Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION OCTOBER 2, 2013 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER C. We are to witness to his truth to the ends of the earth. THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE 2. Lumen Gentium teaches that after the Ascension "Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation." What action of Christ achieves this? Middle East reality check The humanitarian and strategic disaster of Syria should focus Catholic minds on the hard fact that there is no easy or quick path to peace in the Middle East, a very dangerous part of the world where Christians of all persuasions are at daily risk of their lives. Two recently published books will help those eager to get beyond media sound-bites, wishful thinking, and vague pieties in order to think seriously about the realities that must be faced in a region with too little geography and too much history, where religiously-inspired passion too often leads to murder. I've read a lot of books on the Middle East and its sorrows, but none quite like Lela Gilbert's "Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel Through the Eyes of a Christian Sojourner" (Encounter Books). Gilbert, an American who came to Israel for a visit and stayed for six years, is a writer of broad human sympathies whose compassion for the panorama of men and women she describes is obvious. Yet that compassion never causes her to lose her grasp of realities that cannot be denied. Such as, for example, the reality from which her book takes its title: the radical Islamist slogan, "On Saturday we kill the Jews. On Sunday we kill the Christians." Gilbert knows that what she calls the "Islamist culture of death" kills Muslims as well as Jews and Christians, and she grieves for her Muslim friends and their wretched political leadership. At the same time, she is a frank admirer of what the State of Israel has accomplished under unprecedented conditions. Her narrative concludes with a citation from an introduction to the collected letters of Col. Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu, who died rescuing hostages at Entebbe in 1976; the introduction was written by the distinguished novelist Herman Wouk and is worth pondering for all those who would be morally serious about the Middle East today: "Yoni loathed war and fighting…. Because he had to fight to save his nation's life, he made himself into a great fighting man. But he knew, as all men of sense know, that war today is … not a practical political technique. He was philosopher enough to understand this truth, that so long as villains and maniacs would egg on and arm young Arabs to destroy Israel, he would have to be a soldier; and that if he had to he would die fighting for the Return and for peace." Elliott Abrams's study, "Tested by Zion: The Bush Administration and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (Cambridge University Press), offers a detailed account of foreign policy-making as daily-grind-leavened-by-high-drama. It ought to be required reading for diplomats-in-training around the world—not excluding the men now studying at Rome's Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the institutional incubator of those who will represent the Holy See in nunciatures and apostolic delegations in over 180 countries. Throughout his service in the George W. Bush administration, Abrams pressed the strategic argument that the best thing the U.S. could do for Israeli-Palestinian peace was to disempower the men of terrorism while supporting those Palestinians who were building the civil society infrastructure of a future Palestinian state. For a while, that strategy seemed to win the day and a measure of progress was made. But then, in President Bush's second term, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others who imagined that a "final status" agreement could be hammered out in relatively short order won the internal argument in the U.S. government—and failed, as all such attempts to accelerate a "peace process" will fail, absent a vital, vibrant and prosperous Palestinian civil society capable of sustaining a peaceful and democratic Palestinian state. Abrams's book opens a window into the human dimension of high-stakes diplomacy; biographers of George W. Bush, Ariel Sharon, and others will find in "Tested by Zion" a lot of material with which to work. Above all, however, "Tested by Zion" is a work of great moral and political seriousness by a morally serious man who knows that the meaning of "morality," especially in world politics, is not exhausted by good intentions. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Weigel's column is distributed by the Denver Catholic Register, the official newspaper of the Denver Archdiocese. Phone: 303-715-3215. BY PETER WESTHOFF Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Church A quiz on Catholic things under the patronage of the "Doctor of Prayer," St. Teresa of Avila. For each question there is one right answer, but the answer for one question is "None of the Above." The following quiz covers Catechism of the Catholic Church Nos. 787-810. 1. In John's Gospel, Jesus says he is the vine, we the branches and that we are to abide in him and he will abide in us. What specific action does he say brings about this "mysterious and real communion" between his body and ours? A. We are to eat his body and drink his blood. B. We are to do the will of the Father as he has done. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR A shared interest I read with interest your (Aug. 28) story about the opening of Our Lady of Loreto School ("New Catholic school 'a great grace'"). I am the assistant principal of St. Saviour Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will be celebrating my 40th year in Catholic education. I am also well acquainted with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy Aquila From Page 2 Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Father Dan Barron put it well when they explained the pope's interview after Sunday Mass on Sept. 22 in St. Patrick's Cathedral. "We don't look at people first and foremost as their sexual orientation, as their sexual identification. We look at them as a child of God, made in his image and likeness, redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ," Cardinal Dolan said. Father Barron added, "If the first and last thing gay people hear from the Catholic Church is, 'your acts are intrinsically A. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; we are his sheep. B. The Church is the bride; Jesus the bridegroom. C. Jesus is the vine; the members of the Church the branches. A. His coming into his glory with the Father YEAR 6. What does St. AugusB. His making discitine use in analogy to OF FAITH ples of all nations make more underSCRIPTURE through the work standable the relaof his apostles "And when they arrived, they tionship between called the church together and the Holy Spirit and C. His communireported what God had done the Church? cation of the Holy with them and how he had Spirit A. a horse and rider opened the door of faith B. bread and leaven to the Gentiles."— 3. Which of these Acts 14:27 C. the soul and the body is true of the unity achieved in our being one body in Christ? 7. What is a simple definition of a charism? A. Diversity is done away with. A. A virtue that makes us act B. No member is to be honored— according to what is good. all are equal. C. Human divisions will never be overcome. 4. "Christ is the head of his body, the Church." Which of these statements expresses this truth as St. Augustine taught it? A. Jesus and we together are the whole man. B. The head and the body, though distinct, are equal. C. The oneness of Christ, the head, is mirrored by the oneness of his Church, the body. (who are among the faculty) because I taught with them for 28 years here in Brooklyn at another school. I am privileged to know such dedicated, holy women of God and your new school and students are blessed to have them. I am requesting a copy of that issue to share with my faculty. As the year progresses, perhaps our students could be pen pals or network on a joint project. Gail Harvey Brooklyn, N.Y. disordered,' then that's a tragedy. The first and last thing that they ought to hear is … 'you're a beloved child of God and the merciful face of Christ looks upon you.'" Jesus made the same point when the Pharisees questioned why he ate with sinners and tax collectors. "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt 9:12-13). Every day we read in the news about how our world is impacted by sin, and Pope Francis is calling us to respond not with condemnation but mercy. The mercy in the B. A grace of the Holy Spirit that benefits the Church. C. A mysterious outpouring of Divine Love manifested in extraordinary acts. 1. A, 2. C, 3. None of the Above - The different gifts of the Holy Spirit assures us of diversity; if one member is honored, all rejoice; there is neither Jew nor Greek … all are one in Christ Jesus. 4. A, 5. B, 6. C, 7. B GEORGE WEIGEL 5. Christ has joined the Church with himself in an everlasting covenant. How is this relationship typically expressed? Next quiz covers catechism Nos. 811-870. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters should be no more than 250 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. We rely on our readers to recognize that the opinions expressed in letters to the editor are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Archdiocese of Denver. Letters containing plainly misstated facts, misinformation or libelous statements will not be printed. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Letters may be edited. Send letters to: Editor, Denver Catholic Register, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or fax to 303-7152045. E-mail us at: editor@archden.org. Gospel is what heals, and it is not a "cheap grace" or the bypassing of sin. Rather it is the encounter with mercy, Jesus, that brings people to leave their sin behind. Pope Francis is not alone in this spiritual intuition. In 1980, Blessed John Paul II penned the encyclical Dives in Misericordia (God Who is Rich in Mercy). In it, he proclaimed: "The mystery of God the 'Father of mercies' revealed by Christ becomes, in the context of today's threats to man, as it were a unique appeal addressed to the Church." I pray that all of us will allow God's mercy to penetrate our hearts so that we enter into the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and impart it to a world desperately in need of it.

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