From the "Abbie Hoffman's Great Political Plays of the 1970s" file

According to Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online, members of an LGBT activist group, Rainbow Sash, are planning to disrupt Pentecost Masses at cathedrals across the nation, with particular emphasis on Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, the apostolic seat of Cardinal Francis George OMI, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In fairness, Rainbow Sash’s own press release doesn’t say anything about disruption. They merely say they plan to enter cathedrals wearing rainbow sashes. But according to “American Papist” Thomas Peters, Rainbow Sash has in fact disrupted masses before.

Apparently the way to spread the gospel of love and tolerance is to make a public jackass of yourself and profane the Eucharistic celebration? Oh yeah, that’ll change hearts and minds. While you’re at it, why not stage a sit-in and sing several repetitions of “Kumbaya”?

UPDATE 5/24/10:
Yup, they entered the cathedral. Wearing rainbow sashes. And that's it.

So sorry for the melodrama, folks. They went into church. And life went on.

From the "Glad You Did Your Research" Department

Once again, the Associated Press demonstrates its nonpareil grasp of detail with its reportage on Msgr. Luiz Marques Barbosa, a Brazilian priest caught on video molesting young men and now facing criminal charges.

(By the way, Bp. Valerio Breda of Penedo has suspended Barbosa and two other priests of the diocese; the diocese is cooperating with the police as well as conducting its own investigation. Doubtless the New York Times will still wonder why Cardinal Ratzinger didn't defrock Barbosa in 1985. (If you don't get why that remark is sarcastic, let me know and I'll tell you.))

A simple question

Would somebody please tell me what kind of insane logic the mainstream media are using? We Catholics are defending the Pope against unjust, insupportable charges of sheltering pedophiles, not defending the pedophiles themselves.

Oh, wait a minute ... too many words. This is what gets read: "We Catholics are garble garble garble garble garble garble garble defending pedophiles." Go figure.

(The garble garble garble sound is all that comes through when you're singing very loudly while holding your fingers in your ears.)

Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia!

Despite my blatant Catholicism, I've always loved Georg Friderich Händel's Messiah, especially No. 44—Chorus: "Hallelujah!" However, I could never figure out why it got associated with Christmas, since it's so clearly a song of Easter, just as I can't figure out why my page has difficulty showing the frame for my YouTube links:

Teaching the hard truths

Father John Zuhlsdorf (the irrepressible “Fr. Z”) over at What Does the Prayer Really Say has a quite stunning mini-sermon entitled, “Here it is in a nutshell, folks”. It starts off with the bald assertion, “You are going to die.” And it doesn’t get any lighter from there. Unless you count the concession that your passing on could be a few years from now. (Leading one combox frequenter to remark, “I see Fr. Happy Fun Priest is in full form today.”)

The timing is interesting because Msgr. Charles Pope on the Archdiocese of Washington blog had a piece up the other day on the common Catholic complaint about the poor quality of homilies. The entry included a speech by another priest, Fr. Bill Casey, about superficial preaching, that had me practically shouting “Hallelujah!” by the end of it. Msgr. Pope isn’t afraid to tackle the harder points of the faith; I’ve referenced his reflection on genocide in the Old Testament in my other blog. His piece from November, “Five Hard Truths That Will Set You Free”, is worth reading as well.

Nazarenos: Not what you think!

From Catholic Eye Candy:

A common feature in Spain is the almost general usage of the nazareno or penitential robe for some of the participants in the processions. This garment consists in a tunic, a hood with conical tip (capirote) used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak. The exact colors and forms of these robes depend on the particular procession. The robes were widely used in the medieval period for penitents, who could demonstrate their penance while still masking their identity.These nazarenos carry processional candles or rough-hewn wooden crosses, may walk the city streets barefoot, and, in some places may carry shackles and chains on their feet as penance.

They come in different colors, presumably according to the liturgical season. Regardless, don't look for such a procession in your hometown soon; it'll be a looooong time before the other guys in hoods are dead in the American psyche.

Makes me wonder, though ... did the other guys steal the idea from us?

Archbishop Sheen On Confession

Da Mihi Animas has a marvelous, moving speech by the great Servant of God +Fulton J. Sheen about the Sacrament of Confession. Judging from the color and internal references, I would guess that the speech took place some time in the early 1970s. Abp. Sheen had a very simple, storyteller's approach to preaching that allowed people to forget how broad and well-educated his intellect was. Put differently, he was sophisticated enought to be simple without being simplistic. Watch and marvel.

Da Mihi Animas: Archbishop Sheen: On Confession

De scalis ad Campis Elysiorum

 A few days ago, while I was reading an update to Father Z’s blog post “Aging Hippie Paradise” (a rap by his alter ego Zuhlio), I found a link to a translation of Sir Mixalot’s “Baby Got Back” by Quislibet. (As the Crescat would say, “Hi-freaking-larious!”) It occurred to me that those of us who can’t quite “get” rap and are a bit older might be more elevated by conversion of another classic song into the mother tongue. And if you want something done, sometimes ya gotta do it yourself ….

You tell 'em, Jester!

 Once of the nice things about the short format of this blog is that I can simply refer readers to other blogs, along with an “attaboy” when such is called for. Jeff Miller’s recent post, “Stop using reality against us”, is just one such.

This is my favorite part:

 The abortion industry and abortion supporters have always been about minimizing or hiding reality. Women are told across the world falsehoods about the stages of the child in their womb. Terms are used to describe this that have no bearing on the reality. Over and over Ultrasound has been called a weapon because it helps to visualize reality. Laws requiring that women be properly informed about the life in the womb and presented with factual medical and scientific information about this are blocked time and again by the pro-abortion crowd.

A mother choosing life is polarizing and divisive. What a sick culture we live in.

Read the rest of this wonderful post at the Curt Jester.

From the Department of Redundancy Department

 This item comes to us from the Catholic News Service’s story about the 173^rd Airborne guarding the Haitian refugees at a local golf resort:

Given the circumstances, it’s understandable that the military would want to keep order, lest violence break out during the distribution of aid. Homeless Haitians greatly outnumbered soldiers and a group of medical workers at the club. In this day of a security-conscious American government,  the only way military planners see as the way to keep order, it seems, is to make it difficult for anyone to upset the normal flow of things.

So the only way to keep order is to … keep order? Thanks for the clarification.