What Will We Do in Heaven? Part II

Peter Kreeft has an interesting answer to yesterday's question. It is one of intertwined goals. Not only does it make sense, but he even makes it sound like something I'd look forward to; like a giant house party where everyone is having the most fascinating conversations. This is heavily edited to make a readable length for the blog but I highly recommend reading the whole thing for yourself in Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven But Never Dreamed of Asking.

... First we review our past life with divine understanding and appreciation of our past life with divine understanding and appreciation of every single experience, good and evil: we milk all our meaning dry. Then we do the same to others' lives from within. We know them more intimately and completely than we could ever know our most intimate friend on earth because we share God's knowledge of each one. When these two preliminary lessons are complete - when we know, love, understand, and appreciate completely by inner experience everything we and everyone else have ever experienced - only then we are spiritually mature enough to begin the endless and endlessly fascinating task of exploring, learning, and loving the facets of infinity, the inexhaustible nature of God.

The idea is not new, for it corresponds to three traditional doctrines: Purgatory, the Communion of Saints, and the Beatific Vision. But each is given new life by being related to the others in this sequence. Purgatory turns out be part of Heaven rather than a distinct place, and consists of moral reeducation rather than mere punishment, rehabilitation rather than retribution. The communion of Saints is rescued from a vague, philanthropic goodwill and made as interesting as human love and communion on earth; getting to know people is in one way or another the only thing we find inexhaustible here as well as there. Finally, the contemplation of God is not boring because it is done with souls matured by the first two tasks. The difference this maturing makes is as great as the difference between a dying saint and a newborn baby...

Hey! It's That Towering Tough Guy!

... the real triumph for Adam Baldwin in 1980 was his role as Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard. For those sad, soul-bankrupt few of you who haven't seen this epochal film, Baldwin played a hulking, brooding loner with a mysterious and violent past. His protective services are retained by Chris Makepeace -- the spindly, afroed nerd -- in an effort to fend of Moody, a vicious school bully, played effectively by a then-unknown and too-young-to-shave Matt Dillon.

So Makepeace enlists Linderman, and then Moody gets his own bodyguard, this crazy guy, and then it turns out Linderman won't fight, and then the crazy guy throws Linderman's motorcycle in the lake...okay, now I'm going to start crying...

Ever since, Baldwin's been busy doing two things: (1) playing a string of nameless, towering toughs (he is 6'4", after all) in movies such as Predator 2, Wyatt Earp, and Independence Day, as well as appearing in countless lesser efforts (and you know we're veering into sketchy territory when we talk about "lesser efforts" to Predator 2 and Wyatt Earp) such as Cold Sweat, Deadbolt, and Sawbones. And (2) convincing people that he's not one of the Baldwin brothers. Because he's not. Seriously. It's Alec, Stephen, Billy, Daniel, Tito, Donnie, Ryan, "Ace," Stretchy, and Kip. No Adam.

Source

We never heard of Fametracker before picking up Hey! It's That Guy! for Tom's birthday.

In a family like ours, a book about character actors, especially when as wittily written as this one, is sure to be a hit. You can hardly turn around without having someone reading you a clever bit about some actor. And when you look at the photo ... "Hey! It's that guy ... who was in my mind's eye!"

We love the book and we love the website. Surely I'll be feature a few more H!ITG! profiles here in the future. They're irrisistible.

Vatican Reaction to Chinese Government's Illicit Ordination of Bishops

Vatican, May. 04 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has released a scorching criticism of the illicit ordination of two bishops for the government-approved "official" Church in China.

The statement charges that the government forced other Catholics to participate in the ceremonies, in a "grave violation of religious freedom." And it warned that the bishops ordained without the approval of the Holy See, and those who ordained them, are subject to excommunication.

The strong statement released on May 4 by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls expressed the "profound displeasure" of Pope Benedict XVI at the two ordinations: of Bishop Ma Yinglin in Kunming on April 30 and Liu Xinhong in Wuhu on May 3.

The unauthorized episcopal ordinations, Navarro-Valls continued, constitute "a grave wound to the unity of the Church, for which severe canonical sanctions, as it is known, are foreseen." He cited #1382 of the Code of Canon Law. That canon stipulates excommunication as the penalty for any bishop who participates in an episcopal ordination without Vatican approval. However, the Vatican statement goes on to suggest that some participants in the two recent ordinations may have been acting under duress. "According to the information received," Navarro-Valls said, "bishops and priests have been subjected to- on the part of external entities to the Church-- strong pressures and to threats, so that they would take part in the episcopal ordinations."

Some clerics resisted this intimidation campaign, the Vatican reported, while others saw no alternative but to "submit with great interior suffering." By forcing bishops and priests to engage in an action "contrary to their conscience," the Vatican said, the Chinese government had committed a severe offense against religious freedom.

The AsiaNews service has noted reports from Chinese Catholics that the Catholic Patriotic Association has plans to consecrate 20 more bishops in similar illicit ceremonies. "If the news is true that other episcopal ordinations are to take place in the same manner," the Vatican statement warns, the "unacceptable acts of violence" seen in the past week must not be repeated.

"The Holy See follows with attention the troubled path of the Catholic Church in China," Navarro-Valls said. He added that Vatican officials had hoped that "similar deplorable episodes by now would belong to the past."

Source: Catholic World News

The only thing that I can imagine the Chinese government hopes to gain from this is to mislead Chinese Catholics. However, somehow I imagine that they are fairly well informed just through word of mouth. This is all just supposition on my part though.

What Will We Do in Heaven? Part I

Reposting this from a couple of years ago because it's just so good and we haven't had any Kreeft here in way too long.

Here's a common question. First of all, why do we care? Isn't it supposed to be perfect? Secondly, there's never a really satisfying sounding answer. Peter Kreeft tackles this in Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven But Never Dreamed of Asking.

Nevertheless, though the question "What do you do?" is not primary, it is important: first, because what we do flows from and reveals what we are; second, because what we do also flows into what we are, helps construct our selves. Third, creative work is a primary human need, and our conventional pictures of heaven are boring partly because they do not fulfill that need. Playing harps and polishing halos is an obviously bad answer to a good question. A second answer, the more philosophical alternative of an eternity of abstract contemplation of changeless truth, moves only philosophers (and even among them only the minority). The third, biblical answer, the enjoyment of God (Psalm 27:4), is true but must be fleshed out by the imagination. The mere words "the enjoyment of God" make sense only to those who already enjoy God; the vast majority of us seem to enjoy the vast majority of things vastly more than we enjoy God. (In fact, it is only God in these things that we enjoy, but we do not recognize that.)

We may even fear Heaven, consciously or unconsciously, because we fear boredom. Then death is truly terrible, for it offers only the two hellish alternatives of boredom or agony. Earth seems much more interesting than Heaven because there seems to be nothing to do in Heaven. What work needs to be done in a world of eternal perfection? Yet how can we be happy without creative work?

The answer to what we'll do coming tomorrow in Part II.

Chicago is Rose's Kinda Town

Rose's 16th birthday is next week and we all know what that means, right?

I'll put you out of your suspense. It means it's time to plan the father-daughter 16th birthday trip! Hannah chose San Francisco a couple of years ago ... just perfect for our almost hippie girl who loved tie dyed shirts at the time. She and Tom still talk fondly of the memories they made then.

Rose really didn't have any idea of where she wanted to go so I picked up a Fodor's USA guide. A few days ago she asked me to pick up a Chicago guide. The more she looked through it, the more excited she got. She has picked out every strange little museum and spot that they have for her and Tom to visit (that is her speciality by the way ... I'll never forget the doll museum in Paris ... who knew there was something like that tucked away being run by a couple of grandparents?).

More later, I'm sure but for now I'm almost jealous. Almost. (I've been to San Francisco, but not to Chicago.) I'm a grown up so I won't begrudge Tom and Rose this special time together.

But after the kids are out of school? And we have a little money again? Oh brother, is Tom gonna take me to Chicago!

Monsoon Wedding: Love — Exactly and Approximately

MONSOON WEDDING
This story of a large, Westernized, upper middle class Indian family gathering for a wedding is one that I watched several years ago. Somehow it didn't hit me then the way it did last weekend when I absolutely fell in love with it.

Aditi decides that her married boyfriend may never leave his wife so she agrees to an arranged marriage. The groom has been in Houston for four years and is flying back to India for the wedding. Aditi's father is struggling with stress as the wedding costs mount. As various families are added to the assemblage, we see the single cousins who are attracted to each other, the unmarried female cousin who has an old secret, the wedding event planner who falls desperately in love, and many other colorful characters. We also are given many glimpses of India itself as scene dividers. The scenes are so evocative of what I imagine the real place to be that it made me yearn to visit India and see all the seeming contradictions for myself.

It is rare to see a movie that is so charming and yet shows us so well many faces of love. We see the deep love of a father for his daughters, the respect and brotherly love of a man for his long-time family friend, the burgeoning love of two different couples from very different social backgrounds, and the dawning of love that comes for the wedding couple who are in an arranged marriage. We also are shown quite clearly the consequences of mistaking much baser emotions for true love. When that trust and faith is betrayed "everything is broken." However, we also are shown the power of forgiveness and the fruit it can bear.

I love the fact that the singing ismostly someone singing a line or two of a familiar song that others would pick up and sing. It really made me think of how much song is part of the Indian psyche.

This movie seems much more real than the recently popular Bride and Prejudice and certainly much less Westernized. I was charmed with the seemingly random mixture of English and Hindi (?) which everyone spoke. The English was difficult to understand before we became accustomed to the rhythm and pronunciation so you must listen carefully because when English is spoken there is no captioning. However, it does not take long for your ears to adjust and this is not a problem for too long.

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

Scott Danielson and I discussed this at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Hannah and Rose discussed it at An American's Guide to Bollywood podcast.

Bird Flu Hits Florida Trailer Park

From my in-box. Thanks Marcia!

Are You Reading Savage Chickens?

If not then you are missing a great comic pleasure every day. Reproduced with permission.

Back to Basics: The Basis for Belief in Transubstantiation

The miraculous changing of what was bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ that occurs during the Consecration at each and every Mass is called transubstantiation. It refers to the changing of substances, in this case, the substances of bread and wine into the substances of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Catholicism bases this belief in the transubstantiation on two points:

• In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each writer uses the same phrase to describe the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the day before Jesus was crucified. Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, "This is My Body" (touto estin to soma mou in Greek; hoc est corpus meum in Latin). The verb to be is used such that an equality exists between This (which refers to the bread) and My Body. So the bread becomes the body of Christ. Because all three Gospels (Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, and Luke 22:19) meticulously repeat the exact same phrase, as does St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11:24), these sacred words must be taken literally.
• The words of the Last Supper spoken by Christ over the bread and wine are consistent with the New Testament: Jesus explicitly and graphically commanded, "Eat My flesh and drink My Blood," more than a few times. He also said, "My flesh is real food and my blood real drink." Some in the crowd said, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (John 6:52), and he responded, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). "After this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him," (John 6:66). The Church reasons that if Jesus had meant this to be symbolic, why would he allow so many of his followers to leave with a serious misunderstanding?
  

Catholicism For Dummies by John Trigilio

Another Review That Makes Me Want to See "Flight 93"

Even if you don't want to see the movie, go read this first rate review ... 21st-Century Thermopylae.

I Can't Believe It Took Me So Long to Proclaim My Elite Status

It's an elite group.

It doesn't have to be that way though. Contact KT Cat to get on his notification list (check his site for the email address).

That Sound You Heard?

It was my mind blowing ... I'm tellin' ya'll, the Catechism is mind altering material. Handle with care.

What Is It About May?

Maybe May is Mary's month because mothers need a little help with sanity.

Our kids are past the age where they both have a play, musical program, awards ceremony and sports playoff in which to participate ... however ... just when I thought it was safe to not cringe when turning my calendar to May ...

First, May is our family festival month. Kicked off with Tom's birthday on April 30, we have also Rose's birthday, our wedding anniversary, and my birthday. See why I don't care about Mother's Day? I've had enough celebrating this month ...

Second, this year Hannah is graduating from high school. A joyous occasion to be sure and we are so proud of how well she has done with handling pressure and bringing home fantastic grades ... not to mention snagging a spot at A&M when it is apparently impossible (we didn't have any idea until hearing wave after wave of parents be incredulous that Hannah wasn't in the top 10% of her grade, didn't have an impressive resume of time-filling extra activities, etc.). So that means a senior class dinner, mother-daughter senior tea, graduation practice, Baccalaureate Mass, oh ... and the graduation itself. Probably with relatives in town, depending on various schedules. So there is that.

Then, we must not forget other obligations.

Such as Rose's Julius Caesar video project for English. Which requires five people spending the night for at least one weekend (probably two) for practice, on-location filming (at our office, which will involve Tom as camera man) and post-video production. Luckily Rose is a genius video editor but there is always something that seems to go wrong with transfers or some such thing, so that is where Tom steps in.

And, lest we forget, it has been quite some time since Hannah has had a shindig with her friends here ... and we hear through the grapevine that this is a popular location ... "so relaxed." That is the value of preparing mounds and mounds of food to have available at all times and then getting out of the way. Except for discreet supervision, of course, which hardly is needed with these kids. They are all good 'uns. Hannah and Rose have been negotiating times and dates to avoid Mother's Day. Hardly a problem around here (where I scorn it), but it does put a cramp in all the other kids' schedules for overnights. So far, I think we have it down to one weekend with overlapping gangs spending the night.

Good thing that we like having all these kids around! And I enjoy feeding them. It takes very little effort and they are always gratifyingly ravenous ... and appreciative.

May is Mary's Month

William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
L'innocence [Innocence]

The May Magnificat

May is Mary's month, and I
Muse at that and wonder why:

Her feasts follow reason,
Dated due to season --

Candlemas, Lady Day;
But the Lady Month, May,

Why fasten that upon her,
With a feasting in her honour

Is it only its being brighter
Than the most are must delight her?

Is it opportunest
And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother;
Her reply puts this other

Question: What is Spring? --
Growth in everything --

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather
Grass and green world all together;

Star-eyed strawberry breasted
Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within;

And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing
Mary sees, sympathising

With that world of good
Nature's motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind
With delight calls to mind

How she did in her stored
Magnify the Lord

Well but there was more than this:
Spring's universal bliss

Much, had much to say
To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple
Bloom lights the orchard-apple

And thicket and thorp are merry
With silver-surféd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes
Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes

And magic cuckoo call
Caps, clears, and clinches all --

This ecstasy all through mothering earth
Tells Mary her mirth till Christ's birth

To remember and exultation
In God who was her salvation.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Homily

I can't match everything that Cathy Ward manages to communicate in exquisite brevity ... but will try. You will just have to imagine Fr. L's wonderful oratory style that leaves most people wanting to shout, "Amen" when he is done. Here goes nothing...

"It is not enough to know Jesus if we don't show it in our actions, words, and lives. Go show it."

Flight 93 Review

From Madeleine comes this review. I have pulled it out of the comments box because she did such a good job of describing the essence of the film and why she liked it ... and she may have convinced me to go see this movie.

I wanted to wait until I saw Flight 93 to weigh in on this discussion. I have just seen it, and it is one of the finest efforts I have seen in years of moviegoing. I am ready to say that this one will be a classic, along with Tora Tora Tora and films of that general type.

I want to say that the key to this film is the unquenchable courage of the human spirit. This is about a battle in the sky - a truly significant battle fought by ordinary American citizens. And of all the documentaries, re-enactments, narrations, etc., that I have seen dealing with that day, this is superior to and unlike any of them. It is gripping and spellbinding, and you will be proud of these people, and also get a good look at "the fog of war" and what the people in the FAA and military were dealing with.

The movie starts so very slowly, capturing the ordinary, familiar, even boring atmosphere perfectly. What we then are treated to is the story of how the ordinary people (just like me, just like you, just like our friends and neighbors) came to grips with a situation that became clearer and more perilous with each bit of gleaned information. I am so proud of those people words can't express it.

Please don't dismiss this movie expecting blood (very little), scenes of slaughter, etc. You won't find them. What you will find is an exceptional group of heroes. And if heroism makes you cry, then yes, you might want to tuck a Kleenex in your pocket. Sorry for the long comment and "mini-review", but as you can tell, I was very impressed. And I still haven't seen Saving Private Ryan, because I can't take violent movies.

Mini-Lit For the Weekend

This is all shamelessly stolen from Cathy Ward who you should all be reading anyway. She has taken the Books-in-a-Minute idea and run with it. She's got a gift for sure.

Mere Christianity
by C.S. Lewis

You can believe Jesus is the Savior of the world or not.
But if you don't, you're dumb.

THE END

===============

The Great Divorce
by C. S. Lewis

"Is this Purgatory, or is this Hell?"
Only you can decide.

THE END

=================

The Old Testament
by Various

God made it.
Man fouled it up.
God was mad.
And He certainly had a right to be mad.
Lots of turtledoves died.

THE END

===============

The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio
By Dante Alighieri

Dante: "You know what, Virgil? You're my best friend.
No - I mean it. I can't imagine being here without you.
I really love you, man. I just - - - - - Woah! Virgil, look over there!
Is that - Beatrice?! Man, she's hot."


Dante: (Turns to Virgil)
"Gotta go, V. Take it easy."

FIN

"Jesus is not a zombie!"

BONES

I don't know if anyone else out there is watching Bones but we just watched last week's show which took place in New Orleans and was heavily into voodoo.

This show is a good example of what happens if a network leaves a newbie on for more than three episodes so that character development can happen and plotlines can acquire depth (in this case, so that mysteries can actually mislead us, unlike the plots in the beginning of the series).

I find it especially interesting in the contrast between the forensic anthropologist, Dr. Brennan, and her FBI partner, Booth. She looks at practically all human interaction, and practices through an impassionate anthropological lens. Booth is a Christian and occasionally will contradict her to put forward his faith (or that of others) as motivation or cause for events. In this episode we discovered that he is Catholic.

Now none of this has a huge bearing on the overall show. However, in terms of being the direct opposite of the impartial view that Dr. Brennan consistently posits, it is an interesting emphasis to see brought up time and again. I can't remember which episode but it even was the subject of conversation for all the characters at one point: faith versus no faith. This is not the sort of thing that is usually seen on TV and I enjoy it because I think it mirrors real life more than most television shows acknowledge. At least, that is the sort of thing that seems to come up in my daily life more often than not.

(Just FYI, the headline quote was Booth's response to Dr. Brennan making a direct comparison between voodoo and Christianity based on Jesus' resurrection.)

Back to Basics: Transubstantiation

Catholicism professes that during the Consecration, a miracle occurs — the priest consecrates the bread and wine: Just as Jesus did at the Last Supper, the priest takes the bread in the form of a Host and says, "This is My body." Then he elevates the Host for the congregation to see, bells are rung, and he genuflects. Then he takes the chalice (cup) of wine, saying "This is the cup of My blood," elevates the chalice, and genuflects. Now it's the body and blood of Christ — it still looks, feels and tastes like bread and wine, but it's not. This change of bread and wine into the real Body and Blood of Christ is called transubstantiation.

The Bible says that God created merely by speaking: "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Likewise, by merely speaking the words of Christ over the bread and wine during Holy Communion, the priest changes them into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ through the authority given to him by the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Only an ordained priest has the authority to say Mass and consecrate the bread and wine.

Catholics kneel before the consecrated Host — the Eucharist — because it's not a piece of bread anymore — it truly is Christ. If the Holy Eucharist were just a symbol — such as bread and wine — then kneeling down and adoring it would be considered idolatry, but the Catholic Church has staunchly asserted for 2,000 years that the Holy Eucharist isn't a symbol. The Holy Eucharist is his body and blood. Therefore, the Holy Eucharist is Christ himself present in the consecrated Host...

Catholicism for Dummies by John Trigilio

Literary Post of the Week

The Confessions of St. Augustine
By St. Augustine

St. Augustine

I was a bad boy. Damn, was I a bad boy. Not anymore, though.

THE END

Book-a-Minute Classics