Some people are just right, darn it!

I am full of admiration for Archbishop Chaput of Denver. Every time I read something of his, I have to stop and mull about it for a while, paying him my supreme compliment of thinking "I wish I'd said that!" As if I could.

His latest column in the Denver Catholic Register is a great discussion of our new Holy Father. Here's a taste:

Benedict XVI is not only more experienced in the life of the intellect and Christian conscience than his critics, he’s also more faithful to the mission of the Church and more anchored in the peace that comes from knowing and loving her founder — Jesus Christ.

And he directly addresses some of the editorial comments recently in the media, to wit:

As one columnist bitterly observed, “the cafeteria is now closed.” Of course, for believers, it was never open.

Witty, pithy and sensible. I only wish I were eligible to invite him to dinner. Vivat, Archbishop!

Minute meditation on predestination - continuing

Deep in work and life details, but I keep returning to this in prayer: We didn't choose God as our Father any more than we chose our own parents. That's a non-negotiable, permanent relationship. The heck with those kids-divorcing-their-parents stories; not possible, although the circumstances are very sad to ponder.

But Jesus Christ as the Lover of our souls, that's different. We choose Him; we accept Him, we follow Him, we dedicate ourselves to Him. He won't un-choose us, because He is Father and Son/Bridegroom of the Church. But we can sure un-choose Him, and can live our entire lives in opposition to Him.

Sometimes when reading Scripture (God is foreordaining those He forechose...) I worry about the claims of predestination-oriented Christians. Especially the idea of double predestination; where some are chosen to be saved, and some consigned to perdition. I feel better when I realize that our relationship is both permanent and deliberate at the same time. Not just for myself, but all my lost family and friends, who are on my heart right now.

Your thoughts? Best Scripture to illuminate this?

UPDATE: I pulled this post back to the top because of the very good discussion going on in the comments box. Please add to the story of God's Love for us!

Lawrence Welk a Catholic - who knew?

Another "Who Knew?" discovery of a Catholic celebrity.

Lawrence Welk is one of my guilty pleasures. I grew up watching his TV show faithfully, since my parents and grandparents loved him. I secretly liked him too, but how could I admit that in the 1970's? Even today, when PBS runs a fund-raiser reunion program, I watch it, and sing along with the closing song ".....adios, au revoir, auf Wiedersehn......good NIGHT!"

His parents were Bavarian-born Catholic farmers who fled the Ukraine in the 1870-80's because of religious persecution. They found farmland in Strasburg, North Dakota and settled there in the 1890's. Lawrence was born in 1903.

While Lawrence was pursuing his band career, he and his wife Fern moved to River Forest, Illinois, which is where Fern wanted to stay:

So he called me and said, "Fern, I think we found our niche. I think we should think about moving to California." I said, "Before we pull up stakes, let's feel reasonably sure it is the place. If it is the place, I'll take the children and come. But," I said, "we have three kids, we're situated so well, we have grade school, high school and college within three blocks of us." Rosary College was there, Trinity High School and St. Vincent School all within three blocks of us. However, when the kids got up to college, none of them attended Rosary College. They wanted to go away like kids do when they get to that age, or most kids anyway.

Cool in a two-degrees-of-separation way because I went to Trinity High School. (I also know someone who is good friends with someone who was Cher's hairdresser. We have to get our celebrity jollies where we can...)

Fern and Lawrence Welk attended St. Monica's Church. Read the link on the quote above for an interview with Fern about their life on the road, includes an occasional mention of church.

UPDATE: Whoops, forgot a biretta tip to Fr. Sibley whose post about Lawrence Welk brought a comment about the Welkman going to daily Mass, which got me started. Mea culpa.

Earth Day through God's eyes

I thought about God in an adult way first, in college, when I allowed physics and chemistry to convince me that God was merely the Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Aha! God! So I had all the convenience of a First Cause, a Creator, with none of the baggage of Him loving me or expecting anything of me. Until He told me different.

During that God-as-Energy to God-as-Father transition, I discovered this dear chapter in the Bible:

For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists, nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works;

but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water, or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.

If through delight in the beauty of these things men assumed them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them.

And if men were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much more powerful is he who formed them.

For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.

Yet these men are little to be blamed, for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him.

For as they live among his works they keep searching, and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful.

Yet again, not even they are to be excused; for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?

- Wisdom 13:1-9

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I'm sure he's reassured when we agree...here's Benedict XVI challenging the notion of "I can worship God on the beach / golf course / woods / my back yard:"

"The cardinal leaves room for arguments that are sometimes heard nowadays: "I can also pray in the woods, submerged in nature."

"Of course one can," Cardinal Ratzinger replies. "However, if it was only that way, then the initiative of prayer would remain totally within us: Then God would be a postulate of our thought. That fact that he responds or might want to respond, would remain an open question."

"Eucharist means: God has responded," the cardinal continues. "The Eucharist is God as response, as a presence that responds. Now the initiative of the divine-human relation no longer depends on us, but on him, and so it becomes really serious."

- his book, An Intimate God, excerpts in English from the web

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The Earth won't love you back.

eBay's answer

I complained, like many Catholics, to eBay about selling, twice, what has been represented as being consecrated Communion hosts. Many bloggers have reported eBay's response as being "eh, so what? not our problem."

This is the actual email answer:

Thank you for taking the time to write us. We know your time is valuable and we appreciate your taking a moment to express concern over this particular item.

We understand that you are upset at having seen certain Catholic items or items related to the Pope on eBay. Because eBay's community is a diverse, international group of more than 135 million users with varied backgrounds and beliefs, there are times when some items listed on eBay by sellers might be offensive to at least some of our users somewhere in the world. At times, members may see listings that they may consider morally wrong or objectionable. However, even though these listings may be offensive to some, please remember that most of the time the law does not prohibit the items.

Due to the fact that eBay's focus is to have a free and diverse community, we are reluctant to interfere with listings that are not illegal. Regarding offensive items, there are many items that are considered sacred to many people of various religions, and we sometimes hear complaints about these items. Examples would be Catholic relics of saints, Mormon (LDS) garments, certain Buddhist tablets, etc. However, eBay has made the decision not to prohibit any item only on the basis of the item being endowed with sacred properties by certain religious groups. In general, eBay will remove items for a violation of our Offensive Materials policy only in extreme examples in which the listing explicitly promotes hatred, violence, or racial intolerance. However, we do not remove religious items that are otherwise legal for sale and do not violate any other eBay listing policy.

Please keep in mind that many of us at eBay may also share your distaste with an item, and may not support the sale. In fact, eBay has many Catholic employees. However, we do our best to understand and tolerate the many viewpoints held by our worldwide community. The Eucharist is not illegal to sell, and is generally allowed on eBay as long as the seller does not otherwise include hateful text or images in the listing. Although we realize that you may not agree with this decision on eBay's part, we hope that you can respect the diverse and open nature of eBay's marketplace.

Again, thank you for your report. We appreciate your help in keeping eBay a safe and reputable forum to conduct business.

Regards,
eBay Community Watch

I don't agree with their policy. But I give them points for trying to be polite, compared to the standard sullen we're-sorry-you-feel-offended-not-that-we-did-anything-offensive answer.