Quote of the Week

"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did. If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his mother, he will not have Christ for his brother."

- St. Maximilian Kolbe

Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week...

I really do plan on writing more soon...but not this week. Kids are on fall break and I have some time off from work. I feel like being lazy, not writing.

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At our parish we've been trying some new musical settings for the new translation of the Mass. I must say, they are mediocre. Not that they are bad, per se, but they just sound like a re-hash of some of the same stuff we've heard before. Maybe some simple chant is all that's called for.

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I ordered a new Missal in preparation for the new translation. It is currently on back-order. When I receive it and get a chance to use it, I'll make a comment or two about the particular missal I bought. Different publication houses organize the contents differently. I didn't really look into the details of the missal I bought (I purchased it based on price and availability, so I know next-to-nothing about how the text is laid out); I'm anxious to see how I like using it.

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...

  
Heresy Gets Things Done - "Heresies have always been simpler and more persuasive than nuanced orthodox answers. Orthodoxy, like reality, is tediously complex when you try to account for all the details. Like math, it’s hard. Like surgery, it’s work..."

2012 is the “Year of Faith”…What Does It  Mean? - "According to Pope Benedict XVI, the 'Year of Faith' will officially begin on October 11, 2012 and will last until November 24, 2013."

Are the Gospels Myth? - "Christianity, more than any other religion, is rooted in history and makes strong—even shocking—claims about historical events, most notably that God became man and dwelt among us."

Does the Bible Prohibit Religious Images? - "Now, obviously, Protestants today aren't roving around destroying Catholic art. But iconoclasm has ongoing negative impacts."

 

Is Religion Relevant - "The problem with trendy vestments, and any other attempt to make the faith 'relevant' is that it is immediately out of date."

 

Are You a Nice Christian? - "Fact is, we don't know if they are or not, but we can see what they believe and how they behave and make some tentative judgements."

Pro-Lifers Urgently Need to Engage in the SEO War - [SEO = search engine optimization] "There needs to be a concerted effort in the pro-life movement to get our websites do better in online search results."

Evangelizing the Self-Satisfied Secularist - "It is not a very effective strategy for believers to tell the self-satisfied secularist that he is really unsatisfied, just not aware of it. It is far better to appeal to the unstable nature of human satisfaction, and the consequent human tendency to always yearn for more, even when we feel satisfied."

Rick Santorum: Disabled Children Have So Much to Teach Us - "As Santorum said this week, 'If it’s (the pro-life movement’s) not successful, we will lose the soul of the country.'"

John Paul II will soon be a saint  - "The second miracle attributed to the Blessed John Paul II, must be recognised by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on behalf of the deceased pope. The dossier of miracles attributed to Karol Wojtyla is constantly being updated with new testimonies."

Robert Downey, Jr. Asks Hollywood to Forgive Mel Gibson - "I would ask that you join me...in forgiving my friend his trespasses and offering him the same clean slate you have me, allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame."

Quote of the Week

"There is one God and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair founded on Peter by the word of the Lord. It is not possible to set up another altar or for there to be another priesthood besides that one altar and that one priesthood. Whoever has gathered elsewhere is scattering."

- St. Cyprian

Monday Musings

A few random thoughts and ponderings to start the week...

I've been a lazy blogger lately... I have no excuse. Hopefully, as the weather cools off and I spend more time inside, I'll have more time to write.

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I had a conversation recently about religion and politics. Someone suggested the faith should not be involved in people's political decision making because it violates the separation of church and state. There are many arguments against this fallacy, but during the course of our conversation I proposed the following:

There is no way to separate “faith” from political decision-making, because for most Americans there is no way to separate “faith” from “values/morality”. Our laws are by their very nature "moral" - through the power of "law" society imposes moral order. Since most people are religious or subscribe to some faith, it would be unfair to tell these religious people that they must make their value-decisions (when voting for a candidate or a ballot initiative, etc.) without utilizing their faith…you are telling people to jettison a part of who they are if they want to engage in politics. This has never been the case in American history…in fact I would argue that belief in a Creator is a foundational principle in this country.

Now certainly we cannot legislate *theology* or *doctrine*; we cannot establish a national *church*. I would submit to you that that what was meant by “separation of church and state” is that our government cannot dictate religious belief or require its citizens to subscribe to a particular faith. Specifically it means that the State (our government) is to remain separated from the Church (ecclesial bodies). And so we must consider that while “church and state” must remain separate, there can never be a separation of “faith and politics” nor did the Framers intend any such separation.

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...

A Letter to the Lazy - "Do something specific and constructive, and if you are willing to work as hard as the people on Wall Street, you might just accomplish something."

Belloc, Distributism and Political Power - "I can always find common ground with the Distributists I meet... But then there’s the question of centralized political power in the economy."

The New Missal Translation: Renewing Awe and Wonder - "The new translation affords us an opportunity to look at the words in the Mass and ask, 'How and why is this different?' I think if people do this, they will find that the new translation offers a great opportunity for deeper prayer and reflection."

Why Young Christians Leave the Faith - "We aren't losing a generation - they are lost. The question now is, what do we do about it?"

Why Teens Leave the Church – A New but Dubious Study? - [An analysis of the study cited in the article above.]

Answering Four Common Protestant Objections to the Papacy - "Andre, a Protestant on his way into the Catholic Church, recently had something of an exit interview with his former pastor. His pastor made some last-ditch attempts to scuttle Andre's belief in the papacy."

Reporters, Baptists, Romney & ‘cults’- "Journalists are going to have to get up to speed and learn how to tell the difference between bigoted believers who reject Mormons, period, and those who reject their theology, but are willing to work with them in the political arena. Otherwise, there is no way to make sense of these events."

Is Mormonism a Christian Denomination? - [Excellent overview of Mormon beliefs, including the Christian response to each error.]

Jehovah’s Witnesses Knock on the Wrong Door - "No one can change their beliefs on a dime. It takes time... It’s enough to present the truth and then let them see it as God helps them to understand."

Yes, Steve Jobs, R.I.P., was an innovating genius. But... - "Don't get me wrong: I fully recognize that Jobs was an innovating genius when it comes to technology and material things. But his perspective of the bigger picture was seriously lacking."

Large Group of Episcopalians Received Into the Church - "The ceremony seemed to have made a deep impression on many of those present. Two women clutching handkerchiefs admitted they had been moved to tears." See also this article which includes a few pictures: Episcopal parish in Bladensburg converts to Roman Catholic Church

Catholic-dudes, we need you - "Find the time to impress upon the younger men you encounter how fulfilled you are by being a faithful brother in Christ."

Capital Punishment Revisited - [An interesting compilation of essays for and against, from a Catholic perspective.]

19 Words Every Catholic Should Know

Feel free to post more links in the comments section below...

Quote of the Week

"There is a sense that Christianity is only old hat. It’s been around for so long and so many people, cultures, and even civilizations have tried it. Yet, despite such endlessly common efforts, they seemed to have still fallen short. They didn’t produce the missing link, the holy grail, or that secret to life that makes sense of this mysterious existence. Christianity is just a worn out pair of shoes, used when useful and in the end 'found wanting.' That’s the common perception anyway. But it’s wrong.

"The truth is that the Christian life has largely 'been found difficult and left untried.' And because of that we’ve never actually experienced the fullness of the Christian ideal.
"There are some who have actually overcome the difficulties, given it a fair try and did not find it wanting at all. They’re called Saints. So before we go writing off Christianity as more of the same old hat, consider looking to the Saints and trying on a hat that you perhaps have never fully tried."

- G. K. Chesterton