I keep having these conversations with ByzCat where we preach to each other - the choir, as it were. Most recently I was ranting about non-Catholics and their attitude toward the Eucharist. I guess I should go backwards a bit and explain MY PERSONAL REASONS for believing that I'm in the right place, faith-wise.

Scripture has it that Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. Receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Thereby establishing Peter as the visible head of the Church on earth, and the method by which our sins are forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession all in one fell swoop. He didn't give this authority to all of the Twelve, but they received it from Christ through Peter. Thus we have the hierarchy of the Church on earth, from deacons to priests to bishops and archbishops all the way to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ. Since the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, then in order to follow Jesus as a member of His Church I must be a Catholic.
I can't be Orthodox because I acknowledge the primacy of the Pope. I can't be any denomination of Protestant because I believe Jesus taught all the things that Protestants deny or gloss over - the obligation to render regular worship to God; necessity of individual auricular confession; efficacy of anointing of the sick and/or dying; the value of works as a complement to faith; the reality of the Communion of Saints; necessity of penance/repentance; etc. etc. ad infinitum et nauseam.

OK. Based on Jesus' words as recorded in Scripture, what we as Catholics receive in the Eucharist is truly Jesus - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - whether unleavened as in the Latin Rite or leavened as in the Eastern Rites. Since Jesus instituted the sacred priesthood, and also established Peter as the first Pope, then it naturally (to me) follows that ONLY A VALIDLY ORDAINED CATHOLIC PRIEST (or a validly ordained Orthodox priest) CAN EFFECT TRANSUBSTANTIATION, or the change from bread and wine to the Most Precious Body and Life-Giving Blood of Jesus.

I can't. A Baptist preacher can't. A Presbyterian minister can't. And, so sorry, neither can an Episcopalian minister. No amount of wishing or deciding is going to cause any bread or any wine (or grape juice) to be mysteriously and miraculously changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, by anyone other than a validly ordained priest of the Catholic Church.

I mentioned this before, but I will repeat it now: if anyone reads this and sees ANY ERROR, please comment. Hold me accountable. Please.

I see that I shall have to continue this later.....

http://catholicknitwit.blogspot.com/2007/01/its-not-just-kids-book-anymore.html

Go there. Read entire post. Think. Pray.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Exalted Highness Duchess Sieglinde the Erudite of Yetts O'Muckhart Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I got this through The Ironic Catholic (here), who got it from.....(I'm not very good at this yet, so bear with me).

This is actually quite interesting for more than one reason. Back a few years ago, I had a business partner and we did tailoring out of a commercial storefront over on the other side of town (now I hold the overhead to a more reasonable and less crushing level by working from home). Because we (and now I) were the people who would take on sewing projects that no one else in town would touch with a ten-foot measuring tape, we occasionally needed the assistance of ridiculous titles for each other so as not to get discouraged....I was the Duchess, and she was the Dowager Duchess, being older than I. We also had a dime-store little girl's tiara that we put on at moments when we were about to have to admit defeat.

At various points in my career as a tailor, I have done the following:

Altered a dog sweater (twice, actually)

Put sleeves in a sleeveless dress (more than once)

Made a doctor's lab coat for a teddy bear

Made a baby sling for a doll (betcha thought I forgot about that, huh ByzCat!)

Said 'yes, I can do that' as a matter of policy when it would have been much simpler to just say 'no, not possible, so sorry'

Threatened to stick a (usually male) customer with a pin due to wiggling during a fitting

Fired a customer for being too difficult (only once)

I have got to figure out how to remember all the erudite insights that come to me when I am nowhere near my computer, so I can blog about them.

I'm still praying for two priests a day - today it's Father Prechtl, who has now been at his new parish - St. Luke the Evangelist in Morgantown, for 24 hours; and Father Colombo Bandiera (retired), formerly of St. Francis de Sales in Morgantown. St. John Vianney, pray for us!

Last Friday, January 5, I took the checs over to St. Mary's NO Church in Star City to our regular Blue Knights & Little Flowers Catholic homeschoolers meeting. At one point ByzCat had to take one of her littlies to the bathroom, and afterwards popped into the nave to listen to one of the other (older) kids practicing on the organ.....when she and her child returned to the room where we were having our class, she said "You'll NEVER guess what I just saw when I peeked into the church to watch (name of other child) practice -

THERE WAS A WOMAN IN THE TABERNACLE AREA TALKING ON A CELL PHONE!!!!"

A note of explanation here - the tabernacle is not on or behind the altar, but in a little niche on the Gospel side of the nave, just outside the sanctuary. There is a kneeler there, and a chair, and a pencil with paper and a 'prayer jar' (don't ask - it's been there as long as I can remember) for personal intentions/thanksgivings.

Evidently this woman was in the niche, rubbing shoulders with Jesus in the tabernacle, so to speak, chatting away on her cell phone!

EEEWWWW.

I got a letter from our LR bishop, and since I'll never have the opportunity to personally discuss with him the series of events that led to my request to switch rites, I'll do it here, for the boredom/edification of anyone who may be wondering 'why in the world would anyone want to do that'?

Paragraphs of his letter to me in italics; my response/explanation in regular type:

As I am certain you know, it is the Church's desire that individuals remain in and preserve the connection with the Ritual Church to which they belong by baptism.

Well, actually, I'm a Moravian by baptism, if you're going to pick nits. And as I was confirmed in the Presbyterian church as a teen, I was a Protestant up till the time, at Easter Vigil 1991, I was received into the Church under the Roman Rite. I have spent considerable time meditating on whether I would have chosen the Roman Rite, had I known about the Byzantine Rites at that time. I think I would have been VERY drawn to the Eastern Churches. It is interesting to note that the current pastor of the parish where I became Catholic (Holy Family in Lawton, OK) is also the administrator of the Byzantine community in Oklahoma City - he's a bi-ritual priest. I really think (with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, of course), that I was done a real disservice in RCIA in that NO MENTION was made of there even being other Rites besides the LR. We did touch briefly on the fact that the Orthodox have the same sacraments but that Catholics can't go to Orthodox liturgies unless there is no Catholic Mass available, but that's as far as it went.

While the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is certainly theologically profound and deeply beautiful, the distinction between the Ritual Churches is not merely liturgical. Indeed, a distinct spirituality and, in many cases, an ethnic or national character identifies the Ritual Churches.

You're not kidding! I'd have to say that, at the present time and in this diocese, the differences in spirituality devolve from differences in liturgy. The universal reverence that EVERYONE at my Byzantine parish displays during the Divine Liturgy naturally flows from the intense and deep spiritual meaning and 'non-ordinary' terminology and language used during worship. As I have witnessed personally in several local parishes, the more 'everyday' the language used in the Mass, the more it appears that the worshippers are casual about posture and attitude - and the more amazed they are when someone displays true reverence/piety - see my previous post about my youngest chec receiving the Body of Christ at a NO parish on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Comception.

In your own case, with three children under the age of 14, the request is even more momentous since the children will be transferred with you, though they will have the right to return freely to the Latin Rite when each celebrates his or her fourteenth birthday (can. 112 sec. 3). This is a great deal to explain to your children. There is also the question of how transfer will affect your member ship in a Latin Rite Confraternity.

HELLO!!!! The checs started referring to themselves as Byzantine Catholics within a week of my registering at the parish. Before I even applied to switch. They no longer whine about going to church or Sunday School. They know the Truth when they experience it. And as for it affecting my membership in a Latin Rite Confraternity, our foundress is thrilled that I'm at a parish where the words 'penance' and 'conversion' are part of regular catechesis. She knows that at my previous parish I was viewed as a total wierdo for being in the CFP. And she hopes that my witness at my new parish will help spread the word to Byzantines that the CFP exists. The CFP even has several spiritual advisors who are Byzantine priests and religious.

In the meantime, I ask you to recall that you are free to continue celebrating the sacraments in the Byzantine Catholic Church, no matter what decision you eventually make. And I thank you for your devotion to the liturgical life of our Catholic Church.

Um, well, I've already decided. That's why I wrote Metropolitan Basil and you, Bishop Bransfield. And it is precisely that devotion to the liturgical life of the Church that drove me to that decision.

The Byzantine Dominican (here) only has 3 posts on the front page, but all of them are worth a read.

It occurred to me the other night, if the Ironic Catholic's kiddos are chic(s), and I'm an EC, would that make my kiddos chec(s)? And when they don't understand something I have just told them in plain English, they would then be blank checs?

If all three of them are invited to different social occasions on the same day, is the youngest therefore a third-party chec?

Jumping on a trampoline: bounced checs

Sleeping in a seemingly anatomically impossible configuration: rubber checs

ByzCat's kiddos on a sleepover or playdate: guest checs

Displaying a typical (for them) aversion to umbrellas: rain chec

Anybody got any others?

I got up at 1:30 this morning, intending to awaken oldest sleeping chec to come outside and view the Quadrantid meteor shower (when moon & clouds don't interfere, supposedly one can see 100+ meteors per hour). When we went to bed at 9 p.m. the sky was nearly perfectly clear - I went out to check the view before getting him out of bed and ARRGH! the only thing visible besides the clouds was the FULL MOON, directly overhead, and so bright it was casting shadows. Needless to say we'll have to try again in April (the name of that one escapes me for the moment).

http://ironiccatholic.blogspot.com/2006/12/top-ten-ironic-catholic-discoveries-of.html

I have to go back and see nos. 3 through 11, since I laughed so hard at #2 I had to come post this.

Today is the feast of St. Zoticus of Constantinople. Seems he was a wealthy Roman who surrendered his title to become a priest, moving to Constantinople along with Constantine when the latter moved from Rome. He is called 'feeder of orphans' in iconography because he built a hospital for them and the poor. Contantine's son Constantius had him dragged behind an ass until he died in around 350 A.D.

Hope everyone is having a happy and blessed post-festive season of the Nativity....I for one can't wait until the Great Fast, then maybe I can undo some of the overdoing I did over the past week!

I videotaped the Midnight Mass for Christmas from St. Joseph's Cathedral in Wheeling, and just a few minutes ago finished watching it. I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised. Here in the liturgical backwater that is Morgantown, there is not a single NO parish where Mass is celebrated licitly. They're all valid, but every single parish adds or takes away something. I had come to the conclusion that this was the result of some sort of weird 'trickle-down' effect, that our Bishop was wishy-washy on the rubrics, or some sort of flaming liberal/progressive, but I now believe that there is hope for our diocese, even if I don't see any change in these parts in my lifetime.

There was incense, there were traditional carols, there were properly vested altar BOYS, there were concelebrating priests! There was also too much hugging at the sign of peace :-(

There were no extraordinary ministers. There was no Latin. There was no chant (except for the vernacular chanted Our Father). BUT there was no inclusive language, and Bishop Bransfield used the Roman Canon - the long version - and it was all there, word for word.

The most extraordinary thing I noticed was that Bishop Bransfield, the concelebrating priests, the MC and most of the others in the sanctuary actually DID genuflect at the proper place in the Credo.....and at that point the camera angle was a wide shot from the upper back of the nave, and I didn't see any of the congregation kneel; some bowed, but most remained standing :-(

Now, with that as an introduction, I noticed something else odd. While I understood (even better now) all the parts of the Mass, and would have had a beautiful worship experience had I been personally present at this Mass, I didn't feel as if I had missed anything by joining my new parish family - the Byzantine Catholics - for Great Compline and Liturgy on Christmas Eve. I didn't feel very 'connected' to any of it at all.

I thought about this for a while, and wonder if, for the past nearly 16 years, I've been in some kind of RC 'foster faith' or 'faith incubator,' and just recently due to my becoming VERY SERIOUS about living an authentically Christian life, I've been discharged, as it were, to where I really belong. My Protestant background, as I've mentioned before, is a pre-Martin Luther schism from the VERY SAME COUNTRIES evangelized by the Holy Saints Cyril and Methodius. I grew up celebrating Advent; fasting during Lent was never strange to me. Some of my earliest memories of Easter include Holy Week services every night at the Moravian church where I was baptized, including a (I now realize) Protestantized Stations of the Cross, a Memorial of Our Lord's Passion, and the Tenebrae (service of darkness). Hymns sung by the Moravians aren't sung in any other denomination; this year I learned carols of the Slav tradition that brought tears to my eyes with their theological density (meatiness, I like to say).

One of the traditions that I grew up with as a child was that, on Christmas morning, we would all gather at the Nativity scene and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before we ate our breakfast or opened any presents....in all my years as an adult I have kept that tradition with my own kids, but whenever I mentioned it, most often the reaction was "oh, neat, maybe we will start doing that too." Last night after Divine Liturgy we all gathered in the social hall, where there was a BIRTHDAY CAKE for Jesus and we all sang Happy Birthday before sharing it around. My Byzantine parish thinks it perfectly normal to do this, in fact they wonder why don't more people do it.....

I didn't have to endure watching the same kids of the wealthiest family in the parish bring in the Baby Jesus to the Nativity....instead, I bowed low along with my fellow worshippers and priest, in adoration and love after Father placed the Infant in the creche and incensed Him and sprinkled Him with holy water. After he placed the Babe in His place, Father knelt before Him on the floor and gave Him a kiss.

I have, truly, wrapped the Byzantine tradition around my heart like a comfortable sweater that once belonged to a favorite relative....it's not a perfect fit, but it's warm and I can feel the love in it from generations before me who have tried to do just as I am doing - "love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." I'm not Slav by any stretch of the imagination, but that strong-woman tradition is just as active in us Irish as it is in Eastern Europe. I've had to mostly find family in friends, but I'm doing that, having no plethora of blood relatives to walk with me this way (actually most of my blood relatives would probably be horrified to find I'm on my way to becoming a Byzantine Catholic - they already think I'm not Christian and not saved because I'm Catholic).

As I celebrate the days of the Feast of the Nativity, I am praying that as Christ is born in me, I can bring Christ to birth in my little corner of the world in some way every day. We are the ones who will rebuild His house, for as everyone can see, it is falling into ruin.

Morning Star, O cheering sight,
Ere Thou cam'st how dark earth's night!
Jesus mine, in me shine,
In me shine, Jesus mine.
Fill my heart with Light divine.
(Johann Scheffer, 1657; tr. Benent Harvey Jr., 1885; melody HAGEN 7.7.3.3.7)

Merry Christmas, all!

A Christmas Poem, with apologies to Clement C. Moore:

It was sometime near Christmas, and in the 'community'
They had butchered the Mass and its prayers with impunity.
No longer a 'parish,' for that term, you see,
Was deemed too old-fashioned - just like "Him" and "He"!

Since Vatican II and the diocesan studies,
They'd decided that devotions were for fuddy-duddies.
No more Adoration or traditional Stations,
Instead there were posted photos of war-torn, starving nations.

No Vespers, no Compline, no Lauds, Sext or None,
If you want those devotions you'll pray them alone!

The pastor had locked all the doors, and no lights
Were to be left burning to illumine the night.

Father strolled past the classrooms and through the church hall
And turned on his voice mail so that all the calls
Asking 'what are the Mass times?' and 'when is confession?'
Wouldn't disturb his pre-Christmas Zen Yoga session.

He opened the door to the rectory, sighing....
And slammed it, astonished - for out the door, flying
Came angels majestic, with glowering faces
And following closely behind, a few paces,
Was a tall, mitred figure in red robes trimmed in gold,
A most dignified shepherd from days ancient and old.

He sternly regarded the trembling priest
And thundered, 'How dare you! How could you! The least
Little child knows better than you:
We don't worship each other, we Honor the True!
You have mangled the Mass, you have diluted the Faith
And discouraged holiness - is nothing left safe?
You don't preach on doctrine or sins great and small,
Instead you host parties with wine and cheese balls!
You're really no better than a modernist Luther,
And Arius, Manicheus, - you're a "there-is-no-Truth"-er!
You really deserve a sound punch in the nose
Like I gave to old Arius so long, long ago.
Get into the church, and get down on your knees
And pray for forgiveness with sorrowful pleas!'

The priest stumbled backwards through the doors to the nave
And fell on his face, crying tears full of shame.
'Forgive me!' he cried, 'I have forgotten my call!
I have failed in my duty; I have caused souls to fall
Into indifference, modernism, error and sin!
Give me mercy, O God! I won't fail You again!'

Escorted by angels, the saintly Bishop drew near,
And softly he whispered into Father's listening ear:
'Our Lord in His mercy has heard you tonight.
You're forgiven, my son - see the angels' delight!'

And surrounding the altar in that dark, holy place
Were hosts of the seraphim with joy on each face.

His mission accomplished, the saint turned to go
With this final advice: 'you must preach the Truth, so
Your flock will be holy and reverent again.
Merry Christmas,' said Saint Nicholas. 'With your help, Truth will win.'

Today was our first day of homeschooling! We only did a little bit, just to give the kiddos a taste of how wonderfully different it is from SITTING IN A CROWDED CLASSROOM FOR SIX HOURS A DAY.

Daughter actually asked for more schoolwork after supper, and chose to do a science lesson.

Earlier, while supper was cooking, I overheard this exchange:

(three children lying on sofa covered with blanket, watching Nativity DVD):

girl child, looking at shot of Baby Jesus in the manger: "Does God really have a nose?"

older boy child, raising one eyebrow like Mr. Spock: "look there. Of course He does. You can't be a real baby without a nose!"

younger boy child, having the last word: "I wonder if Mary kissed Baby Jesus' nose the way mom kisses our noses."

BTW the DVD in question is part of the New Testament on DVD that I got at the DOLLAR STORE, of all places. It's actually quite good.

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which'>http://www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar">Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Here is my menu for Christmas dinner:

Ham with glaze and chutney
Steamed asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Mashed sweet potatoes
Creamed onions
Homemade bread
Cheese ball and crackers - Ritz, Captain's Wafers, water crackers and Triscuit
Fresh fruit - apples, kumquats, persimmons and bananas
Homemade applesauce
Mincemeat stuff
Chess pie
Pecan pie
Nut roll
Apricot roll
Cream cheese bread
Biscotti
Eggnog
Apple cider
Assorted tea
Coffee
Moravian Sugar Cake

A couple of years ago I decided that it was OK to 'cheat' on Thnksgiving dinner by buying most of the meal in an easy-to-prepare form - frozen pies and all that. But I make everything but the pie crust from scratch for Christmas. Leave a comment if you would care to have a recipe for anything listed on the menu, and I'll post it here. I'd do that anyway, but then I'd have to change the title of the blog to "Eat, Catholic Soldiers!"

What a wonderful thing Christmas is....imagine: God became flesh and blood, in the form of a tiny, helpless infant, for love of us. The Rule of the Universe, on whom we can depend to supply all our needs, became completely dependent on human parents to supply all His human needs. How can we express our gratitude, the depth of emotion that must flow through each of us when contemplating this most wondrous of miracles? How to get across to others the peace and joy that love of God brings to those who truly try to follow in His footsteps?

All of us have followed Him....we all were once helpless babies. We, like Jesus, depended on our parents for comfort, food, warmth, and love. Jesus was obedient to His earthly father and His Blessed Mother - we too can be models of that same obedience. From the respect we show to our own parents, to courtesy to those in positions of authority or otherwise superior to our own state, to obedience to God, these also are a following of Jesus. Joseph and Mary were guided by the Holy Spirit to train the young Jesus to be a good and Godly young man, a faithful and devout Jew. We must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as well - in temporal things as well as in spiritual disciplines.

Christmas Day - the Solemn Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - is fast approaching. Has He been born anew in you this Advent? Are you preparing for His coming - both your home and your heart? Are you following the Star, to come before Him in silent, prayerful adoration? What gift will you lay at the manger for Him, this Christmas?

Time to explain the title of the blog. First of all it's a pun on "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" think about the words for just a minute:

Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war
With the Cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ the royal Master
Leads against the foe:
Forward into battle,
See, His banners go.

Like a mighty army
Moves the Church of God,
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod.
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.

Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never
'Gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ's own promist,
And that cannot fail.

Well! It would be pretty difficult to retain the meaning while using inclusive language, yes? And there's no denying we are engaged in a spiritual battle of grand proportions. So, it's a battle cry.

I'm a big fan of the 'armor of God.' There's no way to get through this life with any hope of the next, without the help of the Holy Spirit!

It's also a nod to my Protestant roots, although the more I ruminate on the words of the hymn, I wonder how any Protestant could have been so vain to have written them. I mean, it's got 'Catholic' written in every line!

It's also a sad commentary that the NO has pretty much, at least in my neck of the woods, abandoned the idea of celebrating the Mass facing the East - whether litugical or otherwise. Believe it or not, the sanctuary at my parish ACTUALLY faces East! Whoo-hoo! Light dawns in the east - Christ is the Light of the world.

Soldiers - aren't we the Church Militant? We ought to be on our knees (figuratively if not literally) every day asking for our marching orders. And it's not easy being a soldier of any sort (I know, I was one). Sometimes you're told to do something that you KNOW is right, but takes you WAY OUT of you comfort zone. Oh well, do it anyway. Like me homeschooling my kids. Like I really have time to school them, what with being a single parent, running my own business, and so on. But believe me, I knew it was time, so I just have to trust my God that He will provide - time, energy, whatever I lack He will supply!

So there you have it. Now you know, if you were an inquiring mind. Maybe I've made some of you think - or stop thinking, as the case may be.

Remember, Jesus is the Good Shepherd - he won't leave you out in the cold all alone! He will take care of you!

Homeschooler?

Now you can know for sure, thanks to Mama Says....

I will be, officially, in two more school days!

YAY!!!

Let the children say - AMEN!

http://shop.moravianbookshop.com/browse.cfm/2,30.html

The Moravian Star

When I was growing up, in Indianapolis, Indiana, we had one of the parchment stars in the front window of our home every Advent and Christmas. When I grew up I had the star for a few years, then it got pretty ratty, being paper and having been assembled and disassembled umpty-billion times, so I discarded it and got another one, this one plastic that once put together didn't come apart. It lasted 2 years and then a mean person ran over it with his car.

this year I found these, which I didn't think were available any more....ha ha! So as soon as I get the roll of film developed that's in my camera (no I don't have a digital camera except the one that's in my phone) I will post a photo so you can see how pretty it is.

I am firmly entenched in my belief that in Catholicism under the Pope I have found the True Faith, but this is one tradition from my Protestant childhood that I am proud to share with my children. To me the Star of Bethlehem is like the desire for closeness with God that glows and burns in our hearts from the day of our Baptism....we follow or not, as we are creatures with free will, but still the star is there, gently shining and beckoning, its promise ever faithful, a tender foreshadowing of the Voice we all hear in our deepest heart if we will only become still enough to hear: "Come and See."

What do people see when they see you and me? Wouldn't it be nice to know? What do we want people to see? Love, Joy (I almost got unloosed and listed the fruit of the Holy Spirit there, which I guess would have been perfectly apropos)?

BTW the Moravians were founded on a bunch of heresies, the first of which being that the Pope is not the head of the Church on earth. They separated from Rome in 1457 (years before Luther's vandalism of the Wittenberg door), and are theologically cousins to the Methodists.

http://tcrnews2.com/priestsreparation.html

Have you prayed for at least two priests today? ByzCat sent me the above link - meditations on each of the fifteen traditional mysteries of the Rosary in reparation for priests.

Something else that aggravates me: yesterday in the mail I got my gas bill. The cost per mcf of gas on the bill is $16.0080. Here is a quote from the December 2006 Dominion "Customer Connection" insert that came with my gas bill:

...Prices are down from a year ago, and natural gas is again the least expensive way to keep warm,....

I looked at the gas bill from a year ago, and the price per mcf on THAT bill was $14.6737.

I did the math. Prices are UP. By $1.3343 per mcf.

LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!!!!!

http://remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-2006-pope_and_the_blue_mosque.htm

Fr. De Cacqueray is pretty upset. Papa Ben is 'the Pope who took off his shoes in a mosque'.

Hey Fr. de Cacqueray, I lived right outside Istanbul for a year...I saw many of the historic sites of the entire country of Turkey, both religious (Christian and Islam) and secular. I visited both Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. When I entered the outer porch of the Blue Mosque, there are placards there for all to see, in English and Turkish (and with pictures also) directing EVERYONE to remove their shoes, for women to cover their heads, shoulders and knees, and to not engage in loud conversation in case there is anyone praying.

It's a rule. The Holy Father was just following the rules.

I wonder if Fr. de Cacqueray was this upset by JPII praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem? After all, that's not a Christian holy site either, by the strict definition of the term. It's a Jewish site, and while we as Catholics are 'completed Jews' as I like to call myself to my Jewish friends, the vast majority of Jews do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Incarnate Word of God.

Yes, yes, yes, I know that there are MUCH BIGGER differences between Islam and Christianity than between Judaism and Christianity, but here's what the Holy Father said himself about his visit to the Blue Mosque:

"In the ambit of interreligious dialogue, Divine Providence allowed me to carry out, almost at the end of my trip, a gesture that initially was not foreseen and which revealed itself extremely significant: the visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Remaining recollected for a few minutes in that place of prayer, I turned to the only Lord of Heaven and earth, merciful Father of the whole of humanity, and implored that all believers might recognize themselves as creatures and give witness of authentic fraternity!" (tr. by ZENIT, printed in the Wanderer of December 14, 2006 - the address Benedict XVI gave at the general audience 12/6/06 - emphases mine).

Show some authentic fraternity, Fr. de Cacqueray. My son has attended services in his friend's synagogue, and while there wears a kippah out of respect for Jewish custom. It doesn't in any way mean he is denying the truth of the Catholic faith, any more than my occasional wearing of a saree is denying the fact that I am Irish as shamrocks!

And besides which, the Pope didn't tell us we must all go to a mosque to pray. If this makes for more open dialogue between the Holy See and Islam, well fine. Give him the benefit of the doubt.

This is Father Kevin Marks celebrating Divine Liturgy at my parish. Photo credit: ByzCat.