with my fellow bloggers calling the present crisis “The Situation.” It’s such an American thing to ascribe an enigmatic yet vacuous name to such an crucial state of affairs. It sounds like something defense lawyers would call it! Decades of abuse in the church heirarchy, vile crimes perpetrated against innocents then covered up, seminaries turned into pink palaces, and the decay of the Church’s moral authority boiled down into two words – “The Situation.” Calling this “The Situation” is miserably inadequate and I dare say insulting to the victims. The causes are many, the crises are ongoing, and the effects will be felt for decades if not centuries to come. God’s Church, the Body of Christ on this Earth, is bleeding and suffering. I humbly say we can do better than calling this “The Situation.”

I just saw “Spiderman.” Not the superhero himself, just the movie. How long has it been out? A month? Anyhow, I loved the movie except for Danny Elfman’s score and the shameless Sony product placement throughout. I know Sony Pictures made the movie, but Aunt May’s kaboose had a Sony logo on it! Elfman’s music sounded like the same crud he’s been writing for movies since Beetlejuice. I honestly didn’t notice the music after the title sequence. When Elfman’s name flashed across the screen I thought, “This is the same crud he’s been writing for movies since Beetlejuice!” and I just tuned it out. The effects helped.
Twice I’ve seen “Star Wars: Attack of the Nobodies Who Can’t Act.” Like it I didn’t. I came out of the theater talking like Yoda. Next on my list is “The Sum of All Political Correctness” wherein Hollywood takes the Muslim terrorists out of Clancy’s novel and replaces them with Neo-Nazis and relics from the Cold War. My cat Fred is a more talented actor than Ben Affleck – he’s just not as well-connected.

how YOU doin’?

An answer to my question – why don’t priests sing?
“Perhaps it’s a habit, developed in years of wanting to spare the congregation their miked but imperfect voice.”
And I’m sure that’s true. Which is why I am not a proponent of the type of microphones that make the priest sound like he is speaking from a location one micron away from your ear drum. I think that if sound system output is at a medium level, it makes people have to concentrate just a bit more to listen. And it’s nice to be able to get away from the mic or turn off the mic if you’d rather not be heard singing, telling the deacon his homily was too long, or asking the altar boy to please get the sacramentary instead the binder all the announcements are in. “Tommy – I need the big red book. The red one. Over there. Gold ribbons. Tommy – not over where the lector talks – the little table… c’mon Tommy, turn around and go to the little table…”

I can’t say it better than Amy Welborn did today. Pray for our shepherds and our Church.

Eternal Father, look upon us through the pierced heart of your Beloved Son and have mercy. We have neither hope nor help apart from Him who suffered so grievously for our sins.