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Articles by Julia Smucker
Letting Go of Libido Dominandi: Tolkien and Niebuhr meet Leo
OMG, LOTR! Among many things that have drawn attention in Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is the Image by Kaitlyn Fascista at Tea with Tolkien. Used by permission. appearance of a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The simple delight in this fact alone is understandably irresistible to any LOTR fan.
Unborn Babies are Not Just Human Beings. They’re Persons, by Julia Smucker
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What Vance Got Wrong On Ordo Amoris
Another prominent Catholic in public office, another series of contortions of the faith in service of political ends. Former President Biden and his defenders sometimes liked to tout his reputation as a “devout Catholic” – devout, that is, insofar as it was politically convenient to be so. In his own professed personal views on such grave evils as abortion and possession of nuclear weapons, it was all too clear where his true devotion lay.
(Not) Who We Are
We hear it from leaders of all stripes, any time violence breaks out: “This is not who we are.” My first response when I hear this is generally cynicism: clearly, the fact that “this” has happened means that we have shown it to be exactly who we are. But then, as I think about it, I see the underlyingly aspirational nature of such statements.
Winners And Losers In Biden’s State Of The Union Address
Winners Unions Public teachers People with student loan debt People on prescription medications Medical researchers Weapons manufacturers Potato chip lovers Losers Large corporations Children conceived with disabilities Asylum seekers People living in war zones It’s been said that the moral measure of society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.
Marked With The Sign Of Faith
There is a video of a PostSecret event – where audience members can choose to share a secret publicly – in which a Muslim woman wearing a hijab says: “My secret is that because I wear the headscarf, because I’m so clearly Muslim, I go out of my way to be nice to everybody, to donate to everybody that ever asks me for money in public, just because I don’t want them to think that Muslims are bad people, even when I don’t really want to donate money or be nice to people or let people merge into...
Wrestling with my Critical Mind at Christmas
Visiting family for Christmas affords the opportunity to keep the feast among both Mennonites and Catholics, the two branches of the Christian tradition that I consider home. Even though they don’t currently live in or near any of the multiple communities in which my faith was formed, being among Mennonites invariably feels like a homecoming of sorts, a return to a native country from which I may have in some sense expatriated, but which can never not be home. Why do Mennonites …?
Humanized Machines and Mechanized Humans
There have been times over the past few years when I’ve gotten the deeply unsettling feeling that I was observing society around me careening toward some sort of catastrophe, as if in slow motion yet simultaneously at breakneck speed, and that although I could see it coming, I could do nothing to stop it.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Profit Motives
A few years ago, my creeping moral unease with major pharmacy chains was galvanized by reading about “pharmacy deserts“, which occur when chains squeeze out and then buy out independent pharmacies only to shut them down, forcing customers to travel burdensome distances to pick up prescriptions – with potentially disastrous effect if people can’t get there by closing time.
On Judging Idiots and Being the Idiot
Fredrik Backman nails the human condition.
Seeking Silence: My Life in Maundy Thursdays
I’ve sometimes had the thought that I could measure my adult life in Maundy Thursdays. In my introspective inner life, the Paschal Triduum – and, for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious to me, Maundy Thursday in particular – has emerged as a series of mile markers on a spiritual journey.
Hildegard of Bingen: A woman of substance
The abbot traced a cross on my forehead with his thumb. “Julia Hildegard, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Hildegard of Bingen had come to my mind as a natural choice for a patron saint well before I made the decision to be received and confirmed in the Catholic Church. Yet when I first heard of this multitalented 12th-century German abbess, I could not have imagined the many ways that she would become a companion on my meandering journey.
On Being an Ecclesial Expatriate, Ten Years On
My late friend and mentor Ivan Kauffman once described himself as “probably the only living person who speaks both fluent Mennonite and fluent Catholic.” If these words were true when he first wrote them, a handful of others, myself included, would eventually follow him to the same ecclesial bilingualism and, if not quite an official dual citizenship, an inescapably dual identity as self-described Mennonite Catholics.
A Litany of Saints for Peace, Life and Conscience
A Litany of Saints for Peace, Life and Conscience November 1, 2019 Julia Smucker In a time when fear holds so much sway, when violence is so often touted and life and dignity disrespected, may the witness of martyrs and messages of prophets strengthen us to walk the Gospel Way in the service of the Prince of Peace.
US Bishops Speak on Gun Violence
Every time news breaks of another public shooting, I’ve come to have the same sinking thought: “What? No, not another one.” And then I automatically say a Hail Mary, a habit I’ve adopted on hearing news of any violent or otherwise untimely death. I have little more to add, having grown weary of trying to come up with something new to say time after time after time after time.
How to Govern as an Autocrat within a Democratic System
How to Govern as an Autocrat within a Democratic System April 20, 2019 Julia Smucker You start by playing to fear. You will find plenty of people who, for various reasons, are feeling afraid and aggrieved. Exploit that for all it’s worth. Don’t bother concerning yourself with why they feel that way. After all, you’re not out to solve their problems or understand their concerns, but to win their loyalty.
Prescription: Extreme Humility
As Catholics know all too well, our Church has a serious illness, one that has been insufficiently treated for too long. Whatever causes we may each prefer to blame, St. Paul gives us a prescription in today’s epistle reading, the great Christ hymn preserved in his letter to the Philippians: Extreme Humility Icon (author photo) Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, / did not regard equality with God / something to be grasped.
The Victims Are Us, and The Violent Are Too: Lessons from New Zealand
The Victims Are Us, and The Violent Are Too: Lessons from New Zealand March 23, 2019 Julia Smucker By Chlorineer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77507920 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to the horrific mosque shootings in the city of Christchurch has been rightly hailed as exemplifying strong and compassionate leadership.
Both Bipartisanship and Impeachment
There is a narrative being frequently reiterated by political analysts around the 116th Congress, particularly the Democratic-controlled House, which, the narrative goes, faces a dilemma in that the left wing of the Democratic base wants them to focus on impeaching Donald Trump, whereas “moderates” want to see more bipartisan cooperation.
Welcome to Babylon: When a Wall Trumps Freedom to Worship
Welcome to Babylon: When a Wall Trumps Freedom to Worship January 14, 2019 Julia Smucker NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday featured a poignant interview with Father Roy Snipes, who serves Mission, Texas’ La Lomita Chapel. The chapel, which dates back to the 19th-century missions, is now under threat of seizure by the federal government under eminent domain, another potential casualty of the war of the wall.
The Season of Our Longing
There is always something about Advent that appeals to me deeply. Maybe, I’ve sometimes thought, it’s something about the sense of a fresh start as we begin a new liturgical year. It may also have something to do with the fact that it was close to the beginning of Advent when I first began attending Mass regularly, and thus I have loved Advent ever since I was coming to love liturgy. Maybe Advent simply appeals to my craving for structure with its seasonal pattern of anticipation and culmination.
Blaspheming Mammon: A Subversive Litany for Black Friday
I once heard it said that we need to find ways to blaspheme the money god, and this especially holds true in a society where that god has such a profound and deadly hold. And so I say to everyone reading this, no matter who you are: on this most holy day of the Cult of Mammon, remember that you are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy. If you have to work a long and tiring shift today– You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much.
Today being the anniversary of my confirmation, I decided to mark the day by going to daily Mass. The celebrant began his homily at the end of the gospel reading: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” He asked us to think about our blessings: the blessing of life, of health, of faith – and in the United States, a standard of living surpassing that of most of the world.
It’s Not Really About the Issues
Granted, it’s never entirely not about the issues. The lawmakers we elect will invariably make decisions that will affect any number of human lives in any number of ways, and we the electorate know this. And yet it is for that very reason, in a bizarre twist of political irony befitting the absurdity of these times, that the issues our would-be lawmakers are pontificating on with apocalyptic fervor in their bids for our votes are presently of secondary concern.
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