In Nomne Domini

2011-03-12T10:18:00.000-05:00

New bloggy:

ohoneybee.wordpress.com

See you there!

What is marriage?

2010-07-06T18:53:00.002-04:00

It's one of the little games floating around the internet. Go to Google, type in "[your name] is" and hit enter. The search results are frequently hilarious or poignant, conveying things like "Maggie is a banana," "Maggie is the girl for me," or "Maggie is a poet." To make it work, you mustn't forget to put the words in quotes.

Play the same good with the word marriage, and what do you get?

Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut
marriage is good for you
marriage is dead
marriage is not hopeless after an affair
marriage is like drinking a Slurpee
marriage is an instrument of salvation for society

And the negative... "marriage is not"...

Marriage is Not a Private Affair
Marriage Is Not About Procreation
marriage is not a love affair
marriage is not the same around the globe
marriage is not built on surprises
marriage is not a sport
marriage is not a commandment

On a more scientific basis than a simple Google search, one can say that marriage is a social instrument that binds a man and a woman together in a semi-permanent way so that they share financial and legal responsibilities. That's how the law would define it.

As a Christian, I understand marriage to be much more. Marriage is a sacrament, a path to holiness, a channel of grace, a reflection of the marriage between Christ and the Church; the creation of a new family, the core building block of society, and the gift of children. Something that changes the soul for all time, like baptism; irrevocable, unbreakable, forever.

I understand that marriage is not: a civil right. Call me a bigot, but I do not believe marriage is something we have a legal "right" to. Once you study the Enlightenment all the talk about "rights" makes you giggle a little - people swallow their grammar school propaganda whole! I wouldn't be surprised if many of the same people who talk about "marriage equality" also believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America and George Washington cut down the cherry tree. Rather than a right, marriage is a calling, a vocation (voca = Latin to call) . Not everyone is called to marriage, and that is OK. It is not a negative judgment on them as a person. It means they are called to something else., something equally amazing.

I understand that marriage is not: something that can be begun or ended by the government. In a legal sense, of course, the state has the power to contract, annul, and end marriages. But legal marriage is not real marriage - the real marriage is the commitment that takes place between two hearts. It is too deep and important a thing to be the property of a low-level bureaucrat in City Hall. It is a spiritual state and as such can only be governed with any authenticity by the Church. What God has joined, it's literally impossible for man to tear asunder - man doesn't have the authority, or the ability, to do so.

I've got to stop writing now, but I'm still thinking about this. What is marriage?

I am going to start doing a little project

2010-07-05T19:56:00.002-04:00

On vocations. Not focusing just on vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, or consecrated life. In Catholic World those are the vocations that get "talked up" because they seem to be the rare vocations... the path easily missed... the calling easily drowned out by the noise and distraction of our culture. Marriage, on the other hand, is the "natural" vocation, the seemingly more easy choice, the path nobody will look at you funny for taking, the expected thing to do. So we don't talk about marriage, much. Until someone tries to legalize homosexual "marriage" of course.

Despite the relative silence, there IS a vocations crisis happening in marriage, as well. A quick look at the divorce rates in our country makes that clear. And we can't blame it on the pagans or the ungodly liberals. Did you know what group has the lowest divorce rate in the USA? Atheists. Do you know what group has the highest divorce rate? Fundamentalist Christians. No joke.

Even Churches that follow the Bible's teaching on divorce are having problems. The Catholic Church in America has one of the highest rates of annulment of any Catholic country in the entire world. (I'm going to go into that topic more in a later post, what is an annulment, why is it NOT a "Catholic divorce," what makes it so different from divorce etc, but I'll leave it for now.)

The Church generally requires a lengthy preparation period during engagement, in which the couple has to discuss everything from faith to finances to sex with their priest and the specially-trained groups who run Pre-Cana programs. The intense Catholic system of pre-marital counseling is much admired by other denominations and by secular authorities. And yet later, so many of these couples are determined to have had an impediment to marriage. In my Cleveland diocese the mandatory prep period is at least six months. I have heard in other dioceses of waiting periods of nine months to a year. Is that the answer? Make it longer and more intensive?

I believe myself that I am called to marriage, and I believe I know who I am called to marriage with, but I am trying to stay open to whatever path God leads me on. To me there aren't a lot of resources for people who have discerned the marriage vocation and I'm going to be doing some investigating to see what I can find. Ooooo... this could be boring or it could be interesting! I guess we'll see :)

It's a beautiful day

2010-04-20T18:08:00.003-04:00

And I'm about ready to scream. I am going to scream if I have to spend one more minute being sick and unwell and having old things go wrong again on my insides, when I thought they were resolved. I am going to scream if one more *new* problem shows up. I am going to scream if I have to spend one more day where my energy level belly-flops by mid-afternoon.

I am going to scream if I have to take off work and visit one more doctor who frowns and shakes his head and says, "let's take a wait and see approach" or "I don't know if it's cancer or not. Could be. Probably not. Can't tell without opening you up. Don't worry about it" or "take off work again next week for this test. Oh, and the soonest you can get in for a follow-up appointment is next month." I am going to scream from the effort of trying not to talk about this because after a few months, people get tired of hearing about it and assume you're just a psych case.

I am going to scream, and the screaming will activate my head whirling because that is my body's current way of responding to stress. By making my brain vibrate and my head ache and sending electricity through it.

And I'm so tired of praying. I pray constantly for help, and that's about it. My "dialogue" with God seems to be a monologue that currently consists of my helpless yelping for a hand up.

I am doing better than I was. I keep telling myself that. Things have improved. Or I've slipped back to square one. One of the two.

Please Lord... help me. See, even though I'm sick of it I can't stop. 1. Because it's a habit, and 2. Because He's the only one who can help.

Ugh ugh ugh

2010-04-19T19:41:00.002-04:00

I am so tired of feeling unwell and having things go wrong in my body (new things are going wrong as we speak - or rather, old things are rearing their ugly heads again).

I am tying to distract myself by blogging.

Not. Working.

One thing I would like to complain about is all the Catholics in the diocese of Cleveland who are moaning about their churches closing. These are mostly the ethnic paishes (Hungarians, Polish, Czech etc). Yes, it hurts like crazy to have your parish close, and yes these are beautiful buildings that it is awful to lose. Especially compared to the modern warehouse parishes that one is forced to worship at in the suburbs. And yes, a lot of these parishes were technically "in the black" and self-sufficient, able to pay their bills.

But let's be realistic. The population just wasn't there anymore. St. Peter's in Cleveland, for instance, had only a few hundred souls going there. And by Catholic standards, 300, 400, 500 people at a church is piddling. Compare that to most Catholic churches in the suburbs which typically have thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of souls on the books. It's clear where the ministry needs are.

In some ways this is the fault of all of us Catholics for fleeing the city. The percentage of Catholics in Northeast Ohio is the same as it always has been, but we don't live in the urban areas anymore... we got scared. We got to be middle class and we could afford to leave, and we left. The Church has to be where the people are. Not that she should abandon the city, but resources have to be shifted. There would be nothing more ridiculous (or ultimately more contrary to the evangelizing demands of the Gospel) than to have three priests ministering to ten people in the city while three thousand of God's children are cared for by one pastor in the suburbs.

And some of the commentary is just ridiculous. The Plain Dealer has a reader who comments at the end of every article, "Who closed more churches, Lenin or Lennon?" referring to the bishop. Right. The bishop is the equivalent of a murderous Communist. For the record, Lenin wins big time on the church closing score. By the 1950s there was one, *ONE* Catholic parish allowed by the authorities to exist in the entire city of Moscow. Some of the Eastern Europeans are also using the phrase "ethnic cleansing" to attack Bishop Lennon, who is of Irish ancestry and is therefore the enemy... Ridiculous. And offensive. Just... ugh.

Third Sunday in Easter

2010-04-17T18:25:00.003-04:00

That's tomorrow, not today.... but today is the second Saturday in Easter, a good day, too :)

One feast that has been on my mind is coming up pretty soon. St. Gianna, April 28th.

Gianna Molla was a working mom, a pediatrician, who died in 1962 in Italy. She was pregnant with her fourth child when doctors discovered a tumor in her uterus. Knowing that it would likely cost her her life, she refused to have an abortion or a hysterectomy (as a Catholic, she would have been allowed the hysterectomy) so that her child could live. She was very clear with her family: "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child--I insist on it. Save the baby." On Good Friday of that year, Gianna gave birth to a baby girl. She died seven days later.

Obviously the requirements for heroic virtue were easily met in her case. Additionally two miracles, medically and scientifically unexplainable, are required before a saint can be canonized. The last miracle for St. Gianna involved a mother who was 16 weeks pregnant when her placenta tore, draining the womb of all amniotic fluid. Doctors informed her that the chances of the baby's survival were nil. Miraculously, she delivered a health baby.

In canonizing her, Pope John Paul II called Gianna "a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love." She is the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children, and is an important figure in the pro-life movement.

St. Gianna, pray for us!

Oh, sickness

2010-03-04T17:13:00.002-05:00

Well, operation Cyst Drama is still going on. I saw a new doctor today (an in-network doctor). She wants to do another ultrasound because she thinks the cyst has shrunk. I am not sure if I agree with this cyst-shrinking theory because I still feel horrible - cramping and pressure etc. I can't eat and I have lost a ton of weight. She tells me not to worry about cancer and that there is a chance I could lose the ovary but not to worry about that, either. Right.

I am tired of feeling sick. So. Dang. Tired. I would like to avoid surgery if possible but I really hate the discomfort. I take medicine and it doesn't really help, at all. Why, God. At least I don't live in a Third World country where I would have to deal with this pain without having a clue about what is going on.

In positive news, Daniel got a job as an investment analyst which he has been trying to get for more than a year. I am taking him out to dinner tonight to celebrate :) I was so happy I briefly forgot my trouble!

Lord, this is a "good" Lent....

Long time no see...

2010-02-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

I just celebrated my first anniversary with Daniel. He is the best thing that ever happened to me, and my favorite part of life.

I'm still working away in the insurance business, but I'm getting worried about my job. I have been assigned some tough new work to learn, with a test to take at the end of the training. If I don't pass on at least the second try, I'll be let go. NOT good!

According to various doctors, I have developed a dermoid cyst on my left ovary. It occasionally hurts like crazy, but mostly it's just a dull ache. I have been told to wait and see if it goes away by itself (even though this type of cyst rarely goes away by itself). I have horrible insurance - $2,000 deductible, $4,000 out of pocket limit - and I have already been to the emergency room once. Cha-ching. I am probably going to need surgery and I am kind of resigned to it. They will just have to set me up on a payment plan because I do not have four grand lying around waiting to be used for something fun like slicing and dicing.

So, so far 2010 is not as much fun as 2009, what with the falling in love, getting a raise, generally enjoying life to the fullest that last year was. However it is only mid-February and I am committed to turning this year around! :) And needless to say God has been good to me - I still have a job 1.5 years into the recession, I have love in my life, and I have Jesus. What else do I need?

How to handle giving

2009-04-27T20:32:00.002-04:00

What do you say to panhandlers on the street? Obviously it is not right to ignore them or treat them with contempt, but it's usually equally incorrect to give them money... we have a problem at our Cathedral sometimes, where homeless people congregate on the sidewalks outside as Mass lets out, knowing full well the good Christian worshipers will feel like hypocrites if they don't cough up a dime or more.

I usually say "God bless you." In days of yore I had plastic rosaries I used to hand them... maybe I should get some more. Once I bought lunch for this one-eyed man named Jerry whom I could tell was probably a scam artist, but ah well, God won't fault me for being taken for a ride for a $5 sandwich and chips at Subway...

News

2009-03-22T17:20:00.003-04:00

Item: For the last two months I have had a boyfriend, a wonderful guy named Dan or Daniel, as I like to call him. He is Catholic, a gentleman, and cute. Score!

Item: My brother Arthur got into University of Southern California and New York University. We have not heard from Notre Dame and we can not afford to send him to USC or NYU.

Item: Why does everyone name their dogs Maggie? Maggie is a girl's name, not a name for Yorkie terriers. Why is this not understood?

Item: Does anyone need to be told not to chew gum in church? Apparently. There was a young girl and her mother at Mass today who were part of a baptismal party and they chomped away throughout the entire liturgy. And went up for Communion. What did they do, swallow their gum in the line? Or else bits of the host would have got stuck in the gum while they chewed. And then later when they spat out their gum in the trash, host bits would go in the garbage too. I tried not to think about it. I think our associate pastor is very annoyed by this kind of thing. Lately he has been talking about the need for reverence in his column in the bulletin quite a bit.

Snow snow snow

2009-01-11T20:17:00.002-05:00

Ice ice ice.

Spin spin spin.

That is basically how the weekend went, after a delicious Thai dinner at Pad Thai on Friday, a dinner so spicy and so large-portioned that it was not finish-able and I had to take half of it home in one of those cute little takeout boxes. I got a fortune cookie which had a very appropriate fortune, although I do not remember exactly what it was. I confess that it actually raised my hopes somewhat. Bad Maggie, taking more hope from the random impersonal fortune cookie than from the saving and personal love of Jesus. Jesus saves, not bland tasting Asian deserts, which are not even coated in chocolate, which is really the minimum for calling yourself a desert without shame.

My 401k is up 3 percent ... for the year. Since Jan. 1, 2009. My benefits page at work will not show me last year's results, it just displays this shockingly cheerful +3 percent figure. Does this mean we can just pretend last year didn't happen? Get a financial do-over? I would like it very much.

After I checked my 401k I headed out for dinner, and after the Thai dinner about half a foot of global warming had coated Northeast Ohio, making life a little too slippery. Hopefully there won't be more of the same this week.

Why Jesus loves tabby cats

2008-12-10T02:26:00.001-05:00

There is a story about Our Lord's nativity which says that a cat gave birth to a litter of kittens in the same stable where Our Lady was in labor. After the baby was born and wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was still quite cold, it being the dead of night and all. And so the cat jumped into the manger with Him, lay down by Him to keep Him warm, and purred Him to sleep. Our Lady was supposedly so grateful that she petted the little cat's head and left an M on its forehead, M for Mary of course. And that is why tabby cats all have coloring on their heads that forms an "M."

The Italians call this Madonna della Gatta - Our Lady of the Cat. At right is a painting (not of the nativity but of the Holy Family) with that title by Baroccio, below it one by Giulio Romano, ca. 1520. In the first a cat is entertaining Our Lord and St. John Baptist, in the latter you can spot a feline presence in the bottom right-hand corner.

My own kitty loves to climb on humans when they are asleep, so I can imagine her wanting to lie down with the baby Jesus! Who knows if there were cats in the Holy Land way back then. I am sure some scientific historian would be happy to disabuse me. But I think it's a lovely story worth retelling for the sake of its loveliness :)

Bestest Killers video ever

2008-12-06T00:01:00.004-05:00

I love The Killers (have never heard a song from them that wasn't at least interesting) but my favorite music video of theirs is for "Read My Mind." The little green monster or whatever he is, is so cute. The video is set in Japan and features some of the more amusing (to an American) aspects of Japanese culture: The Elvis impersonators, the capsule hotels. It even shows Brandon Flowers and the rest of the boys dressed up as geishas!

Actually the capsule hotels make one sad, since they are most often used by Japanese businessmen who are too busy at work to ever go home. They work, go to a capsule hotel for the night, and then go right back to work in the morning without seeing their families etc. America is terrible with workaholism but Japan is even worse, and they have a suicide rate to match :(

But on that depressing note, (sorry) here is the wonderful video from The Killers:

5 day weather forecast for Cleveland-Akron-Canton, Ohio, and vicinity

2008-12-05T21:11:00.003-05:00

Saturday: Cold
Sunday: Cold
Monday: Colder than you thought possible, so cold that you begin to have delusional thoughts that you are warm
Tuesday: Cold
Wednesday: Cold and partly cloudy, with just enough blue sky for you to look up and feel mocked by the sun

Global warming, wherefore art thou called warming, when these last few winters have been really terrible?

Blessing identified... I have a job that is probably not going anywhere. The U.S. unemployment rate rose shockingly in November to 6.7 percent. Now I am told by reliable sources that the rate in European places like Spain is even higher, like 12 percent - but we are not used to these sort of problems in the USA! You can sense how anxious and upset everyone is. My father who works as a consultant with banks came home from a business trip recently and told us that the guy he was talking to said we were headed for quite a depression, that the full degree of how bad things are is being kept from us to prevent panic. I think that is hyperbole, myself. But who knows how bad it will get... then again other people say the worst is over.

Spiritually speaking I am in the same funk I have been for the longest time. Now that I think about it, it has been going on about two years. I believe the key is that I am lazy, what is that fancy Greek word for spiritually lazy? I go to Confession fairly frequently (once a month) and I never miss Mass, but otherwise I am quite the slacker. I give in to temptation so easily and I resist grace so well. It is Advent and whether it be Advent or Lent I always make promises to myself and to Jesus that this holy season, I am finally going to start praying on a daily basis again, I am going to start going to daily Mass again, to Adoration again. And it never comes off. So I wonder if it is worthwhile to even make the promise, which I am fairly sure will not be kept. I am just tired of being a sinner! My dearest own Jesus, I want to want to be close to you. Please kindle in my heart that desire. Amen.

Ah work

2008-11-21T18:51:00.003-05:00

I have been mostly absent from my blog because of my work. We just passed our validation so that is a tremendous load off. My work is quite boring but it pays the bills and is much less stressful than my prior position - no phone work, etc. My only concern is that the company's stock price has taken a tumble recently along with everybody else's. I feel that my job is secure, but then again who knows what is around the corner?

I have started the process of shopping for a car. My big points are safety, efficiency and low price. Right now it looks like the Hyundai Elantra is the best option. I have also looked at the Civic, which gets better MPG but is much pricier, the Cobalt, which is also pricier, and the Accent, which is cheaper but much smaller. My parents have an 03 Elantra which they own outright and which is holding up pretty well, considering it has 150,000 miles on it. I wouldn't be able to buy brand new (only suckers buy brand new cars anyway) but something more in line with an 04 or 05. Could go later model with the Accent.

At my work we have a couple of sort of vehicle brokerage services which supposedly can get you $500 or so off the best internet price for vehicles - I just have to pick which one I want to use. We have CarPerks and Vehicle Advantage. The CarPerks website looks more professional than the Vehicle Advantage site but I don't know which one is really better. Will have to shop.

I am also planning on moving once I get the car taken care of. Somewhere toward the heart of the county I think... by which I mean more toward Akron. Cuyahoga Falls or similar? Akron itself? There is only one apartment place in Hudson itself, it is pricey and they don't allow cats. It may be silly of me but I am actually spending a lot of time looking up "good" parishes in the area and then arranging my search accordingly.

We all want to die and go to Ireland

2008-10-24T22:47:00.002-04:00

As is clearly demonstrated by this joke I found at the Catholic Answers forum:

George Bush is flying around the world making visits to other countries. He goes to the Vatican and notices a gold phone on the Pope's desk. He asks about the phone and the Pope tells him it's a direct line to God.

Bush asks if he can call. So he gets on the phone, talks to God for about 5 minutes and hangs up.

As Bush is leaving to get on the plane he gets a bill for $543 for his phone call to God. He pays the bill and then takes his plane on over to Ireland.

While in Ireland he finds himself stopping into a small rural parish. There on the priests desk is a gold phone. Bush asks if this phone goes straight to God. The priest says it does and allows Bush to make a call.

Bush is on the phone for about 5 minutes and hangs up. As he is getting ready to leave the priest hands him a bill for $1.79. Astonished, Bush asks why he had to pay $543 for a call to God from the Vatican and only $1.79 from this little parish in Ireland.

The reply..."It's a local call here of course."

Vladimir and the cat

2008-10-12T19:25:00.003-04:00

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin poses with a two and a half month female tiger cub, no name yet given, looks at, at the Novo Ogaryovo residence of outside Moscow, on Thursday night, Oct. 9, 2008. The cub was presented to Putin on Oct. 7, when he was celebrating his 56 birthday.(AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, pool)

Ladies and Gentlemen

2008-10-04T11:26:00.008-04:00

gen·tle·man /ˈdʒɛntlmən/[jen-tl-muhn]
–noun, plural -men.

1. a man of good family, breeding, or social position.
2. (used as a polite term) a man: Do you know that gentleman over there?
3. gentlemen, (used as a form of address): Gentlemen, please come this way.
4. a civilized, educated, sensitive, or well-mannered man: He behaved like a true gentleman.
5. a male personal servant, esp. of a man of social position; valet.
6. a male attendant upon a king, queen, or other royal person, who is himself of high birth or rank.
7. a man of good social standing, as a noble or an armigerous commoner.
8. a man with an independent income who does not work for a living.
9. a male member of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives: The chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
10. History/Historical. a man who is above the rank of yeoman.

- Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 04 Oct. 2008.

Ask any single woman what she wants in a man and nine times out of ten, somewhere in her description of Mr. Right will appear the word "gentleman." You could be forgiven for doubting the sincerity of their desires when you consider that nine times out of ten the same girls are dressed in nothing more than strips of clothed strategically pulled into place to avoid a conviction for public indecency. After all, the kind of man you attract in that outfit does not fit anyone's definition of a gentleman.

But what is a gentleman after all? Are all these women on the same page with what they want? Certainly there is nothing particularly alluring about a "male personal servant." I can imagine, however, why some might be attracted to "a man with an independent income who does not work for a living."

But that is not what people usually mean when they say "gentlemen." I think in most minds a gentleman most resembles Mr. Darcy, the hero of the book that practically every female has enshrined under a special light on a golden pedestal on her bookshelf (all right, maybe not quite). Mr. Darcy does not pressure Elizabeth to have sex with him, in fact their physical contact is almost nil save when they are dancing. Mr. Darcy does not lie. He is also a "man of action" who gets things done behind the scenes, and without boasting about it or seeking praise. He has the added advantage of being enormously rich.

His counterpart of course is Mr. Wickham. This officer is a liar, irresponsible with his money, a seducer of virgins, very interested in sex and in filthy lucre.

Every woman who reads Pride and Prejudice can identify the gentleman and the scoundrel, the hero and the villain. What sometimes gets overlooked is that these characters have female counterparts. Elizabeth is a lady: serious, well-educated and intelligent, a model of proper behavior, and completely and utterly chaste. Her sister Lydia is not ladylike at all: flippant, obnoxious, loudmouthed and promiscuous.

There has been such a push in modern criticism to view Jane Austen as a feminist that her harsh critique of sexual rebellion tends to go unnoticed. Austen emphasizes the disaster of unconventional sex through her depiction of Lydia as a disgrace and the potential undoing of her entire family. She does not show Lydia as a strong or liberated female making her own sexual choices - instead she is a silly, selfish prig and a cross to everyone close to her. Austen has zero sympathy for Lydia, and she makes that clear when she provides the tidy ending in which each sister gets what she deserves: the lady-like Elizabeth is matched with the gentleman Darcy and presumably lives happily ever after, and the loose young girl, Lydia, is paired with the wicked scoundrel Wickham, who most likely does not love her and only agrees to marry her after being bribed with the promise of money.

The moral of the story is obviously that if you want to marry a gentleman, be a lady.

But being a gentleman or lady is not merely a concern for those with a vocation to marriage. In The Catholic Spirit, the paper of the diocese of St. Paul in Minnesota, there was an interview with the rector of the seminary, in which he said of his seminarians:

They want to be men of the church. They have a love for the church. They don’t know as yet all about what their responsibilities or calling will be in that church, but that’s what formation is. They love the church, and they somehow want to respond to the call to serve the church.

Second, they want to be gentlemen, and we want to help them to be just that. We pray in the Mass for vocations for ardent, but gentle, servants of the Gospel. . . .

We’ve had so many examples of what that means. From the time I came here, and for the first years I served here, we had Archbishop [Harry] Flynn. He’s the quintessential gentleman. He just knows how to touch the hearts of people. All the leaders that I’ve had the good fortune to serve with, and now Archbishop [John] Nienstedt, that’s a hallmark of their ministry. They want to be men of the church and gentlemen. They respect [other people].

I want to ruminate about this a little more. In the meantime I highly recommend The Art of Manliness site. They feature a free guide to being a gentleman in 2008.

I'd like to smack Nobel upside the head

2008-09-30T22:28:00.002-04:00

Well not Alfred Nobel himself. But how about the head of the committee that gives out the prize?

Nobel literature head: US too insular to compete
Sep 30 03:54 PM US/Eastern
By MALIN RISING and HILLEL ITALIE
Associated Press Writers

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the United States is too insular and ignorant to compete with Europe when it comes to great writing.

Counters the head of the U.S. National Book Foundation: "Put him in touch with me, and I'll send him a reading list."

As the Swedish Academy enters final deliberations for this year's award, permanent secretary Horace Engdahl said it's no coincidence that most winners are European.

"Of course there is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world ... not the United States," he told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

He said the 16-member award jury has not selected this year's winner, and dropped no hints about who was on the short list. Americans Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates usually figure in speculation, but Engdahl wouldn't comment on any names.

Speaking generally about American literature, however, he said U.S. writers are "too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture," dragging down the quality of their work.

"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature," Engdahl said. "That ignorance is restraining."

Read the entire article for the scathing reaction from the American literary establishment. And I don't blame them. While I too am not a huge fan of most American literature - for entirely different reasons of course - the fact that they overlooked Proust suggests that Philip Roth shouldn't feel too bad if he never gets to go to Stockholm.

The case of the cat and the hot tub

2008-09-25T02:22:00.003-04:00

Today, as my time in the Claims Department section winds down, I had an interesting call from a lady whose cat ran away, began living under her neighbor's hot tub and bath apparatus, and then died, creating a huge... stink in the neighborhood. Literally and figuratively.

It was a "fun" call. I felt pretty bad for the cat.

Things are currently stressful chez moi. Why do I say currently, they always are! It is time for Boy #2 to try to finagle his way into an institution of higher learning. His scores on the standardized tests were out of this world, he got a perfect 800 on the verbal of the SAT, a 780 on the math, and I believe a 780 on the writing portion as well. His GPA is also pretty high, 3.8ish. The problem is that he goes to an excellent public school crammed with ultra-competitive social climbers and so all the other GPAs are quite high too. He just misses being in the top 10 percent of the class. He wants to go to Notre Dame. We'll see. I would be happy because my impression is that it is one of the few universities that are re-Catholicizing after a lengthy stay in Irrelevant Secularism Land.

Anyway Dearest Mother is tearing her hair out lest this last child of hers fail to obtain admittance anywhere decent and wind up having to go to a second-tier public school like yours truly did. I am not being snide, either, he really is the cleverest in our family and we are kind of counting on him to get some kind of degree in corporate law and make enough money to save the family prestige. It is horribly shallow but to a certain degree we really do live in fear that he will have a horrible accident and be intellectually maimed or that he will decide to be a painter or something.

By this time next year everything will be all over, no more essays to write or applications to fill out or college representatives to butter up, he will be off and launched at whatever university is smart enough to accept him. Hopefully at that time Dearest Mother will still have some of her hair.

Pardon the dust

2008-09-18T00:48:00.002-04:00

In an attempt to actually get me back into blogging, I am giving the new Blogger a try. Construction zone time! I have the old one saved if the new drives people (including me) nuts.

New job

2008-08-13T01:31:00.002-04:00

You know how I was supposed to lose my position at Allstate in the fourth quarter of 2008? And get a $7,000 severance from the company and be cast back onto the waves of my quarter-life crisis with no idea what to do?

Well, yesterday I found out my interview for a position in risk management went well, and they offered it to me. What they do in that department is basically determine whether a prospective customer is a good risk based on their driving record, insurance record etc. etc. The other part of the job is making sure the rates our agents are giving are not too soft. Sometimes the agents like to really low-ball the premium because it makes the product easier to sell. In risk management the idea is to catch that and fix it.

I do not know which end of the business I will be working, and I don't start until September 30. I am a little nervous, but I am sure I will be able to do the work well. It is a huge relief of stress, although I won't be getting that $7,000. But it is worth it to keep my benefits, my regular paycheck and the short commute. Thank you Jesus.

Wedding questions

2008-08-04T01:28:00.002-04:00

No, not my (non-existent as yet) wedding, and not my friend's wedding that I posted about earlier. I am referring to weddings in general. There was a rather longish thread over on Phatmass about weddings: What kind of a gown is appropriate, and does the dad give the daughter away in Catholic weddings?

Most people seemed pretty positive that they liked the traditional white wedding gown, although many folks said that color shouldn't matter. I guess technically it doesn't - before Queen Victoria all kinds of colors were worn, even black - but there's something to be said for sticking with tradition. White is nice.

As far as fathers "giving their daughter away" after escorting her down the aisle, this is one innovation from the Protestant tradition that I am glad the Church has not incorporated. From the Catholic point of view, a girl is not her father's or her husband's property - she might be daddy's little girl but she's not his to give away! In fact if you ever go to a Catholic wedding you will hear reiterated that according to our theology, the husband and wife are supposed to give themselves to each other in the sacrament. You can read the awesome text of the wedding liturgy here.

Now in some Catholic weddings the priest does insert the "who gives this woman?" or "who presents this woman?" even though it is not actually a part of the liturgy. This is a bone thrown to standard American tradition, and it also has the added benefit of placating bridezillas who will go bananas if they don't get their "special moment with daddy." Excuse me, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. No, I really don't mean to belittle anyone, I guess the "who gives this woman to be married?" "I do" exchange is meaningful for a lot of women, but it isn't for me. I guess I have a different relationship with my dad.

The Universe Bulletin

2008-08-03T02:14:00.002-04:00

There are some people who look at the diocese of Cleveland's newspaper, the Catholic Universe Bulletin, only for the entertainment value they derive from the copy errors. Which are sometimes hideous. And which are sometimes in the headline. On the front page.

I am not one of those people, although I am not the UB's biggest fan either. However last week I saw two great articles in the paper, both of which motivated me to clip and save and add to my unorganized files. The one department "Theologically Speaking," which on this occasion covered the subject of suffering, I can't find online, however I did find my other favorite piece, which was written by Bishop Lennon. Our ordinary writes a column every week for his paper (he is the publisher) as do most bishops I believe.

A lot of times the bishop writes about the Vibrant Parish Life program or the "clustering process," in other words the plan for closing parishes. Please note that is not the only thing Vibrant Parish Life is supposed to do, but that is what it "means" to most people. This week was no different, but his effort this time was unique in that it came from a truly personal perspective. He wrote about the parish he grew up in, in Boston, how much he loved it and how he celebrated so many life milestones with his family there -baptisms, weddings, funerals. And he also wrote about how, as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston, he had to see his old parish close. He notes how difficult and sad that decision was, but also that even though the parish is closed, its positive influence continues in his life.

You can read the piece here. I think for a lot of people the main thing is that they want someone to acknowledge their pain and give them a way to move forward. He ends the column very well: "As we continue the clustering process, please know your Bishop has experienced a wonderful parish, has had it close, and strives to live the gift received going forward as a testimony that God’s gift is not ended."

Big day

2008-08-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

Today I did about six hours of traveling in the car. I went to a wedding down in Belpre, Ohio, with my sister, because I did not have an actual date and there is no way I ever go to that type of thing alone. Talk about awkward.

The bride is an old friend of mine from college, my roommate from my freshman year actually. She looked lovely in her gown! I knew the groom too from when he used to come by our dorm room (and later, after we moved off campus) our flat to hang out with her.

It was a fine wedding; they were united in a brief ceremony at the bride's nondenominational church. I had a pleasant conversation with the father of the bride before the ceremony got underway. Her parents are just so NICE.

Instead of throwing rice they had everyone blow bubbles. Very charming and well-executed!

The problem with weddings is that I always feel depressed afterward. "Who let the air out of your tires?" is a question you might ask. Who indeed. Betsy made me drive all the way both ways, maybe I shouldn't have done all that driving.

Misc. stuff I like...

2008-07-04T05:47:00.000-04:00

Lolcats - I guess I am the last person on the Internet to discover them. I can has a gud time laffing at the pickshures?

The Bovril Shrine, For the Love of Bovril - You probably don't know what Bovril is. Shame on you. I didn't know what Bovril was, either, until a little while ago. Shame on all of us.

Strange Maps - Scroll down and check out the Map of Heaven, especially. Strange indeed, and interesting.

Heh, heh

2008-05-29T01:50:00.001-04:00

From my sister's blog:

Yesterday my sister and I went zooming about in our little tin can Hyundai Elantra with one mission in mind: find the Party Station. Our Mother has reached that age whence birthdays are of Particular Significance. We therefore wanted it to be custom coordinated. The party section at the local grocer would hardly do. We needed the specialists.

First, we called Free 411:

Computer: "City and State?"

Me: Hudson, Ohio

Computer: "Hobson, Ohio."

Me: Hudson.

Computer: "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"

Me: Hudson.

Computer: "Hobson, Ohio."

After about twenty minutes of wailing, hair-pulling and hollering into the cell phone, we extricated driving directions. They led us to a windowless building wrapped in beige siding. An electric sign out front announced: "Congratulations Erica and Dave!"

Yes. Free 411 gave us directions, not to The Party Station, purveyors of balloons, streamers, and birthday candles, but to a party station, which had been rented out that very afternoon to celebrate the great day in which Dave and Erica became one flesh.

Having wasted three-fourths of the afternoon in a fruitless hunt for celebration supplies, we decided to give up being Independent Women. Our father guided us to the correct location, and we made it 15 minutes before closing.

Mission accomplished. Moral of the story: Pay for 411.

Roger that.

Current favorite LOLCATS

2008-05-25T00:27:00.002-04:00

I can has cheezburger

So

2008-05-24T11:23:00.002-04:00

We found out that my kid brother got a 1580 on his latest round of SAT, up from 1510 the last time. The funny thing is when he came out of the testing center he thought he had performed terribly. He checked the score online, twice, he was so shocked.

My parents had employed a very expensive tutor to help raise his Math score from the mid 600s to more closely match his Reading, which was a perfect 800. We all whined about the money at the time but I guess it paid off! Congratulations to him.

Incidentally

2008-05-22T13:25:00.001-04:00

My sister is back blogging. Hopefully 'twill improve her general well-being. She is doing much better, climbing off the steroids, but she had a bad night last night, please pray for us.

Papa in America

2008-04-16T13:34:00.004-04:00

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush flank Pope Benedict XVI as he waves to the crowd from the balcony of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2008, during an arrival ceremony. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Bush welcomes pope and says US is open to his message

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - An enthralled South Lawn crowd of more than 9,000 sang "Happy Birthday" to Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday — twice — and President Bush said that the first papal White House visit in 29 years was a reminder for Americans to "distinguish between simple right and wrong."

... The pontiff turned 81 Wednesday, the first full day of his first trip to the United States as leader of the world's Roman Catholics. His 90-minute stay at the White House — only the second ever by a pope — was accompanied by the kind of pomp and pageantry rarely seen even on grounds accustomed to routinely welcoming royalty and the world's most important leaders...

The love in the audience was evident. A few yelled "Viva il Papa." Four toddlers sat on the grass with handmade signs, one reading "We love you pope of hope" and the other showing a birthday cake — chocolate — with an 81 on it. "Happy Birthday" was sung spontaneously at first early in the ceremony, and a formal, more full-throated version came at the end...

...But while acting the proud father, Bush also seemed to suggest that America could use a little tough talking-to by the pontiff.

"In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary," the president said, drawing sustained applause from the lawn.

Full article...

Why, hello

2008-04-03T15:19:00.003-04:00

Sorry I've been pretty AWOL for a couple of months! My whole family has been sailing on a sea of seething drama, so the bloggy fell to the lowest spot on my list of concerns.

My sister was sent home from the convent :( She has become extremely ill with ulcerative colitis and her body is now steroid dependent. Conventional medicine has failed to help her and the only cure is removal of her colon.

Her insurance with the convent ran out in March, and the surgery would cost tens of thousands of dollars. the hospital has "pre-approved" her as a charity case, in other words they will probably write the whole thing off. So that is a huge relief.

They want to do another colonoscopy before making a final decision, but surgery looks like the most likely outcome for her.

Needless to say she is very disappointed about being back at home, and she is in pain most of the time, but we hope that her doctors will be able to restore her quality of life. She still feels she has a vocation to the religious life but she is concerned about whether she will ever be accepted to another community, although post-surgery, the downside would just be that she would have to go to the bathroom 5-6 times a day. I suspect that cloistered orders would be more accepting of her condition than "active" ones. Especially the Visitation... I believe that is part of their charism... St. Francis de Sales and all.

In other news, this Lent she and I went to the Cathedral to hear Bishop Lennon give a talk on the Three Great Days, the Triduum. He was a very genial man, self-deprecating and warm. And taaaaaaall.

During questions-and-answers there was a discussion on the practice of washing women's feet at the Maundy Thursday Mass. His Excellency got a twinkle in his eye and noted that the Latin text says "viri," meaning "men," and not the Latin, "homines" for generic "people" of either gender. The Vatican could have easily used "homines" when preparing the document, but they didn't, he pointed out. Isn't it interesting, he added, that if some people find a Vatican document that says what they like, they will "shove it down your throat" (his words!) but if there's one they don't like, they suddenly become all wishy-washy about it and insist that "viri" doesn't mean anything at all.

The bishop said that the reason priests include women in the feet-washing is to avoid a blow-up, but that if he had been the Ordinary when the document came out he would have only washed men, weathered the avalanche of criticism, and then ten years afterward nobody would think anything of it because it was just the accepted thing. But by the time he was made Administrator in Boston, and when he got to Cleveland, there was already an established "custom" of washing women's feet as well, and it would cause a debacle to simply waltz in and overturn it.

Personally I think he should just weather the debacle the same way he would have weathered the initial blow-up. But it was eye-opening to hear the issue discussed from a bishop's perspective and I definitely have more sympathy and understanding now.

He also mentioned that he was trying to get "my girls" to re-establish a Catholic bookstore in Cleveland. He means the Daughters of St. Paul, to whom he was chaplain for some years in Boston. Apparently they had a great relationship, to the point that they sometimes called themselves "The Lennon Sisters." I would love a Catholic bookstore. Drooling.

Current listening

2008-01-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: In case you were wondering, that is Regina Spektor and On the Radio. Good stuff, eh.

Wish us well!

2008-01-04T00:14:00.000-05:00

A small contingent of my family is going to visit my sister, Sister Mary Amata of the Divine Love of Jesus. We are crazy and so we are driving down to Alabama from Ohio. Hopefully we'll get there all in one piece!

From Chapter 25 of The Little Prince

2007-12-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

... The well that we had come to was not like the wells of the Sahara. The wells of the Sahara are mere holes dug in the sand. This one was like a well in a village. But there was no village here, and I thought I must be dreaming...

"It is strange," I said to the little prince. "Everything is ready for use: the pulley, the bucket, the rope..."

He laughed, touched the rope, and set the pulley to working. And the pulley moaned, like an old weathervane which the wind has long since forgotten.

"Do you hear?" said the little prince. "We have wakened the well, and it is singing..."

I did not want him to tire himself with the rope.

"Leave it to me," I said. "It is too heavy for you."

I hoisted the bucket slowly to the edge of the well and set it there - happy, tired as I was, over my achievement. The song of the pulley was still in my ears, and I could see the sunlight shimmer in the still trembling water.

"I am thirsty for this water," said the little prince. "Give me some of it to drink..."

And I understood what he had been looking for.

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. It was as sweet as some special festival treat. This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of the Midnight Mass, the tenderness of the smiling faces, used to make up, so, the radiance of the gifts I received.

"The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden - and they do not find in it what they are looking for."

"They do not find it," I replied.

"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water."

"Yes, that is true," I said.

And the little prince added:

"But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart..."

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

Constantine and his mother, Helena

Technically, I should still be wishing everyone a happy and fruitful Advent. But it's close enough, isn't it?

Present-wise this Christmas is going to be a bit minimal in my family. Gift-wise it will be as sumptuous as ever, since we will still get to celebrate the birth of the Incarnate God. I think we are going to skip Midnight Mass this year and instead go to the Bishop's Mass during the Day at the Cathedral downtown. I have yet to hear Bishop Lennon preach, so I am very curious to hear what that Boston accent sounds like.

In other news, I have been doing some genealogical research and discovered the online marriage, birth, and death records for my grandfather's little home village in Romania/Transylvania. It goes back a couple centuries, but it is a little confusing because apparently many of my cousins married other cousins... I even found the entry where the christening of my grandfather, Walter Stefan, was noted down!

I also discovered that our rather mysterious last name, Kostendt, refers to the Eastern Catholic/Eastern Orthodox saint, St. Constantine the Great. He of the Milvian Bridge and the Edict of Milan.

In the Latin Church the emperor is not formally celebrated as a saint, for a number of reasons; his continued fondness for the pagan god Sol throughout his reign, for instance. Nevertheless he was baptized on his death bed and therefore I imagine he got to Heaven pretty quickly! His mother, Helena, is a saint in the Latin Church.

It surprised me at first, but Kostendt (KAH-stent) does sound like Constantine (KAHN-stent-tine). It amuses me a little because that side of our family is Protestant, and here they are named after an Eastern saint! Romania is a very Orthodox country. There are not a lot of Catholics there; in my grandfather's village, there is a Lutheran church and an Orthodox church, and that is it.

Since the Eastern Catholic Church recognizes him, I suppose I could develop a devotion to St. Constantine. He is listed at Catholic Online with a feast day of May 21. It would have been cooler if we were named after, say, St. Martin of Tours or St. Anthony of Padua, but I'm not complaining!

That has got to be one mean left hook

2007-11-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

Check this out:

Priest who makes a fight of it when he wants his message to hit home

NICK PISA IN ROME

Meet Father Max Pusceddu, the priest with a difference who uses his fists to spread the word of the Lord.

Father Max, 32, regularly takes to the ring in middleweight bouts against allcomers and leads with an impressive left-hand, or "south paw" to the knowledgeable.

Hundreds of spectators regularly turn up for the boxing matches. Many carry banners with bloodthirsty and unholy phrases such as "Father Max kill him" or "Father Max no mercy." Ringside fans of "Don Max" include policemen, mayors, lawyers and even some nuns.

A native of Pirri in the Italian province of Cagliari, Father Max is parish priest of Vallermosa, which has 2,000 inhabitants.

The priest, who arrives not in a traditional satin boxing gown but his black cassock, has won all his fights bar one.

He uses the bouts to promote his charity fund-raising for a priest training college in Congo and has been boxing since he was ten years old.

Full article.

He does have the sympathy of his bishop, although the authorities were initially opposed. And so he's won all but one match! I wonder who it was who had the nerve to beat him!

Go it via Catholic and Enjoying It.

St John Lateran

2007-11-02T13:26:00.000-04:00

Go here for an interesting podcast on this beautiful Roman church.... which hopefully one day I will see with my own eyes... sigh.

Terrible news!

2007-10-05T00:09:00.001-04:00

I found out that one of my favorite professors, Dr. Phillip Bebb, was murdered in Athens recently. He was stabbed more than forty times. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his son, Jonathan, who has been arrested.

I've mentioned Dr. Bebb a couple times on the blog. His course in the Northern Renaissance was one of the most difficult I have ever taken, but it was also one of the most rewarding. I actually won a prize for one of the papers I wrote for him; he was the one who encouraged me to submit my work. I was the shyest student ever, and he was one of the few professors I ever visited in office hours. The world will be poorer without him in it :(

Awesome prayer

2007-10-04T23:45:00.000-04:00

That I came upon on Phatmass:

Prayer Against Satan and the Rebellious Angels

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF H.H. POPE LEO XIII

The following is a simple exorcism prayer that can be said by priests or laity. The term "exorcism" does NOT always denote a solemn exorcism involving a person possessed by the devil. In general, the term denotes prayers to "curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing harm." As St. Peter had written in Holy Scripture, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." (1Peter 5:8)

The Holy Father exhorts priests to say this prayer as often as possible, as a simple exorcism to curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing harm. The faithful also may say it in their own name, for the same purpose, as any approved prayer. Its use is recommended whenever action of the devil is suspected, causing malice in men, violent temptations and even storms and various calamities. It could be used as a solemn exorcism (an official and public ceremony, in Latin), to expel the devil. It would then be said by a priest, in the name of the Church and only with a Bishop's permission.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in "our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places" (Eph., VI,12). Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of "the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan", bind him that he may no longer seduce the nations" (Apoc. XX,2).

EXORCISM

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints. (and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry)*, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil.

* Lay people omit the parenthesis above.

PSALM 67: God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies.
R. He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David.
V. May thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us.
R. As great as our hope in Thee.

[The crosses below indicate a blessing to be given if a priest recites the Exorcism; if a lay person recites it, they indicate the Sign of the Cross to be made silently by that person.]

We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects; in the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
+ may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb.+

Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God's elect and sift them as wheat.
+ The Most High God commands you,
+ He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal; "He who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim., II,4). God the Father commands you.
+ God the Son commands you.
+ God the Holy Ghost commands you.
+ Christ, God's Word made flesh, commands you;
+ He who to save our race outdone through your envy, "humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death" (Phil.,II,8); He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her "all days even to the end of the world" (Mat.,XXVIII,20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you,
+ as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith.
+ The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you.
+ The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you.
+ Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God,
+ by the true God,
+ by the holy God,
+ by the God "who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting" (St.John,III); stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the Church and hindering her liberty. Begone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man's salvation. Give place to Christ in whom you have found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the God of Armies.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
V. May the Lord be with thee.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray. - God of heaven, God of earth, God of Angels, God of Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give life after death and rest after work, because there is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness; deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord.

That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee to hear us.

That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church, we beseech Thee to hear us.

(Holy water is sprinkled in the place where we may be.)

Imprimatur: +Henri, O.M.I.
Vicar Apostolic of James Bay - Aug. 15, 1967

Update

2007-09-14T13:51:00.000-04:00

Things that have happened since I blogged last:

1. I joined the legions of people whose identities have been stolen. As far as I can tell the damage was limited to a $1,700 charge at a restaurant in Naples, Florida, which the good people of American Express have taken off my card. Fun.

2. It was announced that my department at Allstate is being shipped to points west - Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona, to be precise. VERY fun. It won't happen for about fourteen months, they'll give us three months notice of our exact end date and the severance package is of course generous, which will be awesome for paying off my debts. And I didn't like my job, anyway. But, ack, all the same.

3. I have hit a large pothole, which I have identified as spiritual sloth. Please pray that I snap out of it. Eternal consequences, spitting out of the lukewarm, etc. etc.

But God is still very good and I am very blessed. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ :)

More reasons to love being Catholic

2007-08-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

We've got biiiiig churches... and we fill them up!

We get to consume God... no "it's just a symbol" qualifiers!

And, last but not least.... we've got Cardinal Bertone.

Okay, so I'm being a little bit of a triumphalist. Yes, yes, lots of problems in the Church, liturgical abuse, bad priests, rotten catechesis, blah blah blah. What's ugly only throws into relief what's beautiful, at least in my eyes. So sue me.

Good news!

2007-08-16T11:44:00.000-04:00

My sister received the habit and her name in religion yesterday, on the feast of the Assumption.

She's now Sister Mary Amata of the Divine Love of Jesus!

Sadness

2007-08-06T13:02:00.000-04:00

Published in this week's bulletin, from the young, new associate pastor of our parish:

"...Since the spirituality of the majority of Catholics is most expressed in the Eucharist, Catholics are particularly sensitive to the ways that we celebrate the Holy Mass. For some people the changes [ed: referring to the post-conciliar reforms] were experienced as a bit harsh; they equated Mass with the Tridentine Mass. Recognizing this and in order to reach out to these few, Pope John Paul II began to allow the use of the 1962 Roman Missal (Tridentine Mass) with permission of the local Bishop. Pope Benedict has chosen to follow in the same footsteps, only now allowing individual priests to decide use of the 1962 Roman Missal. However, both Popes stressed that the 1970 Roman Missal remained the ORDINARY way in which to celebrate Mass and that use of the 1962 Missal was an EXTRAORDINARY way to celebrate Mass. Both are legitimate ways to celebrate the same prayer...

...So what does this mean? It means that within a diocese there need to be some churches where priests celebrate the Tridentine Mass for the faithful who knew and experienced this Rite in their lifetime, feel drawn to it and are requesting it. In our diocese there are three churches that do this, and St. Mary in Akron is one. My caution to people is to realize that the Pope's decree was meant for those who had grown up with the Tridentine rite and still feel drawn to it for their spirituality. At St Mary in Hudson, the norm will remain the Roman Missal of 1970 at all of our Masses since we are located so close to a parish that does offer the extraordinary way to celebrate Mass. As the Vibrant Parish Life Initiative reminds us, we are called to be one Church, sharing rather than duplicating services, so that all can feel welcome in all parishes and the variety of needs can be met."

Obviously this doesn't match up with what the Holy Father said. I am not even a big enthusiast of the Extraordinary Form, since in some ways I like the Ordinary Form better (the best is a combination of the two, a la the liturgy as celebrated at my sister's community, the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word). But I still feel lousy, especially about the bit on how the Extraordinary Form is just for old folks. What would they do, check baptismal certificates at the door? :( I feel really bad.

Prayers

2007-07-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

I came to You late, O Beauty so ancient and new. I came to love You late. You were within me and I was outside where I rushed about wildly searching for You like some monster loose in Your beautiful world. You were with me but I was not with You. You called me, You shouted to me, You wrapped me in Your Splendour, You broke past my deafness, You bathed me in Your Light, You sent my blindness reeling. You gave out such a delightful fragrance and I drew it in and came breathing hard after You. I tasted, and it made me hunger and thirst; You touched me, and I burned to know Your Peace.

-- St Augustine of Hippo

Evening Prayer

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake,
or watch, or weep tonight,
and give Your Angels and Saints charge over those who
sleep.
Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest Your weary ones,
Bless Your dying ones,
Soothe Your suffering ones,
pity Your afflicted ones,
Shield Your joyous ones,
And all for Your love's sake.

Amen.

-- St Augustine

An Act of Love

O my God,
the true and only love of my soul,
what more couldst Thou do to induce me to love Thee!
Thou wast not content with dying for me;
Thou didst wish to institute this holy Sacrament,
to give Thyself entirely to me,
and thus unite Thy whole Heart
to the heart of a creature
so vile and ungrateful as I am.
And what is more,
Thou Thyself dost invite me to receive Thee;
Thou dost ardently desire that I should receive Thee.
O infinite love!
incromprehensible love!
a God wishes to give Himself to me!

My soul, dost thou believe all this?
What are thou doing,
or what hast thou to say?
O God,
infinitely amiable,
the only object worthy of all love,
I love Thee with my whole heart;
I love Thee above all things;
I love Thee more than myself -
more than my life!
Oh, that I could see Thee loved by all!
Oh, that I could make all hearts love Thee,
at much as Thou dost desire!
I love Thee,
O most amiable God;
and in loving Thee,
I unite my miserable heart to the heart of Seraphim,
to the heart of most holy Mary,
and to the Heart of Jesus Thy most holy Son.
Thus I love Thee,
O infinite Goodness,
with the love with which the Saints,
with which Jesus and Mary love Thee.

Amen.

Reason # 1,753,603 to love being Catholic

2007-07-18T23:19:00.000-04:00

We get to have pilgrimages and candlelight processions at Lourdes, the little village favored by Our Lady:

From Phatmass' Catholic Culture thread. Happy sigh.

Sky is blue and Pope is Catholic: Media Shocked and Outraged

2007-07-13T08:41:00.000-04:00

Shortly after Papa released the Motu Proprio freeing the extraordinary rite of the Holy Mass (yay Papa!) there was another document put out by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the Vatican organization charged with protecting the faith from heresy and error. Basically, that's the office that smacks down "pro-homosexual activity" propaganda, ""Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus" nonsense, and "Christ was not God but just a you're-okay, I'm-okay sage" silliness. The CDF is one of the reasons the Church will never go down the road of the Presbyterians, the Evangelical Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the United Methodists, or the American Baptists, etc etc ad nausuem.

Anyway, the CDF's document, published under the Pope's authority, pointed out that Protestant communities do not have ecclesiastic bone fides, in other words, they are not churches in the proper sense of the term. This was greeted by howls of shocked protest. We have been treated to such wonderful, accurate headlines as "Protestants aren't proper Christians, says Pope". Way to go, media.

The funny thing is that most Protestants (and most Catholics!) in America don't know what ecclesiology is. Does your denomination have seven sacraments (Baptism, Confession, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, more popularly know as the Last Rites)? Does your denomination have at its head what you believe to be validly ordained bishops who were ordained by previous validly ordained bishops, and so on and so forth, all the way back, you believe, to the time of the Apostles? Does your denomination have validly ordained priests who confect what you believe to be the true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in what looks like bread?

The reality is that the word "church" is a very technical theological term. A church, properly and theologically understood, is one that has a sacramental priesthood and apostolic succession. Large numbers of Protestants would recoil in horror at the idea of having a sacramental priesthood! We are so used to hearing "church" used to describe any group of Christians that of course, some will be offended when they hear it said that they are not a church. The Pope is not saying that Protestants are not good Christians; he is stating that their beliefs do not correspond to what the word "church" entails in its technical, theological meaning.

Incidentally, the Catholic Church is not the only "proper church," although of course Catholics consider it the True Church :) The Greek, Russian, Lithuanian Orthodox, the Copts, basically all the ancient churches, do indeed match the theological meaning of "church."

If you are interested in reading what the CDF (and thereby, the Pope) actually said instead of what our dear friends in the media say they said, the link is here. It's in a very nice question and answer format.

Speaking of St. Anthony...

2007-07-07T02:42:00.000-04:00

Tonight, while we completed the last frantic preparations for my brother's departure for the OCS, stuffing all his regulation gear into his sea bag, we realized that we lost... his watch. It was a 20 dollar affair, not too expensive. Its chief charm, according to my mother, was that the adjustable strap was velcro and thereby less onerous to would-be officers on ten mile runs.

We tore apart the kitchen, where the fugitive time piece was reportedly sighted last. Drawers, counter tops, the dishwasher and even... the trash (!) were searched multiple times, to no avail, but accompanied by much gnashing of teeth.

A strong devotion to St. Anthony, patron of those with lost articles, runs high and heavy through my mother's family (it's all her side, as my father comes from Proddy stock). The brother who is leaving for OCS was actually baptized after him in St. Patrick's Cathedral. As the desperate nature of the situation became apparent, great wails immediately rose to Heaven: "Oh, St. Anthony! Please help us find the watch!"

Usually Anthony starts praying for us right away, but on this occasion he seems to have taken his own sweet time. Just when we were ready to give up, the watch turned up - not even on the floor where we were looking, but upstairs, on my other brother's nightstand.

What can I say? He never fails. Thanks for the prayers, St. Anthony!

Blush!

2007-07-04T00:01:00.000-04:00

So, I've been neglecting my blog. Shame on me!

A lot has been happening this month. First and foremost, please pray for the repose of the soul of Jessie Davis, the young pregnant woman who was murdered a couple weeks ago. She worked in my office, but in a different department.

My brother Andy is getting ready to depart for Officer Candidate School. This is a mandatory part of his program with the Marine Corps, which will eventually result in his being commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Please pray for him, too.

Work is going all right. I was "employee of the month" last month, which benefits include a one time hour-long lunch (as opposed to a half hour) with pizza provided by the company, and a $22 bonus. The money was what I enjoyed/need the most!

It seems that pretty soon I will have to remove the Motu Proprio Random Date Generator on the side-rail, as Papa should be coming out with it on July 7. It will be a great relief to those who have been waiting and waiting for years. It is important, of course, that this moment of grace be marred as little as possible by any gloating. I can understand the impulse, but resist!

And of course, there was on June 13 the feast of my family's patron, the great saint of Padua (or Lisbon, if you are of the Portuguese persuasion), Anthony, Franciscan and priest.

Below is a painting done by Giovanni Antonio Gaili in the early 1600s, currently above the saint's chapel in the Basilica of Ss. Cosmas and Damian. The artist has captured a beautiful expression on Anthony's face.

Ora pro nobis, St. Anthony!

Pomp and Circumstance

2007-06-09T19:55:00.000-04:00

Where is the law written that this song must be played at every graduation ceremony? Not that I mind.

Anyway, today I walked at my graduation from Ohio University, even though I technically received my diploma back in the fall. Only one of my old roomies walked and she was in the second ceremony later in the afternoon. :( I missed them! So basically I was was seated near a loud bunch of strangers.

My tassel was crimson for the journalism degree and my honor cords were silver for the magna cum laude. The entire Scripps College sat together, and so there were a lot of silver tassels for the Communications major.

What I found most interesting about the commencement exercises at this very secular public institution was the fact that the lines etched on our college gate, "So enter, that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge, wisdom and love" and "So depart, that daily thou mayest better serve thy fellowmen, thy country and thy God" were printed on the front and back of the program. The inside cover states:

"This simple wisdom, mirroring a Latin inscription found over the main portal of the University of Padua in Italy, extends an honorable challenge to all who walk the brick pathways of the College Green. The Gateway, a gift of the Class of 1915 to mark the 100th anniversary of the first graduating class of Ohio University, reminds us of the core values that shape the enduring bond formed between the university and its graduates."

And in his closing address before conferring our degrees, President McDavis even read it out loud and made a point of emphasizing it.

Of course, the gate on the other side of the campus is etched with the lines from one of our founding documents, originally penned in 1787, to the effect that "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Close examination of the university seal also will note that the Latin motto is Religio Doctrina Civilitas, Prae Omnibus Virtus - "Religion, Learning, Civility - Above All, Virtue"

I was somewhat surprised - but quite pleased.

All in all it was a very nice day; one of my favorite professors, Professor Debatin, remembered me and congratulated me. Now it's time to get some sleep. We had to wake at 3 in the morning to get to Athens in time for the ceremonies. Zzz.

Incidentally...

2007-05-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

The Archives have been updated!

Happy Memorial Day

2007-05-25T08:27:00.000-04:00

I'm off for a four-day trip down to Birmingham, Alabama, with my mother and father, to see my sister, Sister Elizabeth. It should be fun.

We are driving down instead of flying. According to my father this will save us money, although how he calculates that with regard to our soaring gas prices is beyond me. It's Dad Math.

It pleases me to be off work for so many days; I can only imagine when I go back how the phones will light up with travelers bemoaning their fates on the nation's highways. "He cut in front of me! That's why I rear-ended him!" they will scream. "I need to file a claim!"

Incidentally, I wasn't given a graduate assistantship. Ach, it stings! Or, stinged, I should say. I am well over it. The only trouble now is I can't decide if I should go part time and work full time, or do both part time. The former would leave me absolutely exhausted and with money to spare, while the latter would be difficult to arrange, part-time jobs being somewhat scarce around here.

Je suis toute triste. Ora pro me.

Waiting

2007-05-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

I was called in recently for an interview with the committee that arranges the graduate appointments at the School of Library and Information Science. I think it went well, but I am always terrible at judging such things. They did let me know that they are in the final stages of cutting the list. It would be very much like me to nearly clear the bar and then fall flat at the end. Please pray for me; it would be a marvelous opportunity, and I should be hearing soon.

I'm also eagerly awaiting a trip down to Alabama to visit my sister, Sister Elizabeth. It's been many, many months since I saw her last, and I really miss her. The convent atmosphere will be a welcome respite from the working world, which is really starting to chew me up and spit me out. I don't hate it or anything, and I've only been at it for about two and a half months, but I'm just getting worn out.

Of course, we are all still eagerly awaiting the long-rumored, long-hoped for moto proprio. I haven't been to a Holy Mass in the Tridentine rite since Christmas, and it's not a major part of my spiritual life at all, but I think it would a wonderfully positive move for the liturgy of the Church. I can already see people becoming discouraged and embittered at the seemingly endless wait; it's important to realize that the Holy Father, if he does send the moto proprio, will send it when he's good and ready and not before.

I am not very good at waiting. I reckon that few people are, even though Christians are supposed to be "waiting in joyful hope" for the return of Our Lord. Lent is about waiting for Easter, and Advent about waiting for Christmas; Mary spent about nine months waiting, and the whole history of salvation revolves around the wait for the Messiah. But humans don't like to wait; we want it now, now, now. It's hard to keep in mind that the reason God lets us wait is to give us time to prepare for what He has in store.

I am especially rotten at waiting for answer to prayer. My tactics include muttering a quick prayer in such a manner that it almost seems that I don't believe it will get any results; then I immediately begin bothering (badgering?) our Lord about why He isn't making things clear. My intention for this week is to learn at least a little bit to wait, with patience and hope, for the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Sisters in Rome

2007-04-26T22:17:00.000-04:00

My sister's order, the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word, recently updated their website with pictures of their recent pilgrimage to Rome. Sister Elizabeth is on the end on the left. :)

How can I help you?

2007-04-21T15:40:00.000-04:00

This is the question that I ask about twenty times a day, Monday through Friday.

While I wait to find out about my graduate school assistantship, I work at Allstate as a CRA, which means that I take the first notice of loss reports from customers, claimants, other insurance companies, doctors, and attorneys. I do only auto claims, so most of my day revolves around rear-end accidents and parking lot follies. Oy, people, please try to leave a reasonable amount of room between you and the next car!

Sometimes the people are nasty and sometimes they are very kind. I have liked talking to the lawyers most of all - surprise! Because for the most part they know what they are doing. It is understandable why many people are upset when they call the insurance company; after all, they are usually contacting us because they have had an accident.

On Friday I received another fatality call. A couple of weeks ago I dealt with the tail end of a motorcycle claim that involved a death, but this one I handled from start to finish. It was the son of the insured who had been killed, but the claim was being called in by one of the insured's daughters-in-law. It was a one car accident; the fellow lost control of his car on a country road, and he rolled.

It was a good reminder for me that although my job is just temporary, it is still meaningful and it is important to do it well. "How can I help you?" is not just part of the verbiage we were taught, it is also a real part of the service we provide. Time to dial back my uber-snotty contempt factor for these "customer service" jobs...

The Exsultet

2007-04-08T01:50:00.000-04:00

If you were lucky enough to attend the Easter Vigil this year, you got to hear the beautiful hymn Exsultet. I did! If you didn't, you can hear an mp3 of it in English here. But much, much better, listen to Fr. Z's great podcast here, which at the end includes a great Latin recording.

The text:

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,

that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

Deacon: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Deacon: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is night
when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night
when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father,
in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

(For it is fed by the melting wax,
which the mother bee brought forth
to make this precious candle.)

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

In the ever-glorious Latin:

Exultet iam angelica turba caelorum:
exultent divina mysteria:
et pro tanti Regis victoria tuba insonet salutaris.

Gaudeat et tellus tantis irradiata fulgoribus:
et, aeterni Regis splendore illustrata,
totius orbis se sentiat amisisse caliginem.

Laetetur et mater Ecclesia,
tanti luminis adornata fulgoribus:
et magnis populorum vocibus haec aula resultet.

Quapropter astantes vos, fratres carissimi,
ad tam miram huius sancti luminis claritatem,
una mecum, quaeso,
Dei omnipotentis misericordiam invocate.
Ut, qui me non meis meritis
intra Levitarum numerum dignatus est aggregare,
luminis sui claritatem infundens,
cerei huius laudem implere perficiat.

Vers. Dominus vobiscum.
Resp. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Vers. Sursum corda.
Resp. Habemus ad Dominum.
Vers. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
Resp. Dignum et iustum est.

Vere dignum et iustum est,
invisibilem Deum Patrem omnipotentem
Filiumque eius unigenitum,
Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum,
toto cordis ac mentis affectu et vocis ministerio personare.

Qui pro nobis aeterno Patri Adae debitum solvit,
et veteris piaculi cautionem pio cruore detersit.

Haec sunt enim festa paschalia,
in quibus verus ille Agnus occiditur,
cuius sanguine postes fidelium consecrantur.

Haec nox est,
in qua primum patres nostros, filios Israel
eductos de Aegypto,
Mare Rubrum sicco vestigio transire fecisti.

Haec igitur nox est,
quae peccatorum tenebras columnae illuminatione purgavit.

Haec nox est,
quae hodie per universum mundum in Christo credentes,
a vitiis saeculi et caligine peccatorum segregatos,
reddit gratiae, sociat sanctitati.

Haec nox est,
in qua, destructis vinculis mortis,
Christus ab inferis victor ascendit.

Nihil enim nobis nasci profuit,
nisi redimi profuisset.
O mira circa nos tuae pietatis dignatio!
O inaestimabilis dilectio caritatis:
ut servum redimeres, Filium tradidisti!

O certe necessarium Adae peccatum,
quod Christi morte deletum est!
O felix culpa,
quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!

O vere beata nox,
quae sola meruit scire tempus et horam,
in qua Christus ab inferis resurrexit!

Haec nox est, de qua scriptum est:
Et nox sicut dies illuminabitur:
et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.

Huius igitur sanctificatio noctis fugat scelera, culpas lavat:
et reddit innocentiam lapsis
et maestis laetitiam.
Fugat odia, concordiam parat
et curvat imperia.

O vere beata nox,
in qua terrenis caelestia, humanis divina iunguntur!

In huius igitur noctis gratia, suscipe, sancte Pater,
laudis huius sacrificium vespertinum,
quod tibi in hac cerei oblatione sollemni,
per ministrorum manus
de operibus apum, sacrosancta reddit Ecclesia.

Sed iam columnae huius praeconia novimus,
quam in honorem Dei rutilans ignis accendit.
Qui, licet sit divisus in partes,
mutuati tamen luminis detrimenta non novit.

Alitur enim liquantibus ceris,
quas in substantiam pretiosae huius lampadis
apis mater eduxit.

Oramus ergo te, Domine,
ut cereus iste in honorem tui nominis consecratus,
ad noctis huius caliginem destruendam,
indeficiens perseveret.
Et in odorem suavitatis acceptus,
supernis luminaribus misceatur.

Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniat:
Ille, inquam, lucifer, qui nescit occasum:
Christus Filius tuus,
qui, regressus ab inferis, humano generi serenus illuxit,
et vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum.

Resp. Amen.

Good Friday in Rome

2007-04-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI lies on the ground before the altar during a Good Friday ceremony for the Passion of Christ, inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Friday, April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Danilo Schiavella, Pool)

Pope Benedict XVI (R) stands without his shoes as he attends Passion of the Christ service in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 6, 2007. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN)

Pope Benedict XVI holds the cross as he leads the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) at the Colosseum in Rome April 6, 2007. REUTERS/Max Rossi (ITALY)

Pope Benedict XVI, left in white, follows Cardinal Camillo Ruini carrying a wooden cross, during the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession celebrated by the pontiff on Good Friday at the ancient Colosseum in Rome, Friday, April 6, 2007. The evening Via Crucis procession at the ancient Colosseum amphitheater is a Rome tradition that draws a large crowd of faithful, including many of the pilgrims who flock to the Italian capital for Holy Week ceremonies before Easter Sunday. (AP Photo/Maurizio Brambatti, Pool)

Pope Benedict XVI leads the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) at the Colosseum in Rome April 6, 2007. REUTERS/Maurizio Brambatti-Pool (ITALY)

Genealogy

2007-04-03T21:18:00.000-04:00

I have been doing a little bit of digging (oh, how I love to dig!) and I have discovered some interesting facts about my family tree.

My grandmother, known to us always as Oma, is an immigrant from Austria (my father should have run for office, he could have used the "first in his family born in America" line to great effect). She is a lovely woman, exactly the way a grandmother should be; she always invites us over for holidays, and can she ever cook!

Anyway, she was brought up outside Vienna as the granddaughter of the Baroness Marie Mottl. She was speaking to my father recently and mentioned that Baroness Marie's mother, the Baroness de Rostenfeld, was before her marriage a member of the von Bartenstein family, descending from Johann Christoph Von Bartenstein, counselor at the Austrian court.

Of course I had to look him up. Baron Von Bartenstein (or, as he is referred to sometimes, Count Von Bartenstein) was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, in the late 1600s. He was baptized Protestant but converted to Catholicism, supposedly to gain a position at the uber-Catholic Hapsburg court. He was first adviser to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, and then became the Secretary of State for Charles' daughter Maria Theresa and educator of her son, Joseph II. Baron Von Bartenstein is described as a "prickly" person who was rather acidic in his foreign policy dispatches; in other words he was really rude to the other diplomats.

He himself came from common, middle-class stock, but his children seem to have done well (good marriages etc). However, I have yet to pin down which of them we are descended from. It's fascinating stuff. If anyone knows of a Baroness Johanna Von Bartenstein, married name de Rostenfeld, and who her parents were, drop me a line :)

Good news!

2007-03-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

I recently found out I was admitted to the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. Yes, that university. My father actually went there for his undergraduate program, as did his brother and sister and one of my cousins. So I am reversing the order a bit. It is the only accredited program in Ohio, however, so that makes it better.

I was not worried at all about getting into the school, but I have yet to find out about the assistantship I applied for. It is extremely iffy about whether I will bother with the graduate degree if I don't get that position, which would cover my tuition entirely. I am quite allergic to debt, for a number of really good reasons. I would love being a librarian, but it is not a dream that if not realized would produce emotional death. After all, my primary vocation is either to marriage or the religious life.

Please pray for me!

No comment ;)

2007-03-18T15:06:00.000-04:00

Powers: cognition aided by divine illumination

Weaknesses: inability to do anything that will earn the divine grace necessary to make up for original sin

Notes: These toys come with with a 224-page minicomic, Concussions of Saint Augustine, explaining the character's origin and describing some of his amazing adventures!

See more Philosophy Action Heroes here.

From Evangelical Catholicism, via The Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

Earthquake!

2007-03-12T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today there was an earthquake, 3.6 on the scale, according to early reports. We actually made the front page of Drudge!

It sounded like a big bang, with perhaps half a second of vibrations. I thought one of my brothers had jumped off the couch - they treat most of our furniture like a jungle gym. But no, they were entirely innocent. My friend Shannon called me to ask if we felt it too, and that's when we figured out it must have been the earth moving.

These tremors occur every once in a while under Cleveland. They never do much damage at all, but they give everybody some more cud to chew on.

Musing, musing

2007-03-11T15:41:00.000-04:00

I am still discerning my vocation (I am the world's slowest discerner). Nevertheless, I am like most girls in that I like to make lists of names I would give my "future children." When I was younger I used to be sort of obsessed with this, but my passion for baby names has been replaced by a passion for all things Catholic, thank goodness. I still sometimes make lists, though. Here are a few names I've come up with recently:

Girls:

1. Mary Margaret Rose

Mary is the name of the Blessed Virgin, of course, and is also a family name, although my great-great-grandmother was always nicknamed Molly. This one name I wouldn't want to use a nickname for, because it's just so beautiful! Margaret is my name and the name of my great-grandmother. Rose is just pretty, and it's also a title of the Virgin.

2. Caroline Patricia Jean

Caroline is a nice feminine version of Karol, after Pope John Paul II. Patricia is my mother's name, and Jean is my grandmother's name. I like Caro - Italian for "dear," by the way - as a nickname.

3. Alice Elizabeth Anastasia

There is a St. Alice (not well-known) who was "put on the books" by St. Pius X; she was a leper whose chief consolation was the Holy Eucharist. Elizabeth is my sister's name and another great-grandmother's name, besides being the name of the Blessed Mother's cousin. St. Anastasia was martyred during the persecutions of Diocletian. Her name is mentioned in the Roman Canon and her feast day is celebrated on Christmas Day. Her name means "resurrection."

4. Eleanor Virginia Anne

When I was young, I loved reading about Eleanor of Aquitaine, who, after all, went on one of the Crusades :) Her first husband, Louis VII of France, gave refuge to St. Thomas Becket when her second husband, Henry II, chased the good archbishop out of England. Virginia is in honor of the Blessed Virgin, of course. Anne is a family name, my mother's middle name and my great-great aunt's name (She was actually Mary Anne, after her mother, but they called her Maime).

Boys:

1. John Arthur Alcuin

John is in honor of the Beloved Disciple. Arthur is my kid brother's name, and Bl. Alcuin of York was extremely influential both in the court of Charlemagne and in the Church; he did a tremendous amount with the liturgy, for example, and he is also in some way responsible for our use of capital letters (before the invention of carolingian miniscule, europeans wrote everything without much punctuation at all which makes it much much much messier and harder to read as you can see especially since printing methods tendedtomakewordsruntogether). Ah, the things you learn in a college capstone class!

2. Anthony Charles Theodore

Anthony is my other brother's name and the name of our family's patron, St. Anthony of Padua. Charles is my grandfather's name and my great-grandfather's name, and Theodore is my father's middle name. (He goes by "Ted" because "Werner" really screamed "son of immigrants!" when he was young. Actually, his parents even spelled Theodore in the Germanic way, as Theodor, without an e. Everybody gets it wrong. They even misspelled it as Theodore on my parents' wedding invitations. )

3. Linus Patrick Pius

St. Linus was the second pope, coming right after St. Peter himself. Patrick is, of course, the patron saint of Ireland. How could I with my Irish blood fail to include him? Pius is the name of St. Pius V, who beat back the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, codified the liturgy, reformed the breviary, declared Queen Elizabeth I of England a heretic, and was the first pope to wear white (he just never took off his Dominican habit, even after his election). St. Pius X was a great fighter of the modernist heresy, which, alas, was not mortally wounded by his efforts. Also, Pius is the Latin form of Pio, which of course is the name of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, the great Italian mystic and stigmatic who died in the 1970s.

4. Damian Henry Benedict

Damian is the name of our associate pastor here. He is a wonderful, young, orthdox priest, and he has sent 6 young men to the seminary in the 4 years he has been here, with another 4 boys planning to enter next fall. Henry is my great-grandfather's name, and Benedict is the pope!

Why I no longer call myself a Republican

2007-03-10T15:38:00.000-05:00

I am a conservative and I probably always will be a conservative. But for the last couple years or so I have become increasingly wary of labeling myself a Republican.

Mostly this is because the Republican party is no longer what it was. There is nothing conservative at all about a lot of Republican positions.

The classic example, of course, is the debate over torture. There are a lot of Republicans who think that we live in Jack Bauer's America, with year after year of ticking nuclear, biological and chemical bombs which will go off if we don't "do what needs to be done." "What needs to be done" usually includes vicious techniques like water-boarding, which I believe the Vice President referred to as "giving them a dunking" or something similar. Never mind that experienced interrogators say that you almost never get good intelligence through coercion, since the victim will say whatever he thinks you want to hear in order to make the pain stop.

Never mind, too, that people in the military find the entire concept abhorrent. The American military tradition is all about honor, virtue, chivalry. Torture - or, excuse me, "intense interrogation" - is not consistent with that worldview. My brother would certainly never obey an order to torture a "detainee." Unlike our terrorist enemies, he's not a moral monster. He is a United States Marine.

And the kicker is that torture is not conservative at all. Conservativism focuses on the dignity of the individual in relation to the common good. It is liberalism that demands that the inherent worth of the individual be sacrificed on the altar of the faceless collective. Hence, it's all right to torture this suspect or that suspect, since his dignity is expendable in order to serve the needs of the Republic.

Other recent incidents have underlined for me the fact that the Republican party is entering a wilderness period. Ann Coulter's little episode at the CPAC recently is a good example. She is more or less a right-wing Al Franken; I think Franken is an embarrassment to the Left, and Miss Coulter is an embarrassment to the Right. She is funny (sometimes), but she has no point. Her harsh rhetoric gets pretty old. Publicity stunts like the CPAC incident help her sell a lot of books and get her booked on TV shows, but they do zilch for the conservative movement (or for the Republican party, really). I am not the only conservative to find her (and her knee-jerk defenders) obnoxious.

Sean Hannity is another annoying example of this type. He shouts down guests on his program and generally asks a lot of "so have you stopped beating your wife yet?" questions. I actually like Alan Colmes better, in spite of the fact that I agree with Mr. Colmes about zero percent of the time.

I wish folks would put down the WorldNetDaily and pick up Russell Kirk, the father of 20th century conservativism. The jackets on his books don't feature an airbrushed portrait of himself, but the contents are actually intellectually salient. You can't have it all.

For a good comparison of Kirk and the "Big Mac-ization" of contemporary Republicanism (with somewhat of a positive spin), see this article on the phenomenon.

(Note: I was surprised to find out that Kirk converted to Catholicism late in life. I believe I read that for the most of his life he was agnostic or unaligned. This is just proof for my file that the Catholic Church is the natural home of conservatives ;)

A few statistics

2007-03-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

There are two Catholic Churches in Communist China - one "Catholic" Church is state run and doesn't have ties with the pope; the other, true Catholic Church is in union with Rome and is routinely persecuted.

On his wonderful What Does the Prayer Really Say? blog, Fr. Z posted some statistics about the situation in the last great Communist super power:

Some figures from China

Catholics: 12,000,000
Dioceses: 138
Adult baptisms in 2004: 150,000

THE OFFICIAL CHURCH

Bishops: 67
Priests: 1,870
Seminaries: 14
Seminarians: 580
Sisters: 3,500
Novitiates: 40
Novices: 800

THE CLANDESTINE CHURCH

Bishops: 44
Priests: 1,100
Seminaries: 10
Seminarians: 800
Sisters: 1,700
Novitiates: 20
Novices: 800

Bishops in prison or missing: 17
Priests in prison: 20

Sources: Holy Spirit Study Center of Hong Kong, Asia News.

I was gladdened by the fact that the clandestine Church has many more seminarians than the Patriotic Church does. The pattern in history is that persecution breeds sanctity.

Please pray for the persecuted Church!

Surprise

2007-02-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

Study: 1 in 4 U.S. women infected with cervical cancer virus

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- One in four U.S. women ages 14 to 59 is infected with the sexually transmitted virus that in some forms can cause cervical cancer, according to the first broad national estimate.

The figure is mostly in line with previous assessments. The highest prevalence -- nearly 45 percent -- was found in young women within the age range recommended for a new virus-fighting vaccine, according to a report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Full article.

A lot of people don't know that you get cervical cancer from promiscuity. It's hard for me to have sympathy for victims, in the sense that one sort of "brings it on oneself" the same way that smokers trigger lung cancer. But that is me, being a judgmental, bad Christian. How someone gets into a painful situation says nothing about how I should respond to them and their suffering.

Anyway, this is what widespread premarital sex will get you. Forget about the "vaccine" - which is more or less useless for non-virgins - the best way to prevent cervical cancer is to not sleep with men you're not married to.

"The Mother of the Church wants a goal!"

2007-02-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

From the AP:

The fans were pious. The players bound for glory. And the victory? A miracle. Priests and seminarians from several soccer-loving countries took to a field near the looming dome of St. Peter's Basilica Saturday for the first match of the Clericus Cup, a tournament fielding 16 teams from Catholic institutes in Rome.
"You are playing in view of St. Peter's cupola, so behave well," admonished Cardinal Pio Laghi before giving the official kickoff at a small arena on a hill overlooking the Vatican.
In Italy soccer is a hallowed game, taken almost as seriously as Catholicism, and the players were all business once the whistle was blown.
Amid screams from the coaches, pious slogans from the small crowd and T-shirts invoking the protection of the Virgin Mary, a motley crew of Latin Americans, Africans and Asians from the Collegio Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church College) took on an all-Brazilian team fielded by the Gregorian University.
In a miraculous upset, the young Mater Ecclesiae players trounced the more experienced but portly Brazilians 6-0 as their fans chanted: "The Mother of the Church wants a goal!"

Full article.

I imagine that there are plenty of priests in Europe who are pretty good soccer players, soccer being to Europe what baseball is to America. I especially appreciated this line from a seminarian:

The tournament is also a second chance for many clergymen who left promising soccer careers to follow their spiritual calling, said Marco Rosales, a Mexican seminarian who coaches the Mater Ecclesiae team.

"Some on the team had a chance to play professionally, but the Lord called them to His team," he said.

Of course, everyone knows that the Vatican's Secretary of State, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, is a huge soccer fan, even sitting up in the booth and doing commentary for a few games:

It would amuse me to see one of our big-time cardinals calling a baseball game... They would probably not be able to restrain their legitimate biases. I don't see Cardinal O'Malley rooting for anybody but the Bo Sox...

Picture Post!

2007-02-21T00:07:00.000-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI shakes hand with a Japanese faithful stricken with leprosy at the end of the general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican February 14, 2007. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano (VATICAN)

Pope Benedict XVI embraces a child as he arrives at his summer residence in Les Combes, Valle d'Aosta, July 11, 2006. The Pope arrived in Valle d'Aosta on Tuesday for a holiday in a mountain chalet in the shadow of Mont Blanc. REUTERS/Daniele La Monaca (ITALY)

Pope Benedict XVI greets a sick child during the General Audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Wednesday May 11, 2005. (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti)

Prayer request

2007-02-20T23:58:00.000-05:00

Please pray for my sister, Sister Elizabeth, who is a postulant in the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. She recently called us to tell us that she dislocated her jaw in her sleep. The Sisters are taking good care of her, but prayers for the quick resolution of this health issue would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance :)

Since we've no place to go

2007-02-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Oh, wait, we have to go to Mass. Whoops. Please hold that order, Mother Nature.

The parking lot at St. Mary's was quite slick this morning - luckily, Mother was driving and so our chances of collision were drastically reduced.

We are starting our parish mission tonight. It's being preached by a lady whose name I can not remember, and a Paulist priest, Fr. Ivan O. Tou of Old St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. He was also the celebrant at this morning's Mass. We're not going to make it to the retreat tonight, but maybe later in the week... I have to admit that when I heard they were from the Bay Area, I got those alarm bells ringing in my ears - quite irrational, although Fr. Tou did seem to leave out things in the liturgy. The Our Father and "the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever," all ran together, for instance.

I happened to confess to him yesterday, however, and he was a pretty good confessor. Hmmm....

Some favorite titles of Our Lady

2007-02-13T00:39:00.000-05:00

A girl in contemplation bent

A graduate of the school for virgins
in the temple of Jerusalem

A heaven that contains the Sun

A perfect setting for a perfect jewel

A pledge of God's love for us

A song of love inspired by the Holy Spirit

A work only surpassed by God

There are over 6,000 titles cataloged here, on a page maintained by the famous International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.

Happy squeal

2007-02-09T00:22:00.000-05:00

C.S. Lewis' classic The Screwtape Letters is going to get on the silver screen!

From the industry paper Variety:

Pic, which Walden hopes to release in 2008, is the company's second Lewis collaboration following "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which grossed $744 million worldwide. The sequel to that pic, "Prince Caspian," is due out next year.

Like "Narnia," "The Screwtape Letters" -- which is described as a midbudget, primarily live-action pic -- embodies Christian themes.

First published in 1942, "The Screwtape Letters" takes the form of a series of missives from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his wannabe diabolical nephew, Wormwood. As a mentor, Screwtape advises his protege on the finer points of undermining faith and promoting sin. His instructions are interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine.

Full article.

Walden Media did not mess up Narnia, and so I'm reasonably confident they will also not mess with Screwtape. I'm can't imagine how they'll make a movie that truly does justice to the wonderful book :)

Little ole backwards lookin' me

2007-02-06T18:51:00.000-05:00

I was reading Mark Shea's blog, and I came upon his post on this story on Pastor Ted Haggard, which ran in Harper's in 2005 and was posted on Harpers.org after Haggard's unfortunate "incident" back in November of '06.

"Pastor Ted," as he apparently prefers (?) to be called, held forth for the Harper's reporter, Jeff Sharlet, on a variety of topics. The graphs which attracted my particular attention, with my comments in itals:

One of Pastor Ted's favorite books is Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which is now required reading for the hundreds of pastors under Ted's spiritual authority across the country. From Friedman, Pastor Ted says he learned that everything, including spirituality, can be understood as a commodity. And unregulated trade, he concluded, was the key to achieving worldly freedom.

First mistake: Not everything is a commodity. For instance, faith, hope, love, and human beings are not "things" that can be bought and sold. I am as pro-capitalism as the next red-blooded American, but the free market is not the Gospel, and in its extreme form - which reduces priceless things like spirituality to mere commodities - it is not even COMPATIBLE with the Gospel.

Free-market economics is a “truth” Ted says he learned in his first job in professional Christendom, as a Bible smuggler in Eastern Europe. Globalization, he believes, is merely a vehicle for the spread of Christianity.

He's probably right that globalization could spread Christianity - if properly used.

He means Protestantism in particular; Catholics, he said, “constantly look back.” He went on: “And the nations dominated by Catholicism look back. They don't tend to create our greatest entrepreneurs, inventors, research and development."

Catholic countries "don't tend to create" innovative, creative people. Does he mean people like these?

"Typically, Catholic nations aren't shooting people into space. Protestantism, though, always looks to the future. A typical kid raised in Protestantism dreams about the future. A typical kid raised in Catholicism values and relishes the past, the saints, the history."

The Vatican doesn't shoot people into space, that's true. We do have a well-known, hundreds-of-years-old, Jesuit-run observatory, though. And it's true, Catholics are supposed to love history. I'm exhibit number one ;) However, somehow I think that my choice to pursue history as a specialization within my journalism major was motivated by multiple elements, not just by my stinky backward-looking Catholicness!

It's also true that Protestantism is in some respects an anti-historical movement; from a certain point of view, it couldn't be otherwise, as the oldest of the Protestant sects is only 400-odd years old, and Christ lived two thousand years ago. But just for Pastor Ted's information, I have met plenty of Protestants who are just as fanatical about history as I am. So there! The nerd-dom extends beyond the boundaries of Holy Mother Church!

I can't resist adding: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So if you really want to look forward, better look back, first.

"That is one of the changes that is happening in America. In America the descendants of the Protestants, the Puritan descendants, we want to create a better future, and our speakers say that sort of thing. But with the influx of people from Mexico, they don't tend to be the ones that go to universities and become our research-and-development people. And so in that way I see a little clash of civilizations.”

Hmmm. That's right, Pastor Ted, the "clash of civilizations" isn't between the Islamic East and the Christian West, it's between the good solid SUV-driving, Lysol-fresh, upper-middle-class American Evangelicals and the dirty Mexican Catholics. You know, those Latinos who are your brothers and sisters in Christ, in spite of having only a desire to work hard and live honestly and not having too many college degrees. I'm guessing that even if his neighborhood turned 90 percent Hispanic, Pastor Ted would never insert any Spanish into the prayers of his services. Forget about whether they are here legally or not - ministering to people in their own language might attract the wrong element, you know.

Full Piece.

I don't mean to beat up Pastor Haggard; he is surely suffering enough these last couple months; today there was news that he plans to leave Colorado Springs, give up ministry entirely for the time being and take up secular work. I hope that God will bless him in his repentance and give him and his family much-needed peace. I couldn't resist giving his comments a fisking.

Haggard's remarks to Harper's caused me to remember the comments of Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, who has suggested that Catholics in America have become so compromised by the surrounding hyper-Protestant culture that they are more Calvinist in their thinking than anything - they view criminals as irredeemable, they are very free-market based and tend to focus on the good of the individual instead of the good of the community. Interesting, and probably not untrue.

Blasts from the past

2007-02-04T09:55:00.000-05:00

From a post I made about a year and a half ago:

"The Gaze"

by Pat Gohn

In formal settings, when a Catholic church sets up a weekly or daily schedule of Adoration or Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, volunteers (like me) sign up to pray during a designated hour. The Blessed Sacrament, meaning the large consecrated Host that a priest elevates during Mass, is exposed or revealed in a monstrance usually an ornate vessel that displays the Host on an altar. Catholics believe in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. When we sit, stand or kneel before the Blessed Host consecrated at Mass we are doing so before Jesus Himself. Jesus is there completely in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity under the appearance of bread ...

... A friend invited me to the weekly parish prayer group. Hours before the prayer group met, the church was open for silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. One night, I knelt down in the pew, settled my attention on the monstrance, and I saw His face. Not literally, but in my mind's eye. Maybe I should say I knew in a powerful way that Jesus there, focused on me. I saw Jesus looking at me with deep, deep love that reached into the hidden places in my soul. His gaze took my breath away. And I realized that my heart rate was quickening, not in a disturbing way, but in a Song-of-Songs-here-is-the-lover-of-my-soul kind of way.

The Gaze needed no words. I was known. By Him. I didn't have to explain, petition, or make excuses. I could just be. And I gave Him my gaze. And there we were, exchanging gaze for gaze. Like lovers.

Later on, I was struck by another reality. I had seen this Gaze before: in the eyes of my husband, in the face of my baby at the breast, in the countenance of a dear friend. The Gaze had been present to me in and through the beloved ones in my life. But now, before this altar, Jesus had me all to Himself. He was the lover and I was the beloved.

Full piece.

And I can't resist adding this, from Eucharistic Whisperings by Winfrid Herbst,SDS, The Society of the Divine Saviour, 1929.

Oh, I am even happier than were the three Apostles on Mount Tabor! I may remain here with Jesus just as long as I like. Here I am not dazzled by the splendor of His glory; no, but I am set aglow and warmed to the soul's very depths by the gentle fire of His love.

It is true; I do not hear the voices of Moses and Elias, but I do hear - O so plainly! - the voice of His love. I do not hear the Father say, "This is My beloved Son;" but I do hear Jesus telling me that I am His beloved child. Oh, it is good to be here, with Jesus!

Many things oppress me in life and weigh me down - things that I may not impart to others, because they would not understand. Verily, sometimes my heart would break if I could not tell my Jesus all.

I also tell Him the whole sad story of my sins, but He does not punish me with contempt. No; He even encourages me to wash those stains away from my soul by tears of true repentance - tears to which He graciously adds some few drops of His Precious Blood. Oh, how good it feels to weep in the arms of Jesus, Who forgives me everything!

. . . .

And then, when I raise my eyes to the Sacred Host, I see Jesus before me; and He seems to look down upon me with those very eyes of goodness and love which He so tenderly cast upon the penitent Magdalen.

Ah! One only hour in the tabernacle’s shadow is truly worth infinitely more than a hundred years spent upon a throne!

Lifted from Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

That dinging noise is press standards slipping lower... and lower...

2007-02-02T12:10:00.000-05:00

The relationship a Catholic has with his confessor is one of the most, if not the most intimate relationship he will ever have with another human being. Even if the priest is a stranger to me and I confess from behind the screen, the Sacrament of Penance requires me to expose myself before God at my deepest, most profound levels. A penitent comes as one who is weak, who has fallen and who wants to beg, not demand, God's forgiveness. The Father Confessor, for his part, has the task of tending to the deep spiritual wounds of sin, counseling the broken-hearted and absolving them of even the worst crimes.

And everything that passes between the two is protected by the seal of the confessional. Even if one were to confess to a vicious murder, the priest could not tell anyone else. He could try to convince the murderer to turn himself in, but that is all.

The obvious sacredness of the confessional makes stories like these almost unbelievable:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper denounced an Italian journalist who posed as a penitent and confessed fake sins in order to write an expose on the sacrament of reconciliation...

...The commentary said the article had exploited the good faith of confessors and offended the religious sentiments of millions of people...

...The reporter made his false confessions to 24 different priests in five Italian cities, including Rome. The magazine said the idea was to see how priests handle difficult pastoral situations and whether they followed the strict norms laid out by church teaching...

The full article is brief and worth reading.

How low can the media go? Pretty low. Next time he goes to Confession, the reporter doesn't have to make up any wild sins. He can honestly confess to sacrilege.

And they say Catholics don't read their Bibles

2007-01-30T19:22:00.000-05:00

You know the Bible 98%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

I had to guess on a couple of questions - especially the "order" questions. Which comes first, Chronicles or Kings? Think, think, think.

Then again, some of the questions would be pretty easy for a Catholic to get. "What was Jesus' first miracle? Did Jesus say, 'Behold your mother!' from the Cross?"

UPDATE: I found this very interesting quiz on my friend Shannon's blog.

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 60% Conservative, 40% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

This quiz is more accurately titled "How Republican are you?" One of the True/False questions - "The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders" - is a good example. Conservative philosophy is not necessarily entirely identifiable with laissez-faire capitalism, although the Republican party is.

I was also annoyed by the capital punishment question - "Is the death penalty appropriate in select cases, or is it a violation of human rights?" I will always maintain that exercising great caution and reluctance in imposing capital punishment is more in line with core conservative principles than the "try 'em and fry 'em" mentality, which really puts too much power in the hands of the government. Government is best which governs least :)

I am therefore against the death penalty in most situations, but I had to pick "appropriate in select cases" because capital punishment IS appropriate in select cases - perhaps rarely. But ultimately, the state does have the moral right to execute criminals.

And the death penalty is NOT a violation of human rights - except when it is imposed for political or genocidal purposes. The death penalty is not intrinsically evil. Not by a long shot.

UPDATE #2: I just noticed that 50/50 on the Ethics section. How did that happen?

Some photos

2007-01-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

My trip to DC for the March for Life was quite a saga, involving a terrible snow-storm, the Robert Byrd Appalachian Highway, a hard-working 12-seater van named Edmund and saber-toothed cows.

And that was before we got anywhere near Washington.

Shannon, Kate, Carissa, Andrew... and that's Edmund in the back, looking good

The sanctuary of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where the Vigil Mass for Life took place on Sunday night

Ceiling shot - incredible, huh?

At the rally on the Mall. There were tens of thousands of marchers, and this was as close to the Capitol building as we could get!

Kate carried a sign with a great quote from Mother Teresa:

I'll have more later. We were in the car for about twenty-four hours, all told, so I'm still very much in "recovery" mode. It was an incredible experience and I'd love to go again next year.

So where've I been?

2007-01-20T14:06:00.001-05:00

Sick as a dog, mostly. However, I am pleased to report that the miracle known as antibiotics has finally proven effective. I didn't even have to beat a prescription out of my physician this time! He wrote it out all on his own after casting one horrified glance at my nose, out of which copious amounts of... stuff was flowing.

Blogging will again have to take a break because I am preparing to leave for the March for Life in Washington. This will be my first time back to the capital since my sister left DC to enter the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. I am going with my friends from Catholic Student Outreach, and my good friend Shannon is joining us! Please pray that we travel safely and that the March goes well!

Um, no

2007-01-10T22:55:00.000-05:00

Senor Chavez commits a faux pas at his inauguration:

From the AP:

His right hand raised, Chavez declared: "Fatherland, socialism or death — I swear it," invoking the Cuban leader's famous call to arms.

Chavez also alluded to Jesus, saying: "I swear by Christ — the greatest socialist in history."

Article.

Please note: Jesus was not a socialist. Nor was He a Whig, as we have already established.

So, who is learning more about the Providence of God?

2007-01-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

Meeee. I'm learning more about the Providence of God.

So, today I am back in Athens, spinning my wheels while trying to get a hold of a professor who previously agreed to write me a letter of recommendation for graduate school (I am just going to apply and see what happens). The situation has been getting complicated, what with e-mails lost and the deadline ticking ever closer.

Additionally, I meant to go to daily Mass today at St. Paul's, but, as I am sadly not in the proper spiritual state to receive the Holy Eucharist, I talked myself into a lie: "If I can't receive Communion, then it's not worth going!" Untrue, untrue, untrue. It is always beneficial to be there for the Sacrifice, to be in the Presence of the Lord even when we can not receive Him under the appearances of bread and wine.

In all respects, I was feeling quite blah.

But then - just by happenstance - I ran into my good friend Kate, from Catholic Student Outreach. She took me up to her apartment and made me a delicious lunch of grilled turkey and baby carrots and told me about how there is a van going to the March for Life later this month! It was wonderful and very comforting.

I also ran into my friend Nicole Franz, from The Post. She, too, was searching out a letter of recommendation, but she was hoping to get it from Jeff Smith, the copy chief at The Post. We're all on "the hunt" this time of year ;)

And now, things seem to be working out with my professor. At the retreat last quarter, I tried hard to think about the ways the Holy Spirit has been active in my life. Some instances were obvious - my reconversion, for instance - but others were more difficult to remember: Often the Holy Spirit is very subtle. But I can really see his work today. I am very blessed.

The archbishop resigns

2007-01-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

This is a really sad story.

A certain number of Polish priests betrayed the Church and their country by collaborating with the Communists back in the Cold War days (other Eastern European countries had similar problems, as the Reds made everything from student visas to ordinary passports subject to "agreements" to spy for the state). John Paul II himself was informed on by clergy in the Vatican - his status as one of the world's most celebrated anti-communists made him an obvious target. It's estimated that between 85-90 percent of Polish Roman Catholic priests resisted collaboration. That leaves, unfortunately, 10-15 percent who succumbed to the threats and demands of the oppressors.

There has been some reluctance to deal with that baggage.It's hard to imagine one's bishop or pastor as an informer or a spy, and most people would prefer to treat the past as a bad dream from which Poland and its people have thankfully awakened.

The generations that lived before the fall of the Iron Curtain are still with us, however, and so we ocassionally endure sad episodes like these:

WARSAW, Poland -- Warsaw's new archbishop resigned Sunday amid a scandal over his involvement with the communist-era secret police that has shaken the deeply Roman Catholic homeland of the late Pope John Paul II.

Stanislaw Wielgus announced his decision at the capital's St. John's Cathedral, which was packed with worshippers gathered for a Mass that was to have marked his formal installation. The congregation included President Lech Kaczynski.

A forlorn-looking Wielgus read from a letter to Pope Benedict XVI in which he offered his resignation "after reflecting deeply and assessing my personal situation."

Though Kaczynski and some others applauded, many in the church and a large crowd packed outside in the rain shouted, "We welcome you," "Stay with us," and "No, No!"

Dressed in a resplendent golden miter and robes, Wielgus, 67, made his brief announcement less than an hour after Poland's church said in a statement that he had resigned. Full article.

It remains to be seen whether the Archbishop Wielgus was entirely truthful with the Holy Father about the extent of his collaboration when his appointment to Warsaw was being vetted. He additionally "stepped in it" by lying repeatedly to the press about his involvement with the secret police, only to have a Church commission blow his cover.

Archbishop Wielgus does seem sincerely contrite, and I doubt that his collaboration was malicious. More likely his transgressions were clumsy and ill-considered attempts to overcome the onerous obstacles that were routinely placed in the way of clergy and citizens alike. Although a high position in the hierarchy is probably not appropriate for someone with his record, I hope that the Polish people are able to forgive the archbishop for his weaknesses, which we all suffer from in one way or another.

UPDATE: Apparently, Papa (and the rest of the Vatican, for that matter) didn't know, according to Cardinal Re, who runs the "bishop appointment" side of things.

Gossamer

2006-12-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

What we call Indian summer - the spell of fine weather in late fall - was in England called goose summer (Middle English gossomer); it was the season for eating the fatted goose. But in that season, fine spider-webs might glisten of a pleasant morn. In German sommer is used both of the season and of "summer-film"; whence gossamer is applied to any very thin or delicate material. It was once guessed that the word came from God-summer; compare to the history of goodbye. It is also suggested that the word is from God's seam, or thread, that as legend tells this filmy substance is the ravelling of the winding-sheet of the Virgin Mary, which trailed back to earth as she ascended to heaven. And mention is made, too, of the Latin gossipin - cotton. Enough to break the gossamer thread.

- From Joseph Shipley's Dictionary of Word Origins

A Christmastide execution

2006-12-30T00:32:00.000-05:00

I hope all of my readers are enjoying a blessed Christmas season! Remember that for Catholics (and for other Christians, too) Christmas lasts a lot longer than our culture recognizes. In fact, the Eastern Orthodox have not even had their Christmas yet.

The Christmas season was interrupted on Friday night by the execution of Saddam Hussein. Our news media behaved in a typically ghoulish fashion - hour by hour updates on "Is he dead yet? Is he going to die at 8 o'clock or 10 o'clock?" You would have thought they were calling a sporting event and not an imminent death.

Catholic opinion on the morality of his execution is divided - see Evangelical Catholicism for an anti opinion, and canon lawyer Jimmy Akin's blog for the opposing side. In my opinion, the best commentary on this topic comes from Christopher Blosser.

I tend to think that the execution of Saddam probably was justifiable on the grounds that the Iraqi authorities, operating as they are in an almost chaotic situation, could likely not guarantee that his continued life on this earth would not contribute to more violence against innocents. As long as the old ex-tyrant lived, he would always be a rallying point for extremists and terrorists.

Of course, his execution also may make him a martyr and provide the exact same rallying point...

In any case, it is the task of every Catholic (and indeed, every Christian) to pray for his thousands of victims and their families, who suffered so horrendously at his hands.

It is also our more difficult duty to pray for the repose of the soul of the wicked man himself. To do this we must try to look at Saddam with the eyes of Jesus, Who loved him enough to die for him on the cross and Who instantly accepts a sinner's sincere repentance, even if it comes at the last moment on the gallows when the rope snaps tight.

I hope that in his last moments of life, Saddam Hussein did repent of his innumerable crimes against humanity and that he will spend eternity in Heaven. Our God is a God of perfect mercy and perfect justice, and He is certainly able to give us both the punishment we richly deserve and the pity we could never dream of meriting.

Please join me in praying that Saddam's purgatory began today. I imagine it will be a lengthy stay.

2006-12-24T22:56:00.000-05:00

Adoration of the Kings by Jan Gossaert, c. 1500-15

The beauty of Christmas

2006-12-23T12:29:00.000-05:00

I am absolutely in love with Magnificat, a lavishly produced monthly that brings the reader the prayers of the daily and Sunday Masses, lives of the saints (even the less famous ones), gorgeous artwork, beautiful hymns and wonderful reflections. A one year subscription (or better yet, two years!) makes a great Christmas gift (ahem, ahem).

This editorial from the Christmas issue of Magnificat is so profound that I just have to quote it...

In Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, the agnostic Charles Ryder engages in a casual conversation about Christianity with his lax but Catholic friend Sebastian Flyte. Charles says, "But, my dear Sebastian, you can't seriously believe it all. I mean about Christmas and the star and the three kings and the ox and the ass." Sebastian replies, "Oh yes, I believe that. It's a lovely idea." Charles presses him, "But you can't believe things just because they're a lovely idea." To which Sebastian simply responds, "But I do. That's how I believe."

...Pope Benedict has stated that "the beautiful is knowledge in a superior form since it arouses man to the real greatness of the truth. True knowledge is being struck by the arrow of beauty that wounds man. Being struck and overcome by the beauty of Christ is a more real, more profound knowledge than mere rational deduction."

...Sebastion Flyte knows he can trust this beauty because of the way it satisfies the heart God has given him....

"Beauty and love form the true consolation in the world, bringing it as near as possible to the world of the resurrection" (Pope Benedict XVI). And that world begins in this world this Christmas.

Now that's food for the soul.

Book Sale, part deux

2006-12-22T23:32:00.000-05:00

The latest round produced:

- Amo, Amas, Amat and More: How to Use Latin to Your Own Advantage and to the Astonishment of Others (Introduction by the immortal William F. Buckley)

- A Dictionary of the Origin of Words

- 100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses

- The Stranger, by Albert Camus (Existentialist nonsense, but it was an answer on Jeopardy recently, and I've never read it, so of course I had to get it)

- A Lutheran "order of worship" - basically a missal, looks to be quite old school, but I am primarily interested to see where the theological lapses come in

Again, with the lousy Religion section. Oh well, maybe next time.

'My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor'

2006-12-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

An editorial in the Washington Post by a young lady who was conceived via artificial insemination at a sperm donor bank.

...When she was 32, my mother -- single, and worried that she might never marry and have a family -- allowed a doctor wearing rubber gloves to inject a syringe of sperm from an unknown man into her uterus so that she could have a baby. I am the result: a donor-conceived child...

Note: The mother "allowed a doctor wearing rubber gloves to inject a syringe of sperm from an unknown man into her uterus." The sexual act is designed to both express love and create new life. That's how human beings function, biologically. Love and life are thus by their very natures meant to be intertwined. This is why contraception in all its forms distorts sex: It artifically destroys the life-giving properties of sex and puts constraints on love.

In the sperm donor bank scenario, we have a more rare distortion: new life is created, but the love part of the sexual equation is non-existent. Instead of the warmth of a love, we have the cold hands and steel instruments of a doctor.

Back to the article.

...I was angry at the idea that where donor conception is concerned, everyone focuses on the "parents" -- the adults who can make choices about their own lives. The recipient gets sympathy for wanting to have a child. The donor gets a guarantee of anonymity and absolution from any responsibility for the offspring of his "donation." As long as these adults are happy, then donor conception is a success, right?

...I'm here to tell you that emotionally, many of us are not keeping up. We didn't ask to be born into this situation, with its limitations and confusion. It's hypocritical of parents and medical professionals to assume that biological roots won't matter to the "products" of the cryobanks' service, when the longing for a biological relationship is what brings customers to the banks in the first place...

The full piece is definitely worth a read.

Hat tip, Diogenes .

My mother is getting older and funnier

2006-12-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

"The back pain, it's hungry. It yearns for food. It's like a tapeworm."

- My mother, explaining her desire to tear open the Mr. Chicken box and start eating right in the car

Because Papa says!

2006-12-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

You can "make" Pope Benedict say anything here. Things like, for instance:

Please use this for good and not for evil ;)

Thanks to my friend Lauren for giving me the site!

Great Christmas Gift!

2006-12-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

You can listen to a beautiful sample by clicking on the button.

A tradition

2006-12-08T01:12:00.000-05:00

I always repost this every once in a while. My favorite poem, by Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., an English priest:

Spring and Fall

To a young child

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

Reading it always makes me sad and happy at the same time.

The poem makes specific reference to the melancholy of the change of seasons, which we actually just experienced a month ago or so. Even small children recognize the alteration in the environment and can even be moved to regret the fading of seasonal warmth and light.

Similar to the quarters of the year, life has its seasons which pass. In our culture, we don't like to acknowledge this - eternal summer is the goal; hence our emphasis on youth and our denial of the reality of aging and death. The reality, of course, is that we, like the leaves of Goldengrove, pass away. The important thing is to be ready when the time comes.

Yes, it's hard knowing that mortality is in our future; life is a beautiful gift from God, and there's a reason we grieve in the face of death. But the Christian can know that life with Him will be still more wonderful, and best of all, there will be no "unleaving" or other change in season: Heaven will be one long springtime of praise.

Dude, where's my car?

2006-12-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Dude, it's like, totally over there in the ditch.

Anyone in Northeast Ohio today knows that we got our first Nasty Snow Spell this morning. For reasons unknown, the state salt trucks never manage to make it to our part of town before, oh, seven o'clock at night. In spite of this, one is still obligated to go to work.

Therefore, I left ten minutes early this morning, hoping to crawl to work and still make it on time; my crawling was apparently not slow and pathetic enough, and so I was punished by going into a spin. It felt rather like a dream, and so I wasn't too freaked out until I careened into a ditch and glided right into one of the massive bushes in Connecticut Colony, which is the subdivision right down the street (I didn't get too far, ha ha ha). The bush was so huge and I was in so tight that I couldn't force open my driver's side door, and I had to crawl through my car and get out of the passenger door. Lovely and scary.

The car looks to be fine, and I'm fine, other than feeling like an idiot. The wonderful thing about being at home is that my dear father came and is "taking care of it," i.e. he is staying with the car and waiting for the roadside assistance to come. That's what fathers are for! Rescuing their young daughters from driving mishaps! ;) I got to go home and nurse my wounded vanity... I got called off of work. One day's wages, pffft.

Books

2006-12-03T22:28:00.000-05:00

Hudson Library sales are less exciting than University library sales... but they are still fun, and cheap!

After about an hour perusing the shelves, I managed to find:

1. Brave New World - I know we already have Huxley's masterpiece lying around the house in several editions, but I couldn't resist.

2. The Complete Poetry of John Donne - Speaks for itself.

3. Gone With the Wind - I know, it's the greasy Big Mac of literature, what can I say? I am weak.

4. Part six of Remembrance of Things Past - "The Sweet Cheat Gone" - I've never read Proust, but supposedly every educated human being is supposed to.

5. The Complete Works of O. Henry, Volume II - I always adored his short story, The Gift of the Magi. But where is Volume I?

6. The Florence King Reader - I am somewhat ashamed of this buy. Miss King (she absolutely hates being called "Ms.") is an anti-feminist conservative, but an atheist, but a very funny atheist.

7. Leviathan - Of course, this book's entire last section is a long attack on the Roman Catholic Church, under the heading of "The Kingdom of Darkness." Besides which, the work's entire philosophy is loathsome. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist picking it up, in honor of those innumerable history classes during which we were forced to memorize the differences between Hobbes and Locke, Locke being the good, freedom-loving tabula rasa guy and Hobbes being the bad, misanthropic totalitarian guy. Those were the days.

All for $5 - not bad, although I was a bit disappointed in their Religion section.

Sister Elizabeth!

2006-11-29T17:19:00.000-05:00

The website of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word has been updated with recent pictures of the community, some of which include my sister, Sister Elizabeth!

On a visit (My sis is the one at the top left)

In work apron

Making cookies

For more pictures look here! I'll mention again that the Sisters run wonderful retreats throughout the year. Check the dates out here.

Out with a... bang?

2006-11-29T17:05:00.000-05:00

I got my last set of grades from Ohio University today. One A- and three As. That brings my cumulative to 3.81 and guarantees me that neat magna cum laude citation. That's "with high honor" - better than cum laude "with honor" but not as good as summa cum laude, "with highest honor," which is what my parents wanted me to get. But oh well, Latin honors = maybe a nice graduation present? Mom, Dad? ;)

Auuugh

2006-11-24T18:40:00.000-05:00

One thing most people know about Catholicism is that we've got that little concept of papal infallibility in our catechism. This doctrine, which was formally defined at the First Vatican Council but which was basically SOP before that, essentially declares that the pope can not teach error with regard to faith and morals.

When the Holy Father says that abortion is objectively wicked, for instance, it's a truth for all time: Two hundred years from now, there's not going to be a pope who says, "Wow, we were wrong about that whole infanticide thing. Whoops. Go ahead and use your right to choose, ladies." Similarly, when Pius XII declared ex cathedra (from the chair of St. Peter, thus exercising his Petrine charism) that Mary was assumed bodily into Heaven, he was establishing another truth for all time: No pope of the future is going to say he was wrong. In these areas of faith and morals, the Holy Spirit protects the pope from error.

What infallibility does not mean is that the pope's private opinions are unquestionable. Pope Benedict XVI loves Mozart; but every good Catholic is perfectly free to loathe Mozart and insist that Britney Spears is the summit of musical expression. Said Catholic would have to be rather thick in the head, but even so. Similarly, it's well known that Pope Benedict takes St. Augustine as his theological master; he wrote in his memoirs that he found the scholastic theology of St. Thomas Aquinas too ready-made and calculated, notwithstanding his great respect for Thomas and his thought. Nevertheless, there are many, many Catholic thinkers who consider Aquinas superior to Augustine.

These fine disctinctions are somewhat difficult for non-Catholics to grasp and almost impossible for my collegues in the media to wrap their heads around. Thus, we get articles like this:

Pope questions his infallibility

By Malcolm Moore in Rome

The Pope has shocked theologians and opened a chink in the theory of papal infallibility by saying that people should feel free to disagree with what he has written in his latest book, a meditation on Jesus Christ...

... In the foreword, he states that the book is "absolutely not" a work of Catholic doctrine, but rather the "expression of my personal research". He adds: "Consequently, everyone is free to contradict me. I only ask the readers that they read with sympathy, without which there will be no comprehension."

No Pope has ever opened up his work and opinions to criticism before. Nor has any Pope tried to separate his personal and public personas, according to Professor Giuseppe Alberigo, a professor of the history of the Catholic Church at Bologna University.

"I really believe this is the first time this has ever happened," he said. "It is an extraordinarily important gesture. What it means is that the Pope is not totally infallible...

Full article.

Really? Not TOTALLY infallible? Police! Firemen! I am experiencing a terrible bout of cognitive dissonance! Help!

Soooo, apparently the bar for doctorates in Italy isn't quite that high... ;) Seriously, though, the "opening a chink in the theory of papal infallibility" line is what gets me. The headline - "Pope questions his infallibility" - is not Mr. Moore's fault. It's most likely the copy editor's. But the stuff in the body of the piece is on his turf. He needs to either go back to J school or go back to a good basic catechism class.

Hat tip to the American Papist.

The Japanese kids hate it, the Indian kids love it

2006-11-20T10:33:00.000-05:00

"It," in case you're wondering, is life.

I read this story and I thought to myself: "What!? Does this mean filling your life with empty, ephemeral physical pleasures is not the way to find true happiness? Does it mean that one's goal in life should be more than just having as much fun as possible and acquiring as many cool toys as possible? Who would have thunk it?" Check out the words I've bolded at the end of the excerpt.

Young people in developed countries unhappy, survey says

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - Young people in developing nations are at least twice as likely to feel happy about their lives than their richer counterparts, a survey says.

Indians are the happiest overall and Japanese the most miserable...

...In developing countries a majority in the same age group expected their lives to be more enjoyable in the future, led by China with 84 percent.

"The happier young people of the developing world are also the most religious," the survey said. (Emphasis added)

Hmmmm. Full article.

So...

2006-11-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here in the library typing up my exit memo for Southeast Ohio magazine (the winter issue is in the can and will be going to press soon) and I realized: This is my last college assignment. It could be my last school assignment, ever, if I don't get a graduate assistantship at KSU. Did that ever turn on the tears! I am going to miss being a student so much.

The truth is that I hate, hate, HATE change. When I first arrived in Athens three years and three months ago, I loathed the place. I didn't know anybody, or the city; I had to come out of my shell ever-so-slightly; I was a "baby" revert Catholic who hadn't been Confirmed and who hadn't been to Confession in years; I had to make sure to perform exceptionally well academically, if I wanted to have any prayer of getting into the Scripps School. A few years later, I've made great friends, I love Athens, and I'm even sort of getting a kick out of my journalism and academic work. I do adjust to things well. But at the beginning of every new change, I get that kicked-in-the-gut, I-just-want-to-crawl-back-in-bed feeling. That is what I've got, now. Pray for me, please :)

I do have non-angsty, non-emo news to share, ha ha. Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Fan into Flame retreat with some of my friends from Catholic Student Outreach. It was essentially a Catholic charismatic retreat, complete with praise & worship music, "expressive" prayer, and people being baptized in the Holy Spirit and praying in tongues, etc. I enjoyed myself very much, not to mention that I think it was very beneficial for me, spiritually. It was wonderful to see so many young people so in love with the Faith.

I have to say that the charismatic culture is definitely Not My Style. I am very much a traditionalist - bring on the Latin, the chant, the incense and contemplative prayer, please! But I now have greater respect for the charismatic movement within the Catholic Church. The majority seem very orthodox, and many are considering religious vocations. I already had my "conversion experience" years ago, and it happened in a much more conventional, traditional way; nevertheless, I can see how someone who has never had that... for lack of a better term, "born again" experience in their lives could really latch on to the charismatic movement (there is always the danger, of course, of one's religious life becoming entirely emotion-based, but
many of the people I have spoken to seem aware of such possible pitfalls). It's not for me, but if it helps other Catholics grow in their faith, then more power to them.

On Wednesday night I attended The Post's winter quarter All Staff meeting, and I received a number of awards: Best Columnist, Most Improved Copy Editor, etc. Then the editors (who know I am graduating) gave me a mock-up of a front page of the paper. The headline was "Spirituality Columnist Leaves On Top." The "news stories" were all little notes from people on staff congratulating me and telling me I did a good job. It was the sweetest thing ever. As my Copy Chief, Jeff Smith said, "This is turning into a love fest for Maggie Kostendt." I am wondering to myself if they gave me all of those awards just because they knew I was leaving and they wished to make a big show, or because I really deserved them. My roommate Jenn says it was probably a combination of both ;)

Anyway, I really appreciated it. If I ever win the lotto, I will make sure to earmark some of the cash for the betterment of The Post's news operation (not that they'll need it for a while, what with them getting a fancy new high-tech newsroom in the brand-new student center. Incidentally, the Editor in Chief announced that the members of the staff are getting raises for next quarter - I would leave just before the money train arrives.).

All of this was the "news" I mentioned in the blog post below - I finally caught a minute to write!

Oh,and my finals went all right, but I am freaking out a bit over whether I am going to keep my GPA above 3.8 - I really don't want to have to update my resume. Ora pro me St. Jude.

Happy Name Day to Me!

2006-11-16T10:56:00.000-05:00

Today is the feast of my patroness, everybody's favorite Queen, St. Margaret of Scotland. We celebrated St. Gertrude at daily Mass (it's her day, too) but oh well!

Margaret was an English princess. She and her mother sailed to Scotland to escape from the king who had conquered their land. King Malcolm of Scotland welcomed them and fell in love with the beautiful princess. Margaret and Malcolm were married before too long.

As Queen, Margaret changed her husband and the country for the better. Malcolm was good, but he and his court were very rough. When he saw how wise his beloved wife was, he listened to her good advice. She softened his temper and led him to practice great virtue. She made the court beautiful and civilized. Soon all the princes had better manners, and the ladies copied her purity and devotion. The king and queen gave wonderful example to everyone by the way they prayed together and fed crowds of poor people with their own hands. They seemed to have only one desire: to make everyone happy and good.

Margaret was a blessing for all the people of Scotland. Before she came, there was great ignorance and many bad habits among them. Margaret worked hard to obtain good teachers, to correct the evil practices, and to have new churches built. She loved to make these churches beautiful for God's glory, and she embroidered the priest's vestments herself.

God sent this holy Queen six sons and two daughters. She loved them dearly and raised them well. The youngest boy became St. David. But Margaret had sorrows, too. In her last illness, she learned that both her husband and her son, Edward, had been killed in battle. Yet she prayed: "I thank You, Almighty God, for sending me so great a sorrow to purify me from my sins."

From Catholic Online.

I have lots of news

2006-11-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

But no time to write! I will later. But for now, enjoy. This is me and my roommate Jenn marching in OU's homecoming parade - our other roomie, Maureen, was waiting for us on the route and took the picture!

And below is Maureen, me, and Jenn at the homecoming football game. We went for the band.

And that's a wrap

2006-11-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

For a whole bunch of things. My last column for The Post ran this week - sniff, sniff. I also had my last night of copy-editing, because there's no paper tomorrow, it being the day that the University observes Veteran's Day.

The Last Copy-Editing Night was actually Election Day. I was in the newsroom from 8 on Tuesday night until 6:30 on Wednesday morning because the Athens County Board of Elections had "technological difficulties." We were rushing around trying to think up headlines and edit the copy before the deadline, which was 6:00 (we were a bit late getting it to the press. And we still didn't have all the numbers yet!).

It was very unpleasant to have to read and re-read and think up headlines for all the stories about the Democrats winning this, that and the other. But what a copy-editor does is check copy. If I was just sitting at home I could just switch the TV off and do other things, but no, I had to stay in the newsroom for 10+ hours contemplating the disaster. And the complete sweep made headlines impossible to write - how many ways can you say, "Ohio Flips Blue"?

And most of the "issues" that I voted for - against the smoking ban (I don't smoke, but I have loved ones who do), against the minimum wage increase (my father owns a small business) - all went the wrong way. The only one I "won" on was the gambling issue, which thankfully failed.

I still mostly had a good time. Election Night is always a special night for newspapers, whether it takes place in Athens, Ohio or New York or Bangladesh. The editors all ordered pizza for us - yum, yum. And we had a couple of the famous One Minute Dance Parties in the newsroom, led by the Assistant Managing Editor, Burns, which helped out during periods of stress. Burns' mother actually works (I should say worked) for Republican Betty Montgomery, so I was extra special sad about that one.

And I have to say that there's nothing like walking home through empty city streets as the sun comes up :)