So That's What's Wrong with the American Church

A good article from Russell Shaw about the problem of clericalism in the Church. He does define it partway into the article, but for those who, like me, haven't got a clue I will provide the definition that broke the article open for me:

Main Entry:
cler·i·cal·ism
Pronunciation:
\ˈkler-i-kə-ˌli-zəm, ˈkle-ri-\
Function:
noun
Date:
1864
: a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy

I just love Merriam-Webster online don't you?

Now go check out that article!

Ever Seen the Message in a Movie? – New Catholic Website Launches

This new site is just my cup of tea. Mark has thoughtful essays that look below the surface of movies to give us insights into the bigger picture. Y'all know that I love that because it is what makes movies into art that stretches our souls instead of simply entertaining us.

A new Catholic website, SoulFoodCinema, launches today with the aim of educating and evangelising through the medium of the movies.

Soulfoodcinema differs from other faith and film websites, in that the focus is on providing education and insights for those that are curious after having watched a film, rather than providing extensive ratings and reviews for those that are curious before watching a film.

Managing Editor Mark Banks is keen to remind people that the worldwide film industry now produces hundreds of films each year that can primarily be described as ‘character studies’, and says that these films, whether we are aware of it or not, are all communicating a message to us, either implicitly or explicitly, on how to lead our lives. In such a world Mark believes it important that Catholics filled with the Holy Spirit and a love for Jesus Christ, use their wisdom, knowledge and discernment to understand these messages and to communicate them to as wide an audience as possible; especially amongst young people. For this reason Soulfoodcinema enables readers to contribute essays on one of over 700 films already viewed by the Managing Editor, which can then be published on the internet.

Soulfoodcinema also features weekly updates of links to news stories in the field of faith and film, as well as a community chat room dedicated to discussing all aspects of the movies from a Catholic-Christian point of view.

Through his letter to the Romans Saint Paul reminds us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will" (12:2). Mark asks that Catholics pray Soulfoodcinema will assist the Church in doing just that.

Worth a Thousand Words

Indian Blanket

Shown by permission. For more of Qiang-Huang's art, click on the title link.

"We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

The results of Gov. Sarah Palin's prenatal testing were in, and the doctor's tone was ominous: "You need to come to the office so we can talk about it."

Palin, known for a resolve that quickly launched her from suburban hockey mom to a player on the national political stage, said, "No, go ahead and tell me over the phone."

The physician replied, Down syndrome," stunning the Republican governor, who had just completed what many political analysts called a startling first year in office.

[...]

The doctor's announcement in December, when Palin was four months pregnant, presented her with a possible life- and career-changing development.

"I've never had problems with my other pregnancies, so I was shocked," said Palin, a mother of four other children.

"It took a while to open up the book that the doctor gave me about children with Down syndrome, and a while to log on to the Web site and start reading facts about the situation."

The 44-year-old governor waited a few days before telling her husband, Todd, who was out of town, so she could understand what was ahead for them.

Once her husband got the news, he told her: "We shouldn't be asking, 'Why us?' We should be saying, 'Well, why not us?'"

There was never any doubt the Palins would have the child, and on April 18 she gave birth to Trig Paxon Van Palin.

[...]

Read the entire AP Press story here

An inspirational story that I have been meaning to mention. Kudos to the Palins.

Thank You Blogger for the "Scheduled" Feature

Blogger has added a feature that I have long desired. Until now, if you wanted to set up a post ahead of time, it had to stay in "draft" mode and be manually published. Meaning that you had to remember to go and make it show up on your blog at the right time.

However, this weekend I was prepping the remaining Holy Spirit Novena posts and inadvertently pushed "publish post" instead of "save" for something later in the week. Imagine my delight when I hastily went to unpublish it and found instead that it was listed as "scheduled."

Ahhhh, it's the little things in life that make it wonderful sometimes.

Thank you Blogger!

I'll be on Fausta's blog talk radio next Tuesday ...

... chatting with her and Siggy about a subject I know nothing about but have strong opinions about (so what else is new?). Art.

Wow, am I busy right now!

So I'll leave you with three fun things I found at Mental Floss blog a while ago but never had time to post ... a little something for everyone.

Five Superhero and Supervillain Origins ... including my favorite superhero, Batman.

Canaletto's Entrance to the Arsenal ... six interesting pieces of information about the painting and the artist.

What's the Connection Between Dalmatians and Firehouses? ... I'll give you a hint. It's immensely practical.

Thank You Anne Rice

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana
by Anne Rice

[Jesus speaking to the devil in the desert]

"Those aren't your nations," I said. "The kingdoms of this world aren't yours. They never were."

"Of course they're mine," he said. It was almost a hiss. "I am the ruler of this world and I always have been. I am its Prince."

"No," I said. "None of it belongs to you. It never has."

"Worship me," he said gently, beguilingly, "and I will show you what is mine. I will give you the victory of which your prophets sang."

"The Lord on High is the One whom I worship, and no one else," I said. "You know this, you know it with every lie you speak. And you, you rule nothing and you never have." I pointed. "Look down, yourself on this perspective that is so dear to you. Think of the thousands upon thousands who rise each day and go to sleep without ever thinking evil or doing evil, whose hearts are set upon their wives, their husbands, their fathers and mothers, their children, upon the harvest and the spring rain and the new wine and the new moon. Think of them in every land and every language, think of them as they hunger for the Word of God even where there is no one to give it to them, how they reach out for it, and how they turn from pain and misery and injustice, no matter what you would have them do!"

"Liar!" he said. He spit the word at me.

"Look at them, use your powerful eyes to see them everywhere around you," I said. "Use your powerful ears to hear their cheerful laughter, their natural songs. Look far and wide to find them coming together to celebrate the simple feasts of life from the deepest jungle to the great snowbound heights. What makes you think you rule these people! What, that one may falter, and another stumble, and someone in confusion fail to love as he has striven to do, or that some evil minion of yours can convulse the masses for a month of riot and ruin? Prince of this world!"

"I'd laugh at you if you weren't unspeakable. You're the Prince of the Lie. And this is the lie: that you and the Lord God are equal, locked in combat with one another. That has never been so!"

He was near petrified with fury.

"You stupid, miserable little village prophet!" he said. "They'll laugh you out of Nazareth."

"It is the Lord God who rules," I said, "and He always has. You are nothing, and you have nothing and rule nothing. Not even your minions share with you in your emptiness and in your rage."

He was red faced, and speechless.

If I were to excerpt all the sections that presented new, stirring, and inspiring ways to consider Jesus as fully human and fully God, I would have to include about two-thirds of this book. Time and again I was astounded at Anne Rice's mastery of delicate subtlety in conveying a truth in her meditation of Christ among us as he comes to his ministry.

Some reviewers have mentioned their difficulties with various aspects of events portrays in village life such as a stoning or of Jesus' attraction to a local maiden. However, for me these were believable incidents. Perhaps that is because I was prepared by having read Two From Galilee by Marjorie Holmes long ago in my truth-seeking days. I enjoyed that book, and the sequel as well, but those books contain nothing near the power and insight that Rice has when conveying Jesus to us in everyday life. I especially enjoyed the contrast between his tendency to "hang back," as his relatives termed it, while still being able to love and appreciate the people around him. Even when being chewed out by a fellow villager, Jesus can still appreciate the beauty with which the enraged fellow gesture. This gives us the feeling that he can always find something to love in his fellow man, even when we would not under similar circumstances.

The vivid contrast between "hanging back" and his sudden assertive command after baptism is definite and startling. We see this emerge in the way Jesus speaks with the devil in the desert and then later when he is asserting that the Messiah is working in time to bring God to everyone. One gets a sense that in Jesus' complete trust and willingness to do God's will, that he is becoming fully "himself" and all is becoming clear to him on the journey.

Rice's writing is so masterful that readers may need to remind themselves that these are personal meditations of Jesus' life. She makes remarkably few false steps and these are not a matter of lacking adherence to the truth as much as when her personal meditation may not match step with those of the reader.

It is no secret that I did not enjoy the first book in this series (Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt), as the midrash felt false and forced to me. Therefore, I was stunned but quite pleased to find this book such a personal revelation of inspiration for my own meditations on Jesus. Anne rice has given us a treasure if we use it wisely. Personally I can tell you that it will be going into my regular rotation of meditative reading to provide ongoing food for thought.

I wish I could write as good a review as this book deserves. I cannot. All I can do is to exhort you to read it for yourself. And, of course, to thank Anne Rice for sharing her talent in this area.

Highest recommendation.

Superhero Highlight: Backwards Man

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

Backwards Man

Power: Ability to do anything backwards

Backstory: As a teenager, Backwards Man was quite the ladies’ man. He was always out on the town, looking for a good time. Backwards Man was rather reckless in his youth, and, more than once, was known to keep a lass out past curfew, sometimes by a whole fifteen minutes. One day, however, he trifled with the wrong ethnicity. Backwards Man became enamored with Gina Gerina, the daughter of local gypsy family, so he took her out on a date, which was the style at the time. Wild and irresponsible as ever, Backwards Man took no notice of the time until it was TOO LATE. They arrived back at her caravan at 9:13, a whole THIRTEEN MINUTES past curfew! The gypsies, notorious for their family loyalties and wrathful curses, bestowed one of their most feared curses upon him: he was fated to do all things BACKWARDS. Thus was Backwards Man created! Having been forcibly shown the error of his ways, Backwards Man decided to give up his life of foolishness and began to use his powers to help those less fortunate.

Cover: Mild-mannered racecar driver (and a handsome racecar driver at that)

Cover name: Roger Richardson

Partner: The Queen Bee

Introduction to partner: One day when Backwards Man was minding his own business, walking backwards in the park, he noticed an inordinate amount of bees in the vicinity. He chalked up this odd situation to the blooming of the wildflowers. Had he been more concerned with his surroundings, he may have actually tried looking around for a source of the bees and seen The Queen Bee watching him. Because Backwards Man is pretty dense, he did not actually notice that he was being followed for a large number of weeks. It seemed as though he would never figure out that The Queen Bee ever existed. One day, however, he decided foolishly to mix things up and actually try walking forwards. This proved impossible, and he fell immediately. The Queen Bee helped him onto his feet, and the rest is history. However, since it is not the history that is widely known, I’ll let you know that they got married and started fighting crime together.

Archnemesis: The police, since they do not appreciate people driving backwards.
==========
Next superhero feature coming: The Lincolnator

Worth a Thousand Words

"The Ermine Portrait" of Elizabeth I, 1585, by Nicholas Hilliard

Happy Birthday, Dear Tom!

That is not a photo of my cake but it looks as if chocoholic Tom would like it ... so we'll see how close I can get to reproducing it with Chocolate Buttermilk Cake and Chocolate Malt Frosting.

Happy Birthday to my dear and darling husband!

Thank You St. Francis and St. Anthony!

For your intercessory prayers ...

Unto us a prodigal daughter has been returned ... after over 24 hours disappearance in the wilds of outdoors, after Rose walked the streets for over an hour yesterday seeking and not finding ...

... this morning she opened the door to the garage and in bounded our wayward cat, Truffles, with her tail held high.

As if we hadn't each looked in that garage many times!

However, no matter where that silly cat was, she is home and all is forgiven. Whew!

Superhero Highlight: The Candy Man

Continuing the stories of superheroes devised by Hannah and Jenny (more about that can be found here as well as the first description)

The Candy Man

Power: Causing candy to explode at the touch of his hand
Back-story: As a child, The Candy Man was never allowed to partake in the delectable confections more commonly known as candy (and handsome candy at that). The inner angst caused by the deprivation of such treats caused anger to fester inside of him for years. The Candy Man committed a youthful indiscretion, however, when he gave into a whimsical lark, deciding to finally have his fill of confectionery delights. However, when his hand first touched the colored, candy-coating of a peanut M&M, all the pent up anger of his childhood years surged through him, causing the small, chocolate-covered peanut to explode. After being released from the emergency room, where his third degree hand burns were treated, he realized the awesome power that was now his and committed the next fourteen years to the honing of his skills. Now that his anger had a productive outlet, he was able to finally hold down a day job, but spent his nights as THE CANDY MAN, serving up sweet justice to the city’s most dastardly of villains.

Cover: Overenthusiastic bathroom attendant (and a handsome bathroom attendant at that)

Cover name: Brett Bretterson

Partner: The String

Introduction to partner: After hearing the distressed calls of those that would soon be deprived of *awful candy* The Candy Man entered a neighborhood candy shoppe to foil the thievery attempts of a dangerous pack of sugar-crazed miscreants. The Candy Man threw wave after wave of jelly beans and sour worms at the hooligans until he heard their cowardly cries of retreat. Upon leaving the now charred and battered candy shoppe, a young dentist, picket sign in hand and floss at his side, began to follow him. After countless attempts to rid himself of this young oral hygiene activist, whom he learned was called The String, proved fruitless, The Candy Man decided to use this nuisance to his advantage. After receiving many a free dental checkup, a dynamic duo was formed, and they have been ridding their fair town of evil and plaque ever since.

Archnemesis: Mortimer Matlock, his number one competition in the world of bathroom attending
==========
Next superhero feature coming: Backwards Man.

Worth a Thousand Words

'Chin Chin Kobakama'
Published by Takezirou Hasegawa in 1925.

Just a couple of the many delightful samples of Japanese Crepe Paper Fairy Tales found at BibliOdyssey.

Watch the Skies...

... or more accurately your in-box. Tor Books is promoting their new website with a free audiobook download a week as well as some other nice things. Via Sci Fi Catholic.

Something new is coming.

A science fiction and fantasy site not quite like any you’ve seen before, mixing news, commentary, original stories and art, your own comments and conversations, and more. A place on the net you may find yourself wanting to visit—and participate in—every day.

Once you register, you’ll receive our newsletter and a link to download a digital book, as well as free wallpapers from bestselling and award-winning SF and fantasy authors and artists. And you’ll receive a link to another new book, and new wallpapers, every week. Additionally, you’ll be entered in our Watch The Skies Sweepstakes to win the very cool Asus Galaxy EEE mobile PC.*

Our current free book is Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder. Next week’s book will be Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest.

So sign up. Stay in touch. And watch the skies.

Worth a Thousand Words

From Flickr Doors Pool. Originally uploaded by dicktay2000

Doesn't this look like a storybook doorway?

Nick, I lost your email ...

Someone named Nick sent me an email about priests and a prolife site ... and I have lost it.

Please email me again!

More Annhiliation Reviews

March Hare gives it 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks over at Catholic Media Review.

My pal Owen sent an email with his wife's review:

I really enjoyed the book - it was well written, I enjoyed the humour, lots of twists, a good attempt at making the angelic relationships and characters strong... I would rate it as very, very good but not exceptional - as in, I was able to put it down without feeling like I had to tear myself apart.

I concur. If you missed my review, you can read it here.

Juno: The "Indie" Movie for People Who Never Watch Indie Movies

We saw Juno this weekend. It was ok.

Like Little Miss Sunshine (which I enjoyed more than I did Juno) it was a "mainstream" indie-style movie that I imagine seemed unique and fresh to people who don't venture beyond regular Hollywood movies.

The acting was great. The directing was great.

It was the screenplay I objected to ... that Oscar winning screenplay. As Tom pointed out, there were no real conflicts. Everything was solved too easily. Juno spent more time being flip and glib than anything and I found it profoundly annoying until the last third of the movie, when we were finally allowed some sort of insight into various characters.

Yes, it was pro-life. Go team. However, the baby essentially acts as a catalyst to get everyone to examine their relationships.

If you want a better movie, a real indie movie that makes points about people and relationships in a much more real way (albeit without any impending baby), rent Eagle vs. Shark.

Worth a Thousand Words

The Sari by Karin Jurick

Click through on the title link to see more of her work.