THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES

From the ground up is how change will come.  The AP reports on a Holy Thursday sermon by Pope Benedict critical of a group of Austrian Roman Catholic priests who have taken a stand against celibacy for all RC priests and in favor of the ordination of women.  No steps beyond criticism have yet been taken to discipline the priests.  We shall see.

On the website of the group, the Pfarrer-Initiative is the following declaration.

The Roman refusal to take up long needed reforms and the inaction of the bishops, not only permits but demands that we follow our conscience and act independently:

We priests want to set a mark for the future:

1. WE WILL include a petition for church reform in every liturgy.

2. WE WILL not deny Communion to faithful of good will, especially remarried people, members of other Christian churches, and in some cases those who have officially left the Catholic Church.*

3. WE WILL avoid as much as possible celebrating multiple times on Sundays and feast days, and avoid scheduling priests travelling around or priests unknown to the community. A locally-planned Liturgy of the Word is preferable to providing guest performances.

4. WE WILL use the term “Priestless Eucharistic Celebration” for a Liturgy of the Word with distribution of Communion. This is how the Sunday Mass obligation is fulfilled when priests are in short supply.

5. WE WILL ignore the prohibition of preaching by competently trained laity, including female religion teachers. In difficult times, the Word of God must be proclaimed.

6. WE WILL advocate that every parish has a presiding leader – man or woman, married or unmarried, full-time or part time. Rather than consolidating parishes, We call for a new image of the priest.

7. WE WILL take every opportunity to speak up publicly for the admission of women and married people to the priesthood. These would be welcome colleagues in ministry.

We express solidarity with colleagues no longer permitted to exercise their ministry because we have married, and also with those in ministry who live in a permanent relationship. Both groups live in accordance with their conscience – as we do with our protest. We see in them as we do in our bishops and the pope our brothers. **

* Here we refer to those who officially leave the Church; some to avoid Church Tax as a means of protest

** This is a reference to the German Word "Mitbruder" instead of "Bruder" (=brother) which is sometimes used by clerics and excludes the laity.
Trinity Sunday, 19Th June, 2011

To expect the top levels of the Roman Catholic Church to implement change is unrealistic.  Change will come only from pressure from the folks on the ground, from the priests who serve in parish churches and church parishioners.  I'm pleased to learn of the brave stand by the Austrian priests, and I hope that the movement spreads to other countries.  The majority of the hierarchy seem out of touch with the operations of its parishes where the major work of the church is actually accomplished.

Note: Once you arrive at the website of the Pfarrer-Initiative, click on 'English', if you prefer to read the material in the English language, then scroll down and click on 'Appeal to Disobedience'.  The next link, 'A Plea For a Credible Church' is well worth reading, also.

H/T to Mark Harris at Preludium. 

GIVE IT UP PLEASE!

From the Guardian:

A leading member of the Church of England who believes some gay people can be counselled to suppress or possibly change their sexual orientation is helping to select the next archbishop of Canterbury.

Glynn Harrison, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Bristol University, is on the Crown Nominations Commission, which will recommend a successor to Rowan Williams, to be approved by the prime minister and the Queen. His role on the 16-strong commission has alarmed some liberal Anglicans who fear it could deepen divisions over homosexuality in a church riven by the issues of holding gay civil ceremonies in churches and the consecration of gay bishops.

In a statement through the church, Harrison stated that he did not believe in a "gay cure" and had himself never offered formal counselling or therapy.

A non-denial denial, methinks.

I assume Professor Glynn Harrison' presence on the commission is to provide 'balance' as the Faux News cable channel provides 'fair and balanced news'.  Sometimes there are not two rational sides in a situation to present to provide balance, and when that is the case, then why search out a phony balance?

From the American Psychological Association:

Since 1975, the American Psychological Association has called on psychologists to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations. The discipline of psychology is concerned with the well-being of people and groups and therefore with threats to that well-being. The prejudice and discrimination that people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual regularly experience have been shown to have negative psychological effects. This information is designed to provide accurate information for those who want to better understand sexual orientation and the impact of prejudice and discrimination on those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

The church should be leading the way advocating for the removal of the stigma attached to LGTB sexual orientation, rather than being dragged kicking and screaming into the way of justice and equality by secular institutions. 
 
 H/T to Simon Sarmiento at Thinking Anglicans.

HUMOR FOR LOGOPHILES

LOGOPHILES: WHOEVER PUT THIS TOGETHER LOVES LANGUAGE

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

          When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.
        
           A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
         
           When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U. C. L. A.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

If you don't pay your exorcist, you can get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft, and I'll show you A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care where a three year old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy, it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your count that votes.

If you take a laptop computer for a run, it could jog your memory.

When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.

The guy who fell in an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

          Acupuncture is a jab well done. 

 My brother-in-law sent the list with a note saying that I may have seen these before.  True.  In fact, I have posted some of the funnies before, but what the hell!  I laughed all over again at them, so thanks, Frank.

PLEASE PRAY....

From Mark at Enough About Me:

My Brother, Jeff . . .

. . is dying.

We got the news this weekend. The timeline is not certain, but the cancer is back and inoperable, his heart is not moving fluid out, the pain medication, which is necessary, cannot help but have a negative effect on the heart's action. He is realistic, but calm. He knows death is a certainty, but sees the gift of it in bringing his focus to doing rather than procrastinating.

And - of course - we all know death is a certainty, for each and every one of us. Rather gets lost in this season's preaching, doesn't it?

There has to be a death to be a resurrection.

How sad to receive the news any time, but especially now at Eastertide.

May God the Father bless Jeff, God the Son heal him, God the Holy Spirit give him strength. May God the holy and undivided Trinity guard his body, save his soul, and bring him safely to his heavenly country; where he lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

May god give courage and strength to Jeff and to all who love him and care for him.  May the peace of God which passes understanding keep their minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.

Thanks to Paul the BB for the image at the head of the post. 

STORY OF THE DAY - BUFFER ZONE

buffered from almost every shock, 
unless the pole falls down 

From StoryPeople.

READ THIS HEALTH CARE STORY AND WEEP

'Down the Insurance Rabbit Hole'

 From Angela Louise Campbell at the New York Times:

ON the second day of oral arguments over the Affordable Care Act, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., trying to explain what sets health care apart, told the Supreme Court, “This is a market in which you may be healthy one day and you may be a very unhealthy participant in that market the next day.” Justice Antonin Scalia subsequently expressed skepticism about forcing the young to buy insurance: “When they think they have a substantial risk of incurring high medical bills, they’ll buy insurance, like the rest of us.”

May the justices please meet my sister-in-law. On Feb. 8, she was a healthy 32-year-old, who was seven and a half months pregnant with her first baby. On Feb. 9, she was a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down by a car accident that damaged her spine. Miraculously, the baby, born by emergency C-section, is healthy.

 Read it all.  I wish there was a way to mandate that the conservative justices on the Supreme Court read the story, especially Antonin (Broccoli) Scalia, the clown on the bench.  

H/T to Charles Pierce at The Politics Blog.

'THE MEDIA DARLING'

MrC reflects on the candidacy of Mr Sentamu for ++ABC

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY FROM PAUL (A.)

EASTER SENILITY

One of the advantages of senility is that you can hide your own Easter eggs.


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

I ask you: Is Paul (A.) trying to tell me something?

Image from Wikipedia.

A VISIT FROM ST EASTER BUNNY

The little fella arrived in my inbox once again this year, and I just had to share.  Praise or blame Doug.

STORY OF THE DAY - PLUMBER

The plumber was digging around in the 
pipes & he saw something shine in the 
muck & it turned out to be the soul of 
the last tenant. He gave it to me & I said 
I wonder how we can return it & he 
 shrugged & said he found stuff like that 
all the time. You'd be amazed what 
people lose, he said. 

From StoryPeople.