Your First Ole Miss Home Game: A Brief Primer

Hugh Freeze enters the arena: "May the odds be ever in your favor"

Another day has dawned on the Ole Miss Football legacy. We begin in earnestness the "FREEZE ERA". Eras, in the Ole Miss tradition, can last from 20 years to 20 minutes. Times ticking.

Today and tomorrow, the second biggest storm will hit Mississippi. Not as messy as Isaac but just as big and loud, we are going to get hit with REBEL NATION up here in Oxford. For the newbs, it's quiet a shocker.

Since we have the best parking lot in the private sector when it comes to Ole Miss events, I have a good view of things. So, here's a few helpful hints if this is your first pony...er, bear...ride.

1. Drinking is legal, illegal, ok, not ok, questionable. First, alcohol consumption is illegal for minors and those under 21 years of age. I won't even begin to challenge that here. But if you're older and just truly need to drink, be aware of the drinking zones on the campus. It's sort of complicated.
From the University's alcohol policy online:
The university will enforce all applicable state and local laws. State law prohibits consumption of liquor within athletics venues during athletics events. County law prohibits possession or consumption of light alcoholic beverages (beer and wine coolers, for example) on all parts of campus that lie outside the city limits of Oxford. University policy prohibits the possession or consumption of alcohol inside academic or administrative buildings unless served by properly licensed caterers.

You'll need a county map. And a lawyer.

Seriously, the red/green zone thing in Iraq is easier to figure than Ole Miss county lines.

 
2. On Game Days, flip flops are unacceptable...unless you're a guy in seersucker pants and a blazer.
Girls have to dress a bit better for this because it's like the Kentucky Derby of our state but without horses. And gambling. Haha...gambling on Ole Miss. I'll take the Rebels and 30.

Pearls. She is wearing pearls. To a football game. This. Is. Normal.

Guys can wear flip flops to give that devil-may-care vibe to an otherwise textbook J. Crew look.
If you dress in shorts or jeans, that means you aren't "in". Or you're old.

Also, shorts on gameday aren't presidential.

3. Go to the game. You should at least go to the first game. What? Why would I say something so stupid? Because people go to the Grove and listen to the game. But they have tickets and they are next to the stadium but they don't go in to the game. It may have something to do with #1.

Whoa whoa. Whoa Whoa...whoa. Aw, come on...we need people to do that techno song thing!

4. Don't litter. There are hundreds of blue or red trash cans all over the Grove. Please don't litter. And especially don't litter on our property. Nothing worse that doing the levabo during the Offertory because I have the schmutz from a dirty Wendy's bag and the stink of backwash from a Heineken bottle on my hands.

The Grove looks classier when the trash shows up.

5. Be the clam. Don't forget that even though you may be lost in the ambiance of the Ol' South and under the enchantment of the Ole Miss spirit, this is still the real world. People see you. They know you. Life will go on. Don't be stupid. Have fun. Cheer. Eat Abner's chicken off McCarty pottery. Hotty. Toddy. But remember that this isn't a dream nor are you hidden. You're in full view. Think of it like this. Say you're a clam. No one notices you. All shelled up and quiet. You think, "Hey, I'm safe" then you...well, just watch this:

AGHHH! SWEET BABY JESUS, MAKE IT STOP!!!! See that? That's like you in public. Keep in your shell. Don't show your slimy elongated salt-licking parts.

 Now: YOU ARE READY!

Good Cheer returns tonight at 7! At Boure'!

Good Cheer, your weekly mid-week spiritual battery charge, returns tonight. This semester, Good Cheer will be held each Wednesday night at 7pm at Boure' on the Square. It's a time of fellowship, teaching and prayer and all are invited.

This semester at Good Cheer, we'll be looking at Salvation History: A Catholic View of the Bible. Each week, we'll explore and discover the the major points in God's amazing plan of salvation. We'll look at how all of it points to (and culminates with) Christ, how it all applies to your life and, more importantly, we'll talk about what it means to live out these mysteries in college.

Tonight, we'll be providing refreshments, so make sure to bring a friend!

A note on parking: Parking on the Square itself can be tough, but there are free, public lots located behind and beside the Oxford City Hall. See you tonight!

Retreat to Plan B-treat

The forces of nature thwarted my plans to go to Manresa outside of Baton Rouge but I did spend some time in silence, prayer, reading and reflection. Missed the Cajun cooking and the sounds of my river but safety first.

I took a trip up to Memphis today and wandered around the Memphis Zoo. This being St. Augustine's Feast Day, I had to take a picture of this:

Get it?

Prayers up for New Orleans and this Land Mass

Our Lady of Prompt Succor,
hasten to help us!

As Hurricane Isaac bears down on New Orleans and the "Land Mass" that we call home, please be sure to remember in prayer all those in its path.

Tonight, CCM will host an hour of prayer and Eucharistic Adoration at St. John's. Please join us this evening to pray for friends, family members and neighbors on the Coast and in NOLA. We will begin at 7:00pm.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor has had a special place in the devotional lives of New Orleanians ever since she was credited with protecting lives during the Great Fire of 1812 and, again, during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Today, she is prayed to for protection during hurricanes.

"Our Father in Heaven, through the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us and our neighbors from all harm. Protect lives and property from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. Amen."

Just how frequently asked....

This question was obviously frequently asked concerning our Diocese's 175th Anniversary Mass.

Q. What about parish banners?
      A. We welcome banners but we are unable to include them in the procession or inside the hall where the Mass will be celebrated. If a parish has a banner for the celebration, these may be displayed in a stand provided by the parish in the common areas of Thalia Mara Hall away from doors and exits. Parishes are responsible for banners including stand and they must be removed by the parish after the celebration. Nothing may be attached to the walls, ceilings or floors. 
http://www.mississippicatholic.com/ 

BANNER!!! HULK SMASH PUNY BANNER!!!

 

Stormy Weather

Hey, Isaac, make me a hurricane. Hahaha..umm.

When the devastating Katrina hit the Gulf Coast back in '05, the after-effects made it all the way up here. Electricity went out. Winds took down some trees and did minor damage to houses and property. It was a big deal.

I'm not sure how ferocious Isaac is going to be but as with any natural disaster, it couldn't fall on a more inconvenient time. I'm scheduled for a silent 3 day retreat down in south Louisiana. Turns out Isaac may be there, too!

Sigh. I had planned on a retreat in '05 right when Katrina hit as well. Seems hurricanes like Mondays.

One of the beautiful things about our faith is that we still have some primal sense of awe for nature. Our Catholic canon includes prayers addressed to God to help is in times of natural disaster. We even have a prayer for storms.
We beseech Thee, O Lord, to drive far from Thy dwelling place every spirit of wickedness, and to keep us from being harmed by the fury of wind and storm.

Almighty and everlasting God, Who chastising dost preserve us; grant unto Thy suppliants the comfort of the quiet times for which we look, and teach us ever to make right use of the good gifts Thy loving kindness vouchsafes to us.  Amen. (Roman Missal)

Some saints also have made their own prayers for storm protection. St. Maximilian Kolbe has this one:
Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. † God became man, † and the Word was made flesh. † Christ was born of a Virgin. † Christ suffered. † Christ was crucified. † Christ died. † Christ rose from the dead. † Christ ascended into Heaven. † Christ conquers. † Christ reigns. † Christ orders. † May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning † Christ went through their midst in Peace, † and the word was made flesh. † Christ is with us with Mary. † Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Judah, the Root David, has won.
† Holy God! † Holy Powerful God! † Holy Immortal God! † Have mercy on us. Amen! 

And there's a healthy list of saints who are patrons (patronesses) against storms!

St Erasmus (Elmo): Not a tickle me, obviously

• Agrippina of Rome
• Barbara
• Catald of Taranto
• Christopher
• Erasmus
• Florian of Lorch
• Gratus of Aosta
• Henry of Upsalla
• Hermengild
• Jodocus
• Our Lady of Zapopan
• Scholastica
• Thomas Aquinas
• Tiburtius
• Urban of Langres
• Valerian
• Vitus
• Walburga

So, PLEASE, use whatever resources you can to pray for protection and safety. Storms are bad news for everyone. And, to be selfish, I reallllllllllly need to go on retreat. Like. Really.
Or if I don't, there may be need for "Prayers Against Grumpy and Inappropriately Behaving Old Priests".

Pray, y'all.

Rosary Walk resumes tonight

One of the coolest traditions of the semester is the CCM Rosary Walk at Pat Lamar Park on Thursday evenings. The concept is simple: students meet at the park to pray the rosary while they walk together. The results, however, can be profound: prayer makes a difference and changes lives. Deep, but true.

Hope you'll join CCM for the Rosary Walk tonight at 6:30pm at Pat Lamar Park on Country Club Road.

Feel Good Movie of the Season Makes Boys Cry

I read about this movie last week and was expecting someone to recommend it to me because it's like a Jesus thing where a sweet innocent person shows up and helps people and ends up...well...check it out:

Spoiler Alert! The ads for The Odd Life of Timothy Green bill it as the "feel good movie of the season". As you will see by the reaction of my two sons, they beg to differ....

Reactionary Philosophy: If OMG! A, then NOO! B

Mitt Romney was photographed wearing Ole Miss gear this weekend.

So that can only mean this is not far behind:

Five habits of a successful Catholic student

"You can do it!" Your personal Papal motivation. 

In 1989, Stephen Covey published a book called Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. It was an overnight sensation because it's approach was so simple: if people would develop the seven habits that Covey proposed, their chances of being successful would increase.

There's a lot of truth to that.

Every college student reading this, new or returning, is in a similar position: you all can start anew and make of this semester what you want. You're gifted in college with a seemingly inexhaustible number of possible ways to make your mark. And the decisions that you make will make their mark on you, and will help shape the person you'll become. The time-tested advice is that you should take advantage of these opportunities, make the most of them, establish good habits now.

Look, you're gonna make mistakes. You're going to disappoint yourself and others. Unexpected pitfalls await. Unexpected blessings await you as well. But the one gift that you've brought to college with you that will help you in any of the situations you're likely to face - good or bad -  is your Catholic faith. Trust me.

The very same Catholic faith that nurtured the early Christians who faced state-sponsored persecution and martyrdom. The same Catholic faith that has inspired countless of musicians, artists, poets and writers; that has encouraged and emboldened those who made (and continue to make) scientific and medical discoveries. You share it as well. But you must care for it.

Here are the Five Habits of Highly Successful Catholic Students:

1. Daily Prayer. Establish the habit of daily prayer. Start out with an Our Father and a Hail Mary before bed each night. Grow from there. 
2. Examination of Conscience and Confession. Establish the habit of daily examining your conscience and, when needed, going to Confession.
3. Mass Attendance. Establish the habit of going to Mass every Sunday. That's right. You're a big boy or girl now. I said every Sunday. Why? Because that's the teaching of the Church. And because the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints. So don't ever fall into the trap of thinking you're not good enough to go to Mass. 
4. Campus Ministry Events. Establish the habit of being involved with CCM. The Catholic Campus Ministry at Ole Miss exists to fulfill your spiritual needs, to provide you with the tools that you need to continue to grow in your Catholic faith. Join the Rosary Walk on Thursdays (6:30pm at Pat Lamar Park). Go to Good Cheer (Wednesdays, 7pm at Boure' - starts Aug. 29th). Join an Exalt Small Group (details soon).
5. Personal Faith Development. Establish the habit of learning more about your faith: pick up a Catholic spiritual classic; add a couple of solid, Catholic sites to your online bookmarks; find a good Catholic study Bible (I'd strongly recommend the Ignatius Catholic Study New Testament).

If you're totally honest with yourself, you know that you've made every effort to be well-rounded in your college experience. You want to do well academically. You want to succeed socially. You want to be body healthy. Don't forget to be spirit healthy, too. It's something (like school, work, friends) that you have to work at. Going back to school is a great time to establish the habits that will build a strong Catholic faith that will last you a lifetime!

This Happened in Mississippi Last Night

Yesterday we welcomed our students and their families to the Fall Semester. A swag estimate would put the numbers at over 1000 people who attended Mass here yesterday. Which is pretty good for us down in Dixie.

We had a welcome back cookout last evening and it was pretty cool.

We had grad students. We had freshmen. We had moms and dads. We had old people. We had black people. We had white people. We had Peruvian musicians. We had Egyptian Muslims. We had like everything out there.

Southern Gentlemen: Letting the ladies eat before they do.

A group of girls from Peru and Egypt in various stages of willingness to have a picture taken.

Students with empty plates and CCM swag

The chow line dwindling down

A cute Catholic couple

The sun shined on us all

Do you want to see the inside of pants in Iran?

An open letter to the world community.

I get spam from religious book publishers.

I get spam from senators and public officials.

I get spam from technology firms.

I get spam from male enhancement ads.

But finally, I have made it to the ultimate spam gift.

I got the dysgo.org spam.

This spam has been going around for a while. It is cryptic and includes sometimes a letter to the world community or just a series of pictures that are religious and creepy all at the same time. Which means, totally appeals to a Catholic like me!

Here's a taste of it. I tell ya, no offense, but "reading" this email is FAR better than reading the Catholic Charities RALLY OF THE WEEK notice or something from an EXCITING NEW publication that will help your teens PARTY DOWN with their Faith!

Just look at this stuff I got!

Perhaps a racist portrayal of a Jew on a crocodile

An upside down painting of a monarch with a white square on the face

Sumerian (?) owl lady

Frogs (and there were 20 or more frog photos with this one)

 This I cannot delete. I cannot.
Oh, dysgo. MORE! MORE!

IT BEGINS NOW!

Welcome to Oxford, Rebels and newbie Rebels!

You'll be over-stimulated with information this week, so we'll make it easy on you.

Here are some things you'll want to put on your smartphone:

First, our Facebook page is available by entering ccm ole miss. You'll want to LIKE US. We like you, too.

Second, we Tweet a lot during the school year. Follow us #ccmolemiss.

Third, save this site. Southernfried is the nearly daily reportage of all things Catholic, Southern, Historical, Ancient, New, Ole Miss, and sometimes comic books.

And this weekend, we have burgers and hot dogs after the 5:00pm Mass. There is also rumor of Peruvian native dancing. Which, I think, is not some code for something else but just that.

WELCOME!

The Hypostatic Union...er...Confederacy

Clyde Broadwaty "Trinity"

This sort of says it all. Before you make any sort of rant about the subject matter, just remember, I gotta live here.

I want a peanut butter sandwich fried in bacon grease. It's Elvis Day.

Maximilian Kolbe and the Assumption

Today is the Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe. His story is here.

This morning as I was thinking of what to say in the homily, it dawned on me, after so many years, that his feast day is the perfect compliment to the Feast of the Assumption tomorrow.

The Dogma of the Assumption of Mary was declared infallible in 1950. In the document making the decree official (Munificentissimus Deus), Pope Pius XII writes:

Now, just like the present age, our pontificate is weighed down by ever so many cares, anxieties, and troubles, by reason of very severe calamities that have taken place and by reason of the fact that many have strayed away from truth and virtue. Nevertheless, we are greatly consoled to see that, while the Catholic faith is being professed publicly and vigorously, piety toward the Virgin Mother of God is flourishing and daily growing more fervent, and that almost everywhere on earth it is showing indications of a better and holier life. Thus, while the Blessed Virgin is fulfilling in the most affectionate manner her maternal duties on behalf of those redeemed by the blood of Christ, the minds and the hearts of her children are being vigorously aroused to a more assiduous consideration of her prerogatives.

History tells us that this decree was made following up the Second World War. In that war, humanity was exposed to the cruelty and inhumanity that allowed for the extinction of hundreds of thousands of human beings and the eventual release of the atom bomb. Maximilian Kolbe's death was just a small fraction of the animal savagery our human race displayed.

The pronouncement of the Assumption was made in 1950 in part to show that indeed God does think well of humanity. In Mary, we are capable of a "better and holier life".

Today, reading about St. Maximilian, I thought of how ugly we can be. How sick and thirsty for perversion we can be. How murderous we are. We all are at times.

Kolbe had a devotion to Mary. He created the Militia of the Immaculate in her honor. A few short years after his extermination, one of the oldest traditions concerning her was made a fundamental belief of Catholics.

Between St. Maximilian's day and the Assumption, we can be taught. We learn that crosses and crucifixions are very real. So is the divine spark that we all have. The beauty of Mary's fiat ("let it be done to me") allows Kolbe to say, "I'll die so another may live." It's not that the darkness of the concentration camps and the brutality of the war never happened. It's that it was made redemptive.

*************
I once had a friend whose father was a survivor of the Holocaust. The man was in his seventies when I met him. My friend was the product of his second wife. His first wife and children were killed in Auschwitz. He had a thick German accent and smoked cigarettes conservatively. Puffing a bit, extinguishing it and picking up the cigarette hours later. A habit he'd learned in the camp himself. His arm had the tattoo given him by his Nazi captors. Even with his deep tan, it was visible.

Kolbe in Auschwitz

He told me one night between puffs that he didn't care for the Church because the Pope didn't help. I tried to explain but he would hear nothing of it. He said that the pope locked himself away in the Vatican and let Europe burn.
Later, I would hear that this was a common sentiment.

I had nothing to offer my friend's father. What do you say or do to make things better for a man who had been forced to literally live another life?

There is still very much to learn about the Church and it's involvement in the Holocaust. Some vilify Pope Pius XII while others have shown his largesse and compassion to the victims of Hitler's purging. Professor Ron Rychlak, a member of our parish, has done as much to clear the air.

That said, Catholics can debate historically the strength or weakness of the Church. It's academic.

But when one ponders the example of Maximilian Kolbe, his sacrifice and faith, it's inspirational. I wish I had known more when Poppa was alive. I would not have been a happier face of Catholicism or anything like that. But

I probably would have known more about standing in his place instead of "talking him out of it".

So we do wish to live after all, but without having to suffer. We want to live happily, but not any sort of happy life. We would like our happiness to grow con­tinually rather than diminish; in fact, the knowledge itself that we might find an insurmountable obstacle in our path would diminish our happiness. We long for happiness, but it should have no limits. Quite so. And not only should it have no limits, but it should last for a very long time, as long as possible; endless­ly, if possible.
Indeed. Evidently, there is no such thing as unlimited hap­piness in this limited world; such happiness can only be found in the infinite, eternal God himself, in heaven. Besides, all of us who are here, long for this, and every person, regardless of nationality, lives on such longing. The longing comes from human nature itself, which is common to us all.
Could God himself, who has bestowed on us abili­ties and natural tendencies to reach our goal (eyes to see the objects that really exist, ears to hear the sounds that really exist), give his creatures a higher, intellectual longing, without offering them the chance to fulfill it? If this were the case, then that longing would be pointless.
A God who has created in nature this somehow unquenchable longing for happiness, explicitly intending it to be unlimited, but without offering the way to satisfy this burning thirst, would not be acting sensibly nor lovingly. In short, he would not be God. Therefore, there must be such happiness.
St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe

I think I just killed a meme...

I am out of the loop of what you kids these days are saying but twice in the last week I ran across the term "first world problems". The first was from some website where a guy was complaining about the lack of certain selections on Netflix streaming.
The other was from someone moaning about how the iphone 5 is coming out and he just bought an iphone 4.

First world problems.

The term puts things in a certain perspective. The cool thing about our Catholic faith is that we have so much entrenched into the first 3 centuries that most of what we have are OLD world problems. However, in some quarters of the church, the old world is done and so we are left with just first world problems.

I'm Old World in my faith. Devils. Sin. Hell. Retribution. Virgin Births. Valor. Blood oaths. All that stuff. Me. Me am like it much. So when someone approaches me about Baptism for their baby, I will say, "So, I don't know you. Do you attend Mass?" And if they say, "Haha..no I'm a bad Catholic" and then keep on about the Baptism, the conflict begins.

OLD WORLD: Baptism for the washing away of original sin and initiation in the Christian Faith. A dying to self and rising to new life.
OLD WORLD BAPTISMAL PROBLEM: "My child has died of the Black Death, m'lord. Is he in heaven? Is he in 'ell? Is he, maybe in limbo? Where, m'lord? WHERE??????"

NEW WORLD: Baptism to get the folks together and appease the last generation so they may deign to drop a couple bucks for that washer and dryer. Dress the kids up so you can get Christmas pictures in front of the stage at church with that pretty table in the back.
NEW WORLD BAPTISMAL PROBLEM: "The priesty man said we had to go to Mass but the caterer is coming at 8 and the pony rental begins at 9. I can't tell the pony guy to wait!"

See? I used a fading meme to push my grump of the day.

I am an old man.

Another argument in favor of traditional baptismal fonts

MIND CRACK!

Traditio is one of my guilty pleasures. Honestly, it's like a combination of outraged old man, Irish nun circa 1960 and a really, really bitchy college roommate who is totally not gay.

Bad photography is part of the fun at Traditio!

Here's a taste of the latest mind-crack being served concerning the Sikh temple shooter:

It will undoubtedly be lost in all the "politically correct" reporting concerning Wade Page, who mass-murdered seven Sikhs worshipping in a temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on August 4, 2012. The media will undoubtedly emphasize the gun connection. What the media won't emphasize is that Page was ensnared in two of the most common pagan and violence-prone "approved" activities of age: rock "music" and tattooing.

Dang, doesn't that just do it for you?

There's more.

It would be a much less violent world if everyone listened to an hour of Gregorian chant each day! There is a famous story of a Benedictine monastery in Europe, whose monks suddenly started showing symptoms of stress: insomnia, anxiety, and the like. Physicians could find no cause. Finally, one physician observed that after the institution of the New Order in 1969, the monks had dropped their chanting of the Divine Office in Latin Gregorian Chant. When the practice was restored, all the symptoms of stress disappeared!

That's the stuff. That's the sweet, sweet stuff of biased, non-researched, specious fear mongering cut with the dark deliciousness of anger.

YOU CRAZY KIDS WITH YOUR TATTOOS AND HARD ACID ROCK MUSIC! THE DEVIL IS GONNA GETCHA! CUZ IT HAPPENED TO SOME MONKS!!

Mmmm...sede vacantism.

If you want to go to December 21, 2012 levels of hysteria concerning the Church, tune in to Traditio. It'll pummel your reason and end with the grumpy old priest garble address to GOOD CATHOLICS.

And...maybe conceal a bit of the truth as well.

Pussy Riot, Mary and Madonna

From Wikipedia:

Pussy Riot wearing stuff they got off of etsy

On February 21, 2012, as a part of a protest movement against re-election of Vladimir Putin, three women from the group came to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, crossed themselves and began to perform a song. After less than one minute, they were escorted outside the building by guards. The film of the performance was later used to create a video clip for the song.
In the song, the group asked the "Theotokos" (Mother of God, i.e. the Virgin Mary) (rus. Богородица Bogoroditsa) to "drive Putin away". The song also describes the Russian Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow as someone who believes in Putin rather than in God. Kirill showed open support for Putin as a candidate before the presidential election on March 4.

I heard of this yesterday. Seems that this group is part of a Russian girl band called "Pussy Riot" (I don't judge) and now they are being held in detention awaiting trial under the charge of "hooliganism". The article continues with a condemnation from Patriarch Krill as well.

Speaking at a liturgy in Moscow’s Deposition of the Robe Church on March 21, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill I condemned Pussy Riot’s actions as "blasphemous", saying that the "Devil has laughed at all of us ... We have no future if we allow mocking in front of great shrines, and if some see such mocking as some sort of valour, as an expression of political protest, as an acceptable action or a harmless joke".

I feel for these girls. But I'm an American and have learned to accept all sorts of expression, no matter how grossly inappropriate, as a "right". The protest in the Church almost seems....sincere...compared to the ugly and brutal attacks we have on our religious icons.

Strike a pose

Turns out Pussy Riot has support from all quarters. In a strange twist, the Virgin Mary hasn't made her voice known but another Madonna has:

... American singer Madonna donned the band's trademark balaclava and stripped to a black bra to show their name on her back during a concert in Moscow on Tuesday night.

A fifty-year-old woman named for the Mother of God stripped to a bra! Now that's freedom of expression, AMERICAN STYLE!

I will pray for a peaceful solution to this debacle.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners...

UPDATE: Sentenced to 2 years++++++++++++++++++

I have been following this for the past week or so. Me not so smart. I know this. But it seems to me there are a couple of issues that are a bit confusing.
1. The Putin Administration is cracking down on freedoms that somehow were assumed when the Soviet Union dissolved. Here we go again?
2. Despite charges of blasphemy, it is also curious that the Russian government would be so concerned with anti-religious sentiment after the long history of anti-religionism.
I think the girls were right. Not the method, of course, but they seem to be more right as to the content of their protest than ever.
And I suspect they are right in their charge of the Church being more about Putin than God.
I noticed they gave credence to God, by the way.
Curious stuff.

It's not like an exorcism wouldn't be needed in Washington

Jindal: that's his devil slapping hand.

Ugh. Stupid stuff.
Bobby Jindal, Governor of La, wrote about an exorcism. His opponents are making a deal of it.

I haven't seen the article referred to but suffice it to say, it doesn't sound like Jindal BELIEVES in this sort of exorcism but was just reporting on one.

And a fake one too.

The Catholic Church doesn't let college kids perform exorcisms. And we perform them, for good or ill, less than people like to think.

But then again, the New Orleans Charismatic Renewal has been known to pull a few semi-exorcisms too. Or deliverances or whatever they call it so the Vatican won't be all "NO EXORCISIMS! KEEP THAT RACKET DOWN!" That said, I totally can see the young Jindal being pulled into that.

Still, a bit of holy water and a crucifix wouldn't be too bad in government.

Oh man, I just wrote that. That means I can't be veep. Dang.

I had a taco today

How evil can a phonetically spelled restaurant be?

I ate Mexican food today. Sometimes you just gotta have a taco. Yes, I was aware that today was Chick-fil-A Day. The report from Oxford is that our Chick-fil-A is rockin'. I just passed it and it's full. The parking lot was full and there was still a line at 1:40pm when I passed by.

Mike Huckabee started the idea and told people to support Chick-fil-A in the wake of the backlash against some of the things the CEO said pertaining to gay marriage. You know the story. If not, check it out.

Y'see, a couple months ago, the Catholic Church was told that they had to pay insurance on contraception and abortifacients for employees. The Diocese responded that this wasn't about "birth control" but about  the "freedom of religion". So the sacramental ministers and priests and LEMs and pastoral administrators were all told to have our parishes pray and be aware of the affront to the First Constitutional Freedom.

I was musing about Huckabee's statement that people support Chick-fil-A in support of the First Amendment. I thought, "Hmmm (when I think, I say "hmmm") wonder how it would go if our Diocese pulled this? What if we were Chick-fil-A?"

As hundreds of cars pulled into our restaurants, we'd probably say, "Hey, we actually have awful chicken. And you look kinda like a bigot eating here. Thanks for coming but really you should go to another restaurant where you don't look so bad."
So people would be confused and a bit sad. They would leave empty handed and resolve never to return.
Then we'd feel all good about ourselves that we supported those who don't support us while alienating those who support us.
Then we'd moan a week later because no one wants Chick-fil-A anymore.
Our managers would conclude that the reason is "bigotry".
 
Hey, it's not "the weeds and the wheat" but there's a parable in there somewhere!

The Crystal Springs Baptist Marriage Thing Leads To a Disjointed Rant by Fr. Joe

This has been happening in Mississippi. I'm sure you may be aware.

Some members of First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs influenced their pastor to forbid an African-American couple from getting married in the predominantly white church.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120801/NEWS/208010321/Crystal-Springs-pastor-caught-middle-Reaction-varies?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s

The Clarion-Ledger had an interesting poll done concerning people's attitudes toward a pastor's role in the church.

One person says: "The people who need to be punished are the few that bullied the pastor into canceling the ceremony and the pastor, himself, for giving in to them"....

Another response: Pastor Sammy Burns, of Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Columbus, said the Bible is the authority on how a church should operate, and the pastor should listen to the elders.

This kind of thing, this "pastor did only what the people told him to do" thing, won't happen, theoretically in the Catholic Church. One of the strengths of our Catholic faith is that we have no "democracy". That's right. That's a good thing. Our church is still hierarchical. The Second Vatican Council even affirmed it!

John XXIII in his Spirit Listening hat.

The Church, which the Spirit guides in way of all truth and which He unified in communion and in works of ministry, He both equips and directs with hierarchical and charismatic gifts and adorns with His fruits. (Lumen Gentium, IV)

Further, the Second Vatican Council also says this about priesthood:
The office of priests, since it is connected with the episcopal order, also, in its own degree, shares the authority by which Christ builds up, sanctifies and rules his Body. Wherefore the priesthood, while indeed it presupposes the sacraments of Christian initiation, is conferred by that special sacrament; through it priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are signed with a special character and are conformed to Christ the Priest in such a way that they can act in the person of Christ the Head. (Presbyterorum Ordinis, I)

All the underlined, bold stuff is my addition. For effect.

In the Diocese of Jackson, and elsewhere, there seems to be some confusion over the role of the pastor. In countless meetings, I've heard priests stand up and scream, "LET THE PEOPLE RUN THE CHURCH!" or heard bishops say, "THE PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE THE CHURCH!" And in that vein, we have small communities set up under the auspices of the Diocese who do not have Masses but "Eucharistic Services". They do not have a priest but call upon a "sacramental minister" when there is some need. There is also no real connection to the authority of the Church. No obedience. No assent to authority.

And no growth.

The Church is procreative. The Church is always generating life. If the Church was just THE FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE cum DIRECTION OF THE CHURCH, we'd be lost.

One of the things that is thrown around the Chancery table and Deanery meetings is the old saw: "THE SPIRIT IS SPEAKING! WE'RE NOT LISTENING!" There's a jump there. The Spirit is speaking, supposedly, through the people. There's a great little term, in that nasty Latin, that certain churchy people like to use: sensus fidelium (the sense of the faithful). Somehow the teaching that the Church works through the activity of the FAITHFUL now means, PEOPLE ARE FEELING SOMETHING! IT'S THE SPIRIT! LISTEN!"

Here's what THE PEOPLE hear the Spirit saying, "Marry priests!", "Ordain women!", "Stop celibacy!", "Use Artificial Birth Control!", "Play that funky music!", "OBAMA 2012!" and so on. Seriously. That's what the Third Person of the Trinity says. He says stuff that bumper stickers say.

One of our HIGH RANKING OFFICIALS threw out "THE SPIRIT HAS SPOKEN ABOUT ORDAINING WOMEN. WE'RE JUST NOT LISTENING!". So I said, "Since the Spirit has spoken and it is an unpardonable sin (Mk 3:29) to reject the Spirit, then, to save your soul go and...you know...start ordaining women." Then there was some mumbling about hands being tied and the pope being mean and something about the PEOPLE NOT ACCEPTING IT.

Again, we're not built that way but in the misappropriated SPIRIT OF VATICAN II, our priests and leaders look to THE PEOPLE to lead them.

So, PEOPLE, know that you are in a bad position. On one side, some clergy use you as an excuse for bad behavior, such as the Baptist minister in the article above. When a Catholic priest pulls a bone-headed stunt, he blames the people. Turns out the people are at once too mean, too stupid, too scared, too nice, too frightened, too hurting to allow the priest to do what he's supposed to do. So he doesn't use the new Roman Missal, because the people won't understand the language. He doesn't visit the hospital, because the people need to take over. He doesn't quit playing golf at the Country Club because he challenges the people on the course. And so on.

In other words, the SPIRIT and THE PEOPLE tend to sound a lot like what the pastor wants to do. And that's not always good.

Priests are supposed to be pastors. They are. They are to be obedient to their Bishop who is in union with the Pope. The Faithful (as opposed to THE PEOPLE) are obedient to the Church.

There must be a hierarchy. And when it works, we all work well.