TRIUMPHALIST--YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
"Don't Just Do Something! Sit There"
It's Advent, and all of us Bead Squeezers are in the midst of our annual bout of Cultural Schizophrenia.
Advent is a penitential season. That's why Father and the Deacons are wearing violet, (unless you have the misfortune of belonging to one of those 'blue vestment" parishes that don't like being Roman Catholic!). These first two weeks, we are not looking so much toward the Nativity, as the Parousia, and that's a sobering thought.
But we also live in a setting where the season is marked by frantic shopping for the right gift, by parties and social obligations. Those of us who work retail or food service are betting hammered. It can be hard to balance it all, and when you add in digging out the Christmass* decorations, and so forth, reflection is pretty much shoved aside.
Last year, our family had a wonderful Christmass* celebration, with a great dinner. I have no idea what we ate, or even, really, much memory of the gifts. But i remember that we came together in a common Celebration of the mystery of the Nativity.
People--especially those of you who are moms!--do a little less this year. Or even a lot less. Spend more time at the dinner table, and less time making dinner. Tell stories to the little ones about Christmass*, about Advent and the birth of Charity in the hearts of man.
Really, it will make Christmass* much, much richer than otherwise. I can tell you this from experience. One of the blessings of living a simple life, of being rather poor, is that, if you have a faith and don't accept what the advertisers are trying to teach you blessings are great, and the love and joy of the season can flourish without being overshadowed by the shallow joy of fancy gifts and pride in how perfect the decorations are.
Do less. Be more.
*If you look at the November Rant about X-mass marketing, you will see that I'm trying to put Mass back in Christmass. It's the Solemnity, not the Season. I know it's supposed to be spelled with one "S".
Advent is a penitential season. That's why Father and the Deacons are wearing violet, (unless you have the misfortune of belonging to one of those 'blue vestment" parishes that don't like being Roman Catholic!). These first two weeks, we are not looking so much toward the Nativity, as the Parousia, and that's a sobering thought.
But we also live in a setting where the season is marked by frantic shopping for the right gift, by parties and social obligations. Those of us who work retail or food service are betting hammered. It can be hard to balance it all, and when you add in digging out the Christmass* decorations, and so forth, reflection is pretty much shoved aside.
Last year, our family had a wonderful Christmass* celebration, with a great dinner. I have no idea what we ate, or even, really, much memory of the gifts. But i remember that we came together in a common Celebration of the mystery of the Nativity.
People--especially those of you who are moms!--do a little less this year. Or even a lot less. Spend more time at the dinner table, and less time making dinner. Tell stories to the little ones about Christmass*, about Advent and the birth of Charity in the hearts of man.
Really, it will make Christmass* much, much richer than otherwise. I can tell you this from experience. One of the blessings of living a simple life, of being rather poor, is that, if you have a faith and don't accept what the advertisers are trying to teach you blessings are great, and the love and joy of the season can flourish without being overshadowed by the shallow joy of fancy gifts and pride in how perfect the decorations are.
Do less. Be more.
*If you look at the November Rant about X-mass marketing, you will see that I'm trying to put Mass back in Christmass. It's the Solemnity, not the Season. I know it's supposed to be spelled with one "S".
Well Worth Reading
Get Religion has a short article, with links, that asks an important question: Who gets to decide who is a hater?
Since the label is used as a way to stop discussion, or to relieve on of the necessity to listen to an opponent, it's important. Can just anyone decide who's a hater? Does it have to be a group? What sort of standing does the decision making entity have to have in the community or on the national scene. Can I declare a person or group to be a hater?
Go read it at http://www.getreligion.org/2010/12/who-decides-whos-a-hater .
I'm sorry that the links thing doesn't work from this computer, but there it is. Perhaps my computer is a hater, that hates my blog?
Since the label is used as a way to stop discussion, or to relieve on of the necessity to listen to an opponent, it's important. Can just anyone decide who's a hater? Does it have to be a group? What sort of standing does the decision making entity have to have in the community or on the national scene. Can I declare a person or group to be a hater?
Go read it at http://www.getreligion.org/2010/12/who-decides-whos-a-hater .
I'm sorry that the links thing doesn't work from this computer, but there it is. Perhaps my computer is a hater, that hates my blog?
Apple iPhone Apps
OK, by now anybody who follows stories like this know that the Apple Store discontinued the app "Manhattan Declaration" after receiving 7,700 request for it's deletion.
The Manhattan Declaration is an expression of commitment to traditional marriage and the sanctity of life, and was declared to be 'Anti-Gay' and 'Anti-Choice" by the signors of the petition for it's removal.
They have, as of December the 2d, 24,000 signatures requesting it's restoration. All in all, the declaration has about 478,822 signatures.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It should be instructive for people who wonder if there is censorship of popular thought.
The Manhattan Declaration is an expression of commitment to traditional marriage and the sanctity of life, and was declared to be 'Anti-Gay' and 'Anti-Choice" by the signors of the petition for it's removal.
They have, as of December the 2d, 24,000 signatures requesting it's restoration. All in all, the declaration has about 478,822 signatures.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It should be instructive for people who wonder if there is censorship of popular thought.
An Anglican Update, with Reflection
Well, the establishment of an Anglican Ordnariate in the UK is slated for early next year. That means about two months, really. The Ordinariate for the US is proceeding as well. There are requests for south America, Canada and other locations too. The process isn't without friction and pain though.
John Hepworth, the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion says that the first ordinariate will be established in England for symbolic and historical reasons. But he also said that TAC wasn't really up for the way that the Catholic Church does things and administers itself, that they hadn't fully understood the process. At the same time, he said that the Catholic Church didn't really understand how Contemporary Anglicanism worked either. So it's my guess that there is a lot of learning to be done on both sides.
Yet the count of Bishops in the UK who are joining the Catholic Church is up to six, and it's expected that five bishops in the US will return to the church with about fifty one priests. Canada has Two bishops and around forty priests returning. And so it goes around the world. (Two bishops in Central America have requested ordinariates.)
The biggest obstacle I see--from my admittedly limited vantage point--are the Roman Rite Bishops, who see this as an entity that they will not have control over, (there has been quiet friction between the Roman Rite Bishops and the Eastern Catholic Bishops in the US since the sixties.) And the "progressive' (I hate that word, but it's impolite to call them, heretics, roman protestants or other more descriptive labels) wing of the rank and file. This last is epitomized by a piece in America magazine, written by Austen Ivereigh, in which he expresses his compassion for "Poping Anglicans" while questioning why it took so long and criticizing their "self involvment" as they prepare to cross over. It's this sort of ambivalence that I see coming from the progressive faction that I think carries the seeds of conflict.
It's understandable. The progressives have looked towards the Anglican Communion since the seventies as a model for their concept of the Church. On issues ranging from the role of the laity in Church Governance, to women's ordination, to the appropriate pastoral care of homosexuals they have been more in line with the Mainstream of Anglican thought and praxis than with the Catholic Church. It must be disconcerting to see a sizable number of clergy and congregations joining the ranks of the Roman Church over precisely these same issues. Add to this that the Anglo-Catholics have a high standard of liturgical practice, and will join there voices, simply by their existence, to the growing chorus of Catholic Laity and Clergy who are decrying the prevalence of mediocre to loopy liturgies, and this presents them with a threat. The Anglican Use Parishes and the Ordinariate will be the ecclesiastical equivalent of a 'fleet in being'. I don't think I'm out on a limb here, after all, it was just a couple of months ago that an English RC priest was quoted as saying that the church in England didn't need the Anglican Traditionalists, because "we have quite enough of our own."
I actually expect less opposition from traditional Catholics, even those who are part of the Extraordinary Form Community. There will be some grumbling, of course, there always is. (In our parish, we have two deacons, one of whom is unmarried, on of whom is married. The TLM community tried to say that the married deacon was invalid when when serving as Deacon in the EF Mass. You can't please everyone, especially when it comes to Tradtion and Religion.) The biggest thing I have heard is that it will be a back door to married priests for the Roman Rite. I wonder why they don't say the same thing about married eastern rite priests.
So I suggest that we all swallow our agendas, and offer prayers of thanks that the Holy Spirit is drawing these communities into full,organic and sacramental unity with the church Christ Founded, and pray also for their success and the multiplication of their numbers. We should be rejoicing, not angsting.
John Hepworth, the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion says that the first ordinariate will be established in England for symbolic and historical reasons. But he also said that TAC wasn't really up for the way that the Catholic Church does things and administers itself, that they hadn't fully understood the process. At the same time, he said that the Catholic Church didn't really understand how Contemporary Anglicanism worked either. So it's my guess that there is a lot of learning to be done on both sides.
Yet the count of Bishops in the UK who are joining the Catholic Church is up to six, and it's expected that five bishops in the US will return to the church with about fifty one priests. Canada has Two bishops and around forty priests returning. And so it goes around the world. (Two bishops in Central America have requested ordinariates.)
The biggest obstacle I see--from my admittedly limited vantage point--are the Roman Rite Bishops, who see this as an entity that they will not have control over, (there has been quiet friction between the Roman Rite Bishops and the Eastern Catholic Bishops in the US since the sixties.) And the "progressive' (I hate that word, but it's impolite to call them, heretics, roman protestants or other more descriptive labels) wing of the rank and file. This last is epitomized by a piece in America magazine, written by Austen Ivereigh, in which he expresses his compassion for "Poping Anglicans" while questioning why it took so long and criticizing their "self involvment" as they prepare to cross over. It's this sort of ambivalence that I see coming from the progressive faction that I think carries the seeds of conflict.
It's understandable. The progressives have looked towards the Anglican Communion since the seventies as a model for their concept of the Church. On issues ranging from the role of the laity in Church Governance, to women's ordination, to the appropriate pastoral care of homosexuals they have been more in line with the Mainstream of Anglican thought and praxis than with the Catholic Church. It must be disconcerting to see a sizable number of clergy and congregations joining the ranks of the Roman Church over precisely these same issues. Add to this that the Anglo-Catholics have a high standard of liturgical practice, and will join there voices, simply by their existence, to the growing chorus of Catholic Laity and Clergy who are decrying the prevalence of mediocre to loopy liturgies, and this presents them with a threat. The Anglican Use Parishes and the Ordinariate will be the ecclesiastical equivalent of a 'fleet in being'. I don't think I'm out on a limb here, after all, it was just a couple of months ago that an English RC priest was quoted as saying that the church in England didn't need the Anglican Traditionalists, because "we have quite enough of our own."
I actually expect less opposition from traditional Catholics, even those who are part of the Extraordinary Form Community. There will be some grumbling, of course, there always is. (In our parish, we have two deacons, one of whom is unmarried, on of whom is married. The TLM community tried to say that the married deacon was invalid when when serving as Deacon in the EF Mass. You can't please everyone, especially when it comes to Tradtion and Religion.) The biggest thing I have heard is that it will be a back door to married priests for the Roman Rite. I wonder why they don't say the same thing about married eastern rite priests.
So I suggest that we all swallow our agendas, and offer prayers of thanks that the Holy Spirit is drawing these communities into full,organic and sacramental unity with the church Christ Founded, and pray also for their success and the multiplication of their numbers. We should be rejoicing, not angsting.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Soliciting opinions
Please give me your opinions, if you have one, on Holy Trinity Abbey, a Trappist house.
Good, Bad, Indifferent. Just let me know. It might be a place for a retreat.
Good, Bad, Indifferent. Just let me know. It might be a place for a retreat.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Angelina Jolie, A Case in Point
The fact that the modern world has endowed it's performing artists with the attributes of wisdom is a symptom of the bankruptcy of modernist and materialist culture. I have never quite understood how being a performer qualifies one to hold forth of policy, morality or the proper aspirations of a society. When one considers the personal lives and antics of performing artists, the question becomes even more problematic.
So when the UN appoints various celebrities to the position of "goodwill ambassador", I have to wonder if it can ever be more than a publicity stunt. Of course most of what the UN does is a publicity stunt, it is among the most ineffectual agencies on the planet. Performing artists live in a world of imagination and emotion, and they often seem to confuse this for the world of fact. They seek to communicate to the world at large, and to influence it's perceptions of history, through of lens of emotion, of what *could* be, and what they wish it was.
Take the Balkans. It was in the 90s that Serbian Nationalism reared it's ugly head, once again, and plunged the region into war. The UN did it's thing. Which is, in these cases, to send in troops who are not allowed to do anything, wring it's hands and complain. It wasn't until NATO, with a large US presence, applied Smith's Axiom* that the conflict was halted.
Enter Ms Jolie. She is making her first movie as director. It's a love story. It's a love story about a Serbian Guard at a camp for Bosnian Muslim women, and one of the inmates. Bosnian women are outraged. They point out that the Serbs were waging a campaign of "ethnic cleansing", which is a polite way of saying genocide and expulsion, against Bosnian Muslims. They also remember how ineffectually of the UN "efforts" there turned out to be. And they are aware that Jolie is a "Goodwill Ambassador" for the United Nations refugee agency, UNCHR. They have written to the agency saying that Jolie should lose her status as a "Goodwill Ambassador".
When I say "they" I mean the Women Victims of War Association, which is made up of about 20,000,000 Muslim women who were raped by Serbian troops as part of an organized campaign designed to both demoralize the Muslims and to create doubt as to their own ethnic identity and to break down Muslim families. I'm not noted as a person sympathetic to Islam, but that was an act of profound evil,worth of Nazis.
These women,victims of a sectarian and racist pogrom designed to extirpate their culture characterize Jolie as "Ignorant" for supposing that an interment camp inmate would fall in love with a guard who is part of what is essentially the worlds largest, organized, rape gang made up of people who hate them. They point out, that they were there. And she wasn't.
They're also upset that her idea of meeting with them is for them to come to her. She's to important to go to them. After, all, they're Europeans. They say that the crimes were committed in Bosnia, so she should meet them in Bosnia. She was willing to go there to film the movie (except the Bosnian Government listened to the women and said no.) But not to meet with those she's insulting for her own little romantic fantasy.
How romantic--a love story between an raping, religious and ethnic bigot who follows a fascistic leader, and a victim woman. It's as sickening as the Susan George scene in Straw Dogs.
This is why when a celebrity supports a cause or idea, I almost always take a third of forth look--they are, by and large, ignorant and not grounded in the reality of the matter.
*Smith's Axiom--There is no political problem,no matter how complex or long standing that cannot be at least temporarily relieved by the timely and accurate application of sufficient firepower.
So when the UN appoints various celebrities to the position of "goodwill ambassador", I have to wonder if it can ever be more than a publicity stunt. Of course most of what the UN does is a publicity stunt, it is among the most ineffectual agencies on the planet. Performing artists live in a world of imagination and emotion, and they often seem to confuse this for the world of fact. They seek to communicate to the world at large, and to influence it's perceptions of history, through of lens of emotion, of what *could* be, and what they wish it was.
Take the Balkans. It was in the 90s that Serbian Nationalism reared it's ugly head, once again, and plunged the region into war. The UN did it's thing. Which is, in these cases, to send in troops who are not allowed to do anything, wring it's hands and complain. It wasn't until NATO, with a large US presence, applied Smith's Axiom* that the conflict was halted.
Enter Ms Jolie. She is making her first movie as director. It's a love story. It's a love story about a Serbian Guard at a camp for Bosnian Muslim women, and one of the inmates. Bosnian women are outraged. They point out that the Serbs were waging a campaign of "ethnic cleansing", which is a polite way of saying genocide and expulsion, against Bosnian Muslims. They also remember how ineffectually of the UN "efforts" there turned out to be. And they are aware that Jolie is a "Goodwill Ambassador" for the United Nations refugee agency, UNCHR. They have written to the agency saying that Jolie should lose her status as a "Goodwill Ambassador".
When I say "they" I mean the Women Victims of War Association, which is made up of about 20,000,000 Muslim women who were raped by Serbian troops as part of an organized campaign designed to both demoralize the Muslims and to create doubt as to their own ethnic identity and to break down Muslim families. I'm not noted as a person sympathetic to Islam, but that was an act of profound evil,worth of Nazis.
These women,victims of a sectarian and racist pogrom designed to extirpate their culture characterize Jolie as "Ignorant" for supposing that an interment camp inmate would fall in love with a guard who is part of what is essentially the worlds largest, organized, rape gang made up of people who hate them. They point out, that they were there. And she wasn't.
They're also upset that her idea of meeting with them is for them to come to her. She's to important to go to them. After, all, they're Europeans. They say that the crimes were committed in Bosnia, so she should meet them in Bosnia. She was willing to go there to film the movie (except the Bosnian Government listened to the women and said no.) But not to meet with those she's insulting for her own little romantic fantasy.
How romantic--a love story between an raping, religious and ethnic bigot who follows a fascistic leader, and a victim woman. It's as sickening as the Susan George scene in Straw Dogs.
This is why when a celebrity supports a cause or idea, I almost always take a third of forth look--they are, by and large, ignorant and not grounded in the reality of the matter.
*Smith's Axiom--There is no political problem,no matter how complex or long standing that cannot be at least temporarily relieved by the timely and accurate application of sufficient firepower.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Check out the new poll, and the post on the Novena to the Immaculate Conception
Seriously. And give it some thought. Our country is in a mess, and needs the help.
Movies I am looking forward to seeing
Voyage of the Dawn Treader--Dec 10 opening
Battle for LA--Mar 11 opening
Cowboys and Aliens--Summer.
Mars Needs Moms-- I don't know when
Red Riding Hood--revisionist, I know, but it looks good.
An eclectic mix, but then again--they're movies.
Battle for LA--Mar 11 opening
Cowboys and Aliens--Summer.
Mars Needs Moms-- I don't know when
Red Riding Hood--revisionist, I know, but it looks good.
An eclectic mix, but then again--they're movies.
Adoration
Well, 37% of those who responded to the poll engage in Eucharistic Adoration. 6% said they were non-Catholic, but went to Church for special prayers or prayer times.
That's better than average. By this time next year, let's make it 100%--things are getting touchy, and we need prayer!
That's better than average. By this time next year, let's make it 100%--things are getting touchy, and we need prayer!
Novena to the Immaculate Conception
The Patron of the US is the Immaculate Conception. Not, as some suppose, Our Lady of Guadeloupe. I love Our Lady of Guadeloupe. She was the first Marian Devotion recommended to me when I was a Catachumen. But she isn't the Patroness of the United States.
This is why the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation in the US. And right now, we have an economy that's six inches from a shambles, a Government that we no longer trust, a President that half the country hates, and a list of regulatory and legislative initiatives that just might make it illegal to proclaim the Gospel.
So we need out Patroness. We need to ask her help and intercession.
We need a Novena!
EWTN has a novena posted. I think we can find others. But I think we need--all of this who read this--to pray for the conversion of our Country and the preservation of our Liberties, starting on the 30 November. if you are are Orthodox, please consider praying to the Theotokos. If you are Protestant, pray to Our Lady anyway--she's your mother too!.
Pray for our Country, it's conversion, and the preservation of our Liberties.
This is why the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a Holy Day of Obligation in the US. And right now, we have an economy that's six inches from a shambles, a Government that we no longer trust, a President that half the country hates, and a list of regulatory and legislative initiatives that just might make it illegal to proclaim the Gospel.
So we need out Patroness. We need to ask her help and intercession.
We need a Novena!
EWTN has a novena posted. I think we can find others. But I think we need--all of this who read this--to pray for the conversion of our Country and the preservation of our Liberties, starting on the 30 November. if you are are Orthodox, please consider praying to the Theotokos. If you are Protestant, pray to Our Lady anyway--she's your mother too!.
Pray for our Country, it's conversion, and the preservation of our Liberties.
Blog Blockage
I haven't been writing much lately, because I see so much that needs to be discussed at large. From Senate Bill 510, that will effectively outlaw seed saving and surrender large parts of US sovereignty to the UN, where questions of the food supply are concerned, to the FCC deciding once again to regulate the Internet--after the Federal Courts told them they do NOT have authority to do so, to ICE deciding to shut down web sites without due process. From hearing that Basil Cardinal Hume set the Anglican Ordinariate back 15 years, to the MSM and the Modernist Catholyc press trying to pull a chapel veil deal on condoms.
It's hard for me to look at all this stuff and decide what to write about. At the same time, I want to live my life with my family, not with my 'puter.
Yet It only takes me a brief period of time to see so much we should be concerned with that I have a problem deciding what to write about. The real question becomes not what i should write about, or what I should ignore, but what does the Lord want be to write about? I think that's a very good thing for me to be wondering about as we enter the Season of Advent.
I'm a crusty, old style Catholic, at least in theology. And this Season starts up right after we have had a few weeks of disturbing readings about the "Day of the Lord", readings that if we don't explain them away make one fee uncomfortable. Christianity isn't all sweetness and family hour--it acknowledges the darkness within, and the inescapable fact of Final Judgement. For we will be judged.
(As an aside--the next time some modernist priest tells me God doesn't judge us, or doesn't punish us, I shall vomit on his Birkenstocks.)
So I'm wondering, what can I write that might win souls to Christ, and further the Kingdom of God? Because that's what we are called to do. We may have political concerns, and various areas of interest. But first and foremost the Church--that's us, BTW, we are part of the Body of Christ--is i the business of saving souls. Everything we do proceeds from that.
So, I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to list them.
It's hard for me to look at all this stuff and decide what to write about. At the same time, I want to live my life with my family, not with my 'puter.
Yet It only takes me a brief period of time to see so much we should be concerned with that I have a problem deciding what to write about. The real question becomes not what i should write about, or what I should ignore, but what does the Lord want be to write about? I think that's a very good thing for me to be wondering about as we enter the Season of Advent.
I'm a crusty, old style Catholic, at least in theology. And this Season starts up right after we have had a few weeks of disturbing readings about the "Day of the Lord", readings that if we don't explain them away make one fee uncomfortable. Christianity isn't all sweetness and family hour--it acknowledges the darkness within, and the inescapable fact of Final Judgement. For we will be judged.
(As an aside--the next time some modernist priest tells me God doesn't judge us, or doesn't punish us, I shall vomit on his Birkenstocks.)
So I'm wondering, what can I write that might win souls to Christ, and further the Kingdom of God? Because that's what we are called to do. We may have political concerns, and various areas of interest. But first and foremost the Church--that's us, BTW, we are part of the Body of Christ--is i the business of saving souls. Everything we do proceeds from that.
So, I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to list them.
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