I often like to dedicate an entire post on this blog to one of Diogenes's entries, just because they're so.... absurd (on the part of whoever Diogenes is dissecting). Today's "victim" is Bishop Donald Trautman, and not without good reason. See his entry here: Accessible You.

Bishop Trautman recently criticized the new, upcoming translations of the Mass and Sacramentary with these words:

All liturgy is pastoral. If translated texts are to be the authentic prayer of the people, they must be owned by the people and expressed in the contemporary language of their culture. To what extent are the new prayers of the Missal truly pastoral? Do these new texts communicate in the living language of the worshiping assembly? How will John and Mary Catholic relate to the new words of the Creed: "consubstantial to the Father" and "incarnate of the Virgin Mary"? Will they understand these words from the various new Collects: "sullied," "unfeigned," "ineffable," "gibbet," "wrought," "thwart"?

First of all, liturgy is not all pastoral. The Mass should be accessible to the average lay Catholic, yes; but the Mass's primary purpose is to serve and glorify God.


And second, if John and Mary Catholic can't understand words like "sullied", "wrought", and "thwart", it's only because they've been worshiping for the past 40 years with a severely dumbed-down, pedestrian language. I dare say that bishops like Trautman could be partially responsible for the total lack of education of the average American Catholic. Good grief, Trautman could be responsible for the dumbing down of America itself.

I'll take the words of Dom Gueranger, here speaking on the subject of Latin, over Trautman any day:

"We must admit it is a master blow of Protestantism to have declared war on the sacred language. If it should ever succeed in destroying it, it would be well on the way to victory. Exposed to profane gaze, like a virgin who has been violated, from that moment on the Liturgy has lost much of its sacred character, and very soon people find that it is not worthwhile putting aside one's work or pleasure in order to go and listen to what is being said in the way one speaks on the marketplace. . . ." -- Dom Prosper Gueranger, Liturgical Institutions, 1840

Prophetic?

Some assorted news:

From CWNews:

Scottish cardinal challenges politicians on abortion. His Eminence Keith O'Brien, Cardinal Bishop of Edinburgh stated "I urge politicians to have no truck with the evil trade of abortion". It seems that the hierarchy's backbone is slowly manifesting itself. The full sermon that he gave for the Feast of the Visitation (and the National Day for Life) may be found here. It's excellent.


CELAM meeting endorses new "continental mission". The 5th general conference of Latin American bishops has called for a revival and re-evangelization of Latin America. It's about time.

Closing a 3-week meeting that had been held at the Brazilian Marian shrine of Aparecida, the CELAM bishops voiced their hope for a "new Pentecost" and a powerful revival of evangelizing zeal. They promised to devote their efforts to "renewing ecclesial communities and pastoral structures, to find ways to transmit faith in Christ."

Echoing a theme that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) had stressed when he traveled to Brazil to address the opening session of the CELAM conference, the final statement said that the Christian faith is "the most valuable patrimony of our people's culture." The CELAM bishops said that their societies now need a fresh new dedication to that Christian culture, which can only be inspired by "strong apostolic zeal and a greater missionary commitment to preach the Gospel of Christ."

Spain shows Europe's highest divorce rate. Tsk tsk! Three out of four Spanish marriages end in divorce now. Divorce was made legal in the once-great Kingdom of Spain only in 1981, a few years after the death of Generalissimo Franco.


From the National Catholic Register: He Could No Longer Explain Why He Wasn't Catholic. A couple months ago, I posted an entry about the conversion of Francis Beckwith, president of ETS (Evangelical Theological Society) to Catholicism. Since then, his conversion has apparently caused an explosion in the evangelical Protestant world. Beckwith says, "Prior to my announcement, our blog averaged 1,500 hits per day. The weekend after my announcement, it hit 20,000. We’re still getting between 5,000 and 7,000 per day."

From the Catholic News Agency: American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is pro-life advocate. Apparently, this year's American Idol winner is outspoken in her Christian faith and has performed at Christian and pro-life events. I'm glad for her and I hope she helps set a new trend in the entertainment business.

From LifeSite: British Catholic Schools Targeted For Refusing to Implement School "anti-homophobic" Bullying Policies. Some select ridiculous statements from the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association:

“Such is the level of homophobia in the Catholic Church that its schools should be taken from it and returned to the community sector.”

“We've seen homophobia in Catholic circles rising at a terrifying rate over the past few months. The Pope is almost hysterical on the topic and the British Catholic hierarchy is constantly agitating to retard gay rights. What chance have gay pupils got in schools which are run by an organisation that hates them?”

“For the sake of these children and for the community at large which should be protected from the promotion of bigotry in schools, the Catholic Church should be stripped of its educational establishments.”

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been swamped with work; now, I'm getting excited about this upcoming great feast of Pentecost.

Last Thursday marked the day of Our Lord's glorious ascension into heaven, forty days after His resurrection on Easter. But before He returned to His Father, He spoke with His Apostles, saying:

"And eating together with them, He commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." (Acts 1:4-5)

And so, the Apostles, with Mary, the mother of Our Lord, waited in Jerusalem and prayed for nine days for the Holy Ghost to come, as Christ promised He would. And we read:

"And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak." (Acts 2:1-4)

When the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, He empowered them with special gifts to understand and speak in foreign languages that they had never learned before; the day of Pentecost had reversed the curse of the Tower of Babel, when God made men unable to understand each other when they attempted to build a tower to the heavens. But where man fails to reach heaven, God succeeds by building His Church, the vehicle which carries us on the path to heaven. It's only fitting, then, that on this day of Pentecost, we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church.

Following the Descent of the Holy Ghost, a great crowd gathered outside the house where the Apostles were gathered, startled by the loud, great noise which was caused by the winds of the Spirit:

And when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. And they were all amazed, and wondered, saying:

'Behold, are not all these that speak Galilean? And how have we heard, every man our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.'

And they were all astonished, and wondered, saying one to another: 'What meaneth this?'"

Addressing the crowds, our first pope, the Apostle Saint Peter, spoke by quoting the Old Testament prophet Joel, who had prophesied that day.

But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them:

"Ye men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you and with your ears receive my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day: But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, saith the Lord,

'I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my spirit: and they shall prophesy. And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord to come. And it shalt come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him, in the midst of you, as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden by it. For David saith concerning him:

I foresaw the Lord before my face: because he is at my right hand, that I may not be moved. For this my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell: nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.'

Ye men, brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David: that he died and was buried; and his sepulchre is with us to this present say. Whereas therefore he was a prophet and knew that God hath sworn to him with an oath, that of the fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne. Foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was he left in hell: neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into heaven; but he himself said: 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.'

Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified."

The people asked Peter and the Apostles, "What shall we do, men and brethren?" And Peter replied,

"Do penance: and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call."

This day, following our first pope's first sermon, three thousand souls were baptized.

Word Origin

The word "Pentecost" comes from a Greek word, pentekoste, which means "the fiftieth day" after the Jewish Passover, or the Christian Pascha (Easter). In Judaism, the feast is called the Shavuot, or Feast of Weeks. The Shavuot commemorates the day when the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai and, in Old Testament times, concluded the grain harvesting season. For Christians, the burning bush at Sinai prefigures the flames burning over the heads of the Apostles on Pentecost.

Pentecost is sometimes called "Whitsunday" in England because of the ancient custom that those who were baptized on Easter would wear their white baptismal gowns on Pentecost as well.


Customs

The day before Pentecost is a vigil, and thus traditionally a day of fasting. It's no longer obligatory under the 1983 Code of Canon Law, but it's a laudable practice to maintain.

On the nine days in between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday, the Virgin Mary and the Apostles prayed. The Novena to the Holy Ghost (click to read it here) is a popular devotion, invoking one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost each day (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, holy fear, see Isaiah 11). A plenary indulgence is attached to it under the usual conditions, I believe. Another plenary indulgence is attached to praying the Veni, Creator Spiritus, which you can find here.

On Pentecost Day, the clergy wear red to symbolize the fire of the Holy Ghost. Before the Gospel is proclaimed at Mass, a special kind of hymn called the Sequence is sung; for Pentecost, it will be the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, the "Golden Sequence", as it is one of the greatest works of Latin poetry ever written. Its authorship is sometimes attributed to Pope Innocent III (1161-1216). Vox Clamantis writes on this subject:

The "Veni Sancte Spiritus" Sequence at today's Mass, which comes right after the Epistle, includes the words, "Heal our wounds, our strength renew, on our dryness pour thy dew." From this comes the custom, thought to bring blessings, of walking barefoot through the dew on Whitsunday morning.

VENI, Sancte Spiritus, et emitte caelitus lucis tuae radium.	COME, Holy Ghost, send down those beams, which sweetly flow in silent streams from Thy bright throne above.
Veni, pater pauperum, veni, dator munerum veni, lumen cordium.	O come, Thou Father of the poor; O come, Thou source of all our store, come, fill our hearts with love.
Consolator optime, dulcis hospes animae, dulce refrigerium.	O Thou, of comforters the best, O Thou, the soul's delightful guest, the pilgrim's sweet relief.
In labore requies, in aestu temperies in fletu solatium.	Rest art Thou in our toil, most sweet refreshment in the noonday heat; and solace in our grief.
O lux beatissima, reple cordis intima tuorum fidelium.	O blessed Light of life Thou art; fill with Thy light the inmost heart of those who hope in Thee.
Sine tuo numine, nihil est in homine, nihil est innoxium.	Without Thy Godhead nothing can, have any price or worth in man, nothing can harmless be.
Lava quod est sordidum, riga quod est aridum, sana quod est saucium.	Lord, wash our sinful stains away, refresh from heaven our barren clay, our wounds and bruises heal.
Flecte quod est rigidum, fove quod est frigidum, rege quod est devium.	To Thy sweet yoke our stiff necks bow, warm with Thy fire our hearts of snow, our wandering feet recall.
Da tuis fidelibus, in te confidentibus, sacrum septenarium.	Grant to Thy faithful, dearest Lord, whose only hope is Thy sure word, the sevenfold gifts of grace.
Da virtutis meritum, da salutis exitum, da perenne gaudium, Amen, Alleluia.	Grant us in life Thy grace that we, in peace may die and ever be, in joy before Thy face. Amen. Alleluia.

The antics of the modern Jesuit order need to be exposed around the world, just to see how far they're staryed from their original purpose. Found on Diogenes's blog, a Lego toy truck in place of Our Savior's crucified body at a Jesuit church in Vienna, Austria.




The pics were originally taken by Gerald Augustinus over at The Cafeteria is Closed. Beautiful church:


And look at this magnificent sanctuary:



And then:


Why!!!!!???


Gerald also has another set of pics from another church similarly sacrileged (if that's a word). What I like is how all of these old churches of the Holy Roman Empire have crowns superimposed over the tabernacles, like in this image. It leaves no confusion over who the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords is, and where He resides.

This morning, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will be celebrating the canonization Mass of Blessed Father Antonio Galvao at an open-air Mass in Sao Paolo, Brzail, thus declaring him the first native-born Brazilian saint. Over 1 million Catholics are expected to be in attendance.


American Papist provides the following papal itinerary for today:

8:30AM Canonization Mass of Blessed Frei Galvão at Campo de Marte in São Paulo
3:00PM Vespers with the Bishops of Brazil in the Catedral da Sé in São Paulo
7:00PM Arrival at the heliport of the Shrine of Aparecida; Welcome by the local Authorities; Transfer by "popemobile" to the "Bom Jesus" Seminary in Aparecida [where he will spend the night]

Here's the television schedule from EWTN for papal events. At 8am and then 8pm (encore) central time, EWTN will be broadcasting the canonization Mass for Blessed Fr. Galvao. Pope Benedict's meeting and Vespers with the Brazilian bishops will be aired at 2pm central and 1am on Saturday morning. The Holy Father will be broadcasted praying the Rosary in the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida at 4pm and 8:30pm on Saturday. If you're like me and don't have cable, you can always watch EWTN on the Internet by going to their home page, then clicking the "Television" tab, then "Live TV" with the language and program of your choice.

Man, I'm pumped. I love the Holy Father.

Pics from Pope Benedict's meeting with youth in a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo

Papal goal: "missionary impetus" for Latin church

Liberation theology: Pope offers perspectives. I like what he said in reference to the killing of Archbishop Romero.

Pope to canonize first Brazilian saint

I accidentally ran into this 2005 blog entry from Catholic Pillow Fight about a very liberal priest's screeds against what he calls the "NeoCath" generation. This is a very interesting discourse. I'll post a few "favorite" quotes by the liberal priest in question below:

In a strong article in THE JAPAN MISSION JOURNAL, Autumn 2005, Edmund Chia draws attention to one of the most disturbing phenomena in Roman Catholicism today. He speaks of a younger generation that is "becoming more and more traditional and conservative in their thought patterns" and which Newsweek magazine refers to as the JP2 generation. Andrew Greeley discusses the same phenomenon under the heading "Young Fogeys" in Atlantic, Jan.-Feb. 2004.

Indeed the one person most responsible for bringing the Neocath generation into existence is John Paul II. I saw the beginning of it in Ireland at the beginning of October, 1979. When the Pope delivered the words, "Young people of Ireland, I bless you, I love you", the youthful crowd roared for twenty minutes until Fr Michael Cleary, the emcee, called on them to quieten down. Even amid the euphoria of Ireland's first papal visit, voices were raised to denounce this as crowd-manipulation. It is said that the Pope viewed the film of the scene over and over again in the Vatican. [James: I can hardly believe he said it myself. An accusation of Pope JPII using "crowd manipulation", furthered by an insinuation that he watched himself again and again, looped in video, as though he were a cartoonish villain like Dr. Evil. Absurd!]

...

John Paul II thus bypassed and reached over the heads of the educated baby boomers, influenced by Vatican II, in order to address an audience who were a tabula rasa, and to communicate to them a world view that the Vatican II generation would find problematic on many points. His tactic recalls that of Mao in China. At the same time critical theology was ruthlessly discouraged and suppressed throughout the Catholic world. Fr Chia's article tells how this was done in Asia. The fates of Kung, Drewermann, Leukel-Schmidt, Curran, McNeill, Boff, Lavinia Byrne and many others are a tip of the iceberg of the same process in Europe, the US and Latin America. The more warmly the youthful crowd applauded, the deeper the intellectual chill that fell on the Church. [James: The audacity continues with his comparison of Pope JPII to Mao Zedong. Also, the idea that "critical theology" has been "ruthlessly" suppressed is laughable. In an earlier age, priests like Kung would have been completely and totally defrocked.]

...


This is the JP2 generation's way of "rebelling" against their elders, especially those wont to employ a hermeneutics2 of suspicion when apprehending religious symbols and ecclesial institutions. In a way this new generation is the "born again" generation and feeds perfectly into the restorationist programs advocated by the pontificate of John Paul II, where the hermeneutics2 of retrieval is given greater emphasis. This involves retrieving what the previous generation questioned or threw out altogether, e.g., the doctrine of papal infallibility, devotional activities, the wearing of the roman collar, cassock or habit, and the reception of holy communion on the tongue." [James: Well, praise God for that...]

...

I reserve the term Neocaths for a vocal ideological wing of the younger generation which is in alliance with older voices and organs such as The Wanderer, Catholics United for the Faith. They are particularly well represented in the blogosphere. They are led by academic mentors such as the philosophers Peter Kreeft and Philip Blosser, and some of the more flamboyant voices are those of Christopher Blosser, Jeff Miller, Jimmy Akin, Oswald Sobrino, Mansfield Fox, Earl E. Appleby, Amy Welborn, Arthur Tsui, and at the youngest (and perhaps most genuine) end of the spectrum, Apolonio Latar III.

...

The Neocaths are "young fogeys" -- they take a delight in sporting old-fashioned references, such as Chesterton, Belloc, C.S. Lewis, Garrigou-Lagrange, Sertillanges, and in exhibiting all the trappings of traditional Catholic piety -- the Latin Mass in particular. They distrust a list of Vatican II generation writers such as Rahner, Schillebeeckx, Raymond Brown, Richard P. McBrien, whom they often hastily denounce as modernists. [James: Guilty as charged. That being said, I can't imagine anyone who would want to trade Chesterton in for Richard P. McBrien.]

...

Their papolatry commonly goes hand in hand with Busholatry. [James: Yes, NeoCaths worship George W. Bush as well as the Pope!]

From CWNews: Pro-abortion politicians excommunicated, Pope says.


Well, that's the Reuters spin on the headline, anyway. Specifically:

May. 9, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Catholic politicians who vote for legal abortion are subject to excommunication, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told reporters during a May 9 flight from Rome to Brazil.

Fielding questions from reporters during the trip, the Holy Father was asked whether he supported the Mexican bishops who have threatened the excommunication of politicians who voted to approve legalization of abortion in Mexico City. The Pontiff replied that he did.

"They did nothing new, nothing arbitrary or surprising," the Pope said of the Mexican bishops. "They simply announced to the public what is stipulated by the law of the Church."

Later the Vatican press director, Father Federico Lombardi, enlarged on the Pope's remarks during his own conversation with reporters. Father Lombardi pointed out to reporters that the Code of Canon Law provides the penalty of excommunication for anyone directly involved in abortion. That penalty could apply to politicians who support the legalization of abortion, he said.

The Vatican spokesman added that the excommunication in these cases is applied latae sententiae-- that is, automatically-- and does not require any public announcement. In making the penalty public, then, the Mexican bishops were only underlining the provisions of canon law.

Good news, I would say, although I seriously doubt that it'll result in any practical changes in the decisions of so-called Catholic political figures.

Elsewhere on CWNews, Diogenes provides this commentary on the Rainbow Sash Movement's next target for activism.

Man, I really don't understand these guys. At all.

Spotted on the Catholicism LJ community, which was spotted on Waiting for Godot to Leave (I love that blog title). We present to you a Guide to Bad Homilies.

GUIDE TO BAD HOMILIES

I'd like some input from our readers to help identify the features of what makes a bad homiliy. This way, next time you hear a bad homily, you can say, "Oh, that was a #3 on the Official Guide".

So, here are some features I've identified so far ...


1. JESUS WAS NICE - YOU BE NICE TOO

This is the homiliy we usually hear in our suburban parishes. Love = quiescene / Fighting for what you love = evil. If this theme describes what you're hearing ... it might be a bad homily.


2. WWW.HOMILIES-R-US.COM

Beware of homilies that start with anecdotes about cute crap. "A boy at camp whose mother sent him cookies ..." "There was a woman who found she had a terminal illness ..." Anything with a Reader's Digest flavor to it is probably from www.homilies-r-us.com, which is what I call the clearing house for shallow thinking sermons that fit easily into a template. If your priest sounds like he's beginning his talk with a canned anecdote ... it might be a bad homily.


3. DON'T GET IT WRONG, BUT DON'T GET IT RIGHT ENOUGH. This is very common. The priest doesn't say anything wrong or heretical per se, but he makes a huge implication about the nature of the Faith in what he leaves out of his homily, in what he does not say.

So, for example, if speaking on Our Lord's commission to the apostles at the end of the Gospel of John ("Feed my sheep" "Someone will lead you, Peter, where you do not want to go"), a bad homilist will focus on how important it is that we must care for the poor, and leave it at that. True enough, but what about Our Lord's promise to Peter that in feeding his sheep and tending his flock he will be persecuted? There's an edge to this reading that a bad homilist will always cut away, giving us the gelded interpretation.

This is akin to discussing "King Lear" and saying, "a daugther should be nice to her father". Well, true, but that sure leaves a lot out.

If your homilist Doesn't Get it Wrong, but Doesn't Get it Right Enough ... it might be a bad homily.


4. SHECKY GREEN PRESENTS

If your homilist tells more jokes than Heny Youngman with a fiddle ... it might be a bad homily.


5. IT'S ALL ABOUT ME

A quote from a homily I once heard: "My mother suffered. My grandmother suffered. My grandmother made my mother suffer. My father suffered. My father made my grandmother suffer. My grandmother made my father and my mother suffer. Our house was filled with suffering." Note to homilist: we are not your therapists, and that's way too much personal information.

The corrolary to "It's All about Me" is "It's All about the Musicians". And we all know what that message sounds like.

So, if your priest or deacon sees the Gospel as a Rorschach of his dysfunctional background ... it might be a bad homily.


6. SLOWNESS = PIETY

This infects all of the liturgy and not just the homily. It's the mistaken attitude that going ... really ... slowly ... means you're being ... really ... pious.

If the homily and the Lord's Prayer both take the same amount of time, 40 to 45 minutes each ... it might be a bad homily.


7. AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

If anyone other than a priest or deacon is invited to talk in place of the homily and solicits contributions ... it might be a bad homily.


8. WE'RE JUST FINE, THANK YOU

This homily is used for school assemblies, eulogies of the retiring but still living, and for that dreaded monster, Catholic Schools Week. It consists of praising everything about the person or institution being honored, when in reality the subject of the praise is typically a despicable, hateful, machiavellian creep.

If Principal Power-Grabber is praised to no end, even after teaching your kids pop-Buddhism and no-math ... it might be a bad homily.


9. I HAVE SO MUCH LEARNING I'M PRACTICALLY AN ATHEIST. JOIN ME, WON'T YOU?

Any time the priest says, "The alleged author of the Gospel of John" or "The Q Source for this reading" or "scholars know this didn't really happen, but this was included to make a point" ... it might be a bad homily. You'd do better watching a Discovery Channel special.


10. THE INDEFINABLE MALAISE

One of the most insidious of homilies - speak clearly, make your points, don't commit any of the errors above - but leave the pews listless with a sense of pointlessness and despair. It takes a really effective subversive to pull off this one, but I've seen it done.


Well, that's my list so far, but it needs to be expanded and codified, so I ask humbly for your input.

Another thing I spotted on his site was a good satire on Catholic school principals: Mad Millionaire Syndrome and Catholic Education.

Why was nothing done to stop the killer at Virginia Tech? See R. Cort Kirkwood's take on the "culture of passivity" here in this article: Cowards, Bullies, and Killers.

Great news: Francis Beckwith, the President of the Evangelical Theological Society (their website here) and former major Protestant (Calvinist, I believe) philosopher has announced his conversion to the Catholic faith and his resignation from that organization. You can read his public announcement and reasons for converting here on his blog. I was personally more interested in reading all the replies to his post; about half say "welcome home", another half of them say "we'll pray for the traitor".


Of course, the uber-Protestant apologist, James White, has his two cents to throw in as well.

We've been invaded! Well, no, not really. Today Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II landed in the United States for her first visit here since 1991. I find it somewhat fascinating that Americans are arguably more enamored with the British Royal Family than Brits are.