Dear Readers,

Fall arrived a few days before summer’s end here in Woodstock with temperatures dropping into the low 40s at night. I love the crisp days of Autumn and the beauty of a glorious maple dressed in scarlet. Nevertheless, I always get a twinge at the passing of Summer. Closing up the pool, I can’t help remembering and missing the happy laughter of grandchildren and their friends splashing and chattering and enjoying “popsicle breaks.” I have to remind myself that Fall ushers in the beginning of a festive season with campfires, hot dogs and s’mores, not to mention All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Thanksgiving and a liturgical “new year” beginning November 29th with the First Sunday of Advent. God and Holy Mother Church always give us something to look forward to. As the days grow shorter, we can rejoice that “The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.”

And speaking of dark and light, what glorious night skies cold weather brings! We live at the bottom of a hill about a mile from our well-lit little town. Between the distance from town and the dip, the streetlights have little impact on our view of the stars. From our deck on a clear, moonless night we can see the Milky Way and pick out constellations like Orion, the Pleiades, the Big and Little Dippers, and the planets Venus, and Mars. How can anyone gaze up at the night sky and fail to believe in the God who created heaven and earth? God’s fingerprints are everywhere! I read a story years ago about a Christian scientist who had made an impressive model of the universe. During a visit, his atheist friend praised the scientist’s model. “Oh, I didn’t make that,” he said, “It came into being spontaneously.” His friend laughed. The scientist replied, “You laugh, but it’s just as easy to believe in the spontaneous origin of this model as to believe the real universe came into being without God.”

That story has always impressed me. There is no battle between faith and science. God is the author of both. And anyone who knows anything about scientific history, must realize that Catholics, many of them religious, pioneered scientific advances. Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics, was an Augustinian monk. The monastery garden was his laboratory; pea plants his subject of study. He almost single-handedly developed the science of heredity. And he’s not alone! Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar, helped create the scientific method. The monks of the middle ages advanced agricultural practices including animal breeding and crop irrigation. They pioneered in medicine and energy creation. Beer and wine lovers can thank the early brewers and vintners at the monasteries for their favorite adult beverages. Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, developed many innovations including the coquard press and a guide to wine-making. Not the first to develop sparkling wines, he is credited with major improvements. Every wedding champagne toast is a testament to the monks and to the joy of Catholicism. Jesus loves parties as he showed at Cana when He turned water into wine to prolong a joyful celebration and save the bride and groom embarrassment.

If the Benedictines were the great wine makers, the Cistercians were the great technological experts. They mechanized their monasteries hundreds of years before the Industrial Revolution using water powered “factories” to mill grains and for tanning. They built furnaces to extract metal from the ores they mined. They developed a system to save the spring rains to provide water during droughts. Economic theory and the legal system benefited from the monks’ input. One of the greatest contributions of the monastic tradition was sharing knowledge among their houses at their annual meetings. Communities all over Europe benefited as they passed on their knowledge and discoveries to the world. Before Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and confiscated their property, there were no poor houses in England!

I sometimes get into social media discussions with anti-Catholics convinced that we are ignorant, non-scientific, superstitious idiots and that the Church is to blame for all the problems of the world. They have swallowed Marxist ideology to the dregs and often quote the canard that religion is the “opiate of the people.” Challenging them with historical facts may be pointless since liberal bigots seem to embrace the motto, “Don’t confuse me with the truth.” Nonetheless, I point out that the university system came from the Church as well as hospitals, incredible architecture as demonstrated by the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, music composed for the liturgy, religious art, etc. Catholic culture glitters like a diamond. In fact, as the title of Thomas Woods book proclaims, The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.

And so, we have no reason, as Catholics, to apologize for the impact of our Church on the world. She is the greatest benefactor to civilization in history, most of all through her moral teachings. If everyone put into practice the two great commandments promoted by the Church, we would have peace on earth.

Let’s keep that in mind as we approach the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas. We are called to be salt, light, and yeast for our world. When we see the autumn leaves provide color and beauty to the landscape, may we remember that we too are called to be a source of beauty and color for a world that seems to be sinking into darkness. Hope is beautiful! Let us foster it with joy!

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