STORY OF THE DAY - HANGING ON TIGHT

Of course I hang on tight, she said. You
can't believe the kind of stuff that
happens when you let go.

From StoryPeople.

OUR LOT IN LIFE

That is our call in life, servants to our canine and/or feline masters.

Thanks to Doug.

THEY HAVE BABIES!

From Vatican Insider:

The story of a former Anglican priest who converted to Roman Catholicism and thanks to new regulations, can keep his marital bond

How kind that the Vatican does not ask the priests to abandon wife and children.

“Be fruitful and multiply”. There is one man in England who has taken this old biblical call too seriously. His name is Ian Hellyer and together with his wife Margaret is raising not one but nine children. He is also more than well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, being a Roman Catholic pastor. Yes, that is right, he is both a father and a priest, and yet there is no excommunication on the horizon for him. The story appeared a few days ago in English daily newspaper The Guardian. Beware though, the Fr. Ian affair is no theological trick. The 45 year father of nine was an Anglican priest until last year and following a spiritual journey and a course of study, he decided to convert to Catholicism.

The Rev Hellyer and his wife have done their part to increase and multiply. What about the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops? Why haven't the prelates taken the old biblical call to increase and multiply more seriously and set the example for the flock under their care?

I wish the Hellyers well now that the family is in the right church, and I'm pleased that the authorities in Our Lady of Walsingham ordinariate placed Fr Hellyer as chaplain at Plymouth University and gave the family a five bedroom house in which to live. I'm sure there will be a period of adjustment on both sides.

The article in the Guardian which is mentioned above says:

In the past, Anglican priests who made the switch to Catholicism could only become priests if they weren't married, but two years ago, the Vatican changed the rules and established a new organisation – the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham – into which married Anglican priests could be ordained as Catholics after converting.

Perhaps in England, but not in the US. The Vatican has ordained married Episcopal clergy since 1980.

From the Q&A at EWTN:

Pope John Paul II, through the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a clear although brief statement in June 1980.
....

Finally, concerning married Episcopalian clergy becoming Catholic priests, "the Holy See has specified that this exception to the rule of celibacy is granted in favor of these individual persons, and should not be understood as implying any change in the Church's conviction of the value of priestly celibacy, which will remain the rule for future candidates for the priesthood from this group."

Thanks to Ann V for the link to the Vatican Insider.

NO SOPA/PIPA - CONTACT YOUR REPPRESENTATIVES

Wikipedia is blacked out today, and I miss them. Click here to learn about the blackout and for contact information on your representatives.

Watch the video.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

H/Y to Ann Fontaine fore the video.

'DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY'

In her latest novel, P. D. James carries forward the story of Elizabeth and Darcy six years into their life together after their marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And, of course, since James is a writer of mysteries, the tale includes a murder. James writes in the style of the late 18th/early 19th century, but, of course, she does not write like Jane Austen. No one writes like Jane Austen. Her sparkling wit, her great gift for creating comic characters and writing dialogue, the thread of irony that runs through all her work...no one can duplicate, and I'm quite certain the object of James' effort was not to copy, but was rather to write an homage to Jane, whose books she greatly admires.

While largely remaining faithful to the characters as Austen created them, James cleverly takes them through rather surprising twists and turns as she continues their story. The book was an enjoyable read, but, in the end, P D James, writing in the style of the turn of the 18th to the 19th century is not James writing at her best. I've read all of her mystery novels, and I think she ranks amongst the best, thus my mild disappointment. At one point, the author hit a real clinker with the word 'lifestyle', which I was pretty certain was not in use in the period in which the mystery is set. It turns out I was right: the first known use of the word dates to 1929.

Since I don't want to write a spoiler review, I won't say more, except that James held me in suspense with the identity of the murderer until the mystery was solved, taking me completely by surprise. Never would I have thought...

'BIG TROUBLE FOR ROMNEY'

Romney Under Pressure to Prove He Was Manufactured in US

Rivals Demand He Produce Label

Read the rest at Borowitz Report.

I don't know about you, but I want to see Romney's long-form birth certificate with the official stamp, that is, if he's not a Ken doll in disguise.

JESUS AND MO - NO OFFENSE

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From Jesus and Mo.

FACE THE DAY

My eyes only see stuff I believe in
already, she said. I couldn't face the day
otherwise.

From StoryPeople.

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY BETTY WHITE!

Thanks to Crooks and Liars.

THE SIGN OF THE BOW IN THE CLOUDS

From the Lectionary:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

Genesis 9:8-17

The rainbow in the clouds signs to us God's everlasting covenant with every living thing, not just egocentric humans, the plants, the fish, the birds, the animals, the whole earth that teems with life we cannot see. God will never again destroy the whole earth with a flood, but what have we egocentric humans done with God's great gift of the whole earth? And what will we do in days to come?

Picture from Wikipedia.