IN THE BLOOMIN' GARDEN

 

Above is the most popular variety of azaleas. The bushes bloom only once a year. I missed the flowers at the height of their beauty by a few days.

 

The azalea bush pictured above blooms several times a year. It's quite unusual to have the two varieties in bloom at the same time.

 

Above is our wee mock orange. The little shrub has had a hard time of it, suffering much tribulation during it's rather long life, including being pulled up from the roots by a neighborhood toddler and replanted and cut off at the ground by the riding lawn mower. Still, we take pleasure in its resurrection and its plucky persistence in producing lovely flowers this spring.

 

Above are the potted petunias, which are just beginning their lives in our garden.

More to come. I was quite surprised at the number of different blooms in our yard when I began to take pictures.

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

From Maureen Dowd at the New York Times:

When I was in Saudi Arabia, I had tea and sweets with a group of educated and sophisticated young professional women.

I asked why they were not more upset about living in a country where women’s rights were strangled, an inbred and autocratic state more like an archaic men’s club than a modern nation. They told me, somewhat defensively, that the kingdom was moving at its own pace, glacial as that seemed to outsiders.

How could such spirited women, smart and successful on every other level, acquiesce in their own subordination?

I was puzzling over that one when it hit me: As a Catholic woman, I was doing the same thing.

I, too, belonged to an inbred and wealthy men’s club cloistered behind walls and disdaining modernity.

I, too, remained part of an autocratic society that repressed women and ignored their progress in the secular world.

I, too, rationalized as men in dresses allowed our religious kingdom to decay and to cling to outdated misogynistic rituals, blind to the benefits of welcoming women’s brains, talents and hearts into their ancient fraternity.

I may have to reverse my opinion of Maureen Dowd's writing in the NYT. For some time, I haven't liked a good many of her columns because her writing had become too flip, glib, and shallow to suit me, but this is the second excellent column in only a couple of weeks. Read the entire column. Maureen scores as she points out how the exclusion of women from the highest levels of authority causes dysfunction in the very structure of the Roman Catholic Church.

Unfortunately, I will no longer be able to read Maureen Dowd, when the NYT begins to levy a charge to read their online version.

Thanks to Ellie for the link.

IF YOU THOUGHT YOU'D HEARD IT ALL...

From the Guardian:

A website quoted Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto, as saying he believed a "Zionist attack" was behind the criticism, considering how "powerful and refined" the criticism is.

The comments, which have been denied by the bishop, follow a series of statements from Catholic churchmen alleging the existence of plots to weaken the church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Allegedly speaking to the Catholic website Pontifex, Babini, 81, was quoted as saying: "They do not want the church, they are its natural enemies. Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are God killers."

The interview was spotted on Friday by the American Jewish Group Committee, which said Babini was using "slanderous stereotypes, which sadly evoke the worst Christian and Nazi propaganda prior to world war two".

On its website, the American Jewish Group Committee quoted bishop Vincenzo Paglia, an official at the Italian Bishops' Conference, as saying Babini's remarks were "entirely contrary to the official line and mainstream thought of the Catholic church".

Did the American Jewish Committee get a screenshot?

I'll give Bishop Babini the benefit of the doubt until I see how this "row" plays out. I don't see why the American Jewish Committee would make up a story like this. Of course, the Vatican cannot be held responsible for the words of each and every wayward bishop. One wonders just exactly what the Vatican can be held responsible for.

Thanks to Cathy for the link.

UPDATE: I no longer give Bishop Babini the benefit of the doubt. The "row" is playing out with him as the loser. From the Times:

Bishop Babini denied he had made any anti-Semitic remarks. He was backed by the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), which issued a declaration by Bishop Babini in which he said: “Statements I have never made about our Jewish brothers have been attributed to me.”

However, Bruno Volpe, who interviewed Monsignor Babini for Pontifex, confirmed that the bishop had made the statement, which was reported widely in the Italian press today. Pontifex threatened to release the audio tape of the interview as proof.

There you have it.

IT'S STILL EASTER - AND ST. THOMAS SUNDAY

 

The altar at St. John dressed for the Easter season. That's Julie, who served as crucifer today. I hope that she doesn't mind the view of her back in the picture.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

(John 20:19-31)

I've read, and heard it read, and heard sermons on the passage from John time and time again, but today I was quite moved by the words. I felt a frisson, especially at the words in bold text.

Our rector is on vacation for a couple of weeks, but we are fortunate to have a retired priest and his wife in our congregation, and our priest-congregant took the services today and spoke in his sermon of the diciples' experiences of Jesus' presence after the resurrection. As the priest spoke, I remembered a few of my experiences of the presence of God, which remain vivid and full of power long after they happened.

I know godly Christians, folks who are far better disciples than I, who say that they never feel the presence of God. I don't believe at all that the felt presence of God is a necessity to the Christian life, but I thank God for the experiences of God's presence in my life. People may say I'm deluded and tell me that it was not God that I was experiencing, but I believe that what I felt was real and that the presence was God's. The true test of the experiences are whether they move me to more closely follow Jesus' teachings in the Gospels and thus bear good fruit.

THE REV. MARK LATTIME ELECTED BISHOP IN ALASKA

From Ann Fontaine at The Lead:

The Very Rev. Mark Lattime Rector, St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Diocese of Rochester, Geneseo, NY, was elected the next bishop of Alaska on the fourth ballot. Information on the election and the bishop elect is here.

Episcopal News Service has more information on the new bishop-elect.

The electing convention was held at the Meier Lake Conference Center in Wasilla, Alaska. Lattime will succeed the Rt. Rev. Rustin Kimsey, who has served as interim bishop for three years, since Bishop Mark MacDonald left in 2007 to become the first indigenous bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada.
....

According to his election profile, Lattime said serving as bishop of Alaska will require being "willing to engage the journey of faith as well as the journey of vast distances to be with Alaska's people of faith to support and nurture their evangelistic witness...."
....

The consecration and ordination is scheduled for Sept. 4 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Anchorage. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will be the chief consecrator.

Bishop-elect Lattime will be the 8th bishop of the Diocese of Alaska. He is a certified pilot, a skill which will serve him in good stead if he receives consents to become the next bishop.

Thanks to Ann.

EASTER SERMON BY BISHOP BARRY MORGAN OF THE CHURCH IN WALES

 

GUERCINO - "Doubting Thomas" - Oil on canvas
Residenzgalerie, Salzburg

From The Church in Wales:

Believing in God is like catching a plane or falling in love - it require trust, risk and a leap of faith, Dr Barry Morgan said in his sermon at Llandaff Cathedral on Easter Sunday.

He said, "Without a degree of faith and trust, no one would fall in love, neither would any of us catch a plane or go for an operation or allow our children to walk to school. All these are undertaken in trust and contain an element of risk. Belief in God, faith, is very similar."

But faith, he said, can transform lives and if we want proof of God we should look for "resurrection moments" – signs that show transformation and a confidence in a better world - rather than hard facts or knockdown arguments.

"There are Resurrection moments when parents find it in their hearts to forgive their children's murderers; where church communities cease to look after their own interests and defend the rights of others; where people stand up for truth, justice and integrity at great personal cost across the globe; and where attitudes that limit and frustrate, imprison, degrade and dehumanise people are overcome. Believing in resurrection is refusing to accept the world as it is but knowing it can be changed, it can be transfigured.”

Just as the transformed lives of Christ’s disciples after the Resurrection brought people to God, so people will be drawn to God if they see faith at work in Christians today.

Dr Morgan said, “If people see in us the seeds of resurrection life, they too have a model for its living reality and might similarly be transformed. If people see in our lives hope overcoming despair, light replacing darkness, love conquering hate, and lives being transformed, they too might begin to believe that Jesus is truly risen from the dead and that His kingdom has begun to be inaugurated.”

The full text of the sermon follows.

Bishop Morgan quotes A. N. Wilson in the sermon:

So he says “every inner prompting of conscience, every glimmering sense of beauty, every response we make to music, every experience we have of love, be it physical, sexual, family or love of friends, reminds us of this fact. We are not just a collection of chemicals. How are we capable of love, heroism or poetry if we are simply animated pieces of meat? There is more to life than we can see or prove. Faith, like love, is to make more of a commitment than one can rationally explain”.

Remember, it's still Easter. Happy 2 Easter and St. Thomas Sunday!


Image from theWeb Gallery of Art.

H/T to Peter Owen at Thinking Anglicans for the link to the sermon.

UPDATE: I bumped up this post, because I want it to remain on top until tomorrow.

MORE CHURCH CARTOONS

 

 

 

 

Click on the cartoons for the larger view to read the captions.

BEST COVERAGE YET OF THE GOP MEETING IN NOLA

From Gambit's Blog of New Orleans:

When she entered the ballroom of the Riverside Hilton, the 3,000 or so people packed elbow-to-elbow in their banquet room chairs visibly stiffened; she brings an itchy electricity in her wake, a sort of restlessness that’s reflected in her speech, which is relentlessly upbeat but sort of lurches from topic to topic without transitions.

Truest comment:

Yep, the Republicans are definitely in town. Last night, for the first time in my life, I saw an orderly queue for the streetcar.

Also from Gambit, the video "Great Performances: I Am the World" by New York Magazine.




The coverage of the meeting by the two big local newspapers is somewhat lackluster.

H/T to Adrastos at First Draft for the links.

HEH, HEH

That's our guv.

"THE SMOKING GUN"?

From the AP:

The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church," according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature.

The correspondence, obtained by The Associated Press, is the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's insistence that Benedict played no role in blocking the removal of pedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.

The letter, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle.
....

But the future pope also noted that any decision to defrock Kiesle must take into account the "good of the universal church" and the "detriment that granting the dispensation can provoke within the community of Christ's faithful, particularly considering the young age." Kiesle was 38 at the time.

Kiesle had been sentenced in 1978 to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two young boys in a San Francisco Bay area church rectory.

The information in the article sickens me, but I'm running out of words on the pope's role in the cover-up of child abuse. What's next? What sort of revelations will it take before the Vatican stops circling the wagons and hunkering down?

I'd add that there's something very wrong with the criminal laws when a person who ties up and molests young children can plead guilty to a misdemeanor and get off with no jail time and only three years probation.

H/T to Box Turtle Bulletin for the link to the article. Jim Burroway has more commentary there.