Gig 'Em Aggies!

Hannah got her acceptance letter today. Woohoo!

Tom can't wait to buy his very favorite bumper sticker, "Honk if I'm an Aggie."

HC Film Festival: Two American and One Chinese

LIGHTWEIGHT FUN
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
This was enjoyable but much simpler than I expected. I did enjoy seeing Robert Redford play a character that was not boyishly likable. The only reason we could think of for movie's extreme popularity at the time was that it was among the first that put modern-style quips in the mouths of characters in an period piece. Moderately enjoyable but not really worth seeking out. HC rating: ** More boring than church.

THE LONG CON
The Sting
The same enjoyable pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford as in Butch Cassidy but with a much more interesting and complex plot. I didn't realize until reading the DVD cover that this movie won 7 Academy Awards. Would that The Academy had had such a choice in this year's nominations. Thorougly enjoyable and we plan to watch this one with the girls. HC Rating: **** Nine thumbs up!

O SOLE MIO
Shower
This impulse selection filled my lack of small, foreign language (preferably Asian) movies lately. It is a sweet, charming story of a son who returns home due to a misunderstanding. He has made a successful life for himself in another city while his father and brother have remained in business at the father's bath house.

On one level the story is predictable, revealing the problems of the bath house regulars. As we expect, the returning brother has been somewhat estranged from his family and this, too, is resolved. For instance, I will never again hear "O Sole Mio" without thinking of this movie.

However, on another level, there is complexity that was unexpected. This is provided by the brother who has remained at home and by the father's revelation of his past ... whereby we understand exactly why he loves running his bath house. Quite enjoyable also are the glimpses of life in the father's corner of Beijing.

My one question is ... if anyone has seen this movie ... what is the significance of the story about the grandmother and granddaughter on their pilgrimage? Neither of us really got that. However, we will be watching this with the girls also and perhaps one of them will have an insight. Regardless it is highly recommended. HC Rating: **** Nine thumbs up!

Additional Comments
You know you might have seen too many Chinese movies when you watch the other trailers from the DVD and recognize actors from several favorite movies. Not that I know the guy's name ...

Also, I retain just enough of my one year of college Chinese to have been able to understand a fair number of words in the dialogue. This reawakened a desire to study Chinese, a language I really enjoy, at least enough to be able to pick up more movie dialogue. I went to iTunes and found ChinesePod: Learn Mandarin Chinese which seems to be very good, as of lesson 8 at any rate which I just finished this morning.

More Mensa

Which of the words below is least like the others? (The difference has nothing to do with vowels, consonants or syllables.)

• TWIN
• CHIME
• SCORE
• PLATE
• CARE
• HAT
  

Will the Great Whore of Babylon Please Stand Up?

Just a little clarification from Women in the Bible For Dummies.

The Great Whore of Babylon is mentioned in the last book of the Bible, called the Apocalypse or Revelation: "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters" (Revelation 17:1) and "Babylon the great mother of whores and of earth's abominations" (Revelation 17:5). Earlier in the New Testament (1 Peter 5:13), Peter uses the word Babylon as a metaphor for the city and the empire of Rome: "Your sister church in Babylon." Because ancient Babylon was synonymous with imperialism, unbridled power, arrogance, and the persecution of Christian believers, the Roman Empire seemed almost like a reincarnation of the Babylonian Empire for many from the first century AD until the legalization of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine in AD 313 with the Edict of Milan.

There is no actual "whore of Babylon." Rather this term is a concept, just as Lady Wisdom is. Whereas Wisdom is described as a gentle, loving, intelligent, and beautiful lady, the whore of Babylon is associated with infidelity, fornication, lying, cheating, stealing, and idolatry. In essence, the whore prostitutes the faith by ignoring truth and by disregarding God's religious and moral laws.

The Book of Revelation says that the whore of Babylon will eventually be defeated, as will the Antichrist (Revelation 18:1-24). Bible commentaries and scholars believe that, as a place, Babylon usually represents the city of Rome, the Roman Empire, or the secular world at large. When referring to a person, especially in the case of the whore of Babylon, Babylon refers to the believers who have abandoned their faith and polluted their religion with false teaching and the worship of false gods.

Over the course of history, several individuals and even entire religions have been unjustly and unfairly identified by their opponents as being the Whore of Babylon or the Antichrist (called the best in Revelation 13:1 and 17:3). For the most part, however, biblical scholars and theologians consider the whore of Babylon to be a metaphor for only those believers who have lost or given up the faith. These include men and women and their assemblies that no longer preach the Gospel, no longer teach the truth, and no longer practice the Christian faith (by following Christ's commands to love they neighbor, turn the other cheek, and so on.)

Another HC Film Festival On the Horizon

Yes, the girls are working musical crew for a last weekend and that means that we once again have the freedom to choose whatever we want. Woohoo!

Definitely on the plan are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Can you believe I have never seen it? What a crime! Although I have seen the ending about a thousand times and the bicycle ride only slightly less I am still looking forward to it.

A nice double feature with that (thanks to Chris who works with us for the suggestion) is The Sting. I watched it long ago (yes, when it first came out at the movie theater ... and we're not gonna start counting backwards now). We're both wondering if we'll remember much of the plot, except once again I know the end, but don't care.

The third movie is more up in the air.

• Mirror Mask. As a Neil Gaiman fan I've always been interested in this movie and after reading Jeffrey Overstreet's review am keenly interested.
• Monsoon Wedding. I have seen this but can't remember exactly why it has an "R" rating, so would be screening it to see if the girls could watch it. Also, Tom just hasn't had enough Bollywood in his life (poor guy).
• Shaolin Soccer. This would be the lightweight fun entry. 'Nuff said.
• Love Actually. Recommended highly by Penni and also by Chris. They are different enough that this intrigues me highly. And as it has been recommended by a guy then possibly Tom would like it also.

Real Life Simpsons

This is too, too funny.

Technorati Tags: The Simpsons

Changing My Lenten Reading

What Jesus Saw from the Cross just isn't hitting me right this Lent so I am switching to a favorite book that I had forgotten about until The Curt Jester mentioned it, To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed.

Sheed looks at Jesus' life by weaving together all four Gospels. He also takes into consideration the times in which Jesus lived, how the people then would have interpreted Christ's teachings and witness, links to the Old Testament, teachings of the Chruch Fathers, archaeology, and more. The goal of all this is to give us a richer, deeper understanding of Jesus since to know the Father you must know the Son ... and there is nowhere better to meet him than through the Gospels.

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Novena Prayer

Divine Jesus, You have said, "Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you." Behold me kneeling at Your feet, filled with a lively faith and confidence in the promises dictated by Your Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary. I come to ask this favor: (Mention your request).

To whom can I turn if not to You, Whose Heart is the source of all graces and merits? Where should I seek if not in the treasure which contains all the riches of Your kindness and mercy? Where should I knock if not at the door through which God gives Himself to us and through which we go to God? I have recourse to You, Heart of Jesus. In You I find consolation when afflicted, protection when persecuted, strength when burdened with trials, and light in doubt and darkness.

Dear Jesus, I firmly believe that You can grant me the grace I implore, even though it should require a miracle. You have only to will it and my prayer will be granted. I admit that I am most unworthy of Your favors, but this is not a reason for me to be discouraged. You are the God of mercy, and You will not refuse a contrite heart. Cast upon me a look of mercy, I beg of You, and Your kind Heart will find in my miseries and weakness a reason for granting my prayer.

Sacred Heart, whatever may be Your decision with regard to my request, I will never stop adoring, loving, praising, and serving You. My Jesus, be pleased to accept this my act of perfect resignation to the decrees of Your adorable Heart, which I sincerely desire may be fulfilled in and by me and all Your creatures forever.

Grant me the grace for which I humbly implore You through the Immaculate Heart of Your most sorrowful Mother. You entrusted me to her as her child, and her prayers are all-powerful with You. Amen.

Offering

My God, I offer You all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the intentions for which He pleads and offers Himself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in thanksgiving for Your favors, in reparation for my sins, and in humble supplication for my temporal and eternal welfare, for the needs of our holy Mother the Church, for the conversion of sinners, and for the relief of the poor souls in purgatory.

Read more here

Why I Pray for the Souls of Our Bishops

Dom at Bettnet reported a few days ago about the mass expulsion of Catholics from their parish in California.

Their crime? Wanting to kneel at the Agnus Dei. This is actually what the Vatican wants everyone to do but Bishop Tod Brown has decided to be disobedient to Rome in this matter and to punish those who will not obey him. Dom also has a follow up post here.

Just as Dom says in the article, the Vatican says that kneeling is the preferred posture. However, when it comes to some of these bishops ... well ... I tell you I pray for their souls because some of them are so very proud and cause so many to turn away from their faith. Sadly, I learned that the hard way a few years ago during a confrontation between our own bishop and our parish.

I often remember that I read somewhere, maybe in Triumph by H.W. Crocker III, that disliking bishops is a time honored tradition in France because they abused their positions so much throughout history. It surprised me at the time but I see that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

It makes me think of the story, which I can't find right now and so will retell badly, about the man who visited Rome and came back a Catholic convert. This astonished his friend who asked the man if he didn't see all the corruption there? "Yes," the man replied, "and I knew if the Church was still going strong after all that those men were doing, then God Himself must be keeping it going."

I remember all that, pray for the bishops and for those who they are hurting, and keep on going.

UPDATE
Secret Agent Man covers this much more thoroughly than I could ever hope to. Essentially, it turns out that the "allowed" kneeling I was thinking of is right before and after Communion, not during the Agnus Dei. However, he also makes an excellent point that if the bishop can't handle this properly in about a minute, then there's a problem there also. All in all, this probably sums it up best, "The only thing that's clear to me is that tempers and vanity are running so high that nobody's yet interested in authentic dialogue about what's happening."

Some good links on kneeling in general that I am moving here from the com box:

Knees to Love Christ by Bishop Olmsted

Liturgical Norms and Liturgical Piety by Cardinal Arinze

Cardinal Responds to Questions on Liturgy: a Q&A with Cardinal Arinze

The Theology of Kneeling from Cardinal Ratzinger's Spirit of the Liturgy

Abortion Providers Aren't Feelin' the Love

Unbelievably, they evidently feel it necessary to have a national appreciation day.

National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers
Monday March 10, 2003

On this day -
Stand up with your abortion services providers and say:
Thank you for your heroism, perserverance, courage, and commitment to women.

* Step up to the front lines and be a volunteer clinic escort.
* Ask your local provider how you can help.
* Praise clinic staff and doctors with postcards of appreciation.
* Write your local newspaper, call talk shows to express support.
* Take out ads in your newsletters and local newspapers.
* Organize local appreciation day events.
* Use your imagination, creativity and dedication to help create a climate at clinics where women, doctors and staff can hold their heads high without feeling shamed or fearing assault.
Source

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. A more repugnant "appreciation day" I can't imagine.

I honestly was stunned at the attitude that these people are oppressed. They feel they are victims? Go figure. I guess I've been in the habit of thinking of those murdered babies and deceived parents as the victims.

I saw this at Ramblings of a GOP Soccer Mom who had an excellent countersuggestion:

Why not write your local crisis pregnancy center and thank them for the opposite? Tell them how much you appreciate them helping women avoid abortion and choose life for their children.

Go here for information about CPC's in your area. If you start now, they'll get the letter in time for Friday.

Even if they don't receive the letter by Friday, I'm sure they'll appreciate the letter no matter when it arrives.

UPDATE
Jean at Catholic Fire has the answer ... we're probably too late for that march but surely can pray for the conversion of these abortion providers' souls.

Some Good Guidelines for Confession

... The use of too many words frequently denotes a desire, whether conscious or not, to flee from direct and full sincerity. So as not to fall into this we need to make a good examination of conscience.

Concise: Confession with few words, just the words that are needed to say humbly what we have done or have failed to do, without any unnecessary elaboration or adornment.

Concrete: Confession without digression, without generalities. The penitent will suitably indicate his situation, and also the time that has elapsed since his last Confession and the difficulties he finds in leading a Christian life (Paul VI). He declares his sins and the surrounding circumstances that have a bearing on his faults so that the confessor can judge, absolve and heal.

Clear: A Confession where we make ourselves understood, declaring the precise nature of the fault, manifesting our wretchedness with the necessary modesty and delicacy.

Complete: Integral Confession, without leaving anything out through a false sense of shame so as not to appear bad in the confessor's eyes.

Lent and Eastertide (In Conversation with God, Vol. 2)

I realized a confession or two ago that I have a big problem with the "concise" category and not just because I like to go on and on and on. It was because I was putting in all the reasons excuses for my sins. It is a big struggle to go in there, confess my sins fairly baldly and just let it lie. If the priest has any questions, he'll ask them. Otherwise, God (and all the angels and saints, as someone once reminded me) already has watched me "in the act" so I just have to let it go. In writing this I just realized that once I started doing that I quit getting so many little lectures and the penances went down too ... interesting.

Again, I will mention that I always pray for my confessor while I am waiting; that he is open to the Holy Spirit, that God will use him to speak to me in the way I need (and I've had a few distinct surprises that way), and I have rarely been disappointed. It is truly a wonderful Sacrament.

Bloggers Just Wanna Have Fun

If you haven't dropped by Amateur Catholic you are missing a real treat.

There is a lot of creativity and ... surprisingly ... passion in these "application" posts. Also I am astonished at how many blogs there are that I have never heard of although I suppose I shouldn't be since there are 700 or 800 Catholic blogs out there from what I have heard. So there is also a lot of good reading to be had from checking out all the different blogs. Check it out.

Bleg

I was asked by a friend to look into video presentations on sexuality appropriate to show to Catholic teens for a youth retreat. I'm going to have a section in my sidebar for these but thought I would share what I found ... and ask for any other suggestions, which don't have to have videos but could just be good spots for teens on the subject.

Pure Love Club

Phil Chalmers

Real Love - Mary Beth Bonacci

Catholic Trivia: Spilling Salt

This was held to be unlucky (it was thought that the person had been jogged by the Devil), hence salt was thrown over the left shoulder with the right hand (to put salt on the tail of the Devil). In Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper Judas is shown spilling the salt. Salt was used in Baptism to symbolically cast out evil. It is an emblem of purity, and hence it has been put in coffins to ward off the Devil.

Catholic Trivia

About That Infallible Decision That Women Can't Become Priests

When Jay from Living Catholicism laid this out for us before I heard from a few people about it not being an ex cathedra pronouncement. Therefore, they said it would not be considered infallible. You know, I didn't have a clue about that one way or the other though Jay's info seemed authoritative to me.

So it was with great interest that I came across this when reading Catholicism for Dummies.

Since Vatican II, however, the content and context of the document determines the degree of authority and not just the type of papal document. If the pope intents to definitely teach the universal Church on a matter of faith or morals, then that is his supreme authority as head of the Church being expressed. When John Paul II issued his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994, he officially declared that the Catholic Church has no power to ordain women. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis was not an ex cathedra papal statement, but it's part of the Ordinary Magisterium, and thus, according to the Prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the teaching is infallible.

Kind of ironic that it was Vatican II that made that possible, isn't it?

I also liked that the book goes on to point out that encyclicals are equally infallible.

Encyclicals are the routine, day-to-day, consistent teaching of the Ordinary Magisterium, which is equally infallible when it concerns faith and morals and reiterates the constant, consistent and universal teaching of the popes and bishops. Their content requires religious submission of mind and will of faithful Catholics around the world. So-called dissent from papal teaching in encyclicals isn't a part of Catholic belief. The Catholic faithful willfully conform to papal teaching and don't dispute it.

Which links quite nicely with this article from the Boston Globe. It asks the question, "Should liberals leave the Church?" I have seen various positions around St. Blog's parish, the most popular being that the liberals should change their positions to agree with Church teachings. I agree and that is my prayer for them.

However, if they really, truly believe that the Church is wrong on these fundamental issues then they are being untrue to their consciences to stay in the Church, as St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out. In many cases, they do not want to fully consider the Church's position, history, and teachings on these issues. In which case, they are in the wrong place purely from the point of view of furthering their own relationship with God, to say nothing of the discord they are bringing to everyone else ... and they should go.

Part of the B Team ...

... and proud of it!

Der Tomissar has the B-Team's proud history. And a nice photo of me ... so I've been outed.

HC Film Festival: the Good, the Bad, and the Intense

I'll look at these in the order we watched them:

THE AGE OF AQUARIUS MEETS BIG BUSINESS
Network
A television network coldheartedly exploits a crazed news anchor to drive up the ratings and make profits. This movie is all about dehumanization by big business and the fact that everybody has their price ... even (most amusingly) the "Angela Davis" character who rants about the Communist party not seeing a dime until her series goes into syndication.

Tom was fascinated to see how much of a time capsule the views of this movie represented (his summing up is the title for this section). He views this as an indictment of big business by a hippie who was enraged and betrayed that their movement didn't actually change anything. Tom also was interested to see that Chayefsky's view of media was so unreal based on the changes of the last 30 years. Network's bleak view was that companies get bigger and bigger and dehumanize everyone, while in reality what happens is unpredictable because as people get squeezed out they go and start new ventures which often upsets the apple cart.

My own view was amazement at the stiltedness of the dialogue. It was like a Woody Allen movie without any of the self-deprecation or acknowledgement that people really don't talk like that. It was painful to listen to at times. I also realized that when I viewed this in college I was not hit by the wholesale rage that was seething throughout. I viewed it as clever and powerful but didn't really feel Chayefsky's fury the way I did watching it this time through.

I felt as if I'd been to film school when it was done. We were both worn out by the intensity when it finished. Recommended to those who haven't seen it or who study classic films.

HC Rating: *** (Liked it despite the absence of flubber...)


WANDERING WITHOUT A MORAL COMPASS
Sideways
Well, there are another two hours of my life I'll never get back. It is difficult to express just how much we both hated this movie.

Weak, whiny, and neurotic Miles takes his licentious friend, Jack, on a week-long tour of the wine country as a wedding gift. Jack constantly thinks of nothing but how much sex he can get (or encourage Miles to get) ... face it, he's a pig. Miles evidently knows right from wrong but lacks any moral fiber and so just stands back and watches Jack's escapades. The lessons that either man learns are extremely limited and of little long term value either to the viewer or to the characters.

The only good thing about this movie is that, as far as I could tell, the wine information was correct, which is no reason to watch the movie. If you are that hard up to learn about wine, go to iTunes and subscribe to Wine for Newbies. Or get a good, basic book.

HC Rating: * (worse than Godfather III)


TRUE TO LIFE
The Paper
An ensemble cast headed by Michael Keaton and directed by Ron Howard examine 24 hours in the life of a tabloid newspaper. The overall plot turns on beating rival newspapers to the story proving the innocence of two teenage boys who have been arrested for killing two out-of-town businessmen. However, it is the subplots about the various characters' lives that makes us care about the movie. Specifically the story focuses on Michael Keaton as the hard-bitten editor who doesn't want his paper to get beat to the big story and Marisa Tomei as his hugely pregnant wife who is a former reporter and is terrified that she will lose her personality when she becomes a mother. Robert Duvall's attempt to reach out to the daughter he neglected because of his newspaper job and Glenn Close's cold-fish money oriented manager both sound a contrasting cautionary note about perspective.

The characters were strong and knew what mattered in life, the plot was engrossing, and it worked because it didn't ignore the human element that messes up life just when we least expect it. Highly recommended.

HC Rating: **** (Nine thumbs up)

Coming Highlights

The girls are still working late hours on the musical crew so Tom and I are having a mini-movie marathon. Coming on Monday ... the reviews of:

• Network: does it still hold up as the hard hitting movie we both remember loving when it was first released?
• Sideways: everyone loved it and many have recommended it to us. Is it more than just two slackers drinking their way through the wine country (which is what it always looked like to me)
  
• The Paper: another blast from the past. We remember really liking the performances and engrossing plot. Will it hold up years later? And why the "R" rating? Because I think the girls would like this movie if it is only for language (a la This Is Spinal Tap).
  

At least that's why we rented these ... results on Monday.

I have a crush on Cardinal Arinze. Am I going to Hell?

I've seen the logo around for this podcast but just didn't have time to check it out. And, frankly, the idea of listening to what I could only figure must be old recordings of Cardinal Arinze ... well, that just didn't sound like fun. Soporific ... yes. Fun ... no.

Do I have what it takes to listen to a cardinal, no matter how respected, droning on about the Faith? Oh, let's face it. I have no tolerance for that sort of thing at all.

Talk about a pleasant surprise.

Let's start with Rob, the actual podcaster, who hosts the show. He is energetic and in love with being a Catholic. It is refreshing to hear someone enthusiastically and vigorously say, "There isn't a better time to be a Catholic than 2006."

Also he has a wonderful Australian (?) accent. Excellent.

Rob is just the warm up for the main attraction, Cardinal Arinze. The episode I listened to was an interview with someone going through a bit of the Catechism and the Cardinal explaining the basics. The very basic basics ... such as why the Catholic Church is "one," "holy," and "apostolic." And, y'all, it wasn't boring.

First, he's got that fantastic African accent ... combined with a command of the English language and vocabulary that is nothing short of astounding.

Second, in all those articles about his orthodoxy and fabulousness, why didn't anyone mention that he is funny? Listening to him talk about cafeteria Catholics going down the line picking this belief, but not that one ... well, I was laughing out loud.

Third, he has an passionate love for our Catholic faith. Even in simple explanations, Cardinal Arinze communicated so well the joy and love that God extends to us through the Church.

Finally, he has a gift for explaining very simply but clearly how the faith is grounded in the truth that is Jesus Christ. Which is quite inspiring.

I think I'm in love.

UPDATE
No podcast in the works yet for Pope Benedict XVI but he now has a Nano. Can't wait for a photo of him with that!

This One's for Tom

The perfect game for someone who loves sets and matching ... Set Game. Enjoy!

Me? Oh, I do it because I love torturing myself.