Subliminal Messages ... for Anyone Interested in Catholic New Media

Pat Gohn ... that gal can always make me laugh. Check it Pat's subliminal message and take advantage of those extra tickets that are available.

9/11, Our Choices, and Making a Stand

My 9/11 reflections which somehow (or perhaps inevitably) led me to thinking about Stephen King's classic, The Stand. Read it at Patheos in my A Free Mind column.

Don't Forget the Book Giveaway!

Just leave a comment to be entered for the "Living the Call" giveaway.

Click through for details.

Viper by John Desjarlais

It was five years ago.

At that time, like every time, Selena saw right away why he called himself La Serpiente, The Snake.

For one thing, he wore rattlesnake-skin boots with the steel toes that Bragg and her Anglo colleagues at Drug Enforcement sneeringly called "Fence Climbers." When he crossed his sinewy legs and swung his foot, the tip glinted.

For another, his unmoving onyx eyes fixed on her cleavage -- not all that uncommon when she met men -- but that gaze was not measuring her size. It was calculating a striking distance. She averted her eyes to the side, a demure Mexican custom she hadn't lost through acculturation. Locking eyes is also how snakes paralyze their prey. She wouldn't give him the pleasure.

Viper is the sequel to Bleeder, which featured Reed Stubblefield's story, but it functions well enough as a stand-alone thriller. Selena loves sexy shoes, working on cars, and Reed, although his Anglo heritage makes her worry about introducing him to the family. Abruptly, her past as a Special Agent in the DEA comes back to haunt her when she learns that La Serpiente is back. Her name's been found on a list where the only way off is when you are killed.

Viper immerses the reader in Hispanic culture as Selena deals with family problems as well as the more thrilling ones that threaten her life. The Catholic culture is less obvious although it is still important to Selena's life and to solving the mystery. Luckily for readers, Desjarlais navigates both well.

Viper is enjoyable although I found Selena's immersion in her culture made the story a bit one-dimensional. I'd have liked seeing her interact with others from outside the Hispanic or DEA community. That said, I found Viper an enjoyable thriller and am hoping there will be a third book where we get to see Selena and Reed together.

Better Book Titles: Mein Kampf

I found Better Book Titles through Books on the Nightstand podcast. The concept is simple. As creator Dan Wilbur puts it:

This blog is for people who do not have thousands of hours to read book reviews or blurbs or first sentences. I will cut through all the cryptic crap, and give you the meat of the story in one condensed image. Now you can read the greatest literary works of all time in mere seconds!

Language warning for some titles ... so beware if that is a problem for you.

The cleverest, though, manage without bad language. As we can see...

Adolph Hitler: Mein Kampf
Reader Submission: Title by comedian Tyler Snodgrass

AttackWatch: Are We Positive This Isn't an Onion Ad?

AttackWatch

I'm still not sure it isn't. It has parody written all over it.

But now I see that Strange Herring has written President Obama an open letter on the subject.

I see that you have launched AttachWatch.com in an effort to fight off lies, smears, and misrepresentations of your policies. Far be it from me to mock such a noble enterprise, as some are doing.

But we know who they are, don’t we?

And if we don’t, I do.

How much is it worth to you?

I will deliver the names, addresses, email accounts, and phone numbers of several hundred thousand men, women, and children who I know for a certain fact have cast aspersions in your general direction — which, if not a crime, should at least be a misdemeanor, given that you probably just had the carpets cleaned.

There's more and it's all funny ... though still not as funny as that AttackWatch thing.

Though I suppose saying so is going to get me turned in on some list. Is this a great country or what?

Spicy Cajun Shrimp

Lip smacking good ... get it over at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Asking a Favor ... of any fellow Magnificat readers out there

There was a fantastic quote about the crucifix featured at the bottom of  the saint profile for either yesterday or the day before. It was from a saint I'm not familiar with ... and I tore it out (as is my way ... yes, I'm a de-constructor). But then I lost it.

If anyone could look it up and tell me what it was I'd be soooooo verrrrrrry grateful!

Thank you, Ginny!

She thoughtfully included both Monday's and Tuesday's great quotes in the comments. It is Tuesday's that is going straight into my quote journal:

Oh, what a great book for us is the cross! It is a summarization of the apologetics of our faith, a practical knowledge for our moral life, and the most tender lesson of love that the Lord has shown.

St. Gaspar del Bufalo

New Blog: The Catholic Gene

I myself am not into tracking back family history but Tom has certainly gotten some interesting information through through the Ancestry.com membership I gave him for Christmas.

For example, my family (Austin) had an actual, real-live Puritan come over in 1638 (or some equally outrageous long ago time). Crazy! And fascinating!

For those who are interested in tracking their Catholic family history, here is a new blog that is good looking and well written ... The Catholic Gene. Donna, obviously a pro at genealogy, tells us:

I've had a genealogy blog for several years called What's Past is Prologue. Recently I saw a need in the blogosphere for information on genealogy as it pertains to Catholics in particular. I rounded up a group of some of the best genealogy bloggers out there - who also happen to (happily) be Catholic. Thus, a new blog was born. May I present The Catholic Gene!

The Catholic Gene was founded by a diverse group of friends who share two common things: a love for both genealogical research and the Roman Catholic faith. Most of the authors were “born Catholic” and some came to the faith later in life. Some aren’t actually Catholic but appreciate the faith as much as the rest of us. We hope that this blog will provide readers with useful information about the Catholic faith and genealogy.

The Catholic Gene’s mission is to present various aspects of the faith of our fathers…and mothers. But we’re genealogists at heart, so we’ll present the faith as seen through the eyes of a family historian. Whether its details about ecclesiastical archives, profiles of religious, our ancestors’ churches, vintage photographs, personal reflections, or lives of the saints in genealogical records, The Catholic Gene will offer something for everyone interested in
researching their Roman Catholic family or learning more about all things related to the Church.

Drop by and say hello ... and check out all the info!

Bad Dog: A Love Story by Martin Kihn

Lorena leaves me with a handout titled "The Rules of Passive Dominance," which begins: "Ignoring attention-seeking behaviors is the highest form of dominance."

The highest form?

Attention seeking: Grabbing shoes and making you chase her. Soft sweet cries and I say, "What's wrong, Hola, you hungry doll?" Poke and pet, roll over and rub reflexively, even yelling "Drop!" when she's got our neighbor's kid's sandal in her mouth, shaking it like a squirrel that's dead enough already.

Negative or positive--it's all attention seeking.

What she lives for.

"Her job is to train you," Lorena had said. "She's better at her job than you are because she is more focused. It's all she thinks about."

Hola's toolbox consists of annoying me until I do what she wants.

Which I always do.

Why?

Because it's annoying, that's why.

And if I don't?

Drama queen.

She'll collapse on the floor like a character in Gossip Girl tossing her Fendi bag onto the davenport.

Now I'm seeing her behaviors through a new frame. Her whining isn't an existential scripture on the brevity of life. The way she pokes her head and makes me pet her isn't a rhapsody on the mutability of love.

No, the new hermeneutics is that she's a spoiled kid throwing tantrums just to get her way. The more I look at her I see she is in a state of perpetual tantrum. She makes spoiled kids look evolved.

How can I have been so wrong for so long?

Ignorance is an expensive occupation.

Martin Kihn was a high-functioning alcoholic, although very few knew it. Like many alcoholics he was expert at hiding the signs. One who loved him wasn't fooled though, and that was his dog, Hola. Untrained and unruly, she exhibited increasingly bad behavior up to the point of threatening his wife.

Martin had been told that his dog reflected his behavior. However, it took his wife, Gloria, leaving to make him take it seriously enough to pursue obedience training. This set him on a a journey of exploration which resulted not only in learning about a variety of dog training philosophies but in healing self-discovery.

Petra Ford opens a door in my heart: she shows me that dog training is a form of art and an act of love. I've never seen two beings listen so carefully to each other or care so much. I think of Gloria. I think of Hola.

Humility is not thinking less of myself. It is thinking of myself less.

I enjoyed this book for the dog training overviews, especially since that technique that worked best for Hola is the one we've had to use in our household of four dogs. I also liked the glimpses that Martin shared about his dawning realization that God ... or as he terms it "HP" for Higher Power ... is out there, reaching out to him all the time. These glimpses are few and subtle so readers who are turned off by such content don't need to worry that they will detract from the story.

Overall, this is the story of a man and his dog and how they helped each other to a more fulfilled life. Recommended.

That night I take an exhausted Hola on a slow walk through a darkening forest, over ruts in the track from horses and ATVs.

We look up at the clouds so close I can almost touch them, and I receive a wordless message from HP.

I need to stop wishing my dog is something else.

I need to stop wishing I was someone else.

This feels like just the first step of the first awakening.

But still, it's the first.

Movie Driveby: Up in the Air, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Most people have heard of these movies, or so it seems to me. Certainly the number of people urging me to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind seem legion. So I'll keep it brief.

• Up in the Air: George Clooney plays a corporate downsizer Ryan Bingham who flies 325,000 miles a year. His isolated life becomes challenged by proposed business changes, a young woman he is training, and a romantic interest he encounters. I was stunned by how good this movie is. Not only does it suddenly change course when you think you are comfortably ensconced in a predictable plot, but George Clooney shows that he really can act superbly when he is cast in something that requires it. He communicated more in several moments of silence than many other actors could with pages of dialogue. My grade: A+.
  
  
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Emotionally withdrawn Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and unhinged free spirit Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) are inexplicably drawn to each other, despite their very different personalities. When the relationship goes downhill, they each individually visit a doctor who has found the technology allowing them to erase each other from their memories. This beautifully illustrates why we need the bad with the good and how we can't just cover up (or erase) the memories we don't like. Director Michael Gondry did as many special effects as possible on set, as is his wont, and that is quite impressive. I was distinctly upset by a spot in the middle of the movie where Joel is trying to keep his memories and the technical assistants are frolicking around his unconscious body. It put me in mind of Being John Malkovich, another famous movie by Charlie Kaufman, who wrote this one, which was not a favorable memory for me. Also ... let's face it ... Jim Carrey was much too old to date Kate Winslet. Period. However, they pulled it off ok. My grade: B.

Updated: Book Giveaway! "Living the Call" by Michael Novak and William E. Simon

Never before in the history of the Church have laypeople been asked to do so much and the opportunities for spiritual fulfillment been so great. How are we doing and what effect is this having on our Church? Novak and Simon provide the answers in Living the Call.

The first part of the book tells the personal stories of nine faithful laypeople now serving the Church in new and diverse ways. How did they find their calling? What do their roles demand of them? How do they serve their communities? To lay the groundwork for even more lay vocations, the second part of Living the Call offers practical advice and reflections. How can we enter the presence of God? What forms of prayer can best refresh our minds and deepen our souls? What readings can we turn to from Scripture and the Church Fathers to bring ourselves toward holiness?

I have just begun looking through Living the Call but it looks solid. I really like the idea of giving practical examples of people involved in lay ministry and combining that with faith basics to bring us closer to God. After all, if we don't have friendship with Christ, then how are we going to recognize Him when we try to serve those around us? Great, great combination.

The publisher sent me several copies to give away, two of which will be given away right here at Happy Catholic!

Leave your name in the comments and next Monday I'll use the random number generator to see which two are the lucky winners!

UPDATED
I knew I was forgetting something. I am so sorry but this giveaway is not available to international addresses ... unless, they are willing to pay postage. I can handle the media rates for the U.S. for these books but international rates tend to be very high.

Homilies and 9/11

The readings for Sunday were rich in discussion of mercy and forgiveness. They looked as if they'd been planned to accompany the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Some homilists took advantage of that and others didn't. I've seen a good bit of commentary from people around the internet about this.

Our pastor didn't mention 9/11. I can easily imagine that he was avoiding getting sidetracked onto patriotism when we should be putting focus on worshiping God. I can respect that. It was a fantastic homily about mercy, forgiveness, and applying it to our own hearts.

I did my own thinking about 9/11 anyway and he may have been counting on parishioners to do that. Hannah went to the 5 p.m. mass and said that priest also didn't mention it.

It did leave me a bit sad, though, that it was the only public group I was in that day and other than a mention in the prayers of the faithful and the bulletin art, there was no acknowledgment of our feelings. The more I thought about it and engaged in an email conversation with a fellow parishioner who asked for my thoughts, I wondered that my sadness came back.

It came to me this morning that the need to acknowledge and discuss 9/11 is not about patriotism. It is about our national identity as a people. It is a blow that was struck to each one of us and which still leaves us reeling when we think of it.

The nearest I can come is in thinking of the Hebrew people exiled in Babylon.

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.

Psalm 137

The Babylonian exile marked the Hebrew people forever. We see it in the psalms and the prophetic books. I'm not sure the U.S. has a long enough memory to be marked forever. But this close to the attacks on our innocents, we're marked, scarred, and still traumatized.

To acknowledge that is simply to state truth. To apply mercy and forgiveness as a homily topic to that event is to help us heal. If the homily is the practical application of the Gospel to our lives, this is one of the biggest things that many of us needed help with yesterday.

We're not New Yorkers but that day ... as we saw on the window of a pickup truck ... we were all New Yorkers on that day. It marks us all.

I suppose that is why I still feel sad today when I think about the missed opportunity of the homily. In a funny way I guess I was waiting to grieve with others. And didn't get the chance.

In that spirit, here is the homily I wish I'd heard (albeit utterly different in tone than our pastor would have delivered had he talked about 9/11... and that's ok too). Thank you, Deacon Greg. I needed that.

Reminder for those who read the blog through RSS feeds

If you do that then you're missing the daily quote that goes in the sidebar, the daily horoscope, and usually one other tidbit which I find amusing ... lately it is a piece of misinformation from Dr. Boli's Encyclopedia.

Plus my Goodreads listing of current books and such things are there too.

I've gotten several emails and comments lately about them so I thought I'd just mention those little add-ons.

Weekend Joke

Via My Little Sister's Religious Jokes.

O'Toole worked in the lumber yard for twenty years ...

... and all that time he'd been stealing the wood and selling it. At last his conscience began to bother him and he went to confession to repent.

"Father, it's 15 years since my last confession, and I've been stealing wood from the lumber yard all those years," he told the priest.

"I understand my son," says the priest.

"Can you make a Novena?"

O'Toole said, "Father, if you have the plans, I've got the lumber."

My Favorite of the Greatest Uses of Trash Talk in the History of War

It's #4 in the countdown from 10 to 1 but it was my favorite in this fascinating piece from Cracked.com (as always, language warning).

After maxing out his army's tech tree and throwing his enormous weight around in the Third Sacred War, Philip turned his eye toward the oiled abs of Sparta. So, in 346 B.C., he decided he would do a little smack-talking of his own to the Spartans:

"You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city."


The Spartans answered ...

The Quote:

"If."

As in, "That's the only relevant word in all your tough talk."

The Aftermath:

Sure enough, it never happened. Both Philip II and his son Alexander ended up spending the remainder of their military careers fighting as far away from Sparta as humanly possible.

Making a Private Journey in Public: Reviewing "The Way"

I have been intrigued by pilgrims walking the thousand-year-old El Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) ever since reading author Robert Ward's experiences walking it in Virgin Trails: A Secular Pilgrimage.

I came away with a healthy respect for the physical accomplishment of walking almost 500 miles (800 kilometers) over mountains and across plains from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Also, there was the attraction of that rarity — the idea of investing full attention on God for a month or so — which seemed like a romantic deed still available in modern times.

I probably will never get the chance to take that pilgrimage. It has just been one of those things that made me perk up my ears when El Camino comes up. Surprisingly, it comes up much more than you'd think, if you read the right blogs.

When I received the invitation to prescreen Emilio Estevez's new film, The Way, about a bereft father walking the Way of St. James, my ongoing interest in El Camino was a large factor in my attendance. If I can't get there any other way, the wonder of film can take me. Also, with Estevez and his father, Martin Sheen, involved it seemed to me as if there were less chance of this being a sappy, trite story ... which is what I fear any time I am tapped to prescreen a movie. (They see "Happy Catholic" and "Christian movie" is what they think ... which often leaves the story behind at expense of pounding the pulpit ... but I digress ...).

I was pleased to find a solid little indie film with gorgeous cinematography and a simple but engaging story.

Martin Sheen plays Tom, who travels to a town in the French Pyrenees to identify the remains of his estranged son who was killed while walking El Camino de Santiago. Ruing his lack of connection, overcome by his grief, Tom decides to walk the Camino for his son, leaving handfuls of ashes at shrines along the way.

As he goes, Tom acquires three unwanted companions, each of whom have their own hidden reasons. Estivez, who wrote the script, readily admits to being inspired by The Wizard of Oz but in truth one could compare The Way to any story that is based around a journey with a misfit group of comrades. This storytelling device is well known and for good reason. In watching the people rub against each other's pet peeves and tread unwittingly on their hidden secrets, we learn about them on a deeper level. We know the device because it is also the story of our own lives as we do the same to those around us. It is how we are made:  to journey through life both alone and in company.

The story was told in an understated way for the most part. Characters didn't preach sermons at one another and several revelations were very touching in what they showed of regret in choosing the wrong way. The acting was good also and although I am used to seeing Martin Sheen's familiar style, I was moved to tears when his character shrank at entering the morgue, saw his son's face, and later spread the ashes at the first shrine. For those whom this sort of thing concerns: none of the pilgrims identify themselves as practicing Christians so occasional swearing, drug use, and the like are able to be looked on simply as secular behavior. There were a few moments that struck me as false such as the first encounter with Jack the writer where his Irish eloquence about "the road" was so over the top that I winced. However, there were not many of those moments compared to the others that I enjoyed.

As I said before, this is a solid little indie movie and I recommend it. In fact, since I watched it from the third row of the theater, I plan on renting the DVD when it comes out and watching again when my eyes aren't crossed on the close ups. It is simply gorgeous, if nothing else, and I found the simple story inspirational.

MILD SPOILER & PONDERING ABOUT STORY
Despite recommending the movie, I was pondering what made The Way a "little indie movie" versus something like The King's Speech which also has a simple and inspirational story but seems more complete. The Way seemed to lack a layer or two of complexity that would have made a more well-rounded story.

My husband, Tom, (my date for the movie) became intrigued by El Camino and began looking up what he could find about it. He surprised me by saying that the filmmakers didn't tell the entire story in telling that when you show your filled Camino passport at the end of the pilgrimage you receive a certificate. Making the pilgrimage for religious reasons has historically earned a plenary indulgence* and that is still true today. Also those who state they made the pilgrimage for religious reasons receive the Latin version of the certificate.

Tom said that he thought the filmmakers missed an opportunity by omitting these details. How much more powerful, he asked, would it have been if when Sheen's character had the official change the name on his Camino certificate to his son's name if the indulgence had been explained then? It would have gone far in speaking about Sheen's attitude shift and his reconciliation with his son as a result of the journey. And it would have spoken to hope for life after death.

During the question-and-answer period following the film, Estevez said that he was "open" about faith. He hadn't made up his mind but bore no ill will to any specific faith. That openness, translated into this movie, seemed to take away a bit from the focus it could have had if he had been willing to take a firmer stand and push all the way to defining the conclusion more. The film is not afraid to show religious symbolism as, indeed, it could not be considering the subject. If only they had been a bit more willing to put the necessary firmness into the message.

As it was, we were left questioning the point and emotional impact of Tom's throwing the rest of the ashes into the ocean. It seemed an unnecessary coda, although I very much liked the final scene that followed it.


*The Handbook of Indulgences states that a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who perform the works listed below. This means the full remission of all temporal punishment (time spent in purgatory) due to sin in one's entire lifetime up to that point. Plenary indulgences can also be requested of Our Lord for the deceased. (source)

Another Conversion That Began at Mass

Much to my surprise the Mass was entirely focused on Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity. I heard more Scripture read than I had ever heard in any Protestant church. I heard a 15 minute sermon on the Gospel reading. We said the Our Father together. We confessed our sins together. We prayed for the Church, the government, the needy, the lost and our selves. We remembered members of the Church who had died. We sang hymns. We kneeled. We stood. We made the sign of the Cross. We shook hands with each other and said, "Peace be with you." It was a corporate affair.

The fact that the Church has always understood the New Testament idea that Baptism was incorporation into Christ's Body, the Church, had always been something I admired about the Catholic Church. It made sense of why so much of the Mass was said out aloud, and acted out together. We were the Body of Christ. It wasn't just about me.

From Why I'm Catholic where you'll find many more conversion stories.

Snapshot: Gentle Leader Headcollars

Oh my goodness, I wish we'd have been using Gentle Leaders before now. It would have saved so much wear and tear on my arm and our Boxers' necks as we struggled vainly to get them to stop lunging, heel, and not yank us off our feet every time a squirrel ran by. The Gentle Leader really does make them behave. Even when Wash lunged after a jogging woman the other morning, his lunges were so consciously gentle that tugging him back was almost effortless.

This isn't our Boxer, but you can see how it fits easily around the nose. This photo doesn't show it but they can pant, drink, carry a ball (or in our dogs' cases, sticks).

Simply amazing.

Beautiful Blood - A Moving Conversion Story

My brother was going to take me to Mass the next day. I hadn’t been to Mass since the 3rd grade when I went to Catholic school. My friends and I would sit in the back and get in trouble for giggling and putting our feet on the kneelers. Other than that, I remember hating it. Now, I knew that I was going to go back, and I might hate it again. But if all of this was true, I would be stuck going to Mass every week. I would have to go to boring, lifeless Mass instead of the church I loved.

So that night, I locked myself in the bathroom (the only place to be alone in a college dorm), and prayed. I asked God to either show me where the Catholic schema broke down, or else to show me why Catholicism was beautiful. I told him I was terrified of it being true because it still seemed so dark, ugly, and lifeless to me. I prayed: “God, if this is from you it has to be beautiful… so please, if it is from you, show me how it is beautiful.”

I wasn’t really that hopeful.

Of course, all conversion stories are moving and Daughter of Glory's is a beautiful one about Christ speaking through the Mass. (Via The Crescat.)

This story may strike me particularly because Tom and I were asked to help with our parish's RCIA classes which begin tonight. In thinking about tonight, I hearkened back to my own attendance back in 2000 and my expectations which were simply that I'd learn the rules and go through the rigamarole required. Rather a workmanlike approach really. Not lacking hope, but not expecting much either.

It turned out to be a much more spiritual journey than I would have expected. Of course.

So I think also of the people who will attend the first class tonight. Are they eager? Wary? Confused? Any of those emotions and more will probably be just below the surface. The great thing is that God will answer them. One way or another, if they are honestly seeking, He will be there.