…this is the first day in about 10 days that I’ve been alone in this house and able to work, what with snow days, fog days and sick days (and judging from Joseph’s demeanor when I left him off at school this morning, today might turn into an another sick day after all..he was viewing his classmates with the same wariness that he looked at them for the first week of school.I’m just waiting for that phone call).
Which means I’m now a week behind in my schedule of Stuff I’m Doing. Look for an entry or two later today.
I’ll just leave you with a couple of notes:
John Allen reports on a talk given last night at Seton Hall by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher of the Papal Household (interesting info on Cantalamessa’s background in the Charismatic movement, which for him began there, in New Jersey, decades ago).
When Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher of the Papal Household, finished speaking to an overflow crowd at Seton Hall University last night, the applause was loud and sustained. It continued to build until hundreds of people were on their feet delivering a standing ovation. Cantalamessa sat for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, and then stood. He turned to face a large crucifix suspended behind the lectern and began to clap in its direction, gradually leading his audience to direct its thanks to God rather than to him.
Though Cantalamessa had preached for almost an hour, this simple gesture may have been his most eloquent statement of the night – not only about his theological convictions, but also his deep Franciscan humility.
Vatican says no to Call to Action:
The Vatican’s highest court said it has no jurisdiction over a decision by Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln that Catholics in his diocese who are members of a dozen organizations were automatically excommunicated.
In the wake of the ruling, Bishop Bruskewitz renewed his invitation to Call to Action Nebraska members to leave that organization and return to full communion with the church.
Fr. Z has a tidbit:
The Pope seems to have announced the imminent release of the Post-Synodal Exhortation during a meeting with the priests of the Diocese of Rome, this morning, in the Hall of Blessings in the Apostolic Palace.
(In case you’ve missed it, the text of Archbishop Wuerl’s pastorl letter (pdf)
And don’t forget Archbishop Gomez’ letter on Mercy and Reconciliation, linked in the post below)
What I do know is that his words were the first to arouse my sense of religious honor. There’s no other way to put it. There is an undilutable strain of masculinity that runs through Judaism and Christianity–and it was meant to summon men to a sense of themselves, to a sense of the masculinity of the law, and the masculinity of fulfilling it. Baeck’s writing brought that home to me in a way that –up till that time—no Christian writer had. (Chesterton and Knox were still in my future.)
That is what happened to me when I opened the cover of Baeck’s book. I heard someone remind me what my long-neglected duty was. The fact that I was a Christian made his words even more impressive, for I was full of doubts at the time. In retrospect I would say that I was intellectually unexercised, untested. A flabby cradle-Catholic whose deepest acquaintance with theology up to that time was C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. Much as I like Lewis, that doesn’t say much for my spiritual formation.
The words of Leo Baeck tested me. And they still do. He had sharp, critical words for the dangerous tendency of religion—particularly Christian religion—to lapse into romantic passivity in the face of the world’s challenge. He didn’t have to add that just one of those dangerous times of passivity was during the Holocaust.
In his prime, Baeck became known for a single book, Das Wesens des Judentums, The Essence of Judaism. It was written in answer to a trendy book (trendy at the end of the 19th century anyway) called The Essence of Christianity by Adolph Harnack, translated into English as What is Christianity?, and at the risk of sounding flip, I must say that one is tempted to retort, Not much, if Harnack’s interpretation is to be taken seriously.
Baeck did take it seriously, and he answered for Judaism with his book, which first appeared in 1922. I still have that and copies of his other books on my shelves, which I enjoy re-reading when I feel the spiritual well running a bit dry in my soul.
Telus Corp., Canada’s second-biggest phone company, reversed its decision to sell pornography on mobile phones after customers including the Catholic Church threatened to cancel their service.
“It would appear customers are more comfortable receiving their adult content over television sets rather than on cell phones at this time,” Telus spokesman Jim Johannsson said in an interview. The decision takes effect immediately, he said.
I have to say, even aside from the controversy, the spokesman’s statement strikes me as pretty funny. In a weird, pathetic kind of way.
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