Only In Louisiana

For your last laugh of the evening or your first laugh in the morning, visit Through the Dust, Ormonde Plater's blog.

Missing

Missing is what I've been for three out of four of the Sunday services at my church in the last month. Here's where I've been when I've not been in my church:

Grandparents Day Mass at Jesuit High School in New Orleans.

Service at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans with Bishop Katharine presiding and preaching.

Mass for sixth grade students - one of whom is my granddaughter - at a local Roman Catholic Church. (What do you do when a beautiful little girl gives you a handmade invitation? You go, of course.)

I hope that next week, I can attend my church. I miss it when I'm away.

Week after next, I will be in New York city for a gathering of friends of MadPriest. Unfortunately, our leader will not be with us. He lives too far away. (A little birdie told me he's afraid to fly, too, but that is only rumor and, of course, I could be wrong.) We'll try to soldier on and enjoy ourselves anyway, although it will not be the same with him missing.

I'm not sure where I'll be going to church on Sunday in NYC. I do know that we will be attending Evensong at General Theological Seminary on Monday evening.

Feast Day Of William Tyndale

Image from Hertford College, Oxford.

From James Keifer at the Lectionary:

Tyndale was born Slymbridge and educated at Oxford and Cambridge. Against the wishes of Henry VIII, he wanted to translate the Bible into English, the language of the people.

As Keifer says:

It is reported that, in the course of a dispute with a promminent clergyman who disparaged this proposal, he said, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost."

That's telling him.

Because of Henry VII opposition, Tyndale left England, went to Germany and spent years in exile, poor, moving from place to place, and working on his translation.

He completed his translation of the New Testament in 1525, and it was printed at Worms and smuggled into England. Of 18,000 copies, only two survive. In 1534, he produced a revised version, and began work on the Old Testament. In the next two years he completed and published the Pentateuch and Jonah, and translated the books from Joshua through Second Chronicles, but then he was captured (betrayed by one he had befriended), tried for heresy, and put to death. He was burned at the stake, but, as was often done, the officer strangled him before lighting the fire. His last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

Miles Coverdale continued Tyndale's work by translating those portions of the Bible (including the Apocrypha) which Tyndale had not lived to translate himself, and publishing the complete work. In 1537, the "Matthew Bible" (essentially the Tyndale-Coverdale Bible under another man's name to spare the government embarrassment) was published in England with the Royal Permission. Six copies were set up for public reading in Old St Paul's Church, and throughout the daylight hours the church was crowded with those who had come to hear it. One man would stand at the lectern and read until his voice gave out, and then he would stand down and another would take his place. All English translations of the Bible from that time to the present century are essentially revisions of the Tyndale-Coverdale work.

I love the story of the public readings in Old St. Paul's Church, with crowds coming to listen. Even those who could not read were given access to the words of the Bible.

READINGS:

Psalm 1 or 15
James 1:21-25
John 12:44-50

PRAYER

Almighty God, who planted in the heart of your servant William Tyndale a consuming passion to bring the Scriptures to the people in their native tongue, and endowed him with the gift of powerful and graceful expression and with strength to persevere against all obstacles: Reveal to us your saving Word, as we read and study the Scriptures, and hear them calling us to repentance and life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

UPDATE: Thanks to LapinBizarre in the comments, here is a link to the text of the Tyndale New Testament:

One Of Our Own

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

St. Bernard Parish Councilman Joey DiFatta, who on Thursday withdrew from the 1st Senate District campaign, has been stopped twice since 1996 for suspicion of engaging in lewd behavior in public restrooms in Jefferson Parish, records obtained by The Times-Picayune show.

DiFatta, 53, acknowledged that reports he had been stopped are true, but he denied any wrongdoing in both cases. He said he was not prosecuted in either case and has no arrest record.

"If I had done something wrong, I would have been arrested," DiFatta said Thursday afternoon. "I was not. I will deny that I was involved in any activity of that nature."
....

Kenner police issued a misdemeanor summons to DiFatta in September 1996 in connection with a peeping Tom incident in a men's bathroom at the former Mervyn's department store at The Esplanade mall, according to a Kenner Police Department incident report obtained by The Times-Picayune.

The report states that DiFatta watched a man use the bathroom while peering through a hole in a bathroom stall. The man held DiFatta until police arrived, at which time he was issued the misdemeanor summons and ordered to appear in court.

DiFatta said the man eventually withdrew his complaint, and the case was dismissed. A spokeswoman for the Kenner Police Department said the record was expunged.

Tapping foot in stall

In the second incident, Jefferson Parish deputies working an undercover detail in a men's bathroom at Dillard's at Lakeside Shopping Center in March 2000 stopped DiFatta after he indicated a desire to engage in sex with an undercover deputy in an adjoining bathroom stall, according to an interoffice memorandum written by Sgt. Keith Conley, one of the deputies involved in the investigation.

DiFatta said that he withdrew for health reasons, because he may have had a slight heart attack. I wish him good health in the future, but being caught in incidents like these, when you're running for political office, causes great stress, I'm sure, and is not good for the health.

If you want to get elected to a public office in Louisiana, and you're gay or lesbian, you must be in the closet, or you don't have a chance. I find the incidents like the one described above so very sad. This is not the way things should be, and lesbian and gay folks should be able to live their lives openly and honestly, along with everyone else, without getting grief for who they are.

At the same time, you must make choices. If you're gay, and you remain closeted, and you're running for public office, isn't it wise not to trumpet "conservative values" - whatever the words have come to mean in the political codes of the day?

On his website DiFatta, a Republican, promises to, "Defend our conservative values from attack by extreme liberal groups".

I presume that conservative values would not include soliciting gay sex in a public restroom. You see, it's the hypocrisy.

Reading about the woes of Sen. Larry Craig and Councilman DiFatta has given a whole new meaning to the phrase "tapping feet". All this time I've been thinking that it was about what Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly did in the old movies.

Check out the cover of this week's issue of The New Yorker.

Adventus Is Back!

Rmj at Adventus is back to blogging, and with a bang! He's posted the video of Chris Matthews making a fool of himself on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, along with commentary. Matthews is there to sell his book titled Life's a Campaign. The title alone speaks volumes about Matthews. As you will see in the video, Stewart gives Matthews a little push forward along the path of foolishness.

Chris says it's the worst interview of his life. He probably got that right.

Then, Rmj has a looong post on hospitality, which will take some time to read, but it is worth every minute of that time. Here's a sample:

“The Spirit blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it,” Jesus says in the Gospel of John; but he doesn’t say the spirit rests someplace. It may rest upon you for a moment, it may inspire you to speak by tongues of flame, as on the day of Pentecost, but it never rests with you, it never stays in you and finds a home and comfort there. The Holy Spirit is always active, always moving, always effecting us when it comes by. The Holy Spirit is activity, is practice, is known by its movement; it is not a comforting idea that gives us peace and tranquility. “The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife sown in the sod,” the old hymn goes. That could be describing hospitality, since hospitality is all about vulnerability, about opening oneself to the stranger, whether the stranger is guest or the stranger is host. And the fact is, the scriptures are rife with stories of hospitality.

Rmj, I'm so glad you're back in the campaign of life in the blogosphere.

I'm Just Wild About Harry

Please go read Harry's account of his dinner with Bishop Katharine and her husband, Richard, at Fr. Jake's.

What eloquent and gifted writing!

Harry said this about being with her:

Katharine was easy to be with. She’s just my sister. She’s just another person at the table.

He's exactly right. I feel the same about her after my brief - but not nearly so weighty - encounter with her.

And Harry is going to build a school in Tanganyika with a little help from his friends!

Another Good One From The Comments

Sometimes this blog writes itself with little or no help from me - with words from my virtual friends and visitors. To understand this post, you may want to do a little homework by refreshing your memory of My Conversation With Bishop Katharine and the comments to that post. Or, again, you may not.

mary clara said...

Mimi, thanks for performing this vital public service. You really put yourself on the line for all of us.

I bet Padre Mickey wears pants every day just so he won't have to shave his legs. 'Cause that would take up valuable time and he gots so many people to minister to and and care for in his wonderful parroquia, plus the Friday Night Red Mister Peanut Bank and Gallito Mescalito show and his daily blogging responsibilities to keep up with.

Maybe if I quit shaving my legs I would have time to start my own blog. But I confess I love the feeling of my smooth legs.

The playful interest in our PB’s wardrobe is a reflection of our soul speculating on deeper matters and longing for wholeness. I mentioned the two cosmological principles of changelessness and change, which we associate with masculine and feminine respectively. There is also the old idea that the soul has two aspects, one that changes and one that remains ever the same. One is like the sun, the other like the moon. Traditionally, male priests and bishops (in their uniforms) followed the solar model of the God who is 'the same yesterday, today and tomorrow'. That leaves the lunar principle of change and variation without a human embodiment; it is expressed instead in the beautiful vestments and the liturgy and in the turning of the liturgical year (which combines elements of the old lunar calendar with the solar).

The Church has long been a refuge for men who love lace and parades and beautiful table services. In other words, androgyny has been there all along. But now we have a tall, confident female person heading our Church, wearing the (male)uniform. It is natural for us to wonder whether she is allowed, without reservation, to bring 'the feminine' with her. To me she seems very much a woman and quite at home with herself in her role. There's a dame inside that uniform (hence MadPriest's nickname for her, Katharine Zeta Schori!). She is not an imitation male. Our fantasies of seeing her in silks and laces (or at least a tailored skirt), our wonderings about these little details of her bodily and aesthetic life, show our own love of the feminine and our wish that it be given its true dignity and included in the blessing. Ultimately, I don't think it is overstating the matter to say that the question about skirts has to do with the possibility of the union of opposites in the soul -- and in the Church.

Isn't it funny that this clothes business matters enuf even to joke about. But the fact is, I think PB Katharine is a good-looking woman and would enjoy seeing her in a pretty dress or a well-tailored skirt suit, just for the sheer variety of it. I think the secret is that women have been given beauty and variety as part of our turf. We have a long cultural history of being the ones who display for the benefit of the human race the whole spectrum of color, pattern, shape, movement, texture, aroma, and so on, not just as personal expression or a statement of family dignity, respectability or wealth (consumerism), but because we all need the soul-nourishment of seeing and smelling beauty. It's accepted that men may (and even should) look virtually the same from day to day, but we want women to embody variation and change -- the two cosmic principles. Bishops, however, are like military officers: they wear uniforms while on duty. Which means we have to endure the frustration of not getting to see PB Katharine Zeta Schori in glam duds. This is one of the little conundrums of change in the church. We finally got women priests and bishops, but the uniform (which was built on masculine principles) is still the same except for minor alterations in proportions. Thank goodness for vestments, which give clergy of both genders a chance to take part in the ceremonies of beauty!

I personally love clothes and shoes, but it's gotta be comfortable, and that mostly means pants, or skirts that work with comfortable sandals or boots. So I wouldn't wish the pantyhose obligation on anybody, especially my PB. Maybe what we could do is develop a PBKJS paper doll that could be dressed up in her bishop uniform but also in civvies! She is tall and could really wear designer clothes, I would think. Or, why not a Presiding Bishop Barbie, with a complete wardrobe from mitres to nighties? Now there is a project to keep some of us out of trouble for awhile, take our minds off schism and apostasy, etc.

Anyhow, put me down as a charter member of the We Wear the Pants Club. And PBKJS should be the Number One Honorary Member.

I am humbled and awed by Mary Clara's contribution because she widens the discussion beyond Bishop Katharine's clothes, like the effects of a water drop in a pond, to encompass weighty and serious matters of attitudes and traditions in the church. See how she waxes on the soul, cosmic principles, androgyny, aesthetics, and the like. And I learned that discussion of skirts is, indeed, not trivia, but vital to the polity of our church life.

At Mary Clara's suggestion, we combined two comments of hers to very good effect, I believe.

Excellent, Mary Clara, excellent. Thank you.

No Tutu - Yes Coulter

Image from Wiki.

From Pioneer Press:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu will speak on a St. Paul campus next spring about peace and peacemaking - but it won't be at the University of St. Thomas.

St. Thomas leaders chose not to bring Tutu to campus after hearing concerns about "hurtful" comments he's made about Israel that might offend local Jews, a university official confirmed Wednesday.

The youth group that wanted Tutu at St. Thomas moved its conference to Metropolitan State University, where the Nobel laureate will lecture April 11.

St. Thomas' loss is surely Metropolitan's gain. Look at the picture. How could you disinvite that man?

St. Thomas has invited controversial speakers before. Two years ago, conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter came to the campus to speak about her book, "Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right," an appearance that required extra security.
....

Marv Davidov, an adjunct professor at St. Thomas, was incensed by the decision.

"I think the Israeli lobby in our country has been attempting to silence criticisms of Israel in the academic world. That does a disservice to the state of Israel and all Jews," said Davidov, 76, who said he experienced anti-Semitism as a child in Detroit.

He said anyone who criticizes Israel for treatment of Palestinians, and for tactics such as demolishing homes of suspected terrorists, ends up labeled as anti-Semitic.

Not only that, but Professor Cris Toffolo, who was chair of the Justice and Peace Studies program was removed from her position as chair. Because she is a tenured professor, she could not be fired.

What can the administrators be thinking? Desmond Tutu is a giant of a man, a living saint, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. They look very foolish.

Note: It appears that you may now have to register to read the article in the Pioneer Press, but you can read the story at Minnesota Public Radio.

Thanks to Juan Cole for the tip.

"A Saint Has Died"

From Ormonde at Through the Dust:

A saint has died.

The Rev. William P. Richardson, 98, rector of St George's, New Orleans, from 1953-1976, died peacefully last night at 10:48 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. George’s on Monday, Oct. 8, at noon.

Among the gay community in the United States, Bill Richardson is honored as a hero.

Go read why he is a hero - and he is a true hero.

God Speaks From The Freeway

From the AP via AZ Central:

RENO, Nev. - Carla Dupree says God is trying to tell her that five kids is enough. That's after No. 5 was born at a freeway offramp.

Dupree, 29, said her mother-in-law was driving her from Sparks to a Reno hospital on Saturday when Jayden Dupree took things into his own hands.

"I had him on the freeway," she said. "This is the last one. God is telling me something."

Louisiana Shortchanged

From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

WASHINGTON — Louisiana was shortchanged in funding for a pilot program to build so-called Katrina Cottages as a disaster-housing alternative, the investigative arm of Congress concluded.

The Government Accountability Office, in a report issued earlier this week, said the state could have received almost double the $74.5 million it has been slated had the agency overseeing the program used a more fair formula.
....

Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the congressional delegation cried foul, noting that Louisiana suffered more than three times the housing damage in hurricanes Katrina and Rita than Mississippi.

The GAO finding was similar to a report issued earlier this year by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA.

Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, pointed out Wednesday that the report showed FEMA ignored the recommendations of its own panel of 11 experts when issuing the awards.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with the fact that Mississippi has a Republican governor, Haley Barbour - a Bush crony, actually - and Louisiana has a Democratic governor. No politics in operation here. Nothing to see. Move along now.

That money is gone, spent. The only hope:

A spokesman for [Sen. Mary] Landrieu said Wednesday that the state has little recourse as it pertains to the December award but may benefit if the federal government agrees that the cottage pilot is the best disaster housing alternative.

Feast Of St. Francis Of Assisi

Padre Mickey has a beautiful post on the life of St. Francis. I'm going to give away Padre's ending, because I like it so much:

The life of St. Francis is proof that, if one is to be great, one must be the servant of others. May all of us look to the life of St. Francis and see God in the faces of the least among us.

He's gone all out and given us a poem about Francis, too.

James Kiefer at the Lectionary quotes Dante's Paradiso on Aquinas' words from the poem about Francis:

Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic father disowned him because of his love for a beautiful lady. She had been married before, to Christ, and was so faithful a spouse to Him that, while Mary only stood at the foot of the Cross, she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross. These two of whom I speak are Francis and the Lady Poverty. As they walked along together, the sight of their mutual love drew men's hearts after them. Bernard saw them and ran after them, kicking off his shoes to run faster to so great a peace. Giles and Sylvester saw them, kicked off their shoes and ran to join them....

READINGS:

Psalm 148:7-14 or 121
Galatians 6:14-18
Matthew 11:25-30

PRAYER

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace gladly to renounce the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfect joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Image from the Lectionary.

UPDATE: I recommend God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi, by Julien Green for a good biography of Francis of Assisi.

UPDATE 2: From Jane in the comments, "That is a stained glass window from Taizé! I love it. Thank you for posting it." Thanks for the information, Jane.

Words Too Good to Be Hidden Away

A quote from Dorothy Sayers set Magdalene, from Magdalene's Musings, to musing on the experience of tension in serving as both prophet and pastor. It's well worth a read. Here's the link and a bit of wisdom from a former mentor of hers, "They are treading the thin line between prophet and pastor. They neglect either one at their peril." Read the rest.

In the comments to that post, I found words too good to be hidden away:

MadPriest said...

The pastoral role validates and informs the prophetic role. Unless you are prepared to spend most of your time visiting people in their homes, sitting with the dying etc. and listening to people, your prophetic voice will be nothing but your own voice and will be just yourself moaning about your own concerns. Visiting is not regarded as a primary concern by so many priests nowadays and this may account for the lack of ordinary prophesy at parish level and beyond.

Good words, aren't they? Sometimes the mad among us speak the sanest words.

My Conversation With Bishop Katharine

In September, Bishop Katharine participated in the consecration of the new - and young, aged 32 - bishop of Western Pennsylvania, Sean Rowe. My good virtual friend Pseudopiskie sang in the choir for the event and posted wonderful pictures of at her blog Mom Said Nobody Cares.

Piskie also posted pictures from the rehearsal for the consecration on the day before. In the comments you will see that I had a few words to say:

Grandmère Mimi said...

Should I say this? Probably not, but I will anyway. I wish that Bishop Katharine would occasionally wear a skirt.
September 8, 2007 1:31 PM
PseudoPiskie said...

Mimi: I'll ask her about it tomorrow.
September 8, 2007 4:28 PM
Grandmère Mimi said...

Well, Pseudo, I did not know that you two were on such intimate terms. Lucky you.

I admire her so, but I'd like to see a variation on what appear to be men's pants and suits. But who am I to comment on something as trivial as her manner of dress? I suppose she wears what she's comfortable in....

So. I find that Piskie's going to ask her about why she wears what she wears.

Then Piskie put up a post just for me - for my information.

For Grandmère Mimi

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori seldom wears a dress. She started wearing pants when she started to fly because dresses presented problems. She is more comfortable in pants. Her grey suit today was masculine. No, Mimi, I don't know her that well but I have talked to her quite a bit in the last two days. For me it has been a thrill having her here.

OK, I have that. Of course, Bishop Katharine can wear whatever she likes, right?

I know that some of you may be wondering why I'm running on about the PB's clothes, but hang with me. I will make an important point.

When Piskie found out that I was going to Christ Church Cathedral to attend the Eucharist in which Bishop Katharine would be presiding and preaching, she said this:

PseudoPiskie said...

I so wish you would have the opportunity to talk to ++Katharine! And tell her you are the person who asked about dresses. If you think she is impressive in procession, you need to meet her in person.

There you have it, folks. Did I have a choice about the subject of my conversation with the PB, if I had the opportunity to talk to her? I think not. Piskie forced me to talk to her about clothes. Of course, clothing styles is the subject that is uppermost in the minds of most thinking women anyway. Am I right?

Now when I tell folks I met with Bishop Katharine and chatted with her for a few minutes, I get profound questions like, "Did you call her Bishop Katharine Zeta-Jones?" and, "What did you talk to her about?" I can answer, "No!" and "Clothes!"

I said, "Welcome to Louisiana, Bishop Katharine." Then I went on, quite lamely, IMHO, to say, "Remember in Pennsylvania when Pseudopiskie asked you why you didn't wear dresses? I was the person who wanted to know." She smiled graciously at my lameness and told me that yes, she was more comfortable in pants, but that she does sometimes wear skirts.

That's the scoop. That's the gist of our conversation, because others were waiting to talk to her, and I had to move along. No talk of deep theology or the crisis in the Episcopal Church, just clothes.

Watch out for future "Skirt alerts!".

One of my questioners said, "That was probably refreshing and a great relief from the heavy conversations." That could be true. I hope it was.

Anyway, Piskie made me do it.

Virtual September

Bill, at Not Quite Dead Poet, left this poem in my comments, and I thought it was too good to have hidden away. He very kindly gave me permission to post it. Thank you, Bill.

Virtual September

Through your words
I see angels fall from pillars of flame,
but cannot taste your salted tears.

Through your words
I hear the chaos of a thousand souls,
but not one of your choked sobs.

Through your words
I touch the broken shards, pick through the scraps of paper,
scraps of lives. But My hands are empty,
My hands are clean.

Is it the same for the leaders of terror and war,
Too far to see or hear or feel.
Too far removed, too distant, too un-real, too un-real.


Bill – Sept 27th, 2002

Church Of All Souls

For some time, I have been trying to put together a post on the Church of All Souls in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.

From Episcopal News Service:

In a part of New Orleans that is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, a new sign of hope has appeared.

In the midst of the Lower Ninth Ward, the Diocese of Louisiana and the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans have launched a mission station named the Church of All Souls to minister to the many working class families who are trying to return to their homes -- where some have lived for generations.

Located downriver from the Industrial Canal, the lower Ninth Ward received between four to 20 feet of floodwater following Katrina.

The Rev. Shola Falodun, an Anglican priest from Nigeria who moved to the United States to be a missionary to African Anglicans, began assisting with the relief work in the diocese immediately after the hurricane. He helped deliver supplies through the diocesan Mobile Ministry Respite Unit, a recreational vehicle that carried necessary items to the lower Ninth Ward on a regular basis.

Fr. Shola visited our parish as a supply priest on a couple of occasions while we were searching for a rector. He preaches lively sermons and likes a response from the folks in the pews, perhaps as proof that we're not sleeping through the sermon. Take my word for it. His sermons are not the kind that would be likely to put us to sleep. We're not accustomed to the call and response type sermon at my church, but we tried - somewhat lamely, I'm afraid.

When he visited us, he was trying to get his green card to establish permanent residency and bring his wife over to New Orleans from Nigeria. I hope that by now he has his card, and his wife is with him.

While Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was in New Orleans, he visited the site of a former Walgreens pharmacy, which will be renovated and used for church services by the congregation of All Souls.

From Webwire.

Arriving after an all-day session with the House of Bishops at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown New Orleans, Williams visited one of two mobile respite care units that had made their routine stop in the parking lot of the former Walgreens. He also briefly toured the inside of the building before speaking to the members of All Souls and other neighborhood residents.
....

"I want you to know that the Anglican church worldwide knows about you, cares about you, prays for you and we won’t leave you alone" he said.
....

The Diocese of Louisiana and the Church of the Annunciation in New Orleans launched the Church of All Souls as a mission station to minister to the many working-class families who are trying to return to their homes.
....

[Fr. Shola] Falodun proposed planting a church and received the diocese’s blessing to start All Soul’s. Falodun has said he chose the name to honor the new souls who will be coming to worship and those souls who were lost in Katrina’s waters. When it began, the church was housed in the garage of a parishioner during a time when few homes on the street were occupied. The congregation now rents space at a nearby Baptist church.

"If we are here, we are a light to the world" he told reporters September 20, adding that the light of Christ could banish the darkness felt in the neighborhood since Katrina and her aftermath.

Such efforts, Jenkins said, are part of the diocese’s new-founded role in racial reconciliation in the city and the state. There was a diocesan presence earlier in the day in Jena, Louisiana, at a rally that drew some 60,000 people to protest the treatment of six black teenagers arrested in the beating of a white schoolmate last year.

On Killing From Afar

From a correspondent:

On my last visit to the library I happened upon a book by Arturo Perez-Reverte entitled "The Sun Over Breda". A novel set in the 17th century about the Spaniards invading Flanders. After a very graphic description of the carnage of a battle scene, the main character comes away with:

"He who kills from afar knows nothing at all about the
act of killing. He who kills from afar derives no
lesson from life or from death; he neither risks nor
stains his hands with blood, nor hears the breathing
of his adversary, nor reads the fear, courage, or
indifference in his eyes. He who kills from afar
tests neither his arm, his heart, nor his conscience,
nor does he create ghosts that will later haunt him
every single night for the rest of his life. He who
kills from afar is a knave who commends to others the
dirty and terrible task that is his own. He who kills
from afar is worse than other men, because he does not
know anger, loathing, and vengenance, the terrible
passion of flesh and of blood as they meet steel, but
he is equally innocent of pity and remorse. For that
reason, he who kills from afar does not know what he
has lost."

Do you think President Bush would consider that this passage may describe him?

My answer was that Bush would never consider that this passage applies to him. In my opinion, he would be shocked by the suggestion.

Feast Day Of Remigius Of Rheims

Saint Remigius baptizes Clovis I, by the Master of Saint Gilles, c. 1500 (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Image from Wiki.

Remigius was the Bishop and Apostle of the Franks.

From James Keifer at the Lectionary:

A 1987 motion picture, "The Big Easy" (a nickname for the city of New Orleans), and a current (1996) television series of the same name based on it, have as the male lead a Cajun police detective named Remy McSwaine. In the first episode of the series (I am not sure of the film) we are informed that "Remy" is short for "Remington." I fear that this shows that the scriptwriters have not troubled to research Cajun culture. Remi is one of the three great national saints of France (the others are Denis (Dionysius) of Paris and Joan of Arc, or Joan the Maid (Jeanne la Pucelle)), and it is thoroughly natural for a Cajun to be named Remi. How is that for a topical introduction?

Well, James Kiefer, that's quite an introduction, especially for an old lady living in Cajunland. I love it.

Remi (Latin Remigius) was born about 438 and became bishop of Rheims about 460, at the remarkably young age of 22. (Both he and the city were named for his tribe, the Remi.) In his time, the Roman Empire and the Christian church were jointly faced with a serious practical problem -- the barbarian invasions.

Kiefer goes on to give a capsule history of the of the barbarian invasions and the dispute between the those who followed Athanasius' view that Jesus Christ was truly divine and those who followed Arius and believed that Jesus was the greatest of God's creatures. The Council of Nicea should have settled the matter because the bishops gathered gave overwhelming support to Athanasius' position. However, in the years ahead, despite the decision of the Council, political events worked to give the Arians the upper hand and Arianism spread.

Remegius was an Athanasian.

Then, along came the Franks, another barbarian tribe, led by Clovis, a pagan, who was married to Clotilda, a Christian. Keifer says:

His wife and Bishop Remi (remember him?) spoke to him about the Christian faith, but he showed no particular signs of interest until one day when he was fighting a battle against the Alemanni, and was badly outnumbered and apparently about to lose the battle. He took a vow that if he won, he would turn Christian. The tide of battle turned, and he won. Two years later, he kept his vow and was baptized by Remi at Rheims on Christmas Day, 496, together with about 3000 of his followers.

Clovis was converted to the Athanasian or orthodox or catholic faith. He brought in priests of the Athanasian persuasion, and thus the orthodox position eventually prevailed throughout Europe.

As Kiefer says:

The conversion of the Franks brought about the conversion of the Visigoths, and eventually (about 300 years later) the empire of Charlemagne and the beginning of the recovery of Western Europe from the earlier collapse of government and of city life under the impact of plague, lead poisoning, currency inflation, confiscatory taxation, multiple invasions, and the assorted troubles of the Dark Ages.

Descendents of Clovis and Clotilda, Bertha and Ethelburga, married the pagan Ethelbert, King of Kent, and the pagan Edwin, King of Northumbria, leading to their conversions, which helped the spread of Christianity to southeastern and northern England.

READINGS:

Psalm 135:13-21 or 103:1-4,13-18
1 John 4:1-6
John 14:3-7

PRAYER

O God, who by the teaching of your faithful servant and bishop Remigius turned the nation of the Franks from vain idolatry to the worship of you, the true and living God, in the fullness of the catholic faith; Grant that we who glory in the name of Christian may show forth our faith in worthy deeds; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

UPDATE: I edited the information beneath the painting at the head of the post.