George Weigel's latest column is entitled "A Theological Time Bomb" and it is not on John Paul II's so-called Theology of the Body but on his emphasis on the "Marian Dimension" of th Church. This ides, as Weigel mentions, comes not so much from the Holy Father but from von Balthasar and in my opinion (and seemingly in Weigel's too) is a crucial teaching, especially for our society which has such difficulty accepting masculine, patriarchal authority. Seeing the Church as primarily feminine helps many to overcome these hurdles. If you want to learn more, here are a few sources:
Mulieris Dignitatem by John Paul II, esp. this: This is of fundamental importance for understanding the Church in her own essence, so as to avoid applying to the Church - even in her dimension as an "institution" made up of human beings and forming part of history - criteria of understanding and judgment which do not pertain to her nature. Although the Church possesses a "hierarchical" structure, nevertheless this structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ's members. And holiness is measured according to the "great mystery" in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom. She does this "in the Holy Spirit", since "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). The Second Vatican Council, confirming the teaching of the whole of tradition, recalled that in the hierarchy of holiness it is precisely the "woman", Mary of Nazareth, who is the "figure" of the Church. She "precedes" everyone on the path to holiness; in her person "the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph 5:27)". In this sense, one can say that the Church is both "Marian" and "Apostolic-Petrine". (He quotes von Balthasar here)
Office of Peter and Structure of the Church by Hans Urs von Balthasar. This is Balthasar's seminal work on the subject. He writes about this in so many other places, it would be hard to list them all.
I have a recording of a talk I once gave on this subject. If I could ever get it transferred to mp3 I'd see about making it avaialble on-line.
I am hearing rumors that Mark Shea has an article in the new Crisis called "Reporting From the Trenches" which mentions my blog in a positive light. Mark Shea - what a nice guy.
Today's Baton Rouge paper has a really nice article on Abita Beer in the Food section. I have written on the virtues of Abita Beer on this blog before, and I will do so again today. I went to college seminary just up the road from the Abita factory and we used to go there on Saturdays for tours and free tastings. I know I am prejudiced since Abita is from Louisiana, but it is the best microbrew out there. If a restaurant has it on tap or in the bottle, I will order it almost every time (Chimay is the only beer that will trump it). The article says that they are soon going to be producing a draft only beer. That, along with the production of their summer wheat beer, is certainly something of which to look forward.
No, not thatRobert Johnson - rumors of you selling your soul to the devil will impede any beatification process, no matter how good of a blues guitarist you might have been.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is upset with organizers of Rochester’s latest parade of decorated fiberglass animals. The group accuses organizers of trying to suppress its message about cruelty to circus animals.
It's time to poke a doughnut-sized hole into the notion that Americans want healthier food. The fastest-growing dining category nationwide last year wasn't fine dining or family restaurants: It was doughnut shops...
Nutritionists are alarmed. "There's no redeeming quality in a doughnut," says Hope Warshaw, author of A Guide to Healthy Restaurant Eating. "It's high in sugar, fat and calories." The average glazed doughnut: about 200 calories. Adds dietitian Robyn Flipse: "Most disturbing is that many think of doughnuts as breakfast. Nutritionally, it's a terrible way to start the day."
This guy doesn't know what he is talking about. I can tell you all sorts of redeeming qualities of the doughnut. I came to appreciate most of them by being away from them for such a long period of time during my first years in Rome. Mmmm... Donuts.
Landa Mauriello-Vernon, now living in Rhode Island, says the nun, Sister Linda Cusano, repeatedly forced her into a vacant office in a secluded wing of the school, wrestled her to the floor and threw her body on top of hers, telling her to "submit herself to God," and "join me in the convent."
[The Black Hebrews'] religious customs include a vegan diet and polygamy. Houston, who arrived Sunday, spent her first day at their compound in the desert town of Dimona having massages, relaxing and meeting members, who call each other saints.
Because of the fact that St. Philip would often go into ecstasy and begin to levitate while celebrating the Holy Mass he would often have to rush through the mass grasping on to the altar to anchor himself in order to not draw too much undue attention to himself while he was offering mass. Many times to avoid this totally and to truly enter into the mystical experiences he would often say mass in a private chapel at the Chiesa Nuova. Since his mass would often last several hours, his acolyte would sit outside of the chapel door and St. Philip would ring a bell to let him know that his services were needed. One day the bell rang, and entered to find marks of St. Philip’s teeth embedded into the silver of the chalice with which he was celebrating mass. It seems that while he was speaking over the chalice, saying the words of consecration, he went into a deep ecstasy and forcefully bit the metal lip of the chalice leaving a set of teeth marks. The chalice with the teeth marks is still able to be viewed today in that same chapel.
I learned that the early Goddess was benevolent. She was about abundance and fertility, and Her gift was fire and the renewing cycle of the seasons. There were two times when She shape-shifted into other forms and became the warrior Goddess: That was if anything threatened the land or the children. Then, watch out!
Some of you will remember last summer when I posted on possible invincibility of the US Church? In case you don't, here is the post:
Earlier I proposed the use of a team of well trained ninjas to defend the Church in America from the onslaught of the liberal media in this whole sex scandal thing. Well, I think I have found something better, a plan that would make the US Church invincible. So, how do I propse to do this. Well, we must look to the eternal wisdom of His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He is offering the world a Scientifically Based Programme to create world peace through what he called the "Maharishi Effect" which will bring about harmony and peace through invincibility. It is sort of hard to explain how it all works, but his web site tries to explain it all. This gibberish, I mean diagram might help to show the Unified Field of all Natual Laws fits into harmony, using the Vedic Stance. Anyhow, what it all really boils down to is this - flying yogics. That is right. See, you train some people to become Flying Yogics, which consists of hopping around in mid-air. Check out a great picture of some Flying Yogics in action. Basically people see these yogic fellows hopping around and it produces such happiness and laughter that the Maharisi Effect comes into play and no one wants to fight because we are feeling too harmonious. So the be invincible, you train a bunch of flying yogics, and have them hop around and you'll be invincible because everyone will be to happy to fight. So that is what we need to do, start training some priests or monks to be flying yogics and station them around our dioceses and Dan Rather and folks like that will be too happy to attack the church (and hopefully deviant priests will be too happy to go and chase after teenage boys). I think this is a great idea, and hey, as the web site says it is all "scientifically based" - so it has to be accurate. Right?
Well, it seems that some of these flying yogics got together last month in Iowa to have a competition to see who was the best in the world. In the news report you can watch a video from the competition and it turns out flying yogics don't really fly at all, they just hop around on pillows. I don't see how that is going to produce invincibility.
posted by Fr. Sibley |
Saturday, May 24, 2003 | link
We need to get this Texas monk nominated bishop somewhere. Make sure to watch the video of it all happening. The best part of it is toward the end when this "big boned" women comes and sits on the suspect to restrain him
The first time someone in the parish asked me to bless one of these I thought it was a joke. After looking at the package (which comes with statues, prayers, and instructions) I realized that this was a serious endeavour. Here is another version of the Home Sale Kit. I wonder if one works better than the other?
"BOINGER THE CHEERFUL FUN LOVING DOLL." Boinger is a funny lovable Doll that lives in Heaven and was named Boinger because each time Boinger hops ~ his legs make a cheerful happy BOING sound.
Here's some good news that vegetarians can really sink their teeth into: Researchers have developed genetically engineered fruit trees that bear real meat! Fruit from the new Meat Trees, developed by British scientists using gene-splicing technology, closely resembles ordinary grapefruit. But when you peel the large fruit open, inside is fresh beef.
Meet Brenda Orme and John Meyers. The Louisiana couple got nabbed last Friday when they tried to have sex atop a water tower more than 200 feet above the ground. Meyers, 44, told Slidell cops that he and Orme, 45, wanted to get busy "on top of the world."
I hesitated to blog on this (and therefore I may decide to remove it a bit later on), but I guess I wanted to know if it was for real or some sort of joke. I was tapping into one of my "sources" for bizzaro Catholic and Christian links when I stumbled upon one link for "Christian BDSM" (that is, Bondage Domination Sado-Masochism). I decided not to put that link or any others under that topic since some of them might have some objectionable material posted on them. From what little I read it appears that there are individuals out there who claim to be good and faithful Christians who are big fans and practioners of BDSM. As if this is not disturbing enough, they use Ephesians 5, "Wives be submissive to your husbands..." (and yes, the wife must be the submissive one in this little subculture and the male must tbe the dominant one) to give a "scriptural basis" for their particular perversion (although they don't see it as a perversion at all). Is this for real? I don't consider myself naive by a long shot, but this kind of thinking and practice is even hard for me to fully grasp. I am sure this will make for some interesting comments.
Lately, Naples has stunk, amid a crisis of hanky-clenching proportions after the city ran out of space to dump its rubbish. Kitchen bags crammed with putrefying cold cuts and used tissues overflowed from garbage bins, locals set refuse ablaze, and easygoing Neapolitans turned trash-talkers.
Italian biologists and wildlife experts say that Louisiana crawfish, brought here more than a decade ago as a culinary experiment, multiplied like mad, ascended the food chain, altered the ecosystem and devoured indigenous flora and fauna, including their European-crawfish cousins.
I saw The Matrix Reloaded yesterday and overall I really liked it. I don’t want to really offer a review, because I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who have not seen it yet. I think though that I can discuss the thing(s) that disturbed me the most about the film (and it wasn’t the philosophy) without giving anything away. I know that one of the big worries about the film before it was released was its R rating, that it might not make as much money as the producers would have liked because younger kids might not be allowed to see it. This proved however to me a needless worry (the movie industry overestimated contemporary parents responsibility in watching over what their children see). But what got me after watching the movie was that it seemed that those responsible for the film were trying to get an R rating. True, this film had a lot more action and a lot more violence and explosions that the first, but that isn’t what would have necessarily garnered them the restricted rating. It was something that really wasn’t present in the first film. It was the eroticism, the sex, and the language - most if not all of it, utterly gratuitous. I can see the argument that some of this stuff is integral to the plot or character development (although I may not care for it) - but not of it really had a place in The Matrix Reloaded and brought down the overall quality of the film. In particular one extended scene of about five minutes at the beginning of the film, when after Morpheus has given a rousing speech to what appears to be a religious gathering, the drum beat rolls and the throng breaks out into a frenzied dance (which most disturbingly seemed like some futuristic pagan ritual) filled with sweaty see-through shirts, bumping and grinding, seeping sexuality, and a very erotic beat. It was like a segment from MTV Dance Party. And this was all interspersed with a very erotic scene of Neo and Trinity having very passionate sex after all of their desires getting built up for so long. I can see someone making an argument for the sex scene (although they would be hard pressed to get me to agree with them), not in a million years could you convince me that the pagan coital dance fest was necessary. Regardless if removing these things would have gotten the film a PG-13 rating, none of it was necessary to the plot and is only going to take away from the overall and lasting impact of the film. The Matrix trilogy has the potential (if it already hasn’t actualized it) of being the Star Wars for a new generation in creating a new “Hollywood myth” for the populus, but there was not and gratuitous sex in Lucas’ films (a subtle eroticism yes, think of Carrie Fisher in her various costumes) thus making them more accessible to the masses and to the future generations.
It appears that Yahoo! Photos will not let you show your pictures publicallly without paying a fee now. So, unless I can find a service that lets me post photos to the Internet and show them for free, I won't be able to show the funniest thing I have seen in ages. Sorry.
This quote from the article is not on vocations, it is just funny:
In a radio interview shortly after his appointment to head the archdiocese last June, [Archbishop Dolan] gained instant popularity in Milwaukee, whose people have been ranked above the national average in weight. The new archbishop declared that he enjoys working out on an exercise bike “because I can hold a beer in one hand and a ham sandwich in the other.”
Back in the day I used to rock. More or less now I listen to country-folk and jazz. But the other day I went out on a limb and bought the new Audioslave CD. Man o man does it rock. Chris Cornell (formerly of the hard-rocking Soundarden) lends the vocals while some of the band members of Rage Against the Machine back him up. This album rocks, that is all I can say. Audioslave's main objective is to rock.
Everyone seems to be pitching a fit over letting this Sorenstam woman play in a PGA Tournament. Here's my question though (and I admit, I don't know the PGA rules): but if she can play in the men's PGA what's stopping some of the men from going over and playing in the women's leg of the PGA?
During the French Revolution, this holy priest and co-founder of the Daughters of the Cross, barely escaped on several occasions from the hateful atheists pursing him because he was a Roman Catholic priest. One time he was sitting, reflecting by the fire, when the authorities entered looking for him. Without missing a beat, the woman of the house began to beat and remonstrate with him to give up his seat to the gentlemen guests and go off to tend to the cattle. The trick was successful, but the saint latter added that the woman, “had a heavy hand: she made me stars!” On another occasion he escaped apprehension by pretending to be a corpse. He lay motionless in bed in a dark room as a group of kneeling with candles prayed and wept. Upon this sight the officials promptly left.
I was thoroughly disturbed and utterly mesmerized by this film about kids growing up in the crime and drug-infested slums of Rio. A powerful, powerful film that still has me realizing how ungrateful I am for receiving the grace of being born into the time in place that the Father deigned I would be. There are no Hollywood actors in this film, no one who really even remotely looks "Hollywood". The cast is poplulated with Brazilians of various ethnic varieties and none of them are particularly attractive. They look so real, not like actors. And the character development as the movie passes over the span of ten years will leave you spell bound wanting to know more about each one of them. The best part of the film though was the direction. There were so many facial close-ups in the middle of large throngs allowing you too see the unabashed humanity of the characters. In additon there are some spectacular and creative camera-shots (one in particular right in the beginning when the main character is trapped between warring factions). I really enjoyed, the way the plot develops by jumping back and forth in history to tell the stories of the main characters. The only real criticism I have is that I thought the final montage scene (which is present in every gangster movie it seems) was a bit rushed and out of place with the pace of the rest of the movie. Be warned though, this movie is not for children and most adults will be unsettled by the reality of it all. Not the graphic nature so much(it is nowhere as graphic as American films) but the way it presents the sad reality of life in the slums and makes you reflect on your own life and the on the state of fallen humanity and its need to accept redemption. There is some hope given, some redemption - but not much. This film will certainly make it on my Top 10 of the year. I give it an A.
I was reading about the new matrix film and came across these photos from the premiere. Take a few minutes to scroll through them and read the captions. They are hilarious! Men though, please beware of Monica Bellucci photos.
Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima, marking Mary's first apparition to the shepherd children in Portugal; a series of apparitions culminating in the Miracle of the Sun. In honor of this memorial, please feel free to view a few photographs of the Miracle of the Sun taken on Ocober 13, 1917.
Question: Today is the anniversary of the assassination attempt on the Holy Father's life. What was the Pope planning on announcing during the general audience that day in St. Peter's Square?
Answer: The foundation of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Rome at the Lateran University.
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.
