Counterlight On St. Peter's Basilica

In recent weeks, Counterlight posted a series of virtual tours of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. His latest, masterful contribution is at his blog, Counterlight's Peculiars. As I said in the comments there, reading the posts was a good news/bad news experience for me. The good news is what I learned about St. Peter's that I did not know before. The bad news is that now I know of all that I missed on my two visits to the basilica. I'd love to take a walking tour through St. Peter's with Doug.

I hope that at least some of Doug's fortunate students appreciate the effort that he puts into his teaching. His posts on art, architecture, and art history have taught me so very much.

To entice you to read Doug's post and view the rest of the pictures, I stole the photo of Bernini's Baldachino over the high altar in St. Peter's from his blog post.

It's Still Christmas - White Christmas

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

Schillebeeckx - "...A Ghetto Church...."?

The Belgian-born Dutch Dominican theologian, Edward Schillebeeckx, died Dec. 23 at the age of 95 in Nijmegen, Netherlands, where he lived and taught for more than five decades. He wrote well into his 90s.
....

Precious Blood Fr. Robert Schreiter, considered the leading U.S. expert on Schillebeeckx, said his legacy will live on, principally for several major contributions. He was the first Catholic scholar to take seriously all the historical research on Jesus that had been done in the 19th and 20th centuries and present it in an intelligible way.
....

When I visited him in Nijmegen in 2007 I was impressed with his calm demeanor. It came, I think, from his confidence in God and in Christ. He knew the story was not over, though he was keenly aware of the hierarchical church today and had no misapprehensions about the direction in which it seemed to be heading. This is what he said in 1990:

My concern is that the further we move away in history from Vatican II, the more some people begin to interpret unity as uniformity. They seem to want to go back to the monolithic church which must form a bulwark on the one hand against communism and on the other hand against the Western liberal consumer society. I think that above all in the West, with its pluralist society, such an ideal of a monolith church is out of date and runs into a blind alley. And there is the danger that in that case, people with that ideal before their eyes will begin to force the church in the direction of a ghetto church, a church of the little flock, the holy remnant. But though the church is not of this world, it is of men and women. Men and women who are believing subjects of the church.

Fr. Schillebeeckx's words from 1990 are as timely today as they were then, and not simply as applied to the Roman Catholic Church. Is there a lesson for Episcopalians and Anglicans in the words as we ponder and discuss the Anglican Covenant which has been laid before the churches in the "Anglican Communion" to sign - or not? The words "some people begin to interpret unity as uniformity" and "the monolithic church which must form a bulwark" lept out at me. I cannot help but believe that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' vision for the "Anglican Communion" is similar to the type of church Schillebeeckx warns against. Did the ABC not study Schillebeeckx's theology or ecclesiology? Or did he study the writings and conclude that they were nothing of value? Why in heaven's name would Rowan want to model his plan for the "AC" after a Roman model that is so obviously flawed and unsuitable for the Anglican churches of today? Why would he strive for the impossible goal of a communion of uniformity and monolithic structure for a group of churches of such wide diversity? What in heaven's name is wrong with a communion based on the Scriptures, the Creeds, common worship, and the bonds of affection?

Repeating Fr. Schreiter's words:

When I visited him in Nijmegen in 2007 I was impressed with his calm demeanor. It came, I think, from his confidence in God and in Christ.

Why a Covenant focused on rules and discipline rather than a focus on the Center, Jesus Christ, in whom "we live and move and have our being"?

From the National Catholic Reporter.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at the Lead.

It's Still Christmas - Straight No Chaser

The original version from 1998. The members of the group reunited and are back in a capella business. See and hear what they look and sound like today at YouTube.

Click on the x at the top right of the ads to remove them from view.

Thanks to Doug.

The Pipe Organ At St. John's In Thibodaux

St. John’s Episcopal Church has an 1893 Farrand & Votey pipe organ rebuilt by Jim Hammann of New Orleans. It has 7 ranks of pipes. One rank is from a Katrina-damaged Unitarian church in New Orleans. It was being installed when Katrina hit but was not damaged. Installation was completed in 2006. Dr. Carol Britt discovered this organ when she was looking for an organ to install in her house. She saw it in Jim Hammann’s shop and thought it would be perfect for St. John’s. Jim acquired this organ from an Episcopal mission church in North Carolina because he had written his doctoral dissertation on the Farrand & Votey organ company and he specializes in saving and rebuilding and maintaining historic organs. St. John’s originally had an electronic Allen organ but was in the beginning stages of renovating and restoring the church when we decided to purchase this organ. The 1893 pipe organ was installed in the choir loft and a separate two-manual console from the 1920s was purchased and installed down front.

 

Thanks to LaDonna Alexander, our gifted church organist, pianist, and choir director, for the information on the organ and console. What a blessing LaDonna is to our church community at St. John's.

The Pay Raise

Our Mexican maid asked for a pay increase. My wife was very upset about this and decided to talk to her about the raise.

She asked: "Now, Maria, why do you want a pay increase?"

Maria: "Well, Señora, there are three reasons why I want an increase. The first is that I iron better than you."

Wife: "Who said you iron better than me?"

Maria: "Your husband said so."

Wife: "Oh."

Maria: "The second reason is that I am a better cook than you are."

Wife: "Nonsense! Who said you were a better cook than me?"

Maria: "Your husband did."

Wife: "Oh."

Maria: "My third reason is that I am a better lover than you."

Wife (really furious now): "Did my husband say that as well?"

Maria: "No, Señora . . . the gardener did."

Wife: "So how much do you want?"


Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.), who says that he does not have a Mexican maid. Whether I believe him or not is a whole other matter.

Feast of St. John, Apostle And Evangelist

Today we celebrate the feast of the patron saint of my church, St. John the Evangelist. Whether the Evangelist is the same person as John the Apostle and as the disciple whom Jesus loved, I can't say. Nor can I say whether John who wrote the Gospel and three Epistles is the same person as John who wrote the Book of Revelation. From what I've read and heard, it seems to me that we could be talking about from one to three persons, and I'll leave it there. Perhaps my readers can offer clarification.

Pictured above is the altar and stained glass at St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux. If you click on the picture, you can see the detail in the glass which shows a snake coming out of the goblet in John's hand. According to legend, the emperor Diocletian Domitian offered poisoned wine to John, but he blessed the wine and the poison came out of the cup in the form of a snake.


Eucharistic Readings:

Psalm 92 or 92:1-4,11-14;
Exodus 33:18-23; 1 John 1:1-9; John 21:9b-24


Daily Office Readings:

AM: Psalm 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35
PM: Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; 1 John 5:1-12


PRAYER

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light; that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

It's Still Christmas - "The Rebel Jesus"

H/T to Ann at What the Tide Brings In.

It's Still Christmas - Gayle's Christmas Pin

After my sister Gayle died, my nieces offered me mementos from the possessions she left behind. I was at a loss about what to take. I nearly froze. I had to carry whatever I chose home on the plane. Finally I spotted the small Christmas pin and made my choice.

In the months after Gayle died in April of 2006, I wanted to feel her presence, to dream about her, to have a dream with a message for me, but it never happened until Christmas of 2006 when I wore the pin to the Christmas Eve service at my church, and I felt her strong presence. Every year since Gayle died, at Christmas, when I wear the pin, I sense her presence. This year was no exception. As the service approached the time for the distribution of communion, I felt a chill, and she was with me. I thought of the lovely movie, "Places In The Heart", of the scene in the church at the communion service, when all the people who had died in the course of the movie were there in the congregation taking communion.

And O Lordy, Lordy! I feel Gayle's presence now as I type, and it's lovely. The Communion of Saints is real - at least to me. Not only is Gayle present but also the great Cloud of Witnesses of all those who have gone before.


Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14

Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
our ancestors in their generations.
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and made a name for themselves by their valor;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people's lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
those who composed musical tunes,
or put verses in writing;
rich men endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes--
all these were honored in their generations,
and were the pride of their times.
Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.

The Company Christmas Party

Jack woke up with a huge hangover after attending his company's Christmas party. He's not normally a drinker, and couldn't even remember how he got home from the party.

As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.

Jack forced himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the bedside table.

And, next to them, a single red rose!

Jack sat up and saw his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looked around the room and saw that it was in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So was the rest of the house.

He took the aspirins, cringing when he looked in the bathroom mirror and saw that he had a black eye.

Then he noticed a note hanging on the corner of the mirror, written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in lipstick. "Honey," it read, "breakfast is on the stove. I left early to go get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight. I love you, darling!

Jack stumbled to the kitchen, and sure enough, there was a hot breakfast, steaming hot coffee, and the morning newspaper.

His son was also at the table, eating.

Jack asked, "Son... what happened last night?"

"Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, then puked in the hallway and got that black eye when you ran into the door."

Confused, he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean? Why do I have a rose and breakfast on the table waiting for me?"

His son replied, "Oh, that. Well, Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, 'Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!' "

Broken Coffee Table $89.99
Hot Breakfast $5.20
Two Aspirins $.38
Saying the right thing, at the right time . . . Priceless!

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.