YOU MEANT WHAT I KNEW

Someone was telling the story the other day on how they are being asked to talk to a group of artists on behalf of the sponsoring organization.  “They refuse to listen to us,” the organizers said.

 

“Are you speaking Musician?” asked the person telling the story.

 

It is true, we may all use the same language but we don’t necessarily speak the same language.  For example, I was using a quote from an article in a homily recently.  One of the sentences in the article, in talking about the Mass, said something along the lines of, “Sometimes Mass is said in Latin, sometimes in the vulgar tongue.”  Now I know what they meant by that.  You know what they meant by that.  But there was a good chance some people would hear the world vulgar and interpret it negatively and so I changed the word to “vernacular.”  The point is to get someone to understand what I am trying to say instead of hearing something else.

 

Early in my time here at this parish there was some misunderstandings between the diocese and what was happening at the parish.  It was largely due to using two different English sets of words to describe the same thing; one was ecclesial, one was business – both meant the same thing and after that was cleared up, progress could be made.

 

SO . . . when presenting the faith to someone, bear in mind the person to whom you are speaking, where they are, from where they are coming, and try to discern their language.  Presbyter, priest, minister, pastor, parochial vicar, associate pastor, elder, persona Christi, clergy, reverend, father, preacher, righteous dude may all refer more or less to the same person in someone’s understanding.  (Silly example, I know.)  But speaking to someone in their own language may help understanding go more quickly and so give the Holy Spirit a running start in converting hearts.

&%$!!!@*%!!

Walk away. 

 

Breath!

 

Count to ten.

 

Collect your thoughts.

 

Think before you speak.

 

Someone you (love, have as your superior, are responsible for) has just said something that pushed your explode button.  But you know you should respond, not react so you take the above advice.  Good for you.  You did not allow your emotions to rule you.

 

Emotions are a very important gift from our God.  They are helpful, wonderful, powerful, and at times challenging.  They may also be very destructive if we misplace them on the hierarchy of place in our lives.

 

There are two basic mistakes that we can make and these have consequences in the spiritual life.  The first is to make them our masters.  “I feel and therefore it is!”  I feel angry (or you make me angry) and therefore I have the right to act.  I feel love and therefore I have the mandate to act on it even if it is sinful or destructive.  I feel blue and therefore have the right to (eat too much, drink too much, watch too much T.V., plug in any vice.)

 

Emotions are not our rulers.  They are there to tell us that something important is happening in our lives and we need to pay attention.  But after paying attention we need to act rationally.  So if I am angry, I walk away for a minute, calm down, think, and respond.  If I find the waitress enchanting, I remember my vow to my wife and my responsibility to my children.  If I am blue, I remember that eating that bag of Value Time Cheese Curls will not fill the hole but will only make me regret over eating the next morning and thus continuing the cycle.

 

On the other hand, turning Vulcan and ignoring emotions is just as dangerous.  Pushing them down, suppressing them, ignoring them, muscling your way through them is like dropping Mentos in Diet Coke; sooner or later they are going to come squirting out in some inappropriate way. 

 

So they neither our bosses nor or they able to be ignored.  They are like puppies, they need to be dealt with but in an appropriate way.  Puppies need discipline but they also need to go out and do their business.

 

As to the faith life, whether one “feels” God or not is no indication that God is present or that prayer was good or that one is closer to God or not.  In fact, it is often the case that when we think He is not there that He is the closest, the prayer was working hardest, that we were most transformed. 

 

God cannot not be near you.  Did you celebrate a sacrament?  God was there and acted.  Did you feel exhilarated?  Be thankful for the consolation, remember it for the times you feel desolation, and move on.  Do you feel desolation?  Review your life.  Does anything need worked out?  If not, trust God and move on.  If Mass is as dry to you as sand on toast in the desert, that is Okay.  God still works.  Is a prayer exhilarating to you ask if you are just being entertained or if something good is really happening.  Your emotions are trying to speak to you, not rule you.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCXXVI

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "The ploughshare that breaks up the earth and opens up the furrow sees neither the seed nor the harvest."  Blessed Josemaria Escriva

 

QUOTE II:  "The higher a statue is raised, the harder and more dangerous the impact when it falls."  same source.

 

IN OTHER NEWS:

 

Therese sent in Pope Francis's New Year's Resolutions.  See them here.

 

Elena sent in this information about 16 free books on Kindle by G. K. Chesterton.

 

There was a relatively rare phenomenon that occurred in Akron this past week.  Snow rollers!  If you looked out side you would see what appeared to be hundreds of rolls of toilette paper left in yards and fields.

 But this is what toilette paper actually looks like.  Uncanny resemblance though don't you think?

 They are caused by wind rolling the snow across a field.  It was hard to take pictures of them for you however because every time I stooped to take a picture Sebastian would run up and eat whatever the camera was pointing at.

 But there were fields of them so I could fake him out by making him think I was taking a picture of one and then, turning, taking a picture of another.  These particular ones were in Forest Lodge Park across the street from the parish.

 

For more information in these things go here.

 

From the Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter:  "The following article is a perspective on the subject of suicide."  Go here for more.

 

From the same source:  "Did you know, the February 2014 luncheon speakers for the three First Friday Clubs in the Diocese of Cleveland have been announced?"  Go here for more.

 

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:  Pat sent a video in for this Month of Life.  "Excellent video of Brit Hume clarifying what abortion really is (2 minutes)"  I can't post it because of the school filter.  You may go here to watch it.

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: CHUCK NORRIS WANT YOU TO READ THIS (SO I'D DO IT)

Wednesdays are a popular "day away from the parish" for pastors.  It's nice - middle of the week - things are open but not crowded.  Often, in the evening, a couple of priests will stop by St. Sebastian rectory to talk and have *refreshments* and get caught up on important diocesan gossi . . . I mean goings on and in general to relax.

 

Relax does not always mean take it easy.  It may just mean doing something different.  Long time readers will remember the Coke and Menthol's experiment.  This week's experiment involved Strike Anywhere Matches.  One of us found a box and so of course we needed to check the validity of the bold statement.  Just for truth in advertising sake they should be called Strike Anywhere Reasonable to Cause Some Amount of Friction Matches.

 

If you ever carry out this experiment (and I do not recommend it) do it outside with plenty of water around.  That would be better than what we did.

 

Especially when it came to trying to light matches with our thumbs.  We looked it up on line where it told you how to hold the match and how to strike the head etc.  We went through 100 matches trying this.  After a while you stop paying attention.  You are in the middle of a conversation and all of a sudden there is a flare and your thumb is burning.  Not smart.

 

Figuring it was not a wise experiment any further, one of the priests told us about a site that had Chuck Norris jokes.  We looked them up and started laughing hysterically.  Here is an example of the Chuck Norris jokes found here.

 

 

So starting to get the hang of it, we spent the night coming up with our own Chuck Norris jokes.  As far as we know they are original to us and last Wednesday night.  Silly, I know, but God likes to see us happy and laughing so I hope you enjoy.

The Dust Bowl was once part of the Rocky Mountains until Chuck Norris punched it.

Bears don't hibernate.  When they come across Chuck Norris in the woods they play dead.  For months.

The rule against spitting into the wind does not apply to Chuck Norris.  The wind blows in the direction he decides to spit.

Finally:  Lightning never strikes in the same place twice out of principle.  Chuck Norris never needs to.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: ITS COLD OUTSIDE. COME CLOSER TO THE FIRE

Lumen Gentium paragraphs 61 & 62

 

I have a friend who became a Universalist Unitarian Minister.  For a long spell we would write letters back and forth asking each other questions of faith and compare answers.  He had the idea that some day we would compile all of the letters and put them in book form but the project kind of fizzled out. 

 

Around this time the title Mediatrix for Mary was being bandied about more than usual (though it is a title afforded her in Vatican II) and it was causing consternation in certain circles that were concerned that too much power was being given to this human.  One of the questions received from my friend expressed a certain amount of uneasiness with the Catholic Church seemingly to be granting Mary a godly status, as if becoming a part of the Trinity, which of course would now be a Quadernity.  Anyone the least steeped in true Catholic theology would know this is impossible to do and remain a Catholic, but there were concerns none-the-less.  I find this understandable.

 

But God always works in concert with His people.  For example He does not baptize us in secret without our knowledge, consent, and cooperation.  In fact, it requires the community to do this.  (You can’t baptize yourself.)  So God (Who is so powerful He can work outside of His sacramental system) awaits our cooperation and man (Who is so weak he can do nothing without God’s power) must say yes to God.  This is why we have a priesthood.  Yet (almost) nobody thinks that having priests acting in God name, celebrating the sacraments, and speaking in His Name is taking away from God’s power or majesty.  The case is the same for Mary.

 

Mary, for her part, said yes to God’s requests.  She gave her body to house the God child.  She presented Him in the temple to the Father.  She raised him and stood by Him in His ministry, Passion, and death.  In a “wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work of the Savior restoring supernatural life to souls.”  In this way she is called our Mother, not to compete with God, but to show His power breaking into the world just as we are all called to do.  Christ remains our one true Mediator, but Mary, in her singular role (as similarly any minister who baptizes brings life to a soul) plays a significant role.  Her role has universal significance and continues to this day and so we call her “Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”  Her role is clearly subordinate to that of her Son, but by becoming closer to her who is so close to God, we come closer to her Son just as coming closer to the heat brings you closer to the fire.

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

I count myself extremely fortunate that I grew up in house with live music; piano playing, button box, singing.  There were a couple of bands in the family.  There was always singing.  At the end of the night down at Slovene Center a group of people hanging in the bar would sing in four part harmony.  We kids were in the school band.  We sang in the church choir and every Sunday we heard live music performed by members of the community – the organ, the choir – sometimes cheesy music, sometimes classical, sometimes tied to our ethnic background, but LIVE and performed by ourselves or people we know.

 

If it were not for your local parish, how often would you hear live music performed?  It doesn’t necessarily have to be great music and often isn’t (although that certainly helps.)  Most of the time we hear music recorded at some date and played at a million venues numerous times a day.  How blessed we are to hear real music every Sunday! 

 

There is a fear that “local music” is disappearing.  Everything is recorded, sent, and played ad nauseam.  Weakening is regional food, local dialects, and quirky regional flavors that make being in a certain town different and interesting.  (Less and less are the words “devil strip” used in Akron.)  Too soon it will be Miley Cyrus, McDonalds, Gap, and “tree lawn” from coast to shining coast.

 

In this snowstorm of blandness there are little fires of hope.  I will grant you that often they are not great fires, barely able to offer warmth and to the extent that we can, we should fan these flames into something great.  But still, they are there.  Perhaps one of the only places where people in such numbers gather on a weekly basis (save for school if your levy passes) to both hear truly live music and are encouraged to participate in it.

GET SMART

When I was in college I was eligible for Social Security benefits because the government felt that my father did not make enough money.  But, don’t you know, just as I was entering college they raised the threshold just enough that I would not receive any benefits.  Go figure.

 

But that was Okay, for the very next year my father was retired for half of the year and his income was less and therefore I was once again eligible for benefits!  Except that they had changed the standards again and I was out of the group.

 

But that was Okay, because the next year my father would have been retired the entire year, making substantially less than he did just two year ago and once again I was eligible.  Except, of course, that they changed the requirements once again and once again I was left out of the group.

 

This is not about a social security check.  The fact is that I didn’t need it although it might have been fun.  But it is an example on how slight changes in law can leave you out in the cold if you are on the margin.  One slight change and you can go from favored status to non-favored status.

 

That is what the pro-life movement is about.  When any person is considered Okay to put to death, the pool of what it is to be human with dignity and rights grows smaller and those not at the center of the pool see the edge move closer toward them. 

 

The scary thing is that it doesn’t take much to be moved from the center of the pool to the edge.  An accident, a false accusation, a disease, old age, loss of a job, an incident that can take place in the twinkling of an eye can move you from the center of the pool to the edge.  (Look at the minister from Hudson in jail in a foreign country accused of human trafficking.  Though seemingly innocent, things could go terribly wrong very quickly.)  I remember being shocked at a Pro-Life march in Washington D. C. seeing people in wheel chairs holding signs that asked the question, “Am I next?”  That they could even think that a possibility says something about where we are going as a people.

 

Today, in particular, we are encouraged to pray for the legal protection of unborn children.  Masses for Peace and Justice are being celebrated.  Thousands of people are weathering the bitter, bitter cold on the Life March in Washington today.  You are encouraged to pray and fast.  It doesn’t even have to be a full fast.  Give up the last cup of coffee.  Leave the last cookie on the plate.  Don’t grab that handful of nuts.  And every time you have the urge and wish that the beautiful, steaming, yummy mug of coffee was at your hand, offer it up with a prayer for those whose lives are not held as dear and worthy as yours.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCXXV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "Well . . . it's not as if we're running a hospital for sick children down here, let's put it that way.  Where's the nobility in patching up a bunch of old tables and chairs?  Corrosive to the soul, quite possibly.  I've seen too many estates not to know that.  Only - if you care for a thing enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn't it?  And isn't that the whole point of things - beautiful things - that they connect you to some larger beauty?"  from Donna Tartt's, "The Goldfinch"

 

QUOTE II:  "But . . . if a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, think, and feel, you don't think, 'oh, I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.'  That's not the reason anyone loves a piece of art.  It's a secret whisper from an alleyway.  Psst, you.  Hey kid.  Yes you."  same source

 

IN OTHER NEWS:

 

If you join the American Chesterton Society before January 27th, you get a free lapel pin.  Lucky you.  I didn't get one.  Go here.

 

The Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter states, "Pope Francis said, 'No chorus is as wonderful as the squeaks, squeals and banter of children.' Have you ever used the "cry room" during Mass?"  Take the online pole here.

 

Boston Globe hires journalist to focus on Catholic stories.  Read more here.

 

You may not want to watch this week's video.  "Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism."  See story and video here.

THANK GOODNESS FOR IRENE

Happy Feast Day of Saint Sebastian

 

(Though we celebrated it here over the weekend.)

 

Finding it difficult to come up with a good St. Sebastian hymn, we wrote our own.  It is to the tune of Thaxed by G. T. Holst (though I realize the wording can be a bit tricky.)

 

St. Sebastian, martyr, patron, your name we joyf’ly laud.

You were a Roman soldier whose heart was pledged to God.

Though the emp’rer Diocletian declared death to be the price,

you fulfilled your soldier’s duty while leading souls to Christ.

O Sebastian, martyr, patron, we lift our voice and sing,

please be our intercessor to Christ our mighty King.

 

When confronted with the martyrs choice of Christ or earthly king,

you turned your thoughts to heaven where saints and angels sing.

Sentenced to be executed for believing in the Name

your were bound and shot with arrows and earned a martyrs fame.

Saint Sebastian, martyr, patron, to you our thanks we bring

you are our intercessor to Christ our mighty King.

 

Though thought dead and left abandoned your noble heart still beat.

Nursed to health you earned the privilege to rest from danger’s heat.

But the Christians persecuted needed you to stand for them,

your confronted wicked rulers and faced martyrdom again.

Saint Sebastian, martyr, patron, your task continuing,

keep us close to Christ our Eucharist, our Savior and our King.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: COME ON BABY, LET'S DO THE TWIST

One of the reasons I like G. K. Chesterton so much as he takes conventional wisdom that is aimed against the faith, gives is a slight twist, and throws it back at his adversaries who then go scrambling.  The next paragraphs of Lumen Gentium (59 – 60) do much of the same thing.  It is often a criticism of the Church that we rely too much on Mary and that somehow diminishes God and makes out tie to Him appear weaker.  Au Contraire says the Church.  It proves just the opposite.  It is true, there is but one mediator between man and God and that is Jesus Christ.  The devotion we have for Mary does not lessen this fact but show’s God’s great power.

 

By the fore merits of her Son, Mary is declared by the angel “full of grace.”  Grace is any Divine help that we receive to bring us closer to God (simple definition – work with me.)  Mary isn’t touched, or has a bunch of, or even is pretty close to having it all, but is declared full of grace.  As a human person, she is as close to God as a human person may be.  She was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and conceived the God child, was with Him through His life and death, persevered in prayer with the apostles after His death, and was then assumed into heaven. 

 

So full of God’s presence is she that it flows from the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to touch us.  It is His super abundance of grace and power that we feel.  Our connection to the Father rests solely on the shoulders of Christ “and depends entirely on Him and draws all its power from Him.”  Devotion of Mary in no way hinders the immediate union with us and God but fosters it, bringing us closer through Christ.

YOUR FRIENDS WANT TO GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER

I wouldn’t bet my left hand on it, but I believe that all of Christmas has finally been tracked down, wrapped in toilette paper, put in a box, and hidden in a closet for the next 11 months.  And you know what this leads me to believe?  We need more things to celebrate!

 

Who are some of your patron saints that you should be making friends with and enjoying their feast days?  Saint Bartholomew’s feast day is on my birthday.  Sts. Cosmos and Damian share my baptismal date.  St. Leo the Great’s feast day is the day on which Bishop Lennon named me pastor of St. Sebastian.  St. George is the name of the town my family came from in Slovenia.  It was on St. Joan of Arcs day that I was ordained.  This is part of my cadre of friends with which something clicks when I hear them mentioned at Mass, or in a Litany of Saints, or come across in a book or on the internet.  I ask for their intercession, do something fun to mark their feast days, and consider them “my saints.”

 

Who are yours?  When where you married?  On what day did you buy your house?  When did you graduate?  One reason Sebastian is named Sebastian is that his birth certificate reads, “Born late January.”  So I chose January 20^th which is, of course, St. Sebastian Day.

 

So go ahead!  Find a significant event in your life.  If you are fortunate, there will be a saint to celebrate on that day with whom you might develop a relationship and find an excuse to celebrate.

WINDOWS VS WALLS

Here is a typical scenario:  I am walking my dog in the park and meet up with some people from the neighborhood who once had some association with the Catholic Church but have moved on for various reasons (kids no longer in the parish school – found something different – do nothing now) and they mention the pope.  “This guy just might get me back into the Church.”

 

People come in to the Church for all kinds of reasons, some better than others.  Hence the phrase, “Lord, I was duped and I let myself be duped.”  But I am always a bit wary of numbers growing because of the personality of the pope, the priest, or even the youth director.  When the emphasis is too much on the personality of a person, faith in God can remain anemic.  So when the youth director must move on, the youth program disintegrates.  When the priest is moved, the people drift away.  When the pope says or does something unpopular (and he will – it’s the nature of the job – even Jesus found Himself in that position), then those who needed an excuse to go to Church find the reason to stay at home in bed.

 

At all times we are to be fingerposts, always pointing away from ourselves toward God and the Eucharist.  I must decrease and He must increase.  After all, we are finite and fallible.  We will disappoint and get in the way.  Rather, during that brief, glorious moment with a person when our charisma might, by the grace of God, have some sway, we welcome and rejoice and then point the way deeper inside.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCXXIV

The following quotes are from this week’s reading, “The Surprise” at the St. Sebastian G. K. Chesterton Society

 

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  “Only witches and wicked sorcerers make men captives by their enchantment; imprison them in beasts or birds or turn them to stoen statues.  God’s miracles always free men from captivity and give them back their bodies.” 

 

QUOTE II:  “Obedience.  The most thrilling world in the world; a very thunderclap of a word.  Why do all these fools fancy that they soul is only free when it disagrees with the common command?”

 

QUOTE III:  “. . . the only way to bind a gentleman is to tell him he is free.”

 

QUOTE IV:  “But you will never understand them in a thousand years, if you suppose that coarse and common men love nothing except coarseness and commonness.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

 

Sent in from Michelle:  "Since stepping onto the world stage, Pope Francis has fascinated Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as evidenced by his recent selection as “Man of the Year” by Time Magazine. But how much do you really know about the man who became Pope? What do his close friends, fellow priests, co-workers, his biographer, and the poor of Buenos Aires have to say about the first pope from the Americas?

"Find out when EWTN airs “Francis: The Pope From the New World” at 9:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Jan. 15; 10 a.m. ET, Thursday, Jan. 16, and 6 p.m. ET, Saturday, Jan. 18. Much of the footage from this hour-long documentary, which traces the remarkable rise of this humble priest, was shot on location in Argentina. The first airing of the documentary will be preceded at 8 p.m. ET by a special “EWTN Live,” featuring Executive Producers Andrew T. Walther and Alejandro Bermudez."

 

Kevin sent this article in about student artists starting a new project in Stuebeniville.  There is a second article here.

 

This sent in from Ellen:  "Here is a nice, recent interview Dale gave to a popular secular website, Breitbart News/Big Hollywood. There are some juicy news tidbits in there, including an idea for a new Chesterton movie."  Read more here.

 

Sent in from Ronald (7minutes)

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: I BEG YOUR PARDON

When I was a kid the song was out with the words, “I beg your pardon.  I never promised you a rose garden.”  I remember taking it quite literally and wondering if the song was about some door to door salesman scam gone awry: someone made an assumption of services, paid the cash, and then was disappointed in not getting what they assumed they were getting.

 

Sometimes it seems that this problem exists with Christians.  They sign up thinking, “Since I gave myself to God and try to be good, everything will now be great in my life.”  Read: Prosperity Gospel (a bunch of malarkey.)  In fact, expect quite the opposite.

 

In Lumen Gentium we are reminded that Jesus said, “blessed are those who hear the world of God and cherish it!”  Mary, who was full of grace (grace being Divine help that brings us closer to Him – can you imagine being full of that?  Wow!) heard the word of God and said yes with her entire life.  One would think that if anybody would be promised a rose garden in this life it would be Mary.  She heard the word of her Son, her Creator to Whom she gave birth, and faithfully contemplated these things in her heart and lived them out.  She was present at the beginning of His ministry and “faithfully persevered with her Son unto the Cross, where she stood keeping with the Divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of His suffering, associated herself with His sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and loving consented to the immolation of this Victim which was born of her.”  Is that not devastating?  No rose garden (at least in this life.)  And by that same Son, she is given to us through St. John when He says, “Woman, behold your son.  Son, behold your mother.”

 

Only by meditating (praying) on His words and promises could she accept such tragedy and understand that from such devastation true life would spring: eternal life – a life of joy.  And so the lesson, though the mother, is given to us.

 

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis!

RANT - COUNTER RANT: DON'T MESS WITH MY LITTLE SISTERS

Today I was poised (poised I tell you) to write a scathing article about reporters and editorialists who never took (or have completely forgotten or ignore) a theology class, a philosophy class, or an ethics class that dealt with the Catholic faith (which is a significant part of the population – more than half of all Christians are Catholic after all so this is no small matter) and then imagine they can think over an issue in the shower and come up with a sensible solution with which the Catholic Church, if it were in its right mind, should agree.  The problem being is that their level of competence is rarely up to the task.  This is not to say that they may not be extremely knowledgeable people in other fields, but sometimes I despair that it is obvious that a reporter has failed to even ask what an orthodox, faithful, and knowledgeable Catholic might have to say on a topic.

 

But then, Kevin O’Brien wrote an editorial in today’s Plain Dealer, E3 (January 8, 2014) concerning the health care mandate and the Little Sisters of the Poor entitled “Even the Little Sisters of the Poor are subject to Big Brother’s bullying.”  (On a side note, I am not sure why capitalization for titles is no longer in use in newspapers, but perhaps the rules have changed.)  I will grant that the article is a tinsy wincy bit acidic, but of course I like it because I agree with him.  But he nailed the issues that so many other news sources have not grasped, cared about, or have ignored for other motivations.  Read the article here.

 

It’s sad to see how much money the government is wasting defending desire to provide every man, woman, and child with contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilizations.  It is interesting to note that many of these very things have been offered for free from clinics for decades and others at very minimal cost.  Considering the vast amount of extremely expensive exemptions that have already been granted (government, you don’t have to participate – unions, you don’t have to participate) why is there such an effort to have the Catholic Church submit to this comparatively inexpensive item?  We are not opting out like the government itself is doing or unions, we just want this one exception.  (Not that I am recommending it, but it would be interesting to see how many decades the government could have supplied these services for free through clinics with the money they would have saved by just granting the exemption instead of having these expensive court battles that seem will continue well into the future.)

 

Of course, maybe it isn’t really about contraception or (an already very un-) level playing field.  Could it be that Catholics are not as worthy citizens as those who work for unions or in the government?  Is there another agenda at work here?  (Okay, maybe I am becoming jaded.)  But this seemingly little crack in religious freedom could be a hole in the damn.  Unless the Little Sisters stick their thumb in the hole, what will happen when another issue comes up effecting another matter or another faith and we look at precedent and decide, “Well, it was constitutional, for government interests, to force the Catholic Church to act against its core beliefs, therefore we may turn on you next.”

 

In this light, this is no small matter.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCXXIII

Quote I:  “America’s problem isn’t too much religion, or too little of it, It’s bad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of a variety of pseudo-Christianities in its wake.” from Ross Douthat’s “Bad Religion”

 

Quote II:  “Camille Paglia, an atheist art historian who nevertheless has a high appreciation for the beauty engendered by Christianity, has taught students who can’t quite place Adam and Eve and haven’t the foggiest who that Moses fellow was. ‘If you are an artist and you don’t recognize the name of Moses,’ Paglia told Emily Esfahani Smith, ‘then the West is dead. It’s over. It has committed suicide.’”  From, “White Trash Religion in a Nutshell: Proud, Ignorant, and Messy”

 

IN OTHER NEWS:

Is it open season on priests?  Here is an intersting article.

 

From the Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter:  "Did you know, the Diocese of Cleveland produces a monthly information piece called the Diocesan Memorandum?  The January 2014 Diocesan Memorandum is now available for your review."  Go here.

 

What is one of the reasons we are stressing the Arts at St. Sebastian parish?  Here is an intersting video sent in by Adam.  (Of course, first reason quotis for the glory of God.)

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: WHO NEEDS KRYPTONITE?

 

 

Happy free day kids