Link to CNS
ROME (CNS) -- A little boy with cancer knocked -- more than once -- and Pope John Paul II's door was finally opened to him.
While the spokesman for Rome's Gemelli Hospital, Nicola Cirbino, explained in detail how the Feb. 9 visit came about, he did not give details about the boy, other than to say he was a patient in the pediatric oncology unit. Catholic News Service was told later that the boy in question was a 7-year-old undergoing cancer treatment.
Pope John Paul was hospitalized at Gemelli Feb. 1 in a suite of rooms next to the children's cancer ward.
The boy's adventure began when the pope's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, went to visit the children on the unit and their families "to bring them the greeting of the Holy Father," Cirbino said.
The archbishop gave the children and their parents a rosary from the pope and stopped to visit with "the little patients and to express words of encouragement," the spokesman said.
"Before Archbishop Dziwisz left," Cirbino said, "a little patient went up to him and with simple candor told him, 'I've been knocking on that door since yesterday,' pointing to the door to the pope's suite ... 'but no one answered me.'"
The pope's secretary replied, "Do you want to go see the pope?"
The little boy nodded, and the two set off.
Cirbino said the pope was surprised by "the visit of this unexpected guest."
The spokesman also said that the boy asked the pope, "Make me well."
"The pope immediately drew the boy to himself and, smiling, gave him a special blessing," Cirbino said.
The pope also gave the boy a small task, telling him, "Take the pope's blessing to all the other hospitalized children, too, with the wish for a complete recovery."
February 28, 2005
Headline: "Rosary is not just a Catholic ritual"
News article from the Miami Herald. No matter what kind of Christian you are, its a great way to meditate on the Gospel!
Now I Must Rinse My Eyes With Bleach
I knew things in California were bad. But take a look at this, from a blog built to describe the horrors:
Yes, friends. Yes, that is some kind of young lady, standing there with a slit half way up her derriere.Yes, those are girls writhing around up on the altar.Yes, that is the Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angelos, Roger Mahony, looking on in the background. Yes this is a Mass. Somebody in Los Angelos, please call Cardinal Arinze? He's in charge of smacking down Liturgical Abuse. Write, fax, call!Somebody do something about this wreckage! Melt, melt melt.
Roman Catholic orthodox have been suspicious of Cardinal Mahony, Mr. Evader-of-prosecution-for-vast-sex-abuse-cover-up ever since he tangled with Mother Angelica, Abbess of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, and foundress of Catholic media empire EWTN. Some years ago, Mother Angelica went on the air and slapped Mahony around for introducing a pastoral letter which featured deeply offensive Eucharistic theology. His Eminence went whining to Rome to get Mother shut down, but he had to settle for a tongue-in-cheek apology. This goober is why we have troubles with homosexuals in the priesthood, peoples. Bad news, this one.
Yes, friends. Yes, that is some kind of young lady, standing there with a slit half way up her derriere.Yes, those are girls writhing around up on the altar.Yes, that is the Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angelos, Roger Mahony, looking on in the background. Yes this is a Mass. Somebody in Los Angelos, please call Cardinal Arinze? He's in charge of smacking down Liturgical Abuse. Write, fax, call!Somebody do something about this wreckage! Melt, melt melt.
Roman Catholic orthodox have been suspicious of Cardinal Mahony, Mr. Evader-of-prosecution-for-vast-sex-abuse-cover-up ever since he tangled with Mother Angelica, Abbess of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, and foundress of Catholic media empire EWTN. Some years ago, Mother Angelica went on the air and slapped Mahony around for introducing a pastoral letter which featured deeply offensive Eucharistic theology. His Eminence went whining to Rome to get Mother shut down, but he had to settle for a tongue-in-cheek apology. This goober is why we have troubles with homosexuals in the priesthood, peoples. Bad news, this one.
So, Wondering Who Runs the Vatican, When the Boss Is Down For the Count?
This interesting page has the answer, along with replies to some other frequently asked questions about the "new situation" over at the Holy See, including
Q. For what other reasons has the Pope previously checked into Gemelli hospital, where he is now?
A.
Gunshot wounds
Intestinal surgery
Dislocated shoulder
Fractured femur surgery
Appendectomy
Flu, spasms of the throat
Breathing difficulties, Tracheotomy
Q. What kinds of business can the Holy See conduct in the absence of the Pope?
A. The ordinary business of the Curia, that which depends on carrying out decisions of the Pontiff already made, would go on. More serious business, such as those matters which by Pastor Bonus would be referred to the ordinary or plenary sessions of the Cardinals and bishops of the dicastery, could be referred, but the decisions of those sessions would have to wait the availability of the Pontiff for confirmation.
Q. What kinds of business can the Holy See not conduct in the absence of the Pope.
A. Any decision which requires the exercise of papal teaching or governance authority requires the Pope, whether he initiates the matter or one of the curial departments does. These include new laws, official interpretations of existing laws, new indulgences, release from religious vows and clerical celibacy, erecting of dioceses, the appointment of bishops, curial and diplomatic appointments, the decreeing of the heroic virtues of the Servants of God, of martyrdom, of miracles, of beatification and canonization, the issuance of encyclicals and other papal texts and the confirmation of major curial decisions and curial documents. All of these must await the opportunity for presentation to the Holy Father for his approval and/or signature, as the case may be.
Q. For what other reasons has the Pope previously checked into Gemelli hospital, where he is now?
A.
Gunshot wounds
Intestinal surgery
Dislocated shoulder
Fractured femur surgery
Appendectomy
Flu, spasms of the throat
Breathing difficulties, Tracheotomy
Q. What kinds of business can the Holy See conduct in the absence of the Pope?
A. The ordinary business of the Curia, that which depends on carrying out decisions of the Pontiff already made, would go on. More serious business, such as those matters which by Pastor Bonus would be referred to the ordinary or plenary sessions of the Cardinals and bishops of the dicastery, could be referred, but the decisions of those sessions would have to wait the availability of the Pontiff for confirmation.
Q. What kinds of business can the Holy See not conduct in the absence of the Pope.
A. Any decision which requires the exercise of papal teaching or governance authority requires the Pope, whether he initiates the matter or one of the curial departments does. These include new laws, official interpretations of existing laws, new indulgences, release from religious vows and clerical celibacy, erecting of dioceses, the appointment of bishops, curial and diplomatic appointments, the decreeing of the heroic virtues of the Servants of God, of martyrdom, of miracles, of beatification and canonization, the issuance of encyclicals and other papal texts and the confirmation of major curial decisions and curial documents. All of these must await the opportunity for presentation to the Holy Father for his approval and/or signature, as the case may be.
February 27, 2005
More Reasons Everyone Should Love Ratzinger
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is an old man. Nearly eighty years old. That, my friends, is old. There was a time when I believed 25 was ancient. People get to be 25, I thought. And then they prepare for death.
But every teenie-bopper out there should love Cardinal Ratzinger, because he is sooooo "up" on everything. Read below, for example, an excerpt from Ratzinger's Spirit of the Liturgy, which I stole from a genius post on Against the Grain.
Ratzinger, (who happens to be a huge, extremely loyal Mozart fan,) decries the "cult of the banal" which is bubble gum, Britney Spears-type pop music. And "modern so-called classical music" he says, is trapped in a "elitist ghetto." (PBS / NPR anyone?) Then the Cardinal continues with a critique of rock concerts, a subject with which His Eminence is curiously familiar.
Although we can be fairly certain that a guy who looks like this:
is not one who would ever be involved with "head banging" as they say. Rest assured. One can become knowledgable about "moshing" simply by watching it on tv. "Participant observation" is not necessary, hehehe.
"Modern so-called "classical " music has maneuvered itself, wish some exceptions, into an elitist ghetto, which only specialists may enter -- and even they do so with what may sometimes be mixed feelings. The music of the masses has broken loose from this and treads a very different path. One the one hand, there is pop music, which is certainly no longer supported by the people in the ancient sense (populus). It is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as a cult of the banal. "Rock", on the other hand, is the expression of the elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a sometimes cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of the crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit's sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments."
But every teenie-bopper out there should love Cardinal Ratzinger, because he is sooooo "up" on everything. Read below, for example, an excerpt from Ratzinger's Spirit of the Liturgy, which I stole from a genius post on Against the Grain.
Ratzinger, (who happens to be a huge, extremely loyal Mozart fan,) decries the "cult of the banal" which is bubble gum, Britney Spears-type pop music. And "modern so-called classical music" he says, is trapped in a "elitist ghetto." (PBS / NPR anyone?) Then the Cardinal continues with a critique of rock concerts, a subject with which His Eminence is curiously familiar.
Although we can be fairly certain that a guy who looks like this:
is not one who would ever be involved with "head banging" as they say. Rest assured. One can become knowledgable about "moshing" simply by watching it on tv. "Participant observation" is not necessary, hehehe.
"Modern so-called "classical " music has maneuvered itself, wish some exceptions, into an elitist ghetto, which only specialists may enter -- and even they do so with what may sometimes be mixed feelings. The music of the masses has broken loose from this and treads a very different path. One the one hand, there is pop music, which is certainly no longer supported by the people in the ancient sense (populus). It is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as a cult of the banal. "Rock", on the other hand, is the expression of the elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a sometimes cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of the crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit's sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments."
February 25, 2005
Good News From Fair Roma
It's true, we've had a real scare, and things still don't look good. Doug Keck, who is usually the go to guy for what's up and up, threw me in to a real tizzy. EWTN called him in Rome at 2 am in the morning, and he said that the "mood is, that something is going to happen. What we need to do now is pray and think about how much this man has meant to our lives and to the Church."
So, with that, I was just about ready to cry. But then this morning, FOX news reported that the Holy Father is breathing on his own! He had a "tranquil night" of sleep, he's off the respirator, and reportedly "serene." And he ate a big breakfast, including ten, yes count them, ten biscuits!
The doctors told Holy Father not to try to speak, because he's got a trach in. So he smiled and teased them, writing on a piece of paper: "What have they done to me?"
People were talking doom and gloom, and it still doesn't look very good. But he's telling jokes and everything, so he still might get over this! Afterall, he got through May 31, 1981:
So, with that, I was just about ready to cry. But then this morning, FOX news reported that the Holy Father is breathing on his own! He had a "tranquil night" of sleep, he's off the respirator, and reportedly "serene." And he ate a big breakfast, including ten, yes count them, ten biscuits!
The doctors told Holy Father not to try to speak, because he's got a trach in. So he smiled and teased them, writing on a piece of paper: "What have they done to me?"
People were talking doom and gloom, and it still doesn't look very good. But he's telling jokes and everything, so he still might get over this! Afterall, he got through May 31, 1981:
ECUSA blues
The Epsicopagans, er, I mean, Episcopalians, as the American branch of the Anglican Communion are called, are in some hot water, along with their Canadian brethren. Below is a press release from the AAC, catch the earth-shaking stuff in bold.
Your one stop shop for the latest, up-to-the-minute information, including responses from the ECUSA news service, and the traditional Anglican Communion, can be found here.
Statement from the American Anglican Council and the Anglican Communion Network
"We are thankful for the work of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in addressing the complicated issues before them this week. This is a pivotal moment in Anglican history in which Biblical faithfulness has been reaffirmed.
At last a clear and unequivocal choice has been presented to the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada. Being asked voluntarily to withdraw, the two provinces have been effectively suspended from the Communion until at least July 2008 in order to consider their place within that body. They must choose between repentance marked by compliance with the Windsor Report or continued theological innovations that separate them from the teaching and life of the Anglican Communion.
We applaud the pastoral sensitivity with which the Primates have addressed the concerns of those who feel betrayed by their church leadership as well as those of homosexual orientation."
Your one stop shop for the latest, up-to-the-minute information, including responses from the ECUSA news service, and the traditional Anglican Communion, can be found here.
Statement from the American Anglican Council and the Anglican Communion Network
"We are thankful for the work of the Primates of the Anglican Communion in addressing the complicated issues before them this week. This is a pivotal moment in Anglican history in which Biblical faithfulness has been reaffirmed.
At last a clear and unequivocal choice has been presented to the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada. Being asked voluntarily to withdraw, the two provinces have been effectively suspended from the Communion until at least July 2008 in order to consider their place within that body. They must choose between repentance marked by compliance with the Windsor Report or continued theological innovations that separate them from the teaching and life of the Anglican Communion.
We applaud the pastoral sensitivity with which the Primates have addressed the concerns of those who feel betrayed by their church leadership as well as those of homosexual orientation."
February 24, 2005
The Pope Needs Your Prayers
Apparently, the Pope had to have surgery today. He's been given a tracheotomy. That's a relatively simple operation, but the fact that he needed it implies his condition is very serious. Pray!
Bush is Hitler, if you believe the Hippies.
Katie, you inspired me again! I think its about time I find a lawyer and legally designate you my official "Muse." The multitudes must go to Katie's website and read the article entitled "When Democracy Failed 2005 The Warnings of History" by Thom Hartmann. Here's a link. I was reading to myself and I thought; hmmmm. There are many logical fallacies. But, I was interested, so I googled "comparing bush hitler".
The first hits were news pieces complaining about left-wing wackos making the comparison. (Alan Combes, who is a level-headed Democrat, denies that the Hitler buisness is a tactic used by mainstream liberals, but hey, look at the evidence.) There was also a piece by Mike Borrelli, which takes apart the Hitler arguement FOR me. Thank you Mr. Borrelli, for keeping my lazy self comfortable.
So read and enjoy! Also, I know there are a multitude of lurkers out there, reading this blog ( I have an invisible stat counter, aren't I nefarious?) So don't be afraid to comment, even if you disagree. You're not going to hurt my feelings!
Comparing Bush and Hitler
By: Mike Borrelli
Click here to read this guy's work. He's got brains, I tell you.
The first hits were news pieces complaining about left-wing wackos making the comparison. (Alan Combes, who is a level-headed Democrat, denies that the Hitler buisness is a tactic used by mainstream liberals, but hey, look at the evidence.) There was also a piece by Mike Borrelli, which takes apart the Hitler arguement FOR me. Thank you Mr. Borrelli, for keeping my lazy self comfortable.
So read and enjoy! Also, I know there are a multitude of lurkers out there, reading this blog ( I have an invisible stat counter, aren't I nefarious?) So don't be afraid to comment, even if you disagree. You're not going to hurt my feelings!
Comparing Bush and Hitler
By: Mike Borrelli
Click here to read this guy's work. He's got brains, I tell you.
February 23, 2005
Chortle! (Milk comes out of nose)
Okay, so apparently in England and Scotland, and everywhere in the Anglican Communion and whatnot, they have catalogues where men and women ministers can buy their stuff. Imagine the comic possibilities, right?
I'm not sure the RCC has anything like it; I'm under the impression there's a certain hidden-away dead-end alley (real Harry Potter-esque) buried deep in fair Roma, teeming with specialty tailors and merchants, where the prelates go to get outfitted. And I guess if you can't get to Italy, you might simply telephone the nearest collection of cloistered nuns (they're always sewing stuff.) I wonder ...
Anyway ... so there's this website mocking the vestment models for the Scottish Episcopalian Church. They guess (and I agree) that most of the models aren't actual ministers, but dumb blondes paid to pretend. Holy Fudge are their captions spit funny.
Two of my favourites:
Ministerial couple Fr Michael and Mother Stephanie could keep up their pious 'staring-upwards-and-into-the-distance' for hours.
Here they are on another day... They called it prayerful; their congregation called it sickeningly aloof.
I'm not sure the RCC has anything like it; I'm under the impression there's a certain hidden-away dead-end alley (real Harry Potter-esque) buried deep in fair Roma, teeming with specialty tailors and merchants, where the prelates go to get outfitted. And I guess if you can't get to Italy, you might simply telephone the nearest collection of cloistered nuns (they're always sewing stuff.) I wonder ...
Anyway ... so there's this website mocking the vestment models for the Scottish Episcopalian Church. They guess (and I agree) that most of the models aren't actual ministers, but dumb blondes paid to pretend. Holy Fudge are their captions spit funny.
Two of my favourites:
Ministerial couple Fr Michael and Mother Stephanie could keep up their pious 'staring-upwards-and-into-the-distance' for hours.
Here they are on another day... They called it prayerful; their congregation called it sickeningly aloof.
Just So You Guys Know I'm Not Dead ... and Bill Maher is an idiot
Still have the dizzies, but am not dead. It's a good thing! In other news: Bill Maher is an idiot.
Okay, I know that's uncharitable. Bill is one of those people you could describe as "invincibly" ignorant; his Irish Catholic Father got pissed at the Pope one day, and ever since, his son has been incapable of seeing the impetus behind religious faith.
Still. Listen to what he says:
"It's arrogant to think that, if there is a force in the universe, this force, whom most people refer to as 'Him,' has the time and inclination to listen to your stupid, petty laundry list of what you want in this life. Prayer. That's another, silly Santa Claus notion [...]"
"I believed all this stuff when I was young," Maher begins, smiling wryly. "[...]But then something very important happened to me -- I graduated sixth grade."
In other words, people who believe in God are numnuts. They suffer from childish delusions. Yes, Pope John Paul, Mr. Fluent-in-half-a-dozen-langauges, this means you. And you, Thomas Aquinas. And you, Albert Einstein. And you, Rene Descartes. And you, Socrates.
Because obviously Bill Maher is more enlightened than all of you idgits.
Of course, this is the same Bill Maher who said the terrorists of 9-11 fame were "brave" and "courageous," while in comparison, American fighter pilots were "cowardly." So what can you expect from an intellect like that?
Okay, I know that's uncharitable. Bill is one of those people you could describe as "invincibly" ignorant; his Irish Catholic Father got pissed at the Pope one day, and ever since, his son has been incapable of seeing the impetus behind religious faith.
Still. Listen to what he says:
"It's arrogant to think that, if there is a force in the universe, this force, whom most people refer to as 'Him,' has the time and inclination to listen to your stupid, petty laundry list of what you want in this life. Prayer. That's another, silly Santa Claus notion [...]"
"I believed all this stuff when I was young," Maher begins, smiling wryly. "[...]But then something very important happened to me -- I graduated sixth grade."
In other words, people who believe in God are numnuts. They suffer from childish delusions. Yes, Pope John Paul, Mr. Fluent-in-half-a-dozen-langauges, this means you. And you, Thomas Aquinas. And you, Albert Einstein. And you, Rene Descartes. And you, Socrates.
Because obviously Bill Maher is more enlightened than all of you idgits.
Of course, this is the same Bill Maher who said the terrorists of 9-11 fame were "brave" and "courageous," while in comparison, American fighter pilots were "cowardly." So what can you expect from an intellect like that?
February 22, 2005
Dizzy Lizzy
You know that feeling you get when you've been hanging your head upside down for whatever reason, and then you sit up? And all the blood drains out of your head real quick?
That's how I've been feeling all day today; like my head is heavy, but it could also float away any time. Really rather dizzy. I'm not sure what it is, but it started yesterday afternoon. I thought I could sleep it off, but nooooo. I took some Tylenonl PM to knock me out, but I kept waking up because I was sweating so much. Sweating, and I wasn't even hot! I was cold!
So, I think maybe I've developed diabetes, in which case it is imperative I eat some chocolate. Yes. A muffin of the chocolate variety. Or an Ore-O. Don't worry, I have no intention of keeling over in the street. Will do that at home, later, perhaps.
That's how I've been feeling all day today; like my head is heavy, but it could also float away any time. Really rather dizzy. I'm not sure what it is, but it started yesterday afternoon. I thought I could sleep it off, but nooooo. I took some Tylenonl PM to knock me out, but I kept waking up because I was sweating so much. Sweating, and I wasn't even hot! I was cold!
So, I think maybe I've developed diabetes, in which case it is imperative I eat some chocolate. Yes. A muffin of the chocolate variety. Or an Ore-O. Don't worry, I have no intention of keeling over in the street. Will do that at home, later, perhaps.
February 21, 2005
Cardinal Arinze is a funny guy
Cardinal Arinze is a native Nigerian, and a real riot. He always has a certain frank way of putting things. Here's part of an interview he did with Raymond Arroyo, the guy who runs to the news over at EWTN.
Raymond Arroyo:“Last year, you were asked at a press conference whether a politician, a Catholic politician who supports abortion publicly, ... should be permitted to receive Communion publicly. What is your response to that?”
Cardinal Arinze: “The answer is clear. If a person says I am in favor of killing unborn babies ... I will be in favor of killing them tomorrow and next week and next year. So, unborn babies, too bad for you ...
Then the person turn around and say I want to receive Holy Communion. Do you need any Cardinal from the Vatican to answer that?"
Raymond Arroyo: “It should be pretty transparent.”
Cardinal Arinze: “Simple, ask the children for First Communion, they'll give you the answer.”
Raymond Arroyo:“Last year, you were asked at a press conference whether a politician, a Catholic politician who supports abortion publicly, ... should be permitted to receive Communion publicly. What is your response to that?”
Cardinal Arinze: “The answer is clear. If a person says I am in favor of killing unborn babies ... I will be in favor of killing them tomorrow and next week and next year. So, unborn babies, too bad for you ...
Then the person turn around and say I want to receive Holy Communion. Do you need any Cardinal from the Vatican to answer that?"
Raymond Arroyo: “It should be pretty transparent.”
Cardinal Arinze: “Simple, ask the children for First Communion, they'll give you the answer.”
February 20, 2005
As for the doubters among you ...
Ha. Now I have photographic evidence. Nuns do play baseball, rollerblade, dress up for Halloween (All Saints Day, that is,) and generally have fun. So say the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George. They wish to assure you, they are hardly ever bored.
Thank you, thank you very much
Well, I'm happy to let you know, if you type the words "exorcist statue desecrations" into the Yahoo search engine, this blog, "A Little Flower Garden" will pop up #3!
How happy we are. In other news, I developed a sore throat Friday night, which was no big deal. Except this morning I discovered whatever it was that was in my throat is now in my respiratory system. Blegh!
It seems that the "one day of work a week" thing is going to be a permanent situation over at daycare. And I guess that's fine with me, because I really was over-doing it before. This way, I get a teensy bit of extra money, and I can put "day care experience" on my resume.
How happy we are. In other news, I developed a sore throat Friday night, which was no big deal. Except this morning I discovered whatever it was that was in my throat is now in my respiratory system. Blegh!
It seems that the "one day of work a week" thing is going to be a permanent situation over at daycare. And I guess that's fine with me, because I really was over-doing it before. This way, I get a teensy bit of extra money, and I can put "day care experience" on my resume.
February 19, 2005
Funny Business From "An Ideal Husband"
Here is a little bit from Act 3 of the play. Witty and rich but very idle Lord Goring, speaking to his long-suffering butler, Phipps
LORD GORING: You see, Phipps, Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.
PHIPPS:Yes, my lord. ...
LORD GORING:Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself.
PHIPPS:Yes, my lord.
LORD GORING:To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance, Phipps.
PHIPPS: Yes, my lord.
LORD GORING: Don't think I quite like this buttonhole, Phipps. Makes me look a little too old. Makes me almost in the prime of life, eh, Phipps?
PHIPPS:I don't observe any alteration in your lordship's appearance.
LORD GORING: You don't, Phipps?
PHIPPS: No, my lord.
LORD GORING: I am not quite sure. For the future a more trivial buttonhole, Phipps, on Thursday evenings.
LORD GORING: You see, Phipps, Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.
PHIPPS:Yes, my lord. ...
LORD GORING:Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself.
PHIPPS:Yes, my lord.
LORD GORING:To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance, Phipps.
PHIPPS: Yes, my lord.
LORD GORING: Don't think I quite like this buttonhole, Phipps. Makes me look a little too old. Makes me almost in the prime of life, eh, Phipps?
PHIPPS:I don't observe any alteration in your lordship's appearance.
LORD GORING: You don't, Phipps?
PHIPPS: No, my lord.
LORD GORING: I am not quite sure. For the future a more trivial buttonhole, Phipps, on Thursday evenings.
February 18, 2005
For Shannon, Re: Sainthood For Sr. Lucia. (Beatification is the last stage before Canonization!)
This article is really great, and really juicy, full of "never been reported" stuff, right up until the end. And it's from a source I usually can't stand, NCR
"In most cases, processes for beatification involve some degree of uncertainty, since one never knows quite how it will go. Every now and then, however, there's a slam-dunk candidate for whom it's only a matter of time. Such was the case with Mother Teresa when she died in 1997, and such is the case again this week with Carmelite Sr. Maria Lucia of Jesus and of the Sacred Heart, better known as Lucia dos Santos, the last of the three visionaries of Fatima, who died last Sunday.
Lucia passed away on the 13th of the month, the same day in May 1917 that, according to the Fatima tradition, the Virgin Mary began appearing to three small children in this remote site in Portugal. It's a spot named after the wife of Ali, the cousin of the prophet Muhammed, and hence a reminder of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula. (In some Koranic schools, especially in Shi'ite circles where devotion to Fatima is strong, it's long been believed that Mary, who is also venerated in the Koran, didn't come to Fatima for Christians at all, but for the Muslims).
The other two seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, died in 1919 and 1920, respectively, and were beatified by John Paul II in 2000. Lucia, however, entered a Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1948, where she lived ever since. From there, she handed over to Vatican officials the "Third Secret" of Fatima, a vision of a bishop in white and a hail of gunfire which John Paul II interpreted as a reference to the assassination attempt against him on May 13, 1981, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The pope's delegate for Sr. Lucia's funeral, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa, who had long meetings with Lucia when he was the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that there are no more major revelations waiting in her monastic cell to be disclosed.
There's no question that John Paul II feels a special connection with the Fatima devotion, and with Lucia. It was Fatima where Mary referred to "the errors that Russia will spread in the world," taken by most Catholics as a reference to Soviet Communism. In keeping with Mary's request at Fatima that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, the pope performed a consecration of the whole world at Fatima in 1982, on the anniversary of the assassination attempt. There followed concern that the pope did not do this in concert with the rest of the bishops, as Mary had asked. Hence on March 25, 1984, John Paul repeated the consecration in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, after having sent letters to all the world's Catholic and Orthodox bishops asking them to join him. The statue of the Virgin from Fatima was brought to Rome for the occasion. Though the pope's text did not specifically mention Russia, at least one observer, the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Alberto Cosme do Amaral, said the pope paused at one point and quietly added "Russia" under his breath. Afterwards, Sr. Lucia apparently told the apostolic nuncio in Portugal that Mary had accepted the consecration, a fact that, in the pope's mind, is not without significance in explaining subsequent events, including the collapse of the Berlin Wall and eventually the Soviet system.
John Paul also credits the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life on May 13, 1981, believing that the flight path of a bullet launched from Mehmet Ali Agca's gun was altered in order to preserve him in office. Without descending into too much pop psychology, this undoubtedly helps to explain why resignation is essentially unthinkable for John Paul -- he believes that his pontificate is part of a much larger cosmic drama, and God and the Virgin are watching. It's up to them, not him, to decide when the time has come.
Of course, to believe that Mary saved the pope's life on May 13, 1981, logically raises the question of why she allowed him to be shot in the first place. His closest aide, personal secretary Archishop Stanislaw Dsizwsz, in a rare public lecture in Poland in 2002 supplied the answer. The pope's blood had to be spilled, Dsizwsz argued, in order to augment his witness against bloodshed in the world, above all with respect to abortion. It has always impressed John Paul and Dsizwsz that the Italian left had scheduled a major abortion rights rally in Rome the evening of May 13, 1981, which was cancelled out of respect for the fallen pope.
If time and health permit, there's no doubt John Paul would like to be the pope who beatifies Sr. Lucia."
"In most cases, processes for beatification involve some degree of uncertainty, since one never knows quite how it will go. Every now and then, however, there's a slam-dunk candidate for whom it's only a matter of time. Such was the case with Mother Teresa when she died in 1997, and such is the case again this week with Carmelite Sr. Maria Lucia of Jesus and of the Sacred Heart, better known as Lucia dos Santos, the last of the three visionaries of Fatima, who died last Sunday.
Lucia passed away on the 13th of the month, the same day in May 1917 that, according to the Fatima tradition, the Virgin Mary began appearing to three small children in this remote site in Portugal. It's a spot named after the wife of Ali, the cousin of the prophet Muhammed, and hence a reminder of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula. (In some Koranic schools, especially in Shi'ite circles where devotion to Fatima is strong, it's long been believed that Mary, who is also venerated in the Koran, didn't come to Fatima for Christians at all, but for the Muslims).
The other two seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, died in 1919 and 1920, respectively, and were beatified by John Paul II in 2000. Lucia, however, entered a Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1948, where she lived ever since. From there, she handed over to Vatican officials the "Third Secret" of Fatima, a vision of a bishop in white and a hail of gunfire which John Paul II interpreted as a reference to the assassination attempt against him on May 13, 1981, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The pope's delegate for Sr. Lucia's funeral, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa, who had long meetings with Lucia when he was the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that there are no more major revelations waiting in her monastic cell to be disclosed.
There's no question that John Paul II feels a special connection with the Fatima devotion, and with Lucia. It was Fatima where Mary referred to "the errors that Russia will spread in the world," taken by most Catholics as a reference to Soviet Communism. In keeping with Mary's request at Fatima that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, the pope performed a consecration of the whole world at Fatima in 1982, on the anniversary of the assassination attempt. There followed concern that the pope did not do this in concert with the rest of the bishops, as Mary had asked. Hence on March 25, 1984, John Paul repeated the consecration in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, after having sent letters to all the world's Catholic and Orthodox bishops asking them to join him. The statue of the Virgin from Fatima was brought to Rome for the occasion. Though the pope's text did not specifically mention Russia, at least one observer, the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Alberto Cosme do Amaral, said the pope paused at one point and quietly added "Russia" under his breath. Afterwards, Sr. Lucia apparently told the apostolic nuncio in Portugal that Mary had accepted the consecration, a fact that, in the pope's mind, is not without significance in explaining subsequent events, including the collapse of the Berlin Wall and eventually the Soviet system.
John Paul also credits the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life on May 13, 1981, believing that the flight path of a bullet launched from Mehmet Ali Agca's gun was altered in order to preserve him in office. Without descending into too much pop psychology, this undoubtedly helps to explain why resignation is essentially unthinkable for John Paul -- he believes that his pontificate is part of a much larger cosmic drama, and God and the Virgin are watching. It's up to them, not him, to decide when the time has come.
Of course, to believe that Mary saved the pope's life on May 13, 1981, logically raises the question of why she allowed him to be shot in the first place. His closest aide, personal secretary Archishop Stanislaw Dsizwsz, in a rare public lecture in Poland in 2002 supplied the answer. The pope's blood had to be spilled, Dsizwsz argued, in order to augment his witness against bloodshed in the world, above all with respect to abortion. It has always impressed John Paul and Dsizwsz that the Italian left had scheduled a major abortion rights rally in Rome the evening of May 13, 1981, which was cancelled out of respect for the fallen pope.
If time and health permit, there's no doubt John Paul would like to be the pope who beatifies Sr. Lucia."
Today is Bran Day
Hello folksies! I am sooo ready for the weekend. Since Monday is a holiday, I'll actually be able to catch up on all my work. Happy Friday! But it is both Friday and Lent. Which means no meat. Which means I must stick to carbohydrates and what the genteel class calls "ruffage" (vegetables.) Last week, all I did for Friday was buy a pint of milk. Oh, and a box of Cheerios, to go with the milk. It took me around 14 hours to eat the entire thing.
Oink, oink. Wouldn't be such a swine, but what else am I to do? It's not like fish is a college favourite, with street vendors and grocery stores hocking their very reasonably priced salmon, tuna, and the like. I will never eat a "Gordon's" product again (that nasty old fisherman poisoned me, glut.) So today is bran day. Wait! I know! I will buy a baked potato from Wendys. Yes, very good. With Sour Cream. Excellent.
You can see I've been posting a lot of news articles. This is mostly because I am lazy, (that should come as no surprise to you.) So, what's my news. Ummmm. Well, yesterday my English class watched a movie "An Ideal Husband", starring Rupert Everett, Mini Driver, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore etc. Extremely funny. Would recommend for the non-squirmish: it's not gory, but the dialogue might become nauseatingly long-winded, if you don't have the patience for it.
One last thing: Recently at work, we had new hires doing orientation. One of them was a freshman (completely bewildered and freaked out by the new situation.) He was recruited for the job by this other guy who also goes to GWU. I usually try to avoid bumping into this other guy coming to and fro from work, because he's an uncomfortable conversationalist.
Anyway, yesterday, I skillfully avoided walking to the subway with them, and getting onto the same train with them, and riding in the same car as them. I was offering myself mild congratulations: "Bravo, old girl! Nearly twenty minutes of awkward pauses and silences averted." But then, there they were, waiting to catch the Blue Line to Vienna. "Ugh, ugh, ugh," I thought. But I was at least somewhat happy that my cunning had been briefly effective. When I heard what the boys were discussing, I was even happier I had been spared the extra torment.
They were arguing, you won't believe me, about what people in Vermont call themselves. As for people from Texas, they call themselves Texans. And Ohioans, well there! But Vermont? One of them thought it must be "Vermonters" while the other insisted on "Vermontans," after the manner of Minnesota. They asked my opinion, and I was forced to reply that "oh, there must be a phonetic rule which would supply your answer."
At which point, I was informed that phonetical rules need not apply, since the word phonics is not spelled as it sounds. And what of Conneticut and Massachusetts? Massachusetters? Massachusettans?
I said, "well, perphaps they go by city." (Like Bostonians.) One of them scoffed and said "because there are so many big cities there."
The banter continued, and I could feel myself getting stupider all the time.
Next time, I will bring along a newspaper. The University delivers free copies of USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, to us everyday. I would frankly rather grow stupider reading drivel than grow stupider listening to drivel. There is also the Cathy comic strip in the Washington Post, which I found amusing for a long time. (But now even Cathy is married, and that, along with Sister Lucy's recent death, make the ending of the world in the next ten minutes seem rather likely.)
All in all, however, a happy friday! It is wind blistering here in DC, and I am carrying around a camera and annoying people with it! Everyone is smiley! Yay!!!
Oink, oink. Wouldn't be such a swine, but what else am I to do? It's not like fish is a college favourite, with street vendors and grocery stores hocking their very reasonably priced salmon, tuna, and the like. I will never eat a "Gordon's" product again (that nasty old fisherman poisoned me, glut.) So today is bran day. Wait! I know! I will buy a baked potato from Wendys. Yes, very good. With Sour Cream. Excellent.
You can see I've been posting a lot of news articles. This is mostly because I am lazy, (that should come as no surprise to you.) So, what's my news. Ummmm. Well, yesterday my English class watched a movie "An Ideal Husband", starring Rupert Everett, Mini Driver, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore etc. Extremely funny. Would recommend for the non-squirmish: it's not gory, but the dialogue might become nauseatingly long-winded, if you don't have the patience for it.
One last thing: Recently at work, we had new hires doing orientation. One of them was a freshman (completely bewildered and freaked out by the new situation.) He was recruited for the job by this other guy who also goes to GWU. I usually try to avoid bumping into this other guy coming to and fro from work, because he's an uncomfortable conversationalist.
Anyway, yesterday, I skillfully avoided walking to the subway with them, and getting onto the same train with them, and riding in the same car as them. I was offering myself mild congratulations: "Bravo, old girl! Nearly twenty minutes of awkward pauses and silences averted." But then, there they were, waiting to catch the Blue Line to Vienna. "Ugh, ugh, ugh," I thought. But I was at least somewhat happy that my cunning had been briefly effective. When I heard what the boys were discussing, I was even happier I had been spared the extra torment.
They were arguing, you won't believe me, about what people in Vermont call themselves. As for people from Texas, they call themselves Texans. And Ohioans, well there! But Vermont? One of them thought it must be "Vermonters" while the other insisted on "Vermontans," after the manner of Minnesota. They asked my opinion, and I was forced to reply that "oh, there must be a phonetic rule which would supply your answer."
At which point, I was informed that phonetical rules need not apply, since the word phonics is not spelled as it sounds. And what of Conneticut and Massachusetts? Massachusetters? Massachusettans?
I said, "well, perphaps they go by city." (Like Bostonians.) One of them scoffed and said "because there are so many big cities there."
The banter continued, and I could feel myself getting stupider all the time.
Next time, I will bring along a newspaper. The University delivers free copies of USA Today, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, to us everyday. I would frankly rather grow stupider reading drivel than grow stupider listening to drivel. There is also the Cathy comic strip in the Washington Post, which I found amusing for a long time. (But now even Cathy is married, and that, along with Sister Lucy's recent death, make the ending of the world in the next ten minutes seem rather likely.)
All in all, however, a happy friday! It is wind blistering here in DC, and I am carrying around a camera and annoying people with it! Everyone is smiley! Yay!!!
Basilica of St. Paul's-Outside-the-Walls
The penultimate famous abbot of the monks of St. Paul's Outside the Walls was Ildefonso Schuster, who became archbishop of Milan around the middle of last century and now is close to being proclaimed a saint.
The latest was Giovanni Franzoni, a standard bearer of Catholic dissent during the turbulent years after Vatican Council II, who was laicized and today is married to a Japanese psychiatrist.
Archeologists discover St. Paul's tomb
Rome, Feb. 17 (CWNews) - Vatican archeologists believe that they have identified the tomb of St. Paul in the Roman basilica that bears his name.
A sarcophagus which may contain the remains of St. Paul was identified in the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, reports Giorgio Filippi, a archeology specialist with the Vatican Museums. The sarcophagus was discovered during the excavations carried out in 2002 and 2003 around the basilica, which is located in the south of Rome. Having reached what they believe is a positive identification of the tomb, Vatican experts will soon make a public announcement of their discovery.
A sarcophagus which may contain the remains of St. Paul was identified in the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, reports Giorgio Filippi, a archeology specialist with the Vatican Museums. The sarcophagus was discovered during the excavations carried out in 2002 and 2003 around the basilica, which is located in the south of Rome. Having reached what they believe is a positive identification of the tomb, Vatican experts will soon make a public announcement of their discovery.
February 17, 2005
Defense Against the Dark Power ( a la Professor Snape, Only For Real)
The red book of exorcism
Vatican officals became alarmed some time ago. So, they have decided, the legendary pontifical university, Regina Apostolorum, will now train divinity students in the particulars of demonic possession, black magic, exorcism, and the occult. Italian professor Carlo Climati will be their teacher. His first class instructs seminarians on how best to differentiate between mental illness and demonic influence.
Ordinarily, a single exorcist may be selected, from among all the priests of a certain diocese, by the bishop. This priest is trained in difficult and dangerous things, but then he is sent back to his usual work, to be summoned only if the need should arise.
The numbers of exorcists had been declining, but recently a fit seems to have seized Europe. The relatively few exorcists available there have been besieged by worried parents, who fear the worst for their disturbed children:
--In Trier, Germany, birthplace of Karl Marx, the prosecutor's office has been investigating the claim of a woman that babies were being cut up and eaten in Satanist rituals.
-- In Finland a youthful pair was jailed for eating part of a fellow devil worshiper's body, abusing it sexually, then cutting it into small pieces, all to the tunes of Black Metal music - and all in a Satanist ritual.
-- In Brisbane, Australia, two young sadistic lesbians were sentenced for stabbing and slashing the throat of a New Zealand grandmother - a Satanist ritual.
-- In Athens, young Satanists were sentenced for stripping, cuffing, raping and slaughtering a 15-year old girl - in a Satanist initiation.
-- In Buenos Aires, two young Satanist women were found guilty of killing their father and stabbing him in the face 100 times - a Satanist ritual.
-- In Donskoi, Russia, Satanists led by 80-year old Yelena Kuzina and including members as young as 20 were jailed for murders - committed in occult rituals.
-- In a forest near Milan, Italy, youngsters danced on the graves of two coreligionists they had just killed - in a Satanist ritual murder.
Satanic rituals include the Black Mass, which requires a validly consecrated Eucharist. (Incidentally, a Satanist priest can always tell the difference between a consecrated and unconsecrated Host.) On Halloween the desecrations reach a fever pitch, and Catholic parishes close their doors and post gaurds at the gates. All of this to prevent the theft and desecration of the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle.
In America, there is the United Church of Satan. (I won't link to their site.) They claim 150,000 members. Also interesting: apparently, Satanistic funeral rites have been performed at Arlington Cemetary, complete with a Satanist priest presiding.I guess there will be some people who insist on religious freedom, even for Satanists.
Interview With An Exorcist
Excerpted
Father Gabriel Amorth is indeed the exorcist, the most senior and respected member of his calling. A priest for 50 years, he is the undisputed leader of [Rome's] six exorcists [...]
"I speak with the Devil every day [...] I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in day out, for 14 years[...]"
I ask Father Amorth to describe the ritual of exorcism.
"Ideally, the exorcist needs another priest to help him and a group nearby who will assist through prayer. The ritual does not specify the stance of the exorcist. Some stand, some sit. The ritual says only that, beginning with the words Ecce crucem Domini ('Behold the Cross of the Lord') the priest should touch the neck of the possessed one with the hem of his stole and hold his hand on his head [...]"
"Demons are wary of talking and must be forced to speak. When demons are voluntarily chatty it's a trick to distract the exorcist. We must never ask useless questions out of curiosity. We but must interrogate with care. We always begin by asking for the demon's name."
"And does he answer?" I ask.
Father Amorth nods. "Yes, through the patient, but in a strange, unnatural voice. If it is the Devil himself, he says 'I am Satan, or Lucifer, or Beelzebub. We ask if he is alone or if there are others with him. Usually there are two or five, 20 or 30. We must quantify the number. We ask when and how they entered that particular body. We find out whether their presence is due to a spell and the specifics of that spell [...]
"No two cases are the same. Some patients have to be tied down on a bed. They spit. They vomit. At first the demon will try to demoralise the exorcist, then he will try to terrify him, saying, 'Tonight I'm going to put a serpent between your sheets. Tomorrow I'm going to eat your heart'."
I lean towards Father Amorth. "And are you sometimes frightened?" I ask. He looks incredulous. "Never. I have faith. I laugh at the demon and say to him, 'I've got the Madonna on my side. I am called Gabriel. Go fight the Archangel Gabriel if you will.' That usually shuts them up."
What does the Pope make of all this? "The Holy Father knows that the Devil is still alive and active in the world. He has performed exorcism. In 1982, he performed a solemn exorcism on a girl from Spoletto. She screamed and rolled on the floor. Those who saw it were very frightened. The Pope brought her temporary freedom."
"Remember, when we jeer at the Devil and tell ourselves that he does not exist, that is when he is happiest."
Father Gabriel Amorth is indeed the exorcist, the most senior and respected member of his calling. A priest for 50 years, he is the undisputed leader of [Rome's] six exorcists [...]
"I speak with the Devil every day [...] I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in day out, for 14 years[...]"
I ask Father Amorth to describe the ritual of exorcism.
"Ideally, the exorcist needs another priest to help him and a group nearby who will assist through prayer. The ritual does not specify the stance of the exorcist. Some stand, some sit. The ritual says only that, beginning with the words Ecce crucem Domini ('Behold the Cross of the Lord') the priest should touch the neck of the possessed one with the hem of his stole and hold his hand on his head [...]"
"Demons are wary of talking and must be forced to speak. When demons are voluntarily chatty it's a trick to distract the exorcist. We must never ask useless questions out of curiosity. We but must interrogate with care. We always begin by asking for the demon's name."
"And does he answer?" I ask.
Father Amorth nods. "Yes, through the patient, but in a strange, unnatural voice. If it is the Devil himself, he says 'I am Satan, or Lucifer, or Beelzebub. We ask if he is alone or if there are others with him. Usually there are two or five, 20 or 30. We must quantify the number. We ask when and how they entered that particular body. We find out whether their presence is due to a spell and the specifics of that spell [...]
"No two cases are the same. Some patients have to be tied down on a bed. They spit. They vomit. At first the demon will try to demoralise the exorcist, then he will try to terrify him, saying, 'Tonight I'm going to put a serpent between your sheets. Tomorrow I'm going to eat your heart'."
I lean towards Father Amorth. "And are you sometimes frightened?" I ask. He looks incredulous. "Never. I have faith. I laugh at the demon and say to him, 'I've got the Madonna on my side. I am called Gabriel. Go fight the Archangel Gabriel if you will.' That usually shuts them up."
What does the Pope make of all this? "The Holy Father knows that the Devil is still alive and active in the world. He has performed exorcism. In 1982, he performed a solemn exorcism on a girl from Spoletto. She screamed and rolled on the floor. Those who saw it were very frightened. The Pope brought her temporary freedom."
"Remember, when we jeer at the Devil and tell ourselves that he does not exist, that is when he is happiest."
February 16, 2005
The Pope Is Dead ...
Not Yet, and not soon, please God. But what if Holy Father were to slip the surly bonds of Earth this very minute? The press would lose its head, thats for sure. Because nobody knows how to scrunch a papacy that's lasted for more than a quarter century into a 1,000 word article.
Terry Mattingly of the Modesto Bee asked several journalists about what part of JP2's legacy they are planning to "lead with":
- Steven Waldman, CEO at Beliefnet.com, began with: "Pope John Paul II, who perhaps did more than any other person to end communism ..." Who can forget when Lech Walesa signed the labor agreement at Gdansk shipyard, incarnating the Solidarity movement that helped trigger the collapse of the Soviet empire? Walesa used a pen topped with an image of the Polish pope.
- Baptist scholar Timothy George, part of the 1994 "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" coalition, would talk about both John Paul's hunger for church unity and his writings, especially "Veritatis Splendor" ("The Splendor of Truth"). Nevertheless, George said he would lead with: "The pope has advocated the sanctity of life in a century suffused with the smell of death, whether that is the stench of the Holocaust ovens or the abortion clinics or innocent victims of terrorism and military conflict. ... He is certainly the greatest pope since the Reformation."
- Adoremus.org editor Helen Hitchcock emphasized the pope's "Theology of the Body" reflections - gathered from Wednesday public audiences - on what it means to be human, male and female, and how this affects marriage, children, the elderly, the unborn and the sick.
While liberal Catholics complain about a "reign of terror," Hitchcock said many conservatives also have concerns about John Paul's legacy. "Some believe that he has been very strong on proclaiming the truth, but weaker when it comes to defending the truth. ... After all, he appointed all of our bishops. They are his. That is the reality."
- Russell Chandler, the retired religion writer for the Los Angeles Times, said he isn't ready to write a lead yet. After all, this pope has appointed all but three of the 120 cardinal-electors who will choose his successor, including waves of red hats from Third World nations.
"I think it is not clear that the so-called John Paul II era - the Pope for the World - is going to be over," said Chandler. "Pope John Paul II is dead. Long live the Pope. Is this era ... going to continue? Watch for the smoke signal at the Vatican chimney."
Terry Mattingly of the Modesto Bee asked several journalists about what part of JP2's legacy they are planning to "lead with":
- Steven Waldman, CEO at Beliefnet.com, began with: "Pope John Paul II, who perhaps did more than any other person to end communism ..." Who can forget when Lech Walesa signed the labor agreement at Gdansk shipyard, incarnating the Solidarity movement that helped trigger the collapse of the Soviet empire? Walesa used a pen topped with an image of the Polish pope.
- Baptist scholar Timothy George, part of the 1994 "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" coalition, would talk about both John Paul's hunger for church unity and his writings, especially "Veritatis Splendor" ("The Splendor of Truth"). Nevertheless, George said he would lead with: "The pope has advocated the sanctity of life in a century suffused with the smell of death, whether that is the stench of the Holocaust ovens or the abortion clinics or innocent victims of terrorism and military conflict. ... He is certainly the greatest pope since the Reformation."
- Adoremus.org editor Helen Hitchcock emphasized the pope's "Theology of the Body" reflections - gathered from Wednesday public audiences - on what it means to be human, male and female, and how this affects marriage, children, the elderly, the unborn and the sick.
While liberal Catholics complain about a "reign of terror," Hitchcock said many conservatives also have concerns about John Paul's legacy. "Some believe that he has been very strong on proclaiming the truth, but weaker when it comes to defending the truth. ... After all, he appointed all of our bishops. They are his. That is the reality."
- Russell Chandler, the retired religion writer for the Los Angeles Times, said he isn't ready to write a lead yet. After all, this pope has appointed all but three of the 120 cardinal-electors who will choose his successor, including waves of red hats from Third World nations.
"I think it is not clear that the so-called John Paul II era - the Pope for the World - is going to be over," said Chandler. "Pope John Paul II is dead. Long live the Pope. Is this era ... going to continue? Watch for the smoke signal at the Vatican chimney."
February 15, 2005
Europe Circles Drain, Leaders Take 6-Week Paid Vacation
Ruth Kelly, myth-breaker
By George Weigel
"Late last year, when Italian philosopher and cabinet minister Rocco Buttiglione was denied the post of European Minister of Justice because his convictions on sexual ethics and marriage were unacceptable to a gaggle of libertine Euro-parliamentarians, there was a certain plausibility to the whole exercise – at least from the point of view of secularists, leftists, and the establishment European media. Buttiglione, after all, was a minister in a center-right Italian government; Buttiglione is a devout, intellectually astute Catholic whose thinking is shaped by natural law reasoning and Catholic moral theology; and it’s an article of faith in the left-leaning worlds of European secularism (which include most of the mainstream Euro-media) that Catholic + conservative = in vitro fascist.
Why, then, has Britain’s Ruth Kelly been getting the Buttiglione Treatment in recent weeks? Who, you ask, is Ruth Kelly? Let me introduce you.
Born in Northern Ireland in 1968, Ruth Kelly is a graduate of Oxford and the London School of Economics, where she earned a master’s degree in the dismal science. After working as an economics correspondent for the (very left-oriented) Guardian, and later at the Bank of England, Kelly was elected to Parliament at age 29 in 1997 as a Labor Party candidate. Having held a series of sub-cabinet posts, Ruth Kelly was appointed to the cabinet last month by Prime Minister Tony Blair as Education Secretary. (At which point, observers remembered that Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was another Oxford graduate who’d begun her ministerial career in the department 36-year-old Ruth Kelly now headed.)
Then came the Buttiglione Treatment.
The fact that Ruth Kelly doesn’t conform to certain feminist conventions – she’s a Catholic, a daily communicant, married once, the mother of four small children, and vigorously pro-life – evidently didn’t agree with one fellow-MP (another woman, no less), who labeled Kelly “that cow.” Kelly’s previous decisions to decline the Health and Overseas Development cabinet portfolios because those jobs would have entangled her with contraception and abortion didn’t sit well with the keepers of the feminist flame, either.
The British science establishment quickly went into its default mode in such matters: the Galileo case was back! A senior geneticist, Dr. Robin Lovell-Badge, told newspapers that it was “very worrying” that someone with Kelly’s religious convictions might, in overseeing government funding of scientific research, impede embryo-destructive stem-cell research, thus producing a “schizophrenic” and “confused” situation like that in the United States. (By which adjectives, Dr. Lovell-Badge apparently evidently means a situation in which the law requires that scientific experimentation take place within boundaries that protect innocent human life.) The Times of London summed up this change in the Ruth Kelly indictment by writing that “some MPs [Members of Parliament] fear her religion may cloud her judgment.”
“Cloud” was the give-away, of course. In an objective news story, that sentence would have concluded, “...inform her judgment.” But in the intellectually insular world of European secularism – which has many parallels on this side of the Atlantic – religious faith in general and Catholicism in particular are, by definition, obscurantist and irrational. How could Catholic moral theology “inform” anyone’s judgment? Catholicism, according to the settled mythology of the Euro-secularist left, clouds judgment. Or distorts judgment. Or replaces “judgment” with robotic obedience.
Inflamed by The Da Vinci Code, British conspiracy theorists are in a lather because Ruth Kelly has participated in activities organized by Opus Dei. What really earned Ruth Kelly the Buttiglione Treatment, though, is the fact that she’s a myth-breaker: day by day, her public life refutes the canard that serious public Catholicism in the 21st century means incipient fascism. For who could plausibly accuse this bright and accomplished trade union member of being – gasp! – one of those dreaded conservatives? Conservatives and former Guardian writers don’t get elected Labor MP for Bolton West.
Ruth Kelly isn’t just a sign of contradiction for Britain’s secular left, though. What will accommodationist Catholic legislators in America – Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Mikulski, for example – make of a popular, competent, liberal, Oxford-certified Catholic woman and politician who’s convinced that Humanae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae got it right?"
George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
By George Weigel
"Late last year, when Italian philosopher and cabinet minister Rocco Buttiglione was denied the post of European Minister of Justice because his convictions on sexual ethics and marriage were unacceptable to a gaggle of libertine Euro-parliamentarians, there was a certain plausibility to the whole exercise – at least from the point of view of secularists, leftists, and the establishment European media. Buttiglione, after all, was a minister in a center-right Italian government; Buttiglione is a devout, intellectually astute Catholic whose thinking is shaped by natural law reasoning and Catholic moral theology; and it’s an article of faith in the left-leaning worlds of European secularism (which include most of the mainstream Euro-media) that Catholic + conservative = in vitro fascist.
Why, then, has Britain’s Ruth Kelly been getting the Buttiglione Treatment in recent weeks? Who, you ask, is Ruth Kelly? Let me introduce you.
Born in Northern Ireland in 1968, Ruth Kelly is a graduate of Oxford and the London School of Economics, where she earned a master’s degree in the dismal science. After working as an economics correspondent for the (very left-oriented) Guardian, and later at the Bank of England, Kelly was elected to Parliament at age 29 in 1997 as a Labor Party candidate. Having held a series of sub-cabinet posts, Ruth Kelly was appointed to the cabinet last month by Prime Minister Tony Blair as Education Secretary. (At which point, observers remembered that Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was another Oxford graduate who’d begun her ministerial career in the department 36-year-old Ruth Kelly now headed.)
Then came the Buttiglione Treatment.
The fact that Ruth Kelly doesn’t conform to certain feminist conventions – she’s a Catholic, a daily communicant, married once, the mother of four small children, and vigorously pro-life – evidently didn’t agree with one fellow-MP (another woman, no less), who labeled Kelly “that cow.” Kelly’s previous decisions to decline the Health and Overseas Development cabinet portfolios because those jobs would have entangled her with contraception and abortion didn’t sit well with the keepers of the feminist flame, either.
The British science establishment quickly went into its default mode in such matters: the Galileo case was back! A senior geneticist, Dr. Robin Lovell-Badge, told newspapers that it was “very worrying” that someone with Kelly’s religious convictions might, in overseeing government funding of scientific research, impede embryo-destructive stem-cell research, thus producing a “schizophrenic” and “confused” situation like that in the United States. (By which adjectives, Dr. Lovell-Badge apparently evidently means a situation in which the law requires that scientific experimentation take place within boundaries that protect innocent human life.) The Times of London summed up this change in the Ruth Kelly indictment by writing that “some MPs [Members of Parliament] fear her religion may cloud her judgment.”
“Cloud” was the give-away, of course. In an objective news story, that sentence would have concluded, “...inform her judgment.” But in the intellectually insular world of European secularism – which has many parallels on this side of the Atlantic – religious faith in general and Catholicism in particular are, by definition, obscurantist and irrational. How could Catholic moral theology “inform” anyone’s judgment? Catholicism, according to the settled mythology of the Euro-secularist left, clouds judgment. Or distorts judgment. Or replaces “judgment” with robotic obedience.
Inflamed by The Da Vinci Code, British conspiracy theorists are in a lather because Ruth Kelly has participated in activities organized by Opus Dei. What really earned Ruth Kelly the Buttiglione Treatment, though, is the fact that she’s a myth-breaker: day by day, her public life refutes the canard that serious public Catholicism in the 21st century means incipient fascism. For who could plausibly accuse this bright and accomplished trade union member of being – gasp! – one of those dreaded conservatives? Conservatives and former Guardian writers don’t get elected Labor MP for Bolton West.
Ruth Kelly isn’t just a sign of contradiction for Britain’s secular left, though. What will accommodationist Catholic legislators in America – Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Mikulski, for example – make of a popular, competent, liberal, Oxford-certified Catholic woman and politician who’s convinced that Humanae Vitae and Evangelium Vitae got it right?"
George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Today In Betsy's World
Egawd, me feetsies are hurting like a pair of dumpster-diving racoons. How's that for similies? Take that Dan Rather!
Most girls around here get all dressed up, but then they wear sneakers to work. They all look ridiculous, but they're all in the same cool, "I have a pair of heels in my purse" club.
Today, I stupidly wore a pair of of 1-inch pumps to and fro. Bad idea. Ow, ow, ow. I hauled off to work today and it was a la purgatory. Reading went fine, but one of my regular math students was absent, so I got a different kid, and she refused to talk to me!
Two of my kids kept telling each other: "Shut up!" and "What's the matter with you, huh? Huh?" So I gave them 5 seconds to clam up ... 1 .. 2.. 3.. 4.. 4 and a half... 4 and three quarters... 4 and four fifths ... " So finally I said: "I'm warning you, I don't know anymore fractions. I am not kidding." They believed me.
Later, when I was taking a whole bunch of different kids to music class, they started slapping each other around. There were tears and screams and pouts and I got a bunch of dirty looks. Oy vey!
On top of this, my application for City Year was due today. I never got my supervisors recommendation; apparently she's chummy with my recruiter, so she "faxed it in" to her. Brilliant, huh? I wish I had known that, so that I could have mailed my paperwork in earlier. But as it was the deadline, I had to take the subway allll the way over to the other side of the city, find the headquarters, and hand deliver my application.
I would be more annoyed but :
1. I got to find out where the silly headquarters was
2.I got to make use of the flashy new "New York/ Florida Avenue" metro station.
I also got lost walking back to Foggy Bottom from Faragut West. Eye-ya-yah, sometimes I hate living in the sheltered, wealthy West End. There's a Starbucks and a Pottery Barn on every corner, but there's no real amenities. That's because very few people actually "live" in Foggy Bottom. People work in Foggy Bottom. They are the reason I have to dress properly every weekday, least I look like some kind of slob in the midst of a herd of snappy suits.
Plus the streets are maze like. They make even the locals (me) crazy.
Most girls around here get all dressed up, but then they wear sneakers to work. They all look ridiculous, but they're all in the same cool, "I have a pair of heels in my purse" club.
Today, I stupidly wore a pair of of 1-inch pumps to and fro. Bad idea. Ow, ow, ow. I hauled off to work today and it was a la purgatory. Reading went fine, but one of my regular math students was absent, so I got a different kid, and she refused to talk to me!
Two of my kids kept telling each other: "Shut up!" and "What's the matter with you, huh? Huh?" So I gave them 5 seconds to clam up ... 1 .. 2.. 3.. 4.. 4 and a half... 4 and three quarters... 4 and four fifths ... " So finally I said: "I'm warning you, I don't know anymore fractions. I am not kidding." They believed me.
Later, when I was taking a whole bunch of different kids to music class, they started slapping each other around. There were tears and screams and pouts and I got a bunch of dirty looks. Oy vey!
On top of this, my application for City Year was due today. I never got my supervisors recommendation; apparently she's chummy with my recruiter, so she "faxed it in" to her. Brilliant, huh? I wish I had known that, so that I could have mailed my paperwork in earlier. But as it was the deadline, I had to take the subway allll the way over to the other side of the city, find the headquarters, and hand deliver my application.
I would be more annoyed but :
1. I got to find out where the silly headquarters was
2.I got to make use of the flashy new "New York/ Florida Avenue" metro station.
I also got lost walking back to Foggy Bottom from Faragut West. Eye-ya-yah, sometimes I hate living in the sheltered, wealthy West End. There's a Starbucks and a Pottery Barn on every corner, but there's no real amenities. That's because very few people actually "live" in Foggy Bottom. People work in Foggy Bottom. They are the reason I have to dress properly every weekday, least I look like some kind of slob in the midst of a herd of snappy suits.
Plus the streets are maze like. They make even the locals (me) crazy.
Happy St. Valentines Day! (From CDF)
The CDF cheerfully reminds the world's theologians that their work is worth a bucket of warm spit (unless it is animated by prayer.)
A Lenten Reflection For You,
From my beloved Cardinal Ratzinger
Posted on the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club blog.
"By nature, knowledge depends on a certain similarity between the knower and the known. The old axiom that like is known by like. In matters of the mind and where persons are concerned, this means that knowledge calls for a certain degree of empathy, by which we enter, so to speak, into the person or intellectual reality concerned, become one iwth him or it, and thus become able to understand (intellegere = ab intus legere).
We can illustrate this with a couple of examples. Philosophy can only be acquired if we philosophize, if we carry through the process of philosophical thought; mathematics can only be appropriated if we think mathematically; medicine can only be learned in the practice of healing, never merely by means of books and reflection. Similarly, religion can only be understood through religion -- an undisputed axiom in more recent philosophy of religion. The fundamental act of religion is prayer, in which the Christian religion acquires a very specific character: it is the act of self-surrender by which we enter the Body of Christ. Thus it is an act of love. As love, and with the Body of Christ, it is always both love of God and love of neighbor, knowing and fulfilling itself as love for the members of this Body.
[Prayer is] the central act of the person of Jesus and, indeed, that this person is constituted by the act of prayer, of unbroken communication with the one he calls "Father." If this is the case, it is only possible really to understand this person by entering into this act of prayer, by participating in it. This is suggested by Jesus' saying that no one can come to him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). Where there is no Father, there is no Son. Where there is no relationship with God, there can be no understanding of him who, in his innermost self, is nothing but relationship with God, the Father -- although one can doubtless establish plenty of details about him. Therefore a participation in the mind of Jesus, i.e., in his prayer, which is an act of love, of self-giving, and self-expropriation to men, is not some kind of pius supplement to reading the Gospels, adding nothing to knowing of him or even being an obstacle to the rigorous purity of critical knowing. On the contrary, it is the basic precondition if real understanding, in the sense of modern hermeneutics -- i.e., the entering-in to the same time and the same meaning -- is to take place. . . .
Real advances in Christology, therefore, can never come merely as a result of the theology of the schools, and that includes the modern theology as we find it in critical exegesis, in the history of doctrine and in an anthropology oriented toward the human sciences, etc. All this is important, as important as schools are. But it is insufficient. It must be complemented by the theology of the saints, which is theology from experience. All real progress in theological understanding has its origin in the eye of love and in its faculty of beholding."
A Lenten Reflection For You,
From my beloved Cardinal Ratzinger
Posted on the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club blog.
"By nature, knowledge depends on a certain similarity between the knower and the known. The old axiom that like is known by like. In matters of the mind and where persons are concerned, this means that knowledge calls for a certain degree of empathy, by which we enter, so to speak, into the person or intellectual reality concerned, become one iwth him or it, and thus become able to understand (intellegere = ab intus legere).
We can illustrate this with a couple of examples. Philosophy can only be acquired if we philosophize, if we carry through the process of philosophical thought; mathematics can only be appropriated if we think mathematically; medicine can only be learned in the practice of healing, never merely by means of books and reflection. Similarly, religion can only be understood through religion -- an undisputed axiom in more recent philosophy of religion. The fundamental act of religion is prayer, in which the Christian religion acquires a very specific character: it is the act of self-surrender by which we enter the Body of Christ. Thus it is an act of love. As love, and with the Body of Christ, it is always both love of God and love of neighbor, knowing and fulfilling itself as love for the members of this Body.
[Prayer is] the central act of the person of Jesus and, indeed, that this person is constituted by the act of prayer, of unbroken communication with the one he calls "Father." If this is the case, it is only possible really to understand this person by entering into this act of prayer, by participating in it. This is suggested by Jesus' saying that no one can come to him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). Where there is no Father, there is no Son. Where there is no relationship with God, there can be no understanding of him who, in his innermost self, is nothing but relationship with God, the Father -- although one can doubtless establish plenty of details about him. Therefore a participation in the mind of Jesus, i.e., in his prayer, which is an act of love, of self-giving, and self-expropriation to men, is not some kind of pius supplement to reading the Gospels, adding nothing to knowing of him or even being an obstacle to the rigorous purity of critical knowing. On the contrary, it is the basic precondition if real understanding, in the sense of modern hermeneutics -- i.e., the entering-in to the same time and the same meaning -- is to take place. . . .
Real advances in Christology, therefore, can never come merely as a result of the theology of the schools, and that includes the modern theology as we find it in critical exegesis, in the history of doctrine and in an anthropology oriented toward the human sciences, etc. All this is important, as important as schools are. But it is insufficient. It must be complemented by the theology of the saints, which is theology from experience. All real progress in theological understanding has its origin in the eye of love and in its faculty of beholding."
February 14, 2005
Cabinet Round-Up
There was a time when I knew them all. Up and down. But El Presidente likes to shake things up, so he switched everybody around. Now I don't know anybody! I find myself digging through that most ridiculous of publications, The New York Times, in an attempt to remind myself who that nitwit representing us at the WTO is.
At which point, I re-discover that the USTR is none other than this guy:
Amused are we? I am. Here's a list of "newbies" you might not know:
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Stephen Hadley takes the NSC job, and Condi gets promoted! Colin Powell tried his best, but he was never the same after that vile Frenchie, De Villepin, sandbagged him one January afternoon. Condoleeza's been trained as a professional diplomat, so hopefully she'll be better at handling the hot potatoes. I'm rooting for her for Prez in 2008. She also has a 130,000-ton oil tanker named after her. Way cool.
Secretary of Treasury John Snow
Paul O'Neil was sacked mid-way through the first term, so this guy is "kind of" a newbie. I liked Mr. O'Neil, because he had an endearing lisp and he came from dirt, as they say. John Snow is an Ohio-native, and he graduated from GWU Law School! I also admire his cold, creepy, "make my day, you hippies" stare. Democrats, run for your lives!
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
I like this AG because he came from dirt. Bad news: he's not as pro-life as we all might have hoped; as a Texas judge he ruled against parent notification for abortion.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
I don't know much about her, but I have heard her smack down PBS for its liberalism. Apparently, PBS was showing a "Buster" (Arthur the aardvark's friend) episode in which the lovable cartoon bunny visits a Lesbian Farm. Or rather, a farm run by Lesbians, and their unnatural children. I think PBS should be shut down, primarily for messing with the sacred legacy of "Arthur," but also because it soaks up taxpayer money and then returns it to the public via cascade of bile.
Secretary of Health Michael O. Leavitt
He replaces outgoing Tommy Thompson, who defied the social norms which demand men over the age of 35 go by their "grown-up" names.
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
He's more tolerable than that womanizer, Bernard Kerik. He's not a cop, more of an MBA type. He gets the benefit of the doubt, so we'll see.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns
Got milk? This guy was raised on a dairy farm, so he can't be all that bad. Mooooo.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez
Carlos replaces El Presidente's long time friend, Don Evans. Carlos is a Cuban-exile, so he will enjoy sticking it to Fidel. Always a good sign to have a strident anti-Communist running the economic parts of government.
Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman
He's an engineer by trade. He's a "firm believer in the American free-enterprise system." He's also got the envirowacko's in a tizzy because he's said he'd like to oogle ANWAR's underground oil. I generally feel Republicans don't do enough to protect the environment. But if there's non-Saudi oil under Alaska, then the caribou have got to go!
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson
This guy is #1, even though he's in charge of a moribund, yawn-inducing department. Why? Because Mr. Nicholson is an uber-Catholic! Yay! He was an ambassador to the Holy See. Additionally, he's a member of the Knights of Columbus, which, in case you don't know, are a group of grown men who carry swords and wear plumed hats. Seriously, they're a huge international social defense organization.
And I just have to mention ...
Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld
So not a newbie! Talk about your moldy oldies, Rummy is as old as they get. He's sticking around for some reason; perhaps he wants to drop dead "wearing combat boots?" I like Rummy, mostly because Irritator-in-chief, John McCain, hates him.
At which point, I re-discover that the USTR is none other than this guy:
Amused are we? I am. Here's a list of "newbies" you might not know:
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Stephen Hadley takes the NSC job, and Condi gets promoted! Colin Powell tried his best, but he was never the same after that vile Frenchie, De Villepin, sandbagged him one January afternoon. Condoleeza's been trained as a professional diplomat, so hopefully she'll be better at handling the hot potatoes. I'm rooting for her for Prez in 2008. She also has a 130,000-ton oil tanker named after her. Way cool.
Secretary of Treasury John Snow
Paul O'Neil was sacked mid-way through the first term, so this guy is "kind of" a newbie. I liked Mr. O'Neil, because he had an endearing lisp and he came from dirt, as they say. John Snow is an Ohio-native, and he graduated from GWU Law School! I also admire his cold, creepy, "make my day, you hippies" stare. Democrats, run for your lives!
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
I like this AG because he came from dirt. Bad news: he's not as pro-life as we all might have hoped; as a Texas judge he ruled against parent notification for abortion.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
I don't know much about her, but I have heard her smack down PBS for its liberalism. Apparently, PBS was showing a "Buster" (Arthur the aardvark's friend) episode in which the lovable cartoon bunny visits a Lesbian Farm. Or rather, a farm run by Lesbians, and their unnatural children. I think PBS should be shut down, primarily for messing with the sacred legacy of "Arthur," but also because it soaks up taxpayer money and then returns it to the public via cascade of bile.
Secretary of Health Michael O. Leavitt
He replaces outgoing Tommy Thompson, who defied the social norms which demand men over the age of 35 go by their "grown-up" names.
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff
He's more tolerable than that womanizer, Bernard Kerik. He's not a cop, more of an MBA type. He gets the benefit of the doubt, so we'll see.
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns
Got milk? This guy was raised on a dairy farm, so he can't be all that bad. Mooooo.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez
Carlos replaces El Presidente's long time friend, Don Evans. Carlos is a Cuban-exile, so he will enjoy sticking it to Fidel. Always a good sign to have a strident anti-Communist running the economic parts of government.
Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman
He's an engineer by trade. He's a "firm believer in the American free-enterprise system." He's also got the envirowacko's in a tizzy because he's said he'd like to oogle ANWAR's underground oil. I generally feel Republicans don't do enough to protect the environment. But if there's non-Saudi oil under Alaska, then the caribou have got to go!
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson
This guy is #1, even though he's in charge of a moribund, yawn-inducing department. Why? Because Mr. Nicholson is an uber-Catholic! Yay! He was an ambassador to the Holy See. Additionally, he's a member of the Knights of Columbus, which, in case you don't know, are a group of grown men who carry swords and wear plumed hats. Seriously, they're a huge international social defense organization.
And I just have to mention ...
Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld
So not a newbie! Talk about your moldy oldies, Rummy is as old as they get. He's sticking around for some reason; perhaps he wants to drop dead "wearing combat boots?" I like Rummy, mostly because Irritator-in-chief, John McCain, hates him.
February 13, 2005
Sister Lucia, last remaining witness of Fatima apparitions, dies at 97
Excerpt from the AP
LISBON (AFP) - Sister Lucia, the last survivor of the three shepherd children to whom the Virgin Mary is said to have made a series of apparitions in 1917, has died of old age, state television RTP reported. She was 97.
She had lived in virtual isolation since 1948 in an old convent in the central Portuguese city of Coimbra that houses the order of the Carmelita Sisters where she dedicated her life to prayer and meditation[...]
Sister Lucia was just ten when she and her two cousins, Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta, said they saw the Virgin for the first time in a field near the town of Fatima on May 13, 1917 [...]
LISBON (AFP) - Sister Lucia, the last survivor of the three shepherd children to whom the Virgin Mary is said to have made a series of apparitions in 1917, has died of old age, state television RTP reported. She was 97.
She had lived in virtual isolation since 1948 in an old convent in the central Portuguese city of Coimbra that houses the order of the Carmelita Sisters where she dedicated her life to prayer and meditation[...]
Sister Lucia was just ten when she and her two cousins, Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta, said they saw the Virgin for the first time in a field near the town of Fatima on May 13, 1917 [...]
February 12, 2005
Second "You Inspired Me" Post Today: Oh, Those Crazy Hebrews!
You may have seen the commercials for Hebrew National Hot Dogs. "We Answer To A Higher Authority." Remember that? The point of the joke is, these hot dogs are kosher. In other words, Orthodox Jews can eat them without breaking the Law.
Now, if you're not too familiar with Judaism, the kosher thing can seem wierd, and stupid. If you ever happen to read the Talmud, you'll find reams of teaching on dietary law: what kind of food to give your dog, what not to do with dairy products, and how to eat animals with cloven hooves that also chew their cud.
They have to obey all these rules? Why do they have to be so particular?
The quick answer is: because the Torah says so. The Torah does not specify any particular reason, and Orthodox Jews don't need another reason.
But why these rules in the first place?
Open up any Anthropology book, and you'll find part of the answer. Turn to the section on World Religions, and you'll disover that the Middle Eastern culture and way of life is a possible reason. In the Middle East, a camel (not kosher,) is more useful as a beast of burden than as food. Eating them wouldn't have been very efficeint. And pigs (definitely not kosher,) consume a quantity of food that is disproportional to their nutritional value. Keeping them around would have been destructive for Jewish society.
So what? So God was very wise to inspire the Jews to come up with those particular rules. He obviously knew what practices would keep them alive in the desert. Kudos to Him. But that's it? That's the whole point?
Well, you have to think. God didn't plop His people down in a Middle Eastern climate where pigs and camels were not good to eat, and lead them to come up with these Laws for no good reason.
For one thing, the dietary laws serve as a call to holiness. It's a lot like the Catholic point of view regarding fasting and the like. Catholics, by law, are forbidden from eating meat on Fridays, during Lent. Now of course, eating meat on Fridays is not a basically sinful thing. So why that rule?
Oftentimes, obedience to rules can help you get closer to God. And following rules on what you can and cannot eat teaches us a kind of self control. This separates us from the animals, and reminds us that there is a spiritual world out there, something beyond the temporal world that we can see. You can see the truth of this principle demonstrated in Islam and Hindusim, and many other religious faiths.
For the Jews, the dietary laws allow their faith to seep into every part of their life. For the ancient Jews, keeping the kosher Law was like wearing a big flashing sign: "I love my community, I love my people, and I'm not going to do anything that damages our society" (as eating camels or keeping pigs would have.) And today, Orthodox Jews can't even sit down to dinner without being reminded of the fact that they are Jewish, and they believe in Elohim.
Clearly, God has His reasons.
Want to learn more? Try Judaism 101. It's written from an Orthodox perspective. Conservative Jews and Reform Jews don't follow the Law as strictly.
Now, if you're not too familiar with Judaism, the kosher thing can seem wierd, and stupid. If you ever happen to read the Talmud, you'll find reams of teaching on dietary law: what kind of food to give your dog, what not to do with dairy products, and how to eat animals with cloven hooves that also chew their cud.
They have to obey all these rules? Why do they have to be so particular?
The quick answer is: because the Torah says so. The Torah does not specify any particular reason, and Orthodox Jews don't need another reason.
But why these rules in the first place?
Open up any Anthropology book, and you'll find part of the answer. Turn to the section on World Religions, and you'll disover that the Middle Eastern culture and way of life is a possible reason. In the Middle East, a camel (not kosher,) is more useful as a beast of burden than as food. Eating them wouldn't have been very efficeint. And pigs (definitely not kosher,) consume a quantity of food that is disproportional to their nutritional value. Keeping them around would have been destructive for Jewish society.
So what? So God was very wise to inspire the Jews to come up with those particular rules. He obviously knew what practices would keep them alive in the desert. Kudos to Him. But that's it? That's the whole point?
Well, you have to think. God didn't plop His people down in a Middle Eastern climate where pigs and camels were not good to eat, and lead them to come up with these Laws for no good reason.
For one thing, the dietary laws serve as a call to holiness. It's a lot like the Catholic point of view regarding fasting and the like. Catholics, by law, are forbidden from eating meat on Fridays, during Lent. Now of course, eating meat on Fridays is not a basically sinful thing. So why that rule?
Oftentimes, obedience to rules can help you get closer to God. And following rules on what you can and cannot eat teaches us a kind of self control. This separates us from the animals, and reminds us that there is a spiritual world out there, something beyond the temporal world that we can see. You can see the truth of this principle demonstrated in Islam and Hindusim, and many other religious faiths.
For the Jews, the dietary laws allow their faith to seep into every part of their life. For the ancient Jews, keeping the kosher Law was like wearing a big flashing sign: "I love my community, I love my people, and I'm not going to do anything that damages our society" (as eating camels or keeping pigs would have.) And today, Orthodox Jews can't even sit down to dinner without being reminded of the fact that they are Jewish, and they believe in Elohim.
Clearly, God has His reasons.
Want to learn more? Try Judaism 101. It's written from an Orthodox perspective. Conservative Jews and Reform Jews don't follow the Law as strictly.
I Just Couldn't Resist
I like my comment box being full! Keep commenting peoples, I get inspiration for blogging! Yay!
Today's topic (drum-roll please) is priestly celibacy! Ta-dah!
1. So, where did this celibacy thing come from, anyway? It seems freakish.
If you were a Jew during Jesus' lifetime, it wouldn't seem too strange. Jews were generally expected to marry, but there were a number of Hebrews who took vows of celibacy. You may be familiar with John the Baptist, who nowadays we think might have been a member of the Essenes, a celibate Jewish sect. Forget what you read in the Da Vinci Code, the vast majority of scholars of Religion Studies ( a secular field,) believe that Jesus was an unmarried celibate. And then there's St. Paul, of course. He was an observant Pharisee growing up, and he claims he swore off women forever, after his conversion.
2. But wasn't St. Peter married?
Yes, St. Peter was married. Yes, most of the Apostles were married, though scholars think that extra-scriptural evidence indicates they may have "put their wives away," when they quit their day jobs to tag along with Jesus.
3. But priests can't get married today!
Many people don't realize that there are married priests! You are probably most familiar with the "Latin Rite" of the Roman Catholic Church; this is the Rite the current Pope belongs to, and it's the most famous and dominant of all the Rites. It's called "Latin" because it sprang up in Rome (the seat of the Latin empire,) during the persecutions, and it makes a vow of celibacy a requirement for Ordination.
But there are a multitude of other liturgical rites, which use different disciplines. Most Eastern Rites of the Roman Catholic Church, (like the Maronites, the Byzantines, the Coptic, Ethiopic Malankara, Syrian, Armenian ,Chaldean, Malabar, and Greek-Melkite Rites,) allow priests to marry!
Ministers who convert to the Latin Rite from Anglicanism often already have wives; the Church doesn't make them give up their families if they want to become priests! A "pastoral provision" can be made for guys in this sticky situation.
4. If thats true, then how come most priests take a vow of celibacy? It's probably a greed thing.
On a practical level: the Church doesn't want to mess with it.
If you let priests get married, some of those marriages are not going to be happy. It happens. And it wouldn't be cool for the parishioners at all.
If you let priests get married, somebody's going to have to pay. Priests don't exactly make a ton of money; they can barely take care of their own retirements, let alone support a family.
If you let priests get married, there's going to be a wife and kids to look after, and if a man has these people in his life, they have to be his first priority. That's what's morally just. But with the vow of celibacy, every parishioner gets "equal dibs" on dear old dad. Everyone is equally his child, from grainy old grandma to the newly baptized baby.
On a spiritual level: the Church feels that for now, it's fine and dandy.
She's felt that way for most of her existence. She feels that its a special gift to imitate Jesus in making the sacrifices that celibacy requires. However, priestly celibacy is not a dogma. It's a discipline, which can be changed. Theoretically, the requirement for celibacy could be lifted, (but don't look for that to be happening anytime soon.)
Today's topic (drum-roll please) is priestly celibacy! Ta-dah!
1. So, where did this celibacy thing come from, anyway? It seems freakish.
If you were a Jew during Jesus' lifetime, it wouldn't seem too strange. Jews were generally expected to marry, but there were a number of Hebrews who took vows of celibacy. You may be familiar with John the Baptist, who nowadays we think might have been a member of the Essenes, a celibate Jewish sect. Forget what you read in the Da Vinci Code, the vast majority of scholars of Religion Studies ( a secular field,) believe that Jesus was an unmarried celibate. And then there's St. Paul, of course. He was an observant Pharisee growing up, and he claims he swore off women forever, after his conversion.
2. But wasn't St. Peter married?
Yes, St. Peter was married. Yes, most of the Apostles were married, though scholars think that extra-scriptural evidence indicates they may have "put their wives away," when they quit their day jobs to tag along with Jesus.
3. But priests can't get married today!
Many people don't realize that there are married priests! You are probably most familiar with the "Latin Rite" of the Roman Catholic Church; this is the Rite the current Pope belongs to, and it's the most famous and dominant of all the Rites. It's called "Latin" because it sprang up in Rome (the seat of the Latin empire,) during the persecutions, and it makes a vow of celibacy a requirement for Ordination.
But there are a multitude of other liturgical rites, which use different disciplines. Most Eastern Rites of the Roman Catholic Church, (like the Maronites, the Byzantines, the Coptic, Ethiopic Malankara, Syrian, Armenian ,Chaldean, Malabar, and Greek-Melkite Rites,) allow priests to marry!
Ministers who convert to the Latin Rite from Anglicanism often already have wives; the Church doesn't make them give up their families if they want to become priests! A "pastoral provision" can be made for guys in this sticky situation.
4. If thats true, then how come most priests take a vow of celibacy? It's probably a greed thing.
On a practical level: the Church doesn't want to mess with it.
If you let priests get married, some of those marriages are not going to be happy. It happens. And it wouldn't be cool for the parishioners at all.
If you let priests get married, somebody's going to have to pay. Priests don't exactly make a ton of money; they can barely take care of their own retirements, let alone support a family.
If you let priests get married, there's going to be a wife and kids to look after, and if a man has these people in his life, they have to be his first priority. That's what's morally just. But with the vow of celibacy, every parishioner gets "equal dibs" on dear old dad. Everyone is equally his child, from grainy old grandma to the newly baptized baby.
On a spiritual level: the Church feels that for now, it's fine and dandy.
She's felt that way for most of her existence. She feels that its a special gift to imitate Jesus in making the sacrifices that celibacy requires. However, priestly celibacy is not a dogma. It's a discipline, which can be changed. Theoretically, the requirement for celibacy could be lifted, (but don't look for that to be happening anytime soon.)
February 11, 2005
Non-Catholics Might Say: What A Devastatingly Handsome Waste
Called to my attention by The Shrine of the Holy Whapping.
Apparently there's a calendar of Italian seminarians making the rounds. Now, if you choose to visit, you must think about how nice it is to see youthful vitality in the priesthood. Okay? Because thinking anything else would be naughty, and not proper. These gentlemen are the modern-day equivalents of "knights in shining armour," right? Anyone who's slogged through The Once and Future King knows ... Sir Lancelot's power was in his virginity! So hands off, ladies!
October is my favourite.
Apparently there's a calendar of Italian seminarians making the rounds. Now, if you choose to visit, you must think about how nice it is to see youthful vitality in the priesthood. Okay? Because thinking anything else would be naughty, and not proper. These gentlemen are the modern-day equivalents of "knights in shining armour," right? Anyone who's slogged through The Once and Future King knows ... Sir Lancelot's power was in his virginity! So hands off, ladies!
October is my favourite.
February 10, 2005
Read. Life-Affirming, Happy, Sad, Thing Everyone Needs To Read
From the ever-reliable, Peggy Noonan, at The Wall Street Journal
"[...] Ash Wednesday reminds Catholics that we will leave this world some day, that from dust we came and to dust we will return. We are asked to renew our spiritual lives, to give up some small pleasure and give that sacrifice to God, at least until the spring, and Easter.
The pope's long physical decline is part of a long goodbye that carries within it meaning. I want to talk at some length about how some see that meaning, and about how I saw John Paul 18 months ago.
After seeing him I thought: I saw a saint at sunset. It was actually early morning, 7:30 a.m. according to my notes, on July 2, 2003. A brilliant morning in the middle of the worst Roman heat wave in a century. The city was quiet, the streets soft with the heat. Hundreds of us had gathered in the Piazza Del Suffizo, in the shadow of Bernini's colonnade, the marble columns that curve outward around St. Peter's Square. The breeze was warm, the pounding heat gathering, and we fanned ourselves with thin green Papal Audience tickets. The crowd was happy--chirping nuns, clicking tourists [...]
We entered the Paul VI Audience Hall [...] People were filing in single file and in groups, hundreds of them, then thousands. I walked among them and heard the language of France, England, Mexico, Austria, the Czech Republic. There were groups from West Africa, Germany, Poland, Scotland, Portugal and Brazil. A Romanian chorus of middle-aged women began to sing softly in their seats [...] Dozens of African women danced in, laughing and clapping in floor-length white cotton dresses. They sat next to Catholic school children from Rwanda, who were clapping and shaking tambourines.
I thought: The whole church is here[...] Something came alive on the stage. Two Swiss guards in their purple-and-orange uniforms, big red plumes on their black helmets, entered the stage [...] Then a flurry of cardinals and bishops in black, with red and purple sashes. Then two papal chamberlains in white tie and tails.
We looked to the left of the stage. There was movement.It was him, the pope--20 minutes early. The woman next to me, a regular audience-goer, laughed. "When he's ready, he's ready these days," she yelled to me over the noise [...] Now the crowd took to its feet and the applause was continuous. But it was muted somehow, not full of joy as the crowd had been before the audience had begun. His cassock was too short--six inches off the floor. We could see his white cotton sport socks. We could see his worn brown shoes. This is a pontiff who wears old loafers, like a working man, like a regular man, and not the traditional silk slippers of a pope.
"We love you, Papa!" someone called out. "We love you, Holy Father" [...]
The pope read to us from remarks typed on white letter-size paper. His voice was blurry and thick. The papers trembled in his hand. He spoke in Italian. The thin-necked microphone was sensitive; we could hear him breathe between the sentences.
People in the audience became distracted. Then the pope spoke in Polish and his voice became stronger [...]He had a bad tremor in his left arm. During the translation he leaned his head and rested his chin on his left hand, in an attempt to control the tremor[...]I thought: he is a victim soul. His suffering has meaning. He is teaching us something through his pain.
He sang to us a little at the end, like an old man sitting in the sun. Most of us couldn't tell the words or the tune but he was doing it for us, and there was something so beautiful and moving in it. I turned to a friend. "We are hearing a saint singing," I said. I breathed it in, let the sound enter my ears. I wanted to put my hands over them and hold the sound in my head.
Then John Paul made the sign of the cross. The cardinals came and knelt before him and kissed his hand. A group of American Indians mounted the stage to kneel before him. Dozens of newly-wed couples in gowns and tuxedoes mounted the stage two by two to receive his blessing. Then the sick--children rolled out onto the stage in hospital beds, people in wheelchairs [...]
And then the audience was over. The scrum of handlers and Cardinals descended again and surrounded the pope[...]He turned to us, raised his right hand and made a halting sign of the cross. And then the Poles in the audience broke into the song that went back to the beginning, the authentic sound of 25 years ago, when John Paul first walked onto the Vatican balcony and looked out at the world. They had sung it for him at every stop along the way of his long papacy, through good times and bad. "Stolat! Stolat! May you live a hundred years" [...]
His whole life is a goodbye tour now. He knows they come to see him in part because they want to be able to say, "I saw John Paul the Great." And so there is around him a sense of inescapable twilight [...]
His suffering is his witness. It has a purpose. It is telling us something [...]"
"[...] Ash Wednesday reminds Catholics that we will leave this world some day, that from dust we came and to dust we will return. We are asked to renew our spiritual lives, to give up some small pleasure and give that sacrifice to God, at least until the spring, and Easter.
The pope's long physical decline is part of a long goodbye that carries within it meaning. I want to talk at some length about how some see that meaning, and about how I saw John Paul 18 months ago.
After seeing him I thought: I saw a saint at sunset. It was actually early morning, 7:30 a.m. according to my notes, on July 2, 2003. A brilliant morning in the middle of the worst Roman heat wave in a century. The city was quiet, the streets soft with the heat. Hundreds of us had gathered in the Piazza Del Suffizo, in the shadow of Bernini's colonnade, the marble columns that curve outward around St. Peter's Square. The breeze was warm, the pounding heat gathering, and we fanned ourselves with thin green Papal Audience tickets. The crowd was happy--chirping nuns, clicking tourists [...]
We entered the Paul VI Audience Hall [...] People were filing in single file and in groups, hundreds of them, then thousands. I walked among them and heard the language of France, England, Mexico, Austria, the Czech Republic. There were groups from West Africa, Germany, Poland, Scotland, Portugal and Brazil. A Romanian chorus of middle-aged women began to sing softly in their seats [...] Dozens of African women danced in, laughing and clapping in floor-length white cotton dresses. They sat next to Catholic school children from Rwanda, who were clapping and shaking tambourines.
I thought: The whole church is here[...] Something came alive on the stage. Two Swiss guards in their purple-and-orange uniforms, big red plumes on their black helmets, entered the stage [...] Then a flurry of cardinals and bishops in black, with red and purple sashes. Then two papal chamberlains in white tie and tails.
We looked to the left of the stage. There was movement.It was him, the pope--20 minutes early. The woman next to me, a regular audience-goer, laughed. "When he's ready, he's ready these days," she yelled to me over the noise [...] Now the crowd took to its feet and the applause was continuous. But it was muted somehow, not full of joy as the crowd had been before the audience had begun. His cassock was too short--six inches off the floor. We could see his white cotton sport socks. We could see his worn brown shoes. This is a pontiff who wears old loafers, like a working man, like a regular man, and not the traditional silk slippers of a pope.
"We love you, Papa!" someone called out. "We love you, Holy Father" [...]
The pope read to us from remarks typed on white letter-size paper. His voice was blurry and thick. The papers trembled in his hand. He spoke in Italian. The thin-necked microphone was sensitive; we could hear him breathe between the sentences.
People in the audience became distracted. Then the pope spoke in Polish and his voice became stronger [...]He had a bad tremor in his left arm. During the translation he leaned his head and rested his chin on his left hand, in an attempt to control the tremor[...]I thought: he is a victim soul. His suffering has meaning. He is teaching us something through his pain.
He sang to us a little at the end, like an old man sitting in the sun. Most of us couldn't tell the words or the tune but he was doing it for us, and there was something so beautiful and moving in it. I turned to a friend. "We are hearing a saint singing," I said. I breathed it in, let the sound enter my ears. I wanted to put my hands over them and hold the sound in my head.
Then John Paul made the sign of the cross. The cardinals came and knelt before him and kissed his hand. A group of American Indians mounted the stage to kneel before him. Dozens of newly-wed couples in gowns and tuxedoes mounted the stage two by two to receive his blessing. Then the sick--children rolled out onto the stage in hospital beds, people in wheelchairs [...]
And then the audience was over. The scrum of handlers and Cardinals descended again and surrounded the pope[...]He turned to us, raised his right hand and made a halting sign of the cross. And then the Poles in the audience broke into the song that went back to the beginning, the authentic sound of 25 years ago, when John Paul first walked onto the Vatican balcony and looked out at the world. They had sung it for him at every stop along the way of his long papacy, through good times and bad. "Stolat! Stolat! May you live a hundred years" [...]
His whole life is a goodbye tour now. He knows they come to see him in part because they want to be able to say, "I saw John Paul the Great." And so there is around him a sense of inescapable twilight [...]
His suffering is his witness. It has a purpose. It is telling us something [...]"
You must visit Moloch
Moloch is a hilarious, irreverent demon! He runs a blog with great pictures ("Handsome Devil, aren't I?") and reflections about "how good modern times are for me."
Recently, the president of Planned Parenthood, Gloria Feldt, resigned for no clear reason. Moloch, of course, wants her job. "Pick me, Pick me!" he says. What follows is the resume Moloch submitted for Planned Parenthood's consideration:
Moloch (no last name or middle name)
141 E. Nether Regions, Hell
Experience: Have worked in child sacrifice since the dawn of human civilization.
Education: Masters of Deception.
Personal Reference: I can personally vouch for Mr. Moloch. In his work for me he has always been imaginative in his efforts and even managed to get a following in both Juda and Israel even though my competitor had strictly banned it. He specializes in the sacrifice of children especially by fire, though he is progressive and willing to use whatever modern techniques are easily available. -Satan.
Goals: To increase abortion at least five-fold and to effortlessly work at reducing the squeamishness levels of human beings in regard to abortion. In other words my goal is to work for Planned Parenthood.
Salary Requirements: Will work for free as long as I get An office in a busy abortion clinic.
Contact: Just offer to sell your soul and I will get in touch with you.
Recently, the president of Planned Parenthood, Gloria Feldt, resigned for no clear reason. Moloch, of course, wants her job. "Pick me, Pick me!" he says. What follows is the resume Moloch submitted for Planned Parenthood's consideration:
Moloch (no last name or middle name)
141 E. Nether Regions, Hell
Experience: Have worked in child sacrifice since the dawn of human civilization.
Education: Masters of Deception.
Personal Reference: I can personally vouch for Mr. Moloch. In his work for me he has always been imaginative in his efforts and even managed to get a following in both Juda and Israel even though my competitor had strictly banned it. He specializes in the sacrifice of children especially by fire, though he is progressive and willing to use whatever modern techniques are easily available. -Satan.
Goals: To increase abortion at least five-fold and to effortlessly work at reducing the squeamishness levels of human beings in regard to abortion. In other words my goal is to work for Planned Parenthood.
Salary Requirements: Will work for free as long as I get An office in a busy abortion clinic.
Contact: Just offer to sell your soul and I will get in touch with you.
Don't Cry For Me, Krispy Kreme!
So I survived yesterday's all day fast without much discomfort, though towards the end my pencil eraser began looking rather delicious. As for the next 39 days of Lent, well, I'm playing it "fast and loose." Generally speaking, no sweet stuff. No candy, or cookies, or ice cream, and that sort of thing. I get to eat once a day, no snicky snacks allowed!
As for chocolate, hmmmmm. There are these yummy chocolatey muffins, and there's my hot-chocolate fix. But in general, no, no, no! Do not be weak! Resist!
All Catholics, of course, are obliged to abstain from eating any kind of meat each and every Friday during Lent. Fish, for a very good reason I do not understand, does not count as "meat", hence the famous weekly fish fry you hear about all the time. I have access to shrimp, here at GWU, but I will not be eating that again, ever. Fridays I'll be sticking to ... what else. Bran.
As for chocolate, hmmmmm. There are these yummy chocolatey muffins, and there's my hot-chocolate fix. But in general, no, no, no! Do not be weak! Resist!
All Catholics, of course, are obliged to abstain from eating any kind of meat each and every Friday during Lent. Fish, for a very good reason I do not understand, does not count as "meat", hence the famous weekly fish fry you hear about all the time. I have access to shrimp, here at GWU, but I will not be eating that again, ever. Fridays I'll be sticking to ... what else. Bran.
February 9, 2005
February 8, 2005
Last Follow Up Post ... Promise!
Should my favourite uber Republican be wondering ...
1. You did spell nunneries right! It's a term commonly used by my evil Auntie Cay (dry-heave, gag, etc.) and other haters. The real terms are "monasteries" (those are for the cloistered, or "locked-away" Nuns, who are really Nuns,) and "convents" (for non-locked away nuns, who aren't really "Nuns" but "Sisters".)
2. There is tons of liberal-bashing in the convent/monastery! Seriously! Well, maybe not "bashing". But I know a couple congregations that were fasting and praying that John I'm-Only-Kind-Of-Catholic-Give-Me-Communion-Please Kerry would lose the election.
And they tell tons of jokes about the liberal, lesbian nuns, who don't wear the habit, and are real bitter about the Pope being a man and all. You've probably seen them. They wear permanent press hair and awful shorts, and they pray to the Goddess. The "real" Sisters mock them all the time.
For example, one Sister let loose with this one:
"There was this nun who came out of the habit. And she got a permanent, and she said to the priest, "Father, I bet you didn't know I had such pretty red hair." And he said "No, Sister, I didn't. I also didn't know you had varicose veins."
As for widows in religious life? The Order of the Visitation of Mary often takes Mothers and Grandma's, young and old.
1. You did spell nunneries right! It's a term commonly used by my evil Auntie Cay (dry-heave, gag, etc.) and other haters. The real terms are "monasteries" (those are for the cloistered, or "locked-away" Nuns, who are really Nuns,) and "convents" (for non-locked away nuns, who aren't really "Nuns" but "Sisters".)
2. There is tons of liberal-bashing in the convent/monastery! Seriously! Well, maybe not "bashing". But I know a couple congregations that were fasting and praying that John I'm-Only-Kind-Of-Catholic-Give-Me-Communion-Please Kerry would lose the election.
And they tell tons of jokes about the liberal, lesbian nuns, who don't wear the habit, and are real bitter about the Pope being a man and all. You've probably seen them. They wear permanent press hair and awful shorts, and they pray to the Goddess. The "real" Sisters mock them all the time.
For example, one Sister let loose with this one:
"There was this nun who came out of the habit. And she got a permanent, and she said to the priest, "Father, I bet you didn't know I had such pretty red hair." And he said "No, Sister, I didn't. I also didn't know you had varicose veins."
As for widows in religious life? The Order of the Visitation of Mary often takes Mothers and Grandma's, young and old.
Who Here Is Going To Hell? Raise Your Hands!
"Be not deceived, my brethren: If anyone follows a maker of schism [i.e., is a schismatic], he does not inherit the kingdom of God; if anyone walks in strange doctrine [i.e., is a heretic], he has no part in the passion [of Christ]. Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the union of his blood; one altar, as there is one bishop, with the presbytery and my fellow servants, the deacons" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:3–4:1 [A.D. 110]).
These are the words of Ignatius of Antioch, in the year 110 AD. It is very likely that Ignatius hung out with the Apostle John, so he knew what he was talking about. What exactly, is Ignatius saying, though? Damn you, and you, and you! No. He's merely commenting on a doctrine the Church has taught from the beginning, and continues to teach today:
the infallible doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, or Outside the Church, There Is No Salvation.
Aha, you might say. It's more Damn you, and you, and you! No. The Church has taught and continues to teach that both the unbaptized, and the baptized outside her, may well be saved.
For the unbaptized, there is baptism of desire, (the desire to be baptized suffices,) and baptism by blood (being murdered because of adherence to the Faith suffices.) There is also the principle of innocent ignorance. A person who lives in the jungle, in the desert, or in places where the Gospel is often forbidden (China, India, Islamic countries,) are "innocently ignorant" through no fault of their own, and so they can't be held to account.
For the baptized, there is the principle of "invincible ignorance." Protestants or Atheists, for example, may be raised in environments hostile to religion in general or Catholicism in particular. Or they might be exposed to formative intellectual experiences, which make their personal conversion all but impossible. Through no fault of their own, then, these people are ignorant, and no amount of "showing them" will "make" them "see."
Allllll Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus means is, if someone is "saved" (goes to Heaven,) it is because of the Church, which is the saving work of Christ. In other words, if a devout Muslim dies, and finds herself in Heaven, it is the Church (the saving work of Christ) who has gotten her there.
The Church is forbidden from "putting" anyone in Hell. You will find declarations that so and so is in Heaven. You will never find such a declaration that anyone is in Hell. Everyone, even Pontius Pilate and Hitler, gets the benefit of the doubt. The Church admits she does not know who is in Hell, or how populous a place it is, etc., so she assumes each individual at least gets purgatory.
This is in contrast to many of the more Fundamentalist Christian congregations, which teach that unless a person "accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour," that person is well, not saved. Some groups insist that those who would be saved must read a certain prayer from a card, others demand members have some sort of emotional spiritual experience.
This sort of thinking has its roots in the original Protestant Reformation, during which Martin Luther came up with his "salvation by faith alone" business. Declaration of personal faith thus became very important for split-away congregations. In their eyes the Church could not communicate Grace, and therefore could not save "innocently ignorant" people, or really anybody else. The break was either more severe (Calvinist) or less so (Anglican.)
These are the words of Ignatius of Antioch, in the year 110 AD. It is very likely that Ignatius hung out with the Apostle John, so he knew what he was talking about. What exactly, is Ignatius saying, though? Damn you, and you, and you! No. He's merely commenting on a doctrine the Church has taught from the beginning, and continues to teach today:
the infallible doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, or Outside the Church, There Is No Salvation.
Aha, you might say. It's more Damn you, and you, and you! No. The Church has taught and continues to teach that both the unbaptized, and the baptized outside her, may well be saved.
For the unbaptized, there is baptism of desire, (the desire to be baptized suffices,) and baptism by blood (being murdered because of adherence to the Faith suffices.) There is also the principle of innocent ignorance. A person who lives in the jungle, in the desert, or in places where the Gospel is often forbidden (China, India, Islamic countries,) are "innocently ignorant" through no fault of their own, and so they can't be held to account.
For the baptized, there is the principle of "invincible ignorance." Protestants or Atheists, for example, may be raised in environments hostile to religion in general or Catholicism in particular. Or they might be exposed to formative intellectual experiences, which make their personal conversion all but impossible. Through no fault of their own, then, these people are ignorant, and no amount of "showing them" will "make" them "see."
Allllll Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus means is, if someone is "saved" (goes to Heaven,) it is because of the Church, which is the saving work of Christ. In other words, if a devout Muslim dies, and finds herself in Heaven, it is the Church (the saving work of Christ) who has gotten her there.
The Church is forbidden from "putting" anyone in Hell. You will find declarations that so and so is in Heaven. You will never find such a declaration that anyone is in Hell. Everyone, even Pontius Pilate and Hitler, gets the benefit of the doubt. The Church admits she does not know who is in Hell, or how populous a place it is, etc., so she assumes each individual at least gets purgatory.
This is in contrast to many of the more Fundamentalist Christian congregations, which teach that unless a person "accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour," that person is well, not saved. Some groups insist that those who would be saved must read a certain prayer from a card, others demand members have some sort of emotional spiritual experience.
This sort of thinking has its roots in the original Protestant Reformation, during which Martin Luther came up with his "salvation by faith alone" business. Declaration of personal faith thus became very important for split-away congregations. In their eyes the Church could not communicate Grace, and therefore could not save "innocently ignorant" people, or really anybody else. The break was either more severe (Calvinist) or less so (Anglican.)
February 7, 2005
Uh-Oh. Betsy Got Married Without Thinking, Again.
Today I'm a little concerned. Because I wasn't on the day care work schedule for today or Friday. I'm working 1 day this week! So, me thinks, perhaps they are trying to get rid of me? Phase me out? Cut the cord? Ring me the rosy? Shoot the bean out the back? Kick the can? Put me out to pasture? On one hand, if that happens, I'll be upset. On the other hand, I have been doing too much work, and I think I would eventually get over it.
So ... in other news. I had another "Nun Nightmare." No laughing! This time, in the dream, I was at home, doing something ... laundry? Perhaps I was folding the laundry, I don't know. And then I was at a party, I think. And I had accidentally gotten married!
Well, not by accident. But I had gotten married without thinking things through. I just didn't remember, for some reason, that I wanted to be a nun! And so I was looking down at this huge rock on my finger, and I heard my inner voice say "Oh my God! How could you forget? Now you can't be a nun, ever!"
I felt this sinking, horrific sensation, and then I was screaming "Ahhhhhhhh!" Because as you all probably know, Catholic marriages are forever. They are sacraments, which can't be undone. When I woke up, I thought to myself, well you might have tried for an annulment. But I'm not sure "I wasn't thinking" is a good enough excuse to give a marriage tribunal.
So ... in other news. I had another "Nun Nightmare." No laughing! This time, in the dream, I was at home, doing something ... laundry? Perhaps I was folding the laundry, I don't know. And then I was at a party, I think. And I had accidentally gotten married!
Well, not by accident. But I had gotten married without thinking things through. I just didn't remember, for some reason, that I wanted to be a nun! And so I was looking down at this huge rock on my finger, and I heard my inner voice say "Oh my God! How could you forget? Now you can't be a nun, ever!"
I felt this sinking, horrific sensation, and then I was screaming "Ahhhhhhhh!" Because as you all probably know, Catholic marriages are forever. They are sacraments, which can't be undone. When I woke up, I thought to myself, well you might have tried for an annulment. But I'm not sure "I wasn't thinking" is a good enough excuse to give a marriage tribunal.
February 6, 2005
Ready For A Juicy Confession Story?
A year ago, when my RCIA class was making our retreat before Confirmation, we all had to go to Confession. We were making our retreat at the Dominican House of Studies (a very POD place, I might add,) just off Catholic University's campus, so some of us went to one of the priests there. I, on the other hand, was going to hop over to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (long title, isn't it.)
One of the directors of our RCIA class was talking to me, and she said "oh, Betsy, do you go there a lot." I said yes, and she replied: "I might come with." She seemed like she wanted to say more, so I waited, and she finally said: "Do you find those priests a little rough?" And I said "Well. Its hard, because a lot of them don't speak English very well."
She said "Yeah, I find them kinda rough. One time after I confessed my sins, one of them asked me why I "did that". And I said, well, I don't know." That answer, my director told me, had not been acceptable.
I was a little bit puzzled, because my experience in Confession with the priests at the Basilica had always been different. I got the Spanish-speaking priest who memorized a cookie-cutter piece of advice in English. Or I got the one who always announced gleefully, at the end of the litany of my sins, that I had made a "wonderful confession!"
Ahhhh but today I got to see what my director was talking about! Two Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa of Calcutta's order, click the link and check them out!) were in line ahead of me this morning, so I thought : oh nuts. My confession after two nuns' confessions. Urgh, urgh, urgh. But anyway. I went in there and did my part, and what did Father say? "Why do you think you did that?" Aha! It was my director's tough customer behind the screen!
But, I had forgotten the story my director had told me, and I stupidly replied: "I don't know." Father informed me that I shouldn't settle for "I don't know," because that is an "escapist answer." Father did not make me come up with a good reason, but boy was I glad when he absolved me and said "bye-bye now."
Now, I'll admit, it kinda stung. But surgical operations often do hurt. (The priest, in case you're wondering about the metaphor, is a doctor, who opens up your soul and cuts out whatever cancer was starting to kill you. That's for removal of venial sins. Removing mortal sins is much more dramatic, because then Father gets to get out the defibrillators and bring the dead back to life.)
Plus, thinking about why I'm doing what I do is important, and "I don't know" is a cop-out answer. I guess I prefer the occasional merciless ripping (which this was not,) over nothing but "I'm okay, you're okay" stuff all the time. I've decided I like this confessor, even though he freaks me out. I hope I get him again. (Aren't I soooo brave.)
One of the directors of our RCIA class was talking to me, and she said "oh, Betsy, do you go there a lot." I said yes, and she replied: "I might come with." She seemed like she wanted to say more, so I waited, and she finally said: "Do you find those priests a little rough?" And I said "Well. Its hard, because a lot of them don't speak English very well."
She said "Yeah, I find them kinda rough. One time after I confessed my sins, one of them asked me why I "did that". And I said, well, I don't know." That answer, my director told me, had not been acceptable.
I was a little bit puzzled, because my experience in Confession with the priests at the Basilica had always been different. I got the Spanish-speaking priest who memorized a cookie-cutter piece of advice in English. Or I got the one who always announced gleefully, at the end of the litany of my sins, that I had made a "wonderful confession!"
Ahhhh but today I got to see what my director was talking about! Two Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa of Calcutta's order, click the link and check them out!) were in line ahead of me this morning, so I thought : oh nuts. My confession after two nuns' confessions. Urgh, urgh, urgh. But anyway. I went in there and did my part, and what did Father say? "Why do you think you did that?" Aha! It was my director's tough customer behind the screen!
But, I had forgotten the story my director had told me, and I stupidly replied: "I don't know." Father informed me that I shouldn't settle for "I don't know," because that is an "escapist answer." Father did not make me come up with a good reason, but boy was I glad when he absolved me and said "bye-bye now."
Now, I'll admit, it kinda stung. But surgical operations often do hurt. (The priest, in case you're wondering about the metaphor, is a doctor, who opens up your soul and cuts out whatever cancer was starting to kill you. That's for removal of venial sins. Removing mortal sins is much more dramatic, because then Father gets to get out the defibrillators and bring the dead back to life.)
Plus, thinking about why I'm doing what I do is important, and "I don't know" is a cop-out answer. I guess I prefer the occasional merciless ripping (which this was not,) over nothing but "I'm okay, you're okay" stuff all the time. I've decided I like this confessor, even though he freaks me out. I hope I get him again. (Aren't I soooo brave.)
February 5, 2005
Somethings Going On ...
In DC and I'm not sure what. I ventured outside my building for the first time today, and yikes, the cops were everywhere! There seems to be some sort of noise that people are walking towards over at the Department of Labour; perhaps they're all throwing some kind of early May-day party.
Anyway, as I was walking up 19th Street, I walked past a pack of people, one of them a priest! (I was wearing sweat pants of course. Whenever I run into important people, I'm always wearing sweat pants. Like a couple months ago when I ran out to get some Chinese. There was Wolf Blitzer standing on the street corner, there was me in my ratty sweatshirt. Every other day of the week I dress up. ugh. ugh. ugh.)
But guess what. This really ancient priest was wearing an old fashioned clerical hat! Like this one:
Is that not so cool? Back in the good old days, you could see priests running around in them all the time. But I guess at some point, somebody decided they should be disposed. I was so impressed, I forgot all about my "I just rolled out of bed and forgot to brush my hair" appearance and smiled at him!
I mean, how P.O.D. is that???
Anyway, as I was walking up 19th Street, I walked past a pack of people, one of them a priest! (I was wearing sweat pants of course. Whenever I run into important people, I'm always wearing sweat pants. Like a couple months ago when I ran out to get some Chinese. There was Wolf Blitzer standing on the street corner, there was me in my ratty sweatshirt. Every other day of the week I dress up. ugh. ugh. ugh.)
But guess what. This really ancient priest was wearing an old fashioned clerical hat! Like this one:
Is that not so cool? Back in the good old days, you could see priests running around in them all the time. But I guess at some point, somebody decided they should be disposed. I was so impressed, I forgot all about my "I just rolled out of bed and forgot to brush my hair" appearance and smiled at him!
I mean, how P.O.D. is that???
February 4, 2005
Subway Stories
The reason I'm writing now, at 5:00 pm, when I usually work Fridays until 6:00 pm, is that, for some reason, today I was not scheduled to work. Nobody bothered to tell me, of course, so I had to ride the subway allll the way out to Maryland's lovely border, and change a diaper before I found out and could ride the subway alllll the way home.
Generally, I'm fine with the subway. It is usually only the tourists who talk. The "regulars" either sit and read newspapers, or stand and stare at each other in stunned silence. Most days, the train operator gets on the p.a. system to announce the direction the train is traveling, and the next stop. As in: "Blue Line to Franconia-Springfield, Foggy Bottom, last station in the District of Columbia." They also say "Please do not leave any personal items in the Metro System or on Metro Rail Trains. Suspicious items should be reported to a Metro System employee."
The worst is the chirpy operator who doesn't know when to be quiet. That's what I got today. She had a lovely voice, I must say. But she kept wishing us a safe afternoon and a happy weekend, at each and every stop. For those of us who rode the train for 7 stops, that was annoying for sure, plus the stops were not that far apart. The effect was, she never stopped talking.
And she would often speak in a vaguely Captain Kirk voice, over-emphasizing certain syllables, etc. So, she'd say "We hope you ennnn-joyed your trip on Metro Rail. If so, be sure to puhl-eeease let us know."
Of course, a happy-go-lucky operator is always better than a crabby operator. A crabby operator will shut the doors early, and will refuse to re-open them, even when someone's coat, bag, or foot is caught. They'll yell at us too, like "customers, please, use all the doors to board the train. And please wait for passengers to exit before boarding the train."
Well. What would I do without public transportation? Probably wander into the forbidden South East, and get shot.
Generally, I'm fine with the subway. It is usually only the tourists who talk. The "regulars" either sit and read newspapers, or stand and stare at each other in stunned silence. Most days, the train operator gets on the p.a. system to announce the direction the train is traveling, and the next stop. As in: "Blue Line to Franconia-Springfield, Foggy Bottom, last station in the District of Columbia." They also say "Please do not leave any personal items in the Metro System or on Metro Rail Trains. Suspicious items should be reported to a Metro System employee."
The worst is the chirpy operator who doesn't know when to be quiet. That's what I got today. She had a lovely voice, I must say. But she kept wishing us a safe afternoon and a happy weekend, at each and every stop. For those of us who rode the train for 7 stops, that was annoying for sure, plus the stops were not that far apart. The effect was, she never stopped talking.
And she would often speak in a vaguely Captain Kirk voice, over-emphasizing certain syllables, etc. So, she'd say "We hope you ennnn-joyed your trip on Metro Rail. If so, be sure to puhl-eeease let us know."
Of course, a happy-go-lucky operator is always better than a crabby operator. A crabby operator will shut the doors early, and will refuse to re-open them, even when someone's coat, bag, or foot is caught. They'll yell at us too, like "customers, please, use all the doors to board the train. And please wait for passengers to exit before boarding the train."
Well. What would I do without public transportation? Probably wander into the forbidden South East, and get shot.
Anyone Else Notice?
Well, I got through another sleepless night (chest pains, now. Hard to breath. I think I pulled a few muscles.) But I'd like to comment this morning on something I've noticed which is quite annoying:
In the British newspapers, when someone (like the Pope,) is sick, the headlines will scream "So-and-So Rushed To Hospital". That's fine, right. No need to write grammatically correct sentences in a headline, where space is at a premium. But then in the body of the article, this gross wrong is repeated again: He was taken to hospital. He will be staying in hospital. Apparently, it is a British custom to leave out the "the".
This, I believe, must be an insidious practice. After all, one other group of people famous for it are the vomit-trocious We Are Church dissidents. The name means, in other words, we, (lesbian nuns, defrocked priests, and morally stunted laity,) are "Church", which is not an actual, physical, holy institution incorruptible by the sins of the fathers, but a purely kumbaya, lets hold hands and eat smores kind of thing. Among other heresies, they support women's ordinations, birth control, and acceptance of practicing gays. Can anyone say Latae sententiae excommunication? Canon # 750, 751 and 1364 people!
What do people have against definite articles? Are not all parts of sentence diagrams created equal? I'm going to mount a political campaign celebrating the use of the word "the". It will be wildly popular of course.
In the British newspapers, when someone (like the Pope,) is sick, the headlines will scream "So-and-So Rushed To Hospital". That's fine, right. No need to write grammatically correct sentences in a headline, where space is at a premium. But then in the body of the article, this gross wrong is repeated again: He was taken to hospital. He will be staying in hospital. Apparently, it is a British custom to leave out the "the".
This, I believe, must be an insidious practice. After all, one other group of people famous for it are the vomit-trocious We Are Church dissidents. The name means, in other words, we, (lesbian nuns, defrocked priests, and morally stunted laity,) are "Church", which is not an actual, physical, holy institution incorruptible by the sins of the fathers, but a purely kumbaya, lets hold hands and eat smores kind of thing. Among other heresies, they support women's ordinations, birth control, and acceptance of practicing gays. Can anyone say Latae sententiae excommunication? Canon # 750, 751 and 1364 people!
What do people have against definite articles? Are not all parts of sentence diagrams created equal? I'm going to mount a political campaign celebrating the use of the word "the". It will be wildly popular of course.
February 3, 2005
Additionally ... Good News!
In other news, it seems that Holy Father is going to pull through! His doctors say they're going to keep him in the hospital until they're sure he won't be suffering any complications.
Holy Father is like the energizer bunny. Or "God's Athlete", as it were. He's been hit by a car, shot, stabbed at, broken legs, broken hips, dislocated a shoulder, survived blood infections, gall bladder surgery, laryngospasm, appendicitis, Cancer, Parkinsons, and all the rest.
Of course, Papa takes it all in stride. "The Pope salutes you," he says. "It's a slightly deficient Pope, but still in one piece and not dead yet."
Holy Father is like the energizer bunny. Or "God's Athlete", as it were. He's been hit by a car, shot, stabbed at, broken legs, broken hips, dislocated a shoulder, survived blood infections, gall bladder surgery, laryngospasm, appendicitis, Cancer, Parkinsons, and all the rest.
Of course, Papa takes it all in stride. "The Pope salutes you," he says. "It's a slightly deficient Pope, but still in one piece and not dead yet."
And Now, the Rest of the Story
Anyone else out there, possibly as dorky as I am, know that "the rest of the story" is Paul Harvey's line? Anyone else know who Paul Harvey is?. Probably not, It is I who am the super dork around here. All you other fools don't come close!
Anyway. The rest of the "I ate some bad shrimp" story is ...
Two days ago, I stayed up until about midnight, which is usual for me. And I was watching the news about something (can't remember what.) And I was thinking to myself: oh hells bells, how are we going to get through that?
I had a tiny can of ravioli (yay Chef Boyardee!) for dinner, my only meal of the day, but I felt full. So I put on my pajamas and went to bed, and I was in kind of a half-asleep/half-awake mode. So you know, religious orders, often times they make applicants take a psychological exam before they'll let them join up. (They want to avoid taking on any obsessive compulsives, etc.) Most of the doctors are very good people. But some Church psychiatrists are really bad. During the bad old days, they kept orthodox people out of the seminaries, etc.
So for some reason, I was dreaming that I was at my appointment to be "examined" by the doctor, some old guy with glasses. And I asked this guy: "So, are you a good psychiatrist or a bad psychiatrist?" And his answer to me was, "Have you ever had any sexual fantasies about your Mother?" At which point I was screaming "Noooooooo" (Because as you might know, the "mother" question is one the bad doctors usually ask.) But then I woke up, profoundly wierded out.
I sat up, and I suddenly felt ready-to-vomit-right-now queasy. So I got out of bed, and as I was standing up, I realized "holy cow. There is no way I'm gonna be able to find my keys, run down the hall, unlock the bathroom door and jimmy open a stall in time." So I run, and barely make it to -- the sink. You know. The sink where I wash dishes, and prepare food?
You might be wondering how I knew it was shrimp that made me sick. Well, lets just say, it was obvious. Apparently my body had quit digesting food a couple of days ago: and that's why I had that "full feeling." So I had a full two days of food to "evacuate" and boy, was it evacuated.
The truth is, I'm not that enamored of shrimp. But that's what they had in the refrigerator at 7-eleven. Note To Self, Regarding Life-long Lessons Learned: "Do not buy "real food" from 7-Eleven. Do not buy any kind of meat from 7-Eleven. Do not buy cheese from 7-Eleven. Nothing that spoils should be bought from 7-Eleven."
Anyway, I dragged myself to and fro from school and then work (the agony the agony) and then I had some lemon-water and I went to bed. This morning, I felt great! The queasiness has come back a little as the day has worn on, but in general, I feel I'm basically cured. Yay!!! Thanks for all you guys' lovely concern! Thanks most specially to Shannon, for calling me and making me fantastically happy!
Anyway. The rest of the "I ate some bad shrimp" story is ...
Two days ago, I stayed up until about midnight, which is usual for me. And I was watching the news about something (can't remember what.) And I was thinking to myself: oh hells bells, how are we going to get through that?
I had a tiny can of ravioli (yay Chef Boyardee!) for dinner, my only meal of the day, but I felt full. So I put on my pajamas and went to bed, and I was in kind of a half-asleep/half-awake mode. So you know, religious orders, often times they make applicants take a psychological exam before they'll let them join up. (They want to avoid taking on any obsessive compulsives, etc.) Most of the doctors are very good people. But some Church psychiatrists are really bad. During the bad old days, they kept orthodox people out of the seminaries, etc.
So for some reason, I was dreaming that I was at my appointment to be "examined" by the doctor, some old guy with glasses. And I asked this guy: "So, are you a good psychiatrist or a bad psychiatrist?" And his answer to me was, "Have you ever had any sexual fantasies about your Mother?" At which point I was screaming "Noooooooo" (Because as you might know, the "mother" question is one the bad doctors usually ask.) But then I woke up, profoundly wierded out.
I sat up, and I suddenly felt ready-to-vomit-right-now queasy. So I got out of bed, and as I was standing up, I realized "holy cow. There is no way I'm gonna be able to find my keys, run down the hall, unlock the bathroom door and jimmy open a stall in time." So I run, and barely make it to -- the sink. You know. The sink where I wash dishes, and prepare food?
You might be wondering how I knew it was shrimp that made me sick. Well, lets just say, it was obvious. Apparently my body had quit digesting food a couple of days ago: and that's why I had that "full feeling." So I had a full two days of food to "evacuate" and boy, was it evacuated.
The truth is, I'm not that enamored of shrimp. But that's what they had in the refrigerator at 7-eleven. Note To Self, Regarding Life-long Lessons Learned: "Do not buy "real food" from 7-Eleven. Do not buy any kind of meat from 7-Eleven. Do not buy cheese from 7-Eleven. Nothing that spoils should be bought from 7-Eleven."
Anyway, I dragged myself to and fro from school and then work (the agony the agony) and then I had some lemon-water and I went to bed. This morning, I felt great! The queasiness has come back a little as the day has worn on, but in general, I feel I'm basically cured. Yay!!! Thanks for all you guys' lovely concern! Thanks most specially to Shannon, for calling me and making me fantastically happy!
February 2, 2005
You guys won't believe this!
I've got food poisioning! From bad shrimp!
I really don't think I've ever been so sick in my entire life. I'm dehydrated, because I've got stuff coming out both ways, if you know what I mean. I was up vomiting and well, crapping, from 2 am to 6 am. The light hurts my eyes and I ache alllll over.
What's the Catholic thing to do? The Catholic response to suffering is "offer it up." Unite your pain to Jesus' pain, so that some good might come of your sacrafice. In Catholic theology, suffering came into the world through sin. But when Jesus choose to suffer on the Cross, he made suffering holy. So, the Church teaches, suffering can be a good thing!
That's why the Church is always so wary of adopting the kind of "healing services" that many Protestant denominations have. The fear is, it would cheapen the value of suffering!
Last night I had a very special person to "offer it up" for, too. Reuters reports that John Paul II has been rushed to a Roman hospital, suffering from flu and shortness of breath.
I really don't think I've ever been so sick in my entire life. I'm dehydrated, because I've got stuff coming out both ways, if you know what I mean. I was up vomiting and well, crapping, from 2 am to 6 am. The light hurts my eyes and I ache alllll over.
What's the Catholic thing to do? The Catholic response to suffering is "offer it up." Unite your pain to Jesus' pain, so that some good might come of your sacrafice. In Catholic theology, suffering came into the world through sin. But when Jesus choose to suffer on the Cross, he made suffering holy. So, the Church teaches, suffering can be a good thing!
That's why the Church is always so wary of adopting the kind of "healing services" that many Protestant denominations have. The fear is, it would cheapen the value of suffering!
Last night I had a very special person to "offer it up" for, too. Reuters reports that John Paul II has been rushed to a Roman hospital, suffering from flu and shortness of breath.
February 1, 2005
Saints Alive! (Well. Not Exactly, In The Earthly Sense of the Word.)
St. Bernadette, visionary of Lourdes, dead since 1879. Despite being buried, unembalmed, in a dank chapel crypt, her body refuses to rot.
From The Fortean Times: Because there have been many impeccable accounts of incorruptibility, many presumed saints were exhumed and re-interred. It soon became the custom to exhume all candidates for beatification or canonisation. Throughout the Middle Ages, churches vied for possession of incorrupt bodies, as they were a proven magnet for pilgrims (who, of course, brought offerings and donations). Despite its damp climate, mediæval Britain has nurtured a good number of saintly characters whose bodies didn’t decay, including Cuthbert, Werburgh, Waltheof and Guthlac. Amongst them were two royal sisters (Etheldreda and Withburga), a king (Edward the Confessor), a bishop (Hugh of Lincoln) and an archbishop of Canterbury (Alphege). At the Reformation, all their shrines were destroyed and the incorrupt body parts dispersed.
My favourite part: (Ha-ha Isn't It Funny?)
When her shrine at Ely Cathedral was destroyed, the saintly Queen Etheldreda’s hand was preserved by a devout Catholic family. The still incorrupt hand was enshrined, some 400 years later, when a little Catholic Church was re-established in Ely. An apocryphal story relates how the present Queen, on a tour of the cathedral, met the crusty Irish priest of the little Catholic Church. She asked him if it wouldn’t be a ‘nice gesture’ to return the hand of St Etheldreda to the cathedral; he replied that it would be a nice gesture for her to return the cathedral to the Catholic church.
Can you see her face? The incorrupt body of St Catherine Labouré, also a Marian visionary, has been impressing physicians since 1876.
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