Consumers or producers:
What are the reasons we give?

		Notes from the  Vicar General  Msgr. Paul J. Swain

Recently a commentator noted that "America is no longer defined by production but by consumption."

Certainly the push for people to "buy" in order to restore the economy might support that proposition. There are significant ramifications if it is true that our main focus is on consuming.

Service jobs that attend consumers usually pay less and have fewer benefits than production jobs, which raises issues of social justice. The attitude that we are consumers tends to be inward looking and self focused. Receiving becomes what is our due.

If it is true in our economic and social life, it can spread to our religious life as well.

Have we become consumers of the Church? People shop around for parishes to attend, looking for a priest who is appealing, a Mass that is convenient, music that is compatible, décor that is pleasing. Attending Mass at the neighborhood parish is less frequent.

The result is that so often we may not know with whom we are praying. Mass then can become a car stop, and faith can become isolated and isolating. The sacrificial meal of the Holy Eucharist is the same wherever we receive our Lord.

At Christmas man is almost

As we prepare for the season of gift-giving, do we do so with the mindset of the consumer?

There are many reasons why we can give gifts. We may do so out of obligation, feeling pressured, or because others expect it of us. We may do so out of pride, hoping that others will be impressed with our good judgment and generosity. We may do so out of calculation, expecting something in return, another's gift, esteem, obligation, or advantage. We may give out of pity, in the self-righteous sense of that term, looking down on those who are the recipients.

There are more positive reasons for giving as well. We may give out of sincere love and appreciation for others and how they have touched our lives. We may give out of true compassion, recognizing in Christian charity the needs of others. We may give out of a desire to share the blessings God has given us. And we may give out of our baptismal commitment to be instruments of the love of Christ.

Although theologically in another context, the words of Christ, without cost you have received, without cost you are to give, is a good instruction.

What God sent him here to be

Hopefully our gift giving has the more uplifting intentions. The traditional generosity and good will of this time of year should encourage us all year long. A wonderful poem entitled At Christmas by Edgar Guest, includes these lines:

Man is ever in a struggle and he's oft misunderstood;

There are days the worst that's in him is the master of the good,

But at Christmas kindness rules him and he puts himself aside

And his petty hates are vanquished and his heart is opened wide.

Oh, I don't know how to say it, but somehow it seems to me

That at Christmas man is almost what God sent him here to be.

What we prepare for in Advent and celebrate at Christmas is the one gift that matters, the Father's gift of the Son for our redemption. May we never consider that gift our due as consumers. May he inspire us to be producers of God's love shared, as He sent us here to be.

Defiant Catholic legislators:
What to do with them

		The Catholic  Difference  George Weigel

Writing with an eye toward the 2004 election, a friend had the following, arresting thought: "The sad fact of the matter is that, if every Catholic elected official in the United States were to drop dead tomorrow and be replaced by a Mormon, we'd see more, not less, Catholic teaching become law."

Dyspeptic? Arguably. Inaccurate? Alas, no.

Senate fight over judicial nominees

Last month's all-night brawl in the U.S. Senate over blocked Bush administration judicial nominees illustrates the point. Anyone paying the slightest attention knows what this fight is about: it's about abortion, and the fear among pro-abortion forces that the Federal judiciary will "erode" the abortion "right" summarily decreed in 1973, and confirmed in 1992, by the Supreme Court.

Who had the integrity to admit that this is what the whole argument's about? Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch, a Mormon. Who refused to wrestle with the abortion license as the issue-beneath-all-other-issues in the war over President Bush's judicial nominees? Senator Kennedy (who described the Bush nominees, which include fellow Catholics like Alabama attorney general Bill Pryor, as "Neanderthals"); Senator Mikulski; Senator Durbin; Senator Leahy - Catholics all.

Attacking fellow Catholic legislators

Catholic legislators have been off the reservation for years, but I sense an increasing anger with the situation as I make my way around the country. Why? Perhaps because it's no longer a question of Cuomoism ("I'm personally opposed, but won't impose my views . . ."); it's now a question of legislators who identify themselves as Catholics attacking fellow-Catholics who believe that the right-to-life, as the first of human rights, must be constitutionally affirmed in the law of any civilized society.

Moreover, those Catholic legislators who attack fellow-Catholics as pro-life "Neanderthals" are now in bold and open defiance of a recent, authoritative statement on the moral obligations of Catholic public officials, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No pro-"choice" Catholic legislator can plausibly claim that he or she doesn't know what the church's teaching on the issue, or on their obligations, is.

Voters must take responsibility

The anger I'm describing is often directed to bishops, which seems to me the wrong target, at least in the first instance. The bishops of Illinois didn't elect Senator Durbin; the bishops of Massachusetts didn't elect Senator Kennedy; the bishops of Maryland didn't elect Senator Mikulski.

Who did? The friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives of those stalwart Catholics who are angry at the bishops for not publicly condemning the senators in question. So the first people to work on, it seems to me, are those friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives.

I sometimes get the impression that angry Catholics want the personal satisfaction of seeing a local bishop publicly condemning an erring Catholic politician. I sympathize emotionally. But the politician in me says that it'd be a lot more satisfying - and a lot more useful in the defense of the right to life - to defeat Senator X at the next available opportunity.

Local bishop's role

On the other hand, angry Catholics have an important point that the bishops need to hear: the church's moral witness is compromised when the ordained leaders of the church do not publicly address brazen, sustained defiance of the moral law by elected public officials.

Bishops often respond that public condemnation would produce a sympathy vote for the politician in question. Perhaps it would, in some instances.

But is it the bishop's job to calculate political probabilities? Or is it the bishop's job to teach the truth, in charity but without compromise, leaving it for lay Catholics to handle the electoral consequences of that unapologetic defense of the Gospel of life?

National context

Local bishops could get some useful reinforcement from their national conference on this question of what-to-do about Catholic legislators who defy church teaching. The argument that "public condemnation will only make matters worse" often turns on (not unimportant) local considerations.

What if the bishops' conference, as a national body, issued a statement that made unmistakably clear the conference's common disapproval of Catholic legislators who refuse to promote the inalienable right to life - and named names in doing so?

An increasing number of bishops know that the current situation is unacceptable. Perhaps the first step toward more forthright local episcopal activism is a bishops' conference action that creates a national context for local cases.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Good news: Stories from the missions

		Propagation  of the Faith  Msgr. Delbert  Schmelzer

Unfortunately many of today's newspaper and television reports tell sad, and sometimes tragic, stories involving children who are abandoned and alone, terrified or neglected, living without the basics of food, shelter, and clothing.

In the Developing World - the missions - there are similar stories of hardship and seeming hopelessness. But there is hope - and help - from Catholic missionaries.

Caring for children

The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary who run St. Mary's Home for Children in Nilgiris, India, care for more than 100 children who are orphans or who come from families so destitute that they are unable to provide their children with those basics.

Sister Elizabeth explained: "Above all, these children are desperate for love. While we give them a home and food, the most important thing we do is to tell them about the unconditional love that Jesus has for them. How he was born poor, just like them."

Renewing hope

In the Diocese of Masaka in Uganda, the Daughters of Mary run a local hospital. Recently there was a malaria epidemic. Although the state hospital reached its limit for persons to be treated, the Daughters of Mary at that Catholic hospital kept welcoming the sick and suffering.

These sisters and other religious communities care for the hundreds of thousands of children who have been left orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of Masaka said, "My priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay catechists are deeply committed to renewing the hope of the Ugandan people who have survived wars, displacement from their homes, and life-threatening diseases like malaria and AIDS."

Help from society

And, he emphasized, "It is through the generous support of prayers and financial help from the Society of Propagation of the Faith that we are able to reach out with the 'good news' of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to teach many about His great, great love."

In Papua New Guinea, where sacrifices made to the Propagation of Faith are also gratefully received, Sister Gabriela spoke of her vocation: "The challenge of my vocation as a missionary nursing sister is not only to fight disease and care for people but also to offer meaning to lives - to represent Christ to these people."

Many come to Sister Gabriela's dispensary on Yule Island for medications - and for "her compassionate and loving care," as one islander described it. Sister Gabriela treats more than 5,000 patients each year. She is also novice mistress for the 13 young women who are preparing to join her congregation.

"Without your help, I could never carry out the mandate of Jesus Christ to help to heal the sick and comfort the dying," she said of Propagation of Faith assistance.

Support mission work

This Christmas, won't you give a gift, through the Propagation of the Faith, so that sisters in India, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea and throughout the missions may continue to reach out with the love of Christ to all?

By supporting their work and witness you will be making a difference for the poor of the missions, offering them the hope-filled "good news" proclaimed by the angel that first Christmas.

This Christmas, too, let us join in prayer with Catholics worldwide in gratitude for the greatest of His gifts to us, His Son. Thank you and may the Lord grant to you and those you love many blessings this Christmas.

Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer is director of the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Madison. Contributions may be sent to: P.O. Box 44983, Madison, WI 53744-4983.