Faith and Science In The Classroom: Class Five – Caring For The Environment And The Ecology That Is Us.
One of the clearest areas of collaboration between faith and science is care for creation. In the Catholic tradition, care for creation has long been accepted as one of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Though matters of ecology usually spiral into politically driven emotionalism, the approach to care for creation found in CST is quite practical and common sense. For example, as I was out fishing with one of my parishioners, I was reminded of the need for clean water that not only provides for human needs, but builds up healthy ecosystems for the communities we live. As we enjoyed a successful day that included three “keepers” for dinner, I was reminded of a simple fisherman’s ethic that fits nicely with CST: If you want to catch and eat fish from a lake, don’t pollute the lake. The modern theology of ecology derives from three, historic events. On the positive side, the exploration of space and images … Continue reading →
Faith and Science in the Classroom: Class Four – Can A Christian Believe In Evolution?
One of the more inflammatory subjects in the United States in regard to faith and science is evolution. The mere mention of the topic can lead to a combative atmosphere with little hope for anything healthy emerging. What I find a bit surprising is the number of brother priests who think that evolution is somehow against Catholicism. Whether it be the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it says that “methodological research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with faith” (CCC 159), Pius XII stating that the material origins of our body evolving from preexisting matter is not against Scripture (Humani Generis 36), St. John Paul II stating the evolution is more than a hypothesis (Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: On Evolution 4), or Benedict XVI stating that it is absurd to think that Biblical creation and evolution are at … Continue reading →
Faith and Science in the Classroom: Class Three – The Limits Of Science And The Exploration Of Truth
In my previous posts on Science in the Classroom, I’ve presented resources to you on the themes of Awe and Wonder and the question, What does it means to be human? In both sets of resources, what begins to emerge is that a powerful bridge between faith and science is found when the measurable and quantifiable aspects of creation begin to point to a beauty and elegance that sparks a sense of wonder, evoking an organic ethical vision of protecting the dignity of the human person and all of creation. This relationship between “a world of measurements” and “a world of wonder and dignity” reminds me of St. Bonaventure’s classic work, The Mind’s Journey to God. Click here to view a video I did for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, explaining this distinction in the thought of St. Bonaventure. What begins to emerge from the writings of St. Bonaventure is the idea that faith and science explore fundamentally different types of questions, … Continue reading →
Faith and Science in the Classroom: Class Two – What Is Life And What Does It Mean To Be Alive?
When I was in seminary, one of my professors, Dr. David Fagerberg, explained that you can understand the Sacraments in one of two ways. The first way is to ask, What is it? This is an approach that is analogous to a frog dissection project, looking at definitions that address matter, form, substance, and presence. The second way is to ask, How are the Sacraments effective in our lives? This question explores themes like – What does it mean to say that Baptism removes all sin, personal and Original Sin? What does it mean when Jesus says unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have life within you? What does it mean to say that Viaticum prepares the soul with the Anointing of the Sick and the final reception of the Eucharist to take life’s ultimate journey from this life to eternity? An insight I gained was that we need to ask both type of questions … Continue reading →
Faith and Science in the Classroom: Class One – Awe and Wonder and Pastoral Applications
In the weeks to come, I will offer brief reflections on two projects to bring science into the seminary classroom. Seminary, for those who do not know, is the name given to the school that future priests attend. The name “seminary” means “a seedbed.” Therefore, a seminary is not only a school of academics, but it is an environment of formation in which the soil of our hearts is tilled to receive the seeds of faith. As I have written about in the past, one of the deficiencies I experienced in my seminary education was instruction on questions of faith and science. Whether it be writing for The Catholic Astronomer, participating in wonderful experiences like the Faith and Astronomy Workshop, or being a guest on Slooh, God has allowed me to embark on a unique “independent study” that has borne a great deal of fruit to help address this deficiency. Recently, I was honored to meet Jennifer Wiseman, Director of … Continue reading →
Decay and Change: The Collision of Two Concepts of Time
The Lenten and Easter Seasons are of great significance in the Christian life. The call into the spiritual desert to embrace the practices of fasting, penance, and almsgiving are meant to transform the human heart to be more conformed to the love of Jesus Christ. When this purification has concluded, we are to embrace a celebratory disposition of heart as we remember Christ’s resurrection and the empty tomb. Central to these seasons is a rather unique understanding of time. We began Lent on Ash Wednesday, marked with the ash from burned palm branches as a reminder of our call to repentance (Repent, and return to the Gospel) and to embrace humility (Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return). This starting point marks the beginning of a forty day journey, give or take a couple days based on when Easter falls, to focus intently on the themes of penance and purification. The period of forty days and … Continue reading →
A NASA Communications Expert, A Nobel Laureate, and a Parish Priest Walk Into A Bar… Highlights from the 2018 Logan Visionary Conference
Back on March 11th, I had the honor of keynoting the 2018 Logan Visionary Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. This past weekend, the presentations were published online. Below, I will share two presentations and a prerecorded interview with you. The first is my own presentation, exploring the question of cosmological and theological heaven. The second is the presentation that came after me by Michelle Thaller, exploring our understanding of the universe’s origins from a scientific perspective. Lastly, I will share a prerecorded interview with Nobel Laureate John C. Mather that was shown at the conference, covering a range of topics from the James Webb Telescope to his thoughts on God. Enjoy! My keynote presentation. One correction: Toward the end, I speak of Fr. Coyne’s analogy of 13.7 billion years reduced to a calendar year. I say that the human person emerged in the last two minutes on “January 31st.” That … Continue reading →
Kid In An Astronomical Candy Store: Reflections On My Tour Of NASA’s Goddard Space Lab
This past weekend, I was in Baltimore, Maryland to present on the theme of Cosmological and Theological Heaven for the 2018 Logan Visionary Conference. I had a wonderful experience presenting at the American Visionary Museum and will blog about my presentation next week. This week, I want to share with you an unexpected surprise I received while in Baltimore: A personal tour of the Goddard Space Lab. A few days before I left the snow and cold of Wisconsin, I received an e-mail from Leonard Garcia. Leonard is in charge of editing grant proposals for scientists at NASA Goddard. He was planning on attending the conference I was speaking at, is an avid reader of The Catholic Astronomer, and wanted to give me a personal tour of Goddard since I was in town. He explained to me that he loves his job because he is constantly reminding scientists why people should care about their work. We had a delightful conversation … Continue reading →
Theological Reflection On The Cosmos
Last week, I offered some initial musings on my presentation for the 2018 Logan Visionary Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. I want to thank those of you who took the opportunity to offer your thoughts on my reflection. They have given me some food for thought as I prep for my presentation this coming weekend. I invite all of you, once again, to share your thoughts at the bottom of this post. As is often the case in theology, I chose to focus first on the “via negativa” (the negative way) to clarify what the notion of cosmological and theological heaven is not. We explored how heaven is not a “place” that can be found in the created world. We also reflected on how our understanding of God impacts our view of heaven, seeing in the God who is radically transcendent and radically eminent a related understanding of heaven that is both present to us now, but also transcends anything we … Continue reading →
Is There A Cosmological Heaven?
On March 11th, I’ll be the keynote speaker at the 2018 Logan Visionary Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, exploring the idea of “Cosmological and Theological Heaven.” Given some of the wonderful feedback I’ve received from our subscribers to The Catholic Astronomer, I thought it would be a fruitful exercise to allow you to offer your thoughts on this topic. My hope is that I can find some intellectual gems from all of you I can add to my presentation. In that spirit, I invite you to speak freely and honestly in the comments. No theology police here to knock you down on this post! Initial Questions: Do I believe in a cosmological heaven? At the risk of throwing an intellectual hand-grenade at the beginning of my presentation, I will explore the question of whether or not I believe in a cosmological and theological heaven? At the risk of shocking some of you, I struggle to affirm either reality. The struggle is … Continue reading →
Fasting, Penance, Almsgiving, and… Stargazing? A Lenten Reflection on Astronomy
Last week was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season we call Lent. Lent is a time for Christians to detach their hearts from things that draw us away from God and renew our faith in Christ. Central to this season are three spiritual disciplines: Fasting, penance, and almsgiving. Penance and almsgiving are rather straight forward in the spiritual life. Penance is when we do a moral inventory of our life and ask God for forgiveness of our sins. For Catholics, this is most commonly done through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, exercising Jesus’ gift to his disciples of the ministry of forgiving sins. (John 20:22-23) Almsgiving is the practice of offering material support for those who are poor and in need. The most common form of almsgiving is donating to a favorite charity. However, almsgiving can take on the form of donations of food, clothing, or even our time to help those who struggle due to a lack … Continue reading →
When False Rhetoric Sticks: How Do We Flip The Common Presumption Of Faith Vs. Science.
As a priest with an assignment of diverse ministries (parish, primary school, jail ministry, and university students), there are ample opportunities to receive and address questions about faith and science from multiple perspectives. What I find fascinating is that, regardless of what ministerial environment the questions are posed, there is a common narrative that often emerges: Faith is against science. Much can be said about how this presumption has come to be the norm. Often times, I find that much of the fuel that feeds this fire doesn’t come from scientists, new atheists, or secular politics. Rather, I find that it is the poor understanding and presentation of biblical creation in a hyper-literalist manner combined with a history of scandals in the Church that has flipped the opinion of many to view Catholicism not as the vessel that pursues truth to a fallen institution that is riddled with scandal and corruption, lacking the needed transparency to foster trust in the … Continue reading →