Holy and Unholy Fear Temor Santo y No-Santo · Holy and Unholy Fear Not all fear is created equal, at least not religiously. There’s a ... Escritura que dice que “el temor de

Holy and Unholy Fear

Not all fear is created equal, at least not religiously. There’s a fear that’s healthy and good, a sign of maturity and love. There’s also a fear that’s bad, that blocks maturity and love. But this needs explana on.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about fear inside of religious circles, especially around the Scriptural passage that says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Too o en texts like these, as well as religion in general, have been used to ins ll an unhealthy fear inside of people in the name of God. We need to live in “holy fear,” but holy fear is a very par cular kind of fear that should not be confused with fear as we normally understand it.

What is “holy fear”? What kind of fear is healthy? What kind of fear triggers wisdom?

Holy fear is love’s fear, namely, the kind of fear that is inspired by love. It’s a fear based upon reverence and respect for a person or a thing we love. When we genuinely love another person we will live inside of a healthy anxiety, a worry that our ac ons should never grossly disappoint, disrespect, or violate the other person. We live in holy fear when we are anxious not to betray a trust or disrespect someone. But this is very different from being afraid of somebody or being afraid of being punished.

Temor Santo y No-Santo No todo temor se crea y desarrolla igual, al menos no en el ámbito religioso. Hay un miedo que es saludable y bueno, signo de madurez y de amor. Como hay también un miedo malo, que bloquea la madurez y el amor. Pero esto hay que explicarlo.

Dentro de los círculos religiosos, hay mucho malentendido sobre el miedo, especialmente en torno al pasaje de la Escritura que dice que “el temor de Dios es el principio de la sabiduría”. Con demasiada frecuencia se han usado textos como éstos –lo mismo que la religión en general– para infundir en la gente un temor enfermizo en nombre de Dios. Tenemos que vivir en “santo temor”, pero el santo temor es una clase de miedo muy par cular, que no habría de confundirse con el miedo tal como normalmente lo entendemos.

¿Qué quiere decir “santo temor”? ¿Qué clase de temor es saludable? ¿Qué clase de temor fomenta sabiduría?

El “santo temor” es un temor de amor, a saber, el po de temor que viene inspirado por el amor. Es un temor que se basa en la reverencia y en el respeto por una persona o una cosa a la que amamos. Cuando amamos autén camente a una persona vivimos envueltos en una ansiedad saludable, una preocupación de que nuestras acciones nunca hubieran de decepcionar, faltar al respeto o profanar extremadamente a dicha persona. Vivimos en santo temor cuando sen mos una cierta preocupación por no traicionar la confianza o no faltar al respeto a alguien. Pero esto es muy diferente de tener miedo a alguien o tener miedo a ser cas gado.

BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC COMMUNITY COMUNIDAD DEL SANTISIMO SACRAMENTO (336) 226-8796

Bad power and bad authority in midate and make others afraid of them. God is never that kind of power or authority. God entered our world as a helpless infant and God’s power s ll takes that same modality. Babies don’t in midate, even as they inspire holy fear. We watch our words and our ac ons around babies not because they threaten us, but rather because their very helplessness and innocence inspire an anxiety in us that makes us want to be at our best around them. The Gospels are meant to inspire that kind of fear. God is Love, a benevolent power, a gracious authority, not someone to be feared. Indeed God is the last person we need to fear. Jesus came to rid us of fear. Virtually every theophany in scripture (an instance where God appears) begins with the words: “Do not be afraid!” What frightens us does not come from God. In the Jewish scriptures, the Chris an Old Testament, King David is revealed as the person who best grasped this. Among all the figures in the Old Testament, including Moses and the great prophets, David is depicted as the figure that best exemplified what it means to walk on this earth in the image and likeness of God, even though at a point he grossly abuses that trust. Despite his great sin, it is to David, not to Moses or the prophets, to whom Jesus a ributes his lineage. David is the Christ-figure in the Old Testament. He walked in holy fear of God, and never in an unhealthy fear. To cite just one salient example: The Book of Kings recounts an incident where David is, one day, returning from ba le with his soldiers. His troops are hungry. The only available food is the bread in the temple. David asks for that and is told that it is only to be consumed by the priests in sacred ritual. He answers the priest to this effect: “I’m the King, placed here by God to act responsibly in his name. We don’t ordinarily ask for the temple bread, but this is an excep on, a ma er of urgency, the soldiers need food, and God would want us to responsibly do this.” And so he took the temple bread and gave it to his soldiers. In the Gospels, Jesus praises this ac on by David and asks us to imitate it, telling us that we are not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath is made for us. David understood what is meant by that. He had discerned that God is not so much a law to be obeyed as a gracious presence under which we are asked to crea vely live. He feared God, but as one fears someone in love, with a “holy fear,” not a blind, legalis c one. A young mother once shared this story with me: Her six year-old had just started school. She had taught him to kneel by his bed each night before going to sleep and recite a number of night prayers. One night, shortly a er star ng school, he hopped into bed without first kneeling in prayer. Surprised by this, she challenged him with the words: “Don’t you pray anymore?” His reply: “No, I don’t. My teacher at school told us that we are not supposed to pray. She said that we’re supposed to talk to God … and tonight I’m red and have nothing to say!” Like King David, he too had discerned what it really means to be God’s child and how God is not so much a law to be obeyed as a gracious presence who desires a mutually loving rela onship, one of holy fear. Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

El mal poder y la mala autoridad in midan y provocan que otros les tengan miedo. Dios nunca muestra esa clase de poder o autoridad. Dios entró en nuestro mundo como un niño desvalido, y el poder de Dios todavía toma esa misma modalidad. Los bebés no in midan, incluso mientras inspiran santo temor. Vigilamos y controlamos nuestras palabras y nuestras acciones en torno a los bebés, no porque ellos nos amenacen, sino más bien porque su clara impotencia e inocencia inspiran una preocupación en nosotros que nos hace querer gozar nuestros mejores momentos junto a ellos. Los Evangelios intentan inspirar esa clase de temor. Dios es amor, poder benevolente, autoridad cariñosa; Dios no es alguien a quien temer. Efec vamente, Dios es la úl ma persona a quien podemos tener miedo. Jesús vino para disipar nuestro miedo. Prác camente todas las epifanías en la Escritura (casos en los que Dios se revela) comienzan con las palabras: “¡No temas!” Lo que nos amedrenta no viene de Dios. Las escrituras judías, el An guo Testamento cris ano, revelan al Rey David como la persona que mejor captó esto. Entre todos los personajes del An guo Testamento, incluyendo Moisés y los grandes profetas, David es presentado como la persona que mejor ejemplifica lo que significa caminar en esta

erra a imagen y semejanza de Dios, a pesar de que en un momento dado abusara terriblemente de esa confianza. A pesar de su gran pecado, es a David y no a Moisés o a los profetas a quien Jesús atribuye su propio linaje. David es la figura de Cristo en el An guo Testamento. Vivió en santo temor de Dios, y nunca con un temor enfermizo. Por citar sólo un ejemplo destacado: El Libro de los Reyes narra un incidente en el que un día David regresa del campo de batalla con sus soldados. Sus tropas vuelven hambrientas. El único alimento disponible es el pan del templo. David lo pide y el sacerdote le dice que ese pan sólo pueden consumirlo los sacerdotes, con rito sagrado. Y él le responde más o menos así: “Yo soy el rey, puesto aquí por Dios para obrar responsablemente en su nombre. Ordinariamente no pedimos el pan del templo, pero ésta es una excepción, un caso de pura emergencia; los soldados necesitan comida y Dios querría que, con responsabilidad, hiciéramos esto”. Y así tomó el pan del templo y se lo distribuyó a sus soldados. En los Evangelios Jesús alaba esta acción de David y nos pide que le imitemos, diciéndonos que no estamos hechos para el sábado, sino, al contrario, que el sábado está hecho para nosotros. David entendió lo que eso significa. Discernió que Dios no es tanto una personificación de una ley a la que hay que obedecer, como una amable presencia bajo la cual se nos pide que vivamos con crea vidad. David temía a Dios, pero como alguien teme a otro con amor, con un “santo temor”, no con temor ciego y legalista. Una vez, una madre joven compar ó esta curiosa historia conmigo: Su hijo de seis años acababa de comenzar a ir a la escuela. Ella le había enseñado a arrodillarse cada noche al lado de su cama antes de acostarse y a recitar algunas oraciones de noche. Una noche, pocos días después de haber comenzado la escuela, el niño brincó a la cama por la noche sin arrodillarse antes para rezar. Sorprendida por ello, su madre le retó con estas palabras: “¿Ya no rezas, hijo mío?”. Su réplica fue: “No, mamá, no rezo. Mi maestra en la escuela nos dijo que no tenemos que rezar... Dijo que tenemos que hablar con Dios…, pero hoy estoy cansado, ¡y además no tengo nada que decirle a Dios!” Como el rey David, este niño también había discernido lo que significa realmente ser hijo de Dios y cómo Dios no es tanto una ley inflexible que hay que obedecer, sino una amable presencia que desea una relación amorosa mutua, relación de “santo temor”. Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, Rey del Universo 11-20-16

Misas para próximo Domingo Saturday / Sábado, November 19 5:00 PM Mass †F. Stephen Toher by Jean Toher and family 7:00 PM Mass †Baldomero Villanueva y Maria de Jesús Verduzco — de parte de familia Villanueva Sunday/Domingo, November 20 8:30 AM †Carole Gagliano by her husband, Sam Gagliano 10:30 AM For our Parish Community 12:30 PM En acción de gracias a la Virgen del Cisne y al Divino Niño de parte de Carlos Guamán Monday/Lunes, Nov. 21 8:30 AM †Gregory Joseph Brooks by Janet and Mick McLaughlin Tuesday / Martes, November 22 8:30 AM John F. Bobak by Paul and Rose Ann Bobak Wednesday / Miércoles, November 23 8:30 AM Thomas family by Tom Thomas Thursday / Jueves, November 24 9:30 AM Thanksgiving Mass Friday / Viernes, November 25 8:30 AM †Frank Steffen by James and Adelia Steffen

Masses for Next Sunday Misas para próximo Domingo Saturday / Sábado, November 26 5:00 PM Mass †Diana Mangels by Margie Sperdini 7:00 PM Mass Acción de gracias al Señor de la Divina Misericordia y a la Virgen de Guadalupe —de fam. Moreno Sunday/Domingo, November 27 8:30 AM †Diane Mangels by Vincent and Eleanor Deehan 10:30 AM †Andrew John Feldhaus by Dorothy Smith 12:30 PM Por nuestra Comunidad Parroquial

Sanctuary Lamp The Sanctuary Lamp which burns near the tabernacle as the reminder of Our Lord’s presence in the Most Holy Eucharist burns for two weeks in honor of Virgina Chan by Tess Lanning. ************************************** Altar Bread, Wine, and Candles The altar candles, bread and wine used at Mass this week are graciously offered in memory of Baldomero Villanueva and Maria de Jesus Verduzco by the Villanueva family. ************************************** Altar Flowers The flowers adorning the altar this week were graciously offered in memory of Cecil and Virginia Barker by Keith and Eva Barker.

Vela del Santuario La vela del santuario que alumbra cerca del Sagrario como recordatorio de la presencia de Nuestro Señor en la Sagrada Eucaris a, alumbra por dos semanas en honor a Virginia Chan de parte de Tess Lanning. *********************** Las Hos as, Vino y Velas del Altar Las velas del altar, hos as y vino usados para las misas de esta semana son gratamente ofrecidas en memoria de Baldomero Villanueva y aria de Jesús Verduzco de parte de la familia Villanueva.

*********************** Flores del Altar Las flores adornando el altar esta semana son gratamente ofrecidas en memoria de Cecil y Virginia Barker de parte de Keith y Eva Barker.

Monday Lunes Rv 14:1-3, 4b-5; Ps / Sal 24:1bc-4ab, 5-6; Lk / Lc 21:1-4

Tuesday Martes Rv 14:14-19; Ps / Sal 96:10-13; Lk / Lc 21:5-11

Wednesday Miércoles Rv 15:1-4; Ps / Sal 98:1-3ab, 7-9; Lk / Lc 21:12-19

Thursday Jueves Rv 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9a; Ps / Sal 100:1b-5; Lk / Lc 21:20-28 Thanksgiving Day (suggested): Sir 50:22-24; Ps / Sal 145:2-11; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Lk / Lc 17:11-19

Friday Viernes Rv 20:1-4, 11 — 21:2; Ps/ Sal 84:3-6a, 8a; Lk/ Lc 21:29-33

Saturday Sábado Rv 22:1-7; Ps / Sal 95:1-7ab; Lk / Lc 21:34-36

Is 2:1-5; Ps / Sal 122:1-9; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 Next Sunday

Próximo Domingo

This Sunday Este Domingo

2 Sm 5:1-3; Ps / Sal 122:1-5; Col 1:12-20; Lk / Lc 23:35-43

ReadingsfortheweekofNovember20LecturasparalasemanadeNoviembre20


Offertory for 11/13/16 $16,877 $16,284

Year-to-Date Offertory 7/1/16 to 11/13/16

$315,089

$364,023

Annual Budget Offertory Presupuesto de Ofrenda Anual

$117,189

2nd Collec on: Our Parish Outreach $3,373

• It’s free Es gratis • It’s easy Es fácil • It’s flexible Es flexible • It’s secure Es seguro

More Information / Más información

2nd Collec on This Week: Campaign for Human Development 2nd Collec on Next Week: Diocese of Raleigh Priests’ Re rement

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2da Colecta Esta Semana: Campaña para el Desarrollo Humano

2da Colecta Próxima Semana: Sacerdotes Jubilados de la Diócesis de Raleigh

Jubilee Year of Mercy Año Jubilar de la Misericordia

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Jubilee Year Ends Today Luke, evangelist and by tradi on ar st, sends us forth from this Jubilee Year of Mercy with an unforge able portrait of Christ the King. The se ng for Jesus’ “royal portrait” is the cross. From this “throne,” the crucified “crown prince” welcomes by “execu ve pardon” the kingdom of mercy’s first ci zen, a fellow criminal. The “Good Thief” requests neither deliverance nor salva on, or even forgiveness: “Remember me when . . .” (Luke 23:42). “Today you will be with me,” King Jesus promises, “in paradise.” (23:43). Paradise, even for non-believers, is an image of crea on contentedly in harmony with self, fellow creatures, and Creator. Today, we “good thieves” beg Jesus to remember us. We promise to remember that, although Jesus’ kingdom will be fulfilled only when Jesus’ returns, that kingdom begins today in the paradise that will flower from this Jubilee Year of Mercy. We disciples, having been embraced uncondi onally and undeservedly by Jesus’ mercy, must now go forth to embrace all others, uncondi onally, with that same unfailing mercy. —Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Solemnidad de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, Rey del Universo Conclusión del Año Jubilar de la Misericordia Hoy Lucas, evangelista y conocido por la tradición como ar sta, nos envía a seguir más allá de este Año Jubilar de la Misericordia con una imagen inolvidable de Cristo Rey. Esta imagen de la realeza de Jesús sucede en la cruz. Desde este “trono”, el crucificado “príncipe heredero” otorga un “perdón real” al primer ciudadano del reino de la misericordia, un criminal. El “buen ladrón” no pide ni la liberación o la salvación, ni siquiera el perdón; lo que pide es “acuérdate de mí cuando . . .” (Lucas 23:42). “Hoy estarás conmigo”, el Rey Jesús promete, “en el paraíso” (23:43). El paraíso, aún para quienes no son creyentes, es una imagen de la creación contenida en armonía con uno mismo, nuestros semejantes y el Creador. Hoy nosotros “buenos ladrones” le suplicamos a Jesús que nos recuerde. Prometemos recordarlo, aunque el reino de Jesús se establecerá solo cuando regrese Jesús, que ese reino comience hoy en el paraíso que florecerá de este Año Jubilar de la Misericordia. Nosotros discípulos, habiendo sido abrazados incondicionalmente e inmerecidamente por la misericordia de Jesús, debemos avanzar e ir a abrazar a los demás, incondicionalmente con la misma misericordia eterna. —Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Thank you to all who are contribu ng to help pay down the cost of the construc on of our church. The total amount towards the Debt Reduc on Ini a ve as of November 13, is $164,672.

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Muchas gracias a quienes están contribuyendo a ayudar a pagar el costo de la construcción de nuestra Iglesia. La can dad total hacia la Inicia va para Reducir la Deuda hasta el 13 de noviembre es de $164,672.

Debt Reduction Initiative Inicia va para Reducir la Deuda


Please join Bishop Burbidge for his last public Mass in the Diocese of Raleigh. A Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Tuesday, November 29, 2016, at 6:30 PM at Saint Michael the Archangel Parish in Cary. Bishop Burbidge will be the Principal Celebrant and homilist. A recep on will follow the Mass.

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For favor, únase al Obispo Burbidge en su ul ma Misa pública en le Diócesis de Raleigh. Una Misa de Acción de Gracias será celebrada el Martes, 29 de

Noviembre del 2016, a las 6:30 PM en la parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, en Cary. El Obispo Burbidge será el principal celebrante. Recepción enseguida de la Misa.

Around the Diocese

Blessed Sacrament

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever. Psalm 118:1 **** Den gracias al Señor, pues él es bueno, pues su bondad perdura para siempre. Salmo 118:1

En observación al día de Acción de Gracias,

la oficina estará cerrada

el 23, 24 & 25 de noviembre. parish office will be closed on

November 23, 24 & 25.

Misa de Acción de Gracias con el Obispo Burbidge

4th Degree Silent Auc on Dinner Dance On January 27, 2017 the Knights of Columbus 4th Degree are having their annual Silent Auc on Dinner Dance in the Blessed Sacrament gathering space. We are currently accep ng dona on un l January 15, (gi cards, pictures, figurines. etc). Any help you can give us will be very much appreciated.

Proceeds from this auc on will help us to con nue to support our parish and our veterans. Please contact Anthony Thompson at (336)263-4807, if you have something you want to donate. Thank You!

K of C News No cias de los Caballeros de Colón


TYM Mass The en re Blessed Sacrament community is invited to join the Year One and Year Two Confirma on youth for a Youth Mass on Sunday, December 18, at 5:00 PM!

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Night to Shine Event Leo Quinn, Coordinator of Youth Ministry, is looking for volunteers to help with the upcoming Night to Shine event which is sponsored by the Tim Tebow Founda on. Night to Shine is a prom event for youth with special needs ages 14 and older. Please e-mail [email protected] if you would like to help!

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Misa de Ministerio Total de Jóvenes (TYM) Toda la comunidad de Blessed Sacrament esta invitada a unirse al Año Uno y al Año Dos de Confirmación de jóvenes para una Misa de Jóvenes el Domingo, 18 de Diciembre a las 5:00 PM.

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Night to Shine Evento Leo Quinn, coordinador de Ministerio de Jóvenes, esta buscando voluntarios para ayudar con el evento venidero de Night to Shine patrocinado por Tim Tebow Founda on Night to Shine es un Prom para jóvenes con necesidades especiales de 14 años para arriba. Favor de enviar correo a [email protected] si le gustaría ayudar.

Silent Auc on Cena Baile del 4to Nivel El 27 de enero de 2017, los Caballeros de Colón 4º Nivel tendrá su subasta baile cena anual en el espacio de bienvenida de la Igle-sia Blessed Sacrament. Actualmente estamos aceptando donaciones hasta el 15 de enero (tarjetas de regalo, cuadros, figuritas, etc.). Cualquier ayuda que pueda darnos será muy agradecida. Los ingresos de esta subasta nos ayudarán a con nuar apoyando a nuestra parroquia y a nuestros veteranos. Comuní-quese con Anthony Thompson al (336) 263-4807, si ene algo que le gustaría donar. ¡Gracias!


Prayers for Stephen Ministers during their training:

O God, we began a training class of Stephen Ministers on

November 7th. We ask you to be with our Stephen Leaders as

they prepare and teach caregiving topics each week. Be with

our fourteen Stephen Minister trainees as they read, learn,

and discuss new concepts and prac ce skills. Bless the

community they are forming, so they learn to care for,

nurture, and support one another in ministry. In your name,

we pray. Amen.

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Oraciones para los Ministros Stephen durante su formación:

O Dios, comenzamos una clase de entrenamiento de para los

Ministros del Ministerio Stephen el 7 de noviembre. Te

pedimos que estés con nuestros líderes que se preparan y

enseñan temas de cuidado cada semana. Quédate con

nuestros catorce estudiantes del ministerio Stephen mientras

leen, aprenden y dialogan nuevos conceptos y habilidades

prác cas. Bendice la comunidad que están formando, para que

aprenden a cuidarse, nutrirse y apoyarse mutuamente en el

ministerio. En tu nombre, oramos. Amén.

Stephen Ministry News

Immaculate Concep on of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mass Scheduled Vigil, December 7:

@ 6:30 PM December 8:

8:30 AM & 6:30 PM

Duke (Goodson Chapel in the Divinity School) November / Noviembre 30, @ 7:00 PM

UNC November / Noviembre 30, @ 7:00 PM

St. James Church, Henderson: December / Diciembre 1, @ 7:00 PM

Holy Infant Church, Durham December / Diciembre 6, @ 7:00 PM

St. Thomas More Church, Chapel Hill December / Diciembre 14, @ 7:00 PM

Holy Family Church, Hillsborough December / Diciembre 15, @ 7:00 PM

Sts. Mary and Edward Church, Roxboro December / Diciembre 15, @ 7:00 PM

Blessed Sacrament Church December / Diciembre 19, @ 7:00 PM

Immaculate Concep on Church December / Diciembre 20, @ 7:00 PM

St. Bernade e Church, Butner December / Diciembre 21, @ 7:00 PM

St. Julia Church, Siler City December / Diciembre 21, @ 7:00 PM

Piedmont Deanery Advent Penance Services

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Marian Spanish Retreat, Organized by

Grupo de Oracion October 29 & 30

Retiro Mariano organizado por

Grupo de Oración Octubre 29 & 30

Un agradecimiento a todas las personas voluntarias que ayudaron para que este re ro se llevará a cabo. Muchas gracias también a todos los par cipantes por su asistencia. Que sean fortalecidos por el Espíritu Santo con corazones abiertos, mentes, oídos y ojos a la Palabra y Voluntad de Dios. A special thanks to all the volunteers who helped prepare this retreat, before, during and a er the retreat. Thank you very much also to all par cipants for their a endance. May they all be strengthened by the Holy Spirit with open minds, hearts, ears and eyes to the Word and Will of God.

Several of our BSS Cross Country Club members participated in a local 5K last Saturday held at Alamance Community College. All set a PR (Personal Record)-great job Knights! A special thanks to the parents and siblings who cheered on our runners!

Last week Blessed Sacrament School inducted four bright, energe c, and respec ul leaders into the first class of our Na onal Junior Honor Society Chapter. The four students demonstrate excellence in the areas of Character, Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Ci zenship.

During our school wide ceremony our student body looked on as our inductees pledged their commitment to our chapter, received their NJHS pins and cards, and were the first students to sign our NJHS registry.

Congratula ons Daniel, Srikar, Daniella, and Samantha! We look forward to this inaugural year as you set the tone for our chapter and our future inductees. Thank you for being role models for our younger students!


“Doctor Strange,” Scien sm and the Gnos c Way Sta on

In the measure that it reminds young people that there is more to reality than meets the eye … Doctor Strange performs, I would argue, an important service.

Scott Derickson’s new film, Doctor Strange, has received rave reviews for its special-effects, its compelling story-telling, and the quality of its actors, but I would like to focus on the spirituality implicit in it. Doctor Strange is far from a satisfying presentation of the spiritual order, but it represents a significant step in the right direction, which proves especially helpful for our time.

Played by the always splendid Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr. Strange is dashing, handsome, ultra-cool, a brilliant neuro-surgeon, called upon to handle only the most delicate and complex surgeries. He is also unbearably arrogant, pathologically self-absorbed, utterly dismissive of his colleagues, something of a first-class jerk. While racing in his Lamborghini to an evening soiree, he runs his car off the road and suffers grievous injuries to his hands. Despite the heroic efforts of the best surgeons, his fingers remain twisted, incapable of performing the operations which made him rich and famous.

In his desperation, he travels to a mysterious treatment center in Katmandu, where people with horrific and irreversible physical damage have, he hears, been cured. There he confronts a bald-pated female figure, played by Tilda Swinton, who claims that she has healed severed spinal cords through the manipulation of spiritual forces. When he hears this, the rationalist Dr. Strange explodes in anger and, poking her in the chest, he asserts his conviction that matter is all there is and that we human beings exist for a brief moment in the context of an indifferent universe. With that, she shoves him backward and, to Dr. Strange’s infinite astonishment, his astral body suddenly leaves his ordinary body. This is his introduction to a world that he never knew existed, and the beginning of his mystical apprenticeship. By the way, if you want a compelling Christian take on this phenomenon, look at Fr. Robert Spitzer’s musings on “trans-physical consciousness,” or in more ordinary language, the “soul.”

What I particularly liked about this confrontation in Katmandu is how it represents a challenge to the comically arrogant scientism of our time, by which I mean, the fallacy of reducing all forms of knowing to the scientific manner of knowing. This attitude, though widespread today through the influence of the “new” atheists, is utterly self-refuting. How, precisely, did the advocate of scientism see, measure, or empirically verify through experimentation the truth of the claim that only empirically measurable things are true? Though as I say widely held in many circles today, this crude attitude was not characteristic of the founders of the modern sciences, many of whom—Descartes, Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton come readily to mind—were devoutly religious, nor was it embraced by such key scientific figures as Gregory Mendel, an Augustinian friar or Georges LeMaitre, the formulator of the Big Bang theory of cosmic origins and a Catholic priest.

Youth and Parents, you might be interested in this

The coolly arrogant but hopelessly narrow Dr. Strange is an apt representation of the clueless advocates of scientism on the contemporary scene, those who have simply closed themselves off to what a thousand generations of human beings have taken for granted. In order to participate in the dynamics of the higher world, Dr. Strange has to go through a lengthy and demanding training, not unlike, his master explains, the formation he went through to become a neurosurgeon. But now he has to leave his ego aside and surrender to something he can’t entirely understand. This disciplining of the grasping self, of course, is at the heart of monastic and spiritual traditions the world over. Therefore, in the measure that it reminds young people that there is more to reality than meets the eye and in the measure that it encourages them to embark upon a properly spiritual path, Doctor Strange performs, I would argue, an important service.

However, all is not well with this film from a spiritual point of view, for it stops, as many contemporary movies do, at a sort of way station to the real thing. As does Star Wars, which also features a young man going through a needed apprenticeship, Doctor Strange initiates us into a fundamentally Gnostic space, a realm of spiritual powers, both good and evil, engaged in a relentless and never-ending struggle. Dark and light side of the Force, anyone? And its basic game is the learning of spells and incantations—secret gnosis—that will enable one to manipulate the higher powers to a good purpose. To be sure, there are elements of the Biblical story in Doctor Strange, as there are in Star Wars, for instance the theme of salvific suffering and embrace of mission on behalf of others. But Gnostic visions always miss the essential teaching contained in Biblical revelation, namely that God is a personal power, who can never, even in principle, be manipulated by us and who reigns supreme and victorious over any and all powers of evil at work in the cosmos. The point of the spiritual life, on the Biblical reading, is not to control the powers through knowledge, but to surrender in faith to the purposes of God and to accept from God a mission to incarnate his love in the world.

I’m sure it’s asking too much to expect escapist popcorn movies to get Biblical spirituality right. And if Doctor Strange can beguile young people out of a deadening and self-contradictory scientism, opening them to a world beyond ordinary experience, I say “two cheers for it.”

Posted by Bishop Robert Barron on November 10, 2016


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