Catholic Girl Talk

Insurance Breaks for the Religious

2006-01-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

According to a featured article on the pro-life search website, some insurance companies may be offering benefits for customers who attend religious services regularly.

Click here to read the article.

The Gospel of Wealth

2006-01-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

Great story in the NYTimes about the resurrgence of prosperity theology among some Protestants in New York and other cities. It teaches, as can easily be surmised, that material wealth and success is directly tied to religious devotion and God's favor:

It is a theology that is excoriated in many Christian circles but is
becoming increasingly visible in this country, according to religious scholars.
Now, it is beginning to establish a foothold in New York City, where capitalism
has long been religion.

...

"There's no question that almost every Christian leader - reformed,
Pentecostal, however you want to call it - sees it as a blight on the face of
Christianity," said Timothy C. Morgan, deputy managing editor at Christianity
Today, an evangelical magazine. "Yet it's so seductive."

The theology taps into the country's self-help culture, said William C.
Martin, a professor emeritus of religion and public policy at Rice University in
Houston. "One of the goals of America is for you to become prosperous," he said.
"For the church to put a blessing on that and say, 'God wants you to be rich,'
is quite appealing."

Not surprisingly, the story notes that the preacher and the church focused on in this story received an 'F' for financial transperancy by an evangelical Protestant watchdog group, which also advises people not to give money to this church.

Contrast the prosperity gospel with what Pope Benedict said today in his Angelus message: "Being a disciple of Christ: this is enough for the Christian." (via Amy)

I'm Not As Think As You Drunk I Am

2006-01-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

The NYTimes on the Brits and their booze:

For Britons, alcohol is a relaxant, an emollient, a crutch, an excuse. In
her book "Watching the English," the social anthropologist Kate Fox argues that
drinking does not turn English people into unattractive louts, but rather allows
them to express the unattractive loutishness latent in their character: in other
words, they drink so that they will have license to behave badly.

"By blaming the booze, we sidestep the uncomfortable question of why
the English, so widely admired for their courtesy, reserve and restraint, should
also be renowned for their oafishness, crudeness and violence," Ms. Fox writes.
Their antics have earned them a notoriety across Europe, from northern cities
where boozed-up Britons go on bachelor weekends to southern resorts where young
people on cheap package tours disgust the local residents by their fighting,
vandalism and public displays of vomiting and al fresco sex.

Our Lady of Victory

2006-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

Pray for us.

No, Really?

2006-01-11T09:12:00.000-08:00

The NYTimes just can't believe that when you pump women full of hormones they don't need so that you can be irresponsible, it hurts women.

Science: Ignored by the proprietors of the culture of death when it serves to shed light on their destructive forces.

Misogyny Alive and Well in America

2006-01-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

The NYTimes even takes the tongue-in-cheek approach to it.

He may be wrong about a lot of things, but in his essay "On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love," Freud's thesis is that prostitution can only exist when there is a hatred of women. The porn film industry wasn't around when he wrote that paper, but I think he'd apply the same standard there.

2006-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

I just registered for graduation. It's coming up on May 21. That's only 4.5 months away. Hence the picture above.

If you think of it, please say a quick prayer to St. Joseph for me as I discern about where I'm going to live and find a job. Thanks.

Disney is Dumb, and Other Thoughts on 'Hunchback'

2006-01-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I started it in the summer and got about halfway through it before school started and eliminated time for leisure reading.

I still can't figure out why the geniuses over at Disney thought this would make a great animated film. Let's see, we've got: Murder, attempted murder, attempted rape, fornication, public humiliation of a disabled man...Yeah, that'd be great for 6 year olds! Of course, they did soften the plot a bit, but I still think it was quite inappropriate as a family film. I'm all for introducing kids to good literature early, but this just doesn't make sense.

As for the book itself, it is a beautifully written piece about what happens when we let our disordered desires defeat our better judgement. The consequences of this pride and selfishness (which manifests itself in a host of grave sins) serve not only to hurt us, but those we love, most especially the innocent and simple, if for no other reason than that they are ignorant of the "ways of the world." There was actually one scene in the book that reminded me a lot of that scene in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith where Anakin is talking to Yoda about the dreams of Padme dying and Yoda warns him about doing evil in order to protect her.

Two thoughts on Hugo now that I've read Hunchback and Les Miserables. First, he is an amazingly captivating writer, and I think his style was captured very well in the "Signet Classics" translations I read. I set both books down for a period of a few months and with both I was able to jump back into them immediately where I left off. The prose, especially in Les Mis, keeps you reading even as he goes off on his sometimes obscure political tangents and you're wondering why you ever picked up a book that is 1,500 pages long.

Second, both books contain central characters who are idolized as young, virginal girls. Hugo really revels in their purity and modesty and condemns its defamation as a true evil. In one scene in particular in Hunchback, when Esmerelda is being led into a crowded square to make penance for a crime she did not commit, Hugo comments repeatedly on her fruitless efforts to shield her bare legs from the eyes of the men present. She was humiliated at that moment, the author notes, not because she was a thought of as a witch and criminal, but because she could tell from the looks of the men in the crowd that she was thought of as a sexual object. I don't know much about Hugo's faith, but from his writing it seems evident he valued virginity a great deal.

Twelfth Night

2006-01-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today, the Feast of the Epiphany, officially kicks off the Carnival season. It will culminate this year with the February 28 celebration of Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras is a very Catholic celebration. Find out more about that here.

Since it's Twelfth Night, that means you can start eating king cake. Yum. I myself prefer the plainer, non-filled kind. Otherwise it's too rich.

The cake itself has a lot of symbolism. It is circular or oval, to represent the circular route the Three Kings took to avoid Herod as they made their way to honor the Christ Child. The colors that top it - and that are present throughout Carnival season - are purple, green and gold. The purple represents justice, the green faith and the gold power. In New Orleans, it became tradition to hide a small plastic baby toy inside the king cake, just as Christ was hidden from the sight of the world at His birth. You are supposed to search for the baby as the Wise Men did. Whoever finds the baby (without choking on it!) gets to throw the next Mardi Gras party.

My dad went and bought us our first kind cake of the season this morning. You can order them anywhere in country from Randazzo's (my favorite) or Gambino's.

Find out more about Mardi Gras here (from The Times-Picayune) and here (from Arthur Hardy, the authority on all things Mardi Gras).

Laissez les bons temps rouler, y'all!

March for Life 2006

2006-01-06T07:53:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder: The 33rd annual March for Life will be held on Monday, January 23 in Washington DC. I did the march for the first time last year and it was amazing and such a fun, prayerful way of affirming life. Anyone who is in the DC-area or who has a parish/group making a trip there, please come! You won't regret it.

And, if you can, I also encourage everyone to attend the Vigil Mass for Life on Sunday, January 22 at 8 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I went to this Mass last year as well and it was probably the most beautiful Mass I've ever been to. Christ does hear our prayers so powerfully in the Mass and it is the surest way of defending life and defeating abortion.

On Monday, Jan. 23, there are two Masses you can attend. One is a Mass for Life at 7:30 a.m. at the Shrine. The Archdiocese of Washington has for the past several years also sponsored a Rally for Life and Youth Mass the morning of the walk at the MCI Center. Find out more about that here.

191 Years

2006-01-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

That's how long that the Ursulines have kept their promise to hold a Mass of Thanksgiving in honor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor to thank her for hearing their prayers and helping General Andrew Jackson and the Americans defeat the British and save the city during the Battle of New Orleans. It was held for the first time in 1815 and is now celebrated every Jan. 8 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, with the current archbishop of New Orleans (now Archbishop Alfred Hughes) presiding. OLPS is the patroness of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. I've never been to the thanksgiving Mass before, but I think I'll go this year. Here's what the Ursulines have to say about this year's celebration:

Every year, since 1815, a solemn promise has been kept to honor Our Lady in a
Mass of Thanksgiving on January 8 celebrated by the Archbishop of New Orleans in
the National Shrine. This promise has been kept, without fail, for that many
years, and is attended by many devotees from across the Nation. This coming
year, on January 8, 2006, this Mass will be celebrated, albeit with
generators and compromised lighting. No problem, we’ll use candles.

Ursuline Academy, the oldest Catholic school in the nation (it opened in 1727) and the oldest continually-operating school for girls in the country, just opened back up Tuesday after having been closed since Aug. 29 for Katrina.

The Cuteness Factor

2006-01-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

NYTimes story on the year of the adorable and what makes something cute:

The human cuteness detector is set at such a low bar, researchers said,
that it sweeps in and deems cute practically anything remotely resembling a
human baby or a part thereof, and so ends up including the young of virtually
every mammalian species, fuzzy-headed birds like Japanese cranes, woolly bear
caterpillars, a bobbing balloon, a big round rock stacked on a smaller rock, a
colon, a hyphen and a close parenthesis typed in succession.

The greater the number of cute cues that an animal or object happens to
possess, or the more exaggerated the signals may be, the louder and more
italicized are the squeals provoked.

Cuteness is distinct from beauty, researchers say, emphasizing rounded
over sculptured, soft over refined, clumsy over quick. Beauty attracts
admiration and demands a pedestal; cuteness attracts affection and demands a
lap. Beauty is rare and brutal, despoiled by a single pimple. Cuteness is
commonplace and generous, content on occasion to cosegregate with
homeliness.

My sister actually bought me The March of the Penguins on DVD for Christmas. We watched it on Sunday and then asked my mom if she would buy us an emperor penguin for next Christmas. She said something about it being too warm in Louisiana for penguins. I replied that we could house them in the bathtub and fill it with ice. She said she didn't think that'd work. I told her I knew it would. I read Mr. Popper's Penguins. Twice.

Spiritual Songs

2006-01-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

I love country music. Who wouldn't!? Why just look at this sample list of actual country songs and you will see how faith is often tied in with songs of this genre:

"Thank God And Greyhound She's Gone"
"Would Jesus Wear A Rolex On His Television Show?"
"Are You Drinkin With Me Jesus?"
"Are You on the Top 40 of the Lord?"
"Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goal Posts Of Life.)"
"I Been Roped And Thrown By Jesus In The Holy Ghost Corral"
"I Don't Care if it Rains or Freezes 'Long as I Have My Plastic Jesus Sittin' on the Dashboard of my Car"
"Oh, Lord! It's Hard To Be Humble When You're Perfect In Every Way"

For more fun (not necessarily spiritual) country song titles check out www.countrysongtitles.com.
My personal favorite was "She's Got Freckles On Her, But She's Pretty."

Made in the 80's

2006-01-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Who can forget the 80's? Big hair, big pants, and little Care Bears. Not to mention slap bracelets, side ponytails, and break dancing (I always wanted to learn to do that...). Check out this site to view more fun 80's fads (and fads from other decades).

My personal favorite is jelly shoes. Quite honestly, if I could find a pair of those in Target tomorrow they would soon be mine. Not only were they comfortable, but they go with everything! If they get wet--no problem, they're plastic with holes to breath. Versatility is everything when it comes to smart shoe shopping.

'The World Caught a Glimpse of a Great Soul'

2006-01-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Colleen Carroll Campbell writes in NRO about the "top religious story of 2005", the birth into Heaven of the beloved patron of this blog:

In the anguish of that moment and the agony of his last days, the world
caught a glimpse of a great soul. John Paul had spent a lifetime testifying to
the sanctity of human life and the redemptive value of human suffering. Now he
was bearing that witness in his very body. Identifying himself as "a sick man
among the sick," John Paul embraced his suffering and, in doing so, encouraged
us to embrace the sick and suffering around the world and in our own homes. He
sat before us, broken and frail, and invited us to look upon his weakness with
love, to mourn with him the tragedy of death, and to celebrate with him the
promise of resurrection. As George Weigel writes in his new book, God's
Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church, "It was his
last, great paternal lesson. The response was beyond anyone's imagining."

That response included the descent of millions of mourners on Rome for
the pope's funeral and an estimated two billion viewers who tuned in at home.
The unprecedented outpouring of grief for John Paul confirmed the power of his
personal witness, a witness that had begun long before his physical decline.
John Paul's death captivated the world because it was a consummation of the
message he had preached throughout his 26-year pontificate: that the dignity of
the human person is not dependent on his age or his condition, his attributes or
his achievements. It is an everlasting and irrevocable gift from God, one that
shines all the more brightly when all else has been stripped away.

Though shrouded in the silence of Parkinson's, John Paul had still managed
to speak to a hurting world about the meaning hidden in suffering, the strength
perfected in weakness, and the hope that defies even death. His lessons could
not have been more timely. As we look to the new year, may we learn well from
the example he left us in 2005. And may John Paul the Great rest in peace.

Via GodSpy.

Here's the official site for the cause for beatification and canonization of JPII. And the prayer asking for graces through his intercession:

O Blessed Trinity, We thank You for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II

and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,

the glory of the cross of Christ,and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary,

he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,

and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure

of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,

the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

NYTimes Pride and Prejudice

2006-01-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

NYTimes' John Tierney has an interesting column about what he calls a modern day "pride and prejudice:" Men are more willing to marry up financially than women are to marry down financially. Which, of course, can create a problem. Especially, as Tierney notes, when in a few years the ratio of women to men studying for undergraduate degrees will be 60 to 40. (Note: the article is behind the evil subscription firewall. I read it for free through the university's LexisNexis account).

Tierney does seem to have a bit of his history wrong, though. I believe the whole idea of "traditionalist" men feeling emasculated by their wife's superior income is really a mid-20th century phenomenom. Why did medieval and Renaissance people draw up contracts for marriages? It was as much to secure a man's well-being by marrying into a good, wealthy family (and, what's more, to one of the older daughters who would have a larger dowry) as to secure a woman's well-being by marrying into a good, wealthy family. In my British history class this fall, one of the things we talked about was that as the British industrial middle class grew in the 19th century and the wealth of the landed elite declined, many British gentlemen turned to America to find rich heiresses to marry so that they could keep up their estates and lifestyle. Even in Austen, which Tierney cites, men are loathe to marry down. That's why Darcy and Bingley's sister encourage Bingley not to marry Jane, and it's one of Darcy's original problems (his "pride") with his interest in Elizabeth. That's why (in part) in Sense and Sensibility Willoughby abandons Marianne for a wealthier woman.

Of course, those are women who were wealthy by inheritance. What Tierney is talking about is women who are wealthy through their own personal knowledge and labor. Which, I can understand, would make "marrying down" a problem for women. Because the latter form of wealth, unlike the former, depends on the woman working. But what happens when she wants to stay at home, at least for a while, when the kids are young? Will the man be able to support that living arrangement? Naturally, families who would like one parent to stay home shouldn't expect a lavish lifestyle to be maintained (nor should we as Christians particularly desire that, anyway). But feeding, clothing, educating kids costs money.

Plus, as Tierney points out, if men are making a considerable amount less than their wives, it probably means their wives have a superior education - which could make things quite dull for the woman. I supposed men aren't as concerned with an educated partner as women are, I don't know (since I'm not a man). But I know that one of the definite things I'm looking for in a guy is an intelligence level at least equivalent to mine - not meaning that we're smart in the same things, necessarily, but that we have the same level of intelligence.

Here's Tierney's conclusion:

It's understandable that women with good paychecks have higher standards
for their partners, since their superior intelligence, education and income give
them what Buss calls high ''mate value.'' They know they're catches and want to
find someone with equal mate value -- someone like Mr. Darcy instead of a
dullard like the cleric spurned by Elizabeth Bennet.

"Of course, some women marry for love and find a man's resources
irrelevant,'' Buss says. ''It's just that the men women tend to fall in love
with, on average, happen to have more resources.''

Which means that, on average, college-educated women and
high-school-educated men will have a harder time finding partners as long as
educators keep ignoring the gender gap that starts long before college.
Advocates for women have been so effective politically that high schools and
colleges are still focusing on supposed discrimination against women: the
shortage of women in science classes and on sports teams rather than the
shortage of men, period. You could think of this as a victory for women's
rights, but many of the victors will end up celebrating alone.

G-definition

2006-01-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

My personalized g-mail homepage has just informed me that the word of the day is plenary.

5 points if you can tell me why that would be relevant to Catholicism. :)

Crusade for the Church

2006-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know (since we told you) that one of our contributors, Lacy, was on the American Life League's Crusade for the Defense of the Catholic Church pro-life walk this summer.

Well, in case you haven't heard, that group of young people broke from ALL in December because of ALL leadership's insistence on maintaining one of the most uncharitable and unsuccessful public relations campaigns in the Catholic Church in the U.S. - insulting bishops by name in half-million dollar ads in national newspapers (I don't know, maybe that money could have actually been spent on women in crisis pregnancies?...just a thought).

Anyway, the young people have formed a new group, the (similarly named) Crusade for the Church, to continue the original mission of prayer, fasting and education about the pro-life cause and our responsibility toward it as Catholics. They could sure use whatever support, including prayers, you can lend them. Their new website is here and they have a new blog here. Stop on by.

Father Matrix

2006-01-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

We got quite a bit of traffic at this little blog when we posted over the summer about the vocations poster above.

In December, Matthew Lickona - author of the very beautiful Swimming with Scapulars: True Confessions of a Young Catholic and whose wife just gave birth to baby #5 - wrote about the poster and the idea of priest as hero in an article for GodSpy. He asked:

Is it so terrible to use a cultural icon to make a valid point: that the priest
is a special sort of someone, a Chosen One called to a special sort of service?
More generally, must we reject any admixture of worldly interest in our priestly
aspirants?

That'd Be a Great Name for a Rock Band

2006-01-01T19:46:00.000-08:00

Dave Barry proclaims 2005 "The Year of the Woman" in his always hilarious end-of-the-year column.

Some highlights...

FEBRUARY: On the social front, Prince Charles formally gets engaged to
Camilla Parker Bowles. The British public responds with sincere and heartfelt
wishes that the happy couple will not reproduce.

MARCH: ...In a related story, a California jury finds that actor Robert
Blake did not kill his wife. The jury also rules that John Wilkes Booth had
nothing to do with the Lincoln assassination and that bears do not poop in the
woods. In other celebrity legal news, Martha Stewart is released from prison.
The next morning, in a chilling coincidence, all of the witnesses who testified
against Stewart wake up and discover, to their utter horror, that their sheets
no longer match their pillowcases.

MAY: In other show business news, millions of middle-aged people without
dates wet their Luke Skywalker-model underpants with joy as they view the final
installment of the beloved "Star Wars" series, "Star Wars: Episode MXCVII:
Enough Already." Fans hail it as the least tedious Star Wars in decades; many
are stunned by the surprise ending, when it turns out that Darth Vader is
actually Robert Blake. Director George Lucas announces that, having fulfilled
his artistic dream, he will now retire and learn to write dialogue.

JULY: In sports, Lance Armstrong rides down the Champs-Elysees, raising his
arms in a triumphant gesture, which causes the French army to surrender instantly.
No, sorry; that was a cheap shot. One unit held out for nearly an hour.

Dave's blog.

Mary the Dawn

2006-01-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day

Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!

Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine

Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!

Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread

Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!

Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood

Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!

Mary the temple, Christ the temple's Lord

Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!

Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest

Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!

Mary the mother, Christ the mother's Son

By all things blest while endless ages run. Amen.

Mary, Mother of God

2006-01-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

A very happy solemnity of Mary, Mother of God to all of you and wishes for a very blessed New Year!

I spent New Year's Eve at my brother and sister-in-law's house. Before we had food, champagne and fireworks, the pastor and parochial vicar from the parish where my brother is youth minister came over and offered Mass for us. It was really beautiful (and, btw, Father told us that according to canon law, the vigil for a solemnity cannot count for your obligation for Mass if the vigil Mass is said in a private home).

Anyway, it was beautiful. Father's homily was all about the Eucharist and Our Lady. He said that to live a Eucharistic life, we have to live a Marian life because the Blessed Mother is so intricately tied to Our Lord in the Eucharist. He emphasized that she was the first tabernacle and that any attacks on her or our devotion to her are attacks on Christ Himself.

Campus Ministry

2005-12-31T08:31:00.000-08:00

Amy Welborn gave a talk about it the other day to college students attending the National Catholic Student Coalition conference. Here's some of what she had to say:

It is, of course, Christ, that we share, Christ to whom we point. Part of the
Catholic dance is that while the Church is the locus, is the place where
Jesus is, present, not in the abstract, but in the visible thing we call
Church...He's above,beyond, and deeper than that, too. We do invite people to
come and see in the Church visible.. but the other part of the dance is making
sure that the community, the experience of church, is not made into an idol.
That when that community fails, disappoints or even disappears as we move on,
our faith isn't lost.

Much of what she had to say echoes what our chaplain, Fr. Bill, constantly preaches to us: Consistency. A life of faith is one in which the person we are at Mass is the same person we are in class, with our families, out partying with friends. We should enjoy our time in college, but at the same time not use that as excuse to sin. Fr. Bill every week invites us to and reminds us of the great graces found in attendance at daily Mass and frequent confession. With those two sacraments as our foundation, it becomes much easier to live a fully authentic life in Christ - one in which we are consistent now in college and one in which we will remain consistent thereafter.

Shopping for Church

2005-12-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

A NYTimes story about (evangelical) Protestant young people who shop around for a church that fits their wants:

Emily and her parents, who are evangelical Christians, say her decision to
attend the megachurch, New Life, reveals the strength of her faith and the
profoundly individual spiritual course each believer follows.

"I saw that my parents' relationship to Christ and my relationship to
Jesus Christ were different, and my kids aren't going to relate to Jesus Christ
the same way we do," said Emily's mother, Tracy Hoogenboom, 49. "And that's to
be expected because Jesus Christ is your own personal lord and savior."

It remains unclear how many Christians attend several churches
regularly. Most young people who go outside their family church are Protestants,
from mainline denominations and evangelical churches alike. Some are from
mixed-religion marriages, Mr. Smith said, but many go simply because a second
church appeals to them.

It's good that these young people are looking for an authentic relationship with Christ. The thing they need to ask themselves is, "Is this church providing me with what Christ wants for me, or what I want from Christ?"

There is some Catholic shopping of parishes - mainly to find good homilists, but also out of liturgical concerns. But the beauty of the Catholic faith is that you can go anywhere is the world on any day and hear the same readings and participate in the same mystery.

Little Black Box

2005-12-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

There are beaucoup yard signs in and around the New Orleans metro area right now advertising job openings and services like house gutting, roofing, etc. Really, they're everywhere.

For the past couple of days, I've seen copies of a handmade yard sign throughout our neighborhood. It proclaims: "Lost: Small Black Box. Reward. Call if found."

I find this extremely interesting. I mean, what could be in a small black box that someone's offering a reward for it? I've tried to come up with cool ideas: Lots of cash, drugs, documents that reveal that the identity you claim is not actually your own, the Holy Grail, etc...

This could actually make a really cool short story. What do you think would be awesome to find in this small black box?

A Few Thoughts About Limbo

2005-12-29T19:01:00.000-08:00

As you may have heard, a Vatican commission is looking into limbo, a theological theory that the souls of unbapitized babies (who would have original sin, but not actual sin, on their soul) are not able to enter into Heaven, but instead spend eternity in a place of "blissful ignorance" - they are naturally happy, but they do not enjoy union with God. The theory has never been doctrine nor proclaimed infallibly, and after this commission finishes its work, it seems the theory may become more unpopular. It was/is accepted by some theologians and members of the faithful because it affirms the necessity of baptism for salvation.

Now, I am not a theologian by any stretch of the imagination, nor will I achieve the sanctity that Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas did (they believed in limbo, I am told), but I do have some thoughts to respond to those who have defended the theory in some St. Blog's comboxes. I am inclined not to believe in limbo, but there have been insightful comments into the theory by those who do accept it, and I wanted to respond to some comments its defenders have made, however poor my qualifications for that may be (read: very poor).

1. God doesn't "owe" us or anyone Heaven, including babies, so it's not punishment that unbaptized babies be sent to limbo. This statement is true. God doesn't owe us Heaven. He doesn't owe innocent babies Heaven. But God owes us nothing and yet He has given us all. His track record when dealing with us humans is one of unfathomable generosity. He didn't have to create us, He could have decided not to save us through the blood of His Son, He could have abstained from giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Church, the gift of the sacraments. He didn't have to give us the thousand little graces with which He sprinkles our every days. Yet He freely gave us all this - and He continues to give. So while it is correct that God doesn't owe us or these unbaptized babies anything (including Heaven), the history of our relationship with Him affirms that He gives all to us anyway. While I certainly don't want to presume to know God's thoughts or ways, I'm not sure why the gift of Heaven to unbaptized babies would be any different.

2. There's been some talk that the commission's work may have been proximately caused by how to deal with people like mothers in Africa, where the infant mortality rate is still very high and pastorally speaking, you don't want to tell those mothers that their babies aren't in Heaven. But it's not a good idea to base doctrine on pastoral concerns alone. I've never developed doctrine, but it sounds right to me that you don't want to base it on pastoral concerns alone. The thing is, limbo was never doctrine and the work of this commission does not seem to indicate that the theory's suppression (if you can call it that) would be equivalent to doctrine, either. But nonetheless, pastoral concerns are very important. The sheep shouldn't be in fear of their shepherd. And the shepherd shouldn't scare the sheep away. It's not like these grieving parents are giving their kids condoms and turning a blind eye to their sexual activity (*cough* some Western parents *cough*). They've lost a baby and like any good parent, they want to be sure of their child's safety and happiness in eternity. I can say with some confidence that if I were a mother who lost a baby before that baby was baptized, and then someone from the Church told me unequivocally that my baby was NOT in Heaven, I'd have a crisis of faith. Not to mention that Africa and Asia are where the Church is growing exponentially and where so many of our vocations are coming from. Do we really want to alienate the heads of those households?

3. The current popular thought on limbo - which is to dismiss it - is just a remnant of all that lovey-dovey '60s stuff. I don't know the history on this, but I'm pretty sure some people before Vatican II must have had some problems with it, or it wouldn't have remained just a theory. Not only that, but I'm sure there were parents of dead unbaptized babies who didn't like this theory since its inception. But more to the point: The uneasiness with which many in the modern world react to limbo may in fact be a movement of the Holy Spirit. Our emotions alone shouldn't guide our decisions. We need to use reason and prayer (and, where applicable, the guidance of the Church). But we are made in the image and likeness of God. If are hearts are really telling us that this doesn't seem right, maybe that's because it isn't right. God does work in those ways sometimes.

In the end, I'll accept what the Holy Father asks me to. What the Church says now (and seems likely to reaffirm in this commission), is that, "The Church can only entrust them (children who have died without baptism) to the mercy of God."

Something to Chew On

2005-12-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

John Allen, the very well-respected Vatican beat reporter for the National Catholic Reporter, in an interview with Godspy about his new book on Opus Dei, had this to say (among a few other things) about American Catholics:

It's tragic that American Catholics spent the first part of the 20th century
crawling out of the ghetto imposed on us by a hostile Protestant majority, but
that now we've constructed our own ghettos. They're defined not by
denominational boundaries, but by ideological ones. This isn't just
distasteful on an aesthetic level, but ecclesiologically it's deeply
unsatisfactory. We're supposed to be a community of communities—that's what
communio ecclesiology is, to which John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been so
valiantly trying to call us.

Do read the whole interview, it's quite fascinating and insightful. And I do think this polarization of Catholicism in America is related - indirectly, for sure, but still related - to the polarization of American politics that has
become quite shocking in recent decades.

Special Education in Catholic Schools

2005-12-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

If you're a special education major like me (or a Catholic parent of a child with a disability), you might be wondering if the federal law requiring special education in public schools (IDEA) has any impact on private schools. The answer is YES (although not much of an impact). The local education agencies (LEA) for public schools are required to use an appropriate portion of IDEA funding for students parentally-placed in private schools. For example, if for one LEA, 10% of students with disabilities are parentally-placed in a private school, then 10% of the LEA's IDEA funding must be put towards serving these children in private schools.

From what I understand, many Catholic schools would like to provide special education services, but they're expensive. This means many parents of students with special needs may have to place this child in the public school system to receive better services for the child's disability. To top it off, adults interested in serving students with special needs will find most available jobs are in the public school system and not Catholic schools.

If I have confused you with my information on IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) than please visit this link. It contains more information on IDEA as it regards private schools.

New Entry for Webster's

2005-12-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

You know life has changed radically after Hurricane Katrina when it's entered into teenage lingo...

My sister-in-law's younger brother is a sophomore in high school. He reports that now when his friends screw up, they tell them, "You Mike Brown-ed it."

Prayer in the Classroom

2005-12-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Don't know if this post is quite appropriate for a family blog, but here we go...

My parents, brothers and I were talking about Jewish law (don't ask me why, I don't remember) on Christmas Eve. One of my brothers grabbed a Bible, turned to Deuteronomy (most of the law is in Leviticus, btw) and said through his laughter that he had something to share with us.

When he was in high school, his religion teacher used to ask students if they would like to lead the prayer to start each class. One of my brother's friends (who was in a Legionaries of Christ seminary for a bit before leaving - he just married over the summer) raised his hand and said, "Sir, I have a Scripture passage I'd like to share." Then, as solemnly as he could, he read the following verse, Deuteronomy 23:2:

"No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off
may be admitted into the community of the Lord."

Top 10

2005-12-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Catholic Terps are listed as #7 on the Top 10 list of "Clubs & Organizations" at the University of Maryland on The Facebook's popularity tracker. And what, you ask, is Facebook? Wikipedia answers.

I Never Knew This

2005-12-26T16:06:00.000-08:00

Story about the man after whom my hometown is named. Interesting.

The Daily Miracle

2005-12-26T15:48:00.000-08:00

My favorite Christmas gift - besides God being born into the world as man - was being home with my family. My big brother got to come in from Texas and my maternal grandmother is now living with my parents, plus an uncle and a couple of cousins were there, so it was great.

But besides that, the favorite material thing was from my parents, and I think illustrates the humor and resolve with which people in New Orleans and along the Gulf have responded to Katrina. It's a T-shirt printed by the New Orleans' paper, the Times-Picayune, that reads: "The Times-Picayune: We Publish Come Hell and High Water".

And We're Back!

2005-12-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

...For a limited 3 week (or so) engagement. Thanks to all who sent wishes for a good semester. It went pretty well, even though it's ending means I'm now less than 5! months until graduation.

I hope everyone had a very blessed Christmas Day and that the rest of the Christmas season is joyful!

Aloha Means Goodbye (For Now)

2005-08-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

I will stop updating Catholic Girl Talk beginning now. This is my senior year of college and I have obligations that do not allow me to maintain the blog. Though Catholic Girl Talk is a group blog, I had been doing about 99 percent of the posts and 100 percent of the site maintenance. So while I hope that the other lovely ladies who are listed as contributors on this page will be able to post, I think the blog will effectively become inactive. However, I do hope to return to the site sometime around the beginning of the year to start updating again.

Thanks to all the readers out there who have taken the time to stop by and leave comments. It's so amazing to learn that people take the time to read what I have to say. And many, many thanks to fellow bloggers (linked on the sidebar) who have linked to CGT or added it to their blogrolls. It's really awesome to know you have confidence enough in this site to direct your readers to it. Thanks especially to the guys of Catholicae Testudines for all their help and encouragement.

Finally, please keep me in your prayers during my last year of school. More importantly, however, let's make the horrors of the storm Katrina are defeated with another storm - that of our prayers in Heaven.

Katrina and the Little Sisters of the Poor

2005-08-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail today from Sr. Julie of the Little Sisters of the Poor and thought I'd pass it on to you. This is a wonderful order of religious women who humbly serve Our Lord in the elderly and infirm. Please keep the sisters and those they care for in your prayers at this very difficult time:

Someone directed me to your blog, and this is the first chance I've had to
contact you. I looked at it a couple of weeks ago, and hadn'treturned until
today, when I read all of your entries about Hurricane Katrina. We've been
affected by Katrina also. We have homes for the elderly poor all over the US
(including Baltimore and DC), and the Sisters and Residents in the home in New
Orleans had to evacuate to Baton Rouge the other day. They've had a rough time of
it, but all are alive, thank God. Today is the feast day of our Mother
Foundress, Blessed Jeanne Jugan, and we are thanking her and Our Lady of Prompt
Succor in a special way for watching over our homes in New Orleans and Mobile the
past few days. I hope that all of your family are doing ok; I'd be interested to
find out if you know our Little Sisters down there(or up here, for that matter).
God bless!

More info on the Little Sisters of the Poor, Bl. Jeanne Jugan

He Came Toward Them, Walking on the Sea

2005-08-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

From The Times-Picayune:

Monday, 8:05 p.m.

At St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter, two large trees were uprooted
in the courtyard behind the church. Branches were strewn all over the
place.

But a statue of Jesus, arms outstretched, stood unscathed and became the
subject of great excitement among visitors.

Evacuees scattered across the nation have been pretty upset by the coverage of the 24-hour news networks, it seems. Of course, they want to know about their own neighborhoods, which is understandable. I want to know about my hometown, too, but I've only heard scattered information from friends in the Baton Rouge area. Of course, it's impossible right now for many journalists to get into storm-ravaged areas, let alone report on specific neighborhoods. My advice to all evacuees looking for local info: Check the websites for WWL or The Times-Picayune. Also check out the blogs linked in the previous post.

Hurricane Party

2005-08-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. But I'm missing my family a bit because they're all gathered in Houston right now to escape the hurricane. Last night they had a big spaghetti dinner together, while I ate leftovers in my apartment alone watching TV worrying about them. I wish I could be with them. Stuffed into extra beds at the homes of extended family members are: My mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, my sister-in-law, her parents, her grandmother, her grandmother's friend, her two younger sisters and younger brother, my parents' friends (husband and wife), their daughter, their grandmother and two rabbits.

Thankfully, New Orleans missed the absolute worst of the storm, and we don't know yet how my parents' house in Slidell is doing, but gratefully everyone is OK. But please keep your prayers going to Our Lady of Prompt Succor that all rescue efforts will be successful, that emergency crews will be protected in their work in the coming days and that all those returning home to Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast will be cooperative with authorities, safe on the highways and know that God will be with them whatever they find - or don't find - when they get back home.

Here are some bloggers covering Katrina from the storm-ravaged areas. Via Terry Teachout.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Hasten to Help Us

2005-08-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

I ask everyone reading this post to please say a Hail Mary, asking Our Lady of Prompt Succor - who is patronness of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana - that through her intercession Our Lord will stretch out His hand to protect Louisianians and all those who will be affected by Hurricane Katrina. Our Lady saved the city from the British during the Battle of New Orleans; we pray that she will save the city now from Katrina.

My family, who live in Slidell, about 20 miles NE of New Orleans, evacuated to Houston last night. I'm concerned about my sister-in-law's' parents, who stayed because they were worried their mom (my sister-in-law's grandmother, in her 80s) wouldn't be able to handle a long evacuation. Also, my Confirmation sponsor, Laura and her husband, Dave, who just had their first child 13 days ago are having to evacuate with a newborn, which I can only imagine is unbelievable stress.

Please pray for them, for all those on the roads heading out, all those who can't get out and who will (hopefully) be staying in shelters and for all those working to ensure their safety.

More on Our Lady of Prompt Succor here and here.

Litany of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

Website for the New Orleans' Ursulines, who started the devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor (though their page about her doesn't seem to be working right now).

More on Hurricane Katrina from WWL, New Orleans' most popular local TV station.

Catholic with a Southern Complexion

2005-08-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

A Catholic story on a London Times piece about Catholics in the South.

The London Times (I can't link directly to the story. Type in "young Catholic" on their search engine) .

IN THE popular imagination, religion in the US Deep South, home of
rednecks, Scarlett O’Hara and the Ku Klux Klan, was always a heady mixture of
Confederate pride, bigotry and hellfire fundamentalism. But things are changing,
and one of the most striking changes is the rapid growth of a Catholic Church
with a particularly Southern complexion. ...

This New Catholicism is young and optimistic, but it is unlikely to
tolerate the open dissent that went with the 1970s and the “cultural
Catholicism” of generations past. That form of Catholicism is dying, and its
death is symbolised by the northern US parishes with plummeting congregations, a
shortage of priests and huge debts as they pay off child-abuse scandals. It
seems that in the parishes where “anything goes”, everybody went.

H/T And God's First.

Overheard on Campus

2005-08-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

A cell phone conversation, while I was walking across a parking lot:

Male student: So I moved in, and the dude had Playboy pictures all over the wall. That's just really inappropriate. [Listens as person on other end says something].
Male student: Yeah, I know, but it's one thing if he puts those up in his own room, but it's another that he has them all over the living room. I mean, we have people come over and stuff. I don't want that up on the walls.

Hail Mary Land

2005-08-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Our Lady of the Pastoral Assistant's Door.

This year's theme at the University of Maryland Catholic Student Center is "Hail Mary Land" (Get it? Get it?). In honor of this theme and because he was bored one night, Mike (of this blog) created this lovely piece of Marian art out of Post-It notes. Yes, Post-It notes. It took him 5 hours. Then he mounted it our on pastoral assistant's office door. If you'll notice, the piece is 3-D. There is a letter box on the door (like the one to the right of the door in the photo) that gives the effect that Our Lady is pregnant. Brilliant.

Mike also has some more info here on the Catholic Terps.

ITB: Creation and Civilizations

2005-08-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

One of Pope Benedict's arguments in In the Beginning for why we should study and reflect upon Genesis is the place of honor given to creation stories in basically every civilization throughout history. Think about it: If you've studied Babylonia, Egypt, Rome, Greece, East Asia, native populations, etc., what is one of the first things you learned? Their creation stories. Creation stories define the essence of a civilization - what those people believe about who created them, how they were created, why they were created and what that tells them about themselves.

It is no different for us Christians. To discover more about ourselves and our God, we need to go back to the beginning. We need to study Genesis' account of creation and the fall, and that need is not obscured by what science has to teach us about the origins of life on earth.

In addition, the pope points out that different civilizations' creation stories all point to the inherent human yearning and capacity for the divine:

Israel always believed in the Creator God, and this faith it shared with
all the great civilizations of the ancient world. For, even in the moments when
monotheism was eclipsed, all the great civilizations always knew of the Creator
of heaven and earth. There is a surprising commonality here even between
civilizations that could never have been in contact with one another. In this
commonality we can get a good grasp of the profound and never altogether lost
contact that human beings had with God's truth.

Catholic Terps on the Move

2005-08-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I leave my parents' house in Louisiana for my senior year (insert Maculley Culkin Home Alone scream here) at the University of Maryland Thursday morning (7 a.m. flight...ouch). Your prayers are appreciated for safe travel and a stress-free move in to my apartment ("stress-free move" - is that an oxymoron?)

Also, prayers for Joey of American Catholic in Russia as he heads to...you guessed it - Russia! He's also flying out Thursday and will be there the entire year studying. And a prayer of thanksgiving that a friend and fellow Catholic Terp, Tim, is back in the U.S. safe and sound after 11 months studying in Japan!

ITB: Creation and Racism

2005-08-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

For all those stopping by from Open Book, be sure to also check out our brother blog, Catholicae Testudines, where there is also discussion of Pope Benedict's In the Beginning going on. Today, Peter has a post over there about creation and racism.

ITB: Things To Keep in Mind

2005-08-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI points out early in his first homily in In the Beginning that the now standard Catholic response to the story of creation and the fall is something like, "Genesis is not a science textbook and neither are science textbooks religious texts. We don't read Genesis to discover scientific truths and we don't study evolution to discover religious truths. We need to appreciate each for what it is."

While the then-Cardinal Ratzinger says he agrees with that, that alone is not a sufficient understanding of Genesis. He raises two points in his argument to move to a more complete understanding of creation and the fall.

First:

For when we are told that we have to distinguish between the images themselves
and what those images mean, then we can ask in turn: Why wasn't that said
earlier? Evidently it must have been taught differently at one time or Galileo
would never have been put on trial. And so the suspicion grows that
ultimately perhaps this way of viewing things is only a trick of the church and
theologions who have run out of solutions but who do not want to admit it, and
now they are looking for something to hide behind...There is an almost
ineluctable fear that we will gradually end up in emptiness and that the time
will come when there will be nothing left to defend and hide behind, that the
whole landscape of Scripture and of the faith will be overrun by a kind of
"reason" that will no longer be able to take any of this seriously.

And second:

For one can ask: If theologians or even the church can shift the boundaries
here [in Genesis] between image and intention, between what lies buried in
the past and what is of enduring value, why can they not do so elsewhere - as,
for instance, with respect to Jesus' miracles? And if there, why not also with
respect to what is absolutely central - the cross and the resurrection of the
Lord?

B16 gives two answers on how we can distinguish between the images in Genesis and the reality of the Gospels (though reality might not be the right word here, since that implies Genesis is "unreal"). The first is the unity of the Bible, that it was not written as a novel from start to finish but "is, rather, the echo of God's history with his people." The second "criterion" is Christ. The Old Testament is not the end of the story. It points toward Christ and He is the one who illuminates Scripture.

Those two criterion were recognized throughout most of Church history, B16 wrote, and it is only in the modern times that we have abandoned this.

The new historical thinking wanted to read every text in itself, in its bare
literalness...As a result of this isolation from the whole and of this
literal-mindedness with respect to particulars, which contradicts the entire
inner nature of the Bible but which was now considered to be the truly
scientific approach, there arose that conflict between the natural sciences and
theology which has been, up to our own day, a burden for the faith. This did not
have to be the case, because the faith was, from its very beginnings, greater,
broader, and deper. Even today faith in creation is not unreal; even today it is
not unreasonable;even from the perspective of the data of the natural sciences
it is the "better hypothesis," offering a fuller and better explanation that any
of the other theories. Faith is reasonable. The reasonableness of creation
derives from God's Reason, and there is no other really convincing explanation.

Sign Me Up for Prof. Cacciaguida's Class

2005-08-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

On the intro he gave in his constitutional law course.

Proud Member: JPII Generation

2005-08-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Those crazy young Catholics. First they embrace Pope John Paul, then Pope Benedict, they adore Christ in the Eucharist all night in Cologne and...next thing you know, they're doing weird things like praying the Rosary with each other!

But don't let that fool you, they still play pool in their free time. Heck, they even look like regular college students! (Or so Newsweek says...it could be a Romish conspiracy...I mean, they are "unapologetically judgmental of the unconverted.")

As you may have seen, Newsweek's cover story this week is on spirituality in America. In between highlighting Pentecostals and Kabbalah, they wrote about young Catholics (who's cool now, Katie Holmes?).

One of my favorite lines (and there are oh so many in this story):

They pray together daily and convene once a week to share the long, ritualistic
prayer of the rosary, which is more commonly performed by folks their
grandmothers' age.

Yeah, the Rosary...so long and ritualistic...15 whole minutes! Well, I guess it is longer than most Protestant wedding ceremonies...

I mean, er, woops...that must've been my unapologetic judgment of the unconverted.

The Magi

2005-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well, World Youth Day has passed and now hopefully those pilgrims who attended will have safe trips home and will continue to respond to the graces they received on their trip. We're also excited about WYD2008 in Sydney - my sister and I are determined to go (send money!).

I tried very hard during this WYD to be united in prayer with the pilgrims in Cologne. And the more I think about it, the more I see how fitting it is that the Magi - those 3 wise men from the East - were patrons of this gathering of young people. Not only did they come to worship the Lord, they had to struggle to get there - they saw their destination, but at the same time they didn't know where it was. If their story isn't the story of young people, then I don't know what is.

This is my final year of college and as excited as I am about it, I'm also very nervous. Am I sure the majors I've chosen and dedicated 3 years to studying are actually what I want to pursue after college? What if I don't find a job right away? Where do I want to live - in Louisiana with my family, in Maryland with my friends, somewhere else?

I vaguely see my destination: Of course, THE destination is Heaven. But more proximately my destination is a job in print or online media that allows me to be engaged with the issues of today, that challenges me, but that also gives me time with my family and friends, that complements my life in Christ and that doesn't demand so much of my time that I feel torn between it and family.

But how do I get there? Do I go into hard news reporting at a MSM newspaper like I had originally planned and, if so, do I follow a good job anywhere in the country? Or do I go into Catholic media? If so, what kind of Catholic media? Diocesan, independent? Should I pursue a rather wild dream of creating my own online magazine/interactive website? And if I do, should I do that right away or should I work somewhere else first to save up money?

And I'm sure my own wrestling with these issues is repeateded over and over and over in the lives of young people around the world, who struggle with turning their dreams into reality and with finding the place over which their star shines.

Of course, the star in each of our lives is the light of Christ. We are each a creation of the mind and heart of God, so He is the one leading us on to the things that will give glory to Him.

But when the Magi saw the star appear in the sky, they knew only that it lay to the west of them. They didn't know that it hung over that one house in that one small town of Bethlehem. At its first rising, it could have appeared as far away as Rome or as close as the Tigris. But their destination was the star, and they would follow it where ever it would lead them. So they packed up their things, mounted those camels (or donkeys or horses or whatever) and headed west.

So what do young people have to learn from the Magi? Quite a bit.

The first thing is to head west, young man, and know that the Lord's grace will shine forth when you have reached your destination. And what a destination it will be - an encounter with Christ Himself.

ITB: Getting started

2005-08-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, discussion on our last summer book, the former Cardinal Ratzinger's In the Beginning, has come late (my fault). Peter at CT got it started on Friday with this post on Pope Benedict's great talent in Biblical scholarship - that he "marries our new knowledge with our spirituality so as to produce a theologically sound and productive interpretation."

I don't really read biblical scholarship, but the first thing B16 points out in this work (which is composed of 4 homilies he gave as part of a Lenten reflection several years ago) is that he thinks modern biblical scholars and theologians have failed by ignoring the great riches that are found in the book of Genesis. This is probably true, since I remember when reading Pope John Paul's Memory and Identity that I was struck by his use of the first three chapters of Genesis, so his liberal use of the text must have been important to me since I'd never really seen it before.

But Pope Benedict approaches Genesis from a different angle than PJP did. I guess I had not recognized until I read this work that in addition to the two creation stories in Genesis, there are several others throughout Scripture, the most important of which begins the Gospel of John. There is also more than one story of the fall. The Holy Father does a wonderful job showing how the details of each creation story respond to the circumstances of the time, particularly how Genesis' creation and fall address pagan beliefs in that day. But it's evident that the more things change, the more they stay the same - how well Genesis' accounts address ideas of today.

B16 also points out the unity of Holy Scripture. He makes clear that those who read Genesis - indeed read any of the Old Testament - without reflecting upon it's relationship to Christ will get little out of it. We must read the story of creation and the fall forward, not backward, which is what we do when we read it in isolation from the revelation of Christ.

Pregnancy Tests at Maryland

2005-08-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

Story from The Diamondback about student pregnancy counselors at the UMD health center. It's a very interesting read, though I thought the story could have been written much more smoothly and focused a bit less on why men aren't counselors and more on what exactly the process is when a woman comes in for a pregnancy test. This story doesn't mention it, but other stories from The Diamondback have mentioned that the university health center refuses to refer pregnant women to pro-life pregnancy clinics.

But my favorite quote from the story is from the university's sexual health director:

Another trend she noticed and said she can’t explain is a marked increase
in the number of women who are happy and excited about their positive test
results.

“When I was doing counseling, that hardly ever happened,” Torchia
said.

What?! College-aged women who embrace their unborn children and are willing to work to take care of them? What a scandal!

Needless to say, all of us need to pray for these young women and offer whatever support we can to student moms.

Two Perspectives on B16 and the Synagogue

2005-08-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI visited a Cologne synagogue today and the two MSM reports I've read have been wildly different.

From the AP via Yahoo.

From the Washington Post

I'm not one to bust all over the media for bias in reporting because, well, being a journalist (in training) myself, I don't think there's as much anti-Catholic stuff out there as some people think and, generally, I know how difficult it is to be fair and balanced in reporting and writing and then have to deal with news editors and copy editors.

But the difference between these two stories is striking.

The AP story (which it appears CNN has liberally used in drafting its own story) focuses mainly on the pope's remarks regarding rising anti-Semitism and even mentions that he got healthy applause. It does mention the recent Vatican-Israel quibble over the pope's condemnation of terrorist attacks, but notes that inclusion of Israel's ambassador to Germany assures us that is past us.

The Post article, however, brushes aside the pope's comments on anti-Semitism and focuses much more on possible sources of contention between Catholics and Jews, specifically noting that B16 "stopped short of apologizing for the Catholic church's failure to take a stronger public stand against the Nazis during World War II and the Holocaust."

Both included the quote: "I would encourage sincere and trustful dialogue between Jews and Christians, for only in this way will it be possible to arrive at a shared interpretation of disputed historical questions."

The AP story implies that the "disputed historical questions" are faith-related (and it also gives the more complete quote). The Post story implies the "disputed historical questions" are about the Church's response to the Holocaust. So which one is it? I haven't read the full text of the pope's remarks, but based on the complete quote given by the AP, it seems their interpretation is correct.

I actually know the Post reporter, Craig Whitlock, who covered this story. He was a Maryland statehouse reporter for the Post at the same time I was one for Capital News Service. I didn't like him much then - he was a get in, get out, I-don't-have-to-be-friendly-with-other-reporters-because-I'm-from-the-Post kind of guy. Or, at least that was my impression from the 3 months I worked with him. After that, he was transferred to Germany and it seems now mostly covers the military from there, though he's also done stuff on the EU constitution. Needless to say, I doubt he has much experience with WYD, the Vatican or Catholic-Jewish relations.

One Man's Trash...

2005-08-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all to the UMD Catholic Student Center's Flea Market (read: very large garage sale) on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Catholic Terps headquarters (4141 Guilford Road, College Park, Md.). All proceeds will benefit the Catholic Terps' second annual pilgrimage to the Eternal City next spring. The first pilgrimage, this past January, was truly a blessing and the Catholic Terps got to attend Pope John Paul II's second-to-last general audience. In the spring, the pilgrims will visit Assisi and Orvieto in addition to Rome.

The Catholic Student Center has been collecting items for the flea market for months and the sale promises to be full of great bargains (but not really, really great bargains - we are trying to get to Rome, after all)! Spread the word about the flea market on Sept. 10 and if you have any items to donate, contact the Catholic Student Center.

Daughters of the King Retreat

2005-08-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

If you or anyone you know is in the DC metro area, let them know that all interested high school girls are invited to this daylong retreat Sept. 17 hosted by UMD's court of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas. Most of the schedule of the day will focus on chastity. If you don't know anyone who'd be interested, just pray for the court as they put on the retreat, especially Laura, our retreat planner, who is currently in Cologne for WYD. Contact the Catholic Terps.

Today's J-School

2005-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

PressThink has this post reporting on a recent conference of J-school professors, including two from UMD. The first is Maureen Beasley (who, I think teaches only one course - women in the media - and whom I've never had), and Carl Sessions Stepp, who teaches a range of classes and though I've only had him once, has continued to look out for me and offer encouragement in my years as a journalism student. He's also very well-respected in the industry and his wife, Laura, writes for the Style section of The Post.

When Did We See You Hungry?

2005-08-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

A 2-year-old outside a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Niger, where there is a severe food crisis. Photo from WashPo.

As numerous news stories have pointed out, the U.N. has been totally inept thus far at efficiently distributing food and other aid to the people of Niger. The best bet to donate is to a private organization like Catholic Relief Services, which in addition to an immediate response to the food shortage has drawn up a 6-month plan to help farmers and others in agricultural work to get back on their feet so that international aid doesn't hurt their economy.

Karol and Culture

2005-08-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that it was 4 hours long and should have been split into two shows, Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, which aired last night on the Hallmark channel, was very good. It suffered from the difficultlies inherent in producing biopics, but didn't let that deter the rest of the film (*cough* Therese *cough*).

One of the things I found most interesting was the film's focus on JPII's dedication to culture. As anyone who read any of the late pope's work (especially Memory and Identity) knows, he believed the cultivation and appreciation of culture was a vital force in our relationship with God, with each other and in forming our own identities - national, familial and personal.

Of course, the Nazis knew that too, which is why Hans Frank and the other Nazis depicted in the film constantly bemoan and belittle Polish language, literature, art, history and architecture - in fact, that's the role of their first scene in the film. While the young Karol certainly understands and in many ways respect his friends who take up arms against the Nazis, he knows one of the most meaningful forms of support he can give to the resistance movement is to produce poetry and plays. Those are the things which will remind the Poles of who they are and what the Nazis can't take from them.

Though not depicted in the film, Jews recognized this too. The Reichsvertretung, a nationwide alliance of Jewish groups in Nazi Germany, made it a priority to counter the anti-Semitic and Aryanization laws of the 1930s with an emphasis on teaching children about Jewish culture. Even the ghettoes' Jewish councils, charged with food and labor distribution, organized plays and musical performances.

JPII carried this appreciation of culture through to the communist era, which helped his people recognize that no matter who was running the state, they were still Poles. He certainly carried it even through his reign as pope, which is why I can't understand the few Catholics who insist that we must always be "counter-cultural." Certainly there are aspects of our American culture specifically, Western culture more broadly and the material culture perhaps inherently that we need to resist. But we need to recognize, as JPII did, that the only way of dismantling un-Christian culture is to build up an authentically Christian one - one that is full of beauty, intelligence, wit, truth, justice, loyalty, sacrifice and love.

Psst...

2005-08-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Don't tell anyone, but the NYTimes tells us that researchers told them that interviews with people told them that gossiping about each other is downright healthy!

People find it irresistible for good reason: Gossip not only helps clarify and
enforce the rules that keep people working well together, studies suggest, but
it circulates crucial information about the behavior of others that cannot be
published in an office manual. As often as it sullies reputations, psychologists
say, gossip offers a foothold for newcomers in a group and a safety net for
group members who feel in danger of falling out.

One such "newcomer" mentioned in the story is a 35 year-old teacher who says student gossip helped her learn what students thought of her class:

"To be honest, it made me feel better as a teacher to hear others being put
down," she said. "I was out there on my own, I had no sense of how I was doing
in class, and the gossip gave me some connection. And I felt like it gave me
status, knowing information, being on the inside."

Earth to this teacher: Life just called - it wants you to grow up. You're 35 years old! If you want to know what students think of you, have them do evaluations. I'm not saying I've never gossiped (I am a woman, after all) but our conversation about others really should be to build them up, not to tear them down.

DKR: "Vigilante" Justice

2005-08-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the sparse posting on our second book, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. I'm posting some stuff on it today and tomorrow. And our discussion of In the Beginning by Pope Benedict starts tomorrow as well. Now, on to the important stuff...

One of the main critiques of Batman that the citizens of Gotham offer - both in Miller's DKR and the film Batman Begins - is that his "vigilante" justice usurps the criminal justice system and moves the application of justice from its rightful place in the hands of the public to those of a single, obsessed man. And in some points in the graphic novel, a character's Catholic faith is given as a reason why they are opposed to his methods.

For example, on pg. 90, it reads that: "A devout Catholic, Peppi Spandeck can't say he approves of this Batman." Or on pg. 102, a priest interviewed on TV says, "Though surrounded by sinfulness and terror, we must not become so embittered that we take Satan's methods as our own."

The questions raised by Batman are if his actions are legitimate and if they're a usurption of rightful state authority.
Certainly Gotham is being continuously attacked and its power structures have become corrupt or impotent in the fight against crime. But there's still a government in place, people are still voting for a mayor, who appoints the police chief, who deals with crime. One could argue that crime and corruption have such a death-grip on Gotham that Batman, if he truly wants to save the city and its people, has no other choice than to be pro-active and unilateral in his assault on crime.

Here's some thoughts from the Catechism:

The common good consists of 1) respect for the person, 2)social well-being and development of the group, 3)peace, "that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority shoudl ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense." [1906-8]

"It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies." [1911]

The Catechism goes on to say in paragraphs 1913-16 that participation in social interchange is a responsibility of the human person , it begins with responsibility for one's personal life, participation in public life is encouraged and "subterfuges, by which some people evade the constraints of the law and the prescriptions of societal obligation, must be firmly condemned because they are incompatible with the requirements of justice."

WYD: The Goods

2005-08-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

Amy Welborn has drawn up this list of online resources, including bloggers, for WYD.

WYD: Gearing Up

2005-08-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Many of us will, unfortunately, not be able to attend World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, but we can still participate by praying for those attending or otherwise involved in it. The patrons of WYD 2005 are the Three Magi, St. Boniface, St. Ursula, St. Albert Magnus, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and Bl. Adolph Kolping. Also, Pope Benedict XVI has decreed that a plenary indulgence will be granted to those who attentively and religiously attend WYD and a partial indulgence will be granted to those who pray for youth. There are more details to the indulgences, so be sure to check them out here (H/T But I Digress).

He Made It to Cologne

2005-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

A mosaic of Pope John Paul II, made of thousands of individual photos, is on display at WYD in Cologne, Germany. From CNS.

Oh no! Not another Christian reader!

2005-08-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

Our last book of the summer book club here at CGT and at Catholicae Testudines. Seeing as it was my idea and I'm leading some of the discussions, I'm ashamed to say I have not yet read our August book, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall by then-Cardinal Ratzinger. So I went to the mall today to buy it from the bookstore, B. Dalton, which is an arm of Barnes and Noble. Considering the size of the city I live in and the education level of its citizens, I am surprised that it appears the only bookstore we've been able to support in the past decade is the size of the Auntie Ann's Pretzel Shop that's next door to it. But anyway...

I went to the "religion" section and looked for B16's books. I found two about him and one by him (a work on Our Lady). So I went up to the clerk, who looked about 19 and who was chatting it up with her friend across the desk.

Clerk: Can I help you?
Me: Yeah. I'm looking for a book called In the Beginning by Cardinal Ratzinger.
Clerk: (types something into the computer). By who? (eyebrow raised).
Me: Cardinal Ratzinger, or it might be listed under Pope Benedict.
Clerk: We don't have it. Do you want me to order it for you?
Me: No, thanks.
Clerk: (in very condescending tone of voice) Maybe you should try a Christian bookstore.
Me: (laughsand under the breath says "yeah, right").

I thought about telling this girl that considering the fact that our city is at least 50% Catholic, supports 4 large Catholic parishes, 2 Catholic elementary schools, a Catholic high school, the man was just elected pope 4 months ago and there's a national discussion going on about creation/evolution/intelligent design, maybe her little store should consider carrying more books by Pope Benedict. I also thought about telling her, "Ya know, despite what the displays in your store would suggest, people read books for reasons other than that a movie version was just made or Oprah told them to." But I didn't.

Having worked as a sales clerk in high school and knowing how angry customers can get over rather small things, I try to really be understanding if a business doesn't have what I want. But the way this girl said "Maybe you should try a Christian bookstore" (like a Protestant bookstore would carry books by the pope anyway) was very rude.

All right, that's enough complaining for now.

The Phantom Menace

2005-08-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

My mom, sister and I watched last year's film version of the Phantom of the Opera last night. They had both seen it before and loved it (as did a few other women I know). My reaction? Blah, blah and more blah. Aside from the handsomeness of the cast and the first rate set, costumes and cinematography, this movie stunk. I don't know if it's the movie's fault, or ALW's, or the novel's author (since I've never seen a stage version or read the book), but it was bad. Phantom had the most static, one-dimensional characters I've seen in a while and their lack of development in the film made it difficult for me to be engaged in it.

There was no explanation of motivation in the film. OK, so the Phantom is disfiguired and he's attacking society because society has rejected him. But Madame Giry risked her life saving him when he was a boy and has continued to show a great deal of compassion toward him. Why that didn't change his heart is not explained. And what about her? What does she get out of protecting him all these years? Does she love him? Is it simple charity?

And why is the Phantom obsessed with Christine? Is it a Pygmalion-type thing where he's fallen in love with his own creation? Or is it because he thinks she's so good that she can be the one to "save" him? If that's the case, if he believes she is so good, why does he bother with the "Angel of Music" thing? Why did he choose her to become his muse and not one of the other chorus girls? I guess it was because she was orphaned and therefore easy to prey on, but even that really isn't explained.

And why does she kiss him in the end and why does he accept that as a sign of love rather than pity? Obviously, she felt compassion toward him and called him a pitiable creature or some such thing, but certainly there's some other way to show that other than passionately kissing a man who's killed a number of people and terrorized dozens of others - all in front of her imprisoned fiance. Does she really have affection for him because maybe he's some sort of father figure to her? Does he take her kiss as a sign of real love, because it seems to me it was an act of pity. And if Christine says its the Phantom's soul, not his face, that is truly disfiguired, why does she have to kiss him to prove that his soul can be saved? And if she really wants to save his soul, why does she allow him to escape justice for all the terrible crimes he's committed? Several possibilities are alluded to, but NOTHING IS EXPLAINED!

And on a more practical note, why the heck does he demand 20,000 francs from the opera's owners? He's living in the sewers underneath Paris - he's never going to spend that money. Is it to show his complete control over the opera? Isn't terrorizing it enough?

Chiming In

2005-08-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post has this to say in an editorial about NARAL's ad on John Roberts:

IN GENERAL, discussion of the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to
the Supreme Court has taken place on a civilized level. Democratic senators, by
and large, have appropriately reserved judgment; disputes over documents, while
pointed, have been polite. The ad released this week by NARAL Pro-Choice America
is a distressing exception. Seizing on his role in a 1993 Supreme Court decision
as a lawyer for the government, it graphically -- and wholly unfairly -- seeks
to tar Judge Roberts with being an apologist for abortion clinic bombings.

In releasing the ad, Nancy Keenan, NARAL's president, said in a
statement that she wanted "to be very clear that we are not suggesting Mr.
Roberts condones or supports clinic violence." That's funny, because the ad does
precisely that.

...the impression it [NARAL] creates with this ad is not an argument
but a smear-- a smear that will do less to discredit Judge Roberts than it will
the organization that created it.

Matrix Reloaded

2005-08-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Julie Duin of The Washington Times has this story on the Matrix vocations poster and reports that those who are interested can contact the USCCB about getting a copy. Also, she tells us the very fine print at the bottom of the poster: "Crucifix in hand, Father Meyer posed for the poster, rated R for 'restricted to those radically in love with Jesus Christ.' Running time is "all eternity," and its title reads, 'The Catholic priesthood: The answer is out there ... and it's calling you.'"

We Salute You, Mr. Checkered Shoe Wearing Man

2005-08-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

My sister starts her senior year of high school at Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell on Friday - yes, that's way too early. But her first day reminds me of my first day of senior year four years ago and the infamous Checkered Shoe Episode.

As any Catholic school attendee knows, there are some uniform policies that are a bit, well, dogmatic. Probably the most annoying of all the uniform regulations are those related to shoes. By my senior year of high school, the administration had given up on trying to enforce the only black or white shoe rule as parents were complaining about it. So the handbook that year read that students may wear "shoes that are black, white, gray or navy or any combination thereof."

Enter my friend Jeff Colosino.

Jeff has always had a certain, shall we say, affection for breaking the rules. He doesn't do it with any particular malice and definitely not to harm anyone, but he's a bit of a free spirit. But the thing about this story is that he did not, in fact, break the rules.

On the first day, Jeff arrived at school wearing the skate shoes pictured above. Now, they are checkered, but that would fall into the "or any combination thereof" shoe color rule in the handbook. So when the dean of students came around for a uniform check on the first day and told Jeff that his shoes were not uniform code, he simply pulled out his handbook and said, "Oh, no ma'am, but they are. The handbook says shoes can be 'black, white, gray or navy or any combination thereof.' It doesn't say anything about checkered shoes." The dean of students looked at him, at the handbook and at his shoes and knew she had been beaten at her own game.

So imagine my surprise when I took a look at my sister's copy of this year's handbook and the shoe section reads: "Tennis shoes must be either black, white, navy blue or gray. Any combination of these four colors is allowed...Shoes may not be checkered or of any unusual design unless approved by the administration." [emphasis theirs].

Welcome!

2005-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

To readers coming over from Open Book. Since I'm sure some are wondering why this blog is coming out of the University of Maryland, consider some of these facts about our Catholic Student Center:
*We have 4 Sunday Masses and 2 daily Masses
*Twice weekly confessions
*Eucharistic Adoration 3 times a week
*We have 3 Bible study groups: One for graduate students, one for undergrads and one for women.
*We have a Knights of Columbus council with 50 members and a Catholic Daughters of the Americas court with 50 members.
*We have pro-life, elderly and service committee plus a Gregorian chant group.
*Semesterly retreats and last spring hosted a Eucharistic Congress attended by students from 4 universities.
*In the past 3 years, 6 of our graduates have entered the seminary and one has entered a cloistered convent. Dozens of others are considering priestly or religious vocations.
*Our chaplain, Fr. Bill Byrne, and the other wonderful priests he has come to help out are faithful and vibrant men who really live out the joy of their vocation.

Also, check out our brother blog, Catholicae Testudines.

The Ladies

2005-08-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

St. Clare's feast day is today. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) had hers Tuesday. With my amateur knowledge of the saints, I'd say these are two pretty important women saints. If I'm correct, St. Clare was the first woman to have an order named - formally or otherwise - after her. Plus I just read about her exchanges with Pope Gregory IX. She was a stubborn and fiesty little nun, wasn't she? And isn't St. Teresa the only female saint to hold a PhD? Not too shabby. I hope her enthusiasm for women's studies and philosophy will provide some much-needed saintly guidance for those two disciplines which are too often used to attempt to corrupt the minds of unsuspecting college students.

Maybe Next Year

2005-08-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

We didn't make TIME's 50 Coolest Websites 2005 listing. They wouldn't make ours, either - not with their evil subscription-only stories.

Karol: Coming to a TV Near You

2005-08-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

The Hallmark Channel - yes, that one with all the sappy chick flicks - will air Karol: A Man Who Became Pope on Monday, August 15 (the Feast of the Assumption) at 8 pm EST. This is the same JPII biopic that Pope Benedict screened at the Vatican a few months ago (it has an Italian director and Polish star), so I'm sure it will be better than whatever CBS is producing. Apparently, John Paul saw it before his death. A summary from Hallmark:

This is the extraordinary true story of a resilient young boy who, against
unimaginable evil, drew inspiration from the beauty of life and in turn became
an inspiration to the world…

Karol Wojtyla is a boy of eighteen from the town of Wadowice, Poland.
On the threshold of life as a budding actor, poet, and writer, the enthusiastic
and optimistic young student suddenly sees his world shattered with the Nazi
invasion of Poland in September 1939. As a firsthand witness to the horrors of
the invasion, Karol joins a cultural resistance movement, where his life takes a
dramatic and remarkable turn, leading to his exodus from Kracow and the creation
of an underground theater to resist the invader. This is also where he receives
his calling from God to become a priest, much to the disillusionment of the
woman he might have loved.

I (shamefully) admit that I haven't read Witness to Hope yet, so does anyone know, did he have a possible SO in the late 30s/early 40s? I'd never heard that before. Or is this just a dramatic twist to the story (not that it'd need any more).

Fear the Turtle

2005-08-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Call Maryland State Sen. John Giannetti and tell him to bring the beer, because Terps football is back, baby! Fall practice started today and hopefully we'll have a better season than last year's 5-6 (though we did beat Florida St.) I'm not a football fanatic, but I enjoy the games, and Coach Ralph Friedgen and his wife, Gloria, are very generous supporters of the Catholic Terps - Mrs. Friedgen cooks us dinner some weeks.

True football story: Sammy Maldonado, our star running back, was in my public speaking class sophomore year. It was a painful class, mostly because it consisted of learning that a conversation only existed when there was a speaker, message and listener, taught to us by a very lovely Chinese graduate student who, God bless her, could barely speak English. Sammy was in my group a few times but I didn't know it was him until the third to last week of the semester. I always though he was just some very large guy who sat in the back of the room and was often not in class on Fridays. They wear helmets on the field, how was I supposed to know it was him?

Also, one request for my fellow student section football game attendees: Please, please, please can we sit down for at least some of the game? I know it's exciting and all, but this isn't a nice, short basketball game - football games last for almost 4 hours! Seriously, there's no reason to stand that whole time. If everyone sits down, we'll all be able to see. Thank you and goodnight.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

2005-08-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Victor Hugo's classic right now, and though I'm a little less than halfway through it, my first question is: What idiot at Disney thought this would make a great animated children's movie? Because it wasn't, and anyone who couldn't see that coming from about 18 miles away is dumb.

I was 12 when the film was released back in 1996 and saw it with my mom. I remember thinking then that it should have been rated PG, but it was undeservedly given a G rating. I thought two scenes in specific were horrible for young children to watch. The first is a scene in which Claude Frollo is "praying" to Our Lady and all these demons and flames and smoke swirls up. That's scary. The second is when Quasimodo is elected the Pope of Fools and the Parisians shout insults at him and throw tomatoes and other food at him. That made me want to cry. But you know what? That scene isn't even in the book. He does get laughed at because of his hideousness, but he's deaf in the book and doesn't know what they're saying. And the crowd definitely DOES NOT throw stuff at him. If anything, he enjoys his election because for once in his life people are rallying around him.

Another problem with the Disney version is that they give him hearing. In the book he's become deaf from all the years of ringing Notre Dame's bells (whose sound is the only one that he can now hear). His deafness is very important in the book, as it serves to complete his isolation from the rest of society. Though he can talk, his speech even before his deafness was severely deficient and now he rarely uses it. His adopted father, Claude Frollo, and he have developed their own form of sign language which no one else understands and which cements Dom Claude's power over Quasimodo - that's important to the plot.

Of course, Disney couldn't possibly have a deaf main character in one of their animated movies, so they gave Quasimodo hearing. But if you have to change major plot devices in order to make a story more suited for children, shouldn't that be an indication that the whole project probably isn't a good idea?

Disney has been saved in the past decade thanks to the bright folks over at Pixar, who know how to make state-of-the art, thoughtful, funny and brilliantly written children's films. Too bad for Disney that they'll be losing their business soon.

A Weasley Through and Through

2005-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

You scored as Ginny Weasley. You definitely share your mother's (Molly Weasley) fiery resolve and slowly but surely people are learning to respect you because of it.

Ron Weasley

75%

Ginny Weasley

75%

Hermione Granger

70%

Albus Dumbledore

65%

Severus Snape

65%

Harry Potter

60%

Remus Lupin

60%

Draco Malfoy

55%

Sirius Black

50%

Lord Voldemort

40%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

On This Feast of St. John Vianney

2005-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Some priests I'm thankful for...

From my home parish of St. Margaret Mary: Msgr. Lanaux Rareshire, Fr. Thomas Kilasara, Fr. Luis Henao, Msgr. Richard Carroll (who's in the hospital, pray for him!), Fr. Joe Benson, Fr. Anton Ba Phan, Fr. Beau Charbonnet, Fr. Ray Hymel, Fr. Mossy Gallagher (who died two years ago on this feast), Archbishop Philip Hannan, Archbishop Francis Schulte, Archbishop Alfred Hughes.

From the UMD Catholic Student Center: Fr. Bill Byrne, Fr. Gareth Jones, Fr. Tom Woods, Msgr. Malloy, Fr. Dominic Joseph, Fr. Joseph, Fr. John, and Fr. I-can't-remember-his-name-but-he's really-cute-and-says-the-5:30-Monday-Mass.

From other places: Our state Catholic Daughters chaplain (can't remember his name - maybe Msgr. Zorbak?), Fr. Joe Talamo, Fr. Rhenne Cervantes, Fr. Adrian Hall, Fr. Rodney Bourg, Fr. Jimmy Jeanfreau, Fr. Terrence Henry, Fr. John Capuci, Fr. Joseph Calamari, Fr. Bill Pickard, Pope John Paul II (RIP), Pope Benedict XVI.

This list is not exhaustive. I've been blessed to have met so many great priests (and seminarians)!

Update on Matrix Vocations Poster

2005-08-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my fellow bloggers who've posted links to Catholic Girl Talk and the Matrix-inspired vocations poster post! Just a few shout outs: Happy Catholic, Martha Martha, Curt Jester, Holy Whapping, Paul Lew, Wheat and Weeds.

Also: I've gotten lots of questions on how to order the posters. Alas, I don't have an immediate answer. But I did e-mail the Archdiocese of Indianapolis' vocations office tonight to ask, so hopefully they'll get back to me and I'll pass the info on to you.

Speaking of Marian Apparitions...

2005-08-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know more about this retreat/visionary week going on right now in Alabama? Our Lady of Medjugorje is supposedly appearing to one of the visionaries there this week and people from all over the country are making a pilgrimage there to celebrate, among other things, the Blessed Mother's 2,021st birthday, which they've said Our Lady has said is actually on August 5, not the Church-recognized September 8 (which is 9 months after her Immaculate Conception on December 8).

Our Lady of Medjugorje has a rather large following in and around the New Orleans' area. Her monthly addresses are recorded in our diocesan newspaper and there are countless pilgrimages to Medjugorje with priests from New Orleans. Additionally, our pastor from when I was in elementary school had a great devotion to Our Lady of Medjugorje and even wrote a book about her. We also saw the film Gospa at my Catholic elementary school, which starred Martin Sheen as Fr. Jozo Zovko, who also came to our parish once to preach (via a translator, of course). So I had no idea until I came to college in Maryland that there are many who do not believe the apparitions are authentic, specifically because it seems some of the messages have encouraged disobedience to the local bishop, which Our Lady surely would never approve of.

Our Lady of the Wood Slat

2005-08-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

I received the following e-mail several hours ago. I don't know if it's fake or who the sender is (since he used a pseudonym), but it got past Gmail's aggressive spam blocker. Lemme know if any other Catholic bloggers got anything similar, but until then, here goes...

Ladies,

I am not sure exactly where to begin. Three days ago, while I was
inspecting the property where I work near Denver, Colorado, I found a rather
stunning image of the Virgin Mary on a wood slat along the fence line at the
perimeter of the property. I am interested in emailing you a photo of this
image to get your opinion on the matter.

I am not an expert on this subject. Although I was raised in a Catholic
home, it is safe to say that religion has not been an important part of my life
as an adult. Perhaps this image is a message to me - I don't
know. In any event, I believe you will agree that this phenomenon is
special.

If you would like me to email a copy of this photo to you, let me
know.

My reply: This is America and if you have a photo of this Marian apparition, post that sucker on eBay and make some money off of this! And as I'm apparently an authority on Marian apparitions (I do share a name with Our Lady, after all), you can celebrate bringing in the Benjamins on eBay by sending me and the other ladies of CGT on a whirlwind tour of (approved) Marian apparition sites throughout the world: Mexico City, Fatima, Lourdes!

But if this is really a serious inquiry: I have grave doubts that it is, in fact, Our Lady's image on this piece of wood. Nonetheless, this would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Blessed Mother. Start by praying the Rosary (learn how here) and reading up on her. Good luck and God bless!

P.S.: Sure, send along the wood slat photo (if you do, in fact, have one).

The Sisterhood

2005-08-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

These Catholic Girls are a bit older (and a few other things) than your humble webmistresses here at CGT.

Throw Back a Bottle of Beer?

2005-08-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Before I took a U.S. immigration/ethnic history class last fall, I thought the Cherry Poppin' Daddies song Zoot Suit Riot was a fun song about...well I don't know what, but not about actual riots. Find out more about the riots in Los Angeles between white servicemen and Latino youths that had their origins in a murder today in 1942: See here, here and, for some brief history, here.

The Season of Modesty, Part II

2005-07-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

I discussed back in March how I thought clothes this year seemed to be moving in a more modest direction. Amy Welborn last week had a post about the same thing. And Kate of Heart Speaks to Heart has had some interesting comments over the last several days about what exactly modesty is and finding a balance between over-sexualized women's clothing and what I call the "potato sack" approach. Here's what Kate says, and I agree with her:

Modesty is motivated by respect for the dignity of the human person. To
show this respect, we dress in a way that does not invite others to view the
body as something to be used, since that would be disrepectful to our dignity.
Immodest clothing invites a seperation of the person and the body.

But dressing in a way that obscures the form and beauty of the person is
also disrespectful of our dignity, since it suggests that there is something
wrong with the female form, and seeks to again seperate our body and our
person.

Secondarily, modesty involves not drawing undue attention to oneself - but
a poorly or unattractively dressed woman draws attention to herself by her
dress, as much as does the immodest woman.

Ideally, a modest woman should dress well, in well-fitting, well-cut
clothes of good material but a simple pattern, which covers her body, flattering
her form without being too tight or baggy.

Bloggers: 1, Radical Islamist "Journalists": 0

2005-07-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

Maybe you've already heard about this, but I hadn't. From the Times-Picayune.

There Is No Spoon

2005-07-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

I saw this CNS story about the newest vocations poster from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in the Archdiocese of New Orleans' newspaper, the Clarion Herald. The Clarion ran the story without a photo of the very impressive Matrix-inspired poster, so when I first read it, I thought: "Great idea. But they're 3 years too late."

But I was wrong.

I usually don't like religious-themed brand rip-off merchandise (see this post), but this is a recruitment poster, so the pop culture tie-in works well here. I must say this is much better than New Orleans' priestly vocations posters, which often feature a ClipArt boat in the background and talk about being fishers of men. Of course priests are fishers of men, but that's kind of dull compared to this Matrix poster - it definitely gets you excited, doesn't it? I'd think it'd make guys want to go out there and do some major evil butt-kicking as priests.

The priest who developed the idea for the poster, Fr. Meyers, said they were a huge hit from the moment they were displayed:

"They were going like hotcakes. Young kids wanted them to hang in their
bedrooms, high school students wanted them to hang in their lockers. That is
invaluable. If we can get kids to hang a picture of a priest in their room,
we've done something huge for vocations."

The response, though, seems to make sense to him. It appeals to peopleat a level that everyone appears to share. "People love heroes. The poster personifies the priest as a hero," he said.

And it speaks of a faith that meets people exactly where they are
in their lives. The poster itself says, in a parody of the words which any
watcher of videos knows by heart, "This faith has not been modified from its
original version. Yet it is formatted to fit your life."

The bottom of the poster reads: "Trinity Pictures present The Catholic Church: A production by The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. In cooperation with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Coming to a parish near you."

So, what do you think? A Star Wars-themed poster might be a bit more relevant this year, no? But all in all, a very big thumbs up.

The Saints and Intimacy

2005-07-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Since I've been at my parents' house for the summer and attending daily Mass in the parish I grew up in, St. Margaret Mary, I've been very impressed by the quality of the homilies there. They've been short and to-the-point, but also thoughtful and challenging.

During his homily Tuesday for the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, our priest remarked on the week of feasts honoring saints who were very close to Our Lord and who knew Him personally - St. Mary Magdalen last Friday, St. James on Monday, Sts. Anne and Joachim on Tuesday, and St. Martha tomorrow (July 29). He pointed out that in our honor as Catholics of the saints (these saints in particular, but not exclusively), we once more profess our belief in the two natures of Jesus - human and divine. We accept Him in his full humanity by embracing the relationships He embraced in His life on earth.

The word our priest used for these relationships was "intimacy." In these intimate relationships, we reaffirm Christ as man - vulnerable, patient, joyful, suffering, hopeful, kind. Those who wish to diminish or dismiss the saints, and especially the Virgin Mary, in doing so also turn their shoulder on the fullness of the reality of Christ.

That embrace of God as Man is the whole reason God became Man - so that through our encounter with Jesus we might surrender ourselves to the life of the Trinity and win our heavenly reward. He chased us from divinity into humanity. Essential to any and all human experience is friendship. When we honor those who were friends of Christ - whether they knew Him personally in the 33 years He walked this earth or whether they know him in the life of the Church and the sacraments - we discover more about the person of Christ and thereby draw ever closer to Him.

From the Management

2005-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I've updated the blogroll. Check it out.

Also, if anyone is interested in helping me figure out how to redesign the site's masthead and doing some cool stuff with the sidebar, could you e-mail me (address under the "Contact Us" section of the sidebar). I know what I want to do, but I simply don't know enough about HTML to do it. Your pay would be my sincere appreciation. Thanks!

That Dangerous Little Friar

2005-07-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

According to my watch, there's still 50 minutes of July 27 left in the central time zone, so I thought I'd point out that today is the feast day of the very awesome Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite priest, educator and journalist. His enemies called him "that dangerous little friar" - he was a very vocal critic of Hitler and National Socialism in preaching and in print. He was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Dachau concentration camp, where he was the subject of Nazi experiments and was murdered by lethal injection in 1942. Bl. Titus does not have the fame of other Nazi victims like fellow journalist St. Maximilian Kolbe or fellow Carmelite St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), but he was a holy soul, as he said: "He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it." Be sure to check out this excellent website about him.

Bruce Wayne = Batman

2005-07-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

When I went in saw Batman Begins, I (like others) was a bit confused about the excuse Katie Holmes' character gave Bruce Wayne. She said that Bruce had discovered his true identity was that of the Batman and that maybe when he stopped embracing that, something could happen between them. First, that was just a dumb thing to say - did she mean she wanted to date a false version of someone? But what was more interesting was that she concluded, and Bruce admitted, that Batman is more the essence of who the man is than the billionaire Bruce Wayne is. Before the film, I had always though Batman was Bruce Wayne's alter ego. But after seeing the movie and reading Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, it seems that it's the other way around.

For example, on pages 25-26, as Wayne reflects on Gotham's descent into darkness and considers becoming Batman once more, he thinks to himself:

The time has come. You know it in your soul. For I am your soul...you cannot
escape me.You are puny, you are small. You are nothing - a hollow shell, a rusty
trap that cannot hold me. Smoldering, I burn you - burning you, I flare, hot and
bright and fierce and beautiful.You cannot stop me - not with wine or vows or
the weight of age. You cannot stop me but still you try - still you run...

This idea of Batman being Wayne's true identity raises a number of interesting (theoretical) questions: Was it always his destiny that his parents be killed so that their murder would spur him on toward this? What's his level of culpability for what he does as Batman if the burning need to be Batman is one he can't resist? What would his identity be if Gotham weren't the hellhole it is?

These are the questions, as we addressed in JPII's book, of memory and identity. It seems that not only has Wayne's memory shaped and informed his identity, but his memory has become his identity, which is not healthy, for the two things in his mind are the same. I think this, above any physical infliction he might bring upon others or his usurption of the justice system, is what makes Batman frightening.

The Great Snape Debate

2005-07-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

There's lots of interesting (Catholic) blogging about HP and the Half-Blood Prince and, understandbly, it centers around Professor Severus Snape - who, love him or leave him, has always been the series' most interesting character: Is he really good or really evil? What's the story behind his murder of Dumbledore? And, as Cacciaguida asks, should we give up on him? The Anchoress addresses the Snape question here, and she directs us also to Dave Kopel here.

I think it's important to keep in perspective when considering Snape that just because we hate his personality, it does not mean that he is evil. Yes, he doesn't like Harry, but there's lots of personal history to defend that. Yes, he hates Gryffindor and loves Slytherin, but he is Slytherin's head of house. No, he doesn't get along well with most members of the Order of the Phoenix, but that's because some of them were real jerks to him at Hogwarts. None of those things make him an evil person; one we may not like, true, but not necessarily evil.

And up until the Sorcerer's Stone was released on film, I always thought Snape was a wolf in sheep's clothing. But Alan Rickman's portrayal of the potions master softened me toward him. It didn't make me like Snape, but it did make me respect him and accept Dumbledore's professions that he had changed and was good now. And that is the only film character that has influenced my perception of the character in print. The portrayals of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Draco, McGonagall - none of them changed my attitude toward the book's character. But Rickman's Snape did. That's part of the reason why I believe (and hope) that Snape will be offered a chance at redemption in Book 7. Not only that, but I think he's the only wizard next to Harry who could be a real threat to Voldemort - not a lethal threat, as the prophecy makes clear that's left to Harry, but one who can weaken the Dark Lord's defenses considerably. Sure, there's McGonagall, but she doesn't have the insider knowledge that could help contribute to Voldemort's demise. And there are the other members of the Order, but they suffer the same deficiency. Snape is the one who has the knowledge and the experience to play a critical role in helping Harry. And I think he will.

And, as I've read countless analyses of the last few chapters of HBP and Snape's role in them, there's been one Snape quote that struck me that I haven't seen anyone else refer to. As Snape and Malfoy are fleeing castle grounds to disapparate, Harry is throwing curses toward them and Snape blocks each one. The two reasons for this are that A) Harry, though he's been taught how to cast spells without speaking, does not do it on this occassion and utters all the curses outloud, so Snape can hear what he's about to send his way and B) Snape is a great leglimens, meaning he can read Harry's mind, so he knows what curses Harry is thinking of before Harry utters them. As he's running off, Snape yells back to Harry: "Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" We can interpret this line two ways: First, that Snape is insulting Harry for failing to use those basic defenses when fighting against Death Eaters. Or second, as I propose, is that Snape is reminding Harry that when it comes time to face Voldemort, he can't be making minor mistakes like that or he'll surely die - he's offering him constructive criticism and advice.

I think Snape will turn out to be a classic Christian character: A great man who uses his great knowledge, great power and great pride to commit great sins but who, when it comes down to it, will ultimately repent and use those talents for the greater good. He's the greatest sinner in these books. I also think he'll be the greatest saint.

Memory Schmemory

2005-07-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

I got tagged with this Memory Meme from Mike of The Easy Distraction. So here goes.

What I was doing...

10 years ago: I was 11 and it was the summer between 5th and 6th grades. I was probably scurrying to finish my summer reading list, which I bet consisted of juvenile historical fiction like Johnny Tremain or Across Five Aprils. Other than that, I don't really remember.

5 years ago: I was 16, a fresh driver, in between sophomore and junior years of high school and had just finished my first real job as a babysitter for the childcare service of a local fitness center. I was also babysitting regularly for a family I had met through that job and was spending lots of time with my then-best friend, Laura, who would be my Confirmation sponsor come that October. (Laura, who is 2 years older than me, is now happily married and will give birth to her first baby in September!) I also went every 2 or 3 weeks to our local Carmelite convent to help them clean and set up their new bookstore as I discerned a vocation.

1 year ago: I stayed with a friend of the family up in Maryland for the summer to do a reporting internship at The (Baltimore) Sun. I think we were also getting ready to go on a vacation to North Carolina, where we visited Biltmore Estate, the largest residence in the country.

Yesterday: I slept in, had a lazy Sunday morning reading the paper in print and online, went with my dad to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then to the grocery with him to get stuff for dinner, hung around for a few hours until I went to my parish's LifeTeen Mass. When I came home, an aunt, uncle and two cousins of mine from Houston were over at the house, stopping by on their drive to Tennessee for vacation. We had dinner with them and then played games like "watch my 4-year-old cousin pretend to be Dash from The Incredibles." Lots of fun. Then off to the computer for some blogging before welcoming my sister back home from her weekend trip to Georgia for Steubenville Atlanta.

I don't really know who to pass this on to. So I won't.

Vocations, Vocations, Vocations

2005-07-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

We had a visiting Josephite priest say Mass at my parish's LifeTeen Mass tonight and during his homily, he showed us some of his "treasures." One was a pin bearing the seal of the Josephite Order, which he said he had seen as a young kid on the lapels of the Josephite priests who ran his home parish. He told us that when he saw the pin when he was young, he just thought it was cool and that he "wanted one of those." He didn't know then what that encompassed, but now looks back on it as a gift of grace in the discovery of his priestly religious vocation.

It got me thinking about discussions of vocations that I've heard or read this summer. The first was a homily by one of our parochial vicars, Fr. Thomas Kilasara (who's "on loan" from the Diocese of Zanzibar, Tanzania), on the Gospel of the harvest and harvest laborers. He addressed his homily to parents, admonishing them to encourage and discuss vocations to the priesthood and religious life with their children and reminding them that it is their obligation as married couples to support the Church even unto the offering of their own children, if God wills it. It was a very powerful homily and there was so much truth to it. As a young woman who has considered previously a vocation to the religious life and as someone who knows other young people who are considering vocations, I know how important it is for children to feel that their parents support and are happy to have a child who would enter the seminary or convent. If children feel pressure to become a lawyer or a doctor to please their parents, how much more pressure would they be under as they considered a vocation from parents who desperately want grandchildren and who measure success by salary and worldy possessions?

The second was a discussion thread a few weeks ago over at Amy Welborn's somehow related to Washington Archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Most people were beating up on the good cardinal for one reason or another, including supposed inflation of seminary numbers attributed to his zeal for encouraging vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I've never met His Eminence, but I have heard him preach and know of him, and he seems to be a very good and holy man and - yes - he loves, loves, loves talking about vocations. But I'm hardpressed to see why there's something wrong with that. One of the commentators pointed out (without a source, of course) that while Washington has some of the greatest number of men in the country to enter the seminary, many drop out and never become priests. I'm hardpressed to see why there's something wrong with that either. The seminary, as I understand it, is a time for discerning one's vocation more deeply and very often young men who feel they might have a call may never truly discover the Lord's will for their life without entering the seminary and discerning there. Better for men who don't have a vocation to leave the seminary than to be ordained, no? And, if I'm correct, those men who don't become priests have to reimburse the (arch)diocese for the cost of their education. Plus, those men get at least a year or two worth of solid study in theology and philosophy, which will serve them well in whichever vocation God calls them to.

I firmly believe that any "vocations crisis" the West is experiencing has as much - if not more - to do with the environment and attitude created by parents and clergy toward priestly and religious vocations than any aversion toward it that young people in a materialistic society might have. If parents don't discuss and encourage vocations with their children, and if priests and religious don't set a good example by talking about the joy they've found in their vocations, there will always be a vocations stalemate. Turning your life completely over to Christ and His Church is hard enough without having to put up with a lack of support and lethargic attitude from family, friends, and clergy. You can never talk about vocations too much!

Chocolates Are A Girl's Best Friend

2005-07-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, as you might suspect, make this telling of the Roald Dahl tale rather...interesting, but the film was all-in-all a very pleasant surprise. I was worried Depp's androgenous-looking Willy Wonka would throw me off to the whole film and the previews I saw seemed a bit over the top, but the complete movie shows that the excesses of the director, lead actor and Dahl himself are in place to make the story's message strikingly clear. That message, of course, is that the good will be rewarded and the not-so-good will, by their own merits (or lack thereof), receive their due as well.

This adaptation of the book (which is one of the few Dahl tales I have not read) is much darker and stranger than the first film but serves the story well. Particularly helpful is the addition of backstory into Wonka's childhood and motivation for becoming the world's most infamous chocolatier. This film, unlike the first, puts Wonka and Charlie on equal footing and gives each the opportunity to learn something from the other. The only thing I think I preferred in the first film was its vision of the Oompa Loompas. The ones in this movie are a bit too modern, a bit too polished, a bit too distant. The only other complaint I had with the movie it is sometimes difficult to hear the lyrics to the songs the Oompa Loompas sing after each child meets his fate. But a thumbs up overall.

The Awakening

2005-07-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

A long, but very beautiful story from the WashPo on a young woman who, 20 years after an accident that left her with massive brain damage, spoke again. Family members say that Sarah's story is not connected to Terri Schiavo's. Either way, it's a great read and a powerful testimony to the dignity and beauty of all human life:

Sarah. They didn't know that as she lay in that bed, with her mouth gaping, face wretched in a silent agony, body atrophying, feet gnarling, fists clenched across her chest, tight, as if she were afraid, big, blue eyes staring out like she was trapped . . . They didn't know that as she lay there,something in her brain was mending.

People came and people went. Some grew up and some grew old. Some gave up and went away, guiltily diving into their own lives as Sarah Scantlin lay in that bed. Never believing she would do anything more than lie there and stare into oblivion, or wherever it is that brain-damaged people go, hovering between now and then, nowhere and somewhere, just out of reach.

Then six months ago, Sarah came back.

Sarah spoke.

A Real Team Spirit

2005-07-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

For those married folks who read CGT, check out the website for Teams of Our Lady, an international lay movement of married couples that focuses on strengthening families through prayer and discussion as well as strong Christian social ties. My parents have been members of a local Teams group for about 8 years now and I know have gotten a lot out of it.

Sad Story

2005-07-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

Please keep Our Lady of the Lake Parish in your prayers as this story on their pastor's spending of parish funds is investigated both by the Archdiocese of New Orleans and by the news media. My brother became the parish's youth minister last month and my mother taught at the parish school for about a decade ending 5 years ago, so my family naturally has great interest in what is happening there at the archdiocese's largest parish. I knew of Fr. Cervantes when he was assigned at a parish in Slidell and was chaplain at my high school. He is a vibrant priest and a gifted homilist and I hope that everything works out the best both for him and for OLL parishioners.

The Scream

2005-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

In exactly 10 months, I will graduate from college.

A Reminder

2005-07-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

To check out After Abortion, which is simply one of the best blogs on the Internet and a very valuable resource.

Check Out

2005-07-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

This website for the Donnie Jarrell Foundation, which was established after the father of a little girl at my pre-school was diagnosed ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Mr. Jarrell died less than a month ago, leaving a young wife and 4-year-old daughter. Please keep the family in your prayers and if you're in the New Orleans/Northshore area, check out the events listed on the site.

The Dark Knight Returns

2005-07-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Discussion of Frank Miller's graphic novel here at CGT and over at Catholicae Testudines technically started last Friday, but since I've been busy reading both DKR and HP, I haven't had time to write on it yet. But check out this post at CT about the references to Christianity in the book.

I've never read comic books before, so reading this novel was...interesting. It took a good deal of time to get adjusted to its flow and structure and I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with the form. I had a particularly difficult time with transitions in the book. First because I thought it was lacking basic solid transitions throughout (is that usual for comics?) and second because of the layout of the pages themselves - frames that would be equivalent to separate paragraphs in a regular novel often did not have any physical distinction from those around them (does that make sense?) and it sometimes was not immediately evident that there was a shift in speaker and/or setting (especially because I thought at first that Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne looked alike).

I also think I suffered from not reading previous Batman comics/graphic novels. All I knew of the Dark Knight was what I had seen in the movies. I didn't know enough about the villains and Batman's interaction with them and the response of Gotham (both the public and the government) to his crusade. I also didn't know his relationships with other superheroes, especially Superman.

Because of those setbacks, I'm sure there were elements of the plot I did not recognize for what they were and am still a bit murky on some (large) details: Were Two Face and the Joker connected other than sharing the same pyschologist? I thought Superman died when deflecting that warhead. Why didn't he die when they shot Kryptonite at him (or was it not Kryptonite)?

But the things I'm sure I understood in the book allowed me to understand that one of the reasons for the allure of comics is that they're actually very-layered and thought-provoking. The form of media forces the author to produce vibrant, fastpaced and necessary dialogue. All in all, I give it a thumbs up.

HP Review

2005-07-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

I finished HP and the Half-Blood Prince late last night and though there are a billion reviews and analyses out there (none of which I've read), I thought I'd still offer my own. And if you haven't read the book, you've been warned: Spoilers ahead!

The book was, overall, very strong. But I thought there were a few weak points. The problem was the book's second act: It seemed to have little direction and was very disjointed from the vibrant, well-written and engaging first and third acts. The second act was probably the slowest moving and most awkward of the second acts in all of the HPs so far. I also thought that Rowling did not give enough time to the discovery of who the Half-Blood Prince was and that that and Harry's lessons with Dumbledore on Voldemort's history competed too often for primacy in Harry's and the reader's attention. Finally, I thought there was too much kissing in the book. I thought Ron's relationship with Lavender was unnecessary and that Harry's relationship with Ginny moved too fast and was overdone.

Those deficiencies aside, Rowling did a great job in this book helping us get to know characters other than Harry, Ron and Hermione. Obviously, great attention was given to Voldermort. But I also loved the descriptions of the joke shop run by Fred and George (who have become two of the books' most beloved characters) and thought Rowling pulled off a great feat when she compelled us to have sympathy for Draco Malfoy. The scene between him and Dumbledore (with Harry immobile in the background) was probably the best in the book. You simply had to have compassion for him: Here is a 16-year-old boy whose parents have always served the evil Voldemort, his father is in jail and will surely be punished by Voldemort for his failures when he's released, his mother has no one to support her at the time but him, and if Draco doesn't do what Voldemort orders him to, Voldemort will kill his parents. But all the time, he doesn't want to be a murderer; he knows it's not right. It's either kill or be killed along with your family. Dumbledore shows Draco mercy and he doesn't know how to respond; he's never been offered it before. Great stuff.

But I think what all fans are waiting to learn more about in Book 7 is Snape. He was formerly a servant of Lord Voldemort but since his fall 15 years ago had made a supposed conversion back to the good side. Dumbledore, a great judge of character, trusted him deeply. Harry has always hated him for reasons other than his past life as a Death Eater, but always suspected him of being dubious. And then we learn in Book 6 that Dumbledore had, apparently, been wrong in his judgement: Snape was pulling the wool over his eyes all the time. But Rowling did such a great job in the previous 5 books of getting us to dislike Snape's personality but trust him at the same time that we feel betrayed by his betrayal of Dumbledore. I don't think that Rowling could write an explanation that justifies Snape's murder of Dumbledore (i.e. Dumbledore was going to die anyway and Snape didn't want to turn Draco into a killer so he did it himself). But I think she will offer him a chance at redemption.

And R.A.B.? My dad thinks that was a ploy, that the locket was really a Horcrux and that Voldemort planted the letter himself to throw off anyone who might discover it. I think that's plausible, mostly because I'm skeptical of anyone besides Dumbledore having had both the knowledge and wizarding power to get the Horcrux in the first place. But we'll see...

Good News About Roberts

2005-07-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well... Mrs. John Roberts anyway. This Los Angeles Times article discusses Jane Robert's involvement with Feminists for Life. Some highlights from the article include but are not limited to:

While Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr.'s views on abortion triggered intense debate on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, there is no mistaking where his wife stands: Jane Sullivan Roberts, a lawyer, is ardently against abortion.

A Roman Catholic like her husband, Jane Roberts has been deeply involved in the antiabortion movement. She provides her name, money and professional advice to a small Washington organization — Feminists for Life of America...

Jane Roberts was a volunteer member of Feminists for Life's board of directors from 1995 to 1999. She has provided legal assistance to the group and been recognized as a contributor who donated from $1,000 to $2,500."

A close friend characterized her as an "extremely, extremely devout Catholic" who had enjoyed her antiabortion advocacy.

Although if my experience with my 2 sets of parents has taught me anything (aside from make sure you understand what marriage is all about the first time around) it is that spouses do not always share the same viewpoint on all issues.