Miracles, brothers, and Jan. 6th 2021

 

Mark, on Jan. 6th, seeing the officers being beaten below as he looks down the  MallHey Rob, what started as a brief comment intended for your FB 

page grew into this reflection on the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
I hope that you will understand its length once you have read it. 
Thinking of you and your brother as I wrote, I believe that you can
understand my feelings about the possibility of losing someone like

a brother. 

It is hard for me to be detached regarding the incidents of last Jan. 6th, but I am improving. In the days before Jan. 6th of last year, I talked with my brother, Mark, and he told me he was flying back to DC from CA against his doctor's recommendations.  He would take a red eye to minimize contact with others and take other precautions as well. His physicians wanted him to stay home in CA as he was only recently released from his  hospitalization due to a fall and subsequent infection. The fall happened when he was near his home after he was out jogging on  the mall in DC. The fall and subsequent infection landed him in  an ICU unit for several weeks. Since becoming a congressman, he  usually flies, weekly, too and from DC when the House is in  session. He does not mind the commute since it gives him time to  read. 

In one of those weeks while he was at George Washington  Hospital, I got a call from one of his sons, crying, angry,  confused. He had been told to put protective clothing on and ready himself to visit one last time with his dad, my brother, as the Dr. felt that the infection was not responding to  treatment. While they made their visit, I retreated to my rooftop & then to the beach to say aloud what I used to teach and call "conversational prayer.” When I needed to raise my voice, to cry, to yell, to be as honest as I could be, I needed  to be alone, reminded of humility, and I had to be in prayer.  

As I fell asleep that night thinking the unthinkable, "My  younger brother may die?” I was reminded of my prayers earlier in the day. Within 48 hours (about 2 days), I got another call. Mark was improving, he was not "out of the woods" yet but there  was reason for optimism. Weeks later he flew home to CA from DC, weakened from his weeks in ICU, but he was home, and the danger of his infection had passed. But he was now severely immunocompromised. 

He would stay at home until his trip in January of 2021. Because  of his being immunocompromised, and his doctor's warnings, I set my TV schedule to watch the proceedings live on Jan. 6, hoping to see or hear him speak and be reassured of his well being. I knew that he would not be on the House floor or anywhere near many members who openly and defiantly refused to wear masks. I prayed again for his safety, reassured by his  prudence and reminded of a final command from his son: “If you feel unsafe somewhere, just leave.” Who could have known that the most dangerous place for him would be inside a most sacred space in our Republic, the Capital, "The Hill" named by Thomas Jefferson, "the famous Temple of Jupiter Optimus  Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome” and a mob would dictate when and how he could leave.

He was put in a small room across, and steps from, the House floor. He would walk out of the room twice on Jan 6. The first time he took a few steps across the hall to the doorway of the  House chamber to cast his vote for Speaker of the House  and then return to the room. Here is a video of the moment he walked into the back of the House Chamber:

Eventually, he would be told to lock the door before leaving a second time,

to be evacuated. Between the vote for Speaker and his evacuation, he knew what was happening as he could see the mob moving down the Mall. He  could see directly below where many were attacking and beating Capital Police officers and he could hear them through the door. He had then heard the shot fired through a broken window that killed a fellow citizen who had fallen for the "big lie". The officers shot ended the breach by the mob but added another fatality to the day.

It was through one of the small windows in this photo that my brother watched the mob advance while he remained in a small room off the House Chamber until evacuated, first from the mob, and then, again, a second time, from those of his “colleagues” who refused to wear  masks.

As I watched this unfold in real time, I did not know of my  brother’s whereabouts, only that all members of the House Floor had been evacuated. What I learned later was that those early evacuees did not include my brother as he was not on the Floor, he was in that small room off the Chamber. He was eventually evacuated to a room where his fellow Representatives gathered, but heeding his son’s advice, he left quickly as so many were not wearing masks. He was brought to another room and safety.

When I learned all this, I wondered “What would have happened if  the mob had opened the doors? Walked down the hall and found where my brother was?” The more I wondered the angrier I got,  especially when I heard the calls for the termination of the  officer who used his weapon so that the hallway would not be  breached. And yes, sometimes I knew hate for the mob's actions.  I took the hate to a place that never fails me, to prayer and to  “my better angels” as Lincoln said, and my brother often quotes.  A year later, these disruptive spirits have been entrusted to  greater and deeper powers than my own ego. I must be prudent though as I cannot listen to my fellow citizens who promote “the big lie” nor those greedy commercial and social media entities that profit from its continued existence. It is difficult though when a major political party call that days events as “legitimate political discourse”

When told of my brother's recovery from his infection, his walk  back from final goodbyes, one doctor spoke of a miracle. When I heard the whole story of his time in DC on Jan. 6, I also  thought of the word miracle. It was a miracle that more life was  not lost that day. It was a miracle that again, my brother had  gotten home from DC, safely, a second time from the danger of an  infection. The second infection was and is more deadly than the  first as it is clothed in righteousness and spoken with a fierce  and false bravado. It lacks the medical garb, sophisticated  equipment. and hushed tones of an ICU to warn of the risk to  human life. This infection shows itself in the righteousness of  a Christian Nationalism, the rage of “grievance” politics, and a  woeful loss of what our society needs as a social contract to  endure, a democracy to work: a society built on Character, not  the tortured renewal of a Dale Carnegie course; it needs virtue  built on a view of Agapeic Love open to all, a love meant to  empower others and do no harm, not the love of TV clichés, nihilists, reactionary zealots of all political ideologies, and  evangelists and certain catholic Bishops who defame the word love to weaponize it to their advantage.

Or is it too late? Is this infection of the public square spreading too deep? Is our flag too misused? Is it time to say our final  goodbyes to the Republic so many have given their life to  defend? My brother says no as do I. It is never too late to be  steadfast, to be grateful, to believe in those you love, in a  flag and a citizenship that you revere, and to recognize the  Grace that is beyond our understanding and works through us, you  and I, and gratefully, continues in my brothers continued public  service and chosen vocation. Be well. Ted

Mark, Thanksgiving 2021, with doctors cautions and permission and fully vaccinated,

inside the Capitol, 10 months after Jan 6th. No unaccompanied visitors were allowed into the building,

so we were free to walk the corridors alone (masked except for the photo.)

Answering the Archdiocese of SF

Recently I objected to statements made by the Archbishop of SF on FB where he used distortions, inciting language, and propaganda to demean the Catholicism of Democrats, and specifically Biden/Harris and Speaker Pelosi.  How did the AB do this? He did it through his view that the issue of abortion is THE singular evil (besides gay marriage & tipping over statues of Junipero Serra) through which we, American citizens, should make political decisions, and then allow the AB to deny the Eucharist to those who make choices he deems unacceptable. 

The Archdiocese wrote a response to my comment. I am thankful for the response. Thankful because there are many good people who work for the Archdiocese, some of whom I know and respect, and the response gives me a chance to reply in more detail to the comment so that those people might know why I made my original objection to the remarks of the AB. The AB made his remarks on a network that is eagerly chasing the profits made by Rupert Murdoch on Fox, Newsmax, and is a promoter, like Fox News, of the "big lie" that has put our democracy in such great danger.

The response of the Archdiocese of SF on their FB page on July 31, 2021 to my original comment:

Ted, If you read the Archbishop's pastoral letter, or paid attention to the science of the development of a baby, or the actual legislation or the language of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, you would know that currently in California, a baby can be killed legally by abortion up until the moment before birth and that a baby is a human life from conception. Further, in the state of California, abortion clinics are basically unregulated, unlike other clinics, because of the power of the abortion lobby and Planned Parenthood which actually writes legislation which is then enacted. Also the abortion lobby, NARAL and Planned Parenthood, have fought against any law that bans discriminatory abortions based on race or sex, a common practice which has created a high male-female ratio in the population in China and India. I hope you will take another look at this issue -- because I cannot think of you as someone snowed by a death-dealing corporate lobby and force. I know you want the good -- and abortion is an evil that strikes at the root of all that is good by destroying innocent human life.

First and most importantly, the issue of abortion, whether & when it should be performed, who should perform it, and what restrictions should be put on the choice of women to make a decision about these questions has been used by right wing extremists who carried out the Jan 6 insurrection under the leadership of King Herod (45). Church leaders like the AB through his efforts to weaponize the Eucharist are indirectly supporting the actions on that day. His words and actions, I believe are evidence of serious sin as they are harmful to the well being of our democracy and ultimately could lead to more violent acts of insurrection and additional deaths/injuries of innocent people, citizens, men and women, all ages, all nationalities & religious belief. Today, a third Capitol policeman died, committed suicide, as a result of the violence of January 6.

Secondly, I and no one I know supports "abortion on demand" up until the moment of birth as is implied in the statement: "a baby can be killed legally by abortion up until the moment before birth." Yes, if there is a choice to be made about who will live, the baby or the mother, and who makes that choice, yes,  that choice is "legally regulated" in CA as it is in many other states and countries. More demagoguery, as if a healthy woman could walk into a clinic and decide on her own, moments before delivery, simply because of convenience, to terminate the pregnancy at the last minute. Roe V Wade and no American legislation condones or has enacted legislation to make that choice a legal option. The AB would have you believe that many American woman, prospective mothers have the same concern for their pregnancy that they might have in choosing a flavor of ice cream, thus promoting that ancient story of Eve as the one who should not be trusted.  

Lastly, and thirdly, the claim that "... a baby is a human life from the moment of conception." is more of the same political tactic that streams through the response and original statement of the AB and it is this: own the language of the debate however possible including demonizing those who disagree with you. If I disagree with the AB, then the implication is I am opposed to the protection of human life. This tactic is demagoguery at its worst. Instead, the truth and dirty little secret of the AB is that if the AB had his way, "humane vitae" would be in full force and all form of contraception to avoid unwanted pregnancies would be outlawed. As HV says clearly: "Any form of artificial contraception is an intrinsic evil."

I am reminded of a HS student who turned to a priest for counsel years ago.  He feared his girlfriend was pregnant and she had decided to get an abortion if she was. The priest asked the student why he had not at least thought of using some form of protection, like a condom. The student replied, "Oh Father, I couldn't do that, it would be against the teaching of the Church." Unless and until the Church reconsiders its teaching contained in Humanae Vitae, and curbs the propaganda of AB Vigano and his cadre, It is easy for me to see where the greatest cause of unwanted pregnancies & threats to our Bill of Rights exist today. The propaganda being promoted is that we can not believe both in our Catholicism and our Citizenship in the USA. Oh, yes, we can believe in both our Catholicism, and Citizenship, but we must choose AB Cordileone's version, as he defines its for us.

Am I a Christian Catholic Before I am an American Citizen? 

Earlier this past week, during the confirmation hearings of ACB, I came across a tweet from a friend & former colleague of mine who is now a Bishop. In the tweet he was recommending how his parishioners should vote on or before November 3. 

I worked with this man when he was a Chaplain at a Catholic HS in SF where, for a time, I was Chairman of the Religious Education Department. He was well liked as a teacher, very conservative and had a, shall we say, "devotion" to the Magisterium and the Church. But he had a great sense of humor & was forgiving in his tone when he taught HS students things that they did not want to hear or, more naturally, rebelled against. He also liked politics as did I. I did not think he would stay a HS Chaplain forever and he has not. 

In writing this blog, I am struck by the reason I am writing it and the times we find ourselves in. What do you do when someone you have known and called a friend moves to a position of power & influence and they use that new place to teach something that you believe to be harmful to you and those you love? Do you send them a note with a cheery statement on the cover saying hello, a humorous quotation, reaffirming that friendship, speak in affection, and run the risk of choosing affability over the truth you know, but can only express as an individual, not as a Bishop.

My answer to the question is here and in what I am writing. 

My friend, the Bishop, in his tweet, of course reinforced the point of view that abortion was the "preeminent" moral issue facing every Catholic voter. But then he recommended a link to a statement put out by a fellow Bishop from Madison WI, Bishop Hying. As a point of admiration to my friends understanding of politics, he was only "recommending" his fellow Bishops comments, not writing them himself. Nevertheless, there is one line that I can imagine him saying, that Bishop Hying writes directly, especially when it comes to the authority of the Magisterium. It is:"We are Catholic Christians before we are Americans." I do not agree. We are Catholic Christians AND we are Americans. 

I do not intend to state all the reasons why I disagree with Bishop Hying and, through his recommendation, with his fellow Bishop and my former colleague. I will speak of only one reason. It rests in a historical event called the Thirty Years War. Not a famous war known to many Americans. I believe that fans of "Game of Thrones" who study the historical events of that War, the ravaging of towns, killing of men & women, in the name of Religion, will note a similarity to the violence in George Martin's books and HBO's Emmy Award winning series, and the war I reference. For any follower of Christ to diminish the violence used by tyrants and scoundrels, in word or deed (King Herod - 45), and to ignite religious zeal over and against the obligations of Conscience & Citizenship in a Democracy is to cause, I believe, "scandal" in the Church. To directly or indirectly use the office of "elder" or "overseer" (bishop)  to endorse a would be tyrant, amoral in his actions, and sinful in his words and deeds, is in my view, immoral. 

And like the unbridled lust for power testified to in the The Thirty Years War, and similar wars where violence seeks justification, it is the "innocent" who suffer, not the unborn, not the newly fertilized zygote, but young children, fully grown human beings. They die. And the powerful? Would be Kings (King Herod - 45)  who seek to dominate the public square thru prioritizing religious fealty "before" citizenship, often they will sleep safely at night and be well fed in the morning. And what of lust and my clerical friends, bishops, ordained others who have vowed celibacy? It is a never ending source of fascination into the human mind that prompts me to look back and see how many of them do not see "lust" in any other terms than in genital fulfillment, whether alone or with others. Some transfer these instincts, thoughts, obesessions into a "sanitized" longing for power. And like other secular seekers of it, seek to dominate through threat and office. Hell is indeed a hot place in the human imagination.

My prayers are with all who not only seek to be better Citizens of this bountiful country but also seek a deeper sacred space where we find Conscience & the Christ of the Trinitas. Both, not one or the other.

Here is link to Bishop Hying's letter:

http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/bishop-hying-columns/8846-hying-column09242020.html

No photos in the 1600's so in their place:

"In 1618, the first in a series of conflicts broke out in Northern Europe, sparking three decades of violence, famine and disease that swept across the continent and decimated its population." A painting of the looting of Wommelgem: