Educating Me

OK. I need help.

I was reading on Zenit.org about Papa Benedict's thoughts on Beethoven's Ninth as follows:

At the end of the concert, the Holy Father recalled that Beethoven composed his final symphony in 1824, after a period of isolation and difficulty "which threatened to suffocate his artistic creativity."

Yet the composer "surprised the public with a composition that broke with the traditional structure of the symphony," rising at the end "in an extraordinary finale of optimism and joy," the Pontiff said.

Benedict XVI continued, "This overwhelming sentiment of joy is not something light and superficial; it is a sensation achieved through struggle" because "silent solitude [...] had taught Beethoven a new way of listening that went well beyond a simple capacity to experience in his imagination the sound of notes read or written."

.....

"God - sometimes through periods of interior emptiness and isolation - wishes to make us attentive and capable of 'feeling' his silent presence, not only 'over the canopy of stars' but also in the most intimate recesses of our soul," the Holy Father affirmed. "There burns the spark of divine love that can free us to be what we truly are."

... and it made me want to enjoy some truly good music, which I have so little of. But I need your help. I need a list of composers, compositions, and good interpretations of their compositions. Because I'm ignorant. Could you help? (I know some of you certainly can.) A list would do - your favorite classical music and the specific (if you have one) recording of it.

I would certainly appreciate it.

I listened to Beethoven's Ninth on the way to and from picking up Anna from school yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by it. Surprised by its beauty, but also surprised by its narrative. The beauty of so much of art was lost on me as a child. I was happy with boxed macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.

I intend to make up for lost time.

The Baptist's Task

"The task set before the Baptist as he lay in prison was to become blessed by this unquestioning acceptance of God's obscure will; to reach the point of asking no further for external, visible, unequivocal clarity, but, instead, of discovering God precisely in the darkness of this world and of his own life, and thus becoming profoundly blessed. John even in his prison cell had to respond once again and anew to his own call for metanoia or a change of mentality, in order that he might recognize his God in the night in which all things earthly exist. Only when we act in this manner does another - and doubtless the greatest - saying of the Baptist reveal its full significance: 'He must increase, but I must decrease' (Jn 3.30). We will know God to the extent that we are set free from ourselves."

- Pope Benedict XVI

Pope says Protestants hellbound

So the Holy Father has been busy this last week leading up to his vacation. There are always last minute odds and ends to tie up, I suppose, before one rests.

First, there was the motu proprio on Saturday that frees the pre-Vatican II liturgy to be more widely celebrated. He did so for unity's sake, out of charity, to heal some wounds caused by the establishment of the new liturgy, the Novus Ordo, some 40 years ago. "The old liturgy is fine for us, thank you very much," said some - I pray that the wound can begin to heal now. Now, the pope did not "undo" Vatican II. The liturgy before Vatican II has always been considered valid and good and holy. And it could be celebrated with the proper permission. But now it will be even more broadly available for those who want to still celebrate it.

Then, on Wednesday, he came out and said that Protestants are going to hell.

What? He didn't say that?

Let me go read it again. Give me a minute. Hmm. Wow, OK.

Well, I thought he must have because of the size of the turd some Prots were having over it.

Oh, I see now, he said Prots didn't have churches, but were simply "ecclesial communities"?

Interesting.

So why do some Protestants have a problem with this proclamation? I mean, Protestants, as I recall, don't accept the Catholic Church's teaching about what is the Church. In other words, the Holy Catholic Church says that at least the following is what makes up the Church: (1) apostolic succession and holy orders, and, consequently, (2) valid sacraments, specifically the Eucharist. Hey, and papal authority is important too.

Ironically, I've been told I was a heretic and apostate because I believed this stuff. Have these protesting Prots suddenly become Cats?

No? I didn't think so.

So what's the problem, brah? You don't accept the pope as your papa - use whatever word you want to describe your ecclesial community. When you say church, you mean something different than when Papa Benedict says church. That's all there is to understand here.

Now that we understand the essential difference between us, let's try to move forward together.

Jesus of Nazareth

I'm still planning on adding my inanities to the myriad of voices reviewing Papa Benedict's new book. But until then, this quote by an Orthodox Christian, Kevin P. Edgecomb, perfectly states the feelings I've had while reading it:

"One thing I think is clear. This book Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict (Ratzinger) will come to be recognized as a watershed in a way that none of the other Jesus books ever has been or ever could be, a flaming sword between the Paradise of a faithful reading and application of all the Biblical texts fully informed by Patristic writings and Church Tradition yielding an image of the Living Jesus Christ, and the desert of academic historical-critical and other fads seeking a new and different contemporary Jesus to pad curricula vitae."

Movies and Stuff

Last night Laura and I watched Pan's Labyrinth. I'd been looking forward to this movie for some time. I was intrigued by the trailers, the concept of an "adult fairy-tale," the reviews, and Guillermo Del Toro.

The movie is no letdown. But it is ... different. It's at times violent, cruel, and horrific. And at times, it is simply beautiful. The beauty is shadowed and beleaguered with grotesqueries. While Del Toro is not a believer, his spirituality bubbles up Christ in places. There is redemption in this story, and I'll probably watch it again before sending it back.

I give it two thumbs way up, but I'd also interject some caution. First, it is, by no means, for children. Second, it is dark and cruel and sorrowful. Most of that cruelty arises from the fascist regime that contextualizes little Ofelia's (our protagonist) life, and her terrible misfortunes - the villain is truly villainous.

---

Yesterday, I also received Papa Benedict's new book from Amazon, Jesus of Nazareth. I'm very excited about this book and will comment on it as I read.

Peace be to you on this Ascension Thursday.

Our Dear Sweet Christ on Earth

After reading today's homily from Papa Benedict - translated by Teresa Benedetta - that he spoke at the Mass in honor of his 80th birthday (which is tomorrow, April 16), I felt I needed to share it with you. If the entirety of the homily is too much for you, at least read the bold text. We must give thanks to our Heavenly Father for our dear sweet Christ on Earth. *

"We are gathered to reflect on the completion of a not-brief period of my existence. Obviously, the liturgy should not be used to speak of one's own self, but one's life can serve to proclaim the mercy of God.

" 'Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for me,' says a Psalm (63[66],16). I have always considered it a great gift of Divine Mercy that my birth and rebirth were granted to me together, as it were, on the same day, in the sign of the Easter Vigil. And so on the same day, I was born into my own family and into the family of God.

"And I thank God because I have experienced what 'family' means. I have experienced what 'fatherhood' means, such that I have been made to understand the word of God the Father internally. Human experience has given me access to the great and benevolent Father who is in heaven.

"Before Him, we carry a responsibility, but at the same time, He gives us confidence because in His justice, there is always that mercy and goodness with which He accepts our weaknesses and supports us, so that gradually, we may learn to walk straight.

"I thank God because I experienced profoundly what maternal goodness means, being always open to whoever seeks shelter, and as such, able to give me my freedom. I thank God for my sister and brother who, with their help, were faithfully beside me throughout my life.

"I thank God for the companions I met along the way, for the advisers and friends that He has given me. I am thankful in particular because from the very first day, I was able to enter and to grow in the great community of believers, among whom the frontiers between life and death, heaven and earth, have been thrown open.

"I thank God for having learned so many things dy drawing from the wisdom of this community, which encompasses not only all human experience from the most remote times: Their wisdom is not only human wisdom, but unites itself to God's own wisdom, eternal wisdom.

"In the first Reading of this Sunday, we are told that in the early days of the nascent Church, people brought their sick to the public squares, so that when Peter passed by, his shadow could fall on them. To that shadow, they attributed a healing power.

"Indeed, the shadow came from the light of Christ and therefore, it carried in it something of the power of Divine goodness. Peter's shadow, through the Catholic church, has fallen across my life from the very beginning, and I learned that it is a good shadow - a healing shadow because, precisely, it ultimately comes from Christ Himself.

"Peter was a man with all the weaknesses of a human being, but above all, he was a man full of passionate faith in Christ, full of love for Him. Through his faith and his love, Christ's healing power, his unifying force, has reached all men even through all the weaknesses of Peter. So let us look for Peter's shadow even today, in order that we may be in the light of Christ.

"Birth and rebirth, earthly family and the family of God - this is the great gift of God's many mercies, the foundation on which we depend. But proceeding through life, I received another new but demanding gift: the call to priesthood.

"On the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in 1951 when we - there were 40 others - found ourselves in the Cathedral of Freising prostrate on the ground and on us were invoked all the saints, the consciousness of the poverty of my existence in the face of this new mission weighed on me. So it was a consolation that the protection of God's saints, living and dead, was invoked over us.

"I knew I would not be left alone. And what trust was instilled by the words of Jesus, who during the liturgy of Ordination, we could hear from the lips of our Bishop: 'I no longer call you servants, but friends'!

"And I have been able to experience that profoundly. He, the Lord, is not just the Lord, but also a friend. He has placed His hand on me and He will not leave me. These words were pronounced later at the conferment of power to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and therefore, in the name of Christ, to pardon sins.

"It is the same thing we heard today in the Gospel: the Lord breathes on His disciples. He grants them his Spirit - the Holy Spirit: 'Their sins will be remitted to whom you give remission...'

"The Spirit of Jesus is the power of forgiveness. It is the power of Divine Mercy, which makes it possible to begin again, always anew. The friendship of Jesus is the friendship of Him who makes us forgiving, of Him who forgives even us, who raises us continuously from our weaknesses and that way, teaches us, instills in us the comsciousness of our internal duty to love, the duty to reciprocate His trust with our loyalty.

"In today's Gospel, we also heard the story of the encounter between the Apostle Thiomas and the Risen Lord. The Apostle was allowed to touch His wounds and so to recognize Him. And he recognizes Him, beyond the human identity of Jesus of Nazareth, in his true and profound identity: 'My Lord and my God!' (Jn 20,28).

"The Lord carries His wounds through eternity. He is a wounded God; He allowed Himself to be wounded out of love for us. The wounds are for us the sign that He understands us and that He allowed Himself to be wounded out of love for us. These wounds of His - how much we can touch them in the story of our times!

"Indeed, the Lord is always allowing Himself to be wounded for us! What better guarantee of His mercy and what consolation that means for us! And what certainty it gives us about who He is: 'My Lord and my God!' These words constitute for us a duty to allow ourselves to be wounded in turn for Him.

"God's mercies accompany us every day. It is enough that we have a vigilant heart to perceive it. We are too inclined to take note only of the daily cares that are imposed on us, as sons of Adam. But if we open our hearts, then even immersed in our daily concerns, we can continuously see how God is good with us, how He thinks of us in the small things, thus helping us to deal with larger problems.

"And with the growing weight of responsiblity, the Lord also brought new help to my life. Repeatedly I see with grateful joy the ranks of those who sustain me with their prayers; who with their faith and their love help me to carry out my ministry; who are indulgent with my weaknesses, recognizing even in the shadow of Peter the beneficent light of Christ.

"For this I give my heartfelt thanks to God and to you all. I ould like to end this homily with a prayer by Saint Pope Leo the Great, that prayer which, 30 years ago, I wrote on the commemorative card of my episcopal ordination: 'Pray to our good God, so that in our day, He may reinforce the faith, multiply love, and increase the peace. May he make me, His poor servant, adequate for His work and useful for your edification, and grant that I may render service so that, along with the time I am given, my dedication should grow.' Amen."

HT: Amy Welborn

* St Catherine of Siena, who was never afraid to speak with popes, called Popes Gregory XI and Urban VI, "Our dear sweet Christ on Earth," making reference to his representation of Christ for the Church and for all the world. This representation is true of course of all the bishops, as we see in the writings of Ignatius: "Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."

Faith Consists In ...

"Faith does not mean accepting a certain number of abstract truths about the mysteries of God, of man, of life and death, of future realities. Faith consists in an intimate relationship with Christ, a relationship based on love of him who loved us first, even to the total offering of himself." - Pope Benedict XVI

In this small quote by Papa Benedict, there is a lot to unearth, especially about what faith is not. But I'm caught up so much by the quote itself. I suppose because it is so ... catholic, as true for the Pope as it is for me. And, I suppose, because it says the very thing that evangelicals so often tell me the Catholic Church does not believe.

Our faith is not a simple litany of doctrinal affirmations. It is not merely a creed. Faith is being known by Christ and seeking to know Him. This quotation does not deny that there is such a thing as heterodoxy. But it rather shows the faith for what it is - it is God reconciling the world to Himself. And through that relationship, not through a proper understanding of the Trinity or of justification or of creed, that one is reconciled to God. Papa Benedict here makes me think of the simple (seemingly evident) idea I first heard from Tom Wright that shook how I viewed my world: We are not justified by our belief in justification by faith. We are justified by faith. Therefore, regardless of the doctrinal nuances and differences we have concerning the doctrine of justification by faith, our diversity is unified by our faith in Christ, not in our belief in the specificity of my or your understanding of the doctrine.

That being said, there is heterodoxy. And this concept is perhaps best understood under the umbrella of "To whom much has been given, much is required." Just because our faith is about relationship with Christ does not mean that we can dismiss the Church's doctrine of the Trinity, or say that orthodoxy is unimportant, or to say that orthodoxy is heterodoxy. But, that being said, the thief on the cross understood who Jesus was, but he probably did not have any knowledge of the Virgin birth or of the Trinity - perhaps no understanding of the Incarnation itself. (And who among us truly understands these things?)

As a Catholic, those are truths the Church holds and as a part of the Church I hold with her. But they are not for me measuring rods by which I go to judge another's kingdom status. There is too much I do not know about the other. And there is too much I do not know about God. So I humbly accept the orthodoxy of the Church, and while I explore ever more deeply the truths of her teaching, I try not to entertain heterodoxy.

We love Christ. A fuller understanding of the many doctrines of the Church will not make us any holier. It is in our loving Christ, in knowing Him through prayer (pray always) that we are made holier. It is His Spirit working upon ours, and our spirit responding and working with and through His.

Faith is a response to God's activity and mercy toward us. A response that requires from the responder, if one is to respond, the kind of offering that has been offered. It is not just belief, but belief expressing itself, working, through love.

When my wife offers herself to me totally, there is only one proper response: For me also to offer myself completely to her. And I'm not simply speaking sexually here - though that is a picture of what I am speaking of - I'm speaking of surrendering ourselves to one another and to Christ because he has surrendered His life for us.

Love is not simply received. If we are not changed by it, if we are not drawn into it, then we have failed to understand it.

Sacrament of Love

Published today is a wonderful exhortation concerning the Eucharist from Papa Benedict. It is titled Sacramentum Caritatis, the Sacrament of Love. I would encourage especially my Catholic brothers and sisters to read it.

It is instructional and devotional - here is a taste:

True joy is found in recognizing that the Lord is still with us, our faithful companion along the way. The Eucharist makes us discover that Christ, risen from the dead, is our contemporary in the mystery of the Church, his body. Of this mystery of love we have become witnesses. Let us encourage one another to walk joyfully, our hearts filled with wonder, towards our encounter with the Holy Eucharist, so that we may experience and proclaim to others the truth of the words with which Jesus took leave of his disciples: "Lo, I am with you always, until the end of the world" (Mt 28:20).

Amen and amen.

This is why I am Catholic.