When I saw the headline above in the New York Times, my heart lept with joy. At last, we are getting serious about the war on terror!
Then I realized that the lawyers were going to Guantánamo to serve as legal representatives for the detained thugs. They weren't going as prisoners. My heart stopped leaping.
Ah, well. Maybe someday.
Is there something in the water in Scandinavia? Do they just have a natural inclination to the absurd? A year after a minister in Denmark's Evangelical Lutheran Church was suspended for denying the existence of God, he's back, since as his supervising bishop indicates, "although he disagrees with Grosboell's views there should be room for him in Denmark's state church."
Our indult Mass in Boston celebrated Corpus Christi for the 15th time today with an outdoor procession, and a team from the AP came around to get a story about us.
Here's the piece by reporter Michael Kunzelman, and photos by AP's Michael Dwyer: 1, 2 (with me), and 3.
(Sorry, no pics of the procession yet.)
I'll quote the story below, since it will presumably drop off the newspaper's site in a few days. If the press spells your name wrong in the photo caption, does it count against your 15 minutes of fame?
Here's something to "anchorage" you, as the Pope says: an article about reform moves by Richmond's new bishop.
When people in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond go to Mass, they want a Roman Catholic Latin rite liturgy, says the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo.Wow! A bishop who not only gets it: he's willing to say it! God bless him!
A right-wing, xenophobic publication yesterday published a feature story on Mexican immigrants, insinuating that our immigration policies (or lack thereof) are exploiting the poor and vulnerable:
...But for Juan Manuel Peralta, a 34-year-old illegal immigrant who worked [at a diner] for five years until he was fired last May, and for many of the other illegal Mexican immigrants in the back, restaurant work today is more like a dead end. They are finding the American dream of moving up far more elusive than it was for [diner owner] Mr. Zannikos. Despite his efforts to help them, they risk becoming stuck in a permanent underclass of the poor, the unskilled and the uneducated.They even found a Hispanic-hating immigration "reformer" who thinks Mexicans don't have what it takes to make it in the U.S.:That is not to suggest that the nearly five million Mexicans who, like Mr. Peralta, are living in the United States illegally will never emerge from the shadows. Many have, and undoubtedly many more will. But the sheer size of the influx - over 400,000 a year, with no end in sight - creates a problem all its own. It means there is an ever-growing pool of interchangeable workers, many of them shunting from one low-paying job to another. If one moves on, another one - or maybe two or three - is there to take his place.
...Of all immigrants in New York City, officials say, Mexicans are the poorest, least educated and least likely to speak English.Can you believe those people for writing and saying such things?The failure or success of this generation of Mexicans in the United States will determine the place that Mexicans will hold here in years to come, Mr. Sarukhan said, and the outlook is not encouraging.
"They will be better off than they could ever have been in Mexico," he said, "but I don't think that's going to be enough to prevent them from becoming an underclass in New York."
Okay, joke's over. Both passages appeared in a front-page story in the New York Times called "15 Years on the Bottom Rung." Mr. Sarukhan is Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican consul general in New York, and thus probably not a "Hispanic-hater."
Overlooking the manic obsessions of the Times' worldview (class, race, etc.), you can see the writer is uncomfortable with the illegal immigrants' plight. It is clearly exploitative to take advantage of poor people's poverty and allow them to take low-wage, often dangerous jobs, and the article conveys their precarious position vividly.
Catholic Light readers may recall this critique of the USCCB's less-than-satisfactory position on immigration, which said in part that
High immigration levels hurt the poor and the vulnerable, and are thus immoral. How do they do that? Through supply and demand: immigrants, legal or illegal, flood certain parts of the labor market, driving down the price of labor. Businesses love that, but it ends up screwing over the people who were already in the U.S., including less recent immigrants. If these labor market segments were more static, businesses would be forced to train these workers, give them better equipment, and pay them more.Looks likt the NYT is catching up with CL!
The following is a chronology of me watching Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. All times are approximate.
Movie Start minus 3 minutes, 23 seconds — Why is there a commercial for "Joey" before the movie? Is that show still on? If so, why?
MS-2:09 — Another television ad, this time for a DVD set of "Will and Grace." I like movie previews, but what's with the TV ads? Man, that Jack guy is annoying. He's kind of a Stepin Fetchit for the gays.
MS+1:04 — Finally, the movie is starting. I forget, what was the original Bridget Jones about? All I remember is her kicking drug dealers' butts and wearing a big afro. Oh, wait...that was "Cleopatra Jones."
MS+10:58 — Already bored. Not a good sign.
MS+18:34 — Renée Zellweger looks completely dreadful. Horrible hair and bloated, unhealthy-looking body; ill-fitting and unflattering clothes. I used to think people were being superficial when they commented on actors' looks, but I've changed my mind. They're supposed to look good, or at least not bad. That's their job. God made the human form beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with appreciating it.
MS+22:27 — Not only is she bad looking, she makes it worse with her personality. She keeps talking about sex — not romance, but the act itself, and how wonderful it is that she's found someone to copulate with her. Needy, neurotic, paranoid and charmless...what man wouldn't want that?
Her boyfriend, Colin Firth, would be screaming and running away from her if he were a real person.
MS+24:20 — Hugh Grant! Finally! I want to dislike you because you are far more suave and handsome than I am, but you are hilarious and charming. Surely you will make this movie more bearable for me.
MS+49:31 — Tomorrow I should clean the garage...I wonder if there will be time to weed the front garden, because it sure needs it...does Chris need his air compressor back?...I think it's time for a glass of port....
MS+1:00:09 — I have now spent an entire hour watching this vulgar slattern. Where are you, Hugh? Come back and do something amusing!
MS+1:17:02 — She is not leading those Thai girls in a song-and-dance number to Madonna's "Like a Virgin." I'm going to the bathroom.
MS+1:31:51 — Why are Hugh and Colin fighting over that woman? Now Paige is telling me that this is like the fight from the first movie, of which I have almost no recollection.
MS+1:43: — At last, the end credits. I have no problem with "date movies" per se, nor do I hate the "chick flick" proper, but this movie was truly a pandering piece of tripe. I wish we had watched "The Incredibles" again, and I bet Paige does, too.
As some of you know, I've spent close to the last two years on an MBA program at UMUC.
Our last seminar is management strategy, and our capstone project is to develop a business plan for a civil engineering company (the Louis Berger Group) to expand to Libya.
We complete the program on June 18th, with a presention of a capstone project to the faculty and corporate sponsors.
I haven't written about the program much because I spend so much time doing school work I have no interest in blogging about it. Until today.
One of our professors gave us a little nugget I thought of today. He said that strategy decisions should be made to give a company a sustainable competitive advantage. If Beer Company A thinks they can spank Beer Company B by dropping their price, they are wrong. Beer Company B can drop their price and both companies can live with lower profits. The price drop doesn't provide a competitive advantage - it's actually a pretty boneheaded move.
I saw a Subway commercial today - they are now offering to toast your sub. Toasted or untoasted, just let them know.
So what will Quizno's do? No more "Mmmm, toasty!" commercials. Because there's no longer a competitive advantage with the "toasty" line. They might have to try tasty. Or more nutritious. But toasty is won't fly anymore.
Suppose someone you know died, and his surviving family didn't talk about his life. You went to the wake, but the only thing they did was read off a short list of attributes: lived in Topeka, Kansas; worked as an insurance adjuster; was married with three kids; dead at 49.
Nobody prayed for the departed soul, nor did anyone try to publicly comfort the family. No eulogies were delivered; there were no amusing anecdotes about the deceased, or heartfelt recollections. If this is was supposed to honor a man's life, you would probably think that reducing him to the facts listed on a credit application was inadequate, if not disrespectful.
"Nightline" is pretty much doing the same thing, only they're just sticking to the names of the dead. Powerline quotes Arthur Chrenkoff:
Ted Koppel will be again reading out the names of American soldiers fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan sice last year. I've got a modest proposal to Ted Koppel and "Nightline": why don't you read one day the names and show the pictures of the 170,000 or so American servicemen and women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan who every day are working their hardest to ensure that democracy takes root, terrorists are defeated, and these two countries have a chance to build a better future for their people. That might convince a cynic such as myself that you really care for the troops generally, and not just only when they can be cynically used to embarrass the Bush Administration.170,000 is more names than they can cover in an hour, so here's a counter-proposal: why not do an hour on medal winners of Operation Iraqi Freedom?
How about Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith, who received a Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for saving 100 of his fellow soldiers, and giving up his life to do it?
Or Marine Sergeant Raphael Peralta, whose last act was to shield his squad from a grenade with his own body?
Or PFC Patrick Miller, who singlehandedly wiped out an Iraqi mortar position to stop them from blowing up a fuel truck and his fellow soldiers?
One would think those stories are eminently more watchable than a laundry list of names. The last time he did this, Koppel insisted he was "honoring the troops" or some platitude. I don't watch "Nightline," so maybe they have done a multitude of positive stories about U.S. troops. If so, they have gone unnoticed by the sources I read. (Chime in if you watch the show regularly.)
If not, then reducing human lives to their names and the fact of their demise is disingenuous. When we want to honor the memory of our loved ones, we talk about them, not just their deaths.
This notice comes from a reader -- we're not endorsing it, but the event sounds like something we would like to attend:
TWENTIETH ANNUAL BALL FOR LIFE
Benefiting Good Counsel Homes which serves women and their children in crisis pregnancy situations.
HONORING
Peggy Noonan and Ambassador Faith Whittlesey
Honorary Co-chairmen Larry Kudlow & Sean Hannity
Black tie
Friday, June 3, 2005
8:00 pm - 12 midnight
New York Athletic Club
180 Central Park South
New York City
Order tickets here NOW - limited space!
I'm reminded by my business partner at our Web development and search engine marketing company that as of tomorow, there are only 100 days until Ohio State starts playing football again.
I would bet a bottle of gin that not one in five American adults could tell you what a "filibuster" is. Perhaps one in ten Americans think it's important, and that ten percent is scattered across the political spectrum. This is after weeks of public discussion about the proper use of the filibuster and the "nuclear option" (i.e., voting when the majority decides to vote).
But the chattering classes care about the filibuster, because it is the method by which the Democrats' dwindling minority gets to keep "religious extremists" and pro-lifers off the Federal bench. The Republicans could have given Senator "Ku Klux Klam" Byrd the smackdown he richly deserves, pleased the GOP's most fervent supporters, and made the judiciary more friendly toward economic rights, less friendly toward judge-made law, and possibly made some progress toward stopping the secular sacrament of abortion. The cost? Some nasty editorials in liberal newspapers. But those editorialists hate Republicans anyway, and would find something else nasty to say about them.
Yet a small group of Republicans managed to sell out their party, not to mention the constitutional principle that the Senate has a duty to examine and confirm judicial nominees. Even though they've been in the majority for most of the last decade, the Republicans once again demonstrate that they play like amateurs, and the Democrats play for keeps.
Maestro hopes to tap musical treasures at Vatican Library
PORTLAND, Maine — Toshiyuki Shimada wanted something exciting to do when he leaves his job as conductor of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He thinks he has found it in the role of a real-life Indiana Jones searching for musical treasures.A licensing deal gives the mild-mannered maestro and newly minted Yale University professor access to the Roman Catholic Church´s Vatican Library, allowing him to produce musical CDs based on its treasure trove of manuscripts and prints.
How much you want to bet someone from OCP tries to sneak a yellowed, coffee-stained "On Eagles Wings" into the Vatican Library. "It says it was written by Michaelus Joncasus! It must be authentic!"
The monthly men's choir I've been organizing this year sang at my suburban parish today for the eighth and last time -- last because (as I mentioned the other day) we've been laid off.
These were the sung parts:
Before Mass: Introit Benedicta sit
Entrance Hymn: All hail, adored Trinity (Old 100th)
Kyrie XVI
Gloria: recited (priest's preference, pfff)
Psalm (actually, a canticle from Daniel today): refrain on an OCP setting, verses on a psalm tone.
Alleluia: from Theodore Marier's hymnal
Offertory Hymn: Come, Thou Almighty King (Italian Hymn)
Sanctus XVIII
Memorial acclamation and Great Amen: Danish Amen Mass
Agnus Dei XVIII
At Communion: a chant hymn, Adesto sancta Trinitas, from the Cantus selecti
Recessional: Holy, Holy, Holy (Nicea)
We had an unusually large congregation today, with big young families overflowing into the choir loft. Maybe the word's been getting around. When the congregation got going on the final hymn, I realized that the singing had been downright vigorous, a real surprise for what John Schultz calls a Sunday evening "hangover Mass".
I'm glad we were able to go out with such good participation from the folks. Maybe the pastor and the music director will even get some feedback about people wanting classic Catholic music, and it might help the parish. As for me, I'll be happy to return to the easier status of being a singer in somebody else's choir. Thanks to the guys, congratulations to me :-) , and yes, thanks to the pastor and the music director who allowed it for eight months.
Gotta write some thank-you notes, and I still have to book that discussion with the pastor.
Please consider a prayer request from Tim Ferguson, Catholic Light reader, friend of Pete Vere, and one of the new friends I met when I was in Ottawa earlier this year. His father, William, just discovered that he has lung cancer that has spread to his brain. To make matters worse, Tim's sister Martha is finishing a regimen of chemotherapy for breast cancer, and his mother has just left the hospital because of heart trouble.
May God bless and protect your family from their physical ailments, Tim, and give you comfort as you witness their suffering. I will pray for them in front of the Blessed Sacrament this weekend, and I ask anyone else reading this to do the same.
The more I hear about B16, the happier I am.
Pope Benedict Without His Beloved Piano as Movers Struggle to Fit It Into His New Quarters
"ROME — Pope Benedict XVI, a fan of Mozart and Bach, is still without his piano as movers have been unable to fit it through the windows of his papal apartment, it was reported Wednesday...
Ratzinger, who apparently uses the piano to relax at times of stress, reportedly used to irk his neighbours by playing Mozart, Bach and Palestrina a little too loudly, according to German weekly Der Spiegel."
That's what we need: a Pope who plays Palestrina a little too loudly.
Limits on sales of wine rejected
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday made it easier for consumers to buy wine directly from out-of-state wineries with a ruling that struck down state restrictions on the sales.
Last week, Vatican Radio presented an interview with an American priest and theologian who served under then-Cardinal Ratzinger for several years as the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Fr. Augustine DiNoia, OP, speaks about the Holy Father from a personal angle in this audio excerpt (15 minutes, 2.8MB).
For tradition-minded music pros, adverse decisions are no big surprise, so here's a milestone in my development as a church musician: I've been fired for the first time! Well, really it would be correct to say I've been laid off.
The suburban parish near my home welcomed me and some fellow volunteers to sing a Sunday Mass with Gregorian chant monthly, starting last September, but when the parish's new building addition opens this summer, the Mass schedule is being cut from 9 services each weekend down to 5, and we are being cut along with it.
It's understandable that the music director wants to allocate the 20 Sunday Masses per month to the groups she's trying to foster. She's doing the best she can, one must assume. The result is the parish's loss, however, as our 4th-Sunday service became known as "the Mass with the really good music".
I'm going to meet with the pastor to give him a chance to tell me in person. He's a decent enough guy, and looked genuinely embarrassed when I ambushed him halfway up a flight of stairs today. It'll be an opportunity to find out what sort of feedback he got from the priests and the congregation. It'll all be indirect feedback, since despite his enthusiastic welcome, he never actually scheduled himself to celebrate the Masses for which we sang.
We'll be "on duty" this Sunday evening at 6 for our last time.
George Lucas has been drinking from the same fetid waters as the paranoid Left. His political ideas — which sound like they come from a dull 10-year-old — contributed mightily to the shambles he made of "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones." As I recall, the former movie was about some kind of trade dispute, an interstellar NAFTA without any space-alien equivalent of Ross Perot (assuming, of course, that Ross Perot is not a space alien.)
Here's what he said to the Cannes festival:
"The issue was, how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship?" he said.We've discussed this issue at some length here in CL, and as I recall, the only proof anybody could provide for a nascent dictatorship is that the president claims the power to detain Americans fighting against their own government."When I wrote it, Iraq (the U.S.-led war) didn't exist... but the parallels of what we did in Vietnam and Iraq are unbelievable."
He acknowledged an uncomfortable feeling that the United States was in danger of losing its democratic ideals, like in the movie.
"I didn't think it was going to get this close. I hope this doesn't come true in our country."
If you think President Bush is the first president to assert that right, you're wrong. Completely, demonstrably, comprehensively wrong. That idea goes back at least to Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War, who detained several hundred thousand Confederates on his own authority. In World War II, American saboteurs cooperating with German spies were executed after facing a military tribunal, not a Federal judge. The Supreme Court has agreed with this prececent (not that you'd know it from the media coverage). They merely invited the president to send the prisoners before tribunals.
George Lucas is an intellectual flyweight, so his particular words aren't terribly important. But the Left's general paranoia has a very real consequence. Someday, there very well might be a threat to our democracy. The Greeks assumed that all democracies would eventually give way to chaos and then a dictatorship of some form. But if the Left keeps screaming about "DICTATORSHIP" this and "NAZI" that, nobody will listen if indeed it does happen in the United States.
The Abbey of Solesmes web site shows the first volume of a new Antiphonale Monasticum (description in French) available.
The three-volume set is to be a successor to the 1934 Antiphonale: it is designed for Benedictine communities, presenting the Office in chant "in a renewed form conforming to the liturgical principles promulgated by Vatican II": that is, consistent with the Liturgia Horarum, and approved by the CDW in February.
The first volume includes the Ordinary parts of the Office and the seasonal propers, while the remaining volumes will present the offices for feasts and saints' days. Hymns are not included, as they are in the already published Liber Hymnarius.
The editors of the book have placed a fifteen-page article about it on-line (sorry, it's in .doc format), describing the principles and choices guiding the work. There are some changes in notation, particularly in the abandonment of certain markings invented early in the 20th century: the dot or mora vocis, the vertical episema, and the horizontal episema. The result is that a lot of rhythmic interpretation that once seemed standardized will now be left to the discretion of the chant master.
If you're interested in getting a copy, please note: some people are reporting that credit-card sales are not being accepted (successfully) by the Solesmes web site, but if you request direct billing, the order does go through.
Last week, near the end of my bike ride to work, I spotted hundreds of small white crosses staked in the ground east of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in downtown D.C. Wondering what they were for, I saw a young woman carrying a makeshift sign saying "America in Iraq" that she was preparing to hang someplace.
I immediately swerved across the grass toward two men conversing with each other, obviously discussing the logistics of their display. I stopped my bike about five feet away from them, and they stopped talking and looked at me. One of the men had short gray hair, professional-looking glasses and a baseball hat that said "KENT STATE." The other guy had jeans and a black shirt, and looked like a roadie.
"Did you get permission of the families before you put these up?" I demanded.
Gray Guy started glaring at me and said nothing — since he seemed older and had an air of authority about him, I assumed he was in charge. Black Shirt said no, they didn't need to get permission.
"Are you sure that everybody you're representing here agrees with your point of view? Because I'm absolutely sure that's not true."
No, no, said Black Shirt. This wasn't about pressing a political agenda, it was for the troops. I didn't buy it. You don't put a thousand crosses next to the Vietnam Memorial and then say you have no polical agenda.
"Who's going to protect the innocent people in Iraq if we leave?" I continued. Now Gray Guy was looking like he wanted to kill me. (Clearly, I was wrong: he wasn't in charge at all. I never did figure out why he was there.) Both of them were confused by my question.
"You mean the people who died on 9/11?"
"No, that has nothing to do with this. I'm talking about the innocent Iraqis who get blown up by terrorists every day."
"Are you talking about the 100,000 Iraqi civilians who have died?"
We interrupt this blog entry for a special message to the anti-war crowd: if you're going to pull a number straight out of your nether regions, you should1) make it sound real — try 104,000 or 117,000, anything but a round 100,000;
2) don't use the same freakin' number you used for the Gulf War (and mouthed by Gary Oldman in "Air Force One"); and
3) make the number increase as time goes by! In 2003, you people were already saying we killed 100,000 civilians. Well, surely we've killed at least 200,000 by now, right? I mean, give our boys some credit for diligence at least!
Back to the entry...
We went back and forth. Black Shirt, who introduced himself as Marcus, said he was a former Marine like me, and was "in during the Gulf War" (I'm not sure what he did). He kept insisting that his group was utterly apolitical, and that he didn't want Iraq veterans ending up like a lot of Vietnam veterans. Twenty-five percent of Iraq veterans were returning home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, he told me. (Which is a funny statistic, because a much smaller percentage of veterans were in actual combat.) In my experience, I replied, the vast majority of Iraq veterans considered it a worthy mission and that I personally considered it an honor to have served.
Marcus asked me to help him put up an American flag while we talked. I asked if it would be displayed respectfully, and he assured me that it would. I said sure, since I was already late for work. Once it was up, I shook hands with him, he gave me a postcard describing their group ("Veterans for Peace L.A.") and I wished him luck with his event, even though we did not agree on many things.
Because Marcus was a cordial and likeable man, I will avoid making snide comments about his group's headquarters of Santa Monica, one of the wealthiest places on the planet (and most liberal). But to return to the reason I pulled over in the first place, I think he and his cohorts are being disingenuous when they claim they have no political agenda. To consider a war properly, you have to consider the objective and ask whether the costs are worth it. Erecting a thousand crosses, without any context, is a falsehood.
If a thousand men have died in order to make a more just peace in the Middle East, and have slain thousands of murderers and thugs bent on oppressing a nation of 25 million, and thus made the people of the United States more secure, then I would say the cost is terrible but worth it. Better to hunt down and kill al Qaeda and their allies in Iraq, humiliating and eliminating their leadership, than to let them attack us again.
Thirty years ago, North Vietnam launched an offensive into the South, despite a promise not to invade. There was no American response, because there were no Americans to respond, the last U.S. forces having been removed in 1973. Just as anti-Communists had predicted, it was a human disaster. Tens of thousands were executed, and hundreds of thousands more were herded into "re-education camps" (a.ka. "political prisons.") Many Vietnamese took to the seas in rickety boats, preferring to risk death rather than live under the Communist regime.
The Left, having engineered the U.S. pullout from Vietnam, was an accessory to these crimes. There was no lack of evidence for the North's ruthlessness, or its ideological commitment to dominating the South. Leftists didn't care, because their goal was to shame America for its "sins," not because they cared about the Vietnamese or even peace itself.
Today, the Left's goal is more or less identical, except instead of portraying American servicemen as bloodlusting animals, they show them as victims. Either way, they use tales of human suffering as commodities which they sell to the American public, hoping that they can be convinced to abandon another ally. Iraqis, like the South Vietnamese, would get slaughtered, and the region could disintegrate into war and mayhem, but "America the imperialist bully" would suffer a grave defeat. As for the innocent who would die — too bad for them.
Given that, putting those thousand crosses next to the Vietnam Memorial is actually quite appropriate. Marcus, if you read this, I'll still take you at your word that you're "all about supporting the troops." If that's true, you're running with a disreputable crowd that doesn't give a damn one way or another.
What's exciting about the final Star Wars movie?
If you ask my wife, it's the dark chocolate M&Ms.
People think Death Stars are scary... how about this deconstruction by Dale Peck in the NY Post. Just rearrange some letters in "SITH" and you'll know what he thinks of it.
Come, Holy Spirit, and send down from heaven the ray of your light.
Come, father of the poor, come, giver of gifts, come, light of the hearts.
Best consoler, sweet host of the soul, sweet refresher.
Rest in work, cooling in heat, comfort in crying.
Oh most blessed light, fill the innermost hearts of your faithful.
Without your power nothing is in man, nothing innocent.
Clean what is dirty, water what is dry, heal what is wounded.
Bend what is rigid, heat what is cold, lead what has gone astray.
Grant to your faithful who trust in you, your sevenfold holy gift.
Grant us the reward of virtue, grant us final salvation, grant us eternal joy.
Take a look at Feminine Genius, a weblog by three smart voices in the authentic Catholic women's movement, all of them writing from Rhode Island: Canticle magazine editor Genevieve Kineke, writer Abigail Tardiff, and life-issues columnist Dale O'Leary. Welcome to St. Blog's Parish, friends!
Victor Lams has started releasing some of his newer songs at Catechism Rock. Real Purgatory takes a while, but Victor's "Purgatory" is a minute-thirteen of fun.
Pope Benedict was installed as bishop of Rome in a Mass at the city's cathedral on Saturday. His homily for the occasion is just so full of material for meditation that I want to look at it over a few days:
This day, in which for the first time I may sit in the chair of the Bishop of Rome, as Successor of Peter, is the day in which the Church in Italy celebrates the feast of the Lord's Ascension. At the center of this day is Christ. And only thanks to him, thanks to the mystery of his Ascension, are we able to understand the meaning of the chair, which in turn is the symbol of the authority and responsibility of the bishop. What, then, does the feast of the Lord's Ascension tell us? It does not say that the Lord has gone to a place far away from men and the world. The Ascension of Christ is not a journey into space to the most remote heavenly bodies, because in the end, heavenly bodies, like the earth, are also made up of physical elements.These words remind me of Our Lord's words in John 16:The Ascension of Christ means that he no longer belongs to the world of corruption and death, which conditions our life. It means that he belongs completely to God. He, the eternal Son, has taken our human being to the presence of God; he has taken with him flesh and blood in a transfigured form. Man finds a place in God through Christ; the human being has been taken into the very life of God. And, given that God embraces and sustains the whole cosmos, the Lord's Ascension means that Christ has not gone far away from us, but that now, thanks to the fact he is with the Father, he is close to each one of us forever. Each one of us may address him familiarly; each one may turn to him. The Lord always hears our voice. We may distance ourselves inwardly from him. We can live with our backs turned to him, but he always awaits us, and is always close to us.
"Now I am going to him who sent me, and no one of you asks me, 'Where art thou going?' But because I have spoken to you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. But I speak the truth to you; it is expedient for you that I depart. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if go, I will send him to you."Jesus goes to the Father, leaving this physical universe behind, so that his life -- his divine-human life -- is now fully given to the Father. He, hypostatically united to the Word of God, has brought our humanity to the Holy of Holies, to the eternal communion of the three divine persons.
Going away he has not abandoned us: being fully with the Father who gives the world existence, Jesus Christ is now tenderly present - with his divinity and humanity - to all created things and all created persons in their inmost depths.
Yet this is not enough: he sends the Holy Spirit who is active in all the Sacraments -- material signs of grace -- the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus present in them. Through the Sacraments Jesus becomes nearer to us than ever before. He goes beyond the relationship of Creator to creature and enters into the most profound union with us, becoming one with us, making each of us another Christ.
When you think of good American priests, think of men like Father Capodanno, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can read a book about his life by Father Daniel Mode (himself a Navy chaplain) if you want to learn more about him. It's quite inspiring. There is also a foundation dedicated to him, with a short biography. Below is his Medal of Honor Citation:
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Chaplain Corps, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF.
Place and date: Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam, 4 September 1967.
Entered service at: Staten Island, N.Y.
Born: 13 February 1929, Staten Island, N.Y.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Chaplain of the 3d Battalion, in connection with operations against enemy forces.
In response to reports that the 2d Platoon of M Company was in danger of being overrun by a massed enemy assaulting force, Lt. Capodanno left the relative safety of the company command post and ran through an open area raked with fire, directly to the beleaguered platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and mortar fire, he moved about the battlefield administering last rites to the dying and giving medical aid to the wounded.
When an exploding mortar round inflicted painful multiple wounds to his arms and legs, and severed a portion of his right hand, he steadfastly refused all medical aid. Instead, he directed the corpsmen to help their wounded comrades and, with calm vigor, continued to move about the battlefield as he provided encouragement by voice and example to the valiant marines.
Upon encountering a wounded corpsman in the direct line of fire of an enemy machine gunner positioned approximately 15 yards away, Lt. Capodanno rushed a daring attempt to aid and assist the mortally wounded corpsman. At that instant, only inches from his goal, he was struck down by a burst of machine gun fire. By his heroic conduct on the battlefield, and his inspiring example, Lt. Capodanno upheld the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
The title is no joke, but you might laugh at the connection: I'm looking for a book on doing business in Libya for my final MBA class.
Title: Libya Customs, Trade Regulations And Procedures Handbook
Publisher: Intl Business Pubns USA
ISBN: 0739755471
Amazon says it can't ship until July. If I can't get it in the next week or so, I won't be able to use it.
Who feels lucky and can try to find me a copy, either at a DC-area library or online for quick sale? Don't say Library of Congress, as I'll have to take a day off to go down there...
Jesus Christ Can't Get Driver's License
But he has an attorney so everything should work out ok.
Illustrated by Mr. Potato Head and photographer Kimberly Yau.
From the coverups in the sex-abuse scandal to the strange removals and reinstatements of priests, from the imposition of a dubious anti-abuse program to the silencing of a priest critical of it, from the somewhat arbitrary closing of parishes to the establishment's unwillingness to admit obvious mistakes, Boston Catholics aren't impressed with the quality -- let alone the content -- of the archdiocese's communications over the past couple of years, and some folks are talking back by stiffing the second collection today for the "Catholic Communication Campaign" -- and for the archdiocesan communications office.
Update: the Globe surveys the ongoing fuss.
Word has it that my fellow parishioners are joining in the financial protest. At Sunday's first Mass, the Communications collection took in 19 "funny-money" protest notes and fourteen $1 bills. The priest-administrator of the parish reportedly kicked press and TV reporters off the property and tried vainly to bar them from the sidewalk in front of the church. (That should make some good television.)
At the noon Mass, collection baskets were brimming with the pastel green faux-notes.
When I visited my Capuchin buddy Fr. Matthew last month, an old college friend of his was there for the occasion too, and together they told a story about how they traveled to Italy once, including some time in Rome. They went to visit the churches together, but Matthew's friend is an Evangelical, so some of the Catholic practices he saw there were more than a bit foreign to him. Matthew's devoted to the saints, and likes to express it by venerating their relics, which when you get down to it is a bit shocking to a good Bible Christian.
One day when they were visiting a church, Matthew saw an altar under which the relics of a martyr were displayed for the veneration of the faithful, so he knelt before it for a minute, and his friend asked what he was doing.
"Well, that's Saint (so-and-so)."
"He's buried here?"
"No." (And pointing to the remains:) "He's not under that: that's him. I'm asking him to bless my rosary." And he went back to his prayers.
Now, in telling the story, the Protestant chap laughs and says: my brain just fried then.
It's understandable. Just look at all the stuff going on, all of which would be shocking to a good Evangelical:
(1) Matthew was venerating a saint's relics!
(2) He was talking to the saint!
(3) He was asking him to do something!
(4) He was asking the saint to bless something!
(5) And the thing he was asking him to bless was a set of rosary beads for praying to the Virgin Mary!
It was a Catholic trifecta plus two.
A book excerpt by Evangelical writer David Murrow.
Tough, earthy, working guys rarely come to church. High achievers, alpha males, risk takers, and visionaries are in short supply. Fun-lovers and adventurers are also underrepresented in church. These rough-and-tumble men don’t fit in with the quiet, introspective gentlemen who populate the church today. The truth is, most men in the pews grew up in church. Many of these lifers come not because they desire to be transformed by Christ but because they enjoy participating in comforting rituals that have changed little since their childhood. There are also millions of men who attend services under duress, dragged by a mother, wife, or girlfriend. Today’s churchgoing man is humble, tidy, dutiful, and above all, nice.What a contrast to the men of the Bible! Think of Moses and Elijah, David and Daniel, Peter and Paul. They were lions, not lambs—takecharge men who risked everything in service to God. They fought valiantly and spilled blood. They spoke their minds and stepped on the toes of religious people. They were true leaders, tough guys who were feared and respected by the community. All of these men had two things in common: they had an intense commitment to God, and they weren’t what you’d call saintly.
Such men seldom go to church today.
...when a big corporation starts talking about its legislative agenda.
Can you guess which exec said this?
"After looking at the question from a diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda"
Not, it wasn't Ben or Jerry from Ben-n-Jerry's.
It was Steve Ballmer from Microsoft.
He announced some Windows XP upgrades as well:
Microsoft's Desktop Enhancer - takes all your unused shortcuts on your desktop to Nordstrom for a makeover and a couple of new outfits.
MS Disco - Combination disk utility and dance music organizer.
Microsoft Bob - He's back. And this time he redecorated. It's kind of retro...
Has this got some Sox fans happy?
Last night we had a tough rehearsal. We were polishing up the Palestrina "O Rex Gloriae" for this Sunday and working on the Victoria "Veni Sancte Spiritus" for double choir.
I was missing 6 out of the 7 basses I had so I moved the lone bass up to the front row where I could sing his part along with him. A straggler from the bass section finally arrived 45 minutes into rehearsal, and I said, "Come on down! You're the next contestant on 'The Notes are Wrong!'"
The above quotation is from St. Thomas, who in the Summa answers the question "Whether a betrothal is a promise of future marriage?". That's a most interesting phrase.
More to the point: in "Whether a betrothal can be dissolved?", Thomas discusses many of the questions people brought up in the previous post about the Georgia man who intends to marry his troubled bride-to-be, despite ample evidence that she might be nuts. Fornication, fidelity to a promise, etc., were all discussed by Thomas eight centuries ago. Why would anyone need another theologian?
You'd think the NYT was slamming the US Military in Iraq.
But it turns out, it's arch-terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about Al Qaeda.
I bet the food is terrible, too.
Every ten years or so, an organization of sociologists of religion prepares a study on religious denominations and their membership. Catholic data was gathered by the Glenmary Research Center, and their web site includes an overview of the findings.
The good folks at the Church of the Nazarene took part in the project too, and organized the data into a handy web site where you can find the figures on your city. For a data junkie such as myself, it'll be hours of fun.
And it contains some surprises: little Massachusetts would seem to be a relatively religious place, with 64% of the population having some (at least nominal) religious affiliation.
Here are data on the Boston metro. They confirm some things that are obvious: this isn't a hot town for Evangelicals: sorry, brethren; but still they're growing while the "oldline" communities are shrinking, with strong declines among the denominations most identified with moral and doctrinal liberalism. Cynically, it's more or less good news for the future of the culture and the politics here. It doesn't look like it would be in a public official's interest to hitch his star to the agenda of -- well, I won't name names.
I'll leave it to others to comment on greater Washington.
Now, I'm not an expert in church law as Pete is, but I get the feeling that this story shows a couple with obvious grounds for annulment even before the wedding. If you haven't heard about it (lucky you), some gal in Georgia panicked on her wedding day, skipped the ceremony, and fled across country, setting off a multi-state manhunt. When she turned up safe and sound in New Mexico, she pretended to have been kidnapped, but eventually came clean.
Speaking of coming clean, what's the bride's latest outfit: a beach towel? Her ensemble included a daring multi-colored burqa -- I mean, veil: just what a young lady needs to duck through the airport unnoticed.
Earth to groom: start practicing sentences that contain the word "re-evaluation".
In a radio chat, the Carmelite Reginald Foster comments on the Pope's first speech, which he translated into Latin for the Holy Father. He says the fact of the speech is no big sign of a shift to Latin: Pope John Paul II made his first speech in Latin also, as did his predecessor, and so on.
As for the style: "Most people say it's very clear and simple, and runs along, and -- depends on the inflection of his voice, I can hear his voice... If you pronounce it well, it's -- a dog could understand it!"
Interviewer: "Pope Benedict XVI: does he speak Latin with a German accent at all?"
"Oh, for sure.... oh, real -- whaddaya say -- real square and chunky, it's chunky (laughs) well, that's German, got it?"
Here's audio from Vatican Radio, about seven minutes: MP3 (4.1MB). For Linux users, I recommend the Ogg Vorbis format (2.2MB).
