Big Brother's view of USML

I would have posted a full-size shot - with serious detail, down to the airplane that was flying over our lake the day the shot was taken - but apparently I have a size limit. Too bad.

If you want to see the seriously awesome satellite view, go to Google Maps and click on the "Hybrid" option on the upper right-hand corner. Wow.

- Jacob

Writing a homily....

Have you ever gone to Mass and been completely blown away by what the priest said in his homily? Ever been touched in a way that was powerfully profound or simple and edifying? I know that I have - and its a wonderful blessing to meet a priest who has opened himself to the graces to do that.

Of course, that also involves learning to preach - and that is where me and my class is at this year. Now the flip side of a great homily is the poor homily - something every preacher wants to avoid. So here at the seminary we take classes to learn about preaching.

And the best way to learn is to do it yourself. Ack.

Did you know that the number one fear of just about everybody is public speaking? In other words, folks would rather face a shooting squad, man-eating plants, revolutionary squirrels and their girlfriend's dad - all at once - than speak in front of a group of people.

So it shouldn't come as any surprise that folks here at the seminary - myself included - aren't exactly thrilled with the idea. And to boot, we get to preach (as deacons) in front of 200-plus folks who are theologically well-trained. Better make that a good homily and double-check it for heresies!

So its 10:41 at night here in Mundelein and I'm trying to pump out and polish up a homily for class tomorrow. I just want to to thank every preacher out there for their work in preaching to us ungrateful folks. And the next time you go to Mass and listen to a good homily, thank the priest - that's hard work right there and takes a good bit of grace & talent to do!

God bless you,
Jacob Maurer

Diaconate ordinations

This Sunday (October 30th, 2005), 18 men will be ordained here at Mundelein seminary. Please pray for these men!

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Joachim Oladele Adeyemi
(Diocese of Ilorin, Nigeria)

Thomas Gerard Belanger
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Arkadiusz Falana Benedykt
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

John Lisle Greb Avitus
(Diocese of Phoenix, AZ)

William Dennis Hill
(Diocese of Cheyenne, WY

Pawel Komperda
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Stanley John Konieczy
(Diocese of Bellevill, IL)

Jose de Jesus Medina
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Bolivar Guillermo Molina
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Hugo Morales
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Phi Nguyen
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Marcin Pazdan
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Leonard Rukuratwa
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Adan Sandoval
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Rolando Silva
(Diocese of Gaylord, MI)

Artur Jan Sowa
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Mark Anthony Waslewski
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

Fernando Zuleta
(Archdiocese of Chicago)

---

Peace,
Jacob Maurer

(Update) Fighting the culture of death

Every Saturday, here at Mundelein seminary, a group of men go out to pray at one of the two abortion mills in Chicago. We have several men here who also offer sidewalk counseling.

This Saturday was no different - we all went out at about 8:AM and drove down to the Planned Parenthood 'clinic'. We set up four different posters - a life poster (facing inwards towards mothers who are coming in and out of the abortion mill), a death poster (facing drivers and pedestrians to see some of the horrors of abortion), and posters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart of Mary.

We have one man here in particular who is a regular sidewalk counselor. The rest of us will pray the rosary to the side and sing. If there is time we also pray the Divine Chaplet.

Normally, Planned Parenthood's death-scorts come out within minutes of our arrival. Interestingly enough, they didn't come out until nearly half an hour had passed. That was nearly thirty minutes of uninterrupted ministry to women considering abortion. A true grace.

However, the day is not without its challenges. Planned Parenthood is always the hardest to minister to. We're at a street corner, which means that there is a lot of noise and a lot of traffic (vehicles and pedestrians) - which means a lot of negative attention and distraction.

Too boot, Planned Parenthood has diabolically clever methods of disturbing our efforts. The basic disturbance is to have three death-scorts at the double doors into their abortion mill. As a couple or single woman approaches, one will hold one door open from the inside of the building, another will hold it open from the outside. The third will come up behind whoever is coming in. In this way, they box in those who come in, closing the doors behind them too. They will talk over our ministers as well.

This time, they also enlisted the help of a particularly aggressive young man. To start off, he was armed, which is always intimidating. If someone doesn't respect life at its very conception, it isn't a hard leap to them not respecting life at later stages.

But this man's tactic was to claim that our minister was violating his space. Of course, he would make sure that his space was always around the women that our minister was talking to. Then he would scream at the minister, effectively drowning him out and scaring him.

This lasted about twenty minutes. Then, a young woman came up and began praying with us (until then, it was only seminarians). That changed everything. I thought then and have always thought that women make a powerful witness by their presence at abortion mills, because they unequivocally know about pregnancy and abortion firsthand.

She came up and it was like the death-scorts were silenced. Shortly after, two other ministers (a young man and an older woman) came up, which also helped immensely. At one point, the young male death-scort began to scream again, at which point the new male minister calmly told him to stop or be forced to face them with police mediation. Some blustering went on, but it didn't happen again.

I don't know if we had any turn-arounds. In fact, I've never known if we had any turn-arounds, not firsthand. We may never know. I do know that yesterday, three young adults were standing on the sidewalk in Planned Parenthood volunteer vests, working out of fear and genuinely afraid of what we were doing. The grace that God sent to them and to those coming in was something that affected them. How, we may never know.

Before I came to Mundelein seminary, I never went to an abortion mill and never considered sidewalk counseling as something that I could do. I was scared of confrontation and scared of commitment. And even now that I do it, I'm still scared of both. But I urge you, and anyone you know who is pro-life, to take up pro-life action.

For those from my home diocese, I have provided a link (click here or click the title) to our very own Western Washington Pro-Life Network. God's grace can work through even the weakest of us and in the most intimidating of circumstances.

God bless you.

- Jacob Maurer


(A few shots of the death-scorts at the Planned Parenthood abortion mill in Chicago at the corner of Division and La Salle)

Also, check out Gerard Alba's blog for his own reflection on praying at the abortion mill. It was his first time doing this and his own thoughts are edifying and thoughtful.

(Update) Mundelein seminary Eucharistic procession

On Tuesday (October 18th) we had wonderful Eucharistic procession and reconsecration of our campus. We processed around the campus and stopped at the accident site, all with Jesus along the way.

I would write more, but Shawn Tunink, a fellow seminarian, told us that he would post the pictures that he had at his blog and he has done not only that, but also a thoughtful reflection that speaks for the thoughts and sentiments of many of us.

Take a peek.

(Reflection) Made in the image of whom?

Smallville

I'm a fan of show called Smallville, which airs on the WB channel (Warner Bros.). This show came out about four years ago and promised to delve into the beginning of Superman. Now I've been a fan of the Superman comic series ever since I first discovered them. He is an American icon and one that has captured the imaginations of several generations here in the U.S.A, as well as across the world.

So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited about this show - it seemed relatively original: exploring the influences on Clark Kent as a highschooler as well as creating its own mythology with a friendship between the young Clark Kent and a young Lex Luthor. Can a fan really ask for more?

Oh, how far that was from the truth.

Like most television series, the first season of Smallville was rocky, focusing nearly entirely on the idea that kryptonite (meteors from the planet Krypton, Clark Kent's true home) affects humans in ways that give them super powers. These powers are almost universally more than these people can handle and they use them unwisely, usually maliciously. So of course, the young Clark Kent played the hero for the entire first season.

Over the second and third season, after a strong fanbase had been established, character development came to the forefront. What was Clark Kent's family like? How did he live as a teenager? Were there girlfriends? Did he have the average teenage angst that we all have experienced? Did he rebel? And of course, what new things can we learn about his origins?.

All of this was promising and it seemed like the writers would put this to good use. The appearance of Christopher Reeves - the original Superman - thrilled and excited us fans, as well as the casting of other original actors from the Superman movies (Annette O'Toole [Lana Lang], Margaret Kidder [Lois Lane], others) as well as introducing hints of other famous comic book characters (Perry White, the Flash).

However, in the fourth season, what I truly feared most about this show came true.

The problem with WB (and most television networks)

Hmmmm. Thats a bit dramatic. Lets qualify that. You see, the fact that the Warner Bros. company was going to host Smallville had always left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This is the same television station that gives us shows like 7th Heaven, Charmed, Blue Collar TV and Everwood. Whats wrong with these shows, you ask? Let me tell you.

All of these shows had an interesting premise but eventually turned to easy ratings through popular trends or behavior. Premarital sex, foul language, and gratuitous violence in some combination. (Charmed is a notable exception; its premise was bad from the start - witchcraft is not something to be paraded for entertainment, period.)

These problems are not exclusive to the Warner Bros. channel. In truth, all networks have shows that ride heavily - even entirely - these elements. I highlight the Warner Bros. channel because they cater almost exclusively to teenagers, who in their thirst to be adults, mistake many vices for the virtues that create true maturity.

The demise of Smallville

My greatest fear for Smallville was that it would fall into the habit of catering to this misguided understanding of maturity. I recognize that in shows depicting [truth,] justice [and the American way] necessitate situations that involve some violence, perhaps even minor foul language and suggestive situations. All of these could be handled in a productive and moral way.

Obviously that rarely ever happens and the writers of Smallville succumbed to this problem. If you watched the series, you may have noticed, especially over the third season, an increase in the sexually suggestive comments, situations and even gestures. At the time, it was easy to roll my eyes and simply think 'they'll get over this'. However, in the fourth season, Smallville decided to mine the depths (or lack thereof) of this kind of ratings pull.

Season four featured, in almost every episode, sexual elements that pushed the envelope. The opening episode had Clark walking around naked for a good portion of the time, other episodes featured female characters kissing eachother, very revealingly dressed women and many suggestive comments, actions and situations. I'd provide examples, but quite frankly, they truly are too much to explain here without being scandolous myself.


"But its just a television show"

This is perhaps the biggest argument that I hear from people who want to continue watching television that is immoral (or amoral). Absolutely - and of course, nothing I see on television has any effect on my own behavior, ideals or thoughts. I can read, watch and hear anything and not be affected by it. Puleese.

There is a fallacy that people hold - that there are such things as 'private' sins. Now I'm not a believer in the New Age idea that we are all connected by some mysterious energy force and that everything I do affects everyone in the world. Thats simply silliness and post-modernist tripe.

However, Catholic theology does teach us that everything we do does have an effect on those we interact with. This is practical truth - not simply something the Pope cooked up to make us feel guilty.

The social effect

If I spend time looking at pornography, this will affect my own view of women. It takes a certain type of mindset to be able to look at another person as simply an object of my personal pleasure - with no regard to their own dignity as created in the image and likeness of God.

But it doesn't end there. In my interactions with others, implicitly (if not explicitly), I will have less respect for others as dignified humans - women in particular, but all people in general. I will be less firm in those areas of sexual morality (in my discussion, in custody of my eyes, in conversation, et cetera).

But isn't that still only affecting me? Absolutely not. Because we are all, whether we like it or not, public people. As a seminarian, I am particularly aware of this. People look at me with the expectation that I will reflect proper behavior, Catholic virtue and they will follow my example, to some degree.

And this isn't something that I have a monopoly on. I guarantee that there is at least five people that you will meet today who will be attracted to some good thing that you seem to embody. Perhaps you smile nicely, perhaps you said 'hello' kindly, perhaps you simply seem to carry yourself in a way that people find inviting.

Not to mention people who admire you because they actually know you.

All of these people will, in some way, watch you and try to emulate that virtue that they think you embody. Don't believe me? The next time you walk down the street, watch those around you inconspicuously and try to see how they react to you. Its amazing, because after a while you may see people smiling when they see you, watching you a little more closely or simply looking thoughtfully at you. This is perhaps most obvious on a train, plane or bus. Your friends will show this to a much higher extent - after all they like you and to some degree, want to be like you.

"Remember Peter, with great power comes great responsibility"

If you can accept that you have an enormous amount of influence on those around you, then this next bit should be easy to swallow. For the fact is, if I have that much power, a HUGE amount of impetus rests on me to be the best example that I can be.

Can you see why blindly putting ourselves before harmful influences would be dangerous? And not only to our own moral state, but to the state of others?

Television shows play a huge part in this. Television shows provide a way to relax - we simply turn on the tube and let pictures and sounds come to us. The problem with this passive reception is that we have forgotten that we must discern what we will and won't accept. Television has become an anesthetic for our brains.

People complain that the media has a huge power in our lives. This is true, and something that we can read about anywhere. But it is the television shows that truly have power to mold us. They create characters that we can empathize with, that seem to have a handle on the problems that we face everyday. And when they do things that we know are wrong, we are less willing to recognize that because these are the characters that resonate with our own situations.

See the pattern - the problem that we have placed ourselves in? I challenge you - and myself - to seriously look at those influences of television that we have allowed into our lives. Are you in agreement with the innate values of the show? Would you be willing to defend the treatment of issues on these shows as your own?

If not, maybe its time to put the television in a closet somewhere and find a good book.

I, for one, am going to return to real stories of a true super-man. After all, there is only One whose image that we were formed in, and that should be the image that we are trying to emulate.

- Jacob

(Announcement) <-- A new way to tell whats new at my blog

I'd simply like to point out a 'feature' I'm implementing. In order to organize my blog a little better, I'm going to begin categorizing my posts by type. Before the title of each post, I will have, in parenthesis, what kind of post it is. There isn't a set system yet (I just thought this up today), but it should help you figure out what you want to read as well as help me keep track of my own posting pattern.

- Jacob

Baby priests!

We had our Mass of the newly ordained priests from Mundelein seminary today. I only knew these men for a year, but it was great to see them all again. And to have this huge MASS of white around the altar was simply awesome. It really gives me hope that God is fostering vocations and bringing them to fruition.

I also want to point out a new section on my blog - its the prayer intentions section. Please take a moment to offer a quick prayer for these intentions - most especially the special intentions, which have specific people with a real need behind them.

Beautiful day here in Illinois - overcast and mid-60s. Felt just like home. I'm hoping for some thunderstorms tomorrow.....

God bless you.

- Jacob

A smattering of random thoughts

Been a bit since my last post - which delved way into the nebulous world of philosophy. Glad to have that out of my system, however....

I was talking to a close friend last night and the issue of abortion came up. Turns out that a co-worker of hers recently had an abortion. My friend called up and was worried about her friend and about what she could do. I gave the advice of going to the local priest & talking with him, mentioned Project Rachael and encouraged her to pray.

But once again, it struck me that abortion isn't something that affects only the mother and the baby. What a terrible thing to think that there might have been something you could (or should) have done - and not know for sure. And what about the father - apathetic now, but later? What about the extended family.

And all this goes without mentioning the mother.

So I ask that you please pray for all mothers - especially my friend's co-worker. Maybe you could offer a 'Hail Mary' up to our Mother now?

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In other areas....this Thursday marks the 1-month anniversary of Matty and Jared's entrance into the glories of heaven. We will be celebrating Mass for them. We will also be having a Eucharistic procession, a benediction of the shrine at the accident site and a re-consecration of our campus. I think that will all happen at around mid-day. If you remember, join us in prayer - I think that a prayer to Mary would be appropriate!

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As a related aside, I'd encourage anyone who has been touched by Matty to visit his Mom (Pam) at her Xanga blog. She has a guestbook that you could sign with some encouragement or word of love. I will be keeping her blog on the sidebar to the right for future reference.

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My last mini-post here! At Mass today we had a wonderful moment (well, the whole Mass IS a wonderful moment). Our cantor had gotten three other guys and they sang this really beautiful 4-part song about having nothing to fear. Walking up to receive our Lord, I couldn't help but think how many blessings the Lord has given us.


May God's blessings and peace be with you!
- Jacob

Throwing out Aristotelian understandings?

One of the things I like - and hate - about the seminary is that we are constantly being forced to broaden how and what we think. So I'm half writing this out to explain what my current struggle is, and half writing it out to help myself understand it.

If you see heresy, let me know - I'll do my best to not be obstinately heretical (that would probably be an impediment to orders, ya think?).

Today, in a class on the Eucharist, we were discussing the topic of transubstantiation. We all know the doctrine - during the Eucharistic prayer (at a point not specifically determined by Catholic theology), the bread and wine are changed - substantially - into the Body and Blood of Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine.

Okay, so you're wondering what the heck that means - and what is this Aristotelian bit?

Philosophy 101
Since Aristotle - and Thomas Aquinas (who baptized Aristotle's work to build Catholic theology upon) - we have understood that everything consists of essence and form - or substance and accidents. Because Aristotle is a philosopher, he must use words in a backwards way, so "substance" doesn't mean the material but the essential and "accidents" doesn't mean car crashes, but the material.

Easy enough - substance = the essence of a thing, accidents = the materials of a thing. For example, the accidents of Jacob Maurer are my height, my weight, my overly large nose (thanks Dad!) and a pair of oversized feet (hobbits in the blood). My substance on the other hand is two-fold - I have the essence of 'human', and more specifically of 'male' - and I have the unique essence of Jacob.

Substance is a bit harder because we can't see it - it is a more ethereal idea, but one that we hold.

Thanks for reading through that - I know it was painful (imagine 4 years of that!).

Back to the Eucharist....
So we believe that at transubstantiation, the substance (think, essence!) of bread and wine are replaced by the substance (essence!) of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Thus we can say that Jesus is really and truly present.

At the same time, we say that the accidents of bread and wine remain the same - so we can't see this change. Our senses can only perceive the material, not the eternal, so we are left to take this on faith.

So far, so good? Excellent. Now I get to twist your mind (and mine!) around this next bit.

The dilemma
So....what happens to the substance of bread and wine? It seems contrary to the nature of God - He who created and loves all things - to destroy something. But it seems necessary to destroy the substance of bread and wine in order to make room for the substance of Christ's Body and Blood.

Now one of my classmates, at this point, raised his hand in confusion. He asked why we need to say that anything is destroyed at all? In fact, why do we need to even look at the world in the Aristotelian sense? We know, with our advanced scientific knowledge, that material things are made up of molecules - atoms. We call these arrangements of molecules and atoms different names for linguistic purposes.

"Could you pass the large collection of molecules to your left? No, no, not the one on the floor, the one on the larger collection of molecules supporting it!"

And that's just asking your mom to pass the turkey thats on the table instead of the dog food on the floor.

It seems strange to argue that non-eternal material things (like bread, water, wine, a table, et cetera) have some sort of eternal essence. When I take a wooden chair, chop it up and make it a table, I haven't destroyed any essence, have I? We aren't going to mourn the passing of the essence of the wooden chair, are we?

My hopefully non-heretical solution
But Jacob, what about the whole thing about bread and wine becoming Body and Blood? Fair question. I think that it would be logical to argue that bread and wine - a simple material thing without any eternal substance (still using the Aristotelian term!) - is given the substance of Body and Blood, still under the accidents of bread and wine.

I mean to avoid any twinges of con-substantiation - that the substance of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ exists alongside the substance of bread and wine. A weakness in my line of thought is that this bread and wine is still the same, only now with the Body and Blood of Christ appended. But I think that one could successfully argue that by Christ's substance of Body and Blood being brought into the accidents of bread and wine, what it becomes is no longer bread & wine particularly because it now has a substance.

Try that on for size!

This way, we could still say that bread and wine (non-eternal material things) become the Body and Blood of Jesus, but without having to worry about our creative God destroying one of His creations.

So, would you move that pile of molecules with the little clicky molecules and click on the group of molecules on your screen of molecules and leave some thoughts in the box of molecules marked "comments"?

Peace,
Jacob