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Today's online reading

Many times when I go through periods of silence online, I end up doing a lot of reading. Here is a smattering of that reading, I thought I would share with everyone.

Obama's Unholy War Against Christianity, Not Islam ~ American Spectator, George Neumayr

Liberals are far more tolerant of Islam than of Christianity.

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German Catholics Under the Iron Fist; Bismarck and the Kulturkampf ~ Catholic Answers, This Rock, Matthew E. Bunson

A fascinating article on the persecution of the Church during the post-Enlightenment period, and pre-Nazi Germany.

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The Question of Suffering, the Response of the Cross ~ Ignatius Insight, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

I think I was attracted to this article because of the discussion on the problem of evil, why God allows suffering on M&M. I feel unable to address all the issues involved, but will quote the Pope when he said in the above linked article:
Anyone who really wanted to get rid of suffering would have to get rid of love before anything else, because there can be no love without suffering, because it always demands an element of self-sacrifice, because, given temperamental differences and the drama of situations, it will always bring with it renunciation and pain.

When we know that the way of love–this exodus, this going out of oneself–is the true way by which man becomes human, then we also understand that suffering is the process through which we mature. Anyone who has inwardly accepted suffering becomes more mature and more understanding of others, becomes more human. Anyone who has consistently avoided suffering does not understand other people; he becomes hard and selfish.
For more on suffering, see my post from a couple of years ago on Mother Teresa, whom atheists seem to hate with an unholy passion and intensity.

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The non-violent Jesus - symbolic direct action ~ Wel-com, Jim Consedine

Attempts to justify Fr Gerald Burns' anti-Jewish actions in Wellington, by using Jesus's anger at the moneychangers in the Temple as an example followed by Fr Burns. I don't agree with his reasoning, we are not in Palestine or Israel, there are more direct injustices that offend God happening right now in this country, such as government abortion factories operating right in the heart of our hospitals. Attacking the Jewish memorial was a publicity stunt whose sole aim was to increase Fr Burns' stature amongst those whose hatred of Israel and promotion of leftist causes is their whole reason for being.

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Apologetics Boot Camp; Ten Things the Military Taught Me about Evangelization ~ Catholic Answers, This Rock, Pete Vere, JCL

I need to read this article again, this time with the point of view as to what I should be doing rather than realising everything I'm not doing. Very intimidating the first time around. Anyone that wants to be a Catholic Apologist needs to read this article as well.

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The Truth of the Resurrection ~ Ignatius Insight, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Love that transcends death.

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The Mass is Serious Business ~ Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Bryce A. Sibley
Catholic Priests need to take the Mass seriously, it was bought at a price, and is a supernatural event that renews the Sacrifice of the Cross.

Related listening : Heaven's Mass: What John Really Saw in the Book of Revelation ~ Sons of Thunder (uses Realplayer), Scott Hahn

Comments

  1. Hi Lucyna - I read four of the above articles and comment as follows:
    1)"Obama's Unholy War Against Christianity, Not Islam" - my instincts want me to agree with the author in his explanation on why western liberals are soft on radical Islam, but his explanation in the first 3 pararaphs are just hard to accept, let alone believe. I prefer the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" as a more plausible explanation since Christianity exists in the same space and is therefore considered a threat, Islam is not. In fact I think comments of collaboration between western liberals and radical Islam and exaggerated anyway. After that he raves on with a load of anti-Obama rhetoric, that really makes it hard to treat this guy with any credibility. I am sure there are a few facts in there but hard to believe them with all the irrational conclusions in the surrounding verbiage. I had almost forgotten Obama is a church-going Christian himself (a point the author conveniently omits). This is all a bit of a shame because there are issues of double-standrds out there that should be highlighted. Just not by excitable right-wing authors as it diminishes the matter in the mainstream altogether.

    2) "German Catholics Under the Iron Fist; Bismarck and the Kulturkampf" - indeed this was an engrossing wee read. I hadn't even heard of this before, but I suppose it comes as no surprise. I was surprised though at the level of liberal influence way back then. Their involvement in politics shows that today's social battles are not new. Maybe society is not changing as much as we hear, but is more cyclical. We just forget history (or at least the details of it) and it forever repeats, with the balance of power eternally shifting from one side to the other.

    3) "The non-violent Jesus - symbolic direct action" - Consedine spends much of his article explaining Jesus's actions at the temple, though yes, he does link it to Fr Burns at the very beginning and end. His reasoning is rational and he is almost right to link it to Burns. My criticism of Burns (which Consedine fails to mention) is that his action targetted a peace memorial of Yitzhak Rabin, not exactly a strong symbol of Israeli aggression that Burns was protesting about. In that sense, comparison with the overturning of the vendors tables is quite incorrect. Your disagreement of the reasoning due to a) more pressing matters, and b) something about Fr Burns wanting to increase his stature, is stretching it to say the least. You also refer to Fr Burns actions as "anti-Jewish" when it is clear that "anti-Israel" is by far a more accurate term. You invoke a completely different meaning with "anti-Jewish" and are now starting to embark on the same exaggerations of Neumayr in the first article.

    4) "The Mass is Serious Business" - Excellent, excellent article. Every Catholic - lay person and clergy - should be sent a copy! A rushed Mass is quite unfulfilling. My former Auckland parish Mass would rarely (if ever) end in under an hour (when celebrated by the resident PP). Easter in the parish was always a huge and very serious event and it was always SRO on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday. Then I would occasionally visit my parents in Christchurch on a weekend and go to my old parish of the 90's (has changed PP since then though). A lot more casual, rushed, and unbelievably, young children were left to run around near to the altar and make a racket (it is customary in this case for the parent to take a child outside when they get to restless). Rarely finished after 45mins. (And funnily enough it comes as no surprise the the number of Sunday masses dropped from two to one last year. Priest shortage was cited but a way would have been found to maintain two masses should the attendance numbers of the 90's been retained). Anyway, I just didn't leave with the same feeling when compared to my home parish. Unfortunately I see the latter case too often when visiting other parishes, and I have a strong belief that what Fr Sibley discusses plays the biggest part in dwindling mass attendance numbers, not the more popular of excuse of a "modern society". Change (for better or worse) is always cultural (think workplace culture), and to blame an external source is to be avoiding the issue. I wonder if the current Pope can turn things around or is the task just too big?

    Now at risk of offending any Protestant readers of the blog, I must say that the state of the Mass in the Catholic Church seems not as bad as it is in the mainstream Protestant churches. Well that is my perception anyway since I don't attend non-Catholic religious celebrations (so I stand to be corrected in my theory ;). My perception is obtained mainly from driving past the suburban churches and seeing a sign out the front that offers an "extra" for those attending. I even saw free cheeseburgers once. Other indicators are excessive advertising and comments in media and conversations. The mainstream Protestant churches in NZ have been in steep decline in the past 20+ years, so much so that there is a good chance the Catholic Church will be the biggest when the 2011 census is completed. This is not a good thing, I prefer more Christianisty in NZ society than less. I suspect that the Protestant churches are desperately trying to be seen as modern - as keeping up with the times - but as I mentioned before, this is not the root cause of the problem, so these churches are well off track with their "solution" unfortunately. I see the situation in the Catholic Church not as severe as that in the mainstream Protestant churches, and one of the reasons why the Catholic church has held its own with regards to % of the population, but all churches should take heed to Fr Sibleys words and be confident this will reverse the current trend.

    One more comment...one area I might not fully agree is where he says "He can refrain from starting every sermon with a joke...And of course the music chosen for the liturgy—more organ and chant-based and less contemporary and emotionally charged.." Certainly jokes in the homily should be kept to a minimum, but the odd one that is sensible and fitting does not go astray. Mostly they should be limited to the "parish notices" section right near the end of the Mass. It is important for the priest to also be seen as part of the community, as human, and not aloof. As for the music, well here is a genuine chance to bring a bit of modernity to the Mass, I don't think the choice of instruments necessarily detracts from the seriousness. Again, the selection of music must be appropriate. It is also a chance to get young people actually participating in the Mass so I wouldn't limit myself to the organ too much! I don't know what he means when he says that the music shouldn't be "emotionally charged". If he means over the top, loud and downright irreverant, then I agree. But the most beautiful music and lyrics I have come across could be termed as hymns and they often will invoke much emotion - very hard to explain but I always feel much closer to God as a result. This we need more of, not less. But other than these two small points, Fr Sibley hits the nail on the head with his article.

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  2. In addition to point one, I noticed this WSJ article that FFM had linked to:
    The End of Newsweek?An interesting article, and precisely why I have long since dropped Newsweek for The Economist. I noticed this towards the end:

    "Newsweek watchers might find it odd that Christians should surrender, but Muslims should be granted greater respect. A month ago, Newsweek's cover announced "Radical Islam is a fact of life. How to live with it." Fareed Zakaria argued the smart strategy was "nuanced, noncombative rhetoric" that avoids sweeping declarations like "war on terror." Zakaria's piece ended right in the secular liberal's sweet spot. He was confident radical Islamism would eventually lose adherents, because "they lack answers to the problems of the modern world. They do not have a world view that can satisfy the aspirations of modern men and women. We do. That's the most powerful weapon of all."

    Modernity will win, and archaic religion will lose. All this leads back to the sneaking suspicion that the top minds at Newsweek think they are the wisest of men, the definers of trends and the shepherds of public opinion. So why is everyone abandoning their advice? Why are the captains of a magazine that's lost half its circulation telling the rest of us where the mainstream lies?"

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