Fathers For Good

The Miracle of the Virtue Tree

I don't think blogs should be used to clog the Web with the details of home life, junior's latest cute saying, or a picture of baby spitting up (aww!). I have tried to keep "A Father's Blog" focused on larger issues that have wider interest and application.

But now I will break the rule a bit by telling the tale of "The Virtue Tree," which I hope will be of interest and (perhaps) inspiration to others. I have a great excuse for writing about this tree -- it is my wife's creation, and I do not mind that the whole world knows how smart she is and how much I love her.

My wife is a homeschooling mom with a master's in business administration and a real estate license. Born in the Philippines, she grew up with a host of Christmas traditions that most Americans have never heard of, some borrowed from the Spanish, such as Misa de Gallo -- Mass of the Rooster, when they gather at sunrise for nine consecutive days as the rooster crows. (Try getting your pastor to approve that one!)

Other traditions are unique to her homeland, where they start singing Christmas carols in September, and where the hot weather is closer to the temperature of the real First Christmas in Bethlehem than is found in our snowbound New England town.

Now about "The Virtue Tree".

Our family decorated a fresh tree in the living room, as usual, during the first week of Advent, but my wife wanted a little Christmas cheer in the dining area. She put up an 18-inch artificial tree on a side table and planned to decorate it with little silver and white bells.

One morning when our two boys were unusually good, she decided to have them decorate the tree with their virtuous behavior. Whenever they did something of merit, they could place a little bell on the tree. Stephen, the 8-year-old, had the silver bells, and Justin (4) the white ones.

Immediately, the two were competing with one another to place a bell. "Can I help, Mom?" "What can I do now, Mom?" and so on. Homeschooling went very well!

Then the question came up -- aren't bells supposed to ring? These small, ornamental bells had no clappers and made no sound.

Fast on her feet, my wife declared: You boys know how Jesus says not to sound a trumpet to draw attention to your good deeds. Well, these bells do not make any sound on earth, but they ring loudly in heaven, where Jesus and God the Father hear them and smile at my two boys.

Well, that was worth a call to Daddy at work. "Guess what, Daddy," Justin sputtered, "we have bells in heaven!" Stephen took the phone to explain "The Virtue Tree."

"Don't you have the best Mommy in the whole world?" I said to him. "Please give her a kiss for me."

"Come home now," Stephen said, "and do it yourself."

"Just as soon as I can," I replied.

Empress of the Americas

Did you know that in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, tiny human figures are seen in her eyes, one of them appearing to be the Bishop of Mexico at the time of Mary's appearance in 1531?

Or that scientists have discovered that the eyes of the image possess the three effects of image refraction in a living eye?

You can find these and other facts -- as well as false rumors debunked -- at a new website sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, called "Truths of the Image".

This is a companion site to the new Guadalupe Festival website, which tells about the first International Marian Congress dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Congress will be held next August in Phoenix, Arizona, near the Mexican border, following the Knights of Columbus' annual Convention.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is so popular in Mexico that Catholics in that country consider themselves "Guadalupanos," a people devoted to Our Lady.

The devotion has also caught on in the United States, especially among pro-life advocates who take her as the patron of the Culture of Life. She is also known to the Church as the patroness of all the Americas, North, South and Central.

Personally, I have a great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. When I learned of the miraculous image that was imprinted on the tilma of Juan Diego, I knew that God had taken a special action in the "New World" for the conversion of millions of indigenous people. God literally painted the image of the Blessed Mother with his own power on the rough cloak of a simple peasant man, and the image is still on display at the Basilica in Mexico City.

If you want to see the hand of God, look at an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Let us pray to her today, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and ask God to write her image on our own hearts, so that we may be faithful as she to the Lord's call.

Capitol Cao

A fresh wind blowing from across the Pacific will soon be hitting Washington, D.C.

His name is Anh "Joseph" Cao, the newly elected congressman from New Orleans who defeated a heavily favored incumbent. He fled his Vietnam homeland in 1975 at the age of 8, and has lived out his own American success story with hard work, virtue and smarts.

I had the privilege of gaining a phone interview with Mr. Cao three days after his delayed election. Though he  was flooded with media requests from around the world, he took the time to return my call, and I found him humble, direct, plain-spoken and willing to talk about his Catholic faith and family values.

An attorney and community advocate who turned to politics because of the corruption he saw in his own backyard, Mr. Cao said his main goal will be to rebuild his district, which is still suffering the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

You can read my story on the Fathers for Good website, under Newsworthy Dads.

I wish to comment here about a recurring theme in this blog: politics.

Why is politics in this country so corrupt, as the recent arrest of the Illinois governor further underscores?

Part of the reason, I think, is that good people tend to stay clear of the political arena. They are put off by the intense media scrutiny into every part of your life, especially if they don't like you. Witness the obscene trashing of Gov. Sarah Palin, to the point where we were told about the cost of baby Trig's clothing.

Decent people don't want to expose their families to this kind of bare-knuckle treatment.

A friend who spent years working in the nation's capital says that good conservative men and women don't enter politics because of the toxic environment of the Beltway. You will find the bright Catholic conservatives at the best think tanks, drafting policy statements and political tactics, but not sitting in the legislative seats themselves.

This is a shame, but a result of the scorched earth approach both parties have taken to political discourse.

Let's hope Joseph Cao (the "C" sounds like "G") brings a new wave of energetic, reform-minded faithful Catholics into politics. We pray for him and his family, and wish him well!

Does Christmas Make a Difference?

Peace on earth!

Glory to God!

A Savior is born!

Stop and think. Are these simply noble thoughts, admirable sentiments, fervent wishes?

Or are these words of the angels on the first Christmas part of my everyday life?  Do I take them as models for belief and action?

Let’s turn the words into practical action:

1)      How do I seek to bring peace on earth? I may not be able to stop the wars, but do I have peace in my own heart and promote peace at home, at work and in the public square?

2)      Do I seek to give God glory in my thoughts, words and deeds? At the very least, do I attend holy Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation? Do I speak publicly about God and his work in my life? Do I act as a man of God, with reverence for the presence of God in others?

3)      A Savior! Born as an infant! Do I really believe this – in the Incarnation? Does the fact that God took the flesh of humanity impact the way I treat and use my own flesh, and the flesh of others? Do I really live as a man loved and redeemed, as one created in the image of God himself? Do I await the coming of Jesus in the flesh, not just as a memory at Christmas, but as a fact at the end of time, when He will come to judge the living of the dead?

4)      Am I ready, today, to "follow that star" and become  a true disciple of Jesus?  

On a Mission

There is little wonder why St. Francis Xavier (b. 1506 in Spain) was chosen as patron of the missions. A dear friend of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the early members of "The Company" known as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Francis Xavier left the safe confines of the University of Paris to bring the Gospel to the far reaches of the world.

In letters to Ignatius, he chronicled his travels and the countless conversions he made in India and Japan. A letter from India is excerpted in the Office of Readings of the Church's Divine Office, which priests, deacons and religious pray each day. Contemplate the words below and you will feel the need in our day for more men like Francis Xavier, who laid down his life in foreign lands for love of Christ.

"I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized ...

"The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand, 'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' ...

"Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is no one to make them Christians. Again and again, I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity:

"'What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!'

"I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them. ...

"They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God's will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: 'Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like -- even to India!'"

After laboring in Japan, Francis Xavier died in 1552 on an island off the coast of China, which he had hoped the make his largest mission field.

Now, you may ask, as a married man and father with responsibilities close to home, what does St. Francis Xavier mean for me?

Well, the Church in her wisdom has chosen a second patron of the missions, St. Therese of Lisieux, who was a cloistered nun in France. Though never leaving the cloister, she did much for missionary activity through her prayers and sufferings offered for the conversion of souls.

Here we have two models for the missions: the Jesuit priest who wore himself out in travels, and the Carmelite nun who stormed heaven with prayers.

As fathers, we need to do two things for the salvation of souls who are not known to us. One, pray for an increased fervor of missionary activity in the Church. Two, form our children in the faith and encourage them to discern God's call to the priesthood or religious life.

We must fear to hear St. Francis Xavier's words directed at us: "how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!"

Let us do our part, through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier and St. Therese of Lisieux.

Charity Toward All

After meditating on Thanksgiving, let us return to the theme I have been developing on the social teaching of the Church. Mind you, I do not intend a comprehensive treatment, but only to scratch the surface of a few basic points.

In my post last week, on Christ the King, I mentioned the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, entitled Deus Caritas Est -- God Is Love. After breaking open the full Christian meaning of the term "love" (in which eros is central yet purified and fulfilled by agape), the Holy Father looks at the application of love (caritas, charity) in the social sphere.

The Pope is clear that the just ordering of society is the work of politics (that once noble word), and politics is the labor of laymen working together to best organize the common life of citizens. Yet the Church (those who bring the Gospel) has the irreplaceable task of informing the consciences of laymen so that they can overcome self-interest and special interests to make judgments truly in keeping with the common good, based on natural moral law and guided by the virtue of prudence.

Unfortunately, natural law has been ruled irrelevant or downright false by many of our modern decision-makers, yet without appeal to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" (as the Declaration of Independence puts it), the practice of politics becomes subject to brute power, with no appeal to ideals such as goodness, truth and right.

Similarly, when stripped of recourse to the natural law, the courts become vehicles of "raw judicial power," the term used by the dissenting Justice Byron White for the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand.

If the highest court in the land could not say whether a child in the womb is a human life, then all manner of objective truth would be put into question, as it has been in the intervening 35 years.

But getting back to the Pope's encyclical.

Taking up the complaint that what the poor and oppressed really need is justice, not charity, and that charity can serve to delay the formation of just social structures by diverting the attention of society, Pope Benedict admits that there is some truth to this claim.

He insists, however, that there will never be a society so just as to negate the need for the charity of the Church (all Christians). He writes:

"The Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia), and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being."

He also states:

"There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable.

"The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person — every person — needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need."

These are some of the points we need to ponder in view of the current economic crisis and the various proposals of government bailout and intervention. What is truly just, what is truly for the common good? We as Catholic laymen have been thrust more deeply than we may have wished into these questions, yet as people of faith we cannot avoid them.

We are the ones who must act in the public realm to bring about the just structures of government and law for the benefit of our nation.

And in doing this, we must not neglect charity, caritas, love, which is an invitation from God to serve the most needy of his people.