Correspondence
Worth rereading How can I best describe Mary Lee Freeman's article, "Caring for the Dying"(January 30, 2004)? In a word: breathtaking. Her essay is masterfully written, blending insight,...
...Amid tears After reading Mary Lee Freeman's article, amid the flow of tears, I immediately recalled Shakespeare's observation: "How many goodly creatures are there here...
...I can identify with these unsettling feelings while strongly affirming, as they do, our faith in Jesus' promises: "Whoever lives and believes in me will never die" and "I will raise him on the last day...
...The chaplain should be naturally outgoing, readily accessible to all campus constituencies, but especially comfortable understanding and relating to college students...
...Deep faith and shallow morals are often a disastrous combination...
...PROMO # AD2004 Commonweal 2 February 27, 2004 (Continued from page 2) gry, the sick and the oppressed...
...Lord, grant this lady an even greater love for you and for her patients...
...a greater gift I can't think of...
...405, New York, NY 10115, or e-mail copy to Malena Seldin at: circulationmgr@commonwealmagazine.org (e-mail is preferred...
...Going fishing...
...chess316@aol.com...
...There is bad theology at the heart of Pollyanna Christianity, and a confirmation that atheism is right to laugh at pie-in-the-sky-when-we-die...
...It is hard to get much more American than this...
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...Then he/she will see you face to face and in your light will see light and know the splendor of God...
...Garvey writes that "Christianity is not meant to reconcile us with death, but to see it for the horror it is...
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...Her essay is masterfully written, blending insight, compassion, hope, and love...
...They weren't crazy...
...Commonweal 30 February 27, 2004...
...Doesn't he still reveal Jesus in the poor and the hun(Continued on page 4) Credo William Sloane Coffin Foreword by James Carroll $14.95 (Canada $23.00) 0-664-22707-4 • Cloth A Passion for the Possible A Message to U.S...
...To that and to his "no one who has loved anyone or anything in life can find the idea of leaving life anything but tragic," I say rubbish...
...DANIEL J. MCCARTY, MD Hartland, Wis...
...But something is missing...
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...It is a must read for anyone struggling with the sickness or death of a loved one...
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...JOSEPH MADDEN, OFM cony Siler City, N.C...
...No one who has loved anyone or any-thing in this life can find the idea of leaving life anything but tragic...
...Like most Northeasterners, Dean does not talk about his religion in public, considering it a private matter...
...Advance payment required...
...FAX: 301-447-5755...
...Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry The editors reply: The editorial did not urge Howard Dean to wear his religion on his sleeve, nor did it suggest that those who profess faith are automatically more moral than those who don't...
...Visit www.sacredartwork.com PARTICIPATORY PLANNING CATCHES ON...
...We continue to look for any way around total surrender to God...
...R. Raza...
...Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death...
...I therefore appreciated John Garvey's profound and sobering article on the subject...
...Death is swallowed up in victory...
...With Paul we view death through the clear lens of a pro-found and all pervasive hope...
...RICHARD K. TAYLOR Philadelphia, Pa.Sans sting I'm sorry to say that I didn't find John Garvey's article on death very helpful...
...Your editorial seems to suggest that large segments of the electorate want a president of faith, since this assures a certain level of morality...
...JAMES B. MURRAY Cullman, Ala...
...I don't agree that "where death and an afterlife are concerned, most Christians are functionally neo-Platonists...
...Death where is your sting...
...Jesus' agony at Gethsemane means some(Continued on page 30) Commonweal 4 February 27, 2004 CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 4) thing to us precisely because it is our own...
...15 percent, 12 times...
...Garvey seems to want to keep both the law and the sting...
...He should be conversant with the current literature concerning the mission of Catholic higher education...
...REV...
...He should www.msmary.edu...
...JOHN GARVEY Dean & religion Your January 16, 2004, editorial ("Getting Religion") describes Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean as "resolutely secular" and as having a "tin ear for religion...
...A qualified applicant must Email: resume@msmary.edu...
...Nor do I agree that in much of our writing and preaching about death there is "an implicit denigration of the body and the flesh...
...Participatory Planning Candidates must provide written approval from their diocesan bishop or religious superior before an application can be considered...
...All eyes are on God in the beatific vision...
...Thinking about death As a seventy-year-old Catholic I find myself thinking more and more about death...
...Offers practical applications and solutions to challenges you face in your Ministry...
...Instead God is expected to co-sign our option on a nice condo in heaven...
...MANUSCRIPT EDITING, PROOFREADING...
...Yes, Christ cried out in desperate fear at his dying, but every death since his awesome sacrifice happens in the new creation...
...Web site: be an ordained Catholic priest...
...We view death not as those before Christ, but through Christ, which makes all the difference...
...His stark description resonated especially with me: "Death is as bad as it looks....lt is the loss of everything we have known...
...John Garvey's "Ashes to Ashes" (January 30, 2004) is a great example of prayerful reflection...
...It is as though the second commandment has been abolished in favor of the first...
...His present denomination is that of the pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620...
...Again Dean would appear to be in fairly good company...
...REV...
...JERRY WELSCH Saint Louis, Mo.Condo in the sky John Garvey's fantastic article on death brilliantly identifies how the "original sin" of pride (autonomy from God) has fueled the dominant culture's obsession with finding a "life after death" that will fit into our plans for the future...
...Their faith is that Jesus' death has changed the very nature of dying, and they do a fine job of seeing the reality of death and resurrection in the Scripture and in the liturgies surrounding dying and death...
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...They voice strong faith in Jesus' promise of eternal life, yet they are also sad at the impending loss of everything and everyone they know and love...
...How beauteous mankind is...
...wwwsabbathretreats.org in Verse A WALKING MEDITATION FOR LENT...
...www.luckyface.org/writings Ecclesiastical Art RARE, ORIGINAL ECCLESIASTICAL ART—Custom order a hard-to-find saint...
...0 brave new world that has such people in it...
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...He was angered by his former (Episcopalian) church's refusal to allow a bike path through property it owned along Lake Champlain and became a Congregationalist...
...This is the "I'll have my very own pony in heaven" school of thought...
...Discounts 5 percent, 3 times...
...This tragic sense is evident when I talk with other "elders" in my Philadelphia parish...
...you continue to benefit long after the Workshop has ended Three Locations in 2004 Phone: (866) CM and Me (866-262-63631, option 4; or (570) 674-6161 Fax: (5701 674-6232 E-mail: conted@misericordia.edu Web: misericordia.edu M COLLEGE ISERICORDIA Dallas, Pennsylvania Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of Dallas Division of Adult Education misericordia.edu © 2004 College Misericordia, Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy May 29 -June 3 June 10 -15 Dallas, Pennsylvania July 17-22 San Antonio, Texas Madison, Wisconsin The author replies: Having a beer with the old gang...
...Qualified and interested applicants should submit a letter of introduction, a statement of their vision for cam-pus ministry, and resume with appropriate approvals by March 15, 2004, to: Pauline Engelstatter, Executive DirecMOUNT SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE tor, Office of Human Resources, Mount is seeking qualified applicants for the Saint Mary's College, 16300 Old Emmitsposition of Chaplain and Director of Cam- burg Road, Emmitsburg, MD 21727...
...www.annerice.com have a master's degree in theology (or related field), be intellectually competent, Editorial Services and have advanced training and experience in theology, faith formation, and youth ministry...
...I hope that no more editorials bemoaning the lack of faith of presidential candidates appear in my favorite periodical...
...I fail to see how Christians can automatically assume that morals necessarily follow faith and churchgoing...
...Dynamic Creative Preaching PARISH MISSIONS, RETREATS FOR RELIGIOUS...
...This cannot be if the God of heaven is still the Father of Jesus...
...This includes developing a vibrant liturgical and sacramental life on campus, administering the Campus Ministry program, and being available to all members of the Mount community for counseling of a spiritual or personal nature...
...Wonderful...
...It simply noted the difficulty secular liberal politicians, especially in the Democratic Party, have in winning the trust of churchgoing voters...
...10 percent, 6 times...
...FRANK SABATTE, cSP Austin, Tex...
...I now understand much better the words we say over the grave: "Grant that our brother/sister may sleep here in peace until you awaken him/her to glory, for you are the resurrection and the life...
...He did not say, "If you would be my followers, forget about the cross....I've taken care of that...
...The pedophilia scan-dal among Catholic priests and bishops is an even more straightforward example of the disassociation of faith and morals...
...Sleep in peace Over the years, Commonweal has never failed to publish some of the best reflections on the Christian life...
...The last words in Mark's Gospel, before a cheerier ending was tacked on, said that the women who went to anoint him "fled...for trembling and astonishment had come upon them...
...If in heaven we are united with God's love, if we are "transformed into his likeness" (2 Cor 3:18), isn't it possible that God will invite us, not only to praise him, but also to join him in making the earth more just, peaceful, and loving...
...The law has nothing to do with it, but the sting always will...
...3-line minimum...
...He should possess spiritual depth, good counseling skills, and excellent preaching abilities...
...Our Founding Fathers were deists who did not believe in revealed religion but rather in an impersonal god with a small g. None of them spouted the pious platitudes of our current president...
...For additional information, call 212-662-4200 or write COMMONWEAL, 475 Riverside Dr., Rm...
...A successful candidate will live on campus so as to be a full-time member of the college community...
...pus Ministry...
...MA Theology, University of San Francisco, summa cum laude...
...As Hebrews says, Jesus' "experience of death should benefit all humanity...
...The pope and all major Christian denominations, save the Southern Baptist Convention, were against the war in Iraq, which was hyped by our president,a man of faith...
...They look forward to going home, having a beer with the old gang, going fishing...
...I found it deeply moving and inspiring, and promised my-self to read it again, especially in the context of visiting the sick...
...I often have wondered what heaven will be like...
...The Stations of the Cross The primary responsibility of the Chap-lain and Director of Campus Ministry is bringing people closer to God...
...Catholics look forward to being with their family and their ancestors when they die...
...and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid...
...In my years as a priest, I have observed a vibrant faith unafraid of death due, I believe, to the way the church cultivates a horizon of bright hope, "filled," as Paul says, "with an exultant trust in God...
...So many Christian visions of heaven, in art and literature, portray angels and saints doing nothing but adoring and praising God's name...
...Won't he still be the God who asks us to love our neighbors as ourselves...
...JACK MORRIS, SJ Rockaway, Ore...
Vol. 131 • February 2004 • No. 4
