Nothing is an Accident and a Bit of Samuel Johnson in the Mix

I am traveling today and thinking of the people I have met in the past year of teaching, writing, praying, doing whatever one does in Europe on limited resources.


What I have discovered, again, as if I needed reminding, that nothing happens by accident. The people we meet are always significant in our lives, and the places we go bear our little footsteps. God is in charge, of course, and if we are not like little, wonderful St. Therese, the Little Flower, staying within the confines of a very small parameter of families, friends, fellow sisters, in a small area of France, we still are under the great guidance of Providence.


I am grateful for all I have seen and learned and for whom I have met.


A small story from this website illustrates my point most dramatically. Ralph Beyer, the world famous artist who did the lettering at the entrance of Coventry Cathedral and who was influenced by my favorite, hands-down, artist David Jones, ended up working in the renewal of Coventry Cathedral for one reason-he had been imprisoned as a prisoner of war in Britain. When he was imprisoned during the war as an alien, he met the great Nickolaus Pevsner. Let this site tell the story for me.

Beyer was arrested as an enemy alien and housed in the internment camp at Huyton near Liverpool, which proved to be a stroke of remarkable fortune. Among the inmates was Nikolaus Pevsner, the writer on art and architecture. This acquaintance would later be renewed with decisive consequences for Beyer's career. Beyer's internment was short-lived: after three months he was able to join the Royal Pioneer Corps, in which he served throughout the war.

In 1950 Beyer moved to Cambridge to work first as a jobbing lettercutter, then, briefly, for the ex-Gill apprentice David Kindersley, who by then had set up his own workshop at Barton. It was in Cambridge that Beyer came across a magazine article with a photograph of a painted inscription by the poet and artist David Jones. Jones's very personal lettering recalled the naive early Christian catacomb carvings which had interested Beyer's father. Perhaps in a freer, less formal approach Beyer could use the lettercutting skills he had laboriously acquired and achieve something of the expressive intensity he had seen in the calligraphy and graphic work of Rudolf Koch, whom his father had championed.

In 1953 Beyer set up in London as a freelance inscriptional carver. Among the more routine jobs were two which allowed him to try out his new ideas: an inscription and line carvings on a slate altar, and cast concrete lettering around a church porch, both in the East End of London. In 1955, thanks to Pevsner, he was introduced to Basil Spence, architect of the projected new Coventry Cathedral. This would lead to the defining commission of his career, and one of the most significant works of hand lettercutting of the twentieth century.

Nearly all the lettering in Coventry cathedral was executed or designed by Beyer. The largest Artworks are the eight 'Tablets of the Word' on either side of the nave, and the huge metal floor inscription by the main entrance. Beyer's Coventry lettering, like the cathedral itself, was controversial. Nicolete Gray praised Beyer for his courage, and for departing from tired formulae, but criticised what she saw as a lack of 'seriousness' and any 'new and meaningful organization of his variable forms'.

After Coventry there would be other significant commissions among the lettercutter's staple of plaques, memorials, signs and commemorative stones. One of Beyer's personal favourites was a series of inscriptions in the Paul Tillich Park, New Harmony, Indiana, USA, some sandblasted, some hand-cut.

for Pentecost....

To all my friends and readers, there are NO accidents in God. Just as Beyer met Pevsner and was influenced by Gill and Jones, so we meet and are influenced by others for good, always for good if we are in God's Grace.

God bless you all, as I move my way through the outskirts of London. For Carol and Chris.

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
Boswell: Life

On Devotions and Ritual--Musings and Thoughts

A comment on another post brought up the question of rites in the Church as connected to local custom, or to devotion. Now, the Rites, which are enshrined in history and the earliest evangelization in the Church from the Apostles, are the approved ecclesiastical translations or versions of the Mass, including the Mass of St. John Chrysostom (and influences of St. Basil), which is used by several of the Byzantine communions, such as the Ruthenians and Ukrainians. Now, a Mass, the Liturgy of the Church, is not the same as a devotion. Devotions, such as the rosary or novenas, or individual prayers, have been associated with the Mass, but not part of the Mass. These properly belong before or after the Liturgy.

In the New Mass, which has just been promulgated, a clearer interpretation of the Latin has been given to the public. Hopefully, the thousands of aberrational additions, which occur daily in the world, and I see a few of these in Great Britain, will be cleared away through obedience to the new translation. A community cannot decide what it wants to do here and there. There is a logic and a ritual sense to every part of the Mass.

Of course, as a Latin Mass attender, when I can find one where I am, I prefer the ritual which has been the Mass of the Ages.

I think the confusion is the idea of inculturalization, which many of us feel destroyed not only the solemnity of the Mass, but changed the entire approach to the Mass. Too much culture is not the same as the Rites. What is the difference, one may ask? I think the answer would lie in one's understanding of Tradition. Tradition in the Church is that which has been handed down. The Church, that is the hierarchy, decides what is Tradition and what is not. Being a Catholic means trusting in this Tradition, obeying the limits and enjoying the freedom within that Tradition. Being all things to all men does not mean adding bits and pieces to a set form. That the form may have developed organically does not mean one confuses devotion with ritual.

As noted above, the Byzantine Liturgy is a written form, just as the Tridentine Mass is a written and approved form. I have been to many, many Byzantine Divine Liturgies, as a Byzantine myself, approved by the bishop as I was living in an area for several years which did not have an approved Latin Rite. I attended both the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Divine Liturgies. These were the same except for the language and the chants, as the Mass is the same. A language difference is not a devotional difference. A difference in chant modes is not a devotional difference. The Divine Liturgy is a formula of prayer and worship which has been revealed through the Tradition of the Church, and it is not a local difference added by the laity. And, as one partially from Eastern European background, I can assure one that the Byzantine Liturgy transcends nationalities.

The new Ordinariate Mass, which is in the making, will reflect the Anglo-Catholic heritage of the Church in England, but it will not include devotions, but that which is intrinsic to the Liturgy. One may call this Mass national, but it transcends that definition, as the Ordinariates are found worldwide. The Anglican Usage is also a form which I have attended, and the form is a ritual not devotional. There is a logic which forms ritual.

One of the grave errors following Vatican II has been the disrespect of the Eucharist with too many cultural invasions into the solemnity of the Mass. We all can list our nightmare scenarios.

Now, granted the topic was not such a horror as wild dancing, drums, or various types of feminist processions, but a beautiful prayer. The problem is not the devotion itself, but the change in the Liturgy to suit various groupings. This mindset, that the laity have a right to insert or change the set forms of the Liturgy, is the problem. The New Mass allows us all an opportunity to pull back from these aberrations to a set ritual. Perhaps the insertion of one prayer seems trivial, but the form of the Mass is compromised.

Now, if such permissions are granted locally, I think this begs the question as to whether we have a unified vision of worship or not. I have lived in many countries. I am distressed by the insertion of local customs into the Liturgy. This is one reason why I love the TLM. The Liturgy should be above and beyond my personal preferences for devotions. It should remain objective and not subjective, like the work of sublime revelation and art that it is. One must be able to judge the difference between devotions and parts of the Mass or Divine Liturgy intrinsic to the Sacrifice of Our Lord in the Eucharist.

Confirmation Series Two

As Confirmation is one of the Sacraments of Initiation, one of the questions asked of people who are getting married is whether they need to be confirmed first. Here is the Canon Law to set the record straight. 


from the 1983 Code of Canon Law: Text and Commentary

The text of the law:

Canon 1065 - 1. If they can do so without serious inconvenience, Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage.

2. It is strongly recommended that those to be married approach the sacraments of penance and the Most Holy Eucharist so that they may fruitfully receive the sacrament of marriage.¹

^{Part of the reason for this is that Confirmation is a Sacrament of Initiation.} 

^{Here is the section to be examined today.} 

SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
ARTICLE 2
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION




1285 Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.⁸⁹ For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."<sup>90




This unity has not been safeguarded in recent years, but the present Pope has made statements encouraging earlier Confirmation. Confirmation is the completion of Baptism. I would wonder why anyone would not want to enter into this completion. Such gifts are needed as well as a sharing in the Divine Life of Christ.</sup>

I. CONFIRMATION IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION
1286 In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission.⁹¹ The descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God.⁹² He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him "without measure."⁹³


Even in the beginning of Christ's ministry do we see Him giving us a sign of the importance of this ministry. I hope I do not have to remind readers that it is a heresy to believe that Christ did not know who He was until this time-a Modernist heresy condemned, as Christ always knew He was God and Man and Messiah.


1287 This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people.⁹⁴ On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit,⁹⁵ a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost.⁹⁶ Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age.⁹⁷ Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn.⁹⁸


How wonderful that the Holy Trinity wants to come to us in the Indwelling of the Trinity into our souls. This great mystery allows us to have the chance for perfection in grace. Without these graces, we remain unable to reach our goal of eternal life and the more immediate goal of the Kingdom of God on earth, as members of the Catholic Church. I am reminded that the preaching, the catechesis is part of the process, a necessary part. 


1288 "From that time on the apostles, in fulfillment of Christ's will, imparted to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands the gift of the Spirit that completes the grace of Baptism. For this reason in the Letter to the Hebrews the doctrine concerning Baptism and the laying on of hands is listed among the first elements of Christian instruction. The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church."⁹⁹


The entire history of the Church has been the process of conversion, and new life given through the Apostolic Succession of the bishops and priests, down to the present age. When we are confirmed by the Bishop, or the appointed priest, we are assured of the continuity of teaching which is found in its fullness in the Catholic Church alone. This continuity is a great source of joy and the source of community for the Church. One might add that Protestant confirmations are therefore invalid and not sacramental, not efficacious. 


1289 Very early, the better to signify the gift of the Holy Spirit, an anointing with perfumed oil (chrism) was added to the laying on of hands. This anointing highlights the name "Christian," which means "anointed" and derives from that of Christ himself whom God "anointed with the Holy Spirit."¹⁰⁰ This rite of anointing has continued ever since, in both East and West. For this reason the Eastern Churches call this sacrament Chrismation, anointing with chrism, or myron which means "chrism." In the West, the term Confirmation suggests that this sacrament both confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.


There should be no confusion as to charismation or confirmation as terms as these mean the same in that the outward sign of the sacrament is efficacious and does what it signifies. The laying of the hands, and the anointing with chrism impart sanctifying grace. We are body and soul and need these signs, which are the sacraments and not merely symbols.


to be continued....

Rorate Caeli News on SSPX

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2012/05/rome-sspx-fellay-speaks-in-vienna-words.html

Rome-SSPX - Fellay speaks in Vienna: the words of Pope Benedict XVI
Following his visit to Salzburg, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay, was in Vienna yesterday, for confirmations of local faithful. He had additional words on the current relationship with Rome, including some words of Pope Benedict XVI:
"You have surely heard that, in the last few months, Rome has offered us a solution - we could rather say, a recognition.
"This structure that is being offered to the Society is in fact entirely appropriate. That is, if it actually takes place, you will feel absolutely no difference between now and afterwards. We will remain as we are, so to speak. The problem is the [existence of] safeguards: will it actually happen this way? The fear is great that we will be transformed. ...
"It is quite clear that this offer is also very, very controversial in the Church at large. I can assure you: It is the will of the Pope. This must not be doubted. But it is certainly not the will of everyone in the Church.
"Whether this will come to fruition depends on terms that are not yet clear terms. There are still points that remain unclear. It could happen that, in the upcoming days, weeks - it is very hard to ascertain this - the Pope will decide directly. It could be that he takes the case back to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. There is a lot of pressure in Rome. Which is why I couldn't say more than this. That is the current status.
"One must not think that things will be easy afterwards. To use the words of the Pope that describe the situation quite well: 'I know,' he said, 'that it would be easier both for the Society and for myself to leave the situation as it currently is.' This describes very well the situation, and also that the Pope himself knows that he, when he does it, will be attacked. And also that the situation will not be easy for us. That which will arise out of this situation will be with Rome or against it. Both of which will be difficult.
"Yet we have trust in the good God. He has guided us very well so far. We must not think that, praying so much, He would abandon us in the moment of greatest danger. That would be [a thought] against hope. We are counting on God's assistance. His will be done.

Confirmation Series One

I had decided to continue looking at the Sacraments of Initiation on this blog. As readers know, I have been looking carefully at Baptism, the greatly misunderstood sacrament. Today, I am starting a mini-series on Confirmation, another misunderstood sacrament.


Part of the misunderstanding is simply the lack of good catechesis. In addition, many lay persons are stuck in magical thinking, about which I have written many times here. To receive a sacrament is not  "to be saved", as in the Protestant idea of the fundamental option, either. See Veritatis Splendor for an update on that theological error. We have all the information we need online and in print to be educated Catholic adults.


Here follow a few points from the Church's teaching on Confirmation. And, I am reminded of St. Rita today, whose Secret in the 1962 Missal I have reads. "We pray thee, Lord, through the merits of Saint Rita, to pierce our hearts with the thorns of divine suffering; by the grace deliver us from all sin, and enable us to offer thee with pure hearts the sacrifice of praise through our Lord."


As in any of the sacraments, our hearts and minds are lifted up to God.


The CCC is a good place to start with some of the points relating to Confirmation. I cannot cover much today, but will write three or so posts this week. This is merely the first.


I am going to start a bit backwards, but as I was an RCIA coordinator and teacher in the past, this is where one starts. Not everyone can receive the sacrament of Confirmation. And, before all my Byzantine brothers and sisters chime in, let me say I agree one-hundred percent with the Sacraments of Initiation all being given together, in infancy, as done in the Eastern Rite. I wish we had not separated the Sacraments of Initiation.


Having said that and as this post in on the custom in the Latin Rite, let me continue by quoting the CCC.

IV. WHO CAN RECEIVE THIS SACRAMENT?

1306 Every baptized person not yet confirmed can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation.¹²³ Since Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist form a unity, it follows that "the faithful are obliged to receive this sacrament at the appropriate time,"¹²⁴ for without Confirmation and Eucharist, Baptism is certainly valid and efficacious, but Christian initiation remains incomplete.

So the CCC admits initiation in incomplete without Confirmation. One, however, must be baptized with a Trinitarian baptism and not one made "in the Name of Jesus", which is happening more and more in non-denominational Christian communities. One must check this out, as sometimes I have discovered in the past, that my candidate needs to back-track to baptismal preparation.

1307 For centuries, Latin custom has indicated "the age of discretion" as the reference point for receiving Confirmation. But in danger of death children should be confirmed even if they have not yet attained the age of discretion.¹²⁵

Very few Catholic parents realize that even before the traditional age of discretion, which is still seven in the Church, a child in the Latin Rite, under a threat of death, may be baptized. 

1308 Although Confirmation is sometimes called the "sacrament of Christian maturity," we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need "ratification" to become effective. St. Thomas reminds us of this:

Age of body does not determine age of soul. Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity: as the book of Wisdom says: "For old age is not honored for length of time, or measured by number of years. "Many children, through the strength of the Holy Spirit they have received, have bravely fought for Christ even to the shedding of their blood.¹²⁶

This point must be emphasized, as the laity is confused here. Confirmation is not bar mitzvah or an adult appropriation of the Faith, as we must do that our entire lives. It is NOT a rite of passage. Confirmation is, again, a beginning sacrament for those who are being initiated into the Catholic Faith. We also underestimate the need for the virtuous life and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this time, children more than ever need sanctifying grace.

1309 Preparation for Confirmation should aim at leading the Christian toward a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit - his actions, his gifts, and his biddings - in order to be more capable of assuming the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. To this end catechesis for Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church as well as the parish community. The latter bears special responsibility for the preparation of confirmands.¹²⁷

In diocese where I worked, Confirmation was at least a nine month, academic year process of teaching and initiation. Preparation cannot happen in a few weeks, as this is physically and mentally impossible, as well as spiritually dubious. Notice the last line, the community, that is the entire parish, but especially the family of the confirmand, takes responsibility for training. This cannot be left merely to the priest or religious education leader. The confirmand is part of a group which is practicing its Faith and is going out into that community to continue to feed that life of Faith in the community. I hear in England the phrase, "Oh, we lose the youth after Confirmation." If this is the case, either there was not enough preparation, or poor catechesis, or the youth were not in sanctifying grace to begin with and therefore, did not receive the graces of the sacrament. See below.

1310 To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. More intense prayer should prepare one to receive the strengthand graces of the Holy Spirit with docility and readiness to act.¹²⁸

Perhaps this is my most important emphasis today. One must be in sanctifying grace to receive the sacrament. One must be a practicing Catholic. If one is not prepared to be a practicing Catholic and continue to be so after Confirmation, then the person is simply NOT ready to receive the sacrament. Again, there is no magic here. The sacraments are given without the framework of the life of the Church. One cannot receive grace in mortal sin and it is a mortal sin for a baptized Catholic not to be going to yearly Confession and weekly Mass on Sunday. 

This point is simply ignored in many areas, and it is, frankly, an abuse of the sacramental preparation and an misunderstanding of the theology of the sacraments.

1311 Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appropriate that this be one of the baptismal godparents.¹²⁹

I know situations in parishes where a sponsor is literally grabbed by the priest or religious education coordinator before the Mass to stand as a sponsor. This is horrible. In some dioceses, there are sponsoring classes. and I when I was an RCIA coordinator, the sponsors came to the first few sessions with the candidates and came on one of the two retreats we had-one with those coming into the Church and the catechumens, and one which included the sponsors.

I understand the pressure from parents and in some parishes regarding Confirmation. But, I am reminded of Bonhoeffer on Cheap and Costly Grace. Either we do it right, or it is a travesty of our Faith. Confirmation is not a numbers game for a diocese to claim how many people have been confirmed in a year, nor is it a salve on the consciences of parents who just drop the kids off or sit in the car while classes are going on. I applaud the dioceses which have now included the parents in the Confirmation preparation. It is the only way, unless a young person, and I have known some as young as nine and eleven, come forward themselves for Confirmation and take the responsibility of living out the Catholic life after this sacrament.

Here is one parish with which I am familiar in name, as some of my family lived in this diocese and the process is similar in several parishes. The Confimation prep is a year. http://www.sfx-kc.org/index.php/sacraments/

St.Francis Xavier Parish offers preparation classes for the Sacrament of Confirmation for high school freshmen and sophomores (and older students), following the guidelines established by the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, every other year. The next Confirmation Prep class will be offered during the 2011-2012 school year. Contact Mariann McCormally for more information

.Confirmation Documents for CONFIRMATION 2012

We offer an INTENSE preparation process for those young men and women

seeking to complete their initiation into the Catholic Christian church by the

Sacrament of Confirmation. This process includes: instruction, retreats and

prayer, and experiences of service and advocacy. Liturgical celebrations

and rituals at Sunday mass punctuate the transitions through the process.

What’s next?

+ a personal interview with one of the Confirmation team leaders

+ the choosing of a sponsor

+ participation in experiences of service and advocacy

+ Palm Sunday Reading of The Passion

Sunday, April 17, 2011

10:30 Mass

+ our first candidate session

Sunday, May 15, 2011

12:00 noon – 2:00 pm

+ a “Walking Retreat” and Sponsor-Candidate Event

Sunday, June 12, 2011

12:00 noon – 6:00 pm

…candidates will participate in a “walking retreat” on Pentecost Sunday

afternoon…we will return to the parish and be joined by the sponsors at 4:00

pm…our retreat afternoon will conclude with a shared meal…

+ Ignatius Day Celebration

Sunday, July 31, 2011

10:30 am Mass + PicnicCONFIRMATION 2012

…all classes will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church…

…12:00 noon- 2:00 pm…

Sunday, September 11, 2011 CLASS

Sunday, September 25, 2011 CLASS

Sunday, October 9, 2011 CLASS

Sunday, October 23, 2009 CLASS

Sunday, November 6, 2011 RITE OF ENROLLMENT and CLASS with SPONSORS

Sunday, November 20, 2011 CLASS (NCYC Pilgrims No-Penalty Absence)

Sunday, December 11, 2011 SFX CHRISTMAS COOKIE PROJECT

Sunday, January 8, 2012 CLASS

Sunday, January 22, 2012 CLASS

Sunday, February 12, 2012 CLASS

Sunday, February 26, 2012 RETREAT DAY

Sunday, March 4, 2012 RITE OF COVENANT and CLASS with SPONSORS

Sunday, March 25, 2012 CLASS and LETTER TO PASTOR DUE

Sunday, April 1, 2012 PALM SUNDAY PASSION READING at 10:30 Liturgy

Sunday, April 15, 2012 CLASS

Sunday, April 29, 2012 LAST CLASS

Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 7:15 pm REHEARSAL for CONFIRMATION CEREMONY

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 at 7:00 pm CELEBRATION OF CONFIRMATION

St. Francis Xavier Parish and Visitation Parish will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation

at St. Francis Xavier.

Goodbye to Kent

This is the last day of my vacation in Kent. Out of the thirty-five days I have been here, the sun has shone five days, the fog has taken over the area about ten days, and the rain has pelted down thirty days or so. But, the worst natural phenomenon has been the wind. Gale-like winds are blowing even as I write this post. One cannot walk on the cliff paths in the wind. The wind howls off the sea and sweeps into the fields, pushing the seagulls into safe havens, as they move away from the shore. I must admit that wind bothers me as I grew up in a tornado alley. Wind is not friendly. It has a mind of its own. I feel like the seagulls, which have moved inland to get away from the blasts. One landed on the roof here and cried as if to say, I do not want to be here. I wonder what this large, handsome bird thought of the hail three days ago? Do birds think about the weather, or do these animals just react?

Now, I am the type of animal to think and to make the most out of any situation. And, I was here to visit with friends, old and new, which I did. I have had a great time.

However, as a walker, I have been disappointed. Last year when I was here in May, the sun shone almost every day and the weather was mild. Some of the locals called it "boiling", but boiling to me would be Iowa heat of around 95 hot degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, not a nice 75. It has been cold here this year, on the coast. I can see France at the edge of the drive, and it must have been cold there are well. In fact, as I write, it is 51 and it will get down to 45 tonight. But, the warm weather is on the way, so I am told.

Therefore, I did what I usually do when vacations meet bad weather. I read. As I am working my way through all the novels of Dickens, I managed one (out of the four since November 3rd). I am also re-reading E. M. Forster, some novels of which I taught years ago. I read two books on St. John of the Cross, and several others mentioned on this blog, and some not mentioned dealing with political theory, St. Benedict. the CCC, the Bible, of course, yet another short life of St. Therese, several encyclicals, and more.

I did not walk as much on the cliffs as I wanted to do, but perhaps, next year.

Goodbye, Kent.

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known.

J.R.R. Tolkien 

.

As an alum, I am glad of this...ND redeems itself

Notre Dame redeems itself

http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/30962-notre-dame-files-religious-liberty-lawsuit-related-to-hhs-mandate/

The University of Notre Dame filed a lawsuit Monday (May 21) challenging the constitutionality of a federal regulation that requires religious organizations to provide, pay for, and/or facilitate insurance coverage for services that violate the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the lawsuit names as defendants Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and their respective departments.

The federal mandate requires Notre Dame and similar religious organizations to provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching. It also authorizes the government to determine which organizations are sufficiently “religious” to warrant an exemption from the requirement.

Notre Dame’s lawsuit charges that these components of the regulation are a violation of the religious liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and other federal laws.

“This filing is about the freedom of a religious organization to live its mission, and its significance goes well beyond any debate about contraceptives,” Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, wrote in a message to members of the campus community. “For if we concede that the government can decide which religious organizations are sufficiently religious to be awarded the freedom to follow the principles that define their mission, then we have begun to walk down a path that ultimately leads to the undermining of those institutions."

Notre Dame’s lawsuit was one of 12 filed Monday against the federal government by 43 plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the regulation.

Father Jenkins’ message and the lawsuit are available online.

Update on Religious Liberty Fight in USA

from the New York Times

Catholics File Suits on Contraceptive Coverage

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: May 21, 2012

This is part of the above article. Check out link for news. And, Father Z is keeping track of the updates on the list of those joining the suit. Praise God for this awakening. As an ND alum, I am glad for whatever reason the university is on the list.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, whose archdiocese in New York is among the plaintiffs, said in a statement: “We have tried negotiations with the administration and legislation with the Congress — and we’ll keep at it — but there’s still no fix. Time is running out and our valuable ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now.”

The bishops rejected a compromise brokered by Mr. Obama in February in an effort to defuse the conflict by having the insurance companies — not the Catholic employers — pay for and administer the coverage for birth control. When some Catholic organizations broke with the bishops and greeted the accommodation positively, the bishops resolved that Catholic institutions must present a united front.

Among those filing suit are the Archdioceses of New York, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis; the Dioceses of Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Rockville Centre on Long Island and Springfield, Ill.; the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of America; and Our Sunday Visitor, a Catholic publication. All the plaintiffs are being represented by the law firm Jones Day.

Dancing with fairies and the fiction of language in politics

Thanks to Wiki; William Blake's Oberon, Titiania and Puck

To me, fairy tales, (excluding Tolkien, but not Shakespeare) reveal a world of madness and irrationality. Fairy tales represent the unknown mysteries of nature, where the human rational view of the world no longer exists. Living in Europe right now is like living in land where the most important thing is dancing with fairies.

I can't believe I am writing a post which could have been written in the 1930s in Nazi Germany. The purposeful twisting of language in Great Britain and Europe with regard to political terms has become an explosion in a spaghetti factory. I have been listening to television from several nations, reading articles online and conversing with people. From these sources I have gleaned several serious problems which I want to share, as a heads up.

First, there is a purposeful disassociation of the term Socialist. Normal usage of the word is construed by the media and private persons to mean either Centralist positions, or worse, Communism. The original meaning of the word Socialist has been obfuscated to cover so many meaning as to make the word meaningless. Not only is this sloppy journalism, it is done with agendas including the softening of hard-line communists principles now found in most Socialist parties.

Second, the reports which refer to "far-left" and "far-right" groupings present various meanings to these terms, which have confused the man and woman in the street. What those of us who are students of history or politics deem as "far-right" would be the KKK, other openly racist groups, fascism and neo-Nazi parties.

However, the far-right now includes mainstream, even right to centralist parties which have or want stronger immigration policies. Of course, the term is being misused on purpose. The term is used to cover anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage advocates, as if these people were terrorists. Far-right means in some places opposition to sharia law. That is a completely ironic use of the term.

Third, the news gurus also use the term "far-left" in confusing arrays of definitions. In my book of definitions, the far-left would include communists, anarchists, syndicalists, and some socialists. The problem is this. The term "Communist" is taboo in the Euro-zone. However, many politicians, or would be government officials, or even diplomats in the Brussels, Strasbourg, even Frankfurt actually hold communist ideals but are not labelled as such. They are called "reformers", mostly. The term "far-left" is used in an undisciplined manner to include terrorists, as well as political candidates in Greece, who the media refuses to label communists, although that is what the platforms of such persons looks like, when one can actually find substance beneath the rhetoric.

The terms "government", "sovereignty", "austerity" and "growth" have been bandied about so much lately that one loses track of the misuses of these terms. At this point in any real political discussion, the terms are meaningless. The left twists austerity into unfair punishment and uses the term growth as if spending will get anyone out of debt. Families know this is ludicrous and if the jobs are not there, if the industries or worse, if the population is gone which would create a strong infrastructure (population problems caused by brain-drains, contraception and abortion, among other things), there can be no growth--that is simply a fairy tale and the media in Europe loves this fairy tale.

I am concerned, as in the old days, at least in the English-speaking world, journalists and other writers had a common parlance. It was only the propaganda machines which used language to suit political agendas. Now, we have a state where one has to listen and look closely to find the Truth.

I hope the Vatican can avoid slipping into sloppy language, or vague language, which is another post, as this happened last Autumn with the horrible socialist economic leaked paper, and with other documents in the 1960s.

If language is corrupted either by propaganda or agendas, or deceit , or narcissism, we no longer can communicate. This is happening very quickly in Europe.


If Catholics can save the Truth through the Teaching Magisterium, we need to be very careful about definitions and language. The relativistic onslaught is weakening not only language, but how we think. Thinking needs definitions and clarity. We are slipping into the dance of the fairies.


When we cannot trust a common language, we cannot trust each other. We have lost our civilisation's ability to communitcate.

Georgetown vs. Steubenville

I am thinking of two universities which have responded to the Obamacare mandate. The first is Steubenville, which courageously has decided to drop the insurance coverage of the university for students in order not to offer abortion counseling, abortifacients, and contraceptives.

The president of the university is on this video from ewtn. online. It worth looking at this and comparing it with the statement of Georgetown's press department regarding Sibelius at the Graduation this weekend.

Where to find Catholics in the States

From the Religious Census, 2010 USA. I am sure no one is surprised by the findings. Where are you, dear readers from the States?  http://rcms2010.org/maps2010.php?sel_denom=81&sel_map%5B%5D=2&confirm=confirm

Where to find Christians in America

Here is an interesting map, one of several, taken from information from the 2010 American Religious Census. Taken from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-chart-shows-the-most-and-least-religious-counties-in-america/

I suggest before the really hard times come, that you think of moving into an area where there are lots of Christians who are living like Christians. I do not think anyone is surprised by this map. For those having trouble reading the map, yellow is the highest concentration and blue, the lowest.

Good Leadership in Catholic Scotland is Attacked

In the May 19th issue of The Irish Post, a British-Irish paper, the front page is obviously against Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien's brave and Catholic stand against so-called "gay marriage". I would hope that Catholics in Ireland and abroad would support this good and great leader for being so courageous at this time. the Cardinal is the senior prelate in the Catholic Church in Scotland.

There is a fight in the Government over gay marriage, and there is a split in the parties concerning the possible legal acceptance of such.

Tory ministers attacked the Government's plan to push for this legalization of sin.

Now, I know from discussions this past winter that even some trad Irish  and British Catholics vote in the bozos who support gay marriage, as, like Catholic Dems in the States, they either vote with their pocket book, or are liberalized to the point where they disagree with the Church's teaching. The Tory's have a split with David Cameron on this stand.

The article quoted the Cardinal at length, "An aberration is a state of condition markedly different from the norm....Gay marriage is a grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right," that is marriage.

He praised the inter-faith coalition against this liberalization of the idea of marriage.

He is also quoted as coming out against the British Government's  insistence on forcing Catholic schools to present pro-homosexual literature in the classroom.

You can look at the article yourself.....

Prayer Requests Please

I have need for my dear readers to pray for four special intentions for me. All are serious petitions, two which need immediate answers to prayer, and Divine Intervention, God Willing.

Thank you.

Pray for Egypt.

Egypt is getting scarier and scarier. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in that country today, please. Photo from ACN.

Six post day--scroll down-- and here--for my Maltese friends-pay attention please

Petizzjoni 2012. Le għall-iffriżar tal-embrijuni umani fil-liġi l-ġdida dwar l-IVF f’Malta.

If you are in Malta, please go here, ask for, and sign the petition. Thank you. 

citizens.for.lifemalta@gmail.com

Welcome home, Chen Guangcheng

Chen Guangcheng is on his way to the United States today.  Let us continue to pray for him and his family. 

Do Catholics Know Who They Are?

One of my favorite movies is Lawrence of Arabia. It is an epic film, worthy of all the praise it has received over the years. The saddest scene for me is at the end, when Lawrence is leaving Egypt to return to England. He is in an army vehicle with a driver. The soldier says to him something to the effect that Lawrence must be glad to be going home. Lawrence has no home. He stands up in the jeep and looks at a small group of Bedouins, his only family in the past few years of the tale.  This scene echoes an earlier one, on purpose, when Lawrence had crossed the Sinai after the Battle of Aqaba, and ended up at the Suez Canal. A British soldier yells across the water, "Who are you? Who are you?" Identity, not having one, finding one, losing one, is one of the themes of the movie.

I am struck with the identity crisis of many Catholics, those in the media and those in my parish. At one time, Catholics could and would identify themselves as "Catholic", that is, as members of the One, True, Holy and Catholic Church. Identity was based on the sacrament of Baptism, making one a son or daughter of God, a member of a larger community which is the universal Church, as well as a member of the local parish.

Being Catholic meant that one was living a life of grace, by receiving the sacraments on a daily or weekly basis, reading Catholic literature and news, studying the Faith, and raising one's family to be Catholic. Being Catholic meant following the Ten Commandments, the Laws of the Church regarding Holy Days of Obligation, fasting, abstinence, tithing and so on. Being Catholic meant having friends and a social network of Catholics, from whom one's children would meet and marry other Catholics and carry on the heritage and identity of Catholicism.

Being a Catholic was being proud of belonging to the Church instituted by Christ--the Church created by Christ Himself to save and impart grace. Being a Catholic was the first identity, followed by being an American, or British, or Irish or whatever.

There were no such things as "liberal Catholics", "gay Catholics", "charismatic Catholics", "Latino Catholics" or "Catholic feminists". We were all just Catholics. We were proud to be Catholic.

What happened? How did Catholics lose their identity and choose other identities, such as those based on gender, sexual inclinations, liturgy,  politics, or nationality? Why were other identities taking the place of the most important identity? Why does one of my friends identify himself with being a gay Catholic? I do not primarily identify myself as being a heterosexual Catholic. I am much, much more than my sexuality, and so is he, but he limits himself.

We are in a dangerous position of fragmentation, both personally and corporately, owing to a misunderstanding of who we are as individuals and as the Church. I do not say "Church" without "the", as there is only one.

Fragmentation of an identity, either in a community or, worse, in a person, leads to a bi-polar existence, as we all must have some definition about who we are. We live according to how we define ourselves. That has been a large part of my previous discussion here on socialism, and how it re-defines humans outside of the definition of human taught by the Catholic Church.

In the old Baltimore Catechism, the question of identity was foremost in the presentation of Truth.

Who made you? God made me. Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this world and  to praise Him in the next.

There are variations, but the answer is one of identity.

Does it matter, that we know that we are children of God, heirs of heaven, sharers in the life of God, which is grace? Does it matter that we have an end which is eternal and that all of our actions lead and bear upon the choices leading to that end?

I see that the trend of the last several decades to re-define ourselves into sub-groupings is actually an existential thrashing about to find a lost identity. We have complicated definition by setting aside priorities. The origin and goal of anything determine its existence. We are spiritual being by creation, body and soul,  and have a spiritual goal-heaven, eternity, love, glorified body and soul. Where we are going determines how we get there and who we are, returning to our intended place of destiny. We were thrown out of the Garden of Eden and the Church brings us into the Kingdom of God. Our place determines who we are--nurture and nature.

We are not merely material, although that is part of who we are. We are not defined by our sexual tendencies, although we are identified by our gender. I am a daughter of the King, and you, dear reader, may be a son of God. We have the same Father, and we are family.

Whether the lost Catholic identity may be found I do not know. It is a tragedy of culture and of personal salvation. The lack of personal identity was the tragedy of a real man, T. E. Lawrence. The lack of our identity as Catholics weakens the Church as a whole and our own characters.

The saints are those who most fully discovered who they were and where they were going, and how to get there. We have them as guides. We have the Church giving us our identities in Christ. The sacraments mark times of identity-baptism, confirmation, marriage, holy orders, last rites....and those in-between for our nourishment-Eucharist and confession.

I pray for all those who have not found out who they are and for those who are confused. We need that center of being, our identity in God, as Catholics.

Mary knew who she was when she prayed the Magnificat. She is complete, body and soul in heaven.

My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;

for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Because he that is mighty,

hath done great things to me;

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is from generation unto generations,

to them that fear him.

He hath shewed might in his arm:

he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things;

and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel his servant,

being mindful of his mercy:

As he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his seed for ever.