What Do You Really Believe?
Sue Gifford, a friend of mine who is involved in Catholic campus ministry at Oregon State University, sent me a link to NPR's "This I Believe" radio program website. There were a couple of essays that I was directed to, but the essay by Sr. Helen Prejean of "Dead Man Walking" fame, held a couple of lines that really got to me.
In her essay on what she believes, Sr. Helen begins by saying,
Belief and faith are not just words. It’s one thing for me to say I’m a Christian, but I have to embody what it means; I have to live it. So, writing this essay and knowing I’ll share it in a public way becomes an occasion for me to look deeply at what I really believe by how I act.This is an important and sometimes overlooked way of evaluating our relationship with God and the Church. Orthodoxy (right belief) is important, but must result in orthopraxis (right action). As the letter of James reminds us, "Faith without works is dead." (cf. James 2:14-17)
But how often do we look at things from the opposite direction, as Sr. Helen suggests? What do my works - my life - say about what I really believe? I find it somewhat chilling that in Jesus' description of the last judgment in Matthew 25, the criteria for salvation and damnation are actions done towards the naked, hungry, imprisoned, sick - basically people who are miserable for one reason or another. What am I doing, concretely, to help them?
Jesus, the One through Whom anyone comes to the Father, is not suggesting, nor is St. Matthew, that we are saved by our works. No, we are saved by Christ's obedient, once-for-all self-offering on the cross. The question is, have I really thought about that, and considered what it means for me and the way I relate to people and to whom I relate? Contrary to what some Protestants claim, the Mass is not another sacrifice, but the sacramental representation of that one perfect sacrifice of Our Lord. But have I really thought about that "for-all" part of "once-and-for-all"?
Sherry's post about Dorothy Day raises this same issue.
In the 1960s, when a Catholic cardinal went to the White House for a prayer service with Richard Nixon and when another cardinal was in Vietnam blessing U.S. warplanes, Day unloaded: "What a confusion we have gotten into when Christian prelates sprinkle holy water on scrap metal to be used for obliteration bombing and name bombers for the Holy Innocents, for Our Lady of Mercy; who bless a man about to press a button which releases death to 50,000 human beings, including little babies, children, the sick, the aged . . ."It is incredibly challenging to be a disciple who tries to see the redeemed humanity of every person. It is easy to conform to any of the -isms of our own day, including patriotism. One parishioner at Holy Apostles pointed out that I regularly pray for the service men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (my youngest nephew may soon join them, I'm afraid). Colorado Springs is ringed by military bases, so it's not unlikely that at least some of the attendees at daily Mass have friends or family members in harm's way. It's a popular prayer. But this young man pointed out that I never prayed for those we consider our enemies - and that Jesus said, "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke 6:27-28
Ah, that may not be so popular, particularly with someone who's lost a loved one in the war.
But of course, if our actions flow from a desire, above all else, to follow Jesus, popularity will be the last of our worries - for two reasons. First of all, as I just said, our desire will be to follow Jesus! And secondly, if we really do that, we will be as popular as Him - in His day. Which really wasn't that popular in the end, was it?
That's where Sr. Prejean's essay is challenging. What do my actions really say about what I believe? Do they say I believe it's imperative to follow Jesus and to die to my own selfish desires and be a man of service, especially to the weak, outcast and despised? Or do they betray my desire to be successful, accepted, respected, and perhaps just a wee bit popular?
posted by Fr. Mike, O.P. @ 2:51 PM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
" . . .makes you realize the Dead Man Walking truly belongs on the shelf in the library in the Fiction category."
Dead Man Walking and Sr. Prejean's Death Penalty Disinformation
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
I. Dead Family Walking: The Bourque Family Story of Dead Man Walking , by D. D. deVinci, Goldlamp Publishing, 2006
" . . .makes you realize the Dead Man Walking truly belongs on the shelf in the library in the Fiction category."
"Being devout Catholics, 'the norm' would be to look to the church for support and healing. Again, this need for spiritual stability was stolen by Sister Prejean."
The book alleges whole cloth fabrications by Sister Prejean within her book "Dead Man Walking".
"On November 5, 1977, the Bourque's teenage daughter, Loretta, was found murdered in a trash pile near the city of New Iberia, Louisiana lying side by side near her boyfriend–with three well-placed bullet holes behind each head. "
www(dot)deadfamilywalking.com/
contact T.J. Edler, 337-967-0840, infogoldlamp(at)aol.com
II. The Victims of Dead Man Walking
by Michael L. Varnado, Daniel P. Smith
comment -- A very different story than that written by Sister Helen Prejean. Detective Varnado was the investigating officer in the murder of Faith Hathaway. 2003
III. Death Of Truth: Sister Prejean's new book Death Of Innocents
For some years, there has existed a consistent pattern, from death penalty opponents, to declare certain death row inmates to be actually innocent. Those claims have, consistently, been 70-83% in error. ("ALL INNOCENCE ISSUES -- THE DEATH PENALTY")
Keep that in mind with "Death of Innocents".
Readers should be very careful, as they have no way of knowing if any of the fact issues in either of the two cases, as presented by Sister Prejean, are true. Readers would have to conduct their own thorough, independent examination to make that determination. You can start here.
Four articles
(a) "FOR GOOD REASON, JOE O'DELL IS ON DEATH ROW"
scholar(DOT)lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950728/07210224.htm
quote: "The DNA report commissioned by O'Dell and his lawyers actually corroborates O'Dell's guilt. There is a three-probe DNA match indicating that the bloodstains on O'Dell's clothing is indeed consistent with the victim Helen Schartner's DNA as well as her blood type and enzyme factors." "There is certainly no truth to O'Dell's accusation that evidence was suppressed or witnesses intimidated by the prosecution."
(b) "Sabine district attorney disputes author's claims in book"
www(DOT)shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050124/NEWS01/501240328/1060
quote: "I don't know whether she is deliberately trying to mislead the public or if she's being mislead by others. But she's wrong,"
District Atty. Burkett, dburkett(AT)cp-tel.net
(c) Book Review: "Sister Prejean's Lack of Credibility: Review of "The Death of Innocents", by Thomas M. McKenna (New Oxford Review, 12/05).
"The book is moreover riddled with factual errors and misrepresentations."
"Williams had confessed to repeatedly stabbing his victim, Sonya Knippers."
"This DNA test was performed by an independent lab in Dallas, which concluded that there was a one in nearly four billion chance that the blood could have been someone's other than Williams's."
" . . . despite repeated claims that (Prejean) cares about crime victims, implies that the victim's husband was a more likely suspect but was overlooked because the authorities wanted to convict a black man."
" . . . a Federal District Court . . . stated that 'the evidence against Williams was overwhelming.' " "The same court also did "not find any evidence of racial bias specific to this case."
"(Prejean's) broad brush strokes paint individual jurors, prosecutors, and judges with the term "racist" with no facts, no evidence, and, in most cases, without so much as having spoken with the people she accuses."
"Sr. Prejean also claims that Dobie Williams was mentally retarded. But the same federal judge who thought he deserved a new sentencing hearing also upheld the finding of the state Sanity Commission report on Williams, which concluded that he had a "low-average I.Q.," and did not suffer from schizophrenia or other major affective disorders. Indeed, Williams's own expert at trial concluded that Williams's intelligence fell within the "normal" range. Prejean mentions none of these facts."
"In addition to lying to the police about how he came to have blood on his clothes, the best evidence of O'Dell's guilt was that Schartner's (the rape/murder vicitim's) blood was on his jacket. Testing showed that only three of every thousand people share the same blood characteristics as Schartner. Also, a cellmate of O'Dell's testified that O'Dell told him he killed Schartner because she would not have sex with him."
"After the trial, LifeCodes, a DNA lab that O'Dell himself praised as having "an impeccable reputation," tested the blood on O'Dell's jacket -- and found that it was a genetic match to Schartner. When the results were not to his liking, O'Dell, and of course Sr. Prejean, attacked the reliability of the lab O'Dell had earlier praised. Again, as with Williams's conviction, the federal court reviewing the case characterized the evidence against O'Dell as 'vast' and
'overwhelming.' "
Sr. Prejean again sees nefarious forces at work. Not racism this time, for O'Dell was white. Rather, she charges that the prosecutors were motivated to convict by desire for advancement and judgeships. Yet she never contacted the prosecutors to interview them or anyone who might substantiate such a charge.
"(Prejean) omits the most damning portion of (O'Dell's criminal) record: an abduction charge in Florida where O'Dell struck the victim on the head with a gun and told her that he was going to rape her. This very similar crime helped the jury conclude that O'Dell would be a future threat to society. It supports the other evidence of his guilt and thus undermines Prejean's claim of innocence."
"There is thus a moral equivalence for Prejean between the family of an innocent victim and the newfound girlfriend of a convicted rapist and murderer."
"This curious definition of "the victims" suggests that her concern for "victims" seems to be more window-dressing for her cause than true concern."
(d) Hardly The Death Of Innocents: Sister Prejean tells it like it wasn't -- Joseph O'Dell
by Anonymous, at author's request
In lionizing convicted murderer Joseph O'Dell as being an innocent man railroaded to his 1997 execution by Virginia prosecutors, Sister Helen Prejean presents a skewed summary of the case to bolster her anti-death penalty agenda. While she is a gifted speaker, she is out of her element when it comes to "telling it as it was" in these cases.
Prejean got to walk with O'Dell into the death chamber at Greensville Correctional Center on July 22, 1997. However, she wasn't in Virginia Beach some 12 years earlier when he committed the crime for which he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. That is where the real demon was evident, not the sweet talking condemned con-man that she met behind bars. O'Dell was, in the words of then Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Albert Alberi (case prosecutor), one of the most savage, dangerous criminals he had encountered in a two decade career.
Indeed,O'Dell had spent most of his adult life incarcerated for various crimes since the age of 13 in the mid-1950's. At the time of the Schartner murder in Virginia, O'Dell had been recently paroled from Florida where he had been serving a 99 year sentence for a 1976 Jacksonville abduction that almost ended in a murder of the female victim (had not police arrived) in the back of his car.
The circumstances of that crime were almost identical to those surrounding Schartner's murder. The victim of the Florida case even showed up in Virginia to testify at the trial. Scarcely a mention of this case is made in the Prejean book.
Briefly, let me outline some of the facts about the case: Victim Helen Schartner's blood was found on the passenger seat of Joseph O'Dell's vehicle. Tire tracks matching those on O'Dell's vehicle were found at the scene where Miss Schartner's body was found. The tire tread design on O'Dell's vehicle wheels were so unique, an expert in tire design couldn't match them in a manual of thousands of other tire treads. The seminal fluids found on the victim's body matched those of Mr. O'Dell and pubic hairs of the victim were found on the floor of his car.
The claims that O'Dell was "denied" his opportunity to present new DNA evidence on appeals were frivolous. In fact, he had every opportunity to come forward with this evidence, but his lawyers refused to reveal to the court the full findings of the tests which they had arranged to be done on a shirt with blood stains, which O'Dell's counsel claimed might show did not have the blood marks from the defendant or the victim.
Manipulative defense lawyer tactics were overlooked by Prejean in her narrative. O'Dell was far from a victim of poor counsel. As matter of fact, the city of Virginia Beach and state government gave O'Dell an estimated $100,000 for his defense team at trial. This unprecedented amount nearly bankrupted the entire indigent defense fund for the state. He had great lawyers, expert forensic investigators and every point at the trial was contested two to five times.
There was no "rush to justice" in this case.
O'Dell's alibi for the night of Schartner's murder was that he had gotten thrown out of the bar where he encountered Schartner following a brawl. However, none of the several dozen individuals supported his contention - there weren't any fights that night. Rather, several saw Miss Schartner getting into O'Dell's car on what would be her last ride.
But Prejean would want us to believe the claims of felon Joseph O'Dell.He had three trips to the United States Supreme Court and the "procedural error" which Prejean claims ultimately doomed him was the result of simple ignorance of basic appeals rules by his lawyers.
Nothing in the record ever suggested that Joseph O'Dell, two time killer and rapist, was anything but guilty of the murder of Helen Schartner.
Justice was properly served.
IV. Sister Helen Prejean on the death penalty
"It is abundantly clear that the Bible depicts murder as a capital crime for which death is considered the appropriate punishment, and one is hard pressed to find a biblical ‘proof text’ in either the Hebrew Testament or the New Testament which unequivocally refutes this. Even Jesus’ admonition ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone,’ when He was asked the appropriate punishment for an adulteress (John 8:7) - the Mosaic Law prescribed death - should be read in its proper context. This passage is an ‘entrapment’ story, which sought to show Jesus’ wisdom in besting His adversaries. It is not an ethical pronouncement about capital punishment .” Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking.
The sister’s analysis is consistent with much theological scholarship. Also, much scholarship questions the authenticity of John 8:7.
From here, the sister states that “ . . . more and more I find myself steering away from such futile discussions (of Biblical text). Instead, I try to articulate what I personally believe . . . ” The sister has never shied away from any argument, futile or otherwise, which opposed the death penalty. She has abandoned biblical text for only one reason: the text conflicts with her personal beliefs.
Sister Prejean rightly cautions: "Many people sift through the Scriptures and select truth according to their own templates." (Progressive, 1/96). Sadly, Sister Prejean appears to do much worse. The sister now uses that very same biblical text “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone” as proof of Jesus’ “unequivocal” rejection of capital punishment as “revenge and unholy retribution”! (see Sister Prejean’s 12/12/96 fundraising letter on behalf of the Saga Of Shame book project for Quixote Center/Equal Justice USA)
V. Redemption and the death penalty
The movie Dead Man Walking reveals a perfect example of how just punishment and redemption can work together. Had rapist/murderer Matthew Poncelet not been properly sentenced to death by the civil authority, he would not have met Sister Prejean, he would not have received spiritual instruction, he would not have taken responsibility for his crimes and he would not have reconciled with God. Had Poncelet never been caught or had he only been given a prison sentence, his character makes it VERY clear that those elements would not have come together. Indeed, for the entire film and up until those last moments, prior to his execution, Poncelet was not truthful with Sister Prejean. His lying and manipulative nature was fully exposed at that crucial time. It was not at all surprising, then, that it was just prior to his execution that all of the spiritual elements may have come together for his salvation. It was now, or never. Truly, just as St. Aquinas stated, it was Poncelet's pending execution which may have led to his repentance. For Christians, the most crucial concerns of Dead Man Walking must be and are redemption and eternal salvation. And, for that reason, it may well be, for Christians, the most important pro-death penalty movie ever made.
A real life example of this may be the case of Dennis Gentry, executed April 16, 1997, for the premeditated murder of his friend Jimmy Don Ham. During his final statement, Gentry said, "I’d like to thank the Lord for the past 14 years (on death row) to grow as a man and mature enough to accept what’s happening here tonight. To my family, I’m happy. I’m going home to Jesus." As the lethal drugs began to flow, Gentry cried out, "Sweet Jesus, here I come. Take me home. I’m going that way to see the Lord." (Michael Gracyk, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, 4/17/97). We cannot know if Gentry or the fictitious Poncelet or the two real murderers from the DMW book really did repent and receive salvation.
But, we do know that St. Aquinas advises us that murderers should not be given the benefit of the doubt. We should err on the side of caution and not give murderers the opportunity to harm again.
"The fact that the evil, as long as they live, can be corrected from their errors does not prohibit the fact that they may be justly executed, for the danger which threatens from their way of life is greater and more certain than the good which may be expected from their improvement. They also have at that critical point of death the opportunity to be converted to God through repentance. And if they are so stubborn that even at the point of death their heart does not draw back from evil, it is possible to make a highly probable judgement that they would never come away from evil to the right use of their powers." St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book III, 146.
VI. On God and the death penalty
It is not uncommon for persons of faith to create a god in their own image, to give to that god their values, instead of accepting those values which are inherent to the deity. For example, death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) states, in reference to the death penalty, that "I couldn’t worship a god who is less compassionate than I am."(Progressive, 1/96). She has, thereby, established her standard of compassion as the basis for God’s being deserving of her devotion. If God’s level of compassion does not rise to the level of her own, God couldn’t receive her worship. Director Tim Robbins (Death Man Walking) follows that same path: "(I) don’t believe in that kind of (g)od (that would support capital punishment and, therefore, would be the kind of god who tortures people into their redemption)." ("Opposing The Death Penalty", AMERICA, 11/9/96, p 12). Robbins, hereby, establishes his standard for his God’s deserving of his belief. God’s standards do not seem to be relevant. His sophomoric comparison of capital punishment and torture is typical of the ignorance in this debate and such comments reflect no biblical relevancy. Perhaps they should review Matthew 5:17-22 and 15:1-9. Be cautious, for as the ancient rabbis warned, "Do not seek to be more righteous than your creator." (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.33)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Detective Varnado writes: "For those who believe in the teachings of Sister Helen Prejean as her journey continues in her effort to abolish the death penalty. 'For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And, no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:13 & 14' " -- From Detective Varnado's new book Soft Targets; A Women's Guide To Survival
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa@aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS , VOA and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O'Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
Gee, I just thought Sr. Helen made a good point.
There's no inherent contradiction between support for the military and Catholicism, Fr. Mike. Check the catechism. Reread Pope Benedict's speech at the White House, where he remembered the war dead of the US. Sr. Helen Prejean's views are not necessarily those of the Catholic Church.
Um...
Anonymous said, "Sr. Helen Prejean's views are not necessarily those of the Catholic Church." I would suggest that Fr. Mike has at least as good a grasp on Church teaching as Sr. Helen and can easily evaluate her claims for himself.
Anyone ever hear of the phrase, "A stopped clock is right - but only twice a day"?
I think that appears to be the case with Sr. Prejean. She may be way off in some matters, but does it follow that when she speaks something true, we must ignore it?
Anomynous, I didn't read Fr. Mike's post as against supporting or blessing the military as much as more fully supporting them by fully living the gospel and praying for their enemies as well. Now you may take that as treason but not if your cause is just and pray that their enemies see true justice and embrace peace. Prayers can change hearts. Only changed hearts can truly bring and end to wars over the long term. Without a change of hearts on both sides, victory will only bring a temporary reprieve from war. It was only a change of hearts...the allies willing to forgive, the Germans recognizing both their defeat and the gift of reconciliation that has resulted in such a long peace in Europe. If we won only on the battle field, we would most certainly have been doomed to fighting again. But hearts were won too. And a more last peace was the reward.
Hearts deeply converted to the love of Christ will not let the hungry go unfed, the naked, unclothed, the sick, without medical care, the imprisoned alone, and the battlefield enemy, unforgiven.
Jesus always preached the Gospel of Love first and then demanded that folks follow it. It's converted hearts and not actions devoid of Christ's love that bring the true peace of Christ to the world. Only converted hearts will make the sacrifices necessary to love unselfishly and to love enemies with the kind of love that can convert the enemy into friends.
Please delete previous message..I accidentally hit send..hopefully I caught all the typos this time:
Anomynous, I didn't read Fr. Mike's post as against supporting or blessing the military as much as more fully supporting them by fully living the gospel and praying for their enemies as well. Now you may take that as treason but not if your cause is just and pray that your enemies are converted to true justice and embrace peace. Prayers can change hearts. Only changed hearts can truly bring a true end to wars over the long term. Without a change of hearts on both sides, victory will only bring a temporary reprieve from war.
Take World War II, for example. It was only a change of hearts on both sides that stopped the cycle of wars. The Allies were willing not only to forgive but also to rebuild, rather than seek merciless retribution as they had after WW2. The Germans hearts were converted not only because they were so roundly defeated but even moreso because they came to realize in the light of the Allies forgiveness and charity, the injustice of their cause.
If the Allies had won only on the battle field, all would most certainly have been doomed to fight again another day. Thankfully the Allies had won converson of hearts too. The reward was a more lasting peace and the gift of making friends out of former enemies.
I'd argue that hearts deeply converted to the love of Christ will not let the hungry go unfed, the naked, unclothed, the sick, without medical care, the imprisoned alone, and the battlefield enemy, unforgiven. If we are letting the hungry go unfed, we might do well to wonder about the depth of our conversion and the efficacy of our spiritual path. This was what I got from Fr. Mike's post.
Jesus always preached the Gospel of Love first and then demanded that folks follow it. It's converted hearts and not actions devoid of Christ's love that bring the true peace of Christ to the world. Only converted hearts will make the sacrifices necessary to love unselfishly and to love enemies with the kind of love that can convert the enemy into friends.
Kathleen Lundquist,
Fr. Mike is only offering his opinion, which is just as fallible as Helen Prejean's. Your last sentence implies that her statements on war are true, but it is you who are way off. Read the Catechism sometime or try Pope Benedict. You might discover something you didn't know.
Your pack mentality might be comforting, but it doesn't reveal truth very often.
"Pack mentality"? Come now. We're so tiny compared to most of the Catholic apostolates out there that we hardly constitute a "pack". :)
I only write to support Fr. Mike's reflection that we ought to be more like Jesus in the way we treat one another, without regard to our own esteem or popularity.
This interaction is good practice, in that we're apparently not very popular with you, Anonymous.
Post a Comment
<< Home