1. Who are your favorite cartoon characters? Foghorn Leghorn and Mr. Jinx
2. Have you yet reached the point where you feel like you are from a different generation than today's youth? Yes. Sort of.
3. What was the first music video that really impressed you? What made it so amazing? "We're Not Going to Take It" by Twisted Sister. It was funny, it told a story, and it rocked.
4. Name a song and an era that comes to mind when you hear the word "Retro." Der Kommisar.
5. How has your life been affected by HIV or AIDS? Personally, it really hasn't, meaning I have not been close to anyone who has it or has died from it.
6. Yesterday in the USA, we celebrated "Mothers Day," a day where we honor the mothers in our lives. If you were on a "special day" nominating committee, whom or what would you recommend that we create a day in honor of? We have enough of those days already.
7. Last week, we had several tornadoes tear through many neighborhoods, destroying homes and devastating the lives of the residents. How would you feel if you lost every possession you owned? Or would it matter? How would you go on with your life? It would hurt, but I am sure I'd get over it sooner or later, like when the insurance check came through.
BONUS: Do you remember the 21st night of September? It is was my little brother's birthday.
I'm no real movie critic, but for the most part when it comes to reviewing comedies it really boils down to if the film was funny or not. With that being said, A Mighty Wind was very funny. The latest Christopher Guest "mockumentary" on the reunion of a group of 60's folk singers fits well into a sort of trilogy with Waiting for Guffman and Best of Show as an eccelctic trilogy of well-formed satires of mundane and often ridiculed aspects of American life (small town plays, dog shows, and of course, folk music). Basically, if you thought the other two were funny, you'll laught at this one. It is a bit formulaic, all three starting with interviews before the climactic event, then the actual event, and the after the fact reflections. But that is the format most PBS documentaries follow. Nothing too ingenious, but quirky and very funny. I give it an A-.
Several people have written requesting copies of my titihing talk. It was given about a month ago as a part of a mission I preached. Hopefully I will acquire a copy of the tape this week. I had an idea though. What if I recorded it as an mp3 and then found some way to stream it on the iternet so I don't have to mail out a bunch of tapes? Does anyone out there have space on a server or know of some feasible way of doing this? Victor Lams? RC?
The great Jesuit preacher, while deep in prayer late at night in his rooms in Naples, felt an inspiration to go out into the streets and preach. He wandered in the dark for a bit until he happened upon a certain corner, where he began to preach in the dark in a seemingly deserted part of town, and after having finished returned home. The next morning, a young woman of questionable morals came to his confessional in great sorrow for her sins. She told him that she had heard him preaching God's wrath against unrepentant sinners through her open window during the previous night, and was stricken with a deep sense of contrition for her sin and had rushed to confession to be bathed in God’s mercy and undertake a life of penance for her past sins. Some versions of the story say that she was with her paramour, who laughed at St. Francis’ preaching and at the woman’s repentance, and upon doing so dropped dead on the spot!
I appears that on May 31st: Archbishop Alfred Hughes will offer the first Tridentine Mass to be celebrated in over in 30+ years in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. He will be offering it for the Latin Liturgy Association Convention.
In obeying his calling a person fulfills his essence, although he would never have been able to discover this, his own archetype and ideal within himself, in his nature, by descending into the center of his natural being, his superego, his subconscious or superconscious, by studying his pre-dispositions, yearning, talents, his potential. Simon the fisherman could have explored every region of his ego prior to his encounter with Christ, but he would not have found "Peter" there; for the present, the "form" summed up in the name "Peter", the particular mission reserved for him alone, is hidden in the mystery of Christ's soul. - From Hans urs von Balthasar's Prayer
I just offered mass and gave a talk to an outstanding new Catholic group for fathers and their sons called Kepha. From their own website, Kepha is also the father-son organization that is referred to as The Brotherhood of the Iron Will. Kepha is high-octane Catholicism fueling fathers and sons to a holy manliness that contradicts a life of spiritual laziness and moral compromise. Its charism mirrors the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, the championship skier, mountain climber and practical joker from Turin, Italy.
If you are interested in getting involved or want more information drop by their site.
You have escaped damnation and made it to Purgatory, a place where the dew of repentance washes off the stain of sin and girds the spirit with humility. Through contrition, confession, and satisfaction by works of righteousness, you must make your way up the mountain. As the sins are cleansed from your soul, you will be illuminated by the Sun of Divine Grace, and you will join other souls, smiling and happy, upon the summit of this mountain. Before long you will know the joys of Paradise as you ascend to the ethereal realm of Heaven.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase and there are all sorts of events happening in our state to commemorate it (visit the official web site for more information). If you can't make it down for any of the events, you can celebrate in the privacy of your own howm by listening to The Bluerunners' song "3 Cents and Acre" written and recorded to mark the anniversary.
I was speaking to a parishoner yesterday who told me that after hearing several of my homilies on tithing that he decided to give 10% of his income to the Church after years and years of giving little or nothing. He told me has has been astounded at the generosity of God since he began to regularly tithe and regrets never having done it before.
As we await the Matrix sequel, I have a question. What movie sequels have been generally hailed as better than the originals. I can think of two: The Godfather, Part II and The Empire Strikes Back. Are there any others?
Thanks to Mark for informing me of Mariavite Priestesses and "Bishopesses." (Here is a picture - impressive). As he writes, "They put U.S. priestesses to shame in the vestment and liturgy dept. They are very traditional and the embroidery on their vestments is up there with some Japanese school in terms of its almost microscopic exactitude. They are the first women priests I know of (since the early '20s, I believe). They had a charismatic foundress who was a Franciscan in the era just prior to WWI when that part of Poland was under Tsarist Russian rule. She founded an order for women and men. They were strong advocates of Adoration. A good number of their vocations came from the peasantry, but there were worthy representatives of the nobility as well. The male vocations were thought to have been some of the best Poland had to offer at the time. They really practiced poverty, had model orphanages, workshops, farms, etc., making a big impression on the lower classes. (As with many cases of dissident Christianity, they really seemed to practice turning the other cheek better that member of the official Church.) I know one reason why they were excommunicated by St. Piux X was their refusal to collect money from the poor (?), but also there were aspects of the foundress' supposed revelations that did not jive with Church doctrine. (I believe there is an encyclical about them.) They later took the route of Old Catholicism.
After the foundress' death it got weirder. The majority remained in the foundress' version of their more or less typical interpretaion of Old Catholicism at the time. However, for a time in their motherhouse, and elsewhere, more "revelations" were advanced by a senior priest, priests started having "solomonic marriages" with nuns (typical concubine relationships as well as "marriages"), the children of such unions were considered spirit children. They were protected under Tsarist rule since they were competition for the Catholic Church. There was persecution from Catholics. There was some protection during the inter-war Polish Republic, since Catholics then were not as large a majority as now. And they were protected by the Peoples' Republic for the same reasons as under Tsarist Russia. They are still around. I lived in Lublin, Poland 1982-84 and there was one Mariavite church there. It looked like a small Tridentine church, with a portrait of the foundress next to the crucifix. The weirder group with women priests (and male) consider her something of a member of the Trinity, and a real bride of Christ. I guess one explanation for their existence could be the heavy Marian influence in the Polish R.C. Church. And, of course, there were some real social injustices to address. There was also the literary idea of Polish messianism, which fed into some of this movement's mythology. (There are also some recorded instances of weird Catholicism in France following the French Revolution, splinterings from the "petite eglise" movement.) A woman such as the foundress possibly could pull what she did because Polish women at that time were not the wilting lilies one would find elsewhere. Many women had to fend for themselves since their men had been sent to Siberia for revolutionary activity.
When I was over there in the '80s, it seemed as though their history to a large extent innoculated them against modern feminism. Since the Catholic Church is so hugely important in Poland, there will always be an element within it which will be dissatisfied in a way entirely different from they way we Westerners would be. So, there is a small trickle of some people joining either the weirder or more normal Mariavite churches. As would be expected, the children of priest-nun unions suffer from neuroses similar to children brought up in other cults or kibbutzim. As irregular as the solomonic marriage business was, one positive thing to be said for it was that at least the nuns who had previously almost been afraid of their own shadows, did develop more resiliency and, sort of, more complete personalities. An even weirder wrinkle in the history of the priestessed Mariavites was that because their clergy are not available in all parts of Poland (perhaps it's a vocation crisis) the laity can now confect the Eucharist. I know of two books with photos (a real hoot) of this group. I do not know how to download pictures onto the internet, otherwise I would re-order these books from interlibrary loan and do it. If you know someone who knows how, it could be fun to post. One is "The Third Adam" by Jerzy Peterkiewicz, London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1975. This is the one history in Enlish, it is very poorly written. The author is a Catholic, but too much a fan of his subject and reads to much meta-mythology into it. The other is "Journeys to Glory" by Adam Bujak, New York, Harper & Row, 1976. This is a nice coffee table book of Polish religious customs."
I stumbled upon this site today looking for reviews of Radiohead albums. The site says its purpose is To build a global community of people who have a firm grasp of the Bible, a clear understanding of contemporary popular culture, and the ability to connect one to the other. They had right on "study guides" of Radiohead, but I haven't been able to meander around the rest of the site. Is it as good as it looks?
I first became acquainted with the band Radiohead back in the summer of 1993 when I was living in Wyoming after thier first hit "Creep" from their album Pablo Honey became popular. Actually, I am not sure I ever heard the song on radio since I really didn't listen to radio at the time (and I still don't). The only way I knew of the song was from Beavis and Butthead. I seem to remember them thinking most of the song "sucked" except for the refrain which "rocked." They wondered why the rest of the song couldn't be like the refrain. Regardless of the origin of my knowledge of the song or the band, I had no desire to listen to them after hearing the single.
Fast-forward to December of 2000, and their latest CD Kid A was all over Rome, so I decided to pick up a copy to have a listen. It went through my CD player a couple of times on a cold, wet Roman day and I frankly couldn't understand why people were raving over this post-modern musical garbage. So I spoke to a friend who was a big Radiohead fan and she told me that I was approaching the album all wrong. It's not to be made sense of; it is to be experienced. The songs were like the art on the album cover and in the booklet. Just as they were electronic landscapes, she told me, the songs were electronic soundscapes, soundscapes all flowing together. (Visit here for a "study guide" to the album which explains it much better than I can)I listened to it again, and I got it. Some songs were better than others, but they were still all needed to complete the painting. The CD didn't leave my player for months.
Then I decided to buy their previous album OK Computer. I remember seeing it plastered all over the FNACs in Paris when I was living there back in the summer of 1997. I understood this CD right away, and I came to believe then as I still believe now that it was the best album of the 1990's and one of the best rock albums ever. Not nearly as "experimental" as Kid A, it was not old-hat rock and roll either. I knew that it had broken new ground in 1997 and critics and the public both hailed it as a monumental achievement. It was a truly post-modern album, haunting and electronic (hence the title to a certain extent). But what was really amazing about it is that it was Huxley and Orwell put to music - the rise of the tecnological state, government intrusion, fear of the future, alienation and angst all made very, very listenable. (The "study guide" for this album is well done too), And once again all of the songs sort of flowed together and each one was integral to the whole of the album.
At that point I decided to purchase their 1995 CD The Bends, and just couldn't get into it. If I had never heard Kid A or OK Computer, I am sure I would have liked it. But after having encountered the other two it was nothing more than your average disjointed rock album. (Listening to it now, several years after, I can see much better what a fine album it really was and even detect the seeds of OK Computer lurking there). It was a month or so after I first purchased it in 2001 that Radiohead released Amnesiac, a collection of songs that didn't make the cut for Kid A. There were some great tunes, but it wasn't a "whole" album like the previous two. A nice collection of short stories, but not a novel.
So, now we come to their album Hail To The Thief, to be released in in June of this year. I am sure the title is some allusion to George Bush, although they don't whine about political issues as vocally as other groups, as you might imagine they do have leftist sentiments as most of their comrades do. I've been able to hear the new CD, and I don't hear too much of the political propaganda in it (then again it is hard to understand what lead vocalist Thom Yorke is saying half the time). Overall, I was disappointed in the CD. However, I am not too sure my critique is fair since I was and forever will be expecting another OK Computer or Kid A, and very few bands can produce consistently like that. HTTT is not so much an album as a collection of B-sides; not as coherent as the other two. Some of the songs, "2+2=5," "Backdrifts," and the single "There, There" are exceptional however. The whole first side is solid really, while the second side is more or less bland and average. HTTT fits in somewhere between OK Computer and Kid A one critic wrote, although I think it is more like the straight, albeit "alternative" rock of The Bends. It will sell millions I am sure and will transfer well to being played live and in concert. Per my review, I give it a B-.
More Flash Fun from the Anti-Catholic bigots at Iconbusters! This time their short film is called Mystic Pizza about people who see Mary in a pizza and start worshipping it. Not only do they ridicule Catholics in it, they also mock the Italians and their piety.
I am so glad I am on their e-mailing list so I can find out when these new little films come out.
In this our final installment of Anti-Pope Week we look toward the future. In our last installment we mentioned Pope Pius' (also known as Pope Lucky) secretary, Cardinal Bateman, the fellow who ordained Pope Lucky bishop in the place that looked like a Holiday Inn Meeting Room. Anyhow, it appears that Cardinal Bateman has broken ranks with Pope Lucky over a dispute over dowsing. Here is a brief summary of the spat:
Gordon Bateman was once a cardinal under Fr. Lucian Pulvermacher, O.F.M., Cap.
In April 2001 he wrote a letter to Fr. Lucian (Pope Pius XIII) and his two clergymen suggesting their web page be purged of writings not appropriate for their site. All agreed, but not for long.
In August 2001 things came to a head with Fr. Lucian calling his and other's letters, "hate mail." Mr. Bateman withdrew from the sect.
Mr. Bateman objected to Fr. Lucian's insistence on using the pendulum as well as to some content on the True Catholic web site that Mr. Bateman found objectionable.
In December, 2001, Mr. Bateman asked the Pius XIII sect's webmaster repeatedly to remove his articles from their web site. After four or five demands the pages were removed.
So, after all of this, what is Mr. Bateman up to now? He is all about unity baby! He is trying to get all of the sedevacantists together to, I would presume, elect a new pope. Visit his Sedevacantisit Unity web page (Geocities again).
It is the one you have all been waiting for - Pope Pius XIII, currently reigning in, you guessed it, Montana. Pope Pius' church has the nicest web page, I have to admit. He can afford something a bit more than a few megs on Geocities (collections must be up). Basically, Pope Pius got elected when three "approved" laymen got together in 1998 as a "conclave" in a log cabin somewhere and elected Lucien Pulvermacher, OFM Cap as the new Pope Pius XIII. Pope Pius has to be more of a Pope than Pope Mike, since he had real white smoke at his conclave. Read the world's reaction to his election.
His page is packed with great suff - writings and speeches, encyclicals, and my favorites, pictures and videos!!! Also check out the photos from his consecration by his friend Cardinal Bateman (who we will hear about tomorrow). Here he is ordaining a priest two years ago in Spokane. Notice what a true Franciscan he still remains using a motel room as a chapel - che poverta'!
Ending now on a good and a bad note. On the good note, I have written to Pope Pius' secretary and he has informed me that the Pope has excommunicated Pope Michael, Pope Gregory XVII, and of course Pope John Paul II. On the otherhand, a reader notes. one of the most troubling aspects of the anti-papal job these days is thevolume of misdirected e-mail about clerical child-molestation. Want to complain about priestly pederasty? Send your complaint to that phony in Rome, not here.
Why the fascination over being named Gregory XVII? Anyhow, the next anti-pope we "celebrate" this week is Gregory XVII - except it is the French Candadian Gregory XVII (he is still a nut, don't worry). He is a much more humble anti-pope and not that big on flaunting his papal majesty as is evidenced in the website of his cult, I mean religious order, The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec (aka "The Apostles of Infinite Love"). Their whole site and "order" really do seem quite innocuous, just like any of these new French religious communities popping up everywhere. But if you start looking a little deeperyou see it is a little strange.
The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God, requested by the Most Blessed Virgin at La Salette (France), was founded in Canada in 1962. Not too sure I remember that one. Is that another thing Melanie made up?
The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God is part of The Catholic Church of the Apostles of the Latter Times. This Church is autonomous and universal, it exists and operates under its own hierarchy. The faith, doctrine, tradition and practices of this Church are Christian Catholic. While firmly wishing to return to the evangelical simplicity and purity of the early days of Christianity, The Catholic Church of the Apostles of the Latter Times wants to keep intact the doctrinal and dogmatic teachings dispensed with continuity, from century to century, by the Saints and Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church. So, they are their own Church, which means that they must have their own Pope. Read this little declaration for more information.
Unfortunately, they really don't have much information on this Gregory on this site (his real name is Gaston Tremblay). But if you search the Internet a bit, you see he does not appear to be the kindest of popes. He seems to have had an affinity for young children. And there are some who seem to have suffered great psychological damage at his and his church's hands. Why can't he be a fun anti-Pope like Pope Mike?
It should be obvious from viewing his web site why Gregory XVII is my favorite anti-pope - he has a certain papal panache that the plainly makes the other pretenders papal poseurs. Basically his story is that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, even gave him the stigmata, and then named him Pope (actually I think Jesus did this, and crowned him with the Tiara). It is mostly the same old schtick:
The greater part of the Cardinals, Bishops and Priests have apostatized. The reigning Pope, Saint Paul VI, is the innocent victim of freemasonry and communism which actually govern the Church. The Pope is kept under drugs, he is a prisoner within the walls of the Vatican, unable to do or decide anything save what the enemies of the Church ordain. The true doctrine of the Church has been adulterated; the Most Holy Sacrament profaned; the Blessed Virgin set aside. We are in the first general apostasy of the last times. One sole place of salvation remains: El Palmar de Troya (Spain), beacon and stronghold of the Faith, depository of Holy Tradition, seminary of the true teachings, altar where the one true Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. Away from El Palmar reign darkness, confusion and error.
His web master doesn't appear to be the most capable, so his page is scattered all over the place. Here is a site dedicated to Palmar de Troya itself (the Masons, as usual, are behind everything). Here is another page dedicated to his holiness with great pictures of him with the stigmata. He also founded a convent of cloistered Carmelites, who I am sure serve his every pontifical need.
What makes him so great is that he has dinero (and lots of it) so he can go full tilt in playing pope. You must see the church that he built, it is amazing. I had a priest friend of mine who went out there a few years back to try to get an audience with his holiness, but being as that he was not part of the sect (he was wearing a cassock even) he was turned away. He was able to admire the basilica (why can't our bishops build churches like this) and see Pope Gregory and his conclave of cardinals roll through town in their entourage of about twenty Mercedes Benzes. He is not like the other anti-popes hanging around weird rocks in Kansas and getting crowned in the Holiday Inn. He by far is the classiest of the anti-popes, and he is man enough to wear a tiara.
Our first anti-pope this week is Pope Michael I (his given name is David Bawden). Being traditional, yet concerned about spreading the gospel message, he (like many of the other current anti-popes) has constructed a web site dedicated to his holy self. I think the scanned holy card really adds a nice pontifical effect. As his sites states:
On July 16, 1990 the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church elected David Bawden as Pope Michael, ending an almost 32 year long interegnum.
So you see, tomorrow is the twelve year anniversary of his "coronation" - so I think everyone should drop him a line to wish him a happy anniversary. Luckily, the Pope is easily accessible by e-mail, you can correspond with him using the information supplied on this page. Send him your love. I've written him before, but our conversation ended when he told me that John Paul II is not the real pope since he was not crowned with a papal tiara, and I told him only queens wear tiaras.
Many of you will remember last summer when I hosted "Anti-Pope" week when we looked at the lives (and web pages) of a few of the major claimants of the See of Peter presently existing in our world. Well, because of a glitch in the Blogger archives, these posts are a bit difficult to access now. Therefore I have decided to re-post them for easier access in the future. I might try to give a little update too, if I have time. So, here is the original post introducing that monumental event in the history of Catholic Blogging:
Happy Anti-Pope Week
In our continuing effort to keep you abreast of all the latest goings-on in the Church, we here at A Saintly Salmagundi have named this week Anti-Pope Week and in doing so we hope to supply you each day this week with a little information on the most important of the currently reigning anti-popes. Unfortunately, most Catholics (because of erroneous information usually promulgated by contemporary visionaries) do not really know what an anti-pope is. An anti-pope is not an evil pope, like the Antichrist. He is not some possessed being that will deceive the faithful with erroneous teaching in the end-times. Instead an anti-pope is a false claimant of the Holy See in opposition to a pontiff canonically elected. At various times in the history of the Church illegal pretenders to the Papal Chair have arisen, and frequently exercised pontifical functions in defiance of the true occupant. Here is a list of the claimants of the See of Peter up until our times. Tomorrow, for our first installment we will look at Pope Michael I who writes encyclicals on the Atkins Diet.
Doctors at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei have recently discovered a "fossilized" fetus in the Abdomen of a 76-year-old woman, suffering from cervical cancer while operating to remove her womb.
The color of a Divorce Ceremony is turquoise. Shortly after I saw this I was told that recently the color turquoise had been seen in a rainbow in Hawaii. Your symbolic gifts to the participants could be turquoise stones in small velvet sacks, or rings of turquoise representing a mended Broken Circle. Your choice of something appropriate will be perfect. The participants forming a circle for the Ceremony sounds correct.
I had heard about this yesterday but didn't post anything on it because the articles I found did not have pictures; but this one does. Check it out. I love the color of the altarcloth! Doesn't it seem that they have a lot of wine for such a samll "mass"? The caption says they are celebrating mass on Saturday. I can just imagine what their Sunday high liturgies must be like. And once again, they all need to go to a new beauty salon and get some more vibrant, modern hair-dos.
Got $80,000 to blow in order to meet the woman of your dreams? If so, the folks at Coincidence Design are just what you need. Cough up the cash and they will design a coincidence assured to make you meet the woman of your dreams and have her fall madly in love with you... Is this for real?
CycleBeads are an easy way for a woman to track her cycle and clearly identify the days she could become pregnant and the days when pregnancy is most unlikely. They are based on a method of family planning that is more than 95% effective in preventing pregnancy when used correctly .
Inspired by the Holy Father's latest encyclical, I wanted to offer a few articles on the connection between the resurrection, the Eucharist, and the outpouring of the Spirit, however I couldn't find much on this subject in Google. This is all I found. Anybody else know of anything else good on this?
As advertised Googlism will tell you what Google really thinks of you.
Trying my name gets you:
bryce sibley is a transitional deacon of the diocese of lafayette
bryce sibley is blogging again over at a saintly salmagundi
bryce sibley is a member of the lepanto group
Trying other names you see that there are many things to say about Mark Shea. Just a few of them are:
mark shea is all sorts of good today
mark shea is very much right
mark shea is catholic and enjoying linking to the wild sexual practices some gay people enjoy
I just recieved this from Tony C, the man in the streets.
Just had to tell you: On my way home from making a holy hour I stopped into my local neighborhood Latino market. Imagine my surprise when I saw Rap Snacks among the Herr's Potato Chip display. The Sour Cream and Dill were delicious. The Platinum BBQ weren't too shabby either. Word.
Mark over at Ad Orientem is correct (as usual). I loved the article from the Anglican Journal entitled "What the Church is Wearing." Here are my favorites from this article:
Update: A faithful reader notices that some of these liturgical get-ups look like Irish Dance Dresses. Some of these irish Dance Dresses (like this one and that one) actually have real religious symbols on them)
Yah. Dees Nuns are getting pumped and increasing their range of motion. You can read this Reuter's article to find out more. One day theese teeny little girly Sisters might be pumped like us. Yah. Yah.
Update: An astute observation from one of our readers: I don't know why they called it changing habits, when not one of the nuns pictured wore a habit.
My good friend, Fr. Christopher Nalty, from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. was recently called up to work for the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome. I got to know Fr. Chris while we were studying together in Rome and he is a fine priest, gentleman, and canon lawyer and I am sure will do very well in the Vatican. Bravo.
For those of you who do not know this already, the reason the Pope wears white is because of Pope St. Pius V. As a Dominican he wore his white habit during his papacy, thus beginning the tradition of the Pope wearing white (Today, the popes wear a white simar).
Allowing his church to be used for a service marking the annual World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination has gotten a Milwaukee priest in hot water with the archbishop and attracted attention elsewhere in the country.
An excerpt from a letter by St. Catherine of Siena to Pope Gregory XI, the last of the Avignon Popes:
Forgive what I am compelled by First Truth to say. He is asking you to take just action against the multitudinous crimes of those who graze and feed in the garden of Holy Church. Since he has given you authority and you have acceptd it, you ought to be using the power and strength that is yours. If you don't intend to use it, it would be better and more to God's honor and the good of your soul to resign. Don't make light of the works of the Holy Spirit that are being asked of you. You have the authority to give peace to those who ask you--for you carry in your hand the keys to heaven--and so if you fail to act, you will be severly rebuked by God. If I were in your place, I would be afraid of incurring divine judgement. And so with all my heart I am begging you in the name of Christ crucified to be obedient to God's will. Don't make it necessary for me to complain about you to Christ crucified.
St. Catherine always effused sweetness in her service of the sick and the poor, however there was one woman dying of a foul and festering cancer that tried the saint’s charity. Not only was the stench from her lesions most vile, but also the sick woman was always in a loathsome and abusive mood. St. Catherine felt that she was letting down her Lord in her revulsion for this woman, so in order to overcome the weakness of her flesh, after bathing the woman, as an act of humility, she drank entire basin of the pus-ridden water which she had just used to cleanse the woman’s rancid and weeping sores. Afterwards she told her spiritual director, "Never in my life have I tasted any food and drink sweeter or more exquisite than this pus." A bit later, Our Lord appeared to her in glory and as a reward for such an act of mortification lifted his glowing white tunic and let the Saint drink from the sweet stream of blood and water that poured from his wounded side.
I just finished reading Denis Crouan's The Liturgy After Vatican II: Collapsing or Resurgent?. It is an easy read, you can do it in one or two sittings; I highly reccomend it. The book is basically divided into three sections: one on the "traditionalist" position on the liturgy after Vatican II, the second on the "progressive" position, and the final section on suggestions for a path of general renewal.
It is first section for which one should read the book. In it Crouan poses the question of if two Roman Rites exisit after the Council: the so-called "Mass of Pius V" (Tridentine) and the "Mass of Paul VI" (Novus Ordo)? His answer is a definitive "No." There is only one Roman Rite and it is the Novus Ordo. The permission granted for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in Ecclesia Dei is exactly that - a permission, and should not be considered the norm, nor allowed to co-exist indefinitely along side the Novus Ordo. The permission was granted until a genuine "renewal" of the liturgy could take place.
I am sure this argument will elicit some strong reactions from my readers. If it does, please read the book and see everything Crouan has to say. He supplied for me a coherent answer to the question of two co-exisiting "Roman Rites" that has plagued me for years.
In honor of Charlton Heston retiring as head of the NRA visit the Chuck Heston On-Line Shrine. Maybe if he can quit whining about all the backlash he got for his Oscar speech, Michael Moore might have something to say about Heston's retirement.
I got this e-mail today from a citizen of the fine city of Breaux Bridge:
Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29 at 9:37AM [CT] on NBC Today Show the Breaux Bridge segment is scheduled to air (again). . . . we were bumped from today . . . but they said their ratings were up in the Breaux Bridge area this morning - a good thing for them!!!
The segment will feature muscians, food, culture, and the life of a Breaux Bridge-ian . . .no one has yet to see the actual tapes so we are all quite curious. Their crew spent four days shooting footage . . .we are unsure of what has made the cut!
The Crawfish Festival Association promises more national publicity from the 2003 Crawfish Festival this weekend!
I just received a copy of the recently released DVD of the "New Version" of Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso. When I opened it, by the looks of the cover, I would have thought I was getting a porno video. Although the same picture is on the original version cover, the prevalent themes are radically different. And for anyone who has ever seen the movie (everyone should see it) the original cover gives a much more accurate representation of what the movie is really about. Of course the new cover is there to sell the movie, because as we all know sex sells. It is just disappointing. However, the people who rent it thinkink it is some big erotic European film are the ones who will be really disappointed.
So, can y'all think of any other movies that had a poster or packaging that made the movie out to be something totally different than what it was really about?
St. Louis was not only well known for his preaching, but also for his pugilism. During his first sermon in the village of Roussay, a group of drunks in a café close enough to be heard by the saint and congregation, were mocking St. Louis with vulgar shouts and songs. As the sermon continued, so did the rude comments, and the people could tell that St. Louis was getting angry and annoyed. After he finished his sermon and blessed the people, St. Louis walked quickly toward the men at the café who were mocking him during his sermon. They greeted St. Louis, who was a massive man with a few derisive yet humorous comments. St. Louis however responded with his fists. He struck each of the men, knocking them unconscious. Then just as Our Lord drove the moneychangers out of the temple, St. Louis began tearing up the café, overturning tables, throwing chairs, smashing glasses and breaking bottles. He then walked out of the café, over the bodies of the drunken hoodlums, and back up the street. Needless to say, he never had a problem with disruptive behavior during his homilies for the rest of his stay in that town. Another time, in the Diocese of Nantes, a dozen or so unbelieving student intellectuals set upon St. Louis one night because the subject matter of his preaching was so contrary to their ideology. Although St. Louis desired to be a martyr, he knew this was not the time and proceeded to waylay all twelve of these university thugs. The fight made so much noise that a crowd gathered, with some of the young men joining in on de Montfort’s side to end the melee. On another occasion after St. Louis remonstrated a man for being loud and disrespectful in church, a dispute ensued. The man, who was a Colonel in the army, began to laugh at deMontfort, this infuriated the saint even more, but the man would not listen to the priest and drew his sword. de Montfort again asked him to leave, and at this point the colonel began to curse St. Louis and called for the help of his troops. A brawl began in the back of the church. There were thrown chairs, much shouting, screaming women and St. Louis and the colonel bloodied and battered. The fight was eventually broken up, with the soldiers and their leaders fleeing the church.
These stories are all taken from Eddie Doherty's biography of St. Louis deMontfort, Wisdom's Fool.
The Holy Father beatified six today, including Fr. Giacomo Alberione, founder of the Pauline Family, and Marco D'Aviano, Cappucin Friar who lead the Christian forces against the Muslin fleet at the Battle of Vienna. The text of his homily in Italian can be found here. He comments on D'Aviano's love of prayer, his corageous preaching, and numerous miracles worked. Not specifically mentioning the Muslim onslaught and the ensuing battles he says that D'Aviano worked to defend "the liberty and unity of Christian Europe" and that the contemporary European continet should look to him for an example of unity.
Legend has it that, following the victory, the Viennese reportedly found sacks of coffee abandoned by the enemy and, finding it too strong for their taste, diluted it with cream and honey.
Pictures from the beatification ceremony can be found here.
Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They did not listen they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will.
Several people have sent me this link about an Italian calendar featuring handsome young Italian priests in front of famous Roman monuments. You can go here to see all of the pictures of the so-called "pin-up priests." Che schifo.
Happy Divine Mercy Sunday everyone! I made it back safely from teaching the Missionaries of Charity in Memphis. I had a truly blessed time teaching, praying, and laughing with the Sisters (I was teaching the junior professed who come to Memphis each year for a few weeks of seminars and retreat). Everytime I come back from working with the humble and joyful MC's I feel so invigorated and convinced of God's mercy and the truth of the resurrection. What a beautiful witness. While I was there I also got to visit with a few friends and eat some BBQ. Dem some good ribs.
Seems that Sr. Rosalind is the biggest nun masseuse around. She even runs a massage school! Check out her baseball card.
When I touch, my message goes through the body to the mind to heal itself. My spiritual message coincides with my touch to spiritually heal the body. -- Sister Rosalind Gefre
For more nuns giving massages visit here, here, and here.
I am heading out to Memphis, TN for a few days to do a series of seminars for the Missionaries of Charity. I'll be giving sixteen seminars on "The Church and Her Teaching." While I am away I'll be missing the first few days of Festival International in Lafayette - probably the best festial we have down here. I will however be back in time to make it to the last two evenings and to get to hear Los Lobos. Have a blessed Octave!
To help you to get into the Easter Season this year, we here at A Saintly Salmagundi would like to share with you a small array of fine Resurrection Crucifixes (known by some as Resurrexifixes) for your Paschal edification!
Pope John Paul II plans to end a major breach within the unity of the Catholic Church, welcoming back three traditionalist bishops in May, according to a report in the London Times.
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, will celebrate Mass using the Tridentine rite on May 24 in the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major. According to the Times report, the cardinal-- who has been assigned by the Pope to seek a reconciliation with the schismatic Society of St. Pius X-- will lift the bans of excommunication on three of the four bishops ordained in 1988 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Yesterday I recieved a most intriguing e-mail on the evils of world Zionism. The best part of the e-mail was where it was from, a web-site called Let Us Go and Help the Bishops. There seems to be hours of reading enjoyment on this "Traditional Catholic" website. Here are just a few of my favorite parts:
Links - Complete with the pantented Theologometer to rate a sites orthodoxy. You will be happy to know that the Vatican got a "moderate" rating, one step above "liberal."
Boycott Page - Boycitting everyone from Deal Hudson's Crisis Magazine because they are "pro Iraq war and therefore against the Pope, schismatic, and Zionist" to JC Penny because "their newspaper inserts almost exclusively feature mixed multicultural couples."
Marriage - Find yourself a Trad Russian mail-order bride.
"The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ (cf. Jn 15:11); it is in some way the anticipation of heaven, the “pledge of future glory”. In the Eucharist, everything speaks of confident waiting “in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ”. Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the world: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54). This pledge of the future resurrection comes from the fact that the flesh of the Son of Man, given as food, is his body in its glorious state after the resurrection. With the Eucharist we digest, as it were, the “secret” of the resurrection. For this reason Saint Ignatius of Antioch rightly defined the Eucharistic Bread as “a medicine of immortality, an antidote to death” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 18).
Fr. JP raises a fine point in the comments box about a certain problem with von Balthasar's theology of the passion. Balthasar said that during the Passion, in order to feel the full depths of the Father's abandonment, he relinquised the beatific vision. As alluring as this thought might seem (and as well as Balthasar argues it), he is clearly mistaken (this however does not delegitimize the rest of his theology, especially about Holy Saturday).
For a well-written explanation and critique of Balthasar's Theology of the Passover and his ideas on the beatific vision during the Passion, I suggest Saward's The Mysteries of March. Saward refutes Balthasar's belief that Christ relinquished the Beatific Vision during the passion using strong Thomistic argumentation.
The most significant of recent sources that back up the traditional belief in Christ's possession of the beatific vision in his human intellect is from John Paul II's letter Novo Millennio Inuente nos. 26-27:
Jesus' cry on the Cross, dear Brothers and Sisters, is not the cry of anguish of a man without hope, but the prayer of the Son who offers his life to the Father in love, for the salvation of all. At the very moment when he identifies with our sin, "abandoned" by the Father, he "abandons" himself into the hands of the Father. His eyes remain fixed on the Father. Precisely because of the knowledge and experience of the Father which he alone has, even at this moment of darkness he sees clearly the gravity of sin and suffers because of it. He alone, who sees the Father and rejoices fully in him, can understand completely what it means to resist the Father's love by sin. More than an experience of physical pain, his Passion is an agonizing suffering of the soul. Theological tradition has not failed to ask how Jesus could possibly experience at one and the same time his profound unity with the Father, by its very nature a source of joy and happiness, and an agony that goes all the way to his final cry of abandonment. The simultaneous presence of these two seemingly irreconcilable aspects is rooted in the fathomless depths of the hypostatic union.
Faced with this mystery, we are greatly helped not only by theological investigation but also by that great heritage which is the "lived theology" of the saints. The saints offer us precious insights which enable us to understand more easily the intuition of faith, thanks to the special enlightenment which some of them have received from the Holy Spirit, or even through their personal experience of those terrible states of trial which the mystical tradition describes as the "dark night". Not infrequently the saints have undergone something akin to Jesus' experience on the Cross in the paradoxical blending of bliss and pain. In the Dialogue of Divine Providence, God the Father shows Catherine of Siena how joy and suffering can be present together in holy souls: "Thus the soul is blissful and afflicted: afflicted on account of the sins of its neighbour, blissful on account of the union and the affection of charity which it has inwardly received. These souls imitate the spotless Lamb, my Only-begotten Son, who on the Cross was both blissful and afflicted". In the same way, Thérèse of Lisieux lived her agony in communion with the agony of Jesus, "experiencing" in herself the very paradox of Jesus's own bliss and anguish: "In the Garden of Olives our Lord was blessed with all the joys of the Trinity, yet his dying was no less harsh. It is a mystery, but I assure you that, on the basis of what I myself am feeling, I can understand something of it".14 What an illuminating testimony! Moreover, the accounts given by the Evangelists themselves provide a basis for this intuition on the part of the Church of Christ's consciousness when they record that, even in the depths of his pain, he died imploring forgiveness for his executioners (cf. Lk 23:34) and expressing to the Father his ultimate filial abandonment: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Lk 23:46).
Finally, for a more detailed yet succinct analysis of this topic see Matthew Levering's "Balthasar on Christ's Consciousness on the Cross" in The Thomist 65
His descent is the mission that the Son has received from the Father - to free the sinful world from the bonds of death, and in order to do so, he must descend to the dregs of the dead. Sheol is astir at the great arrival of Christ on this day. And in Sheol the Son’s “cadaver-obedience” and solidarity with the dead on Holy Saturday “is the final consequence of the redemptive mission he has received from the Father.” And the result of this mission is not only the salvation and redemption of man - but also the ultimate revelation of God’s love. “In submitting to being crucified, in plunging into God-forsakedness, the Son is giving an ultimate demonstration of how ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.’ There is nothing feigned here: the Father actually and in all seriousness leaves his Son lying on the ground, in order to go to the stranger, the enemy, man, and to draw him to himself. The son’s passive, suffering love becomes at once the upright and the inverted mirror image of the Father’s love.” With his Fatherly love, Yahweh is still present there amidst the darkness. In fact, “the moment of their separation is paradoxically their moment of most intense union.” The bond of union is still there, and the Son remains the Son and the Father the Father. And this bond is a bond of intense love.
In his death, Christ did not descend into hell as we know it, the hell of the damned. Instead he entered the realm of the dead, the pit - Old Testament Sheol. Here, in Sheol, man is totally cut off from God, there is no communion, no remembrance of God, no relationship with his Creator. Yahweh does not heed the call of those who go down into the pit. Here man is utterly forsaken, totally devoid of strength. And it is into this hell that Christ descends.
Pious tradition has handed down to us a certain vision of Christ, going into hell, victorious, carrying the standard of the cross, preaching the Gospel to the dead, freeing Adam and the Patriarchs from their prisons and harrowing the demons with the good news of the impending resurrection. Aquinas comments on this by saying that Christ “penetrated to all lower parts of the earth, not moving locally through them with his soul, but by extending to them all, in some way, the effect of his power.” But recent theological trends (esp. von Balthasar) have challenged this traditional view, building on Aquinas in a way. Even though Christ’s descent to the dead was in power, it was the culmination of the illustration of God’s power as being different from human conceptions of power. Christ’s descent to the dead was, in human terms, devoid of power, totally passive. He did not descend with power, but powerless and in total solidarity with the dead. His descent means that he “entered the whole abandonment and loneliness of death, that he took upon himself the experience of meaninglessness, of the night, and - in this sense - of the hell of being human.” Out of love, God “wanted to experience the human condition from within, in order to re-direct it from inside out - thus he would have to focus on the place where man finds himself at “wits end” This is the place where he has fallen into an abyss of grief, indigence, darkness, “into the pit” from which he cannot escape by his own powers.” As St. John of the Cross might say, the souls in Sheol have met their “beloved” in the darkness with Christ’s descent. This comes as a result of his being made sin for us - to the extent that he did not even know himself as the Son of God! The Son experienced the total alienation, abandonment, and lack of communication that sin causes. And by taking all of it on obediently - with the power of the Trinitarian love that reaches out toward sinful man that the power of death and sin was destroyed.
Last summer I got into a fairly heated discussion with someone over von Balthasar's admonition that we ought to hope all men would be saved as expressed in his rather controversial book Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"? I read the book in seminary and really had no problem with it (I do tend to favor Balthasar's thought), while there are others who claim that Balthasar's position expressed in that book is univerasalist. In our discussion one of the articles used to attack Balthasar was this piece by Dale Vree from The New Oxford Review. I read the article and it appeared to me that from what he was arguing Vree had never read the book (or at least read a differnet translation). The debate finished and I moved on still supporting Balthasar.
This Spy Wednesday I discussed in my homily the possibility of hoping for Judas' salvation (and the salvation of other sinners), especially after Christ says it would have been better that he would have never been born, while still believing in the reality of eternal damnation. Well, that morning I received the new First Things in the mail and saw that the issue contained an article by Cardinal Dulles entitiled "The Population of Hell." Excited to read what Dulles had to say, but before I took the volume out of its plastic jacket, I told my pastor, "I bet you anything Dulles will side with Balthasar on this." And I was right.
The article is really nothing more than a recapitulation of the history of the question, focusing on the debate in the 20th century and detailing the discussion the same periodical between Neuhaus and Vree, but Dulles does back up the orthodoxy of Balthasar's position, in particular citing sections form the Catechism which encourage this hope: "In hope, the Church prays for 'all men to be saved" (CCC 1821) and "The Church prays that no one should be lost" (CCC 1058). I suggest reading the article for yourself, in addtion to succinctly explaining the controversy, Dulles offers some fine insights, especially about the Mass for the Dead. I encourage you even more to read Balthasar's controversial last work.
I read the Holy Father's new encyclical on the Eucharist yesterday. I don't have all that many reflections on the encyclical (it is pretty self-explanatory) but I do have a few observations and comments. First, I was struck by how personal it was in tone, as if the Pope was really writing from his heart (seems the folks at Zenit feel the same way). I think this will make such an important letter so much more accessible than his other letters written in that Eastern European phenomenological style. I was also delighted to see so much emphasis on Eucharistic Adoration. What wonders that can do for a parish or a diocese (for more information on how to get it started in your area, visit the Apostolate for Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration site). Finally, I am curious to see how much debate (and abuse) will occur in the interpretation of sections 45 & 46 on the legitimacy of giving holy communion in special circumstances to "individual persons belonging to Churches or Ecclesial Communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church." Here is the full text of that section:
While it is never legitimate to concelebrate in the absence of full communion, the same is not true with respect to the administration of the Eucharist under special circumstances, to individual persons belonging to Churches or Ecclesial Communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church. In this case, in fact, the intention is to meet a grave spiritual need for the eternal salvation of an individual believer, not to bring about an intercommunion which remains impossible until the visible bonds of ecclesial communion are fully re-established.
This was the approach taken by the Second Vatican Council when it gave guidelines for responding to Eastern Christians separated in good faith from the Catholic Church, who spontaneously ask to receive the Eucharist from a Catholic minister and are properly disposed.95 This approach was then ratified by both Codes, which also consider – with necessary modifications – the case of other non-Eastern Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.
In my Encyclical Ut Unum Sint I expressed my own appreciation of these norms, which make it possible to provide for the salvation of souls with proper discernment: “It is a source of joy to note that Catholic ministers are able, in certain particular cases, to administer the sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance and Anointing of the Sick to Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church but who greatly desire to receive these sacraments, freely request them and manifest the faith which the Catholic Church professes with regard to these sacraments. Conversely, in specific cases and in particular circumstances, Catholics too can request these same sacraments from ministers of Churches in which these sacraments are valid”.
These conditions, from which no dispensation can be given, must be carefully respected, even though they deal with specific individual cases, because the denial of one or more truths of the faith regarding these sacraments and, among these, the truth regarding the need of the ministerial priesthood for their validity, renders the person asking improperly disposed to legitimately receiving them. And the opposite is also true: Catholics may not receive communion in those communities which lack a valid sacrament of Orders.
The faithful observance of the body of norms established in this area is a manifestation and, at the same time, a guarantee of our love for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, for our brothers and sisters of different Christian confessions – who have a right to our witness to the truth – and for the cause itself of the promotion of unity.
This nursery rhyme uttered by a Southwest Airlines stewardess supposedly caused two women on the flight to be bed-ridden for days and created large memory losses because of its "racist" undertones. A lawsuit has been filed and a court date has been scheduled.
Got back from the Chrism Mass today and am about to go make my last Holy Hour before the Triduum begins. I hope to post a few things before it all starts. Hope you all have a blessed Triduum.
Today we Commemorate St. Drogo, Patron Saint of Ugly People
Poor St. Drogo, who lived in the 1100’s, is the patron saint of unattractive people. Seems that St. Drogo, was so ugly that the spectacle of him scared the villagers where he lived. While still a young man, cells was built for him attached to the local church so that he could shield people from his unsightly appearance, and of course pray and do penance. He lived there for the rest of his earthly existence, eking out a living as a shepherd and his avoiding contact with the townspeople. His only real interpersonal contact was receiving Holy Communion through a small aperture linking his cell to the church.
"She must have been dragged by a car," she said. "Isn't that something? See, her hands are gone. Isn't that something? The whole pedestal is ripped off. Isn't it funny they left the rosary on?" Worst of all, the maimed statue no longer lights up, which is why Mrs. Wilson will keep her indoors from now on while she continues her frustrating search for a new one that lights up.
I'll be giving a Power Point Presentaion on the Shroud of Turin this evening in the parish. The Shroud has fascinated me since I have been a young child, and being able to venerate it at the 1998 exposition was one of the true highlights of my life. So, for those of you interested in learning more, or simply brushing up on your sindonology, might I suggest ShroudStory.com - the most accesible site on the Shroud out there.
All the kids in my parish love the new band Evanessence (actually spelled Evanesence). They touted themselves as a Christian-rock band and actually have been selling quite a few albums (thanks in part to having a single on the Daredevil Soundtrack). The lead singer has a maginificent voice, only problem is that one of the male members does all of this rap-rock stuff that aggravates me. Anyhow, seems that in a recent interview for Entertainment Weekly, one of the band members dropped the f-bomb a few times and used the Lord's name in vain causing Christian stores eerywhere to drop their albums. Ah, once again, a band goes the way of most other so-called "Christian" bands once they find secular success.
On a related subject, a fine article on The Jesus Market - where the Messiah meets the Marketplace.
[Update: My confrere Fr. Mike corrects my assertion that Evanessence once claimed to be a Christian band. This appears to be a falsity. I guess I still speak without knowing what I am saying. It seems too, from the knowledge he has of that band, that even after being guided and instructed by me, Fr. Mike still has a penchant for liking terrible music...]
Today's gospel of Christ's entrance into Jerusalem and the reading of the a Passion should offer some insight and inspiration to those struggling with the sacrament of confession, in particular, frequent reception of this sacrament.
1. Christ enters as humble servant on a donkey. This is how he meets us in the sacrament, not as a feasome just judge, but in meekness, in order to invite us and make us less reticent to approach him to recieve his mercy.
2. The crowds greet him rejoicing. They are not going out to meet him because they are obliged, as those who go to confession only when the Church requires and then seeing it as a burden. We should go frequently to the sacrament rejoicing, as the crowds went to meet Jesus.
3. We crucified the Lord with our sin. It has always been one of the most moving meditations on the Palm Sunday liturgy, that during the Passion narrative the congregation takes the parts of the crowd crying for the death of the Lord. It makes us realize that it was our sins that led to the Lord's death and thus should assisit in leading us to repentance and encountering him in the sacrament of penance.
If you are looking for a new album to cheer you up this spring, might I suggest The Jayhawks' Rainy Day Music. Although not as complex as their last two albums (partially because they are only a trio now) it is not as "country" as the classic Hollywood Town Hall. Gary Louris demonstrates once again his songwriting brilliance with an album full of upbeat, positive, catchy tunes. Some critics are calling it an instant classic. I give it four out of five stars.
