Nod to the Curt Jester for this cartoon.
The cartoon reminded me of a letter to the editor in a long-ago issue of This Rock in which a reader proposed that the Assumption of Mary should be understood to mean that "we assume Mary is in heaven."
Author: SDG
Guess Who Came To Dinner?
Although I have seen howls of indignation from certain right-fringe corners of the Catholic cyberspace, personally I was tickled to see that Pope Benedict XVI met at Castel Gandolfo last week with his onetime colleague and friend, Fr. Hans Küng:
"[W]hy did Benedict, 78, open his doors to Küng? The first answer may be as simple as the desire to catch up with an old friend and colleague: the two men had taught together at the University of Tübingen, and both had served as theological advisers during the Second Vatican Council. Küng , 77, was quoted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Tuesday as saying the Saturday dinner meeting at the papal summer residence in Castel Gondolfo was ‘a reciprocal joy to see each other after so many years.’ A Vatican statement said that the pair’s standing doctrinal disputes were not broached. Among the topics reportedly covered were the relationship between faith and science, and interfaith dialogue.
"But if this was simply a personal catching-up or theological rap session, Ratzinger might have invited Küng for dinner during his two decades as a Rome-based cardinal. Instead, it appears that the new pope wants to establish an ongoing open dialogue with those who may have different views. The Küng dinner is, in fact, Benedict’s third potentially controversial encounter in the past month. In late August, the pope met with the Italian writer Oriana Fallaci, who has penned fiercely anti-Muslim books since 9/11, and then two days later he welcomed Bishop Bernard Fellay, the excommunicated head of an ultraconservative movement founded by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
"It’s hard to know the specific motivation behind Benedict’s desire to meet with each of these surprise visitors. But it is by now clear that the new Pope is conscious that his job description has radically changed. As Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 20 years, Cardinal Ratzinger had been responsible for keeping certain arguments on theological lock-down. But when you become father to a flock of 1 billion, your dining-room door must be kept as open as possible."
I think in these stories of Pope Benedict’s meetings with various individuals, representative of different movements of concern to the Church, we can see one difference in pastoral approach between John Paul II and Benedict. John Paul was a master at connecting to crowds of people and, by doing so, showing them how they were united; Benedict is proving himself to be a connector with individuals, and perhaps, by his approach, will show individuals — and possibly their representative movements — how they can connect themselves to the wider human family and ultimately to Christ.
Stories Of Terri
To coincide with the first anniversary of her death this coming March, the Schindler family will be releasing a book on their struggle to save her life:
"Terri Schiavo’s parents and siblings are writing a book about their struggle in the epic end-of-life case that divided the country and captured the attention of everyone from the Pope John Paul II to President Bush, their publisher said Tuesday.
"The yet untitled memoir by parents Bob and Mary Schindler, brother Bobby Schindler and sister Suzanne Vitadamo will be published in March to coincide with the first anniversary of the death of the brain-damaged woman, whose feeding tube was removed after her husband won a court order to do so.
"’This book is the moving story of an ordinary family caught up in extraordinary circumstances, and it will set the record straight for the first time,’ said Jamie Raab, senior vice president and publisher at Warner Books in New York."
Apparently unwilling to miss out on the action, Terri’s husband and murderer Michael Schiavo also plans to release his own memoir, to be titled Terri: The Truth, in which it is likely that he will tell everything but that:
"The Schindlers’ book is likely to compete for space on the shelves with a memoir by Terri Schiavo’s husband, Michael, who fought his in-laws in court for eight years to end her life, arguing she would not have wanted to be kept alive in what doctors called a persistent vegetative state.
"Michael Schiavo said he is collaborating on the book with author Michael Hirsh. The 280-page book is titled Terri: [T]he Truth, and is planned for release in March by Dutton Publishing."
The Schindlers will not profit from their book on Terri, instead planning to "donate profits from the book to a foundation they established when they were fighting to save Terri’s life, Warner Books said. The foundation now is dedicated to protecting severely disabled people."
No word yet on Michael Schiavo’s plans for the money he will make from his book.
Earth-Mother Joan Live
So, you say you’re tired of the orthodox attitude of EWTN’s Mother Angelica and are looking for a nun with a progressive attitude? Look no further than PWTN (Progressive Word Television Network) and its Earth-Mother Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B. From "The Road from Rome" to "Heterodox Answers Live," the Curt Jester has created the television network of choice for Catholics whose viewpoint tilts to the left.
Colonizing The Last Frontier
In a story that reads like the kinds of colonization pitches for the New World in the Americas that our European ancestors must have heard and responded to hundreds of years ago, CNN reports on the quest to colonize Mars:
"All companies set goals, but newly formed 4Frontiers Corp. is eyeing some expansive horizons. The company’s mission: to open a small human settlement on Mars within 20 years or so.
"Sure, it may sound far-fetched. And the company’s initial plans are a lot more terrestrial than ethereal, like developing a 25,000-square-foot replica of a Mars settlement here on Earth, then charging tourists admission.
"But the people behind the venture are quite serious — as serious as the $25 million they want to raise from investors.
[…]
"That still leaves a lot of questions: Why should people live on Mars? And if it’s going to be done, should a private enterprise engage in what would be one of humanity’s defining moments?
"Besides, what’s in it for investors?
"[4Frontiers Corp. CEO Mark] Homnick and his co-founders — a longtime Mars aficionado named Bruce Mackenzie and a 25-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology master’s student, Joseph Palaia — are ready with several answers."
I’ve occasionally speculated on whether I would have been willing to strike out for the New World had I been an Old World European during the Age of Exploration several hundred years ago. If my reaction to this story is any indication, I now know that my answer would have been a resounding "No!"
The Dangers of Web-Banking
I have never understood the willingness of many to handle many of their financial transactions online. Everything from banking to paying bills was possible but, with the exception of occasional online shopping, it didn’t interest me. Why solicit trouble?, I thought. This story shows my concerns were well-founded:
"Bank customers know to shield their ATM passwords from prying eyes. But with the rise of online banking, computer users may not realize electronic snoops might be peeking over their shoulder every time they type.
"In a twist on online fraud, hackers and identity thieves are infecting computers with increasingly sophisticated programs that record bank passwords and other key financial data and send them to crooks over the Internet.
"That’s what happened to Tim Brown, who had account information swiped out of the PC at his Simi Valley store.
"’It’s scary they could see my keystrokes,’ said Brown, owner of Kingdom Sewing & Vacuum. ‘It freaks me out.’"
Freaks me out, too.
The Shakespeare Code
You may have heard the speculation that William Shakespeare was a Catholic. Author Clare Asquith, in her new book Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare, claims that the Bard of Stratford seeded his plays with subversive Catholic references that was a code for the Elizabethan and Jacobean Catholic resistance movement:
"Far from being an ambitious entertainer who played down his Catholic roots under a repressive Elizabethan regime, Shakespeare took deliberate risks each time he took up his quill, according to Clare Asquith’s new book Shadowplay. She argues that the plays and poems are a network of crossword puzzle-like clues to his strong Catholic beliefs and his fears for England’s future. Aside from being the first to spot this daring Shakespearean code, Asquith also claims to be the first to have cracked it.
"’It has not been picked up on before because people have not had the complete context,’ she explained this weekend. ‘I am braced for flak, but we now know we have had the history from that period wrong for a long time because we have seen it through the eyes of the Protestant, Whig ascendancy who, after all, have written the history.’
"It is now widely accepted that the era was not a period of political consensus, says Asquith. Instead, it was a time in which opposition voices were banished and censorship meant the burning of illegal pamphlets and printed works.
"As a result the Catholic resistance, which had been going for 70 years by the time Shakespeare was writing, had already developed its own secret code words; a subversive communication system which the playwright developed further in his work."
This story caught my eye since I am currently reading through The Winter’s Tale with a reading group, in preparation for seeing the play performed. I’ve always been fascinated by Shakespeare, but found him difficult to penetrate and so have neglected actually studying him. Whether or not Asquith’s claim has merit, it certainly does pique my desire to better understand Shakespeare.
The Via Dolorosa Of John Paul II
The Vatican has released a detailed report of the final hours of Pope John Paul II:
"Struggling to breathe, Pope John Paul II mumbled his final words weakly in Polish: ‘Let me go to the house of the Father.’ Six hours later, the comatose pontiff died, the Vatican says.
"The account of John Paul’s final hours appears in a meticulously detailed official report on his last weeks just released by the Vatican in what might be an effort to ward off any doubts about how forthcoming it has been about his illness and April 2 death.
"There was much speculation in past decades over how some pontiffs died and what caused their end.
"John Paul I’s brief tenure of 33 days as pope in 1978 spawned conspiracy theories that he did not die naturally in his bed, as the Vatican said. Some wondered if the pope might have been killed because he had information about an Italian banking scandal in which the Holy See’s bank was later found to be involved.
"While no one has publicly suggested anything amiss about John Paul II’s final hours, the Vatican said nothing for years when it was apparent to observers that the globe-trotting, widely beloved pontiff was suffering the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
"The Vatican already revealed many of the details in the new report, but the 220-page volume provides more description of John Paul II’s decline. It went on sale at the Vatican in recent days, the Holy See’s publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, said Saturday."
The reported final words of John Paul, "Let me go to the house of the Father," certainly sheds new light on then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s now-famous reflection during the funeral homily of John Paul II standing at the window of the Father’s house:
"We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that he sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the eternal glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Amen.
Stamp Of Disapproval
The Angry Radical Traditionalist now has a customized postage stamp with which to post grumpy letters to his bishop. Using the personal-design technology approved by the U.S. Postal Service, these stamps feaure a mushroom cloud with the caption "Vatican II: Mass Destruction."
Before Angry Radical Traditionalists who think such stamps are a wonderful idea rush out to order a package — only $16.99! — let me offer some words of caution: Simmer down.
There is no quicker way to be dismissed as a crank than by decorating your mail with stuff like this. Those on the receiving end of a large amount of mail take seriously letters that make the writer’s point in as courteous and succinct a manner possible. Crisply professional business letters demonstrate that the writer is someone who is open to reason and thus it is worth trying to resolve this person’s dilemma. An envelope with a stamp like this might be posted on the lounge bulletin board at the local chancery for the amusement of the staff, but the letter writer’s problem will likely not be taken seriously.
Reading Cycles
Have you ever been through reading cycles? Bibliophile though I am, it seems my reading life is one cycle after another. Right now I’m on my non-fiction cycle and reading fiction can be a chore.
I grew up in a Reader’s Haven, although some might have called it a Reader’s Hovel out of exasperation at trying to climb over the stacks of books. My father introduced all of his children to reading and liked to brag of when he was a child and was the only kid in the neighborhood allowed to borrow double the allotment of books allowed by his local library because the librarians knew he’d have them all finished within the two-week loan period.
Similarly, I was also a voracious reader as a kid. When I was in sixth grade I broke the five thousand page record for pages read in a grading period simply because the teacher said it had never been done. (In retrospect, I think he simply said that to encourage kids like me to try to break that limit.) Give me a four-hundred-page book and I could have it finished in two days.
I can still wolf down books, but only if the ones I’m reading fit the cycle through which I’m currently passing. For example, for years I was a romance novel fan. Still love romance novels — they’re a sentimental favorite — but it is now a chore rather than a pleasure to plow through them. When I read fiction these days, I usually do best with the cozy mysteries — especially the foodie mysteries that have recipes printed in the book. I may never try out those recipes, but I love reading through them and imagining how the food would turn out. (Likely better for my waistline anyway!)
But give me a non-fiction book on a subject that interests me — currently, Pope Benedict XVI, marriage, and parenting issues, and please don’t analyze that too deeply! — and once again I have to carefully pace my reading so I’ll have enough book left to read to get me to the next payday. Does anyone else have experience with reading cycles? If so, through what cycles of the Reader’s Haven have you passed?