'Evil is DEPRAVED of meaning'

Joe, a former seminarian, is not a perfect speller. But he writes an occasional blog (The New Orthodoxy) with great thought and reflection and recently his topic was evil. Evil, he wrote is 'depraved' of meaning. Knowing Joe fairly well, I think he meant to say 'deprived' but what he published was more clever and perhaps closer to the truth. Evil is indeed depraved of meaning.

Depraved evil is all over the new film "The Butler." I have not been so disturbed by a film in a long time. The film relates a part of history that I lived through but wasn't always aware of individual events. I only read about most of them in the newspaper. "The Butler" reminds me why Jewish people constantly remind the world about the Holocaust. If I forget my American history and the evil that was racial discrimination in my youth, then I will live it again. In fact, there are indeed instances in which it continues to live like a monster that keeps reshaping itself into something more horrifying with each new incarnation.

The juxtaposed scenes of the butler's training for a job in the White House with those of his son's training as a freedom rider in the early 60s frightened me and made me squirm in my seat. All this was going on while I was safely attending the small Catholic liberal arts college from which I graduated. It was all mostly unreal to me and the subject of television news programs.

The saddest scene for me was the one in which the butler and his wife are invited to attend a state dinner instead of his participating as a butler. It reminded me of another dinner, one I attended as a 23 year-old seminarian, a dinner planned and carried out by the priests who staffed the college seminary I attended in rural Kentucky in 1965. The priest in charge of the kitchen decided that we seminarians would prepare dinner for our cooks in their honor. It went off fairly well except that many of the staff seemed embarrassed by the honor and one older woman who cooked for us could not eat the rich food we prepared. She had never been fed so well before.

The film reminds me also that neither history nor our lives are ever as simple as we later determine. This man served eight presidents. He watched as his father was murdered by a man who raped his mother. He lived through the civil rights era trying to keep his own children safe. He lived through the assassinations of three political figures during the 1960s as well as the Vietnam war in which his second son was killed. After all of this and the personal difficulties of his marriage, he sees the election of the first African American as president of the United States. This event is as much a statement that the butler's life has not been lived in vain as it is an historical event. The butler's life has been one of integrity and dignity. Moreover, an era in American history has officially ended even if there are still battles to fight.

Where is God in all of this? A visible crucifix on the wall of the bedroom of the butler and his wife signifies God's constant presence in the suffering of these men and women. Evil is indeed depraved of meaning. Evil cannot overcome the inherent goodness and integrity of men and women.

Living the grace of God

Recently photos of Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis appeared in the diocesan press with the following captions - under Pope John Paul II was the quote "This is what we believe." The caption summarizes to a great extent the direction of that pope's reign. Under Pope Benedict's photo was the quote "This is why we believe it." Again, to a great extent, the quote summarizes the direction of Benedict's papacy. Under Pope Francis' photo was the caption, "Now go do it."

If you have even a smattering familiarity with the homilies and talks given by Pope Francis, you will recognize the emphasis he gives in reminding Christians to actively live their faith. To love God, we must love our neighbor. To love our neighbor, we must love God. "To live" and "to love" are active verbs.

In the Old Testament Book of Joshua, the leader Joshua gathers the Israelites together as they are about to enter the Promised Land and reminds them of all that God has done for them. Yes, he says, you needed to extend yourselves and make your sacrifices and utilize your strengths, but none of that could have made any difference had they not cooperated with God's grace.

The Gospel of Matthew recounts the admonitions of Jesus to the Pharisees over their stubbornness regarding marriage and divorce. What Jesus emphasizes most is that living a life of fidelity to spouse or to celibacy is not possible without cooperating in God's grace.

No matter what our situation in life is, we will not find meaning or purpose or satisfaction if we do not give up our own agendas and cooperate with God's grace. This is especially true of young men who have their eyes on the priesthood or religious life. It is likewise true for women interested in religious life. Am I open to the grace of God or have I already decided what God has in mind for me?

We know what we believe. We may even know why we believe it. The hardest part is living it. Living it means cooperating with the grace of God as God reveals his grace to us.

Vanity of vanities

The Gospel of Luke proscribes the accumulation of wealth and possessions exemplified by the rich man who decides to tear down his silo and build a newer, bigger one in order to hold on to them. After 71 years I too wonder what I will do with all my possessions. But I can't touch my most prized possessions because most of them are attitudes, opinions and prejudices I've accumulated in that time. It is indeed difficult to give up such things without a sense of disorientation.

Where will I keep my anger, for example, if I have to give it up? See? I only thought about moving it to a safer place. Why not just give it up altogether? But how does one do that?

There are still people I hate and despise, people I think less of than myself. But perhaps that is a ruse. Perhaps it is myself I hate and despise. That would take some serious work rooting that weed out of my garden. Perhaps I am too lazy to even consider it. Do I come by it naturally? Did it get nurtured by repeated bad examples of others in my life?

There is a scene in the film "42," the biopic about Jackie Robinson, in which a young boy is taken by his father to his first professional baseball game. When Jackie Robinson appears at bat, scores of fans begin name calling (yes, the "n" word) and cursing Robinson to get off the plate. The boy looks around at his father and other fans and he too joins in the chorus using the "n" word. The boy simply mimicked what he saw his elders doing. What was his father's possession has become his own.

Jesus calls the rich man a fool for thinking he could hold on to his possessions. He would be called to his death that very night. I am in the process of ridding myself of material possessions. But what about the internal ones? Will I have to wait until I am called to death to rid myself of them?