God's caress, older and bigger than the universe

A few years ago I wrote in this space about the many priests who have been influential in my life over the years. Probably the earliest interactions were when I was in elementary school in the early 1970s at Ss. Cyril and Methodius.

I was impressed by Father Sean Noone, now retired, and the stories of him as a missionary in Africa. Also, at that time, I first met Father Mark Chamberlin, who had been recently ordained. Initially I was scared of him, but by the time I was in high school and active in Catholic youth functions, he had become a respected mentor, and remains so today.

The list is too long to mention and has grown during the nearly 20 years I have worked for the diocese.

There have been at least as many nuns and lay people who influenced me, but I thought I would mention the priests since the Church is now celebrating a Year for Priests.

I am no expert on human nature, including the nature of priests, but I do agree with what Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti told me when he was here several years ago as a speaker for the annual Clergy Conference.

Msgr. Rossetii is the CEO and director of the St. Luke's Institute, which has a mission to "participate in the healing ministry of Christ by promoting the health and well being of Catholic clergy and women and men religious in the United States and abroad."

During the interview with him he said that Roman Catholic priests are generally either deified or demonized.

In fact, they are human beings.

They have the same basic DNA, virtues, character flaws and foibles as the rest of us.

I think that once we put them above or below us, we set them, ourselves, and the church up for added problems.

When we make them God-like, we look to them for all the answers and that lets the rest of us off the hook and downplay our own calling to live as mature Christians who are to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ and be leaders in our families and communities.

When we consider priests despicable and blame them for our own lack of faith, or for what we may not like about our parish, or the larger church, we also slack in our own accountability. In other words, it is our church, too. And, we can blame no other human being for our own lack of faith.

Remembering that priests are people, too, might be the best way to observe the Year for Priests.

Not to minimize the ministry and importance of the priesthood, but I thought it interesting that the Vatican is also officially participating in the International Year of Astronomy.

The stars are truly celestial, very far above us and what were reportedly used by God to be the source of life.

In fact, life emerged on earth thanks to a 12 billion-year-old process of stars caught in a cycle of collapsing, re-forming and collapsing again, said the former director of the Vatican Observatory.

Over time "there has been a continuous transformation of energy (in the universe) into ever-more-complex forms of material," said U.S. Jesuit Father George Coyne.

Stars are thermonuclear ovens that will eventually collapse, disperse into gaseous clouds, then re-form, he said. These violent chemical processes created the conditions necessary to turn the few simple atoms from the big bang into the complex molecules and elements, like carbon, needed for the building blocks of life, he said.

Father Coyne was one of three astronomers who spoke at a June 24 conference sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Council for Culture.

The conference came on the sidelines of an international congress the observatory was hosting outside Rome June 22-26 to focus on the ways astronomy could be a common ground for dialogue among cultures.

Both events were part of the Vatican's many initiatives celebrating the International Year of Astronomy.

The sun in earth's solar system is a third-generational star, he said, which means it has gone through a process of birth, death, rebirth, death and rebirth.

"If this process hadn't happened in the universe, we wouldn't be here," he said.

"It's a scientific fact that in order to have sufficient chemical abundance for life, you need three generations of stars in order to create enough carbon" and other elements needed for life, he said.

"We are literally born from the stars," he said, adding, "We are the children of three generations of stars."

According to scientific estimates, he said, the universe today is 13.7 billion years old and is made up of 10,000-billion-billion stars. The sun is predicted to explode again in another 6 billion years.

To show how recently human life has emerged, Father Coyne converted the age of the universe into an earth year: If the big bang happened on New Year's Day, then the dinosaurs appeared on Christmas Day and were extinct five days later. The first hominid appeared Dec. 31 at 10 p.m., and the first humans made their appearance 43 minutes later. According to this rescale of time, midnight represents present time today, which means Jesus was born just five seconds ago, he said.

As an astronomer Father Coyne said there is no way science can ever give an explanation as to who created the universe, but as a man of faith he knows it was God.

"It's a wonderful God who didn't create a washer machine or a dishwasher or a car, but created a universe that intrinsically possesses a dynamism, a creativity" that in someway participates in God's own creativity, he said.

"God wanted to share with us his own creativity, and he still does it" today, he said.

He said that, in his opinion, God has not predetermined the future of the universe and lets the world evolve on its own.

But "God still caresses the universe, participates with it" and loves his creation, he said.

Now, that is a great comfort to us all, regardless of our vocation, to know that God is caressing us and participating in our lives. It is a good thing to celebrate every year.

(With contributions from Catholic News service.)