How about this!?

Hello all!

This has been a very busy and exciting week. I have so much going on, what with First Reconciliation on this Saturday, practices for that this week on Tues & Wed for the kids, my class at the seminary on Friday, Parent Orientation for First Communion next Saturday, and other things!

Nevertheless, I have been thinking about those of you who have been faithful to reading or at least being subscribed to my blog. I wanted to just post something for all of you.

Thus, I thought I would put this link of Catholic interest on here. I hope you find this as interesting as I think it is, and perhaps someone might be interested enough to purchase it! I am really interested to know what it smells like!

I hope to be more prolific next week. I apologize again for being so scarce this week.

A New Endeavor...

Today, I began a new chapter in the life of my working career. I have begun to teach at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary a class on the Catholic Social Teaching of the Church. As one book puts it, this is "our best kept secret."

For my students one of the text I am having them read is "The Reign of Christ the King" by Michael Davies. Michael Davies is not known to be a big supporter of Vatican II, to put it lightly. But the text of the book is a very interesting one which many Catholics should consider, despite Davies insistence that only in the Tridentine Mass will the Church find salvation from all her current woes.

As my class and I will explore, what Davies recommends is that we return to the Social Reign of Christ the King - a point which I think every one of us, especially here at St. Jude - should agree and integrate into our lives. For if we desire to serve the Son of God, let us not withhold anything from him. Let us abandon ourselves to His care. For God created us for communion, or friendship, with Him. As with any friend we should entrust ourselves to God, but since He is our Creator and Redeemer, let us recognize that we can not only entrust but we are able to totally abandon ourselves to his care. This is what St. Paul meant when he said, "In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus (1Thess 5:18)." Certianly this is a challenge to see things this way, but Jesus never said carrying our own cross would be. Hopefully, I won't be too big a cross for my students, but just enough that they learn the Social Teaching of the Church well.

Finally, please pray for my students as they endure my rants and general goofiness!

MLK, JFK & Ron Paul?

I hope you enjoy this video. I find it extremely compelling. What are your thoughts?

Art attacks...

I am reading an article about art in America today, found in First Things Magazine. The article quotes this little nugget from James Elkins book On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art. Apparently Mr. Elkins is affiliated with the Art Institute of Chicago. The article reports that Mr. Elkins would have us us believe that the art world, he says:

"can accept a wide range of 'religious' art by people who hate religion, by people who are deeply uncertain about it, by the disgruntled and the disaffected and the skeptical , but there is no place for artists who express straightforward, ordinarily religious faith."

The article continues, as Mr Elkins explains:

"To fit in the art world, work with a religious theme has to fulfill several criteria. It has to demonstrate the artist has second thoughts about religion... ambiguity and self-critique have to be integral to the work. And it follows that irony must pervade art, must be the air it breathes...Committed, engaged, ambitious, informed art does not mix with dedicated, serious, thoughtful, heartfelt religion."

Seriously?

Pope Benedict XVI talked about the dictatorship of relativism, if I remember correctly, in his final homily as Cardinal Ratzinger. Who couldn't recognize this in this statement about art. Why must art be this way? Because those who believe this way wouldn't accept anything else. People often talk about being open minded but I think G.K. Chesterton said it best when he said, "An open mind was meant to close on something solid." Instead of openness what we find here is a bigotry.

Perhaps we would do well as a parish to promote our children in not only the sciences but the arts as well. But if we are to change the face of our country we must first help them to see that there is only one thing that can supercede or transcend all categories of prejudice - really only one person: Jesus Christ.

Knowing the only true and living God allows us to recognize that all humanity is created in his image and likeness (Gen 1:27). Jesus reveals to ourselves that there is nothing which man does that is not meant to bring us joy. However, that action must be a moral action, it must correspond to the "rules," if you will, that God has laid out for us. But beyond those Ten Commandments, what is God's plan for mankind: "Be fruitful and multiply." In other words, we must recognize that only love creates, while hate destroys. This is precisely, it seems to me a problem of modern art, there are no forms or content in so many pieces because artists seek to deconstruct or alter reality, rather classical artists sought to appreciate and imitate the glory of creation - even if they didn't necessarily believe in God.

Nowadays, that glory has become a shackle to throw off. Yet the love from which the glory comes is still constantly offered to all. Each of our choice is whether we will see that love or whether we will harden our hearts to it. In the meantime, however, let us appreciate the glory of creation...for we know our Father has created and sustains it.

Like a lighthouse...

I have mentioned that I am sympathetic to Ron Paul. I keep wondering why, to be honest? But it is reports like these that make me keenly more sympathetic. Is anyone listening to the truth these days?!

A wise man...

I received this link from a fellow parishioner. I think, as well, that is quite a moving little video. Let me know what you think.

How true it is that those who learn from their mistakes become wise. But how true as well that few are willing to be humble enough to learn from their mistakes. Why must humanity be so?

Where do you stand?

In a recent post, I had stated that I was sympathetic to Ron Paul. So far that is still the case in many of his positions with regard to the Constitution. In fact, I even found myself closely aligned with Dr. Paul on the Mainstream positions on "ABC News' Match-o-matic." You might be interested to check it out. Its a lil bit of fun!

That being said, I was also shocked to learn about the possibility that Dr. Paul may also hold some views that I most definitely do not hold, consider this report by Tucker Carlson. I don't know if I buy this allegation yet, until I am able to actually read the text to which they refer, since I don't think media reports these things in the most objective manner to begin with, e.g. the fact that Ron Paul wasn't allowed on the Fox News debate on Sunday night even if he had 7% more votes that Rudy Giuliani and has raised more money than any other candidate last quarter.

One must admit it is disconcerting that any of these candidates could have "skeletons in the closet" that we might not want to know about or perhaps better that we do. But regardless of these men's positions it is important we not lose sight of our only king, Jesus Christ. Many are the candidates that we could support for our president, and let us support that president who ever it ends up being to the extent we are able, but let us never lose devotion or love for our only true king who is deserving of all our love - Jesus Christ. For there is no other name under heaven or under earth by which we are to be saved.

There is great joy in understanding this fundamental difference - we worship our True King, but we support our President. May we never lose sight of this fact, and may we draw closer to both of these realities as we move forward in history this day.

UPDATE: Minutes after first posting this, I checked Dr. Paul's website to find this response posted.