Month: March 2005

Lessons From Purim

It is Holy Week for Christians; but for Jews it is nearly Purim.  Thursday will be a fast day in commemoration of Esther’s fast (cf. Esther 4:16) and Friday will be the feast of Purim, which honors the Jews’ deliverance from the deadly plans of Haman.  Just as pro-life Christians have been seeing a parallel to the events of Holy Week in the Terri Schiavo case, so pro-life Jews are seeing a parallel to Purim:

"The [Purim] story recounts how an evil man named Haman sought to kill all the Jews. But through communal prayer, fasting and the heroic acts of Queen Esther, the plot was exposed and counteracted. In a divine turn of events, it was the evil Haman who was killed. The Jews who had been marked for death were now free to protect themselves and live!

"The significance of this is not lost to me as it relates to the Schiavo case, the result of which will affect the disabled community, and all people. We see an important message for us in these days in Esther chapter 4 verse 14:

"13. And Mordecai ordered to reply to Esther, ‘Do not imagine to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house from among all the Jews.

"14. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and rescue will arise for the Jews from elsewhere, and you and your father’s household will perish; and who knows whether at a time like this you will attain the kingdom?’

"Like Esther, each of us has been placed in a unique position so that we can help bring good out of even the most evil of situations. God only asks that we do our part. Ultimately, He takes care of the rest."

READ THE POST.

(Nod to Kathy Shaidle of Relapsed Catholic for the link.)

Slainte!

The Irish language may be all but dead in Ireland, but it is being kept alive at the University of Notre Dame (a school, I was surprised to learn, really doesn’t have Irish roots — despite its team’s famous nickname, "The Fighting Irish.")

"In Ireland, the Irish language is viewed by some affluent citizens as a peasant language that should be allowed to fade into oblivion.

"But at the University of Notre Dame, where students pay nearly $40,000 a year to attend, the little-used language is enjoying a renaissance.

"’There are a lot of kids here who are the grandchildren of the very successful and the very rich, and their grandparents were taught to forget about their Irish past,’ said Eamonn O Ciardha, program director at Notre Dame’s Keough Institute for Irish Studies. ‘They want to know about their language, they want to know about their history, they want to know about their culture.’"

Now all we have to do is to reintroduce Notre Dame’s students to their Catholic heritage and culture. Notre Dame does have some Catholic orthodoxy on campus — for a heartening example, check out The Shrine of the Holy Whapping, a blog run by a group of Notre Dame students — but certainly less than its fair share, as evidenced by this distressing article.

Let’s all pray that Notre Dame and other Catholic universities realize a resurgence of Slainte Mhath ("Good health"; pronounced "Slanzh’va").

End Of Life Guide

The case of Terri Schiavo has got a lot of folks thinking about what might happen to them should they ever fall victim to an accident or illness that leaves them unable to speak for themselves.

This touches on an issue we get a lot of queries about at Catholic Answers. We periodically get questions from people who are interested in finding out more about what the Church requires in such situations. Some are merely curious. Some are wanting to write living wills or make grants of durable power of attourney. Some are in the middle of an end of life situation with a relative.

We do what we can to help them, and often that includes getting them a copy of

THIS END OF LIFE GUIDE

by the National Catholic Bioethics Center, a group known for their thoughtfulness, fidelity to the Magisterium, and expertise in this area.

Viri Selecti

I want to thank John Lilburne RomanRite.Com for sending me the Latin text of the instructions regarding footwashing. I got this just before the recent announcement by the Archbishop of Boston, but I wanted to follow up by presenting what the text of the law says, even if now we have a doubt of law situation in the U.S.

Here goes:

From page 300 of the 2002 Roman Missal, for the Mass of
the Lord’s Supper


Lotio pedum

10. Completa homilia proceditur, ubi ratio pastoralis id suadeat, ad
lotionem pedum.

11. Viri selecti deducuntur a ministris ad sedilia loco apto parata. Tunc
sacerdos (deposita, si necesse sit, casula) accedit ad singulos, eisque
fundit aquam super pedes et abstergit, adiuvantibus ministris.

Here’s a quick, rough translation that I did on the fly (so it may contain errors I’ll fix later):

 

The Washing of Feet
 

 

10. The homily completed, he proceeds, where a pastoral reason would suggest, to the washing of feet.
 

 

11. The chosen men are led by the ministers to chairs prepared in a suitable place. Then the priest (removing, if it is necessary, the chasuble) goes to each, and
he pours water over the feet and he wipes clean, with the assisting ministers. 
 

 

The above is what the current Roman Missal says, which is somewhat different (differences highlighted) than what is said in the 1970 Roman Missal, page 244:


Lotio pedum

5. Post homiliam, in qua illustrantur potissima mysteria quae hac Missa
recoluntur, institutio scilicet sacrae Eucharistiae et ordinis sacerdotalis
necnon et mandatum Domini de caritate fraterna, proceditur, ubi ratio
pastoralis id suadeat, ad lotionem pedum.

6. Viri selecti deducuntur a ministris ad sedilia loco apto parata. Tunc
sacerdos (deposita, si necesse sit, planeta) accedit ad singulos, eisque
fundit aquam super pedes et abstergit, adiuvantibus ministris.

That is translated in the current English Missal as:

Washing of Feet

Depending on pastoral circumstances, the washing of feet follows the homily.

The men who have been chosen are led by the minsiters to chairs prepared in a suitable place. Then the priest (removing the chasuble if necessary) goes to each man. With the help of the mninisters, he pours water over each one’s feet and dries them.

What’s different is that a big huge chunk of the first paragraph has been omitted in the current English translation. That part says:

After the homily, in which the chief mysteries are illustrated which are recalled in this Mass, that is to say the institution of the holy Eucharist and the ordaining of the priests as well as the command of the Lord of fraternal charity, he proceeds, where a pastoral reason would suggest, to the washing of feet.

The directions regarding what the priest should have covered in the homily got dropped in the current translation and, now, they are gone from the Latin as well.

What was Lost is Found!

I follow stories about missing children, now. I don’t think they registered quite as strongly before I was a parent. With the news about Terri Schiavo, the tragedy of Jessica Lunsford (age 9, may she rest in peace) and all the other depressing stuff in the news (What ever happened to the newspaper GRIT ?) This story stood out a bit for me. A bright spot, and something to offer thanks for.

These two kids were abducted in Atlanta by their Mother’s estranged boyfriend. He shot their grandfather and took off with them. Their captor having committed violence in the act of abducting them, I would hazard a guess that their chances were not good. But they are back home, now. They are safe.

Get the story.

In the case of Jessica Lunsford, at least the man was caught, and quickly. Cudos to the authorities responsible for nabbing him. My daughter is 9. If such a thing were to happen to our family, I don’t know that I would ever be wholly sane again. Our prayers go out to her family and community.

Our Robed Masters Get Into Your Wallet

We as individuals don’t need to really worry about judicial tyranny because the decisions on which Darth Kennedy and Our Robed Masters are judicial fiating so badly concern issues that may affect other people (like abortion and homosexual "marriage") but that don’t affect most of us who are just trying to make a living. Right?

WRONG!

That’s what Thomas Sowell says in the conclusion to his recent trilogy on judicial tyranny.

EXCERPTS:

People who complain about the frivolous lawsuits that have outraged some and ruined others financially need to connect the dots to the present Senate controversy over the confirmation of federal judges.

Once judges start disregarding the written law in favor of their own notions, ordinary citizens have no way of knowing in advance what decisions to expect from a given situation. We can read the written law but we cannot read judges’ minds. This means that there is a large and growing gray area around our laws.

That large gray area is a happy hunting ground for lawyers, who can threaten individuals, businesses, and even government agencies with frivolous lawsuits — and get paid off to settle out of court, because nobody knows what is likely to happen in court.

Imagine what would happen if highway signs, instead of saying "65 MPH" said "No Undue Speed" or "Prudent Driving." The lawsuits over traffic laws alone would clog our courts to a standstill.

As bad as uncertainty is to people being sued, it can be worth millions of dollars to a slick lawyer who knows how to concoct frivolous lawsuits and extort money for settling out of court. Such lawyers head for places where there are big bucks — "deep pockets," as they are called.

Among the reasons why this affects ordinary people is that many deep pockets get their money from a lot of much shallower pockets.

When your insurance company has to buy its way out of a frivolous lawsuit, guess whose premiums go up. When developers who are trying to build homes or apartment buildings get sued at every turn by environmental extremists, guess what that does to the rent of apartments and mortgage payments for those who buy houses.

GET THE REST.

NOTE TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Judges who are willing to give evironmental extremists what they want may be a chunk of why housing prices in the state are so INSANE and why so many businesses are re-locating out of state.

Our Robed Masters Get Into Your Wallet

We as individuals don’t need to really worry about judicial tyranny because the decisions on which Darth Kennedy and Our Robed Masters are judicial fiating so badly concern issues that may affect other people (like abortion and homosexual "marriage") but that don’t affect most of us who are just trying to make a living. Right?

WRONG!

That’s what Thomas Sowell says in the conclusion to his recent trilogy on judicial tyranny.

EXCERPTS:

People who complain about the frivolous lawsuits that have outraged some and ruined others financially need to connect the dots to the present Senate controversy over the confirmation of federal judges.

Once judges start disregarding the written law in favor of their own notions, ordinary citizens have no way of knowing in advance what decisions to expect from a given situation. We can read the written law but we cannot read judges’ minds. This means that there is a large and growing gray area around our laws.

That large gray area is a happy hunting ground for lawyers, who can threaten individuals, businesses, and even government agencies with frivolous lawsuits — and get paid off to settle out of court, because nobody knows what is likely to happen in court.

Imagine what would happen if highway signs, instead of saying "65 MPH" said "No Undue Speed" or "Prudent Driving." The lawsuits over traffic laws alone would clog our courts to a standstill.

As bad as uncertainty is to people being sued, it can be worth millions of dollars to a slick lawyer who knows how to concoct frivolous lawsuits and extort money for settling out of court. Such lawyers head for places where there are big bucks — "deep pockets," as they are called.

Among the reasons why this affects ordinary people is that many deep pockets get their money from a lot of much shallower pockets.

When your insurance company has to buy its way out of a frivolous lawsuit, guess whose premiums go up. When developers who are trying to build homes or apartment buildings get sued at every turn by environmental extremists, guess what that does to the rent of apartments and mortgage payments for those who buy houses.

GET THE REST.

NOTE TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA: Judges who are willing to give evironmental extremists what they want may be a chunk of why housing prices in the state are so INSANE and why so many businesses are re-locating out of state.