David Ancell / Friday, July 07, 2006 / Comments(0)
I really need to work on this blog more. Well, it won’t be much now. I am going on a retreat at Casa Maria, located next to EWTN. In fact, I’ll probably visit EWTN while I’m up there if I get a chance.
If you are a big fan of my podcast, don’t worry. I’ve already recorded it and even uploaded it. You should see it on Sunday morning.
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David Ancell / Saturday, July 01, 2006 / Comments(0)
By now, if you’ve been reading a lot of Catholic publications online, you have probably heard that Cardinal Trujillo is proposing that excommunication be the penalty for embryonic stem cell research. After all, it is the killing of a defenseless unborn child, and it is often not recognized as such by society. The penalty will reinforce the horrible nature of the act.
Of course, it’s not hard to believe that the New York Times added some stuff in that isn’t quite accurate. Let’s take a look at this quote:
“If we’re defending the principle that human life should not be touched, it should not be done in a punitive, castigatory or burn-in-hell sort of way,” said Paola Binetti, a leading Catholic politician here.
Honestly, I’m not sure what Binetti means here. Strong sanctions are often necessary to convey the seriousness of one’s sin. In this case, the idea is to prevent burning in Hell. Excommunication is designed as a medicinal penalty to help drive home the need for repentance. This seems to be lost on our NYT writer, as evidenced by the quote below:
. . . many women who have had abortions continue to practice Catholicism, and many parishes take pains to embrace and reintegrate them into church life.
First off, if you look at the requirements for excommunication, it gives the impression that the penalty rarely applies. The list includes things like not having been pressured to do it and being aware of the penalty, among other things. I believe there is also a requirement that one be at least 18 years old, which eliminates scared teenagers entirely (though they can still be in the state of mortal sin).
However, there is a more important point that I alluded to earlier that has been missed. Excommunication is a medicinal penalty. This is why, as the above quote says, many parishes take pains to reach out to women who have had abortions. They darn well should. Excommunications sometimes require the Holy See itself to lift the penalty, but I don’t think this is the case for an abortion. The point is that the penalty can be lifted, and absolution can be given in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Women who have had abortions can come home again, and I, for one, hope they do. The same is true for those involved in embryonic stem cell research, and anyone who understands the Gospel will hope and pray for their repentance and return as well.
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David Ancell / Saturday, July 01, 2006 / Comments(0)
Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I’m in a CompUSA store playing with a Mac Mini that they have hooked up. I have never owned a Mac, but I must say that my pages look better on this thing than they do on my Windows XP computer. This is fun. Well, maybe I’ll write something serious later, like when I’m home again.
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David Ancell / Friday, June 16, 2006 / Comments(0)
Finally, it appears that the U.S. Bishops have approved a new translation of the Liturgy that was long overdue. Pretty soon, we’ll be saying “and with your Spirit” instead of “and also with you.” Well, at least I hope we will.
Of course, we aren’t out of the water yet. It’s hard to say what adaptations the Bishops have proposed. Also, it may take a couple of years to get the translation into effect. Finally, there will no doubt be many nay-sayers among the clergy and the “experts” that may affect the attitude of the average person in the pew. Those of us who understand the reasons for the change need to get the word out to everyone before those guys ruin it for them.
Hopefully, the Vatican will have a line-item veto. For example, I would not want to see “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” as an option. It’s not in the original Latin, and it has the potential to confuse people when we are addressing someone who is now present on the altar in the third person. The other memorial acclamations don’t do this. I’m also hoping for some strong statements against changing the approved text for “inclusive language” purposes. With the proper approval, it will be a dramatic improvement in our worship of the living God.
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David Ancell / Thursday, June 15, 2006 / Comments(0)
It’s a sad day when a layperson has to defend the Church’s teachings against one of her own bishops. Yet, I just found out that this is exactly what happened when Patrick Madrid had a debate with Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Madrid was having to defend the Church’s recent document about the ordination of people with a homosexual orientation to the priesthood. I haven’t heard it yet, but I hope to before long.
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David Ancell / Wednesday, June 14, 2006 / Comments(0)
Often, when I hear of manuscripts having been discovered, I think of ancient documents. Well, in this case, the manuscript that was discovered was none other than the original Polish manuscript of Theology of the Body. It appears that Pope John Paul II had the text before he had become pope, complete with the original headings that explained the structure of it. It seems to me like he planned to publish this, but, for some reason that isn’t clear to me, decided to use this as a series of audiences instead.
A new translation will be available in September. I think I’ll wait for this to come out before I start thinking about reading the entire text. I’ve already placed an order for the new translation.
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David Ancell / Saturday, June 10, 2006 / Comments(0)
Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernadino, CA gave this interview on immigration policy with Zenit.org. It’s well worth reading.
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David Ancell / Monday, June 05, 2006 / Comments(0)
Well, I updated this post on my letter to the Commercial Appeal. They published it today. I’ve already had two supportive responses. I’m just waiting for the responses talking about what kind of nutcase I am. Bring them on. By the way, the letter can be read on this page.
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David Ancell / Sunday, June 04, 2006 / Comments(0)
I’m on some kind of roll today. I’m hoping to also get a podcast posted soon about how the Church has indeed been attentive to the Holy Spirit. Maybe the fire of Pentecost is somehow getting to me in this way.
I think next time I go to a presentation where the speaker mentions the “seamless garment” theory, I’ll ask where in the Cathechism it can be found. Well, really, it isn’t anywhere in the Catechism. Now, before I say anything else, I do want to mention that this term gets used in ways that are perfectly legitimate. However, the origin of the theory and how it was initiall presented has some problems.
Certainly, the Church supports living wage, affordable housing, etc. Certainly, the use of the death penalty should be limited to where it is strictly necessary (which is quite likely never, especially in a developed nation). Certainly we can work to change many of the conditions that contributed to women having abortions and reach out to those who have fallen into the hands of an abortionist. However, all of these rights have as their foundation the right to be born. Without this, it’s kind of silly to argue about what kind of housing the people should have. After all, in this case, one is holding the view that some don’t have the right to live.
By the way, here is an article by Charles Rice that tells of the origins and the problems with the “seamless garment.”
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David Ancell / Sunday, June 04, 2006 / Comments(0)
Having just seen some copies of Always Our Children in the narthex of a church that I was in, I thought I’d see what Catholic Culture had on it. I was hoping for an official Vatican statement, but I guess there isn’t one. I still found this document by Bishop Bruskewitz, and I suspect that he is telling the truth on this one.
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