Safe Haven

On the one hand, it's probably just an excuse to do what I want, but I would argue on the other that having a severe physical disability makes one a little weird. I've known too many of you, including myself, and I notice that we're a little off. It's an odd combination of desperately wanting affection and acceptance, while not giving a rat's behind about social mores, opinion, or other stuff. I was doing one of those things last night: eating a salad with my hands. I don't know if forks offend me, or what. But this is not an uncommon thing. It's Friday in Lent, so it was a McDonald's side salad with two large fries. Side-bar, Your Honors: Those fries should never be part of a penance. How good are they? Honestly. So, I'm chomping away, and I nearly make it to the end of my salad. I'm not looking at the salad; I'm talking to my good friend and stuffing my face. And then...a shard of bacon. By the time I noticed, it was over. And clearly, it...

It's just been a day since Ratzinger relinquished the Chair of Peter. Bob Lozano and I knew we should do something, make an act of faith, hope, and charity, so we planned to do a Holy Hour right when it would happen. So we did. The bells tolled. I cried. Truly, I had no choice in the matter. We love our Pope, and we're supposed to. If St. Paul and the Ephesian elders can cry like babies, so can I, saying a special goodbye to the elder par excellence . And the man Joseph Ratzinger is worthy of no small amount of affection anyway, having written and spoken so well of the Lord and helping so many to understand and love Him. But in those moments, we know that we aren't guilty of the idolatries with which we are accused. Because the man had left, and yet, Jesus reigns always. I spoke with Him. He's not going anywhere. It pleases Him to leave us a man to govern us, teach us, and protect us, and soon enough that seat will not be empty. And we will rejoice. I thought of that ...

I was talking about this with Bob Lozano yersterday. Our last Holy Father, Benedict XVI, just used that brilliant phrase to talk about the difference between the perception and the reality of Vatican II. Vatican II is a master-work of ecclesiology and pastoral sensitivity. And that is coming through now. But the most important thing is its continuity with Trent. It is Trent for modern life. One of the things that helped me to break out of my ecclesial deism  was to realize that I had no principled reason to say that St. Thomas in the Summa Theologiae was wrong, even in his sacramental theology. That is not to say that I had adopted it, but there was no obvious reason to charge him with the moral taint with which we viewed the whole Council of Trent. But then, the realization: This whole Council is a giant footnote to St. Thomas. If that's the case, it could be true no matter what evil--scandalous as that is--the officials of the Church got into. If there's a gap between...

5 Thoughts For Today 5. I know that Blessed John Paul II was more...popular, but Benedict XVI is the pope with whom I will most identify. 4. This man is a great biblical theologian, and he will be credited with revitalizing biblical awareness in the Church. 3. When the time struck, I felt it. That moment, versus 2 minutes prior, was distinct. 2. Now I understand more fully what "faith like a child" is. 1. We were with Jesus, or he was with us, so everything will be fine.

5 Thoughts For Tonight 5. If a fertilized egg is not a human being, then who is? 4. I'm sure you are aware that we all were once zygotes. I suppose I'm glad you are here to argue the point, but surely you see the irony. 3. When this radical autonomy you are so fond of produces the rankest kind of economic injustice, I'm going to laugh at you, while I help the people your "freedom" has produced. 2. I'm so glad that you don't define human beings by their ability to produce for others. Oh, wait. 1. I was trying to understand how your position empowers women, but I gave up. It's above my pay grade.

5 Thoughts For Today 5. If a baby is a parasite, and you are a victim, why should your political opponents suffer scorn for lacking the "compassion" to subsidize your victimhood post-birth? 4. I don't know much, but I know that "free love" is not a biological imperative. 3. What do you say to women who have the audacity to tell you that killing your own child is wrong? 2. Public Service Announcement: "Human being"= zygote. The unique human organism that is formed from the gametes of a man and woman. No, that isn't in the Bible. That's basic science. 1. As much as I value freedom, it is not limitless, and it is more than the freedom from coercion.

5 Thoughts For Tonight 5. We're stuck with this guy . Forgive me; I just hope, God love him, that he's not as big a tool as he's shown previously. I don't even like Israel, and I still feel that way. 4. No Chelsie Hightower on Dancing With The Stars? Party foul. 3. It's not true that I've been alone all this time; Music and I have been conducting a torrid affair for about 30 years. [Graphic, no?--ed.] Oh, relax. Everyone will chuckle. 2. Have you seen this ? Sheesh. 1. My patience with that person has "entered the holodeck."

I hope that you all have been following these exchanges the last couple of days, because it inspires me to make a few clarifying comments as a Catholic about our paradigmatic differences. First, I cannot deny that you may find a Church Father or a whole group of them that hold opinions that sound like what would later become Protestant opinions. Let me say it rudely, and then explain: So what? People of great importance have opinions and even disagreements. The Fathers are not a norm in and of themselves, except rarely, and I will grant the possibility that the average apologist overstates these occasions. The Church, in her teaching authority, sets the norm of faith. I don't doubt that one could construct a theology consonant with a later Protestant one; it might even be convincing. But it doesn't mean you've read the Fathers, nor are in harmony with them. The most important thing the Fathers tell us is about the nature of the Church, the authority to which they submitted....

5 Thoughts For Tonight 5. Migraines are not our friends. 4. James Horner has composed the score for 3 of my favorite films: Field of Dreams, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and The Land Before Time. Each film is dramatically enhanced by its music, and I daresay he was robbed, not winning an Academy Award for one these long before Titanic. 3. My desire for taking this small test has "entered the holodeck." 2. He's not exactly working on all thrusters. OOH, Trek Burn! 1. Seriously, The Land Before Time soundtrack is killing me. No wonder this movie is so popular.

Mr. Thompson said this in response:  After reading through it I must say I don't think your friend understood my points, read my whole paper, or else he is deliberately distorting it. For example in the third paragraph he suggests my interpretation is novel when I quoted fathers and academics affirming it before I was born. In the fourth paragraph he accuses me of creating a tension between the key of David and Christ and proceeds to argue it is connected to Christ since Christ is connected to David (of course); when in my article I clearly say Christ has that key according to Rev. 3:7 and never once created such a tension between it and Christ. Thanks anyway though."   Within that essay, he quoted Anglican scholar George Salmon to this effect: “You see, then, that the fact that Christ is called the rock, and that on Him the Church is built, is no hindrance to Peter’s also being, in a different sense, called rock, and being said to be the foundation of the Church . ...

Ahem.  I'm really not equipped to get lost in the weeds of either Scriptural exegesis, or scholarly debate. I'm just not. But I feel it important to state a couple of points, as a Catholic, a budding Catholic theologian, even, and see how they strike one: 1. The Catholic Church does not concede that the basis for its authority is found solely in the Scriptures of either the Old or New Testaments. Certainly, it's fair to say she believes that authority does not and cannot contradict it. But that God-breathed witness to Jesus Christ, the living heart of it, is a product of the ecclesia, the ones called out of the world by God to bear witness to his saving intentions for humanity. Simply put, the Catholic Church is claiming that it is that community, and that the New Testament is the inspired written witness of God's establishment, upholding, and remaining with that community. We can all see that a retreat to expert scholarly opinion can be endless, and not definitive....

It's Sunday morning! Go to church, you hapless pagans! Better yet, go to Mass. Sorry; had to be done. Why are you still reading this? It will be a mortal sin if you read 10 more words. [You can't say that.--ed.] True. I'm just kidding. But seriously, get out of here. This is a shameless ploy for more pageviews, since I noticed that they drop when I cannot post when I'm in class. But here at Safe Haven, I'm here to serve you, the reader. I mean, make you feel bad. I mean, convert you! I mean, fill your mind with ham-handed cliches and low-brow chuckles. All of the above! I love the internet. Have you gone to Mass yet? Honestly.