Stanford Vox Clara | A PEACE BEYOND | Fall / Winter 2022-23

VOX CLARA

ABOUT VOX CLARA

OUR MISSION

Vox Clara is a journal of Christian thought at Stanford, dedicated to cultural inquiry in the light of faith and reason. We seek to provide a forum for Christians and non-Christians at Stanford to engage in dialogue related to Christianity, culture, and life’s biggest questions. We believe it is important to address issues of faith in the university community. As Jane Stanford’s words on the wall of Memorial Church attest:

“There is no narrowing so deadly as the narrowing of man’s horizon of spiritual things. No worse evil could befall him in his course on earth than to lose sight of Heaven. And it is not civilization that can prevent this; it is not civilization that can compensate for it. No widening of science, no possession of abstract truth, can indemnify for an enfeebled hold on the highest and central truths of humanity. ‘What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

THE AUGUSTINE COLLECTIVE

Vox Clara is part of the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals on college campuses throughout the United States and the UK. There are over thirty journals to date, all committed to the premise that faith and reason belong together. For more information, see augustinecollective.org.

THE NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in the articles contained in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Vox Clara or its staff members.

STAFF

ABIGAIL SCHWEIZER

Editor-in-Chief

BECCA DE LOS SANTOS

Vice President

BRANDON APONTE

Financial Officer

TRISTAN WANG

Chief Designer

MAKAYLA ABRIL BUTTERS

Outreach Coordinator, Secretary

JACK McKINNON

Content Staff

ELLI SCHULZ

Content Staff

KUBRI MARIO SAMUEL

Content Staff

ALVIN TAN

Content Staff

VINCENT THAI

Content Staff Editor Designer

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Reader,

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7, NIV).

In his letter to the congregation in Philippi, Paul begins his last appeals by encouraging them to rejoice always in the Lord, giving their anxieties to God and letting His peace overtake them. Almost two thousand years later, Paul’s message still provokes our hearts.

As Stanford students, we strive for greatness. We fear failure, and we are quick to rely on our own strength to achieve financial and academic success. I’m sure many of you have thought at one time or another, “I’m afraid of being a nobody, so I will strive for academic recognition,” or “I’m afraid of being poor, so I will work toward a career that can provide me with financial security.” Rather than rely on our own strength to quell our fears, a strategy that will inevitably fail, Paul calls us to rely on the Lord. When we partner with Christ and allow him to take up the yoke of our lives, we turn our anxieties into prayerful petitions, and the peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, flows over us.

The essays and poems in this issue address various aspects of what it means to submit to Christ’s kingship and let him fill our lives with joy and peace. I trust you will find them gracious guides in your own search for truth.

In Christ, Abigail Schweizer Editor-in-Chief

JIREH BELLA VINCENT

sparrows in the sky freedom flying lifted wings soaring high lilies in the field solidly grounded deeply rooted standing firm never worry with full trust in the Creator who knows every detail whose hand sets the stars whose breath stirs the seas they know what i forget Jehovah Jireh provider all mighty all powerful all knowing knows all that i am knows my first breath knows my last tear He knows as He loves the sparrows the lilies And He loves as He knows all that i am all that i need and i will not worry.

Bella Vincent is a first-year Master's student studying Epidemiology and Clinical Research with a concentration in Infectious Disease. She is studying pediatric cardiology and congenital heart defects in the Reddy Lab as well as researching under Dr. Juile Parsonnet on Covid-19 surveillance projects. She enjoys weight-lifting, singing, and traveling.

PEACE IN ADVERSITY

ALVIN TAN

The journey of life is often likened to a topographical environment, with its peaks and valleys. We tap into this metaphor when we describe things as “looking up” or “going downhill”, for example. As experience attesta, this landscape is challenging to navigate, and we often find ourselves in the troughs: the low points of our lives — perhaps caused by trying situations, poor decision making, or some combination of the two. When the adversity of life kicks us down to the doldrums, the ability to climb back up is known as psychological resilience, a virtue particularly deserving of attention given the global turmoil of the past few years.[1]

One critical facet of resilience is emotional regulation — the ability to quell the impact of grief, to quieten the flames of anger, and to bear the weight of disappointment. Being able to self-regulate one’s emotions is important to be efficacious and respond appropriately to emotionally significant circumstances, and has been shown to be related to well-being.[2]

The psychological mechanisms underlying emotional regulation can be conceptualized using the framework of the extended process model, which is based on a fourstep sequence of emotion processing: 1) an emotional situation occurs, 2) attention is directed towards such a situation, 3) the situation is interpreted and appraised, and 4) a behavioral response is generated.[3] Each of these

steps can be addressed via regulatory processes, which are mechanisms that allow individuals to intervene and modify their own emotional outcomes. However, regulation often requires a lot of self-control, since one would need to evaluate and implement regulatory processes while in the midst of emotionally charged situations. How, then, do we learn to improve the way in which we regulate our emotions?

I believe that the Bible offers us generous wisdom in this regard. The key idea is that emotional regulation for the Christian focuses not on the individual, but rather on God. While not theologically revolutionary, this notion gives us greater clarity on how we can meaningfully understand and approach our emotions in a manner that is both psychologically and spiritually meaningful.

First, the Bible encourages us to shift our attentional deployment (Step 2) by focusing not on the situation, or on ourselves, but on God. Isaiah 26:3 puts this beautifully: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Arguably the most well known illustration of this idea is the story of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14:28-31. Jesus calls Peter to come out of the boat and onto the water, and he does begin to walk out, until he sees the wind and becomes afraid, at which point he starts to sink. Jesus reaches out to save him and says, “O you of little faith,

why did you doubt?”[4] Peter doubted because he looked towards the storm, instead of keeping his gaze on Jesus; as a result, the wind appeared much more intimidating and insurmountable. We must not lose sight of the God Who is far greater and more powerful than any challenge; indeed, the author of the letter to the Hebrews exhorts us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” in order to persevere to complete the pilgrim’s trek. [5] Shifting our attention onto God helps us to keep our circumstances in perspective, since we know that every adversity pales in comparison with our almighty God.

The Bible also gives us handles to reappraise our situations (Step 3) by interpreting them in light of a greater vision of God’s kingdom and will. As Christians, we can anchor our hope on the resurrected Christ, whom we know will usher in a new creation where mourning and pain will cease.[6] As a result, Paul can confidently claim that any current affliction is but “light [and] momentary”, in preparation for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”[7] In fact, James even goes as far as instructing us to “count it all joy … when [we] meet trials of various kinds, for [we] know that the testing of [our] faith produces steadfastness.”[8] When we face challenges, we can approach them not by ignoring the difficulty of the situation, but by re-evaluating their value for our spiritual formation, keeping in mind that something of far greater value is still to come.

Finally, the Bible also teaches us to modulate our responses (Step 4), choosing joy instead of wallowing in our negative emotions. As pastor and author David Mathis put it, “joy

Bringing these ideas together, the Bible encourages us to focus on God, to re-evaluate our suffering, and to always choose joy.

is not optional.” We see commands to be joyful all through the Bible: “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”; “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”[9] The grand summary comes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice always.” Note that our joy is not contingent on our circumstances, or even on our feelings; rather, we are supposed to choose joy regardless of the situation, as a result of our recognition of how good God has been to us.[10] And how can we ever deny the vast and gracious goodness of our God, who let His Son take on the ultimate suffering of death in our place? It is little wonder, then, that as the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us about the person of Christ, joy is a natural part of the fruit that develops.[11]

Bringing these ideas together, the Bible encourages us to focus on God, to re-evaluate our suffering, and to always choose joy. These actions are anchored on the person and character of God, so we can be confident that the underlying truths remain steadfast regardless of how we feel in any situation.

Astute readers may notice that we did not consider the role of Step 1 — the situation itself. The extended process model does in fact propose that individuals can select or modify the situations they find themselves in, so as to change the types of emotions they would even be prone to experience. Unfortunately, this is not an option for the Christian — Jesus promises us that we will suffer just as he did, simply because our transformed lives will be at odds with the prevailing culture around us.[12] Neither can we hide away and avoid conflict, because we are the light

of the world, intended to make God’s glory known.[13] The reality of suffering is a reflection of the fundamental brokenness of the world that we are a part of.

But lest we are filled with an inconsolable despair at this state, we should listen to Jesus’ words to his disciples right before he is arrested: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”[14] In the face of certain suffering, we can nonetheless have peace by resting in Christ’s certain and complete victory, and through His victory our own also. It is this foundation that allows us to regulate our emotions with the certainty that this is not all for naught; instead, we can traverse the landscape of life’s valleys towards a positive trajectory, overcoming just as Christ has overcome.

So as we approach the adversities that are sure to come our way, let us come to rest in God’s peace by recentering our hearts on the risen Christ — the One who gives us a grounded foundation to regulate our emotions effectively. In doing so, we can also learn how to become peacemakers and to seek the peace of our land, demonstrating to others what a life of peace in Christ truly looks like — a peace that is confident, expansive, and transcendent, far beyond anything we can understand or imagine — pressing on to the summit of the City of God.[15] ❖

[1] Fletcher, David, and Mustafa Sarkar. “Psychological Resilience.” European Psychologist, vol. 18, no. 1, 8 Apr. 2013, pp. 12–23.

[2] Diener, Ed. The Science of Well-Being. Springer, 2009.

[3] Gross, James J. “The Extended Process Model of Emotion Regulation: Elaborations, Applications, and Future Directions.” Psychological Inquiry, vol. 26, no. 1, 9 Mar. 2015, pp. 130–137.

[4] Matthew 14:31b, ESV.

[5] Hebrews 12:2, NIV.

[6] Revelation 21:4.

[7] 2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV; see also Romans 1:8.

[8] James 1:2-3, ESV.

[9] Psalm 32:11, ESV; Philippians 4:4, ESV.

[10] Deuteronomy 26:11.

[11] Galatians 5:22-23.

[12] John 15:20.

[13] Matthew 5:14-16.

[14] John 16:33, ESV, emphasis added.

[15] Matthew 5:9; Jeremiah 29:7.

Alvin Tan is a PhD student in Psychology who is interested in how children's early environments shape their language learning. He is also involved in IVGrad, and can otherwise be found engrossed in a good book, a board game, or a puzzlehunt.

In the face of certain suffering, we can nonetheless have peace by resting in Christ’s certain and complete victory.

HELL: A NECESSARY DOCTRINE

BRANDON APONTE

As a Christ follower, I know for certain hell is real, and those who deny the Gospel are destined to go there. Throughout the years, I’ve heard skeptics pose the following question: how can a loving God condemn sinners to hell? Before answering this question, however, I find it necessary to first define hell in accordance with Biblical doctrine. In this piece, I shy away from classical depictions of hell as a “fiery furnace” or a place of utter darkness.[1] Rather, I address the theologically subtle aspects of hell pertaining to eternal separation from God. I then describe what specific actions deem a person worthy of hell before concluding with my personal reflection on how to attain salvation and, Lord

willing, peace of mind, body, and soul. Here, I would like to acknowledge that my interpretation undoubtedly has its shortcomings. However, I hope that what I express below helps you to reconcile the tension we all must face, that which exists between a loving God and a place of eternal damnation.

First, let us ask the following question: what exactly is hell? Paramount to all other biblical descriptions, I believe that hell is a place of eternal separation from God. In his first letter to the Thessalonian Church, Paul writes that those who do not personally know God are to be forever removed from His holy presence: “They will suffer

the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”[2] With one rhetorical blow, Paul substantiates the grievous yet undeniable truth that those who deny God will be forever denied by God. Jesus similarly spoke about hell to His disciples, prophesying that “[God] will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire …’”[3] Those who are “cursed” — without a robust faith in Christ alone — do not have the right to fellowship with God in heaven but are rather destined to the “eternal fire” of hell, away from the presence of God and all things good.

As harsh as it sounds, God can do anything He chooses. That said, I am a strong-willed human who desires complete control over his life. Bred for competition and intellectuality from infanthood, I once made it my mission to be the best — academically, extracurricularly, and spiritually. Today however, I can personally attest to the undeniable fact that there is no greater place to be than in accordance with God’s will. Knowing God is in control and I am not is the most freeing realization I have experienced. Throughout my life, surrendering to God has meant accepting the Bible as unwavering truth. And as frustrating as it can be to abide by, the Bible is inerrant and the only truth to be cherished. To be a Christian is to acknowledge every verse as both truth and a doctrine to live by. If we — mere fragments of God’s creation — think we know more than what is stipulated in the Bible, we are severely misguided. Hence, let me specifically return to the question posed above: how can a loving God condemn sinners to hell? Well, hopefully you now are beginning to discern the answer to this question: our God can do anything, for He is a perfect and righteous God, and we are man, imperfect and undeserving of His grace. However, I won’t simply conclude with this answer. Below, I expound upon the theological reasoning that justifies the necessity of hell.

As a holy God, our Creator cannot exist in the tainted presence of those who have not been cleansed by the

blood of Christ.[4] This was made clear from the beginning, when Adam and Eve chose disobedience over humble submission to God. Prior to the fall of man, God walked in the presence of Adam and Eve — both unclothed and unashamed of their nakedness — in the Garden of Eden.

[5] However, everything changed once man began to sin. Immediately after indulging themselves in the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve hid from the Lord in shame.[6] From that day onward, man and God were separated from each other.

I would be remiss in this discussion of human shortcoming if I failed to define sin, the very thing which prevents man from naturally delighting in the presence of God.

[7] The Biblical construct of sin comprises anything that contradicts the inerrant nature of God. In his rhetorical appeal to Christians, Jude references Sodom and Gomorrah, two markedly depraved cities during the time of Abraham. As described by Jude, both cities “indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire” and were subsequently punished via “eternal fire.”[8] For modern-day believers, these two infamous cities serve as harrowing reminders of what it means to actively deny God: namely, to contradict His originally intended will for our lives. And what specifically is this will held by God?

Paul aptly submits to the Roman Church that, to lead a life according to God’s will, one must “present [his body] as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [his] spiritual worship … be transformed by the renewal

Knowing that God is in control and I am not is the most freeing realization I have experienced.

of your mind …”[9] Otherwise, those who belong to the world will cease to exist.[10]

Returning to the previous discussion, if God according to His holy nature cannot tolerate the presence of sin — for He couldn’t even gaze upon His own Son who bore our sins, not His, on the cross — then how could God stand to be in the presence of man who, as a direct consequence of Adam and Eve’s actions, is innately imbued with a sin nature?[11] Certainly, it appears as if Christ’s crucifixion served to rescue us from hell. Indeed, hell is not only necessary without Christ’s sacrifice but is demanded by God’s goodness. To be clear, it is not that God wishes to destine those whom He loves to hell, but rather it is His nature that cannot stand for sin to flourish forever. [12] Therefore, those who accept the Gospel are deemed worthy of heaven by God’s grace, while those who choose to deny the Gospel are resigned to eternal damnation.

How are we therefore to respond to the necessary doctrine of hell? First, if you do not personally know Christ as Lord and Savior, I would encourage you to seek Him first before anything or anyone else. Only in a state of constant sanctification and humility can one truly experience peace. If you are running away from the Gospel and are actively choosing to shun Biblical teaching, then heed my words: turn from your sin, avoid eternal separation from God, and run into The Father’s loving arms. Running away from God is no way to lead a peaceable life. This course of action will only lead to distress and, as is portrayed in the Bible, death — physically and spiritually. In short, seek

out the peace that is found in personally knowing Christ today, and do not wait until it is too late to repent.

For those of you who do follow Christ and proclaim Him to be Lord and Savior, it is your utmost duty to preach the Gospel to those around you, so that they too can be imbued by peace. As Christ instructed His disciples prior to His heavenly ascension, we too are left with the command to “teach all nations … to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”[13] Known by Christians as the Great Commission, this command is the foundational principle driving believers to follow the Bible and live devout lives — exemplifying the fruits of the Spirit as described by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatian Church.[14] Friends, pursue this mission wholeheartedly to ensure that those we know turn to Christ and are snatched from the eternal flames of hell. Amen. ❖

[1] Matthew 13:42; Matthew 8:12.

[2] 1 Thessalonians 1:9.

[3] Matthew 25:41, ESV.

[4] Hebrews 9:14.

[5] Genesis 2:15; Genesis 3:8.

[6] Genesis 3:10.

[7] Romans 3:23.

[8] Jude 1:7.

[9] Romans 12:1-2.

[10] 1 John 2:17.

[11] Matthew 27:46.

[12] 2 Peter 3:9.

[13] Matthew 28:19-20, KJV.

[14] Galatians 5:22-23.

Brandon is a junior pursuing a degree in economics and biology. His academic interests include macroeconomics, cellular biology, and classical music. Aside from Vox Clara, Brandon serves as an active leader in Chi Alpha, studies classical violin under Robin Sharp, conducts COVID-19 research under Dr. Bhattacharya, and has recently begun writing for the Stanford Review. After Stanford, Brandon hopes to work at a think tank, where he will conduct research to further advance healthcare policy.

Only in a state of constant sanctification and humility can one truly experience peace.

PRAYER WORKS

In Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV), Paul instructs the Christians in Philippi: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

In other words, Paul says that we should trade our anxiety for peace by means of prayer. This could either mean that prayer calms us down (prayer as placebo) or it could mean that prayer causes God to change troubling situations (prayer as power).

While prayer is certainly calming, if that is all that prayer offers us, then what advantage does it have over the myriad other ways we can calm ourselves? If prayer is interchangeable with deep breathing, stretching, exercise, marijuana, alcohol, and taking a break, then why would Christians be commanded to prioritize prayer over whatever calming habits they prefer?

And if prayer doesn’t work, then perhaps reducing our anxiety is a bad outcome. Maybe it is productive to be anxious in threatening situations! The only way that Paul’s command makes sense is if he believes that prayer changes things. Which naturally causes us to ask: is Paul right? Does prayer work in any meaningful way?

Academics have constructed double-blind studies to investigate the effectiveness of prayer, but with mixed results. Some studies report positive outcomes for prayer, some report null results, and some actually report negative outcomes.

Why such widely varying results? Because prayer studies are ridiculously difficult to construct, as highlighted in a 2006 article from the now-defunct humor website Scrappleface:

A team of scientists today ended a 10-year study on the socalled “power of prayer” by concluding that God cannot be manipulated by humans, not even by scientists with a $2.4 million research grant. The scientists also noted that their work was “sabotaged by religious zealots” secretly praying for study subjects who were supposed to receive no prayer.[1]

In other words, there are too many uncontrolled variables when studying prayer, and the most devastating is that it is impossible to know that those in the control group are actually receiving no prayer. If someone has a genuine need in their life and one of their friends or family members is a praying person, then the research subject is almost certainly receiving prayer independently of the study.

If the Bible is to be believed, then even one person praying with faith is a huge confounder. Prayer isn’t like tug of war where having twenty people pray for you is better than having two people pray for you. Just one person’s prayers can bring about a miracle. It reminds me of the story of Elijah as recounted in James 5:17-18 (NIV):

“Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” How many farmers were praying for rain while Elijah’s prayers kept the land in drought? More than one, that’s for sure. And yet the Lord granted Elijah’s request and denied the others. Why? Because unlike in the doubleblind prayer studies, quantity of prayer is far less significant than quality of prayer.

When it comes to prayer, God decides. In a sense, He is The Independent Variable. What if, as the humor article suggests, God simply chooses not to be our lab rat? God is not a mechanism like gravity. He is a Person. And He seems disinclined to overwhelm humanity with His inescapable reality. As Pascal observes in the Pensées, “There is enough light for those who desire only to see, and enough darkness for those of a contrary disposition.”[2] In other words, because God desires faith and not slavish obedience, He does not make His presence so undeniable that Richard Dawkins has no choice but to bend the knee. Perhaps we should not be surprised that it is difficult to quantify the effects of prayer to such a God. Double-blinding may work with

Just one person’s prayers can bring about a miracle.

humans, but God is well known for knowing things — even secret things. One might say it is one of His specialties.

Instead of double-blind studies, we must turn to testimony.

Academic studies that examine answered prayer are very different from academic studies that seek to control prayer. Perhaps my favorite is: “Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual Impairments in Rural Mozambique,” a study in which some researchers actually whipped out audiometers and visual charts on people with sensory impairment who were in line to receive healing at a ministry event, and then measured them again immediately afterwards.[3] In the researchers’ words, “… improvements were statistically significant across the tested populations. Generally, the greater the hearing or vision impairment prePIP [proximal intercessory prayer, that is, the laying on of hands and praying in faith], the greater the post-PIP improvement.” Prayer certainly worked for those villagers. Another academic, Craig Keener, has documented similar stories in his massive multivolume work, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. [4] It’s full of credible, well-documented stories of answered prayer from every corner of the world.

This should not be surprising because it is the testimony of believers throughout the ages. Ask your friends: almost all Christians can tell you about a time that God answered prayer.

And this should not be surprising because Jesus taught His disciples to “always pray and not give up,” and even said that prayer can move mountains.[5]

So yes, prayer works. Prayer may sometimes calm us, and that is to be treasured when it comes. But prayer is not merely or primarily psychological. Prayer enlists the unlimited power of the infinite God to our cause.

Sometimes, of course, He rejects our requests. That is not a limitation of prayer but a fundamental feature of it. As C. S. Lewis argues in “Work and Prayer” from God In The Dock, “When [prayer] ‘works’ at all it works unlimited by space and time. That is why God has retained a discretionary power of granting or refusing it; except on that condition prayer would destroy us.”[6]

Prayer enlists the unlimited power of the infinite God to our cause.

Not only does prayer work, but without God being able and willing to refuse it, prayer would work too well! If God always answered every prayer instantly and fully the world would be in a state of absolute chaos as children prayed for the ability to fly, teenagers prayed for their crushes to love them, everyone prayed for more promotions than organizations have the ability to supply, and the families of the elderly kept praying for them to pull through the latest medical crisis so that they wound up living to be hundreds or thousands of years old. As Garth Brooks once sang:

“Sometimes I thank God

For unanswered prayers

Remember when you’re talkin’

To the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

’Cause some of God’s greatest gifts

Are unanswered prayers.”[7]

And so prayer works but not always. And when God does not answer our prayers, we can be confident that it is because He has a better plan than the one we are proposing. And so we can have peace — either God will change the circumstance or the circumstance is serving some purpose currently beyond our ken that will make sense in eternity.

And so to return to the beginning, we would do well to heed the words of the apostle: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”[8] ❖

[1] Ott, Scott. “Prayer Study: Humans Fail to Manipulate God.” ScrappleFace, 31 Mar 2006, web.

[2] Pascal, Blaise. Pascal’s Pensées. Trans. T. S. Eliot. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton, 1958, f. 149.

[3] Brown, C. G., Mory, S. C., Williams, R., & McClymond, M. J. “Study of the therapeutic effects of proximal intercessory prayer (STEPP) on auditory and visual impairments in rural Mozambique.” Southern Medical Journal, vol. 103, no. 9, 2010, pp. 864–869. https:// doi.org/10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181e73fea

[4] Keener, Craig S. Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Ada, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.

[5] Luke 18:1; Matthew 21:21-22.

[6] Lewis, Clive Staples. “Work and Prayer.” In God in the Dock. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970.

[7] Brooks, Garth. “Unanswered Prayers.” No Fences. Capitol Nashville, 1990.

[8] Philippians 4:6-7, NIV.

Glen Davis has served as the advisor to Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at Stanford University since 2002. He has a wife and two children, he loves anime and fantasy novels, and he is ordained with the Assemblies of God. He maintains a blog at theglendavis.com.

THE GLORY OF CHRIST THE KING

JOSEPH SARMENTA

The world and our individual lives are too often filled with turmoil. Living in this world can be painful and discouraging, but our faith teaches us that there is someone in control above it all, and He is the ultimate giver of goodness. God is more than the creator of the universe — He is its King, and honoring Him in this way is a crucial aspect of Christian life. Proclaiming that Jesus is King of the universe seems redundant at first glance. Obviously He is — He’s God. But when our lives become stressful, anxiety-ridden, or full of doubt, reflecting on this great truth offers surprising comfort.

Christ’s kingship is a promise that no matter what we face, God will have the final say. We may not know how or when, but Christ’s eternal crown gives us hope that in the fullness of time, every wrong will be made right. With Christ as our ruler, our response to suffering should not be hopelessness, but patience. As we suffer the imperfections of the world, we can look to Christ the King as a reminder that we never suffer in vain. The Lord promises in Revelation 22:12-13: “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Whether in the near or distant future, Jesus will bring peace and fulfillment to our lives when he comes again.

Until then, we are comforted knowing Christ has a plan for each one of our lives. As King of the universe, Christ is also the King of our hearts. If we let Him rule, He will guide our lives to joy and peace, but the Lord does not force himself on us. Unlike earthly kings who expand their kingdoms with mighty armies, Christ does not conquer our hearts against our will. He is a King who waits for us to let Him reign with the promise that He will be a just and loving ruler. He assures us in Matthew 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Letting Christ reign in our hearts is not always easy, but we can trust that it will always lead to our happiness. The Lord would never impose something harmful on us, even if it might seem challenging at first.

The mystery of Christ the King is also a calling to each one of us. A king cannot govern without the cooperation and service of his subjects, and ours commands us to build His kingdom in this imperfect world, proclaiming His compassion and mercy for everyone. We are standard-

bearers and soldiers of love incarnate, tasked with defending the innocent and advocating for justice and truth. In this way, the kingdom of God is already here. In Luke 17:20, Christ tells the Pharisees: “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” Because the kingdom of God is already among us, our service to our king calls us to serve our neighbors. The crown of Christ does more than comfort us about the future — it is also a symbol of our duty to love people on earth and make God known to them. When Christ does come again, this is what will matter most to Him: in Matthew 25:31-46, He tells us that those who served Him by serving their brothers and sisters on earth will reside with Him for eternity.

The crown of Christ gives us the highest hope and the greatest duty. We place our trust in His plan and we live our lives in ways that bring it to fruition, letting Him reign over our hearts. In doing so, we become rulers with Christ and will share in the wonders of His eternal kingdom. Christ does not want to build His kingdom alone; He deeply desires that each one of us contributes fully and intimately. As we serve our King, we reveal to the world that Christ’s love is the most powerful thing in the universe and the ultimate path to lasting joy. As we proclaim His love, we make it known that the King of everything is also our friend and brother, whose rule is designed for our happiness and peace. ❖

Joseph Sarmenta is a sophomore from San Jose, California, studying Communication and Linguistics. He is particularly interested in journalism, phonology, and historical linguistics.

With Christ as our ruler, our response to suffering should not be hopelessness, but patience.

TIME AIN’T MONEY: PROVIDENCE AND SCARCITY

MARK MILLER through the gift of time and how we can participate in God providing for others by giving our own time.

There is no shortage of anxieties for many of us at Stanford. Among these anxieties, one stands out: a pledge to spend time well. However, thinking of time economically implies that time is scarce and produces anxiety. This chain of events is fitting of its capitalist origins and shows a lack of trust in God.[1] Instead of considering time as something spent, we ought to consider our time as something given. This allows us to see how God provides for us

We think of time economically. Consider what at first may appear to be a linguistic quirk: we use the word spend. We spend things like time or money as limited resources, trading the minimum necessary to maximize the attainment of some goal. Even when we devote time to good, healthy, or heavenly things, like study,

relaxation, or worship, the way we devote that time can still have this economic flavor.

Words like spend, trade, resource, and optimize come from economics, revealing that we often think of time in an economic sense. However, capitalist economic principles like scarcity come into conflict with principles of Christian theology. At first it may seem strange to examine economic theory through a theological lens, but this is exactly how the founding principles of capitalism were discussed.[2] As an example, consider “Essay on the Principle of Population” written in 1798 by Thomas Malthus, an Anglican cleric. Malthus is best known for his stark predictions of overpopulation, but his idea of the fundamental scarcity of resources still makes up the bedrock of the capitalist worldview.

How did Malthus reconcile a scarce world with God’s blessing to be fruitful and multiply?[3] He gives his theological explanation:

“And, unless we wish to exalt the power of God at the expense of his goodness, ought we not to conclude, that even to the Great Creator, Almighty as he is, a certain process may be necessary in order to form beings with those exalted qualities of mind which will fit them for his high purposes?”[4]

Because of the evil in the world, Malthus did not consider God to be both all-good and all-powerful. He posited that from the very beginning, a process was necessary for us to become good. What is this process? Malthus answered in the following paragraph:

“The first great awakeners of the mind seem to be the wants of the body. They are the first stimulants that rouse the brain of infant man into sentient activity … The savage would slumber forever under his tree, unless he were roused from his torpor by the cravings of hunger or the pinchings of cold; and the exertions that he makes to avoid these evils, by procuring food, and building himself a covering, are the exercises which form and keep in motion his faculties, which otherwise would sink into listless inactivity.”[5]

In short, Malthus believed that scarcity and toil were necessary for us to become fit for God’s plan. This contradicts with the narrative of Genesis, where it is

not until Adam and Eve dismiss God’s providence by eating the fruit of the tree that Adam is given the curse of toil, where work becomes difficult and wearisome.[6] To sum up, Malthus argued that God cannot provide for us, so we must do it ourselves. It should not surprise us, then, that as long as we believe in Malthus’ world of scarcity, we cannot believe in a God that provides.

Let us return to the question of spending time. By thinking of our time economically, we unwittingly bring in this poor theology, we find it difficult to trust God, which stirs up anxiety. We wonder, “What if what I'm doing now is a waste of time?”, “How should I use my time now to prepare for the future?”, and “Is this the most efficient use of my time?”

What did Malthus miss? In the Gospel of Luke, Christ speaks to his disciples about anxieties and scarcity through the parable of the rich fool. In the parable, a man is faced with an abundant harvest:

“And [the rich man] said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”[7]

The rich fool thinks like Malthus. It is easy to read this story and imagine that the rich fool’s problem is

By thinking of our time economically, we unwittingly bring in this poor theology, we find it difficult to trust God, which stirs up anxiety.

his relaxation. This is simply a re-reading into the Gospel the position of Malthus: specifically, to only see dissipation, waste, and vice in the ease and the merrymaking. We forget that to rest is divine.[8] If Malthus is right, God’s rebuke becomes confusing: why is the challenge that the fool’s goods will go to others? Rather, the trouble was the saving: the rich fool assumed the insufficiency of the created world. He did not give, but he stored instead. He selected to protect himself in some possible future instead of serving the present needs of his community. This is further emphasized in the next passage:

“And [Christ] said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!’”[9]

Christ challenges our mindset of scarcity with the truth of God’s providence. The images Christ uses place the first gift, the demonstration of God's providence, over the anxieties: life is certainly greater than food, and without the body, we have no reason for clothes. Our life and our bodies have been provided to us from our

earliest days, yet we still have anxieties about the lesser things!

Note that God’s providence is not simply supernatural but also exists in the natural world. In fact, the examples Christ uses — the survival of ravens, the human body, new human life — are provided for through the workings of God’s creation. We participate in the order of God’s created world as we grow, pick, ship, stock, and prepare our food, as we store, pipe, and conserve our water, and as we consult, diagnose, and treat our bodily health. God “entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind” with the responsibility to provide for those under our care.[10]

Providence is indeed the answer to our problem of scarcity of time. Our time is certainly limited, but instead of thinking of time as scarce, we should think of it as dear. There is no shortage of Biblical references to time being beyond our grasp and within God’s. For example, the very next verse in Luke 12 reads translated from Greek, “Who by worrying can add an hour to his life?”[11] Our time is not our own, and it is dear because it is a gift from God.

By reframing our time as God’s gift, we find an answer for our anxiety. Who gives a gift wanting it to be a

burden? It is only when we realize the gift is given in love and the ‘burden’ of time is self-imposed that we can let go of the anxiety time creates. Furthermore, we can become an image of God, the giver of good gifts[12], by giving our own time as fathers, mothers, spouses, friends, housemates, labmates, and classmates, and by receiving the time others give us, too.[13]

As we follow Christ and listen to his exhortation not to be anxious about our lives, it is tempting to remain in a moral or psychological mode, somehow separating where God works and where he doesn't. However, we have seen here how our economics can influence our theology! Shouldn't it be in reverse? Shaking off our presumption of scarcity and stepping into the warmth and light of God’s providence, let us not spend our time like money, but let us give our time just as God gave it to us. ❖

[1] This is an argument against capitalism, but this is not an argument in favor of some other currently-discussed -ism. Though I am not an expert in the various flavors of socialism and Marxism, it is clear enough that there is not significant disagreement about the presumption of scarcity. The only variations are what groups are competing, what will happen, and what ought to be done. Put simply, there are many other ways to envision the use of God’s creation than the two ideologies of the Cold War.

[2] For a longer discussion on which these paragraphs were based, see Barnes, “Adam Without Scarcity”. New Polity (Franciscan University of Steubenville). https://newpolity.com/blog/malthus.

[3] Genesis 1:28.

[4] Malthus, “Essay on the Principle of Population.” Chapter XVIII.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Genesis 3:17-19.

[7] Luke 12:18-20, RSV.

[8] Genesis 2:2-3.

[9] Luke 12:22-24, RSV.

[10] Catechism of the Catholic Church, pp. 2402-2403, referencing Genesis 1:26-29.

[11] Luke 12:25.

[12] James 1:17.

[13] Matthew 7:11.

Mark Roman Miller is a PhD candidate working in the Computer Science and Communication departments on virtual reality, group behavior, and privacy. He was the president of the Graduate Catholic Student Association. Currently, he is reflecting on the notion that “theology is the queen of the sciences,” and so is curious to root computer science in good theology and anthropology.

Note that God’s providence is not simply supernatural but also exists in the natural world.

THE PEACE OF GOD

a peace within me gentle, defending: the peace of god

a peace transcending no cease or ending: the peace of god

Faith — I surrender pray and wait

a solemn loving patient gate

Holy Spirit

In my heart, and mind it gives it strength

The peace of God A peace beyond

KUBRI MARIO SAMUEL

LOVE AND EVERYTHING ELSE

DANIEL MACEDA

As a prospective psychologist, relationships are my research; as a philosophy major, my thought experiment; and as a Catholic, my duty for discernment. These areas, along with (somewhat turbulent) personal experience, have set me up for a lot of thinking on the nature of relationships, including our own one with God — for what is prayer but growing in relationship with God? Like any relationship, we need to put in the work to meaningfully grow together. So let’s dive into thinking of how we are in relationship with God, and see where we can get by thinking of how we grow in all of our relationships.

Our starting point, the only starting point, is that we’re already in relation! Because it is the fundamental truth that our being here means God has allowed us to be here. Our existence, which we do not sustain ourselves, must be sustained intentionally by Someone outside of us. More than that, this does not benefit a Creator who is already perfect, but a creation that is imperfect and can grow to be better. And for us to grow in goodness means growing closer to Goodness itself. So your existence is a sign of the love of God, who by creating you as unique shows a care equally unique and a desire to grow closer to you. Being means being upheld, being

DANIEL MACEDA

means being loved, and being means being in relation. By being, we are being with God and being called closer to God.

Despite this, a lot of people find different ways to avoid growing closer to God. Some treat God as distant: “If I was him, I wouldn’t care about me.” Others view the relationship in a transactional way: “If God wanted me to believe in him, he’d give me a sign.” And it is true, we don’t have to grow closer to God; we can accept the minimal amount by existing and having nothing else to do with God. But successful, meaningful relationships, romantic and platonic, aren’t built on dismissal or on self-service. The self-serving relationships in our life aren’t the fulfilling ones; the distant relationships leave us feeling isolated. We find meaning in relationships when opening up and learning about the other person in a way that builds trust. If this holds true for the people in our lives who we know are imperfect, imagine how much more true it is when referring to our relationship with Love itself.[1] So how do we grow in these relationships? For any of them, the crucial first step of growth, the first step towards trust, is to just spend time with the other person.

Think about the people you care about; how much time have you spent with them recently? Likewise, how much time have you spent with God? Quality time — one of Gary Chapman’s five love languages of how we express and receive love — is the giving of one’s undivided attention to another; I leave it to your discretion of how the other four languages might apply. You might spend it in vocal prayer, or contemplating biblical readings. Maybe you reflect on your day to become aware of how God has moved through your life. At its base, quality time is an awareness of the other in a way where you truly see them as they are. Have you taken this time to acknowledge God? Can you look back at times, good and bad, where He was with you? The amazing thing is that God wants to love us, and the more time we spend with our partner, the more we realize it and learn to appreciate it. We grow closer to God as we see Him move in our life, and that allows us to let Him in further, so that we can be with Him through good and bad as well.

And on that note, it is a truth we all experience in some way that love — the gritty, genuine kind — often involves

some hurt. Sometimes we’re the cause of it, which is still true in our relationship with God, and sometimes things are outside of our control. The beautiful thing about our relationship with God is that His greatest sign of love for us was bearing our suffering, “[f]or God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.”[2] He knows that sometimes life hurts, and it can make us angry, or sad, or bitter. He knows it because when you love someone, it hurts to see them hurting, and this too is part of the mystery of His bearing our suffering. When we learn to see Him not only in our pleasures, but in our sufferings, it transforms us in powerful ways. When we learn to invite Him into our suffering, it brings us together with Him. To love someone wholly and completely is to make their good your own, to make their happiness and suffering one with yours. That is what God asks you, with His love for you that shook the earth and stars: to let Him in to love you, make His happiness your own, and somehow learn to love Him too. It is with meekness that the Creator of the universe came down as a man to bear your sufferings, that you may simply know this.

While we started with how our other relationships affect how we see God, it is really our relationship with God that ought to shape how we view our other relationships. It’s the basis that allows us to love, to stretch our hearts in ways we couldn’t do by our power alone. It’s what allows us to care when it hurts, and be kind while we suffer — if we only loved others when it makes us feel better, we wouldn’t love others for very long. And by loving Love itself, we find ourselves in proper relation amidst others to love them rightly. The first and last relationship of our life is with our God. When we put everything else into that context, we are

When we learn to see Him not only in our pleasures, but in our sufferings, it transforms us in powerful ways.

able to fully, wholly, truly love our friends and partners, too.

From who we are to what we find fulfilling, our relationship with God informs everything. Spend time with Him and grow closer with Him not just as you would any relationship, but more intimately than any other, because all other love flows properly from this. I end with a poem by Joseph Whelan, a Catholic priest, whose words were later echoed by Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe (“Falling in Love”):

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than Falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. ❖

Daniel Maceda is a third-year undergraduate studying philosophy and psychology. An SLE alumnus and member of the Catholic community, Maceda has found deepening his knowledge of Catholicism has led him to a deepening of his faith. He loves reflecting on love and suffering while praying the Rosary.

[1] 1 John 4:8, ESV.

[2] John 3:16, ESV.

From who we are to what we find fulfilling, our relationship with God informs everything.

PEACE EMPEROR

BRANDON HOANG

In order to prepare His disciples for His coming Passion and Death, Our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “[I]n me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.”[1] Today, nearly two thousand years after His Resurrection, the world continues to present the faithful with trouble and distress. Abroad, the threat of war looms over our brothers and sisters, and at home, forces seek to undermine the family by redefining sacred institutions like marriage. Above all, the powers of hell seek at every turn to extinguish life in Christ.

Yet, in spite of these increasing difficulties, our Lord’s words remain true. Friends, we have peace in Him, for He is our mercy and our refuge.[2] And there is perhaps no better example in modernity whom we can emulate in obtaining and relying upon our Lord’s peace than Blessed Charles (Karl) of Austria.

His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, Blessed Charles I of Austria and IV of Hungary (r. 1916-1918), was the final Catholic monarch to reign over Austria-Hungary before its dissolution, having ascended to the throne at the height of the First World War. With the crown, Charles quickly became accustomed to the worldly chaos and turmoil that our Lord warned us about. Yet, Emperor Charles persevered with burning love for his peoples, his wife and children, and, above all, his Lord.

In Charles’ faithful life, he zealously devoted himself to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Despite great personal and

global suffering, he modeled an extraordinary interior peace and confidence enabled by the Sacred Heart. Like Charles, we can turn to that Heart which poured forth Its Blood to the last drop at Calvary so that we may find refuge in Christ’s love for us!

THE TWELVE PROMISES OF THE SACRED HEART

A popular devotion is an external practice of piety which expresses an interior affection and love for God.[3] This expression of love and faithfulness emerges from one’s own faith, culture, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[4]

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is one such devotion dedicated to the literal, human Heart of our Blessed Lord. This practice was given to the faithful by our Lord when He appeared to a young French Catholic nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque from 1673 to 1674. In these visions, Jesus allowed Margaret Mary to rest her head on His Heart, in the same way the disciple John reclined on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper.[5] Thus, devotion to the Sacred Heart is, plainly, devotion to the source of the Redeemer’s unbounded and excessive love demonstrated at Calvary.

That Heart, burning with the flames of love for Man, desires nothing more than for Man to return that love. Certainly, our finite, fallen selves can never truly reciprocate God’s infinite, perfect love, yet when Christ’s side was pierced on the Cross, a window was opened to His Heart. Through that window, we can find the refuge and peace He offers to us in the Gospel of John by placing ourselves in His Heart.

To St. Margaret Mary, Jesus gave the following set of 12 Promises to all who venerated and promoted devotion to His Sacred Heart.

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

2. I will establish peace in their homes.

3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.

5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.

6. Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

9. I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.

12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

In the first four of these promises, our Lord promises peace, but not by swearing a new oath. He is renewing and reaffirming His original promise to those that follow and take refuge in Him.

THE PROMISES IN THE LIFE OF BLESSED CHARLES

In the life of Blessed Charles, we can see the fulfillment of those promises, and by his example, we can learn how, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we can find peace in our careers, our family lives, our sufferings, and ultimately our interior lives in the presence of God.

THE PEACE EMPEROR

In the First Promise of the Sacred Heart, Christ pledges to sustain His followers in doing His will in their calling, whether they are called to serve a particular community, travel the world preaching, or live a quiet secluded life.

Charles’ state in life was to lead a vast multiethnic empire and protect his peoples, a responsibility he received in the middle of a terrible war he had no part in starting. His crown was not merely ornamental; he strove to uphold the virtue it signified and demanded. As king and emperor, Charles was a minister of God, from Whom he received his duties.[6] Since Christ reigns as the Prince of Peace, Charles’ most sacred responsibility as monarch was peace, which he placed at the heart of his ministry and reign.

[7] He strove to bring Christ’s peace at a time when the world only knew war, first by accepting Pope Benedict XV’s Peace Plan. This proposal suggested that nations lay down their armaments to settle their territorial disputes through negotiations pursuing welfare and justice. However, all other sovereigns besides Charles rejected it in order to fight the war to a bloody conclusion on their own terms. Later, in the Sixtus Affair, Charles attempted to sue for a separate peace with France, yet, again, his efforts failed when his bellicose ally Germany intervened to continue pursuing total war. At each and every turn, Charles pursued peace foremost.

After the war, the dissolution of Austria-Hungary into independent nation-states bred countless revolutionary movements which threatened to send his lands into war. Charles, feeling a great responsibility to his people, refused to abdicate from his crown and responsibilities. Yet, at the same time, he willingly chose to enter exile rather than to stage a coup in order to prevent one of his lands — Hungary — from descending into the bloodshed of civil

“I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.”

Since Christ reigns as the Prince of Peace, Charles’ most sacred responsibility as monarch was peace, which he placed at the heart of his ministry and reign.

war, declaring, “The return of my crown is not worth the spilling of innocent Hungarian blood.”

Charles’ reign showed that his nickname of “Peace Emperor” and status as a patron of world peace were well-deserved, but his merits are above all owed to his deep love for God, the ultimate bringer of peace. The world around Charles tempted him with promises of false peace; belligerent powers and politicians within his own government pressured him to prolong the bloodshed in pursuit of victory, dominance, and glory. Yet, despite these sources of discouragement, Charles remained faithful in his duties and convictions by placing all his worries in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as the Apostle Peter commends.[8] Charles trusted in Christ, Who, out of the great love and compassion of His Heart, sustained and strengthened the Emperor with an interior peace throughout a tumultuous reign.

PATRIARCH OF THE HOUSE OF HABSBURGLORRAINE

“I will establish peace in their homes.”

Our Lord’s Second Promise assures us of tranquility and order within our families, as this is where our first responsibility lies.

The life of Charles shows us how we can turn to Christ to fulfill that responsibility, foremost by highlighting the

importance of holy marriage. On the morning after his wedding, he said to his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, and said, “Now we need to help each other get to heaven.” Charles’s statement reminds us of the purpose of the marital vocation, and their marriage was totally centered around that goal of mutual salvation. Charles and Zita fully gave themselves to each other and prayed for Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary to bless their union. As a testament to the sanctity of their marriage, both Charles and Zita are undergoing the process of canonization in the Catholic Church.

Their holy marriage bore many more fruits, including eight cherished children, and this resulting household likewise had Christ at its center. Charles and Zita personally ensured their children were taught prayer and the truths of the faith — especially total trust in the peace of Christ — from an early age. Daily, this family prayed together, especially before meals and before bed, and Charles regularly commended his family to God. When Charles was away attending to the duties of his imperial office, his children, taking Charles’ example, entrusted their father’s welfare and life to Christ, likewise finding peace and freedom from anxiety in God.

Caring for the spiritual and temporal needs of a vast empire alongside those of his intimate, personal household must have been a daunting task for Charles. To find peace, Charles abided in our Lord’s invitation for those who are burdened to come and find refreshment in Him.[9] In this

perpetual entrustment, Charles allowed Christ to take on all of Charles’ own burdens of caring for his family. He prayed to Christ for guidance and ultimately let Christ work in him to sow and reap the good fruits of family life. From the fruits of a holy marriage and faithful children, it is clear that for Charles and his family, Jesus fulfilled His promise to provide the necessary grace for a blessed home. The peace of Christ remained with this family in spite of the external distresses of war, exile, and personal tragedy.

DRY MARTYRDOM

“I will comfort them in all their afflictions.”

The Third Promise of the Sacred Heart provides us with confidence in the midst of our sufferings, inspiring us to persevere with joy and hope.

The life of Charles, particularly his last years, were filled with great suffering. Reduced to complete poverty, he and his family were exiled to a cold, drafty cottage on the Portuguese isle of Madeira, where he quickly became bedridden after contracting deadly pneumonia and influenza. Yet, in imitation of Christ at the Garden of Gethsemane, he wholly accepted and trusted the will of the Father to suffer.[10] He chose not to complain about his great pain and agony, saying, “When you know God’s Will, all things are good.”

Indeed, Charles embraced his cross and regularly offered up his suffering as a sacrifice for the good of his peoples. His prayers during his final days were oriented not towards petitioning God for the immediate alleviation of his suffering; he prayed that he should suffer well rather than see his own realm suffer. And like Christ upon the cross, Charles forgave his enemies and those who had condemned him.

Finally, on April 1, 1922, at the age of 34, Charles died while uniting himself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the will of God. His lips proclaimed, “Yes, yes. As you will it … Jesus!” as he passed from this life.

To suffer like Christ, to forgive like Christ, and to die like Christ are extraordinary tasks. Yet, Charles had the interior peace necessary to accept and to do God’s will in the midst of great personal pain. Charles found this peace by turning to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and asking our Lord for the same peace found in that Heart, the very

same peace that our Lord promises. It is that peace which became a refuge from his external torments.

BLESSED CHARLES: A SAINT FOR OUR TIMES

“I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.”

Charles lived a life filled with tragedy and difficulty, yet he remained unwavering in his faith in Christ and His Church. The secret to Charles’ perseverance and enduring faith was the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On his deathbed, Charles was overheard saying to himself, “How good it is that there is confidence in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Otherwise, it would be impossible to bear with all this.”

While reigning as Emperor, he frequently visited the Blessed Sacrament to pray, often for hours at a time, in between his daily duties. He also received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist daily whenever possible, and he consecrated his entire family to the Sacred Heart. These little acts were great expressions of inviting that Heart to come into and to guide his life.

In his final days in exile, he kept an image of that fountain of love under his pillow, which became a source of great consolation and solace before he expired into the hands of our Lord. That image constantly reminded Him of the Heart which had suffered so much more greatly out of pure love for Man. In fact, Charles’ actions even show us a fulfillment of the Ninth Promise of the Sacred Heart: “I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.”

So, by placing ourselves in His Heart, we allow Him to bring His reign of peace into our own hearts.

The life of Blessed Charles shows us that Christ’s promise of peace to his disciples in John 16 is not an empty platitude, but a commitment truly fulfilled by Jesus. This peace is not an absence of conflict or turmoil in our lives on earth, but the assurance of an interior joy and harmony that allows us to meet the distress of the world with confidence.

Although Charles had a very unique calling as Emperor, we today can still take example from his saintly life — his utter dedication to his earthly duties, his commitment to peace and Christian virtue, his care for the spiritual welfare of his subjects and his family, and his willingness to suffer. All of these attributes had Christian love at their center: love for his neighbor and love for God.

This true Christian charity originates in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. By entrusting ourselves and conforming our own hearts to His Sacred Heart, we can obtain the grace to love and suffer as Christ did. When we enter into His love, His peace flows from that Heart to guard and secure our own hearts and minds from the ultimately fleeting troubles of the world.[11] So, by placing ourselves in His Heart, we allow Him to bring His reign of peace into our own hearts.

To Jesus Christ be glory and empire, forever and ever. Amen.[12] ❖

[1] John 16:33, DRA.

[2] Psalm 143:2, DRA.

[3] Thurston, Herbert. “Popular Devotions.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911, <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12275b.htm>.

[4] “Prayers and Devotions.” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2022, <https://www.usccb.org/catholic-prayers>.

[5] John 13:23, DRA.

[6] Romans 13:4, DRA.

[7] Isaiah 9:6, DRA.

[8] 1 Peter 5:7, DRA.

[9] Matthew 11:28, DRA.

[10] Matthew 26:39, DRA.

[11] Philippians 4:7, DRA.

[12] 1 Peter 5:11, DRA.

Brandon Hoang is a senior studying International Relations, with academic interest in Catholic political theories of monarchy and democracy. He also serves as Co-President of the Catholic Leadership Team, on which he also works in Faith Formation. Brandon is deeply in love with the Traditional Latin Mass, with St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Alvin Tan

Bella Vincent

Brandon Aponte

CREDITS

AUTHORS

Brandon Hoang

Daniel Maceda

Glen Davis

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Joseph Sarmenta

Kubri Mario Samuel

Mark Miller

Fiery skies at Lake Mývatn, by Joshua Earle (https://unsplash.com/@joshuaearle), on the front cover. Mountains, by Simon Spring (https://unsplash.com/@springsimon), p.6.

Roses, by Annie Spratt (https://unsplash.com/@anniespratt), p.9

Lava, by Pawel Czerwinski (https://unsplash.com/@pawel_czerwinski), p.11.

Lava from the Kilauea volcano, by Cedric Letsch (https://unsplash.com/@cedricletsch), p.12

Blood-orange ocean sunset, by Hunter So (https://unsplash.com/@hunterso), p.13

Caspian Sea from space, by NASA (https://unsplash.com/@nasa), p.14, 16-17

Crucifix in Notre-Dame Basilica, by Jason An (https://unsplash.com/@azybeatlemania), p.18.

Pocket watch, by Anirudh (https://unsplash.com/@underroot), p.20

Time lapse of mountain, by Jamie MacPherson (https://unsplash.com/@jmacpherson), p.22-23

Girl holding the Sun, by Diana Orey (https://unsplash.com/@photographyurway), p.24

Man sitting on rock by lake, by Keegan Houser (https://unsplash.com/@khouser01), p.26.

Field of flowers, by Jordan Steranka (https://unsplash.com/@jordansteranka), p.28.

Church window, by Josh Eckstein (https://unsplash.com/@dcejoshe), p.31

Candles, by Aurélien Lemasson-Théobald (https://unsplash.com/@aurel__lens), p.33.

Dewey grass, by Aaron Burden (https://unsplash.com/@aaronburden), on the back cover.

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Carlos Armenta & Folger Graphics

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