Could I call having 3 eggs and 6 sausage links a “reasonable breakfast” ?
Author: John Schultz
It’s What’s for Dinner!
Genetically Modified (GM) foods are creating a stir as advocates for feeding the hungry and the Don’t Mess With Nature crowd go at it.
This article signals that the winds of change may be fluffing up some cassocks at the Vatican.
But the quotes attributed to what looks like a homily given by JPII don’t specifically address GM foods:
In 2000, for example, Pope John Paul II, speaking at a special Vatican mass dedicated to agriculture, called on farmers to “resist the temptation of high productivity and profit that work to the detriment of the respect of nature,” adding that “when (farmers) forget this basic principle and become tyrants of the earth rather than its custodians … sooner or later the earth rebels.”
This could easily have been referring to farming practices that have nothing to do with genetic modification.
The best quote from the article:
It’s “easy to say no to GM food if your stomach is full.”
That from Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Urban University.
O’Reilly would admire its pithiness.
And here’s the snarky last paragraph that seems to have at least some truth:
Although views from the Vatican usually do not have an impact on policy in developed countries, it’s opinions are thought to be taken into serious consideration when laws are developed in Catholic parts of the developing world, such as South and Central America, and parts of Africa and southeast Asia.
Picture Day
This is my dog Eva (the black one) with her best friend Chaka. Both are very pretty muts.
So far…
Nihil Obstat has not seen my glaring typo in this post. Gordon Zaft gets the award for pointing out in the comment boxes.
To which I say: Yee-haw! Everyone loves Angus!
Shopping Around
Parish shopping is now a favorite pasttime in the AmChurch. In the suburbs, where proximity and Sunday morning traffic lend itself to traveling to another parish, all sorts of folks shop around before settling in and registering at a parish. Here in northern VA we have all kinds of parishes:
McParish – no organ, big piano, Marty Haugen all the time.
St. Schola Cantorum – “Verbum Domini”
Our Lady of K thru 8 – popular with parents of small children that don’t want them in public school
St. Gerontius – mostly older folks with light organ music
St. Snugglepuss and Companions – the “When’s Vatican III?” parish
You get the idea. And it’s not uncommon for someone who lives in St. Schola’s boundaries to drive 30 minutes to St. Snugglepuss. Similiarly – someone who could walk to McParish ends up driving downtown to get to St. Schola because they hate guitars.
And in some ways, I can’t blame them. Particularly parents who want their kids in a Catholic school should explore those options. There’s genuine issues that prevent active, prayerful participation at Mass. But at the same time there’s some really bad reasons for not going to a particular parish.
Bad Reasons:
“I don’t get a feeling of community at Parish X.”
Feelings are for sissies. I’m only slightly kidding. There’s a “U” in community and you need to engage people at a parish, pray and perhaps even get involved in some form of ministry. And you need to realize the primary function of a parish is the sacraments. Some people think the Mass is all about friendship and hugs and warmth and that’s like being offered a 5 course gourmet dinner and telling the offeror you’d rather have a Happy Meal.
“That pastor/associate is too
And that something is usually liberal, conservative or unfriendly. Meaning, it drives you nuts that the priest preaches about birth control. Or the priest messes with the text of the eucharist prayers. I have no patience with people who can’t take getting preached at about moral issues. I have only a little patience with people that totally come unglued when a priest differs from the rubrics. Granted, I’ve been to Mass where the priest was all over the place. That’s very bad. But are you really going to let Fr. Loosey-Goosey ruin your day? Make you drive to a new parish?
Those are the major bad reasons. Chime in if you have others.