I have seen googlism on several blogs so I tried it:
"gen x revert is protesting various aspects of the life of his parish of the archdiocese in which he lives by"
True enough
Saturday, May 31, 2003
A Week is Packed with Pacwa
First, after blogging twice about the debate between Dr. James White and Fr. Pacwa, I completely forgot about it on Thursday. I was sitting at home at 6:30 pm reading the Long Island Catholic newspaper and I saw a little notice about Fr. Pacwa and slowly the brain cells kicked in and I ran to change my clothes and go to the event. The Huntington Townhouse really is huge, and I was glad to see a big turnout for the event. The first speaker who introduced Dr. White said he shared a Polish heritage with Fr. Pacwa, although his heritage was Polish and Norwegian: “My ancestors pillaged their own villages”. I too have Polish heritage so I always enjoy a good Polish joke. I soon realized that most of the people there were on Dr. White’s side. I have never gone to a debate like this before and overall, it was interesting and well done. It did go on for awhile though and I left at 11 pm because I live about 30 minutes away and I had to get up for work the next day. Fr. Pacwa certainly is a good speaker, he comes across much better in person than on EWTN. The debate was on whether or not the priesthood was biblical and historical. To be honest, I was a bit lost when Fr. Pacwa spoke about the words used in the Bible indicating various ministries. The debate centered around the disagreement on the words used and whether they indicated priesthood. Dr. White found the idea of the priest being “alter Christus” offensive and his overall point in the debate was that we offer our lives as sacrifice in thanksgiving to God, rather than a sacrifice offered by a priest. The debate at least made me want to learn more about the whole subject so I think it was a good experience. The overall impression I went away with, was that the crowd was respectful and serious about their Christian faith, and this was good to see. I also went home thinking that the Church lost my generation through lack of good education, especially in apologetics. I noticed during the break, people discussing areas of disagreement, especially with a couple of priests who attended. I wish I could have joined in the discussion but would have nothing to contribute except questions. This is after 16 years of Catholic school. We need to get serious about apologetics and the turmoil and divisions in the Church will not help this.
Friday evening I went to the Holy Hour at Our Lady of Lourdes which was led by Fr. Pacwa. The Holy Hours are good although they are not an hour but several hours. Fr. Pacwa gave a talk which included a call to evangelize Muslims! He believes the opportunity is available that has not been available in 1400 years. The talk was very bold and interesting. He mentioned some large numbers of Muslim conversions and I don’t know if this was wishful thinking or if he is onto something. (Interestingly, Mark Shea just posted something about the evangelization of Muslims and wonders whether Muslim devotion to Mary will make a difference). Afterwards Fr. Pacwa signed my copy of Father, Forgive Me, for I am Frustrated. He is going to speak tonight at the same Church and I will attend since he will talk about the Church since Vatican II and what needs to be done to renew the sense of the sacred, a topic of interest to me.
First, after blogging twice about the debate between Dr. James White and Fr. Pacwa, I completely forgot about it on Thursday. I was sitting at home at 6:30 pm reading the Long Island Catholic newspaper and I saw a little notice about Fr. Pacwa and slowly the brain cells kicked in and I ran to change my clothes and go to the event. The Huntington Townhouse really is huge, and I was glad to see a big turnout for the event. The first speaker who introduced Dr. White said he shared a Polish heritage with Fr. Pacwa, although his heritage was Polish and Norwegian: “My ancestors pillaged their own villages”. I too have Polish heritage so I always enjoy a good Polish joke. I soon realized that most of the people there were on Dr. White’s side. I have never gone to a debate like this before and overall, it was interesting and well done. It did go on for awhile though and I left at 11 pm because I live about 30 minutes away and I had to get up for work the next day. Fr. Pacwa certainly is a good speaker, he comes across much better in person than on EWTN. The debate was on whether or not the priesthood was biblical and historical. To be honest, I was a bit lost when Fr. Pacwa spoke about the words used in the Bible indicating various ministries. The debate centered around the disagreement on the words used and whether they indicated priesthood. Dr. White found the idea of the priest being “alter Christus” offensive and his overall point in the debate was that we offer our lives as sacrifice in thanksgiving to God, rather than a sacrifice offered by a priest. The debate at least made me want to learn more about the whole subject so I think it was a good experience. The overall impression I went away with, was that the crowd was respectful and serious about their Christian faith, and this was good to see. I also went home thinking that the Church lost my generation through lack of good education, especially in apologetics. I noticed during the break, people discussing areas of disagreement, especially with a couple of priests who attended. I wish I could have joined in the discussion but would have nothing to contribute except questions. This is after 16 years of Catholic school. We need to get serious about apologetics and the turmoil and divisions in the Church will not help this.
Friday evening I went to the Holy Hour at Our Lady of Lourdes which was led by Fr. Pacwa. The Holy Hours are good although they are not an hour but several hours. Fr. Pacwa gave a talk which included a call to evangelize Muslims! He believes the opportunity is available that has not been available in 1400 years. The talk was very bold and interesting. He mentioned some large numbers of Muslim conversions and I don’t know if this was wishful thinking or if he is onto something. (Interestingly, Mark Shea just posted something about the evangelization of Muslims and wonders whether Muslim devotion to Mary will make a difference). Afterwards Fr. Pacwa signed my copy of Father, Forgive Me, for I am Frustrated. He is going to speak tonight at the same Church and I will attend since he will talk about the Church since Vatican II and what needs to be done to renew the sense of the sacred, a topic of interest to me.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Fr. Mitch Pacwa is not only going to be debating James White on Long Island ( Thursday May 29th), he is going to be at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Massapequa Park for two nights. On Friday May 30th at 7:30 pm, he will be at the Fatima Holy Hour which is held monthly at this wonderful parish. On Saturday May 31st at 8:30 pm, he will give a talk.
I have reluctantly removed the Disordered Affections blog from my sidebar. This is because it is no longer regularly updated, I will miss it. Apparently Ms. Hall thinks her family and career are more important than keeping bloggers entertained! Harumph. I have added Victor Lams’ Et Cetera to the sidebar since it passed all the criteria:
Blogger refers to self in the third person ----- check
Blogger criticizes Andrew Greeley’s writing ----- check
Blogger calls Greeley a shithead ---- check
Blogger has music and humor on blog ---- check
Blogger finds Saturday Night Live unfunny ---- check
Blogger raves about Buffy the Vampire Slayer ---- ok, this will be overlooked
The Blog the Musical sold me. I downloaded it and was astonished to find I had Realplayer on my computer. I will try to add other blogs to my sidebar and to blog more frequently when I finally break down and get a cable modem
Blogger refers to self in the third person ----- check
Blogger criticizes Andrew Greeley’s writing ----- check
Blogger calls Greeley a shithead ---- check
Blogger has music and humor on blog ---- check
Blogger finds Saturday Night Live unfunny ---- check
Blogger raves about Buffy the Vampire Slayer ---- ok, this will be overlooked
The Blog the Musical sold me. I downloaded it and was astonished to find I had Realplayer on my computer. I will try to add other blogs to my sidebar and to blog more frequently when I finally break down and get a cable modem
The local anti-Catholic newspaper has a front page story on child abuse by rabbis. The article is the first of a three-part series. Now the temptation here is for Catholics to say "see everyone has this problem". But the reality is that the problem among priests and the enabling bishops was more severe and far reaching. Still, some things in the article were sadly familiar. Allegations that were not reported to the police, fear about reporting on a revered religious leader, etc..
One line that stuck out: "Unlike the Catholic Church, Jewish authority is not centralized, but various groups within the branches of Judaism have begun to strengthen anti-abuse policies for their members."
I think that the centralized authority of the Church is what causes some anti-Catholic sentiment, and in part helped to fuel the press coverage of the abuse horrors. Even those who don't care or know about Catholic teachings despise authority, especially that which is world-wide.
One line that stuck out: "Unlike the Catholic Church, Jewish authority is not centralized, but various groups within the branches of Judaism have begun to strengthen anti-abuse policies for their members."
I think that the centralized authority of the Church is what causes some anti-Catholic sentiment, and in part helped to fuel the press coverage of the abuse horrors. Even those who don't care or know about Catholic teachings despise authority, especially that which is world-wide.
Monday, May 26, 2003
The Catholic Educator's Resource Center has an article about the writer Sigrid Undset. I have never read any of her works and did not ever hear of her until I discovered orthodoxy. I don't read much fiction but for some reason enjoy reading about fiction writers and their stories.
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