Ditch Doc

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.

People keep arguing over whether Islam is peaceful or warlike. Is Osama a representative of the extreme fringe of the religion, or a defender of its central doctrines? I think the question needs to be looked at a bit differently, because Islam is not one thing, the way the Catholic Church is. In spite of all the liturgical and cultural variations in the Church, not to mention the outright dissent, it’s still possible to say “The Church teaches X.” If you disagree with X, you’re not Catholic, or at least you’re disobedient. Not so Islam. With regard to whether or not to nuke the West, the opinion of any given Muslim is just the opinion of that Muslim, and he isn’t more or less Muslim according to his stance. So in answer to the question of whether Islam is militant or peaceful, I think we should just acknowledge that some Muslims are peaceful and some warlike, and then work on making ourselves more truly and intensely Catholic.

As promised, here’s the first stolen aphorism from St. Josemaria Escriva. I doubt he’ll mind.

“You give me the impression you are carrying your heart in your hands, as if you were offering goods for sale. Who wants it? If it doesn’t appeal to anyone, you’ll decide to give it to God. Do you think that’s how the saints acted?”

Got me on that one. That’s what I do most of the time. Should be more like I offer it to God, and see if he keeps it or gives it to someone else.

I think that when we neglect our bodies, under the mistaken impression that they have no role in spiritual warfare, it’s like an F-1 driver deciding that he’s too good a driver to need a well maintained car. Recognizing that we should break any of these rules when charity demands, I’d still say that the following seem about as fundamental as oil changes:
1. Sufficient, but not excessive sleep.
2. Daily exercise, even for just a few minutes.
3. Healthy meals.
I don’t know how fundamental this one is, but I do think it helps:
4. Independence from caffeine. (NOT complete abstinence!)
God certainly exempts some of his saints from some of these requirements, sleep for example, but it’s pride to presume that he’ll do the same for us.

All right, you’ve all got to read “The Way,” by this guy:

It’s a small collection of aphorisms designed to help us all live our lives to the greater glory of God. A lot of them are so blunt that you can almost see the author’s finger pointing out of the book at you. Reading a few pages has the feel of scrubbing the sinful crust off your heart with a wire brush. Or a belt sander. I think I’ll be quoting from it on a semi-regular basis, but for now, I’ll leave you with the picture.

Latin isn’t dead. It’s just quiet. It’s like the great grandmother at the family party of western culture: she sits to the side and observes, while the young people do most of the talking. Because Latin taught them and their parents to speak, they say a lot of wise things, but they also mix in a fair bit of error. Latin’s long life has allowed her to filter out most of the foolishness of youth, and she saves her breath for things worth saying, so on the occasions when she does speak, as in the liturgy or the life of the Church, we should listen carefully. As befits the analogy though, some of the new generation find her annoying and out of touch, while others are unaware of her presence, and even think of her as already dead.