Now I’ll clean out my inbox and the fruit of some of my blog wanderings:
The Pope is on vacation – check the Papa Ratzinger Forum for updates on that.
Our evangelical seeker exploring Orthodoxy and Catholicism has shifted his blog here. Very excellent discussions continue! At the top of the page now – what about the Bad Popes?
Fr. Rick Heilman of the Madison diocese has a very nice new blog:
How, as Mary’s Anawim, do we contribute to building the kingdom of God here on earth? How do we fight against the mounting evil in our world? By trusting prayer and unreserved love for all.
That is the hope of this blog … that it be a place where we can all reflect on the countless ways in which God is responding to the prayers of the humble and the hearts of the lowly — Mary’s Anawim.
A new "That Catholic Show!"
Elizabeth Schiltz at MOJ on Catholic schools/parishes and special needs children:
The refusal of a local parish to even seriously consider educating a child with special needs feels like a particular betrayal to Catholic parents with such kids. I never even tried to enroll my son with special needs in a local Catholic school, but I did experience that rejection (and the real feeling of betrayal that accompanied it) and a couple of different parishes in just trying to enroll him in the religious education programs. As a Catholic parent, you just assume that the one place you’re not going to have to fight for your child is going to be your church. It really hits you hard in the gut when you realize you’re going to have to have the same sorts of meetings with your parish priest that you’ve had with your local public school principals, just to remind them that your kids are just as much members of the parish, and thus the responsibility of the community, as all the other kids. It’s enough to cause many parents to leave the Catholic church. The Protestant churches seem to be much better at really reaching out to people with disabilities than the Catholic church. I will admit to feeling my first-ever pangs of curiosity about whether I could leave my parish when I visited a Protestant mega-church in the area a few months ago, and on the racks in back of the church saw a glossy brochure about all the programs for people with disability offered by that Congregation.
On Summorum Pontificum:
LumenGentleman has set up a database to help those interested in participating in Masses using the John XXIII Missal to contact each other. Your personal info isn’t publicly displayed, but you are identified by whatever designation you pick: "BeThere; Schola; Priest; TrainMe; Server" etc.
Fr. Z continues to remind readers of his "Rules of Engagement" on this issue and suggests sending thank-yous to the Pope and others involved in this decision. He gives addresses and suggestions for format.
If you’re interested in links to commentary and diocesan statements, the Summorum Pontificum Blog is your bookmark.
As someone who blogs on a regular basis, I like comments as much as anyone (especially on this blog!). But in perusing various sites, both Catholic and otherwise, the past couple of days and reading comments about Benedict XVI, "the Latin Mass," and the July 7th Motu proprio, it’s readily evident (and not altogether surprising) that many folks have little or no understanding of the history of the Mass and liturgy in the West, the difference between what Vatican II actually said about liturgical matters and what was sometimes done in the name of Vatican II (or "the spirit of Vatican II), the theological meaning and purpose of liturgy, and so forth. It behooves Catholics, then, to know a bit about these issues, especially since we will likely encounter much confusion, obfuscation, and general ignorance (much of it understandable, but hardly desirable) in the months—years?—to come.
What I would emphasize as a subset to Carl’s list is the more specific issue of liturgical development. One of the fundamental issues that has engaged this Pope is the nature of liturgical development, which has been complex and rich through Christian history, and hardly ever achieved through simple top-down mandates, as was the case with the post Vatican II liturgical books.
Related: Fr. Neuhaus on Benedict’s "liturgical liberalism":
With the possible exception of those who are incorrigibly nostalgic for the good old days of the revolution that was not to be, I believe that the pope’s initiative will be recognized for what it is—a generous and hopeful proposal for a future in which Catholics are freed to celebrate the rich variety of the tradition that is theirs. Benedict expresses the hope that even those who decline to use the Missal of John XXIII will be encouraged to celebrate the Novus Ordo of 1970 with the reverence and solemnity that befits the ineffable mystery of the Mass. We can only pray that his hope will be vindicated.
Other areas of interest:
What seems to be missing from the immigration discussion is how deeply this business corrupts everyone who touches it. Our daughter felt corrupted by working there. She didn’t like what was happening to the workers but knew that, if she reported the possible immigration violations, her friends might be deported. And bad as things might be at Big Billy’s, they were worse in Mexico. In any case, her friend’s families depended upon the wages sent down to them from el Norte. And while she had little sympathy for her employers, they were her employers after all and had given her a job. In short, they deserved some loyalty. (Remember, she comes from a family of Puritans.)
The Latino workers themselves were corrupted because, in order to support their families, they had to violate the very laws of the nation that provided them the economic opportunity—and legal system—that made their jobs possible and that their own countries denied them. And as they were laboring for their families, they were simultaneously wounding their family life: not only by their extended absence but also by developing habits of drunkenness and commercial sex.
For that matter, the toleration of what is in effect a pool of illegally employed indentured labor corrupts our business community. As long as Big Billy’s and businesses like it continue to be profitable, they will gets loans from the bank, renew their insurance policies, get their ads placed in the local paper, and be honored with a bell at the Rotary luncheon.
The politicians—all those other folks at the Rotary tables—seem to be pitching their rhetoric and tailoring their legislation more to a view of capturing the loyalty of a new voting block than finding a solution that is both charitable and honors the law. Law enforcement, perhaps through resigned frustration, appear to be blind to the situation. But equally blind are the patrons. Because the mountains of food are so cheap, we still wait for the tables. We just have to pretend not to see the dark-skinned boy speaking Spanish hauling the plates back to the kitchen.
But then we have a tradition here in the South of not seeing dark-skinned boys hauling plates back to the kitchen, don’t we? Oh, that hurts. Maybe it’s not that the illegal immigration business is corrupting us here in Tennessee. Instead, perhaps it’s our corruption that’s attracting the illegal immigrants. The problem now, just as it was in 1845, isn’t the exploitation of an underclass. The problem is our greed that makes the exploitation tolerable.
Daniel Mitsui has three posts – amounting to an essay – on Eric Gill and the broader question of the relationship of the artist’s personality to the work, particularly when the subject is religious. First part. Then the second. And here.
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