Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

I thought about it for a few minutes, about driving to South Carolina for the eclipse. Hopefully my schedule will be a little lighter when this thing rolls back around in another decade. These things happened when we were kids, didn’t they? But I don’t remember hearing about such an amazing response as this week, when people went to such effort to experience it. What was so special, I guess, was that it went right over us this time. My brother Father John (he is a priest physicist) gave me some solar glasses so our office got to enjoy God’s magic.

I was struck by the incredible response people had in flocking to this amazing event. My broth- er Father John said that farmers in Nebraska were renting their cornfields in the middle of no- where by the square foot to people who wanted to come and pitch a tent for the eclipse. It was like the day movies became block busters—was it “The Sound of Music” in Cinemascope? I remember the first time ever seeing lines of people literally wrap around city blocks when “The Exorcist” came out. Nothing was more amazing than the first release of “Star Wars.” I bought it with the first frames of type disappearing into infinity. We had never seen anything like it. Or when everybody simply had to buy a Cabbage Patch Doll? The first time you heard disco (admit it)... Or first looked at the screen of an iPhone? The logo apple with the bite out of it on the back merely illustrates that what is so alluring may not be entirely good for us... and how we have forgotten what actually happened in the Garden... What gives something such global impact that it literally touches everyone? Our thoughts and emotions are kidnapped. Have they started a 12-step program yet for social media? Is it fair to say that our response to the latest craze is a little crazy?

It points to something in our being that is not unlike the bug that flies to the light. At what point do we allow this endless attraction to become the most important thing and lose ourselves in the process?

This past week we have listened to a daily account of Scripture at Mass, the story of how the chosen people of Israel took up their residence in the promised land. God cleared the way for them, made them victorious, basically did everything for them so that they could live lives faithfully in covenant with him. What was the first thing they did? They got distracted by all the shiny, new pagan idols that surrounded them. It was like they were hypnotized by it all and forgot all that God had done in Egypt, in the desert, even in the most recent days, and were completely captivated by what was new all around them. Some of it was, perhaps, good. But their forgetfulness allowed them to lose their awareness of God’s presence with them, which was their real life. They abandoned him for a thing. We look back and shake our heads. How could they have been so foolish? Idolatry.

I have thought a lot this week about how we have been swallowed up by the technological wonders of modern culture all around us. We are inhabitants of a new world. It is shocking to me that already a couple of generations probably think today is normal—my grandpa probably thought the same thing about us kids, as we were glued to the TV watching the missions to the moon, or how parents today might consider their children who have grown up in the terrible reality of the World Trade Center’s shadow. And today’s news with nearly every story, a visible proof of inhuman race.

In the middle of ALL THIS, where is the spark of God’s presence or the memory of his abiding love and mercy which made humanity his royal priesthood, his holy nation?

My reflection leads me to one conclusion. Sharing a tweet is not sharing your self. Texting someone is an empty act, void of acknowledging another person as a person, there is no need to respect or even think of another person’s value. We are suddenly connected to everything in cyberspace, and never been so isolated at our core. Communication has never been so far away from communion.

Perhaps the memory needs to be recalled and shared of a Word of love, one that touches hearts to hearts and gathers us into one Body of which we are only a part—that we literally rely on all others to live. A wifi connection cannot even begin to serve as a metaphor of the real connection that flows among us in God. Which light is irresistible to you? It isn’t a thing, it is a real relationship, not a simulation. And he has gone to a great deal of trouble to save you for today, not to be lost so easily. He calls us deeply into his real community.

May God bless you.

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

One of the things on my desk right now is a paper that I am supposed to write, to be given at the international Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue in Taipei in November. We met two summers ago in Rome when the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue hosted Buddhists from all over the world, and this year the Buddhists will welcome us to what is described as a mountainside monastery to continue our dialogue. Two years ago the topic was suffering and the alleviation of suffering, and I wrote my paper on how suffering can be valuable, according to Catholic Tradition, if used correctly. This year the topic is non-violence. I am assigned to write a paper on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So for the past month or so I have been thinking a lot about racism, the lasting impact slavery has had on the human race, and asking myself why we haven’t made any more progress than we have.

Then last weekend the hate in Charlottesville overflowed.

Reporters, even some prominent people tried to represent this raw hatred as a political problem. Conservatives vs. liberals, right vs. left. As much as we can, the Church needs to stay out of those circles, because we must reach all people where they are and bring them closer to the center, to God. Once and for all, the Church must be the example of Christ’s love—far beyond mere tolerance to embrace all people and transform them if necessary by Christ’s love. Extremism is an illness that cuts across party lines and religions, it is everywhere. In our current cultural environment of utter disrespect, people feel emboldened to unleash their destructive illness on others, the innocent, and their prejudice on those who are helpless. Racism is alive and well.

How many times have you experienced people who find satisfaction in the feeling of power they get from walking on other people? People who need to experience supremacy over others are emotionally sick. We live in a bully culture led by bullies.

These realities run deep. Children have to be taught to hate, and seeds are planted in us from a very early age by previous generations. It is the responsibility of all human families to make sure that this isn’t a part of our children’s inheritance. But, you see, that isn’t easy to do because we live in a time (perhaps all times have been such) that there are such fears and uncertainties about our fragile culture, or even about ourselves, we need to find someone to blame.

A couple of summers ago I went with our Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales to visit their missions in South Africa and Namibia. We went on a safari, out in a jeep among the “wild” animals. At one point we were nearly charged by a young male elephant. The driver explained that they may need to put him down, because members of his family were put to death a generation ago, and he carried within him some memory of danger against human beings. Somehow, it was passed on to this elephant. The driver said that it was common for elephants to gather years later, even next generations, for several days at the place where their predecessors were killed, as if mourning their loss.

I wonder what kind of seeds have passed to our current day. There was a moment during the civil rights days, with all the burning neighborhoods and protest marches, that a man came forward and spoke of non-violence. Dr. King somehow brought a pause to the fury and caught the world’s attention. This is what we need to do as the Church at this moment. Under no circumstances can we allow or let go unnoticed the inhumanity of Charlottesville. I refuse to believe that this is where our humanity is evolving, but we need to speak up and let people know that this is not okay.

So what are we to do? First, I think we look deep inside and name the seeds that are there. Prejudice and pride, desire, a lack of humility, a need to be better than others, all of these bubble to the surface when they are triggered by life events. We need to name them so that we can recognize the source of our actions before we decide to act, or say something we will regret. Second, we need to reestablish in our world the simplest of respectful behaviors. Treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves. Looking in to the eyes of the person with whom we are speaking. Considering the contributions of others as valid as we do our own. End this senseless shouting. Finally, we can’t allow the violence that surrounds us to make us numb and unresponsive in identifying the evil that it truly is.

May God bless you.