Richard Chonak: May 2004 Archives

HLI's Fr. Thomas Enteneuer responds to the 48 pro-abortion politicians who wrote to Cdl. McCarrick.

I took these photos today in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

An October 1 release date has been announced for Leonardo Defilippis' film about the life of St. Therese. Keep up with news about the picture at theresemovie.com.

I'm tempted to hang it up on the wall, but out of love for the Holy Father, I won't. This certificate came in the mail a few days ago after I sent a few bucks to the Capuchin Friars in Pittsburgh. It was accompanied with a letter that said, "Please accept the enclosed Parchment Blessing and St. Anthony Novena booklet as our gifts to you."

That term "Parchment Blessing" seems to be a sloppy use of language, doesn't it? Obviously it's meant to refer to the bit of decorative -- well, at least, decorated memorabilia they sent me. I can see calling the thing a "blessing parchment", but not the other way around.

By the way, I don't mind a little religious kitsch here and there: it's part of popular piety and in that context, a good thing. I'm just disappointed at the seeming linguistic failure, as much as I'd be disappointed by a moral one.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been four weeks since my last confession. Since then, I have committed acts of solecism twice....

The bad part is that they even put this goofy term in the Pope's mouth: notice the text on the certificate itself: In grateful appreciation for your generous support of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Augustine, I bestow my parchment blessing on Mr. Richard Chonak. I really doubt the Pope ever signed any sentence containing the term "parchment blessing". Here, the term is supposed to refer to the blessing itself. Now, a blessing is a spiritual act, a prayer: what on earth would a "parchment blessing" be, then: a parchment prayer? It sounds as if Pope John Paul were being made to say: I bestow on you this (tacky) certificate. (I know, he has been apologizing a lot lately, hasn't he?)

No, no, dear Friars, if you're going to put words in the Pope's mouth, please let them make sense: he's giving us a blessing; you're giving out the parchments.

Back when I was coming into the Church, my old friend Meredith Gillespie Alcock summarized the image of the Franciscans as "dumb but holy". Maybe she was onto something.

If anyone knows who owns the domain peterschair.com, would you please contact me? That site is hitting our web server all too often, so I have had to block its access.

Phil Lawler of Catholic World News grouses about the parish closings in his e-mail today:

Closing parishes might solve the superficial problem, by saving money. But it doesn't solve the deeper problem. If there's a long-term plan in place for revitalizing the archdiocese-- getting ordinary Catholics back to church-- I haven't heard about it.

I don't want to lump Phil in with some of my fellow parishioners, but they make the same complaint too, and in their case I call it whining, because they speak of long-term efforts to preach the gospel and re-convert the lapsed faithful as a substitute for consolidating parishes.

That's a losing proposal from the start: instead of correcting real current problems with overextended priests and underfunded, underattended parishes, it tells everybody to keep paying and praying, and tells Father to keep saying four Masses on Sunday, and makes the future of the Church dependent on the return of people who have left the Church!

Look, miracles are great, and a substantial re-conversion of lapsed Catholics would be one, but to base the Church's pastoral strategy on them would be somewhere between irresponsibility and presumption.

Well, the list is out and my parish in Boston is on it. Holy Trinity Church has been ordered to close, with one year delay. Now, that's interesting, since it seems to indicate a willingness to take our needs into account.

Here's the full list....

A look at the pop-Kabbalah sect that has roped in various Hollywood types as adherents.

Holy Trinity Church, the home of Boston's indult Mass, is profiled in the Globe, and now the secret's out: it's a growing parish with a lot of young families, not a service for a shrinking bunch of seniors. We expect to be on the parish closure list when it comes out tomorrow, but I'm glad the case for keeping the church has been made publicly.

Our blogging neighbor Nathan Nelson has had a change of heart or mind, and posted a note to "The Tower" to say that he doesn't want to give up on being a Catholic after all. Now he wants to be a "progressive Catholic".

So welcome back, Nathan! If you can be "progressive" while truly remaining one in faith and communion with the Catholic Church, you're doing OK. Do try to be accepting toward the Church, and give her the benefit of the doubt when the opportunity to do so arises. Being Catholic is a gift, and when Somebody gives you a gift, it's good to at least accept the whole package, even if you don't yet recognize the value of all the items inside it. Maybe they actually do go together.

For your penance :-) , read Fr. Groeschel's book Spiritual Passages. It's about phases in the spiritual life, and I figure you could use some long-term perspective.

Doesn't every sports fan need a home vending machine to help recreate the stadium atmosphere? Well, not really. However, if you are so inclined as to buy one through the linked image to the right, stblogs.org will get a kickback. :-)

It gives medical malpractice attorneys new grounds for claiming damages. Isn't luv beautiful?

A little local news here: security nabobs for this summer's Dem convention in Boston are planning to shut down the city's inbound highways and commuter rail access for four days in July. Even Mayor Tom ("Mumbles") Menino, who brought this money-losing disaster to town for the glory of Massachusetts Democrats, has given up the happy face and is telling businesses to take the week off.

What are the odds that the voters will make the Dems pay a price for this? Slim and none.

terrisfight.org has the latest news on efforts to protect disabled Terri Schindler Schiavo from a death by starvation imposed by her adulterous husband. This week, Terri's parents have been cleared of spurious accusations that some marks a nurse's aide saw on Terri's arms were puncture wounds and that the parents had caused them. The Clearwater Police report stated that was no evidence that there were any such wounds or that any assault had been committed. The accusations are especially baseless, considering that the marks were discovered before the parents' visit that day.

A petition seeking sanctions against Mr. Schiavo's attorney George Felos for his alleged public misrepresentations is being prepared for submission to the Florida Bar, Department of Lawyer Regulation.

(Thanks to Juan Schoch for info on the petition.)

Professor Edward Peters, in his usual lucid manner, dispels a cardinal's misunderstandings about whether it is proper to admit or bar pro-abortion politicians from Holy Communion.

Julianne Wiley wants to engage the culture:

Massachusetts Marry-Pranksters! Time to get out there with your dogs and cats, in pairs and groups, and demand marriage licenses for all 3 or 4 or 5 of you!

I'm kidding, but I'm not kidding. Guys, get your 3 best poker friends --- ladies, get the gal next to you at Curves --- and demand a license! See if you can re-marry your spouse PLUS the Best Man! See if they refuse you?! If they do, threaten a lawsuit! Make sure you bring your digital camera.

At least get out there with a picket sign that says, "Kitty Catastrophe is My Best Friend! Why Don't You Recognize Our Love???"

~Make a little mischief~

I'd do it.

Photos from Mark Shea's visit to Michigan and Indiana, courtesy of Fr. Rob. More....

Writer/editor Fr. Peter Stravinskas is probably best known for his apologetics work, but he's announcing a new general-interest Catholic magazine he plans to launch in July. I look forward to it. Here's his announcement.

(Thanks for the bandwidth, eje.)

Fr. Keyes attended a recent consultation the USCCB liturgy office arranged with church musicians, on the subject of the new translations.

Reuters reports: A new Vatican document on migrants recognizes troubles Catholic women have had in mixed marriages with Muslims, particularly in Muslim countries.

Bill White has announced a new blog about homeschooling, and a strange new goal in his personal life.

Retired Episcopalian "bishop" "marries" "male" "partner" in SF "church".

Caption contest at The Curt Jester.

It's gotta be tough for some of these fringe devotional movements: sometimes a little twist in the story can bring it all to an end. Sometimes all it takes is the exposure of a misdeed, a heresy, a disobedience, and the group's following may evaporate very quickly.

How fragile is it all when the devotion is centered around a physical object: a rainbow-colored window in a bank building?

The era of Our Lady of Clearwater seems to have ended the night of February 29:

A panel of the Archdiocese of Boston has proposed an additional 37 parishes for closure, alongside those already recommended by local "cluster" consultations. It's not clear whether these are all additions to the earlier list, or whether some of the choices are alternatives to those originally proposed.

Maybe the Pop Tart needs to meet the Tattoo-Removal Nun.

Alleged singer Britney Spears recently took her devotion to trendy Kabbalah spirituality a bit too far, and got herself inked on the neck with some Hebrew letters. However, due to an unexpected error in the editing process, the resulting tattoo meant... well, nothing. Ya gotta watch out with those right-to-left languages, they'll get ya every time.

Anyway, it's just as well, because Kabbalah forbids tattooing, and now you'll be able to count your visits to the dermatologist as an act of piety. Mazel tov, honey.

Douglas LeBlanc kicked off this thread about bad church music at Get Religion back in March, but I get the feeling we'll be enjoying the comments for some time to come.

Over the weekend, an AP story portrayed Boston's Abp. Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., as having apologized "to women" for a blanket condemnation of feminism (although he didn't really make one). Also, it portrayed him as backtracking on his (correct) observance of liturgical law at the Holy Thursday Lord's Supper liturgy, where he washed the feet of twelve men, in recollection of the Apostles.

Within minutes, the Internet started to whine with morose comments about the bishop's new spinelessness, but the whines turned out to be unjustified, since as usual, the secular press got it wrong.

What he really said, while explanatory and conciliatory, wasn't an apology: if anything, it was a gentle defense of his words and actions, and very appropriate.

OK, I'm a little disquieted at the Archbishop's suggestion that he will seek a "clarification" about the footwashing rule, as such a promise encourages the disgruntled to keep their demands alive; but I expect that Rome will confirm the discipline currently prescribed.

Nathan says he's giving up.