Another edition of "Carl's Cuts", featuring the sporadic and always scattered observations, bloviations, opinions, and non-magisterial musings of the Editor of CWR
• So much to discuss, and I won't come close to getting to it all. But, first, I suggest we observe a moment of respect for Dogma, which is so often treated shabbily and disdainfully, especially by cowards, fools, and sycophants:
From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery. As well can there be filial love without the fact of a father, as devotion without the fact of a Supreme Being. What I held in 1816, I held in 1833, and I hold in 1864. Please God, I shall hold it to the end. ...
Secondly, I was confident in the truth of a certain definite religious teaching, based upon this foundation of dogma; viz. that there was a visible Church, with sacraments and rites which are the channels of invisible grace. I thought that this was the doctrine of Scripture, of the early Church, and of the Anglican Church. Here again, I have not changed in opinion; I am as certain now on this point as I was in 1833, and have never ceased to be certain.
That from Apologia Pro Vita Sua by Blessed John Henry Newman, who was not a coward or a fool, or anything resembling a sycophant.
• Back on January 8th, on the Epiphany of the Lord, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago was "presiding over the opening mass for National Migration Week at Holy Name Cathedral. People from more than 40 countries participated in the service, many dressed in their native garb. The service was meant to answer Pope Francis’ call 'for a culture of encounter with all immigrants and refugees.'" This stood out:
In his homily, Cupich compared the strife of present-day migrants to the magi who sought Jesus Christ after his birth. Cupich said “there is great joy that the church experiences day after day as it works with migrants and immigrants,” helping them find jobs or places to live.
The comparison is curious. The magi from the East were not migrants; they were not fleeing their country; they were not looking for a place to live; they did not require assistance in finding a permanent residence. And, having visited the Christ Child and the Holy Family, we read, they were "warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [and] they departed to their own country by another way" (Matt 2:12). This is not to express some partisan point about immigrants and refugees, but to note the misuse of Scripture for political ends by certain Church leaders. Cardinal Cupich refers to "following the light of diversity", as if the magi's decision to follow the star can be crammed into a discussion about immigration policy that appears to have only two sides: the enlightened, loving side that welcomes everyone regardless, and the bigoted, fearful side (equated somehow with Herod's fears) that seeks to shut down borders altogether. (Here is the full homily; more on the Cardinal in Chicago below.)
• Following the Trump administration's executive order on immigration—which inspired the New York Times to deem President Trump a Christian theocrat and the U.S. bishops to question if he possessed any Christian virtues—Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles wrote an essay for CNA that had a little bit of everything in it.
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