vocation

It’s Time to Rebuild the Catholic Church

Steve · August 25, 2018 · 13 Comments

Today is my debut as a “Faith Perspectives” columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I wish this wasn’t my first column, that there was no need to write this. But I write from a place of deep faith and sadness, yet hope.

You can read my column below or see the original here: http://bit.ly/RebuildChurchGivens

sf1 — St. Francis of Assisi, New Harmony, Indiana. SJG photo.

I write this not as an expert but as a devoted, active Catholic layperson, a father and a grandfather, a person who loves the Church and has served in a diverse number of volunteer roles for nearly 40 years: I feel like I have been kicked in the gut and betrayed by a close friend and nobody cares enough to make the systematic kicking stop.

Pope Francis recently acknowledged the “shame and repentance” of the Catholic Church’s failure to act on decades of sexual abuse by clerics against our young people. He stated emphatically that the Church “showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.” Like many Catholics, I appreciate his words, but they are not enough.

Hakarat Hatov: Recognizing the Good

Steve · July 28, 2018 · 6 Comments

Jon and Jess Givens in Nicaragua. SJG photo.

“In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.” – Maxine Hong Kingston

“When in doubt, do something.” – Harry Chapin

About a month ago, I had the great pleasure of being present at an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis, at which my close university colleague Cheryl received an award for her years of service, wisdom and dedication, not only to the Jewish community but to the entire community. During the ceremony, one of the speakers spoke of “Hakarat Hatov,” a Hebrew term for gratitude. It literally means, I came to learn, “recognizing the good.” And I thought to myself, that’s a pretty good place to begin.

We live in unsettled, dangerous, destructive, confusing times, and it would be easy to allow our only response to be one of resignation, of saying to ourselves and to the rest of the world, “I give up. It’s just too big. It’s just too destructive. I have nothing to offer that will make a difference.”

But such a response is lazy and not a response of faith. A response of faith allows us (perhaps propels us) to roll up our sleeves and, as Maxine Hong Kingston writes above, do something creative. Or, as I learned from listening to my musical and social justice hero Harry Chapin many years ago, “When in doubt, do something.”

Pondering as Prayer and an Act of Faith

Steve · June 2, 2018 · 4 Comments

Givens - Inspired by Spring — Waiting to Burst Open to the World. Newfields Museum, Indianapolis. SJG photo.

“The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy.” – Abraham Maslow

A bright red male cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) just came to rest on a post outside the porch where I sit praying and writing this. It immediately grabs my attention, of course, because of its radiance and beautiful angular lines. I know its trilled, two-part call, for it’s a prayer of its own, a hymn of praise to the new day: cheer-cheer-cheer-purty-purty-purty. (Translation: Yay! It’s a beautiful new day!)

Unknown Blessings

Steve · April 7, 2018 · 10 Comments

St. Francis of Assisi, New Harmony, Indiana. SJG photo.

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” – Native American Proverb

Earlier today, I drove from my home to St. Gabriel the Archangel (St. Gabe’s) parish in South St. Louis to take part in a Cancer Resource Fair, talking with people about my workshops and retreats and selling my book, Embraced by God: Facing Chemotherapy with Faith. So I got to hang out for a few hours with good people who are fighting (or have already fought) a battle with cancer, as well as caregivers, organizers, family members and others who serve this community.

[Read more…] about Unknown Blessings

Boy Like Me: The Call of Jesus in the Temple

Steve · January 6, 2018 · 2 Comments

IMG_4003 (1) — That's me, right about 12.

Well, I was twelve years old in the meeting house
Listening to the old men pray.
Well, I was tryin’ hard to figure out
What it was that they was tryin’ to say.
There you were in the temple
They said, “You weren’t old enough to know the things you knew.”

And did they tell you stories ’bout the saints of old,
Stories about their faith?
They say stories like that make a boy grow bold,
Stories like that make a man walk straight.

(Rich Mullins, Boy Like Me)

In the Catholic Church and other liturgical denominations that follow a regular lectionary of scripture readings, this is the time of year that we hear what little we know about Jesus’ early years. There’s not much there, of course, once the Holy Family returns from exile in Egypt. (They were refugees, after all, and it’s important to remember that in these days).