CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2020 / 12:43 am (CNA).- While wearing physical masks may protect the lives of others during a pandemic, there is another type of mask – an invisible, spiritual mask – that hides us from our responsibility as a Christians, warned Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport.
These spiritual, invisible masks must be peeled off and thrown away if we are to embrace our call to spread the Gospel, he said.
“We wear [masks] to protect those in our midst, the elderly, the frail, those with pre-existing conditions, and those who are susceptible to the virus unknown to them or to us,” Caggiano said in an Oct. 2 video reflection.
“We wear these masks, my friends, not to protect ourselves, but in an act of Christian love for our neighbor known and unknown,” he said.
Since the early days of the pandemic in the United States, beginning in March, Catholics have voluntarily restricted their behavior and movements, sometimes with great sacrifice, “all for one purpose: to protect life.” The greatest symbol of that sacrifice, Caggiano said, is the often “intrusive and annoying” face mask.
While these physical masks are important, he said, Christians can also fall into the temptation of wearing spiritual masks that hinder them from their calling as missionary disciples.
Caggiano identified three examples of these spiritual masks, one of which is the masking of our mouths— failing to speak the truth, out of fear. This includes when we see sinful or destructive behavior, and remain silent. Instead, he said, Christians must tell the truth in love.
Another example, Caggiano said, is the masking of our eyes— turning a blind eye to suffering, and to the people in the world who need our help, such as the poor, the sick, the needy, and to refugees.
Finally, Caggiano mentioned the masking our ears— shutting out the cries of those “who have everything they want, but very little of what they need.” Instead, we must learn to listen with our hearts, he said.
The bishop encouraged prayer to the Holy Spirit to help us recognize if we are wearing any of these destructive spiritual masks.
“While there are certain masks worth wearing, there are others that we need to throw away right here and right now,” he said.
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Washington D.C., Jun 1, 2017 / 12:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Flying on Sunday and need a place for Mass? A recent study revealed that 40 percent of major US airports have chapels offering Sunday Mass times for travelers and airport employees.
Indianapolis, Ind., Mar 9, 2020 / 02:24 pm (CNA).- Indiana’s Marion Superior Court has postponed a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in a religious liberty case over whether a Catholic school may dismiss a teacher for publicly violating Church teaching.
Becket, which is representing the the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in the case, has announced that a March 10 hearing in Payne-Elliott v. Archdiocese of Indianapolis “has been postponed for medical reasons.”
It added that the hearing will be reset at a later date.
Joshua Payne-Elliott, a former teacher at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, filed a lawsuit claiming that the archdiocese illegally interfered in his professional relationship with Cathedral High School, leading the school to terminate his contract in June 2019.
Joshua and Layton Payne-Elliott had contracted a same-sex civil marriage in 2017.
Joshua was dismissed from Cathedral High because contracting a same-sex marriage violates archdiocesan policies and Catholic teaching.
“Archbishop Thompson made it clear that Cathedral’s continued employment of a teacher in a public, same-sex marriage would result in our forfeiting our Catholic identity due to our employment of an individual living in contradiction to Catholic teaching on marriage,” Cathedral High School leaders said in a June 2019 letter.
“Therefore, in order to remain a Catholic Holy Cross School, Cathedral must follow the direct guidance given to us by Archbishop Thompson and separate from the teacher,” said the letter, signed by Matt Cohoat, chairman of Cathedral High School’s board of directors, and Rob Bridges, the school’s president.
Layton is employed as a teacher at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. The school’s Catholic identity was revoked by the Archbishop of Indianapolis in 2019 after a disagreement about Layton’s employment. The revocation is temporarily suspended while the Congregation for Catholic Education considers an appeal.
In 2017, Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis had requested that Cathedral High School and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School not renew the Payne-Elliotts’ contracts.
Joshua Payne-Elliott filed a lawsuit against the archdiocese in protest of his dismissal in August 2019, one day after having reached a settlement with Cathedral High School.
Jay Mercer, an attorney for the archdiocese, has said that “The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that churches have a constitutional right to determine rules for religious schools, and that religious schools have a constitutional right to hire leaders who support the schools’ religious mission.”
“Families rely on the Archdiocese to uphold the fullness of Catholic social teaching throughout its schools, and the Constitution fully protects the Church’s efforts to do so,” he added.
The Department of Justice has said that the school’s decision was protected by the First Amendment.
“This case presents an important question: whether a religious entity’s interpretation and implementation of its own religious teachings can expose it to third-party intentional-tort liability. The First Amendment answers that question in the negative,” a Justice Department statement of interest said.
It added that “religious employers are entitled to employ only persons whose beliefs and conduct are consistent with the employers’ religious precepts, and, more broadly, that the United States Constitution bars the government from interfering with the autonomy of a religious organization.”
In June 2019, the archdiocese said of teachers that “it is their duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. To effectively bear witness to Christ, whether they teach religion or not, all ministers in their professional and private lives must convey and be supportive of Catholic Church teaching.”
Archdiocesan policy states that every Catholic school, archdiocesan and private, must clearly state in its contracts and job descriptions that all teachers are ministers of the Gospel and must convey and be supportive of all teachings of the Catholic Church.
In a June 2019 statement, the archdiocese explained that teachers at Catholic schools are considered ministers, as part of the schools’ mission to forming students in the Catholic faith.
“To effectively bear witness to Christ, whether they teach religion or not, all ministers in their professional and private lives must convey and be supportive of Catholic Church teaching,” the archdiocese said.
Archbishop Thompson has stressed that Joshua Payne-Elliott was removed not because he is homosexual, but because he had contracted a same-sex marriage, in opposition to Church teaching on marriage.
All people should be treated with love and respect, and sexual orientation in itself is not sinful, the archbishop said.
However, he added, the Church is clear in teaching that the proper role of sexual activity is within a marriage between one man and one woman.
The problem in cases such as Brebeuf and Cathedral, he said, “is about public witness of Church teaching on the dignity of marriage as one man and one woman. That is our Church teaching.”
“In this particular case we’re dealing with, those are ministers in our Church. Teachers, guidance counselors, other leaders, leaders of the schools and other leaders in the archdiocese are bound to live out these principles.”
Douglas Ernst’s “Soulfinder” series of graphic novels follows the adventures of combat vets-turned-exorcists. / ICONIC Comics
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 20, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Father Patrick Retter kept his wits about him as he faced the giant, red-eyed cobra slithering out of the possessed woman’s mouth.
“In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti,” he chanted the Sign of the Cross in Latin, as he thrust a bottle of holy water at the demon.
The woman bit his hand with her teeth — emitting a loud crunch — but the priest kept going. Clutching his wooden cross, he declared, “I cast you and every satanic specter out — in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! It is he who commands you.”
So begins one of the many action-packed scenes in the “Soulfinder” graphic novel series about a fictional “special forces of exorcists” within the Catholic Church.
“‘Soulfinder’ is about a major order of combat veteran exorcists who are recruited to engage in spiritual warfare with a demon called Blackfire until the end of time,” Douglas Ernst, the writer and creator of the seriestold CNA.
The 42-year-old writer began the series to fill a void in today’s comic-book world — and in the culture.
“The heroes that I grew up reading are often unrecognizable because the creators at Marvel and DC are activists posing as serious storytellers,” he explained. “I created ‘Soulfinder’ because I wanted to give people solid stories and artwork that also imparts something good, true, and beautiful.”
Together with a team of artists — Timothy Lim, Brett R. Smith, Matthew Weldon, and Dave Dorman, to name a few — Ernst brings to life characters who dedicate themselves to serving God after serving their country. They apply their experience of fighting in the physical world to, now, battling in the spiritual realm.
The series is already saving souls, both inside and outside of its pages.
“I love it when someone writes me and says that reading the books brought them back to the Catholic Church after they drifted away,” Ernst revealed. “Perhaps they haven’t gone to Mass in years, but something in the stories rekindled the flame of faith.”
Stories of selfless service
A Catholic veteran himself, Ernst shares something in common with his protagonists. He served as a mechanized infantryman in the ‘90s, leaving before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He saw many of his friends go to war — and never return.
Ernst brings this background to his books, which follow the adventures of Retter (an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran), Father Reginald Crane (a Vietnam veteran), and Detective Gregory Chua.
“My hope is that I’ve done right by the military community,” he said. “Selfless service and the willingness to lay down one’s life for another is a crucial component of the series.”
Ernst, who previously worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., now splits his time between Reno, Nevada, and Missoula, Montana, while focusing on his graphic novels.
His first two — “Soulfinder: Demon’s Match” and “Soulfinder: Black Tide” — greet readers with vivid colors and rich Catholic symbolism. The second book, available in hardcover, shimmers with gilded pages — and even a glow-in-the-dark monster.
“Where are the Catholic creators who will attempt to pick up where G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien left off?” asks Douglas Ernst, the creator of the “Soulfinder” graphic novels. ICONIC Comics
There is a dramatic reality at the core of these works of fiction. The series illustrates Catholic priests not only as courageous heroes but also as imperfect human beings — men who may fall, but always pick themselves back up, driven by a desire to do the right thing. Along the way, their personality (and sense of humor) shines through the narrative.
Available through ICONIC Comics, the first two volumes also appear on AmazonKindle. In January, both made No. 1 on Amazon’s list of new releases in “Religious Graphic Novels.”
Inspired by Catholic writers
Ernst — who learned to read by devouring the adventures of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, and Captain America as a boy — began his series after encountering mainstream comic books filled with moral relativism.
“Where are the Catholic creators who will attempt to pick up where G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien left off?” he asked. “That’s a tall task, but the culture will continue to drift into dangerous waters if Catholic writers and artists do not enter as many creative places as possible.”
Ernst shared what he did to prepare for the books, to ensure that they were theologically sound.
Being a “cradle Catholic” helped, he admitted, in addition to consulting with other Catholics, including a priest. His stories, he said, have been inspired by the works of St. Francis de Sales, Father Gabriele Amorth, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, and others.
Ernst began the series after organizing a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign. He also credits his success to working with talented artists and to Word on Fire, Bishop Robert Barron’s media ministry, which has featured his work in blog and YouTube interviews.
A ‘PG-13’ advisory
Teenagers and adults seeking classic storytelling with “good vs. evil” seem to enjoy Soulfinder, Ernst said of his series, which he rates as “PG-13.” This is because, among other things, the series addresses a dark subject matter.
In his first book with artist Timothy Lim, also a practicing Catholic, a black mass scene involves a naked woman.
“She is nude, but there’s shadows where there needs to be shadows,” Ernst pointed out the strategic shading over her body. “It’s also shown as a bad thing.”
While the series is for more mature readers, it offers content for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
“Most Catholic characters in modern comics and in Hollywood tend to be cartoonish version of the Faith,” he said.
His series, he emphasized, is different.
“It makes me incredibly happy when readers who are not Catholic say that these stories show a side of our faith that they have never encountered before.”
Third book on the way
Ernst told CNA the third installment of the series is in production.
“‘Soulfinder: Infinite Ascent’ takes our heroes to the other side of the world to apprehend a rogue member of the CIA who has evaded capture through supernatural means,” Ernst told CNA. “The U.S. government was so impressed with Father Retter and his friends regarding their success in ‘Soulfinder: Black Tide’ that it returns to them once again to clean up a global network of occultists.”
While there is no official release date yet, Ernst expects the book to be colored and lettered in March. From there, it will be sent to the printer.
“The story, at its core, focuses on the loss of loved ones, grief, and the need for forgiveness,” Ernst hinted. “The key to saving the day hinges on one character’s ability to forgive others for their trespasses against him.”
The volume will include a bonus story, “Soulfinder: War Cry,” which takes place at Arlington Cemetery.
In the end, Ernst hopes that these books will bring him, and his readers, closer to heaven.
“I know that one day I will stand before my Creator and I’ll have to give an account of what I’ve done with the talents I’ve been given,” he said. “I hope that my creative team has done its small part in saving souls while simultaneously entertaining readers.”
This statement is gravely disappointing coming from a bishop. We are both body and soul, and the idea that the body can express one reality while the spirit expresses another is dangerous. Both masks have to come off, the bodily masks and the spiritual masks. The sort of thinking the bishop is espousing, while populist these days, is not much different from the “personally opposed” to abortion view that eventually led to the raw promotion of infanticide that we see today. If he really means what he says about spiritual masks, the bodily masks have to go too.
Virologists recommend the use of face mask in the current pandemic situation. But spending our entire lives behind a mask is not fair. We need to show our beautiful faces fearlessly to fellow human beings during our life time.
This statement is gravely disappointing coming from a bishop. We are both body and soul, and the idea that the body can express one reality while the spirit expresses another is dangerous. Both masks have to come off, the bodily masks and the spiritual masks. The sort of thinking the bishop is espousing, while populist these days, is not much different from the “personally opposed” to abortion view that eventually led to the raw promotion of infanticide that we see today. If he really means what he says about spiritual masks, the bodily masks have to go too.
Virologists recommend the use of face mask in the current pandemic situation. But spending our entire lives behind a mask is not fair. We need to show our beautiful faces fearlessly to fellow human beings during our life time.