The Scandal of Fr. Martin, SJ

Once again Fr. James Martin is taking to Twitter. This time in praise of another Priest who recently was arrested for protesting immigration reform. This other Priest did state publicly that his intent was to be arrested. And today Fr. Martin tweets: "Fr ThomasReeseSJ arrested in US Senate during protest on behalf of Dreamers. On the Mount of Beatitudes today in the Holy Land we read out Jesus's words: 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sale of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' So blessed is he!"

To clarify - before we continue - and may it be clear that the Church does not endorse illegal activity, and most certainly discourages against purposely breaking the law!

On the outside, this looks like a harmless tweet in support of a brother Priest defending the downtrodden. There is no need to bring up politics, so none will be discussed. However, underlying this tweet, with the accompanied verse from St. Matthews Gospel, is a Pandora's box of, as is the norm with Fr. Martin, pushing a political agenda. What's more is that this sort of grandstanding was done on social media to make a political, not catechetical point.

This grandstanding was actually what Christ warns us against shortly later in Matthew 6:1-5 wherein Jesus says, "Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward."

So what is the crux of the matter here?

What makes Fr. Martin's tweet problematic is that it is a tweet that reads much more like look at how great I am. Look at how great this Priest is. In no way is any credit given to our blessed Lord! Moreover, the use of scripture to back up a publicly premeditated intent to break the law essentially flies in the face of reason, and further abuses the words of Christ to exhalt, when on the contrary one should always be humble when doing God's service (even if somehow the law of the land enters the scene).

Just as with all of Fr. Martin's social network activity, it is beyond a reasonable doubt that, even with the best possible of intents, his activity is scandalous. In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas states, "Scandal is, therefore, fittingly defined as something less rightly done or said, that occasions another's spiritual downfall." (ST II-II Q.43 A.1) With such a definition it is hard to believe how the tweets associated with Fr. Martin can not be an occasion of scandal for souls. Repeatedly denouncing the faith of those who do not share his opinion, by the use of name calling and other such word play reserved for children who do not know better, has a great risk scandalizing souls by way of sowing confusion and mistrust of his fellow Priests and religious - who rightly should be trusted by the lay faithful.

The grandstanding, name calling, and scandalous activity evident on his Twitter feed is not becoming of one who claims to be an alter Christus, that is, another Christ, but becoming of one who enables a victim mentality among followers, some who, in a seeming chorus, repeat his slurs and perjuries against those who have honest questions, or who disagree. This bullying by his followers is scandalous too, because they claim to want an end to the apparent "bully pulpit" as also Fr. Martin claims. So why the appearance of hypocrisy? Possibly because once you establish your role as a victim, it is not difficult to find all sorts of justification - even scriptural - for all sorts of bad, reckless behavior. Such a mindset is harmful as it is often difficult to see how one could be harming others despite one's desire for help.

Some are not scandalized, which is very good. In this sense Fr. Martin may only be scandalous to those who are not fortified well in their understanding or practice of faith. It may be possible too, since once cannot truly know Fr. Martin's intents or motives, that it may be a case of what St. Thomas Aquinas calls passive scandal. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that "One man's word or deed is the accidental cause of another's sin, when he neither intends to lead him into sin, and yet this other one, though being ill-disposed, is led into sin, for instance, into envy of another's good, and then he who does this righteous act, does not, so far as he is concerned, afford an occasion of the other's downfall... Wherefore this is passive scandal, since he that acts rightly does not for his own part, afford the occasion of another's downfall." (ST II-II Q.43 A.1)

It is perfectly understandable at times that it is difficult not to perceive that despite all else that what appears to be is as St. Thomas Aquinas defines as active scandal. Active scandal of course is much more severe and is a great stumbling block to these little ones. As is universal, cases of scandal must be avoided to preserve all from sin and spiritual misfortune.

Get Excited: Han Solo Movie

This will either do tremendous justice to Han Solo or it will be an overdone action movie that flops. Either way, I will definitely see it.

Altering My Use Of Social Media

In this age of the world it is very common to be helplessly connected to social media. One might even say that it has become necessary, if not unavoidable. Heck, anyone with a Gmail has access to Google+ -- Google's social network. So of course, like me, you probably use social media and most likely have an app on your phone or tablet.

As it is, I enjoy the convenience of social media apps. It makes keeping up with friends and family a breeze. It also means that I must be prepared to charge my phone by keeping an adapter at the ready. The notifications popping up really demand a lot of attention if you don't like things waiting in queue. Have I mentioned the battery usage?

The problem that come with social media mean carelessly, if not intentionally, poking a nose into every sort of textual wrestling match and backbiting that rears its ugly head at every turn. Like many who intend well I'll gladly assert a theological point, a personal opinion, or even some critique of reason when the situation calls. But at what point is all this just a mindless distraction?

So I decision to delete Facebook off of my phone and tablet.

"Oh my gosh, finally!"

"Oh geez, look who's on his soap box!"

"So what, you were usually too busy to care anyway."

"Good riddance!"

Wait, wait, I still use Facebook, but from a computer. Remember all the endless bickering on social media? Well, I do enjoy a good and well reasoned discussion. On the contrary, my life isn't what it once was. I'm married and have a family. My responsibilities have changed.

While I briefly studied for the Priesthood I didn't have time for social media. So I wasn't on, but periodically. While I studied for Meteorology for a time I didn't have a lot of time for social media, except maybe in the spare moments between classes and when I was killing time. So I wasn't always on. Now as a family man I'm on whenever I get the chance - which is sometimes.

"So you're turning into one of those people who calls cell phones 'idiot boxes' and hates social media?"

Nope. I love technology! Actually, I very much promote its integration in society as many online tools and apps have tremendous potential when it comes to productivity. I highly recommend Google Suite products for instance. Also, not every social media app is going off. Just Facebook. Google+ and Twitter will still reside on my devices, because they take up less space. Quite frankly, the only thing that would keep the Facebook app on my phone or tablet would be if the app itself didn't obliterate my battery. In comparison, Google and Twitter take up much less battery.

So that's the latest from yours truly.