Pushing Pause

This summer, I’m pushing pause on posting here, so I can focus my energy on honoring my commitments to other writing adventures like my forthcoming book with Convivium Press and preparing my syllabi for the new courses I’ll get to teach next academic year at Seminary of the Southwest. If you’d like to receive updates about the book as its publication date nears and other updates, click here, scroll down past my photo of the railroad tracks and the paragraphs of introductory text to the Subscribe box, and enter your contact details there. While I could never be as prolific as Sor Juana (depicted above) was, her witness is a source of inspiration. If you’re curious to learn more about her life, take a look at the TedEd video about her my ACHTUS colleague Theresa Yugar co-created. ¡Hasta pronto!

A Reflection on Recent Events Outside the Synod of the Amazon

Catholic and secular news outlets alike have begun to cover the theft and destruction of a wooden statue of a pregnant Indigenous woman during the Synod of the Amazon in Rome.  Crux Now, Catholic News Agency, and The Washington Post, among others, tell the story and link to the video, posted to YouTube, detailing how the wood carving was stolen from the Church of Santa Maria in Transpontina and thrown into the Tiber River. Stepping back from the news coverage, I am curious about what we might learn from these events and how we might respond to them. 

First: What might we learn from the events that transpired in Rome over the weekend?

1. As a church, we lack an integrated understanding of the contextual nature of theology. Too often, we cling to the particularity of a situation, rather than appreciating the spirit of the message being shared with us. For example, when we read passages like Matthew 23:1-36, we often interpret this text as Jesus condemning the Pharisees. However, if we step back from the text for a moment and pray with the method Jesus is engaging in light of his actions throughout the Gospels, we can conclude that he is condemning hypocrisy and the abuse of religious authority. As theologians like Stephen Bevans and Carmen Nanko-Fernández have argued elsewhere, all theology is contextual. No theological dictum drops from heaven to earth, wholly untouched by human hands. Rather, what is true is revealed to us in particular times, in particular places, in particular bodies. The many ways truth is manifested are a gift to the church and to the world. Developing an appreciation for the diversity of ways God’s self-communication takes shape is a step toward embracing an adult faith that can engage with the challenges of the postmodern world in which we live.

2. These events enable us to see in sharp relief the fear of the bodies of women of color from which some of our Catholic brethren suffer. The wooden statue exposed many of the aspects of feminine and maternal embodiment so much of Western art obscures. The image is Brown. She is nude. She carries the still forming body of the child-to-be in her womb. Debating whether she is an image of the Pachamama, that of a contextually appropriate Madonna, or simply a representation of a pregnant Indigenous woman is an important exercise, but for the purposes of this brief reflection, it has the potential to sideline the actions that sparked the debate initially. My spiritual imagination leads me to doubt that those who perpetrated this act of violence took the time to consider the community from which the image comes and its significance. Their actions speak to their fear of the other. As we move into the practice of an adult faith that embraces the reality of other-ness, resources like Elizabeth Johnson’s Consider Jesus and Dean Brackley, SJ’s The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times can be of support to us.

3. Some of our Catholic kin feel threatened by the prospect of dialogue, as well as the prospect of change in our church. The destructive actions detailed in the articles linked above are reactive; they are not intentional or guided by a spirit of curiosity and peace. It is no coincidence that the Amazonian synod is prayerfully considering the possibility of the married priesthood and the restoration of the women’s diaconate, among other issues that relate to our care for our common home, as Pope Francis described it in Laudato Sí. In clinging to the church of today, we make an idol of the ecclesial community with which God has blessed us. I pray that we would be open to the ways in which the Holy Spirit is moving toward a deeper embrace of the right now and the not yet, as it is manifested in the church and in the world.  

 In light of those things, how might we respond?

1. Let’s bring the events of this past weekend before God and ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us. An exercise I’m beginning to share with my students is one that encourages them to read the news, journal their questions, pray with the emotions that emerge from that reflection, and to share those questions and the fruits of their prayer in small groups. It is a practice I’m trying to engage myself, and I’m finding that doing so allows the Spirit to nourish all of me—head, heart, and hands.

2. Read theology written by women of color, especially those emerging from the Amazon. Learn the works of theologians like Ivone Gebara and Maria Clara Bingemer. And begin thinking alongside emerging scholars like Cecilia Titizano. Talk about what you’re learning in an intentional way with others in your parish community through its adult education efforts or small faith sharing groups.

3. In your encounters with those who would make an idol of the church of today, practice nonviolent communication (NVC) and know when to step away from the conversation. Acquainting myself with NVC has helped my communications practices exponentially, both personally and in communal settings. I’m curious about where the Spirit might lead us if we were to utilize NVC in more Catholic spaces.

UPDATES: Read the response to these events issued by the Amazonian representatives to the synod here. Read the condemnation of these violent acts from the editors of the National Catholic Reporter. Read about Pope Francis’ apology over the violence against these images.