{"id":9666,"date":"2025-11-15T00:01:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T00:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=9666"},"modified":"2025-11-15T16:27:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:27:47","slug":"building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Civilization of Life and Love, One Mind at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/columbia-magazine\/docs\/columbiaoct25en\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20250726ff\/20251111-WakeUpCallColumbiaMagazineOct1015-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Address upon receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, States Dinner, August 5 2025; Columbia Magazine (October 2025)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, States Dinner, (August 5 2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not comfortable with the way today&#8217;s America works, but I think this is a good time to be an American and a Catholic. That&#8217;s because part of my job is easier now, than it would have been in my youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Granted, experiencing &#8220;increasing opposition&#8221; from The Establishment<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/loonfootfalls\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup> isn&#8217;t comfortable. But honestly: why would I want their approval?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#vatican\"><strong>Vatican II and Making Sense<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#theendofchristendom\"><strong>&#8220;&#8230;The End of Christendom &#8230; Not a Gloomy Picture&#8230;.&#8221;<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#assumption\">An Assumption and &#8220;The Apotheosis of Washington&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#great\"><strong>&#8220;&#8230;Great and Wonderful Days in Which to be Alive&#8230;.&#8221;<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#goals\">Goals, and the Best News Humanity&#8217;s Ever Had<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#justice\"><strong>Justice, Charity, Respect: Sounds Good to Me<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"vatican\"><\/a>Vatican II and Making Sense<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kofc.org\/en\/news-room\/columbia\/archives\/10012025.html\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20250726ff\/20251111-ColumbiaCoverOctober-2025-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Cover of Columbia Magazine October 2025, detail.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Columbia Magazine cover. (October 2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Time for <\/strong><br><strong>&#8216;Another Wake-Up Call<\/strong>&#8216;&#8221;<br>Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, <br>Address upon receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, <br>States Dinner, August 5 2025; <br>Columbia Magazine <br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kofc.org\/en\/news-room\/columbia\/archives\/10012025.html\">October 2025<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Recently, I was somewhat surprised to read in a Catholic magazine that Vatican II is old history for most Catholics today \u2014 something like the Council of Trent. But I&#8217;m sure at least some of you recall what a wake-up call Vatican II was for many of us who <strong>grew up at a time when it was all too easy to get the idea that the role of the laity was to &#8216;pray, pay and obey.<\/strong>&#8216; Then, all of a sudden, we found out that, whatever else we&#8217;re doing in our lives, we&#8217;re also supposed to be transforming the whole political, economic and cultural arena in a Christian spirit! The temporal sphere is so much the responsibility of the laity, they said, that no one else can do the job&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Now, some of you are probably thinking that <strong>if we had paid more attention<\/strong> in catechism class, we would have known that&#8217;s always been the mission of the laity. That&#8217;s the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;<strong>The mission was the same, but the challenges were new.<\/strong> And most of us, frankly, weren&#8217;t quite ready for those challenges. We weren&#8217;t ready for <strong>what Fulton Sheen called &#8216;the end of Christendom&#8217;<\/strong> \u2014 not the end of Christianity, not the end of the Church, but the end of a society where economic, political and social life was permeated to a great extent by Christian principles. So, it really was time for the laity to wake up&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;<strong>Building the civilization of life and love is first and foremost a matter of reaching hearts and minds. And that work will never end.<\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<br>[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Second_Vatican_Council#Announcement_and_expectations\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20250726ff\/20251112-Second_Vatican_Council_by_Lothar_Wolleh_005_%E2%80%93_unframed-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Lothar Wolleh's photo of the Second Vatican Council - interior of St. Peter's Basilica.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lothar Wolleh&#8217;s photo: St. Peter&#8217;s Basilica. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Second Vatican Council met each year, from 1962 to 1965. I wasn&#8217;t a Catholic at the time, so the Second Vatican Council didn&#8217;t make all that much of an impression on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now and then I ran across slapstick in the news with the catchphrase &#8220;in the spirit of Vatican Two&#8221;. And sometimes I&#8217;d read something slightly more substantial about what the documents actually said. <strong>Very<\/strong> slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time I became a Catholic, decades later, a few folks said they were the only real Catholics left. Mainly because they didn&#8217;t like what they&#8217;d heard about Vatican II, and that if the Pope wasn&#8217;t denouncing it, he wasn&#8217;t really Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can&#8217;t argue with logic like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Me? I became a Catholic because I think Jesus <strong>hadn&#8217;t<\/strong> been lying to the Apostles. And I finally realized who currently holds the authority Jesus gave Peter. (<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/16#48016013\">Matthew 16:13<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/16#48016019\">19<\/a>; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 882-889)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides, I&#8217;ve read some of the Vatican II documents. They make sense. So does &#8220;Humanae Vitae&#8221;, written after Vatican II by Pope St. Paul VI. And that&#8217;s another topic.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/loonfootfalls\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for taking Jesus seriously, I agree with Simon Peter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Jesus then said to the Twelve, &#8216;Do you also want to leave?&#8217;<br>Simon Peter answered him, &#8216;Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.<br>We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.'&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/john\/6#51006067\">John 6:67<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/john\/6#51006069\">69<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"theendofchristendom\"><\/a>&#8220;&#8230;The End of Christendom &#8230; Not a Gloomy Picture&#8230;.&#8221;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/list\/ls076416791\/copy\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20250726ff\/20251111BiblicalMovies-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bible epic movie posters: 'David and Bathsheba' (1951), 'Esther and the King (1960), 'Samson and Delilah (1949), 'Sins of Jezebel' (1953), 'Solomon and Sheba' (1959), 'The Prodigal' (1955)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Bible epics: Samson and Delilah (1949), &#8216;David and Bathsheba&#8217; (1951), &#8216;Sins of Jezebel&#8217; (1953), &#8216;Solomon and Sheba&#8217; (1959), &#8216;The Prodigal&#8217; (1955), &#8216;Esther and the King (1960).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve tried tracking down that Archbishop Fulton Sheen quote. What I&#8217;ve found agrees that he said it in 1974: at a conference, on a television show, or maybe both. This is the closest I&#8217;ve found to an extended version of the quote, giving some context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;In 1974, Archbishop Fulton Sheen said in a conference, <strong>&#8216;We are at the end of Christendom. Not of Christianity, not of the Church, but of Christendom.<\/strong> Now what is meant by Christendom? <strong>Christendom is economic, political, social life as inspired by Christian principles.<\/strong> That is ending \u2014 we&#8217;ve seen it die.&#8217; But he went on to say, <strong>&#8216;These are great and wonderful days in which to be alive. &#8230; It is not a gloomy picture \u2014 it is a picture of the Church in the midst of increasing opposition from the world.<\/strong> And therefore live your lives in the full consciousness of this hour of testing, and rally close to the heart of Christ.&#8221;<br> (&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/work\/quotes\/83959368-from-christendom-to-apostolic-mission-pastoral-strategies-for-an-aposto\">From Christendom to Apostolic Mission Quotes<\/a>&#8221; , From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age by University of Mary; via GoodReads) [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-9-11-death-daft-ideas-and-a-tree\/#truth\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/696px-Klantreerome-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Branford Clarke's illustration for 'The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy,' Bishop Alma White; Pillar of Fire Church, Zaraphath, New Jersey. (1925) via Wikimedia Commons, used w\/o permission.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From &#8220;The Ku Klux Klan in Prophecy&#8221; Pillar of Fire Church. (1925)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m about 56 years younger than Archbishop Sheen, but I remember what passed for &#8220;Christendom&#8221; in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although living in today&#8217;s world doesn&#8217;t consistently feel good, I emphatically and sincerely do <strong><em>NOT<\/em><\/strong> yearn for &#8216;the good old days&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t just Bible Epics preaching the Gospel According to Cecil B. DeMille.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/loonfootfalls\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#3\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was the impression that Christians were, or should be, upwardly-mobile folks with English-sounding names who went to the right church \u2014 who, intentionally or not, helped launch the Sixties counter-culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will admit to a bias. I&#8217;m one of &#8216;those crazy kids&#8217; who thought that buying stuff I don&#8217;t need with money I don&#8217;t have to impress people I don&#8217;t like made no sense. At all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"assumption\"><\/a>An Assumption and &#8220;The Apotheosis of Washington&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/truth-beauty-and-the-evening-news\/#freedom\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20210525ff\/20210630-800px-Flickr_-_USCapitol_-_Apotheosis_of_Washington_War-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail of 'The Apotheosis of Washington,' United States Capitol rotunda; Constantino Brumidi. (1865)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail, Constantino Brumidi&#8217;s &#8220;The Apotheosis of Washington&#8221;, U.S. Capitol rotunda. (1865)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/independence-day-america-and-acting-like-love-matters\/#apotheosis\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20220318ff\/20220702-ApotheosisOfWashingtonStuartBarralet-main-image-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"John James Barralet's 'Apotheosis of Washington,' based on work by Gilbert Stuart. (1800-1802)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">John James Barralet&#8217;s &#8220;Apotheosis of Washington,&#8221; based on a work by Gilbert Stuart. (1800-1802)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Train the young in the way they should go;<br>\neven when old, they will not swerve from it.&#8221;<br>\n(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/proverbs\/22#24022006\">Proverbs 22:6<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my daughters suggested that the current mess came partly from misplaced trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think she&#8217;s got a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Folks who believed that America was a &#8220;Christian&#8221; country might have felt that delegating responsibility for teaching their kids about our faith made sense. Particularly if they hadn&#8217;t learned all that much about it themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why more didn&#8217;t balk at goofy conflations of American folklore and Christian belief like &#8220;The Apotheosis of Washington&#8221;:<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/loonfootfalls\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/#4\">4<\/a><\/sup> that, I don&#8217;t know. I do think that there was, at best, an appalling lack of quality control when it came to passing on the faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"great\"><\/a>&#8220;&#8230;Great and Wonderful Days in Which to be Alive&#8230;.&#8221;<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corn-altar-communist-crucifix-ai-pope-pic-perspectives\/#recognizing\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20170821ff\/20170825-Cross_of_gold_speech_cartoon-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Grant Hamilton's cartoon comment on William Jennings Bryan's 1896 'Cross of Gold' speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Grant Hamilton&#8217;s view of William Jennings Bryan&#8217;s &#8220;Cross of Gold&#8221; speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (1896)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;We are at the end of Christendom. Not of Christianity, not of the Church, but of Christendom. &#8230; <strong>These are great and wonderful days in which to be alive.<\/strong> &#8230; It is not a gloomy picture \u2014 <strong>it is a picture of the Church in the midst of increasing opposition from the world.<\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<br>(Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1974)) [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure about the extent to which Christian principles actually inspired &#8220;economic, political, [and] social life&#8221; in the generations before 1974.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian-sounding slogans, yes; husbands and fathers joining the &#8216;right&#8217; church in their quest for career success, yes. But actually putting ideas like &#8220;love your neighbor&#8221; into practice? Well, maybe. What I remember is a society with seriously disordered priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So yes, I think this is a good time to be alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is certainly not a comfortable era, for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the more that I don&#8217;t have to explain why being a Christian doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean being a particular sort of American, the better I like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"goals\"><\/a>Goals, and the Best News Humanity&#8217;s Ever Had<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-a-favorite-fourth-looking-ahead\/#love\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20200519ff\/20200701-800px-American_1902_Fourth_of_July_fireworks-trim-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Udo Keppler's 'False Alarm on the Fourth' cartoon for Puck. Uncle Sam tells Lady Peace: 'It's all right. There's no fighting. The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!' (1902)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>\u201cA False Alarm on the Fourth\u201d<\/strong> <br>Udo Keppler, Puck. (1902)<br>&#8220;Uncle Sam \u2014 It&#8217;s all right! There&#8217;s no fighting!<br>The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, being an American doesn&#8217;t, or shouldn&#8217;t, get in the way of being a Christian and a Catholic. And I shouldn&#8217;t put off &#8216;love of country&#8217; until the country I live in is perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230; &#8216;<strong>Our true native land is heaven<\/strong>, where the kingdom of God is in full bloom,&#8217; the supreme chaplain (Archbishop Lori) affirmed. Nonetheless, he added, &#8216;<strong>We must love our country as it is, not as we may wish it to be<\/strong> &#8230; This doesn&#8217;t mean we should be complacent or settle for the status quo. <strong>It only means we can&#8217;t defer love of country<\/strong> until everything is shipshape&#8217;&#8230;.&#8221; <br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kofc.org\/en\/news-room\/columbia\/2025\/april\/125-years-patriotic-service.html\">125 Years of Patriotic Service<\/a>&#8221; , Columbia staff, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kofc.org\/en\/news-room\/columbia\/\">Columbia Magazine<\/a> (April 2025)) [emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Now I&#8217;d better get back to what I should be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m one of the Catholic laity: folks who are Catholic, but not priests, deacons, or members of a religious order. Part of my job is &#8220;transforming the whole political, economic and cultural arena in a Christian spirit&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, so what does that mean? What should a transformed society look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For starters, it would be a society where <strong>all<\/strong> people matter, and <strong>each<\/strong> person matters: <strong>every<\/strong> person, no matter how young, old, sick, or healthy the person is. (Catechism, 2258-2317)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s a pretty tall order. I&#8217;m working on learning to act that way, myself. It&#8217;s not easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Backing up a bit, another part of my job as a Catholic is <strong>sharing the best news humanity&#8217;s ever had,<\/strong> with anyone willing to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>God loves us,<\/strong> and wants to adopt us. <strong>All of us.<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/5#48005044\">Matthew 5:44<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/5#48005045\">5<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/john\/1#51001012\">John 1:12<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/john\/1#51001014\">14<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/john\/3#51003017\">3:17<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/romans\/8#53008014\">Romans 8:14<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/romans\/8#53008017\">17<\/a>; ; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/ephesians\/1#57001003\">Ephesians 1:3<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/ephesians\/1#57001005\">5<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/2peter\/1#69001003\">Peter 2:3<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/2peter\/1#69001004\">4<\/a>; Catechism, 1-3, 27-30, 52, 1825, 1996)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s very good news indeed, because we &#8220;&#8230;all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ&#8230;.&#8221; (Catechism, 389, 405, 407-412, 1701-1707, 1811, 1949)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve said that before, and expect that I will again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"justice\"><\/a>Justice, Charity, Respect: Sounds Good to Me<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/independence-day-america-and-acting-like-love-matters\/#working\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20190630ff\/20150218-sun_city_by_adimono-d3ilh4q-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Adimono's 'Sun City'. see https:\/\/www.deviantart.com\/adam-varga\/art\/Sun-City-212633594 (June 11, 2011)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adimono&#8217;s &#8220;Sun City&#8221;. (2011)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s probably obvious, but the status quo isn&#8217;t acceptable. Even stalwart defenders of today&#8217;s Establishment seem aware that we need change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can&#8217;t go back to some imagined &#8216;good old days&#8217;. Even if we could, I&#8217;d argue against repeating mistakes that landed us in today&#8217;s pickle barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That leaves us one direction: forward, building a society that&#8217;s better than what we&#8217;ve got. I&#8217;m convinced that this is possible. Easy, no. Possible, yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for what that society would look like, some of the basics \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justice and acts of charity, along with respecting humanity&#8217;s &#8220;transcendent dignity&#8221;, are all good ideas. So is building a society where justice, charity and respect are the norm. <strong>Here&#8217;s where it gets difficult.<\/strong> It starts in me, with an ongoing &#8220;inner conversion&#8221;. (Catechism, 1886-1889, 1928-1942, 2419-2442)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like I said, not at all easy. But I think the effort is worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More of the same, with a (very) little more detail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-a-favorite-fourth-looking-ahead\/\"><strong>Remembering a Favorite Fourth, Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (July 5, 2025)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-a-favorite-fourth-looking-ahead\/#theend\">&#8220;The End of Civilization as We Know It&#8221;: As Usual<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/remembering-a-favorite-fourth-looking-ahead\/#love\">Love of Country, Human Nature, and Working for Tomorrow&#8217;s Good<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/\"><strong>The Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and the Big Picture<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (March 22, 2025)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/#danger\">The Danger of War, the Civilization of Love<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/#looking\">Looking Forward<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/#waiting\">Waiting Ten Thousand Years: Not an Option<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/#long\">Long-Haul Projects<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-grand-canyon-the-petrified-forest-and-the-big-picture\/\"><strong>Principles, Priorities, Politics: and Being Catholic<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (September 21, 2024)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#citizenship\">Citizenship and the Common Good<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#love\">Love and Good Ideas<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#being\">Being a Catholic Citizen<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/advent-2021-another-year-of-our-long-watch\/\"><strong>Advent 2021: Another Year of Our Long Watch<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (December 4, 2021)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/advent-2021-another-year-of-our-long-watch\/#celebrating\">Celebrating<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/advent-2021-another-year-of-our-long-watch\/#mission\">Mission to a Wounded World<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/advent-2021-another-year-of-our-long-watch\/#celebrating\">&#8220;&#8230;Be Prepared&#8230;.&#8221;<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/advent-2021-another-year-of-our-long-watch\/#still\">Still Watching and Working<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> Their quirks and preferences change, but every era has them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Establishment\">The Establishment<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_powers_that_be\">The powers that be<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> A little background, personal and otherwise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who I am, why I think being Catholic makes sense\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/about-me\/\"><strong>About Me<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/about-me\/brilliant-talented-and-on-medication\/\">Brilliant, Talented, and On Medication<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/about-me\/becoming-a-catholic\/\">Becoming a Catholic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/humanae-vitae-award-fr-greg-paffel-parishes-on-the-prairie\/#cultural\"><strong>Humanae Vitae Award: Fr. Greg Paffel, Parishes on the Prairie<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (July 20, 2024)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/humanae-vitae-award-fr-greg-paffel-parishes-on-the-prairie\/#cultural\">Cultural, Historical, and Personal Context<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/humanae-vitae-award-fr-greg-paffel-parishes-on-the-prairie\/#myfirst\">My First Look at Catholic Thought<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>My take on popes, politics, and two millennia of wildly improbable survival; briefly\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#pope\"><strong>Principles, Priorities, Politics: and Being Catholic<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (September 21, 2024)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#pope\">Pope Francis and Our Choices<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/principles-priorities-politics-and-being-catholic\/#doing\">Doing His Job \u2014 and Doing Mine<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/infallibility\/\"><strong>Infallibility?<\/strong><\/a>&#8221; (July 30, 2017)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/infallibility\/#magisterium\">The Magisterium<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/infallibility\/#terms\">Terms and Conditions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/infallibility\/#divine\">&#8220;Divine Assistance&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Humanae_vitae\">Humanae vitae<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Second_Vatican_Council\">Second Vatican Council<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vatican\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/hist_councils\/ii_vatican_council\/index.htm\">Documents of the Second Vatican Council<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/paul-vi\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html\">Humanae Vitae<\/a>&#8221; <br>Pope St. Paul VI Encyclical Letter (July 25, 1968)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"3\"><\/a>3<\/sup> Two influential Americans:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cecil_B._DeMille\">Cecil B. DeMille<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fulton_J._Sheen\">Fulton J. Sheen<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"4\"><\/a>4<\/sup> Excessive enthusiasm, putting it mildly, for a remarkable American:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Apotheosis_of_Washington\">The Apotheosis of Washington<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Legacy_of_George_Washington#Father_of_America\">Legacy of George Washington<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Legacy_of_George_Washington#Father_of_America\">Father of America<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.journals.uchicago.edu\/doi\/abs\/10.1086\/523020\">&#8216;Not a Man but a God&#8217;<\/a>&#8221; <br>The Apotheosis of Gilbert Stuart&#8217;s Athenaeum Portrait of George Washington <br>Adam Greenhalgh, Abrstract,  Winterthur Portfolio; Volume 41, Number 4; University of Chicago (Winter 2007)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m not comfortable with the way today&#8217;s America works, but I think this is a good time to be an American and a Catholic. That&#8217;s because part of my job is easier now, than it would have been in my &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/building-a-civilization-of-life-and-love-one-mind-at-a-time\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"I think Fulton Sheen was right. The end of Christendom is not a gloomy picture. These are great days to be alive, and we have a job or two to do.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Building a Civilization of Life and Love, One Mind at a Time","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,215,192],"tags":[16,31,123,27,161,54],"class_list":["post-9666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-a-citizen","category-being-catholic","category-journal","tag-america","tag-citizenship","tag-civilization-of-love","tag-history","tag-salvation","tag-social-justice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-2vU","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9666"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9673,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666\/revisions\/9673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}