Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill

Finally we reach a book that definitely qualifies The Parthenon Code: Mankind’s History in Marble but page 123 has illustrations on it and a couple of really long sentences  so there aren’t even five sentences on the page, but the NEXT book is The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and then there are a bunch of school papers after that and…I’m going with page 124 of the Parthenon Code. If you have to send the book meme police to my house, sobeit.

Recipients of the Excellent Blog Award must award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find “Excellent Award” worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the blogs written by members of the Catholic Spitfire Grill. Most of them aren’t updated regularly but all of them represent a precious spiritual journey so the archives are worth browsing.

Meet Kicking and Screaming who is contemplating a jump across the Tiber from the Methodist Church.

Wendy at St. Cecilia’s was so very stridently anti-Catholic when I first started interacting with her that it’s really hard to describe unless you have access to some of what she posted on the homeschooling forum that I frequent. Maybe she’ll do some before and after posts. Go on over and encrouage her to do just that.

When Take the Long Way Home is blogging, you don’t want to miss a single word. Go read her archives and see if you don’t agree. And if  you’ve ever been told that a Bishop’s miter is really the Catholic church’s way of worshipping (it really isn’t hard to find links like that) the pagan god, Dagon, don’t miss this post. Go leave a comment and tell her that you wish she’d write more! (Tell her I sent you.)

Little Toe in the Tiber reminds us that we all need to pray for orthodox priests and RCIA teams. She’s converting from the Anglican church.

Kid Sister of Blessed Imelda hasn’t been blogging nearly enough lately. she gives me pathetic excuses about post-move upheaval and teaching her four children….like somehow that would matter to me. Isn’t it all about what I want to read!?  Put her on your reader though….I promise to keep nagging her until she does blog regularly`. And until she does, don’t miss her conversion story. Start with this category here.

So much for the new. Here are some of the blogs that I look forward to seeing new posts on with eagerness.

Et-Tu Jen…..I almost wish the scorpions would come back (just teasing Jen….well sort of teasing) but her current entries on her Reckless Experiment with Prayer are not to be missed.

I grew up with and attended the same church with Ullage: eullage, eullier, ouil in my youth. His children crack me up….he deserves them….and I enjoy his accounts of living in China (and all of the other fascinating places he’s been.) His books are not really my cup of tea (they’re very good though) but I buy them anyway and you should too….loyalty issues here. The big question here is will he see this and can he figure out who I am? If you do Roy, that should be confirmed via email not the comments section.

Rise and Pray loves the Divine Office and is discerning a vocation to the priesthood.

Opinionated Catholic is from Louisiana, has an abnormal obsession with LSU football (like I CARE!?) but other than that, he’s a lot of fun (just teasing….well sort of I really don’t like football.) He always has the text of the Pope’s Wednesday Angelus up too…love it. 

“How much?” he said.

I told him. He then said, “We just can’t afford that right now.” (We are beginning construction on a new building that will provide space for, among other things, more adult formation.)

I said (betraying only a moderate amount of insanity), “That’s ok. If people like this program, it doesn’t cost anything. It’s self-sustaining and all it takes is the money to start it up and I am willing to donate that.” and (betraying utter insanity) “I’ll provide the labor to get the program going.”

SO. The entryway of my house has a lovely display case.

(That would not be my entryway in the background but just a picture of what the display case looks like.) And several plastic boxes full to the brim with CD’s. I am panicking. What was I thinking!? Nobody has volunteered to help me. Everyone I have mentioned this program to gives me one of those there-she-goes-again looks. I have this pathetic image in my head of me as some sort of Catholic Eliza Doolittle trying to get people to give me a few pence for my violets….I mean CD’s. Pray for this little venture if you think about it would you? I would dearly love more people to know and to love the Catholic faith and this seems like such a good way to do it. Even if I am feeling a little insane and panicky at the moment.

So you’re wondering what this has to do with the title of this post? Here it comes. I have been listening to the titles in the initial shipment of CD’s in order to be able to adequately convince my fellow parishioners that they just can’t live without donating a few bucks so that they can also listen to these CD’s. They’re great by the way….this really IS a good idea for your parish. I was listening to a CD by Scott Hahn titled “The Healing Power of Confession” and he related a story about John Paul II that blew my socks off. A friend of a friend of Scott Hahn’s, a priest, was visiting Rome for a conference and went to a local parish for his afternoon prayers. On the way into the church he passed by a number of beggars. Once in church, the face of one of the beggars troubled him so much that he went back outside to talk to him. It turned out that the beggar had been a classmate of his in the seminary and had been ordained with him to the priesthood. The first priest asked the beggar what had happened “Well you know….stuff” was pretty much the answer. There wasn’t time to learn the story because the first priest had to attend a meeting and later a private audience with the Holy Father, John Paul II. So they parted ways for the time being.

This private audience was of the receiving line-type variety. Basically, you got to greet the Holy Father and then move on without any conversation, but when he got to the front of the line, he blurted out something like “I love you…please pray for my friend…..” and out came the rest of the story. After the private audience, the priest went back to the church where he had found his friend and although many of the other beggars had left, his friend was still there. The priest told him that he had met with the Holy Father and that the the Holy Father was now praying for him.

The beggar said, “Well a fat lot of good that will do for me.”

The priest said, “Well there’s more. The Holy Father has invited us to dinner tonight.” The beggar tried to reject the invitation by saying that he wasn’t clean, didn’t have the proper clothes, etc. etc. The priest then pointed out that without his friend that HE wasn’t going to get to have dinner with the Pope and that he would be happy to let his friend have some of his clothes and shower in his hotel room etc. So the beggar agreed to go.

That night after dinner but before dessert, as they were talking John Paul II gestured that the priest should leave the room. So the pope’s secretary led him out of the room leaving the beggar-priest alone with the Holy Father. Over ten minutes later they were signalled to come back into the room and they finished dinner. On the way home, the priest asked his friend “What happened while you were alone with the Holy Father!?”

His friend replied, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.” said the first priest.

“After you left the room, the Holy Father grabbed both of my hands and said ‘Father would you hear my confession?”

At this I gasped and burst into tears…..but the story goes on…

The beggar priest said, “But Your Holiness, I can’t hear your confession. I am a beggar!”

Came the response, “I am a beggar, too. We are all beggars before the Lord.”

“But Holy Father, I can’t hear your confession! I am not a priest!”

“Once a priest, always a priest.”

“I am not in right standing with the Church….”

“As the Vicar of Christ, I can remedy that here and now if you give your consent….”

The beggar-priest consented and heard John Paul II’s confession. The story goes on with a touching assigment from John Paul II to the newly reconciled beggar-priest. I highly recommend getting a copy of this CD and listening to the whole thing. 

I hope this suffices as an explanation for what I think of the orange glow sticks. If it doesn’t I’ll have to make up a liturgical dance to express my pain.

Let’s start with a little background. Last year someone asked my opinion about a blog entry. Well actually, this person asked the general opinion of the group of folks that hand out on the Protestant homeschooling forum that I hang out on. I had an opinion…fancy that…but thought that perhaps my opinion might be a little to inflammatory for the forum so I put it up on my blog and then sent anyone who wanted my particular brand of inflammatory opinion to read it with a link. At the time, I didn’t know about Technorati. Well it turns out that Pastor Furtick thought I was all mean and he publicly swore off Technorati which then had the effect of rocketing him to the top of Technorati’s “Top Searches” list. Well this had the effect of bringing lots of people to my blog many of whom told me how wrong I was about my take on church shopping and told me a lot about the Catholic Church’s “man-made traditions.” So when I was asked my opinion about the Elevation Church’s Palm Sunday services (at least they had them) which involved the children waving orange glow sticks….I had one.