An omen? Presidential seal falls off the podium during B.O.'s speech. Heh. . .even the symbols of his office are running from him.
Couldn't agree more! Be specific about warnings of terrorist threats or be quiet.
ROTC programs are needed at our nation's universities. Universities extol their racial, cultural, ethnic diversity but that diversity rarely extends to ideology/politics. U.S. campuses are nearly monolithically leftist, especially among the faculty.
Catholics who complain that our bishops play politics with communion. . .play politics with communion. This is beyond despicable.
40% of the Supreme Court cases this term are appeals from the notoriously liberal 9th Circuit. So, what's the learning curve on the left coast?
Fr. Z. links to a. . .I don't know what to call it. . .a "musical" setting for the Gloria. All I can say is: NOT if I'm the presider!
B.O. cut a secret deal with hospitals to drop the public option in his grab for domination of the health care system. And here I thought Big Medicine was the problem!
Franciscan friar botches basic theology: no, pets do not go to heaven. The fact that all of creation will be redeemed does not mean that all of creation will go to heaven. There may be some sort of "doggy heaven," but it is not the Beatific Vision that God's human creatures will enjoy. This sort of Oprah-ish theology sentimentalize serious spiritual issues.
Anna "Red Boots" Arco notes that the Proto-Nazi, Patriarchal, Dissent-suppressing Rottweiler of God, Pope Benedict XVI wants an empowered laity. Hmmmm. . .sounds like he's trying to pull a fast one. Can we really trust someone who wears red footwear? Oh, wait. . .
Call me a modernist, revisionist heretic, but I just can't work up the energy to get worried about questions like this. My student master used to ask me every time I complained about the craziness of our seminary professors, "Philip, is this the hill you wanna die on?" No, not even close.
Lefty lawyer defends the Pope! Obviously, someone bought him off. . .
He-Man does disco. . .I'll never be the same.
Follow HancAquam ------------>
re: shirt collars showing over cassock. used to get irked by servers wearing tennies and light colored pants under cassocks. changed my mindset to thank God there are boys willing to serve at the altar.
ReplyDeletedear Father,
ReplyDeleteAbout the "animals in heaven" question ... could you explain further? Clearly animals don't enjoy the beatific vision ... but isn't it possible that we, in the beatific vision, will in some sort of way enjoy them?
About the vestiture question to Fr. Z: why is the questioner (and why is Fr Z) wrong that this is a worthwhile discussion? It is, after all, a question about how we vest for the Most Important Thing on Earth (the Mass) ... if this wasn't important then why does the Church give us such specific rules about vestituture?
Whenever my students ask me about animals in heaven, I tell them, "yes, there could be animals in heaven if by heaven you're referring to the physical new creation." Then I watch their smiles turn to frowns as I continue, "but animals don't have rational souls, and if they are able to go to heaven, they don't receive the Beatific Vision. Also, you'll be completely caught up in the worship of God, so I'm not sure you'll even notice them."
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that they could physically exist in heaven, but that it would be similar to the existence of animals in Eden.
Do I sense the old Dominican-Franciscan rivalry heating up? I went to college at Steubenville, but was blessed at least to have one Dominican priest as a professor. I always take the middle ground in these battles, and so I would say, new heaven, new earth, new sun, new sky, new Fido, but just as we will have no need for the sun because Christ will be our light, so we will have no need for Fido. If he's there, it's solely to show God's glory as part of the new creation, not to have any sort of part in the experience of heaven. If you define heaven as the Beatific Vision itself, they won't be in heaven. If you define heaven as the new creation, they could be there in some way.
I don't see Fr. Z talking about dying on hills for shirt collars, but if someone is in charge of training altar boys and it's in his hands to teach them how to dress, it seems it would be good for him to know the answer to the question. In general I think most parishes need a LOT more attention to detail, and little details add up to a Mass that feels much more reverent to the people in the pews.
ReplyDeleteThat He-Man video is really quite well done.
off topic question, Father -
ReplyDeletehave you posted on Near Death Experiences (NDE)?
this week I received four e-mails from different individuals that I know to inform me about an upcoming conference sponsored by a group of Catholics featuring two speakers who claimed to have had NDE experience that was a major catalyst to their conversion. —one is now Catholic, the other is with a protestant church which supports a lot of social issues that the Catholic Church does not support.
I know enough to know there is more to understand regarding NDEs, and I was wondering how a Catholic in the pew even begins to discern these speakers?
If you can help, greatly appreciate it.
From the article you linked to about Rainbow Sash brigade being denied the Eucharist at Mass:
ReplyDelete"St. Benedict theology junior Elizabeth Gleich, PRiSM vice president, said, "we were making a statement during the eucharist, and many have disagreed with that. But when we have no other way of dialoguing with our church, no other way of telling him how we feel, how else to do it than in liturgy?'"
The answer to how to dialogue with the Church, Miss Gleich, is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is available to you and to Catholics world-wide nearly every Saturday afternoon at most Catholic parishes. Check your parish bulletin for details about the availability of this means of dialogue at a parish near you.
My wife heard me listening to the Gloria and thought sure I was watching liturgical dance. Personally, I kind of liked the jazz setting -- completely inappropriate for a Mass and unsingable by a congregation -- but it had me snapping my beat-approval.
ReplyDeleteWell I have to say that as a choir member that "Gloria" would be really fun to sing.......course I've always wanted to be in a Broadway Musical....,,,,,,,........
ReplyDeleteAs for the shirt collars.....WOW. Someone has a LOT of time on their hands and really good eyes!! I'd be happy if the altar servers would quit wearing flip flops!!
Do you think God cares what we are wearing? Surely it is the attitude in which we serve that is important?
ReplyDelete1. I read some time ago, I think in the Wall Street Journal, that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was reversed more than all the other circuit courts combined.
ReplyDelete2. I read once a Jesuit answer to animals in heaven. "If you need your pet to be completely happy, than of course it will be there."
3. I have spent the last month trying to convince the altar server who lives in my house that he has grown since the new robes were purchased two years ago and he needs to move up a size. The robe should be a little above the ankle, not a little below the knee. At least his dress shoes are polished and his pants fit, since I removed all non-fitting pants and put them in a container in the basement for his brother to grow into.
Marie