It's funny how...
...you remember little things our Holy Father taught. I recall reading one of his homilies in which he said the words "Hail, Mary full of grace" could also be translated as "Rejoice! Mary filled with grace" and that you might want to substitute that in your rosary. Which I do sometimes, especially during joyous seasons such as the Easter season.
April 13, 2005
Spanning the Proverbial Globe to Bring You the Constant Variety of Posts10 Italians forming a line is a Miracle. 1,000,000 is an abolute act of God. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. -- Fr. Todd of "A Son becomes a Father" regarding a possible first miracle towards the canonization of JPII
I can sing as well as Yoko Ono. - Ellyn of Obhouse, which is non-miraculous
The Pope's evident goodness had softened neither the heart nor the hyenic howl of the culture of dissent, which had midwifed the [priest] scandal itself. Something had to be done, something radical and violent. Why didn't he do it? All the while plagued by reservations, admitting that I could not know what was in his mind, that my merciless American fondness for cleaning house might not be the way of purification for a body of believers whose relation to each member of it was, at bottom, mystical. Leave the perpetrators and their protectors to the mercy of secular law, to the humiliation of the faithful's swelling outrage. Dangling in the wind must be most excruciating for those charged with guarding, and leading us down, the path to virtue. The arguments have been made, will be made, but not by me anymore. Is it possible that a man upon whom rests the finger of God might know something I don't? Aside from the victims and their families, is it even conceivable that any of us were more grieved by events than he? -- William Luse of Apologia fame, who grows restless in proportion to the number of weeks that go by sans STG mention. But then what's Touchstone's circulation compared to mine?
Life experiences show us that humans are untrustworthy, and perverting the principle found in the first Letter of John, we say to ourselves, "If I cannot trust what I can see, how can I trust what I cannot see?" The irony is that it is precisely what we cannot see that is most trustworthy. We can be certain that under ordinary circumstances hydrogen will form one bond in which it tends to "lose" an electron. We can pretty much rely upon the Kreb's cycle. When we move from the unseen to the seen, we begin to doubt. - Steven Riddle
And the image of a sword is a fitting one, because the right thing, the thing we’re really made for, often feels like death. My friend Kevin told me that with words, and Jesus told me by substitution. --Sandra McCracken, via Joy of karagraphy
The truth of the Church is like physics. Once you learn a law of physics it is yours forever... it will never change. It's predictable and reliable. The thing that changes, though, is our knowledge and application of that law...There would be no sense in saying, "I hope the new president of PGE will make electricity less shocking" because a man can not change the law and properties of electricity to suit his own needs. Man did, however, learn to adapt his behavior/actions in order to be protected from electric shock. Screw drivers come with rubber handles! The electricity does not change for us but we change for it. - Mary of Ever-New
As a convert, I owe my faith to the Second Vatican Council and the Church which [Pope John Paul II] has led since. --Laurel of "The Dizzy Disciple"
What happened in Poland should give us a lot to think about when it comes to unpooring the poor. Does Christianity, particularly Catholicism, need a class of poor people to keep it going? Do we have an institutional invested interest in material poverty? Is there a theology of living above the poverty level? How does one end poverty without destroying the virtues of the poor? --commenter Caroline on Amy's blog
God's ways do sometimes seem like a "tedious argument of insidious intent." Indeed, from the point of view of the selfish ego, what God asks of us is insidious indeed. We can see the fear and the crisis it causes in the desires of a million people to reform the Church each in their own image... Many do not wish to serve the Church as it is. Many do not desire to serve the truth unless they have first recast it in their own image...I think that the question which has become more pressing and more urgent throughout the last century and into this one, the question that has been prevalent through all of time is "Do you love Me?" The form that this question has taken on more and more is , "Do you trust Me?" - Steven Riddle of "Flos Carmeli"
Funnily enough, I've been thinking of St. Jerome a lot this week, ever since a Professional Christian(tm) scolding me for running a "mean-spirited" blog. This from a fellow who'd made snide, sarcastic comments about almost everyone and everything for most of the evening... - Kathy Shaidle of "relapsed Catholic"
* * *
Obligatory Disclaimer: Spanning the Globe has become the raison d'etra for many who visit this blog which strikes your proud correspondent, natch, as a case of the tail wagging the dog. But it is as it is. A couple of notes:
We (meaning the crack staff here at VMPDS) accept submissions, which must be double-spaced using Times New Roman Catholic font STG reflects an extremely non-representative sampling of St. Blog's and as the number and quality of blogs grow, the disparity between what should be quoted and what does also grows. The omission of something you wrote pains me nearly as much as it pains you. Almost anyway. In theory. Payment accepted in American dollars, yen, or doubloons. Make checks out to me. Prayers always needed. Opinions of quoted author do not necessarily reflect opinion of blog owner, except in Alaska and Hawaii and where otherwise inhibited.
Blessed Margaret
Today is the feast of Blessed Margaret of Castello, who was born a blind, lame, deformed, hunchback midget. Her story is particularly important because she exposes our modern sins, such as those against chastity. Chastity includes not just moderation of our sexual desires but also protects against judging someone based on looks. Seeing an attractive women gives me pleasure but I wish that pleasure reflex was more connected to attractiveness of soul. Blessed Margaret had a face not even her mother could love but her worth was beyond compare.
Her mother and father left her for dead. She was, in a way, the Terri Schiavo of her time but with parents in the role of husband Michael. The trust Blessed Margaret had even though she had no human trust on which to base it reasonates. I have parents and loved ones far superior to hers but less trust in God. She is a powerful role model.
Most of the apparitions of Mary present a beautiful virgin and this is surely to represent the inner beauty of soul outwardly. Yet the most affecting of the apparitions in a way is Our Lady of Guadalupe because she condescended to present herself as less beautiful (if only to American-Western European eyes), her mix of Indian and Spanish features appealing to those of that time and culture. Looking at Our Lady of Guadalupe I see someone trying to get through to us - trying to make us see the love God has for us - and that is beautiful wherever it is encountered because it gives hope.
A saint, one of the Borgias amazingly (just two generations from the corrupt Borgia popes) once converted from a dissolute lifestyle in an unusual way. He was in a funeral procession for a beautiful woman who'd died, the most beautiful woman in his town, and it happened that an accident dislodged the casket and the body, now partially corrupted, came forth. He was so stunned by this graphic display of how temporary our our beauty is that he gave his life to spiritual pursuits.
Today is the feast of Blessed Margaret of Castello, who was born a blind, lame, deformed, hunchback midget. Her story is particularly important because she exposes our modern sins, such as those against chastity. Chastity includes not just moderation of our sexual desires but also protects against judging someone based on looks. Seeing an attractive women gives me pleasure but I wish that pleasure reflex was more connected to attractiveness of soul. Blessed Margaret had a face not even her mother could love but her worth was beyond compare.
Her mother and father left her for dead. She was, in a way, the Terri Schiavo of her time but with parents in the role of husband Michael. The trust Blessed Margaret had even though she had no human trust on which to base it reasonates. I have parents and loved ones far superior to hers but less trust in God. She is a powerful role model.
Most of the apparitions of Mary present a beautiful virgin and this is surely to represent the inner beauty of soul outwardly. Yet the most affecting of the apparitions in a way is Our Lady of Guadalupe because she condescended to present herself as less beautiful (if only to American-Western European eyes), her mix of Indian and Spanish features appealing to those of that time and culture. Looking at Our Lady of Guadalupe I see someone trying to get through to us - trying to make us see the love God has for us - and that is beautiful wherever it is encountered because it gives hope.
A saint, one of the Borgias amazingly (just two generations from the corrupt Borgia popes) once converted from a dissolute lifestyle in an unusual way. He was in a funeral procession for a beautiful woman who'd died, the most beautiful woman in his town, and it happened that an accident dislodged the casket and the body, now partially corrupted, came forth. He was so stunned by this graphic display of how temporary our our beauty is that he gave his life to spiritual pursuits.
Graham Greene
A rich and sympathetic discussion of the writer in the latest Crisis. Well worth reading!
A rich and sympathetic discussion of the writer in the latest Crisis. Well worth reading!
April 12, 2005
Poem Fragments
Violet
your grasp is frail
on the edge of the sand-hill,
but you catch the light--
frost, a star edges with its fire.
* * *
worn- Hilda Doolittle
dusty feet
sink in soft drift of pine
needles
and anodyne
of balm and fir and myrtle-trees
and cones
drift across weary brows
and the sea-foam
marks the sea-path
where no sea ever comes;
islands arise where never islands were,
crowned with the sacred palm
or odorous cedar;
waves sparkle and delight
the weary eyes
that never saw the sun fall in the sea
nor the bright Pleiads rise.
April 11, 2005
Sunsational
Seeing the sun in Central Ohio is a bit like receiving a celebrity. Everybody comes out of their houses to see what's up.
But I think the sun's a bit of a scold, a bit uptight for my tastes. She's moving westward as if on a schedule. She must be an Anglo-Saxon, one of the cold people who looks on pleasure with suspicion and too eagerly consults her watch.
Ach but there's... sun. music. beer. My bet is that all three mean temporal bliss. Two out of three and you're in business. And if only one? Take the sun.
My uncle is in his upper 50s now and every winter grows worse for him. He finds winter a bitter pill and less endurable each year. He vows a yearly January vacation as is the rage among the comfortably retired, although he's not of that set yet. Seasonal affective disorder means never having to say you're sorry for winter vacations.
I find his attitude worrisome in that I recognize the pattern: as you age winters age even less gracefully. Though it does appeal to one's pride: 'if they can't do it, I can!'. Make it a competition and guys will kill themselves to prove their worth. It's in our DNA.
I've of two minds on the winter. One is that that which does not kills us makes us stronger. I romantically imagine that winters toughen and will help prepare for illness and old age. After all, hedonism seems poor training for aging, hardship or Christian virtue. But sometimes I wonder if you can train for hardship. It requires the grace of God and difficulties may weary you without improvement. As the mutual fund prospecti say, current hardships do not guarantee future endurance.
But on to brighter subjects. Tis no time to worry, not on this warm sunny day with the sun playing Beethoven on my skin. My mind goes to sea cruises in sailboats in the blue Carribbean...As Kenny Chesey sings:
Seeing the sun in Central Ohio is a bit like receiving a celebrity. Everybody comes out of their houses to see what's up.
But I think the sun's a bit of a scold, a bit uptight for my tastes. She's moving westward as if on a schedule. She must be an Anglo-Saxon, one of the cold people who looks on pleasure with suspicion and too eagerly consults her watch.
Ach but there's... sun. music. beer. My bet is that all three mean temporal bliss. Two out of three and you're in business. And if only one? Take the sun.
My uncle is in his upper 50s now and every winter grows worse for him. He finds winter a bitter pill and less endurable each year. He vows a yearly January vacation as is the rage among the comfortably retired, although he's not of that set yet. Seasonal affective disorder means never having to say you're sorry for winter vacations.
I find his attitude worrisome in that I recognize the pattern: as you age winters age even less gracefully. Though it does appeal to one's pride: 'if they can't do it, I can!'. Make it a competition and guys will kill themselves to prove their worth. It's in our DNA.
I've of two minds on the winter. One is that that which does not kills us makes us stronger. I romantically imagine that winters toughen and will help prepare for illness and old age. After all, hedonism seems poor training for aging, hardship or Christian virtue. But sometimes I wonder if you can train for hardship. It requires the grace of God and difficulties may weary you without improvement. As the mutual fund prospecti say, current hardships do not guarantee future endurance.
But on to brighter subjects. Tis no time to worry, not on this warm sunny day with the sun playing Beethoven on my skin. My mind goes to sea cruises in sailboats in the blue Carribbean...As Kenny Chesey sings:
Sun tanned toes ticklin the sand
Cold drink chillin in my right hand...
This old guitar and my dark sunglasses
This sweet concoction is smooth as molasses
Nothing to do but breathe all day...
Zeitgeists 'R Us
Depressing Times article discusses how Justice Harry Blackmun came to be Mr. Roe v. Wade. The general impression is that Blackmun was a zephyr carried by the Zeitgeist, making up the grounds for abortion-on-demand as he went along. The Constitution is scarcely ever even mentioned; it's all about Blackmum's feelings. He begins with sympathy for doctors and ends with sympathy for women's rights, but never do we catch a glimpse of sympathy for a child in the womb:
Depressing Times article discusses how Justice Harry Blackmun came to be Mr. Roe v. Wade. The general impression is that Blackmun was a zephyr carried by the Zeitgeist, making up the grounds for abortion-on-demand as he went along. The Constitution is scarcely ever even mentioned; it's all about Blackmum's feelings. He begins with sympathy for doctors and ends with sympathy for women's rights, but never do we catch a glimpse of sympathy for a child in the womb:
For Blackmun, who had spent nine years as general counsel to the Mayo Clinic and who held the medical profession in high regard, state laws that criminalized abortion were indeed troublesome -- not, particularly, because they interfered with the rights of women but because they put doctors at risk for using their best judgment in treating their pregnant patients.Sanctioning the murder of innocents to avoid putting doctors "at risk". You just can't make that up.
Well Worth Reading
Once upon a midday dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,That was the start of my Poe-inspired "The Corner" poetry contest entry....And speaking of Jonah Goldberg (your cue to drink, if you're drinking at every awkward segue) our Jewish friend is more of a Catholic apologist than most Catholics. It's a sign of his skill that he can take what we already know and make it interesting.
Over many a quaint and curious Goldberg link of lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my office door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my cubical door -
Only this, and nothing more.'...
April 10, 2005
Lightning Round
I'm just not understanding the Google map craze. I mean all you can see is tiny specks that represent the roofs of houses. Show me the whole house and I'll be impressed.
__
A stripjoint here in Columbus has an American flag out front that is flying at half-mast in honor of the pope.
No comment.
__
Watched a Western over the weekend called "Monte Irvin" starring Tom Selleck and Isabella Rosselini. And it was painful to watch Isabella's character because she was so relentlessly loving towards someone obviously undeserving. In fact, Selleck's character was a basic jerk for whom the significance of her feelings approached zero. But by the end of the film he eventually learned to love in part due to her example.
Still, if Isabella's character was off-putting how much more would be God, who loves unconditionally. The irony of my thirst for justice is that the disparity between our love for God and God's love for us is much larger than that between the characters played Rosselini & Selleck.
I'm just not understanding the Google map craze. I mean all you can see is tiny specks that represent the roofs of houses. Show me the whole house and I'll be impressed.
__
A stripjoint here in Columbus has an American flag out front that is flying at half-mast in honor of the pope.
No comment.
__
Watched a Western over the weekend called "Monte Irvin" starring Tom Selleck and Isabella Rosselini. And it was painful to watch Isabella's character because she was so relentlessly loving towards someone obviously undeserving. In fact, Selleck's character was a basic jerk for whom the significance of her feelings approached zero. But by the end of the film he eventually learned to love in part due to her example.
Still, if Isabella's character was off-putting how much more would be God, who loves unconditionally. The irony of my thirst for justice is that the disparity between our love for God and God's love for us is much larger than that between the characters played Rosselini & Selleck.
How the Byzantine Catholic Liturgy Saves My Life
It's sung
with little time for negativity
no silences to fill
with the self-recriminations
preaching sows.
We are asked to leave
all earthly cares behind
and that is bliss
for those who follow instructions.
Gradually, repeated touches
ease defenses, soften the eyes
and I'm surprised
because I didn't know
that my eyes needed softening.
Liturgy is untensing
unclenching if you let yourself go
make the mental connections
His Blood, His Pledge
a wellspring for thanks and praise.
It's sung
with little time for negativity
no silences to fill
with the self-recriminations
preaching sows.
We are asked to leave
all earthly cares behind
and that is bliss
for those who follow instructions.
Gradually, repeated touches
ease defenses, soften the eyes
and I'm surprised
because I didn't know
that my eyes needed softening.
Liturgy is untensing
unclenching if you let yourself go
make the mental connections
His Blood, His Pledge
a wellspring for thanks and praise.
April 09, 2005
Prince of Darkness Sees the Light
Pretty cool to see Robert Novak air his conversion story on CNN's Capital Gang. He's known around D.C. as the "prince of darkness", hence the title of this post. I've heard Capital Gang will be ending its long run this summer, so it's nice ol' Bob is going out with a bang by talking about the things that matter most.
Pretty cool to see Robert Novak air his conversion story on CNN's Capital Gang. He's known around D.C. as the "prince of darkness", hence the title of this post. I've heard Capital Gang will be ending its long run this summer, so it's nice ol' Bob is going out with a bang by talking about the things that matter most.
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