The Sense of the Mystery

Jesus Christ does not suffocate our humanity. He exalts human desire, deepening the sense of the mystery...

Hong Kong: Suffocated By "Security"?

Hong Kong Summer 2020.

They say if you put a frog in a pot of hot water it will jump out, but if you put the frog into a pot of cool water and very slowly turn up the temperature to the boiling point, the frog will be dead before it realizes it's being cooked.

They teach that in "Oppressive Regimes 101" in Dictatorship Training School, don't they? And yet the CCP seems to have forgotten this technique, or they have no desire to use it while the world watches them cook beyond recognition what remains of the One-Country-Two-Systems arrangement with the great city of Hong Kong.

The hammer began falling almost immediately after Beijing's imposed "National Security Law" went into effect a month ago, when it became clear that there was to be no distinction between the newly sanctioned crimes related to "sedition" and acts that had previously been protected under Hong Kong's Basic Law as "free speech" and "free expression of opinion." In the first days, people were arrested for displaying or carrying this admittedly provocative banner:

Open support for "independence" had previously disqualified people from running for the Legislative Council, but it was not illegal simply to voice, discuss, or display it as an opinion. But, as of July 1, apparently, expressions favoring independence became seditious "speech crimes."

Even if one were to stretch the boundaries of plausibility and concede (in recognition of the mainland PartyState's jurisprudence of paranoia) that simply expressing the desire for independence on a sign is equivalent to inciting sedition, that would not be sufficient for the new order. They were determined to push back harder and much further on Hong Kong's freedoms.

Soon it was announced that the 2019 Protest Slogan was also illegal. "Liberate Hong Kong. The Revolution of Our Times" was commonly used in the anti-extradition protests, not as a call for independence or for overthrowing the local government, but for reforms that would preserve its distinctive system and institutions from the encroachment of CCP repression.

But explanations of meaning are fruitless. Law enforcement has been ordered to regard the 2019 slogan as seditious.

The "thought-police" are searching for even more targets. In response, some recent Hong Kong demonstrators displayed signs, placards, and papers that were completely blank. Their point was clear enough. So far, however, humor has not been declared dangerous to the State.

But given the current raging censorship, discussions of the distinctive historical and socio-cultural identity of Hong Kong are not likely to make the cut. One certainly does not expect to see slogans like this one in the future:

That puts it "negatively," of course. It's an angry statement, but there's a point behind it. A more positive expression (which you still probably won't see anymore) says it like this:

Certainly, the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong people are ethnic Chinese. They are descendants of Chinese people who freely chose to emigrate to a place outside China's jurisdiction, beginning in the 19th century.

Does the current mainland Chinese Communist PartyState have a right to rule them without regard for the heritage of their forebears? Does the PartyState have a right to erase Hong Kong from history, to have it swallowed up into a southern Chinese ocean port megacity? Does it have the right to suppress an established social realm with its own legal system, customs, and civil liberties?

In the olden days, there was a term for asserting such "rights" — conquest. Today's international community needs to pay attention to what is happening here.

"Hong Kong is not a place. It's a PEOPLE." In my opinion, this expresses one of the fundamental underlying historical facts about the population of this unique Southeast Asian city-state. From my own (admittedly outsider, but somewhat informed) point of view, I think it's necessary to probe beyond the injustices of 19th century Western powers and take seriously the history generated by actual local people on the ground. Many are not aware of the fact that "Hong Kong" was not an ancient Chinese city, nor did it have a distinctive Chinese history or culture prior to being ceded to the British in 1842. It was a rocky island inhabited by a few fisherman and an occasional haven for pirates.

I have no intention of crediting Britain's East India Company or its deplorable opium trade for anything, nor can it be said that the British colonial administration created the Hong Kong city-state we know today. The British wanted to set up a minimal port and trading station under the Crown. They did not find Hong Kong island particularly attractive and tended to neglect it as subsequent "unequal treaties" with the collapsing Qing Empire ceded much better "extraterritorial" sections of the large eastern Chinese port cities for their usage.

This was China's "century of humiliation," and it might be insulting to imply that anything good came out of those years, or deserves to endure. But Hong Kong has a very peculiar history — built by Chinese immigrants from the Pearl River Delta — that grew within the context of those times. Today's unique Hong Kong society is the achievement of these immigrants and their progeny (who speak Yue, or "Cantonese," rather than the standardized "Mandarin" of the most of the mainland), and others who followed them as refugees from the wars of the 20th century. They built up Hong Kong with the clear intention that it be a place distinct from mainland China, especially following the CCP takeover of the mainland in 1949.

Hong Kong became an international crossroads in the last century, and a beautiful and unique city (also with its own special problems). It should have been given a say in its own future. It was moving on from British colonial rule, prepared to claim and integrate into its own established identity the political and social institutions that had already emerged organically within itself. But owing to the pressures of international alliances and geopolitical and economic schemes, Great Britain betrayed its Crown Colony.

Without asking Hong Kongers, the British entered into a treaty to hand them over to the mainland Chinese government. It included 50 year special provisions for "domestic autonomy" (which would make no sense apart from the presumption that the Hong Kong people would continue to develop their own institutions). But nothing for Hong Kong was specified past the year 2047.

Optimism may have hoped that, at the end of 50 years, the people would have the freedom to decide their own future. Chinese Communist Party history, however, suggested that after 2047, Hong Kong would simply be absorbed into the homogeneous New China as an accessory to its grand development schemes. In any case, the treaty stipulated that Hong Kong was to become a "special autonomous region" of China, with its own domestic governance (at least this was the agreement negotiated between Britain and China, without any participation or radification of the process by the people of Hong Kong). Again, without its own consent, a "Basic Law" (a sort of "semi-constitution") was established for this unique civil society. The arrangement was summarized by saying that Hong Kong and China would exist as "one country with two distinct domestic political systems." Hong Kong's legal system, courts, legislature, currency, and civil liberties would all remain under its new "Basic Law." The arrangement would last 50 years. Guarantees of CCP compliance with even the letter (not to mention the spirit) of "One-Country-Two-Systems" were... rather thin.

This was proclaimed as the "liberation" of Hong Kong from colonial rule. But Hong Kong people could be forgiven if they felt more like serfs whose land was being transferred from one master to another. They also knew that the new master could not be trusted.

From the beginning, the Basic Law was a mashup, overwhelmingly (but not absolutely) weighted in favor of Beijing control. Pro-Democracy legislators were able to serve as something of a check on mainland power, along with the clear expression of popular will through mass demonstrations. In the last decade, however, China increased its zeal to integrate Hong Kong into its plans for economic growth (and political control) even before 2047. Hong Kong people resisted these efforts. Young people, even high school students, were especially active. They realized that the future of Hong Kong was their future, and they had to make their aspirations, protests, and voices heard.

Since 2014, the struggle has been consistent and the repression has increased until it exploded into the huge demonstrations and brutal police response tactics of last Summer and Fall.

The PartyState bided its time, or so it appeared. Some wondered if perhaps the CCP didn't know what to do with Hong Kong. But this year, after the emergence of Coronavirus delayed everything, the Party arranged for its "National People's Congress" (the annual legislative body it controls) to approve the "amending" of Hong Kong's Basic Law (again, without Hong Kong popular consent) by a new National Security Law for the region, that gave special criminal status to broadly defined acts of "sedition," "incitement to sedition," and other related acts. These crimes were placed under mainland jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong's intrinsic legal system. The new provisions have been widely viewed as gutting what remains of Hong Kong's civil liberties and, effectively, of its "autonomous status."

Benny Tai

As I noted earlier, in their rapid implementation of their new broadly articulated "Law," the CCP and its loyalists are going in hard and fast. They are also stirring up an overall atmosphere of fear and repression. Last week, Umbrella Movement nonviolent activist and pro-Democracy law professor Benny Tai was fired by Hong Kong University (even though the academic senate had previously voted to retain him). According to the BBC, Tai said that "the decision to fire him was 'made not by the University of Hong Kong but by an authority beyond the University through its agents,' ...adding 'I am heartbroken to witness the demise of my beloved university.'"

The next day, four students were arrested under the new "Law" for posts they made discussing the future of Hong Kong on social media (i.e. "speech crimes" and media surveilance). Then, moves were made to prevent the pro-Democracy faction from taking over the Legislative Council in next month's elections. Twelve candidates who had been selected by the huge turnout in last month's "informal" pro-Democracy coalition "primaries" (there are no formal political parties in Hong Kong) were disqualified from running for the Council. For many of them, their mere objection to Beijing's new Law was deemed by election officials sufficient grounds to declare them unfit to serve as legislators. Moreover, the elections themselves were "postponed" until next year, obstensibly because of "concerns over the pandemic" but in reality so as to ensure that every tooth has been removed from the opposition tiger before holding a vote. Indeed, by next year the whole tiger may have "disappeared."

None of this would be especially surprising if it were merely the ordinary workings of a dictatorship behind the curtain of its undisputed territory. At this point, however, Hong Kong is at the center of a ferocious dispute that cannot be obfuscated by propagandistic pretense. Beyond the legitimate claim of Hong Kong people to self-determination, there are indications that the mainland Chinese government is violating international treaty obligations that go all the way back to the original (flawed but internationally recognized) handover agreement. China is simply not free under international law to eliminate the One-Country-Two-Systems arrangement (guaranteed as a condition of the treaty at least until 2047). The insistence of the United States, the UK, and continental Europe on this is not a bluff (indeed, this is the only issue that has united — almost miraculously — the entire spectrum of rivals in the U.S.A.'s current dysfunctional politics).

One would think, even by their own logic, that "cautious pressure" would continue to be Beijing's approach (and one suspects that many in the Party and in the business sector would prefer that). Admittedly, it's surprising that the world's largest One-Party State can't seem to get a handle on this tenacious opposition movement. But the National Security Law, one would think, has now given them more than enough power to "restore order" (or establish new order) using what passes in dictatorships as "discrete methods," without interference and in whatever form they wish. However, the CCP is not (thus far) proceeding in this manner. They are not slowly 'boiling the frogs' of Hong Kong people's freedoms or the demands of the International community. Perhaps we are seeing (finally) a page from the Mao Zedong playbook, one that has a less subtle technique summarized by one of his favorite maxims: "Smash them!"

Or maybe the CCP has simply become desperate.

Hong Kong Internet humor, as in Xi memes such as this, will also become more difficult to post.

One sign of desperation is mistakes. Sloppy mistakes.

On August 1, news reported that arrest warrants had been issued for six Hong Kong expatriates — some of whom have recently gone into exile — on charges of "suspicion of [advocating? working for?] succession" and/or "colluding with foreign forces" to subvert Hong Kong.

Their names are Nathan Law, Samuel Chu, Wayne Chan Kakui, Honcques Laus, Simon Cheng, and Ray Wong.

According to the Security Law, China claims they can go after these criminals even outside the jurisdiction of the country. Perhaps they are hoping (ironically) for some form of extradition of the alleged criminals from their places of exile. That's not likely.

But here's where the whopper of a mistake comes in. One of the six, Samuel Chu, emigrated long ago from Hong Kong (before the handover in 1997) and has been a citizen of the United States of America for the past 25 years. In other words, the Chinese are claiming they can arrest Chu for exercising his rights as an American citizen.

Certainly, Mr. Chu is no friend of the CCP. He heads a lobbying group in the USA called the Hong Kong Democracy Council. But what were the Chinese thinking?

"It's such an outlandish claim that they somehow have jurisdiction over an American citizen lobbying the American government," said Chu. Indeed, it would be an understatement to say that a "diplomatic crisis" would ensue should the Chinese attempt to arrest a citizen of the USA for actions he undertakes in his own country, actions that are not crimes here (quite the contrary — Chu is exercising his rights under the US Constitution).

Indeed, in the olden days, this might have qualified in the practice of international affairs as a "casus belli" (a cause justifying a declaration of war). No one would advocate such measures today, but it might be worth noting just how much "fire is being played with" in the affair of Hong Kong. It's not excessive to call this "arrest warrant" a reckless mistake.

Response thus far from the Chinese government? <crickets...>

The underlying principle is boundlessly brazen: essentially, if they claim that they can arrest and punish Chu — an American — for using American free speech to criticize them in America, then what would stop them from arresting anybody in the USA (or anywhere else)? They could arrest me for this blog, though I cannot imagine a more frivolous waste of resources than coming after me. The point is that we have here a mockery of international law.

Or, as Chu has noted with more than a touch of irony: "We are all Hong Kongers now."

Chu is convinced this is indeed an expression of desperation by the ruling Party, that "they are scared of losing control. They know that if Hong Kong can continue to be a place of resistance, it threatens their control all over the mainland." He may be right.

There are some who think that President and Party Secretary Xi Jinping has overreached in his rapid consolidation of power since 2013. To attain such a pinnacle in a 100 million member Party like the CCP simply can't be done without roughing up a lot of people and making lots of enemies in the process. Xi has tried to cultivate a Mao-like status as a folk hero, which is not an easy project (and the plague and floods of 2020 are not helping it). Granted, the Great Helmsman survived a few "setbacks" (indeed!) but his stature as founding father along with his boundless reservoirs of cunning and ruthlessness put him in a category beyond anything Xi can aspire to. But since we don't know Xi's limits, and have no idea who (or what set of circumstances) might replace him, we ought not to have any fanciful hopes for the future of mainland China's Communist PartyState.

China is immense. There are no short cuts to understanding a great ancient civilization and the efforts made to govern it. I do not believe — however — that the ultimate Western philosophical import, "Marxism-Leninism," does them any good service. No amount of "Chinese characteristics" can extract Communist ideology's essentially violent core.

My question of the moment (and it is probably a foolish one) is simply: "Hong Kong has its own unique history, its own stories, its own sufferings. Why won't they simply allow Hong Kong to go its own way, as an independent city-state founded by the labor of primarily Yue-Chinese (粤语) immigrants from Guangdong (and others) who — struggling creatively under their unique circumstances of British colonial rule — forged their own distinctive political and social institutions, their own legal traditions, their own distinct culture, their own identity as a people entitled to self-determination?"

If this is what the Hong Kong people want, why can't it be worked out?

On August 1, Nathan Law — the 23 year old veteran student protester and sometime political prisoner, who had been elected to the LegCo and then unseated, and who went into exile last month — posted a statement on Twitter. May I point out that Nathan Law is the same age as my son. Many protest and opposition political leaders in Hong Kong are the age of my kids. They have carried themselves with great dignity under unimaginable pressures since 2014. As far as I can tell, they are not ideologues or rabble rousers (no doubt there are plenty of those in a very large and disorganized protest movement, but students like Nathan Law are not among them).

Certainly they are young, but they have shown singular potential and they will mature with time. Any country would consider such a spirited and courageous rising generation a precious resource. It would be a tragedy if they disappeared from Hong Kong's future. History is strange and unpredictable, but I cannot help feeling that — somehow — these kids will continue to make history, and to shape the future of Hong Kong in the face of whatever odds.

Here is Nathan Law's Twitter statement:

"Like all of you, I found out from news reports that I — along with five other Hong Kongers currently overseas — am on the wanted list for having violated the NSL. I have no idea what is my “crime” and I don’t think that’s important. Perhaps I love Hong Kong too much.

"Since 2014 I have experienced a lot of ups and downs: from student leader to a Legislative Council member, and from a prisoner to an international advocate, I have not for a moment betrayed Hong Kongers’ values and democratic aspirations.

"I’d be dishonest if I said I could’ve imagined six years ago that, by the time of Hong Kong’s complete destruction under Chinese control in 2020, I’d be so far gone, truly not knowing when I could return home. I was prepared when I left Hong Kong to be in exile; but this becoming a reality still disappoints, incapacitates, and frightens me. Indeed who can enjoy freedom from fear in the face of China’s powerful political machine? What we can choose is how to respond to this fear.

"For me, it’s with action: I’ve always advocated for democracy in Hong Kong, for sanctions by foreign governments against officials who stifle human rights, for an international response to concentration camps in Xinjiang and the collapse of Hong Kong’s autonomy.

"The arrests, the disqualifications, the wanted bulletins — these are indications of our need to remain active on the global stage. That Hong Kong has no place for even such moderate views like ours underscores the absurdity of Chinese Communist rule.

"I really love Hong Kong: its terrain, its culture, its vibe. But what I most love are Hong Kongers’ values and the future of its every inhabitant. What I now face is far greater than my own gains and losses. The price of displacement is what I’m willing to pay.

"At the same time, I hereby reiterate: My advocacy work overseas is conducted in my own personal capacity, without any collaboration with others. Since leaving Hong Kong, I have also stopped contacting members of my family. From now on I’ll sever my relationship with them.

"My social media will remain active. I hope, too, that all of you can stand strong to resist the white terror rather than succumb to self-censorship. I’ll also try my best to protect my safety. Please don’t worry about me. I still have faith in the future."

Nathan Law

The End of July and All That Stuff

It's the end of July 2020, and I have no big reflections. Today is the feast of Saint Peter Chrysologus, the fifth century Archbishop of Ravenna and the greatest Church Father you've never heard of. It was in the days of the waning of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of this city on the Adriatic as the center of what remained of the imperial world on the Italian peninsula over the coming centuries.

Tomorrow, of course is the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Then we're off into the month of August of this crazy year.

Nothing is predictable. We live day by day. Yet one must plan certain things... The PLAN for August 8, 2020 is still "ON" as of now, and is as sure a bet to happen as any human thing can be in the scheme of things. Of course, Coronavirus still has a week and a half to cause unexpected problems. Maybe the world will shut down again. Who knows?

But my son and his bride are determined to get married a week from Saturday even if they have to do it in hazmat suits.

As it now stands, there will be a small, careful, but happy event. With lots of bridesmaids (she has three sisters and, of course, he has four). There is talk of a livestream video on some platform or other (many friends and relatives will not be able to attend, so we'll have to jump on this new trendy bandwagon, which has turned out to be such a help this year for so many things). 

I hope we'll have some nice pictures. But more on all of this in the coming days. Please pray that everything goes well. May God grant it!

That reminds me that I wanted to share the Collect Prayer for this, the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time in the Latin Rite Liturgical Year. It's well suited to our present awareness of the need for God, who alone is our "firm foundation," to give us an "abundance" of his mercy, to "grant that...we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure." We know that even the good things of this world pass away, but they are not meant to be futile. They are "signs" meant to guide us to our enduring home where the meaning of all things will become clear and goodness will find fulfillment.

I will conclude with an excerpt from an Easter Homily of Saint Peter-With-the-Golden-Words, whose words gain all their brilliance from the glory of the face of Jesus and their emphasis on his great love:

The Risen Jesus says to the disciples, "'Peace be with you! It is I. Do not fear.'" (See Luke 24:36 and following. The Archbishop continues, commenting in the 'voice' of Jesus:) "'It is I, the One who was crucified, dead, and buried. It is I, in and of myself God, but for your sake a man. It is I, not a ghost in the form of flesh, but Truth itself in the flesh. It is I. Back from the dead, I am alive; back from the underworld, I am from heaven. It is I whom death has fled, at whom hell has trembled, whom Tartarus, shuddering, has confessed as God. Do not fear: Peter, on account of your denial; John, on account of having fled; all of you, on account of having deserted me, of forming judgments about me with every one of your thoughts devoid of faith, and of still not believing even though you see me. Do not fear, it is I, who have called you by means of grace, have chosen and pardoned you, have sustained you by my steadfast kindness, have supported you with my love, and out of goodness alone I now take you back, because when a father receives his son, and when affection recovers its own, neither one is able to see any faults.'"

Saint Martha and the Resurrection

Duccio, "The Raising of Lazarus" (14th century)

July 29 shines its bright celebratory light on Saint Martha of Bethany. It seems that this entire household — so dear to Jesus — is honored on this day: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. But for reasons I don't know, Martha gets the focus on the universal calendar for the Roman Rite as well as the various Eastern Rites.

Martha is often remembered as the one who felt like she needed a hand from her younger sister in preparing dinner for Jesus. She was busy with the details of hospitality and service, perhaps even a bit anxious about this good and necessary work. Mary her sister, however, grasped that being with Jesus and listening to him was the deeper response to his presence in their home at that moment, the "better part" of their friendship with this man who was the Word made Flesh (see Luke 10:40-42).

But Jesus loved Martha, and he loved their home, and he appreciated her service. Later, at another meal for a larger gathering with Jesus, we are told simply that "Martha served" (John 12:2). How beautiful it must have been to serve the human needs of Jesus. Indeed, Martha is the patroness of cooks and wait staff, and others who carry out works of hospitality "for Jesus" by serving others — the human beings in need who are his brothers and sisters (see Matthew 25).

As a way of loving, this service also enriched Martha's personal relationship with Jesus. No doubt, she also did plenty of listening too. As we discover in the great story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11), Martha is given the gift of a great faith.

Jesus did not arrive at their house in Bethany until four days after Lazarus had died and been buried. Nevertheless, Martha's heart is full of hope that, somehow, "the story" is not yet over. She has come to know Jesus well. She has heard his words and knows something of his prayer, and she has seen his works that have manifested the saving power and tenderness of God. She trusts in him, brings her sorrow to him, and listens in this moment. As a result, Martha's encounter with Jesus prior to his raising of Lazarus leads her to a fundamental deepening of faith in Jesus, a gift of insight from God into his identity that is even more wonderful than the miracle of bringing someone back from the dead. (The Scripture texts quoted are from John 11:20-27.)

"When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.'" Really, this is a remarkable thing to say. Martha's hope in front of Jesus is "radically open" — she places her confidence in what he might ask of God.

His response draws out her faith further. "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise.' Martha said to him, 'I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.'" Martha has the faith of Israel, that awaits a final rising of the dead on the 'Day of the Lord,' the ultimate saving intervention of God at the end of history.

For many, this may have seemed a remote and inaccessible event. But Jesus wanted Martha to understand that the Lord's Day was dawning right in front of her, and he called for her to make a new and even more radical act of faith and trust. "Jesus told her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

"Do you believe this?" This is Martha's moment of glory, and she shines with recognition:

"She said to him, 'Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.'"

Wow.

Do you see what happened here? Martha's stance in front of Jesus went from "whatever you ask of God," to "the resurrection on the last day," to "you are the Messiah"! It's a great moment of faith. Among all the disciples only Peter makes a similar profession, which Jesus declares to be "revealed by the Father" (see Matthew 16:5-6).

Of course, also like Peter, Martha must grow in this conviction. By verse 39, she seems forgetful (and anxious, once again, about many things, about the things of death), when she worries about the stench of the tomb. Jesus must remind her of "the glory of God" that she acknowledged moments before.

But the Byzantine tradition honors Martha as one of the "Myrrh-Bearing Women" who went to that other tomb on Easter Sunday morning, found it empty, and became the first witnesses to the One who said, "I am the resurrection and the life."

On that day, Saint Martha must have remembered those words with great joy.

Texts For Troubled Times

Here are some "texts for troubled times" that I have posted recently on other media platforms:

The Treasure, the Pearl, and the Kingdom Worth Everything

Jesus said to his disciples: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it" (Matthew 13:44-46).

The concreteness of Jesus's parables is not just a "literary device," much less a cover for some arcane philosophical or gnostic teaching. (Whether the parables prove enlightening or perplexing to people depends on the openness of their hearts to God's grace.) The images are concrete because Jesus is proposing something real for people's lives, something that "corresponds" to the total desire of their humanity (even as it also transcends and transforms their humanity and their capacity to love).

Jesus talks about people in the real estate business and the jewelry business, but he is saying more than just that the kingdom of heaven is a worthwhile investment, a "good deal." He uses the context of commercial transaction in order to communicate that the kingdom truly corresponds to "what we really want," what we are seeking and aiming for (with varying degrees of clarity, and often beyond our immediate conscious awareness) as we carry out the activities of daily life. We "meet" the kingdom in the midst of ordinary circumstances, and we must choose it freely ("buy" the field, the pearl).

But the story implies that, if we have our eyes and our hearts open, if we are paying attention to reality, we will choose it. We will gladly assent even as we are "swept up" and renewed by an encounter that is both familiar and unexpectedly wonderful.

The kingdom of heaven overwhelms all our calculations and modes of evaluation. In both cases in the parable, our earnest businessmen sell everything (note: everything is a big word — think about that), but there is no tension in these transactions, no concern for balancing the ledger books.

Our real estate man discovers this spectacular treasure in a field. Really, when we hear this, what do we think? C'mon, be honest. You know you've thought about this. Everybody wants to find buried treasure.

I'll tell you what I think (please excuse me while I indulge in a bit of unscientific JJ Midrash 😉). Here's my man, finding the treasure in the field: "He opened the treasure chest and it was full of gold, and he said to himself, 'Dude!...this is worth, like, ten times as much as everything I own. I don't need to call my surveyors, or soil inspectors, or accountants. I am ready to do this deal now!'"

So he hides it again, and... wait, wait, wait! WAIT!

A "bad" thought enters my mind here: Nobody knows about this treasure? It's been hidden? Nobody sees you "finding it"?

Why bother buying the field?

More JJ Midrash: "'But wait,' he thinks, 'Why don't I just call Josh and tell him to bring his truck out here... hey man, can you bring the truck. I've got this big box I need to move...from, ya know, the "field" — oh nothing interesting in it, but I figured I'd just bring it over to my garage...'"

But in fact, none of this happens in the story. Not a word of it. Not even a hint. Of course, Jesus knows how we think. He knows that as soon as we hear the word "treasure," we (at least subconsciously) start calculating and scheming and dreaming. But he doesn't give us time. Immediately, our man "sells all he has and buys that field."

There's no assessments of value, no calculation, and not even the shadow of a temptation toward theft or any kind of worldly cunning. On the contrary, we are told that he gets rid of everything and buys the field "out of joy"!

"Out of joy..." Once he saw the treasure, it was all that mattered. Selling everything sounds like it was as simple as taking off a jacket on a sunny morning. Suddenly, "all-he-had" seemed superfluous. Unnecessary. He gave all away, out of joy.

What kind of treasure was this?

When the merchant finds the "pearl of great price," he also does something rather unusual, something that perhaps seems hasty or even reckless in the jewelry business. He doesn't negotiate or haggle over the price. He doesn't think, "maybe I should start with a bid of 20% of 'all-that-I-have' and see how that goes over." No. He finds the pearl, and it turns his whole business upside down. He sells all his stores, all the inventory, the house, the jacuzzi, the fancy cars, the stock portfolio — everything goes!

Either the merchant has lost his mind, or else this pearl really is worth everything. Indeed, it's worth everything and more, so much so that he sells all his stuff without a second thought, without concern. His whole focus is on the pearl.

He doesn't worry about "searching for fine pearls" anymore — not because he no longer thinks that pearls have value, but if anything, the opposite: he has found the pearl that corresponds to the whole scope of his search. Here the image of "the pearl" clearly points to an immense, mysterious, transcendent reality, but also to a concrete reality that the merchant encounters while living within the circumstances of his ordinary life.

No doubt people listening to this story (including us, if we really think about it) found it both puzzling and fascinating in varying degrees.

Some were inclined to say, "That doesn't make sense. No pearl could be worth 'everything' ... we will never encounter any reality in this world that has such evident value, such convincing promise to fulfill the totality of our searching and desiring, that we will 'sell all we have' and invest our entire selves in this new reality. It's not possible."

Others leaned toward thinking, "Wow, that pearl must have been totally wonderful and amazing if it moved the pearl merchant so deeply that he sold everything. Is the Teacher proposing something — this 'kingdom' he talks about — that would be like that pearl for my life?" Some people who heard the parable (and who hear it today) felt divided, a bit tugged in both directions. Perhaps they argued the points or sat in the sand and tried to figure the story out by themselves.

But there were those who looked at Jesus and said, "I don't know what I'm supposed to understand here, but I know that this man, Jesus, is not like anyone I have ever met. I think it will all come together, somehow, if I keep following him. I don't know about pearls or treasures, but when this man looks at me, whenever I see his face, I experience a kind of love for my person, my life, my whole being that... I can't describe, but I'm going to stay with him. Being with him is worth ... gosh, there's no end to it. He fills me with the conviction that God really loves me beyond all imagining."

*************************************************

Enough rambling from me. The Pope preached about this Gospel reading at the Sunday Angelus. Here are a few of his words:

"Jesus proposes to involve us in the building of the Kingdom of Heaven,... [but] those who fully pledge themselves to the Kingdom are those who are willing to stake everything.... The building of the Kingdom requires not only the grace of God but also the active willingness of humanity.

"Everything is done by grace, everything! We need only have the willingness to receive it, not to resist grace: grace does everything but it takes 'my' responsibility, 'my' willingness.... It is a matter of abandoning the heavy burden of our worldly sureties that prevent us from searching and building up the Kingdom: the covetousness for possession, the thirst for profit and power, and thinking only of ourselves....

"Indeed, those who have found this treasure have a creative and inquisitive heart, which does not repeat but rather invents, tracing, and setting out on new paths which lead us to love God, to love others, and to truly love ourselves. The sign of those who walk this path of the Kingdom is creativity, always trying to do more. And creativity is what takes life and gives life, and gives, and gives, and gives. It always looks for many other ways to give life.

"Jesus, who is the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value, cannot but inspire joy, all the joy of the world: the joy of discovering a meaning in life, the joy of committing oneself to the adventure of holiness."

James the Greater

Happy Feast of Saint James!

Is "All The Strangeness" Wearing You Out?

I know a lot of people are having a hard time with all the strangeness that has descended upon our lives this year. I know it has been hard for me.

No matter what our circumstances are, or how much it has affected us "directly," there is no shame in acknowledging that The Pandemic has been (and continues to be) difficult, perplexing, frustrating, confining, nerve-wracking, frightening, exhausting — some combination of these or other similar characteristics are spinning our lives closer to "the edge" than we would like to be right now.

People are suffering in many different ways.

Suffering resists comprehension; it can't be entirely explained by categories or degrees. In one sense, certainly, we can "measure" it. We can say that it's objectively "harder" to be stuck in a refugee camp or a slum than it is to be stuck in a large house with first-world comforts. But how does one gauge the depths of suffering in the lives of persons who are afflicted by it?

There is an aspect of our pain that is profoundly personal. We need to remember this, especially now. We need to respond to one another with compassion.

Above all, this is a matter for the heart. It is a disposition to be cultivated and to be recalled again and again when we have forgotten it. We are on "the edge," after all, and we may well get impatient or angry with one another. We may also get down on ourselves. But we can't let these moments define us.

We must forgive one another, and seek to travel this difficult stage of life's journey together, aspiring to a greater openness to one another, a greater love, a greater sense of solidarity.

But what does this aspiration really entail? It might appear to be an "ideal" beyond our reach, because we are so fragile, so wounded, so afflicted and floundering in the continual weakening of our resources and shrinking of our capacities. It's humbling to be reminded of our limits, and to confront the immensity of our fundamental needs.

This is not, however, the moment to "give up." Rather, it is the moment to recognize and to seek something beyond ourselves: a source of healing and the capacity to begin again, to be renewed.

Manor House and Fields in Summer

Digital Art. "Manor House and Fields in Summer." I enjoyed working on this, and it took some time. The final result, moreover, caught me a little by surprise.

Neither freehand drawing nor simple photography, art made with digital tools has its own peculiar challenges. Occasionally, after many mistakes and much dissatisfaction, things fall into place. The flaws are not unbearable, and a few "happy mistakes" result in something that exceeds what you set out to do.

During a year of so much overwhelming change, so much "information," so many careless words, I experience more urgently than ever the need to see beauty in life, to craft beautiful things, to present and share beautiful things and places.

At least, I have to try...

"PLAY [safe, socially-distant] BALL!"⚠⚾️

Mid July 2020: Baseball “Summer [Training] Camp.” I'm watching an exhibition game between Nats and Orioles. Coming from an empty ballpark. With fake “fan sounds” playing in the background. 

It’s bizarre. 

It feels like the Nationals won the 2019 World Series a hundred years ago. It seems like ages since the 2020 Season started with Spring Training, back in February. 

I posted in February about my excitement for the new season. Coronavirus sounded like a remote problem for China and East Asia to worry about (wishful thinking in retrospect, insofar as there was any thinking at all). Now, in July, COVID-19 makes the rules.

It puts some perspective on the relative significance (or insignificance) of our "games" when measured against our more fundamental needs, such as life and health. We are continuing to learn lessons about priorities, the need to care for one another, and the common good.

Even though it looks a bit "twilight-zoney," I’m just glad to see baseball BACK! (The 60 game “Season” begins end of this week.⚾️) Maybe it's crazy even to try to salvage the 2020 Season, but I'm a "fan," and it must be remembered that "fan" is short for fanatic.😉 We have irrational hopes... up to a point. We can see the need for the precautions and accept the weird consequences that follow from them.

Let's Go Nats! Stay safe out there, guys. And WIN!!⚾👑

Saint Camillus and Our Times

Today is the memorial day for Saint Camillus (c. 1582) whose conversion story we saw in the May edition of Magnificat and also on this blog (see link HERE). 

He dedicated his life to caring for the sick, and founded a religious order (the Camillans, officially the "Order of Ministers to the Sick") that was in many ways the prototype of "the Red Cross" and that continues to work throughout the world today. But, of course, Saint Camillus is also the patron of all healthcare workers. These dedicated people always need our prayers in carrying out their professional commitment to works of mercy. It is especially urgent that we remember them now, as they continue to face great challenges during the ongoing pandemic. 

Saint Camillus, pray for our healthcare workers and first responders in these difficult times. May the Lord continue to give them strength and compassion.

God bless them all!

Jesus Wins the Final Victory

Speaking of Carmelites... 

This is a portion of a reflection from yesterday's Magnificat. Here is another of "God's girls," who was so young and so afflicted, but who proved that Christ's love endures all things and wins the final victory. We are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

What a great life we have been given!.

Oh, of course, I have many fears and if things go crazy I'll become even more anxious and afraid. I am weak. But there is encouragement here. Jesus is my friend. He understands me better than I understand myself.

Here are the words of a young woman from Latin America 100 years ago, a girl who was heroic and human. They are words that challenge us but also reassure us:

"I want Jesus to be your intimate friend, to whom you may entrust your heart, tired and filled with sorrow. Who can fathom the intensity, the torrent of worries pouring over you as can our Lord who delves into our deepest hearts, and with delicate touch can touch those painful wounds whose depths even we ourselves don't understand? Oh how your life would be transformed if you went to him often as to a friend!" 

~Saint Teresa of the Andes (1900-1920), who professed final vows in her Carmelite monastery in Chile on her deathbed.

Our Mother Mary and Mount Carmel

On this great day we honor our Mother Mary with particular emphasis on her special solicitude for those who share in the immense ecclesial charism of the Carmelite Order.

Beginning with hermits at Mount Carmel in the Holy Land, who dedicated themselves — like Elijah the prophet — to listening in faith for the “still small voice” of the Spirit of God, this charism blossomed in the Western Church during the Middle Ages and bore tremendous fruit in more recent times.

Under Mary’s special protection and care (she who pondered the mysteries of her Son in her heart), the Holy Spirit led the great Carmelites — Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese of Lisieux, Edith Stein, and many others — to profound and genuine mystical experiences of God’s gratuitous love and a prophetic witness that continues to enrich the whole Church.

The charism of Carmel is shared in various ways: by professed religious men and women, lay ‘third order’ members, and (in the broadest and most accessible way) all who are devoted to the “brown scapular” — the small cloth squares worn under the shirt as a symbolic “link” to the Carmelite religious habit (i.e. the special garment they wear, which, according to a venerable tradition, was given to them by Mary with the promise of her protection and special help in attaining eternal life). 

The celebration of "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" is a day of religious processions and festivals in many parts of the world, and I know that it was close to the hearts of my Italian immigrant ancestors. (My paternal grandfather, who I never knew in this life, was born on July 16, 1905, and one of his middle names was “Carmelo.” So Happy Birthday no. 115 to my father's father, my "Papa"! — I hope and pray that the whole family is celebrating this day with the Lord in eternal glory.) 

This is a joyful and colorful day for various peoples. To be clear: the many devotions to Mary in the Church are not superstitions (though, obviously, some people might have a superstitious attitude toward Mary and the saints, just as others might have a superstitious attitude about the Bible). Rather, they emerge from the vitality of Mary's very particular, very human ways of caring for the people who have been entrusted to her (who are each of us, and all of us).

The Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior reaches out to touch us physically, concretely, through many gifts she has given and inspired throughout the history of the Church. There are first of all her outstanding icons, some of which have long been regarded by the Christian people as miraculous in their origin or in other circumstances related to them; in certain cases (e.g. Guadalupe or the healings at Lourdes) popular traditions and contemporary accounts of Mary's presence and power remain inexplicable even after vigorous and careful scientific analysis. Mary is pervasively "present" in the Christian life, and has become intimate to a great spectrum of diverse peoples and cultures through a multitude of particular titles and iconographic styles that enable people all over the world to draw close to her and call her "our Mother."

Mary also enriches and give particular beauty and tenderness to Christian experience through the abundant fruits of her ongoing maternal care for all of God's children. We recognise this in the ancient hymns and liturgical services of the East (such as the Akathist or the Paraklesis), in the many religious communities specially dedicated to her (today we remember the Carmelites), in her “visitations” approved by the Church and established as places of pilgrimage for the Christian people (Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, and others), and in her many tokens of love and invitations to be united with her in prayer (the Rosary, the brown scapular and other scapulars related to different religious families, religious medals worn not out of superstition but in faith and love, etc).

Ultimately, it's a simple reality. If we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus, then we are the children of Mary. Her motherhood of all of us is the very special task entrusted to her along with the Person who is the Son of the Father, who takes our flesh in her womb, who is born of her in Bethlehem, and who dies on the Cross accompanied by her on the hill of Golgotha.

Having a mother, depending on a mother, flourishing and growing under the specific love and tenderness of a mother: these are fundamental human experiences even if they are often imperfect or broken in this fallen world. It is a wonderful fact, however, that God — in redeeming the world, calling us to be born again, and to grow to maturity in the Spirit as a new creation — has given us a redeemed motherhood through a Mother who will never fail us, who is always there for us, who already cares for us even if we don't realize it. Though, of course, she wants us to know her love. It means so much for our happiness, our confidence, the maturation of our humanity in Christ her Son. 

Mary is our Mother. She cares for us, accompanies us, clothes us, teaches us to pray, loves us, and carries us through trials so that we can attain the fullness of our destiny as God's children, as the little brothers and little sisters of Jesus. 

Saint Bonaventure on the Kindness of Christ's Heart

On this Feast of Saint Bonaventure - who was not only one of the greatest theologians of the Middle Ages but also one of the most devoted followers of Saint Francis of Assisi - let's take the opportunity to benefit from his inspired counsel.

Here, from one of his brief treatises "On Holiness of Life," he presents a concrete meditation that deserves the attention of our minds and hearts especially in times of great need.

"If ever anything sad befalls you, or anything grieves you, or...causes you weariness or bitterness of heart," Saint Bonaventure advises, "lift up immediately your eyes to your Lord hanging nailed to the Cross. 

"Look upon Him, His head crowned with thorns! Gaze upon the nails, the iron nails which fasten Him to the Cross, and upon the lance piercing His sacred side. In all trying moments, picture and contemplate the wounds in His hands and feet, picture to yourself the wounds in His most blessed head, the wound in His sacred side, the wounds of His whole body. 

"Call to mind that He was wounded for your sake, that he suffered for you and that His sufferings were so great because He loved you beyond compare."

Bonaventure assures us that turning to the Lord in this way will bring us renewal and strength. Remembering Christ's sufferings and His love for us will "change your sadness into joy. What was heavy to bear will become light. What causes your weariness will become something to love."

The incomparable love of Jesus Christ crucified gives meaning to our sufferings and transforms them. Discovering how greatly we have been loved, how compassionate and complete is God's drawing close to us, will enkindle our love for Him in whatever circumstances we face, whatever burdens we bear. Saint Bonaventure always recalls us to the Cross, where God redeems us, expresses the fathomless depths of His love for us, and raises us up by calling us and empowering us to respond and enter into a relationship with Him.

"Christ accepted these sufferings and death to gain your devoted love. Through thought on these sufferings and out of gratitude, He wishes you to love Him. He desires you to love Him with your whole heart, with your whole mind, and with your whole soul. To save a slave He became a slave. What could prove better His kindness of heart?...  

"In spite of our worthlessness, though we deserve punishment, He laid down His life for us. His kindness reached such depths and such heights that it is impossible to imagine anything more tender, more kind or more lovable. The greatness of His love becomes more evident the more we realize the abject and terrible nature of Christ's sufferings... 

"This is the way God has loved us, and has invited us to love Him and to imitate Him in His love for us."

The Elders Dream, and the Young See Visions

I'm at a time in my life in which I appreciate very much the Pope's frequent remarks on the importance of inter-generational communication. Concretely, Eileen and I still find ourselves "in the middle" of three generations of family, though this position has begun to shift in recent years.

The events of my father's illness and death initiated this shift in a rather abrupt way for me. Not only had he been my father since "forever;" he was also well established as "Papa" to his five grandchildren. I will always be grateful that he was able to be a presence in their lives, and that he received so much joy from them.

I still miss him. If anything, I miss him more, though I do believe that "the relationship continues" and that he still "helps me" and keeps me grounded.

And now, the shift also continues - at least in the sense of establishing the proximate environment for a new generation to come into the world - as our son John Paul is getting married next month. ( ! )

Above: Papa playing baseball with his six year old
grandson. Below: Papa & high school age John Paul.

Eileen and I will be one step closer to being grandparents ourselves, to seeing the fulfillment of one of the blessings bestowed upon us on our own wedding day: "May they see their children's children" (a matter that seemed - on that day many years ago - only a little less remote than "traveling to other planets," as in "O yeah, maybe, way way waaay in the future...").

These relationships shape us and challenge us. I always assumed that, by the time I became "one of the elders," I would feel... well... old! And yet, as it approaches, I don't feel much older. I've been sick. I've been tired. But, no, this is a different thing. I suppose that - like most things in life - it's something you learn by going through it.

But as I said at the start of this post, "Papa" Francis often has insightful guidance on just this point. He insists on a crucial factor: the elderly are not just helpless or hindered people who need care from the younger, stronger generations. They have an essential and profound role for the future, for the fruitful movement of history. The different generations need one another, and when they are alienated from one another, society becomes dysfunctional and humanly impoverished.

Here is one recent quotation, that follows and comments on the Scripture text immediately below:

I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions (Joel 3:1).

"The elderly continue to be our roots. And they must speak to the young. This tension between young and old must always be resolved in the encounter with each other. Because the young person is bud and foliage, but without roots they cannot bear fruit. The elderly are the roots. I would say to them, today: I know you feel death is close, and you are afraid, but look elsewhere, remember your children, and do not stop dreaming. This is what God asks of you: to dream" (Joel 3:1).

"What would I say to the young people? Have the courage to look ahead, and to be prophetic. May the dreams of the old correspond to your prophecies" (also Joel 3:1).

~Pope Francis (from The Tablet interview with Austin Ivereigh, 04/08/2020)

"Return to the Right Path"

O God, who show the light of your truth 
to those who go astray, 
so that they may return to the right path, 
give all who for the faith they profess are accounted 
  Christians
the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name
  of Christ 
and to strive after all that does it honor. 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
one God, for ever and ever.

~Collect for Sunday, July 12, 2020

      [Detail from a mosaic by Marko Rupnik at Saint John Paul II Shrine, Washington DC, USA]

Why I Want to "Spend Time" With Christina Grimmie

I think I am beginning to understand why I do this, month after month. I make a graphic or sometimes write an article, virtually every month, on the 10th day (sometimes it spills over a day or two beyond that). Eventually, I post and share what I come up with, and some months the result is bigger and/or better than others. But ultimately the whole process is a kind of personal thing.

Once a month, over the past four years, I spend some time "visiting" with Christina Grimmie.

I go on a "journey" into the immense digital realm that still bears so many impressions and resonances of all the ways she offered herself and endeavored to be present to people all over the world. I watch, I listen, I read some words, and then - taking my own impressions or using fragments of media (words, lyrics, screenshots of momentary frames of video) as a basis for work with my own creative tools - I put together my own presentation. I hope that it has some value for others, but it always has value for me. The value above all is in the time itself, where I find that I receive so much more than I have given.

But why do I make this effort? Why do I revisit the "virtual remains" of a young woman who was taken from this world four years and one month ago - someone who I had no connection with nor even a particularly attentive interest in before she died? I don't think I can really fully explain why she matters to me, why I want to "be with her" in some meaningful way.

I have lots of other projects, ongoing research, interests, responsibilities. But I make time for Christina. The rest of the month, I might not think much about her or even listen to her music. But here's what matters: somehow Christina has worked her way into a significant place in my life. She has become "familiar" to me, in the sense that I care about her "like family." She is a reality in my life, with dimensions beyond anything I could construct by imagining or willing it myself. This would not be possible if it weren't for the fact that she is a real person. And over the past four years I have come to love this person.

Okay, I said I was "beginning to understand" what I'm doing each month. The "analogy" to family has shed a bit of light on it recently.

Since my father's death last year, I have discovered that the gesture of "spending time" with him is a very real and personal act (in this case, it includes actually visiting his grave, but also the many moments that come through so many other particular things that bring him to mind).

With my father, of course, I'm working through the mysterious experience of grief, but it's not simply a psychological exercise. It's spending time with a person. Because death - even with all its obscurity and strangeness and "distance" - is simply not the end of an interpersonal relationship. The relationship endures, not through weird conjuring tricks, but precisely the opposite: it remains woven into the course of "ordinary" life.

Part of the endurance of grief, and perhaps the way we begin to "make peace" with grief, is our growing "accustomed" (though never entirely) to this hidden continuation of the relationship with the one who has passed on - to the continuation of LOVE - which we express through simple gestures and which (occasionally) "surprises us" as something we receive from the other, something more than a past memory.

Companionship remains, and sometimes this makes it harder, but we want to bear it nonetheless. Grief does not terminate with forgetfulness of the other; it grows, slowly, into a kind of peace and humility in front of the great mystery of life and the particular mystery of that person we love. I am learning this road with my father.

But why does Christina Grimmie matter to me?

As you can see, I have been doing these posts and graphics for awhile.

I never met her, and didn't have any particular interest in her during her life or career. It was only when she died that I was really drawn to learn more about her. In time, I began to appreciate and be inspired by the beauty of her life, especially its "extraordinary-within-the-ordinary" character. I began to look upon her with a particular admiration, and I could say that I loved this young person. As everyone will say who learns about her life, it's hard not to love her. But what "surprised me" was the impression that I, myself, was being loved.

The most important thing to me about Christina is that she has befriended me. I really think this goes beyond general theological categories (such as "the communion of saints") or psychological phenomena related to her personal style of communicating which is still accessible on the Internet.

Those are all factors, certainly, but they do not satisfy me as sufficient to account for a very personal experience. I don't think I'm imagining this, because there are many other people who have only discovered Christina after her death who speak in similar terms. Others may have been frands during her lifetime, but now find (even in the midst of their sorrows) that she has become more important to them and more intimate to their lives.

Then, of course, those who knew and loved her best during her life on this earth have a different kind of experience, with a weight and depth that I can't begin to fathom. I wonder, perhaps, as time goes on whether they find some unexpected heights in the midst of the depths. Or perhaps some other ground where in some moments she walks with them, in a way we don't have words to describe.

In any case, it's personal. Even for myself, very much a latecomer to Team Grimmie, there is something personal, there is someone with whom I want to spend time. Though this friendship is very concrete, it is the opposite of exclusive! More than anything, that's why I'm moved to share it. I'm sure that other people who read this will recognize that the same kind of thing has happened for them.

I think Christina will continue to make new friends, and become more accessible to everyone even as she continues to be personally and "specially" available to each of us.