"Reviving An Old Insult...."

When I left the Roman Catholic Church 11 years ago, I made a promise to myself that I would not be a bitter ex-Catholic, that I would not go about bashing the church which was my home for so many years. For the most part, I have kept that promise, except for an occasional slip. I attended RC schools for 17 years of my life, and, for the most part, I was well-taught. Since I live in an area that is heavily Roman Catholic, my family and many of my friends are Catholic. We live in peace together.

For some time, I have enjoyed James Carroll's columns in the Boston Globe. I have read his books, and his fat tome, Constantine's Sword is next on my reading list. Carroll is a former priest of the RCC, who left the priesthood and married, but has remained a loyal member of his church.

In his latest column, Carroll writes of the recent decision by the Vatican to authorize once again the common use of the old Tridentine Mass liturgy. Up until my 30s, the Latin Mass was all I knew. A stateliness and grandeur characterized the liturgy, when it was done properly, and I understand folks wanting to experience that again. As Carroll says, permitting the use of the old liturgy seems innocent enough.

The most important change in Catholic belief involved recovering the memory that Jesus was a Jew, and that his preaching was an affirmation, not a repudiation, of Jewish belief. Vatican II's high point was the declaration "Nostra Aetate," which condemned the idea that Jews could be blamed for the murder of Jesus, and affirmed the permanence of God's Covenant with Israel. The "replacement" theology by which the church was understood as "superseding" Judaism was no more. Corollary to this was a rejection of the traditional Christian goal of converting Jews to Jesus. The new liturgy of Vatican II dropped all such prayers.

But the Latin Mass published by the Vatican last year resuscitated the conversion insult, praying on Good Friday that God "lift the veil" from "Jewish blindness." Catholics and Jews both objected.

I'm pleased that there were protests about the language, which is, most certainly, a step backwards and not at all helpful to relations between Catholics and Jews. The Vatican backed away a bit and changed the language to "enlighten" the hearts of Jews "so that they recognize Jesus Christ, Savior of all mankind."

That's not good enough. The Vatican is still heading in the wrong direction.

Carroll begins his column with a joke:

AS THE priest began his sermon, he had trouble with the sound system, and muttered, "There's something wrong with this microphone." To which the congregation automatically replied, "And also with you."

Carroll ends his column with these words:

This is a drastic retreat from the most important theological development of the modern era. Something is wrong with that development, now say Vatican reactionaries. To which the people reply, "No. What's wrong is you."

Ouch! James Carroll, a loyal Roman Catholic, said it. He's right, and that makes me very sad.

Geaux, Tigers!

(The photo, from a December board meeting, shows teacher, Peter Pfister, who organized the trip, along with three students who also spoke before the board — Lincoln Spear, Orion Pearce, and Kelsey Barnes.)

My friends, I'm going to ask you to take a little trip down memory lane with me. Back in December I posted on an article by Allison Hantschel aka Athenae at First Draft, in the Chicago Southtown Star about a group of high school students from Rockland, Maine, who wanted to go, as a group, to help with the recovery in New Orleans. The group sought permission from the local school board. During the discussion about the trip by the Rockford school board, one member objected, saying that it would be like sending the students into a "war zone" Allison's article is no longer available at the SouthTown Star, but I believe that the motion was tabled for future consideration.

Today, in the comments to that December post, I received this:

Tigers has left a new comment on your post ""New Orleans A 'War Zone'?"":

Hi! I am actually with the group, Tiger Outreach, in Rockland ME, that is planning to go to New Orleans. I belive that you would be happy to know that, although 2 members still voted against our trip, we still gained school board approval! We are now only concerned about getting the funding, but we are very optimistic that our goal will be reached. I would like to thank you for writing about this and giving us your support!!!
P.S.-Send donations to
Rockland District High School-Tiger Outreach c/o Jo Talbot
400 Broadway St.
Rockland, Maine
04841
(not to be tacky

Posted by Tigers to Wounded Bird at February 20, 2008 2:01 PM

Not tacky at all, Tigers. Thanks for letting me know. Here's the story from the Bar Harbor Times.

Anyone of a mind to pony up a little cash, you have the address.

UPDATE: I was remiss in not thanking you, Tigers, and Peter Pfister, your teacher, who organized the plan for the trip. I am a native of New Orleans, and I was devastated by the destruction of my home town. I am immensely grateful to all of you for wanting to help New Orleans and its people toward recovery. There's much still left to do.

Smiling Baby Ray

From The Sunday Mail:

With its odd smile and translucent body this creature could be mistaken for a young cousin of one of Doctor Who's adversaries.

In fact it is the underside of a young thornback ray, pushing itself up the inside of an aquarium.

Isn't this adorable? The baby ray lives at the Blue Reef Aquarium at Southsea, Hampshire. It is one of a dozen hatched in a captive breeding program.

The baby ray measures 12 centimeters. In maturity, thornback rays measure approximately 1.2 meters in length.

A Blue Reef spokesman said the babies were proving very popular with visitors.

He said: "Their faces are very distinctive, especially the apparent smile.

"Some people have likened them to an alien or even the 'The Last Human' featured in Doctor Who.

Oh, and the black objects are not eyes, but gills. The eyes are on the topside.

From My Very Favorite Anglican Diocese

The latest update to the Pharisaios Journal from the Diocese of Wenchoster is out! Here is the Gospel for the second Sunday of Lent according to the Wenchoster Bible:

John 3: 1-10.

1. And behold, there was a man named Nicodemus, one of the Jews and very bearded with an tall hat. And cometh he unto Jesus at night.

2. And He sayeth unto him, Wither dost thou come unto me at night, for verily it is dark and spooky.

3. And Nicodemus nodded, for it was indeed so.

4. Then sayeth he unto Jesus, Rabbi, could’st not thou run that bit about being born again by me once more?

5. And behold, it was done. Yet he was still perplexed.

6. Look! Sayeth Jesus unto him, Think of it like the wind. It bloweth when it wants to.

7. And Nicodemus did agree, saying, Lo! Mine does.

8. And He proceeded to open the window.

9. Then said Jesus unto him, Now wither does it go?

10. Yet Nicodemus answered him not, for it was exceeding late, and still dark.

I had not heard of this version of the Bible before today. Live and learn, even in old age.


I wanted to highlight the words of another of the contributors to the journal, but Bishop Roderick Codpecium's words are so right for the season that I felt compelled to quote him once again. From The Bishop's Column:

Hello! End how is the Linten farst going for you? Mane is most difficult, as each day I wristle with temptat-i-ons in may study, end fall to may knees in prar. I awlways think thet Satan moves most cunningly in the hars of the nate, end thet is when I must awlways be on may guard lest he prevail in a moment of wickness, of which there are an arthly few.

The story of Nicodemus coming to Our Lawd et nate is a tale thet fortifies me, yet fills me with many quest-i-ons. Way et nate? What was on his mained? Was anyone else in the hice et the tame? We will niver know the answers, yet the imagined scene of Jesus end a mysterious bearded cliric chewing the theologicel fet intrigues me. Et three o’clock in the morning it gives me hope! What else is there to do et thet har?

Be sober, be vigilint!

+ Roderick Codpiecium



A Pictorial Lesson For Thurifers


And last, but not least, a sampling of a Lenten hymn from Wenchoster, with what I believe to be original lyrics. Editors, please correct me if I'm wrong about the lyrics:

LENTEN FAST

Once again that time is hear, (sic)
Time for introspective thought.
Time to dwell on sin in fear,
And forgiveness that is sought.

Naughty days and naughty nights,
Things we ought not, yet have done.
Things we’ve said, illegal rites,
Those good works we’ve ne’er begun. (Cont.)

At the site, you will find all of the verses, and if you click on the musical note, you can sing along to the tune of "Forty Days and Forty Nights".

There's more, so much more at the website, more wonderful captioned illustrations, more words of wisdom from other members of the cathedral staff, un véritable embarras de richesses.

A Contest Up To The Convention?

Not a few Democrats deplore the the fact that the party has not yet settled on a candidate. I'm afraid that I can't join them in their concern. In the olden days, choosing a candidate at the convention was the norm.

Athenae of First Draft, aka Allison Hantschel, has a column in the Southtown Star on this very subject. She says:

I may be alone in this, but I, for one, hope the Democratic primary campaign goes all the way to the last primary.

A long, knock-down, drag-out fight is presumed to harm an eventual nominee, leaving him or her damaged and weakened from months of attacks by primary opponents, crippled by debt racked up in early states and just plain used up, all the good arguments already expended on the trail. Easy pickings for the opposition.

Hantshel is not alone, because I agree with her. I don't see the dangers that she mentions coming to be. In the first place, the original purpose of the national political conventions was to choose the candidates for president and vice-president. But, as though our campaign cycle is not long enough, states have moved their primaries and caucuses to earlier and earlier dates, so that by the time of the party conventions, the candidates have long been anointed. The conventions provide little in the way of suspense or excitement and have become mostly boring, cheer-leading affairs.

Think how tired we'll all be of John McCain by November. That the Democrats still have a contest going puts McCain somewhat in the shadows. Plus, the Democratic strategists have one specific target to go after, while the Republicans' plan of attack is more difficult, because, for the present, they have two moving targets.

Hantschel goes on to say:

However, so long as the race stays relatively clean, a longer Democratic contest can only benefit both major candidates.

In the first place, it grants relevancy to later-calendar states like Wyoming, North Dakota and Wisconsin, whose choices in these contests have been nearly beside the point in past elections. The more states feel they have a role in choosing the nominee, the more Democrats will be involved in and have ownership of that nominee's particular political fortunes

I'd hope that the Democratic candidates don't get down and dirty in campaigning against each other. If they do, it could backfire and hurt more than help. I believe they know that.

For the first time in many years, my vote in a primary has counted for something. Usually, it's all over by the time we vote. Even in primaries later than ours in Louisiana, folks will have their chance to make a difference, and I see that as entirely a good thing.

I'll be watching to see how the Republicans drum up any excitement at all about John McCain at their convention. I saw in the news today that he has promised not to raise taxes. Surprise, surprise! A Republican who will not raise taxes! He'll have his 100 year deployment of our troops in Iraq and will ask no sacrifices of the rest of the citizens. The cost will be passed on to our children and grandchildren, and perhaps even our great-grandchildren. Could he possibly be a worse president than Bush? I thought that no one could be worse, but I'm beginning to have doubts.

As for the Democrats, on with the race, on with the challenges, on with the excitement.

"Louisiana Ethics 101"

An excellent video from Jim at JindalWatch, via Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief.

Via, via, via. Nothing original from me, but I had to showcase this one. It's terribly embarrassing, but, unfortunately, it's quite true.

But, hey! That's great music by our Hank. In Louisiana, we have our priorities right.

Little Tich - Serendipitous Hilarity

My faithful stringer, Lapin, sent me the link to the above video with these comments:

I just - serendipity - ran across this film, made around 1900, of the late 19th-early 20th century British comedian Little Tich (pronounced "Titch"). Haven't seen it before and it's hilarious. It's fair to assume that he was an influence on Chaplin, but I was surprised to read in his Wikipedia entry that "the surviving film of the Big Boot dance [this film], made by Clément-Maurice for the Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre in 1900, was described by Jacques Tati as 'a foundation for everything that has been realised in comedy on the screen'"

It had me laughing out loud. Hope it works for you.

Yes! It worked very well for me. I had never heard of Little Tich, but I'm quite pleased with the introduction and the good laugh from the video. He is absolutely charming.

Going Nowhere This Lent

It's been quite a long time since I have written anything on spirituality. I've posted of my outrage at the state of our country and my disgust with the actions of the leadership. I've posted jokes and trivia. But now it's Lent, and Lent is one of my favorites of the church seasons, along with the Advent. It seems that the preparation periods draw me more so than other seasons, with their sense of expectancy, the sense of something coming.

So far this Lenten season seems to be somewhat of a failure. Perhaps, it's because I was traveling on Ash Wednesday and missed the initiatory ritual of the season, the ashes, but I cannot seem to get started and, therefore, I'm not getting anywhere.

Before Lent, when I tried to decide what my Lenten discipline would be this year, nothing seemed quite right until I was able to half-articulate on another blog that my desire for this season of Lent and beyond was to increase in quantity and quality those times when I seemed to be at my best in following the way laid out by Jesus in the Gospels - as seldom and as weak and unproductive as my efforts during those times seemed to be. The method I'm trying is to stay centered in Jesus, the Word of God, and his words in the Gospels, Jesus who loves me and is ever-present with me. Even as I must focus on other matters, I'd like to take brief, but frequent, breaks to draw inwardly to a consciousness of that presence, until the sense of the God's presence becomes something of a habit, with the hope that, in the end, I will be changed for the better, that I will be enabled to put into practice the teachings of Our Lord with more success and for a greater portion of my time. I don't know how this will go, or even if the method makes any sense at all, but I will try and see what happens.

Now I had written the above, painfully and slowly, with many revisions, still not getting to where I wanted to go in articulating my goal and describing the centering process, which is, in a way, a physical experience.

So. While taking a break from my struggles, I visited Of Course, I Could Be Wrong to find that MadPriest had posted a sermon which explains it all for me. Did that ever take the wind out of my sails, pop my balloon, take the stuffing out of me - I think of any number of metaphors which signify a taking-down!

I want you to think back to a time in your life when you felt an incredible amount of love for somebody, or something, maybe a pet, or, maybe even, a religious experience that was centred around a feeling of great love.

Now don’t think about it using words. Just try to experience the feeling you had, once again. If you’re like me you’ll probably feel it in the pit of your stomach. I wonder why that is.

Right, now I want you to imagine that you have to tell somebody about the way you just felt. Try to come up, in your own minds, with the words you will need to describe fully the feeling you felt inside of you.

Now, I am completely certain that, even if you are as good a poet as Elizabeth Barrett Browning you will fail miserably in conveying what you felt inside. You will only scratch the surface and end up saying to the other person, “Well, you know what I mean, you know what it’s like.”

The thing is, it is difficult enough to describe a physical object to somebody else. When it comes to describing emotional stuff we are, always, at a loss for words.

Well, dammit, that's it! And don't you know that he starts the sermon with Elizabeth Browning's "How Do I Love Thee?" All my struggles and there it is laid out for me after the fact. I tell you, I'm feeling a little frustrated. All that effort, and had I waited a day or so, I would have had it without the struggle.

The physical sense of God's presence is centered in the pit of my stomach. It's as if Father, Jesus, and Spirit fit in that little place inside me, filling that space with love and giving me peace. It's as though the whole Gospel is there inside, and all I need do is reach in and take and share with everyone I meet the love and the Good News that is right there inside me.

Now whether this centering process will have the desired effect is a whole other question, to which I don't have an answer yet. It has seemed to work to good effect recently, because in the centering, I feel a peace which seems to extend to my relations with the people and events in my life in a beneficial manner.

My other discipline is to attend the Thursday Evening Prayer service at my church, which is followed by soup and sandwiches and then a DVD presentation by Bishop N. T. Wright on his series Simply Christian, followed by a discussion.

Last night, the subject of the talk was evil. Bishop Wright and a professor from Duke University shared a conversation on the the problem of evil in the world which Christ has redeemed and in which he has established his kingdom. I preferred Bishop Wright's comments to those of the professor from Duke. Last year, we watched DVDs from the Alpha series during Lent. I'm afraid I didn't care for them at all. I like Bishop Wright's presentations much better than Nicky Gumble's.

After watching the DVD, we had a lively discussion - very lively, at the end - especially between one of our young parishioners and - surprise! - moi. He is a candidate for the priesthood, and I am quite fond of him. I hope we didn't frighten the others with the intensity of our discussion, (OK, argument) but I'm sure we are fine with each other. He reads my blog, so I have to say nice things about him. In all seriousness, I am delighted that he was accepted as a candidate for the priesthood, and I believe he will make a wonderful priest.

Thanks be to God.

Gov. Bobby Jindal Watch - Four

I was gonna do it, but why do it, when I can steal from others who have done it better?

Oyster has given us his take on the story of Jindal's chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, and the free tickets to the Hannah Montana concert. As to when that squeaky-clean, no-perks-accepted, we-will-give-the-example administration of Gov. Clean will begin to function, the Big O says, "All in good time, I guess."

And then from C. B. Forgotston:

As I read of Governor Jindal’s actions and his reaction to the lege’s reaction to his proposed “gold standard” of ethics in Louisiana, the more I understand that Jindal is just another Louisiana politician. (My bolding)

Could it be? I think it be. Forgotston goes on:

The more I watch the pragmatic Jindal at work the more I come to the conclusion that even when it comes to writing laws (not even enforcing them), the “gold standard” is quickly becoming the “aluminium standard.” It’s light-weight and flexible.

Gov. Clean dared us to watch him run a squeaky-clean operation, and we are watching, Gov. Clean; we are watching.

Padre Mickey, This One Is For You

From the comments:

Blogger Padre Mickey said...

I like the photos of the flowers. As far as the second shot is concerned, you should have included a telephone in the photo. Then you could sing "put your tulips a little closer to the phone."

For you, Padre:

Put your tulips a little closer to the phone
Just pretend that we're together all alone
Tell the man to turn the juke box way down low
You can tell your friend there with you, she'll have to go

Sorry, Lovely Mona, but Padre started this. And no one tell Grandpère, please.