Denver Catholic

22 JUNE 10-23, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Perspectives Thoughts on the Western Wall, fi fty years later P hotographs can capture excep- tional moments in an iconic way, making the original expe- rience "present" emotionally as well as pictorially. The photo of U.S. Marines raising the American fl ag on Iwo Jima's Mt. Suribachi "means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years," Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal said in 1945. The image of John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s boyish salute as his father's casket left Washington's St. Matthew's Cathedral in 1963 helped cement the "Camelot" myth into its seemingly impregnable place in American public life. The "Earthscape" pictures shot by Apollo 8 astronauts at Christmas 1968 con- tinue to play a not-insignifi cant role in today's environmental movement. And then there is David Rubin- ger's iconic photo of young Israeli paratroopers at the Western Wall of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem on June 7, 1967. The faces of those young soldiers, their expressions conveying surprise, awe, and wonder, tell a tale of national regeneration that stirred my heart when I was a teenager – a story that continues to inspire today. Yet the reunifi cation of Jerusalem fi fty years ago almost never happened. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan had controlled East Jerusa- lem since 1948. The Jordanian king, Hussein, was a serious man with little reason to esteem the volatile Egyp- tian strongman, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was busily trying to undermine Hussein's rule. And despite the dep- redations Jordanians had committed in the parts of post-1948 Jerusalem under their rule — including turning Jewish gravestones into latrine pave- ments — relations between Israel and Jordan were far more rational than between Israel and Egypt. Yet when the crunch came in late May 1967, Hussein, under enormous pressure, signed an alliance with Egypt and joined the Arab assault on Israel — a mistake that cost him the West Bank and the eastern sectors of Jerusalem. As a result, Israeli paratroopers stood at the Western Wall. And a Jewish polity was in charge of the most sacred of Jewish sites for the fi rst time since Titus destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. I've been to Jerusalem four times, most recently in November 2015, and on each occasion I've visited the Western Wall and prayed there: for the "peace of Jerusalem" of which Psalm 122 speaks; for Jewish friends through- out the world; for my own family and friends, especially those in particular need. My 2015 visit to the Holy City was especially encouraging, though, because it suggested that something resembling a real religion-and-society debate is fi nally emerging in Israel. On previous visits, beginning in 1988, I lectured at Hebrew University and spoke on programs organized by scholarly and civic organiza- tions, the discussion always being about religion-and-society. Except it was a non-discussion, or at least a non-starter, for until recently, the religion-and-society debate in Israel meant ultra-orthodox Jews vs. thor- oughly secularized Jews, which didn't leave a whole lot of room for serious conversation. November 2015 was di€ erent. While leading a week-long seminar on deep secularization and its e€ ects in Europe (and on the democratic project throughout the world), I met younger Israeli scholars, deeply immersed in their Judaism and keen students of political philosophy, who were trying to articulate a Jewish theological rationale for human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and so forth. They were, in the main, Modern Orthodox and I thoroughly enjoyed our exchanges, one of which can be kibitzed on YouTube [weigel.link/50years]. Their work represents the possibility of creating something missing from Israeli society and culture for too long: a religious- ly-informed public philosophy for shaping the typically-raucous Israeli debate over the country's present and future. Developing that body of thought is not going to be easy. But it wasn't going to happen at all when the only actors on the stage were the ultra-Orthodox and the hard-core sec- ularists, so now there is a chance. On this fi ftieth anniversary of the reunifi cation of Jerusalem, thanks are also due to the Israeli authorities for the care they have taken to make gen- uine pilgrimage possible throughout the Holy City, which is far more open to people of all faiths today than it was when the city was divided between 1948 and 1967. Israel's admirable stewardship of Jerusalem is too infre- quently acknowledged; it's both a duty and a pleasure to acknowledge it here. To return to the psalmist, "For the peace of Jerusalem, pray.…May peace reign in your walls/in your palaces, peace!" The Catholic Di¬ erence George Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. GEORGE WEIGEL Masculinity: More than just a hairy chest God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest: a sign of strength and rule." ST. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA I have a beard and a hairy chest. I like craft beers. I love the Lord of the Rings. That's pretty mascu- line, right? I am also a 31-year old Roman Catholic priest with a bachelor's degree in philoso- phy and a Master of Divinity. I don't watch sports and I don't have cable. I enjoy action movies, but I prefer movies that make me think and teach me something about what it means to be human. I love the theater, art and reading books. I suppose by many standards I do not fi t a popular conception of masculinity. Except for the beard and the beer and the Lord of the Rings. Those fi t. As a priest, I have the joy of meet- ing lots of people and I get to lead many of them in their spiritual and moral lives. That is the most fulfi lling and most fatherly and probably the most manly thing that I do. While I'm not perfect at it, I think that that is the part which sums up the true meaning of masculinity: selfl ess leadership. Christianity has been refl ecting on the meaning of being human (and of femininity and masculinity) for two millennia. Saints and theologians have mulled over the examples of patriarchs in the Old Testament and disciples in the New Testament. They have long refl ected upon the Bible and in doing so they have discovered a God who created men and women and who has left us a guide map for how to live. In Christian circles there has been a great emphasis on the meaning of femininity and feminine spirituality in the last 30 years or so — tracking with the growth of feminism in the secular world. This was certainly the case in the Catholic Church when Pope John Paul II was the pope, because he wrote more about the nature and dignity of women than any pope who came before him. In the last several years, a similar conversation has been happening in the Christian world regarding masculinity and mas- culine spirituality. While we do not have a pope who is writing prolifi cally about this topic, Catholics have a long history of refl ecting on the essence of what it means to be a man. First, let's consider a man's body. In Christian thought, the body has mean- ing because God created our bodies and he doesn't do anything without a purpose. Pope John Paul II called this concept "the language of the body." The body is an expression of a person and God purposefully designed the male body with certain characteristics. For example, in general, men's bodies are taller, bigger and stronger than women's bodies. Now, I realize that I am speak- ing in generalizations here, but a quick glance around any crowd of people will show that this is true. Most men have a larger build than most women. If the body has meaning, then this could imply FATHER SCOTT BAILEY Guest Column Father Scott Bailey serves as the archbishop's priest secretary. This article was originally published in Stain'd Magazine. Reprinted here with permission. "

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