Updated list of Fr Weslin/Fr Jenkins/Notre Dame posts
May 22, 2009
Once I saw Fr Jenkins' face, it was clear why he invited barry - he has the same glazed-eyed look as the manlove media members. Priest, laymen, women, children, fellow politicians, the press - it doesn't matter. It's the same look: obamessiah mesmerism. I didn't think it could get any more disturbing. At times, his eyes were aglow and cheeks flushed with an abnormal...stimulation is the best world I can come up with. It literally made my skin crawl. A priest should not have that look unless they are looking at Jesus on the Cross. His voice choked up, his mouth parched and he began blinking when he began to speak of barry, with the great awe that the president accepted the invite - his invite. Listen to him - it had nothing to do with barry facing the controversy, which he was trying to imply. It had to do with Fr Jenkins' personal wish, desire if you will, coming to fruition.
Nothing at all wrong with it except for the confusion of Catholics everywhere, the students who could not in good conscience go to their own graduation, the brutal treatment of Fr Weslin, the sexist treatment of Professor Glendon and the breaking of a 120-year old tradition of awarding the highest honor an American Catholic can receive. Something former Ambassador to the Pope, Professor Glendon would have received had barry just declined the honorary deree. He could have still spoken and been adored. And she received and accepted her invitation 4 months before barry was ever offered one hers. Imagine if that were the ther way around. Would it have been allowed? Double Standard.
Fr John Jenkins relishing the moment, flushed cheeks and all
Fr Jenkins is a natural speaker in the crisp rhetorical tradition of the Jesuits and most likely a scholastic genius, especially the Classics, but his physical voice and intonation are grating and jarring - so the speech is better read than heard. At least to my ear. He also appears in vigorous health - my guess, a runner, who has a precise schedule. Wonder what he is trying to keep at bay. Just curiosities based on observation. If he didn't anger me so for what he allowed to happen to Fr Weslin, I would want to know more about him.
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Sunday, May 17, 2009
President of Notre Dame, Father John I. Jenkins Commencement Remarks (Text) (Video)
Remarks and Introduction, As Prepared [emphasis added]
President Obama, Fr. Hesburgh, Judge Noonan, Members of the Board of Trustees, Members of the faculty, staff, alumni, friends, parents, and most of all – the Notre Dame Class of 2009:
Several autumns ago, you came to Notre Dame from home….now Notre Dame has become home. And it always will be. For home is not where you live. Home is where you belong. You will always belong – and I pray you will always feel you belong – here at Notre Dame.
You are … ND.
In my four years as President of your University – I have found that even among those who did not go to Notre Dame, even among those who do not share the Catholic faith, there is a special expectation, a special hope, for what Notre Dame can accomplish in the world. They hope that Notre Dame will be one of the great universities in the nation, but they also hope that it will send forth graduates who—grounded in deep moral values—can help solve the world's toughest problems.
Their hope is in you, the graduates of 2009.
That is a good place for hope to be. I have great confidence in what your talent and energy can accomplish in the world. But I have a special optimism for what you can do inspired by faith.
It is your faith that will focus your talents and help you build the world you long to live in and leave to your children.
The world you enter today is torn by division – and is fixed on its differences.
Differences must be acknowledged, and in some cases cherished. But too often differences lead to pride in self and contempt for others, until two sides – taking opposing views of the same difference—demonize each other. Whether the difference is political, religious, racial, or national—trust falls, anger rises, and cooperation ends … even for the sake of causes all sides care about.
More than any problem in the arts or sciences – engineering or medicine – easing the hateful divisions between human beings is the supreme challenge of this age. If we can solve this problem, we have a chance to come together and solve all the others.
A Catholic university – and its graduates – are specially called, and I believe specially equipped, to help meet this challenge.
As a Catholic university, we are part of the Church – members of the "mystical body of Christ" animated by our faith in the Gospel. Yet we are also – most of us – citizens of the United States – this extraordinary evolving expression of human freedom. We are called to serve each community of which we're a part, and this call is captured in the motto over the door of the east nave of the Basilica: "God, Country, Notre Dame."
As we serve the Church, we can persuade believers by appeals to both faith and reason. As we serve our country, we will be motivated by faith, but we cannot appeal only to faith. We must also engage in a dialogue that appeals to reason that all can accept.
When we face differences with fellow citizens, we will be tested: do we keep trying, with love and a generous spirit, to appeal to ethical principles that might be persuasive to others – or do we condemn those who differ with us for not seeing the truth that we see?
The first approach can lead to healing, the second to hostility. We know which approach we are called to as disciples of Christ.
Pope Benedict said last year from the South Lawn of the White House: "I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society."
Genuine faith does not inhibit the use of reason; it purifies it of pride and distorting self-interest. As it does so, Pope Benedict has said, "human reason is emboldened to pursue its noble purpose of serving mankind, giving expression to our deepest common aspirations and extending … public debate."
Tapping the full potential of human reason to seek God and serve humanity is a central mission of the Catholic Church. The natural place for the Church to pursue this mission is at a Catholic university. The University of Notre Dame belongs to an academic tradition of nearly a thousand years – born of the Church's teaching that human reason, tempered by faith, is a gift of God, a path to religious truth, and a means for seeking the common good in secular life.
It is out of this duty to serve the common good that we seek to foster dialogue with all people of good will, regardless of faith, background or perspective. We will listen to all views, and always bear witness for what we believe. [Like Fr Weslin did, which resulted in manhandling, handcuffing, humiliation, arrest and jail.]
Insofar as we play this role, we can be what Pope John Paul II said a Catholic university is meant to be – "a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture" [Ex corde ecclesiae, 3.34].
Of course, dialogue is never instantaneous; it doesn't begin and end in an afternoon. It is an ongoing process made possible by many acts of courtesy and gestures of respect, by listening carefully and speaking honestly. [Fr Weslin spoke honestly, but recieved none of the other in return.]
Paradoxically, support for these actions often falls as the need for them rises – so they are most controversial precisely when they can be most helpful. [His words speak for Fr Weslin and he doesn't seem to realize it.]
As we all know, a great deal of attention has surrounded President Obama's visit to Notre Dame. We honor all people of good will who have come to this discussion respectfully and out of deeply held conviction.
Most of the debate has centered on Notre Dame's decision to invite and honor the President. [Here's where he begins to gets emotional.] Less attention has been focused on the President's decision to accept. [Surveys the crowd, smile of personal accomplishment.]
President Obama has come to Notre Dame, though he knows well that we are fully supportive of Church teaching on the sanctity of human life, and we oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
Others might have avoided this venue for that reason. [Sounds like he is going to cry.] But President [voice cracks] Obama is not someone who stops talking to those [voice cracks] who differ with him. [barry responds by scratching his cheek]
Mr. President: [looks to barry] This is a principle we share.
As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wrote in their pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes: "Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act differently than we do in social, political and even religious matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be able to enter into dialogue with them."
If we want to extend courtesy, respect and love – and enter into dialogue – then surely we can start by acknowledging what is honorable in others.
We welcome President Obama to Notre Dame, and we honor him for the qualities and accomplishments the American people admired in him when they elected him. [a most revealing smile best seen on video]
He is a man who grew up without a father, whose family was fed for a time with the help of food stamps—yet who mastered the most rigorous academic challenges, who turned his back on wealth to serve the poor, who sought the Presidency at a young age against long odds, and who – on the threshold of his goal—left the campaign to go to the bedside of his dying grandmother who helped raise him.
[Here I must interject facts, Padre. barry spent only 22 hours there, did not stay with her, and refused to stay for her last birthday (a few hours after he left) knowing it would be her last. His choice - but your statement is disingenuous. He said to Harry Smith before he left for Hawaii that he didn't want to make the mistake like he did with his mother. BARRY: Most people understand that if you are not caring for your family, then you are probably not the kind of person who is going to be caring for other people.” He then left his sister alone in Hawaii to grieve and take care of all of the arrangements. Did his actions match his words? Who was there to hold her hands and recall fond memories of a woman who worked so he could be be where he is now? A woman who did not raise her, but a woman she had taken full responsibility, by necessity, to care for. He never even thanked her by name in his speeches. Only one direct relative - only one sister to acknowledge and nothing. He also was not at his mother's side when she died not unpredicatably from cancer, again leaving his sister alone. Yes. Don't judge, lest ye be judged. But that is cold. My opinion.]
He is a leader who has great respect for the role of faith and religious institutions in public life. [How? In actions, not just words?] He has said: "Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square."
He is the first African American to be elected President, yet his appeal powerfully transcends race. [Another telling smile - like a proud papa. It's clear why he wanted him there for the anniversary of Brown vs Board of Education]
In a country that has been deeply wounded by racial hatred – he has been a healer. [??]
He has set ambitious goals across a sweeping agenda—extending health care coverage to millions who don't have it, improving education especially for those who most need it, promoting renewable energy for the sake of our economy, our security, and our climate.
He has declared the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and has begun arms reduction talks with the Russians.
He has pledged to accelerate America's fight against poverty, to reform immigration to make it more humane, and to advance America's merciful work in fighting disease in the poorest places on earth.
[He's talked about a lot of things and they don't quite come through as he spoke of them. Iraq, military commissions, torture photos, Gitmo, Fisa.... Why those folks voted for him, who aren't feeling healed by yet another example of his words not in the same reality as actions.]
As commander-in-chief and as chief executive, he embraces with confidence both the burdens of leadership and the hopes of his country.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States.
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Unfortunately, his last smile and the subsequent greeting is not on the video. Something that would have been most enlightening as to the actual physical contact involved. The looks said plenty.
