Worth a Thousand Words

Early Birds
by a favorite artist of those around this blog, Karin Jurick

Well Said

From trusty #4.

To argue over who is more noble is nothing more than to dispute whether dirt is better for making bricks or for making mortar. O my God! What an insignificant matter!

St. Teresa of Avila

Summer Reading

I don't actually make lists for summer reading, though I do tend to notice that my reading gets lighter and more fun. I know, you thought it was already light and fun! Oh, I can do better, believe me.

Right now, I'm having a blast working my way back through my favorite space opera series, set in the Liaden Universe. They have one cliff hanger after another, an imaginative universe, and the series doesn't let you down through the entire storyline.

To give you a brief idea of where these books begin, here's a good summary from an Amazon review by a fan:

Val Con yos'Phelium, Clan Korval, future Delm and Second Speaker, was just doing a routine mission on some backwater planet in the middle of the universe when his life changed. After completing his mission, he encountered a small spitfire of a woman and saved her life, for which she promptly repaid him by bashing his head in. When Val Con woke up, the spitfire dumped him, but Val Con was intrigued, so he followed her and saved her life again. Now Miri Robertson, whose life he had saved twice, was forced to deal with Val Con, honor demanded it. She was intrigued by Val Con, whom she nicknamed "Tough Guy", but definitely didn't want a partner. As a former mercenary and bodyguard, she could handle herself and, as a target for the powerful Juntavas crime ring, she couldn't trust anyone...

However, both Val Con and Miri, both of whom were used to working alone, soon found that they worked well as partners, at least they would if Miri would stop trying to ditch Val Con at every opportunity. Val Con knew that Miri was something special, she made him feel things that he hadn't felt in years, she made him feel alive again. Miri didn't know what was wrong with Val Con, but she knew it had something to do with what he called The Loop, some kind of brain implant that gave him the odds of success on every mission/action he made. As they grew closer together, both Val Con and Miri realized that the Department of the Interior, who had trained Val Con as an agent, must have some ulterior motive in plan. But in order to find out what it was, they had to stay alive...

In order, the books I'm reading are:

• Agent of Change
• Carpe Diem
• Plan B
• I Dare

I'm not a fan of Conflict of Honors which precedes the above books though, of course, some may be. I am a fan of the two prequels to the above series.

• Local Custom (Shan's parents' story)
  
• Scout's Progress (about Val Con's parents) ... you can hear a sample of Scout's Progress when I featured it as an author excerpt at Forgotten Classics.
  

This post was prompted by The Anchoress's summer book reading roundup. She has a ton of good links.

As well, don't miss Tiber River's excellent collection of book lists which are oriented to Catholic reading. In fact, my list of books for Catholics to read is there too. Tiber River is being run by Aquinas and More online Catholic store, which also has a summer reading program to check out.

The Basics

The Love That Moves the Sun and Stars,
Burne-Jones, Edward Coley (Sir), born 28/08/1833 - died 17/06/1898 (artist),
found at The Lion and the Cardinal

Today's Liturgy and Saints

From Universalis: Today:

• Thursday of week 14 of the year or Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, Martyr
• Sat 11 Saint Benedict, Abbot
• Sun 12 15th Sunday of the year
• Mon 13 Monday of week 15 of the year or Saint Henry
• Tue 14 Tuesday of week 15 of the year or Saint Camillus of Lellis, Priest
• Wed 15 Saint Bonaventure, Bishop, Doctor
  

Intercessions
With faith in God who keeps all promises, let us pray:

R: Make us wise, O Lord

You did not think equality with god something to be clung to:
- release us from the desire for power and prestige, we pray. R

You emptied yourself, taking on the nature of a slave:
- free us from all disdain for works of service, we pray. R

You became obedient, even unto death, death on the cross:
- deliver us from the lure of self-sufficiency, we pray. R

Who I'm Praying for Today

• Little Jack's fast recovery
  
• Victor's health and fast recovery after surgery
  
• Adeline's health
  
• The Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat, for those attending and those presenting, and all those babysitters who make it possible!
  
• My friends who are expecting babies
• President Obama's change of heart in life issues, especially abortion and embryonic stem cell research
  
• Pope Benedict XVI's prayer intentions for this month.
• An end to abortion
  
• Abortion providers, Lord open their eyes and hearts
• Strength, joy and peace for oppressed Christians in China, Asia, and the Middle East. Also that their oppressors may have their eyes opened to the truth. And for all those oppressed, actually.
  
• Plus a whole lot of previous intentions mentioned here and for the intentions mentioned around St. Blog's Parish. Although they are usually mentioned here for only about a week, the prayers continue as these intentions go into my prayer journal.

Tradition and Revolution III

Continuing the essay, Merton takes on the issue of dogma, both in what men think it to be and what it actually is. What he says was doubtless true when the book was written in 1961 but we see his insight even more from the distance of where relativism has moved us almost 50 years hence. (Part I is here.)

Tradition and Revolution (cont'd.)

The notion of dogma terrifies men who do not understand the Church. They cannot conceive that a religious doctrine may be clothed in a clear, definite and authoritative statement without at once becoming static, rigid and inert and losing all its vitality. In their frantic anxiety to escape from any such conception they take refuge in a system of beliefs that is vague and fluid, a system in which truths pass like mists and waver and vary like shadows. They make their own personal selection of ghosts, in this pale, indefinite twilight of the mind. They take good care never to bring these abstractions out into the full brightness of the sun for fear of a full view of their unsubstantiality.

They favor the Catholic mystics with a sort of sympathetic regard, for they believe that these rare men somehow reached the summit of contemplation in defiance of Catholic dogma. Their deep union with God is supposed to have been an escape from the teaching authority of the Church, and an implicit protest against it.

But the truth is that the saints arrived at the deepest and most vital and also the most individual and personal knowledge of God precisely because of the church's teaching authority, precisely through the tradition that it is guarded and fostered by that authority.

New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

We will hear more about where faithful adherence to the Church's dogma takes us in contemplation in Part IV.

Congratulations to CNMC Award Winners!

I see that the Catholic New Media Awards are over and the winners have been announced.. Congratulations to the winners, especially Jen at Conversion Diary who is a favorite of mine and definitely deserved to win the Best Blog by a Woman category.

Interestingly, I see that we have many of the same sorts of results that would come up long ago in the lighter, more fun and interesting award days. One or two big personalities/current favorites win most of the categories, with a few breakaways pulling the award away in some categories.

So no matter whether fun or boring, the cult of personality wins ... but not always. So can we go back to having fun awards? Puhleez?

Update:
Also, I don't know what I was thinking to not thank very much those who nominated me and then voted, and also the group who puts on the awards. Though I may have quibbles with their methodology, I fully appreciate their hard work in putting on the awards. I don't want to seem ungrateful; my criticism is meant constructively.

Worth a Thousand Words

Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Water. 1566.
From Olga's Art Gallery

Well Said

From trusty quote journal #4.

When I abandon myself, let go of myself, then I see, yes, life is right at last, because otherwise I am far too narrow for myself. When I go outside, then it truly begins; then life attains its greatness.

Pope Benedict XVI

What's a Catholic Blog Doing With a Horoscope in the Sidebar?

Yukking it up, mostly.

I appreciate the many people who care enough to take the time and trouble to write mentioning that belief in horoscopes is against Church teachings. However, I would appreciate it equally, indeed actually much more, if right before sending that email, those same people would actually read the day's horoscope and perhaps click through to the cited sources: The Onion (warning, site can have explicit content) or Dr. Boli.

They would then see that 'tis all in good fun. Not to mention making fun of horoscopes.

Just in case there are any doubts, here is a random sampling. If they don't make you laugh (or smile at the very least) then we do not share the same sense of humor:

• You'll soon discover three new planets, a dwarf star, and two orbiting satellites—an incredible achievement for someone just trying to peer in on his neighbor.
  
  
• A surprise party looms in your future. Although, technically speaking, the "surprise" has more to do with how few people will show up.
  
  
• You'll stop going with your gut and start listening to your heart, almost instantly ruining your career in public relations.
  
  
• The stars foresee a time of great vagueness and something or other in your future. Also, there will be a chair.
  
  
• Your science-fiction novel will be heralded as a "work of utmost urgency and importance" by critics in a mirror universe this week.
  
  
• A panel of twelve jurors will soon find you guilty of a crime you didn't commit very well.
  
  
• You will lose hours trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, moments after quickly and easily fitting a round peg into a square hole.
  
  
• The stars are sorry, but writing greeting-card messages does not make you a poet. Take comfort in the fact that, since this is America, you'll make the lists anyway.
  
  
• Lady Luck will be on your side this week. Unfortunately for you, Lady Skill, Lady Experience, and Lady Applied Probability Theory won't.
  
  
• The stars are becoming a little upset at your constant pestering about the future. Would it kill you to maybe loosen up a little and live for the moment?
  
  
• A double-inclined plane will—through the application of downward force—drive a wedge between you and your spouse this week.
  
  
• People say you have one of the biggest egos in the world, but what they probably mean is best—one of the best egos in the world.

The true purpose of this post is not to complain, but actually to have something to link to so that I may take the preemptive move of directing people to this explanation before they go to the trouble of writing.

Thank you for your concern!

Loving Christ and Loving the Church

I probably have had my In Conversation with God books for seven or eight years. Although each entry has three sections and is around 6 (small) pages you would think that I would have absorbed a good bit of it by now so that it is, if not predictable, at least devoid of surprises. Still, on Monday, this paragraph hit me as something brand new. Not that I didn't already understand the sentiment. Just that I hadn't thought of it from this point of view. So I'm sharing it.

Those people who claim to approach Christ whilst leaving his Church to one side, and even causing her harm, may one day get the same surprise as Saint Paul did when he was on his way to Damascus; I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:5). And, the Venerable Bede reflects that He does not say "why are you persecuting my members, but why are you persecuting me?" For He is still affronted in his Body, which is the Church. Paul did not know until that moment that to persecute the Church was to persecute Jesus himself. when he speaks about the Church later on, he does so in words that describe her as the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27), or simply as Christ (1 Cor 1:13); and he describes the faithful as members of Christ's Body (Rom 12:5). It is not possible to love, follow or listen to Christ, without loving, following or listening to the Church, because she is the presence, at once sacramental and mysterious, of Our Lord, who prolongs his saving mission in the world to the very end of time.

In Conversation with God - Vol. 4 - Ordinary Time, Weeks 13-23

Tradition and Revolution II

Continuing from yesterday, Merton goes on examining the popular concept of revolution as opposed to the revolutionary concept of Christian truth.

Tradition and Revolution (cont'd.)

A revolution is supposed to be a change that turns everything completely around. But the ideology of political revolution will never change anything except appearances. There will be violence, and power will pass from one party to another, but when the smoke clears and the bodies of all the dead men are underground, the situation will be essentially the same as it was before: there will be a minority of strong men in power exploiting all the others for their own ends. There will be the same greed and cruelty and lust and ambition and avarice and hypocrisy as before.

For the revolutions of men change nothing. The only influence that can really upset the injustice and iniquity of men is the power that breathes in Christian tradition, renewing our participation in the Life that is the Light of men.

To those who have no personal experience of this revolutionary aspect of Christian truth, but who see only the outer crust of dead, human conservatism that tends to form around the Church the way barnacles gather on the hull of a ship, all this talk of dynamism sounds foolish.

Each individual Christian and each new age of the Church has to make this rediscovery, this return to the source of Christian life.

It demands a fundamental act of renunciation that accepts the necessity of starting out on the way to God under the guidance of other men. This acceptance can be paid for only by sacrifice, and ultimately only a gift of God can teach us the difference between the dry outer crust of formality which the Church sometimes acquires from the human natures that compose it, and the living inner current of Divine Life which is the only real Catholic tradition.

New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

In Part III Merton will move on to discussing Catholic dogma.

Two (Possibly) Helpful Tips for Dealing with Flies or Mosquitoes

Being as how we live in Texas we've got more than our fair share of these pests.

Tom had been wondering why a local restaurant has these bags of water hanging above their outdoor waiting area. Aha! They repel flies.


I saw the mosquitoes link in the post and that prompted Tom to look further where he found a homemade mosquito trap that we are going to try out. If this works it is brilliant in its simplicity.

"beatification of the great British convert and scholar, Cardinal John Henry Newman, is 'imminent."

Being as how I know I have at least two people who get their Catholic news from this blog (scary, right?), one of whom just told me that and made me feel guilty for not including more breaking Catholic news ... I feel it incumbent upon me to mention this news.

In an interview to be published on Wednesday in the daily Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Saraiva said that among the most important personalities to be beatified "soon" is "the case of Cardinal Newman, a relevant intellectual, and an emblematic figure of conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism."

Read the news release here.

Insanely Busy and Trying Not to Go Insane

Therefore I beg your indulgence on light posting. I have a post or two that I did over the weekend and other than that ... well, I have lots I'd like to write about. But it shall wait until my work and Beyond Cana retreat obligations get sorted out. Oh, right, and bill paying and suchlike.

Not wanting to be the only Catholic blog neglecting the Holy Father's latest encyclical ...

... I direct your attention to Caritas In Veritate, aka Charity in Truth. "Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine" says Pope Benedict in the second paragraph and I am looking forward to reading what he has to say on the subject.

Also, I see that Maureen is working her way through this which I am saving to read until after I have read it. I did see that she says:

Also, it’s pretty clear that Professor Ratzinger expects you to read Populorum Progressio as a key to his encyclical. So here’s a link to that. The year is 1967.

Aaargh. Isn't that just like the dear prof? First the homework. Then the encyclical!

Tradition and Revolution I

Our Catholic women's book club read New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton over Lent. Obviously I am very late in sharing some of it with you. Overall, the book was interesting because I'd never been able to get through one of Merton's books before. This one, a series of essays, which Merton wrote for himself as much as anything, contemplates what holiness means for each of us. Oh, as well as contemplation. That too.

I did not always agree with everything Merton said. Although many tend to view him as a saint, I remind us all that he was not. An interesting writer, yes. Striving for holiness, yes. A saint, no. Infallible, no.

That said, I really enjoyed the way that he was able to set examples forth in defense of Catholicism much of the time. This is something that I believe some who enjoy reading Merton may not realize, considering that when I see him quoted it is often to make an edgy point about orthodoxy in the Church.

I have wanted to share this with y'all for some time and perhaps now is the right time since I am finally getting around to it. I think it is definitely an essay that needs to be read in the times in which we are living.

Tradition and Revolution

The biggest paradox about the Church is that she is at the same time essentially traditional and essentially revolutionary. But that is not as much of a paradox as it seems, because Christian tradition, unlike all others, is a living and perpetual revolution.

Human traditions all tend toward stagnation and decay. They try to perpetuate things that cannot be perpetuated. They cling to objects and values which time destroys without mercy. They are bound up with a contingent and material order of things -- customs, fashions, styles and attitudes -- which inevitably change and give way to something else.

The presence of a strong element of human conservatism in the church should not obscure the fact that Christian tradition, supernatural in its source, is something absolutely opposed to human traditionalism.

The living tradition of Catholicism is like the breath of a physical body. It renews life by repelling stagnation. It is a constant, quiet, peaceful revolution against death.

As the physical act of breathing keeps the spiritual soul united to a material body whose very matter ends always to corrupt and decay, so Catholic tradition keeps the Church alive under the material and social and human elements which will be encrusted upon as long as it is in the world.

The reason why Catholic tradition is a tradition is because there is only one living doctrine in Christianity. The whole truth of Christianity has been fully revealed. It has not yet been fully understood or fully lived. The life of the Church is the Truth of God Himself, breathed out into the Church by His Spirit, and there cannot be any other truth to supersede and replace it.

The only thing that can replace such intense life is a lesser life, a kind of death. The constant human tendency away from God and away from this living tradition can only be counteracted by a return to tradition, a renewal and a deepening of the one unchanging life that was infused into the Church at the beginning.

And yet this tradition must always be a revolution because by its very nature it denies the values and standards to which human passion is so powerfully attached. To those who love money and pleasure and reputation and power this tradition says: "Be poor, go down into the far end of society, take the last place among men, live with those who are despised, love other men and serve them instead of making them serve you. Do not fight them when they push you around, but pray for those that hurt you. Do not look for pleasure, but turn away from things that satisfy your senses and your mind and look for God in hunger and thirst and darkness, through deserts of the spirit in which it seems to be madness to travel. Take upon yourself the burden of Christ's Cross, that is, Christ's humility and poverty and obedience and renunciation, and you will find peace for your souls.

This is the most complete revolution that has ever been preached; in fact, it is the only true revolution, because all the others demand the extermination of somebody else, but this one means the death of the man who, for all practical purposes, you have come to think of as your own self.

New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

Part II is here.

Worth a Thousand Words

PB&J No. 9
by Neil Hollingsworth

Well Said

From trusty #4 quote journal.

Only after discovering Jesus do we realize "this is what I was waiting for ..."

Pope Benedict XVI

Joshua: Why Total Destruction of the Enemy?

Getting back to my basics, I have begun reading Joshua. It was when I was recommending the Navarre Bibles to a friend for their excellent commentary that I realized I had forgotten to read them myself lately. At one time, Rose was reading through the Old Testament using them which gave me the required excuse to purchase a volume here and a volume there. However, I never delved into them myself. I love how the commentaries not only cover the Jewish point of view but also what the Church Fathers have seen as a logical forerunner for Christ and Christian living.

I am supplementing this with my Archaeological Study Bible (which has an adamant "yay Protestant Biblical books choice!" cheering section of the introduction) which I know is deficient in some ways. However, their practically pure archaeological take on things is also eye opening. One must just keep in mind that they may fall short when it comes to Catholic teachings if they happen to comment on those things (which I haven't seen happen yet other than in their stern comments about which books should be in the Bible).

I'll be sharing some eye opening bits with y'all as I go along.

So let's start with this, which suddenly helped me understand the reasoning behind God's orders to raze conquered cities to the ground. Not to mention requiring every person and animal be slaughtered. Never could figure that out and although our weekly scripture studies have gone a long way toward making me see that a loving, merciful God is shown throughout the Old Testament, this issue never squared with that. Certainly I never thought about how that policy might have an inner meaning for me.

But, read on ... for naturally I just wasn't thinking deeply enough. I have italicized the parts that spoke to me but am quoting the entire commentary on this particular verse.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6, 25-26, 13:13-19 and particularly 20:16-18 lays down detailed instructions about the policy of utter destruction (anathema or "ban); Israel is told to obey these instructions to the letter, to avoid being contaminated by the idolatry of the Canaanites. A policy which to us seems quite incomprehensible, savage and inhuman, it needs to be seen inn its historical context and to be set in the framework of the gradual development of divine revelation. Total destruction of the enemy was common practice in antiquity, but the biblical laws about it were very strict; it could actually deter people from ungodly war: if all booty must be destroyed (treasure, livestock, or persons who could be turned into servants or slaves), then there is no point in embarking on war out of greed or for aggrandizement. Even so, we need to bear in mind that this was a temporary law, for that time only, so neither this nor any other passage of Holy Scripture can be used to justify the use of violence or criminal behavior. God's revelation to man was a gradual process culminating in the Incarnation of the Word. The preaching of Jesus is the true reference-point as regards respect for life and for the lawfully held property of others. In the sermon on the mount our Lord said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you maybe sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt 5:44-45).

In mystical writing we find allegorical interpretations of this commandment to the effect that the soul needs to be detached from everything in order to draw closer to God. Thus. St. John of the Cross comments that this order about total destruction is given "so that we may understand that to enter into union with the divine, everything that lives in the soul must die, what is great and small, of much worth or of little, and the soul must remain without lust for it all" (Ascent of Mount Carmel, 1, 11, 8).

Joshua 6:21
The Navarre Bible, Joshua - Kings

Happy 4th of July

Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!

Blue and crimson and white it shines,
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
Hats off!
The colors before us fly;
But more than the flag is passing by.

Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State;
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;

Days of plenty and years of peace,
March of a strong land's swift increase:
Equal justice, right and law,
Stately honor and reverent awe;

Sign of a nation, great and strong,
To ward her people from foreign wrong;
Pride and glory and honor, all
Live in the colors to stand or fall.

Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
And loyal hearts are beating high:
Hats off!
The flag is passing by!

(Henry Holcomb Bennett)

Via The Summa Mamas and Mexico Bob comes the perfect way I'd been searching for to express my feelings today.

4th of July Weekend Joke

Father William, the old priest, made it a practice to visit the parish school one day a week. He walked into the 4th grade class, where the children were studying the states, and asked them how many states they could name. They came up with about 40 names. Father William jokingly told them that in his day students knew the names of all the states.

One lad raised his hand and said, 'Yes sir, but in those days there were only 13 states.

A Bit More Lagniappe ... Ask Dr. Boli

Why is the sky blue? Forgotten Classics has Dr. Boli's answer.

Worth a Thousand Words

Civil War Women
from Old Picture of the Day

This makes me soooo grateful for modern conveniences like plumbing, stoves, and air conditioning.

Well Said

From trusty journal #1.

It is a lesson we all need -- to let alone the things that do not concern us. He has other ways for others to follow him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which he requires us to follow him, and to follow him in that path. Let us remember our Master's injunction, and we shall be saved from many pitfalls: "What is it to you? You follow me" (Jn 21_22).

Saint Katherine Drexel

Blogging Around: The "Quick Links for a Long Weekend" Edition

Some snippets to pique your interest. Go read it all at the links in the subheads.

From the Teeth of the Lion to the Dandelion
Love language? This one's for you.

Like many words in our language, many of the names of flowers hold clues about their history and relationship to us. The daisy, for example, known for its small yellow blossoms, is quite common throughout the world. Daisies are unique in that they close their golden petals during the night and keep them shut, as if in sleep, until the morning. This peculiar characteristic earned this little flower the name 'day's eye' from speakers of Old English. Eventually, that name was compounded into the word daisy.

The EPA Silences a Climate Skeptic
How sharper than a serpent's tooth to have an ideological scientific dissenter among one's own ranks.

... In case anyone missed the point, Mr. Obama took another shot at his predecessors in April, vowing that "the days of science taking a backseat to ideology are over."

Except, that is, when it comes to Mr. Carlin, a senior analyst in the EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics and a 35-year veteran of the agency. In March, the Obama EPA prepared to engage the global-warming debate in an astounding new way, by issuing an "endangerment" finding on carbon. It establishes that carbon is a pollutant, and thereby gives the EPA the authority to regulate it -- even if Congress doesn't act.

Around this time, Mr. Carlin and a colleague presented a 98-page analysis arguing the agency should take another look, as the science behind man-made global warming is inconclusive at best. The analysis noted that global temperatures were on a downward trend. It pointed out problems with climate models. It highlighted new research that contradicts apocalyptic scenarios. "We believe our concerns and reservations are sufficiently important to warrant a serious review of the science by EPA," the report read.

The response to Mr. Carlin was an email from his boss, Al McGartland, forbidding him from "any direct communication" with anyone outside of his office with regard to his analysis. When Mr. Carlin tried again to disseminate his analysis, Mr. McGartland decreed: "The administrator and the administration have decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision. . . . I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office." (Emphasis added.) ...

Cutaways
What "everyone knows" seems to be toppling like dominoes among these recent scientific studies. First, I heard about the one proving differences between boys and girls (duh) and now ...

... In what can only be called a shocking discovery, a 2003 study by the NICHD (a sub-branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) found that “religion reduces the likelihood of adolescents engaging in early sex by shaping their attitudes and beliefs about sexual activity.” ...

Hagiography and the Benefit of Doubt
I am sorry to say that until reading this, it never occurred to me to give the benefit of a doubt to those saints' stories which have elicited a raised eyebrow. I'm a child of my age and am now ashamed of it on this subject after reading this ...

I will always be a defender of the Golden Legend and the traditional hagiographies - and more than a defender of them, a believer in them. That is to say, I believe that they are holy, deserving of preservation, and usually true. For this, I have been called many things - stupid, romantic, reactionary. I have, in the past, justified myself by arguing that hagiography ought to be read in the same spirit that Holy Scripture is read - with literal, allegorical, tropological and anagogical significance. I have mostly abandoned this argument - not because I think it false, but because I think it unnecessary.

Believing in the veracity of the Golden Legend does not require a suspension of disbelief, not a Sigerist double standard of truth (one truth for reason, one truth for faith), nor even a healthy hermeneutic. All that is required is the benefit of doubt. That is to say, most of the stories recounted by the traditional hagiographies give us no reason, in themselves, to disbelieve them.

God and Science
One more time, that tired argument that God and science don't mix, especially among those who are believers. The WSJ piece left me sorry that the Catholics the scientist turned to were so tongue-tied on behalf of their faith. Luckily Deeps of Time is here...

That’s not how the Catholic scientist sees the universe, however. A Catholic accepts, as Krauss does, a universe that is rational and orderly, but that does not exclude the extraordinary miracle. As G. K. Chesterton put it in Orthodoxy, “We risk the remote possibility of a miracle as we do that of a poisoned pancake or a world-destroying comet. We leave it out of account, not because it is a miracle, and therefore impossibility, but because it is a miracle, and therefore an exception.” Left to itself, the universe does operate according to its own laws, and it is those laws the Catholic scientist seeks to uncover; but God can intervene from time to time if He so wills.

Elsewhere: Pie and Lagniappe

The 4th of July Pie we'll be attempting at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Lagniappe featuring The Uncommon Reader is at Forgotten Classics where a very common reader narrates an excerpt to tickle your fancy.

It's First Friday ... Fasting for an End to Abortion

A twelve-week old fetus baby in the womb.*

It all began here in Dallas -- in our home town, where we raise our families, where we go to church, where we live, and love, and learn, and work.

We are three bloggers who also live in the Dallas area. We are deeply committed to ending abortion in this country. To that end, we have committed ourselves to the following: On each First Friday for the next eleven months, we will fast and pray before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion. This year's commitment will culminate at the annual Dallas March for Life in January of 2009, where we will join our bishop and the faithful of this city in marching to the courthouse where Roe was originally argued.

Original Joint Announcement

In addition to unborn babies and their families, I will be including all those who work to end abortion, as well as the souls of those who work for abortion in my intentions. Also included will be solid catechesis for all Catholics as that is a key issue to most of the misunderstandings on both this issue and others in the secular world.

For your reading and information, here is an excellent article Why Conception? by Michael from The Deeps of Time. Highly recommended.

*I used to be among those who believed the secular propaganda that a 12-week-old baby was just "a blob of cells." Even after coming to the truth, I never knew just how vividly untrue that was until seeing this image, via Father Dwight Longenecker, who points out that 89% of abortions take place in the first twelve weeks. No wonder pro-abortion activists protest ultrasounds for mothers who are seeking counseling. This is unmistakably a baby.

Skeptoid: Sarah Palin is Not Stupid ... and He Sticks Up For Bill Maher Too

Skeptoid points out some of the main problems with an ad hominem attack on those you disagree with. Here's a bit. You can listen to this podcast at the link or read the transcript.

Today we're going to delve into the minds of those who actively promote misinformation, political oppression, terror, conspiracies, and anything else that detracts from the public good. What drives them to do so? Are they right in their own minds, or do they know that what they do is wrong? More importantly, what should we know and understand about these people? I'm going to go out on a limb and start with a concept that may seem shockingly politically incorrect to some: I'm going to disagree with the popular perception that Sarah Palin is nuts.

Let me tell you something about Sarah Palin, but first with the understanding that I don't know any more about her than you do; I've never met her either; and I didn't vote for her. Stupid people don't tend to attract contributors, managers, supporters, and electorates. ...

Update
Coincidentally, The Anchoress discusses "Why Do They Hate Sarah Palin?"

Catholic Bible Dictionary, edited by Scott Hahn

INK Ancient forms of ink were made from wood, ivory, or other materials burned to create carbon that was then suspended in a gum or glue solution. Ink is mentioned specifically only in Jer 36:18; 2 Cor 3:3; 2 John 12; and 3 John 13.

I don't know about you, but flipping across this reference had me going to my Bible to find these ink references. This one small entry contains not only Biblical references but archeological information that sent me mentally back to those long ago days. I had never thought about ink, imagined what it would take to make it, or pictured those scribes refilling their supplies. Until I read that entry by chance while looking for something else.

Such is the power of a good reference book. We all know the enjoyable pursuit of idly following one reference to another, having our eye caught and then beginning on a new trail. These days with search engines we find those habits almost lost. However, this Biblical dictionary has been both informing me and provoking thought about faith and the word of God. As well, it has been a valuable reference. I learned all about Ezekiel (and his book) in preparing for attending scripture study on the readings for next Sunday's Mass. I looked into the excellent entry on the Ten Commandments for something I was writing for our church bulletin, as well as delving into the issue of covenant in a related set of writings. This has proven to be an invaluable resource in merely one week of having it in my hands.

There are over 5,000 entries which include key information about books of the Bible, archaeological information, language and imagery, ancient civilizations, sociological info about Biblical life and times, people and places, Church teachings and theology, and detailed maps. Information about books of the Bible always include thorough coverage of an overview, authorship and date, contents, and purpose and themes. These entries may cover many pages but are always clear and easy to understand, within the context of how difficult the subject matter may be.

The layout is easy to read and follow. There are clear sets of subheads to help follow the reasoning presented as well as make it easy to find a particular topic within each entry. The cross-indexing is excellent. I have never failed to find something I was looking for. The scriptural references, as one would expect, are thorough. It is easy to track the reasoning for the entries through the Bible and the Catechism. As well, the book itself is handsome. The jacket image is actually printed on the hardback cover, which impressed me. This is a book that is designed to last and be useful.

In short, this is an impressive reference designed for frequent, easy use. I highly recommend it.

I will leave you with another short entry. Notice how much information is packed into it while still keeping it easy to understand. Especially take note of the last sentence which provides us with good food for thought in considering Jesus' sacrificial role.

HYSSOP A plant noted for its dense leaves and its habit of grown on walls (1 Kgs 4:33; cf. Lev 14:6; Num 19:6; Heb 9:19). Scholars believe that the hyssop in Scripture was the herb we call marjoram. hyssop was used especially in liturgical rites for sprinkling the blood of the Passover on the doorposts in Egypt (Exod 12:21-22; cf Num 19:18; Heb 9:19). Hyssop was used also in the purification of lepers (Lev 14;4-6) and the house of a leper (Lev 14:49-52). John (John 19:29; cf. Matt 27:48; Mark 15:36) makes mention of a branch of hyssop used to offer Jesus a sponge soaked in vinegar. This is probably an allusion to the use of hyssop in the Passover, dipped in the blood of the Paschal lamb.

The Basics

Image from the Paris Psalter, found at The Lion and the Cardinal

Today's Liturgy and Saints

From Universalis: Today:

• Fri 3 Saint Thomas, Apostle Feas
• Sat 4 Saturday of week 13 of the year or Saint Elizabeth of Portugal
• Sun 5 14th Sunday of the year
• Mon 6 Monday of week 14 of the year or Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin, Martyr
  

Intercessions
With faith in God who keeps all promises, let us pray:

R: Make us wise, O Lord

You did not think equality with god something to be clung to:
- release us from the desire for power and prestige, we pray. R

You emptied yourself, taking on the nature of a slave:
- free us from all disdain for works of service, we pray. R

You became obedient, even unto death, death on the cross:
- deliver us from the lure of self-sufficiency, we pray. R

Who I'm Praying for Today

• Doreen's soul, the peace of her family and friends in this time of grief, especially my dear Deb
  
• The Beyond Cana marriage enrichment retreat, for those attending and those presenting, and all those babysitters who make it possible!
  
• My friends who are expecting babies
• President Obama's change of heart in life issues, especially abortion and embryonic stem cell research
  
• Pope Benedict XVI's prayer intentions for this month.
• An end to abortion
  
• Abortion providers, Lord open their eyes and hearts
• Strength, joy and peace for oppressed Christians in China, Asia, and the Middle East. Also that their oppressors may have their eyes opened to the truth. And for all those oppressed, actually.
  
• Plus a whole lot of previous intentions mentioned here and for the intentions mentioned around St. Blog's Parish. Although they are usually mentioned here for only about a week, the prayers continue as these intentions go into my prayer journal.