My Soap Box

includes, metaphorically, the meaning, purpose, effectiveness of RCIA and how this squares with the Church's own nature and her intent for this process. So the beginning of an interesting series of blogs on RCIA caught my eye. But one quote in particular hit a nerve for me:

Whither RICA? Part One:

(Since the majority of those who enter the Church through RCIA leave the practice of the faith within a year...

Read the whole thing.

(Via Intentional Disciples.)

Internet Courses

have their place in our modern world. It's good to hear that one is being offered for Catholics wanting to share the Gospel Message:

Evangelization Training for Catholics: Learn to Share the Authentic Gospel Message!:

The Authentic Gospel Message In the Fullness of the Catholic Tradition Developed and Taught by Aimee M. Cooper, M.A. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel.. .. For I did not receive it from man...

Read the whole thing.

(Via New Advent World Watch.)

True Love

Brings Life, produces children. This is true in intellectual life as well as biological. If you love the Truth you will attract the young. The young faces reacting with joy at the announcement of Cardinal Ratzinger's election as Pope was in stark contrast to the grey-haired critics shaking their heads.

The most telling fact about the "Spirit of Vatican II" believers is their dearth of followers. Their love has played them false and left them without children. The exceedingly slow response of the Vatican to dissentient religious orders is one sign that the "Spirit of Vatican II" believers will have to ask and answer some hard questions about their future.

Paranoia. Identity Politics. Rebellion. Us vs. Them.:

Put bluntly, the LCWR is has been aiding and abetting—nay, actively promoting—the steady extinction of women religious in the U.S. for forty years, usually in the name of empty clichés and politically-correct fads. The nuns of the spirit of Vatican II insist the future is theirs, but they don't even have a future, as the average age of the enlightened, progressive sisters is over 70 and young women aren't exactly pounding on the doors to be let in. "Within our own lifetime," cracked Max Lindenman, "white, liberal nuns may become as much a curiosity as white, liberal heavyweight boxers.">

Read the whole thing.

(Via Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog.)

Boys and War

What is it about the male of the species that makes us try to measure ourselves against those engaged in active combat? The war games, movies and toys continue to do a brisk business despite the feminization of the culture over the last, say, forty years. In any case, the author mentioned below is quite compelling, at least to the testosterone producing side of the equation:

Yon: The Kopp-Etchells Effect:

Another photo-filled essay from Afghanistan by Michael Yon, memorializing lost comrades as the fighting heats up: The Kopp-Etchells Effect.

(Via Little Green Footballs.)

Feast of the Assumption

Saint Tarcisius gets buried in this major feast, but here is a link that covers both.

Skepticism

is not a value in and of itself. I'm skeptical about the global warming alarmism, but not dogmatically so. Precisely because experts disagree about the various details, I reserve judgement. Just so a proper balance is achieved, here is a website that tries to answer many, perhaps most, of the global warming skeptic's questions:

Answers for Climate Skeptics:

[snip] one of the valuable resources I discovered is at ScienceBlogs: How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Little Green Footballs.)

Condoms and Happiness

don't go together, surprise, surprise:

“Safe Sex” with Condoms Bad for Mental Health, Psych Researcher Finds:

(LifeSiteNews.com) – Research from Scotland finding that heterosexual sex without using condoms is more likely to make people happy than “safe sex” with condoms, has stirred controversy among “sexual health” campaigners. The lead researcher wrote of the survey respondents, “The more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health.”

Read the whole thing.

(Via SoCon Or Bust.)

A Beautiful Day

can inspire the most interesting ideas. I'm tiring of trying to fix a hole in my opening repertoire so I turn to listen to Father Roderick on his latest Secrets of Harry Potter podcast. Father or one of the other panellists mentions that they thought of the Funeral Antiphon "In Paradisum" when reading about the song of the phoenix over Dumbledore's dead body.

This antiphon was sung as the body was removed from the church at the end of the service. Having previously thought about my own funeral, I wanted to know what it sounded like. And here it is.

What are the chances of getting a choir to perform this for my rite of passage?

Manipulating People

is a skill Saul Alinsky perfected with his "community organizers". President Obama has perfected these skills and so have his students. It comes as a revelation to me that Father Mitch Pacwa was a student of Alinsky's while the President was still getting his early education in Indonesia:

Fr. Mitch Pacwa on the "Sol Alinsky style of community organizing":

This most recent newsletter from Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., received this morning, has some interesting historical information, some frank talk, and some strong opinions:

 I recently became upset when Newsweek's "Without A Doubt" feature published an article by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend entitled, "Why Barack Obama represents American Catholics better than the pope does." She commend President Obama's "pragmatic approach to divisive policy" and his "social justice agenda." Meanwhile, she claims that the positions of the pope, the bishops and the pro-life activists do not. In fact, Townsend asserts that the Chicago community organizer president could teach the pope a lot about a Catholic approach to politics and the ability to listen to other people's points of view with empathy. [snip]

 I recognize the community organizer approach that Townsend commends in this piece. I learned Sol Alinsky style of community organizing as a novice in Chicago when President Obama was a little boy living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog.)