added clarification on home birth -- see also Clarification on our homebirth decision ... and Birth story of Peter

The medical community wants you to think that your average birth is a high risk thing that requires medical intervention. For your safety and dollar you should be going to them, asking no questions and going about your happy way. But it isn't that simple ...

I think its telling that forty percent of children in the Netherlands are STILL born at home and that infant mortality rates are better there than in the US. Well then ... maybe we should have babies at home? Not so fast. In this country, I question the home birth movement as well. I do not think its their fault. I am VERY sympathetic to their cause. The system here is setup to ensure great difficulty in operation of home birth based midwives. The required channels for its safety simply are not there in many locations. Still, I am told "its as safe as hospital birth" as if we live in a place, like the Netherlands, where the infrastructure to support that assertion DOES exist. It is very true that laws and regulations need to change and that needs to come from government at the state level. Sadly, in Louisiana, that task will be daunting.

That said, I am by no means proposing socialized medicine. I think things can be done that do not require a hands on approach from the state. In the US we have gone down the wrong path in terms of birthing for a LONG time. In the end women and children pay. I favor policies that result in an increased number of freestanding birth centers next to hospitals which specialize in emergency care. We need a sensible midwifery system that works WITH doctors and not as opposing forces vying for the same "market share". I want to clarify, lest I be misunderstood as thinking midwives are the non-sensible ones: I want an environment that is better suited for home birth. I want laws passed that will require doctors to back-up midwives (like in the UK). We also need insurance incentives that reward women for choosing the less expensive natural route over going to the hospital. If you want a lower deductible then YOU can choose to pay the higher premiums. If you elect to go to a hospital your deductible for maternity is increased by like $1500. A birth at a freestanding birth center costs nearly half that of a hospital birth. If a section is involved which at a local hospital is 50-60% of the time these days, then double it again. I also favor some sort of legal reform. I read recently that nearly every other birth in our city results in legal action. I hardly believe it but I have known doctors to quit practicing BECAUSE of the increase in litigation so I know its high. If that stat is even half true, it is absurd. Every friction we have encountered with our children was a decision being made because of possible litigation outcomes. So, you might think I am down on the doctors. Actually, I am not. I realize that the legal climate has resulted in this course. That is why I favor changes in the laws. I also think that there is an air of distrust between doctors and midwives that I think everyone should just get over. Is it true that market share and financial interests might be driving that? Likely. I don't want to concede market share to other companies in my career. I understand that motivation. Then again, moms matter. Kids matter. Birthing matters. It seems their goals are the same and in a truly altruistic world people would work together when their goals are identical.

In this country we have a system that makes sure the most possible money changes hands, pads incomes, gets people home at 5pm and results in the lowest possibility of successful legal action. Those goals are almost never consistent with the BEST practices for the health and safety of mom and baby. I realize its a complicated problem that needs reform. I don't have the answers. Still, I can clearly see that something needs to be done.

Originally posted Oct 20, 2005 -- I thought this was relevant with the tornado outbreaks we have had this week (May 2008)...

I have seen a lot of speculation in recent weeks about the number of disasters which have happened recently signalling the end times. First off, since much of it is meterological, I have decided to write a blurb on it. Its rare that a topic touches both my meteorological interest and my faith interest so here we go.

First off, if it isn't clear to everyone by now, 2005 is an historic hurricane season. It has tied the record for most Atlantic storms in a single season and had 3 (possibly 4) Category 5 storms. Hurricanes Wilma (1), Rita (4) and Katrina (6) sit amongst the Top 10 in most intense Atlantic storms on record (source).

We have had an historic tsunami that resulted in a record number of deaths.

We have had an earthquake in Pakistan with a death toll as of this writing of 79,000.

There has also been an increase in the number of tornadoes reported on a year to year basis.

First off, let’s look at a little bit of what the Church teaches on the matter:

Matt 24:3-8

3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, "Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?"
4 Jesus said to them in reply, "See that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many.
6 You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end.
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place.
8 All these are the beginning of the labor pains.

Now lets try to place some real historical perspective on these disasters ...

Hurricane activity

The 1933 hurricane season was as active as this season (to date) and the storms then were not as well documented. How it would compare to this season given today’s technology back then is a mystery. Still, combine this with the depths of the Great Depression and it would be easy to think that this might cause one to be alarmed. Also consider that hurricane reconnaissance began in the 1940's with many classic hurricanes falling before those dates whose minimum pressures likely occurred out at sea with no dropsondes to pick it up. The Galveston Storm of 1900, the Keys Hurricane of 1935 and the Great Lake Okeechobee Hurricane storm of 1928 were all catastrophic events and all of them could have been stronger before making landfall -- although the 1935 storm was likely close to peak intensity when it made its appearance at Key West. The fact is we are in what many meteorologists feel is a natural active long-term cycle in hurricane activity that could last for decades to come. The 1970's and 80's were a lull time in hurricane activity. Most of us are used to hurricane seasons that are below normal. Consider specificially the number of retired storms in the 1950's. In 1955 alone we had FOUR retired storms which followed a 1954 season producing three retired storms. This season is likely to best it but it is STILL not unprecedented given that storms were not even retired in the decades prior to 1950 because they were not named. This year is certainly unusual but END TIMES unusual? It COULD beat 1933, but not by much. To add even more perspective to this consider that an LSU study in 2000 suggests that we are (or were) at the possible END of a millennial quiet cycle of storms. In none of these earlier upswings did we usher in the immediate end.

Tsunami and Earthquakes killing thousands

The 2004 Asian Tsunami killed an estimated 275,000 people making it one of the most deadly disasters in modern history. This is certainly amongst the highest death totals from a tsunami on record but keep in mind we have greater population in these areas meaning that a similar tsunami in the past might have affected far fewer people. Earthquakes historically have killed as many as 830,000 people (in 1556) and storm surge from a tropical cyclone in Bangledesh in 1991 killed 140,000 people. (source) The end times did not come.

Tornado outbreak increases

Some have also cited the increase in tornado activity as being another sign of the end times however this dubious increase in tornadoes is easily explainable. For one thing we are identifying MORE tornadoes that do not cause damage. The perfect example of this can be seen by comparing the Super Outbreak of 1974 with the Memorial Day tornado outbreak of 2004 both with similar numbers of tornadoes over a short time period. The 2004 outbreak pales in comparison to the 1974 outbreak when comparing violent tornadoes (F3+). The 1974 outbreak had six F5 tornadoes, 23 F4 tornadoes and 35 F3 tornadoes. Of the 149 tornadoes in the outbreak 23 F0 tornadoes were identified. In the 2004 outbreak there was one F4 and 6 F3's. However, 82 F0's were identified in the outbreak. F0's by definition cause no damage but in today’s tornado chaser and camcorder rich environment more of them are captured on film and documented. Finally, go back and reconsider what I said about F5's and the Super Outbreak. There have been approximately 75 documented F5 tornadoes since 1900. The Super Outbreak was responsible for SIX of them. There have been no F5's since May 3, 1999. Notice ... calamity abound in 1974 and we are still here.

Other historic events that might have caused me to say hmmmmmm

There are two immediate events that immediately come to mind when I think of things that would have caused me to think that the end was near. The first of these events was the Tambora volcanic eruption in 1815 caused 82,000 starvation deaths and resulted in the Year Without a Summer in 1816. The second of these events was the holocaust. Many years later, we are all still around.

Media coverage increase

One final point I want you to consider is this; The Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina put the spotlight on natural disasters. If history is any indication, I am not sure the recent earthquake in Pakistan would have gotten the coverage it did if it had not been for the previous two events. In fact, I was somewhat dissapointed in the coverage of Hurricane Stan, which resulted in more deaths than Katrina and included one of the deadliest landslides in history. Media coverage certainly affects ones perception of what is going on in the world.

Stop writing will ya?

The key here is historical perspective (list of deadliest disasters). I think many of us, especially those of us who didn't live through much of this past calamity have a hard time seeing the big picture. Horrific natural disasters "of biblical proportions" have been happening every decade since the dawn of time. Just because a few of them happened in the same six to twelve month period does not necessarily indicate the end times are coming. Our Lord said we would not know the day or the hour. This was quite simply a good way of telling us to be prepared NOW.

Someone on a forum that I frequent put it this way; "People have been speculating about the end times for centuries. One of these days somebody is going to be right."

If history is a good measure, then chances are you won't live to see Christ come again. It is better to prepare for the far greater likelihood of your own death. Consider yourself informed.

Example of years similar to these past two: 1960-1961 saw a flurry of Category Five hurricanes with Donna and Ethel in 1960 and Carla and Hattie in 1961. There were three F5 tornadoes in those years in the United States. The Great Chilean Earthquake, which was the largest magnitude quake ever recorded (9.5) occurred in 1960. This earthquake generated one of the most destructive tsunamis in history. Another earthquake in 1960 nearly totally destroyed Agadir, Morocco. In 1961 a volcanic eruption occurred on Tristan da Cunha requiring an evacuation of the entire population. The world did not end.

My wife found a "Best Of" at the local library ...

Now I can tell my kids "back in my day we learned to read the AWESOME way" ...

I will tentatively be speaking at my parish on Aug 21 on the topic of marriage. -- I haven't figured out what I am going to title it. The sacramental teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage was one of the most powerful teachings in the process of my conversion. As Sheed and Ward said in their Catholic Evidence Training Outlines "marriage is, undoubtedly, the ordinary means of salvation for the ordinary run of men." There is no statement about marriage of which I am more convinced that isn't already affirmed by the Church. I think it is an important topic and I pray, by the grace of God, that I can do it justice. My goal is to present this in the style of what has recently been termed "affirmative orthodoxy". This style is very much used by Pope Benedict XVI and I think it goes a long way towards getting people to see the reasoning behind why the Church teaches what it does. To quote the Pope:

Christianity, Catholicism, isn't a collection of prohibitions: it's a positive option. It's very important that we look at it again because this idea has almost completely disappeared today. We've heard so much about what is not allowed that now it's time to say: we have a positive idea to offer, that man and woman are made for each other, that the scale of sexuality, eros, agape, indicates the level of love and it's in this way that marriage develops, first of all, as a joyful and blessing-filled encounter between a man and a woman, and then the family, that guarantees continuity among generations and through which generations are reconciled to each other and even cultures can meet. So, firstly it's important to stress what we want. Secondly, we can also see why we don't want something. I believe we need to see and reflect on the fact that it's not a Catholic invention that man and woman are made for each other, so that humanity can go on living: all cultures know this. .... all this is clearer if you say it first in a positive way. -- 2006 interview with German journalists ahead of his trip to Bavaria ... recorded by the German radio outlet Deutsche Welle:

I will give more details as the date gets closer.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words ... Well this one is worth about ten thousand.

Posts like this normally drive me nuts because of the load time and besides, who has time to watch all of these videos. The point here is to show you how cool the Internet is. Yesterday, there was a tornado outbreak in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas. There is expected to me more action today as well. Here is the summary (click on the image for a better view):



First off, while all of this was going on, I followed some storm chasers live on SevereStudios. I saw two tornadoes live, both in Kansas. Also, I typically follow on radar and through various message boards. A lot of people are in contact with chasers on the ground so they know what is going on. Still its getting close to being a live thing. Video in one place, GPS showing location. Now if only they would overlay radar like Weather.com and WeatherUnderground.com it would be next to perfect.

Second, I woke up this morning to find that several videos of the events made it to YouTube overnight. This includes footage of the Colorado, Wyoming and California tornadoes. I collected many of them for you to see. I make no promises about the language of people who are watching tornadoes ... I am not saying that is the case in these videos but you have been warned.

Tornado in Riverside, CA -- Tornado In Southern California Tornado in Riverside, CA

-- Tornado In Southern California



Tornado East of Oberlin, KS


Rotating storm May 22, 2008 in Trego County Kansas


Hoxie Kansas Tornado 5/22/08 -- not a video, photographs


May 22 2008 WaKeeney Kansas Tornado


2 Tornadoes: Grainfield, on I-70, mile marker 93, The second about 10 miles south of Collyer


Wedge tornado south of Oberlin, KS


Cheyenne Tornado



and of course what collection from yesterday would be complete without the following ...

Raw video of *huge* tornado in Colorado

I want to highlight a few posts that I have made recently and tie them together. Recently I have been getting some hits concerning the idea that "religion is holding us back".

First, I want to point out that this sword easily cuts both ways. I submit my recent post on survey results that came to the conclusion that "religion is holding back nanotechnology" ... In that post I concluded about the Samsung SilverCare line of washers.

It is receiving much scorn from environmentalists willing to apply the "precautionary principle" to it -- ... The washer uses a process to create what Samsung calls "nanosilver" ... not much different than processes used in drinking water treatment and pool water disinfection. ...

Now, to be consistent, I wonder when they are going to subject all those water treatment plants to the same thing ....

Same problem, different religion.

For the dense, the religion I am referring to is environmentalism - and I am referring to it in a sense where it is an idol driving the motivations for nearly everything someone does or demands that we do as a society. Second, in my post titled "The breakdown of Christian teaching leading to approval of the sexual revolution" I cite a few interesting facts discovered regarding the modern day practice of NFP. Still those facts were not congealed and put into great use because everyone else was using artificial contraception. The largest groups of those not using contraception are Catholics, some Protestants and Muslims. I wonder what role religion has played in focus being placed on this technology? In the Catholic Church we even have the Paul VI Institute dedicated to the study of a method the secular world has, in its brilliance, written off because there is supposedly no need.

In the end we have a very effective method of birth regulation using ONLY natural signs. Research into how those methods can be effectively used to fight fertility issues is ongoing and showing promising signs -- no pun intended -- of life. The end of this could be technological advances that help women monitor their cycles, even electronically, in order to help achieve pregnancy, modify various hormone imbalances and whatnot, all without resorting to methods with known dangerous and unnatural side effects.

Whether you like the motivation or not, this is science folks; science that the increasingly anti-religious secular world has left nearly exclusively to the religious of the world to explore. In this example, who is really against progress here? It isn't those who aspire to the great religions of the world. In fact often times it is the same folks who cry to the hills that religion is the great halter of all progress. Now it would be logically inconsistent at best for me to say that a single example (or even many) proves that religion is better suited to advancement in science. That isn't my point. My point is that it is precisely matters of doctrine which have borne the necessity of these methods and thus the advancements in technology regarding them. In this area we are just scratching the surface and in 100 years I suspect all of mankind from the religious to the not so will be thankful.

I know times are tough but since when is "Roof" a feature of a home. From a listing I have in front of me .. ahem ...

Features: Dishwasher, Disposal, Range/Oven, Cooling System, Fire Alarm, Heating System, Roof, Garage, Parking, Patio

And also doesn't garage in most places imply parking? See what I am not telling you here is that this same home happens to include tile floors, granite counter tops, hard wood floors, nice fixtures etc. There is no need to tell me you have a roof. I know this already.

While we are at it, we should add: Walls, Floors, Rooms etc. Of course the lack of a roof would give a whole new meaning to "open floor plan" ...

There has to be a best of Real Estate listings out there ... can someone direct me?

Isn't it funny how every time I say I will be posting less, I manage to find time to post more?

An interesting read today ... Mommy Monsters Inc.: In the Company of God ... and Mary ... and Mom

All of us have been through this ... The painful discussions surrounding the real practice of your faith. You are wrong. You haven't read enough. You have read too much. (heard both of those) You hate me. You think I am going to hell -- You are going to hell.

I have to remember that Protestants in order to be true to their consciences will say things like this. I cannot stop that and I shouldn't stop that. I know they mean well but it hurts. It hurts more to comfort my crying six year old after someone tells him the Catholic Church is wrong or when the kids at school say that he is hell bound. I went through it when I was a kid. Its part of being Catholic. Of course over my life I left the faith. My years as a Protestant were good. I learned a lot of great things. That said, by the grace of God I am back in the Church and my children love the faith far more than I did at their age. I just hope the pain they experience from well intentioned Protestants who do not understand Catholicism is something that helps strengthen them rather than confuse them.

These arguments happen because people love you. When I converted back the people that I respected the most were the ones that at least considered that there were SOME stakes involved in converting. It isn't like switching from one church to another over slight nuances in doctrine or mere preferences. You are taking a stand swimming the Tiber. You are saying Jesus founded a Church and we can know which one it is and that the truths of the faith have been faithfully carried down to us over 20 centuries of a sometimes vibrant, sometimes scandalous history. You are also saying very loudly that others do NOT have the fullness of the truth. Nobody else makes that claim. Everyone else says that we can't REALLY know but we are likely the closest to what Jesus intended. During our conversion the ones that invoked the relativist "whats good for you" line actually disturbed me more despite the fact that conversations with them were far more pleasant. In a way I know they are likely ignorant of the stakes so in that sense they might be in a good place. But if they DO know the stakes, they are playing with the fire of being lukewarm and that is not where you want to be.

Give me conviction over indifference any day ... That lets me know that it matters to you and lets face it, salvation matters.

I am done with it for now ... I use it. It works. The code is completely contained in the HTML so anyone who doesn't like it can fix it themselves.


Yes that is me ... and my hair is a mess :) I added this picture so that you can see that the buttons are slightly rounded on the iPhone. Apologies for the garbage picture ...


Compare to what it would look like in Safari on a PC/Mac or online emulator. Not quite the effect of the real thing.

Work has been really intense the past few weeks and that will continue through the first few weeks of June.

Then I go on vacation :)

Is a Houston church deceiving Catholics?

This is a sad story ... There are a few things I would like to point out ....

The priest had a wife and children — something the Roman Catholic church forbids.

There is a pastoral provision that allows an Anglican priest to be received, reordained etc. into the Catholic Church and retain his marriage. This is one possibility. Second, many of the Eastern Catholic rites in communion with Rome ALLOW married priests. As for the Roman Rite, they are correct. It is a disciplinary law (and I think a good one).

Misahel Lopez was so upset that he didn’t set foot in a church for three years. He felt cheated, hurt and guilty for baptizing his son in a different denomination. ... The Lopez family is yet to return to any church. While they would like Mishael to grow up a good Catholic boy, only a re-baptism by a real Catholic priest and in a real Catholic church would convince them to go back.

This reeks, to a slight degree, of superstition.

I am guessing the fact that the baptism was valid is a sticking point that is keeping this man and his family out of church. As long as the baptismal formula is valid the baptism is valid, no Catholic church will re-baptize his son -- they might conditionally depending on the circumstances of the baptism but its unlikely if the formula was correct. He is already baptized. From the old Catholic Encyclopedia (Rebaptism)

To complete the consideration of the validity of baptism conferred by heretics, we must give some account of the celebrated controversy that raged around this point in the ancient Church. In Africa and Asia Minor the custom had been introduced in the early part of the third century of rebaptizing all converts from heresy. As far as can be now ascertained, the practice of rebaptism arose in Africa owing to decrees of a Synod of Carthage held probably between 218 and 222; while in Asia Minor it seems to have had its origin at the Synod of Iconium, celebrated between 230 and 235. The controversy on rebaptism is especially connected with the names of Pope St. Stephen and of St. Cyprian of Carthage. The latter was the main champion of the practice of rebaptizing. The pope, however, absolutely condemned the practice, and commanded that heretics on entering the Church should receive only the imposition of hands in paenitentiam. In this celebrated controversy it is to noted that Pope Stephen declares that he is upholding the primitive custom when he declares for the validity of baptism conferred by heretics.

Cyprian, on the contrary, implicitly admits that antiquity is against his own practice, but stoutly maintains that it is more in accordance with an enlightened study of the subject. -- FC: Pride maybe, even in a man who ended up a saint) The tradition against him he declares to be "a human and unlawful tradition". Neither Cyprian, however, nor his zealous abettor, Firmilian, could show that rebaptism was older than the century in which they were living. The contemporaneous but anonymous author of the book "De Rebaptismate" says that the ordinances of Pope Stephen, forbidding the rebaptism of converts, are in accordance with antiquity and ecclesiastical tradition, and are consecrated as an ancient, memorable, and solemn observance of all the saints and of all the faithful. St. Augustine believes that the custom of not rebaptizing is an Apostolic tradition, and St. Vincent of Lérins declares that the Synod of Carthage introduced rebaptism against the Divine Law (canonem), against the rule of the universal Church, and against the customs and institutions of the ancients. By Pope Stephen's decision, he continues, antiquity was retained and novelty was destroyed (retenta est antiquitas, explosa novitas). It is true that the so-called Apostolic Canons (xlv and xlvi) speak of the non-validity of baptism conferred by heretics, but Döllinger says that these canons are comparatively recent, and De Marca points out that St. Cyprian would have appealed to them had they been in existence before the controversy. Pope St. Stephen, therefore, upheld a doctrine already ancient in the third century when he declared against the rebaptism of heretics, and decided that the sacrament was not to be repeated because its first administration had been valid, This has been the law of the Church ever since.

I have opted for the second version with the larger screen for displaying Sacred Scripture texts, prayers and mystery images.

Everything from this point is minor tweaking. If you get to the end of a set of mysteries, clicking "next" will bring you to the beginning of the next set. I am planning on adding a fast skip and the option to select different mystery images. I also plan to add a block of Javascript that will cache the images when it first loads a mystery so that subsequent mysteries function instantly. In due time ...

The code is more readable now but needs some commenting. Just view source ...

OK, I made a modification ... I like it. My wife likes it BUT it removes some of the initial design in favor of actual usable real estate for reading prayers and viewing the mystery image. Let me know what you think ...

The original: http://earlychurchfathers.org/fullcircle/rosary.php
The larger center: http://earlychurchfathers.org/fullcircle/rosaryb.php

This afternoon I am going to add the mystery to the title bar when it is selected. Also, when you flip over the image, initially it is blank. I plan to add a scripture passage for each mystery. That way everything you might want to meditate on is easily available.

UPDATE

I am experimenting with writing an iPhone rosary. If anyone is interested you can find at http://earlychurchfathers.org/fullcircle/rosary.php. Apparently I have been told that using pixed pixel sizing is causing problems with some iPhones. Check it out and give me some feedback. I would really appreciate it.

This is not an application but a simple web site that is geared more towards use with the iPhone. I asked some of my friends with iPhones to try it out and they indicated that it had scaling issues. I spent some time working on that and it scales great in Firefox and in Safari on my PC. The cool part, from a nerd perspective, was my need to scale background images on the center button. You are fairly limited here. My solution was to write a small block of PHP code that takes a JPEG URL and a scale factor and returns a scaled JPG. That way I could reference it like any other image and it would work when the screen was rescaled. For example, here is the header image above rescaled to 40%:



Its not perfect ... in fact its lousy for wide screen configurations. I'll work on the math some if there is a need for it. The rest of it is pretty much CSS and Javascript. It is fully contained in the source so you should be able to view source, save and play with it locally if you want.

You don't have to have an iPhone to try the interface out. Just use your mouse like you would use your fingers on the iPhone. Click away.

Here is a brief overview with some screenshots ...

First screen, contains Apostles Creed (gray), Our Father (red), 3 Hail Marys (black), Glory be (green). The prev and next buttons move forward or backwards in the rosary. At each phase it resets the prayers to the darker color (unsaid).


When you click on them they turn a lighter color


This is an example of a decade with an image of the mystery


Clicking on the center image hides it. Clicking a prayer after that shows the text of the prayer (for dolts like me who have yet to learn them all)


This final shot is of the last screen which is reserved for the Hail Holy Queen (purple)


I have only done ONE mystery. The others will happen as I select images. I may even change the colored squares to bead like images. Its workable on an iPhone ... even with the small text. You can zoom in slightly to make even the Apostles Creed readable ... well, at least I think so.

Seriously ... I would appreciate feedback.

Posted this on a forum answering the question of a Protestant inquiring about the faith (reposted today) -- Originally posted Nov 11, 2006

I have some theories of my own, as a revert... you will likely find yourself asking the same question regarding sin -- "by your fruits you shall know them" (see my conversion story essay: My own struggles with the people in the pew next to me) ... There are several compounding factors here.

Cultural Catholicism - I live in south Louisiana and I see this all the time. In fact to a degree I am from it. Never underestimate the power of "mama", who may or may not understand her faith to any degree, to pressure her kids to "be" Catholic. My wife and I went to an engaged encounter long before we were even considering converting. We were the only completely non-Catholic couple there. A significant percentage of them were going because their parents wanted them to get married in the Church. Threats of being disowned were involved in a few. If you were to ask those people what they are, they will tell you Catholic. Its just how they were raised. They, nor their parents attended mass, but they are Catholic because all Cajuns are Catholic, or French, or Italians etc. To get a better idea of what I am talking about, think Big Fat Greek Wedding. It can become a cultural religion devoid of its meaning -- something you just do because it is part of who you are. Some older branches of Protestantism suffer this same reality (the mainlines certainly) ...

The "Here I stand" mentality vs. "schism is totally out of the question" - When I was Protestant, if I didn't like the direction the church was taking, I would simply leave and find more like minded congregation. If the church started to gather into two opposing factions on a particular doctrinal point they would simply divide, the elect to go one way and the damned the other. This led me to be in contact with people who hated the same sins I hated and emphasized the same doctrines I emphasized. In essence, everyone around me looked darned near perfect. In the Catholic Church UNITY is certainly emphasized. Consider if you took your average, doctrinally conservative, evangelical Protestant church with, say 200 members. Now, add 200 very liberal Universalists with no desire to leave. Then toss a doctrine staunchly held by all dictating that under no circumstances can you split or leave the church. How different would things seem? Half your congregation would seem nuts to you. That scenario is a reality in the Catholic Church.

Poor catechesis - This is a significant factor, especially in recent generations. Sadly, in some places it isn't getting much better whereas in others there is great cause for hope. I just complained to some Catholics the other day about the catechesis program we are using. It focuses very heavily on response as opposed to the teachings of the Church. Thats kind of putting the cart before the horse and what you end up with are a bunch of socially responsible people who have no idea what they believe. The WHAT, WHO and WHY is important. My wife and I have decided since to cover the material, read related scriptures to the kids and allow the Holy Spirit to do the work. I pray it works better that way. It did with me.

Pilot light Catholics - This is actually the hopeful portion of the masses of ignorant Catholics you meet. They cannot figure out why they go after all these many years but they keep coming. You see, there is something very real about receiving Christ. They walk into a grand cathedral or even a moderately well done local parish and they are just struck. They cannot put their finger on it but they remain drawn to it. Those people are having grace poured all over them and as I am sure you know it doesn't take much of an open door for Christ to flood you over.

That is just four of my reasons. I have seen all of this. I was raised Catholic, went through an agnostic phase, then something clicked in college in very Protestant north Louisiana and over 10 years I found myself gleefully back where I started.

---A followup to my post contained the following regarding ex-Catholics who say they were taught things that are clearly against the teachings of the Church.

There's a fifth piece, which I might as well call "selective memory", even though that's a little more pejorative than I mean it to be. If Mr. X converted from Catholicism thirty years ago, and if he's been told in those intervening thirty years that Catholics believe X and Y and Z, he might well end up believing that he was taught X and Y and Z as a Catholic.

Originally posted on November 16, 2006 - reposting for the 100th anniversary of the event.

In Nov 2006 we had a small tornado outbreak in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi which sadly included at least one death and several injuries. This caused me to recall that one of the deadliest (#7 in the top 10) tornadoes in the history of the United States began just a few miles from where we currently reside. On April 24, 1908 an F4 tornado took the lives of 147 people and injured 770 in Louisiana and Mississippi. The tornado left only 7 of 150 structures standing in the city of Purvis, MS where a significant percentage of the total deaths occurred.

Anyway, when doing a little research I discovered a writeup on the 1908 event. Here is the portion that refers to the local tornado

TORNADOES IN LOUISIANA, APRIL 24,1908. By I. M. CLINE, District Forecaster. Dated New Orleans,La, June 12,1908.
...
The second tornado made its appearance between 11 a.m.and 12 noon in the vicinity of Weiss, Livingston Parish. The storm came from the southwest and moved toward the north-east across St.Helena, Tanngipahoa, and Washington parishes, and past into Mississippi near Balltown, La. There was a well-defined pendant funnel-shaped cloud, with rotary winds of suficient violence to uproot trees and prostrate buildings in its path. The path of greatest destruction ranged in width from one-half mile at Weiss to two and one-half miles at Amite, and covered a distance of about 80 miles in Louisiana
...See full report

Weather historians will quickly notice that the author of this writeup is Issac Cline about which the Wikipedia notes:

A well respected man in his time, Cline was the first meteorologist to provide reliable forecasts of freezing weather. He also provided some of the first available flood warnings on the Colorado and Brazos rivers. However, in 1891, he wrote an article in the Galveston News in which he gave his official meteorological opinion that the thought of a hurricane ever doing any serious harm to Galveston was "An absurd delusion". Many residents had called for a seawall to protect the city, but Cline's statement helped to prevent its construction.

He was proven tragically wrong on September 8, 1900 when the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 hit the island killing thousands. Isaac was nearly drowned, but managed to save one of his children. Joseph Cline saved Isaac's other two children, but a pregnant Cora did not survive.

I finally read Spe Salvi. The following hit me like a ton of bricks ...

We can try to limit suffering, to fight against it, but we cannot eliminate it. It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.

I'll try to comment more tomorrow.

OK, OK so it doesn't follow that we are headed that way but this is certainly interesting ....

CWS has a summary here .... Historical argument favors Communion on the tongue

... concluding that the early Church quickly developed the practice in which lay people Communion on the tongue while kneeling. Only ordained ministers were allowed to touch the consecrated Host with their hands.

By the 6th century, Bishop Schneider writes, the Church had formed a consensus that Communion should be received on the tongue, of reverence for the Eucharistic Lord. Pope Gregory the Great chastised priests who resisted that consensus, and it was become an "almost universal practice" in the early Church, the author says.

Kneeling to receive Communion was also a pattern established early in Church history, Bishop Schneider reports. That posture, too, was seen as a means of expressing reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist, and "the most typical gesture of adoration is the biblical one of kneeling."

By administering Communion on the tongue, priests were able to foster greater devotion to the Eucharist; Bishop Schneider remarks that that form is "an impressive sign of the profession of faith the in the Real Presence."

He adds the argument that this form of distributing Communion can prevent accidents. The author cites St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who exhorted priests to use extra caution "so that no even a crumb of the Lord's Body could fall to the ground."

I had read this in my research on the early fathers years ago. While it is true, as some commenters have pointed out, that many accidents have occurred with people who DO receive on the tongue, these accidents would be virtually eliminated with altar rails and patens (which to my understanding should be used anyway). Also, in my experience altar rails seem much faster than the way one typically receives today which would reduce the need for extraordinary Eucharistic ministers.

See Te Deum laudamus!: Historical-Liturgical Notes on the Rite of the Eucharist by Bishop Athanasius Schneider.

Also a recent email to Fr. Z has prompted him to repost his PODCAzT about Communion in the hand.

John Henry Cardinal Newman To Be Beatified

As Opinionated Catholic said -- Good news for Brits and for converts.

John Henry Newman was born in 1801. As an Anglican priest, he led the Oxford Movement that sought to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots. His conversion to Catholicism in 1845 rocked Victorian England. After becoming an Oratorian priest, he was involved in the establishment of the Birmingham Oratory.

...

The Catholic Church has accepted as miraculous the cure of an American deacon’s crippling spinal disorder. The deacon, Jack Sullivan of Marshfield, Massachusetts, prayed for John Henry Newman’s intercession.

As someone who converted partially on the strength of his writings I say this is a most welcome "development". :)

In all of this mainstream papal coverage I have noticed three things.

1. The Pope can never do enough to please Americans. Americans as a whole think the world revolves around us. To the Pope we are one nation, with one set of problems. He cannot drop everything when genocide, AIDS and other problems combat a very real world outside of the US. Either he never does enough or he has his hands in things too much.

2. I should collect all of the articles with the statement "what the Vatican can learn from us" ... A bunch of people with limited experience in solving their own problems is going to tell the leader of a 2000 year old religion that is still around despite the botching of its own leadership at every step of the way how to go about stepping into the "real world". Be more liberal. Be more conservative. Be more democratic. Be this. Be that. Yeah, the timeless teachings of an increasingly wise Church will take deference to the whims of people who think their thoughts haven't been tried and found wanting in the past.

Catholics generally regard the survival and success of such a flawed institution as evidence of divine favor. The church has managed to outlive all of its scandals -- and all of its critics. (source)

or

The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. --GK Chesterton

3. The Pope is painted an arch-conservative bad guy when he speaks about abortion, stem cell research. He is an enlightened liberal that can teach Bush a thing or two when he speaks about peace, the Iraq war and environmentalism.

But for many, this most peculiar papacy still sets Catholics apart. The Pope, of all things, would seem to stand outside our common values as Americans. The Pope is what we’re not: regal, authoritative, indifferent to polling data, able to ask that we follow without giving us a vote on the issue.

Yes, he is all that. But we live in a time hungry for unity, hungry for clarity of purpose, hungry for the presence of God—the real presence of the divine. Americans are a people on pilgrimage, always searching, always willing to reinvent ourselves as we try to find out who we might become.

So maybe just for a few days, we might all pause before this man of God: human he is, on pilgrimage like the rest of us. Sure, I wish he’d make pulpits open to women, I wish he’d eliminate “only” from his love of the church he leads, I wish he’d spend more time with the poor and less with the rich. Full Circle: see point #2 I was making above

But he made me proud nonetheless. He brought a profound reminder of what it means to believe in a faith so grand and so humble too, a faith ultimately in nothing less than God’s love, God’s presence among us, God’s promise to be with us always.

Thank you, Holy Father. Amen. (source)

In the more Catholic coverage much ado has been made about the music at the mass in Washington. I have heard nothing but priases about the mass from people who were there despite their displeasure with the selections of music. I think it is important for us to realize that we have a long way to go when it comes to making liturgy better for the future. For the priests that were there, they got to concelbrate mass with the Pope. For the laity in attendance it will likely be a memorable experience they will never forget. Second, liberal Catholics are all up in arms that deacons and priests were in roles often performed by the laity at your average parish mass (altar servers, distribution of communion). Yeah, lets not encourage our seminarians who are making a huge sacrifice to pursue their vocation. Further ado was made of Kerry receiving communion. He likely received from a deacon without authority to do much about it. He also likely didn't know until Kerry was standing two inches from him who he was if he even knew at all. I am prone to give somebody here the benefit of the doubt. As for Kerry, Scripture has choice words for his situation:

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; -- 1 Cor 11:27-31

I am not sure I want him receiving for his own sake much less for the scandal to Our Lord and His Church.

The Pope should come to America more often. It is truly an exercise in humility for all of us. After all he is a shepherd and he is here to teach us. I think rather than pontificate ourselves it might be time to listen.

Unless you are under a rock ... The Pope is in the states

Follow the coverage at American Papist

Pope Expresses Deep Shame Over Priests’ Sexual Abuse

Former Protestants and former Catholics

Steve Ray included a stat box from Christianity Today noting that 10% of Protestants are former Catholics. It also notes that 8% of Catholics are former Protestants. Its important to point that out. In most analysis of the situation everyone focused on the 10% number without giving much thought to the 8% number.

A Catholic Wind in the White House -- this is fascinating speculation that GWB may pull a Tony Blair when he leaves office. There is some traction to the speculation:

Moreover, people close to Bush say that he has professed a not-so-secret admiration for the church's discipline and is personally attracted to the breadth and unity of its teachings. A New York priest who has befriended the president said that Bush respects the way Catholicism starts at the foundation -- with the notion that the papacy is willed by God and that the pope is Peter's successor. "I think what fascinates him about Catholicism is its historical plausibility," says this priest. "He does appreciate the systematic theology of the church, its intellectual cogency and stability." The priest also says that Bush "is not unaware of how evangelicalism -- by comparison with Catholicism -- may seem more limited both theologically and historically."

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, another evangelical with an affinity for Catholic teaching, says that the key to understanding Bush's domestic policy is to view it through the lens of Rome. Others go a step further.

Paul Weyrich, an architect of the religious right, detects in Bush shades of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who converted to Catholicism last year. "I think he is a secret believer," Weyrich says of Bush. Similarly, John DiIulio, Bush's first director of faith-based initiatives, has called the president a "closet Catholic." And he was only half-kidding.

I am with Mark Shea, on this ... I have hope that he will pull a Tony Blair and it wouldn't shock me if he did. I have speculated privately about this in the past. His brother, after all, is a convert and every once in a blue moon someone comes out with a rumor regarding it. I am not, however, going to put any great hope into it. Creative Minority Report is more skeptical.

All of that said, Opinionated Catholic links to an interview with Bush on EWTN that ends with something that certainly is interesting:

Mr. President, final question.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.
Q You said, famously, when you looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes you saw his soul.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q When you look into Benedict XVI's eyes what do you see?
THE PRESIDENT: God.
Q Good way to end the interview.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
Q Thank you, sir. My pleasure.

Film at 11 ... Apparently this is a squeaky clean blog ...


Created by OnePlusYou

Hitler ... in German advertising?

A hat company has broken a German taboo by advertising its products using an image of Adolf Hitler.

Tuition-free Catholic schools

Of particular interest is the story of the Wichita, Kansas Catholic School System. With but 120,000 Catholics in the diocese Wichita maintains 39 Catholic schools. 36 of these are parish schools (including 34 elementary schools), one is a free-standing preschool, and four are Catholic high schools. According to the report, "What makes the Wichita system truly unusual in this day and age is the fact that all Wichita Catholic schools have eliminated tuition for Catholic students."

This would cause me to give serious consideration to send my kids to school.

on Slacker.com ... I haven't heard this in years. Late tonight I will try to post on how I have slacker set up. I have two Greasemonkey scripts and a special bookmark with a JavaScript open.window call that really improves the interface.

Yes, Greasemonkey is why you should use Firefox.

Interesting conversation over at Catholic Dads

My favorite:

“What’s this, then? The selfishly child-free yuppie mass?”

:)

I try to avoid using them because they are often used to let kids simply run around and for some parents to catch up on their weekly scoop. Besides, I have gotten MUCH better behavior out of my kids by taking them TO the main mass and using the back of the church rather than the cry room.

Let the little ones come to me ... - Jesus

IMHO people are more tolerant of wiggly children than parents might think. Nothing gives me greater hope than to have a little old lady walk up to me and tell me my kids were great when I thought they were difficult. Fact is, when I am standing in the back with the baby while my wife has the other three, I cannot hear them at all. To us they sound like jets flying over at 500 feet but to the people around us, they really are not nearly as loud. Over the years I have learned better what IS worthy of correction, leaving or whatnot. Its more than you initially think when you have your first child in mass.

I have seen exceptions to the compassion I typically hear but the way I see it the fault for that lies in Catholics antagonistic towards children failing to understand the plight of those of us who have children. They can have their pious frowns and their slightly imperfect masses. My children will be in mass.

Our hardest child at mass is 14 months old. The rest may ask to go to the bathroom more than I would like but they are generally well behaved. After all, we made it through an Easter Vigil service with all four (ages 6,4,3 and 1). For once I felt triumphant as a parent -- never fear, God always keeps me humble. My children really are getting it about mass.

This is a reminder for me to start using the Knights of Columbus CCC because it contains links to referenced documents.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Good stuff ...