Patrick Madrid along with Father John
Zuhlsdorf will be conducting a
9 day Pilgrimage to Italy from Oct 31 to Nov 8 of this year.
Here is a PDF file with the details.
Patrick’s site is here.
Here is an article on former
Methodist minister and still talk show host Allen Hunt who came into
the Church earlier this year. I have listened to his show
over the last two years if I had happened to be driving when it was on
and had enjoyed it, though was quite surprised when he announced he was
becoming Catholic. It is always interesting to note in some
of these stories how earlier encounters and influences set the seeds
for their conversion.
Nathan Kennedy at Genesis and Eschaton came into the Church
this Easter and gives us his conversion story and
his account of entering the Church during the Easter vigil.
He is also discerning a vocation to the priesthood and writes
of his difficulties concerning the opposition by his family.
In advance of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit
to New York City from April 15-20, SIRIUS Satellite Radio is launching
the Papal Archives Channel, devoted to comprehensive programming of
Papal history as well as live coverage. From the press release:
”The Papal Archives Channel will air Monday, April 14 through Sunday,
April 20 exclusively on SIRIUS channel 119, showcasing rare archival
recordings of Masses and speeches from historic Papal Visits — which
will include Pope John Paul II’s visits to the U.S. in 1979, 1987 and
1995 and Pope Paul VI’s visit to the U.S. in 1965. SIRIUS listeners
will also hear the earliest known audio of a Pope’s voice, an extremely
rare recording of Pope Leo XIII, the Holy Father from 1878-1903,
singing Ave Maria at the Vatican circa 1902.”
Creative Minority Report links to a piece
by Fr. McBrien in the L.A. Tidings with a post on the art of dissent.
Joseph, however, disappears from the
New
Testament after the family’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Luke 2:42-52). He
probably died sometime before Jesus began his public ministry.
Because of the biographical gaps, a number of apocryphal writings
attempted to fill in the blanks. The Protoevangelium, or Infancy
Gospel, of James claimed that Joseph was already an aged widower with
children when he married Mary. How else to explain the many references
to Jesus’ brothers and sisters in Mark 3:31; 6:3; Matthew 12:46; 13:55;
Luke 8:19; John 7:3-5; 1 Corinthians 9:5; and Galatians 1:19?
New Testament scholar Jerome Neyrey, S.J., however, discounts the
various traditional explanations. The evidence for “stepbrother,” he
writes, is “merely legendary” (referring again to the Infancy Gospel of
James 9:2 and 17:1).
On the other hand, the linguistic evidence for “brother” meaning
“cousin” is “very thin.” We have but one example in the whole Old
Testament where a cousin might be called a “brother” (1 Chronicles
23:22). [See Father Neyrey’s “brothers of Jesus,” The HarperCollins
Encyclopedia of Catholicism, pp. 198-99.]
Patrick writes some good commentary and
ends with:
Fr. Peter Phan is a hack because he got
caught. Professionals like McBrien know that the truly great dissenters
are like thieves in the night. You never even know they were there
until you discover your faith is missing.
Can we play let’s count the heresies? The fun game that you can play
along at home. First off there is not only one example in the
Old Testament since right off I can think of Abraham and Lot
(Gen. 11:26-28, 29:15). In Hebrew there was just no separate
words used to make a distinction between brothers, cousins, uncle, and
even non-relatives. There are plenty of examples of the same word being
used for kinsmen. (Deut. 23:7; Neh. 5:7; Jer. 34:9), as in the
reference to the forty-two “brethren” of King Azariah (2 Kgs.
10:13�14). Even in the New Testament the general
term ” adelphoi” covers the same broad categories and certainly the 120
“brothers” in Acts 1:15 did not have the same mother.
Then he throws in the references to
Protoevangelium to James
as a red herring as if this discounts and throws into question
anything. The only issues that this apocryphal writing makes
is the Joseph had been previously married and so Jesus might have had
step-brothers. Apologist in general hold this up as a
possibility, but certainly not as the primary explanation to explain
references to Jesus brothers. Especially since all of the
people mentioned as Jesus’ brothers are mentioned as sons of a
different mother in other parts of the Gospel for example James is
elsewhere (Matt. 10:3) described as the son of Alphaeus, which would
mean this Mary, whoever she was, was the wife of both Clopas and
Alphaeus.
So besides Fr. Richard McBrien being a
incompetent apologist
who can’t even take the time to check up on his facts he is also doing
something quite sinful in trying to slip this in while discussing St.
Joseph’s feast day. He is doing his best to cast doubt on the
perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary something that must be
believed in by all catholics with divine and Catholic faith.
This is not an area of discussion, but a dogma of the Church.
The Fifth Ecumenical Council held at Constantinople in 553
refer to Mary as aeiparthenos (i.e. ever-virgin). The
Lateran Council of 649 also affirmed this and condemned those who did
not hold it.
This I think also makes Fr. McBrian a
heretic (not exactly a
surprise to many)
Canon 751
Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal
denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and
catholic
faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the
same; …
Canon
1364
+1. With due regard for can.
194, +1, n. 2, an apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic
incurs
automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication and if a cleric,
he can
also be punished by the penalties
mentioned in can. 1336, +1,
nn. 1, 2, and 3. +2. If long lasting
contumacy or the seriousness of
scandal warrants it, other penalties can be added including
dismissal from the clerical state.
While I don’t play a Canon lawyer either
on my blog or on
television I would think that there could be some case to make that Fr.
McBrien has committed heresy in his column, though I am sure there is
some quibbling in the matter of whether this is obstinate doubt.
But to undermine a dogma of the faith in a column published
by a diocesan newspaper surely incur some serious action.
That the diocese would be willing to print this is not
surprising in the case of the Diocese of Los Angeles, but I think this
is not a case of Fr. McBrien tip-toeing around the line, I think he has
formally crossed it this time with an article that sounds like it was
written by a Protestant.
Please pray for Fr. McBrien.
I received
href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385515529?ie=UTF8&tag=thecurjes-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385515529″>Soul
Provider: Spiritual Steps to Limitless Love
src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecurjes-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385515529″
alt=””
style=”border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;”
border=”0″ height=”1″ width=”1″> by Fr. Edward
Beck and here was another book I was not to enthused to review.
When you have a book cover with positive reviews by
the Dalai Lama and reviews for his previous books by Anne Lamott,
Andrew Greeley, Diane Sawyer, L.A. Times etc. you would
certainly have a tendency to judge a book by it’s cover reviews.
Add to that that the book also quotes from Hindu, Islam, and
other sources and throws in global warming a couple of times it would
certainly seem that I might rather have my fingernails torn out then to
read it.
Maybe since it was Lent I read it anyway
and I do try to review books sent to me even though it gives me no
pleasure to write a negative review when I have to. To my surprise
thought I pretty much did enjoy this book. The book is a
chapter by chapter following of The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint
John Climacus. In the original work there are thirty steps
along the spiritual path and the book follows this steps with thirty
chapters.
Fr. Beck builds on the steps of St. John
Climacus by trying these explain these steps in more modern terms.
For the most part he succeeds. He tells a wealth of
stories from his own life and dealings with others to help the audience
see these steps and why following them are important to the spiritual
life. My positive reaction to this book is mainly because I judge that
this book was written for a larger audience and not specifically for
Catholics. If the book was specifically written for Catholics
then it is not very good since it almost totally lacks the framework of
the sacraments so necessary to advance in the spiritual life.
As I suspect that this is a more generic book on the topic of
spirituality mostly rooted in a Christian context I have less problems
with it.
As I mentioned there are example used from
other religious traditions, but the large majority of references are to
scripture. I did not get the feeling of syncretism in the use
of these other sources and that what was quoted was applicable to the
topic at hand. Fr. Beck is a capable writer and he keeps you interested
in the topics at hand and has some good insights along the road.
I certainly got the idea that he was firmly in the
progressive camp when it comes to the Church, but it was not overt and
for the most part did not distract from the steps from The Ladder of
Divine Ascent. But mostly I had to remember what the audience
was for the book for it not to annoy me at times. For people
with very modernist ideas who are starting to take God and the
spiritual life seriously there is a lot of good in this books.
Fr. Beck has had a wealth of dealings I suspect with this
audience and thus he examples will be quite useful for them.
One chapter I found that fell short of the
rest of the book was the one on lust. This though was not exactly
surprising since it is the telltale sign of the progressive side that
when it comes to sexual morality that they just don’t fully understand
why it is sinful. He wants to take a “fresh look” and asks
“would any of us be around without lust?” This question
perfectly shows his error of understanding and even thought he quotes
the Catechism on lust as a “disordered desire” he doesn’t seem to
understand that sexual desire within marriage does not have to be
disordered. I think it is a rather sad worldview to believe that there
has to be lust within the covenant of marriage. As if lust is
a necessary evil. There are also a couple of mentions of
homosexuality that while not condoning it certainly contain no caveats
and in another chapter the “Course of Miracles” is mentioned without
providing any caveats of this new age nonsense. I found it
rather interesting that in the chapter on lust he was totally able to
sink his teeth into denouncing avarice and was able to wax long on this
subject.
So while this book is not the sort of book
I would recommend to the audience of my blog I can see that this book
could be quite useful for some.
It is not exactly to my credit that I
found the Gobachev “secret Christian” story to be fishy, but …
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
made clear this past weekend that he is an atheist after European news
agencies last week claimed that he had confirmed his Christian faith
during a visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.
“Over the last few days some media have been disseminating fantasies �
I can’t use any other word � about my secret Catholicism, citing my
visit to the Sacro Convento friary, where the remains of St. Francis of
Assisi lie,” Gorbachev said, according to an Interfax article posted
Friday.
“To sum up and avoid any misunderstandings, let me say that I have been
and remain an atheist,� he stated.
From the America blog:
… But, it has gone largely unremarked
in
analysis of the upcoming Pennsylvania primary that Clinton does have
one group of political activists to whom she is especially indebted.
Pro-choice groups like NARAL, NOW and Emily’s List have been the base
of her fundraising and organizational support. They have sent emails
and placed phone calls to voters in key primary states questioning
Obama’s commitment to Roe v. Wade. And, the generational cleavage among
women � older women tend to support Clinton by significantly large
margins than younger women � is also related to the abortion issue. For
older women, Roe was part of their emergence on the national political
stage, a process that they see coming to fruition in Clinton’s bid for
the White House.
Cleavage among women?
In heavily Catholic Pennsylvania, it is
curious that so little
attention has been paid to Clinton’s dependence on these groups. Her
campaign is built largely upon her experience during her husband’s
tenure in office, and few pro-life voters will forget that it was Bill
Clinton who vetoed the Partial Birth abortion bill. Did she advise him
to do so?
There has been some indication that she
did indeed do so. Regardless though she voted against the partial-birth
abortion ban and does have a 100% NARAL voting record.
Clinton should find an audience in
Pennsylvania where she can distance
herself from some of the more extreme pro-abortion arguments. She could
say that the Democrats need to move beyond simply defending Roe and
find alternatives to abortion or new ways of preventing unwanted
pregnancies in the first place. She could repeat her husband’s mantra
that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” and point to ways that
might make it more rare.
The effort would cost her nothing. The older women who are Clinton’s
base know where she stands on the issue, and they are never going to
abandon her. But, she could usefully position herself as a more
moderate candidate for the general election, and strengthen what
remains as her most credible claim to the nomination: the ability to
attract moderate swing voters, many of whom are Catholic and many of
whom have continued to deliver large majorities for pro-life Democrats
in Pennsylvania.
I do find this odd advice from a Jesuit
magazine (well at least I wish this was odd advice from a
Jesuit magazine). That basically Hillary should just
“position”
herself with no mention of actually wanting to reduce abortion. Just
repeat her husband’s mantra about abortion. It doesn’t matter if she should actually ever do such as thing and of course if she was actually
President she would veto any pro-life legislation and her
court picks would certainly not be the types to restrict abortion.
I also wonder what the writer considers
“extreme pro-abortion arguments?” From a Catholic perspective what
would be a moderate pro-abortion argument.
I have to admit I find it rather
funny the way the media has now turned on Hillary Clinton especially
over her Bosnia sniper story. I guess the Senator has not yet
realized that she has lost her charism of incuriosity.
Normally when a Democrat makes a statement on faith, morals,
or pretty much any subject their charism of incuriosity protects them
in all that they say and that there is a freedom from
reporters looking into their error. The incuriosity of
reporters around Democrats is well established by the scriptures in the
New York Times and Washington Post and was made a dogma by the First
Viacom Council.
What Sen. Clinton does not realize is that
while normally the charism of incuriosity would protect her from
reporters perceiving error and that the Wholly Spirit of the Times would
guarantee this gift even among competing Democrats, that this
charism can be lost when a majority of reporter electors select
another to fully receive this gift.
People who pull on to the Church by the
Glades campus in Coral Springs, FL this Easter weekend will be greeted by friendly volunteers, fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, freshly-brewed Starbucks coffee and Judya 9,000 pound Indian
elephant. It is all part of their new relationship series entitled Rehab.
The purpose?
Week one of the series is about denial, said Pastor David
Hughes. Many relationships suffer due to a denial of the elephant in the rooman obvious misplaced priority or passion that the people involved refuse to acknowledge and deal with.
Here at Church by the Glades, we value creative communication, Hughes
added. He believes that having a real, live elephant there as
people enter the property will grab their attention from the moment they arrive.
We are always trying to find fun ways to engage people and start the
teaching time from the moment people drive onto our property, said Hughes.
History shows that Church by the Glades is in the habit of doing
creative things to
draw people to their church. They have used iPhones, iTunes
gift cards, Hannah Montana tickets and Nintendo Wiis to promote teaching series in the
past.
No not the Onion, but an actual press
release forwarded to me from
target=”_blank”>Dawn Eden concerning
href=”http://cbglades.com/” target=”_blank”>this
church. They certainly have a slick web site.
Most web sites for Catholcs churches are not exactly Web 2.0,
more likely Web .6 beta. You can always tell you are on a web
site for a Catholic church because when you click on the bulletin link
it either doesn’t work or gives you a bulletin from last year.
I guess though for this Florida church
that they can do a whole
series with animals.
- Grab one Camel and one needle or you’re all set to do
another example. One hump or two. - Then there is the Lion and the Lamb one to demonstrate that
we are not there yet. This one would not be for the faint of
heart. - Roll in a giant whale tank to do a sermon on Jonah.
Camping out for three days inside the whale first might be
rather iffy though. - Obviously there is the whole Ark thing and you can rent out
the contents of the local zoo for a demonstration. - Snakes are pretty versatile for exegesis. One day
you got Genesis, and Moses gives you lots of snake flexibility.
Then of course there are the Gospel example with Paul getting
bit and the picking up snake stuff that some Churches already cover.
I wonder if they advertise for a sacristine
with good shovel skills?
I am not surprised they have increased
church attendance by 40 percent in one year with giving out prizes in
teaching series. If you are going church shopping well why not pick one
with Starbucks coffee, Krispy Creme donuts, and
iPhone contests?
And of course rock worship music and
everything you need to make you feel at home (if you live in a
Mall)
means:
A RELEVENT CHURCH
Though possessing the ultimate truth, the Church is often guilty of
dumbing down and dulling down the life-altering message of Jesus
Christ. Lost in confusing jargon, bogged down in doctrinal
minutia – simply said – the church has not stayed current.
Nothing like an Elephant and Hannah
Montana tickets to keep the
church current.