Friday, December 30, 2011

My Take on the News: Bratty Tweets, Christmas Bombing, Permits for Carols

It's almost a week after Christmas, some kids in America didn't like their presents, worshipers were kipped in Nigeria, and Malaysia is protecting its citizens from Christmas carols.
  1. Bratty Tweets, Daft 'Pranks'
  2. Christmas bombings
  3. Caroling By Permit Only
I spent more time on the 'bratty tweets' thing, but not because I think it's more important than dead people and dubiously-sensible governments. The Los Angeles Times op-ed about kids, greed, and regrettable 'comedy' got me thinking about respect, family, and technology.

1. Bratty Tweets, Daft 'Pranks'

"Bratty tweets about Christmas gifts disturb parents"
Deborah Netburn, Technology, Business, Los Angeles Times (December 28, 2011)

"It's not easy being a kid today. Everywhere you turn it seems like adults are out to make you look like a spoiled, entitled brat.

"The most recent example is comedian Jon Hendren's list of real tweets from kids who were angry that they didn't get an iPhone, or iPad, or a car for Christmas. Hendren assembled the tweets on Christmas Day and published them on his own Twitter feed.

"Here is a G-rated sampling:

" 'No Iphone. I hate my dad.'

" 'Just cried for like 2 hrs straight cause i didn't get a car.'

" 'Seems like I'm the only one who didn't get an Iphone for christmas.'

" 'If you got an iphone i hate you.'

"Yikes!

"Hendren's list of bratty re-tweets quickly made its way around the Internet, showing up in blogs and other Twitter feeds where adults expressed dismay at the entitlement of the youth today...."
There's quite a bit going on here. For starters, those quotes show massive lack of respect for others.

Respect is important. And, like I've said before, it works both ways. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2214, 2222)
The notion that 'children should respect their parents' has been misunderstood, misused, abused, and ignored. But that doesn't mean that it's a bad idea.

Again: Respect Goes Both Ways

Parents must respect their children, too. It's 'in the rules' for Catholics. Not that we all pay attention to the rules: and that's another topic.

Here's a short selection of what the Catholic Church says about family:
  • The Christian family
    (Catechism, 2204-2206)
  • Duties of
  • Education of and respect for children,
    (Catechism, 2221-2224, 2229-2230)
  • Education of children through daily prayer
    (Catechism, 2685)

'Tis the Season to be Greedy?

I posted about holiday spending two weeks ago:Basically, what I said was:The Church says that greed is one of the seven capital sins.1 (Catechism, 1866) "Avarice" is greed on steroids, sort of.2

Where was I? Bratty complaints about insufficiently lavish Christmas presents; family; greed. Right.

Moving on.

'Kids These Days!?'

There's some good news in that Los Angeles Times op-ed. Adults were expressing dismay at 'those consarned kids' - on Twitter.

There are probably adults in America who are as convinced that the Internet has doomed civilization, as some were in my own youth, that television and the telephone were destroying America's youth. Maybe we've learned: or maybe I'm just not reading the ink-on-paper publications they'd use.

The Los Angeles Times writer has a refreshingly sensible opinion about 'the depraved youth of today.' Putting it another way, I pretty much agree with this:
"...We agree that the tweets are super obnoxious, but we can't help but wonder whether kids today actually feel more entitled than ever before, or is it that thanks to sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, adults are just aware of how entitled kids have always been, and more likely to exploit that entitlement, which could just be called 'childhood' and 'adolescence.'..."
(Los Angeles Times)

'Pranking' Kids

I'm not happy about children and teens behaving like spoiled brats. But I doubt that
  • all children and teens are greedy and disrespectful
  • All parents
    • Are paragons of virtue
    • Ignore their family responsibilities
      • Teaching by word or example that greed is okay
      • Allowing disrespectful behavior
      • Disrespecting their children
Huh? "Disrespecting their children?" Remember what I said about "respect" being important? Children should respect their parents: but parents must respect their children. It's in the rules:
"Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God's law."
(Catechism 2222)
I don't think that practical jokes are, by themselves, wrong. But I also think that a child might learn a regrettable lesson from a 'funny' parent. I also think that 'but everybody's doing it' isn't a good excuse for children or parents:
"...Consider the popular YouTube challenges that late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel occasionally issues to parents to essentially prank their kids and record their reactions.

"Kimmel's Christmas challenge -- in which he asked parents to give their kids terrible Christmas presents and then keep the camera rolling while the kids cry or patiently explain that they didn't want an onion for a present -- has had 14.25 million views on YouTube...."
(Los Angeles Times)

2. Christmas bombings

"Nigerian churches call Christmas bombings
'declaration of war' "
Soni Irabor, CNN (December 28, 2011)

"Nigeria's Christians are losing faith that the government will protect them from attacks by Islamic extremists and will 'respond appropriately' to future killings, the country's leading church group warned Wednesday.

"In a public message to President Goodluck Jonathan, the Christian Association of Nigeria called the Christmas Day targeting of churches in several cities 'a declaration of war on Christians and Nigeria as an entity.' The group also criticized its Muslim counterparts for failing to condemn the Islamic militants blamed for Sunday's attacks, calling their responses 'unacceptable.'

" 'The Christian community is fast losing confidence in government's ability to protect our rights to religious liberties and life,' its president, Pentecostal pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said in the statement. 'The consensus is that the Christian community nationwide would be left with no other option than to respond appropriately if there are any further attacks on our members, churches and properties.'..."
I've posted about vengeance and just war before.

I sympathize, in a way, with Nigeria's boss:
"...[President Goodluck] Jonathan responded with a statement of condolences for the attacks, which the church group said killed more than 50 worshippers,[!] and a call for Nigerians to unite behind the government's efforts to pursue those responsible. Nigerian authorities have blamed Boko Haram, a fundamentalist Islamic movement that mounted similar attacks the previous Christmas.

" 'The best thing is for all religious leaders, opinion and traditional leaders, youth leaders and women leaders to come together and assist government,' Jonathan said. He pledged that his administration 'will surely do more,' but added, 'The terrorists are human beings. They are not spirits.'..."
(CNN)
Part of what Jonathan said is true: "terrorists are human beings." I've been over that before:I also think that it would be nice, if folks who believe it's okay to blow up a church with people inside decide to be nice from now on. But I don't think that a national government can, or should, count on that happening.

Which is not the same as denying the humanity of the killers.

3. Caroling By Permit Only

"Malaysian Christians reject permit to sing Christmas carols"
CNA (Catholic News Agency) (December 19, 2011)

"Christians from two churches in Malaysia rejected a requirement that they will need a police permit to sing Christmas carols in their parishes or homes.

"Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, head of the Malaysian bishops' conference, told Vatican-based Fides news that the country will soon be in 'a police state' if authorities continue demanding such 'bureaucratic requirements.'

"Two churches in Klang outside the city of Kuala Lumpur recently received notices from police asking for the names and addresses of people who were singing Christmas carols, claiming that a government mandated permit was required for those wishing to sing carols in their homes or churches.

"Father Andrew Lawrence, head of the diocesan 'Herald' newspaper, called the police action 'a strict interpretation' of current regulations on 'worship and freedom of religion' in the country...."
Father Lawrence also said that "after protests by local Christians, 'government representatives have denied the need for such authorizations.' " I'd be willing to write this off as some over-zealous police officer's blunder: but that 'caroling by permit only' isn't an isolated incident:
"...Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had promised voters in 2011 that he would overturn unpopular laws which stifle the press and allow for detentions without trial.

"Instead, the Malaysian Congress sparked widespread protest after passing a new measure titled the 'Law on Peaceful Assembly' which enables more government control...."
(CNA)
Am I glad to be an American? To live in a country where the government doesn't try to control how I worship?

One question at a time, please.

Yes, on the whole, I'm glad to be an American. This country allows citizens a remarkable degree of freedom. With occasionally-spectacular exceptions.

The Establishment Clause is supposed to protect Americans' freedom of religion. Not give brittle secularists freedom from religion. I've been over this before:There's more, in "Related posts."

Related posts:
1 "Capital sins" are called that because:
"...They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices.138..." (Catechism, 1866)
2 Synonyms for avarice include: avidity; close-fistedness; covetousness; cupidity; grabbiness, greediness, miserliness; parsimony, penny-pinching; penuriousness; rapacity; stinginess. A 'dictionary' definition:
  • Avarice (noun)
    • Reprehensible acquisitiveness
    • Insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins))
    • Extreme greed for material wealth
    (Princeton's WordNet)
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mid-Winter Blahs, the Beatitudes, and Me

We're about halfway between Christmas and New Year's Eve. One of those is an important Christian observance, and both are major secular holidays in America. Between commercial hype, revved-up expectations, and massive quantities of festive food and drink: I could write about 'post-Christmas blahs,' or 'midwinter blues.'

Instead, I figured I'd post about being happy.

In a religious blog?! I plan to be back Sunday, with a post about 'gloominess is next to Godliness:' or, rather, the reverse of that. Of course, what I *plan,* and what actually happens - - - and that's another topic.

Who Wants to be Happy?

"The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:

"We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.13
"How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.14

"God alone satisfies.15
"The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1718-1719)
The Beatitudes are what we call Matthew 5:3-12: the part that starts with " 'Blessed are the poor in spirit,..." and ends with "...Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

"Persecuted?" And this is supposed to be about being happy? I've mentioned Saint Philip Neri, and how the anything-but-grim parts of his life story were snipped out of 'proper' reading for American Catholics. More topics.

Still, being happy and being 'spiritual' don't seem to go together. I think it's a cultural thing.

Back to the Catechism:

To Know, Love, and Serve God

"God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us 'partakers of the divine nature' and of eternal life.21 With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ22 and into the joy of the Trinitarian life."
(Catechism, 1721)

"Partakers of the Divine Nature?!"

Oh, come on: how could I possible "know God?" I'm finite, God's infinite. I'm a creature, God's the creator. I've been over how we can know God before. And, as I've said before, I've got the authority of "some guy with a blog:" so follow those links, if you're curious about what the Church says.

'Partaking of the Divine Nature' is another one of those things that come under the 'God's God, I'm not' heading:
"Such beatitude surpasses the understanding and powers of man. It comes from an entirely free gift of God: whence it is called supernatural, as is the grace that disposes man to enter into the divine joy.
" 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' It is true, because of the greatness and inexpressible glory of God, that 'man shall not see me and live,' for the Father cannot be grasped. But because of God's love and goodness toward us, and because he can do all things, he goes so far as to grant those who love him the privilege of seeing him. . . . For 'what is impossible for men is possible for God.'23"
(Catechism, 1722)
Parts of that sound like the sort of 'happy time' preaching we've had now and then:
  • Sit back
  • Let God do the heavy lifting
  • And be
    • Happy
    • Happy
    • Happy
You guessed it: It's not that easy.

"Decisive Moral Choices"

It's true: God handles what we can't do on our own. But we're expected to do more than sit back and 'go with the flow.' Every day, I've got choices to make:
"The beatitude we are promised confronts us with decisive moral choices. It invites us to purify our hearts of bad instincts and to seek the love of God above all else. It teaches us that true happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power, or in any human achievement - however beneficial it may be - such as science, technology, and art, or indeed in any creature, but in God alone, the source of every good and of all love:
"All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and by wealth they measure respectability. . . . It is a homage resulting from a profound faith . . . that with wealth he may do all things. Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is a second. . . . Notoriety, or the making of a noise in the world - it may be called 'newspaper fame' - has come to be considered a great good in itself, and a ground of veneration.24"
(Catechism, 1723)
Looks like we're called to happiness: but not giddiness. That business of seeking "the love of God above all else" isn't easy, and neither is shoveling out the "bad instincts."

Oh, well: Nobody said this was going to be easy. Or, rather, someone did: Matthew 11:30. And that's yet another topic. One that's discussed in footnote 17 of Matthew 11.

Related (sort of) posts:
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Monday, December 26, 2011

Religion, Assumptions, and Getting a Grip (oops)

Oops.

This post is, or was, a rough draft of something I hope to have ready for Sunday morning. Somehow, I managed to hit the wrong keys: and got it posted early. Too early.

Oh, well: back to writing.

-Brian H. Gill
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Repentance, Faustus, and an Impatient Demon

New post about Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" each Monday

Comic Relief? Probably Not

I introduced Marlowe's OLD MAN last week. I might assume that, with lines like "such flagitious crimes of heinous sin," Marlowe had comic relief in mind: but all the characters talk like that, more or less, at some point.

English has changed since Elizabethan times, and so have what audiences expect. Back in Marlowe's day, it was flowery, over-the-top, long-winded speeches. More recently, it was helicopter chases, and I've been over that before.

Whatever Christopher Marlowe had in mind, OLD MAN has some pretty good advice. This comes right after Faustus said "despair and die!" - among other things - and Mephistopheles handed him a dagger:
"...OLD MAN. Ah, stay, good Faustus, stay thy desperate steps!
I see an angel hovers o'er thy head,
And, with a vial full of precious grace,
Offers to pour the same into thy soul:
Then call for mercy, and avoid despair.

"FAUSTUS. Ah, my sweet friend, I feel
Thy words to comfort my distressed soul!
Leave me a while to ponder on my sins.

"OLD MAN. I go, sweet Faustus; but with heavy cheer,
Fearing the ruin of thy hopeless soul.
[Exit.]...
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Suicide is a bad idea, and I've been over that before:

Emotions, Stress, and Marlowe's Faustus

There's nothing wrong with emotions: they're part of being human. But emotion and reason don't play well together.1 Marlowe's Faustus is under a lot of stress in this scene: OLD MAN pointed out that his "flagitious crimes of heinous sin" have consequences; and that Faustus has limited options.
"...mercy, Faustus, of thy Saviour sweet,
Whose blood alone must wash away thy guilt...."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Applying conventional wisdom from a few decades back, it's OLD MAN's fault that Faustus feels bad. That's true, as far as it goes, but I think we need reality checks now and again.

Which isn't the same as approving of 'fire and brimstone' preaching, and that's another topic.

Repentance, Despair, and an Impatient Demon

Marlowe's John Faustus is still alive, he's got free will, and time to change his mind about the deal he made. He's also got a demon in the room, which makes things a trifle awkward. Let's see how he handles the situation:
"...FAUSTUS. Accursed Faustus, where is mercy now?
I do repent; and yet I do despair:
Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast:
What shall I do to shun the snares of death?

"MEPHIST. Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul
For disobedience to my sovereign lord:
Revolt, or I'll in piece-meal tear thy flesh.

"FAUSTUS. Sweet Mephistophilis, entreat thy lord
To pardon my unjust presumption,
And with my blood again I will confirm
My former vow I made to Lucifer.

"MEPHIST. Do it, then, quickly,159 with unfeigned heart,
Lest greater danger do attend thy drift...."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Faustus is, metaphorically speaking, dancing on the doorstep of Hell: just how much more danger could he be in? But, as I've said before, I don't think Mephistopheles has the best interests of John Faustus in mind.

What about repenting, though? Isn't it a little late for that? "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and all that. I've read the play before, and know how it comes out: but in principle John Faustus could still repent at this point.

Repentance, Despair, and the Catholic Church

Repentance is a good idea. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1427, 1429, 1430-1433 and following) It's a sort of 'limited time offer,' though. since repentance is possible before death, not after. (Catechism, 393, 2283)

Despair, on the other hand, is a bad idea:
"In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:
"Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 844)
"The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption:

"By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God's goodness, to his justice—for the Lord is faithful to his promises—and to his mercy."
(Catechism, 2091)

Repentance, Despair, and John Faustus

I'll grant that Marlowe's Faustus is in an awkward situation. OLD MAN has left, leaving Faustus alone with his none-too-well-formed conscience. And Mephistopheles.

Given his track record, it's no surprise that Faustus says, "...I do repent; and yet I do despair...." Then, when Mephistopheles rather abruptly reminds him of his contractual obligation, Faustus does another 180:
"...FAUSTUS. Sweet Mephistophilis, entreat thy lord
To pardon my unjust presumption,
And with my blood again I will confirm
My former vow I made to Lucifer.

"MEPHIST. Do it, then, quickly,159 with unfeigned heart,
Lest greater danger do attend thy drift...."
("The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus")
Remember what I said, about OLD MAN being 'to blame' for making Faustus feel bad? I'll get back to that next week.

Other posts in this series:Related posts:"...Faustus" excerpts in these posts taken from:
1 I've discussed emotions and reason before. Quite a bit, including:
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Sunday, December 25, 2011

"...A Savior has been Born for You Who is Messiah and Lord..."

Before anything else:
"4 Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.

"The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

"The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

"5 For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

"And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'

"And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

"6 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'

"When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' "
(Luke 2:8-15)
That is what Christmas is all about.
Quite a few years back C. S. Lewis wrote that three things go by the name of "Christmas," a:
  • Religious festival
  • Popular holiday
  • Commercial racket
If that sounds familiar, you might have read a post I did in 2009: or, more likely, read C. S. Lewis' "God in the Dock."

I think Lewis is right.

Christmas: a Religious Festival

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website:
"Christmas

"The season to celebrate the Lord's birth, his manifestation to the world, and His baptism. The season begins Christmas eve and ends on the Baptism of the Lord, including the Epiphany of the Lord as well."
("Advent and Christmas Seasons" USCCB)
Quite a few folks have written quite a lot about Christmas, and Advent. I finally found a copy of an online Advent and Christmas booklet document that popped up last year, only to disappear in a website's reorganization. I'm glad it surfaced again, since I think it's a rather good example of 'thoughts from the Pope:'
The first link takes you to a copy I've archived - copied from the USCCB website a few days ago. Today's page lists the Vigil, Dawn, and Day Bible readings, and part of a verse from John:
"And the Word became flesh 9 and made his dwelling among us...."
(John 1:14)
Then there's this excerpt from something Pope Benedict XVI said in 2006:
"In being born among us, may the Child Jesus not find us distracted or merely busy, beautifying our houses with decorative lights. Rather, let us deck our soul and make our families a worthy dwelling place where he feels welcomed with faith and love."
General Audience
December 20, 2006
The full text (English) of that Wednesday audience is on the Vatican's website:
I'm a Christian, a practicing Catholic, so for me Christmas is mostly a "religious festival:" the day we celebrate the birth of my Lord. That doesn't mean that I think everybody should sit around today, looking grim. I've harangued about 'being spiritual' before.

Do I think everybody should be forced to see Christmas the way I do? No: that's not allowed. Religious freedom is 'in the rules' for Catholics. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2104-2109)

Religious freedom for everybody (Catechism, 2106)

Do I mind seeing folks celebrating a mere 'popular holiday,' or getting involved with a commercial racket? A bit, sometimes. But not as much as I might.

Christmas: a Popular Holiday

Once in a while, I see or remember one too many of those cheerfully bland holiday specials. The sort that end with a nice, sweet 'the true meaning of Christmas is:'
  • Friendship
  • It's better to give than to receive
  • Being nice
  • Happy memories
Nothing wrong with any of the above sentiments: but there's a tad more about this winter solstice observance than greeting-card slogans.

I went slightly ballistic about 'the true meaning of Christmas,' three years ago:


The year after that I decided to go ballistic over the crass commercialization of Christmas:
This year, I could rant and rave about 'the true meaning of Christmas' television specials: but I won't. It's not that I don't care about folks seeming to miss the point of Christmas. Instead, I've decided that:

Profit, Peanuts, and the Second Chapter of Luke

Besides, that Charlie Brown Christmas special features Linus reciting a fairly long bit from the second chapter of Luke.

And it's still televised.

Nationally.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" was on ABC recently, giving someone with the Washington Post a seasonal topic:
"A CHRISTMAS WISH: Don't cut down my 'Charlie Brown Christmas' "
Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs, Entertainment, The Washington Post (December 7, 2011)

"When ABC aired 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Monday night, the beloved holiday special came with all the trimmings.

"So much was trimmed from the show, in fact, that miffed fans were comparing notes and commiserating over what classic moments had gone AWOL. Viewers said that cherished scenes involving Sally, Shermie, Lucy and Shroeder (among other footage) were cut — suddenly and eerily missing like a phantom tree-limb....

"...Peanuts Worldwide, the company that shepherds all things Charlie Brown and Snoopy, confirmed to Comic Riffs on Tuesday morning that the Emmy-winning special was edited down to come in at about 22 minutes — the available running time once you account for ads.

"That's right: The heartwarming special that sounds a clarion call against the overcommercialization of Christmas had once again fallen prey to too many commercials at Christmas....

"...When it airs in its entirety, though, the full running time of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' is just under 25.5 minutes. So some wintry scenes must be tossed like a sharply aimed snowball. And ABC sticks to this tight schedule when 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' is paired with a piggyback airing of Disney's 'Prep & Landing 2.'

"Yet as a viewer who has watched 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' my entire life, I relish the rhythms and precise pacing and flow of a show that my muscle-memory knows by heart. Deleting a key scene is like cutting a chorus from a musical masterwork, and my immersion into the work is disturbed by the curious and nagging absence....

"...Like its trademark scraggly tree, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' needs to be appreciated for its full greatness. So please, put down the chainsaw.

"Fortunately, on Dec. 15, ABC will air 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' again this season - in its inspiring entirety. The special will air as part of a one-hour block with the special 'Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales' (8-9 p.m. Eastern)...."
My guess is that someone has caught on that a judicious mixing of cautions against "overcommercialization," music, and verses from the Bible, can be - well, commercial.

Christmas: a Commercial Racket

Since 'money is the root of all evil,' anything commercial must be bad, right?

Wrong.

For starters, it's love of money that gets us into trouble. (1 Timothy 6:10, Hebrews 13:5) "Love of money" is a sort of idolatry: which is a really bad idea:
"...Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc...."
(Catechism, 2113)
I've been over that before:
Do some folks in America spend crazy amounts of money on Christmas gifts? More money than is reasonable? In my opinion, yes.

Is racking up more credit card debt on lavish gifts a good idea? No, I don't think so.

Is getting the latest/most expensive/most fashionable stuff more important than charitable works? What do you think I'll say? I'm a practicing Catholic, and charity is one of the three theological virtues. (Catechism, 1813) Yes, of course: Charity is important.

Charity isn't just for the comparatively wealthy, by the way. Folks who don't have a lot of money can allocate their time instead: Which I've done on occasion.

Scrooge had Ghosts: I've got Bishops

America bishops have a sort of conscience-checking resource. I picked out a part that might apply to crazy holiday spending:
"Rights and Responsibilities
  • "Do I recognize and respect the economic, social, political, and cultural rights of others?
  • "Do I live in material comfort and excess while remaining insensitive to the needs of others whose rights are unfulfilled?
  • "Do I take seriously my responsibility to ensure that the rights of persons in need are realized?
  • "Do I urge those in power to implement programs and policies that give priority to the human dignity and rights of all, especially the vulnerable?"
("Examination of Conscience in Light of Catholic Social Teaching," United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Applying those principles can be tricky, I think.

Take "material comfort and excess," for example. I'm an American, on the low side of the income scale. 'Obviously,' I don't have to worry about excess: since lots of folks have more money than I do. Equally 'obviously,' I should be wracked with guilt because I'm in a heated building, using technology that my ancestors never dreamed of. I'm even sitting in a chair that isn't particularly uncomfortable.

I think the truth is somewhere between those extremes. I've opined about moderation before. And that is yet another topic.

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Catching Up: Last Week's Reflection

I finally got last Sunday's guest post prepped:Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas and I both had fairly full schedules: although I think he's got more on his 'to-do' list than I do.

Again, 'thanks' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflections here. I routinely update "Reflections from Sauk Centre's Our Lady of Angels Church," a link list for well over two dozen of his posts.
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Friday, December 23, 2011

My Take on the News: Saints; Standard-Issue Clueless Journalism; and Saint Michael, Action Figure

I spotted articles about Saints - and a Saint Michael action figure - this week. Also more of the cluelessness that I've come to expect from old-school journalists:
  1. Saints, Heroic Virtue, and All That
  2. Clueless Journalism - Again
  3. Saint Michael - Action Figure

'Will the Reporter Stop Asking Daft Questions?'

A few decades back, a comedy-adventure cartoon series narrator intoned, in a teaser for the next episode, 'will the reporter stop asking daft questions?' The reporter in that cartoon didn't, which shouldn't have surprised anyone.

Despite a steady stream of astounding gaffes, I think old-school journalists are competent, when stories they cover:
  • Involve people and ideas from their own subculture
  • Require no background research
  • Do not involve 'relevant' issues
I also think that 'news' editors could learn from the sports editor - and start insisting that their religion reporters know a little about religion. Or at least know how - and when - to use Google.

Happily, folks with an Internet connection can read more than what some editor thinks is good for us. Thanks to information technology, I've got access to news outlets run by folks who are not clueless about Christianity and Catholicism.

Like the folks at ZENIT:

1. Saints, Heroic Virtue, and All That

Looking at a long list of names can be boring, or not. A dedicated New Orleans Saints fan might read and re-read lists of this season's players. I'm not quite so likely to do that, but I spent more time than usual this week, going through articles about another set of Saints:
"Native American, Minister to Hawaii Lepers to Be Declared Saints"
ZENIT (December 20, 2011)

"Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Marianne Cope

"Among the miracles recognized by Benedict XVI on Monday were two gained through the intercession of women tied to North America.

"The first, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as the Lily of the Mohawks, was the first native American to be beatified. John Paul II declared her blessed in 1980. Kateri was born in 1656 of an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk chief in a Mohawk village in upstate New York....

"...When Kateri was 18 years of age, she began receiving instruction in the Catholic faith. It was done in secret as her uncle, who she had lived with since the death of her parents, was opposed to Christianity. Her uncle finally gave his consent for Kateri to become a Christian....

"...Kateri was ridiculed and scorned by villagers for becoming a Catholic and her life was threatened. Almost two years after her baptism she escaped to the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, a settlement of Christian Indians in Canada....

"...The miracle that is enabling Kateri's canonization was the curing of a Native American, Jake Finkbonner, who belongs to the Lummi tribe.

"After a fall in a basketball game in February 2006...

"...Helper of St. Damien

"Blessed Mother Marianne Cope was born on Jan. 23, 1838, in Heppenheim, Germany. Born Barbara Koob, she was the daughter of a farmer, Peter Koob, and Barbara Witzenbacher Koob....

"...She entered the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis at 24 years of age, a month after her father's death and when her siblings were no longer dependent on her....

"...In 1883, by then superior-general of her order, she responded to a plea for help by leaving with six other nuns for Hawaii to help look after lepers. The following year she met Damien de Veuster, famous for his work with lepers on the Hawaiian island of Moloki....

"...The order still continues to care for lepers in Hawaii.

"The subject of that miracle approved on Monday was Sharon Smith, who in 2005 was dying...."
There's a longer excerpt from that ZENIT article, near the end of this post1 CNA did a pretty good writeup on the North Americans, too:
"Pope approves miracles of Blesseds Marianne Cope and Kateri Tekakwitha"
CNA/EWTN News (December 19, 2011)

"Pope Benedict XVI formally recognized miracles attributed to Bl. Marianne Cope and Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha on Dec. 19, clearing the way for both women to be canonized.

"The two women, who both lived in the United States, were among numerous individuals whose sainthood causes were advanced by decrees authorized by Pope Benedict XVI on Monday.

"Sister Grace Anne Dillenschneider, vice postulator for the Cause for the Diocese of Syracuse, told CNA on Dec. 19 that the date for Bl. Cope's canonization has not yet been confirmed.

"The Congregation for the Causes of Saints had already approved Bl. Cope's second official miracle, which involved the medical recovery of a woman in Syracuse who was cured of a fatal and irreversible health condition. ..."
By the way, Father Damien of Molokai is Saint Damien now, and I've posted about him before:

Heroes and Saints

"Hero?" Father Damien? Some guy who's a Saint? For the last few generations in America, saying "hero" would likely get someone thinking of Superman, Rambo, or Green Lantern. Or maybe Jackie Robinson. Our 'sports heroes' lately have been more along the lines of Mike Tyson, O. J. Simpson, and the Minnesota Vikings, and that's another topic.

I don't remember having 'heroes' as a child: not in the 'crazed fan' sense, anyway. I've liked fictional heroes, like Superman. And folks who really lived and did something heroic, like Horatio at the bridge and Pliny the Elder, in Western Civilization's history.

Getting back to Saints as heroes, there isn't much that's 'heroic' in some of the notions about saints that I've run into.

Our heroes are folks like Horatio: holding off an army while his comrades dismantle a bridge behind him.

Saints, for some, are mistily 'spiritual' nebbishes with vague smiles and no discernible skills: marketable or otherwise. Then there are those Saints who keep smiling while dying horribly of some loathsome disease: and not doing much of anything else.

Saint Damien of Molokai is almost in that last category - and I've been over that before. Kateri Tekakwitha's partial blindness and scars from smallpox could put her in a starring role for one of those 'littlest cancer patient' tales, too. But there's a whole lot more to her life than being "Tekakwitha," and again - there's a longer excerpt from the ZENIT article near the end of this post.1

Saints, Martyrs, and Heroic Virtue

Saints get to be Saints (capital "S") by doing something out of the ordinary - something "heroic." Which gets me into pagan beliefs, a bishop of Hippo, and a little history:
"The notion of heroicity is derived from hero, originally a warrior, a demigod; hence it connotes a degree of bravery, fame, and distinction which places a man high above his fellows. St. Augustine first applied the pagan title of hero to the Christian martyrs; since then the custom has prevailed of bestowing it not only on martyrs, but on all confessors whose virtues and good works greatly outdistance those of ordinary good people. Benedict XIV, whose chapters on heroic virtue are classical, thus describes heroicity: 'In order to be heroic a Christian virtue must enable its owner to perform virtuous actions with uncommon promptitude, ease, and pleasure, from supernatural motives and without human reasoning, with self-abnegation and full control over his natural inclinations.' An heroic virtue, then, is a habit of good conduct that has become a second nature, a new motive power stronger than all corresponding inborn inclinations...."
(Heroic Vitrue, Catholic Encyclopedia, via NewAdvent.org (1910))

Martyrdom: Doesn't That Just Kill You?

That's a fairly reliable, quick, easy, and highly unpleasant, way of getting in line for Sainthood: Say "I'm a Christian," knowing that doing so could get you killed. And then get killed because you're a Christian.

There's more to the process: including two miracles and a whole lot of paperwork. I've gathered that there has to be a pretty clear connection between the person's faith and being killed, too. Father James Coyle, for example, would probably have lived a lot longer if he'd hadn't been Catholic: but I haven't heard or read anything about his being investigated as a possible Saint.

More Saints

"7 Advance Closer to Official Sainthood"
ZENIT (December 20, 2011)
"Another Group of Spanish Martyrs Recognized

"Benedict XVI on Monday met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, and authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning miracles, martyrdom and heroic virtues for a number of causes.

Miracles were recognized for seven who are already beatified, meaning canonization is just a step away, once an ordinary public consistory is held...."
The article's mostly a set of lists. I've pulled the information out, verified part of it in a related Vatican Information Service posting, and may have made it a little easier to read. Then again, maybe not:
  • One step closer to canonization:
    • Giovanni Battista Piamarta
      (1841-1913)
      • Italian priest
      • Founder of the
        • Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth
        • Congregation of the Humble Sister Servants of the Lord
    • Jacques Berthieu
      (1838-1896)
      • French martyr
      • Priest of the Society of Jesus
    • Maria del Carmen (born Maria Salles y Barangueras)
      (1848-1911)
      • Spanish foundress of the Conceptionist Missionary Sisters of Teaching
    • Marianne Cope (born Barbara)
      (1838-1918)
      • German religious of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse U.S.A.
    • Kateri Tekakwitha
      (1656-1680)
      • American laywoman
    • Pedro Calungsod
      (1654-1672)
      • Filipino lay catechist and martyr
    • Anna Schaffer
      (1882-1925)
      • German laywoman
  • Folks in the "Servants of God" classification, miracles now recognized:
    • Louis Brisson
      (1817-1908)
      • French priest
      • Founder of the Oblates of St. Francis of Sales
    • Luigi Novarese
      (1914-1984)
      • Italian diocesan priest
      • Founder of the Silent Workers of the Cross
    • Maria Luisa (born Gertrude Prosperi)
      (1799-1847)
      • Italian abbess of the convent of the Order of St. Benedict of Trevi
    • Mother St. Louis (born Maria Luisa Elisabeth de Lamoignon, widow of Mole de Champlatreux)
      (1763-1825)
      • French foundress of the Sisters of St. Louis
    • Maria Crescencia (born Maria Angelica Perez)
      (1897-1932)
      • Argentinean professed religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Orchard
  • Martyrs declared
    • Nicolaus Rusca
      (1563-1618)
      • Swiss diocesan priest
      • Killed in hatred of the faith
    • killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936
      • Luis Orencio (born Antonio Sola Garriga) and 18 companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
      • Antonio Mateo Salamero
        • Diocesan priest
      • Jose Gorostazu Labayen
        • Layman
    • Killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937
      • Alberto Maria Marco y Aleman and eight companions of the Order of Carmelites of the Ancient Observance
      • Agustin Maria Garcia Tribaldos and 15 companions of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
      • Mariano Alcala Perez and 18 companions of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy
  • Heroic virtues declared
    • Donato Giannotti
      (1828-1914)
      • Italian diocesan priest
      • Founder of the Congregation of Sisters Handmaidens of the Immaculate Conception
    • Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus (born Henri Grialou)
      (1894-1967)
      • French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites
      • Founder of the Institute of Notre-Dame de Vie
    • Alphonse-Marie (born Elisabeth Eppinger)
      (1814-1867)
      • French foundress of the Congregation of Sisters of the Blessed Saviour
    • Marguerite Lucia Szewczyk
      (1828-1905)
      • Polish foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sorrowful Mother of God - Seraphic Sisters
    • Assunta Marchetti
      (1871-1948)
      • Italian co-foundress of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles
    • Maria Julitta (born Teresa Eleonora Ritz)
      (1882-1966)
      • German professed sister of the Congregation of Sisters of the Redeemer
    • Maria Anna Amico Roxas
      (1883-1947)
      • Italian laywoman and foundress of the Society of St. Ursula
There's more about these Saints, martyrs, and others, in local and regional online publications, including:I put a little background about Saints at the end of this post.2

2. Clueless Journalism - Again

I think the 'news' in this article is that someone's calling an old-school newspaper's bluff. Maybe I've gotten too accustomed to clueless journalists publishing nonsense about Christianity in general, and the Catholic Church in particular:
"KC Star risks credibility with bias against accused priest"
Benjamin Mann, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (December 20, 2011)

"The Kansas City Star stands accused of violating journalistic standards, by presenting a priest as guilty of abuse on the basis of one man's uncorroborated account.

" 'When I first read this, I assumed he'd been convicted, Marquette University Professor Dr. William Thorn told CNA, offering his reaction on Dec. 19 to Judy L. Thomas' recent three-part series about an allegation and lawsuit against 85-year-old Missouri priest Monsignor Thomas O'Brien.

" 'That's how it reads: as a post-conviction story, not as a story about suits that have been filed. It's prejudicial,' said Thorn, a professor of journalism at Marquette's Diederich College of Communications.

"He said Thomas' series of features was 'all focused on the accuser, and designed to generate enormous emotional support for him,' while downplaying the conflicting account offered by others...."
I've been over this sort of thing before:

Compared to 1930s Spain, and Auschwitz: Not So Bad

The situation in America could be a lot worse. Look at:

"20th-century martyrs?"

That might sound odd, to someone who assumes that Christians are all white, upper-middle-class Americans. And/or members of an oppressed minority class: victimized by WASPs. That's a caricature of the post-Woodstock American establishment's world view, of course.

I don't think the 'Christianity is icky' attitude makes sense: but I didn't think the old 'everybody I don't like is a commie' attitude made sense, either.

Folks can have odd notions about reality. Back when I was in my teens, the 'Custer died for your sins' version was crumbling. Make-believe history does that, when facts hit it.

I think we're in for another set of uncomfortable, but long-overdue, reality checks:I'm not happy about yet one more example of journalistic malfeasance, in the 'social contract' sense: but let's remember that it could be worse. A lot worse.

And I am not going to get sidetracked into English common law, the fourth estate, and hypothetical pre-social states.

3. Saint Michael - Action Figure

Maybe someone, somewhere, is upset about this. I think what the Kolbe Film School is doing is a great idea.
"Denver school creates action figures of saints for kids"
CNA (Catholic News Agency) (December 19, 2011)

"St. Michael the Archangel is the model for a saint-based action figure, part of a new 'Action Saints' series from the Denver-based Kolbe Film School. The series is intended to engage children in their faith and help them get acquainted with the saints.

"The poseable, four-inch-tall figures 'provide children the ability to put the heroes of our faith in action,' Kolbe Film School said.

" 'St. Michael leads the holy angels, saints, and the Church militant over the evil powers against the Church today -- a true hero for our times.'

"The figures' creators said that figures of saints tend to be 'dangerous and breakable ceramic, metal and glass statues,' not something that children can play with. They contended that these statues convey to children the message 'Do not touch!'..."
That Saint Michael action figure isn't the sort of 'plaster saint' Americans are used to - literally and figuratively. But as something that lets kids 'learn by playing?' I think those action figures are 'educational.' Also a lot of fun.

The Church Militant: Not That Kind of "Militant"

"Church militant?!" That doesn't mean that Catholics are about to start throwing molotov cocktails and threatening to kill hostages if some crazy demand isn't met. The Church militant is me and other Catholics who haven't died yet, and I've been over this before:
We're involved in a war, but it's not the sort you're likely to see in the headlines:
"For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens."
(Ephesians 6:12)
How the war turns out for me, as an individual, hasn't been finally decided. And won't be, until my particular judgment. Looking at the 'big picture,' though, - "We Won: Quite a While Ago" (January 13, 2011).

Related posts:
1 A longer excerpt from the ZENIT article on Kateri Tekakwitha and Marianne Cope:
"Native American, Minister to Hawaii Lepers to Be Declared Saints"
ZENIT (December 20, 2011)

"Among the miracles recognized by Benedict XVI on Monday were two gained through the intercession of women tied to North America.

"The first, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as the Lily of the Mohawks, was the first native American to be beatified. John Paul II declared her blessed in 1980. Kateri was born in 1656 of an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk chief in a Mohawk village in upstate New York.

"When she was only four years old her parents and brother died of smallpox. Kateri survived the disease, but it left her face badly scarred and her eyesight impaired. Because of her poor vision, Kateri was named 'Tekakwitha,' which means 'she who bumps into things.'

"When Kateri was 18 years of age, she began receiving instruction in the Catholic faith. It was done in secret as her uncle, who she had lived with since the death of her parents, was opposed to Christianity. Her uncle finally gave his consent for Kateri to become a Christian, provided that she did not try to leave the Mohawk village of Caughnawaga, where she was living at the time.

"Kateri was ridiculed and scorned by villagers for becoming a Catholic and her life was threatened. Almost two years after her baptism she escaped to the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, a settlement of Christian Indians in Canada.

"The village in Canada was also named Caughnawaga (Kahnawake). On Christmas Day 1677, Kateri made her first holy Communion and on the feast of the Annunciation in 1679 made a vow of perpetual virginity. She also offered herself to the Blessed Mother Mary to accept her as a daughter.

"During her time in Canada, Kateri taught prayers to children and worked with the elderly and sick. She would often go to Mass both at dawn and sunset. She was known for her great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the cross of Christ....

"...The miracle that is enabling Kateri's canonization was the curing of a Native American, Jake Finkbonner, who belongs to the Lummi tribe.

"After a fall in a basketball game in February 2006, Jake was infected with necrotizing fasciitis, or Strep A. Doctors expected him to die but Father Tim Sauer, a family friend, told his parents, Elsa and Donny Finkbonner, who are Catholics, to pray to Blessed Kateri.

" 'In my heart, in all of us, we've always found that Jake's recovery, his healing and his survival truly was a miracle,' his mother told the local newspaper, the Bellingham Herald. The family lives in Bellingham, in Washington state, where the Lummi tribe is located.

"Helper of St. Damien

"Blessed Mother Marianne Cope was born on Jan. 23, 1838, in Heppenheim, Germany. Born Barbara Koob, she was the daughter of a farmer, Peter Koob, and Barbara Witzenbacher Koob.

"In 1839 the family emigrated to the United States. They became members of St. Joseph's Parish in Utica, New York, where the children attended the parish school....

"...Marianne later wrote that she experienced a calling to religious life at an early age, but she could not follow her vocation for another nine years because of her family obligations. She was the oldest child at home and after reaching eighth grade went to work in a factory to support the family when her father had become an invalid.

"She entered the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis at 24 years of age, a month after her father's death and when her siblings were no longer dependent on her.

"Barbara entered the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York and, on Nov. 19, 1862, she was invested at the Church of the Assumption. She became known as Sister Marianne.

"A year later she made her profession as a religious, after which she served as a teacher and principal in several schools in New York State. She also helped during the 1860s in the establishment of two of the first hospitals in the central New York area, St. Elizabeth's in Utica (1866) and St. Joseph's in Syracuse (1869).

"In 1883, by then superior-general of her order, she responded to a plea for help by leaving with six other nuns for Hawaii to help look after lepers. The following year she met Damien de Veuster, famous for his work with lepers on the Hawaiian island of Moloki....

"...The order still continues to care for lepers in Hawaii.

"The subject of that miracle approved on Monday was Sharon Smith, who in 2005 was dying from an untreatable form of pancreatitis."
2 Briefly, what a Saint is:
"SAINT: The 'holy one' who leads a life in union with God through the grace of Christ and receives the reward of eternal life. The Church is called the communion of saints, of the holy ones (823, 946; cf. 828). See Canonization."
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Not-so-briefly, more about saints, canonization, and all that:
"CANONIZATION: The solemn declaration by the Pope that a deceased member of the faithful may be proposed as a model and intercessor to the Christian faithful and venerated as a saint on the basis of the fact that the person lived a life of heroic virtue or remained faithful to God through martyrdom (828; cf. 957)."
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church)

" 'The Church . . . is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as "alone holy," loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.'289 The Church, then, is 'the holy People of God,'290 and her members are called 'saints.'291"
(Catechism, 823)

"By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors.303 'The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history.'304 Indeed, 'holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal.'305"
(Catechism, 828)

"After confessing 'the holy catholic Church,' the Apostles' Creed adds 'the communion of saints.' In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: 'What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?'479 The communion of saints is the Church."
(Catechism, 946)

"Communion with the saints. 'It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself'498:
"We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples!499"
(Catechism, 957)
More, about Saints and the canonization process:
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

"Blessed are You Who Believed"

Today is Wednesday of the fourth week of Advent, and the Gospel reading is from Luke. It's one of those familiar ones:
"During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, 'Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord 14 should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed 15 that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.' "
(Luke 1:39-45)
There's a footnote in that chapter of Luke, that highlights an important point:
"Even before his birth, Jesus is identified in Luke as the Lord."
(footnote 14)

Babies, the Baptist, and Beyond

What Elizabeth said, "the infant in my womb leaped for joy," rings true for me. My sleep has been interrupted a fair number of times, by a nudge, stretch, or kick from a member of the family who hadn't been born yet. My wife, of course, had a much more up-close-and-personal experience.

There's more going on, of course, with my Lord and John the Baptist. No surprises there, when someone who later says 'I'm God' is involved:
"24 Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.' "
(John 8:58)
Sure, any lunatic could say "I am God." What makes my Lord stand out is what happened later.

Jesus had told his eleven disciples to go to a particular mountain in Galilee. While they were there, Jesus told them:
"Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "(Matthew 28:19-20)
That's more than just another wildly extravagant promise. By the time Jesus said that, he'd been tortured to death, and then stopped being dead.

Related posts:Background:
Although John covers the birth of Jesus in just one verse, he obviously 'gets it:' that this is no ordinary baby.
"1 2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; 4 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
(John 1:1-5)
"There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written."
(John 21:25)
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Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.