Archive for the ‘The Post and Courier’ Category
Sheen’s Message Uplifting
Sunday, September 28th, 2008
“The Post and Courier”
By The Rev. Jeff Kirby
This year, two classics in the American religious tradition are being republished by Random House.
The books, “Treasure in Clay” ($15.95) and “Life of Christ” ($17.95), were written by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who died in 1979.
The archbishop was a renowned preacher and author. He was also a media trailblazer. Starting as an early radio personality, Sheen expanded his efforts. Long before a Pat Robertson or a Joel Osteen, he became one of the first to preach the gospel on television.
Sheen wrote 73 books in his lifetime, and the reprinting of these two books provides an opportunity to explore his legacy. It also gives a forum to discuss the endurance of his teachings on several issues, including his main themes of love and freedom.
Well-remembered by generations, Sheen was known for the cadence and pitch of his voice, the intensity of his stare, and the sincerity and provocation of his message.
Who was this man? Where did he come from?
“Treasure in Clay” was the archbishop’s last book. It was an autobiography that summarized not only his life, but also his convictions. The book serves both as one man’s journey of faith and ministry and a personally experienced history of the United States and the Catholic Church.
Taken from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians (4:7), the title of the autobiography summarizes Sheen’s belief in the frailty and glory of human life and pastoral ministry. The archbishop uses this assertion as a starting point to sharing the drama of his own life: the high calling given from God and the struggle of the person to follow it.
Comprising 21 chapters in 390 pages, the book begins with the Sheen family in El Paso, Ill. Born in 1895 and baptized as Peter John, the future bishop was known throughout his life as “Fulton.” Which was his mother’s maiden name. He was born into a small-town merchant family and was the oldest of four sons.
Educated in the parochial school system and noted for his keen intelligence, Sheen was his high school valedictorian. After high school, he went to seminary and distinguished himself as an academic and orator. On Sept. 20, 1919, the future archbishop was ordained a priest. After ordination, he was sent for further studies in Washington and Louvain, Belgium. He also attended classes at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Angelicum in Rome.
Upon returning home, Sheen did parish work and was a university professor. In 1930, he began his radio broadcast, “The Catholic Hour,” which ran for 22 years. He attracted listeners of all faiths and cultures by his human and pastoral approach to explaining religious truth.
In his teaching, Sheen employed poetry, philosophy, history, architecture, song and art to illustrate his points. But he also used humor, anecdotes and stories from his ministry. This combination made the message accessible to everyone and created an active engagement with his listeners. Many felt as if Sheen was speaking directly to them.
In 1951, he was consecrated a bishop in the Archdiocese of New York, and named an archbishop, supervising the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The society’s task was to present Catholic teaching and encourage Christian charity.
In that same year, the new archbishop Sheen made a daring move and began his television show, ”Life is Worth Living.” Using the same approach as he had on the radio, the archbishop was a tremendous success. The United States was in the midst of radical transitions, and there was confusion and disorientation. The Depression and World War II were over, and America had to redefine itself and its place in the world. Communism was on the rise, and free society was under scrutiny.
Amid these struggles, the archbishop defended true freedom and the family and argued for the primacy of love. His teachings gave hope to all people, Catholic and non-Catholic. His presentation of the gospel provided a substantial answer to people’s questions and a worldview for their thoughts. An estimated 30 million people tuned in every week to watch and listen to him. Because of other pressing pastoral duties, the archbishop concluded his show in 1957.
In 1952, with his show having run only one year, the archbishop won an Emmy Award for the Most Outstanding Television Personality. In typical form, the archbishop in his remarks thanked his writers, “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Pope Pius XII, seeing the work of the archbishop, called him “a prophet of our times.”
In the 1960s, Sheen attended the Second Vatican Council, which drastically changed the way that the Catholic Church approached the contemporary world. In many respects, the archbishop was a forerunner of this council, and his insights were a great force in its authentic application in the United States.
Due to challenging cultural shifts and the emergence of a new phase of questioning and requestioning of religious truth, the archbishop went back on television. Modeled on his previous show, “The Fulton Sheen Program” began in 1961 and ran for seven years. The new program earned Sheen the nickname, “Uncle Fultie” because of the supposed competition between his show and “The Milton Berle Show” (whose comic star was popularly known as “Uncle Miltie”). Again, the archbishop’s passionate teaching and personality made his program a great success, causing Berle to joke about Sheen, “He uses old material, too.”
One example of Sheen’s teaching can be seen in the book, “Life of Christ.” In the work, which reads as a novel, the archbishop recounts the scenes in the life of Christ by applying them to human experience, cultural trends and people’s desire for God and meaning. The book’s brief 62 chapters provide the reader with an inspiring encounter with Jesus Christ. The reader, in 658 pages, can walk with Jesus through his human life and public ministry. This ability of the archbishop to apply the gospel and show its credibility and relevancy to ordinary life is what made his approach so appealing and encouraging to people.
The archbishop concluded his show and began to work more intently on his writings. He made extensive lecture tours in the United States (including South Carolina’s Lowcountry) and throughout the world.
In 1979, only two months before his death, Sheen met Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s visit to New York. On that occasion, the pope told the archbishop, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the church!”
Any list of the great people in American history would be incomplete without the name of Fulton Sheen. In difficult and turbulent times, he gave a human face to God, a compassionate heart to people’s struggles and a compelling message to edify and uplift them. Sheen’s legacy continues because people were given hope by his teaching and inspiration by his ministry.
The Rev. Jeffrey Kirby is a priest of the Diocese of Charleston.
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Resolve to Anchor Hope in Faith
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
“The Post and Courier”
By The Rev. Jeff Kirby
The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time. As we start the new year, we carry within us our memories, stories and experiences of good times and bad, of successes and failures.
We also carry the essential virtue of hope. In light of this hope, each of us reviews our life and composes a certain resolution or resolutions for change and improvement. Why?
We hope and aspire to become a better person in the coming year. We see an opportunity for a fresh start and new beginnings. Simple things such as dieting and exercising, or harder things such as acts of kindness, intellectual pursuits and spiritual commitments are some of the many possible desires of the heart at this time of annual renewal.
We become people of great hope. What are the lessons that we can learn from these aspirations, and from this innate hope within us? Where do these human hopes lead us? What is their foundation?
Pope Benedict XVI can contribute a few thoughts on these questions. The pope recently released his second encyclical, which is a teaching letter on issues concerning the Christian faith. The pope dedicated this new letter to the very subject of hope.
The pope explains that “all serious and upright human conduct is hope in action.” He notes that by performing good deeds, the person is striving to realize hope in himself and a more humane world around him.
Pope Benedict, however, is concerned that human hope be grounded on the solid foundation of “the radiance of a great hope that cannot be destroyed,” and that hope itself does not end in the emptiness of despair or extremism.
In the letter, the pope teaches, “Only the great certitude of hope that, my own life and history in general, despite all failures, are held firm by the indestructible power of love, and that this gives them their meaning and importance, only this kind of hope can then give the courage to act and persevere.”
Pope Benedict argues that this great hope is God himself, and that each person is called to accept and find strength in his message of love and peace.
By hoping in God, all our human hopes can find their substance and impetus in him. In listening to the Gospel message, the pope writes that we “can open ourselves and the world, and allow God to enter: We can open ourselves to truth, to love, to what is good.”
The pope uses the image of “the star of hope” rising in the hearts of all people, and of its power to inspire and sustain people in their good and bad moments. He gives the example of the saints who “were able to make the journey of human existence in the way that Christ had done before them because they were brimming with great hope.”
Human hope, grounded on a great hope in God, can accomplish great things in this life. It can provoke a sense of justice and peace, and a desire to work and suffer for these spiritual goods. Even in the face of apparent failure or defeat, hope can carry and bring forth the best in a person and in a society.
As we make our New Year’s resolutions, we all dwell in hope to become better people. The reflections offered by Pope Benedict XVI can help us. They can point the way to where the great source and stability of human hope can be found, and where it can be anchored.
The Rev. Jeff Kirby is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston. Visit his Web site at www.jeffrey-kirby.com
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Season Reminder of What’s to Come
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007
“The Post and Courier”
By The Rev. Jeff Kirby
We seem to live a lot of our lives in the future. Each of us has pressing concerns or approaching events that inspire or provoke us to worry, assess, and prepare for what might be coming.
Such thinking can oftentimes make us miss what’s happening in the here and now. If we always live in the future, how can we appreciate the lives we’re living now?
This is one of several questions that is raised by the season of Advent. Today, various Christian communities have begun the observance of the four-Sunday-long Advent waiting. With the peace and joy of Christmas in the air, however, Advent is oftentimes overlooked and forgotten. But it has an important place in our seasonal festivity. What is the reason and importance of this season? What is its important message for the non-believer and Christian believer in our day and time?
The Advent season reminds people and societies that time is not eternal, and that each of us must determine for what, or who, we will live. Each person is called to discern and affirm what they believe and allow these convictions to shape and mold their lives. Advent heralds this important reminder.
Advent, more properly, summons the Christian believer to reread and relive the great events of salvation history in their own lives. It challenges them to open themselves to the spiritual workings of God in history and in their own lives.
Advent is more than just a time of preparation for Christmas. And it doesn’t simply call the believer to prepare for the future return of Jesus Christ in glory. Above these purposes, Advent makes present today the ancient expectancy of the Messiah and allows the believer to experience it in himself.
It also shows the believer the glimpses and foretastes of the future coming of Christ in the world of today. The season offers the believer the anticipation of the past and the hope of the future while emphasizing the importance of each person living these truths here and now.
The joy of Christmas can be empty without the hope of Advent, and the new year can be hollow without the story of the past. Advent seeks to be one voice in the festivities of the season.
If maturity can be gauged by a person’s roots and wings, then Advent is a help and encouragement towards growth in maturation, as well as in goodness and holiness.
It’s a call to live today the awesome story of Jesus Christ and its conclusion. It’s a summons to be fully human and completely alive.
The Rev Jeff Kirby is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston. Visit his Web site at: www.jeffrey-kirby.com.
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Believers Must Engage Atheists in Rational Debate
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
“The Post and Courier”
By Jeff Kirby
Special to The Post and Courier
The question of God’s existence and identity has inspired and challenged people of different cultures and thought for millennia. In the West, there is a cultural shift of indifference towards a belief in God, and towards any organized belief in him. The members of one group within this trend are called “New Atheists.”
Their hallmark texts are Sam Harris’ The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation; Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
These books serve as a summary of recent atheistic argument and as a rallying cry to like-minded people. They attempt to encourage rational atheism, discredit biblical faith and encourage fellow atheists in their views.
Harris writes that the movement’s goal is “to demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity.” He refuses to participate in the “conspiracy” of recognizing religion even as a social good.
The challenges posed by the “New Atheists” are important, and should be readily engaged by non-believers and theistic believers. The criticisms can serve to raise questions, provoke doubt, renew understanding, tear down outdated approaches and call the Christian and theistic believer to deeper thought and conviction.
The authors raise several criticisms towards theistic belief, and especially towards Christianity, but they do not discuss the rationality of faith itself. Oddly, they do not consider the possibility of the help which faith could give to humanity’s search for meaning and purpose.
As argued by Michael Novak, the author of Belief and Unbelief, and Terence Nichols, who wrote The Sacred Cosmos, theistic belief can significantly contribute to humanity’s understanding of the reasonableness of existence and the order inherent within it.
Theistic belief offers the human a broad view of existence, which shows the intelligibility and breadth of life, both seen and unseen. It can appreciate the findings of science, and its insight into the workings of the world and human experience. It can recognize the essential place of the facts and details of science in human knowledge, but it tempers their claims. The theistic worldview shows that no one area of knowledge can assert an all-encompassing synthesis of humanity or creation. It demonstrates that the different areas of research and knowledge are needed, but they each contribute only a portion to our comprehension and wisdom.
An atheistic approach to life, however, would normally see existence as merely the product of chance and natural selection. But if such randomness defined the world, where could reason or reliability be found? Everything would be chaotic. It would lack ordered meaning and purpose. It would be without intelligibility. It would be absurd.
Paradoxically, atheists trust science, rationality, and mathematics, which relies on repetitiveness, experimentation, and stability. But where does this understanding of reason and stability come from? By their very definition, chance or natural selection cannot give it. Its meaning and mystery go beyond the limitations of any one discipline or field of study. It surpasses human organization. It depends on more.
The theistic and Christian worldview acknowledges a Creator and a rational universe through him. It finds its foundation of reason, stability, and order in him, and it asks: If there is so much reason “in” the world, shouldn’t there also be a reason “for” the world? Theistic belief shows humanity a rich array of rationality and meaning. It dismisses the absurdities of an enclosed life, and will not allow for a narrow and limiting view of reality and the things of existence.
Dawkins caricature of God as a “psychotic delinquent,” and others like it do not reflect the God of Christian faith or of nature. God lovingly seeks to reveal himself and the truths of existence through various channels. Knowledge and research that are open to God cannot become esoteric or alienating to the person.
As the great southern writer Walker Percy said, atheism “isn’t good enough.” It doesn’t explain the complexities of life or give sufficient reasons for it. Belief in God affirms the intelligibility of existence and compels the person to search for deeper meaning and purpose. It gives an expansive and inclusive worldview to the believer, and allows him to reasonably discuss life and explore the things of created existence.
Rev. Jeff Kirby is a priest of the Diocese of Charleston.
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Honest Discussion Can Bring About Understanding
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
“The Post and Courier”
By The Rev. Jeffrey Kirby
It seems most people today are looking for answers to deeply existential and spiritual questions. These inquiries often lead to an intense, and sometimes painful, search for truth.
In the midst of different cultures and times, the Christian tradition has always claimed that Jesus Christ is the truth made flesh, and that truth searches for us. In Jesus Christ, the person can find all the answers to their questions. The Catholic Church has always claimed to hold the fullness of this truth and its subsequent means of salvation.
The claim is an awkward one in our pluralistic society that tends towards religious pluralism, where truth is often relativized and conviction can be dismissed as arrogance.
The Vatican recently released five questions and answers that seek to clarify and explain this claim of the Catholic Church. The questions and their responses have caused a stir among theologians, non-Catholic Christians, and many people of good will. Why has the Vatican written these responses, and why would it release them now?
The answers were written in response to five questions raised and presented by theologians to the Vatican in reaction to the document Dominus Iesus in 2000. Such questions are always taken very seriously. They are reviewed and discussed by panels of theologians, and debated and argued by different schools of thought. After such deliberation, the Vatican gives its answers and clarifications.
For these five questions, the process took seven years, and have now been publicized.
The questions, and their answers, are given in order to provide assistance to academic and general theological work. They are meant to “clarify confusion on certain questions and to correct false understanding” within Catholic theology. No tone is intended by the responses. They are not a formal document themselves, and should be read only within the context of more doctrinally expansive and pastorally applicable documents of the Church (some of which are listed in the introduction itself of the questions and answers).
Beyond this explanation of the purpose and timing of the questions and answers, most people want to know: What is the Catholic Church claiming overall, and what is it trying to say? Is the Catholic Church claiming that it is better than other Christian bodies? Is it trying to say that non-Catholic Christians are not real disciples of Christ? Is it arguing that non-Catholics are all going to hell?
The Catholic Church is claiming none of the above. In responding to the five questions, the Catholic Church is clarifying an age-old claim that it is the visible Church founded by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, and that it has the fullness of his teaching and the means of salvation. It explains that other Christian bodies certainly have elements of truth and sanctification, and that there are many committed disciples of Jesus Christ outside of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church makes no claims of eternal judgment of heaven or hell on anyone, non-Catholic or Catholic.
What then is the Catholic Church saying? Does it really believe that it is the one Church founded by Jesus Christ, and that it has everything that Jesus wanted to give his disciples?
The Catholic Church acknowledges that truth is one. Something cannot both be and not be, in the same way and at the same time. For example, bread cannot both be and not be the Body of Christ.
Reflecting reality, only one view is true. Recognizing that the New Testament repeatedly speaks of one Church, the Catholic Church asserts that Jesus Christ desired to found only one Church to hold and preserve the unity of his truth and the means of salvation. The Catholic Church believes that the one Church of Christ was founded on St. Peter and the Apostles, and that it subsists in the Roman Catholic Church, guided by the Pope and Bishops, who are the successors of Peter and the Apostles. For this reason, in theological terminology, the Catholic Church reserves the word “church” only to bodies with an historical succession from the apostles. (This is not to say that the word “church” cannot be used in popular jargon or conversation.)
In a society as open as we are, the point comes across as a strong claim. For secular people, it might appear as arrogantly outlandish. To some non-Catholic Christians, it might appear as an exclusivist assertion of self-importance.
Of course, non-Catholic Christians will not agree with the claim. The Vatican knows that reality. But it also understands that authentic dialogue is about being honest with one’s beliefs and claims. The Catholic Church sees this claim as essential to its inheritance, and identity as a body. As seen in the five questions and answers, it wants to present its teachings with respectful precision and charitable clarity. Anything else would be offensive and unhelpful to true theological discussion and spiritual sharing.
Many will disagree with this claim made by the Catholic Church. Challenges and differences of opinion are a part of life. Truthful dialogue can sustain this disagreement, and fruitful discussion can help us all to understand where each other is standing, and what we can learn from each other.
The Rev. Jeffrey Kirby is a deacon in the Catholic Diocese of Charleston. Visit his Web site at www.jeffrey-kirby.com.
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‘Questioner’s Prayer’ Starting Point
Sunday, May 13th, 2007
“The Post and Courier”
Review
THE QUESTIONER’S PRAYER.
By Bishop Robert Baker 93 pages.
$9.95
In our country’s recent history, we’ve been shocked by such great tragedies as the Virginia Tech shootings, Hurricane Katrina, church scandals and the attacks on the World Trade Center. These events, and other sorrows like them, occur in our society at times.
They are matched by occasional trials and crises in our personal lives and families. They call each person, and the Christian believer in particular, to ask questions of God about the meaning and purpose of life.
Bishop Robert Baker of the Catholic Diocese of South Carolina wants to assist people in forming their questions and pursuing good answers. His recent book, “The Questioner’s Prayer,” is a treasury of wisdom, reflection and counsel. Baker explains, “In writing this book it is my intention to help you give voice to the questions you have for God in prayer – from the perspective of faith.“
In the book’s introduction, the bishop notes that in difficult situations, it is understandable for people to ask serious questions about life in general, and faith in particular. He writes, “Isn’t that what faith is all about? It is the starting point for our encounter with God, and often, it begins with a question.”
Baker explains that it is only in asking the question, and seeking an answer, that people will be able to move on and grow in faith, hope and love.
In his book, Baker desires to give confidence to the person who is asking questions of God. He describes the life of Christ and shows that Jesus always welcomed questions of his listeners. In fact, it was through such questions that some of the gospel’s greatest lessons were given. Baker writes, “Only if we ask questions can we expect answers, from God and one another. A question put to God can be a real sign of faith and trust in Him and the beginning of a profound loving relationship with Him for life, even when life may appear to be at its darkest hour.”
At 93 pages, “The Questioner’s Prayer” is the seasoned insight and teaching of a theologian, spiritual writer and pastor of souls who desires to help people encounter God and find meaning in their lives. Baker organizes the possible questions of people into six categories: Why? How? When? What? Where? And Who? These general headings form the six chapters of the book, in which the bishop guides the person’s questions, and then, through a sharing of his pastoral experiences, seeks to explain them from the perspective of faith.
Throughout the book, Baker notes that questions can be put to God in faith and prayer, or in despair and resistance. He encourages faith and prayer and asserts that if the person allows them, then the questions themselves can become a prayer to God. God welcomes any questions put to him, but the bishop shows that the prayerful questioner with hope is more open to receive the answers which God gives.
In the conclusion of his book, Baker summarizes his points and stresses the importance of prayer. He observes that some people think that questioning God suggests a lack of faith. The bishop writes: “These reflections attempt to point out just the contrary: It’s failing to ask God a question when one is dealing with a difficulty in life that may reflect a lack of faith.”
In his book, as in his ministry, Baker seeks to give some consolation and guidance to those who question and sincerely search for answers.
Reviewer, the Rev. Jeff Kirby, a deacon of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston who is studying moral theology in Rome.
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Lent a Reminder of Life’s Gifts
Sunday, March 4th, 2007
“The Post and Courier”
By The Rev. Jeff Kirby
Recently, some Christian denominations began the observance of Lent. It’s a peculiar season begun by the stark celebration of Ash Wednesday. But with ashes, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, what is the reason for this interesting season? Among other purposes, Lent is meant to raise essential questions among people of goodwill and to remind Christian believers of principal tenets of the gospel. What kind of questions and tenets could Lent seek to emphasize and enhance?
Among the many questions that Lent can provoke, the time period asks the person what is the meaning and purpose of his life. What is life all about? What do I live for? From these core inquiries, dozens of specific questions develop and fill the minds and prayer of discerning people.
Lent, however, does not leave the person to a lonely search for answers, or to an empty quest for merely personal satisfaction. The season seeks to present the answers of the Christian gospel, a message that is grounded in the love for God, oneself and one’s neighbor. The truths given by Christianity show us that life is a gift and a mystery.
A person’s worldview radically changes as he comes to realize that his own life and the lives of those around him are not distractions to his tasks or burdens to his freedom, but are truly and fully a gift that contributes and edifies him. Acknowledging the gifts of another person can bring out a person’s own best self. The person is not called to live as a self-absorbed prisoner, but as a free, fully alive and loving neighbor and friend.
Each person bears the struggles of love, family, work, money and related issues. These real problems of life can overwhelm and, at times, strangle the person. So often, these problems can be universalized, and life itself seems to be one nig problem that must be coldly endured or resolutely solved. But when life is approached not as a problem, but as a mystery that is daily lived and celebrated, with its good and bad, then a person’s perspective of problems begins to positively change. The person realized his spiritual freedom, and while problems continue
and are real, a lightheartedness and joy covers and balances them. Life is seen as a blessed and exciting mystery.
The approach to life as a gift and mystery are two answers, which also serve as challenges and invitations, of the Lenten season. The ashes, fasting, prayer and almsgiving are meant to remind us of the goodness of God who has created us, and of the freedom and joy that life is meant to be for us. Lent asks us what life is about and what we live for. It gives us these sure answers and encourages us to walk the Lenten message during the 40 days and throughout our lives.
The Rev. Jeff Kirby is a deacon of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, studying moral theology in Rome.
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Newborn Christ a Reminder of Gifts of Love, Life from God
Sunday, December 17th, 2006
“The Post and Courier”
By the Rev. Jeff Kirby
It’s always amazing what the presence of a child does to the spirits of people. Some of the most hardened and sour-faced of people just awaken, smiling and stooping down, making faces and speaking in baby talk.
The people we would never expect to visibly express themselves surprisingly open the doors of their hearts and personalities to the little one. Perhaps there is something in the vulnerability, safety and unconditional love of a child that provokes and enlivens the spirits of joy and openness in people. They come alive, and it’s truly amazing.
We live in an age of anxiety and uncertainty. The turbulent international scene and the common, everyday struggles that we and our family and friends have with love, forgiveness, finances, work and moral issues sometimes foster in us a sense of inadequacy and fear. Life sometimes can seem like a burden we must carry, and a problem that we must solve.
In this contagious environment of insecurity and awkwardness, however, a child is born to us, and a son is given to us. In this festive Christmas season, Christians recall that God entered the human experience and history. He comes to us as a child so that the barriers around each person’s heart can be softened. God lovingly stoops down to humanity so that each person can feel comfortable in stooping down to his crib. There is no intimidation and no reason for fear. By coming as a child, God gives his confirmation to life and teaches us that life is truly worth living. It is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. Life is not a burden, but a gift that we must unwrap daily and experience in all its fullness.
Humanity seems to implicitly recognize this divine affirmation of life. At Christmas, humanity seems to be at its best. In the kindness, love and generosity that we show one another during this holiday season, we truly go the extra mile, and we seem closer to what we can and should be as a people. This is because of a holiday commemorating a child to whom we can stoop and speak in baby talk.
Yes, God has come to us. In the Christ child, humanity has an example of its vocation to holiness and love. Jesus Christ can show humanity the heights to which it can soar if it is responsive to God and willing to embrace each person and seek the good of all.
During this Christmas season, as Christians assemble around the crèche, may all humanity discern the calling and invitation given by Jesus Christ for the tranquility and joy of the world. Let all people of goodwill see the newborn Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and work for authentic peace in their families, workplaces and neighborhoods. Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!
The Rev. Jeff Kirby is a deacon of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, studying moral theology in Rome.
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Kingstree Shrine an Invitation to Slow Down
Sunday, November 12th, 2006
“The Post and Courier”
By Jeff Kirby
It seems as if we always have something to do, or many things that have to be done right away. We live in a fast-paced society that pressures us to keep the pace.
Since we are human beings, and not merely human doers, we sometimes have to stop the rush, or at least try to slow it down. As human beings, we need and desire times for reflection, peaceful thought, and prayer. It’s becoming difficult to find places where we can go and have this part of our lives supported and nurtured.
Recently, Robert Baker, the local Catholic bishop, dedicated a shrine in the Palmetto State.
It’s one of the first of its kind in our region. The idea of a shrine might seem anachronistic and awkward to us. It’s not a regularly used word in our everyday language, and it strikes us as a peculiar reality.
The peculiarity of a shrine, however, is an invitation to us. It stands as a sign of contradiction because it exists solely for prayer and reflection. A shrine runs counter to our hurried pace and current set of rushed priorities because it encourages us to slow down and give some attention to our spiritual lives.
Bishop Baker appropriately named this new house of prayer the Shrine of Our Lady of South Carolina – Our Lady of Joyful Hope.
It has the title of an icon of the same name, which is now available for public veneration in the shrine.
The virtue of hope is highlighted because it is the response of the Christian tradition to the many crises and events in the world, and in our personal lives, which could lead to despair and discouragement.
The shrine is located in Kingstree in Williamsburg County. It takes a good drive to get there. It’s out of the way, so that nothing can get in the way of the person who goes there for prayer and discernment. Kingstree and its area consist largely of tobacco and other farms. It’s a modest place, much like Bethlehem and Assisi, and like the birthplace of Jesus and the hometown of St. Francis, the city can be greatly underestimated and the blessings received from a pilgrimage there can surprise any and every visitor.
In our busy world, with so many obligations and responsibilities, the new shrine reminds us of the shrine within our own hearts.
It calls us to remember the higher things in life: the faith that sustains us, the hope that gives us meaning, and the love that makes us want to live for others. It’s too easy to forget these central realities in the midst of our doings, but these are the realities that make us fully human beings, continually in awe and joyful at life.
Whether we can make it out to Kingstree or not, the new shrine is a gentle exhortation and encouragement to us to pray, reflect, and be at peace.
The Rev. Jeff Kirby is a deacon of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, studying moral theology in Rome.
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St. Francis’ Feast Day Time to Reflect on Nature
Sunday, October 1st, 2006
“The Post and Courier”
By Jeff Kirby
This week some Christian churches celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the impassioned lover of God and nature. Famous images of the saint preaching to the birds or caressing the wolf of Gubbio can be seen in garden statues and homes throughout the Lowcountry.
St. Francis’ love, moreover, can be felt in his songs and poetry, especially his “Canticle of Brother Sun.” The saint’s feast day can be a good time for us to reflect on our views of nature and the environment.
Our beliefs on creation can help us to answer some of our basic human questions: Where do we come from? Where are we going? What is our origin? What is our end? Our responses to these questions can be decisive to the meaning and fundamental orientation of our lives.
Our society today is keenly aware and attentive to the environment, and the several issues surrounding it. Sometimes, however, our concern for the world around us seems to lack a certain depth and richness, which the Christian message can offer it.
For St. Francis, love for nature and the environment stemmed from his love for God. He saw creation as a gift from God, which must be cared for and respected. In his worldview, he wouldn’t have been able to fathom the environment without seeing God’s goodness and love. For Francis, nothing would have made sense without God.
Grounded on the belief of creation as God’s gift, Francis could only then adamantly argue and demand a religious reverence for the world, animals, plants, and the greater environment.
Some perspectives, however, dismiss the Christian teachings on environmental stewardship as condescending and belittling. It’s mistakenly thought that the Christian message asserts the role of the human person to the detriment of nature and the environment. It’s suspected that by teaching that the human person is the summit and center of creation, the Christian church sees the rest of the world as having a lesser role and importance.
The authentic Christian understanding, however, knows that nothing in creation is self-sufficient. There is an active interdependence between all creatures, with each one completing the another and living in service to it. This reality gives a breathing solidarity to creation, revealing its inner order and value.
Only after grasping this primary lesson, can we begin to understand the hierarchy within creation. It is a hierarchy of service and complementarity.
Humans stand as the center and summit to serve and sustain creation and its harmony. We can almost liken creation to a republic, with each component having its own dignity and autonomy, and yet a part of a greater whole with responsibilities and a greater identity within the larger entity. Within such a creation republic, the human person lives as a chosen leader for humble service and benevolent governance. This is the
proper order given and blessed by God.
As a consequence of an authentic Christian understanding of the environment, we realize that the human person’s governance of the world is not absolute. It is limited by concern for other human persons and society. It’s humbled by gratitude to God, and tempered by a religious respect for the integrity of creation itself.
The world is not humanity’s to do whatever it wants with it. The world is a gift in which humanity lives, and we have the responsibility to care for, serve, and sanctify it. It is a stewardship and challenge.
Perhaps these thoughts on our world and environment can be St. Francis’ lesson to us as we prepare to commemorate his life and actions. Hopefully each of us can imitate some of his gratitude and passion in our own lives.
Jeff Kirby is a seminarian for the Catholic Diocese of Charleston. He will be ordained a deacon on October 5 in Rome.
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