Driving back from Mass in Clinton, I literally came to screeching halt on the side of the Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of a billboard displaying this image. Now, billboards on prominent roadways in East Tennessee displaying overtly Catholic content are probably rarer than reported alien abductions. One carrying a reference to Medjugorje, & we’re in Elvis-sighting territory!

Skeptical, I checked the website. Now, I’m more skeptical. It’s certainly not that I don’t believe God could impart a message to the Faithful through Mary in any time or place. I read a really interesting book some time ago called The Miracle Detective that was primarily centered on the Medjugorje apparitions, & have had a mild case of interest ever since. The bits & pieces of the messages that I've read all seem quite edifying & orthodox, but my interest is more on how the alleged apparitions affect the Church & the people involved.

The website is run by a group called Caritas of Birmingham who, apparently, are hosting one of the 4 visionaries – Marija, I believe – at the site that she received a vision while in the U.S. many years ago. The itinerary of this 4-day festival reads like a Marian Woodstock. The central event is the supposed appearance of Our Lady who will bless you, your family, & our country (the image of Mary with the Stars & Stripes as a backdrop on the site nearly made me laugh out loud – I thought of Lee Greenwood becoming a Catholic convert), & provide some message regarding the end of times. However, nowhere in the events schedule (which ends on a Saturday) was there a single mention of Mass being said, of Confessions being heard, or anything related to the Catholic liturgy or sacraments being celebrated by Catholic clergy. This happening is squarely outside of the approval of the Church.

I plan to check with the Diocese of Birmingham to get their take on this. I know that the local bishop in Medjugorje has publicly disowned the apparitions, even just recently (I’ll try to dig up the article). I remember that there was some disobedience toward the bishop by the friars who operated the parish church which is at the center of the apparitions. That alone is certainly cause enough for the Faithful to stay clear. No authentic apparition will ever refuse to submit to the legitimate Church authorities. The visionaries of the approved apparitions were all obediently docile & content to live in obscurity while their claims were investigated by the Church authorities. In the Q&A section on the site, the question of whether the Medjugorje apparitions are approved (it says no) & whether the faithful may attend them (it says yes) are nos. 46 & 47, respectively. The provided link to “For more detailed information, see Church Approval” did not work. The Catechism says:

66 "The Christian economy… the new & definitive Covenant, will never pass away; & no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern & welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions & also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations."

Caritas’ website is creepy because it is always about “the next revelation” & “the next secret.” It seems to be oriented toward building up a group of devotees by hosting these “pilgrimages.” It seems to be a new cult in Catholic dress-up of which Mary is the focal-point, because it is clearly not Christ-centered at all. A Marian festival without Mass? Impossible. Mary leads all to her Son, & she would rather her children to go to Confession & receive her Son prayerfully & worthily in the Eucharist in reparation for the transgressions against Jesus’ Sacred Heart, for the salvation of souls, & for the conversion of our nation & the world.

And that’s a vision that’s Church-approved!

The World's Worst Secret Society

There was a program on TV last evening about secret societies like the FreeMasons & their adgenda to inculcate their values & beliefs, of which the United States may itself be the ultimate expression.

Anyway, this reminded me of a conversation I had with someone who accused the Catholic Church of being a kind secret society. I mentioned this to a priest friend who replied with something like, "Yeah, a secret society with a billion members that anyone is free to join & conducts its business out in the open."

Sophisticated with Doubt

The Magnificat today gives us a useful reflection from Abbot Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B. (+1906). Here is an excerpt:

"Let us believe in God's perfect, absolute, daily control of the events of our lives. It is a difficult matter to accept if we are not religiously minded, if we have become sophisticated with doubt..."

He goes on to speak in contrast of how God acts in our lives when we submit to his will instead of our own:

"What do you know of the difficulties you might have had to encounter? What can you foresee of the entanglements in which you might have found yourself before long."

Rise & Shine! (Is 60:1)

LORD, at the beginning of this day,

teach me to see the world as you see it,

teach me to love others as you love them,

let me to be the face of Christ to others,

let me recognize your face in others,

conform my heart to the heart of Christ,

mold my will to your will. Amen.

The Heart of God

This weekend was a heart-filled weekend for me – Saturday morning Mass at the cathedral for the Immaculate Heart of Mary & Sunday Mass for the (external solemnity of the) Sacred Heart of Jesus (1962 Missal).

We have seen thousands of images of the Sacred Heart, with Jesus revealing his heart through his garments or even holding his heart in his hand – very bizarre & disturbing to non-Catholics, I assure you – so much so that most of us have probably stopped thinking about it. It seems to have descended largely into the realm of religious kitsch. With that in mind, I offer the following:

I visualize the beating heart inside of the rib cage of the human body of Jesus. Does the heart of Jesus still pump blood? Yes, I think so. Does he still bleed from his wounds? I think so, but it is not a bleeding that weakens & diminishes his life, but as it pours out into the chalices at Holy Mass around the world & throughout time, it increases his life – if such a thing can be said without blaspheming - by his communicating of his life with the lives of the faithful. His heart is the well-spring for the lives of those who belong to his Body through baptism. Then his life increases as more sons & daughters are born into the Church to love & worship the heavenly Father. How much power, then, must flow through those veins, & now in ours - the very lifeblood of God!

Then I think of my own heart, & how weak & limited it is, & how poor it’s capacity to love. A stony thing: cold, hard, dank, & foul. Yet, this is not the first cave that the Lord has entered. In fact, his mother bore him in such a place. She was there when they laid his lifeless corpse in such a place. Likewise she keeps vigil at our hearts, pleading to allow us to let her Son in. And how often we refuse, & turn them away. But if we will answer Mary's plea, if we will let him, there is no tomb of a heart that he cannot transform back into a garden full of life again, a place where God is want to walk with his friends in the cool of the evening, discussing the matters of the day.

As a child I was often accused of having a very active imagination. I think visualizing aspects of the faith is a good thing. So it is quite natural for me to imagine what the chapel of my soul looks like. Surprisingly - on this feast of St. Thomas More – since the very moment I laid eyes on it after climbing the narrow, steep spiral stair, I have imagined it looks very much like the chapel in the Tower of London, perhaps where the saint himself at some time assisted at Holy Mass.

A thought on the feast of St. Thomas More

If they come for you today, are you ready to confess the Faith?

Book Review: The Virtue Driven Life

by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. (Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana, 2006.)

Virtue is a lost word today. I presume this is mostly because it arose out of the Christian milieu, but simply has no place to mean anything in a post-modern society, unless it is used disparagingly as an insult.

So, while I was buying a copy of one of Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s TV shows on the EWTN website, I wanted to add a couple of things to spread out the shipping charge; so I bought one of Father’s books called The Virtue Driven Life. The title intrigued me, since the study of the virtues is important to me both personally & as a religion teacher trying to impart such things to the kids in my care.

The book, obviously, concerns the Christian virtues: the moral virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice, & Fortitude, as well as the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, & Charity.

...

Fr. Benedict makes a very important distinction that I’ve never heard made, but now, looking back, seems readily apparent. After discussing the natural traits we find admirable in others, he comments:

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“There are all kinds of good qualities that can be raised to the order of the supernatural, like justice & kindness. However, the supernatural virtues always include as their first motive the desire to please God & to do his will (p.21)”

...
He goes on to explain that all people have the tendency toward the natural moral virtues (which tend toward the safety, comfort, pleasure, etc. of the individual & their loved ones), but not everyone has the supernatural moral virtues (which tend toward pleasing God & getting the individual & others to heaven). One can get up early to go to work as a natural virtue, but one who gets up early to pray is exercising supernatural virtue, even though it will likely not been seen as a virtue by those who do not have the supernatural gift.

The theological virtues have no natural counterpart, but are purely gifts from God. Fr. Benedict gives the catechism definition of each virtue, then expounds on it using examples from the history of the development of psychology (his field), from history – especially of the 20th century, & from his personal experience – which is quite vast.

He contrasts the natural virtue of religion with the supernatural virtue of Faith, & examines the phenomena of American religiosity which flounders somewhere in the middle.

He treats the virtue of hope by presenting & expounding on large passages from another great book by another great writer: Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II, which was written as responses to questions about faith - or lack of it - in the modern world.

To introduce the virtue of charity (from Latin caritas), he starts with the 4 Greek words meaning "love": eros, storge, philia, & agape. He notes each in their classically understood sense, then explores how this works out in the world today. In this chapter, he references what I (& apparently Fr. Groeschel, too) believe to be one of the most important writings of our era: Deus Caritas Est by Pope Benedict XVI.

...

There are various scripture passages scattered throughout, copious endnotes, & deeply profound prayers at the end of each chapter. The book ends with appendices with Excerpts for Meditation on the Sermon on the Mount & prayers for virtue by St. Augustine. Despite being a wonderful study of the Christian virtues, this book can also be used as a meditation or prayer book. This book is certainly a winner; I've no doubt that it will change many peoples lives & bring them further along their journey to God.

As a personal note, I have been praying long & hard for discernment in certain matters, & I'm sure God has guided to this book to me as an answer. At least, Faith tells me so.

H.E. Rating: 4-1/2 Shakes

The New Compassion

This came up in our Bible study last night - St. Paul's take on how the Spirit is given to us in the sacrament of Confirmation to convert our hearts & wills, to assemble the Church, to worship God worthily, to enable the living of a whole new life, & to share that new life in Christ Jesus with others. More gifts than we will ever fathom have been given to us just for this mission - the glorification of God & the sanctification of man. But we also have an obligation to recognize & use our gifts, especially the gift of discernment of spirits, because there is more than one spirit out there.

To wit, an intriguing article on The New Compassion from www.catholic.org. Catholics seem especially prone to this sort of PC-bullying. Rather, some willingly put the muzzle on themselves. Am I'm not talking about the usual left/right political divide, either. This is about grieving the Spirit with silly talk - calling a lie the truth & the truth a lie. What will be said about the sad people who did not fight for their closest-held conviction, but rather lost by being lulled by soothing, agreeable words into just letting it fall from their hands?

We believe something amazing! No one can remain indifferent to it, especially those who claim to believe it. It demands to be shared, to be shouted from the roof tops! So, start shouting, but hang on tight!

OK, now this is getting weird...

Yeah, the occassional 'shroom popping up in the yard - fine. But when they begin to organize themselves into geometric shapes, one begins to think something's up. If I find a talking catepillar with a waterpipe on one of them, I'm out of here...

Beautiful sunset last night. Deo gratias.

Putting the Fun back in Fungi

I woke up this morning to the barking of the dogs. Seems they were upset by the appearance of these little visitors who arrived in our yard last night:



The cactus also sprouted another yellow bloom over the last couple of days.
...
Amazement is the only adequate response on our part of the variety of life & the beauty of nature. The complexity & interconnected of life continuously speaks to us of a divine plan larger than we could ever fathom.

The beauty & uniqueness of each sunrise should help us to see the goodness of the God who created us & loves us, the mysterious paths by which he guides us toward him, & the generosity of he who offers us endless new beginnings.

All the beauty of nature should turn our minds to comtemplate the one who is the source of all beauty, the one of which earthly beauty is merely a reflection & a foretaste.

Benedict’s Law

People with normal intelligence can do normally stupid things... It takes people with exceptional intelligence to do exceptionally stupid things.

- Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. on EWTN’s Sunday Night Live, 14-Jun-09

Book Review: The Book of Books

Quite a title, no? Yet, the author is not arrogantly applying this title to his own work, but to his subject matter – the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the first of a two-part series on the Christian Scriptures by Henri Daniel-Rops, the other being the Book of Life on the New Testament. Having judged the book by its cover & having no idea what to expect inside, “a series of surprises” is how I might summarize this book.

The first surprise is that this is a book for children, written in a language & style that an adult would use to narrate a story to children at story time. In a day when most Catholic adults probably could not name the two sons of Adam & Eve – or maybe even Adam & Eve themselves! – the very idea of trying to present these mighty things to children seems almost laughable, if not impossible. Yet, it is a well-written book that captures & holds your attention. Like a child I found myself thinking, “And then what happened!?!”

Second, while many commentaries dwell on some aspect of the Scriptures, the primary purpose of this book is to present a summation of the entire Old Testament including the Deuterocanonical books, thought it too explains the meanings of the events of Scripture in light of the Catholic Faith. There are not many books that attempt to do this, & probably fewer that can claim to have successfully pulled it off; but this one does. And, amazingly, it does it quite well in only 166 pages!

This book offers the narrative sequence of the people of Israel, but does so in an engaging “stories-‘round-the-campfire” format that I’m sure would appeal to older children. It not only relates the story, but also connects the events to familiar happenings in the lives of children, to the beliefs & practices of the Catholic faith, to other famous events of ancient history, & to the more recent history of Europe, thus helping the biblical stories to take root in the mind & soul of the child rather than just remaining obscure historical knowledge.

It does however, probably for the sake of the understanding of the intended audience, make some significant simplifications of complex story lines & smoothes over some of the more complicated motivations or unseemly aspects of our biblical heroes.

Third, it was written in the 1950’s in French & then translated into English. Thus, we get a world view of “how things were” before the Sixties happened. Much of this is good, but it also includes elements that we may not find so engaging these days, such as the numerous racial stereotypes: the cruel & vicious Bedouin Arabs, the savage African Negroes, the shrew business acumen of the Jews, & continual reference to Europeans as the descendants of the fair-skinned, bright-eyed Aryans. I imagine it would be very difficult to explain the references to children.

The author (or translator) uses the Douay-Rheims translation of Scripture, including the spelling of names, which are somewhat different than what most are familiar with today. I personally find this quaint rather than troublesome, but I know not everyone will agree.

Pleasant notables include the frequent presentation of the Psalms as the poetry & worship hymns offered to God by the Israelites. There are also some very lovely black & white illustrations of biblical scenes by Fritz Kredel that accompany nearly every chapter; & there are good hand-drawn maps of the land of “Chanaan” & surroundings. I was pleased that the story of the people of Israel was ultimately connected to the divine plan God began with creation, revealed initially to the world in the people of Israel, & brought to perfection in Christ Jesus - fulfilling all of Israel’s hopes & expectations & offering his gift of salvation to the whole world through his Church, the New Israel.

It’s shortcomings aside (those mentioned above, plus the type itself being faint in some places), this book would make an excellent book for 9 to 12 year olds, a useful tool for catechists, or even a good Old Testament overview for adults. It is not intended to replace the reading of the Scriptures, but does serve very well as an introduction that can familiarize one with major characters, places, & events of the sacred texts before diving into them directly. Certainly any book that helps one understand the Old Testament better is a worthwhile book indeed.

H. E. Rating:
4 aspergillum shakes
. . .

...
The Book of Books: The Old Testament Retold, Daniel-Rops, Henri, trans. O’Kelly. Sophia Institute Press - Arkive Edition, 2009. Original publ. 1955. English ed. P.J. Kenedy & Sons, New York, 1956.

Happy Entanglements participates in the Catholic Books Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Please visit their site for more information on The Book of Books.

Or Maybe Not...

Seems life is more tenacious than first thought! Another bloom appeared on the cactus just a couple of days ago, but it's gone now too.

The other plant is actually not a cactus, but a "succulent." In its attempt to reproduce itself, it generates these stalky outgrowths with tiny buds on the end. Later, they just fall off.

The past ain't what it used to be...

Whilst cleaning out the garage, I came across an interesting milestone in my own history - a scrap of engineering paper dot-matrix printed over with a couple of journal entries. It marks a point when as a student at Georgia Tech I was both hungry for God, but also sadly, the point where I began falling away from the Church. The text has been slightly edited to protect the guilty...

Recently, I find myself at odds with religion. I am increasingly dissatisfied with the clergy at my Catholic church. Once, there was a great man who spoke of God - his voice thick with the flavor of old Ireland... He paced back & forth in front of the altar, speaking faster & faster as his enthusiasm swelled; no canned speaches, no rhetoric. This man spoke from the intellect and the heart and the soul.

With my growing antipathy towards my local parish, I have taken up reading the Bible myself to find answers; no mean feat, if you have ever tried it. A friend recommended starting with the Gospel of John. So far Jesus has gotten everyone drunk at a wedding; I think I like this book.

One Day Only

"Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, & is full of misery. He cometh up, & is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow..." - Book of Common Prayer

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Yet, how much shorter is the life of a cactus blossum? My dad gave me this little jewel, & in the past couple of weeks, it grew a strange little "member"...

...

...

Then one day - & only for one day - it blossomed into a little flower, opening not much more than this. Then it was gone.

...

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Here are some photos of my dad's cactus garden. Note the wild variety of shapes & sizes.

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Whence Paul?

At Mass the other weekend, the homilist said a couple of things that caught my ear.

Thing One

The homilist indicated that it was good that the solemnity of Ascension Thursday had been transfered to the next Sunday (thereby creating a new thing which the blog world has named "Ascension Thursday Sunday." To futher confuse matters, we were celebrating the Saturday evening vigil!). His point was that more people would get to hear the glorious readings for the feast of the Ascension. Instead, it seemed the whole congregation was flipping through their missalettes trying to find the right page instead of actually listening to the proclamation of the Scriptures).

Well, I don't like that line of reasoning. If you are Catholic & a Holy Day of Obligation is upon you, then you go to Mass. Everything else gives way. That is what it means to be Catholic. He said that people who have to work now have a better chance to attend the celebration. Well, yes & no. There are always folks who have to work odd hours, & somebody somewhere will always be left out. If there's a morning Mass & and an evening Mass, it'd be pretty rare that someone couldn't find a way to make it. I think that's a pretty lame reason to move the celebration.

I say the ecclesial leadership displays defeatism with a whiny overtone when they do such things. It gives people a reason to be lazy in their faith. It gives them a notion that everything is "movable," maybe even going to Mass at all, or being Catholic at all. This subtle errosion of Catholic identity & practice can only lead to errosion & lukewarmness of faith - & you definitely don't want to find yourself in that particular mouthful! It's a kind of degenerative lex orandi lex credendi. In a day where people fall away quite easily, making the practice of Catholicism easier does not solve, but only deepens the problem.

Plus what of the reading & prayers that were not offered? Did we not just reduce the worship which we offer to God? One particular Mass prayer for the 7th Sunday of Easter - an alternate Collect - was especially powerful:

“Eternal Father, reaching from end to end of the universe, & ordering all things with your mighty arm: for you, time is the unfolding of truth that already is, the unveiling of beauty that is yet to be. Your Son has saved us in history by rising form the dead, so that transcending time he might free us from death. May his presence among us lead to the vision of unlimited truth & unfold the beauty of your love. We ask this…”

Wow! I could ponder this prayer for weeks. In fact, I have been.

As an aside - the standard opening prayer is weak: “Father, help us keep in mind that Christ our Savior lives with you in glory & promised to remain with us until the end of time. We ask this…” Help us keep in mind? What kind of hamstrung prayer is that? Sounds like, “Honey, help me keep in mind to take the enchiladas out of the oven at 6:45, OK?” That’s the clever work of the previous ICEL, who hoped to save us from ourselves by makings sure that won’t pray things too “ineffable” for us. Please, Lord, let the new translations come soon!

Thing Two

Yes, the readings were proclaimed as they always are, but - being a very frequent traveler around the U.S. & the world - I'd say the vast majority of homilies given very rarely expound on any of them. Instead, most priests find some particular word or phrase in one of the readings, then use it as a jump-off point to launch into a tyrade about a completely different topic. I'm not saying this is what happened on this occasion, but it happens really, really often. I'm sure they think themselves quite clever. Most people I'm sure resent being denied a homily on the readings of the day, hoping for something from the Church that will help their lives, not personal witticisms from the homilist.

Interestingly, I know a very good priest that really breaks open the Word of God in his homilies with a wonderful combination of scholarliness & practical applicability to daily life - & lots of input from the Church Fathers & writings of the saints. However, his accent apparently turns people off & I've heard comments how long & boring he is. How sad for them.

Whence Paul?

Part of the renovation of the liturgy asked for by the Council & implemented by the Consilium was to offer a broader range of readings at Mass. That sounds nice, & it's a point always thrown up in the face of those who prefer the 1962 Missal. However, ask almost anyone what last Sunday's 2nd reading was & you are sure to witness a blank stare. Even I can't remember. The old cycle of readings was familiar & consistent. They were looked forward to. I know this because, now that the ancient liturgy is available again, I look forward to them. It's finely honed selection that followed the liturgical year carefully, with the Epistle always complimenting the Gospel. In the new rite, it's a bit of a mess. Especially when feasts are moved around, optional readings taken, or large sections chopped out for the sake of pastoral sensitivity.

In fact, I cannot even remember the last time a homily in the newer form dealt whatsoever with the Epistle, which is ironic given that we are nearing the end of the year of St. Paul & most of the Epistles are authored by him. This is especially sad in that Paul's writings deal by & large with the living of the Chrisitian life in the Church as it finds itself in the world. No wonder people are so bewildered about the state of society today & the importance of making solidly-informed Christian moral choices. Catholics would be far less subject to the prevailing winds of the culture around them if we were more deeply rooted in the teachings of Paul, if we allowed him to teach the church in Lenoir City or Clinton or Farragut just as he taught the churches in Rome, Corinth, Thessalonika, Phillipi, & Ephesus.

Truly, we have lost something sorely needed - the teachings of the apostles which form the foundation of the Church, of which Christ Jesus is the cornerstone (Eph 2:19-22). Please priests & deacons: teach us the Scriptures proclaimed at Mass - of course, the Gospel, but also the Epistle.

Whitsunday

Work & other responsibilities have kept me offline for a while now. I'd like to think things will improve, but with the upcoming Bible Study & other schoolwork, it doesn't look likely.

Had a glorious Whitsunday Mass yesterday. Our schola sang Palestrina's Missa Brevis (minus the Credo & Agnus Dei II) & it was lovely. It is also beautiful to sing the ancient Pentecostal hymns in the ancient language - Veni Spiritus Sanctus & Veni Creator Spiritus.

Also, it looks like the Traditional Litrugy is heading to Holy Ghost in August. I can hardly think of a more beautiful place to celebrate the ancient liturgy. Very excited about that!

Father's homily focused on the Spirit teaching us all things. Today, many refuse to believe that there is a Truth that can be found or that any particular truth is truer than any other. This is a great challenge to bringing the light of Christ into the world today. I believe the greatest witness of the Christ's Truth is simply to pursue a life of holiness - which is to allow oneself to be formed by God into the image of God, rather than being formed by the world into its image. People watch what Christians do to see if it matches up to what they profess. We are held to a higher standard - & should be.

For Jill, here is The Fish in most of its glory: