Michael at One

Thanks grammy and grampy...

2005-2006 Bowl Dates

There are a lot of things that make this prediction by college football experts rather laughable--partly because they are wrong about everything: there will be no bowl game in New Orleans, Tennessee isn't bowl eligible and Pittsburgh is one game away from being bowl ineligible itself. Goes to show what the experts know:

From 2005-2006 Bowl Dates:

"NOKIA SUGAR BOWL - New Orleans, Louisiana
January 1, 2006, at 8:30 p.m. ET ABC
Louisiana Superdome 75,000
BCS (SEC Champion if not in national title) vs. BCS
CFN Projection: Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh
also considered: Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Ohio State"

Role of the Laity

From Mary Jane in the Comments:

 

I believe one of the problems with the "role of the laity" in the the post-Vatican II Church has been the spread of the belief that the role only finds its expression in what gets done in the church buildings or organizations. And you can end up with people whose entire lives revolve around that address - very often to the great neglect of family, friends, co-workers, and the whole wide world that is waiting to learn about Christ. For some folks, it's as though good deeds don't count unless they're done in an ecclesiastical environment. (A corollary is that service to the poor is the only one that gets brownie points, whereas loving those God puts right under your nose isn't worth working on.)

A New Concentrated Effort?

This from an editorial of a student run paper...

From Working for Loyola - The Phoenix - Discourse:

The call to remove this ad was prompted by a new crackdown in the Catholic Church. Since Pope Benedict XVI was elected, the church has begun a concentrated effort to make sure church-affiliated bodies were presenting the unified, constant message of the Church. Members of the administration have told me, independently, of this new 'heightened sensitivity' to opinions contrary to the teachings of the Church.

Great Quote

From Jean Pierre De Causade

God reveals Himself to the humble in the lowliest of disguises, but the proud who never look beyond the surface, fail to find Him even in His greatest manifestations.

And:

Without God everything is nothing, with God nothing is everything.

The Decline of the Laity

I was reading a Russian Orthodox theologian last night and something struck me...the real crisis in the Church today is that despite Vatican II's call for the laity to once again recognize their mission is that since Vatican II the laity as the leaven of the church has almost disappeared.

Read Raymond Arroyo's new biography Mother Angelica : The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles. Who was the inspiration for the young Rita to eventually become Mother Angelica? It wasn't a priest. It wasn't a nun. It was a lay woman.

Who inspired Thomas Merton? Laypeople.

It is true that the sacramental life of the church is entrusted to the Bishops and priests but the mystical life of the church is open to anyone...in fact even the most primary Sacrament of the church can be celebrated by anyone (in cases of emergency anyone can baptize...male or female, even unbelievers). Some diabolical twist has happened since Vatican II where people who want to lead holy lives have been drawn into doing so in a frustrating environment where they really don't belong and meanwhile the once rich heritage of lay apostolate and holiness has almost disappeared--Russel Shaw wrote an excellent book on this a few years ago entitled Ministry or Apostolate?: What Should the Catholic Laity Be Doing

Do you want to make a difference in the Catholic Church? Then begin by turning to the Triune God and asking him through the merits of his son's passion to send the Holy Spirit into your life and to make you a light that shines before all. Go to mass, pray before the Blessed Sacrament but then take Our Lord with you back home, in your workplace, and in your neighborhood. Make your life a witness.

This Sunday's gospel is about judgment and you'll notice that what we will be judged on has everything to do with how well we recognize Christ in the everyday visitations that have nothing to do with Church but everything to do with bringing "Thy Kindom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

"I Have a Feeling I've Eaten Here Before"

The "Why Catholics Give" has sparked a lively debate...

 

From Commentor Roseberry:

 

In my own town I have seen more than one altar (complete with carvings of host and chalice) serving as the cash desk at commercial establishments. At a downtown fish restaurant, the stained glass windows from our former seminary have been installed, and the old wooden communion rail separated the buffet area from the tables. This prompted a local journalist to say, as he stepped to the buffet, "I have a feeling I've eaten here before."