Toyota: One Team Ad

Yes. This is how America does religion. Or should, at any rate.

Weekend Joke: Superbowl Edition

A sports fan was sitting in the top row at the Super Bowl, barely able to see the field. He noticed a vacant seat about 3 rows back on the 50-yard line. It was still vacant when the second quarter started, so he went down and asked the man seated next to it if anyone was sitting there.

The man said “No, have a seat.” A few minutes later he asked the man if he knew whose seat this was and why they weren’t here at such an important event. The man said that for ten years it had been his wife’s seat but that she had passed away.

Feeling sorry for the nice man, the fan asked if he didn’t have a friend or family member that he could have offered the seat to instead of just leaving it vacant. The man said “No, they’re all at the funeral.”

Well Said: The Destiny of the World

The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in.

Harold C. Goddard, The Meaning of Shakespeare, Vo. 2

Explaining why the Vatican seems so eager for a deal with China

I have to say I was dismayed at the news that Pope Francis was going to finally approve the seven bishops that the Chinese government had appointed for the state-run government church. "What is this," I wondered, "the Middle Ages? Elizabethan England?" So I went looking for an informed perspective. And who better to give that context than John Allen?

The Vatican has its own long history of trying to accommodate Beijing, in an effort to clear the way for establishing diplomatic relations and creating a more stable legal framework for the life of the Church in China.

The debate has always been over how far Rome ought to go in trying to achieve that aim, and at what point compromise becomes appeasement. It has special resonance because we’re talking, in part, about the legacy of martyrs in China who’ve paid the ultimate price for their fidelity to the pope.

Definitely worth reading. Read the whole thing at Crux

Lagniappe: Chopin and Liszt

I write to you without knowing what my pen is scribbling, for Liszt is at this moment playing my Etudes and he transports me out of my proper senses. I should like to steal from him his way of playing my pieces.

Chopin in a letter

I just find this fascinating ... and also endearing.

Spinach and Egg Pie

Wow, so very delicious ... you've got to try it! Get the recipe at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Well Said: The Church is like a tree with complex roots

Erasmus conceived of Christianity as a fundamental core of truth that had unfortunately been obscured by by a layer of abuses. Christianity could only be restored to its natural, pristine simplicity if these centuries of un-Christian accretions were scraped away. essentially, the Church of Erasmus was like a ship encrusted with barnacles. But this view was fundamentally too simplistic; like many others before and since, Erasmus presumed there was a very clear, easily discernible dividing line between the essential "core" of the Christian message and the various traditions and customs that had accumulated over the centuries. He assumed restoring the Faith was as simple as pruning an overgrown bush or scraping off a layer of paint to reveal the original wall beneath.

The truth is much more complex. Not only the Church's essential core, but the broad strands of its historical and cultural development are attributable to Divine Providence as well. For example, Erasmus assumed the primacy of the pope was a historical development due primarily to political factors. Yet centuries after Erasmus, Pope St. Pius X taught that the Roman Church became the head of all the churches, not through political considerations, but from Divine Providence. Yes, there are many human traditions in the Church, but even the human traditions develop in light of divine doctrine, such that to simply hack away all custom simultaneously attacks the divine teaching at the root of these customs. The Church is not like a ship covered in barnacles; rather, it is more like a mature tree with a complex root system. One root might look insignificant or disposable, but to what other roots is it attached? If this root dies, how does it affect the whole organism? Not all root are equally important, but every root nourishes the tree to some degree, such that to chop it off is to inevitably wound the tree. Whether Erasmus himself realized this by the end of his life is known only to God.

Philip Campbell, Heroes & Heretics of the Reformation

I've always heard the "barnacle" comparison but the tree roots concept seems much more accurate, especially considering what I've read about how chaotic Church history has been since the beginning.

Heroes & Heretics of the Reformation by Phillip Campbell

With the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation last year we naturally have seen many books on the subject. I'll be honest, I'm not that interested in the reformation. I was offered a few review copies of books by Protestants who espoused ecumenism but whose samples showed their even-handedness came from embracing Catholics who agreed with them. And you just can't be Catholic and fully agree with the Protestant point of view. There's always that pesky topic of the Eucharist getting in the way for one thing.

So my interest was piqued by this book which says in the introduction that, although every effort is made for historical objectivity, it is written from a Catholic viewpoint and presumes the claims of the Catholic Church are true. I was further interested when reading an Amazon review saying, in part:

Frankly, I was surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. Its publisher, TAN books, is a highly-conservative Catholic publishing company, and I had feared -- especially in light of the title -- a biased, one-sided defense of Rome's handling of the Reformation. Instead, I found a well-written, well-balanced account of the forces that led to the Reformation, the major players in the drama, their beliefs, and the Counter-reformation that followed.

What I found was a well written book that somehow managed to be so interesting I couldn't put it down. That is high praise indeed for a book about a topic I didn't care about in the first place.

This epic, complex ideological struggle is examined first by following the progress of the Protestants who fueled the Reformation (Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc.). The last third of the book looks at major Catholic figures of the Counter-Reformation. Philip Campbell is skilled at untangling the threads so that we can see each person's background, motivations, influence and the historical backdrop for the entire situation.

One of the things that I really liked was the afore mentioned even-handedness. It was often apparent when telling about someone's major objection to Catholicism. Philip Campbell would then clarify what the Catholic teaching was and put the person's objection into context. Perhaps they'd misunderstood the teaching or they'd come across a grievous abuse or any of a number of other possibilities. He doesn't use that moment to judge the person. The history is past. He just uses it to help modern readers gain further context.

The book ends by connecting the Reformation with our world now. Campbell answers a typically modern question, "Why fight over religion?" by examining various aspects of understanding what faith means today and how the 16th century struggle still has relevance. He also considers where subsequent years have taken the Protestant-Catholic relationship.

I've been bending the ear of everyone who would listen to tell them how wonderful this book is. Now it's your turn. Go get it, even if you don't think you'll like the topic. It's fascinating.

Lagniappe: Farmers' Barns

If a farmer fills his barn with grain, he gets mice. If he leaves it empty, he gets actors.

Sir Walter Scott

This makes me laugh, thinking this has been the case for so long.

Worth a Thousand Words: View of Turkey from the ISS Cupola

View of Turkey from the ISS Cupola, NASA Commons

This unusual image, photographed through the Cupola on the International Space Station by one of the Expedition 30 crew members, is centered over Turkey. The lake just above the bracket- mounted camera at center is Egirdir Golu, located at 38.05 degrees north latitude and 30.89 degrees east longitude. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is docked to the station at lower right and part of the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) can be seen in the cupola window just above it.

Lagniappe: Lifting Chickens

I have new chickens, layers eight weeks old. When they were chicks living under lights in the mudroom, I made a practice of picking them up one at a time, those that would let me. And now when I enter the poultry yard, I feel like a one-man midway at the chicken fair, birds standing in line waiting to be picked up. No good can come of lifting chickens, I can almost hear my dad thinking that, though he's gone now, too. And yet the birds churr and cluck, and I leave the yard happy.

Verlyn Klinkenborg, More Scenes from the Rural Life

This is indelibly in my mind's eye ... all those chickens lining up for their turn to be lifted. I laugh out loud every time I read it.

Weekend Joke

Before going to Europe on business, a man drove his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and went in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000.

The loan officer, taken aback, requested collateral. “Well then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce,” the man said. The loan officer promptly had the car driven into the bank’s underground parking garage for safe keeping, and gave him $5,000. Two weeks later, the man walked through the bank’s doors, asked to settle up his loan and get his car back.

“That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest,” the loan officer said. The man wrote out a check and started to walk away.

“Wait sir,” the loan officer said, “while you were gone, I found out you are a multi-millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5,000?”

The man smiled. “Where else could I park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?”

Worth a Thousand Words: Japanese Christians In Portuguese Costume

Japanese Christians In Portuguese Costume, 16-17th Century

Well Said: Crosses Finish God's Work In Us

Crosses are the great means God employs to deny self-love in us and to increase and purify his love within us. While we, on our side, labor for these two ends by the means which he has placed at our disposal.

The crosses finish the work; without them it would be imperfect.

The reason of this is clear. Self cannot kill itself; the blow must be struck from elsewhere and self must rest passive in receiving it.

As long as I act I live; I shall mortify myself in vain, I shall not succeed in dying spiritually by my own efforts.

God must do this for me. He must act within me, and the fire of love must consume the victim.

There are so many different kinds of crosses that it is impossible to enumerate them all; and the same crosses are capable of infinite variety.

They change according to different characters, different circumstances, different degrees. Some are simply painful, others are humiliating, others unite humiliation to pain.

Some assail a man in his worldly possessions, in those who are dear to him in his health, in his honor, even in his life.

Others assail him in his spiritual interests, in that which touches his conscience, in that which concerns his eternal salvation; and these are undoubtedly the most frequent, the most destructive, and the most difficult to bear ...

All have an effect upon us which inward mortification is unable to produce, and without them we cannot expect to attain to an eminent degree of holiness.

Father Jean-Nicholas Gage

It is funny that suffering turned out to be a major component of the first season of Westworld. I thought it was because it was a modern series, an HBO series (not so much sex in this one, but plenty of violence). In the end, it turned out to have more significance.

At the time, I thought it was interesting because Catholicism puts such an emphasis on the Cross, which, I hasten to add, is different from straight suffering as shown on Westworld. And so it is fortuitous that this quote came up this week, furthering my meditations on the topic.

And, of course, Lent is not that far away with our participation in denying self-love and increasing our love of God.

I am thankful for the mindset that allows me to take this experience and learn lessons, offer my suffering for others so it has deeper meaning, and reset my humility. I wouldn't have those without Christ and the Catholic Church. So much to be grateful for ... including those crosses to help finish God's work in me.

Lagniappe: Playing by the rules

Joan Bright had lived in Argentina, Spain and Mexico City and the experience of life abroad had taught her an important fact: the British alone played by the rules. They formed orderly queues at the bus stop, they said sorry when there was no need to apologize.

Giles Milton, Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Worth a Thousand Words: Under the Lamp

Under the Lamp, Marie Bracquemond

Worth a Thousand Words: Weary

James McNeill Whistler, Weary
via Lines and Colors

Lagniappe: Society of drunkards

"Drink," said Amram cheerfully, as he poured wine and water into a cup; "it will hearten you, and your faith does not forbid the use of the grape, for have I not heard you styled the society of drunkards?"

"That is only one bad name among many, sir," said Rachel, as she took the cup."

H. Rider Haggard, The Pearl-Maiden

I didn't like the book enough to finish it, but I simply loved this comment made to a Christian maiden in hiding.

Well Said: Projects for the dehumanization of man

Except for one's own sins, so many, many projects for the dehumanization of man are Satan's works, simply because he hates man.

Pope Francis, Homily Sept. 29, 2014

via God or Nothing by Cardinal Sarah

Worth a Thousand Words: Cute Female Bearded Tit

Cute Female Bearded Tit, Remo Savisaar

Doesn't this look like something a cartoonist came up with? Just incredibly cute! And also somehow angry looking.