Kicking and ScreamingKicking and ScreamingA liberal Catholic's diary on his first year in a Seminary with the Paulist Religious Community Articles
Cowabunga
2007-08-25 05:44:00 Yesterday was the feast of Saint Bartholomew. The Gospel reading for Mass was the story of Jesus meeting Bartholomew and calling him to be one of the apostles. The story basically has Jesus, walking along the road one day, spotting Bart and beginning a conversation with him in a familiar way. ?Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.? Young Bart is taken aback by this and asks how he knows him, to which Jesus replies that he saw him under the fig tree.Well, for Bartholomew, that's all he needs; he immediately ?Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.? Jesus is almost taken aback at how little it took for Batholomew to recognize him as the Son of God. I mean, it would be like you or I walking down the road, seeing David Copperfield performing some basic card tricks in the park, and from that exclaiming "You are the GREATEST magician ever!!!" To which he would respond, "Geez, it's just a stupid card trick... you haven't even seen me mak...
Graham Crackers and the Problem of Evil
2007-08-19 04:07:00 During vacation at the lake, we continue the Paulist tradition of gathering before dinner for drinks and/or snacks. Between the Mexican sisters who cook three square meals a day and the abundance of snacks laying around, I have been doing more than my share of eating. Still, that does not stop one of the priests from walking up to my chair and offering me a concoction that can best be described as smores on a stick. At first, I politely decline. But then, as everyone around here does when it comes to food, he insists. And myself, not really being the stalwart of self-restraint, acquiesce. So I take the chocolate covered morsel, but before I bite into it I notice that it is hollow on the inside... most of the graham cracker part is gone. In my philosophy class this year, we discussed "The Problem Of Evil " - you know, how if there is an all-powerful God who is completely good can there be evil in the world. As it turns out, Catholicism's most favorite philosopher, Saint Thoma... More About: Lake George , Crackers , Graham
A tough homily
2007-08-17 05:55:00 We have daily mass while we are up here in Lake George, and our formation director wanted to know if any of us wanted to preach. It's something I like doing, so I decided to pick today, my mother's birthday, as my day to go on. So I few days ago in preparation I went online to check the readings. I read the first reading, got some good ideas there, and then moved onto the Gospel.Crap.The reading is about divorce. And how Jesus was REALLY against it. (read here)I was tempted to do something on the first reading, something about people acknowledging what they have in life is because of God and not themselves (or some BS like that). But that would be cheap; you can't have that gospel reading and NOT talk about it. I would be like Republicans switching the conversation to the bravery of our troops when asked direct questions about how the Iraq War is going.Every priest I have spoken with agrees this is by far the toughest reading. And I am torn. I am not a big fan of trying ... More About: Tough
Alleluia!
2007-08-16 22:38:00 Springsteen, band reunite for a bit of ?Magic?New album with E Street crew billed as return to rock ?n? rollMSNBC Article here.
Let us sit on the porch, have a drink, and tell each other lies...
2007-08-12 05:21:00 About ten times a day, a steamboat carrying tourists sails past the house. As they approach, the captain always makes sure to toot the boat's horn to let people in the house know the boat is near. As the tour guide points out our property to the right, if somebody is home he rings the bell in the student house three times to greet the travelers. People aren't always in the student house, so it doesn't always happen, but more often than not the bell is rung.Thursday Night is always fireworks over the lake during the summer, so a few of us went to the boat house to watch. There's definitely a "Blair Witch" element walking across the street and through the wooded path that takes us to the boat house, but one of the more experienced students flipped a switch and lights hung along the trees illuminated the path... I then put the cell phone I had been using as a makeshift flashlight away. We sat along the docks and enjoyed the show. At some point there was a lul in the show and ... More About: Drink , Lake George , Tell , Lies
How True...
2007-08-11 20:31:00 Destruction Of National Pastime Given Two-Minute Standing Ovation.onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;border: 4px solid rgb(65, 160, 65);border-width: 4px 0 1px 0;margin: 10px 30px !important;padding: 5px;overflow: hidden !important;zoom: 1;}.onion_embed img {border: 0 !important;}.onion_embed a {display: inline;}.onion_embed a.img {float: left !important;margin: 0 5px 0 0 !important;width: 66px;display: block;overflow: hidden !important;}.onion_embed a.img img {border: 1px solid #222 !important;;width: 64px;;padding: 0 !important;;}.onion_embed h2 {line-height: 2px;;clear: none;;margin: 0 !important;padding: 0 !important;}.onion_embed h3 {line-height: 16px;font: bold 16px arial, sans-serif !important;margin: 3px 0 0 0 !important;padding: 0 !important;}.onion_embed h3 a {line-height: 16px !important;;color: rgb(0, 51, 102) !important;font: bold 16px arial, sans-serif !important;text-decoration: none !important;display: inline !important;;float: none !important;;te... More About: True
Our House on the Lake
2007-08-07 23:24:00 We arrived two days ago to the Paulist vacation house in Lake George , NY. The house has been in the community for over one-hundred years... our founder Isaac Hecker used to sit on the porch and take in the view of the lake. Ever since, Paulists have come here for a week or two during the summer time to get away from the toils of ministry for some community and R n R.The students, of which I have been one for almost a week, come here for two weeks vacation. In the not so recent past, people used to spend their novitiate (first year) in Northern New Jersey, separated from the rest of the community at St. Paul's College in DC. Aside for a trip down to Washington for Thanksgiving dinner, the novices had never spent any time with the students so the purpose of the Lake George trip was for all those in formation to get to know each other.While that separation is not necesarily the case anymore, the trip is still made in the summer time. And it gives us the excuse to spend some time ... More About: House , Ouse
Come on down
2007-08-05 13:10:00 We all gathered before the ceremony outside of the house chapel. The formation director gathered all of the novices and told us that for the beginning of the service, we were to all sit with our individual families. After the homily, we would all be called forward so we could take our promises."When we come to the front, can we high-five everyone in the pews? like a new contestant does on the Price Is Right?" I asked."It would probably be better if you didn?t."After we are called forward, we made our profession for one year. Then we all moved around to the altar to sign the book, effectively "signing out" of novitiate. My (former) novice director was standing next to me; I wanted to lean over and ask him if I genuflected before the book if he would give me twenty bucks. Since the President of the Paulists was still there I held back. My stipend goes up anyway from having made the promise.After the service, the four of us gathered towards the back to "sign in" - the certificate t...
Carousel
2007-08-05 05:36:00 "You go on ahead Honey... I'm just going to catch my breath."- Meet Joe BlackThese kids are really cute. I mean, REALLY cute. And it's kind of fun to watch The Lion King with a couple of young kids... it makes the song "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" not nearly as annoying.But although I said before that the whole film is a good metaphor for my last ten years, there is one scene that gets me... Mufasa playing with his son Simba after giving him a good talking to for going to the elephant graveyard. It reminds me that there's a conversation I need to have before I make my promises.I walk into a room... it's a white room with not much in it. There's a little girl playing in the corner that I've got to talk to. I tap her on the shoulder."Hey Daddy!"Hey Sweetheart."Where have you been? I've been waiting for you!"I know, I know. I've been... umm... wow, you look a lot like your mother."Really?!?! How?"Let's just say that that's probably a different conversation I need t... More About: Ouse , Carousel
From the creator of Office Space
2007-08-05 04:32:00 After surfing the movie channels for most of the year, I finally got an account at the local Hollywood video. I did this because up until this point, I had only seen the first two Harry Potter movies and I wanted to see the other ones before going out into to the theater and seeing the new one.But when I got to the store, I saw this Mike Judge DVD on the shelf and decided to pick it up. After the success of Office Space , I was frankly surprised that this release did not have more publicity. After doing some research online, I heard that its distributor, Fox, really squelched it's release and forced a lot of editing in order to make it more "palatable."What I saw was one of the funniest, biting movies I have seen in a long time; the basic premise is how we are getting dumber and more base as a people and 500 years form now, the world will be run by idiots. I usually don't like to plug stuff here, but I saw it after having a conversation with a friend of mine over dinner. I was... More About: Creator , Office Space
CSP
2007-08-04 04:53:00 I have to confess to having a love affair... with my signature. I think it started when I was a kid when I started drawing comic strips. I wanted to get the "G" just right.Well, after tomorrow, my signature is going to change; I can officially write CSP after my name. Now, first promises are just that... I am signing up for one year. In many ways, for me it feels like one additional year, and I like that. I feel Okay with saying for one year... inserting the phrase "for life" is a long way off, and right now I am very Okay with that being a long way off.Reflecting back on this past year, I think it was largely about regaining my faith. Figuring out where I was within the larger Church, or more specifically WHY . Not that I still don't have a lot of questions, but I feel like I'm on more solid ground. And in looking towards the future, I feel like this next year is going to be more about integrating this faith into the larger world.One of my novice brothers has his family i...
Help Wanted...or, Catholic Freakonomics
2007-08-02 21:02:00 A Busy Week In The News, Part 5I know that I should be 100% percent behind this prayer when I hear it. While when most other people offer up this prayer, it is in the hopes that bright, spritely young men will come forward to meet the ministerial needs of the Church... when we say that prayer, it's for co-workers. And I'm going need co-workers - after all, when I want to stay in and watch Meet The Press on the occasional Sunday, SOMEBODY'S going to have to cover Mass - so I should be ecstatic to hear prayers for vocations. But I have to confess that they mostly end up pissing me off.It's like an overweight person saying to you, "You know, I really want to lose weight. What should I do?" And you, being the good Dr. Phil watcher that you are, might say to that person,"Well, in order to lose weight, you need to diet and exercise."To which our friend responds, "But I don't want to diet or exercise. What else should I do?"As many of my former employers might tell you, I get v... More About: Catholic , Wanted , Cath , Help Wanted , Freakonomics
Final Week
2007-08-01 04:43:00 Well, finals are over and I pretty much have this last week off before my First Promises this Saturday. I've been finding this last week that I've been getting some stuff of my chest, my own "State of the Church" as I see it, before taking this next step. I guess it's been my way of clearing the decks before taking this next step. Still, I don't want to leave the wrong impression: I am feeling really good about things after this past year... I guess that this was just my way of reminding myself of some of the work ahead in the world outside of these doors while I finish things up inside of these doors.After my promises, all of the Paulists students (both new as well as existing) will be going up to the house in Lake George, NY for two weeks. Sometime after that I'm hoping to have some sort of gathering in Baltimore to celebrate my first year with the Paulists; I will let everyone know once I have some more info on that, probably sometime in September. I just wanted to thank... More About: Final , Week , Fina
Fr. Jack Daniels
2007-07-31 22:16:00 Not that I believe in drinking before class or anything... after all, I'm studying to be a priest, not an astronaut. I never know who reads the "Ground Rules" before I write so sometimes I do think, "Hmmm, maybe I should explain..." At the same time when I do I feel like I'm violating Larry David's and Jerry Seinfeld's rule of not spoiling a good joke with a happy ending. I'm one week away from taking my first official step into the community and I'm already starting to wonder what I should be saying out loud. Add that to the list of fears rattling around in the back of my head as I move one step closer to being a holy man... a public holy man anyway.But that does lead to a good segway about something commonly associated with men of the cloth: alcohol. The theory goes that while priests don't get to partake in some particular pleasures of the flesh, that energy has to go somewhere, and the most common place for it to go is towards Mr. Jack Dani els... the whiskey, not som... More About: Jack Daniel , Jack Daniels , Daniels
You have to answer for Sonny
2007-07-31 05:58:00 A Busy Week In The News: Part 3The Sexual Abuse ScandalJust when you think the Godfather is over and you think all debts have been settled, Michael takes aside his brother-in-law Carlo, who thinks that he's completely off of the hook, sits him down, and tells him that he has to answer for Sonny .Okay, it?s an extreme example, but it?s hard for me to shake the feeling that all of this talk about the Church ?moving on,? similar dynamics are being played out. Apologies abound. There is a lot of talk about the victims and their well being (as there should), talk about the abusers and the wrong they did (as there should)? and almost NO talk about what this scandal is REALLY about: a cover-up.I feel like this one important fact is being lost: for an undetermined amount of time the United States Catholic Church engaged in a policy of ?Church first, flock later.? And people are not going to be able to move on until there is an apology for THAT.Listen to the news. When clergy and hierarc... More About: Answer
School Night
2007-07-27 17:46:00 Sorry for the gaps in between posts... I know I have been talking about heavier stuff and there are a lot of thoughts I still need to complete. This week has been the last week of classes and finals are today. I have been studying all week because... my favorite band was in town last night, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, and and I wasn't going to miss them because of something stupid like my education. SO, as extra motivation, I started studying on Monday night so I could go out drinking and carousing the night before the big tests. I was starting to feel a little guilty about this. After all, would I be costing myself precious extra points in the extra time I would have taken last night instead of listing to rock music.I walked into my logic review yesterday afternoon with a heavy conscience. We started reviewing and I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the material. About fifteen minutes in, he handed us our last quiz, and on that quiz he wrote down our current average ... More About: School , Night
Street Cred
2007-07-25 03:55:00 A Busy Week in the News: Part 2As I said before, a whole bunch of reactions came to my mind last week with the stories about the Latin Mass, the statement on other denominations, and the L.A. Sexual Abuse payout.First of all, Latin Masses. I've got to be honest... I don't see them as a big deal in and of itself. I'm actually a little curious. One of the priests here has a pet theory that the side effect of Latin Masses would be to kill it... that once people had to sit through one of these things, any and all nostalgia for the service would be wiped away. I'm not sure I believe that... there are a lot of hardcore people who seem to be holding onto this REALLY hard. Another priest I know has suggested that people who are interested in it now just want to see what their grandparents used to do. That's fair... as someone born in the 70s, I'm a little curious too. I mean, I'm sure once I go to one I'll be bored to tears, but hey, that's what iPods are for.There were two c... More About: Street
My Back Pages
2007-07-22 03:45:00 (A Busy Week In The News: Part One of Three)"Surely rebels cannot be happy, can they?" - The Brothers KaramazovDuring that sleepless night I realized I was going to join the Paulists, one of my stronger arguments against going through with it was the fact that I was a liberal Catholic and . A voice popped in the back of my head, a voice I am sure was my own, and replied to the protest; "That's why it has to be you."Two weeks from tonight, I will be making my first promises into the Community of St. Paul. I have been so bogged down with school work these past few weeks, I haven't been thinking that much about it. he most immediate consequence of that moment, in my limited mind anyway, is that I will not have to sweep and mop the house on Thursdays, cook dinner on Sundays, and will get to write CSP after my name. Plus, I have been celibate (sniff sniff), obedient (most of the time), and "biblically simple" for the past year (with a flat-screen HDTV to comfort me in the transitio... More About: Back , Pages , Ages
Commentary on LA, the "On True Church," and Latin Masses... Coming Soon
2007-07-17 04:27:00 I'm still trying to gather my thoughts and emotions together to write something on this topic... not to mention do my Philosophy homework. I think these topics of the settlement, the inter-religious dialogue, and the Latin Mass making a comeback are more related than you might think. But I want to have all of my facts straight first...Say a prayer for me, will ya? It wasn't just celibacy that kept me from making this decision for so long... More About: Church , Commentary , True , Comm
Shortcuts for God
2007-07-12 03:50:00 As stated before, I have not been having much luck with the one liners in class... until a few days ago. Finally, an opportunity presented itself, and some of my A-list material was greeted with the appreciation it so richly deserves. This was class with the teach whom I had lunch with a few weeks ago and talked about the American background of the Paulists. Anyway, we are discussing a proof of God's existence, and being the good philosopher she is, she asks the class if there is a good shortcut for the word "God." "Maybe a triangle would be good? No, that won't work; we won't ever be able to prove that God is a Trinity... are there any other ideas?"As a Christian I feel it is my duty to help my neighbor minimize any possibility of carpal-tunnel syndrome that can result from having to fully write a three letter word, but I can't think of one right away. Then the perfect one comes to mind:"How about a smiley face?"Half the class laughs... not the whole class mind you but def... More About: Shortcuts , Cuts , Shortcut
Correction
2007-07-12 03:38:00 I'm realizing that I might need to get more specific. When I was talking about getting accepted on the 4th of July, I meant of last year, not this past one last week. I was trying to go for this whole "Lion King," circle of life, everything in life has a meaning things... No, the big day comes on August 4th when I make my first promises to the community. Then I'll be official... I will be a member of the community (albeit a provisional one) and will be able to do cool things like receive more allowance money and write "CSP" after my name (Community of St. Paul).I haven't thought a lot about the promises... maybe it's because I'm so deep into school right now that I haven't had time to think about it. Maybe it's because the promises are only for a year, and since I am a long way off for a final commitment, that element of it does not seem like it will be a big deal. Also, maybe because this was such a tumultuous year between just making the transition into this life, as g... More About: Rect
American Gospel
2007-07-09 03:51:00 A few days ago, I was eating lunch in between classes in the cafeteria. The professor from my Philosophy of God class was also grabbing a bite to eat and asked if she could sit with me. She started asking me about the Paulists and asked what kind of work we do. I gave her . Then she asked which saint or which particular theologian our order was based on. I had never been asked that question before, so I had to stop and think for a moment."Ralph Waldo Emerson."I got the sense that the philosophy professor from conservative, orthodox Catholic University did not quite know what to make of that.Isaac Hecker, the founder of our society, began his life as a Methodist born in New York City in the 1819. The son of German immigrants, he got involved in the bakery business his older brothers had started at a young age and, along with his brothers, became involved in local politics as a means of making the world a better place. The Loco-Focos were the liberal, equal-rights wing of New Yo... More About: American , Gospel
Knock Knock
2007-07-07 19:16:00 I had to do a presentation for our Philosophy of God class yesterday. There was a reading the class had to do that was the transcript of a debate between a Jesuit Philosopher and an Agnostic Philosopher that was presented on the BBC in 1948. My presentation didn't need to cover the whole debate, but simply needed to follow a particular exchange during the debate.Many points were covered over the course of the debate, so I thought it might be good to put the whole debate in perspective before I started talking about one of the particular exchanges. Basically, I felt that it would be important to point out what the debate was about. Because the other debater was an agnostic, the debate was not going to be about whether or not God existed. The debate was going to be about whether or not you could prove the existence of God, which may sound the same but is indeed much different debate. And while the real purpose of the debate was for a listening audience to make up its own mind,... More About: Knock
iWant an iPhone
2007-07-02 14:49:00 Man oh man... I would have loved to have been on line with the rest of the masses. I don't think I would have camped out over night, but I would have loved to spent a couple of hours on the sidewalk of the Apple store to at least be among the first. It was like that when Star Wars: Episode I came out... I would have happily done that for the iPhone.You have to understand... I have been waiting a LONG TIME for a tool that would combine an MP3 player, a phone, an address book, and a scheduler. I tend to be a naturally disorganized person, and the only time in my life I have ever been "on top of things" is when I owned a Palm phone a few years back. Nothing fancy, just a place to keep contacts, make appointments, and even jot down comic strip ideas... all synced to my outlook account both at home and at work. Contrary to all of the progress reports sent home by my teachers, I had finally become a productive and organized member of society.The one pain with the Palm phone, though... More About: Iphone
Back in Black
2007-06-29 03:14:00 Okay, I know not everyone likes it when I put political/comedic/non-life-journey stuff up here, but Lewis Black was on the Daily Show last night and he is one of the greatest living Americans today.Best line of the night:"You know what a fake news show on Fox News should give you? Real news!!!" More About: Back , Lack
Back to School
2007-06-28 03:29:00 Philosophy classes have begun... I am once again a full time student.All of the novices need to take Philosophy over the summer in order to get a head start on our Masters of Divinity. At the program I will be attending in the fall, eighteen credits are required for me to start on my Master's. However being that I have nine credits already from my undergrad, by taking six additional credits this summer the school I am attending will allow me to begin my M.Div in the fall provided that I make up the remaining three in either the fall or the spring. By the time I fully graduate, I will be required to have thirty Philosophy credits under my belt.I started out on Monday having signed up for two classes, "Philosophy of God" and "The Classical Mind." It turns out that "Philosophy of God" requires "Classical Mind," so when I told the professor that I would be taking the class later in the afternoon, she wanted to speak to me to find out if I would be able to handle the course material.... More About: School , Back , Back to School
Get Real
2007-06-25 03:51:00 Anthropology, Jesus, and Connecticut: Part 4Russell Hammond: You, Aaron, are what it's all about. You're real. Your room is real. Your friends are real. Real , man, real. You know? Real. You're more important than all the silly machinery. Silly machinery. And you know it! In eleven years its going to be 1984, man. Think about that!Aaron: Wanna see me feed a mouse to my snake?Russell Hammond: Yes.- Almost FamousI haven't written about it in a while, but I have been meaning to finish my "series" on my trip to Connecticut for the seminar on Faith and Culture this past January. The stuff tends to be more academic, but throughout the year, I keep finding myself coming back to it as I try to get an understanding of this faith that I have suddenly found myself immersed in.As I mentioned before, this seminar was geared towards believers who wished to devote their lives to spreading the Word. I go in with a tremendous amount of skepticism... after all, especially at that point of the...
The party's almost over
2007-06-22 05:46:00 I start classes next week. No, I am still over a month away from making my first promises (essentially vows to the community of obedience, biblical simplicity, and celi... celi... [deep breath] celibacy [whew] for one year), but in order to get started on my theology in the fall, I need to make up some philosophy credits, which means Summer School.Summer School: the place you used to have to go to as a kid if you screwed up during the regular school year. And here I am, studying to become a MAN OF GOD... and I have to go to Summer School. Will ironies never cease.Actually, what this means is that I am actually going to have to start DOING something here at seminary... my days of simply hanging out, attending brief lectures while having GOBS of free time for the rest of my day are coming to an end. I am going to have to read and write about... theological and philosophical stuff. It also means that, while I have not been great about making blog postings as of late, I am probably... More About: The Party
Shibboleth
2007-06-22 05:43:00 I may sound really smart by knowing the Old Testament story of the "Shibboleth," but in reality I actually heard form it on an episode of West Wing. This is the homily/reflection I am giving today at a local church. The readings can be found here.Paul, in these readings, is facing one of the bigger challenges that face a salesman on the road: competition. He?s got this great product, this Lexus if you will, and yet while out on the road, his customers are barraged with other salesmen who are trying to sell them inferior cars.And Paul is frustrated that the Corinthians are even listening to anybody else. But I?m not sure if you can blame the Corinthians from listening to other people. Other salesmen on the road keep approaching them about shinier new faiths, the hot new model with anti-lock brakes? how are they to know which apostles or prophets they should or should not be listening to? You might be familiar with the story of the word ?Shibboleth.? In the Hebrew Bible, the pr...
God is my... back seat driver
More articles from this author:2007-06-20 03:49:00 Wow. Uh, I don't even know where to begin. My initial reaction upon hearing the Vatican recent set of Ten Commandments was... is ANYONE going to listen to an organization give driving advice while its leaders constantly ride around in automobiles standing up while waving their arms around like lunatics?Still, the imagery at the Vatican must have been stunning today. A man in a red robe, climbing down from the largest Mineke station in Italy, carrying ten large engraved hubcaps above his head, ready to impart the wisdom of God to the masses... only to find the Catholic faithful dancing half-naked around a gold Mustang convertible with black pinstripes. The scene got ugly as the Cardinal threw those commandment-laden hubcaps at the mass of fallen humanity in a fit of rage at the faithlessness before him... which didn't really carry the desired effect as those things tend to float like Frisbees. After playing a few rounds of "Ultimate" with the hubcaps, everyone got in their ... More About: Seat , Driver , Back 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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