SCIENCE!

I'm trying to get some use out of my philosophy degree here.


The Academy of Sciences reports that roughly 93% of its members are atheists or agnostics.

Shocking? Maybe

Relevant? Hardly

Setting aside whether it is appropriate to lump atheists (those who deny the existence of God) together with agnostics (those who are unsure or skeptical of God's existence) in one statistic, the question of God is not a topic which science is competent to address. Science deals with realities which can be observed and measured. However, God cannot be seen or quantified in any way. Therefore, science can never determine whether God exists or not, and scientists are not qualified to opine on anything having to do with God. And anything they do say about God is irrelevant.

Consider this. What if a poll revealed that 93% of Evangelical Christians denied or were skeptical of the theory of evolution? Should that cause a scientist to reconsider her own position on Darwin's work? Of course not. Well, the opposite is also the case.

Science does a great deal of good for humanity when it operates within its realm of competency. Beyond that, it should have no bearing on issues which fall to philosophy and theology to weigh and consider.

The Shepherd's Voice

When I was a young theology student in Rome, I had the opportunity to hike through the Holy Land with some of my fellow students. It was a unique and sometimes grueling way to experience the lands of the Bible. We spent one night sleeping on the beach and another on a parking lot only to be awakened by a pack of wild camels circling our site.

As we made our way through the rocky hillsides and arid wadis, it was not uncommon to find the rotting carcass of a sheep or goat. The fetid odor and buzz of flies was unmistakable. We always found them at the bottom of a cliff. They had obviously become separated from their flock and shepherd, hazarded too close to the edge and tumbled down to their death.

No doubt Jesus and his disciples often came across such carcasses as they traveled between the villages of Galilee and Judea. They came to serve as a warning to his followers. Jesus had come to identify his mission with that of the shepherd who protects his sheep. And he looked upon his disciples as sheep in need of constant care lest they falter in the desert heat, get run down by a wolf or spill unawares over a cliff. His discourse on the Good Shepherd - a portion of which we read in today's gospel - is a reflection on this.

The followers of Jesus are safe so long as they stay close to him and listen for his voice. Once we begin to stray, lusting after lusher pastures, we fall prey to the wolf. When we leave Christ to follow instead our passions and misguided ideas, we stumble into danger.

Hearing and recognizing the voice of our Good Shepherd is by no means easy. It is difficult to know whether it is Jesus' voice that we are hearing or the echo of our own desires. Despite the difficulties, one way to be sure that we are near Jesus and within earshot of his voice is to stick with his flock.

None of us is put out to pasture alone. We are part of a community. We are not meant to live the Christian life privately, isolated from others. It is together that we learn to hear God's voice and discern his will for us.

So when we leave the flock, we find ourselves away from the protection of our shepherd and closer to the edge of danger.

If we want to find the shepherd, we have to join the flock. Wherever the flock is, Jesus is sure to be close by.

The Lord is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!

I received this homemade card on Easter 1988 during my first year of theology. I remember it being the loneliest day I spent there. This card brightened it for me, and I have kept it ever since. Unfortunately, I don't remember who the Michael was who gave it to me. The front of the card reads in Greek,from John 11:25, " I am the resurrection."

Jesus Died for Me

Jesus, I don't know what your death means.

I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid to let go of this life and its pleasures. I fear the ridicule, rejection and pain which you endured for me.

I know that to be your disciple I must live by the cross that saved me. But, I also understand the fear of the apostles who betrayed, denied and abandoned you. I understand Pilate's confusion and desire to wash his hands of the whole mess. I understand the blood-thirst of the crowd calling for Barabbas' freedom and your death. I understand the Pharisees' suspicion of you. I understand the soldier's making fun of you. They were used to kings who ruled by the sword, not by the Spirit.

It's you that I'm not able to understand.

Your death turns everything upside down. How can we believe in such a weak God? How can we trust that a God who didn't save himself would ever be able to save us?

Yet you showed that, through the whole ordeal, you were in control. You assured your disciples, "I have the power to lay down my life and to pick it up again." Why didn't you come down from the cross, then? Why didn't you show them up for the hypocrites and fools they were? That's what I would have done. I would have protected myself. I would have shown my power. I would have let them know whom they were dealing with. Everyone would have believed. No one would have doubted me. Fear and awe of me would have bent their hearts to my will.

Ah...that's it. You want to rule our hearts not out of fear but out of love. You want us to give our hearts freely to you, not snatch them away from us.

Oh Jesus, how could you ever love us after what we did and continue to do to you? How could you ever believe that a crowd that humiliated you, spit on you and tore you to pieces could ever have it within them to love? Yet, you bet your life that at least some of us would understand and believe.

Jesus, I don't know if I can love the way you love. I don't understand why this all had to happen. I can only look up at you with gratitude. I can only marvel at the love God has for such people as we are.



(images by Maite Roche)

I Have Given You An Example

After three weeks of visiting her father everyday at the nursing home, Sarah could not bear to see him there anymore. After talking it over with her husband, she decided to take a leave of absence from her job and allow her father to live out the last few months of his life at home. They set up a hospital bed in the living room of their small home and prayed to God that he would help them.

At this stage of his life, her father was like an infant. He needed to be washed and fed. Many times he cried out in the middle of the night not remembering where he was. A few days into it, Sarah thought she had made a big mistake. But then she noticed a change in her family. Rather than complain that they were not able to watch TV in the living room anymore, her sons enjoyed sitting around talking with their grandfather. Her husband, even though he came home exhausted from a day of work, would pitch in with the laundry and other duties. They were all willing to make the necessary sacrifices so that he could spend the last months of his life surrounded by his loved ones.

When Sarah's father did eventually pass away several months later, they realized what a gift it had been having him around. Even though it was an inconvenience and even though their friends and neighbors wondered why they would take on such a burden, they knew that the sacrifices they made to have their loved one home with them brought them together as a family and taught them that there is nothing more important than showing love to the people God has placed in our lives.

Many of us are not fortunate enough to be able to take time out of work to care for a loved one. But, no matter what our situation, Sarah's story teaches all of us an important lesson. When we sacrifice ourselves out of love for another person, we get a glimpse into the heart of God and are forever changed.

On this day - Holy Thursday - we begin the great celebration of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. Before he died, Jesus wanted to share one last meal with his apostles, the traditional Passover meal which is described in the first reading from the book of Exodus. As the meal began, he knelt to the ground and began to wash their feet. It was customary that a host offer to wash the feet of his dinner guests, but it was a job for a lowly servant not the master of the house. We see how shocking Jesus' actions are when Peter at first refuses to let him do it. But Jesus wants to teach them that if they are to be his disciples, then they must also serve each other, even in the most humiliating way.

Whose feet is Jesus calling us to wash? Sarah and her family learned the way of self-giving love through taking her father in to live with them. Who in our life is in need of the attention and love that only we can give? It could be the homeless person in the subway on our way to work. It could be a family member who is alone and could use a visit from us. It could be a classmate who is having trouble making friends. If we look hard enough, we will find people in our lives who are aching for a simple pat on the back or word of encouragement. Are we willing to stoop down to them and wash their feet as if they were the feet of Jesus himself?

It was also at the Last Supper that Jesus gave us the gift of his Body and Blood to nourish us in our journey through life. Jesus feeds us so that we may feed others. He gives of himself to us so that we can give of ourselves for others. The mystery of the Eucharist is of a God who never fails to pick us up when we fall and to come to our aid when we are in need. He is a God who promises to be present among us always. If that presence is to be real and active in our world, then we must follow his example not by waiting for needy people to come to us but by going out and finding them.

Then the power of the Eucharist to heal and transform us will also be real and active in our lives.

Saint John says of Jesus in the gospel that "He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end." Jesus gave all he had to give, even to the last drop of his blood. There is no limit to the love Jesus shows our world. He continues to give himself in the form of bread and wine to a world hungry for truth, meaning and love. If we feel that there is something missing in our lives, we need only turn to him. He longs to wash our feet and feed us. And once he has strengthened us, we must go out and share with others the good news of the Savior we have found. Then the love and mercy we celebrate at this altar will spread itself out and embrace all people.