Air in tires would = ANWR oil

excerpts from an Earth Day observation by syndicated columnist Edward Flattau:

By simply pumping up their tires to the proper pressure, Americans would free up as much oil as is expected to be derived from the unique ANWR wilderness.

Benedict XVI on war

"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war.'"

- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, May 2, 2003.

I wasn't paying a bit of attention to politics until our country's horribly misguided, mistaken, WRONG, response to 9/11. I agree wholeheartedly with this positon of our new pope. If the new "young priests" were to take some active attention to THIS bit of the Holy Father's wisdom, I would buy them all the fancy dishes and frilly clothes they want.

But, I suspect they only want to follow him in as much as he appears to give them power & control.

My wonderful pastor was treating us Sunday with his insight that the last 40 years in the Catholic Church have been a "wasteland" from which he and our newly Confirmed are going to rescue all of us. He says "that's why we got the Pope we got." He crowed about that a little, then did some name-dropping about his connection with "Uncle Joe" Ratzinger.

All this from a newly-ordained convert to the Catholic Church who never lived through the last 40 years with us. What an ass. Every Sunday, from the ambo and the altar, we get put-downs--who we are, what we've learned, the people who taught us (priests, sisters, laypeople in the church, Archdiocese, the American Bishops, liberals), the things we do. And there is almost always a good statement about how educated or how ordained he is, or just plain name-dropping. He is "instructing" us now, from the ambo and in our Sunday bulletin.

It's a unique experience. Certainly not a performance I've ever seen from a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville.

I will say one thing. Sunday, he mentioned the word "Christ" 4 or 5 times. That's a record. I think that's more often than he's said the word during the whole 10 months of Sunday sermons.

Abu Ghraib

As the courts-martial and the Armed Services Committee hearings over Abu Ghraib clear senior Army officers (except Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, who was in charge of U.S. prison facilities in Iraq) and find low-level soldiers guilty, we Americans can observe a government administration that barges confidently and controllingly into all situations, but takes no responsibility for its actions.

I suspect that, when we look back at the ongoing grief, death, and humiliation in Iraq, we will realize that the Iraqi "insurgents" won the last battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people when they launched their concerted attack on Abu Ghraib last month.

Standing during Communion

Hey, David,

I had some insight last night as I thought about what you'd said about communion. It doesn't change anything, but it helped me understand why I feel differently about it than you (& many others) do.

I realized that since I'm a church musician (since the sixth grade), my concern during communion time has ALWAYS been with the whole assembly. I am part of that whole procession. I am always aware of everyone in the church. My job is to make the singing work well for all of them, for all of us. It's not private at all. When I'm not playing the keyboard, I'm standing, as choir, right there near the altar. It's powerful. I love it. When I participate from the pew, I keep that perspective--being one of many people, centered together around the altar (close and active). I wouldn't trade that for anything. I see the Vatican II renewal's idea of bringing that to everyone as a gift. It was a gift to me.

But, if your formation was different, as yours seems to have been, you don't have as much of a "communal" connection with Christ at Communion time. I can see that it's private, and of course no one would want to give that up, either.

It's funny, because the liturgy renewal started by first paying attention to the more personal (though still communal), more prayerful liturgy. The first step was the translation of the Liturgy of the Hours (The Divine Office) into English. When you read the hopes of people who worked on that, they were thrilled to be bringing that to lay people as well as religious. The Office contains more, much more, of that sense of prayerful connection with Christ (that I sense you get from communion at mass and rightly don't want to lose).

So, IF we had all joined, as parishes, into the Office (the great Prayer of the Church) then we wouldn't be fighting over bits of the Sunday Eucharist, trying to make it be all things for all people, unable to gather for prayer at all unless we "have" a priest.

And that was the plan. But people rejected it. They still do. Go figure.

love you,
maggie

American TV--Another gift to Iraq

Baghdad Burning:

Riverbend reacts to the inundation of American TV on Iraqi stations:

"We sat there watching like we were a part of another world, in another galaxy. I’ve always sensed from the various websites that American mainstream news is far-removed from reality- I just didn’t know how far. Everything is so tame and simplified. Everyone is so sincere.

Furthermore, I don’t understand the worlds fascination with reality shows. Survivor, The Bachelor, Murder in Small Town X, Faking It, The Contender… it’s endless. Is life so boring that people need to watch the conjured up lives of others?

I have a suggestion of my own for a reality show. Take 15 Bush supporters and throw them in a house in the suburbs of, say, Falloojeh for at least 14 days. We could watch them cope with the water problems, the lack of electricity, the check points, the raids, the Iraqi National Guard, the bombings, and- oh yeah- the ‘insurgents’. We could watch their house bombed to the ground and their few belongings crushed under the weight of cement and brick or simply burned or riddled with bullets. We could see them try to rebuild their life with their bare hands (and the equivalent of $150)…

I’d not only watch *that* reality show, I’d tape every episode.
"

Chant at St. Joe

Musicians' Dinner

Talent Show offering:
Pigorian Chant, sung by Gregorian Choir, with Amy Hettinger as Chicken, Bill Fell as Farmer

"orsnay....orsnay..."

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II was a gift to all of us.
I think most of his untiring efforts to empower the Vatican II liturgy renewal
* working tirelessly to bring ALL of us into the full liturgy of the Catholic heritage
* personally and politically championing peace, justice, dignity and love
* showing us by example, how to live our lives while enjoying that greater communion with God and the People of God
Pax Domini

Tickle: Tests, Matchmaking and Social Networking

Tickle: Tests, Matchmaking and Social Networking: "maggie, your secret to success is to be Proactive

Maggie,

You are a born leader with a take-charge attitude. Unlike many people who believe problems will simply go away if you give them enough time, you're one to tackle the obstacles in your path head-on.

Part of being proactive means you can aggressively anticipate the future and work to shape it according to your desires. You don't wait for things to happen; you make things happen, which is why you also tend to find yourself in a position of responsibility.

Also, because of your quick mind and ability to strategize, you can keep yourself two steps ahead of everyone else when it comes to executing plans or anticipating future actions. These characteristics help you rise to positions of authority where others can more fully appreciate your drive and direction.
"