Wild Tangents
Marc talks about life in Nashville, life as a Catholic and life as a geek.

Words escape me, except “Good job Dr. Paul!”

Check out SQPN for all the great Catholic podcasts yo can get on your iPhone.

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The Blessed Virgin Mary already lives body and soul in Heaven.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the Assumption as:

966 “Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:

In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.

The first paragraph of the Wikipedia article on the Assumption sums things up pretty well also:

According to Roman Catholic doctrine and the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary (Mary, the mother of Jesus) “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”[1] This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united. The feast day recognizing Mary’s passage into Heaven is celebrated as The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics. This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. In those denominations that observe it, the Feast of the Assumption is commonly celebrated on August 15.

This is also a holy day of obligation in the US and most other places. If you’re not Catholic and you’re wondering why the Catholic Churches seem so busy today, this is why. The holy days of obligation for we catholics requires us basically treat the day like a Sunday as far as our spiritual and worship life is concerned.

The Catechism explains Holy Day of Obligation as:

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass.”117 “The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.”118

2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor.119 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

2182 Participation in the communal celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is a testimony of belonging and of being faithful to Christ and to his Church. The faithful give witness by this to their communion in faith and charity. Together they testify to God’s holiness and their hope of salvation. They strengthen one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

2183 “If because of lack of a sacred minister or for other grave cause participation in the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible, it is specially recommended that the faithful take part in the Liturgy of the Word if it is celebrated in the parish church or in another sacred place according to the prescriptions of the diocesan bishop, or engage in prayer for an appropriate amount of time personally or in a family or, as occasion offers, in groups of families.”

If you have any questions about this or any other aspect of the Catholic Church, feel free to leave of comment or contact me through email. I might not know the answer off the top of my head, but I do know how to find the answer.

God bless everyone and Happy Assumption Day!

BTW - The quotes from the catechism include paragraph numbers before each paragraph. This is the referencing method used in it. You can pick any copy or printing of it and find these paragraphs using the paragraph number.

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…In Iran.

Iran arrested more than 200 music fans at an underground rock concert that one official called a “satanic” gathering and authorities accused the youths of breaking Islamic law.

A witness said Sunday that police raided the concert as it was ending late Wednesday near the town of Karaj, some 30 miles west of the capital.

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I was just reading this AP article over at the “International Herald Tribune”, whatever that is. It got me to thinking. Now if I were to tell you that I was “taking up” Spanish, what would you assume from that statement? It might lead you to believe that I was trying to learn Spanish, maybe that I was trying to become a Spanish speaker. EIther way, it would probably mean that I was trying to create some association with the Spanish language. Right? Well then what you think of the sensational headline of the article I’ve linked above when you knew it read “World’s Roman Catholic bishops to take up anti-Semitism at 2008 meeting”.

What indeed….

The story of course goes on to talk about how a synod of Bishops next year will discuss way to fight anti-Semitism. But, how many times do you think this AP story has sown up in print, on the internet or in some other form of media? How many times do you think someone saw it and only read the headline? (chuckle chuckle, those crazy Catholics…there ought to be a law!)

Wouldn’t it have been more accurate to say, “World’s Roman Catholic bishops to take on anti-Semitism at 2008 meeting”? But that’s not as sensational. We all know that sensation is what sells the news.

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Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, who is the original inspiration for the character we know as Santa Claus. He is probably the only historical figure who acts as such. He is also the saint Suzette and I have adopted as the patron of our marriage. Santa Claus has always been portrayed as a gift bearer. That’s why the Feast of Saint Nicholas is so special to me. Because it was on this day three years ago that I received the greatest gift ever. It was on that day that my wonderful wife and I exchanged our “I dos”. That’s why Saint Nicholas is our patron.

Every time I hug my wife, I am reminded how blessed I am for her to be such an important part of my life. I would truly be lost without her. I love you Suzette!

To learn more about the real Saint Nicholas, click on the link below.
Saint Nicholas ::: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus

Also, in doing the research on Santa Claus I learned the origin of the name “Kris Kringle”. From Wikipedia:

A Christmas gift-bringer in Germany. The name “Kris Kringle” is a mispronounciation of the German name; the actual German figure is called “Christkind”, “Christkindchen” or “Christkindl” and is derived from the earlier Christkindl, which was introduced by Martin Luther. All of the German names mean “Christ child” and originally refer to the new-born Jesus.

I really like that since it reminds us of the true nature of Christmas. While Santa Claus brings us physical gifts to satisfy our earthly needs and wants, we must also remember that Christ comes to us to satisfy our spiritual needs.

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I can hear my children who have not been born yet asking me the question already. It’s just one of many questions that they ask me constantly. I’d like to think it’s just my psyche getting me ready for when it happens for real. It really comes to light now though as I read this post on Nashville is Talking. It actually quotes another post from another blog as follows:

What if Christians are wrong about Homosexuality? What if it is not a choice?
…
What if tremendous scientific research proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Homosexuality is a normal occurrence? What if its nature and not nurture?

To be honest, I didn’t know that as a Christian I believed that homosexuality is a choice. That leads me to believe he’s wrong about Christians generally. He’s just stereotyping..

This Christian (Marc points at Marc) for instance has no friggin’ idea why homosexuals have same sex tendencies. I’m not a scientist, a sociologist or a psychologist. But here’s what I do think. I think people like Bill O’Reilly have it wrong that there must be one end all, be all explanation for why it happens. Isn’t it just possible that just maybe different people that have same sex tendencies have them for different reasons? Isn’t it possible that in a virtual plethora of reasons, all of them might hold true for at least one person or another? If that’s true then people are fighting over nothing. Get over it. Quit trying to find who or what’s to blame and let’s get one with our lives. So what I am saying that the inclination toward homosexuality is not necessarily a choice. I don’t know what causes it. To be honest, I don’t really care. On the other hand, giving in to the temptation of these inclinations, just like any other temptation is a choice. I know that to be true, because as a sinner I give in to one temptation or another so often.

Now, what I am going to tell my kids? Well, I have a few more years to figure that out. If I come up with something good, I’ll let you know. Whatever it is, I know it needs to be an answer that’s charitable. Young impressionable minds need to hear words of love, not hate.

I would like to thank Cole for bringing this up. I hope it makes someone out there not think of Christians as haters.

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I just found this site.

The Sisters of Carmel have a no-quibble, 100% satisfaction-assured guarantee on every item in our store, and we will happily supply a refund or a replacement article if you are not pleased with your order.

They has a lot of really cool items. I especially like the scapulars. I’ve never seen anything quite like them. Go check it out.

One of my favorite priestly blogs is written by a Fr. Martin Fox in Ohio. I just had to mention this post. It presents a (note a “a” and not “the”) Catholic perspective on the history of the spread of Islam. Here’s the start of it:

Sadly, all was peaceful and a garden of delights for the peaceful prophet and his followers until suddenly, one day in the 7th century, the armies of Byzantium, led by the pope, landed at Acre and marched to Arabia, and at the point of the sword, demanded the prophet (blessed be he!) comply to their outrageous demands. The peaceloving followers of the great prophet gathered around to witness the shocking scene:”You are the prophet of Islam?”

“Yes.”

“We demand that you invade our lands; form armies and sweep across North Africa; then we will gladly renounce our faith and become Muslim,” bellowed Pope Leo the Great.

It only gets better..

Go give it a read.