Seven Quick Takes Friday! (Vol. 4)

ONE:

Got an invitation to the annual class golf tournament. Would be great to go ... if it were held down here in Texas. Alas, it's back at the old hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Next year is the thirtieth reunion ... hopefully I'm working by then ....

TWO:

Julie from The Corner With A View is back in the USA from her trip to South Korea! Hopefully she'll have something posted for us tomorrow.

THREE:

Stacy at Accepting Abundance has an interesting reflection on being open to life after 40. I just remember something a father of four said on Simcha Fisher's blog when confronted with the inevitable question:

Officious, unknown dolt in mall: “How can you have so many kids?”
Father of 4: “Because I believe in Darwinism.”
OUDIM: “Wha…what?”
FO4: “Yes. Survival of the fittest means actually reproducing, so your offspring dominate the future. I don’t understand why so many people who believe in Darwinism really, really suck at following it.”

That having been said, being open to life does not require going out of one's way to become pregnant. But if Stacy and her husband want another child, then it's a beautiful thing ... such a delightful change from "Don't we already have enough?"

FOUR:

Speaking of great lines: 

 

“Literature departments really are where bad ideas go to die — or, rather, to walk the earth as poorly reanimated zombies, eating the brains of heedless young people.” — John Zmirak, “The Economy Is Not A Poem”, Crisis, 6/8/2011

Some lines just make you sit back and admire the craft.

FIVE:

 Speaking of great lines, His Hermeneuticalness has this one: 

I like the idea that the Secretary of Ecclesia Dei would so easily speak of themes "that are known." This is honest and sensible: we do all know the principal points under discussion, and Catholic blogs have helped, I think, in a sort of Distributed Denial of Stupidity by focussing on the real doctrinal questions.

 SIX:

My younger brother, Bob, has finally gone from splints covered in yards of Ace bandages and cotton to a fiberglass cast on his leg. The goal is for the fracture of his tibia to keep from collapsing while it tries to heal, so he won't require surgery ... with his diabetes and the cellulitis in his leg, the probability of infection from surgery approaches 1.0. Keep him in your prayers!

SEVEN:

Devin Rose is sending me a free copy of If Protestantism Is True to review. My friend Elise is also reviewing the Kindle version of it, and Brent Stubbs has posted a positive review already. So I'm looking forward to it even more!

*     *     *

Look for another installment of Random Political Observations Sunday. Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Showing some spine in Detroit

As far as I know, the much talked-about meeting of the American Catholic Council is still going to happen, although the last I read, there were only just a bit more than 700 registered attendees and "early bird" discounts were still being offered. 

The kindest thing to say about the ACC is that it's a group of aging "progressive" CINOs getting together to reminisce, listen to Fr. Hans Küng spout his latest anti-Benedict diatribes, and convince themselves that they still matter within the Church in America. The worst thing to say is that they're a schismatic sect trying to yank the Church in America away from Rome; while their overall failure is guaranteed, that's not to say that they won't seduce a few congregations into joining a structure in competition with the USCCB.

Some time ago, Abp. Allen H. Vigneron, in whose archdiocese the Council's meeting is taking place this weekend, issued a warning to his priests and deacons on the matter. Last week, he issued another warning:

Abp. Vigneron Letter on the American Catholic Council

Issued: June 3, 2011

Contact: Joe Kohn, infodesk@aod.org / (313) 237-5943

My dear brother priests and deacons,

As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese.

Of particular concern is the "Eucharistic Liturgy," noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, "Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and with the Church's laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese." (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. [This is very good: Against the ACC's claims to be acting within the "spirit of Vatican II", Abp. Vigneron quotes actual documents from the Council.] To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.

In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010). [The gravity of the crime is such that any Detroit priest or deacon accused of concelebrating in this illicit (and likely invalid) Eucharist will be tried not through the normal, glacially-slow process of the Apostolic Signatura but through the speeded-up format of the CDF adopted and modified to deal mainly with clerical predators. It simply remains to be seen whether the Archdiocese can make good on this threat by actually catching a concelebrating Detroit priest in flagrante delicto.]

I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit

 The statement focuses on the priests and deacons of the Detroit archdiocese because those are the only clerics for whom Abp. Vigneron is immediately responsible. Given that +Vigneron is very limited in what he can do and to whom he can do it, though, he's making it clear that he's not going to ignore the ACC meeting and hope nothing comes of it. Kudos to His Excellency for standing up for the authentic teaching of the Faith!

I'm sorry, I've caught poetry again ...

In Flanders Fields

Col. John McCrae, MD, RCA

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

in Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; Be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

in Flanders fields.

Another item for the wish list

It figures that I get all these great ideas for books to read when my book budget equals zero. 

The most recent is If Protestantism Is True, by fellow blogger Devin Rose. If you don't read his blog, shame on — er, um, Devin was raised an atheist, then converted to Christianity, eventually coming home to the Catholic Church. Frankly, I'm a sucker for conversion stories, whether they're gentle course corrections over a span of years or road-to-Damascus baseball bats that change the convert's life practically overnight. But according to the description, conversion stories are only a couple of dishes in the full buffet.

Right now, Amazon.com only has the book available in Kindle format for US $2.99. However, you can get the paperback through the Amazon-associated site CreateSpace for US $12.99. If you've got a couple extra bucks in your reading budget, pick it up, read it and send me a review, okay?

Another regret

About three weeks ago, my younger brother, Bob, cracked his right tibia below the knee in a fall. Because his left foot is also dinged up (a condition called "Charcot foot", one of the wonderful gifts of diabetes-related neuropathy), he can't move from one place to the other without help. My help, since my mother can't physically heft him.

In helping him the last couple of weeks, I didn't think about what effect it would have on the invitation I received to pre-screen the new Sherwood Pictures release Courageous. However, the theater is about a 45-minute to one-hour drive from me; add into that two hours for the film plus thirty minutes for miscellaneous moving and schmoozing, and we're talking 4-4½ hours away from the house.

So, unfortunately, this means you won't get first news about this movie from me. It was a nice dream while it lasted, and there's always the possibility something like this might come my way again. But family comes first ... even before personal missions.

Once again, here's the link to the movie, and the trailer for it:

Just in case you forgot what happened sixty-seven years ago today

Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne.

 Of all the days in World War II, why does June 6, 1944 stand out so much, almost as much as December 7, 1941?

Just a few weeks after these photos were taken, my great-uncle, 1st Lt. Joseph P. Cronin, landed with the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry, Seventh Army near Saint-Raphaël, about 25 kilometers southwest of Cannes. They landed August 15. Just a few days later, after a relatively rapid and easy trek of 205 kilometers known as the "Champagne Campaign", Great-Uncle Joe lost his life when the Germans launched a vicious and effective counter-attack at Montélimar. And that wasn't the only bloody nose the Seventh Army suffered, as they punched and slogged their way into and through the Vosges Mountains, into and through Alsace into Haguenau, before the German Army finally collapsed and started surrendering in droves in April 1945. (You can read the history of the 141st IRT here.)

Random political observations Sunday

Kudos to Matt Abbott (and a hat tip to Lisa Graas) for defending Michele Bachmann against Alex Pareene's anti-Catholic smear. In my long and checkered career, I've had friends and acquaintances who were racists and anti-Semites ... even one who was overtly anti-Catholic (he was the first person to tell me about the mitre with "666" encoded on it). Generally, we've been able to look past disagreements towards shared interests and values. 

Now, if both Bachmann and her pastor are unaware of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Churches' anti-Catholic stance, and that Bradlee Dean has called the Pope "that devil disguised as a minister of righteousness", that can't look good no matter how you slice it; nevertheless, it still doesn't follow that she herself considers B16 to be the Antichrist. And, as Abbott puts it, "I love it when liberals who normally don't care a wit about Catholicism suddenly voice concern about a conservative politician's alleged anti-Catholicism — even if their concern is somewhat tongue-in-cheek or just a political ploy. Never mind all the abortion- and unnatural vice-supporting 'Catholic' politicians out there; we practicing Catholics should really be concerned about the likes of Bachmann and Sarah Palin."

*     *     *

Recently, the much-maligned Ordinary of the City of the Gay, Abp. George Niederauer, weighed in against the proposed circumcision ban, which just barely got onto the November ballot and which current nose-counting predicts will be defeated 2:1. “Although the issue does not concern Christians directly," Abp. Niederauer wrote in the SF Chronicle,  "as a religious leader I can only view with alarm the prospect that this misguided initiative would make it illegal for Jews and Muslims who practice their religion to live in San Francisco — for that is what the passage of such a law would mean.”

Having had intactivist literature foisted on me before, I've long noted within the ridiculously inflated, hysterical rhetoric an implicitly anti-religious tone, though I would have thought it "anti-Semitic" only in the way that New Atheists can't help being anti-Semitic through their hatred of religion in general. After all, when your zombie-like supporters all chant that "male genital mutilation" is an "outdated barbaric religious practice", it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the zombies believe Judaism to be barbaric. (There is a smaller group called Jews Against Circumcision; however, I suspect that they're what Yiddish-speakers used to call Shabbes goys ... i.e., Jewish When Convenient.)

However, both Mark Shea and the Anchoress have brought Monster Mohel to our attention:

 If you really want a case of the shivers, then read the P J Tatler's reprint of panels from MGMBill.com's online comic book, Foreskin Man. (I'd send you directly to the MGM Bill site; however, I don't want my blog associated in any way with theirs, especially not as a referral site!)

First, there's no way this initiative will pass ... even in San Francisco, where a good portion of the residents have an unhealthy obsession with penises. Second, even if it did pass, it might survive scrutiny at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court, where they threw away the written Constitution a couple of decades ago and now just rule according to the progressive agenda; however, SCOTUS would bounce it out as an infringement of religious liberty. Third, I'm sick of the overblown hyperbole — I want to see some hard evidence (you should excuse the expression) proving that infant male circumcision does psychological damage not attributable to anything else.

Seven Quick Takes Friday! (Vol. 3)

ONE:

Had a slight issue with Intense Debate not loading properly onto this blog. Finally got it fixed ... I think ....

TWO:

Ironically, Dr. Death died in a hospital bed of a blood clot. I suppose the good Catholic thing to do would be to pray for his soul and refrain from speculating where in the hereafter it has gone ... the poor, misguided man.

I don't own the copyright.

THREE:

For Memorial Day, my older brother, Ted, fixed carne adovada.  For those of you not lucky enough to have lived in New Mexico, carne adovada is pork marinated in a chile-based sauce, then slow-cooked until it's ready to fall apart. You can serve it in tacos, burritos, fajitas or enchiladas. One cafe in Lewisville (TX) puts it on hash browns, then puts eggs, chiles and cheese over it like a Village Inn skillet ... marvelous breakfast dish! And because it's tender enough to pull apart easily, you can make a pulled pork sandwich out of it. My brother and I are trying to think of a way to bake it inside bread, like a Runza or a calzone.

Since the recipe for carne adovada has as many variations as there are cooks, if you go looking for it, find one that has a long marinade time (12-24 hours) and preferably calls for real New Mexico chiles. Here's a link to a recipe on the New Mexico tourism website, and a link to AllRecipes.com.

FOUR:

Speaking of good eats, I have to find out how my sister-in-law, Annette, gets the caramel in her brownies. Yum! Yeah, I didn't do so hot on my diet Monday .... Like I said before, of all the cardinal sins, gluttony is the hardest to hide.

I don't own the copyright.

 FIVE:

My uncle John, an Army vet, sent my family and me a story of a ceremony that takes place in a corridor of the Pentagon. 

Every Friday, several soldiers who have been wounded in combat are led — often pushed in wheelchairs — down this corridor to meet with the generals for a private lunch. They're usually privates, corporals and sergeants, but they're each escorted by a field-grade officer (major, lieutenant colonel, colonel) in dress blues. And as they come down this corridor, Pentagon workers from all over line the hall and applaud non-stop. (The photo at right is from one such ceremony.)

Every Friday, since 2007. Men and women who have come from their offices dozens of times for this ceremony still get teary-eyed. Sometimes the soldiers get out of their chairs and slowly, haltingly march past the cheering people, their chins firm with martial dignity. 

As my sister, a former Army Reserve captain who now works for the Marines at Quantico, puts it, "The 'faceless bureaucrat' reputation [of the Pentagon] has never been deserved." The Navy, Marines and Air Force all have their different ways of honoring servicepersons at the Pentagon; the place may be brass-heavy, but they live and breathe for the rankers.

SIX:

Speaking of ex-Army relatives, my cousin Greg, who's now a travel agent, is taking a cruise to Iceland. To get ready for the trip, he has memorized one Icelandic phrase: Ég skal hafa einn stóran bjór takk ("I'll have one large beer, please"). 

In other family news, my cousin Steve's wife, Laura, finally had her baby just today: Kaiya Love Cronin, 8 lbs. 9 oz., and just cute as all get out! And a preview/trailer just got posted for Life Fine Tuned, a little indie production in which my sister Peggy and her youngest son Aidan appear. You can find the whole trailer here; Peggy and Aidan show up in the barn dance scene, which comes up at about 2:42. (See the picture at the bottom!)

SEVEN:

 Another entrance, another exit. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Msgr. Charles B. King, PA, the pastor emeritus of Immaculate Conception Church in Denton. Born in 1931, he graduated Georgetown in 1953 with a bachelor's in economics, then attended the North American College in Rome, where he was ordained in 1956 and earned his STL in 1957. With a priesthood that lasted over fifty years and saw him fill roles as a pastor and teacher, he was well-loved and respected, named a prelate of honor by Paul VI in 1975 and a protonotary apostolic by Benedict XVI in 2008, and retired only a couple of months ago when his final illness no longer allowed him to carry out the duties of a pastor. He was a great man who loved being a priest, and many here in North Texas will miss him.

Actually, this was a rehearsal that got included in the trailer!

Condom zombies on the march!

Over on the National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin has written a fine takedown of Catholics For Choice's outrageous attempt to make last November's PR fiasco over B16's remarks about condoms in Light of the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald work for them. I nearly wasted space on The Other Blog with a thousand-word "ditto". However, I can just say "ditto", point you to Jimmy, and move onward with the simple additional comment that CFC's pants are on fire.

But there is something else to share. In Jimmy's combox, Matthew Warner mused, "Reminds me of this funny video Thomas Peters [the American Papist] put together." And Jimmy wrote back "Yes! I thought of that video while writing the post!" Intrigued, I followed the link.

The cartoon was put together through Xtranormal, so the dialogue is jerky and a little obviously "read" by computers. However, that simply makes the Struggling Catholic's repeated, "But the Pope said I can have the condom" that much funnier. So here we go:

The enemy of my enemy is my ... frienemy?

Hat tip to Jimmy Akin for this little slice of surreality:

Ku Klux Klan protests Westboro Baptist Church

By Sarah Anne Hughes

As President Obama honored fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, three members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested the ceremony, holding signs that read “Pray for more dead soldiers” and “God hates your prayers,” as the controversial group has become known to do. They were met by about 70 counterprotesters, including members from a group just as contentious as the church: the Ku Klux Klan.

Dennis LaBonte, who told CNN he was a military veteran and the “imperial wizard” of a KKK chapter, said the approximately 10 members of the group came in “support of the troops.” LaBonte, who said he’s not a “hate-monger,” said he “thinks that it’s an absolute shame that [the WBC] show up and disrupt people’s funerals.” The group was cordoned off in a separate area and reportedly “drew little attention.”

WBC member Abigail Phelps said the KKK “have no moral authority on anything.”

“The Bible doesn't say anywhere that it's an abomination to be born of a certain gender or race,” she said. In March, the Supreme Court ruled that the church has the right to picket funerals.

The other counterprotesters in attendance waved American flags and held signs with pro-U.S.A. slogans.

Meanwhile, the rest of Christian America is slapping its head and muttering "Oy, vay!" I do have to wonder what the "progressive" Establishment will make of this. Maybe this will help us put Westboro Baptist back into perspective? Or maybe we should re-check Harold Camping's calculations?