Church joke
A pastor went out one Saturday to visit church members. At one house it was obvious that someone was home, but nobody came to the door even though the he knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card and wrote "Revelations 3:20" on the back, and stuck it in the door. {Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and him with me.}
The next day, the card turned up in the collection plate. Below the pastor's message was the notation "Genesis 3:10".
{I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.}
— from Catholic-pages.com
Postcards
“Dear Senator” postcards were bulletin inserts yesterday at St. Edmund-Oak Park. “All human beings deserve respect and protection” is the opening. But as Dixie Walker asked Brooklyn Dodger general manager Branch Rickey, who, watching Jackie Robinson, had said, “No other human being could make that play,” “Mister Rickey, do you really think nigras are human beings?”
So with that which we have come to call the fetus, do we really think unborn children are human beings? The cards were for sending to Illinois’ senators, both of whom say no to that question or are not sure. The issue is voting on judges. The request is that they not “require support for Roe v. Wade as a condition for determining a nominee’s fitness for judicial office.” Is that too much to ask?
Why Benedict?
WorldNetDaily has this idea:
Rather than purposely choosing the name Benedict to fulfill a 12th-century prophecy about the papacy, the new pope chose his moniker as a reference to sixth-century St. Benedict and his quest to protect Rome from invading German pagans, a Catholic scholar and writer says, claiming the pontiff hopes to protect the modern-day Church from destructive philosophies that originated in Germany.
Background for uninitiated
Reader G. having asked for “a primer on authority within the (Roman) Catholic Church — e.g., what is the Curia and is it important and why? Was Cardinal Ratz[inger] a member of it, and did that give him a leg up on the selection? Etc., I expatiated:
The curia is the papal cabinet. Each office is headed by a cardinal. Ratz headed the Holy Office (once of the Inquisition), which made him the doctrinal watchdog, at which he was very good unless you are a liberal, in which case he was very bad.
As for leg up, he had one or two but not from being a curia cardinal, rather from being a major character in JP2's papacy, having in fact graduated from the Holy Office job, I believe, to become a very strong vice president, you might say -- not sure of the title.
Certainly JP2 thought like him in doctrinal matters. Ratz is also a theologian and intellectual, by the way, which puts him in good shape to carry the battle for religion into the Euro heartland. Once a liberal, he was mugged by the late 60s, rioting by Danny the Red in Germany, etc.
Why Benedict XVI? Look to Benedict XV bio, here in short form
Benedict XV
1854–1922, pope (1914–22), an Italian (b. Genoa) named Giacomo della Chiesa; successor of Pius X. He was made archbishop of Bologna in 1907 and cardinal in 1914, two months before his election as pope. His policy in World War I was one of the strictest neutrality, and he had the respect of all belligerents. He originated several proposals for peace. Benedict was charitable toward war victims, and he founded the Vatican service for prisoners of war. During his pontificate France and England resumed diplomatic relations with the Holy See and he promulgated (1917) the Code of Canon Law (Codex iuris canonici). He was succeeded by Pius XI.
Ignoring things
Importance of ignoring what’s up front during Catholic mass, 2004: Various ministers are thrust up front by current rules. It’s not their fault. Politeness does not require looking at them, however. So don’t look but mind your own business, reading and meditating on t the day's Scripture. There’s too much going on up front, traipsing to and fro with book held high over forehead as if to ward off falling plaster, prior to reading Scripture of the day. It’s not helpful ritual but merely distracting. Then you look up and see priest looking at you. He can’t help it. Reverentially downcast eyes have not been part of his training. But you can help it by not looking.
St. Felicitas will rise again
From the redoubtable, resourceful Bob Keeley,
bkeeley@onebox.com, (773) 779-5788, comes this encouraging news about the saving of a Catholic school:The April 8 U. of Notre Dame Big Band Concert at St. Felicitas was a smash! Really great evening all around. That hall is perfect for a big band. It is very intimate with over 150 people in it. Last year we had 325; this year 162. Still very good, a good and enthusiastic crowd, but only about half the money. We had about half the committee that we had last year.
They brought two bands, a traditional Big Band and an old fashioned Milwaukee or New Orleans Brass Band who played modern Dixieland. Their tuba player belted out her notes like a pro. The room shook, almost like one of those cars today that go down the street with the roof rattling from the speaker system. The place rocked.
Our little kids played their hearts out on the evening's first two opening tunes. On each tune, we played the first chorus, then the UND band came in behind on the next two choruses and filled in behind with their college level power and fire. The crowd gave our kids a large and boisterous "standing O" after each tune and applauded forever it seemed.
It was a great evening. We took in about $3500 and will have $1,500 in bills. Not bad for the evening. We had about thirty people who helped sponsor the event with donations $25 to $250. Greatly appreciated to be sure.
At intermission for twenty minutes and also afterwards, there was an hour of cake, cookies and juice. Our kids walked around and collected autographs from the college kids and asked them thousands of questions.(One way to tell if a wedding is great is if the littlest kids are running around chasing each other; our after-concert hobnobbing reached the highest level on the Richter scale of the good-wedding indicator of little ones running around squealing their delight).
At rehearsal on Monday, one kid – 4th grade clarinet -- said it was the best musically related evening he had ever spent. A lot of real musical fun. A good evening for everyone who came.
Once again, the band said they wanted to come back next year and play. The UND Band director Larry Dwyer said this is his jazz band's favorite annual audience.
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More about St. Felicitas School:
* Our appeal [to stay open] is due at the Archdiocese at 1:30 on Friday, April 15.
* We have learned that we received "national accreditation" from the National Association for the Education of Young
Children — only 7 percent of the USA schools have it.
* Also, while out canvassing for our SFS parish survey last weekend, to find students for our next year enrollment, I did my old block – 1700 east 86th Place to talk with the residents of our grand old houses. Lots of fun in the old neighborhood.
– Bob K, class of ‘52.
