We all know blogger has had some issues in the last week. As a local public service, in case you have been trying to access Rome of the West, an announcement: his homepage is down, but hopefully the problem will be fixed soon. I suppose the dog days of August are the best time for these things to occur, if occur they do.
August 7, 2008
Gee whiz, CAN issues a press release (huh, what, again?) deploring the refusal of the Editor of the St. Louis Review to engage in “dialogue”– deploring the refusal of Bishop Hermann to engage in “dialogue”– deploring anyone who fails to manifest public contempt for the Catholic Church.
In short, they were disappointed that the Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese refused to print an anti-Catholic ad.
Bleh.
The fabulous four who met with Editor James Rygelski were local malcontents Sean Collins, Megan Heeney, Bill Ramsey and Marie Andrews. Why he took the time to meet with these people is beyond me, but there it is. At least he had the good sense not to print their whine.
CAN’s website does everyone the favor of ending the facade of a multi-prong attack against the local church and just admits that the Lears, Bozek, Hudson, McGrath and Stanislaus board issues are but different heads on one hydra.
I was confused briefly when the site had a link to “facts regarding the interdict against Sr. Lears” and yet the link wasn’t for the Archdiocesan website, the Archbishop’s decree, or even, for that matter, this site. Nope, the link is to a St. Cronan’s FAQ. Very reliable.
Would someone please check the Archbishop’s office and see if he issued any more decrees before he left?
August 7, 2008
The Real Reason for Intersection Cameras
Posted by thetimman under General Catholic News/OpinionLeave a Comment
Socialism is the end goal, but helping it along the way is the need to grab more and more money away from citizens. Finally, the media report the reason for stoplight cameras, this time reporting on cheesy Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich:
Say cheese, speeders
SPRINGFIELD | Gov hopes to raise millions to fight crime by putting cameras on interstates
August 7, 2008
To make good on his offer to help Chicago combat violence, Gov. Blagojevich envisions putting speed cameras on interstates across Illinois — and using the revenue to form an “elite tactical team” that would operate in Chicago and other cities.
The idea is in its infancy, with no budget and no timetable…
August 6, 2008
Interim News in the St. Stan’s Lawsuit
Posted by thetimman under Local Catholic NewsLeave a Comment
I apologize, but events being what they have been I was not able to attend the hearing in this case that was scheduled for today. The Post is reporting that an “accord” has been reached between the Archdiocese and St. Stan’s, but at first blush it appears to be an interim sort of agreement. The Archdiocese only agreed to drop the temporary injunction in exchange for the bylaws vote being delayed by St. Stan’s. The Board election is still on schedule. From the full story, excerpts below, I will have more when I can get my antennae back up to speed.
Accord reached in St. Stan dispute
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
The St. Louis Archdiocese today agreed to drop its motion for a temporary restraining order against St. Stanislaus Kostka Church after the parish agreed to cancel a parishioner vote to amend the church’s bylaws scheduled for this weekend.
The new bylaws would have given parishioners authority to remove the church’s pastor, the Rev. Marek Bozek. According to the church’s current bylaws, the pastor can be fired only by a majority vote of the parish’s lay board.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Bryan L. Hettenbach presided over a nearly two-hour hearing in a courtroom packed with 120 St. Stanislaus parishioners who had become divided over the direction of the church under Bozek.
Last month, the archdiocese sued St. Stanislaus, asking a judge to restore the church to the structure that existed before its board re-wrote the bylaws in 2001, then again in 2004, eventually eliminating the archbishop’s authority. In the church’s original bylaws its lay board controlled the property and assets while the archbishop appointed its board members and a pastor.
[...]
The parish was scheduled to elect new board members this weekend and vote to amend the church’s bylaws a third time. The compromise agreed to today will allow only the board election to take place.
August 6, 2008
August 6, 2008
To the newest Saint Louis Catholic!
Name withheld to shield her from embarrassment by association with her father, we’ll call her “Isabel”– born yesterday. Mom and baby are well and, well, beautiful.
___________________
Thank you so much to all of you who have sent congratulations and have offered prayers. You are all very kind and we appreciate it! Back to normal (whatever that is in this space) blogging by tomorrow.
God bless you all.
August 4, 2008
What Is It about the Institute?
Posted by thetimman under Faith Matters, General Catholic News/OpinionLeave a Comment
I have often tried to explain to people I know why I am so partial to the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest. I credit the Institute with a deep conversion experience in my life, for one thing. The beauty of the liturgy, well-celebrated, corresponds to the truth of the Catholic faith. The Salesian approach to creating an island of charity, faith and culture is yet another important factor.
I received an email from a member of the Institute’s apostolate in Oakland, CA (our new rector’s previous apostolate), that expresses this well. With permission, here is the article from that newsletter:
Restoration of a different kind?
Over the past three years I have thought quite a bit about what it is I like about the Institute of Christ the King and its effect on an ordinary Catholic like me. This restoration project sparked a few thoughts I hope you won?t mind my sharing.
In the video I refer to above [SLC: the video of the Shrine of Christ the King on their website], Msgr. Schmitz says about the Shrine, “We will restore the church, bring it back to life and to its former glory.” I thought this statement was very true in more ways than one, especially in view of what we have been experiencing here in St. Margaret Mary.
We have not been given an architectural shrine to restore, but the Institute has brought the beauty and reverence of the classical liturgy to the hearts of the people, many for the very first time. I have observed, in myself and others, a more profound understanding of the Sacrifice of the Mass; an increased love for Our Lord, the Faith, the Church and the saints; a greater respect for the priesthood; a greater appreciation for the use of visual beauty and musical eloquence in the liturgy; and a rekindled love for a Catholic cultural mindset. These are not the restoration of a brick-and-mortar edifice, but the restoration of something of perhaps a greater permanence: a Catholic heart and soul. It is restoration of a different kind.
How does the Institute do this? Locally here in the Bay Area, it is done through the tireless teaching and preaching about the Blessed Sacrament, about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and about the role of the liturgy in relation to these. It is done by stressing an unwavering adherence to the teachings of the Church, loyalty to the Pope, maintenance of a high standard of excellence, and a personal example of fervent love for God and Church.
Our experience here in the Bay Area is not unique. Throughout the Institute’s network of apostolates in the world, one sees the same dedication to the worship of God– beauty executed for God alone, the same centrality of Jesus Christ Sovereign Priest in the life of a priest and the life of the laity, the same focus on the primary purpose of liturgy, and the same joy reflected in the community life of each apostolate.
I know what the Institute does is no more than what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and has always taught; however, as a Catholic lay person, I find it very refreshing to have the wealth and the richness of the Church presented to us in a totally positive way and without the usual polemics. Through its spirituality based on the whole tradition of the Church, the Institute has found a voice to convey the ageless beauty of the Church.
Clearly the Institute is not just about celebrating the old Mass. This architectural restoration project in Chicago is only one facet of the Institute’s work, but when I saw the video I thought the restoration project symbolized the spirituality of the Institute in several ways. This lovely old church building stands out as an architectural gem in the midst of modern urban structures, yet it holds its own without competing with its surroundings. The Shrine exists not as a reaction to its modern counterparts; it had been there all along, and through the restoration, it will radiate its forgotten glory and classical beauty all over again. The Institute goes about the restoration quietly and in perfect harmony with the neighbourhood. Yet even as the restoration is taking place, it is already having a positive influence on its surroundings. One can’t help wonder what effect it will have when it is finished.
I like the word “restoration.” Restoration is not imitation nor replication; restoration is not remaking something nor is it updating something to make it more suited to modern taste. And restoration is not reinventing something. Restoration implies rediscovering and unveiling the original beauty, rebuilding and sometimes repairing with faithfulness to the original design and purpose. To faithfully restore something which has fallen to disrepair or neglect requires a deep understanding of the intended design and purpose of that thing in the first place.
Whether it’s restoring an old Church or presenting the classical liturgy, the Institute seeks to understand the foundational structure first.
What I have learned from the Institute is that the Extraordinary Rite is not merely about following a rigid set of rules and regulations, but that it has to begin with a clear understanding of what the Mass is about first. I have learned from the Institute that everything done at the Altar– the prayers and the beauty — is first and foremost done for the love of God, and not for the human audience. Attending the Traditional Latin Mass for me has been about worshipping God in the most divinely inspired way possible, accepting liturgy as a gift from God, and not as a self-expression of personal piety. I have learned that the “old Mass” is not about what was done in the past, but what has to be done in the future. The old Church being restored in Chicago is not to be treated as a museum piece from the past, but to reflect the glory of God for us now, and for our children in the future. I am only one of many people who are beginning to appreciate these things, even though we are not a full-fledged oratory as elsewhere.
Here in Oakland, we’ve not had a church to restore, but I think there’s been a quiet restoration of a different kind. In the same quiet sort of way it has the same rippling effect on the Catholic consciousness as the Shrine is already having in the Woodlawn neighbourhood in Chicago.
August 4, 2008
End Result of the Culture of Death: Human Life is Cheap
Posted by thetimman under General Catholic News/OpinionLeave a Comment
STLToday has a story about a man who was shot to death for failing to correctly make a fast food order. Though not in the STLToday story itself, Fox 2 reported that when the victim came back with two burgers for three people, there was a heated exchange, and the burger-deprived person came back later and shot the offender at point-blank range. Truly a pathetic story.
This is beside the point, of course, but the story linked above contains one of those ubiquitous ads that are embedded in most online stories. They pop up on a random basis, but the weird thing here, though, is that when I accessed the story it was an ad for McDonald’s.
August 3, 2008
Some readers have told me they had some problems accessing the blog over the last couple of days. Apparently sitemeter was the problem, and they say it is fixed. Let me know if comes back. Thanks.
