Sixty-one folks hippity hopped over here to vote in my "Peeps or Bunnies" poll. Special thanks to sister bloggers who helped herd traffic! Results:
Chocolate bunnies easily beat out marshmallow Peeps. Dark chocolate beat milk chocolate by only two votes. Now I'm wishing I had the data to run cross tabs to test my hypothesis that the majority of dark chocolate votes were cast by peri-to-post menopausal women. I knew my doctorate in Sociology would come in handy!
I was relieved that the venerable yellow Peeps dominated, although only by eight votes. I was personally shocked that one dear friend cast her vote in the "any color" category; a cradle Catholic certainly old enough to know better, IMRHO (in my rarely humble opinion).
Last but not least, I'm blown away by the fact that only 16 people noted, in addition to their preference to Peeps or Bunnies, that none of this silliness is why Christ died. Wonder how the numbers crunchers at Pew and CARA would spin this finding.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Risen Indeed!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
The Adventure of Faith Continues
Yet another 40 days to contemplate mystery!
And then, 10 more until Pentecost,
and then, forever and ever...
world without end.
The Adventure of Faith Continues
Yet another 40 days to contemplate mystery!
And then, 10 more until Pentecost,
and then, forever and ever...
world without end.
Friday, March 21, 2008
What Wondrous Love is This*
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
*Appalachian Folk Hymn
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I've posted a poll.
Peeps or Bunnies?You don't have to be registered to vote!
And, you may vote in more than one category.
I Confess...
Well, I've finally gotten around to reading, "Evangelicals' new twist on Lent," which appeared in The Washington Post on March 8 and notes a growing interest in "Confession" among evangelical Protestants.
Call me old-fashioned, but I like that the Prots call it "Confession." I've never understood why so many Catholics insist on calling it the "sacrament of Reconciliation" when, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "sacrament of Confession" is listed before "sacrament of Reconciliation" under the heading, "What is This Sacrament Called?" (CCC 1423-1424).
Even setting aside my legalism in this instance, the change in terminology eludes me. How can something be reconciled if it isn't first disclosed? How can something be disclosed if it's not first perceived? Is it that the word "confession" skeeves Catholic of a certain age? Is it that the word "reconciliation" seems so much more gentle and merciful?
I say we should call it "Confession" and thank Almighty God that it isn't called the "sacrament of Conscious Awareness Before Owning Our Cr@p." How many people would show up to celebrate that?
Call me old-fashioned, but I like that the Prots call it "Confession." I've never understood why so many Catholics insist on calling it the "sacrament of Reconciliation" when, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "sacrament of Confession" is listed before "sacrament of Reconciliation" under the heading, "What is This Sacrament Called?" (CCC 1423-1424).
Even setting aside my legalism in this instance, the change in terminology eludes me. How can something be reconciled if it isn't first disclosed? How can something be disclosed if it's not first perceived? Is it that the word "confession" skeeves Catholic of a certain age? Is it that the word "reconciliation" seems so much more gentle and merciful?
I say we should call it "Confession" and thank Almighty God that it isn't called the "sacrament of Conscious Awareness Before Owning Our Cr@p." How many people would show up to celebrate that?
Sunday, March 9, 2008
St. Patrick's Day in 5768
Was going to write a rant about St. Patrick's Day and all the hubbub about it being during Holy Week this year. Heaven forfend that International Drink 'Til You Puke Day be disturbed because of the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. Sr. Mary Martha tackles this in more vituperative depth on her blog.
By the grace of God (and maybe you're able to recite the rest of this sentence), I don't have to freak about staying sober. Indeed, I am blessed with higher class problems this year because Purim starts at sundown on Holy Thursday (3/21) and ends as Easter Vigil gets started (3/22).
I'm trying to figure out when, where, and how I'm going to scarf down a pile of Lekvar or poppy seed Hamentashen and if I should be listening to the Bach, Fauré, or Mozart requiem while doing so.
By the grace of God (and maybe you're able to recite the rest of this sentence), I don't have to freak about staying sober. Indeed, I am blessed with higher class problems this year because Purim starts at sundown on Holy Thursday (3/21) and ends as Easter Vigil gets started (3/22).
I'm trying to figure out when, where, and how I'm going to scarf down a pile of Lekvar or poppy seed Hamentashen and if I should be listening to the Bach, Fauré, or Mozart requiem while doing so.
Charming or Weird? You Choose!
When my father of blessed memory died in 1998, I inherited the home office supplies he bought in bulk quantities. Woohoo! I still have two boxes of 5,000 Swingline standard staples. The reams of paper went pretty quickly -- all except one double-ream box of 100% rag that I held onto for practical and sentimental purposes.
Practically speaking, it only stopped reeking of cigarettes in the past year or so. Plus, 100% rag, even malodorous and yellowed, always seemed too substantial to use as scrap paper; too scuzzy to allow out of my home office. At some point last year I started using it.
The box's label has had enduring sentimental value. It's stamped "Bozell & Jacobs, Inc.," which students of advertising and public relations history will recognize represents an earlier incarnation of what would be come Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon, & Eckhardt, and then Bozell Worldwide in the 1990s. My father freelanced for a B&J outpost in Union, NJ.
Below the B&J name (set in a font no one uses anymore) my father had boldly written in black marker: 100% RAG WHITE. Clearly, this had been written long before his printing would deteriorate into a wobbly scrawl.
Last week, I discovered that I'd finally used up the paper. I have not yet been able to toss the unfolded corrugated cardboard box into recycling. I've been hanging onto it like it's a third class relic. I think I'll eventually use pieces of it to protect my books when wrapping them up for shipping.
In any event, I was going to keep the label, but then realized I was being ridiculous. After all, I still have on a bookshelf in my office the business card box filled with my share of his ashes. Charming? Weird? I can't decide.
Practically speaking, it only stopped reeking of cigarettes in the past year or so. Plus, 100% rag, even malodorous and yellowed, always seemed too substantial to use as scrap paper; too scuzzy to allow out of my home office. At some point last year I started using it.
The box's label has had enduring sentimental value. It's stamped "Bozell & Jacobs, Inc.," which students of advertising and public relations history will recognize represents an earlier incarnation of what would be come Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon, & Eckhardt, and then Bozell Worldwide in the 1990s. My father freelanced for a B&J outpost in Union, NJ.
Below the B&J name (set in a font no one uses anymore) my father had boldly written in black marker: 100% RAG WHITE. Clearly, this had been written long before his printing would deteriorate into a wobbly scrawl.
Last week, I discovered that I'd finally used up the paper. I have not yet been able to toss the unfolded corrugated cardboard box into recycling. I've been hanging onto it like it's a third class relic. I think I'll eventually use pieces of it to protect my books when wrapping them up for shipping.
In any event, I was going to keep the label, but then realized I was being ridiculous. After all, I still have on a bookshelf in my office the business card box filled with my share of his ashes. Charming? Weird? I can't decide.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Padre Pio's Manicure
Am I getting any billable work done today? Yes, I am. I cannot, however, resist stretching my lunch break to zoom in on this snippet from Whispers in the Loggia. Exhumed for a viewing to mark the 40th anniversary of St. Pio of Pietrelcina's death, Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio noted that Padre Pio's dead, encrypted hands:
"looked like they had just undergone a manicure."How come my manicures don't last this long? Is it because I refuse to spend more than ten bucks and leave before the polish has fully dried? Or is it because I'm no saint?
My First Meme
Gee, I feel like my passport to the blogosphere has been officially approved. I just got tagged for my very first meme. Okay, so it was by Wheelie Catholic, who might be getting me back for threatening to laminate her most recent fortune cookie message. More likely, she's continuing to mentor me in the ways of all things blog.
Here are the rules for this book meme:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
I'm at my desk, surrounded by books, but who cares what's on p. 123 of Roget's Thesaurus of the Bible. A brief moment of mid-Lent modesty prevents me from quoting from my own oeuvre. On the cabinet behind me is Richard G. Malloy's new book, A Faith that Frees: Catholic Matters for the 21st Century (Orbis).
What pops up on p. 123 suggests that the book review I read was in America and not First Things. Yes, I read both.
Three sentences from A Faith that Frees (p. 123):
Here are the rules for this book meme:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
I'm at my desk, surrounded by books, but who cares what's on p. 123 of Roget's Thesaurus of the Bible. A brief moment of mid-Lent modesty prevents me from quoting from my own oeuvre. On the cabinet behind me is Richard G. Malloy's new book, A Faith that Frees: Catholic Matters for the 21st Century (Orbis).
What pops up on p. 123 suggests that the book review I read was in America and not First Things. Yes, I read both.
Three sentences from A Faith that Frees (p. 123):
"Cultural issues are historical, and to deal with such issues the church will have to appeal to transcultural and transhistorical method, the method based on the norm of authenticity. The question for Catholics in the twenty-first century is not, 'Did Jesus ordain women?' The question ought to be, 'Is Jesus Christ calling women to serve as ordained priests?' Canon law states that all the baptized, male and female, are free from coercion in choosing their vocation (canon 219). Does the refusal to test a woman's vocation to ordained ministry, de facto, constitute coercion?"Right. More than three sentences. Here's another rule I'm not following: tagging five other people!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday)
"On this Sunday, which marks the middle of Lent, a measure of consoling relaxation is provided, so that the faithful may not break down under the severe strain of Lenten fast but may continue to bear the restrictions with a refreshed and easier heart."
Pope Innocent III (1216, Homilia; PL, vol. CCXVII, col. 393)
By custom, priests wear rose vestments and flowers may be returned to the altar on this day which takes its joyful cue from the entrance antiphon for the Mass: Laetare Jerusalem (Rejoice, O Jerusalem).
During the Middle Ages it became customary to treat Laetare Sunday as a Mother's Day -- celebrating the Mother Church as well as one's own mother with flowers and simnel cake.
This is supposed to be a plum cake, but you'd never know it from the recipe which is so labor intensive that I'm going to opt to drink a glass of prune juice instead. While wearing pink! of course.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Finding a Place to Belong
Barbara, who characterizes herself as a "Catholic in crisis," writes to say that her core identity as a Roman Catholic is exactly what stops her from leaving for an evangelical or Pentecostal church. "I can’t bring myself to follow the lead of so many to find a closer experience with God, to find a place to belong. Its been a struggle for me for about 2 years." She asks if I have any advice.
These sorts of conversations with cradle Catholics always ramp up my gratitude for arriving at Catholicism during adulthood. By then, I'd pretty much figured out that to be a "good" Catholic I'd need to distinguish:
I suppose I'll always retain Judaism's insistence on direct dialing, but as a Catholic this means I focus on Holy Communion. Call me human, but I cannot commune with them unless I'm in communion with Him. You will not find this central focus on Eucharist at an evangelical or Pentecostal church.
As a practical matter, you'll need to find a parish where you can focus on coming to the table of the Lord and being nourished there. Go someplace where you're not distracted by community maneuvers or whatever you may have heard about the pastor. Practice lectio divina with the Mass readings du jour. Pray to God for signs. Gently place your two years of desert wandering within a lifelong journey of faith.
As for "belonging" in the sense of participating in a parish community, I'll have more to say about that in another post. Just yesterday, I had a conversation with someone about the whys and hows of leaving one parish for another. I seem to be having a lot of these conversations lately. So glad that tomorrow is Laetare Sunday!
These sorts of conversations with cradle Catholics always ramp up my gratitude for arriving at Catholicism during adulthood. By then, I'd pretty much figured out that to be a "good" Catholic I'd need to distinguish:
- religion from faith;
- religious identity from cultural identity;
- being catholic from being Catholic, and
- parish life from the Body of Christ.
- What do you mean by "closer" to God?
- What do you mean by "belonging"?
I suppose I'll always retain Judaism's insistence on direct dialing, but as a Catholic this means I focus on Holy Communion. Call me human, but I cannot commune with them unless I'm in communion with Him. You will not find this central focus on Eucharist at an evangelical or Pentecostal church.
As a practical matter, you'll need to find a parish where you can focus on coming to the table of the Lord and being nourished there. Go someplace where you're not distracted by community maneuvers or whatever you may have heard about the pastor. Practice lectio divina with the Mass readings du jour. Pray to God for signs. Gently place your two years of desert wandering within a lifelong journey of faith.
As for "belonging" in the sense of participating in a parish community, I'll have more to say about that in another post. Just yesterday, I had a conversation with someone about the whys and hows of leaving one parish for another. I seem to be having a lot of these conversations lately. So glad that tomorrow is Laetare Sunday!
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