Had a Great Time: Tomorrow's Another Day

I could have sat down and written a post yesterday, and done the same today. I've even got some notes for one of them.

But, somewhere in the late afternoon today, I realized that I'd been having a great time: hanging out with family; celebrating Mass; Getting a photo of the Marian garden, with the angel statues wearing conical hats of snow; and playing Sim City 4.

I plan to get back to something resembling a normal schedule: tomorrow.

Tonight? I've got a few dishes to wash, then I'm calling it a day.

Here's that photo, previously posted in my Sauk Centre Journal blog:


Marian garden at Our Lady of the Angels church. December 26, 2010.

The Feast of the Holy Family

Readings for December 26, 2010, Feast of the Holy Family 2010:

• Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
• Colossians 3:12-21
• Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

---

The Feast of the Holy Family

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
December 26, 2010

At the heart of a beautiful family: great human minds, like Aristotle, realized that the family is what makes a society free; great Christian minds, like John Paul II, knew that the family is the way to Jesus!

One of the major tragedies of our would today is the disintegration of the family. The holy union between one man and one woman established by God has come under attack from the secular world. Marriage was once held in high esteem as a holy institution, but laxity of morals has slowly eroded this former holy institution of marriage. In the past divorce was concealed, kept hidden as a shameful act, while today some consider it a badge of honor.

I was thinking the other day: if each husband treated his wife as if she was Mary and each wife respected her husband as Joseph, modeled by the Holy Family what a wonderful life would be Marriage!

Extra-marital affairs were likewise hidden and much as possible, while today it becomes a bragging point. Watching TV these days and one comes away thinking that if I'm not evolved - I'm not normal.

This really poses a very important question, who do you want to decide if you are normal? If you/I have our hearts and minds focused on Heaven, wouldn't we want to have God to decide weather we are normal or not? By the way, normal is not sameness, but is whether I am right with God. For normalcy is the knowledge of our relationship with the God that made us and the knowledge of our return to Him.

The Church founded by Christ must then teach and proclaim that contraception has led to disregard of its basic teaching - and sex becomes a personal pleasure devoid of love or purpose. It seems in our day the role of true parenting is ridiculed and by some considered as practiced by foolish know-nothings.

The time has come for Catholic families once again to look to the Holy Family for guidance and inspiration. Each year the Church gives us this beautiful feast dedicated to the Holy Family to help us. In the opening prayer for the Sacred Liturgy today, we pray for peace in our families, united in respect and love.

The Reading from the book of Sirach enumerates the blessings those receive who honor their father and mother.

St. Paul reminds us that we are a chosen race, saints of God, and that we must clothe ourselves with virtue in order to bring unity to the family as intended by God.

The Gospel relates another dream of St. Joseph, in which he is alerted of danger, in obedience and silence he leads his family into safety, first into a foreign land, and then back to Nazareth in order to fulfill the words of the prophets. "He will be called a Nazarene."

On January 5, 1964, Pope Paul VI gave a powerful reflection in Nazareth on the Holy Family that continues to teach and give us practical advice today.

"Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ's life was like and even to understand His Gospel. Here we can observe and ponder the sample appeal of the way God's Son came to be known, profound yet full of hidden meaning. And gradually we may even learn to imitate Him."

Today, many families home-school, so I would direct those families to model their curricula on the Holy Family in order to, as Pope Paul says, "discover what Christ's life was like and understand His Gospel."

We learn from the Holy Family the value of silence and to appreciate its ability to overcome the cacophony of protests and conflicting claims so characteristic in our turbulent times.

Pope Paul continues by reminding us that it is in the model of the Holy Family that we can see a model of and character of our families. Becoming the perfect setting for the rearing of children. Do I dare say there is no substitute!

Lastly the Pope reflects on the value of work, again as it relates to the Holy Family.

"In Nazareth, the home of the craftsman's son, we learn about Work and the discipline it entails. I would especially like to recognize its - demanding yet redeeming - and to give it proper respect. I would remind everyone that work has its own dignity. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. Its value and free character, however, derives not only from its place in the economic system, as they say, but rather from the purpose it serves."

The Pope goes on to say that is unfortunate that so many look down on manual labor for it give one a sense of pride and accomplishment and, without work, we'll become listless. Looking to the Holy Family, we see each family member diligently contributing to a variety of task as appropriate to their position in the Domestic church, the Family. We may achieve this by observing proper order in our family life, which includes discipline, obedience, silence and recognition of the need for work with its sanctifying merit.

The family can bind this all together in their common life, which entails prayer, meals, recreation and work done as members of a family.

---

'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

---

More reflections:

• "Reflections from Sauk Centre's Our Lady of the Angels Church"

Related posts:

• "Home Schooling and This Catholic Family"
  (February 26, 2011)
• "Joseph's Bones, a Promise, and Passing the Word"
  (December 20, 2010)
• "Kids Don't Learn Faith: They Catch It"
  (September 15, 2010)
• "Sex, the Practicing Catholic, and Vatican Roulette"
  (June 5, 2010)
• "The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph"
  (December 27, 2009)

More:

• "The Lessons of Nazareth - Pope Paul VI"
  basilicanazareth.org
• "Angelus"
  Benedict XVI; St Peter's Square; Feast of St Stephen, Protomartyr; Feast of the Holy Family (December 26, 2010)

Wow! Nobody Attacked the Pope This Year!

This year's Christmas Eve celebration at the Vatican was comparatively dull, compared to what happened last year, and the year before that.

Nobody attacked the Pope.

Can't say I'm sorry about the lack of excitement.

Here's part of a pretty good bit of news coverage of what didn't happen. And what the Pope did, last year:

"Pope celebrates Christmas Eve amid security fears"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (December 24, 2010)

"Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Christmas Eve with an evening Mass on Friday amid heightened security concerns following the package bombings at two Rome embassies and Christmas Eve security breaches at the Vatican the past two years.

"Benedict processed down the central aisle of St. Peter's Basilica at the start and end of the Mass without incident; with his normal phalanx of bodyguards on either side, he stopped several times to bless babies held up to him from the pews...."

Recapping what happened at the Christmas Eve Mass in 2008 and 2009:

In 2008, a woman went after the Pope, but was blocked by the Holy See's Swiss Guard.

The next year she tried the same thing, and got through.

In 2009, the Pope was okay, aside from being dragged to the floor by someone "with a history of psychiatric problems." Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was near the Pope, was pushed over too. The Cardinal broke something. Last year I got the impression it was his leg. This year, that's been clarified: he broke his hip.

The woman, with the psychiatric history and a red sweater? The article gets back to her, after a few details about what the Pope said:

"...In his homily, Benedict recalled the birth of Jesus which is commemorated on Christmas and prayed that the faithful today become more like Christ.

" 'Help us to recognize your face in others who need our assistance, in those who are suffering or forsaken, in all people, and help us to live together with you as brothers and sisters, so as to become one family, your family,' he said...."

"...The Vatican identified the pope's 2008 and 2009 Christmas Eve assailant as Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national with a history of psychiatric problems. Both years she wore a telltale red sweat shirt....

[recalling events immediately after the 2009 attack:]

"...Maiolo was treated for some time at a clinic in Rome, and Benedict's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, visited her there. Three weeks later, Maiolo and her family met privately with the pope at the Vatican and the pontiff forgave her.

"The Vatican reviewed security procedures after the knockdown. But officials have long warned there will always be risks to the pontiff since he is regularly surrounded by tens of thousands of people for his weekly audiences, Masses, papal greetings and other events."
("Associated Press, via FoxNews.com)

I don't envy the folks responsible for guarding the Pope. They could keep him relatively safe, if he could be locked away in the more secure areas of the Vatican.

But then he'd have a hard time being the bishop of Rome - and taking care of business, as the current holder of Peter's authority. It's that Matthew 16:18 thing, and I've discussed it before. (March 27, 2010, for one)

Forgiveness: It's Important

No long discussion this time: just my opinion, that forgiveness is important for the person doing the forgiving; and whoever is being forgiven.

Holding on to resentments and anger isn't a good idea. I've tried it. Seriously: It's not a good idea. Letting go isn't easy, either: and that's another topic. Several.

"With a History of Psychiatric Problems"

I've got nothing particularly profound to say about this. I could say something like "there, but for the Grace of God, go I."

One problem with that: I'm someone "with a history of psychiatric problems" myself. Major depression, and ADHD, specifically.

'That's different,' or maybe not so much.

I'm not likely to attack the Pope: But I've got some notion of what it's like to work with a brain that's not running quite according to specifications

And that's yet again another topic.

I'll try to get back, later today or maybe tomorrow, with something a bit more conventionally 'Christmasy.' But, as I've said before, "I don't do 'conventional.' " Still another topic.

Posts about this year, and last, in Rome; forgiveness, and somebody with a psychiatric condition:

• "Bombs in Rome: Another Flavor of Terrorist"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 24, 2010)
• "Brilliant, Talented, and On Medication"
  (November 30, 2010)
• "ADHD, an Apostolic Exhortation, Another Document, and V8"
  (November 11, 2010)
• " 'Vengeance is Mine, I will Repay, Says the Lord' - Works for Me"
  (September 11, 2010)
• "Pope Attacked at Christmas Eve Mass: And What He Said"
  (December 24, 2009)
• "Feeling Forgiven: My Faith and Emotional Perks"
  (November 24, 2009)

In the news:

• "Pope celebrates Christmas Eve amid security fears"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (December 24, 2010)

Christmas Eve, 2010

My family and I have been to Mass, opened presents, and shortly two of my kids will be playing a new Wii game. It's been a good evening, and promises to continue to be so.

Today is Christmas Eve, tomorrow's Christmas day. Under, behind, and beyond the commercial and cultural accretions - which I enjoy - there's a simple story.

"⁶ Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, ⁷ but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, ⁸ yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord ⁹ appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, ¹⁰ because he will save his people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ¹¹ 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means 'God is with us.' When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, ¹² and he named him Jesus."
(Matthew 1:18-25)

About a third of a century later, Jesus went into the desert, came back, and changed the world.

But that's another story.

Somewhat-related posts:

• " 'Jesus, Remember Me, When You Come Into Your Kingdom' "
  (November 21, 2010)
• "Mary, Mother of Jesus: Reading Glasses for Catholics"
  (August 15, 2010)
• "Christmas Nativity Scenes and St. Francis of Assisi"
  (December 24, 2009)
• "Firebase Earth"
  (April 5, 2009)

Why I Don't Go Ballistic Over Xmas

When I refer to the religious festival, secular holiday, or commercial bonanza that happens this time of year, I write "Christmas." Not "Xmas." That's because I'm fairly fast at key-entry, like the 'sound' of "Christmas," and don't want to upset folks who feel bad when they see "Xmas."

Counting the title, I've written "Xmas" three times so far in this post. Four with that last sentence.

Not because I'm trying to make anybody feel bad, but because I've seen discussions of "Xmas" in various places. Some apparently more informed than others.

I've run into a few explanations for why some folks write "Xmas" when they mean "Christmas:"

• People are lazy
• It's an attack on Christianity
• The X in Christmas is
  • St. Andrew's Cross
  • The Greek Letter Chi, expressed in our Latin-derived alphabet

I don't doubt that some folks, when they write "Xmas," intend to 'attack' Christianity. Or at least are trying to annoy tightly-wound Christians. Some folks may write "Xmas" in an effort to avoid writer's cramp. The version I heard first, and give some credence to, is that the "X" is a reference to St. Andrew's cross. Which, by tradition, was shaped more-or-less like an "X." (More about that in the background articles, at the end of this post.)

I won't insist on that explanation, since I haven't verified it. The 'X means Chi' explanation makes sense to me, too: but again, I haven't thoroughly researched the matter.

Again, I prefer to write out "Christmas." But, like I said in this post's title, I don't go ballistic when I see "Xmas." There are many possible explanations for why a particular person might use that abbreviation. And besides, if I must get upset: I'd rather pick a less ambiguous target.

Which reminded me (ADHD, remember?):

We Worship the Post Exchange?!

Considering how many Christian churches have a labarum, or chi-rho symbol, prominently displayed in the sanctuary, I'm a little surprised that I haven't run into someone claiming that 'those people' worship a Post Exchange, sometimes referred to as the PX. (See AAFES/Post Exchange (Mini-Mall): "The Post Exchange (PX) is a modern self-service shoppette....")

Colorful as the idea of people worshiping a PX is, the Chi-Roh symbol predates the American military, the Norman Invasion, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the conversion of Emperor Constantine.

The labarum, or chi-rho, been a Christian symbol for a long time, and represents the first two letters of my Lord's title, Christ, as expressed in the Greek language (Catholic Encyclopedia) - and subsequently picked up by barbarians who were using variations on the Latin alphabet. A lot can happen in two millennia. And has. And that's another topic.

Almost-related posts:

• "Demons aren't Dull"
  (November 30, 2010)
• "When 'Secret' Doesn't Mean 'Secret:' The Vatican Secret Archives"
  (November 12, 2010)
• "Halloween, Emperor Palpatine, Electric Eyeballs, and Getting a Grip"
  (October 29, 2010)
• "Apathy is Rampant, But Who Cares?"
  (October 4, 2010)
• "God's Creation: He Seems to Think Big"
  (September 23, 2010)

Background:

• "Andrew, the Protoclete"
  Benedict XVI, General Audience (June 14, 2006)
• "St. Andrew"
  Catholic Encyclopedia, via New Advent
• "Labarum (Chi-Rho)"
  Catholic Encyclopedia, via New Advent

Catholic News Agency Takes a Vacation, Sort of

Celebrating Mass every Sunday is important. So is spending time with family, earning a living, and scooping snow out from the workings of a garage door.

Those are all important tasks.

They're not equally important, though. In my opinion.

Here's something that caught my eye this evening:

"CNA news service to resume in 2011"
Catholic News Agency (CNA) (December 22, 2010)

"In celebration of Christmas and the New Year, CNA will suspend its regular news service on Thursday, December 23 and will resume on January 3, 2011.

"During this time, members of the CNA staff will be working to improve services for the upcoming year. We will also provide coverage of the Pope's Christmas homily and his Urbi et Orbi address.

"We ask that you keep CNA in your prayers this Christmas season as the Universal Church commemorates the birth of Christ. We would like to take this time to graciously thank all of our donors, who...."

Reading the first paragraph, my reaction was that closing the doors for more than a week was something most outfits wouldn't do.

And that's not what CNA is doing. Looks like they may be assuming that folks are somewhat distracted during the Christmas-New Year's holiday season - and taking advantage of the situation, to get work done that isn't practical while in full 'news service' mode.

Smart move, I think.

Low Priority, High Urgency, and Getting a Grip

Of that list of tasks in the first paragraph, scooping snow out of the rail of a garage door is probably the lowest-priority item.

It was also something that needed to get done this afternoon, which made it the most urgent item on my list.

We've had snow here: quite a bit. Good news, we'll have a white Christmas. Bad news, we're not quite finished shoveling out from the recent storm: and there's more in tomorrow's forecast.

The snow came with lots of wind, so there's a lovely spackling of snow on walls and trees. Snow also got blown under the bottom of my garage door, and into part of the mechanism. Which meant that the door wouldn't close all the way.

I love animals: but prefer that they stay out of my garage. Which wasn't going to happen, with that snow in the way.

So: shifting snow around isn't one of the things I build my life around, but sometimes it has to be done: now. It's just one more minor practical detail which, if ignored, will make taking care of 'high priority' items difficult.

Time for Being Spiritual, Being Practical

I don't see taking care of practical details as being 'worldly.' As long as I keep my life in balance.

Some folks are able to spend all their time with 'spiritual' matters. That's a good thing. Me? I wash dishes just about every evening, clean the toilet as needed: and celebrate Mass regularly.

Like it says in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant...."

Not-completely-unrelated posts:

• "Millions of Dollars in Decorations on a Tree: And a Tale of Two Camels"
  (December 19, 2010)
• "Work, 'Giving Back,' and a Saint"
  (July 7, 2010)
• Money isn't Everything: But it Helps"
  (April 10, 2010)
• "Working on Sunday: At Growing the Christian Interior Life"
  (January 2, 2010)
• "Christmas? Yeah, it's a Pretty Big Deal"
  (December 24, 2009)

Not Hopeless, Not Helpless: Haiti, the News, and a Reality Check

Here's yet another post about Haiti.

And here's what I've written before, about how a person can help. No pressure.

"...I prepared a list of charities and their contact information - Catholic and otherwise - for another blog, along with a regularly-updated list of posts I've written on what's going on in Haiti:

• 'Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics'
  • I've put Catholic charitable organizations in their own category

That page also has a list of posts in this, and two other blogs, about Haiti...."
(February 22, 2010)

And one more link:

• "Haiti Earthquake"
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

So, what's the big deal about Haiti this time?

A Haitian bishop has something to say, about how recovery is going. The bottom line seems to be that the folks in that country are putting their homes, neighborhoods, and lives back together.

Note, please: Haitians are putting their homes, neighborhoods, and lives back together. I'm fairly sure that assistance from overseas helped - and will continue to be useful - but Bishop Pierre-Andre Dumas and Deacon Patrick Moynihan made an important point.

Whatever impression the news may give, Haitians aren't sitting on their hands, waiting for someone else to make it all better.

"Haitian bishop: Earthquake recovery enters new phase"
Rick Snizek, Editor, CNA Catholic News Agency (December 20, 2010)
Originally published:

• "Haitian bishop: Earthquake recovery enters new phase"
  Rick Snizek, Editor, The Rhode Island Catholic (Diocese of Providence) (December 9, 2010)

"With the one-year anniversary looming of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked Haiti, killing some 230,000 people, a bishop from the beleaguered island nation says that while the recovery has been slow, it is definitely moving forward with much help from the church.

" 'There is new involvement of the church preparing projects for the medium and long term, something the Holy Father has encouraged us to think about,' said Bishop Pierre-Andre Dumas, of Anse-a-Veau and Miragoane, who also serves as president of Caritas Haiti.

" 'These are integral projects of human development: constructing houses and rebuilding cities,' he said...."

"...Despite the recent cholera outbreak, the school, and the surrounding neighborhood have remained free of the deadly disease in large measure due to the efforts of students. They have worked to instruct neighbors and their own families on how to use Clorox supplied them to sanitize their surroundings, according to Haitian Project President Deacon Patrick Moynihan.

"Deacon Moynihan says the preservation and advancement of the faith is crucial in order for a community to truly thrive, and he credits Bishop Dumas for his strong involvement and dedication to the youths the school serves.

" 'The bishop has been instrumental to helping us in one of our truly important activities, bringing young people back into the faith, and advancing them in their sacraments,' Deacon Moynihan said.

"The Haitian Project has also partnered with Catholic Relief Services, the largest provider of aid by any religious organization in Haiti, to help with the social and medical needs of Haitians.

"The deacon is frustrated with how the situation in Haiti is being portrayed in the news, however.

" 'They're underestimating the tremendous amount of work being done by the Haitian people themselves,' Deacon Moynihan said. 'We've watched for weeks and weeks the reporting of the terrible situation of the cholera without seeing one major newspaper covering Haitian doctors really treating Haitian people. That's what our students who've become doctors have been engaged in. That makes me sad.'

"He feels that portraying Haitians as helpless without the efforts of the international community takes away the possibility of hope and self-reliance being built within the people...."

"...'The church believes it is possible to help the people to find new hope, to help Haiti rise again and to participate in the spiritual renewal resurrection of our people. Little by little, we’re trying to do that.'

"Haiti's best years, he feels, still lie ahead.

" 'We want our kids, our boys, our girls, to be part of history,' Bishop Dumas said.

"'This is our history, to fight for life. I'm sure we will prevail.' "

If Bishop Dumas and other folks in Haiti keep that attitude - and keep to their prayers - I'm pretty sure they will prevail.

But then, I tend to assume that folks living in other countries are people. Living in different circumstances and having different cultures: but people, not all that much unlike my neighbors - or me.

Related posts:

• "Haiti: Cholera's Bad, But That's Not Their Only Problem"
  (November 4, 2010)
• "Hats Off to New Orleans Parishioners"
  (July 2, 2010)
• "Archbishop: 'Let's Not Forget Haiti' - Works for Me"
  (June 9, 2010)
• "Money isn't Everything: But it Helps"
  (April 10, 2010)
• "Something Good About the Catholic Church? From Haiti?"
  (April 5, 2010)

In the news:

• "Haitian bishop: Earthquake recovery enters new phase"
  Rick Snizek, Editor, CNA Catholic News Agency (December 20, 2010)
  Originally published:
  • "Haitian bishop: Earthquake recovery enters new phase"
    Rick Snizek, Editor, The Rhode Island Catholic (Diocese of Providence) (December 9, 2010)

Joseph's Bones, a Promise, and Passing the Word

I've got the authority of some guy with a blog. I've said that before, but with all the Bible verses in this post, I thought it'd be prudent to repeat it.

Raising Children, Not Just Having Them

My wife and I have been blessed with children: four of whom have survived. This weekend, we've had all four under the roof - occasionally. There's been a family get-together over at my father-in-law's place, so folks have been shifting back and forth a bit.

Tonight, though, all four are here: plus my son-in-law, #2 daughter's husband.

It's good to have kids. My opinion. Having goodhearted kids helps me feel that way.

There's quite a bit about children in the Bible, I found after a little rummaging around. Like this bit from Psalms:

"We do not keep them from our children; we recite them to the next generation, The praiseworthy and mighty deeds of the LORD, the wonders that he performed. God set up a decree in Jacob, established a law in Israel: What he commanded our ancestors, they were to teach their children; That the next generation might come to know, children yet to be born. In turn they were to recite them to their children, that they too might put their trust in God, And not forget the works of God, keeping his commandments."
(Psalm 78:4-7)

That reminded me of Joseph's bones - and folks with long memories. Really long memories.

Joseph's Bones: A Promise Remembered

Abraham and his sons - including Joseph - lived in "early part of the second millennium B.C. (2000-1500)...." (Preface to the New American Bible) Joseph: His early life was a series of ups and downs. Literally, in one case. (Genesis 37:24-28)

After Joseph got put in charge of a wide swath of Egypt's domestic affairs (Genesis 41:39-41), he had a chance to get even with his brothers - and saved them from starvation. That narrative starts in Genesis 42.

Then Joseph grew old, and died.

"Joseph said to his brothers: 'I am about to die. God will surely take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Then, putting the sons of Israel under oath, he continued, 'When God thus takes care of you, you must bring my bones up with you from this place.' "
(Genesis 50:24-25)

About five hundred years later,¹ Joseph's bones started their journey back.

"Moses also took Joseph's bones along, for Joseph had made the Israelites swear solemnly that, when God should come to them, they would carry his bones away with them."
(Exodus 13:19)

That would be like someone living around the time of Columbus, Henry VIII, and Martin Luther being given an obligation - which couldn't be taken care of until this year.

Joseph's brothers were long gone by the time Moses got sent back to Egypt with a mission, a message, and Aaron. (Exodus 4:10-15) But evidently they'd told their children about the family obligation - and word got passed from each generation to the next, until someone had an opportunity to get the job done.

That wouldn't have happened, if each set of parents hadn't made sure that their children knew who Joseph was, where his bones were, and why it was important to take Joseph's remains back. I'm sure, by the way, that there are important reasons why it was important to return Joseph's bones to his home.

For me, though, a very important reason was simply that a promise had been made. And a promise was kept. Even though it took half a millennium to do so.

Children, and their Children's Children

More than a thousand years after Moses lived and died, a son was born in the house of David - and nearly two thousand years after that, we're still celebrating the birthday of Jesus.

My wife and I don't have the sort of obligation that the descendants of Joseph's brothers did: but we do have the job of telling and showing our children who Jesus is, why He's important, and helping them learn to live the way He wants us to.

More, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (2221)

And, about reading the Bible:

• "Bible Is for Catholics"
  Mary Elizabeth Sperry, Associate Director for Utilization of the New American Bible, Office of Media Relations, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Diapers and the End of Civilization"
  (November 10, 2010)
• "Kids Don't Learn Faith: They Catch It"
  (September 15, 2010)
• "Blessing My Daughter, and the Domestic Church"
  (July 15, 2010)
• "A Social Worker, a Stubborn Latina, and Another Hispanic Baby"
  (May 21, 2010)
• "The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph"
  (December 27, 2009)
  • Guest post

---

¹ "New American Bible" St. Joseph Medium Size edition, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, p. 38.

Millions of Dollars in Decorations on a Tree: And a Tale of Two Camels

Earlier today, I read that the management of a hotel in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regretted putting around $11,0000,000-worth of decorations on an ersatz Christmas tree. Here's the first paragraph:

"An Abu Dhabi luxury hotel that boasted an $11 million Christmas tree decorated with gold and gems admitted Sunday it may have taken the holiday spirit a bit too far...."
(Associated Press, via FoxNews.com)

(from ArabianBusiness.com, used w/o permission)
I thought I'd be reading that the thing tipped over.

Turns out, the folks who run the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi were concerned about aesthetics, not engineering. The tree is around 43 feet, or 13 meters, tall. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that a tree that size gives them a pretty good bling-to-structure ratio.

About being over the top, in terms of good taste? Judging from photos in the news, I think they've got a nice-looking tree. A bit on the opulent side, but come on: It's a seven-star luxury hotel - in Dubai.

Besides, I'm one of those folks who don't mind seeing plastic flamingos, pottery gnomes, and plywood art in front yards.

In other words, I don't mind looking at things that aren't blandly banal, or discretely dull. Granted, what I consider nifty may not be suitable to those of more delicately refined tastes.

A Seven-Star Hotel in the UAE? In a Catholic's Blog?!

I've written about Christmas before. I've even written about the seasonal commercialism and gooey sentiment that's now a traditional part of American (and possibly Western) culture. (December 24, 2009, December 24, 2008) I may do another 'look past the glitz' post this year.

The fact is, though: I like the glitz. I even enjoy some of the sentimental heavy syrup that oozes through media this time of year. As with Bingo, beer, or bling: the stuff isn't bad in itself. It's only a problem when it gets in the way of our focus on God. My opinion, but I'm just some guy with a blog. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a pretty good place to start looking for what the Church teaches. (2290, 2413, 2521-2522: and, for that matter, 2112-2114)

I wrote about moderation yesterday, too, sort of. (December 18, 2010)

Which brings me back to that tree decorated with almost a dozen million dollars in gold and jewels.

It's Okay to be Wealthy?

The decorations represent more wealth than I'm ever likely to see. The tree is in a seven-star hotel: and back when I traveled occasionally, I'd be more likely to seek out a nice budget motel. But not everybody's in my position.

I've discussed wealth before, too. (September 27, 2010) The bottom line seems to be that it's okay to be poor. It's also okay to be rich. Either way, it looks like it's what you do with where you are that counts. (February 4, 2010)

Besides, it's not like the wealth tied up on that tree is gone forever after the Christmas season. My guess is that the valuables on that tree will be going back into the inventory of Style Gallery, the store that's displaying the ornaments. From there, I'm pretty sure that the management of Style Gallery hopes that some of the folks who saw the tree will buy a piece of that memory to take home with them.

Blingle Bells and Middle Eastern Culture

Considering what some of the more tightly-wound folks in the Middle East seem to think about Christianity - and anything else that isn't part of the way their ancestors have lived for a few thousand years - the management of the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi deserves commendation for accommodating the tastes of foreign guests.

I've written more, about my take on how folks in the Middle East are taking the Information Age, in other blogs. There's a short list of links toward the bottom of this post. Which is another topic - but not by much.

New Horizons in Tacky Lawn Sculptures

Compared to what some newly-rich folks were doing, a few decades back, that gold-and-jewel-covered tree is positively austere. Like the fellow who set a new benchmark for loud taste in Beverly hills, back in 1979:

"...First, the then-young sheik painted his 38-room white Italianate mansion the color of minty fresh toothpaste. Then, he surrounded it with urns filled with plastic flowers. The coup de grace, however, was painting the white plaster statues of nude men and women to highlight their genitalia."
"Would the sheik's mansion shock us today?," Style & Culture, Mimi Avins, Los Angeles Times (January 1, 2003)

I've written about modesty before, too. That statuary isn't something I'd like to see across the street from me.

That said, I was a bit sympathetic with the young man and his taste in lawn ornaments. Not because I was a youngish man then, too: but because I had some notion of where the young sheik was coming from. Literally. If what filters out from places like Saudi Arabia is any indication, quite a few spots in the Middle East would make the most rigidly control-crazed neighborhood association seem like the epitome of open-mindedness by comparison.

I put myself in his shoes, imagining what it might be like to grow up in a place with a rigid dress code, rules about how the outside of your house should look: and then have enough money to buy a mansion on the other side of a distant continent - and have it painted mint green.

The naughty statues? Okay: that's over the top, in my opinion. But maybe more understandable, if seen as youthful enthusiasm: suddenly let off the leash.

Mint-Green Mansions and Camel-to-Camel in Six Generations

That gold-laden Christmas tree may make a bit more sense, after looking at a quote widely attributed to another sheik: one who stayed home and - well, I'll get to that. Here's that quote:

"My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel."
("Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum," Emiratweet)

The point he was making was that he had enormous wealth: thanks to petroleum being a valuable commodity today.

A few generations back, his family and his people didn't have that sort of wealth. A few generations from now, they wouldn't have it - again.

Not from the sale of petroleum, anyway. There's only so much of the stuff: and quite a few folks are working at finding practical alternatives. With some promising results - and that's another topic.

What the 'camel' sheik, and others who look beyond mint-green mansions, were doing was using the narrow window of opportunity the 'petrodollar' windfall had given them: to build the start of an economy that didn't depend on selling oil.

Which is where extravagantly-priced hotels come in.

It's Not Just About Rich People

There are folks with money to spend - who like to spend it at places like the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi. Each guest at the hotel provides, directly or indirectly, jobs which folks who aren't extremely wealthy need.

Do I think the UAE is perfect? No. I don't think America is perfect, either. Or any other country.

I do, however, have some respect for leaders who appear to be trying to do something constructive with the fleeting boom times of the days when the world runs on petroleum.

Like I said: I think it's okay to be wealthy; and it's okay to be poor. What counts is what you do with the what you have.

Related (sort of) posts:

• "Is the Church For Capitalism? Yes: and No"
  (March 13, 2010)
• "Jesus Christ, Beer, Tobacco, Idols and Indian Law"
  (February 22, 2010)
• "Modesty: Living in Balance"
  (August 16, 2009)
• "If Catholics are Superstitious, How Come We're Not Allowed to be Superstitious?"
  (August 18, 2010)
• "Halloween's Coming: Why aren't I Ranting?"
  (October 29, 2009)

Other vaguely-related posts, in other blogs:

• "Al Qaeda, Al Arabiya, Dubai, and Common Sense"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 1, 2009)
• "Another Dubai Skyscraper: This One Spins"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (June 27, 2008)
• "Is the War on Terror a War on Islam? Not Quite"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 8, 2007) Particularly
  • Investing in the Future
• "The Internet: USA Rules, UAE Rules"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 14, 2007)
• About the Burj Dubai / Khalifa
  • "Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Tower: Observation Deck Open, Mouths Closed"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (April 5, 2010)
  • "Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Tower: Points of View"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (February 10, 2010)
  • "Kilometer-High Tower on Hold"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (January 14, 2009)
  • "Burj Dubai: Record-Setting Superscraper Opens Today - With the Usual Complaints"
    Apathetic Lemming of the North (January 4, 2010)
  • About the tower's new name
    • "A New Name for the Middle Eastern Tower"
      Apathetic Lemming of the North, Background (February 10, 2010)

In the news:

• "Abu Dhabi Hotel Regrets $11M Spent on Christmas Tree Decorations"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (December 19, 2010)
• "Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace 'regrets' $11m Christmas tree"
  Joanne Bladd, ArabianBusiness.com (December 19, 2010 )
• "Hotel in the UAE has installed the Christmas tree with diamonds"
  City-of-hotels.com (December 18, 2010)

Background:

• Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi (English home page)

Catholicism: Obligations, Penance, Fasting; and Cartoons

It's the Advent season: the fourth Sunday of which is tomorrow. That's not what this post is about.

#1 daughter and her kitten; #2 daughter and her husband and dog; and one of my nieces and her husband, no livestock, are two rooms over at the moment. It's overflow, sort of, from a family get-together at my father-in-law's.

I'd have been there, but I'm running a fever - and it didn't seem like a good idea. I'm not all that sick - but I'm not well, either. Going to Mass tomorrow is something I'll think about - tomorrow morning.

Obligations, Gambling, Excess, and being Catholic

What?! Don't Catholics have to go to Mass every Sunday, come Hell or high water? Yes, and no. I've discussed this before. (October 9, 2010, January 3, 2010, August 16, 2009) Bottom line, as nearly as I can tell, is that we're supposed to go to Mass every Sunday. But we're also obligated to keep ourselves healthy. As I've said before, we're called to holiness, not stupidity. (May 19, 2010)

I had something I was going to write about. What was it?

Remember what I said, about wading through syrup?

In a way, I can sort of see why some folks in America think that Catholics aren't Christians - and that the Catholic Church is some kind of plot.

I mean, look at what we do!

Gambling!

Once a year, I'm calling numbers for folks playing Bingo, at the Stearns County Fair. It's a major fundraiser for the local Knights of Columbus council.

Bingo! That's gambling! I don't know how many folks today are convinced that gambling is the work of the Devil - but there were a noticeable number when I was growing up.

Gambling - Bingo included - can be part of a problem. What it says in the Catechism is that gambling is "morally unacceptable" when it starts cutting into our ability to care for our needs, and those of others. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2413)

Why can't they make it simple, and forbid everything and anything that anybody might have trouble handling? That's another topic.

Booze!

As if allowing Bingo wasn't bad enough, the Catholic Church doesn't even say that cough medicine is evil because it contains alcohol. Imagine!

That doesn't mean that we're allowed to get drunk any time we like.

Again: it isn't the booze, or the food, or tobacco, or the medicine that's the problem. It's what we do with it.

"The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2290)

Aha! Now I remember what I wanted to write about!

Cartoons? A Priest Drawing Cartoons?!

Maybe you've heard this quote:

"Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
H. L. Mencken, The Quotations Page

Catholics aren't Puritans.

The Catholic Church isn't one of those 'feel-good' religions, either. All that fasting, penitence, and the whole Lent thing? I could make being a Catholic look like a dreary succession of grim duties.

That's not gonna happen. Not in this post, anyway.

Some time I'm going to get back to the idea of fun, and why I think it's so hard to think of "fun" as being "spiritual" or "religious" for so many folks - at least in my experience.

Today, though, I'm going to take a look at a a priest who's also a cartoonist.

"Father Dominick Fullam was drawn to cartooning at an early age but a higher calling erased any aspirations he ever had of becoming a full-time cartoonist....

"...'I was at the airport in Atlanta drawing a cartoon character on an iPad, and a lady seated next to me asked if I drew cartoons for a living. I laughed and said I was just passing time, but that I used to do a not-so-great cartoon in my high school newspaper,' he said.

" 'She told me what I'd done looked really good to her. A seed was planted.'

"That seed has since developed into a new comic strip titled 'Off by a Mile.'..."
(CNA)

Off by a Mile is online, at offbyamile.com. The website is new - the domain was registered on November 27, 2010. The cartoons are one-panel, and may not be the next Family Circus. But, who knows? I've been wrong before.

Is the Catholic Church okay with cartoons? Good question: but my guess is, "yes." For one thing there's this excerpt from a section on popular piety, in the Catechism:

"...At its core the piety of the people is a storehouse of values that offers answers of Christian wisdom to the great questions of life. The Catholic wisdom of the people ... creatively combines the divine and the human, Christ and Mary, spirit and body, communion and institution, person and community, faith and homeland, intelligence and emotion. This wisdom is a Christian humanism that radically affirms the dignity of every person as a child of God, establishes a basic fraternity, teaches people to encounter nature and understand work, provides reasons for joy and humor even in the midst of a very hard life...."
(Catechism, 1676)

In context, it looks like humor, like joy, is being shown as a good thing. Remember, though: I speak with the full authority of some guy with a blog. If you're interested, I recommend reading that section of Catechism yourself.

Not-completely-unrelated posts:

• "From Father Dowling to The Simpsons: Somebody Finally Got it Right"
  (October 21, 2010)
• "And Now, for Something Completely Different: The Catholic Pickup Line Song"
  (September 30, 2010)
• "Friday: I Could Wait For Inspiration, or Go With This"
  (July 30, 2010)
• "One Headline Glitch, a Mistake; Two: 'yougottabekidding' "
  (March 28, 2009)
• "Whaddaya Know: I'm Following Catholicism!"
  (March 7, 2009)

In the news:

• "Priest's cartoons add a little levity to life"
  Terry Dickson, CNA Cathlic News Agency (December 18, 2010)

Aerobic Worship

I didn't join the Catholic Church for my health.

Well, actually, I did: my spiritual health. And that's another topic.

On the other hand, going to Mass each Sunday may be just a tad healthier than going to weekly services at the Protestant church I grew up in.

It was just as well that the services only lasted about an hour - we didn't get to stand up and stretch all that often.

Going to Mass, now: That's a different story.

All that standing up, sitting down, standing up, kneeling, and walking up to receive my Lord? It's not quite 'light exercise,' but it sure isn't just sitting still, either.

Not-completely-unrelated posts:

• "New Missal Coming: This is Going to be Interesting"
  (November 22, 2010)
• "Celebrating Mass, Flossing My Teeth"
  (October 20, 2010)
• "Photos and Faith in Sauk Centre"
  (August 22, 2010)
• "Working on Sunday: At Growing the Christian Interior Life"
  (January 2, 2010)
• "The Dreaded Vacation Mass"
  (August 24, 2009)

More, about Mass and the Eucharist: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1322-1419

That's Funny: You Don't Look Catholic

Folks have odd ideas sometimes.

Take religion, for example, back in my 'good old days.' In the time and place where I grew up, "Christian" and "Protestant" where interchangeable terms for quite a few folks.

Then there were assumptions about religion and ethnicity. Many, if they thought about it at all, 'knew' that:

• Buddhists lived in Japan
• Hindus lived in India
• "Christians" were 'regular Americans'
  • And the folks living in northwestern Europe
• Catholics lived in Italy and Ireland

An oversimplification? Certainly. Did all the folks where I grew up make these assumptions? No.

But quite a few did.

Folks with a college degree under their belt, or who were college students, seemed less apt to make those assumptions about religion and ethnicity. That's the good news.

The bad news is that a fair number of the college crowd had other clinkers in their thinkers. Like confusing Christianity with racism and European imperialism. And assuming, if they thought about it at all, that Christians didn't like science and education: and of course didn't 'believe in' evolution.

No wonder I don't admit to being nostalgic very often.

'Stereotypes are Stereotypes for a Reason'

Stereotypes - 'conventional or formulaic conceptions or images' (Princeton's WordNet) - are not, I think, a particularly good tool for understanding the real world. On the other hand, I think that stereotypes often have some basis in fact: no matter how unrealistic they become, once cut free from the space-time continuum.

Like the 'Buddhists are Japanese' thing. Turns out, a little over 71% of the folks living in Japan follow Buddhism. As of 2005, anyway. In 2001, a bit over 80% of the folks in India were Hindus. ("India" (last updated on December 9, 2010), "Japan" (updated December 7, 2010), The World Factbook, CIA)

Who Believes What and Where

After a little checking, I see that there are about a half-dozen or so 'world religions.'

My guess is that not everybody would agree with this list: but I think it's good enough as a 'for instance:'

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Jainism
• Judaism
  EMuseum @ University of Minnesota, Mankato

I may have left out someone's favorite, like Shinto or Zoroastrianism. No disrespect intended.

The unreadably small map up there links to a discussion of religious demographics in a Wikipedia article. The point is that folks in different parts of the world do tend to follow one religion more than other faiths. Which is probably where notions like 'Buddhists live in Japan' come from.

But it's a sort of 'on average' thing. That photo shows what was left of the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, after the bomb went off. Quite a few Catholics died that day.

Does that mean, by the way, that I hate America and writhe in agony that allied forces didn't invade Japan the old-fashioned way? No.

I do think that it would have been nice if what we call World War II hadn't happened. But the world is not always a nice place. I've discussed that sort of thing before (October 27, 2010, June 7, 2009; Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 16, 2009))

The Urakami Cathedral? We built another one. The bomb didn't wipe out all the Catholics, and that's another topic.

Back to assumptions about religion and region or ethnicity. One might think Judaism was an 'ethnic' thing - but there are folks like Sammy Davis Jr..

Christianity: A 'European' Religion?

I've run into folks, on and off campus, who seem convinced that Christianity is a European religion. They've got a point, sort of.

There was a time, about nine centuries back, when Europe was the world's 'cathedral central:' Gothic architecture and all that.

When folks in Europe were sorting themselves out into nations, a cross got worked into quite a few national flags.

Then there's the Holy See: in Rome, Italy. Europe again.

Two millennia back, though, Rome wasn't so much part of Europe as it was the political and economic hub of the Roman Empire. It made sense to set up headquarters there. The city's still a reasonably central location for an organization that has branches on every continent.

Except Antarctica, apparently. My guess is that there are Catholics there, too: but so far the permanent research stations are staffed by folks who are 'just visiting.' And I'm not going to get off-topic.

I've heard Christianity called an 'oriental mystery religion.' (March 17, 2009) I didn't argue the point: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and points east are part of 'the Orient.' (Princeton's WordNet) But the Catholic Church isn't any more "Oriental" than it is "Western."

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Catholicism is Oriental. And Western. And everything else.

The Catholic Church is "Universal:" Literally

A dictionary I use quite often defines "catholic" - lower case "c" - as "free from provincial prejudices or attachments." (Princeton's WordNet)

That doesn't mean that Catholics aren't part of the culture we're born in. I've discussed that before. (August 26, 2010, and elsewhere)

For example, I speak English with an accent that's pretty close to the old 'broadcast standard.' That's partly due to having parents who were slightly deaf, and that's yet another topic. I also like lefse, hamburgers, and spaghetti: reflecting the regional and national dietary customs in my homeland. (Lefse? Sort of like a limp tortilla, except made from potato flour.)

None of which makes me less - or more - of a Catholic than someone whose cradle tongue is Japanese, who would just as soon not eat spaghetti, and who loves playing pachinko.

Finally: Another Report from the Department of Unintended Consequences

I doubt that the radio ranters, a half century ago, realized that their (colorful?) depictions of the Catholic Church would indirectly lead one of their listeners to become a Catholic.

I'm also fairly sure that professors who explained multiculturalism during my college years did not suspect that at least one student embraced the idea - so thoroughly that he would eventually join the Catholic Church. I've written about that before. (July 14, 2010

It's one thing to teach that the cultural preferences of 'those people over there' are no better than those of an even more distant group. When someone turns around and suggests that your own cultural preferences may not be the hub around which the world turns - that's still another topic.

Related posts:

• "Shop Class, Home Ec, and Being Catholic"
  (December 14, 2010)
• "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
  (August 26, 2010)
• "Catholics aren't Klingons"
  (April 27, 2010)
• "The Catholic Church: Universal. Really "
  (April 19, 2010)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  (March 20, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Darwin and Huxley vs. Ussher and Carlyle
  • What If Darwin Had Been an Astronomer?

Somewhat-related posts, in another blog:

• "Murderous Muslims, Catholic Extermination Camps, and Common Sense"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 8, 2009)
• "What is Islam? Even Muslims Don't Seem to Agree"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 6, 2009)
• "America, Racism, and What Didn't Happen at Virginia Tech"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 22, 2009)
• "All Those 'Poor, Uneducated, Minorities Being Drafted in America!' "
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 4, 2009)
  • A reality check for assumptions about America's military and
    • Demographics
    • The draft
    • Economics
    • Education
• "Arabs, Jews, Israel, Islam, and More: 11,000 Years of History In 800 Words"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 8, 2007)

Background:

• "Religions of the World," Sara Wenner, EMuseum @ University of Minnesota, Mankato (2001)
  
• The World Factbook, CIA
  • "Antarctica" (last updated November 16, 2010)
  • "India" (last updated December 9, 2010)
  • "Japan" (updated December 7, 2010)
• "Sammy Davis Jr."
  Beth Weiss, Jewish Virtual Library

WikiLeaks, the Vatican, Al Qaeda, and Lizard People

The WikiLeaks mess affects the Holy See, too. At least indirectly.

Of all the previously-secret documents that's been shown to the world, though, what the U.S. embassy at the Vatican wrote in 2008 is among the least worrisome - to me, anyway.

Vatican Seeks FBI Explosives Training?!

Essentially, it seems that the folks responsible for security in the Vatican wanted a bit of help. Training, that is. Specifically, "...security training from the FBI, including explosives ordinance training for Vatican Gendarmerie members at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia...." (CNA)

Why Not Just Pray?

That may sound awfully 'worldly' for the headquarters of the Catholic Church. 'If they're so concerned about their safety, why don't they pray or something?' As I've written before, "we're called to holiness, not stupidity." (May 19, 2010)

Yes, prayer is important. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2558-2565) So is using the brains God gave us, and doing something constructive. An example of this is what the Catechism says about work, economic initiative, and related topics. (Catechism, 2427-2436)

By the way, trying to squeeze that teaching into contemporary America's "conservative" or "liberal" mindsets won't, in my view, work. Not because Catholic teachings are "vague," but because they're Catholic - universal. We do not try to fit what we've been given into whatever intellectual pigeonholes are fashionable at the moment. I've written about this sort of thing before. (November 17, 2010, July 18, 2009, November 3, 2008)

Vatican and Ordinance Training? It's a Rough World

I think the request for training was sensible - and that it also made sense to be quiet about it. I even think I see the Vatican official's point of view, about being " 'reluctant to engage in a comprehensive dialogue with the United States about Vatican capabilities and preparedness to respond to a terrorist attack.' "
as a news item put it:

"...The Rome Embassy cable noted the Holy See’s sensitivity about appearing to be too close to any one state, which the embassy described as a challenge to fostering dialogue about security. Another challenge was 'the Vatican's conviction that its facilities must be easily accessible to all Catholics.'..."
(CNA)

I do not envy anyone responsible for keeping the Vatican safe.

Now, a (comparatively) short rant about WikiLeaks.

My Opinion About Secrets, WikiLeaks, and Common Sense

I would like to think that the folks running WikiLeaks are clueless idealists, who honestly believe that displaying confidential documents on their website will do nothing but promote peace, harmony and "love between all of my brothers and my sisters: All over this land."

That Hays and Seeger song has been around for over a half-century, expresses some fine sentiments, and has very little to do with what WikiLeaks is likely to accomplish, in my opinion.

Whatever their motives, WikiLeaks has been broadcasting previously-secret documents for months.

Being Informed is Good: To a Point

In general, I think it's a good idea for citizens to be informed about what their government is doing. Particularly in a country like the United States, where citizens - in theory, anyway - have some say in national affairs.

Too Much 'Openness'

On the other hand, I recognize that we live in a distinctly less-than-perfect world. On a personal level, that's why we have locks on doors: and don't, usually, tell perfect strangers how to access our bank accounts. And that's getting me into another topic.

On a national level, leaders need some level of secrecy. I think a diplomat from another country might be more open about what the other country's leadership really thought if that diplomat was reasonably confident that details of the conversation wouldn't become public knowledge. At least, not any time soon.

Politics!

Why? Remember America's recent midterm elections? I think anybody following the campaigns might guess that, when politics is involved, facts can be handled - with quite a bit of imagination, and little regard to accuracy.

Leaders in some other countries have similar concerns about staying in office themselves, and not giving opposition parties material for the next elections.

It Could be Worse

Then there are countries where folks who disagree with the government die or disappear.

When names - or even enough information to identify an individual - of someone who wasn't suitably approving of the local leadership in one of these criticism-averse countries shows up in a WikiLeaks document dump?

My guess is that, in a situation like that, it's likely that somebody's going to die, disappear, or maybe be re-educated.

It'd be nice if we lived in a nice world. But we don't. More about my take on WikiLeaks in another blog:

• "WikiLeaks, Saudi Arabia, and Staying Alive"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (November 28, 2010)
• "WikiLeaks, Real Journalists, and Common Sense"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (August 13, 2010)
• "WikiLeaks, Killing People Who don't Agree, and Living in the Real World"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 30, 2010)

Threats, Real and Imagined

The views of folks who believe that "Catholics and Muslims along with the fake Jews all are Satanic cults" notwithstanding, I really am not concerned about what those folks in the Vatican will do, now that the secret document is out.

"Satanic cult?" I am not making that up. (April 2, 2009)

Having grown up when and where I did, I'm not terribly surprised at the colorful claims made about the Catholic Church. In a comment on a post in another blog, Anonymous (that prolific online correspondent) opened with this interesting set of assertions:

"Both the Catholics and Muslims are Satanic Cults. As a matter of fact if people weren't so ignorant, they would know that: 1.) The Catholic Church is NOT a Religious Organization but is a Political Organization; 2.) The Catholic Church violates EVERYTHING in the Bible and is not Christian at all, but a Satanic Mass-Murdering Cult steeped in Witchcraft, Satanism and materialistically disguised as being 'Christian' to fool as many people as possible, usually the Bible-Illiterate people; 3.) The Vatican back in 620 A.D. set up and financed Islam, as their non-European minions of hitmen to kill off all the real Christians outside of Europe, as the Catholic Cult was killing off the real Christians inside of Europe...."
(Comment by Anonymous (March 25, 2009), on "Murderous Muslims, Catholic Extermination Camps, and Common Sense," Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 8, 2009))

I've written this before: I've long since stopped trying to reason with fanatics.

I'd no more try to convince someone who believed - intensely, hysterically - that Catholics are ignorant of the Bible (that we're strongly encouraged to read), than I would try to reason with someone who thought that the dozen or so families in their little enclave were the only "real" Catholics left - and that Vatican II is some kind of plot.

It's not that I think it's 'okay' to believe weird things like that. But folks make their own decisions. All I can do is say what's true, point to where more information is available, and leave it at that.

As for the Catholic Church being a Satanic cult that founded Islam? It makes a little more sense than claims that shape-shifting, space-alien lizard people really rule the world: but not by much. In my opinion.

I'm not very concerned about folks who fear lizard people, or wear foil-lined hats. They don't have a track record that includes flying airliners into skyscrapers.

Al Qaeda, and like-minded folks? Them, I'll be concerned about.

Al Qaeda and the Vatican: They Don't Like the Pope (Big Surprise)

From yesterday's news:

"Speaking frankly about 'the known al-Qaida antipathy to the Pope,' American embassy officials in 2008 asked the U.S. State Department to consider an effort to help Vatican security forces deal with terrorist threats.

"The WikiLeaks website recently published a Dec. 19, 2008 State Department cable reputedly from the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The cable, classified as 'secret,' documented a request from the U.S. Vatican Embassy to plan and fund a 'crisis management tabletop exercise' with Vatican security services.

"The stated purpose of this effort was to enhance the Vatican’s crisis response abilities and to 'foster a dialogue with the Vatican on counter-terrorism.'

" 'Al-Qaida has publicly identified the Pope and the Catholic Church as an enemy ("Crusaders"), and Vatican City attracts hundreds of thousands of American citizen visitors each year, both tourists and pilgrims,' the cable continued...."
(CNA)

I don't expect Anonymous to be convinced by the CNA (Catholic News Agency) article. They're Catholics: And everybody knows what they're like.

I'm Catholic, myself: and - well, in some circles that means I'm either a dupe or a conspirator. Like I said, "it comes with the territory." (March 18, 2009)

Somewhat-related posts:

• "If Catholics aren't Supposed to Read the Bible, How Come We're Told to Read the Bible?"
  (May 31, 2010)
• "Pedophile Priests! - or - My Mind is Made Up, Don't Confuse Me With the Facts"
  (April 11, 2010)
• " 'Death Cookie' Comic: Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time?"
  (March 5, 2010)
• "Hating People: Not a Good Idea"
  (January 22, 2010)
• " 'Catholics and Muslims along with the fake Jews all are Satanic Cults' - Who Knew?"
  (April 2, 2009)

In the news:

• "Al-Qaida hatred for Pope caused US worries about Vatican security"
  CNA Catholic News Agency (December 14, 2010)

Fasting, Penance, and the 'Fun' Miracle: Many Faces of Spirituality

You wouldn't know it, with all the fasting and penance and 40 days of Lent: but the Catholic Church isn't the sort of sour party pooper that H. L. Mencken said Puritans were. Good grief, my Lord's first miracle was when his mother had him get drinks for a wedding party.

Maybe you've read about it. The account's in John 2:1-10. There's 'deep spiritual meaning' involved, too: Which, for Catholics, in large part is that marriage is okay.

"On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign-at his mother's request-during a wedding feast.¹⁰⁵ The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church (1613)

"Efficacious," by the way, doesn't mean "anemic, washed-out and wimpy:" Conditions which some folks seem to associate with being really 'spiritual.' Here's a dictionary's definition:

• Efficacious
  • ...(marked by qualities giving the power to produce an intended effect) "written propaganda is less efficacious than the habits and prejudices...of the readers"-Aldous Huxley; "the medicine is efficacious in stopping a cough"
  • ...(producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect) "an air-cooled motor was more effective than a witch's broomstick for rapid long-distance transportation"-LewisMumford; "effective teaching methods"; "effective steps toward peace"; "made an effective entrance"; "his complaint proved to be effectual in bringing action"; "an efficacious law"

I've discussed my take on notions about "being spiritual" in the English-speaking world before, and probably will again. Bottom line? I think spirituality is "efficacious." And doesn't have to be wimpy.

There are lots of ways people can be "spiritual." Or live "a life of exemplary fidelity to the Lord," anyway. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2156) (February 14, 2010) Take these Saints, for example:

• St. Claire of Assisi
  • Founded the order of Poor Claires
• St. Albert the Great
  • Scientist
  • Philosopher
  • Theologian
    (See St. Albertus Magnus," Catholic Encyclopedia, NewAdvent.org)
• St. Joan of Arc
  • Led an army to remove English troops from France
• St. Thérèse of Lisieux
  • AKA
    • Thérèse of the Child Jesus
    • "The little flower"
  • Taught by example, a way of
    • Simplicity
    • Abandonment in God's service
    • The perfect accomplishment of small duties
    (See St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Catholic Encyclopedia, NewAdvent.org)
• St. Lawrence of Rome
  • Patron of cooks
    • Because he was grilled to death
      • Making, I'm told, a wisecrack during the process

Briefly, there are lots of ways to be 'spiritual.' And men don't have to become Victorian-era women to be 'spiritual.'

• " 'Only Say the Word ...' - Impressive Faith"
  (November 29, 2010)
• "Celebrating Mass, Flossing My Teeth"
  (October 20, 2010)
• "Gargling at the Stream of Wisdom"
  (October 11, 2010)
• "Providence, God's Tender Kindness, and Training a Mule"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Jesus, Men, and a Marketing Campaign Gone Wrong"
  (February 15, 2010)

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A tip of the hat to Christomicro, on Twitter, for his post on the "fun miracle" at Cana.

Shop Class, Home Ec, and Being Catholic

My wife is one of seven children.

'Well, you know what those Catholics are like.'

Or, maybe not.

'Did You Know That Your Daughter Wants to Take Shop?!'

In my household, I'm one of the writers and artists, and my wife's the one who likes power tools. That's not surprising, considering the families we came from.

Back around the sixties, one of my wife's sisters was in high school. Their father got a phone call from a terribly serious and concerned councilor at the school. The councilor asked this small-town father of seven, 'did you know that your daughter wants to take shop?!' My father-in-law-to-be replied, 'So? Let her!'

One of my wife's brothers took home ec in high school. He was the only boy in the class full of girls. The next year, a lot of boys took home ec. My late mother-in-law raised no fools.

A Nice, Small-Town Catholic Family

Did I marry into a rebellious family? Revolutionaries battling the stultifying conventions of an oppressive society?

Not really. My wife's parents raised a nice Catholic family in a small town in central Minnesota. They also didn't see why their kids shouldn't take shop; go to home ec class; become a radiologist; or, in the case of my wife, earn a degree in computer science.

A Catholic family?! Doesn't the Catholic Church say that women should be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen?

No.

That's more of a cultural thing - and maybe due partly to reading just Ephesians 5:22, instead of Ephesians 5:21-30. I've written about that weirdness before. (September 24, 2009)

I think it helped, that my wife's parents hadn't just been baptized in a Catholic church: They'd made a point of learning about their faith. My father-in-law eventually became a deacon (with his wife's permission: another topic), and is one of the more solidly Catholic men I know.

Isn't the Catholic Church, You Know, Conservative?

American news media seems to like short, catchy phrases. Like "social conservative." The Catholic Church's stand on human life issues like abortion show, as the papers would put it, that the Church is chock-full of "conservative" values.

That label fits, as long as the topic is abortion or marriage.

When the Pope asks a country to not impose the death sentence - things can get confusing. (October 27, 2010) Opposition to the death penalty is, for America's dominant culture, a "liberal" value.

The Pope and other bishops regularly call for the commutation of a death sentence. That's "liberal" behavior, in the context of today's American culture. But the Pope and other bishops also say that abortion is morally wrong. That's "conservative" behavior. Again, by current American standards.

What's at issue with both abortion and the death penalty is what the Catholic Church teaches about life. Basically, that being alive is important. (November 2, 2008) The Church approaches abortion and the death penalty differently, since one involves killing someone who's helpless and inconvenient - and the other concerns people who aren't babies any more. Yet another topic. (October 5, 2010, October 2, 2008)

Being Catholic, Looking at the Big Picture

Catholic teachings make sense. But only for someone who accepts the idea that the only possible philosophical stances regarding social issues are not limited to contemporary America's "conservative," "liberal," and "moderate" systems. (May 12, 2010, November 3, 2008)

I don't have a problem with that idea: in large part because I embraced the idea of 'multiculturalism.' Which led to my becoming a Catholic. (July 14, 2010)

Seeing no problem with a young woman in shop class and celebrating the wonderful differences among the world's cultures is, I think, part of being Catholic. We're not supposed to all be alike - and that is yet again another topic. (August 26, 2010)

Related posts:

• "Death Penalty, Life, and Being Catholic"
  (October 5, 2010)
• "A 'Traditional' Catholic? Yes and No"
  (July 31, 2010)
• "Benedict XVI, Priests, and Talking Sense Anyway"
  (July 10, 2010)
• " 'Potty Parity,' Conservative / Liberal Values, and a Universal Church"
  (May 12, 2010)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)