Issue 31 - September 27, 2017

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BOSTON COLLEGE’S CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER | ESTABLISHED MMXIII

Go set the world aflame!

Volume V, Issue 1

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

The Catholic Church Responds to the Natural Disasters Domestically and Abroad

CRISTINA VILLALONGA-VIVONI

On Sunday morning after a hurricane made landfall in Texas, Father David Bergeron of the Catholic Charismatic Center navigated his kayak through the flooded streets. Why? To lead Mass and rescue survivors.

Father David’s traveling Mass is just one of many examples of the Church’s response to the myriad

of natural disasters that has devastated the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico. As the world continues to respond to the destruction, the Catholic Church has played a crucial role in the relief effort.

In late August, Hurricane Harvey ripped through the gulf coast of Texas, killing at least 60 people and

displacing 30,000. In the most affected areas, the Church has done her part to bring hope and aid to the victims. Local Knights of Columbus members have rescued survivors by boat and have provided shelter, food, and water. In addition, Archbishop José H. Gómez of Los Angeles called on bishops to take

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A Multitude of Selves: Accountability and Taylor Swift ADRIANA WATKINS There’s nothing like a little vengeance to kick start your day.

Recently, after the recommendation of a friend, I listened to Taylor Swift’s new song, “Look What You Made Me Do.” Now, I realize this song has been circulating for about a month, and any attempt to address it would seem passé.

However, the opportunity to examine these lyrics and discuss their implications is too tempting.

If you haven’t heard it yet, the song is relatively simple to explain. The title words (“look what you made me do”) comprise exactly half of the lines. The rest of the lyrics follow a theme of bitterness, mistrust, and karma.

Supposedly, this is Swift’s sarcastic tribute to her own reputation, a song cloaked in so many layers of irony that I’ve decided not to touch them with a ten-foot pole. If you can discard Swift’s personal references, however, there are still

many interesting observations to be made— and a few valuable lessons in accountability.

What distresses me most about the song is its emphasis on blaming others. Of course, sometimes things really aren’t our fault, but rarely do our worst mistakes occur without our help. In fact, we’re so seldom without blame that it hardly seems worthwhile to preoccupy ourselves with others’ trespasses. Swift’s song seems to cater to our less responsible side—the side that pities our own interests, and revels in condemning those who’ve wronged us. This is the part of us that, rather than turning the other cheek, prefers to hit back (that would only be fair, wouldn’t it?).

When we feel we’ve been treated unjustly, we tend to run with it, and in doing so, jettison all personal responsibility—hence Swift’s refrain, “look what you made me do.” In these revenge narratives, we tend to be the object, not the subject.

Oddly enough, for a song focused on revenge and self-pity, a look at the lyrics reveals a concerning detachment from personal identity.

In the accompanying music video, Swift appears in a series of costumes from her previous projects. The proliferation of Taylors even converse with one another, and not constructively—each of them has strong opinions about the others.

This interesting self-dialogue culminates in the popular lines, “Sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. —Why? Because she’s dead.”

Now, when St. Paul exhorted the Galatians to die to themselves and rise in Christ, this may not be what he had in mind. As Christians, we seek opportunities to put our sins behind us and renew our efforts to grow in virtue—we reContinued on Page 11

Inside this Edition

WORLD NEWS DACA

PAGE 5

CATH. 101

FAITH FEATURE

Angelus Movie Review

Young and Restless

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The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

Campus News

CAMPUS NEWS Students Express Compassion After Marseilles Attack ADRIANA WATKINS On Sunday, September 17, four Boston College juniors were attacked with hydrochloric acid while traveling in southern France. The incident, which occurred around 11 AM, took place in the Marseilles-St. Charles train station and was committed by a mentally-unstable woman. Two of the juniors were injured in the attack, but they are expected to make a full recovery. Meanwhile, the students have been lauded for expressing their compassion towards their attacker, whose illness, said one, “should not be villainized.”

All four juniors are currently studying abroad in Europe (three in France, and one in Denmark).

While at the train station, the 41-year-old suspect sprayed them with an acidic solution, causing two of the young women to suffer burns. The response from authorities was swift, with more than a dozen emergency vehicles arriving at the scene. Furthermore, the U.S. consulate in Marseilles was in contact with the victims after the incident. The students’ injuries were not life-threatening, and Boston College stated they were “doing well.”

The media response to the attack was extensive.

Following Sunday’s events, the story was picked up by major publications, including the New York Times. Several news agencies interviewed Boston College students.

Some of the media panic may be attributed to the slew of recent global terrorist activities. Europe remains on high alert after attacks in various countries, including Spain, Belgium, and Germany, with France suffering some of the most deadly incidents.

the BC students, Michelle Krug and Courtney Silverling, made statements about the woman’s mental illness, calling for compassion.

“Please consider…praying for our attacker so that she may receive the help she needs and de-

“I pray that the attacker would be healed from her mental illness in the name of Jesus” On July 14, 2016, an attack in the southern city of Nice killed 86 people. In April of 2017, French police reportedly thwarted an imminent terrorist plot in Marseille. These violent acts and close calls led the U.S. Department of State to issue a travel alert for Europe, advising visitors to the area to remain cautious and perhaps reconsider their itineraries.

Media attention around European incidents has become immediate, as the question of terrorism remains in the forefront.

French police were quick to emphasize, however, that the Marseilles attack was not an act of terrorism. The mentally-ill suspect did not make extremist threats, and had a history of psychiatric instability that police believe prompted the attack. Two of

serves,” wrote Krug on the day of the attack. “Mental illness is not a choice and should not be villainized.”

Siverling quoted Psalm 91 and asked God to protect the health of her attacker. “I pray that the attacker would be healed from her mental illness in the name of Jesus,” she wrote. “…And [that she would] receive the forgiveness and salvation that can only come from Him.” The two injured students are recovering, and all four students involved will continue to study in Europe.

Race in the American Catholic Imagination ALEX WASILKOFF On September 11, Bishop George Murry, S.J. of Youngstown, Ohio, gave an address titled “Race in the American Catholic Imagination.”

Bishop Murry started his talk by quoting several statistics about the growth and spread of the Catholic Church over the past century: “In 1910, there were 291 million Catholics worldwide. As of 2010, that number was over 1 billion.” He gave particular emphasis to the geographical shift in the Catholic population saying, “Two-thirds of Catholics lived in Europe in 1910. By 2010, only one-fourth lived in Europe.” He went on to say that the Catholic population in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the global south have increased dramatically. Despite the increased racial diversity, Bishop Murry said that the Church still has a crippled conscience about race.

The Bishop then discussed the history of the Catholic Church and racial issues. In the early days of Christianity, the church believed that some forms of slavery could be just. Gradually, Christendom rejected slavery, but found renewed justification during the era of colonialism. Murry listed some statements from various popes on slavery, including Pope Paul III’s decree that affirmed that all who have the capacity for receiving Christianity should not be enslaved and Pope Gregory

XVI’s decree condemning the slave trade. Bishop Murry went on to discuss that American Catholicism often did not regard these papal statements with much respect, and many adopted the prevailing attitude in Protestant circles that slavery was permissible because it led to the spiritual and material betterment of the slaves.

Bishop Murry then related the history of the Catholic response to these racist ideas. In 1889, Daniel Rudd founded the National Black Catholic Congress in order to promote the wellbeing of Black American Catholics. The Knights of Peter Claver were founded in 1909 by a group of Josephite priests to be an organization similar to the Knights of Columbus for lay African-American Catholics. Many other organizations for black Catholics were established in the early part of the twentieth century, including the League for Black Clergy.

Next, Bishop Murry addressed the Catholic Church’s role in the Civil Rights Movement, explaining that there were Catholics on both sides of the issue. He gave the example of the clergy of Alabama who condemned Dr. Martin Luther King, but also many Catholics, including men and women religious, who marched with him. The position of the American Catholic Church on Civil

Rights in this era was ambiguous.

Forty years ago, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued their one and only document of race, “Brother and Sisters to Us.” Unfortunately, Bishop Murry said that this letter and its proposals have been largely ignored. Promisingly, the USCCB created an ad hoc committee against racism on August 23 of this year, which is chaired by Bishop Murry. The committee will hold listening sessions in order to support those affected by the sin of racism, and to help combat this attitude altogether.

Toward the end of his talk, Bishops Murry explained how the Church should respond to racism both as individuals and as a community. He emphasized the importance of an “ecclesiology of communion,” saying, “You can’t enter into full communion with prejudice.” He also echoed Pope Francis’s call to “go to the peripheries.” Bishop Murry said that Catholics must be willing to give our lives over to the liberation of others. He said that the Church, as a whole, must recognize her institutional problems and reach out to Black and Hispanic theological voices. Bishop Murry ended his talk by asking, “What is the change of heart and practice to which we are called?”

The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

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Kreeft Explains Objections to Atheism in Lecture AMANDA JUDAH On September 21, Dr. Peter Kreeft packed Higgins Hall 300 with students and faculty in a lecture held by the St. Thomas More Society. Kreeft delivered a talk entitled, “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist: Why I Believe God Exists,” drawing from his fifty years of experience as a theologian and philosopher at Boston College.

His logical arguments were punctuated with jokes and anecdotes that allowed his audience to better process his main points. Afterwards, questions flew at the professor for almost an hour, proof that his words were certainly thought-provoking.

Kreeft started abruptly by putting on the “atheist hat,” selecting from a multitude of reasons why atheists might claim that they “don’t have enough faith to be a believer.” To atheists, Christians appear traitors to reason, science, nature, men, and history. Experience, scientific data, and logic are used to back up these claims.

The arguments of reason and science appear to be the backbone of atheist philosophy, and therefore Kreeft took care in exploring them. The professor did acknowledge that aspects of the Christian religion seem naturally irrational. However, he also called into question the reliability of reason itself. For Kreeft, atheist dogma resides in envisioning a moral version of the self that can

be reached through logic. However, a closer examination of human nature reveals that this is dangerous. Humans may “have the potential to become Hitler or Mother Theresa”: the full spectrum of positive and negative qualities is present in all of us. Additionally, truly rational thought is never guaranteed, and humans constantly fail morally, physically, and intellectually.

Kreeft postulated that atheists have made science into a god. From this perspective, control over modern science and technology should make us most enlightened and most fulfilled. However, Kreeft argued that while technology has improved over time, we have made small progress in human happiness. In fact, people have less time to answer life’s “big questions” and instead feel rushed and harried. Additionally, the professor claimed that mere scientific theories cannot explain the ordering of the universe. He also asserted that science cannot explain miracles, saying, “What [science] has never been able to do, likely, is something it never will be able to do.”

Kreeft then examined human nature for a second time, asserting that all humans long for a perfect happiness in their lives that is never realized.

While animals have physical desires that can be satisfied by things in the natural world, humans

long for a reality that does not exist. A lack of acceptance of suffering proves a natural desire for the divine. Kreeft remarked, “I think atheists believe in man more. …They think they can make themselves happy.”

The professor also addressed the “liar or lunatic” argument referenced by many apologists, saying, “If Jesus wasn’t God, he was either the most insane person that ever lived…or the biggest liar.”

He illustrated the differences between real-life modern cult leaders (“liars”) and patients with divinity complexes (“lunatics”), demonstrating that they act differently from Jesus. The “false Messiahs” were all self absorbed, unsuccessful, and refrained from engaging anyone else, the exact opposite of Jesus in the gospels.

Overall, Kreeft’s discussion enlightened and engaged his audience. While some of his arguments have been the foundation of apologetics for centuries, several others were presented in a unique format that led to further questions from his audience. Kreeft asserted that, ultimately, Jesus’s existence challenges each individual to ask themselves whether He is who He claims to be.

“Ever to Excel” Plan Will Strengthen Catholic Identity DAVID O’NEILL At University Convocation on August 30th, Boston College announced a new ten-year strategic plan. The new plan, titled “Ever to Excel: Advancing Boston College’s Mission,” is the fruit of a two-year institutional study and reflects input from all facets of the BC community. The plan outlines four emphases that the committee has decided will work to strengthen BC’s mission. From the outline of the plan, it is clear that one of the main goals is to sustain and strengthen the Catholic, Jesuit identity of the college. The introduction states that “Boston College is committed to being…a Catholic university, called in a particular way to be a meeting place between faith and culture, especially between Catholicism and contemporary society; and a Jesuit university, heir to a spirituality based on the religious experiences of St. Ignatius of Loyola that continues to influence Jesuit schools and Catholicism, and the 470-year educational tradition of the Society of Jesus, which stresses the liberal arts, character formation, a rigorous approach to learning, and striving for the greater glory of God.” Father Casey Beaumier, S.J., who was recently promoted to Vice President and University Secretary, was kind enough to help us understand what this commitment to BC’s unique identity means and how the University plans on carrying it out.

Fr. Beaumier explained that “a very significant desire for the university is to continue to strengthen its Jesuit, Catholic identity.” He added that these characteristics are what distinguish BC from other top-tier universities, allowing graduates to truly be men and women for others not for their own glory,

but for that of God. It is clear that BC is working to ensure that its Catholic identity is not a mere afterthought, but something that resonates throughout the University.

Father Beaumier explained that this commitment to the Jesuit and Catholic identity of BC will not be limited to the chapels, but will be reflected throughout student life. Academically, the ongoing renewal of the Core, he explains, is a “very important part of the plan.” Father Beaumier lauded the

dent organizations on campus (such as The Torch, the Saint Thomas More Society, and Agape Latte, among others) and a multitude of service organizations reflect this integration of BC’s identity into the lives of students.

In the second directive of the strategic plan, the University will work to bring more Jesuits to campus as faculty, staff, and students; additionally, they will serve as resources for the Society of Jesus and the universal Church. Boston College currently maintains one of the largest concentrations of Jesuit priests in the world. Father Beaumier, the director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, explained that while some of these programs are still emerging, many people “are looking to Boston College for depth in their understanding of all things Jesuit.” He added that these efforts to strengthen BC’s Catholic identity are not only good for current students, but also for admission. In an age where many universities are trying to establish their identities, Father Beaumier explained that many prospective students are attracted to Boston College specifically because it is a Jesuit, Catholic school.

This nature of the University also entails a larger responsibility for the administration, as they are not only entrusted with the academic success of the students, but with the salvation of souls as well. In work of Father Jack Butler, S.J., with the Division a turbulent and divided time, Boston College conof Mission and Ministry and its focus upon forma- tinually renews its commitment to an educational tion of the hearts, minds, and souls of BC students. method that has proved successful since its incepThis care for the whole person is what makes BC tion by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century. recognizable as a Jesuit and Catholic university The new “Ever to Excel” strategic plan signals that in the 21st century. The presence of Catholic stu- BC takes seriously its charge “set the world aflame.”

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The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

World News

WORLD NEWS Pope Francis Visits War-Weary Colombia TESS DANIELS Pope Francis arrived in Colombia for a five-day visit earlier this month, determined to advocate reconciliation and forgiveness to the Colombian people, whose country has been bitterly divided for decades. The country has been torn apart by internal violence between government forces and guerilla militias, most notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Yet, in late 2016, the Colombian Congress approved peace accords with FARC. After a referendum for a similar deal failed earlier that year, the government reworked it and both houses of Congress, controlled overwhelmingly by President Juan Manuel Santos’s coalition, passed the deal. About 7,000 FARC rebels left the jungle and began the process of returning to civilian life. However, for many Colombian citizens, the conflict cannot be easily forgotten, and understandably so: an estimated 220,000 people were killed and about 6 million displaced through the decades of violence.

During his trip, Pope Francis did not voice direct support for the peace accords. However, at Casa de Nariño, the main workplace and home of the president, Francis expressed his “appreciation for all the efforts undertaken over the last decades to end armed violence and to seek out paths of reconciliation.” Throughout the trip, Francis continually asked the Colombian people to reflect on the roots of violence and begged them to be involved in the peace process. “Let us not forget that inequality is the root of social ills,” the Pope said in an address to local civil authori-

ties. During a prayer service for national reconciliation, Francis urged the Colombian people to work towards a brighter future: “Violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle!”

Francis’ visit to Colombia is the first papal trip to the country since Pope John Paul II’s 1986 visit.

In contrast to John Paul’s journey to a war-torn, divided country, much of which was off-limits, Francis visited a country that is slowly forging a better state. Francis visited four cities in five days; major events of the trip included celebrating Mass in Bogotá and visiting Medellín and Cartagena.

Francis also beatified Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve, who was murdered by Colombian Marxist guerrillas in 1989, and Father Pedro Maria Ramirez, who was killed at the start of the Colombian civil war in 1948.

Pope Francis’ visit, and the events surrounding it, signals that Colombia is ready to move on from its bitter past toward a more united future. On the Monday before the Pope’s visit, the National Liberation Army - the country’s second-largest rebel group after the FARC - agreed to a three-month cease-fire. On Friday, FARC announced its intentions to form a new political party. Francis’ repeated message

of reconciliation is also affecting the country’s leaders. For instance, notorious guerilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, commander of the FARC, sent a letter to the pontiff: “Your repeated messages about God’s infinite mercy move me to plead for your forgiveness for any tears or pain that we have caused to the people of Colombia.”

The government said that as many as five million Colombians attended Francis’ events, noting that during his time in the country homicides dropped around 60 percent. As his visit concluded, Francis tweeted this advice: “I encourage world leaders to set aside partisan and ideological interests and seek together the common good of all humanity.”

Catholic Church Responds (Cont.)

CRISTINA VILLALONGA-VIVONI up a collection to support the victims and to rebuild impacted dioceses. Meanwhile, Catholic Charities USA has been working tirelessly to bring relief to the victims in the disaster area. The Church’s humanitarian work is supplemented by her words of hope and faith. Even though many victims “wonder how much calamity fits into God’s plan,” Church leaders continue to lead people in united prayer and encourage them to hold steadfast in their faith. As Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the diocese in GalvestonHouston says, “with the grace of God, we will run the race before us with energy and joy…we will win.”

A few weeks later Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Caribbean as a category five and in the west coast of Florida as a category four. One of the most iconic symbols of the “do-it-yourself ” initiative in the aftermath of the hurricane came from the Catholic Church. The morning after the hurricane, Sister Margaret Ann, the principal of the Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School in Miami, took a chainsaw to downed branches on school property. A video of Sister Margaret clearing the branches went viral on social media, dubbing her with the title of the “Nun Wielding a Chainsaw”. In an interview with the New York Times, she explains, “if you can do something, do it. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.” Similarly, Father Fritz Bellonce of the Holy Family Church in North Miami knew that people would turn to the Church for aid and hope. Before the hurricane made landfall, Father Fritz purchased 200 pounds of rice, beans, pork, chicken, and turkey

to cook hot meals for the victims. This welcome luxury raised the spirits of those affected and reflected the Church’s commitment to humanitarian aid.

The final major hurricane was Hurricane Maria.

This category four/five hurricane ripped through the already devastated islands of the Caribbean between September 19th-20th. As of September 22nd, approximately 32 people have been killed by the storm.

Although it is still too early to accurately scale the extent of the damage, the Church will become a crucial leader for the physical and psychological recovery of the islands. The repeated natural disasters have scarred the survivors; it will become the Church’s duty to remind the people of God’s presence in these disasters.

Meanwhile in Mexico, two earthquakes have rocked the nation’s capital city. The first one took place on September 7th with a magnitude of 8.1 and killed about 90 people. Twelve days later, a 7.1 magnitude quake struck the province of Pueblo, killing over 300 people. Aftershocks continue to ravage the country. The citizens of Mexico City and members of the Catholic Church have responded in acts of solidarity as they rescue trapped people. “Thousands of hands have formed chains of life to rescue, feed, or do their small part in the face of these emergencies,” said the Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, who has called on parishes in impact zones to show Christian solidarity by assisting survivors. In addition, the Church’s aid organizations, such as Caritas Mexico and Catholic Relief Services, have worked tirelessly to bring aid

Cont. from Page 1

to the most vulnerable. By opening collection centers and helping distribute shelter materials, these organizations are bringing back hope to the Mexican people. Carrera stated, “Everyone’s prayers will allow more survivors to get out of those buildings, solidarity will bring hope back against to our already suffering Mexico. We will shine again, very soon.”

With each act of solidarity, the Catholic Church has strengthened the resolve of victims. As Father Reyes, a priest based in Puerto Rico, said, “we can learn a lot from these experiences, that we have to find the good among the bad. In the middle of all of this, faith strengthens us.”

If you would like to donate to the relief funds: • Unidos por Puerto Rico for the rebuilding of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria: http://unidosporpuertorico.com/en/ • Catholic Relief Services for the Mexico Quake: https://www.crs.org • Hurricane Harvey Relief Funds: https://ghcf. org/hurricane-relief/ • Catholic Charities USA Hurricane Relief: https://catholiccharitiesusa.org • All Hands Volunteer for US Hurricane Relief: https://www.hands.org • In addition, Charity Navigator has compiled a list of charities that are directly donating to natural disaster relief.

World News

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Assisted Suicide Law Struck Down in New York JACK LONG On September 7, the New York Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a constitutional right to aid-in-dying does not exist in Sara Myers v.

Schneiderman, a dispute between the End of Life Choices advocacy group and the Attorney General of New York. End of Life Choices sued on behalf of three patients who wanted assistance from medical professionals in committing suicide.

Following Penal Law § 120.30, Attorney General Schneiderman would have been required to prosecute any such action; therefore, the patients became plaintiffs and the case made it all the way to the State Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs had two arguments for a Constitutional “right to die.” First, that Equal Protection necessitated that if patients could have aid withdrawn to accelerate dying, then the State must have aid provided to accelerate dying. Second, the plaintiffs argued through due process that their right to freedom superseded the government’s self-interest in these cases. The Court found both these arguments lacking considering how New York State has “consistently adopted the well-established distinction between refusing lifesustaining treatment and assisted suicide.”

This “well-established distinction” does not exist in the District of Columbia and in six states (Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California, Colorado, and Montana), where assisted suicide is legal. Motions such as the one in Sara Myers v.

Schneiderman were inspired by the example of these states, leading to proposed legislation like New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act for 2017 and the formation of groups like End of Life Choices, whose mission is to allow the terminally ill “to achieve a peaceful death if confronted by suffering they find unbearable.” That group released a statement eleven days after the Court’s decision, criticizing it on their website. The three physically ill plaintiffs failed to respond, mostly because two of them had died before the end of the proceedings.

While the pro-assisted suicide group lamented the verdict, the New York State Catholic Conference hailed the decision in its “Statement on Court of Appeals decision in assisted suicide case.” In addition to affirming the Catholic distinction between stopping aid and aiding in death, the public branch of the Bishops also said, “The decision is a significant victory for those who would be most

at risk of abuse and most susceptible to pressure to take their own lives, including the isolated elderly, persons with disabilities, and those who are depressed and overcome with hopelessness.”

In addition to the majority opinion, three of the Justices wrote concurring opinions to emphasize specific aspects of the rulings. Of the three, Judge Rivera’s was the longest and admitted the strength of the plaintiff ’s due process argument while making it clear that “this conclusion does not support the State’s position that its interests are always superior to and outweigh the rights of the terminally ill.” Judge Fahey was far less sympathetic to the plaintiffs’ arguments for assisted suicide, as best summarized in his statement that “experience teaches us that arguably benign policies can lead to unanticipated results.” Continuing this trend, Judge Garcia explicitly wrote his opinion to deny the plaintiff ’s argument that posed a legitimate challenge to existing assisted suicide legislation. These opinions, along with the majority, can be read from nycourts.gov.

University, Church Condemn DACA Decision ETHAN STARR The Trump administration’s decision early this month to end the DACA program has faced widespread criticism from University administration, as well as the broader Catholic community. Announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the planned rollback of protections from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program endangers the immigration status of around 690,000 residents, some 240,000 of whom are currently enrolled in college. The program, signed as an executive order

by President Obama in 2012, aims to secure work permits and education for young adults who came to the nation as children without documents.

The Boston College administration swiftly issued condemnation of the surprise shift in immigration policy. “The decision to rescind DACA is such a mistake, and so conflicts with our values and heritage as a nation of immigrants,” wrote Father Leahy, adding, “It is essential that Congress resolve this unfortunate situation as soon as possible.”

The University President went on to state that the BC community would continue to support students protected by DACA. For privacy reasons, the University administration has opted not to disclose the number of DACA recipients enrolled. Leahy had previously signed two statements in support of retaining the DACA program. The academic deans released a similar statement several days later, calling the decision to rescind DACA a “cruel and unjustified action,” and promising to “stand firmly by the sides of all members of the University community affected by this decision.”

Debate surrounding the controversial deci-

sion has extended much farther than college campuses. Catholics all over the nation have identified the decision to rescind DACA protections as antithetical to the Church’s values, with

the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issuing a statement decrying that “our nation has done the opposite of how Scripture calls us to respond. It is a step back from the progress that we need to make as a country.”

While it is not unusual for the Church to comment on American immigration controver-

sies, Pope Francis has only rarely commented on the underlying political issues of US immigration. The Pope recognized that while he was not familiar with the political nature of the DACA program, he hoped its protections could remain in place: “I believe that this law comes, I think, not from Congress but from the executive branch of the government,” he said. “If it is so, I have the hope that it’s re-thought, because I heard the president of the United States introduce himself as a ‘pro-life’ man.” The Pope responded to a question about Trump’s plan to build a border wall and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants by saying, “If a man says these things, he is not a Christian.”

Pope Francis calls upon each of us to more closely examine the morality of the question behind the decision to retain or rescind DACA protections. As Pope Francis says, “[one] understands that family is the cradle of life, and that its unity must be defended.” Removal of DACA protections from hundreds of thousands of US residents imperils the status of families within the US. Recipients are disproportionately composed of a young adult demographic, affecting the lives and futures of individuals unknown and families yet to exist. Catholic Americans must consider the potential of these individuals and families who find themselves in a murky status when striving for the pro-life solution. Must these extraordinary measures of protection be dismantled, or is there yet more room in the great American family?

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The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

Catholicism 101

CATHOLICISM 101 Prayer: The Angelus DAVID O’NEILL

The bells booming from Gasson Hall ring across campus every day from 8 AM to 8 PM Ringing every fifteen minutes, it is easy for them to slip into the back of our minds, just another part of life here at Boston College.

At noon and 6 PM, they ring out the Angelus.

Maybe you have heard in the news about comments the pope has made during his weekly Sunday Angelus. Like me, maybe you thought the Angelus was just a fancy name for a speech.

Maybe you recall the beautiful painting by Jean François Millet of a farmer and his wife pausing from their farm work that goes by the same name.

Gasson, the Holy Father, and Millet’s masterpiece are all related.

The Angelus is an ancient prayer, the roots of which can be traced back over 700 years. Arising at a time when most of the faithful were illiterate, the Angelus allowed them to join together in prayer at set times throughout the day without needing to know how to read the Psalms. At the hours of 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM, the Church bells rang a special tone to remind the faithful to pause and pray the Angelus, so too do the bells here at BC. Intentionally set at the busiest times of the day, the Angelus is a prayer that requires us to set aside what we are doing for a few minutes, and remember why we are doing it.

The Angelus is a contemplative prayer that focuses on the incarnation of Christ, and Our Blessed Mother Mary’s great fiat: her willingness to bear Christ. We are all called to accept Christ in the same way. The name Angelus comes from the first word of the prayer in Latin. The prayer is divided into three sections, or versicles, each of them relating to the incarnation, and each of them followed with the Hail Mary. The versicles are written in a call-and response format, but if one is praying alone once can read it through by themselves.

The first versicle focuses on Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary. “The Angel of the Lord declared unto

Mary. And She conceived of the Holy Spirit.” This versicle is followed by a Hail Mary. Through it, we are reminded of how the Angel addressed Mary, and what Mary’s cousin Elizabeth exclaimed at the Visitation when she miraculously knew that Mary had conceived of the Holy Spirit. We ask for our Mother’s intercession.

The second versicle focuses on Mary’s response to the annunciation: “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.”

This serves to remind us of Mary’s great submission to the will of God with her fiat, thus we pray that the Blessed Mother intercedes on our behalf so that we may have the same strength to accept God’s will and be handmaids and servants of the Lord.

The third versicle focuses on the Incarnation and is traditionally prayed with head bowed, or kneeling, as we humbly recognize the great mystery of Divine Love made flesh: “And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt among us.” The Incarnation proves to us that no matter how far we stray from God, He is always working to bring us

back to Himself, going as far as sending His only begotten Son to walk amongst us. The Incarnation is the great precursor the Crucifixion, the means by which we might hope to attain eternal life.

Following the last Hail Mary, we ask our Blessed Mother to make us worthy of Christ’s promise of eternal life. We ask, “Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” We conclude the prayer by asking God the Father to give us the grace to die in Christ so that we may share in His Resurrection. “Pour forth, we beseech Thee O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Read straight through, the Angelus takes less than three minutes to pray, but this short prayer is a great way to stay close to the Blessed Mother and her Son in the pell-mell of our earthly lives.

Cornerstone: Communion and Reunion NATASHA ZINOS It might finally be fall, but it is not Halloween yet—or All Soul’s Day for that matter. But, as it turns out, the Church has not reserved prayers for the dead to the spooky times of the year. Besides, if you are going to understand why we pray for the dead, you will have to understand why we pray at all. Thankfully prayer is not the sort of thing you have to fully comprehend before starting to pray, so let us outline a basic understanding of why prayer matters.

A central truth of the Church is that it is a community of believers, Christians call this the Communion of Saints. The idea is that we are all members of the Body of Christ and we work together toward the same goal, namely the Kingdom of God, and share the same beliefs about God. This faith leads us to believe in a world beyond this one. Interestingly, faith is only useful when you cannot prove something and we certainly cannot prove that there is a next world.

By virtue of being a member of the Church, every Christian is seeking the fulfillment of the Beatific Vision in Heaven. In this community, we pray for those who are nearer to this vision

than we ourselves are. As the Catechism explains, “From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God” (CCC, 1032). Since we consider every Christian to be part of the living Body of Christ, we believe that those who have died are nearer to the goal of participation in the Heavenly life. And if we pray for them to arrive there, we too are inching a little closer. It is, thus, a great communal effort toward individual fulfillment by means of shared fulfillment.

In a beautiful description of our prayers for the dead, St. Simeon of Thessalonica says, “[W] e sing for his departure from this life and separation from us, but also because there is a communion and a reunion. For even dead, we are not at all separated from one another, because we all run the same course and we will find one another again in the same place. We shall never be separated, for we live for Christ, and now we are united with Christ as we go toward him . . . we shall all be together in Christ.”

By praying for the dead, we are participating not only in this life but also in the next, which is the goal of the Christian life.

The Catechism points out three especially important reasons to pray for the dead.

First, a funeral is part of the Liturgy. Liturgical prayer is important because it is the prayer of the entire Church by which we participate in the life of the Heavenly Liturgy. Second, we pray for the dead in order to remember their membership in the Communion of Saints. And third, by it we profess our belief in eternal life.

The liturgy of the Church invites us to transcend death in this mystery of the Christian communion. And this is where I have to add that Christians should not pray exclusively for other Christians. Since we are members of the community of humankind, and all human beings are called to fulfillment, we have a duty to pray for everyone’s fulfillment after death. As Christians, our lives can never exist independently of anyone else’s and the deceased are no exception.

Catholicism 101

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Liturgy: “Lord I am not Worthy...”

JEFFREY LINDHOLM “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” This prayer is not exactly something one would want to say to God. Yet, these words are prayed by Catholics every liturgy before receiving Communion.

The plea represents our brokenness due to Original Sin, which is the intrinsic brokenness everyone has inherited from Adam and Eve’s fall. As stated in Genesis, “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). With the existence of sin, we are imperfect. We long for happiness, for something greater. As Saint Augustine says, “our hearts are restless until they rest in [God].”

Evil exists in the world, and we are all broken.

Recognizing our imperfection is important, and the Catholic liturgy reminds us of this. But don’t beat yourself up for being fallen, because there is hope. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is approached by a Centurion, who pleads with Him to cure his servant.

Upon hearing that the Lord would come to help him, “the centurion said in reply, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed…’

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith…You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you’” (Matthew 8:8, 10, 13).

The Roman centurion—a man of power and

authority—subjects himself to Christ and has faith in Him. He recognizes his own brokenness, saying that he is not worthy of the Lord. How does Jesus respond? He does not say that the centurion is broken or that he is not worthy; rather, Jesus commends him, even to the point of saying “in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

So why do Catholics recite this recognition of their inadequacy every week at Mass? One must look even further than this story of healing to find the answer. Look to the Crucifixion. Imagine Jesus, the Lord, dying on the cross, a symbol of all the sins of humanity He carried for us. Jesus redeems us on Good Friday. Before we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, we recognize that we are not the Lord, that we are broken. The prayer prepares us for an encounter with God and is a

recognition that Jesus is Lord, and that His Body and Blood saves us. It is the ultimate expression of faith and surrender to God. We should not equate unworthiness with being unloved in the eyes of God. Unworthiness is simply recognizing that we are not perfect, and that we sin. Jesus fulfills God’s promise that He would send a redeemer to save us.

Jesus is the Redeemer who makes us worthy and allows us to be saved. The least we can do is recognize God’s saving power. Jesus is the one who delivers us from our sins, our unworthiness, and bestows grace upon us.

This prayer we recite reminds us that we are dealing with the great mystery, God. We receive, Jesus, the most incredible gift God could give us. Therefore, we pray that we are unworthy Jesus’ mighty words and deeds so that we may be saved from that unworthiness.

Saint Thomas Aquinas expresses a similar sentiment in his prayer before Communion: “Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth.

Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness.”

Lord, I am unworthy, but I have faith so that I may be redeemed by Christ.

Saint of the Issue: St. Francis of Assisi LOURDES MACASPAC October 4 is a widely observed Catholic holiday that celebrates the life, generosity, and kindness of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of the Friars Minor (OFM), or the Franciscans.

St. Francis was born Giovanni Bernardone in Italy in 1181 to a life of wealth and luxury. Francis was renamed “Francesco,” which means “Frenchman.” Pietro, his father, wished for a son who was infatuated with France, and who would eventually become a cloth merchant and take over his business. The last thing Pietro wanted was a man of God. Attempting to fulfill his father’s wishes, Francis tried to win renown on the battlefield, fighting in the war between Assisi and Perugia in 1201. Following the battle, he was captured and was imprisoned for a year before being ransomed.

During this time, he received visions from Christ.

After his release, the voice of God directed him to abandon his affluent life, and Francis reformed his ways into those of poverty and faith.

Although St. Francis is often associated with poverty, he wrote little of it. However, it is said that he cared for lepers and prayed in abandoned chapels. During a legal case which his father had brought against him, Francis publicly renounced both his father and his inheritance, leaving behind even the clothes that he was wearing and choosing to live as a beggar.

On February 24, 1209, he heard a sermon about Matthew 10:5-10, where Christ tells the apostles to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven without acquiring money, or bringing with them any bag, or sandals, or second cloak, or a staff. Francis resolved to live in just such a way, tending to the needy around Assisi without recompense. By the end of the year, he had acquired eleven followers.

He led these followers to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to form a new Order. The Pope tonsured the first twelve Franciscans, but told Francis that his request would be approved only if his group continued to gain members. As Francis attracted more people to his way of life, the Pope approved the founding of the Order of the Friars Minor on April 10, 1210. Francis chose to remain unordained, and the name “Friars Minor” refers to this early practice among Franciscans to remain tonsured friars throughout their life.

At some point, Francis developed a special concern for nature, the environment, and animals. St. Francis’ last years were visited by illness, including the first recorded stigmata in Christian history. Stigmata refers to bodily marks or sores in locations that correspond with Christ’s crucifixion, including wounds in the hands, wrists, and feet. On September 17, the faithful observe a secondary feast in honor of the Stigmata of St.

Francis.

He died in Portiuncula, Italy, on October 4, 1226, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1228.

Though remembered for his care towards the poor and ill (a vocation exemplified by his willingness to minister to lepers), his love of animals is also remembered and celebrated with the blessing of pets. These are mostly exclusive to the Catholic Church, but are also observed in some Anglican churches. Animal blessings may involve a verbal prayer and holy water, and they may occur indoors or outdoors.

St. Francis understood the importance of living a life like Christ’s, especially during challenging times. St. Francis once explained his way of life to his friend, who saw himself as miserable, by saying, “The sadness of not being perfect is a feeling that is much too human… Focus your vision outside of yourself, on the beauty, graciousness and compassion of Jesus Christ. The pure of heart praise him… Even when they feel broken, feeble, distracted, insecure and uncertain they are able to abide in His peace.” May we grow to resemble St. Francis in our daily lives.

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The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

Editor-in-Chief Gjergji Evangjeli

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|| Established committed as a Catholic uniBoston College’s Catholic Newspaper 2013 versity, The Torch desires an active and healthy exchange of ideas. Moreover, its ! is to be a tool for the new evangelization, spreading faith in Jesus Christ chief end What’s passion? as a source ofyour conversion and new life. !

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

! !

Executive Editor Annalise Deal Business Manager Timothy Breckel Campus News Staff Adriana Watkins, Editor Alex Wasilkoff Amanda Judah

Social Media Blogging E-mailNews bctorcheditors@gmail.comPhotography for more info.

World Campus News Editing Web design Layout

World News Staff Jeff Lindholm, Editor Tess Daniels Christina Villalonga-Vivoni Jack Long Ethan Starr

Contact bctorcheditors@gmail.com

Catholicism 101 Staff David O’Neill Natasha Zinos Lourdes Macaspac

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Faith Features Marcus Otte Christian Rodriguez Chris Reynolds Jamie Myrose Jacqueline Arnold Hadley Hustead Website Editor Jeff Kelley Layout Editor Galen O’Brien

Society of Saint Thomas More Eucharistic Holy Hour Mondays 6:00 – 6:45 p.m.

Saint Mary’s Chapel

The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

Senior Staff Book Recommendations Jamie Myrose // Suffering Dorothee Sรถlle

Gjergji Evangjeli // The Five Theological Orations St. Gregory of Nazianzus

Marcus Otte // Five Proofs of the

Existence of God Edward Feser

Annalise Deal // Born a Crime Trevor Noah

Chris Reynolds // Touch the Top of the World Erik Weihenmayer

Hadley Hustead // Scary Close Donald Miller

Christian Rodriguez // Life of the Beloved Henri J.M. Nouwen

Jacqueline Arnold // East of Eden John Steinbeck

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Culture

The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

CULTURE The Good Place, Or No Exit Revisited [SPOILERS] GJERGJI EVANGJELI

Whenever someone recommends a show or movie about Heaven, I tend to groan. After all, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him,” (1 Cor. 2:9). But, in a break from tradition and after much coaxing, I reluctantly agreed to watch The Good Place.

The show centers on the stories of four people, Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), and Jianyu Li (Manny Jacinto) following their respective deaths. After dying, they find themselves in a neighborhood of the Good Place designed by architect Michael (Ted Danson).

Something, however, is very wrong. Throughout her life, Eleanor has cared for no one but herself. After being admitted, every character meets their supposed “soulmate.” For Eleanor, it is Chidi, a bookish ethics professor. It is immediately apparent that the two are anything but soulmates.

Furthermore, any time Eleanor does something destructive, it affects the whole neighborhood, causing all sorts of troubles, including trash showers and a huge sinkhole. Following these, Eleanor enlists Chidi’s help to teach her ethics, so that she can truly belong in her new environment. Realizing that this means losing his opportunity to find love even in the afterlife, Chidi begrudgingly agrees to help and to keep silent about Eleanor’s secret.

On the other hand, Tahani seems to be all

that a resident of the Good Place should be. She spent her days championing charitable causes, raising $60 billion during her life. Her soulmate is a Buddhist monk, Jianyu, who has chosen to honor his vow of silence even in the afterlife.

At length, the viewer finds out that Jianyu is not really a Buddhist monk. He is actually Jason Mendoza, a horrendous DJ who makes his money by selling college kids oregano as if it were weed and failing at cartoonish attempts to commit crime. He has been able to fly under the radar by seizing the opportunity to remain silent upon learning that Jianyu had taken a vow of silence.

Eleanor eventually surmises that sometimes it’s best not to be yourself, if you can be a better version of yourself instead. She is, however, a slow learner, so her issues in the neighborhood persist. Unable to figure out a cause, Michael deems himself a failure and announces that he means to retire, which for angelic beings means eternal unspeakable suffering. Forced into an ethical corner, Eleanor decides to tell Michael the reason for all the issues, knowing that it means her being sent to the Bad Place.

After many more hilarious attempts to rectify the situation, Eleanor figures out that there was no mistake after all. Tahani had done much good in her life, but her motivation was to outdo her sister, who was her parents’ favorite. Chidi had been so indecisive throughout his life that he ended up hurting many people in the process. Michael—it turns out—had read his Sartre. Rather

than the usual fiery halls that the other Bad Place architects opted for, he chose to create a Heavenlike environment and allow the people to torture themselves and each other with their inadequacy.

And it would have worked, too, if it weren’t for Eleanor’s conviction that she should become worthy of being in the Good Place, which influences the lives of the other three characters. The genuine love that the four of them grow to have toward one another leads them to uncover the ruse.

Overall, The Good Place presents a refreshing look into ethics. Without making reference to Christianity, the show ties deeply to the Christian message that no matter how perfect we seem on the outside, we are deeply broken. Our motivations may be corrupt, our actions may be reprehensible, or we may respond poorly to our circumstances; each of these can make a seemingly-good act evil. The good news is that all sins can be forgiven, if we are willing to change our ways.

“Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land,” says the Lord (Isa. 1:18-19). Sartre—who is almost undoubtedly the inspiration behind Michael—famously said in No Exit , “hell is other people.” Yet the God who partook in our humanity has shown us that it doesn’t have to be so, if only we choose to follow Him.

Drink of the Issue - Burgundy Bishop In the spirit of St. Ignatius’ teaching to find God things, including all areas of college life. Each month we will be featuring one drink, inspired by a saint (typically the Saint of the Issue when there is one). All recipes are borrowed from the book Drinking with the Saints: A Sinners Guide to a Happy Hour by Michael Foley.

Burgundy Bishoip 1 oz. light rum ½ oz. lemon juice 2 tsp. simple syrup Burgundy wine (or any Pinot Noir) fruit Instructions: Pour all ingredients except wine and fruit into a shaker filled with ice and shake forty times. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top with wine. Garnish with fruit.

Enjoy Responsibly. For those 21+

Inspiration: St. Lupus of Sens is often depicted in Christian art with a diamond because a precious stone once fell into his chalice as a sign of divine favor while he was celebrating Mass. St. Lupus is associated with the wine region of Champagne, since the counts of Champagne made pilgrimages to the church where his relics were kept. Let us honor St. Lupus with Burgundy wine or champagne with a label named after him such as Marquis de Saint-Loup. Easier still, mix yourself a Burgundy Bishop. It honors his iconographic symbol and uses ingredients from his region.

Culture

The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

A Multitude of Selves: Accountability and Taylor Swift (Cont.)

ADRIANA WATKINS

ceive forgiveness in Confession, we relish new life in the Eucharist. When we take these steps to “begin again,” we never intend to become worse people for our efforts. And yet Swift’s song seems to endorse a new start without new virtue. In one line, she asserts, “I got smarter, I got harder…/ I rise up from the dead, I do it all the time.” She then launches back into the chorus of self-absolution, followed by a verse or two underlining her desire for vengeance, for “you to get yours.” One has to wonder whether there’s a point to these resurrections if they only make her less forgiving, more preoccupied with the past, and more fixated on self-serving justice.

In short, this song is not an extraordinarily helpful guide to solving personal problems. In fact, it’s an extremely poor one—rather than forgiving and forgetting, this approach inflames and prolongs old wounds. Though it’s difficult to take responsibility for our actions, it’s more difficult to move on without recognizing the reality of the situation. Rather than blame others, and rather than splinter our past into a multitude of “other selves” with whom we don’t associate, we ought to tell ourselves the truth: our lives are a single, unbroken narrative with room both for error and forgiveness. There is much more room for forgiveness if we own up to the errors and just let them go.

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Cont. from Page 1

Taylor Swift “Look What You Made Me Do”

Six Podcasts for People of Faith ANNALISE DEAL Pray-as-you-go This daily podcast from the British Jesuits offers guided prayer through one of the readings each day.

Each episode begins with some kind of music--often a chant, hymn, or psalm. The second part of the podcast offers an opportunity to pray and meditate on the reading through a series of repetitions and questions, that seem to loosely base themselves on the Lectio Divina model. At around ten minutes long, the podcast is loosely designed to be listened to on a commute. It’s perfect for listening to while eating breakfast, walking to class, or as a quick moment of mindfulness in the midst of a busy day.

Catholic Stuff You Should Know This podcast is created by four young priests from The Companions of Christ, a “private association of diocesan clerics” in the Archdiocese of Denver. According to their website, the idea for their podcast came out of Pope Benedict XVI’s call for the New Evangelization through technology to reach younger generations. After listening to podcasts on a road trip to Banff, the priests decided to use audio as their medium for evangelization. For seven years, the priests have been recording their conversations on various Catholic topics. Their material ranges from conversations on suffering, to vestments, to the saints, to relationships. Their style is simple and conversational, which allows intellectual theological questions to be grasped by the average lay person.

Pints with Aquinas The basic idea behind Pints with Aquinas is: “if you could have a pint with St. Thomas and ask him one question, what would it be?” Each episode seeks to answer a different question using Aquinas own words from the Summa Theologica. The host is Australian Catholic apologist and author Matt Fradd.

Fradd is not a vowed religious, but has devoted his life to “defending the Catholic faith,” in part through

this podcast, which puts St. Thomas—a doctor of the church—in conversation with contemporary faith questions. Plus, Fradd had Boston College Prof. Peter Kreeft on the show twice, once to talk about angels, and once to share twelve short stories about Aquinas.

Word on Fire Word on Fire is hosted by Bishop Robert Barron--an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles--and Brandon Vogt, who works for Bishop Barron’s popular website wordonfire.org.

The podcast focuses on issues of faith and culture, addressing topics ranging from evangelism to social media, and regularly stopping to answer listener questions. Bishop Barron’s podcasts, like his homilies and blog writing, are successful because they frequently address all things related to faith which arise in the news and entertainment media. Word on Fire is somewhat like a more in-depth recorded

version of The Jesuit Post in its style and attempt to find God in all of life’s contemporary questions.

10% Happier with Dan Harris Dan Harris describes himself as a “fidgety, skeptical ABC newsman who had a panic attack live on Good Morning America.” After his panic attack, Harris began an exploration process that led him to meditation and mindfulness, which he believes has made him a happier and more stable human.

Harris is not a man of any particular faith tradition, and the podcast tends to be rooted in science, explaining why mindfulness and meditation can actually make you 10% happier. He hosts a variety of guests, ranging from surfers, to meditation teachers, and civil rights activists. His conversations with guests address all kinds of human questions through the lens of mindfulness. Some episodes are loosely guided by the Buddhist tradition, but most focus on contemplative spiritual practices more broadly, and invite the listener to consider how those practices could improve their lives.

The Liturgists The Liturgists is hosted by Michael Gungor, lead singer of the band Gungor, and his friend Science Mike. The two invite guests each week to explore all kinds of issues of faith, typically through the lens of experience. Gungor, who used to be associated with the contemporary worship scene and evangelical Christians, has in the last several years distanced himself somewhat from that group in favor of a more progressive, and sometimes liturgical expression of the faith. Science Mike spent several years in the world of atheism and secularism.

In rediscovering his Christianity, he has still remained attached to scientific convictions. Together, they ask profoundly interesting questions and do their research well before drawing any conclusions.

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The TORCH // Volume V, Issue 1

FAITH FEATURES A Reflection on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows JAMIE MYROSE Death finds you no matter where you are, no matter how inconvenient the timing may be, no matter how recently it last visited you. Last week, I received an email saying that a classmate of mine from high school, Abby, had passed away over the weekend in an automobile accident. A perfectly healthy college graduate dead at 23 years-old. There was no one to blame and no time to say goodbye.

This was the seventh death of a loved one that I had experienced since first coming to Boston College.

Oddly enough, I ran into another girl from my high school not 30 seconds later and—in that moment—there was nothing in this world I needed more than to speak with someone else who knew her. This moment of connection would not bring Abby back, but I found solace in the acknowledgment that her life was precious and beautiful, and her absence is a great loss to the world. The rest of O’Neill Library murmured on, oblivious to the advent of our new reality.

The suffering of Jesus is rightly at the forefront of our worship, but the suffering of Mary also deserves our attention. At the hour of Jesus’ death, Mary offered him the only form of compassion that she could: her presence. She stood at the foot of the cross so that he would not have to die alone, even though it pained her tremendously to do so. Thankfully most of us will not have to

mend Dorothee Sölle’s Suffering. In this work, Sölle examines the dangers of apathy in a suffering world that cries out for love. Only by sharing in another’s suffering can we save that person from a spiritual death, which would otherwise be irreversible.

Though I am sorrowful over the death of my friend, I know that there are those who are even more grief-stricken, and I am called to enter into their suffering, too. In moments when we have nothing left to give, all we can do is listen and be present to those who need us, all the time remembering that Mary knows our suffering and intercedes on our behalf.

For what boy can say no to His mother?

suffer a death as tragic as Jesus’, but each of us is probably familiar with the feeling of helplessness in the face of our or another person’s torment.

It takes a great deal of courage to enter into the suffering of another, especially when you know it will not rectify the situation. But our openness to one another is essential for fostering authentic relationships of love. The abandonment one feels in suffering in isolation is a kind of death in itself, and we are called to be a people of life.

Focusing on this topic, I would like to recom-

My Mother of Sorrows Oh my mother, what sorrow you face, The heart of your heart lies dead in disgrace, First a question, then its answer, now a son whom you raised, The King of Kings of whom angels sang praise, Simeon told you this day would come, Innocent life for all lives ransomed, And though you knew of this great pain, Knowing and doing are not the same.

The Struggle of Transiton CHRIS REYNOLDS I vividly remember my first day of Kindergarten. I tried to act tough, but I was inevitably the kid with the uncontrollable tears streaming down my face as soon as Mom and Dad dropped me off at school. It’s not that I didn’t like my school or friends, but it was clear from then onward that transitions were going to be hard for me. Certainly entering my senior year at Boston College, I didn’t cry when my parents left (at least publicly), but four weeks in, I still find myself struggling to adjust back to this new environment. I am a little taller now, but just like my 6-year-old self, I still struggle with transitions in my life.

I think this is most apparent when moving into college every year, but especially during freshman year. Almost every part of my life changes the moment I arrive on campus. My high school and childhood friends scatter around the country while my Boston College ones all return to the Heights. My stable work schedule gets flooded with homework, extra-curricular commitments, and BC meal dates that do not seem to end until late into the night. My faith community gets a lot younger and more energetic and how I express that faith becomes more relatable to the average twenty-yearold. My sleep patterns disappear, while my opportunities for intellectual engagement sky-rocket. It is true that these changes have the potential to be stimulating for me intellectually, personally, and spiritually. At the same time, these all-encompassing and rapid changes in such integral dimensions of my life send me on an emotional roller-

coaster and I sometimes find it hard to stabilize.

Periods of external transition are difficult, but they create conditions which allow us to enter into a personal transition of self-growth and discovery. As someone who likes to be in control, the uncertainty I experience often has me reaching for stability as I try to recognize my discomfort as a chance for growth, rather than only an obstacle. One pillar that helps ground me is my faith, specifically by reflecting on the life of Jesus, who was no stranger to hard transitions.

Jesus bounced between transitions his entire life: first fleeing as a newborn refugee from Beth-

lehem to Egypt with two young, poor parents, then traveling from Nazareth to Galilee each day as a young boy to work with his father, and finally as a constant traveler for his three-year adult ministry, full of rapidly changing environments. My favorite example of transition for Jesus is when He intentionally positioned himself into a place of physical and spiritual transition by entering the desert for forty days before his adult ministry. Jesus recognized the personal transition he needed to undergo to be best prepared to spread the Good News, and that this necessary internal change could only come from His own external hardship.

Beyond the fact that Jesus died for our salvation, that He is God incarnate on Earth, what always struck me about Jesus’ life is that as a human being like each of us, His life and ministry serve as our guide and companion to demonstrate how to live a beautiful and loving human life. In this light, Jesus’ approach to times of transition shows that in our own lives, difficult transitions can be positive avenues towards personal growth. In many ways, these transitions are our own deserts which will make us better prepared to spread the Good News.

And finally, when it is hard to see the benefit that will come of my struggles, it helps me to remember that my God has already walked a genuine human life of transition, so that I have an understanding companion with me every step of the journey.

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FAITH FEATURES Gratitude in the Darkness HADLEY HUSTEAD A few years ago the Lord encouraged me to start looking for Him in small places and ordinary moments. I was enchanted by the task and decided I would write them down every night before bed to keep record. It quickly became addicting— my secret game with God. I started to realize things like retrieving warm clothes from the dryer, using Windex on a dirty window, and breaking the spine of a new book were more than sensations, they were little gifts of joy from God. My new hobby of recognizing glory in the tiny things taught me that God is constantly and lovingly orchestrating moments of small joy and contentment around every corner.

It is pretty easy to identify God in happy things.

However, this year has been different because I became blind to those portals of joy. In January, I was diagnosed with depression. Although I was still surrounded by the joyous light of God, my vision became cloudy. I had become emotionally numb to almost everything. I was living in the dark. Robbed of my keen attention to beauty, I was worried that the Lord did not exist in dark. Depression took away the joy of the mundane gifts by which I was enchanted before. My diagnosis was the perfect opportunity for self-pity. Darkness in-

vites the embrace of misery and encourages you to choose oblivion. The depression blinded me from seeing God in plain sight, so I had to search with a blindfold over my eyes. I trusted I would find Him because I was captivated by His relentless pursuit of blessing me when I started writing down His gifts four years ago. However, this time the lights were off so I had to walk by faith and not by sight.

It was terrifying. I feared my heart was too broken.

Throughout this season, I have held dearly to Psalm 34:18, which promises, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” I was not sure how to ask God for help out of fear that I might be disappointed, but I trusted in my practice of gratitude.

So I started searching, and—sure enough—He was there. My encounters with Jesus during my depression have been laced with a tender love.

The Lord has guided me gently, loving me in a way I never thought I would need. God prepared my mother’s heart to tenderly care for me.

He nestled me in a safe home so I could heal. He gave me three friends who selflessly loved me in my most fragile state. God has stopped at nothing to heal my broken heart and love me back into lightness. Through His divine healing and intentional love, I started to discover joy again.

My list of gifts has become a portal to discovering religious dimensions within seemingly trivial experiences. I have now recorded several thousand gifts. Whether I am consumed by sorrow, joy, or numbing darkness, writing out my gratitude gives me an avenue to rejoice in God’s relentless presence and magnificent glory. The simple, low maintenance task has transformed my life and rescued be from the self-pity of mental illness.

Morality and “Me” MARCUS OTTE It is commonplace for Christians to regard relativism and skepticism as the principle cultural challenges that face catechesis today. And this is not without good reason. But I want to suggest these are not the most fundamental sources of secularism, or of confused religion. Relativism is, at heart, a negative doctrine: it denies the existence of objective truth. Skepticism, which denies the existence of knowledge, is likewise negative. And just as negative passions, such as anger or fear, are ultimately grounded on positive passion (e.g., love for something one believes is threatened), negative doctrines rest upon positive ones. The most fundamental layer of a person’s belief system is not what they are against or deny, but what they are for and affirm.

“Therapy culture,” as it is sometimes called, is among the principle sources of mainstream thought, both secular and religious. I do not intend to criticize therapy as such. Nor am I discouraging anyone from seeking therapy if they would likely benefit from it. The therapeutic culture of which I am speaking is a general social phenomenon, rather than any professional practices that are inherent to therapy. This social phenomenon originates in the counterculture of the late 1960’s. Today, the doctrines of therapy culture are firmly entrenched in the mainstream.

Therapy culture has all the earmarks of a moral theory, and its central tenets are the bedrock upon which much newfangled morality rests. First, any moral theory is partly founded on a description of human beings. So, Aristotle defines us as “rational animals” and prescribes that we should act as such. For the advocates of therapy culture, the most salient fact about human beings is that we are fragile (and they prescribe that we should act like it). On this view, it is understandable if encoun-

ters with ordinary setbacks, disappointments, and conflicts psychologically fracture our egos.

Second, every moral theory needs a goal. For utilitarians, it is the maximization of pleasure. For Christians, it is union with God. The principle goal of therapeutic culture is a subjective sense of wellbeing. On the therapeutic view, the good life means feeling good, especially feeling good about oneself.

Third, a moral theory needs to prescribe a means for us to reach its proposed goal. Normally, these means amount to rule-following, or the cultivation of virtue, or both. Given its description of human beings (“we are fragile”) and its prescribed goal (feeling good), the most important rule of therapy culture is to have unconditional positive regard for yourself. Several other norms follow as corollaries. You are exhorted to “be yourself ”— that is, to not reign in your eccentricities or practice any irksome discipline. Since you are supposed

to feel no shame, the divulging of your innermost world is also considered a normal and healthy mode of self-expression. Furthermore, unconditional positive regard requires that all of your perceptions be validated. If you perceive yourself as stunningly talented, others should affirm this, no matter how unremarkable you may be.

The requirement that one’s perceptions be validated means that positive regard cannot be given unconditionally to others, or to their perceptions. After all, those perceptions might contradict yours. This is why therapy culture gives rise to the crybully. Fair negotiation, or any rational dialogue, requires the awareness of one’s own ignorance and weakness. It also rests on a kind of charity towards others. Dialogue is only possible if we acknowledge there is an objective world to be right or wrong about, and that others have as much access to it as do I. If we elevate ourselves too much, we cannot meet our interlocutor face to face. More importantly, if we refuse to examine ourselves for faults, we will never find matter for repentance. But that matter is assuredly there.

On every count, therapy culture runs contrary to the spirit of Christian religion. The world insulates us from deep self-critique, and indeed, from seriousness itself. But Christ says “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The world says that you cannot love others without first loving yourself (a lot). The commandments of charity, on the other hand, exhort us to love God above all, and to love neighbor “as yourself,” so that the mention of the self comes last and by way of comparison, rather than command. In Augustine’s words, “There was no need for a command to love ourselves.”

In toto, therapy culture begins and ends with the self. Christianity begins and ends with God.

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Faith Features

The Young and the Restless CHRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ It’s 10AM on a Saturday and you are walking over to Lower after raging in the Mods the night before.

Your hair is a mess, there are stains on your shirt, and the sight of scrambled eggs is enough to make you puke. You sit down to eat, hoping this food is going to cure that throbbing headache when you think to yourself, “What am I doing with my life?”

As you try to piece together what happened the night before, the first thing you probably remember is having to yell over the bass line from the host’s crappy Spotify playlist. Thinking about it more, you realize that there were also smiles, there were laughs, there were definitely too many Snaps.

You look at your current state, think about the night before, and you tell yourself, “I had fun and people seemed to really like me. Last night was totally worth it.” You pick up your trash and head out to do some work before going back to the Mods that night. Rinse and repeat.

Saint Augustine led a similar lifestyle in his youth.

In his Confessions, Augustine talks about stealing wine from his parents’ cellar, getting drunk with friends, and sleeping around. Surely, this isn’t the same Saint Augustine that we heard about growing up? I had only known Augustine as the pinnacle of perfection, a man with everything figured out, including his relationship with God. I was given a strict set of rules and told to be more like him. Little did I know that one of Augustine’s lesser known prayers is, “Lord, grant me chastity… but not yet.”

Here’s the problem, even Augustine saw the perfect as the enemy of the good. He spent his life try-

ing and failing to attain some ambiguous ideal of perfection, much like many BC students try and fail to attain the ambiguous ideal of a “BC man” or “BC woman.” In his Confessions, he writes “I was praised by people whose approval was at that time my criterion of a good life.” He felt a deep sense of insecurity that led him to seek the approval of others.

When Augustine sat down to write the Confessions, he gifted himself the time, space, and silence needed to ask, “What am I doing with my life?” Using writing as a medium of reflection, he realized, “The single desire that dominated my search for delight[s] was simply to love and be loved.” If we were to take a slow walk alone along the Res, if we were to stop and say hello to the people we pass on the quad, if we

were to sit in our rooms alone, without music, without work, without distraction, wouldn’t we come up with the same answer? Would we not see how our restlessness comes from our deeply rooted desire to love and to be loved?

Saint Augustine spent much of his life beating himself up for not feeling that he was perfect. We constantly do the same when we spend too much time thinking about the social missteps we have made, the positions we have failed to fill, and the love we have yet to receive.

I think the most powerful piece of Augustine’s Confessions is not even his conversion to God, but his act of letting go. He was able to get himself to a point where he let go of his shames, fears, and weaknesses to allow Love to fill in the cracks of his broken heart.

Augustine seems to echo Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. When Paul felt downtrodden and despairing in his work, he heard God say to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

Our college years are a time of restlessness. When we gift ourselves time, space, and silence, we are gifting ourselves an opportunity to bask in Love. When we reflect on our mistakes lovingly, we no longer need to sacrifice the good for the perfect. Love becomes us; it flows through us, and with us, and in us.

For Augustine, Love was enough: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

A Sunday in Montgomery GJERGJI EVANGJELI In early June, a few of my friends and I travelled down to Montgomery, AL for our friend’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful, Montgomery was amazing, and the food was delicious all around. The wedding was on Saturday, so everyone in our friend group booked tickets home for Sunday, except for me and one other friend. Because virtually everyone we knew in Montgomery was suddenly gone, we found ourselves asking the question, “What’s there to do on Sundays in Montgomery?” Apparently, the answer is “an epic quest to discover a restaurant that’s not closed.”

After finding almost everything closed down, my friend and I found a hole-in-the-wall bar which was anything but. The beautifully-decorated inside was matched by the drink offerings. Trappist beer on tap, a wonderful selection of Scotch, and Tabitha, the bartender, who could whip up a cocktail in her sleep. Because it was a Sunday night and we were in Montgomery, my friend and I were the majority of her clientele and she was clearly bored, so we talked for a while about Game of Thrones, the particularities of life in Alabama, and finally, about religion.

At this point, Tabitha shared how she had been born to an Independent Fundamentalist King-James-Only Baptist family. She told us about her strict upbringing, the various times she was strictly punished for menial things, and the first time she took a sip of alcohol— long after she had stopped any association with her parents’ church—and how afraid she was that God would strike her down where she stood. I sheepishly tried to console her by saying that God calls wine His

gift to gladden the heart of man (Ps. 104:15) and for once my own inadequacy was immediately apparent.

It made me think of my own upbringing, in a fairly strict household in a strict society. Although my parents and I had plenty of disagreements as I grew up, I was always able to see that even when I thought I knew better, my parents were trying to teach me as best they could. In addition, they never tried to shove the Bible down my throat.

Even “because I say so!” is better than “because the Bible says so!” especially when that’s not the case.

Growing up in the zealous Albanian Orthodox Church in the early 90’s was not an experience that everyone enjoyed, but I noticed that even when I was critiqued by people outside my immediate family, underneath the sternness was a deep joy. More importantly, I saw the whole community come together in the Liturgy, in a manner which transcended a mere gathering of people with the same interest. Being an altar server since I was about five, I remember well the Eucharistic prayers which ask God to unite everyone through the power of Christ’s Body and Blood. And that, I think, was the reason why I never felt the necessity to rebel. Rebellion against my family and my community would make about as much sense as a rebellion of my hand against my foot.

Whenever I am talking to someone about some teaching of the faith with which they struggle, I find it fruitless to explain to them the benefits of following that commandment for their own life. Rather, it is often more profitable to consider why God reveals

at all. He has revealed Himself to us not out of gain, but because He loves us. He has not merely declared that He loves us, He became incarnate and lived among us and endured death for our salvation, even death on the cross.

It is, therefore, in this way that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Moreover, He has given us concrete physical signs by which He is made truly present among us, according to His promise. When the Bible is removed from the sacramental life of the Church and God’s great love for us is deemphasized, we run the grave danger of seeing the Bible as God’s divinely-inspired rulebook, and loving a rulebook is no easy feat. It is much easier, instead, to obey the Living and Breathing God who speaks to me and you in the pages of the love letter which He has dedicated to you and I. For that God, to sacrifice all things is easy.

Faith Features

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The Road to True Freedom JACQUELINE ARNOLD The concept of human freedom—at least in today’s society—is often an abstract, theoretical concept whose definition is variant and may change depending on different situations. This complicates any attempt for governments to create national laws and, furthermore, for any kind of international treaties or resolutions to be made. For laws, treaties, and policies that respect the dignity of the person to be implemented, a widespread understanding of true freedom is essential.

On the level of the individual, St. Thomas Aquinas offers the most consistent and fruitful definition of ‘freedom.’ His understanding starkly contrasts with that contemporary conception that floods our society and can be broadly defined as the freedom to pursue power. In Two Ideas of Freedom, George Weigel succinctly explains this Thomistic definition as the “means to human excellence, to human happiness, to the fulfillment of human destiny…the capacity to choose wisely and to act well as a matter of habit—as an outgrowth of virtue…the journey of a life lived in freedom is a journey of growth in virtue.” Or, more simply, freedom is the “matter of gradually acquiring the capacity to choose the good and to do what we choose with perfection.”

Growing in virtue, acting wisely, and forming good habits, as described by Aristotle—from whom Aquinas derives his perspective—is the means to human excellence and human happiness. The journey to true freedom is one pursued by individuals themselves.

Further, though it is a noble yet necessary challenge to live and pursue virtuosity as an individual, this is even more complicated when you consider that humans comprise societies and governments which interact on the national and international levels.

The power of the State has limits and it cannot be the source of morality for its citizens, neither should

it attempt to exercise excessive control over its citizens’ lives. The United States was founded upon religious freedom, founded as a way out of oppressive regimes and seeking to prevent those in power from having undue license in these matters. Limiting the control that government can exercise is present in the U.S. Constitution and the separation of powers as a foundational principle. Nonetheless, it is crucial that our government realizes that the purpose of its existence is to protect and secure the rights of each individual—rooted in the idea that each person possesses intrinsic inalienable dignity—and acts in such a way as to promulgate this attitude among its citizens.

In conjunction with the role of government, it is essential that a true understanding of freedom also come from society itself, as a both top-down and bottom-up approach to enact change is the most effective way to do so. Thus, citizens must work to promote and defend human dignity and encourage the government to promote this dignity through judicial measures. For this to occur, it is necessary that a shift in societal values occurs and—essentially—that this shift ripples into other aspects.

In terms of the concept of freedom, American society and government often pursue freedom as an end, viewing freedom as the ability to do whatever one wants, or freedom of volition. On the contrary, limits must accompany freedom, for only with limits, direction, discipline, and rules will we be able to attain a higher level of virtue and excellence. This idea of freedom, understood as accompanied by limits and as a means to live an excellent life, is lacking within our society.

So, more practically speaking, what must we as the community of students that make up Boston College do? First, take all the knowledge that we learn in our philosophy, theology, ethics, and poli-

tics classes—and put it to use. Only when we can live lives of self-sacrifice, generosity, and love are we living out the potential of our human freedom properly understood. This is to choose what is good for us, for to actualize our human freedom is to choose love, to desire the good of the other and seek nothing in return.

Practicing this in our lives—in the “smallest” of ways—is how we live out our vocation and freedom.

Most of us are not all called to be philosophers, theologians, or missionaries, but we are all called to love our families, our friends, and to seek to better our communities. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.”

May we all seek to be extraordinary in our ordinary lives as students, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends.

Walking the Talk

ANNALISE DEAL

This past summer, I had the pleasure of working at GLIDE, a United Methodist Church and non-profit foundation in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Though GLIDE is in part a church, more so it is a beloved community of people who seek to be radically inclusive and love unconditionally. Not everyone at GLIDE believes in God, but as a body, they live out the teachings of Jesus in a uniquely action-oriented way. Built into their core values is the notion that as people committed to justice and inclusion, we all must “walk the talk.” This idea of walking the talk—of not just holding beliefs and spiritual ideals but actually acting on them—challenged me to re-examine the way I live as a Christian.

First, I think it’s important to clarify what walking the talk means. To me, it is the distinction that as believers, we do not just philosophically espouse Jesus’ idea of agapic love, but also act that out in the practical ways he commands—feeding the poor, clothing the needy, and providing other kinds of practical aide. Furthermore, walking the talk looks like being an active advocate for causes the poor and oppressed care about. It is easy to say that you believe in a theology of liberation and a preferential option for the poor, but it’s another thing entirely to have your “ear to the ground” as Rev. Cecil Williams at GLIDE says. The great actors in the narrative of liberation theology have been those who are vocal advocates for the causes of the poor, even when that means getting political.

The author of James points to the idea of walking the talk, saying “What good is it, my broth-

ers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:14-16).

Though many Christians do participate in some works of charity to the poor, to truly walk the talk to me means to do everything possible, at all times, and even if it is unpopular. GLIDE acts out the completeness of walking the talk by not only telling the homeless they are welcome in the church, but also inviting them for a meal, reserving them a bed in a nearby shelter, providing resources to reduce harm in drug use, and spaces to tell their story and receive healing. This principle of meeting both physical and spiritual needs reminded me of a complete expression of cura persona-

lis—the Jesuit value to care for the whole person.

Walking the talk is not easy, and it is often uncomfortable. How much easier is it to say we welcome the immigrant, than to actually call your senator to oppose the DACA repeal, teach an ESL class, or push to provide sanctuary for immigrants? As Christians, we are compelled to walk the talk, not out of obligation, but out of the joy that comes from serving Jesus, who is present in every one of our brothers and sisters.

The writer of Matthew envisions Jesus at the judgment, commending those who walked the talk, and condemning those who did not.

Those who did good works question Jesus, saying “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” Jesus— speaking through the figure of the King—answers them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:37-40).

I know I have often failed to walk the talk, and I will continue to fail many more times. However, GLIDE taught me that by having my ear to the ground and listening to the needs of the people, I can better hear Jesus’ own voice guiding me towards advocacy and action. Walking the talk will not always be easy, but if the community at GLIDE is any evidence, it is only in doing so that we can hope to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

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@pontifex I appeal for peace and disarmament: in this world wounded by violence, we need fraternity among peoples.

When we are feeling sad, when it feels like everything is going wrong, we should remember: “God loves me.

God never abandons me”.

The Gospel invites us first of all to answer to God, who loves us and saves us, and to recognize Him in our neighbor.

May the Holy Spirit grant peace to the whole world and heal the wounds of war and terrorism.

Let us find the courage to purify our hearts by removing the rocks and thorns which choke the Word of God.

The journey of entrusting ourselves to the Lord begins every day, starting each morning.

To “take the first step” is, above all, to go out and meet others with Christ the Lord.

In Mary we see that humility is not a virtue of the weak but of the strong who don’t have to treat others badly to feel important.

Dear young people, do not be afraid of the future! Dare to dream big! Keep joy alive, a sign of a young heart that has encountered the Lord.

Jesus is always there with an open heart. He throws open the mercy that he has in his heart. He forgives, embraces, and understands.

Humanity needs hope in order to live and needs the Holy Spirit in order to hope.

When something makes us suffer, let us listen to the voice of Jesus in our hearts: “Do not fear! Go ahead! I am with you!”

Other people are gifts to be received with respect, especially if they are weak and frail, because Christ comes to meet us in them.

When we need help, let us turn to the Father who always looks on us with love and never abandons us.