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liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment " (Spirit of the Liturgy p. 198).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.

Miracles Happen

From Dawn C. via e-mail:

Something rather exciting has happened! One of the beautiful ministries of Ladies of the Lord is arranging for the Lady of Fatima statue to visit a family in our Parish each week. Last week, Mary Nigam had the statue at her house and she invited people to come and pray the rosary during the week — — when Rose went to pick Blessed Mother up to take her to the next house they noticed Blessed Mother’s eyes were filled with tears and there was a tear on the chin!

At another house, the hostess slept near the statue. On the third night at three in the morning she awoke and saw Our Lady holding a bouquet of pulsating red hearts, which she took to mean "Continue praying the rosary so I may gather many hearts for my Son, Jesus!"

I believe EVERY Parish should have a prayer group that prays for our Priests, our Parishes and the world — — think of the radical change in the world that could come about if EVERYONE prayed more — — Prayer is the wind that that that keeps the ‘sails’ of the Church in motion and Faith is the compass that points us in the right direction.

St. Thomas More Not So Saintly?

From a friend in Cheektowaga:

"Sir Thomas More Exemplified Man's Inhumanity to Man."

Chalres P. Jamieson, letter to editor, Buffalo news, April 15, 1996

Any person who saw "A Man for All Seasons," the play that recently closed at the Kavinoky Theater, must have been deeply impressed by the devotion and zeal with which Sir Thomas More refused to take an oath contrary to his religious beliefs, a refusal that resulted in his beheading.

The title of the play is, however, an inaccurate description of Sir Thomas More. Rather than being a man for all seasons, he was, in fact, a man very much of his place and time.

Regrettably, his place and time were characterized by "man's inhumanity to man," to use a phrase coined by Robert Burns. With More's approval, six persons were burned at the stake for their religious beliefs while More was lord chancellor. More zealously censored the writings of people with whom he disagreed.

Thomas Hitton was apprehended while making arrangements for distribution of an English-language Bible. When Hitton was burned, More wrote, "Now the spirit of lying hath taken his wretched soul with him straight from the short fire to the fire everlasting. And this is to Sir Thomas Hitton the Devil's stinking martyr."

More's life reminds us that man's inhumanity to man, certainly a violation of all that Jesus taught, lies shallowly buried beneath the surface of civilization and, regrettably, is often justified by an appeal to religion.

etc.

Hitton was a priest. "A Man More Profane than Sacred."

Catholic Encylopedia: ""As chancellor it was his duty to enforce the laws against heretics and, by doing so, he provoked the attacks of Protestant writers both in his own time and since. The subject need not be discussed here, but More's attitude is patent. He agreed with the principle of the anti-heresy laws and had no hesitation in enforcing them. As he himself wrote in his "Apologia" (cap. 49) it was the vices of heretics that he hated, not their persons; and he never proceeded to extremities until he had made every effort to get those brought before him to recant. How successful he was in this is clear from the fact that only four persons suffered the supreme penalty for heresy during his whole term of office."

El Segundo

El Segundo: The city earned its name ("the second" in Spanish) as it was the site of the second Standard Oil refinery on the West Coast (the first was at Richmond in Northern California), when Standard Oil of California purchased the 840 acres (3.4 km2) of farm land in 1911. The company was renamed Chevron in 1984, and the El Segundo refinery will soon enter its second century of operation.