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...

Romney Accepts Republican Nomination - "He offered what would be called in the business world a bottom line comment, 'President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet.  My promise is ... to help you and your family.'"

Top 13 Quotes From Mitt Romney’s RNC Speech

Must watch this video. This is a powerful testimony to Mitt Romney's character. And here is the biographical film played at the convention.

Cardinal Dolans Benediction: Make Us Truly Free by Tethering Freedom to Truth - "Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and President of the United States Catholic Bishops Conference closed the Republican Convention with a prayer of Benediction." [Full text and video.]

Important update: Democrats change their minds and accept Cardinal Dolan’s invitation to pray at their convention And this: Dolan to offer closing prayer at Democrat Convention: Hyperventilation Continues. UPDATED

Full Text of Speech by Vice-Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan

Vice-Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan Stresses Pro-Life Themes - [Selected quotes as well as full video.]

Was Ryan’s Speech Full of Lies? - "In general, most of these complaints are not in fact about lies but about what would be much more accurately characterized as presentations of the facts that liberals regard as too one sided or self-serving.  In other words, they are calling 'lies' the kind of points that all politicians make, inflating the errors of their opponents and avoiding mention of their own."

GOP Embraces Religious Freedom - "'We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans and to safeguard the independence of their institutions from government,' stated the 2012 Republican platform, which was formally approved at the party’s national convention Aug. 28."

GOP adopts anti-pornography platform - "The Republican Party has changed its platform to say that laws against pornography and obscenity “need to be vigorously enforced,” a move that won praise from decency advocates."

Cardinal Dolan Supports Knights of Columbus' Civility Campaign - "The Knights of Columbus are “very encouraged” by Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s request that U.S. presidential and vice-presidential candidates sign a civility pledge developed by the Catholic charitable fraternity." [My thoughts: I don't know... It's a nice idea on paper, but it sets the candidate up for accusations of reneging on his pledge if he says one negative thing about his opponents record.

What Is Social Justice? - "Pope Leo XIII, whose seminal 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, is still the gold standard for articulating the fundamentals of the Church’s social doctrine, wouldn’t even recognize as Catholic much of the “social justice” drivel bandied about nowadays, some of it from ostensibly reliable sources."

Dr. Deal Hudson: 'A Gloss on an Unreliable Guide to Catholic Voters' - "To anyone who knows Catholic social teaching, or the bishops' own document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, can easily see through its shifty and disingenuous use of Catholic principles and moral concepts."

Are Catholics Becoming Second-Class Citizens? - "It’s hard to believe that this is what things have come to, but it’s indicative of where things are heading."

Why the Pill Is Very, Very Bad (and why even non-Catholics agree) - "Suffice it to say that Pope Paul VI will not be receiving a posthumous prize for his vindicated prophecy any time soon. The more important concern now is whether the modern world will survive a populace that kills or abuses its children, enters into sterile and ephemeral marriages, propagates a plague of venereal diseases and poor health conditions such as obesity, and indulges in largely pornographic entertainments. Hmm, sounds like the fall of the Roman Empire to me."

A Catholic View: In-Vitro Fertilization, the Human Cost - "Unspoken is that most human beings created in the laboratory will die before even given a chance. It is commonly estimated that only one in six embryos created following IVF will make it to birth. However, the numbers published by Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority may be more accurate. In July of 2011 Britain announced that for every child born by IVF thirty embryos were created."

Three-Person Civil Union Granted in Brazil - [Uuuum...I thought the Leftist pro-gay-'marriage' crowd said that this wouldn't happen? I thought they said there is no slippery slope toward anything-gos marriage. Well, what a shock.]

Pro-choice thought experiment - "A House bill to ban sex-selective abortions (acronym 'PRENDA') fizzled out since it didn’t receive two-thirds support. ...So if a 'gay gene' is found, would a PRENDA-like bill attract the same criticisms? Would the LGBT community be silent about 'gay abortions?'"

The Gay Marriage Debate: Brought to you by Contraception - "First, there is the false notion that marriage is a right. Marriage is not a right — not for anyone..." [Also see here for a four part series on same sex "marriage.']

If a priest cannot say Mass in the Extraordinary Form, is he properly trained? Wherein Fr. Z rants. - [Wouldn't it be something if we expected all of our priests to be proficient in saying Mass in the Extraordinary Form? Perhaps we should....]

The Importance of Having a Prayer Corner - "Setting up your own prayer corner is a work of love in many respects.  Decorate it with whatever is conducive to prayer - a crucifix is essential, but beyond that it really is up to you."

Divorce and The Myth of Quality Time - "I can't teach them the best way to throw a curve ball or a slider but I can throw it back to them and I can chase it when they throw it wild and I've got band aids for when it hits them in the head. It's no special skills. It's just being there. Sometimes that's enough."

5 Ways to Stop Your Six Year Old from Becoming a Sex Object - "At a time when they should be learning to read and exploring their artistic creativity, they are instead taking in images and propaganda that makes them believe they must be “sexy” in order to be popular, according to the study, published last month in the journal, Sex Roles."

A Tale of Two Cathedrals: Why “Traditional versus Modernist” Tells Only Part of the Story - [A wonderful analysis of two architectural designs and how to properly incorporate modern design into church building.]

This is pretty interesting, but I can't say that I understand it.... How could Physics explain Jesus walking on water?

Quote of the Week

"The way to plan the family is Natural Family Planning, not contraception. In destroying the power of giving life, through contraception, a husband or wife is doing something to self. This turns the attention to self and so destroys the gift of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and wife must turn the attention to each other. Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily."

- Mother Teresa

Monday Musings

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

Last week I received a comment on a previous Monday Musings installment from June.  The commenter posed a question about something I had written regarding President Obama's attitude toward people of faith. The question read as follows:

When has President Obama "[shut] out religious institutions from public debate and forc[ed] faith-based organizations to comply with his secularist agenda?"

It's a valid question and it deserves a response. So I posted an answer in the comments section of that post, but I think it only fair to repost it here so that my clarification is not lost in ever-changing world of the blogosphere:

A specific example would be the HHS mandate requiring religious institutions to provide contraception coverage for employees. Religious institutions are being forced to comply with this mandate. I would characterize this mandate as "secularist" because it ignores the very religious nature of the hospitals, schools, etc. that are affected by the mandate. In effect, it forces these institutions to deny their faith and conform to a "secular" agenda. These institutions must comply or face a penalty. Anyone voicing concern that religious liberties are being violated have been ignored, or at best they are given lip-service from the Administration, telling them, "We hear your concern, but we're pushing ahead with our agenda."

So that is why I would say that the Obama has "[shut] out religious institutions from public debate and forc[ed] faith-based organizations to comply with his secularist agenda."

More generally, I would say that the Obama Administration shows it's bias against religious speech in the public sphere when they repeatedly substitute the phrase "freedom of worship" instead of "freedom of religion." The implication being that the Obama Administration views religious liberty as ONLY protecting the rights of religious people to gather in "worship," but not to exercise their religion in any other setting, especially in public debate.

I personally sense a hostility toward people of faith coming from the Democratic Party in general and specifically this President. Obviously you are free to disagree.

Thank you for reading the blog. And I do appreciate the question.

As always, I welcome any questions and comments.

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We attend the early Mass at our parish, which means we are spared the agonizing and painful sounds of the folk rock "worship band" that "performs" at the later service. We at the early Mass usually have a more traditional set of hymns, accompanied by pipe organ, and sometimes even a few Latin classics thrown in. But even our early group has it's musical mishaps. This weekend we had a full slate of 1980s hack-job compositions. they were still accompanied by organ, mind you - but really, you can't make "Gather Us In" or "Sing a New Song" sound good no matter what you play it on. Those weren't the exact song titles that were featured on Sunday (I can't remember the exact ones), but they were of the same caliber and puke-worthiness. I tried to sing along a couple of times, but my mouth refused to open.

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Besides the bad music this Sunday, I also forgot my missal at home. Which means that I was off my game and messed up the response: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof..." I caught myself halfway through and tried to pull out a save, but not before I totally mangled the first half. Ugg!

But hey, you can't yourself too seriously...and that brings me to the picture of the week (a classic):

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 Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary - "The Blessed Mother, in her regal beauty, authority, and power, has not left us orphans, for she is 'the Living Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Inviolate Mountain, the ladder” that joins Heaven and earth.'"

Pope Benedict: 'We Learn to Live From Mary

Cardinal Dolan to Give Closing Benediction at GOP Convention - "The news came out during an exclusive interview Raymond Arroyo conducted with Mitt Romney..." See also, this, and this.

Oh, but I guess Cardinal Dolan is not welcome at the Democratic National Convention: check it out here.

Barack Obama: Enemy of the Church? - "A coincidental pattern of antagonism and hostility may not make him an outright enemy of the Church, but he is no friend to Catholics and others of good faith."

Abortion in Cases of Rape: Todd Akin’s Gaffe Spotlights Catholic Teaching — Again - "A furor over a recent campaign-season comment provides another opportunity to clarify Church doctrine."

Todd Akin said something stupid. Barack Obama supports after-birth abortion. Which is worse? - [That's a valid question. i think we know the answer.]

What Voters Will Remember about Abortion in November - "What the Obama campaign has decided to do is to make unrestricted access to abortion a key component of his campaign. By highlighting Sandra Fluke, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and a host of pro-abortion advocates at the Democratic National Convention, their strategy seems to be to use abortion as a wedge issue in order to paint Republicans as out of touch with most Americans."

A Paul Ryan Round-Up - [A lot of info here from early in the week. Yep, Paul Ryan is still big news in the Catholic blogosphere.]

Solidarity and the Welfare State - "An interesting look at Paul Ryan by Father Barron based upon the twin poles of Catholic social teaching:  subsidiarity and solidarity."

Small-town Paul Ryan: Defender of Subsidiarity - "No doubt this fundamental Catholic social teaching distinguishes Ryan from fellow liberal Catholic Joe Biden, whose job he seeking to take. Both are of Irish Catholic descent, but that is about all they have in common."

Paul Ryan and Government Pelagianism - "Paul Ryan back in May and I was struck by the common-sense approach he takes in evaluating government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. His main point being that government compassion too often measured by inputs rather than outcomes; by money spent and programs created than by how many people are lifted out of poverty." [The author continues with this theme and relates it to prayer...but I think this political observation is spot on too.]

Bishops Dolan, Morlino and Aquila defend VP pick Ryan’s Catholicism - "In the last week three prominent US bishops have publicly defended Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s reputation as a faithful Catholic amidst claims from some nuns and clergy who are claiming otherwise."

Where wages come from - "My suggestion? Treat everyone in the employment relationship equally and justly: employees and employers alike."

Are we witnessing the establishment of a “state religion”? - [Fr. Z not pulling any punches.]

Economics, reproductive health and the integrity of the family - "The modern economist who restricts his professional interest to financial data displays a much narrower view of economics than has been characteristic of the Christian tradition."

How Protestants Learned to Love the Pill - "The Protestant Reformation was in significant part a protest against the perceived antinatalism of the late Medieval Christian Church. It was a celebration of procreation that also saw contraception and abortion as among the most wicked of human sins, as direct affronts to the ordinances of God."

Why does the same-sex marriage debate seem so futile? - "What many people fail to grasp is that key terms of the debate are being interpreted in different ways. Unless these are clarified, there is little hope of a meeting of minds. Here are a few of the issues which need to be unpacked."

Should the Bishop Have Bought the Crystal Cathedral? - "One of the major criticisms of Catholic architecture during the past fifty years is that it has incorrectly adopted many of the forms of low-church Protestantism...Are [Spirit-of-Vatican-II "liturgists"] finally admitting their agenda by purchasing a ready for TV megachurch complete with a jumbotron and three huge balconies for the 'spectators'?"

Interesting follow-up to the previous article:  Amazing discovery: Churches are Houses of God

Picture of the Week (in honor of Mary, Queen of Heaven):

Male-only Priesthood, Part 4

The human person is both body and soul. We must not think of a human as simply a spirit that happens to have a body, nor as a physical being that happens to have a spirit. These two aspects of human nature - body and soul - are intimately linked so as to form one reality, one nature. As we read  in Part 3 of this series:

The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. (Catechism 365)

So when we speak of one particular man, namely Jesus of Nazareth, as the model for our priesthood, we must consider how His masculinity factors into His own role as priest.We cannot simply erase His physical body and speak only a "spiritual priesthood." If Jesus was a human being then He had a physical body like all human persons do. When we say that a priest stands "in the person of Christ," we must examine how a male priest best fulfills this role for the Church knowing that maleness was an integral part of Jesus' own personhood.

As we make these considerations about the male-only priesthood, it would be helpful to examine another Sacrament which speaks more directly to the male-female reality of being human. That Sacrament is Marriage.

Make no mistake, there is good reason that Jesus' first miracle happened at a wedding feast. The image of marriage points to Jesus' role as the Groom, with the corresponding role for the Church as His Bride. The Church's bond with Christ is like that of a husband and wife - an intimate union; one body; one flesh. The Eucharist demonstrates this reality most fully, as we quite literally share the "Flesh" of Christ. But marriage points to this union of Christ and His Church as well - as the man and woman join to become one flesh. The dinamic of marriage has much to offer in demonstrating Jesus' priestly role toward the Church. Recall what St. Paul has to say of marriage and the roles of husband and wife: 

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

(Ephesians 5:21-32)

Christ in this passage is most certainly the model for all husbands, and the Church the model for wives. But here we also see a priestly role for Christ. He offers Himself as the "sacrifice" on behalf of the Bride. He "sanctifies" her. He "cleanses" her. He "nourishes" and cares for her for she is His own Body.

And we should note that just as in marriage, where the union of man and woman is designed to bring forth new life, so too Christ and His Bride the Church bring forth new life through baptism. The Church is our Mother and we call our priest's Father, as the stand in the place of Christ - with Christ working through them to make us born again.

We could go on drawing comparisons between these two unions (Christ to His Church and husband to wife), but it is certainly clear that the role of priest standing "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ) is standing in the role of Husband, with the Church as the Bride. This role requires a male-only priesthood.

Quote of the Week

"Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son."

- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Monday Musings

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

While the new Mass translation has become almost second-nature (with a few slip-ups here and there), I'm still not comfortable with the musical arrangements our parish uses. They aren't much different than what was used before, but they sound awkward in places and a bit forced. Why can't we just do chant?

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I had a proud father moment: Our six-year-old daughter's religion teacher informed us this Sunday that she would begin each class with a decade of the rosary so that the kids would have a chance to practice their prayers. "Some of them don't even know their basic prayers," she said, "so this gives them a chance to learn." Then she quickly added, "Well except for her." [Meaning our daughter.] "She knows them all!"

Then, after class, our daughter told us that the teacher seemed unsure how to conclude the session, so she suggested to the teacher that they should conclude with: "May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace." Her teacher thought that was a great idea. Maybe next week our little religion whiz will throw out some Latin.

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I plan on purchasing a new tablet PC soon. This new model will have access to Google features such as Blogger so that I can blog on a mobile device. When that happens I plan on posting a test post here at Faith and Reason to see how practical the device will be for blogging. So bear with me as I attempt this technological feat. It may just be a one-time thing... but then again, I do see some possible uses down the road.