Vatican City- Pope Francis, dressed in simple robes made from bedsheets, setting aside the usual papal wardrobe which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars said in an off the cuff comment this morning that the Church is not really necessary at all anymore and really is more of a social cloud for people who want to feel good about themselves. “We believe in following your conscience.” said the Pontiff. We have interpreted this, of course the way we want to hear it. This is now a codified, ex-cathedra (whatever that means) dogmatic decree that every Catholic instantly must adhere to as reported by this news agency –we are not biased at all by progressive agendas. This is in stark contrast to Pope Benedict XVI, who said that only those whose names are in the registry of a Catholic Church and are fluent in ecclesiastic Latin could have any hope for salvation. Benedict made this decree while simultaneously kicking a kitten and taking food from a starving child before climbing into his papal Lamborghini.

Lets go ahead and slap a Vatican flag decal on the front, we can do that right?

The news never gets Pope Francis right, or Pope Benedict for that matter. They listen only for what they want to hear. So it is with the news articles that came out today declaring, like this one, that Pope Francis has “assured atheists that you don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven.” The author of this article doesn't give two craps what Pope Francis actually said. He's just fanning the flames of controversy. If you want to get your heart broken for Jesus and for all of humanity, go read the letter Pope Francis actually wrote here. Because I also know that I’m totally not normal and that normal people don’t usually read papal letters, I’m going to just give you a few of the quotes from this unbelievable saint of a man. These are all gems from his letter to Eugenio Scalfari, the founder of “La Repubblica” newspaper. I’ll let Pope Francis speak for himself:

Pope Frikkin Francis

              Where does faith come from?

“For me, faith is born from the encounter with Jesus. A personal encounter, which has touched my heart and given direction and new meaning to my existence. But at the same time an encounter that was made possible by the community of faith in which I have lived….Believe me, without the Church I would not have been able to encounter Christ, also in the awareness that the immense gift that faith is kept in the fragile earthen vessels of our humanity.”

               Who is Jesus? Is he a power hungry tyrant who came to destroy those who oppose him?

“[The question] ‘Who is he’” refers to Jesus’ identity, is born from witnessing an authority that is different from that of the world, an authority that is not aimed at exercising power over others, but of serving them, of giving them liberty and the fullness of life. And this to the point of putting at stake one’s own life, to the point of experiencing incomprehension, betrayal, rejection, to the point of being condemned to death, of sealing the state of abandonment on the cross. But Jesus remains faithful to God, to the end.
And it is precisely then... that Jesus shows himself paradoxically as the Son of God! Son of a God that is love and that wishes with all His being that man, every man, discover himself and also live as His true son. This is, for the Christian faith, the certificate of the fact that Jesus is risen: not to triumph over those who rejected him, but to attest that the love of God is stronger than death, the forgiveness of God is stronger than any sin, and that it is worthwhile to spend one’s life, to the end, witnessing this immense gift”

               Did Jesus come to cut his followers off from the rest of the world?

“In other words, Jesus’ offspring, as presented by the Christian faith, is not revealed to mark an insurmountable separation between Jesus and all others: but to tell us that, in Him, we are all called to be children of the one Father and brothers among ourselves. The singularity of Jesus is for communication, not for exclusion.”

               What about the Jews? Are they condemned to hell because they didn’t accept Jesus?

“What I can say to you, with the Apostle Paul, is that God’s fidelity to the close covenant with Israel never failed and that, through the terrible trials of these centuries, the Jews have kept their faith in God. And for this, we shall never be sufficiently grateful to them as Church, but also as humanity. They, then, precisely by persevering in the faith of the God of the Covenant, called all, also us Christians, to the fact that we are always waiting, as pilgrims, for the Lord’s return.”

               What of atheists? Does God forgive them even if they don’t believe in him?

“First of all, you ask me if the God of Christians forgives one who doesn’t believe and doesn’t seek the faith. Premise that – and it’s the fundamental thing – the mercy of God has no limits if one turns to him with a sincere and contrite heart; the question for one who doesn’t believe in God lies in obeying one’s conscience. Sin, also for those who don’t have faith, exists when one goes against one’s conscience. To listen to and to obey it means, in fact, to decide in face of what is perceived as good or evil. And on this decision pivots the goodness or malice of our action.”

               Is there absolute truth or is truth relative?

“Now truth, according to the Christian faith, is the love of God for us in Jesus Christ. Therefore, truth is a relationship! So true is it that each one of us also takes up the truth and expresses it from him/herself: from his/her history and culture, from the situation in which he/she lives, etc. This doesn’t mean that truth is variable or subjective, quite the opposite. But is means that it is given to us always and only as a way and a life. Did not Jesus himself say: ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’?”

               When men cease to exist, will the idea of God disappear along with him?

“God – this is my thought and this is my experience, but how many, yesterday and today, share it! – is not an idea, even though very lofty, fruit of man’s thought. God is reality with a capital ‘R.”

               And about the church:

“Believe me, the Church despite all the slowness, the infidelities, the errors and sins she could have committed and can still commit in those that accompany her, has no other sense or end but that of living and witnessing Jesus: He who was sent by Abba “to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

With fraternal closeness,

Francis”

               The Tear Jerker:

Pope Francis signed this letter to Eugenio Scalfari, a non believer, “with fraternal closeness.” No formality, no papal bull or decree or title, just "Francis." That is just awesome. That, more than everything else is the Pope  answer to all the questions Scalfari asked him- We are all brothers. Someone hand me a tissue immediately.

In a recent statement to the world's diplomats, Pope Francis called for an end to the free market. He said that  free-market capitalism had created a “tyranny,” and that countries should impose more control over their economies and not allow “absolute autonomy”, in order to provide “for the common good.”In his opinion economic inequality is caused by "ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to states, which are themselves charged with providing for the common good."
Pope Francis is one of my favorite Popes of all time. He knows how to love and lead the Church well, but his infallibility extends only to matters of “faith and morals,” as does the rest of the magisterium. No one would argue that Pope Francis and the rest of the bishops’ infallible teaching power extends into the realms of biology, so why do we accept that the Church’s teaching power extends to political philosophy and the economy? 

Yes, the current financial system is terribly screwed up. Yes, we are dominated by the tyranny of money. However, we are not living in a free-market economy. What we have are centrally planned economies that pretend to be free markets. Pope Francis’ diagnosis is wrong, and therefore his prescription must be called into question. Should countries impose more control over their economies than they already do? Well, what is the common good? I would say general prosperity (the leisurely kind) is a good. Poverty, though a spiritual virtue, is not something that we want people to live in. God’s heart for his people is that the poor be cared for, which means that he doesn’t enjoy watching his kids live in poverty. A high standard of living across the board is the best scenario for the common good, economically speaking. I’ll prove that by asking the following question: “would you rather be poor in Richmond, America or poor in Bangalore, India?” No one would pick Bangalore. Why? The standard of living is higher in Richmond. 

So what sort of factors cause growth in an economy, which then leads to a raise in the standard of living? Does more government control lead to the general welfare, or does more free market capitalism lead to the general welfare? First, let’s talk about the difference between a free market economy and a centrally planned economy. In a free market economy, banks set their own interest rates according to supply and demand of money. The currency has inherent value (Gold/silver) and is therefore stable and not easily manipulated. When an institution fails, its capital is redistributed to new entrepreneurs at cheap prices. This creates opportunity for the little guy. On the other hand, in a centrally planned economy, interest rates are set arbitrarily by a central bank. The currency is a fiat currency (paper, printed money) that is manipulated for the states benefit. Big business is bailed out when it fails and generally propped up by the state. 

Clearly, our economy is centrally planned. But let’s just take this one at a time, shall we? 

Interest rates: 
In a free market society, interest rates work the following way. A bank opens up. They don’t have money to lend out, so they raise their interest rates. That makes you want to save your money in a bank as opposed to take out loans. Once the bank has enough resources to lend out to entrepreneurs, they lower the interest rates. This makes you want to save less and borrow more. This sort of system rewards you, the small guy, for SAVING YOUR MONEY. 
In an economy with a central bank, however, ( 90% of the developed nations in the world), the interest rates are set arbitrarily, and they are generally set LOW. (The Federal Reserve has them fluctuating between 0 and 2 through 2014). This does not encourage you to save, but rather to take out loans. Here’s a thought, one of the greatest struggles of our economic lives is getting out of debt. Not enough people save right? According to people like Dave Ramsey, we are all just being stupid consumers, not saving our money or thinking long term. It’s not because we’re stupid. It’s because our current financial system doesn’t reward us for saving. There are so many repercussions to this practice that it would take hundreds of pages and lots of big economics terms. The point is that centrally planned interest rates make us much more debt laden. This true of us as individuals, and of the country as a whole. The debt crisis in the west is not caused by the free market running unhampered. It is caused by central banks. 

Currency:
The second thing that central banks do is they inflate the currency. The Fed calls it “quantitative easing.” They basically print money. In a free market, a currency has inherent value and cannot be inflated. Gold and silver have inherent value. It’s scarce, it’s shiny, and it’s easily divisible. A government cannot simply print more gold to finance its bloated welfare system and adventurist foreign policy. When the fed prints money to finance these things, it makes our money worth less. It is a hidden form of taxation. This removes money from the middle class and puts it in the pockets of defense budget lobbyists, insurance company lobbyists, and all the rest of the wall street big wigs. 

Big Business
Moreover, when these institutions fail, like in the 2008 crisis, the Fed bails them out with printed money. This sucks value from the middle class’s dollar, and gives it the wealthy. That is called wealth redistribution. It is NOT good for the poor, it is NOT good for the middle class. It LOWERS our standard of living. The state also likes to prop big business up by hurting their competitors. Big companies love to lobby to government for more and more regulation. They don’t care about regulation. They have armies of lawyers and accountant divisions specifically for the purpose of handling government regulation. They eat the cost. On the other hand, small business gets slaughtered. If you want an example of how this works, watch Senator Ted Cruiz talk about the new internet sales tax. Big business lobbied for it. Small business doesn’t lobby. Big business crush’s small business. 




In conclusion, central planning makes for a hostile environment for growth and innovation. Pope Francis’s attempts to correct what is clearly a terrible issue, tyranny, but he does it by encouraging more of the same. The Church, indeed the entire world, needs to start taking the economic sciences seriously. We cannot afford, as a church, to be encouraging practices that entrench poverty and keep the worlds resources clutched in the hands of the 1%. The free market is the answer, not the enemy.

To start this off, I should first let you know that this probably not going to be the funniest post I’ve ever written, but I hope that you’ll enjoy this sharing of experience nonetheless.  This was not the first time I’ve ever been to the Holy Land. I went once when I was twelve, and once with my family four years ago. It’s hard to count my trip back in my childhood, seeing as all I really got from it was a vague feeling of boredom and an unbridled anger at Shabbat elevators, which stop at every floor. (Pushing buttons is “work” as specifically outlined in Leviticus.) My trip four years ago was amazing, but very different. The Lord used it to bring us closer as a family, and allowed me and my brothers to express ourselves in ways we never had before. We snuck off from the group at every opportunity to do such things as play “Prepare the Way at the birthplace of John the Baptist, and play “I Like Weather” on the Ruins of Mount Tabor (where the Lord was transfigured). That was a time of great growth joy, and almost homecoming for us, as the Father really affirmed the talents and eccentrically wild personalities of two of his sons. 

This trip was very different. It was different in three ways. Firstly, I was at a different place in my relationship with God. Second, I was not distracted by my family and spent a lot of time alone, taking it all in. Finally, I was in a place of responsibility in leading the group. These things made this trip dramatically different. Not better, not worse, just different. 

Those of you who know me know that last year was a really difficult year for me. Jesus humbled me a lot. My graduation was not a time of expectation but disaster. So this Advent I was beseeching heaven to not become that cynical old guy that tells kids that Santa isn’t real and that they’ll never be a power ranger.   Also that he would give me new purpose and revelations of his will for me. That remained my prayer when I arrived at the mount of the Ascension.

After leading the group in worship, I popped in my headphones, pushed play on Sigur Ros, and blotted out all of the tourists talking and snapping of pictures. I then read the great commission at the very spot it was given.  With the palm of my hand resting on the last stone that Jesus ever touched, I read:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, even to the ends of the earth.”
– Matthew 28:16-20

            As I set out in my thesis, this blog is going to be about bringing out the child within us that our society constantly suppresses. I’m sure that my thoughts and imagination will take us elsewhere on our travels through blogland, but I recently was touched by a child and wanted to share the experience with you. I think this story really embodies so much of what I want to communicate in this blog, so it is a fitting place to start. This is the story of Josephine’s coins, and the glee of giving.

            Last week I was lucky enough to be asked to play at the open mic night at the pub. I haven’t played much recently, so before I was scheduled to go on, I walked outside to the area in front of the bean, and sat down on the edge of the fountain to practice. I twisted the tuning knobs with delicate precision, closed my eyes, and began to pluck out the chords to my newest song “20 Dollar Bills.” I was halfway through the first verse when I heard the following:

            Ping           pang    ring

                                                Shing

                                                         ring shing shing

      shick

I immediately stopped playing, looked down and saw a quarter on the ground at my feet. Of course I looked up at the windows and balconies on the piazza above me, but there was no one around at all! I didn’t even hear so much as hear a chuckle. So I picked up my guitar again and strummed the melody. As soon as I began to sing, I heard it again.

            pang Pang shing

                                    Ring shing

                                                     Ring shing shck

Another quarter dropped at my feet.

            I kept playing.

                        Ping Ping ping Pang Shin shang

                                    Shing ring ringaring

                                                Shing ringaring shing schk ring shkk

Dimes, quarters and nickels started to fall all around me, and I still couldn’t hear or see anyone on the balconies above. There weren’t even any lights on in the windows.  I played on as coins dropped all around me, and finally, between the “pings” and the twinkling sounds of silver dropping to the cobblestone, I heard a faint giggle. It was the delighted chuckle of a little girl, who very much wanted to be caught. I saw her little fingers dart out of a small tear in the screen of her window and toss out a handful of change:

            ping Chang chiing shinga ching

                        Ring ringping pangashing shing ching shinga

                                                Shck ping shk shick ping singring 

                                                            Ring     shing shk ring      ring   shk

I laughed with her, delighted at her playfulness, and so I sang her a song, and as I sang, she dropped coins, attempting to time it so that the coins bounced in rhythm with me. She made a game out of the music, and giggled every second. When it as my time to go on, I thanked her, gathered the change—she ensured that I did not miss a coin—and counted it all. She had thrown down four dollars and thirty seven cents in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. With a brand new joy, I walked in to play for the audience at the pub. I was given my free Godfather (Scotch and Ammaretto, my fave), and they applauded after I was finished. I found out later that the girl was Josephine Dix, the daughter of the owner, a troublemaker if there ever was one. She was three years old and she was already tearing holes in screens to throw things out at people. I have to say, I cannot wait until the day—to the dismay of her parents and all of the Ave Maria community—she discovers water balloons. It will probably be the greatest discovery of her childhood.

            I have to tell you, that I audience I had in Josephine, that moment that I stood, serenading a small child from below her window while she giggle and threw coins from a tear in her screen, was one of the most memorable shows I’ve ever played. Even though my drink was worth well more than $4.37, and the audience was far bigger in the pub, the highlight of the evening was Josephine.

            This got me thinking about charity and almsgiving. Whether Josephine went into her fathers wallet or smashed her own piggy bank in order to give me that moment, the gift she gave me was in the giving. There is nothing special or noteworthy about dropping a couple Washingtons and a Lincoln in the guitar case of a street performer. What would he do, I wonder, if you were to walk across the street to the hotdog vendor, buy him a chili cheese dog and drop it in his case (carefully of course). Or what if you dropped in an invitation to your house for dinner? Charity is most appreciated and most striking when it is creative.

            Saint Nicholas’ great charity is not remembered for the magnitude of what he gave, but because of how he gave it. There is one famous story of a man who was in debt to his landlord. His landlord threatened to take the man’s three daughters and sell them into prostitution to reconcile his debt. St. Nicholas, wanting to give an anonymous gift, dropped three bags of gold down the man’s chimney in the middle of the night. I can’t know exactly what that man’s morning must have been like, but I’d like to think it probably went something like this:

Imagine waking up, walking blearily eyed to the sink to slap some water on your face. You step on a coin.  You are confused, and that state of morning annoyance, you bend down to peal it off your bear skin, only to find several more coins littering your path. Your eyes follow the trail of gold as it glimmers in the light of a new day, all over the tile. Gold has spilled out over the ashes of your fireplace, and “pinged” and bounced and rolled into every, nook, and crack and hole of your life.

That must have been a powerful surprise. I can’t imagine “thank you” would have been quite enough to express the feeling.

But thank you, none the less, Josephine, for your joy, your charity, and your delight. I hope to emulate your kindness and adventurous spirit!

-Marcellino