Comedian sued by mother-in-law

More evidence that society has become entirely too litigious. Now I see that comic Sunda Croonquist is being sued by her mother-in-law because of her jokes. Ruth Zafrin says Croonquist’s mother-in-law jokes spread false, defamatory and racist lies. The jokes have become a staple of Croonquist’s routine.
Depending on the outcome of this case Don Rickles may be spending the remaining years of his life in court.

We're not reforming the reform...

Apparently there are sufficient rumors circulating that Pope Benedict XVI wants to "turn back the clock" on the liturgical reforms of Vatican II that the Vatican felt compelled to issue a statement denying those rumors. Story here. One such rumor is reported here.
I suppose such speculation is to be expected in light of the issuance of the Apostolic Letter "Summorum Pontificum" in July, 2007 which made the "extraordinary form" of the Roman Mass following the following the Roman Missal of 1962 (Tridentine Mass) more readily available to the people. However, Pope Benedict has made clear that he considers the Mass of Paul VI to be "...the ordinary expression of the 'Lex orandi' (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite." It is apparently little noted that both forms of the Mass are generally available and the existence of one form is not particularly threatened by the other.
As the Church is facing attacks for its stances on sexuality, a male priesthood, opposition to abortion, support of basic human rights, etc., there is no need for one more thing to muddy the waters. One extreme would apparently like to declare everything that came out of Vatican II null and void, while another extreme wants to use the "spirit of Vatican II" (which apparently has little to do with the actual documents of the council) as a license to pursue personal agendas. People like me can only try to remain faithful to the actual teachings of the church and continue to pray "Lord, teach me your ways."

Report: Science can't explain Guadalupe

Zenit reports on a presentation made at the International Marian Conference in Phoenix in which Adolfo Orozco, a physicist who for years has studied the tilma bearing the image of the Blessed Virgin, affirmed that there is no scientific explanation for the image.
Another presentation was made by an engineer who studied the eyes of the image on the tilma using digital imagery and discovered 13 figures in the cornea of the image corresponding to the persons who were present when Juan Diego presented his tilma to Bishop Juan Zumarraga in 1531. The report is fascinating.

Homily 21st Sunday Ordinary Time -- Choices

(below is the text of a homily delivered Sunday, August 23. An audio version of what was actually delivered may be found here.)

The following advertisement appeared in a London newspaper in 1912.
MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL.
HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.
This was Ernest Shackleton’s ad to recruit members for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. More than 5,000 men applied to join that expedition. They knew the hardships, but the reward seemed worth the risk.
Today’s gospel concludes the Bread of Life discourse from John’s Gospel which we have been hearing proclaimed for the past six weeks. Things have built up to a time of decision.
Like Shackleton, Jesus asks those who would follow him to make a choice to do something difficult. In this case to believe in Him. As a reward, he offers eternal life. The choice is left up to them.
God always leaves it up to us. We are the ones who have to choose, and the choice isn’t easy. As Fr. Simon continually reminds us, the root meaning of the word “faith” is trust. Faith cannot be instilled in us, it does not come from the outside, but it comes from within. Faith is a conscious choice to put our trust in something other than ourselves, in this case to put our trust in God.
It seems logical that we should do that. Even a pagan would recognize that, by definition, God is that being, greater than which nothing else exists. It would seem logical to trust in that which is greater. If that is true for a pagan, then to a Christian who believes in a God who is not remote, but imminent and infinitely loving, how much more should we be willing to trust God completely and to submit to his will?
But we seldom do. We prefer to rely on that little bit of control we delude ourselves into thinking we have over our lives. We can’t control the weather; we can’t control our appetites and desires; we can’t control our children; we can’t control our hair color without chemical help; yet we hesitate to turn control of our lives over to a God who loves us. We have our plans, we’d rather do it ourselves.
There is the wonderful line… do you want to hear God laugh? Tell Him what you’ve got planned.
We don’t wish to subordinate our wishes to those of God. But this is what God asks of us. This is what Paul is telling us in that second reading. You know the one that we feel uncomfortable about reading because of the line about wives making themselves subordinate to their husbands. We tend to overlook the fact that he asks us all to “be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
It is out of reverence for Christ that Paul is asking us to put our selfish desires second to the good of the ones we love.
To trust him. This is the same thing that was being asked of the Hebrew people in the first reading. Joshua asks whom will you trust? Whom will you serve? To whom will you make yourselves subordinate? Will it be to the nations and powers of the world, or will it be the God of Israel?
This choice set the Hebrew people apart from the rest of the world. It is a choice that sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is increasingly an uncommon choice.
In 1958, about 74% of Catholics attended weekly Mass. In its Data Composite Book for 2008, the Archdiocese of Chicago reports the "October Count" Mass attendance at 474,000 a week. That is just 20% of the reported Catholic population of 2,338,000 in the Archdiocese. The largest single religious denomination in Lake and Cook County, Illinois is non-practicing Catholics. That indicates what the popular choice is.
What Jesus asks is that we make a conscious choice to trust him, to follow him. This is a choice we are being asked to make not just once, but today, and again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.
Our life is to be a constant turning to, subordination to, and reliance upon God. The choice is not easy. It sets us apart. Those who are not here this morning have reasons. They work hard and this is their only chance to rest; or the kids have a soccer game; or Mass is something they don’t get much out of; or the people in church are hypocrites; it is too hot, too cold, too rainy or too sunny to go; or the homily is just too boring.
There are thousands of reasons not to come to Mass. There is, in my mind one compelling reason to come. That is because The Holy Eucharist, as Vatican II tells us, is "…the source and summit of the Christian life". This is the normative way in which we encounter Christ and join in intimate union with the God who loves us. This is a unique act of faith, of trust that unites us with God.
In a few minutes we will be invited to come forth, to express our faith in the Christ who, through the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon our gifts, makes himself present to us ─ body, blood, soul and divinity. Our response is to be a fully conscious decision to trust the Lord. We affirm that decision with our “Amen!”
We place our trust in Him. In return he offers eternal life.
I choose to trust Christ. In the course of the week there will come a time when I am faced with the choice between what I want and what the Lord wants. Sometimes I choose my own desires. It is then that He will ask if I too will leave. Then I pray I have the courage to say with Peter, “Master, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life."
Jesus, I trust in you.

The Visitators are coming!! The Visitators are coming!!

Two somewhat related stories caught my attention this morning. The first was NPR's Morning Edition story about American Women Religious reacting with suspicion in light of the apostolic visitation of the 340 religious communities that had been announced in December, 2008. The story also addressed a request from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asking the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to clarify its stand on three doctrinal issues: that only men can be priests; that homosexual practice should not be sanctioned; and that the Catholic Church provides the way to salvation. (Their discomfort reminds me of a bumper sticker that read, "Jesus is coming... look busy!")
The second item was the story from Zenit reporting that vocations in the United States are attracted to traditional religious orders whose members tend to live and pray in community and "...wear a religious habit, work together in common apostolates, and are explicit about their fidelity to the Church and the teachings of the Magisterium."
Putting it into terms that are not particularly helpful but commonly used, the liberals are nervous, but it is the conservative orders that are growing. While one group sees a threat to the "spirit of Vatican II", the other finds strength in faithfulness to the Church.
I fully expect the secular media to cast a negative light on the apostolic visitation, to avoid stories on the growing orders which are more likely to welcome the visitation and to make interminable references to the Inquisition (which is maligned for its false portrayal of as part of the "Black Legend", but which in fact was welcomed by much of the populace and saved perhaps millions of people from arbitrary summary judgment by secular authorities). However, as was the case with the apostolic visitation of the seminaries a couple of years ago, this may well prove to be a wonderful opportunity for self-examination, renewal and improvement on the part of women religious.

East is East... but is East best?

I noticed on the Deacon's Bench and on Catholic Culture News Briefs that Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa has announced in the diocesan publication The Eastern Oklahoma Catholic that when he is celebrating Mass at the cathedral he will do so ad orientem, or facing in the same direction as the people.
While he recognizes some benefits of the celebrant facing the people as has been standard following the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Slattery sees a problem in that "... it can give the appearance that the priest and the people were engaged in a conversation about God, rather than the worship of God."
I believe many others will follow Bishop Slattery's lead (my pastor may well be one of the early adopters of this return to the traditional orientation) but I am not quite sure how I feel about it. Nowhere in the documents of Vatican II was the change in orientation from ad orientem to versus populum mandated, but it has been a part of my lived worship experience for the past 40 years.
Many a lively discussion will result from Bishop Slattery's initiative, but that is part of the reason I enjoy church work so much. As the great philosopher Roseanne Roseannadanna said, "It's always something!"

The Deacon's Bench: You have never seen anything quite like this. Really.

The Deacon's Bench: You have never seen anything quite like this. Really. An amazing video and a moving remembrance.

Still the last legitimate prejudice in America

It has been apparent for years that anti-Catholicism is the last prejudice to be tolerated in secular society. Animus that would find not be countenanced should it be directed against any other religious, ethnic or racial group is treated as simple entertainment when directed against the Catholic Church and its teachings.
As an example consider the upcoming, season finale of the Penn & Teller Showtime series "Bullsh*t". On his Twitter page, Penn Jillette brags how he rips a Catholic encyclical on sexuality: “I’m dressed as Darth with a condom c--k light saber.”
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has taken out an ad in the trade publication Variety calling for CBS, the parent company of Showtime, to finally draw the line.
On its website the show is described as "...a high-octane, weird, wacky, entertaining journey through some bizarre territory that no one else is brave enough to touch," and boasts that the team of Penn and Teller are "...confirmed skeptics and pro-science atheists (they refer to God as "an imaginary friend")."
I have an overactive sense of humor and like to quip that because of this I am known as "bad Deacon!," however, even I know where to draw the line, particularly when I take into account the legacy we have inherited from this secular society which has sought to do away with God.

Can we not support health care reform?

The health care debate in the United States is rapidly devolving into the same type of shouting match that marks all too much of contemporary political discourse. Those opposed to any change in health care see more socialists than Joe McCarthy could find on May Day in Moscow. Meanwhile proponents in charge of crafting the proposals appear to be willing to sacrifice the whole package rather than yield any ground on their agenda issues such as publicly funded abortion.
In his letter of August 11, Cardinal Rigali restated the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) long standing support for health care reform with the requirement that such reform must include provisions that protect life from conception to natural death and provide for freedom of conscience for health care workers.
I support the bishops in their stance and recognize that with 50 million Americans uninsured the need for health care reform is apparent. However, I was intrigued by an editorial in The Tablet which examined the question and brought to mind that the institution of National Health Service in the UK came about without the support of Catholic bishops for similar reasons as face the church in the US. The editorial laments the bishops failure "...to put the promotion of social justice above their churchly priorities," and views that as a mistake.
The times and situations are different, however the editorial is worth reading. At least it is more reasoned and less polemic than what we are hearing in most of the US.

Maybe it is about time...

In recent weeks I have been deeply troubled by my perception of the state of the Catholic Church in the United States. When I was a child, Catholic families may have been a minority, but they were a very visible minority.
Catholics were the ones ordering the fish special in restaurants on Fridays even when the restaurant was a steak house. Catholics were the ones who invariably said, "Good morning Father" (or sister) whenever they passed a priest or religious sister on the street; and it was easy to spot the priests and religious because they always wore distinctive garb -- there was no doubt who they were. Catholics went to mass on Sunday and said grace before meals even in restaurants. Catholics crossed themselves and said a silent prayer if an ambulance went by.
In 1958, about 74% of Catholics attended weekly Mass. In its Data Composite Book for 2008, the Archdiocese of Chicago reports the "October Count" Mass attendance at 474,000 a week. That is just 20% of the reported Catholic population of 2,338,000 in the Archdiocese. The largest single religious denomination in Lake and Cook County, Illinois is non-practicing Catholics.
This is not news to the priests, deacons or lay people involved in the school and religious education programs around the archdiocese. For years we have witnessed the dynamic of parents who drop their children off for religious education classes but never seem to find their way into the church itself; couples who do not worship at any church, live together but want to have a full Catholic wedding; and parents who come requesting baptism for their children into a faith that they stopped practicing decades ago. Our parochial schools are more valued by some parents as inexpensive private education than as the Catholic schools they are intended to be.
For years our apparent response has been to say, "What'cha gonna do?" We trust God and pray that the grace of the sacraments might entice those who have fallen away into coming back. For this reason we have been hesitant to voice our reservations and made the sacraments readily available to those who do not value them.
I fear that the result of making these treasured sacraments readily available has been not to lure those who have fallen away back to the church, but rather to cheapen those sacraments in their eyes. You get what you pay for, therefore the sacraments cannot be of much value if they are offered so freely.
So again, "What'cha gonna do?" Perhaps it is time to focus our energies and resources on the "faithful remnant", that 20% who practice their faith. Where the lowering of standards in an attempt to be more "pastoral" has only continued the decline in the practice of the faith, perhaps the lived witness of the devoted few if fully supported may prove to be more efficacious in the process of evangelization and conversion.
Perhaps it will not work, but I know that continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results is insanity.

Between Vespers and Compline, perhaps a new hour called "Happy"

Catholic News Service offers the following quote from Trappist Father Isaac Majoor, prior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Konigshoeven in the Netherlands which seems to help make the enjoyment of a beverage a more contemplative and prayerful exercise.

"Don't drink it too quickly. Create an atmosphere of silence and peace. It helps you reflect on your day."

Fr. Majoor is on a tour of the U. S. promoting the new ale "Isid'or" produced by his monastery in celebration of its 125th anniversary. Another story here

Is it really better not to know?

It has been a difficult time in Chicago as 36 students of Chicago Public Schools died in the past school years as a result of gun violence. We all know that "...guns don't kill people, people kill people." The NRA makes sure that message gets out. What is surprising is that they let the number of Chicago students killed by guns this year get out.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin has an interesting commentary is today's paper on how successful the NRA has been in preventing studies that might assemble the data to inform the public on the level of gun violence in America.
The NRA acknowledges their efforts to block such research. "We've interjected ourselves when we think there would be biased, outcome-based research," Todd Vandermyde, the NRA's legislative liaison for Illinois, said Tuesday by phone. This was in reference to a study proposed by the Center for Disease Control. I guess I never thought of them as a biased group. If the truth is uncomfortable perhaps it is better not to discover it.
Ms. Marin's piece today has put me in the awkward position of reflecting on the importance of the efforts of Rev. Michael Pfleger to force Chicago to face up to the severity of the problem of gun violence in Chicago. Fr. Pfleger is a man with whom I have major issues on many matters liturgical and theological, but I readily acknowledge his willingness to speak out boldly on major issues. As one side seeks to maintain a level of ignorance, perhaps it is necessary to have a Pfleger making noise.