Wisdom Wednesday | March 5

Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday – and hang on! As we pray for Pope Francis, we observe Ash Wednesday and prepare for Lent. Mike Pence gets chastised for calling Pope Francis “the Holy Father.” Black History Month has concluded, but we offer a year’s worth of new reading. Ramadan has begun. European bishops pray for Ukraine as the war continues. Catholics and others struggle with the current administration actions. Bold writers try to capture the Bible in just seven words – and somebody stole a depiction of “Thou shalt not steal.”

Pray for Pope Francis

National Catholic Reporter provides a timely update, and a series of articles, about the health of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ extended hospitalization and care is a reminder that every human being, especially the frail or elderly, must be given proper care, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. From the USCCB.

Former Vice President Mike Pence drew criticism over the weekend for a Friday X post in which he referred to Pope Francis as “the Holy Father,” prompting some to accuse him of affirming Roman Catholicism despite being an outspoken Evangelical Protestant.

Ash Wednesday

In response to Pope Francis’ call to care for the earth, our common home, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas have set an ambitious goal to significantly reduce the Institute’s emissions of greenhouse gases by the year 2040. They list some thoughtful ways each of us can contribute to the goal of living a simple lifestyle, reducing consumption and conserving resources here. Click HERE for some “mercy tips to care for earth” – something to consider during this season of Lent.

Many churches, Catholic and others, are marking the beginning of Lent by holding Ash Wednesday services in which attendees receive a cross made of ashes on their foreheads. While this ritual is customarily performed during a worship service, some churches bestow the ash cross on people who are just passing through via car or a metro station. From the Christian Post.

An Ecological Examen for Lent, offered by the Care for Creation Working Group.

Ukraine

EU Bishops: Ukraine’s struggle ‘will be decisive for the fate of Europe and the world.’ The Presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU releases a statement stressing the importance of continuing to support Ukraine and its people. From the Vatican.

Ramadan

Muslims all over the world are observing the holy month of Ramadan. Religion News Service provides a look at the celebrations in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. There are colorful nighttime parades and cleaning family graves to preparing food for predawn breakfasts and elaborate post-sundown meals known as “iftars.”

Black History Month

Black History Month may have ended, but Religion News Service offers a reading list for the rest of the year. Black Catholic Messenger also offers a sampling of new and upcoming texts written by Black Catholics.

The three African popes—who very possibly were Black. Two years ago, following the death of Pope Benedict XVI, an article appeared in Black Catholic Messenger by Ralph Moore Jr. He mused “on the intersection of Blackness and the papacy.

A new documentary is shedding light on a group of people who are part of the evangelical Christian tradition in a way, said Wheaton College theology professor Vincent Bacote, “that’s not just white and being a Republican.” Black evangelicals, said Bacote, are too often unseen — the “orphan in our home faith community.” From Religion News Service.

Historic Black Catholic parish in St. Louis gets a $500k restoration grant. St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church has long sought to restore its stained-glass windows, which date back to the 1904 World’s Fair and have since degraded. From Black Catholic Messenger.

Dealing with the Trump Administration

President Donald Trump’s administration is making moves to shutter a decades-old partnership between the government and a group of mostly religious organizations to resettle refugees, with the State Department abruptly canceling grant agreements with all the agencies despite ongoing legal battles. On Wednesday (Feb. 26), refugee resettlement organizations, such as Church World Service, HIAS and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, say they received “termination notification” letters from the State Department. From Religion News Service.

COMMENTARY by Kelly Brown Douglas, Religion News Service: The Trump barrage of executive orders can only impose as much injustice as we allow. Most startling is not the dismantling of government agencies that help others, but the public’s tolerance for these actions.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and a panel of faith leaders, legal experts, and policymakers discuss the urgent threats facing democracy and religious freedom under the Trump administration. Together, they explore how faith communities can take action against executive overreach, attacks on religious institutions, and efforts to dismantle critical government programs. Here is a story from Religion News Service and a link to the recording.

Video of this panel discussion is available online at https://youtu.be/dXw0VjJOmJ8?si=huGDOgoJ-vDdY2bj

Catholic universities are scrambling amid Trump’s diversity crackdown. Student and educational programs face elimination under administration plan to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. From National Catholic Reporter.

Vance takes ‘a more conciliatory tone’: After recent public sparring with Pope Francis and U.S. bishops, Vice President JD Vance struck a more conciliatory tone at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Friday (Feb. 28), seeking to alleviate tensions with the Catholic hierarchy while stopping short of abandoning views or policy positions that sparked the back and forth. From Religion News Service.

COMMENTARY from Jesuit Thomas Reese: Will Musk and Trump go to Hell for defunding the corporal works of mercy? At the end of February, the US State Department canceled some 10,000 programs that fed, sheltered and cared for people around the world. Reese reacts, from Religion News Service.

ANALYSIS From the Christian Century: President Donald Trump’s administration is making moves to shutter a decades-old partnership between the government and a group of mostly religious organizations to resettle refugees, with the State Department abruptly canceling grant agreements with all the agencies despite ongoing legal battles.

Why are Trump and Musk blocking the church’s work with refugees? From the editors of the Christian Century: An administration that presents itself as the champion of beleaguered Christians is instead spreading lies about them.

Mariann Budde stoked fires of mercy. From the Christian Century: “A good sermon has to do more than entertain and inspire—or agitate and annoy—in the moment. What comes next? Will Bishop Budde’s sermon make a difference?”

The Oscars

Oscar-nominee ‘Conclave’ did not win ‘best picture’ – but it has attracted a lot of attention. In an article written before the awards were announced, Religion News Service offered insight from Vatican expert Massimo Faggioli: “There are some movies that are more pious, but, I think, less faithful to the drama of Catholicism.”

A ‘High’ Holiday

A few minutes before midnight on Wednesday (Feb. 26), under the strobe light of the dance floor of a Queens bar, a man dressed as the Hindu deity Lord Shiva performed the Tandava — a vigorous dance meant to evoke Shiva’s spiritual realm: the cosmic cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution. Onlookers steeped in liquor and weed smoke seemed to recognize the divine as they watched with wonderment and confusion. From Religion News Service.

‘Martini Judaism’ – Faith shaken and stirred

Jeffrey Salkin says Jews cannot remain silent about the murders of Christians in Congo. In a column offered by Religion News Service, Rabbi Salkin says, “The world is silent when they kill Jews. Let Jews not be silent when they kill Christians.”

Decline in religiousness has slowed

The Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study’s 2023-24 edition, released on Wednesday (Feb. 26), points at changes in American religious observance, including those identifying as Christian, stabilizing after years of steady decline and growth of the religiously unaffiliated leveling off. Generally, a decline in American religiousness observed since at least 2007 has slowed over the past four to five years. However, Pew Research Center noted in its report that the country is heading toward less religiousness. From Religion News Service.

Airline meals not kosher

Observant Jews were upset by meals wrongly labeled as kosher on Air France flight. Reaction to the incident has been swift, with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement calling it ‘a shocking breach of trust.’ From Religion News Service.

Catholic Charter School: Public or Private?

In April 2025, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the nation’s first religious charter school can open in Oklahoma. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be funded by taxpayer money but run by a local archdiocese and diocese. The Supreme Court ruling on whether a Catholic charter is constitutional will hinge on whether they’re public or private. From Religion News Service.

Changing the culture

Empowered by Donald Trump’s rapid-fire attempt to change American culture, some state legislators and county leaders are pushing the envelope even further. Texas Republicans seek to drive Democrats out of the county. Michigan resolution seeks to overturn same-sex marriage. A Texas bill would make it a crime to transition from one gender to another. The stories, from Baptist News Global.

COMMENTARY: A painful truth for Christians, Silence and complicity. A Baptist News Global article concludes that the Gaza war has exposed a painful truth: the silence and complicity of many Western Christian leaders and churches in the face of atrocities against the Palestinian people. This silence shakes the very foundations of our faith and values, forcing us to confront a troubling question: How can those who claim to follow Christ turn a blind eye to the suffering of his people in the land where he walked?

What Buttigieg said: Yes, things in Washington, D.C., are as bad as you think they are and, in fact, are worse than you realize, Pete Buttigieg told participants in the Together for Democracy conference Feb. 26. From Baptist News Global.

Orthodox pro-Israel group to honor Steve Bannon

An Orthodox right-wing pro-Israel group will honor Steve Bannon, nine days after the former Donald Trump adviser faced criticism for a gesture that resembled a Nazi salute. From Jewish Telegraphic Agency

White Supremacy in unexpected places

COMMENTARY: “The first White supremacist I ever met was my grandmother. While many of you can perhaps relate to that experience, it’s a strange sentence for me to type as a Black man. She was Black, too . . . .” She looked White—at least to White racists of the Deep South, who are perpetually foolable—and so she spent her childhood getting along in the Jim Crow South, because Jim Crow is and always will be an ignoramus.” From the Christian Century.

OPINION from US Catholic: We are all called to protest. In the United States, protest is baked into our DNA. But it doesn’t always look like strikes or big rallies.

CHALLENGE: In seven words, answer ‘What is the Bible for?’
Here’s one answer: “Showing us our foolishness and God’s wisdom.” And another: “Revealing the character and purpose of God.” Read more answers, provided by the Christian Century.

Somebody stole ‘Thou shalt not steal’

“Thou shalt not steal” is one of the Ten Commandments in the Jewish Torah, depicted in an artistic rendering at St. Andrew’s Church in Lincolnshire, England. The artwork is among several items recently stolen from the church. From the Christian Post.