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I reckon it's almost time to retire this thing.
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Thanks to everyone who sent prayers or well wishes. Grandma Beckman was 87 and went peacefully in her sleep. Grandpa Beckman preceded her by eleven years when I was a sophomore in high school. Grandpa Capps left us two and a half years ago. Grandma Capps just turned 80 last Friday. When you start losing your grandparents you suddenly remember many things you haven't thought of in years. My three cousins on dad's side always got so frustrated with grandma. They're all older than me by at least ten years. They would approach grandma and ask for an ice cream cone and she'd say, "No. Go rake the yard first." I'd go up to her and ask for one and she'd say, "Ok!" Once people reach a certain age, they stop trying to keep up with the latest technology. Grandma and Grandpa Beckman had a rotary phone up until 1996, and grandma only got cable about six years ago.
You never realize just how much a person or an event influences you until long afterwards. Thanks for everything grandma. I just wish you could have stuck around long enough to see five or six years from now.
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Jul. 28th, 2008 @ 10:03 am
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Grandmother Beckman died this morning. Prayers are appreciated.
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The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. [![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) yozakura, aka The Practicing Catholic]
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six fellow bloggers by linking them. [I can't think of six people right now, so feel free to play if you wish]
5. Leave a comment on each of the six blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.
My Quirks:
1. I always read several books at once and it's impossible for me to not finish a book, no matter how bad it is. If I ever opened The DaVinci Code and started reading, I'd finish it some day.
2. I could live on potatoes alone, especially since I learned the recipe for chili potatoes.
3. The Subway sandwich shop next door to where I work is run by Jasper and Beatrice, two immigrants from England. Their accents are middle to upper class. One day I did my impression of the Geico gecko for them. Jasper says I sound like a native. I'm not quite sure how to take that since the gecko is apparently lower working class :p
4. Whenever I comment on community entries or write about some cultural, political, or religious topic, the most common emotion I feel is surprise. My politics are almost medieval. I am an arch-traditionalist in liturgy and culture. I don't think much of democracy (I'm pretty sure voting for anyone this year would probably be a sin). I believe in objective standards of beauty. My most visceral disagreements with my fellow Catholics tend to be when they are too conciliatory and modern. Every time I say something that I think needs to be said, it surprises me.
5. Like any stopped clock, postmodernism is right about one thing. It's deliciously ironic that the one thing it happens to be right about is absolute truth: positivism is nonsense on stilts. It's a dead end philosophy of meaning for arrogant adolescents. The war on positivism is my quixotic personal crusade.
6. I actually like Wikipedia. People criticize it for the wrong reason; it's actually pretty reliable but the editors are determined to stamp out anything approaching style. Sometimes the result can be pretty funny. Here, for example, is an article that tries so hard to be serious that it becomes amusing.
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| » "Prove to me that killing is wrong!" |
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Do you ever get the feeling God allows so many college kids to pretend they're Nietzschean supermen just to make the work of apologists easier? Nietzsche himself tried harder than anyone before or since to really live according to the principles of liberal modernism. He wasn't the least bit afraid to internalize and function according to his own ideas. That's why he died a gibbering lunatic.
Jun. 14th, 2008 @ 10:36 pm
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| » If you think your parish is nutty... |
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If I took a shot for every liturgical abuse in this video, I'd die of alcohol poisoning before it ended.
What could these people possibly be thinking? First, note that they are sitting in portable chairs, which means there is no sense of permanence. I'll bet no one kneels after the Sanctus or during the consecration. Is this "Mass" taking place inside a church or a dining hall that could just as easily be the site of Rotary Club meetings on Monday night? See the low ceiling, whereby the pious soul has no sense of verticalness. This is a progressive, modern church where there are no such things as superiors or hierarchies or meaningful differences; we are all free and equal supermen. Come to think of it, that's always struck me as peculiarly odd modern fashion: we're supposed to celebrate diversity but at the same time it's racist or bigoted or otherwise unacceptable to take note of certain differences, or to make judgments about different cultures.
Note the man and woman prancing about the nave. In their minds, I'm sure they think they're offering up their talents for the greater glory of God. It probably doesn't occur to them that to an outside observer, the whole thing looks incredibly, unfathomably narcissistic. "I, a highly trained, graceful, magnificent dancer, offer you, my audience, my people, my friends, my honed and carefully crafted art." Who is missing from that sentence? Note that during the Mass the priest steps outside of the sanctuary (is there a sanctuary?) to glad hand with parishioners. The laity sway and clap their hands in tune with a jazzy Gloria played on what sounds like bongos. Later on, the priest stands with the people - there being no difference at all between them after all - and joins them in a... African? Caribbean? chant. The video ends with the priest blessing them in the name of the "creator, the redeemer, and the sanctifier." I hope for their sakes he isn't performing baptisms that way.
Oh yeah, and before I forget, there are GIANT. FREAKING. PUPPETS.
I wonder how the thin gruel that is so much of modern liturgy has influenced those men and women of my generation who are cradle Catholics? For my part, as a convert, the Church I read about and studied and the Church I entered in 2005 sometimes seem like two different institutions. Imagine my surprise when I approached the closest Catholic church, seeking to enter, and saw that the interior has whitewashed walls, banners instead of statues and paintings, a freestanding wooden table instead of a stone altar set against a reredo or beneath a baldacchino.
No matter how thin or offensive the liturgical exteriors may be, He is there. The feeling I try to cultivate in myself, even when a priest affirms us in our okayness or liturgical dancers start sashaying down the aisle, is gratitude. It could be that modern liturgy is so banal because that is what the modern world deserves, maybe even better than what it deserves. Perhaps all of these "Isn't that nice, aren't we wonderful" Masses of St. Narcissus are meant to be penances for centuries worth of ingratitude for what we had. Maybe they are meant to cultivate in all of us a deeper appreciation for what the liturgy means. Who knows if I would have learned as much about liturgy, church architecture, art, etc., if I had worshiped in a different setting? Lex orandi, lex credendi.
I think we're poised for a renewal, and I believe Benedict XVI will have "the Great" attached to his name some day. Father Zuhlsdorf calls Benedict's vision for his papacy a "Marshall Plan" for Catholic identity. I don't think the Pauline Rite will ever go anywhere, but the Tridentine Rite will affect it through gravitational pull. That is, a more easily available Tridentine Rite means the Pauline Rite will be celebrated with more reverence. Already the anecdotal reports are flooding in about how pastors are returning to facing east, and miracle of miracles, nobody is offended about his "turning his back on them."
Plus look at all of the gray hair in that audience. Some parishes I've visited in my diocese made me sigh and say "How long, O Lord, how long?" I think the answer is "Not too much longer." It should be understood, in all fairness, that that probably isn't taking place in an actual Catholic church. It's a performance staged by Call to Apostasy Action, membership in which is grounds for automatic excommunication in at least one diocese in the US.
May. 11th, 2008 @ 09:15 pm
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| » Mission accomplished for five years running |
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Yesterday was the five year anniversary of the infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech by President Bush on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Naturally, many folks are having a lot of fun at the expense of the more feverish cheerleaders. When I laugh at them, I'm laughing at myself too for how foolish and naive I was back then. I think one of the toughest things for me to admit about the war is that the dirty hippies were right all along, while I was spectacularly wrong. I trusted my government, and I was far from the only one who believed them and trusted them, but that doesn't excuse my error or the errors of everyone else who supported the Iraq war. Everything that went wrong could have been and was predicted by many people on every point of the political spectrum except the respectable "mainstream" center.
I don't laugh at people who are wrong simply because they are wrong. I laugh at people - and this includes almost our entire political class - who are wrong and then not only deny they were wrong in the face of overwhelming evidence, but refuse to ever admit they were wrong because they think it would be taken as a sign of weakness. Victor Davis Hanson is a great example; he occasionally makes a token passive voice "mistakes were made" style concession that not everything went according to plan, but it's pretty much been "we're winning" for five years running. How long has the insurgency been in its last throes?
May. 2nd, 2008 @ 08:14 pm
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| » Wright on |
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The Democratic race in seven minutes:
In other news, hurry up and wait isn't just for the military :p
May. 1st, 2008 @ 11:31 am
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| » Iohannes Paulus Secundus, ora pro nobis |
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Today is the third anniversary of John Paul II's death and birth into new life. George Weigel once described JPII as the most fearless person he'd ever met because the late holy father had internalized an important truth: the worst thing that could possibly happen has already happened. We tend to think in terms of future catastrophes, whether it be demographic suicide, nuclear annihilation, global warming, new and deadlier pandemics, or being overwhelmed by the practitioners of a certain religion of peace. As bad as all of those things are, they cannot surpass the enormity of something which took place two thousand years ago: man killed God after scourging, beating, spitting upon, and humiliating Him. Never forget that. That probably sounds trite to the believing Christian, but you'd be surprised how easy it really is to forget that. How many of us worry about things like what we're going to eat, or drink, or wear, and where we're going to live, even after Christ specifically told us not to? Likewise, did He not also tell us that we won't add one cubit to our life by worrying? I do this a lot. Sometimes I catch myself before I go too far. More often it only occurs to me much later after the fact.
JPII had many crosses to bear in his long life. His physical infirmities everyone already knows about. Sometimes I think those did not bother him as much as seeing members of his flock persist in dissent and disobedience. To go back to a theme I've harped on several times before, there is a certain kind of Catholic I call the ultramontane moral relativist. They tend towards theological and political liberalism, and you can usually find them being interviewed by the media during their biannual (Christmas and Easter) attempts to debunk either the Nativity or the Resurrection. They say, "The Church's vocation problem would be solved if only the pope would allow women to be ordained," or "The pope can talk until he's blue in the face about the evil of contraception, but two thirds of all Catholics contracept so the pope should get with it and change Church teaching already."
Ironically, they attribute far more power to the papacy than even the most sectarian right-wing triumphalists (among whom I count myself!) The pope is merely a steward of the Deposit of Faith. No pope could "change Church teaching" even if he wanted to. Every pope worth his salt has a vision of where he would like the Church to go, and how he wishes the Church to present itself and relate to the world - Pius XII let the world come to him, while Blessed John XXIII went out to meet the world. JPII always had a clear vision of the Church's place in the economy of salvation and in the world. He was the right man for the time, first in the twilight stages of communism, and then waging guerrilla warfare against the dictatorship of relativism. The Holy Spirit always ensures the universal Church gets the pope it deserves.
I think JPII will be canonized before the end of Benedict XVI's papacy. I hope all Catholics will cultivate a devotion to this saintly pontiff.
Apr. 2nd, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
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| » Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. |
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Non vos me elegistis, sed ego elegi vos, et posui vos ut eatis, et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat: ut quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, det vobis.
Mar. 23rd, 2008 @ 12:26 am
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| » How white am I? |
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Stolen from stremph: bold all of the stuff white people like that apply to you.
#90 Dinner Parties
#89 St. Patrick's Day - I'll give myself this one even though I like St. Patrick's Day for completely different reasons than most (non-Catholic) white people.
#88 Having Gay Friends - I think I'm the only white person in the US who not only doesn't have any gay friends, but has never knowingly met a gay person, and has no gay relatives that I'm aware of.
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts - I don't even own a pair of shorts.
#85 The Wire - Never seen it.
#84 T-Shirts - Only as an undergarment.
#83 Bad Memories of High School - I don't like talking about high school though. Personally, I think that if you're over the age of 22 or a college graduate, and you still talk about your high school years, you've got problems.
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School - I'll be going some day.
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada - Soviet Canuckistan is like the United States ten years into the future.
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad - Never have, but would like to.
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups - I've had a few but I don't like them.
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches - Subway and Togo's are staples of my diet.
#62 Knowing What's Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan - I think I'm the only white person in the English-speaking world who not only has no great interest in anything Japanese, but find contemporary Japanese culture to be quite weird and annoying.
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies - Yep. In real life, especially at work, I'm the kind of guy who would apologize to you if you stepped on my toes.
#54 Kitchen Gadgets - No. The simpler, the better.
#53 Dogs - Big dogs are fun.
#52 Sarah Silverman - Never watched or heard her before. I understand I'm not missing much.
#51 Living by the Water - I'd like to some day.
#50 Irony - I indulge in it myself, but people who are all irony all the time get real old real fast.
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times - I only read the Sunday Sacramento Bee. Anything other than local news I get online.
#45 Asian Fusion Food - Huh?
#44 Public Radio - If only for the classical.
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi - Love it; just wish it weren't so expensive.
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products - I own neither an iPod nor an iPhone.
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development - Never watched it.
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report - I like the Colbert Report better. LOL, smuggling Catholicism into snarky postmodern mockery.
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism - I respect those who can do it, but if the good Lord intended us all to be vegetarians, why did He make animals out of delicious meat?
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night - I'm amused by anyone born after 1986 who goes to 80s night, wherever 80s night is held. I was born in 1980 and the only things I clearly remember are the cartoons.
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris - Who?
#24 Wine - Red wine: good and good for you.
#23 Microbreweries - What wine is for some people, beer is for me. I think carefully about what kind of beer goes best with what kind of food. Russian Imperial Stout with red meat, FTW.
#22 Having Two Last Names - If a prospective wife told me she wanted to hyphenate her last name with mine, I'd call off the wedding on the spot. Pick one and stick with it.
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture - Everyone I know has their favorite foreign culture. I wouldn't call myself an expert on any of them, but I'm interested in English, German, and Russian history.
#19 Traveling - Yes, but I've never traveled abroad. There's more than enough to see right here in the US.
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents - I've always gotten along great with both of them.
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea - Another of those things that's good and good for you.
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls - Truly rare is the white man who hasn't liked Asian girls at one time or another.
#10 Wes Anderson Movies - Who?
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer's Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don't belong to - I suppose, technically, this applied at one time since neither of my parents were Catholic when I converted. It doesn't anymore since my mother was baptized and confirmed one year after me. Still working on dad.
#1 Coffee - Many times my breakfast is a cup of Starbucks coffee.
18 out of 90: I am 20% white.
Mar. 20th, 2008 @ 09:49 am
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| » The point, let me show you how you missed it |
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And of course White Peopletm, God bless them, get it completely wrong.
Normally if someone were to wake up at 7:00 in the morning, take the day off work, and get drunk at a bar before 10:00 a.m., they would be called an alcoholic, and not in the artistic, edgy way that white people are so fond of.
On March 17th, however, this exact same activity is called celebrating St. Patrick’s day. This very special white holiday recognizes Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland who helped to bring Catholicism to the Emerald Isle. His ascetic life is celebrated every year by white people drinking large amounts of Irish-themed alcohol and listening to the Dropkick Murphys.
It is also the day of the year when you can make the most gains in your social and professional relationship with white people.
Most of the time, white people consider celebrations of European heritage to be racist unless they omit large swathes of the 16th through 20th centuries. But since the Irish never engaged in colonialism and were actually oppressed it is considered acceptable and encouraged to celebrate their ancestry. For this reason, 100% of white people are proud to claim that they are somewhat Irish.
I'm mostly English and German :p
Mar. 17th, 2008 @ 09:40 am
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| » I, Patrick, a sinner... |
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I chose St. Patrick as my baptismal saint three years ago. My diocese transferred his feast day to last Friday, the 14th. At first I feared we would have to eat corned fish but the bishop granted a dispensation from Lenten abstention since St. Patrick is co-patron of my diocese. Patrick's spiritual children spread the faith throughout the world; American Catholicism began as an extension of the Irish Church. Despite how diverse my diocese has become, it is still largely dominated by the Irish, particularly the seminaries. Whether your priest's last name is Rodriguez, Koscynski, or Mbutu, he will have a mind that may as well come from County Cork.
Patrick, or Patricius, was actually born and raised in Roman Britain. He was kidnapped from his home by Irish slave traders and spent six years of his life working as a herdsman on the Emerald Isle. He managed to escape his captivity, but later returned to Ireland, this time as a bishop come to convert the people who stole him from his family and enslaved him. Most of what we know of St. Patrick comes from one his two surviving letters, his confession:
1. I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners. ( Read more... )
Mar. 17th, 2008 @ 09:22 am
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| » Mysterium Iniquitatis |
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Today I ran a check which later turned out to be fake. The Telecheck machine accepted it which means the account number was stolen. Why then, I wonder, would the thief have shown me her real driver's license with her real name on it when I asked to see it, thus enabling the cops to easily track her down via her driver's license number? And why would a young lady with ah... distinguishing characteristics want to try such a thing? Even if I couldn't clearly remember her, and I do, did she not think she was on several security cams the whole time?
I remember that when John Gotti died, everyone was amazed when they started digging up those old stories about how Gotti's IQ was only slightly above average. How is it that such a mediocre intellect rose to the top of the organized crime world? Simple: an IQ of 110 made Gotti a genius compared to other criminals. Mark Shea has it right when he says sin makes you stupid.
Mar. 1st, 2008 @ 04:17 pm
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| » For Washington's birthday |
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We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.
We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope n., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, n., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.
We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.
We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state , for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.
- John Carroll, first Catholic bishop of the United States.
I'm a first cousin ten times removed of Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence (his grandfather is my ten greats grandfather). John and Charles were cousins so I guess that means John is my cousin as well. That's a random fact about me for you, 3secondfish :)
Washington's birthday also brings a notable collision with the liturgical calendar - it falls on the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Here are BXVI's reflections on today's feast from 2006: ( Read more... )
Feb. 22nd, 2008 @ 11:25 am
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| » The elections that matter most of all |
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It's the first Sunday of Lent which means it's been three years now since I experienced the greatest election of all - the Rite of Election for Catechumens and Candidates.
(It's worth reminding, too, that in the cycles after the US' abuse storm began in 2002, a record number of journalists who'd been assigned to report on the crisis in various locales ended up converting.)
From a certain point of view the scandals played a part in my own conversion. Before I entered the Church I was like a lot of Americans - acknowledge the existence of God, pray under extreme duress or when one needs some temporal advantage, but not go to church or really let the Gospel affect one's life all that much. I had never given Catholicism much serious thought before, but when the scandals broke it was obviously in the news a lot. Most people in my life had the attitude of, "Those rotten Catholics are wrong on everything anyway, and these horrible crimes are the direct consequence of their beliefs, especially about the priesthood." At first I just accepted that at face value. But then - and I have no other explanation other than God's grace - it dawned on me that I'd been listening to mild and tolerant anti-Catholicism all of my life. So-called Bible Christians, fundamentalists, and evangelicals are abundant in this part of California. Why were there so very many different sects? And why was it the only thing that really united them was the passionate conviction that they were Not Catholic? What did the Church have to say about all of these criticisms? And hasn't it been here from the beginning, whereas many of these local churches have only set up shop within the last hundred years? Am I to believe it is they alone who have "gotten it right" after two thousand years? If they're all right, then why are there separate denominations at all?
So the first thing I did was pick up a book of Catholic history. I was so enthralled that next I bought a catechism, and after that the capital "C" Catechism. Two years after that I drove to my parish and started pounding on the door shouting, "Let me in."
It's striking that all of the temptations of the world and wicked machinations of the devil cannot keep the dedicated catechumen away from the Church, but oftentimes people who are already on the inside try mightily to turn them away. They don't intend to do that of course. But if you ask around among converts - and I have - they almost universally attest to an RCIA experience similar to Christ's forty days of fasting in the desert. I didn't learn much in RCIA other than how my fellow catechumens felt about everything. Personally I think the American Church ought to tailor their RCIA programs to each individual instead of the one-size-fits-all method they use now. Candidates like Fr. Al Kimel probably don't need the same kind of instruction one would give a catechumen who has never been exposed to any type of Christianity before. God allows everything for a reason though. Perhaps it was one long exercise in humility, which Lord knows I can always use more of. My parish, despite being decidedly liberal and modernist in its liturgy, seems to really draw in the converts. My RCIA class, 2005, was the largest in the entire diocese with about fifty adults. I can't know why God does what he does, but perhaps my going to my parish was meant to give me a greater appreciation for all of the ancient practices of the Church, and for good liturgy.
Feb. 10th, 2008 @ 06:17 pm
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| » Remember, O man, that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return |
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Neither Ash Wednesday Mass, nor the receiving and wearing of ashes throughout the day, is obligatory for Catholics. With that in mind, it's strange how packed Mass was this morning. God has blessed me with a job whose schedule allows me to attend weekday Mass almost every day. Generally I'm the youngest person there by a margin of thirty or thirty five years. Today people of all ages attended in addition to all of the school children. I've always wondered if God was indulging his sense of humor when he inspired the liturgy committee at the Vatican to make Matthew 6:1-18 the Gospel reading for today.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
The good Protestant will read this and no doubt think, "Ah ha! Those Catholics are all hypocrites with their ashes and fasting!" It can be that way for some people, i.e. cultural Catholics who do not allow the Gospel to really affect their lives. Catholic commentators tend to divide American Catholics into two groups: the orthodox (who also tend towards political conservatism) and so-called cafeteria Catholics (those who tend towards political liberalism). I don't think that really makes much sense anymore since both Right and Left eat at the same cafeteria now (abortion and euthanasia for liberals, unjust wars and torture for conservatives). I think this scheme makes more sense - there are Catholics who happen to be Americans, and there are Americans who happen to be Catholic.
If you receive ashes only with the intention of having other people think you're a good Catholic then you misunderstand their purpose. When the priest or extraordinary minister places ashes on your forehead, they say what appears in the subject line of this entry. Whether you choose to keep your ashes on all day or not, that line is what the faithful Christian should always remember. We are dust and ashes. Only God is eternal. He alone is who is, and we are those who are not. I keep my ashes even when I have to work that day. Most people who see me just say, "Hey, you got a little something on your forehead."
"I know. It's Ash Wednesday."
"Oh, what does that mean?"
"I'm glad you asked!"
And then I go from there. I think an even better side benefit of keeping ashes is it reminds fallen away Catholics of what they're missing and of the fact that they are endangering their souls by staying away.
Today's Ash Wednesday also coincides with some interesting historical events. First of all, happy birthday to Confederate General Jeb Stuart; General Grant has a birthday present for you. Happy birthday too to Anne of Great Britain who succeeded to the throne after the death of the Protestant usurper William III. After Anne's own death, her second cousin, the German George I became king of Great Britain. He couldn't speak English and didn't think much of his new kingdom and new subjects, but he was Protestant, and that's all Britons cared about. Coincidentally, today is also the ascension days of the Catholic King James II, and the modern day Queen Elizabeth II.
Happy birthday too to Babe Ruth and Ronald Reagan.
Feb. 6th, 2008 @ 10:07 am
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| » "You are the Son of the living God!" |
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Don't let anyone ever tell you differently: Lady Macbeth was vanquished, annihilated, and utterly destroyed today. If Hillary AND Bill are going to run against him, how fitting that he received nearly two votes for every one of hers. Not that I'm happy with Mr. More-pro-abortion-than-Planned-Parenthood's victory, or as the media has anointed him, the Son of God. If anyone finds any egregiously orgasmic Obama worship in the MSM or the blogosphere tomorrow, let me know. That stuff kills me.
I just finished Hugh Laurie's first novel, The Gunseller. The plot was forgettable - your standard one man versus the military-industrial-complex tale - but the main character, Thomas Lang, was awesome in every way. Imagine House as a former soldier turned hired gun. Now imagine him as a first person narrator and it equals win.
Jan. 26th, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
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| » On the twelfth day of Christmas |
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Today is the last day of the traditional twelve days of Christmas in the Latin Rite (an early Happy Nativity to all of my Orthodox friends). Today is the Epiphany of the Lord when the infant Jesus was visited by the three Magi from the east. The homage paid to Christ by these three gentiles symbolizes the New Covenant: salvation is now open to all mankind. God revealed Himself through His Word, His Son, to all of humanity. Everything that matters is settled now. History is nothing more than the daily pageant of men and women succeeding or failing to live up to what He said through His Word.
I finally have insurance but it may be too late to save them. The bleeding is almost constant now. Oh well. If the good Lord intends me to go through life with a few less teeth than He blessed me with at the start, then fiat.
Jan. 6th, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
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