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New documentary ‘Your Fat Friend’ explores acceptance of body diversity

« Just say ‘fat.’ Not ‘curvy’ or ‘chubby’ or ‘chunky’ or ‘fluffy’ or ‘more to love’ or ‘big guy’ or ‘full figured’ or ‘big boned’ or ‘queen sized’ or ‘husky’ or ‘obese’ or ‘overweight.’ Just say ‘fat.’ « 

Aubrey Gordon’s career as a fat acceptance activist started in 2016 with an anonymous blog post. Originally titled « A Request from Your Fat Friend, » she composed an open letter asking her friends to accept her experiences of anti-fat bias. A week later, 30,000 people had read it.

Since then, in both anonymous writings and public activism (two books and a podcast, « Maintenance Phase »), Gordon has continued demanding that American culture treat every body with respect, including the fat — because a world that discriminates based on jean size is not a just world.

Now, Gordon’s activism has taken the shape of a documentary. « Your Fat Friend, » a film by cinematographer Jeanie Finlay, began screening in the U.K. this January and is now showing in select cities in the U.S.

The film follows Gordon’s career as she blossoms from anonymous blogger to celebrity activist. Gordon lands a book deal, is trolled by internet bullies (who dangerously release her name, address, résumé and social security number online, despite her anonymity), and chooses to reveal her identity to her readers.

We celebrate with Gordon when she gets personally thanked by Adele after addressing the inappropriate media coverage of the pop star’s weight loss. And when Gordon hosts her first public reading of her debut book in Powell’s bookstore in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, we beam with her at its success.

But it’s not all about Gordon. The film demonstrates some of the injustices faced — and fought — by the community she represents. 

Take, for instance, how it’s nearly impossible to locate comfortable public seating as a fat person. Or how an airline might suddenly cancel a fat person’s ticket without offering a refund. Or how the skinny shamelessly dictate what fat people can or cannot eat, can or cannot wear, or where they can or cannot work. (Once a woman in a grocery store removed a melon from Gordon’s cart, telling her, « This has too much sugar for you, this isn’t for you. ») Or how a satisfying love life feels improbable, since fat persons are encouraged to settle for whoever they will take them (finding « the one, » Gordon feels, is a luxury for the thin).

She’s also open about her own eating disorder: Gordon is an atypical anorexic, meaning, « You have all the behaviors of an anorexic person, but you’re fat, » she explains bluntly before talking about her frustrations finding adequate treatment because of the overwhelming medical bias against fat people.

The story of Gordon’s family and their generational challenges with weight and body acceptance centers the film narrative. Both parents confess to making mistakes in raising their daughter. Not having had healthy relationships with their own bodies, they exacerbated Aubrey’s experience of her fat body, too.

Her father, Rusty, grew up with a military father who monitored his overweight son as he ate, a habit Rusty continued with his own daughter. Gordon’s mother, Pam, committed herself — and her daughter — to every diet fad the ’80s offered because, Pam admits, « I viewed her size as my responsibility. » So Weight Watchers weigh-ins, calorie counting and diet pills marked Gordon’s childhood from age 11 onward, the age when her parents decided her size had become unacceptable.

Yet dieting did not change Gordon’s body — only her relationship to her body. She is not alone. Studies show that a majority of dieters regain more weight than they lost in the years after they go off their novel eating plan.

We watch as Gordon attempts a new way to relate to her own body: she seeks to embrace the body she has. This radical acceptance starts with honesty, saying out loud the uncomfortable truth about the shape and size and experience of inhabiting our unique forms.

She tells Finlay, « When I describe myself as fat, my favorite and least favorite reaction is people going, ‘No, sweetie, you are not, don’t say that about yourself.’ And I say, ‘Hey guys, have we met?’ « 

She explains, « I think they think I’m saying I’m lazy or stupid or unlovable [when I say ‘fat’]. But I don’t feel any of those things. I just am fat. The end. Well, what are we going to do about it? Not much to do. Tried everything. Here we are. »

The truth might sting, but only because American culture reveres a singular type of beauty, and « fat » is not it — even though 68% of women here wear size 14 pants or above. The truth is that nearly three-quarters of American women do not meet the idealized trends of feminine beauty. So, Gordon wonders, is hating our bodies working for us? Is this the best way to live?

As a devout Christian, I’d push her inquiry further: Does God hate our bodies as much as we do?

This time of year, in anticipation of swimsuit season, America diets. If we’re religious, our going-without might take on a spiritual dimension.

Through our little deprivations, we might imagine we relate to Christ’s passion. We might see ourselves in the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:27, imagining we are developing discipline as we cut calories, crucifying the flesh as we exercise, enslaving the body as we squeeze into shapewear. Or we emphasize our bodies as « temples of the Holy Spirit » — and self-flagellate when we defile God’s temple by our lapses (1 Corinthians 6:19).

But these interpretations cheapen both the Scriptures and our Savior: Is losing or gaining a few inches off your waist the same as the crucifixion of Christ? What do we reveal about ourselves and our thoughts about Jesus when we compare our form in a swimsuit with the body that changed the fate of the cosmos?

Instead of plucking verses from their contexts to support America’s obsessive compulsive culture of thinness, I suggest we adopt a more holistic theology. 

Each body — each of our fat, crooked, disabled, short, gangly, giant, painful, roly-poly bodies, the exact body you have right now — bears the imago dei. There are no exceptions.

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God calls all of creation « good » at the beginning of time, a pronouncement that includes the human body. King David writes that he was « fearfully and wonderfully made » (Psalm 139:14), a reality that corresponds not only to David as a fetus but also to David the adult male — perhaps with a « dad bod. »

Maybe we can consider the Lord’s word to Samuel when the prophet is commissioned to choose a king: « Do not consider his appearance or his height. … People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart » (1 Samuel 16:7).

And then there are the Bible’s own words about Christ: « He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him » (Isaiah 53:2).

The Bible does not denigrate the body, not once. (« The flesh » is a different matter, but is not merely synonymous with « the human form. ») In fact, the Scriptures revere each body as a bearer of the divine image. Our job is not to perfect the human form but to say thank you for the miracle enacted so that we could « live and move and have our being » (Acts 17:28).

Gordon’s philosophy jibes with the Bible itself. She writes, « Try to learn to love the lush overgrowth of your body. Let it grow wild and untamed as a garden you loved as a child. Love it for the way it sustains you, keeps you warm, goes to such lengths not to let you get hurt. »

What could be more Christian than embracing the body you actually have as a gift from God? Because each body — each of our fat, crooked, disabled, short, gangly, giant, painful, roly-poly bodies, the exact body you have right now — bears the imago dei. There are no exceptions.

So this swimsuit season, rather than counting calories, count the mercies of God. Celebrate the glimmers of heaven in the body you have. Let it grow and flourish, unhindered, celebrated, cherished, as God cherishes you. Through this body, God sustains you, keeps you warm and holds you safe. This body is and always has been a gift. Try to learn to say thank you every day. You are alive, and that’s good enough.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Vie de l'église

Pew study shows support for legal abortion growing 2 years after Dobbs

Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision making abortion a constitutional right, a majority of Americans said they support legal abortion in all or most cases, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

The Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022, in a case involving a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks, where the state directly challenged the high court’s previous abortion-related precedents in Roe v. Wade and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision. The Supreme Court ultimately overturned its own prior rulings, undoing nearly a half-century of its own precedent that held abortion was a constitutional right and returning the issue to the legislature. In the two years since that ruling, individual states have moved to either restrict abortion or expand access to it.

The study found that a majority — 63% — of Americans said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, an increase of four percentage points from 2021, the year prior to the Dobbs ruling. That includes 59% of Catholics surveyed.

Although the vast majority — 85% — of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and just 41% of Republicans and Republican leaners said the same, the latter group also saw an uptick in support for legal abortion.

A majority of Americans — 54% — said the statement « the decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman » describes their views extremely or very well. Meanwhile, 35% said the statement « human life begins at conception, so an embryo is a person with rights » describes their views extremely or very well. But 32% of Americans said both of those statements reflect their views at least somewhat well, in what Pew described as being « cross-pressured » in their views.

The new Pew survey was conducted April 8-14 among 8,709 adults. « Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses, » Pew said. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 8,709 respondents is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, opposing direct abortion as an act of violence that takes the life of the unborn child.

After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child, and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Cardinal Parolin says Vatican will attend Ukraine peace summit

The shooting of Slovakia’s prime minister and the intensified Russian attacks on northeastern Ukraine are signs of a generalized increase in violence and a lack of a real commitment to dialogue and peace, said the Vatican secretary of state.

However, Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters May 15 that the Vatican would be present in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, June 15-16 for an international summit organized to work toward peace in Ukraine.

« The big problem is to find spaces for dialogue, spaces for negotiation, which for the moment we do not see. On the contrary, it seems that the will is to continue fighting, » Vatican News quoted Parolin telling reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Italian embassy to the Holy See.

Although the cardinal did not say who would represent the Vatican at the peace summit, he said the Vatican would be there as an observer and, « above all, focused on the humanitarian aspects of this peace plan. »

The cardinal also was asked if Pope Francis’ public appeal May 12 for a comprehensive prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine had yielded any results.

« There has been an exchange of lists » by Russia and Ukraine, the cardinal said, but « I don’t know if that has been matched by concrete action. »

While the process may be slow, he said, at least « there is this dialogue » at the level of prisoner exchanges.

The cardinal met the journalists a few hours after Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times by an assailant in the town of Handlova; after emergency surgery, he was in serious but stable condition, the BBC reported early May 16.

« We are really concerned about what is happening; it seems that there are no limits anymore, » the cardinal said, according to Vatican News. « Really all this leads to increasing violence; relations are becoming more and more violent and there are fewer and fewer hopes of building peaceful relations. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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What Catholics should do if their presidential candidate doesn’t win

No matter who wins the U.S presidential election in November, Catholics have an obligation to pray not only for the good of the country but also that the winner succeeds in his leadership, said San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy.

« We don’t want to pray that they will fail, » said McElroy. « We want to really pray and believe and hope that they will succeed. »

The cardinal made his remarks as part of a May 14 webinar titled « Civilize It: Unifying a Divided Church, » sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development. The event was part of a broader « Civilize It » campaign for « a better kind of politics, » which includes a pledge to engage in charity, clarity and creativity.

The webinar, moderated by Gloria Purvis of America Media, also featured Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, the founder of the media ministry Word on Fire.

Flores stressed the importance of Catholics being engaged in the political process, whatever the outcome of the election. « Even if the other party wins, you have to be engaged, » he said, noting that Catholics have to « admit that no party is going to completely hold to the convictions we hold as Catholics. »

« Sometimes it even happens that the party we wanted to win wins, and we kind of let it go because they’re in charge now, so yeah, we won, » he said. « We need to even resist the party we are in favor of when they are promoting something we can’t in good conscience support. Sometimes we give them a free pass. »

Barron also reminded Catholics that they are not beholden to either political party. « We declare the Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead, and that’s where our hope comes from, » he said. « We have to have a detachment from this hyperstress on the political. »

A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that a majority of Catholics, 55%, would vote for Donald Trump if the election were held today. The number was 61% for white Catholics. Hispanic Catholics favored President Joe Biden over Trump by a small margin, 49% to 47%, respectively.

All three bishops speaking during the webinar stressed the importance of dialogue during a time when the country and the church are extremely polarized.

McElroy noted that partisan labels have become shorthand for one’s worldview, and that such oppositional identities have exacerbated stresses in the church.

« Catholics have always disagreed on the substantive issues. This is not an entirely new phenomenon, » he said, adding that the depth of polarization in the church today is « very alarming. »

‘We need to even resist the party we are in favor of when they are promoting something we can’t in good conscience support. Sometimes we give them a free pass.’

—Bishop Daniel Flores

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Flores also noticed a difference in how Catholics talk about political matters now, with a tendency to talk past each other and to make caricatures of those with whom we disagree.

« In our current situation, politics is almost a religion and sometimes it’s a sport. But actually it’s not supposed to be either. It’s supposed to be a civil conversation … to seek what is good and to make the priorities of how to achieve it, » he said.

Barron decried the « tribalism » of sorting into opposing camps, which forgets that love makes real dialogue possible. « Now it becomes simply winning an argument, or waving the flag of my tribe, as opposed to all of us together endeavoring to learn the truth. »

As the founder of Word on Fire, Barron has a significant presence online, but called the atmosphere there « toxic » and encouraged Catholics to « detox from social media. »

« I’ve tried always to avoid polemics in my work — I’ve been doing this for about 20-some years — not to get involved in tribalistic argumentation, but to emphasize the truth and beauty of the tradition, » Barron said.

The Minnesota bishop also suggested that friendships among those who disagree can alleviate ideological polarization. He has suggested to groups of priests, where younger, more conservative clergy are at odds with older, more liberal ones, that they should play golf together and accept dinner invitations from one another. « The more you talk, the more you’ll see a commonality. »

According to McElroy, women religious, « who have a tradition of dialogue, » could be a resource for priests and parishes in honing that skill.

Flores, who has been leading the synod process in the United States, said Pope Francis began the process, in part, because of his observation of rampant polarization, especially online, and the need for the church to « upgrade the quality of its own communion. »

« The church is supposed to be a sign and sacrament to the world of a communion that is real, not just a word, » he said. « And if we aren’t radiating some sense of being able to disagree and yet continue to love one another profoundly in Christ, then the world is not receiving the sign that God instituted the church for in the first place. »

To a question about how the church can speak with a more united voice that resists partisanship, Flores said all Catholics have to « look at the beam in their own eyes. »

« The faith sometimes calls us to an obedience that’s beyond what politics envisions, » he said. « The world pressures us very much to take a side and be with the winning team. »

McElroy said that Catholics should always be conflicted when they vote because « Catholic social teaching bisects our current party structure. »

« For every believing Catholic, voting is an act of conscience and an act of citizenship and an act of faith, » he said. « But it’s one that we should not be going into with a sense of victory … because no one encapsulates even the bulk of what the church calls us to be and do and work for in our society. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Chicago Catholic priest apologizes for same-sex blessing ‘words and visuals’

A Chicago priest has issued an apology for performing recently a blessing of a same-sex couple, which was filmed and posted on social media.

Vincentian Father Joseph S. Williams, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Chicago, said in a May 8 statement — which was issued by the Vincentians’ Western Province — that he was « deeply sorry for any confusion and/or anger that this has caused, particularly for the People of God. »

« The shape that the blessing took as portrayed in the video came about due to my attempt to provide for them a meaningful moment of God’s grace, » Williams said in the statement. « I wanted to do it well. A week or so after the fact, I viewed the video. I immediately realized that I had made a very poor decision in the words and visuals captured on the video. »

In April, Williams had blessed a same-sex union between the Rev. Kelli Knight, a Methodist minister, and her partner Myah before the altar at St. Vincent. Knight afterwards posted a brief video and photographs of the blessing April 22 on her Instagram account, citygrrl76.

The video pictured Knight, who spent 14 years as pastor of several Chicago-area United Methodist congregations, and her legal spouse both dressed in formal attire and standing with Father Williams in the sanctuary of St. Vincent.

As part of the blessing, Williams asked the pair, « Do you freely recommit yourselves to love each other as holy spouses and to live in peace and harmony together forever? »

« We do, I do, » they each reply.

Although no ring exchange is depicted in the segment, Williams pronounced that « the rings they have exchanged are the sign of their fidelity and commitment. May they continue to prosper in your grace and blessing. We ask this through Christ our Lord. »

Although the Vatican declaration « Fiducia Supplicans » (« Supplicating Trust »), issued in December 2023, allowed for pastoral, non-liturgical blessings of couples in irregular unions — both same-sex couples and unmarried heterosexual couples — the text specifies that such blessings, « precisely to avoid any form of confusion or scandal … should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them.

« Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding, » the declaration states.

In the May 8 apology notice, the Vincentians said that Wililams specifically « regrets the language of the blessing and the use of vestments and the church itself, which he now recognizes were a violation of the norms approved by the Church.

« While Pope Francis in December formally approved the blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples, he specified that such blessings do not equate to a wedding and should not employ the clothing and gestures that accompany a wedding, » the Vincentians stated.

They added that Williams stated « he performed the blessing after being approached by the couple and explained to them at the time it would merely be a blessing and not a wedding itself. »

In a May 13 email to OSV News, Knight said she was « grateful for the Church’s blessing of our marriage.

« It is unfortunate there are groups that oppose such blessings that put priests in positions to issue statements or apologies following such, » Knight wrote. « My hope and prayer is that other priests will continue to be encouraged to extend this grace to other same-gender couples in the future. »

According to the Vincentians, Williams said he found the experience « has been a valuable learning experience. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Louisiana first Communion Mass disrupted by gunman

A first Communion Mass at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville, Louisiana, was disrupted May 11 after a teenager attempted to enter the church with a rifle. Parishioners prevented the young man from entering the church where 60 children were preparing to receive their first Communion. Police took the suspect into custody and moments of chaos were caught on the church’s live stream as they swept the premises to see if other threats were present.

The video shows an individual approaching Father Nicholas DuPre, associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalen, about 48 minutes into the service. After the man whispers a message into Father DuPre’s ear, the priest asks parishioners to sit and leads them in praying Hail Marys. Police shortly thereafter entered the church and told parishioners they did « apprehend a young man,” that « he is in custody » and to “calm down and just get next to your child and go slowly. »

Abbeville Police Chief Mike Hardy told local news that the 16-year-old boy was taken to Abbeville General Hospital Behavioral Center for a medical evaluation after questioning. He has reportedly been charged with terrorizing and two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile.

« We are thankful to God that a tragedy was avoided at the First Communion mass for the children of St. Mary Magdalen in Abbeville, » said Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette, Louisiana, in a statement posted on Facebook. « The quick response of the Abbeville PD and alert parishioners is a great example of caring for the most vulnerable in our community. Let us pray for an end to all threats of violence to innocent human life. »

An additional statement sent to the parishioners of St. Mary Magdalen stated, « this morning, our First Communion ceremony was interrupted when a suspicious person opened the back door. The individual was immediately confronted by parishioners, escorted outside and the police were called. The individual was quickly apprehended by Abbeville Police Department and is in their custody. Once apprehended, law enforcement entered the church to make sure there was no additional danger. This understandably caused panic. While we realize this was a frightening experience for those in attendance, we are incredibly grateful to both parishioners and police officers for acting quickly to ensure the safety of all. »

The statement continued, « Chief Mike Hardy is handling the investigation with cooperation of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s office and assistance from the FBI. Out of an abundance of caution, we will have uniformed law enforcement at all upcoming Masses. We invite First Communicants to receive First Holy Communion at whichever Mass they choose to attend this weekend. We are grateful for all the prayers for our St. Mary Magdalen community. »

Later in the afternoon on May 11, DuPre posted an image of the church’s altar on Facebook with the caption: « I’m going back to the safest place on earth, next to His Holy Cross and His Mother. See y’all at the 4 pm Mass. »

He encouraged parishioners to comment which Mass they would be attending this weekend below the post, saying, « We will not give up the holy ground of our hearts or our St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church to fear. Thank you all for your prayers and support! »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Catholisisme

Christians in the World

(Seventh Sunday of Easter-Year B; This homily was given on May 11 & 12, 2024 at Saint Augustine Church in Providence, Rhode Island; See John 17:11-19) 

Seeking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through prayer

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Vie de l'église

Icon Museum and Study Center fosters spiritual and aesthetic contemplation

« If we comprehend the spiritual through the words which we hear with our carnal ears, contemplation with our carnal eyes likewise leads us to spiritual contemplation. »

So wrote the Russian iconographer and art historian Leonid Ouspensky in his landmark study, Theology of the Icon. It was an insight I relived time and again during my visit to the Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton, Massachusetts, earlier in May.

Founded in 2006 to house the collection of area industrialist Gordon B. Lankton, it is the only museum in the United States devoted to icons and Eastern Christian art. Russian icons are at the heart of its collection, though it has expanded in recent years to acquire Greek, Veneto-Cretan and Ethiopian examples.

Walking slowly through the galleries spread over three levels was as much a prayerful experience as an aesthetic one. I began on the lower level, where an exhibit shows the step-by-step process for how an icon is created and introduces viewers to the sacred symbolism behind the iconographer’s technique.

I was struck by how many elements from the natural world are incorporated into the icon, from the locally sourced wood that is used for the panel to the red clay mixture, called « bole, » that is applied beneath areas of gold leaf. We sense the icon as an object of creation, the iconographer shaping and harmonizing earthly materials into spiritually charged compositions.

Attuned to the « language » of the icon, I ventured upstairs to the main level. A grouping of Greek icons revealed numerous treasures. I lingered in front of a 17th-century icon of St. Alypius the Stylite poised atop a pillar, studying small details like the acanthus leaves that adorn the column and soften the ascetical quality of the image.

Such close study is the benefit of encountering these works in a museum setting. A neighboring icon, « Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring, » depicts Mary and the child Jesus seated in a font of water. One can see how the iconographer has repeated the blue pattern of Mary’s headscarf on the surface of the water, establishing a visual link between her and the salvific properties of the spring.

Two galleries on the upper level contain the bulk of the collection. Icons are spaciously arranged and artfully lit, making it a pleasure to move among them.

Themes and motifs reemerge throughout the galleries. An icon of the « Mandylion » — a Greek Byzantine term meaning « small cloth, » so named because it illustrates Christ’s face miraculously preserved on a piece of fabric — reappears in two 17th-century Russian icons that show groups of the faithful venerating its healing powers.

Seeing an icon within an icon creates a kind of « nested narrative, » a story within a story. We behold the holiness of the Mandylion both on its own and through the imagined experience of the figures in the scenes. 

The narrative effects of iconography are brought to the fore in a large (57 inches by 42 inches) late 17th-century icon of the Solovetsky Monastery, a community located on an island in the White Sea off the northern coast of Russia.

It is said that iconographers do not « paint » but rather « write » icons, just as viewers must « read » them as they would a word of Scripture. I was never more aware of these literary overtones than I was standing before the Solovetsky icon, whose composition unfolds with the scope of a Russian novel.

The lower two-thirds of the image are bounded by bands of water. Boats ferrying travelers ply the waves. At the center of the space is the monastery itself. Openings in the architecture are like windows onto the monks’ lives: one rings a bell in the tower as another receives pilgrims in the entranceway.

Above the monastery, scenes of workers herding livestock establish the agrarian rhythms of the island. Across the upper third stretches a retinue of angels and saints flanking Christ on both sides. Two saints unfurl a scroll that reads like a charter between heaven and earth.

It is said that iconographers do not « paint » but rather « write » icons, just as viewers must « read » them as they would a word of Scripture.

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I found my eye traveling upward through these layers of life and alighting on the various figures. It was like passing in prayer between different realms — sea, earth, eschaton.

Just as moving as the grand sweep of the Solovetsky icon were the small, telling details of some of the others. I think of the two apostles with elbows propped on Mary’s bier, resting their heads in their hands, in a 16th-century icon of the Dormition. With very limited means, the iconographer has managed to convey a feeling of wistfulness as they gaze upon the Theotokos.

The Mother of God features in the museum’s current exhibit, « Sacred Presence: Virgin of Kazan. » The exhibit brings together several versions of this famous icon, whose prototype is said to date to Byzantine times.

The original icon is believed to have been brought from Constantinople to Kazan in the 13th century. It was subsequently lost, according to legend, and only rediscovered when a young girl had a vision of it buried in the ground in 1579. It soon became an object of Russian religious devotion, and copies proliferated.

At the center of « Sacred Presence » is a crown jewel of the museum’s collection, a large icon of the Virgin of Kazan dating to about 1650. Mary wears a striking purple mantle with intricately painted fringe. She tilts toward the child Christ, whose pronounced forehead and self-possessed expression suggest wisdom and precocity.

Mary’s eyes exert a gravitational pull, like two planets orbiting the sun of Christ. The longer I stayed in front of the icon, the more I felt my own eyes entering into this orbit, following hers along the path that revolves around her son.

The Vatican was given an icon of the Mother of God of Kazan in 1993. Pope John Paul II kept it in his private apartment until 2004, when he returned it to Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow, as a way of fostering unity between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

As I pondered the icon in the days prior to Orthodox Easter, with war raging in the Holy Land and the Russian Orthodox tradition of nonviolence tragically obscured by the invasion of Ukraine, John Paul II’s message to the patriarch felt especially poignant: « Today we pray with confidence to the Most Holy Virgin, knowing that she implores for us and for all nations the gift of peace. »

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord: Not absence, but mission

Many New Testament stories appear to be variations of one another with minor adjustments. Not so Jesus’ ascension. What the different accounts have in common is that Christ appeared among his disciples and missioned them to continue his work. (In the Gospel stories, Mary Magdalene is the only person Christ appeared to individually.)

According to John, Jesus appeared three times, commissioning the disciples to forgive and instructing Peter to feed his sheep. John mentions no ascension. Matthew describes how Jesus called the disciples to a mountaintop from where he sent them to spread the Gospel to the whole world and to baptize and pledged to remain with them until the end of time. Luke ends his Gospel with Jesus departing from Bethany, telling the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father would fall on them. In the Acts of the Apostles, the second volume of his Gospel, Luke begins where he left off, narrating the departure and presence of the risen Lord with more detail than anywhere else.

According to most scholars, Mark ended his Gospel with verse 16:8, saying that the women fled from the empty tomb and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Mark apparently ended this way to provoke his community. Writing around the year 70, not long after Peter’s martyrdom, Mark’s audience knew persecution and had reason to be frightened. Mark wanted to jolt them beyond their fear. Mark’s community knew that the women really did spread the word; the Gospel was being preached. Still, Mark was warning the community that if they remained afraid or used any other excuse to avoid giving witness to the risen Lord, the message would disappear.

Unsatisfied with Mark’s disappointing ending, later scribes wrote more « adequate » conclusions and added some spectacular signs among those who preached the Gospel message. We hear this version today.

Examining Luke’s account of the Ascension in Acts, we note that before saying that Jesus promised the disciples that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit, he gave his followers « instructions through the Holy Spirit. » Then, as he was about to be taken up, Jesus again promised, « You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. »

Throughout his Gospel, Luke mentions the Spirit no fewer than 15 times. Luke depicts the Spirit’s presence from the moment an angel announced the birth of John the Baptist through Jesus’ ministry and beyond. Luke presents the reception of the Spirit at Pentecost as the apex, not the first or last activity of the Spirit among Jesus’ disciples. For Luke, the Spirit’s presence in and to the disciples is a process, not a once-for-all event.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul gives helpful ideas about the Spirit-power the disciples received. Paul teaches that the power to carry out Christ’s mission bestows wisdom, revelation, knowledge of Christ, enlightenment, hope, and a share in the riches of Christ’s glory. For Paul, these qualities summarize the effects of following Christ and sharing his Spirit.

No matter how they depict it, each Gospel proclaims that the risen Christ made himself present to his disciples and handed over his mission with the promise that they would have the grace and strength to carry it out. This tells us that the feast of the Ascension is not about absence, but mission.

Luke’s narrative shows that the Spirit of God was uniquely active even before the angel gave Mary the mission to be Mother of God and continues working in all who are willing to let Christ become present through them. The feast of the Ascension commissions Christ’s followers through all ages, reminding us that Christ’s mission continues through us and that the grace to accomplish it remains ever available to us. This is the point Luke made by saying that Jesus instructed the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. They knew the Spirit’s presence, but needed to grow in it as they started to do what Jesus did.

We might note that the message of the Ascension is particularly apt as we participate in the synod on synodality. Jesus gives us his mission, and also the Spirit that empowers us to accomplish it. Like the disciples sent to wait in Jerusalem, instead of planning and carrying out what we think is right, our times call us to listen to the Spirit Christ bestows on all disciples.

The Spirit of Christ calls forth an innumerable variety of expressions of Christ’s mission. To the extent that we are open, the Spirit will keep awakening us to the richness discoverable only in a community of believers on mission.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer

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Texas attorney general revives attempt to shut down Catholic nonprofit serving migrants

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton revived his attempt to shut down El Paso’s Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants, just a couple of months after his previous effort was blocked by a state judge.

Paxton’s office said May 8 it filed an application for a temporary injunction against Annunciation House, accusing it of « systemic criminal conduct in Texas, » including facilitating illegal border crossings or concealing « illegally present aliens from law enforcement. »

Annunciation House’s lawyer said those are false allegations.

In a statement, Paxton said, « Any NGO facilitating the unlawful entry of illegal aliens into Texas is undermining the rule of law and potentially jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of our citizens. »

« All NGOs who are complicit in Joe Biden’s illegal immigration catastrophe and think they are above the law should consider themselves on notice, » he added.

Paxton’s effort to shut down Annunciation House comes as some Republican lawmakers have grown increasingly hostile toward nongovernmental organizations, including Catholic ones, that provide resources such as food and shelter to migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Paxton previously filed suit in February in an attempt to shut down Annunciation House, accusing it of « human smuggling, » in a move that was denounced by Catholic immigration advocates, including El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz. In March, District Judge Francisco Dominguez in El Paso issued an order blocking Paxton’s subpoena of Annunciation House, finding both that Paxton’s effort seemed politically motivated and that it must go through appropriate due process in the state court system.

Jerome Wesevich, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which is representing Annunciation House, called Paxton’s latest effort « all heat and no light. »

« The Court set forth an orderly process for deciding this case, and Annunciation House intends to follow that process so that Annunciation House and other non-profits have a clear statement of their rights and responsibilities when the Attorney General serves them with subpoenas, » Wesevich said in a statement.

In its press statement, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid said Paxton « accompanied his filing today with a vicious press release restating the false accusations he made against Annunciation House in early February. »

« What matters here is what the Court does, not what the Attorney General says, » Wesevich said. « While the Attorney General drums up attention to his false claims, Annunciation House continues to serve refugees as the law allows and as the Gospel commands. »

Spokespersons for the Diocese of El Paso and Annunciation House did not immediately respond to OSV News’ requests for comment.

Annunciation House operates several shelters in the El Paso area, helping migrants and refugees with food, housing and other assistance, as well as providing information about how to fill out the required legal documents to seek asylum in the U.S.

Turning to the Blessed Virgin Mary in prayer