When spirituality becomes occult…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 31st, 2007
Promoting superstition.
Whoever writes for Spirit Daily is certainly consistent when it comes to promoting the superstitious BS about the number 11. The Daily has been running a series of misleading reports upon the spiritual significance of the number 11. It seems to me whoever is writing the articles would have to delve into the occult to come up with a lot of the stuff they are claiming. Spirit Daily may be entertaining as a journal of legitimate reporting with crack-pot conspiracy theories sprinkled in - but be careful not to believe everything you read on the site.
[Art: William Hogarth; Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism.]
You’ve got to have friends…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 30th, 2007
Expensive friends.
Caryll Houselander calls them psychologically expensive, today we may refer to them as high maintenance or needy. We all have them in our lives - some of us may even be these friends. I for one thought most of my friends were such as these, and then I found out that sometimes I have been a fairly demanding - okay, expensive friend as well.
Out of the”group” of close friends I’ve had since childhood until now, 4 have some form of mental illness - well, depression or another mild form of personality disorder. (IMHO) Another member of the group is a highly functional pathological liar, 2 are/were gay, and 1 is/was bi-sexual. Three oot of the 10 had been sexually abused as children. Only 3 out of 10 are ‘devout’ Catholics, while 2 others are Sunday Catholics. All of those who are married have stable happy marriages with children, and 9 out of 10 of these friends have been relatively successful in their careers. Strangely, only 3 out of these 10 people could be categorized as psychologically expensive - the others do very well. The pathological liar is the one closest to the high maintenance friends, and she only lies to get herself out of troublesome situations the expensive friends tend to create. (So, maybe her lying isn’t so pathological after all.)
Anyway - they are a fun group and I love them dearly. Although I wonder why I’m never invited to their parties any more. (The liar slipped and told me about the holiday party she had the week before Christmas. She had some lame excuse that I would have been invited but I never answer the phone and I never show up anyway. Yeah! Right! What a liar! If I would have known about it I could have called the cops to raid it. I’m so sure it was boring anyway.)
This is one post in a series I’m doing on friendship.
Sunday afternoon…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 30th, 2007
And on the third day… I finally got back on this %*&&# blog. From time to time, I get locked out - so if I haven’t posted on any given day, check out the other Abbey - I’ll be posting there.
Singin’ in the reign…
You know how those middle-school music teachers, Marty Culp and Bobbi Moughan-Culp on Saturday Night Live, entertained us by singing their pop-rock songs straight? How they slowed down the tempo, Bobbi singing classically, enunciating each word clearly? Well, anyway - it occured to me that sometimes dissident Catholics may put on a similar act.
They can sound sweet, well-meaning, even ‘orthodox’ - but their lyrics are still twisted. They may look straight and conservative - but they are still pushing the envelope for change. Other great examples of this marketing of evil technique are the hypocrites running for the 2008 presidential nomination, competing in the Iowa caucus, saying whatever they need to say to come out on top.
I suppose we ought to be well acquianted with this type of duplicity by now, having endured so many bishops and priests in sheep’s clothing over the last several years. Yet maybe we’ve become too accustomed to this sort of manipulation, to the extent we are taken in more easily by the Stepford clone act when it is continually rerun for us.
Being real.
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 28th, 2007
The suffering of the Infant Jesus and his friends…
The Nativity narratives, and the feast days of the martyrs (especially the Holy Innocents) which immediately follow the feast of Christmas, are fair warning to us that the peace of Christmas does not mean the absence of suffering. What a great mystery this is for us to comprehend, and maybe, quite the surprise for not a few. Perhaps this is one reason why families in our country wound, maim, and kill one another at this time of year - because of the stress of the holidays? Or why others commit suicide. While others may just over-medicate on alcohol, drugs, food, or find something else distracting enough to get them through the disappointment of the season of unreal expectations.
Unreal expectations.
Religious people have them too, especially around Christmas time. It is difficult to maintain one’s emotional and spiritual balance during the Christmas season if a person is not well grounded. Caryll Houselander wrote a wonderful book, Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross, a book on spiritual childhood in the light of the passion of the Child Jesus. I expect there can be no greater reality for us than that of our all-powerful God, emptying himself, taking upon himself the suffering of our human nature, born in the extreme humility of a stable in Bethlehem. [That is, if one is able to ponder the scene realistically, without falling prey to sentimentality.]
Houselander on reality:
To accept oneself as one is; to accept life as it is: these are the two basic elements of childhood’s simplicity and humility. But it is one thing to say this and another to do it. What is involved? First of all, it involves the abandoning of all unreality in ourselves. But even granted that we have the courage to face ourselves and to root out every trace of pretense, how shall we then tolerate the emptiness, the insignificance, that we built up our elaborate pretense to cover?
The answer is simple. If we are afraid to know ourselves for what we are, it is because we have not the least idea of what trial is.
The acceptance of life as it is must teach us trust and humility. This is because every real experience of life is an experience of God. Every experience of God makes us realize our littleness, our need, our nothingness, but at the same time the miracle of Christ in us. Not only are we one of God’s creatures — which is in itself a guarantee of His eternal creating love — but we are also His Christ, His only Son, the sole object of His whole love. These two facts balance the scales of trust: our nothingness and our allness.
If, in the light of this knowledge, we give ourselves unreservedly to life, every phase of it, every experience in it will lead us back to the inward heaven of spiritual childhood. “All the way to Heaven is Heaven,” says St. Catherine of Siena, and this is a thousand times true of the heaven of spiritual childhood, because it means becoming, not any child, but the Christ Child who is the life and the heaven of the soul.- Caryll Houselander
The Prince of Peace returning…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 27th, 2007
Benazir Bhutto assassinated…
Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when she was shot in the neck by a gunman who then set off a bomb. - BBC
Shot twice actually, the assassin then blew himself up - and about 20 other people - with a bomb.
Papal fashion…
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 26th, 2007
Paying attention to what the Pope is wearing.
It is a big deal, to be sure, as Fr. Zuhlsdorf indicates in a recent post: “The Holy Father, with his choice of vestments and the accouterments for the altar for Mass and for Vespers during Advent, not to mention the change of Master of Ceremony, is giving us a new orientation for divine worship.” -Fr. Zuhlsdorf
I like the inclusion of the older traditionally fabricated vestments, the highly embellished mitres from previous Popes, and the use of the throne of Leo XIII. As one writer put it, in wearing John XXIII”s cope, the mitre of John Paul I, and the regular use of the Leonine throne, along with the crosier first used by Paul VI, all seem to emphasize the Holy Father’s sense of the hermeneutic of continuity. (Earlier this month, I believe he wore the mitre of Pius IX for the feast of the Immaculate Conception.)
That twisted cross crosier…
Many blogs, too many to count, seem to pay close attention to what the Holy Father is wearing. On some posts I have read the ongoing criticism of Benedict’s continued use of the crucifix-crosier all three Popes since Paul VI have used. And of course, the occasional “far out” trad websites have even been known to suggest the bent and twisted crucifix is blasphemous and may be diabolic. I couldn’t disagree more.
I personally appreciated the modern crucifix-crosier ever since Paul VI began to use it. Since Pope Paul VI was the first modern Pontiff to be called, “the Pilgrim Pope”, the crosier brought to my mind at least, the Apostle Paul’s words, “When I was among you, I preached only Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (That’s how I interpreted the symbolism behind Paul VI’s use of it.) Obviously, the early Popes often used a crosier with a cross, as seen in the above photo of Pope St. Sylvester. However, I think the main objection traditionalists have is that the crucifix-crosier now in use is simply not traditional. No doubt, Benedict XVI will show up some day with the triple papal cross anyway, so be patient.
Liturgical “fashion”.
Fr. John Ubel, the pastor at St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been writing a series of short articles on Legitimate Variety and the Development of Form in all things liturgical. This past week-end he wrote about Church vestments for the Sunday parish bulletin. Without copying verbatim what Fr. Ubel wrote, suffice it to say, as priestly vestments evolved, not everyone in the Church was always happy with the changes.
Father describes the earliest vestments as conical in shape - much as it is now - only with more yardage of fabric back then, while elaborate ornamentation and trims began to be introduced gradually. This style endured up until the 13th century, until changes in tailoring of the chasuble occurred again in the 15th and 16th centuries. Those adaptations exist in what is commonly referred to as the “Gothic” style chasuble. Father continued to describe briefly the other “Roman style” chasuble sometimes referred to as the “fiddle-back”, since its tailoring resulted in a more minimalist vestment which resembled a fiddle in shape. (The front piece that is, because of the cut allowing the priest’s arms to move freely. Read more here.)
Mixing the traditional and contemporary.
Thus, as Fr. Ubel noted, “We are not the only ones today who argue about matters of style. Ecclesiastical vestments have a rich symbolism, and a proper understanding of history really helps to situate legitimate variety in its proper context, steering clear of needless polemics.”
I mention this to demonstrate that most developments in liturgy or liturgical vesture often occasioned strong criticism. Fr. Ubel pointed out that even St. Charles Borromeo forbade the use of the modern vesture; while a 17th century French bishop vehemently decried the change in vestments, declaring, “they have deformed the priestly garment itself…” and ” they have deprived it of its mystical reason for being the topmost vestment.” What is so interesting about the bishops opposition, is both men were discussing the fiddle-back vestment, which today is often thought of as the epitome of traditionalism.
[Anyway - I who know very little about priestly vesture, wrote all of this just because I happen to like the crosier of Paul VI. I think it mixes well with the traditional.]
Eat your heart out Zeffirelli!
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 26th, 2007
The Pope’s new clothes.
A man I admire, Franco Zeffirelli, would like to re-fashion Benedict XVI’s image. I’d say the Holy Father does not need any help at all - he looks suitably papal to me. (B16 already got rid of one fashionista (his old MC) - he doesn’t need another.)
[I can’t wait until the Holy Father shows up in the triple tiara.]
Photo credit: Whispers
Christmas shopping on Christmas.
Posted by Terry Nelson on Dec 25th, 2007
Christmas could die of consumption.
I heard on network news today, that FAO Schwartz in Manhattan was open on Christmas Day for shopping. I imagine it was done as a “courtesy” for the poor children who received Gift Cards instead of real toys. Other shoppers were out simply to enjoy the festive holiday atmosphere on 5th Ave. - which is fun to do in NYC!
Although, I predict consumerism (as well as Gift Cards and dysfunctional families) will change the way Christmas Day is observed in the very near future. Next year, more stores will probably open - so people can redeem their Gift Cards - or just entertain themselves with America’s favorite past-time, shopping. And if the shopping mall has an amusement park - it will be open, Shirley.