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Sunday July 19, 2009

Categories: Life, Religion, Works of Mercy

A Month of Sundays

I thought it would be interesting to take a little tour through the last four Sunday Masses I've attended.

I would say, first of all, that  worries about the loss of the universality of the Mass after V2 are sorely misplaced. Anywhere you go in the world, you can find cantors raising their arms at you to indicate it's time to sing the Celtic Alleluia.


1) Let's see...June something. 28. Caltanissetta, Sicily. Poor Clares monastery.

Our hosts at the Sillitti Agriturismo led us to Mass here - they are friends with the sisters. The monastery is, well, I can't really tell you where it is in Caltanissetta, except that it's past the McDonald's and across the road from nature rangers of some sort. The building was relatively contemporary - built some time since the 60's I would guess, and the chapel was sort of in the round - that is the part of the congregation was semi-circular, with the sisters' area located behind the altar rather like the the thick stem of a spoon.

We were a little late coming in, I think, during the first reading. There were about a hundred in the congregation, with several families. We had prepared by reading the readings in the Magnifcat beforehand, and I had it with me so people could occupy themselves during the homily as well.

These were the readings which were about God's power over death, about Jesus raising the little girl from the dead.

As you should know by now, I know very little Italian aside from "dove" or "cuando" or "ciao", but when you know the context and swim in the same lake of technical language, you can pick something up of what was being said. And on this day, in the homily, the relatively young priest spoke with passion and force, saying the word "morte" over and over - I got the message.

Death was not God's doing.
Talitha kum

I got the message.

For a little while, at least. I got it.

The tune of the offertory song was "God and Man at Table Are Sat Down" which, if anyone sings it anymore, has assumed some non-sexist iteration. I have no idea if they were singing that or something else to that tune.

It was all Italian, 4-hymn sandwich type thing. No chant.

Communion was interesting. A paten (not with a handle, but simple an oval-shaped silver dish) was handed to first communicant, who held it under her chin and received on the tongue. She then handed the paten to the person behind her, and so on down the line. Obviously, no Communion in the hand. Joseph freaked out a little because, this being his...what...8th time receiving Communion, adding the complication of holding his own paten seemed a bit much. So I simply stood by his side, and after I received, held it under his chin.

After Mass, there was chatting, and we were taken to meet one of the sisters who speaks English. The words that resounded in the courtyard afterward were "Buona Domenica" - "Good Sunday!"

DSC_0572

2) The next Sunday was in Cava D'Aliga, and I wrote about it here. 

A photo in case you forgot:




july 4 057


It was a beautiful, healing opportunity for prayer. Again, as with the previous week, I knew the readings, so I understood more of the priest's homily than I would have expected beginning, as it did, with the question, "What is a prophet?"

Now for a comment that will either get me excoriated or ...I don't know what.

Italian congregational singing is...interesting.

For years, I have read (and shared in) criticisms of the Sistine Chapel choir. That they do not have a unified sound, that they are flat and draggy. Once I read, at NLM in the comments, I think, that what we hear from the Sistine choir is simply an expression of typical Italian choral singing - I do think the commentator took it to the level of, "their mothers all think they should be soloists and they sing with that in mind" or something, but I am unqualified to go that far. Well, I'm unqualified to go as far as I have, no doubt, but what I heard at both Italian Masses, from regular congregants and from the sisters as well was a sort of plaintive,always-on-the-edge-of-flat almost mournful sound. It was mostly full-throated and obviously deeply-felt, but it gave the impression that we were al waiting for the funeral to begin.  It was interesting and so different from what I might call a more assertive American sound that even Katie commented on it, without me mentioning it first.

Or maybe it was just Sicilian?

Anyway, on to Barcelona.

3) July 12, Mass at the Cathedral in Barcelona. Like so many of the churches we happened to see on this trip, the exterior was convered in scaffolding - which I always take as a good sign because it means funds are available to do the necessary work.  I was wearing a sleeveless top, but had remembered to bring my sweater, knowing that it would probably be necessary - and  it was. They were handing out scarves to women at the door (as they had in the duomo in Cefalu, as well.).

Going to Mass at this Cathedral struck me as similar to going to Mass at St. Patrick's (and St. Peter's in Rome, of course, too, but the size makes the St. Pat's comparison more apt.) You have Mass going on with swarms of tourists circling the perimeter. The guard to the choir stalls (GORGEOUS choir stalls) didn't want to let us in, but I assured him we were going to Mass, and we were legit.

The Mass was every much like a typical US Mass, except in Spanish - well, that wouldn't make it an atypical US Mass then, would it! I think the next Mass was to be in Catalan (which I found, in museum placards and such, much easier to read than the Spanish, because it is so similar to French).

What made it especially similar to a Mass here was the fact that when we walked in, the cantor (a nice-looking guy in a ponytail, who, to tell the truth, was very unobtrusive during the Mass itself) was rehearsing a new hymn with the congregation. At least he didn't say "Let's do that again - you can do better!" Or at least I'm pretty sure he didn't.

It struck me as I was sitting there that this was probably the oldest church in which I have ever attended Mass - being build, as it was, in the early Middle Ages. I don't think I attended Mass in Rome at any churches that old. Even though I was poorly prepared for the Mass - I hadn't brought the July Magnificat and I'd forgotten to have us read the Scriptures on the Internet that morning, and there was no, er, "worship aid" with the readings, that in itself gave me food for thought and prayer, as I sat in the choir stall, contemplating the Gothic arches and ancient stone, trying to open myself to the solidity of it all, letting it root me more deeply in the faith of the thousands who have knelt where I knelt, who have endured far worse than I have, suffered more deeply and sacrificed more, and were able still to give thanks and praise.

4) July 19  Cathedral, Atlanta, Georgia.

English! But with a priest from Ghana as the homilist, so the universality of this Body of Christ could not be forgotten.

This was the 9 o'clock Mass, fairly crowded, but then most Masses at that Cathedral are because it is so small - and beautiful in its dignified stonework. But small. And - those of you who go there can tell me if it was just the pew in which we were sitting, or if it is the way it is throughout - the narrowest pews I've ever encountered - as in the space between the edge of the seat and the pew in front of you seems to be about 10 inches, making for some interesting maneuvering.

As I said, the priest was from Ghana - Fr. Simon Assamoah and this is his organization - Clap for Jesus - which is dedicated to building up health and educational institutions in Ghana. Worth a look and some coin!

A privilege, really. Mass with Poor Clares and tourists in Sicily, in cathedrals in Barcelona and Atlanta. I followed God around a small bit of his world, and he followed me. Never abandoned, never alone, able to pick out words of hope and truth no matter what the language, challenged to think bigger, to dig more deeply for others, joining in the sacrifice of praise, voiced in many languages, but really only one.

Tuesday July 7, 2009

Categories: Politics, Pope, Religion

Caritas in Veritate

The text is here.

Preparatory reading Populorum Progressio, Paul VI's 1967 encyclical, which is a primary reference point in this one.

I have to say right out that I am never sure what the ultimate point and effect of an encyclical like this is. It is a mix between analysis of very specific global situations ranging from the financial crisis to migration to unions to the welfare state and some quite wonderful, clearly Benedict-written passages about the nature of human life, especially human life in community.

I wonder if arguments about the former - about the accuracy of the analysis, the sufficiency of the evidence and data - will overwhelm the latter, which is really what we should be looking to a Pope for. Don't think I'm saying religious figures - Popes included - shook stick to the "purely religious" stuff - whatever that means. I am just not sure if contemporary Catholic pronouncements touching on current issues have quite mastered the task of effectively bringing the Gospel into the fray while at the same time acknowledging the limitations of received data and analysis. This encyclical actually does better than some in its attempt to look at every side of issues and the prevalence of original sin and the law of unintended consequences. But I wonder if the detail and specificity it contains is necessary.

There are lots of interesting observations about the current global situation here. Lots to chew on and bounce off of and get people thinking and talking.

In particular, what should not be ignored is Benedict's constant challenge to consistency. He never fails to point out ironies and contradictions in contemporary ways of thinking and action. Rights-obsessed cultures that ignore the rights of the unborn and the otherwise dependent and helpleless. The call to respect nature that ignore  the natural shape of human ecology in terms of sexuality and family relations. The law of unintended consequences. He doesn't let us rest easy with lazy thinking.

I am going to just say a few things now, then more later. You folks, please discuss.

Benedict has several points to make. The focus of the encyclical is development. As he tends to do Benedict begins by setting the previous encyclical in context, and emphasizing its continuity with previous Catholic teaching. Also consistent with his intellectual and spiritual priorities, Benedict emphasizes truth, God's communion with human beings as the origin of our communion with one another, and the limitations and even dangers of human institutions that lose sight of God and authentic human dignity.

Some passages and phrases that struck me particularly:

Love -- caritas -- is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free

He emphasizes quite strongly the role of Truth in guiding our acts of charity and justice - and economic and civic life in general. This is pointed:

Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word "love" is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite. Truth frees charity from the constraints of an emotionalism that deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing-space. In the truth, charity reflects the personal yet public dimension of faith in the God of the Bible, who is both Agápe and Lógos: Charity and Truth, Love and Word.
4. Because it is filled with truth, charity can be understood in the abundance of its values, it can be shared and communicated. Truth, in fact, is lógos which creates diá-logos, and hence communication and communion. Truth, by enabling men and women to let go of their subjective opinions and impressions, allows them to move beyond cultural and historical limitations and to come together in the assessment of the value and substance of things...A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world. Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations. It is excluded from the plans and processes of promoting human development of universal range, in dialogue between knowledge and praxis.

.

"Breathing space" is a phrase he uses three times in this encyclical.

He emphasizes "gratuitousness" as well (using it or a form 13 times)  - that is a sense of giving and sharing, rooted in the way that God gives to his children. When you read Benedict, this "chain" if you will, is very strong. God's love is real - not a concept or notion, but real. When we are in communion with God, God's love fills us, and it's that love - that specific, real love of God - that we share.

The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion.

The great challenge before us, accentuated by the problems of development in this global era and made even more urgent by the economic and financial crisis, is to demonstrate, in thinking and behaviour, not only that traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated, but also that in
commercial relationships the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity can and must find their place within normal economic activity. This is a human demand at the present time, but it is also demanded by economic logic. It is a demand both of charity and of truth.

Indeed, what Benedict says about "gratuitousness" is one of the more striking and provocative elements of this encyclical.

As is frequently the case, Benedict's thinking and language reaches a high point at the end of the document. This isn't the last line, but it's one that stuck with me. Not just in terms of development, but in terms of every aspect of life. It is our vocation. It is who we are in this world:

. Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer......

In the end, I think it woud be most interesting to consider this encyclical as a work of evangelization - a strong call to turn to Jesus Christ, the One in whom we all find meaning - specifically Jesus Christ, in specific communion with Him -  a call which I hope can be heard.


Monday June 1, 2009

Categories: Religion, Travel

Don't tell me this isn't a religion

P1070258


Apple store entrance (the store is underground) - Fifth Avenue. (that's the south end of Central Park in the background.)




Monday May 4, 2009

Categories: Religion

God Talk in the Times

Two interesting columns of note in the NYTimes - on online only, and on which made it to the print edition as well:

First, is a different take on the Pew "Faith in Flux" studied discussed a bit last week, from Charles Blow on the op-ed page.

Most discussions of the study have focused on shifting loyalties between denominations and traditions, from faith to lack of faith, from "religious" to "spiritual."

Blow looks at those traveling the road from no-faith to faith, and observes, 'Hey maybe religion doesn't get its power just from brainwashing kids after all"

Maybe, but a study entitled "Faith in Flux" issued this week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life questioned nearly 3,000 people and found that most children raised unaffiliated with a religion later chose to join one. Indoctrination be damned. By contrast, only 14 percent of those raised Catholic and 13 percent of those raised Protestant later became unaffiliated.

(It should be noted that about a quarter of the unaffiliated identified as atheist or agnostic, and the rest said that they had no particular religion.)

So what was the reason for this flight of the unchurched to churches?

Did God appear in a bush? Did the grass look greener on the other side of the cross? Or was it a response to the social pressure of being nonreligious in a very Christian country?

None of those reasons topped the list. Most said that they first joined a religion because their spiritual needs were not being met. And the most-cited reason for settling on their current religion was that they simply enjoyed the services and style of worship.

For these newly converted, the nonreligious shtick didn't stick. There was still a void, and communities of the faithful helped fill it.

snip

Dale McGowan, the co-author and editor of the book "Parenting Beyond Belief" told me that he believes that most of these people "are not looking for a dogma or a doctrine, but for transcendence from the everyday."

Churches, mosques and synagogues nurture and celebrate this. Being regularly surrounded by a community that shares your convictions and reinforces them through literature, art and ritual is incredibly powerful, and yes, spiritual.

The nonreligious could learn a few things from religion.

I'm not sure what the nonreligious are supposed to learn, but there you go.

The second is Stanley Fish's summary of a new book by Terry Eagleton: Reason, Faith and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate.,

Sunday May 3, 2009

Church Tweeting

Time has a piece on churches encouraging Twitter-use during services:

Voelz and David McDonald, the other senior pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., spent two weeks educating their congregation about Twitter, the microblogging site that challenges users to communicate in 140 characters or less. They held training sessions where congregants brought in their laptops, iPhones and Blackberrys. They upped the bandwidth in the auditorium. (Finding God on YouTube)

As expected, banter flourished. Tweets like "Nice shirt JVo" and "So glad they are doing Lenny Kravitz" flashed across three large video screens. But there was heartfelt stuff, too.

"I have a hard time recognizing God in the middle of everything."

"The more I press in to Him, the more He presses me out to be useful"

"sometimes healing is painful"

There's a time and a place for technology, and most houses of worship still say it's not at morning Mass. But instead of reminding worshippers to silence their cell phones, a small but growing number of churches around the country are following Voelz' lead and encouraging people to integrate text-messaging into their relationship with God.


I'm amused by the reference to "Mass" as a catch-all for Christian church services, but other than that ...

What's not super clear is that these are churches which rely extensively on elaborate multi-media anyway, the center of which would be visual - the tweets are then displayed on screens as they come in.

In a Protestant context, it almost seems to be a 21st version of call-and-response worship, doesn't it? Instead of "Amen!" ...we tweet and it's displayed on a screen.






Thursday April 30, 2009

On St. Germanus and First Nations

Today at the General Audience, the Pope spoke of St. Germanus.There's a Zenit translation here, but I find it stilted, so I'm going to quote from Theresa Benedetta's translation at PRF instead:Germanus was Patriarch of Constantinople during a portion of...

Monday April 27, 2009

I believe in the resurrection of the body

Do I?There are things that bother me. Obviously.  Amid the many things that bother me, detailed here already and not worth repeating, has been the whole issue of the resurrection of the body.But this is nothing new. Michael's death has...

Monday April 27, 2009

Faith in Flux

Here's a CNS report on a follow up to the "religious landscape" survey of a while back, focusing on why people change faiths. For this story, natural emphasis on the Catholics: The reasons cited most often by those who have...

Friday April 24, 2009

Catholics Come Home

Marcel LeJeune of AggieCatholics has alerted me to the fact that Catholics Come Home is now allowing their videos to be embedded. They produce fantastic videos that have apparently had a profound affect in areas in which they have been...

Sunday April 19, 2009

Categories: Catholic News, Religion

News Flash: Archbishop Dolan is Catholic

This article in the NYTimes is either poorly written, edited, or both.Of course it includes the requisite news flash that the Archbishop will not be changing any Catholic teaching soon. But it's the paragraphs in the middle that quite confused...

Sunday April 19, 2009

Divine Mercy Hills

Continuing the theme...Via Fr. Dwight Longenecker (for those of you who don't know now-Catholic (married)  priest after a journey through Bob Jones U, Anglican priesthood...and an excellent writer. Michael worked with him on a couple of books at OSV) -...

Thursday April 16, 2009

Categories: Catholic News, Religion

Why the LCWR is being investigated

Jack Smith of the Catholic Key (the KC Archdiocese newspaper which uses its blog to great effect, expanding and exploring stories), explains the source of the CDF's...issues with the *leadership* of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious. There are many...

Wednesday April 15, 2009

Investigating Sisters

The National Catholic Reporter has posted a story about a coming doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Council of Women Religious.Many of you already know about a visitation - similar to that of US seminaries - of houses of religious women....

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Categories: Religion

New Question

During the "Big Love" frenzy, the question of whether Mormons are Christians took the front seat.Steve Waldman interviews Joel Osteen.Is Joel Osteen a Christian?BELIEFNET: So, if God wants us to be blessed in that way, if we're not succeeding at...

Thursday April 9, 2009

Let Us Look at Those Hands

And now the homily for the Mass of the Lord's Supper:(Here's your catechesis on Eucharist for your catechumens and candidates, confirmation candidates...yourself. Myself.)He begins by discussing some aspects of the Roman Canon, and continues:There is another aspect of the institution...

Thursday April 9, 2009

Immersed in the Word of God

The Pope's homily from the Chrism Mass is online, thanks, as often is the case, to Vatican Radio.  The Mass of the Lord's Supper is (was) this evening. He begins by looking at Jesus' prayer, "For their sake, I consecrate...

Thursday April 9, 2009

A Vol in Tuscaloosa

Last night, I journeyed out west - to Tuscaloosa, for the first time. Accompanied by my trusty assistants (because their assistant had a play rehearsal), we hopped on 459, then 20 and made our way to a place called Mugshots...

Tuesday April 7, 2009

Hitchens v. ...a lot of People

Christopher Hitchens cheerfully travels about the country debating people on atheism - he was here at Samford University about a month ago, and I really meant to go..wanted to go..but I ended up forgetting.He recently debated William Lane Craig at...

Tuesday April 7, 2009

Categories: Religion, Spiritual Growth

The Last Supper According to Leonardo

No, this is not a post in anticipation of Angels and Demons.Sandro Magister reprints an article from L'Osservatore Romano by Timothy Verdon on ..well...it should be obvious:Verdon is an art historian, and a priest. He is an American, but for...

Monday April 6, 2009

Palm Sunday: Global edition

I love doing this, and haven't done it for a quite a while: simply going through the news photo sites and grabbing images from Palm Sunday around the world.Let's go....(Oh, and remember to add your..."What Did You See and Hear"...

Saturday April 4, 2009

Categories: Religion, Saints

Gear

Michael Spencer, aka Internet Monk, has had a bit of a contretemps this week with an individual who took exception that the purported evangelical/Southern Baptist IMonk is hawking papist paraphernalia on his website. As in...Alan Creech Rosaries. Really lovely stuff,...

Tuesday March 31, 2009

Categories: Religion

Perks

Caveat: New readers should understand that my interest in religion is broad. Look at the sidebar. I have an MA in Church History from an historically Protestant university. My thesis was on the uses of Scripture in the discussions about...

Tuesday March 31, 2009

An arrest in China

Over in Rome there's a meeting going on of a commission on the Church in China:The commission that meets today in the Vatican till Thursday includes some 30 people, superiors and members of the Secretariat of State of the Holy...

Saturday March 28, 2009

Categories: Current Events, Religion

The bishop resigns

The big news coming out of England and the Anglican world today is the early resignation of BIshop Michael Al-Azir or Rochester. Ruth Gledhill reports. The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church's only Asian bishop, who is just...

Thursday March 26, 2009

Pilgrim

The Vatican has posted the Pope's itinerary for his visit to the Holy Land in May. It's in Italian at this moment (I'll post an English link later when the VIS notice comes out) - but here it is. Update: ...

Monday March 23, 2009

Very Superstitious

One of Beliefnet's other Catholic bloggers - David Gibson - posts on the Pope's homily in Africa, taking on the issue of supersition:As I pull together some thoughts on this theme, I am wondering if there is an easy definition...

Saturday March 14, 2009

Book Chat Friday

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's Saturday, genius.You might remember how a few days back I declared that this would be the week I rolled out my daily features. What happened with that, anyway?What happened was that my friend Dorothy...

Thursday March 12, 2009

Categories: Religion, Spiritual Growth

The Boozy Apologists

James Hitchcock has a thought-provoking piece over at Inside Catholic taking on the ChesterBelloc apologetics heritage:It is the Catholic view that heretics seize a truth and enlarge and distort it to the point where it becomes an error, rather as...

Thursday March 12, 2009

Over Endowed?

What's going to be dramatized on this weekend's Big Love is still not completely known - the basic plot is that Barb, who was raised traditional LDS, is brought up for excommunication. The image from the episode that was published...

Tuesday March 10, 2009

Categories: Current Events, News, Religion

A Nation of Non-Joiners

There's been a lot of virtual ink spilled over the latest results from the American Religious Identification Survey, released yesterday.The results, summarized by Cathy Lynn Grossman at USAToday: • So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from...

Monday March 9, 2009

Categories: Religion, Spiritual Growth

What is heaven like?

I try - and indeed have always tried - not to engage in too much imaginative thinking on this score. There have been times in the past in which I have been asked to review books purporting to explain what...

Tuesday June 10, 2008

Categories: Religion

Accountability

Rules of blogging: There are certain subjects which attract massive numbers of comments. Liturgy. Immigration Policy. Catholics and political life. The Legionaries of Christ. Last week, the Archbishop of Baltimore sent a letter to the Superior General of the LC...

Wednesday October 10, 2007

Categories: Current Events, Religion

Just say no

Update:  Holy Cross stands firm:  Holy Cross officials stressed that the school, a Jesuit institution, is not affiliated in any way with the conference, but added that it will fulfill its contractual obligations. “Holy Cross in no way supports or...

Monday October 8, 2007

Categories: Religion

Francis Beckwith and others

Aimee Milburn has a nice post examining Francis Beckwith's interview with Tim Drake in Catholic World Report. There you have it.  Catholicism does not teach "works righteousness."  And Beckwith is correct.  But the Catholic teaching is not the same as...

Monday October 8, 2007

Categories: Religion

By any means necessary

I once said that if I were to ever go back to graduate school, (which isn't going to happen),  my PhD dissertation would be on post Vatican II transitions - perhaps focusing on one diocese or one cluster of...

Saturday September 29, 2007

Categories: Religion

Still another bishop tale..

Cardinal O'Malley has just completed a quite fascinating pilgrimage  = with Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, a joint pilgrimage to Rome, Constantinople and Saint Petersburg. He documented the pilgrimage on his blog with dozens of photos and interesting...

Saturday September 29, 2007

Categories: Religion

Like angels...

...bishops will be doing a lot of flying around over the next few days.  As Rocco has noted, the next few days are very busy, US-episcopacy-wise.  Well, it actually started yesterday, with the installation of the new bishop of Pittsburgh,...

Monday September 24, 2007

Categories: Religion

And another bishop, across the world..

Beijing's new bishop speaks: “I wish to thank the Pope,” Mgr Joseph Li Shan said in his first public statement after his ordination as the new archbishop of Beijing in the ancient Saint-Saviour (Bei Tang) Church. Monsignor Li began this...

Sunday September 23, 2007

Categories: Religion

Crossing

Another sitting Episcopal bishop has announced he is heading Rome-ward. It is Bishop Steenson of the Diocese of Rio Grande, which appears to cover al of New Mexico and a bit of Texas. His letter and a very interesting comments section...

Sunday September 23, 2007

Categories: Religion

Let those who have ears..

Fr. Philip, OP, at the University of Dallas has wise words for all those who work in youth/campus/young adult ministry: Here’s what works for us: Teach the apostolic faith full on…no compromises on basic doctrine or dogma. This generation of...

Sunday September 23, 2007

Categories: Pope, Religion

A pastoral visit

Today, the Pope visited the diocese of Villetri-Segni, of which he was titular bishop when he was at the CDF.  Various articles about the visit are at PRF: At 8:45 this morning, the Holy Father Benedict XVI left the Apostolic...

Sunday September 23, 2007

Categories: Religion

Unconverging

For those of you following the Emergent/Missional church in the US (which probably isn't too many of you, but ah well..), this is interesting: So Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Seattle has now officially called Rob Bell of Mars Hill...

Tuesday September 18, 2007

Categories: Religion

Reparations

This caught my eye, over at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex: In Transylvania and throughout Romania, Catholics who lost more than 2,000 churches to the Russian Orthodox church after the Second World War when the Russians banned Catholicism now want their churches back.  In most cases, the...

Tuesday September 18, 2007

Categories: Religion

A bishop for Beijing

On Saturday, a new bishop for Beijing will be ordained, and the burning question is - has the selection of Msgr. Joseph Li Shan, been approved by Rome? There's been no public statement, and Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap is...

Monday September 17, 2007

Categories: Religion

The Internet Monk has questions

And they're important ones, for Catholics and for him.   Please go see if you can answer any of them. (96 responses at this point...very nice to see!)...

Sunday September 16, 2007

Categories: Religion, Ticked Off

Yo, Newsweek

Read this: I have quite an announcement to make. I am now a reporter for Newsweek magazine! I always felt a call to be a reporter for Newsweek magazine so this is something very important for me. I can't tell...

Friday September 14, 2007

Categories: Religion

Exaltation of the Cross

On the feast: This feast was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mt. Calvary by St. Helena and preserved in Jerusalem, but then...

Thursday September 13, 2007

Categories: Religion

Excommunicated

A group in Canada: Calling it a "very grave situation," the Vatican has excommunicated members of a controversial Quebec Catholic movement, the Army of Mary, for their heretical beliefs that derive from the writings of Marie-Paule Giguère, an 86-year-old mystic...

Wednesday September 12, 2007

Categories: Religion, Television

A few notes

Many of you know of Fr. Robert Barron, the excellent preacher and teacher from the Archdiocese of Chicago.  He has many video and audio clips at his website, some available for sale. EWTN is broadcasting one of his series, "Conversion"...

Wednesday September 12, 2007

Categories: Religion

Investigating

John Allen has some breaking Georgetown theologian-bishop-CDF type news: Both the Vatican and the U.S. bishops are investigating a book by a prominent American Catholic theologian, Vietnam-born Fr. Peter Phan of Georgetown University. The book raises issues about the uniqueness of Christ...

Wednesday September 12, 2007

Categories: Religion

Wondering about indulgences?

Aimee Milburn at Historical Christian has a lengthy and helpful post....

Tuesday September 11, 2007

Categories: Religion

Radio note

Today, well-known Catholic radio host Al Kresta is in town as a stop on a "Fall Tour."  He'll be broadcasting his regular program live from the studios of our local Catholic radio station, WLYV, Redeemer Radio.  Michael will be in...

Tuesday September 11, 2007

Categories: Pope, Religion

On this day

Deacon Greg Kandra takes us back to Pope John Paul's General Audience on September 12, 2001: I cannot begin this audience without expressing my profound sorrow at the terrorist attacks which yesterday brought death and destruction to America, causing thousands...

Tuesday September 11, 2007

Categories: Religion

Resigned

Embattled and accused Archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Pius Ncube, has resigned: The Zimbabwean archbishop who was an outspoken critic of his government before becoming embroiled in an adultery scandal has resigned. A brief statement from the Vatican Tuesday said Pope...

Sunday September 9, 2007

Categories: Pope, Religion

Mass at St. Stephen's

The Pope's homily from today's Mass in Vienna: Of course, if we listen to today’s Gospel, if we listen to what the Lord is saying to us, it frightens us: “Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has...

Sunday September 9, 2007

Categories: Pope, Religion

Mass at Mariazell

For now - I mean for now  - we're going to ignore the whole Amazing Technicolor Vestments issue. And the Pikachu ball. (?!) And we'll meditate on the homily. Okay? (Remember, this is Saturday's outdoor Mass, the feast of the...

Sunday September 9, 2007

Categories: Pope, Religion

At the monastery

One of the Pope's last activities today in Austria was a visit to the Heiligenkreuz Abbey - the oldest continuously active Cistercian Abbey in the world. Here's the official site in English. (Cistercians are a reformed, more severe observance of...

Thursday September 6, 2007

Categories: Religion

Bringingsexybacktochurch

One more post bouncing off current trends in American evangelicalism. Certainly, all religious movements have their...tendencies. Some of you might remember a post I wrote on the old blog about how everything, in the end will go haywire, so the task of...

Thursday September 6, 2007

Categories: Religion

For your consideration

I've always been interested in non-mainline American Protestantism (and a bit in mainline Protestantism as well, of course) simply because I'm interested in religion, period, particularly from an historical and political persepective. In particular, over the past forty years or...

Wednesday September 5, 2007

Categories: Religion, Saints

From Gregory to Mother Teresa

Today, during his General Audience in an apparently windy St. Peter's Square (the Pope is still residing in Castel Gandalfo, but returns to Rome for the GA. Oh, and check out Fr. Jay at Young Fogeys for a collage of...

Tuesday September 4, 2007

Categories: Religion

Continuing with Mother Teresa

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal Household, reprinted by Sandro Magister:  Today's world has hatched a new category of people: atheists in good faith, those who experience the silence of God as a painful burden, who do not believe...

Friday August 31, 2007

Categories: Religion

More Mother Teresa

A few interesting reactions from here and there: Carl Olson has some excerpts from Christopher Hitchens on MSNBC. The man (Hitchens) is pathological in his hatred of Mother Teresa. What is it in her that riles him so? We can...

Wednesday August 29, 2007

Categories: Religion

Into the dark night

My first post on the story of Mother Teresa's decades-long struggle with spiritual darkness struck some as "dismissive," and for that I apologize. That particular reaction was against the press coverage - not the Time article, but the subsequent filtering...

Tuesday August 28, 2007

Categories: Religion

Apologia pro apologia

There are many ways to evangelize and catechize, many elements of both. One of the problems, both past and present, in figuring out how to do both of these things is the temptation to push everyone through a narrow gate...

Monday August 27, 2007

Categories: Religion, Saints

And all the mothers say...

St. Monica...ora pro nobis! St. Monica links from around: Fr. Z on her tomb in Rome Mike Aquilina has many links The Pope, at last year's Angelus on 8/27: Monica, who was born into a Christian family at Tagaste, today...

Friday August 24, 2007

Categories: Religion

St. Bartholomew..and others

From his series on the apostles, Pope Benedict on Bartholomew, traditionally associated with Nathanael,  last October: His heart is moved by Jesus' words, he feels understood and he understands: "This man knows everything about me, he knows and is familiar...

Friday August 24, 2007

Categories: Religion

On Mother Teresa

Of course, the big religion "news" yesterday, propelled by a Drudge link, was an excerpt from and analysis of Mother Teresa's decades-long dark night of the soul, described in a new book, to be published by Doubleday next month called...

Wednesday August 22, 2007

Categories: Books, Religion

Back to you, Pope

What with traveling and all,  I've not been keeping up with the Pope's General Audience talks. He's continuing his survey of the Church Fathers, something he began on March 7, with Clement of Rome. On July 4 and August 1, he spoke...

Tuesday August 21, 2007

Categories: Religion

The First Time

Fr. Z has a very interesting discussion going. Actually, it's not a discussion, it's more of a "What Did You Hear" type thread in which he has invted people who did not experience the Extraordinary Rite/Classical/Tridentine/ Mass growing up to...

Thursday August 16, 2007

Categories: Liturgy, Religion

Latin in Vermont

Yesterday evening, the Mass in the Extraordinary Form (is that right?.....) was celebrated in St. Joseph's Co-Cathedral in Burlington Vermont. Celebrated by Burlington Bishop Salvatore Matano.  The church was apparently packed - as you can see from the video, and...

Tuesday August 14, 2007

Categories: Religion

We interrupt this interruption

...to congratulate Bishop Robert Baker of Charleston on being named the new bishop of Birmingham, Alabama. Bishop Baker is a old friend of Michael's, and he baptized Michael the Toddler in a memorable ceremony in a church in central Ohio...

Friday August 10, 2007

Categories: Book Reviews, Religion

Full Emerge-ion

Oh, that's pretty sad. But it's late and I have to get up early to take a child to the doctor's and then I have two projects due next week, so afternoon has to be worktime, and if I'm to...

Wednesday August 8, 2007

Categories: Religion

St. Dominic

Today, obviously, is the Feast of St. Dominic. Some good stuff from around the blogs: A Penitent Blogger: The cult denounced marriage, childbearing, and eating meat. They advocated cohabitation and suicide. The Church spoke out, but with little effect: partly...

Wednesday August 6, 2003

Categories: Religion

Throwing Stones

I have to say that I'm a little amused by some of the "come on over, the water's fine!" comments I'm hearing from Roman Catholics towards dissatisfied Episcopalians... Er....is the water really fine? Look, David Morrison and many commentors have...

Wednesday August 6, 2003

Categories: Religion

Report from MN

The South Carolinian reporting from the General Convention has a detailed report on yesterday's debate here....

Wednesday August 6, 2003

Categories: Religion

Bishop Robinson

Open thread on Bishop Gene Robinson here.... I have to say that during this I've been struck by the fact that another bishop named Robinson made a scandal for a different reason - decades ago - JAT Robinson and, Honest...

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This blog is no longer updated and is closed for comments. We welcome your comments about Catholicism in our Catholic forums.

Amy Welborn is the author of 17 books on prayer, saints, apologetics and church history. Her articles and columns have appeared in Our Sunday Visitor, Commonweal, First Things, Catholic Digest, Liguori, and been syndicated by Catholic News Service.

Amy has an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University and spent several years working in Catholic schools and parishes before taking up writing full time. She was married to Catholic author Michael Dubruiel until his unexpected death in February of 2009. She has five children ranging in ages from 4 to 26.

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