Archbishop Chaput on the 'Nature of the State, our Christian Faith and the Lay Vocation'
'It's one of the great ironies of the moment that tiny Belmont Abbey would have the courage to challenge Caesar.'
'Today the bigots we face are different. Caesar wears a different suit. He has great media handlers. He bullies religion while he claims to respect it. He talks piously about the law and equality and tolerance and fairness. But he still confuses himself with God -- and he still violates the rights of Catholic believers and institutions by intruding himself where he has no right to be.' (Archbishop Charles Chaput)
PrintBELMONT, N.C. (Catholic Online) – Regular readers of Catholic Online are well aware of our deep admiration for the stellar leadership of Archbishop Charles Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver, Colorado. He is the author most recently of Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic beliefs in political Life” They also know of our commitment to promoting the vital work of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, one of the shining stars in the renewal of Catholic Higher Education.
We regularly update our readers on this College’s heroic struggle against the oppressive efforts of the Federal Government, through the EEOC, to undermine their right to truly be a Catholic College by attempting to force them to provide insurance coverage which supports the Culture of Death and violates both their unqualified commitment to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. The oppressive actions of the Federal Government violate the First Amendment rights of the College. The College is being ably assisted in this matter by “The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty”, led by Kevin J. Seamus Hasson. (http://www.becketfund.org/).
Archbishop Chaput traveled to Belmont Abbey College to receive an award for his service to the Church and the world. He was named the “Envoy of the Year.” The award was presented by “The Envoy Institute”, located at Belmont Abbey College. (http://www.envoyinstitute.net/) “The Envoy Institute” is a wonderful apostolate which assists in the training of the future leaders for the New Evangelization of Culture. It is led by Patrick Madrid, a best-selling Catholic author and publisher of Envoy Magazine. It assists young men and women in their search for how to live the good life and their “search for Truth” in response to the promise of the Lord Jesus: "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." In this age which has suffered so greatly from what Pope Benedict XVI rightly labeled as a “dictatorship of relativism” the Envoy Institute at Belmont Abbey College is engaged in a vital mission.
Given its extraordinary clarity and timeliness, we present the complete address:
******
The Nature of the State; the Nature of our Christian faith; and the Nature of the Lay Vocation.
Archbishop +Charles J. . Chaput OF.M. Cap.
“Thank you for being here tonight. I'm very grateful for this award - although I need to share with you a quick story. You know, mothers are wonderful tutors in the virtue of humility. Some years ago, when my own mother was still alive, I got a very kind local award in Denver, and I telephoned my mother to tell her. Her response was instructive. She said, "That's marvelous son, but why did they give it to you?" Mothers have the gift of helping their sons see how implausible it is to imagine oneself as a big shot. So the lesson I've learned is this: The greatest value of this award, or any other award in life, is the generosity of the friends who bestow it.
I've been a priest for nearly 40 years. One of the satisfactions God has given me is the number of extraordinary men and women I know as friends. Friendship is the heart of every Christian vocation, from married life to the priesthood. My life has been filled with it. And many of the people I admire most are here tonight: My friend Patrick Madrid and his great witness with the Envoy Institute and Envoy magazine; my friends George Weigel and Jody Bottum; the kind messages from Carl Anderson and Father Corapi; friends from Belmont Abbey and the Becket Fund; and so many more of you that I can't name or we'd be here all night. This is what makes life rich.
People can sometimes earn the respect of others by their actions. But nobody earns the love at the heart of a real Christian friendship. That's a gift. It can't be forced. It's freely withheld or freely given. And when it's given, it means more than any award. So again, I thank you sincerely for this kindness tonight - but I'm much more grateful for the friendship all of us share.My mother taught me the virtue of mercy along with the importance of humility, so my comments tonight will be brief.
I have three simple points I want to talk about: the nature of the state; the nature of our Christian faith; and the nature of the lay vocation. But before I do that, I need to offer two caveats.Here's the first caveat I love this country. Some of you know that I belong to the Potawatomi Indian tribe through my mother. I take great pride in that. Because of it, I'm very well aware of the sins and flaws of American history - both toward the native peoples of the United States, and often toward other countries. But I also know the great generosity and goodness in America, and I believe in the genius of America's political institutions. I take great pride in that, as well. We all should.
Here's my second ...
We regularly update our readers on this College’s heroic struggle against the oppressive efforts of the Federal Government, through the EEOC, to undermine their right to truly be a Catholic College by attempting to force them to provide insurance coverage which supports the Culture of Death and violates both their unqualified commitment to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. The oppressive actions of the Federal Government violate the First Amendment rights of the College. The College is being ably assisted in this matter by “The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty”, led by Kevin J. Seamus Hasson. (http://www.becketfund.org/).
Archbishop Chaput traveled to Belmont Abbey College to receive an award for his service to the Church and the world. He was named the “Envoy of the Year.” The award was presented by “The Envoy Institute”, located at Belmont Abbey College. (http://www.envoyinstitute.net/) “The Envoy Institute” is a wonderful apostolate which assists in the training of the future leaders for the New Evangelization of Culture. It is led by Patrick Madrid, a best-selling Catholic author and publisher of Envoy Magazine. It assists young men and women in their search for how to live the good life and their “search for Truth” in response to the promise of the Lord Jesus: "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." In this age which has suffered so greatly from what Pope Benedict XVI rightly labeled as a “dictatorship of relativism” the Envoy Institute at Belmont Abbey College is engaged in a vital mission.
Given its extraordinary clarity and timeliness, we present the complete address:
******
The Nature of the State; the Nature of our Christian faith; and the Nature of the Lay Vocation.
Archbishop +Charles J. . Chaput OF.M. Cap.
“Thank you for being here tonight. I'm very grateful for this award - although I need to share with you a quick story. You know, mothers are wonderful tutors in the virtue of humility. Some years ago, when my own mother was still alive, I got a very kind local award in Denver, and I telephoned my mother to tell her. Her response was instructive. She said, "That's marvelous son, but why did they give it to you?" Mothers have the gift of helping their sons see how implausible it is to imagine oneself as a big shot. So the lesson I've learned is this: The greatest value of this award, or any other award in life, is the generosity of the friends who bestow it.
I've been a priest for nearly 40 years. One of the satisfactions God has given me is the number of extraordinary men and women I know as friends. Friendship is the heart of every Christian vocation, from married life to the priesthood. My life has been filled with it. And many of the people I admire most are here tonight: My friend Patrick Madrid and his great witness with the Envoy Institute and Envoy magazine; my friends George Weigel and Jody Bottum; the kind messages from Carl Anderson and Father Corapi; friends from Belmont Abbey and the Becket Fund; and so many more of you that I can't name or we'd be here all night. This is what makes life rich.
People can sometimes earn the respect of others by their actions. But nobody earns the love at the heart of a real Christian friendship. That's a gift. It can't be forced. It's freely withheld or freely given. And when it's given, it means more than any award. So again, I thank you sincerely for this kindness tonight - but I'm much more grateful for the friendship all of us share.My mother taught me the virtue of mercy along with the importance of humility, so my comments tonight will be brief.
I have three simple points I want to talk about: the nature of the state; the nature of our Christian faith; and the nature of the lay vocation. But before I do that, I need to offer two caveats.Here's the first caveat I love this country. Some of you know that I belong to the Potawatomi Indian tribe through my mother. I take great pride in that. Because of it, I'm very well aware of the sins and flaws of American history - both toward the native peoples of the United States, and often toward other countries. But I also know the great generosity and goodness in America, and I believe in the genius of America's political institutions. I take great pride in that, as well. We all should.
Here's my second ...
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"If we stand up to evil, we may lose. But if we don't stand up we will lose."
Thank you for these excellent words.
I had the pleasure of hearing Archbishop Chaput at the Denver cathedral while I was visiting last year. He was inspiring then. He is inspiring now.
Dominus vobiscum
It is not unlike the iron-y of the comments of a cardinal who was arrested and imprisoned in a tiny country behind the iron curtain. "We teach that it is proper to render unto Ceasar the things that are Caeasar's and to God what is God's But when Ceasar seats himself on the altar, we respond curtly, he must not" He goes on to say We are not allowed to place the things of God on the altar of Ceasar, Non possumus! [we cannot]"
from Mr. Weigel's biography on JPII
There may no longer be an iron curtain-it has become a little softer now-it has become the lead curtain-and behind the lead curtain, ordering your next x-ray and determining your state of health, inluding what is to be covered in your health insurance plan, no matter what your religion says, stand, in their fresh white lab coats the Dr. Obama team-EEOC, Sebelius and other czars-like officials who will diagnose all that ails this country.
Bless you archbishop and may the Lord help you in your battle against the Devil and his servant Barrak Obama.
Thank God for a wonderful bishop! Let us pray that God would strengthen him, protect him, and continue to bless him, and that God would give equal grace to the bishops in every diocese.
I want Archbishop Chaput to be the next and first American Pope so it is time to make him a Cardinal! mv
BRAVO!! Bless you, Archbishop Chaput, and may all Catholics in America hear your words loud and clear! We the faithful must start being publicly, vocally, and vocationally faithful to the Church in every aspect of our lives. We must also demand that our elected officials do the same and refuse to support those who will not.
Thank you for reminding us of our rightful responsibilities.
Thank you your Excellency you are indeed one of the Church's finest servants and an inspiration for all faithful, Catholic and otherwise.