Leftover Delight

Confer Corrections / Edifying Elaborations

• From Cardinal Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI: "Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment " (Spirit of the Liturgy p. 198).
• The first Europeans to explore the Saint Louis area were members of an expedition (1673-1675), which included explorer Louis Joliet and Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette. Father Marquette's journal can be found in the vast online historical collection, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, 1610 to 1791 which is in 71 volumes and includes much early colonial history of the eastern United States and Canada.

Volume 59 of the Jesuit Relations

"...Father [Marquette] had long premeditated this undertaking, influenced by a most ardent desire to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and to make him known and adored by all the peoples of that country....

"The feast of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin — whom I have always invoked since I have been in this country ... to obtain from God the grace of being able to visit the Nations who dwell along the Mississipi River — was precisely the Day on which Monsieur Jollyet arrived with orders from Monsieur the Count de Frontenac, Our Governor, and Monsieur Talon, Our Intendant, to accomplish this discovery with me. I was all the more delighted at this good news, since I saw that my plans were about to be accomplished; and since I found myself in the blessed necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples, and especially of the Illinois, who had very urgently entreated me, when I was at the point of St. Esprit, to carry the word of God to their country... Above all, I placed our voyage under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her that, if she granted us the favor of discovering the great River, I would give it the name of the Conception, and that I would also make the first Mission that I should establish among those new peoples, bear the same name. This I have actually done, among the Illinois."

By right of discovery, the proper name of the Mississippi River should be the Immaculate Conception River.

Saint Isaac Jogues gave the original European name to Lake George, calling it Lac du Saint Sacrement, Lake of the Blessed Sacrament.

Faith Like Potatoes

• When we were asked about the orthodoxy of Australian Catholicism, a friend recommended the movie, "Faith Like Potatoes" (2006). The movie is based on an inspiring true story, and has as its theme, "where there's love, there's hope." It is "the story of a man’s challenge to overcome difficulty as a farmer amidst a terrible drought, as well as a family tragedy." There are two caveats about this movie:

1) It is about a Protestant family.

2) It is from South Africa, not Australia.

But is still might be worth watching. :) There is a Scripture-based discussion guide for the movie.

What is "Faith 'n' Reason Friday"?

Sarah from West Seneca:

- Define what "faith and reason Friday" is all about.

- Make up a list of sample questions to show what kind of questions you're seeking.

- Make up a list of questions you wish people would ask, and answer some of them.