"You play the Moses card a lot."

I don't know if anyone else has been catching Eli Stone but it is pretty interesting so far.

Lawyer Eli Stone is on the fast track. He is a high powered attorney, with a gorgeous fiancee, and the head of the firm is his mentor. Then one day he begins hearing music that no one else hears. Soon he is seeing visions and fearing that he is crazy. Willing to try anything, he goes to Dr. Chen, an acupuncturist, who helps him to recall important memories from his youth.

Eli's brother, an equally high-powered doctor, finds that Eli has an inoperable brain aneurysm. Dr. Chen tells him that "aneurysm" is science's explanation. Chen points out that there could be a divine answer for the visions -- Eli may be a prophet. Of course, Eli goes on to follow the "clues" from his visions which send him to represent a case that his firm would never take on and thus help the little guy.

What I find interesting in the show, aside from the fact that each episode has featured a song and dance number thus far, is that each seems to be pointing out a characteristic of the traditional "prophet." It makes us look a little deeper past the comedic effects of Eli having jumped onto a grenade from a vision and come to himself face down in a cake. Eli has been living the good life as a shallow overachiever, but we see that such a life is coming to an end as his prophetic duties overcome him. As well, the quite shallow fiancee is being allowed to show that she can have unexpected depths, rather than remaining a cartoonish character for Eli's secretary to make the target of her barbs.

On the other hand, I suppose it is du rigeur in prime time television to have Eli and his fiancee continually leaping onto the couch to make love, but I could do without it.

Beyond Cana: the Retreat

Much thanks to everyone who stopped and said a prayer for the Beyond Cana retreat.

Eight couples came in various stages of apprehension, excitement, or nerves. Eight couples left looking relaxed, happy, and glowingly in love.

What a privilege to help in such an endeavor. I know that this retreat brought special blessings to Tom and me in several ways. I know of some blessings that flowed also over others of our team ... and am sure there were many more I simply do not know about.

When we got home, Rose was there with a big hug and many whispers about her days while we were gone (while Tom slumbered on the couch ... my several-hour-nap came shortly thereafter). My usual entourage of two dogs and a cat were more determined and close behind me than ever.

The fridge is bare. I have a flat tire being fixed which I will pick up this afternoon.

And I am smiling anyway.

God was at work and we were allowed to participate.

What Does It Mean to Be Human?

We humans have lost our identity. As a people, we no longer have the answers to these questions:

• Who am I?
• What is the purpose to life?
• Who is God?
• Why was I created?

These questions and the corresponding answers directly effect what we believe, how we view life, and how we live. The root of the issue is this - without an identity in Christ, we cannot see ourselves, others or the world in the proper context. We mistake a lie for the truth.

Marcel LeJeune, at Mary's Aggies, has been tackling this question lately.

First, read this, whence came the above excerpt. It is good and thoughtful.

Secondly, take a look at this review of a documentary about what it means to be human. Here is a bit of it but there is much more and it is well worth your time to read it. I also am putting the movie trailer below. If you watch, please view the trailer in its entirety as the beginning seems rather grim, but actually is setting up the reason the movie was made.

The story of the film revolves around a young man and his brother and their quest to find what it means to be human in light of their own experiences and struggles. They have three different life-transforming experiences in search of the answers to the questions about the meaning and purpose of life. What does it mean to be a human? Why do we have to suffer? Where is God? Where can we find hope?

The movie never gives an explicit answer to these questions and I believe that it achieves it's ends much more effectively because it doesn't provide the answer for us. It challenges us to do the same as the young men in the film - go and find what it means to be human. They never get preachy in the film, but rather witness to what makes us all human by experiencing those situations where hope seems distant. ...

"I teach Sunday school..."

I am positive that this Stephen Colbert clip has been making the rounds but haven't caught up with blog reading this morning. Possibly one of the greatest compliments I have received this year was the email I got this morning with the link that said, "I've been reading your blog for a year or more and I thought of you when I saw this the other night."

Warning, this contains an epithet, bleeped out.



This ties in nicely with the fact that I was at the retreat with Gino who is both more charitable and much more knowledgeable than I am about the faith. During a break time, when Brad (also very knowledgeable) asked the difference between plenary indulgences and plain indulgences, Gino reeled off the explanation without blinking. And without fanfare, which I probably could not have done.

The clip above also makes me think of last week's House, which we watched last night. It delved into matters of faith and whether a person can ever really change. As a person who has changed for the better (as House's patient had claimed to do), I was interested to see where the writers took this question. One of the main delights, as above, was in watching the patient's husband, a Hassidic Jew, point out logical fallacies and groundless assumptions in the statements of the doctors. Which for me, is connected with watching Colbert above.

Catholic Blog Award Nominations Open

I see that while I was away helping with the Beyond Cana retreat, the nominations opened for The Catholic Blog Awards. They'll close on Friday, February 29 at noon (central time). Voting will begin on Monday, March 3.

These are always fun and a good way to find new blogs ... as well as "tip" your current favorites for a year of enjoyable reading. I have several that spring instantly to mind you probably do too.

Here are the categories:

• Best Overall Catholic Blog
• Best Designed Catholic Blog
  
• Best Written Catholic Blog
• Best New Catholic Blog
• Best Individual Catholic Blog
• Best Group Blog
• Best Blog by Clergy/Religious/Seminarian
• Funniest Catholic Blog
• Smartest Catholic Blog
• Most Informative & Insightful Catholic Blog
• Best Apologetic Blog
• Best Political/Social Commentary Catholic Blog
• Best Insider News Catholic Blog
• Most Spiritual Blog

Much thanks goes to CyberCatholics who put in a great deal of work gratis every year to provide us with this fun. If you enjoy it, consider letting them know by dropping a little something in their tip jar to help offset their expenses.

Worth a Thousand Words

Pirena Dog Show: Boxer by Barcelona Photoblog.

Any fellow Boxer lovers will understand why I just couldn't resist this picture.

Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will keep on filming

Terry Gilliam fans knew that Heath Ledger's death carried a blow beyond that of his loss. Heath Ledger was starring in Gilliam's upcoming movie and his scenes weren't done shooting.

However, Ain't It Cool tells us that the twists and turns of the story make it possible for his character to be played by other actors (this I've gotta see). Three actors have been confirmed to step in for Ledger as a final tribute. Three of my faves as it turns out ... find out who they are here.

To see how Heath Ledger and Terry Gilliam worked together, go watch The Brothers Grimm. Odd but good ... we really liked it. Via Jeffrey Overstreet.

"This ain't gonna be easy."
"Not as easy as it used to be."
Also in movie news, here's the new Indiana Jones trailer. So far so good ...

Worth a Thousand Words

Blissful Tiger taken by karma1410
and found on Flickr.
Click through on the title to see more of karma's wonderful animal photos.

Which Version of Dante I am Reading ... and Why

Dr. Steve asks:

Can you tell me which translation of Dante you're reading? Did you give that issue much thought?...

I actually did give this a great deal of thought. The library had translations by Anthony Esolen (the newest translation of Dante if I am not mistaken), Allen Mandelbaum, C.H. Sisson, Jefferson Butler Fletcher, Charles Eliot Norton, and John Ciardi.

The library must have wondered if I was doing a research paper because I checked them all out and then took a look at the first chapters to see which seemed to be the easiest to read. John Ciardi won, hands down. And his rhymed which won many points as some of the other translations did not and I wanted a sense of poetry even while understanding that it would not equal the original.

Then I looked at the notes and, again, John Ciardi won. He had ... would you call them "headnotes" (?) ... which came at the beginning of each Canto to give a sense of what one would read. This was followed by thorough end notes in which he not only clarified many points obscure to us today, but also would not his "work arounds" to make a rhyme happen and then give the exact translation as it would have read.

This is not to say that the other versions weren't good. It is just that Ciardi's felt most like something I would have a chance of continuing to read. As has proven to be the case. I read a canto every morning although it took me a while to fall into that rhythm.

The sad thing is that I have had the library's copy for about a year, renewing it online every three weeks and it has never been requested by anyone else. I know this because if it was, then I would not have been allowed to renew it. Ah well.

Also, I would be remiss in not mentioning the book that made me truly interested in reading the Divine Comedy in the first place. That would be Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. You can find a partial review here and more thoughts about it here. It is highly recommended, especially to any science fiction lovers (such as The Anchoress' sons!).

Lent "Re-Branded" as Christian Ramadan

As if we needed proof that Western culture is on a long down-hill slide in some places.

Dutch Catholics have re-branded the Lent fast as the "Christian Ramadan" in an attempt to appeal to young people who are more likely to know about Islam than Christianity. ...

"The image of the Catholic Lent must be polished. The fact that we use a Muslim term is related to the fact that Ramadan is a better-known concept among young people than Lent," said Vastenaktie Director, Martin Van der Kuil.

Read it all here. Via John C. Wright.

"It may be gross. It may seem creepy."

Sarah at Mary's Aggies has a good analogy. Go read it all, but here's a bit to intrigue you.

... God comes to us eager and willing to work. He longs to clean out our hearts – even those places we often pretend don’t exist or the ones we have long since tried to forget are there. He bends and reaches and sees trash we aren’t even aware of. He doesn’t tire of his work. He longs to make us whole.

You may be tired. You may be timid. You may be eager to leave this task for another time. It may be gross. It may seem creepy. It may be tempting to leave this project before it is completed.

But let him in. Give him full reign to clean up your heart.

Yep. There are many ways God may want to do this work. In my own life, it began most fully in this Lenten season with going to confession last Saturday. I didn't want to. I was eager to leave this task for another time. No one would see it. Except God and me.

If you haven't been for a while, I can't recommend it enough.

Let him in.

Lenten Reading

• Sarah has just finished reading one of my favorite books, Adventures in Orthodoxy by Fr. Dwight Longenecker. I don't know if she chose it specifically as Lenten reading but it is Lent and she did just finish reading it. So that counts. Go check out her review of a really wonderful book you probably never heard of that both The Curt Jester and I really love.


• Darwin Catholic continues his Lenten tradition (it's the second year so that makes it tradition) of commenting on Dante's Divine Comedy. His first post answers the question, "Why read Dante for Lent? Why read Dante at all?" As someone who is very slowly working her way through Dante and has made it to the beginning of Paradisio ... it has changed how I think about my life and sin. Consider that I began reading Dante to cross it off my reading list and then think about how it might change your life ... or go see what Darwin has to say.


• Woodward at Thursday Night Gumbo tells us what he's reading and invites us to tell him what we're reading.


• The Anchoress just received Questions and Answers: Pope Benedict XVI and also The Greatest Gift; The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang. She has a bit about them. I also received these but haven't had a chance to crack the covers yet.

I am reading two books which I began long before Lent but got sidetracked from by other books. Part of my overall Lenten resolution to focus and simplify is to finish these excellent books!

• The School of Prayer: An Introduction to the Divine Office for All Christians by John Brook. Interestingly Brook partially presents this introduction to promote ecumenism for he points out that praying from the Psalms makes Protestants feel right at home in the practice. This book not only tells about the divine office, but has an explication of the psalms commonly prayed so that we more easily find Christ in them.


• Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom. This book is written with complete simplicity but yet somehow contains depths that one thinks of for some time afterward. Let's just begin with this ... "If you look at the relationship (us and God) in terms of mutual relationship, you would see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does make Himself present to us for a few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer 'I am busy..."

Also, thinking ahead for Easter reading recommendations, I am reading a couple of review books ... sci-fi and fantasy, both of which I am thoroughly enjoying I will put links here so you can take a look if you are interested. Reviews will come when I have finished the books which I do not anticipate being long as I am finding these riveting and that makes me read even faster.

• Seven Archangels: Annihilation by Jane Lebak


• Infinite Space, Infinite God edited by Karina and Robert Fabian

Heavens to Betsy!

Was that my Catholicism bursting out all over the place at the end of Fausta's blog radio talk? I believe it was. Let me just scoop that up and put it away ...

A very interesting conversation about men and women and all that jazz. In which I start talking and then can't shut up ... so it's all normal, right?

It will be posted here on iTunes or at Fausta's blog a little later.

Worth a Thousand Words

Classic Chevrolet via Flickr Cream of the Crop.

More Blog Talk Radio

Fausta, Siggy, and others who I am not sure about (maybe Laurie Kendrick?) will be on Fausta's blog radio show at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Central, which would be my time zone). The call in number is 646-652-2639.

The link for Blog Talk Radio is here at Fausta's. I don't understand a thing about how it works but I do know that it is podcast later so you have a variety ways to listen if you are interested. I also am not sure what we're talking about but they always come up with something interesting and I never seem to be at a loss for words. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing!

Anyway, tune in!

The Two Pronged Attack of Deception

Yesterday's readings were familiar to most of us. Specifically, the OT featured Adam and Eve being tempted by the cunning serpent while as is always the case in the first Sunday of Lent, the NT showed us Jesus being tempted by the devil. (See the readings here.).

There are many ways that these can be viewed, of course. However, what it really boils down to is what was talked about by Fr. L. yesterday.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

Think about that when you are reading the pieces of conversation featuring the serpent or the devil. Then apply it to the larger world. This works on so many levels and from so many sources, whether human or supernatural. Yet it goes back always to the very first case of temptation and deception.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

I especially thought of the quite surprising number of people I have encountered lately who have doubts and questions about the Catholic Church and the magisterium's authority. Some are merely questioning, some are defiant, however all have either left the Church or are in the process of coming back. I thought of all the reasons that people question the Church, including my own journey down the road to reading myself into agreement with Church teachings.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

I am not saying that we should not question. Far from it. We were given our intelligence for a reason. It is through questioning that I wound up in the Church and later came to a greater appreciation of all She offers. However, we must be sure that we are not being led down the garden path by a subtle twisting of truth that leads us to suddenly change how we look and trust ... Read Eve's response to the serpent ... and see how differently she looks at the tree after that conversation.

We surely must be wise and also pray for guidance to be able to discern when we come up against these deceptions in our lives.

Worth a Thousand Words

Shinagawa by Tokaido Goju-santsugi (found at Kyoto Daily Photo).

Now This Is Fun Design

Isn't this fun? Got it from Siggy who has lots of other great design graphics up also.

The Father is Very Fond of Us

I went to Confession yesterday. Usually I have thought about it, figured out and analyzed my sins, and then prepped my confession speech, so I am not at all worried about confession. I usually feel that this is the official stamp of absolution because God and I have already been discussing these issues indepth.

This time was different. Oh, I did the analyzing, the examination, the discussion with God. But I had a couple of new things on my heart, revealed to me through my ever-so-slow reading of Dante's confessions. When I saw some of the same things showing up in Purgatorio that I did in Inferno, I realized that there were examples lurking in my own soul that I doubtless should be taking more seriously.

Ok, so what?

So, these newbie realizations were some that I cringed from making out loud. In retrospect, I realized that this was because they'd ruin my "rep" with whichever priest heard my confession. Boy oh boy, is that silly. Not only are these sins the routine sort that any priest might hear many times a day, it was a true internal indicator of my pride, my dislike of appearing less in someone elses' eyes.

Which is just the sort of thing that I should be examining and bringing out into the clear light of day for applying balance in my soul ... and for asking God's help ... as well in in those particular "Dante-esque" sins.

Yesterday, no matter where I turned I couldn't forget confession, for which I blame thank my guardian angel who knew just what I needed.

Finally, I realized that, as someone I knew had told me long ago, "God and the angels watched you sin when you did it. You aren't telling anyone anything new, except maybe yourself."

Truer words were never spoken.

I came away from the confessional laughing at myself, with my sense of balance restored. The priest nodded at those sins I didn't want to mention and then concentrated on others that I was all too familiar with confessing. That which I dreaded mentioning was only new and completely embarrassing to myself. Gee, is it all about me or what? Not only did I get absolution, additional graces to help me continue the battle, but a good mirror into my soul.

All for free. What a deal. No wonder God want us to go regularly to confession. He's always wanted the best for us.

Which brings me to the article that inspired me to post all this.

... "Well, it's funny. I didn't, like, confess. I just talked to him. Told him what was going on. It was good. I decided that I didn't want to ask for absolution, though."

It seems our protagonist and his priest had enjoyed a lengthy back-and-forth about the nature of sin, what constitutes sin, and what role conscience plays in that definition. "Some of the things I've done, I know I'm going to do them again. I didn't mind confessing, but it seemed wrong to say an Act of Contrition when I'm not even sure I'm contrite. I know what the church teaches, but God knows everything; He understands my mind and heart. He knows I'm not out to defy him; I'm just living my life, and exploring and growing up. Me and Jesus, we're okay."

Apparently the priest enjoyed this. He told the un-penitent that he appreciated this thoughtful confession over the "lip-service" he so often heard. But there was the matter of absolution. "I don't know how to do a 'partial' absolution, and it seems pointless. Your venial sins are absolved in the Mass, anyway."

"I know," the young man agreed. "I'll just have to stay away from Communion until I can get this all sorted out."

The idea of anyone withholding himself from Communion for what could be years threw me, but he explained, "I'm not going to live a casual, sloppy faith. I believe God would rather have me play fair and be respectful than make a rote confession. So many people just mouth the right words and only half mean it -- as if you can game the system or fool God into thinking you're alright. Who's alright, anyway? Isn't that why God is merciful, because none of us is alright? I love the Eucharist; I won't treat it so carelessly. I can still make a spiritual communion. If it's true, the grace should be able to sneak in."

He had me there. ...

Go read all of this excellent reflection on confession.

The beginning puts me in mind of "A" who recently emailed me that he wasn't receiving communion because he "had to get things right with the Lord." Not what you expect to hear from a college sophomore but just the sort of total honesty that "A" lives his life by.

Hell Abolished, God Adopts Gold Sticker System

... As reported at last week’s press conference, after reading a book on self-esteem in children, the Lord realized that all “Children of God” could benefit from immediate positive reinforcement.

“As it turned out,” the Lord said, “tossing sinners into Hell was seriously damaging their self-esteem.”

“This just goes to show that you’re never omnipotent or omnipresent enough not to learn a thing or two from time to time,” the Archangel Gabriel said. “Do we serve a great God or what?! What a guy!”

Support for the initiative came from at least one surprising source.

“This initiative couldn’t have come soon enough,” said the original Prince of Darkness, Satan, who wept openly at the press conference. Satan wore a “Nice try!” sticker, “If I’d had one of these way back when, things could have been different. A lot different.”

In the first phase of the initiative, angels were dispatched to Earth with hundreds of thousands of rolls of stickers. Whenever a human was “caught in the act” of doing something terrific, such as praying, helping another, reading the Bible, or working for peace, the angels were charged to present the human with a sticker. ...

A "news article" that is simultaneously hilarious as well as scathing commentary. Do go read it all. Not easy to pull off, but philangelus from Seven angels, three kids, one family does it perfectly. This just makes me even more interested in reading her new book, Seven Archangels: Annihilation.