I fly to California tomorrow for a week of "orientation and team building".
Not bad except for the 6am flights, both today and on Friday when I come back.
Anyway, I may not be around that much this week so play nice and don't break the Internet.
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May the year to come bring you new successes and great joy.
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If any of you get to London, you might be interested in this exhibition, The Sacred Made Real, at the National Gallery.
Here's a slide show:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/jun/09/spanish-art-national-gallery-exhibition?picture=348593276
And here's an article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/oct/25/sacred-made-real-national-gallery
You see six rooms of sacred paintings and sculptures from the 17th century Spanish hyper-realism period. This artistic movement was part of the Counter-Reformation, trying to inspire new religious devotion by making the statues and paintings of Christ, Mary, and the saints as life-like as possible. The statues were multi-media collaborations. They were first carved in wood and hollowed out so they wouldn't be too heavy, then painted by different artists. Eyes were made from glass inserted inside the sculpture's head and real human hair was used for the eyelashes, real bull's horn for the fingernails. Sometimes glass pieces were used for tears. Cork bark painted red was applied to resemble blood, ie in crucified Christ. Hair was made of hemp that was then plastered and painted.
These statues are still used as devotional art in churches and in processions in Spain and this was their first appearance in a museum as part of a secular exhibition. After the exhibition they go back home to their original churches.
It was interesting to watch people's reactions. Some of the people were like: okaaaay, *this* is weird. Then you could tell who was Catholic because they seemed to be wondering if they should genuflect before remembering that they were in a museum and not a church, lol.
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Can anyone recommend any good books on the beginnings and history of the mendicant movement? Thanks!
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Though it is starting on a sour note, may the year to come bring you all good things and closer to your dreams.
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If you follow Wil Wheaton's blog (and I'm sure you all do) then you already saw the really nifty Halloween music video that Molly Lewis did for her cover of "Poker Face".
If you somehow missed it, however, you can view it here. You really should.
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The latest podcast is up, and can be found here. It is a reflection on Psalm 139, and the God who knows us better than we know ourselves. And again, if anyone is interested you can subscribe to the feed here, or by searching "Augustinian Spirituality" in iTunes and subscribing there.
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do you ever feel like God's purposefully put you in an awkward situation where ou have to do something, but a) you aren't sure what to do (possible options range from simple to complex) and b) you're not sure you have the guts to do it?
please pray for my husband and I as we, um, figure this out. and possibly decide who to talk to for advice.
details intentionally left vague
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In my continuing efforts to spread heresy:
Andrew Sullivan makes some interesting comments about being gay and Catholic in light of the recent election in Maine. I think, I wonder, I guess that he might also speak for a fair number of LGBT Catholics in other states and parts of the world as well. What strikes me as interesting about his blog post is that Sullivan dares to actually use the "L" word (no, not that "L" word, the other one) in a debate where the "L" word has been glaringly absent for far too long. The early church was pretty big on the expression "love covers all," it seems, far too often, that we are afraid (at least in the public square) that love might cause us to loose our edge and lose the argument. He also writes personally in an arena where humanity is too often turned into abstractions.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/the-church-in-the-castro.html
The Church In The Castro There is one, of course, The Holy Redeemer, smack bang in the gay district in San Francisco, and unmolested, respected, admired. Rod Dreher's conflicts are a fantasy of his own creation. The truth is that gays have long been amazingly tolerant of the churches that seek to strip us of civil rights. One ghastly exception was Act-Up's assault on St Patrick's Cathedral, but that proves the rule. If anything, gay men actually do more to support the church than attack it. A reader writes: I am a non-Christian gay man dating a Catholic priest, and am struck by the Catholic Church's reliance on gays as priests. Many come from places and homes in which being a priest has been the only acceptable path for a devout gay Catholic boy. In answer to your question asking if it is bizarre that the Catholic Church finances a campaign to tell gay kids they cannot have a relationship like their parents: If those kids knew they could have happy, loving, same sex relationships, would they still choose to be priests?
There is something deeply, sadly sick about the whole enterprise: a nest of dysfunction and dishonesty and hypocrisy. I am peppered with emails asking me why I don't just leave or at least disassociate - especially since the anger on this blog is not contrived. It engulfs me at times - to my shame. I do find it increasingly hard to attend mass after campaigns as in Maine that feel like an assault on my soul and others'; and a sense of exile - spiritually and psychologically - has marked my faith life since the sex abuse scandal broke. Maybe I am too weak to leave and be done with it. But in my prayer life, I detect no vocation to do so. In fact, in so far as I can glean a vocation, it is to stay and bear witness, to be a thorn in the side, even if the thorn turns inward so often, and hurts and wounds me too. I stay because I believe. And I stay because I hope. What I find hard is the third essential part: to love. So I stay away when the anger eclipses that. But the love for this church remains through the anger and despair: the goodness of so many in it, the truth of its sacraments, the knowledge that nothing is perfect and nothing is improved if you are not there to help it.
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In the past I've read and thought about different people positing that the Blessed Mother gave birth to Jesus in comparative serenity and painlessness since she was conceived without sin and thus was not subject to the 'curse of Adam', part of which includes increased birth pangs/giving birth in pain at all. I was skimming through a book I got a while ago called The Scriptural Roots of Catholic Teaching in which the author, Chantal Epie, connects with this idea very definitively, asserting that mary could not have experienced any pain in childbirth based on the accounts we have of the nativity and other scriptural implications.
This doesn't settle with me too well for multiple reasons, one of the main ones being that if the woman in Revelation is accurately depicted as Mary (at least in part) then I think it would be wise to consider that it very specifically mentions her crying out in labor pains (Revelation 12:2). I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Mary's pain in delivery was severely diminished (vs. Eve's being greatly increased), but I don't know how realistic it would be to expect the birth of Jesus to be completely pain-free, for lack of a better word--especially for a virgin, God love her. I mean, the woman in Revelation isn't depicted enduring any kind of incredible pain, I think.
Anyway, ideas are welcome from those who don't think this topic is too weird and have some kind of input.
PS The book I mentioned is ok, but I don't think it's the best book in the world, for a few reasons that I won't go into unless you ask. If you're interested in such things it might not hurt to check it out, but I don't give it any particular recommendation. Just Sayin'.
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Kidding, kidding.... :P
But, seriously, the last post about the automatic holy water fonts and H1N1 flu concerns got me thinking about how we distribute Holy Communion.
When I was a kid at Blessed Sacrament in Wichita, I never remember wine being offered to the people at Mass. In fact, I didn't ever receive the Blood of Christ until I came back to the Church after eight years, on Christmas Eve of 2000. After that, at both Blessed Sacrament and the Newman Center, it was offered at Mass on a sporadic basis, almost always at Christmas and Easter, but at others times seemingly at random intervals.
Then, I was off to DC for my spring semester internship, and didn't go back to Wichita for four months. From the time I got back until when I moved to Arkansas this August, I never saw wine offered at any Mass I attended (at four different parishes). I started attending St. Edward's here in Little Rock, and wine has been offered at every Mass so far. So, I have two questions....
1. What's up with this? Is there any rhyme or reason, any standard, for when to offer wine as well as bread? Is this left up to dioceses or the pastors of individual parishes? You think I'd know this, but remember, I'm a cradle Catholic with lots of bad religious education in my past. :P
- and -
2. Has concern about the H1N1 flu affected the distribution of Holy Communion for anyone out there? I mean, has anyone's parish stopped offering wine, or taken other measures, because of it?
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I realize that this isn't as exciting about flame wars about gay people, or abortions, or gay abortions, but I though this was kind of interesting:
Catholic churches in Italy are installing automatic holy water dispensers to help reduce the risk of spreading swine flu.
The outbreak of the H1N1 virus has led many churches to suspend the tradition of having holy water in open fonts into which people dip their hands.
The new machine works like an automatic soap dispenser, squirting water when a hand is passed under the tap.
Inventor Luciano Marabese says he is being inundated with enquiries.
About 30 people have died in Italy after catching swine flu.
Father Pierre Angelo Mota, from Capriano Briosco, north of Milan, said squirtable holy water had surprised some of his parishoners at first.
"It has been a bit of a novelty," he said.
The rest of the article, which comes from the BBC, can be found here
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he drew me wings
told me i did not need a halo
said my beautiful eyes were enough
he had me sold to Jesus
with the lacking of empathy
the gates were solid gold
but i could not bare to knock
to vacantly void to feel
and it seemed i should be warmed:
by the thought of the sweetest serenity
the arms of my true father
the one being that would love me purely
so i handed my love back all his gifts
walked into the golden gates with a real smile
beaming with excitement
Jesus told me wings held me back
because he never told anyone only angels get in
said his children are all welcome
as long as they come from a place where they did what they could
from a place that they loved and shared in joy
no matter the hell they lived.
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are you ready to believe
or does Jesus have to knock you off of your high horse?
in order for you to see
the light,his presence
the color of faith more vibrant:
than any color of the rainbow
if we could all just feel
no one would lack spirituality
no one would be alone
for he would become apart of every ones soul
he fills me to my top
leaves me over flowing with freedom
because i know he will accept me
and love me unconditionally
there are no doubts
to me that is amazing
truth is his love
for that i choose to believe faithfully!
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faith holds me together
when i am falling,when im faltering
it strengthens me when i am feeling much too weak
it sweeps me up,when im only pieces on the floor
if i could i would tell the world to find god and to keep him close
because he can fix and help with anything
nothing is impossible to him
when your ready to write your suicide letter
when your ready to swallow your life gone
if you believe and trust
he will find you when you are low
he will lift you up
he will heal all your wounds
every time he saves me,i feel brand new.
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hes in the distance being worshiped
hes encircled the earth and all thats in its gravity
everything is his and his alone,yet he shares
what a gracious God he is
amazing and certain
hes more than one could hope for
ive breathed lifes away
and until i found him,life was empty and cold
now i find meaning in the skies light
bite my tongue when anger pours
my true father holds me in his arms
he never hates me,never leaves me
some how gets me through my pain,
though sometimes it feels over taking
ive got but one thing to say
he should not only be worshiped in the distance.
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if ever now
flow your love on over
bless us always
heal us when wounds run deep
help us be avid in our paths for you
dream for us when all our hopes have died
though we stray
look past our sinful ways
teach us
love us
mold and mend us
believe in us
let us feel you there
when we build walls to hide
penetrate through them
take the wicked-ness from us
let us not mourn for things
that were not meant to be
take away your childs pain
wipe their tears away
show them the way
you are what we need
all and everything.
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Does anyone know of a list of convents/cloisters where the nuns and sisters wear the full traditional habit?
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Alright y'all know where I stand on gay rights issues, and I know where a lot of y'all stand on them, and it seems that never the twain shall meet...but I cannot let this story stand without comment. I debated whether or not to post this, as I am loathe to stir up a potential hornet's nest...but I believe this has a potential impact on all of us, and on the way the Church does her daily work. One of the things I love most dearly about our Church is the charity she provides, the social services and healthcare.
The city of Washington, DC may legalize same-sex marriages soon. It already recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, and a bill to legalize marriages within the city itself may be put to the city council next month. Unsurprisingly, this has angered the usual assortment of bigots and phobics who fear this may make their kids go to school with evil creepy gay kids, or "harm the family" in some nebulous way. But this isn't really about that. Some people fear that proposed laws like this would force churches that oppose homosexuality to suddenly change their stance and then perform gay weddings or be sued. This is not the case; the bill specifically states that "no minister of any religious society who is authorized to celebrate marriages shall be required to celebrate any marriage...or solemnization of a same-sex marriage."
But, the Archdiocese of Washington seems to believe that the measure, if approved, would go far beyond the scope of providing secular recognition of same-sex marriages. It believes that it might have to do things that run counter to what it claims are "traditional Catholic values," such as extending employee benefits to same-sex couples. But the thing is...this bill isn't going to force the Church to do things it doesn't want to. DC already has long-standing laws on the books that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and although I'm sure the Archdiocese hooted and hollared in righteous indignation at that, too, it hasn't put a crimp the Church's being able to state what it believes. The Archdiocese is claiming that the language of the bill is "too narrow" and opens up a huge can of worms to scare even the biggest and most populous of churches.
So, the Archdiocese is threatening to breach all of its social services contracts with the city. Among other things, the Archdiocese manages homeless shelters that serve a third of the city's homeless, and as anyone who's ever lived or worked in DC can attest, there are a lot of homeless people there.
The gist of it is: DC is going to do something we don't like, even though we won't be forced to participate, and because of that we are going to punish tens of thousands of people who depend on our social program!
Does that sound wrong to anyone else? Does that sound in any way Christian? The State does something bad and so we stop helping people? How can this be justified?
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curious
angry