Birthday Girl

Here I am at the "Haunted Village" in Daley Plaza. (Ya gotta love Chicago.)
Happy Birthday to all you other Halloween Babies out there! (What a great day for a birthday!)

More about Bella

Is Bella too vague on the pro-life meter? Can it too easily be interpreted as a movie that supports a woman's "right to choose"? Those are serious questions for a movie that was written and is being promoted by ardent Catholics. That some "pro-choice" voices see the movie as supporting a woman's "choice" indicates that a bit of work may be needed to bring about the director's intention of fostering a culture of life mentality.
One thing I find especially interesting in the feedback from the pro-choice side is that they see the movie as "supporting a woman in her choice." This tells me that they do not realize that pro-lifers could support a woman without at the same time approving her "choice." To them, Jose's willingness to "be there" for Nina signals his approval or support of her decision: they cannot see it as a sign of human, brotherly care for the person. See? There is a certain expectation that a pro-life movie would portray rejection, dismissal and condemnation of the woman as a person.
We have work to do.

Hospital Helpers Need Help

My friend Dawn, a member of the Holy Family Institute, has a family-based ministry to parents whose kids are hospitalized. (It's a life situation Dawn is all too familiar with.) As the website explains, hospitals get loads of things for the children, but the parents find themselves spending night after night without basic things like toothpaste, comb, clean socks... So "His Hands" puts kits together with necessities and comfort items. Recently, a request came in from a hospital for 100 more "parent packages" per month--but they only have enough supplies for 90.
Who wants to help?
http://hishandshfi.terapad.com/

Thanks, David!

A few weeks ago, I clicked on a link in a Wired article and found myself communicating with a former Wired writer who remembers being visited by book-bearing Daughters of St. Paul in her native Buffalo. She, in turn, put me in touch with David Miller, a writer for SFgate.com, who interviewed me by phone for a piece in his Monday on-line religion column. It appeared yesterday, and my humble blog has never been so popular. The piece was remarkably accurate (except for the part about me getting by on "less than $100 a month"--although a $20 "allowance" for little necessities is "less than $100")...
I've gotten feedback from a couple of computer programmers who are really happy to know that someone is out there praying for them, and also heard from some other religion writers who would like to highlight David's article. Here's hoping it will be helpful for vocational discernment and for bringing the Pauline charism to light!

Bella: Weighing In

I could only Twitter about it on Saturday, and even now I am dashing this off (to be continued!) as my sister, mom and brother in law wait for me so we can go to dinner to celebrate two birthdays (mine and my sister's)... But I see that I am not the only Catholic who was eager to see the much-vaunted movie that turned out to be the cinematic disappointment of the year, at least for me. In fact, I am relieved that Barbara Nicolosi has panned it. I feel vindicated that someone in her league had similar reactions.
Before I continue, I would like to remind the gentle readers of a few principles, the first being "de gustibus non disputandum" (or is it disputandam? Dad would know, but he's in heaven.) So: taste is personal.
Second principle: people's pristine intentions and good will do not guarantee an effective or worthwhile result. We can applaud the desire and bemoan the outcome at the same time.
Third principle: if you are attempting to engage culture in its own language and with its own genres, you have to measure up to the culture's standards.

Sr. Helena, our community screenwriter, asked me how I liked the movie. She had seen it in a private screening months ago and loved it, which is why I had been really looking forward to seeing it myself.
Instead, I was bored out of my mind.
She was nonplussed. "Oh, it's European in style."
"No it's not. It's just very earnest, and it has no real storyline."
"Well," she said,"what did you not like about it?"
"Besides the lack of story? Well, for one: I didn't care about the characters."
"Oh, that's not good."
"I didn't know who they were; how could I be invested in them? And another thing: I resent it when a movie goes for the emotional jugular. I end up suspecting that it is a substitute for content."
"That's a no-no," she admitted.
"And there were so many little irregularities that I just gave up trying to suspend my disbelief:
in the first ten minutes, when Jose' is practicing his interview, he can barely speak English. Where did he grow up? Why does his Mexican mother not have an accent, and he can't speak English? Then he's the top chef in a Manhattan restaurant, and he's working in the kitchen with a bushy beard and full head of hair and no hair net? Not even a hat? Eww."
"Oh, the food stuff!" Sr. Helena laughed at that. She always teases me for being a foodie. But that wasn't my only foodie point.
"What is his culture? When they get to the lady friend's restaurant, he orders paella and tells Nina it's good for the baby. Paella is from Spain. Why is a Puerto-Rican-Mexican-American man talking about paella and babies?"
Then there is the New York stuff. The movie is written as if to pander to New Yorkers. "Oh, just a typical New York day." Then the invitation to go to the beach. What beach? Only New Yorkers know what this means and where they went. I lived in New York for three years (long, long ago) and never really got too far past the concrete jungle.
And then the last scene, with the monstrous butterfly hovering over the threesome. That was an out of place, tiresome cliche'.
Barbara N. thinks Bella can't be characterized as a pro-life movie. I think it could be used in catechetical sessions, but you would need to really facilitate a discussion in order to direct the interpretation in a solidly pro-life vein. It does trot out a lot of the slogans the "pro-choice" people use, but at least in one case, I thought they did a good job rendering it against itself--where Nina says, "If I'm going to carry a living being for nine months..." The "living being" is something that abortion providers would rather avoid talking about. So I think there is at least a line or two that can be made use of in catechesis.
So while Mom enjoyed the movie, I came out of the theater with a migraine, wondering about the money that had been sunk into the project and how on earth an audience in Toronto, of all places, could have given it any kind of serious attention. (Barbara has some insights into that aspect.)
It seems to me that, as sterling as the intentions of the producers surely were, Bella has succeeded only in creating new obstacles for Catholic screenwriters and producers to get past in their attempts to provide genuinely high quality material for Hollywood.

Judgment Call

Almost as a follow-up to the "Good God!" posts comes today's Gospel calling for us to use our capacity for judgment. But not to judge God or our neighbor! Jesus is calling for us to practice discernment. Even his example about the "plea bargain" says as much: think ahead, and act in view of what is coming upon you. The saints used to say that we should always act in view of the "end" or finish line: our choices now need to be consistent with the life we anticipate in Heaven, where everything comes down to love and praise, and God is all in all. ("The Kingdom of God is in your midst!")

Good God! (Part 2)

I found myself still wondering this morning about why we seem to feel "safer" focusing more on God's justice than on his goodness. I even brought the matter to my morning meditation. And it because clear very, very quickly: "Justice" has the advantage of being clear and compact--especially when it is a "justice of our own based on law" (which St. Paul lost so much ink discussing). In a justice-relationship, we know what our obligations are; we know "how far" we can go and still remain irreproachable. It doesn't really require that much of us, as long as we stay within the bounds of the law.
Goodness, on the other hand, makes no specific demands of us. Goodness calls for a response of love that gives over everything. If we focus too much on God's goodness, we risk being captivated. We might do crazy things like go, sell what we have, give to the poor, leave all things (in some form or other). You don't know where you could end up. It could seriously mess up our plans and priorities.
Justice keeps things on the level of a transaction. Goodness brings you into a relationship.
The saints knew this, of course. Funny thing: by focusing on justice, we run the risk of having a grim, hard, unyielding attitude, whereas the Saints, who certainly knew God's justice but whose writings tend to emphasize his goodness, were anything but hard and grim (with the possible exception of St. Jerome).
We do god an injustice by focusing more intently on his justice (humanly understood) than on contemplating and praising his goodness. As we say at Mass, "it is right to give him thanks and praise." ("Dignum et iustum est.")

Good God!

Sr. Helen came to supper with an air of irritation. A "Catholic" radio show had provoked her ire: the host was saying that the raging, destructive fires in California were God's punishment for (name your favorite sin). I had had a similar conversation with a parent last week who was sure that autism is God's punishment of a contraceptive culture. And it's not too long ago to remember when preachers were saying that Hurricane Katrina was God's chastisement of New Orleans and AIDS was God's punishment for homosexual sin.
The funny thing is, I'll bet if you were to ask any of those people if they believed in God's goodness, they would probably be rather dismissive about it: "Of course I do." And then they'd hurry to affirm even more strongly, "But God is also just."
For some reason, it seems safer dealing with a just God than with a good God.
That tells me that the Good News still hasn't gotten through to many of us who say we believe in the Gospel. Not that we don't all need to "live in continual conversion of heart" (as Bl. James Alberione understood from the Divine Master), but that conversion has to have more of a foundation than the human propensity for failure. Seeing "punishment" everywhere is the same as seeing evil everywhere: the gaze is displaced, from God to the fallen creature. But the Bible says, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith."
It is time to look at Jesus.

New Catholic site

I've just learned about a new Catholic evangelization initiative online, and would like to recommend it to you. It's a Catholic video-sharing community; I'm busily adding our little Pauline book review videos right now. Join today and be a charter member!

Boxing Day

I know, it's December 26, not October 22. But here in Chicago we are about to see the opening of the International Boxing Competition, and the streets are filled with burly competitors. I even saw one heavyweight in an embroidered silk jacket! Pray that somehow this "sporting event" will truly be "sporting," and that no lasting injuries result.

A Reason to Evangelize?

While in the Milwaukee area, I had a conversation with a very concerned Catholic about the mission of evangelization. (Fittingly enough, of course, it was Mission Sunday yesterday.) The good man was under the impression that once Catholics came to hold that people could be saved without being baptized Catholics, there was no real reason for anyone to dedicate their lives to announcing the Gospel. In other words, the only thing that could possibly motivate missionaries was anxiety about people's eternal salvation.
I have to admit that what we read in some of the saints' writings could support an impression like that. But what else do we find in those same writings? For one thing, an exuberant love of God: loving God that way, how could they bear the thought of such a good God not being known and loved personally? St. Frances Cabrini used to exclaim to her sisters, "Love is not loved!" So for her, God's sheer goodness was a motivation for evangelization. (Mother Cabrini founded a missionary congregation, so the link is pretty explicit.)
Other missionary motivations include the realization of just how much can be missing in the lives of people who have not heard the Gospel, especially when those people are poor or suffering. In this case, it is an exuberant love of neighbor that motivates evangelization. (Stephen Lawhead's novel "Byzantium" has a hint of this toward the end when a character who has lost everything but gained Christian faith exclaims how much it means to him that God knows personally what it is to suffer.)
And there is a further missionary motivation that does not depend on people being surely damned without the Gospel: people may indeed be saved through God's grace (which has always operated beyond any control of ours!), but Christian faith and the sacraments can help them to avoid or overcome temptations and sin that they may otherwise succumb to easily, and support them in becoming holier, more like Christ, than might otherwise be possible.
So there are plenty of reasons to proclaim the Gospel, even if people "could" be saved without explicit Christian faith.

Cardinal Virtues

I was flabbergasted by the news of our new Cardinals. Just the other day, we were wondering if dear Archbishop Foley would ever get a red hat. He was so kind to me when I was in Rome. And the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston! What a recognition of the life of the Church in the United States: the "power center" is no longer in the structures of power, but in the "insignificant," "lowly ones of the earth." This is what Mother Teresa insisted was her mission: not to change structures, but to serve people in their need. It seems to me that sending a red hat to Texas is a way of recalling the Church in the US to a pastoral mission that is really focused on people.

Coming soon: North American Martyrs

...that would be us. I mean, could be us. Whatever the form of "witness" (to translate "martyrdom" a different way) we have the opportunity to give.
I was thinking of today's incredible saints. We had a story of St. Isaac Jogues, or maybe it was a poem, in one of our text books when I was in grade school. It impressed me no end. In it, a man was telling a priest about a missionary he had heard of, someone who had suffered tortures at the hands of the people he had come to evangelize, and yet returned to them to continue preaching the Gospel. At the end of the tale, the visitor was leaving, and his hands bore the scars of the torture the man had been talking about.
St. Isaac Jogues and St. Rene Goupil were martyred at Auriesville, NY, where the Jesuits have run a retreat house (and where the mosquitoes were ferocious enough to truly call to mind the sufferings of the martyrs!). In decades past, the Martyrs' Shrine was the goal of enormous pilgrimages, and the shrine Church is something like a gymnasium in the round, capable of accomodating tens of thousands of visitors. But it has lost considerable cachet of late. In part, I suspect that is due to the remoteness of the place, and the more-than-rustic condition of the shrine buildings. And in some way, it (and the martyrs it honors) seems to be a victim of political correctness. It just doesn't do today to quote the writings of those selfsame missionaries when they mention the "savages," even though the brutality they suffered was, in fact, savage. Perhaps some of the Jesuits themselves are embarassed by the missionary zeal of those Frenchmen, disrupting the lives and wars and hunts of the Iroquois and Mohawks and attempting to set up villages so that Christian life could be established in a consistent way, and thus "imposing" European culture on them. (That is a pretty harsh accusation against men who journeyed with the native peoples, sleeping in the longhouses and eating their typical diet.) Today's saints deserve to be listened to. They are some of the best witnesses the Church has ever been offered.
And if you have a chance to go to Canada, to the reconstructed village of Ste. Marie on the Huron (and the nearby Martyr's Church there), don't pass it by. Even if it's as out of the way as Auriesville.

Right to Life

Here at the catechetical conference, a number of pro-life organizations are also among the exhibitors. I overheard a conversation between a catechist and the lady at the "Pro-Life Wisconsin" booth next to ours. The catechist was saying that young women have already gotten so socialized to the "morning-after pill" that it is not even "Plan B." Have things really gotten that bad?

Luke

Today's first reading is a poignant one from St. Paul: "no one is with me but Luke." It highlights today's saint (Luke, not Paul): as a physician, he was used to staying with people in their moments of need.
Who are the "Lukes" in your life?

Saint of the Day

Today's saint is a person of such towering moral and spiritual stature, it would be easy to suspect he was just the victim of hyperbolic hagiography. Except that we have his own writings to prove that his reputation is warranted. St. Ignatius of Antioch, successor of St. Peter in the ancient Church of Antioch, was executed in Rome around the year 107. That puts him in the ranks of the "Apostolic Fathers," men who received the faith within a generation of the Apostles themselves. His writings not only testify to a Church structure so developed that it makes some people nervous, but they also have a strong Eucharistic focus. You could say that Ignatius' writings, especially his letter to the Romans, offer a Eucharistic spirituality of martyrdom.
It was Ignatius who wrote en route to presumed martyrdom, to make sure that the Christians of Rome didn't show him any "untimely kindness" by attempting to intervene on his behalf. "I am the wheat of Christ," he famously wrote, "to be ground by the teeth of beasts to become Christ's pure bread."
For years, I have read this section of Ignatius to the Romans with a sense of awe for the man's colossal faith and courage. Today, in rereading it, I was suddenly struck by the weakness he does not mask. As if foreseeing just how far that weakness could take him, he wrote to establish his position: "Even if, when the time comes, I should beg you to help me, do not do it. Believe what I am writing now, because this is my true will." He admits to temptation, to fear, to a realistic sense of "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." He asks for prayers.
Tomorrow will be the feast of St. Luke, and after that, the North American Martyrs, men on a par with St. Ignatius. But Ignatius was of that first generation of martyrs: people who followed Jesus to the cross, whatever shape that cross took in their lives. These are the ones who established the "pattern" and the spirituality of martyrdom. And Ignatius just may be their finest witness.

Mark your calendars

East Coast readers, our Christmas concert dates have been firmed up. I hope to see you (especially you, Lisa!) there:

Staten Island, NY
Nov. 29 (6:00): Benefit dinner and concert, Hilton Garden Inn, Staten Island NY (call for ticket info: 718-477-2100, ex. 244)

New York City
Dec. 1 (1:00): St. Malachy's Church (The Actors' Chapel), 239 W. 49th St at Broadway, NYC

Princeton, NJ
Dec. 2 (3:00): St Paul's Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ

Brooklyn, NY
Dec. 3 (7:00 pm): St. Athanasius Church, 2154 61st St. Brooklyn, NY

Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 5 (7:00 pm): Maternity BVM Church, 9220 Bustleton Av, Philadelphia PA
Dec. 6 (7:00 pm): Benefit concert, Bala Golf Club, 2200 Belmont Av, Philadelphia, PA (call for ticket info: 215-229-1100)

Boston, MA
Dec. 8 (7:00 pm): Daughters of St. Paul Convent, 50 St. Paul's Av, Jamaica Plain, MA
Dec. 9 (3:00 pm): Daughters of St. Paul Convent, 50 St. Paul's Av, Jamaica Plain, MA

Welcoming the Word

Today's liturgical readings match marvelously: St. Paul beginning his letter to "all in Rome, called to holiness...." and Jesus commenting on the lack of faith of those around him who were asking for a "sign from heaven." The only sign they will get, he says, is the Sign of Jonah. And that leads into a little set of comparisons of faith: The Queen of the South who welcomed the wisdom of King Solomon gets praise that "this generation" does not win from Jesus. And the men (he specifies "men") of Nineveh who heard the Word of God preached by Jonah.
When this Gospel is used in the liturgy, it is cut off from the passage that directly precedes it (which was Saturday's Gospel): the woman in the crowd who praised Jesus' mother for her physical childbearing and nuturing, and who was told "blest are those who hear the word of God and keep it." Taken together, the section of Luke is really about what we do when the Word of God comes to us. Mary, the Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh all welcomed a surprising message that came to them unexpectedly. They did not hold out for "signs from heaven" but heard the Word of God and kept it.

new Novices coming up

Today is the official date of the start of novitiate for three of our young women in formation. Please pray for them, for their formation guide (Sr. Karen Marie) and for the novices who will welcome them into this focused time of preparation for vowed life.

Encore for Gore

First of all, I say "Hurray!" Gore found his niche. (I liked him up until the late 80's when he sold his soul to Naral.) Still, I imagine there are many snarky blogs being written by Catholics who get itchy when the conversation moves to environmental issues. It's not an attitude I can understand. There was even a Catholic talk radio host who this week was downplaying the "green" moves the Vatican has made of late, denying that the Vatican is going green. And mention the fact that some twenty years ago the theme for the World Day of Peace (a theme which ultimately is authorized by the Pope himself) was care for the environment, and these same Catholics will brush it aside, as if the Pope weren't himself that day or something.
What is wrong with this picture?
They may say, "It's all fake science; it's not 100% proof-positive that human activity is responsible for current changes around the globe; this has all happened before..."
So what?
Even if there is only the likelihood that human (read: commercial) activity is resulting in some damage to the planet, ought we not at least try to limit the possible harm?
Too many Catholics, I'm afraid, get more of their convictions in this matter from economic worldviews and from a diminished appreciation for creation that owes very little to Church teaching and very much to the "massa damnata" thinking of certain influential members of the Reformation.
It's God's planet we're talking about, after all, and we were put here as stewards, "to cultivate the earth."
I wish we could find grants and funding to help our little building here in downtown Chicago go a bit green.

Making progress

Here in Chicago we have one of those "help the homeless" newspapers, "Streetwise." You can pick up a copy from any of the two or three merchants hawking them in a single block. The great thing about it is that the authorized merchants have to go through a program and have to be "clean" before they can get the I.D. card that sets them apart from ordinary hustlers of otherwise free newspapers like the Onion. And the Streetwise sellers have a chance to put their lives back on track.
I passed by one of our Randolph street regulars today. He comes to the task with the mindset of a person with a commitment to his job, in suit and tie. I noticed he was wearing a new suit and complimented him on it. "I've been blessed," he said. "I'm doing better. Going to the thrift store to get another suit soon. People appreciate it when you take your work seriously." He seemed to have had some dental work done, too. I offered him another little word of encouragement and continued on home.
It's so good to see a person prosper, even if in the eyes of the Wall Street Journal, he will never seem to measure up.

When Bots are Not Smaht

I'm hoping this is just a matter of automated assignment of ads by keyword, and not representative of some perverse sort of strategy. I was looking up a friend's pro-life video online. The link came up with a row of Google ads on top and two of them were for abortion-related promotions ("abortion apparel," anyone?). A third on top and several others beneath the links focused on adoption, thankfully. But it sure struck me in a very harsh way to see the most prominently placed ads under the heading "Catholic Tube" turn out to be so destructive. I hope it was the bot's mistake.

45 Years Ago

Today is the Feast of Blessed John XXIII, and also the 45th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, his unexpected "opening the windows" for the Church. A few years ago I translated a small book (actually a kind of photo album) on the life of Good Pope John. It's not slated for publication yet, but it's ready when we are! At any rate, one of the interesting things about Pope John's life is that in his "career" as a Vatican diplomat, he could not exactly have been called a success. (Not by the usual standards according to which diplomats are judged!) He ruffled so many feathers that he ended up sent to places where the Catholic Church was weakest in terms of the local culture. Perhaps it was thought that Angelo Roncalli could have little impact in such places as Bulgaria and Turkey. Then he was taken out of the diplomatic corps entirely! What happened, though, was that he made a lasting impact in those parts of the world, opening avenues of greater communication with the Holy See. The diplomat nobody wanted became the Pope everybody loved.
God's ways are certainly not ours!

'Tis the Season?

Macy's has had their Christmas display up since just after Labor Day. Am I alone in wondering what happened to, you know, Halloween and all before the trees and ornaments went up?

Right to Life month

The parish bulletin this week included a truly beautiful leaflet from the Bishops' Conference. The cover was an image of the Visitation, with Elizabeth's arms open wide to welcome Mary, and her words "The infant in my womb leaped for joy." The inside was as thorough a presentation of contemporary life issues as anyone could ask for. One thing that impressed me a great deal in this presentation was the way it revealed how mistaken our culture's presumptions are when it comes to the meaning of life. Culturally, we assume that the meaning of life is achievement. What that does is give an opening to all those forces that would suggest that certain lives are not worth living: the ones that can never "accomplish" what our society considers valuable. Into this pile go all sorts of human beings, especially the most severely handicapped (many of whom now will no longer see the light of day anyway, because they are being aborted once their handicap is recognized). Embryos "created" and stored in laboratories may escape this pile, but only if we can "use" them for experimentation.
But is the meaning of life to be found in a list of accomplishments? This is where the Bishops' leaflet provides a culturally surprising call to conversion: to see every human life as God does is to know that we are made to love as God loves. And that a person's lovableness does not depend on his or her intellectual potential or physical self-sufficiency; that some people, in their weakness, are God's "instrument in bringing forth holiness from others" who learn love from them, "a power that can lead to [their] sanctification."
"You made us for yourself, O Lord..."

Holyween Time

It's a good time to plan for a holy Halloween with "Halloween Alternatives" by yours truly. I also recommend Pauline Kids "Encounter the Saints" posters for a game of ... pin the halo on the saint. Or maybe just for decoration.

More "Best Books" from Sr. Julia!

Your Presence Requested

Sr. Helena notified me that "Bella" (the movie) is opening on Oct. 26 and that it is crucial that the opening weekend be as strong as possible so that the movie studios recognize that there is an audience for this kind of movie.

The opening cities are:
NYC Chicago Los Angeles/Orange County Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/W. Palm Beach Houston Dallas San Antonio San Francisco Phoenix Denver San Diego Orlando Washington DC St. Louis Colorado Springs Kansas City Las Vegas Austin Baltimore Philadelphia Des Moines Atlanta Nashville Knoxville Detroit Cleveland Tampa Fresno Sacramento Birmingham, AL

If you are in these areas, please make your plans now for that weekend; invite your friends! Get the word out.

These cities will see the movie open the following weekend (make your plans now!):
Milwaukee Madison Green Bay Minneapolis Pittsburgh Tucson Albuquerque Durango, CO El Paso Oklahoma City Honolulu

New video

This one is just a tourist's "how to": How to get to the Sistine Chapel from St. Peter's Square. (Step One is actually "Get to Rome" but I left that part out.) The music is from the choir I sing with at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish.

Thinking Ahead

In case you're wondering about Christmas ideas, I put one in the sidebar for you. It's the Christmas album we recorded last August (the folks at our Christmas concerts last year were able to get the pre-release CD). This is not your father's Christmas album: most of the music is the upbeat, toe-tapping kind, but there are a few more solemn tracks (such as my own "O Holy Night"). It's a good gift for priests and other hard-to-shop-for types.

A Common-Sense proposal

I feel pretty frustrated at not being able to use clips of a recording session I sang for because we didn't get enough distinct licenses to use the songs for anything but the finished album. So I would like to propose a "new" kind of copyright notice. The "common sense" right notice. I even designed a "commonsense" symbol to indicate that a work includes licensed material. This symbol would declare that a licensed work is being used in a common sense way that fosters the goal of the original licensing. It is on the order of the gentlemen's agreement of old.
For example: the license to record a song and sell the recording includes the "common sense right" to use 5-second clips of the song to promote the album itself.
Any other examples of where a "commonsense" symbol could be used?

Getting rights wrong

Well, I just got a call from the music studio that I have to take down the YouTube video with the "making of" our latest CD project. Even though I was careful not to use footage from any contemporary composers, many of the "Catholic Favorites" we recorded had to be licensed, and those licenses don't include provisions for even the remotest clips being used for "public performance" or streaming on the Internet, not even if the purpose is to market the final product (which means increased royalties for those who "own" the work). Amazingly enough, the only two songs on the whole album which are in the public domain are "Amazing Grace" and "O Sanctissima." And those are the two I have the smallest amount of footage for.
Work is being done toward getting a "blanket license," at which time I may be able to re-post the video, but for now I must take it off of YouTube. I am tempted to use the footage and then just erase the offensive audio, but that doesn't make much sense when the whole "program" is about recording a musical album!
What a mess.

Elevator Prayer

Sr. M. Thecla had one of those ickily invasive medical procedures today, and I went to the hospital to pick her up. As I got into the elevator, an older woman was saying, "But I don't know about radiation. How much time would it give me?" A man with her said, "They said you had a year. That was 364 days ago..." The discussion went on among the woman, the man and two other women, and continued as they got off the elevator. Naturally, I was whispering a silent prayer for them. The sick woman gave me a look and pointed toward her throat as she exited. All I could do, besides the obvious, was give her a little pat on the shoulder. But I think it meant a lot to her to have a little ministry in the elevator. You never know what your "ordinary day" will mean on someone else's calendar. Pray for her.

The Day of the Lord

Today's readings (for the Weekday cycle, not for St. Francis) play off one another exceptionally well. The first reading describes the dedication of the rebuilt, post-exile Temple. The ceremony included the reading of "The Book of the Law" (Deuteronomy), and the people were so moved by the particular love God had for them that they cried and cried. The Levites went around telling them, "Don't cry! This day is holy to the Lord!" In a way, that is the message Jesus sent his 72 disciples out to proclaim: "The Kingdom of God is in your midst!" It should make a difference that God has reached out to us in such a way. And the Responsorial Psalm explains how: "The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart."

The Dictatorship of Potential

It's a funny thing, potential. We have so much of it, just in our humanity. And then with our technology, it is seemingly unbounded. For example, the computer I am working on can do so much, I feel obliged to try to get it all done! And then I end up multitasking to such an extent that all I have left at the end of a day is a lot of pieces of potentialities. We simply can't accomplish everything that is potentially possible. We have to make choices that involve sacrifice of something that is potentially precious so that at least something makes the leap from potency to act.

What does the Bible say?

An interesting article in the WSJ explains, a bit, why some (but only some) evangelical groups are so indifferent to environmental issues: according to Rev. Frank Brown of Bellmead First Baptist Church in Waco, TX, God is "sovereign over his creation" to such a degree that no human interference will affect his timing in terms of this world.
Such are the effects of nominalism. As Catholics, we recognize that God gave us considerable influence over his creation: Adam was put in the Garden to "till and keep it." God left his cosmos in our hands for real: he did not just put us here to tinker around like children in a sandbox. Our choices, our stewardship, have a moral dimension: we can affect God's original designs. Look at original sin!
There are still many who would downplay the impact of human technology on the environment. That is really not the point. Even if there is only a chance that our unbridled industry is harming the earth, we have a responsibility to diminish that possible impact. This is the approach the Vatican is taking, and it is reflected in a number of Papal discourses over the past twenty and more years. Of course, if God just gave us the earth as a sandbox, to build castles in that his coming will kick over anyway, what does it matter what we do with it?
There is such a thing as attributing "too much" to God's sovereignty--and that is what happens when we diminish the real value of human work.

Amo, Amas, Amat

I'm catching up on back issues of the Wall Street Journal and found an item about the Latin Wikipedia, Vicipaedia. Everything you need to know, in classic Latin. I understand (!) the editors were having trouble rendering some modern words in Latin. They should have consulted the Vatican, which long ago had to come up with Latin versions of things like "computer." As former president of our high school Latin club, I say, "Euge!"

Care Packages for Parents

While I was at the Holy Family Institute's retreat, I met a lovely couple who have a home-based ministry to other parents of children with severe health issues. They gave me a flyer about the work, which deserves your attention (they don't have a web page yet, but I urged them to develop something simple). Here's what it says:

"When a child is admitted to the hospital under emergency conditiobns, the parents are usually unprepared for time away from home. In addition to feeling worried and frightened for their child, they are also unable to meet many of their own personal needs during the first day or two when things are so chaotic. [Hospitals]...are overrun with donations of toys and goodies for the children, but there is little to no help for the parents.
We put together care packages that contain personal hygiene items (shampoo, toothbrush/paste, etc), practical items (pen and paper) and just plain old comfort items (candy, gum, new t-shirt, slippers, fleece throw). We are also providing copies of the New Testament that can be given to those who request them. We hope that in meeting their physical needs, these families might experience a little of God's love for them when they may be feeling very helpless and out of control.
If anyone would like to coordinate such a project in their own city, we would be happy to help get things started.... Donations of care package fillers are always welcome!"

For more information, contact Dawn (e-mail dandjmueller [at] sbcglobal [dot] net).

Home Sweet Home

The flight was delayed, and I got home over two hours later than anticipated, but I'm back in Chicago! The flight was rendered more "interesting" by the guy in the middle seat, who had evidently planned to hunker down for the entire 3.5 hour (which became 5.5 hour) flight with his "Penthouse" magazine. Until I got to the aisle seat. Which didn't inspire him to put the magazine away, but it did rather encourage him to focus on the "articles." I did my best in that regard, too: pulling out my New Testament, I looked for my favorite bookmark: a reproduction of the famous icon from the Mt. Sinai monastery of St. Catherine. (It's on the opening page of my much-neglected website.) I made sure that Jesus was facing the middle seat. All the time.
Now, "catch-up" time!