It's been a long, long time since I offered a "From the backyard" reflection. Part of the reason for this delay is the occupational hazard of all astro-buffs: Clouds! I can't speak for other parts of the United States, but the cloud cover over Wisconsin has been epic. Clouds at this time of year are common for the badger state, but the transition from 2020 to 2021 has been a challenge for night sky lovers. Thankfully, the clouds broke the last couple nights and I finally was able to capture first light with my new duo-band filter (H-Alpha/OIII). As with all things, time will help me improve my images, but, for a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with the results!

The Orion Nebula. This is a stack of 30 twenty-second exposures with a full spectrum camera and a duo-band filter.

Curious how dark your skies are? Click the map and find out!

Something I've come to quickly love about duo-band astrophotography is that you can still image deep sky images in a city that boasts a bortle class 6 sky (in other other words, we don't see too many stars over head) and a waxing gibbous Moon. As a star gazing priest, my time to spend doing astrophotography is limited. Therefore, to be able to set up my gear just outside my house and still get nice results really helps keep the drive for astronomy alive!

I've started to work on a basic video of how I approach astrophotography. It isn't going to be a "professional" approach by any means. It will simply be a, "How do I maximize the limited time I have to enjoy imaging the night sky." I'll share some links in those videos of amateur astrophotographers I have come to admire. When you see their results, you will have a hard time thinking of them as amateur, but what I love about them is they provide a glimpse into what this hobby can be for anyone with time, patience, humility, and a modest financial investment.

As I was imaging Orion, I couldn't help but reflect on our world situation. My thoughts wandered in many directions, but always came back to the theme of gratitude for the emerging vaccines for Covid-19.

One of my stress points of late has been offering the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to Covid-19 patients. For those of you who are not Catholic, the Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament given to people who have a persistent illness that is life threatening. At the point of death, a special form of the Sacrament is given called Viaticum. It is a Sacrament that prepares a person who is actively dying to make life's final journey: From death to eternal life.

Hospitals differ in their policies about non-medical personnel entering patient rooms. In Wisconsin, some of the hospitals have enough protective gear to allow clergy to visit patients at the point of death. I want to thank the staffs of Mayo Hospital and Marshfield Hospital in Eau Claire who take such good care of clergy to ensure, to the best of their ability, our safety with these visits. Seeing the worst of Covid-19 in the hospital room is an experience I pray none of you ever have. Though the optics of a Covid-19 death is far different from the physical trauma of an emergency room surgery, the emotional trauma of helplessness is something I've seldom experienced as a priest. I know I've shared this with you before, but, please, stay safe, follow the guidance of our health professionals, and let's beat Covid-19!

As a result of clergy being allowed into emergency rooms, the Health Department determined that clergy of any tradition that are routinely called into Covid-19 situations should be in the early rounds of vaccinations. Last week, I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. So far, no side effects! However, there is an interesting range of emotions I am experiencing.

The night before I was to get vaccinated, I couldn't sleep and was having this odd mix of stress, excitement, fear, and relief. Every emotion could be summarized with the thought, "Does this mean Covid-19 is starting to come to an end?" This question was greeting with an emotional "ping-pong" match of "yes" and "no." "Yes" from the standpoint that I'm a couple months away from achieving a level of immunity from this disease. "No" from the standpoint that it's going to be some time before we can achieve herd immunity, even with a large number of people being vaccinated. In light of this, I have made sure we add a petition at Mass every week for patience. We're not out of the woods yet, but I am thankful that faint glimmers of hope are starting to emerge through the trees. If you have concerns about vaccination, talk with your primary care physician and seriously open your hearts to being vaccinated. God has blessed the medical sciences with the ability to uphold one of the core themes of Catholic Social Teaching: The health, welfare, and dignity of the human person. In that spirit, I want to thank every research scientist who has and will continue to work toward developing vaccines and treatments for Covid-19!

Needless, to say, there was a lot on my mind while capturing the image above. I so appreciate that God has made my heart passionate about the night sky. It filled me with wonder as a child and now provides peace and comfort to deal with the cultural and emotional trauma we are all experiencing with Covid-19. 

Question for Prayer: I've asked this before, but how are you doing with finding healthy ways to deal with this pandemic? Could the night sky offer a chance to lift eyes that have been downcast? If you have clear skies tonight, enjoy the stars, reflect on your life, and ask God to continue to help us through these most difficult times.

Did I choose the title for this piece to serve as nothing more than provocative clickbait? No, not in the least. As we come to the conclusion of 2020, I am thankful for this year. Now, does being thankful mean that I am happy we're living through a national pandemic? No, I am not trying to glorify nor deny the hard reality that is Covid-19. What I am trying to do is find the proverbial "silver lining" in the 2020 storm cloud. And, at least for me, I've found some rather pronounced silver linings!

Given my newfound love of photography, I reflected on this past year by revising images. While going through these images, what I discovered wasn't just a collection of "moments in time" that are now archived on pixel filled hard drives, but I found memories, good memories of 2020.

Sabbatical

The first of those memories was my sabbatical at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, Arizona. I needed a break from ministry and, looking back, I think I needed it more than I realized at the time - I was burned out. As I look at some of the images from my time in Tucson, my heart becomes filled with the sea of emotions I was dealing with and how I am in such a better place now having been on sabbatical. When I captured and edited these images, I was focusing on the question, "How do I want these images to look?" Now, looking back, I reflect on how I've grown since taking these images. If I were to summarize my sabbatical in one word, it would be healing. And I thank God and the staff at the Redemptorist Renewal Center who facilitated that healing.

The Milky Way taken from "the wash" at the Redemptorist Renewal Center

The "Moon-set" over petroglyph rock.

The Church Bell and Milky way over Our Lady of the Desert Parish.

The highpoint of my sabbatical scientifically was when an object burned up in the atmosphere over my head while capturing Milky Way images at the Renewal Center outdoor chapel. One of my goals while in Tucson was to spend time at professional observatories in Arizona. Covid-19, obviously, took those opportunities away. The experience of imaging the aftermath of this atmospheric burn up, sending Br. Guy the image below, and receiving scientific data about what happened overhead from the Vatican Observatory was invigorating for me! In many ways, I treasure that experience far more than if I had visited observatories... Even though I know I would have loved that opportunity! (Click here or on the image of the vapor trail remnant to read about my experience that morning.)

I so treasure my sabbatical experience. Even though I hope to never see another 2020, my sabbatical is something I wouldn't trade for anything. So, in that spirit, thank you 2020!

Reconnecting Prayer With Creation

Another gift of 2020 was reconnecting my prayer with creation. A brother priest e-mailed me a while back to congratulate me on becoming Dean, but also expressed sadness that my new work load would probably mean less time to do photography. I post my images on social media for family, friends, and parishioners, with many telling me the images provide a diversion form the stress of Covid-19. I never thought images could be ministerial, but they are!

I explained to my friend Tom that photography is actually secondary to my primary goal, post sabbatical, of reconnecting with prayer through creation. In light of this, my images are really more of a prayer journal than they are a catalogue of images. Now when I experience stress in contrast to before my sabbatical, I have a prayerful place to decompress and pray - God's creation. Photography simply documents those moments of prayer.

Therefore, thank you 2020 for helping me rediscover and deepen my prayer through the beauty of God's creation! It's a gift that I treasure and would not give away for anything.

Comet Neowise

And, of course, there was the gift of comet Neowise. What I would give for another night with the comet! Thank you 2020 for the gift of this celestial visitor!

All of us could easily curse 2020 as the "year to forget." As we approach the new year, I would invite you to reflect on 2020 from the standpoint of looking for the graces this year offered us. Challenges help us grow in many ways, even when they are painful. 2020 has created great pain for many. Let's reclaim this year at its end for the good that came so we don't dismiss this year with phrases like "a wasted year" or "lost time," but approach it as a difficult season of our lives that can now be redemptive as we prepare for a 2021 that we hope will be the first step toward a "Post-Covid-19 World."

What are you thankful for? Post your thoughts below. Thank you 2020 and good riddance! And, Lord, may 2021 be a year of healing and joy.

I'm going to step away form my Artemus reflections for one week to answer a question I've been getting a lot lately. What is the question you may ask? Well, you can probably guess from the title of this piece - The Star of Bethlehem. Since my ordination, questions about the star always pop up at Christmas time. Here's the passage from Matthew that references the star.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. (Matthew 2:1-12)

The magi seeing "his star" is a reference to the book of Numbers, which presents a prophecy about a star.

I see him, though not now;

I observe him, though not near:

A star shall advance from Jacob,

and a scepter shall rise from Israel, (Numbers 24:17)

The one glaring issue with this passage from Numbers is that the prophecy of "a star" is not about a hydrogen nuclear conductor in the sky, but a person. Therefore, even before we look at speculations about what the Star of Bethlehem might have been, Scripture itself poses the question - Is this a story about a celestial object or a person that fulfills a sacred promise?

Now, if it was a reference to a celestial object, we need to ask, "What kind of celestial object was it?" Was it a naturally occurring night sky event we can find on a star chart? Was it a planetary conjunction? Was it something unexpected, like a supernova, that may not have been properly understood at the time? Was it a supernatural event that can't be found on star charts? Or was the star a metaphor to ultimately point to Jesus Christ as "the light shining in the darkness?" (Isaiah 9:2)

Saturn above the Cape Murro di Porco Lighthouse in Syracuse, Sicily, and Jupiter to the right. (CNS photo/Kevin Saragozza, courtesy NASA)

This past week, Dennis Sadowski from the Catholic News Service contacted Br. Guy and myself to write a piece on one of the potential natural candidates for the star: The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn that will occur on December 21st. The link to the original piece can be found by clicking here or on the image to the right.

Over the years, many astronomers have explored the question, "If the star of Bethlehem was a naturally occurring event, what might it have been?" A number of theories have arisen through those studies, one of them being a planetary conjunction. Do we know definitively that the conjunction that will occur on December 21st was the historic "Star of Bethlehem?" Most likely is was not the star. Again, when looking at Scripture, there is strong evidence that Matthew's telling of the star has more to do with the person of Jesus Christ than a celestial object. Still, might have there been an historic star? Perhaps, but don't let that fascinating question distract you from him who is the light in the darkness: The infant in a manger.

Here's an excerpt from Dennis' article that provides Br. Guy's thoughts on the matter.

“To me, asking ‘What was the star?’ is a lot of fun, but not particularly significant either astronomically or theologically. Nothing’s really at stake if it turns to be this explanation or that explanation,” Jupiter, Saturn to put on ‘Christmas Star’ show at winter solstice, By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service.

In the past, Br, Guy offered some reflections on the Star of Bethlehem for the Catholic News Service. Here's the video that was the product of these discussions.

Spiritual Exercise: What does the star mean to you? Are you looking forward to December 21st to see this conjunction? Whether the conjunction on December 21st was the historic star or not, get out that night, pray for clear skies, and ask yourself while gazing upon the conjunction, "What would it have been like the night Jesus was born?" Click here for a piece from Astronomy Magazine that explains where you will find the conjunction that evening. 

Happy Monday!

Moon shot by yours truly.

Do you think we should return to the moon? It's a simple question that evokes many complexities. As someone who, since childhood, has loved space missions, science fiction movies, and still hopes to have a priestly assignment on the Moon, I say let's go... and could you sneak me on the mission somehow! At the same time, I realize that I am no pragmatist. Any space mission, no matter how large or small, can face immediate opposition amid the struggles our world faces. Global hunger, poverty, and the ongoing impact of a global pandemic would understandably lead many to argue, "Forget the Moon, we have too many things to address in this world before we explore other worlds." This is a valid argument and I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling this way.

Still, both personally and in my priestly ministry, I have come to appreciate the power of symbol. Sometimes, when our chins are down we need something to catch our eye to pick them up. Where the eyes go the chin will follow. Could a return to the Moon to put, quote NASA, the first woman and the next man on the Moon lift our eyes, chins, and hearts as a people? Could this be a moment of cultural wonder that, similar to the Mercury and Apollo missions, evokes a universal sense of awe and wonder?

I am excited to have my "Apollo Moment" of watching the first woman and next man walk on the Moon. At the same time, I also fear it could be met with a collective "meh" by our world that now finds cyberspace to be the new frontier instead of outer space. One only needs to watch the movie Apollo 13 to see a theatrical depiction of the struggles lunar missions faced just two missions removed from the historic Moon landing of Apollo 11. The highpoint of this struggle came when the "live from the LEM" show that was supposed to be aired on television got scrubbed, described as making a mission to the Moon look as exciting as a trip to Pittsburg (no offense to our Pittsburg readers). Looking at the original footage, it does become clear why the broadcast wasn't nominated for any Emmy awards.

In the weeks to come, I'm going to reflect on the Artemus mission in more detail. For now, I will leave you with a couple NASA videos to explain the Artemus Mission and ask you to reflection on a simple, yet complicated question.

Should we return to the Moon? 

Leave your comments below and, together, let us get excited for the upcoming Moon missions! In time, may that excitement prepare us for the long term missions of sending humanity to Mars!

The Penumbral Lunar Eclipse from this morning. Captured this with my Fujifilm x-t4, 1/250th of a shutter, ISO160, at 400mm.

To begin, I apologize for not being with you last week to offer a reflection. I received a phone call from the Diocese of La Crosse a little over a week ago with the news I was being named a Dean (Vicar Forane). What does it me to be a Dean? Well, it really depends on what the Bishop needs us to do since each Diocese has different needs. My Bishop, Bishop Callahan, explained in his letter that he wants me to care for the well being of my brother priests in the area I live, field concerns from the people of God, oversee the Regis Catholic Schools system, and other tasks the Bishop may ask of me. In other words, to avoid the use of any snarky jokes, people both congratulated me and offered condolences upon news of my appointment!

All kidding aside, it is an honor to be named a Dean. It's one of those honors we privately (and at times publicly) pray never comes to us as priests, but we also know is an inevitability (I thank God for term limits as a Dean). Do pray for me as I embrace this new ministerial role.

In addition to this news, something else has kept me away from writing: Covid-19. Thankfully, I have yet to bear the cross of this disease, but my home state of Wisconsin and the city I serve of Eau Claire are sadly becoming hotspots. I have had five Covid-19 funerals (and received a call this morning of another C-19 death while working on these final edits) and currently have a number of hospitalized parishioners. Given the unfortunate politicization of Covid-19 in the United States, even mentioning the subject can create deep divisions and anger. It is not my intent to anger any of you by sharing this, but only to offer a Pastor's plea: This disease is real - stay safe and pray for those who suffer with this disease.

Of the many inflammatory topics that arise with Covid-19, there are two that need to be addressed that fits well with Fratelli Tutti: What are the roles of politics and the economy for a society? One reason why people in the United States are resistant to embrace all the suggested safety measures for Covid-19 is for economic reasons. Whether it be indefinite furloughs or a small business that no longer can survive, we need to be careful not to jump to presumptions about people who are fighting Covid-19 protocols. The reason for opposition might not be selfishness, but simply the human desire to care for their family's fiscal needs. I, too, feel that tension. Thankfully, I have not had to lay off any of my parish staff. However, depending on how Covid-19 impacts the parishioners ability to support the parish, I may have to face hard decisions no pastor wishes to make.

This leads to the heart of my reflection for this week by starting with a foundational principle of Catholic Social Teaching: An economy is meant to serve the people, not the people serve the economy. A beautiful reflection of this principle was practiced by our Government when the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) was enacted. It preserved a fundamental political philosophy of our and most other countries: If the government needs to hinder the employment of an individual or group of people for the sake of the common good, then it is also the government's responsibility to provide for those peoples. Sadly, as our election approaches tomorrow, the discussion of a second round of this assistance has, similar to Covid-19, become politicized to the point of gridlock over ideological stances. Please pray for our country.

These kind of tensions were not lost on Pope Francis when exploring Fratelli Tutti.

7. As I was writing this letter, the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly erupted, exposing our false securities. Aside from the different ways that various countries responded to the crisis, their inability to work together became quite evident. For all our hyper-connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all. Anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality.

8. It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Fraternity between all men and women. “Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together”. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all. (Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis 7-8)

Pope Francis with Brother Guy

The masculine character of the word "fraternity" led some to initial confusion of who this document was directed toward. Needless to say, the inclusion of brothers and sisters in paragraph eight clarifies that all are called to a common kinship. Some have criticized Pope Francis for offering in this encyclical a theme that seems so basic and devoid of theological gravitas. However, speaking as a pastor, the tone makes complete sense when looking at the condition of our world. At least in the United States, we have culturally "de-evolved" in our sense of kinship with one another. The fundamental disposition of heart that all are created in God's image and likeness is eroding into inflammatory divisiveness. We are in desperate need of seeing one another again as brothers and sisters with a common goal: To be the best version of the person God created us to be.

In other areas of the world, cultural divides are exacerbated by horrific economic conditions. In the historic interview of Pope Francis after his election as Pope, he cited the greatest challenges he saw in the Church.

The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old. The old need care and companionship; the young need work and hope but have neither one nor the other, and the problem is they don't even look for them any more. They have been crushed by the present. You tell me: can you live crushed under the weight of the present? Without a memory of the past and without the desire to look ahead to the future by building something, a future, a family? Can you go on like this? This, to me, is the most urgent problem that the Church is facing. (Pope Francis, The Pope: How the Church Will Change, La Repubblica)  

Some found this quote by Pope Francis confusing, wondering why he didn't touch on socially hot button topics like abortion. However, his answer reminded me of an interview I heard by Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga right after Pope Benedict XVI's resignation. In the interview, he spoke of the extreme poverty in Central and South America which leaves the youth largely unemployed and in danger of being swept up into the drug cartels. This interview, combined with Pope Francis' insight into the most desperate needs of our world, made me wonder if I had become overly Eurocentric in my presumptions of the greatest issues facing our global community. I invite you to watch the interview below.

Cardinal Maradiaga's reflection on the struggles of youth in Honduras reminded me of Pope Francis' criticism of western culture in regard to migration. The presumption of many is that the United States is the land of opportunity for the downtrodden and forgotten. However, as Cardinal Maradiaga rightly points out, many Central and South American youth who do immigrate to the United States find that they trade one set of problems for a new set of problems. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my homeland and am proud to be a United States citizen. However, that pride must also be tempered with humility, acknowledging our country's brokenness. While reading Pope Francis' reflection on human dignity at the boarders, that tension was revisited.

AN ABSENCE OF HUMAN DIGNITY ON THE BORDERS

37. Certain populist political regimes, as well as certain liberal economic approaches, maintain that an influx of migrants is to be prevented at all costs. Arguments are also made for the propriety of limiting aid to poor countries, so that they can hit rock bottom and find themselves forced to take austerity measures. One fails to realize that behind such statements, abstract and hard to support, great numbers of lives are at stake. Many migrants have fled from war, persecution and natural catastrophes. Others, rightly, “are seeking opportunities for themselves and their families. They dream of a better future and they want to create the conditions for achieving it”.

38. Sadly, some “are attracted by Western culture, sometimes with unrealistic expectations that expose them to grave disappointments. Unscrupulous traffickers, frequently linked to drug cartels or arms cartels, exploit the weakness of migrants, who too often experience violence, trafficking, psychological and physical abuse and untold sufferings on their journey”. Those who emigrate “experience separation from their place of origin, and often a cultural and religious uprooting as well. Fragmentation is also felt by the communities they leave behind, which lose their most vigorous and enterprising elements, and by families, especially when one or both of the parents migrates, leaving the children in the country of origin”. For this reason, “there is also a need to reaffirm the right not to emigrate, that is, to remain in one’s homeland”.

39. Then too, “in some host countries, migration causes fear and alarm, often fomented and exploited for political purposes. This can lead to a xenophobic mentality, as people close in on themselves, and it needs to be addressed decisively”. Migrants are not seen as entitled like others to participate in the life of society, and it is forgotten that they possess the same intrinsic dignity as any person. Hence they ought to be “agents in their own redemption”. No one will ever openly deny that they are human beings, yet in practice, by our decisions and the way we treat them, we can show that we consider them less worthy, less important, less human. For Christians, this way of thinking and acting is unacceptable, since it sets certain political preferences above deep convictions of our faith: the inalienable dignity of each human person regardless of origin, race or religion, and the supreme law of fraternal love.

40. “Migrations, more than ever before, will play a pivotal role in the future of our world”. At present, however, migration is affected by the “loss of that sense of responsibility for our brothers and sisters on which every civil society is based”. Europe, for example, seriously risks taking this path. Nonetheless, “aided by its great cultural and religious heritage, it has the means to defend the centrality of the human person and to find the right balance between its twofold moral responsibility to protect the rights of its citizens and to assure assistance and acceptance to migrants”.

41. I realize that some people are hesitant and fearful with regard to migrants. I consider this part of our natural instinct of self-defence. Yet it is also true that an individual and a people are only fruitful and productive if they are able to develop a creative openness to others. I ask everyone to move beyond those primal reactions because “there is a problem when doubts and fears condition our way of thinking and acting to the point of making us intolerant, closed and perhaps even – without realizing it – racist. In this way, fear deprives us of the desire and the ability to encounter the other”. (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, 37-41)

When contemplating Cardinal Maradiaga's and Pope Francis' reflections as a whole, we begin to understand why the pontiff is calling for a new vision of what it means to share a common kinship as global citizens. As I mentioned in my first reflection on Fratelli Tutti, if Laudato Si' was a call to care for our physical environment, Fratelli Tutti is a call to care for our social, political, economic, emotional, and spiritual environment. 

It is important to understand Pope Francis' critique of the world before we reflect on his call for a new political and economic vision that is rooted in human dignity. Having reflected on Pope Francis' concerns, let us reflect on how the pontiff proposes we address these issues in the public square.

The politics we need

177. Here I would once more observe that “politics must not be subject to the economy, nor should the economy be subject to the dictates of an efficiency-driven paradigm of technocracy”. Although misuse of power, corruption, disregard for law and inefficiency must clearly be rejected, “economics without politics cannot be justified, since this would make it impossible to favour other ways of handling the various aspects of the present crisis”. Instead, “what is needed is a politics which is far-sighted and capable of a new, integral and interdisciplinary approach to handling the different aspects of the crisis”. In other words, a “healthy politics… capable of reforming and coordinating institutions, promoting best practices and overcoming undue pressure and bureaucratic inertia”. We cannot expect economics to do this, nor can we allow economics to take over the real power of the state.

178. In the face of many petty forms of politics focused on immediate interests, I would repeat that “true statecraft is manifest when, in difficult times, we uphold high principles and think of the long-term common good. Political powers do not find it easy to assume this duty in the work of nation-building”, much less in forging a common project for the human family, now and in the future. Thinking of those who will come after us does not serve electoral purposes, yet it is what authentic justice demands. As the Bishops of Portugal have taught, the earth “is lent to each generation, to be handed on to the generation that follows”.

179. Global society is suffering from grave structural deficiencies that cannot be resolved by piecemeal solutions or quick fixes. Much needs to change, through fundamental reform and major renewal. Only a healthy politics, involving the most diverse sectors and skills, is capable of overseeing this process. An economy that is an integral part of a political, social, cultural and popular programme directed to the common good could pave the way for “different possibilities which do not involve stifling human creativity and its ideals of progress, but rather directing that energy along new channels”.

Political love

180. Recognizing that all people are our brothers and sisters, and seeking forms of social friendship that include everyone, is not merely utopian. It demands a decisive commitment to devising effective means to this end. Any effort along these lines becomes a noble exercise of charity. For whereas individuals can help others in need, when they join together in initiating social processes of fraternity and justice for all, they enter the “field of charity at its most vast, namely political charity”. This entails working for a social and political order whose soul is social charity. Once more, I appeal for a renewed appreciation of politics as “a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity, inasmuch as it seeks the common good”.

181. Every commitment inspired by the Church’s social doctrine is “derived from charity, which according to the teaching of Jesus is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36-40)”. This means acknowledging that “love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world”. For this reason, charity finds expression not only in close and intimate relationships but also in “macro-relationships: social, economic and political”.

182. This political charity is born of a social awareness that transcends every individualistic mindset: “‘Social charity makes us love the common good’, it makes us effectively seek the good of all people, considered not only as individuals or private persons, but also in the social dimension that unites them”. Each of us is fully a person when we are part of a people; at the same time, there are no peoples without respect for the individuality of each person. “People” and “person” are correlative terms. Nonetheless, there are attempts nowadays to reduce persons to isolated individuals easily manipulated by powers pursuing spurious interests. Good politics will seek ways of building communities at every level of social life, in order to recalibrate and reorient globalization and thus avoid its disruptive effects.

This section begs a simple, but powerful question: Are we a people bound together, despite our differences, in a common vision of all being God's children or are we a collection of individual persons, finding meaning through a narrow narcissism of satisfying individual wants and desires?  

Some of you may be screaming at the computer, "Enough politics, this is a site about faith and science!" First, my apologies if any sensitivities were rubbed. As I shared in the past, these reflections on Fratelli Tutti are meant to share with our readers, both Catholic and Non-Catholic, what is going on in the Church, seeking to further promote a spirit of charitable dialogue. Fear not, I will get back to more explicit faith and science topics in the near future!

However, I would also argue that this piece is precisely about faith and science. How? Through our Faith and Astronomy Worship we have held over the years, one of my constant takeaways is that both faith and science require community. The same tensions mentioned by Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti run through the blood of every person, meaning they are also baggage in the realms of faith and science. The key question is whether or not we confront our biases to try to move toward an understanding of what is true, good, and beautiful or do we pull away from community with a false sense of security to protect our biases. Through faith, we confront our biases by grounding our lives in Scripture, Tradition, and the lived reality of a communal faith. The scientific community confronts biases by exploring common data, engaging in the process of examining, reexamine, and examining again and again as a community to achieve a deeper understanding of our world. Are both faith and science pristine explorations that are devoid of prejudice, professional jealousies, clashing world views, and personal motivations that may be contrary to the end goal? Absolutely not! Faith and Science are pursued by humans, meaning the good, the bad, and the ugly of humanity can and will seep into both. At the same time, is it ultimately trust that these communities are committed to something beyond themselves that help people transcend their brokenness to achieve a deeper sense of truth? Absolutely!

These thoughts lead me to a final thought - Is it really politics and economics that we struggle to speak of with civility and respect, or are we losing the ability to speak of what it means to be truly human - both in the best of who we are and the worst of who we are? Whatever it may be, including deeper insights than what I can offer, let us embrace our common humanity in both its glory and its brokenness. Let us transcend the struggles we face this day and strive for a common kinship of dignity and love. A kinship that emerges when we discover (or rediscover) the beauty that all are created in God's image and likeness, worthy of love, dignity, and respect, and are sojourners on this good Earth to bring out the best of each other, not affirm the worst in each other.

Next week, I will conclude my reflections on Fratelli Tutti by reflecting on what I consider the heart of this encyclical - Pope Francis' reflection on the Good Samaritan.

Happy Monday!