Why I Am Not An Atheist Part One: Morality

It's been awhile since my last post. I've recently started a new job, and have been ironing things out for a second one, all while going to school and staying involved in Church. But, I'm back, because I wanted to weigh in on a topic brought up by comments made by Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson at a prayer breakfast. I don't usually go for current issues and pop culture, but this touched on a subject about which many people have asked me that goes something like this: "A lot of young people are atheists. Why aren't you?" This will be the first of at least two posts on this, maybe more. This first post concerns morality, which is the subject the Mr. Robertson touched on. 

I won't go into details on Robertson's overly graphic scenario, as I don't think that it was a good example at all and it did far more harm than good. Obviously, most Christians wouldn't be violent criminals if they happened to be atheists, and most atheists are not violent criminals; like most Christians, they are decent human beings. Yet, atheism has it's fair share of subscribers who have killed for the cause. Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong,  and the Kim Dynasty of North Korea all have their hands soaked in the blood of the followers of the religions that they tried to stamp out. A religion or lack thereof doesn't make the person automatically commit acts of horror and violence, but neither does it automatically make someone a better, more charitable and compassionate person. Our choices, regardless of our beliefs, are ours and ours alone to make. Yet, the source of the morality and values behind those choices must also be pondered and taken into consideration, hence my writing. But first, a little backstory to set the stage for this and subsequent blogs. 

I first experienced atheism in high school. It's a time when many people are growing and changing. Many of my friends were renouncing God and becoming atheists. They quoted atheistic thinkers and proclaimed themselves to be "free-thinkers." They also became more bitter, angry, and aggressive. The mere mention of the name of Jesus was like nails on chalkboard to them. It often led to clashes and arguments. Yet, the worst thing that I could see about atheism was a bleak nothingness. All feelings, emotions, and desires were some kind of chemical, and it didn't matter for whom you felt them. The world had existed before and would exist after you, and in the great scheme of things, you life really didn't matter. In the end, you would die, rot, and be forgotten. Strip away a conscience, a soul, a purpose, and you're left with nothing but a growing meat bag on bones that's out to do an activity that many consider enjoyable that results in more little meat bags. You have no reason to exist other than for yourself in what fleeting time that you have. 

Why, then, be decent to others? Why care? One could say, "It's the right thing to do" or "We need to help each other." A common atheist argument, and the popular one against Mr. Robertson is, "If you wouldn't do anything good for anyone else without Jesus telling you to do so, you're a <insert your favorite insult here>." 

Here's my counter as a Christian: That's all well and good, but where do you suppose that notion or desire to help comes from? Why do you feel good when you help others? It can't be self-preservation, as you are spending your precious time alive that you could be spending enjoying yourself and making money to enjoy yourself. It can't be the herd instinct either, because why would you help a complete stranger? Plus, instincts don't leave you with a choice, you simply act, as an animal would. No, you have two options with something within you telling you which one to choose and you can either obey that something or disobey it. Something is telling all of us, believers and non-believers, in every decision that we make, how to act. So, in other words, we all must be <insert your favorite insult here>'s because something is beckoning to us and calling us from within. 

Is that something God? Centuries of thinkers from Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas to C.S. Lewis seem to think so. My own experience has been that accepting that it is God has answered several other questions like, "Do I matter? Why or why not?" "What is my purpose?" It's led me to have a far better life than I otherwise would have. It hasn't stopped me from questioning or wondering, but I've always found a satisfactory answer. 

Bottom line: Would I be a decent person if I were an atheist? Probably. Would I still care about other people and help them? Probably. Would I be living in denial of something greater than myself, and a calling from that something? Definitely. 

An Inspiration and a Challenge: Young Saints

One of my favorite places to attend Daily Mass during the week is at Mount St. Francis, a Franciscan retreat center near where I live. The main chapel is still very much like it was before the reforms of Second Vatican Council. There are side alters along the walls where each priest used to offer his own Mass alongside the Mass being celebrated at the main high altar (nowadays, If more than one priest is present for a liturgy, they concelebrate that same liturgy together with one priest as the main celebrant) Each alter has a statue of a saint, not for worshipping that saint, as our worship is for God alone, but as a memorial of that saint, and a way to ask for that saint's prayers (For an excellent spoken word piece on Mary and the Saints by Fr. Pontifex, click here.) Two of the Saints in particular stick out to me, St. Therese of Liseaux, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

St. Therese was a French Carmelite nun who, At the direction of her superior, wrote down her reflections and kept a diary. Her writings we're so influential, that, after her death, she was not only declared a saint, but a Doctor of the Church, one of the highest honors the Catholic Church can bestow upon anyone. However, one of the most amazing parts of St. Terese's story is that she died at the age of 24.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary has a similar story. She was a princess of Hungary who showed amazing concern for the poor after her husband died by using her dowry to open a hospital where she herself cared for the dying poor. Like St. Therese, St. Elizabeth died at 24.

I will be 24 in May. I certainly hope to live much beyond that age. But it challenges me, to think these two women both died when they were not much older than me. In that time, they accomplished enough to be declared Saints of the Catholic Church. They showed us that it doesn't matter how old we are; God can work wonders through us. They show us that it doesn't take very long at all to make enough for the difference that people whisper your name in churches where you are memorialized

I'm certainly not saint material now, but I hope to be someday. I look to St. Therese and St. Elizabeth as an inspiration. They're two of many young saints in the Church, and they inspire us all to strive for greatness.

St Therese of Liseaux, pray for us.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us.

Purgatory: Paying the Final Debts

When I was attending Protestant churches, I heard many arguments against the Catholic faith or aspects of the Catholic faith. Many of them were simple misunderstandings, or lack of clarification, some dating back to the time of Martin Luther. One of the biggest sticking points though was the notion of Purgatory. Protestants claimed Purgatory was not in the Bible and was man-made tradition. While there are many aspects of the Catholic faith that are Tradition, most if not all of them have some Biblical backing. Purgatory is no different. (it's also important to note that the Bible for itself speaks of traditions. See 2 Thessalonians 2:15) Today, I'd like to discuss Purgatory, and clear some of the air around it.

Purgatory is not a state between Heaven and Hell. It's not a final chance to receive salvation if one has not attained it. Purgatory is for those who have died in a state of grace and are saved, but still need a final purification before entering the Kingdom of Heaven. Purgatory like a refinery, removing what final impurities, earthly desires, and attachments we have. While these attachments and desires may not necessarily have been bad, They prevent us from fully experiencing the eternal joy and bliss that is Heaven. The souls in Purgatory are holy, and they're happy to be there because it means that one day they will enter Paradise.

How long does someone stay in Purgatory? It depends on what all needs done for them to enter heaven, And that is forgot alone to decide. Yet, Purgatory, like heaven is not subject to earthly time constraints. The world beyond is eternal. A great analogy is Narnia in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. When the children enter in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, they stay until adulthood, and after many years,  return to Earth and find that it is the exact moment in which they left. In the following novel, Prince Caspian, they enter again to find that 1,000 years have passed. Using these images, CS Lewis shows us that Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell are not limited by our time.

Now, the all important question: Where is this in the Bible? In Catholic Bibles, there are the books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees, the story of Judas Maccabeus, a Jewish general who lived and fought about 50 years before Jesus's birth. These books, Along with the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, and Sirach, were removed from the Bible by Martin Luther at the time of the Protestant Reformation. In Second Maccabees 12:38– 46, Judas Maccabeus discovers that his soldiers have been killed because they were wearing graven images of neighboring heathen gods. He then takes up a collection, and offers a prayer in atonement for their sins they may be forgiven. If there was no hope of their salvation, and the soldiers were condemned for their sin, and offering would not have been made. This indicates that at least some Jews believe in a final atonement or purification before the Resurrection.

Jesus references this belief many times in the Gospels. During the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5) He tells his disciples, "Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him, otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny." Jesus is discussing eternal salvation and the afterlife. He isn't simply talking about earthly morality. In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the king throwing a servant in prison for not forgiving his fellow servants a smaller debt than the King forgave him. Jesus said he would be handed over until he paid off the entire debt. Both of these situations implied eventual release, otherwise Jesus would've simply said that the person was condemned.

However, the strongest evidence for Purgatory in the New Testament is found in St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. In first Corinthians 3:12-15, St. Paul writes, "If anyone builds on this foundation cold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer a loss; the person will be saved, only as through fire." Here, Paul speaks of the foundation of faith, in the necessity for that faith to have strength. Paul speaks of fire being used to purify and test the work of the faithful. As I mentioned in a previous blog post our actions and works alone cannot save us. God's grace is the only thing that can redeem us, but we have to accept His grace through our actions. Yet, as we see here, our actions have merit, and what we build in faith will be tested.

As we've seen here, there is strong evidence for existence of Purgatory in the Bible. Is a Tradition that dates back to the time of the Apostles. The idea of Purgatory should not scare us, but should gives us hope. Purgatory is not our final destination. It means we're saved, and will one day enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The souls in Purgatory are awaiting God. They're praying for us that we may experience eternal life as they will. We should also pray for them, which is why many Catholic Masses are offered for the dead and why Catholics pray for the repose of the souls of those who have gone before us. Purgatory is a place of preparation, the final dress rehearsal before standing before God, the final refining and purifying of our hearts. It is where we pay our final debts before entering salvation.

Mid-Lent Meatless Recipes

I'm taking a break from my typical blog posts to explore another favorite pastime of mine: experimental cooking. I've never been much on tuna, and while fried seafood is tasty, it is in no way healthy, especially if you're on a diet. Plus, seafood is expensive, and the idea of abstaining from meat is to live more simply and sympathize with the poor. Many people use that argument to break the abstinence rule, but that's not a valid excuse. To help you keep your Lenten abstinence and fasting, Here are some of my favorite cheap, meatless recipes.

Hummus

Hummus is a dip from the Mediterranean and Arabic countries. It's made from cooked ground chickpeas and olive oil. The best part about hummus is you can eat it with crackers, different types of bread, and vegetables. To Give it more flavor try adding different spices, such as red pepper, cumin, sage, or my personal favorite, Siracha sauce.

To make hummus, you'll need a slow cooker and a food processor.

1 pound dried chickpeas
7 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup tahini (you can also use creamy peanut butter)
1/4 cup olive oil

Serving:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon parsley

In the slow cooker, Cook the dried chickpeas in 7 cups water  for 3 1/2 hours on high heat or 7 to 8 hours on low. Add the baking soda to control the smell of cooking chickpeas.

Once the chickpeas are done let them cool till at least room temperature. The chickpeas in a food processor with the salt, Cumin, red pepper, and garlic. Process until the beans are a paste, Or about 30 to 45 seconds. Add the lemon juice and water, and process until well blended, about 30 seconds. You may need to scrape the contents down. Add the tahini, And process for another 30 seconds or until well blended. Add the olive oil, And processed until well blended about 30 seconds.

Scrape the hummus into a bowl and stir slightly to even it out. Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil over the hummus, and sprinkle parsley on it to serve. Serve with raw vegetables, pita bread, or crackers.

Click here for a very tasty Pita Bread Recipe

Ugali

Ugali is a thick paste made from white cornmeal and water and is a popular dish in Kenya. It's cheap, fast, filling, tasty, and easy to make.

4 cups water
2 cups white cornmeal
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

In a small cooking pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt. Place the corn meal into a small mixing bowl. Using your hands, drop the cornmeal in the water one handful at a time. Doing it by hand sifts the corn meal. Lower the heat to medium heat and add the butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken and pull away from the side of the cooking pot, forming a solid shape, about 10 minutes. Transfer the Ugali to a serving bowl and allow to cool. Serve with vegetables or greens.

Cheese Pizza

Who says adults can't enjoy cheese pizza? This is one of my favorite meatless meals during Lent! The recipe I'm about to give you can be used for basically any pizza, but we're sticking to cheese for now.

Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 .25 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
One cup warm water (90-110 degrees F)
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping
1 8 oz can tomato sauce or pizza sauce
1 16 oz package shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (You can use Monterey Jack here instead)
2 tablespoons Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Red Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, water, and sugar. Allow to proof for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture resembles the head of a beer. Add oil and salt. Using a mixture with a dough hook, mix in flour gradually, until it's all gone and the dough starts to form a ball. Transfer dough to a well floured surface, and knead until slightly elastic, about 5 to 10 minutes. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.

Brush olive oil onto a pizza pan or pizza stone. Roll the dough out into circular shape until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using your fingers, roll the sides of the dough up around the edges until the edge of the crust is about a 1/2 inch tall. Sprinkle garlic powder, Italian Seasoning, and Red Pepper over crust. Pour tomato sauce over the crust and use the back of a soup spoon to spread it until the crust is evenly coated. Pour cheese over the sauce until crust is evenly coated.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Variations:

Super Mario Special: Add sliced mushrooms on top of cheese before baking.
Hawaiian: Add pineapple on top before baking.

Grilled Cheese

Again, another childhood favorite that you should never outgrow. Instead of the American or cheddar cheese usually served elementary schools, I like to make mine with pepper jack. It's good with a bowl of warm tomato soup.

Conclusion

While we're on the subject of meals, don't forget the most important meal of the day, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Mass is offered every day around the world with the exception of Good Friday. Though Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation are the only days that Catholics are required to attend Mass, we are encouraged to attend during the week as well, especially during Lent. Masses are offered every day throughout the day in most cities. Check your local diocesan website or parish bulletin to see what times Daily Masses are offered. Daily Mass is usually shorter than Sunday Mass, and it's a great way to encounter the Lord each day.

Marketplace or Church?

Today's Gospel is not for the faint of heart. There's a lot there that someone could cover. What strikes me though, is Jesus's reaction to the moneychangers and people selling sacrificial animals in the temple. He does not simply chide them with strong words and parables as with the Pharisees. He makes a whip out of chords and drives them out of the temple area, overturns tables, and tells them to stop making His Father's House a marketplace. I don't think said is the proper verb here, I think it's more like yelled or screamed. 

Jesus is very passionate and consumed with zeal for His Father's house. He has a good reason. The Temple was not simply a synagogue; it was central to ancient Jewish worship. The Jews of Jesus's time believed that God dwelled in the Temple. When they offered sacrifices in the Temple, they were sacrificing directly to God Himself. In other words, the moneychangers and salesmen were acting right in God's face. They were taking advantage of the fact that God was there and using Him as a marketing tool. They had no reverence for His house.

Modern churches are no different. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. When the host is consecrated, it is no longer merely bread, but Jesus Himself. When it is stored in a tabernacle, Jesus is present in that place, making every single Catholic Church around the world is just like the Temple in Jerusalem. God dwells there in the Eucharist. It is a holy place, And a place that deserves respect.

Yet, how many times do we use church as a marketing tool? How many times doing our professional lives expect our fellow parishioners to patronize our businesses, visit our offices, or buy our products simply because we go to church together? Do we attach strings to our money? Do we like to flaunt our wealth? Do we let our egos get involved in our ministry, and make it more about ourselves than about God? These are things we're all guilty of at one point, whether we admit it are not.

Having a profitable business is not a bad thing. Having desires for your community the Church is not necessarily a bad thing. Being rich well off is not a bad thing. Being confident in your ministry and taking charge is not a bad thing. Yet, these things can become bad if we view them as things we do for God, and not the grateful response to all the wonderful things He's given us. They can become bad if we use them to gain power, prestige, and to rule over others. 

Our churches give us all so much. They give us Christ and hope for everlasting life. They give us healing and mercy. They are the places where we are baptized, married, and buried. They give us a community of friends and family. Whatever we do for them should just be out of gratitude and to preserve them for future generations to come and experience the same joys that we have. Let church be church, and don't make Jesus's house a marketplace.

Busy Person's Retreat

This week, I participated in a young adult Busy Persons Retreat. It's not like a typical retreat in that it's only three hours spread out over a week, with a lot of self study and self reflection on your own. The idea is to get you to reflect on your life and, with the help of the spiritual director, try to flush out some things to make you less busy, and focus more on God. Tonight was our last section. 

We discussed everything that my commend playing create busyness: money, time, relationships, and wants and needs. We discussed ways to figure out how we can use those once and needs to discern are calling, not just for a life on a vocation, but for day-to-day living. Everyone had different insights, from pros and cons lists, to compartmentalizing their different tasks, roles, and duties, and figuring out what was the really key one that laid the foundation for everything else.

For me, there still a lot of unanswered questions. I still have a lot of freedom in my life to make choices. But with their freedom comes responsibility and I need to be open to new possibilities. The retreat has left me a lot to think about as I interview for a new job, pursue a new degree, and try to figure out how to restart my career. It's going to be a long road ahead, but wherever it leads, with God's help, I'm ready.

Would It Convince You?

"If they will not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."

These are the words spoken by Abraham to the rich man in today's Gospel. The rich man is languishing in hell, and begs Abraham to send for man, Lazarus, to his father's house so that his brothers will be spared from the same torments. To us, these words may seem strange. We may think, "I know if I saw someone rise from the dead, that would convince me." But, would it?

God is often challenged and questions in our society. This is nothing new. Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator during World War II, once challenged God to strike him down in front of many of his supporters to prove His existence. Mussolini took the fact that he lived as evidence that his atheism was correct, and that God did not exist. In our own lives, we often do the same thing. "If God exists, why did you let my grandfather die?" "Cancer in children, what's up with that God? Why don't you miraculously heal them? Then I'll believe."

But, would we? When we recognize a true medical miracle, or chalk it up as a fluke? If God did strike someone down, would we not simply say it was a freak lightning strike? The bottom line is, faith has to be present for miracles to be effective methods of conversion. In the Gospels, Jesus heals the sick, drives out demons, makes blind people see, deaf people hear, and raises the dead to life again. Yet, throughout the Gospels, the people still demand that Jesus gives them a sign that he is indeed the Messiah. Despite all the good works in front of them, they still do not believe. They still are not convinced, even with supernatural occurrences right before their eyes. If there's one thing history tells us, it is that humanity hasn't changed much in 2,000 years. We still can't recognize God's work without faith.

We have a Church that has survived for 2,000 years, through persecutions, heresies, schisms, and scandals. We have Scriptures and the Sacred Traditions passed on from the time of the Apostles to the Pope and bishops of our Church. Men and women still come to Catholicism seeking the answers it can give to the questions in their lives. If all that isn't enough to convince you, you probably aren't going to be convinced if you're struck by lightning, miraculously healed, or if someone rises from the dead.

"To those who have faith, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not have faith, no explanation is possible." – St. Thomas Aquinas