Upcoming Vacation.

Our vacation trip to Philippines to visit the in-laws is just three weeks away. It's been far too long since we've been able to visit - we're all looking forward to it.

I'll be posting more about this as time goes on.

Pluralism's Hopes in Pope Francis Unfounded.

According to an article on yesmagazine.org, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu leaders have high hopes for Pope Francis, provided, of course, that he is willing to follow their advice.

The article claims that Francis follows "one of the most conservative and contentious popes in recent memory" but Mike Ghouse, a spokesperson for the World Muslim Congress and president of the Foundation for Pluralism thinks "Pope Francis can certainly repair the damage" done by Pope Benedict XVI.

The article goes on to say that the Hindu American Foundation hopes the new pope will "respect and privilege pluralism and interfaith relations" by his following more closely the Second Vatican Council's declaration, Nostra Aetate.

The article quotes Nostra Aetate,

"The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in [non-Catholic religions]. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men."

but goes on to say that "despite this official recognition of truth in other faiths, the Hindu American Foundation is concerned the Nostra Aetate doesn’t go far enough."

These pluralists will be in for a rude awakening.

First of all, while the Catholic Church "ardently implores the Christian faithful to 'maintain good fellowship among the nations' " the Church still maintains that salvation can only be found through Jesus Christ and Pope Francis has already stated clearly that people cannot be fully united to Jesus outside of the Catholic Church.

I realize that pluralists will not agree with the Church as I do, but those who hope that Pope Francis will turn against Church teachings are living in a fantasy world.

Angels and Saints at Ephesus.

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, who released a highly acclaimed musical CD this past Advent (Advent at Ephesus) have just released another CD of religious music sung a cappella entitled Angels and Saints at Ephesus.

From ZENIT:

"The sisters' debut album, Advent at Ephesus, spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Music Chart, and the Sisters ended up as the No. 1 Classical Traditional Artist of 2012, according to Nielson’s Soundscan".

Like their first CD, this one can also be found on Spotify.

Cardinal Dolan Denies Catholics Entry at Cathedral Because of Dirty Hands.

In a perfect example of poor reading comprehension, in response to a recent blog post written by Archbishop Timothy Dolan , HuffPo's "Catholic researcher" Joseph Amodeo wrote,

" Earlier today, a group of Catholics including myself gathered on the corner of East 46th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. We gathered for a simple purpose, to dirty our hands as we prepared to attend Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. We were soiling our hands as a silent response to Cardinal Dolan's column last week in which he suggested that LGBT people were welcome in the church so long as they washed their hands."

How can anyone reading Dolan's blog post come away with the idea that Dolan actually suggested that LGBT people were welcome in the church so long as they washed their hands?

Sure, Archbishop Dolan did write "Simple enough . . . common sense . . . you are a most welcome and respected member now of our table, our household, dad was saying, but, there are a few very natural expectations this family has. Like, wash your hands!…" but he was giving an example of things that were expected from guests in his family's household back in the day when he was a child and using that example as a metaphor for people following the rules of the house.

Taking Dolan's metaphor literally, protesters gathered outside St. Patrick's Cathedral and attempted to attend Mass with filthy hands. Amodeo could not understand how the protesters could legitimately be denied Communion because of the dirt on their hands.

Did it never dawn on Amodeo and his fellow travelers that it would be a sacrilege to put the Blessed Sacrament in obviously dirty hands?

Ending his piece, Amodeo wrote, "With our clean hearts and dirty hands, we will continue to knock at the door of the Cathedral with hopes that one day, Cardinal Dolan might finally realize that we too are worthy to enter the church as children of God."

If his heart is clean as he claims, Amodeo will indeed wash his hand before presenting himself for Holy Communion.

Silence, by Shusaku Endo.

I've just finished reading another novel listed on Deal Hudson's list of 100 Best Catholic Novels. The book, Silence , by Shusaku Endo, is, as described by wikipedia , "..... the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th century Japan, who endured persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians") that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion."

Graham Greene wrote that, "In my opinion one of the finest novels of our time". I'm not quite sure I'd go as far as Greene, but I will agree with Luke Reinsma, who wrote "Silence is an extraordinarily haunting novel."

In the novel, Endo addresses the question of mercy in both Christian and Bhuddist traditions as well as the issue of apostasy under the pressures of extreme torture.

Without giving away the ending - no spoilers here - I'd say Endo provides an interesting answer to the question, although I am not sure if his answer strictly follows Catholic teaching.

Silence is well worth one's time, but don't expect to feel comfortable reading it.