Hollywood versus reality

Aw geeze! I just saw the trailer for "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. I'm honestly astonished that it appears to be even more anti-Catholic than "The DaVinci Code" was. You hear the words "the truth" thrown around in the trailer alot, which is so ironic given the flimsy plots of all of Dan Brown's books.

It looks like it will present itself as some sort of heroic movie pushing the question of science versus religion driving the two things into a strict either/or situation rather than seeing their compatibility.

The plot of the story is just completely absurd. The whole irony is that people will get pulled into the whole "religion versus science" debate and have doubts about religion, yet will fail to miss all the poor science and non sequitur moments in the actual plot of the book.

This will be the new controversial film of the year because you can tell the studio is going to hype this with all the advertising they can. Of course the other irony is that the movie will try to tell people not to have blind faith regarding religion, but obviously if they are going to see the movie, they will have proven that they have blind faith about the advertising. Sadly, this film will be a blockbuster, mainly because of the advertising, not because of the content. Don't believe me, just look at what happened with "The DaVinci Code." The media and controversy surrounding it made it a blockbuster, but the critics and most moviegoers said the movie was lame. I'm sure this time the studios have hired actual writers to clean the script up. And people say that those who follow religion are just dumb sheep. Ugh.

I would say that this is the perfect time for the Church to emphasize more the compatibility of scienc and religion, as it always has.

For instance, do you know where the theory of the Big Bang came from? A Catholic priest named Georges Lemaitre.

Hopefully Amy Welborn is writing a new book as we speak. LOL.

RS

What is Christian Unity?

Divine Providence can be interesting.

Yesterday as I was going through some holy cards I came across a card which I had found in an old Roman Breviary I had bought about ten years ago. The card was a list of prayers for the "Chair of Unity Octave of Intentions" and is from some time before 1968. I had never paid any attention to the card until I came across it yesterday and looked over it.

The interesting part is that today in my daily email from the Vatican Information Service, I got the prayers for the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity." Looking over it I just began to wonder, "what the heck?"

"The theme chosen for this year's [2008] initiative, taken from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, is: "Pray without ceasing". The texts for reflection and prayer have been prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches."

Here's the comparison of prayer intentions:

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (2008).
19 January: Pray always, trusting God alone. "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5, 18).

20 January: Pray without ceasing for the conversion of hearts. "Admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

21 January: Pray always for justice. "See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all" (1 Thessalonians 5, 15).

22 January: Pray constantly with a patient heart. "Be patient with all of them" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

23 January: Pray always for grace to work with God. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5, 16).

24 January: Pray for what we need. "... help the weak" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

25 January: Pray always that they all may be one. "Be at peace" (1 Thessalonians 5, 13b)

Chair of Unity Octave of Intentions (pre-1968)

January 18: The return of all the "other sheep" to the fold of St. Peter, the one shepherd.

January 19: The return of the Oriental Dissidents to Communion with the Apostolic See.

January 20: The Submission of Anglicans to the Authority of the Vicar of Christ.

January 21: That Lutherans and other Protestants of Contental Europe May Return to Holy Church.

January 22: That Christians in America may become one in Communion with the Chair of Peter.

January 23: That lapsed Catholics may return to the Sacraments.

January 24: The conversion of the Jews.

January 25: The Missionary conquest of the World for Christ.

Wow, the differences are just amazing. First off, it almost seems like there is such an effort to avoid anything traditional that we call the 8 days of prayer a "week" rather than an "octave." Last time I checked, a week was 7 days and an octave was 8.

Then there's just the lack of anything about Christian Unity in this year's intentions. They are just vague prayers about the Christian life, but there's nothing there about all Christians being united under Christ, His Church, and His Vicar. I mean, we might as well pray for rain and good harvests and it would help about as much as this years prayers for Christian Unity.

I know that everyone is touchy nowadays about a supposed triumphalism, but good grief, this is ridiculous. I think we have Dominus Iesus that would clearly support the more traditional intentions. It's not like we've abandoned the concept of the One Church. Even last year the Church re-iterated it with Responses To Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects Of The Doctrine On The Church.

If we're going to pray for Christian unity, let's pray for Christian unity the way the Church teaches us to pray.

Here's the prayers for the Octave from the "Chair of Unity Octave Prayers"

Ant. That they all may be one as Thou Father in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me (Jn. 17:21).

V. I say unto thee that Thou art Peter.
R. And upon this rock I will build My Church.

Let us pray: O Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst unto Thine apostles: Peace I leave with you; My Peace I give unto you; regard not our sins, but the faith of Thy Church, and grant unto her that peace and unity which are agreeable to Thy Will. Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.
Lord Jesus, most gracious Saviour of the world, we humbly beg of Thee, by Thy most Sacred Heart, that all the sheep now wandering astry may be converted to Thee, the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. Who livest and reignest through all eternity. Amen.
Our Lady of the Atonement, Mother of Unity, pray for us.

RS

Fr. Z. on Pope Saint Gregory on Pastors

Picture above the altar of Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome, Italy
I've never really gotten into podcasts, probably because I have rarely enjoyed talk radio. However, I have started listening to Fr. Z's "PODCAzTs" and have found them to be very informative. This particular "PODCAzT" was extremely good. He starts with Pope Saint Gregory the Great talking about what qualities a pastor should have, especially focusing on bishops. However, Fr. Z points out that this can also apply to any man in a role of pastor, be they bishops, priests, or even the father of a family.

Gregory the Great on when pastors should SPEAK UP; priests and getting your way; voicemail feedback.

I always highly recommend Fr. Z's blog, but this is one post that stands out IMHO.

RS

A Voice For My Generation

Wow! Talk about serendipty. I have known about Father Phillip Powell,OP's blog, and have always thought his homilies were good when I read them, but I happened to be looking at another blog that I had never heard of (thanks, Cathy_of_Alex!)and she had a link to this homily by Father Phillip:

Kids These Days: What they don't want from the Church

What he said articulated so well what my generation (I'm almost 35 years old) and apparently the current generation have felt all our lives, especially in relation to the Church ... or I should say many older members of the Church (the Church Herself has never preached the false teachings we've often been fed, just some of Her members).

Anyway, the post is a must read! It is what gives me hope when I see stupid articles like the one from the dinosaur Father Richard McBrien:

Pay no attention to the Pope

Guess, what Father McBrien? We know you are full of crap, and hardly anyone takes you seriously anymore!

RS

Prayer request for dadwithnoisykids and his family

Please pray for dadwithnoisykids and his family. This family is amazing not only in their openness to life, but also in their courage and faith in the midst of difficult times.

Mother Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us.
Saint Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.
Saint Catherine of Siena, pray for us.

Tomb of Saint Catherine of Siena at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, Italy.
(click picture to embiggen)
RS

Saint John Cassian

Saint John Cassian
Although today is the Memorial of Saint Bridget, today is also the Commemoration of Saint John Cassian.

He is mentioned in the 2004 Roman Martyrology for today:

Massíliæ in Província Gálliæ, sancti Ioánnis Cassiáni, presbýteri, qui duo monastéria, álterum pro viris, álterum pro muliéribus, cóndidit et, longo rerum monasticárum usu perítus, de Cœnobíticus Institútis et Collatiónes Patrum scripsit ad ædificatiónem monachórum.
[Quick and rough translation](Marsalles in the Province of Gaul (France), Saint John Cassian, priest, who founded two monasteries, one for men, the other for women, learned in the longstanding practice of monastic things, he wrote the Monastic Institutes and the Conferences of the Fathers for the encouragement of monks.

Saint John Cassian travelled with his friend Germanus to the Holy Lands and to Egypt, visiting various monasteries and hermits and learning how to live monastic life. He then recorded much of what he learned in his writings and brought them back to Italy and France to help encourage the growth of monastic life in the West.

Saint John Cassian's writings and Saint Basil the Great's Monastic Rule are specifically mentioned by Saint Benedict in his Rule as recommended reading for monks.

Then, besides, the Conferences of the Fathers, their Institutes and their Lives, there is also the rule of our holy father Basil. For observant and obedient monks, all these are nothing less than tools for the cultivation of virtues; but as for us, they make us blush with shame at being so slothful, so unobservant, so negligent. Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?

Rule of Saint Benedict, Chapter 73

EDIT - Found his writings online over at newadvent.org:

The Institutes

The Conferences

RS

I've Been Sneaking Into China

Ha! Ha! Ha!
Apparently, I have been able to sneak into China. When I check my sitemeter, I occasionally get hits from several places in China:


even though my website is supposedly blocked by the Chinese government.


My Catholic Chinese brethren must be laughing about it!

"Ha! We can still see the Roman Sacristan's site!"
Our prayers are with you, Catholic brethren, keep the Faith!

RS

Do you have conviction in being Catholic?

Hat tip to The New Liturgical Movement for pointing out one of the better "secular" articles about the release of the motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" and the recent reiteration "Responses to some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church" that "'This one Church of Christ, which we confess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. ... This Church, constituted and organized in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him'," in light of the moot controversy about the old (which isn't even used in the 1962 Missal) Good Friday prayers which refers to the "faithless Jews."

The interesting part of the article is the fact that the author lauds the Church for actually having conviction in what it believes.

Any serious Catholic believes that happiness and eternal life are to be found within the Catholic Church. To refuse to pray that other people will find their way into such a place would be positively selfish and cruel.

The problem is that in this intellectually dumb and morally numb age we like our truths, well, less truthful. "Might be" or "could be" or, usually, "anything you want it to be." Never "you should be."

The article is here:

"Restoring a Church tradition"

Interestingly, this reminded me of a video I just saw yesterday which speaks about the same thing.

Taylor Mali speaks about conviction in his slam poem "Like, you know"



Woah, he pretty much nails a lot of bishops, priests, and laity to the wall. How many times have you heard homilies and statements like that ... you know? Just sayin'. LOL.

Jesus spoke with conviction and authority. He would not be very popular nowadays ... whether it is Christ Himself, the Head, or His Body, the Church speaking. Oh, wait ...

RS

Scripture for Catholic Schools

Today's Office of Readings had the Second Epistle of Saint John, which has an interesting quote that Catholic schools should remember when choosing commencement speakers:

Anyone who is so "progressive" that he does not remain rooted in the teaching of Christ does not possess God, while anyone who remains rooted in the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you who does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house; do not even greet him, for whoever greets him shares in the evil he does.

Yes, and that is even the I.C.E.L. translation.

RS

Confession song?

Well, Linkin Park has a new album coming out. I've heard their first song from it, and although I find it pretty consistant sounding (it seems to have that "generic" Linkin Park sound), it has grown on me nonetheless.

I have been more impressed with Linkin Park than with most other bands. They don't have to use explicit lyrics and they tend to sing about more personal things that the everyday listener can relate to (they don't sing about sex, drugs, and rock and roll).

I get the impression that many people just kind of passed them off as just another "Nu Metal" act (ie, White boys mixing rock with some elements of rap and making a hybrid sound), but their sound has been a bit more original than most of the rock/rap crossovers I have heard (which is a lot), and their lyrics seem to have much more thought put into them IMHO.

I'm interested to see what this new album will be like. I do admit I am a bit weary of it. The album is called "Minutes to Midnight." From the title and the video of the first song, I fear they may be turning down an anti-war or liberal avenue. However, I think (and hope) that they may be more than just some politically driven band that record companies are pumping out out (a la Green Day). I am hoping that although they might have an anti-war aspect, it would be more along the lines of how anyone feels about war: that it is something that should be avoided, however, at times it might be necessary (something very well done in the movie "Jet Li's 'Fearless'". I don't think there is anyone in the U.S. who really wants war. Nobody who supports the war in Iraq really wants to it to be happening. However the more accurate question is: should we be over there? I'm not going to get into that discussion here, as it is off topic and certainly has many points on both sides of the issue.

Anyway, one thing that prompted this post was that as I was listening to their new song on the radio, I thought there has got to be someone out there who could make a video of this song focusing on the Sacrament of Confession. Maybe a video that follows three people who have obviously sinned in one way or another at the beginning, but who all go to confession, sincerely seeking Christ's mercy and their own conversion.

This is pretty ironic for me since I usually despise any type of making the Catholic faith seem "hip" or "cool" by mixing pop culture and the faith. Yet, I don't know why, this song just strikes me as being able to do that.

I'll let you be the judge.



RS

One that got away

Dr. Philip Blosser articulates a problem concerning the Church in our current times. He addresses the problem of some converts who eventually end up leaving the Church. Although it is not only just converts who experience this, but also any Catholics who really discover the Faith and all it's Tradition, only to become very confused by the often shocking differences between the Faith and the acutal practice seen in the typical parish.

So what is it that happens to Protestant reverts? While every individual's story is unique, I think some generalizations are fairly safe. These are generally souls who come from backgrounds already well-rooted in evangelical Christianity, in a life of Bible reading, prayer, and personal relationship with God. When these souls discover the truth about the Catholic Church, they fall in love with her. They are thrilled when they finally come, at least on some level, to apprehend the Catholic vision of the Church and to see and and understand her glory -- "ever ancient, ever new." They love the Church that spans the ages, the Church of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman, Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict XVI. They love the moral courage of the Church, which stands like an adamantine bulwark against the evils of abortion, pornography, and relativism. They love the magnificent beauty of her ancient European cathedrals, her basilicas, her paintings and sculptures, her Gregorian chant and polyphony (readily accessible in any music store). They love her theology, which they encounter in the writings of great doctors and theologians of the Church. They love her incarnational vision of life, which they encounter in the writings of numerous Catholic novelists.

But then they join a local Catholic parish ...

The process usually begins with a desert experience called RCIA (Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults) -- a series of meetings and classes in which they are treated more like preschoolers than intelligent adults, spoon fed pathological doses of hand-holding and introspection, and treated to ample quantities of shared feelings. If they survive that, they're welcomed into an Amchurch parish, whose music is Haugan and Haas, whose homilies are psychology tips from Dr. Phil, whose art and architecture is a combination of bog Bauhaus and degenerate Art Deco, and whose members never read traditional Catholic authors but whose discussion groups can't stop talking about Richard Rohr, Thomas Groome, Anthony Tambasco, Sr. Joan Chittister, Andrew Sullivan, and John Dominic Crossan.

It's something I can relate to having been extremely lukewarm in my Catholic faith growing up mainly becuase of the folksy liturgies I experienced growing up (and looking back, the parish I grew up in was actually pretty tame and conservative!).
It wasn't until I was able to spend a semester in Rome and see the beauty, history, tradition, and glory of the Catholic Church that I really began to discover the treasury of the Catholic Faith. I devoured books about theology, Saints, spirituality, etc. But then a great confusion sets in as you learn more and more about the Faith, yet see such a contradiction in how that is actually played out in real life.

This is also where a very awkward situation arises when you have people who become curious about the Catholic Faith and become interested in joining the Church. I had this happen firsthand when I was working in Corporate America, and a friend of mine began looking at the question of his faith and began seriously seeking God. There were a few of us in our department who were Catholic, and so he began asking me about the Catholic Faith. I gave him a Baltimore Catechism which he read cover to cover in a month or two. Then he asked about joining the Church. At that point I was rather at a loss as to what to do. The parishes closest to him were not going to give him much in terms of RCIA. I had tried to get him to go the parish I went to, which had excellent RCIA, but it was just too far for him and his schedule. I tried to gently encourage him to go to a good RCIA, but eventually our company was bought, layoffs happened, the department was disbanded, and we lost touch as he relocated to another state.

It has always frustrated me that it can be such delicate work to help someone to learn and embrace the Catholic Faith. It's like guiding someone through a minefield. Sometimes some of the biggest hindrances to conversions are Catholics themselves, i.e. people who have no business teaching RCIA but are in charge of it, priests who don't teach the Faith or follow the liturigical laws, laity who just believe whatever they want to bust still call themselves Catholic, and Catholics who just don't care about their Faith. How am I supposed to be tell someone the Catholic Church contains the fullness of God's Truth and then all around me there is so much scandal (not just the sexual scandals, but those who don't live their Faith according to the teachings of Christ through His Church)?

I guess it is just something that will always be. Even Christ was betrayed by one of his own Apostles. Thankfully the Holy Spirit gives the grace of conversion, often in spite of current situations in our lives.

This does remind me of a great posting I saw last year at the Pontifications blog as a response to someone who was in an RCIA but was not wanting to accept all the Catholic faith.

I think the response the post should be read at all RCIA classes (and maybe to all Catholics at Mass too).

Please read the whole post though, it is certainly worth it. Here's a sample:

For the Catholic, the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the decision to accept the authority of the Church is one decision. They cannot be separated, for the risen Christ will not be separated from his mystical body. We love to manufacture religions that express our own ideological and religious preferences; we love to remake Christ into our own image. As Luther once remarked, “Every man is born with a Pope in his belly.” The grace of the Catholic Church, with all her weaknesses, sins, and failures, is that she confronts me as other. She is not, and refuses to be, a projection of my ego. She simply is. She speaks with a voice that is not my own. She challenges me with the authority of God. Here is one meaning of the ancient Christian dictum extra ecclesiam nulla salus: outside the Church there is no salvation. The Church saves me. She saves me from the sin of self because she cannot be assimilated into my self; I must be assimilated into her. I am the one who must change. I am the one who must be willing to submit my intellect to her wisdom and knowledge. Incorporated into the Catholic Church I am simultaneously incorporated into the glorified and risen Christ and brought into the ecstatic life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus ...

RS