the night is passing!

homily notes: fourth sunday of ordinary time

2012-01-28T15:13:00.001-05:00

For the people of Israel, Moses was and is a vitally important figure.

He was the Hebrew boy who was raised as an Egyptian who was called by God to lead his people out of oppression in Egypt towards the promised land. But that wasn't Moses' greatest achievement.

Moses was special, he was important, because of his relationship with God. When the people of Israel reached the mountain, he went up into the presence of God to receive the Law; and when he came down, he was so changed by being in the presence of God, that the people begged him to put a veil over his face. It was believed that to see the face of God would kill a mere human. So Moses was seen as the greatest prophet, the man who saw God face to face and brought his message back to the people.

But as we heard today, God promised to raise up a prophet like Moses - another prophet who speaks on God's behalf. How could this be? Moses was so close to God that his face was transfigured.

In today's gospel, we see the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus is teaching in a synagogue and St. Mark writes that the people were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.

Their usual teachers, the scribes and pharisees, all taught under the authority of the teachers who came before them. Just as today, a teacher only teaches because of the work and studies of the people who came before them.

For the religious teachers of Jesus' time, this authority all went back to Moses. Moses was the original law-giver, the person who received his authority from God himself. The only way someone with greater authority could surpass him is if their relationship with God was closer. If their authority was more original.

Jesus was that person. Jesus was the prophet who was greater than Moses because not only did he see God face to face but he was united to the Father - they are one.

The teachings of Jesus have power for us not only because they are good lessons with good morals, but because they come from someone with the authority to teach. Jesus has authority because he existed before all time, before the world was created. His words and his commandments are good because he is goodness itself.

And that is good news for us. We follow a leader whose authority isn't based on popularity or good looks or propaganda. We follow a leader who has the answers, whose teachings and laws are what is truly good for us.

This is important to remember especially in the times we live in. Last Friday, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a ruling that will require all private health plans to have coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and drugs that are known to cause an abortion. This includes Catholic schools and hospitals who - by their very definition - are morally opposed to all of these things.
The administration gave non-profit employers who are opposed to this on religious beliefs a year to comply.

Do you know what this means? It means we as a Church have a year to decide how we can violate our consciences, how we can ignore what we believe to be good and evil, so that we can follow this ruling.

That's the struggle we face. We don't have violent persecutions, we don't have arenas and lions; but we have this: a quiet attempt to destroy the Church's work in our country.

Now is the time to remember who we follow. Now is the time to pledge ourselves - our lives and our hearts - to our king.

It's by his authority that we will fight and by his authority that our Church will survive.

march for life 2012

2012-01-24T22:39:00.001-05:00

This year, as a high school chaplain, I led a group to DC for the March for the first time.

I must admit that it was stressful to prepare. There are a lot of little details to plan and things to pay for: a bus, tickets to the Youth Rally & Mass, image waivers from the Archdiocese of DC, permission slips from the diocese, snacks, etc.

But, in the end, it went well. Yes, we got wet and were cold and tired, but everything went smoothly.

I especially enjoyed being a priest at the Youth Rally & Mass. After settling my group in their seats, I went down to what was actually a restaurant to hear confessions. It was a powerful experience. I quickly lost count of how many people came and sat down.
What struck me most was the openness and trust people had. I'm just some guy they've never met before, but because they know I'm a priest, they were willing and able to share some pretty deep things. It was a real sign of the awesome power and privilege of the priesthood. They came to me because of Jesus.

After confessions I headed down to the "event level" with a couple of priests I met to get ready for Mass. Down there I ran into several people I know from seminary - it's always amazing who you see at the March. Processing into the Verizon Center was pretty incredible. It's a gigantic room with a gigantic crowd. Praying the Eucharistic prayer with all those priests is quite an experience as well.

Then began the walking and standing portion of the day. The kids in my group held up well considering the cold rain. It takes so long to actually start marching that it's easy to get discouraged; but they did well with (mostly) minimal complaints.

This was my seventh time at the March. Though that's not nearly as many as some of the people I've traveled with over the years, I find it interesting to think about the March as an event. First off, I like the March a lot. It was where I first felt a call to the priesthood, so I see it as a turning point in my faith. The whole idea of so many people being witnesses, year after year, also inspires me. Even without any sort of tangible result, I think it's important that we stand up and say that abortion is a grave evil.
It is also a positive thing for those who come to March. We get to be encouraged by the massive number of people who hold those same values in common. For young people especially, it's a glimpse into the pro-life movement - and Catholicism - on a larger scale than their parish or diocese. Yes, I know it's not a exclusively Catholic event, but we have to accept the reality of it.

Afterwards, on the bus ride home, I was thinking about what I would do differently, leading the high school's trip to the March again. At that point, wet and cold, it was hard to find a way to attract kids to the event strictly on the basis that it's a positive thing to stand up against abortion. I think that's the weakness of the March and perhaps why it doesn't attract attention outside the pro-life movement: it's the same thing every year.
I don't know what would be practical to change when you are dealing with such a huge number of people, but it seems to me that repeating the same formula over and over again can make it lose it's power. The reason things like the Occupy movement or even the rally put on by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert grabbed so much attention was that they were new, fresh - something unexpected that made people think, "this could change something."
I am not saying that we need to be novel just to imitate our culture; but we do, as pro-life people, need to learn how to make our message something people want to investigate.

homily notes: third sunday of ordinary time

2012-01-21T15:14:00.001-05:00

We all know the story of Jonah, right?

He was this guy who God called to go on a mission for him. He was supposed to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, warning them that God was going to punish them for their sins.
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire - this was an empire that ended up conquering the kingdom of Israel and sending its people into exile. It was not a place that Jonah wanted to go.

So, we get to the famous part of the story: Jonah gets in a ship heading the completely opposite direction. A storm comes up and the crew of the ship decides that it is because Jonah is running from God that they are in danger of sinking. To fix that they throw him overboard, then Jonah is swelled by a "great fish." He stays in the fish for three days and then it spits him out on coast.

That's probably the story that most people know, but it's only the introduction to where we pick up today.

Once again, God tells Jonah to go and warn Nineveh. This time he goes, but when he gets there, he doesn't exactly put his heart into it - he just walks through saying, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed." - no solutions or ways to get out of it, they are just doomed.

But, somehow, it works: the people of Nineveh repent and they are spared God's punishment.

Our gospel today also tells the story of an announcement of repentance. Jesus is in Galilee, his home territory, and he's proclaiming that "this is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."

This is a different message than Jonas was proclaiming and it's proclaimed in a different way.

It's about more than avoiding punishment or destruction. Gospel means "good news" and this good news is that the time has now come: everything promised by God in the Old Testament was coming to completion because of the coming of Jesus.

But, just like Jonas, Jesus preaches repentance.

Repentance is not a popular idea in our culture, at least not for ourselves. Like Jonas, it's easier for us to say about someone else, "You are wrong and you should be punished." That feels good, but it's a lot harder to look at my own heart and say, "I'm wrong and deserve to be punished."

Fortunately, Jesus offers a solution and that solution is himself. Like the disciples who dropped everything and left everything behind to follow Jesus, he calls us to abandon what holds us back, what makes us unloving, and follow him wholeheartedly.

It's only when we turn away from the darkness in our lives that we can turn and follow Jesus. That's what repentance is: turning around, making every day a moment of conversion.

This is especially meaningful today/this weekend. Thirty nine years ago today/this Sunday, the Supreme Court of our country made abortion legal. It made the killing of a helpless, innocent human being legal. That is a grave evil. It is a sin that cries out to God for justice. It calls for repentance.
I'm not saying that we're all responsible for that - and I am definitely not trying to condemn any woman who's had an abortion, our response as a Church has to be one of love to anyone who's been put in that situation.
But, we as a people, as citizens of the United States need to repent. We need to change our minds and our hearts so that, law or no law, an abortion is an unthinkable act.

We need to pray for women considering an abortion, we need to pray for the men in their lives, for the men and women who work in the abortion industry, for our leaders and for ourselves, that our actions and words tell the world that this is an evil that must end.

preach like an artist

2012-01-19T23:30:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year, I discovered the work of Austin Kleon, writer/blogger/artist. Through his blog and twitter feed, I've been introduced to things like sketchnotes and been inspired to write and doodle more; but the thing that caught my attention in the first place is "How To Steal Like An Artist."It's a blog post of a talk that is coming out as a book in March.

The piece has some great points and I've been thinking about how they apply to me as a preacher, as well as anyone else in the "business."So, I'll highlight some points from Kleon's manifesto along with my thoughts on how they apply to a homilist.
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1. Steal like an artist.
Kleon's first point is probably his best.

Here’s what artists understand. It’s a three-word sentence that fills me with hope every time I read it: Nothing is original.

Now, that may sound kind of cynical, but, when you really think about it, we all experience it. Our ideas don't come from a vacuum, they are the synthesis of our influences. That applies to writers and musicians - and preachers as well.

And thank God for that! If I had to come up with something completely new and original every week (every day, even), I would be completely overwhelmed. Fortunately for me (and the people that hear me), I get to use the influence of everything I read, every homily I hear and, most importantly, the Word Himself.
That's a distinction for priests: besides our fellow earthly preachers, we have the influence of the One who inspired the scriptures; we're not on our own.

So, to look at preaching through this lens, we take the best of everything - our experiences, our studies and our prayer - and those influences come together to help us create a homily.
It doesn't have to be "original" because we're not in the business of making things under our own power - we're delivering a message, in our voice, but with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

One final point under this bit: Because we rely on these sources for our preaching, we have to collect from good sources: read good books (including good stories), watch good movies, listen to good music, remember our experiences and the experiences of others, and, above all, pray well. It's only in relationship to the Author that we can interpret his work.

3. Write the book you want to read.

The question every young writer asks is: “What should I write?” And the cliched answer is, “Write what you know.” This advice always leads to terrible stories in which nothing interesting happens. The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s write what you *like*. Write the kind of story you like best. We make art because we like art. All fiction, in fact, is fan fiction. The best way to find the work you should be doing is to think about the work you want to see done that isn’t being done, and then go do it. Draw the art you want to see, make the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read.

If you (preacher) were like me, you spent seminary thinking, "I never want to preach like that" or "That is how I want to preach."
We know what inspires us and what leaves us feeling let down. We should preach in a way that would inspire us as well as the people, because if we're not excited and passionate about what we're saying, the people who hear us will feel it.

Take all those feelings of being excited about getting the chance to preach about something and put them into a homily you would want to hear.

9. Be boring. It's the only way to get work done.
Very simply, making anything takes work and work takes discipline. Now, I'm the last person to lecture about procrastination, but when it comes down to it, preparation is incredibly important.
I remember a couple occasions in seminary when a goes preacher would admit that they hadn't thought about their homily ahead of time. I was always a little disappointed. There is always the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but I think we need to do our part as well.
No, that doesn't mean you need to an exegesis for a two minute daily Mass homily; but we can't leave these things to chance, trusting in our own creativity at the last minute.

Another great point by Kleon under being boring:

Take care of yourself.

Eat breakfast, do some pushups, get some sleep.

10. Creativity is subtraction.

It’s often what an artist chooses to leave out that makes the art interesting. What isn’t shown vs. what is. In this age of information overload and abundance, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s important to them. Devoting yourself to something means shutting out other things. What makes you interesting isn’t just what you’ve experienced, but also what you haven’t experienced. The same is true when you make art: you must embrace your limitations and keep moving.

It's very tempting to put too much in a homily. I have all these great ideas and I want to share them; BUT, it's more important to make one good point that people will remember. As my homiletics teacher put it: if you don't know what your main point is, then your audience won't either.

---

Those are my thoughts. I can't claim any special authority besides my own brief experience and a little bit of pondering. I think Kleon makes some great points that can be a benefit to anyone who creates for fun or as part of their job. For myself, I have to see my preaching as a creative act, as art.

To quote Austin:

All advice is autobiographical.

It’s one of my theories that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past. This list is me talking to a previous version of myself.

finished a book: The Context of Holiness

2012-01-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

My spiritual director recommended The Context of Holiness by Marc Foley, OCD. It's a look at the life of St. Therese from a psychological angle. At first I was wary of the whole idea - how can you analyze St. Therese? But Foley does a fantastic job showing how Therese's life - her struggles, weaknesses and strengths - were the context in which she became a saint.

A couple of great quotes:

Therese's experience of the ocean could have been only an aesthetically pleasing experience. But it was more than that. She brought it into the inner chamber of her will and made a resolution to stay close to God. She fused together in her mind her desire to do good with an experience of beauty.
---
"[Never] have an emotion at a concert, without expressing it afterward in some active way ..."
If we fail to link our experiences of beauty to goodness, then aesthetic experiences can degenerate into mere sentimentality and insulate us from life instead of connecting us to it.
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Love and suffering are inseparable. If we are unwilling to suffer, then we cannot love.

homily notes: 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

2012-01-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

"What are you looking for?"

If I asked you that question, you could have any number of answers: a place to sit in the church, a page in your missalette so you know which words to say, your cell phone ...

But when Jesus asks that question it takes on a whole new meaning, a deeper meaning.
It goes to the heart of today's gospel. But let's start at the beginning ...

We find ourselves with two disciples of John the Baptist. What were they thinking about the course of their lives. They were following this man, this prophet who was preaching repentance. We don't know how long they had followed him or how well they knew him, but when he points out Jesus, they immediately go after him.

"Behold the Lamb of God" - what does this mean? It's not about a cute little animal. These men would have associated the lamb with sacrifice, a sacrifice offered to God for the forgiveness of sins. What does that mean about Jesus? We know that, in the end, Jesus does offer himself for our sins. He gives himself as the lamb that was slain. But these two disciples don't.

Yet they still go after Jesus. And when they come up to him, he asks them a question: "What are you looking for?"

How would we respond? This is a question far beyond, "what do you want? why are you following me?" It asks, "what is your desire? what are you seeking for you life?"

We're faced with that same question - when you come to mass, what are you looking for? When you go to confession, what are you looking for? When you cry out to God with a prayer for a sick loved one or a bad situation, what are you looking for?

The answer is God. He is the answer to our every desire. He is the solution to the problems of our life. We are made with this desire - it's built into our very being. In the famous words of St. Augustine, "our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

The two disciples had the right answer to this question. They didn't respond to Jesus with, "what's the meaning of life? what should we do? give us some orders?" They asked, "where are you staying?" They realized that, to find what they were looking for, they needed to be near Jesus.

That is our answer as well. If we want to find what we're looking for, we have to stay close to Jesus. We receive him in the Eucharist, we find his forgiveness in confession. In the sacraments and prayers of the Church, we come close to Jesus.

At the end of the Gospel, we hear about a man named Simon being brought by Andrew, his brother, to Jesus. And Jesus gives him a new name: cephas, the Aramaic word for Rock - where we get the name Peter.
Right at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus calls Peter and sets him as the rock that will be the foundation of his Church.

This is the reality we live in - we are seeking, we are looking for something - and the place to find what we truly desire is here in the Church he established.

What are we looking for? We're looking for God. Let's go to where we can find him.

I highly recommend ...

2011-12-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

... The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

If you are a big fan of Lord of the Rings, Middle-Earth and Tolkien in general, this collection of letters is a fascinating look into the mind behind it all.
I loved getting a glimpse into Tolkien's personality - his relationships with family and friends, his great attention to detail in his work and, especially, his Catholic faith.
Reading this has shown me, more than I ever suspected before, what an achievement LotR, and all the stories of Middle-Earth, truly are.

Christmas Homily Notes 2011

2011-12-24T14:31:00.000-05:00

[As usual, these are notes and what I actually say at Mass will change a bit.]

We live in a time of celebrity.

Our lives are filled up with news of the rich and powerful - what they're doing, who they're spending time with, how great they are or how bad they are.

I don't blame these movie stars and politicians and musicians. They are living in a world that's been given to them.

I think that it's a natural human tendency to place importance on the great people of the world.
We see them as the ones who make the changes, who make the important decisions.

But that's not the story we hear tonight/today on this Christmas Eve/Day.

We have a big-name character right at the beginning of this Gospel:

Caesar Augustus - He's the emperor who brought about the Pax Romana (Roman peace), a time of prosperity when the Empire defeated its enemies and there was peace in the Mediterranean. His subjects even called him a god and proclaimed him as the savior.
But Caesar, as powerful as he was, is not the main character of this story.

Next we hear about a couple traveling to Bethlehem because of the decree that families had to return to their ancestral homes for the census. This couple is just another family coming into town and when they get there, they have no place to stay.

So, this ordinary couple stays in what was probably a cave - used as a stable to keep animals - and there Mary has her baby.

To the eyes of the world, this is just a poor couple who have a son. There's nothing significant going on here.

But to the eyes of God, this is a pivotal point of history. Perhaps the pivotal point of history.
This isn't just the birth of an unknown child to unknown parents in some small corner of the world, just as it's happened since the beginning of the human race.

This is something new, something unprecedented; because this baby, though he can't talk or walk or do anything for himself, is God coming into the world.

This isn't just another person to be added to Caesar's list of his subjects.
This is eternity, this is divinity, this is the One who made the universe, who put the stars in their place, who thought up lions and whales and eagles. This is the One who, out of an abundance of love, made mankind.

And now he's here with us.

And it's fitting that the angels don't appear to Caesar or any of the other kings of the world. They don't go to find the religious leaders to tell them that prophecies are being fulfilled. They don't even tell the people of the town of Bethlehem.

They go to shepherds. Men who weren't staying in their homes that night, but were keeping watch over their flocks. These are lowly, average people - and they are the first ones to hear the greatest news heard up to that point.

A savior has come. Someone who will deliver us from ourselves - from our weaknesses and our jealousies and our faults.
And he's not a powerful ruler like Caesar Augustus. He's not even famous.
He's a baby lying on a bed of straw.

Our God loves us that much.

He doesn't come and remake the world or destroy all the sinners or demand our worship.

He gave us the gift of himself. And it's the best kind of gift because we didn't even know we wanted it.

The world was going along, people were living their lives, making mistakes but hoping for something better.
But that something better came in a way no one expected. It came quietly, in the cry of a baby.

And it's only a group small people, insignificant people, who get to see angels in the sky singing glory to God.

Where does that leave us 2000 years later?

Well, it leaves us with a decision: we can either take this as a nice story to think about once a year, something that makes us feel good ...
OR we can accept the gift God has offered.

That gift is more than just happiness or comfort or pleasure - the things the world offers.
We are given the gift of Love Itself. God wants to be a part if our lives.

Whether you are here at Mass every weekend or only a couple times a year, this is an invitation to every single one of us:

God our Father loves us enough to give us his Son so that we can share in that love.
There are only two proper responses to that gift: we say YES. And we say: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Before you leave after Mass, take a moment - in your pew or over by the Nativity - and say to God: Thank you for coming into the world and into my life. How can I, on this Christmas, accept that gift?

end of Advent

2011-12-23T23:05:00.000-05:00

I'm a bad blogger.

This Advent has been far busier than I ever would have imagined: lots of penance services and Christmas parties alongside writing Christmas cards, organizing our March for Life trip, playing in the high school's Christmas cantata and all the normal life of a parish.

It feels good to be a priest tonight, on this Christmas Eve Eve. I've experienced a lot since May 21st. Not all of it has been easy but all of it has been meaningful and, at least for me, from God.
Seeing how God works through poor, weak and imperfects people (like me) is amazing. Even with all my faults, he touches people in ways that I didn't plan or expect.

As I head into "Christmas proper," I'm thankful for what God has done with me and in me. I have so much learning and growing to do, but my experience of the priesthood so far has shown that He is the one in charge. All I have to do is trust and obey.

new words

2011-12-01T23:36:00.001-05:00

We are not quite a week into our use of the new Roman Missal.
I have to say that I've enjoyed it so far. I find the new prayers powerful and direct. The actual experience of celebrating the Mass with this translation has been interesting. Even though I've only been a priest since May, I've found myself getting used to the "old" translation - it's what I've heard my whole life and what I learned to pray in the seminary.
Now, I really do have to pay attention. Besides the book itself (which ever one you use) being different, the structures of the prayers and the order of words require real thought - and I like it.
I'm a big reader, I read every night before I go to sleep; but a problem that I have - especially when reading a book I really like - is that I read too fast. I skip words and jump lines.
Though I never did that with the Sacramentary, the newness of the Missal truly helps me focus on what the prayers are saying.
I find that the most challenging thing about being the celebrant - praying words directed to God, all while I'm saying them out loud, usually with a microphone on, in a "public speaking voice." It seems to me, so far, that the new translation makes it a little more clear Who I am speaking to.

five things (vol. 4)

2011-11-18T20:39:00.001-05:00

1. American Optimism is a Strange God by Elizabeth Scalia

I wonder if it is not the first and greatest sin named by Yahweh and given to Moses, that is most at fault: the sin of idolatry. We have loved ourselves so well; we have denied ourselves nothing and placed too much of what we love between ourselves and God; we have cherished mere things or other people; over-identified with ideas or ideologies and made an afterthought of God, who will not be mocked.  Make no mistake, America is not only on a precipice, she is watching the supporting ground below as it shifts and cracks and bits of edging break loose and fall—and a nation tumbles quickly once the foundations are fragmented. Nations fall all the time, of course, but America was supposed to be special—the “exceptional nation” or, as Madeleine Albright called it, “the indispensable nation”—the “last best hope” for the world.  

But the last best hope for the world was always the Triune God of Creation. And even some religiously minded Americans seem to have forgotten that.

2. Lifehacker on how to boost your immune system and avoid the common cold.

3. Coldplay's video for "Paradise" is pretty awesome:

And here's the story behind it.

4.Vatican official notes Pope's attention to detail in liturgy:

When Pope Benedict presides over a Mass, “One of the most significant aspects is that of the centrality of the crucifix on the altar,” the liturgist said. At the moment of the consecration, it is essential that everyone direct their eyes and hearts “towards him who is at the center, the Lord, in order to renew his sacrifice of love for the salvation of all.”

5. More from The Anchoress: The World's Tiniest Hair Shirt - on the scapular.

flying solo

2011-11-12T21:19:00.001-05:00

My pastor was on vacation this past week. That meant that I did everything.

"Everything" included: two full weekends of Masses, two funerals, Mass at the prison, helping run two Bingos, and a bunch of other random things, including substitute-teaching two freshman religion classes.

Now, I'm not complaining. Yes, it was tiring and even overwhelming at times, but it was great to be involved with every aspect of the parish. You really feel connected to the people of the parish when you are the one on call. You are the one who goes to the hospital to anoint someone on their deathbed, even if you just got back to the rectory. You are the one who makes decisions (mostly little ones, fortunately).

The whole experience has been a good one - a time to learn what it's like to be the priest in a parish and a time to focus, keep organized and get things done.
However, I think my day off this week will be just a little more relaxing.

five things (vol. 3)

2011-11-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

1. If you're like me, your desk ends up as a place to keep piles of paper. All through college and seminary, I would take the various pieces of mail, school work, and notes and pile them on the corner of my desk. And they would sit there. Then, when the pile got too big, I would go through it and deal with everything so my desk was clear - until the next pile started.
Lately I've been trying hard to keep my desk clear by taking care of things as they come along. The same goes for my email inbox. It's not just about having a clean space (though that is helpful to me - it helps me think more clearly), it's about beating procrastination.
Zenhabits, an extremely useful site, has some great tips on keeping a clean desk:

1. First, take everything on your desk and in your drawers, and put them in one big pile. Put it in your “in basket” (if it doesn’t fit, pile it next to your desk or something). From now on, everything that comes in must go in your in basket, and you process everything as below.
2. Process this pile from the top down. Never re-sort, never skip a single piece of paper, never put a piece of paper back on the pile. Do what needs to be done with that paper, and then move on to the next in the pile. The options: trash it, delegate it, file it, do it, or put it on a list to do later. In that order of preference. Do it if it takes 2 minutes or less to complete. If it takes more, and you can’t trash, delegate or file it, then put it on a list of to-dos (more on your to-do list in another post).
3. Repeat at least once daily to keep desk clear.

2. Seizing the Moment by Leon Supernant - getting up in the morning for Jesus:

Instead of having the day’s moral decisions dominated by choices to avoid temptations to sin, as though we’re constantly navigating through a spiritual minefield, why not capitalize on moments of opportunity to grow in the love of God and neighbor? After all, the best defense is a good offense. The first moment of decision in a given day, and one in which quiet heroes are made, occurs the instant we awake. It’s the decision literally to get out of bed. At that moment, we’re comfortable, we might still be tired or not feel so great, and it would be easy to justify hitting the snooze button so we can sleep some more.

Certainly we’re not talking here about a temptation to sin, and sometimes, because of illness or other factors, it’s a very good decision to get a little more sleep.

However, our first waking moment gives us a chance unlike any others to put God first in word and action, to seize a moment of opportunity, to score a touchdown for Our Lord on the opening kickoff. Then we have a certain spiritual momentum, and our day becomes characterized more by the good we are choosing rather than the evil we are avoiding.

3. Denison Witmer is selling personal, online concerts due to his life getting more interesting soon:

In Denison's words, "My wife and I are expecting our first child this December :) We can't wait! Part of getting to know him/her means that I won't be touring anymore this fall or early spring. However, I still want to stay active with my fans and play music, so I came up with this "Holiday / Baby On The Way tour 2011"

4. Watch a road trip across the USA in five minutes:

5. On Manly Piety - a great article on the faith of Louis Martin, father of St. Therese.

late music post

2011-11-10T09:59:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've been enjoying the The Goat Rodeo Sessions - a quartet that includes cellist Yo-Yo Ma and three other guys I've never heard of. Regardless of their level of fame, all four of these guys play brilliantly it shows on the album. Every track sounds intimately live and for being mostly instrumental, are very catchy and accessible.

This song appears to be the "single":

And this one even has some great vocals:

Thinking about Purgatory.

2011-11-09T23:00:00.001-05:00

I've had two funerals in the past several days, and, while preparing for today's liturgy, I started thinking about Purgatory.
We tend to have a dark view of this belief - as if it's a sort of sad reality that we have to deal with as Catholics. Yes, our loved one may be in Purgatory, but we don't really want to talk about it. It may hurt someone, it may make someone sad.
But why should Purgatory make us sad? Don't we desire our family and friends to be the best people they can be? If someone is on an exercise plan, we want them to succeed. If someone is trying to quit smoking, we cheer them on.
In Purgatory, we are purified - made ready to stand face to face with our God. We are made ready for our ultimate destiny. How is that sad?
And more beautifully, we on Earth get to help our brothers and sisters in that process with our prayers.

five things (vol.2)

2011-11-05T23:27:00.000-04:00

1. The Cordial Churchman sells handmade bow ties. While you probably won't find me wearing one, given my line of work, I still find it fascinating when people make a living with their hands like this. Also, due to my recent interest in Doctor Who, I have a heightened "bow tie awareness."

2. "What I Love About Not Having an iPhone"
Jennifer Fulwiler makes some great points about the danger of always being connected. I can identify. While I use mine for many good, helpful things, I think it encourages this sense of constantly having to check in, to be informed and to be in touch.
Fulwiler mentions "old-fashioned note taking" as one of the casualties of the iPhone. I carry a pocket notebook and use that for most of my "things I need to remember" notes. It's definitely faster than typing on a phone, and I think the simple act of physically writing makes it a little more memorable.

3. Coldplay has posted half of the lyrics from Mylo Xyloto on their site. My favorite?

I turn the music up, I got my records on

From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song

Don't want to see another generation drop

I'd rather be a comma than a full stop

4. This is such a cool idea: Bishop to move onto college campus as a way to increase vocations.

5. A great message, as usual, from Fr. Barron:

Be strong and holy priests. Remain focused on prayer, both private and public; live your lives with integrity, realizing that you are a priest whether before human eyes, or God's alone; preach with energy and panache; love your people the way parents love their children. The many institutional changes that the church has made in regard to the protection of children are, obviously, indispensible, but they alone will never constitute an adequate response to the scandal. What is crucial is the decency of your generation of priests.

Don't think of this as an unfair expectation, but rather as a thrilling opportunity.

high school q & a

2011-11-03T23:39:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned, part of my assignment is to be chaplain for a local Catholic high school. One challenge for me so far has been that I don't get that many chances to interact with the students. I'm not a teacher, so I don't have that regular time to talk with them for any lengthy period of time. I have Mass with the whole school every other week, but that involves me preaching to them. That's important, but I don't get to know them or what they're thinking.

So, in an effort to get to know the students better, I offered my time to the religion teachers for question and answer sessions. So, I spent this Wednesday with the sophomores, juniors and seniors - two periods each. It was a long day.

However, it was also a really good experience. Besides answering/discussing some of the questions they submitted, I got to actually talk to them. It was clear that many of the pre-submitted questions were only asked because they had to do it ("What role does the Athanasian Creed play in the liturgy today?"), so I tried to make it clear that I was there to talk about what they wanted to talk about.

We had some good discussions. Some classes were more talkative than others, but I enjoyed every single one. Some of the recurring topics: ghosts, animals having souls/being in heaven and strange stories from the Old Testament. When the conversation lulled I either asked about their thoughts on being in a Catholic school or we went back and forth about music, TV shows and movies.

I'm hoping this is a step in the process of building my "chaplain presence" at the school. I'm only there two days a week, so every chance I get to be a part of the lives of the students is something to use.

snapshot: eleven two

2011-11-02T21:01:00.000-04:00

What's going on?
This week is passing quickly - as most do. I spent Monday (my day off) at home around Franciscan and visiting my family. For the feast day, I had one Mass with the grade school kids and parishioners, and then another one for the high school students. There have been a whole lot of hospital visits as well. I spent today - all of today - doing question and answer sessions with the high school kids.

Any meaningful moments?
I especially enjoyed Mass with the grade school for All Saints. It was actually a mix of the older students and parishioners. My usual method for preaching to the students always involves asking them questions. I find it keeps their attention and seems, at least to me, to get the point across. It was refreshing to do this while also preaching to an "grown up" audience.
After that Mass, I rushed down to the high school and used that experience as part of my homily to those students.
I like when a homily comes to me in an "organic" way like that.

In my free time ...
As you would guess from Monday's post, I'm listening to a lot of Thrice, Coldplay and Switchfoot. Another musical highlight came about in an interesting way: I was in Franciscan's bookstore last monday and heard a catchy song on the in-store music. I wandered around and listened to a few more songs before I decided to buy the CD, which turned out to be JJ Heller's Deeper. It's an album of acoustic versions of songs she's already released. I haven't heard any of her other work, but I love the quiet, intimate sound of this album.

Though for the moment
I'm heading into an extremely busy several days. There's a lot going on in the parish and at the high school and it's very easy to feel overwhelmed. I think the key is taking it one day at a time and remembering why I am doing what I am doing - for Jesus, not myself.

"... there is always good ..."

2011-11-01T01:02:00.001-04:00

A small knowledge of history depresses one with the sense of the everlasting mass and weight of human iniquity: old, old, dreary, endless, repetitive unchanging incurable wickedness. All towns, all villages, all habitations of men - sinks! And at the same time one knows that there is always good: much more hidden, much less clearly discerned, seldom breaking out into recognizable, visible, beauties of word or deed or face - not even when in fact sanctity, far greater than the visible advertised wickedness, is really there.

- J.R.R. Tolkien, in a letter to his son

good music in the fall

2011-11-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

This fall, three of my favorite bands have all released new album and I have been impressed with each of them.

Thrice - Major/Minor
I was drawn to the music of Thrice because of songs like this. They had a great mix of punk and metal that really appealed to me in my college years when I was discovering heavier music. I haven't followed the band's development all that closely over the past few years, so I wasn't too sure about Major/Minor.

This new album has more melody and no screaming. The guitars have a nice crunch to them but without the metal feel. Despite the differences from the Thrice I heard in college, I really like this album. There is a richness in the songs that is fresh. The vocals seem more impassioned and real, but don't lose their intensity. And, adding to the goodness of this album, lead singer, Dustin Kensrue, has really allowed his Christian faith to shine through many of the lyrics in ways that are honest and beautiful without being corny or fake.

Highlights: The opener, "Yellow Belly," is a perfect start. It captures the intensity that I knew in Thrice and drew me into the album. My other favorite has to be "Promises," for its fantastic lyrics:

Yea we get down on one knee
O, we play at chivalry
But we do not count the cost.

We say, "On me you can depend,"
And "I will be there till the end,"
Though we will not bear the cross.

Our word is so faint and feeble,
Broken by the slightest breeze or breath.
Our hearts are, they're so deceitful,
Sick and filled with lies that lead to death.

We are cowards and thieves.
Will we never turn to grieve the damage done?
Never see, never quake with rage at what we have become?
What we have become.

Switchfoot - Vice Verses
Switchfoot has never let me down, so I had no doubts about liking their newest album. With Vice Verses, they have once again crafted a set of songs that are thoughtful and catchy at the same time.
I love Jon Foreman's writing. He has a talent for capturing some deep ideas in songs that are still accessible.

Highlights: "Afterlife," "Restless" and "Vice Verses."

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Coldplay is a perfect example of a band that has grown with every album they've released, but has maintained the core of their sound and style.
Mylo Xyloto is a big step for the band. You can still hear that simple, stripped down Coldplay of Parachutes and A Rush of Blood ... but now it's infused with some lush orchestration and some serious pop music.
What I like:

The little instrumental intros/interludes are great. They give you time to process the preceding songs and tie the album together.
Something I noticed after a few listens: many of the songs end softly. Even the more upbeat tracks tend to slow or calm down near the end. It's a nice touch that, like the interludes, let's you move from song to song.
There's a nice element of upbeat pop throughout the whole thing. We hear more synthesizers than any (I think) of Coldplay's work. I was pleasantly surprised by how good Chris Martin and Rihanna sound on "Princess of China."
I've noticed several little biblical references in the lyrics. For example, in "Us Against The World":

The tightrope that I'm walking just sways and ties
The devil as he's talking with those angel's eyes
And I just want to be there when the lightning strikes
And the saints go marching in

Highlights: I like every song, but I think I'm still taking in the ending. For me, some of the best parts of Coldplay's albums are the last songs. You have tracks like "Everything's Not Lost," "Amsterdam" and "Death And All His Friends." Those immediately hit me as epic endings. I'm still trying to find that in "Up With The Birds." Whether or not I find it as powerful as their other endings, the album is another great entry in Coldplay's catalogue.

Prayer Reminder

2011-10-28T23:55:00.000-04:00

Please keep praying for Ben and Shaina's daughter, Chaia.

Check Ben's blog, Mustard Revolution for updates, including this post on how to help them in another way:

Chaia Joy Thompson Fund

Some have inquired about contributing toward a fund in Chaia's name. It's not expected by any means, but, word on the street is that a week at Akron Childrens, over a month at Cleveland Clinic, an ambulance ride and a helicopter ride will end up costing more than 10 or 20 dollars.

If you have been seeking this information, its here.

The Chaia Joy Thompson Fund

First Merit Bank102 Main Street

Wadsworth, OH 44281

You can send it by mail or drop it off at the bank.

five things (vol. 1)

2011-10-28T23:43:00.000-04:00

1. A Schedule for Blogging
I always want to put more into this blog, but find myself overwhelmed with "the blank page." So, following the example of ideas from Adam's Ale and other blogs, I'm going to try sticking to a schedule - having a certain kind of post for each day of the week (minus the weekends). This is what I'm thinking:

Monday: will be dedicated to music.
Tuesday: I'll do one of my "snapshot" posts (like this, for example).
Wednesday: I'll talk about some priestly experience - sharing something interesting or insightful I experienced in my ministry.
Thursday: Random thoughts, hopefully some longer writing.
Friday: A list of five things (or five links) inspired by this sort of thing. This is the first edition of that.

Now, this doesn't exclude the random post about whatever I want, but it will, ideally, help me be a more regular blogger.

2. Speaking of Conversion Diary, I am really enjoying Jennifer Fulwiler's writing. She covers a wide range of topics from simple life lessons to using social media in the Church.

3. I recently read Frank Herbert's sic-fi epic Dune. At it's best it creates a deep, believable world and presents some interesting ideas about the way humans would think and act far in the future. My only real complaint was that I found that parts of it moved way too fast.
Unfortunately, I caught the movie version on BBC America while I was reading the book and I think it affected my perception. The movie is awful. Just plain horrible. Don't waste your time.
I considered picking up the sequel (the first of several) at a used bookstore, but just didn't find myself attracted to spending more time in that world. It was a little of a downer.

4. I'm always interested in reading about ways to be more productive. Lifehacker is a great site with endlessly interesting articles, like this one on more realistic to-do lists. I'm a big list maker, but I can identify with the danger of becoming overwhelmed with never-ending task lists.

Another helpful tip comes from zenhabits:

Identify the most important thing you have to do today.

Decide to do just the first little part of it — just the first minute, or even 30 seconds of it. Getting started is the only thing in the world that matters.

Clear away distractions. Turn everything off. Close all programs. There should just be you, and your task.

Sit there, and focus on getting started. Not doing the whole task, just starting.

5. Fr. Dwight on monks:

Now the thing I have always loved about the monastic founders--whether it was St Anthony of Egypt or Pachomius or Benedict--is that they didn't set out to start a 'movement'. They just did what they had to do. They were faithful to their vocation and calling. That others joined them, and that a movement developed was not only an unexpected growth, but often an unwelcome one at that.

Furthermore, they changed history, and that is also something they didn't set out to do. Anthony and Pachomius and Benedict went out to mind their own business, work hard, pray hard and study and be true to themselves and their God. They ended up preserving classical learning, laid the foundation for a new christendom, and established a refuge for what was left for civilization, thus planting a seed for a new civilization.

Pray for Chaia

2011-10-04T23:09:00.001-04:00

My friend Ben (of Mustard Revolution) and his wife Shaina have a baby daughter named Chaia who is currently in the hospital with a serious heart problem. They could all use your prayers. Stay updated through Ben's blog.

Here is a message from Ben and Shaina:
Chaia Update from Wadsworth UMC on Vimeo.

Happy Michaelmas!

2011-09-29T16:59:00.000-04:00

From Why I Am Catholic, a poem by GKC:

Michael, Michael: Michael of the Morning,Michael of the Army of the Lord,Stiffen thou the hand upon the still sword, Michael,Folded and shut upon the sheathed sword, Michael,Under the fullness of the white robes falling,Gird us with the secret of the sword.

Down in Cherry Valley

2011-09-28T19:28:00.000-04:00

On Monday, the priests of our diocese gathered at a hotel/conference center for our annual Clergy Convocation. This is a big 3-day meeting where we have speakers on different topics and spend some time praying and socializing.

This was only my second time attending. Last year I came for one day because we were looking at the new Roman Missal. This years topics: evangelization and chanting the new Missal.

The highlight for me was practicing a lot of the priest's parts in the new translation. It is really going to be a challenge. I feel fortunate in that I am still new at this and, though I'm comfortable with the way I learned to chant the prayers in seminary, it won't be as difficult for me to learn something new. It will be tough for priests who have been doing the same thing for years and years.

Besides the presentations we all heard, I got to spend time with the other priests of the diocese, which is always a good time. A couple of us also made a visit to the Josephinum to see some of our seminarians and tour the place.

All in all, a good time.

four good things to read

2011-09-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

1. Fr. Z on frequent confession and growing in holiness.

When we say no to our appetites, we suffer, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot, depending on what it is and how deeply engrained the habit is. In this suffering, however, you have an opportunity to unite your sufferings to those of the Lord and the martyrs in heaven and, through them be tested in your love of the Lord and be corrected.

It can be done. But it might not be easy. You might come up with some other strategies, but first you need to study yourself with brutal honesty and without the slightest shred of self-deception. That can be reinforced with your evening examination of conscience.
Also, the sacrament of penance gives you not only forgiveness for your sins but also helps against sinning, a strengthening against the occasions of sin.

2. I Wonder If It’s Unrealisitic to think I could Double the Size of My Congregation in One Year?

Why not? Why shouldn’t I aim high? And really, is it that high? Is it really so unrealistic to ask every member of my congregation to shepherd one soul back to the sacraments and the practice of the faith in the next year? Is that so impossible, for each one to reach one, and work with them for a year and to invite them to come and learn more of the faith?

Well, I’m going to try. As a parish we have been engaged in a door-to-door evangelization campaign and that’s been going quite well, actually. Over 1500 homes have been visited and our Sunday numbers are up by 50.

But I am also aware that friendship and family are a more fruitful vein than the “cold-contact” approach of door to door. We’re going to keep doing that because we need to obey Christ who sends us out two by two. But every congregant knows at least five members from among their family or friends who need to come to God’s house either because they have drifted, or because they have never had a Church home at all. It’s time to go to work and shepherd them back.

Sounds like a plan!

3. "... three reasons I love the rosary."

4. The Lost Art of Killing Time

I hate to admit it, but I honestly cannot remember when I last killed a whole day by just wandering around. I read a column lately in which the author made the point that with mobile devices like smart phones always around for e-mail, Facebook, games and such, boredom is headed for extinction. There is always some sort of digital input to fill up the white space.

For me, this past Sunday was a day for non-digital input. I came away with a much more relaxed perspective and a bit of an ah-ha about how much time I spend plugged in and what the impact is of that.

paper & ink

2011-09-15T23:51:00.001-04:00

Read this, from "Do you have a notebook?":

Somewhere along the way we’ve lost the value of privacy, of silence, of prudence. We’ve lost the pleasure of writing for the self, of the comfort of solitude, of being alone with a word or a thought, and holding it in one’s mind, like a precious secret, because it is too valuable to just give away for free.

We are afraid of not having an audience, of not having eyes looking at us. We are afraid of being alone. We have become a lonely and haunted generation, because the point is that you keep a notebook because thinking and writing are pleasures in themselves, to be enjoyed in themselves, and you don’t need another person to “like” them for them to be so.

That is a great point.

So much of the writing we do these days is meant to be seen. There is Twitter and Facebook (and blogs) as the writer mentions; but even in school, we write for a grade or in a job we write for our pay. All of these things are written with the intention of being read by another person.

There's nothing wrong with that, per se. It's good to have other people read what we write.

However, there is something to be said for writing for its own sake - getting your thoughts down on paper for yourself.

five things i'm interested in right now - 9.15.11

2011-09-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

1. Field Notes - Fantastic little notebooks that fit perfectly in your back pocket. I've wanted a pocket notebook for a while, but nothing seemed practical for actually carrying around. These are exactly what I wanted.

2. Top Gear (UK) - I'm not a car person, but this show is fascinating.

3. Getting ready for the new Roman Missal - After having celebrated the Mass since the end of May and becoming familiar with the current Mass translation, I feel like I'm better able to prepare for the new one. I finally know what the new words are replacing and can productively study the new translation.

4. The Music of Battlestar Galactica for Solo Piano - I know I go on and on about the BSG soundtrack, but it's truly some of my favorite music. This new solo piano album that composer Bear McCreary has put together makes me appreciate his work anymore. These versions are stripped down and (mostly) more relaxed. Here's a favorite: "Passacaglia."

5. Fall, which doesn't have a website. I am a summer person. I've always loved warm weather - weather where you can where sandals and shorts and be completely comfortable - but I've been enjoying what it's been like lately around here. Even the rain has been nice. It's somehow relaxing. When I leave the house in the morning and there is a nice chill in the air, I just feel alive.

snapshot: nine seven

2011-09-07T10:12:00.001-04:00

What's going on?

The week has gone quickly. It's hard to believe that it's Wednesday already. I had a nice visit at home Sunday and Monday - saw some friends, hung out with my parents, concelebrated at Franciscan, played with my dog. I had a funeral at a funeral home yesterday. Today I'm at the high school.

Any meaningful moments?

The funeral yesterday was for a woman I had actually met and visited several times before she died. It was powerful to see how much she appreciated me coming to her hospital room and how much she wanted to receive communion, though she couldn't. I was happy that I was able to be with her in this last part of her journey on Earth.

In my free time ...

Thanks to the recommendations of seminarian Tom and college friend Joe, I've gotten into a couple BBC shows: Doctor Who and Top Gear. The Doctor appeals to me because of its humor, its crazy sci-fi story lines. Top Gear is a bit of a surprise, because I'm not a "car person." I just love how the hosts test the cars for the pure enjoyment of it. Also, the challenges they undertake (for example, a trip from Switzerland to the UK on one tank of gas) are very entertaining. I would LOVE to be able to do a lap on their test course.

Thought for the moment

We're experiencing some cooler and wetter weather. It makes me look forward to Fall. I am definitely a big fan of warm Summer weather, but all of the seasons have their own charm. Fall feels quieter, slower and yet crisper ... if that makes sense.

And every since my time in college, I have loved walking in the rain. Not getting soaked, but just enjoying the cool air and the smells that rain brings up.

hand written notes

2011-09-07T09:50:00.000-04:00

1. Art of Manliness on "How to Write A Novel." This line is inspiring:

Even the busiest person can find a way to write just one page a day. One page. About four hundred words. One page a day yields a complete, 365-page novel in one year.

2. How Twitter made handwriting cool

For Kirby, a self-confessed hard-core notebook user, they are the chance to capture something in a different way. Rather than diminishing the importance of the notebook, he says, digital has enhanced it.‘In the digital age there is so much information, but using notebooks is a very different process to writing on a screen – you go back over notes, cross things out, amend and review. You remember it,’ Kirby says. Indeed, there are endless scientific studies proving that taking the time to form a letter - instead of just hitting a key – – promotes neural activity, creativity, memory and fine motor skills.

3. Micro-Journaling - An interesting idea for an "analog" version of Twitter.

4. "Pretty Sketchy" by Jason Santa Maria [via Austin Kleon]

Sketchbooks are not about being a good artist, they’re about being a good thinker.

5. A Paper Calendar? It's 2011

Mr. George uses a datebook that fits in his back pocket. “People make comments about it,” he said. “They show me their little technology. But then they sit there tapping on their device, and by the time they’ve gone through all the log-ins and downloading, I’ve already flipped the page.”

I can attest to this fact: I was sitting down with my pastor to schedule who would celebrate daily Masses for the rest of the summer. He had a full-size planner, I had an iPhone. That experience was all it took for me to get a paper planner after using only Google Calendar and my phone (or iPod before that) for over a year. It just takes to long to add things electronically; and, with my paper planner, I can see a whole week - how it's filling up, where there may be conflicts, etc.

6. How to Get Yourself a Swashbuckling Signature

7. The Circle - a simple system for getting organized and getting things done.

five things

2011-08-31T11:49:00.003-04:00

1. Stained Glass and the Book of Revelation

Sadly in recent decades there was a casting off of these biblical roots in favor of a “meeting house” approach to church design. No longer was the thinking that our churches should reflect heavenly realities, teach the faith, and follow biblical plans. Rather the thinking was that the Church simply provided a space for the people to meet and conduct various liturgies.

In some cases the liturgical space came to be considered “fungible” in that it could be reconfigured to suit various needs: Mass today, concert tomorrow, spaghetti dinner on Wednesday. This thinking began to be set forth as early as the 1950s. Pews were often replaced by chairs which could be moved to suit various functions. And even in parishes which did not go so far as to allow spaghetti dinners in the nave, (mine did in the 1970s), the notion of a church as essentially a meeting space prevailed.

Thus churches looked less and less like churches and more like meeting halls. Bare essentials such as an altar, pews or chairs, a pulpit and very minimal statuary were used, but the main point was simply to provide a place for people to come together. There was very little sense that the structure was to reflect heaven or even remind us of it.

2. The Difference Between Christian Service and Secular Service

Christianity did not become a religion of service because Christians think it’s fun to be involved in charitable causes. It’s not some tradition that developed due to complicated socioeconomic forces acting on this religion’s adherents throughout the millenia. It’s not that Christians are just naturally nicer people than anyone else. What happened on the macro level to make Christian churches known throughout history as places of refuge for people in need is the same thing that happens on the micro level of the human heart when someone devotes his life to God. Simply put, it comes down to this: Wherever you find Christ, there you will also find all-encompassing, self-sacrificial love for others.

3. 10 Things I Wish I Knew My Freshman Year of College

4. I want this Silmarillion.

5. The Anchoress has got me interested in Fr. Barron's new book.

school lunch

2011-08-26T12:50:00.003-04:00

I'm eating my Subway at the high school and catching up on some bookmarked sites. I will share:

1. Over the past couple days, I've been listening to Muppets: The Green Album - a collection of cover versions of Muppets songs. I found it through OK Go's video of the theme song and decided to give it a chance. It's a surprisingly good album. The artists chosen to be on it are a nice mix. My favorites are "Rainbow Connection" (Weezer and Hayley Williams of Paramore), "Movin' Right Along" (Alkaline Trio) and "Our World" (My Morning Jacket). Give it a try!

2. Does a parish priest have time to blog? The New Theological Movement says "yes" and "he should!"

3. The Top 10 Ways To Keep Social Media From Driving You Totally Nuts - Some of the best advice from this article is to not waste your time trying to find the one perfect [insert internet thing]. "This is tag-team wrestling match of unlimited rounds." We don't need to limit ourselves to one method of communication - use what works and what is good for you.

4. An amazing graphic of "the changing forms of music delivery." It's incredible how ubiquitous digital music has become in such a short time.

snapshot: eight twenty-three

2011-08-23T16:55:00.005-04:00

What did I do today?

A friend from seminary left after visiting for a couple days. He preached at this morning's parish Mass. I visited the kids at the grade school before classes then celebrated Mass at a local nursing home, ate lunch and went to the store. I needed something more formal than a backpack and less formal than a suitcase to take to the high school. When I got back in the car, I felt the earthquake everyone's talking about, though I didn't know it until my sister called me. Following that drama, I visited some people in the hospital and came back to the rectory. Now on to bingo.

Any meaningful moments?

I love visiting people in the hospital, thought it's not always comfortable. Today was a perfect example of what could happen. I saw one woman in good spirits who hoped to go home tomorrow; then I saw a woman who just had a baby; finally, I anointed an elderly woman who was in pain and not very coherent. It's powerful for me to represent Christ in all these situations.

In my free time ...

I've been enjoying the comedy of 30 Rock on Hulu. I've also been reading some sci-fi books for fun. I'm hoping to do some biking in the near future. The White Stripes have been a popular music choice for me during the last few days. I'm remembering that I got all of their albums for a reason.

What's going on?

I am on the edge of almost a new beginning here in the parish, with the start of the school year. That means spending time at the elementary school at the parish and two days a week at the high school where I'm chaplain. It's intimidating to add all of these new things to my schedule, but it's also nice to fill the week with things to do. I'd rather have a full day than sit around and not know what to do with myself.

Also, the weather right now is beautiful.

Thought for the moment

I need to slow down. I find myself rushing when I don't really need to. I think it's just a habit, but it takes away from intentionally doing the things that I do. It's better to take a deep breath and do something with purpose than to just get it done.

my first funeral

2011-08-04T21:00:00.002-04:00

(is not some kind of Catholic playset)

Today was my first opportunity to celebrate a funeral Mass as a priest. Even as a deacon, who could have presided over a funeral outside of Mass, I never had the chance to do it.

It was a little bit intimidating. We found out about the person's death on Monday while the pastor was away and I ended up scheduling everything for this funeral (and another one). I had never met the man who died and haven't even had the chance to meet much of his family in the parish.

Going into the liturgy, I made a point of going over the ritual in the books. There is not that much added to the Mass, but you have to know when everything happens.

I think the scariest part for me was trying to think of what to say to the family. I decided to acknowledge that, and then spoke about how being members of the Body of Christ transcends the fact that we don't know each other and the fact that their loved one had died. We prayed for him and everything seemed to go well.

I decided to wear my cassock to the cemetery. I'm not a huge fan of wearing a suit (especially in this heat) but the simple clerical shirt and black pants look was just a little casual. I think the cassock (with an old stole) shows the solemnity of what we're doing and serves as a reminder that all of the things we do when a loved one dies are part of the prayer of the Church.

It was a powerful experience to minister to people during such a tough time. It reminded me of my experience last fall when my grandmother died. When you hear the prayers and words of the liturgy in that situation, you can really see how the Church makes Christ present in every part of our lives.

What do you do all day?

2011-07-30T21:08:00.002-04:00

I think it's easy for people to get the impression that a priest's job is done after Mass in the morning. The Mass is the point of contact between people and their priest. On one hand, this shows how important the liturgy is for the Body of Christ and how significant the homily at Sunday Mass is.

On the other hand, I've experienced a whole different aspect of this as a priest. My day to day experience is the "extraordinary" parts of the Church's life. I get to visit parishioners in the hospital everyday and usually anoint someone during those visits. I hear confessions every week. There are baptisms, weddings and funerals at the parish on a regular basis.

My point is that being a priest gives you a real sense of the ongoing life of the Church. You get to see how the sacraments work in the lives of the people.

It is really a privilege.

readme

2011-07-28T20:46:00.002-04:00

1. "River Shiver" - A cool new song from Pomplamoose. Also, check out their rendition of the Angry Birds theme.

2. The ever-entertaining Kevin Heider performing "Book Mountain" with some friends of mine.

3. My former bishop at his installation in Joliet:

“I did not seek to be a bishop, nor am I worthy to be one,” he said in his homily. “This is all someone else’s idea. And, although God may use human instruments, in the end, it is his idea.”
“With Christ Jesus, the ultimate apostle, as the model, nothing central to our faith starts with us: not the Scriptures, not the sacraments, not the doctrines, not the moral principles. Nor can we treat God’s household as though it were our own ...”

4. A beautiful meditation on the Divine Office from Elizabeth Scalia:

Of course, if we offer to be used, we had better mean it, because as we have seen time and again, when you make that offer, Christ will use you until you are completely and wholly used up, until you are nothing more than cinder. Until you can’t be summer anymore and must burst into splendid autumn.

But maybe that’s the point. Being used up is what brings the splendor, but we don’t trust that; we hold ourselves back, insist on maintaining the illusion that we have real control over anything. It is easier to believe in all we see than in what we do not see.

5. A Pilgrim in Poland

just a few

2011-07-22T13:26:00.002-04:00

1. Adult Catechesis and the Sword by Elizabeth Scalia

“The Church,” he said as Joseph Ratzinger, “will become small, and will to a great extent have to start over again. But after a time of testing, an internalized and simplified Church will radiate great power and influence; for the population of an entirely planned and controlled world are going to be inexpressibly lonely . . . and they will then discover the little community of believers as something quite new. As a hope that is there for them, as the answer they have secretly always been asking for.”

Call it Adult Catechesis.

Perhaps sometime in the not-too-distant future, as governments move against her, the Church will be forced into poverty and become subject to the oppression of her earlier days. We may even see martyrs in the Western Church, once more.

But that, of course, is when the Church will triumph. Even if we lose every material aspect—our buildings, the great art vouchsafed to us—the Church will triumph, because it is greater than any structure, innovation, or physicality, which (no matter how meaningful) is nothing at all compared to Christ. This is something a materially fixated world cannot understand: to silence a voice is not to stop prayer; to close a parish is not to end it. The Church is built by the author of Life, and is itself alive with that Divinity. Life will always find a way, which is why man is constantly trying to keep it at bay—another conceit.

2. Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame on modesty.

I find the whole concept of being ‘sexy’ embarrassing and confusing ... My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder.

3. We are now on the USCCB's list of vacant dioceses.

4. "Dark Horses," the new song from Switchfoot is fantastic. Jon Foreman, on the new album:

Vice Verses is a record of tension and release. It’s an attempt to describe the polarity of the human experience. The sunlight and shadow. The highs and lows, laughter and pain, hope and fear, doubts and belief.

5. A very positive review of Captain America from National Catholic Register. Consider me interested.

Bam!

2011-07-16T23:53:00.002-04:00

1. The Beauty of the Ellipsis.

Say less, and hear more.
Do less, and have a greater impact.
Make less noise, and appreciate the silence.
Send out fewer emails, and make each one count.
Tweet less, and each one becomes more meaningful.
Have fewer possessions, and enjoy the space.
Have fewer “friends”, but make each relationship stronger.
Appreciate the spaces between everything.
…

2. 15 (Long) Minutes With "The Last Supper"

3. Look for the Little Ones by Fr. Dwight.

... consider that the real saints are hidden. They follow the little way. If you were to tell them they were a saint they would laugh and tell you to keep searching. If you even had the sense and discernment to see the saint next to you--the ordinary person who perseveres--the little person who serves others--the plain Jane who takes life easily and simply loves people, then you would learn again what true holiness really is. If we only had eyes to see the simplicity of the saints, the extraordinary ordinariness of holiness, the practical good humor and humility of the truly grace filled ones.

The confessional is where I am reminded about true holiness. I love sitting in the confessional and listening to the distress of ordinary people about their sins because their sins are so few and less serious than my own. When I listen to confessions I am more often impressed and humbled by the holiness of the penitent and not his sinfulness, and with each act of contrition I hear, my heart repeats it over with them for their penitence has softened my own heart and revealed my own lack.

analog planning

2011-07-14T19:26:00.002-04:00

As I've said, I love notebooks and the interesting ways people have come with to use them to organize their lives. I've recently started using an "analog" (paper) planner alongside of Google Calendar because of how easy, fast and portable it is to use. When deciding who is going to celebrate which daily masses, it's much easier to get it planned on paper than by creating dozens of events on my phone's calendar.

My notebook of choice right now is the Moleskine 18 month planner. It has the days of the week on one side and a blank notebook page on the other (for the to-do lists I am constantly writing).

Here are a couple of posts that have helped me refine my organizational skills:

1. Mike Rohde's planner hack.

2. Bill Westerman's GSD system.

something I need to learn

2011-07-03T22:51:00.003-04:00

From the Art of Manliness:

How to Remember a Person's Name (And What to Do When You Can't)

In short:

Commit to listening and remembering.
Repeat early, repeat often.
Have them spell it out.
Use a mnemonic device.
Visualize the person's name on their forehead.
Associate the person's name with an easy to remember picture.
Associate the image that represents the person's name to an outstanding facial feature on the person.
Take notes.
Practice, practice, practice.

movies in disguise

2011-07-03T19:52:00.002-04:00

I haven't done a movie review for a while and, since I am the only one in the rectory tonight, I went to see Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

I have a conflicted relationship with this franchise. I always liked the whole Transformers idea when I was younger and enjoyed the first film in that it made robots who changed into cars pretty realistic. On the other hand, the acting, the writing and the story ... eh.

I saw the second movie with some friends and was fairly unimpressed.

So, why did I see this third film with a confusing title (dark what of the moon?)?

Well, the idea is an interesting one. It has elements that I love in a story: secret history, a secret war, alien robots. And all that could have played out into a great movie if it weren't for the filmakers' tendency to overdo everything. It's so loud, so fast and so over the top that I can't take it seriously.

"But it's not a serious movie!" you reply, "You're not supposed to take it seriously!"

Maybe that's my problem: I like movies with some sort of message, at least an inkling of one. I'm sorry, but Optimus Prime spouting meaningless statements just doesn't do it for me.

and all the rest

2011-06-07T20:10:00.002-04:00

1. Two good posts from the always good Adam's Ale:

First, his thoughts on and remembrances of his ordination.

Second, something that I've encountered lately: what to do with your eyes during the Mass.

I try to make it a point to either look at the book or “up” when the Father is being addressed. In this way we indicate that we are saying to the Father that Jesus told us to do perform the Mass, that is where we get our authority to do it, we are doing it to be reunited with You and to give You thanks and praise, and in turn ask for your grace though Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our side of the phone conversation with God – only tacitly directed to us.

2. A book I want to read: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes. I thoroughly enjoyed the original Sherlock Holmes stories and combining it with some Catholic intrigue can only make it more interesting.

3. Underoath's newest video is a good one. Apparently there has been some controversy over some of the imagery. Here, the video's director does some interesting explaining.

4. California's Disappearing State Parks, with a great quote from Jack London:

“I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot,” said London, who looked like a young Warren Beatty. “The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time!”

I love lists.

2011-06-07T20:04:00.003-04:00

1. The 7 Habits of People Who Place Radical Trust in God.

2. The Three Temptations of Facebook.

3. 20 Ways to Make Today Unforgettable.

is a bad blogger

2011-06-07T00:36:00.014-04:00

Well.

More has happened to me in the past few weeks than most of the rest of my life.

I don't think any one blog post could summarize my ordination/first Mass weekend. As I just heard Sufjan sing in my earbuds, "words are futile devices." It was overwhelming, powerful, emotional and about fifty other words.

Just to give a little rundown ... It was a crazy week. Besides being sick and preparing for ordination, we all found out that our bishop was being transferred to another diocese! It was quite a shock. He's only the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville and all the others have retired here. Exciting times!

On Friday we had a rehearsal for the servers and the two of us being ordained (Jonas was ordained a transitional deacon). Liturgical rehearsals are always kind of funny. You have a hard time taking it that seriously because you move quickly through some very serious things, but they are helpful. Afterwards, we all had pizza in the cathedral rectory.

Later on, my brother and I met up with a priest and deacon from Erie (St. Vincent alumnus and student) and got some late night food with other friends. Afterwards, I dropped everyone else off and headed to the adoration chapel at my home parish. It was some much needed quiet time with God. The preceding days had been so hectic that the reality of ordination had kind of hovered in the back of my mind and it was taking its toll. I was feeling a little nervous and, more than anything, nervously energetic. Spending time with Jesus was what I needed and I felt peaceful when I left for home and sleep.

The actual ordination day flew by quickly. I got to the cathedral early, prayed morning prayer and hung around for any last minute preparations. Before I knew it, I was vested and ready to process in.

Everything was beautiful. Like my diaconate ordination, there were tons of familiar faces, and, the church was pretty full. There are particular moments that stick out in my mind from the liturgy: kissing the altar for the last time as a deacon when I went into the sanctuary, Bishop Conlon's emotional homily (preached without a text), watching Jonas be ordained and vesting him as a deacon, having all the priests lay hands on me, receiving the sign of peace from the bishop and all the priests, taking my seat next to my vocation director and the other "main concelebrants," praying parts of the Eucharistic prayer and watching my friend, Fr. Mike, to make sure I was making the right liturgical gestures at the right moments, processing out with all of the priests, greeting people as I made my way back in for pictures, giving first blessings right outside the cathedral, being mobbed when I went down to the reception ...

Giving a blessing to my sister and cousins.

It goes on and on. The day was amazing for me. God was definitely present.

When I finally left the cathedral, I headed out to lunch with a big group of college friends and then finally crashed at home. I hung out there for a while before going over to a friends house with my brother and sister to play games and music.

On Sunday morning, I got up and went out to breakfast with my Erie friends and then came home, got ready and went to St. Peter's. My brother led the choir in practicing the music for Mass while I made sure things were ready in the sacristy.

My brother going over the Ave Maria with singers, Laura and Lenore.

I said hi to a few people and ran around arranging things, got vested ... and then Tom, one of our seminarians looked at me and said, "It's three o'clock." Then we processed into the church.

Tom, a seminarian, helps me vest while the new Deacon Jonas watches.

I honestly don't remember a lot of my first Mass. I don't think I made any serious mistakes but the whole thing went so quickly. There were a few moments when it seemed to pause and I was able to take things in and appreciate them. The Eucharistic prayer felt unreal. I was happy that my pastor, Msgr. Yontz was there next to me; it was reassuring.

Msgr. Yontz prays part of the Eucharistic prayer.

In the end, the Mass was beautiful. I loved what I heard of the music, it felt prayerful and I was able to communicate my thanks at the end without getting too emotional.

After Mass, the Catholic Women's Club of the parish had a dinner. I ate and then tried to get around to say "hi" to people. I'm sure I missed many, but I talked to a lot of the guests.

I love nuns.

That night, a big group of us went and saw a movie. It seemed strange, after so much solemnity, to do something so "normal" but it was relaxing for me to sit in the dark for a while. I was pretty drained.

In the morning on Monday I was able to celebrate Mass for a couple Franciscan sisters with my friends from Erie. We stayed for breakfast and visited their motherhouse in Toronto before my friends headed out.

That week I celebrated/concelebrated Mass at my home parish and Franciscan University. During the weekend, my family and I went down to St. Ambrose, my deacon assignment, so I could have Mass there. It was great to see all those people again and to share that experience with my family. It also gave us a chance for a little vacation at the retreat house.

Processing out with Fr. Bob, my deacon assignment pastor.

----

These first couple weeks as a priest have been amazing. I've been able to hear a few confessions, celebrate Mass everyday (or concelebrate) and get slightly more used to being called "father." Since I don't start my assignment until the 25th of this month, I've been able to try to organize my life. The whole Thank You Card process is in the works - I have A LOT of people to thank. I bought a new car - that was quite an experience. I've been slowly moving my belongings into the new parish. I was able to be at the ordinations of two of my classmates.

It has been a whirlwind. I'm thankful that God has brought me to the completion of one stage of my life and the beginning of a new stage. I'm excited to actually work; to be in a parish and attempt to give myself to the Church there.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and messages. I will be continuing to blog as much as I can.

returned

2011-05-16T19:50:00.004-04:00

It's been crazy. There was the last week of classes, my friend's diaconate ordination, finals and graduation. It went fast.

Once I got home, I headed out on a backpacking trip with my bishop, two priests and two seminarians. I enjoyed the trip, though it was exhausting. However, since I got back, I've been sick with a parasite I caught somewhere in the woods. After a couple of hospital trips, I've got the right medicine and should be over it in a couple of days. Just in time to get ordained on Saturday!

Please say a prayer for me to be ready for Saturday.

helpful hints

2011-05-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

As I come to the end of my time in seminary, I've been thinking about everything I've learned. Some of those things are more profound than others. I've learned about my relationship with God, the teachings and history of the Church and many other things.

Here are some random ideas I've been thinking about that may be helpful for those entering the seminary. It includes things that are

- Read the Bible. Get a good grip on it as a whole.

- Be a cantor. Become comfortable singing in public.

- Look through the Sacramentary (or the Missal, as it's soon to be known). It is extremely helpful to know where to find things and how to set it up.

- Wash your black clothes correctly or they will end up in various shades of gray.

- I'm the last one to tell you this, but don't buy too many books. People will give you books, you'll get books for class ... and they're a pain to move.

- Journal. As in the verb. It's amazing to see how you've changed throughout the formation process.

- Keep reading, and not just for class. That's important, but you need stories and inspiration as well.

- Don't be a hermit - in a couple senses: First, know what's going on in the world. Know what you can pray for, what people are talking about and what people care about. Second, don't seclude yourself in your room so you can study all the time. Seminary is a total experience, experience it all.

- (on a related note) Go outside. Exercise, walk, enjoy nature.

- Always write "thank you" cards. Answer letters and emails. Stay in touch with the people of your diocese who care about you.

- Don't freak out. You are in seminary because you love God, remember that. When things get tough, think about that first moment when you thought God might want you to be a priest. Hang on to the knowledge that God brought you to where you are.

More to come. Anything anyone else would want to add?

too many bookmarks

2011-04-26T09:08:00.003-04:00

1. "Rebuild my Church" - On the retirement of Fr. Mike Scanlan. And this bit is priceless (and true):

The Most Reverend R. Daniel Conlon, bishop of Steubenville, once jokingly “thanked” Father Mike that whenever he travels he has to correct people that he is bishop of an entire diocese, not just the University. Now he says, “It is hard to imagine Steubenville without Father Michael Scanlan.”

2. Why LOST still matters.

For people expecting some kind of sci-fi resolution, this ending was a shock. Faith, it turns out, is just as real as science, and people who suffer in this life can find happiness in the next. The ending was heart-breaking yet hopeful, leaving an indelible impression that will stay with me forever.
Did "Lost" do everything perfectly over its six season run? No. What TV series has? But it succeeded far more than it failed. Lindelof and Cuse told a transcendent story about real people dealing with temporal, moral, and spiritual struggles. Those are the kinds of stories that last. Those are the kinds of stories that will continue to matter.

3. Denison Witmer has a new album out today. Celebrate with a free download of his cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds."

4. A nice video of The Civil Wars.

5. George Weigel slams critics of John Paul II's fast track to sainthood

6. Yeah! Bishop Paprocki (of Springfield, Illinois) authorizes St. Michael Prayer after Masses

Prayer and the sacraments are an essential part of what Saint Paul called the "armor of God" in his letter to the Ephesians. The Saint Michael prayer can help us "stand against the deceits of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11) by "taking the shield of faith" (Ephesians 6:16). God permits us to be tempted by the devil but gives us the grace to resist him through prayer in our daily lives. We can and should say the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel at church with the assembly or on our own during the day for spiritual protection for ourselves and for others.

7. Peter Kreeft says Eucharistic adoration is the solution to, well, everything.

8. An article about vocations at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

usccb: the big time

2011-04-26T00:21:00.002-04:00

This USCCB article mentions me (and my brother) but gives me an extra name:

In the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, two brothers, Matt and Terrence Coonan, will be ordained to the priesthood on June 11. June of this year marks 60 years since Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Ratzinger, was ordained alongside his brother Georg. George Michael Gossett of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, has a brother still in the seminary studying for the priesthood.

I can't believe ...

2011-04-25T17:21:00.009-04:00

... I didn't blog during my two weeks in the parish.

I meant to, but kept putting off. That worked out ...

Anyway, it was a busy, educational, enjoyable, beneficial time.

I headed down there two fridays ago and helped chaperone a youth group event where the kids raised money for a homeless shelter by staying out in a K-Mart parking lot for 24 hours. I also preached during the first weekend. On Monday, I traveled back to St. Vincent with my pastor and a couple parishioners for the 4th Year Recognition Dinner. Every year, the seminary has a dinner honoring the deacon class as well as their assignment pastors. Though I can't believe I've arrived at my own 4th year, it was a good time.

The rest of that week kept me busy with teaching RCIA (giving a tour of the church and explaining Holy Week), leading a mini-retreat and preaching at our penance service (I also helped cook for the 7 priests who came to hear confessions).

On Friday, I went back to school to get my brother and to take a bunch of my stuff out of my room. That night we went to a play at the local Catholic high school. The next day, Matthew and I played a little concert at the parish's retreat house. We played some originals as well as songs by Sufjan and The Civil Wars.

Palm Sunday came with all of the processions and palms. On Sunday night I led adoration and benediction for the youth group.

Our diocese, because of its strange shape, has two Chrism Masses. We headed to Steubenville on Monday for the first one. This year is the only time I'll deacon at a Chrism Mass. It was exhausting, but I love good liturgies. We stayed at home that night and then headed to Marietta for the second one on Tuesday. The nice thing about those events is getting to see lots of the priests of the diocese.

Wednesday was really the only day with nothing going on; nothing but setting up for the Triduum.

I preached on Thursday (about the Eucharist and the priesthood). We had the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the parish hall (we built a kind of altar area) and people stayed to pray until midnight.

On Friday, there was lots of things to do in the church, but the liturgy was much simpler.

Finally, Saturday came. This was the busiest day. I sang the Exsultet, preached and baptized someone. It all went smoothly and Mass was beautiful. I really enjoyed being a part of all of it.

After two Masses on Easter Sunday, I headed home to visit with my family. We sat around and relaxed a lot.

Today, after Mass at FUS and running some errands, I am back at St. Vincent for my last week of classes. Wow.

on the brink

2011-04-07T20:04:00.002-04:00

... of a lot of things.

Tomorrow will mark the beginning of my spring parish practicum. After class, I'll head back to Ohio until after Easter. My time in the parish will be busy too: chaperoning the youth group's homeless awareness event (they're spending the night in a parking lot), leading RCIA, leading a mini-retreat, playing a concert at the retreat house's arts and crafts festival, two Chrism Masses and, oh yeah, Holy Week.

After that, I'll have one week of class and, finally, finals week.

And I'm about 44 days away from ordination.

Everything is moving very quickly. It's stressful, exciting and daunting. These past 6 years (and probably further back than that) have all pointed to this. I'm anxious to do what I've been studying and preparing to do for the last several years.

Wish me luck. Tonight I have to finish a take-home Biomedical Ethics exam.

I am a notebook addict.

2011-04-02T22:35:00.003-04:00

What I mean by that is this: I love the look and feel of a notebook. I love blank ones and I like writing in them. Recently, I've become interested in the many ways people use notebooks - it's becoming a kind of trend to abandon electronic ways of organization for "analog" things like notebooks.

I also follow some webcomics and many of these artists use notebooks and sketchbooks. Something appeals to me about jotting down ideas. I have journaled for a long time, and it has always helped me to get things down on paper

So, in the spirit of notebooks and how cool they are ... I have these links

1. How to steal like an artist. Artist/poet/sketchbook user Austin Kleon's cool post about "10 things I wish I'd heard when I was in college."

My favorite: "Write the book you want to read." For me, this means: preach the homily I would want to hear, celebrate the liturgy the way I would want to see it, be the priest I would want to encounter.

2. Another from Austin: On keeping a logbook. If you want to journal, but find that you don't have time or can't commit to actually writing, this may work for you. It's more of a list-based summary of your day. Just write down what happened. Then you have a record of what your life was like. The examples Austin shows even have some random feelings describing the events. Whatever it takes to "capture" your day. Give it a try!

3. And finally: Notebook Stories: A Blog About Notebooks, Journals, Moleskines, Blank Books, Sketchbooks, Diaries and More

yes oh yes

2011-04-02T22:11:00.004-04:00

1. Why your kids won't stay Catholic. One word: practice!

2. How modern art led me to God. We know what beauty is.

3. I watched the first three episodes of The Confession - a series of short videos about a hitman talking to a priest. The music is a little over-the-top but it has potential.

4. How to enjoy sermons.

Hearing a sermon is not a passive interlude. It is like receiving Communion. Of course, the fact itself of receiving God truly present in Communion is a transforming reality. But it is not one to which we respond with indifference. Adoration, thanks, contrition and petition are natural responses to Jesus Christ really with us.

5. I have never heard this put so clearly: "What's so wrong with ...?" is about why we shouldn't arbitrarily change things in the liturgy, even in ways that seem like good, commonsense ideas that can't hurt anyone: it is not ours to change!

6. Nashville Dominicans on NPR. I can't get enough of this good news.

With their long habits and disciplined regime, these conservative sisters are, it seems, the new radical.

blog with a view

2011-04-02T22:07:00.002-04:00

Blogger is offering five new ways to look at blogs. Just add /view to the end of a blog address, for example: www.mike2theg.blogspot.com/view. I particularly enjoy the timeslide option.

these hands

2011-03-31T09:18:00.001-04:00

Fr. Dwight on the hands of a priest. Read it, it's a great meditation.

The hands of the priest are the sign of the priest--in the ordinary the extraordinary is seen. Through his humanity God's divinity wants to shine. This is the mystery of the sacrament of ordination. Holy Church teaches that through ordination an ontological change takes place in the man. A new dimension to his humanity is unlocked. He opens out into becoming something he was not before. His ordination is a completed gift and yet also a gift that has to be completed through a life of dedication, prayer, sacrifice and suffering. This is the mystery of ordination that I have experienced: through a lifetime of following Christ I have come across priests and bishops who, from a human perspective, have been failures, losers and boors. I have come across priests who were venal, short tempered, scheming and back stabbing. I have come across priests who were child molestors, perverts and alcoholics. And yet...

And yet I also saw in each one a man who wanted to be fully conformed to the image of Christ--a man who longed to be all that God created him to be. A man, despite the cynicism and sin and fear and frailty, who longed for heaven, whose heart was once filled with faith, and who still, despite all things, longed for faith again. I insist that I saw, even in those priests, the image of Christ--supernaturally planted there by their baptism and their ordination. It may have been faded, smeared and bleared by their fallen humanity; it may have been so twisted and perverted by their weakness and human evil, but something gold was there--something glimmered in the darkness like a diamond lost at night. Something supernatural was there in a way far deeper and more mysterious than I can put into words.

All I can say is that it is a mystery--and a mystery is something that can be experienced even if it cannot be explained. This mystery of divnity working its way through our humanity like yeast in the dough is a mystery that will not be fully understood until the final day. Then we will see how even the horrors were part of the glory. Then we will see that even the most terrible terrors were woven into the divine plan. Then we will see that for the elect nothing was lost and everything was redeemed. For those who are called, and who follow Christ all will be transformed, and everything will be harvest.

just things

2011-03-31T09:10:00.002-04:00

1. Why the footnotes in most Bibles stink.

2. "There's no such fing as grace!" - On anger in the Church.

3. A great story about the pilot who flew JPII when he visited the US in 1979.

4. Peter Jackson is changing The Hobbit. Big surprise.

5. David Malki ! (of Wondermark) explains where the "!" in his name came about.

Sometimes good TV wins

2011-03-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Fringe was renewed for a fourth season!

church and church

2011-03-24T14:22:00.002-04:00

1. Want to wear the same socks as Pope Benedict?

2. Interesting: John Paul II wanted confession during Mass.

3. Fr. Dwight Longenecker: Do beautiful churches produce vocations?

I can say for myself that my experiences of the beauty and mystery of the liturgy in beautiful churches that pointed me towards God definitely helped me to recognize God's calling. When a building helps you to think about the eternal, you are more likely to move your life that way.

the arts

2011-03-24T14:01:00.002-04:00

1. Flanner O'Connor on banning books in schools - This is a very reasonable take on the issue. Students should read the classics so that they know how to read more modern literature.

2. An interview with Bear McCreary as he scores The Cape - a bad show with a great soundtrack.

3. How to play the opening chord from "A Hard Day's Night."

4. An interesting and clever idea for some books that were never written: Lois Lane, Girl Reporter.

history

2011-03-24T13:52:00.002-04:00

Here's the creator.

civil wars sxsw ep

2011-03-21T14:40:00.003-04:00

Get the EP of The Civil Wars live at SXSW. It's only $3.99 and has three songs you can't get anywhere else. I particularly love "From This Valley" and their version of "Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins.

Sydney Opera House - "All Delighted People"

2011-03-20T00:13:00.000-04:00

Sydney Opera House - "All Delighted People"

sing it

2011-03-12T23:02:00.002-05:00

1. A great remix of Sufjan's "Impossible Soul." [Thanks, Matthew]

2. A great article on Pomplamoose and their place in the music industry.

3. The Carnival of the Animals: The Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saëns - Mysterious and cool.

4. A Pomplamoose collaboration. Refreshing!

spring break happened

2011-03-12T21:37:00.002-05:00

So, following this post, the rest of my spring break:

On Tuesday I went back to Latrobe and met up with one of my classmates for dinner.

The next morning, after Mass, we got in our rented Ford Escape and left for Alabama. It took 13 hours to get down there with two stops to eat and get gas. I drove the 6 or 7 hours from Latrobe, across the long flat plains of central Ohio, to Covington, KY.

We got into St. Bernard Abbey around 9:30 (their time, not Eastern) and crashed.

On Thursday we got up (late) and got some breakfast at Cracker Barrel with (then) Br. Jacob and his family and friends. He showed us around town, including Sacred Heart Church (which the abbey staffs) and a driving tour of the abbey. Then, the three of us headed to Huntsville to the Space and Rocket Center. It was a very cool excursion. My favorite site was the two Saturn Vs they had: one standing up outside and one on its side in the huge building. Also, there was a space shuttle. Sadly, the place looked like it wasn't taken care of very well. Space Camp always seemed like a dreamland to me as a kid, but seeing it in person now was a little disappointing.

That evening, we joined the monks for Mass, Vespers and dinner.

On Friday, we had more Cracker Barrel breakfast and then the three of us headed out to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It's a pretty incredible sight to drive up to: you are in the middle of nowhere, then there are suddenly white fences on both sides of the roads with fields behind them. Then you finally see this gigantic, Italian looking church on a hill. There's a huge piazza in front, with a statue of the Infant Jesus in the middle.

The inside of the church is gorgeous with a gigantic monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament for adoration.

The gift shop is a castle. We spent some time there and then looked at the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto down the hill.

The whole place is beautiful and it's in a beautiful spot.

However, as nice as it was, my favorite stop of the day (and probably the whole trip) was the Ave Maria Grotto on St. Bernard's campus. It's a small park with dozens of miniature replicas of churches and other buildings. It was all made by Br. Joseph Zoettl out of whatever he could use.

Besides the sheer skill involved in making the place, I loved the simple piety involved in it. These were handmade shrines and they had a very down-to-earth appeal. They ranged from small and large grottos to hillsides covered with a miniature Rome or Jerusalem.

Later on, we had Mass and vespers with the monks, then rehearsed for the ordination.

The ordination was on Saturday morning. I was the "deacon of the Word" and got to chant the Gospel. The Mass went smoothly and it was a beautiful ordination. It's powerful to see your friends become priests. After a reception, we pretty much took the rest of the day off.

On Sunday, Fr. Jacob had his first Mass, then another reception. More relaxation time ... That night, three of us watched the last episode of LOST.

Finally, on Monday, we had Mass with Fr. Jacob and then headed for Pennsylvania. I did not drive at all this time. It took forever, but we made it.

Long story short, we had a great and relaxing time. It was tough to come back to school but I made it through the week.

Things are getting busier and busier as I get closer to the end of the semester.

learning experience

2011-03-12T21:00:00.004-05:00

I preached tonight and will be doing it again tomorrow as well. My focus was on how Jesus' temptation in the desert recapitulated (I love that word) the Israelites' own journey through the desert.

After I delivered my homily, I kept thinking of other things I could have talked about. Themes from the prayers would make me think, "Why didn't I mention that?" There were a lot of different things that I could have covered.

It is kind of comforting for a couple reasons:

First, I've learned that it's best to just talk about one thing instead of all the "great" ideas you have running around in your head.

Second, it makes me a little more confident about preaching in the future. Sometimes after preparing a homily, I have no idea how I'll preach on the same reading the next time it comes around. Tonight gave me a glimpse into just how much can come out of a set of readings.

spring break happenings

2011-02-28T23:16:00.002-05:00

Today was my only full day at home for this break and it was a good one.

Me and my brother went to Mass at Franciscan and saw a whole bunch of people we know. It's always good to hang out on campus - it takes me back to summers working there, going to Mass and hanging out with friends.

We had some lunch (high quality Steubenville Chinese food) and then went shopping for supplies to make dinner. We ended up making bacon-wrapped chicken with feta cheese and pecans (by Rachel Ray ... something I learned at the parish). It seemed to come together well.

Later on, we hung out with our cousins and then went back to Franciscan for a talk on Pope Benedict and the liturgy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The biggest point I took from it was how much of a pastor Pope Benedict is, even when it comes to liturgy.

Tomorrow I'll head back to Latrobe to meet up with two of my classmates. Then, on Wednesday, we're going to beging the long trek down to Cullman, Alabama for the (early) ordination of one of our classmates. It's about 12 hours down, so it will be a nice road trip. I always like seeing new parts of the country and this will be my first trip to Alabama.

I will be "tweeting" (what a horrible word) and taking some pictures, so stay tuned.

crazy weekend

2011-02-28T11:01:00.001-05:00

... which means, for me:

Leading two hours of retreat on Saturday
Preaching all of the Masses
Party with the bishop, priests and seminarians of the diocese.
Driving back home and watching Road to Perdition.

Today:
Mass
Lunch
Making dinner

quickly

2011-02-24T12:48:00.002-05:00

I was thinking about this blog today. I feel like I think about it in terms of "what interesting links can I share" a little too much. I end up bookmarking a huge amount of articles, blog posts and videos - and then never really getting to them.

Basically, I'm going to try to back off a little from this method and attempt to focus more on what I want to write about. Wish me luck.

As for now ... I have a homily and two hours of a retreat to prepare.

it's a wednesday sort of day

2011-02-23T18:26:00.003-05:00

1. "I Am the Prodigal" - New music from Kevin Heider with a clever video.

2. Every #1 song until 1992, 5 seconds at a time. It might take longer than you imagine.

3. The interesting history of Armed Services Edition books.

4. Illusion! Escher's Waterfall

between the states

2011-02-23T18:18:00.002-05:00

Some stuff from The Civil Wars:

1. Four songs live at Paste Magazine, including a cool cover of "Disarm" by Smashing Pumpkins (here's the original).

2. A whole concert at Joe's Pub.

3. An audio interview with some live songs.

Sufjan in Australia

2011-02-15T23:49:00.002-05:00

Watch Sufjan Stevens perform "Too Much," "The Age of Adz" and "All Delighted People" at the Sydney Opera House.

Last month, I ordered two Sufjan albums (Michigan and Illinois) on vinyl. It took forever for them to ship and I was wondering what happened when I got an email from his label saying that one of them was out of print because they had sent all of the copies they had to Sufjan in Australia. Eventually they came and they even gave me a discount. Just a weird coincidence.

The angel of the Lord declared ...

2011-02-15T15:52:00.003-05:00

The meaning and origin of the Angelus prayer.

I first learned the Angelus at Franciscan University of Steubenville. I didn't go there but I worked there over many summers and had the opportunity to go to daily Mass on campus. The Angelus is prayed right at noon before Mass.

Here at St. Vincent, our rector often leads us in the prayer before formation conferences or seminars.

Charity

2011-02-15T15:41:00.002-05:00

A man goes above and beyond to help an elderly woman stranded in a Chicago airport. Beautiful!

"She is somebody's grandmother," Germeyer said. "And to slide this piece of paper across the desk and say, 'Here is your voucher, good luck,' when she hasn't eaten, doesn't have her luggage and doesn't know Chicago ... that really aggravated me."

inside pixar

2011-02-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

four things

2011-02-11T22:38:00.003-05:00

1. I love Roadie #42's blog about Coldplay's recording process. It's a unique look into the world of some talented and creative songwriters.

Often, when talking about working in studios, people say "God, I couldn't stand it, listening to people playing the same bit of music over and over and over again all day". In reality, when you're amongst it and privy to the "Why don't we try..?" conversations, it becomes nothing like that. The best way I can describe it, is to compare it to one of those montage sequences in an eighties movie where the main character is taken clothes shopping. In the montage, you'd see the star emerging time after time from the changing room in radically different outfits, pulling faces, striking poses. Here of course, the song is the star and the outfit is the arrangement, the sound, the instrumentation. The song will eventually emerge with a stunning and perfectly stylish outfit that will define it forever.

2. Is whispering hazardous to your voice?

3. This summer's trip to Peru was my first encounter with SkyMall. My opinion? Amazing ... and weird.

4. An incredibly realistic Jedi training manual.

Fr. Barron on "exorcism movies" and me on The Rite

2011-02-11T22:24:00.004-05:00

Fr. Barron gives a great evaluation of the spiritual themes in The Exorcist - some that I had never recognized. However, he was not a big fan of The Rite.

I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it. Having read the book a few years ago, I wasn't too impressed when I first saw previews for the movie. It looked like they lost everything that was great about the book to make typical Hollywood horror movie. The story told in the book shows how a priest becomes an exorcist while also telling his vocation story as a whole. It's personal, straightforward and very Catholic.

There were changes in the film, maybe even some that made for a better story in that medium, but, overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

To simplify:

- It presented a wonderfully human view of the priesthood and priests. They were men, like other men, who had answered a specific call from God. Even "the doubter," the movie's main character, was shown in a sympathetic way.

- Even when things were factually wrong (a transitional deacon giving "last rites" and performing an exorcism") there was a general sympathy toward the faith. These people really believe in what they are saying and doing - and it is important for the the questioning deacon to be sincere. If he doesn't really believe, he shouldn't be a priest.

- Exorcism is shown as part of the Church's whole "program." It isn't magic, it's a prayer. I love that the film ends, not with the newly ordained priest embarking on his own exorcism ministry, but rather with him hearing confessions in an average parish. He's still battling the forces of darkness, just not in the action-packed, sensational way that most movies about this would show it.

In the end, The Rite made me want to pray more, to be more holy and to give myself to my vocation in a deeper way. That has to be a sign of something good.

and what?

2011-02-10T19:28:00.004-05:00

1. An interesting interview with composer Bear McCreary.

2. House of Fallen Timbers - A man chronicles his work of building a cabin from "dead trees and found materials."

3. From AoM: Unleash the Power of the Nap - Actually pretty fascinating.

4. The Mystery of Ferris Bueller's Cubs Game. I love this movie.

5. Twitter Parade - Interesting.

6. This is hard to explain but it is endlessly fun to play with ... just start clicking on squares.

7. The last eyewitness to the Lincoln assasination ... on TV!

8. What to do if you get stuck in snow, sand, or mud

I miss LOST

2011-02-10T19:17:00.004-05:00

1. LOST Answers - A scientist cleverly (and often sarcastically) answers all of your questions about the mysteries of the show. Like me, he enjoyed the ending and refuses to apologize for it.

2. Check out this awesome t-shirt:

disciples make disciples

2011-02-10T18:55:00.002-05:00

Fr. Damian J. Ference on "Why vocations programs don't work."

Read the whole piece. Here are a few of the things that standout:

The root of our current vocation problem is a lack of discipleship. Of course, a disciple is one who encounters Jesus, repents, experiences conversion and then follows Jesus. All too often those of us in positions of Church leadership presume that all the folks in the pews on Sundays, all the children in our grade schools, high schools and PSR programs, all the kids in our youth groups, all the men in our Men’s Clubs and all the women in our Women’s Guilds, and all the members of our RCIA team are already disciples. Many are not. (The same can be said of staffs and faculties of Catholic institutions.) Our people may be very active in the programs of our parishes, schools and institutions, but unfortunately, such participation does not qualify for discipleship.

As Father says later, this may seem very basic and obvious, but it is often overlooked. It's so easy to measure our success as a Church (and as a parish) on people "doing things" and people "showing up."

Fr. Damian focuses on youth groups as an example. I think our assumption is that we have to bring kids in with entertainment; by making Church look cool so that they will want to participate. The ultimate goal, as Fr. Damian writes, is to transform them - to make them followers of Jesus, not just to have regular attendance.

Yes, attendance is important: at Mass and at the various organizations and activities in our parishes, that is how we stay connected; but if people are not becoming disciples through these things, then we are not doing our job.

Church activities should lead to personal prayer, to an internal transformation that leads a person to give their life to Jesus.

The best way to do this is to be disciples ourselves:

Disciples beget disciples. If more married couples, priests, religious and faithful begin to take discipleship seriously, there won’t be a vocation problem, because ultimately our vocation problem is a lack of discipleship. The solution to this problem is so fundamental that is often overlooked and misdiagnosed, but the remedy is as old as the Gospel itself. If we, as Christ’s Church, take the call to discipleship and evangelization more seriously, the vocation problem will be lessened. Let us continue to pray for reform and renewal and, ultimately, for the Holy Spirit’s pouring himself out on his holy Church, the Bride of Christ.

meditatio

2011-02-10T15:30:00.002-05:00

1. Bultmann's New Clothes - Fr. Dwight Longenecker on "de-mythologizing" the Bible.

What Bultmann wanted to do was to steer around the historical accounts of the miraculous--to leave them in place as 'marvelous stories' but assuming that the supernatural simply couldn't have happened like that, they wanted to draw people to the 'real meaning' of the stories. The implication, of course, is that the events didn't really happen at all, or if they happened they were ordinary events that the 'aw gawrsh!' stupid early church members interpreted as miraculous (like everybody sharing their lunch becoming a miraculous multiplication of food) What Bultmann the de-mythologizer actually did therefore, was to turn what was reported as real events and historical accounts into--hey presto!--myths. A myth being a beautiful (but fictional) story with transcendent meaning to guide us through life.

Bultmann's 'great accomplishment' therefore was to turn historical events into myth while claiming to "de-mythologize" them.

2. Let’s move on from condoms. What the Pope said about the priesthood is more interesting

3. The new Roman Missal's prayers for Advent and Christmas from the USCCB [PDF]

4. Fr. Dwight on "Rooster Cogburn Catholicism."

5. Oh yes ... "iPhone confession." Yes, there is an app for that. No, it does not replace confession, it is an aid for the penitent - just like a pamphlet with an examination of conscience and the Act of Contrition. If you're the media, however, you have your own ideas about what this is.

interesting and beautiful teaching

2011-02-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Bishop John Brungardt: Ordination Remarks from Rocco Palmo on Vimeo.

"we are three now"

2011-02-07T19:50:00.003-05:00

Kari, from Mythbusters, makes a great point about Valentine's Day, marriage and family:

In Valentines past, I have gone to extraordinary lengths to show my love and be romantic with my husband. Back when we were starving artists I even got a job delivering roses … just so I could keep all the extras. I covered my one bedroom studio apartment in petals and cooked a candlelight dinner. Dinner may sound cliché but this vegetarian went so far as to cook him a steak! I guess nothing says romance to a southern boy like red meat. (P.S. I wore rubber gloves and yes, I gagged while cooking it!)

This Valentine’s Day is going to be different. We are three now. Quite honestly I am looking forward to doing something special for my new little Valentine. In fact, I think my husband and I are more in love with each other now that she is in the picture. It seems fitting to include her in the celebration.

Sounds very ... well, Catholic. A child is the love between a husband and a wife made visible and present as a new person. Kari seems to get that and wants to celebrate it. Their daughter isn't just an addition, she is a sign of the real union between them.

"good plain food"

2011-02-06T23:15:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite paragraph's from The Lord of the Rings:

They were washed and in the middle of good deep mugs of beer when Mr. Butterbur and Nob came in again. In a twinkling the table was laid. There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food, as good as the Shire could show, and homelike enough to dispel the last of Sam's misgivings (already much relieved by the excellence of the beer). [page 154]

Tolkien captures perfectly the feeling of sitting down to a good meal. This reminds me of finishing a long trip or making a stop for dinner or cooking lunch on a hike - you are satisfied to have normal, down-to-earth food.

I love BXVI

2011-02-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

thoughts on things

2011-01-31T23:19:00.004-05:00

1. I recently finished The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor. It was a great read, but a tough one. The stories can be fairly bleak and very few of them are what I would consider "happy."

I had never really read much of her work before but I had heard that her Catholicism was a big factor in them. I can't say that I saw that immediately, but her faith did seem to creep up on me.

Stories like "A Good Man is Hard to Find" (also a great Sufjan song) still have me confused, but, overall, the whole collection was beautiful. As Thomas Merton writes (on the back cover), she really shows "man's fall and dishonor." These stories are about the human condition - a broken one - but there is a background of hope.

2. I think I said earlier that I got a record player for Christmas. The other day, a few of us stopped by CD Warehouse to see what they had in vinyl. Among a few other things, I picked up Meet The Beatles, the group's second album (in the US, at least). I know most of the songs, so that wasn't a surprise, but the experience of hearing this album the same way that, say, my parents heard it when it first came out was a unique one. I love the hiss, the pops and clicks - and the fact that this record, which I think is original, still plays this music. An almost 50-year-old CD would not play like this and a "digital album" just doesn't have the beautiful physicality of the record.

3. On a much more serious note: Today I got to practice praying the liturgy of the Eucharist for the first time in my Priesthood Prep class. We wore the vestments, used real bread and wine and did it all in the seminary's practice chapel. When I was actually doing this, it struck me how much the priest does in the Mass. As a deacon, I done a lot in the Liturgy of the Word: proclaiming the Gospel, preaching, praying the intercessions; but when you get to the Eucharistic prayer and all that surrounds it, it is all the priest. The toughest part was remembering to do the gestures that accompany the appropriate words. I continually felt like I was forgetting something.

The experience was powerful. Actually saying the words and doing the actions made me realize how close ordination is and how far I've come since starting here in 2005.

A smaller world

2011-01-31T22:59:00.003-05:00

The League of Bearded Catholics captures exactly what has bothered me about the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

… the Narnia in which the children find themselves is just... smaller than the one in the books. Not geographically, but less grand, less noble. Lewis' Narnia was suffused with spiritual and moral energy and significance. Something in the Narnian air made the importance of every action (or inaction) somehow closer to the surface. Courage grew more courageous, friendship more dear, sacrifice more costly, there. The Narnia of the films is... an admirably worked-up fantasy world, but where the most important thing is the children - that they have a Big Adventure and come out safe by the end of the movie. Whew! Now, wasn't that fun?

In the books, rather than being the Center of Everything, the Pevensie children play an important part in what they know is a story much bigger and more magnificent than themselves.

In the movies, Aslan's voice is not, as one might expect, the rumbling basso of a Giant Lion, but the velvety, soporific baritone of a kindly uncle. He seems not so much to have supernatural significance, but simply to have Super Powers. And he is very importantly, not known or referred to as the Son of the Great Emperor over the Sea - who as far as the films are concerned, apparently doesn't exist. The importance of that ommission is really difficult to overstate. Without God, there is no Son of God. Jesus becomes not the Maker of All Things and Savior of Mankind, but a great teacher... a kindly uncle. Without the Great Emperor Over Sea, Aslan becomes a kindly talking lion with super powers. He is shrunk.

…

In the Narnia films, the children do not carry the spirit of Narnia with them into our world, but instead carry their childish pettiness into Narnia.

But, I mean, after all... you can't expect modern audiences to believe all that Pollyanna rubbish that Lewis put in there. So, we can dream of a place where the very land, the animals, the sky and the sea are better-than-real, but we must not do the same for people. People must always be portrayed with dull and cynical realism.

I think you could say that the films might have showed us "the letter" of Narnia, but they missed the spirit.

After watching the newest film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I found myself incredibly frustrated: this was my favorite book of the series. It has adventure, redemption, conversion and, best of all, that journey into the unknown, to a place that isn't on a map and, in some ways, isn't even part of our world. Like "the West" in Lord of the Rings, Aslan's country inspires that longing for something we know, but have never seen before. It is a longing for heaven and, without that, Narnia becomes just another fairy tale.

duly noted

2011-01-31T22:41:00.003-05:00

1. The USCCB has put out an annotated version of the new translation of the Mass. It shows where all of the Scripture references came from - and there are plenty!

2. From frat boy to priest - a great story of one man's priesthood.

3. I heard about St. Benedict Joseph Labre via Amy Welborn. He's a new saint to me, but he's a cool one.

what devilry is this?

2011-01-31T22:21:00.002-05:00

1. Why the Devil uses abortion to eliminate Down Syndrome

After spending years on the streets as a Police Officer and witnessing how the devil quickly invades and corrupts people, it is priceless to be in the presence of a soul that cannot be compromised. This must make the devil absolutely consumed with rage, and I believe that is why he is using the ungodly instrument of abortion to eliminate these precious individuals before they arrive in the world to spread unimpeded light and love. Nothing must make the devil madder than an incorruptible soul especially when so many in the world have willingly followed his path of lies and deception ...

2. "Do not lose courage!" - The story of a 1928 exorcism in Iowa

During the exorcism process it was noted that Father Theophilus seemed to age twenty years. Father Steiger was reaching his own endurance limit, and the Sisters approached collective breakdown. But they became hopeful after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, known as the "Little Flower," appeared to Emma, saying: "Do not lose courage! The end is soon at hand." On the ceiling they saw roses, traditionally understood as evidence of Thérèse's intervention.

3. The Devil in Tinseltown - A brief history of exorcism movies. I haven't seen The Rite yet, but I've heard good things and bad things. The book, which I did read, is fantastic. It takes a sober, rational and ... Catholic (surprise!) approach to the whole issue while telling the story of a priest becoming an exorcist.

4. Fr. Dwight Longenecker on "The Smoke of Satan."

purge

2011-01-31T20:50:00.003-05:00

1. Bear McCreary writes good music: The Cape's Main Title Theme. The show, however, isn't as good.

2. Kevin Heider has a free (podcast) download of his catchy song, "Annie of the Sea" available on iTunes.

3. Tracking down my online haters - A sportswriter confronts people who attacked him online - over the phone - with interesting results. In person, it's much harder to put down, make fun of or dehumanize people face-to-face - or at least voice-to-voice.

4. A profile of Jane Espenson, a writer who's worked on some fantastic sci-fi shows.

5. From The Art of Manliness: 22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoids tin.

talking heads

2011-01-28T12:28:00.003-05:00

Fr. Cutie: Fallen Priest Gets Own Show . . . on FOX!
I guess it's not that surprising. Just frustrating.
He left the priesthood (and the Church) ... fine, whatever. But now he's profiting from it and being given a forum to share his ideas about whatever he wants.
I agree with Mark Shea's reaction:
FOX Doesn't Care About You
The purpose of FOX, like all other MSM media is to sell beer and shampoo. They've cornered a niche market which squeezes beer and shampoo out of conservatives better than other MSM media. So they milk that demographic for all it's worth. But as their recent decision to give Fr. Cutie a venue for spitting on the Church makes clear, the #1 priority of FOX remains beer and shampoo sales. Should providing angry conservatives with ranters and quack pundits cease to be lucrative and midget mud wrestling become more profitable, FOX will drop the ideological pandering in a heartbeat and go for the mud wrestling faster than you can say, "Whore for Mammon".

beautiful

2011-01-24T21:14:00.001-05:00

Solemn Profession of a Poor Clare Nun from St. Louis Review on Vimeo.

what a weekend

2011-01-23T21:50:00.003-05:00

What I planned: Preach on Saturday, head to the March for Life on Sunday morning (with a group from the diocese), come back here Monday night, go back to school Tuesday morning.

What happened: The cold that has been lingering since before Christmas came back in full force, preached all the Masses (Saturday night, two on Sunday morning, youth Mass Sunday evening), heading back to school Monday sometime. I'm going to try to sleep away some of this disease.

It was an interesting experience preaching sick. I was fine on Saturday, but at the first Mass this morning, my voice decided it didn't want to work about 3/4 through my homily. I got a drink and made sure I had a bottle of water for the next two Masses.

Now we're just hanging out, watching Hancock and ... well, blogging.

Good night to you all.

this is demonic

2011-01-19T16:35:00.003-05:00

Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Charged With 8 Counts of Murder

An abortion doctor who catered to minorities, immigrants and poor women was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to visit or inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them, District Attorney Seth Williams said.

Gosnell, his wife and eight other colleagues were arrested overnight Tuesday following a grand jury investigation, MyFoxPhilly.com reports.

According to the district attorney's office, Gosnell is facing murder in the third degree for the death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar. The patient died Nov. 20, 2009, when she was overdosed with anesthetics prescribed by Gosnell, according to the station.

Williams said during a press conference Wednesday that Gosnell "induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord."

three for the evening

2011-01-17T22:26:00.002-05:00

1. Check out I Will Lower My Net, a vocations blog by a priest from the Diocese of Erie, PA who was still in school here when I started.

2. A fairly good piece on the place of exorcism in the Church.

3. Some good points on evangelizing teens.

Lesnefsky said, "We show up at a park with a grill and start grilling hot dogs and feeding people. The first time, we just see them and get to know their name. Over weeks or years, it eventually builds relationships and develops into a friendship. It's much more effective for me to share Christ with someone who considers me their friend than someone who I knock on their door and try to give them a five-minute plug. These are people we have an authentic relationship with. There's an element of trust that happens before we even tell them about God. They begin to see we care for them outside of whether or not they ever come to the Church."
One of Dirty Vagabond Ministries' core principles is that "the greatest intimacy with Christ is found in the sacramental life of the Church." Lesnefsky admits that many inner-city youth don't have a foundation of faith, so exposure to Church and the sacraments can be "a little jarring" for them. But by sharing family-style meals and attending Mass together, these young people undergo "a beautiful awakening."

impressive

2011-01-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

music: good and free

2011-01-17T22:13:00.002-05:00

Currently I am enjoying the music of The Civil Wars. They have a great blue and folk driven sound. Plus you can get a live album and their newest single for free!

Sancta Missa

2011-01-13T16:34:00.002-05:00

An extremely helpful and informative website about all things Extraordinary (Form).

They have the entire Latin missal, videos, tutorials ... and a nice design!

Justice & Mercy

2011-01-13T16:21:00.004-05:00

Fr. Robert Barron on True Grit. He makes some great points:

Finally, Mattie frees herself and shoots to death her father’s murderer, but the recoil on the gun is so strong that she is pushed into a snake pit, where she receives a bite on the hand. I’ll get back to the snake pit in a moment, but notice first what this canny fourteen year old girl’s lust for vengeance has wrought: eight dead men. She wanted only to bring her father’s killer to justice, but the single-mindedness of her pursuit conduced toward a disproportionate, even barbaric, result, something far beyond the requirements of justice. Her excessive and one-sided passion for righteousness kicked her into a den of snakes, and no one with a Biblical sensibility could miss the symbolic overtone of this kind of fall.

As she lies helpless and desperately injured, Mattie looks up and sees Rooster Cogburn lowering himself by rope to the bottom of the pit. He cuts into her wound and sucks out as much of the poison as he can and then he brings her back up, places her on a horse and commences a furious ride to the nearest doctor who is many miles away. When the horse gives way from sheer exhaustion beneath him, Rooster picks up Mattie in his arms and carries her through the night to the doctor’s home. Now Cogburn is a man of the law, and like Mattie, he was aiming to bring a killer to justice, but what these heroic actions on behalf of the girl reveal is that he more than that. His passion for justice is accompanied by, even surpassed, by his mercy, his graciousness, his willingness to give even when that giving was not, strictly speaking, owed.

Mattie's shooting of Chaney really surprised me. It was sudden and quickly over. What we really saw was the result of her act of vengeance. As Mattie said in the opening narration, “the only thing in life that’s free is the grace of God.” She paid for her actions and Chaney paid for his.

And all the rest.

2011-01-13T15:58:00.002-05:00

1. The Ironic Catholic says that we don't have a vocations crisis, we have a recognizing the Holy Spirit crisis.

2. The Art of Minimalism on getting out of a funk.

Find your core principles.
Destroy your Day Planner.
Tell a few buddies.
Amp up the excitement.
Forge a habit of steel.

Remember LOST?

2011-01-13T15:53:00.001-05:00

Here's a great poster with symbols for each episode of the last season.

some music

2011-01-13T15:42:00.002-05:00

1. The c60 music player is a physical way to listen to digital music. Very interesting!

c60 Redux from IDEO on Vimeo.

I got a record player for Christmas and lately I've been thinking the way we listen to music. There's something special about holding an album - and I think that can go for CDs, tapes and records. With the availability of digital music, we lose some of that experience of opening something for the first time and "putting it on." In my case, I usually just put my whole collection on shuffle. We don't listen to albums as complete things in their own right anymore. It's all designed to cater to our immediate needs. I think it causes us to be "musically impatient" - we get what we want immediately without working for it at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love that I can find music from an endless number of artists and can take it with me anywhere, but I have to fight to appreciate music for the gift that it is, rather than just a cheap, easy to consume commodity.

2. The Ting Tings vs. Bob Dylan - A remix of "Subterranean Homesick Blues."