Penguins in Bethlehem...?

After the 10:00 AM Mass yesterday, a cute thing happened. There is a family in my parish that has two young boys. The younger one is about 2-3 years old. After Mass, his mother was showing him our creche, which is hand made by parishioners, and fairly large. The boy was looking at and naming all of the animals. Well, he took out of his coat pocket a little toy penguin (his mom explained to me later that he had received a play zoo as a Christmas present), looked at it, and then looked at the animals in the creche, and then proceeded to put his penguin in the creche, facing the baby Jesus. I almost said something to correct him, like "I don't think there were any penguins there in Bethlehem." But fortunately, I stopped myself. I told myself, "well, if Jesus had been born in Antartica, I'm sure there would have been penguins gathered around the manger!"

Mom also told me that a couple of weeks earlier, they had been driving somewhere when, spontaneously, the older boy (about 5) started signing in Latin! We've been chanting the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei during Advent, and I had the choir do a couple of other Latin chants. I'm glad to hear that it's making an impact!

A Belated, But Nonetheless Merry, Christmas to You!


Byzantine Icon of the Nativity

I hope your Christmas was a happy, merry, and blessed one, and I hope it will continue to be so! Remember that Christmas isn't just one day, but lasts through the Octave, that is, until the eighth day afterward. So Christmas isn't over, it's just begun!

My Christmas was a good, but busy one. This is my first Christmas as pastor of my own parish, so there were a number of things I had to learn about preparing for the festival. I had several moments during the past week or so when I realized, "Oh, yeah, if I don't do that, it won't get done. I didn't get much sleep over the past few days. But my tiredness was of a good kind. And I rewarded myself with a nap yesterday afternoon, and by sleeping in today.

The Christmas Masses all went fairly well: there were minor glitches here and there. Several of those glitches were of my own doing. For example, I forgot to instruct the congregation to kneel during the creed at the words "and became man", and to do so myself, at Midnight Mass. I remembered at the 6:00 PM Mass, and the 9:00 PM Mass, but forgot at Midnight. Oh well... But on the whole the liturgies proceeded smoothly. For the most part good liturgy isn't about creativity, it's about fidelity: doing things as the books tell us and according to the mind of the Church.

My parish churches are both decorated beautifully: I was very gratified that so many people came out to help set up the decorations and make the churches truly splendid settings for the celebration of this most stupendous mystery of God becoming one of us.

And we had some nice music as well. I had gentlemen chant the Christmas Proclamation at the Midnight and 10:00 AM Masses, and I had the choir chant the "Puer Natus Est" as well. They also did a nice job on a two-part setting of "Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen" ("Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"). The people of my mission parish also put some nice music together: they sang a lovely 4-part setting of "Lo, how A Rose" and a song called "In Old Judaea", which I had never heard before.

It was a lovely first Christmas as pastor. I'm taking today and tomorrow off, enjoying a little "holy leisure". I hope you get some of that, too.

Homily For the Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
1 Thess. 5: 16-24
John 1: 6-8, 19-28



Me in my Rose Vestments (sorry for the poor image quality)


"Where Is the Joy?"

I want to begin this morning with a question. This is a question for the kids here today; grownups, you're not allowed to answer. So, kids, if you know the answer, raise your hands. The question is this [steps out from behind ambo]: What color am I wearing?

[A child answers:] "Pink!"

Well, that's close, but not quite right. No, the color I am wearing isn't pink, it's rose. It may look like pink, but it really isn't, it's rose.

Now, the reason I'm wearing such an unusual color is that today is a day of special rejoicing for the Church. Rose is the color of joy, the color of rejoicing. And it's so special that the priest may wear rose vestments on only two days of the year.

So why are we rejoicing today? Why is today a day of joy? Because the light is coming! The light of the world is coming, and will soon be here. John the Baptist testified to the light, and told us "prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths!". We can rejoice today because we know that God's salvation is coming soon. We can rejoice today because we know that Christ has already come, and will come again.

To live a Catholic life is to live in a world of "both... and". Jesus has both come already, and will come again. God's salvation has both been given to us now and is yet to be made complete. Creation has both been redeemed, and that redemption has yet to be consummated and fulfilled.

And so today we rejoice. We rejoice because Christ has come - he came as an infant in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago, and we will celebrate that coming in just two short weeks - and because he is yet to come, he is to come again!

That is why, as we heard in our second reading, St. Paul tells us to "rejoice always". Indeed, this day gets it's very name from rejoicing. Traditionally, this day has always been known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for "Rejoice". And the old Latin chant that was always sung on this day also tells us of rejoicing. It began with the words "Rejoice in the Lord always", and it went like this:

[Sings beginning of chant] "Gaudete in Domino semper! Iterum, dico, Gaudete!".

[If you want to hear it, you can listen to it here. ]

Rejoice in the Lord always! I say again, rejoice!

We are called to live as people of joy, because God's salvation has been made known to us. God has given us the light of his Son, has given us, through Him, a share in his very own life.

You know, I have to wonder sometimes. Every Sunday, I come down in front here to distribute Holy Communion. And when I hold up the Host and say "The Body of Christ", I usually look right at your faces. And I wonder... I don't wonder about your faith, or devotion: I have no doubts about that. But what I wonder is "Where is the joy?" Because, as you come up to receive communion, many of you look like this: [I put on a downcast, gloomy frown.] It's as though you were coming up to receive a dose of medicine: something you know is good for you, but not necessarily pleasant at the time.

So I wonder, where is the joy? Where is the sheer wonder and amazement that God has so privileged us to come down to be with us? Where is the joy and awe that God should give us his very Self as food? Where is the elation that Christ has once again fulfilled his promise that He "will be with us always, even until the end"? Every Sunday is Christmas, every Sunday is Easter. So I say to you, Rejoice!

If you study the Saints, their lives and writings, you discover that they led lives full of joy. They were continually rejoicing. And that's not because everything always went well for them. It's not because they never had trials or difficulties. Indeed, they often bore tremendous burdens. They frequently met with opposition and frustration. It often seemed to them as though everything was going badly.

But they were able to look beyond the difficulties and trials. They were able to see through the setbacks and frustrations, to see that there were tremendous possibilities and wonders on the other side. They knew that the God who would see them through was the same God who came to earth on Christmas night. They knew that the God who raised His own Son from the dead would give them victory over their challenges. They knew that the God who was guiding and leading them was the God who was "with us always" in the Sacrament of the Altar.

The same possibilities that were given to the Saints are given to us. Our Lord longs, yearns, to make those possibilities real for us. The possibility of redemption, the possibility of transformation, the possibility of wonders and glories of which we can scarcely dream. Christ came to earth and died for us to give us all those things, and He will, if we but give him half a chance. All these things: possibilities of beauty and wonder and glory greater than the universe itself, lie in store for us. He wants to give them to us. He will, if we but let Him.

Rejoice in the Lord always! I say again, rejoice! The One who calls you is faithful, and He will accomplish it.

God on the Internet

Jonathan Last has a very good article on the Catholic blogosphere over at First Things. Of course, one of the things that makes it so good is that he quotes your humble scribe several times and links to this blog.

But seriously, even if he hadn't done those things, it would be well worth reading. It's a good overview of St. Blog's, and the opportunities and limitations presented by blogdom. But the fact that he quotes me does make it better...

It's Good To Be The Pastor, Part II

One of the things that has been keeping me busy over the last few weeks is trying to address some of the needs I have identified in the parish, and making preparations for the Solemnity of Christ the King and the season of Advent.

I've been re-training my altar servers. In so many parishes, the servers are really not properly trained, and consequently just sort of shuffle and bumble their way through the liturgy (not the case here, BTW). I resolved a long time ago that in any parish I pastored, I would personally devote time and attention to training my servers. Not only so that they will make the bella figura in the liturgy, but so they can really take pride in what they are doing, and see the true importance of their ministry. A good friend of mine remarked that the priest needs to see himself not just as teaching the servers what to do, but as forming them in God's service. So I've been trying to do just that. I think that here, as in any other ministry to young people, we need to challenge them with a high standard, with something they have to invest themselves in, and help them rise to the challenge.

I've also been re-training the Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. In this case, for the most part they didn't need to be taught what to do. But there were a few aspects in which those ministries had not been carried out in complete harmony with either the GIRM or the "Instruction on the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priest". So my goal is to bring our practice into conformity with the Universal Church.

In addition to those things, I have been spending a lot of time planning for the big solemnity, Advent, and Christmas. I've been thinking about music, decorations, etc. I'm starting to introduce some chant in the liturgy, so I've begun working with the choir on that. In my previous assignment as associate in a big parish, the director of liturgy and pastor took care of such things, and I didn't really have to worry about them. Here, we have me. It's a lot of work, but this is really the fun part of the job for me. I want our Christmas liturgies in particular to be as solemn and beautiful as they can be.

I'm also going to be shopping for new vestments and altar hangings for my two churches in the near future. We're really in need of these things - most of what we have is of '70's and '80's vintage, and are overdue to be replaced. That's fun stuff for a priest as well!

Next Sunday night I'm going to be visiting with our 8th and 9th grade CCD kids, and fielding their questions. I'm deliberately making it a sort of free-for-all. So say a prayer that I can answer their questions well, and help invite them to get to know Jesus and the Church He founded a little better!

By The Way, A Belated Thank You

One of my readers sent me a much appreciated gift about a month ago. He's a regular reader and knows my likes and foibles all too well. He sent me a bottle of 15 year-old Laphroaig (the really good stuff) and a couple of good cigars.

Thanks very much, D.C.! I'll be raising a glass in your honor very soon!

So Where Have I Been This Time?...

Well, I haven't really been, anywhere, except busy - if that's a place. In a sense it is a place. At these times I feel "removed" from the wider world in the activity of my parish and my priestly ministry, and while I listen to the news and read some of the other bloggers, I don't really pay more than cursory attention. Then I emerge, as I'm doing now, with a few observations and things to say.

But I've been having some fun as well. Last Thursday I went out for a few hours and did some pheasont hunting with one of my parishioners. He owns some property a few miles outside of town, and we walked the fields, following the trained nose of his chocolate Lab, Buck. A couple of times the dog got too far ahead of us and flushed a bird out of range, but otherwise he did his job well. I, on the other hand, did not hold up my end very well. Buck flushed 3 or 4 birds in my field of fire, and while I had good shots at them all, I must confess I failed to hit any of them. I do have the excuse of not having been out hunting for two years, and therefore being a rather rusty shot. After the third missed bird, the dog came back to me, and I'll swear he was giving me a quizzical look, as though he were saying "what's your problem?" I felt embarrassed enough to apologize to the dog, saying "Sorry, Buck. You did a good job, I just couldn't hit the broadside of a barn today." I'm going to have to go out and shoot some clay pigeons so as not to let the dog down again.

But my host did shoot a couple of pheasants, and, much like fishing, even a bad day hunting (or a day hunting badly) is a good day. And the following evening I joined him and his wife for a lovely dinner, featuring the pheasants he had shot, with some rice and a nice bottle of Italian wine.

This week the deer season opens here in Michigan, so half of the male population of my parish is off to various cabins and camps in hope of bagging that big buck. I've never been much interested in deer hunting myself. I like the getting out and walking around that pheasant and quail hunting entail. The idea of sitting in a blind or stand waiting for a deer just doesn't do much for me. But I wish the guys well.

"Do You Think That I Have Come To Establish Peace...?"

Today's Gospel:

Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace
on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

While I don't think anyone would accuse me of being a Pollyanna regarding the human condition or what we face as Christians in today's world, this gospel is still a sobering reminder to me.

Our Lord's words should not be construed as a statement expressing his wishes, but a no - nonsense appraisal of reality: the reality of what happens when the Truth confronts Sin, when Love confronts Self. You see, we always have the choice of whether to accept and acknowledge the Truth, whether we will live for Love or for Self. And, unfortunately, some people, when confronted with the choice, will choose badly. Some sin one person wants to cling to will lead him to reject the Truth, and the One who brings it. Another person will reject Love so as to go on living with her Self enthroned in her heart.

And such people often react vehemently against the Truth and Love. It is not enough for them to reject it - they will not rest till you reject it as well. They will even go so far as to attempt to banish the Truth from discourse and society: to silence its voice, so as to avoid its continual and implicit accusation.

So Truth and Love, against all reason, bring about conflict. Indeed, the conflict is literally against reason, for Sin and Self are ultimately unreasonable. As a friend has written, "sin makes you stupid."

When the stupidity of Sin and the unreasoning, unrelenting tyranny of Self meet Truth and Love, the result is conflict and division. That conflict came to a head against Our Lord, and its confluence was Calvary. The Cross is where Sin and Self sought once and for all to destroy Truth and Love.

Fortunately, we know how that story ended. Sin and Self succeeded only in destroying themselves. Some, unfortunately, still cling to those defeated spectres. For those, let us pray.

Okay, Okay, I've finally done it...

A number of people have bugged me over the last few months to enable syndication of my blog. I've never really bothered about it before, because I don't use a syndicator or aggregator (or whatever the heck they are) myself. In fact, I still don't know what blog syndication is.

But I finally went ahead and enabled the Atom feed for my blog. So those of you who use Atom can now get my blog that way. (Whatever the heck it is.)

Just What Is a "Faith Community" Anyway?

A reader writes me and asks:

Dear Father Johansen,

Please straighten me out on a few newly adopted phrases I hear lately, first what is the difference between a Church, and a Faith Community?

Our beloved Pastor died this year, and we now refer to the Priest celebrating the Sacrifice of the Mass as the "Presider" rather than the Celebrant ....."Our Presider today will be Fr. (first name).

I reply:

You're right in sensing that something's a little hinky about these changes in terminology.

People or institutions change the terms they use in order to try to affect the way people think about things.

The phrase "Faith Community" is meant to place the emphasis on the "horizontal", subjective relationships between parishioners, rather than the "vertical" relationship between the people and God. It is part of the tendency in "progressive" catholicism to see the church as "the actualized community celebrating itself". Using a phrase like "Faith Community" also helps to de-emphasize the fact that we are part of a larger entity, the Church, which is, of course, spread throughout space and time. It helps to disconnect the faithful from their sense of membership in and accountability to the larger Church. Such a term helps people to think of their faith as a merely subjective local, privatistic matter. It helps aging hippies forget about that mean old official "Church" (made up of the Pope, the Vatican, etc.) which so obstinately refuses to enact their adolescent fantasies.

The word "church" has a fairly well-defined meaning, which the Church herself has expressed in her Tradition. The phrase "Faith Community" is a nebulous gassy emission, which is designed to evoke certain emotional responses, but means almost anything the user wants.

That the use of the term "Faith Community" is accompanied by the abandonment of the term "celebrant" and replacement by the term "presider" is not surprising. Strictly speaking, the term is inaccurate, and may betray faulty theology. A chairman or chairwoman of a committee or legislature "presides" over a meeting, that is, ensures the smooth running over business that is largely transacted by others. While not exactly a passive spectator, one who "presides" is generally not the chief actor in the business at hand.

In a liturgical setting, a bishop or other prelate may "preside" at a Mass celebrated by another priest, at which he himself is not a celebrant. In such an instance, the bishop or prelate exercises a largely ceremonial function, and is not the primary liturgical actor.

So to call the priest who celebrates Mass the "presider" is at least erroneous. The word "celebrate" comes from the Latin celebro, which means "to solemnize, to keep a festival", "to honor, praise". The priest gives fitting honor and praise to God by solemnizing the New Festival of Christ, the Mass. The priest is the chief actor in the Mass - it is he, who, acting in persona Christi, makes the sacramental action happen. He is not merely a chairperson who sees to the smooth running of the liturgical proceedings.

So you can see what the term "presider" is intended to bring about: It reduces the priest's role to that of a sort of glorified "master of ceremonies". It conceals his role as the one who actually brings about the sacramental reality of the Eucharist by his action. The use of the term "presider" has its origins in the horizontalizing, levelling tendency of "progressive" catholicism. It is the product of an exaggerated "eucharist as communal meal" theology, which sees the eucharistic action as happening primarily in the "gathered community" rather than in the sacramental action of the priest. It is a desacralizing tendency, and is completely at odds with a truly Catholic understanding of the priesthood and the Eucharist, as expressed in our authentic Tradition.

It's Good To Be The Pastor, Part I

So, I've been here at St. Stanislaus for almost 4 months, and I'm starting to get a sense of the parish and it's people. The people here, as I've written before, have been wonderful. They've been very welcoming and generous. I've been invited by a number of parishioners to dinner at their homes, and frequently parishioners will drop by with a jar of home-made jam, or some farm-fresh eggs, a cake or some other goodies. So I'm in no danger of going hungry...

My secretary/business manager is Hannah. She and her husband are long-time parishioners, and they've both become invaluable to me. Hannah deals with all of the accounting and paying the bills, etc, which is just as well because that's the kind of stuff that just puts me to sleep. Of course, I oversee things and keep tabs on the finances - it's my responsibility as pastor - but I'm glad to have her to deal with the nuts & bolts of it. Hannah's husband Russell is a big help to me, helping me set up for Mass several times a week, and generally doing countless favors for me.

The nice thing about a parish this size is that most everybody knows everyone else, at least by name, and frequently much more closely. One blessing and/or burden is that, because we're a small rural community, it seems like everyone is, in one way or another, related to everyone else. When I came here several parishioners warned me to be careful if I ever say anything about a parishioner, because there was a good chance someone within earshot was related to him! It will probably take me years to sort out who all is related to whom and how.

I'm blessed by my parish because the parishioners are so active and involved in parish life. Last weekend we had our annual Harvest Festival, which is the parish's Big Event in the fall. People come from all around to eat, buy things at the craft fair, and enjoy a Sunday afternoon in the country. The food was fantastic - there was turkey and beef and mashed potatoes (real - nothing out of a box), and stuffing, 5 or 6 different salads, all kinds of vegetables, and a plethora of desserts. Of course, I had to sample many different desserts, in order to develop a full sense of the diversity of the offerings.

This involvement also translates to a deep sense of "ownership" of the parish. My people care deeply about their parish, and will give quite generously, not only of their money, but of their time and talents, to help out. They want the parish to grow and prosper, and they want to be a part of what goes on. They also have a keen interest in making sure that things are well maintained and taken-care-of. They know that this is their parish, and it represents and reflects their faith.

Which is as it should be.

more later...

Feast of Our Lady of The Rosary



Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary. This feast is celebrated today to commemorate the great victory of the combined Christian fleet over the invading Moslem Turks at Lepanto on this day in 1571. (You can read more about the battle itself here.)



The Battle of Lepanto

Pope Pius V, who instituted this feast following the victory, had urged all Christians to pray the Rosary to ask Our Lady's intercession and protection, to hold back the Turks and grant the Christian forces victory.

This battle, while it did not completely end the Moslem threat of invasion of Europe, nonetheless was pivotal, as it broke the Turkish power at sea for some time to come, and gave the Christian world renewed hope and unity against the invaders.

This victory also is a lasting reminder of the power of Our Lady's intercession, and the power of the Rosary.

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us!

The Miers Nomination, or, Mark Shea Comes Unhinged

Mark Shea is a friend of mine, and I have more or less shared his attitude toward the Republicans and President Bush that they are allies of convenience, giving them support because their policies are much more pro-life than the Democrats. On my part, I also believe in things like limited government and, generally speaking, economic liberty. And, like Mark and many other conservatives, I have grown increasingly frustrated by the President's seeming abandonment of the conservative principles that got him elected.

And, like Mark and many others, I reacted to Harriet Miers's nomination to the Supreme Court with "Harriet who?"

But, unlike Mark and others, I do not think it is yet time to go all chicken little, proclaim that the sky has fallen, and say to the Repubs "the hell with 'em". I also do not think it is the height of insight or analysis to simply dismiss the President's appointment of Miers as "stupid, stupid, stupid."

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not defending the appointment of Miers. As many others have pointed out, this nomination is utterly deficient. President Bush could have done far better. But I think more can be said than that it is "stupid". To dismiss the President's action as "stupid" is a refusal to think about it. Charity requires more, and, frankly, so does simply trying to understand it.

The President said something in his press conference yesterday morning which seemed quite telling, and that practically no one else seems to have picked up on. The President said of Miers, "I know this woman's character," or something pretty close. This is very much the Bush style, to put character over "paper" qualifications. The president has never been one dazzled by academic distinctions or swollen resumes. Indeed, he ran for president on a "character" platform. He almost granted that Al Gore was the brainy, wonky, intellectual, but argued that he was the better choice on the grounds of character and principles. So it shouldn't surprise when he takes that same tack in a presidential appointment. What Bush is saying is "I know this woman, and I think she has the right stuff." Yes, that does boil down to "trust me". But it's not the same thing as merely "stupid". The real question is, do you think the president is a good judge of character?

Another thing is that many conservatives have been saying that this appointment was a "surprise", that it came from out of the blue. While I too was surprised at the choice of Miers, I wasn't surprised that the president chose a "stealth" candidate. Because the president has shown time and again that he is very reluctant to get into pitched political fights.

Many conservatives, sensing that their hour has come, and their influence has increased, have been spoiling for a fight. They've been itching for the opportunity to have that last open battle, in which they can put the liberals to flight once and for all. Pat Buchanan, interviewed Monday night, said that he thought Senator Harry Reid sounded relieved at the Miers nomination because Reid didn't want a confirmation battle, as Reid knew that the Dems would lose such a battle.

I for one do not share Buchanan's optimism. I do not think it is yet time for such a pitched battle. While conservatism has grown and is growing, liberals are still far too numerous and dominant for anything like assurance of victory. Fighting a premature battle and losing would do great damage and accomplish little. The liberals made their inroads on the culture over the course of 50 years. We will not undo that all in a decade or two, and certainly not in one all-out battle. It seems to me that the President has a similar view: far better to take incremental gains than to risk an all-out fight that you may lose. The president and I may be wrong, but I don't think that's merely "stupid."

Well, I'm Back!

After my 3-month hiatus, I'm returning to blogging. Sorry to have been silent all this time, but I've been pretty busy, getting settled in to my new rectory, getting to know my parish, and generally trying to get a handle on what being a pastor is all about.

I'm still not completely unpacked - I still have some boxes to empty out, and there are a few things I haven't found places for yet. But I'm working on that, a little at a time.

The people of my parish have been wonderful: very welcoming and generous. They've really made me feel "at home" here. I just need to mention that I'd like something or like something done and "bingo", it happens. I've had a number of invitations to parishioners homes for dinner, and consequently enjoyed some good polish cooking!

Being pastor is a whole new ball game for me. While obviously, I'm doing many of the same priestly things that I did while I was an associate, I'm the only one doing them here. And people look to me for answers and decisions in a way that they didn't when I was associate. There have been a few times when I've had to bring myself up short and say "Oh yeah, I'm the one who has to make a decision about that..." I'll have some more thoughts on being a pastor later tonight or tomorrow.

Thank you all for your encouraging e-mails over the last three months, and for checking back on my blog periodically. Thanks for wondering what happened to me. I'm going to try to be here regularly again. Obviously my parish is first and foremost, but I think I have the time to ventilate and bloviate a little!

"The Death of Terri Schiavo" Now Online

My article "The Death of Terri Schiavo", which appeared in the May issue of Catholic World Report, is now available online.

In this article, I describe and analyze the events and circumstances surrounding Terri's tragic death, and uncover some information you may not have seen before, such as:

Judge Greer took it upon himself to decide which tests Terri could or could not have, prompting one attorney to say that the judge "practiced quite a bit of medicine" in Terri's case.

Terri's death did not take place in quite the manner which the mainstream media reported.

I also explained, almost two months before the autopsy results came out, why the contention that "Terri was bulimic" was nonsense.

Terri's death, like much of the information concerning her condition while alive, was the object of spin and outright disinformation. In this Catholic World Report article, I try to unpack the distortions and give you the truth.

Some Pictures of My New Parish

Last week I posted the news that, at the end of the month, I will be leaving St. Joseph parish in St. Joseph, Michigan, where I have been an Associate Pastor since my ordination four years ago. I will be moving to St. Stanislaus parish in Dorr, Michigan, to become Pastor there.

I've made a couple of trips up there, to meet people and get acquainted, and to start moving my stuff up there. On the last trip, I tooks some photos of St. Stanislaus, and its mission, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Watson, MI. It was an overcast day, so I couldn't get any good exterior shots of the churches, but I got some good interiors.

Here's the interior of St. Stanislaus:



As you can see, it's a lovely little church. It seats about 200 people, I'd guess. It still has all the statues and the high altar. It's all been very well taken care of, too. And, yes, that is a communion rail up there in the sanctuary! This picture was taken while Eucharistic Adoration was going on. It's certainly a good sign that the parish has regular adoration.



A close-up of the Sanctuary

Here's a picture of the mission church, Sacred Heart in Watson, Michigan:



Again, this church is another little gem. The stained-glass windows in Sacred Heart are particularly lovely.



The Sanctuary at Sacred Heart Catholic Church

I've been blessed with two beautiful churches. I'm grateful that no "up-to-date" liturgical consultant ever got his hands on these churches to "renovate" them. I begin as Pastor on June 29 - next Wednesday. Pray for me!

I Was Wrong...

On Wednesday morning, I predicted that the autopsy report for Terri Schiavo would in some way purport to draw the conclusion that Terri was in a PVS.

I was wrong about that. But that's the kind of thing I'm happy to be wrong about.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dr. Thogmartin, the Pinellas County Medical Examiner, and Dr. Stephen Nelson, the consulting neuropathologist, were quite measured and reasonable in the conclusions they made concerning Terri's neurological state. They stated clearly in the report, and reiterated several times during Wednesday's press conference, that PVS is a clinical diagnosis and cannot be confirmed by autopsy. They confined themselves to stating that Terri had severe brain damage, and that such damage was "consistent with" a diagnosis of PVS.

A reporter questioned Dr. Nelson about whether Terri's autopsy results meant that Terri's family could not have interacted with her, as they claimed. Dr. Nelson, to his credit, said quite emphatically, "no, not at all". He again reiterated that pathological studies cannot confirm PVS. This conforms with what other neurologists have observed, that there is no correlation between the size of the brain, or the number of neurons present, and a person's cognitive function.


But I Was Right...

Unfortunately, the measured, reasonable conclusions of the autopsy report have not stopped ignorant journalists and pundits from making erroneous and outrageous claims about what the autopsy "proved". In my previous post, I quoted Boston neurologist Dr. Peter Morin, saying that he expected "gross overstatements regarding the implications of the neuropathology." Dr. Morin's pessimistic expectations have been realized: News reports such as this AP story describe the autopsy report as "vindicating" Michael Schiavo in his contention that Terri was a vegetable, when in fact it does no such thing. Joe Scarborough, on his MSNBC program Scarborough Country, asserted that the Medical Examiner said that Terri had "no brain activity". Tampa Tribune columnist Daniel Ruth, in a screed directed mainly at talk-show host Glenn Beck, claimed that the autopsy "confirmed" that Terri was in a PVS. Even more egregiously, he put words in Dr. Nelson's mouth, writing that the doctor stated that Terri had "no cognitive capability, " when he had neither said nor written any such thing.

It seems to me, barring the rage-induced excesses of Ruth and his ilk, that the pundits and reporters have made a fundamental logical error. They have interpreted the pathologists' statements that the condition of Terri's brain is "consistent with" PVS as somehow meaning "indicative of" or "supportive of" the PVS diagnosis. And that's not at all what the words mean. To say that something is "consistent" with something else is merely to say that they can co-exist - that one is not contradictory of the other. "Consistent with" is not synonymous with "indicative of" or "probative". To say that the condition of Terri's brain was "consistent with" PVS does not eliminate or exclude other explanations or conclusions.

And there is evidence to support other conclusions. Dr. Morin, elaborating on the lack of correlation between the amount of brain tissue and consciousness, said "No one knows how many neurons are necessary for consciousness." Indeed, patients with surprisingly little brain tissue are sometimes seen to have remarkably high function. Florida neurologist Dr. Mack Jones said "What is seen grossly doesn't always tell the story." He recalled the case of a patient who suffered from severe hydrocephalus: The patient had "a rim of cerebral cortex" only a few millimeters thick. "And yet", he said, "the young woman by all appearances functioned normally. If her brain were examined at autopsy without a clinical history, one would assume that this individual couldn't have had much useful function at all."

Now, clearly Terri was not going to regain anything like "normal" function. But the above case indicates how little we really know about what goes on in the brain, and how little we can conclude regarding the "awareness" of Terri, or any brain-injured patient. In short, the autopsy "proved" very little regarding Terri's level of consciousness or awareness. The pathologists made sober, reasonable judgments. But those reasonable and sober judgments were lost, apparently, on the opinion-arbiters of the MSM. The distortions and outright misrepresentations continue apace.

It may be just my cynicism again, but perhaps it was too much to expect otherwise.

Cross-posted at Blogs For Terri

Who Has Something To Say?

In a comment over at The Curt Jester, someone opined:

"Everybody has something to say, period."

I would concede the literal probability of that statement: I'm pretty sure that most of humanity has "something" to say.

However, I would add that a great many people have nothing to say that's actually worth listening to.

Hat tip to Kathy.

To Be Or Not To Be A Priest

While the bishops are meeting in Chicago, yesterday's Chicago Tribune had this quite detailed, and very well-done, feature on the young men discerning their vocation to the priesthood at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago.

I especially appreciated the generally symmpathetic presentation of the seminarians' faith.

More, please!

Looking for Another Great Blog To Read?

Then you'd do well to take a look at Gathering Goat Eggs. Blogmistress Kathy is a hoot - I especially appreciated her no-nonsense advice in "Safe Sex For the Star-Struck".

Perhaps another reason I have a certain fellow-feeling for her is that, like her, I too am a genius:

Your IQ Is 140

Your Logical Intelligence is Genius Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Great minds think alike!