From A Priest of the Oven God

News Item from CWNews: The Moral Failure of the German Pope

An Op-Ed piece from an angry zionophile, critiquing Benedict XVI's visit to Oświęcim:

The visit was extraneous, annoying and infuriating. The German pope failed to do the most basic thing he should have done at Auschwitz: He failed to kneel next to the ovens, look to the blue skies of the Auschwitz afternoon and ask forgiveness for the murder of six million Jews, in the name of German or the German Catholic church.

I think the writer is actually looking for the Pope, and all others, to kneel in front of the Ovens of Auschwitz, and worship Jewish Victimhood. The dismissal of past mea culpas indicates that the writer does not believe in forgiveness, for the merciful do not ask for an eternal litany of guilt. To ask for such an unending request for pardon betrays the writer's need to have the Catholic Church permanently abased at the feet of his merciless sentiments.

The German pope's apology at Auschwitz, over the graves of a million murdered Jews, should have had a different purpose: To warn against renewed anti-Semitism, and to atone for the sins of the German Catholic church, which in the best-case scenario was silent in the face of the Nazis, and in the more probable one – collaborated with them.

I imagine that there's a dogeared copy of "Hitler's Pope" sitting next to his toilet. There are a multitude of Jews, both living and deceased that would decry the collaboration statement.

The pope made sure to maintain an unnecessary, fictional balance comparing victims of other peoples and nations.

When the communists wanted to minimize the slaughter of Jews at Auschwitz, they spread lies that four million people were killed there. The pope may not have repeated this lie, but took care to emphasize again and again the multi-ethnic makeup of the victims.

Linguistically, this is true. Factually, it is a lie: the fate of Jews at Auschwitz was not the same as other peoples.

Here again, the failure to worship Jewish Victimhood as being predominantly, if not solely, the only suffering there was during the Holocaust.

Yes, times have indeed changed. It's true, pope Ratzinger, Benedict XVI, did not visit Auschwitz as part of the March of the Living. He is not the chief rabbi of Israel. He is the head of the Catholic Church, and Jesus is his God.

But especially in light of his lofty position, he is also a spiritual guide for a billion Catholics worldwide. And what did his visit to Auschwitz tell them? He forgot anti-Semitism, forgot anti-Jewish hatred, forgot the sins of his church and his people and made due with a general denunciation of hatred.

Yes, dear writer, but what you have failed to divine, is that our God, through His Son, Jesus, can forgive sins, so that they are forgotten. The Ovens of Auschwitz have no such inclination.

Terms of Endearment

I'd like to get your thoughts on this discussion:

St. Jimbob of the Apokalypse said...
You gotta remember, -----, that God loves these people and we should as well. The basic sentiment of your rant, fatigue with organizations advocating sin, is a good and noble complaint. But your language to belittle and demean those sinners transforms your message into a "clanging cymbal" (1 Cor 13:1).

Instead, try this:

It is ironic that Amnesty International, renowned for advocating for the freedom of prisoners, is now advocating slavery to sin. All those who profess Christ would do well to remember that He is our freedom, not organizations that encourage the prisons of worldly and unnatural desires. We should, at all times and in every place, proclaim Jesus' victory over sin, and exhort all to follow Him.

As soon as one throws an invective like 'Fudgepacker' into the discussion, ears close, and the effect is as Peter's defense of our Lord during His arrest (Matt 26). If, in our zeal, we remove a sinner's willingness to hear us, then we have lost an opportunity to preach the Gospel.

If we show our love for them as brothers, and respect them as children of God, then we will speak to them accordingly. and they may not like what we have to say about sin and behaviour, but we need to communicate it all with love.


[other blogger] said...
Jimbob,
Nahhh.... I'm not trying to demean anyone. If I choose to use phrases as "fudgepackers" and "rump rangers"... why not? I'm subjected to "Queer Nation", "the Queer Studies program", the chant "we're here... we're queer, get use to it!". Hell, the sodomites don't seem to have much of a problem in making their private lives public, not to mention using so-called derogitory terms for themselves, well... who am I to deny them their God given right to ref to them in terms that some may find "degrading".

By the by, I can't think of many things as degrading as the homosexual sex act. Oh, wait... there is one. Propogating it.

As far as "respecting" them, I do. I absolutely respect the fact that they have exersized their God given free will. They've chosen evil. I may not like it, but I can respect it.

In closing, the kid glove, "communicate it all with love" tactic sure has worked well, hasn't it? Lord knows it's worked SO WELL that we now have open homosexuals wearing Roman collars and advocating the sodomite lifestyle.

What the fudgepackers and rump rangers are in desperate need of, is a strong dose of the truth. If it takes a verbal punch in the nose to get their attention... so be it.


St. Jimbob of the Apokalypse said...
I bet you'd agree with me that, collectively, we've heard virtually NOTHING from the ambo about the Catechism's content on homosexuality, divorce, and contraception in the last 30 years. Nothing at all that would make parishoners squirm a bit, nothing that would pack the lines to the confessional. Am I right? And look where we are now.

The silence is not dealing with the problem, it's avoiding it. The unfaithful shepherds in turn led the sheep away from the fullness of the gospel. The Church didn't treat the sinners with kindness because they didn't address their sins at all. We've left people in bondage to their sins, and now that they've grown accustomed to their chains, we forsake them?

My kids, God bless them, are a raucus lot. If I ignore their misbehaviour until I get pissed off enough and spank them, what have I taught them? Little, if not just how far to go until I blow up. If, instead, I take the time to speak with them, rationally, and give them instruction on a continual basis, chances are that they'll learn how I want them to behave.

I'm all for denouncing sin, and people need a reminder of what's in store for those who persist in mortal sin. By all means, slag the sin, just remind the people that Jesus can forgive them (and so should we). I seriously doubt that Jesus, when faced with the adulterous woman, called her a 'whore'. He saved the vinegar for the self-righteous.


[other blogger] said...
JB,

Yep, plenty of nuttin' the past 40 years. I'll agree with ya there.

And I just can't help but look back on the Spiritual Works of Mercy, specifically

1. Admonish the sinner

2. Instruct the ignorant

If one is slipping onto the wrong path, absolutely a gentle nudge is more than likely needed to correct the coarse. However... well, you probably know where I'm going with this.

And I do agree that Jesus more than likely didn't ref to the adulterous woman as "whore", but he did say something concerning casting pearls before swine (what a slam that was in the Jewish world!), and shaking the dust from your sandals (another verbal punch in the nose, keeping in mind what an insult it is in that culture to ref to someone as 'being lower than my feet', etc.)

Jesus may not have used verbage such as "whore", but He sure did use words to get someone attention... and in some cases, He would probably be ref'ed to as being 'insensitive' and 'inflammitory' and dare I say it... a caveman. *insert evil grin here!*

---

So, the question is, dear readers, how should we address sinners to best call them to freedom from their sins? Does Rev. Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church fame, do better at encouraging sinners to repent than the Courage apostolate?

DVC's Protestant underpinnings

A great post over at the Fifth Column, "Pagan Flesh, Protestant Bones" aptly describes the protestant, rather than gnostic, roots of Brown's theological porn.

Maciel in the Colosseum

Ahh, the din of the Roman crowds after a spectacular gladiatorial display. Mighty Caesar extends a fist toward the arena, thumb twitching horizontally, as if harkening to the mob's disparite cries of "martyr" and "catamite". Some in the crowd protest the warrior's innocence, appealing the heavens for divine vindication. Others scream for chastisement, as if the penalty of this one would indict all who have evaded justice in the past..

All the caterwauling over the Vatican's handling of Fr. Degollado inspires me thus.

The man is a sinner. News Flash: so are the rest of us. And I, for one, am glad that Diogenes hasn't outed me as an occasional porn-grazer. I do have a habit of being penitent as well, and I hope that Fr. Degollado is successful in his new endeavor of spiritual preparation for the Last Judgement. Will we resent the forgiveness of his sins?

Someone, clue the man in.

I love getting e-mail from Sojourners. The voice of the liberal rationalizing the Gospel. They're latest e-mail was trolling for donations, and hawking a book by Brian McLaren, "The Secret Message of Jesus". The title screams volumes about gnostic aspirations and how christians have gotten it wrong throughout the ages. What is it about human pride that insists on using the Gospel to help inflate it? Here's a sampling of the obtuse premise

"What if Jesus' secret message reveals a secret plan? What if he didn't come to start a new religion - but rather came to start a political, social, religious, artistic, economic, intellectual, and spiritual revolution that would give birth to a new world?"

Earth to Brian, this is Earth calling Brian. Where've you been the last 2000 years? Sure, there've been many christians that have been less able to keep to the plan, and many are selective in their practice of the Faith (nudge nudge), but you have to look at the bigger picture altogether. The religion and dogma, that are so repellant to the liberal mind, are there to keep us on the path to the right gate, the one Jesus described as "narrow". If you read the bible, you'll see something mentioned about a Holy Spirit, which is to provide guidance to those who are baptized and follow Christ. The author, as so many protestants before him, cannot reconcile the Church and the Holy Spirit, so they just assume the sophia de jour is correct, and the Church is wrong.

The message of Jesus was never a secret, it was just hidden from the learned and clever, just as it remains today. The message is simple, and it demands faith and obedience, neither of which most modern theologians are disposed to do. They, instead, believe in Carbon-14 dating, linguistics, and archeo-sociology. Anything BUT the message. It's too hard to deal with, they cannot understand it. The message of Jesus is no secret, they're just willfully ignorant.

Back to the book, it's call for "the Kingdom of God, here and now" is not really new. Go to any Catholic Church, and He is there, the King, enthroned in the tabernacle (or, if you're lucky, a monstrance). Jesus is already our King, right now, but in the course of recognizing His authority, we must acknowlege our duty to serve. And our duty is not limited to social justice and peace, as the Sojourners crowd would have you believe, but of conforming our lives to the Cross. I still love getting those e-mails, though.

Feeding the Hungry

So, you're walking down a city street, and are waiting to cross the street. On the other corner, you see a bedraggled, bearded man in dirty clothes seated near the stoop of a closed shop. What do YOU do?

Cross the opposite way to avoid the situation all together? Do you walk right by him, averting both eyes and conscience, or maybe pledging to yourself to give some money to the local soup kitchen? Do you give him some money, hoping that it doesn't end up becoming alcohol?

What do YOU do?

I'll tell you what I do once I see some conversation on this topic. Tell your friends, and have them chime in.


My Solution:

About 5 years ago, I was walking down the street, pushing my baby son in a stroller, and was approached by a homeless man. I saw him from a ways, before I got there, hitting up some other man for some money, so I knew what was coming. As our paths intersected, he said "Excuse me, mister.." , and I just looked straight ahead and kept walking.

Even as I was walking away, I just couldn't believe what I was doing. The internal debate raged.
"He's just going to use it to buy alcohol."
"Or, maybe, Jesus is hungry, and you just walked by him, you dick!"
"What am I supposed to do? I give money to the Matt Talbot Kitchen, and the People's City Mission. Isn't that enough?"
" Dude, you're rationalizing. The man was asking you for help, and you couldn't even LOOK at him."

I started buying gift cards. McDonalds, BK, coffee shops, and some retail places are all good, as long as there's no alcohol. I had to make sure that wherever I found someone and gave them a card, they wouldn't have to walk miles to redeem it. Our Church's school sells gift cards for all kinds of places, as a fundraiser, so getting some cards are easy as 10 minutes after Mass.

I keep a couple in my wallet, a couple in the car, and a few extras in my jacket, so that when I'm faced with that dilemma again, I can do something more that shrug and walk away.

Scourging

A small-framed woman,
humbles the mighty with her love
of Jesus, of the poor.
He words scourge my conscience,
tearing into my complacency,
revealing flesh calloused by self-interest.
Her rebuke burns me
everywhere I look,
as if I'd been staring at
a lightbulb filament.


This is a brief reflection after reading "Mother Teresa, In My Own Words" while in Las Vegas.

News must be slow..

.if CNN is restating the obvious:

For late-night hosts, it's open season on Bush

NEW YORK (AP) -- Perhaps sensing vulnerability, the late-night comics have been piling on President Bush.

Where's this reporter been the last 6 years? Has he or she, perhaps, been busy re-reading Curious George in search of the elusive 'H. A. Rey Code'?

Canadian Sniper Identified, Still At large

Rev. Ronald Trojcak is a Roman Catholic priest in London, Ontario, but was compelled to publicly condemn the actions of a fellow Catholic, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska. April 25th, In a comment on the online version of the Lincoln Journal Star's coverage of Bruskewitz, Trojcak left this remark:

"I suggest that this bishop's stance, not only on this matter, but on several, provides plausible justification for abandoning the Roman church, in which I have been an active priest in the 43 years since my ordination."

A request for a clarification from Rev. Trojcak has so far been unanswered. So, the next best thing would be to take other public musings from Rev. Trojcak to find the source of his discontent. Maybe he's a Rad Trad, and is unhappy with Bruskewitz' latae sententiae excommunication of SSPXers.

On his personal website, Rev Trojcak has links to several National Catholic Reporter stories, The Tablet's online edition, and (drum roll, please)
"Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). Indicate Your Support by Sharing your Email".

Under his "Great Books" banner, Rev. Trojcak has these gems:

Sacred Silence: Denial and Crisis in the Church by Donald B. Cozzens
The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A Reflections on the Priest's Crisis of Soul by Donald B. Cozzens
She Who Is:The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse. by Elizabeth A. Johnson

Okay, I guess that since the 1964 Missal is not on his list, he's not an SSPX booster. From the pages of the Purple Pew (just guess), Rev. Trojcak can be found commenting on this article:

“By virtue of being intrinsically disordered, homosexuality is not a human act, but is a depravity and an abomination as Sacred Scripture, the Church and the Catechism all state so clearly,” Rev. Jeffrey T. Robideau of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing, Mich.

Trojcak's respose to the article:

"I am a Roman Catholic priest, engaged in university teaching for 35 years, and in university chaplaincy for 28 years. I am appalled by the inept, uninformed, and anything but Christian remarks of this priest. I have been teaching the Jewish-Christian scriptures, and unhappily, it seems that the priest has not read recent scholarship on the Bible and homosexuality. Unhappily, he seems also to have missed the all-inclusive ministry of Jesus.
Comment by Rev. Ronald Trojcak, Ph.D. — November 2, 2005 @ 9:34 pm"

I'm sensing a pattern here, and am perceiving Rev. Trojcak's objections to Bruskewitz's strident orthodoxy. But what gives a priest permission to snipe at a bishop in another country?

In a review on Amazon.com for Cozzen's Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church, Trojcak goes on so:

I am a Roman Catholic priest, ordained 40 years, and I am more grateful than I can say, for Donald Cozzen's latest book. It is the most plain-spoken, insightful, exhaustive, profound, and above all, honest book on the Church and its current parlous state, than any of the many I've read. I hesitate to call it courageous, though it surely is that. For this book followed his earlier book on the priesthood, and he was pilloried by many for that. But, fatuously, I'm afraid, I would like to think that anyone, cleric or lay, would have been, if not able, at least willing to say what Cozzens has said here. Unhappily, this is far from the truth. Now, if a bishop would be willing.......

So, Rev. Ron find Cozzens inspirational and Bruskewitz abhorrent. Let's see what Trojcak thinks about the late pope, JP II. In a Google cached page of PressEtc, a post was written called "Pope to saint: Seven sins of John Paul II" and listed these accusations (mostly pertaining to upholding Catholic Doctrine):
Sin 1: HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa
Sin 2: Genocide in Rwanda
Sin 3: Beatification of Mother Teresa
Sin 4: Over population and poverty
(And continued onto a non-cached page)
To which this reply is appended:

rev. ronald trojcak, ph.d. (a roman cat
Written by Guest on 2005-06-05 21:06:55
I appreciate this statement about the late pope.

Ahh, things are coming into a sharper focus...let's see what else we can find. In a review of John Cornwell's book A Pontiff in Winter, Trojcak concurs with his subject:

I say all this in order to provide the basis for Cornwell's central assessment of John Paul's papacy: namely its intolerance for pluralism. Here, pluralism extends to almost every element of the church: the authority of local bishops; the integrity of episcopal synods; the liturgy and liturgical texts, and perhaps most consequentially, theological diversity. Recall John Paul's treatment of a number of prominent theologians: Charles Curran, Leonardo Boff, Jacques Dupuis, and Hans Kung, among many others.

But strictures on diversity ignore the massive historical developments in the church's life and thought which have constituted the church. Such developments have been the hallmark of the history of the church from its very beginning. Moreover, much intolerance enforces a stultifying uniformity in a world whose cultural diversity we know now more clearly than ever before.

I believe that the greatest merit of Cornwell's book is its implicit demystification of the papacy.

By this time, it's clear to see why Rev. Trojcak felt compelled to assail Bruskewitz as he did: Bruskewitz is against those practices that really get people to leave the Catholic Church. And make no mistake, Rev. Trojcak, just because they may warm a pew on Sunday doesn't mean they're Catholic, and physically taking the Eucharist isn't a guarantee of Communion with the Church.

Bishop Bruskewitz, and his orthodox example, has given "plausible justification" for men and women to take Holy Orders, not "abandoning the Roman Church", as Trojcak suggests.

Fabian's Local Paper Finally Catches Up with The Story

The Lincoln Journal Star, hometown rag for the Diocese of Lincoln, has finally caught the story about Bishop Bruskewitz's dismissal of the National Review Board.

What took so long, you ask? Maybe it took a while to get Call to Action, too busy with the national press, to return the Journal Star's calls:

Linda Pieczynski, media spokesperson for national Call to Action, said Bruskewitz “has defiantly refused even to self-report for the audit process with no consequences at all.” Ewers’ urging fraternal correction against Bruskewitz, she said, was “an absolutely useless gesture. It is time to ask whether the Charter for the protection of Children and Youth is living up to its promises in the real world, and not just in a report.”

Or maybe it took considerable time to find some local Call to Action people:

“It is unsettling to see a Christian bishop claim that he and his diocese is above correction because he is in keeping with the letter of the civil and ecclesiastical law,” said Jim McShane, a local member of Call to Action.

McShane agreed that the National Review Board and bishops have “no canonical authority to compel anything,” but they do have moral authority. The bishops set up the review board to restore confidence in their care for young people after the sex abuse scandal, he said. For Bruskewitz to reject the process “can only undermine further the confidence the bishops are so anxious to restore,” McShane said.

Getting Call to Action's comments on this story is like polling Iranians on U.S. immigration policy: certainly hostile, and almost entirely irrelevant.

The delay in publishing the story, most likely, was caused by the Bishop's general reluctance to speak with the press. But, nonetheless, Fabian get's his $ 0.02 in:

In response to a question by the Journal Star, Bruskewitz explained the policies and procedures in the Lincoln Diocese to protect children and respond to any allegations of abuse by clergy, teachers, other staff or volunteers.

“The Diocese of Lincoln has in place a very strong program of instruction and training for all priests, religious and lay people in the diocese who are in any way, directly or indirectly, connected with children and youth. There are very careful and thorough background checks done for all people who are employed by the diocese, or by institutions, parishes or agencies which have any connection whatever with the diocese. All people, including all children and youth, are regularly instructed to report any incidents of abuse immediately to law enforcement authorities.”

In addition, any credible allegations of abuse will be presented to the diocese’s own lay review board “and then appropriately acted upon in accordance with the canon law of the Catholic Church,” he said.

Whatever the reason, the story got out. On the on-line edition, a solitary comment was appended to the story:

Viewer Comments:
Rev. Ronald Trojcak, Ph. D. wrote on April 25, 2006 7:54 PM:"I suggest that this bishop's stance, not only on this matter, but on several, provides plausible justification for abandoning the Roman church, in which I have been an active priest in the 43 years since my ordination."

Of course, one cannot add any more comments to the thread, thus leaving the errant priest's comments as the last word on the story. I'm attempting to follow up with Rev. Trojcak for an explanation.

Miserere nobis

Into the Desert

I'm heading to Las Vegas, armed with my Dell laptop, Mother Teresa- In My Own Words, and my Revised Standard Version. No golf clubs, the astute of you will notice, because, in Vegas, it will cost ten times what I normally pay to shank, top, and chunk the ball for a couple hours.

The Lincoln Symphony Orchestra played Belshazzar's Feast last night, with Jubilant Sykes providing the baritone solo. Belshazzar's Feast is a orchestra/choral work by William Walton that was themed on scripture exerpts from Psalms 137, Daniel, and Revelation. One line struck me in particular, from Daniel 5:3:

Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

It got me thinking and I formulated an analogy, of what validity I will let you decide. The gold vessels are the Children of God, and the powers of the World seek to deny God, and exalt themselves, by filling these vessels with the wine of corruption. Doesn't the World want you to sin? The TV is full of encouragement to lust, avarice, and despair. Our politicians speak of encouraging virtue, but in the spirit of 'Freedom" enable those who hate virtue.

Incomplete thoughts, and I still need to pack a bit. More later, from Sin City.

Revelations (of the unhappy sort)

I've just read that a former pastor of mine has recently been defrocked, after investigation of a recent, and solitary, complaint, of an offense from over 17 years ago, against him. He's a old man now, accepting a "life of prayer and penitence" at the retirement home where he once said Mass.

I am sad, for the Church, for his victim, of who we'll never know, and for himself. I remember he and my mother having debates on various church-related issues when I was younger, and he was there with Archbishop John Cardinal Krol when I was confimed. We all celebrated his elevation to Monsignor in the new church was built under his command. And we all wondered at his hurried retirement after an impropriety involving real estate, but we were all willing to forgive the priest we knew. I cannot imagine him abusing anyone, and yet, he's been defrocked.

I cannot allow myself to despair for the other priests and pastors I've known, secretly wondering about every one of them. I cannot allow myself to shudder in fear every time I see my son, or other children, hug our parish priests.

Not only has Satan caused the offenders to fall and cause great scandal to the Church, but has poisoned many in the Church to fear their own priests, imagining a presupposed guilt.

Miserere nobis

Boston Massacre

Well, while I was dormant for Lent, there was a lot of stuff going on:


Minus priests, parishioners lead services at 3 occupied churches

What's up with people who cannot let go of their church buildings? It reminds me of, in Jesus' time, how attached Jews were to the Temple itself, but they didn't understand the one who dwelt there. Don't these Bostonians realise that Jesus is in every other parish tabernacle as well? I know that you may have to go farther for mass, or that your favourite priest is not in your new parish, but the Mass is about Christ, not where you go to find Him. These people show that Mass is purely about themselves:

It was an Easter Sunday service at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini church in Scituate, and it was led almost entirely by women.
Standing in front of the altar, Bonnie Mayo and Patti Litz, longtime members of the seaside church, handed out wafers and wine.
{snip}
Members orchestrated a service that replicated some aspects of a traditional Mass while removing others that are performed by a priest. A priest sympathetic to parishioners' fight at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini had blessed the wafer and wine beforehand, rather than during the Easter service. Nawn-Fahey introduced her telling of the resurrection as a ''reading" instead of a Gospel. And MacIsaac delivered a ''reflection" instead of a homily. Her remarks focused on Mary Magdalene and other women who came to Jesus's aid.
''Perhaps this is the future of the church," said MacIsaac, 51, marveling at the way church members had guided the congregation through prayers and song.

Now they get to play 'priestess', enabled by a sympathetic priest giving them the Eucharist to play with. The Irony gets thicker:

''Cardinal Sean, shame on you," scolded Linda Walsh, 56. ''Do the Christian thing. Let the people have a priest. Let my people go."

Linda, my dear, the good bishop has given you priests. But, your participation in this sacrelidge shows that you would rather have a priestess in your own church than go to the priests, and churches, the bishop has provided.

It's amazing the Protestant attitudes that so many catholics have, and how quickly they come to the surface when they find out that the Church doesn't bend to their will. Here's your 'More Horizontal Church', a position commonly known as 'supine'.

Lent, Week 5, Palm Sunday.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Do not be dismayed, disheartened, or even worse, discontented with the state of our Church and our Faith. We are seeing assaults from every side, and even traitorous behavior from within. Do not be afraid, for our Lord suffered calumny from without, and treason from within his disciples. This week we celebrate His trials and long-awaited victory over Death.

Ice on the Sea of Galillee? My, my, someone needs to rationalize and discount the Gospel. It’s nothing new, and we’ll see it again soon.

The Gospel of Judas? You can tell that theologians are tired of the real Gospel by the speed in which they rush to embrace a new 'truth', some secret knowledge. It’s the equivalent of future historians declaring Michael Moore’s films as historical documents. The problem with some theologians is that Jesus has become an entirely intellectual endeavor, and their hearts are no longer for Him alone.

Spineless bishops? Yes, I too would like to see some leadership from certain quarters, some proactive teaching of the Faith, but I will not cast aspersions on their motives for letting dissidents have the podium whilst the orthodox are silenced. I’ve heard it remarked that “The floor of Hell is paved with the skulls of bishops”, but I hope the living bishops can get it together, and be a courageous witness to Christ, before the grout sets hard.

I’m sure that the Jews of Jesus’ day were also tired and disillusioned, living with Roman occupation and an unsympathetic religious hierarchy, and many left the faith to either acquiesce to the system or pursue violence against it. Let us remain strong, and seek our courage in Him that triumphed of the World.

Fide,

Jimbob

Lent, week 4

I just thought I'd throw some bits in the Blogspot server, as it's Sunday. I haven't made it to the last couple Vatican II lectures, one for family reasons, the other because we had 16" of snow dumped on us that day.

So that aside, Lent is going along. our parish does Eucharistic Exposition after Stations of the Cross, and I really need it. we'll say the Anima Christi, some other prayers, sing O Salutaris Hostia and Tantum Ergo .In the parish my folks live in (Archdiocese of Philadelphia), they don't do it, and just rush through the Stations, as if to say "Hey, you're lucky we're doing THIS much.."

"Omne delectamentum in se habentem."

*

I caught a podcast about the VIRTUS program, featuring the storied Fr. Altier, and I can understand why , from the commentary in the podcast, why his bishop silenced him. Not saying that Fr. Altier is wrong, but he expressed his concerns in such dire terms, and casting aspersions on the motives of the USCCB, that his statements could not be ignored.
The program in question just sounds terrible, and I'm sure that the creation of it was delegated by the bishops to the lay Spirit of Vatican II™ toadies that seem to gravitate to those positions in the Church. So, it's only natural that it's fatally flawed. It's a shame that the bishops are so concerned about using anything to cover their collective backside, that they're willing to accept it.

*

Going into a coffee shop, I spied a young Bolshevik with his girlfriend ahead of me. He had the image down fairly well, the V.I. Lenin Memorial Cap™, the V.I. Lenin Memorial Goatee ™, and various other symbology adorning his jacket. There was only one incongruity that ruined the whole thing: The iPod poking out of his back pocket. Bourgois gadgetry gets them EVERY time.

Speaking of bourgois, I'm going to Las Vegas at the end of April for a conference. Anyone know a nice, but affordable, place to golf while I'm there?

Y'all have a nice week.

Lent, week 2

The first episode of “Vatican II and You” went well. The speaker just read portions of the text of Lumen Gentium with little interjection at all. He got things rolling with a reading of Pope Paul VI’s opening address to the second session of the council. The reading is ironic, since many of Paul VI’s hopes turned out to happen the opposite way: instead of clarity, there was confusion, and instead of continuity, there were seismic shifts. The good priest did not preach about the discontinuities, but acknowledged the mixed results of the council, and announced his hopes that Pope Benedict XVI can fix the deficiencies.

Some of the topics that were touched on:
Misunderstood ecclesiology
Ecumenism as guiding those in partial communion with the Church to full communion with the Church.
Ministerial priesthood vs. common priesthood
“ The Church begins in the home.” About family life and the vocations involved
Infallibility, teaching in union with the Magisterium
The Church is necessary for salvation
Obligation of obedience to Bishop in matters of faith and morals ( are there any other issues?)
Universal call to sanctity
Mary, at the conclusion of Lumen Gentium, as model for the Church.


In other news, I received a decidedly uncomplimentary e-mail this week, by accident. I imagine that the sender was unaware that she was replying to multiple parties, and disparaged my work. I was a bit indignant over it for a while, but then decided that the whole situation wasn’t worth worrying about.

A coworker of mine embarrassed himself a bit with his blog, not only blogging at work, but slagging the guys he works with. It reminds me of something I learned in Ethics 101, about only writing things you wouldn’t mind your mother or minister to read, or, in this case, your coworkers.

I nailed another birdie, my second ever, this week. It was a 315 yard, par 4, and I had pulled my tee shot into a clearing surrounded by pines, and was approaching a downhill green over the trees and a sand trap, into the wind. My partner suggested my 7 iron instead of the 8 iron I grabbed, and I put the shot 7 feet in front and below the hole. Thanks Rich! The uphill putt broke a wee bit right to left, as I had expected, and dropped into the cup.
That birdie erased a bit of the quintuple bogey I got on the first hole of that round. I’m still bad, but I have occasional flashes of “golfiness” that keep me wanting to play.

I have an ikon of the Theotokos, with the Child Jesus, in my living room. My 2 year old girls see it and identify it as “Jesus’ hugging His Mommy.” She is our mother now, too, don’t be afraid to embrace her as well.

"We adore you, o Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world."

Four days of Hell

Not really, but whoa, this 'giving up the Internet' for Lent thing is tough. All my habits tend to lead me right back there. My mornings used to be:
5 am alarm
05:01 boot Mac, go to kitchen.
05:03 Put coffee on.
05:07 Dialup server
05:08 Get coffee
05:11 Check e-mail
05:15 Check in at the Cafeteria, then continue blog-surfing until 06:30
06:30 Make breakfast for the kids, coffee for the mate.

And again more during the day, and a couple hours at night after the spawn and spouse go to bed. All my patterns are disrupted. Life, and Lent, will go on.

Other notes:

My son, 5 years old, after discussing the 'Operation Rice Bowl' bowl, got Lent off to a good start by transferring the contents of my change jar into the bowl. He said that since there's lots of kids out there that go hungry, we need to put lots of money into the bowl. He's pledged to be vigilant for any other vagrant coinage.

It is next to impossible to find shoes that are NOT made in China. Out of almost 50 pairs that I looked at, searching for a pair of brown leather casuals, only 3 were made elsewhere. The big shocker was Doc Martens being almost exclusively chinese in make anymore. I ended up with brown leather shoes, with a norweigan name, made in Mexico. Go figure.

A monstrance is a time machine, a window in time to the Last Supper, when Jesus gave us His Body for the first time. It is, and has always been, the same Body of Christ that was given on that day and at every celebration of the Eucharist since. Whoa. Who needs a Delorean with a flux capacitor?

"Vatican II and You" starts tomorrow night, so tune in next Sunday for some impressions. From the description of the lecture, I'm guessing that Sacrosactum Concilium is on the menu as the main course.

Pondering the Stations of the Cross, pt. I:

Station 1, Jesus before Pilate: How often have I asked the question "What is Truth" while willfully ignoring my Savior before me? And then absolving myself of my own sins by abdicating responsibility for them. Yet, Jesus forgives me my selfishness.

Station 2, Jesus receives His Cross: In my sins, am I not the Roman soldier that places the Cross on Jesus' shoulders, and then shoves Him on His way? And yet, Jesus forgives me my selfishness.

More stations as Lent moves on.

We adore you, o Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.

indutus est sacco

Ok, Ash Wednesday is here, time to kick off Lent. I have a couple penances for myself, one of which will be fairly obvious to you, dear reader. I'm going 'Net free for Lent, aside from whatever work may demand. No impulsive blogging, no cruising eBay, no self-inflicted outrages, et cetera, et cetera. Giving up chocolate is for sissies.
Our parish is hosting a series of lectures called "Vatican II and You", and being the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, I'm sure that the program won't be listing too far to the left. I will, on Sundays, present my notes of these sessions in these pages for your reflection and comparison.
Good luck with your own penances.

Render unto Mao..

Mao Zedong

I'm calmer now, and as most of my readers know, I'm usually that calm voice of faithful reason. In discussion elsewhere, my concerns with supporting the regime of China we met with a scriptural argument. The commenter wrote not to get too upset because we should "render unto Caesar, what is Caesar's" and that the problems of China are complex and require nuance. No, he didn't say 'nuance', but the rhetoric was practically screaming it, and nuance has been the illness of catholicism in America.

Here's how I see the difference. I have to pay taxes to the USA and the State of Nebraska, at least so sayeth my W-2 and my Turbo Tax™ software. These taxes are required of my citizenship, and though I may not agree with everything that's done with my taxes, I still have to pay them.

I don't have to buy stuff made in China. I don't have to buy stuff from the businesses that are supporting the Chinese government's ability to cloister their people and opress them and often murder them. Chinese Catholics live under burdens that I can scarcely imagine struggling with, and while I pray that God gives them the grace to persist in their faith, I feel that I should not, in the name of desire for material comforts, assist in their persecution.

That's what it is, after all. If I want a new pair of sneakers, and I don't need them, then it's not really necessary that I have them. Even if I can rationalise 'needing' the sneakers, it behooves me that the expenditure is not used to further opress the people that made it. The same thing with toasters, spatulas, kitchen utensils, clothing, toys, and other non-essentials.

It may sound scrupulous, and maybe overly so, but in America our definitions of neccessities has broadened immensely. What are the degrees of cooperation with evil, and where should we draw the line? Do we have the courage to face down our 'need' for material things?


Here there be courage.

Can we buy their freedom?

Is anyone else getting tired of hearing about events like this:

Chinese police detained two underground Roman Catholic priests this week and has held a 70-year-old bishop for three months.

I'm really tired of seeing how catholics are treated in China, and having people speak about how engagement is going to bring change. Ok, you want change? Here it comes:

I ain't buying anymore of their crap!

99% of the time, the stuff made in China isn't a vital neccessity to everyday life, and so doesn't need to be purchased. Period. I'll continue to buy stuff made in Guatemala, Romania, or even Thailand, but not from China. I'll still get takeout from the local House of Hunan, but anything that says 'Made in China' is staying on it's shelf at the store.

I've already been weaning the chinese garbage from our normal expenditures, only when there are no alternatives will I buy their wares. I don't shop at Walmart anyway, so there's one less source of tension there.

If China thinks that I am being selfish, and that thier people will suffer if I don't buy their goods, I'll say this:

"Quit jailing my spiritual brethren! If you can let them live freely, then I will consider you fair. Until that day, you get squat from me."

Wow, I've been ranting, haven't I? So be it, but my challenge still stands. Can you go 'China-free for a Free China'?