Benedict at 85: a Cloister Unto Himself

April 16, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia


Today is the 85 birthday of our dear Pope Benedict XVI, and he speaks very plainly to the day:

“I find myself on the last stretch of my journey in life, and I don’t know what is awaiting me.”

“I know, however, that the light of God exists, that he is risen, that his light is stronger than any darkness and that God’s goodness is stronger than any evil in this world, and this helps me go forward with certainty.”

In a few days we’ll celebrate the 7th anniversary of his pontificate. I cannot think of his anniversary without remembering his words at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where he was advised that his pontificate was, at that hour, precisely three years old:

“I will try to do all that is possible to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for this time, in virtue of the Lord’s grace, the Successor of Peter.”

Some people think the pope is a very complicated man, but really, he is very easy to get, because he is very open. He is not a politician; he is not a diplomat; he is simply a man who is humbly all-for-God, who lives his faith so completely that there are no shadows. His words are words of Be-ing, primarily.

Do-ing, comes farther down the line.

Even before he was Benedict, back when he was Joseph Ratzinger, I loved his humility; he has always struck me as the shy old uncle who — once drawn out — keeps you enthralled with the openness, depth and breadth of his intellect, which is never pedantic, and always accessible.

That has its drawbacks, of course, particularly in terms of perception. Benedict is an introvert, content with solitude; he allows himself to be subsumed by his servant’s office in a way that is so paradoxical that some do not understand it. Russell Shaw is right when he says Benedict is “still something of an enigma”.

In truth, The Reality of Pope Benedict has always been quite different from the narratives, whether they come from media or “insiders.”

He is perhaps a cloister unto himself — quite simply ready to put aside the man Joseph, or the man Benedict for the Christ to whom he has given his life, from a very young age. He rarely reveals personal feelings, except to children, and then he seems to genuinely enjoy relating to their youthful faith with his own nostalgic memories.

His pontificate, which some thought would be “transitional” may very well end up being transformational. He is sagely stocking the church with what Deacon Greg calls “teaching bishops” — the better to serve an era of New Evangelization and, perhaps an era of New Persecution, in which people will need to understand why some stands matter.

Happy Birthday, Papa Benedict! For me, the dearest and most personally instructive — in word, in action and in be-ing — of our popes.

Related: Benedict in America; The Shepherd who is Led

Filed Under: Benedict XVI Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Saint Bernadette Soubirous: a Quiet Riot – UPDATED

April 16, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

Today is the feastday of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes — a woman brought up in such mean poverty that her whole family lived in the equivalent of a jail cell. She was a shepherdess; a poor student who could barely learn her catechism, yet was able to burst into her pastor’s office with the words “Immaculate Conception” pouring forth; a visionary who faced public ridicule for digging with her hands, until the healing spring showed forth the next day.

I love Bernadette. Her life was not long, and after the remarkable events at the grotto at Massabielle, it really wasn’t her own. Harangued for the rest of her life by theologians and churchmen who either doubted her story or could not accept that someone so ignorant would be blessed with visions of downright biblical proportions, and so connected with a dogma of such complexities and depths of nuance. They forgot, apparently, that throughout scripture God uses the most surprising and often humble people to do his will. But Bernadette had a sense of humor and a completely self-effacing way, and she possessed the forthrightness that is so characteristic of us Catholic peasants. When these theologians and bosses doubted her to her face, she countered, “my job is to inform, not to convince.”

She said it with perfect politeness, but there is such a shrug of detachment contained within those words. She answered their questions and kissed it up to God as to whether anyone believed her. Once we’ve had a taste of heaven, who cares for the opinions of the falsely exalted on earth? And Bernadette — who was remarkably grounded — would have counted herself among the falsely exalted. Told that pictures of her were being sold at Massabielle for ten sous, she sighed, “I am not worth that much.”

Can’t you just hear the shrug?

A while back I did a podcast on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Because Bernadette is so intimately connected to that dogma, she appears about 60 seconds into the thing, as I recount exactly how Bernadette blew her pastor’s mind. Give a listen, if you like — I wish I still had time to do those!

Father James Martin, who also has a great fondness for Bernadette (his chapter on her in My Life with the Saints is particularly good) shares more, here:

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And Father Dwight on “The Day I Met St. Bernadette

Filed Under: Bookchat, Fr. James Martin Tagged With: , , , , ,

Obamacare, “and then what”? – UPDATED

March 27, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

We had a busy weekend, and I barely was able to keep up with the headlines, but I did read a little about the Obamacare arguments before the SCOTUS. I also heard about former Vice-President Dick Cheney’s heart transplant, and some of the less-than charitable, often outright hateful remarks emanating from the left. The most interesting of those, I think, are the ones instantly re-embracing the “constitution-shredding” and “war criminal” narratives of 2001-2008 without the merest acknowledgment that the current president has assaulted the first amendment, circumvented the congress, and has either kept most of the Bush-Cheney policies in place or expanded upon them.

Funny how that works.

Anyway, my column at First Things this week considers the timing-synchronicity of the Obamacare debate and the grousing that a heart transplant was wasted on a 71 year old man — particularly one already counted as “less-than-human” by some — and then takes a page from the great saint, Philip Neri:

Here, within the neat columns of taxes, fines and policies received versus benefits paid out, hide the little demons of our spiritual destruction; they encourage the appointing of some flawed and imperfect humans to gauge the worthiness of other flawed and imperfect humans and then relentlessly advise for or against a life based on ever more relativistic (but called “practical”) lines. Giving public voice to their relentless prompting, pundits who recently declared that “60 is the new 40” will suddenly be opining that 71 is too old for a heart. 75 will be considered too old for a new knee—news that will stun active, fully engaged and vital people like my 80 year-old father-in-law.

Saint Philip Neri used to listen to the dreams of those around him, and ask, “and then what?” If someone mentioned a lofty ambition, Philip would tease them about what comes next: “you become rich and successful, and then what?”

“And then I marry a beautiful woman and we travel and enjoy life!”

“And then, what?” Philip would gently ask, over and over, until the dreamer was forced to acknowledge that beyond their dreams lay only death, and an eternity reflecting the values and choices of their relatively short blip of a life.

Once a society commits itself to the notion that only certain people meeting certain specs will be considered for certain procedures, it will soon determine that fatties who are 50 will either submit to increased governmental control over their appetites and exertions or be denied a stent. And then what? Perhaps expectant parents, unwilling to do the socially-and-fiscally-responsible-thing and abort their less-than-perfect children, will face the wrath of their fellow-citizens; having been identified as cruel, heartless people too-willing to birth a child whose quality of life has been determined to be sub-optimal, they may not be allowed to parent at all.

And then what? Perhaps a 45 year-old woman who has never married and has no children (and therefore with no one in urgent need of her existence) will be thought too dispensable and unnecessary for chemo therapy. What does she have to live for, anyway?

And then what? Perhaps people with lower IQ’s—whose lower earning potentials can never generate substantial tax revenues—will be deemed unworthy of costly extended therapies.


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Missing from all of that, of course, is consideration of the dignity of the human person, and the intangible valuations of love. Those balancing ideas might have been supplied by the church, as they have always been, in a kind of partnership with the government efforts to provide health care for all.

Now, they will have to be supplied by the church, indeed, but contra voce, in resistance.

You can read the whole thing, here.

UPDATE: Speaking of Obamacare, Glenn Reynolds has an interesting post

Jen Fulwiler: pleading for hearts and a home over institutionalization.

Filed Under: "Remaking" Ourselves, Charitable Stuff, Nun News, SCOTUS Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Viva Cristo Rey!

March 21, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

This film, based on a true story, looks terrific!

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I admit that, like many Americans, my understanding of the Cristero War is pretty sketchy. I know about the martyrdom of the Jesuit priest Miguel Pro (how many great martyrs have been Jesuits!) and I had heard of Bl. Jose Sanches del Rio, and I know that these Catholic sisters were founded by a brave and determined Mexican woman, and that they still sing “Viva Cristo Rey!” But honestly, that’s about all I know.

Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey writes:

I’ve had a chance to look at a very rough cut of this film, and it’s very impressive. For Greater Glory tells the story of the Mexican government’s attempt to stamp out the Catholic Church under President Calles (played by Ruben Blades), and the uprising that followed, a civil war that killed 90,000 people. Calles attempted to enforce the anti-clerical laws put into Mexico’s 1917 socialist Constitution by demanding the expulsion of foreign priests, banning public demonstrations of faith (including the wearing of clerical garb), and making criticism of the government by priests punishable by five years in prison. A boycott organized by the Catholic Church prompted Calles to get even tougher, and open war broke out. Enrique Gorostieta (Andy Garcia), a general who had fought for the winning side in the revolution, chose to lead the Cristero rebellion, and the film focuses mainly on Gorostieta, two of his lieutenants, and a young boy named Jose Sanchez del Rio, who was later beatified by the Catholic Church.

Without knowing how the finished product turns out, I can’t offer a formal review. I can say that the film is gripping even in its current form. For Greater Glory definitely takes a pro-Cristero point of view, but Braveheart took a pro-Scots point of view as well, and I’d argue that For Greater Glory sticks closer to the known facts (although obviously much gets left out of a two-hour movie).

Given the recent government efforts to marginalize churches (and church-related workers) and push them out of the public arena, I’d say this is a pretty timely film. The dialogue seems a little cliched to me. Will be interesting to see how it is received and reviewed by some.

And maybe the flick will bring back mustaches, too. I like mustaches!

Related: Exile: The Past is Prologue

Filed Under: Uncategorized, War, What it good for? Tagged With: , ,

St. Patrick’s Day Shopping

March 14, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

No, I know, I know, Saint Patrick’s Day is not about shopping and carousing. I totally get that! In fact, Pat Gohn’s column features a terrific exploration of Saint Patrick’s Breastplate.

But sometimes a girl likes to shop, you know? Sometimes one has to observe the niceties and pick up a birthday or anniversary gift. Sometimes one is simply in the mood to give someone a gift, for no reason at all — in which case Saint Patrick’s Day is as good an excuse as any.

My husband, who is a gem, has been losing stuff of late, and he wandered in a week or so ago sad to report that he had lost his favorite Irish cap, for the second time. Now, I know you’re thinking, “Anchoress, if he keeps “losing” the thing, maybe he doesn’t really like it?” But trust me, he’s worn a variation of this cap for as long as we’ve been married, and he really does like it, even though he lost the one I bought him in Donegal, and the replacement to it. This cap from Amazon is a fair price and will make a good gift for Saint Pat’s Day, and I want to give it to him, because I lurves him.

Needing a ladies gift as well, I was tickled to find this mobius bracelet inscribed with part of the Breastplate. It’s not something I would ordinarily go for — not everyone likes sterling silver — but I think it’s unique and honestly, if you’re going to wear a few words of prayer, this is certainly a helpful one.

Of course, the lady I’m thinking of purchasing the bracelet for might be happier to receive these classic Irish Coffee glasses, since I have suspected she’s been coveting them, or something similar, for a while, and she’s not the sort to buy them for herself.

Speaking of Irish Coffee there was a terrific piece in last weeks NY Times Magazine, wherein Rosie Schaap shared Kingsley Amis’ recipe along with other whiskey-based libations. Read it — you’ll enjoy!

For a bookish friend, I am torn between ordering a copy of Thomas Cahill’s excellent How the Irish Saved Civilization, which I read years ago and enjoyed very much. But then, there appears to be a modest resurgence of interest in learning the Irish language, and that might be as good an excuse as any to pick up Daniel Cassidy’s How the Irish Invented Slang, which I also read with great enjoyment. It’s a confounding language — I once took some lessons at a local Hibernian lodge and decidedly quickly that the thing was beyond my ken — but it’s astonishing how much of our everyday, speech — words like scram, jazz, rookie, scoot and wallop — have their origins in Eire. And I may have just talked myself into choosing that!

And just think, Easter shopping is around the corner

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Reverend Dr. King, Joan of Arc, TEBOW?

January 18, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

Launching the new blog, today has kept me pretty busy, but I wanted to point your attention to two particularly good pieces on the portal, today — both of them looking at heroes and faith and their effects on society.

Citing The Holy Courage of Martin Luther King, Jr. Lisa Mladinich writes:

He was radical in the best sense. He didn’t just want to elbow the unworthy racist aside to take what was rightfully owed him or to declaim, deplore, and destroy.

He didn’t seek revenge. He sought something far more dangerous, and he knew it. He wanted to live with his “white brother,” now enlightened and redeemed; to know him, help him, and love him. In spite of his human foibles, the young minister’s heart bore the greatness of a truly Christian spirit. So it’s no surprise that the serpents’ nest his movement stirred attacked him without mercy.

Yet, in the best sense, even death did not stop him.

I say this all the time: everybody suffers. But if we try to do something holy, we will at least suffer meaningfully. . . [in] radical trust, we open to a flood of graces that bind our spiritual wounds, reconcile us to each other, and give us a precious glimpse of heaven’s light, right here in the darkness of our earthly lives.

You’ll want to read it all and watch the videos.

On the heels of that, Max Lindenman takes a page from Joan of Arc in looking, very thoughtfully, at the socio-political impact of the Tim Tebow phenomenon:

Yesterday in the Atlantic . . Robert Wright [warned] non-religious people, especially those he calls “liberals,” that “dissing” Tebow is a bad idea…because it might make them really mad. Extreme “religious conservatives,” who “consider themselves to be at war with the prevailing culture,” will take cracks against Tebow as cues to “reject the entire liberal agenda, ranging from gay rights to uncensored science education in the public schools.” Liberals, he advises, should be as discreet regarding the Broncos QB as the Jyllands-Posten wasn’t regarding Muhammad, prophet of Islam.

If it needs saying, there’s plenty wrong with what Wright writes, both in his premise and in his conclusions. Religious conservatives don’t simply consider themselves at war with the prevailing culture; they’re quite convinced the prevailing culture is at war with them. . .Nothing anyone says against Tim Tebow will do anything but confirm them in that sense of being under siege. No bone tossed him in the form of tactful silence will do anything to disabuse them of it. At Verdun, the Germans couldn’t have gotten the French to fight any less fiercely by agreeing not to draw mustaches on posters of Joan of Arc.

That’s not meant to sound cute. For a France that had been invaded and partly occupied, Joan symbolized divinely ordained resistance. The religious right craves symbols of its own. [. . .] The fact that I’m thinking about it now is a good example of what Robert Wright should really be afraid of. As outrageous criticism provokes outraged defense, pundits start discovering signs and omens. If they do it well enough, even behind-the-curve people like me start thinking, “Wow, I guess Tim Tebow and the Benedictines have a lot in common after all. Must have been the grease paint that threw me.” The danger isn’t that attacks on our boy will make Christians vindictive, but that — as his name and image go increasingly viral — he might inspire us, even without meaning to.

Yes, go read it all, and pass it around. Pass ‘em both around.

Everyday, things seem to become both clearer and more murky. That’s when symbols become necessary and the demand for heroes brings people into prominence.

We live in interesting times.

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My Elder Son Reads Everything

January 13, 2012 By Elizabeth Scalia

My elder son, the dreamy quiet planet, has the most curious mind I’ve ever encountered.

He never rejects an idea outright–first he acquaints himself with who and what is behind the idea and then finds out who influenced their thinking and he checks them out too. He will swim in the seas of an idea for a while before deciding whether he accepts or rejects it, and then washes up on the next shore, then the next. His library is formidable, and he is never intimidated (as I sometimes am) by a really thick book with tiny type. Sometimes he’ll push a book on me that I know is way beyond my ken and I’ll say, “I don’t think…” and he’ll say, “of course you can read this! You just have to want to!”

I am flattered that my son thinks I am as smart as he is, but I know it is not true.

Anyway, for me his regime of constant-study would be exhausting. As I’ve often confessed, when I am tired, I must retreat to the Discworld or Heyerland. I cannot keep so many ideas and philosophies in my mind; I can’t retain so much relevant information (his memory is astounding; basically once he’s read something, it’s stored forever. I can’t even remember what I wrote two days ago!)

For Christmas this Elder Son gave me two books touching on a subject I’ve been exploring on my own, and then the other day he shot me an e-mail about Dietrich von Hildebrand.

A little astonished, I asked, “how did you get to von Hildebrand!” and he wrote back,

Hildebrand, like Marion and John Paul II, was also coming at theology from a perspective informed by phenomenology. I am not familiar with much of his writing but I think these quotes are very much up your alley.

Yes, I keep telling him to read a little Edith Stein, since she was something of a phenomenology prodigy. But anyway, today answers me with this great email:

[Someone] brought him up after he noticed I was reading about virtue ethics.

Also, though it’s not exactly related to your last post (the “Jesus vs. Religion” one), something in there put me in mind of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. He’s an epistemologist and probability theorist who adheres to a philosophy of skeptical empiricism in most aspects of life, but is also an Orthodox Christian.

“Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.” …

Startlingly, this great sceptic, this non-guru who believes in nothing, is still a practising Christian. He regards with some contempt the militant atheism movement led by Richard Dawkins.

“Scientists don’t know what they are talking about when they talk about religion. Religion has nothing to do with belief, and I don’t believe it has any negative impact on people’s lives outside of intolerance. Why do I go to church? It’s like asking, why did you marry that woman? You make up reasons, but it’s probably just smell. I love the smell of candles. It’s an aesthetic thing.”

Take away religion, he says, and people start believing in nationalism, which has killed far more people. Religion is also a good way of handling uncertainty. It lowers blood pressure. He’s convinced that religious people take fewer financial risks.’

Incidentally, I really like his book The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (no relation to the movie). When I get it back from [a friend] I’m gonna loan my copy to Dad. It’s a much quicker and more rollicking read than the last one I lent him.

Rollicking. Yeah. My son finds this stuff rollicking! He doesn’t understand that his poor father can’t read two pages of anything without falling into slumber, these days, and his mother is just not all that smart.

But he reads my blog! That’s flattering.

Then again, he does read everything.

I am going to have to write better!

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