I leave this morning for a retreat and a visit to friends in New York City, so this will be my last post of 2008. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas season and a very happy New Year. Will resume posting after January 3. Will be praying for all Dawn Patrol readers while on retreat. Please pray for me!
Comments to this post are closed, as I won't be checking them. Will be reachable on my cell phone and, after December 31, on e-mail.
Might a knowledgeable reader identify the species of this big guy who hung out by my back door a few days ago? All I could make out was that he was not the red-tailed variety of urban hawk that I recall from my NYC days.
This delightful sped-up scene (not for the seizure-prone) comes courtesy of Robert N. Going, who writes: "Merry Christmas from Casa Going! Our rascally children surprised us while we were out shopping. Uncle Sy is supervising. Watch for the traditional pickle ornament."
It's hard to argue against technological advancement when a certain surgery adds fifteen years to the life of a loved one. It's hard to argue against the information age when a computer allows you to download data from a library in Vienna on to your PC in a matter of several minutes. But there is a downside to technological advancement and the information age. Technological advancement and the information age have weakened our capacity to wonder.
The philosopher Sam Keen once wrote that wonder is the basis for all philosophy. In order to get at the meaning of life, he wrote, you must wonder.
What the philosophers call wondering about the curiosities of life, Christians call beholding the mysteries of life. Along with the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Christians most wonder about the Incarnation. How is it that a Divine Person took on flesh and became like us in all things but sin?
We call Christmas a mystery because the birth of Jesus Christ is unlike any other birth. Jesus was born to a married woman who never at any time had sexual relations with her husband. The Holy Spirit had come upon Mary and overshadowed her (cf. Lk 1:35), thereby conceiving the Child. Without the seed of man, the Child grew in His mother’s womb until such time that a son was born. (cf. Matt 1:25)
I must confess that it is getting harder and harder in our culture to find the image of the Madonna and Child. Some devout Christians who send Christmas cards still use this image but advertisers don’t. Advertisers and merchandisers don’t use the image of the Madonna and Child because it doesn’t sell.
Mystery doesn’t sell but neither can we rid ourselves of it completely. The greatest unsolved mysteries are not the stories of a television show but the largely silent witness of those who love unto death.
When Christ was born in Bethlehem, very few were there. The Madonna was there, of course, and so was Joseph her just, industrious and chaste spouse. The shepherds were there, too. (cf. Lk 2:16-17) But apart from these, only the angels witnessed this mysterious occurrence. (cf. Lk 2:15)
When Christ died on Calvary, very few were there again. According to the evangelist, the mother of Jesus, along with her sister and two other Marys assembled at the foot of the Cross along with the Beloved Apostle John. (cf. Jn 19:25) Before drawing His last breath, Jesus entrusted the care of His mother to a new son, a son born of apostolic love. (cf. Jn 19:27)
As the Christ Child lay in the manger (cf. Lk 2:8), His tender flesh pressed against wood. More than thirty years later, the flesh of the God-Man pressed against the wood of the Cross. The Incarnation was an embrace of pain and suffering as well as delight and joy. The Incarnation is a divine commitment to love unto death.
We are children of the manger and the Cross. We bubble with excitement over sacramental marriages and sacramental ordinations. As memories of the ceremonies begin to fade, do we set down our crosses? No, we take them up and follow in the footsteps of the Master. (cf. Mk 8:34) In doing so, we do not so much save our lives as we lose them. (cf. Mk 8:35)
Now here's something that definitely won’t sell: losing your life. Not even the philosophers can accept this. How can you find the meaning of your life if you lose your life? It doesn’t make sense.
Pope John Paul II called losing your life the law of the gift. In other words, you never discover the true meaning of your life until you lose it in commitment. Christ is committed to us in the Incarnation and the Cross. Both mysteries are grounded in love. Although not the only commitments to Christ, sacramental marriage and sacramental ordination are public expressions of a mysterious love unto death. In marriage, the flesh of husband and wife are joined together to project into the world the imago Dei, the image of God. In ordination, a mere man is given the awesome power to call down the flesh of the Son of God on an altar.
In his book The Rumor of Angels∫, Peter Berger writes that we have signals of transcendence in our midst. The angels no doubt testified to the presence of the Divine on earth two thousand years ago. Today, angels continue this great work but we can’t see them. We can see, however, those committed human beings who love unto death. They are the signals of transcendence who remind a skeptical world that Christmas is first, last and always a mystery.
In the Liturgy of Good Friday, the priest holds aloft a crucifix and sings or says: This is the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the world. The congregation then responds: Come, let us worship. If we can give thanks for a flesh that is destroyed, then surely we can give thanks today for a flesh that is brand new. In this Eucharist, immolated flesh becomes life-giving flesh. The Incarnation of Jesus made Him subject to death. But God has conquered death through the Resurrection. The love we celebrate today is not just a love unto death but a love through death and unto everlasting life.
Merry Christmas!
Monsignor Robert J. Batule is a priest of the diocese of Rockville Centre.
Early yesterday morning, I dreamed I was in a hipster hangout, the kind I recall from my years haunting Greenwich Village—a faded old lunch-counter type place with worn linoleum-tiled floors and padded side booths.
For some reason, I was regaling the patrons—nobody in particular—with a recitation of 1 Corinthians 12, which is pretty funny because I don't have that chapter memorized in real life. But there I was, declaiming in the language of the King James (because I secretly adore the KJV despite fellow Catholics' best attempts to wean me off it) about how "ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues," and so on.
When I got to the second-to-last line of the chapter—"But covet earnestly the best gifts"—a man's voice from a side booth about 20 feet away got my attention, chiming in to complete the verse: "And yet show I unto you a more excellent way ..."
I recognized the voice instantly. My eyes turned to its source, and there, at the side booth, was my old friend and colleague Greg.
Now, there were at least a couple of very strange things about this. One is that Greg would in real life have been the last person to quote the Bible. He would sooner have quoted Aleister Crowley. He was an occultist, a New Ager.
The other strange thing was that Greg has been dead for four years.
I was not on good terms with him at the time of his death. We had long before had a falling out over a business matter about which I was entirely in the wrong. Although I became conscious of my folly while he was still alive, I never apologized to him, a failure I regret to this day.
Never before had Greg appeared in any of my dreams. I had a short list of deceased friends and family for whom I would pray at Mass; his name was not on it. The last time he crossed my mind was a few weeks ago, when I turned up a letter he wrote having to do with our dispute. I threw it in the trash and mumbled a Miraculous Medal prayer for his soul. It is the quickest prayer I know.
But there he was, sitting at the cushioned wall booth, his right side facing out towards me. He looked the best I had ever seen him, only his eyes—which had always looked somewhat beatific in that Sixties-survivor kind of way—had now lost their focus. They were quite wide and bright, but gazing at some indecipherable middle distance. His face looked placid—not deadened, but with no expression to speak of. He was there and not there. I stared at him with a half-awareness I was dreaming; the fear struck me that he might disappear before I could communicate with him.
All that, I perceived in a flash. The next thing I knew, I had dropped to my knees a few feet away from him. Looking into his unblinking eyes, I said loudly, deliberately, "Greg, are you in heaven?"
He mouthed a response, but his voice was too soft and I couldn't make it out. I grew more fearful that he would disappear before I could get an answer.
"Greg," I said again, with extra emphasis, "are you in heaven?"
This time, I could hear him. He spoke simply and calmly, without emotion.
"I've seen it. Once."
I tried to process that. The best I could do, with no time to waste, was realize that he was not in heaven. Therefore, he was in purgatory. Therefore, he needed prayers. I had read many times in the writings of the saints that the souls in purgatory, whenever they appear to someone living on Earth, always seek prayers. One of my theology professors last semester had spoken of that as well. He told of a soul who appeared to a Dominican brother in a dream, letting him know that masses promised for the dead had not been said.
Once more, all that went through my mind in a split second. I sprang to his side and knelt there as St. Catherine Labouré did when she had her vision of Mary, but it was all automatic, without thinking. Clasping my hands together and resting them on his right knee, I collapsed into tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I said, "I'm sorry that I've only been thinking thoughts that have tied you to the Earth—:
That didn't make sense, I realized. My thinking worldly thoughts about him had no power to keep him in purgatory. The wrong was that I was failing to think heavenly thoughts—neglecting to pray that he might join the blessed.
So I corrected myself, still bawling. "I mean—I'll pray for you. I'll pray the Memorare for you every morning and every night."
I am not sure, but I think I also sobbed, "Pray for me."
Greg said nothing, only gazing straight ahead with that same middle-distance stare. I turned my teary face towards him as though to bury it in his chest. That was when he made his only attempt to acknowledge my physical presence, moving his right arm to put it around me ... but it went through me, and my head felt itself go right through where his chest had been, touching only the back of the diner booth.
I started to wake up—reluctantly making myself awaken, as I feared that otherwise I would forget both the dream and my promise to pray. Already, I was thinking how strange the dream was and how I wanted to share it with readers. The thought occurred to me, while I was still between sleep and waking, of how I would answer someone who wanted to know why a soul who had been dead four years would still be in purgatory. The answer came to my mind that Greg had been Catholic—that is, baptized into the faith as a baby—and had failed to receive the final sacraments. I had no way of actually knowing that he had been baptized—and, indeed, still do not.
The sound of Greg's voice was still fresh in my ears when I got out of bed. I can't remember it anymore now, hours later, but when it had come to me in the dream, it sounded exactly as I had remembered it in life, only with that unearthly calm.
His reciting the last verse of 1 Corinthians 12 was quite meaningful, I realized. The "more excellent way" is charity, which is the most important theological virtue for the obtaining of one's eternal salvation. That Greg knew of its importance suggested he was close to his goal.
The thing he said of heaven—"I've seen it. Once."—haunted me. Searching online to see if those in purgatory do glimpse heaven, I was struck by the prayer for the third day of the old Breviary's All Souls Guild Novena:
During the long captivity of the Jews in Babylon, God's people, sitting on the shores of the Euphrates, moaned and cried in remembering Sion. So the Souls in Purgatory, plaintive and doleful, long for the joys of the heavenly mansion. They have had a glimpse of its glory and happiness, but because they were too much attached to earthly pleasures, they will be deprived, perhaps for a long time, of the celestial joys."I've seen it. Once." The words echoed in my mind. I realized then why Greg had not answered my "are you in heaven" question with a simple "no." How painful it must have been for him to be asked if he were there, when he not only knew he was not there, but had seen it and perceived what he was awaiting.
St. Denis, the Carthusian, assures us that the like occurs at the feasts of Christmas and Easter; that on these solemnities Mary, accompanied with several legions of angels, descends into purgatory and delivers numbers of souls. Novarin declares that this takes place also on all the festivals of the blessed Virgin.Shortly after waking from the dream, I wrote to someone who had been close to Greg, mentioning the dream and that I had the sense Greg had been baptized Catholic and had died without the sacraments. The person wrote back saying simply what I had known all along—that Greg was an atheist—and making no mention of baptism.
My friend who was formerly known as Raving Atheist today gave readers the best Christmas gift ever—the Good News.
As he wrote to me in an e-mail: "I've corrected that pesky typo in the title of my blog."
Stop by and welcome him home.
Sharp-eyed viewers of my "Chastity Rome-Chick Blues" video, which he directed (as well as rewriting the lyrics to the Bob Dylan tune), have known his new moniker for a couple of years, as he sneaked it in during the closing credits.
Got a surprise Christmas present from my old employer, the New York Daily News: It's reinstated a number of my articles to its free online archive. Among the highlights:
.)
"It’s funny how if the football coach requires practice every day at 6:00 in the morning, everyone’s fine with it; but if catechism class begins at 8:00 instead of 9:00, once a week, people are up in arms."
— Father Joseph Lody, "Obedience, from his new blog,Faithful Reflections.
Thanks to a kind soul who donated a PDF file of the classic booklet to Archive.org, Father Daniel A. Lord's "The Story of Christmas" is available for free download.
Written to be read to very young children, it's worth it for the beautiful full-page illustration of Our Lady alone, but I also love the devotion that shows through in Father Lord's prose. It is deep and occasionally profound, as when he writes of the place where Our Saviour was born, "There was no door in the cave. That was so that everyone who wanted to enter could find the way."
Right-click here or on the image below to download (131.5 MB), or go to the booklet's main Archive.org page.
"Every single solitary year when I was a kid watching the movie 'Jason and the Argonauts' on Super Host (an old local movie host on channel 43) we would get to the point where Jason was about to fight the army of skeletons and Mom would walk in and say, 'It’s time to go to Mass.' I have never seen that part of the movie."
— Father Valencheck of Adam's Ale
Planned Parenthood is partnering with a Santa Barbara, Calif., shelter to "confidential reproductive health services" to homeless women, meaning contraception and—soon to come with its "full-service" satellite clinic—abortion. What's more, the abortion giant claims it is doing the women a service by prescribing contraceptives to them without giving them a physical exam. The Santa Barbara Independent reports [emphasis mine]:
For the first few months, reproductive services will be limited to what Planned Parenthood dubs “express exams.” They include birth control and testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) without that physical exam many women find intimidating. Within a few months though, the clinic will ramp up to a full-service Planned Parenthood satellite clinic, capable of gynecological exams and the more invasive birth control device Implanon, which is surgically inserted under the skin and lasts for three years.Well, that's one way to solve the homeless problem, I guess. Call it a final solution.
... when the Sacred Heart Auto League's Web site is sold out of both its Sacred Heart Commemorative Statue and its Sacred Heart Visor Clip. I am happy, however, because not having a car, all I need is its beautiful 2009 Sacred Heart Daily Companion, which I own.
"For over 50 years, the Sacred Heart Auto League has been making the roads safer," says a mission statement on the league's Web site. "Those who take part in this free membership, and who live out their love of neighbor through courteous and careful driving, thereby counter - and in a sense, repair - the inconsideration and carelessness so often encountered while on the road. Membership is free."
The league is a wonderful throwback to the golden age of 1950s Bishop Sheen Catholicism, and its Web site includes some evocative photos from that era.
I am delighted to report that I have been invited to speak at Dartmouth College on February 12, to offer an alternative view to the college's annual "Sex Fest."
The Catholic chaplain who invited me asked what title I would suggest for my talk. I thought of "Sex Confessed." If there's enough room on the flyer, I suggested the subtitle: "Preserving Your Sanity and Your Soul While Sin-Crazed Cynics Cover Your College in Condoms."
Having appeared at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's "Sex Out Loud" festival, as well as Yale's "Sex Week" and at Georgetown during "V-Day" week, I look forward to helping students survive what was once Valentine's Day and has now become the silly season for the so-called "safe sex" set.
... is that her only criticism of abortion was that it was being used to weed out baby girls. As if to say, hey, other than that, no problem. Nor did she mention that, apart from its ending the lives of many millions of children each year, abortion damages women physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Her glossing over inconvenient truths is really no surprise, given her longtime, determined advocacy for the culture of death. LifeSiteNews has the full text of the speech by the former British prime minister's wife at the pontifical university.
In the words of LifeSiteNews' Hilary White, Blair "carefully omitted any mention of her ongoing support for International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the U.K.’s Family Planning Association (FPA), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other organizations whose agenda includes global abortion-on-demand."
Two weeks ago, the world saw what happened when pro-life activist Lila Rose went undercover in June to expose how an Indiana Planned Parenthood branch was willing to cover up the rape of a 13-year-old girl by her 31-year-old "boyfriend" ...
... and today, just after Indiana's attorney general announced a probe into the cover-up, Rose's Live Action Films released a second video from another abortion clinic, showing Planned Parenthood's pattern of covering up sexual abuse of minors:
I looked for responses to this on the blogs of Planned Parenthood's usual apologists—Pandagon, Feministe, and Feministing—and found nothing. One would almost think that their concern for "women's health" did not extend to raped 13-year-old girls.
Ed Morrisey of Hot Air makes the observation,"The first time could just be a rogue employee, but this second incident in the same month suggests a pattern of responses from Planned Parenthood. The faces change, but the dialogue remains almost exactly the same. 'I don’t want to know the age,' comes the immediate response. Even the hand gestures mimic the previous video. Once again, the abortion counselor gives a helpful geography lesson to a putative 13-year-old girl, suggesting that the child drag herself over state lines to get the abortion rather than follow the law and report the incident to the police.
"How many people do you know that would advise a 13-year-old boy or girl to travel without parents or guardians across state lines for any purpose, let alone an invasive medical procedure? Planned Parenthood apparently sees nothing wrong with that. Lila Rose got that advice at least twice in her undercover work."
RELATED: Morrisey interviewed Lila Rose today on his online show:
FURTHER READING: The best book about Planned Parenthood is Charles Donovan and Robert Marshall's Blessed Are the Barren: The Social Policy of Planned Parenthood
"With crystal ball in hand, I would also predict that more prominent elected officials with ties to the abortion-rights lobby will be exposed for corruption. This has already happened with Paul Morrison, who, in the wake of scandal, is set to resign his position as Kansas Attorney General, and with New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who is under various investigations for wrongdoing. I believe it will continue because such officials' acceptance of money from abortion-rights groups reflects deep moral failings that cannot help but extend to other areas of their lives and careers."
— Dawn Eden, "InsideCatholic.com's Predictions for 2008," January 1, 2008
"Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, one of the most staunchly pro-abortion politicians in the U.S., has been arrested on corruption charges, including, most prominently, conspiring to sell the senate seat recently made vacant by Barack Obama’s election to the presidency."
— LifeSiteNews, December 9, 2008
RELATED: Kathryn Jean Lopez delineates how Blagojevich revealed his lack of conscience when he trampled on pharmacists' right to their own.
For some strange reason, Lord, you depend on
me.
What possible need could you have for my
shoulder?
Why should you lean on me? Yet you do just that.
I am grateful. It is a challenge
and a trust,
an inspiration and a call to character.
If you are willing to depend on me,
weak and clumsy as I am,
I am eager not to fail you.
Lean on me, dear Lord.
At least pretend to find me a help.
May your sweet pretence
make me worthy of your very real trust.
— Father Daniel A. Lord S.J.
The above is from a series of prayerful reflections made by Father Lord after he was diagnosed with incurable cancer.
My friend Jeff recently had a recurrence of cancer and is going into chemotherapy today for the first time. Please pray for him.
First Things editor Joseph (Jody) Bottum asks readers of the magazine's blog for prayers for his daughter Faith, who is in intensive care, though thankfully with a good prognosis.
UPDATE: A friend forwarded me a thank-you note sent by Bottum to friends; he says his daughter is "much, much better."
Abortion Blog is a new blog by a woman who got an abortion this week. The author describes herself in the blog’s subtitle as a “proud atheist.” In this post, she recounts her interaction with pro-life street counselors outside the clinic:
As I walked passed the last protester before going through the door, I stopped, turned to her, smiled and said one of the following irreverent snarky things:1) “You are one of god’s little accidents.”
2) “And how many children have you adopted?”
3) “Too bad Mary didn’t abort Jesus.”
4) “Oh, come on lady! Like you don’t vaccuum out the ole’ sea monkey tank every now and then!”
5) “I hope it’s twins!”
6) Opened up my copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and read several poignant exerpts since clearly this was the time and place to debate religious views.The clinic escort was overjoyed, and grinning from ear to ear. The protester was clearly deeply disturbed. It was priceless, and although it is possible the right wing now has me on their kidnap and murder list, I’m glad I said something. They were there to f**k with me, and I f**ked with them. Right backatchya b***h!
After the abortion, the blogger is “[s]orry [she] didn’t take a picture of my little thinga-mahoojit, it was sort of interesting” and wishes she could have “donated it to stem cell research or something.” In addition to her own repeated comparisons of the fetus to a sea monkey, she is amused by atheist comedian George Carlin’s crack about “[h]ow come when its us, its abortion, and when it’s a chicken . . . it’s an omelet? There is somewhat less levity and blasphemy, however, in her earlier explanation of her reasons for the abortion:
What makes this hard for me is that when I was younger I had hoped that by my mid/late 20’s I would be able to have children. I sometimes literally crave to be a parent, and I wish I were in a position financially, emotionally etc where I could just have the baby and be joyful about it. I think I would be a pretty good mom. And someday I probably will be.And someday, perhaps, she will realize that those protesters outside the clinic were not there to kidnap and murder her, and that, for all she knew, there might have been a proud atheist like her among them. And she might realize that there are many women in exactly her situation who escape their grinning escorts and receive from the protestors the financial and emotional support they need to be joyous. And then, perhaps, she will realize what is truly priceless.
A delightful e-mail arrived two days ago from playwright Kenan Minkoff, founder and president of the Fitz-Greene Halleck Society, which honors the "anti-Melville.". My apologies for not sharing it sooner (grad-school exams beckon and blogging suffers):
Miss Eden,
Forgive the impetuosity, if not impertinence of my writing, but all things considered I thought you were the person to share this with.
(lacking a bully pulpit - I have been known to whisper strategically)
You were on my mind today, oddly and anyway, because my solemn Jewish blood was clashing with my novice Christian heart.
... and then getting off the subway I saw the Post and News, and it made me sad; the headline that should have been written had not been - because people are religiously illiterate.
But you...
The cover of at least one of the NY Tabloids for 12/10/2008 should have read:
Ebony and Simony
Do you not agree?
with respect,
Kenan Minkoff
Consistent with his deeply-held Christian faith, Barack Obama established the Matthew25 Network to promote a Gospel-based outreach to religious voters. Run by the former Director of Religious Outreach for the 2004 Kerry/Edwards campaign, the site sports a page called Put Away Falsehood to counter alleged misrepresentations regarding Obama and his political positions. The page name is taken from Ephesians 4:25, which states: “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are all of the same body.” The injunction is refreshing in its scope. Our obligation to tell the truth is not limited to statements made in court, but extends to all our dealings with our fellow human beings.
Some of Obama’s statements suggest that a more nuanced interpretation of the Ephesians command may be required. For example, among the list of alleged falsehoods on the Put Away Falsehoods page is that Obama supported gay marriage: the site states unambiguously that “Senator Obama has never supported gay marriage,” with the emphasis in the original. However, this appears to be contradicted by his publicly stated position during his 1996 Illinois State Senate campaign.
More significantly, just two days ago Mr. Obama stated that he had had “no contact” with Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s regarding the replacement for his U.S. Senate seat. But Newsbusters has posted links to contemporaneous news accounts indicating that Obama met with Blagojevich to discuss that very subject on November 5 (see here and here). Additionally, on November 23rd Obama advisor David Axelrod stated on television that he “knew” that Obama had discussed his replacement with Blagojevich.
Because Mr. Obama is from that unique new breed of devout “change” politicians who reject falsehood, I am trying to determine what Biblical category best encompasses his statements. For example, Rene Magritte’s famous Ceci n’est pas une pipe (”this is not a pipe”) painting does not actually promote a lie, because either (1) it is merely a picture of a pipe, or (2) the statement is so obviously contradicted by the context in which it appears that no one could be deceived. Obama’s statements likely fall in the second category, as he knew very well that his assertions would appear on the Internet merely a click away from prominent, conclusive refutations. Is there a scriptural passage which authorizes this particular form of truth-telling more clearly than Ephesians?
Consider also this: does this post “put away falsehood,” considering that it was written with the knowledge that the news organization which announced that Obama met with Blagojevich yesterday suddenly retracted that story? Does my belief that the retraction is unconvincing or false, or my posting of a link to the retraction, excuse any seeming falsehoods on my part?
The Raving Atheist blogs at ravingatheist.com.
I just wrote this to the customer care department of softsurroundingsoutlet.com, which specializes in velvet and silk clothing for women of a certain age:
To Whom It May Concern,
I want very much to take advantage of your current sale, but I am not doing so because I am offended by your using traditional Christmas words and images [meaning the red/green color scheme] to sell your products while omitting the actual word "Christmas." When you refuse to say what holiday you are celebrating, using lines from Christmas carols like "comfort and joy" and "'Tis the season" as ad slogans comes off like a cynical ploy to sell products. If you are going to use such language, please respect Christians by calling your sale a "Christmas Sale" instead of a "Winter Sale," or at least by prominently wishing your customers a "Merry Christmas." There is a reason for the season, and it is more than just spending money on gifts, however good the sale may be.
Merry Christmas,
Dawn Eden
From an NPR op-ed by Father James Martin S.J., on families' sending out photo cards of themselves on vacation instead of traditional Christmas cards:
"When choosing your Christmas cards this year, think more Jesus and less you. Or, more Virgin Mary, and less Virgin Islands."
If you've come here after reading RenewAmerica columnist Matt C. Abbott's profile of me, welcome to my personal blog. Since this site is a kind of bulletin board where I put up items about whatever interests me at the moment, I'll save you some searching in case you just want to know more about my work as author of The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On. Here are some quick links:
.
The New Criterion's Roger Kimball kindly follows up on a tip I sent him, including it in his op-ed today on some things you can't say.
I reported earlier today that a complaint from my friend Drusilla prompted Whole Foods' Columbus Circle store to repent of calling Christmas "Holiday." Unfortunately, it looks like that generic feast migrated over to Amazon, which is currently promoting "12 Days of Holiday." If you'd like to try doing a Drusilla on the company and gently remind it that it is insulting its customers, write Amazon and let me know if you get a response.
UPDATE: Looks like the Drusillas got through. Yay!
When it comes to getting businesses to acknowledge the name of the December 25 holiday, my friend Drusilla Barron shows that making an effort to enlighten them in the spirit of charity can get results.
Drusilla wrote:
To: Whole Foods
Store: CIR/New York City, NY - Columbus Circle [Northeast]
Date: December 6, 2008 - 1:20pm [Saturday]
Message: re: Signs posting Holiday Hours
You post signs that list the hours Whole Foods is open for "Thanksgiving" and "New Years" but between the two, you list, "Holiday" and then give the dates, December 24th and December 25th. Though I assume the decision to list the hours in this fashion was an attempt to avoid offense, the way you have listed them is, in fact, extremely insulting to the Christians who visit Whole Foods from all over the world - and the Columbus Circle store does receive many, many Christian visitors. Your decision is highly, highly offensive. If Thanksgiving and New Years are to listed by name, then the holiday that occurs on December 25th should be listed using its name, Christmas.
By your omission, you are actually highlighting Christmas in a negative fashion that you have decided should be some generic day; you send the message that Christmas is embarrassing, shameful. Yet Christmas is a federal, state and city holiday in the United States. Much of the world celebrates Christmas as a legal holiday. As do many, many of your customers. As does Whole Foods as is evidenced by your signs. You even sell products for the celebration of Christmas. Were this a holiday celebrated by any other religion, you would be more sensitive and not make such an omission if only to prevent negative publicity. It is vital that you show the same sensitivity to your Christian customers. (And, if this is Whole Foods' company-wide policy, you run the risk of offending a huge number of Christian customers. I doubt that is your desire.)
There are other options which will allow you to publish your holiday hours without offending any of your customers. An alternative is not to list the names of any holidays. You might simply post a sign headed "Holiday Hours" and then list the dates and hours without any mention of specific holidays at all. Or you might use as a model the signs in the lobby one floor above that give the hours for the Time-Warner building. Since there are alternatives, I look forward to seeing signs that are as sensitive to Christians as they would be to any other customers the next time I shop at Whole Foods.
Thank you very much.
Drusilla Barron
I spoke to the customer service staff about this during the Thanksgiving weekend but the signs had not been changed when I stopped in on 12/5.
On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 2:44 PM, Peter Ormand (NE CIR) wrote:
Drusilla Barron -
We sincerely apologize for any offense we may have caused you.
You are right and we have changed the sign.
Please rest assured that we have no store or company policy which would prevent us from using the word Christmas.
We always appreciate feedback from our customers; thank you for taking the time to tell us how you feel.
You will see our new sign, with our Christmas hours prominently display on your next visit to our store.
Thank you again,
Sincerely yours,
Peter Ormand
Assistant Store Team Leader
Whole Foods Market
Columbus Circle - New York, NY
From: Drusilla Barron
Date: Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 8:56 PM
Subject: Re: Website Comments: Store Policy
To: "Peter Ormand (NE CIR)"
Cc: NE CIR Store Team Leaders
Dear Mr. Ormand -
Thank you very much. I'll let my friends here in NY and across the country know of your appropriate and immediate response. I look forward to continuing to shop at Whole Foods.
Drusilla Barron
If someone on your Christmas list wants a crash course on chastity, or if you know parents who want to learn how to speak to their young-adult kids about sexual morality, Amazon is currently offering a deep discount on my own Thrill of the Chaste, Wendy Shalit's Good Girl Revolution (the paperback version of her Girls Gone Mild, and Dr. Miriam Grossman's Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student.
The three books list for a total of $52.94; Amazon is offering them in a package deal for $28.38. To get the discount, go to Amazon's Thrill of the Chaste page and scroll down to the "Frequently Bought Together" headline.
To learn more about Shalit and Grossman, check out the video of the "Modest Proposals" panel I co-organized at the Ethics and Public Policy Center last year, which included them and me.
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas, aka the Angelicum, is shocked, shocked to be deluged with protests from concerned Catholics who read that the Rome university invited Cherie Blair to speak at a Dec. 12 women's rights conference, LifeSiteNews reports:
"[A]t least some readers, upon contacting the Angelicum, have reported being told that the university can find no evidence of Mrs. Blair’s pro-abortion or other anti-life and anti-family positions."
Evidence? They want evidence? How about a photo of her giving out condoms to promote FPA, a U.K. abortion-advocacy organization?
The wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a longtime supporter of FPA, whose Web site's abortion fact sheet refers to abortion obliquely as a procedure by which "[t]he pregnancy is removed," resulting in the loss of "fetal tissue"—not an actual fetus, let alone a child.
LifeSiteNews' article has more details on Blair's support of abortion-rights organizations and public dissent from the Church on contraception; U.K. Catholic priest Father Tim Finigan has covered the issues in the past here and here.
To express concerns:
Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski
Congregation for Catholic Education
Palazzo della Congregazioni,
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00193 Roma, Italia
Phone: 06.69.88.41.67
Fax: 06.69.88.41.72
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
Social Sciences Faculty
Largo Angelicum,
1 - 00184
Roma, Italia
Phone: +39-066702402
Fax +39-066702417
fass@pust.urbe.it
To contact conference organizers:
in English:
Sr. Helen Alford op,
alford@pust.urbe.it,
tel: 06 67 02 353,
fax 06 67 02 417
in Italiano: Dr. Girolamo Rossi,
335 695619
UPDATE: Father Philip Neri Powell O.P. published on his blog a response from Sister Helen Alford, dean of the Angelicum's social-sciences school, in which she cites the Pope's granting of an audience to Blair in 2006.
I left a comment in response: "Sister Alford's response is an evasion. The Pope congratulated Barack Obama with a phone call. Does that make the President-elect an appropriate speaker for a Catholic university? Of course not! Likewise, the Pope regularly meets with world leaders and their spouses, but that does not mean those leaders or their spouses deserve a platform to speak at a Catholic university, let alone a pontifical one."
The effects of my current pursuit of a master's degree at Dominican House of Studies are surfacing in unexpected places, as when I gave a headline-writing seminar today at a Washington, D.C., newspaper and unwittingly found myself using theological language.
Discussing how a headline is supposed to describe the story beneath it and at the same time leave room for the reader's curiosity, I said, "A good headline points beyond itself."
I illustrated my talk with a PowerPoint presentation showing examples of some of the headlines I wrote for the New York Post and Daily News, like this one for a story on Bob Dylan's allowing a recording of his to be used in a Victoria's Secret commercial:
Going through my old files last night, I also found a full-page story, likewise in the Post, containing headlines I wrote on the box-office success of "Troy." I always liked doing literary headlines and came up with this one after being unable to think up a pun on the word "Illiad":
A reader writes:
"Please pray for my roommate's family, which has basically shattered. He comes from a very strict Korean background, and has frequently gotten in fistfights with his father. ... Just before Thanksgiving, I have learned, his parents got in their worst fight ever, during which his father beat his mother most violently, breaking her hand, injuring her neck, and tearing out most of her hair. His mother called the police, and he spent a night in jail. They have separated and are probably going to lose their house and all that remains of their dwindling assets. Please pray for healing for these people, especially for the father, who with this heinous act has taken away anyone he could talk to, and who doesn't believe in the sacrament of Reconciliation, unfortunately."
Many thanks to Claire of A Maiden's Wreath for her deep, kind, and thoughtful review of my book The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On.
"Success is not one of the names of God."
— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), quoting "an old proverb" in a 2000 address; also attributed to Martin Buber (source unknown).
A guest post by REV. THOMAS J. EUTENEUER
Editor's note: Earlier today, I linked to a statement by Father Euteneuer that was published in Matthew C. Abbott's RenewAmerica column. After Daniel Kane of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, a Legion of Christ apostolate, posted a comment questioning the veracity of Abbott's column, I wrote Father Euteneuer an e-mail requesting confirmation that he had made the statement that was attributed to him. He responded by sending me what he had sent the columnist. It is identical to what Abbott published, save for the headline; the one above is the original. I have added relevant links. For the record, as a former newspaperwoman, I do not support the call for Tom Hoopes's firing, but I agree with Father that concerned Register subscribers should "refuse to be part of the problem."—Dawn
The Legion of Christ priest who defended Sean Hannity’s dissent on birth control on Fox News last year was bad enough, but the editorial in the National Catholic Register after the election shows that the Legionaries have allowed another misguided agent to speak in their name and on their watch. They are now officially part of the problem, not part of the solution. Editor Tom Hoopes is a layman, but he does the Legion's bidding and should be fired immediately for his absurd editorial in support of Barack Obama. Even were it not for Hoopes' personal glowing support of the most radical abortion President in American history, certain other points of his editorial are just naive:
1. “In America, there’s no reason to fear the president.”—Has Mr. Hoopes ever heard of the coercive power of the Attorney General, the IRS, the FBI or the ATF that viciously persecuted pro-lifers in the previous pro-abortion administration? I have personally been visited by the two latter entities, and they are not boy scouts. Has Mr. Hoopes seen the radical federal judiciary (appointed by the President) routinely overturn the will of the people on critical moral issues? Doesn’t he know that the President appoints the delegation to the UN which will now use our tax dollars to ram abortion down the throats of poor countries like never before? Let us hasten to emphasize that the unborn "in America" have every reason to fear this president, but apparently they can be overlooked because, in Hoopes’ opinion, Obama is "a civil, decent man."There is more that could be said about this terrible editorial, but I would violate charity if I went further. Suffice it to say that I thought for a moment that I was reading the other NCR (the National Catholic Reporter). HLI has worked with the Register in the past to expose the evils of the culture of death, but I am tired of sell-outs. We decidedly refuse to be part of the problem. I am immediately canceling our subscription to the newspaper and will encourage others to do the same. The Legion has finally lost it on this one, and I will not support such dereliction of duty from a religious order that claims to represent the Church and bears the holy Name of Christ.
2. Mr. Hoopes seems to think that he can just have a little gentleman's disagreement with Obama, "…if [he]dare attack the voiceless, defenseless unborn." This is the measure of the insanity of this editorial. What does he mean "if"? Is he simply unaware of the public record of this man who is preparing to attack the unborn in unprecedented ways? The radical cabinet appointments Obama is making should be curbing all the naive estimates of this man’s beneficence toward the unborn both at home and abroad. Extreme pro-aborts like Hillary Clinton (Sec. of State), Tom Daschle (Sec. of HHR) and Ellen Moran (White House spokesperson) will only be marshaled as attack dogs of an Obama administration against the voiceless, defenseless unborn. Where exactly is that "change” America voted for?
3. Mr. Hoopes says that teaching children to dislike and belittle the President "undermines civic responsibility and social cohesion." Well, outside of the fact that it was the Obama supporters who engaged in that type of vicious behavior towards the current President, his idea of "civic responsibility and social cohesion" does not come from Catholic social doctrine. It comes from political correctness. Our Church says that these are based on solidarity with the poor and suffering, and in violation of that principle, President Obama will systematically exclude the unborn from any measure of our social concern. Mr. Hoopes' "Can't we all just get along?" ground rules for talking nice about that "impressive man" are not even realistic, let alone Catholic.
Please point your petitions heavenward for these intentions sent in by readers:
Father Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International is not pleased that the Legion of Christ-owned National Catholic Register says "there's no reason to fear" a President who has vowed to erase all restrictions on abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, deny health-care providers the right to opt out of abortions, and require taxpayer funding of abortions.
UPDATE: Daniel Kane points out in a comment, quite rightly, that I have not linked to the Register's original editorial, and that I have not linked to Father Euteneuer's column on the HLI Web site. The Register editorial, with newly added mentions of the newspaper's previous (less sanguine) coverage of Barack Obama, is here. Its author, editor Tom Hoopes, also responds to critics in Matt Abbott's latest column.
To my knowledge, Father Euteneuer's response to the editorial has not yet been posted on the HLI Web site. I linked to it as it was published in yesterday's Abbott column, because I believe Abbott is a reliable source. If it were proven not to be Father Euteneuer's words, I do not believe Abbott would have allowed it to remain online today, especially after he published Hoopes's reply. However, to be certain, I have written to Abbott and Euteneuer for confirmation; if they respond, I will note it here.
UPDATE #2: Father Euteneuer responds:
Mr. Kane is sending up a smokescreen here, as if an opinion needs to be published anywhere other than where it was published. You know the tactic: cast aspersions on the messenger to try to discredit the message. I was asked by Matt Abbot to give my comment on that atrocious editorial, and I gave it. Do I need to publish it on my website to prove to Daniel Kane that I wrote it?!
But that he may know...I attach my original which was not changed one bit except for the title. Editors have the right to give their own titles, and in this case, Mr. Abbott used one of my expressions in the article itself for the title so it stands on its own. [Read the attachment here.]
Is 11:1-10; Lk 10:21-24
It is right to speak of Advent ushering in something. It ushers in the Christmas season, of course. Yet Advent is a season in its own right. And even though the larger culture gives it short shrift if it recognizes Advent at all, we must not follow suit.
During Advent, we await the glorious coming of the Lord. As we do not know the exact day or hour of His coming, we must remain watchful and vigilant. For what should we be looking? Are there indicators to tip us off that the Parousia is at hand?
The prophet Isaiah uses some vivid images in today’s first reading, signaling how we will know the Messiah has arrived.
[T]he wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;Animals which would normally be aggressive and predatory are now made pacific. Animals which are placid are found together with animals which are threatening. Enmity is gone; antagonism is dissipated. The messianic era is indubitably a period of peace.
The calf and the young lion shall browse together. . . .
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors. (Is 11:6-7)
The Catholic mom who, through her Spes Unica blog, is doing yeoman's work alerting parents about the disturbing message of the Twilight books and film, has an important new post—"Is Twilight Anti-Christian? Yes":
There was a time (which is thankfully returning) when young children were asked “Why did God make you?” They would be expected to reply: “To know, love and serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him in the next.” Why was it so important that young children had that memorized? Because that one little sentence captured the meaning of human life. It also gave direction. Anything that I would do that helped me to know, love and serve God and be happy with Him forever was a good thing. Anything that I might do which prevented me from knowing, loving and serving God and being happy with Him forever was a bad thing.
OK - so, now we need to look at [Twilight series heroine] Bella’s reason for living. Is it consistent with the truth? ...
After her “rebirth” as a vampire in Breaking Dawn, Bella says, ”I was amazing now - to them and to myself.It was like I had been born to be a vampire. The idea made me want to laugh, but it also made me want to sing. I had found my true place in the world, the place I fit, the place I shined.” [...]
So what does Bella experience by becoming a vampire? A greater ability to enjoy the “forbidden fruit” that is [her vampire husband] Edward: ”I could really appreciate him now… He was all new, a different person as our bodies tangled gracefully into one on the sand-pale floor. No caution, no restraint. No fear - especially not that. We could love together - both active participants now. Finally equals… I was never going to get tired, and neither was he. We didn’t have to catch our breath or rest or eat or even use the bathroom; we had no more mundane human needs. He had the most beautiful perfect body in the world and I had him all to myself, and it didn’t feel like I was ever going to find a point where I would think, Now I’ve had enough for one day. I was always going to want more. And the day was never going to end. So in such a situation, how did we ever stop?” p.482/3. The purpose of Bella’s life had become knowing, loving and serving Edward and being happy with him forever. [Read the full article.]
