A Deo et Rege

Every now and then I get a little bored and take some random photos. That’s why this post has perhaps one of most unusual titles in the history of the blog.

A moka pot, often simply called a coffee pot, is a type of pot
used to make percolated coffee. I normally use the drip method of coffee-making, but lately have returned to an interest in percolation. I first encountered percolated coffee during a trip to Spain in 2001 and found the taste to be bolder and richer than normal "drip" coffee. I bought myself a little coffee pot in Barcelona and will dig it out every now and again, including today. The photo is of me pouring the coffee. And yes, the mug is a Christmas one. I’m a little short of large mugs, needless to say.

How do Catholic sun-catchers fit in with moka pots? Well, there isn’t really a good connection except that I thought it would be interesting to take photos of both objects today. I bought the sun-catcher at the National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation and put it up in my window. It’s one of the many "perks" of being Catholic: finding cool Catholic items like this. It is done in the "Tiffany" window style is quite beautiful. You can get a good idea of how far along spring is from the background, even if our nights sometimes get below freezing.

In other news, I was accepted into two programs to do post-Masters work in religion and education. That’s good news. Now there is a decision to make…

Blessed 3rd Sunday of Easter!

Photos by Jonathan Bennett

More from my essay on the resurrection (click link for sources):

[One] proof of the resurrection [is] its resonance

with the human story and its ability to change hearts throughout

the ages. Christianity started out as a religion of a few

followers of Jesus, no education, no armies, just the Good News

of Christ’s resurrection. And now Christianity is all over

the world and has had billions of adherents throughout history.

It is because of the Story! [JRR] Tolkien sums up well the qualities of

the Christian Story:

The Gospel contains a fairy-story, or a story of a

larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy stories. They

contain many marvels – peculiarly artistic, beautiful and

moving: ‘mythical’ in their perfect self-contained

significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most

complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has

entered history and the primary world; the desire and aspiration

of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation.

Thus, Christianity is the fulfillment of and answer to all of

our human longings everywhere and at all times. It is the

entering of myth into human history. The Story of Jesus resonates

with our hopes and conquers our fears. We can never go back in

time to prove it, but it proves itself to us today, especially

when we worship Christ and encounter him through the Sacraments

and mysteries of the Church. It is best to end the bulk of this

essay on a quote by Tolkien which sums up well the reality of the

resurrection:

The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s

history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the

story of the Incarnation. The story begins and ends in joy. It

has pre-eminently the ‘inner consistency of reality.’ There is

no tale ever told which men would rather find was true, and none

which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own

merits. For the art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art that is of Creation.

To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.

Although Spring officially arrived here a month ago, it’s only now that my part of Ohio is beginning to see a noticeable change. I guess the tradeoff for mild summers is a spring that begins later than other places. Yet, the sun is shining, the snow has stopped (hopefully for the season), and it has started to rain more consistently. Also, the forsythia are blooming, the fruit trees are budding, and flowers
are everywhere. I even look forward to dandelions in the spring! It means that warm weather is just around the corner.

With the coming of spring I’ve made some other changes as well. I’m more conscious of getting a tan. I usually tan very easily, so I don’t have to work too hard on that one. I can finally exercise outdoors (although that is hard until summer given the spring rain), which until the bugs come is a wonderful activity. I’m also going to buy a small grill and start grilling out. I especially love grilled chicken breasts. And, sorry Hank Hill, but I prefer old fashioned charcoal to any gas. My coffee drinking will probably go down (but only ever so slightly) and give way to more lemonade. I also want to visit Lake Erie this summer, just to swim, get a tan, and maybe even fish.

Spring does bring with it some not so pleasant things, of course. For one, gas prices have gone through the roof and with summer driving season yet to arrive, it seems they can only go higher. Also, the inconsistent weather can be a headache for planning outdoor activities (e.g. when I played baseball in high school I think 1/2 of our games were canceled). Anyway, enough of my ramblings for one day.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday and I hope your spring (and for those in the southern hemisphere, autumn) is wonderful!

Photos on left: view from the high school I attended and closeup of a dandelion. Photo on right of 3 colorful trees. All photos by Jonathan Bennett

A recent Scripts Howard/Ohio University (my alma mater) conducted a Poll on the Resurrection of the Body  and found that only 36% of Americans believed in it. 38% of Catholics believed in it, 50% of regular churchgoers did, and it was affirmed by 59% of those calling themselves "born again." These are pretty pathetic numbers, especially among Catholics. However, since most people are "Catholic" by birth regardless of the last time they received a Sacrament, it doesn’t surprise me really. Even the "born again" number seems a bit low. I will admit that in this case the way the question is phrased could have been confusing or misleading. Still, the bodily resurrection is an essential Christian belief and there needs to be more emphasis on the bodily resurrection of Jesus and our future bodily resurrection in preaching and teaching.

Why is the resurrection of the body important? Since this is Easter season, celebrating when Jesus rose bodily from the dead, I thought I’d post a few excerpts from an article I wrote awhile back for the website I co-edit, Ancient and Future Catholics, called On the Resurrection of the Body: A Catholic and Postmodern View. Of course, I give Church teaching, but try to explain it in a way that is accessible to all. Here are some points (see original link for sources/citations):

Almost all of the [resurrection] stories involved appearances to his

eat.

When the Church speaks of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, what

Christ is essential doctrine.

Why is the resurrection of the body important? The bodily

spiritual state.

A happy Easter to all the readers of this blog!

O Death, where is your sting?
O Hell, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown.
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice.
Christ is risen, and life reigns.
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

From the Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom. It can be found in its entirety at www.ancient-future.net/chrysoseaster.html

Photo at National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation, taken by Jonathan Bennett

Today I finally received my Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and am very excited about it. Although the complete Catechism is the primary source for all things Catholic, the Compendium nicely summarizes and condenses the larger Catechism. I want to highlight some of the important aspects of the Compendium:

1. The "Question and Answer" Format

This marks in some ways a return to the catechisms of old (especially the popular Baltimore Catechism), which were set up in this manner. I think the Q&A setup will make the Compendium great for quick reference and for answering questions about what Catholicism really teaches (whether for inquirers, seekers, converts, or the poorly catechized). This setup makes the Compendium great for teaching, especially for Catholic school courses, parishes studies, and RCIA classes.

Example:
Q: How are sins remitted:
A: The first and chief Sacrament for the forgiveness of sins is Baptism. For those sins committed after Baptism, Christ instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance through which a baptized person is reconciled with God and the Church.

2. The Art

Pope Benedict has rightly emphasized the importance of good liturgical art and architecture. And there is no better way to teach about the value of liturgical art than to include it in a catechism!  Each section of the Compendium contains a piece of traditional artwork and an explanation of it. Hopefully, this will help improve the quality of Catholic art and architecture over the long term.

Example: El Greco, Prayer of Jesus in the Garden

3. The Extras

There are many other exciting "extras" in the Compendium as well. First, when referencing traditional documents like the Creed, it includes the Latin text. Second, the final section has many common prayers of the Church, including the Our Father, Hail Mary, Magnificat, Angelus, Te Deum, and more. And, all the prayers are in both English and Latin! Once again, the Compendium should help increase in readers a basic sense of Church Latin which is sadly being lost. Eastern Catholic prayers are also included, which should help remind Roman Catholics that the Catholic Church includes more than just the West. Third, there is a list of formulas of Catholic Doctrine. This is a very handy reference list.

In conclusion, the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great resource that should serve the needs of many people. Perhaps the greatest selling point is that the Compendium condenses the Faith into readable and accessible "chunks" in an easy to engage format. Although scholars and more serious students of the Faith will prefer the larger Catechism and even go beyond to the original sources, in an age of the unchurched and the barely churched, the Compendium serves an important role and is an invaluable resource.

To order:

The magic of Holy Saturday.

The chaotic fountain remains directionless. Could this be the residue of the Son’s love which, poured out to the last when every vessel cracked and the old world perished, is now making a path for itself to the Father through the glooms of nought?

Or, in spite of it all, is this love trickling on in impotence, unconsciously, laboriously, towards a new creation that does not yet even exist, a creation which is still to be lifted up and given shape? Is it a protoplasm producing itself in the beginning, the first seed of the New Heaven and the New Earth?

The spring leaps up even more plenteously. To be sure, it flows out of a wound and is like the blossom and fruit of a wound; like a tree it sprouts up from this wound. But the wound no longer causes pain. The suffering has been left far behind as the past origin and previous source of today’s wellspring.

What is poured out here is no longer a present suffering, but a suffering that has been concluded–no longer now a sacrificing love, but a love sacrificed.

Only the wound is there: gaping, the great open gate, the chaos, the nothingness out of which the wellspring leaps forth. Never again will this gate be shut. Just as the first creation arose ever anew out of sheer nothingness, so, too, this second world – still unborn, still caught up in its first rising – will have its sole origin in this wound, which is never to close again…

High-vaulted triumphal Gate of Life! Armored in gold, armies of graces stream out of you with fiery lances. Deep-dug Fountain of Life! Wave upon wave gushes out of you inexhaustible, ever-flowing, billows of water and blood baptizing the heathen hearts, comforting the yearning souls, rushing over the deserts of guilt, enriching over-abundantly, overflowing every heart that receives it, far surpassing every desire.

Hans Urs Von Balthasar

Hat tip/text posted at Titusonenine (Kendall Harmon)

Photo from National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation; photo by Jonathan Bennett (you’ll see it when typepad allows me to upload it without errors!!)

God takes the cross!
Unfathomable mystery of goodness!
Mystery of humility, which shames us
at our unbending pride!

From the Vatican’s "Way of the Cross," the Second Station (by Archibishop Angelo Comastri)

A blessed Good Friday to all!

Photo from the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch in Burton, OH. Photo taken by Jonathan Bennett.

I ordered a couple of books recently. The first, which arrived yesterday is the The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version – Second Catholic Edition. It is essentially the text of the RSV with some changes to make it more Catholic. For example, Mary is addressed as "full of grace" instead of "O Favored One" at the Annunciation. Another example is "brothers" of Jesus are translated as "brethren." And the word "who" is used of the Holy Spirit instead of "which." These are all good changes from a Catholic standpoint. This version differs from the first edition in that it has removed all archaic language and made some Old Testament changes (e.g. "young woman" in Isaiah 7:14 is now "virgin" although I haven’t found any other examples yet).

The second book, which I’m still waiting on, is the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which simplifies the larger catechism into a question and answer format. I am very excited about reading this. I hope it will make the Faith more accessible, especially to those in Catholic schools, PSR programs, and RCIA classes. Once I get it (come on amazon!), I’ll let everyone know what I think.

It is that time of year when scores of people are brought into the Catholic Church through baptism and/or confirmation following a period as a catechuman in RCIA or an equivalent experience. I want to welcome some of my friends on the net to the Church! It’s a little early, but I don’t want to forget. Before I give the names, I want to give a quote from St. Augustine (from "On the Advantage of Believing"):

This (i.e. the Catholic Church/Faith) hath been brought to pass by the
Divine Providence, through the prophecies of the Prophets, through the
manhood and teaching of Christ, through the journeys of the Apostles,
through the insults, crosses, blood, of the Martyrs, through the
praiseworthy life of the Saints, and, in all these, according as times
were seasonable, through miracles worthy of so great matters and
virtues. When therefore we see so great help of God, so great progress
and fruit, shall we doubt to hide ourselves in the bosom of that
Church, which even unto the confession of the human race from [the]
apstolic chair through successions Of Bishops, hath held the summit of authority.

A big welcome to:

Brandi
Jason
Danny

If anyone else who reads this blog is becoming Catholic this Easter, please let me know. Some of you I know are becoming Catholic, but I’m not sure when.

Photo taken at Lourdes Shrine, Euclid, OH by Jonathan Bennett

Tomorrow begins the Divine Mercy Novena which is a powerful nine day set of prayers beginning on Good Friday and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday (the second Sunday of Easter). Jesus appeared to St. Faustina on several occasions as she relates in her diary. Regarding the novena, she wrote that Jesus revealed to her:

On each day of the novena you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy… On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls. By this novena I will grant every possible grace to souls.

To participate in this wonderful practice, you can visit this Divine Mercy Novena page (also used as a source for the above quote). For more information on the chaplet associated with St. Faustina and the novena, you can visit this page on the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

I participated in the chaplet and novena last year and can say that it is a wonderful spiritual practice. I am excited about doing it again this year!

Image from St. Charles Borromeo Church Image Gallery

The Vatican has released the text for the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum to be led by the holy father Benedict XVI. It was prepared by Archbishop Angelo Comastri. It looks great.

Hat tip: Dave Hartline at the Catholic Report

The Diocese of Cleveland is getting a new bishop. The auxiliary bishop of Boston, Richard Lennon, is replacing current bishop Anthony Pilla. Like all dioceses, Cleveland has its own set of needs and I hope Bishop Lennon can address those faithfully. Please say a prayer for Bishop Lennon.

Cause you had a bad dayYou're taking one downYou sing a sad song just to turn it around... (words by Daniel Powter)

Carmel left for Australia today  

Please keep her in your prayers as she travels and also both of us for immigration. Thanks.

Photo: one of my favorites of Carmel that I took on St. Patrick's day

As we enter into Holy Week it’s hard not to be impressed by the devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her suffering Son throughout the last moments of his life. She was with him through the cruel tortures, through the way of the Cross, and through his final moments on the Cross. Mary suffered along with her Son as he suffered and died for sins of humanity. What a perfect model of Christian humility and sharing in the suffering of Christ. As our Lord, Jesus knows the pain of suffering and so can identify with us as our great high priest. Likewise, in Mary we have one who knew the greatest suffering and is a powerful intercessor and Mother for those who suffer.

O all ye
that pass
by the way
attend
and see
if there be any
sorrow
like to
my sorrow

Photo from National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation
Taken by Jonathan Bennett