Saturday | June 07, 2008

Moving.....

The new Postscripts from the Catholic Spitfire Grill

For the forseeable future, I plan to post pretty much identically in both places; however, the New Postscripts blog is Wordpress based and so I plan to take advantage of being able to schedule posts. That means that sometimes posts will show up there before they do here. I do forsee that eventually, this blog will be an archive only.

Update (June 29): I do not know why blog.com is cutting off the right hand side of the text....I have asked for technical support.

Posted by Red Neck Woman at 14:47:53 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday | July 23, 2008

More on Eucharistic Desecration....

Mark Shea has some excellent thoughts on the spreading wave of Eucharistic desecration and threats of such on InsideCatholic.com and Father Joe suggests a prayer of reparation here.

I'll repeat the Prayer of Reparation I suggested a couple of days ago which is taken from Holy Hour Of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please consider buying a copy and praing the entire Holy Hour regularly!
Act of Reparation

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!


The more Thy Mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!


The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole hope of mankind!


The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus.


The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!


The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!


The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!


The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue!


The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!


The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!


The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!


The more Thy Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more will we honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O Kingly Heart of Jesus!


O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Thank you kindly James for directing me to those posts! 

Posted by Red Neck Woman at 20:44:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Catholic Carnival #182: I Love Being Catholic!

It's time to go see what other Catholic bloggers are writing about this week! Go directly to Ho Kai Paulos, do not pass Go!, do not collect $200 and support the things worth reading on the internet!

And while you are at it, please go read my friend Anne's post on Rote Prayer which is another one of this week's good posts!
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 20:16:10 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday | July 21, 2008

Heaven's Song by Christopher West

Save your book money. There's a book scheduled to be released in September that you are going to want. Let me rephrase that. You need this book.

Now those of you who know me more than just reading what I write here and those who read regularly enough to be deeply suspicious that I am more inclined than your average person to tell you that you need to buy a book and that I have never met a book I didn't like are saying to yourselves, "She'd sell her soul for a free book. This is just something she read for the Catholic Company's reviewer program. Why on earth would I listen to a thing she said with respect to how much I need to buy this book?" Well let me assure you that while I just might sell my soul for a free book, I recognize in myself a possibly irremediable weakness with regard to that, I have however, met books I don't like. I have....deep breath....thrown books away that made me mad or had no redeeming value whatsoever. True, I might have a very low standard for "no redeeming value whatsoever" but I do have one. And no matter how many books I think I "need", I do recognize that not everyone has the same sentiment about books. I love books and I want to see them placed in homes where they will be loved and cared for and so I do not recommend books willy nilly. As I read books I often think of people who might also enjoy reading that particular book, and this one was no different. What was different was that after a while, I started trying to think of someone to whom I would not recommend this book. I couldn't think of a single one. I don't know a one person who is old enough to read and understand the text who would not potentially benefit from the message of this book.: Heaven's Song by Christopher West

In a nutshell, it's an exploration of some recently discovered adresses that were written by John Paul II (recently discovered writings? how cool is that!?) on the Theology of the Body but were not delivered publicly because of their "delicate" nature. On the surface, they are commentaries on the the Song of Songs and the marriage of Tobias and Sarah in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit. What they constitute though is the rest of theological foundation John Paul II gave us in addresses that comprise theTheology of the Body that every catechist -- and I very much mean every -- bishop, priest, deacon, religious, parent, DRE, CCE teacher, husband, wife, consecrated virgin, (have I made my point yet?), etc. needs to help repair marriages in the Catholic Church and everything resting on those marriages. We will never solve the problem of a lack of vocations which are a generous giving of oneself to the Church until we repair the vocation of Marriage which is the generous giving of one spouse to another. We will not regain our footing with respect to the liturgy until we not only understand on an intellectual level that the giving of oneself to one's spouse in marriage is meant as a sign and symbol of Christ's total giving of himself in the Eucharist, but live it as well. The good news is not that the Church needs to be telling married people that conjugal love is bad, but rather helping them to redeem it from the twisted morass that the enemy has made of things and restore the joy that God intended it to have. The Theology of the Body must begin to permeate our thoughts about the family, the Faith, the Church, and the Liturgy. And that not just my opinion:

According to John Paul II, the dignity and balance of human life depend at every moment of history and at every point on the globe on who woman will be for man and who man will be for woman (TOB 43:7). The sexual relationship -- the relationship of man to woman and woman to man -- is the deepest foundation of human ethics and culture. (TOB 45:3). The union of man and woman builds and shapes families, families shape neighborhoods, neighborhoods shape communities, communities shape cities, cities shape states, states shape nations, nations shape the world. When the sexual relationship breaks down, eventually so does everything resting on it. (page 54)

To which I will only add. "Amen." and offer my opinion that this books offers a good introduction to the completion of John Paul II's Theology of the Body if you aren't starting from scratch with regard to his message, and that it is an excellent place for learning about the Theology of the Body if you aren't already familiar with this important Church teaching.

Through West, John Paul II reminds us that being created in the image of God means that from the beginning of creation, our bodies "have had the God-given ability to reveal divine mysteries." Chew on that for just a moment and begin to realize that to the extent that our bodies  and physical relationships are not in harmony with God's plan for them, we will be unable to understand and to properly live the divine mysteries that God intended to be revealed through our bodies. Time and again in Sacred Scripture we see Jesus use the metaphor of marriage to convey his divine Love for us. The passion of marriage, the sacrifice of marriage, the life-giving embrace of husband and wife is a God-given sign to instruct us about Our Lord's s love and passion and sacrifice for us. Is it any wonder then, that in a world where Catholic divorce rates nearly match those who are not religious, where Catholics are just as likely to contracept as any other Christian, where Catholics live together before marriage nearly as much as non-Christian that we are stuggling to understand Christ's love for us? Redeemed from sin, John Paul II tells us that the marital embrace is liturgical and that the liturgy is spousal. We must understand this, live it, and teach it effectively if we are to turn back the tide of crumbling families and all that implies for society and Church alike.

Here's a news flash....the thou-shalt-not approach to teaching the message of the good news of Christian sexuality is not working. That's why it's a relief to be able to say that this is most emphatically not a book that is condemning. In a field awash with books that can make you feel guilty, West manages to deliver the heart of the message of the Theology of the Body with all of the tenderness that I imagine was in Our Lord's voice when He spoke to the woman caught in adultery. "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on, do not sin any more." This is not a book that anyone, no matter how diseased and dysfunctional their sexual life is, needs to be afraid of. It's full of hope and joy and quite frankly, the promise of greater things ahead for those who are married AND for those who are not. You will be able to recommend this book with confidence to those who are already hurting badly in this area and fear additional battery by well-meaning but insufficiently charitable Christians.  

This is also a supremely practical book. It's already set up for those who might want to lead a book discussion in their parish with questions for reflection at the end of every chapter. It's easy to read so it's a good introduction for pretty much anyone who wants to begin to learn about the Theology of the Body both for those who are not inclined to study every point of Catholic doctrine in depth because there is plenty to meditate on for a long time and for those who are inclined to read-more-about-it since it's a good jumping off place. If you are a theologian, this book might be a little lightweight for you but then again, it might just be the help you need to put some of John Paul II's deeper theology into terms that would be easy to digest in a Sunday homily or parish study or at the dinner table with your family.  Besides, I don't think these newly discovered writings of John Paul II are widely distributed yet. (Feel free to leave a link to where they ARE published in the comments, if I am wrong about that.) You've got to buy the book to get a glimpse.

And now, let me tell you that I am putting my money where my mouth is. The copy I read was an unbound galley copy. I want this book on my library shelves and an unbound galley copy just is not going to cut it. Furthermore, I am not lending my copy of this book and I anticipate lending it frequently. So I am not only going to buy this book, I am going to give this book the honor accorded very VERY few books in my library. I am going to specifically buy at least one additional "lending copy" because I am NOT parting with my own.  

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program.  Visit Catholic Company to find more information on Heaven's Song
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 12:18:17 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday | July 19, 2008

Catholic Carnival #182

Alexa at Frank, in a Sense, & Mirth is hosting this week's Catholic Carnival. Bloggers live for you comments so go read and comment and support the good stuff!
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 21:57:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday | July 15, 2008

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

That Mary remained virgin both before and after the birth of Jesus is dogma of the Catholic Church. What is not dogma is under what circumstances she chose to be a virgin all of her life. Catholics believe that the NT indicates her intention of remaining virgin based on her response to the angel Gabriel "How shall this be since I do not know man?" Now if she was expressing disbelief like Zechariah did, she would have been punished like Zechariah. Was she expressing complete ingnorance of the mechanics of getting pregnant? (Unlikely in a farming community.) Or was she curious how that was going to happen since the angel knew she was vowed to be a virgin? One of the possibilities that is suggested in apocryphal works such as the Protoevegelium of James and the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, is that Mary was consecrated as a young girl to work in the temple. When she reached puberty the onset of menstruation would have introduced problems of ceremonial uncleanliness and a guardian, Joseph, was found for her. Here is an article on Catholic Answers that will get you started on references and details. The scholars on all sides are far from agreed on whether there was any such thing as a consecrated virgins in the Temple and I am not attempting to build a case for or against it. My reason for raising this idea is this.....what would the implications for Mary be, if she did spend many years working the in the Temple as a consecrated virgin? She would have been known by the priests, by those who worked in the Temple and its environs and they would have known about her vow of virginity.

Imagine then, showing up with a baby for the ritual purification after childbirth. Imagine the kind of guts it would take to show up with apparent evidence of that vow having been broken. I wonder if that's how Anna and Simeon knew that Jesus was the Messiah. They knew that the Messiah would be born to a virgin and they knew Mary would never break that vow. They had the courage to believe the impossible even when all reasonable explanations suggested a very ordinary reason for her to be carrying that baby. I'm guessing that Anna and Simeon were the exceptions and I wonder if she went home a cried at the end of the day.
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 21:48:04 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday | July 13, 2008

Some Things That Are Wrong....

It's wrong to defend the Faith with violence and/or threats of violence. Period.

These people and people like them....and here should not be getting ugly emails much less death threats or threats of any kind. Yes. What has been said and done is unspeakably ugly and disrespectful. Blasphemous. So?

As Christians we are commanded to love those who ridicule us and revile us. Period.

Sure. We can storm eBay and ask that they not allow the sale of consecrated items. We can make known the depth of outrage caused by such desecration. We can take reasonable precautions to prevent additional acts of desecration, but we have to LOVE the people that mock us and our Faith. That means no death threats. No violence. No ugly words. Not just because these things are counter-productive, but because they are wrong.

If you need a weapon, drop to your knees and fast and pray. Offer reparation on their behalf.

Here's one to get you started.....

Act of Reparation

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!

The more Thy Mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!

The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole hope of mankind!

The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus.

The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!

The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart, model of every virtue!

The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!

The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more will we honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O Kingly Heart of Jesus!

O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Besides....bad manners speak for themselves.

Yes. I know this was much worse than just bad manners but at the very least it was terribly bad manners and on that most reasonable people could agree.


Posted by Red Neck Woman at 23:26:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday | July 11, 2008

St. Benedict of Nursia

Today is the Feast of St. Benedict so in his honor...

St. Benedict's Pledge

O Lord,
I place myself in your hands and dedicate myself toyou.
I pledge myself to do your will in all things --
To love the Lord God with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength.
Not to kill, not to steal, not to covet, not to hear false witness,
To honor all persons.
Not to do to another what I should not want done to myself.
To chastise the body.
Not to seek after pleasures. To love fasting. To relieve the poor.
To clothe the naked. To visit the sick. To bury the dead.
To help in trouble. To console the sorrowing.
To hold myself aloof from worldly ways.
To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
Not to give way to anger.
Not to foster a desire for revenge.
Not to entertain deceit in my heart.
Not to make a false peace. Not to forsake charity.
Not to swear, lest I swear falsely.
To speak the truth with heart and tongue.
Not to return evil for evil.
To do no injury, even to bear patiently any injury done to me.
To love my enemies.
Not to curse those who curse me
but rather to bless them.
To bear persecution for justice' sake.
Not to be proud.
Not to be given to intoxicating drink.
Not to be an overeater.
Not to be lazy.
Not to be slothful.
Not to be a murmurer.
Not to be a detractor.
To put my trust in God.
To refer the good I see in myself to God.
To refer any evil I see in myself to myself.
To fear the day of judgment.
To be in dread of hell.
To desire eternal life with spiritual longing.
To keep death before my eyes daily.
To keep constant watch over my action.
To remember that God sees me everywhere.
To call upon Christ for defense against evil thoughts
That arise in my heart.
To guard my tongue against wicked speech.
To avoid much speaking.
To avoid idle talk.
Not to seek to appear clever.
To read only what is good to read.
To pray often.
To ask forgiveness daily for my sins,
To seek ways to amend my life.
To obey my superiors in all things rightful.
Not to desire to be thought holy, but to seek holiness.
To fulfill the commandments of God by good works.
To love chastity.
To hate no one.
Not to be jealous or envious of anyone.
Not to love strife.
Not to love pride.
To honor the aged.
To pray for my enemies.
To make peace after a quarrel, before the setting of the sun.
Never to despair of your mercy, O God of Mercy.

From: Praying With Saints: Making their Prayers Your Own

I think this would make an excellent examen.
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 14:07:08 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday | July 08, 2008

Catholic Bloggers' Choice for Music, Podcasts, and More....Results

I spent the weekend watching my computer convert my Windows media files to the iPod format. I didn't really realize what a task I was undertaking. From the time I began to have children, I have been committed to having a home library for my children in hopes of encouraging a love of reading and part of my home library includes books on tape. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) Part of our homeschooling routine includes at least two hours of reading aloud per day. I do an hour's worth and usually there is an hour's worth of reading done by a professional on CD. Over the years, I have managed to develop a pretty nice library of books on tape which I have converted to MP3 files so that my children can listen to them on their MP3 players. All of that to say this....it took about 55 hours to convert my library so that it can be used on my new iPod....yes. I am blushing. As it began to dawn on me just how long it was going to take to convert all of these files, my laptop became absolutely off-limits in case of provoking something that might make a re-boot necessary. So that's what I did with my holiday weekend besides not blogging. (I used my other computer to do an annual update of a database I use at work. bleah.) Anyway, now that I am done with all of that I have these new suggestions from other Catholic Bloggers to load onto my new iPod:

From Lisa Hendey the Catholic Mom herself, go an try out her very well done Catholic Moments podcasts and the wide variety of choices at SQPN. She also recommends the following Catholic artists: Sarah Bauer, Sharmane, Matt Maher, and Popple.

Jen at ConversionDiary "can't get enough of Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars singing Dum Transisset Sabbatum (Sister Spitfire's note....they've got some Russian Orthodox recordings that look very interesting as well. Oops! Look what went onto my wishlist and while I am editorializing. Jen? The Tallis Scholars and rap? Aren't you afraid that music like that residing in the same brain might cause a rift or something?)

Soutenus at A Catholic Notebook recommends Michael John Poirier and Lighthouse Catholic Media. 

Chris Cash follows Lisa's lead in an act of shameless self-promotion (which btw I heartily endorse!) in sending us over to his podcast at Catholic Spotlight and his wife's newly launched podcast at Home Biz Mom. He also suggests The Catholic Hack and The Rosary Army

Ebeth at  A Catholic Mum Climbing the Pillars suggests Two Edge Talk and Abba Pater (which is one of my favorites as well.)

Anne at Kid Sister of Blessed Imelda (go nag her to start blogging again) couldn't find the Scriptural Rosary on CD but I am "The Queen of All Internet Shopping" and I could...here. She also suggests Sublime Chant: The Art of Gregorian, Ambrosian, and Gallican Chant, and More Sublime Chant: Art of Gregorian, Ambrosian, Gallican, and Sarum Chant, Lassus Penitential Psalms, everything by the choir at Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine (call their gift shop at 407-239-4010), and the Divine Mercy Chaplet set to music...all them apparently. I particularly like this one. Robert Kochis - Prayer of St. Francis, Michael Joncas - Mary's Song, Marty Haugen - Canticle of the Sun, John Foley, SJ - Beautiful Mother, Gary Daigle - Canticle of the Turning, Schola Cantorum Dublin - Canticle of the Sun, Dan Schutte - Sing a New Song, David Haas - Send Us Your Spirit, Al Petteway and Amy White – People Look East, Meredith Dean Joseph, and Salvatore Tassone.

From my email:

Sarah of Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering made this fascinating recommendation Baba the Storyteller. She also recommends iPadre.

Heidi Saxton of Mommy Monsters, Behold Your Mother, and Silent Canticle added to Sarah's recommendations with a link to this blog post.

To all of that, I would like to add just a couple.

Cardinal Arinze's podcast/blog.

and Gift of Love by Bradley James. This is the only recording authorized by Blessed Mother Teresa before her death in 1997. Bradley James set to music many of the words and prayer of Mother Teresa. I love this CD because the songs are "catchy" and I find myself singin them long after I am done listening.
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 12:20:14 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday | July 07, 2008

I Am Nauseated, Sickened, Appalled....And That Doesn't Seem To Cover It

From the July 30, 2008 edition of National Review...

"A few years back, the promoters of "Bodies...The Exhibition" had a problem. The traveling science-museum show, in which preserved corpses stripped of their skin are used to display the human body's internal organs, needed a supply of cadavers in good condition from healthy people (who just happened to be dead). By a fortunate coincidence, the Chinese Bureau of Police had a generous supply of that very item that it was looking to unload, and so a deal was struck. The exhibit has traveled the country since 2005, increasingly hounded by questions about the origins of its bodies. Now, in a settlement with New York state, the promoters have admitted that they are not sure whether their cadavers were among the thousands of prisoners that China executes every year (whose remains, when not preserved whole, are often harvested for organ transplants by the thrifty Chinese government). Anyone who saw the exhibit in New York and objects to the Chinese connection can get a refund; future visitors will be told of the bodies' uncertain origins. And perhaps museums will learn to be just as careful about the provenance of their human exhibits as they are with works of art."

Not sure? Not sure!?!

Happy Olympics everyone.....
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 10:47:55 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday | July 03, 2008

The Catholic Company's First Communion Photo Contest

If you've got a good photo of the First Holy Communion of your son, daughter, grandchild, neighbor, etc. you might try submitting it to The Catholic Company for a chance to win $250. If you tell them that SisterSpitfire sent you and you win, I could get $100.
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 15:34:27 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |