Married Saints and Blesseds

Marriage is as hard as it is beautiful. And for the vast majority of people, marriage is the way they will answer God's call to a life of holiness. It is with great hope and pride that more married men and women will attain sainthood. And I think it is necessary for some of these married saints in heaven to be canonized, joining the ranks of men and women recognized by the Church for their lives of heroic virtue.

Today I came across the biographies of Jerome and Gwen Coniker, Americans who are from my parents' generation. What stands out about this couple is that they consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary, and I believe their virtues were intensified through Mary's intercession. Take-away: Marian consecration is a huge source of grace for married couples!

Another married couple whose cause for canonization I am following: Drs. John and Evelyn Billings. Physicians from Australia, they are pioneers in one of the most cutting edge scientific advancements in fertility awareness. The Billings Ovulation Method was named after them.

How do married men and women grow in holiness, practically speaking? One of my former professors, William E. May, writes about marriage as a vocation to holiness, and describes the conditions that foster holiness in marriage: the complementarity of husband and wife, the spouses' mutual respect, and the virtue of fidelity to overcome difficulties and the way doing this together helps them grow in holiness.

These reflections are near and dear to me because it seems very difficult to overcome my weaknesses and I feel discouraged at times. It would be hardly worth the effort (many, many confessions later!), however, if I did not believe wholeheartedly that happiness and holiness are attainable. 

Remarkable Catholic Women of the 20th Century

As a suggestion for your summer reading, pick up something written by or about one of the following women: 

1. Gianna Beretta Molla

2. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

3. Faustina Kowalska

4. Flannery O’Connor

5. Alice von Hildebrand

6. Mother Angelica

7. Catherine Doherty

8. Dorothy Day

9. Madeleine Delbrêl

10. Adrienne von Speyr

Reflections on Being a Working Mom

Congrats to all mothers who have made the transition to working full time after being a stay-at-home mom. What are the most shocking, humorous, and embarrassing realizations about being back in the office? I put together a little list of my top five realizations:

1.  Many of my colleagues are millennials; in fact, millennials might outnumber other generations where I work.

2.    Because of # 1 (above), my colleagues went to college when social media and cell phones were common and really “get” technology in a way that I don’t.

3.    I couldn’t name any of the Kardashian family members if my life depended on it, but I can tell you all about what Saint John Paul II says about the Rosary.

4.  Modern cars have Bluetooth. My car has Bluetooth. This one feature had revolutionized my commute.
5.  Happy hours are now very happy hours of time with my family after work each day. (And yes, sometimes we have libations with dinner!)  

Humanae Vitae Symposium Debrief

            The Humanae Vitae Symposium was well-attended by bishops, laity, religious, priests, and seminarians. The speakers included Archbishop Chaput, professors from various fields (theology, philosophy, law, medicine), and professionals from the medical field and social sciences. The format included presentations bunched together into morning and afternoon sessions followed by a discussion with participants at the conclusion of each session.

            On Wednesday, April 4, John Garvey, the president of the Catholic University of America, offered brief remarks to welcome all the participants. He spoke from his personal experience as a husband and father on the importance and goodness of Blessed Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, and also noted the significance of hosting the symposium at Catholic University, where theologians publically dissented from the teachings of the Church after Humanae Vitae in the late 60’s and 70’s. Archbishop Chaput then gave the keynote presentation, offering four historical points of reflection for the comparison of the corrupt Roman society that did not value the transmission of human life with the corrupt present day society, which is suffering from the neo-pagan prevalence of the contraceptive mentality. The Archbishop pointed out the ways in which Paul VI’s prophetic words in Humanae Vitae have come to pass in our times, and he exhorted all the members of the Church to vigorously support/live and teach the goodness of Christian marriage, the integrity of the marital act.

            Among the insights that were most intriguing are the following: 1) Mary Eberstadt’s study of the current research by social science that support the Church’s teaching in Humanae Vitae, and offering us further reading suggestions of the recent publications by Ashley McGuire, Mark Regenerus, and Ryan Anderson; 2) Michael Hanby’s explanation of our society as a “Biotechnocracy” in which knowing is accomplished solely by doing, thereby reducing reality to its basic components and rebuilding them and exposing the profound moral crisis is rooted in an intellectual crisis devoid of contemplative speculation; 3) Janet Smith’s take on the problem of the new and untrue understanding of the human conscience developed by James Keenan/the Revisionists (Dr. Smith labelled “The Discerners”) who take Amoris Laetitia’s points on the conscience in section 303 and distort them entirely.

             Following up on my last post, it seems that the answer to my question about technology received a thought-provoking anaysis by Michael Hanby. He based his thought on the insight from Pope Benedict XVI, who said that the "biotechnocracy" is absolutist, and places technology at the center and therefore the leviathan of the modern political order. It is a result of modernity, confusing techne and logos. The truth behind this kind of knowledge is tied to society's success with new developments. 

           What does this mean, practically speaking? People will turn to and depend on the newest, most high-tech technological advancement. I think in the end, we will trust the machine/technology, or artificial intelligence we create more then our own selves, sadly. 

            During the discussion session at the Symposium, Michael Hanby stood by his analysis and exhortation to return to the intellectual/contemplative life, while other presenters took the opinion that a return to the intellectual life is not appealing to a majority of Catholics, who seek out the experiential dimension of faith. I do not think the two are mutually exclusive; however, if what Hanby suggests cannot be communicated clearly and persuasively with people who have not been educated in the humanities, then it seems that his insight will remain in the academy. 

Humanae Vitae Symposium

            In a little over two weeks, I will attend the Humanae Vitae Symposium at the Catholic University of America. It has an impressive speaker line-up, including Archbishop Chaput, Mary Eberstadt, Helen Alvaré, Janet Smith, and Richard Fehring. To be honest, even though I have attended lectures or presentations by several of the speakers in the past few decades, new insights from Humanae Vitae captivate me like very few things do. This topic is right up there with the importance of sexual difference and complementarity of man and woman.

            Here is a question I have been pondering: how can Pope Paul VI’s crucial insights be lived in a culture that has become more heavily dependent on technology? When I started teaching NFP, we were still using flip phones. After the smartphone explosion happened, the 'touch'-screen shift has led to a technological dependency like never before. Even from a teacher's perspective, I checked students' charts on my app, and used it for my own charting needs. We haven’t had time to digest this shift, and do not know its repercussions. What are the implications of this subtle turn to dependency on technology, even for something as benign as charting one’s fertility signs?