March 2003 Archives

Update on Eric

Eric's wife got a letter yesterday from him - Eric's team is currently in Nassaryah and has been since about March 20th. He is with the 8th Battalion, 2nd Brigade. If you're watching MSNBC, the reporter that is embedded with their brigade is Kerry Sanders. He's part of the group that secured the hospital containing chemical warfare protection suits.

Keep praying that all our friends are safe, that this mission is successful and we can have peace.

Preces Stationum

In case anyone wants to pray the Stations of the Cross in Latin.

And on the same site is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Latin, too!

Corona Divinae Misericordiae

This can't be playing well with the media in the Middle East

I just found this picture on foxnews.com. The caption reads: "Spc. John Leonard of Asheboro, N.C., with the 422nd Civil Affairs U.S. Army unit from Greensboro, N.C., reads his Bible during downtime in the desert" Look very carefully at the cloth on his head. It says "Kill em all."

Saint Gemma Galgani's Prayer - a great prayer for Lent

O my crucified God, behold me at Your feet; do not cast me out, now that I appear before You as a sinner. I have offended You exceedingly in the past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer.

Before You, O Lord, I place all my sins; I have now considered Your own sufferings and see how great is the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Your veins.

O my God, at this hour close Your eyes to my want of merit, and since You have been pleased to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for them all, that I may no longer feel the burden of my sins, for this burden, Dear Jesus, oppresses me beyond measure.

Assist me, my Jesus, for I desire to become good whatsoever it may cost; take away, destroy, utterly root out all that You find in me contrary to Your holy will. At the same time, I pray You, Lord Jesus, to enlighten me that I may be able to walk in Your holy light. Amen.

You've heard the slogan "No Blood for Oil"

How about "No Oil for Blood"?

Saddam Awards Family of Suicide Bomber By ALMIN KARAMEHMEDOVIC Associated Press Writer IN THE IRAQI DESERT (AP) -- Saddam Hussein handsomely rewarded the army officer who targeted U.S. forces in a suicide bombing, honoring him with a posthumous promotion, two new medals and a huge financial windfall for his family. Calling the tactic a "routine military policy," Saddam's regime threatened more such attacks on Americans and Britons - even on their own soil. The bomber, posing as a taxi driver, struck Saturday, killing himself and four soldiers. He pulled up close to a roadblock north of the holy Shiite city of Najaf, waved to American troops for help, then blew up his vehicle when they approached. Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, indicated the attack was part of a coordinated effort to thwart invaders who can't be defeated by conventional warfare. He also raised the specter of terrorism on U.S. or British soil. "We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land," Ramadan said. "This is just the beginning. You'll hear more pleasant news later." The bomber - identified as Ali Jaafar al-Noamani, a noncommissioned officer with several children - was posthumously promoted to colonel and awarded two medals - Al-Rafidin, or The Two Rivers, and the Mother of All Battles, state TV reported. His family reportedly was awarded 100 million dinars - the equivalent of $34,000, a fortune in Iraq.

Jed Babbin of NRO has an altogether different and very disturbing story on the homicide bombing.

The suicider was not, as the Iraqi vice president announced, an Iraqi army officer. He was a member of Hamas--or possibly a Saudi--and one of many terrorists that are embedded throughout Iraq. This is no longer a war to remove the threat of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and liberate Iraq. Yes, those still are part of our objectives. But it is--much more--a war between our conventional forces and most of the terrorist world.

Response to the Blair Incident

We wouldn't need to invent gestures in the Communion Procession if we brought back the Communion Rail. We also wouldn't need all those pesky Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist!

In all seriousness I'd like someone to explain what precipitated this change in how the Eucharist was administered. "Vatican II" is not the answer - explain to me what about Vatican II brought about this change in liturgical practice.

Well, a minor one. The NCR's John Allen (cited by Dom Bettinelli) checks out the rumor that Tony Blair, an Anglican, received Holy Communion during his February visit to the Vatican.

Aside from the Blair family, there were a few seminarians at the Mass. A colleague who has spoken with some of the seminarians reports that one saw Blair move up the communion line with his arms crossed, signaling that he wanted a blessing rather than communion, but the priest administering communion (not the pope personally) gave it to Blair anyway. As a non-Anglo-Saxon, the priest may simply not have been familiar with the gesture.

In the Byzantine-rite Catholic and Orthodox churches, that gesture is the normal thing to do when approaching to receive. In the Latin Church, too, it's common in Eastern Europe: I've seen people in Poland do it.

Some overly "creative" priests here in the US -- and I suppose in the UK too -- being ignorant of the gesture, must have decided to "invent" a gesture non-Catholics attending Mass could use. After all, isn't it nice to let them participate in the Communion procession and get a personal blessing? Universal niceness and inclusivity are what the trendy church is all about.

Never mind that:

• they're stealing a gesture that already has a meaning: this is so culturally insensitive;
• they're confusing priests and leading them to deny Holy Communion to Catholics: this has happened to me;
• getting a "personal blessing" is redundant, since the celebrant blesses everybody at the end of Mass.

Anybody got any contacts at the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy? Maybe we can ask them to remind everybody that the Communion procession is for receiving Holy Communion and not for other purposes.

Sorry for the confusion, Tony.

Blogfest blogfest blogfest!

The eminent Eve Tushnet annouces DC Blogfest on April 5. See the above link for details. That's next Saturday.

From today:

The priest who hears confession, stressed John Paul II, must welcome the penitent, be thoughtful, warm and caring in his demeanor and "not be avaricious with his time."

He must also, said the Pope, use charity and
justice "in referring, without ideological variations, ... to the genuine
teachings of the Church."

For the record: computer hacking is a serious sin.

But, my sources tell me it's a only a venial sin if hackers put the U.S. flag on the Al-Jazeera Web site.

And a classic quote from the article: Al-Jazeera... is an unusually independent voice in the Arab world.

Huh?

Dye Pack Explodes in Robber's Pants
Thu Mar 27, 9:05 AM ET AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A bank robbery suspect learned a painful lesson: Never shove stolen money containing an explosive dye pack down your pants.
Shortly after the National City Bank downtown was robbed Thursday, police spotted John Gladney, 40, about a block away, walking strangely, in obvious pain.
Officers stopped Gladney and discovered he had been injured when the dye pack exploded near his groin, said Sgt. Brent Mull, police spokesman.
Gladney was charged with aggravated robbery.

Meanwhile, less than 100 miles from Key West

Cuba's Roman Catholic church condemns crackdown on dissidents

"We lament the inappropriate methods being used to arrest people for thinking and acting differently from the official ideology," a statement from the Conference of Cuban Catholic Bishops said.

At least 75 people have been arrested, many of them independent journalists, owners of libraries, and leaders of opposition political parties, according to the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation.

How else could we have maintained our reputation as the elite Catholic Light blog?

NBC: “You know her [your daughter] better than anyone. What do you think she’s doing to help her get through this?"

Eunice Johnson: “She is praying. She’s praying everyday and every time. And that’s gonna get her through. She’s asking God. I know... I know in my heart because she had a rosary with her. She forgot it. This was the day that she was being deployed. And she called me and she said, ‘I left my rosary, you know, on the dresser upstairs in my house.’ And I had to go back home and get it. So, I’m hoping that she has that rosary with her.”

NBC: “Her faith is important—"

Eunice Johnson: “Yes.”

NBC: “— to her?”

Eunice Johnson: “Yes. And I know she’s praying... When it falls night time in Iraq I think of her in a little cell by herself and it’s dark, it’s black. And there’s no kind of communication so that’s where I know that she’s communicating with God.”

If Christians and Muslims can coexist amicably in Iraq now, is it unrealistic to hope that they can do so post-Saddam?

This says it all!

When you're wrong, apologize!

A number of people emailed me yesterday to express both their prayers and support. Thank-you, it is much appreciated. Others, including some who also oppose the war and/or share similar concerns about it, emailed to rebuke me for going off-line and to encourage me to stand firm on the blog for peace. This includes some good friends within the Church hierarchy. In reading history, one of the things that leads to fighting is when someone cannot admit they are wrong. In reflecting upon the emails I received, I now realize that I made the wrong decision. I can walk away from the fight without walking away from the schoolyard in which it is being fought.

Dom B. take me to school

Seems as though my choice of words, "immoral war" is misguided. I'll need to take some time to digest the CWN article.

John,

...Just wanted to correct something you said. The Pope has never said
this is an immoral war. We have an analysis of the Pope's comments about the
war on Catholic World News web site and while he has said we should try to
avoid the war, he has never called it immoral since that would place a
burden on every Catholic to not only not participate in the war, but also to
not support it. That would have been a major step.

You need to be a subscriber to view. Dom - maybe we can get some of the points from you.

Today from JP II

WORK AND PRAY SO THAT THERE IS NO MORE WAR

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the
Holy Father to military chaplains who are participating today and tomorrow
in a formation course on human rights in the Vatican, organized by the
Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

The Holy Father highlighted "the strength of different religions in
sustaining the search for peace is a reason for comfort and hope. In our
view of faith, peace, even if it is the result of political accords and
understanding among individuals and peoples, is a gift from God that we must
constantly invoke with prayer and penance. Without a conversion of the heart
there is no peace! Peace is only achieved through love! Right now we are all
asked to work and pray so that war disappears from the horizon of humanity."

What to say?

I've finally read Pete's posts and comments. Work and my choir have kept me very busy so I don't always read the blog every day.

I've refrained from posting because I still struggle with the war and the morality of it. On one side, I see a murderous tyrant who, unlike Fidel Castro, is not content with lording over his people and living out his twightlight in relative obscurity but rather one who active seeks the destruction of the West, the expansion of his regime and the construction of and use of weapons of mass destruction. Brutality and evil are personified in him.

(Side note: My biggest disappointment in recent months has been seeing Cardinals on diplomatic missions to the middle east. The likes of Tariq Aziz and Yasser Arafat are shown embracing and smiling with Princes of the Church. What sort of diplomatic campaign is the Church engaged in? What are the intended results? Does anyone really think that the likes of Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat and Osama bin Laden can be negotiated with? It's as if the mission is just a photo op for the tyrants and nothing more.)

On the other side is the horror of war. Regardless of our might, the precision of our weapons and the will of our people - innocents will die. Is Saddam to blame? Ultimately I believe he is. I believe the coalition is doing everything it can, even at greater risk to its own soldiers, to minimize the effects on the civilian population.
Still, the Pope has said this is an immoral war and that it should never have happened. All sides could have spent more time at the table and divised a way to contain the current Iraqi regime, if not overthrow it without war. So I'm afraid I can't support the war without some reservations - driven mainly by the words of the Pope.

And yet, I believe the ultimate cause is grave and the end will be just: the US will liberate the Iraqi people and as with Germany and Japan, will pours millions into rebuilding the nation. Eric, one of our fellow Catholic Light writers, is a Marine with a unit whose job is to oversee relations with the civilian population in areas the Allies are operating in. He'll probably be personally delivering food and water to Iraqi children. And his three children wait for him at home, too young to understand why he's gone or how important his mission is.

I'm sad to see Pete go, even for a while. I appreciate his insight and regret that he feels overwhelmed by events and opinions.

Now is the time for prayer and sacrifice.

Another French Retreat

Over the last couple of months, in light of the Church's opposition to this war, I have carefully weighed and pondered every possible justification for this war that I came across. In the end, I simply cannot in good conscience take a position different than that of our Holy Father, and thus I remain morally opposed to the present war in Iraq. This worked for a while, however, even among other orthodox Catholics things have just become too uncomfortable around St. Blog's for me personally. Our town in Northern Ontario was located less than a hundred miles from the Quebec border. Over half the population in the area was French. My first memories of the faith are all in French, from the good Sisters who taught us how to pray the Rosary (in fact, I could not recite a Hail Mary in the English language until I was in college!) and all my childhood catechesis was conducted in the French language. History, geography, literature and all our other subjects were taught from the classical French-Catholic perspective. And thus I cannot continue to watch both the Church's position concerning this war and the French come under constant attack and remain charitable about it. So I think the best thing at this point would be to take a retreat from St. Blog until the war is over, and pray for a peaceful resolution to this whole crisis.

Speaking to The Telegraph (LRR), [Francis] Crick, 86, said: "The god hypothesis is rather discredited." If Crick's concept of "God" refers to something that can be measured empirically, then he and I and the Pope are all unbelievers.

Bush, Chirac and the Holy Father -- Reading From the Same Page

I'm sure if I did a google search, I could call up a number of hate crimes perpetrated against Arabs and Muslims (and in some case Hindus) in the United States after 9-11. However, I won't. Rising to the occasion after this tragedy, I recall President Bush stating: "Hate and racism are not American values. Those who perpetuate these crimes will be punished, for their behavior is as wrong as it is un-American." (As I'm recalling from memory, this may not be word-for-word what he said, but I imagine it is close.) President Bush is normally not a very passionate speaker. He is, however, a man of deep conviction. What struck me about this line is that his conviction came through with passion. So I take the President's word at face value when he states that true Americans are neither anti-Arab nor anti-Muslim. Certainly his father, the 41st President of the United States, recently spoke very fondly of his friendship with many Arab leaders. So while the problem was serious enough among a certain segment of the American population to warrant the President's attention, he rose to the occasion and spoke firmly, clearly and decisively on behalf of all Americans. There is no room for racial and religious hatred within American political discourse.

That being said, a certain minority segment of the French population suffer from a similar problem when it comes to the Jews. Hence the reason Jean-Marie Le Pen made it to the run-off in France's last presidential election. That being said, and being fluent in French I followed the election closely, he was soundly defeated by Jacques Chirac who brought in close to eighty percent of the vote. Not only did Chirac soundly condemn Le Pen's antisemitism if I recall correctly, he paid Le Pen the ultimate French insult in refusing to debate him on television. Of course you never hear of this from those who are currently attribute the French anti-war sentiment to anti-semitism, just as you seldom hear about President Bush's statements by those who portray the war as an American crusade against Islam.

As a Catholic ecumenist, however, I stand with the Holy Father on the issue. When it comes to religious dialogue with non-Christian faiths, there is a special place for Judaism and Islam, with whom we share the same God and a common historical link. Hence the reason the Holy Father has repeatedly called for peace, dialogue and a renounciation of violence from both sides in the Middle East conflict. While previous Roman Pontiffs favored the Muslims over the Jews during one pontificate, and then the Jews over the Muslims during the next, in his wisdom our current Holy Father has rejected realpolitik for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, loving both equally as children of God.

There is definitely wisdom to the Holy Father's approach. As a young Pole who resisted the Nazis, he remembers the Jewish Holocaust all too well. He remembers how people woke up after the war in shock. How could seemingly "minor" and "harmless" acts of anti-semitism before the war suddenly escalate into one of the tragic death of six million people? Only in retrospect do we now realize that our actions toward the Jews before the war were neither minor nor harmless. Fortunately, we are now more sensitive to these issues when it comes to our Jewish brethren, for this is one tragedy we do not wish to repeat. Given many of our current frustrations, however, we must also show the same vigilance when it comes to Islam -- lest we wake up one morning and ask ourselves how we ever allowed six million Muslims to go to their premature and tragic mass grave in our backyard, or in someone else's.

Presidential Prayer Team

How many of you have seen this? Amazingly, my local Fox news chanel ran a rather lengthy segment on it (the pandas must have been napping. No, wait, what am I saying? My local news station miss a great chance to show pandas napping?) and they weren't at ALL smirky. I wish all of those 'Code Pink' ladies would put away their body paint, put on their clothes and sign up. AND you get a car decal too!

The WaPo goes into some detail about a pastor's plan to beautify his modern and somewhat spartan parish church in Alexandria. From what I've heard of church renovation projects, though, $425,000 is not a shocking amount to spend, and the substance of the renovation -- moving the Eucharist from a "tiny room" to a suitably adorned chapel visible to the faithful -- sounds like it's in conformity with the Church's directives.

So why is this news? Because some parishioners (cue the violins) are disgruntled about a shift away from the parish's old-style liberal manner. The Postista says, "Priest's Vision, Style Deeply Divide Parishioners at Alexandria Church" but the subhead could just have well have run, "Neo-Puritans Oppose Art and Decoration in Worship". Here's a motto if they need one (Jn. 12:5): "Why wasn't the money given to the poor?"

When the Pope has ordered a review (presumably leading to some clean-up) of US seminaries, choosing a vice-rector for Louvain from one of the most "progressive" dioceses in the country doesn't reassure me. But I shouldn't pre-judge. Does anybody know Fr. DeSocio's work?

On July 1, Father DeSocio will begin as vice-rector of the American College of the Immaculate Conception at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. There he will work with major seminarians for a five-year period.

Father DeSocio has served since 1993 as the Rochester Diocese's assistant to the bishop for vocations and priestly formation. He is also vice president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.

Palestrina in the DC Area

Courtesy of David Alexander over at Man With Black Hat.

The Palestrina Choir...

...will present a concert on Sunday, March 23, at 3:00 p.m., at St Patrick's Catholic Church. The 17-voice a cappella choir, under the direction of Michael Harrison will perform a program entitled "Psalmi Ponitentiales." The program includes pieces by Renaissance composers Orland de Lassus, Alexander Utendal, and Jacobus Vaet. There is no admission charge; a donation is requested.

Recitation of the seven penitential psalms (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) has been a part of Lenten worship since the time of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). Polyphonic settings of these lengthy texts became popular in the latter part of the Renaissance, particularly among Netherlandish and German composers.

The Palestrina Choir was formed in 1986 to present rarely heard masterpieces of 16th-century liturgical music, with an emphasis on the works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. In recent years the choir has also begun to give occasional presentations of music from later eras. The Palestrina Choir has been featured on WETA-FM's Music from Washington and NPR's Performance Today. The Washington Post has called the Palestrina Choir "one of the finest and most specialized choruses in the choral wonderland of metropolitan Washington."

St Patrick Church
10th and G Streets, NW
202-347-2713
Benjamin Smedberg, Director of Music & Organist

The Romanian Catholic bishop for the United States, the Most Rev. John Michael Botean (a supporter of Pax Christi), says that participating in the war against Iraq is a mortal sin.

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA says that that doesn't reflect the US bishops' position.
[Thanks to the CWN Blog for the link.]

[This statement just came in, in French, from a friend; any translation errors are mine. --RC]

Solemn consecration of Iraq to the Virgin Mary
Friday, 21 March 2003 18:00 (local time) [ 10 AM US Eastern time ]

by all the patriarchs and bishops of the various Christian churches of Iraq
in the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph,
before the pilgrim statue of "Our Lady Queen of Peace"

As in all the difficult moments of history, the Christian people of Iraq turns to the Virgin Mary to implore the help of God, certain that the Mother of God never leaves her children without aid.

It is in this spirit that for several days, the Christians of Baghdad have dedicated themselves to praying, in numerous churches of the city, around a statue of the Virgin which was on pilgrimage throughout the country in 1998 and which is named "Our Lady of France, Queen of Peace". This statue of the Queen of Peace, which has already encountered large and very fervent crowds, in the course of its pilgrimages from the north to the center of the country, having been welcomed by Christians and by numerous Muslims, and before which they have prayed, takes up its journey to Baghdad again today, and more and more the world gathers about her.

Following an idea of the Latin Bishop of Baghdad, this movement of prayer around the Queen of Peace will culminate in the Consecration of Iraq to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which the bishops of the Chaldean, Latin, Syrian, and Armenian Catholic Churches and the Syriac Orthodox and Assyrian Churches will pronounce next Friday March 21, at 18:00 (local time) in the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph.

The announcement of this event is being made in all the churches of Baghdad Sunday March 16, and prayers are multiplying today that there may be a great crowd at the celebration on March 21, even if war should begin. This movement, which will bring together Christians and many Muslims, has as its end to entrust the events to come to the Providence of God through the Virgin Mary, and to offer Him everything, visibly and solemnly, that everything be resolved with the least possible suffering.

No one knows how the Virgin Mary will respond and will act to protect her people, but let us have confidence in her. Let us ask her, in Iraq and in the entire world, to intercede, and to intervene powerfully, in the wake of this Consecration, for the true good of all her children, for the greater glory of God.

The participants

The event is organized by the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate (represented by Bp. Shlemon Warduni and Bp. Emmanuel-Karim Delly) in the St. Joseph Cathedral, in the center of Baghdad.

The other Churches joining this Consecration are:
-- The Latin Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Jean Benjamin Sleiman)
-- The Syrian Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka)
-- The Armenian Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Paul Coussa)
-- The Syriac Orthodox Church (represented by Bp. Saverius Jamil Hawa)
-- The Assyrian Church (represented by Bp. Ghevargese Warda Daniel Sliwa)

Significant crowds are expected for this event, which is to be broadcast by the international media present in Baghdad.

The "Pilgrim Virgin" movement of prayer and peace

Launched in France in 1995 before 108 statues and icons of the Virgin Mary, pilgrims from town to town, this initiative has spread through the world. Today there are over 8,000 pilgrim statues and icons in support of evenings of prayer in over 120 countries.

The Pilgrim Virgin's visits this past week in Baghdad

* Monday, March 10: the Christians of Baghdad
The statue of the Virgin was welcomed in the Church of Our Lady of Deliverance by Mgr. Matoka, the Syrian Catholic bishop. CNN interviewed Deacon Noel Farman and the Syrian bishop at 16:00

* After that, it was received Tuesday, March 11, in St. Joseph Cathedral by Mgr. Sleiman, the Latin Catholic bishop.

* From Wednesday March 12 to Friday March 14, the Chaldean Sisters of Mary Immaculate welcomed the statue in their large church of the Immaculate, across from the German Embassy.

* Saturday the 15th and Sunday March 16, the Armenian Catholic Church opened its largest church to receive the statue and to intensify prayers.

* Sunday, March 16, the Consecration on Friday March 21 was announced in the major churches of Baghdad, inviting all the population to attend.

* The Virgin will be invoked from church to church, in the coming days, by ever-larger crowds and with the support of all the Christian bishops of Baghdad, who have received this initiative very favorably.

---
Feel free to pass along this message: the entire world is called to support this movement of prayer and peace and to unite in prayer with the Consecration on March 21.

The Holy Father John Paul II, who has called for prayer and fasting to avert war, has been informed of this action. Everyone can send this invitation to others, by Internet or by fax, and respond to this appeal by uniting his prayers and fasting to the intentions of the Virgin Mary for the peace of the world, most especially through this Consecration of Iraq to Mary.

Another (Arch)Bishop Weighs In -- Insufficient Justification for War

While I don't always agree with him, I think he's right when it comes to this issue. Anway, here's Archbishop Flynn's take on the war, and why it does not appear to meet the standards of Just War theory. Click Here

Black Coffee

I am pleased to say I have a new spiritual director. I've been seeing him for a month and I have to come understand that God does indeed make junk, and that I am a festering pile of it, but I am a redeemed and sanctified festering heap of putrified garbage. It's wonderful how such revelations free you so that God can work in you!

He offered me a cup of coffee the other day when I saw him. "How do you like it," he asks.

"Black like my soul," I reply.

"Good," he says. "I can work with that!"

Urgent Humanitarian Appeal?

The United Nations is preparing an urgent appeal for more than $1 billion for emergency humanitarian aid to war-torn Iraq, with most of the money earmarked for food, UN officials said on Thursday.

Like ridding Iraq and the rest of the world of Saddam and his cronies wasn't humanitarian enough for the U.N.?

Of course it wasn't. One more nail in the Kofi[n] of the UN.

More prayers for our soldiers and their families!

Many thanks to Mark Sullivan for bringing people here and reminding them to pray for Eric. I spoke with his wife two days ago. Knowing she's talking care of three kids all below the age of four I asked if there was anything I could do for her. "Just pray." she said. Please pray for Eric and for his family, and for all our troops and their families. Thank you.

March Schedule for the Washington Capella Antiqua Gregorain Chant in Latin

Note the change of location below, all you Latinate Counter-revolutionaries!

Tuesday, March 25 -- 7:30 p.m.

Solemn Vespers with Procession in honour of the
Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord [Lady Day]. in the
Roman Rite/Sarum Use, sung in Roman/Sarum Chant with polyphonic
Magnificat by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) and Sub tuum praesidium by
John Taverner (1495-1545).
[CHANGE OF LOCATION]: St. Michael's Church 805 Wayne Avenue Silver Spring MD 20910

Parking: at the MD Public Parking facility on Pershing Drive, right behind the church, with entrances on Spring Street and Pershing Drive. Parking is free on Saturdays. Also limited parking space on Pershing Drive itself.
Metrorail: Red Line, Silver Spring Station.
NB. Please do not park in the parking lot adjacent to the Whole Foods, Strosniders, etc shopping centre, which faces one of the church's sides; this is only for shoppers, and autos are indeed towed away if their owners go somewhere else, including the churches located thereabout.

Chief Moose

Some of you may remember Chief Moose from the DC Sniper news conferences.
Today I found out that Chief Moose is also Major Moose.

I think there's a kid's show in here somewhere...

Major Moose Goes to Baghdad
Major Moose Cooks Saddam's Goose
Major Moose is on the Loose!
Major Moose Won't Settle for a Truce!

Fr. Dan Twomey was pastor of St. Patrick's in Natick, Mass. until 2001. Orthodox and scripturally-minded, he brought an evangelical zeal to the parish, ridding it of its dependence on fund-raising Bingo games, encouraging lay apostolates and starting Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist. When he departed without explanation, parishioners were left guessing for the reason. This week he met with them to provide the answers.

Remember the crackpots in Australia who thought they saw an image of our Lady in a fence post? Well, it hasn't taken long for somebody to cash in on this new "apparition". You can have your very own prayers e-mailed to Australia to be delivered to the site of the "image" for a mere $16.50 each. That's possible thanks to the folks at virginmaryprayers.com, and it looks like the emphasis should be on the .com, as in "commerce". On the other hand, if you want to give them a voluntary donation of $25 or $100 to "help pay for the administration of this site", they'll take that too, though I doubt they're spending as much as $100 a year to run the thing.

How do I know about all this? Because they spammed a friend o'mine, and they'll probably spam you too before long. That act by itself qualifies them as notorious public sinners.

Ahem, Catholic Light does not endorse the aforementioned site.

I don't know if this reflects any larger trend, but here in my town, the local supermarket is selling the French brie -- not the domestic brie -- for 40% off the usual price. Mind you, this is in a suburb of Boston.

Pray for our Chaldean brethren

While pursuing my licentiate in canon law at Saint Paul University, I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to study at and participate in activities at the Metropolitain Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies. There I met and came to an appreciation of the Tradition of a number of our Eastern Christian brethren, both Catholic and Orthodox. So it is with a certain sadness of heart that I read the following piece: Iraq Christians Fearful Of Backlash.

Particularly heart-wrenching is the following paragraph: "Who can predict what will happen if the genie gets out of the bottle?" Father Youssef Tuma told Reuters. "Prayers are all we have left. In the event of an aggression by the West, we pray the other party does not take it out on us or look at Christians of the East as the cause," he said. Christian leaders in Iraq, an officially secular country which has tolerated a variety of religious groups, said they have seen an increase in anti-Christian sentiment, mainly from Sunni Wahhabis, followers of a very strict form of Islam popular in Saudi Arabia.

Like the Holy Father, my heart and prayers go out to our Chaldean brothers and sisters in Christ. Regardless of the outcome, we need to pray for our Chaldean brethren in Iraq as well as all our Christian brethren in the Middle-East.

Did I pray enough?

As war will likely begin soon, I'm stuck asking myself whether or not I prayed enough alongside the Holy Father for a peaceful solution. Although I'm ashamed to say it, the answer is probably no. Nevertheless, I continue to take heart in the following words of St. Josemaria Escriva: "There are many of us; with the help of God, we can reach everywhere..."

Devotees of San Gandolfo brought his statue from Polizzi Generosa in Sicily all the way to Little Italy in Manhattan 105 years ago, but it looks like the landlord is making him move again.

Thousands of Iraqi Troops Appear Ready to Surrender

I guess John and I saw this news item at the same time!

As the 48-hour clock continues to wind down on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, there are signs that thousands of Iraqi troops are planning to surrender to the U.S. and its allies even in the first hours of war, Fox News has learned.

Maybe they bought the white flags from France...

Diplomatic Failure?

If the US can pull this off, I'd say we've accomplished diplomacy in an area where it actually had a chance to be successful. The major challenge of international relations in the coming years will be dealing with the crazy, evil dictators who can't be trusted or negotiated with.

From Foxnews.com: Signs of Surrender

Tractor Standoff Continues

This might sound silly particularly with war pending, but Constitution Avenue is shutdown between 15th and 23rd streets in downtown DC. That means it's a traffic nightmare downtown. And this is going on 24 hours!

I'm waiting for the guy to either fall asleep or get temporarily crazy from the lack of sleep.

Shortly before dozing off in the seat of his John Deere tractor, Dwight Ware Watson is quoted as saying, "Watermelon daiper panorama! Winston Churchill melted around the crock pot! Drivers wanted!"

An interesting piece from NRO

Saddam’s Babel - Reading about the pending war in the Bible by David Klinghoffer

This flies in the face of that rapture and tribulation hysteria.

New blog!

Against the Grain

"Occasional notes of a (mostly) philosophical or theological nature by the maintenance guy for the RatzingerFanClub."

Well, maybe not so new since Christopher says he started blogging in December of last year, but new to me!

Catholic doctrine and Saddam Hussein

Editorial in the Washington Times today.

What's wrong with this picture?

Look back at Sal Ravilla weekend here on Catholic Light. Mixing the cynical with the sacred is something I'm not too proud of. Anyone know of a religious order I can join with a smart-alecky sort of spirituality? The Fathers of Perpetual Corpulence perhaps?

Cal Thomas is on a roll today

A long time ago, in a country that now seems far, far away, the United States of America was feared and respected, especially by its enemies. No nation or terrorist group considered attacking America on its own soil, and most people thought twice before harming an American overseas.

On the day of Ronald Reagan's Inauguration in 1981, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini released 52 American hostages he had held for 444 days. He had kept them that long because he realized a weak and indecisive President Jimmy Carter (who now advises President Bush to follow a similar path) wasn't going to employ force to get them back. The ayatollah rightly feared Mr. Reagan might turn Iran into a parking lot if he didn't let our people go.

Mr. Thomas used to play basketball you know. That doesn't have anything to do with anything - I'm just throwing that out there. Oh, and he's not Catholic but Jesus loves him like there is only Cal Thomas and no one else.

No really - you can't take it with you!

Go read "Penny-pinching Prior Lake priest paid homage his way" (link via it's a mystery) I won't spoil by commenting too much on it, except to say I like this old priest's style:

[Father Bill] Seefeldt "dearly loved the church," but he was an old-guard, Ten Commandments-kind of priest, Thompson said. He would arrive to say Monday mass with his worn book of the saints and notes for his homily. He didn't much like new songs in the Gather II hymnal.

"So I made up a 'Father Bill Hymnal' with old songs that date to the late 1940s," Thompson said. "He'd hand it out at the beginning of every mass."

That would be my goal as a priest - to have a hymnal cobbled together of all my favorites and have it named after me.

Bush: Monday Is 'Moment of Truth for the World'

Saddam released a statement saying that if attacked, Iraq would take the war throughout the world to "wherever there is sky, land or water."

Anima Christi

RC can suggest another translation if he wishes!

Prayer for penitents

Padre Pio recommended this prayer:

My past, O Lord, to Thy Mercy
My present to Thy Love,
My future to Thy Providence!

That's just a little something I would throw out there for Lent. God bless you!

Sal@work: Mixing it up again

I'm beginning to think I should give up talking to this guy about religion for Lent...

Spirit-filled Christian Guy: "The Catholic Church is just a social club. They don't really know Jesus."

Sal: "The Catholic Church is part of the mystical body of Christ. How can you presume to judge one billion people?"

SFCG: "The Eucharist is just a symbol."

Sal: "No, it's the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

SFCG: "The Sacraments are just rituals - they don't have any meaning."

Sal: "Christ gave us the Sacraments as the unfailing sources of His grace and mercy."

SFCG: "You can't put God in a box."

Sal: "You just did! You said the Eucharist is only a symbol and the Sacraments are meaningless - you 'put God in a box' by stating He isn't really present through those means."

He wants to give me some tapes and listen to some "testimony" by former Catholics. I told him I wasn't interested. Before we parted I asked how the Holy Spirit could lead so many people in so many different ways. "You can't put God in a box," he replied. Touché.

Alone Among the Pro-Peace Crowd

Falling on the pro-peace side of the current debate, things can be a little lonely at times given that overall, I think George W. Bush is a good President. (I'm particularly happy about his support for a ban on partial-birth abortion.) That being said, I will continue to stand with the Holy Father on the issue of the potential war with Iraq. I don't think we've exhausted all peacefull options when it comes to disarming Iraq, and I think we also need the support the United Nations (or given the current French threat to use a veto, at least the moral victory that would come from a clear majority within the Security Council).

Nevertheless, over the last couple of weeks I have seen some silly arguments and ploys arise on both sides of the debate. Since you're already familiar with those on the pro-peace side, allow me to address a couple on the pro-war side. The first is the attempted change in name from "French Fries" and "French Toast" to "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast". Besides the fact that French Fries actually come from Belgium, I just don't see what this accomplishes. If we are to be consistent here, should we also not change the name of one of our favorite saints in America to "St. Freedom of Assisi"? After all, his father chose the name "Francis" in honor of the French.

Secondly, some are suggesting that the Holy Father considers this potential war moral because he has not excommunicated or threatened with excommunication those who partake in the war. The argument goes that if the Church considered the actions of the US and the UK to be immoral, the Church would be obliged to excommunicate all those who partake in it. This shows a poor grasp of the canonical concept of excommunication, which should only be used in the rarest of circumstances. This is why, in the last Century or two, while addressing the political leaders, Rome has seldom excommunicated the troops in the field. Very often, these folks just get dragged into things.

That being said, there are two obvious answers to the Pope-hasn't-excommunicated-the-coalition-of-the-willing argument. First, there are a number of Chaldean Catholics in Saddam's army, who will likely be fighting for Saddam. The Chaldean Catholic Church is in full communion with Rome. Given that the Holy Father has not excommunicated or threatened to excommunicate those Chaldean Catholics among Saddam's ranks, does this mean that the Church also supports Iraq's actions as just? Secondly, Cardinal Ratzinger, despite his strong personal distaste for Hitler and the Nazi regime, served in the German Army during World War II. I don't recall ever coming across anything that suggests that young Josef Ratzinger was excommunicated during this time. Therefore, does this mean that recent criticism of the Church's handling of World War II are correct and Pope Pius XII really did side with the Nazis? If not, then why didn't he excommunicate those young German Catholics like Ratzinger who fought on Germany's side?

This Saturday is a Special Day

March 15th: International Eat an Animal for PETA Day

I think I need to take an animal out of my freezer tonight before I go to bed... or perhaps take my wife to a rib place... or make a big meatloaf with a hard boiled egg inside...

Some musical recommendations

O Nata Lux by Morten Lauridsen. There's a wonderful Robert Shaw recording of this. I assure you this piece is sung in heaven.
Alina by Arvo Part - as close to new age as you can get without being crap. Very relaxing combo of piano and strings. Comes in a cool light blue box.

That's all for now.

Sal@work: "Good" Catholic me

Spirit-filled Christian guy introduced me to a new employee as "Our good Catholic boy." I told him it was Lent, which is when good Catholics recognize that they are bad, or at least have done bad things. He launched into a tirade about how our sins are covered and from our mouths come rivers of living water and he knows he's going to heaven how about you, Sal? Hmmm? I said, "Do you know why it's raining? It's because God is crying about something I did." At that moment it was actually raining and I am sure it was my fault. Don't give me that hydrologic cycle crap - it's mea maxima culpa! Spirit-filled Christian guy doesn't know any Latin. He knows some latins, but no Latin.

(Thanks to The Cranky Professor for the link.)

Maybe Moran is right

Maybe we are getting into this war with Iraq because of the, ahem, influence of the Jewish community. Otherwise why would have named our newest weapon "Moab"?

Adorers needed!

There will be 24-hour adoration for seven days at St. Catherine of Siena
Church , Great Falls, VA, to pray for peace -- from 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11 until 9 a.m.on
Tuesday, March 18.

Adorers are needed. Contact Fran Chronowski at 703-759-4788 to sign up for
a slot.

BRING PEACE TO THE WORLD BY PRAYING FOR THE CONVERSION OF HEARTS

· 24 HOUR ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
· RECITATION OF THE HOLY ROSARY

FROM: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 (starting with the 9 a.m. Mass)
TO: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 (ending with the 9 a.m. Mass)

AT
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA CHURCH
1020 SPRINGVALE ROAD
GREAT FALLS, VA
FR. FRANKLYN McAFEE, PASTOR

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYER AND ADORATION. COME AT ANY HOUR, BUT IF YOU CAN
COME AT SPECIFIC HOURS PLEASE CONTACT:

Fran Chronowski - 703 759-4788 Rusty Rawding - 703 941-1670

“I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but
rather in his conversion that he may live.”
--Ezekiel 33:11

A great reason to chuck that devil box!

TV violence linked to aggression from the Washington Times.

Children who frequently watched violent TV shows were more likely to engage in highly aggressive behavior as adults, a newly released, 15-year-long study says.

The findings held for both men and women regardless of education, income, social status or family background, University of Michigan psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard D. Eron and their colleagues said in the study. It appears in this month's issue of Developmental Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association.

Men who were frequent viewers of violent television programs as children were significantly more likely than other men to have pushed, grabbed or shoved their spouses, the study said. They also were more likely to respond to an insult by shoving a person and more likely to have been convicted of a crime or committed a moving traffic violation.

Over at the HMS, Kevin Miller gives a rebuttal to my post below about the Dreher column and the overwrought responses it has garnered.

Part of the dispute comes from the suggestion that maybe nobody at NR is "a sincere Catholic". Now, I don't happen to read that magazine these days, but to me, that's a serious charge: yet Kevin openly defends it.

I take "sincere" to mean such things as "honest", "unfeigned", "heartfelt", "genuine in feeling" -- and to call someone "insincere" is tantamount to calling him a hypocrite. Our Lord was entitled to do that, or maybe a reader of souls like Padre St. Pio, but for you or me, or Kevin or Victor to do that strikes me as somewhere between imprudent and impudent. It's an accusation about the person's inner intentions, so there's a pretty high burden of proof. On the other hand, if they want to say that this or that fellow Catholic (Dreher or Fr. Schall or whoever) is in error, or is inconsistent, that would be fine with me.

Kevin defends Greg Popcak's analysis (on the Pope's role vis-à-vis bishops) as based on sound theology, but I think it's hard to tell, because Greg uses some vague language to express his thoughts. He writes:

Likewise, the Pope cannot "unmake" a bishop at his will, he may, however, ask a bishop to resign if he is SURE that it is God's will that he do so.

First, no one, not even God, can "unmake" a bishop, in the sense of undoing the sacramental character of ordination, so the terminology here is confused.

As for the talk about being "SURE" of God's will, what is Greg's basis for writing this? A bishop can either be deprived of office or be asked to resign. Either way, the grounds are relatively objective and stated in church law, not based on anybody's discernment of God's will.

I don't think this is such clear theology.

Two things from the Washington Post

Would you like a little glimpse of the mind of Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussien? Saddam's Tough to Persuade. Cuba Tried

Also - how's this for a summit of neighboring nations?
"Shut up, you minion, you agent, you monkey." and
"You are a liar and your grave awaits you."

When Lent doesn't make sense

At some point in your life - you've been there. Lent came early. The nights are still long, it's cold and gray, and it wasn't so long ago that Jesus was a little baby in the manger. "I'm not ready for Lent" - the sacrifice, the difficult scripture, the fasting - it just seems so grim. This has happened to me before because when I've had particularly difficult times getting the choir ready for Christmas and I'm just over the hump of learning all that music. Or work is hard and I drag myself home at night only to be too exasted to cook dinner. Lately, I've haven't found much peace in the prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I haven't found much peace period. It sounds a bit dark, but I feel as though God is taking me through a difficult time and I need to learn to be somewhat unhappy, uncomfortable, unsure and empty.

In that respect, I wasn't quite ready for Lent but was thrust directly into it. Still, I've been given the grace of being able to see the light, some light, at the end of the tunnel. So I can't characterize what I'm feeling as depression. It's more a realization that I have so far to go and that much of what I've been doing in my life is not journeying directly toward God but rather wandering. And this year, even though the journey is difficult, the path is true.

A few of the bloggers took Rod Dreher to task Friday for his latest WSJ column, in which he compares the Vatican's full-court press against a war on Iraq with its less vigorous approach with respect to the sex-abuse scandals in the US, and grouses at the latter.

Greg Popcak called the article "idiotic" and the sentiments "bordering on irrational". I expected him to grill Dreher: are you now or have you ever been an Ultramontanist? And Victor Lams, seldom given to harsh judgments, wonders whether no-one writing for National Review is "a sincere Catholic". Considering the company that Rod is in as an NR writer, that sort of talk was over the top.

When orthodox Catholics express the wish that Pope John Paul would intervene more vigorously in Church life over here to correct abuses, they're often told: sorry, dears, things just don't work that way; the Pope is fulfilling his role, and it's up to the bishops here to fulfill theirs. Can't argue with that.

This notion that Pope John Paul passed up opportunities to discipline bishops must be some fringe view held by people who really don't understand the Church's tradition on governance -- unless you want to take seriously people like James Hitchcock, Ralph McInerny, George Weigel, and Tom Bethell.

From the Become What You Are blog

Dear John,

David Reuter

CourtTV - where stars are born

"Hey! I know you! You're the woman who slipped on dog poop at Petsmart and got a jury trial!"

Maybe for health reasons, maybe due to his role in the scandal. I hope it's not the latter: that would make the Mass in Bp. Moreno's honor today a bit sticky.

Hey, Gordon Zaft, you're on the scene: can you add anything?

equaltime.blogspot.com

Re: Mercury and Fish - here's something from the U.S. Tuna Foundation

You bet.

Just in time for Lent...

James Swan of NRO gives us the skinny on eating fish in Mercury Rising.

No one noticed Sean Hannity?

Sean Hannity, God bless him, was on Hannity and Colmes last night with a big smudge of ashes on his forehead. Thanks for reminding your viewers it was Ash Wednesday, Mr. H.

Thankful for: my dog

I know that sounds silly, but lots of great things can come from having a dog.

My dog's name is Eva (pronounced like "Ave" backwards) and she was selected by my wife from a group of stray pooches at the Fairfax animal shelter. She was 4 months old and needed a bath, steady food and a lot of training. The sign on her cage said she "fights over food" which usually means she's been a stray a while and is used to going hungry. We couldn't quite make out what the sign said until the lady at the desk said, "Hmm. She fights over food. Do you have any other animals?" We have two cats - the first few weeks were a bit of an adventure because she wasn't happy the cats got the run of the house and got food while she was in her crate.

I could write for hours about how great my dog is. But instead I'll write about the great things having her have taught me.
1. Consistency and discipline: dogs need walks. Dogs need training. Dogs need exercise. This forces you to do those things and be consistent. You can't be lazy and treat a dog well. Walks can be decent prayer time as well.
2. Conversation: dogs make for good conversation. Neighbors get sucked in to getting to know your dog sometimes before they get to know you. They force you to engage people and be cordial, if not open.
3. Companionship: dogs remind you how wonderful creation is and how good God is. Dogs remind Man of his need to care for creation.
4. Simplicity: Very simple things make dogs ecstatic. It's good to consider that you can find happiness in the simple things God sends your way.
5. Dogs sleep in: My dogs is not like my cats, who dance on my head at 5:30am because it's feeding time. Thank God for that.

This Lent

My wife always asks me what I'm giving up for Lent, knowing that I give something up. She prefers to add acts of charity and almsgiving rather than focus on the thing to give up. For me, beer and wine are on the Index of Forbidden Beverages at least until Easter. We're going to starting praying the rosary together in the evening before bed as well.

I'm also going to post some things I'm thankful for here during Lent. It seems to me I need to think about those things in the context of Lent and that may open me up to the grace of being more humble and receptive to God's will in my life.

Lent around St. Blogs

Fr. Jim Tucker: Ash Wednesday Homily.

Online Lenten Retreat - Day One

Books for Lent, brought to you by sortofnapping.com, Amy Welborn.

A nice list from Karen.

I'll stop now that I see she's done more research than I have!

post deleted

I took off the pic of the hairy man because I got sick of looking at him.

March Schedule for the Washington Cappella Antiqua

The Washington Cappella Antiqua is dedicated to the restoration and performance of ancient and medieval chants. The Cappella is directed by musicologist Dr. Patrick Jacobson (Ikila988@aol.com).

Tuesday, March 25 -- 7:30 p.m.
Solemn Vespers with Procession in the Roman Rite/Sarum Use, in honour of the
Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord [Lady Day].

Place: St. Ann's Church Wisconsin Avenue & Yuma Street NW [Tenley Circle]

Parking: Church's own lot, entrance on Yuma Street; also parking on Yuma Street and Wisconsin Avenue.
Metrorail: Red Line, Tenleytown Station.

Saturday, March 29 -- 6:30 p.m.
First Vespers of Laetare Sunday/Lent IV/Mothering Sunday in the Roman Rite/Vatican II Use.

Place: Caldwell Hall Chapel, Catholic University of America Michigan Ave. & 4th ST NE, Washington DC 20017

Parking: on CUA Campus and Harewood Road NE; free on Saturdays.
Metrorail: Red Line, Brookland /CUA Station, CUA Exit.

The Drinking Game that Kathryn Lively invented for readers of "St. Blog's Parish" needs a new rule: you can take a drink whenever our co-blogger Pete Vere turns up as a participant in yet another weblog. With Gratian's Commentary, Catholic Light, Envoy Encore, maybe Caritas Unitas et Veritas, the non-functional "catholic,eh.blogspot.com" blog [Thou shalt not put a comma in a host name and expect it to work well], and his own blog, plus appearances at TCRNews and Onerock, our Pete is well on his way to earning the epithet "promiscuous". Which ones have I not yet spotted? Cheers!

Eat An Animal for PETA Day

As some of you know, Sarasota is the circus capital of the Americas. Additionally, I'm a big fan of the circus and when canon law questions arise, am often called upon to assist our Catholic circus chaplains. In fact, I will be having dinner with Fr. Jerry Hogan, head circus chaplain for the USA, this Friday. That being said, a growing headache whenever I bring my family to the circus is wading through a bunch of obnoxious PETA protesters. For those of you who don't know it, PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In my experience, most of them are also pro-aborts.

Anyway, my buddy and former classmate, Steve Martinovich over at Enter Stage Right has just tipped me off that March 15th is National Eat an Animal for PETA Day. I'm gonna be cleaning out my charcoal smoker, purchasing some mesquite chips, getting some Sonny's BBQ sauce, and slap down a nice rack of ribs, thick juicy beef roast and a lemon-garlic rubbed chicken for the event. Any of our readers in the Sarasota area are invited to join me. Please RSVP before next Saturday.

Keeping the Fundamentalist Christian Customer Satisfied

Hello, all! I've been on retreat (not in the French sense) which is why I been absent for a space of time. I have returned from my interior vacation and will be blogging like all you other bloggers out there with plenty of time on your hands and tons of interesting things to say. My next post will be on the new GIRM and it is entitled "Orans you glad we don't have to hold hands during the 'Our Father'?"

Until then enjoy this bit on the mark of the beast: Bible college hangs up on 666 prefix

"We're just elated that the number has been changed," said Rob Roy MacGregor, the college's vice president of business affairs. "It was like we had this Scarlet Letter attached to us."

Fr. Sibley, chef of the Saintly Salmagundi, thinks that in this image, our Lord has been given His worst hairstyle ever.

I'm surprised Father doesn't appreciate it, especially since he writes to us from Louisiana. I expected him to recognize that work of art as an example of inculturation.

And now, a hymn: O Sacred Head surrounded with mullet tawny brown, No, no -- I'd better stop there. I don't want to spoil this Holy Week hymn for everybody.

While I'm still undecided on the war with Iraq, mainly because I feel the situation in North Korea is much more urgent and dangerous to our immediate future, the one thing that leaves me scratching head with many of these left-wing peace protesters is their penchant toward nudity. What the heck is this about? If certain peace protesters feel this is such a necessity, why don't they buy a ticket to some Islamic middle-East country which is governed by the Sharia and unrobe there? As a bonus, they could ask Planned Parenthood to arm them with plenty of pro-abortion pamphlettes. I'm sure the representatives of the religion of peace would afford them a warm welcome.