The latest priestly tool?

James from St. Peter the Aleut Parish in Calgary introduced me to the latest marvel in evoking a repentant heart during Lent. The self-described 'Talk-to-me' hammer would be especially helpful in softening up tougher, grinchy hearts during a confession. One can almost chuckle at some of the potential conversations under the stoll! "Make a complete confession of that, boy, or else you will be talking to the 'Talk-to-me'..." Indeed such confessional dialogue is not for the faint of heart, but do consider that if a sinner doesn't make a good repentance now, the 'I-don't-know-you' hammer in the afterworld is way, way worse to consider! Let us consider the cost of not having one of these priestly confessional tools.

Fr. Lawrence, my priest, would make good use of this implement. Perhaps a gold and jewel encrusted whacker would be just the ticket for getting those lukewarm repenters to come around to serious metanoia?! Oh be merciful; let us just pray that our parish council finds the funds for one of these 'Talk-to-me' hammers.

Theotokos and Dylan

St. Ignatius wrote to the Church of Jerusalem: "...I intend to come to you in order to see the faithful gathered in Jerusalem, and especially the Mother of Jesus: they say of her that she is honorable, affable, and arouses wonder in all, and all wish to see her. But who would not wish to see the Virgin and to converse with her who bore the true God? ...With us she is glorified as the Mother of God and the Virgin full of grace and virtue. They say of her that she is joyful in troubles and persecutions, does not grieve in poverty and want, and not only does not get angry with those who offend her but does good to them still more... All who see her are delighted."

To reiterate, 'all who see her are delighted;' and why? Because 'she is glorified'. She is glorified 'as the Mother of God and the Virgin full of grace.' Since it is logical that we should glorify what God honours, Mary has been glorified as being holy -- that is, separated for God -- from the infancy of the Church. Also this sense of her holiness helps us to understand why Joseph left Mary as a virgin. What manner of man would touch that which God has separated for Himself? One who wishes to face His wrath. To the ancient Hebrew mind, the answer was self-evident, especially given certain precedents. Though most see in this a sense of Mary's purity, I see in this situation a manifestation of Joseph's manly personality. As manliness is mostly made manifest through self-control, we can see in Joseph a supremely manly example of a man abstaining out of a desire to honour 'what had been separated' or 'made holy by God's Presence'. One would be not far from the truth to see in Joseph a certain type of monastic. Without a doubt Joseph's role as a protector of Mary and Jesus is the one we generally think of. In my heart I believe that Our Lord was joyful to meet with His human father when He ascended, so 'well pleased' was He with him and his manliness.

In a complete change of topic, I will discuss my favourite Bob Dylan albums. I will limit my list to only five albums. Any serious Dylan fan will likely be able to accurately guess 3 of the 5 on my list; for in the period 1964-1966 Dylan produced three works which could be viewed as being among the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th Century. Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing It All Back Home and Blonde On Blonde are 'must listen to albums' if you are interested in Bob Dylan. There are single hits on these albums, but I think they play best as cohesive units and should be best enjoyed as albums. Bob married in late 1965 and had a child in 1966; this combined with a motorcycle crash caused Dylan to slow his creative production a bit. The John Wesley Harding album from 1967 is a fine album, but even with "All Around the Watchtower" on it, the album does not make my top five Dylan albums. But his Nashville Skyline album from 1969 does; with his duet on "North Country Girl" with Johnny Cash, onto "Country Pie" and "Lay Lady Lay" the album is a truly magnificent unit. The depth and power of Dylan's lyrics on Nashville Skyline lies in their simplicity, as most of the songs narrate ordinary life experiences. Boring, perhaps to some, but timeless to those who know life's joys and woes. After Bob Dylan's accident, his lyrics became more and more concerned with religious themes. This is the case with his work through the 70s and 80s. Of this body of work, two albums stand out. Oh Mercy from 1989 and Infidels from 1983 are both fine albums. But for my fifth album I will go with Oh Mercy. The chiming, apocalyptic-sounding guitar work on the dobro by Daniel Lanois is evident throughout the album, but nowhere as effectively as on the track "Man in the Long Black Coat". Dylan and Lanois create a windy, end-of-time atsmosphere with a melody that haunts a listener well after the track has played.

So my top 5 Bob Dylan Albums would be these, with due honour to Bob's first album "Bob Dylan" being noted:

1. Highway 61 Revisisted
2. Bringing It All Back Home
3. Blonde on Blonde
4. Nashville Skyline
5. Oh Mercy

compounding of charity and hatred

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. ---Mother Teresa---

When I first read C.S. Lewis' argument about the practice of charity, the notion of loving my neighbour became clearer for me. His basic view was that one need not worry whether one feels love for another person, rather it matters only that one acts as if he loved the other person. This acting, if consistent, will become habitual and gradually become the real deal. Said another way, by practising the virtue of charity, you will gradually become more charitable quite in spite of how you feel. This was a keen insight for me, as I used to think I had to feel charitable to be charitable; that feelings and reality were intermingled and almost identifiable. But the truth is that the worldly man treats others kindly because he feels 'like' for them; whereas the Christian, trying to treat all men kindly out of practising charity, finds himself liking more and more people -- including people he could never have imagined liking. This is the spiritual dynamic of charity; that more you act out of charity, the more you will derive; as you love a person, the more your love will grow.

Sadly this same spiritual dynamic works similarly in the opposite direction. Evil acts rot more and more the evil doer. Take the practice of hatred, the opposite of charity. As the hater of Jews acts on his hatred by acting cruelly, as did the Nazis, the Jews end up being hated even more by the haters because they had acted cruelly. Thus the more cruel one is, the more one will hate; and the more one hates, the more cruel one will become. A horrific cycle.

Hence both virtue and vice will accrue at compound interest. Accordingly it is true that all the little things we do be done out of charity; as St. Teresa of Calcutta advises in the quotation, it is the why we do what we do that matters.

Like minds

I saw this flick yesterday, and thought it was clever; the plot was well thought out. The representation of the history of the Cathars and the statement attributed to the Bishop of Rome are a little inaccurate; the Pope did not say it, it was another Bishop who did; and the Cathars are not portrayed as the matter-hating Gnostic heretics that they were. But these two things are minor quibbles, not affecting the plot. Toni Collette delivered a strong performance as did others in the cast.

I am usually quite successful in figuring out how the characters will develop in a mystery and what will happen with the denouement, but this plot fooled me a little. Not a great flick but worth seeing if you enjoy untwisting murder mysteries.

In other news, I am getting mentally prepared to return to work. My friend Danike and I are going to go on a hike (and flyfish at high altitude) this coming Monday; after that trip my summer will be over.

Soon the daily grind will be my reality. However, this year I will cycle part way to work roughly three days per week; not only will this keep me slim and übersecki, but also I hope it will be a fine way to commune with God and pray. "O God keep the cars off me."

pasivirta.baby: wherefore art thou?

Has the Pasivirta.baby paled? Has he withered away back to the dust from which he was made? Is he blowing in the wind? How many roads must the pasivirta.baby cycle down before you call him a manly man? How many trout on the fly must he catch before he is counted among the manly? Is the answer blowing in the digital breeze of his blog? Is he trapped inside a series of Bob Dylan allusions? O say it isn't so!

I was searching for the singing Finnish youth leader online to answer these very questions, but to no avail. It appears he has dropped from the blog world. Was he chased away for fear of giving another offense? Was he bored or tired of it?

This is something I know all too well. Nevertheless my questions remain.

Perhaps the pasivirta.baby is riding the rides at playland, doing some youth group research? Then, again, he may be riding the waves off the coast of Seaside, Oregon?

O pasivirta.baby wherefore art thou?

note regarding humour

This point needs to be added to my last post; I can't believe I forgot to state it originally. For humour is essential to my spiritual walk.

As God laughs at the foolishness of men (Ps. 2:4); so, too, I think it is healthy for us to laugh at ourselves. Consider that Satan fell in part because of his “gravity” (i.e. he took himself too seriously). We need to be able to recognize our shortcomings, bad habits and our sins by calling them by name. We need to laugh at them in order to be able to move past them. A good sense of self-depreciating humour can help to develop humility. As Our Lord stated, "be of good cheer," through all things. Note the allusion to St. John Chrysostom.

life basics for my children

Over the course of my first forty years the Lord has taught me these following things:>

1. Love is what makes life worth struggling through.

2. Unless you are a mystic, God's love will be shown to you mostly through nature, the Church, in friendships and family.

3. He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has departed from wisdom.

4. When faced with a big decision in life, and all the options are morally equivalent or traditionally inoffensive, choose the most challenging for yourself.

5. Fighting against your demons will last until you leave; and you must consistently "rage against the darkness until it bleeds light."

6. Be loyal to the Truth above all; then to your friends and family.

7. If one can't be sure of an answer to an important question, then tradition is the best basis for the practical life.

8. Always hold your arms outstretched in love toward the further shore.

9. Rather be killed than break your word.

10. Honour those around you; even treat your enemy as if someday he will be your friend.