The "Right Kind" of Catholic

I chanced upon a blog that had a post called The Right Kind of Catholic. Before you scroll up and down or decide not to click the link because of the title, she doesn't really mention what the "right kind" of Catholic is. It's more a post about Catholicism in America. I think it's a pretty good read about divisions within the Church. Just wanted to pass it on to you.

To comment on it, one of the comments mention that in America we, as a culture, have an attitude of winning. Not just winning, but a want for our opponents to suffer. I can't count the number of times I've heard people say (and sadly I sometimes join in), "I'm glad Michigan lost again". Or so many other people say, "I'm glad Notre Dame sucks at football". I think this permeates into our faith, this victorious attitude. We, as American Catholics (as a whole), sometimes want to push a certain part of Catholicism when, in fact, it doesn't work like that.

At Notre Dame, some people would refer to the "Campus Ministry Catholics" and the "Center for Social Concerns Catholics". I think the distinction is ridiculous. The Eucharist dismisses us to "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord". AKA Matthew 25. And service can never be seperated from our personal relationship with Christ.

Both. And.

I think the diversity is great. And I'm glad that each of us has a different personal point of emphasis. I do caution against heresy -- in the Chestertonian definition of the word. That is, heresy is when someone holds one particular truth (be it the divinity of Christ, humanity of Christ, or any other thing we as Catholics believe as true) so close to their face that it blinds you from the other truths.

There are legitimate differences. And there is a certain hierarchy of truths. But only one Jesus Christ. Let's prepare His way; make straight His paths.

The BA Archdiocese of MKE

I just downloaded a document from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's website called "Resources and Guidelines for Adult Confirmation." Just wanted to say that it is legit. Thanks, Milwaukee.

Procrastination...

So we've got this 20-page paper to write... that was technically due approximately 3 days ago... and I still have less than a page. Oops! What better way to procrastinate than to write on the blog! Duh.

Here are some of the things I've done to keep from writing my paper:

Clean my room.

Do laundry.

Watch Pushing Daisies on abc.com.

Read the blog.

Catch up on my Facebook stalking.

Keep busy at work.

G-chat.

Update my Google calendar.

Online Christmas shopping.

Put music on my iPod.

Make chili.

Keep track of the Marquette basketball team.

Take a nap.

Paint my nails.

Clean the coffee pot.

Send text messages.

Return phone calls.

Go grocery shopping.

Reorganize the refrigerator.

Spend 10 minutes trying to think of other things I've done to procrastinate...

I'm running out of things, and I'm actually starting to write my paper! Ut oh.

What have YOU been doing?? :)

A Nice Quote

I'm doing my research paper for class on the Imitation of Christ and I keep coming upon this fabulous line a Kempis has in Chapter 2:

"Behold, You are the Holy of holies, and I the scum of sinners!"

An Advent Poem

My mentor chose this reflection for our staff meeting today. I thought I'd share it with you.


The Many Disguises of Emmanuel

Emmanuel, God-with-us,
long awaited, eagerly anticipated,
delicious dreams of royal robes,
a messiah enthroned with elegance.

False notions and easily accepted illusions.

A few open ones, full of surprise,
heard the fresh, full cry of life
echoed in the uninhabited haven,
the only place ready for a birth that was ripe.

Shepherds, sages, and scribes,
drawn by angels and stars,
discovered this divine simplicity,
then hurried from the hillside
with news that amazed them all.

But many years later the cry goes unheard,
stifled in the roar of unyielding opinions,
submerged in the noise of hasty judgments,
masked in the false folds of cultural glitter.

The Surprising One continues to come,
entering the world in endless disguise,
concealed in those we have never forgiven,
secreted in the hearts of people we despise,
found in the rejected and unacceptable,
hidden in the ones we ignore and criticize.

-Joyce Rupp

Wee Believers - New Toy, Just for Boys!

If you don't know what to get young catholic nephews, brothers or cousins for Christmas this year, don't worry: Wee Believers, a Catholic toy company, has you covered. They've just introduced a plush Mass kit, allowing small children to have a hands-on experience during Mass. It even includes a set of foam wafers.

Of course, we wouldn't want young girls to get the wrong idea- this is not for them! The website makes it clear that it's intended for boys. Let's encourage Vocations, not heresy. Indeed, only kids with a Y chromosome should be engaged in "first-hand interaction" at Mass. It's not as though we rely on women to be Sacristans, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist and ministers to the homebound.

Silence

We're doing an Advent workshop deal for the middle and high schoolers in our Christian Formation here at St. James next Sunday. I wrote an introduction to this video that we're going to watch in conjunction with the workshop. The video will be linked below the reflection.
---
We are here to be silent. Why silence? I thought we were here to do some sort of Advent-y prayer. Yes. We are. Silence can be a type of prayer. Meditation is prayer. We’ll be doing some of both. But it’s important to have a purpose when we are silence, when we meditate. The purpose is Advent. It’s a confusing word that we hear this time of year and sometimes push it aside, knowing that it means the time before Christmas. But Advent is a time of preparation—preparation for God entering into our lives, both in Bethlehem 2000 years ago and this very day, here and now. “The message of Advent is that God has not abandoned you. God is with you.” And so in preparation for Jesus entrance into the world, the Church gives Advent as time to prepare.

This seems crazy, but one way of preparation is silence, purposeful silence. Think about it. When we’re about to tell someone something important, we often take a pause before speaking. Silence. When we’re faced with a big decision in our lives, we take a moment—or many moments—to reflect before deciding. Silence. When we’re studying for that big test, we gather our notes, homework, and quizzes, and get busy studying. Hopefully, in silence. Silence removes the distractions, removes the noise, removes the busyness of our daily lives. Silence gives us time to think, time to prepare, time to be. Silence.

And so, I invite you to take this time out of your busy schedule to enter into silence. Well, it’s a guided meditation on silence, so there will be some talking. I invite you to think about what he has to say, think about how this applies to your life. There is paper and a pencil for you to write down anything that comes into your head. Afterward, we will discuss. Until then—silence.
---
And here's the video. Yes, we bought it. We're not going to show this version of it with the translation on the bottom, though that would be awesome.

Thoughts?