In some communities there is an absurd phenomenon similar to a theological sandwich: The youngest and the oldest, who are in agreement, are like slices of bread. The age group in the middle reminds us of mayonnaise.
Sometimes I tell people they should learn about Christianity, if for no other reason, then at least so they can understand their own cultural background. I still think that’s true, but I’ve just been reading St. Thomas a Kempis, and now I wonder, if your cultural learning about the idea of Christ doesn’t lead you to worship the man Christ, what was the point?
It will do your soul great good to go and see this movie. The filmmaker waited sixteen years to be allowed into the Carthusian monastery of la Grande Chartreuse to film the lives of the monks. The result was 162 nearly silent minutes of footage, all filmed without a crew or artificial lighting. There’s no soundtrack and no narration, and only one short interview, from which the interviewer’s voice has been deleted so as not to spoil the Carthusian-ness. You might leave the theater with a better understanding of monastic life, and I’ll bet you’ll go through your whole next day a lot more slowly and quietly.
A few months ago, I was on an air-vac with a dear friend, a nurse, when she noticed me turning my Rosary ring. She thought it was good that I prayed, but admitted she didn’t get it. The other day though, I was walking past the nursing station when she called out: ”Hey, I heard you got a couple of interviews! I’ll start praying for you.” Before I could answer, a devout Sikh nurse drawing up a medication looked up with a big smile and announced “I already prayed!”
I heard this one from a holy Fraternity of St. Peter priest, and I have pretty strong traddy leanings myself, so I think this one won’t offer too much offense:
Q: How many Traditional Catholics does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: CHANGE??
My mother tells this story from BC’s north coast. She was teaching a class on archives, of which a hereditary chief of the Nisga’a nation was a member. Mom said he had the sort of regal bearing that makes you feel honoured to be in his presence. As the weekend progressed, it came to light that he had once been an alcoholic, but had dried up and become a protestant minister. In casual conversation, another member of the class asked him about Europeans uprooting native religions and replacing them with Christianity. “Well, I don’t know about that,” he bridled. “All I know is what Jesus did for me.”
There’s this idea that Catholics have a lot of kids because they like to consummate their marriages as much as anyone else, but aren’t allowed to use artificial contraceptives, children being the necessary but unintended result. This is backwards. Catholic families are large because Catholics, and the Church, are just nuts about children. A Catholic couple gets married, and consummates their marriage, in order to have kids. On purpose! The teaching against contraception, while perfectly serious, is almost an afterthought, the way it’s an afterthought that when it’s day, it can’t be night.
It’s generally accepted that going from a town of five thousand to a city of five million is a shock to the system. Not that I’ve noticed. On the other hand, going from having no Catholic Friends in town to being surrounded by them is like having your soul melted down and recast.
Today, we visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in DC. It’s enormous. When we first walked in, I thought “Well, it’s sure a lot smaller inside. It doesn’t look much bigger than the cathedral in Vancouver.” Then I realized that we were only in the transept. But anyway, it’s a truly awe-inspiring monument to men’s love for our Lady. There are beautiful side chapels everywhere, most of them dedicated to different titles and apparitions of Mary, and a big chapel in the crypt, with its own side chapel dedicated to confession, which is held for several hours daily. So much more to tell, but I’ll just leave it at “if you’re ever near DC, make a point of going there.” Even if you’re not Catholic. Maybe it’ll make you rethink things. God bless.
Everyone please write A&E and tell them you’re furious that they would air a reality show covering four men’s decisions whether or not to enter seminary.
Here’s their address:
235 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017
Email:
feedback@AandE.com
P.S. I wonder which seminary that is? Maybe they should get a letter too.