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Resurrecting Chicago

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Author Archives: Gerald Watt

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How to Survive Satanic Attack and Common Distractions in Quiet Prayer.

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Quiet prayer or meditation is not always easy.  Distractions, temptations, day-dreams and all kinds of goofy ideas can intrude into the prayer life of even the most earnest Catholic.  I meet these good people when they pour out their hearts about their prayer lives in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“I feel I am being attacked by the devil, Father. I see too much evil in people and I despair because of my fears.  I never feel that God is near to me.  Worse, I think that God is going to let me fall because my sins deserve eternal punishment. This is what I get, Father, for having tolerated evil in my life and even, at times, having embraced sin.
That’s not all.  I feel trapped by the effects of my sins.  I’m not able to get up from my sins and am constantly bothered by temptations.”
No one has confessed to me in those exact words but over the years I have heard this lament about interior prayer many times.  The sinner is tortured by a kind of anxiety and depression which makes it hard for him (It could be a her) to experience God’s love and His grace.
The penitent has come to the sacrament of Reconciliation out of desperation and like an intensive care patient in severe pain, the penitent wants relief, otherwise he wouldn’t be in the confessional.
I think of this encounter with a sick soul (as the philosopher William James would have called him) as an opportunity to give him an injection of spiritual medicine and an I.V. hydration for his soul.
I take control of the situation with strong medicine because it is my job to do that.  I remind the penitent that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a powerful moment of grace, an opportunity for healing. I encourage the penitent to listen to the absolution and open his heart to the healing movement of the Holy Spirit. 
It’s not me  but Our Lord who cures in the wonderful sacrament of healing.  While I am praying the words of absolution, I am  also praying to get out of God’s way and let His healing waters bring cleansing and refreshment to this soul.

Again, a second type of made-up penitent:  This time, the penitent  says something like this: “I pray, Father, but can’t seem to get anywhere in my prayer life.  Strong temptations upset my efforts at prayer.  I fight them but they just won’t leave me.”

This penitent is like a guy standing on a ladder, painting the ceiling of a kitchen.  He  gets frightened by a tiny spider, loses his concentration and falls. He survives with a scratch on his leg, but is otherwise O.K.  He is still afraid of spiders so he’s going to inspect the ceiling carefully before he goes up the ladder again. He’s determined not to lose focus and fall a second time.

Most distractions in prayer, whether temptations or not, cause us to lose focus in our prayers.  We are supposed to be praying, gently moving our hearts and minds to the Lord.

St. Albert the Great counsels us to just brush away these kinds of distractions as if they are house-flies dancing before our eyes.   We don’t have to get out the artillery when all we need is a fly-swatter. Don’t fight with yourself to get back to the presence of God.  Acknowledge the nature of the distraction and gently bring your heart back to prayer.”
Most people are relieved to learn that even the saints were often distracted in their prayer lives.  The saints remind us that Our Lord simply wants us to be faithful and take time to pray — often.  If horrifying temptations attack, meet them with courage and the grace of the sacraments.
When common distractions come, gently move your heart and mind back to God.

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The NRA, Remington and Designer Gunwear.

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Remington, the gun manufacturer, announced today it is coming out with a concealed carry line of  clothes. The company will lend their name to “gun jackets” and a “Double Derringer” line of vests. (Reuters, Nov. 3, 2013)

Greed is good, right? Why not make more money off the gun fad? So what if gun manufacturers sell designer clothes to gun-toters to make them feel even more important?

Handguns kill people. That’s what they are designed to do and they do it very well. They are also expensive and make immense amounts of money for gun manufacturers. Now, the manufacturers want even more.

I’m against pointing a loaded handgun at someone and pulling the trigger. I would ban concealed-carry weapons in an instant. I would ban assault rifles of all kinds for the same reason: These weapons are for hunting humans. I don’t care about gun manufacturers and their profits.

This is not to say that I am against possession of firearms.  I think hunting with a rifle or shotgun is an acceptable way to harvest deer, turkey and other wildlife. At least, hunting game provides food for our tables and encourages sportsmanship as an outlet.

I believe, too, that  the Second Amendment supports defense of our freedoms by empowering militias and that the amendment was never intended to support individual hand-gun ownership.

Twice I have had handguns pulled on me.  One was by a drunk who showed me a blunt nose revolver which he kept in a handkerchief in his front pocket. The other guy wanted to impress me by the size of the hand gun which he pulled out of a holster which was under his vest.

I showed the door to the drunk. I simply walked away from guy number two. And, in neither instance was I brave. I am not a courageous person. I was just so disgusted that I wanted to distance myself from them as quickly as I could.

I have listened to conversations between handgun enthusiasts who laugh when describing how
important they feel as Americans when they carry their guns and intimidate others. Apparently, they think the rest of us are wimps compared to guys with guns. Those men inspired fear in me not because of their guns but because they were so casual about “carrying.”

The National Rifle Association is run by gun manufacturers.  It wants every American to buy a gun and to carry a gun, as if all gun-toters are mature, responsible people. I know enough about good people to know that sometimes they are bad, real bad. Or, are we all supposed to think that all those who carry concealed weapons are good people who would never use an available gun to do anything bad — the real Americans who own Remingtons?

I’m a Christian but not a pacifist. I can imagine taking arms against someone in self defense or in defense of my family. But, I want the NRA to stop acting as a surrogate for gun manufacturers. I will defend myself as I see fit.

Greed is one of the seven deadly sins.  The others are pride, anger, lust, envy,
gluttony and sloth. I think you’ll find all seven wrapped up in the soul of a violent, hand-gun-toting America.

 

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Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Plays the Missouri Ozarks.

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 A completely unique and unfamiliar bird song struck me on a Spring day as I walked through a dense cove on a narrow trail in the Missouri Ozarks. The vocalization sounded like a harsh series of misplayed piano notes, unique and odd, I thought.

I followed the sounds and there it was: Perched on a branch about fifteen feet from the ground was a yellow-billed cuckoo. The tail feathers were long in relation to the sleek body, dark above and white below. The tail feathers had a pattern of white circles which reminded me of the spread feathers of a male peacock.  Yes, the bill was yellow from below. Thank God for my Field Guide to Eastern Birds.
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccycus  americana) is not a bird that you’ll see everyday. In fact, I’ve never seen or heard another since my Missouri Cuckoo experience.  To be honest, I did not know that cuckoos were found in the U.S.

I remembered cuckoo clocks and, of course, thought of the hand-carved  Black Forest cuckoo clock which hung in my mother’s front room, usually silent until someone remembered to set the weights correctly. The cuckoo sounds from the clocks of the same name, are supposed to mimic the song of “the common cuckoo,”Cuculus canorus, a separate genus of cuckoo found throughout Europe.

How often have you heard something like “That’s cuckoo!” or “What a kook!” Both statements refer to the goofy little bird which, on the hour, pokes out of a clock and flaps its wings while singing, “cu–cu, cu –cu,” something like the actual call of the common cuckoo found in Europe.

The name “cuckoo” has become an adjective meaning silly. However, when I hear the word, “cuckoo,”  I remember that combination of rattles and moans which led me off the beaten path to the tree with the live cuckoo.

I wonder how many Americans have any idea that cuckoos are found in North America.  The Yellow-Billed Cuckoo is just one of the three species of cuckoo which breed  mostly in the Southern part of the united States. They winter in South America, especially in Argentina.

Check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for a great image and a sound clip of the vocalization of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo.

 

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Alternative Halloween: "El Dia de los Muertos," "The Day of the Dead."

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For a completely different observance of the season of death and dying, try the approach of Mexicans who each year observe, “ El Dia de los Muertos,” the “Day of the Dead” on  November 2, All Souls Day.
Although some Mexican communities have started to have a kind of Halloween on Oct. 31, Halloween has no cultural roots in Mexico. It is an artificial observance imported from the U.S. The familiar “Trick or treat” custom is foreign to the typical Mexican family who is not going to waste money on costumes.
 “The Day of the Dead,” however, is indigenous in origin and Christian in practice. It’s no coincidence that “El Dia de Los Muertos” occurs on November 2, All Souls Day. It’s a sacred day for most Mexicans. Halloween…not so much.
I once joined an observance of “El Dia de Los Muertos” in a cemetery on the outskirts of Oaxaca, in the state of the same name.
By the time I arrived on All Saints Day evening, the city cemetery was already teeming with people who were gathering at their family plots. Children joined their parents and grandparents to observe the customs of the day. No one was dressed in a Halloween costume.
 I carefully made my way among the gravesites where family members had erected small altars. Children and youth brought flowers and entire families laid out plates of food for themselves and for the deceased.  At one gravesite, Uncle Jose was remembered by a favorite hat, a cigar and a home-made tamale all laid respectfully on his tomb next to a shotglass of tequila.
It’s dark during the observance of the Day of the Dead, Halloween in Mexico. The only light comes from the flickering candles at each grave which reveal the faces of those who have come to spend the night with their dead. While guitars play softly, each family respects the devotions of their neighbors.
As a non-Mexican I was not uncomfortable with the spirituality of the observance. The idea of recalling that those who have gone before us are still with us seemed right to me. The living had come to share one night by walking among the spirits of the dead in the place where they still lived.
Observing the customs of El Dia de los Muertos is a way of making a friend of death, since we all will have to experience it. It is a solemn observance of the reality of the spirit world. 
The entire family stays with the spirits all night, eating and drinking and singing.  If the candle flickering on Tio Pepe’s grave suddenly catches a wisp of air and moves or gets unaccountably brighter or even goes out, that is proof that Tio is there. 
The families remain all night with the spirits of their loved ones and do not leave until sunrise.
All Souls day used to be observed by Catholics as a day to bring flowers to the burial sites of loved ones. We prayed there and tended our grave sites out of respect for the memory of those family members who had died.
Our All Souls Day observance is like the Day of the Dead and very unlike Halloween. On All Souls Day, the Day of the Dead, we ought to visit a cemetery and remember that for Christian believers life is changed not ended at death. 

 

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Lutheran Leaders Visit Pope Francis.

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My Lutheran minister friend of thirty years sent me a notice of the recent meeting between Pope Francis and representatives of a coalition of Lutheran churches. (Oct 21, 2013)

It is remarkable that we have come so far in just the last fifty years.  There was a time here in the U.S. when Lutherans and Catholics wouldn’t even acknowledge one another’s presence. I, a Catholic, was taught Lutherans were heretics and Martin Luther, a renegade monk.

A Lutheran minister told me long ago that that his mother taught him to never trust a Catholic. These days, it looks like the pope and the Lutherans are trying to trust one another.

We’ve come far by dialoging. Lutheran leaders who have been in the forefront of ecumenical discussion think it’s O.K., even good, to walk into the Vatican and meet the Roman Pope on his own turf. They hear him say that Lutherans and Catholics do not need to contend any more. That time is over.  It is a time of healing now.

In his opening words,  Pope Francis greeted his Lutheran guests as brothers and sisters in the Lord.
He encouraged both Lutheran and Catholic leaders to work on practical ways of achieving the unity that Christ, Our Lord, prayed for in John 17; 20-21.

I have been blessed to be friends with three wonderful Lutheran ministers in my life. Forty years ago, one of them gave me a print of the Last Supper (by P. C. Hodgell).

 He wrote on the back of the print the following prayer: “…toward the time when we will be able to take communion together.”

Pope Francis thinks we are getting closer to that time.

 

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Some Summer Birds Stay Behind in Winter.

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The summer birds are gone: the warblers, fly catchers, orioles and goldfinches have all flown away along with most of the ducks. We do have some remainders, though. During the last one hundred years, the cardinals and robins have learned to stay here in the upper Midwest and endure the harsh winters. So, they stay and make me pay attention to them during my morning walks.

We had a strong frost this am but a few mallards float defiantly in the bright sunlight on the ponds that I frequent .Canada geese waddle around on land, determined to pass the winter with us, too. There is not an abundance of food but somehow these winter residents eake out a living.

Yes, the crows are crowing and the Blue Jays seem always to be scolding. The chickadees flutter around close to me and hang on the bark on the sides of trees.

The snow birds (Juncos) haven’t arrived yet but soon flocks of them will liven up the scrub bushes and barren paths.

Summer is dying and the bushes are losing more leaves with every breeze. But, the birds are still here. And, so I will get up in the morning and see what they are up to.

 

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Original Sin: It’s more than a Forbidden Bite.

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Original Sin is a concept we Catholics have inherited from St. Augustine.  In his book,“Confessions,” he explains why you and I are such a mess.
Adam and Eve, detail of  tomb  (Gerald Watt)

 Read the “Confessions of St. Augustine” and you will begin to understand why we have to suffer simply because two young people picked and shared forbidden fruit.  Why are we “attracted to evil” as one of the founders of my Congregation put the problem? Who would want to do bad? Who would choose to be evil?

Before you dismiss the idea that you might be attracted to evil, think of this: Doing evil can be fun (So I’m told).  Getting away with it can be more fun.
What does it feel like to steal an apple?  Well, you have to steal an apple to find out.
To toy with the possibility of sinning can be thrilling, heart-pounding, energizing.  To finally decide to do an evil thing is to experience a surging wave of pride.  Then, to actually do the evil act can be like the rush a diver feels as he jumps off of the high  diving board. (“I could break my neck, but …what the heck!”)
Sin is even better when a punishing angel chases you and is unable to catch and chastise you. The thrill of escape is captured by the poet who in the “Hound of Heaven” says “I fled Him down the nights and down the days… and under running laughter….” (Francis Thompson)
When you think about doing something evil that promises you some pleasure, your heart warms to the idea like a child who contemplates the forbidden coconut macaroons in the cookie jar in the kitchen. Such is the way of Original Sin.
We don’t choose to do evil because something is evil but because we are attracted to it as good. That’s how twisted our motivations become.  It’s only after the deed that we experience how sour sin can be.
As the Christian learns to ward off sin and depend on grace, he/she embraces more deeply the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. 
The sweet act of forgiveness which we experience in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, brings with it the sanctifying grace which begins to heal our troubled hearts. That grace is the same grace that was poured over us at our Baptism setting us free from the domination of Original Sin.
“…where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more….” (Romans 5:20)

 

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Gentrification of the White-Tailed deer.

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Birds did not show up this morning as I walked along a dirt path but unexpected wildlife did.

Four yearling deer stood still not ten feet from me in the first light of an October morning. With their light grey, furry, pointed ears, huge dark eyes and black noses, they appeared out of a cool mist and startled me.  I had turned a corner on the rustic path that I walk most days — and there they were.

 The deer were browsing some of the last green leaves of Summer and were mildly interested in me standing there so close by.  They made no attempt to move away: they just stood there munching, looking at me. So, I excused myself…I really did –out loud! I felt like I had interrupted their breakfast.

I continued down the path thinking about the abundance of deer so present these days even in our cities and suburbs.  These deer are gentrified, completely at peace with the walkers and talkers who move through their environment. They are not domesticated, just habituated to the humans who must seem so curious to them.

There are far more deer in America than when the pilgrims arrived. As the forests of the East and Midwest were leveled and agriculture took over as much of the land as was possible, more brush and what environmentalists call “edge” appeared. One example of edge is the strip of vegetation that farmers leave along creeks and rivers that pass through their land.  That’s where many species of birds find food and cover. It’s where deer live, too. They don’t live in the forest.

Years ago, the world’s expert on moose, deer and elk was Margaret Altmann, a researcher whose home bordered the Bridger Wilderness Reserve near Yellowstone.  I went with her once on horseback through forests and brush while she observed white-tailed deer through a monocular.  Her riding horses were unshod and stealthily made their way without disturbing the natural behavior of wildlife.

I wonder what she would say about our citified deer. I know one thing: She would be curious to know how civilized deer differ in behavior from wilderness deer. Margaret Altman has been gone for many years now but I think, were she alive, that she would be amazed how these deer accept us within their territories.

 

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The Song Sparrow Observer.

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My introduction to the behavior of birds happened when I read Margaret Morse Nice’s “Studies in the Life History of the Song Sparrow (1937, originally a U.S. government publication and later reissued in a Dover edition in two sturdy softcover volumes.) I was fascinated, hooked.

Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia. (Wicki photo,Ken)

Here was a woman, trained as a scientist who produced  a  remarkable account of the life history of the Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, simply by making detailed notes on her observations of this common species which she studied in her backyard and surrounding neighborhood for many years. No lab needed or wanted.

When I was at St. Louis University in a research master’s program, our lab did extensive studies on the Song Sparrow. At that time, the National Science Foundation helped support research into the inheritance of species-specific song. So, we isolated birds in sound proof enclosures and recorded their vocalizations.

However, I was allowed to study Song Sparrows in their habitats, too. I trudged through meadows and savannahs in and around St. Louis, Missouri making notes on my observations of this species and tape recording their calls and songs. I got so that I could easily identify Song Sparrows by their calls alone as well as by their song.  Later, I did some field work at the University of Wyoming Research Center in Grand Teton National Park where Song Sparrows share habitat with Lincoln’s Sparrows and Fox Sparrows.

By observation I learned that Lincoln’s Sparrow is smaller than the Song Sparrow and with no dark spot on the breast. The Fox Sparrow has a dark spot on its breast but is larger than the song sparrow and chunkier.

Lincoln’s Sparrow and the Fox Sparrow had their own species-specific flight patterns and, of course, the songs were different than the Song Sparrow.

I wish I could have had the opportunity to thank Ms. Nice for her wonderful book on Song Sparrows. If I had not read her book, I might never have learned how important detailed observations are to an animal behavior project.. I might have thought that not being able to control the environment would lead me to unscientific results.

My experience was just the opposite. I was able to observe Song Sparrows in natural situations.  To see males hop higher and higher until they reach a perch from which they would sing is something I could have never seen in a lab.  Bobbing movements as they flew from one tree to another; “sneaking behavior” as the female indirectly returned to a nest which was well-hidden in a bush; males singing against one another to establish territory, these are behaviors I would never would have seen in a controlled laboratory environment.

I made notes carefully in day journals which became the basis of a small  scientific contribution to the study of this species. Thanks, Ms. Nice.

Sources: Nice, M. M..  “Studies on the Life History of the Song Sparrow,”  Dover reprint, 1964.  Out of print but available used from Amazon.com.

Cornell University’s  website is very helpful in differentiating Fox, Lincoln’s and the Song Sparrow.http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp

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Pope Francis Gives a Surprising Interview.

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When Pope Francis was asked recently to answer the question, Who is Jorge Bergoglio?, he answered: “A sinner upon whom the Lord has turned his gaze.”

Pope Francis gave this response in an interview in September, 2013. The interviewer was Antonio Spadaro, S.J. and Pope Francis remarks were published in “La Civitta Cattolica.”

OMG! What modern pope has ever defined himself as, first of all, a sinner? What happens to our conception of the pope as the pre-eminent, holy, follower of Christ? A pope in our day is considered an icon of holiness.  All you have to do is think of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

 Pope Francis wants to shatter the image we might have of him as reigning above us all in holiness. Pope Francis calls to mind the painting by Caravaggio of the “The calling of Matthew.” The masterpiece hangs in the Church of St. Louis of France, in Rome. I saw it when I was in Rome two years ago.

In the painting, Matthew is in what appears to be a pub.  Along with him are several of his henchmen and they are counting the days take.

One young man fingers the day’s haul and contemplates it. Jesus, barefoot, enters the pub with Peter.  Jesus points to Matthew and says “Come follow me” as he points at him. Matthew points to himself as if to say, “Are you sure you want me?”

Matthew, a despised Jew who worked for Rome against his own people, is called by Jesus to fulfill a destiny which Matthew had as a member of the covenant people.  Matthew was a ritually unclean Jew who gouged the poor and extorted from the rich. But, when called, he got up and followed Jesus as a member of the new covenant people.

Pope Francis feels he has been chosen through no merit of his own to be an apostle like Matthew.. Pope Francis does not set himself above us but situates himself with the rest of us sinners.

There is a quiet revolution going on in the Catholic Church.  In this fiftieth anniversary year of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Our Lord has given us as chief shepherd, a sinner in need of the healing call of God’s mercy, just like you and me.

Pope Francis is confident of that mercy and he knows that he is graced with the light of God.  He wants us all to see the light.
 

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