Quick Book Reviews

MURDER ON THE IDITAROD TRAIL by Sue Henry

Only the toughest and the most able come to compete in this annual torturous test of endurance, skill, and courage. Now, suddenly and inexplicably, the top Iditarod contestants are dying one by one in bizarre and gruesome ways.

I found this more interesting for the explanation of what it is like to run the Iditarod race. The details of taking care of the dogs, what the mushers endure, and how the race is set up are the thread that takes us through the story. The mystery and writing were average. I won't be checking out another by this author for that reason.

FRIED CHICKEN: An American Story by John T. Edge

John T. Edge weaves a beguiling tapestry of food and culture as he takes us from a Jersey Shore hotel to a Kansas City roadhouse, from the original Buffalo wings to KFC, from Nashville Hot Chicken to haute fried chicken at a genteel Southern inn.

You have to be interested in both food history and reading about fried chicken to like this book. I fit this description and found this little book very enjoyable. Edge has a comfortable, conversational style and provides 15 recipes to go alone with his voyage of discovery. I liked this enough to request the next in this series, "Apple Pie," from the library.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

Since they received goats from Heifer, the members of Zambia's Evergreen Women's Club have been able to provide life-saving milk for their children, grow valuable crops to support their families and help their neighbors support themselves.

Lilly Daka, a group member and mother of 10, says her children were thrilled to get their goats, "After the goats, there was such an excitement in the house and enthusiasm to look after them. The offspring have given us milk and improved the appearance and health of our children."

The women are also using their Heifer skills and training to raise healthy animals. Justina Nawa, a group member, says, "HPI has educated us on how to keep the goats. I now assist my neighbors. I have passed on the gift of knowledge and advised them about ... medicine to care for their diseases."

In addition to caring for their families, the women are caring for the environment. They're using goat manure to grow crops so they don't damage the soil with chemical fertilizer. According to Justina, "We have been taught that when we use chemicals we destroy the soil and with manure it is healthy."

Through their hard work and commitment, the women have gained a strong sense of pride and accomplishment. They're passing on their gifts to help other families in the community become self-reliant.

Lilly is moved by the opportunity to give to her neighbors, "We are so excited to Pass on the Gift to another family. I still follow up and visit them as we have become friends. ... They are now part of my family."

This is one of my favorite charities. Heifer International donates livestock like pigs, ducks, chickens, water buffalo or ... heifers, of course. The communities learn to care for the animals, make money from the eggs, milk, etc., and then pass on offspring to other needy families and communities to help them in turn. It is a self-sustaining process that improves lives and gives new hope. If I don't know what to give someone, they often get a card telling that a gift of honeybees has been given in their name. Check out this very worthwhile cause.

The Bible, Is There Anything It Can't Do?

The second divinely authored meditation book is Sacred Scripture. Splendid as are the marvels of our universe all the way from the incredibly tiny to the vastly enormous, and all that lies in between, far more awesome and enrighing are the truths of divine revelation. The Author of these two books has made nothing boring or prosaic [the first book being nature, as mentioned in yesterday's post]. Boredom comes not from reality but from people who are only half alive. The truths of this second source can be read from Scripture itself, from any solid theology book or biblical commentary, from the lives of the saints, and from the best spiritual reading, mainly from the classics. For example, you have noticed in this primer references to "CCC", the Catechism of the Catholic Church, for further developments of what we are describing in these pages. This single volume has literally thousands of mediation subjects full of grace, truth,and beauty. Rich mines are available for the asking. It is up to you to take advantage of them. (Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within by Thomas Dubay, S.M.)

It is impossible to say how very deeply I feel that Scripture is indeed God's living word. As mentioned in previous posts, my "Bible flip" experiences went a long way toward proving that very thing. Even without that frame of reference I think that Dubay is correct in pointing out what a rich resource Scripture is for meditative prayer. Someone last weekend said that a friend of theirs claimed the Bible as her favorite book. "It's got everything," she said, "Humor, drama, sex, romantic love, nobility ... " I hadn't thought of it that way but it is so true. It qualifies as the perfect "desert island" book.

God's Everyday Cathedral

...we said a few words about input for reflection. A bit more needs to be added. God is the author of two books that bountifully provide numberless topics for pondering: the book of created reality, our awesome universe, and the inspired book of the Scriptures. First, creation. If one delves deeply enough into it, every reality in our cosmos is seen to be splendid beyond our wildest expectations: a grain of sand, an atom, a living cell, a leaf, a bird, a star, a galaxy. It is no exaggeration to say that each of these things is astonishing. Always we find that the more we discover, the more we find endless vistas of what we did not expect and more of what we do not know. Scientists constantly experience this phenomenon. If we are vibrantly alive to reality, we learn that there is no end to what can and should trigger awe, wonder, praise, thanksgiving, and love. (Prayer Primer: Igniting a Fire Within by Thomas Dubay, S.M.)

I always have been drawn to nature and this is just a natural extension of what I experienced in the country this weekend. I really can't improve on what Dubay says here. It's a perfect expression of my feelings.

Back from Retreat

The retreat was wonderful. There wound up being 13 of us and I knew only 3 really well. It was such a pleasure to get to a deeper level of friendship with the others who I already admired from monthly Prayer Meeting attendance and CRHP weekend support. There also was a group of kids and youth ministers there from a Garland parish (near Dallas) for a confirmation retreat. These kids were really nice and it was truly inspirational to see their level of involvement in worship when they graciously invited us to share their evening Mass.

We had a lot of time to be in solitude with nature, which I think I remember Steve Bogner at Catholicism, spirituality and holiness mentioning from a week or two ago. I haven't been to the country for a long time and it was luxurious to be able to wander through paths in the woods looking at God's creation. When we did the Stations of the Cross outside as a group it was a totally different experience than I had ever had when doing them in the usual Friday setting in a church. Nature really is God's everyday cathedral and I am so glad that I went if only to be reminded of that fact, even if it DID take a two hour drive to get there!

I felt I had been called to this retreat for some reason and that was dramatically revealed in three parts. I won't mention any specifics here other than to say I am at this point pondering just how to pass on the message I was given for someone else. Weird sounding I know but very clearly this is what I am to do.

The other pleasure came when I returned home. I was ready to gladly serve my family by grocery shopping, washing clothes, cooking dinner, etc. When I came home it was done. The house was clean, all chores were done, Rose cooked dinner (chicken in mustard sauce, mmm mmm good!), and one of the dogs had been pining away until I returned. What else could I ask? It was a very generous and kind gift given to me by my loving family

Then to top it off, my blogging "gang" of Julie M., Alexa, Rebecca, and Kalanna had been doing some round robin impressions about blogs they read regularly. It was like a little gift in itself to read what Julie M. had written about this blog (ok, ME!). Thanks gang!

Now I'm renewed so it's time for me to remember the message I was given before I left to give, give, give. I got a call tonight that gave me that very opportunity. Just as I was turning over in my mind the idea that answering this request was not going to be very convenient for me, "give, give, give" echoed through my mind. I remembered that it was the things that weren't convenient that were the occasions for such giving. So I quit looking for excuses, did what I was asked and did it GLADLY by the way, and was blessed in the process. When will I learn that is so often the case? Guess I just have to keep on getting these reminders.

Once again, my kind and loving family also gave ... cheerfully letting me go out into the night for a couple of hours for this task. How I am blessed. God is good.

Tracking Down Mary

There was once a fourth famous Virgin of Chartres; a silver image crafted in the thirteenth century. She no longer exists, though a depiction ofher may still be seen in one of the windows, where a pilgrim is shown praying to her. Her story proves that vandalism is not exclusively the province of revolutionaries.

This Virgin was greatly venerated in the Middle Ages; indeed, she held the place of honor above that altar. Yet at some point her popularity went into decline ...

For the next two centuries she forged on, doing her best despite reduced conditions. But then came the debt crunch of the 1760s. The canons of the cathedral went casting about for any little scrap of gold or silver. In a note signed April 6, 1769, Germain Blonnie, a goldsmith of Chartres, acknowledged receipt of twenty-four livres for "melting down the Christ and the Virgin of the old altar." The little silver Virgin had been turned into ingots to pay for Carrara marble ...

It is horrifying to think that an image that had received so many prayers over the centuries could be so blithely destroyed. Then again, the Church could reply that works of religious art are intended to be not receptacles for prayer, but windows to a higher reality; that one prays through, not to, an image. A statue of Mary is not Mary, and maybe it's better to melt down the images from time to time before they turn into idols.

VIRGIN TRAILS: A Secular Pilgrimage
by Robert Ward

An avowed atheist, Ward indulged his long held desire to walk on pilgrimage in going to various Marian shrines throughout Europe. In doing so he presents one of the clearest and most even handed views of pilgrimage and these shrines that I have ever read. He gives the history for each place, which includes Lourdes, Chartres, and Fatima. We then share his experiences in current day surroundings and see the many types of pilgrims that also are at these shrines. Atheist or not, Ward has an excellent understanding of the Catholic Church's view and is more open minded in many cases than some Catholics I know. Highly recommended.

Cultural Differences

Talking with CF about colleges. She's a client and a friend with daughters who are slightly older than Hannah and Rose.

CF: So what is Hannah interested in studying?

Me: She's interested in zoology; maybe thinking of being an environmental scientist.

CF, eyes lighting up, instantly enthusiastic: Oh, that would be wonderful! Wouldn't you be PROUD for her to do something so worthwhile? That would really be a career to be PROUD of!

Me: *silent while trying to think of what to say, thinking, "What is she talking about?"*

CF: I mean THAT is something you could be so proud of! She would be doing something that makes a difference!

Me: *feebly doing my best* Well, she'd be very practical. It would be good to have someone in that field who is down to earth."

CF then goes on to talk about her daughter's possible career choice that would make her so proud.

So you get the drift. Tom was there too and we both were having real trouble wrapping our minds around why CF was so crazy about this particular career. It took a while for me to figure out the missing piece, why I didn't connect with CF, and then it hit: CF is Jewish. I guess sometimes those stereotypes ring true. When I remembered that I thought, "Oh right, my son the doctor..."

I thought it was interesting that CF actually DID care what particular career her daughter would choose and equally interesting that it never occurred to us to care about one career more than another. For Tom and me the ideal career is the one Hannah was meant for and the whole idea is for her to discover what that is. Admittedly I take this idea further than Tom but we both agree on the basics. It really never occurred to either of us to "steer" her toward one thing or another because it is a voyage of self discovery. If she's happy, fullfilled, and earning a living that's enough for us. Not to say that I wouldn't brag shamelessly if she was a brilliant scientist ... any regular HC readers know I already do that for much, much less.

I truly feel, however, that each person has their place in the plan. This was brought home to us when Tom and I had a date on Saturday and, after getting all "likkered up" on margaritas and Mexican food, went to Dillard's to buy ourselves some shoes. (Woohoo! Do we know how to have fun or what?) Not only does our Dillard's have the largest shoe selection in several states but they also understand that skilled salespeople make a difference. We left that store and Tom said, "That is like the Stepford department store ... it's the perfect store. All those sales people were so good!" Part of the secret was that I ignored the young sales people who were standing around chatting with each other, glancing at my scuffed loafers and rolling their eyes. I honed in on the experienced ones who were chasing down customers to make the sale ... which included great service, knowing the stock, and thinking about the customers' needs. If Hannah or Rose wound up selling shoes and were as good at it as those people I'd be PROUD ... just as proud as if one becomes an environmental scientist.

Monsieur Incroyable!

THE INCREDIBLES
I loved this movie. It is about a family of super heroes in a time when they have to hide all their talents because collateral damage lawsuits have made it prohibitively expensive for the government to allow them to be heroic. Not only is it in the best tradition of James Bond and super heroes but writer and director Brad Bird obviously knows and loves family life. Where else would you see Mr. Incredible and his wife, Elasti-Girl, racing to the rescue while simultaneously continuing an argument about domestic issues?

My favorite point was made several times and, indeed, was one of the main thrusts of the movie's message. In a world where everyone gets an award, where "graduations" are held in 4th grade so the kids feel special, where everyone must be acknowledged as "super," ultimately there is nothing left for everybody but the same level of mediocrity.

I can't remember which critic said this but this really is a movie for the parents where the kids can tag along. That doesn't mean the kids won't thoroughly enjoy it though. We saw it in a theater predominantly filled with tiny kids and they loved it. In fact, one of the things we all enjoyed most was a little boy who was so into the move that he would shout out comments to his mother, "Oh no, Mommy, what will they do now?"

This movie deserves every penny of the $70 million it made last weekend. That also makes me happy for Brad Bird whose excellent "Iron Giant" was abandoned by the studio practically before it got to theaters. He and Pixar deserve acclaim for combining originality, humor, suspense, spy spoofing, family values and "heart" in a movie that I liked better than anything else I have seen all year.

(Why the French headline? A tribute to my favorite villain of the movie, Bomb Voyage, who only spoke French and had mime face paint.)

On Being the "Older Woman"

Elena at My Domestic Church talks about when she realized that she had become the "older woman" from Titus 2.

3: Similarly, older women should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to drink, teaching what is good,
4: so that they may train younger women to love their husbands and children,
5: to be self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers, under the control of their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.

This made realize that I first felt like the "older woman" a year ago last May when I was in our CRHP team of about 30 people. It had a large proportion of unmarried, 20-something women. I was one of the oldest, which is pretty amazing since I was only 46 at the time. I was by no means the wisest of these wonderful women. However, because of the subjects that came up, I realized that I had some life experiences to share that many of them had not yet come across. Even though that team time is over I still find myself doling out advice in the same way (and every so often that advice was even solicited!). This is not a role I ever would have predicted for myself. It is not a role I have among mothers of college age or older kids but I now know so many young women that it comes up frequently. Elena's reflections are much deeper than mine especially I never really thought about it until reading her insightful post. I'm glad she was thinking about this and got it all on "paper."

Apostleship

Both of the faces of apostolicity, what we are "sent" from and what we are sent to, are the face of Christ. An apostle is one sent by Christ to proclaim Christ, to complete his work. The church is the continuation of the Incarnation. What would Christ do in India? Look at Mother Teresa. What would Christ do in the Middle Ages? Look at Saint Francis. How would Christ theologize? Look at Saint Thomas. What would Christ be as a woman? Look at Saint Catherine, Saint Teresa.

What the Church is sent apostolically to do is to make saints, i.e., to make humans completely human. This phrase, completely human, is often misused today to mean its exact opposite, to reduce the Church's supernatural task to a merely natural one. But the Church betrays her mission and her Lord if she lets psychologists and sociologists who do not know Christ as her source dictate her end. We are sent to be completely human as Christ was, to love as he loved, not to be nice, not to "have a nice day", not to pitch in a little bit to help build what everyone else is building. No, we are sent with a distinctive task: to build an eternal kingdom, a different building. We live in two worlds, and we rightly cooperate in building this one too, but the Church's raison d'etre is not to be one more social service agency but to be the one and only ark of eternal salvation, to be Christ to the world. This includes social service and liberation of the poor. Christ healed some bodies, but as a sign of his essential mission to heal all souls. Christ loved and liberated the poor, but as a sign of his love and liberation of our spiritual poverty. His work in time was a sign of his work for eternity. Even Lazarus had to die again, but "he who believes in me will never die."

The apostolic Church is sent to be Christ to the world. This is not a comfortable thought. Eleven of the first twelve apostles were martyred. That is the norm. Christ himself says so: "If they hated me, they will hate you also." We are called "not to be understood, but to understand, not to be loved, but to love". When we love as Christ loved, we will find a cross as he did. If the world prepared no crosses for us, then we are not loving enough, not loving as he loved, not fulfilling our apostolic vocation. "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so they spoke of the false prophets." The Church is a prophet-making organization, not a profit-making organization.
Peter Kreeft, Foundamentals of the Faith

Can You Be Perfect?

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
If you want to see a great, feel-good movie that just happens to be about football, rent Remember the Titans. If you want to see a great movie that is football go see Friday Night Lights. It shows the relentless pressure to be perfect that is put on the high school players and coach by everybody in Odessa, Texas in 1988 ... and no doubt to the present day. I don't know how this director captured both the essence of football from the inside and the essence of small town mentality but that is what you experience when watching. It is gritty and at times unpleasant but drives home basic truths that are delivered by fabulous acting and editing.

Billy Bob Thornton was great as usual, playing the coach in an understated fashion that was very effective. We were really impressed by Tim McGraw's performance as a distinctly unsympathetic character and, not being country music fans, didn't recognize him as anything but an actor until the end credits rolled. My friend, Angie Bolling, was recognizable (to us anyway) as a booster wife sitting at the end of the table next to the coach (Billy Bob Thornton). She only had a couple of lines but it was fun to see her on the big screen. Most interesting of all was the fact that when it came to the "big game" ... and every movie like this comes down to the big game, doesn't it ... I had no clue who was going to win. That was something we all had in common. None of us had a clue which way the game would go. We were on the edge of our seats during the last part of the movie and you don't expect that from the typical sports movie.

I'm not sure I'll watch this movie again. Gritty, edgy movies aren't my preferred fare and I have to be "tricked" into watching by something like having a friend in them. However, it was well worth watching, provided a lot of conversation between all of us, and even generated a couple of catch phrases that may wind up permanently in our family repetoire. I highly recommend it.

My "little friend Mary"

The friend in this story is someone who I have worked with for about 15 years, since before either of us had children. She is a strong Christian but not Catholic (which is important to this story) and also is a client of ours. She was in our office telling of her extreme computer woes at home and that no one could figure out what was wrong. It was wreaking havoc as their kids had on-line school work and had to go to friends' homes to do it. As she was leaving, she started laughing and told me that she half jokingly had asked her teenage son the night before it if was ok to pray for her computer to be fixed. He'd said, of course, that God cares about everything. But my client kept thinking of someone she knew who had just been diagnosed with cancer and didn't know if it was right to ask for such small things. She "knew" it was all right but I think just wanted to be reassured.

I instantly pointed out the wedding at Cana, that before Jesus went on to cure lepers he had given that wedding all their wine just so they could continue the celebration. I told her, "That's where a Catholic will go to Mary because she's the greatest saint. She's the one that pointed out the wine was gone and cared enough to ask Jesus to fix it. She's got that little extra pull with Jesus so we'll ask her to put in a good word for us." She left without saying anything right after that and I wondered if I'd been out of line but then forgot it.

I just got a call and without even identifying herself my friend said, "You can tell your little friend Mary that she fixed my computer." I didn't even connect what she was talking about until she repeated exactly the same thing (because somehow I'd never think of Mary as "your little friend Mary"). Then I said, "You mean Mary, otherwise known as the mother of Jesus?" She said, "Exactly. My computer was fixed in less than an hour thanks to that tip that Tom gave me. I can see why she's the greatest saint of all." Now, my friend was laughing the whole time but I have to think that the fact that she gave Mary the credit, however jokingly, is a great tribute to Our Blessed Mother.

As I was typing this story it just occurred to me that it has now been about a week and a half since I have started saying the rosary every day again. While in the middle of saying it this morning on the way to work, I had to stop my car in the middle of the street and wait while a huge moving van pulled into an apartment parking lot. While that van was practically parked in front of me, I couldn't avoid seeing that the part of it directly in front of me showcased their name ("Budd") and the red rosebud painted on the side of the truck. At the time I thought it was odd since I was praying the rosary but now that I got this phone call ... well, are those enough "coincidences" for y'all? Which, as anybody who knows me well will tell you, are things I don't believe in ...

Giving God a Blank Check

Christ does not specify what needs we are to pray for. We are to give God the blank check, "our daily bread". It is not wrong to add specific needs, for we are assured that "my God will supply all your needs out of his riches in Christ Jesus", but we must give God room, give God a blank check for him to fill in the amount. he knows what we need, and the very first thing we need is to keep that fact firmly in mind.

Our needs and our wants are not identical. We need some things we may not want (perhaps to fast or to relax or to pray more or perhaps to suffer, to be tested), and we want many things we do not need (the million toys this world offers us to distract us from our real need, which this world can never supply). We need only one thing. "Only one thing is necessary", Christ tells us. That is why God offers us only one thing: himself in Christ. Christ does not just give us joy or life or salvation or resurrection; he is our joy, our life, our salvation, our resurrection.

Peter Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith

My Daughter, the ... Environmental Scientist?

Saturday, I found out what Hannah would like to "do when she grows up" ... such a quaint phrase to apply to a teenager but it works. She wants to be an Environmental Scientist. That may sound odd to people who don't know her really well. She's a dreamer, artistic, a good writer ... not a math whiz. None of those things sound like scientific material. However, she is an avid animal lover and after taking Zoology last year (BL is one of the few high schools who offer that, Botany, and Astronomy), even overcame her fear of insects in the interest of learning about them to do her required 50 insect collection for the class. She came out of that and Botany with an interest in being some sort of scientist and now is taking Astronomy. (She has already horrified half the class by raising doubts about the reality of global warming ... in which exchange the teacher impressed me by agreeing that there were a lot of interpretations to data and pointing out how much government funding can be earned by going along with that analysis.)

Frankly, I figured she'd lose the science interest because I couldn't see how it would fit with her personality. However, anyone who heard about that interest this weekend and really knows Hannah was struck by how perfect such a profession would be for her. I also was struck with how nice it would be to have a faithful, practicing Catholic in that field. So, as with Rose's proposed writing career we'll wait and see where all this takes Hannah. But I could see it ... I could definitely see it.

It's interesting to have careers for the girls suddenly become things that seem possible within a few days. It's kind of fun ... like guessing what's in that big box under the back of the tree at Christmas. Maybe we're right, maybe we're wrong but the possiblities are exciting.

On Being a Convert and Believing Church Truths

It's no secret that I'm a convert and a fairly new one at that ... Easter Vigil 2000, thank you very much! When I come across dissenting Catholics of what I call the "militant" sort (whether they are called cafeteria, liberal or whatever), my conversion tends to get thrown in my face. "Oh, that explains it! You converts are always so gung ho! Well, you'll figure it out." ... or variations, thereof. What does it explain? Don't you know? We converts are such simpletons that we actually believe Church teachings ... all of them ... !

Depending on my mood of the moment I either am amused or annoyed by this attitude. It assumes that converts are innocents who were just looking for the "right" match and then ... lo and behold! ... there was the Catholic church beckoning and we jumped happily into her arms. They don't take into account the fact that most converts have come from a much more cynical view of the Church than these partial dissenters will ever have. After all, all we had to go on in the first place is what the world and other Christian denominations say about the Church and that isn't very complimentary. Most converts have had to be coaxed by God, step by unwilling step, into accepting that the Church holds the deposit of faith. We have fought that internal fight against accepting whatever truth we didn't like most when confronted with evidence that the Church is abiding by Scripture ... whether it be abortion, contraception, the male priesthood, priestly celibacy, Mary (a real biggie), or any other reason that pops up. That is why we are educated in what the Church teaches. A lot of the time we've been looking and looking for reasons not to agree. We didn't find them. Instead we found Truth.

Yes, we're passionate, probably embarrassingly so. But once we gave in, we gave in all the way and that's when we jumped into Holy Mother Church's arms. As for not going along with everything the Church believes, it is up to each person to inform their conscience. That's the other thing that a lot of converts have had to do. We had to inform ourselves about why we agree with the Church. Often, we've had to do it while dealing with spirited opposition from family and friends. A surprising amount of dissenters have not looked much further than what they have been told by ill informed teachers, parents, or priests. Yes, those are all people we should be able to trust but we live in the age of information. It doesn't hurt to look up and consider what the Church Fathers have said about such issues and pretty much every one that bothers people today has bothered people at some time in the past.

There is nothing wrong with questioning Church teachings. God gave us brains and expects us to use them. However, I think there is something wrong with the way a lot of people do the questioning. You have to be open to hearing what you don't want to and then to conforming your conscience, once informed, to the Church. I really never had considered my support of abortion or euthanasia in relationship to the Church when converting. It was only when I couldn't in good conscience say, "Lord, hear our prayer" in response to spoken prayers for an end to abortion that I felt I ought to find out why the Church taught such a thing. I started reading (and reading and reading) works by people who I knew to be in accordance with Church teachings. After all, there's no good in looking to dissenters to explain what the Church teaches ... you have to start at the source to see what is really said about something. Once I saw the logic applied, I couldn't deny that what the Church taught agreed with Scripture. Don't get me wrong, I didn't immediately go around flinging up my arms and shouting, "I have seen the light." I had to get comfortable with the idea that I was going to be in direct opposition with much of popular culture ... and that wasn't easy either.

I think we also must consider the examples of those who have changed the Church the most ... the saints. St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius ... the list goes on and on. When they brought up their ideas of change, did the Church embrace them with open arms? No. Often the rejection was cruel, in more ways than one. They might have gone through channels to get rulings changed but they didn't go around complaining to everyone they knew, writing books, and clucking when others supported current teachings. They applied to their lives those precepts that God wants most from us ... prayer, humility, and obedience. They trusted to God to use their lives to make a change. They were obedient to the authority over them, the Church, and God used that very obedience to make changes.

Personally, I have found this prayer very effective in helping along the way:

Lord, that I may obtain what you promise, make me love what you command.

Naturally, I also have met many people troubled by Church teachings of one sort or another who are honestly seeking answers. I do not mean to lump everyone together into a category. However, a majority of dissenters seem to be militant (or is it that they just are loud?) and there is a tone of condescension and anger underlying their conversations. They talk about "my Catholic Church," forgetting perhaps that the Church is Christ's Bride. It is His Church ... the Catholic Church ... one, holy and apostolic Church. We all are members of the Body of Christ, but the Body does not belong to individuals but to Christ.

When I was not Catholic and would have laughed at the very idea of becoming one, I looked at those dissenters and wondered why they didn't just find another church. There generally are plenty of Protestant churches that would fill the bill with their teachings. Once I was in the Church I made friends who dissent from various teachings, have tried to leave, and are drawn back time and again. It seems to me that God uses the Eucharist to keep them from straying too far. They tend to be a different sort from the angry, "militant" dissenters I have run into. My friends are questioning and honestly trying to find ways to come to terms with Church teachings. How can I not honor and appreciate that? It is what I went through myself.

Personally, I feel for the dissenters of all sorts. I pray for them, for their peace, for their change of heart so that they may wholeheartedly love the Church, or -- if we have saints in our midst -- that they will be humble and obedient so God may work to His glory through them. I must admit, when I'm toe to toe (or comments box to comments box) over an issue of doctrine I've been mad enough to spit. But even then I'm praying (for both of us!) in the midst of the fray.

On this matter of Church teachings I turned to my friends, new and old, for advice. I will leave the final words with them.

The law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. The faithful therefore have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify judgment and, with grace, heal wounded human reason. They have the duty of observing the constitutions and decrees conveyed by the legitimate authority of the Church. Even if they concern disciplinary matters, these determinations call for docility in charity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2037

We must abide rather by the Pope's judgment than by the opinion of any of the theologians, however well versed he may be in the divine Scriptures.
St. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlibetum IX,Q.8, Quaest. Quodlibetales

It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Catholic Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the clear position on abortion. It has to be noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church's moral teaching. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the magisterium is totally compatible with being a "good Catholic," and poses no obstacle to the reception of the Sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching of the Bishops in the United States and elsewhere.
Pope John Paul II, in his talk to the Bishops in Los Angeles in 1987

... that it is absolutely incorrect to refer to Pre-Vatican Council II and Post-Vatican Council II, as if there were changes in the Church's position in matters of faith and morals. The only changes in that respect have sprung from erroneous interpretations of the Council.
Cardinal Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report

The teaching Church does not invent her doctrines; she is a witness, a custodian, an interpreter, a transmitter. As regards the truths of Christian marriage, she can be called conservative, uncompromising. To those who would urge her to make her faith easier, more in keeping with the tastes of the changing mentality of the times, she answers with the apostles, we cannot. (Acts. 4:20)
Pope Paul VI, in an address in Jan. 1972

In practice, those who dissent from authoritative Church teaching very often give as their reason for doing so, not so much their own personal insights, as the authority of dissenting theologians. This, however, is to misunderstand the role of theologians in the Church, for their authority does not, and cannot outweigh the authority of the Pope in declaring the faith of the Church.
The Irish Bishops, in a statement on Conscience and Morality

I was going to expand on bending our wills and intellect to Catholicism ... I've learned to realize that when the church and I disagree, it's because I've made some sort of mistake in reasoning, not her. She's been right time after time for 2,000 years. I'm frequently wrong. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would always guide the Church, and didn't make that promise to me.

"So I should blindly follow, eh?" Well ... no. We ought to find out why we disagree. If we're really about truth and seeing the whole picture, we'd be concerned about what part we were missing. What does the Church know that we don't? Once you look into all the reasoning behind the Church's stance and understand, it's pretty obvious that it's the truth. I've also found that the more often you do this, the more your conscience conforms to Catholicism and you begin to see that what you believe is the same as the Church's belief. Which is good. So what I'm getting at is that it's logical to believe whatever the Church teaches on faith and morals because if follows from the conclusion in the paragraph above, but we have to force our wills and intellects to do it.
De Fidei Obedientia

The only honest reason to be a Christian is because you believe in Christ's claim to be God incarnate. The only honest reason to be a Catholic is because you believe the Church's claim to be the divinely authorized Body of this Christ.
Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity

Daily Devotion: Prayer

THE DIVINE HOURS series by Phyllis Tickle:
The Divine Hours : Prayers for Summertime
The Divine Hours: Prayers for Wintertime
Divine Hours : Prayers for Springtime

The Divine Hours trilogy is meant to be a manual for "fixed hour prayer"--an age-old discipline of saying prayers at certain times of the day. (Fixed prayer is also known as "liturgy of hours," "keeping the hours," or "saying the offices.") The psalms contained in the beautiful trilogy (summertime, wintertime, and springtime) read like ancient poems and are made even more meaningful and powerful when sung or chanted, according to Phyllis Tickle, who lovingly gathered and organized these rich volumes. The book is organized by dates ... Upon each date, readers can find complete prayers for "The Morning Office" on through the "Vespers Office" (between 5 and 8 p.m.). The clear organization and elegantly designed pages make this an excellent companion for a time-honored form of private worship and devotion. Newcomers to fixed hour prayer as well as longstanding devotees will find this an appealing and impressive guide. (Amazon.com review)

I always was interested in the idea of praying the liturgy of hours but every time I looked into it I was put off by the complaints of needing many volumes of books, lots of ribbons for place keeping, etc. About that time, these books began being published. I have been using them off and on for about two years now. The discipline needed to practice fixed hour prayer is demanding but when I manage to pull it off regularly it is very rewarding. My guess is that it probably takes less than 30 minutes total time during the day. The discipline is in remembering to do the prayers within the time range ... and when you do remember, in stopping whatever else you are doing to take the time for prayer.

I especially like using the psalms to pray with. It gives the responsorial in Mass a whole new level of meaning when I recognize the psalm as one I have been praying. Even when not practicing fixed hour prayers, I find these books invaluable prayer aids. The one complaint I have is that all the devotions are based on the actual calendar, rather than the liturgical calendar. This meant that I had to do some figuring and make a few notes as I went along so I was roughly in synch with the liturgical year. This is not a huge problem really but more of an annoyance than anything.

I see that now there also are two more volumns, one each for Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas. However, Amazon reviewers warn that these are covered by the main books. If you are toying with the idea of using this prayer method, one of these briefer volumns might be a good introduction.

Keep Your Fork

One of my favorite stories/modern parables. Read it on By Any Other Name.

Putting the "Our" in Our Father

As many times as I have prayed the "Our Father" (aka the Lord's Prayer), this had never occurred to me. No wonder St. Teresa said she almost could never get past the first two words. It is not just personal, which always was my way of thinking when praying this, but also about community. There's something that adds a whole new dimension to meditation over the prayer that God Himself gave to us.

One of the greatest of all mysteries is contained in that first little word, our. It is the mystery of solidarity, the mystery of the Mystical Body. Each individual who prays this prayer is to call God not only "my" Father but "our Father". Each individual is to pray in the name of the whole Church. When you pray the Our Father, all the presence and power of the Mystical Body of Christ is praying with you, helping you. God sees you praying alongside the Pope and Mother Teresa and Jake Grubb (never heard of him? God did!) and Saint Francis and Saint Augustine and Saint Peter and the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. For none are dead or past to God, the eternal contemporary. (See Luke 20:37-38) Solidarity is a fact, not an ideal. Each believer is an organ in his body. Saint Paul says, "If one member [organ] suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Therefore we are each responsible for all, when we work and when we pray. This is not just a pious feeling but an awesome fact. When I pray, I have effects on my grandchildren, on some stranger I have never met, on the most abandoned soil in the world. When I bake an act of charity in the oven of the Church, that is bread to some starving soul across the world. My prayer or work, ascending like mist today, in this place and time, will come down like rain at some other place and time, whither God directs it, where thirsty soil needs it most. Just as my money can really save lives in Ethiopia, my prayer can really save souls in China or Purgatory. Spiritual transportation systems are just as real and just as effective as physical ones, for the spiritual universe is just as real and just as much one, just as much a uni-verse, as the physical universe; and its connecting thread, its spiritual gravity, is just as strong, as subtle, and as pervasive as physical gravity.

Peter Kreeft, Fundamentals of the Faith

Time Travel Made Easy

JOHNNY AND THE BOMB (book 3 of the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy) by Terry Pratchett
In my favorite of the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, Johnny crosses paths with Mrs. Tachyon, a bag lady who also is a time traveller. He and his friends travel back to WWII in their town with the predictable changing of time that must be fixed. However, instead of simply changing time back to its previous path, Johnny wants to prevent a bomb wiping out Paradise Street in the middle of the night. This necessitates a lot of maneuvering by the kids with the usual humorous Pratchett twists and turns along the way. I was surprised at what a page turner it became by the end as I stayed up way past bedtime to get Johnny and his pals home again. Here's a favorite bit of dialogue to tide you over until you can find the book which is out of print.

In the shopping mall, a joke was going wrong.

"Make me .. er," said Bigmac, "make me one with pickle and onion rings and fries."

"Make me one with extra salad and fries, please," said Yo-less.

Wobbler took a long look at the girl in the cardboard hat.

"Make me one with everything," he said. "Because ... I'm going to become a Muslim!"

Bigmac and Yo-less exchanged glances.

"Buddhist," said Yo-less, patiently. "It's Buddhist! Make me one with everything because I'm going to become a Buddhist! It's Buddhists that want to be one with everything. Singing 'om' and all that. You mucked it up! You were practising all the way down here and you still mucked it up!"

"Buddhists wouldn't have the burger," said the girl. "They'd have the Jumbo Beanburger. Or just fries and a salad."

They stared at her.

"Vegetarianism," said the girl. "I may have to wear a paper hat but I haven't got a cardboard brain, thank you." She glared at Wobbler. "You want a bun with everything. You want fries with that?"

This Election Vitriolic? We Ain't Seen Nothin'!

Yes, everyone is fiercely partisan over the upcoming elections. Well, at least we care is the way I see it. No matter what shenanigans the media and political parties come up with, they don't hold a candle to the sorts of things that have happened in our country's history. Thanks to Tom for this illuminating passage about smear campaigns when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were candidates for president.

One New York paper assured its readers that a Jefferson victory would mean civil war. Hordes of frenchmen and Irishmen, "the refuse of Europe," would flood the country and threaten the life of "all who love order, peace, virtue, and religion." It was said Jefferson had swindled clients as a young lawyer. The old smear of cowardice during his time as governor of Virginia was revived. But most amplified were charges of atheism. Not only was Jefferson a godless man, but one who mocked the Christian faith. In New England word went out that family Bibles would have to be hidden away for safekeeping, were he elected ...

Stories were spread of personal immorality. It was now that a whispering campaign began to the effect that all southern slave masters were known to cohabit with slave women and that the Sage of Monticello was no exception.

Adams was inevitably excoraited as a monarchist, more British than American, and therefore a bad man. He was ridiculed as old, addled, and toothless. Timothy Pickering spread the rumor that to secure his reelection Adams had struck a corrupt bargain with the Republicans. According to another story, this secret arrangement was with Jefferson himself -- Adams was to throw the election Jefferson's way and serve as Jefferson's vice president.

If Jefferson carried on with slave women, Adams, according to one story in circulation, had ordered Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to London to procure four pretty mistresses to divide between them. When the story reached Adams, he was highly amused. "I do declare upon my honor," he wrote William Tudor, "if this is true General Pinckney has kept them all for himself and cheated me out of my two."

Most vicious were the charges that Adams was insane.

(John Adams by David McCullough)