As many of you know, I am a physicist who likes science, philosophy and theology and have spent years building resources to show that they are compatible and go together. I am reading a wonderful new book called Faith, Science and Reason, which puts many of these things together, covering the Big Bang, evolution, and many other topics. I am copying below some wonderful concepts from the book.

Pope St John Paul II said that “faith and reason are like the two wings that the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth” in his encyclical letter, Fides et Ratio. He says science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.

Rabbi Sachs says science takes things apart to see how they work; religion brings things together to see what they mean.

If we look at science which discovers order and laws, the world can be seen as deterministic, in which everything follows from what happens before. But we know that is not the case. There is also emergence phenomenon which could not be predicted. Hydrogen and oxygen have very definite properties, which could not predict the properties of water, which they can form. Moving into the spiritual realm of faith, the Holy Spirit brings to the world the surprise of things like new life and products of grace. Science tells us how the world goes. Theology tells us how we go to heaven living in the world.

I can put together a couple of Zoom presentations on many of the features of this book if anyone would like to attend them. Reply with an email to dwdubro@comcast.net if you would like to see me develop two to four presentations.

Science is hard and takes time and resources to accomplish, which not everyone has available to them. Even if you do not study a lot of science, I was reading a recent homily by Bishop Barron. I am not sure that I capture his full meaning, but he says that ritual and worship are important because they put us on the path to God. So even if we do not have a good understanding of our religion and science, if we approach the sacraments, pray the usual prayers like the Hail Mary or the Stations of the Cross, we can approach God without a lot of effort, and perhaps even without realizing it

I think I can cautiously say that no matter which side of the aisle you are on, most would agree that there are some serious moral issues at stake in this upcoming election. Voting by mail has already started in some places. I offer the universal advice to you that you pray, discern, and then vote according to your conscience. You can find Catholic voting guides on the Internet by Googling phrases like “Catholic voting guide” or “catholic vote 5 non-negotiables”.

The academic year has started at St Patrick’s Seminary.  I don’t have a list of our new seminarians, but in keeping with my 2020 program, I ask you to say a prayer for our priests and seminarian.