I saw this parody on Christus Vincit. He got it from some place or other, you can see on his blog. It's to the tune of Faith of our Fathers:

Faith of the grannies, priest-wannabes,
Faux ordinations on the high seas,
In the procession, three gifts are seen:
Bread and wine, and, thank God!... Dramamine.
Their day's long gone, they grasp at straws
Strive to make sense of menopause.

Faith of the Dinosaurs, double-knit clad,
Dreaming of whate'er "edge" they once had,
And of their glory days, now long gone.
Would they let go, the Church could move on.
Lumb'ring and desp'rate, it is plain
Soon naught but fossils will remain.

Faith of the NPM, (not really "faith")
Quoting for gospel what V. Funk saith
Ah, how mistaken the poor sad things are,
And how they've lowered the aesthetic bar.
Years saying "Ave"s might make amends
For the misdeeds of Funk and Friends.

This he added in a later post, but in the same thread:

Faith of Castrati, don't leave them out!
Some holy men live "with," some "without."
Becker says Origen should be giv'n heed,
When we ask "saints" to intercede.
(Who knew that Becker had the juice,
To decide what's bound and what's loose?)

Faith of myself, and similar cranks,
Carping at motes, no doubt missing planks.
What could the greatest Lit-abuse be?
(Hat tip to Chesterton), why, it's ME!
So here my snarking finds its end,
Contrite, lest some I did offend.

Labels: dissent, music

From CNA:

Four San Diego firefighters are filing legal claims against the City of San Diego after their superiors forced them to participate in the July 21 San Diego Gay Pride Parade, in full uniform and on their city fire truck.

In the past, firefighters who attended the parade generally did so on a volunteer basis. When the four firefighters protested, their superiors told them they must ride in the parade or face disciplinary action, reported the California Catholic Daily.

A press release from the Thomas More Law Center states that, while on parade, the firefighters were “subjected to vile sexual taunts from homosexuals lining the parade route.”

Some of the comments hurled at the firefighters along the parade route included: you can put out my fire; you’re making me hot; give me mouth-to-mouth. When the firefighters did not respond, some in the crowd turned hostile and started yelling obscenities at them.

Other bystanders directed lewd acts at the firefighters, such as exposing their genitals, grabbing their crotch, and blowing kisses.

And here's the kicker:

San Diego Fire Chief Tracy Jarman has been quoted as saying that the parade is a “fun event and all employees are encouraged to participate.”

San Diego’s Republican mayor, Jerry Sanders, appointed Jarman fire chief in June 2006. According to 365Gay.com, Jarman is “one of only a handful of openly lesbian fire chiefs in the country.”

Labels: moral issues

CNA on Arturo Mari:

Arturo Mari, who spent 51 years photographing the diverse episodes of the lives of the popes, has begun sharing his first memories of his long career after his recent retirement.
...
Mari recalled the beginning of his career, when he accompanied Pius XII to Vatican Radio on the outskirts of the Vatican City State. The short journey was almost an international trip for a Pontiff as discreet as Pius XII.

Mari also attended the opening of Vatican II and the first surprising trips outside the Vatican of now Blessed John XXIII to hospitals, prisons and even to the new Roman airport. But the Italian photographer’s international adventures began with John Paul II.

Mari said there was one thing he has never done: keep a secret picture for himself, especially after the ones he took during the attempt on John Paul’s life in St. Peter’s Square. “I don’t even know how I took them,” he recalled. “The same happened at the Gemelli Hospital, when I had to take a picture of him in bed. He said to me, ‘I’m still alive.’ I just cried and I couldn’t see anything.”

Mari has his favorite pictures. The one he considers the most important was taken during John Paul II’s last Via Crucis, when the elderly Pope asked for a crucifix. He rested his forehead on the cross. “That is the most emblematic photo of his Pontificate,” Mari said.

He has been called as a witness in the beatification process of John Paul II and without entering into details, he said he was a witness to miracles, cures, exorcisms and conversions.

Now 68, Mari said he is looking forward to resting and spending time with his family. “My dream is to see John Paul II beatified. I respect the Church’s timetable, but I am impatient,” he confessed.

Labels: Vatican

The New Amy Welborn

Amy's made a clean break. She's now located here.


Bishop Pelotte

More on Bishop Pelotte, via CWN, there's an editorial in the Gallup (N.M.) paper that's looking for the "truth," which is more likely "hoping for a scandal." In any case, I hope we do finally get the whole story (if there is, indeed more to get). For now, the bishop is out of intensive care.


Romero and Escriva

Sometimes we get so caught up in ideology that we fail to see the truth before us. Archbishop Romero wrote to Pope Paul VI asking for the opening of a cause for Josemaria Escriva and said the following (via Fr. Finigan):

"Personally, I owe deep gratitude to the priests involved with the work, to whom I have trusted with much satisfaction the spiritual direction of my life and that of other priests.

"People from all social classes find in Opus Dei a secure orientation for living as sons of God in the midst of their daily family and social obligations. And this is doubtless due to the life and doctrine of its founder."

Who knew?


Honorary Doctorate

The Shrine once again has an interesting post on the giving of actual doctoral hats when saints are declared doctors of the Church. A must-read for useless Church trivia. I had never heard of such a thing!


Cardinal Lustiger (1926-2007)

Of course, the biggest news of the day was the death of Cardinal Lustiger yesterday. He certainly lived an interesting life and was a faithful servant of Holy Mother Church. Rocco notes these words from his successor:

In his own comments, Archbishop Vingt-Trois said that "we are all under the shock of his demise, even if he had prepared us to it for some time."

"I personally experience all at once the loss of a father, of a brother and of a friend, after receiving the onus of succeeding him at the head of the archdiocese of Paris," Lustiger's successor said. "Over the last two years, I had many opportunities to appreciate his thoughtfulness towards me, as he proved ceaselessly ready to answer the questions I wanted to ask him and to provide me with the advice I needed, without ever attempting to weigh upon the decisions I had to make or trying to interfere in any way."

"Many bishops in France as well as priests and deacons in Paris cannot but remember him as the one who ordained them. They know that he has not abandoned them and that he will keep on looking after them and being close to them."

The NY Times obit had this curious paragraph:

Like John Paul, Cardinal Lustiger was a conservative. He opposed abortion and the ordination of women and married men to the priesthood, and he sought to preserve the priestly vow of celibacy.

It amazes me that the media is still surprised when Catholics are Catholic. What the hell do they expect him to believe in? Imagine a cardinal preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ!

CNA has a nice article.

One controversial aspect of education today is the authority of a teacher to grade students. Few of us would dispute that it is the teacher's job to fairly assess the learning of a student, but many outside of the world of education do not see the dark side: administrators who change grades.

It's an ethical dilemma for every teacher at some point or another: when my principal asks me to change a grade, for example, to pass a student when he or she has failed, what do I do?

There are some great arguments on both sides. In the grand scheme of things, one could argue, it makes little difference. When was the last time you asked your landscaper or your doctor what his or her grades were in high school? When was the last time you thought about your own high school grades? But on the other hand, many argue that it's a matter of integrity and honesty.

For myself, failing students is not easy, even when they deserve it. I would never fail a student who missed by one or two points. Frankly, I can't swear before God that every test question was fair, so what if I made a mistake that would have made the difference? But there are students who fail by a long shot. My first quarter of this past year, a student failed. It was so hard to write the F on the grade sheet, but she went on to do well for the rest of the year. Lesson learned.

The NYTimes education section today has an article about this very topic. For educators, it's worth a look.

Labels: education

Today's Almanac

Saint Alphonsus was born at Naples in 1696. Though renowned as a doctor of both Canon and Civil Law, he left the legal profession and entered the priesthood. Subsequently he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. To foster the Christian life, he applied himself to preaching among the people and writing books on moral theology, of which he is considered a master. He was chosen bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti, but soon resigned his office to work with his confreres at Nocera dei Pagani in Campagna. Saint Alphonsus died in 1787.

Some quotes:

[Y]ou must remember that our gracious Lord cannot refuse to give graces to those who ask for them, because he has promised to do so.

My Jesus, teach me to pray and to remember always how much I need to pray in order to save my soul.

Some links:

Wikipedia: Saint Alphonsus
Alphonsiana
Redemptorists
Wikipedia: Redemptorists

Labels: Daily Almanac, saints

My relative blogging absence can only be explained by work. I have put the finishing touches on what I hope will be something I can expand in the future. As you know, my site is a constant work in progress. I am always coming up with ways to improve and to try new things. So I came up with this idea a few months ago and started working on it.

It's an expansion of the Daily Almanac (calendar). I have a page for each day which has the usual almanac stuff plus any notes on the daily liturgy, a short bio of the saint of the day, reflections, quotes, and ideas to bring this information to students. On Sundays, there are a few bulletin notes that can be utilized and an intercession for vocations.

This is a pretty big deal and demonstrates a significant investment of time on my part. All of August is posted and September and October are well on their way. During the school year, it may happen that I will have to pause this sort of the thing, but I'm hoping to work far enough ahead that I can get an entire year ready to go so that I can add to and embellish each page as time allows and new ideas come.

As far as the images go, they are all in the public domain. If I am mistaken, please let me know right away so that I can remove it.

Please let me know what you think. More will be added as the month goes along so keep checking back. Be sure to inform anyone you think might benefit from these resources and send me some feedback.

Good Saint Anne, pray for us!

Labels: site news