Denver Catholic

19 DENVER CATHOLIC | SEPTEMBER 12-26, 2015 S ome time ago I received advice about a stressful work situation that today remains one of my favorite tools. "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing," my friend encouraged. It was just what I needed to hear. The conundrum I was in had me caught up in details, and while the particulars were important, they distracted me from the central goal of an important client project. This simple platitude my friend shared, credited to author Ste- phen Covey, immediately realigned me. Over the years I've found it pertinent not just to matters of business, but also to matters of faith. I've been guilty time and time again of getting caught up in the fi ne points when it comes to my walk with God, and losing sight of the essentials of the Gospel message: that I am a sinner, and that Jesus died for me, rose from the dead and conquered sin to o¨ er me eter- nal salvation. It turns out I'm not alone. The Phar- isees were also guilty of missing the forest for the trees, and Jesus con- demned them for it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others (Mt 23:23). While the main thing is not the only thing, just like Jesus explained to the Pharisees, I have to be mindful about not allowing other things to distract me from it. Satan knows this, and he uses situations to sidetrack me from Jesus's message of salvation. As I look ahead to Pope Francis' visit to the U.S. later this month, my hope is that I stay focused on the main thing: the Holy Father's mission of sharing the Gospel message. I'm certain that the pope's words will be diluted and distorted to further agen- das, to spark controversies and to wedge division among believers. The media and other interest groups will manipu- late his message with their own ideas of what the main thing should be. So I will remember that the main thing doesn't change regardless of how the media package it. Pope Francis is a descendent of Saint Peter, who was appointed by Jesus to build the Church; nothing he says should be received out- side of the context of the full breadth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some will present his visit as pri- marily a political one; they will project his meeting with President Obama, his address to the United Nations, and his address to Congress as the real purpose for his trip. So I will remember that his visit was announced for the occasion of the World Meeting of Families, an inter- national celebration conceived by Pope St. John Paul II to strengthen the sacred bonds of the family unit across the globe—a vital expression of Jesus's Gospel message. If the media do choose to cover the canonization of Junipero Serra during the pope's visit, they will probably focus more of their attention on those who oppose this man becoming a saint rather than on his missionary work for the unbaptized. So I will pray for Junipero Serra, the Franciscan missionary who spread the Gospel, to intercede for us. I will ask that he not just pray for the pope and the people during his visit, but for the continued spread of the Gospel. God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for me to save me from my sins. He rose on the third day, and in doing so Jesus triumphed over sin. In matters of my faith, this must always be the main thing. I n this fall's run-up to the World Meeting of Families and Synod of Bishops on the Family, it's important to consider media bias. This summer we've been treated to headlines such as: "Unbridled capitalism is the 'dung of the devil', says Pope Francis," and "Pope calls for new economic order, criticizes capitalism." These stories claimed to report on the Pope's recent speech in Bolivia, which you can down- load at the Vatican Radio website. When you do, you'll learn something surpris- ing about this 4,500 word talk. Given the headlines, how many times would you think Pope Francis used the word capitalism in his address? Twenty? Ten? Five? Once? How about zero – not one, single, time. Which evokes a strong sense of déjà vu. Immediately after the publication of Francis's Joy of the Gospel, the head- lines read "Pope Slams Capitalism as 'new tyranny,'" "Pope Francis Attacks Capitalism, Calls for State Control," and "Pope Francis's Challenge to Global Capitalism." Again, each of these arti- cles claimed to report on what the Pope wrote in his exhortation, which you can also download from the Vatican's website. When you do, you'll fi nd that in this 51,000 word document Pope Fran- cis used the word capitalism exactly zero times. Wouldn't you think that if the Pope's goal was to attack, slam, and challenge capitalism as the new tyranny he might at least mention it once? There is a pattern here. Like all of his predecessors, Francis has warned about the various spiritual dangers facing society. In doing so he does criticize, slam, attack and call something a tyr- anny – but it's not capitalism. He has quoted St. Basil several times regarding the "dung of the devil." But that dung is not capitalism - it is idolizing money. Or, as recent popes have often referred to it, consumerism – the pursuit of material wealth and comfort above all else. In fact, many would argue that what Pope Francis described as a dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose is a more accurate description of socialism and commu- nism than of free market capitalism. St. John Paul II extolled the virtues of a "Democratic Free Market Econ- omy" based on the "rule of law" and "the common good." He called this form of capitalism "an economic system which recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property … as well as free human creativity in the economic sector" and he commended it as "the economic model that ought to be proposed," in his encyclical letter "Centesimus Annus" (100 years). How could the media get it so wrong? Because, intentional or not, the main- stream media is extremely biased. Christ taught that our heart goes where our money is (Lk 12:34) and in 2008, campaign donations made by journalists favored the left by an unbe- lievably wide margin of 100-1. More recently, the left-leaning Hu‹ ngton Post acknowledged that "contributions made by large media conglomerates and their employees went overwhelmingly to Democratic entities." The truth is that it's not the pope or the Catholic Church that equates greed, idolatry, and materialism with democratic, free market economies; it is the left. And that bias permeates their reporting on what Francis says – they interpret his remarks through the lens of their own anti-free market prejudices. What, if anything, does that bias have to do with the upcoming World Meeting of Families and Synod of Fam- ilies? Consider this: If the media gets it so consistently wrong when it comes to something as familiar to them as economics, what is the likelihood that they will get it right on something as foreign to them as religion? What are the chances they will fully grasp, let alone accurately report on, the delicate and nuanced teachings of the Church regarding the sensitive issues of mar- riage and the family? We cannot take the mainstream media's reporting at face value, and thus we have a responsi- bility to look past the headlines and to learn what the Church really teaches. Today we are fortunate to have reli- able, alternative news sources such as the Catholic News Agency (CNA), Denver Catholic, EWTN, and the National Catholic Register to help. More importantly, we can go directly to the Church's o‹ cial documents ourselves. The pope's speeches are on the Vatican Radio website (http://en.radiovaticana. va/), and the Church's o‹ cial teaching documents are available for free at the Vatican's website (http://w2.vatican.va/ content/vatican/en.html). It has never been easier than it is today to know the truth of what Church teaches, and it is that truth that will set us free (John 8:23). coming. to get God's and a realized in build the life full distractions that despite virtue. Our because we and demands (mastery). concern "what believe motivated by I was priest anything. I journey that disposing growth, second with world my hope. these faith, motivated, Christians We've Been Here Before: Media Bias & Pope Francis Weapons of mass distraction Gina Warner, wife and mother of three, considers herself an everyday Catholic in the pew. View from the Pew GINA WARNER John LaBarbara is chief operating oµ cer of ENDOW (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) and adjunct professor at the Denver Catholic Biblical School. Guest Column JOHN LABARBARA

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