No Wonder I Never Feel Lonely - The Staggering Growth of the Church in Texas

A quick look at the stats lays out the backdrop: since the last ad limina, Catholics -- their presence increased nearly 60 percent since 1990 -- have eclipsed Evangelicals to become the state's largest religious group. In a matter of years, three of its dioceses have erupted to comprise more than a million members, each reflecting five-or-sixfold expansions over the last three decades. On a 25 percent growth in general population since 2000, the Dallas-Fort Worth "metroplex" is now home to nearly 2 million of the faithful in what's just become the nation's fourth-largest metropolitan area. Along the border, a majority of Brownsville's 1.1 million Catholics are younger than 25; out East, rural Tyler's taken to ordaining more priests than New York, and in the capital, Austin's church of half a million -- projected to double within a decade -- is perhaps the Stateside church's most energetic outpost, boasting the nation's most celebrated Catholic campus ministry, to boot.

On the institutional front, the seminaries are expanding, freshly-built "mega-churches" are teeming, and local RCIA classes routinely set national benchmarks. By and large, the model of church is a decidedly post-Conciliar, 21st century one, blending Africans, Anglos, Asians and Latinos -- each mostly migrants of some sort -- into cohesive, vibrant communities. In a first, Rome's designated headquarters for a significant cross-country project lies not along the Northeast corridor, but in Houston, where the dedication of a new cathedral (above) since the last visit shut Downtown streets as an army priests processed toward it four across. Each named auxiliaries in their early forties, the last decade has seen four homegrown priests succeed each other as the nation's youngest bishop. And of course, in the ultimate reflection of "the dynamic growth of Catholicism in the southern part of the United States, and especially in" this second-largest of them, for the first time its group crosses the "threshold of the Apostles" led by a figure in scarlet, one told by Benedict on his elevation that "Texas needs a cardinal."

Whispers in the Loggia has the whole story including all the links that go with the text above so that you know just what he's talking about. Via The Deacon's Bench, who always has the latest news.

Its Baaaaak - Community

For everyone like me, who's been missing it.

Poster is from Six seasons and a movie, via Scott, another Community fan.

No Man Should Fear the Rieper*: Reviewing "Sons of Cain" by Val Bianco

Sons of Cain by Val Bianco

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

You're either going to love this thriller or hate it. It has a definite Catholic orientation (which is a turn-on for me, let's get that straight right now) and definitely hews to the conservative side of the political spectrum. So there's that.

Here's the book description:

An ancient group of twelve unspeakably powerful men are prepared to implement mass suicide in the United States. Already in control of the Congress and the Presidency, all that they lack is the Supreme Court. The only thing standing between these SONS OF CAIN and the lives of the Court is a small group of dedicated warriors. Wealthy ex SEAL, Nick Rieper, and his dozen, Knights of Longinus, may be the most deadly strike force alive. The have pledged their lives, their fortunes and their honor to battle international Satanism. Battle is joined as they engage the Cainites and their demon leader, Namon, in mortal combat. They stand alone as the only force alive with the knowledge, the skill and the faith to prevent a crime that will change America... forever.

Nick Rieper and his merry band of knights (don't laugh, these guys live as close to the knightly ideal as possible) must stop not only the humans trying to wreak havoc upon the U.S. government, but also deal with their demonic leader. This is slightly complicated by the fact that they must also protect those they care about, including a gorgeous journalist who is just beginning to live a life of faith and a priest who has a checkered past to say the least.

This is told in straight forward fashion with no frills, except for some explanatory sections which were a bit too long and drawn out for my taste. That aside, the book heads straight for an adventure steeped in good versus evil, with angels and demons doing their fair share on the appropriate side.

If you aren't Catholic then my guess is that you may not like the book because the good guys are steeped in it, can't shut up about it, don't mind stopping to press rosary beads into a dying woman's hand, and are quick to gather in prayer for someone in danger before it's time to race to the rescue. Did I mention they talk about it? A lot? Now, as I said before, that's a turn on for me, but your milage may vary. As for the rest, you'll have to read it. All I'm gonna say is we now have the ultimate conspiracy presented about what's been keeping America down in recent years.

On a personal note, it was a good reminder of the implacable hatred that demons bear to mankind. The book's opening which tells of Pope Leo's vision that led him to write the St. Michael prayer was extremely powerful, setting the tone for the story but also acting as a wake up for the reader. Evil does exist and we do well to remember it. It is easy to forget that face when in the daily routine. This book highlighted it for me in a powerful way.

The author provided my review copy but as several authors know, to their sorrow, if I don't like it then it don't matter who gave it to me. And vice versa.

(*My post title? An inside joke for those who have read the book.)

It's March and "Card Carrying Democrat" Joanne McPortland is Mad at the President

I’m a card carrying Democrat, the daughter of a union shop steward, New Deal and Civil Rights and Camelot all the way. In 2008 I let my son’s enthusiasm for you and all you represented woo me away from my lukewarm support of Hillary Clinton, even though I thought even then there was something too-good-to-be-true about the way you absorbed all our war-weary, Bush-burdened projections. I put a HOPE decal in my car window right next to my Go, Flyers! decal. I cheered my heart out at your win, which I truly believed was the start of better days for all Americans. (And for my fellow Catholics who want to read this paragraph as evidence for excommunication, that’s for another combox, OK?)

Since then, though, you’ve disappointed me, Mr President. Even before I returned to the Catholic faith I grew up in, and began to reexamine everything in the light of that faith’s teachings, you showed absolutely no sign of being the bridge-builder you rightly said America needed in that fabulous 2004 convention speech. In your relationships with Congress, even when you had a majority, you talked compromise and did none of it. You ramped up the war efforts you had said were stupid. You kept Guantanamo open, and gave the nod to torture. You approved a return to the US-as-assassin model of dealing with dictators you don’t like, while allowing those who serve your interest to continue slaughtering innocents. You added even more restrictions on Americans’ constitutional freedoms than the original Patriot Act dreamed of. And you wouldn’t fight to keep a single-payer health plan on the table, settling instead for a bloated patchwork doomed to displease everyone, just so you could say you passed a health care act.

But it’s been your administration’s recent cynical manipulation of “the contraceptive issue”–an agenda mandated by your supporters in Big Pharma and Planned Parenthood, and planted in the midst of the debates in order to make the religious right (which now includes extremist Catholics like Rick Santorum and Catholics-by-marriage like Newt Gingrich) snap at the bait. You have managed this really well from your end, manufacturing a “war on women”–Catholics want women to be pregnant or die!–while waging war on the First Amendment. I sometimes wish the Catholic bishops hadn’t jumped at the bait, too (because I truly don’t think this is the hill we want to die on), but you knew they would, and knew that Catholics are already hated enough (for our own sins, in too many cases) in this country to make dissing us equal an automatic double-digit bump in your popularity stats. That’s my biggest disappointment–that you’re nothing but a Chicago pol after all.

Joanne McPortland lays it on the line with President Obama, since he's in town (Dayton) and all. I salute Ms. McPortland for her honesty. I have to say, contraception mandates aside, she brings up some things that I've been wondering myself. Guantanamo, ramped up war efforts, dictator deals, and additional Patriot Act restrictions have had me asking the television more than once, "What happened to all of Obama's promises? I thought he was supposed to go in the opposite direction of the Republicans?"

Now, I didn't vote for him so it isn't as if I felt betrayed. But these were all the things that my Democrat friends rail against and here was their "Change!" guy staying the course or hitting the gas, depending on the issues. Color me confused.

Not to mention the HHS mandate debacle.

Anyway, it was refreshing to see someone who was on his side ask those questions. Even if he finally had driven her away by the time March madness hit.

Via The Deacon's Bench.

Well Said: Friendship Plays the Potter

From my quote journal.

So there they go, Jim running slower to stay with Will, Will running faster to stay with Jim, Jim breaking two windows in a haunted house because Will's along, Will breaking one window instead of none because Jim's watching. God, how we get our fingers in each other's clay. That's friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other.

Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Worth a Thousand Words: Window Light

Window Light

by Duane Keiser

Book Review: Jerusalem: A Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore

A guest review by Scott Danielson. After I received the review book and realized it was not my sort of book, he filled the gap as someone who could appreciate and evaluate the book for me. Many thanks, Scott!

Prophets and patriarchs, Abraham, David, Jesus and Muhammad are said to have trodden these stones. The Abrahamic religions were born there and the world will also end there on the Day of Judgement. Jerusalem, sacred to the Peoples of the Book, is the city of the Book: the Bible is, in many ways, Jerusalem’s own chronicle and its readers, from the Jews and early Christians via the Muslim conquerors and the Crusaders to today’s American evangelists, have repeatedly altered her history to fulfil biblical prophecy.

A person could read the above paragraph and be inspired to consider how wonderful and sacred a place Jerusalem must be.  Another person would be forced to think about the bloodshed that has occurred in the names of those religions in Jerusalem.  I have never been there, but this book makes me understand that it's both of those things.  The history of Jerusalem contains examples of the best and the worst that humans have wrought on each other.

Simon Sebag Montefiore called his book Jerusalem: A Biography for two reasons.  First, the city has a personality of its own.  In that paragraph above, he refers to Jerusalem as "her".  The Talmud also refers to Jerusalem as a woman.  The second reason is that the book is about "the people that made Jerusalem, and how they built it, and how it developed.  It's people and families that build cities."

The book presents the history of Jerusalem from Abraham to the Six Day War.  It is separated into chapters that usually focus on a single historical figure.  Some example chapter titles: "The Fall of Antigonos: Last of the Maccabeans", "Duke Godfrey: The Siege", and "The Emperor and the Caliph: Charlemagne and Haroud al-Rashid".  The chapters are short and can be read as self-contained stories within the story.  It's extremely well-organized, very readable, and will be an excellent resource for years to come.

I never felt that the author (who is Jewish) was agenda driven.  In fact, I would have to say that the book had a distinct secular feel to it.  Referring to the paragraph at the beginning of this review, he states that people "have repeatedly altered her history to fulfill biblical prophecy", implying that any prophecy that may have been fulfilled was purposeful and deliberate.  This includes Jesus.  Of the Resurrection, Montefiore says: "Archaeologists tend to believe that the body was simply removed and buried by friends and family in another rock-cut tomb somewhere around Jerusalem."  The book is not "about" the religions of Jerusalem, but the subject is impossible to escape.  Overall, I feel he did a remarkable even-handed job, treating all religions with a bit of detachment.

I learned a great deal from this book, and I look forward to visiting Jerusalem someday.  I've stated before that I'm waiting for the dust to settle before I do, but it hasn't settled for 3000 years.  I don't expect it will any time soon.

The Latest Book I'm Reading About Marriage? Would You Believe ... The Odyssey?

It's true! Jesse, Scott, and I discuss books 5-8 of The Odyssey at SFFaudio.

Gloria Purvis: What a Well-Reasoned Response to the HHS Mandate

I am in awe of Gloria Purvis. What an articulate, reasoned, intelligent argument she makes.

So much so that I am going to take my courage in both hands and send it to a couple of friends who may never speak to me again ... but if anyone can make the argument, she does.

It is what we need more than anything ... spokespeople like Gloria who can't be denied as a regular woman.

Five Years, 3302 Yards of Yarn, and Untold Hours Later ... I Present the Sampler Afghan!

Holy moly, I thought this took 3 years. Turns out now that I check the date, it took 5! Oh well, I also was knitting socks, bears, and suchlike so I took many a break.

The pattern worked absolutely perfectly and it went together like a charm. Kudos to Melissa Leapman who wrote Cables Untangled. It worked! (click the image to see it larger)

It is absolutely gorgeous and I want to make one for myself now. (You should have seen the look Tom gave me when I said that. A look that said, "you're nuts!")

I have entrusted it to FedEx to get it to Rose in L.A. Nervously. But I did entrust it. And she got it! Woohoo!

Julie and Scott are forced to spend the entire movie in #$%^ing Bruges. Not all is lost, though, because they're filming midgets!

 In Bruges, written and directed by Martin McDonagh.  PS: It's in Belgium.

Now under discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

At the Crossroads in America: We Hold These Truths

“He might be good, but he’s not that good.” Turns out that Ted Chiang actually is that good.

Wow.

A couple of days ago, I gave John le Carré a “wow” for A Perfect Spy; today I’m giving Ted Chiang a “wow” for pretty much his entire output.

Here’s what I know about Ted Chiang. He’s a science fiction writer. He writes short fiction (his longest published piece is a novella). He knocks my socks off.

Now that's what I like to see. Will Duquette sees the light and gives a look at some of Ted Chiang's stories on the way. Go to The View From the Foothills to read more.

Priceless: You're the friend I'd least want to kill ...

Via the delightful Amy H. Sturgis, queen of the YA dystopian novel appreciators.

They Said It Couldn't Be Done, But They Didn't Know Hannah, Super Arborist!

In fact, here she looks as if she may be leafing out. Or is that moss?

Wait, that's from a 5K race where you get pelted with colored powder.

This is better.

See how happy it makes her just to be next to one of her leafy, bark-covered friends?

Hannah was told that no one passes the arborist test the first time around. But she pulled it off yesterday.

Congratulations, Hannah! We knew you could do it!

Five Leadership Lessons from James T. Kirk

Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most famous Captains in the history of Starfleet. There’s a good reason for that. He saved the planet Earth several times, stopped the Doomsday Machine, helped negotiate peace with the Klingon Empire, kept the balance of power between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and even managed to fight Nazis. On his five-year mission commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise, as well as subsequent commands, James T. Kirk was a quintessential leader, who led his crew into the unknown and continued to succeed time and time again.

Kirk’s success was no fluke, either. His style of command demonstrates a keen understanding of leadership and how to maintain a team that succeeds time and time again, regardless of the dangers faced. Here are five of the key leadership lessons that you can take away from Captain Kirk as you pilot your own organization into unknown futures.

Read it all at Forbes. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but most of all you'll see the truth of the arguments.

Thanks to Tamahome for this, which I'd never have seen if he, Scott, and I weren't discussing Jane Eyre.

What? From Jane Eyre to Captain Kirk? I'm telling you, Goodreads should never be underestimated for prompting imaginative reading discussions.

The WSJ and the HHS Mandate: They Aren't Going Quietly into the Good Night

It is now common to hear me beginning the morning with the paper, a cup of coffee and a "God bless the Wall Street Journal" as I look at the opinion page.

That's because is a rare day when I don't see at least one mention of yet another reason why the White House's attack on religious liberty (via the HHS mandate). They have examined why it is wrong via the usual logic. They have also taken a look at it from insurance,  economics, and other business viewpoints ... none of which have added up to a good reason to implement the White House's program. In short, the WSJ is relentless in keeping this issue in front of readers.

If only other main stream media had such a talent for using their own brains and not just mouthing the pablum fed them by the White House. (Follow the fact trail for that claim at GetReligion.)

This morning brought two good pieces in the WSJ.

Limbaugh and Our Phony Contraception Debate

At the hearing of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee chaired by Nancy Pelosi, Sandra Fluke testified as a victim. Having to buy your own contraception is a burden, she said. She testified that all around her at Georgetown she could see the faces of students who were suffering because of Georgetown's refusal to abandon its Catholic principles.

Exactly what does the face of a law student who must buy her own birth-control pills look like? Did I see them all around me and just not know it? Do male law students who must buy their own condoms have the same look? Perhaps Ms. Fluke should have brought photos to Congress to illustrate her point.

Bishop Dolan's Liberty Letter
The Catholic Cardinal describes a chilling visit to the White House.

The debate over the Obama Administration's birth control mandate has been ingloriously fact-free, even more than usual. So amid demonstrably false claims about a plot to relegate women to the era of "Mad Men," if not Salem, Massachusetts circa 1692, Cardinal Timothy Dolan's letter on religious freedom deserves more readers.

Unfortunately, this is a paid-access only piece. However, I found it at Freedom Eden so go read it there.

God and the Machine: In which Thomas L. McDonald joins the Patheos Catholic bloggers

Technology, like fire, can create or destroy, and so we need to consider the vast technological landscape from a uniquely Catholic angle. This is what I hope to accomplish with God and the Machine. I want to look at the intersection of technology and faith: not just the way new tech is being used to evangelize and examine the faith, but the way people of faith encounter their world through technology. In short, I’ll examine technology, in all its wonderful, horrible power and potential, and try to answer the singular question: How do we walk with Christ in the digital age?

I've enjoyed Tom's other blog, State of Play, for some time. Tom's also uniquely suited to look at technology and the Catholic faith at his new Patheos blog, God and the Machine. His credentials are as long as your arm. But I'll just quote The Anchoress on them for you.

Tom’s CV is exhausting and impressive. Aside from authoring three books, and overseeing Games, he’s been a columnist for Computer Gaming World, T3: Tomorrow’s Technology Today, Game Players PC Entertainment, Cemetery Dance Magazine, PC Ace, and Computer Life . . . the techno list goes on and on, and he also blogs at State of Play. On the faith side of things, Tom is a certified catechist who teaches church history and prepares candidates for the sacrament of Confirmation; a few years ago he started writing about religion as well (you’ve read him in the Register, here at Patheos and elsewhere) and — particularly as he works his way through a masters in Theology — a blog called God and the Machine seems a logical means by which to cull together these intersecting interests and ponder where the lines might be drawn within our longings. I have a feeling we’re going to get some very interesting reads out of this extremely energetic writer! 

Also, I'm not gonna lie. Tom is a funny guy and you know how I love funny. For example, his brief illustrated introduction made me crack up. Not that it is all funny. Some of it is just right.

I am not a liberal Catholic, orthodox Catholic, conservative Catholic, cafeteria Catholic, or traditionalist Catholic: I am, simply, a Catholic (Roman Rite). That should be enough for you to know where I stand and what I believe about most issues. At least, it used to be.

And I like that even more than funny. (Plus, you know, I think that is going to have to go into my quote journal. Quotable. I like that too.)

L.A. Diary: Seeing Stars

Part 1: We Begin
Part 2: On the Road
Part 3: We Arrive
Part 4: The Strange Encounter
Part 5: The Best Deal (or Two) in L.A.Part 6: Land of Dreams
Part 7: Meeting New Old Friends
Part 8: Lettuce Love

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

I'm not talking about the kinds of stars that you naturally think of when L.A. and Hollywood come to mind.

I'm talking about driving to the Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park. Griffith Park is the largest city park in the U.S. Really.

With over 4,210 acres of both natural chapparal-covered terrain and landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States. ...

Originally a part of the Spanish land grant, Rancho Los Feliz, the park was named for its former owner, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith.

That would be enough to thank Col. Griffith for but he also was very interested in astronomy and soon Los Angeles had a state-of-the art observatory, built in a charming art deco style (which, now that I come to think of it, was state-of-the-art for ... art!).

Today, the insides have been turned into one of those education places that are au courant. We'd have preferred to see it turned more into a museum of what was "state of the art" at the time, however, we were still able to imagine what it was like when astronomers from around the country and the world worked there.

My favorite part was walking around the outside of the building and up to the top. It features a magnificent view of the park and across Los Angeles where you can see the ocean glinting in the distance. It also has what may be the best view of the Hollywood sign around.

We actually do have pictures of a lot of these things, including us in front of this sign (du rigeur for a L.A. visit, isn't it?), but I've got to get them from Tom.

Next, I'll be talking about our other "must see" tourist destination ... the Los Angeles Cathedral. Is it the monstrosity of architecture that I've heard it is? Well, yes. And no.

TAN Books Encourages Prayer for Religious Freedom — Makes St. Michael Prayer Cards FREE to Parishes while Supplies Last

TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, announced today plans to make St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards FREE to parishes willing to include the prayer in Sunday Masses for the intention of religious freedom.

The offer is a response to the call of Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill to petition St. Michael the Archangel "for the freedom of the Catholic Church in America."

Bishop Jenky's request comes on the heels of a new federal ruling that will force many Catholic organizations to provide insurance coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives and "morning-after" pills.

Chairman and CEO of Saint Benedict Press, Robert Gallagher, fully supports the call from Bishop Jenky and plans to encourage the effort by offering St. Michael prayer cards for free to parishes nationwide.

"The Obama mandate creates a crisis of conscience for thousands of our nation's employers, especially Catholics and other men and women of faith," said Gallagher. "It is a radical infringement upon the free exercise of religion, a persecution of religious belief in the marketplace, and an attempt by a thoroughly secular Administration to remove the expression of one's religious tenets from the public square."

"The power of prayer cannot be overestimated as a means to combat this blatant attack on Catholic moral convictions," said Gallagher. "Calling on the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel to be our defender in this critical battle is something that everyone can do. At Saint Benedict Press we want to make it easy for parishes to implement this initiative by offering resources that will help them do so."

For further information and to request free copies of the St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards call (704) 831-3468 or email katiem@saintbenedictpress.com.

Contact: Katie Moore - Publicist
Saint Benedict Press, LLC/TAN Books NC, 28273 US
704.831.3468
katiem@saintbenedictpress.com