David Ancell / Wednesday, February 18, 2004 / Comments(0)
Yesterday was a sad day in the Church. Bishop O’Brien was convicted of the hit and run accusation. Definitely, the bishop should have been held accountable for his actions like anyone else, but I think the Maricopa county attorney said it well:
The Maricopa County attorney, Richard M. Romley, who just two weeks before the accident had granted Bishop O’Brien immunity from charges that he had protected priests accused of pedophilia, said in a telephone interview that the verdict “supports a very important principle, that no one is above the law.”
“It’s a sad day, too,” Mr. Romley went on. “My gosh, we had to put a bishop on trial for leaving the scene of an accident in which a person died.”
I do not know what was on the mind of the bishop at the time this all happened. I’m not here to judge that. The fact is that, when a bishop does something like this, it affects all of us in the Church. Just think of the cynical comments we will hear from people outside the Church. This isn’t just something that we can conjure an explanation for.
Most importantly now, we need to pray for the bishop. Regardless of what he has done, we should not wish for him to lose his soul. This conviction may be just what causes him to reflect and gain his salvation.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, February 18, 2004 / Comments(0)
I had a good laugh at this article by Mark Shea. He showed the media portrayal vs. reality of the situation of the earthquake in Seattle. Read it and laugh!
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David Ancell / Tuesday, February 17, 2004 / Comments(0)
It’s just more of the same ol’ thing. There is little I detest more at Mass (other than talking in Church and word changes in the liturgy) than music that praises the congregation rather than praising the Lord. It seems that lately I have been subjected to this penance. Last Sunday’s examples are Blessed are They, complete with chorus line “We are the light of the world,” and They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love. Others include Here I Am Lord, where we sing God’s part, and Gather Us In, which makes no mention of God.
Maybe this game by Jeff Miller will allow me to take out my frustration. I can’t understand why we can’t just sing songs like Holy God We Praise Thy Name. I would bet more people would sing if we did that.
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David Ancell / Thursday, February 12, 2004 / Comments(0)
Steve Kellmeyer really strikes a chord with this one. When we take children to religious education but hardly ever discuss the faith outside of this, is it any wonder that they disregard it? Is it any wonder that they hate going to religion class? The part that I found interesting was this:
The American bishops know all this. They even wrote a letter, Our Hearts Are Burning Within Us, that says adult education is of central importance and that the bulk of parish resources are to be devoted to adult education. The bulk of parish resources. Hmmm..
Do you know of a parish that has anything like this? I see children’s ministry abound, but very little is offered for adults. When it is offered, the adults don’t show up. I would add this to Kellmeyer’s point . . . we do need to teach the parents to do their jobs, but we first need to tell them that they need to do their jobs.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Comments(0)
I want to mention that Fr. John Capuci called me a couple of days ago and clarified some things for me concerning this post. The post has been edited to reflect the clarification. It was a good conversation. Of course, he did bring up topics about the Charismatic Renewal. He also recommended this book (I guess this is the right one; someone correct me if I picked the wrong one.). In any event, it shows how much I need to ask people what they meant before posting. There are some people to whom I can not and should not extend this courtesy, but Fr. Capuci doesn’t belong in any such category by a long shot.
He also said that he is coming back into town this Lent for a mission. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen any flyers yet. Although I’m not 100% sold on the Charismatic Renewal, I will tell you that he will be an excellent alternative to the fluff that often passes for a parish mission these days.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Comments(0)
The French National Assembly has voted to ban conspicuous religious garb in public schools. It is widely believed that this law was specifically targeted at Muslim girls who wore the head scarves. I can’t figure out what on earth their problems are.
However, in watching the CBS Evening News last night, I wondered what some of these people were smoking. One lady was quoted as saying that they are trying to teach people that “The laws of the state are superior to the laws of their religion.” It is as though “religion” is some game that people play or some hobby that people engage in. If we have a mandate from God, then that goes above any human laws. The fact that a state or nation wants to secularize itself doesn’t change that in the least.
Besides, if militant Islam is really a threat, do they really think that those who pose such a threat are just going to say, “Okay, we’ll just obey the laws now.” No way in you-know-where! They will just form their own schools where they will teach their students who-knows-what. Further, they are likely to also anger those who would otherwise be law-abiding citizens.
They also have one other problem on their hands. The non-Muslim population is contracepting itself out of existence. The Muslims are not doing this. Soon, those people they seek to control will be either a really significant minority or even a majority of the population. And guess what? They won’t be secularists, and they won’t give in to the ridiculous secular philosophy.
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David Ancell / Sunday, February 08, 2004 / Comments(0)
I guess someone is getting an early start. I received this in my mail.
I took the ID numbers out because I’m paranoid, but they were on the original.
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David Ancell / Sunday, February 08, 2004 / Comments(0)
I decided to follow Jeanetta’s lead and post my own travel map. It says I’ve been to 31% of the states in this country.
create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide
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David Ancell / Saturday, February 07, 2004 / Comments(0)
Philip Lawler, editor of the orthodox Catholic World News, writes an article on why he doesn’t plan to watch the Passion. He doesn’t buy the garbage from the professional offendees claiming the film is anti-Semetic. He simply thinks that witnessing a portrayal of the blood and gore isn’t going to help his prayer and meditation on the real thing.
I do agree that the Mass is a far greater participation in the real Passion than watching the movie. I disagree with most of the rest of what he says. I plan to see the film at a reserved viewing with my parish. Our Frassati Society group leaders had the forethought to reserve some places for us.
Our Lord suffered publicly for our sins. It was, no doubt, by the Father’s design that this act of love was made public. While the Gospels may not have provided a lot of details on it, the reason may well be that, when the Gospel was written, people knew the details of what a crucifixion was. It was still in use as a form of capital punishment at the time. I doubt that the absence of 11 of the 12 Apostles from the scene was so much an act of God as an act of cowardice on their part.
I feel a great need, both for myself and others, to get a good portrayal of just what my sin caused. It is often necessary for me to utilize portrayals by other people to do so. Sometimes, the sense of the reality of it all evades me. I think this movie will be very helpful to that end. Will it be 100% accurate? I don’t think it’s possible. However, when watched with the mindset that I am watching the result of my sin, I don’t see how I could go wrong.
Can this portrayal have a negative effect on the unbalanced and immature? It’s possible. However, somehow I don’t think that this portrayal will portray the violence done to Our Lord as something glorious, as Hollywood often portrays it. I doubt that many who could care less about Our Lord will even bother to watch the film. I do know that I will.
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David Ancell / Saturday, February 07, 2004 / Comments(0)
Well, it may be, but think about what other garbage Hollywood has produced. Why are people so upset about The Passion? One author has an idea.
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