Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION MAY 22, 2013 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER BREAKING OPEN THE WORD THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE GEORGE WEIGEL U.S. Catholics: overly assimilated? With his new book, American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America (Ignatius Press), mild-mannered Russell Shaw has become the bull in the china shop of U.S. Catholic history, knocking heroes off pedestals and overturning conventional story-lines—all in aid of trying to understand why the Church in America is in precarious position today vis-à-vis the ambient public culture and the government. Shaw's answer: we're in deep trouble because of a longstanding U.S. Catholic determination to be more-American-thanthou—to disprove ancient charges of Catholicism's incompatibility with American democracy by assimilating so dramatically that there's no discernible difference between Catholics (and their attitudes toward public policy) and an increasingly secularized, mainstream public opinion. Shaw mounts an impressive case that Catholic Lite in these United States has indeed taken its cues from the wider culture, and as that culture has become ever more individualistic and hedonistic, the historic U.S. Catholic passion for assimilation and acceptance has backfired. Moreover, Shaw's call to build a culture-reforming Catholic counterculture is not dissimilar to the argument I make about the Church and public life in "Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church." But on a second reading of Shaw's book, I began to wonder whether he's gotten the question of the moment quite right. To read the history of the Catholic Church in the United States as a centuries-long struggle for assimilation and acceptance certainly sheds light on one dynamic in the development of the Church in America. Yet too close a focus on the question, "Is it possible to be a good Catholic and a good American?" is to argue the question of Catholicism-and-America on the other guy's turf. Once, the "other guy" challenging Catholics' patriotic credentials was militant Protestantism; now, the other guy is militant secularism. To play on the other guy's turf, however, is to concede at the outset that the other guy sets the terms of debate: "We (militant Protestants/militant secularists) know what it means to be a good American; you (Catholics) have to prove yourselves to us." That's not the game, however. It wasn't really the game from 1776 through the 1960 presidential campaign—when militant Protestantism was the aggressor—and it isn't the game today. The real game involves different, deeper questions: "Who best understands the nature of the American experiment in ordered liberty, and who can best give a persuasive defense of the first liberty, which is religious freedom?" The 19th-century U.S. bishops and intellectuals whose enthusiasm for American democracy Russ Shaw now views skeptically (and, yes, they did go over the top on occasion) did get one crucial point right: the American Founders "built better than they knew," i.e., the Founders designed a democratic republic for which they couldn't provide a durable moral and philosophical defense. But the long-despised (and now despised-again) Catholics could: Catholics could (and can) give a robust, compelling account of American democracy and its commitments to ordered liberty. Mid-20th-century Catholic scholars like historian Theodore Maynard and theologian John Courtney Murray picked up this theme and made it central to their reading of U.S. Catholic history. Murray presciently warned that, if Catholicism didn't fill the cultural vacuum being created by a dying mainline Protestantism, the "noble, many-storied mansion of democracy [may] be dismantled, leveled to the dimensions of a flat majoritarianism, which is no mansion but a barn, perhaps even a tool shed in which the weapons of tyranny may be forged." That is the argument the U.S. bishops have mounted in their challenge to the Obama administration's demolition of civil society through the HHS mandate on contraceptives and abortifacients: What is the nature of American democracy and the fundamental freedoms government is created to protect? Who are the true patriots: the men and women who can give an account of freedom's moral character, an account capable of sustaining a genuine democracy against a rising dictatorship of relativism, "in which the tools of tyranny may be forged"? The argument today isn't about assimilation. The argument today is about who "gets" America. NUN O 'God's very being is love' BY JAMES CAVANAGH May 26: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Scripture readings: • Proverbs 8:22-31 • Psalm 8:4-9 • Romans 5:1-5 • John 16:12-15 Overview: The doctrine of the Trinity is not the result of abstract speculation, but arises out of the concrete experience of those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ and the events following his ascension. Even the Old Testament alludes to God's triune nature. In the first reading, the wisdom of God is personified as God's "craftsman" who "was brought forth, while as yet the earth and fields were not made." The idea of God's wisdom present at the beginning creation stands behind the "Word" of John 1. The Psalm beautifully captures the story of creation, the highpoint of which is man. Made in the image and likeness of God, man reflects the triune nature of God, especially in the marital union of husband and wife, which is a kind of icon of the Trinity. In the second reading, the Trinity is implicit in this brief, but theologically rich summary of the Gospel. God, the author of our redemption, imparts his own divine life through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit "that has been given to us." The triune nature of the Christian experience is evident here and in many of Paul's letters. This week's Gospel is from the Last Supper discourse of St. John's Gospel (Chapters 1316). The word "Trinity" doesn't appear anywhere in the New Testament and yet Christ, the incarnate word of God, speaks to his disciples about the Spirit who "will declare to you the things that are coming." The Spirit does not speak on his own, Christ says, but only what he hears from the Father and the Son. Key verse: "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." (Rom 5:5) Whereas: It is through the Catholic press that otherwise unavailable news of the Catholic world is made available to our people and without the same we would live a life of detachment from those we cherish as brothers in fraternal charity, and; Whereas: In the dissemination of news, the Catholic press functions even more clearly as an educational force, and; Whereas: Kindred agencies, publications and broadcasting systems have contributed their services during the past Incid Resu Pope Francis: "Let us openBY PET the doors to the Spirit, let ourselves be guided by him, andA quiz o allow God's constant help toage of th make us new men and wom-Avila. Fo en, inspired by the love of God,answer. which the Holy Spirit bestowsthat is a stands fo on us!" (Homily, April 28). quiz cov (CCC) No Life application: The doctrine of the Most Holy TrinityThe Holy is a truly awesome mystery, farseven gi above our understanding. Inbrings th another sense, however, it ismation i one of the most down-to-earthof the fo teachings of the Church, for asby an ap Scripture says, "God is love" (11. St. Pa John 4:8) and everyone under-delivere stands love, even if they can'talso rece explain it. From all eternity, thethe third Father loves the Son and the Sonthis pas loves the Father. And becauseA. St. Pa the Father and Son are infiniteB. St. Pa and eternal, the love betweenothers. them—the Holy Spirit—is in-C. St. Pa finite and eternal. And here'sD. St. Pa the good news: Christ makesto the Co it possible for us to enter intoE. NOTA that holy exchange, that holy2. What communion whenever we go toA. It is a Mass or simply say our prayers. B. It is o Catechism of the Catholic Church: "God's very being is James Cavanagh is director love. By sending his only Son and Spirit of Love in the fullness of Evangelization and Catof time, God has revealed his in- echesis for metro-area parishes nermost secret: God himself is of the Denver Archdiocese. From Pag Aqu LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Resolution thanking the media an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (No. 221). year for Catholic publicity and programs. Therefore be it resolved: That individual council's Public Relations Committees be encouraged to thank, in writing, their local media for their contributions of service during the past year, and; Be it further resolved: That the state secretary of the Colorado State Council of the Knights of Columbus forwards a copy of this resolution to the Denver Catholic Register, the Colorado Springs' Colorado Catholic Herald, Pueblo's Today's Catholic and Catholic Radio Network. Knights of Columbus Colorado State Council elected state officers have sa But the that you cese wi discuss LETTERS I pray TO THE EDITOR vocatio Letters should be no more than a moth son to b 250 words and should include weeken the writer's name, address and "Today telephone number. We rely on Imagin our readers to recognize that the opinions expressed in letters you." T ment w to the editor are those of the His eye author and are not necessarily those of the Archdiocese of Den- of the p able to ver. Letters containing plainly misstated facts, misinformation be a pri I pray or libelous statements will not be printed. Unsigned letters will into the not be printed. Letters may be The lay edited. Send letters to: Editor, been a Denver Catholic Register, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or fax to 303-715-2045. E-mail us at: editor@archden.org. Father S effective ARCHBISHOP AQUILA'S SCHEDULE May 22: Baccalaureate Mass for Holy Family High School, Spirit of Christ Parish, Arvada (7 p.m.) May 26: 100th anniversary Mass, Presentation of Our Lady Parish, Denver (10:30 a.m.) Father R Colo., ef Father A Colo., ef CORRECTIONS Photos of three educators from Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Boulder that ran in an ad in the Jan. 30 Denver Catholic Register and with profiles in the April 24 issue, were misidentified due to erroneous information submitted to the DCR. The Register regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion that may have occurred. The educators are correctly identified here. The follo their ord Father J Edwards year per Father W Colo., ef Father J effective SUSAN ZIMMER ANNA-MARIE BERGER SUSAN Father P WEINZAPFEL Colo., ef

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