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

What am I giving up for Lent? Well, technically nothing.

My answer is this senator, nothing.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist that since one of the cable channels was running the first two Godfather movies back to back a week or so ago. While I was channel surfing as I often do, I landed in the middle of that scene. It’s been running through my head as I considered this blog post.

Lent is the time of year that Catholics prepare for Good Friday and Easter. It’s not what you find in you belly button when you’ve been wearing a new white t-shirt all day. It’s also not what I did when I let you borrow my lawn mower. I want my mower back BTW. It’s partially based on Our Lord spending forty days in the desert fasting and praying. It’s also a time for

Jesus’ temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning.” By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert. CCC #540

There’s also a tradition of “giving something up” for Lent. Some folks give up sweets, others television and yet others beer or coffee. No matter what it is, it’s usually something that people enjoy. They give it up to take a share in the redemptive suffering of Christ, by voluntarily missing out on something they enjoy.

Well, this year I’ve decided to do something a little different. Instead of a “to-don’t” list, I’ve come up with somewhat of a “to-do” list. I’ve picked out ten books that I will work hard to get read during these forty days.

Here’s the list of books I’ve put together for Lent. They’re books I already have in my stack of “to read”, and not necessarily titles that are “Lent related”. There’s no particular order here either.

Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots By Scott Hahn

Prayer Primer : Igniting a Fire Within By Fr. Thomas Dubay

The Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine By Pope Benedict XVI

God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols By Mike Aquilina and Lea Marie Ravotti

The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine (Penguin Classics) By Eusebius

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love By Carl Anderson and Eduardo Chavez

Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church By H. W. Crocker III

The Confessions of Saint Augustine (Image Book) By by St Augustine

City of God By St Augustine

I know this is a bold plan, but I don’t mind being bold for my faith. The last three titles make this especially so. There are forty days in Lent (not including Sundays), so I basically have four days for each book. Some of these will go faster than that. We’re four days in and I’ve already made a huge dent in Signs of Life. I plan to finish it tomorrow and get a long way with Church Fathers, so I am off to a good start. As I finish these, I’ll try to do a writeup on each one here on WT while the book is still fresh on my mind.

So, am I a loser for not picking out a few things to give up for Lent? Well, when you consider that I don’t have exactly the best in reading comprehension skills and some of these books are pretty deep, I do have a tough row to hoe. I won’t be able to keep up with my normal leisurely activities. Less television, no video games and a shortage of time for online actives all constitute a sacrifice to me. Better yet, its all going to better myself in a number of ways as well. Plus I won’t have those lines from all those movies floating through my head, since I won’t be doing any channel surfing.

I am hoping that by the time I get to the real meaty books at the end, I will have gotten into a groove that will push me to the end of the list. With that hopefulness in mind (we should always be full of hope), I also have a few C. S. Lewis books that I’d like to read if I finish early. Like I said, I’m being bold.

Well, I guess I should finish this writing stuff and get to reading!

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list.  I’m not that smart or good at researching such things.

If you are protestant and greet me with “Merry Christmas” before Advent is over, I won’t be offended.

If you are Jewish and greet me with an Chanukah greeting, I won’t be offended.

If you are Muslim and greet me with an Eid greeting, I won’t be offended.

If you are pagan and greet me with a Yule or winter solstice greeting, I won’t be offended.

If you are atheist and greet me with “Hello”, I won’t be offended.

If you greet me in any way for a holiday in this season based on your religious beliefs, I won’t be offended.

I will also do my best to respect you and your beliefs and not offend you, short of compromising my own beliefs.

All I ask is that you not get offended if I greet you with a greeting based on my religious beliefs and not do anything to offend me.

Simple enough?

Since the feast day of Saint Raphael was just recently celebrated, I thought I would tell my own little story about my encounter with this saint.

If you know me, you know that my wife Suzette is from the Philippines.  We met online in 2002 and after chating online and on the phone for a few months I decided to go over and meet her in person.  Part of my preparation of the trip was to seek out a blessing form a priest I know for the journey. Now when asked who the patron saint of travelers is, any Catholic is likely to answer with Saint Christopher.  His name is a good answer, so I was a little surprised when father invoked Saint Raphael in the blessing. Saint Raphael is is also a good friendly saint to the traveler who is going on a long journey. While father did not knwo the reason for my trip, he did know where I was going. Since I was traveling so far away, he decided to ask for this Saint’s intercession on my behalf for my long journey to the Philippines.

After wards father and I were casually talking about the Saint as he had to explain to me the why Saint Raphael, instead of the expected Saint Christopher.  He then asked me why I was going to the Phillipines.  I told him it was ot meet a woman I had met on Catholic Singles Online. He looked at me like I was crazy.  When I asked him what was wrong, he simply answered, “Saint Raphael is also the patron of those seeking a spouse”. Of course it would only be a couple of short years later that Suzette and I were married.  So as Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story”.

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.

Technorati Tags: Assumption, BVM, Catholic, christian, holyday, Mary, politics, Heaven, religion

…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.

Technorati Tags: music, news, politics, freedom, religion, rock

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.

Technorati Tags: catholic, christian, rant

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.

Technorati Tags: christmas, family, marriage, santaclaus, saintnick

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.

Technorati Tags: catholic, nashville, web

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.