Posted by
Anthony on Thursday, April 30, 2009 7:59:20 PM
One of the things I love about our seminary here in Denver is the Church bells. They help me remember what is holy. Our bells also remind me of over 50 bishops and 400,000 Catholics who have courageously let their voices be heard over the breach in ecclesial unity caused by the rash decisions of the board members and president of Notre Dame. Just as our bells remind us that time is a sacred gift, the voices of the Church's shepherds and faithful remind America that Catholic institutions have a sacred mission, a mission that trumps prestige and fundraising, a mission to the poor and the defenseless, extending even to the most vulnerable of all: embryonic human beings.
There are many things at stake in this conversation, but one elephant in the room is the need for our society as a whole to rediscover the reason why we honor each other. Our society has come to the point, has been there for some time, where honor is bestowed on celebrity which is not commensurate to any given celebrity's accomplishments. The popular, the glitzy, the wealthy, the photogenic, the entertaining and even the merely amusing are all too often the objects of our praise. We honor anything and anyone who has made a name for himself when we used to honor the reason someone had a name. I think this is because a name brand sells more commercials than what we used to honor. It is of our heritage however to honor the unrecognized generosity and heroism of our forefathers no longer present in this life, those who suffered defeat - even when our enemies, and the greatness of the least of our society. This is what distinguished civilized peoples from the barbarians and why Rome associated itself with defeated Troy and cities are named for the Trojan heroes. It is what stirs us when we read of the Maccabean Wars and the Christian martyrs.
The greatest values of Western Civilization have always included defending what is sacred and what is vulnerable. This was always seen as a sacred mission. There is a noble self-interest in taking this up. We protect the sacred and the vulnerable because we need such things in our lives. The mission is great and it makes us great to take it up. When we put our lives and reputations on the line to reverence what is sacred and protect what is vulnerable, our identity, our character is revealed. Thus, we honor our heroes for their great sacrifices and acknowledge their accomplishments. What is more, when we honor the virtues and achievements of others, the great cultural leaders of the West have traditionally understood that such public praise allows the whole society to participate in this goodness, even when the goodness was the noble courage of a bitter enemy.
A vestige of this part of our heritage peaks out every once in a while - like when we honored the pilot who saved all those lives by landing his jet in the Hudson. It also survives in the Church and academic institutions. Some Catholic institutions have bestowed honorary degrees and awards to members of society who represent certain defining values and accomplishments. Insofar as they do so honorably, not only the graduates but the whole institution is strengthened. A sense of noble purpose and moral goodness is manifest. A ray of hope stirs the courage everyone needs rise up and engage the fray. This is the reason for a commencement and for honoring our nations heroes at such occasions.
But whenever this praise is falsely bestowed - whenever we honor someone who has not acted in an honorable fashion - such praise is empty of any value either for the person on whom it is bestowed or for any community who has bestowed. It becomes a certain communal lie. This is such a grave matter, such an important value of not only civilization and but also the Church, that one of the roles of a bishop is to protect Catholic institutions from falsely honoring someone.
Sadly, Notre Dame attempted to step around its own bishop's authority and in so doing, breached its unity with the Church. Harm has been done to everyone, to all Catholics. But Notre Dame has hurt itself most of all. In a few weeks, this Catholic institution will honor a public figure who has ignored the definining cultural voices of our time on the most defining cultural issue.
Mother Theresa, John Paul II, and Ronald Reagan all spoke out in defense of our society's most defenseless - directly appealing to American society in particular. Their appeals meant something. They struck a cord in the hearts of many. Rather than embrace these voices and others like it by honoring them, Notre Dame will honor a leader whose words before the election and behavior while in office shows cold indifference to the most vulnerable. Yes, he has tried even yesterday to soften his own jargon - but his words are not commensurate to his actions. Such cold indifference to human life does not provide a ray of hope and will not really encourage graduates to take up the cultural struggle of the day. Nevertheless, while the empty speeches ramble on, because of the courage of Bishop D'Arcy and his brother bishops and 400,000 other Catholic voices, some graduates will hear the booming tone of sacred bells and remember what is holy - their sacred mission.