The Ark and The Dove

Diamondback Send Off/Up for Fr. Bill

The Diamondback's Anna Stonestreet did this piece on Fr. Bill's all-too-soon departure.

Fortunately, Fr. Bill will only be a metro ride away...

Just in case you were wondering..

"Buffet servers get tipped 10%. Don’t stiff them!"

From WaiterRant

Scylla and Charybdis

The only thing worse than being trapped in the Student Union during a freak thunderstorm is being trapped in the the Student Union during a freak thunderstorm while having to listen to two Orthodox evangelists deliver a rant about how Catholics have corrupted the purity of the Church while trying to pick up converts.

At least they managed to express a belief in the Real Presence.

Enviro-fascism

Why are so many of the crazy environmentalists are on the far left?
Isn't that the end of the political spectrum that keeps telling us that we shouldn't legislate belief and morality?

The far left holds the political view that says it is ultimately an individual's choice whether or not living conditions in the future will be suitable for a child, and thus the individual can determine whether or not to exterminate an unborn human life form. But those who hold this view are telling us that the average person does not have the right to make choices regarding what kind of fuel to put in a car or what kind of light bulb to use. The rabid environmentalists want to pass legislation that will force and compel people to behave in certain ways against their belief. Indeed, the only reason to pass environmental legislation is because environmentalists have failed to convince citizens to take action voluntarily. If people will not make the "right" choice on their own, environmentalists will punish them.

Some people have compared carbon offset credits to papal indulgences ("Did you sin against, Gaia? That's okay, just offer a monetary sacrifice to her and you'll spend less time in a scorching enviro-purgatory"), but it seems to me that punishing citizens who do not take part in environmental efforts is far more akin to Protestant England setting fines on recusant Catholics who refused to attend services for a faith which they did not believe.

Obviously, I'm not advocating that we should be reckless with the Earth. I think establishing fair and reasonable environmental protocols is necessary...but difficult. Still, I value my political freedom far more than I value any habitat. I'd much rather live free in a poisonous wasteland than enslaved in a world with clean air. Of course, the ideal situation would be to live free in a clean world...but environmentalists don't seem particularly interested in talking about that option.

Lord of the Bourgeoisie

It's easy to feel a little guilty if you stop and think about history on one of these patriotic days. I always feel a bit like Private Ryan at the end of the movie, riddled with an inferiority complex after English -teacher-turned-commanding-officer Tom Hank's dying words are "Make sure it was worth it..."

Isn't that just like an English teacher to do to someone? I know I try to curse my students with perpetual self-doubt all the time.

Anyway, my point is that as an American in the 21st Century, it's easy to suffer a kind of survivor's guilt. Is this petty, superficial, middle-class lifestyle really what countless men and women have died for in all those wars? Did people really sacrifice their blood so that I could go to shopping malls and read lots of comic books and Shakespeare...and Shakespeare comic books?

Was it really worth it?

And then...I think about the core dramatic conflict in the Lord of the Rings...

LiveScience: Science itself not the reason for unpopularity of religion among scientists

According to a new study, one's upbringing has much more to do with it, and younger scientists are reversing the trend.

Pray and fast

What if you're too busy or too ADD for the Liturgy of the Hours?  Jeff Miller jokingly suggests a "Liturgy of the Seconds."

How do you get through Morning prayer in mere seconds?  The answer -

"Pick Psalms such as Ps. 117."

Praise the LORD, all nations!   Extol him, all peoples!   For great is his steadfast love toward us;   and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever.   Praise the LORD!

Ps. 131:

A Song of Ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up,   my eyes are not raised too high;   I do not occupy myself with things   too great and too marvelous for me.   But I have calmed and quieted my soul,   like a child quieted at its mother's breast;   like a child that is quieted is my soul. O Israel, hope in the LORD   from this time forth and for evermore.

And Ps. 134:

A Song of Ascents.  Come, bless the LORD,   all you servants of the LORD,   who stand by night in the house of the LORD!  Lift up your hands to the holy place,   and bless the LORD!  May the LORD bless you from Zion,   he who made heaven and earth!

 

Mass issues

Get ready for a flood of probably rather imprecise newspaper stories on the "Latin" Mass.  Judging from the paper I saw the other day, it's already started.  Don't assume that the reporters or editors know more about the Mass or about the Pope's intentions than you do.

On a sort-of-related strand, to try to go along with what Pope Benedict is trying to accomplish, I try not to describe things in terms of the "old" vs. the "new" Mass, or the "Tridentine" vs. the "Novus Ordo," or the "Latin" Mass vs... (well, since the current Missal is Latin, though you wouldn't know it).  None of these are the real or official names, and they tend to perpetuate the "discontinuity" mindset that the Pope says is an incorrect understanding of the Council.  So if I mean the Roman Rite Mass according to the 1962 Missal, or some other Missal I'll say that, and if I mean the Roman Rite Mass according to the 1970 Missal, I'll say that.

If the article I saw (well, got to glance at) in the Baltimore Sun is any indication, the reporters will use the standard "opposing viewpoints" format.  One viewpoint will be represented by the people they interview who think that there is an essential difference between the "old" Mass and the "new" and love it; the other will be those who think the same and hate it.  The question is how long it will be before they figure out what is going on.

They have a polite name for that?

The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon whereby people who have little knowledge systematically think that they know more than others who have much more knowledge.