Open Book by Amy Welborn

Storytime

For some odd reason, people occasionally ask me about children's books. What would be good for their children to read? I know, I wrote a few books for teens, and I'm an avid reader, but that doesn't mean I'm an expert. But since you asked...the beginning of another new feature!

My mother was, for a time, a children's librarian, and took a great deal of interest in what I read - picked books out for me for a long time, as a matter of fact, so I have followed her lead and done the same for my own children. One of my favorite parts of the day is, in fact, stories before nap and bed. Reading new library books to them gets me as psyched as they are.

For the next few posts on this I'm not going to go over the classics that we all know and love, but over more recent picture books and authors for young children. It's not exhuastive or learned, just the fruit of what's been grabbed off the shelves on our (at least) twice-weekly trips to the library.

And,uh..Meggan? Feel free...

Last MDB article..

I think.

From Ebert, via my son David.

I believe the character Maggie is such a fighter that she could learn to deal with her disability and enjoy her life. But here is the important point: She doesn't believe that. Yes, it is true, as critics have charged, that she receives inadequate counseling. That the care in her hospital is not good, and the security is laughable. But the screenplay by Paul Haggis and Eastwood's direction make that clear -- they know it, too. It is not movie criticism to say Maggie needed better counseling. We might as well say Hamlet needed a psychiatrist.

The great places

Weigel on Fr. Rutler and his parish

Then, six days after 9/11, a man with no small plans came to Our Saviour’s as pastor: Father George Rutler – convert from Anglicanism, graduate of Dartmouth, the Pontifical Gregorian University, and Rome’s Angelicum, EWTN personality, and one of the wittiest correspondents in the universal Church. What had been a parish of midtown daytime transients and weekend dowagers quickly began to attract flocks of twenty- and thirty-year olds. Children were once a rare sight at Our Saviour’s in the past; last year, fifty-two baptisms and almost fifty weddings were celebrated there. The parish had never produced priestly vocations; it now has more seminarians than any other in the archdiocese. Substantial funds were raised to cover overdue structural renovations and the parish, long beset by deficit budgeting, was put into the black.

"Mom, it was like being at a Slipknot concert"

...my oldest son's description of a recent experience at Mass, seated behind some very rambunctious little children.

Thereby providing a concise and ultimately satisfying summation of what I wanted to do as a parent:

1) provide core values (He's going to Mass! He's observant. He's amusing.)

2) give them the confidence to do their own thing (Slipknot. Double bleh. But he likes Hank Williams, too. So all is not lost....)

(Oh, by the way, I took your advice. He really like A Confederacy of Dunces! Now he's reading The Power and the Glory, and likes that very much, and I also sent him Atticus by Ron Hansen, which someone recommended and struck me as a great young-man-novel. Many thanks.)

Heart of the Matter

Scorcese apparently developing the Greene novel for  film.

Wasn't he supposed to be developing Endo's Silence, or was that someone else?

And what's happened to the de-religionized Brideshead Revisited that was in production? Anyone know anything?

Update: Wow, that last point raised hackles quickly! As I said, I don't know what's happened, but here's a older item on the BR adaptation (scroll down)

Great minds

In my news-surfing over the weekend, I ran across an article that seemed promising - about Cardinal Arinze in Dallas. I read it, and went, "Huh?" It told me nothing - about why the Cardinal was in Dallas, what he said, and the interview was pure boilerplate.

At Get Religion, Terry Mattingly notes the same article

In other words, I am just as interested -- more, actually -- about what the cardinal had to say about Texans going to confession and receiving Communion than I am in the state of Kerry's pilgrimage. Perhaps the same is true of readers in Texas. I am just as interested in what the cardinal came to Dallas to say as I am in what he did not come to Dallas to say. Does that make sense?

It was either one of the worst written or most severely edited articles I've run across. Edited into nothingness...

Also at Get Religion Jeremy Lott ably reviews James Carroll's review of John Cornwell's book about John Paull II.

Got it?

Trackbacks

In case you're wondering, I've disabled the trackback thing on new posts..it's being slammed with gross spam, and I haven't figured out how to "block" a trackback.

Before you get too much into it..

discussing liturgical music down there, go back to Mere Comments and check out this post, gathering all of their posts on "Attractive Worship", which helps us see that this isn't just a Catholic issue. The assumptions (about the purpose of worship) are different, but the questions and the complaints are very similar.

Speaking of liturgical music

Great site here: the St. Cecilia Schola, dedicated to helping parishes incorporate chant into worship.

They're having a workshop down in Auburn, Alabama on February 19.

Breathtaking

Help Wanted...or else

A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.

Read the whole damned thing.

Early thoughts...

First, I'm greatly enjoying the thread below. It's fascinating...think about it. I hope that in the next few hours, we'll have a hundred snapshots from the Church, giving us a sense of what we're being taught, how we're being formed, and how we're worshipping.

I'm a little surprised, I'll admit, by the positive accounts of homilies - pleasantly surprised, I hasten to say! This self-selected group of respondents seems fairly content with what we're hearing (at least this week), but....the music?

Well...not surprising. Again, we're a self-selected group, but pastoral musicians might want to read this thread and catch a clue. It's not an argument for the universal imposition of chant. It's a hint that a lot of folks are tired of being sung down to, to coin a phrase.

(Again..how universal is this? I don't know. I do know that whenever the bane of my existence, Let There Be Peace on Earth, is sung at Mass, the congregation, no matter how reluctant to sing before that point,  raises the roof bellowing that accursed relic from the 60's)

Hillary at Canisius update

Buffalo bishops disassociates:

"As Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, I wish to inform the faithful and the community that the Diocese of Buffalo is not associated witht he planning or promotion of the lecture of Senator Hillary Clinton at Canisius College on Monday, January 31, 2005. This event has been arranged under the auspices of Canisius College without previous consultation.

Although Catholic Charities was listed as a sponsor, this was without the knowledge that Senator Clinton would be one of the presenters of the lecture series. They have since withdrawn their sponsorship, as has the diocesan office of Church Ministry.

We have communicated our displeasure and have discussed the situation with Canisius College officials.

Hanging up the cassock..

At 93

The Rev. Paul Huber had mixed emotions as he presided over his final Mass on Sunday at St. Xavier Catholic Church on Sycamore Street.

The 93-year-old Jesuit priest, who is retiring after a remarkable 53 years here, felt a tinge of sadness.

But after the Mass, as hundreds of parishioners filled a basement reception area to pose for photographs and say their goodbyes, Huber was awash in happiness.

"I'm just glad that so many people found me to be helpful," Huber said.

By his estimate, Huber has celebrated 13,000 Masses at St. Xavier, but that hardly begins to measure his work. For decades, Huber has been active in Cincinnati's Right-to-Life movement, which is among the strongest in the nation. He also built up the church's prison ministry. Twice a month, he would say Mass at the Hamilton County Justice Center.

New Feature at Open Book

I don't know what to call it. "Monday Morning Liturgical Quarterback?" Perhaps.

Here's the idea. On Mondays, I'm going to start a thread dedicated to the previous Sunday's liturgy. I am inviting you to post

1) the gist of the homily you heard

2)anything interesting/unique/ whacked you experienced at the liturgy

Let me explain why I'm doing this, and then lay down a couple of rules.

First, I'm not intending this to be a Thread of Complaints. We do enough of that around here, and we will undoubtedly do more. I really don't want it to be a discussion thread either. I'd rather we just post our experiences and then step back, rather than commenting on what others have posted.

I would like it to be simply a reporting thread, because, to tell the truth, I'm interested. I'm really interested to hear how different homilists in different parts of the country (or world!) deal with the same texts - or even in different denominations (when our lectionaries coincide). I'm interested, sometimes in a morbid way, in the liturgical (ahem) diversity that exists in the Churuch in this country. And really and truly, I'm not interested for the sake of pointing out "errors" or abuses. That's not my purpose here. One of the reasons I've maintained this blog is to try to present a daily digest of what the Church in the US is about and concerned with. Back a couple of years ago, when I was posting like mad (tho never at Shea levels, I admit), that was what I fascinated with - to explore, present and discuss what we were up to across the country. That's the spirit in which I'm starting this feature.

So...the rules, I guess are this: Report, with commentary if you wish. Snideness is allowed (because this is Open Book), but always with charity (charitable snideness? Well, give it a try) and so is rapturous praise. If you don't mind, at least tell us what diocese you're reporting from. Tell us the parish, if you like. I'm most interested in homilies, but if there was something else that's worth mentioning, for good or for ill, go ahead.

And as I stated, let's try not to make it  a discussion thread. If something strikes me as particularly worthy of discussion, I'll tease it out and build a separate post on it.

Sound okay? Humor me. I'm nosy. If I ever get around to writing the Great American Catholic Novel, this will help me. I'll start:

Perspective

It's the most useful attitude a parent can have, I've come to believe. And if it's not number one, it's tied with patience for the honor. Perhaps they're just branches of the same tree.

Perspective is what gets you through hours of tasks that tie you to the couch, keep sleep at a safe distance, and lead you to gaze wistfully at the simple sight of people walking into movie theaters or restaurants with tablecloths.

Perspective comes in two flavors, slightly different, equally necessary. The first is accessible to anyone, no matter what stage of parenting you're in. It's someone did this for me...now it's my turn. Or simply...this is what love is. Period.

But the second is an acquired taste, acquired, at least for me, only after at least is one is grown and gone. That one is this won't last forever. With joy and sorrow we learn this too shall pass. I won't be nursing forever. I won't have to hold him constantly for the rest of my life. Sooner or later, he'll be on his own.

See what I mean? About the joy and sorrow, that is.

Baby's foot saved..

in utero.

...an ultrasound when the West Launceston mother was 19 weeks pregnant showed a severe complication: a band of tissue was tangled around the baby girls leg risking amputation of her foot.

In only the second time in Australia, a team of specialists from Melbournes Monash Medical Centre successfully operated on baby Ella in utero.

The Ghanian Way of Death

Truly Wild:

A slideshow of "fantasy coffins" constructed in Ghana

Here's the story.

I found the uterus particularly interesting. But then, I would.

Iraqi Roundup

You can find a helpful roundup of all the news at the Ratzinger Fan Club.

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him..

The rebirth of Perpetual Adoration in parishes, from a Duluth paper

The Rev. Victor Warkulwiz, a Pennsylvania priest who travels the country to help start adoration programs, said the ritual is making a comeback in the state.

"The Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul ... probably has the most chapels of perpetual adoration of any archdiocese in the country. It's one of the most fruitful areas for this anywhere," he said.

Warkulwiz has been in Minnesota every weekend this month.

People from around the world call Minnesotans for tips in starting their own programs. Peggy Powell, coordinator of one of the state's longest-running adorations at Epiphany Catholic Church in Coon Rapids, has taken some of those calls.

"I think we're going to have an explosion this year," Powell said. "People are just calling out of the woodwork. It's amazing."

Brotherly Love

We'll see how long this lasts. Actually, I have a twenty-year old photo of Christopher and David and almost exactly the same ages in a very similar pose. I need to dig it out and scan it and make us all feel old...

More photos here for family and anyone who's really, really bored..

Blessed Are the Poor

Indiana nuns living the Gospel

"Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel, founder of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration, once said to "always take care of the sick and old sisters. They are God's favorite," says Sister Jennifer Henry, a registered nurse who has been director of nursing at the order's motherhouse for the past two years.

"They have a purpose here on Earth, else He would have called them home to heaven."

Shoo!

Pope battles dove of peace.

Raising the Roof

Milwaukee Lutherans help fund a Catholic church building in El Salvador

The church was dedicated in December and serves the community of Rutilio Grande, one of a number of villages built for refugees who fled to Nicaragua or Honduras during El Salvador's civil war and began returning before the 1992 peace accords.

About $10,500 of its $20,000 cost was paid by congregations in the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with the blessing of the denomination's local bishop. After All Peoples Church in Milwaukee started the campaign, contributions also were made by a Catholic church in Waukesha County, Lutherans in Germany and several international groups, said Mary Campbell, who served five years as a missionary in El Salvador and is chairwoman of the Milwaukee synod's El Salvador committee.

Italian Horror

Ritualistic slayings are worrying Italians

The Beasts of Satan case, whose first defendants go on trial Feb. 21, represents one of a handful of gruesome crimes that priests and worried parents cite as proof of a troubled, amoral young generation turning away from God and toward the occult and, in the extreme, devil worship.

Experts warn against exaggerating the phenomenon. Drugs, for example, appear to have played at least as much a role in the killings as Lucifer.Still, the Vatican is sufficiently concerned to offer special training for priests and novices this spring. A two-month course at Rome's Regina Apostolorum, a prestigious pontifical university, will focus on the history, theology and sociology of Satanism and black magic, and the healing power of exorcism.

The Way?

The Neocatechumenal Way comes up here from time to time. It is popular here and there in the US - I understand that it has grown, in particular among Hispanics. The Pope has praised it, as he has many of the "New Movements" in the Church, but questions about it abound. The secrecy of its catechism and the shape of its liturgy being foremost.

An article from an Italian paper about the Way

The statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way were approved by the Holy See in 2002 on an "ad experimentum" basis for five years. The bishops are entrusted with the task of watching over their application.

Various bishops have expressed reservations, even recently: for example, that of Brescia, Giulio Sanguineti. In 2004, he wrote in a letter that "we must avoid that the eucharist celebrated in the Neocatechumenal communities be perceived as the 'true' eucharist in comparison with the one celebrated for all the faithful."

Other bishops are instead, and in growing numbers, enthusiasts of the Way. They admire its power of propagation and the flowering of vocations.

John Paul II is one of their most convicted admirers. In the Vatican, they receive strong support from Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Hook 'em Horns

I can say that. All my dad's degrees are from that other UT.

Austin Cathedral restored

"We used the glass as our cue to what we wanted to do inside the church. We looked at photographs from the early 1900s, and tried to bring back the original beauty of the cathedral with the stained glass in mind," Father Bud Roland said.

Those Secret Archives

An interview with the Prefect of the Vatican Archives

Q: Why does it take so much time to move forward to the opening of a pope's documents?

A: "To organize, verify, inventory, and number the papers. The Vatican archive, in fact, receives documents from the various dicasteries of the Roman curia, in the order and material organization they had originally. But in the archive, in view of the documents' release, a comparison must be made between the documentation – contained in envelopes, folders, bundles, volumes, and other bindings – and the related card catalogues or contextually compiled indices. Thus the material must be prepared, sometimes cleaned, and divided into manageable bundles; in this phase, verification is obtained that procedures are being followed and that the titles correspond with the records. The next phase is the collation, or organization into envelopes, of the papers, and this entails numbering them. All these operations, carried out for thousands and thousands of items, explains why the work goes on for years. To this it must be added that some archives of pontifical representatives, because of historical vicissitudes, arrive in complete disorder. This is the case, for example, of the representatives in countries occupied during wartime (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) or of those areas of central and eastern Europe which certainly did not have an easy life during the cold war: the pope's representatives were harried by the communist governments from one day to the next and forced to flee, carrying the papers from their archives heaped together as well as possible in their luggage (as in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, and other countries). All this material must be patiently reviewed, ordered, and inventoried. No scholar, in fact, could carry out studies on these documents without this preliminary work."

Super Baptist Bowl

Seizing the moment in Jacksonville

David Garrett's mission walks in step with his city. With the Super Bowl coming to Jacksonville for the first time, the eyes of more than a hundred million people will turn to northeast Florida, known here as the First Coast. Mr. Garrett wants his ambitious hometown to make a good impression.

"When they look at Jacksonville, I want them to see loving people who care about their city," he said. "I want them to see Jesus."

Mr. Garrett is the head of the Jacksonville Baptist Association's Super Bowl Ministry. In a city where the daily paper, The Florida Times-Union, prints quotations from the Bible on its editorial page, Mr. Garrett is trying to infuse his faith into the week of celebrations that culminate Feb. 6 with Super Bowl XXXIX between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles.

A fun game for you

We're about to go out, but here's a game to keep you occupied for a bit.

Compare Maurice Healy's piece as published in the SFCatholic newspaper

with

Healy's piece as published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

I'll start!

SFCatholic:

Thanks to the repugnant rhetoric of city officials and the boorish behavior of several hundred pro-abortion activists

Chronicle:

With repugnant rhetoric by city officials and boorish behavior by several hundred pro-choice activists

SFCatholic:

At noon, the pro-life throng of 7,000 people

Chronicle:

At noon, the anti-abortion throng of 6,000 people

Got it? It's your turn...

Just. Stop. It.

Mass. priest resigns after allegedly propositioning a mother and her daughter

Innocent until proven guilty. Got it.

The pastor of a Roman Catholic church here has resigned after he was accused of propositioning a 12-year-old girl and her mother at an Italian restaurant in Chelsea on Tuesday night.

The Rev. Jerome F. Gillespie resigned on Friday as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Boston.

"Father Gillespie's resignation was accepted in the interest of all parties involved and does not represent any indication of Father Gillespie's guilt or innocence as it pertains to this allegation," the statement said.

Gillespie, 55, did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press left at the parish on Saturday morning.

The archdiocese said it learned of the matter on Thursday night.

David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney's Office, told The Daily Item of Lynn that Gillespie was not dressed as a priest and was sitting at a separate table from the alleged victims, who did not know Gillespie was a priest.