Byzantine, Texas

The ever thought provoking monks of Holy Resurrection Monastery recently posted on a topic I often... what's the word I want here... lament? decry? complain? ponder. Read it here then come back for my pearls of wisdom. So, I place the desire of these people to be hip and discuss the arts & entertainment headlines from a youthful prospective to be a step in the wrong direction. The average blogger would now cite biblical passages, quote from encyclicals, or cut and paste from a saint. And I, as an average blog reader, would promptly flutter my eyes into a light afternoon nap. If I can't be witty or intriguing I fully expect my posts to go unread. Instead, let me just say this on the subject. Yes, there is a lot going on in pop culture. So much so that pop culture is now the moving force behind almost everything we read, watch, listen to, or eat. Secularism is not the absence of pious, orthodox thought; it is an alternative that replaces a hierarchical relationship with God ...

Quite a romanticized figure, Mr. Guevara de la Serna. I tend to lean more toward's this depiction of him from slate.com , "Che was an enemy of freedom, and yet he has been erected into a symbol of freedom. He helped establish an unjust social system in Cuba and has been erected into a symbol of social justice. He stood for the ancient rigidities of Latin-American thought, in a Marxist-Leninist version, and he has been celebrated as a free-thinker and a rebel." From Mere Comments , a blog from the people at Touchstone magazine: Sarah Baxter of London's Sunday Times tells a hilarious story about the far left's uneasy alliance with the jihadist far right: *** QUOTE *** The children of Che Guevara, the revolutionary pin-up, had been invited to Tehran University to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their father's death and celebrate the growing solidarity between "the left and revolutionary Islam" at a conference partly paid for by Hugo Chavez, the Vene...

Take a look at this flickr website mentioned by the New Liturgical Movement. Quite a collection.

As someone who dreams about bringing just one person to Christ this story flabbergasts me. Stories like this are the makings of saints. My wife and I have discussed doing missionary work off and on for years - maybe we should pray on this gentleman's story tonight. This story is especially poignant because of its location. Catholic communities are shrinking in many parts of India due in large part to decreased birth rates and persecution (attacking and at times killing religious in broad daylight). Hyderabad, Oct 17, 2007 / 10:50 am ( CNA ).- Clergy and laity had high praise for Lingareddy Johannes Reddy, an Indian layman in the Archdiocese of Hyderabad who has spent more than five decades preaching Christianity and helping the needy. Reddy, a 77 year-old father of eight, has spent his life ministering to the people of Mariapuram. Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad met Reddy during a recent pastoral visit, calling him "a great builder of people." Reddy's and two ...

Beyond this news blurb, also read this blog post. VirtueOnline : PORTSMOUTH, UK: Traditional Anglican Communion Seeks Full Union With Rome Statement authorized by the TAC Primate 16th October 2007 "The College of Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) met in Plenary Session in Portsmouth, England, in the first week of October 2007. The Bishops and Vicars-General unanimously agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union. The letter was signed solemnly by all the College and en-trusted to the Primate and two bishops chosen by the College to be presented to the Holy See. The letter was cordially received at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Primate of the TAC has agreed that no member of the College will give interviews until the Holy See has considered the letter and responded." + John Hepworth Primate TAC

Stolen shamelessly from a post by Alive and Young .

A short little excited post to state my great pride and exuberance at Bobby Jindal's victory in his race for governor of Louisiana. See the Washington Post and his victory speech . From India : MALERKOTLA (SANGRUR): It was Dussehra but Sazida Colony here was celebrating for another reason as well. Bobby Jindal, who has his roots in this village, created history on Saturday when he was elected Governor of Louisiana, the first Indian-origin governor in the US. In fact, the moment the news broke on television channels, Jindal’s ancestral village in Khanpur erupted in celebrations, with relatives and friends distributing sweets and dancing bhangra to dhol beats. "Uncle (Bobby Jindal’s father) called early in the morning to inform us about this historic win,"said Semi Jindal, son of late Bachna Ram Jindal, the younger brother of Jindal’s father. After that call early Sunday morning, their phone has not stopped ringing. An ecstatic Vijay Laxmi, Jindal’s paternal aunt, said, ...

They're right. Imagine this happening a hundred years ago, or much more recently, during the Troubles. I wonder at the realities of this union. Going to parties, referring to her husband following tradition, attending important church events, etc. This would strain most marriages. Regardless, she should be lauded for her choice and this brought a smile to my morning. Dublin, Oct. 15, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - The wife of an Irish Anglican bishop has entered the Roman Catholic Church, with her husband's public support. Anita Henderson was received into the Catholic Church by Bishop John Fleming of Killala. Her husband, Bishop Richard Henderson of the Church of Ireland, attended the ceremony. The two bishops, Catholic and Anglican, issued a joint statement after the ceremony, indicating that Anita Henderson's religious affiliation was a matter of private conscience that "deserves the respect of us all." "This is a time of unprecedented hospitality, friendship, and ...

For those that don't know (it's not in the 3 dictionaries I checked, including the OED)... Sinodality: exercise of authority in communion. That, of course, is very interesting. I hope to read a lot of what said when it becomes available. The next session (vide infra) will be on the position of the Pope of Rome itself. Without Russia the decisions, should any actually be made, might be hampered. I for one pray daily for church unity. Not some cum buy ya, everyone stand in a circle and give a hug, sort of way, but in a real material communion of churches. I'm not so old so this might be one of the remnants of my youth. Ravenna, Oct 15, 2007 / 12:13 pm (CNA).- The 10th plenary assembly of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, held in the Italian city of Ravenna last week, came to an end yesterday. During the gathering, the Catholic and Orthodox members of the commission turned their attention to the theme of "the eccle...

WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the United States in response to a House resolution that would call the World War I massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the measure 27-21 Wednesday, even though President Bush and key administration figures lobbied hard against it. The full House is expected to vote on it, possibly Friday. A top Turkish official warned Thursday that consequences "won't be pleasant" if the full House approves the resolution. "Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball," said Egemen Bagis, foreign policy adviser to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "I can assure you Turkey knows how to play hardball." [ No s**t. Ask the Armenians. ] Asked about Ambassador Nabi Sensoy's recall after the news broke, a State Department spokesman said he could not confirm it. "People are sometimes calle...

Having gone to a Jesuit college for graduate school, this sort of thing does not surprise me at all. In fact I once contacted the archbishop's offices and applied pressure to the university's aptly named diversity and spirituality department to rephrase/stop/apologize/be clear on what they were actually saying about what amounted to a pro-GLTQ "roundtable" that preached more "we're all special colors of the rainbow" than church doctrine. They ended up pulling the brochures and removing the material from the website. I have no idea if the meetings themselves stopped, but never heard anything else about it. Worcester, Oct. 11, 2007 ( CWNews.com ) - A Massachusetts bishop has strongly criticized a Jesuit-run college in his diocese, hinting that he could withdraw the school's recognition as a Catholic institution. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester issued a statement on October 10, responding to protests from lay Catholics about plans for a conference at...

Normally I don't do this much highlighting. In fact, the last time I saw this much red ink was when my masters project was returned to me for "correction" so I am naturally red ink averse. Ravenna, Oct. 10, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Russian Orthodox delegates have walked out of a joint session of Catholic and Orthodox theologians, highlighting the sharp disagreements among the world's Orthodox leaders. A delegation from Moscow left the meeting, being held in Ravenna, Italy, after learning that a delegate from the Estonian Apostolic Church would be included in the ecumenical talks. The Estonian Apostolic Church has gained canonical recognition from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, but the Russian Orthodox Church, which still claims authority over the Orthodox community in Estonia, disputes that status. The dispute calls attention to enduring conflicts over authority in the Orthodox world, with the Moscow patriarchate resisting the power of Constantinople. Althou...

Why not just buy them the complete Jeeves and Wooster and be done with it? :) Foreign priests receive lessons in 'Britishness' at Catholic college - Canterbury, England ( ENI ). A three week course designed to introduce foreign priests to the British way of doing things in the Roman Catholic Church has opened at Ushaw College outside Durham in Northumberland, northeast England.

I'm not a uniformly pro-Dreher person. Some of his decisions and declarations have perturbed me, but this article is worth a read. I actually remember looking over this monastery's website many years ago and wanting to go there and visit in the starry-eyed way kids are wont to do. On a scrubby hilltop in the middle of nowhere, amid a squalid trailer park masquerading as a monastery, the life of Samuel Greene – known to his followers as Father Benedict – came this month to an abrupt conclusion. Suicide? Could be, says the sheriff. Sam Greene was a convicted pedophile, a purported pothead, an audacious blasphemer, a morbidly obese slob and a thoroughgoing fraud. He was, quite simply, a wretch. And yet I owe to his life more than I can say. In 1981, Mr. Greene, a TV real-estate pitchman, declared himself an Eastern Orthodox monk and founded Christ of the Hills monastery – mostly mobile homes near a wooden chapel – in the countryside outside the Hill Country town of Blanco. Four ye...

Truly hilarious.

A blog called The Barbershop has a great post called Planned Parenthood applies with lies that was also published in the Chicago Tribune. I recommend reading it. Whatever you think about Planned Parenthood setting up an abortion clinic in Aurora, you have to be impressed by the group's mendacity. That's not surprising because the abortion industry has demonstrated great skill in the arts of deception, invention and omission. Now, thanks to the lengths that Planned Parenthood went to disguise the fact that its new medical clinic in Aurora would perform abortions, and the breathtaking willingness of its supports to justify the deception, we have an even better understanding of the depths of the industry's dishonesty. Planned Parenthood officials said the devil (pro-lifers) made them do it (lie). If they didn't, the group insists, the "anti-choice" crowd would protest, make life miserable for all involved and even become violent. Without shame, Planned Parenthoo...

I can't even fathom how hard this would be to do. A nation still trying to right itself mixed with the the problems of unrest, poverty, and all. I don't envy them. ( RISU ) Kyiv – A work group was set up on 24 September 2007 by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to develop a law project on the return of former church and cultural property to religious organizations. According to the Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych, the formation of the work group was confirmed by a joint order of the Ministry of Justice and the State Committee on Matters of Nationality and Religion. The Ministry of Justice press service covered the story on 28 September 2007. After the law project is completed, it will be reviewed by a commission of the Cabinet of Ministers which handles the issue of returning property to religious organizations. The Justice Minister referred to the 2002 Parliamentary Assembly of the European Union at which it was recommended that Ukraine guarantee religious institutions...