CrossCurrents A Catholic Reflects on Faith in Our Times

If you’ve already picked a personal way of observing Lent this year, good for you. But if you haven’t, why not consider committing yourself to a little SHOE prevention?

Of course, SHOE disorder can be cured once you catch it, but it’s much easier to prevent it in the first place than it is to get over it.

What? You haven’t heard of SHOE disorder? Guess you haven’t been following the headlines.

Like the stories about the families on Martha’s Vineyard trying to prevent newcomers from building because “we came here for the peace and quiet of not having any neighbors nearby.” Or the Vermont residents complaining about the new windmills they claim are spoiling their countryside: “we came here for the silence—but now we hear these things whirring.” Or the suburbanites I wrote about last summer, busily upgrading their seaside summer shacks into full-service retirement compounds: winterized, sewer-connected, roof-decked, soil-polluting-landscaped personal paradises.

Indeed, that’s why “Paradise Flu” has become the common nickname for SHOE disorder—all these people are trying to create or preserve their own little piece of paradise. But I prefer the clinical term because it’s more precise: SHOE Disorder = “Seeking Heaven On Earth” Disorder, an earth-borne virus anyone can catch—but which is highly preventable.

Why is Lent such a good time for SHOE prevention? Well, think a moment about what Lent is for.

For early Christians, Lent was about preparing to become a member of the Body of Christ. Since nearly all Christians were baptized as adults on Holy Saturday, and since the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) were all combined at the Easter Vigil Mass, new Christians went from being mere “catechumens” to full-fledged members of the Church—the Body of Christ—literally overnight. It was a huge leap in their lives, and Lent was the sacred season set aside for the intense preparation leading into the great event.

In later centuries, as infant baptism became commonplace, adult baptism became rare or even unknown, and the Easter Vigil eventually lost its “big event” status in people’s lives. Lent remained, but its meaning changed. It became a season for all Christians to practice penance and self-denial—to purify their lives and faith before renewing their baptismal files and receiving the Eucharist.

So Catholics got used to “giving something up” for Lent as a form of personal sacrifice, withdrawing in one small way from daily preoccupations to focus more on one’s faith in God.

Meanwhile the Sacraments of Initiation lost their original meaning: Baptism was reduced to “washing away Original Sin,” Confirmation became like mere graduation, and the Eucharist stopped being the culmination of Christian initiation, and fell between the other two sacraments. It got so lost in middle that the Church had to impose the “Easter Duty” requiring Catholics to receive the Eucharist at least once each year!

Once Vatican II restored adult Baptism as the norm for Catholics, Lent begin to change again. Most baptisms were still for babies, but the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) restored the ancient practice of welcoming new members on Holy Saturday following months-long preparations that culminated during the season of Lent, so Easter Vigils everywhere began to include Baptisms and Confirmations and first Eucharists.

Vatican II’s stress on scripture reminded Catholics that Lent’s 40-day duration echoes Jesus’ own 40-day sojourn in the desert, as he withdrew to consider his mission, his ministry, and his destiny. So now Lent invites us all to let our own lives pass before our mind’s-eyes as we to journey “from ashes to Easter”—that is, from death to resurrection.

This renewed take on Lent invites us to ask: what do we make of our life on this earth? What does it mean? Where will it take us? How shall we live it?

Some Christians, I notice, decide that life on earth is really “Hell On Earth” (this is known as “HOE syndrome”). They see corruption, malice, greed, lust, and death everywhere. They see crime and immorality and permissiveness and pornography and conclude that this earth is a hellish place, from which retreat is the only faithful option—and from which Heaven will be the ultimate escape.

But the Bible claims the opposite again and again, beginning with the Book of Genesis: the earth is God’s work, and God sees it as good, and all of creation sings his praise. As the 1960s bumper sticker said, “God does not make junk.” Or, as one Christian philosopher put it, the most basic Christian belief is “the Universe is Friendly.” So it’s fairly easy to debunk HOE syndrome.

But those suffering SHOE disorder present a tougher case. Most of them live in a country of great affluence, where 6% of all humans consume 40% of the earth’s resources, including 60% of the energy resources. They often have personal assets beyond the grasp of 95% their fellow citizens, and they live in an individualistic culture where “freedom” can become a ready-made license for private excess.

In this context it’s natural that many people are tempted to think they can buy their own pearly gates without waiting for death to take them there. So they succumb to Seeking Heaven On Earth. They may even feel and act as if they’re entitled to heaven on earth—and entitled as well to block anything or anyone that might bring them back to earth.

The best vaccine against SHOE disorders is, of course, this bedrock Christian belief: earth is not heaven, and it never will be. But earth is not hell either. Earth is earth—that good place God gave us to live our lives in and, as we journey through our lives, to find their way back to God.

We may spoil his creation with all our worst vices, or we may Seek Heaven On Earth by acting as if the human race is not our family and the earth is not our real home in this life. Either way, we deny our true nature as good but flawed creatures who need a season like Lent to slow down and step back and re- commit ourselves to being what we really are: God’s Redeemed Earthlings.

Send Your Comments and Questions to bfswain@juno.com

Dr. Swain’s opinions do not represent the views of this parish or any other official body.

Bernie Swain has devoted more than 30 years to adult spiritual formation in dioceses in the US, Canada, and France. Since 1991 he has maintained a private practice as trainer, teacher, and consultant to leaders in parishes and other religious organizations. He holds degrees in theology and political science from Holy Cross, Harvard, The University of Paris, and The University of Chicago.

His writings include Liberating Leadership (Harper & Row, 1986) and more than 200 articles in periodicals such as The National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, The Miami Herald, The Catholic Free Press, The Pilot, Harvard Theological Review, and Liturgy.

A lifelong layperson, he lives in Boston with his wife and three children. Visit his website at:

http://www.CrossCurrents.us

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