Math Is Life

Back when my kids were still in school, they often complained about their math homework. I always reminded them, “Math is life.”

My goal was to make them realize that math is not a tedious exercise designed by sadistic school teachers to torture students, but rather it’s the foundation of all of life’s endeavors.

 Technically speaking, math IS life. If you break down living organisms to their most basic elements, you’ll have quite a puddle on the floor. You’ll also have biology, chemistry, and physics, all of which are specialized fields of mathematics, which means math is life and life is math.

This is why theologians say the language of God is mathematics. OK, maybe theologians don’t say that, but mathematicians say it since they’re desperate to convince kids that math is not a tedious exercise designed by sadistic school teachers to torture students, but rather was invented by God, so go blame Him.

By the way, God’s native language is ancient Hebrew, and math is His second language, but He speaks it so fluently you can’t even detect an accent.

When I told my kids that math is life and they should be grateful for the opportunity to acquire such useful knowledge, they replied, “Yeah, well what about algebra? No one uses algebra in the real world.”

“All right,” I conceded, “algebra is, in fact, a tedious exercise designed by sadistic school teachers to torture students, but all the other types of math are very important. You can’t survive in the modern world without good math skills.”

Despite my passionate sermonizing, my kids remained skeptical. Apparently, most high school students in America nowadays also do not see the need to be proficient in math. A recent study found that 12th-graders in the U.S. rank 19th out of 21 developed nations in math skills. (A statistic which caused the average high school senior to say, “Cool! We’re in the top half!”)

Ignorant high school students eventually become ignorant adults. They then become easy prey for people who possess good math skills, but who do not possess the knowledge of Who created math and what He plans to do to those who swindle the least of their brethren. I speak, of course, of the folks who run gambling casinos and state lotteries.

Lotteries are nothing more than a tax on people who did poorly in math class. That being said, however, when the nation was caught up in “Powerball frenzy” a few weeks ago, I shamefully admit that I participated. But I’ve got a good excuse. My co-workers set up an office pool and anyone interested in joining threw in two bucks. They bought a bunch of tickets, and if any ticket won, the money would be split evenly among all those in the pool.

I fully understand the odds of winning Powerball are so infinitesimally small it’s effectively zero, but here’s the unlikely scenario that haunted me: one of the tickets actually would win, and every single employee at the firm would get 10 or 20 million dollars — except me. And the next morning I’d be the only person who showed up for work. I can barely do my job, let alone the jobs of 19 other people. And who would answer the phone when I was in the bathroom?

So I grudgingly joined the office pool, not because I had ridiculous fantasies of becoming rich, but because I had nightmarish fantasies of being the only person left in the company who still needed to work for a living. 

And guess what? We did not win. Wow, who saw that coming? So there are two lessons here: “math is life,” and don’t waste your two bucks.

Biblical Heroes Answer the Call

In the Scripture readings at Mass for the weekend of February 6th and 7th, we get an interesting look at three of the greatest heroes in the entire Bible. The first reading describes the call of Isaiah, arguably the most important prophet in Israel’s history. Hundreds of years before the fact, Isaiah wrote numerous messianic prophesies, all pointing toward the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the second reading, from his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul discusses his call to ministry and lists some key points of the Good News. A tireless missionary, Paul spread the message of salvation through faith in Christ throughout the known world.

Finally, the gospel reading describes the call of St. Peter. Jesus explained that Peter would no longer spend his time out on the boat catching fish, but instead would begin winning souls into the Kingdom of God. Jesus declared to Peter, “From now on you will be catching men.”

So, this week we see three great heroes of our Judeo-Christian heritage, each one called by the Lord to do great and wonderful things for the faith. And, of course, each of these three great heroes accepted the call with joy and excitement and confidence. Umm, not exactly.

In each case, when our three heroes received the call by God, they were filled with doubt and fear. The first words out of Isaiah’s mouth were, “Woe is me….I am a man of unclean lips.”

St. Paul didn’t mince words describing his worthiness to be called by God. “I am the least of the apostles,” he wrote, “not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Just like Isaiah, Paul considered himself far too sinful to be a spokesman for the Lord.

St. Peter also made his feelings plainly known. “Depart from me, Lord,” he said to Jesus, “for I am a sinful man.”

These three biblical heroes learned an important lesson: the closer a person gets to the holy and perfect Lord, the more that person becomes aware of his or her sinfulness. When Isaiah, Paul, and Peter found themselves in the presence of God’s bright light, their shortcomings become glaringly obvious. They each felt unworthy to be singled out by the Lord for such important missions. But that’s not surprising. Everyone is a sinner. Those who are close to God know it—and know they need forgiveness—while those who are far from God think they’re just fine.

So, is there a lesson here for those of us who are not biblical heroes, those of us who make up the vast throng of nameless schlubs sitting in the pews each Sunday? Well, certainly there is. If the great Isaiah, Paul, and Peter felt unworthy to do anything special for the Lord, then we sure as heck shouldn’t even THINK of doing anything.

No, wait! That’s not the lesson. The real lesson here is that you don’t have to be perfect to do something special for the Lord. God calls every single believer—biblical hero and nameless schlub alike—to help spread the good news of the Gospel.

Nowadays we Catholics are faced with a severe shortage of ordained priests, a situation that’s going to get much worse before it gets better. Jesus’ words were never more true: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:12).

God is calling each and every one of us to pitch in and help. He knows we’re sinful; He knows we’re fearful; He knows we’re unsure of ourselves. That’s all right. So were Isaiah, Paul, and Peter.

And who knows? If we are faithful and answer God’s call, maybe someday future generations will look back and refer to us as heroes. (Although personally I’m more comfortable with being called a “nameless schlub.”)

What Did Jesus Know, and When Did He Know It?

(This essay is based on the Gospel reading at Mass this weekend, Luke 4:21-30)

One of the most fascinating questions regarding Jesus is this: What did He know and when did He know it?

Even though Jesus is the Eternal Word, the One thru whom the entire universe was created, during the Incarnation He willingly lowered Himself to our level, temporarily giving up some of His omnipotence and omniscience (power and knowledge). The letter to the Philippians says, “Though he was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness;…he humbled himself” (Phil 1:6-8).

So, Scripture clearly teaches that during His time on earth, Jesus did not know everything. For centuries scholars have debated exactly what did He know and understand about His mission. Did He know all the important details about His three-year ministry before it even started, as if He had a copy of the Bible as a reference source? (“Oh wow, I see that tomorrow I’m supposed to give the Sermon on the Mount. I’d better go review my lecture notes.”)

Or were the specifics kind of murky? Was Jesus proceeding each day on faith and trust in His Father, uncertain of the daily details but confident that His Father would guide Him when necessary? When did Jesus realize that He had to die to pay the price for mankind’s sins? Did He know that gruesome fact from the very beginning, or was it revealed to Him at some point in the middle of His ministry?

In this week’s gospel reading, we hear about the very early stages of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He had recently been baptized by John the Baptist and experienced the 40 days of temptation in the desert. Now He returned to the Galilee region and began to preach. Initially He had success. Verse 15 of the fourth chapter of Luke’s Gospel (a little before this week’s reading) says, “He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.”

But then Jesus went to His hometown, Nazareth. In the local synagogue, the very one in which He was raised, He got up in front of the congregation and read from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…”

The gospel reading this week picks up the story here. Jesus rolled up the scroll and announced to the assembly, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The message was crystal clear. Jesus told them that HE, little ol’ Jesus who grew up in that very town, is the one, THE one, who has been anointed by God Almighty Himself. He told them very frankly that He in fact is the long-awaited Messiah for all of Israel.

At first many people were amazed and impressed. But then some said, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” and they didn’t mean it as a compliment. Basically, they were saying, “Wait a minute! You’re just the lowly son of a lowly blue-collar worker from a lowly little village in the middle of nowhere. Who do you think you are, pal?!”

The situation quickly deteriorated, and we read, “The people in the synagogue…were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove [Jesus] out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill…to hurl him down headlong.”

Whoa, do you understand what this means? The people were so angry at Jesus they tried to throw Him off a cliff! They tried to kill Him!

So, I wonder, did Jesus know beforehand that this would happen? Or was He completely shocked by the behavior of His long-time neighbors? Did He get up in front of the congregation expecting a positive reaction, like He had experienced in nearby villages? Or did He get up thinking, “OK, it’s really gonna hit the fan today.”

Just wondering.

Jesus was able to get away from the crowd safely. Scripture doesn’t give us any information about how He got away or what He was thinking at that moment. I wonder if He went back to Mary’s house and nonchalantly said, “Hi Mom. They tried to kill me today, but I knew that would happen. What’s for supper?” Or did He exclaim, “Ma!! I almost got killed!! What’s up with that?! Is this gonna happen every time I say something?!!”

Did Jesus lock Himself in His bedroom and pray feverishly, “Abba, Father. What gives?! You never told me anything about THIS?!”

I suspect at this point some people think I’m being a bit irreverent and even blasphemous. “Hey Dunn, you can’t say that about Jesus! You’re being disrespectful to our Lord and Savior!!”

I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I’m just speculating about what He knew and when He knew it.

After all, we know some basic things for sure about Jesus: 1) He was sinless. He was morally perfect. 2) During the Incarnation, although He was sinless He also was fully human (remember the Philippians verses), which means He experienced the emotional highs and lows common to all people. 3) In the Garden of Gethsemane, He was so distraught He actually asked His heavenly Father if they could try a different plan.

Thru it all Jesus never sinned. But being confused, surprised, and distraught are not sins. Those are common human experiences. I’m just wondering if Jesus ever experienced those things, that’s all. If so, this week’s gospel reading seems to be a likely occasion for surprise and confusion.

No, I’m not being irreverent and disrespectful. Contemplating Jesus’ possible surprise and confusion during His ministry helps me to relate to Him better. It makes Him seem less of a robot, emotionlessly following a carefully-crafted script and more of a real person with real daily struggles who must trust in His heavenly Father during times of uncertainty—just like all of us. 

The daily struggles and doubts and lack of knowledge are certain to occur. If Jesus experienced these same struggles, it wasn’t a sin. We can learn from His example. He handled these struggles by trusting completely in His heavenly Father. We can and should do the same.

Flat Screen TVs Are Everywhere

One of the most amazing inventions during the past couple decades has been the flat screen TV. Not too long ago, having a quality television meant you had to own a big, hulking cube — with at least as much depth as width — and it had to weigh more than a mid-sized Buick. The “big screen” TVs of the 1990s were like having a washing machine sitting on a table in your living room, except instead of a round window with soapy clothes swirling around, you had a square screen, and oftentimes, what was available to watch on TV was more boring that watching soapy clothes swirl around. (Still true today, actually.)

Nowadays, it’s amazing that such quality, high-definition images can appear on a device which in many cases is no more than an inch deep and weighs less than 15 pounds. If you suddenly showed up in 18th century New England with a flat screen TV, you definitely would be burned at the stake for witchcraft. And if you did a frantic Google search on your iPhone to try and explain to them that the technology is not demonic, they’d just throw more logs on the fire. (But come to think of it, I’m pretty sure Siri is a minion of Satan.)

Even more amazing than the quality, thinness, and lightness of modern flat screen TVs, is the cost. You can get a rather large screen for only a few hundred bucks. This is a double-edged sword. It means almost every household can afford to have a big, beautiful screen hanging on the wall in the living room. But on the other hand, it means every public facility now is plastered with flat screen TVs.

There are some places that have traditionally had televisions, such as bars and restaurants. But in “ancient times” (20 years ago) there was a single 19-inch TV up in the corner above the bar. Patrons would say to the bartender, “Hey Fred, put on the Knicks game,” or, “Hey Fred, turn on the news.” These days it’s not just the patrons of bars and restaurants who are plastered; the rooms are plastered with flat screen TVs. It’s actually cheaper now to install a wall full of TVs than it is to put up wallpaper. You can’t go out to eat these days without being blasted from all directions by blaring TV images.

Other facilities that never had TVs in the past now have them: the Motor Vehicle department, McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, doctors’ waiting rooms, car repair facilities, and funeral homes. I was at a wake recently and the big screen TV had a heart-warming slide show of the dearly departed, but someone was able to fiddle with some buttons and put on the Patriots game.

There’s a small diner a couple blocks away from my office that has a terrific and inexpensive lunch menu. But they have a couple of big screen TVs that are always blaring The Jerry Springer Show during the lunch hour. It’s a proven fact that if you watch Jerry Springer for more than 10 minutes, your IQ drops 30 points. I no longer can eat lunch in that place. I have to order take-out and bring it back to my office. (And no, I don’t watch Springer on my computer.)

Although I complain about being inundated with TVs, whenever I’m waiting in line and there is not a TV to watch, I find myself getting uncomfortable and fidgety. I grab my iPhone, press the button and say, “Siri, I need some entertainment.” Dutifully following her master’s command, the screen in my hand starts playing The Jerry Springer Show.  

St. Michael, Defend Us in Battle

Have you ever heard of the “Prayer to Saint Michael”? Many generations of Catholics recited this prayer at the end of every Mass. But beginning in the 1960s we stopped saying the prayer. (Hmm, we stopped doing a lot of holy and beneficial things beginning in the 1960s. Just sayin’.)

The prayer was written by Pope Leo 13th way back in the 1880s. The story goes that Pope Leo had a terrifying vision. In the vision he saw Satan being allowed by God to have one century in which to do his most destructive work. Satan chose the 20th century. You’d have to say the vision came true since during the 20th century there were two world wars, and atheist regimes such as the Nazis and Communists murdered well over 100 million innocent people.

After having this vision, Pope Leo quickly wrote the prayer, asking St. Michael the archangel to protect God’s people.

In the Bible, only three angels are given proper names, and all three are considered by the Church to be archangels. This is a higher category of angel. It’s kind of like they got their Ph.Ds, while the rest of the angels only got bachelor’s degrees. (Well, actually, it’s nothing like that.)

St. Gabriel is the messenger angel. He appeared to Zechariah, Joseph, and Mary during the Nativity episodes in Scripture. St. Raphael is the healing angel. We read about him in the book of Tobit in the Old Testament. And St. Michael is the warrior angel. He is mentioned by name in the book of Daniel, and whenever we read about “the angel of the Lord” defending Israel, most scholars believe that was Michael in action.

The prayer to St. Michael, written by Pope Leo, is rather simple and yet very profound. It goes like this:

“St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin and destruction of souls. Amen.”

Dr. Peter Kreeft discusses the Prayer to St. Michael in his brilliant little book, “How to Win the Culture War.” Kreeft explains that the conflicts we see in our world today are not based on politics or economics or ethnicity; they are instead spiritual battles. Kreeft writes, “Our enemies are demons. Fallen angels. Evil spirits.” Unfortunately, most people nowadays in our modern, sophisticated world do not realize this.

However, the New Testament is quite clear. Jesus warned Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat” (Luke 22:31).

St. Peter learned this lesson and passed it on to us: “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

St. Paul wrote, “Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but … with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Ephesians 6:12).

And Pope Leo 13th understood this fact. That’s why when he had his horrific vision of spiritual warfare, he called on a spiritual warrior to defend us.

Although most Catholics today are unfamiliar with the Prayer to St. Michael, it’s beginning to make a comeback. In 1994 Pope John Paul II urged Catholics once again to recite this prayer. Some parishes are reviving the practice of offering this prayer at the end of Mass. 

Even though the 20th century was unprecedented in the amount of evil that occurred, our current century is still quite young, and it has the potential to be even worse. As Catholics, let’s call on all of our resources in the Communion of Saints. Let’s implore St. Michael, the warrior angel, to defend us in this battle for souls.

Power of the Spirit Available To All

In this week’s gospel reading, the Bible explains that Jesus returned to the Galilee region filled with “the power of the Spirit.”

When Jesus arrived at his boyhood hometown of Nazareth, He went into the local synagogue, stood up in front of the congregation, and read a passage from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…”

As Jesus finished reading the rest of the verses, he rolled up the scroll and announced, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The power of the Spirit—which theologians later realized was none other than the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit—was absolutely essential for Jesus to complete His mission. Without the Holy Spirit as a supernatural bridge between Heaven and earth, Jesus would have been cut off from His Father. He would have been left with nothing but His earthly, natural abilities, which means He would have been unable to perform miracles and, most importantly, unable to rise from the dead Himself on that first Easter morning.

The same is true for us. If we don’t tap into the power of the Holy Spirit, we’re left with nothing but our earthly, natural abilities, which means that we, too, will be unable to perform miracles and, most importantly, unable to rise from the dead at the Final Judgment.

Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t think we’re able to perform miracles? Sure we are. I’ve seen it happen. Miracles definitely happen. As far as the rising from the dead thing, well, Jesus promised us it can and will happen, so for now, I’m taking His word for it by faith.

Granted, the miracles I’ve witnessed are a little less spectacular than the ones Jesus performed. I’ve never seen a leper instantly cured, nor a crippled man instantly able to walk, nor a dead guy suddenly sit up in his coffin and say, “Hi Mom, what’s for lunch?” (When Jesus did that for the poor widow of Nain [Luke 7:11-15], can you imagine how stunned she must have been? I’m surprised she didn’t croak right on the spot, causing her and her son to switch places and the funeral procession to continue to the cemetery.)

Although a little less spectacular, the miracles I’ve witnessed are nonetheless bona fide supernatural occurrences. There are no natural explanations for them.

People whose minds were as ravaged by fear and hatred as the skin is ravaged by leprosy, were miraculously filled with peace and kindness. Others whose hearts were crippled with bitterness and anger were miraculously filled with joy and gentleness. And still others, whose relationships with their spouses were as good as dead, were miraculously resurrected with an infusion of love and faithfulness.

These things don’t happen by accident. They don’t just naturally occur. They are true miracles, performed by the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

I also know a guy whose insatiable craving for alcohol miraculously disappeared when he asked Jesus to come into his heart. One day he couldn’t live without getting drunk, the next day the idea of having a drink repulsed him. Another miracle. (By the way, I see this guy quite often…in fact, every time I look in the mirror.)

Back in that synagogue, Jesus made a big deal of proclaiming that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him because the presence of the Holy Spirit was not an everyday occurrence back then. During Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit occasionally filled various patriarchs and prophets, but He wasn’t very available to the average person.

All that changed at Pentecost. Jesus had promised His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth….He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all of them, completely transforming their lives.

To this very day the Holy Spirit is available to all believers who sincerely ask Him to dwell in their hearts.

We are so fortunate to live in this age of grace. Unlike Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit does not make brief and sporadic appearances. He is present for all of us all the time. We are able, just like Jesus, to be filled with “the power of the Spirit,” and to declare confidently that “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

Far too many people, however, think the idea of being “filled with the Spirit” is a little too weird and spooky. It doesn’t jibe with our modern, scientific view of the world, so they steer clear of it.

What a shame. That’s like pushing your car down the street because you don’t understand that turning the key will allow the motor to do the pushing. When you fire up the engine, you have a lot more power and a lot less frustration. 

We should not ignore the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke about Him at length. And Jesus said the coming of the Holy Spirit would be a “gift” (Acts 1:4). We should accept this gift from our Creator with joy and thanksgiving.

Driving Behind Slow-Pokes

The other day I was running a little late for a business meeting, and I was traveling on one of those scenic state highways that has only one lane in each direction and a lot of winding curves. This means there are very few straight sections on which you can pass another car. Another feature of these winding state highways is the obligatory slow-poke vehicle.

Sometimes you’ll encounter a dump truck, which moves fairly quickly on flat terrain or a downhill grade — and occasionally a little TOO quickly when moving downhill, especially when you look up at your mirror and notice the dump truck that was 200 yards behind you a few moments ago is now only six inches from your rear bumper, and you can’t quite tell if the animated expression on the driver’s face means, “C’mon, get moving, pal!” or, “Run for your life! I lost my brakes!!” However, when you’re behind a dump truck and the road starts to angle uphill, the truck suddenly goes from 50 mph to 5 mph, and at that point you need to phone your customer and inform him the meeting will begin a little late, possibly five minutes late or, depending upon how many miles until the road levels off, five days late.

On the particular day in question, the slow-poke vehicle on the state highway was not a dump truck, it was instead a 1996 Buick Regal moving about 30 mph in the 50 mph zone. The car had its right turn signal flashing. “Good,” I thought, as I pulled up from behind. “It’s about to turn onto a side road.” Then the car proceeded to ignore every right-hand turn for the next two miles, at which point I finally realized the driver had no idea the blinker was on.

As I drew even closer to the Buick, I could not see anyone in the driver’s seat. Now, I’ve heard that some auto manufacturers are working on high-tech driverless vehicles, but I’m pretty sure Buick did not offer that option with their Regals in the mid-1990s.

Then I noticed a little tuft of bluish gray hair, no higher than the top of the steering wheel. “Oh, how cute,” I said to myself. “Someone’s great-grandma is out for drive on a pleasant Tuesday afternoon. Probably heading to Mr. Winkle’s Apothecary Shop to get some Carter’s liver pills.” Then I said, “Cute?! Wait a minute. I’ve got to be at a meeting in ten minutes. Hey Grandma! Pick up the pace, for cryin’ out loud!!”

But no matter how much I cried out loud and beeped my horn, Grandma steered that Buick at a rock-steady 30 mph. I guess if she couldn’t hear the blinker signal clicking away inside her car, she wasn’t about to hear any noise I was making. (But maybe she couldn’t hear her blinker or my horn because she was blasting music on XM Radio’s heavy metal channel. Nah, probably not.)

So I ended up with a wonderful opportunity to practice the virtue of patience. (Which reminds me of my favorite prayer: “Dear God, please give me patience — and I want it now!”) I also had time to think, and what I thunk up was this: anyone who drives at least 2 mph slower than me is officially an “annoying slow-poke,” while anyone who drives at least 2 mph faster than me is officially a “reckless nut.” And it doesn’t matter how fast I’m driving at any particular moment, because I’m ALWAYS driving the exact correct speed. 

Now, if only the other 200 million drivers on American roads would realize this, then driving would be fun again.