Good bye, Holy Father

I'm out of breath in attempting to keep up with the pope's amazing visit with us here in the United States, which has been so full and rich. I will need some time to spend reviewing his homilies and speeches, which are all quite substantial. The theme of his visit was Christ, Our Hope - a message desperately needed by the Church in America -- a real message of freedom in holiness, that can only be found in Christ. True liberation.

From his homily at mass today:

True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".

He was also careful to underscore his role as Bishop of Rome, Successor to Peter the Apostle, with which visible unity is important. From his message at the ecumenical gathering:

Too often those who are not Christians, as they observe the splintering of Christian communities, are understandably confused about the Gospel message itself. Fundamental Christian beliefs and practices are sometimes changed within communities by so-called “prophetic actions” that are based on a hermeneutic not always consonant with the datum of Scripture and Tradition. Communities consequently give up the attempt to act as a unified body, choosing instead to function according to the idea of “local options”. Somewhere in this process the need for diachronic koinonia - communion with the Church in every age - is lost, just at the time when the world is losing its bearings and needs a persuasive common witness to the saving power of the Gospel (cf. Rom 1:18-23).

Faced with these difficulties, we must first recall that the unity of the Church flows from the perfect oneness of the Trinitarian God. In John’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus prayed to his Father that his disciples might be one, “just as you are in me and I am in you” (Jn 17:21). This passage reflects the unwavering conviction of the early Christian community that its unity was both caused by, and is reflective of, the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, in turn, suggests that the internal cohesion of believers was based on the sound integrity of their doctrinal confession (cf. 1 Tim 1:3-11). Throughout the New Testament, we find that the Apostles were repeatedly called to give an account for their faith to both Gentiles (cf. Acts 17:16-34) and Jews (cf. Acts 4:5-22; 5:27-42). The core of their argument was always the historical fact of Jesus’s bodily resurrection from the tomb (Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30). The ultimate effectiveness of their preaching did not depend on “lofty words” or “human wisdom” (1 Cor 2:13), but rather on the work of the Spirit (Eph 3:5) who confirmed the authoritative witness of the Apostles (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-11). The nucleus of Paul’s preaching and that of the early Church was none other than Jesus Christ, and “him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). But this proclamation had to be guaranteed by the purity of normative doctrine expressed in creedal formulae - symbola - which articulated the essence of the Christian faith and constituted the foundation for the unity of the baptized (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5; Gal 1:6-9; Unitatis Redintegratio, 2).

My dear friends, the power of the kerygma has lost none of its internal dynamism. Yet we must ask ourselves whether its full force has not been attenuated by a relativistic approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies, which, in alleging that science alone is “objective”, relegate religion entirely to the subjective sphere of individual feeling. Scientific discoveries, and their application through human ingenuity, undoubtedly offer new possibilities for the betterment of humankind. This does not mean, however, that the “knowable” is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor religion restricted to the shifting realm of “personal experience”.

For Christians to accept this faulty line of reasoning would lead to the notion that there is little need to emphasize objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for one need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a community that best suits his or her individual tastes. The result is seen in the continual proliferation of communities which often eschew institutional structures and minimize the importance of doctrinal content for Christian living.

Thank you, Holy Father

The Evolution of Video Game Music

Excellent story yesterday from NPR's All Things Considered.

In May 2004, a composer named Nobuo Uematsu joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a single performance of his most famous work. The show sold out in three days. In fact, there was almost a riot at the box office when people couldn't get tickets.

What was the music? Uematsu's soundtrack for the popular video game Final Fantasy.

I would suggest listening to the story online. About 12 minutes.

Analogy of Being Theological Symposium

The Analogy of Being: Invention of the Anti-Christ, or the Wisdom of God?

The Dominican Province of St. Joseph vocations blog posts a few pictures from last weekend's symposium, which was held at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in D.C. Having pictures isn't quite the same as actually being there, but I'll take it I guess. Did anybody go? We could have our own symposium over beer.

Let Jesus Christ be Sung in Unity

I meant to post this during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Ignatius of Antioch, who was also a reputed disciple of John, the Apostle, became bishop of Antioch (in what was Syria, in the East) after the death of Evodius, around the year 68 AD. Ignatius served until his martyrdom, which is placed sometime just after the end of the 1st century. Toward the end of his life, he wrote extensively concerning the life and growth of the Church at the turn of the 1st century. He commented most beautifully on the necessity of Christian unity in beautiful metaphor and literary style.

From Chapters 3-5 of his Letter to the Church at Ephesus:

I do not issue orders to you, as if I were some great person. For though I am bound for the name [of Christ], I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow-disciples with me. For it was needful for me to have been stirred up by you in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering. But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that you would all run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the [manifested] will of the Father; as also bishops, settled everywhere to the utmost bounds [of the earth], are so by the will of Jesus Christ.

Wherefore it is fitting that you should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop, which thing also you do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison, you may with one voice sing to the Father through Jesus Christ, so that He may both hear you, and perceive by your works that you are indeed the members of His Son. It is profitable, therefore, that you should live in an unblameable unity, that thus you may always enjoy communion with God.

For if I in this brief space of time, have enjoyed such fellowship with your bishop — I mean not of a mere human, but of a spiritual nature — how much more do I reckon you happy who are so joined to him as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father, that so all things may agree in unity! Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses such power, how much more that of the bishop and the whole Church! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, "God resists the proud." Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the bishop, in order that we may be subject to God.

Ignatius of Antioch was certainly not a Johnny Come Lately to the Christian scene, as one who might have sought to undermine the Gospel he received from the mouths of apostles themselves. In fact, Ignatius offered his life for the faith he received and lived and inspired countless others by his witness.

St. Vincent Ferrer

Today we remember Vincent Ferrer, O.P. (1350-1419), itinerant preacher and author of On the Spiritual Life, a spiritual treatise. Being a traveler and a preacher of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), he writes extensively in letters about the various heretical factions he stumbles across in certain regions on his travels hither and thither as well as his observations, in no uncertain terms, I should add.

From a letter of St. Vincent Ferrer to John of Puinoix, Master of the Order of Preachers (From the Dominican Supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours):

After thirteen continuous months in Lombardy, I went to Savoy, where I have been for five months. Prelates and several rulers of the area have asked for me and it is with great emotion that I have already visited four dioceses here, namely, Sion, Aosta, Tarantaise, Maurienne and Grenoble, all of which are important centers in Savoy. I am going around preaching in the towns, villages and castles to the extent that seems best. At the moment I am in the diocese of Geneva.

Among other aberrations, I have found one very widespread error that has infected these parts: every year on the day after Corpus Christi, confraternities gather in solemn assembly under the title of "the holy rising sun." My confreres, the Friars Minor, other religious and even the parish priests have told me that they did not dare to preach or to say anything against this error out of fear, for they would be threatened with death and their offerings and alms would be taken away. I now address this error in particular by preaching daily, the Lord aiding and confirming what I say, and it has been effectively uprooted. These people, who now come to me, are overcome with sorrow when they learn how far they have wandered from the faith. When by the grace of God this error has been completely uprooted, I plan to go to the diocese of Lausanne, where they publicly worship the sun as a god -- especially the country folk -- by offering the sun their morning prayers and by reverencing it. The bishop of Lausanne himself made a journey of two or three days to see me and humbly beg that I would visit his diocese, where there are many valleys of heretics within Allemania and Savoy. This I promised to do. I have heard that the heretics of those valleys are very daring and bold, but I am confident in the accustomed mercy of God and I intend to go there and preach during the coming Lent. However, let it happen according to the heavenly plan.

The charism of St. Dominic is certainly evident in his writing, as earlier he observes:

I discovered that a principle reason for heresies and errors in these places was a lack of preaching. As I correctly perceived from the inhabitants there, thirty years had elapsed during which no one had preached to them but the Waldensian heretics, who would come to them twice a year from Apuleia.

A solid witness is what our world most certainly needs today, to "preach the truth in love" according to our particular state in life, and to constantly remind ourselves of what we preach as well and live it out.

Houston Cathedral Dedication

The dedication of our new Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston will be this Wednesday, April 2nd at noon. For television coverage details (or to watch on-line), check out KTRK-Channel 13, which will broadcast the entire ceremony. You might just see someone you know! (although I'm quite sure you won't see me, as I won't be there!)

Speeches...

I just returned from serving as a judge for a middle-school speech competition in the area sponsored by a local organization. I had never judged competitions at this level -- it was an interesting experience :) These kids nowadays are a lot more ambitious than I was when I was in junior high!

Holy Week at the Dominican House of Studies

Tenebrae 2008 on Spy Wednesday



More videos, audio, and photos from Holy Week and Easter at the Dominican House of Studies courtesy of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph Vocations Blog.

The Holy Father and Easter Vigil

Padre Z. discusses the contents of the Holy Father's Easter Vigil homily, in which, among many other things of significance, the Holy Father gives some theological starting points for liturgy and even worship ad orientem. Fr. Z. prefaces the Holy Father's remarks:

I have been maintaining that the Holy Father has a program, a vision for the Church. He is trying to revitalize our Catholic identity. I often refer to his "Marshall Plan", as I call it, for the Church. Just as Europe was devastated after the war and needed rebuilding, the Church and our identity as Catholics has been devastated over the last 40 or so years. We need rebuilding. For Benedict, liturgy is the key. It is the "tip of the spear" so to speak. Change our approach to liturgy and you change everything.

One of the most devastating changes after the Council was the widespread abandonment of ad orientem worship. Authors like Klaus Gamber, for whom Papa Ratzinger has such great respect, thought that changing our altars around was perhaps the most damaging change in the post-Conciliar reform. Sadly, the destruction of ad orientem worship was based on misuse of scholarship, surely, but most on ideological choices rooted in a hermeneutic of rupture and a ecclesiology which was little in harmony with our Catholic faith. The results for Catholic worship were viciously corrosive.

Pope Benedict has long written of the meaning and need for ad orientem worship. In practical terms he knows that we cannot force abrupt changes. We must be gentle in reintroducing it.

However, as we have been watching him during the last year or so reintroducing many traditional elements our Roman Rite into the full view of the world, including ad orientem worship in the Sistine Chapel, I think we can say that he thinks the time has come for more decisive moves.

Fr. Z is referring primarily, though not exclusively, to this section of the Holy Father's homily, which is particularly significant:

In the early Church there was a custom whereby the Bishop or the priest, after the homily, would cry out to the faithful: “Conversi ad Dominum” – turn now towards the Lord. This meant in the first place that they would turn towards the East, towards the rising sun, the sign of Christ returning, whom we go to meet when we celebrate the Eucharist. Where this was not possible, for some reason, they would at least turn towards the image of Christ in the apse, or towards the Cross, so as to orient themselves inwardly towards the Lord. Fundamentally, this involved an interior event; "conversion", the turning of our soul towards Jesus Christ and thus towards the living God, towards the true light. Linked with this, then, was the other exclamation that still today, before the Eucharistic Prayer, is addressed to the community of the faithful: “Sursum corda” – “Lift up your hearts”, high above the tangled web of our concerns, desires, anxieties and thoughtlessness – “Lift up your hearts, your inner selves!” In both exclamations we are summoned, as it were, to a renewal of our Baptism: "Conversi ad Dominum" – we must distance ourselves ever anew from taking false paths, onto which we stray so often in our thoughts and actions. We must turn ever anew towards him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must be converted ever anew, turning with our whole life towards the Lord. And ever anew we must allow our hearts to be withdrawn from the force of gravity, which pulls them down, and inwardly we must raise them high: in truth and love. At this hour, let us thank the Lord, because through the power of his word and of the holy Sacraments, he points us in the right direction and draws our heart upwards. Let us pray to him in these words: Yes, Lord, make us Easter people, men and women of light, filled with the fire of your love. Amen.

Amen! But that said, be sure to read the homily in its entirety!

O felix culpa!

O certe necessarium Adae peccatum, quod Christi morte deletum est!
O felix culpa, quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!

O truly necessary sin of Adam, which the death of Christ has blotted out!
O happy fault, that merited such and so great a Redeemer!

The sublime contradiction, part of the Easter Exsultet - it strikes me now as it did when it was sung during the Easter Vigil in 1997 at which I was baptized and received into the Church. Only this year, hearing it sung in Latin was particularly haunting to me. How can I explain it?

Christus surrexit! Surrexit vere!

Before the Printing Press

Dr. Richard Nokes, professor of medieval literature at Troy University, makes some points on the state of education, religion, and functional literacy prior the advent of the printing press and the various modern myths that folks (particularly college students) love to believe. Would modern education (to the non-wealthy, non-clergy), widespread, functional literacy, or even Protestantism as we know it today have been possible without the printing press?

Holy Week in San Antonio

Well, part of it, at least. We actually just got back from San Antonio with my in-laws. The trip was short, but awesome. Among the many places we visited was the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower, staffed by the Discalced Carmelite Friars, as well as the missions. We also sought out a couple of Painted Churches on the way there. Texas is cool!

Now, we observe the sacred Triduum going into Easter.

Chesterton and the "Paradoxy" of Orthodoxy

Carl Olson reflects in an older article on how he was influenced by the sixth chapter of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, which is titled "Paradoxes of Christianity."

[Chesterton] examined various challenges to Christianity, noting, "It was attacked on all sides and for all contradictory reasons." His observations are just as illuminating today as they were one hundred years ago—perhaps even more so—for they outline the flawed nature of the biases of skeptics and scoffers, and are therefore of no small assistance to anyone defending Christianity in today's hostile public square.

The first contradictory criticism is that Christianity is "a thing of inhuman gloom" and "purely pessimistic and opposed to life". In contemporary terms: Christianity is allegedly repressive, dysfunctional, and depressing. In the words of Ted Turner, Christianity is a "religion for losers." Such is the mantra of the sexually "liberated," who see any restraint upon their libido as the work of a self-loathing and prudish Church. This portrayal of Christianity is such regular fare it hardly needs to be pointed out.

And yet, Chesterton continues, Christianity was also mocked because it "comforted men with a fictitious providence" and was " a fool's paradise." Don't you know, muses the enlightened "free thinker", that Christianity enslaves by promising heavenly bliss and eternal glory, when in fact life is a series of random biological accidents without any purpose, direction, or meaning? Ah, so who is really depressing and pessimistic? "The very man who denounced Christianity for pessimism," Chesterton notes, "was himself a pessimist." It is demeaning, say some critics, to speak of "sin"; far better to believe that man is an animal with little or no control over his lusts and passions, which are simply products of genetics and environment.

Obama - Your Own Personal Jesus?



From Chris Blosser of the Is Obama the Messiah? blog. Interesting project... I say nothing more ;)

The Man Born Blind

Dominus linivit oculos meos: et abii, et lavi, et vidi, et credidi Deo.

Obama's Speech before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Given on July 17, 2007.

I found it to be perfectly nauseating. There's nothing truly messianic about this man. It's the same old politics couched in comfortable rhetoric. Yeah, in this speech, he says it's time to "turn the page" about five times, or "write a new chapter", or "look to a new day" and other worn lines.

Yet I can't find a word about life issues on BarackObama.com (can anyone else?). But I don't know what's worse about this speech. There are his attempts to link Martin Luther King's vision with that of the racist, eugenicist founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, who referred to African Americans and other minorities as "human weeds" and "reckless breeders".

Then there's Obama's affirmation of judicial appointments as he speaks highly of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ugh. And his support for the Freedom of "Choice" Act. He also says plenty of stupid things like,

Planned Parenthood Peer Educators have become like the Underground Railroad of Sex Education [laughter]. They’re the front lines giving kids information they can’t get anywhere else.

Which basically means he approves of PP's undermining of parents' authority, which we've basically known since it was shown that Planned Parenthood administrators will even cover up crimes in some cases of statutory rape. And let's give 'em more state funds! And Underground Railroad of Sex Education? Is he sure he wants to link abortion and teen sex to the plight of slaves seeking freedom from oppression?

And does Obama really care about what's going on in the African American community? According to blackgenocide.com:

In America today, almost as many African-American children are aborted as are born [3 out of 5 pregnancies]. A black baby is three times more likely to be murdered in the womb than a white baby. Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent. Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined. Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire history. Planned Parenthood operates the nation's largest chain of abortion clinics and almost 80 percent of its facilities are located in minority neighborhoods. About 13 percent of American women are black, but they submit to over 35 percent of the abortions.

Abortion doesn't help minorities overcome oppression, and it doesn't help women today. As I've said before, the early American feminist movement didn't subscribe to this lie, and women shouldn't believe this lie today.

Christopher Blosser has some good comments and questions:

What kind of "change" will come about, what kind of "unity" can possibly occur under such a president who obstinately repudiates the very clear teachings of the Church on the sanctity of human life?

Cardinal Schönborn at Berkeley, CA



Renowned theologian and present Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP, recently visited the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT) in Berkeley, California, to discuss his book, Chance or Purpose: Creation, Evolution, and a Rational Faith, which was published last year by Ignatius Press. The presentation took place on February 15, 2008. I happened to catch the back-and-forth the other night on C-SPAN2, and I found it to be very good! The DSPT has created a website if you wish to view the presentation. I encourage you to do so.

Apparently Cardinal Schönborn made his way to northern California after an earlier speaking engagement in San Diego. I'll have to find out whether he stopped to use the bathroom at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. He would have been in good company.

Thanks to Carl Olson for the scoop, who also notes that the DSPT has the 2008 Aquinas Lecture available for viewing. The lecture, entitled, “Thomas Aquinas and the Problem of Human Suffering”, was given on February 14, 2008, by Eleonore Stump, Ph.D. Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University.

St. Polycarp of Smyrna and Irenaeus

Today is the Feast of St. Polycarp of Smyrna (ca. 69- ca. 155 AD), one of my favorite Fathers of the Church: Reputed disciple of John, the Apostle, friend to St. Ignatius of Antioch, respected teacher of St. Irenaeus of Lyons. Eusebius preserves for us a few of Irenaeus' letters in which Polycarp is referenced by name. What follows is from Irenaeus' Letter to Florinus, a friend who had fallen into heresy. Irenaeus makes an earnest appeal to Polycarp's great witness and role in the early Church:

These opinions, Florinus, that I may speak in mild terms, are not of sound doctrine; these opinions are not consonant to the Church, and involve their votaries in the utmost impiety; these opinions, even the heretics beyond the Church’s pale have never ventured to broach; these opinions, those presbyters who preceded us, and who were conversant with the apostles, did not hand down to thee.

For, while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in Lower Asia with Polycarp, distinguishing thyself in the royal court, and endeavouring to gain his approbation. For I have a more vivid recollection of what occurred at that time than of recent events (inasmuch as the experiences of childhood, keeping pace with the growth of the soul, become incorporated with it); so that I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse— his going out, too, and his coming in—his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord; and how he would call their words to remembrance. Whatsoever things he had heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His teaching, Polycarp having thus received [information] from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life, would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures. These things, through, God’s mercy which was upon me, I then listened to attentively, and treasured them up not on paper, but in my heart; and I am continually, by God’s grace, revolving these things accurately in my mind.

And I can bear witness before God, that if that blessed and apostolical presbyter had heard any such thing, he would have cried out, and stopped his ears, exclaiming as he was wont to do: “O good God, for what times hast Thou reserved me, that I should endure these things?” And he would have fled from the very spot where, sitting or standing, he had heard such words. This fact, too, can be made clear, from his Epistles which he dispatched, whether to the neighbouring Churches to confirm them, or to certain of the brethren, admonishing and exhorting them.

Thanks be to God.

The Menil Collection & Renaissance Music

We finally made it out to see the The Menil Collection this afternoon for the first time, followed by a small concert of music of Elizabethan England and Renaissance Italy at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum by the Houston Chamber Choir Quartet. Fun!

Lenten Reflections from the Planet of the Apes

From Taylor's Opening Monologue:

And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers. I've tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them soon.

In less than an hour we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space. By our time, that is. According to Dr Hasslein's theory of time in a vehicle traveling nearly the speed of light, the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, while we've aged hardly at all.

It may be so.

This much is probably true. The men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed. I hope a better one.

I leave the 20th century with no regrets, but... one more thing. If anybody's listening, that is. Nothing scientific. It's... purely personal. Seen from out here, everything seems different. Time bends. Space is... boundless. It squashes a man's ego. I feel lonely.

That's about it.

Tell me, though... Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who has sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother, keep his neighbor's children starving?

Hope you are having a solemn Lent!

Obama and Mass Messianism

I don't know if you've noticed, but this election has been truly bizarre, which, of course, makes it very interesting to observe, if only from an academic perspective, which would be fine, if so many important issues weren't also in play. Getting away from the Republican weirdness for the moment, let's look at some of the truly bizarre goings-on on the Democratic side.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one weirded-out by all of the strange messianic language surrounding the Obama campaign right now. Mark Shea notes several things. He quotes Jake Tapper at ABC News:

Inspiration is nice. But some folks seem to be getting out of hand.

It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high saying, "Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of Chicago a Savior, who is Barack the Democrat."

Obama supporter Kathleen Geier writes that she's "getting increasingly weirded out" by some of Obama's supporters...

Describing various encounters with Obama supporters, she writes, "Excuse me, but this sounds more like a cult than a political campaign. The language used here is the language of evangelical Christianity – the Obama volunteers speak of 'coming to Obama' in the same way born-again Christians talk about 'coming to Jesus.'

Joe Klein, from Time Magazine, notes some things about Obama's Super Tuesday speech:

And yet there was something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism — "We are the ones we've been waiting for" — of the Super Tuesday speech and the recent turn of the Obama campaign. "This time can be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different. It's different not because of me. It's different because of you." That is not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous: the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire. Rather than focusing on any specific issue or cause — other than an amorphous desire for change — the message is becoming dangerously self-referential. The Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful the Obama campaign is.

The gift of the master of rhetoric.

Ash Wednesday

...quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris.

Genesis 3:19

Making sense of extreme Republican Outrage!

Some conservative Republicans are contemplating voting for Hillary(!) in the national election should John McCain secure the Republican nomination. Roland Martin at CNN generalizes a bit, but he does make some sense here:

... with conservatives one seat away from having a majority on the Supreme Court and the next president having the power to name up to three justices, do you actually think the folks who've fought two generations to re-take the Court actually want to see three Clinton jurists?

I'm sure even the most conservative Republicans can make the best of a McCain nomination if only they use their brains. I think it was foolish to expect the perfect conservative to emerge who had any chance of appealing to independent voters and who could successfully trounce a Democrat in a national election -- not after the mess left behind by the Bush Administration. Now, issues do matter. But is committing suicide really the best option in this case? Perhaps the Republicans could've done better, but I'm quite certain they could've also done far worse.

Who is a RINO?

With all of the John McCain talk buzzing around, I'm hearing the term "RINO" ("Republican In Name Only") thrown around a lot lately. RINO is a term that has changed in meaning over the last several decades. The scope of my life isn't long enough to recollect it myself (I was born in the late 1970's, but I only remember Reagan). Wikipedia has a decent article outlining who has traditionally been considered RINO within the Republican Party and for what reasons. You might be surprised... or you might not:

From 1936 to 1976 the liberal side of the Republican party frequently won the national nomination with candidates such as Alf Landon, Wendell Willkie, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. Indeed, other terms for Liberal Republicans include Nixonian and Rockefeller Republican. The mainstream of the party was generally supportive of the New Deal, and the conservatives were the RINOs.

Soon, Reagan came along and how many initially took him seriously?

After 1980 there were few if any open liberals in prominent positions in the GOP, except for numerous "moderates", such as George H. W. Bush, who had run for president on the stance that Reagan's Conservative platform was "voodoo economics".

And then, when I think of RINO today, I think of folks along the lines of pro-choicers Giuliani, Bloomberg, etc... but then McCain doesn't quite fit that mold, at least not in the same way. And who else has held the RINO label? Romney, Huckabee, and Ron Paul.

This election, who isn't a RINO? Perhaps we should redefine what the "Republican Base" truly entails. Yelling and screaming from folks like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh isn't helping very much.

The Southern Preacher

Rocco Palmo posts and briefly discusses Cardinal DiNardo's homily transcript from the Mass for Life in Washington DC's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which took place on the morning of January 22nd. From the homily:

And when Elizabeth sees [Mary], JB -- John the Baptist -- stirs, and gives a kick, and that brings the Holy Spirit to gush forth from Elizabeth. And in that gushing forth, we see what the energy of acceptance does to others.

The Holy Spirit is active in Elizabeth through John the Baptist. Ah -- but Jesus is active in his mother, in a way beyond our comprehension.

What a pro-life scene, sisters and brothers! Elizabeth cries out "Blessed are you among women," and the Virgin Mary responds with one of the most joyful hymns we have in the New Testament.

I have a friend -- and you'll excuse this, it's typical of Southeast Texas... we're too far South maybe -- who claims that Mary yodeled the Magnificat. I don't think that's exegetically correct, but it's an interesting scene to fathom: the country girl who cries out in joy, certainly over the birth of the Savior, but who cries out in joy over the gift of life.

Awesome! That is so DiNardo! :)

First Friday Concerts Continue at St. Theresa's

This Friday, February 1, 2008 - 7:30 pm

at St. Theresa Catholic Church
115 Seventh Street
Sugar Land, TX. 77478

with Our Celebration – The Gift of Music!
Including the works of J.S. Bach, Johann Pachelbel, Marcel Dupre, and Naji Hakim

welcoming Dr. Crista Miller, Organist

Dr. Crista Miller is an international recitalist, having performed throughout Europe, and recently at La Trinité in Paris. She is a choral conductor, sacred musician, scholar and teacher as well as a solo artist. Dr. Miller serves on the music faculties of the University of St. Thomas and Houston Baptist University where her interests include music theory, historic-based organ performance practice, liturgical music and revival of “forgotten” sacred treasures, early music, and contemporary music. She studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York with Han Davidsson; at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music with Robert Bates and in Paris, France with Naji Hakim. Dr. Miller has recently appeared at the Washington National Cathedral, the Milwaukee Cathedral and at Goshen College. Future 2008-09 venues include the Svendborg International Organ Festival, the inaugural Wolff Organ Conference-University of North Texas, and the Region VII Convention of the Am. Guild of Organists.

Admission Free!

And, if I remember the rule from my days at the university, free is (usually) good!

Reproductive Justice?

This is how Obama is referring to abortion these days. He boasts:

Throughout my career, I've been a consistent and strong supporter of reproductive justice, and have consistently had a 100% pro-choice rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Justice?? Carl Olson responds better than I can at the moment.

Fruit Trees

My wife discusses our experience at our first Urban Harvest fruit tree sale yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect after driving into Houston at 8am in 40-degree weather after a hard rain so that we could stand in line for another hour. Once the gate opened at 9am, it was basically a land rush. If you didn't have a plan by then, you were toast. We were told to keep an eye on our wagons and our plants. We heard folks complaining about stolen plants. In the end, we ended up with a fair haul. A persimmon, a Cloud Pomegranate, two muscadine grape vines, and a banana fig tree.

Thousands march for Life in San Francisco

This annual event has grown considerably over the years, in spite of the tolerant city council of San Francisco having deemed the city a "pro-choice" zone, telling marchers (many of whom are long time SF residents) to beat it.

"If you don't like abortion, then don't have one!"

That's got to be one of the silliest counter arguments I've ever heard. Well, "if you don't like slavery, don't own a slave!" I don't protest abortion for me. I protest it for women and children harmed, abused, murdered, lied to, oppressed. As a survivor, I protest it for those of my generation whom I will never be able to call friends.

My wife's parents were involved with the march for life again this year. Gerald of the ClosedCafeteria blog has some good shots here and here.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an initial article about the event. Slightly biased, though. I've heard estimates that this year that well over 25,000 were there (not 10,000 as the Chronicle estimates). But the pictures are very telling. Just to juxtapose one of Gerald's with one of the Chronicle's:

When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society - so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged.

-Mattie Brinkerhoff, early American Feminist, published in The Revolution, 4(9):138-9 September 2, 1869.

What's the real deal with Rome’s "La Sapienza"?

The astute John Allen has the goods here and here. Regensburg, anyone? Grr...

Hillary Clinton on Russert's "Jesuitical" Argument

This is a fun little observation.

Did any of you catch the interview between Senator Hillary Clinton and Tim Russert yesterday on Meet the Press? America Magazine caught it:

On Meet the Press this morning, Senator Hillary Clinton accused her host, Tim Russert, of being 'Jesuitical' in his argumentation. The Jesuit-educated Russert (Canisius High School in Buffalo, N.Y. and John Carroll University in Cleveland) was pressing Senator Clinton on her 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq. Here's the transcript:

MR. RUSSERT: Did he (Obama) have better judgment in October of 2002?

SEN. CLINTON: You know, look, judgment is not a single snapshot. Judgment is what you do across the course of your life and your career.

MR. RUSSERT: A vote for war is a very important vote.

SEN. CLINTON: Well, you know, Tim, we can have this Jesuitical argument about what exactly was meant.

Now according to the Oxford American Dictionary, "Jesuitical" has two meanings. The first is the more benign: "of or concerning the Jesuits." Okay, that's straightforward. But the word has a second meaning, which is almost always pejorative and was born of the old anti-Jesuit canard that we can be a little slick with our reasoning. Here the word means, "Dissembling or equivocating, in the manner associated with Jesuits."

It's highly unlikely of course that any Jesuit will take offense. Mrs. Clinton is no Pascal and did not intend to be. But one does wonder where she picked up the word. Perhaps it came from her Georgetown-educated husband.

One of my high school religion teachers, now a university professor of American history, sent a note to Meet the Press concerning the choice of vocabulary. He writes:

Hillary Clinton, in her interview with Mr Russert on January 13, said she refused to "participate in this Jesuitical argument" over her past votes, etc. The use of the term, "Jesuitical," in this way is an old anti-Catholic attack common in post-Reformation England and in the United States during the 1800s, used to imply that members of the Society of Jesus--and all Catholics by extension--are deceivers.

Catholics, this term implies, are uniquely able to twist their arguments to suit their ends just as Jesuits, or so the argument goes, did in their attempt to reclaim England for the Catholic faith.

I'll thank him for pointing this out. Although I'm sure Hillary didn't intend to attack Catholics (or the Jesuits) in her usage of the word, it was very obviously chosen to convey her negative opinion concerning Russert's argument. One wonders what inspired her to choose that word as opposed to any number of synonyms... Or am I just being jesuitical..?

Pope celebrates mass ad orientem in Sistine Chapel



Apparently, this was a modern liturgy in Italian, proving, of course, that the Second Vatican Council did not somehow "outlaw" celebrating mass in this way.

The New Liturgical Movement blog has the goods:

the Pope has now given an important public witness and example of the acceptability of the celebration of the sacred liturgy "ad orientem" -- that is, with the priest, in this case the Pope himself, and the faithful directed together in a common sacred direction, turned towards the Lord, towards the symbolic "East" of the liturgy. This is the first such public manifestation (as compared to this practice in the Pope's private chapel) for quite some time and that it has occurred within the Vatican itself is also significant.

Celebrating mass in this way in the Sistine Chapel also makes complete sense. Catholic author Amy Welborn comments:

There is nothing accidental about the interior decoration of the chapel, including Michelangelo’s Last Judgment on the wall behind the altar. It is purposefully designed to provide a “space” for a large altar cross. The cross is set up to be directly below the figure of the Risen Christ - and these are the images which we - and the celebrant - face during Mass. To set up another altar in front of that and have the focus shift away does, indeed, violate the original intention of the space.

I would have expected the half-witted press to come up with more stupid headlines that missed the point, such as "Pope snubs laity during mass by turning back on them." I would modify it slightly: "Pope leads faithful toward the Coming Lord." Come, Lord Jesus!

Two Kinds of Catholic Mysticism, Part Deux, and St. Dominic

I want to comment briefly on my blog post from a few days ago in which I quoted Taylor Marshall's comments on Steven Ozment’s book The Age of Reform 1250-1550 – An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe.

In discussing Ozment, Taylor rightfully contrasts various forms of mystical spirituality as lived out in the spiritual traditions of the Franciscans, Carmelites, and the ubiquitous Dominicans. He contrasts a mystical spirituality that is incarnational to one that, as he says, seeks union with God through an apophatic method – the via negativa. The latter need not be opposed to the Incarnation of Christ, though adherents can at times be off the deep end somewhere -- (I know one Eastern Orthodox christian who seemed to be at the brink of denying the reality and the necessity of the Incarnation itself!) The writings of medieval German Dominicans such as Eckhart, Tauler, and Heinrich Seuse have contributed a great deal to this spiritual tradition in the West.

I confess that I have not done all of my homework on the subject, but if I could comment briefly on the Dominican contribution - what I appreciate about Dominican spirituality is that it is, at its core, incarnational -- and it needed to be if it was to combat the heresy of Catharism, which saw the physical world as evil and as something that stood between man and God. Commenting upon this, fr. Isidore Clarke, O.P. writes:

In reaction to the heresy that the physical world is an evil barrier between us and God, Dominican preaching focuses on the wonder of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. Our mission is to proclaim the glory of this physical world in which we live, and of which we are a part. God has created it, and seen that it was good. Now the whole of creation groans, awaiting its redemption, when everything in heaven and earth will be reconciled in Christ.

This focus on the wonder of the Word becoming flesh also underlies why Dominicans are so fond of Our Lady as Theotokos -- how could they not be? Clarke continues:

Because Dominic preached the goodness of our physical humanity and Christ's, he had a deep devotion to the Bl. Virgin Mary. She guaranteed Christ's humanity. But more than this, she above all was the one who heard the word of God and kept it. Our contemplation is summed up in Mary's pondering God's word in her heart. As she gave birth to the Word of God, and at Cana urged the stewards to do whatever her Son told them, Mary summed up the mission of the preacher - to work with God to make his Word come alive in the world today. Paul expresses this when he speaks of his begetting the Galatians in the Gospel. It's not surprising that Mary should be the patron of the Dominican Order, and that Dominicans should have popularised the Rosary as a way of praying and understanding the wonder of God becoming man.

That is all I have to contribute... :)

Birth Control and Osteoporosis

On her blog, my wife discusses the link between the usage of oral contraceptives and osteoporosis as documented by two studies published by Purdue University in 2001 and 2005 of women ages 18-30 as well as by a study published by Loyola Marymount University in 2007 of women ages 18-25 (published in the journal Osteoporosis International).

Two Kinds of Catholic Mysticism

Some thoughts by Taylor Marshall on Steven Ozment’s book The Age of Reform 1250-1550 – An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe:

Chapter Three contrasts two general forms of Catholic mysticism. Ozment identifies these two “schools” as Christocentric mysticism and Theocentric mysticism. I prefer the terms Incarnational mysticism and Ontological mysticism, respectively.

Christocentric or Incarnational mysticism focuses on the humanity of Christ and by extension the role of the Blessed Mother. Christ is particularly experienced in the “glory of his humility”. It embraces suffering, humility, poverty, and sacrifice. It should come at no surprise that this Incarnational mysticism rejoices in the infancy of Christ and his crucifixion. The Franciscans are the first to come to mind: St Francis, St Bonaventure, St Antony, and more recently St Pio. St. Bernard of Clairvaux is another ideal exemplar of this incarnational mysticism. The holy Rosary and the Stations of the Cross are devotional examples of this incarnational piety.

The other kind of mysticism is the Theocentric or Ontological mysticism. This is the sort of mysticism that seeks union with God through an apophatic method – the via negativa. The writings of Pseudo-Dionysius and the late medieval German mystics come to mind. This method is found in the writings of the Carmelites, many Dominicans, and the Eastern Fathers. In the East, it transformed into the hesychast method and necessitated a distinction between the divine essence and divine energies (a distinction thoroughly rejected in the West). While the Incarnational mysticism is volitional, the Ontological is intellectualist with a strong desire to experience the beatific vision. While certainly not opposed to the Incarnation of Christ, this Ontological mysticism has had a tendency to spin out of control (e.g. Meister Eckhart). The spiritual goal is to transcend all created realities and find mystical union with God. The Dionysian “three ways” of purification, illumination, and contemplation are common, as are the concepts of nada and the “dark night of the soul”. St. John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing, stand out as examples.

It should go without saying that these two distinctions are somewhat artificial because they are typically combined by all the great mystics. It would be a grave mistake to conclude that St. John of the Cross was anti-incarnational or that St Bernard was not concerned with the Beatific Vision (after all, Dante imagines St. Bernard as his guide to the Beatific Vision).