The real scoop!

"I Totally Found the Grave of Jesus!" by Fred Sanders (Middlebrow, March 1, 2007)

[Hat tip to Al Kimel]

Apostolic Exortation set for next week

This morning's Bollettino (Vatican website) gives notice of a press conference that will present the long awaited Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation. It will be called: "Sacramentum Caritatis" and is scheduled for March 13th, 2007.

[Hat tip to Rorate Caeli, Apostolic Exhortation, a name and a date, March 6, 2007]

Comment: Waugh to Buckley

At the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, so sure was Evelyn Waugh that the Council wouldn't dare to abrogate the Latin Mass, that he wrote, in part, to William Buckley:

The nature of the Mass is so profoundly mysterious that the most acute and holy men are continually discovering further nuances of significance. It is not a peculiarity of the Roman Church that much which happens at the altar is in varying degrees obscure to most of the worshipers. It is in fact the mark of all the historic, apostolic Churches. I think it highly doubtful whether the average churchgoer either needs or desires to have complete intellectual, verbal comprehension of all that is said. He has come to worship.

[Quoted by Chris Conlee in "The Fever of Vatican II," New Oxford Review (January 2007), p. 34.]

Comment: Buckley on Waugh

Writing about the great English writer and Catholic convert Evelyn Waugh, William F. Buckley Jr. wrote:

I somewhere opined that Evelyn Waugh's death on Easter Sunday in 1966, the Sunday before the reformers promulgated the Kiss of Peace, was evidence that the Holy Spirit was in fact behind it all, but merciful in His afflictions: no imagination is so vivid as to visualize Mr. Waugh yanked from prayerful thought to clasp the hand of the pilgrim to his right, to his left, ahead, and behind him.

[Quoted by Chris Conlee in "The Fever of Vatican II," New Oxford Review (January 2007), p. 34.]

N.T. Wright on the Jesus Seminar

Part Five in the Crisis magazine series, "Deliver us from the Jesus Seminar," is by the prolific Anglican Bible scholar, the N.T. Wright, a priest of the Church of England and canon theologian of Westminster Abbey. Wright is the author of numerous books in the field of scriptural studies. Most recently, these include The Resurrection of Jesus: John Dominic Crossan and N.T. Wright in Dialogue (2006), Paul: In Fresh Perspective (2006), and The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture (2005). His article, "Setting Scholars Straight about the Bible" (Jesus Seminar Critically Examined, March 6, 2007), was originally published in Crisis magazine (June 2000), and is reproduced here by permission of the editor.

Wright's article offers a brilliant, concise analysis of fundamental problems of the Jesus Seminar. These include problems of (1) de-contextualizing Jesus from the prevailing historical narrative of his time, (2) taking Jesus out of his own proper Jewish apocalyptic worldview, (3) taking Jesus out of the context of first-century messianic movements, (4) attempting to reinvent a wandering cynic teacher, (5) the problem of a "noncontroversial Jewish Jesus" who is neither comprehensible nor crucifiable within first-century Judaism, (6) a new powerful myth of origins envisioning Jesus as a type of cynic teacher, and (7) the difficulty of integrating reconstructions of Jesus' public career with His death and resurrection. Moreover, Wright summarizes his own constructive suggestions in the second half of the article. His article, again, can be found here: "Setting Scholars Straight about the Bible" (Jesus Seminar Critically Examined, March 6, 2007). Enjoy.

Quisling Bible scholars

While driving today, I heard a bit of a radio interview on our National Public Radio station concerning the so-called "Jesus Tomb" fiasco we discussed last week (Da Vinci Code 'archeology' gone to seed, February 27, 2007). Several persons were being interviewed on the program; but the one I heard speak was Prof. Anthony J. Tambasco, a Bible scholar (actually a professor of "Catholic Studies") from Georgetown University. The sad thing was that instead of calling into question the "Tomb of Jesus," he called into question the New Testament. Instead of calling into question the credibility of the house of cards upon which James Cameron's case rests in the Discovery Channel documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" -- an undertaking in which he could have called to witness an amplitude of scholars both Christian and atheists -- Tambasco instead called into question the credibility of the New Testament narratives.

As it typical of Tambasco and so many other contemporary Bible scholars, he did this incrementally, staking out a position of studied equivocation betwixt the not-to-be-taken-seriously extremes of reading the Bible as literal history and utter myth. It reminded me of O'Leary. Does O'Leary believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? Well . . . yes and no. It depends what you mean, of course. (Some of you will remember our discussion of O'Leary's existential Christology Part I [Aug. 8, 2005], Part II [Aug. 15, 2005], and Part III [Nov. 28, 2005].) It also reminded me of what Fr. J. Scott Newman described as John Dominic Crossan's "tired and tiresome declaration that if the bones of Jesus were found and were established beyond all doubt to be the authentic bones of Jesus, his faith would still in no way be changed." (Your Faith is in Vain, Dr. Crossan, Random Thoughts, Feb. 25, 2007).

This Georgetown professor could have used this opportunity to inoculate his vast audience of vulnerable and all-too-gullible listeners against uncritically falling for yet another snake oil huckster (see our comparison of James Cameron's documentary with Dan Brown's bestselling bag of illusionist tricks in Da Vinci Code 'archeology' gone to seed, February 27, 2007). Instead, his listeners will have been reinforced by Professor Tambasco in all their popular sophomoric prejudices that the Bible, like the Christian Faith, is not something to be taken with any historical seriousness.

Why I love Evelyn Waugh

First of all, I love Waugh because, somewhere either in his autobiography (A Little Learning) or in his diaries (The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh), he remarks on how good looking he is.

This audacity is already evident early on, as in passages in his autobiography about his early education (A Little Learning [Little Brown, 1964], p. 86), where he says things such as this:

I was quite a clever little boy.

And again:

I was quite a brave little boy.

I also love Waugh because of the way he can catch you off your guard and leave you stunned speechless with your heart caught in your throat by remarks such as the following, taken from his letter to Ann Fleming of January 3, 1963:

Dear Ann

I am deeply sorry to hear of your sister's distressing death. You must pray for her soul. This is best done by going to a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. The most convenient for you is Westminster Cathedral; go up the far left aisle under the screen. Kneel. Dispel from your mind all other considerations. Say, not out loud but in your mind: 'I have no right to ask you anything. Please don't consider my merits or my sister's. You made her and me what we are. But you sent Jesus to die for us. Accept his sacrifice. With luck I have a few years left to me to make amends. She hasn't. So please accept anything good I have ever done as a negligible contribution to the immeasurable sacrifice of the incarnation, and let my sister into heaven.' Easy? Yes, really, particularly for you who have no pride. Try it anyway. (The Letters of Evelyn Waugh, edited by Mark Amory [Penguin, 1980], p. 596)

The depth and profundity Waugh's fathom of Catholic truth revealed in such passing remarks as these is truly breath-taking.

On the other hand, I love Waugh because his nearly insane sense of humor never leaves him, as evidenced when writing to Lady Diana Cooper on August 28, 1962, when he addresses her as

Darlng Stitch Pug Baby

Or, when he writes to Margaret FitzHerbert on October 28, 1963, dutifully noting that it is the feastday of "S.S. Simon and Jude" before proceeding to address her as

Darling Pig

Or, yet again, when he pens such remarks as the following, taken from his letter to Lady Acton of June 10, 1963:

Dearest Daphne

... Woodruff has developed a senile infaturation for a very dangerous clergyman called Kung -- not Chinese, central European; a heresiarch who in happier days would be roasted. (The Letters of Evelyn Waugh, edited by Mark Amory [Penguin, 1980], p. 608)

The last remark, I would also note, reveals a remarkable theological sensitivity and prescience, given the fact that even mainstream Catholics were fawning over Hans Kung -- yes, he is referring to Hans Kung -- well into the 1980s before his true colors became apparent to most of them!

An Inconvenient Detail

Christina Bellantoni, "Democrats want Capital Hill as a 'green' beacon for planet," The Washington Times (March 3, 2007):

Democratic leaders yesterday called for the "greening" of buildings on Capital Hill, saying politicians have the responsibility to preserve the planet. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has led a charge to fight global warming, and other top Democrats wrote a letter to the chief administrative officer of the House asking him to embark on a "Green the Capital" initiative.

Kate Ravilious, "Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says," National Geographic News (February 28, 2007):

Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human- induced—cause ... In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.

The latest on the Motu Proprio

Hervé Yannou, at the Vatican, Published March 3 2007, from the French daily Le Figaro, via "For the Record - Le Figaro: the document is on the Pope's desk," Rorate Caeli, March 3, 2007:

"The project of a pontifical decree liberalizing the celebration of the Mass in Latin according to the ancient rite has not been shelved. The document is on the desk of Benedict XVI. ... The rebellion of the French episcopate at the time of the first news on the document last fall had deeply affected the Pope.

... He could make it public particularly following the publication of the final text of the Synod on the Eucharist .... "

Rorate Caeli also offers, in a post entitled "For the Record - Schmitz: Motu proprio 'is ready'" (Marcy 30, 2007), some excerpts of Brian Mershon's report on a recent conference by Mgr. Michael Schmitz, United States Provincial of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICRSS), published by Envoy Magazine:

On the "Motu priprio":

“I can tell you that the document is ready,” he said. “The person who is responsible for it does not want to discuss it any longer,” Schmitz added.

On the "Reform of the Reform":

...the popularly called “reform of the reform” of the Novus Ordo missal is distinct from, and “does not concern the old missal” ...

On changes to the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal:

“The missal we use [1962 Roman Missal] will be left unchanged”...

On aspects of the post-synodal exhortation:

...two specific encouragements — offering Mass ad orientem and using a Latin canon and Gregorian chant during the ordinaries of the Novus Ordo liturgy — may indeed be part of the post-Synod on the Eucharist document...

[Hat tip to Rorate Caeli and Brian Mershon]

Addendum

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith's interview (discussed in our post, "Old Mass 'missing link' in liturgical reform," Feb. 23, 2007) is finally out on Zenit (you have to find the posts for Feb. 26th): "Back to the Tridentine? It's Up to the Pope" (Zenit.org, Feb. 26, 2006) -- "Vatican Official Calls for Pastoral Sensitivity." What he seems to mean is "pastoral sensitivity" solicitous of the sensibilities of those who desire the old Mass. What we will get is anyone's guess.

The Catholic Onion *

Archbishop tells Pelosi budget must fully fund children's health care (scroll down)

In a communique hailed by Barbara Streisand and Angelina Jolie as "courageous" and showing "more compassion than Nancy Parent when she wrote the Care Bears Caring Contest," San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer spoke out in behalf of children's health care.

"If we do what is right, we can take care of all our children and raise the healthiest generation in American history," Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He urged her to "include adequate funding in the federal budget to sustain and expand the highly successful State Children's Health Insurance Program."

Archbishop Niederauer advocated "access to affordable health insurance for every child through proven, successful federal-state partnerships" as the "right place to start in tackling the health care challenges facing our country."

Pelosi had no response when asked how she felt about being "urged" by the Archbishop to embrace policies that were already fundamental planks of the Democratic Party platform.


Act now on climate change: US bishops to Congress (Catholic News)

In a move warmly applauded by Al Gore as showing a "spine of steel," Bishop Thomas G Wenski of Orlando, Florida, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Policy, issued a letter (Feb. 7) on behalf of the USCCB calling upon congress to oppose global warming.

The letter comes as lawmakers of the new Democratic-controlled Congress have introduced more than 10 bills addressing global warming.

The bishops called on Congress to resist demands not to act until there is “absolute certainty” about the sources of global warming. ”It is better to act now than wait until the problem gets worse and the remedies more costly,” Bishop Wenski said in the letter.


* [Disclaimer: The Catholic Onion makes no claims about the accuracy of its Hollywood celebrity comments.]

Enjoy your weekend!

Higher education: ". . . the professional training of clever and sybaritic animals, who drink, vomit, and fornicate in the dorms by night while they posture critically and ironically by day."

-- R.R. Reno, Professor, Creighton Univ.2007

"Reading this blog is more entertaining and funny than eating grits with Larry the Cable Guy!"

-- Mater, Musings commentator 2007

Thanks, Mater!

The Preaching of St. John Fisher (article online)

Those of you interested in St. John Fisher, the Catholic Bishop and martyr of the English Reformation, know that several books of his sermons and other works have been reprinted or are still in print. For example, Cecilia A Hatt has edited a wonderful anthology of the English Works of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester (1469-1535): Sermons and Other Writings, 1520-1535 (Oxford University Press, 2002), and Ignatius Press still offers his Exposition of the Seven Penitential Psalms (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998). There are also some very decent secondary studies of Fisher's works, like Richard Rex, The Theology of John Fisher (Cambridge University Press, 2003), as well as the reliable work of Edward L Surtz, The Works and Days of John Fisher: An Introduction to the Position of St. John Fisher (1469-1535), Bishop of Rochester, in the English Renaissance and the Reformation (Harvard University Press, 1967).

For any of you interested specifically in the sermons and preaching of this martyr and saint, however, there is a very good article now available online on my other blog by the late Michael Davies, "The Preaching of St. John Fisher" (Scripture and Catholic Tradition, March 3, 2007), reprinted by permission of the editors of Latin Mass magazine. Enjoy.

Helen S. -- R.I.P.

I just received word from our reader that his friend and co-worker, Helen S. passed away peacefully today. He offers his thanks for all your prayers. He asks only that those of you who are willing would please say one last prayer for her family and the repose of her soul.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix, ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Requiem aeternum dona eis Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Requiescat in pace. ...

Your recommendations?

Someone I know is soliciting recommendations for textbooks suitable for an undergraduate course in ecclesiology (Theology of the Church). Although a few books come to mind, this isn't my field, so I solicit the suggestions of any of you who might have some good titles to offer. Relevant criteria, besides readability for undergraduate students, would include orthodoxy, clarity of arguments, etc.

So far, the list of possibilities includes:

• Henri de Lubac, Splendor of the Church

• Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church

• Avery Dulles, Models of the Church

• Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Ratzinger Report

• Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God

Are any of these too difficult? Inappropriate? Any better suggestions? Your thoughts?

Thoughts for the day

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.

-- Ronald Reagan

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!

-- P.J. O'Rourke