I was poking around on Mark Shea’s site and happened on this link regarding earth’s rotation (or lack thereof) by Robert Sungenis. He says the earth is sitting still – it doesn’t rotate. And the moon is made of cheese. And on a clear day you can see forever. This is complete crap. I’m not a rocket scientist but I have a friend who is. I’ll get him to write something up. In the meantime I will go out on a limb and tell you that GPS satellites don’t depend fully on geostationary orbits in order to work. I found this on the inTARnet:

How GPS Receivers Work

The other thing to note is the difference between rotation (earth spinning on it’s axis) and revolution (earth orbitting around the sun). I guess putting some nimrod opinion up on the net about how this isn’t happening does just about as good as having a vote on whether it is happening or not. When all is said and done it’s still happening.

I must say I own and love Dr. Sungenis’s books and that you should buy them, or at least read them.

I’ve had time to read and mull over “What makes the priesthood so attractive to gay men?” by Mark D. Jordan in the Orlando Sentinel from May 12.

I don’t have time right now to refute the all his assertions that I believe to be false. The most distressing to me is what he refers to as homoeroticism as part of the institution of the Church.

Our public discussions of priestly sexuality won’t make any progress until we can begin to talk about the homoeroticism written into Catholic imagination and its institutions.

His opinion “the Catholic Church is and has long been both loudly homophobic and intensely homoerotic.”

The fact is we as individuals are more than our sexual preference. Professor Jordan, faculty of the religion department at Emory University, confuses being gay with actually being.

He posits some questionable reasons as to why gay men would be attracted to the priesthood. I won’t pretend to know or understand exactly what God is doing when he calls someone to a religious vocation. On the human side I would say the initial answer to the call is, or at least the beginning of discernment is:

– A desire to do God’s will alone and thereby deny oneself many things this world has to offer, material and immaterial
– A desire for holiness and sanctity
– A desire to minister the sacraments, to preach and engage in other aspects of priestly ministry

Professor Jordan goes on to say:

The Roman Catholic Church entices us gay men to fall in love with it much before we ever consider its policies. We have long found a home in this church because many of its symbols and roles, its beauties and gifts, are so evidently our own.

Whether or not altar girls are permitted is a Church policy. The teaching on homosexual behavior is dogma. It is not policy. Policy is changeable, dogma is not. This is from a religion professor who is an adult convert to Catholicism. Yikes.

Apart from confusing policy with dogma I see here the author is doing two things. First, he is wrapping his sexual preference around his whole being. Second, he is reflecting that gay persona around the Church. It seems to be the lens through which he sees himself and the Church. I don’t believe our sexual preference is wholly who we are as children of God. We can’t look at ourselves, the world and the Church in terms of gayness or straightness. We are so much more than our sexual preference.

:: Diocesan choir again!

I just got back from our second rehearsal. What a great group of volunteers there is this group! One woman drives 2.5 hours one way to participate. We ended about 9:50. Which means I will have been in Kingdom of Morpheus for about an hour before she even gets home. The choir is praying at the Diocesan Confirmation and the Diaconate Ordination Masses. What a gift it is to have a group that can do this, and to be able to sing in it!

Contrast two ways to begin Mass:
1. Priest, partially vested, walks to the front of the pews with a hand-held mic and introduces himself: “Welcome to St. Joe’s. I’m Fr. Marty. I’m so happy to see you all! Who are the visitors here today?” eager hands go up and he walks to congregants as they sit in the pews, a la Phil Donohue, “Where are you from, sweetheart?” And an elderly lady responds, “I’m visiting here from Ohio. My grandson was just born.” And the Father bellows into the hand-held mic, “That’s wonderful! How much did he weigh? Was he a big boy?” etc etc etc etc until Mass beings at 10 past the hour.
2. A bell. The simple ringing of a bell after a few minutes of collected silence in the church. “Ding, Ding!” All rise. Music starts.
What’s more reverent? What’s more “Vatican II?” What makes a congregation think they are in presence of God? What makes a congregation think that that entertainment is about to start at a Spaghetti Dinner?

Interesting post over at Sursum Corda.

The Priest has an article by Father William Sheridan about how some Catholics tend to view celebrations of the sacraments—particularly matrimony—as a private event that they should shape to meet their personal preferences. Rather than merely condemning this trend, Sheridan wisely counsels pastors to seize the “teachable moment” of preparation for a sacrament to convey its fundamentally ecclesial nature. With regard to matrimony, he notes that “marital preparation is a good opportunity to challenge the effects of the wedding ‘industry’ and overly personal, consumerist approaches to the sacrament.”

Here’s my impression of 80% of Catholic wedding formation. Their thoughts in italics.
Priest: “How long have you known each other?”
Woman: “We met 2 years ago in May” don’t ask us if we live together…
Man: This is so boring
Priest: “Are you planning on having children?”
Man: oh, let’s not go there padre.
Woman: Well, we are thinking about having kids eventually. I mean, I’m finishing law school in the fall and need to pass the bar and will have to put in 10 years+ in order to become a partner. crap… I shouldn’t have said that partner part.
Priest: “What do you think about kids, Bobby?”
Man: busted!!! Think fast, Jackson! Well Father, I like kids. I mean, kids are great. So we’ll probably have kids eventually. cool. That should do it. yeah. That was smart.
Priest: “Well, we have some options for the liturgy. You can celebrate the sacrament of matrimony within the Mass, or by itself with the Liturgy of the Word. What are you thoughts on that?”
Woman: My mom wants to have the song “Born Free” when she comes in.
Man: crap.
and it goes on…