This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

The Sublime Logic of the Trinity - "The revelation of God as Trinity reveals Who God is and what God does. The Trinity is the core of all Christian beliefs, as the well-known tri-fold structure of the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed illustrates."

Delving into the Mass: books about its history and meaning - "Fortunately, a number of books have been published recently that intend to refocus our attention on the Mass and its place in the authentically Catholic life."

Tradition (by Thomas Howard) "A non-Catholic Christian may urge...that he and his denomination have an august tradition five hundred years old. But to be Catholic is to find oneself with St. Augustine, who, as a Catholic bishop, had to defend the only Church there was..."

I have seen the future of the English Catholic Church – and it's in Soho - "I’ve just had the great pleasure of a guided tour of the magnificently restored St Patrick’s Church in Soho Square; it really did feel as if I was being given a glimpse of the Catholic Church of the future, as envisaged by Pope Benedict XVI."

Why Tongues of Fire? - "The key here is that the heavenly temple is characterized with tongues of fire."

Are There Three Personalities in God? - "Is there an 'I' of the Father, and an 'I' of the Son, and an 'I' of the Holy Spirit? We know by faith that there are three persons, and this would lead us to think that there are also three 'I's."

Here Come More Anglicans - "As many as 100 U.S. Anglican priests and 2,000 laypeople could be the first members of a U.S. personal ordinariate for former Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church..."

Why the Internet Will Make the World More Pro-Life - "The internet may have its downsides, but I think there’s little question that the way it facilitates information and communities can only help the pro-life cause in the long run."

Vatican launches stem cell venture with US company - "The Vatican has signed its first ever commercial agreement with an outside company. The contract with U.S.-based bio-pharmaceutical firm NeoStem will advance ethical research into stem cells."

Letting Our kids Struggle and Fail - "Competition can be a healthy thing that also encourages children to excel and give their best effort on the playing field and in school.  Instead of assuming that our kids might be hurt or negatively impacted by failure or struggle, perhaps we should consider that they will learn valuable lessons from these experiences."

Does "It Get Better" for Christians? - "...happiness, for us, is viewed rather differently than it is by the media. It’s not in amassing temporal goods and social acceptance, it’s about living according to God’s law, of which natural law also partakes.

Our Moral Challenge - "Does one American have a moral right to live at the expense of another American? To be more explicit, should Congress, through its taxing authority, give the Bank of America, Citibank, Archer Daniels Midland, farmers, dairymen, college students and poor people the right to live off of the earnings of another American?"

Wearing the Rosary as  Necklace - "If the reason for wearing a rosary is as a statement of faith, as a reminder to pray it, or some similar reason 'to the glory of God,' then there is nothing to object to. It would not be respectful to wear it merely as jewelry."

Is Interest in Catholicism falling online? - [Interesting charts...not great news.]

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

45th World Communications Day - Message from Pope Benedict: "The task of witnessing to the Gospel in the digital era calls for everyone to be particularly attentive to the aspects of that message which can challenge some of the ways of thinking typical of the web...I invite young people above all to make good use of their presence in the digital world."

Why the Male Priesthood Always Made Sense to Me - "As an outsider looking in on this religion, I didn’t see how anyone could believe that Christianity is true and simultaneously question the fact that God sees the two genders as having distinctly different roles."

The Failure of Liberal Catholicism - "The conservative claim is more modest than the liberal claim, because conservatives do not offer themselves as spiritual paragons—a conservative Catholic can readily admit to being a bad person in need of redemption.  Liberals, on the other hand, claim to have actually found a better way of being Christian. Given human nature, that is a promise they cannot fulfill."

When Your Only Tool is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail: Why physical science is not enough and why we need the full range of disciplines and branches of knowledge. - "Indeed the very word “science” has come to mean for many, merely the physical sciences. But, traditionally, theology and philosophy were (and still are, according to many) considered to be sciences."

Obama: 'Kill Babies or I'll Hurt the Poor' - "Big Abortion has instructed the Party of Death to make an example of Indiana to ensure that no other states dare to defund Planned Parenthood."

How About a Washing Machine that Actually Works? - [Interesting piece about the affects of government mandates. Read this and then think about how healthcare might be affected when government starts meddling.]

The Truth About Catholic Social Teaching - "The 2012 election seems likely to be defined by a major national debate on the welfare state, government spending, and social responsibility...So perhaps a review of the basics is in order, to put the forthcoming argument on a more secure footing."

You're not speaking in tongues, you're just mumbling - "The apostles and the other disciples in the early Church were not mumbling random syllables when they 'spoke in tongues,' rather they were speaking true human languages."
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: What They Are and How to Use Them - "These seven gifts are taken from Isaiah 11:1-3a.  Isaiah's prophesying that the Holy Spirit will come to rest upon Jesus Christ. And this means he has to describe Who the Holy Spirit is."

What New Agers Have Right - "In many ways the New Age movement is a rebellion against modernism. So here are a few things that New Agers have right contra modernism."
 

A New Bridge Across the Tiber - "Archbishop Donald Wuerl is working with interested parties to establish the ordinariate in the United States, and progress is being made in Canada and Australia for ordinariates to be erected there later this year."

54 Anglican Clergy to Defect to Catholic Church in Pentecost Ordination - "The first of a series of ordinations are set to take place, which will see former Anglican clergy defect from the Church of England and become Roman Catholic priests, on Saturday."

The Blessings of Poverty - "In the immortal words of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, 'It’s no great shame to be poor.  But it’s no great honor, either!'"

Mystical Meaning of St. Gabriel's Annunciation Mary in Hebrew - [Brief but fascinating explanation of how the Angel's greeting links Mary to Eve.]

What the Future Holds for the Anglican Ordinariate

I have been following with interest the development of the Anglican Ordinariate established by Pope Benedict XVI as a way for Anglo-Catholics to enter into full communion with Rome and yet retain many of their distinctive Anglican traditions. As new members continue to filter into this newly created ordinariate the big question will be: What does the future hold for this “church within the Church”? Is this a permanent structure that will grow and thrive within the Catholic Church, or a temporary bridge that will be assimilated and eventually disappear as it outlives its usefulness?

Here is another possible scenario (found at Crisis Magazine online):

“The ordinariate could develop in a very different and exciting direction. The way to understand this more dynamic possibility is to see the ordinariate as a new bridge across the Tiber for a whole range of Protestant Christians. Already, conservative, liturgically minded Lutherans are asking why there isn’t a Lutheran ordinariate, while some of them point to the formal intercommunion that already exists between Lutherans and Anglicans and argue that the Anglican ordinariate should naturally be open to Lutherans as well.

“And if Lutherans may come across the ordinariate bridge, why not Methodists? After all, Methodism was founded as a schism from Anglicanism. Could not conservative, liturgically minded Methodists also find their way “home to Rome” through the Anglican ordinariate?

“For this to happen, the Anglican ordinariate will have to be flexible, and the members will have to see their mission not simply as one of conservation of a venerable patrimony but one of evangelization and outreach. The signs that this is the spirit of the ordinariate are already very positive. First of all, those who have joined the ordinariate have truly left everything to become Catholics. The Anglican bishops, priests, and people have turned their back on their parsonages, palaces, parish churches, and pension plans. They have set out with a true missionary spirit, and the sort of men and women who are willing to take such a step of faith will bring that same enthusiasm to the task of helping the ordinariate be the structure for ecumenical evangelization that it should be.”

There are already Anglican-convert priests within the Catholic Church who head thriving congregations of fellow converts filled with the evangelical zeal that would be necessary for the ordinariate to move in this exciting direction. If this sort of zeal does ignite within the ordinariate as it has within these pockets of converts, then the ordinariate is set to take off in a big way. This presents a completely new approach for evangelizing Protestants:

“There are many well-educated and thoughtful Christians who are very interested in the historic Faith. Many are disenchanted with mainstream Evangelicalism and are searching for a church rooted in history. They long for a church that is liturgical, that has a deep spirituality. When they leave their Evangelical churches and search for something more, their first stop is usually the Episcopal or Lutheran churches. They soon find that these churches are chest-deep in the whole liberal and radical agenda, so they sadly depart.

“If these Evangelical pilgrims summon the courage to overcome their deeply ingrained anti-Catholic prejudice and go to their local Catholic parish, they find that it is either as liberal and trendy as the Episcopalians, or that there are cultural and devotional obstacles that they find difficult to overcome. Even if they come to agree with Catholic doctrine and are received into the Church, they are still aware of the large cultural gap between the Protestantism they were brought up on and the Catholic Church they have joined.

“What they are looking for is a church that holds to the fullness of Catholic doctrine and practice but has some of the practical strengths of Evangelical congregations. If these sincerely searching Evangelical Christians could find a church that was fully Catholic and yet offered a liturgy and structure that felt traditionally Anglican, they would immediately feel at home.”

While it is interesting to watch the current excitement surrounding the Anglican Ordinariate as it emerges on the scene, the real excitement will come as we see what is in store for the future of this new endeavor. This may be the beginning of a whole new bridge to conversion for many of our separated brethren.

Read the whole article here.

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

The Best catholic Books of All Time - "To find my next read I often turn to Fr. John McCloskey, an Opus Dei priest and book-loving brother. He has put together what he calls the "Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan" a comprehensive list of the best Catholic books of all time"

Fr. Z’s annual rant about Ascension Thursday Sunday - "I think the option to dislocate such an important and ancient feast is an arrogant novelty."

Not Whether to Help the Poor, but How - "Helping the poor requires a different sort of moral analysis — not because I (or the Church’s teaching) am 'dualist,' as some critics suggest, nor because assisting the poor is “less important” than protecting the unborn, but because the two issues possess different characteristics and therefore require different sorts of moral analysis."

  

Social Security and the Fifth Commandment - "How different things are today. Now, when an elderly person becomes ill, it’s typical for relatives to strip him of all his assets, and then put him on Medicaid. Is this the right thing to do?"
 
TV Executives Admit in Taped Interviews That Hollywood Pushes a Liberal Agenda - "Some of TV’s top executives from the past four decades may have gotten more than they bargained for when they agreed to be interviewed for a politically charged book that was released Tuesday, because video of their controversial remarks will soon be hitting the Internet."

Downward and Deeper into Sexual Confusion: Parents Choose to Raise “Genderless” Child  - "In suppressing the truth about God and what can be known from nature, our senseless Western minds have become darkened."

Pepsi Ignores Criticism on Use of Aborted Cells in Research - "Pro-life organizations are asking the public to boycott all Pepsi drink products and encourage consumers to contact Pepsi management requesting that they sever all ties with Senomyx. Consumers are also encouraged to contact Campbell Soup and thank them for responding to pro-life concerns."

The Preacher's Ex-wife - "Every promise, every blessing, every teaching, every encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ in Sacred Scripture is for the Body of Christ."

The Socially Awkward Person's Guide to the Sign of Peace - "For my fellow people who share the psychological profile of SHBDH (Should Have Been a Desert Hermit), I offer this handy guide to the strange extrovert ritual known as the sign of peace..."

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

Little by Little, the Tide Is Turning - "Most of you probably heard of the Gallup Poll released yesterday that showed that 61% of Americans want all, or most abortions, to be declared illegal."

Historic Gallup Poll: Majority of U.S. Supports Gay Marriage  - [Given the news about abortion (see article above) this statistic is indeed sad.]

Awesome! Pro-lifers Take Over NARAL Site - "And here's the thing -as much fun as it is just to mess with them it's also about the fact that you never know who's going to look at it. You never know if your message is going to be the one to turn a heart around."

T-minus six months and counting to the revised Roman Missal! - "Have you begun to prepare for the changes coming Nov. 27, the first Sunday in Advent? Here are some simple ways to welcome the revisions."

Germans present Pope Benedict with his own papal crown - "...from my personal view I would be very happy if we had a Pope who was crowned again like a king or a queen of any other country..."
 
Church of England tied in knots over allowing gay men to become bishops - [This is why we have the Ordinariate...]

14 Steps to a More Self-Centered Church - [Great satirical piece on just about everything that's gone wrong with the post-Vatican II Mass.]

Advocates press Archbishop Sheen sainthood cause at Vatican - "The canonization of Archbishop Fulton Sheen moved a step closer today as the official document outlining his cause – known as a 'positio' - was presented to Pope Benedict XVI."
 
POLL: Nearly 1/3 of Russians believe historic division of Christians to be a mistake - "The Russian news agency Interfax reports today on a recent religion survey that may offer new reasons for hope that there can somehow be a reunion between the Catholic Church and (at least) the Russian Orthodox Church."


Rome's New UGLY John Paul II Statue - "The placement of the statue outside Rome’s main train station—the Termini—is particularly unfortunate, because it ensures a large number of people will see the thing."
 

Catholic scholar dismantles May 21 Judgment Day claims - [I know this is old news...but this is a great opportunity to provide a lesson on Catholic teaching regarding End Times.]

Endtimes, Millennium, Rapture - "As Cardinal Ratzinger recently pointed out (in the context of the message of Fátima), we are not at the end of the world. In fact, the Second Coming (understood as the physical return of Christ) cannot occur until the full number of the Gentiles are converted, followed by 'all Israel.'" 

Rapture Theology’s Ominous Origins  - "Regardless of whom one regards as the originator of the teaching — whether Ribera, Lacunza, Irving, Darby, or Margaret MacDonald – one thing is obvious; the 'rapture' theory is of recent heterodox origin, has no basis in Scripture, the Fathers, is mentioned nowhere in antiquity, nor was it ever a teaching of the Christ, or His Apostles."

The Rapture and the Latin Vulgate - "We Catholics don't believe in the rapture. The "rapture" is a term created by 19th century Protestant dispensationalists who held that God would 'rapture' all faithful Christians from the earth before the tribulation period of the Antichrist."

Raptured or Not? A Catholic Understanding  - "Will Catholics be raptured? No, of course not, but then neither will be anyone else."

Rev. Sirico: Change thinking on poverty - "Vast amounts of state aid and governments imposing endless regulations are not the way to solve global poverty; rather it will be done through trade, private enterprise and helping populations in poor countries to contribute to their own prosperity."

Boehner’s Critics Misrepresent Catholic Social Teaching - "Catholic social teaching stresses a “preferential option for the poor,” but addressing the problems of poverty involves a heavy dose of prudential judgment. The social encyclicals make clear that the Church offers no political or economic program, that within Catholic orthodoxy many different approaches may be undertaken to achieve the principles and moral teachings that are set out."
  
'Til Debt Do Us Part - "As predicted, the American government this week reached its $14.3 trillion debt limit...One thing’s for certain: There’ll be no fixing this without significant discomfort on everyone’s part.  The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can get to work fixing this problem." 
 

Mother of Aerosmith Singer Steven Tyler’s Aborted Baby Now Pro-Life - [This is a follow-up to a piece I posted a week or two ago.]

An Anti-Israel President - [This was the man who received the Nobel Peace Prize?]

Book Review: The Sacraments: A Continuing Encounter with Christ

The "seven holy signs of God's grace"

The year 1976 saw the publication of a book entitled The Teaching of Christ, which presents a thorough overview of the Catholic faith. Several editions of this work have been printed over the years. It has been translated into more than thirteen languages and distributed around the world. The Teaching of Christ has inspired many conversions to the Catholic religion, and has served to deepen and strengthen the faith of those who are already members of the Church. Thirty-five years later, Our Sunday Visitor, the publisher of The Teaching of Christ, has selected and published material from this larger work focusing specifically on the seven Sacraments and presented it in a smaller volume entitled The Sacraments: A Continuing Encounter with Christ.

The arrangement of this book would function well in a classroom or study-group setting. There are individual chapters devoted to each the seven Sacraments, with an introductory chapter on Liturgy. The text of each chapter is further divided into brief sections conveniently labeled with multiple headings and subheadings for easy reference. The entire book is just over 150 pages – just enough space to adequately introduce someone to basic Catholic sacramental theology without overwhelming those who are new to the subject. Scattered throughout are sidebars that serve to clarify terms or to flesh out certain ideas and to give additional background information. While the format is very much like a school text book, the authors avoid the clunky, utilitarian feel that this format can sometimes yield. It is a surprisingly enjoyable read.

My only complaint (if I can call it a “complaint”) is that I did not have access to the larger work from which this book was excerpted. This volume gives the reader a glimpse at why The Teaching of Christ has endured for so many years as a source of inspiration and education in the faith. The writing style is both faith-filled and informative, touching both the heart and the mind - just as the Catholic faith itself does. Reading The Sacraments proved to be a more spiritually rewarding experience than one might expect from a book that at first glance seems like a condensed text book. I can only assume that the full text of The Teaching of Christ contains more of the same solid and inspirational writing.

This smaller book would be ideal for use in a group study on the Sacraments aimed at adult or high school level participants. The material is presented in a simple, easy-to-read style. However it does require at least a basic working knowledge of some theological and technical terms, (though many of these terms are clarified within the text). The Sacraments: A Continuing Encounter with Christ provides a solid, well written introduction to the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. If one is searching for a treatment of other areas of the Catholic faith (perhaps a candidate enrolled in RCIA wanting a complete review of Catholic teaching) the more comprehensive The Teaching of Christ might prove to be a better choice. But as a mini Catechism of the Sacrament this would serve well in a group or for personal use. I would definitely loan this book to those interested in deepening their understanding of the Sacraments without delving into a more complex theological treatise.

As Archbishop Donald Cardinal Wuerl notes in the introduction, the Sacraments are the most visible, outward signs of what it means to be Catholic. They are the tangible realities in which we encounter Christ. When we think of Catholicism, we think of the Mass, of Baptism, of the Liturgical celebrations of the Church. We are introduced to Christ and His Church through the Sacramental signs, words, gestures, and symbols, and these become for us the reality of Christ Himself present to us in the physical world. How fitting it is then that this book, The Sacraments: A Continuing Encounter with Christ, provides an introduction to the larger work, The Teaching of Christ, just as the Sacraments themselves open up to us the reality of the Church. It becomes a point of contact, a doorway through which we may pass to a broader understanding of the faith. With updated references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and ample lists of additional materials for further reading, The Sacraments provides a wonderful foundation on which to build a continuing encounter with Christ.

[This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Sacraments: A Continuing Encounter with Christ. They are also a great source for a Catechism of the Catholic Church or a Catholic Bible.]

This Week's Headlines

As another week comes to an end, this is your chance to top off your glass with a final helping of news, current events, and just plain interesting stuff that may not have made into the mainstream media. A chance to linger for a few more moments before we close the door on the week. Below are some links to articles, blogs, and miscellaneous happenings that caught my eye over the past few days. Sample what you like - I'll serve up more next Friday...

  
Holding Hands During the Our Father, and Other Liturgical (or Not So Liturgical) Calamities - "What I find out there sometimes sets my blood boiling, and at best leaves me scratching my head, and at its worst, leaves me poorly disposed to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist."


Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Altar of the Chair, St. Peter's Basilica, Rome - Mass in Latin said for the first time in decades at St. Peter's in Rome


Sola Scriptura and the Authorship of the Gospels - "...to the extent Evangelicals reject the Church Fathers, they're cutting of the branch on which they're sitting. Without the Fathers, you can't say who wrote the Gospels, or whether the Gospels were considered orthodox by the early Christians, or whether they were considered inspired Scripture."
 
Serfs of the State Welfare Plantation - "...in the hands of some Catholics, Catholic social thought has been reduced to another argument for what Blessed John Paul II criticized, in the 1991 social encyclical Centesimus Annus, as the Social Assistance State—what Americans more familiarly call the Nanny State."
 

Speaker of the House Delivers Address on Humility, Patience, Faith - "Commencement speeches should be about sharing a little wisdom. Here you have the most basic and essential. Delivered with not just talk of humility, but a demonstration of it — in speaking of the source of real power, in speaking of one of his own political falls."

An exchange of letters on the House budget between Paul Ryan and Archbishop Dolan - "Ryan is a Catholic, and the author of the House GOP budget. Dolan is the current president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the former Milwaukee archbishop."
 

Breaking Stained Glass Windows - "When the Church teaches that we must offer a “preferential option” for the poor, does she really mean that, in every case where a person wants something funded by someone else who has more money, the former should get it? That is what some Catholic writers seem to think."

 

Is Multiculturalism Just Another Form of Multiculturalism? - "...historically western culture has produced the highest standard of living, had the most stable economies, produced the most just and equitable forms of democratic government, has a rich deposit of learning, and brought forth a great expression of the dignity of the individual."

The Other Gay Marriage Debate - "I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the demand for gay marriage has followed closely on the heels of our culture’s widespread acceptance of contraception, and the radical re-thinking of the purpose of marriage and human sexuality that came with it."

What the Church Has Given the World - "Without the Roman Catholic Church there would be no Western Civilization."

The "experience of the heavenly liturgy has been lost since Vatican II."   - "Our current translations treat the liturgy basically as a tool for doing catechesis. That’s why our prayers so often sound utilitarian and didactic; often they have a kind of lowest-common-denominator type of feel."

Pope's 'reform of the reform' in liturgy to continue, cardinal says - "The pope's long-term aim is not simply to allow the old and new rites to coexist, but to move toward a "common rite" that is shaped by the mutual enrichment of the two Mass forms..."


Who Would Jesus Whip? - "Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans said that a local Catholic school must permanently ban corporal punishment for student misbehavior, even though many parents and alumni support the practice..."

Bishops of England and Wales Re-establish Fish of Fridays - "The decision will go into effect on September 16, the first anniversary of Pope Benedict’s visit to Scotland and England."

The restoration of the Friday fast is a historic day for English and Welsh Catholics - "The bishops might now turn their attention to building on their achievement: what about restoring our midweek Holydays of Obligation?"

As new round of Anglican-Catholic talks begin, some question the purpose - "William Oddie, a former Anglican vicar and journalist from England who converted to the Catholic Church, says the problem with ARCIC is that only the Catholic side of the table represents a clear, collective viewpoint." 
 

The First Mass for Artists - Must see images of gorgeous church in New York. Surprisingly the breathtaking artwork is recent.

  
Inside story of Marian mosaic told on Bl. John Paul II's birthday - "After the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981, Vatican officials were evaluating the possibility of placing a plaque, or some visible sign, in St. Peter’s Square in the area where the Pope had been shot..."
 

Rome’s exorcist finding Bl. John Paul II effective against Satan - "I have asked the demon more than once, ‘Why are you so scared of John Paul II and I have had two different responses, both interesting."