Murderers and Redemption

I've been reading St. Therese's The Story of a Soul. It is important for me to read it because I tend to thrive on abstract, academic, rational kinds of reading, and this is true of my spiritual reading. Recently in a conversation with one of the deacons at our parish, I realized that I need to tap into a more emotional and deeper spiritual relationship with God. St. Therese is a great start for that pilgrimage. (And my son's football game was at St. Therese the Little Flower parish today, which is a nice reminder to stay on this track for a while.)

St. Therese wrote something that has a great deal of applicability to today's headlines. Romell Broom raped and killed a fourteen-year-old girl in 1984. His recent execution at the Lucasville prison in Ohio by lethal injection was halted because the executioner could not get a vein. On a local radio talk show both the host and a caller referred to Broom as an "animal" without any second thoughts on that viewpoint.

What Broom did was an horrendous evil. He caused a tremendously painful, humiliating death to an innocent teenage girl, Tryna Middleton, as well as the on-going agony of her mother, Betsy. Broom's attorney made the outrageous statement: "There's still a state that wants to execute Romell Broom even though he's been through this horrific, tortuous two-and-a-half hour battle with the executioners on Tuesday, and it's our hope that we can convince the courts that once the state has tried once to execute this man and has failed, that they can't try again." The attorney seems to be conveniently forgetting the horrific, torturous battle Tryna Middleton faced at the hands of Broom.

However, it is important to remember what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the death penalty:

2266 The efforts of the state to curb the spread of behavior harmful to people's rights and to the basic rules of civil society correspond to the requirement of safeguarding the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Punishment has the primary aim of redressing the disorder introduced by the offense. When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation. Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.67

2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.

If, however, nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.

Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.NT

We should focus on this line:

...rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself...

This is the dance of justice and mercy. People must take responsibility for their actions, society must be protected from dangerous people, but criminals must also be urged toward redemption. Broom is created in the image and likeness of God, no matter how deformed, how defiled, that image has become.

St. Therese can help us here:

I'd heard of a criminal who had just been condemned to death for some frightful murders. It seemed that he would die without repenting. I was determined at all costs to save him from hell. I used every means I could. I knew that by myself I could do nothing, so I offered God the infinite merits of Our Lord and the treasures of the Church. I was quite certain that my prayers would be answered, but to give me courage to go on praying for sinners I said to God: "I am sure You will forgive this wretched Pranzini. I shall believe You have done so even if he does not confess or give any other sign of repentance, for I have complete faith in the infinite mercy of Jesus. But I ask You for just one sign of his repentance to encourage me."

This prayer was answered. Daddy never allowed us to read any newspapers, but I thought I was justified in looking at the stories about Pranzini. On the day after his execution I eagerly opened La Croix and I had to rush away to hide my tears at what I read. Pranzini had mounted the scaffold without confessing and was ready to thrust his head beneath the guillotine's blade when he suddenly turned, seized the crucifix offered him by the priest, and thrice kissed the Sacred Wounds.

I had been given my sign, and it was typical of the graces Jesus has given me to make me eager to pray for sinners. It was at the sight of the Precious Blood flowing from the Wounds of Jesus that my thirst for souls had been born. I wanted to let them drink of this Immaculate Blood to cleanse them of their sins and the lips of my 'first child' had pressed against the Sacred Wounds! What a wonderful reply to my prayers! After this striking favour my longing for souls grew greater every day. I seemed to hear Jesus say to me what He said to the Samaritan Woman: "Give me to drink." It was a real exchange of love: I gave souls the Blood of Jesus and offered Him these purified souls that His thirst might be quenched. The more I gave Him to drink, the more the thirst of my own poor soul increased, and He gave me this burning thirst to show His love for me. (St. Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul, translated by John Beevers, pp. 53-54)

St. Therese was concerned about Pranzini's soul. But St. Therese was not simply concerned about Pranzini's soul; she thirsted to save his soul. She calls him her "first child." How difficult for me to conceive of doing that. But we should turn to St. Therese to help us to thirst for the salvation of souls -- all souls. This includes the likes even of Romell Broom.

The Eucharist: The Past is Not Past

The great twentieth-century American novelist, William Faulkner, famously said about the American South that there the past is not only not dead, it isn't even past. That can help us understand the sacrifice of the mass as a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this clear:

The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

1362 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.

1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men.184 In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them.

1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.185 "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out."186

1365 Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood."187 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."188

1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.189

When we go to mass, we need to bear in mind that we are not simply remembering an event that occurred long ago. Not only is Jesus really present in the Eucharist, but his sacrifice on the cross is, in a mystical way, present as well. Jesus is not dead, and He is not a memory, but He is there, with us, and we with Him.

C.S. Lewis and "Vague Religion"

I never get tired of reading C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity is quite simply an amazing book. I peer into it every now and again and come away in awe of Lewis' penetrating use of analogy.

In fact, that is just why a vague religion--all about feeling God in nature, and so on--is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work: like watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic that way, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in flowers or music. Neither will you get anywhere by looking at maps without going to sea. Nor will you be very safe if you go to sea without a map. (pp. 154-155).

As is often the case, "both/and" describes the course we should take. Experience of God (going to sea) and learning about God (looking at maps). Lewis reminds us about an important aspect of faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the theological virtue of faith as:

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. (Section 1814).

The definition does not stop at "Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God." The reason is that Satan believes in God, but he does not believe all that God has said and revealed and that the Church proposes for our belief. That is why simply experiencing God is not enough. "It is all thrills and no work." While we certainly cannot work our way to heaven (that is the heresy of Pelagianism that was condemned in the early Church), it is also true that we cannot simply say "Yes, I believe" and not have that belief transform our lives into ones where we follow God's will and do good things.

Besides faith, we also need the theological virtue of charity. The Catechism defines charity as:

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. (Section 1822).

We cannot simply say, "I love you, Lord" and not have obligations, any more we can tell our wife or husband or children "I love you" and not have obligations to them. Men who abuse their wives often apologize for abusing them and then tell them how much they love them, but their actions say otherwise. Love is not a feeling, but an act of the will.

Vague religion is very popular these days. That is because it is easy. True religion, like true love, makes demands on us.

Why Have a Eucharistic Procession?

Before we talk more about the mechanics of having a Eucharistic procession, let's back up for a moment and look at why have one in the first place.

Here are my top 6 reasons for having a Eucharistic procession:

1. It reminds us that the Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life." This comes from Vatican II's Lumen Gentium (The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church), no. 11. Our lives as Christians flow from the grace provided by Christ in the Eucharist, and the Eucharistic celebration of the Mass is the highest expression of our Christian lives on earth because it prefigures the wedding banquet of the Lamb in heaven as described in the Book of Revelation.
2. It enhances our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy) gives four modes of Christ's presence: a) the priest acting in persona Christi, b) the Eucharist, c) Scripture, and d) the assembly of the faithful (no. 7). While Jesus is actually present in all these modes, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1374) reminds us that "The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique" because, quoting the Council of Trent, there "the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."
3. It emphasizes that we are not simply a community of like-minded people, like the Rotary Club, but we are quite specifically a Eucharistic community. The Eucharist brings us closer as a parish, monastery, convent, religious organization, etc. As in a wheel, the Eucharist is the hub and we are spokes.
4. It promotes a Catholic culture. As Catholics, our faith should be on view in the world, not hidden under a bushel basket. Our faith has sacraments, sacramentals, liturgies, rituals, devotions, etc. which mark us, which consecrate us, which set us apart. The more distinct we are from everyday life, the more attractive Christ's message will be to others. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. In addition, a vibrant Catholic culture nourishes the spiritual life of Catholics and keeps them Catholic, because they see why they should be Catholic.
5. It evangelizes others. When people see a priest holding the monstrance containing the Eucharist followed by a stream of the faithful, those bystanders take notice. They know something different is happening. They may have no clue as to what that something is. They may be indifferent to it, or they may deride it. But for at least a moment they have seen it. And because the Eucharist is Christ, we also believe that his mere presence can in his good time change the lives of those who are unconscious of his presence.
6. It is an important means of praying for vocations. Without priests, there is no Eucharist.

To be sure, there are other reasons for holding a Eucharistic procession. But these will do for now.