May 23, 2004

Confusion of voices


Pentecost. Flames of faith. On fire with the Lord. The confusion of voices. Powerful preaching of love and forgiveness. Birthday of the church.

It’s always been my favorite feast, this celebration we call Pentecost, May 30 this year.

Favorite? You bet. That’s because, unlike Christmas and even Easter, there is no secular connection; no gifts, no expectation of dress-up family dinners, no ersatz religion.

“Ersatz religion?” Whoa, that’s heavy. But I mean it. On Easter and Christmas even people who don’t give God a tumble the other days a year—fairly ooze religion. It’s expected.

On the other hand, when someone wishes you a happy Pentecost, you just KNOW they’ve been paying attention.

It’s the birth of the church, celebrated as the day the Spirit of God flashed into a room of a cowering souls and began a mighty work.

I’m a father; I know a little something about births. OK, OK, not as much as my wife, but enough to know births aren’t all that comfortable. Or easy. Then again, neither is what comes after birth. And I don’t mean just teenage-hood.

When Pentecost rolls around I’m encouraged by a God who tosses flames (no, not fire and brimstone) at us to get our attention. I’m encouraged by a God who understands that these puny humans he created sometimes need a jump-start. (I know I do.)

I’m encouraged to remember that, though the church was formed in a confusion of voices, God has a way of sorting them all out.

But that confusion of voices is still with us. Not from people of various nations of the world as it was at Pentecost, but from Catholic clergy and lay leaders. At the core of the confusion is how we, as Catholics, should respond to politicians who, while maintaining they are Catholic, do not act publicly or vote in ways which reflect that belief around life issues.

This column is too brief to give all the examples, but even while a committee from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is pondering how the church should publicly respond to a Catholic politician who, by his or her actions, appears to give scandal to the church, there is no lack of comments, homilies, pastoral letters and statements.

They range from a flat-out refusal of Eucharist to welcome and the opportunity for dialogue and connection. And everything in between: Some pastoral, some challenging, some perhaps even harsh. (See story, Page 22)

Each is surely heartfelt, certainly faithful, undoubtedly theological and each reflects the teaching ministry of bishops for their own people.

But it still is a confusion of voices for the Catholic faithful. And it makes more difficult the effort of the USCCB committee to discover common, pastoral, faithful ground.

The fire of that first Pentecost—and every Pentecost since—is a fire that burns but does not consume, sears but does not scar. The message of that first Pentecost—and every Pentecost since—has been a call to believe. Repent, certainly. For we all—not just politicians—have much to repent for. And it is an opportunity to hear, even through an apparent confusion of voices, the call of a loving God.

Asian Catholics celebrate

Chicago is blessed to have a rich diversity of our Catholic faith in its midst. During May, archdiocesan Catholics of the Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indochinese and other cultures celebrate their Asian roots.

We forget, sometimes, that the church in Asia is as old as the faith itself. The various traditions, faith experience, and heritages give flavor to our western culture.

The next issue of The Catholic New World, dated June 6, will contain a special section dedicated to celebrating the presence of Catholics of Asian heritage in the Chicago area. In cooperation with the Office for Asian Catholics, we’ll look back on the events of Asian Heritage Month and at these communities and understand how they enrich our faith.