Issue 6 - February 26, 2014

The TORCH

BOSTON COLLEGE’S CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHED 2013

Go set the world aflame!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Volume I, Issue 6

CDF Prefect Gerhard Müller Created Cardinal GJERGJI EVANGJELI On February 22, Pope Francis added nineteen new Cardinals to the roster of the Princes of the Church. Though there is a wealth of themes to talk about in his choices, one notable name among the new group is Archbishop Gerhard Müller, who is currently serving as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Cardinal Müller has been a public and vocal figure in the past few months.

In November, Müller slammed the Archdiocese of Freiburg in Germany for its teaching that civilly-divorced and remarried couples could decide for themselves whether they would wish to participate in Holy Communion. In a letter written in consultation with and by the approval of Pope Francis, Müller stressed the importance of a proper understanding of the role of marriage in the Catholic Church, arguing that the assertion that the reception of the sacraments would be, for persons under these circumstances, a “responsibly reached decision of conscience,” was a break from Tradition, incorrect, and would “cause confusion among the faithful about the Church’s teaching about the indissolubility of marriage.”

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Campus School to Remain at Boston College ALESSANDRA LUEDEKING On February 7, a decision regarding the Campus School’s location was reached.

Boston College’s Campus School is a learning institution for children with severe special needs and complex healthcare requirements. This past November, the Boston College administration considered merging the Campus School with the nearby Kennedy Day School, a Franciscan hospital for children. The move would offer the students a new facility with more space and professional staff.

Enrollment for the Campus School has decreased from 49 in 2007 to 38 today, making nearby districts reticent about paying the $74,000 a year needed to keep the Campus School running. As a result, the suggestion to merge the schools prompted an impassioned response from parents, volunteers, staff members, and Boston College students alike.

However, a meeting was held between Don Ricciato, the Campus School Director, Joseph Quinn, Interim Provost and Dean of Faculties, and the BC Executive Board, including the university President Rev. William Leahy, S.J. in which the decision was made to maintain the

Campus School at BC for at least one more year.

In return, the Campus School has pledged to work on a long-term sustainability plan that will

aim towards increasing school enrollment, promoting the school to prospective families, and fundraising.

“BC wants us to thrive and will collaborate with us to become an even better program,” said Chris Marino, Co-President of the Campus School Volunteers, A&S ’14, to the volunteers and staff members of the Campus School.

While the decision has been received with much joy and gratitude, the Campus School’s security still lies on precarious foundations. The School has only been sanctioned to remain at Boston College for the coming academic school year, essentially deferring the definitive decisionmaking process another year. The sustainability plan devised by the Campus School will serve to reassure BC administrators of its ability to implement and sustain a successful program.

Whatever the distant future holds, the Campus School rejoices in the opportunity to continue its work in Campion Hall. This sentiment is captured in Marino’s words: “We have had some very dark days in the last few months but someone made the point today, ‘It is often darkest before the dawn.’ We are happy to report that we have a new dawn and a new day and it is going to be a beautiful day.”

Inside this Edition

CAMPUS NEWS

WORLD NEWS

SENIOR STAFF

Biblical Scholar Leaves Legacy

Ukrainian Christians Stand Firm amid Chaos

First Impressions and Final Judgements

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BC Jesuit,

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Campus News

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

CAMPUS NEWS BC Jesuit, Biblical Scholar Leaves Legacy MARGARET ANTONIO It is difficult to comprehend how one man can write 60 books, edit a renowned journal, serve as a member on various institutional boards, deliver lectures across the states, and write 50,000 abstracts for books in numerous languages, while carrying out pastoral work in two parishes and teaching graduate courses in theology. This is simply a glimpse at the remarkable legacy of Fr. Daniel Harrington, S.J., professor of theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, who passed away on February 7 after a four-year battle with cancer.

Dan, as everyone called him, made a profound impact as a scholar, a teacher, and a preacher. A native of Arlington, MA, Harrington graduated from Boston College High School and joined the Society of Jesus shortly thereafter. He went on to earn degrees from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Boston College, and Harvard University. He taught at Weston and, in 2008, began teaching at the School of Theology and Ministry when the two schools became re-affiliated, according to the BC Chronicle.

Fr. Harrington’s passion for Scripture began at an early age. In an interview with “The New England Jesuit Oral History Program,” Fr. Harrington relates the beginning of his journey with Scripture: “All my life I have suffered from a speech impediment... As a boy I thought I could never become a teacher or a priest because of it.

However, one day I read...that Moses stuttered...I thought, ‘If Moses could do it, maybe I can.’

With the help of some speech therapies and the encouragement of my Jesuit brothers, I have been able to attain a decent level of fluency. And whenever I stumble, I go back to Moses. I often regard reading that biblical text as the seed of my vocation as a Jesuit priest and a biblical scholar.”

A highlight of Dan Harrington’s scholarly work is the New Testament Abstracts, a trian-

nual journal. From 1972 to 2013, Fr. Harrington served as one of two editors of the journal. “Dan could look at a book, skim it, and write an abstract on it in 15 minutes...the books were often in different languages as well,” said Mary Kate Holman, a graduate student who assists in the journal publication.

While editing, Fr. Harrington also taught classes for students at the School of Theology and Ministry and those of the Boston Theological Institute. As a teacher, Fr. Harrington was known for being able to direct a student to read a specific page or even a footnote in a book or article.

Fr. Harrington’s commitment to his students continued even through his last days. Despite his aversion to technology, he insisted on teaching his last two classes through Skype even though his cancer had already placed him in a debilitated state.

As a scholar and a teacher, Dan Harrington also celebrated Mass every Sunday for 43 years at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington, where he grew up, and at St. Peter’s Parish in Cambridge. “By coming out from behind his desk, Dan was teaching everyone what it means to be pastoral,” wrote Fr. Peter Folan, S.J. in The Jesuit Post.

Although Fr. Harrington published numerous scholarly works, he also wrote for lay audiences, and likewise preached Scripture to his congregation.

“He really was committed to the idea that all this knowledge about the Bible is only useful in so much as you have a relationship with God and others,” said Mary Kate Holman. For Fr. Harrington, “good scholarship was about making scripture accessible to any believer.”

“One time, a friend of mine who had had him as a teacher heard him preach,” said Fr. James Keenan, S.J. “She went to him and asked for a copy of the sermon. And the next day in her

mailbox was a hand-written copy of the sermon.

That was typical Dan.” Keenan, who was one of Fr. Harrington’s students at Weston, taught several courses and wrote two books with him.

Fr. Harrington’s preaching not only brought Scripture to the congregations to whom he preached, but also to many through the hundreds of Jesuits who learned how to interpret and communicate Scripture in his classes.

The number of individuals influenced by Fr. Harrington through his publications, his homilies, his classes, and his life is incalculable. Even in his last months, he continued to teach classes and edit the New Testament Abstracts. At the core of his remarkable work ethic and achievements lies his love of Scripture. When asked about his personal experience with suffering in an interview in 2012, Fr. Harrington replied, “What has kept me going is Scripture...that is what has really stabilized me in the midst of all this.”

“It was never about him,” said Holman, recalling her experience with Fr. Harrington. “It was always about Jesus. Everyone loved Dan, but that was definitely not his priority...and that’s what made people love him even more.”

BC Splash Seeks Passionate Volunteers ERIN ANDERSON Free your calendars on Sunday, April 6 and volunteer through Boston College’s Splash for the unique experience of teaching high school students. BC Splash, a student run program, aims to broaden the academic horizons of high school students by offering a wide variety of free courses taught by BC undergraduate and graduate students. This program draws high school students from the Boston area and as far as New Hampshire and Cape Cod who will flock to Boston College’s campus to be immersed in the college environment and experience what it means to be an Eagle.

The program welcomes 600-1000 students from grades 8-12 whose interests range from those who are highly motivated and excited for college to those who need a new spin on learning to revitalize their enthusiasm for academics.

BC Splash is looking for BC students to teach what they are passionate about to encourage learning. Classes can be taught on nearly any topic so long as the class is interesting, academic, and creative. Classes in the past have ranged from “Chemistry: Flames, Fire, and Heat,” “Ever to Excel: An Intro to Microsoft Excel,” “Being a Soldier in WWII,” and “The Hunger Games as Cultural Artifact.” BC Splash strives to engage students and show that learning can be productive and fun. This year, the program hopes to incorporate more religion based classes. Therefore, we encourage Torch readers to get creative and step up to the challenge.

No teaching experience is necessary and participation with the program

requires a low time commitment which includes the time it takes you to design your class, a one hour training session, and the duration of your class on the day of Splash. BC students can also help and volunteer for short 1-2 hour shifts to assist with check-in and other stations. In addition, students can opt to spend the whole day as a group leader. Leaders are responsible for helping kids feel comfortable, providing transitions between classes, and eating lunch with their groups. Becoming involved with BC Splash will be a rewarding experience.

“From 7-10am on the day of the event my team comes together to make campus look great, and then the students begin to arrive. That’s when I know that it is all worth it, because they are excited – and my mission is to show kids that learning can be much more passionate than it is in high school,” said Anne Meyer, a director for BC Splash, A&S ’14.

BC Splash offers a unique opportunity to teach your passion and gain experience talking in front of a group. Furthermore, BC Splash is a low time commitment, fun experience, and great event to add to any resume.

Volunteering is also a rewarding opportunity to give high school students a college mentor. Students interested in teaching can sign up at the website bcsplash.lerningu.org until February 28, and you can look up BC Splash on Facebook or email the program at bcsplash@gmail.com.

Campus News

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

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Missa gentis humanæ Premieres at St. Ignatius Church ALLISON R. SHELY Missa gentis humanæ, a Mass setting composed by the Boston College Music Department’s Professor Ralf Gawlick, premiered at St. Ignatius Church on Monday, February 17, at 8 p.m.

Members of the Grammy-nominated Trinity Wall Street Choir, conducted by Julian Wachner, performed the work, written for eight a cappella voices. Just under an hour long, the Mass setting made use of both male and female voices as well as several types of musical texture, including what Professor Gawlick describes as “multivoiced polyphony, [something] rare in twentyfirst-century choral works.” At its conclusion, the audience, which filled the nave of the church, gave Missa gentis humanæ a thunderous standing ovation. A recording by Mr. Wachner and the original performers will be available through the label Musica Omnia this summer.

Translated as “Mass of the Human Race” or “Mankind’s Mass,” the title comes from the multilingual nature of the work’s text. Working from Jesus’ commandment to “love one another as I have loved you” from St. John’s Gospel, Professor Gawlick selected texts that meditated on love from various Indo-European languages and interwove them with the words of the Mass Ordinary. The included languages are a represen-

tative rather than exhaustive selection, Professor Gawlick notes. The inspiring verse, John 15:12, appeared in its original Koine Greek as part of the Introit before repeating in Latin. Verses from Virgil’s Eclogues and a line from Plautus also represented Latin as did the words of the Ordinary. Selections from the poetry of Bertolt Brecht introduced German into the work and passages from Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, Russian. Excerpts from the poets Jorge Luis Borges, Zbigniew Herbert, and Walter Scott brought in Spanish, Polish, and English, respectively. The result, Professor Gawlick writes in the concert program, is “a multilingual vessel of cross-referential commentary, interpretation, reflection.”

In an interview with The Torch, Professor Gawlick gave some insight into the process of composing the work. It took him almost half a year to compile all the selections included in the text. One writer would lead him to another, as in the case of Borges’ mention of Virgil, which drew him to the Eclogues, once viewed as a foretelling of Christ, linking it back to the Mass, which Professor Gawlick called “a ritual celebration of love,” specifically divine love. However, Professor Gawlick stressed that love is a universal human

Mass Readings March 2, 2014 Reading 1: IS 49:14-15 Responsorial Psalm: PS 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 Reading 2: 1 COR 4:1-5 Gospel: MT 6:24-34 March 9, 2014 Reading 1: GN 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Responsorial Psalm: PS 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17 Reading 2: ROM 5:12-19 Gospel: MT 4:1-11 March 16, 2014 Reading 1: GN 12:1-4A Responsorial Psalm: PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 Reading 2: 2 TIM 1:8B-10 Gospel: MT 17:1-9 March 23, 2014 Reading 1: GN 12:1-4A Responsorial Psalm: PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 Reading 2: 2 TIM 1:8B-10 Gospel: MT 17:1-9

experience. He said that a beautiful Mass setting may move atheists and agnostics as well as believers, though in different ways. Likewise, the words of Brecht, an atheist and a Communist, can express the desire for unconditional, universal love as much as those of Dostoevsky, Scott, or Christ. To any who may feel discomfort at the notion of joining, or even replacing, the prayers of the Mass with secular texts, Professor Gawlick offered the idea that “art makes us reassess…and bring things into our lives”. Drawing on music history, he detailed the development of the form of the Mass setting from its fourteenth-century origin in liturgical use to “a sacred piece for sacred space,” even if only the interior sacred space of the listener’s soul, a work of art, after the Renaissance. In his interview, as in the concert program, Professor Gawlick upheld dialogue as something to be embraced and as the purpose of his Mass setting. Not only a dialogue among cultures, Missa gentis humanæ is also a “handshake across centuries” that testifies to the highest expression of humanity’s common experience: love.

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Campus News

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

Professor’s Dating Talks Challenge BC Culture

ALESSANDRA LUEDEKING

MARGO BORDERS Professor Kerry Cronin gave her famous dating talk called “Bring Back the Date” on February 10 at an event sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society. The next night, she gave a follow-up talk called “Making the Move: Navigating Dating Transitions,” which was sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century. Cronin criticized the hookup culture at BC, challenged the students to go on a date, and spoke about the values that are important in decision-making in relationships.

In her classic “Bring Back the Date” talk, Cronin put students on any college campus into one of three categories.

They are either in a “pseudomarried” relationship, hanging out or “talking,” or they are opting out of a relationship altogether. Cronin criticized these categories because they are missing the component of dating.

Students who want a less complicated relationship often decide to participate in the hookup culture, which Cronin argues is fueled by alcohol consumption. Students say that hooking up is casual and simple, but there are actually many rules. Cronin says that the most important rule is that there are no emotional expectations in the encounter. This hookup culture is so prevalent because it is what gives students credibility and a sense of belonging.

Cronin challenges this culture by giving a dating assignment to her Perspectives students and also those students who listen to her talk.

She gives students two weeks to complete the assignment and a list of specific instructions about the date. She says that the assignment and her emphasis on dating are mostly about courage and encouraging students to step out of the BC hook-up culture.

In her talk “Making the Move: Navigating Dating

Lecture Focuses on “The Jewishness of Jesus”

Transitions,” Cronin explained that real navigating in relationships takes tension and attention. She encouraged students to pick an orienting point, or what matters most to them, to focus on throughout the relationship.

Cronin outlined three important transitions to focus on in relationships. The first one is stepping up. Stepping up to a relationship takes the virtue of courage, and can often be very difficult. The second is moving on, which is deciding whether to continue a relationship or break it off. This transition takes the virtue of trust, or being able to trust your own judgment in decision making. The last transition is breaking through, which is breaking through to a new phase of your relationship. This takes honesty with yourself and your partner.

Cronin emphasized the idea of self-knowledge in “making the move.” In order to have greater self-knowledge, we need to know what we desire and what we fear in these relationships. We should ask ourselves reflective questions and find one good friend to help us navigate our relationships.

What we need as our guiding point to look towards in our relationships is goodness.

The ultimate aim of our relationships should be to gain the freedom to love better. Cronin acknowledged that she is asking us to go out and try to get our hearts broken, but she argued that nothing is more worth being scared about.

Cronin ended by quoting Pope Francis, who said that the most frightening thing is to make ourselves to be people who are not moved by somebody else. We need to be people who can show others that they matter. This applies to all kinds of relationships, and if we do not break through in these relationships, we risk being people who cannot be moved.

On Sunday, February 16, the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning hosted its third annual John Paul II Lecture in JewishChristian relations. The lecture was given by the renowned Rev. Dr. Christian M. Rutishauser S.J. of Switzerland. He is the current provincial of the multilingual community of the Jesuit Society in Switzerland. Fr. Rutishauer completed his doctorate at the University of Lucerne and has since published numerous articles and lectures on Jewish-Christian themes in Rome and Munich.

The lecture was structured into four sections: Rediscovering the Origins of Christianity, the Fruits of Nostra Aetate, the restoration of the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, and the Day of Judaism.

The first section focused on the historical and theological beginnings of the Christian faith and its relationship to Judaism. During Jesus’s time on earth, Judaism was a multifaceted phenomenon with a “disproportionately great impact on the dominant Pagan hedonistic society.” Jewish life was centered on the Temple, the scene of liturgical rites, the place where Jewish laws were interpreted, and most importantly, the embodiment of belief in God. When the Romans destroyed the temple, Jewish culture had to be redefined and reorganized, prompting the emergence of two religious movements: the messianic and the rabbinic movements. Both movements shared the core elements of faith, but interpreted them differently.

The messianic movement developed into Christianity, while the rabbinic movement comprises the modern Jewish religion.

The second section focused on the Vatican II document entitled, Nostra Aetate, which addresses the church’s relationship to nonChristian religions. In the text, Judaism is not regarded in the external manner that other religions are treated. When reflecting on the nature of Christianity, one inevitably encounters Judaism.

“The church is tied to the synagogue. Whenever this relationship is denied or repressed, the core of the Christian message is reduced

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and misinterpreted. If Christianity forgets its relationship with Judaism, it begins to exhibit anti-Judaic behavior, since it cannot then refrain from putting itself in the place of the Jews in its reading of Sacred Scripture. This would make the Church the sole recipient of the Hebrew Bible and would deny the Jewish right to exist,” said Fr. Rutishauer.

The focal point of the lecture was addressed in the third section regarding the desire for the reinstatement of the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ. This feast day was celebrated on January 1st before its abolition in 1960. Circumcision marks the Jewish male’s entry into the Covenant with God. Jesus partook of this tradition, bearing significant theological implications.

The first of these is the correlation between baptism and circumcision.

“Circumcision, as a mark of the covenant for the Jews, correlates with the act of immersion in Baptism,” Fr. Rutishauser said.

“Like circumcision, Baptism creates religious identity and confers membership of the people of God.” He further argues that Baptism and circumcision have the shared purpose of “dying to sin.”

A second implication relates circumcision to the beauty of procreation and sexuality. “Sexuality must be acknowledged as an integral aspect of the state of being created,” said Fr. Rutishauser.

Finally, the blood shed during circumcision is associated with the blood of Christ shed on the cross.

“The sacrifice of the foreskin, a sign made on the male member, stands for the sacrifice that underpins all cultural development. It corresponds to the sacrifice of the cross that confronts the destructive forces of death,” explained Fr. Rutishauser.

Fr. Rutishauser ended his lecture by advocating the celebration of the Day of Judaism in the United States, which most European countries celebrate on the 17 of January. The day emphasizes the Church’s Jewish heritage and promotes dialogue between the two faiths.

World News

WORLD NEWS

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

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New Evidence Suggests the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin GJERGJI EVANGJELI New research from a group of Italian scientists pression results in the production of neutrons Matthew records two instances of earthquake, suggests that the image of the Shroud of Turin through a Low Energy Nuclear Reaction. one at the moment of Christ’s death and one at was likely caused by neutron radiation during an The Italian team of scientists believes that this His Resurrection, which could be an aftershock. earthquake in AD 33. The scientists published phenomenon could account for both the inaccu- In addition, the first century historian Thalos their findings in a paper on February 11. rate results of the carbon dating and the impresrecords that there was an earthquake and an In 1988, the Vatican sent a set of samples from sion made on the Shroud, which has puzzled eclipse during Passover. That work is lost, but the the Shroud to be examined by several laboratoscientists ever since the Shroud came under pub- account of the earthquake is preserved in Julius ries in Europe regarding the possible carbon dat- lic attention in 1898. According to this theory, Africanus’ writings, who argues against Thalos ing of the artifact. The consensus of that an eclipse would be impossible at the results indicated that the Shroud the time of Passover, since Passover falls was concocted during the medieval on a full moon. He, however, accepts the By calculating the seismic activity at the time, age, ranging somewhere between 1260 account of the earthquake. The NOAA scientists have concluded that the earthquake likely records a significant earthquake in Jerusaand 1390. These findings, however, registered an 8 or 9 on the Richter scale, which did not conform to the historical lem in AD 33 and calculates the damage would provide ample neutron emissions for the to have been about $1-5 million. By caltimeline of the Shroud, which some reactions necessary to produce the effects seen in culating the seismic activity at the time, historians argue could be traced back as far as the second century in Byzscientists have concluded that the earththe Shroud. antium. In 1989, Phillips and Hedges quake likely registered an 8 or 9 on the published an article in the scientific Richter scale, which would provide ample magazine Nature, arguing that neuneutron emissions for the reactions necestron radiations could provide an explanation for the image is produced through thermal neutron sary to produce the effects seen in the Shroud. the excess amount of Carbon 14 found in the imaging, a process similar to X-Ray imaging. AcThough the theory seems to be sound, the Shroud that led to the later dating. This argucording to this theory, the imprint on the cloth Shroud itself needs to be tested to see whether ment was dismissed, however, since there was would be explained by the release of protons neutron radiation is responsible for the imno reason to assume that there were any neutron from the nitrogen atoms (creating electricity and, pression in the Shroud. This has led a group of emissions. as a byproduct, combustion) and that reaction scientists to petition Pope Francis to allow them Research by Carpinteri shows otherwise. Foland the reason why the Shroud was dated to be to conduct tests in order to definitively prove lowing an observation by Russian scientists that thirteen centuries later than it was by neutron the correctness of this theory and are currently a neutron flux of approximately three levels of capture. The two processes convert N714 to C614, waiting for the Vatican’s response. Although the magnitude over the normal level occurred duraccounting for the excess of Carbon 14 and com- Vatican has never officially made a pronounceing an earthquake of the 4th degree in the Richbustion, accounting for the three-dimensional ment on the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, ter scale, the Laboratory of Fracture Mechanics imprint on the Shroud. it is clear that the general opinion is optimistic. at the Politecnico di Torino conducted studies to The theory that there was an earthquake near Pope Francis announced last month that an explain the phenomenon. Their findings suggest Passover in AD 33 is supported by both Bibliexposition of the Shroud would take place bethat the fracture of very brittle rocks in comcal and secular sources. The Gospel according to tween April and August 2015 in Turin.

CDF Prefect Gerhard Müller Created Cardinal Cont’d From Page 1 In fact, the Freiburg document went so far as to suggest that there could be the possibility of some form of prayer service for those entering in non-sacramental civil unions, which would bear a significant resemblance to a wedding ceremony. In opposing this, Cardinal Müller quoted form Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris Consortio pointing out that, “The respect due to the sacrament of Matrimony, to the couples themselves and their families, and also to the community of the faithful, forbids any pastor, for whatever reason or pretext even of a pastoral nature, to perform ceremonies of any kind for divorced people who remarry.”

In a February 13 lecture given to the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy in Milan, Müller seemed to hold the recent survey that has made much noise in the Catholic world in little regard. While he once again reaffirmed his position on the circumstances of those divorced and remarried, the cardinal did not seem to be bothered by the fact that the survey shows a substantial number of Catholics going against official Church teachings, especially in the matter of sexual and marital ethics. In response to this seeming controversy, Müller calmly responded that, “There’s no one who can’t see the mistake and the myopia of using e-mail to indiscriminately sound out everyone’s opinions on the Internet.” Such a statement comes in contrast with that of other German bishops, including Walter Cardinal Casper, who has recently gone on record saying that the Church’s position on these issues can and will be changed.

The gist of the lecture given in Milan was a proper understanding of sensus fidelium, which refers to the belief that the Church should reflect the beliefs of the people. He, however, rejected the idea that this somehow constitutes an ecclesiastical democracy and pointed out that the proper understanding of that phrase should be sensus fidelium in Ecclesia, which stresses the importance that the popular understanding of the people must be rooted in the “insuperable and indispensable” sources of doctrine in the Church, i.e. Scripture and Tradition.

Given this background and the fact that Cardinal Mül-

ler is currently in the process of editing the collected works of the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, many people have chosen to cast him as a problematic figure for what they say is a more moderate and doctrinally-lax pope. The Pope’s decision to include Müller in the first group of new cardinals for his pontificate, however, may help one to correctly understand the position of both the head of the CDF and the Holy Father. It seems that despite what some may have suggested, the difference between Pope Francis and his predecessor may be only a difference in pastoral tone and style rather than a substantial difference in doctrine. The Pope’s decision to name Müller a cardinal may, moreover, serve to bolster Müller’s authority as head of the CDF while he continues to spar intellectually with his fellow German bishops in the lead up to this fall’s synod on issues of family life.

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World News

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

Ukrainian Christians Stand Firm amid Chaos JAY CHIN As tensions rise between the pro-European Ukrainian populace and the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, Christians have continuously called for peace and have provided sanctuary and relief for protesters throughout these weeks of violence.

The Ukraine is a nation in the midst of an identity crisis. The country is divided between ethnic Ukrainians, mostly concentrated in the eastern part of the country, and ethnic Russians, found in the west. There has been an influx of Russian culture for the last 250 years, beginning with Catherine the Great’s conquest of Ukrainian lands and continuing up to the fall of the Soviet Union. The current president, Viktor Yanukovych, ethnically Russian, ended negotiations to bring the nation into the European Union and instead chose to accept $15 billion from Russia’s president Vladimir Putin back in November of last year. This has led ethnic Ukrainians, who wish to break away from Russia definitely, to stage a series of protests, not only expressing grievances over Yanukovych’s foreign policies, but also the manner in which he runs the nation, calling him a corrupt autocrat. President Yanukovych, in turn, has passed laws limiting the extent to which they can protest. And this led to the current pandemonium that broke out mid-January.

Christendom in the Ukraine has a complicated history as well. It has been divided between those who support communion with Rome and those who support union with the Orthodox community since the Union of Brest in 1596, when the Ukrainian Church became the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The reason for the switch of jurisdictions was due to the extent of Polish Orthodox dominance over the Church, which many saw as unjust. Those who nevertheless supported Orthodoxy existed as an Exarchate under the Moscow Patriarchate until 1992 and it is now the only church in full communion with Eastern Orthodoxy. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was banned by the Soviet Union in 1948 and only existed as a clandestine organization, with its member persecuted and killed in several instances, until 1989. There are also the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, founded in 1921 in response to the downfall of the Russian Empire, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, which was founded in 1922 as a response to the Orthodox Church’s desire to become autocephalous.

The Greek Catholic Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk has been extremely vocal, saying that it is the role of the clergy to be present during the protests to serve those who have historically been oppressed. He expressed this a month after his church was threatened with the termination of official state recognition. Kiev Patriarch Filaret Denisenko urged Yanukovych to sign the European Union agreement. Metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan too has called for peace; but he has been quieter, for his ties to the Moscow Patriarchate put him in a more difficult situation.

The Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which includes not just Byzantine Christians but Latin Rite Catholics and Protestants, released a joint statement in which they urged all Ukrainians to “recognize their responsibility for maintaining a unified Ukrainian state.” They emphasized the need to look beyond what divides the citizens, continuing, “It is necessary to demonstrate brotherly and sisterly love for fellow citizens, despite their origin, language, or religion. Incitement to hatred due to ethnic and religious differences is unacceptable.”

Images have surfaced on the Internet demonstrating that the clergy has kept to its word in regards to its people. They have offered the sacraments, medical aid and sanctuary since the day the violence began. A priest who identified himself as Fr. Matthew told Catholic News Service of how the Ukrainian authorities destroyed a makeshift chapel, shot a man in front of a cathedral and had started ramming the doors of a church to arrest resting protesters. “In the name of God, we condemn violence, ruthlessness and the ignoring of human rights and the will of the nation,” said Archbishop Siyatoslav last Wednesday.

In most recent events, protesters have asserted their authority in Kiev.

Parliament has now begun passing decrees to meet their demands. The most significant motion passed thus far is the release of Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s opposition rival, who was arrested in 2011 on the basis of corruption of office. The president fled Kiev at an unknown point between February 21st and 22nd. A presidential election has been called for on May 25. An interim prime minister is expected to be installed by Tuesday to overlook the administrative affairs until the elections. The casualties have been many, with the death toll up to 82 according to the Health Ministry and over 100 according to protesters.

House Passes Bill to Completely Ban Taxpayer Funded Abortions ALEXANDER MARSLAND On January 28th, the House of Representatives passed a bill to ensure that taxpayers do not directly fund abortions, and to restore the conscience protection regulation that was rescinded in a 2011 executive order. The House voted 227-188 in favor of the bill, primarily along party lines, with the exceptions of 6 Democrats voting for and one Republican against.

A new study by the Kaiser Foundation found that 6.1 million women would gain elective abortion coverage through the Medicaid expansion and new federal premium subsidies.

The bill intends to codify the Obama administration’s executive order that denied taxpayer funding of abortion under the Affordable Care Act. The Obama administration threatened to veto the bill, asserting that the Affordable Care Act prohibits federal funds for abortion. This seems to be the general premise of the Democrats’ opposition to the bill: “There is no taxpayer funding for abortion,” Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said. “The Affordable Care Act does not change that.” Provided the results of a CNN survey last

year showed Americans oppose public funding of abortion by a margin of 61% to 35%, this is probably a necessary position for Democrats to take, especially those facing upcoming elections in competitive districts.

Many Democrats seem to be relying on the fact that the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, performs the same function. It is routinely attached to annual appropriation and HHS bills.

Its principles were not, however, included in the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and the Obama administration issued an executive order to extend the Hyde Act to the bill.

The Republican majority in the House, however, highlighted a clear violation of the Hyde Amendment pointed out that tax credits will pay for insurance plans that will include elective abortions. The bill, therefore, is intended to explicitly apply its principles to specific programs created by the Affordable Care Act. This argument receives support from the fact that more than 20 states have barred abortion coverage through the health care plans in the exchange.

If the bill does not in fact grant taxpayer funding

for abortion, the actions of these states would seem unlikely.

The bill would bar this coverage for the remaining states, and the District of Columbia, which created another debate. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of the district criticized the bill for “snatching power from a local jurisdiction.”

While it is likely that the bill will never make it past the Senate and the Obama administration has already vowed to stop it cold if it comes to the hands of the President, it serves the threefold purpose of amplifying the Republican message that the administration is failing to implement its own law properly, adding to the pro-life credentials of Republicans from red states, and contrasting the position taken by the administration and senate with that of 60% of the country. The efficacy of this strategy remains to be seen, but the bill could have had some effect on the administration’s decreasing popularity.

World News

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UN Report on Child Sexual Abuse within the Vatican Sparks Backlash SOFIA INFANTE A United Nations Committee Report released by the UN Committee for the Rights of Child has ignited a firestorm of criticism from Catholic Church officials and leaders who accuse it of manipulating the child sex scandal to impose secular views and change Church doctrine, while ignoring the Church’s advancements in the area of child protection. The report, released on February 5, called for the Vatican to open its files to public review, enforce mandatory reporting to law enforcement officials, stating, “[The Vatican] has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators.” The report also made recommendations concerning the Church’s views on same-sex marriage, contraception, and abortion.

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, commented that the committee’s recommendations would have more credibility “if it also worked to protect the most basic right of a child: the right to live.” She also highlighted the Church’s commitment to facing the problem of sexual abuse by pointing out reforms instituted

by Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis in order to “strengthen the Church’s handling of sexual abuse”. The report’s recommendations regarding child sexual abuse have been criticized for betraying a misun-

derstanding of the structure of the Church.

Austin Ivereigh, founder of Catholic Voices, an organization of lay faithful who defend the Church’s teaching in the public sphere, accused the report of ignoring the local quality of the Church by mischaracterizing

it as “the command and control centre of an army, or the HQ of a multinational.”

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, branded the report outdated, remarking, “It is very difficult, I think, to find other institutions or even other states that have done so much specifically for the protection of children,” He noted

that the Church’s social teachings ensure that “that children be protected before and after birth.” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (RFla.) acknowledged that the Report serves as a legitimate reminder of the obligation to protect children, but that in seeking to make changes to Church doctrine, it “overreached in its efforts to discredit the Catholic Church’s core teachings”. He noted, “In doing so, the U.N. - with the seemingly limitless worldwide injustices it could be condemning or investigating - trampled on the religious-freedom principles outlined in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

The report has been acknowledged as a powerful reminder of the growing problem of sexual abuse and our obligation to prevent it and to seek justice, but it has also garnered criticism for misunderstanding the nature of the Church, neglecting to acknowledge improvements made during the past two decades, and for attempting to obstruct religious freedom by asking the Church to change Her doctrine. Calling the report, a “lost opportunity” Sr. Walsh commented, “Defense of religious freedom is no small matter in a world where people, including children, get murdered for simply going to Church”.

Vatican Considers for Beatification 16th Century Samurai LIBBIE STEINER A 16th-century samurai is currently being considered for beatification following last year’s application to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints by the Conference of Japanese Bishops. Takayama Ukon, born in 1552, was baptized at age 12 by Jesuit priest Fr. Gaspare di Lella after his father’s conversion to Catholicism. He and his family were members of the daimyo class of feudal Japan, who controlled vast swaths of land and were entitled to hiring samurai and building up armies. The Japanese Conference of Bishops hopes to at least begin the process of beatification and canonization ahead of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Takayama’s death in 2015.

Christianity was first introduced to the islands of Japan in 1549 by the well-known Jesuit priest St. Francis Xavier, who, along with six other men (including St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, and St. Peter Faber, only recently canonized by Pope Francis this past December), was among the first to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience into the newly-founded Jesuit Order in 1534. Xavier was the first Jesuit in India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Borneo. The missionaries began to convert the Japanese and, though eventually expelled by Emperor Toyotomi Hideyosi in 1587, Jesuits such as Xavier made a lasting impact in the region.

The first church in Kyoto was established by Takayama and his family shortly after their conversion. Given his high position as a member of the daimyo class in Japanese society, Takayama was able to support missionary activities in Japan and serve as a guardian of the Jesuit fathers and Japanese Christians. Takayama and his family may have had a role in the conversion of tens of thousands of Japanese people of all classes.

In 1587, Emperor Toyotomi Hideyosi began persecuting all Christians in Japan, particularly the Jesuit priests (St. Francis Xavier and Gaspare di

Lella being among them) and other Christian missionaries in Japan. Many of the converted Japanese quickly stopped identifying as Christians or Catholics and thoroughly denounced their new faith in order to avoid being expelled from Japan or punished otherwise. Hideyosi had been convinced by some of his advisors that as part of his unification of Japan, the “western religion” needed to be quashed.

Takayama and his family, however, refused to renounce the Catholic Faith and continued to practice their religion despite the danger of being exiled from Japan were they to be found with objects of worship or attending Mass. Takayama lived for several years under the protection of his aristocratic friends while continuing to preach the Gospel and convert more of his friends to the Catholic faith. In 1614, when practicing Christianity was definitively banned in Japan, Takayama and 300 other Japanese Christians chose the path of exile rather than giving up their religion. Spanish Jesuits and the local Catholics welcomed the group in the Philippines when they arrived in December, 1614. On the February 4th, 1615, exactly forty days after arriving in the Philippines, Takayama died and was given a full Catholic funeral ceremony and burial.

This past October, Osaka Archbishop Leo Jun Ikenaga sent a letter to the Vatican petitioning for the process to be taken into special consideration and expedition. The Vatican answered that it would treat this case with special attention given that this would be the first individual Japanese person to be named Blessed by the Church. The Japanese Conference of Bishops as well as the half a million Japanese lay people who identify as Catholic wait anxiously and excitedly for any news from the Vatican.

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The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

The Torch is a Catholic student newspaper produced by members of the Boston College community that reports on Catholic news both on campus and in broader society and that probes the vast riches of the Church’s intellectual tradition. Taking seriously the values to which Boston College is committed as a Catholic university, The Torch desires an active and healthy exchange of ideas. Moreover, its chief end is to be a tool for the new evangelization, spreading faith in Jesus Christ as a source of conversion and new life.

There are numerous ways for you to get involved: news, photography, web design, layout, editing, etc!

E-mail bctorcheditors@gmail.com for more info.

Editor-in-Chief Christopher Canniff Managing Editor Natalie Yuhas Executive Editor/ Business Manager Stephanie Johnson Executive Editor Ethan Mack Senior Staff Columnists Nikki Elliott Mark Hertenstein Katie Rich Campus News Staff Margo Borders, Editor Erin Anderson Margaret Antonio Alessandra Luedeking Allison Shely World News Staff Gjergji Evangjeli, Editor Jay Chin Sofia Infante Alexander Marsland Libbie Steiner Website Editor Kevin Gleason Layout Editors Jasmine Rebadavia Nick Wisniewski

Lenten Regulations Abstinence- On days of abstinence, meat is not to be eaten at all. Catholics over 14 years old are bound to the obligation of abstinence, which is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent.

Fast- Catholics over 18 and up to the beginning of their 60th year are bound to the obligation of fasting, which is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, one full meal is allowed. Two other meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed.

Regarding other weekdays of Lent, participation in daily Mass and the voluntary observance of fasting is recommended. Commendable, particularly during Lent, is generosity to local, national and world programs of sharing our abundance, the traditional Lenten devotions and all the self-denial summed up in the Christian concept of mortification.

Faith Features

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

FAITH FEATURES

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Liturgy: The Vision of Benedict XVI It has been nearly a year since Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy making way for the arrival of an Argentine pontiff whose warm and accessible persona has helped begin a gradual amelioration of the public perception of the Catholic Church in broader society. The perceptual differences between Francis and Benedict, as noted by the media and the general public, I would argue, are not entirely actual. Perhaps in outer form some things have changed, but in their essence they have largely remained the same. Therefore, this seems to be an opportune moment to reassess the entire liturgical vision of Benedict XVI in relation to the liturgical practice of our current Holy Father.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, who blogs for Patheos, commented last summer about the differences between Francis and Benedict. In his estimation, the difference in perception stems from Francis’ extroversion as opposed to Benedict’s introversion. These are surely two different personality types, but the difference is not a legitimate reason in and of itself for liking one more than the other.

While Francis is seen as an affable and approachable friend, Benedict seemed to many to be a “prideful prelate concerned with silk and lace and not with people.”

As Longenecker noted, this is “a deeply unfair judgment” of Benedict.

While the news media might have you believe otherwise, as someone who follows these things, I assure you Pope Benedict kissed just as many babies and embraced just as many infirm people as has Pope Francis. There are many reasons for why this misrepresentation has occurred, whether they be related to personality, perceived doctrinal orthodoxy, or manner of speech. Another one is how each man conducts himself in liturgical functions.

As the above quote from Longenecker indicates, many considered Benedict to be preoccupied with “silk and lace.” A full appreciation of Benedict’s entire liturgical vision is necessary for comprehending why it was that the apparent ostentation decried by many of his detractors was not an expression of vanity or self-aggrandizement on his part, but rather a proper expression of man’s humility before the mystery and power of our Eucharistic Lord.

In 2000, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote his principal liturgical work entitled The Spirit of the Liturgy. Far from being a scholarly exploration of liturgical theory and praxis, it was meant to convey to the common Catholic what the liturgy is in its essence and how, therefore, man ought to approach it. While relatively short, the work is rich in profound theological reflections about our liturgy. There are far too many things in it for me to adequately convey Ratzinger’s complete vision, so I will focus on a few key insights that are central to his thought.

CHRIS CANNIFF

Liturgical vestments are something that Ratzinger only dedicated four pages to; however, this is one very noticeable and often discussed area of difference between him and Pope Francis. Many criticized Pope Benedict for being showy and gaudy due to his choice of vestments – his supposed preoccupation with “silk and lace.” However, when he speaks of them briefly in The Spirit of the Liturgy, he is quick to underscore that the vestments have nothing to do with the personality or will of the priest. “What is merely, private, merely individual, about him should disappear and make way for Christ…It is not he himself who is important, but Christ. It is not he himself whom he is communicating to men, but Christ,” says Ratzinger. He acts in persona Christi, as the tradition tells us. All of the Pauline language of “putting on Christ” is appropriated by Ratzinger as further support for the use of particular liturgical vestments; this is a “dynamic image, bearing on the transformation of man and the world, the new humanity.”

Another charge frequently leveled against Benedict was that his preference for worship ad orientem – facing toward the liturgical east, looking toward the heavenly Jerusalem and the direction of Christ’s Second Coming – was a sign of clericalism, the priest turning his back on the people. However, he goes into great detail about the importance of this orientation in liturgy.

Today, “less and less is God in the picture. More and more important is what is done by the human beings who meet here and do not like to subject themselves to a ‘pre-determined pattern.’ The turning of the priest toward the community has turned the community into a selfenclosed circle. In its outward form, it no longer opens out on what lies ahead and above, but is closed in on itself,” says Ratzinger. Instead, ad orientem is “...much more a question of priest and people facing the same direction, knowing that together they were in procession toward the Lord. They did not close themselves into a circle; they did not gaze at one another; but as the pilgrim People of God they set off for the Oriens, for the Christ who comes to meet us.”

Ultimately, Ratzinger thinks that the essence of the liturgy consists in encountering Mystery. He says, “In the liturgy the curtain between heaven and earth is torn open, and we are taken up into a liturgy that spans the whole cosmos.” All of these external signs for which he was critiqued as pope, were actually at the service of this vision, at the service of immersing the People of God in the cosmic liturgy of praise for Christ.

Pope Francis’ liturgical style is markedly different from Pope Benedict’s. This Continued on Next Page

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The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

Faith Features

Liturgy Cont’d much is quite plain to see. Nevertheless, I am certain that Pope Francis believes, like his predecessor, that encounter with Mystery through participation in the cosmic liturgy is the essence of our liturgical worship. The solemn manner in which he conducts himself while celebrating Mass is evidence of this.

His vestments are simpler, and many attribute this to his personality which is more oriented toward solidarity with the poor. But the use of more ornate vestments and the precise following of liturgical rubrics and laws are not superfluous, as shown by Ratzinger, nor are they in opposition to solidarity with the poor, who need beauty just as much as they need

food and clothing. While it may be in accord with Francis’ personality to simplify his celebration of the Mass, these things are not about him; rather, they are about putting on Christ who is acting through him. These things are at the service of the liturgy, not the individual.

Pope Benedict did not make the choices he made in order to make the Mass about himself. Similarly, I do not think that Pope Francis is choosing the simpler things to make the Mass about himself. It is simply the style he is used to; it was part of his formation and entire life as a priest to do things this way. While I think that Pope Benedict’s choices are more beneficial in conveying the transcendence of the Mystery, those who critique Pope Francis for his simpler choices, need to see that the essence of the liturgy between both pontificates is the same – encounter with our Risen Eucharistic Lord.

Pro-Life: Human Beings and Human Persons KATE CONROY I have often been asked if Peter Singer’s dedraw an objective line in the sands of human raises is how we define human person if being a fense of infanticide is a joke. The response to his development to mark the change from human human being is not enough. If our definition of argument is usually, “Is he being serious?” or, non-person to human person, we could not. human person does not include all human beings “This is satire right?”

The lines of human development are and always then naturally it will exclude some.

Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton will be blurred. As with any sort of continuum Historically, whenever we define the human University, and he is very serious. Although of development, there is no identifiable moment person to exclude certain human beings from many find his arguments for infantibeing considered full human persons we cide repulsive and dismiss him as crazy, allow atrocities to occur. The most nothey are wrong to do so. Singer’s argutable circumstances of this are slavery, In a just society, can we allow for the possibility of ment is based in the scientific evidence women’s inequality, and the holocaust. murdering humans simply because it is possible that they Denying a state of personhood to a that there is no significant difference might not truly be persons? between a fetus that cannot be aborted human being is nothing short of dehuand a newborn child. He questions why manization and objectification. Is this a we consider one precious and the other road we want to go down again? disposable. You might be thinking this Singer’s argument – despite his intensounds a great deal like the pro-life movement’s when a baby or fetus ceases to be a non-person tions and conclusions – supports the pro-life arargument – it does, except for one big difference: and becomes a person. The only moment when gument more than the pro-choice. His reasoning Singer believes that “after-birth abortion” should there is a definite change is the moment of conis sound up until he claims that a human being is be legal. ception. At this moment there is something new not necessarily a human person. In a just sociSinger believes that the error the pro-life that was not before. The fertilized embryo is not ety, can we allow for the possibility of murdering movement makes is that we equate a human simply a development of the sperm and egg, but humans simply because it is possible that they being with a human person. He posits that a hu- the beginning of a human being. Thus the only might not truly be persons? Excluding some human being needs to be self-aware in order to be clear line occurs at conception. man beings from the domain of human persons considered a human person with a right to life Still, perhaps this young human being is not will always be an arbitrary definition. The only (or any other rights for that matter). However, a human person and thus not deserving of any reason to do so is to take advantage of the ones he does not give any reason that makes this disrights. Pretending that we could define a mowho are being excluded. tinction more than an arbitrary line in the sand. ment when a non-person changes into a person, Even if we were to imagine that it is okay to what would that moment be? The question this

Faith Features

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Music: Indiana Jones Would Sing “In Christ Alone” MARY VASILE I have a confession to make. I have been singing in the Liturgy Arts Group for close to three years, but when I first encountered LAG at the 9pm Mass in Trinity Chapel, I was not a fan of the song selection. In my defense (I can hear a chorus of outraged voices rippling out before me), I had grown up going every Sunday to a country stone church, with an organ, and a lot of songs set to traditional Irish airs, or strong power hymns like “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Here, instead, were all these songs that sounded a lot like “Songs 4 Worship.” From time to time, for reasons unbeknownst to me, a song required a clapping congregation and a swaying choir. I am a very awkward clapper and swayer. Even three years has not helped that.

Yet for some reason, in the March of my freshman year, I found myself, with trembling hands, walking up to the director Jojo David and almost apologizing to him for wanting to join LAG. With a reassuring smile, he told me, “Better late than never!”

I knew going in that the songs coming up on the docket weren’t going to be the songs of my childhood. I got used to it. Eventually I loosened up and enjoyed it! The songs were youthful and energetic and fun to sing. Sometimes, though, I must admit, I missed those old familiar hymns like “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” or “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.”

And then one day we sang “In Christ Alone.”

Have you ever heard “In Christ Alone?” Okay, just in case you haven’t, let me describe it to you.

Imagine the most peaceful moment you have ever experienced, one in which a soothing blue

curtain came down and shielded you from all the bright, loud, jarring colors of the world. Now imagine that in that most peaceful moment you are surrounded by people who love you. And the whole time, you are being lifted gently over undulating waves of rhythm and melody.

A little melodramatic to describe it this way?

Perhaps, but bear with me.

I experienced such a moment, standing among the altos during communion, enveloped in resonating voices all singing as one. A swelling sound with no soprano or alto or tenor or bass. Just the melody, rising and cascading. Usually, I am one for harmonies and big boisterous melodies, but not in this case. The simplicity of singing in unison soothed all the aches and cares I had accrued that week. Even the lyrics were eloquent in their simplicity. Here, for instance, is the opening line.

“In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song.”

I love the parallel structure here: My light. My strength. My song. It is clear and confident, and it elicits all the abstract and personal connotations with which each individual understands his relationship with God. Yet the phrase is so simple.

And that, I realize, is the beauty of “In Christ Alone.” The power of its simplicity.

To elaborate on this simple beauty and why it’s important anyway, I will, if I may, make a non-musical allusion and bring in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (which I do whenever even remotely possible). In the movie, when presented with all the gorgeously ornate possible Holy Grails that are made of silver and gold, and

encrusted with jewels and pearls, Indy points to one and says, “That’s the cup of a carpenter.” He chooses the simplest, most unimposing cup that is hidden away behind all the others. This is the cup that heals.

And for me, that Grail is this song. Simplicity is not something our generation usually embraces. We carry all the trappings of this world with us, and, more often than not, they weigh us down. We cherish all the glistening gems and distractions the world offers, and we clutch them tightly to us. We are so afraid of what might happen if we loosen our grip on them for a moment, put down the phone, or stop thinking about the next paper that’s due. We hold on to them for so long that eventually the gemstones have dug into our palms, and we have huge, ornate chains about our necks.

This song is the unadorned hand that lifts that chain from my neck. A hand with no fancy cufflinks, rings, bracelets, or gems. A reminder that glittering jewels are something, but they’re not everything.

I have found no recording of “In Christ Alone” that I really adore, which troubled me until a few days ago. While writing this article, I asked my roommate, “How do you talk about music?” Her response was so perfect and simple: “You sing.” And I realized—that’s where I am going to encounter Christ. In simplicity. When I sing. He is my light, my strength, my song.

Catholicism 101: Ash Wednesday ALLISON R. SHELY A Catholic does not, in fact, have to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday. between meals; no meat, unless it is seafood. Fridays during Lent are also Nevertheless, churches will be packed this Ash Wednesday, March 5, to meatless. In addition, since the season of Lent is one of self-restraint and mark the beginning of Lent. For the Catholic Boston College student only simplicity, a lobster dinner may not be a great substitute for a burger or halfway through Spring Break, this may seem like good news. Why fuss Steak ‘n’ Cheese from Mac. The Directory points out that fasting is not with finding a Mass while on vacation? Why worry about getting an awksimply an empty symbol or a crash diet, but “an ‘exercise’ which frees the ward blotchy spot in your tan from where the ashes were? What’s the point faithful from earthly concerns so as to discover… ‘Man does not live by of this silly ritual? bread alone, but by every word that Lent is the liturgical season stretchcomes from the mouth of God’ (cf. Dt ing from Ash Wednesday across six 8,3; Mt 4, 4; Lk 4,4; antiphon for the weeks to the evening of Holy Thursday. first Sunday of Lent).”

Fasting also allows believers to live in solidarity Not counting Sundays, this adds up to Fasting also allows believers to live 40 days. As noted in the Directory on in solidarity with those who are dewith those who are deprived by circumstance Public Piety and the Liturgy, the Lenten prived by circumstance and to save and to save their spiritual and physical resources season was originally the final period of their spiritual and physical resources to aid the needy. preparation before baptism. For those to aid the needy. It is common practice receiving baptism or coming into full to fast not merely from food, but also communion with the Catholic Church, from spiritual distractions and bad the season remains as such, but it is habits. Inversely, many people also take now also intended for all the faithful to up good habits or spiritual exercises, renew the promises of their own bapsuch as attending Mass or saying the tism. rosary daily. As a word of advice, try not to tackle a problem or fault so The ashes received on Ash Wednesday once came from the burned relarge that you become discouraged and give up by Thursday. This season is mains of the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. As the Directory meant to be one of growth, both as individuals and a community of believrecalls, ashes have been a symbol of penitence since ancient times. They ers. symbolize the need to convert, to reconcile with neighbor, and to return to By observing Lent, Catholics aim to strengthen our shared faith in God. The actions undertaken as part of penitence are traditionally classed Christ as we walk together towards Calvary and, from there, to the empty as “prayer, fasting, and good works.” tomb.

Ash Wednesday, like Good Friday, is a day of fasting and abstinence from eat for Catholics. A summary of the guidelines: only one full meal can be eaten, with two smaller ones taken to maintain strength; no snacks

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Faculty Columns

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

FACULTY COLUMNS Ignatian Indifference MARINA MCCOY

Marina McCoy is Associate Professor of Philosophy, specializing in ancient philosophy and literature with a particular emphasis on Plato, the sophists, and rhetoric. Her most recent book, Wounded Heroes: Vulnerability as a Virtue in Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy (Oxford) was published in October 2013.

In Ignatian spirituality, the term “indifference” is central. The idea of “indifference” points back to the “Principle and Foundation” of the Spiritual Exercises, in which “we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly with all the rest.” For the purpose of life is to know, to love, and to serve God. Slowly, we learn that all conditions of life can draw us ever closer to Love.

Most of us have “inordinate attachments”: created things that pull us away from God. But no created thing can truly satisfy us. As Augustine wrote in his Confessions, we have a sense of “restlessness” in our hearts, a depth of longing that no person or object can ever fully satisfy—only God. Our tendency is to get “hooked” on one created good. Augustine’s own temptations included: sex, earning professional respect as a court rhetorician, and clinging to grief over a friend who died. But examples abound.

I know a man who was so passionate about watching his favorite sports teams every weekend that seeing every game was a “must.” Later in life, he regretted having missed other activities with his (now adult) children, who had longed for his attention.

But “indifference” does not mean asceticism, or lack of care about our family, work, friendships, or any of our “loves” (even sports!). God wants us to be passionate and engaged, yet also able to let go again so that new people and activities may enter into our lives.

A helpful image of indifference came to me in prayer many years ago: the sword Excalibur of Arthurian legend. Arthur received the sword when

a mysterious hand thrust it out of a lake. On one side of the sword were the words: “Take it up.” On the other side: “Cast it away.” The strength of the sword was not only in the blade, but also in its wisdom. While Arthur used the sword in many battles, by the end of his reign he knew to return it to the lake. As he cast it into the water, the hand retrieved it to the murky depths again.

This image has continually been helpful to me in negotiating the many changes of life: new responsibilities at my job; adapting to growing children with different needs; friends who move away for work; the death of a beloved family member; new colleagues and connections. The challenge is to discern and to choose what to take up, what to set down, to try to follow God’s lead with a little more grace and a little less “kicking and screaming”.

Ignatius, too, lay down his sword and dagger on the altar of Our Lady at Montserrat, leaving behind a life as a knight and solider in order to become a pilgrim. While he traded in his courtly clothing for the poor tunic of a beggar, Ignatius would also wear the clothing of student, priest, companion, and administrator. All these were ways that he “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). But I also like to imagine that when Ignatius put down the sword of battle, he picked up the sword of indifference, a sword of service and of love.

Blessed John XXIII National Seminary and Boston College Connections CHARLES J. HEALEY, S.J. Fr. Charles J. Healey, S.J. is a member of the Jesuit Community at Boston College and has been a member of the University Chorale for roughly 40 years. He is currently professor of systematic and spiritual theology at Blessed John XXIII Seminary and is presently writing a history of the Seminary as part of the observance of its 50th anniversary.

Boston College has recently completed a successful celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of its founding. It is well to note that there is another nearby institution celebrating its 50th anniversary this year that has a number of connections with Boston College. The institution is Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, MA, founded in 1964.

Richard Cardinal Cushing, the Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970, announced in 1963: “I have decided with God’s help, with the approval of the Holy See and with the aid of generous benefactors to build that seminary in the Archdiocese of Boston as a National Seminary for older men, endowed with the necessary educational and spiritual qualities who have been called by God to His Holy Priesthood. Construction will begin before the end of this year.”

This new seminary in Weston would have a unique and novel mission.

It was to be established for the training of older vocations, men called to the priesthood at an older age and thus coming to their seminary studies with much life experience. At that time there was no other seminary for this purpose in the United States, and in the world for that matter, with the exception of the Pontifical Beda Seminary in Rome, established by the bishops of England in 1898.

Archbishop (later Cardinal) Dino Staffa, Secretary of the Congregation of Seminaries, was present as the personal representative of Pope Paul VI for the formal dedication of the Seminary in Weston on September 5, 1964.

In the presence of the rector/president, faculty, and many invited guests, Cardinal Cushing consecrated the chapel, dedicated the building, and formally opened the doors of the new building. One of the founding faculty members at this time was Fr. James W. DeAdder, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and a graduate of Boston College.

On September 7, 1964, forty-five men, between the ages of 28 and 58 and coming from all walks of life, reported to the Seminary to begin their priestly formation. Two came from as far away as Australia, and altogether 28 different dioceses were represented. Four years later, 23 of them were ordained to the priesthood. Cardinal Cushing ordained seventeen from this number in June1968 at St. Ignatius Church on the Boston College

Campus. Since that historic beginning, over 600 priests have been ordained from the Seminary, representing some 150 dioceses and religious communities. Cardinal Cushing’s vision and dream have indeed become a reality.

A number of Jesuits from the BC Jesuit Community and others from Boston College have been affiliated with Blessed John XXIII Seminary over the course of its 50 years. I have been a professor of systematic and spiritual theology for close to 30 years, serving also as academic dean for fifteen of those years. Members of the BC theology department who later became full-time members of the seminary faculty include Frs. T. Frank Devine, S.J., William Leonard, S.J. and Paul Gilmartin, S.J., as well as former administrator, Fr. George Drury, S.J. Other full-time members of the seminary faculty with Boston College connections were Fr. Leo Manglaviti, S.J. and Fr. John Moriarty, S.J. Fr. Ronald Tacelli, S.J. of the philosophy department at BC is currently an adjunct professor in the Seminary’s pretheology program, and Professor Peter Kreeft also taught for a period in that program. Two long time professors who taught as adjunct professors after their retirement from BC were Frs. Frederick Moriarty, S.J. and John Willis, S.J. Boston College faculty members who served as members of the Seminary’s Board of Trustees include Dr. Mary Griffin, former dean of the School of Education, and Fr. Matthew Lamb and Fr. Robert Imbelli, former members of the theology department. Among the number of BC graduates who studied for the priesthood at the Seminary is Fr. Nicholas Sannella, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of Boston College.

As Blessed John XXIII National Seminary currently observes the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1964, it is fitting to note its many connections with Boston College. It is also fitting that during this anniversary year, the Seminary’s patron, Pope John XXIII, will be canonized in Rome during Easter Week of this year.

Senior Staff Columns

SENIOR STAFF COLUMNS

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

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Catholic and Strong NATALIE YUHAS

As much as I wish I could say I am constantly on top of my work I have to do, the reality is that I procrastinate more than I should. I would rather look at pictures of cute puppies on the internet than write an analytic paper on the economic policy of South Africa. I invest a lot of time into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Buzzfeed, but nothing compares to how much of my life I waste on Pinterest. Something about organizing the pictures and links however I want really captivates me. There are hours of my life that I will never get back from scouring the endless pages of fashion, food recipes, crafts, and photography. Although I enjoy a lot of the content on Pinterest, there are some posts that really bother me. One post that bothers me the most is a quote that reads: “It doesn’t matter how you’re doing on your finals as long as your future husband is acing his.” I was stunned by not only the message, but also by how many girls were eagerly re-posting it. It’s sad to think that so many girls agree with this degrading message and think it is funny.

I grew up in a very Catholic house and learned from a young age how important faith is. Years of Catholic school and Mass have formed a large part of who I am. Growing up with older brothers also helped form who I am today. Among the constant teasing, the rough housing, and the inappropriate jokes from them, I formed a layer of tough skin. Not only do I like baseball more than a lot of 20 year old girls and have the ability to out-burp my brothers to shame, but I have also grown up with the confidence that I shouldn’t settle for anything less than what I deserve and work for. I refuse to let another person define who I am and how I feel about myself. I grew up to be Catholic and to be confident.

Many people feel like Christianity is degrading to women and that to believe in God is to restrict yourself as a woman and be completely submissive. This is such a wrong way to look at being a faithful woman.

You don’t have to compromise your independence or self worth because of your faith. If anything, having faith should validate it.

There are two creation stories in the book of Genesis. In the first story, “God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:26-27). God made both man and woman in his image and at the same time. This means that both men and women have the same dignity and importance. In the second creation story, woman is created when “the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ … The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (2:18-22). In this account, God made woman out of the ribs of the man to be a partner and a helper, someone who is equal to man, not inferior to man.

What it comes down to is that, as a female, you are just as worthy and qualified as any man. Women deserve the same respect and opportunities as men. I would not be nearly where I am today without my faith, and I know that I can continue to succeed because I am a Catholic woman and I am a strong woman.

Protestant Perspective: Luther’s Legacy in Western Christianity MARK HERTENSTEIN If someone was to ask me what Luther’s legacy in Western Christianity is, that person would probably expect several different things––reformation, schism, The Freedom of a Christian, 95 Theses, sola fide, sola scriptura, even theology of the cross. I would, however, surprise them by the following quote: “Wir sind Bettler; hoc est verum.”

“We are beggars; this is true.”

It might seem strange to choose this quote among all others. It might seem strange to take this quote of Luther’s above any event or idea, but there is no other quote that so completely encompasses Luther’s theology and life than this quote.

It is, in fact, the last written statement of his, found just after his death on February 18, 1546.

In a way, I think he wrote it knowing that it was his final word on his work.

As for Luther’s person, this is his own personal statement about his life and work. Luther certainly asserted his correctness in dealing with Scripture. He certainly believed he was right, but even he had to admit that he was without knowledge. He still recognized that he was inadequate to what Scripture tried to teach and convey regarding justification, the new relationship between God and believer, but it is Luther’s theology that continues to generate controversy and discussion to this day. And therein is the genius of this last statement. It is a summation of all he sought to teach. This statement is the legacy of his theology that he has bequeathed to the West.

“We are beggars; this is true.”

He has two goals in mind with this statement.

First, as he noted as early as his Lectures on Romans, man’s bloated image of himself must be destroyed in order for us to be properly disposed for faith and grace. In other words, the false pretense and image we have of ourselves must be destroyed by God through the Law, what God requires of man and what condemns man. Only then is man in a position to recognize the gravity of his situation before God, that we have no standing and that we may only beg for mercy.

Second, of course, there is the fact that God does give grace through faith, and it is not our own work. As Christians, everything we have is given to us. We own nothing of our own, not even our works are truly our own. Thus we are to give glory to God, as others are when we do them, because it is only by God’s will and power that we can do good works. Though he may have done so polemically, this was the ultimate message of his Bondage of the Will, that humanity has no ownership of any part of its own salvation. It is powerless to save itself, and God acts alone in saving.

Not even our very existence, our being created and being creatures, is our own. That finds its ultimate origin in God’s work. Quite literally, nothing is our own on this earth.

The reason I believe that this statement is Luther’s legacy in the West is that it still upsets and challenges. Precisely because it must be repeated from time to time against some prevailing wisdom that puts man in a seat of power, Luther’s statement is his lasting legacy. It continues to challenge us, philosophically, theologically, culturally, and socially because it forces us

to realize God is Lord, man is not, and man is given greater, not lesser, responsibilities for others as a result.

The implications of Luther’s statement are enormous for our contemporary context. If nothing is our own, but everything a gift from God, perhaps we would not descend into the radical individualism or utilitarianism that so defines the modern West. This covers a host of issues that are hot topics within societies of the West: abortion, sex, and life issues; politics, economics, and social order; the use and abuse of the environment; and the list can go on.

It challenges us even more than it challenged Luther’s contemporaries because the issue of man being able to do what is within himself (facere quod in se est), so much a topic of debate and theological current at the time of Luther, has not lessened from the sixteenth century. In the wake of rationalism, the Enlightenment, and the rise of modernism/post-modernism, man’s view of himself and what he can do on his own has grown even more.

And that is why Luther’s last words still haunt, unsettle, and challenge the West––because it unseats man from his proud position as lord and master of himself and this world.

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Senior Staff Columns

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

Guidepost: Finding God in the Bookend NIKKI ELLIOTT “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2 Apart from the “G” word (cough...graduation), the only thing I have come to react strongly to throughout senior year is the superlative “last”—last football game, last time picking classes, last time walking to class as the fall leaves turn, last time having Christmas movie marathons with roommates during study days. To a certain extent, senior year can seem like a series of “lasts”, a sad realization that the college experience is fading from tradition to memory. On the flip side, however, senior year has also given rise to what I like to call “bookends”, defining moments of realization about one’s own moral, spiritual, or intellectual transformation.

Many people argue that bookends mark the beginning and end of life in its entirety, but I like to think that life is full of many bookends—careers, journeys, milestones, projects, relationships, and yes, even our college years. Between these bookends we learn, we face challenges, we see new places, we meet new people, we fall in and out of love, we make choices, we fail, we succeed, and we just live out the day-to-day. Regardless of what happens, though, the in-betweens of bookends move us forward, give us new perspectives, strengthen our character, and shape us into who we are. Unlike the cliché “things come around full circle,” which suggests ending back where we started, the bookend metaphor implies a progressive, linear journey towards maturity from some moment in our past, and presents an opportunity to see truly how much we have grown and changed.

To share an example of my own, this past fall semester I was a teaching assistant for a CSOM freshmen Portico class—a class I myself had taken as a freshman at BC. Three years later there I was, a senior, sitting in the same classroom, with the same professor, working through the same curriculum, but with a very different perspective on the class conversations. So much had happened in my three years here at BC, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to recognize the transformation between my freshman and senior year self. These bookend closures are unique to each of us; they will come at different times and take different forms. What is important for all of us, though, is that we recognize these bookends when they happen because intuitively discerning how God is working within us, how He is renewing our minds and hearts, and how He is revealing His beautiful and perfect plan is one of the most rewarding gifts we are given.

Lord, You are the greatest source of love in my life. Never let me forget that Your love is unconditional, unwavering, and unfailing in all times and circumstances. I love You, too, always. Amen.

First Impressions and Final Judgments CHRIS CANNIFF We are always told how important first impressions are, especially when going for a job interview or going on a first date. Although our good Lord said, “Judge not, that you not be judged,” many people, nevertheless, will make their final judgment about others based solely on their first impression of them. But, oh how wrong we often can be when we do this!

I have an unusually good memory when it comes to knowing other people. Even if I meet someone just one time, I often remember their face and their name long after they have forgotten mine, which can make for some awkward encounters around campus when I presume someone remembers me but they actually don’t. And so, since I am capable of remembering my first interactions with someone whom I ultimately form no relationship, just imagine how much more distinctly I remember my first encounters with those who are my friends. I formed an opinion of them in almost an instant, as most of us do, but I surely have been wrong on a number of occasions.

I remember meeting my best friend. It was freshman year of high school, and we were in the same Latin class. I wasn’t wholly wrong about what I thought of him at first, but I was wrong in some ways. I also remember meeting my two closest friends here at BC. One I met in my very first class of college, and as with my friend from high school, I now know that I was right in some respects and wrong in others. The other I met in my dorm. She says now that she doesn’t remember meeting me, but I certainly remember that encounter. The conversation we had was comical but ultimately not reflective of the totality of who she is.

In each of these instances, I saw bits and pieces of who these people are, but by no means did I fully see who they are. You can’t truly know a person by talking to them for just a few minutes. It is only through the building of a relationship that you get to know them in all their uniqueness and complexity. What a beautiful thing this is!

And I know all that, but I still sometimes make the mistake of rushing to judgment, and there have been times where I have been very, very wrong.

A year ago at this time, I was meeting lots of new people in my classes as often happens with the beginning of a new semester. I had a theology class that met once a week, and I already knew a handful of students in it, mostly fellow theology majors. However, in walked one girl whom I did not know. My first thoughts: she was pretty with her long, straight, blonde hair; she was preppy with her Longchamp handbag and her Tory Burch shoes; she was petite with her Chobani that she ate during our break halfway through the two-and-a-half hour class; she was your “typical BC girl” –– or so I thought.

In the past year, I have had the opportunity to get to know her, and I must admit that I feel quite guilty for having been so shallow as to have

assumed based on meaningless externals that she was just some generic, vapid person rather than the unique and interesting and unfailingly kind girl whom I now know. Even these laudatory adjectives are inadequate, domesticating and limiting the radical goodness she possesses, a goodness that can only be known by truly knowing her; here, language fails. This regret of mine further extends to all those whom I don’t know, whom I may have classified in the same manner and according to the same criteria as I did with this one particular girl. As Jesus said, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

What this has taught me above all else is that there are no generic people; there are no “typical BC girls” (or guys). Other people are not merely characters in the story of our life. They are so much more than that quiet kid in our English class or that obnoxious person whom we always see making a commotion at the dining hall on a Friday night. We even have this myopic perspective with people whom we know well, such as our family members. They are so much more than our sibling or our parent.

Each one has a story –– a place they came from and a place they hope to go, their own triumphs and their own personal struggles, people who love them and people whom they love.

This wrongful presumption can only be overcome by forming real relationships with others rather than maintaining our distance and clinging to our preconceptions and nicely defined categories. Aloof and judgmental, we are blinded to the flaws that we ourselves possess and to the great graces that may be operative in the lives of others. Near and loving, we can begin to see other people for who they are in themselves, their weaknesses and their strengths. Then, we are even able to acknowledge the inherent goodness that is within those whom time and circumstances do not permit us to get to know closely. Together, we can begin to help one another become “everlasting splendors” as C.S. Lewis says in “The Weight of Glory.”

But first, we must have this kind of close relationship with God, and only then will we be better able to truly love others, that is, to recognize their otherness and to actively will their good. God is a person; He is Jesus Christ. We build our relationship with Him through prayer, through scripture, and principally through the Eucharist. It is in the light of that relationship that we should form all of our other relationships with those around us. Then, when it comes time for God to make His final judgment on us, it will not be based on some inadequate first impression. He will not be able to say to us “I never knew you” as He says to some in Matthew 7.

For He will indeed know us by the love we have shared with Him and that love of His which we have shared with others.

Senior Staff Columns

The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

The New Frontier of Self-Discovery

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KATIE RICH We, the millennial generation, live in a period of self-discovery. Arguably, everything we do is geared in some way towards finding ourselves, creating ourselves, or expressing ourselves. We picked Boston College over the thousands of other institutions out there because we thought it matched our personality (which is ironic, really, because does everyone on campus have matching personalities?). We picked our major because it pulled at our heart-strings, excited that little academic nerd within each of us, or lit a fire under our ambition for success. We’re big dreamers, soul-searchers. We’re afraid to settle for not only anything less than the perfect job or the perfect person, but the perfect version of ourselves.

Is this bad? Certainly, it’s unprecedented. My grandfather was a banker in small-town Minnesota. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Scandinavia, searching for a better life. His older brother announced he did not want to go to college the night before he was set to leave. Instead, my 17-year-old grandfather packed his suitcase and the next morning headed out to Luther College. When he was unable to continue paying the $36 tuition, however, he had to drop out and transfer to the University of Minnesota. Only with this college education was he able to go on to get one of the first banking degrees offered in America.

But my grandfather wasn’t a banker because he dreamt of it since his boyhood days of counting coins for penny-candy. He was a banker

because he saw an opportunity and pounced.

Luther wasn’t his choice because of such things as a Division One athletics program, the Jesuit tradition, or beautiful Gothic architecture, but because he was handed that opportunity, and that one alone. And when $36 proved itself to be too extravagant, he was quick to transfer to the public university.

Our continent was settled by Europeans looking to discover new land. Our country was founded by patriots looking to discover a new way of life. Immigrants chased the American dream across the Atlantic and later the Pacific, searching for a better life with the promise of opportunity for their children. Those children scouted out success within that realm of opportunity. And then came the millennials. We have the land, we have the constitution, we have the promise, we have the opportunity. We stand at a crossroads, before a plethora of pathways to success. We are the product of generations on generations of explorers and pioneers, and that thirst for originality is in our blood. But what is left for us to discover besides ourselves? We are born in a swamp of narcissism, to quote my professor.

We are handed everything, and we do not know what to do with it. I’m not naïve enough to say that we do not each have our own hardships, that we don’t know what it’s like to sweat for each dollar we earn or be told that there are things we simply cannot have. But we likely weren’t told we could go to BC the night before we moved into

our freshman dorms.

We chose to come here.

We chose our majors.

We chose our peers, our clubs, where we spend our Friday nights. We chose Crest over Colgate, J. Crew over Vineyard Vines, Five-Star over Mead.

So what am I saying? That we should be grateful for our opportunity, but also be wary of it. Part of our opportunity is that we are offered a chance not only at financial success, but success in finding ourselves in our work, in realizing our life’s passion. We are given this time to search our souls that our ancestor’s never had.

We should use it, not only to find the best major or best internship or best job, but to find our best selves. Use this gift of time that was slaved over and sought after for so many generations to become not only a beautifully groomed and educated professional, but a beautifully groomed and educated soul. Try to prayerfully discover who it is that God is calling you to be, in the biggest frame of the picture, and strive after that with all your might.

Senior Staff Book Recommendations Chris Canniff // Till We Have Faces CS Lewis

Nikki Elliott // Heaven Is For Real Todd Burpo

Mark Hertenstein // Confessions St. Augustine

Ethan Mack // Great Expectations Charles Dickens

Katie Rich // Heaven in Stone and in Glass: Experiencing the Spirituality of the Great Cathedrals Fr. Robert Barron

Natalie Yuhas // Franny and Zooey J.D. Salinger

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The TORCH // Volume I, Issue 6

A Few Words From Francis “Merciful Father, by your help, may we be ever attentive to the voice of the Spirit.”

This prayer, the opening prayer of today’s Mass, reminds us of something fundamental: we are called to listen to the Holy Spirit who enlivens and guides the Church. By his creative and renewing power, the Spirit always sustains the hope of God’s People as we make our pilgrim way through history, and, as the Paraclete, he always supports the witness of Christians. In this moment, together with the new Cardinals, all of us want to listen to the voice of the Spirit as he speaks to us through the Scriptures we have just heard.

In the first reading, the Lord’s call to his people resounds: “You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). In the Gospel Jesus echoes this call: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48). These words challenge all of us, as the Lord’s disciples. Today, they are especially addressed to me and to you, dear brother Cardinals, and in a particular way to those of you who yesterday entered the College. Imitating the holiness and perfection of God might seem an unattainable goal. Yet, the first reading and the Gospel offer us concrete examples which enable God’s way of acting to become the norm for our own. Yet we – all of us – must never forget that without the Holy Spirit our efforts are in vain! Christian holiness is not first and foremost our own work, but the fruit of docility – willed and cultivated – to the Spirit of God thrice holy.

The Book of Leviticus says: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart … You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge … but you shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Lev 19:17-18).

These attitudes are born of the holiness of God. We, however, tend to be so different, so selfish and proud … and yet, God’s goodness and beauty attract us, and the Holy Spirit is able to purify, transform and shape us day by day. To make effort to be converted, to experience a heartfelt conversion: this is something that all of us – especially you Cardinals and myself – must do. Conversion!

In the Gospel Jesus also speaks to us of holiness, and explains to us the new law, his law. He does this by contrasting the imperfect justice of the scribes and Pharisees with the higher justice of the Kingdom of God. The first contrast of today’s passage refers to revenge. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you … if anyone should strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Mt 5:38-39). We are required not only to avoid repaying others the evil they have done to us, but also to seek generously to do good to them.

The second contrast refers to our enemies: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:43-44). Jesus asks those who would follow him to love those who do not deserve it, without expecting anything in return, and in this way to fill the emptiness present in human hearts, relationships, families, communities and in the entire world. My brother Cardinals, Jesus did not come to teach us good manners, how to behave well at the table! To do that, he would not have had to come down from heaven and die on the Cross. Christ

came to save us, to show us the way, the only way out of the quicksand of sin, and this way of holiness is mercy, that mercy which he has shown, and daily continues to show, to us. To be a saint is not a luxury. It is necessary for the salvation of the world. This is what the Lord is asking of us.

Dear brother Cardinals, the Lord Jesus and mother Church ask us to witness with greater zeal and ardor to these ways of being holy. It is exactly in this greater self-gift, freely offered, that the holiness of a Cardinal consists. We love, therefore, those who are hostile to us; we bless those who speak ill of us; we greet with a smile those who may not deserve it. We do not aim to assert ourselves; we oppose arrogance with meekness; we forget the humiliations that we have endured. May we always allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit of Christ, who sacrificed himself on the Cross so that we could be “channels” through which his charity might flow. This is the attitude of a Cardinal, this must be how he acts.

A Cardinal – I say this especially to you – enters the Church of Rome, my brothers, not a royal court. May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism and partiality. May our language be that of the Gospel: “yes when we mean yes; no when we mean no”; may our attitudes be those of the Beatitudes, and our way be that of holiness. Let us pray once more: “Merciful Father, by your help, may we be ever attentive to the voice of the Spirit” The Holy Spirit also speaks to us today through the words of Saint Paul: “You are God’s temple … God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are” (1 Cor 3:16-17). In this temple, which we are, an existential liturgy is being celebrated: that of goodness, forgiveness, service; in a word, the liturgy of love. This temple of ours is defiled if we neglect our duties towards our neighbor. Whenever the least of our brothers and sisters finds a place in our hearts, it is God himself who finds a place there. When that brother or sister is shut out, it is God himself who is not being welcomed. A heart without love is like a deconsecrated church, a building withdrawn from God’s service and given over to another use.

Dear brother Cardinals, may we remain united in Christ and among ourselves! I ask you to remain close to me, with your prayers, your advice and your help. And I ask all of you, bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and laity, together to implore the Holy Spirit, that the College of Cardinals may always be ever more fervent in pastoral charity and filled with holiness, in order to serve the Gospel and to help the Church radiate Christ’s love in our world.

-Homily of Pope Francis, given at St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, February 23, 2014 (Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time) in the presence of the College of Cardinals