tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119246272024-03-19T05:32:16.436-05:00TheologienneA divinity student blogs her faithful, progressive Catholicism.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-58970137602764427022007-06-16T13:00:00.000-05:002007-06-16T13:06:19.445-05:00On humanismI think this quote's amazing. Do we too often stamp science and pathology on human realities that belong to the realm of mystery? This is said by the narrator after a character explains that someone is "really not ready" to love her. <br /><br />What was it about this unlovable century that convinced us we were, despite everything, eminently lovable as a people, as a species? What made us think that anyone who fails to love us is damaged, lacking, malfunctioning in some way? And particularly if they replace us with a god, or a weeping madonna, or the face of Christ in a ciabatta roll--then we call them crazy. Deluded. Regressive. We are so convinced of the goodness of ourselves, and the goodness of our love, we cannot bear to believe that there might be something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship. <br /><br />--Zadie Smith, in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Teeth-Novel-Zadie-Smith/dp/0375703861">White Teeth</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-28345102478074681592007-06-14T16:50:00.000-05:002007-06-14T17:08:01.460-05:00Dinosauresis"Until recently, I was unaware that the biblical world was full of dinosaurs." <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/BiblicalDino-might.htm">This</a> cracked me up. Not least because the Nativity scene in my house growing up did, in fact, include dinosaurs--two squeaky toys contributed by my brother. They sat on the stable roof. <br /><br />I'll be honest: part of me is dying for a quasi-ironic road trip to the <a href="http://www.creationmuseum.org/">Creation Museum</a>. Though I find that right in my own backyard, the Field Museum's <a href="http://scienceblogs.blogspot.com/2006/03/chicago-field-museum-takes-stand-for.html">rolling out an evolution exhibit</a> understood to be "in response" to growing creationist fervor. <br /><br />(Oh NO you did not just brought the Creation Museum! <i>Oh yeah we DID just brought the Creation Museum, unbelievers!</i> Oh yeah well watch us while WE bring the evolution exhibit, fundies! [Slaps. Hair-pulling. Quiet sobs.])Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-36285006373572175022007-06-08T11:51:00.000-05:002007-06-08T12:06:16.213-05:00Cynicism, cynicism, nuanceOr is it just me? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumPD9IGmV6lGtDq5MGrdqGyugnWb_RnjTduiSaUCJNz0G60fV6FgGEy9GxtWAuvT6LlH8DIN0XmZZ22wvHPToD-6pf3ROmIHpfXa_XJDFOqUSTKEHQ8EQOzjDo98qV1LX2e3zhQ/s1600-h/obama.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumPD9IGmV6lGtDq5MGrdqGyugnWb_RnjTduiSaUCJNz0G60fV6FgGEy9GxtWAuvT6LlH8DIN0XmZZ22wvHPToD-6pf3ROmIHpfXa_XJDFOqUSTKEHQ8EQOzjDo98qV1LX2e3zhQ/s400/obama.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5073737412780271026" /></a><br /><br />Fine, the candidates didn't select these pull quotes--and Edwards, in particular, showed more depth of thought in his full quotes <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/05/democrats.religion.ap/index.html">here</a> than the lede would suggest. How utterly cool that <a href="http://sojo.net/">Sojourners</a> sponsored a forum to ask the Democratic candidates about their faith. It's great to see liberals making faith an issue with other liberals--it distorts reality when Democrats treat their beliefs as something to be trotted out only in front of Republicans. <br /><br />Edwards was asked to name the biggest sin he ever committed, and couldn't pick just one. Fascinating to picture him coming up with a specific answer, isn't it? How would you answer that question?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-71277381881033214702007-04-20T15:06:00.000-05:002007-04-20T15:08:24.996-05:00Limbo is No MoCNS <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0702216.htm">reported today</a> that the Pope approved a statement by the International Theological Commission suggesting that sending unbaptized babies to Limbo is not the best understanding of God's loving plan. <br /><br /><blockquote>In a document published April 20, the commission said the traditional concept of limbo -- as a place where unbaptized infants spend eternity but without communion with God -- seemed to reflect an "unduly restrictive view of salvation."<br /><br />The church continues to teach that, because of original sin, baptism is the ordinary way of salvation for all people and urges parents to baptize infants, the document said.<br /><br />But there is greater theological awareness today that God is merciful and "wants all human beings to be saved," it said. Grace has priority over sin, and the exclusion of innocent babies from heaven does not seem to reflect Christ's special love for "the little ones," it said. [...] <br /><br />Limbo has never been defined as church dogma and is not mentioned in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states simply that unbaptized infants are entrusted to God's mercy. [...] <br /><br />The church's magisterium has moved toward a more "nuanced understanding" of how a saving relationship with the church can be realized, it said. This does not mean that someone who has not received the sacrament of baptism cannot be saved, it said.</blockquote><br /><br />I am glad to see this teaching clarified and in such an open and loving manner. Has anyone else been a student or a teacher and had to muddle through this exchange: <br /><br />Li'l Catholic: Since God saves us through baptism, what happens if a baby dies without being baptized? <br />Big Wise Catholic: Well, for a long time people believed they went to a place called Limbo, without God. A lot of people don't believe that anymore. <br />Li'l Catholic: So do they go to heaven? <br />Big Wise Catholic: . . . <br /><br />Other than its catechetical benefits, here are some reasons I'm really excited about this statement: <br /> - From a pastoral standpoint, what a relief to parents who lost an unbaptized child to illness or abortion to believe that God's love is available to their baby. <br /><br /> - From an ecumenical standpoint, this statement is an important reminder of our belief that although all salvation comes <i>through</i> Jesus, in God's grace salvation may also come to those who are not part of the Catholic Church.<br /> <br /> - And simply from a Church perspective, I think it's very good for the faithful to see that the Spirit is still speaking to the church. The evolution of thought on Limbo reminds us that even things people have believed for a long time may not be the best way to express the truth about who God is and who we are called to be.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-55362817110709126502007-04-16T21:43:00.000-05:002007-04-16T21:44:33.054-05:00And You're Working For No One But MeHappy Tax Day, and here’s hoping everybody made it to the post office on time! (Hi Dad. : ) Or did you? Is anyone out there, being the thoughtful, engaged Catholics that you are, choosing conscientious <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_resistance">tax resistance</a>? <br /> <br />Tax resistance is closely associated with those who oppose war (last year <a href="http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp#USMilitarySpending"><i>nearly half</i> of the federal budget</a> went to the military), although <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_resistance">this useful Wikipedia entry</a> points out that some Libertarians and anarchists also do it. Many in the Catholic Worker movement practice conscientious tax objection, although I recall from Dorothy Day’s biography that she herself wasn’t sure about the moral implications of paying taxes as a pacifist in a warmaking country. (She herself did not pay taxes because of her radical poverty, but she knew that solution wasn’t possible for everyone.) <br /> <br />The interesting thing about it from a non-expert’s perspective is that this would seem to be one of the few moral quandaries in modern life about which Jesus has left us explicit instructions. Remember “<a href="http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew22.htm">Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s</a>?” And it’s not as though Our Lord only condoned participation in a kinder, gentler state. The Roman empire, at the time of Jesus’ ministry, was busy making war in several parts of the globe, including the active oppression of Jesus’ own people. <br /> <br />So what do you think? Are conscientious tax objectors who try to withhold their financial support from unjust wars misinterpreting Jesus’ intentions? Or am I perhaps interpreting the Gospel out of context?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-54123055314530106622007-04-10T12:14:00.000-05:002007-04-10T12:16:15.586-05:00For the first time, a woman translates the QuranThe first-ever English <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0704100141apr10,1,217014.story?page=1&coll=chi-news-hed">translation of the Quran by a Muslim woman</a> will be released next week. Laleh Bakhtiar's comments on her work gave me a lot to think about as to how I, myself, read Scripture. Here, she integrates one verse with her own experience and her understanding of the life of Mohammed as an example. <br /><br /><blockquote>But when she came to a controversial verse long interpreted as meaning husbands could beat their wives if they strayed, it became personal. Bakhtiar had counseled Muslim women beaten by husbands who said this verse gave them that right. She thoroughly researched the word "dara ba," speaking to 45 Islamic scholars. The Lane lexicon provided the alternate meaning of "go away."<br /><br />Another verse in the Quran that said Muslim women seeking a divorce cannot be harmed also appeared to contradict the traditional interpretation.<br /><br />"To me, the God I love would not say husbands can beat wives or even have a threat that husbands can beat their wives," she said. "From the life of the prophet, I knew he didn't do that, so where is this misunderstanding coming from?"</blockquote>Bakhtiar and others say the controversy this translation has engendered has less to do with Bakhtiar's academic background and more to do with the fact that she dares to translate the Quran as a woman. Merely one facet of the issues of power attached to who studies and interprets holy writings! I'm reminded that not long ago in Catholic history translating the Bible into the vernacular was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Bible">capital crime.</a> <br /><br /> <br />As I tell my confirmation students, "Reading the Bible is dangerous!"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-36791087235848230442007-04-04T14:08:00.000-05:002007-04-04T14:14:35.833-05:00This Is My Body?Whether it's <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/the-rolling-stones/27515">true</a> or <a href="http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=4687ea62-ffd4-4f7c-9e9b-71bbd70479d5&k=57147">not</a>, did Keith Richards' story about snorting his father's ashes strike anyone else as oddly (and perversely, and in no way endorsed by this blog) Eucharistic? Just in time for Catholic and Orthodox commemoration tomorrow of the Last Supper! <br /><br />Think about it: what else do you consume because you love and want to be close to the person whose body it is/was/represents? (Trying to be ecumenical with that last one.) <br /><br />No? No? C'MON.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-2120464612228759342007-04-03T14:06:00.000-05:002007-04-03T14:18:17.305-05:00"Abuser" priest will become Independent Catholic bishopFrom <a href="http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/11264395/detail.html">The Milwaukee Channel</a>:<blockquote>A former Roman Catholic priest suspended for abusing a child will soon become a bishop.<br /><br />Joseph Collova was suspended after a man said the priest abused him dozens of times at a Milwaukee church.<br /><br />After the suspension, Collova changed denominations and now works with the Independent Catholic Church in Dousman, which is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. <br /> <br /><br />The Dousman church plans to ordain Collova as a bishop in April.</blockquote><br /><br />This is just horrible. Derivative Catholic Churches like the Independent Catholic Church, Old Catholic Church and Polish National Catholic Church provide a spiritual home for some who aren't comfortable in the mainline Catholic Church, and they serve the global Church by providing alternative images of what the Church could be. But the main problem with these splinter churches, both as spiritual communities and as agents of social change, is that with disconnect from a greater community comes a lack of accountability and perspective. What better demonstration of that than this Independent church shuttling someone accused of a serious crime right back into ministry? While it's possible they've investigated the charges and deemed them false, it seems unlikely, among other things, that the Milwaukee diocese would have shared the information they might have on this priest with an outside church. <br /><br />By appearing cavalier about abuse and about the function of the greater Church community to correct wrongdoing within it, the Independent Catholic Church in Dousman reflects terribly poorly on those who present voices of challenge within the global Catholic Church.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-22641228250398379062007-02-09T10:09:00.001-06:002007-02-09T10:09:13.655-06:00Good news for the Church!Even <a href="http://www.harvard.edu">ancient, secretive, male-dominated institutions</a> eventually <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516910">get"> get with the twentieth century.</a> Congrats, Madam soon-to-be President!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-590539122129398342007-02-01T10:55:00.000-06:002007-02-01T11:01:48.147-06:00YouTube Witness to Bishop Gumbleton's MinistryDetroit Bishop Tom Gumbleton was recently removed from his ministry as pastor of St. Leo's Parish in a move many see as retaliation for his outspoken witness for sex abuse victims, gays, lesbians and women in the Church, and for peace and justice. (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/us/26bishop.html?_r=1&ex=157680000&en=c233a17a1320da29&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&oref=slogin">NYTimes article</a>) <br /><br />Bishop Gumbleton's supporters created this video to highlight what his ministry has meant to St Leo's Parish. It is wonderful to see such a modern (not to say shallow) medium as YouTube used for this kind of witness. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u0j0PSIbXp0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u0j0PSIbXp0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />P.S. <a href="http://www.cta-usa.org/justchurch/detroit/index.html">Take action!</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-68640751064122018112006-12-21T10:00:00.000-06:002006-12-21T10:01:02.913-06:00Virgin Dragon Prepares to Give BirthWow, it really must be Advent. Even the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-virgin-dragon,1,6122915.story">headlines</a> sound ripped from the pages of Revelations. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-32792631881797351492006-12-14T14:41:00.001-06:002006-12-14T14:41:49.419-06:00Advent Reflection<div>"How can one be greater than John?" those gathered asked, watching another seeker being dunked beneath the lake. "John teaches us to act with justice. He lives as a holy man. He welcomes even sinners to listen and to change." </div> <div> </div> <div>But John promised a greater leader. "The one to come will lead armies, like David," one offered. Another: "She'll be the wisest of queens." "He'll see God's face, like Moses," someone insisted. "Like Lillith, she'll rebirth the world." A child spoke what all were hoping: "The Messiah will vanquish Rome, and we'll be free." </div> <div> </div> <div>No one thought the promised one would be a refugee, a member of a despised race, born on the road into extreme poverty. No one expected that he would suffer. </div> <div> </div> <div>John, they could see, was human. Wouldn't the one he proclaimed be the same? Maybe a magician, they thought, to baptize with fire. </div> <div> </div> <div>Elizabeth would be the first to name him God. No one saw it coming--our great and holy God to crawl into human flesh. Two thousand years later, we try and fail to understand. </div> <div> </div> <div>This day in Advent, what do you expect of the promised Messiah? And what might our God of mystery send you? </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>(reflection on <font color="#0000ff"><font color="#000000">this</font> </font><a href="http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/121706.shtml">Sunday's Gospel</a>) </div></div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-70171132091398122162006-11-22T14:16:00.001-06:002006-11-22T14:16:20.443-06:00Life. Freedom. Conscience.<div>Some of the many things I'll be thankful for tomorrow. </div> <div> </div> <div>This was inspired by musing on the fact that President Bush has now pardoned six <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Bush-Turkey-Pardon.html?hp&ex=1164258000&en=e56c55574eccc8e4&ei=5094&partner=homepage"> turkeys</a>, while his record for human pardons stands at <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17670">one</a>. </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-40855204071358840652006-11-16T23:56:00.000-06:002006-11-17T00:04:10.693-06:00Who would Jesus feed?Originally posted at <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/blogs/index.php?title=title_39&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1">BustedHalo</a>. This picks up somewhere in the middle of a thread about bishops who deny the Eucharist to pro-choice politicians, and in general, whether any Catholic should be denied the Eucharist as what my worthy correspondent <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/blogs/index.php?title=title_38&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1">called</a> a "loving invitation to self-correction." <br /><br />* * * * <br /><br />I wonder how many divorced Catholics--or their children--experience someone's exclusion from the Eucharist as a "loving invitation to self-correction."<br /> <br /><br />Convert To Christ's first comment inspired me to spend some time reading about the Church's activism against the death penalty. Part of the reason the late Pope opposed it so strongly had to do with the fact that the death penalty can be applied arbitrarily and unjustly: accidents such as race or what state you live in factor into the choice of human beings killing another person.<br /><br /> <br /><br />A similar randomness, as ogica so wisely pointed out, is often used to judge a person's unity with Church teaching. A Catholic in public life who honestly believes that outlawing abortion is not the best way to lessen the number of abortions might be singled out while an unrepentant but incognito murderer could be welcomed to the table.<br /> <br /><br />It can be gracious and dignified when someone excludes him or herself from the Eucharist willingly. I've seen people do this who might be living with a significant other but not married, or who might be angry at the church and know they are not loving enough to take Communion, or for other reasons. But at the same time, it makes me sad that someone would feel her or himself unworthy of encountering Christ, or unworthy of being part of the body of Christ, the people of God.<br /> <br /><br />Look at it this way. I've never heard anyone claim that the Eucharist is not the Eucharist based on one's beliefs, in other words, that Jesus is only present in the bread and wine if you believe the right things. This is why Protestants or people of other faiths are expected to refrain from receiving Communion--since Jesus is really present and their theology does not recognize this, it would be disrespectful to Jesus, is the Catholic thinking. So if Jesus is really there, and the Catholic (however sinful) believes that He is really there, why would Jesus not want to be present to that Catholic, to teach them if they are wrong and to strengthen them if not?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-51094211164040561202006-11-14T14:31:00.001-06:002006-11-17T00:07:56.885-06:00"Sr. Joan Chittister is on the road"<div>And yet I continue to check her <a href="http://ncrcafe.org/blog/5/">blog</a> over at <a href="http://www.ncrcafe.org">NCRCafe</a> to see what the leading prophet of thinking spirituality has to say about the election results! </div> <div> </div> <div>See, I know Sr. Joan won't come back from her peacekeeping mission only to tell us that everything is now A-OK stateside. She'll challenge American progressives to be as visionary in victory as they were in minority, to put the poor and marginalized first, and to look to their own houses. She'll remind us that God calls all of us to social justice and that we can't leave the responsibility for a better world with <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54918">politicians</a>. </div> <div> </div> <div>Her speech at the Call to Action conference last week was emblematic. Everyone wants to hear about women's ordination and gay marriage, and God knows those are important to God's people. But Sister Joan, by focusing her address on economic justice and peace, subtly reminded us of how wide is the work to be done in the world. The poor will always be with us, needing God's love through God's people, no matter who is in Congress--or in the pulpit. </div> <div> </div> <div>Come back, Sr. Joan, and be a voice of reason! </div> <div> </div> <div>The mere announcement that she's away inspired, to date, 52 comments. </div> <div> </div> <div>And if you can't wait, check out the discussion we're having over at <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/blogs/index.php">BustedHalo</a>. </div> <br /><br /><b><i>Update: </b></i>Sr. Joan is <a href="http://ncrcafe.org/blog/5/">back</a> with a moving story of ministry to Iraqi refugees in Syria.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-16289800342338144962006-11-02T16:09:00.001-06:002006-11-02T17:06:36.434-06:00"True family values are cognate with the liberal agenda"<div dir="ltr">Ken Mondschein, a Fordham sociologist, <a href="http://www.nerve.com/regulars/singlelife/012/">traces</a> the decline of marriage to the decline of the middle class: </div> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div>While they were dating, our parents and grandparents evaluated each other as potential life partners and helpmates. We, on the other hand, don't know if we will be working the same job, let alone dating the same person, in a year. If the traditional incentive for a long-term relationship — that is, building a shared life together — is a pipe dream, why commit? [ . . . ] If, in the end, we decide to act in "defense of marriage," we are going to need a program of paternity and maternity leave, affordable housing, guaranteed health care and social security. </div> <div> </div></blockquote> <div dir="ltr">Start fighting for these things today at <a href="http://www.momsrising.org">MomsRising.org</a>. (And try not to kill the buzz by thinking of France.) </div> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div> </div> <div> </div></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-70808218108878255872006-10-30T14:32:00.000-06:002006-10-30T14:46:47.938-06:00And you thought they wanted us washing vessels<blockquote> At the direction of Pope Benedict XVI, extraordinary ministers of holy Communion will no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels at Masses in the United States. [...]The U.S. bishops had asked the Vatican to extend an indult -- or church permission -- in effect since 2002 allowing extraordinary ministers of holy Communion to help cleanse the Communion cups and plates when there were not enough priests or deacons to do so. (<a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0606058.htm">CNS</a> via <a href="http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/10/pope-rejects-continuing-indult-on.html">ClosedCafeteria</a>)</blockquote> <br /><br />No word on whether it's still okay for the little old ladies of your parish to launder the linens. That might just bring them <i>too close</i> to the holy elements of the Eucharist, you know? I find it ironic that "washing vessels" is one of the examples outraged laity sometimes use for what they do when they're excluded from real parish responsibility. I'm also amused that the indult was extended in 2002; as a high-school sacristan, I was definitely purifying vessels (in a sacred, prayerful way, I like to think) as early as '96. Just the latest evidence of my own transgressive status . . .Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-7574553020249058322006-10-30T12:01:00.000-06:002006-10-30T14:02:02.522-06:00I think we should see other people.So I'm guest-blogging! Check me out at <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com">BustedHalo</a>'s <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/blogs/index.php">Spiritual Smackdown</a> (I know, I know.) I'll be posting every other weekday for the month of November, up against a conservative blogger. Leave me some comments over there, especially any ideas you'd like to see the two of us take on! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1160580953404033162006-10-11T10:35:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:50.164-05:00In class last night a student mentioned "Eucharistic ministers" and then corrected it to "extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist." Seems like a small thing, but that really burns my toast. God forbid we imply that it's right and normal for laypeople to have ministry that has to do with the Eucharist . . . Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1160151374731659392006-10-06T11:16:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:50.016-05:00Jesus on the Radio<div>A friend and I are leading a prayer service at the <a href="http://cta-usa.org/conference.html">Call to Action conference</a> in Milwaukee this November. We're going to explore the spirituality of contemporary songs--pop, rock, hip-hop and some quality '80s. Got any suggestions for recent songs that move you, make you contemplate, or fill you with divine joy? </div> <div> </div> <div>Songs don't have to be explicitly religious, but they can be. As a corollary request, we're trying to come up with tracks that don't sound like contemporary or traditional Catholic music. So extra points for cuts with more than one vocal and without heavy acoustic guitar : ) </div> <div> </div> <div>To get you thinking, <a href="http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/RoccoPalmoAlmostHoly7SpiritSoundtrack.htm">here's</a> a great column about the kind of psalmody you find on iTunes. I love, love, love so many of his picks. Never have I agreed so heartily with so much <a href="http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/">Rocco Palmo</a> had to say. </div> <div> </div> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1159978488031035262006-10-04T11:14:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:49.937-05:00Politician loses interest groups to effective proposal"You're either for reducing the number [of abortions], or you're not:" <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2150557/">Slate</a> on Rep. Tim Ryan's anti-abortion bill, which dares to promote--gasp!--birth control. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1159475112557183142006-09-28T15:13:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:49.864-05:00A New Song: I Will Follow You Into The DarkAs my friends could tell you, I'm always seeking theological overtones in songs, films, breakfast foods, whatever--but the religious and spiritual aspects of music have a special hold on my imagination. "A New Song" will be a sometime feature where I unpack the theology in a song I can't stop humming. <br /><br /><blockquote>In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule<br />I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black <br />And I held my tongue as she told me "Son, <br />Fear is the heart of love" <br />So I never went back</blockquote><br /><br />This verse in what's otherwise a beautifully eerie love song ("I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie; <a href="www.lyricstime.com/death-cab-for-cutie-i-will-follow-you-into-the-dark-lyrics.html">lyrics</a>; hear or (gasp!) download it <a href="http://www.myspace.com/deathcabforcutie">here</a>) always bothers me. Why the driveby smackdown on religion? Given the major changes in religious life post-Vatican II, how many musicians young enough to be making cool music are old enough to have had dealings with black-habited nuns? And whence this weird theology that the singer rejects? He may want to stand against the notion that "fear is the heart of love," an idea I've never heard from a faithful person, but this song doesn't quite get him there.<br /><br />The singer offers his lover a promise: companionship until death and beyond. <br /><br /><blockquote>If Heaven and Hell decide<br />That they both are satisfied<br />Illuminate the "No"s on their vacancy signs [love that image]<br />If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks<br />I will follow you into the dark.</blockquote><br /><br />It is beautiful. <br /><br />We don't know from the song that the singer's lover fears death especially. Maybe it's in the singer's reassurance "It's nothing to cry about," but still, seems to me that it's the singer who broached the topic of his lover's death to begin with. <br /><br />And there's never mention of any fear, on the part of the lover, of making that journey alone.<br /><br />So which partner can't bear the thought of separation? <br /><br />Perhaps for the singer, if not his Sunday school teachers, love is the heart of fear.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1159292188391181212006-09-26T12:33:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:49.793-05:00In case you're wondering, this has NOTHING to do with his arrest.I assume the <a href="http://www.declarationofpeace.org">peace movement</a> doesn't like to turn down friends, peaceable folk that they are. So I'll say it for them: <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-ap-people-gibson,1,6366591.story?coll=chi-entertainmentfront-hed">Mel Gibson</a> is one friend those against war in Iraq can do without.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1158769419831691352006-09-20T10:54:00.000-05:002006-10-12T23:15:49.720-05:00Chicago closes its seminary high school. Good.<blockquote>By educating young men who would later become priests and bishops, law enforcers and political leaders, Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary helped shape a city and a church.<br /><br />But in the end, the same shrinking enrollment and escalating costs that have plagued other schools in the archdiocese brought down the historic high school seminary.<br /><br />On Tuesday, the archdiocese announced <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060919quigley,1,24451.story?coll=chi-business-hed">Quigley would close its doors</a> in June 2007, marking the end of an era and signaling a significant shift in how the American church is drawing young men to the priesthood. [...]<br /><br />A majority of families chose Quigley for its college preparatory curriculum. Even Cardinal Francis George has pointed out that Quigley has produced more lawyers than priests.</blockquote><br /><br />I know what you're thinking. The American church <i>is</i> drawing young men to the priesthood? (Rimshot.) Seriously, I hate to stomp on the ashes of a beloved institution, but this is a wise choice by the Chicago archdiocese. There's something disturbingly arcane about steering boys toward a demanding lifetime vocation at an age where some malls won't let them in alone. <br /><br />Besides, I've resented Quigley since the time I happened to meet five of its graduates at a church mixer. All of the young men were married or engaged (you guessed it--not priests.) When I wondered aloud about the odds of meeting five seminary graduates who ended up choosing lay life, they corrected me: as it says above, most Quigley students don't end up choosing the priesthood. One of the guys, with creditable diffidence, mentioned that he and his parents made the choice because "it's basically a good deal": any boy with "sincere interest in the priesthood" can get <a href="http://www.quigley.org/menu/admit.htm">financial help</a> to attend Quigley. <br /><br />Obviously this begs the question: Sincere interest? THEY'RE LIKE 12. In effect, the Archdiocese of Chicago has been offering a free or discounted Catholic education to any child--oops, male child--who agreed to "consider" the priesthood. So now that it mostly turns out lawyers and aldermen, they're closing the school--the investment no longer bringing desired returns. Despite the emotional cost to some in the community, it's a worthy gesture of respect to the laypeople whose dollars keep the archdiocese working.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11924627.post-1158680861365737282006-09-19T10:09:00.000-05:002006-11-02T17:10:53.999-06:00A teacher should choose his words more carefullySo you must be aware that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/europe/19pope.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">many Muslims are angry</a>, and a few have acted out in violence, over what they see as anti-Islam statements by Pope Benedict XVI in a speech he made to a group of academics. (CNN helpfully <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/15/pope.islam/index.html?section=cnn_topstories">provides a video</a> they title "Watch other Muslims burn the pope in effigy." Sure to be a YouTube hit.) The Pope has offered an apology and explanation, but the extremely mediagenic controversy continues to simmer. Massive furor over a barely illustrative comment made in an intimate academic setting: Pope Benedict's getting the Larry Summers treatment, a comparison I imagine would bemuse them both. <br /><br />Zenit has the <a href="http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=94748">full text</a> of the Pope's remarks up now, although when I checked this link last night they had redacted the offending quote. I'm glad they finally read the speech and noticed that the Pope praises "the will to be obedient to the truth" as a hallmark of both faith and science.<br /><br />Quoting the anti-Mohammed statement in the full context the pope gave it would require pasting several paragraphs. He mentions both the author of the book he read it in and the name of the Byzantine emperor who actually said it, and even notes that the story is tangential to his main point. The speech is a subtle and extremely smart analysis of the role Greek culture played and plays in Christianity's relating of faith to reason. The Pope decides that reason is an integral element of Christian faith, not merely an artifact of scholarly Greek culture. The document with the anti-Islam quote also contained an assertion by the Muslim scholar that God is not required to behave rationally by human standards, which the Pope uses as an entry into his meditation. <br /><br />As the Times story linked above points out, some commentors are blown away that the pope apologized at all, and others think, because <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5353774.stm">his apology</a> only mentioned the "reactions" to his remarks, he hasn't yet gone far enough. Both sides are right. The speed and sincerity of the Pope's response should make Catholics proud. The very fact that he spent time reading the document he quotes, a medieval dialogue between a Christian emperor and a Muslim scholar, shows his willingness to approach other faiths with deep scholarship and respect. <br /><br />But a wise man like the Pope should have known better than to use such a negative quote, especially since it has so little to do with the message of his speech. He didn't need to associate Islam and jihad in order to tell the story about the emperor and the scholar conversing about reason, although that is a decent concrete example of assuming that God reasons with a human mind. (The Byzantine emperor asks how God can both condemn violence and advocate holy war.) The emperor's quote against Mohammed, the words that have inspired anger and violence, has no purpose whatsoever in the Pope's speech: in fact, he never refers back to the words once he's quoted them. <br /><br />As he mentions in this speech, Pope Benedict was a longtime teacher. His colleagues who teach American literature probably have a very clear idea of how worthy texts--like medieval dialogues, or <em>Huckleberry Finn</em>--need to be quoted with sensitivity. The Pope should issue a fuller apology for a use of language that was not malicious--I don't think so--but certainly thoughtless. After all, it's his job to promote the truth that the Word has world-altering power.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1