion 'were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?' (Rerum Novarem, 20).

"With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made 'restless' by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.

"Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.

Pope Leo XIV: Learning to Listen, to Dialogue, to Build Bridges

“How important it is to listen! Jesus says, ‘My sheep listen to my voice’. And I think it is important for all of us to learn how to listen more, to enter into dialogue. First and foremost, with the Lord: always listen to the Word of God. Then also listen to others, to know how to build bridges, to know how to listen without judging, not closing the doors thinking that we have all the truth and no-one else can tell us anything. 

“It is very important to listen to the voice of the Lord, to listen to it, in this dialogue, and to see where the Lord is calling us.”

~Pope Leo XIV (homily of 5/11/25)

“The Miracle of Peace”

Pope Leo prays for “the miracle of peace.”

Missing My Mother on Mother's Day...

Mother's Day has just ended, but I can still squeeze in a few words in the minutes past midnight.

I miss my Mom on Mother's Day. This picture is from Spring 1963, with baby me and big brother Walter. Our Mom is 24 years old in this picture (younger than two of my own daughters today). Dad is 28 (my son turns 28 next month). This is the fourth Mother's Day since Mom passed away.  I often miss her, yet she seems "not far from us." I pray for her and my Dad, that God will receive them into His embrace of Infinite Love forever. This is the fulfillment for which they were created.

Jesus has conquered death through His Cross and Resurrection, but this was not to eliminate sorrow and grief from the human journey; rather, the hope of eternal life gives ultimate meaning and value to sorrow and grief and the whole range of human experience. Our pain and struggles with the mystery of life and death have a value that makes us willing to endure them when we remember in faith that suffering and loss are not "the last word" on human existence. Christ is Risen, Alleluia! God works everything towards the good, and God loves us immensely. He is worthy of our trust, day by day, step by step.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you!

Leo XIV: "To Move Aside So That Christ May Remain"

"An indispensable commitment for all those in the Church who exercise a ministry of authority... is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him" (Pope Leo XIV).

Christina Grimmie Encourages Us in Life

Remembering Christina Grimmie after eight years and eleven months. She continues to encourage us not to be afraid, not to worry.💚

A Pope From "The Americas": Welcome Leo XIV!

We have a Pope!

White smoke emerged from the chimney yesterday evening, and an hour later came the announcement that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost had been chosen by his brother Cardinals to be the 267th Pope, taking the name "Leo XIV." He was born in 1955 in Chicago, making him the first Pope from the United States of America. But he also spent many years in Latin America as a bishop in Peru, and became a naturalized Peruvian citizen. The people of Peru have long regarded him as "one of their own."

Now he belongs to the whole world. 

Dear Lord, bless and sustain our new Pope Leo XIV in his ministry as Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, Servant of the Servants of God.

The Church Sustained by the Gift of Jesus in the Eucharist

As we continue to pray for the Cardinals gathered in the conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope, the readings from the third week of the Easter Season give us God's Word to enlighten us, and for us to ponder, to shape our prayer, to lead us to worship Him who has given Himself totally, who reveals the mystery of the God who is Infinite Love.

To contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist (as we do in these days, in the Gospel readings from the sixth chapter of John) is to be full of wonder and gratitude for the gift of God the Father who sends His Only-Begotten Son to save the world (John 3:16), to draw us to share in the eternal life of the Trinity. Jesus gives Himself — His "flesh," His body and blood poured out for us — to nourish the new life of His people whom He unites to Himself in the Holy Spirit. Jesus in the Eucharist builds up His Mystical Body, the Church. Through His gift we encounter the singular, astonishing love that God has for us, and we are sent forth with the Risen Christ to share His mission, to witness to God's inexhaustible love, to be "instruments" of His love in the lives of those who are entrusted to us each day as we live out our vocation in this world.

This is the life of the Church for which we pray, as she is called to take a new step in her pilgrimage through history toward the fulfillment of the God's Kingdom, where God will "be all, in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). This is the "new reality" present in the midst of the realities (and the illusions) of this age. As the Church lives these intense and decisive days, we remember that we are "members of one another" (Romans 12:5), and the Cardinals are our brothers. We express this mysterious unity in our solidarity with them in prayer. May they receive an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to fill them and sustain them in wisdom so that they might elect a Pope who will remind us that we are one in Christ — united in truth and love, in Baptism and the Eucharist, in adoration of the Lord and in gratitude for making us His sons and daughters in Jesus. We beg God our Father through Jesus Christ our Savior in the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us the "continuation" of His gift of redemption for the whole world, drawing the heart of every human person through His Church.

We are a poor Church that depends entirely on our adherence to Jesus Christ, and a grateful Church sustained by the "bread of life," by the gift of "[His] Flesh for the life of the world."

———————————————— 

Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.' [See e.g. Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:33-34.] Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

"Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.

"Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world."

~John 6:44-51

Colors of Hope

The Election of a New Bishop of Rome Begins

Wednesday, May 7 is the beginning of the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel, where 132 Cardinals from every inhabited continent on earth will gather to elect a Pope to succeed the late Pope Francis as leader of a Catholic Church that counts some 1.4 billion members.

This blog "covered" the last Conclave back in 2013. It was remarkable for many of us for the unprecedented (virtual) access we had to the ceremonies via livestream leading right up to the Cardinals entering through the doors of the Chapel, which were then closed and locked beyond the reach of all media technology. The livestream switched to the "chimney camera" so that we could see right away the color of the smoke when the four daily ballots were burned. Once the white smoke came, we saw it pour from the chimney in real time.

Then the "feed" switched to the balcony over Saint Peter's Square where great crowds of Romans gathered to wait for the new Pope to be announced and presented, and to give his first blessing. It was a long and suspenseful period of time that passed before we were introduced to a 76-year-old Argentine named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the name "Francis."

The next 12 years of his papacy were beautiful, surprising, and challenging in ways we never could have expected.

Now the time has come, once again.

The world is very different than it was a dozen years ago. The ceremonies will be livestreamed from the cell phone in your pocket to the widest "smart TV" on your wall. Like in 2013, we Catholics will have the chance to be joined in prayer and solidarity all over the world, in support of the Cardinals as they carry out their sacred office, and in welcoming the new Successor of Saint Peter.

I'm not sure I'm going to watch every moment of the events on streamimg video. (I will at least check the smoke.) I have no expectations or analysis regarding who among the Cardinals right now is this "man-who-will-be-Pope." His responsibilities will be immense, the media scrutiny relentless, but the graces of the Holy Spirit superabundant for him to carry out God's will for the good of the whole Church and the world.

The way we can best be attentive to the process that is beginning is to pray for the Cardinals, that they will choose someone filled with wisdom, truth, charity, and humility to lead the Church in the worship of God, and guide us in adhering to Christ in whatever trials might await us in times to come. He will need to confirm us in our faith, inspire us to be courageous in our witness, and be an example to us of the ardent love through which the Sacred Heart of Jesus wants to love this poor world and every human person living in it.

Could This Be Pope Francis's "First Miracle"?

The last time these two met in person, things — to put it mildly — did not go well. But last week, after they both attended the funeral of Pope Francis, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelinskyy had an intense impromptu meeting in the back of Saint Peter's Basilica. The U.S. President's hostility, it seems, has turned around (at least for now), and the United States and Ukraine have since signed an economic cooperation agreement which is somewhat more vigorous in its affirmation of Ukraine's sovereignty.

It's a miracle?

Probably not, but it may be a step toward the peace that Pope Francis so ardently prayed for to his last breath. His perseverance in prayer and sacrifice for "Martyred Ukraine" will bear fruit. We all must continue to pray for an end to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and for a just and lasting peace which respects Ukrainian sovereignty and allows Ukraine to flourish.

And we must continue to pray for the eternal rest of our beloved Francis, and for the approaching conclave that will elect his successor.

Athanasius and the Incarnation

May 2 is the feast of the crucially important fourth century Church Father Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. The text that follows is an excerpt from my 2003 book The Created Person and the Mystery of God, which - if I had actually had an "academic career" - would have been regarded as "one of his early works" (I was 40 years old when it was published😉). It has much in it that I would have liked to have developed in greater depth, but my path "moved in a different direction" due to illness and disability, which is a familiar story for anyone who reads this blog. 

The "historical section" of this book contains concise vignettes of some of the Church Fathers, and follows a style that is similar to my monthly articles in Magnificat (which I have been writing since 2013). If God wills, I may yet return to working on a "more mature" scholarly project bringing together the various themes and methodological approaches that I sketched out in this book nearly a quarter of a century ago. The intellectual realm of historical studies within the context of philosophical and theological anthropology (i.e. this multifaceted approach to "the created person and the mystery of God") is still the inspiration for my studies and what writing I have been able to do. My experience and my thinking have grown much since the days of this book, and circumstances have opened new doors and indicated larger vistas that would require several volumes to bring together in a formal academic study. 

If someone gave me a very large financial grant (enough to keep my wife and I going for the rest of our lives) and if they were very patient, a project like this might be possible. I am certain that no form of "AI" will ever be able to do it (perhaps it could assist in some tasks, like finding sources).

Who knows what might happen? May the Lord lead me, empower me, and show me the way. We live in a time of epochal change. I think right now of some poor archbishop who might be a bit older than me, taking a coffee in Roman coffee bar, looking forward to what he hopes will be a short bit of ecclesiastical "business" so that he can get back home; he has no idea whatsoever that in a few weeks he will be the Pope!

But, speaking of epochal change, I am supposed to be introducing Saint Athanasius here. Let us therefore proceed to text which looks at a great figure who endured many "changes" but persevered through them all in his defense of the Divinity of Jesus Christ:

Less than five years after Constantine’s declaratiom of religious freedom in 313 a.d., the Church was plunged headlong into a new type of crisis. A popular, talented, and politically astute priest in Alexandria named Arius had developed a theory about the Trinity.  Up until this time, most attempts by Christian thinkers to shed light on the unity and distinctness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had been provisional at best.  For Arius, classical Catholic accounts of the Trinity were dissatisfying and ambiguous and seemed to involve the Church in irrational and contradictory affirmations about God.  He proposed a simple solution, logically coherent, easy to understand, and—at first glance—seemingly consistent with the language of the New Testament.

Arius taught that the One Eternal God is the radically Unoriginate One in every respect. This meant that God is solely unoriginate "in Person" (this, in any case, is what his approach to the Trinity inescapable implied). It follows, that the Logos, the Word, is "God's" first and greatest creature.  The Word is a reflection of the Divine Being, so perfect that he is called “Son” and God is his “Father” in a unique manner.  Nevertheless, he is a creature.  According to a famous slogan of Arius which he even set to music, “there was a time when he was not.”  This first creature fashioned everything else in turn; therefore he is called “god” in relation to the rest of creation; however he is not divine by nature.  The Holy Spirit, too, is a creature, the first and greatest creature of the Word who is himself the divine-like creature of God the Father.

What Arius proposed was ingenious and remarkable.  It appeared to be nothing less than a translation into Christian terms of the “Divine Triad” of Neoplatonism, in which Universal Intelligence and Universal Soul were inferior reflections emanating from the Transcendent One and bringing forth the spiritual and material world in turn.  It seemed as though Arius had reconciled Catholic faith and philosophical wisdom, giving a rationally satisfying explanation of the Trinity. 

In fact, however, Arius had deconstructed the mystery of the Trinity, and he stubbornly refused all correction on the matter of what became known as the "great heresy" that bears his name.  His theory was condemned at the Council of Nicaea in 325, wherein the Only Son of the Father was proclaimed God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father.  After this Council, however, the Arian party succeeded in gaining imperial favor by means of deception and intrigue.  Enormous political pressure was brought to bear against orthodox bishops by Constantine’s successors, and imperially sponsored synods tried to construct and then impose compromise Trinitarian formulations that secretly favored the Arian position.  

In the center of this storm was the singular figure of Saint Athanasius, the great bishop of Alexandria and fearless defender of Trinitarian orthodoxy.  Athanasius was exiled from his see no less than five times during his tumultuous career, because he stubbornly opposed any and every politically engineered compromise with the Arian position.  

Modern secular historians may often wonder why Athanasius was so passionate and so persistent about what might seem to be an abstract theological point.  Yet we can appreciate the energy of his zeal if we realize that he perceived the deep connection between the mystery of the Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption.  Athanasius’s conviction about the Trinity was inseparable from his conviction about the Christian event and its significance for the life of man.  Through the incarnation and redemption, God has made it possible for us to share in His very life.  Our union with the Word made flesh gives us a participation in the Divine life.  This is the great patristic teaching on deification (“theosis”): God became man so that men might become “gods”—that is, adopted sons of the Father.  Athanasius perceived the radical implications of Arius’s theories: if the one who became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary was not fully Divine, how could he possibly give us a participation in the Divine life?  In the Arian system, the magnificent destiny of the Christian man comes crashing to the ground.  The one who walked the earth, who became our friend, who gave us his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, was merely another creature like us.  God has not shown us His face nor invited us into his friendship.  He remains a stranger to us.  Thus Athanasius declares: “the Son of God became Son of Man, so that the sons of man, that is, of Adam, might become sons of God.  The Word begotten of the Father from on high, inexpressibly, inexplicably, incomprehensibly and eternally, is He that is born in time here below, of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, so that those who are in the first place born here below might have a second birth from on high, that is, of God.”  

Moreover, if the Holy Spirit is not fully God, how can he possibly transform us into the likeness of God?  “If the Holy Spirit were a creature, there could be no communion of God with us through Him.  On the contrary, we would be joined to a creature, and we would be foreign to the divine nature, as having nothing in common with it…If by participation in the Spirit we are made partakers in the divine nature…it cannot be doubted that His is the nature of God.”  

Thus for Athanasius, the full co-eternal divinity of the Word and the Holy Spirit was not only a truth about the mystery of God; it was also a matter of life or death for man—it was a truth decisive for the human vocation.  Only the Divine Word made flesh divinizes His brothers in the flesh.  If Christ is anything less than God, then the gates of heaven are closed and man is still in exile from his eternal home.  The comfortable rationalism of Arius, in the end, robbed Christianity of its very heart.

First Council of Nicaea, 325 - from an ancient fresco in present day Turkiye.