Saint Scholastica Society

"Should I Cover My Hair, God?" Part Deux

Have you ever noticed that even something done for a good and holy reason can have unintended consequences?

Last year I began to cover my hair before going into Mass. The whole thing started as an experiment: I remember discussing my advisor the reasons Catholic women had suddenly stopped covering, after having done so for more than two thousand years. Why, given the teaching of the Apostle Paul, did Catholic women no cover their "glory"?

He was, as usual, unfailingly kind and patient. "If you were to cover your hair at Mass," he observed, "It could be a sign of humility, and a good thing." And so, I decided to start covering, and during that time, I discovered it to be a source of true blessing, as I wrote in a previous article on Catholic Exchange: http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=29369

Under Cover

For six months I draped my scarf or hat over my head unobtrusively as I stepped into the sanctuary. Of course, doing ANYTHING unobtrusively is next to impossible with my two reambunctious little ones. Three-year-old Sarah was fascinated with my covering, and kept tugging at it to see if she could dislodge the thing. She especially liked playing with it when I was on the kneeler, leaving me in a less-than-prayerful mood.

About five months into my six-month experiment, I took a class on "Women in the Gospels" at seminary, and the priest teaching the class informed us that binding up one's hair was considered by some to be an acceptable alternative to the covering. Still, I decided to stay the course.

The final straw came at the six-month point, when I arrived late at church for a teacher's meeting, and realized that the others had gone in to a special Mass. I had left my purse (with the headcovering) in the car, and had a choice to make: Go in to Mass without my head covered, or sit outside and wait for the others. I knelt down outside the day chapel and followed along... where Father Gordon found me a few minutes later. He looked at me, surprised and puzzled. "Go on in," he urged me.

"But I'm not prepared," I protested. He shook his head and kept going.

It was then I realized things had gotten out of hand. In my effort to do the right thing, I had gotten so caught up in form that it had gotten in the way of my taking my place in the public prayer life of my community. Remembering my advisor's words, I realized that, just as wearing a covering can be a sign of humility, it can also be a source of pride.

Three Indispensable "Body Parts"

As the "body of Christ" on earth, we have members with a variety of personalities, charisms, and gifts. We also each have a different purpose to serve -- even within the prayer life of the Church.

The human body has three layers: The inner core of the abdomen, with its delicate vital organs protected and transported by the skeleton. The brain and heart, the lungs and stomach would not last long if they were outside the body, exposed to the elements. This corresponds to the mystical aspect of Church life: the contemplatives and intercessors and mystics that sustain the life of the Church by the vital connection to the Spirit.

The next layer, the skeleton, provides structure and support. Without this structure, we would not survive, either -- just as, within in the Church, we need the structure that is provided by Tradition and the ongoing teaching authority of the Magisterium. There are also "skeletons" in the pews, members who are diligent in drawing the attention of the community back to the core teachings of the Church contained in the Catechism and Magisterial documents, and ensuring that as a community we do not wander too far afield in the liturgy. These men and women who have often invested their lives in writing, speaking, and teaching in the name of the Church are often walking encyclopedias of canon law and Church history. The American Church in particular is indebted to these brothers and sisters, and their zeal for the New Evangelization.

And yet, the internal organs and skeleton does not comprise the whole body: a third layer is also needed. This fleshy, "huggable" outer layer is comprised of the ordinary Catholics in the pew who live out their faith in daily life through relationship. Through corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and daily perseverance at work and within the faith community, they are lights in a world of darkness. They preach a wordless Gospel of love, sometimes because they know it is the most effective way to convey its message, other times (let's be honest) because they don't know the nuts and bolts of faith as they should. They are like the widow in the Temple, who gave everything she had -- and became a symbol of faith immortalized by Christ in the Scriptures because of her silent witness.

Many Parts, One Body

What do these "layers" have to do with headcoverings? As I talked with other women (both Catholic and Protestants) about their attitudes toward this practice, I found that there was often an interesting correlation between what motivated a woman to cover (or not) and her attitude toward the Church in general and her own faith community in particular.

The "mystics," for example, were generally most appreciative of the spiritual insights I gleaned from the headcovering experiment. At least one I know of -- a third-order Carmelite -- decided to start covering herself after reading my article. The "structured/apologists" who covered their hair spoke most frequently about upholding Tradition, or belonging to a community in which all the other women did so. The third group, which represented the vast majority of the faithful Catholic women with whom I spoke, seemed to consider headcoverings a spiritual "non-issue," except for the most pragmatic reasons (such as witnessing to a Muslim or a desire to please her husband).

The other thing that struck me about the experience as I contemplated these groups was the way their faith expressions complemented each other when they supported each other (such as in headcovering discussion groups, or sisters in my own faith community who did not choose to cover their heads but supported me in my own faith journey) -- and how discordant those voices became when one group came to regard another as being less "authentic" or "faithful."

Perhaps more than any other single experience since I joined the Church, the issue of headcovering crystalized for me the reality of the Apostle Paul's teaching in 1 Cor 12 (18-24):

But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require.

In the Body of Christ, all three groups -- prayerful mystics, traditional apologists, and relational workers -- are needed to sustain life and health, both in the physical world and the spiritual world: Without the life-giving vitality of the mystical "core," bare bones grow lifeless and cold. Without the structure and protection of the skeleton, vital organs are susceptible to the harsh realities of the elements, and suffer damage and even loss of function. Without a fleshy exterior, the vital organs and skeleton repel rather than attract; it is this outer layer faces the world, that communicates the warmth and life and vitality of its inner workings.

Finally, my haircovering experiment taught me an important lesson about myself: That just as spiritual truth is best expressed by the whole Church, rather than a single voice, so it is acquired over the course of a lifetime rather than grasped in a single moment of revelation. In any given moment, God has certain insights, certain spiritual truths He wants us to receive. When I covered my hair, God in His great mercy and wisdom spoke to my heart about my feminine gifts and place within the Body of Christ. When I stopped, I quickly discovered He had other lessons in store.

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 10:10 AM 7 comments

Tea with the Girls: Advent of Spiritual Friendship

On the second Saturday before Christmas, the preparations begin. My “Old Country Roses” china tea service comes down to be gently washed and dried; the linen tablecloth I inherited from my grandmother is shaken out and pressed. Ingredients for the special Advent cake are assembled into pure chocolate decadence. My children watch with eagerness, for they know what is coming: Tomorrow is “Funday with Dad!”

The next day, my family makes themselves scarce as I set the table and, at the strike of two, light the Advent wreath. The doorbell rings, and my heart skips a beat: decade-old friendships are about to renew themselves. The five of us seldom gather more than twice a year (we celebrate birthdays together each summer over Tex-Mex); however, these gatherings are a priority. Praying, talking, eating, laughing… as the chapters of our lives turn from one page to the next, we have supported one another in good times and bad, and especially in times of waiting.

Katy is first; this year she brings fruit salad. The tenth of thirteen siblings, she is the anchor of our group, the one who always shows up for any crisis to tend to practical needs – painting a nursery, tending a sick person, and remembering an anniversary. This year she and her husband have another exchange student, a boy from Germany.

Denise is next, bearing her signature baklava. Many single women would hesitate to take on her financial and emotional commitments: She has adopted a girl from Ukraine and a boy from Kazakhstan. Though she has never been pregnant, she knows the joyful, anxious waiting that accompanies a familial addition. I admire her courage, and her determination not to put her life on hold until she finds a spouse.

Lilian, a nutritionist, arrives with a savory salsa dip and pictures of the son she and her husband adopted from Guatemala. This year there are also photos the girl they will soon retrieve from another Guatemalan foster home.

Patty’s specialty is muffins. “How can I pray for you guys?” she wants to know. A veteran auntie and accomplished flautist, Patty recently moved into a new home with her little dog, Buddy. Her solitude is a mixed blessing; the burdens she carries are real, but so is her faith. Hers is a life invested in other people.

This year we celebrate because my waiting is over. After three long years, the adoption for our foster children has been finalized, and we have the piece of paper that affirms what we have always known: We are truly a family. I pass around pictures from the baptism and talk about my studies at the seminary, which have slowed considerably since the children arrived. But that’s OK, too… as someone once told me, “Anticipation is often the greater part of pleasure.”


The Gift of Waiting

The last crumb disappears, the last drop empties from the teapot, and my friends depart for another year. Favorite teacup in hand, I settle myself to await my family’s return and think about what a blessing I have in the friendships of these four women.

In a sense, a woman’s life is about waiting: In childhood, we wait impatiently to be “all grown up,” to have a measure of freedom from parental constraints. In young adulthood, we wait for the phone to ring… for exam results… for the time we will be truly on our own. Later, we wait for first love, first homes, first children… it never ends. In the name of “liberation” we may strike out on our own and grab what we want by any means necessary. However, the results seldom satisfy, any more than a Christmas gift inspected on the sly increases our enjoyment of it when at last it is opened: The waiting is part of the gift.


When the Waiting Hurts

At times the waiting is anxious, even painful. About a year ago we hit a snag in our adoption process: Relatives of the birth parents expressed interest in adopting our children, who had been with us two years, since the baby was six months old. Outwardly I tried to remain calm; inside I was in turmoil. We were at the mercy of the state, without recourse if they decided to take these precious children from us.

The wait became even more intolerable when my sister-in-law – the only member of my husband’s family who was consistently kind and supportive of our decision to be foster parents – announced her decision to move to Arizona. The closest members of my own family live hundreds of miles away; I had never felt more alone.

Barbara’s impending departure caused something to snap inside me. For about a week my husband watched helplessly as I paced the floor day and night, bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Finally, I sat down at my computer and typed a note to “the Girls,” confessing that while I did not feel up to seeing them, I wanted them to know what I was going through.

Less than a day passed before each of them found a way to remind me of their love and prayers. One of them bravely ignored my “no visitors” directive, and came – not to rescue me, but to wait with me. Later, my sister called and convinced me to go and see my doctor: She recognized the depression symptoms, and knew what it would take to get back on track. Within a few weeks, my mood lifted.

Later, I worked up nerve to ask my mother if she had ever felt as overwhelmed with life as I was feeling just then. “Oh, when I get down I just sing hymns until I feel better,” she shrugged. Having lived with her for the first eighteen years of my life, this facile response was dissatisfying. Although maintaining our spiritual connection with God is important, I had learned that stubborn isolation and manufactured cheer does more harm than good. Like Peter sinking in the water, each of us needs a hand up at times.

In times of adversity, women are in some ways stronger than men. God gives us inner strength to wait not with passive resignation but with confidence in his goodness. He gives us intuition that helps us to nurture those who need our care, body and soul. God enables us to sense him at work even in the darkness, and gives us the ability to persevere and to intercede even when a task is thankless or an intention seems hopeless.

However, my encounter with depression taught me that there are times when these hidden, womanly spiritual gifts are meant to operate not in solitude, but within the context of community. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ,” St. Paul tells us (Galatians 6:2).


When Waiting Heals

My little circle of friends supports one another in our struggles: the oppression of abortion or devastation of miscarriage, the shame of childhood abuse, the dissolution of a relationship, the death of a family member, the struggles of married life. When a need surfaces, we instinctively draw a circle of love around it, tending not just to the symptoms but to the whole person.

• First we tend to bodily needs: the jar of soup at the door, a painted nursery, an hour of babysitting so Mom can nap, or sheer presence when it is needed most – be it a wedding or a wake.
• Next we support her soul – intellect and will, memories and emotions: a helpful book, a listening ear, a practical suggestion for an unresolved dilemma, conversation that moves from the trivial to the issues closest to the heart.
• Finally, we care for her spirit: a commitment to pray for specific intentions, and to ask the hard questions when her life veers off-course. As single women, we would find each other at Mass, increasing our sense of solidarity as together we drew close to the heart of God through the sacraments. Another time, a friend’s courageous question drove me to a confessional prior as I prepared to marry. Because of her, I received the best wedding gift of all: healing from the past, and a clear slate for the future.

A Gift of Spiritual Friendship

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel…” In a few weeks we will celebrate this most precious of all gifts: God as one of us. Through Mary’s faith-filled assent, the eternal Word of God fulfilled centuries f promise, coming to reconcile all of humankind with our Creator.

This Advent season of joyful expectation, do you find yourself waiting physically or emotionally alone? Are you struggling to find peace, or healing from an old wound? Are you getting so caught up in the needs and wants of others that you neglect your own? Remember the Blessed Virgin who, upon hearing of the task entrusted to her, did the most natural thing in the world… She set off to share her news with a kindred spirit who would listen with faith and understanding. In good news and bad, we all need this kind of spiritual friendship. What can you do this Advent season to renew – or even initiate – one of your own?

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 10:36 AM 2 comments

"Should I Cover My Hair? One Woman's Reflection" (II)

I was happy to see many strongly positive reactions to my article that appeared on CatholicExchange.com this weekend. (The article may be found at: http://catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=2&art_id=29369) Many had similar follow-up questions, and for the sake of "chronological economy" I'll post a few of them here. Happy reading!

1. "What kind of head coverings do you wear?" For me, this is an issue of liberty and preference -- I'm not aware of any right or wrong way to do it. Some ladies want the traditional veil. Others -- especially if they are new to covering, or are self-conscious about it -- prefer something more subtle such as a hat or scarf.

I have a three-year-old, so my scarf stays in place best if I tie it under my chin. However, sometimes I wear a hat (you can find cute ones on e-bay). Sometimes I wear a snood and scarf (the snood gives me something to "anchor" the scarf). I've found beautiful coverings on websites of several faith traditions: http://www.modestworld.com/ or http://headcoverings-by-devorah.com/Headcoverings_Snoods.html (Jewish sites); one Mennonite/Amish site includes a pattern http://www.prayercoverings.com/patterns.shtml. "Catholic" sites include http://www.aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/FuseAction/store.BrowseCategory and http://www.modestyveils.com/

Some have asked me whether my daughter wears a covering. My understanding is that children start wearing coverings after their first communion -- but if your daughter wants to be "like Mommy," I think the angels will get a kick out of your earnest little pray-er!

2. What does Canon Law say about head coverings? Although some will debate me on the significance of this point, nothing about women covering their heads appears in the most recent (1983) edition of the Code. The 1917 edition states that "Women... shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord." (Canon 1262, par 2). Interestingly, paragraph 1 of this canon also indicates that "It is desirable that, consistent with ancient discipline, women be separated from men in church." (To my knowledge, churches have not enforced this practice for a very long time, but it may be part of the reason the early church had deaconnesses -- to manage the "women's area" and to assist the bishop in administering rites such as baptism to women)

Having said that, it is also a fact that head coverings have been part of the ongoing tradition of the Church throughout its history, falling out of favor only recently. Catholics held on to this tradition longer than many other Christian groups -- however, in some circles there are stirrings within these groups to restore the practice. I recently encountered one "yahoo" online group comprised of women from a wide variety of Christian traditions who cover their heads out of respect for God, His Word, and their husbands. For more information, go to http://www.dovesdesign.com/headcovering/

3. When do you wear your covering? Just in church? or in your home? As I understand it, Scripture indicates that women should cover their heads when engaged in public worship -- praying or "prophesying" within the faith community.

Some women, therefore, choose to wear scarves that they can slip over their heads at the last moment. (This option tends to minimize the negative feedback about being "holier than thou" or "proud").

Others choose to put on their scarves as they get ready for church, to get themselves in the proper mindset to receive Eucharist (and minimize the time they spend fussing with their hair).

Still others choose to wear a scarf all the time -- or at least when they go out in public. They see it as an opportunity to witness for Christ to others who ask questions.

No matter which option you choose (after asking God and and consulting with your husband), remember that this is much more about cultivating an inner humility, rather than getting the attention of other people. Consequently, we must be very, very careful not to come across as critical or harsh toward women who choose not to cover. A loving response to an honest question will do far more good than criticism.

4. How should I respond to the snide comments and puzzled looks of other parishioners? When no response is needed, ignore them. Your first priority is to cultivate a heart that is open to God and ready to worship. Or smile gently and say a little prayer under your breath, "Jesus, help me to see You in every face I see today."

Proverbs 15:1 tells us that "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." If someone asks angrily or defensively why you cover, gently say something like, "It helps me to be more aware of God's presence," or "I like to 'dress up for God,'" or "It makes me feel more feminine, and makes me more mindful of how God has blessed me as a woman."

If someone approaches you with a more curious tone, and seems open for more, offer a more "meaty" response. I often start with the story of my friend Kimberly, and talk about how her example made me take another look at 1 Corinthians 11:10 "A woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels." You could also talk about the value of sacramentals, and the connection between the physical and spiritual world -- God relates to people through tangible things. "My head covering makes me more aware of God's presence, and His blessing on me and my family."

Finally, don't worry about getting in the last word. Pray for each person you speak with, and treat that person with courtesy, no matter what. Time after time, love speaks with far more authority and conviction than law. Ultimately, God is far more concerned about our hearts than our outward appearance. In the words of one great hymn writer, Helen Lemmel (1922):

O soul, are you weary and troubled, no light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior, and life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 8:57 AM 1 comments

Happy (belated) St. Benedict's Day!

Dear Sisters:

Monday as I was driving home from the airport, I realized it was the feast day of our "spiritual brother," St. Benedict (the twin of St. Scholastica). This year, the first year of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, this feast has special significance for us. Like Esther standing before her husband, the king, St. Benedict stands before the throne of grace, interceding for our Holy Father and all his brother bishops and priests. So our prayers, as their sisters, will bear even richer fruit.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the gift of holy orders Your Son bestowed on His apostles, and they on to other men. We remember today all those men who have taken up that cross, and followed as faithfully as they knew how.

We pray for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that you would give him an extra measure of wisdom and discernment, strength and courage. May he continue to draw from the wisdom and example of his namesake, St. Benedict, as he leads Your Holy Church. And may we, his sisters in faith, encourage him to hear and obey Your holy will, just as St. Scholastica interceded for her brother Benedict with effectual prayers of faith.

We remember all those faithful leaders of the Church who have gone to their heavenly rest, especially those still in need of our prayers. We thank you especially for the holy witness of Pope John Paul the Great, and for his perpetual prayers on our behalf.

We remember all your faithful priests who labor diligently today, that they would not lose heart as they carry the cross you have entrusted to them. May we inspire and encourage them to embrace their holy work with greater zeal and fidelity.

We pray for all seminarians around the world, and for those men who are considering the priesthood. May they see in us, their sisters, a source of support and assistance. As they look to us, may they see the Bride of Christ and be inspired to give their lives for her, just as our Savior did.

For all these intentions, and for those hidden in our hearts, St. Benedict pray for us! St. Scholastica, pray for us!

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 4:27 AM 0 comments

Should priests marry?

Every year in early June, a group of angry women converges outside the cathedral in my diocese. Ordination seems to bring out the barely submerged hostility in them, and it grieves me deeply that the last thing my brothers see before taking holy orders is those waving, anti-clerical placards. I've thought about paying for a banner to hold up and block it out, reading, "We are proud of you, dear brothers! We are praying for you!" This, it seems to me, is a better and more constructive message to be sending new priests: "We love you and support you for devoting your lives to us. We are on your side."

Sometimes the protests are a little more subtle -- and yet, in my mind, they are no less disrespectful (however reasonable they might seem on the surface). I'm talking about the push for discontinuing the discipline of priestly celibacy -- sometimes taking great, imaginative pains to draw a connection between sexual misconduct and "forced" continence.

Since celibacy is a matter of discipline rather than doctrine, this is something the Church could change her mind about down the line. However, there are a number of reasons I will always be grateful that these faithful men devote themselves entirely to single-minded service.

As a convert, I've known a number of married pastors and their families, and have rarely encountered a situation where the father's vocation did not present a real strain on the rest of the family, who were forced to assume roles (unofficially but very publicly) that they neither chose nor desired. Their fathers were frequently absent to them, and they were expected to go along without complaint. I once had the great privilege of meeting Ruth Bell Graham (Billy's wife) in her home in Montreat, NC. She deeply impressed me as a woman of faith and spiritual maturity -- and she devoted herself entirely to her family. Even in this situation, the marks on the family are evident.

As "other Christs," priests donate themselves 100%, just as Christ did, and this single-minded service is worthy of the utmost respect. Personally, I think that we would not have the vocations problem that is frequently expressed in Catholic circles if as the laity we did a better job of honoring our priests. Instead we treat them like "one of us" -- instead of as persons with inherent spiritual authority over us, by virtue of their holy orders.

Priests are not simply lay people with collars. Their authority is passed to them by the hands of their bishop, who ultimately received it from Christ himself. Affirming this authority and respect, in my mind, is something that as women we have the opportunity to take a leading role in turning the tide.

I know some will disagree with me on this (perhaps quite vehemently), but I will not allow my daughter to become an altar server. This is not about girls not being "good enough" to do the job -- after all, the Church allows girls to serve on the altar at the pleasure of their bishop. (In my church, there are servers of both genders.) However, I want to teach my daughter that she has an equally important job to do -- but one that is different from her brother. Pope John Paul II (and Edith Stein as well) spoke of the "gender complementarity" of God's design.

Young men look for opportunities to be MEN, and reserving this job for them, in my mind, gives us an opportunity to affirm them in their maturing spiritual development as men. If they have a vocation to the priesthood, that seed has an opportunity to grow without pressure and without conflict -- giving them a glimpse of the ordained life at a level that is appropriate to their development.

If we are truly dedicated to finding a solution to the priest shortage, we need to look first within ourselves. Are we the kind of Church, the kind of people, a young man should aspire to serve?

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 9:44 AM 1 comments

What do Catholics "have" to believe?

Friends: I found this on the Catholic Exchange website, and in lieu of a St. Scholastica newsletter this month I wanted to post this and invite your comments. Have you ever faced a particular issue in which you struggled to find the "right" Catholic perspective? What was it -- and how did you resolve the question?

Catholic "Officialdom" and Theological Ambiguity
Mark P. Shea

A few months back I guested on a talk radio show and got a call from a man who wanted to know what the "official Catholic teaching" was on (I kid you not) "how much body mass you can lose before you lose your soul." The man was apparently under the impression that if a certain amount of tissue gets lopped off in an amputation, your soul would leak away and he was urgently interested in whether the Church had issued an official measurement (in grams?) of just how much tissue this would have to be.

The question, odd as it was, nonetheless is not the only one of its sort out there. On the Internet, in magazines and on other media I frequently run across the notion that the Catholic Church must have an "official teaching" on absolutely everything. My friend, James Akin, the noted apologist who works at Catholic Answers, has remarked on the same phenomenon and tells me he is tempted to draft a series of mock answers to the burning questions, "What is the Catholic Church's official favorite Beatle?" and "What is the official Catholic way to eat a Reese's?"What is going on here? Apparently, many people (one cherishes the flickering hope they are mainly non-Catholics) labor under the illusion that the Church operates according to the "That which is not forbidden is compulsory" model of totalitarian micro-management and thought control. The idea seems to be that, since the Church is hierarchical, it must therefore be the case that Catholic teaching is a thing of such nitnoid and picayune obsession with detail that no Catholic can set his watch without phoning the Vatican or brush his teeth without consulting the catechism on which hand to hold the brush in.

What is especially funny about this misperception is the garbled conversations one can have with people who hold this belief and who do not know whether it is accurate or inaccurate, nor whether they think it is good or bad.Thus, I have seen conversations on the Internet proceed in this fashion:

Somebody declares, for instance, that "the Pope has officially declared that evolution is true." (After all, if the Pope has not declared evolution absolutely 100% false, the only alternative must be that it is absolutely 100% dogma.)Much speculation then ensues about the motive for this "radical reversal" in Catholic teaching. Voices ask archly whether this might not be a gambit by Rome to prepare the way for other reversals of dogma like "married priests" or even Apostolic Succession (one wonders how apostolic succession might be reversed.) Much bustle ensues as the chatter in cyberspace attempts to cast some nuanced magisterial statement in concrete dogmatic galoshes and demand that it dance.

What never seems to occur in such conversations is the thought that the Catholic Church, so far from being obsessed with defining everything down to the last jot and tittle is, in reality, profoundly disinclined to define Her Tradition unless she absolutely has to. Thus, in the case of the Pope's statement on evolution, the fact is the Pope was aiming to open up various channels for reflection, not cram all Catholics into some narrow rut. He said, in essence, that certain aspects of evolutionary theory do not pose a theological problem to Catholic Faith, but that Catholics could not, of course, accept a strictly materialistic philosophy to account for the creation of human life since this is counter to one of the basic truths of the Faith.This is a far cry from saying that "evolution [which theory?] is dogma."

On the contrary, it is the declaration that a Catholic is free, if he likes, to accept or reject the possibility that God may have somehow used creatures whether angelic or apelike to create the body of the first man. The only thing a Catholic is not free to believe is that the soul is merely a function of matter (as some forms of naturalism claim). Moreover, this is neither a new thing nor a "reversal" of Catholic teaching. St. Augustine speculated 15 centuries ago about whether God made Adam immediately or over a long period of time. Pope Pius XII made substantially the same comments as Pope John Paul II in Humani Generis nearly 50 years ago. Catholics have felt themselves quite free to speculate on this and thousand other questions since the founding of the Church, for they have always understood that such questions are, to a very large degree, a matter of liberty and even ambiguity, not dogma.But contemporary culture is about 2000 years behind the times when it comes to comprehending Catholic theological liberty and ambiguity.

Hence the confused reaction to Pope John Paul II's recent expression of disapproval for the death penalty in Evangelium Vitae (when he said, in essence, that he couldn't see much justification for the death penalty anymore and that, if a criminal could be punished without the taking of human life that comes from God, then human life should be spared.) Many commentators wondered how an infallible Church could "reverse itself" on this topic.

But the reality is, this opinion of the Pope is no more dogmatic than previous teaching which allowed for the death penalty. All such teachings have been but prudential judgments, based on a reading of "the signs of the times" which the Church asks the faithful to consider seriously as they form their own consciences. The bottom line is, there is no "official teaching" stating unequivocally that the death penalty is Always Wrong, just as there was never an "official teaching" that it was Always Right. There is room in the Catholic tradition for endorsement of the death penalty. There is also room for opposition to it. Prudence seems to indicate increasingly that it is, in almost all circumstances, a greater evil than the evil it seeks to avoid. So the Pope counsels against it. But he makes no dogma.

And this is the case with the bulk of the Church's Tradition. There are a few (a very few) restrictions concerning what Catholics may and may not believe and do, but one can be a perfectly faithful Catholic and believe, disbelieve or care nothing about evolution, farm subsidies, tax reform, just war theory, pacifism and smoking. One can hold all sorts of opinions about the duration of purgatory, the music of Spike Jones, the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, the question of whether there is time in Heaven, whether Our Lady died and whether we should have fought the Vietnam War. The Church has no "official position" on these and a billion other questions. She prefers freedom whenever possible. This is why, in 2000 years, the number of dogmatic definitions the Church has formulated is so very, very small.

And it is also why, strangely enough, I often encounter a weird reaction from those who set out to criticize the Church for being rigid, dogmatic and obsessed with angels on pinheads. For when they suddenly find that it is diverse, variegated, miscellaneous and Catholic, when they discover the Church has no "official teaching" on whether Mary died or Purgatory is instantaneous or farm subsidies are the eternal will of the living God, they react with tremendous confusion and resentment."What?" I am asked. "The Church doesn't know?! But if it can't even answer an elementary question like this, why should we put any faith in her claim to be infallible in larger things?"

The curious thing here is that many of the people who protest most loudly the Church's "overbearing authoritarianism" are also the ones who object most loudly when the Church refuses to tell us what to think. They complain the Church is dogmatic about everything and then they complain that it isn't.It seems that the world has gotten things almost exactly backward from the Church here.

The world often has a philosophy which treats all matters of Catholic dogma as open questions and many open questions as dogma.

• Is there a God? Maybe.
• Is smoking the locus of all evil in the universe? Absolutely.
• Did Jesus say what is attributed to him in the gospels? Who knows?
• Is homosexuality inborn, natural and God-given? Absolutely.
• Are the Mosaic Laws against adultery valid in our day and age? That's debatable.
• Can an office full of cubicled bureaucrats micromanage an elementary school room 3000 miles away? Absolutely.

Chesterton once remarked of H.G. Wells that he held two bizarre and contradictory philosophies. One of his philosophies held that everything is absolutely unique and therefore unclassifiable (making a common morality impossible). The other philosophy argued passionately for the need of the World State. Chesterton remarked, "It is a quaint and almost comic fact, that this chaotic negation especially attracts those who are always complaining of social chaos, and who propose to replace it by the most sweeping social regulations. It is the very men who say that nothing can be classified, who say that everything must be codified."

In contrast to this is the Catholic vision of a free human being. Catholics are certain about a few basic facts concerning the nature of the cosmos; facts sketched in the Creeds, offered in the sacraments and fleshed out in the few dogmatic pronouncements the Church has made about this and that. Beyond that, though, they are gloriously different and rather enjoy the fact that they do not see eye to eye on scarcely anything in the world.

Submitted to God they find they are taller when they bow, freer when they wear the "shackles" of dogma and wiser when they allow the Church to insist on the very few doctrines she cannot compromise. But the world, seeking to be free of the big laws, does not get freedom. It gets the small laws, the petty dogmatisms and the mental slavery that forces it to not think (in a hundred ways) about Jesus, but allows it to think in only one way about whatever ideology is the going thing at the moment. Catholics, having no detailed dogmatic program to go on besides "Love God and love your neighbor" can look like William F. Buckley, Dorothy Day, Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Richard John Neuhaus, or Oscar Romero. They can be all over the map once they leave mass, for they are all one in Christ at the altar. For Catholics, as Chesterton said, agree about everything. It is only everything else they disagree about.

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 6:57 AM 1 comments

Covered Graces: Feminine Faith in the Gospels

Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head – it is the same as if her head were shaven…. [W]omen ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent
of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.)

1 Corinthians 11:4-5, 10-12

Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then
you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give
alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in
the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 4:14 AM 0 comments