Idea for a TeeShirt

After reading some of the excellent articles at CERC, I decided it would say:

"Save the World: Practice Catholicism"

Because there are so many ills that could be healed/reversed/avoided if people actually listened to the church's teachings. She doesn't say these things for no apparent reason. According to this article, the reasons are apparent even to secular humanists who aren't trying to save souls, such as George Akerlof:

George Akerlof is a Nobel prize-winning economist, a professor at Berkeley, and a former fellow at the Brookings Institution; he is not a conservative. In two articles in leading economic journals, Akerlof details findings and advances arguments that vindicate Paul VI's prophetic warnings about the social consequences of contraception for morality and men.

In his first article, published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics in 1996, Akerlof began by asking why the United States witnessed such a dramatic increase in illegitimacy from 1965 to 1990 — from 24 percent to 64 percent among African-Americans, and from 3 percent to 18 percent among whites. He noted that public health advocates had predicted that the widespread availability of contraception and abortion would reduce illegitimacy, not increase it. So what happened?

Using the language of economics, Akerlof pointed out that "technological innovation creates both winners and losers." In this case the introduction of widespread effective contraception — especially the pill — put traditional women with an interest in marriage and children at "competitive disadvantage" in the relationship "market" compared to modern women who took a more hedonistic approach to sex and relationships. The contraceptive revolution also reduced the costs of sex for women and men, insofar as the threat of childbearing was taken off the table, especially as abortion became widely available in the 1970s.

The consequence? Traditional women could no longer hold the threat of pregnancy over their male partners, either to avoid sex or to elicit a promise of marriage in the event their partner made them pregnant. And modern women no longer worried about getting pregnant. Accordingly, more and more women (traditional as well as modern) gave in to their boyfriends' entreaties for sex.

In Akerlof's words, "the norm of premarital sexual abstinence all but vanished in the wake of the technology shock." Women felt free or obligated to have sex before marriage. For instance, Akerlof finds that the percentage of girls 16 and under reporting sexual activity surged in 1970 and 1971 as contraception and abortion became common in many states throughout the country.

I also considered starting a Society of Pope Paul VI (SPPVI-- a kind of antidote to the SPPX) before I realized that such a Society already exists. It's called the Catholic Church...And hey-- I'm already a member!

A second article that makes manifest the apparent soundness of Catholic practice examines the inherently human need to be absolved of sin, as evidenced in the way online confessionals have become so popular. Human beings have an innate need to voice aloud their guilt. Jesus understood this fact, and instituted the Sacrament of CPR as a means of Healing.

I give thanks to God that I am in the Church that saves people from themselves, that saves society, that teaches Truth (about Divorce, about Sexuality, about Jesus, etc.), and does so in the name of Love Incarnate.

I'm inclined to break into merry song:

I am a C.
I am a C-H.
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N! (yeehaw!)
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H-E-A-R-T
Whom I will L-O-V-E- E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y!

I will hold the Christlight for you

My Goddaughter Hayley's baby sister Jamie Marie has entered the Family of God.

Welcome, Jamie Marie!

Noone holds a candle to her in cuteness, but here we are holding her Baptism candle. I'm twice a Godfather! Yay for Happy Godfamily! (whose blog is finally up and running again- see link in the margin)

Ahhh...Water + Fire = the Drama of the Sacraments

Here she is receiving the chrism. She smelled of baby & holiness on the crown of her head the rest of the week :)

Movies

Barbara Nicolosi said something on her blog that got me thinkining. In dismissing a movie she had just panned, she said, "It will fade fast"-- as though that were the universal mark of poor cinema. Hence, it got me thinkining about which movies have not faded from my memory and therefore are worth celebrating. After all, it's summertime, when many of us have the chance to catch up on our Summer Watching List. Perhaps you will add one of these to your list:

Milo & Otis= one of the cutest things Japan's ever produced, the story of a curious cat and a pug-nosed pup and the many friends they meet along their way. Other favorites from youth include Anne of Avonlea, The Great Mouse Detective, Rats of Nimh, and Beauty & the Beast.

The Crucible= I love cathartic morality plays; the scene on the shore, when they must part...but not for all eternity- ay mi! Venues for catharsis include, but are not limited to, Scofield's other classic, A Man for All Seasons, Empire of the Sun, Gosford Park, Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men, and Saving Private Ryan.

Breakfast at Tiffany's= Audrey. I do adore romance! Notting Hill, Sense and Sensibility, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare in Love, and anything Jane Austen spring to mind. Of course, musicals combine the best in romance with memorable songs-- Sound of Music and The King & I will always rank highest on my list!

Field of Dreams= perfect for summer; it has baseball and cornfields. Other family favorites include Waking Ned Divine, Toy Story, Romero, E.T., Star Wars, and In America.

And not to be left off any list of mine, the best Papist movie of all time= Shoes of the Fisherman, a movie that combines the papacies of John XXIII, Paul VI, and JPII both ironically and prophetically. I could do without the 60's intrusions, which date the movie in the worst way; but the moment when Cardinal Leo proclaims, "You are Peter!"-- that sends tingles only a Catholic could ever know. Truly unforgettable.

Comedies-- hmm. I loved Emma Thompson in Junior. Remember John Candy as Uncle Buck? Oh, and the Bean movie! Rowan Atkinson's hilarious! I almost peed my pants.
Drama-- Anything by Merchant/Ivory. Blackrobe, Awakening, Power of One, and Dead Poets Society. To Kill A Mockingbird (Gregory Peck's finest). Snow Falling on Cedars.
Animation- Lion King, Chicken Run, Watership Down, the Fivel movie, anything Pixar, especially their film shorts.
Literary figures have been enjoyable films too- Finding Neverland, Miss Potter, and Shadowlands, which combined Anthony Hopkins with C.S.Lewis, among the best of England.

Also-- do you choose a movie for its soundtrack? Mission, Witness, O Brother Where Art Thou, and Master & Commander off the top of my head.

Good Actors not already mentioned = Dustin Hoffman, Helen Mirren.

I'm sure there's more, but let's not be exhaustive. Lord of the Rings. There- I'm done.

Monsenor Martiro

Chris Blosser offers an unexpected look at the life of Oscar Romero, whom many anticipate will be declared a saint. He was killed while saying Mass at the Chapel of Divina Providencia in 1980. Here is an excerpt from an interview with a close friend of the Archbishop:

"The circumstances of his death still stun me today. His last Mass in the hospital chapel was a Mass for the dead: Romero read the lesson, it was the Gospel of John where Jesus says: 'The hour has come that the son of man be glorified'. I ask myself whether he knew in that moment that he was going to be killed. His sermon seems a testament, in which he compares himself with the grain of wheat which opens in the soil to give life. And so some people think that while he was preaching he saw his killer. Reading his last words, he almost seems to be asking the killer: 'Allow me to die when I go to the altar to offer the bread and wine'. And in fact he was able to finish his sermon and was killed at the start of the offertory, himself becoming the host of his sacrifice. It is a precious image, and his whole life and death can be seen in the light of it. He lived and died a priest, a pastor in love with Jesus Christ and his flock."

Why was he a prophet? Here's a sample, which seems best directed to the United States and those who preach a 'prosperity gospel' or 'feel-good' Christianity:

"A church that suffers no persecution but enjoys the privileges and support of the things of the earth - beware! - is not the true church of Jesus Christ. A preaching that does not point out sin is not the preaching of the gospel. A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call."

Transfiguration

Don Jim memorializes Aug. 6 in a curious way over at Dappled Things.

I too find this feast day personally meaningful, though I've only barely touched on it before in this blog. Being transfigured with Christ means exuding that same Divine radiance Christ manifest on the Tabor mountaintop.


Christ, the immanent Lord, rendered Transcendent: it was the greatest act of revelation since the Nativity or Baptism-- those Epiphany moments when the Incarnation was wholly observable to impoverished humanity in His Fullness.

We are called then to do likewise. We are commissioned to manifest the radiance of God to a world that has lost its capacity to marvel in awe and lie prostrate, trembling. Do we fear the Lord? Does the Lord's favor rest with us? Is the Lord well pleased with each of us? Will the angels applaud the choices we have made? Have we made every effort to live ad majorem Dei gloriam?

Pause to consider your Beloved, in whose Heart we are invited to rest secure. Remember the quote from His Loveliness, Pope Benedict XVI: "The heart of God, the omnipotent, waits for the Yes from his creatures as a young husband awaits his wife's yes."

Zoom

I love this picture of the Holy Father, from Whispers in the Loggia.

Give of yourself

Donating blood occasions such profound gratitude in me every single time. For one thing, it makes apparent how very medically sound I am, especially since I give Double Red when I go, something you can only do if you have really healthy blood and circulation and levels and content. Filling out the test questions in the beginning gives me pause to consider how profoundly blest, fortunate, and prudent I have been, e.g. I do not take medication, I have not had sexual contact, and I have eschewed the various maladies that could prevent one from giving blood. And knowing that within 48 hours, my pouch is going to go directly into someone else's vein elicits such satisfaction: I am a rare commodity of healthfulness- I am keeping someone else alive because I have pristine platelets- I am a Blood Donor! I proudly proclaim so on my resume.

Less apparently a consequence, giving blood occasions a sense of real union with Christ, who shed His blood that we all might have life and abundantly.

CatholicLand

The Vatican City State has unveiled a new website on the Internet, pertaining to the government of the minuscule monarchy of which the Holy See is sovereign. The Holy See refers to the Petrine Office, the Roman Curia, and the Pope's magisterial authority as Bishop of Rome in union with the College of Cardinals. As Vicar of Christ, the Pope runs the Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, a distinct entity from the Holy See and yet inextricable in his person. It might be better to let the website explain this paradox.

Above is a picture of his crest, rendered in marble for the entryway to the Governorate Palace, prior to its installation in the floor:
I suppose one could think of the Holy See as the Pope governing the Church and the SCV as the Pope governing the State. In both cases he is Vicar of Christ. This is Catholic incarnationality in its most manifestly concrete form. If you want to understand the necessity of Christ's Vicar being so caught up in "wordly" affairs, read this.

If you are still feigning interest, read this from the Vatican website:
" The expression Holy See refers to the supreme Authority of the Church, and thus the Pope as Bishop of Rome and head of the College of Bishops. Defines therefore the Central Government of the Catholic Church. As such, the Holy See is an institution which, according to the international laws and customs, has a juridical personality which permits it to sign treaties and to send and receive diplomatic representatives, as juridical equivalent of a state.

The State of Vatican City came into existence with the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy on 11 February 1929 and ratified on 7 June 1929, by which Italy recognized the full property rights and exclusive sovereignty on the Vatican as it is made up at present . It is a very small territorial entity, with the purpose of making it possible for the Pope to exercise freely his Ministry of governing the universal Church .

The State of Vatican City and the Holy See, both sovereign subjects of international public law , universally recognized , are indissolubly united in the person of the Supreme Pontiff, as Head of State , who possesses full legislative, judicial and executive powers. In periods of "Sede Vacante" (Vacancy of the Apostolic See), these powers belong to the College of Cardinals. The Supreme Pontiff governs the State through the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City (legislative power; composed of cardinals, nominated by him for a 5 year period) and the Governatorate of the State of Vatican City (executive power). The legislative regulations are published in a special supplement of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

The judicial power is exercised, in the name of the Supreme Pontiff, by the constituted organs according to the juridical structure of the State: a Magistrate, a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Court of Cassation.

The Supreme Pontiff represents, through the Secretariat of State, the State of Vatican City in relations with foreign States, for the conclusion of Treaties and for diplomatic relations.

Between 1870 and 1929, when the State of Vatican City did not exist, the Holy See maintained diplomatic relations with many States. Diplomatic envoys to the Holy See, with a certain stable character, are found since the end of the XV century. In the XVI century the constitution of permanent representations began.

The Holy See, besides the active right of diplomatic representation (the Apostolic Nuncio is a pontifical Representative, who covers the permanent function of representation of the Roman Pontiff with States and with the local ecclesiastical hierarchy), exercises the passive right, which means that it receives Representatives sent by States in extraordinary and temporary mission or ordinary and permanent mission.

Both the State of Vatican City and the Holy See, as the sovereign organ of the Catholic Church, have obtained an ever growing recognition of their distinct international character. They are members of international organizations and participate in international conferences according to the relative agreements."