I finally watched that dancing wedding video that everyone has been linking to and talking about

(One last thing before I duck out for Beyond Cana.)

You know the video I mean, I am sure.

I very much fear that I must concur with the dear late queen on this subject.

"We are not amused."

One might rather say that we are actually appalled, although it might perhaps been a fine entrance to the ballroom for one's celebration after the nuptial ceremony. However, as a prequel to the sacrament of marriage, we would eschew such a demonstration in favor of keeping the focus on the sacrament that the couple is about to bestow upon each other. In these occasions, less is more.

Cheers,
QV and HC

Gone Retreatin' (and preppin')

Tomorrow our parish's Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat begins. Tom and I are heavily involved in several aspects of this, both preparatory and presentational. I'll be out of touch until Monday or possibly Tuesday, depending on work, home, and everything.

For those who have sent me an email in the last couple of weeks to which I have not responded, I apologize. Vacation and retreat preparation have taken their toll. I will be linking and responding next week. Promise!

Any prayers offered for the success of the retreat will be much appreciated by everyone involved. Thanks y'all!

To Sit By An Open Window

To sit by an open window of a dark and quiet autumn night and hear in the sounds of distant traffic, the ebb and flow of the ocean (or the rushing water of a stream) is to displace oneself from all that is absolute, solid, identifiable and known, and to seek out the larger space that exists half in-reality and half in-perception. Half in heaven and half on earth. ...

Isn't that restful?

Read it all for a wonderful, meditative reflection from The Anchoress.

Believe it or not, I reference The Anchoress's writing fairly often in conversation. I have some friends who continually say that they don't like reading about politics so they don't read her blog.

I get it. I don't really care about reading about politics either.

However, by eschewing the whole, one misses these leaps that take us to another level spiritually. At least they take me there.

Even when writing about politics, one usually finds a The Anchoress exhibits greater spirit of charity than in the regular political writing. Sometimes she even combines politics and spiritual reflections. I know. Cool, right?

It's easy to skim the political writing in order to find the spiritual gems. Don't skip reading The Anchoress.

Oramus: For You We Pray

The essence of the Christian life is passing along God's love and blessings to those we find in our path. We love those with whom we live and work and play by sharing their daily lives, their joys and their trials. We love the needy in far off places through general prayer, and through contributions to those charities that aid them.

But how do we love and bless those in our own community that we do not know personally: those we see on the street, in the market, at the mall? Those who are well-dressed and well-fed, and in no obvious need? They, too, need the love and blessing of God. Some already have it; but what of those who do not know God? How, as Christians, can we love and bless them?

We Pray.

If asked, they would not accept our help; but through us they may receive the Lord's blessing. And some few might choose to ask what we are doing, and why; and perhaps they will learn to know God themselves.

This site really resonates with me. Perhaps because lately I have found myself looking at the faithful taking Communion while Thomas Merton's words echo through my head:

There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

I do not take credit to myself for the sometimes overwhelming waves of love I feel for all the wide variety of people filing before my eyes. I feel this is the Holy Spirit giving me just a little taste of Jesus' overwhelming love for all of us. It is a glorious thing.

Oramus also put me in mind of The Anchoress's reflection upon praying for strangers which also wound around Merton's statement.

Oramus also has a blog which says there will be occasional posting. I am inclined to think that if all they ever posted was the excellent reminder to anonymously pray for our neighbors then that would be enough. Perhaps, again, because that is what I often find myself doing, all based on that really good prayer which I wrote about some time ago: Lord have mercy on me and bless (name/that person). Praying for our neighbors is an extension of that idea but without the impetus of an annoyance to kick start the process.

I like it.

I like it a lot.

The Facts About Overpopulation and Why it is a Myth

Simplified of course. For the facts behind the video, go to Overpopulation is a Myth.

Found at American Papist.

In the News ... Catholic Style

For those who don't get their Catholic news anywhere else (yes, there actually are a few, including Tom).

20 Awesome Prolife Democrats and 2 Tremendous Phonies

Twenty Democrats in the House of Representatives joined all but 9 Republicans last week in voting to defund Planned Parenthood in an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to the Labor / HHS Appropriations Bill. The Amendment failed, but I'd like to share some information about these prolife Democrats, as well as some info on two betrayers who should have been among their number.

Catholic Key Blog, which I am liking more all the time, has the details.

Vatican defrocks key Medjugorje priest, threatens excommunication

In the decree of the Congregation [see circular 939/2008, dated 8 July 2008, from the Curia of Mostar] it was written that Fr. Vlašić was suspected of "heresy and schism" and accused of "spreading questionable doctrines, manipulation of consciences, suspect mysticism, disobedience to legitimate orders and violations contra sextum (against the sixth commandment, that is). This last accusation relates to an event in 1977 (therefore prior to the "apparitions"), already reported on the page "And the Gospa said, Thanks so much to Father Tomislav; he's guiding you so well." ...

The Holy Father, accepting the request of friar Tomislav Vlasic, O.F.M, member of the province of friars minor of St. Bernardino of Siena (L'Aquila), responsible for conduct harmful to ecclesial communion both in the spheres of doctrine and discipline, and under a censure of interdict, has granted him the favor of reduction to the lay state (amissio status clericalis) and of dismissal from the Order.

In addition, the Holy Father has granted the petitioner, motu proprio, the remission of the censure incurred as well as the favor of dispensation from religious vows and from all the responsibilities connected with sacred ordination, including celibacy.

It's all here. Via New Advent.

Pope confirms visit to Shroud of Turin; new evidence on shroud emerges

A recent study by French scientist Thierry Castex has revealed that on the shroud are traces of words in Aramaic spelled with Hebrew letters.

A Vatican researcher, Barbara Frale, told Vatican Radio July 26 that her own studies suggest the letters on the shroud were written more than 1,800 years ago.

She said that in 1978 a Latin professor in Milan noticed Aramaic writing on the shroud and in 1989 scholars discovered Hebrew characters that probably were portions of the phrase "The king of the Jews."

Castex's recent discovery of the word "found" with another word next to it, which still has to be deciphered, "together may mean 'because found' or 'we found,'" she said.

What is interesting, she said, is that it recalls a passage in the Gospel of St. Luke, "We found this man misleading our people," which was what several Jewish leaders told Pontius Pilate when they asked him to condemn Jesus.

She said it would not be unusual for something to be written on a burial cloth in order to indicate the identity of the deceased.

The whole scoop is here. Again via New Advent.

Back in the Groove

Back from the beach but not a lot to report.

We had a great time ... got to visit with Tom's many relatives ... were knocked around by very rough waves ... watched line after line after line of brown pelicans soar majestically overhead on their way to somewhere (I'm tellin' ya, they look just like pterodactyls when soaring overhead) ... got in the habit of doing a morning crossword puzzle (so much so that Tom bought his first app so he could get crosswords on his iTouch) ... ate fresh caught shark ... and I got a pair of flip flops that I love.

Now I am catching up at work and also getting ready for the Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat next weekend (where Tom and I will be the Spiritual Directors ... prayers appreciated!).

So I will be blogging some but it will continue lightly for the rest of the week ... most likely.

A Must-Read Book for Anyone Interested in Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love by Carl Anderson (Author), Eduardo Chavez

Although I usually pay scant attention to Marian apparitions, ever since I first was exposed to the importance of the symbolism in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I have been interested in her. Briefly, as In Conversation With God (Vol 7: Feast Days, July-December) sums up: The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego on Tepayac hill near Mexico City on the 9th of December 1531 to ask for the construction of a church there in her honour. After the miraculous cure of his uncle, Bernardo, this Indian peasant brought to his Bishop some roses that he received from Our Lady as a sign of her request. As the flowers fell from his cloak to the ground before the astonished Prelate, the image of the blessed virgin, which is venerated in the Basilica of Guadalupe to this day, was miraculously impressed on the simple garment before their eyes.

For the full scoop, you really must read this fascinating book which I was lucky enough to receive thanks to Random House. This book helped me see not only how well Our Lady spoke to the Indians in the past but also how she continues to carry a message of love, unity and hope for us today. Authors Carl Anderson, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Knights of Columbus, and Father Eduardo Chavez, one of the most renowned experts on the Guadalupe apparitions, trace the history of the apparition and explore her as an important catalyst for modern religious and cultural transformation.

What has impressed me most is how completely every bit of symbolism was tailored to speak to the Indians of the time. Here is an example.

After introducing herself, the Virgin revealed the reason for her appearance:

I want very much that they build my sacred little house here, in which I will show Him, I will exalt Him on making Him manifest, I will give Him to all people in all my personal love, Him that is my compassionate gaze, Him that is my help, Him that is my salvation. Because truly I am your compassionate Mother, yours and that of all the people that live together in this land, and also of all the other various lineages of men, those who love me, those who cry to me, those who seek me, those who trust in me.

The Virgin then explained to Juan Diego how she needed him to deliver her message to Friar Juan de Zumarraga, the head of the church in New Spain.

Within the context of European Catholicism, the first apparition makes poignantly clear the Virgin Mary's universal role as mother and her desire to bring all people closer to God through her loving intercession. Less obvious, though no less significant, is what the Virgin's request for the construction of a chapel would have meant to a learned Indian. For the Aztecs, the temple was more than a religious building and the establishment of a temple was more than a ceremonial religious occasion. So central was religion to Aztec culture that the temple was seen as the foundation of society. Historically, the construction of a new temple marked the inauguration of a new civilization. In fact, the Aztecs built the Templo Mayor in the years immediately following their migration to the Valley of Mexico, and the common Aztec glyph, or pictogram, for a conquered people was the depiction of a temple toppling over, sometimes in flames. Thus the Virgin's commission to Juan Diego was rich in meaning far beyond the construction of a building, and was made richer still by the fact that it had been given to an Indian.

This scholarly but accessible book has so very much more fascinating information that I am going to do a series of excerpts to help give you a sense of the book. I'll list them at the bottom of the review as they are posted. Especially interesting to those who have read much about Our Lady of Guadalupe will be the appendices which include a transcription of Juan Diego's testimony about his encounters with Mary.

My one criticism of the book is that there isn't a good reproduction of the image on the tilma in the book for us to use in considering all the symbolism being explained. The best image is on the cover and is mostly covered by the title and other such information. I encourage you to seek out an image to put with the book so you really appreciate the information being shared by the authors. However, that is one oversight in an otherwise excellent book. I am not quite finished but wanted to get this review out there as it is being published August 4.

Highly recommended.

Additional excerpts:

• More Than Flowers

One Last Thing, On the Way Out the Door ...

Reading Carolina Cannonball's announcement that she will be dropping her "Papist only" consideration of men to date, all I could think was, well it's about time.

If my husband had only dated Catholics I might still be a single agnostic wondering "what's it all about" as I wandered looking for my soul mate. It took marriage to this good man and God's use of our children to bring me to knowledge of Him and then of His Bride, the Church.

For all any single Catholic knows, God's been waiting for you to open your eyes to the fact that your true love is just waiting for conversion in addition to meeting their soul mate. I would think this is true for anyone whose faith is strong, just as is Carolina Cannonball's.

Zoe Has Met the Anti-Christ and It Was in the Kitchen

We couldn't help but notice Zoe's bad habit of hopping up to put her front legs on the kitchen counter and look around for anything tasty. Of course, we've been discouraging her, but the trick has possibly been done for us this morning while we were still abed.

She came racing in past our bed, ears back, tail tucked, to hide in the back of Tom's side of the bathroom. Investigation showed that the bottom of the salad spinner which had been securely lodged atop the dish drainer was now on the floor. Oh yes ... bad dog!

I showed her the instrument of doom later in the morning only to have her back away, nervously saying, "Hey man, let's not do anything we can't take back. Just put the spinner down ... "

I like it when the household utensils stick up for proper behavior.

Going to Galveston

Hence the latest watery theme for the blog.

However, I'll be leaving a few tidbits to pop up for y'all during the week. A few quotes, a little art, some other good blogs you might not know about.

I'll be around some although my challenge to myself is to see how long I can unplug. Which might be a real challenge considering that I have a few book reviews I want to do as well as some writing I promised to someone else. I can hand write all this in a notebook but somehow it never flows the way that typing into a computer does. So we shall see ...

Culture Crash ... Picking Up the Pieces Requires Sacrifice

With the Beyond Cana marriage retreat coming up, naturally marriage is much on my mind. My marriage (thankfully always good, in fact now the best it has ever been), marriages in distress for which I pray, and our culture's problems with marriage in general.

It is therefore very timely that Heather at CraftLit (podcast)brought up this Atlantic Monthly article with a good deal of dismay and not a little bewilderment. Heather is not naive. She understands what makes a good marriage and what makes them fall apart. It is the author's irreverent attitude perhaps that is bewildering. Entitled "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," the subhead reads merrily, "The author is ending her marriage. Isn’t it time you did the same?"

It is the ultimate modern viewpoint. Shallow and selfish. The exact opposite of what a good, not to mention sacramental, marriage is all about.

DarwinCatholic makes many of the points that I have already thought of so I will let you read it there. If you don't want to read the entire article, and it is very long, then just go to Darwin's place. He points out the salient parts for you to read.

Luckily, we need not despair because that is not a view that everyone has in the modern world. Here is an excellent piece from the equally excellent Art of Manliness blog: DIY Marriage Counseling. Please do go read it. And, of course, here's a bit to whet your appetite.

As it turns out, this bootstrapping mentality is not such a bad idea. A recent study found that reading research-based articles together as a couple, and applying the advice from those articles to your relationship was just as effective as attending a workshop or seminar.1 If you’re having serious problems in your marriage, you may need to see a therapist, but if you’re marriage simply needs some tuning up, here are some diy basics to read over with your spouse and start applying to your relationship.

Banish the Four Horsemen of Divorce

Dr. John Gottman, Ph.D. has been studying marriages in a lab at the University of Washington for 20 years. While many people think that what makes a happy or unhappy marriage is somewhat mysterious and divorce is hard to predict, he can watch a couple interact for only a few hours and then forecast with 91% accuracy whether or not they’ll end up divorcing. He’s not a fortune teller; he simply looks for telltale signs in the way the couple interacts and handles their disagreements. Those that display what he calls the “four horseman of the apocalypse” have a high likelihood for divorce. If a couple can identify and rectify these behaviors, the marriage can often be saved. So let’s take a look at what the four horsemen are.

Three More Chapters of Uncle Tom's Cabin ...

... for those UTC addicts out there, and they do exist, here is a long 'un with three chapters for you. In which we say goodbye to Eva ... wait, just let me get my hanky out ... ok, let's go ...

By the way, we've got a couple of spots open in our Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat

It was full but as there have been a few who can't make it, as always happens when a couple is trying to arrange a weekend away from home.

If you're interested, the details are here (ignore the "full" notice ... we haven't had a chance to change it yet). This close to the retreat, it is open to nonparishioners as everyone from St. Thomas has had several months to sign up. Tom and I can testify that it has been a wonderful help to our marriage, which was already good to begin with.

Joshua: Staying Faithful to God

Continuing my reading of Joshua (begun here). I like the fact that Joshua has had the same choices in essence that we do still in our modern lives. Listen to God, do what He wants, and live ... or serve other gods and die. Some like Joshua perform spectacular feats while others of us live more anonymously, but it all boils down to that same choice made repeatedly.

... What Joshua has to say is very moving and it contains a message which is virtually the same as the one God gave him when Moses died (cf. 1:1-19)--an invitation to trust in the Lord and do everything his Law lays down. Promises and threats criss-cross in Joshua's insistence that the people must stay faithful to God if they are to retain the land he has given them. It is a very urgent exhortation--for those who heard it, and for Israelites at later times, particularly during the difficult test of the exile.

Joshua's own life was guided by that message. To start with, God gave him his instructions. Then as events unfolded Joshua could see for himself that what God said was indeed true: the Lord scattered enemies in his presence; he gave the people the promised land, and did everything he said he would. Joshua saw for himself that God gave success to those who did his bidding, and this made him keener still to be faithful to the Lord. ...

In the fullest way possible something similar happened with Jesus, whose life was a continuous striving to identify with his Father's will; from his infancy (cf. Lk 2:49) to the cross, what nourished him was doing the will of the One who sent him: "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Lk 22:42). And thus we see St. Paul placing Christ's example before all Christians: "Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, [...] humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him" (Phil 2:5-6, 8-9). That is also the route that Christ's followers should take--listening to his word and going along with the plans he has for each. Assimilating and putting this message into practice makes life meaningful. And one experiences the effectiveness of God's help, the more one bears witness of it to others.

Joshua 23:1-16
The Navarre Bible, Joshua - Kings

This finishes my journey through Joshua though I'll be beginning 2nd Peter soon and will share what I find there with y'all.

I never would have thought of this but the Senator makes an excellent point

We now record fetal heartbeats at 14 days post-conception. We record fetal brainwaves at 39 days post-conception. And I don’t expect you to answer this, but I do expect you to pay attention to it as you contemplate these big issues. We have this schizophrenic rule of the law where we have defined death as the absence of those, but we refuse to define life as the presence of those.

Sen.Tom Coburn,
speaking to Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor,
confirmation hearing, July 15, 2009

Via The Anchoress.

Literary Monster Mash-ups

Though I don't find myself drawn to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which began this trend or the above pictured combo, these upcoming titles do make me laugh.

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter – subtitled She Loved Her Country; She Hated Demons - and I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas. "Marley was dead. Again," says its publisher Orion. "Will the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future be able to stop the world from drowning under a top-hatted and crinolined zombie horde?"

Who better to have alerted us to this trend than The Daily Kraken who doubtless is delighted at seeing his fellow monsters get their day in the sun.

Update:
Nick kindly came by to point out the trailer ... which I absconded with after laughing my head off.

Stir-Fried Spinach

Take a forkful over at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Critique in Haiku

Not exactly challenged by Mike Aquilina, nevertheless I was intrigued by his joke that the next step after my short WSJ letter was ... haiku.

Here goes nuttin':

Author shows bad thought
Expecting road map from pope
Truth is in our hearts

From Aaron to Zuzim, It's Covered in This Catholic Concordance

Update: This post has only been showing about half the actual entry. If it didn't make much sense when you first dropped by please give it another look-see.

I am truly impressed by this concordance. The editors' goal was to make it accessible to everyone and it seems as if they hit their goal, since I would be the "everyday Jane" who has never seen a concordance until this one landed on my doorstep. In fact, I had to look up the definition of a concordance to see how well this book did or didn't match expectations: "an alphabetical index of the principal words in a book or the works of an author with their immediate contexts."

Here is an example so you can see how a listing looks. Keep in mind that the main word is indicated with the capital letter that begins the word. You'll see what I mean here...

HANGS (3)
Job 26:7 over the void, and H the earth upon nothing
Is 33:23 Your tackle H loose; it cannot hold the mast
Gal 3:13 be every one who H on a tree" --

This is a really short listing. The longest one that Tom and I found was for "King" which took 47 pages. Yes, you read that right. 47 pages.

It seems exhaustively researched and will be a true asset for anybody who needs a good way to look up words and cross-references in the Bible. The books and verse references for each word are easy to see and it is actually pretty interesting to find places where a particular word is used frequently that we might not expect. In this way, it opens up the Bible to the casual browser as well as the serious researcher. This is the first and only concordance for the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition of the Bible.

Features:

• An alphabetical listing of every word in the RSV-CE
• Over 15,000 words and 300,000 entries
• Entries show context for easy comparison of verses
• Passages listed for both the first and second editions of the RSV-CE
• Allows swift location of passages on any topic