17 August 2012
Saudi Arabia has a problem with .catholic domains going to the Roman Catholic church:
Many other Christians use the term ‘Catholic’ to refer more broadly to the whole Christian Church regardless of denominational affiliation.
True. Probably more other Christians would object to .orthodox.
.rcc? Does it matter? Bloggers won’t get them anyway.
17 August 2012
From Bishop Lynch’s tribute to Bishop Trautman:
I accompanied Bishop Trautman and others on his Committee to the Congregation for Divine Worship to make the strongest case for gender sensitive (aka “inclusive”) language only to have him treated very shabbily by an American Jesuit either still in or just finished graduate education at Rome’s Gregorian University. That was an awful moment that the bishop took far better than I did.
Shabby treatment: pretty much the modus operandi for those who can’t muster either a sliver of charity or half a brain of good theology.
17 August 2012
This is another excellent section for discussion:
§ 21 § The liturgy is the perfect expression of the Church, “the summit toward which [all the Church's] activity is directed” and the source of all her power. (SC 10) In the New Testament, the term liturgy is intimately connected with the proclamation of the Good News and with active charity. (Cf. Lk 1:23; Acts 13:2; Rom 15:16, 27:2; and Phil 2:14-17, 25, 30) Through baptism and confirmation, Christians share in Christ’s priesthood which they exercise through their worship of God and their vocation of service to others. At the Eucharist, Christ calls his members to conversion in the proclamation of the word; he invites them to join with him in offering his perfect sacrifice to the Father; and he sends them forth from liturgy to serve the community in charity. Liturgical participation commits a person to a life of faithful discipleship. “Every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others.” (SC 7)
Commentary:
The Scriptures and Sacrosanctum Concilium give the backbone of this explanation of the importance of liturgy. I doubt many liturgy geeks need to be reminded of it. But we should know it in order to preach it.
Liturgical participation commits a person to a life of faithful discipleship.
This gives the essence of the importance of participation. True, an interior orientation is essential. But in the corporate (that is, the Body’s) experience of liturgy, something more needs to be in evidence. The interior roots us in personal commitment. But the external singing, moving, speaking, is part of a public commitment we make to God and to one another. If and when participation of any kind leads people to faithful discipleship, then it would seem we have arrived at the optimal expression of worship. Any thoughts on this?
All texts from Built of Living Stones are copyright © 2000, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
17 August 2012
I thought I was picking up a new book. On the cover, one of astronaut Alan Bean’s striking paintings was catchy for a volume that didn’t have the SF tag at my local library. Sure enough, it was SF mega-author Dan Simmons‘ second or so novel, in which he relates the midlife crisis of fictional astronaut Richard Baedecker. I was glad I picked it up, I really enjoyed it.
There are no elements of science fiction in this novel, which leads off its first few dozen pages switching back and forth between Baedecker’s two days on the moon and his life, adrift, fifteen years later. That later life finds the protagonist divorced, alienated from his son, and doing meaningless PR scut work. After being one of a dozen human beings to explore the moon in person, what’s left in life? As a man, I could relate to the theoreticals. (Even if I personally feel my best accomplishments may be ahead.)
The details of the novel are well-researched, but there are a few inconsequential stumbles here and there. The fictional Apollo mission Baedecker flew isn’t numbered, but it’s probably Apollo 16, as it references the previous mission led by real-life astronaut Dave Scott, and it doesn’t seem to be the last.
The action is thoughtful as it centers on Baedecker, and the author drops in perspectives from the man’s boyhood, his relationships with his father and his son, and a good number of astronaut stories. The changing perspectives are what one finds in a serious novel, and once in awhile, when my attention drifted I found I had to reorient myself. My bad. The author does a good job keeping all this straight, unless you read without focus.
For a book which deals with the heroic (lunar exploration) as well as the psychological (a man struggling to find himself, post-peak) this is a very quiet and measured volume. Well worth reading.
17 August 2012
A few dry sections, including the make-up of the SCPF, and a breakdown by the numbers:
15. Unless in individual cases the Supreme Pontiff decrees otherwise, 24 representatives take part in the direction of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith with a deliberative vote. These are: 12 prelates from the missions, 4 from other regions, 4 from the superiors of institutes, 4 from the pontifical mission societies. All will be called together twice a year. Members of this body are to be named for five-year terms, with approximately one-fifth changed each year. On completion of their term, they can be named for another five years.
Episcopal conferences, however, institutes and the pontifical mission societies, observing norms to be communicated as soon as possible by the Apostolic See, are to propose the names from which the Supreme Pontiff will choose the above-mentioned representatives and also the names of those, even if they live in the missions, from whom consultors can be chosen.
Bishops suggest, the pope selects. The past few decades, since careerism has been ramped up, it seems likely that curial insiders have the pope’s ear on those selections. Does this hold for the SCPF?
16. Representatives of Religious institutes in the missions, of regional mission societies and lay councils, especially those which are international, are to take part in meetings of this curial office with a consultative vote. (Ad Gentes 29)
Lay people, including religious, are consultants. “Consultative vote”–I wonder what that means, exactly.
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