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RCIA Blogs

Last year, I believe, there were a number of bloggers who were in the process of becoming Catholic at Easter. This year, there may be some, but I've not searched them out - and if you're out there - God bless you!

I've been alerted to a new blog by someone who's beginning RCIA with an eye to Easter 2005! So go check it out and say hello.

Confiteor

A round-up of Passion-related confessions

The Bully Pulpit

Eileen McNamara says revoke the Church's tax-exempt status.

No one disputes the right of the Catholic Church, or any other religious institution, to be heard on the contentious issues of the day, but the bishops of Massachusetts want to rewrite the state constitution to conform to Catholic teachings. To assert that right, they persist in confusing sacramental marriage, which the SJC ruling leaves in their hands, with civil marriage, which is beyond their realm.

It was a Catholic legislator who spoke most powerfully to the danger of bending the constitution to the will of religious institutions. "Constitutional rights run to individuals, not to groups or organizations or institutions," Senator Marian Walsh told her colleagues. "So today I ask, what constitutional rights would individuals participating in religious activities like to give up? Would individuals who worship surrender their own religion, and enjoy a state religion? Would individuals who are clergy like to give up the authority to perform civil marriage ceremonies that this Legislature gave them in 1692?"

To me, at least...

...the core of the problem with Roman Catholic spiritual life as it has evolved in the US is encapsulated in one phrase, read in your church bulletin or advertised in the diocesan paper or even blasted on a sign hanging outside of your parish.

"All-You-Can-Eat Lenten Fish Fry"

That's the spirit!

New Richmond Bishop

To be announced today by Cardinal Keeler

If anyone hears before I do, post it in the comments!

Oh, and in other Richmond news, Fr. John Leonard gets probation.

French Bishops Blast Passion

They didn't like it

"(The film's) violence, which overwhelms the spectator, ends up blotting out the meaning of the Passion and the essence of Christ's person and message -- love carried to its perfection by the voluntary giving of one's self," said the bishops.

Noting the film opening in 500 cinemas around France was banned for children under 12, it added: "Isn't it paradoxical that a film about Jesus cannot be shown to children?"

Leading French Catholics, including Paris Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, have expressed their personal dislike of the film but the bishops' criticism was the first official statement from the Church hierarchy.

Will the Bishops Confront Kerry?

Who knows.

How does Kerry square his voting record with the moral teachings of his church? He told the Post-Dispatch that "it's not appropriate in the United States for a legislator to legislate your personal religious belief for the rest of the country."

But the Vatican's note rebutted this well-worn argument. The church must be separate from the state, it said, but the state cannot be separate from morality. "(N)o Catholic can appeal to the principle of pluralism or to the autonomy of lay involvement in political life to support policies affecting the common good which compromise or undermine fundamental ethical requirements," it said. "This is not a question of 'confessional values' per se, because such ethical precepts are rooted in human nature itself and belong to the natural moral law."

God and Howard Stern

Let them both be, says an op-ed in the WSJ

So, where's the middle ground? Where do we go and how to we get there?

We can't take the decisions from the people and leave it in the hands of a few judges, moralists, atheists and the pious ultraconservative religious. We can't let Mel Gibson (and his father) alone define the pain of faith (without the love). It must fall into the murky morass of free choice, allowing parents and children to battle it out from generation to generation.

We have so many cultural outlets that if you want opera, rock music or bare-breasted, gun-toting women, you can seek it out--or switch channels. As for our children, their guidance remains the domain of vigilant and caring parents.

As we try to change the geo-political landscape to bring freedom to people suffering under dictatorships, let's remember that a land of freedom means just that. So leave the "under God" phrase be (it didn't hurt me to refuse to recite it, in fact it made me feel special), let Howard Stern be himself, and relish in the fact that with lots of love, forbearance, guidance and a little luck, our society--and our children--will be fine.

Books R Us

Just sent off two packs of signed, personalized books to very nice religious ed teachers giving Prove Its as end-o-the-year gifts. Warms my heart!

If you think that's a good idea and want to share the love, email me and let's arrange it.

Can I hate John Kerry?

Probably not. But it's hard not to, if this is true:

The Kerry campaign was said to be surprised at the coverage their candidate received for attending Mass while on vacation in Idaho. "You saw conservatives all up in arms that he was receiving communion, when most American Catholics do the same thing and live a life very similar to the senator's: divorced, pro-choice, etcetera," says the Kerry adviser. "It just highlights how out of touch the right wing is with America, and we can play to that."

To that end, according to other sources inside the Kerry camp, aides are attempting to identify a Catholic diocese, and perhaps even a specific priest and church, where Kerry could attend a Mass with reporters present, and be turned away at the altar attempting to receive communion.