Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs & Symbols by Amy Welborn

For centuries people learned about the Christian faith through paintings, sculptures, objects, and gestures. Simple images still convey deep messages if we learn how to see and understand them. Award-winning children’s author Amy Welborn has created a friendly and fascinating sourcebook on the signs and symbols of the Catholic faith.

I can't praise this book highly enough.

I originally was interested in this book so I could recommend it to young mothers I know. However, looking through it, I realized I have someone much closer who is going to be interested. My daughter, Rose, is helping teach religious education to fifth graders this year (that's Sunday School for any Protestants reading).

She's well catechized but it's been a long time, if ever, since she's had to make complex concepts simple without being dumbed down, interesting without being obvious. This book is the perfect resource for those needs. It doesn't only explain the basics, but gives broader context for other encounters the reader might have.

For example, after covering John the Baptist's symbols, we get a little art appreciation also:

John appears in some portraits of the baby Jesus and his mother. You know the other child is John because, even in these pictures, the little child is dressed in camel's hair and holds a staff or a lamb! The artist does not mean that the baby John was present at Jesus' birth. The image of the two babies reminds us that John's holy purpose was to share the Good News of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Which is a nice reminder that knowing about the symbols is fine, but finding them in your church, art, and around the house are how they provide a lived experience of faith

While Rose and I randomly flipped pages we were impressed time and again by the beautiful simplicity with which Amy Welborn explained not only the symbols but the deeper messages to be taken away.

Reading about the Burning Bush in the Old Testament section, we learn:

As a sign, so the people would trust Moses and know it was God who had called him, God revealed his name from the bush: I am who I am. This means that God has not been created—God is existence.

Beautifully put. The children have an explanation to ponder. It is followed by a bit of insight to fall like a seed into young hearts:

When we see the symbol of the burning bush, we remember God's love, always ready to save. We remember that he called Moses and gave him the strength and grace to help others. And we remember how great God is, and we thank him for the gift of life—all that was, all that is, and all that is to come.

These things aren't bad for us to be reminded of either, so the benefits go to both the teacher/parent and child.

This is a book which I will give to my goddaughter (and grandchildren when they come along) when she is old enough to understand it. Which won't be that long from now!

Addendum:
For adults wanting more, I recommend Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols by Mike Aquilina. Really wonderful.

Morgens in Holland

Morgens in Holland, Edward B. Gordon

Like a Marriage Retreat in a Book: Reviewing For Better, For Worse, For God

I first reviewed this book in 2009, but still recommend it a lot, especially to people who can't make it to the Beyond Cana retreat. So I thought I'd rerun the review since it's been a good, long time since then.

... becoming one flesh means more than a physical union. Genesis says that God created man and woman to become one body. The Hebrew word for body or "flesh," refers to the physical body for sure, but it encompasses much more. Body includes the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. We're called to be united with our spouse physically, emotionally, and spiritually while retaining our unique individuality. God's design for this partnership is that it nurtures our lives and in so doing gives life to the world.

Men Are from Mars and Women Are from Venus--John Gray and his publishers picked a great title for his bestselling book on marriage. It has become a popular shorthand way of saying that men and women are profoundly different. They are so different that it often seems they live on different planets.

In addition to the obvious anatomical differences, men and women are "wired" differently in their communication styles, emotional makeup, and sexual responses. You and your spouse differ as individuals. Your temperaments are different. You come into marriage with dissimilar expectations, desires, hopes and approaches to problem solving. And while you don't really live on different planets, you come from different places. You were raised in different families. Your family of origin gave you ideas about marriage, child rearing, sex roles, and family values that are different from your spouse's. Some marriage experts say that incompatibility was never a valid reaon for divorce becuase all couples are incompatible to some extent.

Creating an "us" in the face of these differences is a challenging dimension of the vocation of marriage. to become "one," partners must understand the many ways in which they differ from each other and recognize how their differences can work in their favor in terms of their partnership. They also need to learn to manage these differences without hurting each other.

First, becoming an "us" is a realistic goal. The differences between men and women are great, but the desire to achieve unity is even greater. Men and women deeply desire each other; most men and women want to share their lives with a partner of the opposite sex. ... If God created us this way, we can be assured that he gives us the grace to achieve the union we desire.

Second, the work of becoming an "us" is spiritual work, and it requires spiritual disciplines, as already mentioned. Each vocation has its distinctive challenges, and becoming one with a particular other person for life is the unique challenge of marriage; the spiritual disciplines of marriage are the tools we use to achieve it. The disciplines we practice within marriage may seem mundane, such as counting to ten before returning an angry response, or waiting patiently for a spouse who is slow, but they accomplish something remarkable. They allow us to live in communion with someone who feels, perceives, reacts, responds, and loves differently from us.

Living in communion is holy because the conjugal life both mirrors and provides the world with an experience of belonging and acceptance God desires with us. Like the "communion" we experience in the sacraments of the Eucharist, marriage can provide the opportunity to "be one in Christ," the goal for all baptized believers.

Someone who has attended one of the Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreats that Tom and I help to present may recognize many, if not all, of the principles above. Members of the presentation team definitely will. After working on these retreats for several years, I can tell you that I was blown away by Mary Jo Pederson's book. She consistently took the concepts that Tom and I have learned and practiced in that retreat and expanded upon them in knowledgeable, practical, spiritual, and even humorous ways.

If I included all the pieces that I read aloud to Tom, only to hear him say, "Wow. That is so true. This author is really good!" then we'd be here all day. This is the book I will be buying for newly weds, friends who wish they could make it to a retreat, and for our girls when they are getting married. It can't replace a retreat but it surely is a good supplement and a great grounding in reality for any married couple. Highest recommendations on this one.

Afternoon with Wyeth, Belinda Del Pesco

Afternoon with Wyeth, Belinda Del Pesco

I really like N.C. Wyeth's illustrations, as you may recall. I was interested to see that one of his children, Andrew, grew up to be a famous artist. Check out Belinda's post where she talks a little about her admiration for Andrew and recommends a bio.

A delightful confection from Bollywood: Barfi!

Let's get this out of the way up front. "Barfi" brings up a really unfortunate word association for Americans. Perhaps it will help to know that Barfi is a popular confection in India and that applies very well to the title character whose nickname it is.

Barfi is a magical fairy tale of a film, somewhat like an Indian-style Amelie.  We see four timelines, a rarity for Indian movies, chronicling a romance, a crime spree (of sorts), life in the big city with a childhood friend, and present day. Naturally, these timelines are all interwoven and in learning about Barfi's life, we learn about the people in it and how he touched them all.

The writer/director has a light touch and a love for silent films since he managed to work in a number of classic comedy routines. Although there is a lot of music it is all done as for a Western movie, over the action. Ranbir Kapoor, as Barfi, does a good job conveying these routines and, in fact, essentially portraying a silent character whose eloquent, creative body language makes up for the fact that he's a deaf-mute.

The first half was very slow and could have had at least half an hour cut with no problem. But I'd gladly watch the part after Intermission a dozen more times. The magic definitely outweighs the slow beginning. Definitely recommended.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

Hannah and Rose discuss Barfi in episode 56 of An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

On My Way to Amsterdam, Edward B. Gordon

On My Way to Amsterdam, Edward B. Gordon

Letter to Pope Francis from Catholic Women ... and also Catholic Men

We write to you, Holy Father, to pose questions that need answers.

We are Catholic women deeply committed to our faith and profoundly grateful for Church teachings, the Sacraments, and the many good bishops and priests who have blessed our lives.

Our hearts are broken, our faith tested, by the escalating crisis engulfing our beloved Church. We are angry, betrayed and disillusioned. The pain and suffering of the victims never ends, as each news cycle brings more horrific revelations of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, cover-ups, and deceit—even at the Church’s highest levels. ...

Several crucial questions raised by Archbishop Viganò’s statement, however, require neither lengthy investigations nor physical evidence. They require only your direct response, Holy Father. When reporters questioned you recently about Archbishop Viganò’s charges, you replied, “I will not say a single word on this.” You told reporters to “read the statement carefully and make your own judgment.”

To your hurting flock, Pope Francis, your words are inadequate. They sting, reminiscent of the clericalism you so recently condemned. We need leadership, truth, and transparency. We, your flock, deserve your answers now. ...

This is an excellent letter which will be sent very soon to Pope Francis. Read the whole thing. It is eloquent, respectful, and expresses my feelings well so I signed it. I am one of over 35,000 Catholic women to do so.

A letter was written today from men who are standing alongside Catholic women. I was really touched, actually, seeing these men talk about being in love with Christ and his Church. You may read and sign it here.

I wrote my own letter last week (because of course I did) and mailed it off to Vatican City but have a feeling these letters will get more attention. Regardless, I have done what I can and now will fast and pray.

St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us and Pope Francis and the Church. Amen.

Bulls and the Bullring

It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring.

Spanish proverb

Every culture has a way of saying this, I think, which just goes to show that human nature never really changes. There is always the person holding forth theoretically, as if it were the same as real life. And then there is the experience of getting in there and facing the bull. You can't beat hands on experience for really understanding something.

Well Said: The Very Heart of Religion

Gregor flushed as he went on: "The entire content of the Confesions could be put into one single sentence in the book: when Augustine addresses God, saying: 'Thou hast made us for Thyself and our heart is unquiet until it rests in Thee.' This sentence, my lords and friends, is immortal. It contains the very heart of religion."

Louis de Wohl, The Restless Flame

Ain't that the truth!

3 Week Old Ass

3 Week Old Ass

O big, brown brother out of the waste, How do thistles for breakfast taste?

“The Ass”

I woke and rose and slipt away
To the heathery hills in the morning grey.

In a field where the dew lay cold and deep
I met an ass, new-roused from sleep.

I stroked his nose and I tickled his ears,
And spoke soft words to quiet his fears.

His eyes stared into the eyes of me
And he kissed my hands of his courtesy.

“O big, brown brother out of the waste,
How do thistles for breakfast taste?

“And do you rejoice in the dawn divine
With a heart that is glad no less than mine?

“For, brother, the depth of your gentle eyes
Is strange and mystic as the skies:

“What are the thoughts that grope behind,
Down in the mist of a donkey mind?

“Can it be true, as the wise men tell,
That you are a mask of God as well,

“And, as in us, so in you no less
Speaks the eternal Loveliness,

“And words of the lips that all things know
Among the thoughts of a donkey go?

“However it be, O four-foot brother,
Fair to-day is the earth, our mother.

“God send you peace and delight thereof,
And all green meat of the waste you love,

“And guard you well from violent men
Who’d put you back in the shafts again.”

But the ass had far too wise a head
To answer one of the things I said,

So he twitched his fair ears up and down
And turned to nuzzle his shoulder brown.

C.S. Lewis, 1919

I discovered this via The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip and Carol Zaleski, which I am enjoying more than any other biography I've read of Tolkien, Lewis, or The Inklings. They comment:

In its pastoral serenity, its humor ("O big, brown brother out of the waste, / How do thistles for breakfast taste?"), its Franciscan love of lowly creatureliness, this poem one might expect from Lewis at fifty years of age; it is a happy harbinger of things to come.

GetReligion is the place to go for Catholic news analysis

I've long been a fan of GetReligion where reporters examine how the media covers religion. Time and again they point out where biases are presented as fact, where big questions aren't asked, and where the good coverage is.

They help me examine the public story of "what everybody knows" and keep my own sense of balance. You never have to just take their word for it because links are always provided so you can go read all the original reporting for yourself. Each piece is the best news roundup you can find.

In the case of all the Catholic chaos lately GetReligion is again keeping me thinking, alert, and balanced.

I strongly recommend you add them to your media of preference to make sure you're seeing all the angles, whether for good or ill.

You can't do better than to begin with this story by Julia Duin who's been impressing me with her analysis: Coverage by the conservative and global press raises the stakes in Viganò affair.

Cardinal DiNardo: reaffirmed call for a prompt and thorough examination into how the grave moral failings of a brother bishop could have been tolerated for so long and proven no impediment to his advancement.

I was just wondering yesterday if we'd hear again from Cardinal DiNardo (president of the U.S. Bishop's Council) about plans for the future in reference to Cardinal McCarrick. After the first flurry of press releases, it would be easy to let things die down until the bishops' conference in a few months.

Nope. He read my mind and came out with a piece yesterday which makes me feel he is really urgent and cares about the issue, especially since he mentions Archbishop Viganò's letter. Here's a bit but do go read it all.

Yesterday, I convened our Executive Committee once again, and it reaffirmed the call for a prompt and thorough examination into how the grave moral failings of a brother bishop could have been tolerated for so long and proven no impediment to his advancement.

"The recent letter of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò brings particular focus and urgency to this examination. The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence. Without those answers, innocent men may be tainted by false accusation and the guilty may be left to repeat sins of the past.

... I am confident Pope Francis shares our desire for greater effectiveness and transparency in the matter of disciplining bishops. We renew our fraternal affection for the Holy Father in these difficult days.

ALSO, Bishop Barron has a video Q&A about the Sexual Abuse Crisis. Note: the audio has also been uploaded to the Word on Fire podcast feed.

Friends, many of you have asked for my thoughts on the McCarrick abuse crisis, the Pennsylvania grand jury report, and the recent report from Archbishop Viganò. We're all devastated by the horrific suffering of these many victims, and we're all wondering what to do next.

I shared some thoughts a couple weeks ago, in an article, but I thought it might be helpful to have a more candid conversation today, building on the USCCB's statement just released, which I wholly support.

Please watch the discussion, and together let's pray for the victims and the entire Body of Christ.

Stu-mick-o-súcks (Buffalo Bull's Back Fat)

Stu-mick-o-súcks (Buffalo Bull's Back Fat), George Catlin

I'd never heard of George Catlin before but was fascinated by his portraits of Native Americans in the Old West. Wikipedia tells us: Traveling to the American West five times during the 1830s, Catlin was the first white man to depict Plains Indians in their native territory. And that is also fascinating.

Sunset

Sunset, Tom Thomson

Hair bigger than a meringue ... the beginning of a new bad movie series on More is More.

Hannah & Rose discuss the irresistible charms of sullen teenagers, the irresistible allure of sullen vampires, and why if you has transfer high schools in the middle of your junior year, you should transfer to Forks as they watch Twilight (2008) on More is More, the bad movie podcast.

Sounds ... irresistible!

On seeing God clearly

When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others—not because He has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.

... if a man’s self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred—like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope. ...

God can show Himself as He really is only to real men. And that means not simply to men who are individually good, but to men who are united together in a body, loving one another, helping one another, showing Him to one another. For that is what God meant humanity to be like; like players in one band, or organs in one body.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Songbird in the Reeds

Songbird in Reeds, Ohara Koson

The worst part of sin is its hiddenness.

The worst part of sin is its hiddenness. It hides everywhere under the pretense that it is something natural, that it is something unavoidable, and that the power, gravity, or tragedy of life is expressed by it. If we are witnesses here of Christ's fate, our eyes are opened wide to this pretense.

Romano Guardini, commenting on the Agony in the Garden,
The Rosary of Our Lady

Rereading: To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed

This is a synthesis of the Gospel stories, looking at the life of our Lord as a whole in the context of his times and environment as well as of religion. I'm just beginning to reread it but had forgotten, since I last read it 8 years ago, that Sheed's approach is fresh and modern seeming which is extraordinary since it was first published in 1962.

He looks at characters I never thought about, such as Theophilus, for whom Luke wrote his gospel and Acts of the Apostles. After musing about whether Theophilus was a Christian and what he might have been taught before sitting down to read Luke's work, Sheed puts us in touch with how the gospel would have struck Theophilus and been generally responded to in that age.

The Greek word "akribos"—it means accurately, carefully—could hardly have prepared him for what follows immediately—the angel Gabriel bringing to the priest Zachary the announcement that his elderly wife would bear his elderly self a son, the angel going on to tell a virgin in Nazareth that she would conceive. One imagines Theophilus incredulously muttering "akribos" to himself—all the more if he had known Luke as a pagan in his medical student days at Tarsus.

Notice too how Sheed reminds us of Luke's own background and the testimony of having such a man write about Christ.

He also makes me laugh with the wry way he brings St. Paul down to earth and has sympathy for the man in the pew:

...if only we had notes of that long sermon preached by Paul at Troas, during which Eutychus, surely the patron saint of the Sunday laity, fell asleep!

All of these little touches make those ancient times and people live and breathe for us ... as well as bringing us, we hope, closer to knowing Christ Jesus more personally.

Julie, Jesse, and Maissa talk about Heinlein, Kipling, and Harriet Beecher Stowe

It's the SFFaudio readalong discussion of Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein, my personal favorite of his books. We had tons of fun. Join us!

Tres Leches Cake, Puerto Rican Style

I've never really enjoyed Tres Leches Cake which always struck me as being mildly sweet, soggy, and a bit milky. Nothing really special. Then I read about this version. Rose made it for a meal provided for our parish's men's retreat and months later she's still getting compliments.

It is so delicate but also so flavorful. A hint of coconut is perfectly complimented by the nutmeg and cinnamon sprinkled across the top. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Always happy to be Catholic?

I look at my subtitle these days and find it is still true. I am still happy to be Catholic.

Some may wonder how that can be in the wake of the revelations about sexual predator Cardinal McCarrick who was an open secret among many of his brother bishops. Or in the wake of the grand jury report on Pennsylvania detailing 70 years of misconduct and systematic church coverup in six dioceses across the state. (PDF of report here.)

The Pennsylvania report which has been the subject of so much reporting is not really news. We got a lot of this bad news during the first wave of the scandals in the nineties and early aughts. The good part was that things seem to be on the mend, as the report itself mentions, in that much has improved over the last fifteen years. That is reason for hope.

For me the most illuminating part was that it went back seven decades, well beyond the common understanding of this problem arising as part of the post-Vatican II era and the sexual revolution. It made me think of Bishop Barron's reflections on the original scandal as a diabolical masterpiece because "that awful crisis just seemed too thought-through, too well-coordinated, to be simply the result of chance or wicked human choice."

My thoughts turned to Pope Leo XIII who is said to have written the St. Michael prayer in response to a vision he had of Satan being allowed to test the Church and choosing the 20th century. The visible threats to the Church during that time from changing governments and social values and other sources suddenly seemed like only one front in a global war. We fought the threats we could see while under the surface innocent people were victims of an evil we couldn't imagine. An evil perpetrated by a fifth column* of trusted priests and bishops.

For that reason I welcome the report. It sheds light into the darkness. I welcome the exposure of Archbishop McCarrick and those who joined his evil by their silence. If we do not see the source of an infection, the existence of a cancer, how can we eradicate it? Now we know the hard truth. Now we can work through the shock and horror of new knowledge. Now we can begin the long work of healing and rebuilding for the victims, for the Church, and, yes, even for the hated perpetrators and collaborators, many of whom are still in denial.

I know many are so angry and hurt and upset that they are talking of leaving or indeed have already left. I grieve for them but in my own case the reality of the Church is not the deeds these evil men have perpetrated in her name. They have corrupted and perverted the Truth that Christ gave us. Where could I go? There is nowhere else that has the fullness of truth. I am not happy about anything to do with this whole mess, but I am happy that the sure foundation of Christ and His Church is here for me.

As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Gospel of John 6:66-69

So how do we practice our own share of that healing and rebuilding work? Elizabeth Scalia has 7 good, practical steps we can take. They are at the bottom of her piece if you are in a hurry, though the whole thing is good. Here's the personal part for everyday:

• Help define what makes a healthy church and begin to be yourself the church you want to see by becoming an open conduit for the love, justice, and mercy of Christ, and the movement of the Holy Spirit, to come forth—even if how Christ defines justice and mercy is not quite as you would prefer; even if the Holy Spirit seems to be taking a turn you don’t understand. That openness is essential because it is a form of consent that speeds along both the action of the Spirit and the glory of God.

... commit to deepening your own prayer life. Pick up the Divine Office and pray some part of it daily. If the opportunity to pray before the Blessed Sacrament is available to you, take advantage of it. Ignore anyone who tells you that it’s an antiquated medieval piety best left behind, which is precisely the sort of stupid, arrogant thinking that helped bring us to where we are. How can praying before the very Presence of Christ be anything but good and powerful? Hint: it can’t.

Two more imperatives:

• Fast.
• Offer up your own troubles for the healing of the Church and in reparation for all of her sins. Yes, offering it up is still a thing, and it is powerful.

I add to the above that we need to keep our priests and bishops in our prayers. The vast majority of priests are good men who are also in shock over the latest revelations, trying to shepherd their flocks through this flood of troubles. Likewise, not every bishop was part of the uncaring, collaborative hierarchy.

*A group within a country at war who are sympathetic to or working for its enemies.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher, Remo Savisaar

The unwearied sun from day to day does his Creator’s power display

The spacious firmament on high,
with all the blue ethereal sky,
and spangled heavens, a shining frame,
their great Original proclaim.
The unwearied sun from day to day
does his Creator’s power display,
and publishes to every land
the work of an almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail,
the moon takes up the wondrous tale,
and nightly, to the listening earth,
repeats the story of her birth;
whilst all the stars that round her burn,
and all the planets in their turn,
confirm the tidings as they roll,
and spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all
move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though nor real voice nor sound
amid their radiant orbs be found?
In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
and utter forth a glorious voice,
forever singing as they shine,
“The hand that made us is divine!”

Joseph Addison, 1712
(after Psalm 19)

Psalm 19 is one of my very favorite psalms. And some time ago I discovered that Psalm 19 was one of C.S. Lewis's favorites also. It creates an extra little bit of fellow feeling with him.

St. Martin's Summer by Rafael Sabatini

The life of an heiress is in jeopardy and her only hope is to place her trust in the wiles of a middle-aged swordsman with no use for "women's troubles." As the plots of the conspirators converge it will take all the wiles and accumulated wisdom of Martin Marie Rigobert de Garnache uncover their identity, to save Valerie de La Vauvraye and keep his promise to his Queen.

What a fun swashbuckler this was, truly one of Sabatini's better books and surely an homage to Alexandre Dumas's adventures.

As mentioned in the summary above, Garnache is wily, wise, and an accomplished swordsman but the bane of his career has been his unbridled temper. Watching him struggle to overcome it and the result of his ill-timed explosions is a lot of fun because we can sympathize with his frustration.

He despises the fairer sex, "Let me tell you that this is the first time in my life that I have been concerned in anything that had to do with women." This makes it more ironic when the main players in the story are all women: the Queen of France, the girl he must rescue (who turns out to be completely admirable) and the wicked, willful Marquise de Condillac is his equal, foiling his attempts repeatedly. Poor Garnache does nothing but deal with women, except when he's sword fighting, of course.

Definitely recommended for light reading.

Omkara — Othello, Indian-style

Half-caste bandit Omkara Shukla abducts his lady love, Dolly Mishra, from her family. Thanks to his cleverness, he gets away with the kidnapping. A conspiracy, however, forms against him when he denies his right-hand man, Langda Tyagi, a promotion. Ultimately, this plot threatens not only his relationship with Dolly, but their lives and those of their associates as well.

This is a simply wonderful Indian film adaptation of Othello as a gangster story. Not only is the film pretty faithful to the story and to the Indian environment in Uttar Pradesh, but the acting, shots and production were arresting. If you've seen it, I'm thinking especially of a particular shot in the rain in front of the train and, of course, the film's last shot. I also loved the use of specific color associations with specific characters. (Hint - in India, the color for marriage is red.)

It is, as the film says, an adaptation, but often there were lines that seemed almost lifted directly from the original. This line, in particular, was key to this production.

Shakespeare/Desdemona's father: "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father and may thee."

Omkara/Dolly's father: "The girl who can betray her own father, how can she be trusted by anyone else."

We were especially interested to see Saif Ali Khan's take on Iago since he first came to our attention as a lovable rogue in Tashan. Khan gave an impressive portrayal of a man consumed by envy and evil. He's truly versatile.

It's Bollywood so of course there are a couple of song and dance numbers but they are worked in realistically as Kesu's (Cassio's) girlfriend is an entertainer whose performances provide key moments for the story's action.

Vishal Bhardwa is a director I will be looking for more from. I'm especially eager to see his adaptations of Macbeth and Hamlet.

Rating — for advanced viewers. (You've got to be willing to let this one wash over you, enjoying the ride for what it is ... and that means you've got to have seen enough other Indian movies to not worry about some dead space or romantic side trips. Or gangster shootings ... )

Scott and I discuss Omkara on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. 

Hannah and Rose talk about it on episode 42 of An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

President of USCCB: Scores of beloved children of God were abandoned to face an abuse of power alone.

This statement from Cardinal DiNardo seems sincere. Certainly the wording is less like that of a CEO and more like that of a priest. Read it all ... this snippet is the conclusion.

I have no illusions about the degree to which trust in the bishops has been damaged by these past sins and failures. It will take work to rebuild that trust. What I have outlined here is only the beginning; other steps will follow. I will keep you informed of our progress toward these goals.

Let me ask you to hold us to all of these resolutions. Let me also ask you to pray for us, that we will take this time to reflect, repent, and recommit ourselves to holiness of life and to conform our lives even more to Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Miss Monroe, 1925

1925 photo of Miss Monroe on the beach at a Galveston beauty pageant.

There's more and a link to a bathing beauty video she was in at Traces of Texas.

Hannah & Rose discuss the wonders of gravity ...

... why everything should be on fire, and how to properly segregate your workforce as they watch Upside Down (2012) at More is More, the bad movie podcast.

Breathless encounters with the classics

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities.
With Illustrations by H. K. Browne. 1859. First edition

For of all my discoveries, nearly the most breathless was Dickens, himself. How many of the educated can ever suspect the delight of such a delayed encounter? I think we owned a Collected Works when I was a child. But I had tried David Copperfield too early and had believed all my life that he was not for me. One night last winter I was sleepless and somehow without a book. From our own shelves I took down Little Dorrit, which people tell me now is one of the least beguiling of the lot. But Keats first looking on Homer could have been no more dazzled than I first poring on my Boz. I felt as a treasure-hunter might feel had he tripped over the locked chest that belonged to Captain Kidd.

Phyllis McGinley

I found this quote in a good piece about not being able to understand the classics until we are adults by Tod Worner at Word on Fire. Phyllis McGinley, whose wonderful book Saint-Watching I have loved for some time, echoes precisely my own adult encounter with Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. I still remember how thrilled I was to see how many of his books were there for me to discover. I went on to read all of them.

It is interesting to think about the classics that I've grown to love as an adult since Uncle Tom's Cabin awoke me to the possibility that maybe classics weren't boring. That was in 2006. From there I went to the afore-mentioned A Tale of Two Cities, The Lord of the Rings, Dante's Divine Comedy, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, and Kim. All are books that I approached with the trepidation borne of early failed attempts. Some I had to approach with audio, print, and commentaries. But I kept going and there was something very worthwhile in them all.

The latest in that struggle was Brideshead Revisited which my book club just discussed this Monday. I do not yet love it, but I now appreciate a book I had cast away twice earlier with distaste. I know I will reread it and can foresee a future where I might love that work. Once I was finished, I appreciated the struggle itself and the fruit it yielded. There was a real sense of satisfaction in working through a challenge successfully. What I found in each was something that enriched my life and mind in new and exciting ways.

All of this is to say that when I feel a book challenge circling my mind I no longer duck and weave to avoid it. I wait to see if it will settle and then approach the book with a certain anticipation, both of the struggle and of the achievement.

Next up? Well, I have been thinking about Augustine's City of God an awful lot over the past few months ... and also Crime and Punishment. We shall see if either of them settles down to roost.

Morning Sun

Morning sun, Joaquín Sorolla

In the Midst of Clerical Misdeeds, a Crucial Moment for the Laity

Just when I think I've shared the last piece I need to about this McCarrick scandal, another comes up. This one from Msgr. Charles Pope, urges us to write a physical letter to our bishop so they really understand this is a scandal that will not go away.

Here's a bit of it:

I am not sure how many of the bishops realize just how angry, disheartened and disturbed God’s people really are. ...

I have never seen people so serious and determined to take actions of their own....

As a Church hierarchy, we have worn on folks’ last nerve. We have come to a point where only penance and a complete housecleaning can restore credibility and trust. As a lower-ranking priest I cannot issue demands or send binding norms to those in wider and upper ranks of the hierarchy, but I do want to say to God’s faithful how powerfully aware I am of their justified anger and agree with their insistence that something more than symbolic action or promises of future reform is necessary.

I also would like to say to God’s faithful that this is a critical hour for you. I have learned from Church history that reform almost never comes from the top; it comes from religious life and from the grass roots, from among God’s people. ...

Read it all here.

Bishop Barron on The McCarrick Mess

While I have been disillusioned and saddened by the silence of  bishops and cardinals I really admired, one bishop's silence especially had me on tenterhooks. I admire Bishop Robert Barron and his Word on Fire ministry so much that to see time go by with no commentary was really worrying.

I told myself that he is an auxiliary bishop and probably had to wait until his own bishop gave permission. If that was not the reason ... well, I knew it would be a heartbreaking admission of how far the entire hierarchy had fallen. So you can imagine how happy I was to see this piece. Here's a bit but go read it all for yourself.

Now I can hear people saying, “So Bishop Barron is blaming it all on the devil.” Not at all. The devil works through temptation, suggestion, and insinuation—and he accomplishes nothing without our cooperation. If you want to see the principle illustrated, Google Luca Signorelli’s image of the Antichrist in the Orvieto Cathedral. You’ll see what I mean. Archbishop McCarrick did wicked things and so did those, it appears, who enabled him. And we have to come to terms with these sins.

Noh Dance Prelude

Noh Dance Prelude, Uemura Shōen

Isn't this gown gorgeous? I especially love the bottom because it makes it look as if she is standing among the clouds.

A Gaelic Blessing

May those who love us, love us.
And those who don't love us
May God turn their hearts;
And if He doesn't turn their hearts
May He turn their ankles
So we'll know them by their limping.

Traditional Gaelic Blessing

This just works on so many levels!

Larry's Whereabouts

My heart went out to Larry as I scented adventure, and I wished him with me; but speculations as to Larry’s whereabouts were always profitless, and quite likely he was in jail somewhere.

Meredith Nicholson, The House of a Thousand Candles

This is a mystery but it has a lot of funny little bits like this.

All the Things I Never Knew About Uncle Tom's Cabin

This is the original review from when I first read Uncle Tom's Cabin, way back in 2006. Since then I've read it several more times, even going so far as to narrate it with commentary on my Forgotten Classics podcast.

I'm a little more than halfway through yet another time and have been struck anew by how many psychological types Stowe worked into this exciting cliffhanger. It is also my current inspirational reading as you are never going to get more discussion of Christianity in a novel than in this one.

As always, I want to share something that's brought me so much pleasure, so I'm rerunning my original review below.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I never knew that it was such a page turner! About halfway through the pace picked up so that I was avidly reading whenever I had a chance to see if George and Eliza would shake off their trackers, Uncle Tom would make it back to his family, what it would take to make Topsy reform and much more. How about that crazy Cassy, hmm? And poor Emmaline ... would someone save her before Simon Legree got his filthy hands on her? Wow!

I never knew that Uncle Tom actually was a Christ-figure, a living saint. No wonder he is misunderstood by so many. They are not getting the whole picture.

I never knew that so many sorts of people were represented throughout the book. The language can be rather stilted due to the style of the times but Stowe did a good job showing many different attitudes toward slavery and how people excused themselves under the flimsiest of excuses. One expects the broadly painted very good and very evil owners but not the more shaded in-between characters.

It was fascinating toward the end of the book to see where many of the slaves wound up. One could discern what Stowe's ideas of a solution for the slavery problem were and, indeed, it was even more interesting to read her afterward where she discusses it specifically.

I thought that Stowe included herself in the book as the maiden aunt from New England who thought she understood the problem until she came up against Topsy who demanded that she put her whole heart and soul into realizing that the slaves were real people. Rose saw her as Mrs. Shelby, the kindly wife of Uncle Tom's original owner, who as soon as she got a chance absolutely did the right thing.

I am quite grateful that Rose read this book and pushed it on me. Highly recommended.

The House of a Thousand Candles - in German

I knew that The House of a Thousand Candles was a best seller back in the day but I had no idea that it was a big seller outside the United States. The proof is in the book cover, however!

Social adventure with nothing to equal it

“Morgan, you are an infernal blackguard. You have tried twice to kill me—”

“We’ll call it that, if you like,”—and he grinned. “But you’d better cut off one for this.”

He lifted the gray fedora hat from his head, and poked his finger through a hole in the top.

“You’re a pretty fair shot, Mr. Glenarm. The fact about me is,”—and he winked,—”the honest truth is, I’m all out of practice. Why, sir, when I saw you paddling out on the lake this afternoon I sighted you from the casino half a dozen times with my gun, but I was afraid to risk it.” He seemed to be shaken with inner mirth. “If I’d missed, I wasn’t sure you’d be scared to death!”

For a novel diversion I heartily recommend a meeting with the assassin who has, only a few days or hours before, tried to murder you. I know of nothing in the way of social adventure that is quite equal to it.

Meredith Nicholson, The House of a Thousand Candles

Laity are "Essential," Must Lead Any Investigation

In reference to former Cardinal McCarrick and his abuses which apparently were an open secret among his fellow bishops, Cardinal Weurl proposed having a national panel of bishops investigate complaints against bishops. Talk about tone deaf.

Jeff Miller at The Curt Jester does a nice summing up of where we are at this moment. And I give all tribute to Bishop Scharfenberger who does understand the problem and what must happen for reform. It is the way I myself feel. As Jeff says, "May his tribe increase."

Statement by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger
of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany

August 6, 2018

While I am heartened by my brother bishops proposing ways for our Church to take action in light of recent revelations – and I agree that a national panel should be commissioned, duly approved by the Holy See – I think we have reached a point where bishops alone investigating bishops is not the answer. To have credibility, a panel would have to be separated from any source of power whose trustworthiness might potentially be compromised.

It is time for us, I believe, to call forth the talents and charisms of our lay faithful, by virtue of their baptismal priesthood. Our lay people are not only willing to take on this much-needed role, but they are eager to help us make lasting reforms that will restore a level of trust that has been shattered yet again. In speaking with them, we all hear their passion for our universal Church, their devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and their hunger for the truth. They are essential to the solution we seek.

What is needed now is an independent commission led by well-respected, faithful lay leaders who are beyond reproach, people whose role on such a panel will not serve to benefit them financially, politically, or personally. These will be people with a deep understanding of the Catholic faith, but without an axe to grind or an agenda to push. It will not be easy, but it will be worth every ounce of effort, energy, and candor we can muster.

We bishops want to rise to this challenge, which may well be our last opportunity considering all that has happened. We must get this right. I am confident we can find a way to look outside ourselves, to put this in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and to entrust our very capable lay people, who have stood with us through very difficult times, to help us do the right thing. We need an investigation — the scope of which is not yet defined but must be defined — and it must be timely, transparent and credible.

Extra tidbit: I've been in a couple of recent conversations about this with other faithful, distressed Catholics and Simcha Fisher echoes many of our conclusions about how this state of affairs happened.

McCarrick and the Deafening Silence

Former Cardinal McCarrick forced his attentions on seminarians for years. Though complaints were made as long as two decades ago, they were turned away until recently when it was admitted that the evidence was credible. I explain this because if I hadn't mentioned it to my husband he'd never have heard about it. He doesn't seek out Catholic news and the newspaper and TV news we frequent hadn't mentioned it.

First I was horrified and furious that the complaints were shoved under the carpet even after we'd been assured the sex scandals were a thing of the past, that victims were being heard, that new policies were in place to prevent reoccurrence — even as one of the biggest movers and shakers (McCarrick) was an offender whose sins were apparently an open secret among his fellow bishops. And that is the most horrifying of all. Some of the bishops who'd received information are those who I respect and trust the most. And their silence has been deafening. Those whited sepulchers.

I've had nothing to say on the topic that others haven't but these are pieces that say particularly well what is in my heart.

If an excerpt catches your eye, be sure to go read the whole piece (links are in the subheads). There's no way I can really capture them with these snippets.

DarwinCatholic: A Moral Crisis
A good summing up, well reasoned, calm and to the point.

Any leader in the church, lay or clerical, who thinks that it is in any way advantageous to the church to keep quiet and allow a bishop to cover up a life of grave sin is a leader that we do not need.

We are all sinners, some may say. Who are we to judge? How can we say that we won't tolerate a sinner as a bishop?

All bishops are sinners. All of us are sinners. But if someone is to be a leader in the church, he should be prepared to admit his sins, repent of them, and resolve not to commit them again.

Elizabeth Scalia: How to Restore a Church in Scandal? Begin With a Collective Confession.
Scalia has already been pointing out that it is now the laity's work to insist on our bishops doing the right thing and holding leadership to a real accounting. She continues with thoughts on just how that works.

Making an address to the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in June of 1972, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said something most relevant to our times:

Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.

[...]

There is a great deal of work to be done, and as I have written elsewhere, the laity must necessarily be part of that work. As we discern how to proceed, we can immediately do two things:

• Pray for our priests, by name when we can, every day and at every Mass.
• Do penance for the sins of our Church, and be willing to suffer a bit for the sake of its restoration to spiritual health.

Ross Douthat: The Truth About Cardinal McCarrick

One of the best things that the bishops of the American Catholic Church did during the great wave of sex abuse revelations 16 years ago — and yes, there’s a low bar for “best” — was to establish a National Review Board, staffed by prominent layman, with the authority to commission an independent report on what exactly had happened in the church.

The result was a careful analysis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice that detailed the patterns of priestly sex abuse in American Catholicism between 1950 and 2002 ...

Now, unfortunately, it needs to happen again. But what needs to be commissioned this time, by Pope Francis himself if the American bishops can’t or won’t, isn’t a synthetic overview of a systemic problem. Rather, the church needs an inquest, a special prosecutor — you can even call it an inquisition if you want — into the very specific question of who knew what and when about the crimes of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and why exactly they were silent.

Get Religion: Why didn't journalists investigate McCarrick earlier? Because they thought conservatives were out to get him
It turns out that bishops aren't the only ones keeping silent. Journalists saw plenty of smoke, but ignored the fire.

Certain reporters could not lay aside their biases against church conservatives to investigate whether there was a fire behind all the smoke.

Journalism rule #1: Never, never assume that someone is crying wolf.

Journalism rule #2: Never assume the folks – whose viewpoints you disagree with – have nothing of value to say.

I agree a lot of bishops are to blame for not bringing this mess to light a lot earlier. But so are the journalists who heard about this years ago and chose to do nothing.

The tiny thorns of life

All our life is sown with tiny thorns that produce in our hearts a thousand involuntary movements of hatred, envy, fear, impatience, a thousand little fleeting disappointments, a thousand slight worries, a thousand disturbances that momentarily alter our peace of soul. For example, a word escapes that should not have been spoken. Or someone utters another that offends us. A child inconveniences you. A bore stops you. You don’t like the weather. Your work is not going according to plan. A piece of furniture is broken. A dress is torn.

I know that these are not occasions for practicing very heroic virtue. But they would definitely be enough to acquire it if we really wished to.

St. Claude la Colombiére

Christ is the point.

We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the Cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the pope. Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present pope, but even if I criticised him as harshly as some do, even if his successor proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing that a pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the church, although I might well wish that they would leave.

Frank Sheed, Christ in Eclipse, 1978

That study is certainly unlawful ...

If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein

Since we've got the Lord Byron, Lake Geneva, Frankenstein thing going today.

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva, By Schnäggli - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Lake Geneva, where Lord Byron spent a memorable weekend with his doctor, John Polidori, and friends Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley, and Claire Clairmont (Mary's stepsister and a special friend of Byron's — and that's all that we'll say about that.) A vampire novel and Frankenstein were the result to the lasting benefit for all of us who enjoy horror stories.

Made me laugh: I was first struck by his normality ...

I was full of curiosity to meet Lord Marchmain. When I did so I was first struck by his normality, which, as I saw more of him, I found to be studied. It was as though he were conscious of a Byronic aura, which he considered to be in bad taste and was at pains to suppress.

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

Lord Byron in Albanian Dress

Lord Byron in Albanian Dress, Thomas Phillips

Today's quote made me go looking for portraits of Lord Byron. He must have been one of those really charismatic people whose attraction doesn't come out in portraits. Except for this one. Wowie! Albanian dress would do wonders for a lot of us today.

Wish I Was There: Primary Parasols

Primary Parasols, Belinda DelPesco

I have left behind illusion ...

"I have left behind illusion," I said to myself. "Henceforth I live in a world of three dimensions — with the aid of my five senses.

I have since learned that there is no such world, but then, as the car turned out of sight of the house, I thought it took no finding, but lay all about me at the end of the avenue.

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

SFFaudio and Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Jesse, Maissa, and I discussed Rudyard Kipling's classic Kim. Get it here!

What I'm Reading: Grave Peril, Brideshead Revisited, Why Evil Exists, This is Murder, Best Cook in the World

The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them.

Our next book club selection — and one I've tried to read several times in the past. Because it is "assigned" I've been forced to get past the first two chapters that always turned me off before. Now, about halfway through the book, I'm enjoying it more as I go along. Partly that is because I have been listening to the Close Reads podcast episodes* on it, which helped open up themes. Partly it is because I recently realized how very much I do not care about Sebastian (who was the main focus for a lot of the beginning.) I won't go so far as yet, since I'm not finished, to say I dislike Sebastian, but it is the way I'm leaning. Anyway, I'm just so happy not to dread picking this book up every day — that in itself is a win.

*(Close Reads is also on iTunes. Their Brideshead Revisited episodes aired during the summer of 2017.)

Wizard and private detective Harry Dresden has squared off against a multitude of supernatural bad guys. You might think nothing could spook him. You would be wrong.

Something is stirring up angry apparitions all over town. Something that can break all the laws of supernatural physics. Something that doesnt like Harry. His closest friends are being targeted. The net is closing in. Harry must find a solution soon or find this is one Nightmare from which he will never waken.

I read this series avidly when the books came out, until Changes (#12) which I didn't care for at all. I'd had enough of Harry and felt I knew the books well enough from rereading, so I gave mine to my daughter in one of my regular bookshelf purges.

Recently I read Melanie Bettinelli's interesting posts on Harry's character development after the point where I quit reading. My interest was piqued, but it took an in-person conversation with a couple of people about how those last books were insightful about faith and religion to make me want to revisit the series.

I thought I could just look over the Wikipedia book summaries but ... my goodness the series got complicated early on! Luckily the library has James Marsters' excellent audio of the book so I've begun my slow way into the series from close to the beginning. And, I can't deny, it is a nice light counterbalance to working my way through Brideshead Revisited.

Award-winning Professor Charles Mathewes of the University of Virginia offers a  dynamic inquiry into Western civilization's greatest thinking and insight on this critical subject, the question of evil.

I loved Charles Mathewes course on Augustine's City of God so much that I picked up his only other course on Audible. I'm not necessarily attracted to the topic, but the reviews were so uniformly good and, as I said, I like the teacher so much that I opted on for the 36 classes ... so it's gonna take a while. In the first four lessons, Mathewes has been riveting and really good at delineating how various ancient cultures viewed evil, as well as relating these points of view to their modern equivalents. I'm really enjoying it.

And now I realize I never told you about that first course, here's a brief review:

Books that Matter: The City of God

This class did what I never thought possible - make me want to read The City of God.

Professor Mathewes is insightful, giving this ancient work an understandable context and connecting it to modern life. He's got an accessible lecturing style and an elegant turn of phrase that helps open up the material. What is more he makes a compelling case for why The City of God is relevant for understanding not only the ancient, but our modern world. Highest recommendation.

Because, you know, when you've been reading Brideshead Revisited and listening to courses about Evil, you want something less taxing for bedtime reading.

Advertising man Sam Moraine wants to tag along when his poker game is broken up by a call for his buddy D.A. Phil Duncan to look into a kidnapping case. Duncan agrees and Sam soon finds himself taking cash to trade for the victim. But all is not what it seems (no surprises there) and Sam soon is conducting his own amateur investigation. And that puts him at odds with both the law and the bad guys. This is a stand-alone and I am really enjoying it. It's just perfect for reading right before lights out.

A delectable, rollicking food memoir, cookbook, and loving tribute to a region, a vanishing history, a family, and, especially, to his mother.

Margaret Bragg measures in "dabs" and "smidgens" and "tads" and "you know, hon, just some." Her notion of farm-to-table is a flatbed truck. But she can tell you the secrets to perfect mashed potatoes, corn pudding, redeye gravy, pinto beans and hambone, stewed cabbage, short ribs, chicken and dressing, biscuits and butter rolls. The irresistible stories in this audiobook are of long memory -- many of them pre-date the Civil War, handed down skillet by skillet, from one generation of Braggs to the next.

I'm really loving this which is much more memoir than recipe book. There is plenty of personality, old customs, and living through hard times in Rick Bragg's family tree. I am not one who likes stories of dysfunctional families and I appreciate that the dysfunctions are smoothed out or merely hinted at because the emphasis is on how the recipe came into the family or how someone learned to cook. By wrapping the stories around the kitchen we can take the good with the bad, especially when it comes with a helping of Axhead Soup or Chicken and Dressing.

The Birth of Mary and domestic life in Florence

The Birth of Mary, Tornabuoni Chapel (1485-90),
appears to represent a domestic scene from the life of contemporary Florentine nobility.  Domenico Ghirlandaio

Conversion to the baroque

This was my conversion to the baroque. Here under that high and insolent dome, under those tricky ceilings; here, as I passed through those arches and broken pediments to the pillared shade beyond and sat, hour by hour, before the fountain, probing its shadows, tracing its lingering echoes, rejoicing in all its clustered feats of daring and invention, I felt a whole new system of nerves alive within me, as though the water that spurted and bubbled among its stones was indeed a life-giving spring.

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

This makes me want to hear it read aloud. I may have to get the audio from the library at some point.

"I wish I liked Catholics more."

"I wish I liked Catholics more."

"They seem just like other people."

"My dear Charles, that's exactly what they're not—particularly in this country, where they're so few. It's not just that they're a clique—as a matter of fact, they're about four cliques all blackguarding each other half the time—but they've got an entirely different outlook on life; everything they think important is different from other people. They try and hide it as much as they can, but it comes out all the time. It's quite natural, really, that they should."

Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

As a point of context, the conversation is begun by Sebastian who is himself Catholic and said to Charles who is, at best, agnostic.

I am reading this for my Catholic women's book club. I've tried several times to get into the book but never liked it. It turns out that I needed to be forced past the first two chapters, after which I'm enjoying it more as I go.

I read this bit to Tom and he listened with a grin growing on his face. "So it was the same back then!" he said triumphantly.

The Summer House

The Summer House, Edward B. Gordon

It's going to be 106° today ... or is it 108°? Either way, too darned hot! This looks like a cool, refreshing place to be instead.

Corn and Bacon Pasta

I admit this recipe sounded a bit far-fetched but it turned out to be really wonderful. Get it at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Green Goddess Chicken

From Cook's Country, this is an easy roast chicken dish that has a really fresh taste and makes a nice summery meal. It's posted at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Through a Web

Through a Web, Remo Savisaar

Would we serve Jesus with a chipped dish?

If everyone were holy and handsome, with “alter Christus” shining in neon lighting from them, it would be easy to see Christ in everyone. If Mary had appeared in Bethlehem clothed, as St. John says, with the sun, a crown of twelve stars on her head and the moon under her feet, then people would have fought to make room for her. But that was not God’s way for her nor is it Christ’s way for Himself now when He is disguised under every type of humanity that treads the earth.

To see how far one realizes this, it is a good thing to ask honestly what you would do, or have done, when a beggar asked at your house for food. Would you–or did you–give it on an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do you think that Martha and Mary thought that the old and chipped dish was good for their guest?

Dorothy Day, Room For Christ, The Catholic Worker, December 1945, 2