Today in Canon Law class I learned about this special opportunity for you ladies:
A woman may not contract a valid marriage with a man who has abducted her for this purpose, but there isn't any problem with matrimonial consent in the opposite case.
See for yourself. Canon 1089.
February 28, 2007
February 27, 2007
Becoming
I got a note this morning from someone which said, "give thanks for who you are and who you are becoming." I liked it because it reveals some sense of the mystery of freedom, habit, virtue, and vice.
Every choice we make is a choice not only to do something, but to become somebody. Acting gently and peacefully makes us more peaceful and gentle. Deciding to be angry or greedy makes us a more angry and greedy person when we come to the next choice.
Every choice we make is a choice not only to do something, but to become somebody. Acting gently and peacefully makes us more peaceful and gentle. Deciding to be angry or greedy makes us a more angry and greedy person when we come to the next choice.
February 26, 2007
AHHD
I have a new diagnosis for the DSM-IV. I call it "Attention Hypertrophy/Hypoactivity Disorder."
You might be one of the many afflicted if you can answer "yes" to any of these questions:
1. I have looked up one word in a dictionary and then read several surrounding entries as well.
2. I have followed enough cross-references in Wikipedia that I end up reading about a totally different topic.
3. I grew up playing D&D.
4. I have spent two hours sitting in an ice cream shop with a professor, arguing about what constitutes "overly colloquial" prose.
5. I have marinated a sauerbraten for more than two days.
6. I have prayed all 15 (before the Luminous Mysteries) or 20 (after them) mysteries of the Rosary in one go.
7. I have used up a disposable ballpoint pen.
8. I have read any of the following in their entirety: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
9. I have, even once, looked up a reference to anyone's Commentary on the Sentences.
10. I have read the entire thank-you list from a record album.
11. I have watched episodes IV, V, and VI of Star Wars in a row.
12. I have tried to calculate, in my head, the exact day that was the mid-point of my life.
If this is you, you may have too much attention. Go get yourself the help that you need.
You might be one of the many afflicted if you can answer "yes" to any of these questions:
1. I have looked up one word in a dictionary and then read several surrounding entries as well.
2. I have followed enough cross-references in Wikipedia that I end up reading about a totally different topic.
3. I grew up playing D&D.
4. I have spent two hours sitting in an ice cream shop with a professor, arguing about what constitutes "overly colloquial" prose.
5. I have marinated a sauerbraten for more than two days.
6. I have prayed all 15 (before the Luminous Mysteries) or 20 (after them) mysteries of the Rosary in one go.
7. I have used up a disposable ballpoint pen.
8. I have read any of the following in their entirety: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
9. I have, even once, looked up a reference to anyone's Commentary on the Sentences.
10. I have read the entire thank-you list from a record album.
11. I have watched episodes IV, V, and VI of Star Wars in a row.
12. I have tried to calculate, in my head, the exact day that was the mid-point of my life.
If this is you, you may have too much attention. Go get yourself the help that you need.
February 23, 2007
Fasting
The prophet Isaiah is quite clear in today's first reading:
Fasting is no end in itself. It should only serve to break our selfishness that we might be less violent and more tuned in to the needs of the world. Fasting to any other end is vainglory.
There are lots of things we can fast from classics like chocolate and beer to other things our imaginations feed upon like the internet and CNN. The trick is to choose not the one that seems the most religious, but the one that will make our hearts less selfish, setting us up to contribute to the justice and peace of the world.
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Fasting is no end in itself. It should only serve to break our selfishness that we might be less violent and more tuned in to the needs of the world. Fasting to any other end is vainglory.
There are lots of things we can fast from classics like chocolate and beer to other things our imaginations feed upon like the internet and CNN. The trick is to choose not the one that seems the most religious, but the one that will make our hearts less selfish, setting us up to contribute to the justice and peace of the world.
Diameter
There are lots of moments in the course of a religious vocation when you say, either to yourself or someone else, "Back when I was discerning a vocation to religious life, if you had told me I would be doing this as part of it, I wouldn't have believed it." Here's one of those moments:
Here in my house we decided to have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Friday nights in Lent. We also thought we could invite locals folks to join us if they wanted; tonight we were going to invite the "Blue Brothers."
But there was a problem. All we have in the house are 2 3/4 inch hosts, and the luna of our monstrance is only 2 1/2 inches in internal diameter. So there I am last night, cutting a quarter inch wide ring off the edge of a wafer.
Here in my house we decided to have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Friday nights in Lent. We also thought we could invite locals folks to join us if they wanted; tonight we were going to invite the "Blue Brothers."
But there was a problem. All we have in the house are 2 3/4 inch hosts, and the luna of our monstrance is only 2 1/2 inches in internal diameter. So there I am last night, cutting a quarter inch wide ring off the edge of a wafer.
February 21, 2007
Ash Wednesday
Lent!
I find Ash Wednesday to be one of the most intriguing and curious liturgies of the year. Think about it: first we proclaim Jesus' instructions on how to fast, from the Sermon on the Mount:
Then, right after hearing about how we are supposed to wash our faces and hide our fasting from others, everyone puts dirt on their head and walks around all day like that.
What can this mean, that we proclaim the doctrine of Jesus and then ritually do the exact opposite? To me it can only be a ritualized form of admitting that we have not lived up to the good news offered us in Jesus Christ. We have heard the Gospel all year, haven't responded, so now we do a ritual that proclaims our failure physically. That's powerful. And that's my theory about why everyone in the world goes to Church today.
I find Ash Wednesday to be one of the most intriguing and curious liturgies of the year. Think about it: first we proclaim Jesus' instructions on how to fast, from the Sermon on the Mount:
When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.
Then, right after hearing about how we are supposed to wash our faces and hide our fasting from others, everyone puts dirt on their head and walks around all day like that.
What can this mean, that we proclaim the doctrine of Jesus and then ritually do the exact opposite? To me it can only be a ritualized form of admitting that we have not lived up to the good news offered us in Jesus Christ. We have heard the Gospel all year, haven't responded, so now we do a ritual that proclaims our failure physically. That's powerful. And that's my theory about why everyone in the world goes to Church today.
February 20, 2007
Lent Eve
Whatever you call it, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, this is one of my favorite days of the year.
It's the day to get ready for Lent; to decide on practices, to get all the religious equipment together, and to hope for a spiritual renewal to culminate in the renewal of our baptismal vows at the Great Vigil of Easter.
I guess I see the beginning of Lent as something like the fresh start of a new year; a time to gather things back up and start again. It's a moment to dream of what could be, of how I can learn anew to pray, fast, and give alms. Time to quiet down, forget about trifles, pull out hefty volume II of the breviary, and make a new effort to be faithful to the Lord.
Yes the temptation is spiritualized ambition, but hopefully the ambition aims at giving up ownership and control over prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and letting the Spirit of the God and the daily cycles of Mass and Office take control of my imagination.
It's the day to get ready for Lent; to decide on practices, to get all the religious equipment together, and to hope for a spiritual renewal to culminate in the renewal of our baptismal vows at the Great Vigil of Easter.
I guess I see the beginning of Lent as something like the fresh start of a new year; a time to gather things back up and start again. It's a moment to dream of what could be, of how I can learn anew to pray, fast, and give alms. Time to quiet down, forget about trifles, pull out hefty volume II of the breviary, and make a new effort to be faithful to the Lord.
Yes the temptation is spiritualized ambition, but hopefully the ambition aims at giving up ownership and control over prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and letting the Spirit of the God and the daily cycles of Mass and Office take control of my imagination.
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